JUOT LiBRAKV 
 
 i University of California 
 Southern Regional 
 Library Facility
 
 ^ University ol Calllomla 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 405 Hilgard Avenue, Lo« Angeles. CA 90024-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which It was borrowed. 
 
 1 
 
 QL JAfj , o i:i^i
 
 D 000 464 312 
 
 DEMOCRATIC PLATFOIIM. 
 
 Tlie Democratic parly of the Union, through its representatives in National 
 Convention assembleil, rccoeiiizcs that, as the nation arrows older, new issues are 
 born of lime and progre-is, and <»ld issues perisli. But the funilameutal principU-s 
 of the Deninora( y, approved hy the united voice of the peoph', remain, and will 
 ever remain, as the best and only security for the continuance of free government. 
 The preservation of personal rights ; the equality of all citizens ht-fore the law ; 
 the reserved rights of the States ; and the supremacy of the PVderal Government 
 within the limits of the Constitution, will ever form the true basis of our liberties, 
 and can never be surrendered without destroying that balance of rights and powers 
 which enables a continent to be developed in {x-ace, and social order to be main- 
 taint'd by means of lot-al self-government. 
 
 Hut it is indis|X'n.sable for the pnictical application and enforcement of these 
 fundameutid prinriples. that the Government should not always be controlled by 
 one ix)litical party. Fretjuent change of admiaistration is as necessar}'as coustiint 
 recurrence to the popular will. Otherwise abuses grow, and the Government, 
 instead of Ix-ing carrii<l on for the general welfare, becomes an instrumentality for 
 imiK)sing heavy burdt-ns on the many who are governed, for the benefit of the few 
 who govern. Public wrvanls thus lK'«'ome arbitrary rulers. 
 
 This is now the condition of the country. Hence a citange isdemandeti. The 
 Repultlican party, «> far as principle is concerm-d, is a reminiscence ; in practice, it 
 is an organization for enriching those who control its machinery. The frauds and 
 jobbery which have l)een brought to light in every department of the Government, 
 are sufficient to have calleil for reform within the liepublican party ; yet those 
 in authority, made reckless by the long pfwsession of power, have succumlx-d 
 to its corrupting intluence, and have placed in nomination a ticket against which 
 the intlrpendent (Mtrtion of the party arc in open revolt. 
 
 Therefore a change is demanded. Such a change was alike neces.sary in 1H76, 
 but the will of the jieople was then defejited by a fniud which can never Ik.' for- 
 j^ottcn, nor condoned. Again, in 1880, the change demandi-d by the people was 
 defeated by the lansh u.se of money contributed by unscrupidous contractors and 
 shameless joblx-rs who had bargjiine«l for unlawful protlts, or for high office. 
 
 The Itepublican pjirty during its legal, its .-lolen. and its l)ought tenures of 
 power, has steadily decayed in nionil character and |»olitieal capacity. 
 
 Its platform promises are now a list of its past failures. * 
 
 It demands the restoration of our Navy. It has sijuandered hundreds of niil- 
 litms to create a navy that d<x».s not exi'^t. 
 
 It calls upon Congress to remove the burdens under which American ship|ting 
 has been depres.se«l. It imposed and has continued those burdens. 
 
 It professes the policy of rcser^•ing the public lands for small holdings by 
 actual settlers. It has given away the jK-ople's heritage till now a few railroads.
 
 4 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 
 
 and lion resident aliens, individual and (-(>r|Hirate, possess a larger area than that of 
 all our farms between tlie two seas. 
 
 It professes a preference for free institutions. It urguni/.ed and tried to legal- 
 ize a control of State elections by Federal troops. 
 
 It profes.ses a desire to elevate labor. It has subjected Aincrieaii workingmen 
 to the coini)etition of convict and imported contract iaiior. 
 
 It professes j^ratitude to all who were disabled, or died in the war. leavinj; 
 widows and orphans. It left to a Deinocmtic House of Hepreseiilatives tlie lirst 
 effort to e(iuali/.e both bounties ami i^eiisions. 
 
 It proffers a pledge to correct the irregularities tif our tariff. It created and has 
 continued them. It« own Tariff Commission confe-ssed the need of more than 
 twenty per cent, reduction. Its Congress gjive a reduction of less than four per 
 cent. 
 
 It profes-ses the i)rolection of AiiK-rican manufactures. It has subjected them 
 to an increasing tlotxl of manufactured g(M)ds, and a hoiH'lesa com|H>tition with 
 maiiufactiiring nations, not one of which ta.xes raw materials. 
 
 It professes to protect all Ameri<-aii industries. It has impoverishe<l many to 
 8ubsidi/.e a few. 
 
 It professes the protection of American labor. It has depleted the returns of 
 American agriculture an industry followe*! by half our people. 
 
 It profes.ses the equality of all men In-fore the law. Attempting to ti.x the 
 status of colored cili/ens, the acts of its Congress were overset by the de<'isit)ns of 
 its Court*. 
 
 It " accepts anew the duty of leading in the work of |irogre.s8 and reform." 
 It.s caught criminals are permitted to e.s<-ape through contrived delays or actual con- 
 nivance in the prosecution. Iloneyconvlted with corruption, outbreaking expo- 
 sures no longer shock its moral sens<«. Its honest membeni, Its indeiK-ndent jour- 
 nals, no long(T maintain a successful contest for autlK)rity in its counsels or a veto 
 upon bad nominations. 
 
 That change is nece.s.siiry is proved l)y an existing surplus of more thim 
 |;10(>,(XM),0()0, which has yearly In-en collected from a suffering jM-ople. Unneces- 
 .saiy taxation is unjust Ijixation. We denounce the Hepuldican party for having 
 failetl lo relieve the people from crushing war taxes which have pandy/.nl business, 
 crippled industry, and (leprive«l lal>)r of employment and of just reward. 
 
 The Democracy pledges it.self to purify the administnition from corruption, to 
 restore economy, to revive respect for law, and to reduce taxation to the lowest 
 limit consistent with due regard to the preser%'ation of the faith of the Nation to 
 its cretlitors and iH'iisi<mers. 
 
 Knowing full well, however, that legislation affecting the occupations of tlip 
 people should be cautious and conser^•ative in niethcMl. not in advance «)f public 
 opinion, but resimnsive to its demands, the Democratic party is pledged to revise 
 the tariff in a spirit of fairness to all interests. 
 
 But in making reduction in taxes, it is not proposed to injure any domestic in- 
 dustries, but rather to promote their healthy growth. From the foundation of this 
 Qi)verniiu'nt, ta.xes collected at the Custom House have Iwen the chief source of 
 federal revenue. Such they must continue to be. Moreover, many indus- 
 tries have come to rely on legislation for a successful continuance, so that any 
 change of law must be at every step regardful of the labor and capital thus in- 
 volved. The process of reform must be subject in the execution to this plain die 
 tate of justice. 
 
 All taxation shall be limited to the requirements of economical government.
 
 DEMOCRATIC PLA I FORM. 5 
 
 The necessary reduction in taxation can and must be cflfected without depriving 
 American hihor of tlu- ability to conipi'tc successfully with foreign labor, and with- 
 out imposing lower rates of duty than will be ample to cover any increased cost of 
 production which may exist in consequence of the higher rate of wages prevailing 
 in this coimtry. 
 
 Sufficient revenue to pay all the exi)enses of the Federal Government, econom- 
 ically administered, including pensions, interest, and principal of the public debt, 
 can Ix' got, under our present system of taxation, from custom house taxes on fewer 
 imported articles, bearing heaviest on articles of luxury, and bearing lightest on 
 articles of necessity. 
 
 We therefore denounce the abuses of the existing tariff ; and sul)ject to the jire- 
 ceding limitations, we ilemand that federal taxation shall be exclusively for public 
 pun)o.seM and shall not exceed the needs of the Government economically adminis- 
 tered. 
 
 The sy.stem of direct taxation known as the " Internal Revenue." is a war tax, 
 and .so long as the law continues, the money derived therefrom should be sacredly 
 devoted to the relief of the i)eople from the remaining bunleiis of the war, and be 
 made a fiinil to defmy the expense of the care and comfort of worthy .soldiers 
 disabled in line of duty in the wars of the Republic, an«l for the payment of such 
 IH'nsion> as Congress may from time to lime grant to such soldiers, a like fund for 
 the sailors having been already provided ; and any suri>lus should be paid into the 
 treasury. 
 
 Wi" favor an American contineutjil policy based upon more intimate commercial 
 and political relations with the fifteen sister Itepublics of North. Central and South 
 America, but entangling alliancts with none. 
 
 We l)elieve in honest money, the gold and silver coinage of the Constitution, and 
 a cin-ulating medium convertil)lc into such money without los^^. 
 
 Asserting the «-(iuality of all mm In-fore the law, we hold that it is the duty 
 of the (Jovernment. in itj* dealings with the people, to mete out ecpial and exact 
 justiee to all citi7A.'ns of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion— religious or 
 |N)litii-:d. 
 
 We l)eUeve in a free ballot and a fair count ; and we recall to the mimory of 
 the i)e«»ple the noble struggle of the Democrats in the Forty-fifth and Forty .sixth 
 Congns.ses, by which a reluctant Republican o|)i)osition was compelled to assent 
 to legislation making everywhere illegal the presence of troops at the |)olls, us the 
 conclusive pr«K)f that a Democratic administration will preserve lilierty with order. 
 
 The selection of Friend officers for tlie Territories sliould be restricted to 
 citizj'iis previously resident therein. 
 
 We opiK»se sumptuarj- laws which vex the citizen and interfere with indi- 
 vidual liljerty ; we favor honest civil service reform ; and the comiK-nsatifin of all 
 United States officers by fixe«l .sjilarii-s ; the sejMiration of Church and State ; and 
 the ditfusion of fn* education by conunon .schools, so that every child in the land 
 may Im- taught the rights and duties of citizenship. 
 
 While we favor all legislation which will tend to the equitable distribution of 
 projMrty, to the prevention of monojwly, and to the strict enforcement of indi- 
 vidual rights against coriH)rate abuses we hold that the welfare of society depends 
 uiMHi a scrupulous regard for the rights of prf)perty as defined by law. 
 
 We b<-lieve that labor is l)est rewarde<l where it is freest and most enlightened. 
 It should therefore l)e fostered and cherished. We favor the rejKal of all laws 
 restricting the free action of lal>or. and the enactment of laws by which lab<jr 
 organizations may be incorporatt-d. and of all such legislation as will tend to en- 
 lighten the people as to the true relations of capital and labor.
 
 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 
 
 We l)t'lieve that the public lands ought, as far as {KMMihle, to l)e kept as home- 
 stea 1h for actual .Hctllers ; that all \iriearncil lands hcntofore iinprovidt-ntly t,'niiit<*<l 
 to railroad corporations by iIil- action of the Ucpublican party should Ik- nsinn-d 
 to tiic public domain ; and that no more grants of !an<i simll Ik* made tu corftora- 
 tions, or be allowed to fall into the ownership of alien absentees. 
 
 We are opposed to all propositions which upon any pretext would convert the 
 General Goverinnent into a machine for collectinj; taxes to Ik- distribute*! among 
 the States, or the citizens thereof. 
 
 In reaflfirmin;: the declaration of the DerafK-ralic platform of IKW, thai " the 
 liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Indejtendence, 
 and 8anctione<l in the Constitution which make ours the land of lilK-rty and the 
 asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever In-en cardinal |iiincii>les in the 
 Democratic faith," we nevertheleiw do not .sanction the importation of foreign 
 labor, or the admi.ssion of servile races, unfitted by habits, tniining, religion or 
 kindred for absorption into the great Ixnly of our people, or for the citizenship 
 which our laws conf«?r. American civilization demands that against the immi- 
 gration or imjwrtation <»f .Mongolians to tliese shores, our gates be dosed. 
 
 The Democnitic party insists that it is the duty of this Oovernnient to protect, 
 with e(pial lidclity and vigilance, the rights of its citizens, native and naturalizetl. 
 at home and abroad, and to the end that this protection may be assured, I'nited 
 Slates paj>ers of natundi/.)ition, issued by courts of coniiK'lent jurisdiction, nuist 
 be respected by the E.xecutive and Legislati,ve departments of our own Govern- 
 ment, and by all foreign powers. 
 
 It is an imj)era(ive duty of this Government to eflleienlly protect all the rights 
 of |>ersons and properly of ever}- American citizen in foreign lands, and demand 
 and enforce full reparation for any invasion thereof. 
 
 An American citizen is only res|M)nsible to his own Government for any act 
 done in his own country, or un«ler her Hag, and can only Ik- tried therefor <»n her 
 own soil and according to her laws; and no power exists in this Government to 
 expatriate an American citizen to Ite tried in any foreign land for any such act. 
 
 This country has nevei* had a well-detine<l and executed foreign policy save 
 under Democnitic admini.stration: that policy has ever been, in regjird to foreign 
 nations, so long as they do no act detrimental to the interesLs of the covmtry or 
 hurt fid lo our citizens, to let them alom-; that as the n>sidt «)f this policy we recall 
 the a((|uisition of I^ouisiana, Florida. California, and of the adjacent Mexican terri- 
 tory by purchase alone; and contni.st the.se grand acijuisitions of Democratic stati's- 
 nianship with the purchase of Alaska, the sole fruit of a Hepublicau administra- 
 tion of nearly a (piarterof a century. 
 
 The Federal Government shotdd care for and improve the Mis.sissippi river and 
 other great waterways of the Heptd)lic, .so as to secure lor the interior States easy 
 and cheap transportation to tidewater. 
 
 Under a long jieriod of DenKxratic rule and policy, our merchant mari::e was 
 fast overtaking and on the point of outstripi»ing that of Great Britain. 
 
 Under twenty years of Republican nde and policy, our commerce hits been 
 left to British bottoms, and almost has tlie American flag been swept from off the 
 high seas. 
 
 Instead of the Republican party's British policy, we demand for the people of 
 the United States an American policy. 
 
 Under Democratic rule and policy, our merchants and sailors, flying the stars 
 and striiH's in every port, successfully searched out a market for the varied products 
 of American industry.
 
 DliMOCkAllC I'LATltJKM. 7 
 
 Under a quarter century of Republiean rule and policy, despite our manifest 
 advantage over all other nations in high-paid labor, favorable climates and teeming 
 soils ; desjiite freedom of trade among all these United States ; despite their popu- 
 hition by the foremost races of men and an annual immigration of the young, 
 thrifty and adventurous of all nations ; despite our freedom here from the inherited 
 burdens of life and industry in old-world monarchies— their costly war navies, 
 their vast tax-consuming, non-producing standing armies ; despite twenty years of 
 peace — that Republican rule and policy have managed to surrender to Great Brit- 
 ain, along with our commerce, the control of the markets of the world. 
 
 Instead of the Republican parly's Britisli policy, we demand in behalf of the 
 American Democracy, an American policy. 
 
 Instead of the Republican party's discredited sclieme and false pretense of 
 friendship for American labor, expressed by imposing taxes, we demand in behalf 
 of the Democracy, freedom for American labor by reducing taxes, to the end that 
 these United States may compete with uiiliiiidered [Kjwers for the primacy among 
 nations in all the arts of peace and fruits of liberty. 
 
 With profound regret we have been ajiprised by the venerable statesman through 
 who.se pers<»n was struck that blow at the vital principle of rei)ublics (acquiescence 
 in the will of the majority), that he cannot permit us again to place in hi« hands 
 the leadership of the Democratic hosts, for the reason that the achievement of re- 
 form in the administration of the Federal Government is an undertaking now too 
 heavy fcjr his age and failing strengtlj. 
 
 Rejoicing that his life has Ihhu prolonged until the general judgment of our 
 fcllowcountrymen is united in the wish that that wrong were righted in his person, 
 for the Democracy of the United Stjites we offer to him in his withdrawal from 
 public cares not only our respectful sympathy and esteem, but also that best liom- 
 age of freemen, the pledge of our devotion to the principles and the cause now in- 
 .separable in tlie history of this liepublic from the lab(»rs and the name of Samuel 
 J. Tilden. 
 
 With this statement of the hope«, principles and purposes of the Democratic 
 party, the great issue of Reform and change in Administration is submitted to tiie 
 I>eople in calm conlidence that the popular voice will pronounce in favor of new 
 men. ami n«'W and more favorable conditions for the growth of industry, the ex- 
 tension of trade, the employment and dm p unrd .if labor and of capital, and the 
 general welfare of the whole country
 
 OOV. tLEV ;i.AND NOTIFIRD. 
 
 Gov. Clevelaud Notified. 
 
 riu- Committee on Notitkntion apixiinted at Chicago, July lltli. to inform 
 Governor Cleveland that he had l)eeii nominated for President liy the Democratic 
 National Convention, waited on the Governor, at the Kxeeutive Mansirm of the 
 State of New York, at An)any. N. Y., July 'HHU, to i^ive to him tiie fonual 
 notitieation. I 
 
 The Chairman. ('<•]. William F. Vilas, in so infomiinjr. said : 
 
 Address of Col. Vilas. 
 
 (JuovKU Ci.EVKi.AM), (m.v i.n.NuK oi- TiiK Statk OF Nkw YoltK : These 
 ^^entlemen. my associates here prrs«iil, wli<)st> voiee I am honored with authcritv 
 to utter, area committee appointed l)y the National Democratic Convention wliicli 
 recenllv assembled in ChicaL'o. and char^'ed with the p-ateful dutv of acquaintinjr 
 vou. orticially and in that solemn and ceremonious maimer which" the di;:nitv and 
 imporlanee of the comnumicatinn demand, with tlie interesting; result «")f its 
 deliberations, already known to you ihrou,t:h the ordinarv channels of news. 
 
 Sir; Th.it august body, convened by diriet dile^'atlon from the Democratic 
 [leople of Ihe several States and Territories of the Hepublic, and deliberalinj; under 
 the witness of Ihe ;rreatest assembly of freemen ever Withered to such a confer- 
 ence, in forethouirht of the election which the C«)nstitulion impost's uj>on them to 
 make durini: Ihe current year, have nominated you to the peoi)le of these rnitcd 
 States to be Iheir President for the next cnsuinL' term of that irnal otllce, and with 
 >rrave consideration of its exalted responsibilities have contidentlv invoked th.ir 
 sufTraires to invest you with its functions. Through this cimimitt'ee the C(mven- 
 t ion's hiirh re(|uirement is delivered that you accept that candidacv. This choice 
 carries with it profound personal re-pect and adminilion. but it has'lH-en in no man- 
 ner the fruilof these sentimi-nls. The National Democracy seek a President, not in 
 compliment for what the nuui is or reward for what he has done, but in a just 
 cxiiictalion of what lie will accomplish as the true servant of a free jwople tit for 
 their lofty trust. 
 
 Always of momentous cons<Mpience, they conceive tlie public exijrency to l»e 
 now of transcendent importance, that a lalnmous refonn in adminstralion as well 
 as le^'islation is imperatively necessiiry to the prosperitv and honor of the republic, 
 and a competent Chief Ma^Hstrate must l)e of unusual "temiM-r and power. Thev 
 have observed with attention your execution of the public trusts v<m have held. 
 esi)ecially of that with which you are now so honorablv invested. They place 
 their reliance for the us<>fulness of the services thi-y expect to exact for the"beiietit 
 of tlie nation iiiioii the evidence derived from the"ser^•ices you have performed for 
 tile State of New York. They invite the electors to such "proofs of character and 
 comiH'tence to justify their 'coiitidence that in the nation as liPrefofore in the 
 State the jmlilic business will be administered with commensurate intelliirenceand 
 ability, with siiitjle-hearled honesty and fidelity, and with a resolute and daring' 
 fearles.sness which no faction, no combination." no jiower of wealth, no mistaken 
 clamor can dismay or qualify. 
 
 In the spirit of the wisdom and invoking the benediction of thedinne Teacher of 
 men. we challenire from the sovereignty of this nation, his words in commenda- 
 tion and ratilicalion of our choice. " Well done, thou good and faithful .servant, 
 thou hast bien laithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many 
 things." In further fultilmenf of our duty the sccretarv vnM now present the. 
 written communication si-rned bv the committee.
 
 GOV. CLEVELAND NOTIFIED. 
 
 9 
 
 At the close of the speech of Col. Vilas, Mr. Nicholas M. Bell, of Missouri, 
 f^ecritary of the Committee, read the followint,' formal address prepared by the 
 
 committee 
 
 Address of the Committee. 
 
 New Yohk Citv. July 28, 1884. 
 To the lion. Gro\'ER Clevelaxd, of New York. 
 
 Sir— In accordance with a custom befitting the nature of the communication, 
 the undersigned, representing the several States and Territories of the Union, were 
 aiipoirited a committee by the National Democratic Convention, which as.sembled 
 at Chicago on the 8th day of the current month, to perform the pleiusing office, 
 which by this means we have the honor to execute, of infonning vou of your nomi- 
 nation as the candidate of the Democratic jii.rty in the ensuing election for the 
 otlice of President of the United States. A declaration of the principles upon 
 which the Democrac-y go before the people with a hope of establishing and main- 
 taining them in the Government was made by the Convention, and an engrossed 
 copy thereof is submitted in connection witll this communication iur your con- 
 sideration. We trust the approval of your judgment will follow an examination 
 of this expression of opinion and policy, anil u|>on the political controversy now 
 made u]) we invite your acceptance of the exalted leadership to which you have 
 been chosen. 
 
 The election of a President is an event of the utmost imi)ortance to tin; people 
 of America. Prosi)erity. growth, happiness, peace and liberty even, may depend 
 upon its wise ordering. Vour unanimous nomination is i)r()of"that the Democracy 
 believe your election will most contribute to secure these great objects. We as- 
 sure you that in the anxious responsibilities you must a.ssume as a candidate you 
 will have the steadfast cordial support of thefrit-nds of the cau.se you will repre- 
 .sent. And in the execution of the duties of the high office which we confidently 
 e.vpect from the wi.sdom of the nation to Ik- conferred upon you, you may .securely 
 rely for a|)pr()ving aid u|)on the patriotism, honor and intelligence of' this free 
 people. We have the honor to be, with great respect, 
 
 W. F. VILAS, President. 
 Nicholas M. Bell, Secretary. 
 
 D. P. Bkstou. Ala. 
 Fred W. Fordvi e. Ark. 
 NiLES Sk.krles, Cal. 
 
 M. M. S. Waller. Col. 
 T. M. W.m.i.er, Conn. 
 (}*<» II. B.\TKs, Del. 
 Attil.x Cox. Ky. 
 .Ia.mes Jeffries, La. 
 C. n. ()s«;uoi). Me. 
 Geo. Wells .^Id. 
 J. G. AnnoTT, .Mas,s. 
 Daniel J. CAMi'.\r, .Mich. 
 Taos. K. IIeexa.n, .Miini. 
 Cii.vs. K. Hooker, Miss. 
 D.wii) I{. Francis. Mo. 
 P.\TRicK P\\iiv, Neb. 
 
 WlI.SoN G. L.VMH, N. C. 
 
 W.M. A. (^lARLEs. Tenn. 
 Geo. L. Sim:ar, Vt. 
 Fr.\.\k Hereford, W. Va. 
 J. T. H.MSER. .Mon. 
 M. S. McCoRMUK, Dak. 
 
 E. D WutOHT. Wx^x of Col. 
 
 D. K. M<( AUTUY, Nev. 
 
 J. F. Ci,oiT.M.\x. N. H. 
 John P. Stockton, N. J. 
 John C. J.vcors, N. Y. 
 G. H. Oi RY, An. 
 Hansford Smith, Utah. 
 John M. Selcott, Idaho. 
 W. I). Ciiii-LEV. Fla. 
 M. P. Reese, Ga. 
 A. E. Stevenso.n, 111. 
 
 E. I). B.ANNISTER, Ind. 
 
 L. G. KiNNE, la. 
 
 C. C. BiRNEs, Kan. 
 Thk<». K. H.wnes, Ohio. 
 S. L. .McARTHtR. Ore. 
 James P. IJarr. Pa. 
 David S. Baker, Jr., R. I. 
 
 JOSEIMI H. E.MU., S. C. 
 
 Joseph E. Dwyer, Texas 
 RoRERT Beverly, Va. 
 W. A. Andkkson. Wis. 
 W. B. Chm.ders. N. M 
 
 D. B. DuTRo. W. T.
 
 10 C.OV. CLEVELAND NOTIFIED. 
 
 Gov. Cleveland's Reply. 
 
 Mr. Chainiunt ami OentUnnen of the ComiiiilUe : 
 
 Your formal iiiuioiinecmcnt does not of courst- convey to nii' tin- first inforiuation 
 of iJio result of tlie {'oiiveiition lately held h\ tlie Deinoenicy <>f the nation, and yet 
 wlien, MS 1 listen to your niess;i^fe, f see al»out me re|)resenlatives fn>m all parts of 
 the land of the ;,^reat party which, claiming; to he the party of the ixoplo. askstlicnt 
 to intrust to it the administration of their ^'overnmeiit ; and when 1 consider under 
 the intluence of the stern reality which the present surroundiiifrs create, that I have 
 heen chosen to represent the plans, j)ur|)oses and policy of the I)emo<ratic party. I 
 am itrofoundly impressed hy the solemnilyof the occai-ion and hy the resiwmsibility 
 of mv position. Though f ^rratefully appreciate it. I do not at this moment con- 
 ;rratulate myself upon the distin;,nii^l»«'«l hi>nor which has lu-en conferred uikid me, 
 because my mind is full of anxious desire to perform well the part which haa been 
 a.s,siji[ned to me. 
 
 Nor do I at this nioment forpef that the ri^ht-s and interests of more than fifty 
 millions of mv fellow-citizens are involve<l in our ctTorts to luiin DenuK-nitic 
 supremacy, 'fhis reflection presents to my mind tlie considenition whi<h. more 
 than all others, ^rives to the action of my i>,irty in convention assembled its most 
 solM.'r and serious aspect. The party and it.s repn'sentatives, which ask to be 
 intrusted at the hands of the people witli the keeping' of all that concerns tlieir 
 welfare and their safety, should only ask it with the full appreciation of the 
 sacredness of tin' trust and with a firm resolve to administer it faithfully and well. 
 
 I am a Democrat U'cjiuse I iK-lieve that this trutl» lies at the foundation of true 
 Democracy. I have kept the faith because I inlieve, if rit'litly and fairly admin- 
 istered and applied. Democratic doctrines and measures will ins\ire the happines-s, 
 contentment and prosperity of the people. If, in the contest upon wliich wo now 
 enter, we steadfastly liold to the underlyint: principles of our party creed, and at 
 all times keep in view thi- |xople's ijood. we shall be strou;r, In-cause we are true 
 to ourselves, and becaus*- the pl;iin and in<le|H'ndent voters of the land will seek by 
 their suffrajjes to compass their release from party tyninny wlnre there should Ijc 
 submission to the popular will, ami tlieir protection froni parly corruption where 
 tliero should Iw df^votion to the people's interests. 
 
 Tln-se thoughts lend a con.s<-cration to our cause, and we go forth, not merely 
 to pain a pjirtisan advanfjiiie, but pled^red to i:ive to those who trust us the tjtiiiost 
 benefits of a pure and honest administration of national affairs. No hi;rher pur 
 pose or motive can stinuilate ustosuprenu- effort or urpe u.s to continuous and 
 eaniest labor an effective parly organization. Let us not fail in this, and we may 
 confidently hope to reap the full reward of patriotic services well performed. 
 
 I have thus called to mind .some simple truths, and trite thouuli they are. it 
 .seems to me we do well lo dwell ui>on ihem at this lime I shall s4)on, I !io|)e, 
 sipn'fy in the u.sual formal maimer my acceptance of the nominalionwhich has 
 been tendered to me. In tin- mean lime, I gladly greet you all as coworkers in a 
 noble cause.
 
 GOV. CLEVELAND'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 11 
 
 Gov. ClevelaiKrs Letter of Acceptance. 
 
 Albany. N. Y., Au-rust 18, 1884. 
 Gentlemen. — I have received your communication dated July 28, 1884, inform- 
 ing mo of my nomination to the office of President of the United States by the 
 National Democratic Convention lately a.^sembled at Chicago. I accept the nomi- 
 tation with a gratiful appreciation of the supreme honor conferred and a solemn 
 sense of the resiwnsibility which, in its acceptance, I assume. I have carefully 
 considered tiie plutform adopted liy the Convention and cordially approve the same. 
 So plain a statement of democratic faith and the principles upon which that party 
 appeals to the sufTrages of the people needs no supplement or explanation. 
 
 Duties of the Executive. 
 It should be rememberetl that the oftlce of Pre.sident is es.sL'ntially executive in 
 its nature. The laws enacted by the legislative bnuich of the government the 
 Chi.'f E.xecutive is bound faithfully to enforce. And when the wisdom of the 
 jH. lit leal party which selects one of its memlxrs as a nominee for that oflice has out- 
 lined its ix)licy and declared its principles, it .seems to me that nothing in the 
 character of the office or the ne<i-ssities of the case recpiires more from the candi- 
 date accepting such nomination than the suggestion of certain well known truths 
 so alwolutely vital to tJie .safety and welfMii- of the nation that they caiuiot be loo 
 often recalled or too seriously enforced. 
 
 Party Corruption. 
 
 We proudly cull ours a government by the people. It is not such when a 
 cla.ss is tolerate<l which arrogjites to itself the management of public affairs, seek- 
 ing to control the people instead of represt-nting them. Parties are the necessary 
 outgrowth of our institutioas ; but a government is not by the people when one 
 party fastens it-s control upon the country and perpetuates its i)ower by cajoling 
 and betraying the people instead of serving tl em. A government is not by the 
 people when a result which should represent the intelligent will of free and think- 
 ing men is or can be determined by the shameless corruption of their suffrages. 
 
 No Second Term. 
 "When an election to office shall be the selection by the voters of one of their 
 number to assume for a time a public trust instead of his dedication to the profes- 
 sion of politics ; wlien the holders f>f the ballot, (piickened by a sense of duty, .shall 
 avenge truth betrayed and pledges broken, and when the suffrage shall be alto- 
 gether free and uncorrupted, the full realization of a government by the people 
 will be at hand. And of the means to this end, not one would, in my judgmr-nt, 
 be more effective than an amendment to the constitution disqualifying the Presi- 
 dent from re-election. When we consider the patronage of this great office, the 
 allurements of power, the temptation to retain public jdace once gained, and more
 
 12 GOV. CLEVELAND'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 
 
 than nil, liif availtibility ji party flnilH in an iuciimhciit wlioiu a horde of office- 
 holders, witli a zeal born of iK-ni-fits received and fostered by the liope of favorH 
 yet to come, stand ready to aid witli money and trained |Hi!itieal service, we reeog- 
 ni/.e in the elijribility of the Presifh-nt for re-election a most serious danf;:er to that 
 calm, deliberate and intelligent political action which must characteri/.e a irovern- 
 ment by the people. 
 
 Protection for Worklngmen. 
 
 A true American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that 
 honor lies in honest toil. Contented labor is an element of national iirosjx-rity. 
 .\bility to work constitutes the capital and the wage of lal)or the income of a va.st 
 number of our i)opulation, and this interest should l>e jealously proti-cted. Our 
 workingmen are not asking unrea.sonable imlulgence, but as intelligent antl manly 
 citizens they seek the .same consideration which those demand who have oilier 
 interests at stake. They should receive their full sliare of the care and attention 
 of those who make and execute the laws, to the en(f that the wants and needs of 
 the employers and the employed shall alike Im.* sul)served and the prosp«rity of the 
 country, the conunon heritage of both. Im.' advanced. As related to this subject, 
 while we should not di.scourage the immigration of tho.se who come to acknowl- 
 edge allegiance to our government and add ti> our citizen iwipidation, yet as a 
 means of protection to our workingmen a dilTereut rule .should prevail concerning 
 those who. if they come or are brought to our land, do not intend to become 
 Americans, but will injurioiisly compete with those justly entitled to our field of 
 labor. 
 
 The Rights of Labor. 
 
 In a letter accepting the nomination to the oflice of goM rum, ntariy iwo years 
 ago, I made the following statement, to which I have steadily adhered : 
 
 "The labf)ring cla.s.s«'S constitute the main part of our {N^pulation. They 
 should b«' protected in tlnir efforts pniceably to as.scrt their rights when endan- 
 gered by aggregated capital, and all statutes on this subject should recognize the 
 care of the State for honest toil, aixl be framed with a ^^ew of improving the condi- 
 tion of the workingman." 
 
 A proper regard for the welfare of the workingman being inseparably con- 
 nected with the integrity of our institutions, none of our citizens are more inter- 
 ested than they in guarding against any corrupting influences which seek to per- 
 vert the l)eneflcent pur|>oses of our government ; and none should lie more watch- 
 ful of the artful machinations of those who allure them to self-inflicted injury. 
 
 No Sumptuary Laws. 
 In a free country the curtailment of the absolute rights of the individual 
 sho\dd only be such as is essential to the peace and good order of the community. 
 The limit between the proper subjects of govenimenlal control and those which 
 can be more fittingly left to the monil sense and s<'lf-impo.sed restraint of the citi- 
 zen should be carefully kept in view. Thus laws unnece.s.sarily interf«-ring with 
 the liabits and customs of any of our people which are not offensive to the mond 
 .sentiments of the civilized world, and which arc consistent with good citizenship 
 and the public welfare, .ire unwise and vexatioiis. 
 
 Commerce. 
 The commerce of a nation, to a great extent, determines its supremacy. Cheap 
 and easy transportation should therefore ])e liberally fostered. "NVithin the limits
 
 GOV. CLEVELAND'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 18 
 
 of the Constitution the general government should so improve and protect its natu- 
 ral waterways as will enable the producers of the country to reach a protitable 
 market. 
 
 The Civil Service. 
 The people pay the wages of the public employees, and Ihey are entitled to the 
 fair and honest work which the money thus paid should command. It is the duty 
 of those intrusted with the management of their affairs to .see that such public .ser- 
 vice is forthcoming. The selection and retention of subordinates in government 
 employment should tlepend upon their as -ertained fitness and the value of their 
 work, and tliey should be neither expected nor allowed to docjuestionable party 
 service. The interests of the people will be belter i»roteeted ; the estimate of pub- 
 lic labor and duty will be immensely improved ; public employment will be open 
 to all who can demonstrate their fitness to enter it ; the unseemly scramble for 
 place under the government, with the consequent importunity which eml)itters 
 oillcial life, will cease ; and the public departments will not be filled witli tho^e 
 who conceive it to be their first duty to aid the party to which they owe tluir 
 places, instead of rendering patient and honest return to the people. 
 
 Honesty and Frugality. 
 
 I believe that the public temper is such that the voters of the land are prejiared 
 to support the party which gives the best promist* of administering the government 
 in the honest, simple and plain manner wluch is consistent willi its character and 
 purposes. They liave learned that mystery and conceahnent in the management 
 of their affairs cover tricks and In-trayal. The statesman.ship they recjuire consists 
 in honesty and frugality, a prompt response to the needs of the people as they arise, 
 and the vigilant protection of all their varied intcrest.s. If I shoidd be called to 
 the Chief Magistracy of the nation by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens, I will 
 assume the duties of that high <ifllce witha solemn determination to dedicate every 
 effort to the countrk's go«)d, and with an humble reliance upon the favor and sup- 
 port of the Supreme Being, who, I believe, will always bless honest human 
 endeavor in the con.scientioas discharge of public duly. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 To Colonel Wii.i.iam F. Vilas, chainnan, and I). P. Bkstok and others, members 
 of the Notification Conmiittee of the nernocralic National Convention.
 
 14 GOV. HENDRU.KS NOTIFIED. 
 
 Governor lluiidrickri Xutilied. 
 
 Tho (.'(Jinmiltrf a|>p<iiiiUMl hy tlio DniKMnitic Nalionul Coiivrnliun lo notify 
 Ilic camlidatcs visiu-d Siiratojfa July aoth. whiTt- Ciovt-nior IK'iuirirks was HjK'nd- 
 in|( a brief tiiiif. aii<l formally nulitiiHl him of his nomiiiatiuu. 
 
 Col. William F. Vila.t, of Wi.sc-onsiu. said : 
 
 Gov. TiiDM.vs A. 1Iknuui«'km. ok Indiv.s.v: The jjrt'al national rounril of 
 coustitutional Di'mcK-nicy of ihc Union. lirM at Chicai^o witliin this month of 
 July, constituti'd this commiltfe now btfon- you l»y s«'l«*cliou from i*afh of Ihc 
 HfVfral Slatr> ami Torrilorics of our c-ountrv. and (•ommis.sion«-<l it as thr otflchil 
 voice of the party to declare t4) vou in tittlni^ terms an<l with apitropriatc cere- 
 niony — not only in testimony of Its rcHpect for your al»ililieH and eliaracter. but in 
 |)l('dlre of it> consideration for the interests of the nation — that you have Iwen 
 nominate<l by that parly t«) tlie jwople lo Ik' their Vice-Prcshlcnt of the rniti**! 
 Stales for the en^uinj; lenn of that e\alie<l trust 
 
 Thai honorable duty we have journeyed hiilier from cvi'ry part of this wi<U' 
 land with pride ami pleasure in this manner to discharj^. The interestini; circum 
 stances of that nomination cannot Ik- unknown to you, and could not but Im> ^'rati 
 fyinu' to the senHibilities of any ri.^ht-mindt'd man. " It wa.s well understoinl in that 
 convention that such a distinction wa.s even there luiwMij^ht and undesired by you. 
 Yet, sir, after many others were presentiMl your name was suir^'este«l followed bv 
 repeated sccoiidinu'. Kvcr}' other name was withdrawn, and amiil universal 
 acclaim the roll-call res|M»nde<l to your unanimous choi<e Thi-n, ine\<iuisiteenlhu 
 sjasm the ( "onveiition, with the vast surroun'!'- ■ riiblap-. joined with ch«'<T 
 
 anil hymn in a prolon::ed outbreak of ;rnititie<l n. Sir, tle>iii,'h Indiana's 
 
 favored ciii/ens may enjoy uiih ju^t pride a !< imiior in the (li-ilii"iii~lii d 
 
 Her\iees you have rendered your party, your Slate and the nation, and i 
 
 peculiar attaehinent for thi! endearinir ijualitiesof your heart and min«l. ' d 
 
 that the Democracy of the nation participates in ttiat S4-ns«' of honor an<l .illet lion- 
 ate rei;ard in hanlly a lessdeirree. They witness4'd vour lonif and honorable career, 
 .sometimes in the faithful |HTformance of hii;h public trusts, sometim)>s nobly con- 
 tcndin.ij as a s»tldier in the ninks for the |)rin<inles of constitutional libirly ; but 
 always with firm devotion lUid unswerving tidelity lo the inlere-tsand ri ' ' '" ''■■ 
 people; and now llicy eoiitidently e\|M'ct of your i»alriolism to yield all i 1 
 
 wi«.hes and undertake the labors of iheir eandi<late, as on their part tin , , 
 securely re|)o-e \i|>on the ripe experience of vour years and wisdom to mo^ 
 factorily mei t all the responsibilities of the luch otilce to which you will be < 
 The Convention felt, as the nation will ai)prove. that it was servini:tbe spirit <'t the 
 Constitution when it desii;nate«l for a Vice-President a citizen worthy ami conijio- 
 tent to execute the hiirhest functions of the Chief .Majristniry. It is an esincial 
 desire of the Demoi-racy, sir, to see voti investe<l with this particular diicnity. be- 
 cause they know, as now all the worfd knows, that once you were rii^htfully u'iven 
 title to it by the people and wromrfully ilenied its iHts-^ession by the succos of 
 machinatii>ns, of fradd and consjiinicy, and the vin<licati()n of «'.xaci justice will be 
 mo>t complete when you shall be reelecti-d, now that vou may Ik* lrimn|ihantly 
 iiiauirurated to your rightful chair of oflice. This sentfment has j,nven discretion 
 to the peiNonai consideration and adminition of the Democracy so abundantly 
 manifested in the recent Convention, and will <i\r a res|)onsivc throb in the hearts 
 of all gotMl men. In Hnishini; the grateful otlice w hicli the partial favor of these 
 gentlemen, my distinguished a.ssociatos, has assigned me jM?miit us one and all to 
 express the highest esteem and regard. In a mon- emluring execution of its dutv 
 the committee have prepare<l ami personally signed a written communication which 
 the Secrefarv will now read.
 
 GOV. HENDRICKS NOTIFIED. 
 
 15 
 
 The Address of the Committee. 
 
 At tlii> point .Mr. Ik-ll, the St'cretary, read tlie fullowing address : 
 
 Hon. Thom.*.8 A. Hendricks, of Indi.\na : 
 
 Sir: The honor and pleasure of ofticially notifying,' you of your nomination 
 as the candidate of the National Deniocraty in tlu- election about to occur for tin- 
 office of Vice-Pre.sident of the United States, whereby the Convention recently 
 held at Chicago conferred upon the undersigned as a coinraitt<-e of that body, 
 designed to represent in our persons the sevend Stales and Territorie^s. In 
 grateful performance of the duty, we are entitled to express the admiration of the 
 Convention and of tlie party for your long and well-known pei-sonal (jualities and 
 character and for your distinguished public .service and mainlenance of the 
 principles ant! objicts which are bfliived best calculated to promote the . security, 
 happiness and welfare of tht- pcoi)le, and especial satisfaction in the minds of all 
 good men must follow your election from the reflection that in your person the 
 testimony will be i)eculiiirly given that the American peo|)k' are never con.scious or 
 willing Instruments of that great public crime by which, thorough fraudulent 
 returns and a tlagnint disregard of truth and justice, othei-s were seateil in those 
 high offices to which Samuel .1. Tilden and yourself were rightfully chosen in 
 1876, us well as of the patriotism of your great submission, in contident reliance 
 ujK>n the justice of the people for vindication. An engros.sed copy of the 
 declanition of principles and policy niade by the Convention is submitted with this 
 communication for your examination, and we may surely expect your loyal 
 devotion in the cause of our parly to accept the candidacy imposed by your 
 nomination. 
 
 W. K. \ ILAs. President. 
 NICHOLAS >I IJKI.I.. >.c iriarv. 
 
 n. B. Hkstoh. Ala. 
 KuKi> \V. KoKDVcK, Ark. 
 Nii.Es* Sk.\ri.ks, Cal. 
 M. M. S \V.\i.!,KU, Col. 
 T. M. Waller. Conn. 
 Geo. H. Hates, Del. 
 Attila Cox, Ky. 
 James .Iekkkiks, Lit. 
 C. n Owjooi). Me. 
 iiKo. Wkli.s. Md. 
 J. G. Abhott. .Mass. 
 Da.mkl .1. C.vMi'Ar. .Mich. 
 Tiios. K. IIkkxax, .Minn. 
 Chas. E. Hch)kkr, Mlsx. 
 David K. Francis, .Mo. 
 
 PaTUK K FaIIY, Neb. 
 
 Wilson G. Lamii. N. C. 
 Wm. a. t^iARLEs, Teiin. 
 Geo. L. Si'E.*ii. Vt. 
 Frank Hkrekoud. W. Va. 
 J. T. H.M sER, .Mon. 
 M. S. Mt I'oiiMicK, Dak. 
 E D. Wriomt. Dist ..f Col. 
 
 1>. K .MtC.VRTIIV. Nev. 
 .1, F. Ci.oi tman. N. II. 
 John P. .Stockton, .N. J. 
 John C. Jacohs, N. V. 
 O. H. Ot Rv, Ariz. 
 Kanskord S.mitii, llali. 
 John M. Sei.cott. Idaho. 
 W. I). CiiiiM.KV. Fla. 
 M. P. Hkese, (}a. 
 A. E. Stkvknson, III. 
 
 E. D. Ii.\NNISTER, Ind. 
 
 L. (J. KiNNE. la. 
 C. C. HiRNEs. Kan. 
 TiiEo. E. Havnks, Ohio. 
 8. L. .Mc.\rtiii'H, Ore 
 James P. Harr, Pa. 
 David S Hakkr, Jr . H. I 
 
 JOHEIMI II. E.VRI.E, S. (' 
 
 JosKrii K. I)\vvKR, Texan. 
 H«MtKRT HKyEi{i.v, Va. 
 W. A. Anderson, Wi«. 
 W. H. Ciiii.DKRs. N .M. 
 I) v. 1)1 lit.. \V T. 
 
 Reply of Mr. Hendricks. 
 
 Mil. ( IIMRMAN .VXD (rENTLKMEN OKTIIK ( oM .M I I TKE : 1 (UIUlol realize that 
 
 a man should ever stand in the pres4-nce of a conunittee repres«ntinga more august 
 bo<Iy of men than that which you represent. In the language of another, "The 
 Convention was large in numlM-rs. august In culture and patriotic in .sentiments ;" 
 and may I not add to that that, becauM' of the power and the greatness and the 
 virtues of the party which it repr«-sente<l, it was itM-lf in every resix-ct a very 
 great Convention. (Ajiplause.) The delegates came from all the States and Terri- 
 tories, and I believe, too, from the District of Columbia. (Applause.) They came
 
 16 (;OV. HINDKICKS NOTIIIID. 
 
 clotlit'd with authority to expri'ss jiulj^mcnt and (»|iiiiioii upon all those qu<-HtionH 
 wliich arc not settled by constitutional law. For the purposeof jtassiuf; u[)on those 
 questions and scleclinix a ticket for the people that Convention assembled. They 
 decided upon the principles that they wouhl adopt as a platform. They selcctwl 
 the candidates that they would propose to the i)arty f(»r their support, un<l that 
 Convention's work was theirs. I have not reached the jjcriod when it is i)roi)er 
 for me to consider the streni^th and force of the statements made in the platform. 
 It is enouLrh for me to know that it comes at your hand-< from that Convention 
 addressi'd to my i)atriotic devotion to tlu- Democratic party. (Api>luuse.) I ap- 
 prcciat<' the honor that is done me. I need not (piestion thai, but at the same 
 time that I accept the honor from you and from the Convention, I feel that the 
 duties anil the responsibility of the ollice rest iipon me also. 
 
 I know that sometimes it is understood that this particular offloc, that of Vice- 
 President does not involve much responsibility, and as a ^reneral Ihim,' that is so. 
 But .sometimes it comes to represent very srreat responsibilities and it may be so in 
 the near future, for at this time the Senaie of tlie L'nited States stands almost 
 e(|ually divided between the two ;,'reat parlies and if may be that those two ^reat 
 parties shall so exactly differ that the Vice-President of the I'liited States shall have 
 to deciilc upon (jue^tions of law by the exercise (tf the casiinjj vote. (Applau.so.) 
 The responsibility would then become very p-eat. It woulil not then be the 
 responsibility of represent in ir a Slate or district. It would Iw the responsibility of 
 represent in;i: the whole country and the obliiration would be to the judjrmcnt of 
 the whole country, and that vot<' when thus cast should Im* in obedience to the just 
 expectations and re(|uirements of the pi-ople of the l'nited States. If mi^ht Ix?, 
 gentlemen, that upon another occasion j;reat responsibilitv would attach lo this 
 office. It mitrht occur that luider circumstances of some dil^iculty — I doni lliink it 
 will be next election — but it may occur under circumstances of some diHiculty. the 
 Presideiil of the Senate will have to take his part iti the counlini: of the electoral 
 vote, anil allow me to say that duty is not to Im- <liseharp'd in obedience to anyset 
 of Tueii or to any party, but in obedieiici- to a hii:her authority. (Applause.) 
 Gentlemen, you have refeired to the fact that lam honored l)y this nominatir)n in 
 in a very special <le;rree. I acce|>t the sujrj.'j-stion that in this cantlithicv I will 
 represent the rif^ht of the people to choos<' their own rulers. That rij,'ht that is alK)ve 
 all, that lies beneath all; for if the people are denied the rij.'hl to clioose their own 
 officers accordiuL' lo their own juilirnient. what .shall become of the ri;:hts of the 
 people at all V What shall become of free jrovernment if the people select not their 
 officers ? How shall they control the laws, their adminisinilion and their execution ? 
 So-that, in su>rjrestin;r that iti this candidacy I represent that ri;;hl of the p«'ople as 
 you have suLTj-'ested, a u'reat honor has devolved upon me by the conlideiice of the 
 Convention, As .soon as it may be convenient and i)ossible to do .so 1 w ill address 
 you more formally in respect to the letter you have given n»e. I thank you gentle 
 men. (Applau.se.)
 
 EX-GOV. HENDRICKS' LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 17 
 
 Ex-Grov. Hendricks' Letter of Acceptance. 
 
 Indianapolis, August 20, 1884. 
 
 Genti^mex — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communica- 
 tion notifying me of my nomination by tlie Democratic Convention at Chicago as 
 candidate for the office of Vice-President of the United States. May 1 repeat what I 
 said on another occasion— that it is a nomination which I had neither expected nor 
 desired, and yet I recognize and appreciate the high honor done me by the Conven- 
 tion. The choice of such a body, pronounced with such unusual unanimity and 
 accompanied with so generous an expression of esteem and confidence, ought to out- 
 weigh all merely personal desires and preferences of my own. It is with this feeling, 
 and, I trust al.so fnjm a deep sen.se of public duty, that I now accept the nomination, 
 and shall abide the judgment of my countrymen. I have examined with care the 
 declaration of principles adopted by the Convention, a copy of which you submit 
 to me, and in their suni and rtubstauce I heartily indorse and approve the same. 
 I iim, gentlemen, your ol^edient servant, 
 
 T. A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 To the Hon. Willia.m F. Vilas, chairman ; Nicholas M. Bell, secretary, and 
 others of the Committee of the National Democratic Convention.
 
 18 I.IKE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 Life of Grover Clovelaiul. 
 
 Grover Cleveland, Governor of tlic State of New York, was born in Cald- 
 well, Essex county. New Jersey, on Marcli 18, 1H37. The house in wliich he was 
 bom, a small two-story wooden hiiildin^. is still staiidinij. It was the pan«onage 
 of the Presbyterian church, of which his father. Richard Cleveland, at the time 
 was pastor. 
 
 The family is of New England oricrin, and for two centuries have contributed 
 to the professi<m*< and to business, men who have reflected honor on the name. 
 Aaron Cleveland, Governor Cleveland's prent-preat-^^nindfalher, was bom in 
 Ma.ssjichusefts ; but subsequently moved to Phihidelphia, where he l)ecame an 
 intimate frientl of Henjamiii Franklin, at whose house he died. 
 
 He left a lar^re family of rliildren who in time married and settled in dilTerent 
 part.s of New England. A jrrandson was one of the small American force that 
 fought the IJritish at Bunker Hill. He 8er\'ed with jrallantry throughout the Revo- 
 lution and was honorably discharged at its close as a lieutenant in the Continental 
 nnny. Another jrninds(m, William (Meveland (a son of a second Aaron Cleveland, 
 who was distinguished as a writer and memlMT of the Connecticut leirislature) was 
 Grover Cleveland's grandfather. William Cleveland became a silversmith in Nor- 
 wich, Connecticut. He acquired by industry some |>roj>erty and sent his son Richard 
 Cleveland, the father of Grover Clevelantl, to Yale College, where he graduated in 
 1H24. During a year siM-nt in teaching at Hallimore, Marj*lan<l, after graduation, 
 he met and fell in love with a Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy Baltimore 
 book i>ublisher, of Irish birth. He was earning his own way in the world at the 
 lime anil was unable to marry ; but in three years he completed a course of prep- 
 aration f<ir the ministry, secured a church in Windham, Connection, and married 
 Annie Neale. Subsequently he moved to Port-smouth, Virginia, where he preached 
 for nearly two years when he w jis summoned to Caldwell, New ,Iers«-y, where wa.s 
 born Grover Cleveland. When he was three years old (ls41) the family 
 moved to Fayetteville, Onondaga county. New York. Here Grover 
 Cleveland lived imtil he was fourteen years old, the nigged, health- 
 ful life of a country boy. His frank, generous manner made him a favorite 
 among his comjianions, and their re-spect was won l)y tin* goml (pialities in the 
 germ which his manhood developed. He attended the district s<-hoolof the \illage 
 and was for a short time at the academy. His father, however, iK-lieved that boys 
 should be taught to labor at an early age. and In'forc he had completed the course 
 of stud}' at the academy he liegan to work in the village store at lifty dollars for 
 the first year, and the promise of $100 for the .second year. Ilis work was well 
 done and the promised increase of pay was granted in the second year. 
 
 Meanwhile his father and family had moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton 
 College, where his father acted as agent to the Presbyterian Board of Home 
 Missions, preaching in the churches of the vicinity. Hither Grover came at his
 
 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 19 
 
 father's request shortly after the beginning of his second year at the Fayettevile 
 store, and resumed his sfuilius at the Clinton Academy. After three j'ears spent 
 in this town, the Rev. Richard Cleveland was called to the village church of 
 Holland Patent. lie had ineachetl liere only a month when he was suddenly 
 stricken down and died without an hour's warning. The death of the father left 
 the family in .straightened circumstances, as Richard Cleveland had spent all of 
 his salary of $1,000 per year, which was not required for the necessary expenses 
 of living, upon the education of his children, of whom there were nine, Grover 
 being the fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamilton College, but the death of 
 his father made it necessary for hira to earn his own liveliliood. For the 
 first year (18.")3-4) he acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in 
 the Institution for the Blind in New York City, of wliich the late 
 Augustus Schell was for many years the patron. In the winter of 1854 he 
 returned to Holland Patent, where the generous people of that i)lace, Fayette vilje 
 and Clinton, had purcha-sed a home for his mother, and in the following spring 
 borrowing twenty-five dollars, he set out for the West to earn his living. Reach- 
 ing IJufTalo he paid a hasty visit to an uncle, Mr. Lewis F. Allen, a well-known 
 stock farmer, living at HIack Rock, a few miles distant. He communicated his 
 plans to Mr. Allen, who discouraired the idea of the West, and finally induceri the 
 entlmsiastic boy of seventeen to remain with him and helj) liim prepare a cata- 
 logue of blooded short-horne<l cattle, known as "Allen's American Herd Hook " 
 a publication familiar to all breeders of cattle. For this work young Cleveland 
 was to receive fifty dollars, and his uncle further agreed to secure a position for 
 him in a lawyer's office as a clerk or copyist His ambition had tume<l toward 
 the law ever since his days in the Clinton Academy, and it was partiallv in the 
 iioiK' of finding some opjMjrtunity to lx.'gin the study of the law that he had first 
 decided to go West. While Grover was working on the pedigrees of cattle his 
 un<le vi.sited tlie law ofilces of his RufTalo friends and. after several unsuecessful 
 efforts, secunnl a place for Grover with Rogers, Hmven it Rogers, one of the leading 
 firms in the county. He entered that ofiice accordingly in August, 1855 and after 
 serving a few moDth.s without pay, was paid four dollars a week — an amount 
 l)arely sufficient to meet the necessarj" exiM.'n.ses of his board in the family of a 
 fellow-student in Buffalo, with whom he to<ik lodgings. Shortly after- 
 ward he took a small room in the attic of the Southern Hotel, then 
 a favorite stopping place with drovers and farmers. Life at this time 
 with Grover Cleveland was a stenj battle with the world. He took his breakfast 
 l>y candle-light witli the drovers, and went at once to the otfice where the whole 
 ::»y was spent in work and stuily. L'suallj' he returned again at night to resume 
 uading which had been interrupted by llie duties of the day. In this manner the 
 foundations of legal knowledge were laid deep and firm at the same time that 
 hal)its of industry and close application were acquire<l. Gradually his emi)loyers 
 came to recognize the ability, trustworthinciw and capacity for liard work in their 
 young employee, and by the time that he was admitted to the bar (1n.j9) he .stood 
 high in their confidence. A year later he was made confidential and managing 
 clerk, and in the course of three years more his salarj- had been raised to $1,000. 
 In lb6;j he was appointed assistant district attorney of Erie county by the Dis- 
 ; ict Attorney, the Hon. C. C. Torrance, in recognition of his abilities and his ser- 
 \ iees to the Democnilic party. 
 
 Since his first vote liad l)ecn cast in 1858 he had been a staunch Democrat, and 
 had enrolled hims<-lf among the young men of his ward to do duty at the polls on 
 election day. It nuiy l>e stated here that until he wa.s chosen Governor he always
 
 20 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 made it his dutj-, ruin or sljine, to staiul ut the polls and i^ve out ballots to Di-mo- 
 cnitic voters. Durini; the first year of his tt-nu as assistant district attorm-y, the 
 Di'inocrats desired espeeially to carry the hoard of supcrvis<jrs. The old Second 
 ward in which he lived was Republican ordinarily by 250 majority, luit at the 
 urgent request of the party Grover Cleveland consented to be the Democratic cau- 
 diilato for supervisor, and came within thirteen votes of an election. The three 
 years s|)ent in tlie district attorney's office were devoted to assiduous labor and 
 the extension of his professional attainments. So vigorously was crime i)ros«ruted 
 and so efliciently did he administer the oilicc that he was nominated for district 
 attorney in 1865, with one voice by the Democrats. The Republicans nominated 
 Mr. Lyman K. Bass, a particular friend of Cleveland's, in order to divide the 
 young men's vote, then beginning to Ix; a prominent factor in HufTalo 
 politics. The election was closely contested, but Bn-ss won by about 
 500 majority, although Cleveland polleil more tlmn the party vote in 
 all the city wards. When he retired from the position of assistant 
 tlistrict attornej', in January, 1866, he formed a law partnership with 
 the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel, ex-State Treasurer, under the finu name of Vander- 
 poel & Cleveland. Here the bidk of the work devolvetl on Cleveland's shoulders, 
 and he soon won a good standing at the bar of Eric county. In 1^69 Mr. Cleve- 
 lanil formed a partnership with ex-Senator A. P. Laiiing and ex-Assistant United 
 States District Attorney Oscar Fol.som. under the firm name of Laning, Cleveland 
 & Fol.som. During these years he began to earn a moderate professional income ; 
 but the larger portion of it was sent to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent, to 
 whose su[>port he had contributed ever since 1800. 
 
 In 1870, at the urgent .solicitation of the I)enu)cracy and against his own wishes, 
 he con.scnted to be tlie candidate for slierifT. Tlie election was clo.s<'ly contested, 
 but Mr. Cleveland and the entire Democratic ticket was elected by a good 
 majority. The oflice of sherifT is the most imjHjrtant position in tlie county, and 
 its duties were performed l>y Mr. Cleveland in such a manner as to command 
 the approbation luiil confidence of the community, as was strikingly demonstrated 
 a few years later. At the expinUion of his otllcial tenn as sherifT (.lanuary 1, 1874), 
 Mr. Cleveland resumed tiie j)racticeof the law, associating hims«lf with the Hon. 
 Lyman K. Bass, his fonner comin-titor, and Mr. Wilson S. Bis.sell. The firm was 
 strong and popular, and soon commimdeda large and lucrative pnictice. Ill health 
 forced the rdirementof Mr. Ba.ss in iHTU. and the firm became Cleveland A: Bis.sell. 
 In 1881, Mr. George J. Sicard was added to the flnii. 
 
 In the autumn election of 1881 the Democrats of Buffalo nominated Grover 
 Cleveland for mayor on a platform pledging the party to administrative reform 
 and economy in the expenditures of the city. He was elected by a majority of 
 over 3,500 — the largest maj(<rity ever given a candidate for mayor — and the Demo- 
 cratic city ticket was successful, although the Repulilicans carried BulTalo by 
 over 1,000 majority for their State ticket. Grover Cleveland's administration as 
 mayor fully justified the confidence reposed in him by the people of Buffalo, 
 evidenced by the great vote he received. Some of the salient features of his record 
 while in that office are touched upon in other columns. 
 
 It was his courageous devotion to the interests of the people and his great ex- 
 ecutive abilities, which, in the summer and fall of 1882, gave him prominence 
 before the Democracy of the State as a candidate for Governor. The Democratic 
 State Convention met at Syracuse, on September 22, 1882, and nominated Grover 
 Cleveland for Governor on the third ballot. The campaign that followed was 
 auspicious from the beginning and terminated with a triumphant victorj*. Cleve-
 
 LIFE OF CROVER CLEVELAND. 31 
 
 land was elected Governor by a majority of 192.000, by far the largest ever given 
 in this State, and the largest ever given in any State in llie Union. He was in- 
 augurated on January 1, 1883. 
 
 Grover Cleveland is in his forty-eighth year. Physically he is of a large and 
 powerful frame ; deliberate and tirni, but not slow in his motions. His manner 
 and tone of voice are genial and agreeable. He is broad minded and liberal in his 
 habits of thought, and in religious matters especially a man of conscience rather 
 than a man of any one sect or creed. All his surroundings and habits are those of 
 Democratic simplicity. He walks from the Executive Mansion to the Capitol 
 every morning at nine o'clock, returns to lunch at one, and resumes work at two. 
 The evening he usually devotes to work in the E.xecutive Chamber, walking home 
 never earlier than eleven o'clock. His life is wholly without ostentation. Indeed, 
 the key to his character may be found in the moderation of his wants and the 
 frugality of his living. From such sources spring firmness, courage, clear powers 
 of perception, and collected and deliberate judgment and action. In the strongest 
 and truest sense of the words he is a Jeifersonian Democrat, honest, capable, 
 faithful to the Constitution.
 
 I'l lUlC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 Public Record of Grover Cleveland. 
 
 Corporations. 
 
 The public duties and righu of private corporatioas have becume the subject 
 of repeated consi«leratit)n by Governor Clevelend ; aud bi« views have been stated 
 in terms so explicit mid jusi as to merit and receive the approval of fair-miuded 
 men who liuvr informed tlieinselvts as to tlie partieular ^rrounds of his aetion. 
 
 In acceptin;^ the nmnination for Governor, in October, 1HW2, he thus defined 
 his position, from which he has never waveri-d : 
 
 "Corporations are create<l by tlie hiw for c<Ttain detiind purj ! aro 
 
 restrictetl in their <>|H'rati<iiis Ity s|M-<'itic hmitations. Acting witliin t uale 
 
 spliere tlu-y shimld \>f protcctetl ; but when by combination or by tin . \. h isc of 
 unwarranted power tlicv oppress the jM-oph>. the same authoritv which created 
 should restniin them and protect the rijjlits of the citizen. The law lately pas»»i>«l 
 for the pur|)os«' of adjusting' the relations iM-twcen the jx-ople and corponitions 
 should be e.veeutcd in ;^o<kI faith, with an honest design to effectuate its objects 
 and witli a due regarii for tlie iuteri-sts involved." 
 
 Almost the llrsl act i>erforme<l by him as Governor waa in fultillment of the 
 law here referred to, the Railroad C'ommi.ssion act, which authorize<i the appoint- 
 ment of three railroad conunis-sioners, oru; froni each of the two great iM)litical 
 parties, and one upon the nomination of the Anti.Monopoly ImmUcs. Despite great 
 pressure to the contrary, and without waiting for a proposed amendment of the 
 law, Governor Cleveland promptly nominateil three commissioners, in litend com- 
 pliance with the old law, accepting without hesitation the anti-monopoly candidate, 
 Mr. O'Donnell, who now holds his oflicc under the ap[N>intraent of Governor Cleve- 
 land. The fact that the work of the liuilroad Commissidn has been so well done 
 as not only to justify its creation to those even who were originally doubtful of its 
 value, but also to be .s^itisfaetory to the anti nionoiK»ly sentiment which led to its 
 formation, is due to the conscientious care with which Govenor Cleveland, ignor- 
 ing every consideration but the pur|>osc' of the law, selected the members who 
 were to serve ujwn it. 
 
 Checking the Aggressiori of Corporations. 
 
 Upon April 2, ISJ^S, the Governor, jealously ri'garding the interests of the pub- 
 lic, as opposed to those of coq)onitions, vetoeil a bill tending to increase the power 
 of telegraph companies to use the public streets, from which veto message the fol- 
 lowing extracts are made : 
 
 "A fatal objection to this bill is found in the provision allowing the corpora- 
 tions therein named to enter upon private property, and erect and maintain their
 
 PUbLiC KtX.OkD OF OROVLR CLtV tLANL). '46 
 
 Structures thereon, without the conseut of the owner. It seems to me that this is 
 takiiiir private property, or an easement therein, with very little pretext that it is 
 for a public use. 
 
 • If a private corporation can, under authority of law, construct its appliances 
 and structures upon the lands of the citizen without his consent, not only for 
 the purpose of furnishing light, but in an e.\i)erirnental attempt to transmit 
 heat and power, the rights of the people may well be regarded as in danger from 
 an undue license to corporate aggrandizement."' 
 
 Upon June 14, 1884, despite great opposition from the parties interested, he 
 signed a bill recjuiring such companies to put their lines under groimd on or before 
 November 1, 1885. So, upon May 29, 1883, he vetoed a general street railroad 
 bill, upon the ground that its design was ' ' more to further private and corporate 
 schemes than to furnish the citizens of the StJite street railroad facilities, under the 
 spirit and letter of the Con.stitutiou, and within the limits therein fixed for the 
 Ix'uetit of the people." 
 
 I'pon April 6, 1883. in further exhibition of his disposition to keep corporations 
 within tl«; limit of the laws creating them, he vetoed a bill to extend the time for 
 the payment of the capital stock of a corporation, sjjying : 
 
 "Our laws in relation to the formation of corporations are extremely libend. 
 and those who avail themst-lves of their provisions should lie held to strict com- 
 pliance with their re(juirements. ♦ ♦ ♦ This company and its stockholdei*s 
 iiave a.ssumed for their own benefit certain relations to the State, to the public and 
 to their creditors, and these relations should not be disturbed. If corporations are 
 to be relieved from their ilefaults for the asking, their liability to the i)eople with 
 whom they deal will soon become dangerously uncertain and indefinite." 
 
 Publicity of Corporation Operations Required. 
 
 In his message to the Legislature at the beginning of his second year, the 
 Governor, in vigorous language, called attention to the duty of railroad corfutra- 
 tions, and of all others as well, to truly inform the public as to their operation.s. 
 In the present season of distrust and distress, con-secpient upon a supposed failure 
 to discharge this duty, these words of the Governor are admirably appropriate. 
 Aft<'r conunending the n'(juirement by the Itailroad Commi.ssioners of quarterly 
 reports from the niilroad companii-s, he says : 
 
 " It would, in my opinion, be a most valuable protection to the people if other 
 larg«' cor]x»nit ions were obliged to reixjrt to some department their tnuisactions and 
 financial condition. 
 
 ' The Stall' creates tliese corporations upon the theory that some projxT thing 
 of In-nefit can Ite In-tter done by them than l)y private enterpri.se, and that the 
 aggngation of tlje funds of many individuals n>ay 1m- thus profitably employed. 
 Tin y are latmched ujion the public witli tlie seal of the State, in some .si-nse, uim)ii 
 them. They an- iK-rmittM to n-present the advantages they iK>sse.ss and the wealth 
 sure to follow from admission to menilMTship. In one hand is held a charter from 
 the State, and in the other is proffered their stock. 
 
 •' It Ls a fact, sintrular though well established, that people will pay their money 
 for stock in a corporation cngage<l in enterpri.ses in which they would refuse to 
 invest if in private haiuls. 
 
 •' It is a grave (juestion whether the formation of the.se artificial Ixxlies ought 
 not to Ix" checked or U-tter resrulated. and in some way supervised 
 
 "At any rate they should always l»e well kept in hand, and the funds of its 
 citizens should be i)rotectefl by the State which has invited their investment. 
 WInle the stockholders are the owners of the cori)orate pn)|M'rty, notoriously they 
 are oftentimes com|)leteIy in the power of the directors and m.magers, who acquire 
 a majority of the str>ck and by this means ix-rpefuate their control, using the cor- 
 ponite property and fnmchises for their In-nefit and profit, regardless of the inter- 
 ests and rights of the minority of siockhoMers. Inimt-nse salaries are paid to 
 officers ; tninsju-lions an- consummated bv which tin- directors make money, 
 while the rank and file among the 8t<xkhoUlers lo.se it; the honest investor waits
 
 24 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 for dividends and the directors jtrrow rich. It is suspected, too, tlmt liirge sums 
 are spent under various disguises in efforts to influonrc lejrislation. 
 
 " It is not consistent to claim tliut the citizen must protect iiimself, \>y refu-^ini; 
 to purchase stoclt. Tiie law constantly reco<,niizes the fact that people "should Ik- 
 defended from false representations and from their own folly and cupidity. It 
 l)unishes ohtnining ;roods hy false pretenses, paml)linf^ and lotteries. 
 
 " It is a hollow mocltery to direct the owner of a snuill amount of stock in one 
 of tliese institutions to the courts. I'nder existing statutes, the law's de ay. per- 
 plexitv and uncertainty leads hut to despair. 
 
 " I'he State sliouUf either refuse to allow these corporations to exist under its 
 authority and p!itrona<;e. or ackixjwlcdirin); their paternity and its re.sponsihiity, 
 shoulil jtiovide a simple, easy way for its |t«'ople. whose mimev is invested, and 
 the puhlic Li;enerally, to discover how the funds of the.se institutions are spent, and 
 how tiieir affairs are cond\icled. It sliould at the same time provide a way hy 
 which the squandering or misuse of corporate funds would be made good to the 
 parties injured thereby. 
 
 " This micht well Ijc nccomplishe<l by requiring corporations to frequently file 
 reports made out with the utnuKst detail, and which would not allow lobl)y expenses 
 to be hidden under the pnrte.xt of legal .services and counsi-l fees. accom|>anied by 
 vouchers and sworn to l)y the otlicers making them, showini; particularly the del)t.s, 
 liabilities, ex|)enditures and property of the corporation. Let this rejwlrt be deliv- 
 ered to some ai)propriate department or officer, who shall audit and examine the 
 .same ; provide tliat a false oath to such account shall be perjurv, and make the 
 directors liable to refund to the injured stockholders any exi>enditurc which shall 
 be determined imjjroper by the auditing authority. 
 
 " Stub reiiuirements might not Ik- favorable to stock speculation, but they 
 wotdd protect the innocent investors ; they might make the management of corpo- 
 rations more troublesome, but this ought not to Im- considered when the protection 
 of the people is the matter in hand. It would prevent corponite efforts to influ 
 ence legislation ; the honestly conducted and strong corporations would have noth- 
 ing to fear ; the badly managed and weak ought to be expo.sed." 
 
 Thus, it will appear from the Governor's own words, with which his actions 
 
 have been in full accord, that he has insisted that corporations .shall observe the 
 limitations of the laws creating them ; that their privileges shall be exercised in sub- 
 ordination to the rights of the public; that their affairs shall be open to public 
 scrutiny; and that to their members and the public alike they shall be honest 
 and fair. 
 
 The Five Cent Fare Bill -The Public Faith Must be Kept. 
 
 In this same spirit of exact ami equal justice, which lias demanded of corpora 
 tiona compliance with the provisions of law binding upon them, the Governor has 
 observed the express rights given to thera by law. His principle has been " The 
 public faith must be scrupulou.sly kept." Upon this principle he undertook to act 
 in the manner of the veto of what has come to be known as the " Five Cent 
 Fare Bill." 
 
 The elevated railroads of New York City, under their charters, charged an imi- 
 fonu rate of fare of five cents during certain of the morning and evening hours in 
 which the great body of workingmen went to and from their homes, and ten cents 
 for the rest of the day. In 1883, the Legislature pas.sed a bill to make the rate of 
 fare five cents throughout the day. This bill the Governor vetoed, upon the 
 ground that it involved a breach of faith on the part of the State. The general 
 railroad law, pa.ssed in 1850, and for nearly a quarter of a century declaring the 
 policy of the State, had promised that the Legislature would not reduce 
 the rates of any railroad until its reduced rates should produce a profit of ten 
 per centum on the capital actually expended. The Governor declared that until 
 the profits of these roads should have been ascertained to exceed this limit, the 
 policy of tlie State forbade their reduction. A subsequent examination by the
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVF.R CLEVELAND. 25 
 
 Rjiilroad Commission, consisting of one Democrat, one Republican and one Anti- 
 Monopolist, showed that the earninijs of the roads were not such as to justify the 
 ])roposed reiluction of fare, thus justifying the action of the Governor. 
 
 Another reason for his veto was found in the express provisions of one of the 
 special acts applicable to one of these roads. It was therein provided that the 
 company should, under bonds, pledge itself to pay a certain percentage into the 
 city treasury, which should " constitute an ay:r(ivxiwnt in (he TUiture of a contract 
 J)t't\\ een the city and con.structing company, entitling the company to the legalized 
 rates of fare, which shdll not be changed irifhont the muditil consent of the parties." 
 
 The railroad company having made the.se payments to the city, the Governor 
 considered that under those terms of this act there had been constituted "an agree- 
 tnent in the nature of a contract" between the city and the company, which the 
 State could not in gO(xi faith abrogate. 
 
 It also appeared that still another contract in writing, to the same elTect, had 
 lieen made between the rapid tran.sit conmiissioners and the railroad companies, 
 htfore the roads wen? built and to induce their construction, thus constituting a 
 tliird prorai.se on the part of the public which this bill proposed to break. The 
 Governor did not Ijclieve that the people of New York nor its Legislature, when 
 brought to a knowledge of these facts, would desire this great State to be even 
 sus|>ected of tritling with its obligations, and so in a me.s.sageso explicitasto neces- 
 .sarily reach great length, he transmitted to the As.sembly the reasons wiiy he was 
 unable to approve the l)ill. The effect justitled his estimate of the honor of the 
 iSiate and of its legislators. (A majority voted to sustain his veto, wiiile two- 
 thirds would have l>een neces.sury to override it.) From every side came expres- 
 sions of commendation for the scrupulous attention that had been given to the 
 maintenance of the public faith, and (though there was dissent from the Governor's 
 conclusif)n that a contract existed) none doubted but that this In-ing his honest 
 conclusion, he was by his oath Ixtunil to disapprove the bill, which he did in the 
 following 
 
 Veto Messaf^e. 
 
 State ok Nkw York, ) 
 
 Executive ('n.\.MBEK, Ald.\ny, Marcii 2, 1883. f 
 
 To the Amwmhly : 
 
 A.s.sembly bill No. 58. entitled "An act to regidate the fare to l)e charged and 
 regulated by persons or corp<irations openiting elevated railroads in the City 
 of New York " is lierewith returned without approval. 
 
 This bill prohibits the collection or receipt of more than five cents fare on any 
 elevateil railroad in the City of New York, for any distanc*- iK'tween the Battery 
 and Harlem river, and provides, that if any ix-rson or corporation operating such 
 elevated railn)ads shall charge, demand, collect or receive any higher rate of fare, 
 such iH-rson or corjMJnition shall, in ndditir)n ti> all other jx-nallies impos<'d by law, 
 forfeit and pay to ativ pers*)n aggrieved tifly df)llars for each o(Ten.se, to be recov- 
 ered by siicli persmi in any court of comj>eteiit juri.sdiction. 
 
 The importance of this measure an<l the interest which it lias excited, has 
 impres.sed me with my responsibility, and led me to examine, with as much care 
 as has iK'en possible, the consi<lerations involved. 
 
 I am convinced that in all cases the share which falls upon the Executive 
 regarding the legislation of the State should be in n«) manner evaded, but fairly 
 met by tlie exi)ression of his carefullv guarded and unbiased judgment. In his 
 conclu>iion he may err, but if he has fairly and honestly acted, he has perfonned 
 his duty and given to the people of the St.ite Jiis best endeavor. 
 
 The elevated railroads in the City of New York are n(nv operated by the Man- 
 liattan Uaihvav Comp.iiiy. as the Ics.s^-e of the New York Elevated liaiiway Com- 
 pany and the ^letropolitan Elevated Hailw.iy Comivaiiy.
 
 26 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 Of coui-sf whati'ver nights tlie lessor coiiiixiiiv liavi- in nlntioii to tho ruiiniiif; 
 and operation of their ri'S|)ective roads pas^e*! to tije Manliattuu C'umpuny under it* 
 leune. 
 
 The New York Elevated Itailway C.'omimny is the successor of the West Side 
 and Yoiikers Patent Iljiihvay Company. 
 
 The latter fornpaiiv was fonne<i under and in pursuance of an act passed on the 
 20tli flay of .lum-. IMOO. 
 
 The third seetion of that act provides that companies formed under its provU- 
 ions " may fix and collect rates oi fareou their respective rutuls, not e.\ceedin>f five 
 cents for each mile, or any fraction of u mile, for each passenger, and with ri^htn 
 to a maximum fare of ten cents." 
 
 On the 2'Jd day of April. iMflT. an act was piiHsed in relation to this corjMirat Ion, 
 which provid»-.s for the manner of constructing its road, the eighth section of which 
 act reatls as follows : 
 
 "The said con»pany shall hv authorized to demand and receive from each pas- 
 senger within the limits of the City of New York rates of fare, not exceeding for 
 any distancr less than two nules tive cents, and for c-very mih- or fnielional part of 
 a mill- in addition thereto one cent ; provided that when said ndlway is eompleled 
 and in operation iietween Hattery place ami the vicinity of the Harlem river, the 
 sjiid company may. at its r>j)ii()ii, adopt a uniform rale, not exeee«ling ten cents for 
 all distances u|M^n Maidiattan Island, and may als<i collect said last-named rate for 
 a period of tive years from and after the passjige of this act." 
 
 It wiLs further provided by .M-ction 9 of this act that the sjud company should 
 pay a sum not exceeding tive per cent, of the net ineomt- of sjiid niihvav frtun 
 pas.senger Irallic upon Maidiattan Island inio the tnasury of the City i>\ New 
 York, in >iueh manner as the U-gislalure might thereafter direct, as a cunipensa- 
 tion for the \ise of the streets of the city. 
 
 In lN(>.s a law was passed supplementary to the act last refem-d to, hy which 
 the sjiiil company was authorized to adopt such fomi of motor as certain coinmiii- 
 sioners shoultl, after due ex|HTiinent, recommend or approve. 
 
 8pe<ific provision was made in the act to carrv out section 9 of the law of 1887, 
 in relation to the payment of the ttve iHJf cent, of the net income of the c<»rapany 
 into the treasury of the city. 
 
 Section ;{ of this act contains the following prf>vision : " It shall Ik- the duty of 
 the constructing company aforesaid, Ix-fore ojK'ning its railway to pulilic use, to 
 file with the com|itroller of the City of New ^ork, in fonn to Ik- approveil hy the 
 n^ayor of the City of New York, its Inind in the jM-nal sum of jfelon.iMK), enn- 
 ditioned upon the true and faithful payment of the revenue in amount and manner 
 siH'citieil in the preceding s«-ction, and the paynu-nt thereof shall Im' the lei:al com- 
 pensation in f\dl for the us*- and occupancy of the slre«'ts l»y said railway as pro- 
 vided by law, and shall constitute an aurecment in the nature of a contract 
 between' said city and constructing company, entitling the latter, or its successors, 
 to the privileges and nites of fare lieretofore «)r herein legidized. which shall not 
 be changed without the mutual consent of the |>arties thereto as aforesaid ; and 
 the mayor, on Iwhalf of sixUl city, may, in cast- of default in jKiyjuents as afore- 
 isjiid, sue for and colled at law any arrearage- in such jMiyment. and the claims 
 of the city therefor shall ct)n.stitute a lien on the railway of said company having 
 priority over ail others." 
 
 The use of what are called dummy engines was afterwards authorized in the 
 operation of said roail by the Comnussioners alwve n-fi-rred to. 
 
 The New York Klevated Hailr«>ail Company was organizwl under the general 
 railroad law pa.ss«'d in iSoO, antl the laws amendator}' thereof and supplementary 
 thereto. 
 
 ^Vithin a short time thereafter the last named company l)ecame the i)urcha.>ier 
 under a foreclosure, and by other transfers, of the railwav and all the rights, privi- 
 leges, easements and fnmchiscs of the ^Vest Side and Vonkers Patent Uuilway 
 Comjiany (the name of which had in the meantime been changed to the West Side 
 Elevateii Patented Railway Company of New Y'ork Citv). 
 
 ^Ve have now reached a point where the New York lilevated Railway Company, 
 one of the lessors of the Manhattan Railroad Company, has succeeded to all the 
 rights and property of the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway Company. 
 
 By a law psis.sed on the 17th day of .lune, IMT.I (the railway still l)eing unfin- 
 ished), it is declared that the New Y'ork Elevatetl Railroad Company, having 
 acquired by jiurchase under luortgage foreclosure and sale and other transfer, all
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 27 
 
 the rin-hts powers priviletres and franchises which were conferred upon the West 
 Side and'Vonkers Patent Riiilwny Company by the acts above referred to, is 
 " hereby contirnied in the possession and enjoyments of the said n.Ldits, powers, 
 orivilecres and francliises as fully and as lar^^e as they were so jrranted m and by 
 tlie acts aforesiid to the said Wi-st Side and Yonkers Patent Railway Company. 
 
 The Court of Appeals, speakini; of this law, uses the followiiiir laniruaj,'!- : 
 
 ••The elTect of this act was to secure to the Elevated liailroad Conipanv all the 
 rij,'hLs. privile^'es and franchises of the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway 
 Company uncfer the purchase by and tninsfer to it " 
 
 By tile sixth section of this act. it is provided that the New York Llevatecl 
 lijiilroad Company mi-^dit demand and receive from each passinirer on its railroad, 
 not exceedin«f t.-n" cents for any distance of live miles or l.-ss. and with the assent 
 required by si-ction three of the act of ls(i8, hereinbefore referreil to, not e\'cee<linLC 
 two cents for each additional mile or fractional part thereof. 
 
 Another act was passed in IHT"). commonly called the Rapid Transit Act, which 
 provided for the appointment of commissioners, who, amontr other thinjrs. were 
 authorized to fix and determine the time witliin which roads subject to the provi- 
 sions of the act shouM be completed, to-,'et!»er witti the maximum rates to be paid 
 for transportation and conveyance over sjiid railways and the hours durinir which 
 special cars should be run at'reiluced rates of fare. 
 
 Commissioners were dulv appointed by the mayor of the City of ^ew i ork^ as 
 provided l)y this act, who tixed and determined the route of the road of the New 
 York Elevated Railroad Company, and jirescribed with the utm<»st particularity 
 the manner of its construction and'therefore deliberat.-ly airree<l with said coinijany 
 that it should charge as fare upon trains and cars other than what were called by 
 the parties commis^i(jn trains and cars, for all distances under tive indes not^to ex- 
 ceed ten cents, and not to exceed two cents for each mile or fraction of a mile over 
 tive miles, until the fare shouhl amount to not exceeding,' Jifteen cents for a throujrli 
 passen<'<T from ami between the Battery and the intersection of Thinl avenue ami 
 One ifundred and Twenty-ninth street, and from and between the liattery and 
 Hi'di Bridi:e not to exceed' seventeen cents for a throuj,'h pa.s.sen-rer. and that for 
 tli(^ entire distance from and int ween the Battery and Fifty ninth street the fare 
 should not exceeil ten cents per passeiitrer. 
 
 it was further a^^reed between the said coinimny and commissioners that coin- 
 inis.sion trains .sliould In- run during certain h<»urs in the morning' and (venin^ for 
 the accoinmiMlalion of the public and the laborin-; cla.s.ses, uix.n which the fare 
 should not exce.-d five cents from and between the Battery and Fifty-ninth street, 
 nor any j^reater sum fi>r any distance not exceeding live miles ; that it should not 
 excee«r seven cents for a tliVftuirh pass^-mrer from and between the Battery, or any 
 point south Iherwf and the Harlem river, and that such fare should not exceed 
 ei^jht I cuts on such comnii-ssion cars and trains from and between the Battery and 
 High Bridire. . 
 
 And it was further ajm-e*! by said company that when the net income ol tlie 
 road, afterall exiMiiditures. taxes, and char^'cs an- paid, should amount to a sum 
 sulhcieiit to pav exceeding ten jK-r cent, per annum on the capital stock of the 
 company ; that" in such case and within six months thereafter, ami so long as said 
 net earnings amount to a sum sulHcient to i)ay more than ten per cent, as afore- 
 said, the said company would run < ommission trains «)n its roads at all hours dur- 
 inir which it should Im- operated at the rates of fare la.st mentioned. 
 
 Having thus completed an agre<'ment with this company, the commissioners 
 tninsmitted the siuiie to the mayor of the City of New York, accompanied by a 
 very eoni,'n»tulatory rei>ort of their priK-eedings, whereujxtn the mavor submitted 
 the.sameto the Boiird of Aldennen. by whom it was approved. This^was in the 
 latter part of IM?."). ' , r • i .• 
 
 Since that time the New York Elevated Railroad Company, upon the faith ot 
 the laws which have Im-cu recited, and its pro<eedings with the commissioners, at 
 a very large exjK-nM-, has completed its road from the Battery to Harlem riyer.^a 
 distance of al>out ten miles. "-. ^- • 
 
 The bill before me pro\'ide« that notwithstanding all the statutes that have 
 iH-en pa.ssed and all that has been done thereunder, pa.s.senger8 shall be carried the 
 whole length of this road for five cents, a sum much less than is i)rovided for in 
 any of such statutes or stipulate*! in the prf)cee<lings of the commi.ssioners. 
 
 "1 am of the opinion that in the legislation an<l prweedings which I havedetailed. 
 and in the f.i ili.it pursuant thereto the road of the company was con.structed and
 
 28 PUBLIC RECORD OF OROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 thUHhcd, thtTi' exists a (•(Uitriu-t in favor of thin coinpaiiy, which in proU-cUjd by 
 that ilausf of the Constitution of llie l'njte<l Htiites whieii prohihitM the puiiiiage of 
 a law hy any State impairing' tlie olilifj^ation uf eoiitructM. 
 
 Hut let it he supposed that tliis is not ho, and that neiUier of thew R-hmt com- 
 ])anies are in any way proterted from interferenee witli their niti-s of furr. I)ut that, 
 on the contrary, tliey are suhject to all the provisions of the p-neral railroad wt, 
 under which they are lK)th or;;anized. 
 
 Section thirty-three of that a«'t reads as follows : 
 
 '• The IrL'islaiiire may, when any such railroad shall Ik- op. m li lur u-m. from 
 time to time alter or reduce the rate of frei^dit. fare or other profits ujMin said road; 
 but the same shall not, without the consent of the comjiany. he mi rethiced lui to 
 produce with said profits less than ten [kt centum (ht annum on the ca[)ital actu- 
 ally expended, nor utdess on an examination of the amount n-<-eived orex|M-nded, 
 to he made liy the State En>rine«-r antl Surveyor, and tlie Comptruller, th>'V Hliall 
 ascertain that the net imome <leriviil by the company from all sources, hjr the 
 year tlun last j)ast shall have exceede<l an annual incoiiio of ten iht cent, upon 
 the capital of the corporation actually expended " 
 
 Kven if the Slate has the jMiWer to reduce the farron thoflc mnds. it ' riiaed 
 
 not to do so except under certain cinumslances and after a certain i ii. 
 
 I am not sjitisfied that iIicm' circumstances exiHt, antl it 18 coi.< . ... ■. ...at DO 
 such examination has In-cu made. 
 
 The constitutional ol)jections which I have suu/fested to the bill un«h'r con- 
 sideration are not. I think, removed by the claim that the pn>|MMed leirislation in 
 in the nature of an alteration of the charters of thesi' companies, and that ihiM ia 
 permitted by the State Constitution ami by the provlsionH of some of the law« to 
 which I have n-ferred. 
 
 I supiM)se that while the charters of cor|M)nitions niay Ik- altered or reix-idi-tl, it 
 must bedidie in subordination to the Constitution of tlie l"nit«'d States, which ifl 
 the supreme law of the land. This leads to the conclusion that the altenition of a 
 charter cannot Im- made the pretext for the passage of a law which impairs the 
 obli^'ation of a contnict. 
 
 If I am mistaken in .supposinp that there an- le^'al objections to tliis bill, there 
 is another consideration which furnishes to my mind a sutliciciit reason why I 
 should not >;ive it my approval. 
 
 It seems to me that to arbitrarily reduce these fares, at this time and under 
 exisiinjr circumstances, involves a Im-ach of faith on the part of the State, and a 
 betraval of confidence which the State has invitetl. 
 
 Tlie fact is notorious that for many years rapid tninsit was the jjTi»at need of 
 the inhabitants of the City of New York, and was of dire«t im|M)rtance to the citi- 
 zens of the State. Projects which promi.se*! to answfr the jn-tiple's wants in this 
 direction failetl and were abandoned. The Lej^slature. ai>[>r(Hiatin>; the situation, 
 willingly pa.ssed statute after statute calculate*! to aid and encour^'e a solution of 
 the problem. Capital was timid, and hesitated to enl«-ranew field full of risksand 
 danjiers. Hy the promise of liU-nd fares, as will Im- s<-en in all the acts pas.sed on 
 the sjibjcct. and throu^di other ci>nc«-ssions jihully made, ca{iitalists w.-re induced 
 to invest their monev in the enteri)rise, and rapid tnmslt but lat«'ly ln-canK' an 
 accomplished fact, ftut much of the risk, exix-nse and bunlen attending the main- 
 tenance of these roads are y»-t unknown and Ihreateninu'. In the meantim«-, tlie 
 people of the City of New York are n^ceiving the full In-nefit of their con.struc- 
 tion, a tcreat enhancement of the value of the taxable projxTty of the city has 
 resulted, and in additi(Mi to taxes, more than ifl^O.JKlO. I>einir" five in-r ceiit. in 
 increa.se, pursuant to the law of istW. has l)«'en paid by the Companies into the 
 city treasurv on the faith that the rate of fare airre«-«l upon was .securni to them. 
 I am not a\tare that the cor|>orations have, by any rlefault. forfeitetl any of their 
 riirhts ; and if they have, the n-medy is at hand under existinp laws. Their stock 
 and their bonds are held by a larirenumU'r of citizens, and the income of these 
 roads depends entirely ujMtn fan-s receivt>d from pas.s«n.L'ers. The re«luct ion pro- 
 posed is a large one. and. it is claimed, will permit no dividends to investr.rs. ThU 
 may not be true, but we should lie sati-sfied it is not before the propo.sed law takes 
 effect. 
 
 It is manifestly important that invested capital should lie protected, and that its 
 necessity and usefulness in the development of enteqirises valuable to the people 
 should be recognized by conservative conduct on the part of the State govern- 
 ment.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 29 
 
 But we have especially in our keeping the honor and good faith of a great 
 State, and we should see to it that no suspicion attaclu'S, through any act of ours, 
 to the fair fame of the c«)Uimonwenlth. The SUite should not only be stn<'lly 
 just, but scrupulously fair, and in its relations to the citi/en every legal and 
 moral obligation should l)e recogni/.e«l. This can only be done by legislating with- 
 out vindictiveness or prejudice, and with a firm determination to deal justly and 
 fairly with those from whom we exact obedience. 
 
 I am not unmindful of the fact that this bill originated in response to the 
 demand of a large portion of the people of New York for cheaix-r rat«*.s of fare 
 between their places of emphjyment anil their homes, and I realize fully the de>ira- 
 bility of securing to them all the privileges possible, but the exjjerience of other 
 States teaches that we must keep within the limiLs of law and good faith, lest in the 
 end we bring upon the very people we seek to benchl and protect a hardship which 
 must surely follow when these limits are ignored. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 Among many expressions in opposition to the bill was a most emphatic com- 
 mimication from the Mayor of the City of New York, earnestly asking for the 
 veto of the bill, concerning which, as a mea.sure particularly relating to the City of 
 New York, the Mayor of that city seemed to be particularly (lualified to speak. 
 
 The bill having been vet<x'd, letters of commendation and hearty approval were 
 received from all jiarts of the State, from men of every shade of political opinion 
 and in every walk of life. 
 
 The Railroad Commission's Conclusions. 
 
 Subsequently to the veto of the bill an examination of the cost and earnings of 
 the elevated niilroads was undertaken by the Railroad Commi.ssioners, of whom 
 none refnjrted a limitation of a tive-cent fare for the whole day, though one recom- 
 mended a " judicious extension of the commission hours," by adding three hours, 
 in which a Ave -cent fare should be chargetl. and subnulted a bill to that effect, 
 which was introduced in the Republican Legislature of 1884, but was defeated by 
 a Republican Senate, and never reached Governor Cleveland. 
 
 The reiMjrt of the majority of the Commi.ssion contained the conclusion that a 
 reduction to a Ave cent fan- throuuhout the day would, at the number of pas- 
 sengers Carrie*! in 18H2, " reduce the gross income so as to prevent the roads from 
 iven paying interest on their lK)nded debt in full. The laboring classes f)f New 
 York an- carried l>etwet'n the hoursof 5.30 and 8.30 .v.M., and 4.30 and 7.30 p.m., at 
 five cents, uytou tniins which run at intervals of forty-five seconds. The reduction 
 would not so much l)enertt tliem, therefore, as it would the class who are better 
 able to pay ten cents than the laborers are to pay five," 
 
 Thus did the result .show that the Governor was ju.stified in his refu.sal to 
 weaken res|H'ct for the promises of the State, and that in this as in his whole 
 course of action concerning corporations, the Governor has been controlled by no 
 partiality or favoritism, but only by a just regard for the rights of the State and 
 the public, and the observance of i)ublic faith. 
 
 The suggestion that his action on the Five Cent Fare Bill was taken out of 
 deference to the capitalists controlling tho.se roads is quite absurd in view of the 
 fact that all of those most prominently named in connection with them oppose 
 him and support the Republican candidate for the presidency. 
 
 Neither cor])orations nor corporators have had from him any favor nor any 
 injustice. The Hpuil administration of the laws has been his aim and practice 
 with reference both to them and to the public.
 
 80 PUm.lC RECORD OF OROVF.R CLEVELAND. 
 
 The Labor Record. 
 
 Labor is orjiani/.ed in the Slate of New York. The < liitf n|.n-s«iit:iliv.- body 
 of the State is " State Trades Assembly." It ifl not or;,m«>>/.ed alone f-.r political 
 purposes, but has for iLs real purpose the improvement of the conditio!! of the 
 workin-^-^nicn in all thinps. Its partieiimtion in matters political is incidental to 
 the reafiiurpose of its existence. In stekinj; the in»proven>int in the condition of 
 labf)r. it has tbroujih cr.mmittees for years applied to the u'reat iiolilical or)?an- 
 izations for assistance and consideration. It has received these only froni the 
 Democratic party. Orpmi/afion in this branch of endeavor has hatl its etTect. a» 
 it does everywhere ; and so it came alMiut that in 1882. as a result of orp»ni/j»tion. 
 and for the first time, it presented well detlnetl contentions, with which it ai»i)«ired 
 l)efore the two >?reat parties of the State— the Democratic and the lU-publican. 
 Tlie Republican party ffivv no hwd whatever to Its reriuests. The Democmtlc 
 party listened ; and believinj,' in them embraced them in their platfonn of that 
 year. Upon this pliitform CJrover Cleveland was placed by the Democracy of the 
 State, and upon it he was electe<l to Ik- Governor. His faithful adherence to the 
 pledges and promises of that platform is known of all men, and so faithful a» to 
 be rejfarded the bejfinninK of a new era in jmlitics, when candidate's would regard 
 the obligations of formulated party utterances 
 
 The Labor Plank of 1882. 
 
 The plank relating to labor was the twelfth, and read as follows: 
 Ttriifth — We n-allimi the i^olicy always maintained by the Democnitic party 
 that it is of the tirst imporlano' thai lalstr should be made free, healthful ancl 
 secure of jusi remuneration. That convict labor sh(»uld not come into com- 
 petition with the industry of law abiding cili7.<-n'.. That the IalH)r of children 
 shoulfl be surnumded with such safeijunrds as their health, their rights of etluca- 
 tion and their future, as usefid members of the community, d«-mand. That 
 workshops, whether large or small, should Ik- undt-r such sanitary contr«)l as will 
 insure the health and comfort of the employed, ami will protect all against 
 imwholcsome labor and surrounrlings. That lalMtr shall have the .same riglits as 
 capital to combine f«>r its own protection, and that all leirislation which cnimfw 
 industrv. or which enabU-s the powerfid to opiJn-Hs the weak, shoidd Im- reix-aled ; 
 and. to promote the interests of labor, we re<ommeiul the collr«-tion of statistics 
 and information res|H'cling \\\>- iiiMin.vcniciit^ nitds mikI :il)ii^-s nf ilir \.iri,,i|.< 
 branches of industry." 
 
 This ]>lank Grover Cleveland accepted in il.s entirety, not oidy in ihe letter, 
 but in the spirit, as the subsc«iuent reconl will show, in the following words, which 
 are taken from his letter of acceptance of the gultcrnatorial nomination, dated at 
 Buffalo. October 7, 1882 : 
 
 " The platform of piinciples adopted by the convention meets with mv hearty 
 approval. The doct rines therein enunciated are so distinctly and explicitly slated 
 that their amplilication .M-eins scarcely nece-isit.ited. If elected to the oilice for 
 which I have been nominated I shall endeavor to impress them ui)<)n my admini.H- 
 tration and make them the policy of the State." 
 
 And again, further on, he says : 
 
 " The laboring classes constitute the main part of ourpopidation. They shotild 
 be protected in their efforts to assert their rights when endangered by agirngated 
 capital, and all st^itutes on this subject should recognize the care of the Stale for 
 honest toil, and be framed with a view of improving the condition of the work- 
 ingman."
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 31 
 
 It is now rt matter of history that this pledge has been most faithfully fulfilled. 
 
 Having thus found the Democratic party and its candidate willing to accei)t 
 these contentions as their own, the representative laboring men proceeded to put 
 them into effect by drafting bills to present to the Legislature. Thus in an orderly 
 and efficient way, in fact the only way in which to put them into effect, these con- 
 tentions were formulated into measures. Four bills were introduced in the 
 Legislature of 1883, the first year of Governor Cleveland's term. 
 
 Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
 One wits the bill providing for the establishment of a Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
 This the labor representatives regarded as by far the most important of all the 
 measures they had presented. So soon as the bill reached him, the Governor 
 showed his intention of keeping his pledges by signing it. 
 
 Tenement House Cigar Bill. 
 Another was the bill prohiljiting the manufacture of cigars in tenement houses 
 which the Governor promptly signed. This law was subsequently declared defec- 
 tive in title, and therefore unconstitutional, by the courts ; another bill was intro- 
 duced in the Legislature of 1884, and the defect in the title having been remedied, 
 was pa&sed and the Governor signed it again. It is a fair illustnition of the reck- 
 les.sness and audacity which has inspired the effort to mislead the public mind as 
 to the Governor's attitude toward mf-asures of this character, to cite the fact in 
 this place that it has been repeate«lly and persistently asserted that the Tenement 
 
 Hou.se (.'igar bill was vetoed by him, — a statement absolutely the reverse of tnie 
 
 but not more .so than the other charges with which the opposition, valid reasons 
 failing, has endeavored to sustain itself. 
 
 The Hatters' Bill. 
 Another wiis the bill prohibiting tlie manufacture of wook-n hats in the State 
 prisons, penitentiaries and reformatories of the State, and this was promptly 
 signed by the Governor. For several years ineffectual efforts had been made to 
 pass this bill. 
 
 Convict Labor Bill. 
 
 The fourth and last of the scries of the lal>or bills for 1883 was the bill to 
 abolish conWct laJior in State prisons. This bill met with very great opposition 
 from the Republicans of the I.^gislature, and Thomas F. Grady, then a Senator 
 from the City of New York, introduced a bill providing that the question be sub- 
 mitted to the voters of the State. Thus it was that the bill never readied the Gov- 
 rrnor, and no op|H»rtunity was afforded him to act ujxjn it during the session of 
 1886. 
 
 The question was submitted to the voters in November, 1883, and decided by a 
 verj- large majority against the continuance of convict pri.son labor. Thus it is 
 shown that every bill relating to labor which reached the Governor in 1888 he 
 promptly signwl. 
 
 Returning to the EfTort. 
 
 In 1884 the labor representatives, encourage<l by their successes in 1888, again 
 presented them-»elvcs before the Legislature with further demands formulated into 
 measures as follows : 
 
 The tenement house cigar bill, to which reference was made above. This was 
 made necessary by the decision of the Court of Appeals that the bill was uncon- 
 stitutional in that its title was defective. The defect having lieen remedied, 
 the Governor signed it.
 
 32 PUBLIC RECORL) OK LIROVKR CLKVELAND. 
 
 Convict Labor Again- 
 
 The bill j»r()iiil)itiiij,' the einployuicut of convicl.s in State prisons on contract 
 labor. This wa.s popularly known us the " Coinstoek " bill, and provide*! no sub- 
 stitute for the labor the convicts were employed in. There were severul defecla in 
 the bill as it reached the Governor whidi wouKl have made it iuoiK-Tutive, but the 
 Governor called in Mr. Thayer, the I'resideut of the State Trudes' Ahseinbly, and 
 pointing out the defects, among which was that jK-uiteutiaries were excepted from 
 the provisions of the bill, suggested a recall of the bill to correct it, which was done, 
 and then it was signed. Had not the Governor been the friend of Ial)or he Ls, he 
 could have defeated its object by signing it as it came to him. Subseipientlj', u 
 bill known as the Howe Commission bill jmissihI the Legislature, providing for the 
 appointment of five commissioners, to investipite and reiH)rt by May tlrst some 
 suitable system for the employment of convicts. After an investigation of only a 
 few days they reported that they could not make a report within the s|)ecitied time. 
 A bill was then passed extending the time until Juouar}' 1. 1883. This the Gover- 
 nor vetoed, and in forcible terms, declaring that it was the duty of tlie l^-gislature 
 to provide at that session some substitute. The Republican Legislature dallied with 
 the question, and let it die, and the fact is. that as the contracts under which the 
 convicts labor now expire, the convicts will W without work, the res|)ousibility of 
 which must rest upon the Republican Legislature. 
 
 Child Contract Labor Bill. 
 One of the bills intrcnhiced in the interest of labor this year was that making it 
 unlawful for the trustees or managers of any house of refuge, reformatory or other 
 correctional institution, to contnict, hire or let the service or labor of any child 
 committed to or an inmate of such institutions. It was passed and signed by the 
 Governor.' This is another of the bills which it has Ikimi falsely stateti the 
 Governor vetoed, and it furnishes a further illustnition of the utter recklesisness of 
 those who have sought to arouse hostility uixm false grounds. It may well be 
 claimed tliat the fact that these charges, al)solut«'ly fal.se as they are, have to l)e 
 resorted to by the Governor's opiwnents. olTers conclusive proof that there are no 
 good grounds on wliiih such o])])osition can be based. 
 
 Mechanics' Lien Law. 
 
 One of the bills intrixluced was that one known as the Mechanic' Lien Law. 
 This bill, which was a local act applying only to Kings and Queens counties and 
 the cities of the State, was vetf)ed by the Governor, and, as an examination shows, 
 clearly in the interest of workingmen. Instead of giving the mechanic the first 
 lien, as was the object of the bill, by an oversight in the drafting of it, it gJive to 
 all parties having claims, whelher mechanirs or not, the tirst lien, thus reducing 
 the mechanics to a level with all claimants. Moreover it reix-aled in distinct terms 
 a number of mechanics" lien laws already on the statute books. To make it a law 
 was to sacrifice many real and substantial advantages already possessed by 
 mechanics. 
 
 The bill largely increased the cost of enforcing liens and would have chiefly 
 benefited lawyers. 
 
 Conductors' and Drivers' Bil). 
 
 Since the year 1870 the Laws of the State of New York have declared that 
 " eight hours shall constitute a legal day's work for all classes of mechanics, work- 
 " ingmen and laborers, excepting those engaged in farm and domestic labor, but 
 " overwork for an extra compen.sation, by agreement between laborer and employer
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 38 
 
 "is luTi'by permitted." Though the title and suhsequeut sections of the law 
 limited this provision to public works, its effect lia.s been fjenerully to establish an 
 eio:ht liour systt-m in the State of New York. It has gone as far in the accomplish- 
 ment of this purjKjse as any law could by way of recommendation. 
 
 Early in the session of 1884 there was introduced in the Assembly a bill in the 
 following terms : 
 
 Sfxtiox 1. On and after the passage of this act if shall be unlawful for any 
 officer or agent of any railroad corporation in any of the cities of this State, who.so 
 cars arc drawn by horses, to ex.\ct from conductors or drivei-s employed by 
 them more than twelve hours' labor Koit .\ day's wokk, and such C()ri)onitions 
 shall, out of said twelve hours' labor, allow such conductors and drivers a reason- 
 able time to obtain meiUs. 
 
 5; 2. Any officer or agent of any such corporation who shall violate or other- 
 wiae evade the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
 punishalile by a line of not to exceed three hundred dollars or imprisonment iu>{ to 
 exceed six months, or both tine and imprisonment for each offense. 
 
 S; 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 This bill pa.'».sed the Assembly promptly, but going to the Senate was there 
 ignored until the last (hiy but one of the session, when it Wiis at first defeated, but 
 upon a reconsideration, it was adopted by a bare constitutional majority. 
 
 Owing to this delay by the Legislature, the bill reached the Governor after the 
 final ailjiturnment, when all opportunity fi;r amendment wa.sgone. and when the 
 bill had to Ik' considered ujMJn its merits as a piece of legislation, according to its 
 actual terms, and not as it might have Ixen had more care Injen tiiken in expressing 
 the wi.shes of its promoters. 
 
 Unless effective as a law. it would have b<'en worse than useless as a mere 
 recommendation upon the statute lMX)ks. for it would have recommended a reduc- 
 tion only to twelve hours for a day's work while the .stiitute of 1870 had alreadv set 
 up a sUuidard of eight hours A scrutiny of the [trovisions of the bill will show 
 that it would not have IwH-n effective as a law, and that it would have tended to 
 impair rather Ihati increa.s*- the advisory effect of the eight-hour law of 1870. 
 
 Ujion a careful considenition of the terms of this l»ill, it will lie p«Tceived that it 
 forbade only one thiu^—t/tt; exa^'tion of more than twelve hours' labor /wrt day's 
 iFork from conductors or drivers of cars dniwn by horses. 
 
 Everyone must concede that this would have been construed by the courts as a 
 IM-nal statute. Nothing coidd Ik- added to its express provisions, nor could they be 
 enlarged l>y implication. 
 
 Thus construed the bill was meaningk-ss, and would have accomplished nothing 
 as to any ca.se in which it should not be shown : 
 
 1. That more than twelve hours' labor had been cxacU<l. 
 
 8. That it hatl In-en .so exact«'<l/<//- a d/tt/'s teork. 
 
 8. The cars were dniwn by hi>r»es. 
 
 4. That the offense wa.s conunitted in a et'ty. 
 
 Then' was in the bill : 
 
 1. Nothing to prevent a voluntary agreement between the parties to work more 
 than twelve hours, thus inviting liliinilion in (jach case as to whether the work had 
 been " exacted " or voluntarily rendered. 
 
 2. No applicability to cases where service was rendered not by "day's work" 
 l)Ut by the trip, the fact being that in almost all cases men are paid by the trip, a 
 practice which would have become universjd had the bill become a law. 
 
 3. Nothing to protect conductors of cars drawn by steam or by mules, or 
 drivers of stages.
 
 84 PUflLIC RECORD OF GROVF.R CLEVELAND. 
 
 4. Nolhiiif; to cover cases of drivers or coiuluctore of cars, excejH uiihin the 
 limits f>f incorporated cities. 
 
 Few Itills lijive lieen so crude or so insutlicient to Hubstantially attain the osten- 
 sible purpose of tiieir introduction, and even u less kind-hearted man tlian <jOV- 
 ernor Cleveland would have hesitated l)efore incorporalinjj in the le^'islation of 
 this State, as the first bill tixinju; the hours of lalmr in one Hin^le businesH, a inea»- 
 ure as faulty as this ; jis little likely to aocomplisli its professed object, and &» 
 likely to result in a diminution of the men's earnings by reason of a n-duction of 
 trips, since the general pmclice, not forbidden by the bill, is to pay not by the day 
 but by the trip. It is a matter of geneml information that the wages of th«.*8e 
 hiird-working men is now hardly more than sutllcient to afford them a bare sub- 
 sistence. 
 
 The general understanding of the character of the measure and the reason why 
 the Senate delayed its passage were declared u^wn the day (»f legislative adjourn 
 mcnt, and before the bill reached the Governor, by a prominent Republican jour- 
 nal (the AUmny Enning Journal), now supp^irting the Hcpubllcan candidates, in 
 the following terms : 
 
 "The Senate, however, gave these matters clos<'r investigation and finding that 
 in manv respects the bills checked rather than advance<l the cause of lid>or, 
 declined to concur in them. Among these measures was Mr. F-arl's bill lixing 
 hours of labor for horse-car conductors, in iK-half only time Sp»'ak«T Sheard him- 
 self took the floor for the only time during the session. In the S<'nateit was shown 
 that the bill would be inoi>erative. and it was accordingly lost. It was recon- 
 sidered late at niirht an<l passed. It is purely a piece of buncombe legislation and 
 a patent lie in its very tith'." 
 
 To a bill likely to disajnioint the expectations of those who had l)cen led to 
 8Ui)pose that it was sutlicient and beneficial instead of a delusion, Governor Cleve- 
 land could not give bis approval. Always unwilling to assume the appearance of 
 doing .something when in fact the act was worthless ; unwilling when asked for 
 bread to give a stone, he was con)|M-lled to let this bill die, sincerely declaring " I 
 cannot think this bill is in the interest of the workingn>en." 
 
 All other bills distinctly relating to labor or urgetl by lalwr interests were 
 defeated by a Republican Legislature and not |H.>mutted to reach the Governor. 
 
 Making Laboring Men Preferred Creditors. 
 
 As an evidence of the care Governor Cleveland manifests for lal)oring men, the 
 prompt signing of a bill which creates lalM>ring men i)ref erred creditors for wages 
 in the ca.se of the assigiunent of an emjdoyer. This l)ill, most important to labor- 
 ing men, attracted little attention even from lalmring men at the time of its enact- 
 ment, but the (piick vye and mind «)f the Governor appreciated its value and he 
 made it a law. Tlir law is as follows : 
 
 CHAP. 828. 
 
 " An Act to amend chapter four hundred and sixty six of the laws of eiirht<en 
 hundred and .seventy-.seven, entitled ' An act in relation to assigiunents of the 
 estates of debtors for the iK'netit of creditors.' 
 
 Passed May 21, 1884, three-fifths iK-ing present. 
 
 " I7ie People of the State of New York, repreatnted in Senate and Assembly, do 
 enact aitfoUotrs : 
 
 " Section 1. Section twenty-nine of chapter four hundred and sixty -six of the 
 laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, entitled ' An act in relation to assign- 
 ments of the estates of debtors for the benefit of creditors,' is hereby amended to 
 read as follows :
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 35 
 
 "^29. Id all assignments, made in iHirsuance of this act, the wages or 
 salaries actiiaily owing to the employees of the assignor or assignors at the time of 
 the execution of the assignment, shall be preferred before any other ilelU ; and 
 should the assets of the assignor or assignors not be sutticient to pay in full all the 
 claims preferred, ])ursuant to this section, tiiey shall be applied to the payment of 
 the same pro rata to the amount of each such claim. 
 
 " § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 "What the President of one of the Principal Labor Orgar\izations of the 
 State of Ne'w York says. 
 
 Troy, July 21, 1884. 
 2(> the Argits : 
 
 I have been informed that a statement has been published to the effect that 
 while in Chicago at the recent National Democratic Convention I stated that I 
 could pledge the vote of the workingmen of this and other localities to Governor 
 Cleveland. I wish to state that no such expression ever fell from my lips, and 
 that no interview witli me was ever published in which I made .such a statement. 
 On the contrarv, I stated that no man could pledge the vote of the labor elen)ent 
 of New York State, or of any portion of it, to any rantlidittt', nor did any man 
 have sufllcient intluence Jo cause it to be cast against any candidate. I stated 
 that if any man pretended to pledge tlie workingniens vote to any candidate he 
 did so without any authority. I stated that I had no authority to 
 speak f«>r them on p<ilitical (juestions, nor had anyone else. I was asked 
 what my ])i'nu>nal preferences were, and I said that I preferred Gt>vernor 
 Cleveland. When iusked mj' reasons I expn's.m-d them as follows : The Work- 
 ingmen's Assenibly of this State has, since I have Iwen at the head of 
 that organi/ation, succeeded in pa.H.sing throueh the Legislature 
 the following bills: Alx>lishing the ntanufacture of hats in the 
 State pris«->ns ; creating ii buri'au of lalnir statistics; the tene- 
 ment house cigar bill (twkf) ; the alnjlition of convict contract 
 labor; the lien law, and the conductors and driveis' bill — .seven 
 in ail. Of thes<» measures Governor Cleveland signed yfr** and vetoed two, viz : 
 The lien law and the conductors' and drivers' bill. As to the lien law, it is gen- 
 endlv acknowledged now that he did us a kindness in vetoing that bill, because, 
 through errors of our own in tlrafling the nu-asure, the bill as pa.s.«e<l would have 
 been a iM>flitive injury to us. The conductors' and drivers' bill, I think, he should 
 have signi-d. So the record sliows that we have sent to G«)vernor Cleveland six 
 perfect bills and he has signeil/ro and vctfwd onf. On this reconl I am not pre- 
 pared to condemn him. If the Governor does us five favors and commits but one 
 error, I feel that he is entitlinl to my supt>or1. In addition to the lalnir measures 
 pn'pare<l by our organizatii>n (Jovernor Cleveland has signe<l a bill intHnluced by 
 Senator K».»w«'tt, which makes workingmen jjreferred creditors in case of a.ssign- 
 ment or failure of the tlnn or corjMiration by which they are cmpl(»yed. Recog- 
 nizing the justice of the measure anil its great benefits to the working class. I 
 a«ked Governor Cleveland to sign it and he did so without hesitation. So, to sum 
 tlje matter up, he has approved of six bills favorable to our interests and disap- 
 provinl of one. By his record on legitimate labor measures I judge him, and on 
 the strength of that record I shall supjxirt him. I do not wish it understood tliat 
 I am voicing the .sentiments or jjreferences of anyone but myself. I have no 
 authority to speak for the workingmen on political stibjects. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 WALTER N. THAYER, 
 President of the New York State Trades' Assemt)ly.
 
 86 PUBLIC RECORD OK OROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 Two facts luust l)c sirikinirly nppaniit from the forejrf)in>; : 
 
 Kirst. that tliouirli l:il)or has lM>cn organized for many y«"ars, it has h<iii in 
 rtj^itations imsuccfsst'ul until a n-fcnt iH-riml. 
 
 Second, liiat williin tlic two years Iji-st jmsscd, it has accomplished m-arly all or 
 quite all its demands. 
 
 How comes tins about that suddenly bo much success attends labor atritations ? 
 The answers are equally clear. In \HS2 the Democratic party accepted the^con- 
 tentions of labor as its own, and upon the plntfonn embracing these contentious 
 Grover Cleveland, the honest man, was electitl Governor. Proposing to faithfully 
 carry out the pledges and promises he had made in the acceptance of the platform, 
 he insisted upon all others in authority doing the same, and the result is the 
 wonderful progress nuide in mutters of lalwr — a result due to the stund taken by 
 Governor Cleveland. 
 
 Prisons and Pardons. 
 
 Thye Governor and Y[ls Exercise of the PoAver Vested in him. 
 
 Oneof the last actsof Governor Cornell was the appointment of asu|NTintendent 
 of pri.sons, .so that during the admini.stration of Governor Cleveland the pri.sons of 
 the State have been under the management of an oflicer not aptH>inted by the 
 0<ivernor. 
 
 That Governor Cleveland is iimhIi interested in the pri.son system of the State is 
 shown in his |)ublic a<'ts antl papers. The ix-nal sy.stem is by no means the lieitt 
 that coulii be designed, and the responsibility for its conduct is divided. The 
 correctional institutions of the State are the Slat«' prisons— Auburn, i^ing Sing, and 
 Clinton ; the iM-nitentiaries— of New York, Kings, Erie, Allmny. .Monroe, and 
 Onondaga comities ; houses of refuge and reformatories — the New York House of 
 Reftige, Western House of Itefuge and the State Reformatory at KIniiru, and the 
 county jails. 
 
 Of these the State prisons are under direct Stale control ; the iH'nitentiaries are 
 under county management ; the reformatories are under thedin-rtion of nninagers 
 appointed by the Governor and contlrme<l by the S-nate ; and the common jails 
 are under county control. Without att4>mpting to discuss the wiMhmi of the sys- 
 tem of divide»l authority, it is suflleient t«) say here that in that which the State 
 has control, the Governor began very early to manifest a deep concern. Hardly a 
 month had elapsed after a.ssunung the duties of Governor liefore he addressed the 
 following letter to Superintendent Ihiker : 
 
 Treatment of Convicts. 
 
 St.kte of New York, Executive Chambeii, } 
 Alhany, Februar)- 2, 1883. J 
 
 Hon. Is.vAC V. 15.VKKU, Jr., Supt'rint^n/ient of Statt- Prinons : 
 
 Dear Sm— I deem it proper to call your attention to the provisions of section 
 108 of chapter 46t> of the Laws of l(+47, which prohil)its the infliction of blows 
 upon any convict in the State prisons by the keepers thereof, except in self- 
 defense or to sujipress a revolt or insurrection ; and also to chapter 8C9 of the Ljiws 
 of 1869. abolishing the punishments commonly known as the shower bath, crucifi.x 
 or yoke and buck. I suppose these latti-r forms of punishment were devi.sed to 
 take tlie place of the blows prohibited by tlie law of 1847. 
 
 Both of the statutes above referred to seem to be still in force, and in my 
 opinion, they are in no manner affected by the Constitutional Amendment ginng 
 the Superintendent ■ the superintendence, management and control of the prisons," 
 nor by sections 1 and 5 of chapter 107 of the Laws of 1877, providing that the
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF CIROVER CLEVELAND. 37 
 
 Suijerintendcnt shall have the management and control of the prisons and of the 
 convicts therein, and of all matters relatin-r to the {rovernment, diseiiiline, police, 
 contracts and fiscal concerns thereof, and tliat he shall make such rides and re-ru- 
 lations for the <roverninent and punishment of the convicts as lie may deem projier. 
 1 especially desire to avoid any injurious interference with the maintenance by 
 the i)ris()n authorities of efficient" discipHne ; but I insist that, in tlie treatment of 
 prisoners convicted of crime, the existing statutes of the State on that subject 
 
 should be observed. 
 
 Yours respectfully. 
 
 "G ROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 The Pardoning Po-wer. 
 The great and merciful power of pardon is vested in the Governor. There was 
 a.time in the Instory of this State when, probably, this power was exercised too 
 freely and witiiout due discretion. Perhaps that is the reason why, when a change 
 in^tlds matter took jilace, the other extreme was reached, and when quite as much 
 fault could be found with the one as the other. There are times when the with- 
 holding of clemency is as great an injustice as its la\'ish exercise. 
 
 Comrr\utations. 
 So far as it lay in his power, Govenior Cleveland began reforms in the matter 
 of the treatment of prisoners. Under the statutes, a prisoner for good conduct is 
 allowed a rennssion or commutation of two months for each of the llrst two years, 
 four months for the third and fourth, and five months for each subsequent year. 
 The (luestion of the atrgregating of sentences in the aUowance for goixl conduct 
 was .settled in tlie alHnnative early in the admini.stration of Govenior Cleveland, 
 and projHrly. for few will be willing to deny that he who receives four sentences 
 of five years each is entitled to as much commulatiou for gootl conduct as he who 
 receives a single sentence of twenty years. 
 
 A Reform. 
 The Governor also decided that all prisoners confined in the prisons or peniten- 
 tiaries having an aggrepite sentence of one year or over, could earn commuta- 
 tion whether uniler conviction of felony or other crimes or misdemeanors. And 
 who will deny that this derision was not the correct one, when it is considered that 
 the sole object of the laws authorizing these commutations is to encourage good 
 conduct and promote discipline in pri.sons ? Moreover, it was a demonstration, 
 and an early one. of the humane instincts of the Governor. 
 
 The Governor on Reformatories. 
 
 (^uite in the line of this jxdicy is hi« comments upon the reformatories in his 
 last message to the Legislature. He says : 
 
 '• Of the nundwr al)ove mentioned. 507 (the 15,000 men. women and children 
 confine«l in the prisons, hou.ses of refuge, junitentiaries, reformatories, jails and 
 protectories) were confined in the State Reformatory at Elmira, upon coiivietion 
 of felonies. Such convicts are re<iuiri-d to be In-tween the ages of sixteen and 
 thirty years. No tenn of imprisonment is fixed by the sentence, but they cannot 
 lie detsiined lonirer than the maximum time for which they might have Ix-en sent 
 to prison. Within this limit they may be imprisoned until discharged by the 
 rules of the institution. 
 
 •The lM»ard of managers may transfer •temporarily" to either of the State 
 pri.>Jons any inmate, who. subseijuent to his committal to the reformatorj', shall be 
 shown to have been, at the time of his conviction, more tli:m ttiirty years of age, 
 or to have Ix'en previously convicted of crime, or any apparently incorrigible 
 jirisoner whose presence in "the reformatory- apiM-ais to be seriously detrimental to 
 tiie well-lteing of tiie institution. If after such tnmsfer he is not recalled by the 
 managers, he must remain in Sini.- jMi- luriiii: Die balance of the longest sen-
 
 88 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 tence that mi^ht liuve oriii-lniilly Itt'cn imposed upon him. Tlie law hIIowIu^ a 
 reduction of the time of imprisonment for good conduct is not applicuble to his 
 ca.se. 
 
 " On application to tlie prison at Auburn. I learn that since therefonnatory was 
 established, and up to tlie 6th day of December. 1883, seventy-tive jK-rsons who hud 
 ori<;inally been sent to the reformatory were tninsferred under the conditions aliove 
 stated to the Auburn Stat*- prison. Of these fifteen have been allowed to wrve in 
 prison the Ion ijest sentence that could have In-en pronounced for tlieir crime ; one 
 was diseharu'ed l)y order of the manairers of tlie reformatory ; one was tninsferred 
 to Clinton |)rison ; four were transferred to the Asylum for Insane Criminals (one 
 of whom was subsecpuntly returned to prison) ; two died ; one was reealled to the 
 reformalory, ami lifly-lwo still remained in the prixm. How many of the-^e were 
 sent to the 8tate |)rison by the managers because, in their view, they were • appar- 
 ently iiicorriirible prisoners, whose presence in the refoniialory appears to be seri- 
 ously detrimental to the well being of the institution.' is not rejKjrted. but it is safe 
 to sjiy that a large proportion were consigned to i)ri.s<>n on that allegation. The 
 prisoner thus transferred, who was sentenced to the reformatory, in mercy, to avoid 
 the stigma of a sentence to prison, and for purposes of reform, Ix-cause he had 
 maiiitaincil theretofore a gund reputation and standiiii: in siK'iety. may meet at the 
 door of the i)ris(>n his a(eom|»li<e in the crime committed, who, having made no 
 pretense of charac ter or respictabiiity, has served tin- si-ntence to prison |)r«)nounced 
 upon him by the court. The worst and most hardened criminals, if originally sent 
 to prison, earn, by good conduct, a considerable reduction of imprisonment, but 
 the convict from the reformatory has no such thing to hope or strive for. In my 
 opinion there should be no power vesti-d in the Hoard of .Managersof this institution 
 to send persons commitl«'d to their care to the State prisons; and if convicts are 
 sentenced to the reformatory, the courts should exercise the greatest rart- to lie 
 satisfied that they are promising subjects for reformatory elTorts, and tix a term 
 beyond which they cannot be confined. A release before the time thus fixed might 
 well be olTertMl as a reward fDr improvement, reform or giKnl conduct. 
 
 " The law in relation to the reduction for go<Kl behavior of the terms of con nets 
 in State- prison should be ma<le more i)lain ami definite, and the power of the prison 
 authorities to refuse such reduction be more exactly defined'" 
 
 A few months subseipiently to this message the Governor decided, upon a 
 careful examination of the statute on the subject of commutation that he 
 had the right to extend commutation to therefonnatory transfers. He immediately 
 ordered the discharge of six who, under his view of the statute, were entitled to be 
 so discharged, and filed the following rea.sons for his action : 
 
 These convicts having been originally sentenced to the New York State Hefomi- 
 atory, no limit was fixed by the court to the term of their imprisonment. But 
 by the provisions of the statuti- relating to this institution, such convicts nniy l)e 
 discharged by the managers, under certain conditions; and. in ca.se the discretion 
 thus vested in the managers is not exercised, convicts committed to the reformatory 
 may be imprisoned therein for the longest tenn provided by law as a puni.shnient 
 for the offense of whicii they were convicted. 
 
 Of course, the intention of the law was that jH'rsons convicted of crime, whose 
 j'onth, or freedom from criminal habits and associations, gave promise of reforma- 
 tion, should not be classed and ki pt with <il(l and hardeiit-d criminals, but should 
 be comnutted to the reformatory, where they might receive instruction and 
 encouragement, and that their discharge withinthe limit which the law h.-id fi.xed 
 for their crime should be defx-ndent uiMjn the progress they made toward refor- 
 mation. 
 
 But it is also provided that the managers of this institution may. in certiiin 
 cases, transfer prisoners to a State prison, where, unl»-ss they are recalled to the 
 reformatory, they are kept the balance of the longest term for which they might 
 have been sentenced to prison. 
 
 This I consider entirely wrong. If a convict is to Im? confined in a State pri.son, 
 the criminal courts should fix his term ; and the disc-retion which may be. in such 
 ca.ses, exercised by the courts, should not be abridged nor vested in the managers 
 of the reformatory. 
 
 And, to add to this injustice and this anomalous method of adnn'nistering the 
 criminal law, it has thus far been held. I believe, that the {provisions of the statute
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 39 
 
 relating to reduction of a prisoner's term for good conduct does not apply to 
 such convicts as are tnmsffm-d from the reformatory to the prisons^ 
 
 The result is that an okl olTender. of previous had charaeter, is frequently sent 
 to prison 1)V the court, for a term nuieli less than the lon-est time allowed hy law, 
 and throudi frood cnduct in prison, can earn considerable commutation ot his 
 sent'ence • while a voun-r man, convicted of his first otlense, with good character 
 iiul respectable suVroundiiiirs. sent hy the court to the reformatory, for imprison- 
 ment and reform, mav he doomed hy the managers of this institution to finish the 
 longest term which his offense permits in the State prison, with no commutation tor 
 tlKMuost exemplary conduct. , , , ., ♦ i ™ 
 
 The least that should he done for convicts transferred under the present law 
 from the reformatorv to prison is to allow them for good conduct in prison the 
 siuiie commutation on the remainder of the term for which they might be contined. 
 (hitiii- from the dav of their transfer, that thev would be entitled to if that was the 
 be-iimin- of an oriirinal sentence to prison, t think the statute in relation to com- 
 mutations for good conduct in prison i)ermits this. If it does not it ought to, and 
 I am glad that 1 have the power, in any event, to rectify such wrongs, by the 
 interi)Osition of a special commutation. , j 4; «i ■Nr„,„ 
 
 The conduct of the six convicts al)Ove menUoned so tran-sf erred from the Wew 
 York State reformatory to Auburn prison is reported by the warden of the latter 
 
 institution to be gcMxl. , .... 1 1 
 
 Mikin-r tiu- deductions from their terms, which I believe them to have earned, 
 all are n.Pw entitled to be discharged except two. wIk.sc terin.s. under the rule 
 adoi.ted will resiMCtiv.lv exi.ire on the sixth and eighth daysof the i)rcsent month. 
 I cannot now d(. what 1 reirard full justice to all th.se convicts, but I have 
 determined to ai.proximiite it as neariv as po.s.sible by commuting their terms to the 
 ciirhlh day of March. \^x4. which is probably as early as the necessary documents 
 can be perfected and forwarded. 
 
 As to Pardons. 
 With respect to pardons, he has exercised a wise discretion, and he has been 
 the first Governor since the time of Hoffman to set forth in writing his reasons to 
 accompany the pardon. There is reason to In-lieve that this pnictice, so entirely 
 right. ha.s given birth to the idea that he exercised this i)ower hi a most lavish 
 manner. To state exactly the fact, and to show exactly hoxy his record in this 
 matter stands in comparison with his predecessors, the follow! riL-- t:ibl.- is presented : 
 
 A Comparative Statement. 
 
 .■\(.r> i)K 
 Cleme.ncv. 
 
 Govcrnnr Fentnti, 1865. 
 . 1866. 
 
 1867. 
 
 (juv(.rn' r 1 / 
 
 Governor H 
 
 Governor II ' 
 
 ("xivernor Hi;:i:ii.iii, -i;.; 
 
 Governor Dix. 1873 
 
 Governor Uix. 1874 
 
 Governor TilHt-n, 1875 
 
 Governor Tilden, 1870 
 
 Governor Roljinson, 1877 
 
 Governor Rohlnsoii, 1878 
 
 Governor Robinion, 1879 
 
 Governor I'ornoM, 1880 
 
 Governor Coniell, 1881 
 
 Governor Cornell, i88y 
 
 Governor Cleveland, 1883 
 
 Governor Cleveland, 1884, to July 16. 
 
 '53 
 '94 
 «4» 
 
 \u 
 
 120 
 
 118 
 
 «57 
 55 
 
 95 
 too 
 160 
 III 
 
 •74 
 
 311 
 
 56 
 
 «9 
 
 30 
 
 57 
 34 
 
 378 
 452 
 440 
 400 
 398 
 400 
 344 
 600 
 343 
 363 
 
 456 
 380 
 403 
 
 ^9» 
 336 
 180 
 136 
 390 
 337 
 
 S5 
 4» 
 3» 
 
 36 
 30 
 
 36 
 
 38 
 
 35 
 39 
 43 
 4» 
 
 24 
 
 10.34 
 »5 
 '9 
 «4-33 
 
 The above table shows that up to the date of writing Governor Cleveland's per- 
 centage of pardons upon the applications made is less than that of any of his pred-
 
 40 PUBLIC RECORD OF CROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 ecessors, nnd the nctual nunt)x-r lf.sH thiiii Iuh six predecessora, excepl the one 
 who iminediiitely preceded him. 
 
 Reasons Given. 
 
 In each case of u pardon granted, his rea.sons. as was remarked above, set forth 
 in writing', have ucconipunied them. These have never l>een questii>i)e<I as not 
 hviuff sutHeieut and >fo(>d. Not a few have l)eeu granted for the reason lliat the 
 convict had l)ut a few dav-s to live ; others that a re-e.xaniination of tlie ca.>*e has 
 shown that eiid.s of ju.stlce have iKt-n serveil in the temi of impriHoninent aln*ady 
 undir;;one ; otiiers uix)n the ground that In-ing improperly defended, the pri.soner 
 had been convicted of a degree of crime of which he was not guilty, and bad 
 already served the term, which is the penalty of tlic degrees of crime of which he 
 was really guilty. Justice, hand in hand with humanity, have been the advisers 
 of the Governor in the exercise of the pardoning power. 
 
 The Governor's record upon convict contract lal)or, and u|>on child contract 
 hibor, having already been presented as part of his record upon the labor (luestion, 
 will not be repeated here. 
 
 Charities. 
 
 Governor Cleveland has had fretjuent occasion to consider and discuss the 
 imfwrtant subject of charities, and lias invariably exliibited a keen -s<'nsil)ility to 
 the sufferings of the unfortunate, and a hearty desire to relieve their distres.s. In 
 his aiunnil message ft)r 18.^4 he thiLs reviewed the ojierations of the public chari- 
 ties of the State of New York : 
 
 " Some attention given to the system of siifxrviBion of the charitable and 
 reformatory iii^^titutions of the State convinces nu- that it might Ih' nuich improved. 
 
 "The State Hoard of Charities is vest<*«l with the iM)wer of visitation and 
 cxamimttion, and is re<|uired 1«^ report the condition of the institutions visitinl, which 
 include all the charitable and correctional institutions in the State. 
 
 " Tlie State Conunissioner in Lunacy is authori/til and directetl to examine 
 into and report annually to tlie Legislature the condition of the in.sjine and idiotic 
 in the State, and tlic management and conduct of the asylums and institutions for 
 tlieir care and treatment. 
 
 " The boards of trustees or managers of nil the charitable and correctional 
 institutions liave generally the control of their business and internal management 
 
 "The sup«'rintendeiits hold their positions un<h'r the iKianis of trustees, and are 
 supposed to devote tlieir attention to the care of the inmates of the institution. 
 
 " The Board of Charities is comjK)s<'d of most estimaliie men and women, who 
 receive no compensjition for their services, but «Ievote all the time to the jK-rfomi- 
 ance of their duties that can reasonably Ik- e.xjx'Cte*!, and tlieir labors are undeniably 
 valuable. Tlieir powers are advisory in their nature, ami their recommendations 
 are often unheeded. 
 
 "The powers and duties of the State Commis-sioner in Lunacy, so far as the 
 iustitufioiKs for the in.sane and idiotic are concerned, are nearly identical with 
 tliose of the Board of Charities ; and unfortunate questions have arisen from this 
 condition. 
 
 "The visitations of the Board of Charities, as well as the Commissioner in 
 Lunacy, are neces-sarily infreipient, and the infonnation they gain of the actual 
 management of the institutions (piite general and imjx'rfect. 
 
 " The local board of trustees gnituitously i>erform the duties they have as- 
 sumed, and, while not unfaithful, can hardly be expected to devote time verv con- 
 stantly to the details of management. They very natuntlly gain much of their 
 information from the statements of the superintendent in charge. 
 
 " A recent investigation liy a committee of the managers oif the Western Hou-se 
 of Refuge, where delinquent boys and girls are sent for reform and instruction,
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 41 
 
 satisfied the committee that for months the by-laws and regulations of the insti- 
 tution relating? to the i)unishiiu'nt of inmatc-s had heen violated ; that the hoys 
 there contined had lieen bt-att-n. abused and assjiulttd in the most outrageous 
 manner bv tlie attendants and subordinates in charge, and the funds of the insti- 
 tution had not been suiruiL-ntlv prolertt-d. 
 
 "It is assumi-d that neither tlie Board of Charities nor the local board of 
 trustees had anv knowiedtre of these things until they were exposed ])y tlie investi- 
 gation ; and tlie sui)erintendent testifies that he was entirely ignorant of the 
 instances of crueltv establislied by the testimony. 
 
 •' A system winch permits this condition of things is evidently defective. 
 
 '•The time will never come when the humane sentiment of the people -vvill 
 approve the cruel treatment or tlie neglect of the unfortunate, or even criminal, 
 inmates of these institutions ; and their u.sefulness depends upon giving no occa- 
 sion for the growth of a suspicious and unreasoning beliif that tlu-ir benevolent 
 purposes are lost or jiervertcil. That system of managemen> is, therefore, mani- 
 festly best wliicli most nearly satisfies the public that it is conducted with due 
 regard to justice and forbearance." 
 
 While he was Mayor of Buffalo his attention was drawn to the perils of chil- 
 dren wandering through the streets by night, and he addressed the Common Coun- 
 cil as follows : 
 
 Perils of Children. 
 
 IkKK.vi.o. June n. 1882. 
 
 " My attention has Jieen called, by a committee from tlie Society for the Pre- 
 vention of Cruelty to Children, to the numix-r of small boys and girls found upon 
 our streets at late hours in the night. 
 
 " I have reason to l>elieve that many of these children are allowed, and some 
 are obliged, by thi-ir parents, to thus remain in the streets for the ostensible jturpose 
 of earning money by .s«-lling newspapers or blacking boots. In truth, however, 
 after a certain hour in the evening, the most, if not all the money they receive, 
 they obtain by begg^ing or by false pretenses. In the meantime, they are subjected 
 to worst influences, leading directly to protligacy, vagrancy and crime. 
 
 •• The im|)ortance of cariMi: for children who are uneared for by their natural 
 guanliaiis, or who are unmindful of parental restraint, must be apparent to all. 
 In the future, for goo<l or evil, their influence will be felt in the community ; and 
 certainly tlie attempt to prevent their swelling the criminal class is worth an elfort 
 
 " It seems to me that no pretext should be jK-rmitted to e.vcuse allowing young 
 girls to be on tlie streets at improi>er hours, since tlie result must neces.sarily be 
 their destruction. • 
 
 "The ilisiK)siiion of the boy (child though he Ix') to aid in his own support <)r 
 that of others, in an honest, di'ceiit way, ought not to be discouraged. But this 
 does not call for his being in the street at late houi-s, to his infinite damage 
 mondlv. mentally, and physically, and to the danger (jf .society. 
 
 " IresjM'ct fully suggest" that "this subject be referred to the ("ommitlee on 
 Ordinances and the Attorney, and that a committee from the S«K-ielv for the Pre- 
 vention of Cruelty to Children be invited to co-oixrate with them in an effort to 
 frame an ordinance which will remedy tiie evil herein considered. 
 
 "GHOVEIi CLEVELAND. Mayor." 
 
 The Catholic Protectory. 
 
 In the year 16^3 the Governor found it neces.sary to withhold his approval from 
 an appropriation for the Catholic Protectory, ujion the ground that the expense of 
 maintaining destitute children there was properly chargeable upon the trea.sury of 
 the City of New York. This Protectory is a lo<"al institution open to children 
 committed by the courts in New York City only. All knowing these fact.s agree 
 tliat there is a rea.sonable doubt as to the projiriety of other cities and counties, 
 which have no benefit, being taxed to contribute to its supp«jrt. 
 
 Some criticism upon this veto was exjiressed by those ignorant of the purely 
 public considerations which influenced the Governor, who, in his appointments 
 and personal friendships has shown his absolute freedom from all .sectarian preju-
 
 42 PUBLIC RECORD OF CROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 dice. To such criticism h ready answer has iHicn given by gentlenu-n who are 
 offlcers of the Protectory, in the following letter : 
 
 " Mr. Damki, 31.\nnin<), Chitirman yttc York DtUyaUon, Chicago, III. : 
 
 " We never tioijliied tlie sincerity nf the n»>five.s which induced Governor Cleve- 
 land to vvithliold Ills sii;nature to the appropriation to the Protectory. We thought 
 then, and thinly now, tliat lie was not actuated hy any feeling of liij;otry, or of Yn»- 
 tility to ('atlioli<s or toCatholic institutions. On the eontrary, Governor Cleveland 
 is lilierai in the extn-ine, and we are of the tinn U'lief that he was led to with- 
 holding his ai)proval of the appropriation solely by a sense of public duty oa he 
 viewed it 
 
 " IIENHY L. IIOGUET. 
 
 President of the Protectory'. 
 , ".lOlIX E. DKVELIN. 
 
 Legid Adviser to the Protectory." 
 
 Grover Cleveland and the Catholics. 
 
 \^Fuit Wiiyne, Ind., Stuliiul.] 
 Thf Sentinel takes pleasure in laying before it« readers a personal letter from 
 the Hon. Thos. V. Welch, nienilwr of the Assenibly of New York, in reply to the 
 inquiries made by Mr. Charles A. Walter, a well-known merchant of Huntington, 
 and president of the Young Men's Cleveland and Ht-ndricks" club at that place. 
 Mr. Walter is an ardent Catholic, and wrote Mr. Welch in order that he might 
 know the tnith. We ask a careful reading of it fn)m all. Catholics and 
 Protestants : 
 
 Ni.Mi.vKA Falls, July 16, 1884. 
 Mr. CiiAUi.ES A. Wai.tkii, Huntington, Ind.: 
 
 Dkau Siu— In reply to the inquiries made in your letter of July 14, I wish to 
 state : 
 
 1st. (J rover Cleveland is n<it a l)igot in any sens*^ of the word. He is a fair 
 minded man, and we. who are his neighliors, know of no instance in which he has 
 antairotiized the Catholic chureh. 
 
 2d. Since Grover Cleveland has Iwen Governor I have l>oen a memln'r ,of the 
 Legisl.'iture. I know of no ofllcial act of his that would in<li«.ate hatred on his 
 part toward the Catholic chureh. On the contrary, I could mention many 
 instances of friendly action on his part. 
 
 3d. The letter published in the /y'///'(»/<* ^V'l/nVr of Julv 1, over my siginiture, 
 is genuine, and 1 lure reiterate every statement nuide therein. 
 
 4th. Governor Cleveland did not veto the *' fretnlom of worship " bill. The bill 
 did not pass the Legislature, and never came before Governor Clevelaml for his 
 action. 
 
 oth. Governor (Meveland did veto an appropriation for a Catholic protectory in 
 this State, for constitutional rea.sons. I voted for the appropriation refern"*! t«), but 
 upon reading Governor Cleveland's veto message, I am convinced thsit he was 
 justitied in liis acli(m. The constitution of our State allows such appropriations 
 only for State institutions. It i.s admitted that the institution in question is not a 
 State institution. 
 
 Governor Cleveland is a hardworking, conscientious public officer.thoroughly 
 independent, thorou;:lily Democratic and thoroughly American. As such he is 
 justly entitled to the support of every Democrat, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. 
 
 As an earnest advocate of Grover Clevelaml, jHTmit me to add that I was a 
 delegate to the tirst convention of ihelri.sh National Laml League, at Huffalo, Ix-ing 
 at that time jiresident of the branch at this place. I am a member of St. Mary's 
 Catholic Church, and of Branch No. 1 of the Catholic Mutual Benefit .V.ssociation, 
 and I am at jiresent the president of the Niagara Falls Catholic Total Abstinence 
 and Literary Society. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 TrioMAs V. Welch, 
 Member of Assembly. Niag-ara Coimty, N. Y., 1883 and 1884.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 4 3 
 
 Letter of Mr. Welch, above referred to, published July 1: 
 
 To (he Editor of the Buffalo Courier : 
 
 I notice with refrret that some persons in the Democrntic party of the State of 
 New York who oppose the iioniinatioii of Governor Cleveland for President, are 
 endeavorinj; to create a fal.se impression by fjrossly misrepresenting: his position 
 toward the Catholic Church. As a Catholic and a member of the Legislature durinj; 
 the la-st two years I cunnf)t recall any act or any omission of Governor Cleveland 
 that would in the slijjhte.st degree justify any such impres-sion. On the contrary, 
 Governor Cleveland always treated Catholics and Catholic interests precisely as he 
 did the meinlxrs of (Mher relijnous bodies and their reliirious interests, fairly and 
 justly, according to their merit ; and I believe that to be as much as any sensible 
 Catholic exjiects or desires. Having served upon the Committee of Ways and 
 Means of tiie Assembly <lurinir the sessions of 1W3 and 18s4, and in the discharge 
 of otlicial duties having had frefpieiit occasion to know that no man is more free 
 from bigotry or more broad and comprehensive in his religious views than Gov- 
 ernor Cleveland, I, as a sincere and j)ractical Catholic, under the existing circum- 
 stances deem it my duty to co-religionisLs to make a public statement of my abso- 
 lute knowledge of that fact. 
 
 TnoM.\R V. Weixii, 
 Member of Assembly, Niagara County. 
 
 NiA<;.\H.\ F.vi.i.s, .June 26, 1884. 
 
 Tf) this refutation of suggested biius on the part of Governor Cleveland against 
 my religious faith, may lie here added a denial of the .statement that he vetcxtl a 
 l)ill to secure freedom of worship to iiimatu.s of charitable institutions. No such 
 bill ever came before him. tlie untrue rejKirt to the contrary doubtless arising from 
 the fact that his licpublican pretlecessor. Governor Cornell, did veto such a bill on 
 June 11. 1881. 
 
 Liberality of Views. 
 
 On the contrary, the liberal dispositi(m of Governor Cleveland was shown in 
 his ap|>roval, in 1884, for the tirsi time by any Governor, of an item of i^l.TttK) in 
 the supply bill for the special employment and payment of Catholic clergy minis- 
 tering to convicts in the prisons under the exclusive control of the State. 
 
 Ind«'ed, in all cases of official action conceniing charitable or religious b<MHe8, 
 (iovernor Cleveland has submitted hims«'lf to the princijjle which has everywhere 
 controlled him as a public ollicer, :ind has asked: " W hat tin' utt/ jM>irerit us the 
 ikTcant itii'l (igtnf of the irholi juojil, f" And as a [uiiilic ollicer, he has felt tmablc 
 to assent to the dis|K(sition of public moneys for any purpo.sc not strictly i)ublic. 
 .Vs a private citizen, giving from his own limited means, no just or worthy 
 charity, whatever its religious atliliation, has found him indifferent. IIim.M.If a 
 |K>or lK»y and not a rich man, he has known and appreciates the needs of the poor. 
 A further refutation of the charge refem-d to is found in Governor Cleveland's 
 appointments of John I). Kernan, Railroad Commissioner; John A. McCall, 
 Su|K'rintendent of the Insurance Department ; James Shanahan, SuiH-rinteiident 
 of Public Works, to thri-e leading i)ositioiis in the State Goveriuneut, and other 
 prominent Irish- Americans to ofllces of honor. 
 
 Public Moneys to be Used only for Public Purposes. 
 
 Governor Cleveland has so rigoroasly, .so unifonnly an<i .so openly declared the 
 limitation upon the powers of public ofllcers adtninistering public funds, as to 
 l)ecome a standing di.scounigement to assailants of the public treasury for private 
 jiurposes. His suppf)rters will not be found among those who seek merely an 
 appropriation. They will undoubtedly l>e repelled by the unbroken series of hia 
 public utterance.
 
 44 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 In accepting the nomination as Mayor of Buffalo, he said : 
 "I l)ch'cvc much can l)c done to relieve our citizens from their iins4-iii \nnii of 
 taxatiuu. and that a mnn- riirid scruliiiy of all puhlic i-xpcnditures will n-ult in a 
 great saving to the community. I also inlicvi' that some extra vngances in our city 
 govenunent may he corrected without inj\iry to the pulilic service. Tin-re Ih, or 
 there shoidd he. no rea.sou why the alTairs of our city should not he managed with 
 the .same care and the .same economy aH jjrivafe inlerest.s. And when we 
 consider that puhlic ollicials are the trustees of the people and hold their places 
 and exercise their |)(>wers for tlie hen<-tit of the iK'0|)|e. there should l)e no higher 
 inducement to a faithful and hone.st discharge of puhlic duty." 
 
 In his first message as Mayor of HulTido, hestiid : 
 
 " We hold the money of the people in our hands to he used for tlieir purposes 
 and to further their interests as mend)ers of the nnmicipality ; and it is quite 
 ai)parent that, when any part of the funds whicli the taxpayers have thus intrusted 
 us, are diverted to otiier purposes, or when hy tlesign "or neglect, we allow a 
 greater sum to !)e applied to any municipal purpo»<' than is necessary, we have 
 to that extent violated our duty. There surely is no difference in his duties and 
 ohligations, whether a |>erson is intrusted with the money of one man or nnuiy. 
 And yet it .sometimes appears as th(»iigh the onice-iiolder a.s.sumes that a different 
 rule of fidelity i)revails hetween him and the taxpayer than that which should 
 regulate his conduct when, as an individual, he liolds the money of his neigh lx)r, 
 
 "It seems to me that a succe-ssful and faithful administnition of the govern- 
 ment of our city ma}' he acci>mplished hy constantly In-aring in nund that we are 
 the trustees and agents of our fellow-citizens, holding their funds in sacred trust, 
 to he exjM'nded for their hen«'flt ; that we should at all times Im- i)repared to n-nder 
 an holiest account of tliem touching the numner of their expenditure ; and that 
 tlie affairs of the city should he conducted, as far as possihle, upon the same 
 principles as a g(M)d husiness nuui manages his private concerns." 
 
 Exercise of t\\e Public Trust. 
 
 In the veto of a claim of certain officers for payment for extra services, while 
 the charter forhade extra compensiition, he said : 
 
 " By the terms of the res(»Iution itself if apjx'ars that the extra services jx-r- 
 formed were fairly emhniced in the ofh«'ial duties of the persons performing them. 
 To examine the hooks and to restore order to the records of the office, was, as it 
 seems to me, peculiarly the husiness of the claimants. 
 
 '•If the work could not he done in the regular discharge «)f tiieir duties, addi- 
 tional clerks might have l)een employe<l ; hut tlu'y having elected to do the work 
 tljcmselves, they must now he regarded as standing in the attitude of claimants for 
 extni comiiensjilion ' for the iHTft)nnance of duties which really pertain to the 
 business of their odices or positions." 
 
 " However meritorious these claims may be. their allowance by the city secm.s 
 to Ik; prohibiti'd by law. I cannot, therefore, assent to tlieir payment." 
 
 His willingness to contribute from his own pocket to objects meritorious, 
 tht)Ugh not puhlic, rather than to exhibit that ea.sy charity which gives away pub- 
 lic moneys, is admirably exhibited in the following message sent by him as Mayor 
 of Buffalo : 
 
 BtKK.M.o. May H, 1KS2. 
 
 "At the last session of your honorable bodv a resolution was adoi>ted directing 
 the City (lerk to draw a warrant for tive hunclred dollars in favor of the secretary 
 of the Firemen's Benevolent A.ssociation. 
 
 •'This action is not only clearly unauthorized, but it is distinctly prohibited by 
 the following clause of the State Constitution : 
 
 " ' No county, city, town or village shall hereafter give any money or property 
 or loan its money or credit to or in aid of any individual, a.s.sociati(>n or cori>ora- 
 tion. or become directly or indirectly the owner of stock in or bonds of anv asso- 
 ciation or coi^H>ration ; nor shall any such county, city, town or village be allowed 
 to incur an}' indebtedness except for county, city, town or village purpo.se.'"
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 45 
 
 •' At the same meeting of your honorable body the following resolution was 
 passed : 
 
 " ' That the City Clerk be and he is hereby directed to draw a warrant on the 
 4th of July fund for five hundred dollars, to the order of J. S. Edwards, chairman 
 of the Decoration Day Cominittei! of tlie Grand Army of the Hepublif, for the 
 purpose of defraying the expenses attending a proper observance of Decoration 
 
 Day' 
 
 " I have taxed my ingenuity to discover a way to consistently approve of this 
 resolution, but have been unable to do so. 
 
 " It seems to me that it is not only obnoxious to the provi.sions of the constitu- 
 tion al)ove quoted, but it also violates that section of the charter of the city which 
 makes it a misdemeanor to appropriate money raised for one purpose to any o(her 
 object. Under this section I think money raised *for the celebration of the 4th of 
 July and the reception of distinguished persons' cannot be devoted to the observ- 
 ance of Decoration Day. « 
 
 " I DEE.M THE OIUECT OF THIS APPROPKIATION A MOST WOKTIIY ONE. TlIE 
 EFFORTS OF OUR VETERAN SOLDIERS Tt) KEEP ALIVE THE ME.MORY OF THEIR 
 FALLEN CO.MRADES CERTAINLY DESERVES THE AID AND ENCOUR.\OEMENT OP 
 THEIR FELLOW-CITIZENS. We SHOULD ALL, I TIILSK, FEEL IT A DUTY AND A 
 PRIVILEGE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUNDS NECESS.VRY TO CARRY OUT SUCH A 
 
 PURPOSE. And I should be much disappointed if an appeal to our citi- 
 zens FOR VOLUNTARY SU1J8CHIPTION8 FOR THIS PATRIOTIC OBJECT SHOULD BE IN 
 VAIN. 
 
 " But the money so contributed should be a free gift of the citizens 
 
 AND taxpayers, AND SHOULD NOT BE EXTORTED FRO.M THEM BY TA\ATn*N. 
 
 This is s<», because the purpose for which this money is asked does not 
 involve their protection or interest as .me.muers op the community, 
 and it may or may not be approved by them. 
 
 " Tlie people are forced to pay tuxea into the city treiusury only upon the theory 
 tliat such money shall be expended for public purjHjses, or purposes in which they 
 all have a direct anfl practical interest. 
 
 " Till' logic of this position jcaiU directly to the conclusion that, if the people 
 are forct-d to pay their inonry into the public fund and it is spent by their .servants 
 and airents for purposes in which the jx'ople as tax-payers have no interest, the 
 exaction of sucii ta.xes from them is oppressive and unju.st. 
 
 " 1 cannot rid myself of the idea that this city government, in relation to the 
 tjix-payers. is a business establishment, and that it is put in our hands to l>e con- 
 ducted on business principles. 
 
 '• This theory does not a<lmit of our donating the public funds in the manner 
 contemplated by the action or your honorable body. 
 
 " I derm it my duty, therefore, to return both of the resolutions herein referred 
 to, without my approval." 
 
 In supjiort of his message Mayor Cleveland headed a subscription for the |)ur- 
 pose with a liberal sum, and, willi a hearty co-operation of citizens approving his 
 action, the de.sired fund was rai.sed promptly without resort to public moneys. 
 
 This veto and contribution by Mayor Cleveland elicited universal approval, the 
 leading Republican journal (T/w Buffnltt Exprem), sjiying: 
 
 A whole volume of sound sense and just principles of municipal government 
 will be fouml condensed in a brief veto sent to the coimcil yesterday by .Mayor 
 Cleveland. It is refreshing to read the message. Approjjriations of tlie public fuiids 
 must not be made excejit in acconhince with law. Safeguards provideil by the 
 Constitution and the charter must be respected. The money raised b}' ta.xation 
 must not be diverted from its legitimate objects. However worthy the .sentiment 
 recognized in any mis;ippropriation, justice, not generosity mast prevail. When 
 the council wrongfully votes away tlie i)eople's money there is no credit in the act, 
 l)ecause the money, ha\ing been extorted from the fK-oj)!*', is not a free gift from 
 that body. The city government is a busine.s.s e-stablisliment, and must be con- 
 ducted on business principles. All the.se golden rules are laid down in disap- 
 provin,^ a vote of $5<XJ for Decoration Day — a small sum for a worthy object ; but, 
 as the Mayor shows, it is not for the amount of the appropriation nor the merit of 
 it, but the principle involved, which must be considered. Private bounty ought 
 to be equal to such a call ; and then to prove tlmt he thinks so, Mr. Cleveland
 
 46 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 privately contributes one-tenth of the whole sum needed, thus supplementing 
 excellent principle by liberal example. 
 
 A Famous Utterance, 
 
 The most famous of his utterances upon this subject, and that in knowledge of 
 which a few months later he wa.s nominated and elected to be Governor of New 
 York, was his celebrated check upon an extravagant contract for cleaning the 
 streets of Buffalo, which was as follows : 
 
 " BiFKALO, June 2G, lm2. 
 
 "I return without mv approval the resolution of your hononible bo<ly, passed 
 at its last meeting, awanfiiii; the contracts for cleaning the paved streets and alleys 
 of th('( ity for the ensuing five years to at his bid of four hundred and twenty- 
 two thiiusand and five hundreii dollars. 
 
 " The 1)1(1 thus accejited l)y your honorable l)ody is more than one hundred 
 tliousnnd dollars higlier than that of another perfectly resix)nsibk' i)arty for the 
 sjime work ; and a worse and more suspicious feature in this transaction is that the 
 
 bid now accepted is tifty thousand dollars mure than that made by himself 
 
 within a very few weeks, opeidy and j)ul)licly to your honomble luuly, for 
 performing |)nciscly the same services. This latter circumstance is to tny mind 
 the manifestation on the part of tlie contractor of a reliance upon the forbearance 
 and generosity of your honorable body, which would be more creditable if it were 
 less expensive to the tax-payers. 
 
 " I am not aware that any excuse is offered for the acceptance of this pro|)osid, 
 thus increased, except the very flimsy one that the lower bidders cannot afford to 
 do the work for the sums they name. 
 
 "This extreme tenderness and consideration for those who desire to contract 
 with the city, and this touchingand paternal solicitude lest they shoidd beimprovi- 
 dently led into a bad bargain is. I am sure, an exception to general business niles, 
 and seems to have no place in this .selfish, sordid world, except as found in the 
 administraliou of municipal .'iirairs. 
 
 " The cliarter of your city recpiires that the Mayor, when he disapproves any 
 res(^)lutionof your honorable body, shall return the same with his objections. 
 
 " This is a time for plain sp«-ecli, and my objection to the action of your honor- 
 able body now imder consideration .shall be |)lainly stated I withhold mv as.sent 
 from the same, because 1 regard it as the culininati(^n «)f a most l)arefaceil, impu- 
 dent and shameless .scheme to betray the interests of the people and to worse than 
 squander llie puidic money. 
 
 " I will not be misunderstood in this matter. There are those whose votes 
 were given for this resolution wliom I cannot and will not suspect of a willful neg- 
 lect of the interests they are sworn to protect ; but it has been fully demonstrated 
 that there are influences, both in and about your honorable body, which it behooves 
 every honest man to watch and avoid with the greatest care. 
 
 " When cool judgment rules the hour, the people will, I hope and believe, have 
 no rea.son to complain of the action of your honorable body. But clumsy appeals 
 to prejudice or jiassion, insinuations, with a kind of low, cheap ciuuiing. as to the 
 motives and piu'poses of others, and the mock heroism of l)razen effronterj' which 
 openly declares that a wholesome public sentiment is to be set at naught, some- 
 times deceives and leads lionest men to aid in tlie consummation of schemes which, 
 if exjx)sed, they would look upon with abhorrence. 
 
 " If the scandal in connection with the street-cleaning contract, which has so 
 aroused our citizens, shall cause them to select and watch with more care tho.se to 
 whom they intrust their interests, and if it .serves to make all of us who are charged 
 with official duties more careful in their performance, it will not be an unmitigated 
 evil. 
 
 "We are fast gaining positions in the grades of public stewardship. There is 
 no middle ground. Those who are not for the people either in or out of your 
 honorable body are against them, and should be treated accordingly. 
 
 "GROVER CLEVELAND, 
 
 " Mayor." 
 
 In view of such expressions and actions as these, the leading Republican news- 
 paper of Buffalo, now supporting the Republican ticket, was led to say upon the
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 47 
 
 day succeeding Governor Cloveland's resignation as Mayor, that " yesterday Buf- 
 falo lost the best Mayor she ever had." 
 
 Elect<id upon this record to the high office of Governor, public expectation 
 demanded of him as Governor a continuance of his course as Mayor. This senti- 
 ment, everywhere felt, was enthusiastically expressed by the Hon. Roswell P. 
 Flower, upon the night of the election of 1882, when, in public speech, he said : 
 
 " This \ictory is the voice of the people speaking in thunder tones. What 
 does it mean ? * * * It says to Grover Cleveland : ' We will inaugurate you ; 
 we expect you to faithfully cairy out the platform of your party. If you give us 
 the strict accountability of officials ; pure civil serv'ice ; purity of elections ; if 
 you use your otlice as you would a private trust, and the moneys as trust funds ; 
 if you faithfully perform your duty, we, the people, may put you in the presi- 
 dential chair.' " 
 
 In administration of this high office. Governor Cleveland has come fully up to 
 the line marked out for him, and has titly continued the course commenced at 
 Buffalo. 
 
 Outlinirtg his Policy as Governor. 
 
 His first message to the I^'gislature concluded in these words : 
 " Let us enter upon thedi.scharge of our duties, fully appreciating our relations 
 to the people, and determined to serve them faithfully and well. This involves a 
 jealoiis watch of the public funds, and a refusal to sanction their apprnijriation 
 except for public needs. To this end all unnecessary offices should be abolished, 
 and all employment of doubtful benefit discontinued. If to this we add the en- 
 actment of .such wise and well considered laws as will meet the varied wants of 
 our fellow-citizens and increase their prosperity, we .shall merit and receive the 
 approval of those whose representatives we are, and with the con.sciousne.ss of 
 duty well performed, shall leave our impress for good on the legislation of the 
 State." 
 
 Within a few weeks after this he was called upon to consider again almost the 
 same question as that treated in his veto message of the Decoration Day appropria- 
 tion in Buffalo in 1882. That mes.sage, which had been widely published, pre- 
 ceded his election as Governor by an unparalleled majority. His established posi- 
 tion, thus accepted luid approved by the people, could not be abandoned simply 
 because he had entered a new sphere of action. Chosen because esteemed capable 
 to strictly administer the laws, he could not, even upon the inspiration of a patri- 
 otic sentiment, desert the principle of rigid application of public funds to gover- 
 mental purposes, and he therefore hewed straight to the line of strict accountability 
 already marked out by him and for him, and sent to the Assembly the following 
 communication : 
 
 " State of New Youk, Executh'e CuA.MnER, i 
 " Albany, February 12, 1883. f 
 
 " To the Asdembly : 
 
 " As.sembiy bill No. 88. entitled 'An act authorizing the Board of Super\isor9 
 of Chautau(pia county to appropriate money for the purcha.se f)f lands ujjon which 
 to erect a soldiers' and sailors' monument," is herewith returned without approval. 
 "It is not an agreeable dutv to refu.se to give sanction to the approi)riation of 
 money for such a worthy and patriotic object ; but I cannot forget that the money 
 proposed to be appropriated is public money to be raised by ta.xation, and that all 
 that ju-stities its exaction from the people is "the necessity of its use for purposes 
 connected with the safety and substantial welfare of the tax-pay ers. 
 
 '•The application of this principle furnishes, I think, a sufficient reason why 
 this bill should not Ik; approved. 
 
 " I am of the opinion, too, that the appropriation of this money by the Board 
 of Supervisors would constitute the incurring of an indebtedness by the County to 
 be thereafter met by taxation. If this Ik? true, the proposed legislation is forbidden 
 by section eleven of article eight of the Constitution, which provides that no
 
 48 PUBLIC RECORD OF OROVER CLEVELAND, 
 
 county, citv, town or villiige nhall be alluwfd to incur uiiy imlebtedneKM except for 
 county, city, town or villa;j:c purposes. 
 
 " Before lliis |)roliibilion Ix'canie a part of tJie C'onsiitution, a statute was passj-d 
 permittini,^ iiionun»eiils to be erected to fallen soldieiN at tlie expense of the inhabi- 
 tants of the county wiliiin wiiicli they were hualed ; but the expendilun- of money 
 raised by taxation for sueli a i)urpose was only .iliowed when especially siinctioniii 
 bv the vote of a majority of all Ilie electors of the c(ninty. In the bill under con- 
 sideration the taxpayers are not permitti-d to be heard on the subject. 
 
 '■ It is thus evitfeiU that the Icijislation proposed guard.s less the rights and 
 interests of lhe])e(»i>le than the statute pas.sed before the Constitutional uniendnient 
 prohibited all enactmeiils of (his description. 
 
 " I may, perha|)s. l)e perniitled to express the hope that a diU' regard to funda- 
 mental principles and a strict adhen-nce to the letter and spirit of tiie Constitution, 
 which furnish the limit as well as the guide to legi.slalion. will jjrevent the pa.s.suge 
 of bills of this nature in the future." 
 
 Witlun a week, however, the Governor was obliged to veto, as violative of the 
 same principle, a bill to aulhori/e cei tain towns in JelTei-son and St. Lawrence 
 counties to relieve their railroad stocks from existing liens. Certain slock of the 
 Black River and Morrislown Railroad Company being held by certain towns, it 
 was the design of the bill (as stated to and by the Governor), 
 
 "To use the money which under its provisions is to be raised by tax to pay 
 certain indebtedness of the .said railroad company, in the expectation that Iheieby 
 a consolidation of ils road with the I'lica and Rlack River Railroad m;iy be 
 elTected. Hy this means it is hoped that the .stock in the RIack River and Morri.s- 
 town Railntad Company, to which the towns mentioned have subscribed, may be 
 made more valuable. 
 
 ''I am of the oi)inii>n, th.il the iiill if approved, would not justify such an 
 expenditure of the money proposed to be raised. 
 
 " In this view, the legislation sought would be of no avail. 
 
 " If the bill does permit such an application of public ftinds, it seems to be in 
 direct contraveiilion of till' Constitution, which provides that no town shall give 
 any money or projierty, or loan its money or credit. iiioriiiMid of .inv iiii]i\ idu:il. 
 association or corporulion." 
 
 Zealous Watchfulness. 
 His zealous watchfulness over the public funds has been not mcrel}' in respect 
 of moneys or property already accpjired, but has .served to .secure and preserve 
 rights of the State to receive money, as in the case of his veto of the bill to authorize 
 a compromise with the sureties of a defaulting debtor to the State. In that message 
 he said as follows : 
 
 "The i)ersouswho seek to be relieved under this bill signed a bond to the State 
 for the safe keei>ing and repayment on demand of certain moneys deposited in 
 behalf of the State in the First National Hank of HulTalo. 
 
 " The bank has failed and is unable to refund the State's deposits. The securi- 
 ties in the bond have thus become liable to pay the money, and I can .see no 
 reason why they should be relieved. 
 
 " I am williiig to do what I can to check the growing impression that contracts 
 with the State will not be insisted upon or may be evaded. The money deposited 
 with the bank was public money belonging to the people, and I regard it the <luty 
 of all having the care of State alTairs to see to it that no part is lost by an improper 
 indulgence to those who have agreed that it should be .safely kept." 
 
 Similarly he vetoed a bill to authorize the Comjitroller to sell a judgment 
 obtained by loan commissioners. He said : 
 
 "This bill originates in the desire of a certain judgment creditor, to procure the 
 judscment owned by the State, to aid him in the collection of his debt. If the 
 judgment is of value, there seems to be no good rea.son why it shoulil not be 
 enforced for the benetit of the State in the ordinary way. 
 
 " I have full faith in the care and caution of the Comptroller; but there is no 
 guaranty that, if this bill becomes a law, a sum will be offered for which the judg- 
 ment should be transferred, in which case its enactment will be useless.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 49 
 
 " If it is thought best to dispose of this judgment, there should be a sum fixed 
 in the bill based upon an offer made, upon the payment of which an assignment 
 of the same should be directed.'^ 
 
 If to any, it may seem that such matters are unimportant, the answer is that 
 by allowing no obje(;tionable provision to escape attenticjn and disapproval has 
 Governor Cleveland established the reputation which deters attempts under any 
 guise upon the public treasury for private ends. 
 
 In the supply bill for 1883, Governor Cleveland found twent)- -seven items, 
 aggregating $250,704.36, which he vetoed under the application of his principle to 
 appropriate public money for necessary public purposes only. 
 
 In his second year as Governor his course has been maintained upon the high 
 level on which he set out; though in consequence of his first year's record upon 
 this point he has less frequently been called upon to enforce his \'iews upon legis- 
 lative attention. It is not necessarj' here to reproduce his second series of papers 
 concerning this subject. Their key-note has always been the same : expenditures 
 of public moneys must be restricted to the purposes of government. 
 
 Taxation. 
 
 Closely connected with his declarations as to public expenditure may be con- 
 sidered his views as to public taxation. 
 
 In his tirst annual me.ssjige, he said: 
 
 "The imperfection of our laws touching the matter of taxation, or the faulty 
 execution of existing statutes on the subject, is glaringly ajjpan-nt. 
 
 "The power of the State to exact from the citizen a part of his earnings and 
 income for the supiwrt of the Government, it is obvious should l)e executed with 
 absolute fairness and ju.stice. When it is not so exercised, the people are 
 oppressed. This furnishes the highest and the best reason why laws should be 
 enacted and executed which will subject all property, as all alike need the protection 
 of the State, to an e(jual sliare in the burdens of taxation, by means of which the 
 Government is maintained." 
 
 And in his second year, greatly amplifying the treatment of this subject, he 
 thus expres.sed him.self : 
 
 "The .subject of taxation still remains a vexed question ; and the injustice and 
 di.sorimination apparent in our laws on this subject, as well as the methods of 
 their execution, call loudly for relief. There is no object .so worthy of the care 
 and attention of the Legislature as this. Strict economy in the management of 
 State affairs, by their agents, should furnish the people a good government at the 
 lea.st possible cost. This is common honesty. Hut to see to it that this cost is 
 fairly and justly distributed and the burden equally borne by those who have no 
 peaceful redress if the State is unju.st, is the best attribute of sovereigntv and the 
 highest duty to the citizen. The recognition of this duty characterizes a benefi- 
 cent government, but its repudiation marks the oppres.sion of tyrannical power. 
 The taxpayer neerl not wait till his burden is greater than he Van bear for just 
 cause of complaint. However small his tax, he may reasonably protest, if it 
 represents mon- than his share of the public burden, and the State neglects all 
 efforts to apply a remedy. 
 
 "The tendCncy of our prosperity is in the direction of the accumulation of 
 immen.se fortunes, largely invested in personal property ; andj'et its aggregate valu- 
 ation, as fixed for the puri>ose of taxation, is constantly decreased, while that of 
 real estate is increa.sed. For the year 1882 the valuation of personal property sub- 
 ject to taxation was determined at $351,021,189, and real estate at $2,432,661,379. 
 In 1883 the asses.sed valuation of personal property was fixed at $315,039,085 and 
 real estate $2,557,218,240. 
 
 " The present law permits, in the ca-'c of personal property, the indebtedne-ss 
 of its pos.sessor to be deducted from its value, and allows no such deduction in favor 
 of real estate, though it be represented by a mortgage which is a specific lien upon 
 4
 
 50 PUBLIC RFXORD OF OROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 such real estate. Personal property, in need more than any otlier of the protection 
 of tlie government, wlieu dirtcovered, eseiipes ta.xation to the extent of its 
 owners' indebtedness, thoiij,di sueh indebtedness is based upon tlio oniinnrv credit 
 in the transaction of business, f)r is fictitious and niaiiufat-tured for the teiiijM»rary 
 purpose of evading taxation. Hut real property, the existence of wliicii cannot l)e 
 concealed, is, in contemplation of the law, taxed accordinjj to its full valuation, 
 though the incundjrance upon it easily divests the owner of his title, though the 
 interest and perhaps part of the principal must, as well as the tax, aninially be 
 met, and though If sold the amount due upon this lien must always l)e deducted 
 from any sum agreed ui)on as the j)rice of tiie land. 
 
 " This statement does not necessjirily lead to a deduction of the amoimt of any 
 incumbrance upon real estate from its valuation for the purpose of taxation ; but 
 it does .suggest that both real and personal property should l)e placed upon tlie same 
 footing, by abolishing, in all cases, any deduction for debts. This amendment, 
 with some others regulating the maimer in which local assessors should ix-rform 
 their dvities, would do much towards ridding our present system of its imperfections. 
 
 " If measures more radical in tiieir nature, having for their object the exaction 
 of taxes which are justly due, should be deemed wise, I hope their j^a.ssage will not 
 be prevented under the specious pretext that the means proposed are inquisitorial 
 and contrary to the spirit of our institutions. The object is to preserve the honor 
 of the State in its dealing with tiie citizen, to prevent the rich, bv shirking taxation, 
 from adding to the burdens of the j>oor, and to relieve the landholder from uniust 
 discrimination. The spirit of o>ir institutions dictates that this endeavor should be 
 pursued in a manner free from all demagogism, Itut witli the detcrinination to use 
 every necessary means to accomplish the result." 
 
 And, viewing the iwsition of New York in the midst of her sister States, he 
 concluded : 
 
 " The State of New York largely represents within her bonlers the development 
 of every interest which makes a nation g-reat. Proud of her place as leader in the 
 community of States, .she fully api)reciales her intimate relations to the pro.sperity 
 of the country ; and justly realizing the responsibility i>f her position, she recognizes, 
 in her i)olicy and her laws, as of lirst importance, the freedom of commerce from 
 all unneces.sary restrictions. Her citizens have a.ssumed tlie burden of maintaining 
 at their own cost and free to comnjerce, the waterway which they have built, and 
 through which the products of tiie great West are transported to the seaboard. At 
 the sugirestion of danger she hastens to save her northern forests, and thus preserve 
 to commerce her canals and vessel-laden rivers. The State has become responsilile 
 for a bureau of immigration, which cares for those who seek our sliores from other 
 lands, adding to the nation's j)opulation and hastening to the develo|)ment of its 
 vast domain ; while at the country's gateway a quarantine, established by the State, 
 protects the nation's health. 
 
 " Surely this great commonwealth, committed fully to the intere.sts of commerce 
 and all that adds to the country's prosperity, may well inquire how her efforts and 
 sacrifices have been answered ; and she, of all the States, may urge that the interests 
 thus by her protected, should, by the greater government administered for all, be 
 fostered for the benefit of the American people. 
 
 " Fifty years ago a most distinguished foreigner, who visited this country and 
 studied its condition and prospects, wrote : 
 
 " When I contemplate the ardor with which the Americans prosecute commerce, 
 the advantages which aid them, and the success of their undertakings, I cannot 
 help believing that they will one day become the first maritime jiower of the globe. 
 They are bound to rule the seas as the Romans were to con(pier the world. * * ♦ 
 The Americans themselves now transport to their own shores nine-tenths of the 
 European produce which they consume, and they also bring three-fourths of the 
 exports of the New World to the European consumers. The ships of the United 
 States fill the docks of Ha\Te and Liverpool, whilst the number of English and 
 French vessels which are to be seen at New York is comparatively small. 
 
 "We turn to the actual results reached since these words were written, with 
 disappointment. 
 
 " In 1840 American vessels carried eighty-two and nine-tenths per cent, of all 
 our exports and imports; in 1850, seventy-two and five-tenths; in 1860, sixty-six 
 and five-tenths ; in 1870, thirty-five and six-tenths ; in 1880, seventeen and four- 
 tenths ; in 1883, fifteen and five-tenths.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 51 
 
 " The citizen of New York, looking beyond his State, and all her efforts in the 
 interest of commerce and national f^owth, will naturally inquire concerning the 
 causes of this decadence of American shipping. 
 
 " While he sternly demands of his own government the exact limitation of 
 taxation by the needs of the State, he will challenge the policy that accumulates 
 millions of useless and unnecessary surplus in the national treasury, which has 
 been not less a tax because it was indirectly and surely added to the cost of the 
 people's life. 
 
 •'Let us anticipate a time when care for the people's needs, as they actually 
 arise, and the application of remedies, as wrongs appear, shall lead in the conduct 
 of national affairs ; and let us undertake the business of legislation with the full 
 determination that these principles shall guide us in the performance of our duties 
 as guardians of the interests of the State. " 
 
 To the people of the Nation not less than of the State do these wise and 
 patriotic words give assurance to the liberal and statesmanlike views of Grover 
 Cleveland, fitted by native character and study to administer the highest public 
 office. 
 
 Reform Legislation for New York City. 
 
 Reform in the administration of the government of New York City has been 
 the subject of agitation for many years. Indeed, tinkering with the charters of 
 the great cities of the State, either in the interest of or against their citizens, has 
 occupied the time principally of successive seasions of the Legislature. But it 
 was not until the session of 1884 that any well-considered scheme which went to 
 the root of the evil was presented. To the furtheninceof these measures Governor 
 Cleveland gave all the aid he could, and most of them to-day are laws of the 
 State, and tliose which are not — two — are not so only because they were so 
 <^arelessly drafted that they defeated in themselves the purposes they sought to 
 accomplish. 
 
 Reform Bills. 
 
 These bills are : 
 
 The bill entitled " An act to centre responsil)ility in the municipal government 
 of the city of New York." 
 
 The bill entitled " An act in relation to the oflSce of the clerk of the city and 
 county of New York." 
 
 The bill entitled "An act in relation to the office of Surrogate of the county 
 of New York." 
 
 The bill entitled " An action in relation to the office of the Register of the city 
 and county of New York." 
 
 The bill entitled " An act to regulate and provide for certain expenses of con- 
 ducting the office of sheriff of the city and county of New York." 
 
 The bill entitled "An act to provide for a more efficient government for the 
 departments of Parks in the city of New York ;" and 
 
 The bill entitled " An act to fix and regulate the terms of office of certain 
 public oflicers in the city of New York," more commonly known as the " Tenure 
 of Office Bill." 
 
 This list embraces all of the bills known as the " New York Reform Bills" — 
 seven in all, five of which were signed and two not approved, for reasons which 
 will be given hereafter.
 
 62 I'L'ni.ic kKcoRi) OK crover Cleveland. 
 
 The Mayor's Bill. 
 
 The first of these l)iils is the oni* known variously jis the ' Miiyors," the 
 " AUlernmnic," or the " Mayonilty resi)onsil»ility bill." It is jut follows : 
 
 AN ACT to centre responsibility in the Municiiml Government of the City of 
 
 New York. 
 
 The Piople of the SUtte of New Ym-k, repreaenUd in Senate and Aiuuinbli/, do enact 
 as follows : 
 
 Section 1. All appointments to oflice in the City of New York. aii<l made by 
 the Mayorand eonfirmed by the Hoard of Aldermen, shall liereafler Ite maile by 
 the Mayor without sueh confirmation. 
 
 § 2." This act shall take elTeel .January 1, 1H«.5. 
 
 The bill was promptly signed by the Governor, who liled with it the following 
 reasons for his act : 
 
 Accompanying the Signing of the Mayor's Bill. 
 
 " Executive Chamber, Albant, March 17, 1884. 
 
 " The inti-rest whicii has l)een arou.sed regarding the merits of this bill, and 
 quite a determined hostility whicli has be«'n developed on llie part of thos« 
 entitled to respectful consideration, appear to justify a brief reference to the prin- 
 ciples aii<l puri)()ses wiiich seem to me to be involved in the measure, and an inci- 
 dental statement of the process of thought by which I have been led to approve 
 the same. 
 
 "The opponents of the bill have invoked the innolability of the right of the 
 people to rule themselves, and have insisted u[>on the preservation of a wise 
 distribution of power among the difTerent branches of government; and I have 
 listened to solemn warning against the subversive tendency of the concentration 
 of power in nnuiicipal rule, and the destructive consecjuences of any encroachment • 
 upon the peoj)le's rights and prerogatives. 
 
 " I hope I have nut eiitireiv misconceived the s<-ope and reach of this bill; but 
 it seems to me that my determination as to whether or not it should In-come a law 
 does not depend upon the reverence I entertain for such fundamental principles. 
 
 "The (|ue.stion is not whether certain officers heretofore elected by the jM-ople 
 of the City of New York shall, under the provisions t)f a new law, be app<jinted. 
 The transfer of power from an electit)n by the jM-ople to an appointment by other 
 authority, has already been made. 
 
 "The present charter of the city provides that the mayor 'shall nominate, and 
 by and with the consent of the board of aldermen appoint the heads of depart- 
 ments.' 
 
 "The bill under consideration provides that after the 1st day of January, 1885, 
 'all appointments to ofiice in the City of New York now made by the mayor and 
 confirmed l)y the board ef aldennen shall be made by the mayor without such 
 onfirmation.' 
 
 " The change proposed is clearly apparent. 
 
 " By the present charter the mayor, elected by all the people of the city, if a 
 majority of twenty-four aldermen elected by the voters of twenty-four .sepanite 
 districts concur with him, may appoint the administrative officers who shall have 
 charge and management of the city departments. 
 
 "The bill jiresented for my action allows the mayor alone to appoint these 
 ofticers. This authority is not conferred upon the mayor now in office, who was 
 chosen without anticipation on the part of the people who elected him, that he 
 shoidd exercise this power, but upon the incomin^: mayor who, after the pa.ssage 
 of the act, shall be elected with the full knowledge on the j)art of the people, at 
 the time they cast their votes, that they are constituting an agent to act for them 
 in the .selec ion of certain other city ofilcers. 
 
 " This selection under either statute is delegjited by the people. In the one 
 case it is exercised by the chief executive acting with twenty-four officers repre- 
 senting as many different sections of the municipality ; in the other by the chief 
 executive alone. 
 
 "I cannot see that any principle of democmtic nde is more violated in the one 
 case than in the other. It appears to be a mere change of instrumentalities.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF CROVER CLEVELAND. 58 
 
 " It will hardly do to say that because the aldermen are elected annually, and 
 the mayor every two yeare, that the former are nearer the people and more especi- 
 ally their representatives. The (lilTereiiee in tlieir terms is not sufflcient to make a 
 distinction in their direct relations to tlie citizen. 
 
 " Nor are tlie rights of the people to self government in theory and principle 
 better protected when the power of appointment is vested in twenty-tive men, 
 twenty-fi)ur of whom are responsil)le only to their constituents in their respective 
 districts, than when tliis power is put in tlie hands of one man elected by all the 
 people of the municipality with particular reference to the exercise of such power. 
 Indeed, in the i)resent condition of alTairs, if disagreement arises between the mayor 
 and tlie aldermen, the selection of otTicers by the representative of all the people 
 might lie defeated by the adverse action of tliirteen representatives of thirteen 
 aldermanic districts. And it is perfectly apparent that these tliirteen might, and 
 often would, represent a decided minority of the people of the municipality. 
 
 " It cannot be claimed that an arrangement which permits such a result is jjre- 
 eminently democratic. 
 
 " It lias been urged that the proposed change is opposed to the principle of 
 home rule. If it is intended to claim tliat the officers, the creation of which is 
 provided for, shoidd be elected, it has no relevancy ; for that question is not in 
 any manner presented for my determination. And it surely cannot be .said that 
 the doctrine of lionie rule prevents any ciiange by the Legislature of the organic 
 law of municipalities. Tlie people of the city cannot themselves make such 
 change ; and if legislative aid cannot be invoked to that end, it follows that abuses, 
 flagrant and increasing, must be continued, and exi.stin,!^ cliarter provisions, the 
 inadequacy of whicli for tlie protection and prosperity ot the people is freely ad- 
 mitted, must be perpetuated. It is the interference of the Legislature with the 
 administration of municipal government, by agencies arbitrarily created by legis- 
 lative enactment, and the assumption by the law-making power of the State, of 
 the rights to regulate such details of city government as are or should be under 
 the supervision of local authorities, that should be condemned as a violation of the 
 doctrine of home rule. 
 
 " In any event I am convinced that I should not disapprove the bill before me 
 on the ground that it violates any principle whiih is now recognized ami e.vempli- 
 lied in the government of the City of New York. 
 
 " I am also .sjitisfied that as between the system now prevailing and that jiro- 
 posed, expediency and a close regard to improved municipal administration lead to 
 my approval of the mea.sure. 
 
 " If the chief executive of the city is to be held responsible for its order and 
 good government, he should not be iiainpered by any interference witli his selec- 
 tion of subordinate admiiiistrativt; oHicers ; nor should he be permitted to find in a 
 divideil responsiliilily an cxcum' for any neglect of the best interests of the jH'ople. 
 
 "The i>lea shoulil never be heard that a bad nomination had been made be- 
 cau.se it was the only one that could .secure confirmation. 
 
 " No instance lias lutm cited in which a bad appointment has been prevented 
 by the refusal of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York to confirm a 
 nomination. 
 
 " An absolute and undivided resi>onsibility on the part of the appointing jiower 
 accords with corre<t business principles, the ,ipi)lication of wiiicli to public affairs 
 "will always, I believe, direct the way to good administration and the protection of 
 the people's inlerest.s. 
 
 •' The intelligence and watchfulness of the citizens of New York should cer- 
 tainly funiish a .safe guaranty that the duties and powers devolved by this legisla- 
 tion upon their chosen rei>resentative, will be well and wisely bestowed ; and if 
 they err or are betrayed, their remedy is close at hand. 
 
 " I can hardly realize the unpriiici|)led boldness of the man who would accept 
 at the hands of his neighlM)rs this sacred trust, and standing alone in the full light 
 of public observation, should willfully prostitute his jxiwers and defy the will of the 
 people. 
 
 " To say that such a man could by such means perpetuate his wicked nile, con- 
 cedes either that the jx-ople are vile or that .self-government is a deplorable failure. 
 
 " It is claimed that becau.se some of these appointees become members of the 
 Board of Estimate ami Ajiportionment, which determines very largely the amount 
 of taxation, therefore the i>ower to select them should not l)c given to the mayor. 
 If the question presented was whether ollicials having such important duties and
 
 04 PUBLIC RKCORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 functions sliould Ih- (•lfct«'(l In' the pi-oplc or appointi-d, sucli ti conNiili-nitioii 
 mi^ht Will be ur^cd in favor oi tiu-ir ch-ction. Hut they are now up|M>intiM|, and 
 they will remain appointed whether the proposed hill siiould he rejected or ap- 
 proved. This hein;^ tlie situation, the importance of the duties Ut l)e ix-rfonned by 
 these ollicials has to do with the care to he exercised in their selection, rather 
 than the choice between the two modes of appoiutinent which are under considera- 
 tion. 
 
 " For .some time prior to the year 1872, the.se appointments were made by the 
 mayor witho\it confirmation, as is contemplated by the bill now bef4(re me. In 
 that year a measure passetl the Lei^islature giving the power of ap])oinlment to 
 the common council. The chief executive of tlie State at that time was a careful 
 and thorough student of miuiicipal affairs, havinj^ large and varied experience in 
 pulilic life. He refused to approve the bill, on the ground that it was a 
 departure from the i»rincii)le wliich should b«' applied to the administration of the 
 affairs of the citv, and for the rea.son tliat the mayor sliouid be permitted to ap- 
 point the subordinate administrative officers without the iuterfereuce of any other 
 authority. 
 
 "This reference to the treatment of the subject by one of mv distinguished pre- 
 decessors in oflice, atTonis me the opi)orIunity to ipiote frf)m his able and vigorous 
 veto message which he sent to tlie Legislature on that occasion. He said : 
 
 " * Nowhere on this continent is it so e.s,senfially a condition of good government 
 as in the city of New York, that the chief exec'utive otlicer should In? clothed 
 with ample powers, have full control oversubordinate administrative departments, 
 and so be subject to an undivided res|)oiisibility to tJie people and to ])ublic 
 t)pinfon for all errors, short comings and wrong doings by subordinate officers.' 
 
 "He also said : 
 
 "' Give to the city a chief executive, with full power to appoint all heads of 
 administrative departments. Let him have power to remove his subordinates, 
 being required to |)ubliely assign his reason.' 
 " He further declared : 
 
 "'The members of the common council in New York, will exert all the 
 influence over api)ointmenl.M which isconsistent with the public goo<l, without hav- 
 ing the legal jxiwer of appointment, or ant/ jnirt of it, vested in their hands.' 
 
 "In 1H7(J, after four added years of R-flecfiou and observation, he said, in a 
 public address, when suggesting a scheme of municipal government : 
 
 "'Have, therefore, no provision in your charter recpiiring the consent of the 
 common council to the mayors appointments of heads of departments ; t/mt only 
 opntu thr irtii/ for (lirtnti»n bif the connrtl or for tuirgnins. "I'his is not the way to 
 get good men nor to lix the full rcsi)onsil)ility formal-administration upouthe 
 people's chosen prime mini.ster.' 
 
 " Tlie.se are the utterances of one who, during two tenns had been mayor of 
 the city of New York and for two terms recorder of that city ; and who for four 
 years had been (Jovernor of tlie State. 
 
 "No testimony, it seems to me, could be more .satisfactory and convincing. 
 
 " It is objected that this bill does not go far enough, and that there should l)e 
 a rearrangement of the terms of these oflicers ; al.so that some of them .should be 
 made elective. This is undoubtedly true ; and I shall be glad to approve further 
 judicious legislation supplementary to this, which will make the change more 
 valuable and surround it with .sjifeguards in the interests of the citizens. But such 
 further legislation should be well digested ami conservative, and, above all, not 
 proposed for the purpo.-e of gaining a mere partisan advantage. 
 
 "I have not referred to the pernicious practices which the present mode of 
 making aj)iiointments in the city of New Ytirk engenders, nor in the constantly 
 recunring bad results for which it is responsible. They are in the plain sight of 
 every citizen of the State. 
 
 " I believe the change made by the provisions of this bill gives opportunity for 
 an improvement in tiie administration of municipal affairs ; and I am .satisfied 
 that the measure violates no right of the people of the locality affected, which they 
 now enjoy. But the best opportunities will be lost and the mo.st perfect plan of 
 city government will fail, unless the {K'ople recognize their responsibilities and 
 appreciate and realize the privileges and duties of citizenship. With the most 
 carefully devised charter, and with all the protection which legislative enactments
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 55 
 
 can aflford thera, the people of the city of New York will not secure a wise and 
 economical rule until those havinj; the most at stake determine to actively interest 
 themselves in the conduct of municipal atlairs. 
 
 "GROVER CLEVELAND." 
 
 The County Clerk's Bill. 
 
 The County Clerk's bill (chap. 299 Laws of 1884) is one the object of which 
 can be stated in a few words. It provides : 
 
 1. That hereafter, in lieu of the fees received by the county clerk estimated as 
 high as $100,000 per year by some, the county clerk shall receive a salary of 
 |il5,000 per year. 
 
 2. That all fees heretofore collected under authority of law for the county 
 clerk shall be accounted for and paid monthly into the treasury of the City and 
 County of New York. 
 
 3. It fixes the amount of fees that shall be collected; and 
 
 4. Provides safeguards and penalties for the proper transaction of business. 
 This bill the Governor signed promptly. 
 
 The SherifT's Bill. 
 
 The Sheriflf's bill, the terms of which have in some quarters been a matter of 
 dispute and di.scu.ssion, is presented in full. 
 
 Chap. 297. 
 
 An act to regulate and provide the certain expenses of conducting the office of 
 
 sheritT of the City and County of New York. 
 
 Passed May 14, 1884 ; three-flfths being present. 
 
 The Ptople of the State of NiV) York, n-prt tented in Senate and Assembly, do 
 enact aafolloies : 
 
 Section 1. After the pa.ssage of this act the Board of .Vldermen of the C'ity 
 I >f NfW York shall cease to have (jr exercise any powers in reirard to re;,'ulating, 
 establishiiii; or providiii-; for the compen.sation to be i)aid to the Sheriff of the City 
 and County of New York for the jK-rfonnance of any duties now or hereafter 
 imposed by law up^ni .said Sheriff. 
 
 S;2. Within thirty days from the first day of November, eighteen hundred and 
 eighty four, and thereafter yearly within the same neriod. the sherilT of tlie city 
 and county of New York .shall present to the board of estinuite and ajiportion- 
 ment of .mild city an estimate in writing of tlie amount.s which he deenjs necessary 
 for defraying during the ensuing year those objects of exiM-nditure connected with his 
 said ofllce, whicli are by law made a cliarge upon said city and county. The yearly 
 estimate so presented by the said sheriff sliall s|)ecify the aggregate of jier caj^ita 
 amounts which lie deems necessary to comi>ensjite him for filing returns of crim- 
 inal convictions a<cor(ling to law with the s«-cretarj' of stale ; for conveying pris- 
 oners from the citv prison to the penitentiary, to the house of refuge, and to the 
 courts of oyer an«l terminer an<l general s«'.ssion.4 and back to pri.son from .said 
 courts; for the supi>ort of prisoners confined in the county jail, whether criminal 
 or civil prisoners ; for summoning jurors according to law ; for the attendance of 
 hims<'lf and his de]>uties at the execution of criminals, and all other exjjenses con- 
 nected therewith, and prior to execution ; and the said estimate shall specify in 
 detail all other ol)jects of expenditure connected with .said ofllce chargeable as 
 aforesaid to said city and county, with the amounts which tlic said sheriff deems 
 necessjiry for defniying the same. 
 
 5^ 3. The sjiid bnard of estinuite and apportionment .shall, in making their pro- 
 visional anil final estitnate-s of the amounts reijuisite to meet the expenses of con- 
 ducting the public business of the citv and c( unity of New York, consider tlie 
 yearly estimate presented by said sheriff, and shall provide lor the varioiLS objects 
 of exi>en(iiture in said yearly estimate specified, such sums or fix such rates of 
 payment therefor a.s in the judgment of sai<l board of estimate and apportionment 
 may deem nece-ssarj- and sufficient. No ex])ense chargeable to sjiid city and
 
 56 PUBLIC RECORD OK GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 county slijiU be incurred by said .sheriff in excess of the amounts uppropriuted or 
 rates lixed tliereforbv said board. 
 
 §4. All acts or parts of acts authorizin;? the board of Aldermen of the city of 
 New York, as .such l)oard, or as the lioard of supervi.sors of the county of New 
 York, to contract with the sheriff of .said city and county for tlie performance of 
 any services for .said city and county, or to compen.sate said slieriff for any services 
 performed by him, so far as such acts or parts of acts do grant sucl» authority, 
 and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are lureby 
 repealed. 
 
 t^S. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 This bill the Governor also signed at once. 
 
 The County Register's Bill. 
 
 The Rejrister's bill provided : 
 
 1. Tiiat in lieu of the fees now received by the Register, he should have a 
 salary of $12, 000 per year, and 
 
 2. Regulated the fees to be charged and provided for proper turning over to 
 the treasurj' of the city and county. 
 
 The Surrogate's Bill. 
 The SuiTogatc's bill provided : 
 
 1. That the ollicf and all its appointments should be removed from the control 
 of the Board of Aldcnnen. 
 
 2. Giving the absolute control to the Surrogate. 
 
 3. Fi.xing the fees to be charged in oflice of Surrogate, and 
 
 4. Providing that such fees as shall be charged be turned over monthly to the 
 treasury of the county ; and 
 
 5. Cutting down largely fees heretofore charged. 
 
 These bills, when the Governor came to examine, were in such slmpe that he 
 could not sign them, their defects defeating their purpose. Fortunately they had 
 been received in the Executive ("haml)er while the Legislature was yet in session, 
 when they could yet be recalled, and when their defects could be remedied. 
 
 Consequently, the Governor ad<lre.s.sed a me.s.sage to the Assembly, where the 
 bills originated, asking their recall and amendment, as follows : 
 
 Endeavoring to Correct Errors. 
 
 " Executive Chamuek, Albany, May 12, 1884, 
 
 "TotJw A!*»finhly : 
 
 "I have examined As.sembly bill No. 406. entitled ' An act in relation to the 
 office of register of the city andcounty of New York.' and the A.ssembly bill No. 
 467, entitled ' An act in relation to the office of surrogate of the county of New 
 York,' and I am of the opinion that both of them should be recalled for amend- 
 ment. I am led to make this suggestion for the reason that these bills J)elong to 
 a class of remedial measures of great importance, and from the enactment of 
 which valuable reforms are anticipated. It is manifest tiiat their good effect should 
 not be jeopardized or diminished by imiH'rfection in their form or by the omission 
 of anv provisions which tend to make them complete and effective. 
 
 "in the bill relating to the oflice of Register, subdivision 16 of section 4 appears 
 to be unintelligible, the language is as follows : ' Every certificate other than 
 that a paper for the copying of which he is entitled to a fee is a copy, twenty-five 
 cents. ' 
 
 " I suppose the intention may be expressed in the following words : 
 
 "'Every certificate other than to a paper, for the copying of which he is 
 entitled to a fee, twenty-five cents.' 
 
 " Section five of the act provides for the giving of a bond for the faithful dis- 
 charge of his duties by 'The register appointed or elected as successor to the . 
 present incumbent of that office in The city and county of New York.'
 
 PUBLIC RFXORD OF GROVF.R CLEVELAND. 57 
 
 "Of course tliis should be made to apply to all registers hereafter elected or 
 appointed. 
 
 " Section ten, in relation to the keeping of accounts, is in the same form, and 
 appears to need tlie same amendment. 
 
 "In line nine of section five the word 'clerk' by mistake used instead of 
 'register' is quite an important provision. 
 
 " Sectionstcn and eleven both refjuire a statement showing, among other things, 
 ' the fees, perquisites and emoluments which the register or his assistants shall be 
 entitled to de nut nd from any perifou for services rendered in his or their official 
 capacity.' There .should, 1 think, be no such provision in the law ; but, on the con- 
 traiy, it .should contain a positive direction to the register that he should give no 
 creait to any person for fees, or that he should receive the same in advance and 
 be responsible to the city and county for all fees earned by him. 
 
 "The plan of this bill is to pay "to the register a salary, and have the fees of the 
 office turned into the treasury of the city and county. This officer, thus assured 
 of his salary, will have uo personal interest in collecting the fees of his oflice ; and 
 the city should be protected against an accumulation of very doubtful assets com- 
 prising numerous accounts against attorneys for register's fees. 
 
 " Bill No. 467, relating to the oflice of" surrogate, provides in its sixth section, 
 that after the i)a.s.sage of this act ' the surrogate, the assistant to said surrogate, or 
 other clerks, employees or subordinates in or attached to the office or court of sur- 
 gate, shall not charge or receive i" /lis or tfuiroirn use and benefits or otherwise than 
 for the benefits of .said county, any fees, penjuisitesor emoluments for anj' services 
 rendered by iiim or them i>y 'virtue of his or their official positions, except as pro- 
 vided in subdivision one of section seven of this act. 
 
 " Section .seven provides that no fees, perquisites or emoluments .shall be charged 
 or received by the surrogate, or any of his assistants or subordinates, except as 
 therein specified. 
 
 " Then follows sululivi.sion one, which is referred to in section six, asfixingfhe 
 fees tliat may be charged and received to their otrn use by the surrogate, and his 
 assi-stants and subordinates, which is in the following words : 
 
 " 1. When in a case prescribeil by law, or in any other case, upon the applica- 
 tion of a party, ///■ goes to a place other than his oflice, or the court-room where he 
 is recjuired to hold court, in order to take testimony, he may charge and receive to 
 his own use, ten cents for each mile for going and the same for returning." 
 
 "This is the exact language of sulxlivision one of section 'iHiW of the Code of 
 Civil Procedure. Hut by that section the mileage allowed is confined to the surro- 
 gate alone, and not to any a.s.sistants or subordinates. It was evidently intended 
 to apply to counties embracing a large area, and to cases when the surrogate might 
 be called upon to travel a considerable distance, involving an expense for which he 
 should be reimbursed. 
 
 " I can .see no propriety in making this application even to the surrogate of the 
 City and County of New "York ; and as it may be claimed that it applies under 
 this bill to the subordinates as well as to the surrogate, it would seem to open the 
 door to abuses. 
 
 " I think all the provi.sions of the bill permitting any fees to be received by the 
 surrogate or his subordinates, to his or their own use, should be stricken out, and 
 that the .sjime should be expres.sly prohibited. 
 
 " There should also be inserted in this bill, in my judgment, a prohibition 
 against the sun-ogate giving any credit for his fees and .services, and holding him 
 responsible to the city and county for all fees earned in his office. 
 
 " I have not had an opportunity to examine the other bills in my hands, similar 
 to those referreil to, relating to the public offices in the city of New York, with 
 such care as is neces.sary, to determine whether they contain similar imperfections. 
 
 " I recommend that lulls Nos. 466 and 467, which are above referred to, be 
 recalled for amendment. And in view of the near approach of the final adjourn- 
 ment of the Legislature, I suggest that the other bills of a like character be also 
 recalled or carefully examined by some party familiar with the subjects they 
 embrace, .so that fatal defects shall not be discovered when it is too late for amend- 
 ment. 
 
 "GROVER CLEVELAND." 
 
 These two bills were recalled and amendments made, but not in a manner 
 which was satisfactory to anybody. However, while, regretting that the amend-
 
 58 PUm.IC RKCIJRD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 mcnts had not liceii more carefully drawn, the Governor signed the billn, and in h 
 nicmomndiiiii fih-d with tlicrn i^ave his reasons for doing so. 
 
 Defective Bills. 
 
 These ])ills were returned during the closing hours of the si^ssiiin. and ahout 
 the same time also were the bills known as the " Park Conunis-sioners' hill " and 
 "Tenure of Olliee bill," sent to the Governor. At that time not lesi than one 
 Inuidred and lifty bills were awaiting the action of the Governor, a nundier which 
 was increased to four hundred upon the adjournment ; consequently before the 
 Governor could reach these bills the Legislature of 1884 had adjourned, and all 
 opportunity to remedy errors gone. 
 
 The " Tenure of Office bill " and ''Park Commissioners' bill" are presented 
 below that their defects may be seen." 
 
 Tenure of OfTice Bill. 
 
 AN ACT to fix and regulate the terms of office of certain public officers in the 
 
 City of New York. 
 
 T/ie People of the State of New York, repretiented in Senate and AssevMy, do enact 
 nsfolhies : 
 
 Section 1. Every officer, commis-sioner or head of department in the City of 
 New York who shall be hereafter appointed during the term for which the pre.sent 
 mayor of that eity wa.s eh-cted, by .s^iid mayor, with or without confirmation by 
 the Board of Aldermen, either to fill a vaeariey for an unexpired term, or ff)r a full 
 term, sluill bold his olllce until and no lorigertban noon on the first day of Febru- 
 ary, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and the appointment and qualification of his 
 successor. 
 
 § 2. The mayor of the City of New York, to be elected at the general election 
 in the j'ear 1884, shall, within thirty days after the commencement of the term for 
 which he is elected, appoint successors to each ofilci-, eommi.'ision and head of 
 department who may be appointed duringthe remainder of the term for which the 
 present mayor of that city was elected and the perscm .so appointed shall hold office 
 for the same terms respectively that those ofiicers, eommis.sioiiers and heads of 
 departments whom they succeed would have held «)ffi(e if this act had not l>een 
 enacted, jjrovided that any commissioner or headof (le|>arlment, appointed untler the 
 provisions of this act. shall not hold olfice for any longer tenu or p«riod than the 
 term of ofiice of the mayor by whom such commission or head of department shall 
 be apj)oiiited and thirty (hiys thereafler. 
 
 (^ 3. All acts and part.s of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are 
 hereby repeah-d. 
 
 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 Park Commission Bill. 
 
 AN ACT to provide for a more efficient government of the department of parks 
 
 in the city of New York. 
 
 T/ie Ptojih' of the State of Xew York, repre»cnted in Senate anil Aiuembly, do 
 enact asfolloirs: 
 
 Section 1. The terms of office of the present commis.sioners of the depart- 
 ment of jMiblic parks in the city of New York, and of any of their successors 
 who may be apiminted Ity the present mayor of said city, shall cease and terminate 
 on Fel)ruary one, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and in their place the mayor 
 .shall, within ten days thereafter, appoint three commissioners, who shall be known 
 as the commissioners of the department of i)ublic parks in the city of New York, 
 and who shall succeed to all the rights, powers and duties of the present commis- 
 sioners, one of whom shall serve for two years, one of whom shall serve for four 
 years, and one of whom shall serve six years, or until removed by the mayor, at a 
 salary of five thousand dollars a year each ; and biennially thereafter the mayor 
 shall appoint one commissioner of the department of piddic parks, who shall 
 hold his ofiice for two, four or six years, as the term of the office becoming vacant 
 shall require, or until removed.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 59 
 
 So reluctant was the Go\ ernor to s\'j:n the surrogate's and register's bill, with 
 their imperfections, tlmt he felt constrained to give the reasons which had finally 
 induced him to give his signature to them. And in the same memoranda he gave 
 U[< reasons for withholding his signature from the " Tenure of Ollicebill" and 
 the •' Park Commissioners' bill," all of which are presented below : 
 
 The Governor's Reasons. 
 
 State of New York, ) 
 
 Executive Chamber, ;- 
 
 Albany, June Uth, 1884. ) 
 
 Memorandum filed with the approval of As.sembly bill No. 466. entitled " An act 
 in relation to the ollice of the register of the city and county of New York." 
 This bill, together with As.semblv bill No. 467. entitled "An act in relation to 
 the ortice of surnjgate of the county of New York," which is also this day ap- 
 proved, came into my hanils originaUy during the session of the Legislature and 
 prior to the twelfth dav of May last. 
 
 Upon examining the.se two bills I discovered certain defects and errors of so 
 much importance that on the dav last mentioned I addres-sed a message to the 
 Assend)ly calling attenli<jn to the' imperfections in the bills, and suggesting that 
 thev shoidd be recalled for amendment. 
 
 This course was adopted by tli.- .Vssembly and certain amendments were made, 
 after whiih they were ai:ain returned to me "for my approval. 
 
 I think they are still defective, in that wiiile they oblige the city to pay cerlam 
 salaries Ut the ittlieers therein named, and profess to make all fees earned by them 
 payable to the city, they pennit these officers to turn over accounts against parties 
 lor whom ofiiciarservices are rendered instead of the fees in ca.sh. 
 
 Hut, inasmuch as these deficiencies are not fatal, I waive my objections based 
 thereon, and construe the fact that thev were not remedie<l, though attention was 
 particularly called to them, as i)roof tliat the Legislature dilTered with me as to the 
 ■ \p<'diencv of makintra rliange. 
 
 Among other errors, however, which were considered by all mtercsted of 
 ^iifiicicnl Tniporfance to inak<- necessary the recall and amendment of these bills, 
 was one o( curriiiu' in that relating to the olHce of register, which limite<l the i)er 
 formance of certain important duties only to the immediate succes-sor of the present 
 incumbent. ... „ r 
 
 In the mes-sage to the Assembly above referred to. after suggesting the recall ol 
 the bills for amendment, the following langiiage was u.sed: 
 
 "I am led to make this sugirestion for the reason that these bills l)elong to a 
 class of remedial measiuvs of great imi)ortance, ami from the enactment of which 
 valuable reforms are anti.ipaled. It is manifest that their good effect should not 
 1m' jeopardized or dimini>h<il by imperfection in their form or by 'l"' <.iiiis-i(.ii of 
 any provisions which tend to ni ike them complete and effective." 
 " And the mes.sage concluiled in thr following words: 
 •' I have not had an opj)ortunity to examine the other bills in my hands .similar 
 to those referretl to. relating to tin" public olHces in the city of New York, with 
 such care as is nece.s.siirv to determine whether they contain simihir imperfections. 
 
 " I recommend thatbills Nos. 466 and 467, which are above referred to, be re- 
 called for amendment. And in view of the near ajjproach of the final adjourn- 
 ment of the Lri:isluture, I sugtrcst that the other bills (»f a like character be also 
 recalled or carefully examined by some partv familiar with the subjects they 
 embrace, so that fatal defects shall not be discovered when it is too late for 
 amendment." . 
 
 Notwithstanding this express warning there are two bills now in my hands 
 which are connected in ymrpose an<l general design with those last referred to, 
 which are so .seriouslv imperfect that I have determined not to approve them. 
 One of these is a Senate bill entitled •' An act to fix and re<;ulate the terms of 
 office of certain public oftlcei-s in the city of New York." which contains the .sime 
 vice in an exa-rgerateil form that caused the recall and amendment of the bill 
 relating to the register. It ab.solutely makes no provision f(jr the appointment of 
 any officer or hwid of department after the immediate successors to those now in 
 office.
 
 €0 PUBLIC RECORD OF (iROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 And the sorond section provides that " the mayor of the city of New York, to 
 be elected at the L'eiieral eh-ction iu the year eighte<-ii hiin<lred and eijflitvfour, 
 shall, within thirty days after the commencement of the term for whicfi he in 
 fleeted, appoint successors to each o^ice, commissioner and liead of <lepartment, 
 who may be appointed during the remainder of the term for which the present 
 mayor of the city was elected ; and the )x*rsons so appointed shall hold ollice for 
 the same terms respectively that those otJicers, commissioners and lieads of depart- 
 ments whom they succeed, would have held oHlceif tliis act had not been enacted, 
 pro\idfd that any commissioner or head of departnnnt appointeil under the pro 
 visions of tliis act, shall not hold oHice for any loii(,vr term or period than the 
 term of oltice of the mayor by whom such commissioners or head of depurtmcDts 
 shall be appointed, and thirty days thereafter." 
 
 Section third repeals all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions 
 of this act. 
 
 It will be seen at a jflance that this bill does not purport to "fix and reijulate " 
 the terms of all apjiointive otHces, but only such as shall Ik- appointed during the 
 remainder of the term of the present mayor dixl their iiuiufdinU' gucremntrs. And 
 it will be observed that the next mayor can only appoint succes-sors to such officers 
 as shall be ajipointed by the present miivur (tn ring the remainder of hi« term. I 
 think the evident intention of the bill woidd be entirely defeated if the mayor now 
 in r)tllce should allow the present incumbents to liolil over until the expiration of 
 their tenns instea<l of appointing others in tlieir places. 
 
 Wiien the bill attempts to fix the terms of the appointees of the next mayor it 
 would seem to |)rovide in the same sent«'nre for two limitatious to such terms — 
 that is, four yeai-s fmm the 1st day of .May, INS,"), as provided by the present law, 
 and one year and eleven months from Fel)ruary 1st, Ikh,"). 
 
 I observe, too, that the last limitation only ajiplies to "commissioners and 
 heads of di'partments," the word " olllcers " having l)een omitted, though it is 
 embraced in the other limitation. 
 
 Of all the deft'ctive and shabby legi.shition which has l)een presented to me, 
 this is the worst and most inexcusable, urde.ss it be its companion, whicli is entitled 
 " An act to provide for a more etllcient government of the department of parks in 
 the city of New York." 
 
 This l)ill jirovides that the terms of office of the present commissioners of the 
 departminl of public parks in the city of New York, and any of their successors 
 who may l)e api)oiiited by the present mayor, .shall cease on the 1st day of Febru- 
 ary, IHs,'), and that in their place the mayor shall appoint, within ten days there- 
 after, three commi.ssioners, one of whom shall mtvc for two years, one for four 
 years, and one for six years ; and that " biennially thereafter the mayor sliall ap- 
 point onf commissioner of the department of public parks, who shall hold his 
 office for two, four or six years, as the term of the office iK'coming vacant sliall 
 require or until removed." 
 
 I confess I am utterly unable, after considerable study, to determine when the 
 terms of any appointees after the first wovdd terminate, or how the department 
 could be long continued with three memb«'rs, under the provisions of this bill. 
 
 In 18^7 the shortest tenn of these ottlcers would expire and a commissioner 
 should be appointed. ^Vhat length of time for the new comm.ss.sioner does the 
 office becoming vacant " retpiireV" I think the language of the bill can be most 
 reasonably answered by making another appointment for two years. If this was 
 done the new appointee's lenn would exjiire in 1HM9. But at this time the four 
 years' term of an original appointee would also expire, making two ofilces to be 
 then tilled, while the mayor, by the bill, is limited to the appointment of one 
 commissioner in that year. 
 
 If it was intended to create a commission of three members, it is entirely evi- 
 dent that the term of all appointees, after the first, should have Ix'cn for six years. 
 
 Appreciating the litigation and the sacrifice of rights and interests which result 
 from defective laws, I have earnestly tried, during my olficial term, to enforce 
 care in their prepanttion. I am importuned every day to allow laws to go upon 
 the statute book which are mischievously imperfect, but which are deemed good 
 enough to promote the purposes of interested parties. It is not pleasant, constantly, 
 to refuse such applications, but I conceive it my duty to do so. 
 
 Though the purposes of these bills are supposed to be in the public interest, 
 and though their failure may be a disappointment to many, I do not see that I
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 61 
 
 ^houl.i illow tlum to breed dispute and litigation toucbinfj important public 
 Ss amUobemade troublesome precedents to encourage careless and vicious 
 
 l^'^^'^''"'*'" GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 What the AutJ\or of t^e Bill says. 
 Soon after the publication of the Governor's reasons for withholding from the 
 •' Tenure of Office bill •' his signature. 3Ir. Francis M. Scott, who had drawn the 
 bill as it was originallv presented-was in fact its author-addres.sed the following 
 communication to the New York Tinm, entirely sustaining the. position the Gov- 
 ernor had taken : < 
 
 To the Editor of the New York Times: 
 
 Tn view of Governor Cleveland's sharp criticism of the Tenure of Office bill, 
 and the dlposiUon manifested in some ..iarters to cavil at and belittle h.s reasons 
 ml uest on his motives, it is but fair both to the authors o the lull an.l to the 
 Gol C tluu Ihe facts should be stated as they '•-lb" -. Th^enns ^^f. oH- of 
 the present C.rporation Counsel and Commi.ssioner of P.^»';l> ,^\7'^'^,;\\'' ^^' 5,^ 
 n December of this year, and their successors, to be appointed by the major, %m h 
 tL coiiC nil pproval ..f the Aldennen. will, by the provisions of the Consoli- 
 dation Vet old iffice until four years from the first day of next May. andthence- 
 ^or^rd he suc^^ incumbents of tho.se offices are to hold or four-year terms 
 
 c Zue K- n- and ending on Mav first. As it was deemed t.. be unfortunate t Imt 
 le l"Jit m v^to IK.. elected under the new municipal system inaugurated by the 
 ItaS i 1 shoul.l find all the important offices alreadytiHe.l f..r terms e.xtcnd- 
 hi^KVo 1 1 is own. a bill was preparnl providing that all commi.ss.oners, heads 
 <^ d^.m .■ ts. and oilier office^ who should be appointed by the present mayor, 
 ot acp. rn . I . vacancv. with or without confirmation by the 
 
 Cr 1 f V in. e s :,u;d hold oflice until the first day of February. IHsG, and 
 uiSersuee,^^ors .should be appointe(l, and that such succes.sors when appointed 
 sl"mlllhoM office for the terms for which those whom they succeeded would have 
 
 ^'^This bill ai'originallv dmwn. was entirely clear and consistent with the present 
 charter, thscit^^ in .•-fTect simplv changing the time of appointment of the 
 omV who are to hold until May. 1889. from December, 18S4. to February 
 jSiSwhe for this appointnient c.f their succe,ssors in 1H8» the con.solnlation act 
 mak^sa pU^^^^^^^^^^ if i^ •'='<> rea<he<l the Governor in this form it 
 
 would Tarn satisfie.1, have met with no adverse enticsm from um. After the 
 bin 1 ad p as-d the Senate and came up for a third reading in ^1'.' Assemb la 
 n n iler fn.m this citv who had not then displayed the cloven hoof that his subse- 
 nmn CO irs in regard to the Board of Elections bill ma.le so apparent, olTered an 
 2me ndn cnrprovi.^^ tliat the terms of such officials as might be appointed under 
 
 men T e frien.ls of the mea-sure. perhaps without ^u'^cient cons,deratu)n 
 S;cepted the amendment, an.l the bill was pa.s.s,.d as amen.led and hurriedly sent 
 to the Senate where the anieiidmont was ccjiicurred in. , , , • . j ^ 
 
 This amendment had the preci.s.- efTe.t that its astute proposer probably intended 
 that should have, and changed the bill from a complete and consistent to an 
 cm ,. -te an.l c.nfused om-. As amen.led, the bill pn.yi.led a wenty-three 
 n oS tin for those appointed un.ler it. and ma.le no provisi.m what..ver or the 
 aZintnien.>f their svm^^^^^^ .luration of th.-ir term.s leaving such pro- 
 
 vsioi."i supplied by future legislation or .-volved by u.licia construction out 
 of some secti.,n of the consoli.lation act. It is easy for those who see grounds for 
 Se abusT.Tthe Governor to s^iv that he should have truste.l to the next I.egi.sla- 
 tu?e to Sire any defects that he-might discover in the bill, but it is clear that no 
 careful and conscientious Executiv shoul.l knowingly assent to a radica ly defec- 
 fwebill^mpkbeouise he hopes that a Le.gi.slalure not yet elected will see the 
 
 Hpfpcfs and consent to n-ctifv them. r., „* 
 
 A the Irmightsman of the .original Tenure of Office act, and one o the most 
 ar.lent supp..rtc-rs. I am constrained to agree i^ith Governor Clev.-land that n the 
 Tape in which it reach.-d him it was a very shabby piece of legislation, .,u.te un- 
 fit to find a place in the statute book.
 
 <I2 PUBLIC RECORD OK GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 As to the Park ( 'oininissioners* bill, it, too. wiih IiHMtily and incoiiHideraU'ly 
 iiinciKlcd ill the couixt' of its piissji^jc through tlir [^t'jfislatuie, uiitl was thiTel)y 
 (luilt iist'lTfctuallv Hpoih'd as was the Tcimrt' of Olllcc ad. 
 
 FRANCIS M. SCOTT. 
 
 A'o. 42 Pine $trert. 
 Nkw Vokk, Tuesday, .Iiim- 17, 1884. 
 
 The TiiiieH in comnu'nting upon the letter, made this following remark : 
 " A correspondent favors us willi an explanation of an interpolation in the ho- 
 called Tenure of Ottiee bill which had escaped our attention, and wiiich entirely 
 justities Governor Cleveland's refusal to sij;n it. The ainendment. which pro- 
 vided that the terms of olliee of tin- jiersuns to be appointed under the bill to suc- 
 ceed those appointed by the present Mayor should l)e limited bv the t«rm of the 
 Mavor appointiiii,' them, confused its provisions and made Iheuj iiiconsi.stetjt with 
 thelnselvus and with existini; law. Tlie purpose* of the amendment was evidently 
 ho.stile, but it escaped the attention of the friends of the meat«un'." 
 
 Subsequently, this winie controversy having sprunj? up a.s to the Governor's mo- 
 tive and action in the utatter, Mr. Scott, whose letter is (pioted above, wrote n let- 
 ter to the Ereninij Post, July 28, which will be deemed by all conclusive and 
 imanswerable— indeed, not even an attempt hiw been nuide to answer it. It U 
 presented l»elow : 
 
 Ttie Author of the Tenure of Office Bill on the Veto. 
 lo the Editor of t/w Enniiig Po»t : 
 
 8iu — In his letter published in the Ertnin^q Pont of yesterday, Mr. George Hlis.s 
 argues that tiie G 'Vt-rnor's objections to the Tenure of (Jfllce l)ill were untenable, 
 anil that even if they were sound, they applied with a.s much force lo the bill in ito 
 original as in its amended form. 
 
 It is no part of my purpose to defend the wording of the original bill, and I 
 shall coiiline myself to a considenition of it in tJie shape in which it reaclied the 
 Executive Clnunber. 
 
 The specific objections which the Governor fouiul to the bill were : 
 
 Fimt That it made no j>nivision for theapiH>intment of luiy otUcer or head of 
 department alter the immediate succes.sors to those now in ofllce. 
 
 ,sV(v;«(/— That the evident intention of the bill would be entirely defeated if the 
 Mayor now in olliee should allow the present incunilient.s to ht>ld over. 
 
 77(//(/— That the bill |>rovided in the same sentence two limitations to the 
 tenns of the a|)pointees of the next Mayor. 
 
 Colonel Bliss is ipiite right in sjiving that I had section 106 of the Consolidation 
 Act in mind when 1 drafted the iVnure of OlHce act. and that an accpiaintance 
 with the provisions of that section is neces.sary to a thorough comprehension of the 
 Governor's tirst and i)rinci|)al objection to the bill. That section provides that 
 " everv head of dei)arlment and person in this section named, except as in this act 
 otherwise provided, shall hold his o(hce/"r (/>> Urin of »isyi(in>, and in each ca.se until 
 a person is duly appointed and has (pialified in his place ; hut any /)eriion ap/mnttd 
 after the rinnmenrement of the term ai* henin preiwriUd, shall hold only until the 
 expiration of xiii'h term, and until (t suertusor is duly ainnnnted and rpialijied. The 
 terms of olliee of all such heads of departments and persons, ichtn»jertr aetually 
 eipjwinted, shall commence on Xhefrxt day of May in the year in ichieh the terms of 
 offlce of their prede'',ssor» expire; but the Conjpt roller. ('i>rporation Counsel, and 
 Commissioner of Public Works to be appointed on the expiration of the terms of 
 olliee of the present iiicuml)ents in l)ecend)er. 1HH4, shall hold their otllccs until 
 four years from the first ilay of Mav succeeding .such month." 
 
 As 1 pointed out in my letter published in the Times on June iHth, the practical 
 effect of the original bill was simply to jwstpone the ap|M)intment of the next 
 Commissioner of Public Works and Corjioration Counsel from December to 
 February, leaving their terms of olliee and the apjiointment of their successors to 
 be regulated by the above quoted section of the Consolidation Act. 
 
 The Dayton amendment went further and undertook to regulate the terms of 
 olliee of the appointees of the next Mayor, and there stopped. When wotdd their 
 successors take olliceV Apparently in May, 1W7, for the Consolidation Act says 
 that the terms of olHcc of licads of departments and persons whensoever actually
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. dd 
 
 .inpointed shall commence on ihc fint day of May, in the year in which the terms 
 <jf office of the predecessors expire. But the Dayton amendment provides that no 
 commissioner or head of department appointed under that act should hold oflice 
 for any Innqn- ttrin or fxrhd than the term of office of the Mayor wlio ai)iKjiuled 
 'him and tii'irtv davs then-after, and the usual savinp clause extending the incum- 
 hencv of the oflices until tiie appointment and qualification of succeKsors is con- 
 spicuous l)y its ab.sence. The term of office of the next Mayor of this city will 
 expire on January 1. 1887, and if the Tenure of Office act had become a law his 
 appointees under'it could have held office no longer than February 1, 1887. while 
 bv the terms of the Consolidation Act their successors. " whensoever actually 
 appointed." cf>uld not have become invested with office until the first day of the 
 following Mav, leavinu' the city wholly unprovided with a Corporation Counsel or 
 Conunissionef of Public Works for three months. And when appointed and 
 invested with office, for how long would the successors of the appointees of the 
 next Mayor have held under tlje Dayton amendment, taken in connection with 
 section l"06 of the Consolidation Act? *Not for four years apparently, for that term 
 is limited to the terms of the officials who are to be appointed in December. 1884. 
 I'hey mitrht hoUKor six vears, or they might be deemed to have been appointed 
 after the commencement of a term as prescribed" in the Consolidation Act, the 
 term prescribed in that act running from December, 1884. to May, 1HS9, in which 
 ca.se they would hold " until the expiration of sucli term." Much less ambiguity 
 has often led in the past to expensive and protracted litigation, in which the city 
 has been called upon to foot the bills on both .sides. 
 
 The Governor's second objection was that the present Mayor by neglecting to 
 make appointments could defeat the " evident intention " of the bill. 
 
 Uv the "evident intention " of the bill is clearly meant the intention to make 
 the terms of office of the appointees of the next Mayor coterminus with his own. 
 
 The Davton prorim affected the terms of office only of those *' appointed under 
 this act, ' and the act provided only for the appointment of successors to the 
 appointees of the present Mayor. 
 
 If the present Mavor had made no appointments, no successors to hi« apjmnteea 
 could have Im-cu ai)p<)iiitetl, and the whole act, inrlitding the Dayton anuudment, 
 would never have gone into practical effect. In such an event the next Mayor on 
 < oming into otficc woidd have fouml a Corporation Council and a Commissioner 
 of Public Works holding over, and would have appointed their succes.sors, not by 
 virtiu- of the Tenure of Office act, but by virtue of section lOG of the Consolida- 
 tif)n Act. and the.se ap|Kiintees would have held, not until February 1. 1887. but 
 until May 1. 18H5>, tlius palpably defeating the " e\'ident intention " of the Tenure 
 of Office bill as amende<l by the astute Mr. Dayton. 
 
 The validity of the Governor's third objection Ui the bill is apparent upon its 
 face. Its second section provides in a single sentence that the appointees of the 
 next Mayor shall hold office for two different terms, oneextendin^' to May 1, 1889, 
 and the other ixpiriug on February 1, 1887. I think that every candid reader mu-st 
 be i)repared to admit that the f»ill as it reached the Governor, was in truth 
 " defective and shabby legislation," which, until amended, was not even intelligible, 
 and I confess my surprise that one who has had so much exiK-rience in Albany as 
 has Colonel Hliss should deem it wise or even excusable in a careful Governor to 
 sign a defective bill in the hope and trust that it may be amended in some way 
 before its defects prixluces«-rious results. 
 
 As Colonel Uliss has dragged Commissioner Thompson's name into his letter, 
 I may be pennitted to make one remark as to the political effect of this much 
 discussed veto The effort is b«ing made to convince the i»ublic that the veto of 
 the Tenure of Office bill was intended and calculated in some way to strengthen 
 Governor Cleveland's political friends. Its effect is exactly the reverse. The 
 Governi>r has not to-day, and had not when the Inll was vetoed, any more virulent, 
 persistent, and aggn-s-sive foes than the leaders of Tammany liall, and yet the 
 Mayor who is to api>oint and the Aldermen who are to confirm the successors to 
 our present Conmiissioner of Public Works and Corporation Coun.sel are absolutely 
 controlled by this same Tammany Hall. Had the Governor been actuated by any 
 but pure and honest motives, he would cither have stricken his enemies by signing 
 the bill or woidd have utilized his veto by comjM'lling their support at the State 
 and national conventions. That he did neither is proof sufficient that the reasons 
 he gave for the veto were the real ones that influenced his action.
 
 »>1 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 So far as Mr. Dayton's lourso in rt'jiard to the Itill is conci-rnfil, I liavc never 
 believed for an instant that he foresaw the Governor's veto. What lie un<|uestion- 
 ably desired was to kill the hill. The session was drawinj? to a elose ; many 
 private hills were awaiting' their third readini; ; this hill had already |>a.s.s<»d the 
 Senate hy i)Ut a hare majority, and the friends of the oriyintil measure could coimt 
 upon just enou;,di votes to pass it in the A.s.semhlv on a fair li;;ht ; the situation 
 was desperat*', and the only chance to defeat the hill was to send it hack to the 
 Senate with an amendment, in hope that il would either he " hun;; up" in a 
 conference committee or ilefealed when put upon its tinal passji^e as amended. 
 Some one sui;i,'c.sted the very plausible amendment that was offered by .Mr. Dayton, 
 and it fjaincd favor so rai)i<ily that Mr. Hoosevell, to save the bill, accepted the 
 amendment. The bill as amended was sent to the Senate before any one had time 
 to consider its lan^ua^'e or elTect, and the amendment was concurre<l in iM-fore Ihe 
 opponents of the bill had a chance to pass the wonl to have the measure delayed. 
 The scheme to defeat the bill failed, but Mr. Dayton had " builded better than he 
 knew," and the Tenure of Olllce act had been hopelessly and fatally muddled and 
 ruined. 
 
 Fn.\xci8 M. Scott. 
 
 New York, July 28. 
 
 The Soldiers. 
 
 The record of Governor Cleveland shows that his interest in the soldiers who 
 went to battle in defence of the l'ni<»n is not alone contined to words. He 
 has never failed in any res|i<'ct to ^'ive such a.ssistnnce to the veteran soldiers &» lay 
 in his power, either as a public otllcial or a private citizen. It is recited in another 
 part of this work (under the head, •' The Use of Public Moneys ") liow, when una- 
 ble to jrive his sanction to the ust! of public moneys for the erection of a soldier's 
 monument, as the chief executive of HutTalo, he led the movement for the pro- 
 curement of the funds m-cessarj- for the purjjose, by headin;; the subs<-ription list 
 as a private citizen. And .so he is found also jealously jjuardiii;; the puxl fame, 
 and what symbolizes it, of the veteran soldier, not so much by word, as by deed. 
 When it had come to the (juestion of carinj; for the maimed, the crippled, and the 
 disabled, he has never permitted any otlier consideration than the entire fltness of 
 the person to fulfil the duties of trusteeship to intluence him. This is noticeable 
 in the appointment of officers of the Soldiers' Home at Bath. 
 
 Burial of Dead Soldiers. 
 It is also noted in the promptness with which he si^ne<l the bill pa.H.^ed in 1888 
 (chap. 247, Laws of iHSy), entitled "An act to amend chapter 203 of the Laws of 
 1881. entitled "An act to authorize the burial of the bodies of any honorably dis- 
 charged soldier, sjiilor or marine, who shall hereafter die without leaving means 
 sufficient to defray funeral expenses. ' " This bill provides as follows : 
 
 Skction 1. It shall ))e the duty of the Hoard of Supcrvi.<sors in each of the 
 coiinties of this State tr) designate some i)ro|>er authr)rity, other than tliat desig- 
 nated by law for the care of paujiers and tlie custodvof criminals, who sh.dl cause 
 to be interred the body of any hononibly discharged soldier. s;iilor or marine, who 
 served in the army or navy of the United Slates during the late rebellion, who 
 shall hereafter die without leaving means sufficient to (lefrav funeral e.\|K'nses ; 
 but the expenses of such funeral .shall not in any case exceed the sum of thirty- 
 five dollars. In case the deceased has relatives or friends who desire to conduct 
 the burial, and who ai;e unable or unwilling to pay the charges therefor, then the 
 said sum shall be paid to them or their representatives, by the county treasurer, 
 upon due proof of the death and burial of any person provided for by this section. 
 
 § 2. Any iutermcut provided for by the provisions of this act shall not be made in 
 a cemetery, or in any cemetery or plot used exclusively for the burial of the i)auper 
 dead. Tlie grave oi any sucli decea.sed soldier, sailor or marine, shall bo marked by
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 05 
 
 a headstone conUiining the name of the deceased, and, if possible, the organization 
 to wliich ]n- ])c'lonj^ed or in which he servetl ; such h«-a<lstonc shall cost not more 
 I hail liftecn dolhirs, and sliall be of such dcsiij^n an<l material as shall be approved 
 liy the hoard of supervisors, and theexjienscof such burial and headstone as above 
 provided I'ur shall be a chariic upcjn and siiall be paid l)y the county in which the 
 .said soldier, sailor or marine shall have died ; and the Itoard of supervisors of 
 sucli county is hereby authorized and directed to audit the account and pay the 
 cxjunse of such burial in the same manner in which the accounts of such otiicers 
 as shall be changed with the performance of such duty as above provided shall be 
 audited and paid. 
 
 § 3. This act shall take elTect immediately. 
 
 This act which, as was stated above, was promptly signed by the Governor, 
 was, in 1884, amended (chap. 319, Laws of 188-4) so as to provide that the graves 
 of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine, who served in the war of 
 the rebellion, and who had been buried previous to the enactment of 1883, should 
 also be marked by a headstone b}' the counties in which the soldier, sailor or 
 marine had died. This bill also the Governor promptly signed. 
 
 Soldiers Preferred in Public Ernployment. 
 The most important bill, however, signed by the Governor relating to soldiers 
 was the one which is presented below, passed in 188-t : 
 
 CHAP. 312. 
 
 An Act respecting the employment of honorably discharged Union soldiers and 
 sailors in the public ser\'ice of the State of New York. 
 
 Passed May 19, 1884 ; three-fifths being present. 
 
 Tfie People of the State of Xtw York, represcntid in Senate and AsKembly, do enact 
 <iH follows : ^ 
 
 Section 1. Tn evcr>- public department and ujm)!! all public works of the State 
 of New York, honorably discjiargcd Tnioii soldicr-i and saihirs shall l»e preferred 
 for appointment and emphiyment. .Vge. hiss of lind* or other physical impair- 
 ment, which docs not, in fad, incapacitate, shall not be deemed todi.stiualify them. 
 j)rovidcd they j)o.ssess the other requisite (jualitK :itinn<. 
 
 J:' 2. This act shall take elTect immediately 
 
 Preserving th\e Records of Soldiers. 
 
 In the matter of preserving correct records that the |)roper fame of the volun- 
 teer .soldier should be transmitted to his destendants, his signature to the followin"- 
 bill is shown : 
 
 C HAP. 2o9. 
 
 An Act to provide for the completion of the records of New York volunteers of 
 the war of the relK'llion on file in the office of the adjutant-gi-neral of the State 
 of New York, and for the wife keeping thereof. 
 
 Pa.s-sed May 8, 1884 ; three-fifths being present. 
 The People of the State of Xeic York, rejhritented in Sinute. aiul As»enMi/, do enact 
 
 ti8 folhjics : 
 
 Skction 1. The adjutant-general is herebv authorized and directed as soon as 
 permission to do .so shall have been obtained from the proper department of the 
 general government, to cause copies to be made of all military records njlating to 
 New York volunteers in the war of the rebellion on file in the ofiice of the adju- 
 tant-genenil of the L'nited States anuy, and not on file in the office f)f the adjutant- 
 general of this State ; and to establisll as a part of his nlllcf a bureau of records of 
 the war of the rebellion, in which all records in his office relating to said war, and 
 the records and relics of the bureau of military statistics .shall be united and kept. 
 
 ^ 2. The trustees of the ca|)itol are hereby authorized an<l directed to assign 
 suitable (piarters to said bureau whenever the" adjutant-general shall rerpiife and 
 make demand therefor, and to properiy fit up and prepare the .same for the safe
 
 66 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 koepinj? of said rfconln, ami the proper (liMi)luy of tliu said relics of the war of tht- 
 rebellion. 
 
 ^ 3. The treasurer sliall pay, on the warrant of the comptroller. kucIi mimH aii 
 may from time t<> time Ik* necessary to carry iu to effect the provisions of thiK act, 
 not to exceed, however, the total sum f>f ten thousand dollars, on the auilit of the 
 adjutant-;^eneral and approval of the jfovernor, whicli sum is lierehy appropriated 
 out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 Speech Before the Grand Army. 
 
 And so in the following speech is found tlic pride he takes in the achievetnentK 
 of the 8f)Idiers of the State, and the regret over the lives of her sons sacriticed in 
 the cause : 
 
 I^espoqse of Governor Cleveland to the toast "The State of Hew 
 York," at the Grand Army of the Republic Banquet, lr\ honor of 
 the unveiling of the Soldier's Monument at BufTalo, July 4, 1884. 
 
 I am almost inclined to complain because the sentiment to which lam re<|uesteil 
 to respond is not one which iH-rmits me to s|M!ik at length of the city which, for 
 more than twenty-nine years has been my home. You i>id me speak of the Slate, 
 while everything that surnumds me and all that has been done today, remin<Is me 
 of other things, I eannttt fail to remember m<ist vividly, tonight, that exactly 
 two years ago I felt that much of the res|M»nsil)ility of a eert.iin celebnition rested 
 on my shoulders. I sui)pose there were others who did more than 1 to make the 
 occasion a success, l)ut I know that I considered niy^elf an im)M>rt.'Uit factor, and 
 that when, after weeks of |)laiining and prepantlion, the dav came and finally 
 pas.sed, I felt as much nlieved as if the greatest effort of my life had l»een a com- 
 plete success. 
 
 On that day we laid the corner-stone of tlie monument which has to-<lay Im-cd 
 unveiled in token of its com|)letion. We celebnited, too, the semi-centennial of 
 our city's life. 1 was proud then to Im' its chief executive, ami t-verything con- 
 nected with its iiitcnsis and jirosperity was dear to me To night I am still proud 
 to be a citi/.eii of Ibiffalo, and my fellow townsmen cannot, if thej- will, prevent 
 the affection I fe«'l for my city and its people. 
 
 But my theme is a broader one. and one that stirs the heart of every citizen of 
 the State. 
 
 The State of New York, in all that is great, is easily the leader of all the State.". 
 Its history is tilled with glorious dewls and its life is bound up \%nth all that 
 makes the nation great. From the lirst of the nation's existence our State has 
 been the ci>nstant and generous contributor to its life and gi-owth and vigor. 
 
 lUit to the exclusion of every other thought to-night, llwre is one pa.s8agc in 
 the hist()ry of the Slate that crowds upon my mind. 
 
 There came a time when discord reached the family circle of States, threaten- 
 ing the nations life, ("an we forget how wildly New York spnuig forward to 
 protect and |)reserve what she li.id done so much to create and build up ! Four 
 hundred and fifty thousand men left her Itorders to stay the tide of destruction. 
 
 During the bloody affray which followed, nearly fourteen thousand and five 
 hundred of her .sous were killetl in battle or died of womuls. Their bones lie in 
 every Slali- where the war for the Uniop was waged. Add to thes<> ne.irly seven- 
 teen ihou.sand and five hundred of her soldiers, who, during that sad time, died 
 of di.sease, and then contemplate the pledges of New York's devotion to a united 
 country, and the proofs of her faith in the supreme destiny of the sisterhood of 
 States. 
 
 And there returned to her thousands of her .sons who fought and came home 
 laden with the honors of patriotism, many of whom still svirvive, and, like the min- 
 strels of old, tell us of heroic dee<ls and battles won. which saved the nation's life. 
 
 ^Vheu our monument, which should commemorate the sufferings and death of 
 their comrades, was begim. the veterans of New York were here. To-day they 
 come again and view complete its fair prr>portions, which in years to come shall 
 be a tokin that the patriotic dead are not forgotten. 
 
 TUe State of New York is rich in her sohiier dead, and .she is rich in her vet- 
 erans of the war. Those who still survive, and the members of the Grand Army
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF OROVER CLEVELAND. 07 
 
 of the Republic, liolcl ia trust for the St-ite blessed mcmo;ies which connect her 
 with her ilead ; ami these memories we know will be kept alive and green. 
 
 Long may tlie State have her veterans of the war ; and long may slie hold them in 
 grateful and cliastened remembrance. And as often as her greatness and her 
 grandeur are told, let these be called the chief jewels in her crown. 
 
 Grand Arrr\y Badges. 
 
 There were two other bills relating to soldiers passed by the Legislature from 
 which the Governor was compelled to wilhliolil his signature. One was the bill 
 entitled " An act to prevent persons from imlawfully using or wearing the. badge 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic of this State." Its provisions areas follows : 
 
 Skc'tion 1. Any person who .shall wear the badge of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic, or. who shall u.se or wear the same to obtain aid or assistance thereby 
 within this State, unless he shall be entitled to use or wear the .«<ame under the 
 rules, regulations or l)y-iaws of a Grand Army post, duly and regulaily organized, 
 .shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by a court of 
 competent juri.s«liction shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not to exceed 
 thirty days or a tine not to exceed twenty dollars, or by both such fine and 
 imprisonment. 
 
 ji 2. Tiie tlne.s collectetl under the provisions of tliis act shall be paid, if the 
 complaint ui>on which a conviction is procured is made by the comnule of an\ 
 ])ost to the post to whidi such complainant belongs. If such complaint shall be 
 made by any other person than a comrade, then to the post or to the widow or 
 orphan child or diildren of any decea.sed comrade who at the lime of his death 
 was a member in grxKl Htanding of such post as may be designated by the com- 
 ])lainant. 
 
 ^ ;5. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day of May, one tlioii.sjmd eight 
 hundred and eighty-four. 
 
 The above bill is a striking instance of that loo.seness of legislation and careless- 
 uess in the drafting <»f bills for enactment again.st which the Governor has protested 
 and of wliich he has .so frecjueutly complained. It reachwl him when it was too 
 late to correct it.s obvious errors, and, therefore, he wa.s compelled to let the bill die 
 without his signature. This he did mo.st ri'luctantly, for the provision which makes 
 it a misilemeanor to wear a Gnuid Army badge, " to obtain aid or itssistance thereby 
 within this State, unless he shall be entitled to u.se or wear the sjime under the rules, 
 regulations or by-laws of a Grand Army |H)st, duly ami regvdarly organized," was 
 praist wortliy in that it ti.xed a in-nalty to a .sin'oies of falsi- pretense's, of all others 
 the most to Ik* condemned, since tlie appeal is made to the higher patriotic impulses, 
 while an hononible luulge is degraded by the use to which it is put. For this rea.so!i 
 the Governor, as he makes clear, would Imve l)een glad to sign the bill, but imfor- 
 lunately. as the bill is dmwn, the question of intent Is left out of consideration 
 entirely. The mere fact of wearing the badge is made criminal, or to use the 
 words of the Governor: 
 
 ■• The wearing nttnl not be characterized by any intent, but is criminal if not in 
 accordance with the rules and regulations of an anny post with which the wearer 
 may 1k' entirely unacquainted." 
 
 Again, the provisions for the disposition of the penalties to Ik? collected on 
 conviction of an oiTense against the pn)posed statute, as provided in section 2, are 
 altogether too indefinite to sjifely have place aniong the ix?nal provisions of the 
 State, and opened up an opjKjrtunity for an impro[H'r use <)f them, while they 
 certainly are against the cstablislu'd policy of the State in like matters. 
 
 There is still another view, and that is that a child of a stjldier, having a pride 
 in the record of the .>iervices of a dece.'iscil father in defease of the Union, and of 
 which this badge is the token and the testimony, would, under the above pro- 
 vi.sion, \w prevented from manifesting that honorable pride by displaying it upon 
 his |x*rson. The object sought to be gainetl by the measure Is praise worth}' ; the
 
 68 PUBLIC RECORD OF OROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 meiin.H by which it was attempted to gain the end defeated the object and made it 
 of doubtful utility. 
 
 Soldiers' Certificates. 
 
 The otlnr l)ill was that one entitled " An act to require the Secretary of State 
 to procure a suitable plate, to i>riut certificates, to be presented to honorably dis- 
 charged soldiers, sailors and marines who served in the Union anny and navy 
 from the State of New York." 
 
 The terms of the bill are as follows : 
 
 Skc'TION 1. The Secretary' of State is hereby authorized and emi>owered to 
 procure a suitable plate on which to print a certificate, to be presentid, in the 
 name of the State of New York, to all honoral)ly discharged .soldiers, sailors and 
 marines who enlistdl and .served in the Union army and navy from the State of 
 New York. 
 
 s^ 2. The Secretary of Stale is hereby authorized to deliver to all honorably 
 discharged soldiers, sailors, marines, under the gre:»t seal of the State of New- 
 York, a copy of .said certificate, having the signatures of the Governor, A«ljutimt- 
 Qencral and Secretary of Slate. 
 
 (^ 13. The Coniptroiler is authorized to draw his warrant on the Stjite Treasun-r, 
 to an amount not exceeding $'2,000 for the purpose of carrying out n..' i,r. .viJmw 
 of this act. 
 
 § 4. This act shall Uikc effect immediately. 
 
 There could have been no possible objection to this bill if its provisions had not 
 rendered its practical operation irnpo-ssible. 
 
 1. The sum of $2,000 was ridiculously inadequate, since the cost of the jdate 
 alone would have exceeded the amount appropriated, and there is a con.stitutiooal 
 provision wliich prohibits an ofticer from, at any time, incurring a debt. 
 
 2. The offlccr to have taken charge of this matter was not the Secretary of State, 
 but the Adjutant-General, who alone is the custodian of the rolls of the volunteer 
 joldicrs. 
 
 For these reasons the Governor withheld his signature. 
 
 Grover Cleveland as a Public Officer. 
 
 In an examination r)f tiie recortl of Grover Cleveland as a public olticcr, no fact 
 is more apimrent than that the Governor has an old-fashioned regard for the duties 
 of citizenship, and of the <»bligation i>f public olllcors to the people who intrusted 
 them with power ; a reganl .so rigid and strict as to recall the earlier days of the 
 Republic. 
 
 That " public olllcials are the trustees of the people and exercise their powers 
 for the benefit of the people," is .something more than a trite utterance with Gov- 
 ernor Cleveland ; it is a .sentiment deeply implanted, and exerts upon him control- 
 ling influence in the di.sj-harge of those duties with which he is intruste<l, and is the 
 standiinl by which he ju<lges those who are in authority under him. 
 
 In the speech accepting the nomination for Mayor, at Buffalo, in 18H1 — in 
 obedience to a call to which he responded much to his own disadvantage and, if 
 he had considered only his personal preferences, much to his disinclination — he 
 made this clear in the following words : 
 
 OfTicials the Trustees of the People. 
 
 * * * " And when we consider tliat public offirinls are the tri/sUetiof the 
 peoplf, ami hold their places and exercise their poirerxfor the bciujit of the people, there 
 sfiould be no hiyher inducement to a faithful and honed discharge tf public duty. 
 
 " These are very old truths ; but I cannot forbear to speak in this strain to-day, 
 because I believe the time has come when the people loudly demand that tliese
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. <i9 
 
 piiiuii)lrs sliall bo sinct'ivlv, ami without uuMital icscrvatidn, a(l()i>tc{i as a rule of 
 conduct. And I am assuml that Ww result of tiic campai^ni upon whifh we enter 
 tu-dav will demonstrate that the citizens of lUilTalo will not tolerate the man or the 
 party who has l)een unfaithful to publie trusts. 1 say the.se thin.irs to a convention 
 of Democrats because I know that the irrand old party is lionest. and they cannot 
 be unwelcome to vou, Let us then in all sincerity i)romi.se the people an improve- 
 ment in our municii)al allairs ; and if the opi)ortunity is olVered to us, as it surely 
 will be, let us faithfully keep- that promise. By this means, and by this means 
 alone, can our success 'rest upon a firm foundation and our party a.scendency be 
 permanently assured. Our opponents will watre a bitter and determined warfare ; 
 but with united and hearty effort we shall achieve a victory for our entire ticket. 
 And at this day, and with my record before you. I trust it is unnecessiiry for me 
 to pledge to you my most earnest endeavore to brin.ir al)out this result ; and if 
 elccted'to the posi'tion lor which you have nominated me, I shall do my whole 
 duty to the party ; but none the le.s.s", I hope, to the citizens of Bullalo." 
 
 in an address delivered at Buffalo upon the occasion pf the semi-centennial 
 ( .-lebration of that city, July 3, 1882, when Maj-or. he said : 
 Duties of Citizenship. 
 
 * * * " And in this our chiy of pride and self-<,'ratification, there is, I think, 
 one lesson at least, which we may learn from the men who have come down to us 
 from a former ireneration. In'the day of the infancy of the city whicli tlu\v 
 founded, and for many years afterwards" the people loved their city so well that 
 they would only trust'tfie mana.v'cment of its affairs in the stronjjcst an<l liest of 
 hands ; and no'man in those days was so en^'ro.s.scd in his own business l)ut he 
 could find some time to devote to'nublie concerns. Read the names of the men 
 who hel«l places in this municipality fifty years aj^o. and food for nllection will 
 Ih' f(jund. Is it true that the city of to'day. with its larj;e poi)ulation, and with 
 its vast and varied interests, needs less and different care than it did fifty years 
 
 ,1"0 '/ 
 
 '• We boast of our citizenship to-nij,'ht. But this ritizfitsfiip briiif/s with it di/ties 
 not uiiUh thoM- icf aire our nnyhhor ami our Oott. There is no better time than this 
 for .self examination He who deems himself too pure and holy to take part in the 
 affairs of his city, will meet the fact that better men than he have thought it their 
 duty to do so. "lie who cannot spare a nioment in his frreed and selfishness to 
 dcv"ote to public concerns, will, perhaps, find a well L'rounded fear that lie may 
 become the prev of public plunderers ; and he who indolently cares not who 
 administers tin- ";roverninent of this city will find that he is living falsely, and in 
 t lie neglect of his highest duty." ♦ * * 
 
 Good and Pure Government Necessary to Progress. 
 Again, in an address when laying the corner stone of the Young Men's 
 Christian As.sociation Building, at Buffalo, hLs own home, September 7, 1882, he 
 lid : 
 
 * * * " We all hope and exiwct that our city has entered tipon a course of 
 unprecedented prosperity and growth. But to my "mind not all tiie signs about us 
 jKiint more surely to real irnalness than the event which we here celebrate, flood 
 ,ni'lpuiiffonnt'mnitlitn,tn/ufoiinil(itiotioft/u' iroilth and prof/rntn of crtri/ roni- 
 miinitv. As the chief executive of this proud city, I congratulate all my fellow 
 citizens that to-dav we lay the foundation stone of an edifice which shall be a 
 beautiful ornament, antl. "what is more imiiortanl. shall enclose within it walls 
 >uch earnest Christian endeavors as must make ea.Hier all our efforts to administer 
 >afely and honestly a good municipal government." 
 
 Upon a.s.suhiing the wider and more responsibhe duties of Governor, it is found 
 that there is no abandonment of those princiiiles, the application of which, in the 
 admini.stratiou of the affairs of Buffalo, had made him the focus of the eyes of the 
 State. And so is found in his fiivi annu.il messa-e to the Legi.slature character- 
 istic utterances as follows : 
 
 Reform in Civii Service. 
 
 " It is .submitted that the appointment of subordinates in the several State 
 departments, and their tenure of office or employment .should be ba.sed upon fitness
 
 70 PUHI.I.L RKCORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 and L-Hicienf-v, and tint Huh prtiiciplc hIiouIiI be etnlxMlicd in lu^^isiativf etiaotment 
 to tilt' end that tlu' jiolicv of the State tnay confonn to the reasonable public 
 demand on that siibjeet. " 
 
 By tlii.s pledge, if it may be so tenned, lii.n subse(|iu'nt adininiKtmtion hiin Ikvii 
 governed, and it is to Im; noted heix" that he is the fli^t to connect the public schmiU 
 with the civil service, a*; will be wen bv this extract from his annual mesnage of 
 lyy4 : 
 
 '"New York then leads in the inauguration of a comprehensive State system of 
 civil service. The principle of selecting the sul>ordinati' employee's of the'Staii- on 
 the ground of capacity and lltness, ascertained according to iixed and ! 
 
 rules, without regard to political predilections and with n-asonable a- 
 retention and promotion in cas«' of meritorio\is service, is now the (-, i..n-ii. -1 
 policy of the Stiite. The children of our citizens an' educate<l and trained in 
 schools maintained at common expense, and the jx ople. as a whole, have a ritdit to 
 demand the selection for the public service of those whose nnt\ind ajititudes I ,.. 
 been imi)roved by the educational facilities furnished by the State. The appm i 
 tioii to the public service of the sauH- rule which prevails in ordinary- business of 
 employing those whose knowledge and tniininglM-st fit theni for the duties at hand, 
 without regard to other coiisidenitions, mu.sl elevate and improve the civil Hcrvice 
 and eradicate from it many evils from which it has long sulTcred." 
 
 Municipal Government. 
 
 " The formation and administration of the government of cities jirc subjects of 
 much jiublic interest, and of great im|H)rtance U> many of the inhabitants of the 
 Stale. The formation of sucli governments is properly matter for most careful 
 legislation. 
 
 " Thev should 1k' so organized ns to lie simple in their details and to cast upon 
 the jM-opfe alTecled thereby the full res|M)nsibilitv of their administration. The 
 dilTerent (lepartmeiits should b«' in such accord as [n their operation to lead toward 
 the same results. Divided couns4'ls and divide<l res|H>nsibility to tli< • ' i; t!,. 
 |)!irt of munici|)al ollicers, it is iM-lieved, gives risi- to much that is . m 
 
 the government of cities. If. to ainedy this evil, the chief exe<i. 
 matie answerable to the jH-ople for the pro|M'r conduct of the ci' 
 (juite clear that his jxiwer in the .s«'lection of those who manage its c. ; .: • 
 
 mcnts should 1m; greatly enlarged." 
 
 Primary Elections. 
 
 "The protection of the iwojtle in their primaries will, it in hojMHl, Ik? secured 
 by the early passaire of a law for that pur]>os4' which will rid the pre.s«'nt sy.steui of 
 the evils which surround it. tending to defnuid tlie jicople of rights closely con- 
 nected with their privileges a.s citizens." 
 
 Special Legislation. 
 
 '■ It is constantiv expectetl that those who represent the p<'ople in the pres<'nt 
 Legislature will address themselves t«) the enactraent of such laws as are for the 
 benefit of all the citizens of the State, to the exclusion of special legislation and 
 interference with alTaiis which should be managed l)y the k>caliti<.-s to whit h they 
 l)ertain. 
 
 " It is not only the right of the people to administer their local government, but 
 it .should be made their (luty to do so. Any departure from this doctrine is an aban- 
 donment of the jMiiiciples iii>on which our institutions are founded, and a conce.s- 
 sion of the infirmity and jiartial failure of the theory of a representative form of 
 government. 
 
 " If the aid of the Legislature is invoked to further projects which should )te 
 subject to local control and management, suspicions should be at once arou.sed, and 
 the interference .sought should be promptly and stemlv refused. 
 
 " If local rule is in any instance bad. weak or inelficient, those who suffer from 
 maladministration have the remedy within their own control. If, through their 
 neglect or inattention, it falls into unwortJiy hands, or if bad methods and prac- 
 tices gain a i>lace in its administnition, it is neither harsh nor unjust tf) remit those 
 who are responsible f<ir those conditi(ms to their .self-invited fate, until their inter- 
 est, if no better motive, prompts them to an earnest and active discharge of the 
 duties of good citizenship."
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 71 
 
 Watcb\ing tl^e Interests of the Poor. 
 
 I low cart'fully the interests of the poor and laboring classes are watched by 
 the Governor was shown to the State by his refusal to make a law of the bill 
 anu'iidinu' the art entitled " An act to revise the statutes of this State relating to 
 Ijanks, bankini; and trust companies." 
 
 " State of New Yokk. ExEcrTm: Chamber, | 
 •' Albany, May 19, 1)=!83. f 
 
 " [Filed with Secretary of State.] 
 
 Mtmoiandum filed mth AHximbly hill Xo. 592. entitled " An net to amend Chapter 
 
 four hvndredand ninett-enof the biW8 of eight-en hundnd and eight i/-tiro, entitled 
 '' An act to reci«t the utatutis of thi» State relating to bankn, banking, and trust 
 
 companies.' " Not approved. 
 
 " I have listened to the arguments of the friends of this measure, and am still 
 convinced that the present law should not be changed in the maimer proposed. 
 
 " The bill liefore me jirovides that savings banks may invest the money of 
 depositors in boiuls and securities which are excluded by the jircsent carefully 
 l)repared statutes regidating this subject. Among other things, it permits the 
 investment of .such funds ' in other good Sfeuritie-* (excepting bills of exchange, 
 jtromi.ssorv notes, deposits of personal i)roi)er;y, and stocks to which by law the 
 personal liabiiilv of slockliolders attaches) which may be ai)|)roved by the Superin- 
 tendent of the lianking I )epartment, the Governor, Comptroller and State Treasurer, 
 or a majoritv of tiiem.' 
 
 " It must be conceded, I think, that no absolute certainty attends the judgment 
 of men in relation to the matter of good securities. The State oflicers mentioned 
 in the bill should not be burdened or intrusted with this important duty. 
 
 " I M-e no provision ip the bill by which any security can be withdrawn from 
 the list if once ai)proved by thes«^ otllcers, even though" it may become unsafe or 
 worthless as an investment. 
 
 '• Considenitiois have Iwen earnestly urged upon me touching the ability of 
 savings banks to pay a fair interest to depositors, with the pres^-nt limitation upon 
 the character of their investments. 
 
 " Hut I am tirndy of the opinion that these institutions are, as their name 
 implies, a place <»f deposit for the savings of those among the poor and laboring 
 people, who see the |)ropriety of puttini; aside a part of their earning}* for future 
 nee<l, or as the Ix-ginning "of an accunudntion. Sueh dejiositors are not, and 
 should not be, investors seeking, as a paramount i)uri)ose, an income l)y way of 
 interest on their dejKjsits. When they come to that, there are other instrumentali- 
 ties wliii h should be employeil. 
 
 " Ab-iulute safety of the principal de|K)8ited is what the patrons of savinjp 
 banks should seek : anil any govenimental control over these institutions should, 
 first of all, be directed \o tliat end. 
 
 " I am not salistied that this is done, when State officials, already charged with 
 •nerous duties, are calleil to decide upon the value of proposed securities, and 
 when the safety of deposits is left to their determination, and the care of directors 
 and trustees often tempted to speculative ventures, lu-yond their power to resist. 
 
 •• A due regard to the protection of a cla.ss of citizens whicii should especially 
 liserve tlie care of the State, requires. I belii.ve, that the in.slitutions having their 
 Mivim.'s in charge should i)e limited in the use of such dejKJsits to investments 
 described in the law, and which as nearly as po-ssiblc insure absolute exemption 
 from lo-s. 
 
 •' I am unwilling to assent to the increased risk, which, I am convinced, lurks 
 in the provisions of the proposed bill. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND." 
 
 Protecting the Ballot Boxes. 
 
 A vigorous proclamation against violation of laws governing elections in this 
 .>tate was one of the act.s of the Governor, which excited most favorable comment 
 at the time of its issuance.
 
 72 public record of grover cleveland. 
 
 State ok New York. 
 Proclamation by Grocer Cletehtml, Oocernor. 
 
 " The C'onsiiliitioy of the State directs that the Governor 'shall take rare that 
 the laws are faithfully executed.' 
 
 " An appiiil lias lu-eii made to the Executive, asking that the laws ri'lalini; to 
 bribery and corruption at elections be enforced. All must ackiiowled^re that there 
 is nothiii^^ more imporlani in our form of j^overnnunt than that the will of the 
 l)eoi)le, whidi is absolutely the foundation upon wliiih our institutions rest, should 
 be fairly expressed and honestly reiranled. Witho\it this, our system is a sham 
 and a contrivance, which it is brazen effrontery to call a republican form of 
 government. 
 
 "All this is recognized, in theory', by jtrovisions in the Constitution of our 
 State, and l)y stringent i>enal enactments, aiuud at the use of nu»ney and other 
 corrupt means to unlawfully intbience the suffrages of the pi-oplc ainl to thwart 
 their will. And yet I am convinced that a disregard of those enactments is fre- 
 quent, and in many cases shamelessly opened and impudent. 
 
 " I, therefore, call upon all District Attorneys within this Slate, and all Sheriffs 
 and peace otlicers, and others having in charge the execution of the laws, to exer- 
 cise the utmost diligence in the discovery and punishment of violations of tho 
 statute." referred to. and they are admonished that neglect of duly in this regard 
 will be ])romptly dealt with. 
 
 '■ And I request that all gootl citizens, in the performance of a phdn duty, for 
 the protection of free institutions and in their own interest.s, report tt» the projKT 
 authorities the commi.s,sion of any offense against the statutes passed to preserve the 
 purity of the ballot. 
 
 Done at the Capitol, in the City of Albany, this .second day of Novem- 
 [i,. s.] ber, in the yr;ir of mir T <>iil .inc thousjuid eight hundred and 
 
 eighty-three. 
 
 By llie Governor : 
 
 Daniel S. Lamont. 
 
 Private Srr)t4iry. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 Excellent AfTirmative Acts, 
 
 The above are culled from his speeches and me.s.s;iges and while they serve to 
 afford a glimi)se of the man in his |»ublie capacity, they by no means till out the 
 measures of his acts. His aflirmalive acts with reference to legislative enact- 
 ments, are not so showy, but nevertheless they are as important and far reaching 
 in their results, and as plainly indicate the principles by which his life is guided. 
 A number of acts in the interest of the people were .signed Ijy him as follows : 
 
 One was the act to prevent baby farming (Chap. 4i», Laws 1888) 
 
 One was the act to j)rovide for the incorporation and regulation of co operative 
 or a.sse.ssnient life and casualty insurance as-sociations and societies (Chap. 175. 
 Laws 1883). 
 
 Though .strongly pressed by powerful influences, he ranged himself upon the 
 side of the people iii signing the bill providing that the fare to be charged bj' the 
 Utica and Black River Railroad Company should not exceed three cents per mile. 
 (Chap. 174, Laws 1883.) 
 
 Another was the bill jiroviding that it should be the duty of the board of 
 supcrNisors to designate some proper authority other than that designated by law 
 for the care of paupers and the custody of crinnnals, to inter the body of an hon- 
 orably discharged soldier or sailor of the late rebellion, who should die without 
 means .sufiicient to defray funeral expenses. (Chapter 247, Laws 1883.) 
 
 Another was the signing of a bill popularly known as the "Emigration Com- 
 mission bill," which had for its purpose the improvement of the means of receiving 
 and caring for emigrants arriving at the port of New York, a bill in w hich he was
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 73 
 
 greatly iiitt'rested, the purposes of which were defeated in the Senate in 1883 by a 
 bargain with Repul)licans. (Chap. 286, Laws 1883.) 
 
 An act concerning pawnbrokers, and regulating the rate of interest to be 
 charged for loans. (Chap. 339, Laws 1883.) 
 
 The bill to provide for the establishment of a bureau of labor statistics, reference 
 to which was made under the head of labor. (Chap. 356, Laws 1883.) 
 
 An act in relation to receivers of corporations, and was in the interest of credit- 
 ors in that it prevented the assets of insolvent corporations from being eaten \ip. 
 (Chap. 378, Laws 1883.) 
 
 The bill to suppress political assessments upon tiiose holding place under the 
 State government. (Chap. 422, Laws 1883.) 
 
 The bill to provide for submitting to the electors of the State the propositon to 
 aboli.<h contract labor from State prisons, referred to under the head of labor. 
 (Chap. 468, Laws 1883.) 
 
 A Notable Fact. 
 
 These are some of the aflirmative acts which were received by the applause of 
 the State. It is a notiible fact that the course of the Governor with reference to 
 legislation, his rigid scrutiny of h\\U, aiid i^rompt vetoes of those which were im- 
 profU'r, had a marked effect upon the Legislature of 1884. Long before that Legis- 
 lature assemiiled, one of the established facts current to the day, was that the Gov- 
 ernor could not be cajoled or tricked into the signing of that which was not only 
 improper but evi-n <loul)tful, or into withiiolding his signature from tiiat which was 
 for the benetit of the people. Consequently the members governed themselves ac- 
 cordingly, and private bilis remained in the committees to which they were re-, 
 ferred, with hardly an exception. 
 
 Some Acts of 1884. 
 
 Among the bills of genenil importance signed in 1884 was the act providing 
 that no contracts for convict lalwr in prisons, penitentiaries or reformatories 
 should be renewed, pending contracts extended, or new ones made. (Chap. 21, 
 Laws 1884.) 
 
 The bill providing for a more efficient examination of the affairs of banks, 
 banking and trust companies by the superintendent of l)anks. (Chaj). 47, Laws 
 1884. 
 
 The bill permitting the use of State armories by associations of discharged 
 soUliers. (Chap. 71. Laws 1K84.) 
 
 The bill to i)revent deception in sales of dair)- products, more popularly known 
 csthe Oleomargarine bill, a measure most earnestly desircdby the vast dairy inter- 
 ests of the State. (Chap. 202, Laws 18H4.) 
 
 The bill entitled " An act iu relation to public education in the city of New 
 Yord," which in fact wiped out the color and nice line. (Chap. 248, Laws 1884.) 
 
 The act to provide for the completion of the records of New York volunteers of 
 the War of the Kebellion, on tile in the oftice of the Adjutant-General of the State 
 of New York, and for safe-keeping thereof. (Chap. 259, Laws 1884.) 
 
 The bill amending chapter 339, Laws 1883, concerning pawnbrokers, widening 
 it.s application to prohibit the sale of furniture stored as collateral for loans. 
 (Chap. 363, Laws of 1884.) 
 
 The bill authorizing the slaughter of animals infected with contJigious 
 disea.ses and providing the i>ayment of their actual value to the owner. (Chap. 
 408, Laws 1884 )
 
 74 PUDLIC RECORD OF GROVKR CLEVELAND. 
 
 Tlie bill prefrrrin;? honorable dischurjffd Holdicn* and tuiilorH in employment io 
 the i)iiblic service of the State. (C^hap. 319. Laws 1MH4.) 
 
 An net relating; to the cuHtody and care of indigent and ]uiuper children, by 
 <liiirii;ilik' institutions. (Chap. 488, Laws 1.^84.) 
 
 The :icl which provideH greater .'*afrgn!inls for travellers ujjon the railroudH of 
 this State, alli.xing penalties for neglecting to lake the precautionK providixl for. 
 (Chap 43!). Laws 1»H4 ) 
 
 The liill providing for a conunis-sion to impiire into the character and condition 
 of tenement houses in the City of New York. (Chap. 448, Laws of 18S4.) 
 
 The act providing that telegraph and electric light companies shall lay their 
 wires urxlerground in cities. (Chaji. 534. Laws 1HH4.) 
 
 Tile bill to provide for the additional accommodations for common schcolj* 
 (Chap. •;.">.'), Laws 1HH4,) 
 
 Wiiile the al>ovc will .show that the Oovenmr lias seilulously kept in view the 
 old Democratic maxim of "the greatest gixxl to the gn-atest numlKT," it will also 
 
 .show th.ll :i --liii'l r.-.r-in] Inr llu' li.-l i nt.i .•,! ^ . ,f ll|.- Iw wlil. li.i- :i. tlcilnl lilili in •il) 
 
 respect- 
 
 111 llic M.itter of Api>ointiiicnts. 
 Tlie same motive is found in his apiK)intmeiits to ofllce. More than any other 
 consideration, that of distinguished fitness for j)lace has governed him in the !»elec- 
 lioH of persons to fill the imiKtrlnnt subonlinate placi's of the Stale goveniment. 
 
 Superintendent of Public 'Works. 
 Thus .lames Shanahan, a great |)ortion of whose life had lieen spent in connec- 
 tion with the management of the canal system r>f th<' State, and whosje familiarity 
 with its needs and re<|uirements was exce«'t|e<l by no one, was ap|>ointi-d to lx« 
 Sui)erintendent of Public Works. Il was characteristic of the (»ovem«>r's methods 
 that it was eminently pnictical appf>intment. No doubt others did have more 
 ))owerful political intluences behind them. This man's eminent qualifications for 
 the work before him weighed against everj'thing else, so he was ap{>ointed. 
 
 Departrnent of Insurance. 
 Tlie I)e|iartment of Itisurance was another most iniiM)rtant jilace and verj' 
 desirable in the eyes of many. The |>ressure wu« gn-at. Hut, in the oflice of the 
 Department was one who had been virtually the head for years, .\dmini.stra- 
 tions had come and gone, and superintendents of l)oth political faiths hud come 
 and gone, but under them had remained as deputy. .lohn A. McCall, who had 
 entered the ollke as a boy antl faniiliari/.ing himself with every branch and step 
 of the busines.s, had at last liecome such a necessity to the ofllce, that Hepublican 
 heads retained him, though a Democrat. Governor Cleveland would not have 
 been Grover Cleveland, knowing these facts, if he had not ap|)ointed John A. 
 McCall. .Jr. So Mr. McCali became the Superintendent of Insunince. 
 
 I\ailroacl Commission. 
 Whin the liailroad Commission wa.s to be appointed, he found that under the 
 law certain commercial btxlies of New York City could suggest one for ap[)oint- 
 meut, and that it was further provided that one should be u Democrat, and one a 
 Repul)lican, one of whom should be a man acquaintetl with the niilroad business. 
 An examination of the law, the field the new boanl was to occupy, the duties it 
 "would be called upon to perfonn, and tlie profound legal questions it would be 
 compelled to meet, sliowed conclusively that there must be a lawyer upon the
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVKR CLEVELAND. 75 
 
 li(i:ml. The coiiiincnial boards did not assist the Governor, for the person named 
 liy them was neither a Democrat, a Republican, one acquainted with the raihoad 
 l>uslness, nor a lawyer. The tcentleman he did appoint as a Hci)ul)lican was one 
 icquaiuted with the railrcxid business, and that was Mr. William E. Holers, and 
 in doing this he secured to the board the services of a superior civil engineer as 
 well, for !Mr. Rogers is a graduate of West Point, and holds the certificate of a 
 <ivil engineer. Consequently the Democratic member of the liiiilroad Commission 
 had to be a lawyer, and this was John J. Kernan, a son of Francis Kernan. who 
 liad won a leading place at the bar of Central New York, a bar held inliigh repute 
 for the number of great men it has given to the State. Thus it was, under a law, 
 the limitations of which were most unwise, the Governor in two men. while 
 obeying the law in every particular, gave to the Board of Railroad Commissioners 
 one acquainted with the railroad business, a civil engineer and a lawyer. The 
 result has justitied the selections of the Governor. 
 
 Reforming Control of the New York Capitol. 
 
 The re-organi/.ation of the Capitol control, very much needed, gave the 
 Governor an opportunity to perform real service to the people. So when he 
 -fleeted Mr. Isaac G. Perry to be Capitol Commissioner ho gave to the State a 
 man of practical knowledge and extraordinary efliciency. The Cai)itol, the work 
 upon which had become a by-word and a rej)roach, seemed to taki' a leap forward 
 at once, and the visitors to the Capitol coidd .see it fairly grow under his hands. 
 More was nccomplished in a few months with the same amount of money, than 
 had ever ])een known l)efore. A factious Republican opposition fearing the effect 
 of this refonn upon the peoj»Ie undertook to counteract its effect by an incpiisitorial 
 investigation, the results of which were, in fad, but to show in brighter colors 
 the wonderful work accomplished, and the committee of investigation was fairly 
 shamed int<j commending the labor ix-rfornu-d, and endorsing the administration 
 of this department, and all the more as their factious op|)osition had interfered 
 with the progress of the work, and laid an additional burden of !jr)0tl.0i>0 at least 
 ui)on the |X'ople, while robbing 1,200 lal)oring men of six months' work. 
 
 Of a like character was the appointment of Mr. Charles B. Andrews to be 
 Superintendent of Public Buildings. This also was an eminently characteristic 
 :ipitointn>ent, ba.sed, more than anything else, ujwn the Governor's own knowledge 
 of the fitness of the man for the pla«-e. In this, as in all other cases, the result has 
 justitied the .selection. 
 
 Local Appointments. 
 
 Who forgets the ringing applause which greeted the apiwintment of Wheeler 
 II. Peckham, to l)e District .\ttomey of New York, to fill the vacancy cau.sed by 
 the death of the Hon. .John McKeon ? And whin the continuous ill health com- 
 I)elled .Mr. Peckham to lay down the duties he had so recently assumed, was the 
 applause less hearty that saluted his successor, Peter B. OIney ? 
 
 One of the last appointments made by the Governor, that of Henry Wilder 
 Allen, to be Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, is of the same high character. 
 
 The above docs not embrace all of his appointments; it does not show these of 
 the Civil Service Commissioners, nor of tin- Commissioner of Emigration that gave 
 such widespread sjitisfaction, William II. Murtha, but which was defeated in the 
 Senate of 18H3 l»y a combination with Rejuiblicans by certain Senators ; nor the 
 minor appointments, selected with the saint- care and same rcLMrd for fitness.
 
 7(! rUBLIC RECORD OF GROVKR CLEVELAND. 
 
 •' 'Where the Honor Lies." 
 
 Indeed, so l»i;:li is tlie standard erected hy tlie CJovernor, tliaf the honor attached 
 is not in the ]Ai\cv to he occiipie<l, l)Ut in the fact that the ai.point.c has Jn-en 
 .'(elected hv a Governor wiiose standard is so hijjh. 
 
 Grover Cleveland a Tried and Consistent Democrat. 
 
 Tliou^h deservin/j and receiving' as a public officer the enthusiastic support of 
 the "jreat hody of his fellow-citizens, irrespective of party. Governor Cleveland is 
 a loyal nieinher of the Democratic party. To this fact liis record, his speeches, 
 his i)rinciples and tlie voice of his own neiKhl»orhood l>enr concurrent testimony. 
 
 As a Democrat he was. in 1803. made assistant district attorney of the county 
 of Erie. As a Democrat he was, in 1870, chosen to l»e county sheriff. As a Dem- 
 ocrat lie was, in ISNI, elected to he mayor of Buffalo. As a Democnit. in 18S2, he 
 was elected to he Governor «>f the State, and now he stands as the cho.sen Demo- 
 cratic candidate for the Presidency. In thes*- twenty-one y«-ars since his Iii>t ilesi^- 
 nalion for puhlic office hy the Democrats he has six times received tlie approval of 
 the official councils of the party, and the people liavinj; failed to aftinii this selectiou 
 only once in the cour.se of these twenty-one years, he may in every .sens*.' Ik? .said to 
 have attained majority as a Democnit. 
 
 This lon^' and unbroken testimony to his loyalty to the hij^'hest interests of his 
 party, has btrn founded upon his public utterances and acts. He has never pro- 
 fessed to be other than a I)em»)crat. 
 
 In accepting the Democnitic nomination for mavor of IJuffalo in 1S>1. Ik- 
 sai.l : 
 
 "Gkntlk.mkn ok tiik ("onvkntion— I am informeil that you have U-stowed 
 upon me the nomin;ition for the office of Mayor. It certainly is "a .irreal honor to \k' 
 thourrhl tit to 1k' the chief officer of a >rreaf and prosperous city like ours, having 
 such important and varied interests. I ho|M'd that vour choice mi^dit fall up<tu 
 soine other anil more worthy member of the city f)emoeracy. for personal and 
 private considerations have made llic (|ueslion of acceptance on my part :i ditffcull 
 one. fint fhciinsr I mn n Ih inofrnl. and lH'c:m.se I think no one has a ri<rht at this 
 time of all others to consult his own inclinations as against the call of his party and 
 fellow-citi/eiis. and liopin;r that I m.ny lie of use to you in yourefforts to inaugurate 
 a better rule of municipal alTairs, I accept the nomination'lendered to me. * * ♦ 
 I am a.ssured that the result of the campai;;n upon which we enter to-day, Avill 
 demonstrate that the cili/<ns of Buffalo will not tolerate the man or the partV wlio 
 has been unfaithful to pulilic trusts. I sav these thintrs to a convention of l)emo- 
 crafs because 1 know that the gnind old p.-irty is lionest, and they cannot be 
 unwelcome to you. Let us then in all sincerity |ir<»mise the people an imprr)Vement 
 in our municipal alTairs ; and if the opportunity is offered to us, as it surely will Ik*, 
 let us faithfully keep that promise. Jiy this nieans, ami by this means alone, can 
 our .success rest upon a linn foundation and our party ascendancy be permanently 
 assured. Our opponents will w:i<:e a bitter and determined warfare ; but with 
 united and hearty effort we shall achieve a victorj- for our entire ticket. An<l at 
 this day. and with my record Itefore you, I trust itis unnece.s.s}iry for me to picdjre 
 to you my most earnest endeavors to'brin;; about this result ; and if elected to the 
 position for which you have nominated me. I shall do my whole duty to the partv, 
 but none the less, I hope, to the citizens of BulTalo." 
 
 His nomination for Governor wa.s accepted in a letter to the committee of the 
 Democratic convention, in which he said, " The platform of principles adopted by 
 the convention meets with my hearty approval. The doctrines therein enunciated 
 are so distinctly and explicitly stated that their amplification .seems scarcely neces-
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. > i 
 
 .-■u\. If fk'Ctcd to the office for which I have beeu nomiiialed, I sliall endeavor to 
 impress them upon my achiiiiiistnition and make tliem the policy of the Statt-." 
 
 At the reception given to him by the Manhattan Clul) in the City of New York, 
 December 6. 18!^2, he expressed himself in these sterling words : 
 
 " You who lead, and those who follow, shotdd all strive to commend to the 
 people in this the time of our opportunitv, not an ailn)inistration alone, but a party 
 whieh shall appear adeciuatc to their wants and useful to then; purp-scs. Uil- 
 time-honored doctrines of the Democratic party arc dear to me It lioncstlv applied 
 in their puritv I know the atfairs of the Govennnent would be failhlully and 
 hont'silv administered, and I l)elieve that all the wants and needs ot the peoi)le 
 would be met They hacc xurrireil oil clwngts, ami good and patnoUc mrn luice 
 dunn to them through all dimeters an the hope of political ."alraiion Lvt us hold 
 them as a sacred trust, and let us not forget that an intelligent, readmg, thmkmg 
 niMiple will look to the partv which tliey put in power to supply all then- various 
 needs and wants, and the paVtv which kee|.s i)ace with the development and pro- 
 .rre'is of the times, which keeps in sii^ht its landmarks and yet observes those 
 riiin.'s which are in a.lvaiice, and which will continue true to the ix-ople as well as 
 to its tmditions, will be the dominant party of the future." 
 In a message sent to the Assembly April 9, 1883, he said : 
 "I believe in an open and sturdv partisanship, which secures the legitimate 
 •idvanta-a's of partv supremacv ; but parties were made for the people, and 1 am 
 unwilliirg. knowingly, to givJ my absent to measures purely partisan which will 
 sacritice or endanger their interests." 
 
 And upon the occasion of a serenade from the Albany Young Men's Demo- 
 cratic Club, upon the evening of his nomination. July 10, 1HS4, he sjx.ke as follows : 
 Fkm.ow-^citizkns— I cannot but be gratified with this kindly greeting. I lind 
 that 1 am fast reaching the point where I sliall eount the ix-ople of Albany not 
 mcrelv as fellow-citizens, but as town.smen and neighbors 
 
 "On this occasion I am, of course, aware that you pay no compliment to a citi- 
 zen, anil pres«-nt no personal tribut.-, but that you have come to demonstrate your 
 loyaltv and devotion to a cause in which you are heartily enlisted. 
 
 '•'The American jnople are about to exercise, in its highest sense, their power 
 of right and sovereiirnlv. Thev an- to call in review l>efr.re them their public 
 .servants and repre>ienlalives of "political parties, and demand of them an acc(»unt 
 of tlu'ir stewardship. . , , 
 
 " Parties may be so long in power, and may Income .so arrogant and careless 
 of the interests of the iH'«.ple as to grow heedless of their responsibility to their 
 nia.sters. Hut the time comes, as cerUiinly as ileath, when the peojile weigh tlniu 
 in the balance. , . , , 
 
 •' The issues tol)e adjudicated by the nation s great assize arc made up and are 
 al)out to be submitted. , . , , , , • i 
 
 • We Inlieve that the people are not receiving at the hands of the partv, which 
 for nearly twenty-four years has directe<l tlie attairs of tin- nation, the full benelits 
 to which" thev are entitfed. of a pure, just, and economical rule ; and we believe 
 that the asceiidancv of genuine Democratic jirinciples will insure a better govern- 
 ment, and greater liajipiness and prosp<rity to all the juople. 
 
 " To n-ach tin- sober thought of the nation, and to dislodge an enemy intrenched 
 J)chiud spoils and patronage, involve a struggle, which, if we under-estimate, we 
 invite defeat. I am profi>undly impress«'d with the responsibility of the part 
 assigned to me in this contest. My heart, I know, is in the cause, and I pledge 
 vou that no etTort of mine shall »)e" wanting to secure the victory which I believe 
 to bi' within the achievement of the Democratic hosts. 
 
 •* Let us. then, enter upon the camptiign now fairly opened, each one appre- 
 ciating well the part he has to iMrform. rea<ly, with solitl front, to do battle for 
 l>etter government, c(mrtdently, couraL,'eously, "always honorably, an(l with a tirm 
 reliance upon the intelligence "and patriotism of the American people." 
 
 Upon this series of utterances Governor Cleveland is entitled to rely sts an 
 explicit declaration of devotion to his party. 
 
 But for his firm maintenance of the cardinal principles of Democracy— simpli- 
 city of personal and official life ; ready and free access for the peo\)\e ; untiring
 
 78 PUBLIC RECORD OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 industry uiul vij;ilant ritli-Iity in tho disfhurfre of piil)lic duty ; rijfid e<-onomy in 
 tlu' exiHMidiluii' of pulilic funds ; strict construction of the powers of public 
 servants and st<rn t iiforcenjent of tlie reciuirenieiits upon tiieni ; pultlicity and 
 jiurily ()f oflhial aclion ; fearies.s dis<'harj^e of duty u« seen by himself, and 
 iiiatjility to sultstilute the siisxge.slions of »)thers. not elected to ofllce, for the 
 judf^nient which he was chosen to exercise, stump him as a nemiK-nit in principh . 
 vigorous, courageous and stalwart. 
 
 But in the exercise of this just preference for his own party, he has ever l)een 
 mindful of the truth that the party is most useful, most prosperous and most har- 
 monious, which most nearly salislies the wants and promotes the welfare of the 
 whole people. 
 
 As he said in the s|X'ech at tlie Manhattan Club (alrea«ly mentioned) : 
 " We stand to-night in the full glan* of a grand and brilliant manifestation of 
 popular will, and in the light of it how vain and weak apjM-ar the tricks of |M»liti- 
 cians and the movements of partisjin machinery. He must Ik- blind who cannot 
 see that the people well uii(l*-rstand their iM)wer and are detennined to use it when 
 their rights and interests are threatened. There should l)e no .skejtticism to-night 
 as to tiie strength and jH-rpi'tuity of our jxipuliu- govenunent. Partisan leatierH 
 have learned, too, thai tlie people will not unthinkingly follow, and that .xomelhing 
 more than unrea.soning devotion to a i>arty is neces^sjiry to si-cure their alligiance. 
 ♦ * » • \y,. ^1,1, ]| utterly f:,ii to read aright the signs of the times if we are 
 not fully convinied that parties are but the instruments thro\ii:h which the people 
 work their will, and that when they In-come less or more the jwople destroy or 
 desert tliem. " 
 
 Absolutely accepting the Democratic doctrine that the people lire ii.>i t<> In- 
 feared ; that they are not to be fooled ; that they approve courage, autl that thoy 
 prefer the enduring riuht to that which set-ms to Ik? ex|H'dient for the j)resent. Gov- 
 ernor Cleveland has boldly bonn- the banner of Democnicy and planted it ui)on 
 advanced groimd. Honest laws and their faithful administmtion have been his 
 invariable motto.
 
 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 79 
 
 Life of Thomas A. Hendricks. 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks, the Democratic candidate for Vice-President, was 
 born near the town of Zanesville, Muskingum county, Ohio, on September 7th, 
 1819, sixteen years after the admission of Ohio into the Union, and when tlie State 
 of Indiana, of which he was to become the most distinguished representative, was 
 not yet three years old. Less than nine montlis after the birth of Tliomas, his 
 father removed to Madison, then the chief city of Indiana, the home of hisl^rotlier 
 William, and from that time forward the history of our candidate is identified 
 with Indiana. 
 
 The family is of " Scotch-Irish " origin. On the father's .side, his people were 
 from the North of Ireland, and the ancestral Hendricks, more than a century ago, 
 settled in theLegoiiier Valley, "Westmoreland county, Western Peiui.'iylvania. A 
 brook flowing into the C'onemaugh is called to this day "Hendricks' Run," and 
 obtained that name from the fact that the .si-ttler of a lumdred years ago put his 
 wheel into it and utilized it first for milling purpo.ses. The family grew in pros- 
 perity and respect, and Abraham, grandfather of the .subject of this sketch, 
 8erve<l in various public ofTlces, and as a member of the legislature of Pennsylva- 
 nia in the sessions of 1792-3, 17934, 1796-7 and 1797-8. Abraham had two .sons, 
 William and John, both of whom in early life emigrated from Pennsylvania to the 
 growing West. 
 
 Four years before the colonies had thrown off the English yoke, the Thomson 
 family, of pure Scotch blood, settled in the ('iun!)trland Valley of Pennsylvania, 
 near Shippensburgh, Cumberland county. From fliat family has .sprung distin- 
 guished men, and of the .stock was Alexander Thomson, a jurist of renown, and 
 Frank Thomson, vice-president of the Pennsylvania liailroad Company. 
 
 Jane Thom.son, a .sister of the jurist above named, and John Hendricks, a son 
 of Abraham, the Penn.sylvania legislator, met at the residence of Rev. Dr. Black 
 in Pittsburgh, and the accpiaintance there formed ended in marriage, the fruits of 
 which was the birth of Thomas A. Hendricks. 
 
 William Hendricks, the elder brother of John, and, consequently, the uncle of 
 Thomas A., had previous to the marriage of his brother removed to Cincinnati, 
 where he engaged in the practice of law; sub.sequently, he removed to Indiana and 
 quickly advanced to a leading position, being made a Representative in Congress, 
 the second Governor of the State, and United States Senator. One of the counties 
 named after him is an evidence of the esteem in which he was lield l)y the people 
 of that, tlien young, commonwealth. His bn)ther John, with his bride, followed 
 his track, and after a brief residence in Ohio, removed to Indiana, first settling 
 near Madison, and two years later locating a farm which afterward became jiart 
 of the site of Shelbyville, the county seat of Shelljy county. 
 
 John Hendricks combined the pursuits of tanner and farmer, but, from his 
 force of character, culture and commanding intellect, rather than from his occu-
 
 80 LIKK OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 pillions, iK'caiiu' tJie foromost citi/.cn of the conmiuni'.y. The frontier home 
 built by liim of hewn h)^s, is still standing on the •" Miehigiin turnpike." While 
 young Tom was a boy, his father ereeted a story-and-a-half brick building a little 
 north of the site of the hewn-log structure, and Tom tlrjove the oxen for the trans- 
 portation of the necessary material. The lad led the life <jf a farmer's Imjv (for 
 liis father soon abandoned the tanning business), working in the summer and 
 attending school in the winter. 
 
 The home inthiences surrounding the subject of our sketch were of that kind 
 out of which seem to have come ni-aily all the great and leading men of America 
 — a strong and intelligent father, a superior and pious mother, the presiding genius 
 of a peaceful home, where religion had .set up a revereil altar and in which life 
 was guided by a strict adherence to a code of monds almost stern in its conforma- 
 tion to the Presbyterian creed. Moreover, it was a home in which the light of 
 hospitality always burned and where the door stood ajar for all comers, whether 
 he was the Methodist circuit rider, or the man of God witli cowl and crucifix, the 
 wayfarer seeking a new home in the forest of the west, or the vagrant who.se reck- 
 lessness made him a sup|)Iiant for the bounty of tlie more pnident. It was in .such 
 a liome, and surrounded by such influences, that Thomas A. Hendricks grew, 
 developed and waxed .strong in mind and body. 
 
 The lad attended the village schools for a time and then a neighbor, John 
 Robinson, living six miles distant, having secured an Eastern instructor to prepare 
 his own boys for colh'ge, extended the advantages to his neighbors' boy.s. Young 
 "Tom" Hendricks, having developed more a|>tit\iile for study than for tilling, 
 eagerly embraced the opportunity ami continued there until the .>;chool was broken 
 up by the sudilen departure of the teacher, but the instniction there received 
 enabled him to enter Hanover College, locate<l on the Ohio river, near Madi.son, 
 seventy miles south of Shelby ville. A Presbyterian college, it wa.s presided over 
 by Dr. ^IcMasters, brother of James McMa-sters. now editor of the Freeman's 
 Joiirnnl, New York. 
 
 Gniduating from Hanover College in 1841, he began the study of law with 
 Judge Major, of Shelbyvillc, but a desire to visit the Kast induced him to accept 
 the advantages (»f instruction in the olWce and a membership in the family of his 
 uncle, Judge Thomson, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He returned to Indiana 
 in 1843, with only one dollar and twcnty-tivecents in his pocket, one week too late 
 for the regular fall examinations for admission to the bar, and was therefore put 
 to the test of asjjccial examination by the circuit judges. He was easily admittetl. 
 His early career did notditTer much from a hun<lred other fledglings ia a limited 
 sphere, but it was noted that his diligence, upright bearing, and suavity of man- 
 ner, builded early the foundatic>ns of that popularity which has Ik'ih for so many 
 years in Indiana his peculiar po.sse.s.sion. 
 
 Four years after his admission to the bar, his political caret r \\ii> iMgim by his 
 election to the legislature, and from that day until this he has Ixjcn an active 
 and conspicuous figure in the politics of his State. It was in 1848 that he was 
 elected to the legislature, then only twenty-six years of age, being elected in a 
 close contest over Captain Nathan Early, the issue being the i)arty respon.si- 
 bility for the Mexican war. He served but one term, but long enough to impress 
 the fact upon the people of the State that " a young man of great cai)acity and 
 promise " had come upon the platform of affairs, and which resulted in his being 
 chosen to the State Constitutional Convention of 1850, called to revise and amend 
 the fundamental law of the commonwealth at a time when Indiana wanted in 
 council her ablest and purest men.
 
 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 81 
 
 111 1851, the year subsequent, Mr. Hendricks was nominated for Congress in 
 the Indiaimpolis district and was elected. So acceptably did he serve his constit- 
 uents that he was renominated and re-elected. In the autumn of 1856, much 
 against his inclination, he was nominated for a third term, and was defeated. 
 His defeat has been erroneously attributed to his vote in favor of Douglas's Ne- 
 braska-Kansas bill, involving the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, but, as a 
 matter of fact, it was during a period of transition, in which occurred the disinte- 
 gration of the Whig party and the uprising of the Republicans, when there was 
 much political movement and many theories. His opponent, once a Democrat, 
 rallied to his support Free Soilers, Abolitionists, Temperance men. Know Noth- 
 ings, Whigs and everything else which was not Democnitic ; and in a time of polit- 
 ical revolution he was beaten. Though he returned at once to the practice of the 
 law, he was called again to public service, without solicitation either upon his part 
 or that of his friends, by President Pierce, who appointed Mr. Hendricks Com- 
 missioner of the General Land Office. He administered the duties of this office 
 for four years, earning a widespread national reputation, by rea.son of the ability 
 with which he conducted the delicate and import^int affairs of the office. 
 
 In ISfiO, the Republicans nominated Henry S. Lane for Governor of Indiana ; 
 and the Democrats, casting about foi their strongest name, chose that of Thomas 
 A. Hendricks. This was another year of political revolution, and when Abraham 
 Lincoln was elected President. Mr. Hendricks was defeated ; but revolution 
 followed upon revolution, and in 1862, while Hon. Oliver P. Morton was Gov- 
 ernor, the Democrats obtained a majority in the Legislature. A United States 
 Senator was to be cho.sen, and Thomas A. Hendricks was elected. His period of ser- 
 vice, ending March, 1869, covered the last two years of the war and the four years of 
 reconstruction. How nobly he stood for the ai)plication of Jelfensonian principles 
 in these troublous times, how certain he was in his .strokes of battle, and what 
 intlueiice for good he then e.xerted. are matters now the pride of Democrats wliere- 
 ever they are. In the resistance to the effort to remove Andrew Johnson by im- 
 pe^ichment. Senator Hendricks played an important and able part. 
 
 At the close of his senat4jrial term, Senator Hendricks returned to Indiana to 
 again enter upon his practice, bearing with him an hononible name earned in the 
 service of his country and treasured by every Democrat in the broad land. In 
 1868, at the Democnitic Convention in New York City, his name was presented as 
 a candidate witli eighteen others, and he, with General Hancock, led all the rest, 
 the latter receiving on the twenty-tirst ballot 133' _, and Senator Hendricks 132. 
 On the twenty -second ballot Ohio suddenly presented the name of Horatio Seymour, 
 with the result of his nomination . 
 
 In 1872 the Democratic paity entered into a compact with the Liberal-Republican 
 party and nominated Horace Greeley. Though Senator Hendricks doubted the 
 advisability of the movement, yet he loyally followed the lead of his party, antl his 
 presence being demanded in the fore of battle in his own State, again.st his earnest 
 protest he was nominated for Governor. Th(»ugh Grant carried the State on the 
 electoral ticket, Hendricks was elected by a majority of one thousand one hundred 
 and fort^'-eight votes. 
 
 Two years as Governor and again Mr. Hendricks returned to private life. 
 Two years later he passed into the most eventful period of his life. The Democratic 
 National Convention met at St. Louis the 2Tth of June, 1876. On the first ballot 
 Mr. Tilden received 403^., votes and Mr. Hendricks Vd'S^-^. On the second ballot 
 Mr. Tilden received ooy votes, and the lirst place being dispo.sedof, the thoughts of 
 the Convention turned to Governor Hendricks, and he was nominated for Vice-
 
 B2 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 ProHident by 730 voUtJ out of 78H. TliLM-vt-nlH which followt-d iirc now ti mutter of 
 history. After a stoutly contestfd aud bitter (-ain[)ai^n, Tildeii and ilendrickn 
 were elected, having a majority of the popular vote and elwtorul college. By a 
 shameless conspiracy, engaged in by the Leadent of the Republican party, the 
 the people of the country were fraudulently deprived of their triumph at the |»olU. 
 In tliis trying period Governor Hendricks bore him.self with lofty patriotism, 
 further increasing the regard felt for him. 
 
 Eight years rolled around aud the representatives of DenxH-racy in the greatest 
 convention ever a.s.seniblcd, gathered together at Chicago, July Htli, 1hh4. There 
 was a general demand for the old ticket of 1870. But the old chieftain, Tildeu, 
 was incapacitated by age for the leadership, and the convention selected the young 
 champion of reform in the Empire State — Grover Cleveland, as bis representative, 
 and then, after a scene of unpandleled enthusiasm, demanded that Thomas A. 
 Hendricks shouhl a .second time be nominated for Vice-President and a second 
 time elected. Tnie to his patriotic impulses he has acceptetl. 
 
 Governor Hendricks is a man now nearly sixty-tive years old, vigorous and 
 strong, in whom liiere is not an indication of decay either mentally or physically — 
 a man of simple haitits, with a graceful bearing and a manly, hand.sonu' face. 
 Nature has endowe<l him with the elements of a true orator and upon the forum 
 he is persuasive and winning, convincing and captivating. His long public career, 
 lK>ginning when twenty-six years of age, is studdnl with the evidences of his great 
 ability, his singularly pure devotion to duty and his lofty and unswerving |>atriot- 
 ism. He is a Democrat of the truest lyix,' and an ideal representative of American 
 inaiiiii.)'"!.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 Public Record of Thomas A. Hendricks. 
 
 Tliomiis A. Hendricks wjis but twenty-six years old when he began his public 
 career in the Assembly of Indiana. He was nominated for that place by the 
 Democrats of that county. His opponent was Captain Nathan Earlywine, whom 
 he met in joint debate. Their discussion on Flat Rock is to-day a tradition of the 
 conununity. Earlywine in the debate charged the Dcmocnits with bringing on 
 the Mexican war. and alleged that some time before Hendricks, in a private 
 conversation, had admitted this, but lx)a.sted that he intended to shift the 
 responsibility from the Democrats to the Whigs. Hendricks, who was in the 
 audience, shouted out, "You know that's a lie !" For a time it looked as if the 
 meeting would have a sudden and violent termination, but Mr. Hendricks took the 
 stump and justitied his declaration. Hendricks was elected. In the Legislature 
 he soon made himself conspicuous by his opposition to the extension of the State 
 Banks branches and by the al)ility with which he urged his opposition. 
 Notwithstantliiig the success he met with in his lii-st venture in public life, he 
 refused a renomination and returned to his practice. 
 
 Two years later (1850) by the wish of all parties and without opposition, he was 
 elected to the State Con.stilutional Convention, to amend the Constitution of 1816. 
 Robert Dale Owi-n, Judges Pettit and Riddle, W. S. Holman, and Schuyler Colfax 
 had .seats in th«- sauje Convention. Mr. Hendricks, wiio was on the Hanking and 
 Judiciary Coimnittecs. won such a reputation in the del>ates upon the important 
 questions arising, that without efTort upon his part, he became a leading candidate 
 for the nomination for Congress in his district. There were many other candidates 
 for the nomination, but ui)on the fifty-third ballot, Mr. Hendricks was nominated, 
 and he was elecletl by a majority i)( more than three thou.sand. 
 
 Tile tirst tenn in Congress is rarely an eventful one to a new member, yet he 
 satislied his constituents, and they returned him by an increiused majority. During 
 his second term Douglass' Kansas-NeJ)n»ska bill was presente<l, and the di.scussion 
 over it greatly excited the country. Mr. Hendricks voted with the bulk of hia 
 party. It has bwn urgetl that this vote defeated him for a third term in Congress, 
 but it is certain that in thus ca.sting his vote, he was in entire accord witii the 
 sentiment of his coustituent.s. The fact is that it was a time of political revolution, 
 and Lucien Barbour, his opponent, who had been a Democrat, was supported by 
 all the elements which opposed the Democratic party, Free Soilers. Abolitionists, 
 Temix-rance men, Know Nothings, Whigs, and what not. It was a time of the 
 Know Nothing cra/e. During this campaign Mr. Hendricks made a siK-ech, which, 
 while an honor to his convictions and his democracy, in that time of senseless 
 opposition to natuniiized citizens, contributed somewhat to his defeat. This is 
 what he said on that occasion : 
 
 " When the Democratic administration of Jefferson came in, liberal laws were 
 enacted, and our young I^publican said to the oppressed millions of Europe :
 
 84 PUBLIC RECORD OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS, 
 
 ' C'oiiio, iind clu'ap lands shall furnish you a home; conie, and thi* fla^' of the free 
 shall wave over and jirotect you; eoine. and j\iht laws shall make you free.' They 
 dill come, and with them came the scholar, the artist, the farmer, the mechanic 
 and the lahorer. and they l)rou;.'ht no trouble u|)on our fathers but niiuli streni:th, 
 and contributed larirely to tlie development of the country. Our fathers were 
 then only tive millions stronL', l)Ut they were not afraid for tlieir lil)erti('s or for 
 their Protestant reli;,'ion in the ado|ition of that policy. Since that day lialf a ccn- 
 turv has f:one by, and our last census shows us to be a people of twenty-tliree 
 millions, with a native-born white population of seventeen milliitns and three- 
 cpiarlers, and a iwijudalion of foreij;n birth of only two millions and one-t|uarler. 
 Our foreijrn popidation, animated i)V a common sentiment of admimtion for our 
 institutions, have abandoned the lands of their birth, antl with their wives and 
 children have settled done nmimj; us, making our fortunes their fortunes, our 
 hopes their hopes, and our destiny their destiny When have they refused to dis- 
 chartre any duty required by Goverimient ? Do they not i)romptly pay their 
 taxes, dilii^enlly labor upon the highways, faithfully serve in our armii-s, and 
 valiantlv tight in defense of our coiuitry V It is not true that our liberties or our 
 religion are endangered i)y the presence of our foreign i>opulation. Our fatliers 
 intended to secine tlit; liberties of the citizen, that the Church and State should Ikj 
 sei)arate, and that the Church should not control the State, nor the State corrupt 
 the Church. No test can be made by law, whereby one class of men shall be 
 jiromoted to otHce and another class deprived of otllce In-cause of their religion. 
 The Constitution prohibits it for the reason that such u thing ought not to Ix; 
 done." 
 
 Defeated Mr. Hendricks contentedly resumed the practice of the law, but only 
 for a few months, for President Pierce, witliout solicitation upon the part of him- 
 self or anyone else, tendered him the distinguished office of Commissioner of the 
 General Land Office. He accepted, not withorit hesitation, and principally in view 
 of the fact tiiat it would promote his knowledge of land law. 
 
 Mr. Hendricks continued in this office at the re<piest of the succeeding secre- 
 tary, Jacob Thompson, of President Buchanan's administration, and remained 
 commissioner until 1859, when he resigned to resume his hiw practice. He had 
 brought to the place vast ajititude for the di.soharge of its duties, nnd the business 
 and organizing faculty which its proper administration re<piire«l. During Ids term 
 and his sui)erintendency of the one lnmdre«l and eighty clerks employed, twenty- 
 two thousand contested ca.S4'S were settled, and over four hundred thousand patents 
 issued. The exercise of his functions was distinguished by carefuJ surveys, early 
 examinations and i)rompt decision of titles, ready aid to si-ttlers, a recognition of 
 the value to the remaining governmental domain of improvements upon pre-empted 
 sections, and the assurance to owners under Federal grants of certain and unim- 
 peachable rights. In his general \iew at tliat early day, and l)efore the subject had 
 become one of .such vital apprehension as if is now, he regarded with most favor 
 the claims of small settlers, and he guarded with jealous care against the absorp- 
 tion of the public domain — the people's iidierilaiue bygni.sping monopolies, reck- 
 less speculatoi-s, greedy corporations, and alien land-owners. 
 
 His decisions were rarely overruled, and bis services to the sections of the coun- 
 try opened up in the days of his administmtion have been cherished in grateful 
 memorj' by the people who were benefited. On July 5th, 1865, Senator Hendricks, 
 visiting St. Paul, was tendered a banquet by the Common Council and citizens of 
 that place '' in recognition of his good offices toward Minnesota as Commissioner 
 of the General Land Office and as United States Senator." In making a journey to 
 San Francisco in 1869, passing through Omaha, he was received with a great pop- 
 ular ovation, and live thousand people gjithered in the evening to honor him and 
 to listen to an oration on the stiite of the country, in the course of which he applied 
 himself largely to the proper disposal of our public lands, and maintained, as he
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 85 
 
 had always held in official position, that every advantage in the disposition of them 
 should Ik? given to the private settler. 
 
 In 1860. the democracy of Indiana insisted that Mr. Hendricks should become 
 the nominee of the Democratic party for Governor. Though he clearly saw that 
 the events of the day and time preshadowed defeat, he did not hesit^vte to take the 
 lead of the partv. He was defeated by Henry S. Lane. The bursting of the war 
 cloud, which had been trathered sununoned [Mr. Hendricks to the work ni hand 
 and he took a clean and unswerving stand in support of the Union. The democracy 
 of Indiana met in convention January 8. 1861. Mr. Hendricks, Chainuan of the 
 Committee on Resolutions, reported that " it was the highest aim and the most 
 imperative duty of patriotism and phihuithropy to preserve the Union of the States 
 in its integrity and maintain the Federal compact in its spirit." 
 
 Notwithstanding his clear and outspoken position, he was made the subject of 
 bitter misrepresentations, to some of which he made reply in the following letter : 
 
 Governor Hendricks' Views on the Reb 3llion. 
 
 A letter to the IndUinapolU Journal, Thuml.ty. April 25^/i, 1861. 
 
 •'Indian.\poi-is. April 24th. 
 
 • .Mr Editor— Mv attention has been called to an editorial in the Journal this 
 morning, in which it i's .stated that at a Union meeting held at Shelby vdle a tew 
 evenings since a committee wa-s appointed to wait upon me. with the reciuest tliat 
 I should siieak ; that. Ixing called upon by the committee, I refused to speak, 
 saying that I had no liand in Originating the (litruullv. and would have nothmg to 
 do" in'cxtrieatini: the coinitrv from lis perilous eondition. , , , . . . 
 
 " Tlie writ<T has bren wlmllv misinformed. I never heard of the appomtment 
 of such a coniniittee. and suppo"sc> none was appointed. No committee waited upon 
 me with such a re(iuest. Had I been so honored. I certainly would have re- 
 sponded I have never withheld mv views upon any question of public interest 
 from the peoi.le of Shelbv Countv. Vpon all occa.sions. when it appeared proper, 
 I have expre.s-sed mv oi)iii"i<)iis in relation to our present troubles. Since tlie war 
 commenced I liav.'"uniformlv said that the aulhoritv of the Government of the 
 United States is not (piestionl'd in Indiana, and that I regarded it as the duty ol 
 the citizens of Indiana to r.sp. ct and mainiain that authorily. and to give the Gov- 
 ernment an iioncsl and .arnest support in Hie i)rose(ution of the war until in the 
 providence of God, it niav be brouirht toaii honorable conclusion, and the l)iessmg8 
 of peace restored to our eountrv. postponing until that time all controversy in rela- 
 tion to the causes and r.sponsibilities of the war. No man will feel a deeper 
 solicitude in the welfare an<l jiroud iM-aring of Indiana's soldiery in the conflict of 
 arms to which thev are called than myself. . 
 
 Allow me to add that in mv judgment a citizen or newspaper is not ser\nng the 
 countrv well in the jiresent crisis bv attempting to give a iiartisan a.spect to the 
 war, of by seeking to pervert the cau.se of the country to party ends. 
 
 Kcspectfullv, 
 
 THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 In .Tunc. 1863. upon the exciting popular (jucstion of the enrollment and the 
 draft, Hendricks made a si>oech to the i)eople of Rushville. Rush County, Indiana, 
 in which he urged the necessity of obedietict; to the act and to all Constitutional 
 enactments both as a matter of duty upon the part of the citizens, and as the best 
 means of preser\ing pcjice and order. In the course of this address he said : 
 "Respect for legitimate authority and obedience to law has long been the cherished 
 sentiment of the political party to which it is my pride to belong. Tfie dangerous 
 doctrine that the conscience of the citizen may sit in judgnunt upon laws emictcd in 
 proper form, with a view to their resistance, has neter been adopted by any considerable 
 portion of the people of this State, and has at all times been bitterly opposed by the
 
 86 PUBLIC RECORD OF 1 HOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 Democracy." A better exposition of the genius of r3emocTacy it would bedifticult 
 to find. 
 
 Ill the election of 1863 the Democrats obtained a majority of the Legislature on 
 joint ballot. Early in 1H6;5 Mr. Hendricks was elcctt-d L'nitcd Stjitcs st-nator, and 
 the 4tii of Marcli of that jear he took his seat. Ili.s rciuitation and his eminent 
 public services in pa.^t years gave him a high place in the Senate at once, and he 
 served with distinction and industry on the committees of claims, public buildings, 
 judiciary, public lands and naval affairs. 
 
 Senator Hendricks shared Mr. Lincoln's confidence and friendship. In March, 
 ISBG. just before the a.s.sa.ssiiiation, Mr. Hendricks called at the White Hoase to 
 bid the President good-bye. To iiiin, Lincoln said : 
 
 " I know, Hendricks, tiiat you are a Democrat ; but you have treated my Ad- 
 ministration fairly, and I tiiink it is due vou now to say to you that things will 
 shortly assume a shai)e across the river [turning and pointing to the I'otomac] 
 when I can have a general jubilee." 
 
 During the di.scussions of the reconstruction era, S«-nator Hendricks held 
 clo.sely to the theory, that the existence of a State which had been in rebellion 
 " its organization as a State, its Constitution, which was the bond of its organiza- 
 tion, continued all the way through the w^ar ; and when peace came, it found the 
 State, with its Constitution and laws unrepealed ."and in full force, holding that 
 State to the Federal Union, except all laws enacted in aid t)f the HelK-llion." 
 
 In further support of his position, Mr. Hendricks said : 
 
 "Mr. Lincoln, in most e.\pre.s.s terms, in most empliaiic language, in Language 
 at the time .somewhat olTeiisive to some members of his own party, held the siune 
 doctrine ; and I call the .attention of Senators to the pn«'lamation to which I refer. 
 In tlie tirst place, Mr. Lincoln, on the sth of Decemln-r, lH6y. issuetl a proclama- 
 tion, first, of general aiiinesly to those who would take a pn-scribcd oath, and then 
 a.ssuring them that if the people of these States would neugnize State Governments 
 loyal in their character the il.xccutivc would respect and. under this clause of the 
 Constitution, would guarantee those Governments. Here is his langiiage not 
 calling upon Congrc.s.s as the .source of power for the ac-ti(jn of the people, but 
 aiipealiiig directly to tlie people indeixndently of Congress. He says lliat if they 
 will reorganize their Stale Governments .such shall l)e recognized as the true 
 GovernnienI of the Stale, and the Slat*- shall receive thereunder the U-nefils of the 
 Conslitutional provision which declares that ' the United States shall guarantee to 
 every State in this Union a republican form of government. '" etc. 
 
 During the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Wade, then 
 Acting Vice-President took his .seat as one of the triers in the case. Senator 
 Hendricks challenged him and forcibly stated the objections that " no man should 
 help to take from the President his office when that man is to fill the office if the 
 proceeding succeed. " Mr. Sumner characterized the question raised as one "of 
 much novelty." but the pailianientar)- phases of it occupied two days in discus.sion. 
 
 In 1868, Mr. Heiulricks" position as a leader of the National Democnicy was 
 so undisputed that he was a leading candidate for the nomination for President at 
 the New York National Democratic Convention, closely cf)nte.sting the palm with 
 General Hancock from the twenty-first ballot, when the General received one hun- 
 dred and thirty-five and a half votes. Mr. Hendricks received one hundred and 
 thirty-tAvo. But in this ballot the break was made for Horatio Seymour, who was 
 nominated. 
 
 Much against his inclination in that campaign Mr. Hendricks was nominated 
 for Governor iu Indiana and was defeated again. In 1872, however, though he 
 had doubted the advisability of the nomination of Horace Greeley by the 
 Democracy, he was again chosen to bear the standard of Democracy in Indiana, 
 and this time was elected.
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 87 
 
 During his term of Governor the Legislature adjourned without completing 
 its business. Governor Hendricks brought it back straightway. His admonition 
 that the neglected measures required little time, and that the members not yet 
 having left the capital had not .earned mileage, brought about a prompt dispatch 
 of the business and prevented an unnecessary prolongation of the extra session. 
 
 During the same term. December 29, 1874, at the opening exercises of the 
 State Teachers' Association, he delivered an address full of thoughtful concern for 
 the educational interests of the State, which always had his earnest attention. 
 
 Under his administration the debt of the State, which is now no considerable 
 amount, was largely taken up. the credit of the Commonwealth sustained and 
 enhanced, and its material affairs prosi)ered. It was during this period that the 
 financial issue threatened to divide the Democracy. As a sufficient answer to the 
 misrepresentation which Mr. Hendricks' attitude toward this question has been 
 subject to, there is appended here an extract from his speech in the Convention of 
 1878. From these sentiments he never departed, through the Indiana platforms 
 in some degree had transcended his views and also that of the Ohio Democracy, 
 in the campaign when he went over to help them, but he invariably steered his 
 course consistently with the.se sentiments : 
 
 '■ We desire a return to specie j^ayments. It is a serious evil when tlierc are 
 commercial mediums of diffent values ; wlien one description of our money is for 
 one class and jiurpo-te, and another for a ditlerent class and purpo.se. We cannot 
 too strongly express the importance of the policy that shall restore uniformity of 
 value to all tlie money of thecountry. so tliat it shall be alwaj's and readilv con- 
 vertible. That goM and silver are The real standard of value is a cherished f)emo- 
 crafic sentiment not now or hereafter to be abandoned. But I do not look to any 
 arbitmry enactment of Congress for a restomtion of specie payme?its. Such an 
 effort now would j^robably pHwliice wi(les]ire.id commercial disaster. A Congres- 
 sional declaration < aiuiof make the paper currency equal to gold in value. It 
 cannot make a bank n<ite e<|ual to your dollar. The business of the country alone 
 can do that. When we find the coin of the country increasing, then we may 
 know that we are moving in the direction of specie payments. The important finan- 
 cial question is. How can we increase and m:ike permanent our supply of gold ? 
 The reliable solution is, by increasing our prcHluctions and thereby reducing our 
 purchases, and increasing o*ur sales abroad. He can readily obtain money who 
 produces more tlian he consumes of articles that are wanteil in the market, and I 
 suppose that is also true of comnuinities and nations." 
 
 In 1S70 a great wave of reform swept over the country, and conspicuous 
 among those who had led the van in the aggressive march and battle against cor- 
 nipt metho<ls in the administration of affairs were Governors Tilden (of New 
 York) anrl Hendricks (of Indiana). The Democratic National Convention as-sem- 
 bii'd at St. Ix)uis on the 27th day of June of that year. But two candidates were 
 really before the convention, Tilden and Hendricks. The first ballot determined 
 the result, and Governor Tilden was nominated. After that the demand was 
 almost unanimous for Hendricks for Vice-President, and out of 738 votes he 
 received 730. He accepted, and in his lettter of accei>tance used these noble 
 words : 
 
 " The institutions of our country have been sorely tried by the exigencies of 
 civil war. and since the peace by a selfish and corrupt management of public 
 affairs which have sliamed us before civilizetl mankind. By unwise and partial 
 legislation, every imlustry and interest of the people have been made to suffer ; and 
 in the executive departments of the government dishonesty rapacity, and venalty 
 have debauched the public .service. Men known to be imworthy have been pro- 
 moted, while others have been degraded for fidelity to official duty. Public office 
 has been made the means of private profit, and the country has been offended to 
 see a class of men who boast the friendship of the sworn protectors of the State 
 amassing fortunes by defrauding the public treasury and by corrupting the ser-
 
 88 PUBLIC RECORD OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 
 
 vants of th(! people. In such a crisis of the liistory of the country, I rejoice that 
 the convcntidn at St. Louis hns so nobly raised the standard of reform. Nothing 
 can be well with us or with our alTairs until the public eonseicnee, .sho(ke<l b}- the 
 enonnous evils and abuses wliieh |)revnil, shall have demanded and eom|>elled an 
 unsparing reformation of o\ir national Admiiuslration, ' in its head and in its mem- 
 bers.' In such a reformat i(jn the removal of a sin^jle oHicer, even the I're.sident, 
 is comparatively a trilling matter, if the svstem which he rejjre.sents, and which 
 has fostered him as he has fostered it, is suffered to remain. The President alone 
 must not be made the scape-^'oat for the enormities of the system wliieh infects 
 tlie public service and threatens the destruction of our institutions. In some 
 resjieets 1 hold that the i)re8ent E.xecutive has been the victim rather than the 
 author of that vicious system. Congressional and i)artv leailers iiave been stronger 
 than the President. No one man could have created it, and the renjoval of no 
 one man can amend it. It is thoroughly corrupt, and must be swept remorseIe.s.sly 
 away by the selection of a government composed of elements entirely new and 
 pledged to radical refonn." 
 
 " With the industries of the people there have been freq\ient interferences. 
 Our platform truly .says that many industries have been impoverished to subsidize a 
 few. Our conunerce has been degraded to an inferior po.sition on the high .seas ; 
 manufactures have been diminished ; agriculture has been embarras.scd ; and the 
 distress of the industrial classes demands that these things shall be reformed. 
 
 "The burdens of the people must also be lightened by a great change in our sys- 
 tem of public expenses. The j)rotligate expenditure which increased taxation 
 from live dollars per capita in 18G0 to eighteen dollars in 1870, tells its own story of 
 our need of fiscal reform. 
 
 " Our treaties with foreign powers should also be revi.sed and amended, in so far 
 as they leave citizens of foreii^n birth in any i)articular less secure in any cnuntry 
 on earth than they would be if they had been born upon our own soil ; ;ind the 
 iniquitoiis coolie system, which, through the agency of wealthy companies, imports 
 Chin(!se bondmen, and est.abli.shes a si>ecies of .slaverj-, and interferes with the just 
 rewards of labor on our Pacific coast, should be utterly abolished. 
 
 " In the reform of our civil ser\ice, I most lieartily indorse that section of the 
 platfonn which declares that the civil service ought not l«» be ' .stil)jcct to change 
 at every election,' and that it ought not to be made ' tlie brief rcwanl of party 
 zeal.' bu'. ought to be awarded for i)roved competency, and held for fidelity in the 
 public employ. I hope never again to .see the cruel and remorseless proscription 
 for political ojiinions which has disgraced the administration of the last eight 
 years. Had as the civil service now is, as all know.'it has .some men of tried 
 mfegrity and i)roved aliility. Such men. and siich mcMi only, shoidd be retjuned 
 in otHce ; but no man should be retained, on any consideration, who h.as prosti- 
 tute(l his office to the pur]>o.ses of partisan intimidation of compidsion. or who has 
 furnished money to corrupt the elections. This is done, and has been done, in 
 almost every comity of the land. It is a blight upon the morals of the countrj', 
 and ought to be reformed. 
 
 "Of sectional con'entions and in respect to our common schools I haye only 
 this to say : That in my jiidgment, the man or i)arty that would involve our 
 schools in political or .sectarian controversy is an enemy to the schools. The com- 
 mon .schools are .sjifer vnider the protecting care of all the people than under the 
 control of any jiarty or sect. They must be neither sectarian nor partisan, and 
 there must be neither division nor misapproj>riation of the funds for IIk ir support. 
 Likewise I regard the man who would arouse or foster sectional animosities and 
 antagonisms among his countrymen as a dangerous enemy Id his country. All the 
 people must be made to feel and know that once more there is established a jiurpose 
 and policy under which all citizens of every condition, race and cohjr will be 
 secure in the enjoyment of whatever rights the Constitution and laws declare or 
 recognize ; and that in controversies that may ari.se the Government is not a 
 partisan, but within its constitutional authority the just and powerful guardian of 
 the rights and safety of all. The strife- between the .sections and between races 
 will cease as soon as the power for evil is taken away from a party that makes 
 political gain out of scenes of violence and bloodshed, and the 'constitutional 
 authority is placed in the hands of men whose political welfare requires that peace 
 and good order shall be preserved everywhere."
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 89 
 
 How these gentlemen were elected in the November of that year, and how they 
 were defrauded by a shameless conspiracy upon the part of the Hepublicau leaders 
 and the majority of the American voters robbed of their choice for president and 
 vice-president is familiar to all. 
 
 Eight years have passed and again Governor Hendricks is called to ])ear his 
 part in the campaign, the great issue of which is whether honesty or dishonesty 
 shall jirevail in the administration of the affairs of government, and Mr. Hendricks 
 bears aloft the banner upon which is inscribed the word honesty.
 
 90 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 Record of "Rlaine. 
 
 For the nfTirc of President of Uie United States the Republican party has placed 
 in nomination James G. Blaine, 'a caudidute," declaretl by a convention of Ite- 
 publicaiis to be " an unfit leader, shown by his own words and his acknowle<l^ed 
 acta, which are of ofTlcial record, to be unworthy of re.'^pect and confidence; who 
 has traded upon his olUciul trust for his pecuniary gain ; a represcnUitive of men, 
 methods and conduct which the public conscience condemns, and which illustrate 
 the very evils honest men would reform." 
 
 These grave charges, delilwrately made against the Republican candidate for 
 President by Kepublicans, deserve the serious consideration of all men who have 
 the welfare of the country at he^irt ; and to the end that an impartial investii^ation 
 of Mr. Blaine's fitness or unfitness for the high trust to which he aspires may be 
 had, a brief review is here given of Mr. Blaine's public life in Washington. 
 
 Is He Honest 1 
 
 The first requisite for a candidate for oilKe, acconling to the JefTersonian 
 standard, is honesty. Against Mr. Blaine the charge specifically made, and by 
 Republicans, is. that he has tra<led upon his official trust for liis pecuniary gain. 
 The proof is of record, and was furnished by Mr. Blaine himself in what are 
 known as the Mulligan letters. 
 
 The Mulligan Letters. 
 
 The story of the Mulli^'an letters is briefly told. They were letters written by 
 Mr. Blaine to Mr. Fisher concerning land grant railroad stocks and bonds, and 
 they were held, with Fisher's consent, by his l)ookkeci)er, James Mulligan. In the 
 spring of 1876 unpleasant rumors of Mr. Blaine's connection with cerUiin railroad 
 transactions were in circulation, and became at hust so pressing that he thought it 
 necessary to meet them by a personal explanation in the House of licpresentatives. 
 
 He made this explanation April 24. He stated in explicit terms that a charge 
 against him had been made to tiiis effect : " that a cerf;iin draft was negotiated at 
 the house of Morton, Bliss & Co., in 1871, through Thomas A. Scott, then Presi- 
 dent of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, for the sum of ^64,000, and that 
 $75,000 of bonds of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad Company were 
 pledged as collatend ; that the Union Pacific Company paid the draft and took up 
 the collateral ; that the cash procee<ls of it went to mr, and that I had furnished or 
 sold or in some way conveyed or transferred to Thomas A. Scott these Little Rock 
 and Fort Smith bonds which had been used as collateral ; that the bonds had in 
 reality belonged to me or some friend or constituent of mine for whom I •^•as act- 
 ing." Mr. Blaine then proceeded to deny this charge absolutely and entirely, 
 declaring it to be " without one particle of foundation in fact, and without c tittle 
 of evidence to substantiate it.* In support of his denial he read letters from 
 Thomas A. Scott and from Sidney Dillon, who succeeded Mr. Scott as President of
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 01 
 
 the Union Pacific Railroad. He admitted, liowever, that he had been the owner 
 of bonds in the Little Rock and Fort Smith road in 18G9, but declared that he had 
 I)aid the full market price for them, and that he had lo.st over $20,000 by the trans- 
 action. He said further that "as to the question of the propriety involved in a 
 member of Congress holding an investment of this kind, it must be remembered 
 that the lands were granted to the State of Arkansas and not to the railroad com- 
 pany, and that the company derived its life, franchise, and value wholly from the 
 State." And later he repeated that "the Little Rock road derived all it had from 
 the State of Arkansas and not from the Congress." He denied once more the 
 charge against him by declaring that " the story of my receiving $04,000 or any 
 other sum of money, or other thing of value, from the Union Pacific Railroad 
 Company, directly or indirectly, or in any form, for myself or for another, is 
 absolutely disproved by the most conclusive testimony " ; and closed by sjiying, 
 " I have never done anything in my public career for which I could be put to the 
 faintest blush in any presence, or for which I cannot answer to my constituents, 
 my conscience, and the great Searcher of hearts." 
 
 April 24, 1876, Cong, liecord, 1st Sess., 44th Cong,, Vol. 4, pt. 3, 
 p. 2724. 
 
 Investigating the Matter. 
 
 On May 2, 1876, ilr. Tarbox introduced the following resolution which was 
 agreed to : 
 
 Whereat, It is publicly alleged, and not denied by the officers of the Union 
 Pacific Railroad Company, that tliat corporation did in the year 1871 or 1872 
 become the owner of ciTtain bonds of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Riilroad 
 Company, for which bonds tlie said Union Pacific Railroad Company paid a con- 
 sideration largely in excess of lliuir actual or market value, and that the l)Oi«rd of 
 directors of said Union I'acific Railroad Company, though urged, have neglected 
 to investigate sjiid transaction ; therefore, be it 
 
 Hegohed, That the ( 'onnnittee on Judiciary be instructed to inquire if any such 
 transaction took place, and, if so, what were the circumstances and inducements 
 thireto, from what person or persons said bonds were obtained and upon what 
 con>iideration, and wliether the tran.s;iction was from corrupt design or in further- 
 ance of any corrupt obJL-ct ; and that the Committee have power to scud for 
 persons and pai)ers. 
 
 44th Cong., IstSess., H. R. misc. doc. 176, pt. 1, p. 2. 
 
 Blaine Makes a Personal Explanation. 
 
 Messrs. Hunton. Ashe and Lawrence were appointed a sub-committee of the 
 Committee on Judiciary to conduct the investigation called for by this resolution 
 and one previously adopted directing an inquiry into the management of all the 
 railroads tliat had been aided by Congreas, during the progress of whieh Mr. 
 Blaine rose to a personal explanation, June 5, 1^76, in the course of which he 
 read the following letters : 
 
 I. 
 [Private and personal.] 
 
 Augusta, Maixe, August 81, 1*^72. 
 
 My Dear Mr. FisiiEn : I have been absent so much of late that I did not 
 receive your last letter until it was several days old. Wlien I last wrote you, I 
 was expecting to be in Boston on a political conference about this time, but I 
 found it impossible to be there, and it is now impos.sible for me to leave here until 
 after our election, which occurs Monday week, the 9th. I will try to meet you at 
 the Parker House on the 10th or 11th, availing myself of the first possible moment 
 for that purpose.
 
 92 RECORU OF BLAINE. 
 
 I fiirinot, lumovcr. allow a miiiiik in your leflcr to pass without commont. 
 You say that you have Ih-cu tryinj; to get a sctllemr-m with me for tlfUcn inouths, 
 you liave heeii tryin<? to induce me to comply with rertaiii deriiaiidH which 
 you made upon me, \vithout takintr into account any claims I have of a counter 
 kind. 
 
 This docs not fill my idea of a »e(lhi>u:nt, for a sdtlement must include both 
 sides. 
 
 No person could be more anxious for a settlement than I am, and if upon our 
 next interview we cannot reach one, wliy then we try other means. 
 
 But my judgment is that I shall make you so liberal an offer of settlement that 
 you cannot possibly refuse it. 
 
 As one of the elemenLs which I wish to take into account is the note of 
 $10,000 given you in ls«J3 for Spencer stock, I desire that you will furnish me with 
 the items of interest on that note. My impression is th:it when that note was con- 
 solidated into the large note, which you still hold, that you did not charge me full 
 interest, possibly omitting one or two years. 
 
 I will be obliged if you will give me information on this point, for I intend to 
 submit to you a full and explicit l)asis of .settlement, and in making it up it is 
 neces.sary that I should have this inf(jrniation. Please send it as j)romptly as you 
 may be able to give it to me. 
 
 In haste, verj- truly yours, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 Wauren Fisher, Jr., Esq. 
 
 II. 
 
 [Personal.] 
 
 AifiVSTA, Maint:, August 9, 1872. 
 
 5Iy Df-.vr Mu. Fisitkr : On my return home yesterday I found your favor ot 
 6th from Stonington, asking for my notes. $6,000, on account. It seems to me 
 that a partial .settlement of our matter would tinly- lead to future trouble, or at all 
 events to a mere postponement of our present dillicultics. 
 
 I deem it highly desirable that we should have a con( lusivc and comprehensive 
 settlement, and I have been eager for that the.se many months. 
 
 The account which you stated June 20, 1872, docs not correspond precisely 
 witli the reckoning I have made of the indebtedness on tlie note you hold. You 
 credit me, April 2(5, 1869, with $12,500 dividend from Six-ncer Company; but 
 there were two subsequent dividends, one of $3,7o0, the other of .'?5,800, of which 
 no mention is made in your statement, though I received in June. 1870, your 
 check for !s2,700 or $2,800, which was a part of these dividends, I believe. I think 
 my "cash memorandum " of June 25, 1869, for $2,500, with which you charge 
 me. represented at the time a part of the dividends; but being debited with that, 
 I am entitled to a credit of the divitlend. 
 
 In oilier words, as I reckon it, there are dividends amounting to S9,550 due me, 
 with interest since June, 1870, of which I have received only .$2,700 or $2,800, 
 entitling mc thus to a credit of .some $7,500. 
 
 Besides the cash memorandum January -9, 1864, $000, which with interest 
 amounts to $904.10, was obviou.sly included in the consolidated note which was 
 given to represent all my indebtedness to you, and which you repeatedly assured 
 me would be met and liquidated in good time by Spencer di\idends. 
 
 You will thus see that we dilfer materially as to the figures. Of course each 
 of us is aiming ut precisely the facts of the case, and if I am wrong, please correct 
 me. I am sure that you do not desire me to pay a dollar that is not due, and I am 
 equally sure that I am more than ready to pay every cent that I owe you.
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. ^3 
 
 The Little Rock matter is a pcqietual and never-ending embarrassment to me. 
 I am pressed daily almost to make liual settlement with those who still hold the 
 sfcurities — a settlenjent I am not able to make until I receive the bonds due on 
 your article of airreoment with me. That is to me by far the most urgent and 
 pressing of all the demands connected with our matters, and the one which I think, 
 in all equity, should be first settled, or certainly settled as soon as any. 
 
 If the ^(5.000 cash is so important to you, I would be glad to a.ssist in raising 
 the .same for you on your notes, using Little Rock bonds as collateral at same rate 
 they are used in Boston, four for one. I think I could get the money here on four 
 or six months on these tenns. If I had the money myself, I would be glad to ad- 
 vance it to, but I am as dry as a contribution-box, borrowing, indeed, to defray 
 my campaign expenses. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 Wauuex Fisiieu, Jr., Esq., Boston. 
 
 III. 
 
 Augusta. Maine, July 3, 1872. 
 
 My Pkau Mr. FifirER : I was detained far beyond my expectations in New 
 York and Pennsylvania, being there quite a week. I was in Boston on Monday 
 en rouUi home, but I was so prostrated by the heat that I had no strength or 
 energy to call on you. 
 
 It seems to me, as I review and recall our several confercBces, that we ought 
 not to have any trouble in coining to an easy aajustinent, as follows : First, I am 
 ready to fullill the memorandum held by you in regard to the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad, as I always have been ; .'iecond, you are ready to consider the land- 
 bonds in my possession as surrendered in payment of the ilebt to which they were 
 originally held as c(jllateral ; third, I am rea<ly to pay you tlxafuU amount of cjish 
 due you on memoranda held by you. j)rovi(led you will pay me luxif lice numuiit of 
 bonds due me on memoranda held by me, the cash to be paid and the bonds to be 
 delivered at the same time. As to fiirlher sale of the share in Northern Pacific 
 Railroad, Uiat could be determined afterward. I am ready to do all in my power 
 to oblige you in the matter. 
 
 If we can adjust the first and second points herein referred to, the third might 
 be left, if you desire it, to the future. 
 
 Hitherto I have made all tin- i)ropo.sitions of settlement. If this is not accept- 
 able to you, please submit your views of a fair basis in writing. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 "Waiiren Fisueb, Jr., Esq. 
 
 IV. 
 
 "WAsnrxGTON, April 28. 
 My De.\r Mr. Fisher : Yours of 24th received. There seems to be one great 
 error of fact under which you are laboring in regard to my ability to comply with 
 your request about the |10.000 letter of credit. I would gladly get it for you if I 
 were able ; but I have not the metxns. I have no power of gettmg a letter of credit 
 from Jay Cooke except by paying the money for it. and the money I hate not got, 
 and have no means of getting it. You auk me to do therefore what is simply impos- 
 gible. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to serve you if I were alile ; but 
 my losses ia the Fort Smith a£fair have entirely crippled me, and deranged all my 
 finances. You would, I know, be utterly amazed if you could see the precise
 
 0^ RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 ex|>L'rience I Ijave liad in tliat inntter. Very bitter, I assure you. Anionj^ othor 
 tliiiifjs, I still owe marly all of the $25,000 which I delivered to Mr. Pratt, and 
 this is most haru-ssing and embarrassing to me. 
 
 If you will give me the $76,500 of bonds which I propose to throw off as 
 payment of tlic notes which you say I owe you, I will gladly ^et your ten-thou- 
 sand-dollar letter of credit ; but if I release those bonds to you, as I propose, you 
 can do the same for yourself. 
 
 I am at loss to know what you mean by your repeated phrase that " I hate 
 dtnitd eterythinfj y What have I denied J I do not so much as imderst;tnd what 
 you mean, and would be glad to have you e.xplain. 
 
 You reject the name of Ward Cheney as a friendly referee. Please suggest a 
 name yourself of some one known to both of us. I mean for you to suggest a 
 name in case you do not accept my basis of settlement proposed in my last letter 
 preceding this. Yours, very truly, 
 
 J. Q. BLAINE. 
 
 Warren Fisiter, Jr., Esq. 
 
 When do you propose to sail for Europe ? 
 
 Wabittnoton, D. C, April 22, 1872. 
 
 My Dear Mr. Fisher : Your brief note received. I do not know what you 
 mean by my " not jnentioning Northern Pacitic and denying everything else." 
 
 You have my obligation to deliver to you a specified interest in Northern 
 Pacific, which I was to purcliase for you, and In which I never bad a penny'i 
 Interest — direct or indirect. Some months ago you wrote me (twice) declaring 
 that you would not receive llie share, but demanding the return of the money. 
 This was impossible, and I tlierefore could tlo nothing but wait. 
 
 Nothing I could write would make my obligation plainer than the memorandum 
 you liold. Notliing you could write would change my obligation under that mem- 
 orandum. 
 
 The matters between us are all perfectly plain and simple, and I am ready to 
 settle tliem all comprehensively and lilxjrally. I am not willing to settle those that 
 benefit you and leave to the chances of the future those that benefit me 
 
 I am willing to forego and give up a great deal for the sake of a friendly settle- 
 ment, and I retain a copy of this letter as evidence of the spirit of the offer I make. 
 I think, if we cannot settle ourselves, a friendly reference would be the best chan- 
 nel, and I propose Mr. Ward Cheney, who stjinds nearer to you certainly than he 
 does to me. If this name does not suit you, plejise suggest one yourself. 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 
 Wariien Fisueu, Jr. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Wasitinoton. May 20, 1864. 
 My Dear Sir : Your favor received. I am very glad, all things considered, 
 that the Government has accepted your proposition to take all your manufacture 
 till first of September, 1865. It gives a straight and steady business for the com- 
 pany for a good stretch of time. 
 
 In regard to the tax provision you can judge for yourself, as I send herewith a 
 copy of the bill as reported from the Finance Committee of the Senate and now 
 pending in that body — see pages 148, 149. where I have marked. In looking over
 
 OK 
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 the bill you will please observe tbat all worde in italic letters are amendments pro- 
 posed by the Senate Finance ComniiUee. ^vIiile all words included in brackets are 
 proposed to be struck out by same committee. 
 
 The provision which you inquire about was not in the original bill, but was an 
 amendment moved from the Ways and Means Committee by Mr. Ka.s.sou of Iowa. 
 to whom I suggested it. It is just and proper in every sense, and will affect a 
 good many interests, including your company. I am glad to hear such good 
 accounts of your progress in the affairs of the company, of which I have always 
 been proud to be a member. 
 
 Tell Mr Welles that his brother has been nominated by the Senate for com- 
 missary of subsistence, with jank of captain. He will undoubtedly be confirmea 
 as soon as his case can be reached. I will advise as soon as it is done. 
 
 In haste, youi-s truly, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 
 Warren Fisher, Jr., Esq. 
 
 VII. 
 Wabrdjoton, D. C, April 18, 1872. 
 Mt Dear Mr. Fibher : I answered you very hastily last evening, as you 
 said yr.u wished an immediate reply ; and perhaps in my hurry I did not make 
 myself fullv uiulerslood. 
 
 You have been for some time laboring under a totally erroneous impression m 
 regard to my results in tlie Fort Smith matter. The sales of bonds which you 
 spoke of my making, and which you seem to have thought were for my own 
 benefit were entirelv otherwise. I di<l not have the money in my possession forty- 
 eight hours, but paid it over directly to the parties whom I tried, by every means 
 in mv iK)wer to protect from loss. I am very sure that you have little idea of the 
 lalH.i^ the losses, the efforts, and the sacrifices I have made within the past year 
 to save those innwent persons, who invc sted on my request, from personal loss. 
 
 And I say to you to-night, solemnly, that I am immeasurably worse off than if 
 I had never touched the Fort Smith matter. 
 
 The demand you make upon me now is one which I am entirely unable to 
 comply with. / cannot do it. It is not in my ]>ow.r. You say that " necessit^r 
 knows no law." That applies to me as well as to you, and when I have reached 
 the i>oint I am now at, 1 simply fall back on that law. You are as well aware as 
 I am that the bonds are due me under the contract. Could I have these I could 
 adjust mauv matters not now in my power, and so long as this and other matters 
 remain unadjusted between us, I do not recognize the equity or the lawfulness of 
 your calling on me for a partial settlement. I am rearly at any moment to make 
 a full, fair, comprehensive settlement with you on the most liberal terms. I wiU 
 not he exacting or captious or critical, but am ready and eager to make a broad 
 and generous adjustment with you, and if we can't agree ourselves, we can select 
 a mutual friend who can ea-sify compromise all points of difference between us. 
 
 You will, I trust, see that I am disposed to meet you in a spirit of friendly 
 cordiality, and yet with a sense of self-defense that impels me to be frank and 
 expose to you my iKCuniary weakiies.s 
 
 With very kind regards to Mrs. Fisher, I am, yours truly, 
 
 J. Q. BLAINE. 
 
 W. FiflREU. Jk . Esq
 
 96 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 .VIII. 
 [Personiil. J 
 
 Ai:ofSTA. 3IAI-NE. October 4, l^iCd. 
 
 Mt Dear Sfk : I spoke to you a short time aso about a point of intcrcat to 
 your niilroiiil compiiny tliat occurred at the litst session of t'onijress. 
 
 It was (.11 the last night of the session when the bill renewing the land grunt to 
 the State of Arkansas for the Little Kock road was reached, and Julian, of 
 Indiana, C'hainnau of the Public Lands Committee, and, by right, entitled to the 
 floor, attempted to put on the bill, as an amendment, the Fremont El Paso 
 scheme,— a scheme probably well known to Mr. Caldwell. The Uouse was thin, 
 and the lobby in the Fremont interest had the thing all set up, and Julian's 
 amendment wan likely to prevail if brought to a vote. Roots and the other mem- 
 bers from Arkansas, who were doing their best for their own bill (to which there 
 seemed to be no objection), were in despair, for it was well known that the Senate 
 was hostile to the Fremont scheme, ami if the Arkansas l)ill hail gone back to the 
 Senate with Julian's amendment, the whole thing would have gone on the table 
 and slei)t the sleep of deatli. 
 
 In this dilemma Roots came over to me to know what on earth he could do 
 under the rules ; for he said it was vital to his constituents that the bill should pass. 
 I told him that Julian's amendment was eutin-ly cmt of onler, because not ger- 
 mane ; but he had not suflicient confidence in his knowledge of the rules to make 
 the point, but he said General Logan was oppo-cd to the Fremont scheme, and 
 would probably make the point. I sent my page to General Logan with the 
 suggestion, and he at once made the jHiint. I could not do other\vi.se than su.stain 
 it ; and so the bill was freed from the mi-schievous amendment moved by Julian, 
 and at once pa.s.sed without objection. 
 
 At that time I had never .seen Mr. Caldwell, but you can tell him that, without 
 knowing it, I did him a great favor. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 J. (.;. liLAl.NE. 
 
 W. FisuEii, Jr., Esq., :21 Imlia Street. Dostou, 
 
 IX. 
 
 ArorsTA, October 4, IRHQ. 
 
 Mt Dear "Sin. Ftsiter : Find inclosed contracts of the parties named in my 
 letter of yesttnlay. The remaining contracts will be completed as rapidly as cir- 
 cumstances will permit. 
 
 I enclose you a part of the Congressional Globe of April 9, containing the point 
 to which I referred at .some length in my previous letter of to-day. You will tind it 
 of interest to read it over and see what a narrow escape yotir bill made on that last 
 night of the scs.sion. Of course it was my plain duty to make the ruling w hen the 
 point was once raised. If the Arkansa.s men had not, however, happened to come 
 to me when at their wits' end and in despair, the bill would undoubtedU' have 
 been lost, or at least postponed for a year. I thought the point would interest 
 both you and Caldwell, though occurring before either of you engaged in the 
 enterprise. 
 
 I beg you to understand that I thoroughly appreciate the courtesy with which 
 you have treated me in this railroad matter ; but your conduct towards me in 
 business matters has always been marked by unbounded liberality in past years,
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 97 
 
 and, of course, I have naturally come to expect the same of you now. You urge 
 me to make as much as I fairly can out of the arrangement into which we have 
 entered. It is natural that I should do my utmost to this end. I am bothered 
 only by one thiug, aud that is dclhiite and expressed arrangement with Mr. Cald- 
 well. I am anxious to acquire the interest he has promised me, but I do not get 
 a definite understanding with him as I have with you. 
 
 I shall be in Boston in a few days, and shall then have an opportunity to talk 
 the matter over fully with you. I am disposed to think that whatever I do with 
 Mr. Caldwell must really be done through you. 
 
 Kind regards to Mrs. Fisher. 
 
 Sincerly, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 
 "W. F., Jn., Esq. 
 
 X. 
 
 Augusta, Maixe. July 2, 1809. 
 
 My Dear Mn. Fisher : You ask me if I am satisfied with the offer you make 
 me of a share in your new railroad enterprise. 
 
 Of course I am more than satisfied with the terms of the offer. I think it a 
 most liberal proposition. 
 
 If I hesitate at all, it is from considerations no way connected with the 
 character of tlie offer. Your Uberal mode of dealing with me in all our business 
 transactions of the past eight years has not pa.ssed without my full appreciation. 
 What I wrote you on the 29th was intended to bring Caldwell to a definite proposi- 
 tion. That was all. 
 
 I go to Boston by same train that carries this letter, and will call at your office 
 to-morrow at twelve M. If you don't happen to be in, no matter. Don't put your- 
 self to any trouble about it. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 W. FisiJLu, Jr. J. G. B. 
 
 XI. 
 
 AuausTA, June 29, 18G9. 
 Mt Dear Mn. Fisher : I thank you for the article from ;Mr. Lewis. It is 
 good in itself and will do good. He writes like a man of large intelligence and 
 comprehension. 
 
 Your offer to admit me to a participation in the new railroad enterprise is in 
 every respect as generous as I could expect or desire. I thank you very sincerely 
 for it, and in this connection I wish to make a suggestion of a somewhat selfish 
 character. It ia this : You spoke of ilr. Caldwell disposing of a share of his 
 interest to me. If he really designs to do so, I wisli be would make the proposition 
 definite, so that I could know just what to depend on. Perhaps if he waits till tJie 
 full development of the enterprise he might grow reluctant to part with the share ; 
 and I do not by this mean any distrust of him. 
 
 I do not feel that I shall prove a dead-head in the enterprise if I once embark 
 in it. I see various channels in which I know I can be aseful. 
 Very hastily and sincerely, your friend, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 Mr. Fisher, 
 
 India street, Boston.
 
 08 ktcuKD OF BLAINE. 
 
 XII. 
 
 WABirmoTON, May 14, 1870. 
 Mt Drar Mn. FiBirr.n : I think, on the whole, 1 luid better not insist on the 
 $40,000 iidilitioiitil bonds at s^iine rate. My t'ni,'a^'<'niL'nt was not abmlute, and I 
 can back out of it with honor. I would rather do this than seem to be exacthig 
 or indelicate. 
 
 Ik-sides, I have always felt that Mr. Caldwell inanifeste<i the most gentlemanly 
 spirit toward me, and designed to treat me hjindsoniely in the end. On the whole, 
 therefore, I shall be better off perhap.s to let things remain as they are. But 1 will 
 follow your judgment in this matter if I can Oud what it is. 
 
 Very hivstily, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 W. Fisher. Esq. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Alousta, October 1. 1871. 
 Mt Dear Mr. Fibher : I am doing all in my jwwer to exix-dite and hasten 
 the delivery of that stock. The delay ha-s Ix'en occasioned by circumstances 
 wholly beyond my control. But I .sliall reach a conclusion witliin a few days and 
 make the formal delivery then. It will be an immense relief to get it off my 
 hands, I assure you ; far greater than it will be for you to receive it. 
 
 You must have strangely misunderst^xxl Mr. Caldwell in regjird to his paying 
 those notes. He has paid me in all just :f6,000, leaving :fl9.000 due, which I am 
 cirrjing here at 8 and 8'2 per cent, interest, and which embarrasses me beyond 
 all imagination. I do not re.illy know which way to turn for relief, I am so 
 pressed and hampered. The Little Hock and Fort Smith matter has been a sore 
 experience to me, and if you and Mr. Caldwell between you cannot pay me the 
 $19,000 of borrowed money, I don't know what I shall do. Politically I am 
 charged with being a wealthy man. Personally and |>ccuniarily I am laboring 
 under the mqst fearful emlwimi'^.'^mcuLs, and the greatest of all these embarras-s- 
 ments is the $19,000 which I handeil over under your orders, and not one dollar 
 of which I have received. Of the $2o 000 original debt, Mr. Caldwell has paid 
 :i;6,000, and $0,000 only. Can you not give me some \\o\te of relief in this matter ? 
 It is cruel beyond measure to leave me ,S4) expowd anil so suffering. 
 
 You kr.ow my profound reganl for ymi and my faith in you. We have been 
 friends too long and too intimately to allow a shade between us now. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 J. G. BL.UXE. 
 XIV. 
 
 Aur.csTA, Maine, October 4, 1871. 
 
 Mt Dkar Mr. FisirER : You must have strangely mi.xunderstood Mr. Cald- 
 well's statement in regard to his paying me all but $3,500 of the $25,000 borrowed 
 money which T loaned the company through him and you last January. Mr. 
 Caldwell paid me in June $3,500, and in July $2,500 more, accepting at same time 
 a draft for $2,5(X), July 10, ten days, which draft remains unpaid. I have, there- 
 fore, received but $6,000 from Mr. Caldwell, leaving $19,000 (besides interest) due 
 me to-day. 
 
 For this $19,000 I am individually held, and, considering all the circumstances, 
 I think you and Mr. Caldwell shouKl regard it as an honorary debt, and you should 
 not allow me to suffer for money which I raised under the peculiar circumstances
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 99 
 
 atten.ling this. It is a singularly hard and oppressive case, the features and facta 
 of whicii are familiar to you and Mr. Caldwell. 
 
 And then, again, I have been used with positive cruelty in regard to the bonds. 
 
 I have your positive written contract to deliver me $125,000 laud bonds and 
 $32,50U tirst-mortgage ])onds. The money due you on the contract was all paid 
 nearly a year and a half ago. Of this whole amount of bonds due me I have 
 received but $50,000 land grants, leaving $75,000 of those and $32,500 tirst-mortr 
 gage still due. I know you are pressed and in trouble, and I don't wish to be too 
 exacting ; rather I wish to be very liberal in settlement. 
 
 Now, I make this olTer : Pay me the ca.sh due on the borrowed money account ; 
 call it $19,000 in- round numbers, and $40,000 laud bonds, and we will call it 
 square. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell has repeatedly assured me that I should be paid all the bonds due 
 me under contracts with you, and outside of that $20,000 due me from him. I 
 now voluntarily offer to make a very large reduction if I can have the matter 
 closed. 
 
 1 am without doubt the only person who l)as paid money for bonds without 
 receiving thera, and I think you will agree with me that I have fared pretty 
 roughly. It would be an immense, immeasurable relief to me if I could receive 
 the money in time to pay oil the indebtedness here within the next six weeks, so 
 that I can go to Wa.shiiigton this winter with the load taken off my shoulders. It 
 was placed there in the fullest faith and coiifidente that you and Mr. Caldwell 
 would not let me stiffer. I still clintr to that faith and confidence. You wUl much 
 oblige me by showing this letter to Mr. Caldwell. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 W. FisuKR, Jr., Esq., Boston. 
 
 XV. 
 
 WAsniXGTON, D. C. April 13, 1872. 
 
 My Dkar Mn. Fisher : I have your favor of the 12th. I am not prepared to 
 pay any money just now in any direction, being so cramped and pressed that I am 
 absolutely unable to do so. Plea.sc scud me a copy of the notes of mine held by 
 you with indorsed payments thereon. 
 
 I would have been glad, instead of a demand upon me for payment of notes, 
 if you had propcscd a general settlement of all matters between us that remain un- 
 adjusted. There is still due to me on articles of agreement between us $7U, 000 in 
 land bonds, and $31,000 in first-mortgage hnnda, making $101,000 in all. For 
 these bonds the money was paid you nearly three years ago. and over>' other party 
 agreeing to take bonds on same basis has long since received its full quf)ta. I 
 alone am left hopeless and helpless, so far as 1 can .see. Then there is the $25,000 
 which I borrowed and paid over, under your orders, to Mr. Pratt, for which I 
 have received no pay. Mr. Caldwell paid me a small fraction of the amount as I 
 supposed, but he now says the money he paid me mu>t be credited to another account 
 on which ho was my debtor, and that he denies all responsibility, past, present, 
 and future, on the $25,000, for the payment of which I must, he says, look solely 
 to you. I only know that I delivered the money to Mr. Pratt on your written 
 order. I still owe the money in Maine, and am carrying the greater part of it at 8 
 per cent. — nearly $2,000 per anniun steady draw on my resources, which are 
 slender enough without this burden.
 
 100 ' RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 Still further, I left with Mr. Mulliken, January, 1871, $6,000 in land-grant 
 bonds Union Pacific Railroad, to be exchanged for a like amount of Little Rock 
 land bonds icilh Mr. Caldwell, he to change back when I desire. Mr. Caldwell 
 declined to take them, and you took them without any negotiation with me or any 
 authority from me in regard to the matter. You placed the Little Rock land 
 bonds in the envelope, and I have the original envelope with Mr Mulliken's 
 indorsement thereon of the fact of the delivery to you. Now, I do not complain of 
 your taking the bonds, provided you hold yourself bound to replace them. The 
 worst of the whole matter was that the bonds were only a part mine, and I have 
 had to make good the others to the original owner. 
 
 There are other matters to which I would refer ; but my letter is already long. 
 
 I do not think, under the circumstances, it would be quite wise or kind in you 
 to place any note or notes of mine that may happen to be in your possession in the 
 hands of third parties as collateral. 
 
 In any event I ask as a simple favor that you will not do so, and that you will 
 send me by return mail a copy of all obligations of mine in your possession. 
 
 Mrs. Blaine joins me in very kind regards to Mrs. Fisher, and in the expression 
 of the hope that you may have a pleasant and profitable tour in Europe. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 Warren Fisher, Jr., Esq. J. G. BLAINE. 
 
 In response to the request of Mr. Glover, Mr. Blaine sent to the Clerk's desk to 
 be read the memorandum of Mr. Mulligan, containing a brief .statement of the con- 
 tents of each letter. It will be noticed that the letters read by Mr. Blaine were not 
 in the order stated in Mr. Mulligan's memorandum. They have been printed here 
 in the order in which they were read by Mr. Blaine. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 No. 1. October 4, '69, relating to debate in the House and Blaine's ruling, and 
 favors he was to receive from C. for pressing bill extending time on first twenty 
 miles. 
 
 Mr. Blaine — That is what Mr. Mulligan puis down as the substance of the 
 letters. 
 
 The Clerk continued the reading as follows : 
 
 No. 2. October 4, '69, on same subject. 
 
 No. 3. June 27, '69, thanking Fisher for admitting him to participation in L. 
 & F. R. II. , and urging him to make call ; say how much he would give him, and 
 
 for what. He knew he would be no dead head, but would render valuable assist 
 ancc. 
 
 No. 4. July 25, '69, on the same subject. 
 
 No. 5. Septenil)cr •"), '69, contract witli different parties. 
 
 No. 6. Contract with Northern Pacific. 
 
 No. 7. May 14, '70, Caldwell designs to treat him handsomely in the end. 
 
 No. 8. October 24, '71, Fisher to Blaine, urging setllement of N. P. R. account, 
 $25,000. 
 
 Mr. Bl.vixe — There was no such letter in the package. The letter he speaks 
 of seems to have been a letter from Mr. Fisher to myself. There was no such let- 
 ter in the package ; and the numbers he gives do not call for it. There are fifteen 
 letters and three pieces of paper. At any rate that was not a letter from me. 
 
 The Clerk continued the reading as follows : 
 
 No. 9. October 4, '71, Bl;iine admits that there was $6,000 paid on the $25,000 
 loan and to have received $50,000 from Fi.sher.
 
 RECORD OF CLAINE. ^"^ 
 
 jSTo 10 October 1, 71, admits beina; paid $G,0'>0 on account of loan 
 m' Blaine sold sundry parties ^125,000 in first mortgage bonds, and common 
 slock $125,000, preferred stock $125,000; for which was paid by them |12o 000 
 cash • and Mr. Blaine was to receive for his share of the transaction .^125,000 m 
 land-grant bonds, and .*32,500 in first-mortgage bonds. Total, $157,500. 
 
 Now calling land and first mortgage bonds equal in value, and stock valueless 
 for $135,000 plus $157,000 equals $282,000 bonds ; cash $25,000 equals 44,^% per 
 
 *^^°Mr. Blaine also sold sundry parties $63,000 bonds and $56,000 stock for cash 
 
 $43,150. , , . . • ., . 
 
 $15,150 less cash paid Mr. Blaine for his share in the transaction 
 
 $>8 000 net cash received by Mr. Fisher for the above x6o,000 bonds and 
 $56,000 stock, equal 44^-^^ per cent, for the bonds, calling stock nothing 
 
 Mr Blaine in final settlement. September 21, 1872, claimed only $101,000 
 bonds due December letter (December 3, 72) ; he previously received $61,000, and 
 was to look to Caldwell for balance. 
 
 Sept. 21, 72, received $40,000. ^ , , . , , . . 
 
 No 11 Apl IB 1872 saying there was $101,000 bonds due him, and claiming 
 that there was due iiim on Union Pacific bonds exchanged $6,000, and admitting 
 that there were some of them his own. 
 
 No. 12. Apl. 18, 1872, admits the S64,000 sale bonds, and paid the money over 
 in forty-eight hours to Maine parties. ., . , , , 
 
 No! 13 Aug. 9, 72, as dry financially as a contnbution-box, and borrowing 
 money to defray his campaign expenses. 
 
 No 14. Aug. 31, 72, about settlement. 
 
 No. 15. ]*.Tay 26, '64, says he was a partner in the Spencer Kifle Co. 
 
 The following papers were printed with Mr. Blaine's speech : 
 Foot-noie—'Pa\-)ers I. J, and K, found with the letters surrendered by Mulligan, 
 are hereto appended. The papers relating to the Northern Pacific road are not 
 remembered by Mr. Blaine, the handwriting is not known to him, and he can 
 recall no connection with them in any respect. They are, however, quite unim- 
 portant. 
 
 I. 
 
 Cost of 1^ of 1 share, $466,667, is 158,333 
 
 U of ^416,667, to receive in bonds, is at par $52,083, 
 
 at 90c., would be 46,875 
 
 $11,458 
 
 for which you will get'j^ of 541,234 stock, which is $67,654 ; and when the road is 
 finished you wUl get ^ of 3,416,708, which is 427,088 in stock, besides your 
 interest in the Laud Company, which is proportionate. Bonds at par would make 
 the above amount of stock cost about $6,250, 
 
 Whereas under certain agreements with the Northern^ Pacific Railroad 
 Company, dated May 20, 1869, and January 1, 1870, Messrs. Jay Cooke & Co. 
 have become fiscal agents for the negotiations of the securities of said company 
 upon the terms therein stated ; and whereas, under said agreements, Jay Cooke & 
 Co. become possessed of twelve of the twenty-four interests constituting the com- 
 pany and representing its franchises ; and whereas. Jay Cooke & Co., for the pur- 
 pose of furnishing funds under their agreements as fiscal agents, for the construction 
 and equipment of the road from its intersection with the Lake Superior and Mis- 
 sissippi Railroad to the Red River, near the mouth of the Cheyenne, a distance of 
 about two hundred and twenty-five miles, forming a complete road from Lake 
 Superior to the Red River, have offered to the subscribers, for the first five milhons 
 of dollars of the first-mortgage bonds of the company, the following terms, 
 
 namely : . , •, i , • w o u 
 
 The subscribers to purchase of Jay Cooke & Co. the said bonds bearing 7.3 gold 
 
 interest at par, S5,000,000, and twelve interests in the company at $50,000 each, 
 
 $600 ()U0, amounting in all to $5,000,000 ; or, say twelve shares of $466,667 each,
 
 102 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 to be paid for in installments extending through about fifteen months, as tlie funds 
 may be required by the company, for which each share shall receive as follows : 
 
 Bonds, one-twelfth of ^5,000,000 8416,667 
 
 Preliminary issue of slock $93,400 
 
 Twenty per cent, stock commissions on bonds. . .. 83,334 
 
 476,734 
 
 and ^40,500 stock upon comjiletion of each section of twenty-five miles of the road. 
 
 Thus, upon completion to Ked river, eslimatinix the distance at two hundred 
 and tweutj'-five miles (nine sections of twenty five miles each), each share will have 
 received nine times .*40.500, equal to $364,500, in addition to pre\iously stated 
 $176,734, say !?o41,234 stock ; and this proportionate issue continuing with the 
 progress of the road, upon completion to the Pacific each share will have received 
 in all $416,66* bonds and 1^3,416,708 stock (the fractions in all cases beini;- 
 adjusted in even figures), and the entire five millions of bonds will thus carry with 
 them a total of !i;4i,U00,o0i> stock. 
 
 It is designed in addition to organize a private land company for the purchase 
 and sale of desirable town sites and other valuable lands, from which large profits 
 are anticipated ; the interests in such company to be held in the same proportion 
 with the subscriptions to the present agreement, and the funds required to be 
 assessed correspondingly from lime to time, of course, with the consent of the 
 parties. 
 
 Upon the foregoing terras, we, the undersigned, subscribe the shares and 
 portions of shares set opposite our names, to be paid for in installments as called, 
 the bonds to carry interest from date of pujmients. 
 
 It is also hereby agreed by the subscribers, whose names are hereby annexed, 
 that they will leave with Jay Cooke & Co. their proxies on all stock acquired 
 under the terms of this agreement, and that they will not dispose of any of the 
 first mortgage bonds subscribed for, unless with the consent of said Jay Cooke & 
 Co., or until such sales shall cease to interfere with the plans of the fiscal agents, 
 for providing of necessary funds for the completion and equipment of the whole 
 line of road. 
 
 K. 
 
 Boston. September 5, 1869. 
 
 Whereas I have, this day, entered into agreements with A. & P. Coburn, and 
 sundry' other parties resident in Maine, to deliver to them certain specified amounts 
 of the common stock, preferred stock, and first-mortgage bonds of the Little Rock and 
 Fort Smith Railroad Company, upon said parties paying to me the aggregate sum of 
 $130,000, which several agreements are witnessed by J. G. Blaine and delivered to 
 said parties by .said Blaine. 
 
 Now this agreement witnesses, that upon the due fulfilment of the several con- 
 tracts referred to, by tiie payment of the !?130,000, and for other valuable consider- 
 ations, the receipt of which is acknowledged. I hereby agree to deliver to J. G. 
 Blaine, or order, as the .«!amc comi! into my hands as assignee of the contract 
 for building the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad, the following securities, 
 namely: Of the land bonds, 7 per cents., $130,000; of the first-mortgage bonds, 
 gold, sixes, ,'?32,o00. And these $130,000 of land bonds and ^32,500 of first-mort- 
 gage bonds thus agreed to be delivered to said Blaine are over and above the securi- 
 ties agreed to be delivered by Warren Fisher, Jr., assignee, to the parties making 
 the contracts, which parties, with the several amounts to be paid by each, and the 
 securities to be received by each, are named in a memorandum on the next page of 
 this sheet. 
 
 And it is further agreed that in the event of any one of said parties failing to pay 
 the amount stipulated, then the amount of seciu'i'ties to be delivered to said Blaine 
 under this agreement shall be reduced in the same proportion that the deficit of 
 payment bears to the aggregate amount agreed to be paid. 
 
 AVARREN FISHER, Jr., Assignee. 
 Witness : 
 
 Alva:^ R. Flanders. 
 [Stamp.]
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 103 
 
 Partiea Contracting with Warren, Fislier, Jr. , Assignee, as Referred to in preceeding 
 
 Agreement. 
 
 TO PAY TO RECEIVE 
 
 Cash Common Preferred First-mortgage 
 
 ■ stock. stock. bonds. 
 
 1. A. & P. Coburn $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 
 
 2. Peter F. Sanborn 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 
 
 3. Anson P. Morrill..... 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 
 
 4. Ralph C. Johnson 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 
 
 5. P. R. Hazeltine 5,000 5,000 5,000 5.000 
 
 6. C. B. Hazeltine 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 
 
 7. N.P.Monroe 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 
 
 8. A.W.Johnson 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 
 
 9. H.H.Johnson 5,000 5.000 5,000 5,000 
 
 10. Philo Hersey 5,000 5,000 5,000 5.000 
 
 11. Lot M. Morrill 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 
 
 12. A. B. Farwell 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 
 
 13. Joseph H. Williams 5,000 5,000 5,000 5.000 
 
 14. Charles M. Bailey 5,000 5,000 . 5,000 5.000 
 
 $130,000 $130,000 $130,000 $130,000 
 
 In addition to the above, there are to be delivered to J. G. Blaine's order of the 
 land bonds in 7s., currency, $130,000 ; first-mortgage bonds, 6s., gold, $33,500. 
 
 Cong. Recordist Sess. 44th Cong., Vol. 4, pt. 4, pp. 3602-3603, 3604-3605 
 3606, 3607, 3608 3609, et seq. 
 
 It will be noted by the reader that Mr. Blaine in presenting these letters did 
 not present them in the order of their dates, but purpose!}- juggled them so as 
 to confuse the judgment and to prevent his hearers gathering their full pm-port. 
 
 How Blaine Obtained the Letters. 
 
 Mr. Fisher was the contractor for a portion of L. R. & F. S. R. R., and was also 
 in business in Boston as partners with a brother-in-law of Mr. Blaine. Mr. Mulli.o-an 
 was cashier of the Adams' Sugar Refinery, Boston, in which Mr. Fisher was a part- 
 ner, and was also bookkeeper for Mr. Fisher. Mr. Mulligan had in his possession by 
 Mr. Fisher's consent (see testimony of Mr. Fisher, Misc. Doc. 176, page 118), 
 certain letters written in 1864-72 by ]\Ir. Blaine to Mr. Fisher, and which Mr. 
 Blaine suppo.sed to have been given back to him in Sept. 1872. (Testimony of Mr. 
 Blaine, Misc. Doc, 170, page 107.) 
 
 When Mr. Mulligan reached Washington and before he testified, Mr. Blaine 
 sent to ask Mr. Mulligan to call upon him, which the latter declined to do, 
 whereupon Mr. Blaine called upon Mr. Mulligan at the Riggs House, and found 
 liim in the barber shop. The next day (May 31), Mr. Mulligan was sworn and 
 examined as a witness (Mi.-c. Doc, 17G, page 93). He mentioned but did not 
 exhibit any letters. What then occuiTed was staled by Mr. Huntou in his remarks 
 in the House, as follows : 
 
 In the course of his examination the first day Mr. Mulligan was testifyino- very 
 quietly ; there was no excitement in the committee room atfall when he happened 
 to mention that he had in his possession certain letters written by Mr. Blaine to 
 Warren Fisher, Jr. The mention of these letters seemed to have a remarkable 
 ?ffect upon Mr. Blaine, for in a moment or two afterward he whispered to Mr
 
 104 RECORD Oi BLAINE. 
 
 La^vrence, the Republican member of that committee, "Move an adjournment." 
 It so happened that I heard the .-^u^irestion. ilr. Lawrence got up with great 
 solemnity on his countenance and said, "^Ir. Chairman, I am very sick and I 
 hope the' committee will adjourn." [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. Lawrence rose. 
 
 Mr. HcNTON — I hope the gentleman is better to-day. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence — "Will my colleague on the committee allow me to ask a ques- 
 tion or make a statement ? 
 
 Mr. HuNTON— Certainly. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence — I will ask my colleague whether, when I went into the com- 
 mittee-room on that morning, the lirst thing I said to him before I had spoken to 
 anybody else, was not that I had been exceedingly sick during the night ? 
 [Laughter.] I had been to Baltimore on the day before ; and though I had not 
 iniluiged in anything that would necessarily make me sick, yet I was extremely 
 sick, so much so that it was with dilhculty I sat there at all. I said simply what 
 was true when I said that 1 was extremely unwell ; and as the gentleman kJtiows I 
 have been quite unwell ever since. [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. Frye — What time was it when it was proposed to adjourn ? 
 
 Mr. Lawrence— It was then half-past twelve o'clock, half an hour beyond 
 the time when the committee usually adjourns to attend the sittings of the House. 
 Now, my friend says that he heard the remark of Mr. Blaine asking me to move to 
 adjourn. It was not necessary that I should state what Mr. Blaine had said to me. 
 
 3Ir. HuNTON — Nobody asked you to do so. 
 
 Mr. LA^VRENCE — The gentleman says he heard it ; but it was not necessary that 
 I should state every ground for asking the adjournment. 
 
 Mr. IIuNTON — Certainly not. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence — It was sufficient that I deemed it necessary to ask an adjourn- 
 ment. [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. lIuNTON— The gentleman has stated the matter exactly as it occurred. He 
 did come in in the morning sick. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence— Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. HuNTON — But he went to work in a most vigorous style for two hours. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence — But I became exhausted. 
 
 Mr. IIuNTON — When those letters were mentioned the gentleman became sick, 
 and somebody else sicker. [Laughter.] And the motion to adjourn was made at 
 his suggestion. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence — It ought to be said in justice to Mr. Blaine that so far as any- 
 thing said by him to me could indicate his purpose, the motion to adjourn sug- 
 gested by him was not caused by any fear of what was going on. 
 
 Thereupon the committee adjourned until ten o'clock the next morning ; and 
 when the committee met James Mulligan was put upon the stand again to com- 
 plete his examination which had been interrupted by the adjournment. 
 
 Mr. Mulligan makes a Personal Explanation. 
 
 3Ir. Mulligan said, June 1 (Mis. Doc. 176, pt. 1, p. 98) : 
 
 I wish to ask the indulgence of the Committee for a few moments to make a 
 personal, and to me, a painful statement. "When I first arrived in this city, and 
 within about fifteen minutes after my arrival, there came a communication from 
 Mr. Blaine to ilr. Fisher. Of course, I wish it understood that I am stating this 
 under oath. 
 
 !Mr. lIuNTON — "We so understand it. 
 
 Mr. 3IuLiiiG.\N — There came a communication from Mr. Blaine, inciting 
 Fisner ana me up to his residence. I declined to go, for the reason that I did not 
 \\ant to have it said that I had gone to see Mr. Blaine. I wanted to come to this 
 committee-room untrammeled by any influence. Mr. Fisher went up to Mr. 
 r.laine's house, or at least, he so reported to me ; and he told Mr. Blaine 
 about certain facts that I could prove, and certain letters that I had got. Mr- 
 Blaine said that if I should jiublish them they would ruin him for life, 
 or that if this committee got hold of them they would ruin him for life, 
 and wanted to know if I would not surrender them. 1 told him "no," 
 and that I wtnild not ijive them to the committee unless it should turn out that it 
 was necessary for me to produce them. After my examination here yesterday,
 
 1 Ot 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. ""^ 
 
 ]Mr. Blaine came up to the hotel, the Kiirgs House, and there had a conference 
 \vith Mr. Atkin.s, 3Ir. Fisher, and my.self. He wanted to see these letters that 1 
 ]):ul. I declmed to let him .see them. He prayed, almost went on his knees — I 
 woukl say, on his knees — and implored me to think of his six children and his wife, 
 and that if the committee should get hold of this connnunication it would sink him 
 immediately and ruin him forever. I told him I should not give them to him. 
 He asked me if I would let him read them. I said I would if he would promise me 
 on the word of a gentleman that he would return them to me. I did let him 
 read them over. He read tiiem over once and called for them again and 
 read them over again. He still importuned me to give those papere up. 
 I declined to do it. I retired to my own room and he followed me up, and went 
 over the same history about his family and his children, and implored me to give 
 them up to him, and even contemplated suicide. He asked me if I wanted to .see 
 liis children left in that state, and he then asked me again if I would not let him 
 look over these papers consecutively (I had them numbered). I told him I would 
 if he would return them to me. He took the papers, read them all over, and among 
 them I had a memorandum that I had made by way of synopsis of the letters, and 
 referring to the numbers of the letters— a synopsis containing the point of the 
 letters. I had made that memorandum so as to be able to refer to here when 
 questioned. He a.sked me to let him read the letters and I showed him 
 this statement too. After he had them read, he asked me what I 
 wanted to do Avith those papers ; if I w^tnted to use them. I told him I never 
 wanted to use the ])apers, nor would not show them to the commitee unless called 
 upon to do so. Then he asked me if I would not give them to him. There was 
 one letter in particular that he wanted me to give him. I told him I would not do 
 it, and the only reason I w^ould not do it was because I saw it stated in one of the 
 evening papers here, the Star, I think, that the Blaine party were going to com- 
 pletely break down the testimony that I had given yesterday— that they were satis- 
 lied about that. I said I should not publish these letters unless my testimony were 
 impeached or impugned. That was the only reason that I wanted to keep them, 
 but I wanted to keep them for that purpose. These are the facts, gentlemen, and 
 I leave them to you. If I understand the order under which the committee meets, 
 this committee has power to send for persons and papers, and I want the com- 
 mittee to get for me those papers. Mr. Blaine has got them, and would not give 
 them up to me. 
 
 By Mr. Lawrence — Mr. Blaine has these papers ? A. Yes ; he took them 
 from me last night. 
 
 To Mr. Lawrence — No one was present but Mr. Blaine and I. * * I did not 
 get them (the letters) surreptitiously. They were given to me by Mr. Fisher for 
 sny purpose I deemed proper. 
 
 To Mr. Ashe — Mr. Biaine has the memorandum. 
 
 Blaine Offers Mulligan a Consulship. 
 
 The examination of Mr. Mulligan was continued at some length. He stated 
 that Mr. Blaine asked him if he would not like a consulship. Mr. Blaine, though 
 present, did not ask the witness any ciuestions about the way in which he had lost 
 possession of the letters. On the same day ]Mr. Blaine made a statement to the 
 Committee, under oath, admitting that he had received the letters from Mr. 
 Mulligan on his promise to return them, and that he had returned them once ; 
 that later he secured them again and refused to restore them, assigning as his 
 reason that Mr. Mulligan threatened to publi.sh them if his testimony were 
 impeached or impugned. [Mis. Doc. 176. pt. 1, p. 106.] 
 
 The Chairman (3Ir. Himton) asked of Mr. Blaine the production of the letters 
 obtained from Mr. Mulligan. This Mr. Blaine declined to do ; he declined, also, 
 to produce, in answer to the request of the Chairman, the memorandum made 
 by Mr. Mulligan of the contents of the letters (Mis. Doc. 176, pt. 1, p. 108). This 
 was June 1. June 5, ]Mr. Blaine read in the House the letters above given, and 
 which he described as every "scrap and scrimption" of what he had got from
 
 106 
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 Mulligan, June 10, Mr. Hunton again, on behalf of the Committee, requested 
 the production of the letters and accompauj'ing memorandum, and Mr. Blaine 
 again refused. It was about this time Mr. Blaine had his timely sunstroke. The 
 Committee held no further sessions. 
 
 From the testimony, it appears that Mr. Blaine, at the beginning of the investi- 
 gation, did not know the letters were in the possession of Mr. Mulligan ; that when 
 the latter stated to the Committee that he had certain letters of Mr. Blaine's to Mr. 
 Fisher, Mr. Blaine turned to the Republican member of the Committee, Mr. Law- 
 rence, and entreated him to have the Committee adjourn ; that the Committee did ad- 
 journ, and that Mr. Blaine visited Mr. Mulligan the same evening at his hotel, and 
 begged him to give lum the letters, and that his entreaty failing, he obtained pos- 
 session of them by fraud, and refused to produce them when called upon by the 
 Committee to do so. Whether all the contents of these letters were read by Mr. 
 Blaine in the House or not, cannot be known, but it is certain that he refused to pro- 
 duce them where he could be examined under oath as to their contents. They were 
 not lead by him in chronological order, and although these letters have been pub- 
 lished in newspapers in every State in the Union, and made the evidence for the 
 charge of con-uption in office, it is not recorded that the Plumed Knight, .so prompt 
 to lly to the defense of his honor, has ever instituted a suit for libel against any of 
 the newspapers that have charged him with trading upon his official trust for his- 
 pecuniaiy gain ; nor did he, while Senator, ask an investigation to demonstrate 
 his innocence. To the grand inquest of the American people the evidence of his 
 guilt is submitted, and their sober judgment may confidently be relied upon to 
 punish wrong and uphold the right. 
 
 Statement Concerning the Little Rock and Fort Smith. 
 Railroad Transactions, Arranged Chronologically. 
 
 AUTHORITIES. 
 
 Mr. Blaine's speeches and letters ; the " Congressional Globe " and " Record ;'' 
 evidence taken before the Judiciary Conmiittce of the Uouse of Representatives) 
 44th Cong., 1st Sess. H. R. [Mis. Doc. 176, pt. 1. 
 
 EVIDEXCE. 
 
 A charter had been granted for a railroad from Little Rock to Fort Smith in 
 1853, which had lapsed. 
 
 July 28, 1(S66, the charter was renewed with some additions. (See " Cong, 
 Globe," 1st Sess. 39th Cong., appendix p., 422, and Laws of the U. S., Chap. CCC, 
 for full text of this act.) 
 
 In 18G9 this charter was in danger of lapsing, as the first twenty miles,, 
 required to be built within three years from the dale of the act, were not com- 
 pleted. 
 
 April 8, 18G9, a bill to extend the time for the Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail- 
 road Company to complete tlie first section of twenty miles of said road was before 
 the House, Mr. Blaine, Speaker, in the chair. ]\Ir. Julian offered 'an amendment 
 to the bill granting certain privileges to the Memphis, El Paso and Pacific Rail- 
 road. Whereupon Mr. Logan said •. 
 
 Mr. Looak — I rise to a question of order, that this amendment is not germane 
 to the pending bill. The bill is to revive a certain land grant and to extend the 
 time, while the amendment is another charter for a Pacific Railroad, authorizing 
 tlie building of bridges, granting the right of way and everything else of the sort. 
 I have been in favor of the pending Arkan.sas bill, but I do not wi.sh to be made 
 to carry this Pacific Railroad bill. I do not think the amendment is in order.
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 107 
 
 The Speaker— The Chair sustains the point of order for two reasons. It is 
 expressly prohibited by the rule that wiiere a land grant is under consideration 
 another grant to a dillerent company shall be entertained. This is not a specitic 
 land grant, but it does give away the public land of the United. States so far as to 
 give the rfght of way. Again, by the rules, no proposition upon a subject 
 different from tliat under consideration can be admitted under color of amendment. 
 
 Compare letter of October 4, 1869, No. VIII., wherein Mr. Blaine states that 
 he sent his page to Mr. Logan with the suggestion that he at once make the point 
 of order, and requesting Fisher to tell Mr. Caldwell the great favor he had done 
 him, and the following statement made by Mr. Blaine in his speech of April 
 24, 1876 : 
 
 " As to the question of jnopriety involved in a member of Congress holding an 
 investment of this kind, it must be remembered that the lands were granted to the 
 State of Arkansas, and not to the railroad company, and that the company derived 
 its life, franchise, and value wholly from tlie State." 
 
 The conclusion cannot be resisted after a perusal of Mr. Blaine's letter (No. 
 VIII.) that the statement above quoted from his speech of April ^4, was one he 
 knew to be untrue when he uttered it. It is obvious that had the State of Arkan- 
 sas been the beueliciary, Mr. Blaine could have rendered no 'great favor" to 
 Caldwell. 
 
 The Act Concerning Which Blaine was not a Deadhead. 
 
 The following is the text of the act : 
 Chap. xxvi. An Act to extend the Time for the Little Rock and Fort Smith 
 Railroad Company to complete the lirst section of twenty miles of said road. 
 
 Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled, That an act approved July twentj'-eight, eighteen 
 hundred and sixty-six, entitled " An act to revive and extend the provisions of 
 ' An act granting the right of way and making a grant of land to the States of 
 Arkansas and Missouri, to aid in the construction of a railroad from a point upon 
 the l^Iississippi river, opposite the mouth of the Ohio river, via Little Rock, to the 
 Texas boundary near Fulton in Arkansas, with branches to Fort Smith and the 
 Mississippi river,' approved February nine, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, and 
 for other purposes," be so amended as to extend the time of the Little Rock and 
 Fort Smith Railroad Company, for building the first section of twenty miles pro- 
 vided for in the second section of said act, for the term of three years from the 
 thirteenth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the time of filing the 
 certificate of organization to said company, provided for in the third section of 
 said act ; 
 
 Provided, That the land granted by the act hereby revived shall be sold to 
 actual settlers only in quantities not greater than one quarter of a section to one 
 purchaser, and for a price not exceeding two dollars and fifty cents per acre. 
 
 Approved, April 10, 1869. 
 
 June, 18C9, Mr. Blaine desired a definite proposition concerning an interest in 
 the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, as is shown by his letters of June 29 (No, 
 XI.), and July 2 (No. X.), which see. 
 
 September 3, 1869, Mr. Blaine had been acting as agent for a valuable con- 
 sideration in placing bonds of the Little and Rock Fort Smith Railroad. (See 
 Appendix K, ante). Compare the terms of the agreement contained in Appen- 
 dix K with the statement of Mr. Blaine^ April 24, 1876 : 
 
 " In common with hundreds of other people in New England, and other parts 
 of the country, I bought some of these bonds— not a very large amount— paying • 
 for them at precisely the same rates others paid." And again: "That instead 
 of receiving bonds of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad as a gratuity, I 
 never had one except at the rc.guhir market price."
 
 108 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 The speech of Mr. Blaine is again contradicted by his letters. If he bought 
 these bonds " paying for them precisely the same rates as others paid." what could 
 he mean by writing to Mr. Fisher June 29, 1869 (No. XI) : 
 
 " Your offer to admit me to a participation in the new railroad enterprise is in 
 every respect as generous as I could expect or desire." 
 
 And under date of July 2, 18C9 (No. X) : 
 
 "Of course I am more than satisfied with the terms of the offer ; I think it a 
 most liberal proposition." 
 
 And again : 
 " You spoke of ^Ir. Caldwell's offer to dispose of a share of his interest to 
 me ; I wish he would make the proposition detinite, so that I could know just 
 what to depend on?" 
 
 And further : 
 
 ' • I am bothered by only one thing, and that is definite and expressed arrange- 
 ments with Mr. Caldwell. I am anxious to acquire the interest he has promised 
 me." 
 
 It is manifest that these expressions refer to more than permission to buy the 
 bonds at the same rates paid by others. 
 
 The testimony of ^Ir. ^luUigan bears on this point. 
 
 Examination of 3Ir. Mulligan. 
 By ^Ir. Blaine : 
 
 Q. What were the bonds that went to the Elaine parties ? what denomination 
 of bonds were Ihcy, land grants or first mortgage bonds '.' 
 
 A. (Referring to memorandum.) 1 can tell you, sir, and I presume you won't 
 dispute it, because it is in your own handwriting. (Producing memorandum 
 book labeled, " Warren Fisher, Jr. , private," which he hands to the chairman.) 
 There are all the parties' names, if you want them. You can have the whole history 
 now. 
 
 By Mr. Hunton : 
 
 Q. In whose handwriting is this book ? 
 A. James G. Blaine's. 
 
 The Chairman — Now proceed to answer the question. 
 
 The Witness — The $130,000 bonds that were sold to these different parties 
 here were first mortgage bonds. 
 
 By Mr. Blaine : 
 
 Q. They were first mortgage and not land grant bonds ? ' 
 
 A. Yes ; the next sale was on a different " lay " from that other. 
 
 By i\Ir. HuNTON : 
 
 Q. Was that to Elaine parties ? 
 
 A. Yes ; and sold on a different basis ; one man had $8,000 land grant bonds 
 and !?10,000 first mortgage bonds ; that was !^18,000 for one man ; another man 
 had !f6,0u0 land grant bonds and §7,500 first mortgage bonds ; another had $9,000 
 land grant bonds and §11.250 first mortgage bonds. 
 
 Q. Were all the sales which you have referred to made by or through Mr, 
 Blaine ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And in addition to the bonds you have just spoken of as coming to these 
 purchasers, what sort of bonds did Mr. Blaine get ? 
 
 A. He was to get $130,000 of land graut bonds and $32,500 of first mortgage 
 bonds. 
 By Mr. Blaine : 
 
 Q. You do not testify that I actually got these ? 
 
 A. No, sir ; I say there is about $36,500 that are due you yet. 
 By Mr. IIltsTON : 
 
 Q. That is, he got all except thirty-six bonds ? 
 
 A. Yes.
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 109 
 
 By Mr. Frye : 
 
 Q. Do you know whether they were sent to him or to the Maine men ? 
 A. I know that the men paid their subscriptions to me, and I gave receipts for 
 them. 
 
 Q. But do you know tliat IVIr. Blaine got his ? 
 
 A. I sent the other parties' bonds to them by express, and Mr. Blaine got his. 
 
 By iVIr. HtJNTON : 
 
 Q. You sent by express the bonds to the jMaine party, and delivered to Mr. 
 Blaine his in person ? 
 
 A. No ; I didn't deliver them to him in person, but Mr. Fisher did so. Mr. 
 Blaine has acknowledsjed that he got all those. I gave him myself one lot of forty. 
 
 Q. He got all those $130,QpO land bonds and $32,500 first mortage bonds, 
 except $36,000 ; that is to say, thirty-six bonds ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 The following are the contents of the memorandum book produced by the wit- 
 ness, and which is labeled on the outer cover : 
 
 "Warren Fisher, Jr., private." 
 
 [First page of mem. book.] 
 
 Synopsis on next and following pages of the contracts made through J. G. 
 Blaine by Warren Fisher, Jr. , as assignee of the contract for building Sie Little 
 Rock & Fort Smith Railroad. 
 
 [Secojidand third pages of mem. book.] 
 
 Contracts made by Warren Fisher, Jr., with the following-named persona to 
 deliver the stock and bonds named, on their paying the amoimts named : 
 
 
 Residence. 
 
 To Pay. 
 
 To Receive. 
 
 Namk. 
 
 Ccmmon 
 Stock 
 
 Preferred 
 Stock. 
 
 First m. 
 Bonds. 
 
 
 Skowh^an 
 
 $50,000 V 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,000 V 
 
 Vio.ooo 
 
 V5,ooo 
 
 Vs.ooo 
 
 Vs.ooo 
 
 Vs.ooo 
 
 V5.000 
 
 Vs.ooo 
 
 Vs.ooo 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 Vs.ooo 
 
 $50,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 S.ooo 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,oco 
 
 S.o<:o 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 5, coo 
 
 5,oco 
 
 5,000 
 
 $50,000 
 
 1 0,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 S.ooo 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 5.000 
 
 S.ooo 
 
 5,000 
 
 $50,000 
 10,000 
 10,000 
 
 lO.OCO 
 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 5.000 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 Siooo 
 5.0CO 
 S.ooo 
 
 
 
 Readfield 
 
 Belfast 
 
 
 xP R Hazeltme 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 II 
 
 X A. W. Johnson (dcc'd) .... 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 X P'lilo Hersey 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 xA B Farnell 
 
 Winthrop 
 
 *Jos H Williams 
 
 xC M Bai'ey 
 
 
 
 $130,000 
 
 $130,000 
 
 $130,000 
 
 $130,000 
 
 [* The name, Jos. H. Williams,— "$5,000," is erased in pencil.] (See over.) 
 
 [Fourth page of mem/yrandum book. ] 
 
 In addition to the common stock, preferred stock, and first mortgage bonds 
 agreed to be delivered to the respective parties named on the preceding page, 
 Mr. Fisher agrees to deliver to James G. Blaine a similar amount of land bonds 
 and 25 per cent, of first-mort. bonds, viz.: 
 
 Land bond, 7s $180,000 
 
 First-mortgage bonds, 6s 32,500 
 
 The same to be del'd by Sir. Fisher as soon as ready for distribution.
 
 110 , RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 [Fifth page of memorandum book.'\ 
 
 The other contracts on dillereut bases are as follows : 
 
 1. With Joseph A. Sanborn and Charles M. Bailey, [Mr. Fjsher agi-ees to 
 deliver— 
 
 .$8,000 common stock. 
 +8,000 preferi-ed stock. 
 
 8,000 laud bonds. 
 10,000 first-mortgage bonds. 
 All for 12,500, payable— 
 $600 ) ?3,000. November 25, 1869. 
 
 1{»2,200 [■ 3.000, December 5. 1869. 
 
 $1,700 ) 2,500, January 5, 1870. 
 
 800, February 5, 1870. 
 800, March 5, 1870. 
 800, April 5, 1870. 
 800, May 5, 1870. 
 800, June 5, 1870. 
 
 12,500 
 
 The amounts inclosed on left-hand margin above $600, $2,200. $1,700, are pay- 
 able by Mr. Fisher to Mr. Blaine. 
 
 \8ixth page of memorandum book] 
 2. "With James M. Hagar of Richmond, Mr. Fisher agrees to deliver — 
 $6,000 common stock 
 6,000 preferred stock. 
 6,000 land-bonds, 7s. 
 7,500 first-mortgage bonds, Os. 
 All for $9,500, payable— 
 $1 .200 ) $3 000, Kovembcr 25, 1869. 
 
 $1,400 V 2 OOO, December 5, 1869, 
 
 1,500, January 5, 1870. 
 600, February 5, 1870. 
 600, March 5, 1870. 
 600, April 5, 1870. 
 600, May 5. 1870. 
 600. June 5, 1870. 
 
 9,500 
 The amoimts inclosed on left-hand margin above, viz. : $1,200, $1,400, $900, 
 are payable by Mr. Fisher to Mr. Blaine. 
 
 [Seventh page of memorandum book.] 
 
 COJ^TRACT DELrS'ERED. 
 
 3. With Jeremiah Prescott, of Boston, Mr. Fisher agrees to deliver — 
 $5,000 common stock. 
 5,000 preferred stock. 
 5.000 land bonds. 
 6,250 first mortgage bonds. 
 All for $6,150, payable— 
 ($1,150) $2,650. November 15, 1869. 
 
 500, December 5, 1869. 
 500, January 5, 1870. 
 500, February 5, 1870. 
 500, March 5, 1870. 
 500, April 5, 1870. 
 SCO, ]\Iav 5, 1870. 
 500, Juue 5, 1870. 
 
 6.150 
 Tlie nmount inclosed on loft hand margin ($1,150), is payable by Mr. Fisher to 
 Mr. Blaine.
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. Ill 
 
 CONTRACT DELIVERED. 
 
 4. "With Joseph A. Sanborn, of East Readfield, Me., Mr. Fisher agrees to 
 deUver — 
 
 $9,000 common stock. 
 9,000 preferred stock. 
 9 000 land bonds, 7s. 
 11.250 tirst morgage bonds. 
 
 All for $15,000, payable- 
 
 #3,400) $7,000, Decembers. 1869. 
 
 #2,600 f 3,500, January 5. 1870. 
 
 1)00, Februaiy 5, 1870. 
 
 900. March 5, 1870. 
 
 9U0, April 5, 1870. 
 
 900, May 5, 1870. 
 
 900, June 5, 1870. 
 
 15,000 
 
 The amount inclosed on the left hand margins above, |3,400 $2,600, are pay- 
 able by 31r. Fisher to Mr. Blaine, as commissions. 
 
 The Witness — I desire to say that as to the entry to the name " Jos. H. 
 AVilliams," that slock was not delivered ; he made one payment, but aftei^ward 
 withdrew, and then Mr. Fisher refunded him his money ; and so, of course, !Mr. 
 Blaine was not entitled to the $5,000 of those bonds, and his amount was reduced 
 by that; he was only entitled to $157,000 ; he was to get the $162,000, but when 
 this fell through it reduced his percentage ; this memorandum was made here 
 Ijefore it was known this man would back out 
 
 By ]Mr. Lawrence : 
 
 Q. " This man " is the man AYilliams, whose name is erased ? 
 
 A. Yes ; it was all figured out there, and he had paid his first instalment, but 
 afterwai'ds went out ; this memorandum was made upon the supposition that he 
 was not going out ; this memorandum book contains an account of all the Maine 
 bonds and explains itself ; all these bonds (including the bonds forming second 
 transaction in the memorandum book) were sold for so much cash ; the parties got 
 so many bonds for so much money. There is the amount indicated in the margin, 
 which Mr. Blaine got. At the foot there is indicated the amount of cash received. 
 
 Q. I understand you to say that in this contract for the sale of bonds on page 5 
 of the memorandum book, they were sold for an instalment in cash amoimting to 
 $12,500? 
 
 A. Yes ; here is the ,amount of bonds and stock they got, and there is the 
 amount of cash they paid for it. 
 
 Q. That is, the amount of cash received was $12,500? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And out of that $12,500 which Mr, Fisher received, Mr. Blaine got $600, 
 §2,200, and $1,700? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 (Note. — It appears from the above memoranda of contracts that the aggregate 
 of the amounts thus agreed to be paid Mr. Blaine was $162,500 in bonds and 
 $15,150 in cash. The cash to be paid Mr. Blaine in the transactions numbered 1 
 to 4, appears to have been an iiTegular amount ranging from 18 to 40 per cent., 
 and in each case equal to the excess of the cash paid by the buyer over the par 
 value of the land bonds ; of the $43,150 cash to be paid in these last four trans- 
 actions, it appears Mr. Fisher was to receive $28,000 for the bonds delivered and 
 Mr. Blaine to receive $15,150.) 
 
 October 4, 1869. Mr. Blaine called attention to his ruling and its effects (see 
 letters VIII and IX.) 
 
 February 2, 1870. A bill, which became a law, was introduced into the 
 House, repealing the proviso of the act of 1869, which limited the price at which 
 lands granted the railroad could be sold.
 
 112 
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 1871 and 1873. Mr. Blaine wrote repeatedly to Mr. Fisher on tlie subject of 
 their transactions together. 
 
 September 21, 1872. Mr. Blaine and ]\Ir. Fisher had a settlement of their 
 affairs regarding railroad matters, etc., at which time various letters were given 
 back to ^Ir. Blaine. (Testimony of Mr. Blaine, Mis. Doc. 176, p. 107.) 
 
 April 24, 1876. Mr. Blaine made a personal explanation in the Hoiise denying 
 any connection with a transaction involving $75,000 L. R. and F. S. R. R. bonds, 
 wliich the Union Pacific Railroad had at one time bought. In this explanation 
 Jfr. Blaine stated that he never had one (bond), except at the regular market price. 
 (Cong. Rec. 44th Cong., 1st Sess. p. 2725.) He said : 
 
 " To give a seeming corroboration of foundation to the story which I have dis- 
 proved, the absurd rumor has lately appeared in certain newspapers that I was the 
 owner of from sl50,000 to ^250,000 of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad 
 Bonds, which I received without consideration, and that it was from these bonds 
 that Tliomas A. Scott received his S75,000. The statement is gratuitously and 
 utterly false. * * *" 
 
 lie further stated : 
 
 " After the war all the grants of land previously made to the Southern States 
 were renewed in gross in the session of 1805-66. The Little Rock and Fort Smith 
 Company again received a grant from the State and again tried to raise money to 
 build their road : but 1865, 1860, 1867, passed without their getting a dollar. 
 Finally, toward the close of 1868 a company of Boston gentlemen, represeuliug 
 considerable capital, undertook its construction. In raising the requisite means 
 they placed the bonds of the road on the New England market in the sunmier of 
 1869, offering them on terms which seemed very favorable to the purchaser, and 
 offering them at a time when investments of this kind were fatally popular. In 
 common with hundreds of other people in New England and other parts of the 
 country, I bouglit some of these bonds — not a very large amount — pajing for them 
 at precisely the same rate that others paid. I never heard and do not believe that 
 the Little Rock Company — which I know is controlled by higlily honorable men— 
 ever parted with a bond to any person except at the regular ^)rice fi.xed for their 
 sale. * * * In-stead of receiving bonds of the Little Rock and Fort Smith road 
 as a gratuity I never had one except at the regular market price, and that instead 
 of making a large fortune out of that company I have incurred a severe pecuniary 
 loss from my investment in its securities which I still retain." 
 
 Compare contract of September 5, 180!), p. — , ante. 
 
 He further stated : 
 
 " As to the question of proprietj' involved in a member of Congress holding an 
 investment of this kind, it must be remembered that the lands were granted to the 
 State of Arkansas, and not to the railroad company, and that the company derived 
 its life, franchise and value wholly from the State. And to the State the company 
 is amenable and answerable, and not in any sense to Congi-ess." 
 
 See Act of 1869, ante — , and lellers Oct. 4, 1869, ante — . 
 
 Mulligan's Character Sworn to. 
 
 In the brief history of the Mulligan letters here given, it has not been attempted 
 to go into the details of the testimony of Mr. Fisher, JMr. Atkins, Mr. Blaine, or 
 even Mr. Mulligan, but enough, it is thought, has been presented to give a com- 
 prehensive view of Mr. Blaine's transactions in regard to the bonds of the Little 
 Rock & Fort Smith Railroad. The proof presented in the letters of Mr. Blaine and 
 in the memorandum-book in his own handwriting, seems conclusive even without 
 the testimony of Mr. Mulligan. Mr. Blaine did not attempt to impeach the testi- 
 mony of this important witness. Mr. Fisher was asked : 
 
 Q. What is his (Mulligan's) character ? 
 
 A. His character is the best. I would say it is as good as, or perhaps better, 
 than that of any man that I ever knew.
 
 lis 
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 Q. T^'hat is his reputation for truth and veracity ? 
 
 A. I never heard it questioned. 
 
 Mr. Atkins was asked : What is ^Mr. Mulligan's reputation ? 
 
 A. I have never heard anything against it. 
 
 Q. What is his reputation for truth and veracity? 
 
 A. I have never doubted anything he said. 
 
 One of Blaine's Side Speculations. 
 
 It will be seen that there are references in some of the letters to an interest in 
 the Northern Pacitic Railroad. As throwing further light on this part of the sub- 
 ject, we print here the following interesting letter from Mr. Blaine to Mr. Fisher 
 which does not appear among those read by ^Ii. Blaine in the House : 
 
 Augusta, Me., November 25, 1870. 
 
 My Dear !Mr. Fisiter : A year ago and more I spoke to you about purchasingj 
 an interest in the Northern Pacific Railroad for yourself and any you might choose 
 to associate with yourself. The matter passed by without my being able to control 
 it, and nothing more was said about it. Since then the Jay Cooke contract has 
 been perfected, the additional legislation has been obtained, and 230 miles of the 
 road are well-nigh completed, and the whole line will be pushed forward rapidly. 
 By a strange revolution of circumstances I am again able to control an interest, 
 and if you desire it you can have it. The whole road is divided into twenty-four 
 shares, of which Jay Cooke & Co. have twelve. The interest I speak of is one- 
 half of one-twenty-fourth, or one one-hundred -and-ninety-second of the entire 
 franchise, being that proportion of the eighty-one millions of stock that are being 
 divided as the road is built, and a like proportion of the Land Company stock that 
 is formed to take and dispose of the 52,000,000 acres of land covered by their grant 
 as amended by their law of last session. The amount of stock which this 1-192 
 would have in the end would be about $425,000, and the number of acres of 
 land it represents is nearly 275,000 The road is being built on the 7.30 bonds, 
 $25,000 to the mile, which Jay Cooke takes at 90. Instead of mortgaging the 
 land, they make a stock company for its ownership, dividing it pro rata among 
 the holders of the franchise. The whole thing can be had for $25,000, which is 
 less than one-third of what some other sales of small interest have gone at. I do 
 not suppose you would care to invest the whole $25,000. I thought for a small 
 flyer eight or ten of you in Boston might take it — $2,500 each. For $2,500 thus 
 invested you would get ultimately $^,000 stock and the avails of some 27,000 
 acres of land. Five of you at $5,000 each would have a splendid thing of it. 
 
 The chance is a very rare one. I can't touch it, but I obey my first and best 
 impulse in offering it to you. 
 
 All such chances as this since Jay Cooke got the road have been accompanied 
 with the obligation to take a large amount of the bonds at ninety, and hold them 
 not less than three years. I will be in Boston Tuesday noon, and will call upon 
 you. Of course if you don't want it let it pass. You will receive an immediate 
 issue of stock to a considerable amount, and certificates of land stock also. Of 
 course, in conferring with others, keep my name quiet, mentioning it to no one 
 unless to Mr. Caldwell. I write under the presumption that you liave returned. 
 But I have heard nothing. Yours truly, 
 
 J. G. BLAINE. 
 
 This offer was accepted by Fisher, as appears from the following receipt : 
 Received of Warren Fisher, Jr., $25,000, in trust, in consideration of which 
 I am to deliver to said Fisher properly authenticated certificates of interest in 
 the North Pacific Railway Company, equivalent to one-eighth part of one of 
 the twenty-four principal shares in which the franchise stock of said company 
 are divided. Certificates to be in the name of Elisha Atkins. 
 
 Witness my hand, 
 
 JA31ES G. BLAINE.
 
 114 
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 The (N. Y.) Evening Post on Blaine. 
 
 The charges against Mr. Blaine were stated seriatim by the iN.T. Evening Post 
 (Rep.): 
 
 The First Charge. 
 
 The first of these charges is that in the spring session of Congress in 1869 a 
 bill was before the House of Reiircsentatives which soiight to renew a land grant 
 to the Little Hock and Fort Smith Railroad of Arkansas, in which some of Mr. 
 Blaine's friends were interested ; that an attempt to defeat it by an amendment 
 was made, and was on the point of being successful, and its promoters were in 
 despair ; that at this juncture Mr. Blaine, being then Speaker of the House, sent a 
 message to General Logan to make the point of order that the amendment was not 
 germane to the purposes of the bill ; that this point of order was accordingly 
 raised and promptly sustained by Mr. Blaine as Speaker, and the bill was in this 
 manner saved ; that Mr. Blaine Avrote at once to the promoters, calling attention 
 to the service he had rendered them, and finally, after some negotiations, secured 
 from them, as a reward for it, his appointment as selling agent of the bonds of 
 the road, on commission, in Maine, and received a number of such bonds as his 
 percentage ; that the leading features of this transaction appeared in two letters of 
 his afterward made public, dated respectively June 29 and October 4, 1869. 
 
 The Second Charge. 
 
 Second — That he asserted at first on the floor of the House, with the view of 
 covering up this affair, that the Little Rock and Fort Smith road "derived its life, 
 franchise and value wholly from the State," and not from Congress, whereas the 
 evidence subscquentl}^ taken by the Congressional Committee disclosed the fact 
 that the road derived the value on which these bonds were based from the act of 
 Congress of which Mr. Blaine secured the passage in the manner above described 
 in 1869 ; that he asserted on the floor of the House that the bonds he received 
 "were bought by him at precisely the same rate as others paid," whereas the evi- 
 dence showed that the bonds came to him as commissions on sales, which he secured 
 the opportunity of making through his aid given to the work in Congress, and thnt 
 he solicited this agency, basing his request on the aid so given, and that he paid no! Ii- 
 ing whatever for the bonds, the consideration being his ruling as Speaker and ins 
 subsequent efforts to sell them. What he did with these bonds, seventy-five in 
 number, is uncertain ; but strong, though not conclusive, evidence was produced 
 going to show that they were taken off his hands at a good price by the Union 
 Pacific Railroad (through the instrumentalitj^of one Caldwell), which then also was 
 in trouble. The investigation on this point was never pushed home, owing to the 
 sudden illness which overtook Mr. Blaine in 1876. 
 
 The Third Charge. 
 
 Tlivrd — That Mr. Blaine, in 1870, made an offer, as appeared by his own 
 letters, to one of his railroad friends, ]\Ir. Warren Fisher, of Boston, to sell him a 
 half of one-twenty-fourth interest in the Northern Pacific railroad, immediately 
 after Jay Cooke's contract "had been perfected and the additional legislation had 
 been obtained," he having, he said, come into control of this interest, " by a 
 strange revolution of circumstances ; " tliat the amount of stock which this would 
 represent, he said, would be ?42;3,000, and the number of acres of land " nearly 
 275,000." "The chance," he said, "was a very rare one; he couldn't touch it," 
 but he offered it to Mr. Fisher for $25,000 ; that Mr. Fisher accepted it and paid 
 the money, but for some unexplained reason the stock was never delivered, and Mr. 
 Blaine subsequently returned the amount. This transaction was a very peculiar 
 one for the following reasons : 
 
 It appears from acts of Congress relating to the road, none of which are of 
 older date than July 2, 1864, that the authorized stock was $100,000,000. with a 
 land grant estimated bv the Commissioners of Public Lands at 47,000,000 acres, or 
 74,423 square miles. iThe line of the road was 2,000 miles long, and at the time of 
 Blaine's letter to Fisher it was, he says, being built on bonds at |25,000 a mile, 
 whieh would have made a bonded debt of .$50,000,000. Mr. Blaine, as member of 
 Congress and Speaker of the House, must be taken to have known about the cir-
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. H") 
 
 cumstances of the road, aud there, therefore, seems no escape from the conclusion 
 that his offer was based on the expectation that he would receive almost as a gift a 
 share in an enterprise dependent for its value on legislation in which he had taken 
 part. Mr. Blaine's defense in the case of this transaction consisted at first of a 
 denial that he had ever had any transaction with the road at all, but he afterward 
 rested on the fact that he had no pecuniary interest in the transfer, and that it was 
 never actually made ; but though this might be a defense to a suit again.st him for 
 a conspiracy to defraud purchasers of the stock, it does not affect in any way the 
 nature of the offer. His relations with Warren Fisher Avcre in 1870, as appeared 
 from the evidence, such that any favor done the latter, or gift presented to him, 
 had a direct pecuniary value. 
 
 The Fourth Charge. 
 
 Fourth — Because he obtained certain letters, which there is every reason to be- 
 lieve contained matter gravely compromising him, from a perfectly reputable wit- 
 ness, Mr. Mulligan, who was the proper and lawful custodian of them, after hav- 
 ing vainly applied appeals to his pity, by pledging his word of honor to restore 
 them, then broke this pledge, retained them by force, and subsequently read such 
 of them as he pleased to. the House in aid of his vindication ; that tliis conduct, if 
 not legally criminal, was such as no man aspiring to be the chief magistrate of a 
 great nation ought to be even suspected of. 
 
 The Fifth Charge. 
 
 Fifth — That both his short service as an executive officer of the Government 
 and tlie various efforts he has made during the past eight years to keep the public 
 in mind of him, have been sensational and theatrical, indicating a strong love of 
 notoriety and an absence of the settled convictions, the sober judgment and the 
 steadiness of character which are needed to make him a safe occupant of any hio-h 
 or responsible administrative office ; and that the means by which his "booms " ai-e 
 started and promoted, of whicli the manner in which his "history" has recently 
 been heralded and produced is a good example, bear too close an approach to the 
 adverti-sing devices of a circus or other public show to make the candidacy of any 
 person resorting to them anything but a humiliation for the party producing them. 
 
 The New York Herald on Blaine. 
 
 The N. Y. Herald, of June 3, 1876, voiced the sentiments of the independent 
 press at the time of the exposure in the following words : 
 
 No one can doubt, after reading the evidence of that curious creature Mulligan, 
 that Mr. Blaine is not worthy of the confidence of the country, and especially in a 
 position as elevated as the Presidency of the United States. The nature of this 
 evidence has been explained to our readers at length. There is no difficulty in un- 
 derstanding the exact position of Mr. Blaine. By his own words and acts, by his 
 written letters, which, by suppressing he admits to be improper, he shows that his 
 -elations with a shameless gang of jobbers and swindlers were inconsistent as a 
 severe guardian of the people's interest. We may say, " shameless gang of jobbers, 
 -and swindlers," because the history of our whole Pacific legislation is that of jobbery 
 etriving to use the generosity of the Government to further private ends. It was 
 this legislation which enabled the Union Pacific Railway to have a law passed which 
 virtually robs the Government of a hundred, or, as some say, two hundred millions 
 of dollars. The men who had any hand in this gigantic robbery, and for robbery 
 it was, deserves no mercy from the American people. A part of the Nation's ven- 
 geance was visited upon some of them in the resolutions expelling and censuring 
 certain members and Senators, and in the moral condemnation which has fallen 
 upon others. It is no wonder that the country should look with suspicious eyes 
 upon the arts of a man as conspicuous as Mr. Blaine which shows his connection 
 with any share of that Pacific legislation. Mr. Blaine admits that in that time of 
 wild legislation and general corruption he took a prominent part not only in 
 advancing the interests of such railways as the Union and Northern Pacific, but 
 also the sale of their stock and bonds. He admits that he made money in this 
 manner out of what was fairly due him as "commissions." He contends.
 
 116 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 naturally enouiih. or rather it is the argument of his friends, that this is his own 
 aftair, with which no C'onsrress has any business, and that because a gentleman 
 enters into public life he does not necessaiil}' deprive himself of every means of 
 livelihood. There would be force in this argument but for the fact that the only 
 value the stocks and bontls which Mr. Blaine " earned" came from the legislation 
 of Congress, that for this legislation he was, more than any other member respon- 
 sible, that by this legislatiorT, as we see by the decree of the Supreme Court, the 
 Treasury was robbed. Mr. Blaine can give no explanation of his relations with 
 any oneof these railways consistent with his duties as an honorable, self-respecting 
 member of the llouse, and, as our Washington correspondent puts it, the 
 developments remove him from any consideration as a candidate for the Presi- 
 dency. 
 
 The Friend of Railroads. 
 
 The most important act ever passed to check the power of railroads and to 
 compel them to fulfill the obligations entered into at their incorporation, was the 
 Thurman act, approved May 7, 1878. This act is of such importance and the 
 interest affected by it so vast that it is here reproduced in full : 
 
 CHAP. 96. — An act to alter and amend the act entitled "An act to aid in the 
 construction of a railroad and telegra])h line from the Missouri River to the 
 Pacific Ocean, and to .secure to tlie government the use of the same for i)ostal, 
 military, and for other purposes," approved July first, eighteen hundred and 
 sixty-two, and also to alter and amend the act of Congress, approved July 
 second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, in amendment of said first-named act. 
 Whereas.on the first day of July, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 two. Congress passed an act entitled '' An act to aid in the construction of a rail- 
 road and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to 
 secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other pur- 
 poses ; and 
 
 Whereas, afterward, on the second day of July, anno Domini eighteen hun- 
 dred and sixty-four. Congress passed an act in amendment of said first-mentioned 
 act ; and 
 
 Whereas, the Union Pacific Railroad Company, named in .said acts, and under 
 the authority thereof, undertook to construct a railway, after the passage thereof, 
 over some part of the line mentioned in said acts ; and 
 
 Whereas, imder the authority of tiie said two acts, the Central Pacific Railroad 
 Company of California, a corporation existing under the laws of the State of Cali- 
 fornia, undertook to construct a railway, after the passage of said acts, over some 
 part of the line mentioned in said acts ; and 
 
 Whereas, the United States, upon demand of said Central Pacific Railroad 
 Company, have heretofore issued, by way of loan, and as provided in said acts, to 
 and for the benefit of said company^ in aid of the purposes named in said acts, the 
 bonds of the United States, payable in thirty years from the date thereof, ^vith 
 interest at six per centum per annum, payable half-yearly, to the amount of 
 twenty-five million eight hundred and eighty-five thousand one hundred and 
 twenty dollars, which said bonds have been sold in the market or otherwise dis- 
 posed of by said company ; and 
 
 Whereas, the said Central Pacific Company has issued and disposed of an 
 amount of its own bonds equal to the amoimt so issued by the United States, and 
 secured the same by mortgage, and wliich are, if lawfully issued and disposed of, 
 a prior anil paramount lien, in the respect mentioned in .said acts, to that of the 
 United States, at stated, and secured tiiereby; and 
 
 Whereas, after the passage of said acts, the W^estern Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany, a corporation then existing under the laws of California, did, under the 
 authority of Congress, become the assignee of the rights, duties, and obligations 
 of the said Central Pacific Railroad Company, as provich'd in the act of Congress 
 pa.s.sed on the third of March, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and 
 did, under the authority of the said act and of the acts aforesaid, construct a rail- 
 road from tlie city of San Jose to the city of Sacramento, in California, and did 
 demand and receive from the United States the sum of one million nine hundred 
 and .seventy lliousand five hundred and sixty dollars of the bonds of the United 
 States, of the descriiition before mentioneil as i.ssued to the Central Pacific Com-
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 117 
 
 pany. tind in the same manner and under the provisions of said acts ; and upon 
 and in respect of the bonds so issued to botli said eoni])auies, the United States 
 have paid interest to the sum of more than thirteen and a half million dollars, 
 •\vhicli has not been reinil)ursed ; and 
 
 Whereas, said AVestc-rn Pacific Railroad Company has issued and disposed of 
 an auKjunt of its own bonds equal to the amf)unt so issued bj' the United States to 
 it, and secured the same by mortgage, which are, if lawfully issued and disposed 
 of, a prior and paramount lien to that of the United States, as stated and secured 
 thereby; and 
 
 Whereas, said Western Pacific 'Railroad Company has since become merged in. 
 and consolidated with, said Central Pacilic Railroad Company, luider the name of 
 the Central Pacilic Railroad Company, wherel)y the .said Central Pacific Railroad 
 Company has become liable to all the burdens, duties, and obligations before resting 
 upon said Western Pacific Railroad Company ; and divers other railroad compa- 
 nies have been merged in and consolidated with .said Central Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany ; and 
 
 Whereas, the United States upon the demand of the said Union Pacific Rail- 
 road Comjiany, have heretofore issued by way of loan to it and as provided in 
 said acts, the bonds of the United States, j)ayable in thirty years from the date 
 thereof, with interest at six per centum per annum, payable half-yearly, the 
 principal sums of which amount to twenty-seven million two hundred and "thirty- 
 six thousand five hundred and twelve dollars; on which the United States have 
 paid over ten million dollars interest over and above all reimbursements; which 
 said bonds have been sold in the market or otherwise disposed of by said corpora- 
 tion ; and 
 
 Whereas, said corporation has issued and disposed of an amount of its own 
 bonds eijual to the amounts so issued to it by the United States as aforesaid, and 
 secured the same by mortgage, and which are, if lawfully issued and disposed of, 
 a prior and paramount lien, in the respect mentioned in said acts to that of the 
 United States, as stated, and secured thereby ; and 
 
 Whereas, the total liabilities (exchhsive of interest to accrue) to all creditors, 
 including the United States, of the said Central Pacific Company, amount in the 
 aggregate to more than ninety-six million dollars, and those of the said Union 
 Pacific Railroad Company to more than eighty-eight million dollars ; and 
 
 Whereas, the United States, in view of the indebtedness and operations of said 
 several railroad companies respectively, and of the disposition of their respective 
 incomes, are not and cannot, without further legislation, ])e secure in their inter- 
 ests in and concerning said respective railroads and corporations, either as men- 
 tioned in said acts or otherwise ; and 
 
 Whereas, a due regard to the rights of said several companies respectively, as 
 mentioned in said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, as well as just security 
 to the United States in the premises, and in respect of all the matters set forth in 
 said act, require that the said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two be altered and 
 amended as hereinafter enacted ; and 
 
 Whereas, by reason of the premises also, as well as for other causes of public 
 good and justice, the powers provided and reserved in said act of eighteen hun- 
 dred and sixty-four for the amendment and alteration thereof ought also to be 
 exercised as hereinafter enacted ; therefore, 
 
 lie it enacted by tJie Senate and House of Representettives of the United States of 
 Anurica in Congress assembled. That the net earnings mentioned in said act of 
 eighteen hundred and sixty-two, of said railroad companies respectively shall 
 be a.scertained by deducting from the gross amount of their earnings, respectively, 
 the necessary' expenses actually i)ai(l within the j-ear in operating the same and 
 keeping the same in a state of repair, and also the sum paid by them respectively 
 within the year in the discharge of interest on their first-mortgage bonds, who.se 
 lien has priority over the lien of the United States, and excluding from consider- 
 ation all sums owing or paid by said companies resjiectively for interest upon any 
 other portion of their indebtedness; and the foregoing provision shall be deemed 
 and taken as an amendment of s;ud act of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, as well 
 as of said act of eighteen hundred and sixt^'-two. This section shall'take effect on 
 the thirtieth day of June next, and be apjilicable to all computations of net earn- 
 ings thereafter ;' but it shall not affect any right of the United States or of either of 
 said railroad companies existing prior thereto. 
 
 Sec. 2. That the whole amoiuitof con\peusa(ion which may, from time to time,
 
 118 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 be due to said several railroad companies respectivelj- for services rendered for the 
 Government shall be retained by the United States, one-half thereof to be presently 
 applied to the liquidation of the interest paid and to be paid by the United States 
 upon the bontls so issued by it as aforesaid, to each of said corporations severally, 
 and the other half thereof to be turned into the sinking fund hereinafter provided, 
 for the uses therein mentioned. 
 
 Sec. 3. That there shall be established in the Treasury of the United States a 
 sinking fund, wliich .shall be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury in bonds 
 of the United States ; and the semi-annual income thereof shall be in like manner 
 from time to time invested, and the same shall accumulate and be disposed of as 
 hereinafter mentioned. Antl in making such investments the Secretary .shall 
 ])refer tlie live jier centum bonds of the United States, unless for good reasons 
 appearing to him, and which liesliall report to Congress, he shall at any time deem 
 it advisable to invest in other bonds of the United States. All the bonds belonging 
 to said fund shall, as fa.st as they shall be obtained, be so stamped as to show that 
 they belong to said fund, and that they are not good in the hands of other holders 
 than the Secretary of the Treasury imtil they shall have been indor-sed by him, and 
 publicly dispo.sed of pursuant to this act. 
 
 Sec. 4. That there shall be carried to the credit of said fund on the first day 
 of Fel)riiary in eacli year, the one-half of the compensation for ser\'ices hereinbe- 
 fore named' rendered for the Government Ijy said Central Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany, not ajiplied in liquidation of interest ; and in addition thereto, the said 
 company shall, on said day in each year, pay into the Treasury, to the credit of 
 .said sinking fund, the sum of one million two himdred tlunisand dollars, or so 
 much thereof as shall be necessary to make the five per centum of the net earn- 
 ings of its said road payable to the United Stales under said act of eighteen lumdred 
 and sixty-two, and the wliole sum earned by it as comiien.sation for services ren- 
 dered for the United States, together with tlie sum by this section required to be 
 l)aid, amount in the aggregate to twenty-five }>er centum of the whole net earnings 
 of said railroad company, ascertained and defined as hereinbefore provided, for 
 the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding. That there 
 shall be carried to the credit of the said fund, on the first day of February in each 
 year, the one-half of the compensation for services hereinbefore named, rendered 
 for the Government by said Union Pacific Railroad Company, not applied in 
 liquidation of interest ; and. in addition thereto, the said company shall, on said 
 day in eacli year, pay into the Treasury, to the credit of said sinking fund, the 
 sum of eighthundred and fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as shall be 
 necessary to make the five per centum of the net earnings of its said road, payable 
 to the United States under said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-tw-o, and the 
 whole sum earned by it as compensation for services rendered for the United 
 States, together with "the sum by this section required to be paid, amount in the 
 aggregateto twenty-five per centum of the whole net earnings of said railroad 
 company, a.scertaiiied and defined as hereinbefore provided, for the year ending on 
 the thirty-first day of December next preceding. 
 
 Sec. 5. That whenever it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, by either of .said companies, that seventy-five per centum of its 
 net earnings, as hereinbefore defined, for anj' current year, are or were insufficient to 
 pay the interest for such year upon the obligations of such company, in respect of 
 which obligations there may exist a lien paramount to that of the United States, 
 and that such interest has been paid out of such net earnings, said Secretary is 
 hereby authorized, and it is made his dut}', to remit for such current year so much 
 of the twenty-five per centum of net earnings re(iuiredto be paid into the sinking 
 fund, as aforesaid, as may have been thus ajiplied and u.sed in the payment of 
 interest as aforesaid. 
 
 Sec. 6. That no dividend shall be voted, made, or paid for or to any stock- 
 holder or stockholders in either of said companies respectively at anytime when 
 the said company shall be in default in respect of the payment either of the sum» 
 required as afon-said to be paid into said .sinking fund, or in respect of the pay- 
 ment of the said five per centum of the net earnings, or in respect of interest upon 
 any debt the lien of which, or the debt on which it may accrue, is paramount to 
 that of the United States ; and any officer or person who shall vote, declare, make 
 or |)ay, and any stockholder of any of said ((mipanies who shall receive any such 
 dividend contrary to the provisions of this act, shall lie liable to the United States 
 for the amount thereof, which, when recovered, shall be paid into said sinking
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 119 
 
 fund. And every such offioor, person, or stockliolder wlio shall knowinirly vote, 
 declare, make, or pay any sueh dividend, contrary to the provisions of this act, 
 shall be deemed ;iruilty of a misdemeanor, and. on con\iction thereof, shall be 
 punished by a line not exceeding ten thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not 
 exceeding one vear. 
 
 Sec. 7. That the said sinking fund so established and accumulated shall at 
 the maturity of said bonds so respectively issued by the United States, be applied 
 to the payment and satisfaction thereof, according to the interest and proportion 
 of each of said comi)anies in said fund, and of all interest paid by the United 
 States thereon, and not reimbursed, subject to the provisions of the next section. 
 
 Sec. 8. That said sinking fund so establislied and accumulated shall, according 
 to the interest and proportion of said companies respectively therein, be held for 
 the protection, security, and benetit of the lawful and just" holders of any mort- 
 gage or lien debts of such companies respectively, lawfully paramoiuit to the 
 rights of the United States, and for the claims of other creditors, if any. lawfiilly 
 chargeable upon the funds so required to be i)aid into said sinking fund, according 
 to their respective lawful priorities, as well as for tiie United States, according to 
 the principles of ecpiity, to the end that all persons having any claim upon said 
 sinking fund may lie entitled thereto in due order ; but the provisions of this sec- 
 tion sliall not operate or be held to impair any existing legal right, except in the 
 manner in this act provided, of any mortgage, lien, or other creditor of any of 
 said companies respectively, nor to excuse any of said companies respectively from 
 the duty of discharginc:, out of other funds, its debts to any creditor except the 
 United States. 
 
 Sec. 9. That all sums due to the United States from any of said companies 
 respectively, whether payable presently or not, and all sums required to be paid to 
 the United States or into the Treasury, or into said sinking fimd under this act, or 
 under the acts hereinbefore referred to, or otherwise, are herel)y declared to be a 
 lien upon all the property, estate, rights and franchises of every tlescription granted 
 or conveyed by tlie United States to any of said companies respectively or jointly, 
 and also upon all the estate and ])roperty, real, personal and mixed, assets, and 
 income of the said several railroad companies respectively, from whatever source 
 derived, subject to any lawfully prior and paramount mortgage, lien, or claim 
 thereon. But this section shall not be construed to prevent said companies respect- 
 ively from using and disposing of any of their property or assets in the ordinary, 
 proper and lawful course of their current business, in good faith and for valuable 
 consideration. 
 
 Sec. 10. That it is hereby made the duty of the Attorney-General of the United 
 States to enforce, by proper proceedings against the several railroad companies 
 respectively or jointly, or against either of them, and others, all the rights of the 
 United States under this act and luider the acts hereinbefore mentioned, and under 
 any other act of Congress or right of the United States ; and in any suit or proceed- 
 ings alread}' commenced, or that may be hereafter commenced against any of said 
 companies, either alone or with other parties, in respect of matters arising under 
 this act, or vmder the acts or rights hereinbefore mentioned or referred to, it shall 
 be the duty of the court to determine the very right of the matter without regard 
 to matters of form, joinder of parties, multifariousness, or other mattei-s not 
 affecting the substantial rights and duties arising out of the matters and acts 
 hereinbefore stated and referred to. 
 
 Sec. 11. That if either of the said railroad companies .shall fail to perform all 
 and singular the reciuirements of this act and of the acts hereinbefore mentioned, 
 and of any other act relating to said company, to be by it performed, for the period 
 of six moiiths next after such performance may be due, such failure shall ojierate 
 as a forfeiture of all the rights, privileges, grants, and franchises derived or 
 obtained by it from the United States ; and it shall be the duty of the Attorney- 
 General to cause such forfeitiu'e to be judicially enforced. 
 
 Sec. 12. That nothing in this act shall be construed or taken in any wise to 
 affect, or impair the right of Congress at anytime hereafter further to alter, amend, 
 or repeal the said ads hereinbefore mentioned ; and this act shall be subject to 
 alteration, amendment, or repeal, as in the opinion of Congress, justice or the pub- 
 lic welfare may require. And nothing herein contained shall be held to deny, 
 exclude, or impair any right or remedy in the premises now existing in favor of the 
 United States. 
 
 Sec. 13. That each and every of the provisions in this act contained shall sever- 
 ally and respectively be deemed', taken, and held as in alteration and amendment
 
 120 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 of said act of eighteen humlrecl and sixty-two and of said act of eighteen hundred 
 and sixty-four respectively, and of both said acts. 
 Approved, May 7, 1878. 
 
 To prevent the pas.sagc of this bill was arraj'ed the whole power of the rail- 
 road kings. Gould, Huntington, et id omne genus ; the lobbies swarmed with their 
 agents, and their representatives on the floor by voice and vote exerted their utmost 
 energies to compass its defeat. Indeed, Mr. Gould was there and in person directed 
 the operations of the lobby. The cause of the people, however, was in the hands 
 of that great leader, Allen G. Thurman, earnestly aided by Mr. Edmunds, and no 
 subterfuge could blind and no specious argument swerve him from the accomplish- 
 ment of the object in view. 
 
 Among those in the Senate who most stoutlj' resisted the passage of the 
 Thurman act was James G. Blaine. In fact, in the long debate that attended the 
 bill, he was the leader of the opposition. 
 
 In the Senate, April 9, 1878, Mr. Blaine offered the following amendment to 
 the Pacitic Railroad Funding Act : 
 
 But so long as said Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad Companies 
 shall faithfully comply with the provisions of the said acts of 1862 and 1804, and 
 of this act, relating to the payments to the United States on account of the bonds 
 advanced, and of sinking funds to be established as aforesaid, such compliance 
 shall be deemed and taken as sufficient to meet the obligations of said companies 
 on account of such bonds prior to the maturity thereof. 
 
 Provided, That the annual paj-ments from each railroad companj% in addition to 
 the half transportation account and the five per cent, of the net earnings presently 
 applicable to the interest, and the bonds, shall never be less than $600,000, includ- 
 ing the other half of the transportation account applicable to the sinking fund 
 herein established, and that nothing in this act shall be construed to waive any 
 claim of the United States against either of said railroad companies, from what- 
 ever source arising. 
 
 The purpose and effect of this amendment was to defeat the object of the bill and 
 to nullify its salutary provisions. This was recognized hy Mr. Thurman, who said : 
 
 I consider this amendment as really determining the fate of the bill. 
 
 The amendment of the Senator from Maine is the worst attack ui)on the bill 
 that could be made. He knows very well that with that provision fastened on to 
 this l)ill the bill not only would not be worth the paper upon which it is written, 
 but that it would be far worse than nothing ; he knows that that would be a fatal 
 deatli-l)linv given to the bill. 
 
 Mr. President, let no one deceive himself about this ; let no one imagine 
 he can be a friend of the Judiciary Committee bill and at the same time 
 a friend of the amendment of the Senator from Maine. The amendment of 
 the Senator from Maine is prussic acid to the bill. It cannot survive a day. nor an 
 hour jierhaps, after that amendment is adopted. It Is a stab at the very heart of 
 the bill ; it is its fatal as any stal) could possibly be. I hope, therefore, the friends 
 of this l)ill, those who mean to make these companies live up to their obligations, 
 do what they assumed to do ; those who mean that these companies shall know 
 that the Government is their master, and they are not the masters of the Govern- 
 ment—will see that no such poison Is taken into the bill as the amendment of the 
 Senator from Maine. 
 
 The acute mind of Mr. Edmunds was not deceived. He said : 
 He (Blaine), as I said before, is the original father, there Is no grandfather and 
 no collateral relation of a proposition in the legislation of this country of the Con- 
 gress of the United States, since the time wheii the evil of the hands'of states and 
 of congre.s.ses has been discovered in the last few years, to provide that in any 
 re-spect or imder any circumstances the hands of the legislative power shall be 
 held off from the exercise of their legitimate and constitutional control over public 
 corporations. ****** You cannot tell, sir, what will happen ; you can- 
 not tell who will manage these corporations ; you cannot tell how long there will 
 be any net income or not, dei)ending not upon the fair progress of natural re
 
 RECORD OF BLAIXE. 121 
 
 sources of development and natural competition, but depending upon the evil 
 deviltry of stock-hoards and private jobs. There is tiie trouble about all these coi*- 
 porations, and yet my honorable friend from .Maine, in that sweet innocence 
 which characterizes his character, that sublime faith thsit everybody is as virtuous 
 as he is, is willinj* to fold up his arms and be tied up in a bag by the Union Pacific 
 and Central Pacific Kailroad Companies for twenty-two years, merely because we 
 recpiire them to establish a sinking fund. 
 
 The amendment of ]\Ir. Blaine was defeated — yeas 23, nays 35. 
 The bill was then passed — yeas 40, nays 20. 
 Mr. Blaine voted '' no." 
 See Cong. Record, Ap. 2 to -9, 1878. 
 
 That the object of Mr. Blaine's amendment was understood in California is 
 shown by the following editorial : 
 
 [From the S(Ui Francisco Chronicle of April 10, 1878.] 
 
 The Railroads rr\ust pay. 
 
 The bill of the Senate Judiciary C'onnnittee providing that the Union and 
 and Central Pacific Railroad Companies shall each create a sinking fund, with 
 which to finally liquidate their indebtedness to the Government, passed the United 
 States Senate yesterday, by the decisive vote of 40 to 19. It passed without Blaine's 
 amendment, which was intended to nullify its force, and indeed, without amend- 
 ments of any kind. This is the first real and effective check which the arrogance 
 of the railroad companies have j'et received. Remarkable as it may seem, in this 
 era of corruption, neither sham nor compromise is embodied in this bill. It is a 
 plain, straightforward, compulsory demand that these comjianies which have grown 
 so enormously rich from the jirodigal donations of the countiy, and from their 
 oppressive tariff exactions, shall now meet the obligations thej' have evaded so 
 long. The Hou.se Committee on Railroads has been instructed to report a similar 
 bill which will undoubtedly pass. Blaine's amendment was defeated by a vote of 
 35 to 23. 
 
 From the foregoing debate it will be seen that it was not without proper knowl- 
 edge that Mr. Edmunds wrote to a friend in Vermont : 
 
 " It is my deliberate opinion that Mr. Blaine acts as the attorney of Jay Gould. 
 Whenever Mr. Thurman and I have settled upon legislation to bring the Pacific 
 railroads to terms of equity with the Government, up has jimiped James G. Blaine, 
 musket in hand, from behind the breastworks of Gould's lobby, to fire into our 
 back." 
 
 The law thus treated of, having in operation discovered some defects, a bill to 
 amend the Thurman act and correct its defects was passed in the House at the 
 last session, under the leadership of Hon. Phil. B. Thompson of Kentucky. The 
 Republican Senate failed to take any action on it, as it did on most other measures 
 where the people demanded action and the corporations desired delaj^ 
 
 The Friend of the Miner. 
 
 The House having under consideration, May 17, 1866, the bill to amend "an 
 act to provide internal revenue to support the Government, to pay interest on the 
 public debt, and for other purposes," and acts amendatory thereof, the following 
 debate was had : 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 47. — Miners shall pay ten dollars. Every person, firm or company, who shall 
 employ others in the business of mining for coal, or for gold, silver, copper, lead, 
 iron, zinc, spelter, or other minerals, not having paid the tax therefor, as a manu- 
 facturer, and no other, shall be regarded as a miner, under this act. Provided : 
 That this shall not apply to any miner whose receipts from his mine shall not 
 exceed annually, §1,000
 
 122 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 Mr. Mercur— I move to strike out the words "employ others in " and insert 
 "carry on." 
 
 Mr. Cii.\iRM.\x — I do not know how it is in the mines where the precious 
 metals are procured, but in the coal mines this phraseology would result disas- 
 trously to tlie miners. "Miner" is a technical term. Persons are called miners 
 who have no interest in tlie mines at all. A is put in with one or two laborers. He 
 is called a miner, though he has no interest in the sale of coal. It may be thought 
 the proviso to the bill would exempt him from the effect of this tax, but on look- 
 ing, it will be .seen it does not apply to any person who is a miner. 
 
 3Ir. Stevens (Pa. ) — I move to strike out the whole paragraph. 
 
 Mr. Ch.\irm.\n — I do not know how many this would embrace. Every man 
 who mined limestone for his farm, every man who mined a little coal for his fur- 
 nace, all these men, and'ten thousand others like them, would be embraced. 
 
 Mr. Morrill opposed the amendment, and ^Ir. Bidwell, in behalf of the gold 
 mines, favored it. 
 
 Mr. Blaine then said : 
 
 I do not think the amendment of the gentleman from Pennsylvania from the 
 Pittsburgh district ought to prevail. 
 
 I think that during the whole progress of this bill, with all due respect to the 
 gentleman from Pennsylvania and the gentleman from California, I have seen no 
 motion made more groundless than this. We place a tax upon every trade and 
 calling we can find out, and I undertake to my that the miners in the Pennsylmnia 
 coal mines are infinitely better able to pay taxes than the builders, contractors, law- 
 yers, physicians and surrjeons. 
 
 **** **** 
 
 Mr. MooREHEAD (Pa.) — The receipts of these men are not from the mines, but 
 from labor, and the proposition really is to tax labor. 
 
 Mr. McRuER (Cal.) — I wisli to say in reply to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. 
 Blaine), that there is not a single tax in this whole bill analogous to this. This is a 
 direct tax upon the labor producing the raw material. 
 
 ******** 
 
 Mr. Kelley (Pa.) — The tax proposed is a direct tax upon wages and labor, at 
 least as far as Pennsylvania is concerned. 
 
 It was contended by Mr. Morrill, Mr. Blaine, Mr. Schenck and others that the 
 lax referred to applied to employer of miners. On this point, Mr, Hooper said : 
 " I hold here in ni)^ hand a petition from some fifty laboring miners, who state 
 that the tax of ten dollars is impo,=!ed upon them, because by the custom of mining 
 coal it is usual for a miner to have with him a laborer, the miner being paid so 
 much a ton for the coal he raises, out of which he pays the laborer. The as.ses.sor 
 claims that the miner employs others, and charges him with the tax of ten dollars." 
 
 Subsequent!}', the amendment of Mr. Stevens was agreed to by a vote of ayes 
 57, noes 38, and the paragraph was" stricken out. (Cong. Globe, vol. 58, p. 2657, 
 Ist Sess., 39 Cong.)
 
 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 123 
 
 A Return to Constitutional Methods. 
 
 Democratic Principles. 
 
 A strict adberence to the Coustitutiou is the loading principle of the Democratic 
 party — a party whose theory of construction gave it birth and has preserved it in 
 the affections of the people for nearly one hundred years. 
 
 In Washington's Cabinet there was a continual conflict of opinion between the 
 aristocratic Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, and the democratic Jeffer- 
 son, then Secretary of State, about the construction of the new Constitution. The 
 former advocated a loose construction and strong central power ; the latter, strict 
 construction and local self-government. 
 
 From these rivalries sprang into existence the two great rival parties which, 
 under one name and another, have continued to the present day. 
 
 The difference is fundamental and eternal. It is well described by De Tocque- 
 vill in his work on Democracy in America^ as follows : 
 
 De Tocquevill's Definition. 
 
 "When the war of independence was terminated, and the foundations of the new 
 government were to be laid down, the nation was divided between two opinions — two 
 opinions which are as old as the world and which are perpetually to be met with, under 
 diflerent forms and various names in all free communities — the one tending; to limit, the 
 other to extend indefinitely the power of the people." 
 
 Temporary questions, such as slavery, knownothiugism, a foreign war, etc., 
 may distract attention from the main issue and even change party names, but when 
 disposed of the fundamental rivalry between local and central power is bound to 
 return. It is well that it does, for the discussion of rival theories of construction 
 tends to keep the people educated in the principles of civil liberty and government 
 
 Such a discussion was never more needed than to-day for the Republican party 
 continues in time of peace a war construction of the Constitution — a drift toward 
 centralization which, if not soon checked, will verge upon imperialism. 
 
 The American people should therefore in the present campaign go back to first 
 principles and closely scrutinize the tendencies of the two rival parties. 
 
 The Democratic party inherits its love of local and personal liberty from its 
 founder, Thomas Jefferson, and its construction of the Constitution from that 
 greatest of all authorities, James Madison. 
 
 Madison's I\ules of Constitutional Cor\struction. 
 
 His construction as given in the Federalist (No. 38) is as follows : 
 
 "First — \n order to ascertain the real character of the Ljovernment, it may be 
 considered in relation to the foundation on which it is to be established; to the sources 
 from which its ordinary powers are to be drawn; to the operation of those powers; to the
 
 124 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 
 
 extent of them, and to the authority by which future changes in the government are to 
 be introduced. 
 
 " On examining the first relation, it appears, on one hand, that the Constitution is to 
 be founded on the assent and ratification of the people of America, given by deputies 
 elected for the special purpose; but, on the other, that this assent and ratification is to be 
 given by the people, not as individuals composing one entire nation, but as composing 
 the distinct and independent States to which they respectively belong. It is to be the 
 assent and ratification of the several States, derived from the supreme authority of each 
 State — the authority of the people themselves. The act, therefore, establishing the 
 Constitution will not be a national, but a federal act. 
 
 "That it will be a federal and not a national act, as these terms are understood by 
 the objectors, the act of the people, as forming so many independent States, not as form- 
 ing one aggregate nation, is obvious from this single consideration, that it is to result 
 neither from the decision of a majority of the people of the Union, nor from 
 that of a majority of the States. It must result from the unanimous assent 
 of the several States that are parties to it, differing no otherwise from their ordi- 
 jiary assent than in its being expressed not by the legislative authority, but by that of 
 the people themselves. Were the people regarded in this transaction as forming one 
 nation, the will of the majority of the whole people of the United States would bind the 
 minority in the same manner as the majority in each State must l>ind the minority; and 
 the will of the majority must be determined either by a comparison of the individual 
 "votes, or by considering tiie will of the majority of the States as evidence of the will of a 
 majority of the people of the United States. Neither of these rules has been adopted. 
 Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent 
 of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the 
 new Constitution will, if established, be a federal and not a national constitution. 
 
 " The next relation is to the sources from which the ordinary povi'ers of government are 
 to be derived. The House of Representatives will derive its powers from the people of 
 America ; and the people will be represented in the same proportion and on the same 
 principle as they are m the Legislature of a particular State. So far the Government is 
 national, not federal. The Senate, on the other hand, will derive its powers from the 
 States, as political and coequal societies, and these will be represented on the principle of 
 er)uaiity in the Senate as they now are in the existing Congress. So far the Government 
 is federal, not national. The executive power will be derived from a very compound 
 source. The immediate election of the President is to be made by the States in their 
 political characters. The votes allotted to them are in a compound ratio, which con- 
 siders them partly as distinct and coeciual societies, partly as unequal members of the 
 same society. The eventual election, again, is to be made by that branch of the Legis- 
 lature which consists of the national Representatives ; but in this particular act they are 
 to be thrown into the form of individual delegations from so many distinct and coequal 
 bodies-politic. From this aspect of the Government it appears to be of a mixed character, 
 presenting at least as many federal as national features. 
 
 " The difference between a federal and national government, as it relates to the opera- 
 tion of the Government, is by the adversaries of the plan of the convention supposed to 
 consist in this, that in the former the powers operate on the political bodies composing 
 the confederacy, in their political capacities ; in the latter, on the individual citizens 
 composing the nation, in their individual capacities. On trying the Constitution by this 
 criterion, it falls under the national, not the federal character ; though perhaps not so 
 completely as has been understood. In several cases, and particularly in the trial of 
 controversies to which States may be parties, they must be viewed and proceeded against 
 in their collective and political capacities only. But the operation of the Government on 
 the people, in their individual capacities, in its ordinary and most essential proceedings, 
 may, on tlie whole, designate it in this relation a national government. 
 
 "But if the Government be national with regard to the operation of its powers, it 
 changes its aspect again when we contemplate it in relation to the extent of its powers. 
 The idea of a national government involves in it not only an authority over the individual 
 citizens, but an indefinite supremacy over all persons and things, so far as they are 
 objects of lawful government. Among a people consolidated into one nation this 
 supremacy is completely vested in the National Legislature. Among communities 
 united for particular purposes it is vested partly in the general and partly in the muni- 
 cipal legislatures. In the former case, all local authorities are subordinate to the 
 supreme, and may be controlled, directed, or alwlished by it at pleasure. In the Latter, 
 the local or municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of the suprem- 
 acy, no more subject, within their respective spheres, to the general authority than the 
 general authority is subject to them within its own sphere. In this relation, then, the 
 proposed government cannot be deemed a national one, since its jurisdiction extends to
 
 A RETURX TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 125- 
 
 certain enumerated objects only and leaves to the several States a residuary and invio- 
 lable sovereignty over all other objects. It is true that in controversies relating to the 
 boundary bet^veen the two jurisdictions, the tribunal which is ultimately to decide is to 
 be established under the General "Government. But this does not change the principle 
 of the case. The decision is to be impartially made, according to the rules of the Con- 
 stitution, and all the usual and most effectual precautions are taken to secure this 
 impartiality. Some such tribunal is clearly essential to prevent an appeal to the sword 
 and a dissolution ot the compact ; and that it ought to be established under the general 
 rather than under the local governments, or, to speak more properly, that it could be 
 safely established under the first alone, is a position not likely to be combated. 
 
 "It we try the Constitution by its last relation to the authority by which amendments 
 are to be made, we find it neither wholly national nor wholly federal. Were it wholly 
 national, the supreme and ultimate authority would reside in the majority of the people 
 of the Union ; and this authority would be competent at all times like that of a majority 
 of every national society, to alter or abolish its established government. Were it wholly 
 federal on tlie other hand, the concurrence of each State in the Union would be essential 
 to every alteration that would be binding on all. The mode provided by the plan of 
 the convention is not founded on either of these principles. In requiring more than a 
 majority, and particularly in computing the proportion by States, not by citizens, it 
 departs from the national and advances toward the federal character. In rendering the 
 concurrence of less than the whole number of States sufficient, it loses again the federal 
 and partakes of the national character. 
 
 " The proposed constitution, therefore, even when tested by the rules laid down by 
 its antagonists, is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal constitution, but a com- 
 position of both. In its foundation it is federal not national ; in the sources from which 
 the ordinary powers of the government are drawn, it is partly federal and partly national; 
 in the operation of these powers it is national, not federal ; in the extent of them again 
 it is federal, not national ; and finally in the authoritative mode of introducing amend- 
 ments it is neither wholty federal nor wholly national. " 
 
 Justice Field's Protest against Centralization. 
 The Democratic distinction between State and central power was recently and 
 ably stated by that distinguished Democratic jurist. Justice Field, of the United 
 States Supreme Court. In a dissenting opinion, he said : 
 
 "The government created by the Constitution was not designed for the regulation of 
 matters of purely local concern. The States required no aid from any external authority 
 to manage' their domestic affairs. They were fully competent to provide for the due 
 administration of justice between their own citizens in their own courts, and they needed 
 no directions in that matter from any other government, any more than they needed 
 directions as to their highways and schools, their hospitals and charitable institutions, 
 their public libraries, or the magistrates they should appoint for their towns and counties. 
 It was only for matters which concerned all the States, and which could not be managed 
 by them in their independent capacity, or managed only with great difiticulty and 
 embarrassment, that a general and common government was desired. Whilst they 
 retained control of local matters, it was felt necessary that matters of general and com- 
 mon interest, which they could not wisely and efficiently manage, should be entrusted to 
 a central authority. And so to the common government which grew out of this prevail- 
 ing necessity was granted exclusive jurisdiction over external affairs, including the great 
 powers of declaring war, making peace and concluding treaties ; but only such powers 
 of internal regulation were conferred as were essential to the successful and efficient 
 working of the government established ; to facilitate intercourse and commerce between 
 the people of the difiterent States, and secure to them equality of protection in the several 
 States. 
 
 • *f* * * * « * « 
 
 " When the government of the confederation failed, chiefly through the want of all 
 coercive authority to carry into effect its measures, its power being only that of recom- 
 mendation to the States, and the present Constitution was adopted, the same general 
 ends were sought to be attained, namely, the creation of a central government, which 
 would take exclusive charge of all our foreign relations, representing the people of all 
 the States in that respect as one nation, and would at the same time secure at home free- 
 dom of intercourse between the States, equality of protection to citizens of each State in 
 the several States, uniformity of commercial regulations, a common currency, a standard 
 of weights and measures, one postal system, and such other matters as concerned all the 
 States and their people.
 
 136 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 
 
 Accordingly, the new government was invested with powers adequate to the accom- 
 plishment of these purposes, with which it could act directly upon the people, and not by 
 recommendation to the States, and enforce its measures through tribunals and officers of 
 its own creation. There were also restraint placed upon the action of the States to pre- 
 vent interference with the authority of the new government antl to secure to all persons 
 protection against punishment by legislative decree, and insure thefultiUment of contract 
 obli>jations. But the control of matters of purely local concern, not coming within the 
 scope of tiie powers granted or the restraints mentioned was left, where it had always 
 existed with the States. The new government being one of granted powers, its author- 
 ity was limited by them and such as were necessarily implied for their execution. But 
 lest from a misconception of their extent these powers might be abused, the tenth amend- 
 ment was at an early day adopted, declaring 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.' 
 
 Now, if we look into the Constitution we shall not find a single word from its opening 
 to its concluding line, nor in any of the amendments in force before the close of the civil 
 war, nor, as I shall hereafter endeavor to show, in those subsequently adopted, which 
 authorizes any interference by Congress with the States in the administration of their 
 governments, and the enforcement of their laws with respect to any matter over which 
 jurisdiction was not surrendered to the United States. The design of its franiers was not 
 to destroy the States, but to form a more perfect union between them, and whilst creating 
 a central government for certain great purposes, to leave to the States in all matters, the 
 jurisdiction of which was not surrendered, the functions essential to separate and independ- 
 ent existence. And so the late Chiet Justice, speaking for the court in 1869, said : 'Not 
 only, therefore, can there be no loss of separate and independent autonomy to the States, 
 through their union under the Constitution, but it may not be unreasonably said that the 
 preservation of the States, and the maintenance of their governments, are as much within 
 the design and care of the Constitution as the preservation of the Union and the mainten- 
 ance of the National Government,' and then he adds, in that striking language which 
 gives to aniold truth new force and significance, that 'the Constitution, in all its pro- 
 visions, looks to an indestructible Union composed of indestructible States. ' " 
 
 Horatio Seymour on State and Federal Powers. 
 Another and admirable stiitcment of our theory of government was given by 
 that great Democratic statesman, Ex-Governor Seymour, of New York, in an arti- 
 cle entitled " The Government of the United States," published inthelfbrthATnei'i- 
 can Review in 1878. We quote from it as follows : 
 
 "Let us place ourselves where our fathers stood when they worked out our political 
 system, and thus learn what they meant to do. A people thinly scattered over a conti- 
 nent, living under opposite conditions of climate, production and domestic habits, were to 
 be united tor purposes of common defense and welfare. This could only be done by 
 securing to each .section of a vast region laws which would promote the prosperity of every 
 part. Where was the wisdom to frame the laws to meet the wants so 
 diversified and conflicting ? They knew from experience that kings, lords, 
 and commons, could not do it. Their failures led to the revolution. They claimed no 
 wisdom sujierior to that of Parliament, for that was the period when a host of orators 
 and statesmen made Parliament glorious in British annals. The colonies were practically 
 as remote from each other as from Britain, when obstacles to intercourse were taken 
 into account. The necessities of the case forced our fathers to frame their State and gen- 
 eral governments upon principles the reverse of those which usually mark the polity of 
 nations. Their theory takes away control from political centers, and distributes it to the 
 various points that are most interested in its wise and honest exercise. It keeps at every 
 man's home the greatest share of the political power that concerns him individually. It 
 yields it to the remoter legislative bodies in diminishing proportions ts they recede from 
 the direct influence and action of the people. The local self-government under which our 
 country is expanding itself over a continent, without becoming weak by its extension, is 
 founded on these propositions. That government is most wise which is in the hands of 
 those best informed about the particular questions on which they legislate ; most 
 economical and honest, wiien controlled by those most interested in preserving frugality 
 and virtue ; most strong when it only exercises authority which is beneficial in its action 
 to the governed. These are obvious tmths, but how are they to be made available for 
 practical purposes ? It is in this that the wisdom of our institutions consists. In their 
 progress, they are developing trutlie in government which have not only disappointed 
 the hopes of our enemies, but dissipated the fears of our friends.
 
 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 137 
 
 "The good order of society, the protection of our lives and our property, the pro- 
 motion of religion and learning, the enforcement of statutes, or the upholding of the 
 unwritten laws of just moral restraints mainly depend upon the wisdom of the inhabi- 
 tants of townships. Upon such questions, so far as they particularly concern them, the 
 people of the towns are more intelligent and more interested tlian those outside of their 
 limits can be. The wisest statesmen living and acting at the city of Washington cannot 
 understand these affairs, nor can they conduct them so well as the citizens upon the 
 ground, although they may be unlearned men. What is true of one town is true of the 
 other ten thousand towns in the United States. When we shall have twenty thousand 
 towns, this system of govemment will in no degree become overloaded or complicated. There 
 will be no more then for each citizen to do than now. Our town otificers m the aggregate 
 are more important than Congressmen or Senators. Hence the importance to our 
 government of religion, morality, and education, which enlighten and purify the 
 governed and the governors at the same time, and which must ever constitute the "best 
 securities for the advancement and happiness of our countr)'. Township powers and 
 duties educate and elevate those who exercise them. The next organizations in order 
 and importance are boards of county officers, who control questions of a local character, 
 but affecting a greater number than the inhabitants of single towns. The people of each 
 county are more intelligent and more interested in what concerns their own affairs than 
 any amount of wisdom or of patriotism outside of it. The aggregate transactions of county 
 officers are more important than those of our State Legislatures. When we have 
 secured good government in towns and counties, most of the objects of government are 
 gained. In the ascending scale of rank, in the descending scale of importance, is the 
 Legislature, which is or should be limited to State affairs. Its greatest wisdom is shown 
 by the smallest amount of legislation, and its strongest claims for gratitude grow out of 
 what it does not do. Our general government is remarkable for being the reverse of 
 every other. Instead of being the source of authority, it only receives the remnant of 
 power after all that concerns town, county, and state jurisdictions has been distributed. 
 Its jurisdiction, although confined within narrow limits, is of great dignity, for it con- 
 cerns our national honor and provides for the national (lefense. We make this head of 
 our system strong when we confine its action to those objects which are of general inter- 
 est, and prevent its interference with subjects upon which it cannot act with intelligence. 
 If our general government had the powder which is now divided between town, county 
 and State jurisdiction, its attempts at their exercise would shiver it into atoms. If it were 
 composed of the wisest and purest men the world ever saw, it could not understand all 
 the varied interests of a land as wide as all Europe, and with as great a diversity of 
 climate, soil and social condition. The welfare of the several communities would be 
 sacrificed to the ignorance or prejudices of those who had no direct concern in the laws 
 they imposed upon others. 
 
 " The theory of self-government is not founded upon the idea that the j^eople are 
 necessarily virtuous and intelligent, but it attempts to distribute each particular 
 power to those who have the greatest interest in its wise and faithful exercise. Such dis- 
 tribution is founded on the principle that persons most interested in any matter manage 
 it better than wiser men who are not interested. Men act thus in their private concerns. 
 When we are sick, we do not seek the wisest man in the community, but the physician 
 who is best acquainted w^ith our disorder and its remedies. If we wish to build, we seek 
 not the most learned man, but the man most skillful in the kind of structure we desire to 
 -erect, and if we require the services of an agent, the one is best for us who is best 
 acquainted with our wants, and most interested in satisfying them. The Bible intimates 
 this course when it says that a man can judge lietter in relation to his own affairs than 
 seven watchmen on a high tower. This principle not only secures good government 
 for each locality, but it also brings home to each individual a sense 
 of his rights and responsibilities ; it elevates his character as a man ; he is taught self- 
 reliance ; he learns that the performance of his duty as a citizen is the corrective for the 
 evils of society, and is not led to place a vague, unfounded dependence upon legislative 
 wisdom. It not only makes good government, but it also makes good manhood. 
 Under European governments but few feel tliat they can exert any influence upon public 
 morals or affairs; here every one knows that his character and conduct will at least af- 
 fect the character of the town in which he lives. While the interests of each section are 
 thus secured, and the citizen is educated by duties, the general government is strength- 
 ened and made enduring by lifting it above invidious action, and making it the point 
 about which rally the affections and pride of the American people, as the exponent to the 
 world at large of our common power, dignity, and nationality. "
 
 128 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 
 
 Republican Tendencies. 
 
 In marked contrast with the theory of government as above defined by the 
 great leaders of the Democratic party is the centralization tendency of its Repub- 
 lican rival. That party inherits much of the objectionable doctrines which 
 Hamilton advocated in the Convention which framed the Constitution, but 
 which, fortunately, were not stamped upon that instrument. 
 
 Hamilton's Theory of Goverr\ment. 
 
 In Madison's notes on the proceedings of the Convention, he reports the 
 substance of one of Hamilton's speeches as follows : 
 
 "The general power, whatever be its form, if it preserves itself, must swallow up the 
 State powers, othenvise it will be swallowed up by them. It is against all the principles 
 of a good government to vest the requisite powers in such a body as Congress. Two 
 sovereignties cannot exist within the same limits. Giving powers to Congress must 
 eventuate in a bad government, or in no government. The plan of New Jersey, there- 
 fore, will not do. What then is to be done? Here he was embarrassed. The extent 
 of the country to be governed discouraged him. The expense of a general government 
 was also formidable ; unless there were such a diminution of expense on the side of the 
 State governments as the case would admit. If they were extinguished, he was persuaded 
 that great economy might be obtained by substituing a general government. He did 
 not mean, however, to shock the public opinion by proposing such a measure. On the 
 other hand, he saw no other necessity for declining it. They are not necessary for any 
 of the great purposes of commerce, revenue, or agriculture. Subordinate authorities, he 
 was aware, would be necessary. There must be district tribunals ; Corporations for local 
 purposes. But an bono the vast and expensive apparatus now appertaining to the States? 
 The only difficulty of a serious nature which occurred to him, was that of drawing repre- 
 sentatives from the extremes to the centre of the community. What inducements can be 
 offered that will suffice ? The moderate wages for the first branch could only be a bait 
 to little demagogues. Three dollars, or thereabouts, he supposed, would l)e the utmost. 
 The Senate, he feared, from a similar cause, would be filled by certain undertakers, who 
 wish for particular offices under the government. 
 
 "This view of the subject almost led him to despair that a republican government could 
 be established over so great an extent. He was sensible at the same time, that it would 
 be unwise to propose one of any other form. In his private opinion, he had no scruple 
 in declaring, supported as he was by the opinion of so many of the wise and good, that 
 the British government was the best in the world ; and that he doubted much whether 
 anything short of it would do in America. He hoped gentlemen of different opinions 
 would bear with him in this, and begged them to recollect the change of opinion on this 
 subject which had taken place, and was still going on. It was once thought that the 
 power of Congress was amply sufficient to secure the end of their institution. The error 
 was now seen by every one. The members most tenacious of republicanism, he observed, 
 were as loud as any in declaring against the vices of democracy. This progress of the 
 public mind led him to anticipate the time when others as well as himselt would join in 
 the praise bestowed by Mr. Neckar on the British constitution— namely, that it is the only 
 government in the world ' which unites public strength with individual security. 
 • * • * * * * • *.* 
 
 "As to the executive, it seemed to be admitted that no good one could be established 
 on republican principles. Was not this giving up the merits of the question ; for can 
 there be a good government without a good executive ? The English model was the 
 only good one on this subject. The hereditary interest of the King was so interwoven 
 with that of the nation, and his personal emolument so great that lie was placed above 
 the danger of being corrupted from abroad ; and at the same time was both sufficiently 
 independent and sufficiently controlled to answer the purpose of the institution at home. 
 One of the weak sides of republics was their being liable to foreign influence and cor- 
 ruption. Men of little character, acquiring great power, became easily the tools of inter- 
 meddling neighbors. Sweden was a striking instance. The French and English had 
 each their parties during the late revolution which was affected by the predominant in- 
 fluence of the former. What is the inference from all these observations ? That we 
 ought to go a-s far, in order to attain stability and permanency, as republican principles 
 will admit. Let one branch of the legislature hold their places for life, or at least 
 during good behavior. Let the executive also be for life."
 
 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 129 
 
 Towards the close of the Convention, Hamilton handed to Madison a plan of a 
 constitution in accordance with his own ideas. 
 
 Art. VIII., sec. 1, contains the following : 
 
 "The governor or presiilent of each state shall be appointed under the authority of 
 the United States ; and shall have a ris^dit to nei,'ative all laws about to be passed in the 
 state of which he shall be 'governor or president, subject to such qualifications and reg- 
 ulations as the lej^islature of the United States shall prescriije." 
 
 The Republican party is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of this doctrine. 
 It does not seem to be aware that the war is over. Its rapid drift toward central- 
 ization, aristocracy and monopolies, is indeed cause for alarm, and calls for an 
 emphatic protest by the people at the coming Presidential election. 
 
 Blaine's Revenua-Gentralization Scheme. 
 
 Not to be outdone by his party in the reckless advance toward centralization, 
 Mr. Blaine has— not extemporaneously and unadvisedly, but in writing and 
 deliberately — devised a scheme of " paternal government " of a most objectionable 
 nature. We refer to his plan for the collection of revenues to be distributed 
 among the Stales. Hon. James Speed, of Kentucky, who was the Attorney of 
 the United States in President Lincoln's Cabinet, recently said of it : 
 
 His letter about the surplus revenue is monstrous. It shows hini to be as unsafe in 
 his view of the framework of our government as he is in regard to international law. It is 
 charitable to say the letter is the child of ignorance, for if not it is the child of 
 demagoguery. 
 
 The letter is as follows : 
 
 Augusta, Me. , Nov. 22, 1883. 
 Charles Emory Smith, Esq. , Editor Press. 
 
 Mv Dear Sir : I have your note inquiring if I should be willing to gis'e, in the more 
 authentic form of a letter over my )\V(i signature, certain views which I expressed in 
 conversation several weeks since touching an important financial question. I under- 
 stand you refer to some observations I made to one of your assistant editors in regard to 
 the proposition to the Republican State Convention of Pennsylvania for the distribution 
 of the surplus revenue of the National Treasury among the States. I understand you to 
 refer still more particularly to a suggestion of my own as a substitute for the 
 Pennsylvania proposition, to which I thought I saw fatal objections. I have no reason 
 for withholding my views, and I admit the wisdom of your suggestion that I would 
 better state them myself than to have them possibly misstated by others. 
 
 The proposition of the Pennsylvania Rejiublican Convention is to distribute " among 
 the States any surplus in the National Treasury that may arise from a redundant 
 revenue. " The first objection which I see to this proposition is the utter uncertainty of 
 the amount of " redundant revenue. " It may be one million or it may be one 
 hundred millions. The amount, depending as it does on so many contingencies, cannot 
 be determined in advance with even approximate exactness, and the States could not 
 therefore depend upon a steady resource. Unless steady, it would not bring relief, 
 because it would not enable the Stales to dispense with any part of their own systems of 
 taxation. An occasional gift from the National Treasury would not be valuable. That 
 was proved by the distribution of the revenue under the act of 1836 in the Presidency of 
 Gen. Jackson. It did no good. It was frittered away in all the States. Here in 
 Maine they made an absolute per capita distribution of it among the entire population — 
 a trifling sum to each. That of course threw contempt upon the whole measure. 
 
 There is a second objection to the Pennsylvania proposition which in my judgment 
 is still more serious. If you simply resolve to distribute the "redun'lant national revenue" 
 among the States, you impose on Senators and Representatives a divided interest which 
 woultl be embarrassing and hurtful. For the ijenefit of their States -especially of those 
 States that might be in pressing need of money^Senators and Representatives would 
 desire the " redudant revenue " to be as large as possible. This would present a con- 
 stant temptation to withhold appropriations from objects of a really National character. 
 It would be unfair to Senators and Representatives to lay upon them and before them 
 obligations and mo.ive-; which woald C3:istantly tend to turn them from the straight path 
 of duty to the National government. You cannjt have the National government and 
 
 9
 
 130 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 
 
 the State government? joint owners in the same treasury without mischievous conflict. 
 Such a partnership is at war with the well-being of both State and Nation. 
 
 A third objection to the Pennsylvania proposition is that it proceeds upon the 
 assumption of a continuing redundancy of National revenue. This is opposed to all 
 sound views of administration. The Government wants just enough revenue. A redun- 
 dancy always leads to extravagance, to many forms of corruption, and to all manner of 
 schemes for getting rid of the money. A Congress assembling with tens of millions of 
 surplus at its disposal, would be very sure to hold sessions which would prove profitless 
 to the people and pcrilious to its own members. Since the war closed we have had no 
 embarrassing redundancy of revenue Vjecause the payment of the National debt has 
 afforded at once the readiest and the wisest mode of appropriating every dollar not 
 needed for the current expenses of the Government. 
 
 The time is rapidly approaching, however, when, by the terms in which the National 
 debt is funded, the payment of the remainder must of necessity be postponed for years — 
 the largest part of it, indeed, to the next century. This brings with it the necessity of 
 reducing the National revenue. The present system of taxation is yielding more than a 
 hundred millions beyond the amount required for the ordinary expenses of government. 
 Its reduction will soon become an imperative duty. Indeed, a strong movement is already 
 on foot for the repeal of the entire system of internal revenue — on the assumption, which 
 is justified by fact, that receipts from customs will afford abundant resenue tor the needs 
 of the Government. The Protectionists desire this, but not they alone. Judge Kelley is 
 not more earnestly in favor of it than is Mr. Cox of New York, who is a most intelligent 
 representative of the free trade interest. Many of the leading free traders in Congress are 
 opposed to the continuation of the tax on spirits. It is, therefore, quite evident — it is at 
 least highly probable — that a coalition of men holding antagonistic views on the question 
 of protection, will at the first opportunity effect the abolition of the system of internal 
 revenue. 
 
 This conjuncture of circumstances gives, in my judgment, a rare opportunity to re- 
 lieve taxation in the States. And it is under the State governments that taxation is felt 
 most severely. The National government has the benefit of easy because indirect forms 
 of taxation. It is the direct tax that is felt to be oppressive. At the beginning of the 
 war the National government levied a direct tax of twenty millions of dollars upon the 
 States — about sixty-six cents per capita on the whole population. It frightened the people, 
 and the effect was so depressing that all kinds of composition and adjustment were in- 
 vented to avoid payment. But, concurrently with the fright occasioned by the direct tax, 
 hundreds of millions were raised in a single year by customs and by excise without a word 
 of protest or a sense of hardship. 
 
 Our State and municipal taxation is direct. It comes upon the property with crush- 
 ing force. There are few comnmnities in the United States that pay so little as one per 
 cent, per annum on the actual value of their real property. There are many communi- 
 ties that pay more than two per cent, on tht actual value. The houses, the farms, the 
 factories, the stores, the shops, all feel it as a heavy burden— a burden unrelieved by any 
 form of indirect taxation. Wliy, therefore, should wot the States be permitted to have 
 the tax on .spirits for their own benefit if the National government does not need it ? The 
 National and State governments, as I think 1 have shown, cannot safely share the same 
 revenue, but if the National government has no longer need of the tax on spirits, why 
 should not the entire amount which it yields annually be paid over to the States? Could 
 it be regarded as wise statesmanship to continue the heavy, oppressive direct tax on all 
 property under the .State governments, and at the same time command a hurtful luxury 
 like spirits to go free ? That would be a folly which no other government on the globe 
 could by any possibility commit. The tax on spirits oppresses no one. It is paid only 
 by the consumer, and the most extreme advocate of temperance cannot maintain that 
 taxing the article increases its con.sumption. 
 
 The National Government has an ab.solute monopoly of the revenue from customs, 
 for the States are forbidden by the Constitution to levy a tax on imports. The excise 
 tax was left open both to the National and State governments. But as matter of fact, it 
 is only tiie National Government that can effectively levy and collect it. Should the .State 
 of Illinois, for instance, attempt to levy an excise tax on whiskey, the distilleries would 
 be removed across the river to Missouri. Each State in turn that attempts to collect an 
 excise tax would find itself baflled and disabled. It is only the National Government 
 that can ilo it, and the National Government can do it for the benefit of all the States. 
 Instead, therefore, of repealing the tax on spirits, the National Government can assign it 
 to the .States in proportion to their population. The machinery of collection is today in 
 complete operation. A bill of ten lines could direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay 
 the whole of it — less the small exp:;nse of collection — to the States and Territories in the 
 proportion of their population, and to continue it permanently as part of the regular an- 
 nual revenue of the States.
 
 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 131 
 
 The amount yielded by the tax on spirituous and malt liquors last year was over 
 eighty-six millions of dollars ($S6, 000,000). On the basis of the census of 18S0 it would 
 pay about one dollar and seventy-five cents per capita to all the people. The tendency 
 would be to increase rather than to diminish this ratio as time wore on. Illicit distiller- 
 ies would disappear when every State and every town should come to realize that it was 
 bemj^ defrauded of its own revenue by permittinsj or winking at the violation of law. 
 On the basis of one dollar and seventy-five cents per head the relief of the States would 
 be very great. I append a table showing what each State would receive on the basis 
 of the present revenue. * 
 
 In considering;; the measure, as I have very carefully for some months, I may possibly 
 have overlooked objections which others may suggest. But the more I have refiecteil upon 
 it the more evident it has Income to my mind that it is wiser to tax whiskey than to tax 
 farms and homesteads and shops, and that it wouUl be an act of incalculable folly to re- 
 mit the eighty-six millions of dollars instead of giving it to the States for the relief of 
 oppressive local taxation. T.7~l 
 
 I trust I have made the difference between this proposition and the Pennsylvania 
 proposition sufficiently plain. The one I have suggested gives the revenue from a speci- 
 tied tax to the States and does not depend on a chance surplus or an accidental 
 remainder in the National treasury. It makes the tax on spirituous and malt liquors a 
 permanent resource to all the States, enabling them thereby to definitely readjust and 
 reduce their own taxation. Each Stale could wisely use its own share for the relief of 
 its own situation, ^n Maine, for example, our share would enable us to repeal absolutely 
 the State tax proper, leaving only the county and town taxes upon the people. In your 
 State of Pensylvania, where licenses support the State government, the cities and towns 
 could receive pro rata the seven and a half millions that would fall to your share. Your 
 own city of Philadelphia would receive nearly a million and a half per annum. States 
 that have been so oppressed by debt as to be tempted or driven to repudiation, would 
 regain their credit, and every community, from ocean to ocean, would, in one form 
 or another, realize that burdens of taxation were in some degree ameliorated. S;^I 
 believe the measure would prove a "great beneficence " to the people in all parts of the. 
 Republic. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 * Note — The following table will show the amount which each State and Territory 
 would receive under the distribution outlined in the preceding letter. The amount is 
 given in round thousands : 
 
 STATES . 
 
 Alabama $2,208,000 
 
 Arkansas 1,405,000 
 
 California 1,557,000 
 
 Colorado 340,000 
 
 Connecticut i,iS8,ooo 
 
 Delaware 255,000 
 
 Florida 470,000 
 
 Georgia 1,598,000 
 
 Illinois 5,285,000 
 
 Indiana 3,461,000 
 
 Iowa 2,884,000 
 
 Kansas 1,743,000 
 
 Kentucky 2,884,000 
 
 Louisiana 1,644,000 
 
 Maine 1,134,000 
 
 Maryland 1,634,000 
 
 Massachusetts 3, 120,000 
 
 Michigan 2,863,000 
 
 Mississippi $1 980,000 
 
 Missouri 3,794,000 
 
 Nebraska 791,000 
 
 Nevada 100,000 
 
 New Hampshire 605,000 
 
 New Jersey 1,980,000 
 
 New York 8,893,000 
 
 North Carolina 2,450,000 
 
 Ohio 5,596,000 
 
 Oregon 6215,000 
 
 Pennsylvania 7,493,000 
 
 Rhode Island 483,000 
 
 South Carolina 1,742,000 
 
 Tennessee 2,698,000 
 
 Texas 2,785,000 
 
 Vermont 581,000 
 
 Virginia 2,646,000 
 
 West Virginia i,oS 1,000 
 
 Minnesota 1,365,000 I Wisconsin 2,301,000 
 
 TERRITORIES. 
 
 Arizona. $70,000 I Utah $251,000 
 
 Dakota 236,000 Washington 121,000 
 
 Idaho 57,000 j Wyoming 36,000 
 
 Montana 69,000 j District of Columbia 310,000 
 
 New Mexico 208,000 I
 
 132 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 
 
 The Centennial of the Constitution. 
 
 The Constitutiou was framed in 1787, then submitted to the States for adoption, 
 and the new government which it created formally inaugurated on the 4th of 
 
 March, 1789. 
 
 The incoming administration will then remain in olBce until the hundredth 
 anniversary of its adoption, and must prepare a fitting celebration of that great 
 
 event. 
 
 The natural effect will be a revival of interest in Constitutional history and 
 principles and a popular demand for a return to Constitutional methods of govern- 
 ment. Strict adherence and loyalty to that great organic law will be the standard 
 by which political parties will be judged. 
 
 Such a criterion should be adopted by the people during the present campaign, 
 in order that the party which has ever construed the Constitution strictly in their 
 favor as against the pernicious theory of centralization and imperialism, may put 
 an end to war constructions in time of peace, and prepare to inaugurate the second 
 century of its exi.stence with their accustomed respect and reverence for that im- 
 mortal document— a production which the foremost statesman of Burope has justly 
 termed " the most wonderful work ever struck oil at a given time by the brain and 
 purpose of man." 
 
 There are thousands and tens of thousands of Independent and Republican 
 voters who prefer the Jeffersonian or Democratic theory of local self-government 
 to imperial tendencies, but who because of temporary and sectional issues have 
 in the past affiliated with the Republican party. Happily those disturbing issues 
 are dead and buried and the independent and intelligent masses are now considering 
 first principles and drifting toward tlie wisely framed and popular platform of 
 Jefferson and Madison. 
 
 To them the Democratic party cordially extends the right hand of fellowship 
 •md welcomes their co-operation in the coming return to Constitutional methods.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 133 
 
 Administrative Reform. 
 
 Open the Books. 
 
 " We need to have tbc books in the government offices opened for examina- 
 tion," said our candidate for Yice-Presideut, Thomas A. Hendricks, when lie re- 
 turned to his people on July 12tli, 1S84, laden with the honors heaped upon him 
 at Chicago. In a sentence he expressed a leading thought of this campaign. 
 
 In the month of January, 1876, Senator Davis, of West Virginia, called the at- 
 ention of the Senate of the United States to the changes and alterations in the 
 Finance Reports, books and accounts of the Treasury Department, both by reso- 
 lution and speech. He asked then for a committee of investigation, but the Re- 
 publican Senate refused the appointment, and referred the resolution to the 
 Standing Committee on Finance, ^vhich Committee accepted and presented, as its 
 report, the explanatory letter of the Republican Secretary of the Treasury. This 
 ended action in the Forty-fourth Congress. On the assembling of the Forty -fifth 
 Congress, Senator Davis renewed his resolution, and this time was successful in 
 obtaining the appointment of a committee, of which he was made the Chairman. 
 The report following the investigation (4Gth Congress, 2d Session, Report No. 
 539) shows a most extraordinary condition of affairs, and, alone, amply justities 
 the demand of Senator Hendricks for the opening of the books of the government 
 offices for examination. 
 
 WHAT IS THE REGISTER OF THE TREASURY ? 
 
 The Register of the Treasury is the official bookkeeper of the government, and 
 has been from its organization ; he has charge of the great account books of the 
 United States, which show, or ought to, every receipt and disbursement, and 
 from which statements are annually made for transmission to Congress. This 
 fact should be borne in mind for its relation to what follows: 
 
 It is and has been the custom and requirement that the Finance Report to Con- 
 gress should state the public debt for each year of the existence of the govern- 
 meut. In 1871 it was noted that the report of that year very widely differed 
 from the Report of 1870; as to years from 1833 to 1870 inclusive. Prior to 1833, 
 they agreed. The differences involve many million dollars. 
 
 AND WHY •? 
 Up until the year 1870 the Register of the Treasury alone made the statement 
 of the public debt, but in that year the Secretary of the Treasury made one as
 
 134 ADMINISTKATIVE REFORM. 
 
 •well, and Lis report and that of the Register did not agree; tbe discrepancies of 
 the respective tables of statement excited unfavorable comment in the financial 
 circles of England as well as this country, according to an Assistant Secretary of 
 the Treasurj'. As a consequence, the Register was ordered to make changes in 
 his table so as to make it conform with that of the Secretary, or to omit it 
 altogether. 
 
 AN EXTRAORDINARY ORDER. 
 Here is the letter of order (see testimony of Register Schofield, p. 5): 
 
 "Tkeasuey Department, 
 
 "November 24, 1871. 
 "Sir: I have to request that the statement of the public debt on the 1st 
 day of January in each of the years from 1791 to 1842, inclusive, and at various 
 dates in subsequent years, to July 1, 1870, as printed on page 276 of the 
 Finance Report for 1870, may be omitted from your tables in the forthcom- 
 ing reports, or else that it be corrected to conform to Table II on page xxv 
 of the same report for the same year. 
 
 "This request is made in consequence of a letter from the Assistant Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury, now in London, who complains that these different 
 tables are frequently referred to in England, and the discrepancies between 
 them constantly and unfavorably commented upon. 
 
 "The table found on page xxv is, I believe, as nearly correct as the ex- 
 amination of the accounts up to the present time will enable it to be made, 
 though I am under the impression there will be some changes necessary in 
 order to make it absolutely reliable. 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "J. H. SAVILLE, 
 
 Chief Clerk. 
 "Hon. John Allison, 
 
 " EefjisUir of the Treasury." 
 
 This order certainly was a most singular one, for it commanded the Register of 
 the Treasury, the bookkeeper of the government, either to falsify the results of 
 his books, or to omit a practice which, if it had not the sanction of law, certainly 
 had that of a long standing custom — a custom as old as the govemmeut itself, 
 and therefore quite as binding. But the order was obeyed, and the Register's 
 table of statement of the public debt for 1871 presented a wide discrepancy when 
 compared with the one presented by himself in 1870. 
 
 This difference is what ? 
 
 Large enough to startle even a Republican tiuancier? v 
 
 $247,767,341.66. 
 
 Below is presented the extraordinary statement, now a part of tlie records of 
 the United States Senate:
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 135 
 
 STATEMENT I'.-PKEPARED BY SENATE COMJvnTTEE ON TREASURY ACCOUNTS. 
 
 Secrelary's and I?effister's tabulated statements of tJie pvblic debt far t/ie fiscal years 
 
 1S33 to 1S70, inclusive. 
 
 C<ipiiil from tlie Finance Keports of 1870 and 1871. 
 
 Year. 
 
 1S03 
 
 I>i4 
 
 1335 
 
 1S:}6 
 
 1*37 
 
 1838 
 
 1839... . 
 
 1840 
 
 1811 
 
 181:) 
 
 1843 
 
 1814 
 
 1815 .... 
 
 1316 
 
 1847 
 
 1818 
 
 1819 
 
 1850 
 
 1851 
 
 1853 
 
 1853 
 
 1854 
 
 1855 
 
 1856 
 
 1857 
 
 185S 
 
 1859 
 
 ISfiO 
 
 1861 
 
 lS<i2 
 
 1803 
 
 1SG4 
 
 1865 
 
 lS'i6 
 
 1S67 
 
 1808 
 
 18C9 
 
 1870 
 
 Total. 
 
 Secretarj''s state- Register's state- 
 ment, Finance' meut, Finance 
 Report, 1871), I Keport. 1870, 
 page XXV. I page 276. 
 
 Secretary's compared with 
 Register's. 
 
 Increase. 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 $7,001 
 
 4,7<iO 
 
 37 
 
 336 
 
 3.308 
 
 10,431. 
 
 3,573, 
 
 5, :•.■■)( 1. 
 
 13..V.I1, 
 
 20.. ,111. 
 
 32,742. 
 
 23.161: 
 
 15,if.'5: 
 
 15,550. 
 
 3S,8-.'6. 
 
 47,014. 
 
 63^06 1. 
 
 63,452, 
 
 68,304. 
 
 66.199. 
 
 59.803. 
 
 42,212, 
 
 35.586, 
 
 31.972 
 
 28,699 
 
 44.911. 
 
 58,496 
 
 01.812. 
 
 90,580. 
 
 524.176. 
 
 1,119.772 
 
 1,815.784, 
 
 2,680.64 
 
 2,773.230, 
 
 2.678.126. 
 
 2,611,687. 
 
 2,58S,452. 
 
 2,4^0,67 
 
 .698 83 
 ,0.s2 08 
 ,513 05 
 ,957 S^i 
 ,124 07 
 
 221 14 
 313 82 
 S75 54 
 4S0 73 
 226 28 
 922 00 
 652 50 
 3(iJ 01 
 202 97 1 
 .'■.34 77j 
 862 23 
 858 69 
 773 55 1 
 796 02 
 341 71 1 
 117 701 
 
 222 42 1 
 956 56 
 537 90 
 831 85 
 88103 
 S37 88 
 287 88 
 873 72 
 412 13 
 138 03 
 370 57 
 !<69 71 
 173C:l 
 103 87 
 851 m 
 213 94 
 127 81 
 
 20,2,13,100.879 33 
 19,98.),393,537 67 
 
 247,767,341 66 
 
 $7,001 
 
 4,700 
 
 .351 
 
 291 
 
 1.87.S, 
 
 4.8.")7 
 
 11,983 
 
 5,125 
 
 6.73T 
 
 • 15,028, 
 
 •27,203, 
 
 24,748, 
 
 17,093, 
 
 16,7,50, 
 
 38,956. 
 
 48,526, 
 
 04.701, 
 
 64,228, 
 
 6'2.560. 
 
 65,131 
 
 67,340 
 
 47,242, 
 
 39,969, 
 
 30.963 
 
 29,060, 
 
 44,910, 
 
 58,755, 
 
 64,769, 
 
 90,867, 
 
 514,211, 
 
 1,098.793, 
 
 1,740,690, 
 
 2,682,593, 
 
 2,783,425. 
 
 2.692,199. 
 
 2,636.320. 
 
 2,489,002, 
 
 2,;J86,358, 
 
 033 88 
 ,081 08 
 289 05 
 089 05, 
 .•223 55 
 ,660 40 
 ,737 53, 
 ,077 63 
 ,3!'8 00 
 186 37 
 4.50 09 
 1,88 23 
 7iilb8 
 920 33 
 6-J3 38 
 
 379 37 
 693 71' 
 •,'38 371 
 395 26 
 69213 
 6:.'8 78! 
 206 05 
 
 ■31 05 
 909 CI 
 
 380 90 
 777 66 
 699 33 
 
 03 08 
 828 68 
 371 9' 
 18137 
 489 49 
 026 53 
 879 21 
 21512 
 9(i4 67 
 4,s05r 
 5;i9 74 
 
 S665 95 
 100 
 
 '15,8iJ8 78 
 ],l-29,!»00 52; 
 5,.576,.560 C8i 
 
 "125,797 91 
 6,857,0S'3 73 
 5,572,739 91 
 5,5.39,471 31 
 
 $313,770 00 
 
 8,410,393 71 
 
 5,744,400 761. 
 1,067,019 58 
 
 1,286,535 73 
 1,108,491 79 
 1,200,723,36 
 
 130.088 61 
 1,181,517 14 
 1,612,835 02 
 
 775,464 82 
 
 19,985,393,537 6'; 
 
 Difference, or increase, in Secretary's state- 
 ment, as comp,'>re(l wiih Resistor's state- 
 ment 
 
 1,008,623 26 
 
 1,103371 
 
 72,584' 80, 
 
 "9,9(;5,040 2i' 
 20.978,'.i5r 26 
 75,093,88108; 
 
 7,537.511 08 
 4,999,983 63 
 4,382,774 49 
 
 360,.555 05 
 '257i86l'45 
 ' 26i),594 96 
 
 99,449,733 36 
 94,313,828 07 
 
 1,944,150 79 
 10,189,705 52 
 14.073,11125 
 24,633,113 48 
 
 a32,843,895 54 
 85,076,553,88 
 
 85,076,553 88 
 
 247,767,341 66 
 
 Register's etate- 
 niuut. Finance! Vonr 
 Report, 1871, *^'''^- 
 page 368. I 
 
 $7,001,698 83 
 
 4,700,082 08 
 
 37,513 05 
 
 336,957 8;3 
 
 3,30.8,124 
 
 10,431,221 14 
 
 3,573,343 62 
 
 5,-250,875 54 
 
 1:3.591,480 73 
 
 20,601, -226 28 
 
 32,742,922 00 
 
 2;3, 46 1,652 50 
 
 15,925,.303 01 
 
 15,,550.-2fl2 97 
 
 38,826,53177 
 
 47,044,862 23 
 
 6;3,06I,a58 69 
 
 63,452,773 55 
 
 68,301,796 02 
 
 66,199,341 71 
 
 59,803,117 70 
 
 42,242, -222 42 
 
 35,586,956 56 
 
 31,972,537 90 
 
 28,699,831 85 
 
 44,911,88103 
 
 58,496,837 88 
 
 04,842 287.88 
 
 90,580,873 72 
 
 524,176,412 13 
 
 1,119,772.138 63 
 
 1,81.5,784.370 57 
 
 2,680,647,869 74 
 
 2,773,236.173 69 
 
 2,678,126.103 87 
 
 2,6ll,687,a51 19 
 
 2,588,452,213 94 
 
 2,480,672,427 81 
 
 20,'233. 160,879 3:3 
 19,985,393,537 67 
 
 247,767,341 66 
 
 1833 
 
 isai 
 
 1835 
 1836 
 1837 
 18.38 
 1839 
 1840 
 1811 
 1812 
 
 law 
 
 1844 
 1845 
 1846 
 1847 
 1848 
 1819 
 1850 
 1851 
 1852 
 1853 
 1854 
 1855 
 1856 
 1857 
 1858 
 1859 
 1860 
 1861 
 1862 
 1863 
 1864 
 1865 
 1806 
 1867 
 1868 
 1869 
 1870 
 
 Where Lays the Poaver to Order a Ciiaxge ? 
 
 When Register Schofield "was under examination before tlie Committee the 
 following testimony was elicited (see testimony, page 0) : 
 
 By :\Ir. Beck 
 
 ********* 
 
 Q. The Constitution of the United States, in the 7th clause of section 9, article 
 1, provides that " no motiey shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence 
 of apDrnprialioiis made bylaw ; and a regular statement and account of the re- 
 ceipts and expenditures of all public moiu-j" shall be published I'rora time to 
 ime ;" and section 313 of the Revised Statutes of the United States makes it th(
 
 136 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 duty of the Register " to keep all accounts of the receipts and expenditures of 
 thepubhc monkey, and of all d^btsdue to or from the ITnitLd States." Now 
 please state by what authority, if any, the Secretary or his chief clerk, or any- 
 body else, could direct tlic Register either to change his reports or conform them 
 to any view tijat tiie Secretary or any one else might have as to Ihe proper mode 
 of keeping and publishing them ? — A. I !-upposc the Secretary l.;.s authority to 
 prescribe the manuer in which the accounts shall be kept, but I do not suppose 
 that any Secretary has the right to alter the books of the Treasmy, aud 1 have 
 always understood that that was never done. 
 
 Q. Aflraitting that the Secretary had the right to prescribe rules for the future 
 action of the Register, had he any sort of authority to give r.rders as to how past 
 events should be stated or past records changed after they liad been pulilished 
 and submitted to Congress under the constitutional requirement? — A. I think 
 that would be a question which your committee ought to answer in your report. 
 
 By the CnAiRiiAN : 
 
 #*»* ***** 
 
 Q. Are j'ou not as Register the official bookkeeper of the government, and final 
 custodian of all warrants and vouchers, whatever may have been paid for any ex- 
 penditure or receipt of the government ? — A. Yess f-ir. 
 
 Q. Cm any money In received into or paid out of the Treasury without a war- 
 rant going tlirough your office? — A. Jloneys are received into the Treasury by 
 warrants and paiil out on warrants, wliieli liy the act of ITS^O, Rev. Stat., fee. 305, 
 must be drawn by the Secretary, couutcrsigued by the Comptroller, and registered 
 by tlie Register. 
 
 Q. I a^k the general question whether any money can be paid out or received 
 into the Treasury witliout the warrant going llirougli 3our office ? — A. It cannot. 
 
 Q. You keep all accounts of the government, do you not, where money, or 
 bonds, or anything which relates to the financial condition of the government is 
 concerned ? — A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. "When was the Register's office established? — A. At the beginning of the 
 government, by the act of 178D. 
 
 Q. When was the Secret arj's office as a warrant division established ? — A. The 
 Secretary always itsued the warrants, but I think the warrant division as it now 
 exists is of recent origin. 
 
 Q. Can you give us the time ? — A. I cannot without looking it up ; I think 
 about 1870. 
 
 This order of the Secretary of the Treasury resulted in an increase of over 
 $247,000,000 in the public debt, as shown by the statement of it for the year ISTl, 
 going back to the year 1833, though during those years the statements made to 
 Congress purported to be an accurate transcript of the books of the Register. 
 
 THE MODE OF STATING THE PUBLIC DEBT. 
 
 It appears that after 1870, in accordance with the order of the Secretary, there 
 was a difEerence in the mode of stating the public debt. How these changes were 
 made is well shown by "William Guilford, who in the Register's Office had charge 
 of making up the Receipts aud Expenditures of the government. His testimony 
 is as follows (see testimony, pp. 25 and 2G) : 
 
 ******** « 
 
 Q. Did 5'ou prepare that statement for the committee in the Register's ofike 
 (hamling to witness statement marked •" Statement No. 3"), being a "statement cf 
 tlie Receipts, Expenditures aud outstanding principal of the Public Debt, interet, 
 ami iiremiiuu jtaid from 18C0 to 1877, inelusiv(!, coTupiled from the books in the 
 Register's office V" — A. Yes, sir; 1 prepared that witlimy own hands. 
 
 * * * ****** 
 
 _ , * 
 
 (.}. 1 see m a column headed "Amounts to be addtd t > receipts," marked "1)," 
 $2,01'J,77t).l(); sinil anoliier one marked " c," $l,()(i(),UOO; aud then one marked 
 "(I," !f3,274,()"51.(J!>, making a total of ^(],293,8e7.7!), wliich you say is "to be 
 added lo receipts." Wliat is meant by that ? — A. That is in accordance with tho 
 S«rcretary'3 ReMort of 1871. Those amounts do not appear upon our book.-^. They
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM, 137 
 
 are added in accordance with the Secretary's order, hi order to harmonize the two, 
 as is shown in the report of Ib'tl. 
 
 Q. I understand that these three items, amounting to between six and seven 
 million dolhirs, do not appear upon your books ? — A, They do not. 
 
 Q. But arc addrd litre by order or the Secretar}'? — A, So I understand. 
 
 Q. How did you state the debt for 1870 and previously? — A. I did not state 
 it mj'self, but it was stated by the Issues and Iiodemptions. 
 
 Q. IIow has it been stated since ? — A. It has been stated since by Receipts and 
 Expenditures, and the table has been revised in accordance. 
 
 Q. In the revision you speak of, you changed the amounts as they had pre- 
 viously been reported from your oflice, commencing with 1833 ? — A. Yes, sir. 
 
 By ;Mr. Allison : 
 
 Q. Do I understand that you have charge of the books in the Register's oflSce 
 showing the Receipts and Expenditures of tlic government ? — A. Xo, sir; I com- 
 pile from the books tlie Receipts and Expenditures. 
 
 Q. It is apart of your duty, then, to make up a tabulated statement annually 
 of the Receipts and Expenditures from the books of the Register ? — .V. Yes, sir. 
 
 A GREATER MAN THAN HAMILTON. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, when Secretarj^ of the Treasur3^ adopted the system of 
 stating the public debt by "Issues and Redemptions," but Secretary Bout well, 
 being a greater man, changed the Ilamiltonian system in 1870 to "Receipts and 
 Disbursements," with a consequent result of increasing the public debt statement 
 by over $247,000,000. The testimony of ]\rajor Power, then Chief Clerk of the 
 Treasury Department (p. 61), shows that not only an accurate statement could be 
 made up from the Issues and Redemptions alone, but that it was the best way. 
 
 TThy was the change in the mode of statement made ? No improvement is the 
 result, but upon the contrary a confusion most vexatious, as the following will 
 show : 
 
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITTJKES. 
 
 Major Power testifies (see testimony, pp. 80 and 81)' ;" 
 
 By the Chairman : 
 
 ********** 
 
 Q. Look at the report of 1871, at page 20, and state what the total receipts of 
 the government up to June 20, 1871, were. — A. Tiie total receipts received into 
 the Treasury on account of loans were $7,094,511,041.38. 
 
 Q. The net expenditures ?— A. :?4,857,434,540.51, leaving a balance of *2,237,- 
 106,500.87. 
 
 Q. State what the difference is between that and the actuuY amount of the pub- 
 lic debt at that time ?— A. The actual public debt was |2,353,211,332.32. 
 
 Q, What is the difference between the actual debt and wliat it would appear to 
 be on the basis of Receipts and Expenditures ? — A. $110,104,831.45. 
 
 Q. If Receipts and Expenditures were tlie true way to keep the public debt, 
 ought not the difference between Receipts and Expenditures to have shown the 
 actui.1 amount of the public debt '? — A. It should have shown the actm-J amount 
 of llie public debt plus the amount of loans or bonds issued for which no receipts 
 came itito the Trer.suij'. 
 
 Q. You have said that it does not state the true amount of the public debt br 
 $116,000,000, in round numbers. What is the reason wh}' it does not show the 
 true amount ? — A. On account of the loans that were issued and redeemed after- 
 wards, for which no receipts came into the Treosur}', and various items of dis- 
 counts, premiums, and interest charged as principal. 
 
 Q. If that be so, Receipts and Expenditures alone would not show the actual 
 puMic debt '? — A. Xot unless you add these items for which no receipts were re- 
 ceived. 
 
 ********** 
 
 Mr. Bayley, of the Secretary's office, testifies (see testimony, p. 121) :
 
 138 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 By >Ir. Dawes : 
 
 Q. When did this $116,000,000 first appear in the Finance Report ?— A; The 
 first note is in 1^71. 
 
 Q. When did this $110,000,000 first appear : -what is it a discrepancy between ? 
 — A. The discrepancy is between the amount received on account of loans and 
 Treasury notes. 
 
 Q. In the published reports in which year did it first appear to make a dis- 
 crepancy ? A. In 1870. 
 
 Q. Under what head ? A. Under the head of tables K and L. 
 
 Q. What are tlieir names ? A. " Statement of the Receipts and Expenditures 
 of the Unitetl States." 
 
 Q. That made a discrepancy of !>116,000,000 between that statement and what 
 other statement ? A. And the amount of the public debt as shown at that time 
 bv the debt statement. 
 "Q. This $110,000,000, then, first appeared there ? A. Yes, sir. 
 
 ]\Ir. Bayley here says that he found a difference of 8110,000,000 between the 
 public debt statement at that time and the amount of debt stated from Receipts 
 and Expenditures, and the discrepancy appeared for the first time in the Finance 
 Report of 1871. That is to say, when the Receipts and Expenditures on account 
 of the public debt were compared in 1870, there were $116,000,000 of public debt, 
 according to the Secretary's debt statement, unaccounted for by a statetaent made 
 up from the Receipts and Expenditures : 
 
 From the beginning of the government to June 30, 1871 : 
 
 The total receipts were $7,094,541,041 38 
 
 The total net expenditures 4,857,434,540 51 
 
 Balance 3,237,106,500 87 
 
 The public debt, June 30, 1871 2,353,211,333 33 
 
 Difference - - 116,104,831 45 
 
 VERY REMARKABIJE BOOKKEEPING. 
 
 This certainly is very remarkable bookkeeping, if it be no worse. Buk it is 
 not alone in these particulars that this looseness of administration is shown. 
 Perceive how little check tliere is in the issue of bonds and how easy for a dis 
 honest man to enrich himself when the opportunity presents itself. 
 
 William Fletcher, Chief of Loan Division, in answer to how bonds were 
 issued, said (see testimony, pp. 130, 137 and 128): 
 
 By the Chairman : 
 
 *it ******** 
 
 Q. Please explain where, when you went into the office, and where at present, 
 bonds were and are issued ? A. 1 did not know mucii about it at the time I 
 entered the oliice, and I do not know that I can tell how bonds were issued fifteen 
 years ago. 1 was tlien a clerk of class one and had not the management ; neither 
 have 1 been over the papers so as to be able to tell hoAv bonds were issued then, 
 I can tell how an issue is made now and how it has been for a number of years. 
 
 Q. State that. A. A deposit is made in the office of the Treasurer, for which 
 he issues a certificate, and upon tliat certificate our office issues an order on the 
 Register of the Treiksiiry. On that order bonds are issued. I have a certificate 
 here which I can show. 
 
 Q. Does tlie bond come back to j-our office ? A. Yes, sir; and receives the 
 seal and is initialed. 
 
 Q. Does it then go back to the Treasurer's office ? A. No, sir ; not to the 
 Treasurer's. It is delivered in accordance with instructions indorsed on the 
 Treasurer's certificate. 
 
 Q Tiie Treasurer, after giving the order, has nothing further to do with the 
 bond in any way ? A. No, sir. 
 
 ****«***#» 
 
 Q. If you did so, the bond would come to you office for putting on the initials? 
 A. Yes, sir.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFO-iM. 139 
 
 Q. And would not go to the Treasurer to see if he had money for it iu the 
 Treasury V A. It would not go to the Treasurer. 
 
 Q. If 'the Treasurer issues a certificate f(jr a one thousand dollar bond, is there 
 anything to prevent an order for two thousand dolhirs of bonds being sent to the 
 liegister's office from your office ? A. Only our checks. 
 
 Q. Your integrity ? ' A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. I am putting that out of the question all the time. If such a bond was 
 issued, that two thousand dollar bond would come back to your olUce. What 
 would you do with? A. Tlic inisials of the clerk having charge of the loan 
 would be put upon it, and it would be sealed. 
 
 Q. But the Treasurer himself would know nothing of it ? A. No, sir. 
 
 Q. Do you keep an account in your office of accrued interest on bonds when 
 they are issued ? A. We keep an account of it as furnished by the certificate 
 of deposit. 
 
 Q. To make plain, if I were to ask you to-day to furnish me a list of ac- 
 crued interest upon bonds sold since 1864, or any other time, could you do it ? 
 A. I could not. 
 
 Q. It is not kept in your office m such a way that j-ou could ? A. No, 
 sir. 
 
 And Treasurer GilfiUan testifies (see testimony, pp. lUG and 107): 
 
 By the Chairman : 
 
 ».«• * * * * * * * 
 
 Q. How do you know that a bond is issued for the same amount that you 
 gave a certificate for? A. I have not any knowledge of the transaction after 
 having given the receipt. 
 
 Q. If A applies for a $1,000 bond and pays you the principal and accrued in- 
 terest, you give him a receipt for that $1,000. That then goes to the Loan Di- 
 vision of the Secretary's office, as I understand, and the Loan Division issues an 
 order to the Register to issue the bond? A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. The Register issues the bond, and does what with it? A. Transmits it 
 Tisuallj' to the subscriber, to the depositor. 
 
 By Mr. Dawes: 
 Q. Before he docs that, does he not send it to the Secretary? A. This present 
 loan, as I understand, goes back to the Loan Division of the Secretary's office. A 
 part of the process is then completed: I think putting on the sealandan initial. 
 
 By the Chairman : 
 
 Q. That is the same office that gave the order for the bond? A. Yes, sir. 
 Whether they send the bonds or not I am not certain. 
 
 ********* 
 
 Q. Is there anything other than the integrity of the officer to prevent the Loan 
 Division, if it receives a certificate from you of $1,000, directing the licgister to 
 issue a bond of f 3,00;*? A. 1 do not know that there is, of my own knowledge. 
 
 Q. Is there any check upon the Loan Division from making an order upon the 
 Register to issue to A a bond of any given amount? A. Not that I am aware of. 
 
 Q. How long has the present syr^tem of issuing bonds been in practice? A. I 
 think ever since there has been a Loan Division. I know it was so in Mr. Bout- 
 well's time. 
 
 ********* 
 
 Thus it will be seen the Chief of the Warrant Division, the Chief of the Loan 
 Division, and the Treasurer of the United States all say that there is no check 
 upon the Loan Division in issuing bonds, and that uponthf integrity of one man 
 in the Loan Division may depend whether or not the bonded debt of the govern- 
 ment is as reported. 
 
 WHO KNOWS HOW M.\NY LEGAL TENDER NOTES ARE IN CIRCULATION. 
 
 It is quite the same with reg-ird to the issue of legal tender notes. 
 
 In regard to the issue of legal tender notes. Major Pti wer testifies (see testimony 
 pp. 9;iaud03):
 
 140 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 ilr THK CHATRit-vx : 
 
 * »* * * * * * * * 
 
 Q. TLe Register's name is on tlie notes, I br.lieve ? A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q, Does the Kegister ever see the notes ? A. Not until they are redcemecL 
 
 Q. Then a note"i«suetl, though i t is signed by the Register, never passes through 
 the Register's office ? A. Tha^ is, the notes bear the fae^dmUe of the Register's 
 signature. 
 
 Q. i understand that the Superintendent of the Printing Bureau delivers to 
 the Treasurer direct the notes, legal tenders or fractional currency -vshen the let- 
 ter w a^ in existence. Do they pass through any other hands but those two ? A- 
 Thry do rot, 
 
 Q. 1 hey are ready for circulation when the Treasurer receives them from the 
 Printing Bureau ? A. They are then ready for circulation. 
 
 Q. 1 licy are ready ? A. Yes ; but they cannot be put into circulation legally 
 until the Trea-surer covers the amoimt into the Treasury ; they are not money in 
 the Treasury until covered in. 
 
 Q. Still they are in his po.^ie8.sion and no one else has possession of them but 
 the Treasurer, and ne could, it' he vp^ dishonest, p;it them in circulation without 
 making any further r^^port aLout the matter ? X. There is no other check upon 
 the immediate issue of these note-'. 
 
 Q. They do not pass through the Register's office until thay are redeemed and 
 ready for destruction ? A- Ko, sir. 
 
 Q. Then are they registered in the Register's office, all that have been dc- 
 stroved ? A. They are. 
 
 • *****%**** 
 
 Q. And t'ae same as to d.-liver from t!ie Printing Bureau to the Treasurer l;.:s 
 been in exist< nee since the act creating the two classes of cotes, the legal tenders 
 and fractional currency ? A. Yes, sir, 
 
 Q. And they pass through no other hands, I understand, as a check ? A. 
 No, sir. 
 
 ********** 
 
 This shows that t'ae Register's name is on a^^ legal tender notes, that he does 
 not see them until tlicr are redeemed, and that there is not a proper check on the 
 Treasurer or Bureau of Printing in tl.is regard, so that the Chief of the Bureau of 
 Printing or the Treasurer, if dishonest, could put notes improperly in crrculaticn. 
 
 nfTEKEST PAID WITHOTIT KSOWES^G THE AMOUNT OF BONDS OrTSTA2a>D«G. 
 
 2\or is there anything more satisfactory with regard to the statement of money 
 received for bonds, principal and interest together. According to the following 
 testimony the Treasurer pays the interest on the bonds, but he cannot give the 
 amount of bonds outstanding. 
 
 AMOLTST or ESTTEBEST OX BOXDS. 
 
 James Gillillan, Treasurer of the United States, testifies (see testimony, pp. 104 
 and 10.-): 
 
 By tLo Cn-viRiiA:; : 
 
 Q. To p".t it p'^cticall;-, if you were asked to-<laj to furnish this committee 
 with the lotivl amoimt of interest and principal received last year in bonds which 
 were 6"ld, could you furnish it? A. Kot f r m the books, my impression is, 
 without going tlixough and taking the warrants and separating them. 
 
 Q. Yoix undersiaii'i Ih it wlien the entry is mnde upon the books it is made in 
 gross and not separate entries, one of principalaud theoth' rof inrerest ? A. Yes, 
 sir. The items of receipts are internal revenue, lands, war, and ua\-y (which 
 are repayments), an 1 miscellaneous. The miscellaneons includes the public 
 debt and f.ther receipts excpt those before named, which would include princi- 
 palan 1 interest. Ithink that was wluityoa requested of mj in my statement. 
 
 Q. Which you siid you could uot 'furnish ? jV. Yes, sir. It was said it 
 could not !i J furnislicl as the books had been kept from 1S61. 
 
 **«••*** »* 
 
 Q. No separate account on the books was kept of principil and interest ? A 
 Of the receipts, no, sir.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 141 
 
 Q. Can your office sive the exact amounts of bonds now in circulation ? A. 
 A. No, sir. 
 
 Q. Then rou might, so far as your office is concerned, pay coupons of dupli- 
 cate numbers, or a greater amount of coupons than were out ? A. If they were 
 genuine coupons. 
 
 Q, How would you know wliether they were genuine or counterfeit— on the 
 same principle tliat you know whether a note is a counterfeit or not ? A. 
 Exictly. 
 
 Q. But you have no means of knowing whether a bond has been fraudulently 
 or illegally or wrongfully gotten into circulation or not ? A. Unless in the 
 case of registered bonds, which are caveated, and we might have been notified; 
 but we never should be notified of that, because it is not necessary. 
 
 This shows that the Treasurer keeps the moneys received for bonds, principal 
 and interest together, and that he cannot tell from the books how much was re- 
 ceived for principal and how much for accrued interest for a given time; that is, 
 accrued interest on bonds sold is not kept as a separate account. The treasurer 
 pays interest on bonds, but he cannot ffive the amount of bonds outstanding. 
 The treasurer pays all coupons presented, if genuine, but he does not know 
 whether or not duplicates are paid by him or by the sub-Treasurers elsewhere. 
 
 After the foregoing statement of extraordinary discrepancies and differences 
 of debt statements, of unlawful changes in the increase and decrease of debt, and 
 the showing of looseness of administration, of absence of checks in the issue of 
 bonds and legal tender notes, by which the Government is protected only by the 
 integrity of only a single clerk, and of the singular want of knowledge the 
 Treasurer has of the amount of outstanding bonds on which he pays interest, the 
 reader may be well prepared for the following statement of erasures and changes 
 in the b(K)ks of the Treasury. 
 
 APPAKEKT ERASCTBES AXD CHASGES tN THE BOOKS OF THE TREASXTRY. 
 
 On the question of erasures and apparent changes in the books of the Treasury 
 is the following testimony of Mr. "Woodville (see testimony, pp. 110, 111, 112 
 and 113): 
 
 Welll^m Woodville recalled. 
 By the Cn airman' : 
 
 Question. By whom was the statement that I hand you prepared ? (Exhibit- 
 ing.) — Answer. Prepared by Mr. Byrne, formerly clerk" of this committee. 
 
 Q. Have you examined it by the books so as to be able yourself to testify to it ? 
 A. Yes, sir; I can testify to this statement. I went over it with him and checked 
 it off with him from the other book. 
 
 Q. Have you recently re-examined it ? — A. Yes, sir ; I have refreshed my 
 memory about it to-day. 
 
 Q. Is it correct '?— A. It is correct, with the exception of a few memoranda 
 which are marked there ; two exceptions which I have specified on it. 
 
 The Chairman'. 1 offer that in evidence, as having been the result of the work 
 of Messrs. Wood>'ille and Byrue together, and want it to go in.
 
 142 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 Memorandum of erasures, alterations, and changes found in '-Register of Public Debt Wan-ants'' 
 from January 1, ia05, to December 31, 18G9. Secretary of tlie Treasury. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Number of 
 warrants . 
 
 • 
 
 Amount. 
 
 
 Tan 9 
 
 1737 
 1S8:J 
 205:J 
 2090 
 2118 
 2160 
 2-302 
 2398 
 2678 
 2784 
 2855 
 2944 
 2983 
 3116 
 3238 
 S256 
 3275 
 3445 
 S628 
 8629 
 8672 
 3718 
 3881. 
 
 Scratched . 
 
 :...do.... 
 4035 
 
 Scratched . 
 40SS 
 4371 
 
 4372 
 
 4373 
 
 4374 
 
 4486 
 
 4611 
 
 4746 
 
 4817 
 
 4862 
 
 4900 
 
 4930 
 
 5454 
 
 5631 
 
 6673 
 
 5701 
 
 6795 
 
 5888 
 
 5900 
 
 5958 
 
 6064 
 
 64:10 
 
 G437i 
 
 (hl7.J 
 
 6008 
 
 6032 
 
 6034 
 
 6742 
 
 002<> 
 
 6938 
 
 6940 
 
 7232 
 
 72»i 
 
 72W 
 
 7331 
 
 7378 
 
 20 
 
 22 
 
 27 
 
 30 
 
 53 
 
 83 
 
 Scratched. 
 
 397 
 
 663 
 
 704 
 
 830 
 
 SCO 
 
 
 811,981 56 
 
 1 17 
 
 
 , Feb. 6 
 9 
 10 
 
 Amount altered and scratched 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 40,434 54 
 187,932 33 
 669,920 00 
 
 17 
 
 do 
 
 450 500 00 
 
 1865 Mar. 3 
 16 
 
 do 
 
 18,302 10 
 211.640 00 
 
 do . 
 
 Apr. 17 
 28 
 
 ... do . . . 
 
 1,0S7 12 
 
 do 
 
 38,221 57 
 
 May 8 
 
 17 
 
 do 
 
 .... do 
 
 26,003 09 
 28.610 15 
 
 
 20 
 
 June 5 
 
 19 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 July 11 
 
 Aug. 1 
 
 5 
 
 i4 
 
 Sept. 4 
 14 
 14 
 21 
 25 
 30 
 
 Nov. 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 27 
 
 Dec. 16 
 
 Jan. 6 
 
 16 
 
 22 
 
 26 
 
 30 
 
 Apr. 18 
 
 May 7 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 28 
 
 June 6 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 July ai 
 ai 
 
 Aug. 2 
 21 
 2:j 
 23 
 
 Sept. 4 
 21 
 29 
 39 
 
 Oct. 31 
 31 
 31 
 
 Nov. 16 
 22 
 
 Jan. 7 
 7 
 8 
 
 do 
 
 57,020 75 
 
 
 ... do 
 
 958,240 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 20,462 17 
 
 17,099 78 
 
 02) 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 . do 
 
 
 do 
 
 3,758 03 
 
 
 do 
 
 976 80 
 
 
 do 
 
 80 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 a43,688 70 
 
 
 do 
 
 67,258 77 
 
 
 do 
 
 1,743,700 00 
 
 
 Amount altered and scratched out 
 
 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 ^monnc altered and scratched 
 
 13,000 000 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 Amount altered and scratched 
 
 Amount erased with red lines should be in Treasury 
 proper 
 
 959 08 
 220 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 1.50 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 200 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 74 00 
 
 
 
 82,.548 .33 
 
 1866 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 84,800 00 
 304 19 
 
 
 do 
 
 46,555 17 
 
 
 do 
 
 154 63 
 
 
 do 
 
 24,380 00 
 
 
 .. do 
 
 1,136 .34 
 
 
 do 
 
 0,10.3 73 
 
 
 do 
 
 107 71 
 
 
 do 
 
 4,5.17(> 73 
 
 
 .... do 
 
 89,900 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 1,341,004 15 
 0,791 87 
 
 
 do 
 
 2>7,500 00 
 
 
 .. ..do 
 
 20,637 67 
 
 
 do 
 
 130,325 88 
 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 39,731,300 00 
 23,137,348 37 
 
 
 do 
 
 7 49 
 
 
 do 
 
 372.424 36 
 
 
 do 
 
 :i0,90(> 43 
 
 
 do 
 
 5.5,298 62 
 
 
 do 
 
 .585 07 
 
 
 do 
 
 15,520 77 
 
 
 do 
 
 52,485 35 
 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 30,160.600 00 
 8.000,000 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 7,0O0,0tX) 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 19,981,751) 00 
 
 48,891 17 
 
 3,535 02 
 
 
 do 
 
 ..do 
 
 1867 
 
 Amount altered and ecratched ; canceled 
 
 1,378,4.50 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 Amount altered and fcratched 
 
 2,621 89 
 50,0iX) 00 
 
 8 
 
 Amount alt<Ted and f^cratched ; canceled 
 
 29,556 95 
 
 12 
 1 15 
 
 Amount altered and scratched 
 
 do 
 
 1,623 05 
 5,139 71 
 
 
 Feb. 19 
 Mar. 29 
 June 13 
 
 27 
 Aug. 8 
 
 34 
 
 Amount altered and Hcratched ; canceled 
 
 Amciunt altered and scratched 
 
 4,000,000 00 
 4,063 40 
 
 
 do 
 
 11,1J0 96 
 
 
 do 
 
 103 00 
 
 
 do 
 
 ! do 
 
 394, KM) 00 
 788,000 00
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 143 
 
 Meinorandum — continued. 
 
 Tear. 
 
 1868 
 
 Date. 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 **7 
 
 
 31 
 
 Sept 
 
 ■i\ 
 
 Oct. 
 
 IV 
 
 Dec. 
 
 o 
 
 
 a 
 
 Feb. 
 
 14 
 
 June 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 July 
 
 31 
 
 Aufr. 
 
 2" 
 
 Sept. 
 
 lii 
 
 Oct. 
 
 31 
 
 Nov. 
 
 12 
 
 yi&T. 
 
 20 
 
 July 
 
 31 
 
 Sept. 
 
 30 
 
 Oct, 
 
 30 
 
 
 30 
 
 Nov. 
 
 30 
 
 Number 
 Warrants. 
 
 870 Amount altered and scratched 
 
 875 : do 
 
 884 I do 
 
 934 do 
 
 Scratched. Marked in marffiii "(Directed same to issue on 
 
 November li, and the entry crossed out with 
 
 I black lines, whilst the amounts in figures arc not 
 
 ! erased. The aggregate amount of the warrant is. 
 
 1051 Amount erased with red lines ; eee next page 
 
 1052 do 
 
 62 Amount erased with lines ; canceled 
 
 174 ' Amount erased with red lines gl4,4.'>() 00 
 
 174 do 527 42 
 
 236 
 2.59 
 285 
 346 
 377 
 377 
 60 
 135 
 
 176 
 
 186 
 187 
 
 203 
 
 Amount altered and scratched 
 
 do 
 
 Amount erased with red Hues; canceled 
 
 Amount erased with red lines 
 
 Amount erased with red lines ; canceled 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 lu several amounts this warrant shows alterations 
 and scratches 
 
 In the recapitulation f(.r the month of July, ]H(i9, in 
 the item of ''Redemption of the Public Debt," 
 the figures are altered and scratched S12,.501,4t;7.49 
 
 In the recapitulation for the month of August, 
 1800, the amounts entered are iu several items 
 altered and scratched. 
 
 Amount altered and scratched 
 
 do 
 
 Amount alteredandscratched; premium on sinking- 
 fund principal 
 
 Amount altered and scratched; redemption of the 
 public debt 
 
 In the mouth of November, 1869, the amounts 
 entered in the recapitulation are scratched and 
 altered iu several items. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 1.031 83 
 
 401,000 00 
 
 340.500 00 
 
 350 00 
 
 34,069,000 00 
 356,400 00 
 128,000 00 
 
 $2,000,000 00 
 
 14,977 43 
 
 28,283,850 00 
 
 300,000 00 
 
 5 00 
 
 33,735.382 50 
 
 3,045.000 00 
 
 37.()t;i 50 
 
 1,233,791 98 
 
 20,824,402 08 
 
 21,314,102 68 
 5,630,541 84 
 
 311,945 10 
 ,265,416 00 
 
 Room 65 Treasury Building, 
 Committee on Treasury Accounts, 
 Washington, D. C, November S3, 1878. 
 
 Senator: I make, at your request, a copy from my " memorandum 1)ook of 
 alterations and erasures," from a book called " Register of Public Debt "War- 
 rants." 
 
 In my examination of tlie books furnished the committee by the Secretary of the 
 Treasuiy, I have thus far noted 1,120 alterations andcliangesiu the 39 books I 
 have examined. 
 
 Most respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 EDWD. BYRNE. 
 Hon. H. G. Davis, 
 
 Chairman, &c. 
 
 Q. Ildvc you made examinations of different books in the Secretary's, the 
 Register's and the Treasurer's office ? — A. My examination was particularly iu the 
 Register's and Treasurer's boolis, and the public debt of the Secretary from 1860 
 to 1S71, inclusive. 
 
 Q. Did you find upon those books alterations or errors or erasures in figures ? 
 — A. Yes, sir ; I found alterations, scratches, canceled warrants. 
 
 Q. To what extent ? — A. In the Treasurer's books from 1800 to 18G7, inclusive, 
 the alterations, scratches, and canceled warrants amounted to about twelve hun- 
 dred in round numbers. 
 
 Q. Twelvu hundred different alterations ?— A. Alterations, scratches, and 
 canceled warrants, anything like a change from the original amount.
 
 144 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 Q. Just explain generally wliat you found upon tlie books in regard to erasures 
 or alterations of figures ? — A. Amounts scratched and now tigures substituted. 
 
 2,500 ERASURES IX LEDGERS IXVOLYIXG ^'^80,000,000. 
 
 These changes, alterations and erasures involve an aggregate sum of about 
 $280,000,000 since January 1st, ll-Go, less than twenty years. "Why these 
 changes and erasures ? What transactions do they cover ? "What is hidden be- 
 neath them ? But the erasures are not all. Z*.Ir. T7oodville, in his testimony, 
 continues : 
 
 Q. Do you know of any leaves being entirely out of the books that appeared 
 to have been cut out ? A. Yes, sir; in the beginni';g of the war some of the 
 I'reasurer's accounts are that way, about isni juid ]'!G2. 
 
 Q. In how many instances ? A. Two, four leaves in one case and five in the 
 other; I can produce the books if you wish. 
 
 Below will 1)0 found the detailed statement of the number and whereabouts of 
 these erasures : 
 
 John W. Gentry, acting as a clerk to the committee, was examined and testi- 
 fied (see testimony, p. 165) : 
 By the Chaibmax : 
 
 Question. Have j'ou made a careful examination of certain ledgers of the 
 Bcgister and Secretary of the Trcasurj^ ? — Answer, I have. 
 
 Q. You selected one of t!ie number that you have examined as an example of 
 all that you have examined ?— A. I did of those mentioned in this statement. 
 
 Q. Is the statement before you the statement you wi?h now to offer as being a 
 correct statement of the erasures and apparent alterations on the books you ex- 
 amined ? — A. ^It is. 
 
 Again (see testimony, p. 17'): 
 
 Tlie eight (8) ledgers enumerated below have also been examined, with the re- 
 sults as stated. 
 
 Three (3) ledgers from office of Jiegistir. 
 
 Title of ledger. 
 
 1. lutcrior appropriation 
 
 ledger Ko. 4. 
 
 2. Naval appropriation 
 
 K-dger No. 6. 
 
 3. Military appropriation 
 
 ledger No. 3:J. 
 
 IVrioil. 
 
 Number of erasures end ap- 
 parent alterations. 
 
 From July 1, 1801, to Jime 30, 1868 One hundred and fifty-three. 
 
 From July 1, 1801, to June 30, 1866 One hundred and thirtj'-seven. 
 
 From July 1, iro", to June 30, \V,7X One hundred and thirty-eight. 
 
 Six (0) ledgers from office of tkcretary of Treasw-y. 
 
 Title of ledger. 
 
 Period. 
 
 Number of crasuren and i:p- 
 parent r.lteration.s. 
 
 4. Interior appropriation From July 1, 1860, to June 20, 1801?.. 
 
 ledger No. 3. ' 
 
 5. Naval ai>pr<>i)riation From July 1, 1860, to June 30,1863.. 
 
 lodger No. 5. 
 
 6. Naval appropriation From July 1, 1803, to June 30, 1867. . 
 
 ledger No. 0. 
 
 7. Naval appropriation From July 1, 1867, to June 30, 1875. . 
 
 ledger No. 7. ! 
 
 8. Military appropriation ^ From July 1, 18.50, to June 30, 18(S3.. 
 
 ledger No. 10. 
 
 Two hundred and ninety-six. 
 One hundred and ninety-three. 
 Six hundred and sixty-eight. 
 Four hundred and fifty-seven. 
 Ont! hundred and sixtv-«ight. 
 
 Three ledgers from Register's oftlce, containing 428 erasures and apparent alterations. 
 
 Six led'^eM from Secretary's office, containing 2,09a erasures and apparent al:crations. 
 
 Total in 9 ledgers ;?,52'7 
 
 I ctTtlfv lli:it I have carefully examined the nine (9; ledgers enumerated above, 
 Hiid that ilie foregoing is a true statement of the erasures and apparent altera- 
 tions. JNO. TT. GENTRY, Ckrh.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 145 
 
 Q. (By Mr. Dawes.) In the cases where your tables show wliat are called 
 erasures and alterations, are you able to tell what the figures, as they now exist, 
 have been substituted for ? — A, I am not. 
 
 These scratches and erasures do not occur wholly in the daybooks or journals 
 but in ledgers, andupou thi.si)oint take the testimony of an experienced account- 
 ant, Major Power (see testimony, p. 91) : 
 
 By the Chairmax : 
 ******** 
 
 Q. Do you know whether or not there are scratches, changes or alterations, 
 whatever you choose to call them, upon the books of tlie department ; take the 
 Secretary's office ? — A. Scratches and mis-entries occur, I ])clieve, in all systems 
 of accounts, and the Secretary's office of the Treasury Department is no excep- 
 tion to that. A clerk may make a mistake at any time. 
 
 Q. Is that likely to follow from the day book or journal into the ledger ? — A. 
 It would be in the journal or register. 
 
 Q. But it ought not to be in the ledger ? — A. No scratches or mis-entries shoidd 
 occur iu the ledger. 
 
 Q. Yoti keep what is known as a register or journal, and post from that into 
 the ledger, do you not ? — A. Yes, sir. 
 
 SOMETHING YOTERS MAY WELL CONSIDER. 
 
 The ^\jnerican voter may well stop and consider, what the wide discrepancies 
 mean, what these erasures of 2,527 in the ledgers of the Registers' and Secretaries' 
 offices portend. Time hides many things, destroyed leaves and cut pages conceal 
 others, but there is one thing that the American people can have done and that is 
 what Governor Hendricks suggests, " the boolcs of the Government opened for ex- 
 amination," by faithful and honest public servants. 
 
 After the foregoing record is examined, the American voter u well prepared to 
 consider the following partial list of defalcations which have occurred during the 
 past twelve years, defalcations upon the part of the servants of the Americau 
 people. 
 
 DEFALCATIOXS OF UNITED STATES OFFICIALS 
 
 DURING THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF PRESIDENTS GR/INT, HAYES 
 AND ARTHUR, COMPILED FROM THE PLTBLIC RECORDS. 
 
 TOTAL AMOUNT STOLEN, SIXTEEN MILLION EIGHT HUNDKED AXD SIXTY-EIGIIT 
 THOrSAND FOTJR HUNDRED AND SIXTY DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS. 
 
 This does not include monej' stolen from the Government under the Whiskey 
 
 Ring frauds, Star Route frauds. Post Office Department defalcations, 
 
 Bumside's frauds, Signal Service (Elowgate's) frauds, or the 
 
 Naval Medical Bureau frauds, or the defalcation of the 
 
 Disbursing Clerk of the State Department. 
 
 Statement of amount of defalcations of Officers of the United States for the 
 fiscal years of 1869 to 1883, both inclusive, as shown by the certified transcripts 
 of the Accounting Officers of the Treasury Department filed iu the U. S. Courts 
 and by the annual reports of the Solicitors of the Treasury to the Secretary of 
 the Treasury and to the Attorney-General of the United States. 
 
 10
 
 146 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 This statement embracej only defalcations -wliere suit has been brought by the 
 TJnited States against the defaulting officers cr their bondsmen and does not in- 
 clude suits against defaulting Post Office Officials. 
 
 The First Comptroller of the Treasury is directed by section 273 of the Revised 
 Statutes of the United States : "To make an annual lleport to Congress of such 
 "officers as shall have failed to make settlement of their accounts for the pre- 
 " ceding fiscal year." 
 
 Xo such report as is required by this mandatory law has been made from 1S69 
 to the close of the last fiscal year. 
 
 Had this law been obeyed, the country coxild have the satisfaction, at least, of 
 knowing the amount it has lost by the defalcations of its officers, the names of 
 the defaulting officers and whether they are sti'.l in office or not. The amounts 
 of defalcations upon which no suit has been brought cannot be obtained from any 
 official publication. It is the secret of the Piepublican Officials and the Republi- 
 can party. 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869 ^2,047,027 02 
 
 Collections by suit unknown. 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1870 |453,9o7 78 
 
 Collections by suit unknown. 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871 $3,606,601 06 
 
 Collection by suit 5,3.30 32 
 
 Loss to Government $3,601,330 74 
 
 Defalcations dming the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872 $2,767,857 36 
 
 Collections by suit 104,423 13 
 
 Loss to Government - $2,663,434 23 
 
 Total amount of defalcations for the four fiscal years preceding 
 
 .Tune SOth, 1872 - $8,875,484 23 
 
 Total collected by suit 109,753 45 
 
 Total loss to Government $8,765,729 97 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1873 $1,200,936,55 
 
 Collections by suit 170,781 33 
 
 Loss to Government $1,036,155 23 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1874 $760,575 72 
 
 Collections by suit - 40,3:6 12 
 
 Lbss to Government $720,249 60 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1875 $1,381,119 28 
 
 Collections by suit 25,073 43 
 
 Loss to Government $1,356,046 85 
 
 Defalcations durin-j the fiscal year ending June 30, 1870 $1,298,616 06 
 
 Collections by suit 36,408 48 
 
 Loss to Government $1,362,147 58
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 147 
 
 Total amount of defalcations for the four tiscal years preceding 
 
 JuiieSO, 187(; 14,647,247 61 
 
 Total collected by suit 272,648 35 
 
 Totalloss to Government $4,374,599 20 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877 $794,451 64 
 
 Collections bysuit 23,249 99 
 
 Loss to Government $771,201 65 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878 $264,010 35 
 
 Collections bysuit 8,235 63 
 
 Loss to Government $255,774 73 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending Juno 30, 1879 $231,854 94 
 
 Collections from suits 4,568 30 
 
 Loss to Government $227,286 64 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880 $485,679 09 
 
 Collections from suit 15,418 30 
 
 Loss to the Government $475,260 79 
 
 Total amount of defalcations during the four fiscal years preced- 
 ing June 30, 1880 $1,775,998 03 
 
 Total collections by suit 51,472 31 
 
 Total loss to the Government $1,724,523 81 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881 $488,477 97 
 
 Collections by suit 11.785 04 
 
 Loss to Government $476,692 93 
 
 vDefalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882 $427,920 24 
 
 Collections by suit 1,224 14 
 
 Loss to Government .: $420,190 10 
 
 Defalcations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883 $653,835 56 
 
 Collections by suit 5,924 33 
 
 $647,911 24 
 Total amount of Defalcations during the three years precedmg 
 
 June 30, 1883 $1,569,733 77 
 
 Total collections by suit 18,933 50 
 
 Total loss to Government $1,550,800 27 
 
 EECAPITULATIOK. 
 
 Amount of defalcations under Grant's first Administration $8,875,483 33 
 
 Amount of defalcation under Grant's second Administration... 4,547.247 61 
 
 Amount of defalcation under Hayes' Administration 1,775,996 02 
 
 Amount of defalcation under Arthur's three years' Administra- 
 tion 1,569,733 77 
 
 Total defalcations ■ ,. $16,808,460 63
 
 148 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 This makes an average yearly defalcation during the fifteen years preceding- 
 June 30th, 1883, of one million one hundred and twenty-four thousand five 
 iiundred and sixty-four dollars ($1,124,504.00). 
 
 The amounts of defalcations by Post Office Department officials during the 
 time stated above, are so intermingled in the Official Reports with other matters 
 that they cannot be ascertained. 
 
 This statement does not include the money stolen under the Whiskey Ring 
 frauds. Star Route frauds, Ilowgate's Signal Service frauds, Burnside's P. O. 
 frauds. Navy Medical Bureau frauds, or other frauds of that nature. 
 
 Section 17G, Revised Statutes of the United States provides that bonds shall be 
 given by Disbursing Officers of the Government, satisfactory to the Solicitor of 
 the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to cause the bonds 
 to be renewed, strengthened and increased, at his pleasure. 
 
 Section 3144 has a similar provision concerning Internal Revenue Officers' 
 Bonds, with the substitution of the First Comptroller of the Treasury for the 
 Solicitor. 
 
 The small percentage of collections on the suits as shown by the Reports of the 
 Solicitor of the Treasury, makes it clear that the laws above cited have not been 
 executed. The collections on the Bonds of the defaulting officers do not amount 
 to five per cent, of the defalcations. 
 
 Section 3G23 of the Revised Statutes directs that : 
 
 " Every officer or agent of the United States who receives public money which 
 " he is not authorized to retain as salary, pay or emolument, shall render his ac- 
 " counts monthlij. Such accounts with the vouchers necessary to the correct and 
 " prompt settlement thereof shall be sent to the Bureau to which they pertain, 
 " within ten days after the ej^iraiion of each successioe month, and after examina 
 " tiou there, shall be passed to the proper accounting officer of the Treasury. 
 " Disburing officers of the Navy shall render their accounts and vouchers direct 
 " to the proper accounting officer of the Treasury." ' 
 
 This section also gives authority to the Heads of the Department to prescribe 
 such otlier rules as they may deem necessary for the prompt settlement of these 
 accounts, and "the public interest may require." 
 
 Had these laws been faithfully executed, it is obvious that no officer could nave 
 defaulted over one mouth without discovery, and the enormous losses to the Gov- 
 ernment would have been reduced to a minimum, if not altogether prevented. 
 The failure of the Government officials to execute these laws gives the sureties 
 of defaulting officers a good defence against the United States, as will be seen 
 by the following extract from the Sunday Herald, of Washington, D. C, of 
 July 27th, :884 : 
 
 " It is said the bondsmen of ex-Disbursing Officer Bumside, of the Post Office 
 " Department, will claim that the law, in settling that officer's accounts, was not 
 " complied with, and that they are not therefore liable; that, had the Department 
 " settled the accounts as the law required, it would have been discovered that 
 " Burnside was deficient in his accounts many years earlier, and at a time when 
 " the account was small and the deficiency could have been made good. One of 
 " the bondsmen said to the Ilerald last week : ' We cannot be held responsible 
 " for lack of duty on the part of the Government officials whose duty it was to 
 " examine these accounts.'" 
 
 The following statement copied from " TJie Post" of Washington, D. C, of 
 June 20lh, 1884, illustrates the fact that the laws for the protection of the public 
 funds have not been executed.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 1*9 
 
 J O. P. Burnside was appointed Disbursing Officer of the Post Office Depart- 
 ment, in 1876. He was appointed from Illinois, upon the recommen- 
 dation, it is reported, of General John A. Logan, now candidate for Vice-Presi- 
 dent on the Republican ticket. It will be seen he commenced defaulting as soon 
 as he entered upon the duties of his office. He continued doing so with perfect 
 impunity for seven years, thougli his office and his accounts were m the same 
 building with the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department, and 
 accessible every day to the examination of the Comptrolling officers of the Treas- 
 ury. As a matter of fact, had not public attention been called to Burnside's 
 losses in a fraudulent oil speculation, which caused his accounts to be examined, 
 the defalcations would not now be known. The investigation shows thus far the 
 <iefalcation of between eighty and one hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 ^'BURNSIDE SURRENDERED. 
 
 HIS BONDSMEN REFUSE TO AID IN SHIELDING HIM ANY LONGER. 
 
 " THEIR ACTIOX THE OUTCOME OF DEVELOPMENTS MADE YESTERDAY, SHOWING 
 SYSTEMATIC STEALING— ANOTHER DISBURSING OFFICER SHORT. 
 
 " The developments in the various Government defalcations were of a startling 
 "nature yesterday, one more being added to this number, besides an accumula- 
 " tion against the already aiTCSted men. The investigation of the accounts of 
 "Col Burnside, late of the Post Office Department, has resulted in some new 
 ' ' revelations as to the manner and extent of his frauds. His rearrest was the out- 
 " come of the investigation now going on. It seems that in addition to diverting 
 ' ' to his private use some44.j,000 of the funds drawn from the Treasury, Burnside 
 "has been in the habit of pocketing the proceeds of the sales of the waste paper, 
 "old carpets, furniture and the material of the Post Office Department. The 
 " revenue arising from this source, as far as can be ascertained, is about $5,000 
 " per year, wiiich Col. Burnside ought to have turned into the Trea-sury. His 
 ^' accounts show that the first year he held the office, which was in 18T6, he de- 
 " posited in the Treasury on this account, $4,194. Each succeeding year^shows 
 " a deposit, in some cases exceeding ifl.OOO, and for two years (79 and '81) no de- 
 " posit w^as made at all. It is the presumption that the amounts realized from 
 "this source increased each year, but Col. Burnside's deposits largely decreased. 
 " Col. Henderson and Mr. Lamson, of the inspectors' office, have been investi- 
 " gating the books kept by Col. Burnside, and they found that th?re is no record 
 "of any sales of material of this kind any where in the accounts of this disbursing 
 "officer. The only way that they were able to trace the amount was by exam- 
 " iuing the books of the men who had bought this material from Col. Burnside. 
 " They found the receipts and the checks which had been paid to him, and in 
 "the investigation so far, which is not half completed, they have been able to 
 " trace over 112, 000 which Burnside has received since 1876 on account of the sale 
 " of waste material. The peculations appear to have begun with Burnside's 
 <' entry into his late position, and the sum of them will, it is expected, prove far 
 •' ' more extensive before the investigation is completed.
 
 150 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 " In the police court. Prosecuting Attorney Thomas stated to the Court that 
 *• there was another charge against Col. Burnside which was essentially different 
 " from the first one. In this case he is charged with converting *to his own use, 
 "$8,000, which he realized from the sale of waste paper. As to the matter of 
 " bail he would ask $5,000 bail. 
 
 " Judge Snell said that the defendant was already under $20,000 bail, and he 
 " was not disposed to fix the bail at a large figure. 
 
 "Judge Snell said the $8,000 charged here was not all taken at once, and to 
 " cover the $8,000 there would have to be severe! warrants taken out for the sev- 
 " eral embezzlements. The Court fixed the bail at $2,500, and the defendant 
 " waived examination, and the case was sent to the grand jury. Mr. Richard J. 
 " Beall afterwards appeared and went on his bond for this amount. 
 
 " Later in the day the gentleman who had furnished the $20,000 bond for Col. 
 "Burnside upon the occasion of his first arrest, decided that as the latest dcvel- 
 " opments showed a constant stealing for some years, they should not shield him 
 "any longer. "With this view, Detective Raff and Block visited Col. Burnside's 
 "house, and he was again arrested and taken to the Fifth police station. His 
 "bondsmen were W. B. Baldwin, George II. Plant, George T. Keen, E. B. 
 " Fadcly and R. J. Beall. In the criminal court to-day they will formally sur- 
 " render the prisoner." 
 
 It is thus shown by the official records that a great many dishonest men have 
 been appointed to office since 18G8, and entrusted with the custody of public 
 funds. That immense amounts of the public money have been stolen by these 
 officials regularly each and every year ; That the officers of the Government hav- 
 ing charge of the bonds of these appointees have failed to secure from them sub- 
 stantial bonds, as is their duty under the law ; That the law requiring prompt, 
 iTwntldy settlement of the accounts of these custodians of public funds have not 
 been observed ; That, by reason of the failure to execute these laws, the bonds of 
 these defaulting officers even when good, are released ; That the First Comp- 
 troller of the Treasury fails to obey Section 272 of the Revised Statutes of the 
 United States ; That, by his disregard of that law, the country is kept in igno- 
 rance as to the names of its defaulters, whether the defaulters are still in office or 
 not, the amounts that have been stolen, and whether any of the thieves have been 
 criminally prosecuted or not ; and last, it is clearly shown that these annual de- 
 falcations are on the increase instead of being diirdnisTied. 
 
 It is respectfully submitted to the voters of the United States, that there 
 nothing in the record of James 6. Blaine to encourage a hope that if elected 
 to the Presidency he would reform these corrupt practices and abuses of 
 the Republican officials, while the record of Grovcr Cleveland gives every evi- 
 dence that his clcctioij will cause a summary stop to these enormous annual 
 thefts, and that the laws for the protection of public funds will be rigidly, hon- 
 estly and faithfully executed.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 151 
 
 DEFALCATIONS, 
 
 ThefU, forgeries, perjuries, and general demoralization of the officers in the Civil 
 Service of t.ie U. >'. OoTernmcnt since ISSO, as shore n hy the sworn testimony of 
 tJie Examiners of tlic Department of Justice htfore the Onnmittee of the U'Use of 
 Representatives on Expenditures in the Department of Justice, during the first 
 session of the .'fStJi Congress, and hy the Official Reports of the Government Offi- 
 cers. 
 
 Note. — The iiujrginal figures give the i)agc of the Congressional Report the evidence is printed 
 on. 
 
 See Mis. Doc. 38, Part 1, 48th Congress, 1st Session. 
 
 ///s^ro^e?! by this evidence, wliich is entirely from Republican sources, that 
 many appointments have been made to offices of trust and responsibility of per- 
 sons "who are "defaulters," "thieves," "drunkards," "blackmailers," "liars," 
 "convicts," "ex-convicts," "fugitives from justice, " "assassins," "gamblers," 
 " embezzlers of public funds," "bribe lakers," "extortionists," " persons under 
 indictment for violation of Internal Revenue laws," " horse thieves," "forgers," 
 one man who was under indictment for murdering an Internal Revenue offi- 
 cer of the United States, and a great many other incompetent, inefficient and 
 worthless men. 
 
 It is proven by the sworn testimony of the officers of the Department of 
 Justice, that many of these officers of the Government have arrested citizens 
 on frivolous charges for the sole purpose of making fees or extorting money 
 from them for their release, thus harassing and causing heavy loss and injury 
 to innocent persons, by means of the appointments held from the United 
 States. 
 
 It is proven that the character of these officers of the Government was a 
 degradation of and reproach to the public service. 
 
 It is proven that in one District alone, where seventy U. S. officials were em- 
 ployed, a large majority had passed on the Government, false, fraudulent and 
 fictitious accounts and committed perjury in doing so. 
 
 It is proven that in some cases the character of the U. S. officials was so 
 bad that the judges of the U. S. Courts refused to permit them to exercise 
 the duties of their offices in connection with the Court, and they were thus 
 indirectly forced out of the employment of the U. S. "without the consent of 
 their superior officers, who had failed to remove them. 
 
 It is proven that many of these men have been appointed to office and re- 
 tained, when their crimes were a matter of public and general notoriety. 
 
 It is proven that the Government has been robbed of hundreds of thousands 
 of dollars by these men. 
 
 It is jrroven that a great many persons have been appointed to office where 
 their services were not needed. 
 
 It is proven that one U. S. Judge was in the habit of borrowing money 
 from Corporations and other parties having suits pending in his Court. 
 
 It is proven that another U. S. Judge was a gambler and drunkard and is 
 still on the bench he has disgraced.
 
 152 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 It ts proven that a great many of these men have been retained and many 
 promoted in office, and that in at least two cases the President has appointed 
 to higher and more lucrative and honorable offices, men, who, according to 
 the official reports of the Examiners of the Department, in addition to their 
 sworn testimony, have perjured themselves and passed false and fraudulent 
 vouchers on the Government. 
 
 ft is proven that in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving of the Treasury 
 Department where the U. S. Currency is printed, such is the carelessness of 
 those officers of the Government having custody of the funds of the United 
 States, that thousands of dollars are found by workmen, not in employment 
 of the Government, lying in the rubbish on the floor of one of the rooms of 
 tlie Bureau; and it is also proven that the Disbursing Officer of the Bureau 
 is a defaulter to the Government. 
 
 It is proven that $47,000.00 was stolen in broad daylight from the vaults of 
 the Treasury'; that the thief was a clerk in the Treasury; that the Govern- 
 ment accepted the thief as a witness for the U. S. against a person not con- 
 nected with the Government who had been induced by the thief to hide the 
 money, and, finally, that the Government compounded the theft by taking 
 $12,500, and permitting the thieves to have the balance and go free 
 
 It is proven by the defalcations in the Signal Service Bureau, in the Dis- 
 bursing Office of the State Department and the frauds in the Bureau of 
 Medicine and Surgery, of the Navy Department, that the Government can b« 
 robbed a?id plundered for years with perfect impunity and that the frauds are 
 never discovered until there is a change in the Head of the Bureau. 
 
 Henry W. Howfjate, a first lieutenant in the U. S. Army, was detailed to act 
 as Disbursing Officer and Purchasing Agent of the Signal Corps of the U. 8. 
 Army, and stationed at Washington city, D. C, under the administration of 
 General Albert G. Myers, Chief Signal Officer, and continued holding those 
 offices for several years till the death of General Myers and appointment of Gene- 
 ral W. B. Hazen, when Howgate resigned. Howgate was a formidable com- 
 petitor of General Ilazen's for the appointment of Chief Signal Officer. General 
 Hazen, soon after his appointment, caused an examination of Howgates's ac- 
 counts to be made, and it was found that Howgate had been regularly and sys- 
 tematically robbing the Government by means of false vouchers, of large sums 
 of money for a number of years. General Hazen made affidavit before I'. S. 
 Commissioner Bundy, August 10th, 1881, that Henry W. Howgate, on the 15th day 
 of February, 1879, while then a First Lieutenant in the U. S. Army and the Dis- 
 bursing Officer of the Signal Service Corps, felonioush' converted to his own use 
 the Pumof $12,000.00 of Government funds; on the 15th of October, 1879, 
 $11,800.00 ; on the 11th of August, 1880, $12,180.12, making a total of $40,- 
 380.12. Howgate was arrested on this charge and gave bail. 
 
 Additional frauds being soon after discovered, he was again arrested, and 
 being unable to 'give the bond required he was sent to jail. A suit at law was 
 filed against him August 24th, 1881, upon the affidavit of the U. S. officers, in 
 which it is charged that he had unlawfully drawn from the Treasury of the 
 United States from November 11th, 1878, to September 1st, 1880, $101,257.08. 
 
 Howgate remained in jail some months unable to give bail. Being permitted 
 by the U. S. AVardcn to leave jail to visit his residence, he absconded and cannot 
 be found. It appears from the investigation of this case that no check was 
 placed upon him l)y the officer having control of liim and his account.s, and had 
 General Myers lived and retained his position of Chief Signal Officer, Howgate 
 would still be plundering the Government.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 153J 
 
 .1 change of the head of the Department was ilie sole cause of the discotiery of Hie 
 frauds. 
 
 Hotcgate' 8 fraudulent cuxounts passing the accounting and eomptrolling officers of 
 the Treamry f<jr years without exiwsure. 
 
 FRAUDS, THEFTS, DEFALCATIONS AND GROSS IR- 
 REGULARITIES IN THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Extract from Washington "Post," May, 1883. 
 THE OTTMAN CASE. 
 
 DEVIOUS WATS OF JUSTICE — THE STORT OF A KEMAREABLE COMPROMISE. 
 
 {From the Neto York Times. ) 
 
 Some of the peculiar ways in which justice is administered or "dispensed 
 ■with " in the District of Columbia are shown in the history of the Ottman case. 
 Eight years ago a package of new legal tender notes, amounting in value to 
 $47,097, was stolen from the cash room of the United States Treasury. The thief 
 ■was a clerk named Halleck, one of whose accomplices was W. II. Ottman, a liquor 
 seller. These persons were arrested, and Halleck was convicted and sentenced 
 to be imprisoned. An application for a new trial having been granted, he was 
 released, and he became a witness for the Government against Ottman, who was 
 indicted and twice tried. Eacli of the two juries failed to agree, and it is said 
 that they yielded to secret influences which have been so potent in other and 
 more important trials which have taken place in the old District court house. 
 Proceedings in the criminal cases were abandoned, but by civil suit and seizure 
 a large part of the stolen money was recovered. A package of $14,500 in the 
 identical notes which had been stolen wa3 captured in a bank where Ottman had 
 placed it, and the entire sum recovered and placed in the hands of the treasurer 
 of theiUnited States was $31,525. The case of the Government was a clear one. 
 Fair trials before incorruptible juries would have resulted in the punishment of 
 the thief and his accomplices, and the restoration of at least three-fourths of 
 their plunder to its rightful owner. 
 
 Last Summer, seven years after the date when Halleck stole the money, a com- 
 promise was made, the details of which seem to have been made public for the 
 :first time a few days ago. The Hon. Richard Crowley, we are told, appeared as 
 Ottman's attorney, empowered to represent him in the negotiations. Of the 
 sum in the Treasury $13,500 was paid to the Department of Justice, and the re- 
 mainder, $19,525, was given to Mr. Crowley for his client, so that the Govern- 
 ment, having in its possession nearly three-fourths of the stolen money, gave 
 back $19,525 to one of 'the thieves, and has only $12,500 to show as the fruit of 
 its detectives' and attorneys' labors. 
 
 "Why did not the Government, having a clear case against the thieves, prose- 
 cute them successfully? Was the Attorney-General convinced by two mistrials 
 that an honest jury could not be secured? Ottman was entitled to all of the cap- 
 tured money or no part of it. By agreeing to the compromise he seems to have 
 admitted his guilt. "Why did the present Attorney-General allow this compro- 
 mise to be made, thereby releasing a large part of the mone^' which had been re-
 
 154 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 covered by hard work and at heavy cost? "Was it not possible by farther pro- 
 ceedings to so firmly establish the Government's title to this money that no one 
 could reasonably claim it? These are some of the questions suggested by the 
 history of this remarkable case. 
 
 Extract from Post, May IS, 1883. 
 
 TJ. S. MONEY THROWN ABOUT I.OOSE AND UKCARED FOR; A FIND OP TEN 
 THOUSAND DOLLARS. 
 
 Last Monday morning about 8 o'clock, as two employes in E. N. Gray & 
 Co.'s foimdry, John N. Burgee and George S. Langley, were engaged in re- 
 moving an old punch from the punch room of the Treasury Department, the 
 latter espied a bundle of green paper under a truck, and on stooping to ex- 
 amine it, saw the face of a $1,000 bill. Calling Burgee to him he pointed it 
 out and said: "Do you want some money? There's a thousand dollars." 
 Buigec picked up the package, which was of ten new bills neatly tied and 
 with slips of paper crossed on the back. An employe who had been in the 
 room frequently was called and asked to liave the superintendent take charge 
 of the money. The, latter had not yet arrived, but when he did, accompanied 
 by several others, he came to the punch room to learn how the money had 
 been found. Inquiry at the department yesterday failed to reveal who had 
 obtained the money, but Mr. Langley said that the gentlemen who received 
 it from the attendant was a stout man, dressed in blue clothes. 
 
 Had this workman pocketed this $10,000.00, the probability is no one 
 would have ever heard of the Government's loss outside of the Treasury 
 Department. 
 
 Omer D. Cole, Disbursing Officer of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving 
 of the Treasury Department, whose accounts were examined soon after the 
 Burnside defalcation, was discovered to be five thousand dollars deficient in 
 his accounts. 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 
 M. C. Oshorn was U. 8. Marshal for the Middle and SoutJiem Districts of Ala- 
 bama during the year 1883 and part of '83. 
 
 P. 128.— Special Examiners Boman,Nightingale and Wiegand of the Department 
 of Justice, jointly reported, August 11, 1883, to the Attorney-General that Osborn 
 " was utterly incompetent to discharge the duties of the oflicc;" and that they 
 found the most flagrant abuses existing — "many of the most untrustworthy and 
 " disreputable persons in the district were employed in the service." "Almost 
 " every Deputy Marshal in the District had presented false, fictitious and fraudu- 
 "lent accounts" against the United States. 
 
 The amount of fraudulent accounts i)resented by Marshal Osborn was 
 $7,490.20. 
 
 Osborn remained Marshal till his term of office expired. He was not re- 
 moved. 
 
 P 413-416. — Examiners Wiegand and Bowman, of Departinent of Justice, repoi'ted 
 to Attorney General Brewster, August 3, 1883, that: 
 
 Frederick Jost, Chief Deputy Marshal tender Osborn, and his predecessor, Tur. 
 ner, h'ld " presented accounts for services rendered which he kneio at the time 
 "contained false and fictitious items. By his indifference, negligence or con.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 155 
 
 "nivance the most flagrant and glaring frauds -were being constantly committed 
 "throughout the District over which lie had general supervision." 
 
 Examiner Bowman says that .lost was afterwards promoted and appointed 
 U. S. Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for the State of Alabama. 
 
 P. 419. — W. i?. Jackson and Green D. FiGnKlin, Deputy U. S. Marshals under 
 Osborn, are reported specially by examiner Bowman as having made false and 
 fraudulent charges in their accounts against the Treasury. 
 
 P. 407-408-11. — Tliom^is J. S-O'.t was another Deputy Marshal under Osborn 
 who \i charged by Special Examiners Bowman and Wiegand, July 31, 1883, with 
 making charges in his accounts that " are aMolutely false, fraudulent ami fictitious." 
 Mr. Bowman under oath says Scott was not dismissed from office, on the con, 
 trary was promoted to the " Jionorahle and Iticrative officer "of " Register of the U. 
 S. Land Oj^c^ at Montgomery, Albama." 
 
 P. 392-093-4. — Paul Strobach, U. S. Mwrshal of Alabama, Southern District, suc- 
 ceeded Osborn in 1683. Examiner Bowman reports to the Attorney-General, 
 April 4th, 1883, that Strobach appointed "W. Easelcy as U. S. Guard over prison- 
 ers, who tendered false, fraudulent and lictitious charges for services. 
 
 Mr. Bowman says in his report and also in his sworn testimony, that Easley, at 
 the time of his appointment, was generally known to be a liorse thief and a fugitive 
 from justice. Bowman says S. D. Oliver, another Deputy under Strobach, ren- 
 dered false and fraudulent accounts against the Government ; and was retained 
 in. office until his dismissal was peremptorily ordered by U. S. States Judge 
 Pardee. 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 P. 174. — U. S. Marshal Jacob "Wheeler, of the Southern District of Dlinois. 
 Examiner Haight, of Department of Justice, reports to the Attomey-Greneral, April 
 11, 1883. that "Wheeler had made false charges against the Government, and was 
 guilty of official irregularities. 
 
 Clerk of the U. S. Courts, Bowen, at Springfield, is reported b}' Examiner 
 Haight to have embezzled public funds and defaulted for $43,000.00. 
 
 ARKANSAS. 
 
 P. 166-7. — James ToiTans, XT. S. Marshal of th^ Eastern District of Arkansas, is 
 reported by Examiners Haight and Smith, June 9, 1883, to the Attorney-General 
 as a defaulter to the Government to the amount at least of $30,000. 
 
 Torrans, Deputy Joseph T. Brown, is guilty of presenting forged and false ac- 
 counts against the Treasury. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 P. 325. — Robert M. Douglas, U. S. MarsJial for the Western District of North 
 Carolina. 
 
 Special Examiners Bowman and Wiegand, of the Department of Justice, in- 
 vestigated this officer's accounts, &c., and reported to the Attorney-General, 
 November 7, 1882, " That James JHck, the Chief C'erk, is totally incompetent to 
 perform the duties of the office." Dick is the brother-in-law of Marshal Douglas. 
 
 Deputy Marshal TF. T. Watson is guilty of gross neglect of duty. 
 
 Deputy Marshals A. M. Meadows and Ooorge E. Pritchard rendered false 
 accounts. 
 
 Deputy Marshals M. E. Haynie and G. R. Pritchard rendered false vouchers to 
 the Government, and were reimned in offi«e hy Marshal Douglas after he kntw t^f 
 th^ir frauds.
 
 156 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 MarsJial Douglas says under oath that JIaynie Jlcs since been appointed by Secretary 
 of the Trexisury to a responsible position in the Treasury Department, at Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 Special Examiner Bowmrin , of the Department of Justice, says under oath before 
 the Committee of the House of Representatives, February 9th, 1884, that from his 
 personal knowledge of Ilaynic's official record, " he is undoubtedly a iliief." 
 
 ARIZOXA TERRITORY. 
 
 P. 184. — Joseph C. Tiffanj-, U. S. Indian Agent, is charged with embezzlement 
 of the public funds, grand larceny, and conspiracy against the Treasury, by the 
 officers of the Department of Justice. 
 
 R. G. Wheeler, U. S. Indian Agent, at Pinia, Arizona Territory, is charged by 
 the officers of the Department of Justice "with gross irregularities in the admin- 
 istration of his office. 
 
 P. 271. — U. S. Marshal Dake of Arizona Territory. 
 
 Examiner Bowman, of the Department of Justice, investigated this office in 
 May, 1882, and reports to Attorney-General Brewster that Dake had received 
 large amounts of public money which he had failed to account for. He did not 
 keep any books, accounts, or records, and neglected the duties of his office for 
 his private business. 
 
 Wilson "W. Hoover, Associate Judge U. S. Courts in Arizona Territory, is 
 charged by the officers of the Department of Justice witli borrowing money from 
 his court litigants. 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 
 P. 32. — Joseph n. Sloss, U. S. Marshal of the 2i'ortli£rn District of Alabama, is 
 charged by the Examiners of the Department of Justice, in 'heir report to the 
 Attorney-General, and in their sworn testimony before Congress, with permit- 
 tine: frauds in his District against the Government during the year 1882, and 
 with gross neglect of duty. 
 
 Deputy Z7. S. Marshal Green in this district is charged with misconduct in office. 
 
 P. 45. — Zf. S. Commissioner, Paul liavisees, Henry S. Skaats and John H. Wal- 
 lace, were removed by order of the Judge of the U. S. Circuit Court of Ala- 
 bama, Dec. 5th, 1883, for gross iiTegularities in their accounts. 
 
 On the same day the same Judge, for the same reason, ordered the immediate 
 dismissal of the following named Deputy U. S. Marshals, and prohibited their 
 future emploj-ment: William Bates, C. B. Easelcy, J. K. ^Meyers, Edward Mar- 
 shall, S. D. Oliver, Sr., C. D. Oliver, Jr., J. II. Purdue, Hill Perdue, B. S. Perdue, 
 C. B. Johnson, J. R. Porterficld, J. F. James and T. R. W. Bock. 
 
 TEXAS. 
 
 P. 254-5. — A. B. Norton, U. S. Marshal for Kortliem District of Texas, i.5 
 charcred by the officers of the Department of Justice, in their official reports to 
 the Department, and in their sworn testimony before Congress, with preventing 
 witnesses from testifying in cases of frauds against the Government and with ren- 
 derin" false accounts, and he emploj'cd corrupt " dissipated and reckless men as 
 deputies who were a reproach to the public service." 
 
 P. 257-8. — F. W. Miner, U. S. Di.iirict Attorney for the Northern District of 
 Texas, is also charged by the same officers of the Department of Justice, with 
 general inconapetency, and jiermitting unlawful compromises in criminal cases.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 157 
 
 Edward Guthrid'je, U. S. Dinirict AUornty for the Easttrn District of Tixas, is 
 charged l)y the same olTiceis of the Department of Justice, in their reports to the 
 Department and their testimony before Congress, -with accepting bribes in the 
 performance of the duties of liis oflice. 
 
 Eat Gaslino, U. 8. Marsltalfor Western District of Texas, is chargeil by the olfi- 
 cers of the Department of Justice with neglect of duty and absence without 
 leave. 
 
 P. 257-8.— X II. Sirrell, Deputy V. S. M^arslial, under Marshal Norton. 
 
 Examiners Bowman and Tidball reported to the Department of Justice, May 
 9, 1882, that Sirrell was guilty of making unlawful arrests of citizens and extort- 
 ing money from them for their release. 
 
 P. 258.— Examiner Bowman swears that Deputy Marshal Sirrell's conduct "got 
 so bad in the Marshal's office that they could not keep him any longer, and itv 
 order to (jet rid of Jam he teas appointed U. S. Iloute Agent for the Post Office 
 Department between DiUlas and Waco, Texas, and is still in oflice (Feb. 2, 138-1). 
 
 r. 8. Commissioner 8chenck is charged in the same report, by the same officers, 
 with accepting bribes to release prisoners charged with offences against the Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 p. 435. — Absalom BlytJie, U. S. Marshal of South Carolina, is charged l)y Examiners 
 Ballin of the Department of Justice, with rendering false and fictitious accounts 
 against the Government, and numerous irregularities. 
 
 W. S. Walker, Clerk in Blythe's office rendered false accounts. 
 
 The following named Deputy Marshals under Blythe are charged in a joint 
 official report made to Attorney-General Brewster, by Examiners Ballin, Nightin- 
 gale and "Woods of the Department of Justice, with rendering " false, fraudulent 
 "and fictitious accounts for services," viz : A. E. Phillippi, Julious Fraaborg, 
 C. 0. Kimball, John A. Stevenson, Alfred Harris, J. J. Pearson, "Wm. M. Mittag, 
 W. M. Bridges, A. G. Smith, C. A. Carson, J. E. Gaze, C. "\V. Cummings, James 
 Turner, M. D. Alexander, W. F. Garey, W. Y. Holden, Wm. Kennedy, R. E. 
 Evans, L. II. Fisher, "W. C. Fisher, R. J. Spratley, M. L. Case, R. 31. Casey, J. 
 B. Dill, P. J. Barnistcr, W. D. Goode. Amount of false accounts, $6,824.43. 
 
 LOUISIANA. 
 
 U. 8. Commissioners W. G. Lane, Joseph A. Quinters and AntJcony Samuola are 
 all charged by the officers of the Department of Justice with malfeasance in 
 office. 
 
 P. 34. — F7'ancis A. Woljley, Clerk to the U. 8. C(??/r^s of New Orleans, isrejiorted 
 by the Examiner of the Department of Justice to have failed to account for 
 $13,500 during the year 1882, — public funds. 
 
 MISSOURI 
 
 P. 427.— C. M. Allen. U. S. Marshal. 
 
 The Department of Justice examiners report that Allen made " a great many 
 " false, fraudulent, fictitious and erroneous charges in liis accounts" against the 
 Government, and neglect of duty.
 
 158 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 Deputy MaraJuil W. H. JIougluLwuut made fraudulent charges against the Gov- 
 ernment, 
 
 Zoeste, C'hitf Deputy Marshal of the Eastern District rf MissmiH, is charged with 
 gross negligence of duty by the officers of the Bureau of Justice. 
 
 C. C. Crlppin, Deputy Marshal under Allen, "presented false and fraudulent 
 " charges " against the Government. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 A. S. Lane, Deputy C. S. Marshal of the Xorihern District of New York, is r« 
 ported by the Examiners of the Department of Justice as rendering false accounts 
 against the Government. 
 
 J. T. Quimhey, another Deputy in this District, is charged with conspiring witli 
 Lane to defraud the Government. 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 P. 49. — 0. P. Fitzsimmonswas U. 8. Man'shalfor OeorgiavL^XKiT^o-vexabeT, 187..., 
 when he was succeeded by General Longstreet. 
 
 The Department of Justice Officers report Fitzsimmons was a defaulter to the 
 Government for $23,000, and charge liim with rendering false and fictitious ac- 
 counts against the Government. Examiner Ballin, who reported the case to the 
 Department of Justice, says under oath before the Congressional Committee, Jan- 
 uar}'- 16, 1884, that he does not believe that the First Comptroller of the Treasury 
 has caused suit to be entered on Fitzsimmons' bond, fo recover the amount of de- 
 falcation. 
 
 Examiner Ballin charges Deputy Marshal Robinson with rendering false ac- 
 counts while serving under Fitzsimmons. 
 
 Examiner Ballin says these Deputies made out accounts for expenses that had 
 never been incurred, and swore to them as being true and correct. He says there 
 were about seventy deputy Marshals and the majority of them j^crpetrated frauds 
 on the Government by making fictitious and false accounts against the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Wari-en B. Marshall, Assistant U. S. District Attorney, of S. C, is charged by 
 Examiner Ballin with failure to report frauds on the Government, 
 
 G. W. Cummins, Deputy Collector, Storekeeper and Gauger of Internal Reve- 
 nue. Examiner Ballin reports his accounts full of fraudulent charges. 
 
 Examiner Ballin reports to the First Comptroller of the Treasury, May 8, 1882, 
 on the character of some of Marshal Fitzsimmons' deputies, as follows: 
 
 Dt'puty Marshal B. Bolt'jn " had in his employ Wm. Bolton, his son, J. T. Self, 
 " W. G. Self, and they in turn employed their brother-in-law, H. C. Davis, and 
 " they all managed to support themselves by forced bills against the Govern 
 " ment." 
 
 Deputy W. O. Newman admits he employed guards that were not necessary. 
 
 Deputy J. B. Gaston, guilty of irregularities. 
 
 Deputy J. M. Bobinson made false and fraudulent charges against the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Deputy A. J. Laird employed guards where none were needed. 
 
 Deputy A. B. Wnght made fals(? charges. 
 
 Deputy Jackson, unworthy of belief, made false statements.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 159 
 
 Deputy L. 6. Perkle employed assistants where none were needed. 
 
 Deputy T. J. HunVa "accounts are full of fraud." ' 
 
 Deputy A. D. Keith's'" accounts is infamously false." 
 
 Deputy 11. li. Keith's are in the same shape as 7iis son's, A. D. Keith. 
 
 "H. R. Keith is a ruffian," his assistant Deputies are Peter Chapman, who is 
 under indictment for murdering a United States Revenue officer, and D. P. Pain- 
 ter, who has three indictments pending against him for violations of United 
 States revenue laws. 
 
 H. R. Keith is himself an excontict of the Tennessee Penitentiary, where he was 
 confined for horse stealing and his time of service not ha cin'j expired, and hs tlie 
 record shows no pardon, he is believed to be a fugitive from justice. His treatment 
 of citizens brought into contact with him officially, was brutal beyond expression. 
 
 P. 260. — U. S. Marshal James Longstreet. 
 
 Hon. Emory Spcer, U. S. District of Georgia and an Ex-Republican M. C, 
 states under oath before the Congressional Committee that General Longstreet 
 (who is the Ex -Confederate General) presented accounts of his Deputy Rol)inson 
 to the Treasury Department, which were fictitious and fraudulent. Indicted 
 prisoners were allowed to escape from the custody of the Marshal. Mr. Speer 
 says the office is not properly and efficiently administered, and that the Chief 
 Deputy, John G. Longstreet, who is a son of the General, " is very inefficient." 
 
 P. 331. — Spetial Examiner Bowman reports to the Department of Justice that 
 Deputy Marshals Eobinson and Crawford got up a large number of frivolous and 
 technical cases against citizens for the sole purpose of making fees for themselves, 
 and thus harassed the people of the State by arrests on the most frivolous charges. 
 There was no bona fide intention of enforcing the law. 
 
 P. 332. — Examiner Bowman reports the accounts of General Longstreet badly 
 mixed. There were in his Deputies' accounts about twelve thousand dollars of 
 fraudulent accounts. 
 
 P. M6.— Deputy Marshals John O. Longstreet and A R. Wright entered into a 
 conspiracy to defraud the Government by means of a fraudulent voucher for clerk 
 hire amounting to several thousand dollars. 
 
 J. F. O'Beirne, Deputy and TJ. 8. Commissioner, is charged with accepting bribes 
 to release prisoners. 
 
 Deputy John O. I/rngstreet is charged with presenting false expense accounts, 
 and gross intemperance. 
 
 Deputy R. D. Bolton is charged with permitting prisoners to escape. 
 
 Deputy Marshal J. M. Robinson is charged with rendering false accounts the 
 same as he did under the former Marshal. 
 
 P. 49. — Examiner Bowman swears before the Congressional Committee, that 
 General Longstreet was notified by him that Deputy Marshal Robinson had been 
 guilty of frauds on the Government while serving under Fitzsimmons, and 
 notwithstanding he recommended his removal, Longstreet retained him, knoiring 
 him to be a rascal, and Robinson practiced the same frauds on the Government 
 under Longstreet that he did under Fitzsimmons. 
 
 P. 331. — TJie Court expenses for last year (1883), says Examiner Bowman, were 
 $140,000. With proper management of the Marshal's office, $50,000 would 
 be abundant to cover all expenses. The appointment of General Longstreet thus 
 appears to have caused an additional and unnecessary expense to the Govern- 
 ment of ninety thousand dollars per annum.
 
 160 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 
 P. 136. — II. A. Wibion, Receiver of Public Moneys at jNIontgomery, Alabama. 
 
 Special Examiners Bowman, Weigand and Nir/hiingale, of the Department of 
 Justice, reported to their Department, August 14, 1883, that Wilson had been a 
 Deputy U. S. Marshal for the Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama , that 
 the Foreman of the Grand Jury at Montgomery, Alabama, informed them in 
 ilay, 1883, that tiie jury had reliable information that Wilson had tendered false 
 accounts against the United States. The Examiners report that Wilson swore to 
 his accounts as "just, true and correct," when they were absolutely false, fraud- 
 ulent and lictitious. 
 
 While these officers of the Department of Justice were examining Wilson's 
 accounts, he committed a violent personal assault on Mr. Wiegand. All three of 
 the Examiners recommended Wilson to be removed from his office of Receiver 
 Id the interest of the public service. 
 
 The President ignored the charges against Wilson and nominated him to the 
 Senate for a permanent appointment to the office of Receiver of Public Moneys 
 of the State of Alabama. 
 
 MONTANA TERRITORY. 
 
 P. G20-1. — E. J. Conger, Associate Justice of the TJ. S. Court. Mr.P.C. Shan- 
 non states under oath before the House Committee on Expenditures in the Depart- 
 ment of'Justice, March 1, 1884, that he was appointed by the Attorney-General to 
 investigate charges against Judge Conger, May, 1883. Mr. Shannon reported that 
 Conger's conduct was unseemly, unbecoming and indecorous; he seta vicious ex- 
 ample; aided and encouraged gambling; and was grossly intemperate, frequently 
 drunk on the bench. Attorney-General Brewster, March 1, 1884, recommended 
 Conger be dismissed. He was still in office March, 1884. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 P. 19. — JoTin Uall, U. S. Marshal, at Pittsburg, Pa., is reported by the officer* 
 of the Department of Justice as being a defaulter to the Government, January 
 15th, 1884, for $153,761. 
 
 p. 440-441. — U. S. District Attorney Slone, of Pittsburg, Pa. Samuel B. Benson, 
 Assistant Chief of the Secret Service Division of the Treasury Department, says 
 under oath, before the House Committee, that his duty was to detect frauds against 
 the Govemtnent, and that on a personal examination of the facts he found that 
 District Attorney Stone appointed Daniel Cameron Assistant District Attorney at 
 a salary of $l,2o0 per annum, and that Cameron lives 400 miles away from Pitts- 
 burg and does no duty save draw his salary. 
 
 Cameron is the brother-in-law of L'. S. Senator Mitchell, of Pa., who is a Re- 
 publican, and through whose influence, Benson swears, Cameron was appointed. 
 Cameron is the law partner of Senator Mitchell. 
 
 TEXAS. 
 
 P. l.">, 38, 2)9. — Stillwater II. Russell, U. S. Marshal for the Western District of 
 Texas. Special Examiner Bowman, of the Department of Justice, charges him 
 with rendering false expense accounts. 
 
 Deputies Walter Johnson, W. JV. Nwton and Robert Clark ;ire worthless and 
 are common drunkards.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 161 
 
 Special. Agent John Love, of Department of Justice, reports t") his Departmeut, 
 July IT, 1882, that Deputy Marxhalu Ilcnry Ouldwater, Charles Adams, Juke 
 Woolfc and E. P. B. Carter have committed perjury and rendered false accounts 
 again. t the Government. 
 
 P. 237. — Examiner Bowman states, under oath, before the Congressional Com- 
 mittee, that at the time Russell was appointed U. S. Marshal, he was a defaulter to 
 the State of Texas of Collector of Taxes for Harrison county for $1^,610.17, and 
 when he was appointed U. S. Marshal lio took the funds belonging to the TJ. S. 
 and paid up his defalcation to the State of Texas as Collector of Taxes for Har- 
 rison county. 
 
 William A. Baylor, Collector of Internal Revenue for Second District of Texas, 
 charged with being a defaulter for .f 661. 18, and sued for that amount March 24th, 
 1883. 
 
 EMBEZZLEMENT. 
 
 John Wallace, employed by Postmaster Daniels, cliarged witli embezzling 
 letters April 19, 1883. 
 
 W. n. Howard, employed in post office at Atlanta, Georgia, charged with em- 
 bezzling letters, April 19tli, 1883. 
 
 FRAUDS IN PENSION OFFICES. 
 
 Hon. A. Herr Smith, the Republican Member of Congress from Lancaster, Pa. 
 in a speech in the House of Representatives, says: " I find W. T. Collins, Pension 
 
 Agent, "Washington, D. C, was a defaulter to the amount ,of $53,074.01 suit 
 
 entered, judgment returned nulla bona. Dudley "VT. Hazard, Pension A"-ent 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., defaulter for $6,006.35. W. T. Forbes, Pension Agent, Phila'- 
 delphia, defaulter for $43,834.74. A. R. Callioun, Pension Agent, Philadelphia, 
 defaulter for $11,187.76, and his account is not yet adjusted, and the arrears are 
 unpaid." 
 
 March 6th, 1884, Deputy Surveyor of Customs, Noah Smith, at Mempliis, 
 Tenn., admits he has embezzled $1,600 of Government funds. 
 
 A. D. Hackman, Postmaster at Pipersville, Bucks Co., Penn., charged bv 
 Governmcnt officers with defrauding the Government by re-using canceled post- 
 age stamps. 
 
 April 4th, 1883, Thomas Reynolds, Pension Agent at Madison, Wis., charged 
 with collecting and retaining $5,000 of pensions of widows. 
 
 March 29th, 1883, W. J. Pearwn, Postmaster at Batesville, Ark., charged with 
 retaining registered mail packages 
 
 August 9th, 1882, Appraiser of Customs Howard, of New York City, charged 
 by U. S. Special Agent Brackett, of Treasury Departmeut, with wilfully violating- 
 the Civil Service laws by appointing and promoting personal favorites to office. 
 
 Aueust 17, 1884, A. R. Johnson, Postmaster, Grantsville, W. Va., embezzled 
 from $1,.')00 to $3,000 of Government funds, aud though a married man, eloped 
 with a neighbor's daughter. 
 
 11
 
 162 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 PPtAUDS Ai\D DEFALCATIONS IE THE POST OFFICE 
 
 DEPAPJMENT, 
 
 J. 0. p. Burnside, of Illinois, "was appointed Disbursing Officer of tlte Post Office 
 Department during llie year 187G, upon the recommendation, it is stated, of Hon. 
 John A. Logan, the U. S. Senator, now candidate for Vice President on the Re- 
 publican ticket. Suspicion ■was first directed toward him during the month of 
 May, 1CS4, by reason of Ids connection with and large losses in a fraudulent oil 
 speculating firm. An examination of his accounts revealed the fact that he had 
 been systematically defrauding the Government, regularly and continuously, from 
 the first year of his appointment, 137G, down to the month of May last, 18S4, izitli 
 perfect impuniii/, so far as the officers of the Government were concerned who had 
 the examination of his accounts. He used the contingent fund and old material 
 fund of the Government at will for eight years, and would still be defaulting had 
 not public attention been brought to his oil speculations by the absconding of 
 his broker. The amount of his defalcation as charged by the Government is 
 nearly eirjhty-five iJiousand dollars. 
 
 Burnside's bondsmen claim that the officers of the U. S. having charge of his 
 accounts failed to examine and settle them as the laws require, and therefore 
 they cannot be held liable. If this defense is valid, and it seems to be, then the 
 Administration, in addition to the fact of having appointed a dishonest man to 
 oflice and entrusted him with the custody of public funds, has by reason of the 
 failure of the Auditing and Comptrolling officers of the Government, to execute 
 the 1 '.ws, released the bonds of the defaulter and caused the entire loss to fall on 
 the Treas^lr}^ 
 
 POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Wm. T. Bailey, Postmaster at Camden, iV'. e/"., is charged, July 28, 1884, with 
 being a defaulter to the Government, neglecting to deposit Government funds 
 and illegally selling stamps. 
 
 Joseph J. C. DotigJierty, Chief of the Money Order Z>^^^^■,v/o7i of the Post office at 
 Baltimore, Md., has been suspended from duty (June 17, 1SS4) and charged by 
 Government officials with being a defaulter to the amount of several thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 Herman Buggeman, Clerk in the Stamp Division of the Post Office Department, 
 caught, June 1884, selling for his own benefit postage stamps he had stolen from 
 the Government. 
 
 October 29, 1883. Cluirles GeJiring and John Isaacs, Letter Carriers in Balti- 
 more City P. O., charged with embezzling mail matter. 
 
 F. H. Oakley was detected embezzling postage stamps from Post Office at 
 Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 7, 1883. He was a clerk in the Post Office. 
 
 August 2W?i, 1883. Charles F. ITcnsman, Post Master at JIarlvsville, Louisi- 
 ana, is charged by U. S. officers with embezzling Government funds to the 
 amount of $1,500,00. 
 
 Aug. 23, 1884. Jesse Ferguson, Chief Clerk of the new Post Office building 
 in Philadelphia, charged with irregularity in his accounts. 
 
 AujTust 17, 1883. Thomas B. Kirby, Clerk in the Post Office Depailment, 
 charged with sharing in the profits of the publishers of the "Postal Guide." 
 
 I
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 163 
 
 J. J. Alky, an Examiner in (lie Pension Office, charged by Government offi- 
 cers, July 11, 1883, with entering into a conspiracy with other parties to defraud 
 pensioners. 
 
 Pay Master Wasson, IT. S. Army, found guilty of embezzling large amounts of 
 public funds; findings approved June, 1883. 
 
 DEFALCATIONS IN STATE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The accounts of Robert C. Morgan, late disbursing clerk of the State Depart- 
 ment, have recently (August, 1884) been examined and settled, and there is found 
 to be a defalcation of $16,880.67. 
 
 He was disbursing clerk of the Department of State when James G. Blaine 
 ■was Secretary. 
 
 Treasury officials in charge of his accounts are unable to state when the de- 
 falcations commenced, but it is supposed they extended some j'ears back. 
 
 This defalcation was not discovered until the death of Morgan necessitated his 
 accounts to be settled. 
 
 FRAUDS IN THE NAVY DEPARTMENT . 
 
 Recent exposures show that a ring of Government officials in the Navy 
 Department has been for j-ears regularly engaged in committing frauds on the 
 Treasury by means of fiaudulent vouchers. 
 
 This ring was composed of Daniel Carrigan, Chief Clerk of the Bureau of Med- 
 icine and Surgery ; E.hvin C. Kirkwood, assistant to the Chief Clerk, one Jones 
 a watchman in the Department, and a number of outside parties. The mode of 
 operation shows the frauds to be very similar to those of Howgate's, of the 
 Signal Service of the War Department. Vouchers were made up and signed by 
 the outside parties and contained bills of articles furnished which had not been 
 furnished and never were intended to be furnished to the Department. Carrigan 
 endorsed on these bills : 
 
 " I certify the goods mentioned in this bill have been delivered," 
 
 (Signed) CHARLES CARRIGAN, 
 
 Chief Clerk. 
 
 Surgeon General Wales approved the certificate of Carrigan, and the party 
 who made up and signed the fictitious voucher was then paid, without investi- 
 gation, by the Disbursing Officer, and the money of the Government thus stolen 
 was then divided between the parties to the frauds. It is thought by U. S. 
 officers investigating these frauds that not less than $50,000 per year, for a num- 
 ber of years past, has been divided by the conspirators out of the frauds. The 
 ■extraordinary part of this barefaced robbery is, that it should have been con- 
 ducted so long without any detection by the officers of the Government having 
 the supervision of the Bureau and its accounts. Another remarkable feature of 
 this wholesale fraud is, that Carrigan having lost his office, offered his services, 
 it is stated, in exposiny his men frauds to the Secretary of V.^e Navy through a pri- 
 vate detective, and the Secretary agreed to pay this detective if he would furnish 
 the evidence which would expose the frauds. 
 
 The evidence was furnished and the frauds became public. The Secretary of 
 the Navy refused then to pay the detective his bill of $5,000, and Carrigan, who 
 expected to get a part of this reward from the detective, has disappeared and 
 can't be found.
 
 164 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 The investigations of tlie Xaval Court of Inquiry, of which Commodore Jonett 
 is President, reveal the fact that there were frauds in the Bureau of ISIedicine 
 and Surgery before Medical Director Wales become Surgeon-General There 
 are so far discovered, one hundred and ffty-six false voucliers, involving nearly 
 $100,000.00. The evidence shows that many of these frauds were committed 
 during Secretary Chandler's administration. 
 
 The speech of Hon. T. A. Hendricks, candidate on the Democratic ticket for 
 Vice-President, in which he refers to these frauds and the correspondence be- 
 tween Mr. Hendricks and Wm. E. Chandler, Secretary of the Navy, on the sub- 
 ject, is appended hereto. 
 
 M. HENDRICKS ACCEPTS. 
 
 A ROUSING SPEECH BY THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENT. 
 
 PATRIOTIC APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE TO STAND BY THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 KEVENUE AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM — ENTHUSIASTIC APPROVAL OP HIS 
 CANDIDACY. 
 
 Indianapolis, July 12. — A largely attended Democratic meeting, to ratify 
 the nominations of Cleveland and Hendricks, was held here to-night. Messrs. 
 Hendricks and McDonald were escorted to the place of speaking by a new labor 
 political organization known as the "Autocrats." The meeting was called to 
 order by Austin H. Brown, and William H. English was made chairman. Mr. 
 Hendricks was received with a burst of genuine enthusiasm which seemed ta 
 inspire him. His remarks were as follows : 
 
 iV?/ Fellow Citizens : Tou are almost as mad as they were in the convention at 
 Chicago. [Great cheering.] I thought they would not stop up there at all, and 
 I thought there was no limit to the crowd of people, but I find there is a larger 
 crowd almost here. I am very much encouraged and delighted to meet you on 
 this occasion. You came to celebrate and to express your approval of the 
 nominations that were made at Chicago. I am glad that you are cordial in this 
 expression. This is a great year with us Every fourth year the people elect 
 the two great officers of the Government. 
 
 This year is our great year, and every man, whatever his party associations 
 may be, is called upon to reconsider all questions upon which he is disposed to 
 act, and having reconsidered to cast his vole in favor of what he believes to be 
 right. The Democracy of Indiana appointed me one of the delegates to the 
 Convention at Chicago. I spent nearly a week in attendance in that city. I re- 
 turn to say a few things to you, and only a few things, in regard to that conven- 
 tion. 
 
 It was the largest convention ever held in America. Never has such an assem- 
 blage of people ])een seen before. It was a convention marked in its character 
 for sobriety, deliberation and purposes. It selected two men to carry the ban- 
 ner, and leaving that convention and going out before the people, the question 
 is, " Will you help carry the banner ? " [Great cheers and cries of " We will do
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 165 
 
 it."] I do not expect, I have no right to expect, that I will escape the criticism, 
 and, it may be, the slander of the opposite party. I have not in my life suffered 
 very much from thu', but I come before you, Democrats, Conservatives, Inde- 
 pendents and all men who wish to restore the Government to the position it 
 occupied before these corrupt times, and to all such men I make my appeal for 
 your" support for the high office to which I have been nominated by the Demo- 
 cracy at Chicago. [Great cheers.] 
 
 G rover Cleveland, Governor of New York, is the nominee for President. He 
 was promoted to that high office by the largest majority ever deciding an election 
 in that State. He is a man of established honesty of character, and if you will 
 elect him to the Presidency of the United States you will not hear of Star routes 
 in the postal service of the country irndcr his administration. [Cheers.] I will lell 
 you what we need— Democrats and Eepublicans will agree upou that— we need to 
 have the books in the Government sei-vice opened for examination. [Cheers and 
 cries of "That is it."] 
 
 Do you think that men in this age never yield to temptation ? [Laughter.] It 
 is only two weeks ago that one of the Secretaries at Washington was called 
 TDefore the Senate Committee to testify in regard to the condition of his depart- 
 ment ; in that department was the Bureau of Slcdicine and Surgery. In that 
 department an examination was being had by the committee from the Senate, 
 and it was ascertained by the oath of the Secretary that sits at the head of the 
 department that the defalcation found during the last year, as far as it had been 
 estimated, was $GC,000, and when asked about it he said that he had received a 
 letter a year ago informing him of some of these outrages, and that a short time 
 since somebody had come to him and told him that there were frauds going on 
 in the service, but that members of Congress had recommended the continuance 
 of the head of the bureau with such earnestness that he thought it must be all 
 Tight. And now it turns out that the oublic is $63,000 out and how much more 
 no man, I expect, can now tell. 
 
 But what is the remedy ? To have a President that will appoint a head of a 
 bureau that will investigate the condition of the books and bring all the guilty 
 parties to trial. [Cheers and cries of "That is it."] 
 
 Jly fellow citizens, I believe that for such a duty as this, for the purpose of 
 maintaining the United States Government for the people of this country, I can 
 commend to your confidence Gov. Cleveland, of New York. [Great cheer- 
 ing.] Not long since there were troubles in the local government of the city of 
 Buffalo, and the conservative'people of that city nominated Grover Cleveland 
 as candidate for mayor, not upon a party ticket, but a citizens' ticket, with the 
 duty assigned to him of correcting the evils that prevailed in the government of 
 the city of Buffalo. 
 
 He was elected and entered upon the duties of his office and made corrections 
 in the management of the affairs of that city, so clearly and so well defined that 
 the people of Kew York took him up and made him Governor of the State, and 
 that is the way he comes before you now. [Cries of " Hurrah for Cleveland."] 
 
 He who corrects all evils in a badly administered city and who goes from that 
 service into the affairs of the State Government and makes corrections there, 
 will then step, in the natural order of proceeding, into the affairs of another 
 Government and bring about reforms there. [Great cheering.] 
 
 Do you not, all of you, Democrats and Republicans, believe that the affairs of 
 the Government have been long enough in the hands of one set of men? [cries of 
 "Wo do."] and do you not all believe that we have readied a period when there 
 ought to be a change V [Cries of " We do " and " We will have it."] I do not
 
 ■166 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 ask that ail shall be turued out. That is not the idea. It is not the idea if a. 
 man has done his duty well and faithfully; if he has not used the powers of his 
 office to disturb the rights of the people, if he has not furnished money to cor- 
 rupt elections, if he has simply confiued himself to the duties of his office. I am. 
 not clamoring for his official blood. But, my fellow citizens, of these 120,000 
 men that now fill official positions in the country we have no right to suppose 
 from all that has taken place that they are all honest [cheers and laughter], and 
 the only way that we can know is to make a change. A month ago everybody 
 supposed that all the employes in the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery were hon- 
 est, and now, at the very first examination, it turns out that they are not. But 
 what is the remedy ? Put them out and put honest men in. [Cheers and cries 
 of " That is it."] We can't do that if we leave the same President and head of 
 departments and heads of bureaus in. I have every faith that this ticket will be 
 elected. [Cries of " So have I."] I think I know something about Indiana. 
 [Great cheers and laughter.] We will probably stand here together, won't we ? 
 [Cheers and cries of "You bet."] And this banner of right, of justice, of fair 
 government, that has been put in the hands of Cleveland and Hendricks, shall be 
 carried and placed in glorious triumph on top of the ISTational Capitol in Novem- 
 ber next. [Great cheering and cries of " We will put it there."] Shall this be the 
 people's banner? [Cries of " It is."] 
 
 Now, 1 have spoken longer than I intended. [Cries of "Go on " and " We are 
 not tired yet."] I know when any of my Republican friends who are intending 
 to stand by their party still longer shall see this numerous crowd to-night they 
 will think the doom of fate has come at last. [Cheers and laughter.] 
 
 What does it mean? It means that the people intend to have reform [cheers], 
 and that is the watchword that is written upon every Democratic banner. It was 
 written upon the Democratic banner eight years ago, and Tilden and Hendricks 
 carried that banner. [Cheers] Reform was defeated by defeating the right of 
 the people to elect their own rulers, [cheers], and what is the consequencfc ? 
 There has been no reduction of public expenditures, although the war was all tht 
 while passing further and further away from us. Still this Republican party 
 makes no reduction in the public expenditures. Shall we have it ? Shall we 
 have cheap government ? Shall we have lower taxes ? They tell us that the 
 Government can be well carried on for $100,000,000 less a year than is now col- 
 lected from the public. If Cleveland shall come into the Presidential office I 
 believe he will bring the expenditures down to the last dollar that will support 
 the Government economically administered [cheers], and then when he has done 
 that he will have accomplished what Gen, Jackson said was the duty of every 
 government. A government has not the right to collect a dollar from the people 
 except what is necessary to meet the public service. [Cheers and cries of " That 
 is right."] Whatever a government needs it has a right to come to me, to you, 
 or all of us, and make us pay for ; but when it gets all that it needs for economi- 
 cal administration it has not the right to take another sixpence out of our pock- 
 ets, and that is all we ask. When this ticket shall wave in triumph that idea will 
 be established in this country. [Cheers.]
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM 167 
 
 NAYY DEPARTMENT FRAUDS. 
 
 MR. CHANDLER INFORMS MR. HENDRICKS THAT DR. WALES IS THE SCAPEGOAT. 
 
 Secretary Chandler has written the following letter to Mr. Thomas A. Hen- 
 dricks with regard to the frauds in the Navy Department referred to by the 
 latter in his speech at Indianapolis Saturday night : 
 
 Washington, July 13, 1884. 
 lion. Thomas A. Ufmlrickn, Indiaiuipolis, Ind.: 
 
 Sir — A candidate for Vice-President should speak with decent fairness. 
 
 In your speech at Indianapolis last Saturday night you made statements from 
 which 3'ou meant that the public should believe that it appeared by mj' testi- 
 mony that the frauds in the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of this Department 
 amounted during the past year to $G3,000; that I was informed of some of these 
 outrages a year ago; that afer I was informed of the frauds I disbelieved 
 them, becau.«;e members of Congress had recommended the continuance <jf the 
 chief of the bureau, and that I took no adequate action concerning them; where- 
 upon you demanded the election of a President who would appoint a chief of the 
 bureau who would investigate the condition of the books and bring all the guilty 
 parties to trial. 
 
 To the contrary of all this, I testified that the suspected vouchers commenced 
 as far back as June 31, 1880, although a small voucher was paid as late as Janu- 
 ary 2o, 1884; that while an anonymous letter of about a year ago charged drunk- 
 enness upon the chief clerk, Daniel Carrigan, which the chief of the bureau. Dr. 
 Phillip S. Wales, reported to me was not true, I had no information leading to 
 the frauds until December or January last ; that I determined simultaneously 
 with beginning investigation to have a new chief of bureau in place of Dr. Wales, 
 whose term was to expire January 26, and also a new chief clerk ; that great op- 
 position to the change was made by members of Congress. I persisted and Dr. 
 Wales went out on that date and Carrigan was put out February 4 ; and that the 
 investigation into frauds and arrests of guilty parties have since proceeded with 
 due diligence. 
 
 It is true that I stated that the recommendations for reappointment of Dr. 
 Wales, whom I found in office, when I went in, April 17, 18S2, were of such a 
 character as to fully justify me in believing that the affairs of his bureau had 
 been well administered. 
 
 Senator McPherson wrote the following letter : 
 
 United States Senate, 
 . Washington, D. C, December 18, 1883. 
 To the President — Siu : As the term of office of Surgeon-General Wales, of the 
 Navy Department, is soon to expire, and considering it not a political office, I 
 presume, as I am a perfect prodigal with the article of advice, to ask, for the 
 good of everybody and everything relating to that service, that you reappoint him. 
 I do this because he is an excellent officer, having ability and energy, qualities 
 not general in the naval service, and which, I think, should be nourished when 
 discovered. I feel sure if any officer has deserved such recognition from the ap- 
 pointing power by reason of faithful and efficient service in the past, that officer 
 is Surgeon-General Wales. 
 
 I am yours with very great respect, 
 
 J. R. McPhebson.
 
 168 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 A petition for reappointment, written by Carrigan, was sent to tlie President, 
 headed by J. G. Carlisle, followed by Phil B. Thompson, Jr., Leopold Morse, R. 
 II. M. Davidcon, D. Wyatt Aiken, William McAdoo, George D. Wise, John C. 
 Nichols, P. A. Collins, H. B. Lovering, Robert B. Vance, D.W. Connon3% Chas. 
 B. Lore, George A. Post, Albert L. " Yillis, Carleton Hunt, G. W. Hewitt, Wm. 
 H. F. Fiedler and other representatives in Congress, saying of Dr.Wales, "hehas 
 administered the affairs of that bureau during the hist four years witli signal 
 ability and success. " United States Senators McPhersou, Butler, Brown, Col- 
 quitt, Beck, Williams, C. W. Jones, Ransom and thirty-two other Senators, also 
 using Carrigan as their writer, petitioned for Dr. Wales' reappointment, stating 
 that his administrative capacity has been fully demonstrated by the successful 
 management of the bureau of which he now has charge. 
 
 Senator McPherson and Speaker Carlisle and others of the most prominent of 
 these gentlemen who demanded Dr. Wales' reappointment were with you in the 
 convention at Chicago and could have informed you that he had borne a good 
 reputation; that the law required that the chief of the bureau should be a naval 
 surgeon and placed the medical expenditures in his hands; that his was in no 
 sense a political office, but that if he had any politics he was a Democrat; and 
 that any attempt to make political capital out of frauds for which this naval sur- 
 geon, who is their intimate friend, is solely responsible, would be disingenuous 
 and unfair. That they did not succeed in keeping Dr.Wales and his chief clerk, 
 Carrigan, in oflBce, is very fortunate. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 W. E. CUANDLER. 
 
 MR. HENDUICKS TO MR. CHANDLER. 
 
 A SHAUP REJOINDER TO THE LETTER OP THE SECRETARY OP THE NAATT. 
 
 Indianapolis, July 14. — Ex-Gov. Hendricks has written the following in re- 
 sponse to the letter of Secretary Chandler published in the Associated Press pa- 
 ^^ers this morning: 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind,, July 14, 1884. 
 Eon. W. E. Chandler: 
 
 Sir — I find in the newapapers this morning a letter to me from yourself, writ- 
 ten yesteaday and circulated through the Associated Press. You complain that 
 I did you injustice in an address to the people of this city made the evening be- 
 fore. In that address I urged that "We need to have the books in the Govern- 
 ment offices opened for examination," and as an illustration I cited the case of a 
 fraudulent voucher in one of the bureaus of your department and stated that 
 upon your testimony before a suh-conunittee of the Scii:ite it appeared that 
 tlie frauds amounted to $G3,000, and is not every word of that true ? You were 
 brought before the committee and testified, as I stated. You admitted, under 
 oath, that the sum of money lost amounted to !{;6;),000; but your defense was 
 that the embezzlement did not wholly occur under your administration, but that 
 a part of it was under tiiat of your predecessor. It seems to have covered the 
 period from June 21, 1880, down to January 23, 1885. Docs that help your 
 case ? You were at the head of the department a year and nine months of that 
 period and 3-our predecessor about one year and ten months. He was in office 
 at the payment of the first fakso vouchor, on June 21, 1880, and up to April 17, 
 1882, when j'ou came in and you continued thence until (lie l:isi false voucher was 
 l)aid, January 25, 1884. The period was almost equally divided between yourself
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 169 
 
 and your predecessor. How much of the $63,000 was paid out under yourself 
 and how much under your predecessor your letter does not show. 
 
 But, sir, upon the question that I was discussing, does it make any difference 
 who was Secretary when the false vouchers were paid ? 
 
 Judged that in cases like this when frauds ai"e concocted in the vaults or in the 
 hooks of the Department, the only remedy of the people is a change of the coa- 
 trol so that tiie books and vouchers shall come under the examination of new 
 anil disinterested men. Do you think I am answered wlien you say I was mis- 
 taken in supposing that in tliis case the frauds were all under your administra- 
 tion, when, in fact, a part of them extended back into that of your predecessor? 
 
 Why, sir, that makes your case worse. 
 
 For the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery the defalcation is large, but the mi le 
 serious fact is that it could and did extend through two administrations of t he 
 ilepartment, a period of nearly four years without detection. 
 
 You testified that some inquiry was made, and the conclusion was that, while 
 there were some suspicious circumstances, they did not warrant a conclusion of 
 guilt. After a notice, verbal and in writing, j'ou left ne men in office. You 
 did not bring the frauds to light nor the guilty parties to punishment. It was 
 Government Detective Wood who discovered the frauds, and the Associated 
 Press report says that Wood declared he would have no further dealings with 
 your department, but would press an investigation before Congress. 
 
 But it becomes more serious as far as you are individually concerned when the 
 fact is considered that you had notice and took no sufficient action. The infor- 
 mation upon which 1 spoke was from Washington the 2Cth of last month by the 
 Associated Press, the same that brings me your letter. The Associated Press 
 obtained its information either in your department or from the investigating com- 
 mittee. If you were not correctly reported that was the time for complaint and 
 correction. You testified that the total of the suspicious vouchers discovered so 
 far was about $63,000, and that the money fraudulently obtained was in some 
 instances divided between a watchman in the department, Carrigan, chief clerk, 
 and Kirkwood in cliarge of the accounts. 
 
 Now, what notice had you ? According to the Associated Press report of 
 your testimony you received a letter last year charging Carrigan, one of the par- 
 ties, with drunkenness, and after that a man came to you and told you that Kirk- 
 wood and Carrigan were engaged in frauds. Did not that put you upon notice 
 and investigation ? 
 
 What is your next excuse ? Worse, if possible, than all before. You say a 
 laige number of Congressmen, including some gentlemen of great influence and 
 position, recommended that the head of the Bureau, Dr. Wales, Should be re- 
 appointed. Members of Congress knew nothing of the frauds, they had no op- 
 portunity to know. It was within your reach and power. They were probably 
 his personal friends; you were his official superior. But, in fact, did you reap- 
 point him ? I understand not. Perhaps the detective discovered the frauds too 
 .soon. But Dr. Wales was not one of the tliree guilty parties. He neither forged 
 the vouchers nor embezzled the money. His responsibility in the case is just the 
 same as your own. He was the official superior of the three rogues as you were 
 of himself, as well as of them. Neither he nor yourself exposed the frauds or 
 punished the parties. 
 
 I have not thought of or considered this as a case of politics. Addressing my 
 neighbors I said that this and like cases admonish them to demand civil service 
 reforsi in th« removal of all from office who will not seelc to promote it within 
 the sphere ot their official duty and authority. Respectfully, 
 
 T. A. HENDRICKS.
 
 170 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 Civil Service Reforin. 
 
 Republican Tendencies. 
 
 The evil tendencies of the Republican party were never more forcibly illus- 
 trated than by one of its own distinguished members, Senator Hoar, of Massachu- 
 setts. In a speech in the Belknap trial he said : 
 
 Senator Hoar's Arraignment. 
 
 " My own public life has been a very brief and insignificant one, extendin;^ little 
 beyond the duration of a single term of senatorial office ; but in that brief period, I have 
 seen five judges of a high court of the United States driven from office by threats of im- 
 peachment for corruption or maladministration. I have heard the taunt, from friendliest 
 lips, that when the United States presented herself in the East to take part with the civil- 
 ized world in generous competition in the arts of life, the only product of her institutions 
 in which she surpassed all others beyond question was her corruption. I have seen in the 
 State of the Union foremost in power and wealth four judges of her courts impeached 
 for corruption, and the political administration of her chief city become a disgrace and a 
 by-word throughout the world. I have seen the chairman of the Committee on Mili- 
 tary Affairs in the House, now a distinguished member of this court, rise in his place and 
 demand the expulsion of four of his associates for making sale of their official privilege 
 of selecting the youths to be educated at our great military school. When the greatest 
 railroad of the world, bmding together the continent and uniting the two great seas 
 which wash our shores, was finished, I have seen our national triumph and exultation 
 turned to bitterness and shame by the unanimous reports of three committees of Con- 
 gress — two of the House and one here — that every step of that mighty enterprise had 
 been taken in fraud. I have heard in the highest places the shameless doctrine avowed 
 by men grown old in public office that the true way by which power should be gained in 
 the Republic is to bribe the people with the offices created for their service, and the true 
 end tor which it should be used, when gained, is the promotion of selfish ambition and 
 the gratification of personal revenge. I have heard that suspicion haunts the footsteps 
 of trusted companions of the President." 
 
 Robber Barons. 
 
 In an able article on political assessments, in the Xorth American Reinew for Septem- 
 ber, 1882, the writer points out its evils in the following way : 
 
 "The enforcement of this nefarious theory by the ' Robber Barons ' of politics was 
 never so universal, so shameless, so barbarous, or so indiscreet as at this moment. The 
 Federal pay-rolls call for more than fifty million dollars a year. On that sum the 
 avowal is a levy of only two per cent., but the actual demand upon employees and small 
 officials is tar greater. If the committee expect to extort only a fourth of the one 
 million dollars and more they demand, it but shows the eflVontery of their pretense of a 
 willingness to pay, and that they have no compunctions in excusing the landlord class 
 and wringing the whole corrujHion fund from the most timid and humble of the tenant 
 class. Very likely they expect little more from memliers of Congress and great officials 
 than the pittance they got in 1878. It is not sharks and whales they have the courage to 
 fish lor, but herrings and dace. Boys are bullied for a dollar ! 
 
 "Coulfl the curtain of secresy be lifted, we should see a vast drag-net of extortion 
 thrown out by the committee from Washington over the whole land from Maine (b Cali- 
 fornia, with every humble official and laborer — from those under the sea at Hell Gate to 
 the weather observers on Pike's Peak — entangled in its meshes ; and, busy among them.
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 171 
 
 for their prey, a series of tax extortioners ranijing down from Hubliell the great Qucestor 
 to little Hiibbells by the hundred, each paid a commission* on his collections in true 
 Turkish fashion (to which the large amounts extorted beyond regular plunder rate are 
 added.) These minions, book in hand, are haunting the official corridors and tracking 
 the public laborers. They mouse around the bureaus for names and salaries which all 
 high-toned officials contemptuously withhold. Neither sex, age, nor condition is spared 
 by these spoils system harpies. They waylay the clerks going to their meals. They 
 hunt the Springheld arsenal and the Mississippi breakwater laborers to their humble 
 homes. They obtrude their impertinent faces upon the teachers of Indians and negroes 
 at Hampden School and Carlisle Barracks. They dog navy-yard workmen to their nar- 
 row lodgings. The weary scrub-women are persecuted to their garrets ; the poor office 
 boys are bullied at their evening schools' ; the money needed for rent is taken from the 
 aged father and only son ; men enfeebled on the battle-fields are harried in the very 
 shadow of the Capitol ; life -boat crews, listening on stormy shores for the cry of the 
 shipwrecked, and even chaplains and nurses at the bedside of the dying are not exempted 
 from this merciless, mercenary, indecent conscription, which reproduces the infamy of 
 oriental tax-farming. 
 
 "We know of the head of a family who hesitates between defying Hubbell and taking 
 a meaner tenement ; of a boy at evening school blackmailed of three dollars while wear- 
 ing a suit given in charity, and of a son pillaged of seventeen dollars when furniture of 
 the mother he supports was in pawn ; and many have consulted us as to the safety of 
 keeping their earnings which they need. In every case there is fear of removal or other 
 retaliation. Pages could be filled with such cases from the reports of citizens. A news- 
 paper before us gives that of a laborer, with a family, earning seven hundred and fifty 
 dollars a year, ]5ursued by a harpy for fifteen dollars ; and also tliat of a boy of thirteen, 
 earning one dollar a day, with another harpy after him for three dollars and sixty cents. 
 To women and girls no mercy is shown." 
 
 ° The tendency of the Republican party toward corruption and decay was never 
 better exemplified than during the campaign of 1882. Notwithstanding the reck- 
 less spoils sysk-m culminated a year previous in the assassination of their President, 
 the Republicans continued their demoralizing practices and ridiculed the idea of 
 reform. One of their insults to society and the cause of good government was the 
 assessment of federal office-holders. 
 
 Hubbell's Letters of Assessment. 
 
 The following was the first letter sent out by the Republican Congressional Com- 
 mittee in 1883 : 
 
 [Jay A. Hubbell, Chairman; D. B. Henderson, Secretary ; Executive Committee, Hon. 
 W.B.Allison, Hon. Eugene Hale, Hon. Nelson W. Aldrich, Hon. Frank Hiscock, Hon. 
 George M. Robeson, Hon. Wm. McKinley, Jr., Hon. George R. Davis, Hon. HoratiOi 
 G. Fisher, Hon. Horace F. Page, Hon. \V. H. Calkins, Hon. Thomas Ryan, Hon. 
 William D. Washburn, Hon. L. C. Houck, Hon. R. T. Van Horn, Hon. Orlando 
 Hubbs.] 
 
 Headquarters of the '\ 
 
 Republican Congressional Committee, 1882, ( 
 
 520 Thirteenth Street, Northwest, f 
 
 Washington, D. C. , May 15, 1882. ) 
 
 Sir — This committee is organized for the protection of the interests of the Republi- 
 can party in each of the Congressional districts of the Union. In order that it may pre- 
 pare, jjrint and circulate suitable documents illustrating the issues which distinguish the 
 Republican party from any other and may meet all proper expenses incident to the cam- 
 paign, tlie committee feels authorized to apply to all citizens whose principles or in- 
 terests are involved in the struggle. Under the circumstances in which the country finds 
 itself placed, the committee believes that you will esteem it both a privilege and a pleas- 
 ure to make to its funds a contribution, which it is hoped may not be less than S . 
 
 The committee is authorized to state that such voluntary contributions from persons em- 
 ployed in the service of the United States will not be objected to in any official quarter. 
 
 • Note. — Not Hubbell, perhaps,for he disinterestedly took a round five thousand dollars 
 — one-tenth of the whole — for his own dear Michigan in 1878, and doubtless expects ten 
 thousand dollars this year. Surely he will go back to Washington ; and what gratitude 
 from the " shysters and camp-followers " of his.
 
 172 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 The labors of the committee will affect the result of the Presidential election in 1884 
 as well as the Congressional stru;^gle ; and it may therefore reasonably hope to have 
 the sympathy and assistance of all who look with dread upon the possibility of the 
 restoration of the Democratic party to the control of the Government. 
 
 Please make prompt and favorable response to this letter by bank-check or draft or 
 postal money order, payable to the order of Jay A. Hubbell, acting treasurer, P.O. lock 
 box 589, Washington, U. C. 
 
 By order of the committee. D. B. HENDERSON, Secretary. 
 
 The second letter had the true highwayman ring, and was more in harmony 
 with the characteristics of the stalwart leaders. It was as follows : 
 
 Washington, D. C, August 15, 1882. 
 
 Sir — Your failure to respond to the circular of May 15, 1882, sent to you liy this 
 committee, is noted with surprise. It is hoped that the only reason for such failure is 
 that the matter escaped your attention owing to press of other cares. 
 
 Great political battles cannot be won in this way. This committee cannot hope to 
 succeed in the pending struggle if those most directly benefited by success are unwilling 
 or neglect to aid in a substantial manner. 
 
 We are on the skirmish line of 1884, with a conflict before us, this fall, of great 
 moment to the Republic, and you must know that a repulse now is full of danger to the 
 next Presidential campaign. 
 
 Unless you think that our grand old party ought not to succeed, help it now in its 
 struggle to build up a new South, in which there shall be, as in the North, a free ballot 
 and a fair count, and to maintain such hold in the North as shall insure good govern- 
 ment to the country. 
 
 It is hoped that by return mail you will send a voluntary contribution equal to two 
 per cent, of your annual compensation, as a sul)stantial proof of your earnest desire for 
 the success of the Republican party this fall, transmitting by draft or postal money 
 order, payable to the order of Jay A. Hubbell, acting Treasurer, post-office lock box 
 589, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Letters of the Present Campaign. 
 
 The tendencies of the party during the present campaign are in the same 
 direction, but artfully concealed to avoid a clash with the new Civil Service law 
 of which a distinguished Democrat, Senator Pendleton, of Ohio, was the author. 
 
 The party still has a covetous affection for the money of the department clerks, 
 iis may be seen from the following circular : 
 
 1421 New York Avenue, Washington, D. C, [ 
 August I, 1S84. I 
 
 The undersigned have been requested by the Republican National Committee to act 
 as a Finance Committee for the District of Columbia in the collection of funds to be used 
 by said National Committee in the present political campaign. W^e have agreed to act, 
 and have organized by the selection of A. M. Clapp as Chairman, W. H. Lowdermilk as 
 ■Secretary, and Green H. Raum as Treasurer. On and after this date we will be prepared 
 to receive and receipt for such sums as persons may wish to contribute to the campaign 
 fund of the Republican party. 
 
 The rooms of the Committee, 142 1 N. Y. Ave., will be open daily from 8.30 A. M. to 
 
 9 p. M. 
 
 A. M. Clapi', Chairman. Green B. Raum, Treas. 
 
 W. H. Lowdermilk, Sec'y. Dr. E. A. Adams. 
 
 R. T. Greener. 
 
 The following letters sent to the clerks in the Departments at Washington, the 
 first one accompanying the above letter, are further evidence of their attempt to 
 circumvent the law : 
 
 B. F. JoNKS, Pennsylvania, Chairman. Samuel Fkssenden, Connecticut, Secretary. 
 
 Headquarters Republican National Committee, ) 
 No. 242 Fifth Avenite, > 
 
 New York City, August 8, 1884. ) 1 
 [dictated letter.] 
 Dear Sir : The pending Presidential campaign is of unusual importance to the 
 country. Every Republican is deeply interested in its result. The National Committee,
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 173 
 
 on behalf of the Republican party, desiies to make it justly vigorous and effective, and 
 success certain in November. Funds are recjuired, however, to meet the lawful and 
 proper expenses of the campaign; and, to provide the same, the Committee finds itself 
 dependent upon the liberality of Republicans to make such voluntary contributions as 
 their means will permit, and as they leel inclined to give. Vou are therefore respectfully 
 invited to send, as soon as you conveniently may, by draft on New York or postal 
 money order to the order of B. F. Jones, Chairman Republican National Committee, No. 
 242 Fifth avenue. New York City, such sum as you may desire to contribute for the 
 objects before mentioned. A receipt for the same will be sent by return mail. 
 
 The Committee cheerfully calls the attention of every person holding anv office, 
 place, or employment under the United States or any of the Departments of the Gov- 
 ernment, to the provisions of the act of Congress entitled: "An act to regulate and 
 improve the civil service of the United States," approved January, 16, 1883, and states 
 that its influence will be exerted in conformity therewith. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 h. F. JONES, Chairman. 
 
 Headquarters Republican State Committee, ( 
 (St. Cloud Hotel, Parlor C). j 
 
 Chairman — Thomas V. Cooper. 
 
 Secrtrtarifs — George Pearson, Chief ; Joseph M. Gazzam, E. F. Acheson, Joseph Ad. 
 Thomson, John H. Laiidis, John S. Blair, W. H. Ritter, Wm. B. Huston, George O. Cor- 
 nelius, John A. Seiders, Charles F. Evans, Ezra Lukens, J..D. Laciar, A. \V. McCoy. 
 
 [Dictated.] Philadelphia, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir : The Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania is compelled to call 
 upon all friends of the cause, whose interests or inclination it is to give, for the funds 
 necessary to sustain its efforts in the pending Presidential campaign — a campaign never 
 exceeded in public concern or importance in the history of the country. It involves both 
 our industrial and political welfare. 
 
 I have the honor to solicit from you such contribution to the State Committee's 
 treasury as your devotion to the party may prompt you to make, and to suggest that 
 early contributions not only enable us to do better work, but to promptly extend aid 
 where it is most needed, without waste or confusion. 
 
 You are aware that the present laws of the United States and Pennsylvania — which 
 law shall be faithfully observed by this Committee — prohibit the assessment of office- 
 holders for political purposes. The right, however, of all, whether office-holders or not, 
 to send to their Committee amounts commensurate with their interest in the contest, is 
 not questioned, either by the law or public sentiment. 
 
 The appeal of your State Committee is therefore directed to all whom it has reason to 
 believe are willing and able to give. Send by postal order or check to 
 
 THOS. V. COOPER, Chairman. 
 
 This letter was sent to a clerk in one of the departments at Washington, receiv- 
 ing an annual salary of $1,400. He holds a receipt from Chairman Cooper for 
 $40 ; and similar letters have been sent postmasters throughout Pennsylvania. 
 
 Democratic Principles and Protests. 
 
 On the 26th of June, 1882, Senator Pendleton offered in the Senate a resolu- 
 tion instructing the Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment to inquire 
 whether any attempt had been made to levy and collect assessments for political 
 partisan purposes from any employees of the Government. In speaking upon 
 this resolution he made some very pointed remarks upon the llubbell assessment 
 letter, which we have published above. He said : 
 
 *' Mr. President, when I offered this resolution two or three weeks ago I 'was 
 anxious for information. I did not know Che state of facts as they existed at that time. 
 I had seen mentioned in the newspapers that the Republican Congressional Committee 
 was about to take means to replenish its funds, and vague intimations were given that a 
 circular under the iorm of a request for voluntary contributions, but in fact a demand 
 for specific sums of money, was being distributed among the employees of the Depart- 
 ments and the employees of the two Houses of Congress. I had also heard that this
 
 174 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 circular was drafted by authority, and that its language conveyed covert promises, with 
 implied threats, in case the demands were not acceded to. 
 
 " I was quite astonished, somewhat startled, when I found that this resolution met 
 with objection. I had supposed that no Senator would object to having the truth 
 discovered as to this circular and its intent ; and certainly that no Senator would object 
 to the inquiry whether contributions were being levied under the guise of invitations for 
 voluntary contributions. 
 
 " Mr. President, I was not quite as much astonished as those words would imply, 
 and candor requires me to say that I was more astonished at the form than the substance 
 of the objection. I had thought if gentlemen objected to it at all they would not do so 
 in express words, but would consign my resolution to an untimely grave in the friendly 
 grasp of a committee of investigation. 
 
 "Be that as it may, I desired information and was sincerely seeking it. A friend of 
 mine who sits upon this floor and'who has some opportunities of knowledge gave to me 
 one of the circulars. He gave it rather in confidence, though not entirely so, rather 
 with the understanding that I should use it for my own information than otherwise ; but 
 I was enabled to hand back that circular to him within two days, not having exhibited 
 it to anybody else and scarcely having had time to read it myself, for as soon as the 
 resolution appeared in the newspapers I received from many cities and from many 
 States and from many classes of employees of this Government copies of the circular 
 which had been sent to them. I have in my hand quite a number of copies of it. It is 
 very nicely gotten up, written with care, as nicely as a billet doux between lovers or an 
 hospitable invitation to dinner. 
 • ••***•**«• 
 
 " As far as I have seen, all of these circulars are in exactly the same language, except 
 that a blank was left in each orignally to be filled by the amount which a certain specified 
 proportion of the salary that the man received would reach. Now, sir, in order that 
 there may be no charge of unfair dealing with this committee and its circular, I have 
 read to the Senate every word of it, and I ask the Senate to consider it a little in detail. 
 
 "The committee is organized for the protection of the interests of the Republican 
 party in each of the Congressional districts of the Union. " 
 
 " Party from beginning to end, the country nowhere alluded to — ' the interests of the 
 Republican party in each of the Congressional districts.' 
 
 "In order that it may prepare, print, and circulate suitable documents illustrating the 
 issues which distinguish the Republican party from any other, and may meet all proper 
 expenses incident to the campaign the committee feels authorized— 
 
 " ' Feels authorized ! ' What necessity is there to have authority to invite gentlemen 
 who desire to make a voluntary contribution to a political fund ? \\'hat is the necessity 
 for any authority for an invitation of that kind ? 
 
 " 'Authorized ! ' By whom authorized — for what purpose authorized ? To apply for 
 contributions to the Republican expense fund ! Apply to whom ? Apply to ' all those 
 whose interests are involved in this struggle.' 
 
 " The committee discriminates very closely between those whose principles lead them 
 to desire the success of the Republican party and those whose interests are involved in 
 the struggle ; those whose principles or interests induce them to take an interest in this 
 struggle. Who are they, Mr. President ? Who are interested beyond what their principles 
 require in the success of the Republican party in the coming campaign ? It is the officers ; 
 it is the office-holders ; it is those who enjoy the powers and emoluments of office ; it is 
 those who are in possession of the political power and the moneyed emolument at the 
 disposal of the party. When application is to be. made for authority to apply to these 
 offices for a money contribution, who is it that can give the authority to make the applica- 
 tion? Manifestly those who have the power of appointment and dismissal ; manifestly 
 those who can say to these gentlemen whose interests are involved, ' contribute to the 
 success of this party or the power of appointment and dismissal is hung over your head.' 
 I submit to the gentlemen on this committee that the paraphrase was entirely unnecessary. 
 I submit that the circumlocution was entirely out of place, and that it would have been 
 much more direct and much more pointed and equally delicate to have said, * we are 
 authorized by those who have the power of appointment and dismissal to say to you whose 
 offices are involved in this struggle that we are authorized to make this application for 
 money to you.' 
 
 "The circular starts out with a declaration on its face, which any man who can read 
 at all can read between the lines: We are authorized by those who hold your places in 
 their hands to apply to you office-holders ot the Grovernment to make this contributioa 
 because your interests are involved in this struggle. 
 
 " The circular continues:
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 175 
 
 " Under the circumstances in which the country finds itself placed, the committee 
 believes that you will esteem it both a pnvilege and a pleasure to make to its fund a 
 contribution. 
 
 " 'A privilege and a pleasure ! ' Indeed, a blessed privilege; an exquisite pleasure ! 
 These officers forsooth, would never have had the opportunity of enjoying this privilege 
 and pleasure if this committee had not given them the opportunity and the method ; the 
 opportunity in the sinking circumstances of the fortunes ot the Republican party, and the 
 method by contributions to the committee ! Knowing that these office-holders would be 
 excluded from the enjoyment of this privilege and this pleasure, except for the invitation 
 of this committee, thus kindly tendered to them ; knowing that as soon as they heard it 
 these officers would be able and willing, nay, would be eager and anxious, to embrace 
 the opportunity, this conimittee, fearing that in a moment of enthusiasm and desire to 
 indulge in the enjoyment of this privilege and pleasure the office-holders might con- 
 tribute in excess of what was proper, or fearing on the other hand lest an ascetic self- 
 denial might keep them below the bounds of legal moderation, inform the office-holders 
 that the committee judge it would Ije about right that they should enjoy this privilege 
 and pleasure to the extent of S20 worth; and then fearing that that might be a damper 
 upon their ardor, the committee express the hope that the contribution shall not be less 
 than the amount suggested by the committee, to wit, $20. 
 
 "The committee is authorized to state that such voluntary contributions — 
 
 "'Voluntary contribution!' Voluntary as the contribution the traveler makes 
 to the pocket of the highwayman when commanded to stop and hold up his hands; 
 voluntary as the contribution which the man of the world makes to the harvest of the 
 "Great Reaper when he puts in his scythe. 
 
 " ' Voluntary contributions from persons employed in the service of the United States 
 ■will not be objected to in any official quarter. ' 
 
 " Mr. President, is a voluntary contribution objected to anywhere ? And does it 
 need any close discrimination as to that passage to see that it means that, while 
 contributions will not be objected to in any official quarter, a refusal to make the 
 contribution will meet with the condemnation of all official quarters? 
 
 "' The labors of the committee will affect the result of the Presidential election in 
 1884, as well as the Congressional struggle, and it may therefore reasonably hope to 
 have the sympathy and assistance of all who look with dread upon the possibility 
 of the restoration of the Democratic party to the control of the Government.' 
 
 " ' With dread !' Who look with dread upon it? What sensible man in this country 
 looks with dread upon it ? The people of the country do not look with dread, the 
 material interests of the country do not look with dread, the patriotism of the country does 
 not look with dread, for at the last two Presidential elections the people of this country 
 have been as nearly as possible divided in numbers upon the question as to which party 
 better deserves success. In the Presidential election before the last it is an undisputed 
 fact that a numerical majority of the people of the United States did actually vote to 
 restore the Democratic party to power. 
 
 " 'We appeal to you for sympathy and assistance, and we hope you will make prompt 
 and favorable response to this letter.' How? By sympathy? By expressions of 
 confidence ? By telling us the political necessities of your neighborhood ? By going 
 forth as an apostle to demonstrate to the people the excellence of the principles of the 
 Republican party ? No, sir; none of such sympathy we want. It is your assistance, 
 which we hope you will promptly send to us by sending ' a bank check, or draft, or 
 postal money order,' payable to the treasurer of this committee. 
 
 "Now, Air. President, I will not insult the Senate by undertaking to prove to it that 
 this is no invitation for a voluntary contribution. I will not waste its time by showing 
 that it is a demand for a specific sum of money, levied according to a rule, accompanied 
 by a promise and a threat. 'Your purse or your official life,' is the alternative offered ; 
 or to use the language of President Garfield in describing a circular almost identical in 
 terms with this, ' It is a circular sent to the employees of the Government upon the dis- 
 tinct understanding that if they fail to make return according to the demand, in check or 
 postal money-order, others will be found to take their places who will receive their 
 salaries and pay up the assessment.' 
 
 " Mr. President, to whom has the circular been sent? I venture to say here upon this 
 floor, and I speak it upon information which challenges my belief, that this circular has 
 been sent out to every person whose name can be found on any of the rolls of employees 
 of the Government, however remote they may be from the source of power itself. The 
 circular has been sent to the Boston custom-house — seven hundred copies of it — and 
 a demand made for an aggregate of $15,000. It has been sent to the armory at Spring- 
 field, and an assessment of $18 been made upon each armorer in that institution. It has 
 been sent to the great offices in New York, the post-office and the custom-house, and the
 
 176 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 collector's office, and the various institutions connected with the Government there. 
 They had won exceptional credit by reason of their freedom from the debasing arts of 
 political assessments, and yet are to be again plunged into the mire from which they so 
 laboriously have emerged. It has been sent out to employees at Chicago, and assess- 
 ments made there at S9.30. It has been sent to every postmaster m the country ; as 
 least I have returns from almost every State east of Nevada. It has been sent to the men 
 engaged upon the works on the Ohio river at Marietta, and $18 has been assessed and 
 demanded of men who day by day for their daily wages cut stone in making 
 the dam. It has been sent to every employee in the Departments in 
 Washington, every clerk, and they have been assessed in various amounts 
 from JiS to $50. This circular has been sent to men who are engaged 
 in daily labor on the Capitol grounds, digging up and beautifying these grounds, 
 and $6 has been assessed upon each of them. It has been sent to the boys in the Print- 
 ing Office, to whom you pay only a dollar a day and furlough them without pay, and $7 
 has been demanded from each of them. It has been sent to enlisted men in the army, 
 and an assessment of $18 made upon men who are paid from the army appropriation 
 bill. Wherever a name can be found upon the pay-roll of the government for any 
 amount, great or small, this circular has been sent, and it is being sent now to those to 
 whom time has not allowed it to be sent before. 
 
 " I said it had been sent to every clerk in all these departments. Why, sir, it has been 
 sent to those unfortunate ladies whom the exigencies of life now compel to support a 
 family off the pittance earned painfully by them, which would scarcely have sufficed to 
 dispense their yearly charity in other days. It has been sent to the women who scrub 
 out the departments in this city, and whose poverty is so great that when they leave for 
 their daily work they are obliged to lock up in their close and fetid room the infant children 
 who cannot be allowed to wander in danger in the streets. It has l^een sent to the 
 employees of the Senate, and men have been required to pay $30 in order that they 
 may hold their places. 
 
 Nay, more, Mr. President, it has been sent, at least in the other House, and possibly 
 in this, to the little pages, bright, intelligent, active little fellows, who do the bidding of 
 members there and here. I imagine I can see this grave committee, with this circular 
 in their hands, going to one ot these little pages and saying to him by his appreciation 
 of the emergencies of the country, by his appreciation of the excellence of Republicau 
 practices, by his dread of the restoration of the Democratic Party to power, he shall 
 make his contribution of $9 in order to avert such a terrible calamity. 
 
 Mr. President, if this were not a sad scene of political degeneracy and partisan, 
 tyranny it would be in many of its aspects abroad farce. 
 
 " I have no fitting words in which to express my apprehension of the degradation and 
 danger of this whole system, of which this is one of the most dangerous outgrowths. It 
 demoralizes and breaks down every man connected with it, those who give and those 
 who take alike. Among the names on this circular are some of our own cherished 
 associates and members, men of the other House also, who stand high in the estimation 
 of their party and their country. They are important factors in weilding the political 
 destinies not only of their party but of their country, honorable, upright, excellent 
 gentlemen, to whom we would willingly commit, and do commit our honor, and if 
 necessary would commit our lives, men who could not be forced even by torture to go 
 themselves and with this circular in their hand to make applications to these persons to 
 whom it is sent ; men who could not be induced to do it ; who would feel it to be a 
 personal dishonor to do it. Yet together they combine and put in operation this machine 
 which has no heart to be touched, no body to be punished, no soul to be damned, to 
 visit the houses of the widow and the fatherless, and extract from them for political 
 partisan purposes a large proportion of their hard earnings. 
 
 "It degrades the men to whom it is sent. What sense of self-respect can there be in a 
 man who feels himself compelled to submit to this extortion which his honest judgment 
 abhors and which his penury rejects, and yet is obliged with a hypocritical smile to pre- 
 tend that it is a voluntary contribution ? What iaithful, honest personal service in office 
 can a man tender when he feels that upon his very best service is put this badge of servi- 
 tude ? How can he admire with his whole heart as he ought and devote himself 
 absolutely to the duties of an office when he is made to buy with money, that office which 
 he knows, and everybody who will think a moment knows, is a public trust involving 
 duties to the public? What discipline can there be in a system when all above him and 
 all below him are bound together by the conciousness of this common degradation ? The 
 galley slaves arc chained together, their proximity making them conscious of the common 
 infamy, and the common degradation and the common punishment make them hate and 
 dcspi.se and dread and susjjcct and injure each other.
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 177 
 
 " Mr. President, this system is a great wrong to the people. A fair day's work and a 
 lair day's pay is common honesty imported into our Government. If tliese employees 
 can have extracted and abstracted from their salary 2 or 4 or 10 per cent., and yet 
 sufficient remuneration left to them, then I say the deduction should be made directly 
 from their salary and l^e left in the Treasury. 
 
 "I will not speak of what this system may be, if against their interest, against their 
 will, against their moneyed capacity, these men are compelled to submit these contribu- 
 tions if they are extracted out of the suffering of themselves and their families. When I 
 see that this system tends to such degradation, such demoralization, to the breaking down 
 of our civil administration, the destruction of the instinct and patriotism in our country, 
 I declare upon my conscience I believe it would be better for the country, better for the 
 service, better tor the people, if a felonious hand were put into the Treasury of the 
 United States and this money were abstracted for this purpose and a clear thing be made 
 of it by charging it up to "soap." 
 
 • »*«'••• 
 
 " Have we not been told, are we not told constantly, that this Republican party is the 
 party of God and morality in the country? Has not the gentleman declared with a 
 seriousness ol tone and sincerity of manner that leaves no room to doubt his conviction of 
 the truth, that it is the best and purest party that has ever existed in this government ? 
 Why, sir, I have read the description of a party like this : ' But all their works they do 
 for to be seen of men ; they make broad their phylacteries, and enlart^e the borders of 
 their garments ; and love the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the syna- 
 gogues ; and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, ♦ " Rabbi, rabbi." ' 
 
 " And if, after making all the professions of purity and excellence and faith, when 
 you happen through the flimsy device to be caught in evd practices, you seek to screen 
 yourselves from the consequences behind the examples of others, there will be denounced 
 against you that terrible anathema. ' Woe unto you * * * hypocrites, for ye 
 devour widow's houses, and for a pretence make long prayer ; therefore ye shall receive 
 the greater damnation.' 
 
 " Mr. President, men of our race and language have always been tenacious of the 
 purity of the civil service of their government. Even as our fathers emerged from the 
 ages which we are in the habit of calling dark, they began to require that the purity ot 
 civil service should be the characteristic of their kings as well as of their commons. Six 
 hundred and fifty and more years ago King John in the Magna Charta was compelled to 
 declare : 
 
 "We will not make any justiciars, constables, sheriffs or bailiffs, but of such as are 
 knowing in the law of the realm, and are disposed duly to observe it. " 
 
 "Nearly a hundred years afterward, in the time of Richard II., in 1288, the Com- 
 mons passed a statute — • 
 
 "That the chancellor, treasurer, etc., the justices of the one bench, and of the other, 
 etc., and all other that shall be called to ordain, name or make justices of the peace, 
 sheriffs, escheators, customs, comptrollers or any other officer or minister of the king, 
 shall be firmly sworn that they shall not ordain, name or make justice of the peace, 
 sheriff, escheator, customer, comptroller, nor other officer or minister of the king for any 
 gift or brocage, favor nr affection ; nor that none which pursueth, by him or other, privily 
 or openly, to be in any manner office, shall be put in the same office or in any other ; but 
 that they shall make all such ofifieers and ministers of the best and most lawful men, and 
 sufficient to their estimation and knowledge. '' 
 
 "Lord Coke says that that was — 
 
 "A law worthy to be written in letters of gold, but more worthy to be put in tlue 
 execution. " 
 
 "A few years passed on and Edward IV., pressed by his necessities, commenced to 
 levy 'benevolence' upon the commons of England, which the people very turbulently, 
 as he thought, called 'malevolence,' and thereupon, in tlie first year of Richard III., tiie 
 bloody monster as he was called, Lord Coke mentions how 'the exaction under the good 
 name oi beneioUme^ l:)egun in 12 Edward 4, came to be so that 'many of the people did 
 much grudge at it and calted it a inalevolence. ' He refers to i Richard III., wherein 
 the commons recite : 
 
 "That 'the commons of this realm, by new and unlawful inventions and inordinate 
 covetise against the law of this realm, have been put to great thraldom and importable 
 charges and exactions, and in especial by a new imposition named a benrvoletice, whereby 
 divers years, the subjects and commons of this realm, against their wills and freedom, 
 have paid great sums of money ' — 
 
 12
 
 178 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 "After which, and other recitals, it is ordained — 
 
 "That his .subjects and the commonality of this his realm, from henceforth in no wise 
 be charged by none such charge (exaction) or imposition called benevolence, nor by such 
 like charge; and that such exactions called benevolences afore this time taken betake for 
 no example to make such or any like charge of any his said subjects of this realm here- 
 after, but it be damned TcnA annulled forever." 
 
 f " And Lord Coke, speaking of this very statute, i Richard III, says that — 
 °^ "Of the acts of Richard the Third one of the wisest was that of i Ric. III., oh. 2, ' an 
 act to free the subjects from benevolences P But he did not adhere to it. There is 
 mention of letters sent by him exacting these benevolences and specifying the sum which 
 each person was required to give. It is stated that ' this ' was ' a fatal blow at what re- 
 mained of his popularity.' 
 
 "History repeats itself. Benevolence exacted for his private purposes by the king 
 which the people called malevolences, and which were rejected and repudiated by the 
 Commons. He seemed to favor tlie rejection, but he sent out circulars even in those 
 clays to his good subjects, and specihed in those circulars the amount of money which he 
 required them to pay. Behold the example which this conmiittee has followed ! 
 
 "Mr. President, to these principles embodied in Magna Charta, embodied in these 
 statutes, the people of our race have always been true. Sometimes they have wandered, 
 sometimes they have straggled from the paths, but they have speedily returned to them, 
 and in their return they have always been led in England by the Commons, and in this 
 country by the Democratic party. To-day the time has come when they shall be led 
 again to appreciate the tieneficence of a pure civil administration. To-day the Democratic 
 party is putting itself at the head of that return, civil service reform is writ on its escutch- 
 eon and emblazoned on its banner. By its strength and in order to perfect it, the 
 Democratic party will sooner or later come into power. I say to Senators on the other 
 side of the Chamber that the sooner it conies into power the better it will be for them 
 and for the country. It may for a moment wound th.nr susceptibilities, but it will advan- 
 tage their pror-])erity and their liberties. When that time does come, when we shall take 
 possession of this Government, when we shall put in the high places of power our worthiest 
 and best, the President of tlie United States, the chief of the state, under the people the 
 source and fountain of honor and powers in this country, will be able to say to all as 
 Van Artevelde said in response to Vauclaire who was thanking him for his promotion : 
 
 Nay ! say no more, 
 You owe me nothing ; what have I to give 
 Is hild in trust, and parted with for services ; 
 Value received is writ on my commissions; 
 Nor would I thank the man that should thank me 
 For aught as given him gratis. * * * 
 ****** 
 
 Supremacy of merit, the sole means 
 And broad highway to power. * * * 
 
 * * * meiitoriously administer'd 
 While all lis insiruments from first to last. 
 The tools of state, for service high or low, 
 
 * * * chos n for their aptness to those ends 
 Which virtue meditates.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 179 
 
 The Overthrow of jMoiiopolies. 
 
 There is no question before tlie people of the United States involving such vast 
 interests as the question of the forfeiture of the unearned lands granted to railroads, 
 and, it may be added, that there is no question of vast public concern so little un- 
 derstood. One is apt to be dazed by the magnitude of the subject, and not fully 
 to understimd it. We speak in this chapter of bodies of land larger than New 
 England ; of tracts that have been granted to corporations equal in size to the 
 kingdoms that have ruled the world ; of hundreds of millions of acres that have 
 been given away, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. We give at length 
 the history of these grants, present tables showing the amount of land granted, 
 and give references to the law in each ca.se. The record of the Republican party 
 on this question has been made ; it is here given ; by the record let it be judged. 
 
 History of Our Public Lands. 
 
 The " era of the birth of monopolies " in this countiy covers but a short period 
 of time, but the injury inflicted is incalculable. That era dates from July 1, 1862, 
 and extends to March 3, 1871. The former date was the date of the Union Pacific 
 act. and the latter the Texas Pacilic act. From July 1. 1862, to March 3, 1871, 
 less than nine years, public lands were voted away to corporations to the amount 
 of 144,538,134 acres. By law, the roads earned 49,410,380 acres, leaving 95,127,754 
 acres that can and should be reclaimed for the people. There is besides this nearly 
 ten million acres, comprised in grants made to States that are forfeitable and 
 should be reclaimed, making the grand total of lands to be reclaimed over one 
 hundred million acres of land. 
 
 The Public Domain — How Acquired. 
 
 Perhaps the first thing that should be done to enable the reader to clearly under- 
 stand the condition of the public domain is to ehow its original extent, how portions 
 of it have been disposed of, how much of it remains, and the claims that are made 
 upon it. 
 
 The United States held and claimed no land in the thirteen original States, so 
 that the land (341,782 square miles, or 218,740,480 acres) included within the 
 boundaries of these States is not to be considered. 
 
 The first public lands belonging to the Government were cessions by some of 
 
 these States, viz. : Ma.ssachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, North and 
 
 South Carolina, and Georgia, of lands held by them under grants from Great 
 
 Britain. The amounts ceded were by 
 
 Acres. 
 
 New York and Massachusetts 202,187 
 
 Virginia (exclusive of Kentucky) 165,659.680 
 
 South Carolina 8.136,000 
 
 Georgia 56,689,930 
 
 North Carolina 29,184.000 
 
 Connecticut 4,300,000 
 
 Total 259,171,797
 
 180 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 Of the amount ceded by Virginia, Massachusetts claimed 34,560,000 acres, and 
 Connecticut claimed 23,000,000 acres ; but whatever rights they had, if any, were 
 given to the general Government. 
 
 The session from North Carolina, while it gave jurisdictioual rights did not 
 really give any land, as the territory ceded (now the State of Tennessee) was com- 
 pletely covered with reservations. This makes the actual number of acres 
 acquired bj' these sessions, which the Government could sell or dispose of, to be 
 229,987,187 acres, or 359,356 square miles. 
 
 Over the territory now included in the State of Kentucky, Government was 
 given jurisdictional control, but it acquired no lands, as these like the lauds in 
 Tennessee, had been disposed of by the State in grants. 
 
 The next laud acquired was by the treaty of 1803 with France, when the terri- 
 tory of Louisiana was purchased, at a total cost of $27,267,622. This territory 
 contained 756,961,280 acres, being larger in extent than the original thirteen States 
 and all their territorial possessions, which only amounted to 531,200,000 acres. 
 
 This purchase included parts of the present States of Alabama and Mississippi, 
 all of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mi.ssouri, Iowa and Nebraska, nearly all of Minnesota 
 and Kansas, all of Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and the Indian Territory, with parts 
 of \Yyoming and Colorado. 
 
 The next acquisition was in 1819 from Spain, the territory of Florida, contain- 
 ing 37,931,520 acres, the cost being $6,489,768. 
 
 From Mexico, by the treaty of Gaudalupe Hidalgo, Feb. 2, 1848, 334,443,520 
 acres were acquired, costing $15,000,000. This territory comprises California,. 
 Nevada, part of Colorado, Utah, and the greater part of New Mexico and Arizona. 
 
 In 1850 the Government purchased from Texas certain lands claimed by it, 
 amounting to 65,130,880 acres, at a cost of $16,000,000. 
 
 In 1853 the Gadsden purchase was made from Mexico, comprising 29,142,400 
 acres, at a cost of $10,000,000. This purchase forms a part of the territory of 
 Arizona and New Mexico. 
 
 In 1867 the territory of Alaska was purchased for $7,200,000, and comprises 
 369,529,600 acres. 
 
 So that the public domain of the United States consists of 
 
 Acres. 
 
 Cession from the original States 229,987, 187 
 
 Louisiana purchase 756,961,280 
 
 Florida ! 37.931,520 
 
 Mexican Treaty 334,443,520 
 
 Purcliase from Texas, 61,892,480 
 
 Gadsden purchase 29,142,400 
 
 Alaska ■ 369,529,600 
 
 Total 1,819,887,'987 
 
 In this the State of Texas is not included, as by the treaty of annexation it 
 retained the ownership of all i)ublic lauds wilhin its borders. 
 
 How the Domairt has been Disposed of. 
 
 Of these lands up to June 30, 1880, there had been surveyed 752,557,195 acres, 
 and of this there remained undisposed of, 24,802,711 acres, making with the 
 unsurveyed land the number of acres now owned by the Government, 
 1,273,946,438.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 181 
 
 The public lauds (542,000,000 acres) which have been disposed of, have been 
 
 used in the following ways : 
 
 Acres. 
 
 Sold 200,000,000 
 
 Given to States as swamp land 70.000,000 
 
 Given to States for internal improvement 8,000.000 
 
 Given to States salt springs 1.000,000 
 
 Given to States Florida, Oregon and New Mexico 3,000,000 
 
 Given to States for schools and colleges 79.000.000 
 
 Land bounties for military and naval service <51,000,()()0 
 
 Homesteads 5G, 000,000 
 
 Timber culture 10,000,000 
 
 Canals and wagon roads 6,000,000 
 
 Desert Land act 1,000,000 
 
 Given to States for railroads 36,000,000 
 
 Patented to railroad corporations 11,000.000 
 
 Total 542,000,000 
 
 This leaves only 6,000,000 acres of the public domain which has been disposed 
 of unaccounted for, and this has been disposed of at various times in small bodies 
 by Congress for different purposes. 
 
 The public domain not disposed of consists, as before stated, of 1,278,946,488 
 acres. For public use we must deduct from this the Indian and ^lilitary Reserva- 
 tions— 157,000,000 acres, and private land claims, 80,000,000. a total of 237,000,000 ; 
 which would leave the available lands at 1,036,946,488 acres. In considering its 
 disposition, from this we must deduct Alaska as totally unavaihible for settlement 
 and cultivation, which leaves 676,000,000 acres ; 26,000,000 of this is in the South- 
 ern States, leaving 650,000,000 in the Territories and States of the West through 
 which the grant railroads are being built. Of this amount, at least 400,000,000 
 acres are mountain lands, unsuitable for cultivation. 
 
 This leaves now in possession of the United States, about 250.000,000 acres of 
 available land, of which the various States to which grants were made claim 
 about 5,000,000 acres ; and the estimate of the Land Office is that it will require 
 about one hundred and twenty-five million acres to satisfy the claims of the cor- 
 porations ; and these claims are ba.sed upon grants demanding work to be done 
 which has not been done, so the lands have not been earned, and are justly for- 
 feited to the people of the United States. 
 
 Reports of various Secretaries of the Interior, letters and orders written by 
 them, and opinions promulgated by the Attorney-General, which will be given, 
 show that imless Congress takes definite action upon this subject,, titles will be 
 made to a large portion of this one hundred and twenty -five million acres, within 
 a short time. 
 
 The La-ws for Internal In:\provenienls. 
 
 Having shown fully the amount of land owned by the United States, and how 
 it was ac(iuired, how much of it has been used, we will now examine the laws 
 made to aid in building railroads and other internal improvements. 
 
 When the United States Government was young, it was rich in land and poor 
 in other resources, and the policy of aiding public works by land grants was in- 
 augurated at an earlj^ date, but until 1862 all grants were made to the States 
 wherein the work was contemplated, and the State securing the ground was held 
 to account for it.
 
 183 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 The State of Ohio was the recipient of the first land grant for public improve- 
 ments. Apiil 80th, 1802, one-twentieth ; (5 per cent.) of the net proceeds of land 
 sold in the State, was given it for "laying out and making roads." March 3d, 
 1803, three per cent, additional was given. 
 
 In 1824 the first land grant was made for canal i)urposes, and the last was made 
 in 1866. All these grants were to States, and the amounts areas follows : Indiana, 
 1,457,336 acres,; Michigan, 1,250,000 ; Ohio, 1,100,361 ; Wisconsin, 325,453 ; Illi- 
 nois, 290,915, a total of 4,424,065 acres granted for canals. 
 
 For military roads there was granted, from 1863 to 1872, to Oregon, 777,097 
 acres; Michigan, 321,013; Wisconsin, 302,930, a total of 1,401.040 acres. 
 
 The first grant in aid of a railroad was made September 20, 1850, (Stat, at 
 Large, vol. 9, page 466) to the State of Illinois. Tlie even numbered sections, for 
 six miles on each .side of the road, were given, and indemnity for occupied lands 
 was allowed for fifteen miles on each side. The sum total of this grant w^as 
 2,595,053 acres, and through its means 1,320 miles of railroad were built, being one 
 mile of road for each 1,965 acres of land. The State, through its charter, required 
 the railroad company to which the land was given to pay five to seven per cent, of 
 its gross income to the State. Under this law the Illinois Central, up to 1880, had 
 paid the State over $18,000,000, and the future annual income is estimated at $350,- 
 000, the stock of the company now selling at a premium of $45 even after such 
 payments had been made to the State. 
 
 The same bill (Stat, at Large, vol. 9, page 466), contained a similar grant to the 
 States of Alabamti and Mississippi, to aid in the construction of the Mobile and 
 Ohio road, which was to connect with the Illinois road at Cairo. There has been 
 patented to these States, for this road, Mississippi, 737,130 acres, Alabama, 419,428 
 acres, a total of 1,156,558 acres. 
 
 The next land grant was made June 10, 1852 (Stat, at Large, vol. 10, page 8), 
 and was to the State of Missouri. The amounts granted by this act were the same 
 as had been given to Illinois, and by this grant, which amounted to 1,764,710 
 acres, the southwest branch of the Pacific (now the San Francisco), 292 miles long, 
 and the Hannibal & St. Joseph, 292 miles long, a total of 584 miles long, were 
 built. Missouri thus secured one mile of railroad for every three thousand acres 
 of land granted. (Round numbers). 
 
 February 9, 1853 (Stat, at Large, vol. 10, page 155), the act was passed granting 
 to Arkansas and Missouri, lands to aid in the construction of a road from Cairo, 
 at the mouth of the Ohio river, to Fulton, on Red River, and from opposite 
 JMemphis, Tennessee, via Little Rock to Fort Smith, Arkansas. This grant, like 
 the others, was only six sections to the mile, but was afterwards increased to ten. 
 Under this law the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, from St. Louis and 
 Cairo to Fulton, 339 miles long, has been built and has received 1,486,383 acres of 
 land, and the Memphis d: Little Rock and Little Rock & Fort Smith, 168 and 135 
 miles long, have received 1,058,560 acres. Arkansas, it will be seen, obtained one 
 mile of railroad for each 3,900 acres of land granted. 
 
 The next land grant act was approved May 17, 1856 (Stat, at Large, vol. 11, 
 page 15), giving to the States of Florida and Alabama six sections per mile to aid 
 in constructing a road from Montgomery, Alabama, to Pen.?acola, Florida, from 
 Jacksonville to Pensacola, and from Amelia Island to Tampa Bay, with a branch 
 to Cedar Keys. 
 
 The State of Florida was entitled under tliis hill to 2,576,640 acres of land, if 
 the roads were built, and has received 1,595,146 acres, having forfeited the 
 remainder, 981,494 acres. Alabama never did anything to entitle itself to any of
 
 THE OVERTHROW, OF MONOPOLIES. 18? 
 
 this grant. Florida has 247 miles of laud grant railways, being one for each 
 seven thousand acres of land granted. 
 
 The next grant wa.s June 3, 1856 (Stat, at Large, vol. 11, page 17). and was to 
 the State of Alabama. This was six sections per mile. But those of the roads to 
 which aid was granted were detiuitely located, and they were entitled to 1,142,784 
 acres, of Avhich they received 771,930 acres, lea viivg 370,854 acres imearned and 
 forfeited. Alabama has 228 miles of land grant railway, and that shows one mile 
 for each 3,385 acres of laud granted. 
 
 The same day, that is, June 3, 185G (Stat, at Large, vol. 11, page 18), a grant 
 was made to Louisiana, to aiil in building a road from opposite Vicksburg, Missis- 
 sippi, to Shreveport, a distance of 189 miles ; from New Orleans by Opelousas to 
 the State line of Texas ; and from New Orleans to the State line in the direction of 
 Jackson, Mississippi. 725,760 acres of land were set apart for the Vicksburg and 
 Shreveport road, and 353,212 acres have been certified, leaving 372,548 unearned 
 and forfeited. No lands were ever given for the road from New Orleans towards 
 Jackson, Miss., though it was built within the time prescribed by the granting 
 act. Louisiana has only 152 miles of land grant railway, being one mile for each 
 7,000 acres. 
 
 On the same day, was granted land to the State of Wisconsin (Stat, at Large, vol. 
 11, page 20) to aid in constructing roads from " Madison or Columbits via Portage 
 City to St. Croix river, and thence to the west end of Lake Superior ; and to Bay- 
 field ; and also from Fon du Lac, on Lake AVinuebago, northerly to the State 
 line." This act was amended several times. May 5, 1864 (Stat, at Large, vol. 13, 
 page 66), June 21, 1866 (Stat, at Large, vol. 14, page 360), and March 3, 1875 (Stat, 
 at Large, vol. 17, page 634). By these amendments the number of sections to the 
 mile was increased to ten. The number of miles of road required to be built was 
 811 ; the number of miles actually built was 633. The number of acres estimated 
 as granted was 4,514,052, and the number patented to the grantee was 2,262,608, 
 while the amount actually earned before the time for the completion of the roads 
 expired was 2,867,200 acres, leaving 605,000 acres due. If to this we add as due 
 amounts earned by construction of roads since the expiration of the time for com- 
 pletion as per charter, an additional 1,184,000 acres is due Wisconsin. Wisconsin 
 has received 3,413,650 acres of land, for which it has built 633 miles of road, that 
 is, in round numbers, 5,400 acres for each mile of land grant railway. 
 
 ]\Iichigan also secured a land grant, on the 3d of June, to aid in construct- 
 ing roads from " Little Bay De Noquette, to Marquette, and thence to Ontonagon, 
 and from the last named places to the Wisconsin State line ; and also from Amboy, 
 by Hillsdale and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or near 
 Traverse Bay, also from Grand Haven and Pere Marquette to Flint, and thence to 
 Port Huron " (Stat, at Large, vol. 11, page 21). This act was amended June 18, 
 1864 (Stat, at Large, vol. 13, pages 137 and 409) ; July 3, 1866 (Stat, at Large, 
 vol. 14, page 78) ; March 2, 1867 (Stat, at Large, vol. 14, page 425) ; May 20, 
 1868 (Stat, at Large, vol. 15, page 252) ; March 3, 1871 (Stat, at Large, vol. 16, 
 page 586); April 20, 1871 (Stat, at Large, vol. 17, page 643); March 3, 1879 
 (Stat, at Large, vol. 20, page 490). 
 
 By these amendments the time for completing the roads was extended, and the 
 grant on one, from ^larquette to Ontonagon, increased to ten sections per mile. 
 The severallines aided were 563 miles long; the land granted, deducting conflict- 
 ing claims, was 2,580,321 acres. Two hundred and fifty miles of these roads were 
 built during the time required by law, and 213 miles have been completed since, 
 and 1,415,447 acres of land have been certified to the grantees. Gi^^ng lands in
 
 184 THE OVERTHROW. OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 proportion for the number of miles built during and after the time allowed for 
 completion, the State would be entitled to 840,000 acres additional. The land gi-ant 
 to Michigan was 2,580,020 ; the miles of land grant railway are 1,005, being one 
 mile for every 2,567 acres granted. 
 
 August 11, 1856 (Stat, at Large, vol. 11, page 30), Mississippi was gianted six 
 sections per mile for three roads, no part of any of which were constructed within 
 the ten years required bj' the granting act, and two of the grants were treated as 
 forfeited after August 11, 1866. The General Land office having no hesitation in 
 this case to require the full pound of flesh nominated in the bond. Though of 
 late j'ears it has been very careful of the rights of corporations, it had no hesitation 
 in the case of a State. For the other road, completed after the time had expired, 
 the State .secured 198,027 acres, making, with the 7o7,130 acres for the Mobile and 
 Oliio road, a total of 935,158 acres, for which the State has 406 miles of road to 
 show, being one mile of road for each 2,300 acres of land. 
 
 Minnesota, on March 3, 1857 (Stat, at Large, vol. 11, page 195), received the 
 next land grant, which act was amended at various times, as follows : July 12, '62, 
 12-624; March 3, '65, 13-526 ; July 13, '66, 14-97 ; March 3, '71, 16-588; March 
 3. '73, 17-631 ; June 22, '74, 18-203 ; March 3, '75, 18-511. 
 
 The original granting act in this case gave six sections, as in previous grants, 
 but iu 1865, after the commencement of the system by which private corporations 
 were given ten and twenty sections per mile, the grants to Minnesota were 
 increased to ten. 
 
 If there had been no conflict between any of the grants the State would have 
 been entitled to 6,400,000 acres of land for these roads, and has secured for them 
 6,130,000 acres. 
 
 On May 5, '64 (Stat, at Large, vol. 13, page 64), and on July 4, '66 (vol. 14-87), 
 Minnesota was given additional grants for other roads, for which it has secured 
 1.230,000 acres of land, a to'al to that State of 7,360.000 acres. For this land 
 grant it has to show one thousand eight himdred miles of completed railway ; 
 whilst for the lands given to private corparations it has only five hundred miles. 
 The private corporations received twenty sections per mile, and the State got one 
 mile of road for each 4,100 acres. 
 
 Augu.st 8, 1846 (Stat, at Large, vol. 9, page 77), a grant was made to the Ter- 
 ritory of Iowa to improve the navigation of the Des Moines river. Nothing was 
 ever done with it. On May 15, 1856, a grant of .six sections per mile was made to 
 Iowa to aid in building five roads. July 12, 1862 (vol. 12, 543), the grant of 1846 
 to the Territory' was increased and regiven to the State, to aid in buildinsr a rail- 
 road. May 12, 1864 (vol. 13, page 42), grants were made for three other roads, 
 giving ten sections per mile ; and June 2, 1864 (vol. 13, page 98), the grant to the 
 other roads was increased and the time for completion extended. 
 
 Iowa has received under these grants 4,695,490 acres of land, and has to .show 
 for it 1,672 miles of railroad built on these lines (and branches built by them), 
 iucrea ing the mileage for this grant to 2,250, showing one mile of road to each 
 2,090 acres of land. 
 
 March 3, 1863 (Stat, at Large, vol. 12, 772), Kansas secured a grant for three 
 roads. Ten sections to the mile was given. Grants for two other roads were made 
 July 23, 1866 (vol. 14-210), and July 25. 1866 (vol. 14, 236). Under these grants 
 the State received 4,153,470 acres of land and has for it 1,210 miles of road, being 
 one mile of road for each 3,430 acres of land. 
 
 This clo.ses the lists of the acta miking grants to the States to aid in building 
 railroads within the several States. JVo grant, until after 1862, was for more than
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 183 
 
 six sections or 8,840 acres per mile. The number of States to winch lands were 
 granted was twelve, and the amount of lands given was less than thirtj--five mil- 
 lions. The following table will show the States, the amount of lands patented or 
 certified to the Sj^ates, number of miles built by land grant roads, and the number 
 of riiiles of road built in these States, which includes laud grant, and non-land 
 grant roads. The table is as follows : 
 
 States. 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Arkansas .... 
 
 Florida 
 
 Illinois 
 
 Iowa 
 
 Kansas 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Michigan 
 
 Minnesota .... 
 Mississippi . . . . 
 
 Missouri 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Totals 
 
 Land patented 'Miles of Rail- 
 
 orCcriified to way l)y Land 
 
 State. i Grant. 
 
 2,882.076 
 2,376,891 
 1,760,834 
 3,595.053 
 4,706,458 
 4,449,226 
 1,072,406 
 3,229,010 
 7,748,651 
 935,158 
 1,395,429 
 2,807,583 
 
 35,958,775 
 
 822 
 
 620 
 
 247 
 
 705 
 
 1,672 
 
 1,654 
 
 152 
 
 1,005 
 
 2.389 
 
 406 
 
 703 
 
 553 
 
 Number of 
 acres certi- 
 fied to each 
 mile of Rail- 
 way built. 
 
 10,928 
 
 8,506 
 8,838 
 
 7,128 
 3,680 
 2,815 
 2,696 
 7,055 
 3,210 
 3.243 
 2,303 
 1,842 
 5,077 
 
 ^ S 
 1-2 
 
 Average number of acres of land per mile, 3,290. 
 
 It will be seen that the average number of acres of land for a State to get a 
 mile of road built in less than thirty-three hundred acres. We now come to the 
 first direct grant to a corporation, viz : 
 
 Land Grants to Railroads. 
 
 From an exhaustive speech by Hon. Wm. S. Holman in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, March 11, 1884, we quote the following statistics : 
 
 TABLE No. 1. 
 Orants of land made by the United States to aid in Vie construction of certain 
 
 railroads. 
 
 Names op Railroads for wnicn Grants were Made. 
 
 1 : Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 
 
 2 j Kansas City, Lawrence and Southern Kansas. 
 8 j Burlington and Missouri River (in Nebraska). 
 
 4 , California and Oregon 
 
 5 ; Soutliern Pacific (Southern Division) 
 
 6 ! Burlington and Alissouri River (in Iowa) 
 
 7 j Minnesota Central 
 
 8 Southern Minnesota 
 
 9 McGregor and ^lissouri River 
 
 10 Hastings and Dakota 
 
 I Number of 
 
 miles 
 
 covered 
 
 by grants. 
 
 470 
 143 
 190 
 291 
 934 
 279 
 110 
 167 
 150 
 75 
 
 Estimated 
 
 number of 
 
 acres granted. 
 
 3.005,870 
 
 800,000 
 
 2,441,600 
 
 3,724,800 
 
 948.643 
 3,462,408
 
 1S6 
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 TABLE No. 1— Continued. 
 
 Chicago and Northwestern 
 
 Cedar Rapids and ^lissoiiri River 
 
 Winona and Saint Peter (Saint Peter to Watertown). 
 
 Saint Paul and Sioux City 
 
 Sioux City and Saint Paul 
 
 West Wisconsin 
 
 North Wisconsin 
 
 ^lississippi and Missouri River 
 
 Hannibal and Saint Joseph 
 
 Illinois Central 
 
 Dubuque and Sioux City 
 
 Iowa Falls and Sioux City 
 
 Little Rock and Fort Smith 
 
 Memphis and Little Rock 
 
 Cairo and Fulton 
 
 Southwest Branch of Pacific of Missouri 
 
 Saint Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern 
 
 Missouri, Kansas and Texas 
 
 Oregon and California 
 
 Oregon Central 
 
 Southwest Branch of Pacific of Missouri 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific | 
 
 Lake Superior and Mississippi River ] 
 
 Stillwater and Saint Paul 
 
 Saint Paul and Pacific 
 
 Southern Pacific (Northern Division) 
 
 Southern Pacific (Southern Division) 
 
 North Louisiana and Texas 
 
 Denver Pacific 
 
 Saint Joseph and Denver City 
 
 Portage, Winnebago and Lake Superior 
 
 Florida Transit Railroad Company 
 
 Florida Central and Western Railway Company 
 
 Louisville and Nashville Railway Company 
 
 do do do 
 
 Mobile and Girard Railway Company 
 
 East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway Com- 
 pany 
 
 Alabama and Great Southern Railway Company 
 
 Vicksburg and 3Ieridian Railway Company 
 
 Mobile and Ohio Railway Company 
 
 Morgan's Louisiana and Texas liailroad and Steam- 
 ship Company 
 
 Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway Company 
 
 Saint Joseph and Western Railway Company 
 
 South and North Alabama Railroad Company 
 
 Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul, La Crosse to 
 Airiie 
 
 Flint and Pere Marquette Railway Company 
 
 Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway Company 
 
 Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon Railway Com- 
 pany 
 
 Totals 
 
 271 
 323 
 121 
 122 
 177 
 42 
 317 
 206 
 710 
 142 
 183 
 165 
 133 
 
 "'37 
 
 514 
 
 183 
 
 200 
 
 47 
 
 37 
 
 203 
 
 156 
 
 13 
 
 387 
 
 ^ 934 
 
 870 
 106 
 227 
 256 
 155 
 155 
 
 45 
 112 
 
 85 
 
 156 
 
 270 
 
 95 
 
 472 
 
 83 
 
 76 
 
 226 
 
 183 
 
 302 
 168 
 333 
 
 73 
 
 13,071 
 
 1,298,730 
 
 1,852.989 
 
 1,199,849 
 
 551,148 
 
 999,983 
 
 1.408.452 
 
 1,261,181 
 
 781,944 
 
 2,595,053 
 
 1,226,163 
 
 1,009,296 
 804,185 
 
 'lVl6V,235 
 4,106.647 
 1,520,000 
 3,840,000 
 100,000 
 
 920,00a 
 
 4,723,638 
 
 11,964,160 
 
 610.880 
 
 1.100.000 
 
 1,700.000 
 
 1.800.000 
 
 1,171,200 
 
 1.405,440 
 
 168,960 
 
 433,920 
 
 858,624 
 
 641,285 
 
 944,640 
 
 368,640 
 
 1,286,784 
 
 967.840 
 
 725.760 
 
 1,700.000 
 
 702,720 
 
 1,787,953 
 586.828 
 921,280 
 
 755.200 
 
 85,073,773
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 187 
 
 TABLE No. 2. 
 
 Grants of Land made by the United States to aid in tfie Construction of certain 
 
 Railroads. 
 
 1 Kansas Pacific 638 6,000,000 
 
 Central Pacific 737 7.997,600 
 
 Western Pacific | 123} 1,100,000 
 
 Central Branch of the Union Pacific t 133 j 804. 1H5 
 
 Siou.x Citv Pacific .1 101 41,398 
 
 Union Pacific 038 12,000,000 
 
 Northern Pacific 1,317 48.215,040 
 
 Texas Pacific 2,870 14,000,000 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific 1,755 49,244,803 
 
 Total 7,712 ; 139,403.026 
 
 The Union Pacific Charter. 
 
 On the first of July, 1862 (U. S. Stat, at Large, vol. 12, page 489). the Union 
 Pacific R. R. Co. was incorporated. The charter was from the 100th degree of 
 west longitude to the western boundary of Nevada. In the first section of the 
 charter is the following clause : 
 
 lu Capital stock of said company shall consist of one hundred thousand 
 shares of one thousand dollars each, which shall be subscribed for and held in 
 not more than two hundred shares by any one person." 
 
 Section 3 grants ten sections of land per mile ; all lands not sold or disposed of 
 in three years after the completion of the road to be subject to entry and pre-emp- 
 tion at $1 25 per acre, to be paid to the company. 
 
 Section 5 gives $16,000 United States bonds per mile. 
 
 Section 9 charters the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western (now Kansas 
 Pacific) road, to commence at the junction of the Kansas river with the Missouri 
 river, and unite with the main line at the 100th meridian and giving it the same 
 subsidies. It also confers the same privileges upon the Central Pacific, a corpora- 
 tion chartered by the State of California. 
 
 Section 10 authorizes this company to continue eastward from the eastern 
 boundary line of California until it meets the Union Pacific. 
 
 Section 11 trebles the amount of aid for the mountainous district. 
 
 The clause restricting auj^ one owner to not more than two hundred shares was 
 repealed in 1864. A first mortgage to the amount of the Government loan was 
 sanctioned. The Siou.x City and Burlington and Missouri river were chartered 
 with the same privileges granted by the original and the amended charter. One of 
 these roads is now part of the Union Pacific. 
 
 July 15, 1866 (vol. 14-94) the Placerville and Sacramento Valley road was 
 chartered and given ten sections per mile. July 25 (vol. 14, 239) the California 
 and Oregon and Oregon Central were chartered and given a subsidy. Both of 
 these roads are now part of the Central Pacific. 
 
 July 27, 1866 (vol. 14, 292) a new and much broader charter was given to the 
 Atlantic and Pacific, giving twenty sections in the States and forty in the Terri- 
 tories, with many privileges as to branches. By section 18 of the same act the
 
 188 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 Southern Pacific was chartered with the same rights given to the Atlantic and 
 Pacific. 
 
 March 2 (vol. 14, 548), the Stockton and Copperopolis road was started with 
 a land grant. It is now a part of the Central Pacific. 
 
 July 3, 1869 (vol. 15, 324), the Denver Pacific was authorized to take part of 
 the grant formerly given to the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western. 
 
 May 4, 1870 (vol. 16, 94), the Oregon Central was chartered and given twenty 
 sections of land to the mile. This land could not be sold at more than $2.50 per 
 acre, and only to actual settlers, in sums of not more than 160 acres. This road is 
 now part of the Central Pacific. 
 
 March 3, 1871 (vol. 16, 573), the Texas Pacific was chartered and given forty 
 sections per mile. 
 
 The next big .corporation was the 
 
 Nortl:\ern Pacific I\ailroad Company. 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad Company was chartered July 2, '64 (U. S. 
 Stat, at Large, vol. 13, 385). It was to receive twenty sections of land per mile in 
 Wisconsin and Minnesota, and double that amount in the Territories and Oregon. 
 The road was to be completed Julj' 4, 1876, twelve years from the date of the 
 granting act. May 7, 1866 (U. S. Stat, at Large, vol. 14, 355), a joint resolution 
 extended the time for commencing and completing the road two years. This made 
 the date for its completion July 4, 1878. July 1, 1868 (U. S. Stat, at Large, vol. 
 15, 255), the time was extended for commencing the road two years, and it was 
 required to be completed July 4, 1877. 
 
 The amount of this grant is 48,215,000 acres. Even under the decision of Sec- 
 retary Schurz the road forfeited its legal rights by non-compliance with its con- 
 tract, on July 4, 1879, at which time it had only 531 miles of its lines completed, 
 and was entitled to 5,632,000 acres of land. 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company. 
 The Atlantic and Pacific, or thirty-fifth parallel route is next to be examined. 
 The original charter and grant to this road was made July 27, 1866, and the bill, 
 with the exception of the designated route, is a copy of the one making the grant 
 to the Northern Pacific. Sections 8 and 9 in this act are precisely similar to the 
 same sections in the Northeni Pacific act, except that in the 8th section the time 
 fixed for the completion of the road is set on July fourth , 1878, and the word 
 " conditional " is used in the 9th section in place of the word " conditioned." The 
 land grant is the same — forty sections in the Territories and twenty sections in the 
 States, per mile — the whole grant amounting to forty million six hundred and ninety 
 thousand five hundred acres, or sixty-three thousand five hundred and eighty square 
 miles. Of this amount, thirteen millions one hundred and seventy thousand five 
 hundred acres are situated in the Indian Territory, through which the main line 
 and a branch from the Canadian river to the Arkansas State Line pass for a distance 
 of six hundred and fifty miles. 
 
 Texas and Pacific I^^ailroad Company. 
 The act can be found in the 16th vol. U. S. Statues at Large, 573-579. Ap- 
 proved 3Iarch 3, 1871. This w-a.sa grant of land in Arizona and New Mexico, of 
 forty .sections per mile, and a grant of twenty sections per mile in California. By 
 section 22 of that act, a grant of twenty sections per mile was made to the New 
 Orleans, Baton Rouge & Vicksburg R. R. Co., known as the "Backbone," so as 
 to give connection to New Orleans, La. The time for the completion of the Back-
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 189 
 
 bone was five years, and expired JIarch 3, 1876. The Texas Pacific proper 
 bad ten years, or till 1881, but ^by an amendment May 2, 1872, it was extended 
 to May 2, 1882. 
 
 Lands Earned ar\d Lands Forfeited. 
 
 We have now given a history of how the grants were made, and will next show 
 by a tabulated statement the number of miles of railroad built, the number of 
 acres of land conditionally granted, the number of miles earned l)v completion of 
 of the roads within the time reciuired Ijy law, and the number of acres forfeited 
 even under a liberal and equitable constiiiction of the granting acts, and then will 
 give such extracts from the granting acts as will place before the eye at once the 
 whole legal question to be determined. 
 
 Table No. 1. 
 
 Name of Corporation. 
 
 Land Patented. 
 
 Land Claimed. 
 
 Land Earned. 
 
 Land Forfeited. 
 
 Miles of Railway 
 called for by char- 
 ter. • 
 
 Miles of Railway 
 built within time 
 required by char- 
 ter. 
 
 o 
 
 
 1 
 
 1,859,475 1 
 
 841,780 j 
 
 188,763 ' 
 
 7,190..525 
 5,159,220 
 
 76.838 
 
 800,006 
 
 3,672 
 
 67,000 
 4,223,090 
 
 2,405.505 
 5,366,410 
 
 1 
 
 1,042 
 676 
 
 100 
 106 
 107 
 
 190 
 1,150 
 
 "868 
 
 1,042 
 676 
 
 100 
 106 
 107 
 
 190 
 1,150 
 
 "888 
 
 $4 14 
 
 
 
 
 Ctntral Branch Union 
 
 
 
 
 none 
 
 
 
 Sic IX Citv and Pacific .: 41,318 
 
 
 
 Burlington and Missouri i 
 River 2,374.090 : 
 
 
 • • 
 
 
 Southern Pacific, 1,037,910) 
 
 
 4 30 
 
 Branch Line Southern 1 
 Pacifif 95.495 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,133.790 1 
 
 
 
 7 41 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 7,572,620 
 
 25,291,600 
 
 
 4,254 
 
 4,254 
 
 
 
 
 
 Table No. 2. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5* S a 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S-i5j3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .-O 
 
 .- O 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 « :», 
 
 =5 a . 
 
 o 
 
 Xame of Cokporation. 
 
 "S 
 
 laime 
 
 arned 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 »2 
 
 
 M 
 
 m* 
 
 
 Pm 
 
 o 
 
 P4 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 Sra 
 
 
 ■o 
 
 •e 
 
 "d 
 
 ■c 
 
 
 3: •« c" u 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 
 :=^ ii i; 
 
 5:^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 >-] 
 
 >A 
 
 *A 
 
 a 
 
 ^ 
 
 < 
 
 *Oregon Branch Central ) 
 Pacific. . . . . j 
 
 2,125,314 
 
 7,000 
 
 1,064,000 
 
 1,062,526 
 
 288 
 
 152 
 
 §7 41 
 
 OreKon and California 
 
 322,063 
 
 3,379,698 
 
 2,314,900 
 
 1,074,793 
 
 315 
 
 197 
 
 7 41 
 
 OroL'on Central 
 
 none 
 
 l,]3O.h80 
 
 3«0,iKX) 
 
 7.'>0.880 
 
 144 
 
 47 
 
 7 41 
 
 Texas Pacific 
 
 none 
 
 ]4,3()9,7ti0 
 
 none 
 
 14,3O9,7f;0 
 
 678 
 
 r.one 
 
 
 JNevv Orleanei Pacific 
 
 none 
 
 1.492.000 
 
 none 
 
 1,492,000 
 
 318 
 
 none 
 
 
 tNorthern Pacific 
 
 749,.525 
 
 47,476.115 
 
 10,728,400 
 
 37,490,340 
 
 2,270 
 
 f31 
 
 500 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific 
 
 526,990 
 
 40,163,510 
 
 2,070,800 
 
 38,619,700 
 
 2,426 
 
 125 
 
 
 
 3,728,891 
 
 107,949,963 
 
 16,546,100 
 
 9-1,799,504 
 
 6,439 
 
 1,052 
 
 
 * Has 1.031, 314 acres of land patented more than it is entitled to. + Has sold several million 
 acres of land. % Assignee of the New Orleans, Baton Rouge & Vicksburg R. R.
 
 190 
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 Table No. 1 shows the completed roads, that is, the roads that were built 
 within the specified time designated by their charters. 
 
 Table No. 2 shows the roads that defaulted. 
 
 The Union Pacific controls the Kansas Pacific, Central Branch Union Pacific, 
 Denver Pacific, and Sioux City «fc Pacific, which were land grant roads, besides 
 several other branches which were not land grant roads. 
 
 It will be seen that these corporations have received 7,572,630 acres of land, 
 and are claiming and are entitled to 25,291,660 acres, making a total of 32,864,280 
 acres. They have built 4,264 miles of railroad, so that for each mile of railroad 
 built they have been given 7,780 acres of land; whilst the States only secured 
 3,290 acres for each mile built — just half the amount given to the corporations. 
 To place it in another form, the States have been given 35,958,775 acres of land, 
 and for this have built 10,928 miles of road ; whilst these corporations-have been 
 given 32.864,280 acres of land, more than the States received, and for it they have 
 returned us but little more than a third of the number of miles of railway. 
 
 Moneys Given. 
 
 Besides this land these roads have received an immense subsidy in money from 
 the Government, as is shown by the following statement from the official 
 records : 
 
 To the Union Pacific and its branches, the Kansas Pacific, the Sioux City & 
 Pacific, and the Central Branch Union Pacific, Government bonds were issued to 
 the amount of $36,767,832, and the Government has paid interest on this to the 
 amount of $31,895,228, of which sum the road has repaid by transporting mails- 
 troops, etc., Sill, 398,913, leaving due July 1, 1882, on interest paid, $20,469,304. 
 
 To the Central Pacific ^including the Western Pacific) there was loaned $27,- 
 855,680 in bonds. The interest paid on these by the Government amounts to 
 $23,449,463 ; the corporatioh has repaid $3,821,779, leaving interest due July 1, 
 1882, $19,627,684. 
 
 To show this matter in detail, the following table from the report of the Secre- 
 tary of the Trea.sury under date of Dec. 3, 1883, will be found valuable : 
 
 Table N. — Statement of ^0-year 6 per cent, bonds {interest paynhU January and 
 July) issued to the several Pacific Railway Companies under the acts of July 
 1, 1862 (12 Statutes, 492), and July 2, 1864 (13 Statutes, 359). 
 
 Railway Companibs. 
 
 Amount of 
 
 Bonds 
 Outstanding. 
 
 Amount of In- 
 terest Accnied 
 and paid to date 
 as per preced- 
 ing Statement. 
 
 Amount of 
 Interest Due as 
 per Register's 
 
 Schedule. 
 
 On January 1, 1876 : 
 Central Pacific 
 
 $25,885,120 00 
 
 6,303,000 00 
 27,236,512 00 
 1,600,000 00 
 1,970,560 60 
 1,628,320 00 
 
 $13,027,697 67 
 
 3.103,8!i3 09 
 
 I],8s4,32-1 65 
 
 781.808 26 
 
 722,:i80 14 
 
 68-5,703 89 
 
 $776,558 60 
 
 
 189,090 00 
 
 
 817,095 36 
 
 Central Branch Union Pacific 
 
 48,000 00 
 
 
 59,116 80 
 
 Sioux City and Pacific 
 
 48,849 60 
 
 
 
 
 $64,623,512 00 
 
 $28,202,807 70 
 
 $1,938,705 36
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 191 
 
 Railway Companibs. 
 
 Totil Intcregt 
 
 paid bv the 
 United fetates. 
 
 Repayment of 
 Interest bv 
 
 Trani-portftllon 
 
 of Mails, 
 
 Troops, etc. 
 
 Balance due 
 the United 
 States on inter- 
 cut Account, 
 
 Deducting 
 Repayments. 
 
 On January 1, 1876 : 
 
 Central PHCific 
 
 Kansai* Pacific 
 
 $11,804,2.51 27 
 
 3.2!l2,!K'i 0(t 
 
 12,701, 4-.'0 01 
 
 8->'y,K<KS •>(; 
 
 781.4'JO U4 
 
 781,553 49 
 
 $1,191,765 86 
 
 1,140,664 W 
 
 3,043,715 65 
 
 44,4os 05 
 
 '.).367 00 
 
 89,005 96 
 
 $6,668,927 36 
 
 $10,012,485 41 
 1,852 318 25 
 
 Union Pacific 
 
 Central Branch Union Pacific 
 
 ^Veetern Pacific 
 
 8,7.57,704 36 
 785,400 21 
 772,129 94 
 692,547 53 
 
 Sioux City and Pacific 
 
 ' 
 
 $30,141,513 06 
 
 $23,472,585 70 
 
 The above table shows the amount due January 1, 1876— from the six roads 
 (really but two, the Union and Central Pacific having swallowed the others). This 
 amount has steadily swelled as follows, there being due the Government 
 
 July 1, 1876 $25,227,727 17 
 
 Jan. 1, 1877 27,014,416 32 
 
 July 1,1877 27,443,139 25 
 
 Jan. 1, 1878 28,890,144 88 
 
 July 1, 1878 29,953,595 61 
 
 Jan. 1, 1879 31,202,042 51 
 
 July 1, 1879 31.116,907 19 
 
 Jan. 1, 1880 32,130,681 75 
 
 July 1, 1880 33,974,568 75 
 
 Jan. 1, 1881 35,476,119 18 
 
 July 1, 1881 37,041,145 67 
 
 Jan. 1, 1882 38,698,091 04 
 
 Julyl, 1882 40,123,989 44 
 
 Jan. 1, 1883 41,159,527 51 
 
 and on July 1, 1883, the following table shows the amount due from these roads 
 to be of $42,444,713.26: 
 
 Railway Companies. 
 
 Amounts of 
 Bonds Outstand- 
 ing. 
 
 Amount of In- 
 terest Accrued 
 
 and paid to date, 
 as per preced- 
 ing Statement. 
 
 Amount of In- 
 terest Due as 
 per Reerister's 
 ScbeSuJe. 
 
 On ,Tuly 1, 1888 : 
 Central Pacific 
 
 $25,8R5,120 00 
 6,303,000 00 
 27,236,512 00 
 1,600,000 00 
 1,970,560 00 
 1,628,320 00 
 
 $22,676,001 67 
 5,940,248 09 
 24,140,755 05 
 1,501,808 26 
 1,609,132 14 
 1,416,447 89 
 
 $776,5,53 60 
 189,090 00 
 8I7,(«5 36 
 48,0( 00 
 59,116 80 
 48,849 CO 
 
 Kantias Pacific 
 
 
 Central Branch Union Pacific 
 
 Western I^acific 
 
 Sioux City and Pacific 
 
 
 
 $64,623,512 00 
 
 $57,288,388 10 
 
 $1,938,705 36
 
 192 
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 Kallwat Companies 
 
 On July 1, 1883 : 
 
 Central Pacific 
 
 Kansas Pacific 
 
 Fuion Pacific 
 
 Central Branch Union Pacific 
 
 Wei^teru Pacific 
 
 Sioux City and Pacific 
 
 Total Interest 
 
 paid by the 
 United States. 
 
 S23, 453,555 27 
 
 6,129,88-3 09 
 
 21,957,S.)0 41 
 
 1,.>I9,S()8 26 
 
 1,668,2-18 91 
 
 1,464,297 49 
 
 Repayment of 
 
 Int< let^t by 
 
 Transportation 
 
 of Mails, Troops, 
 
 etc. 
 
 $4: 
 
 592,158 25 
 969,049 .59 
 933,29J 87 
 1.52,157 10 
 9,367 00 
 121,355 39 
 
 859,222,093 46 
 
 Balance due 
 tbe United 
 States on Inter- 
 est Account, 
 Deducting Re- 
 payments. 
 
 $18,860,397 02 
 3,160,283 50 
 16,024,-557 54 
 1.397,651 16 
 1,658,881 94 
 1,342,942 10 
 
 $16,777,380 30 $42,444,713 2S 
 
 State Grants and Grants to Corporations. 
 
 "Where I\ests the Responsibility for these Grants ? 
 
 All of the grants of lands and moneys in these large quantities were made from 
 the passage of the Union Pacific Charter, July 1, 1862, to the closing scene on the 
 passage of the Texas Pacific bill, March 3, 1871, while the Republican party was 
 in control of both houses of Congress and the Executive departments. Of the 
 various grants made within that period, the bonds lent by the Government amount 
 to $64,623,512 to the following roads : 
 
 Central Pacific, Kansas Pacific, Union Pacific, Central Branch 
 Union Pacific, Western Pacific, Sioux City and Pacific. 
 
 The lands given to the roads that were completed in time to earn their lands is 
 shown bj" the following table, and it will be seen that the roads just mentioned 
 receive land in addition to bonds. 
 
 Name of Corporation. 
 
 Union Pacific I,fi59,475 
 
 Kansa" Pacific I 841,780 
 
 Central Branch Union Pacific I 188,762 
 
 Denver Pacific i none 
 
 Sionx City and Pacific | 41,318 
 
 Burlington and Alissoari River 2,374,090 
 
 Southern Pacific 1,037,910 
 
 Branch Line Southern Pacific 9."),495 
 
 Central Pacific 1,133,790 
 
 7,190,525 
 
 5,159,2->0 
 
 76,238 
 
 800,1100 
 
 3,672 
 
 67,000 
 
 4,22 1,0110 
 
 2,405,505 
 
 5,366,410 
 
 7,572,620 25,291,660 
 
 Sou 
 
 1,042 
 676 
 100 
 106 
 107 
 190 
 
 1,150 
 
 ' 888 
 
 4,254 
 
 fc-^S 
 
 
 1,042 
 676 
 100 
 103 
 107 
 190 
 
 1,160 
 
 4,254 
 
 It will be observed that while these roads have earned 32,864,280 acres of land, 
 they have taken patents for but 7,572,620 acres. Their reason for this course arises 
 from the fact that until they take out patents the title is in the government, hence 
 the roads escape taxation. The grants of lands to other roads will now be noticed, 
 and the roads aggregate an immense area.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 193 
 
 The acts making the grants can be found as follows : Northern Pacific railroad 
 <Act Julys, 1864, U. S. statutes vol. 13, page 36.5. lime lor completion July 4, 
 1877, but extended to July 4, 1879). Acres of land, 46.947,200. California 
 and Oregon Railroad Co. (Act July 25, 186G, 14th vol. U. S. statutes page 239), 
 acres of land 3,686,400. Oregon and California Railroad Co. (Act July 25, 1866, 
 vol. 14 U. S. statutes, page 239), acres of land 4,608,000. 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Co. (Act July 27, 1866, U. S. statutes, vol. 14, 
 page 292), time for completion July 4, 1878. Acres of land granted 40.690,o6o! 
 Southern Pacific Railroad Co. (Act July 27, 1866, U. S. statutes, vol. 14, page 202), 
 time for completion July 4, 1878. Acres of land granted 1,130,880. 
 
 Texas Pacific Railroad Co. (Act March 3, 1871, U. S. statutes, vol. 16, page 573). 
 time for completion May 2, 1882. Acres of land 14,309,760. 
 
 New Orleans Pacific, a.ssignee of the New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Vicksburg 
 Railroad Co. (22d section, act March 3, 1871, vol. 16, page 573), time for completion 
 March 3, 1876. Acres of land granted 4,070,400. (Note : this was the amount 
 voted by the bill, viz. : 20 sections per mile for 318 miles. But it is estimated that 
 there is not more than 1,492,000 acres of land available.) This closes the grants of 
 money and lands. The lands to the completed roads are 32,864,280 acres. This 
 amount is gone forever from the people. The lands granted to roads that did not 
 comply amount to 111,673,854 acres or 174,490 square miles. 
 
 This is more land than is contained in the the States of New York, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The acts making the grants of money and 
 lands, are shown to have been passed between July 1, 1862, and March 3, 
 1871. The Republican party, the true party of monopoly, had control of both 
 Houses of Congress by from a two-thirds (|) to three-fourths («) majority. So that 
 there is no possible chance for the responsibility to be shifted. But that party's 
 responsibility does not stop here. The time fixed for the completion of the roads 
 began to ex-pire in 1876, and the last one expired May 2, 1882. If the executive 
 offices had been filled by men who were honestly in favor of doing that which is only 
 honest, they would have closed the doors of the department to roads, as their time for 
 completion expired and exacted a strict compliance with the terms of the grant. We 
 find that this subject has three distinct eras. The first era runs from July 1, 1862, 
 to March 3, 1871, and this era is the granting era. The second era is from 1876 to 
 1882, the era in which those grants expired by limitation. The third era begins July 
 30, 1882, when the Hon. Thomas R. Cobb, of Indiana, introduced House Bill 
 No. 3606, for the forfeiting of all unearned labd grants (47th Cong., 1st session), 
 and brings us down to the present time. The House of the Forty-seventh Congress 
 was Republican, and the action of that body shows that the Republican party had 
 not changed from the friends of monopoly to the friends of the people. Mr. 
 Cobb's bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee, and the record shows that on 
 May 16. 1882, Mr. Taylor from that committee made report No. 1266, confirm- 
 ing the title of settlers on disputed lands on what is known as the "Ontonagon 
 Orant," and the bill calmly died on the calendar. On Monday, July 24, 1882, 
 the minority of the Judiciary submitted their report, and with it a resolution to 
 forfeit the Northern Pacific unearned land grant. They asked that the matter be 
 placed on the calendar. Mr. Caswell, of Wisconsin (Rep.) objected, and the 
 Speaker, J. Warren Keifer, sustained him. Mr. Cox, of New York (Dem.), 
 appealed from the decision of the chair. Mr. Reed (Rep.), of ]Maiue, moved to 
 lay Cox's motion on the table. A newspaper dispatch of that date shows this up 
 in a true light. In speaking of this report, it said : 
 
 "The majority of the committee (8) reported in the interest of the railroad 
 13
 
 194 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 company that no action was necessary, and when tlie minority of the committee (7) 
 submitted their report, and asked that the subject be placed on the calendar for 
 discussion, Speaker Keifer ruled the motion out of order on the ground that the 
 majority of the committee ha\ing reported that no action was necessary the ques- 
 tion could not he discussed on the report of a minority. Mr. Cox, of New York, 
 appealed from this remarkable decision of the chair, when Mr. Reed, of Maine, 
 moved to lay the appeal on the table, which was carried by the following vote : 
 Yeas, 97; nays, 70. Not voting, 123. Mr. Caswell {Rep.), of Wisconsin, tried to 
 prevent this rote from going on record." 
 
 That action showed the animus of the Republican leaders. We now come to a 
 report that is unique in its character. We allude to the action of the chairman of 
 the Committee of Judiciary, Thos. B. Reed, of Maine, then as now one of the 
 leaders of the Republican party. The Republican railroad members of that com- 
 mittee, rather than have the manner in which the Texas Pacific bill was bought 
 through Congress in 1870 and 1871 exposed, voted almost unanimously to forfeit 
 the grant on August 3, 1882. When the committee was called that day the 
 record shows the following proceedings (Congressional Record, Aug. 3d, 1882) : 
 
 Texas Pacific I\ailroad. 
 
 The Committee on the Judiciary being called : 
 
 Mr. Reed — I desire to present a report from the Committee on the Judiciary 
 in regard to the Texas Pacific railroad. I have not the document with me at this 
 moment ; it is being copied, and if the House has no objection I will file it as soon 
 as it is ready. 
 
 The Speakek pro tempore (Mr. Hubbell) — If there be no objection, the gen- 
 tleman will be allowed to file the report when copied. The Chair hears no objec- 
 tion. What order does the gentleman ask '! 
 
 Mr. Knott — On behalf of .several members of the committee I desire to submit 
 in connection with this report some individual views to be printed with it. 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore — If there be no objection, the views of the minority 
 will be presented, to be printed with the report of the Committee. 
 
 There was no objection. 
 
 Mr. HoLMAN — Let the resolution accompanjing the report be read. 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore — The gentleman from Maine (hlr. Reed) states that 
 the report is being copied and will be presented hereafter. 
 
 Mr. lIoLMAN — But the resolution, I presume, is here ? 
 
 Mr. Reed — The resolution also' is being copied. It could not at any rate be 
 read under the present order. 
 
 Mr. Hoi.MAN — Then it cannot be received. 
 
 A Member— Let it be printed. 
 
 [Mr. Reed - Certainly ; it will be printed as a part of the report. 
 
 Mr. Randall — My neighbor suggests to me to ask that the report be pre- 
 sented hereafter, and that the House give consent to the consideration of the 
 resolution. 
 
 Mr. Reed — That cannot be done under this rule. This is a presentation of the 
 report in ordinary form luider the rule. All I ask is that I may make juanual 
 transmission of the report hereafter. 
 
 Mr. Randall— I suggest that the gentleman be allowed to call it up for consid- 
 eration to-morrow. 
 
 Mr. Rked— That cannot be done. That is not proper, because the report has 
 not been printed.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 195 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore— The Chair cannot entertain that request during this 
 hour. 
 
 Mr. Randall — Unanimous consent can be asked. 
 
 Mr. Reed — Unanimous consent has never been asked in this hour. 
 
 Mr. Ellis— I object, until I know what it is. 
 
 Mr. Randall— It is the forfeiture of 14,000,000 acres of land, granted to tlie 
 Texas Pacific Railroad, quasi Pennsylvania coi-poration. 
 
 Mr. Holm AN— Nearly 18,000,000. 
 
 Mr. TowNsiiEND, of Illinois — What has become of the resolution reported by 
 the gentleman from Elaine ? 
 
 The Speaker J9/-0 tempore— The gentleman informed the Chair that the report 
 and resolution were being copied, and asked unanimous consent to tile the same 
 as soon as copied. 
 
 Mr. TowNSHEND, of Illinois— And that the resolution go on the calendar ? 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore — That was the understanding. 
 
 Mr. Reed— That will be done under the rule. I have stated that I merely wi.sh 
 to make manual tran.smission of this report hereafter instead of now. 
 
 Mr TowNSiiEND, of Illinois— That is right, of course. I only \\ished to under- 
 stand the status of the resolution. I understand it will go to the calendar. 
 
 The Speaker ;;?■(? tempore— Tha resolution will take the same course as though 
 it were presented now. 
 
 Mr. Cox. of New York — When will it come up for consideration ? We want 
 to consider it. 
 
 The Speaker pro temjwre — The report will come up in its order. 
 
 Mr. TowNSHEND, of Illinois — It can be called up at any time bj' unanimous 
 consent. 
 
 Mr. Cox, of New York — We ask unanimous consent to take it up to-morrow. 
 
 Mr. Reed— The gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Ellis] has objected. 
 
 This took place August 3d, and yet when Congress adjourned on August 8th 
 a printed copy of neither the resolution nor report could be found ; nay, more, 
 there never was a printed copy found in the document room of the House, until 
 after James A. Geoige, on the night of September 6, made a speech in Congress 
 Hall, Portland, Maine, the home of Mr. Reed, and charged publicly that Mr. 
 Reed had pocketed the report. Yet in the face of this, we find that on January 
 31, 1884, when the bill was up in the House to forfeit the Texas Pacific land grant, 
 Mr. Reed had the assurance to ask to have printed in the Record the report which 
 the Judiciary Committee agreed to August 3, 1882, but not .submitted for .some 
 time afterward. In the record of January 31, 1884, page 844, the following, on 
 motion of Mr. Reed, was printed : 
 
 " Mr. Reed (Augu,st 3, 1882), from the Judiciary, submitted the following re- 
 port : " 
 
 Any one not knowing the true facts of the case, might think Reed submitted a 
 report August 3, 1882, but the record of that day's proceedings shows this to be 
 false, and i\Ir. Reed cannot escape in this manner. It is hardly necessary to state 
 that the lobby were here in full force and hovered around the committee like 
 buzzards around a carcass. That they were successful is hardly necessary to state, 
 for the records of the Forty-seventh Congress show that no effort was ever made to 
 take up a bill inimical to the railroads, while two huge efforts were made to pass a 
 bill, under cover of which Huntington, Stanford, Crocker & Co. could and would 
 have stolen fourteen millions of acres of land. We allude to the effort to pa.>^s a 
 bill to allow a consolidation of the Southern Pacific sj-stem from San Francisco 
 via El Paso and San Antonio, Texas, to New Orleans, La. The bill alluded to is
 
 196 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 House Bill 5219,whichwas the substitute reported from Pacific Railroads committee 
 for House Bill 2534, and the reports accorapanjing are Nos. 755 and 1168, and was 
 put on House calender May 3, 1882. House Report 1168 is notable from the fact 
 that it takes the ground that monopolies do not work in the interests of monopoly 
 but of the people. 
 
 We now come to the interregnum between the outgoing of the Republican 
 House and the incoming of the Democratic House. The fight is now to be trans- 
 ferred to the Interior Department and due credit must be given to the men who 
 threw themselves into the ])reach to save the people's lands. During the whole 
 vacation of Congress, the Hons. W. S. Rosecrans, of California, and Poindexter 
 Dunn, of Arkansas, were in Washington, and never failed to interpose an objec- 
 tion at the Interior Department, whenever the railroads attempted to take an 
 advantage. Learning on June 5, 1883, that the Texas and Pacific were attempting, 
 by a pretended deed of transfer, to get 14,809,760 acres of land, they, in connec- 
 tion with Hon. T. R. Cobb, who was in the city that day, filed the following 
 
 nrotest : 
 
 ' Washtngton, D. C, June 5, 1883. 
 
 Hon. H. M. Tellek, Secretai-y of the Interior. 
 
 SiK : We are informed that the Southern Pacific Railroad Companies of 
 Arizona and New Mexico, claiming as assignees of the Texas Pacific Railroad 
 Company, have filed, or contemplate filing at an early day, an application for the 
 lands granted to the Texas Pacific Rjiilroad Company by the act of March 3, 1871 
 (U. S. Stat, at large. Vol. 16, page 573), as amended by the act of May 2, 1872 (U. 
 S. Stat, at large, Vol. 17, page 59). 
 
 As you are probably aware, the Judiciary Committee of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the 47th Congress, on the 3d of August, 1882, with but one dissenting 
 vote, declared these lands forfeited. But for the fact that almost the entire time of 
 the succeeding session was taken up in the discussion of revenue measures, there is 
 little doubt that this resolution would have passed. 
 
 Ao-ain we would call to your attention that an effort was made to consolidate 
 these roads in the last session of Congress, bills for that purpose being introduced 
 in both houses, so that a shadow of title might be acquired by the Southern Pacific 
 Companies. The bill was never called up in the Senate and was twice defeated in 
 the House, first on the 11th of January, and again on the 2d of March of this year, 
 by a most decided vote. 
 
 In consideration of these facts, and of the probabilities that immediately upon 
 the issuance of certificates for said land, the same will be mortgaged for the issu- 
 ance of land bonds, that innocent purchasers may be brought in, we protest against 
 any action on your part looking to the issuance of certificates to said Southern 
 Pacific Companies, or to any other company claiming under the acts previously 
 alluded to. We also desire that a certified copy of all papers now in your office, 
 or that may be filed by any company or persons, in relation to the said lands, be 
 furnished us. (Signed) W. S. Rosecrans, Cal. 
 
 T. R. Cobb, Ind. 
 
 Poindexter Dunn, Ark. 
 
 This action on their part stopped all proceedings, and when Congress met the 
 
 House, by a vote of 260 ayes to 1 nay, passed a bill to forfeit this grant. On the 
 
 same day the.se same gentlemen filed a similar protest on the " Blackbone " grant. 
 
 We now come to the meeting of the 48th Congress (House Democratic), and we 
 
 will see what they have done. The committees were not announced till just before 
 
 the holi<lays. Vet we find a record of the following prompt action on the part of 
 
 the Public Lauds committees. On January 31, 1884, Mr. Cobb, as chairman of the
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 197 
 
 Public Lands, asked the House to take up and pass House bill 3520, declaring for- 
 feited certain lands granted to State.s in aid of railroads. The bill pa.ssed by a rita 
 voce vote, and thus between five and six million acres of land, so far as the House 
 of the 48th Congress was concerned, were saved. But this day was to witness a 
 .still greater triumph. The next bill taken uj) was House bill 3933, to declare a 
 forfeiture of lands granted to the Texas Pacific Railroad. The House, by a vote 
 of 260 ayes to 1 nay, passed this bill, and 14,309,760 acres of land more was saved, 
 so far as the House of the 48th Congres.s could .save. 
 
 Estimated Disposition of the Public Domain to June 30, 1880, Jun^ 30, 1882, and 
 
 Jitn*' 30, 1883. 
 The amount disposed of up to June .30, 18S3, is about 620,000,000 acres. 
 
 estoiated disfobition under vabiotts 
 Laws to — 
 
 June 30, 1880. June 30, 1882. , June 30, 1883. 
 
 Acres. 
 547,754,483 
 
 Acres. 
 572,957,047 
 
 Cash sales, which include pre-emption, 
 etc., and probably 30,000,000 or more; 
 acres accounted for under other acts: 
 and commutation of homesteads, froml 
 the establishment of land system to 
 
 June 30, 1880 169,832,564 
 
 Donation acts— Florida, Oregon, Wash-; 
 
 ington, and New Mexico | 8,084,797 
 
 Land Bounties— Military and Naval: 
 
 service '. | 61,028,430 
 
 State selections (Act 1841) for internal! 
 
 improvement [ 7,806,554 
 
 Salines (salt springs) granted to States. . .1 559,965 
 
 Town sites and county seats I 148.916 
 
 Railroad land ixrants patented 45,650,026 
 
 Canal grants. .V 1 4,424,073 
 
 Military wagou-road trrants 1,301,040 
 
 Mineral lands sold since 1866 148,621 
 
 Homesteads, 3,000,000 (estimated) acres 
 of which have been commuted and 
 
 carried into cash sales 55,667,044 
 
 Scrips enumerated 2,778,622 
 
 Coal lands I 10,750 
 
 Stone and timber acts of 1878 [ 20,782 
 
 Swamp andovertiowed lands selected and 
 
 patented to States 69,206,522 
 
 Graduation act of 1854 25,696,419 
 
 Schools, Seminaries and Agricultural 
 Colleges : 
 16" and 36" sections for 
 
 schools 67,893,919 
 
 Seminaries and universities. 1, 165, 520 [ 
 Agricultural colleges — Land 
 
 in place 1,770,000 
 
 Agricultural colleges— Land 
 
 scrip 7,830,000 
 
 78,659,439 
 
 Area held under timber-culture act 9,346,660 
 
 Desert land act 897,160 
 
 Acres. 
 591,987,814 
 
 78,000,000 
 
 175,000,000 
 
 3,117,401 
 
 8,121,534 
 
 61,028,430 
 
 61,064,150 
 
 7,806,554 
 
 559,965 
 
 162.794 
 
 46,526,823 
 
 4,424,073 
 
 1,301,040 
 
 194,970 
 
 7,806,554 
 
 559,965 
 
 167,871 
 
 47,004,043 
 
 4,424,073 
 
 1,741,897 
 
 224,483 
 
 67,043,189 
 
 2,893.034 
 
 24,560 
 
 159,008 
 
 75 215,164 
 
 2,949,113 
 
 40.172 
 
 456,743 
 
 70,006,769 
 25,696,419 
 
 70.445,957 
 25,696,419 
 
 78,659,439 
 
 13,657,146 
 
 1,170,675 
 
 78,889,839 
 
 16.768.076 
 
 1,607,310
 
 198 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 The Action of tt\e Forty-eighth Congress. 
 
 The House of Representatives of the Forty-eighth Congress recognizing the 
 importance of dechiring forfeited unearned land grants, went promptly to "work 
 under the able and vigilant lead of Hon. T. R. Cobb, of Indiana, chairman of the 
 Committee on Public Lands. 
 
 January 21, 1884, Mr. Holman submitted the following resolution, which was 
 agreed to : 
 
 Re'solved, Tliat in the judgment of tliis House all the public lands heretofore granted 
 to States and corporations to aid in the construction of railroads, so far as the same are 
 now subject to t'orteiture l^y reason of the non-tultiUment of the conditions on which the 
 grants were made, ought to be declared torteited to the United States and restored to 
 the public ilomain. 
 
 Resolved, That it is of the highest public interest that the laws touching the public 
 lands should be so framed and administered as to ultimately secure freehold therein to the 
 greatest number of citizens ; and to that end all laws facilitating speculation in the pub- 
 lic lands or authorizing or permitting the entry or purchase thereof in large bodies ought 
 to be repealed, and all of the public lands adapted to agriculture (subject to bounty grants 
 and those in aid of education) ought to be reserved for the benefit of actual and bona fide 
 settlers, and disposed of under the provisions of the homestead laws only. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on the Public Lands is hereby instructed to report to the 
 House bills to carry into efiect the views expressed in the foregoing resolutions ; that 
 said committee shall be authorized to report such bills at any time, subject only to 
 revenue and appropriation bills ; and the same shall in like order be entitled to considera- 
 tion. 
 
 History of the Land Grar\t Bills. 
 
 H. R. 3,520. Declaring forfeited certain grants of lands made to certain States 
 to aid in the construction of railroads. 
 
 In the House, passed January 31, 1884, without a record vote. 
 
 In the Senate, received February 4, reported from Committee on Public Lands, 
 amendment, June 30. No vote taken. 
 
 Mr. Cobb stated the purpose of the bill in the following words ; 
 
 Mr. Cobb — As I was about saying, Mr. Speaker, none of these roads have been com- 
 pleted, none ot them begun. Their grants simply stand in their name without any work 
 whatever having been done upon the roads which these grants contemplated. I do not 
 deem it necessary, therefore, to take up the time of the House in discussing in detail any 
 ot these grants. It is a mere question of policy now whether the grants shall be forfeited 
 in view of the failure of the companies to construct the roads or not. 
 
 Under a decision of the Supreme Court in a similar case, although all of these grants 
 contained the condition that in case the railroads are not completed in ten years from 
 the date of the grant that at the end of that period the lands shall revert to the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, under the decision of the .Supreme Court of the United States 
 in the case of Shulenburg vs. Herriman it has been held that these were grants in 
 prasenli and carry the legal title to the .States to which they are made or to the railroad 
 companies. That being so, the committee deemed it right and proper that there should 
 be a declaration upon the part of the legislative department of the Government creating 
 these grants declaring a forfeiture and restoring the lands to the puiilic domain, reserving, 
 as you will j^erceive by the bill, the rights of settlers, homesteaders, etc., made in good 
 faith. None ot these lands in any of these grants have been sold. -In the case of the 
 StateofAlai)ama I believe one of these grants was not accepted at all. As to the other 
 grants, no corporations were organized for the purpose of accepting them. This is about 
 the substance of the facts in the case, and, as 1 have said, it seems scarcely necessary to 
 detain the House longer. The expression of the House and the feeling, I take it, is such 
 that if this was an original proposition to grant these lands to these States for the benefit 
 of railroad corporations in constructing their roads, they would not bo granted at all. 
 
 The only question is whether we will allow these grants to remain that were made 
 twenty-seven years ago, seventeen years having expired since the expiration of the time 
 then the grant contem])lated the completion of the various lines of road. I do not 
 believe the House will entertain for a moment the idea of continuing these grants 
 longer.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 199 
 
 H. R. 3933. To declare forfeited lands granted to the Texas and Pacific 
 R. R. Co. 
 
 Passed House January 81, 1884. 
 
 Yeas, 260; nay, 1. 
 
 In the Senate. Feb. 4, received and referred to the Committee on Public Lands, 
 Marcii 7, reportetl with no amendment. No vote taken. 
 
 The report is here given in full : 
 
 The Coininittee on Public L'Mids, to 7vhom was re/erred certain bills relating to the grant 
 0' I mils in aid of the Texas and Pacific Railway Company, having had the same 
 under consideration, make the folhnving report : 
 
 Your committee have ijiven this case careful attention and earnest consideration, not 
 only on account of the masj;nitude of the interests involved, but because this was the first 
 grant considered by the committee where serious opijosition was made to the |)roposal to 
 declare forfeiture of the grant for breacli of the condition on which it was made, in which 
 several legal (|uestions were presented at the outset and earnestly argued by eminent 
 counsel, questions which are common to all the cases ol lapsed grants pending l>efore the 
 committee, first among them being the ipiestion of the power of Congress to interfere in 
 any event ; so your committee have carefully examined the whole matter before recom- 
 mending what they do, vi/., that the accompanying bill be ]>assed, declaring the grant 
 forfeited for breach of the condition on which it was made, restoring the lands to the 
 public domain for sale and settlement under existing law, and protecting the rights of 
 settlers and claimants under the (Jovernment. We find the facts deemed essential to l)e 
 as follows : 
 
 The Texas Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated by act of Congress approved 
 March 3, 187 1 (16 Statutes at Large, page 573). By section i of that act the route was 
 defined and described as follows : 
 
 "From a point at or near Marshall, county of Harrison, State of Texas ; thence by 
 the most direct and eligible route, to be determined by said company, near the thirty- 
 second parallel of north latitude, to a point at or near El Paso ; thence by the most direct 
 and eligible route, to be selected by said company, tlirough New Mexico and Arizona, to 
 a point on the Rio Colorado at or near the southeastern boundary of the State of Califor- 
 nia ; thence by the most direct and eligible route to San Diego, Cal., to Ship's Channel, 
 in the bay of San Diego, in the State of California, pursuing in the location thereof, as 
 near as may be, the thirty-second parallel of north latitude. " 
 
 Section 23 provides : 
 
 " That for the purpose of connecting the Te.xas Pacific Railroad with the city of San 
 Francisco, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company of California is hereby authorized 
 (subject to the laws of Calilornia) to construct a line of railroad from a point at or near 
 Tehachapa Pass, by way of L,os Angeles, to the Texas Pacific Railroad at or near the 
 Colorado river, with the same rights, grants, and privileges, and subject to the same 
 limitations, restrictions, and conditions as were granted to said Southern Pacific Railroad 
 Company of California by the act of July 27, 1866." 
 
 Section 9 provides for a land grant which, as described by the Secretary of the Inte- 
 rior, Ex. Doc. 144, Forty-seventh Congress, first session, is — 
 
 " A grant of every alternate section of public land, not mineral, designated by odd 
 numbers, to the amount of twenty alternate sections per mile on each side of the line as 
 adopted by the company through the Territories of the United States, and ten alternate 
 .sections per mile on each side of the line in California. Exception is made of lands sold, 
 teserved, or otherwise disposed of, and lands to which a pre-emption or homestead claim 
 may have attachetl at the time the line ot the road is definitely fixed. " 
 
 " Indemnity is provided for lands thus lost to the grant out of alternate odd-num- 
 bered sections not more than ten miles from the limits ol" the sections granted. Provision 
 is also made for indemnity for lands lost by reason of the near approach of the line of 
 the road to the boundary of Mexico, and also for mineral lands excluded from the grant 
 out of odd-numbereil sections nearest the line of the road. " 
 
 Section 17 of the act required the company to commence the construction of the road 
 simultaneously at San Diego, Cal., and at a point at or near Marshall, Tex., and prose- 
 cute the work so that the entire road should be constructed within ten years after the 
 passage of the act. 
 
 By the act of May 2, 1872, however, the time for the construction and completion of 
 the roa 1 was exteiuled to May 2, 18S2, and the title of the company changed to the 
 Texas and Pacific Railway Company.
 
 2C0 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES, 
 
 Section 4 of the act is as follows : 
 
 "That the said Texas Pacific Railroad Company shall have power and lawful au- 
 thority to purchase the stock, land grants, franchises, and appurtenances of, and consoli- 
 date on such terms as may be agreed upi>n between the parties with, any railroad com- 
 pany or companies heretofore chartered by Congressional, State, or Territorial authority 
 en thf route prescribed in the first section in this ac', but no such consolidation shall be 
 •ufith any competing lint 0/ railroads to the Pacific Ocean. " 
 
 Section 5 rea<ls : 
 
 " That the said comp>any shall have power and authority to make running arrange- 
 ments with any railroad company or companies heretofore chartered or that may be here- 
 after chartered by Congressional, State, or Territorial authority ; al-.^> to purchase lands, 
 or to accept donations or grants of lands or other property from States or individuals, yi>y- 
 ttu purpose of aiding in carrying out the obiects of this company. " 
 
 Section 6 reads : 
 
 "That the rights, lands, land grants, franchises, privileges, and appurtenances, and 
 property of every description belonging to each of the purchased or consolidated railroad 
 company or companies, as herein provided, shall vest in and become absolutely the prop- 
 erly of the Texas Pacific Railrozd Company: ProTjided, That in all contracts made and 
 entered into by said company with any and all other railroad company or companies, to 
 perfect such aforesaid consolidation or purchase, the indebtedness or other legal obliga- 
 tioas of said company or companies ihall be assumed by the said Texai Pacific Railroad 
 Company, as may be agreed upon, and no such consolidation or purchase shall impair any 
 lien which may exist on any of the railroads so consolidated or purchased : but said com- 
 pany shall not as>ume the debts or obligations of any company with which it may con- 
 solidate or purchase as aforesaid to an amount greater than the ca-.h value of the assets 
 received from the same. '" 
 
 Section 15 provides : 
 
 "That all railroarls constructed, or that may lie hereafter constructed, to intersect 
 said Texas Pacific Railroad shall have the right to connect with that line ;" 
 that no discriminations shall be made, etc. 
 
 Section 18 provides for the appointment of a commission to examine the road as con- 
 structed, and for a report to the President for approval, preliminary to the Issue of 
 patents for the land. 
 
 Section 23 reads : 
 
 "That for the purpose of connecting the Texas Pacific Railroad with the City of San 
 Francisco, the Southern Pacific Railroarl Company of California is hereby authorized 
 (subject to the laws of California) to construct a line of railroarl from a f>oint at or near 
 Tehatihapa Pass, by way of Iyf>s Angeles, to the Texas Pacific Railroad, at or near the 
 Colorado River, with the same rights, grants, and privileges, and subject to the same 
 limitations, restrictions, anfl conditions as were granted to the said Southern Pacific 
 Railroad Company of California by the act of July 27, 1866 : Provided, howdver. That 
 this section shall in no way affect or impair the rights, present or prospective, of the 
 Atlantic and Pacific Railroarl Company, or any other railroad."' 
 
 Pending the construction of the railroad of the Texas Pacific Railroad, the Southern 
 Pacific Railroad Company of Arizona, and the Southern Pacific Railroad Company of 
 New Mexico were chartered by the legislatures of those Territories resp)ectively, the objects- 
 of th ' to construct a line of railroarl from a point (Vuma) on the 
 
 the ' was the propo-^d p«')int of junction of the fiouthem Pacific 
 
 Railr — _ ... .i the Texas Pacific Railroad) eastwardly to Texas, and practi- 
 
 cally along the line ot the thirty-second parallel of north latitude, sul>siantially identical 
 with the route proposed by the Texas Pacific from El Paso (on the line l)etween Texas- 
 and New Mexico) westwardly to Vuma. 
 
 These two corp<^rations last named, it should perhaps be stated, are practically iden- 
 tical wi.h the Southern I'acific of California, all three forming, m fact, one corporation — 
 the Southern Pacific Railrrjad Company. This is believed to he all the legislation 
 necessary to Ije noticed in connection with the question in hand. 
 
 Work was begun by the Texas Pacific company at Marshall, in Texas, and by the 
 Southern Pacific company in California, the latter progressing toward the point of junc- 
 tion as proposed, Yuma, and the former westwardly toward El Paso, on its line by that 
 point toward Yuma- It is enough to say that when the Southern Pacific reached Yuma, 
 about .\pril, 1877, the Texas Pacific had its line in Texas only completed to Ycrt Worth,, 
 distant some 1,200 miles from Yuma. 
 
 The delay in it.s construction seems to have l<een caused by the great depression in 
 monetary matters following the panic of 1873, and the inaljility of the managers of the 
 enterprise (headed then by Mr. Thoma-i Scott) to sell the bonds of the company to realize 
 funds for the prosecution of the work.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MOKOPOLIES. 801 
 
 Mr. Scott then came to Coogres for relief, asking in substance that the Govenunent 
 guarantee the interest on a buge amoant of bonds which he proposed to tssoe, and 
 asserting that it would be impossible for his companj to complete the work on which it 
 had entered and give the country a through line of tompfting road to the Pacific coast, as 
 was contemplated by the act oi 187 1, unless this adduional aid (which he cl ai med was 
 really only a loan of credit) was given. 
 
 Then began the siru^rgle between these two ooqKtratioas, which cootinaed nntil 
 November, 18S1, until it w;^ — - " ' v a contraa between the Soothera Pacific Company 
 and the Texas and Pacific ' tn represented by Mr. Jay Gould, who had suc- 
 
 ceeded Mr. Scott as the hea -t-named corpmation. 
 
 For reasons which will lie apparent Utter in this report, your comnuttee deem it Tery 
 essential to keep in mind the relations which these companies sustained toward each other 
 dunni; the period construction was progressing of the rood of each, and to remember that 
 the clearly expressed intention on the part <rf Congress in the act making this grant was 
 to provide for a competing through line of railroad from the ^lississippi to the Pacific 
 Ocean, and that San Diego was to be the western terminus. Al that ume the poaUionof 
 the only through transcontinental line of transportation owned by the Central Pacific and 
 the Union Pacific companies was well understood by the pec^le and their reprcseniati%*es 
 ik Congre«. 
 
 The C- " ' in the charters to these two corporatioas given them boonties to 
 
 aid in the of their roads most prodigal in their extraTagance, hot the enter- 
 
 >• • '. -^^^rinental line of railroad was believed to be necessary for a 
 
 V in time of war, as well as for the proper transoctioa of 
 nd West. 
 
 I he tvcoLs arc itx» recent to need recital here of the monumental fi-and, treachery, 
 and depredation committed by these corpwrauons upon the public. 
 
 T' - ; "ese two corporations procured in 1804 the passage of an act sacri- 
 
 fidni. the people that was protected by the acts incorporating them. 
 
 1 ;_ ; . . -,^'es of the companies, aggregating over sixty-lour millions of dol- 
 lars, were made a prior lien over the lien of the Government for its claim of aboot the 
 same amount, and the ^r si lien of the Govemmeat made second. Indeed, as was said 
 in debate on the Ml, nothing that the ingenuity of man could in\-ent for their benefit was 
 withheld. 
 
 C ' ' . from ocean to ocean was expressly permitted, and the result was what 
 
 we h .-ssed, and as a people we have experienced. 
 
 A- .. _ .„e civil war closed the old project of a Southern trans-continental route 
 was revived, and it was favored by many of the statesmen of that period on the ground 
 that it would aid the South in recuperatmg, and it was only just, as the North had had 
 the benefit of the immense grants and enormous aids given to the other companies ; and 
 above all it waS plausibly and properly argued that the construction oi a rival compet- 
 ing through line along the 32d parallel to San Diego would remedy the mom^iolistic 
 evils so apparent as to freight and passenger tariff over the Central and Union Pacific 
 roads. 
 
 The new route was called the "open highway," and, under the leadership and man- 
 agement of General Fremont, the new enterprise, known as the Memphis and El Paso, 
 was put on its feet. 
 
 It received immense grants of land in Texas from the legislature (the United States 
 ha\-ing no public land- ■^-' --'.e): was encouraged by Owigress, and was prospering 
 well, until, in the at:c .re the inve>iraent of foreign ca^tal in the enteipnsey 
 
 General Fremont wa~ : ;. a charge of fraud in Paris. 
 
 This brought the scheme to an end apparendy, until Mr. Scott, of the Pennsylvania 
 Railroad, was induced to interest himself in the plan. To give the enterprise the 
 appearance of a new project, and diverted of the odium attaching to the ignominioas 
 failure of ihe old one, the name 01 Memphis and El Paso was abandoned and that of the 
 Texas and Pacific adopted. All the land granis made by Texas to the Memphis and EI 
 Pa^o were transferred 10 the Texas Pacific : the citizens of San FHego made large valua- 
 ble donations of lands and property to the new company for terminal facilities, and the 
 assistance of Congress fecured by the passage of the act of 1S71 making this grant, to aid 
 the "open highway"; to secure a "through competing line " to San Diego, and to 
 prevent, as far as it seemed possible to do so, any arrangement or contract of porchaseor 
 sale or consolidation with any competing line of railroads to the Pacific Ocean (sectimis 4 
 and 5). 
 
 So these two ideas are clearly apparent : that Qwigress intended to authorize this 
 special enterprise to act in the construction ol its proposed road to San Diego, which road 
 was to be a competitive line with the Central and L nion to the Pacific Ocean, and care- 
 fully guarded <^ainst the loss of the identity of the corporation it was creating by provid-
 
 202 ' THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 int,' that all purchases, consolidation, property rights acquired, etc. ,' should be the prop- 
 erty of the Texas Pacific Company (section 6). 
 
 This was the condition of affairs when Mr. Scott became interested in the enterprise, 
 and so continued until the panic of 1873, when active work in Texas was suspended for 
 lack of necessary means. 
 
 We all remember that for a time investors could not be induced to embark in the 
 most promising of schemes of railroad building after the great disaster to the Northern 
 Pacific. 
 
 So Mr. Scott came to Congress and urged, as an act of justice to a great enterprise, 
 in the interest of a healthy competition, a guarantee of the interest only on the bonds of 
 his company. 
 
 This appeal of Mr. Scott to the Forty-fifth Congress met with sturdy, strenuous 
 opposition by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. 
 
 That corporation, seeing the importance of the vast and increasing transcontinental 
 traffic, and desirous of controlling it itself, commenced operations for securing it by, first, 
 defeating the agent created by Congress to build the road, foreseeing that the difficulties 
 under which the Texas Pacific was laboring were insurmountable unless the helping 
 hand of Congress could be extended to it; second, by procuring the necessary authority 
 to build east of Yuma, and then constructing its own road to the Mississippi Valley aiid 
 the Gulf coast in Texas. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that up to this time the Southern Pacific had no rights east 
 of Yuma, on the west bank of the Colorado River, in C;difoinia. The only authority it 
 had from Congress was in the last section of the act of 187 1, to build a line of road from 
 ju>t above Los Angeles, Cal., to the Texas Pacific Railroad, at or near the Colorado 
 River ; and, indeed, that is all the recognition Congress has ever given it. At Yuma the 
 power of the Southern Pacific Company ceased, so far as Congress was concerned. 
 
 How the Southern Pacific labored to defeat the Texas Pacific from securing the aid 
 desired is best shown by a few extracts from letters written by Mr. Huntington, the 
 principal manager of the Central Pacific, to Mr. Colton, the ^'^/tv/j'/^/c head of the Southern 
 Pacific, which letters have become public in a litigation in California for a division of the 
 vast profits arising from the consummation of this scheme. The authenticity of these 
 letters has never been denied, and what they tend to or do prove will be noticed here- 
 after. 
 
 Just now the disclosures made by these letters are exceedingly opportune, and we 
 insert a few of over three hundred of the same general character and tone. 
 
 These are the specimen letters : 
 
 (No. I.) 
 
 New York, November 17, 1874. 
 Frie.nT) Colton : Yours of the 7th and 9th instant are received. I notice that you 
 are yet on Luttrell's trail. I hope you will get some one to convince him that we are 
 good fellows, and that should not be a hard thing to do, for I have no doubt of it myself. 
 I notice what you say about getting control of the A. and P. franchise by getting a majority 
 of the stock. My opinion is that a majority of that stock is in the hands of those that 
 control the A. and P. and Texas P. You no doubt are aware that they went in with 
 the Texas P. some two years ago, and that the two companies agreed to run the A. and 
 P. down to meet the Texas P. somewhere in Texas, and then run one line through to the 
 Pacific; but will find out all I can and let you know. 
 
 Yours, truly, C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 2.) 
 
 New York, November 28, 1874. 
 Friend Coltu.n : Yours of November 27 is received witli inclosures. It certainly 
 was a shabliy thing in Vining to write such a letter. Towne wrote me and sent me a 
 copy of the letter. I saw Dillon and he seemed very much offended at V. for writing it, 
 and said nothing of the kind should happen again. I think I shall show your letter to 
 Gould, but they are not our kind of people. I have sent out some copies of Tom 
 Scott's bill as amended by me. Read it carefully and let me know what you think of 
 it. Of course the San Diego people may not like it unless you agree to build a road 
 from their place out to connect with our road, and you may think best to do that. // 
 certainly is very important to S. F. that wc build the S. P.into Arizona, and it would 
 be well for you at once to write some letters for the influential men of S. F. to sign, to 
 send to all our M. C. and Senators, to go for the bill as we want it ; and if you do not 
 think it right as it is, fix it and send it back, but if we could get as it is I would lie 
 satisfied. Slorrs says it will make Scott very mad, and he thought it best not to send it,
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 203 
 
 and may be lie is riglit ; but if Scott kicks at it, I propose to suv to Congress " ~ve will 
 /mild east of the Colorado to meet the Texas P. without aid, and then see ho^u many 
 tnemhers will dare give him aid to do luhat xve offered to do ivithoiit. My only fear then 
 would be the cry that the C. P. and the S. P. was all one and would be a vast nionop.oly, 
 &c. , and that is what we must guard against, and that is one reason why you should he 
 in Wa^hington. 1 send copy ot my letter to Scott on sending the bill ; he sent it for me 
 to fix to suit me. The U. P. people are not yet ready to order steamers. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 3. ) 
 
 New York, November 20, 1874. 
 
 Friknd Ci )I.ton: I lerewith I send copy of bill that Tom Scott proposes to put through 
 Congress this-winter. Now I wish you would at once get as many of the associates to- 
 gether as you can, and let me then know what you want. Scott sent me three copies 
 fixed as he wants tiiem, and asked ine to help him pass them through Congress, and if I 
 would not do it as he has fixed it, then he asked me to fix it so that I will, or in a way 
 that I will support it. Now do attend to this at once, and in the meantime I will fix it 
 here and see how near we are together when yours gets here. Scott is prepared to pay, 
 or jMomises to pay, a large amount of money to pass his bill, but I do not think he can 
 pass it, although I think this coming session of Congress will be composed of the hun- 
 griest set of men that ever got together, and that the d only knows what they will 
 
 do. But as Scott's bill proposes to give up the A. and P. land grant (the west end of it), 
 I am not sure that it would not be as well to let tlie bill stand in that way, we stopping 
 the Texas Pacific at the Colorado river. If we ask to come this side of the Colorado it 
 will be hard to stop the Texas P. from going west of it. I think the Texas P. or some 
 of their friends will be iikely to take the ground that the S. P. is controlled by the same 
 parties that control the Central, and that there must be two separate corporations that 
 run roads into San Francisco, and it will be very hard for us to make head against that 
 argument, and I am disposed to think that Colton had better come over and spend a 
 few weeks at least in Washington. Would it not be well for you to send some party 
 down to Arizona to get a bill passed in the Territorial legislature granting the right to 
 build a railroad east from the Colorado river (leaving the river near Fort Mohave), 
 have the franchise free from taxation or its property, and so that the rates of fare and 
 freights cannot be interfered with until the dividends on the common stock shall exceed 
 10 per cent. ? I think that would be about as good as a land grant. It would not do to 
 have it known that we had any interest in it, f(jr the reason that it w^iuld cost us much 
 more money to get such a l)ill tlirough if it was known that it was for us ; and then Scott 
 would fight it if he thought we had anything to do with it. If such a bill was passed I 
 think there could at least be got from Congress a wide strip for right of way, machine 
 shops, &c. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 4.) 
 
 New York, December 10, 1874. 
 
 Friend Coi.ton: Your two letters of November 29th are received. The Texas Pa- 
 cific bill, as amended by me, is on the way to California. As it is somewhat difierent 
 in theory from your views, as set forth in your letter, I will not reply to you in detail 
 Ijefore you receive the bill. I agree with you that there will no bill pass this ses- 
 sion granting such aiil as is asked for. I think we must add section to the bill as sent 
 out that will allow, or may be compel us, to build a road to connect San Diego with 
 our line. On account of this legislation I think it important that the S. P. should be dis- 
 connected from the Central as much as it well can be. And, as you say, I think it 
 should have a superintendent that does not connect with the C. P. , although I think it 
 would be difficult to get another man as good as Towne. I agree with you fully when 
 you say our telegraph superintendent is no good. I sent you on the 8th copy of my 
 letter to Scott. I have just received his reply. I will have copy of it made and sent to 
 you, also my reply l)eroie this goes, and will send them with this. This S. P. is an im- 
 portant matter, and should be attended to at once. I am glad you are coming over. 
 
 Yours, tnily, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON.
 
 204 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 No. 5. ) 
 
 December 8, 1874. 
 Dear Sir : — Herewith I hand you two copies of the proposed bill for your road, 
 with such alterations as I want embodied therein. As i: is a hard time for building rail- 
 roads just now, and as we are all interested in the construction of this road, I trust that 
 these alterations will meet your approval, and that such arrangements will be made as 
 will secure the early completion of the road. 
 'I'rulv vours, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 Presidefit. 
 Hon. Thomas A. Scott, 
 
 President Texas and Pacific Railway Company, PJiiladelphia, Pa. 
 
 (No. 6.) 
 
 Texas and Pacific Railway Co. , > 
 Office of the President, V 
 Piiiladelphia, December 9, 1884. ) 
 Mv Dear Sir : I have your letter of December 8, and am sorry you took the 
 trouble you have with our bill. We expect to build our road to San Diego, as already 
 pledged to the public to do. We had hoped that it would be to your interest to connect 
 with us at San Gorgonio Pass. Your suggestions are totally inadmissible, and I am 
 rather surprised to have you make them after the many statements you have made to me 
 in regard to this matter. 
 
 Very truly, vours, 
 
 THOMAS A. SCOTT, 
 
 President. 
 C. P. Huntington, Esq. , 
 
 Yice- President, Ne%v York. 
 
 (No. 7.) 
 
 New York, January 17, 1875. 
 Friend Colton: * * * I jiave received several letters and telegrams Irom 
 Washington to-day, all calling me there, as Scott will certainly pass his Texas Pacific 
 bill if I do not come over, and I shall go over to-night, but I think he could not pass his 
 bill if I should help him; but of cour.-e I cannot know this for certain, and just what 
 efibrt to make against him is what troubles me. It costs money to fix things so that I 
 would know his bill would not pass. I believe with $200,000 I can pass our bill, but 
 I take it that it is not worth that much to us. 
 Vours truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 8. ) 
 
 New York, March 25, 1875. 
 Friend Colton: Your telegram in relation to passenger coaches is received and is 
 having attention. Tom Scott has gone, or is going very soon, over the Texas Pacific 
 road, and so on into Mexico, and I hear of several prominent parties going to Mexico 
 with him. He has commenced to get up his Texas Pacific connected with some Mexican 
 scheme, and I have no doubt but that he will be before Congress next winter in great 
 force, but we ought to l)e in condition to at least keep him this side of the Colorado 
 river. I have been at work considerable of the time since you left getting iSp pamphlet 
 in relation to the S. P. , giving many reasons why the bonds should be very good, and I 
 think after you have read tiie book you will take some of the securities. Colburn is 
 putting the facts in a readable shape. I find him to be a veiy valuable man. Cannot 
 you do something to l)ring up the gross earnings of the S. P.? They are very small for 
 so much road as is lx:ing operated. I think that road should have a first class 
 superintendent. I send witii this copy of B. S. Manufacturing Company letter in 
 relation to curtains for sleeping car. 
 Vours truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 9. ) 
 
 New York, April 7th, 1875. 
 
 Friend Coi/ion : Vour three letters of April 27th and one of 28th, Nos. 23, 24, 25, 
 
 and 26, arc received. I read your letter No. 25 where it refers to matter here with much 
 
 satisfaction, as it shows that you understand the whole situation between P. M., O. 
 
 and O. and U. P. and C. P. Any one fully understanding the position of the different
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 205 
 
 companies would see at a glance that the C. V. is not entirely master of the situation, bu 
 I am very well satisfied that if we hold steadily to our purposes and not stram our credit 
 too much we shall finally beat all the wild speculators like Jones and Gould. It 1 
 mistake not Jones is a small gun compared with GouUl. I have set matters to work in 
 the South that I think will switch most of the South olT from lom. Scott s lexasand 
 Pacific bill. I am having articles written and set afloat in the papers here aboiit U. and 
 O CXo., and they make the rounds by being recopied, and as it costs nothing it is a 
 cheap way of advertising. lam also having articles written and published as though 
 written in the places where we buy cars and locomotives, etc., for the S. f. It gives the 
 S P some notoritv without cost. I notice what you say of C. H. stock. It vou will read 
 niv letters to Stanford, Nos. 510, 521,529, and some others that I do not recollect numbers 
 of' vou will have my views. I am often asked by my associates in California about my 
 views in the matters that 1 have written to the others of, and allow me to say that all 
 letters that I number consecutivelv I have supposed would l)e read by all, and then 
 go into the basket together. As to more fifty-pound steel or iron rails, 1 must say 
 that at the present outlook it seems to me that we have as many contracted for as it is 
 sale to have when we include the cost of buying them. 
 
 Vours, truly, ^ p HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 10.) 
 
 New York, May 8th, 1875. 
 
 Friend Colton : Yours of 29th April, No. 28, was received I send with this 
 receipted bill of the six coaches bought of Gilbert, Brush & Co. All the material that I 
 buy here is paid lor by the Central Pacific. Some of it, like these coaches, I know are 
 for the S P but just whether they are to be charged to the S. P. or the \\ estern 
 Development Company I do not know. Then some other things-say rails -1 do not 
 know whether they will go on to the S.P., or not, and you wul seethe necessity of 
 watchin- the material as it arrives out, and see that it is charged to the proper company 
 and whe'n material is ordered if you would let me know to or lor what company, I would 
 then see that it was charged here to the proper party. 
 
 Yours, truly, ^ ^^ HUNTINCiTON. 
 
 (No. II.) 
 
 New York, May 28, 1875. 
 
 Friend Coi ton : Yours of the 20th is received with newspaper clippings. I do not 
 think Booth made many votes by his Grand Hotel speech. The Governor said-Goy- 
 ernorS -some good things to the C/ironic/e interviewer; but I think it unfortunate 
 that he'shouUl so closely connect the C. P. with the S. P. , as that is the only weapon our 
 enemies have to fight us with in Congress. 
 
 * • • * 
 
 Yours, tmly, ^ ^ HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 12.) 
 
 New York, September 15, 1875. 
 
 Friend Colton : Scott is stirring up the South on his Texas Pacific. Parties are 
 sendin- me papers every day -some for him, some against him. I have writ en three 
 euerslo day to different parties in the South on T. P. R. R matters. I think . is of 
 much importance that we have some rights in Arizona, and 1 you could «et them I 
 think you should do so at once. You know my views, and I had a long talk vith 
 GaS on the matter, and if we could get two franchises to run through the State thmk 
 we should do so at once. We should not be known m it, but should be sine that we 
 have the control, in black and white, before they become a law. I will write again m 
 a few days. Somehow I have not got my ideas in line yet. 
 
 Yours, truly, ^ ^ HUNTINGTON. 
 
 New York, September 18, 1875. 
 
 Friend Colton: Scott is doing all that he possibly can to help him in the passage of 
 
 his Texas Pacific bill through the next Congress. Scott gets parties to write letter, and 
 
 las hem published in the Southern papers. I send one with this as sample rhis as 
 
 nn wiU see was written by G. T. Beauregard to Senator Gordon, of Atlanta, Ga. 
 
 ?e i makh'<; the old fight oJer again-that it is the Central Pacific that is hghting hnn 
 
 in thCand tliat they (the C. P. ) do not intend to let the South have a road if they can
 
 206 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 help it. Our people in California made a great mistake when they undone what we 
 done last winter to separate these two interests. But I see no way to help it, so we must 
 make the fight under this disadvantage. Simonton has lost much here in his fight 
 against Ralston, and I should not be snrprised if he lost his position with the Associated 
 Pre«. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 P. S. — Of course I hold that Colton and his friends hold the S. P. Co. 
 
 H, 
 
 (14.) 
 
 New York, September 27, 1875. 
 Friend Colton : Yours of the i8th with inclosure, as stated, is received. You 
 must be very busy with all your associates out of the city. I notice by McCarthy's 
 letter to Mr. Crocker that the people of San Diego will join with us if he will agree to 
 to build east from their city, and 1 am inclined to think we had better do that, as that 
 would strengthen Wigginton very much to have his people ask him to fight for a bill as 
 we want it. Scott is making the strongest possible effort to pass his bill the coming 
 session of Congress. He gets every little gathering in the South to pass resolutions favor- 
 ing the Texas Pacific bill, then those that the Texas Pacific owes name is legion, and, of 
 course, they are all for it ; then he is promising a connection with all the broken-down 
 roads in the South, with a promise of money to help them all if his bill passes, and by 
 some kind of a turn he is settling up with all those that hold him personally, and that is 
 to help him, as it makes his promises worth something with the broken-down fellows that 
 he is agreeing to help. If we had a franchise to build a road or two njads through Ari- 
 zona (we controlling, but having it in the name of another party) then have some party 
 in Washington to make a local fight and asking for the guarantee of their bonds by the 
 United States, and if that could not be obtained, offering to build the road without any 
 aid, it could be used against Scott in such a way that I do not believe any politician 
 would dare vote for it. Cannot you have Saftbrd call the Legislature together and grant 
 such charters as we want at a cost of say $25,000? If we could get such a charter as I 
 spoke to you of it would be worth much money to us. If there is anything done it must 
 be done quickly. I am very sorry that .Sargent is feeling so hard towards us, but I 
 shall endeavor to see him before Congress meets. I have bought the tunnel bolts at 
 three and a half currency instead of nine cents gold, as was being paid by Mr. Crocker 
 when I was in California. I think money is too cheap with you all in California, and 
 that we can be beat in building railroads by those that place more value on a dollar than 
 we do, and I think when any one of us goes to the front in a car that weighs say twenty 
 tons, it adds to the cost of every mile of road that we build thereafter more than $100 per 
 mile. I wish you would let me know who ordered the officers' car that is now running 
 on the S. P. Please let me know what the new transfer-boat cost. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 15.) 
 
 New York, October 4, 1875. 
 Friend Colton : Yours of the 23d and 25th of September, Nos. 68 and 69, are 
 received. I expect to go to Washington next week and I will look into the matter of 
 which you write. That matter of directors has been talked of by the U. P. people and 
 others for some years, and I should not be surprised if the Texas Pacific (Tom Scott's) 
 should annoy us in that way if he could. Sam. Morton was just in and says that he 
 obtained a judgment a few days since against Fremont's old road that was consolidated 
 with the Texas Pacific for $23,000, and that there is other claims against it that Tom 
 Scott promised to pay ; and Morton says he has applied for a receiver and is sure tp get 
 it in less than ten days if Scott does not pay him his money. I hear something every 
 day ot what Scott is doing in the .South for his Texas Pacific. I cannot believe that he 
 will get through ; but one of our weak points will be having no rights in Arizona under 
 which we can build roads. I am glad to hear that you are getting our finances in a 
 better condition than they have been, and ho[)e with you that you will pay our old friend 
 Cohen what we owe him. Nothing new here. Our matters moving about as usual. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 207 
 
 (No. l6.) 
 
 New York, Octolier 9, 1875. 
 Friend C(^i.T(1n : * * * It seems to me that we can as well protect the Central 
 by carrying the iMohave branch of the S. P. out 700 or 800 miles from San Francisco, 
 as thou!,'h we went to Salt Lake, and if we have to build as far east as Salt Lake it 
 should be on some line farther siuth, where we could connect with something more 
 agreeable than the U. P. I think it very important that we have two franchises to run 
 from tTie Colorado River through Arizona to the east line of the Territory, Such ones 
 as those I spoke to you of would |je very valuable to us. I suppose they would cost less 
 to have other parties than ourselves stand at the front while they are being obtained — 
 that is, if they should be free from taxation and interference with the fares and freight 
 rates. But then after the charters were obtained I think they would serve us best to have 
 if known that they were controlled by the S. P. I am endeavoring to get a combination 
 of interests to build a road from New (Orleans to F.l Paso. I had one i)arty in to-dav 
 largely interesteil in a road on that line running west from New Orleans into Texas (i't 
 was Kl Van Hoffman), and he asked me what right we had to build roads in Arizona. I 
 told him I did not know, but I had no doubt wc could get the right if we had not got it. 
 Please let me know how you would build in the Territory at this time if you wished to 
 do so. I received a letter to-day from Washington. It stated that Scott was there a 
 few days ago, and talked very loud about Texas P. Tiiat he should surely pass his bill 
 the coming session of Congress. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 17.) 
 
 New York, October 18, 1875. 
 Friend Colton : * * * In your interesting letter of the 5th you mention San 
 Diego matters. Now, it is well to switch that people from the Texas Pacific road ; but 
 I would suggest that you keep on asking them what they will do, but not make them 
 any definite proposition, for if you do it will be sent Ea>t at once, and I am working 
 with the South and saying to them (and getting some good articles published) that our 
 interest lays with them ; that what San Francisco and California wants is a direct con- 
 nection with New Orleans and other Gulf ports, and that our interest lays that way, and 
 we oppose the Texas Pacific because we think if it is built it will prevent for many years 
 our getting such a connection, md I have not had any talk with the Atlantic and 
 Pacific for the above reasons. You are mistaken about the directors' car on the S. P. 
 It was built before I was president, and was on the road lietore I knew anything about 
 it. I was making no particular objection to it, but I thought I would kind of like to 
 know how it came on the road. I am glad to learn, as I do by yours of the 7th, that you 
 are settling for east-bound business in California with P. M. S. S. Co. , for they are 
 
 the to do anything with here. As to Oregon matters, we had best keep them with 
 
 us as long as we can, and I have sometimes thought it would be well to tell iheni what 
 we would do, as the N. P. people are again in the field, but they will not be likely to 
 hurt any one ft)r some time, unless some fellow should lend them some money ; then 
 that fellow no doubt would get hurt. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 18. ) 
 
 New York, November 10, 1875. 
 P'riend Coi.ton : Yours of October 23, 1875, No. 85, is before me. Dr. Gwin is also 
 here. I think the doctor can do us some good if he can work under cover, but if he is 
 to come to the surface as our man I think it would be better that he should not come, as 
 he is very obnoxious to very many on the Republican side of the House, and then there 
 is so many things about our business that he does not know, and he has not the time to 
 learn it before Congress comes and goes. It was very unfortunate that he came over in 
 directors' car with Mr. Crocker. I received a letter to-day from a party in Massachu- 
 setts that said that Gorhum and Sargent were very much offended because Gwin was, o.-- 
 rather had, come over to look after ourinterot in Washington. 1 am, however, disposed 
 to think that Gwin can do us some good, but not as our agent, but as an anti-subsidy 
 Democrat, and also as a Southern man with much influence in the South in showing the 
 Southern people that the Texas and Pacific R. R. is in no way a Southern Pacific road, 
 but a road, if Iniilt l)y the Government, would prevent the Southern States from having a 
 road to the Pacific for many years, j Put Gwin must not be known as our man. * • * 
 Yours, etc., C. P. H.
 
 208 "^HE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES, 
 
 (No. 19. ) 
 
 New York, November 13, 1875. 
 Friend Colton : Your dispatch that you had sent $200,000 gold is received. Dr. 
 Gwin left for the South yesterday. I think he can do us considerable good it he sticks 
 for hard money and anti-subsidy schemes, but if it was understood by the public that 
 he was here in our interest it would no doubt hurt us. When he left I told him he 
 must not write to me, but when he wanted I should know his whereabouts, etc. , to 
 write to R. T. Colburn, of Elizabeth, N.J. I have had several interviews with the 
 Houston and Texas Central Railroad people. This road is built from Galveston to 
 Austin, and is the only live road in Texas. It has a land grant to the west line of the 
 State (Texas) of 4,769,280 acres. It is owned by William E. Dodge, Moses Taylor, W. 
 M. Rice, and other strong men of this city. I saw Dodge a few days snice with the view 
 of having them build to El Paso, and we build to that point to meet them. He said he 
 thought they would do it. He said he was opposed to the Government granting any aid 
 to his or any other road. D. has been sick ever since I saw him, so I went to-day and 
 saw Moses Taylor. He said he liked the idea, and that he would talk it up with his 
 people, etc. There will be no Government aid granted this session, and if we can get 
 the H.and T. Central to stand in with us and offer to build a line through, we build to 
 El Paso from the west and they from the east, I think Scott's fish will l^e cooked. Budd 
 is doing good work in the Gulf States. Has the 70 shares of glass stock been got in? 
 How are you progressing with the machme-shop grounds ? I borrowed yesterday 
 $100,000 easy for 4, 5, and 6 months at 7 per cent. No commission. I think I shall 
 take up some 12 months' paper at 12 per cent. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 20. ) 
 
 New York, November 23, 1875. 
 Friend Colton : Yours of the 13th, No. 95, is received, and I am glad that you see 
 your way clear to send me $1,500,000 for interest before the l:!.t oi January, as our 
 payments are very large in December, and this fight with the Texas Pacific will hurt 
 us to the utmost that they can in the way of all kinds of false reports. They of course 
 will have some friends in Congress. They will offer resolutions to investigate us, 
 stating that we have forfeited our charter, etc. I was told a few days ago that Scott 
 said he would make us let go of his Texas Pacific. The South are getting very much in 
 earnest in their opposition to Scott's project. I get papers from the South almost every 
 day pitching into him. I have not heard from CJwin since he left. 
 Yours, trulv, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 (No. 21. ) 
 
 New York, November 24, 1875. 
 Friend Colton: Your dispatch of the 22d, advising of the sending of another 
 §100,000 in gold, is received. Colonel Morton, whom you no doubt will recollect, was 
 in the office to-day, and said he had had a long conference with Bond, V.-P. of the 
 Texas Pacific road, and Morton said some one asked him to find out what I wanted. 
 I said to M. that I did not think the S. P. had any proposition to make; that if the 
 Texas P. had any to make it would be considered, but it was my opinion that no subsidy 
 bill could pass Congress this session, if all the railroads in the country were working for 
 It. I think we shall hear from them again. Do we want to help the bill, even if we 
 were allowed to go to El Paso by the act if it should j^ass? Crocker was in the ofiice 
 to-day, and I spoke to him about the S. P. sending me a special power of attorney to 
 act for the S. P. before Congress and make any proposition to build the S. P. to meet 
 railroads on this side, etc. Mr. C. said he would attend to it, but I w rite this to remind 
 him, as he took no memorandum. I want you to make such a proposition as I wrote to 
 you for some days since. I am getting the South well waked up on Scott's Southern- 
 Northern project. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 (No. 22. ) 
 • New York, Deceml^er 16, 1875. 
 
 Friend Colton: Your two letters of the 6th, Nos. 109 and no, are received, with 
 inclosures. I have looked over the two bills that you sent. They are very well, but 
 I do not think that we shall l)e able to pass either pf them, and I am no ways clear 
 that we want to pass the A. and P. amendment if wb could, as it would add so much
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 20d 
 
 to the work to be done by the S. P. that I think it would prevent our selling a S. P. 
 bond longer than we can afford to wait. I have been trying to amend the Texas 
 Pacific act so as to allow the officers of the S. P. to take an interest in the 
 construction co. that would be likely to build the road, as was thought best to 
 have some of the officers of the railroad co. that were financially strong take an 
 interest in the building co. ; and I recollect that it was at one time thought there 
 could not be outsiders found that would take all the stock of the construction co. 
 1 shall do what I can to get the Texas Pacific act amended so as to allow the S. P, 
 to build east of the Colorado River, but I much doubt being able to do anything, for 
 if Scott cannot pass his Texas Pacific bill he can do much to hinder us from passing 
 ours. Then the A. and P. will oppose it with what power they have. Then, of course, 
 the U. P. would oppose under cover, if not otherwise; at least I know we should if 
 we were in their place. Then the politicians would naturally be against it, as they 
 would think it would do them good to prevent this grant going to the S. P., as if not it 
 would be likely to come back to the people. I shall do what I can, but you had better 
 make your calculations to build the road east of the Colorado River on what you can 
 get out of the Territories and the road itself. If you ex]iect to get anything in Arizona 
 and New Mexico. I would suggest that you do not do as we did in Utah — wait until 
 the enemy was in possession. Of course you noticed the vote of the House yesterday on 
 subsidies— 223 against and 33 for. I was just told that Scott said after the vote that it was 
 no indication that he would not pass his Texas Pacific bill. I have received several 
 letters from Texas in the last few days. They would like to work with the S. P. , but 
 are fearful of the Texas P., as I have taken the ground that there would i)e no Govern- 
 ment money aid granted and the United States has no land in Texas, and as the legis- 
 lature does not meet in Texas until March, so they can get nothing from the State this 
 winter, hence they are disposed to fight shy for the moment ; but 1 think when the 
 Texas legislature meets, the Texas Central Railroad Co. will ask $10,000 per mile of 
 the State from Austin to El Paso, and they have a land grant of nearly 5,000,000 
 acres. 
 
 I have been thinking that it possibly would be well for the S. P. to ask direct of 
 Texas say Sio,ooo per mile from Austin to El Paso, and there is a very important land 
 grant from Texas to the Austin and Pacific Railroad Co. I am told that this grants sLx- 
 teen sections per mile from Austin to El Paso, and they have three years from next May 
 to build the first twenty-five miles. What do you all think of it? I have just bought 
 $40,000 Central paper that had about three months to run at 10 per cent. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 (No. 23.) 
 
 New York, December 22, 1875. 
 Friend CoLTON : Your letters of the nth inst., Nos. 11 1 and 112, are received- 
 also, your dispatch that you would send $125,000 in gold. You need send more "old 
 for the January interest. I notice the progress on the tunnels ; they go slow. I hope 
 the work on that next to the longest one in tlie Tehachijii will be pushed. I am glad to 
 notice that you are thinking of commencing it soon. What is the exact length of the 
 San Fernando tunnel ? I think the doctor will return to California in January. I have 
 just returned from Washington. The doctor (Gwin) was unfortunate about the railroad 
 committee ; that is, there was not a man put on the committee that was on his list, and I 
 must say I was deceived ; and he was often with Kerr, and K. was at his rooms and 
 spent nearly one evening. The committee is not necessarily a Texas Pacific, but it is a 
 commercial committee, and I have not much fear but that they can be convinced that 
 ours is the right bill for the country. If things could have l)een left as we fixed them 
 last winter there would have been little difficulty in defeating Scott's bill ; but their 
 only argument is, it is controlled by the Central. That does not amount to much bevond 
 this : It allows members to vote for Scott's bill for one reason and give the other — that it 
 
 was to break up a great monopoly, etc. If these interviewers would keep out of 
 
 the way, it would be much easier traveling. I send a few clippings. 
 
 Yours, tnily, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 (No. 24.) 
 
 New York, December 17, 1875. 
 Friend Colton : I expect to have a bill ready early next week so amendintr the 
 Texas Pacific act as to allow the S. P. to build east of the Colorado river ; or, rather 
 will have some changes made in the bill you sent over. The vote in the House the 
 other day will do much good in helping Speaker Kerr in making up the railroad and 
 land committees in such a way that they will not lie likely to report in favor of any sub- 
 
 14
 
 810 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 sidies. Of course the South were not all for Scott's bill before we commenced working 
 there ; but we have done good work, and I am getting Southern papers every day from 
 the line of his travels that speak right out against the Texas Pacific. See clippings in- 
 closed. The Railroad Gazette, in publishing the proceedings of the St. Louis conven- 
 tion, made some mistakes which I have endeavored to correct, as you will notice by copy 
 of letters sent to you. Nearly all the papers here have taken favorable notice of it. I 
 send slips from World and Tribune. The editor's article in the Railroad Gazette I did 
 not see until after its publication. I have looked over Governor Irwin's message ; it 
 seems to be well enough, although not just such a one on railroad matters as I expected. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 25. ) 
 
 New York, March 4, 1876. 
 Friend Colton : Yours of February 24, No. 142, is received. I have been in 
 Washington most of the time since Congress met, and you say truly when you write that 
 you think I have had a rough fight here this winter. The railroad committee of the 
 House was set up for Scott, and it has been a very difficult matter to switch a majority 
 of the committee away from him, but I think it has been done ; but Scott is very alile, 
 and then he promises everything to everybody, which helps him for the day and in this 
 fight, and just what he may yet do I cannot say. * * * ^nd I think it of so much 
 importance that he is not allowed to build a road parallel to ours with Government aid 
 that I shall endeavor to get our bill passed through the Senate this winter if possible (and 
 the House, too). If we only get it through the Senate, and could then get built some 
 road in Arizona before Congress comes together next winter, I think there would be but 
 little doubt we would win the fight. What do you think of it? * * * 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 26.) 
 
 New York, March 22, 1876. 
 Friend Colton : * * * I am having a very lively fight at Washington, but 
 things do not look bad. 
 
 Scott is making a very dirty fight, and I shall try very hard to pay him off", and if I 
 do not live to see the grass growing over him I shall be mistaken. 
 
 I am doing all I can to demoralize Scott in Texas. He has got to have legislation 
 in that State fo extend time on his land grant or else it is lost to him. * * * 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 27.) 
 
 New York, May 12, 1876. 
 Friend Colton : Your letters of April 29th and May 2d and 4th, Nos. 155, 156, 
 and 157, are received, with inclosures as therein stated. I am very glad to learn that 
 you are able to be out again. Bad time for any of the S. P. party to be sick, as we have 
 fight enough to go round and give each one all he cares for, that is if his wants in 
 that line are anyways reasonable. 1 sent Hopkins an article yesterday cut from the 
 Commercial Advertiser; to-day I met one of the editors, Norcutt ; he told me Scott 
 paid tor having it published ; that he would not have let it gone into the paper if it 
 had been left to him, etc. With this I send slip from to-day's Times. Just what is to 
 come out of this fight I cannot say, but I expect to live to see the grass growing over 
 these fellows ; but in the mean time we shall be hurt some. I have just learned that the 
 the slip from the Times (or the matter contained therein) has gone to Europe by cable. 
 Scott is spending money to get these things sent out, and the fight will go on for some 
 time, or at least so long as he thinks by so doing he can make us get out of the way of 
 his Texas and P. swindle, which I do not propose to do. See correspondence with 
 Judge Bell of Texas. I wish you would write on paper that would allow of my filing 
 your letters. From the memorandum sent of the work done and to be done on the 
 Tehachapi tunnels it would seem as though the rails ought to be laid to the sgmmit by 
 July 1st. This evening's papers have just come in and they have a long article about the 
 petition presented to-day by A. A. Sargent, calling for a committee to investigate C. P. C. 
 and F., etc. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 211 
 
 (No. 28.) 
 
 New York, May 28, 1875. 
 Friend Colton : Yours of the 20th is received, with N. P. clippings. I do not 
 think Booth made many votes by his Grand Hotel speech. The Governor said— Gover- 
 nor S— some good things to the Chronicle interviewer ; but I thmk it unfortunate that he 
 should so closely connect the C. P. with the S. P., as that is the only weapon our enemies 
 have to fight us with in Congress. • • • 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 29.) 
 
 New York, November 15, 1876. 
 Friend Colton : I had a meeting in Philadelphia last night with Tom Scott. We 
 meet again here to-morrow. I do not have my own way altogether, but I think that 
 we can agree upon some bill that we can all work for. We shall have to pro rate on 
 through business more than I would like. And I think there should be a bridge com- 
 pany organized (that we are not known in) to build over the Colorado river, at, say, 
 Arrowsbury or any other point on the river, then build at the point where the railroad 
 crosses, under contract with the railroad company. In this way we could tax the 
 through business on this line if we so desired. • * • 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 30. ) 
 
 New York, December 4, 1876. 
 Friend Colton : * * * I send copy of the bill, although not altogether agreed 
 to yet. You will notice it allows of a bridge outside of the railroad corporation at the 
 Colorado river ; or, as you will see, the road from tiie west goes to the river and starts 
 from the river to go east ; but there must be nothing said about this bridge. If there 
 should be it would kill it, and it is possible we may need this bridge outside the railroad 
 company. * * * 
 
 Yours, &c. , 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 A BLACKMAIL BRIDGE. 
 
 New York, December 7, 1876. 
 Friend Colton : Your letters, Nov. 28 and 29, Nos. 7, 8 and 9, have just come to 
 hand. As to the bridge over the Colorado river, it is a matter that I care nothing 
 about, if you do not. But in fixing up the S. P. and T. and P. matter it occurred to me 
 that we should have to pro rate with the T. and P. , as the S. P. would be over 
 mountains and through a country where water and fuel will be expensive. It occurred 
 to me that a bridge with an arbitrary would be well to help us to get what we really 
 ought to have, and protect our interests generally. As I said before, if you don't want 
 it, I don't. * * * 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. ^31.) 
 
 Washington, D. C. , December 20, 1876. 
 Friend Colton : I am having the roughest fight with Scott that I have ever had, 
 but I hope to drive him into something that we can accept. I should not have much 
 trouble if matters could have been left as we fixed them when you were here, but since 
 some of our people has convinced the public that the S. P. is being built by the C. P., 
 and they have raised the cry of monopoly against us, it makes it very hard for us ; but 
 such is life. You must send us considerable money by the ist of January to pay interest ; 
 my being away from New York so much of late has prevented me from making loans 
 there, as money has been hard to get, and Fogg has not been able to renew our paper 
 only to a very limited extent, and we shall have to pay this month, with what we have 
 paid, say $1,800,000. Then, in January, say mterest $12,000, and bills payable, $800,- 
 000. You must put oft' your bills and pay-rolls there for two or three months it it is 
 necessary. You had better have it telegraphed as often as you can how you are pushing 
 on the road toward Fort Yuma. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON.
 
 812 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 (No. 32. ) 
 SCOTT AND THE LOIiHV. 
 
 New York, October 3, 1877. 
 
 Friend Colton : Herewith I send memorandum of bills payable and transactions 
 in September. Vou will notice the amount to be paid this month is very large, and just 
 how much of it can be borrowed here is uncertain, but much of it, I hope ; but a portion 
 will have to come from the earnings of the road in California. 
 
 Your letters, Nos. 12, 13 and 14, are received. I shall go to Washington to-morrow 
 night to see about the Colorado bridge. I thmk it can be fixed, but Scott is doing his 
 verv best. There has been, 1 think, more work done since Congress adjourned for the 
 T. and P. than was ever done before for any interest m the whole history of this country, 
 but if we spend as much money in laying rails east of the Colorado as he spends on his 
 Washington lobby, we shall, in my opinion, surely beat him. I shall do all I can here, 
 but I do not feel as well as I wish I did, and somehow dread the coming fight. 
 
 I will endeavor to write you again to-morrow. 
 , Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 33-) 
 
 New York, March 20, 1877. 
 
 Friend Colton : Your letters of March 7th and Qtli, Nos. 33 and 34 are received. 
 I notice what you write in your No. 33 relating to the C. P. sending goods via Chicago. 
 Now, I have no interest as to the route over which this business travels, except it 
 takes the route tliat will best advance the whole interest of the C. P., which it seemed to 
 me would be best done by our sending a part via St. Louis and a portion via Chicago. 
 There is considerable complaint, which shows itself in Washington, because all the 
 business goes through Chicago and none via St. Louis and Cincinnati, and so we have the 
 same amount for the C. P. It would seem best we divide this business. And as to the 
 time that is made on the northern line, I think you would have no trouble in getting the 
 southern lines to agree to take it via New Orleans that is now taken, and they certainly 
 would have no trouble in filling the contract as to the time. 
 
 Scott is at work, and I think doing more than ever before, preparing to put his Texas 
 Pacific through next winter, and possibly at the extra session if there is one. I have 
 little or no fears of his doing anything at the extra session, but if he can convince Congress 
 that the S. P. is controlled by the C. P (and I think with what aid he can get from my 
 associates in California) I believe he can pass his bill to build on the direct line between 
 Fort Yuma and San Diego, and I think I know enough of Washington to know how he 
 can do it. 
 
 I have just received telegram from Crocker in relation to daily mails east of Yuma, 
 but of that I will write him. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 34.) 
 
 New York, May 17, 1877. 
 
 Friend Colton : Yours of the 9th, No. 48, is received. What you say about our 
 stopping at Fort Yuma is well, and would be almost conclusive if the S. P. was not owned 
 and controlled by the C. P. ; but when we tell Congress we are willing to build this 
 road the answer is always the same. Of course you are to protect the Central, but what 
 the country wants is a competing road. Now, many members of Congress believe all this 
 stuff, and others talk it for reasons that I need not mention here, but, if they are not 
 convinced, think the open highway will satisfy their constituents that they were working 
 for the good of the whole country. Wlien the Texas and P. Co. were asking aid to go 
 through the San Gorgcjnio Pass, one argument was : We have built a road there with our 
 own money. Will Congress furnish the means for Colonel Scott to go on and destroy 
 property that we have in good faith located? No one would do that. But their propo- 
 sition now is to l)uild direct to San Diego under the cry of an open highway for the 
 people. I do not believe they can get the aid from the government necessary to do it, 
 but they will not be prevented from doing it because the Central Pacific will do it without 
 aid, but because the country is so generally committed against any subsidy, or because 
 there is some interest fairly invested that would be destroyed by the building the open 
 highway. 
 
 We certainly are not prepared to build east of the Colorado river this season. If I 
 have a clear view of what I think ought to be done I will write you. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 313 
 
 (No. 35.) 
 
 New York, October 5, 1S77. 
 
 Friend Colton : Yours, Xo. 15, is received. I notice your remarks on our matters 
 in California. I have no (loubt there is many things to annoy you. The dispatches 
 about crossing the Colorado come over very well. I think Gould has had as much to 
 do with stopping us on the bridge as Scott has, although I have had no reason for so 
 thinking up to this morning (see clip trom Tribnne) except Jim Wilson, of Iowa, is their 
 man and has much influence with ^icCreary. 
 
 Secretary of War Wilson was in Washington when the first order went out to stop 
 work on the bridge, and Gould came in twice and Dillon once to tell me that the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior had his war paint on, and was to attack us in his message, etc. I 
 thought at the time they were trymg to cover up something, and rather supposed it was 
 to check us on the S. P. 
 
 I met George M. Pullman last night. He told me that he met General Dodge a few 
 days since, and that D. told him that (iould said to him (D.) that he would build as fast 
 from Salt Lake west as we built east of the Colorado. I am tlisposed to think that you 
 in California have never fully realized how much of a menace to the U. P. was the build- 
 ing of the S. P. east from Yuma, and I am satisfied that we want to so fix the S. P. that 
 the U. P. interest will be just as safe as the C. P. Just how to do it is not so clear, but I 
 am inclined to think we shall have to give the U. P. a one-half interest in all the road 
 east of Yuma, or say ten twenty-seconds of the whole road, and the latter I think they 
 would not care to do and give us what the stock has fairly cost us, which you will recol- 
 lect, as near as we could get at it, was 20 per cent.; but this is an important matter and 
 has got to be met, as those great interests are only valuable so long as they can be worked 
 in harmony. Talk this matter over and let me have your views. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT CROSS. 
 
 No. 361. ] New York, October 10, 1877. 
 
 Friend Colton : Yours of September 28th is received, and its contents carefully 
 noted. I shall do all I can, but it is very difficult to keep any money; but I shall do all 
 I can. 
 
 I went to W'ashington night before last and returned last night. I think I have the 
 bridge question settled for the present. I found it harder to do than I expected. The 
 Secretary of War told me that they had had it up in two Cabinet meetings and had con- 
 cluded not to do anything, as Congress would come together next week; but I got him 
 out of that idea in about twenty minutes. I then saw three others of the Cabinet; then 
 I went and saw the President. He was a little cross at first; said we had defied the 
 Government, <S;c. ; but I soon got him out of that belief. I said to him that we were 
 very much in earnest about builchng the S. P. I said to him that I had written out after 
 we were given the right to go on and complete the bridge, after being once stopped, that 
 they (you) had better push the work night and day, as we had been stopped once with- 
 out any reason known to us, and that we might be again, and that I guessed the boys 
 very likely quit work and went to supper, and the military quit at the same time and got 
 their supper and went to bed, supposing the workmen would do the same, but instead of 
 going to bed went back and laid the track across the liridge, so as to be sure and have it 
 so trams would cross before they received any order to quit. The President laughed 
 heartily at that, and said he guessed we meant business. He then said, " What do you 
 propose to do if we let you run over the bridge?" I said, " Push the road right on 
 through Arizona. " He said, "Will you do that? If you will, that will suit me first- 
 rate. " 
 
 Now, I think you had better spend a little money building east from Yuma and 
 have it telegraphed over as often as you can; it will do us much good here. 
 
 I would like to hear now and then how the lone coal is being used. 
 
 I have telegraphed to Crocker to have it understood there that the draw was closed 
 by pressure from the people of Arizona, and not saying we had anything to do with it. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 36.) 
 
 HAYES' FALSE REPORT DECLINED. 
 
 New York, Octol^er 15, 1877. 
 Friend Colton ; • * • Very likely such a report as Mr. H. would give us 
 would be worth the price he asks ; but as the crops are short this year in California, and
 
 214 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 as what we might call an off-year with us, I am disposed to think we had better let it 
 pass for this year. 
 
 I do not think General Sherman telegraphed to any one on this side about the bridge 
 at Yuma. 
 
 General McDowell wrote to the Secretary of War recommending that the bridge be 
 put back just as it was when orders were given us to stop. I wish you would get a strong 
 letter from General Sherman that the bridge is in the right place, harms no one, but is of 
 very great benefit to the military, as well as all the interests in Arizona and Northern 
 Mexico, (Sec. We may need it, as I think it very likely Scott may try to get a resolution 
 through Congress to stop our building in Arizona, and perhaps to stop our crossing the 
 bridge. I send with this a clip from to-day's Times. It will not hurt us, although you 
 will notice it has its hit at us. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 (No. 37.) 
 
 New York, June 3, 1878. 
 
 Friend Colton : Yours (Nos. 89 and 90) are received. As to rails to lay twenty- 
 two miles on west side of Sacramento River, 1 wrote Stanford a few days since. Could 
 not get rails. I notice what you say about sale of land on account of Central Pacific ; 
 also about building any more road. 
 
 I quite agree with you in the main ; but all the reasons that ever existed why we 
 should build east of Yuma now exist. Only the one reason why we should not, viz., not 
 get the money, prevents me from urging the extension of that line. I put (something ?) 
 in the omnibus bill to kill the T. and P., and I think it will do it. I have received 
 three telegrams to come to Washington to-night. I go. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 These letters tell the story plainly of the hostile position of the Southern Pacific 
 toward the Texas Pacific during all these years, and that it neither had or claimed any 
 rights east of Yuma. But its grasping character was exhibited at the first opportunity, 
 having resolved to build east. 
 
 At Yuma only one desirable location for a bridge over the Colorado was found. 
 This the Southern Pacific desire to appropriate, anticipating, what afterward occurred, 
 that the Texas Pacific would attempt precisely the same thing. 
 
 This point was in the military reservation, and of course could not be legally con- 
 demned or appropriated under its right-of-way act, as that did not extend it any rights 
 on military reservations. 
 
 In October, 1S76, the Texas Pacific applied to the military authorities at Yuma for 
 leave to break ground on the reservation for the crossing of the river. This permission 
 was granted, but in November following it was revoked. 
 
 In April, 1877, the Southern Pacific was given permission to lay its track pro- 
 visionally through a comer of the reservation, and the open contest between these two 
 corporations began. 
 
 The details, as to this reservation, are given in Ex. Doc. 33, 2d session, 45th Con- 
 gress, in full. 
 
 It is enough to state here that the Southern Pacific was successful, under the leave to 
 cross " temporarily a portion of the reservation," in not only buildin;^ its permanent rail- 
 road across it, Ixit in building a permanent railroad, and, through its construction 
 company, a toll bridge over the river, which enables them to do as proposed in letters 
 No. 29, 30, ' ' to tax the through business of the country. ' ' 
 
 This in utter defiance of the War Department, against the positive orders of the 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 General McDowell wrote, October 3, 1877: "The post commander was powerless, 
 all the troops having been withdrawn to the field." Nor has it yet ever procured the 
 consent of the Government to occupy this reservation ; it has been a continual trespasser 
 to this day. 
 
 Failing to procure authority from Congress to build east of Yuma, the Southern Pacific 
 procured charters from the Territorial legislatures of Arizona and New Mexico to proceed 
 and build through those Territories over the line selected by the Texas Pacific ; and on 
 commencing its work under these charters, the Texas Pacific invoked the aid of the 
 judiciary. It filed a bill for an injunction and a receiver as to the improyements of the 
 Southern Pacific, and the relief prayed was given ; but the Southern Pacific continued its 
 work, paying no attention to the order, and the litigation continued as pending until 
 settled by a decree, entered at the March term, 1882, of the court, not on a judicial 
 investigation, but by agreement of all the parties.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 215 
 
 On the question a> to the relation of these two companies during all the years the two 
 lines were bein;,' constructed, your committee do not find a single act performed by either 
 that was not hostile in its character as to the other. 
 
 Again, on the question as to whether the Southern Pacific had either the intention of 
 asking or the hope or expectation of receiving a dollar of aid or an acre of land, we find 
 that in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses, as against the request of Mr. Scott for 
 guarantee to his road, statement after statement and argument after argument was made 
 by the representatives of the Southern Pacific that aid of any character was entirely 
 useless and an unjustifiable expenditure of the public money and property. 
 
 It was argued by them that their com|)any was practically demonstrating the non- 
 necessity of Governmental aid to the enterprise of building a railroad along the thirty- 
 second parallel by building its own there and without aid, which it neither asked nor 
 desired. 
 
 Mr. Huntington, in 1878, wrote : 
 
 " If it were once understocxl that no subsidies would hereafter lie granted by Con- 
 gress, the incomplete gap (l)etween Fort Worth, the western terminus of the Texas 
 Pacific then, and Vuma) would be filled within five years by private capital alone, with- 
 out asking or committing in any way the national revenues to the work." 
 Before the Senate committee, in 1878, he said : 
 
 " We are ready to construct right along, and willing to provide an outlet to the East 
 for ourselves without cost to the Government." 
 And again : 
 
 "The question before you is whether you will give the Texas Pacific a guarantee of 
 nearly forty millions of bonds for building a road, 2CX3 miles of which is useless, and 600 
 miles of which we offer to build without aid." 
 
 Scores of men in Washington to-day recall the earnest statements of Mr. Huntington, 
 made during the first session of the Forty-sixth Congress, in opposition to the Texas 
 Pacific, that the Southern Pacific could and would build the road without a dollar of aid 
 or an acre of land, if the Texas Pacific was kept out of the way. 
 
 In the current daily papers at this date appears a letter from ex-Senator Gordon, 
 explanatory of his course in supporting the Southern Pacific plan of opposing Scott, which 
 your committee deem worth notice. Among other things he says : 
 
 " Mr. Scott was asking a guarantee on about fifty millions of bonds. Mr. Huntington, 
 on the other hand, was asking nothing of Congress, either liy way of indorsement of his 
 bonds or as subsidy in lands. He asked only to be let alone and allowed to build the 
 road on the same general line, and was actually constructing it without any Government 
 aid. * * * I opposed the Scott bill and favored the Huntington plan. He declared 
 he could and would build the road without a dollar of Government aid or subsidy. He 
 did it. He declared he would make the eastern terminus of his lines southern ports and 
 only southern ports. He has done it. " 
 
 Resuming the history of the case : Failing to get the subsidy desired, the affairs of 
 the Texas Pacific remained in statu quo for a time, the Southern Pacific prosecuting the 
 work of building its road vigorously. When Mr. Jay Gould took charge of the Texas 
 Pacific affairs work was rapidly done on the line toward the west in Texas, so that in 
 November, 1881, the Texas Pacific had reached Sierra Blanca, Tex., about 91 miles east 
 of El Paso, and the Southern Pacific fully completed to within a few miles of that point. 
 On the 26th of November, 1881, an agreement was made between Mr. Huntington 
 and Mr. Gould, representing the two corporations, of which this is an abstract : 
 
 It is made between C. P. Huntington on one side, representing the Southern Pacific 
 and the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio roads and their connections eastward 
 as far as New (Orleans, and Jay Gould on the other side, representing the Texas and 
 Pacific, including its New Orleans connection, the Iron Mountain, the International, 
 Missouri, Kansas and Texas, and Missouri Pacific Companies. It provides 
 that the tracks of the two systems shall be joined when they meet 100 miles or 
 thereabouts east of El Paso, and both parties are to use the portion between the junction 
 and El Paso on equal terms, the Texas and Pacific .reserving the right to run its own 
 trains into El Paso on paying half cost of maintenance, taxes and interest on halt cost of 
 construction, Sio,ooo jier mile. Through business is to l)e done on a pro rata basis by 
 both companies, and this stands all the way to San Diego, Los Angeles and San 
 Francisco, although the franchise of the Texas and Pacific was by its charter limited to 
 San Diego ; and rates are to be as low between competitive points as by any other 
 transcontinental routes. No discrimination is to be made by the Gould roads for or 
 against any of the termini on the Mississippi or Gulf, either as to rates, time, or other- 
 wise, or among the railroad lines eastward thereof, but east-bound unconsigned 
 business for points reached by them in Northern Texas, Arkansas and Missouri is to lie 
 delivered to them at El Paso or the junction, as the case may be. The agreement does
 
 216 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 not prevent or interfere with the completion of the Huntington road through Texas via 
 San Antonio and Houston, Ijut provides that after its completion the New Orleans and 
 seaboard business thereof shall be divided equally between the two lines and their 
 connection, the Huntington road from Houston to New Orleans being accorded the 
 privilege of using lOO miles of the Texas and Pacific nearest to New Orleans when 
 necessary on the above terms. The two systems of roads intersect and cross each other 
 at Houston, and between this point and Galveston they use the Galveston road, running 
 through trains if necessary. The through business to and from El Paso and the Pacific 
 wdl be divided on the basis of one-third to the Texas and Pacific and its connections, 
 and two thirds of the line via San Antonio, that being the shortest line. 
 
 In consideration for tlie privileges of using jointly the road into El Paso, and of a 
 perpetual privilege in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as San Diego, equal to 
 the most favored, the Texas and Pacific has relinquished its claim to the land grant, 
 right of way, and franchises west of El Paso to the Southern Pacific companies. The 
 Texas and Pacific engages not to extend its road west of El Paso so long as the cove- 
 nants with the Southern Pacific are obsei-ved, and the Southern Pacific agrees not to 
 parallel the Texas and Pacific east of El Paso or either of the roads mentioned, in 
 Texas, Arkansas, or Missouri. The usual provision is made for arbitration between any 
 of the parties for the settlement of disputes, and the respective superintendents are to 
 carry out the details of the arrangements as to interchange of traffic and the rates of 
 compensation. 
 
 The Texas Pacific relinquishes and will convey to the Southern Pacific its claim to 
 this land grant, right of way, and franchises west of El Paso. 
 
 Pursuant to this contract a deed was executed by the Texas Pacific on January i8, 
 18S2, to the Southern Pacific, purporting to convey all the grantor had or could take 
 west of El Paso ; and in March, 1882, in the district court of the third judicial district of 
 New Mexico, the bill of the Texas Pacific, filed and pending to prevent the Southern 
 Pacific from building within the land grant to the Texas Pacific, was amended so as to 
 make the Central Pacific a party to the litigation ; and by agreement of all the parties a 
 decree was entered on stipulation validating the agreement of November, 1881, and the 
 deed of January 18, 1882, and especially that the road named in the decree shall be 
 operated in perpetuity as a single continuous line. 
 
 Another important fact is that the Central Pacific Railroad Company now controls 
 and operates all these roads from El Paso west, under leases from the nominal corpora- 
 tions owning them ; it paying for the Southern Pacific of California, $250 per mile per 
 month ; for the Southern Pacific of Arizona, $135 per mile per month and taxes ; for the 
 Southern Pacific of New Mexico, the same rent ; for the bridges over the Colorado and 
 Rio Grande, $1,000 per month each ; and for the Los Angeles and San Diego, $100 per 
 mile per month and taxes. These rents and all operating expense of the line are included 
 in the expense account of the Central Pacific. 
 
 From the foregoing facts, none of which were disputed, even before your committee, 
 we draw these conclusions, viz : 
 
 That the Southern Pacific was a hostile enterprise to the Texas Pacific until all its 
 road had been constructed to Sierra Blanca, Tex., and until the contract of November, 
 1 88 1, was consummated. 
 
 That it shrank from nothing that tended to defeat the work the Texas Pacific was 
 engaged in, viz., the construction of a competing through line of railroad to the Pacific 
 Ocean. 
 
 That while the Southern Pacific was nominally an independent corporation, it was in 
 fact practically the Central Pacific. 
 
 That the Southern I'acific was built with the money of the Central Pacific outside of 
 the securities based upon it, and is operated and controlled by it. 
 
 That so far as Congress is concerned, the Southern Pacific never had any rights east 
 of Yuma, upon which it could base a claim against the Government, either legal or 
 equitable. 
 
 That the .Southern Pacific built its road expressly without the intention, expectation 
 or ho]3e of receiving a dollar of aid or an acre of land therefor from the Government. 
 
 That by its action it aided in defeating the building of the road contemplated by 
 Congress. 
 
 That no attention has ever been paid by it toward making San Diego a terminal 
 point, but, on the contrary, so far as either of these companies is concerned, there is not 
 a railroad within upward of one hundred miles of that place. 
 
 That, as suggested in letter No. 29 above, in order "to tax the through business on 
 the line," two bridge com|)anies have been organized, one owning the bridge over the 
 Rio Grande and the other the bridge over the Colorado.
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 217 
 
 That, in connection with tlie facts ni this report presented, common notoriety shows 
 that the transcontinental transportation question now stands in this condition: 
 
 The next route north of this, the Atlantic and Pacific, is controlled by the Central 
 Pacific west of the Colarado and by Mr. Ciould east of it. 
 
 The Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, with Mr. Gould's connections east of 
 Omaha, control the middle route. 
 
 By subsidizing the Pacific Mail, the Central Pacific keeps the water route under 
 control. 
 
 The Northern Pacific is not only in a "pool" with the Central, but an agreement has 
 been made between them whereby the territory of the great Northwest has been divided 
 between them as to transportation, as though ownership of the country followed building 
 of railroads into it, subject to which practical assertion of ownership the transportation of 
 freight for the entire Pacific coast is under the control of the few men who adopt as their 
 rule for charges "all the trafiic will bear," and who have introduced, for the first time in 
 the history of common carriage and in the only place in the civilized world, the practice 
 of "special contracts," whereby a citizen of the republic, to avail himself of the 
 necessary benefits of the improved methods of transportation by steam and rail equally 
 with those these men choose to favor with reasonable rates of charges, must contract that 
 he will not deal in the property freighted with any but those having like contracts with 
 himself and giving the managers of these corporations the right of espionage over their 
 books and papers, to ascertain the details of their business and whether such contract has 
 been violated. 
 
 These are the men who ask on grounds of equity, that this vast grant of land, an 
 empire in area, and estimated by themselves at forty millions of dollars in value, shall 
 be given them. 
 
 Your committee has had no difiiculty in disposing of the claim on the basis of the 
 "equity." 
 
 Nor have we been perplexed in solving the question as to the legal right of the 
 Southern Pacific to this grant. 
 
 As has been stated, we have had the benefit of legal argument by some of the most 
 eminent counsel in the land, and the claim by this company to the grant on legal grounds 
 may be stated in this way : 
 
 By the act making the grant the title to the land passed to the Texas Pacific — the act 
 was a grant in presenti, with a condition subsequent. 
 
 The Texas i'acific, thus being vested with the legal title, although subject to the con- 
 dition subsequent, which contained, among other things, the building of the road to San 
 Diego and the completing the whole line by May 2d, 1882, and that there should be 
 no consolidation with any competing line, yet the legal title was an assignable interest 
 which could be conveyed, and that by the deed made by the Texas Pacific January 18, 1882, 
 to the Southern Pacific, it became vested with the legal title to all the land, and because 
 the Congress did not, in making the grant and coupling with it a condition subsequent, in 
 express terms reserve to itself the ]:>ower to declare the grant forfeited for breach of the 
 condition if it should not be complied with, therefore no right of forfeiture exists, and the 
 hands of Congress are tied and the Government is powerless to resume the grant by reason 
 of such omission. 
 
 In other words, generally stated, the distinguished counsel for the company declares 
 that in law the power to declare a forfeiture of a grant made on condition subsequent 
 for breach of the condition must be reserved to the grantor by express terms in the act 
 making the grant, or it does not exist. 
 
 No authority was jModuced to the committee except the statement of the attorneys 
 asserting this extraordinary doctrine in support of it ; but the interests being so great, 
 we have examined the books on the question, and are not able to find a single authority 
 in support of the proposition, and we believe none can be found. 
 
 On the contrary, Washburn on Real Property, vol. 2, 3d ed., p. 15, asserts the nile 
 to be — 
 
 "Where the condition of a grant is express there is no need of reserving a right of 
 entry for a breach thereof in order to enable the grantor to avail himself of it." 
 
 See also Jackson vs. Allen, 3 Cowan, 220 ; Gray vs. Blanchard, S Pick., 2S4; 
 Littleton, sec. 331. 
 
 Indeed, all the decided cases we can find, as well as the text-books, are in harmony 
 and to the same efi'ect ; so we do not present argument upon it here. 
 
 Counsel also urge that, under the law, a forfeiture of a grant is purely a judicial 
 question ; one for the courts alone, and that Congress has no power in the irratter. 
 
 We are of different opinion. It seems jierfectly clear to this committee that a declara- 
 tion of forfeiture is only the act of the grantor, asserting his right to assume the grant, to 
 be exercised at his option, terminating an estate for breach of the condition on which it is
 
 218 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 granted. The power rests with him ; it is at his option whether he will exercise it or 
 not ; purely a matter of discretion, with the exercise of which the courts have nothing 
 to do, and until it is exercised there is nothing on which the court can act. 
 
 When forfeiture is declared and resumption of ownership asserted by the grantor, 
 then the court may be invoked to declare whether the right existed or whether it had 
 been effectively exercised ; but the question of forfeiture is with the grantor, personal or 
 legislative, as the grant is private or public, and the judiciary has no jurisdiction what- 
 ever until after the grantor has acted to assert his or its right to declare the forfeiture, 
 and then the grantee may invoke the judiciary. 
 
 To us this is too clear to be regarded as debatable or needing elaboration. 
 
 But the counsel insisted also that if the committee should declare that the right to 
 declare a forfeiture did exist, then the Southern Pacific had the right to the grant on the 
 ground that it had substantially complied with the requirements of the act as they should 
 have been performed by the Texas Pacific in the building of a road to the Pacific coast ; 
 that while the Southern Pacific was practically a volunteer in the prosecution of the 
 work, not having authority from Congress to undertake and prosecute the work, yet 
 having built a railroad along substantially the same line which the Texas Pacific would 
 have followed, and having given the country, by the building and the contract of 
 November, 1881, with the Texas I'acific, a line of railroad to San Francisco, and the 
 Texas Pacific being satisfied, the Government is bound to be, and give them the grant. 
 And in the argument used — the illustration of a reward offered for lost goods, the finder 
 is always a volunteer and entitled to the reward ; that it is immaterial to the loser who 
 finds and restores his goods — they evade the question of the necessity of San Diego 
 being made a terminal point, as well as that that city has been avoided and no road 
 located or built to it by them, or in which they are interested. 
 
 But waiving the question of full performance, has this last claim a basis in th^ law ? 
 
 Before the claimant company can be held to be entitled to this grant it must be found 
 that the conditions of the grant have all been complied with by it or its grantor ; that it 
 is the legal "successor and assign " of the Texas and Pacific, and also that such succes- 
 sion is not the result of a combination or consolidation with the Texas and Pacific " by 
 rival or and competing through line of railroad to the Pacific Ocean. " 
 
 Neither of these propositions can be held in favor ot the claimant here. The Southern 
 Pacific is not the "successor and assign " of the Texas Pacific. These words have a well- 
 defined significance, and when used in connection with a corporation, sole or aggregate, 
 have tKvariably been held to be words of limitation, like the word "heirs" in a convey- 
 ance to an individual. 
 
 The successors of a corporation correspond to the heirs of a natural person. (Bur- 
 rill's Law Diet., title Successors; liouvier's Law Diet.; Angell & Ames, Corp., sec. 
 192 ; 2 Kernaw Rep., 129.) 
 
 We confidently assert that not a case can be found (except the Attorney-General's 
 opinion in the X. (). , B. R. and V. case) where the words " successors and assigns " are 
 used as applied to a corporation, when that body simply succeeds by purchase or contract 
 to a part or all of the assets of another corporation, but not including its franchise or right 
 to exist as a corporate body. Xo construction is better settled in the law. 
 
 The Southern Pacific simply asserts jt right under a deed from the Texas Pacific as 
 grantee of what is assumed by both to be part of the assets of the Texas Pacific, but the . 
 granting corporation, the Texas Pacific Company, still exists and remains, with all the 
 vitality and activity it ever possessed as an artificial creature, losing none of its identity, 
 although by this contract it attempts to divest itself of part of its powers and a portion of 
 its tangible assets. But the Southern Pacific is simply the vendee or grantee of the Texas 
 Pacific as to the items named ; this and nothing more. The Texas Pacific cannot so 
 exist and at the same time have an existing " successor. " In a case like this a very clear 
 distinction is to be taken between legally succeeding to a portion of a property of a cor- 
 poration as vendee or grantee and hieing the legal " successor" to the corporation itself. 
 Mere privity by contract alone will create the first, but creation or selection by public 
 authority and an entire legal substitution of person is necessary in the latter case. In this 
 case Congress passed the act for the express and avowed purpose of causing the construc- 
 tion of a short and competitive route along the thirty-second parallel from the Missis- 
 sippi to San Diego Bay. The points which were to be connected, as well as the corpora- 
 tion which should perform the work and be the recipient of the bounty of the government 
 for the performance of the work, were all determined by Congress and expressly named. 
 
 The position of the transcontinental line, Central and Union Pacific, was well under- 
 stood by the people and their representatives in Congress then, and too recent now to 
 recjuire a restatement. Railway communication between the oceans was an absolute 
 necessity, but the extortions and discriminations of the Central and Union Pacific (and 
 apparently beyond the power of their creator to jirevent) caused an urgent demand on
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 219 
 
 the part of the people for another and a competitive route across the continent. To pro- 
 vide this the act of 187 1, attempted ; the terminal points were fixed ; the bay of San 
 Dies^o named as a western terminus of this to be grand line, and work to be begun 
 simultaneously at either end and rapidly prosecuted. San Francisco was by section 23 
 to be connected with the new road only ; not to be a terminal point as it now is. The 
 road was contempleted to the ocean at San Diego, with a branch to San Francisco. This 
 is clearly a sui^stantial requirement. 
 
 In every section of the act clearly appears the expressed intention that the Texas 
 Pacific Company shall prosecute the work. This company is organized, and for the 
 clearly expressed purpose, as stated ; this company may purchase stock of other com- 
 panies, or may consolidate, but not with any comiK-ting line, but all such purchasers and 
 consolidations should vest the property in the Texas Pacific Railway Company. This 
 company was to file majis, to build and complete the road and telegraph line, to execute 
 mortgages, &c., and (section 17) the Texas Pacific Company to construct the road within 
 ten years. Nowhere does it appear, even by implication, that any other party, by privity 
 of contract merely, should have any rights in the matter, either to perform the conditions 
 imposed or succeed to any of the privileges conferred. The Texas Pacific was to Ix; a 
 competitor to the other lines across the continent, as well those projected as completed ; 
 and so everythmg shows that Congress intended that the corporation it created for the 
 purpose, or its legal successors, should perform the duties, afford the facilities, and 
 receive the benefit provided for by this act. It must Ije kept in mind that the Southern 
 Pacific had no authority, direct or implied, from the United States to do any act east of 
 the Colorado ; it was only authorized to connect with the Texas Pacific at 
 or near the Colorado, for the purpose of connecting San Francisco with 
 the new route ; there and at that point its power ceased so far as Congress was 
 concerned. All that it has done since was at its own instance: it was not induced by 
 the land grant to build east of Yuma; tiie Government did not request it, but did all in 
 its power, in its feeble way and with the small military force at its disposal, to prevent 
 the occupancy of the Yuma Reservation and the Colorado River, but unsuccessfully; it 
 pursued its course as a rival road to the one chartered by Congress and lor the purpose, 
 now clearly apparent, of defeating the expressed will of the people for a competing road 
 across the coniinent, by securing for itself, in connection with the Central Pacific, the 
 entire control of the vast and increasing transcontinental transportation. The claim of 
 the Southern Pacific to be treated as a. successor of the Texas Pacific under the law is 
 based solely on the fact that it has succeeded as a rival to the Texas Pacific in building a 
 road where the Texas Pacific proposed to build one; preventing the Texas Pacific from 
 accomplishing the object of its creation, and in return for a concession of part of the 
 freightage of the future, and an agreement not only to compete, but not to extend lines 
 to the injury of the other, the Texas Pacific assumed to convey what it never had the 
 least right to control, either legally or equitably, and the Southern Pacific asserts a clear 
 right as grantee to what its grantor had not the shadow of a subsisting claim, anil as to 
 which it has put beyond itself tlie power to ever earn or claim. San Diego was named 
 as a terminal point by Congress, and for very obvious reasons. The Central Pacific 
 reached San Francisco, and the natural depot and entrepot for the proposed competitive 
 line on the Pacific would be San Diego; not a railroad is within 100 miles of it, except 
 on paper, now, so far as these companies are concerned, and all the benefits conferred 
 by the road taken to San Francisco and made to inure to the benefit of the com- 
 pany it was to compete with. The facts which we state in this report show that the 
 Southern Pacific is in fact the Central Pacific, practically the same directory in both, the 
 former operated under a lease to the latter ; all the expenses charged in the account of 
 the Central Pacific. These claims might equally as well be made by the Central Pacific 
 by name as by the Southern Pacific. The same logic that would justify granting this 
 application would compel doing the same act for the Central Pacific if it had performed 
 the acts done nominally by the Southern Pacific. The difficulty with the reasoning of 
 the counsel for the applicant is, that they assume that all that was contemplated by Con- 
 gress was that a railroad should be built along the 32d parallel, and that it is absolutely 
 immaterial who or what company builds it, or what the relation or bearing of the builder 
 may be toward the people or the question of transportation. So that the company named 
 in the granting act is satisfied, either by compulsion or purchase ; in eft'ect making the 
 latter company the agents of the Government to bestow a gratuity upon the corporation 
 which had defeated not only the company appointed by Congress to do its work, but 
 Congress itself. This is required, and must appear : that the railroad contemplated by 
 the granting act shall be built or procured, and by the designated party or its legal suc- 
 cessor, one which stands in its place and stead, under the restrictions and provisions of 
 the granting act ; and if purchase or consolidation be attempted or effected, that the cor- 
 poration designated by Congress shall be the major factor in the case; that it shall absorb
 
 220 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 the others, and be the owner of the "coipus," and not, as in this case, when the process 
 has been reversed. The act provides a grant for " aiding in the construction of the rail- 
 road and telegraph line herein provided for," etc., not a railroad constructed by the 
 Central Pacific or the Union Pacific, or the Atlantic and Pacific companies, or either of 
 them, but by a company it created, its successors or assigns, as a competitive line. 
 
 Again, while counsel waived argument upon the question before us, we submit that the 
 condition in the grant prohibitmg consolidation with rival or competing lines has been 
 absolutely violated by the Texas and Pacific in the makinir of the contract of November, 
 i88i. ^ 
 
 Practically and legally, so far as it affects the public or the question of transportation, 
 that contract was one of consolidation, and with a rival hostile line. It provides for 
 traffic arrangements, a pool of receipts, a perpetual user, an absolute community of inter- 
 est, an agreement not to construct parallel lines, and a surrender of all rights and 
 franchises l^eyond the connecting point, so far as it was possible for the Texas and 
 Pacific to surrender and convey. 
 
 Looking over the whole case, then, we find that Congress organized a particular cor- 
 poration for an avowed, specific purpose; agreed to give it 15,000,000 of acres of land, 
 if within ten years it should build its road from Marshall, Tex., to San Diego Bay as 
 provided. 
 
 Congress prohibited it from making any arrangements with others which would 
 destroy its own identity, or interfere with the proposed or expected results. 
 
 Congress provided that in any consolidation it might make or contracts with regard 
 to property rights, the property acquired, rights secured, or consolidation effected, all 
 should be the property of the Texas anrl Pacific. 
 
 This company has not accomplished a single object for which it was created. 
 
 It has never been in a position or condition in which it could perform, or even at- 
 tempt to perform, substantiallf , one single act required of it. 
 
 It never reached a point nearer than 90 miles of where it could earn an acre of 
 ground; it was never in sight of the "promised land." 
 
 Failing to do any act it was bound and required to do, it attempted to do every act 
 possible which it was prohibited from doing. 
 
 Organized to build across the continent, it solemnly bound itself with its rival and 
 enemy never to attempt to do it. Created to compete with the Central Pacific, it makes 
 a perpetual alliance with it, and a perpetual pool as to charges and rates. P'stablished 
 to promote a healthy, beneficial competition, it Ijargains away, so iar as it is able, its fran- 
 chises, or right to exist as a corporation in all the territory where Congress had sole juris- 
 diction, and parceled out as suited the convenience of itself and its opponent the carrying 
 trade of one-third of the territory of the Republic. Given life for a special purpose, it 
 uses every means within its power to defeat the object of its creation, and, as a fitting 
 climax to all this iniquity, it endeavors to supplant Congress as a donor of the public 
 domain, as a part of the transaction which was its own suicide. The Southern Pacific 
 claims to "stand in the shoes " of the Texas and Pacific. 
 
 Your committee agree that "standing in the shoes" would do if the Southern Pacific 
 filled the shoes. But it does not. 
 
 It never had authority or recognition by Congress east of Yuma. All its attempts 
 before Congress to secure recognition there have repeatedly failed as made. For its own 
 purposes, at its own instance, in its own way, by methods which many honest, good men 
 have denounced, greedy to embrace all the land with its network of rails, to secure 
 monopoly ol transportation, surmounting opposition and beating down all obstacles in its 
 way, and in doing so crushing the agent Congress had selected as the instrument to build 
 a road there, doing nothing, absolutely nothing, by the governmental authority or assent 
 even, and having succeeded in defeating a necessary work and rendering alisolutely 
 abortive the attempt to have one competing transportation route to the Pacific built, it 
 cooly asks Congress to Ijestow upon it fifteen millions of acres of land, to give it the own- 
 ership of an area sufficient for perhaps one hundred thousand homes as a reward for that 
 result. 
 
 So your committee report the accompanying bill with the recommendation that it pass, 
 suggesting here that it may not be improper to adopt the same rule as to Mr. Huntington 
 that he proposed as to Mr. Scott in his letter of November 8, 1874, No. 2, above, "but 
 if Scntt kicks at it, I propose to say to Congress, ' We will build east of the Colorado to 
 meet the Texas Pacific without aid, and then see how many members will dare to give 
 him aid to do what we offered to do without.' " We will plead guilty to a curiosity to 
 see how many members of this House will " dare to vote " to give this grant to him now, 
 for doing what he then proposed to do and did without aid or promise of any. We are 
 confirmed in our conclusion l)y the action of the Judiciary Committee of the House of the 
 iorty-seventh Congress, where, as we are advised, fourteen of the fifteen members of that
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 221 
 
 committee concurred in the opinion that the Southern Pacific Railroad Company had 
 neither legal nor equitable claim to any part of the grant, and that under the decisions of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States action on the part ot Congres.-, is necessary to re- 
 store this land to the public domain. Xo le^al rij^hts can \ic dive>ted or lo-t by the pro- 
 posed action, and whatever legal rights exist can only lie ascertained after forfeiture. 
 
 We ought, perhaps, to apologize for the length of this report; but the interests are so 
 vast, the value of the property so great, the claim of the railroad company insisted upon 
 with so much zeal and apparent candor and earnestness, and, moreover, this l)eing the 
 pioneer case in the list of proposed forfeitures of lapsed land grants to railroads liefore tliis 
 Congress, we have thought it not mexpedient to thoroughly canvass the questions pre- 
 sented, although subjecting ourselves to the charge of prolixity. 
 
 A Bii.L to declare a torfeiture of lands granted to the Texas Pacific Railroad Company, 
 
 and for other purposes. 
 
 B<; it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled. That all lands granted to the Texas Pacific Railroad 
 Company under the act of Congress entitled "An act to incorporate the Texas Pacific 
 Railroad Company and to aid in the construction of its road, and for other purposes," 
 approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and acts amendatory thereof 
 or supplemental thereto, be, and they are hereby, declared forfeited, and that the whole 
 of said lands be restored to the public domain and made subject to sale and settlement 
 under existing laws of the United States. 
 
 Sec. 2. That in any and all cases, as to any lands embraced within the terms of the 
 act named in section one of this act, whenever the Department of the Interior, or its 
 officers, or the local land officers, have treated said lands as open to selection, purctiase, 
 or homestead entry, and have allowed purchases, selections, and entries of any of said 
 lands under the general laws of the United States, the acts of the Department of the 
 Interior, and its officers, and the local land officers, in permitting such entries, selec- 
 tions, and purchases, in making such sales and in issuing patents, certificates, and lists 
 thereon, are hereby ratified and validated ; and the right's and titles of parties or persons 
 holding patents or claiming right or title under certificates or lists of lands issued or 
 certified by the .Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
 or certific^^tes issued by the officers of the local land offices, or who have made home- 
 stead enterics or pre-emption settlements or claims of any kind upon any of said lands, 
 under the general laws of the United States, in any way affected adversely by said grant, 
 are hereby confirmed and made valid to the same extent as though said grant had never 
 been made ; and all of said lands embraced within the provisions of said acts shall be 
 restored to the public domain, subject to the saving of rights as provided in this section, 
 as though said grant had never been made. 
 
 H. R. 181. 
 
 To declare forfeited certain lands granted to aid in the construction of a railroad 
 in Oregon and to enforce the same by judicial proceedings. 
 
 Passed House June 4, 1884. In the Senate received June 9, 1884, and referred 
 to the committee on public lands March 7, with amendment. Xo vote taken. 
 H. R. 180. 
 
 To declare forfeited certain lands in the State of Michigan to and in the con- 
 struction of a railroad, and to enforce the same by judicial proceedings. 
 
 In the House March 5, 1884, reported from the committee and referred to the 
 House calendar. No vote taken. 
 H. R. 5682. 
 
 To repeal section 22 of the act to incorporate the Te.xas Pacific R. R. Co., 
 approved March 3, 1871 ; and to declare a forfeiture of the land grant therein 
 made, and for other purposes. 
 
 In the House, June 26, defeated. 
 
 H. R. 6408. 
 
 To forfeit lands granted to the State of ^lichigan to aid in the construction of 
 a railroad from ^larciuette to Ontonagon in said State. No vote taken. 
 H. R. 6416.
 
 222 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 To provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to ^id in the 
 construction of railroads within the State of Kansas. No vote taken. 
 
 H. R. 6534. 
 
 To declare forfeited certain lands granted to aid in the construction of the 
 Northern Pacific R. R. and for other purposes. No vote taken. 
 
 H. R. T162. 
 
 To forfeit the unearned lands granted to the Atlantic «fc Pacific R. R. Co. and 
 to restore the same to the public domain. Passed House June 9, 1884. 
 
 In the Senate, July 3, amended and passed Senate. No conference between 
 the two houses had. 
 
 H. R. 7238. 
 
 To restore lands held in indemnity limits for railroad and wagon road 
 companies and for other purposes. No vote taken. 
 
 H. R. 7299. 
 
 Forfeiting a part of certain lands granted to the State of Iowa to aid in the 
 construction of railroads in that State and for other purposes. Passed House 
 June 20. In the Senate, June 21, received and referred to the Committee on 
 Public Lands. No report made. 
 
 H. R. 7495. 
 
 To declare forfeited certain lands granted to aid in the construction of a 
 railroad from Portland in Oregon to the Central Pacific R. R. Co. in Cal. No 
 vote taken. 
 
 Foreign Land Owners. 
 
 The following table shows the amount of acres held in vast estates by foreign, 
 absentee, landlords : , 
 
 The Holland Land Company, New Mexico 4,500,000 
 
 An English syndicate, No. 3, in Texas 3,000,000 
 
 Sir Edward Reid ami a syndicate, in Florida 2,000,000 
 
 English syndicate, in Mississippi 1,800,000 
 
 Marquis of Tweedale 1,750,000 
 
 Phillips, Marshal & Co., London 1,300,000 
 
 German syndicate i, 100,000 
 
 Anglo-American syndicate, Mr. Rogers, president, London 750,000 
 
 Bryan H. Evans, of London, in Mississippi 700,000 
 
 Duke of Sutherland 425,000 
 
 British Land Company, in Kansas 320,000 
 
 William Whalley, M.P., Peterboro, England 310,000 
 
 Missouri Land Company, Edinburgh, Scotland 300,000 
 
 Robert Tennant, of London 230,000 
 
 Dundee Land Company, Scotland '. 247,000 
 
 Lord Dunmore 1 20,000 
 
 Benjamin Newgas, Liverpool 100,000 
 
 Lord Houghton, in Florida 60,000 
 
 Lord Dunraven, in Colorado 60,000 
 
 English Land Company, in Florida 50,000 
 
 English Land Company, in Arkansas 50,000 
 
 Albert Peel, M.P., Leicestershire, England 10,000 
 
 Sir J. L. Kay, Yorkshire, England 5,000 
 
 Alexander Grant, of London, in Kansas 35,000 
 
 English syndicate (represented by Close Bros.) Wisconsin 1 10,000 
 
 M. Ellerhauser, of Halifax, Novia Scotia, in West Virginia 600,000 
 
 A Scotch syndicate, in Florida 500,000 
 
 A Boysen, 1 )anish Consul, in Milwaukee 50,000 
 
 Missouri Land Company, of Edinburgh, Scotland 165,000 
 
 Total 20,747,000
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 223 
 
 Unlaw^ful Fencing of the Public Domain. 
 
 Space does not permit an account of the manner in which wealthy owners of 
 large cattle ranches, many of tiicm forei^^uers, have been permitted by the present 
 administration to unlawfully fence in the land belonging to the Government. 
 
 Among the cases of unauthorized fencing specially reported to the Land Office 
 by agents are those of the Prairie Cattle Company, embracing upwards of 1,000,- 
 
 000 acres; the Arkansas Valley Company, 1,000.000 acres; H. H. Metcalf, 
 200,000 acres ; John W. Prowers, 200,000 acres ; McDaniel & Davis, 75,000 acres; 
 Routchler & Lamb, 40.000 acres ; J. W. Frank, 40,000 acres ; Garnett & Lang- 
 ford, 30,000 acres ; E. C. Tane, 50.000 acres ; Lewesey Brothers, 150,000 acres ; 
 Vroomer & McFife, 50.000 acres ; Beatty Brothers, 40,000 acres ; Chick, Brown 
 & Co., 30,000 acres, and Reynolds Cattle Company, 50,000 acres, all in Colorado. 
 Brighton Ranche, 125,000 acres; Coe & Carter, 80,000 acres; J. W. Wilson, 
 25,000 acres ; Kennebec Ranch, 40,000 acres, and J. W. Rosier, 20,000 acres, in 
 Nebra.ska. William Humphrey, 25,000 acres, and Nelson & Sou, 20,000 acres, in 
 Nevada. 
 
 Whole Counties Appropriated. 
 
 Entire counties are reported as being fenced in Kansas. In Wyoming more 
 than one hundred large cattle companies are reported as having fencing on the 
 public lands. Some of these companies are reported to be English and others 
 Scotch. 
 
 It is estimated that between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 acres of public land are 
 now illegally fenced, and that several millions of acres are fraudulently entered. 
 
 Relative to the fraudulent entries of land, a land agent in New Mexico informs 
 the General Land Commissioner that of the entries in that Territory ninety per 
 cent, are fraudulent, and another agent in Dakota, writing upon the same subject, 
 says that seventy-five per cent, of the entries are fraudulent in that Territory. The 
 follo%ving table shows the number of fraudulent entries that have been investigated 
 during the past year, and approximately the number of illegally fenced acres in 
 the various States and Territories : 
 
 States and Fraudulent Acres Illegally 
 
 Territories. Entries. Fenced In. 
 
 Arkansas 70 
 
 Dakota 460 
 
 Colorado 808 2,800,000 
 
 California 139 
 
 New Mexico 827 1,500,000 
 
 Minnesota 311 , 
 
 Washington Territory 109 
 
 Idaho 92 
 
 Nebraska 170 300,000 
 
 Montana 24 Not investigated 
 
 Wyoming 10 250,000 
 
 Alabama 153 
 
 Wisconsin 10 
 
 Florida 71 
 
 Oregon 83 
 
 Kansas 182 200.000 
 
 Nevada 60.000 
 
 Besides the cases embraced in the foregoing table there are about five thousand 
 entries on which action has been suspended until an examination can be made by 
 special agents. 
 
 J. W. McFarland, of Harper, Kan., writes to the Land Office : 
 In the name of God I ask is this a republican fonn of government, when the 
 poor man, with barely enough to keep soul and body together and pay for his 160 
 acres of land must pay the taxes of the country and the cattle king go free. If so, 
 
 1 was a big fool to spend three years of my life to defend such a country.
 
 224 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 In the State of Colorado alone the administration of the law has been so las 
 that 2.157,000 acres of Government land have been illegally fenced in. This 
 •would provide homesteads for 13,481 heads of families, and could maintain easily 
 a population of 75,000 people. The following is the table : 
 
 .\CRES. 
 
 Leivesy Brothers, Pueblo and Fremont Counties, R. 66 and 67, T. 20 and 21. . 150,000 
 
 J. W. Frank, Pueblo County, R. 65 and 66, T. 20 and 21 40,000 
 
 M. Stute, Pueblo County, R. 65, T. 13 and 19 20,000 
 
 E. C. Tane, Pueblo County, R. 63 and 64, T. 19 and 20 50,000 
 
 Garnett & Langford, Pueblo County, R. 62 30,000 
 
 A. D. Carpenter, Pueblo County, R. 62 and 63 20,000 
 
 John Ross, Pueblo County, R. 61 and 62 20,000 
 
 John Herchberger, Pueblo County, R. 60 10,000 
 
 Crook & Carlisle, Pueblo County, R. 59 and 60 10,000 
 
 McDaniel & Davis, Pueblo County, R. 60 and 61 75, 000 
 
 Rantchler & Lamb, Pueblo County, R. 60 and 62 40,000 
 
 John W. Prowers, Bent County 200,000 
 
 Prairie Cattle Company, Bent and Las Animas Counties 100,000 
 
 Arkansas Valley Cattle Company, Bent and Las Animas Counties 1,000,000 
 
 Vrooman & McFife, Bent County 50,000 
 
 J. W. Swink, Bent County, R. 56 and 57 10,000 
 
 Hopkms & Bingham, Bent County 30,000 
 
 Beatty Brothers, Bent County 40,000 
 
 J. \V. Patton, Bent County 5,000 
 
 H. Bert, Bent County 5, 000 
 
 A. C. Poke, Bent County 3,000 
 
 J. L. Metch, Bent County 5,000 
 
 James Pratt, Bent County 3, 000 
 
 H. Thompson, Bent County 2,000 
 
 Reed & Foster, Bent County 2,000 
 
 Ed. Wah, Fremont County 10,000 
 
 William Gorman, Fremont County 2,000 
 
 Witcher Brothers, Fremont County 20,000 
 
 Reynolds Cattle Company, Fremont County 50,000 
 
 A. Steel, Fremont County 10,000 
 
 Ed. Burnett, Fremont County 5,000 
 
 Henry Berris, Fremont County 20,000 
 
 Freeman Brothers, Pueblo and Fremont Counties. . 20,000 
 
 R. Pope, Fremont County 2,000 
 
 G. E. Phillips, Fremont County 2,000 
 
 James Errers, Fremont County 2,000 
 
 B. Berry, Park County 25,000 
 
 B. Hammond, Park County 2,000 
 
 W. R. Smith, Park County 15,000 
 
 Early Brothers, Park County 12,000 
 
 J. Mulock, Park County 20,000 
 
 J. Simms, Park County 10,000 
 
 Thomas Robbins, Park County 10,000 
 
 The Democratic party, in convention assembled, pledges itself to the 
 preservation of the public lands for actual settlers. Its record in Congress has 
 been given, and shows a determination to exact the forfeiture of all unearned 
 
 lands granted to railroads. Upon this vital question, as upon all others, it is, not 
 by profession merely, but by practice, the true anti-monopoly party.
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 225 
 
 Protection of Labor. 
 
 Labor Bills. 
 
 ^ The action of the Hou.^e of Ui-piebcutativL-s of tlie iotli Cougress ou questions 
 affecting the material •well being of workingmen was liighly commendable. One 
 of its first acts was to constitute a Committee on Labor to consider and perfect 
 such measures for action. And this action is in marked contrast with the refusal 
 of the 47th Congress to create such a committee. It is well known that repre- 
 sentatives of the leading labor organizations applied to Speaker Keif or for the crea- 
 tion of a Committee on Labor, and, failing in that, for the appointment on the 
 committee, to which what are known as the labor bills would be referred, of 
 members known to be familiar with the wants and in sympathy, with the wishes 
 of workingmen- No Committee on Labor was crealeil In' the Republican Con - 
 gress, nor were the members suggested appointed on the committee having the 
 bills in charge. As above stated a committee on labor was created by the 
 present Congress and men appointed on it who were known as friends of the 
 workingmen, among them being Mr. Hopkins of Pa., Mr. Foran of Ohio, a 
 cooper by trade, Mr. Loveriug of !Mass., formerly an operator in a shoe factory, 
 and Mr. O'Neill of Mo., well known as an eloquent advocater of the rights of 
 workingmen. From this committee were reported, 1, the bill to establish a 
 bureau of labor; 2, the bill to prohibit the importation of foreign labor under 
 contract; 3, the bill to enforce the eight hour law; 4, the joint resolution de- 
 claring in favor of the employment of residents and citizens of the U. S. 
 in the Construction of the public works of the governmant; 5, the joint resolu- 
 tion proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the U. S. prohibiting any 
 State from contracting with any person or corporation to hire or contract out the 
 labor of prisoners; 6, the bill for the abolition of the contract labor system, so far 
 as the prisoners of the U. S. are concerned; and 7, the bill granting leave of ab- 
 sence to the employes of the Government Printing Office. The bill to grant leave 
 of absence to letter carriers, the bill to make effective the act prohibiting the im- 
 portation of Chinese laborers, the bill to prevent the unlawful occupancy of the 
 public domain, and various bills to forfeit vmearned land grants were reported 
 from other Committees of the Honse. 
 
 Of these measures the bill to establish a Ijureau of labor because a law, and is in 
 the words following : 
 
 Be it enacted by tlie Senate and IIcniRe of Eepresentatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled. That there shall be established in the Department 
 of the interior a Bureau of Labor, which shall be under the charge of a Commis- 
 sioner of Labor, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the consent 
 of the Senate. The Commissioner of Labor shall hold his office for four years, 
 and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed, 
 and shall receive a salary of tliree thousand dollars a year. The Commissioner 
 shall collect information upon the subject of labor, its relation to capital, the 
 hours of labor, and the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of 
 promoting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity. The Secre- 
 tary of the Interior, upon the recommeudation of said Commissioner, shall appoint 
 
 15
 
 326 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 a chief clerk, who shall receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum, ani 
 such other employees as may be necessary for the said Bureau : Provided, That 
 the total expense shall not exceed twentj'-five thousand dollars per annum. Dur- 
 ing the neccessary absence of the Commissioner, or when the otfice shall become 
 vacant, the chief clerk shall perform the duties of the Commissioner. The Com- 
 missioner shall annually make a report in writing to the Secretary of the Interior 
 of the information collected and collated by him, and containing such recom- 
 mendations as he may deem calculated to promote the efficiency of the Bureau. 
 Approved, June 27, 1884. 
 
 The bill to prohibit the importation of foreigners and aliens under contract to 
 perform labor in the United States, passed the House, June 19, 1884, by a vote of 
 102 to 17. The report accompanying the biil says 
 
 " The bill in no measure seeks to restrict free immigration. Such a proposition 
 woidd be, and justly so, odious to the American people. The foreigner who vol- 
 untarily and from choice leaves his native land and settles in this country with, 
 the intention of becoming an American citizen, a part of the American body poli- 
 tic, has always been welcome to our shores. As a recent writer well said — 
 
 Such an immigrant by his coming to this connf ry gives us a certain assurance as to his ability to 
 take care of himself, and to hold up the standard of social well being which he finds already 
 existing among our working classes. 
 
 Such an immigrant comes here because the institations of the country are in 
 consonance with his social and political ideas, and because of tlie advantages 
 and opportunities afforded by the extent of our domain audits material resources. 
 He comes to better his social and financial condition, to take advantage of the 
 facilities which he finds here; and as he come« ()f his own volition, by hisowu- 
 means, and Irom choice, he always exacts for his labor the highest rates which 
 the market affords. Xo one is injured by his coming, and as he generally makes 
 a good citizen, the State is benefited by the acquisition. These immigrants are 
 generally of a higher class socially, morally, and intellectually, and have aided 
 largely in the development of our industries and the material progress of our peo- 
 ple. *With this class of immigrants this bill has no concern. Its object is to re- 
 strict and prohibit the immigration or rather the importation of an 
 entirely different class of persons, the immigrant who does not come 
 by "his own initiative, but by that of the capitalist." It seeks to re- 
 strain and prohibit the immigration or importation of laborers wha 
 would have never seen our shores but for the inducements and allurements 
 of men whose only object is to obtain labor at the lowest possil)le rate, regardless 
 of the social and material well being of our own citizens and regardless of the 
 evil consequences which result to American laborers from such immigration. 
 This class of immigrants care nothing about our institutions, and in many in- 
 stances never even heard of them ; they are men whose passage is paid by the 
 importers ; tlioy come here under contract to labor lor a certain number of j'ears ; 
 they are ignorant of our social conditions, and that they may remain so they are 
 isolated and prevented from coming into contact with Americans. They are 
 generally from the lowest social stratum, and live upon the coarsest food and in 
 hovels of a character before unknown to American workmen. Being bound by 
 contract they are unable, even were they so disposed, to take advantage of the 
 facilities afforded by the country to which thej'- ha\ e been imported. Tliey, as a 
 rule, do not become citizens, and are certainly not a desirable acquisition to the 
 body politic. Wlien their term of contract servitude expires, their place is sup- 
 plied by fresh importations. The inevitable tendency of their presence amongst 
 us is to degrade American labor and reduce it to the level of the imported pauper 
 labor. 
 
 The demand for the enactment of some restrictive measure of this character 
 comes not alone from American workingmen, but also from employers of labor 
 in America. The employers of labor, who from inability ('r from patriotic mo- 
 tives, employ only American workingmen, are unable lo compete in the market 
 with the corporations who employ tlie cheap imported labor. 
 
 As an evidence of tlie truth of this proposition, the glass manufacturers of 
 Pittsburgli, including all the large employers of labor in that industry, in Janu- 
 ary. 18M(), denounced the action of the manufacturers west of Pittsburgh ia 
 importing Puropeau workmen in place of discharged American workmen.
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 227 
 
 This evil has become so extensive, alarming, and great, that the attention of 
 our foreign consuls has boon directed to it. 
 
 Henry Sterne, Esq., United States Consul at Buda-Pestb, Hungary, says • 
 
 There seemg to he an agency at work, which hy miereprcscntalions iuduceb people to k-avo iheir 
 homes who will not better thtir condition thereby, nor benefit the country which receives them. 
 People inquire by letter and in person at this consulate about this. agency of which they have htard 
 or read. Some even claim that this consulate has instructions from llie United States Goveniment 
 to assist people in itnniij,'ratin<r. I am under the inipression that the I'nited States Government 
 does not approve of immitrration brouj^ht about by such irregular means, and of the character de- 
 scribed, and, therefore, beg leave to suggest whether steps could or bhould not be taken to correct 
 the evil, if I may be permitted to term it such. Jhave liifcrmation that agents are managing tlu 
 business a good deal in the manner of the Coolie trade, and that tiikse immigkants ai:e 
 EHirpED TO THE VNiTED STATES AJjouT LIKE SO MAN'Y CATTLE. (.See State 1-H'partment Re])ort 
 1881-82.) 
 
 Count Esterbazy, an intelligent, cultivated Hungarian, at present Austrian 
 consul to this country, who has established a bureau lor tlio protection of Hun- 
 garian immigrants, says : 
 
 There is no doubt that a contract system is being carried on, and I believe it has reached larger 
 proportions than any one believes. Certain it is that great numbers of immigrants are landed on 
 these shores who are owned by capitalists. As far as I know, persons who have been so imported 
 are satisfied; but this fact does not apologize for the system. I have long endeavored to discover 
 who the parties are who obtain the immigrants on the other side, but have thus far been unsuc- 
 cessful. I certainly hope that Congress will pass some law to put a stop to such immigration. 
 
 Superintendent Jackson, of Castle Garden, says, speaking on this subject: 
 
 I have no doubt that this s,vstem is carried on to a great oxtont by corporations 
 in this couutry -svho have Iheir agents abroad. Every now and then large gangs 
 of laborers arrive, all bound for the same town. Thoy are generally taken 
 in charge by some person or persons who come here to meet them. Some few 
 weeks ago a party composed of about sixty Irish and German girls ar- 
 rived, all of whom were going to one of the large silk manufacturing establish- 
 ments in Kew Jersey. I do not know whether they had contracted with any per- 
 sons, but presume they bad done so. No one will undertake to send persons to 
 this country free of charge without some guarantee that certain services will be 
 performed iu lieu of the price of such passage. We have never received any 
 complaints from tiie persons who have been imported here, but nevertheless I have 
 no doubt that such a t^lavery system is being carried on. 
 
 Mr. Tuke, of the Tuke immigration committee of Great Britain, a short time ago 
 wrote a letter to the Loudon Times, and after referring to the immigrants whose 
 passage had been paid to America from the Tuke fund, said : " Many instances 
 are cited in which immigiants are returning their passage money." "Whether 
 they had done so because they had been transported under agreemont or contract to 
 perform labor here, and were to a certuinextentcompelled to return their passage 
 money, does not appear, but it is more than probable that such was the case. In 
 one year (1883) this Tuke immigration committee "assisted" or rather transported 
 3,000 persons to the United States. It is more than ciaestionabie whether these as- 
 sisted immigrants, even if they do not come under contract, are a desirable ac- 
 quisition to our population. This government is ccrtairly under no moral obli- 
 gations to care for and maintain the pauperized victimsof the misrule and tyranny 
 of foreign powers, whether brought here by contract or by the monopolies of 
 America, or assisted here by the governments whose policy reduced them to 
 pauperism. 
 
 Mr. John Swinton, of Kew York city, in a recent issue of his paper, states that 
 in the lower quarters of Kew York city there are quite a number of firms engaged 
 in trafficking in human flesh; they are, asaniie.engagedinthe "banking business," 
 but their ventures in the slave traflac are quite extensive. Going into one of these 
 establishments for the ostensible purpose of securing Italian laborers for an iron 
 company, the agent staled, in answer to an inquiry, that during the time they had 
 been iabusiness,/owr"^<v';i thousand Italians had been brought to thin omntry under 
 contract, nix thousand of whom had returned to Italy. It was further staled that 
 they had accents at Naples; that the Araericim companies paid tbo passage of 'he 
 men from Italy, and their fare from New York to destination, which amount, the
 
 228 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 imported Italian a^ees to pay back witli 6 per cent, interest. The men are 
 shipped from New York to destination by the carload, cars being chartered for 
 that puipose. The men receive from the American companies from $1 to $1.25 
 per day. Mr. Bwiuton also states that the Hudson River Iron and Ore Company 
 in Linlithgow, Columbia County, NevT^ York, had in June, 1883, a large number 
 of Hungarian laborers employed at one dollar per day; they were paid monthly, 
 fifteen days being invariably retained by the company. The men were huddled 
 together in shanties, and live mainly upon rye bread and potatoes. They had 
 been brought there under contract to fill the places of American workingmen to 
 glut the market and thus depresswages. 
 
 The testimony of those who have observed the habits of these men imported 
 under contract is uniform as to their habits. " In respect to economy and frugal- 
 ity they greatly resemble the Chinese. One of them will walk miles, if necessary, 
 to a butcher's shop and carry oflf thankfully the offal and refuse given them. The 
 women assist the men, and do fully as much work. Children of both sexes not 
 more than five years of age assist their mothers in loading the coke cars. Nearly 
 everything they eat is boiled in a pot brought from Hungary. As many as forty 
 are known to live in a single hut of two small rooms." 
 
 Free American workingmen, with American ideas, culture and intelligence, 
 cannot possibly compete with these people. The situation is essentially parallel 
 to that which induced Congress to prohibit the importation of the Chinese. 
 Italians and Hungarians are now brought to this country in precisely the same 
 manner that the importation of Chinese was begun seventeen years ago. The 
 Chinese were brought to California under contract and then hired out to the 
 Union Pacific, Central Pacific, and other railway companies. Italians have been 
 brought here in the same way to work for the Nickel Plate, Ohio River, and 
 other railway companies in the Eastern, Southern, and ^Middle States. If it 
 became necessary to protect the American workingmen of the Pacific slope from 
 the disastrous and debasing competition of Coolie labor, the same argument now 
 applies with equal force and pertinency to the importation of pauper labor from 
 Southern Europe. 
 
 The extracts from the able report of Mr. Foran which have been quoted show 
 clearly the gravity of the danger threatening American workingmen and the 
 imperative need of legislation for their protection. The following resolution 
 was adopted by the Window Glass Manufacturers' Association- held at West End 
 Hotel, Long Branch, July 11, 1883 : 
 
 On motion of Mr. Gorsuch it was resolved, by a vote of 13 to 8, that the 
 treasurer be authorized to pay a sum not exceeding thirty dollars per man for 
 each blower or gatherer brought over from Europe.after August 1, 1883, provided 
 the same be employed by some member of this association, and provided they are 
 not workmen who have been in this country within the twelve months last past. 
 
 Appended to the report is a summary of the testimony taken l)y the committee, 
 extracts from which are here given : 
 
 Mr. T. V. PowDERi.T, of Scranton. Pa., master workman of the Knichts of Labor of the United 
 States, rcpresentini; 500,000 workingmen who are interested in several bills which are before Con- 
 gress, testified as follows: 
 
 " I am interested in the eight hour law, the land bill, and bill on imported labor nnder contract 
 Introduced by Mr. Foran. These imported men show no disposition to become citizens of this 
 country, but, on the contrary, seek to obtaiii a certain sum of money, which they consider a com- 
 petence, and with it return to Italy or Hungary. I have seen eight of these people and one 
 woman living in a small house, without beds or furniture, sleejiing on the floor, and have been in- 
 formed by reliable authority that these nine persons' exi)en8es for one month was only $27. I have 
 eeen them in the Frostburg region of Maryland, where they had been brought by agents, who en- 
 gaged them at Castle Garden, living in a wooden building, sleejiing on bunks, this building l)eing 
 fenced in to prevent them being communicated with by the people whose places they had taken.
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 229 
 
 Tbc diet of these men vrae water and muSh, with a small quantity of meat on Sunday. These men 
 are brought into competition with skilled as well as unskilled labor, and it is fast becoming as bad 
 as the competition of the Chinese in the West. A demand is now going up for au amendmeuc of 
 the Chinese bill in such particulars as it has bocn shown deficient." 
 
 William Leach, of Malaga, N. J., of the W. G. W. A., said: 
 
 "I was at Malaga last year when certain Belgians were brought to that place. It was our duty 
 to find out from them if the situation of affairs at Malaga had been made known to them 
 before they came, or whether it had not been misrepresented to them. When we attempted to ob- 
 tain this information the company had thirty-five of us enjoined by the courts from interfering 
 with them. The window glass workers were ordered out of their homes in midwinter and com- 
 pelled to move. Laft spring we went to work, the Belgians in one factory and the citizens in 
 another. They have since left Malaga, the firm having changed managers." 
 
 EniLE BouiLLET, of Zancsville, Ohio, W. G. W. A, said : 
 
 " I was hired at Antwerp by an agent of Dean F. Williams, of Zanesville, Ohio, who came for a 
 set of men (sixty). When I went to see him I asked him why he came to Europe for men. He 
 replied ' that men were scarce and work plenty in the United States.' I told him we would expect 
 the same wages paid in the United States. He said ' they would pay the New York tariff.' When 
 we arrived at Zanesville we discovered that the New York tariil was 25 per cent, less than the reg- 
 ular price. I complained to the company of this misrepresentation and they answered that ' they 
 did not authorize the payment of more that what they were then paying.' At Kent the company 
 did not pay the price agreed upon. They brought them to Kent on a contract for three years. 
 The men were not permitted to associate with American workingmi-n lest they might find out the 
 true state of affairs. Two of these men were arrested and put in jail for some days for riolating 
 this contract. When we arrived, a friend of one of us was met by a man whom he knew in Europe. 
 As soon as they commenced to talk the manager ordered the arrest of the party. When we ar- 
 rived at Mansfield, Ohio, a member of the firm came into the car and inquired if any of n« could 
 speak English; I answered that 'my father and I could.' He then warned us not to talk to 
 the men." 
 
 Question by member of committee. What is the difference between the wages paid these 
 foreigners and Americans ? 
 
 Answer by John Schlicker. Between 28 and 50 per cent. 
 
 Question. Did any of these people show a disposition to become citizens f 
 
 Answer. I think not. 
 
 William F. Barclay, representing the miners of the coke region of Pennsylvania, said: 
 
 "We have a great many of these so called Hungarians. They are not Hungarians, but Sla- 
 vonians. They are not brought to our region on a written contract. There is an agency in Pitts- 
 burgh and in New York for the employment of these people, and to send them where they are 
 called for. We are against the importation of these people because their influence is degrading. 
 Firms employ these people in preference to Americans or other emigrants. They are easily im- 
 posed uptm, not 5 per cent, of them being able to read. They perform this soft coal mining very 
 well, as it requires little skill. They have usually about one woman to every ten men. Their 
 habits are disgusting in the extreme. I saw and counted one day thirty-five women and children, 
 employed forking coke and working about the ovens; the children poorly clad, of every age rang- 
 ing from five years upward. They do not work on Sunday. To illustrate how they live : A yard 
 boss, who went to get men to work, got thirty-seven men out of a house containing four small 
 rooms. They had no beds, but laid on the floor, heads and tails, I suppose. 
 
 "I never knew one of these men to stay in the countrj'. They spend comparatively nothing, 
 saving their money to return home; even when sick they go to the poorhouse, until at last the 
 authorities refused to longer entertain them while they had money. They will eat anj-thing. They 
 hang their meat out in the sun, that it may become soft and tainted. The business men of the 
 region are opposed to them. They get the same wages as the Americans, except when they work 
 by the day; then they arc paid 33 per cent, less, which is all they are worth. This importation has 
 reduced the price of mining, and makes it impossible for the men to do other than submit to what- 
 ever the operators demand or require of them, regardless of its justness. The condition of the 
 miners and cokcmakcrs generally is aggravated by the company stores which abound in the dis- 
 trict. I priced potatoes before I left, and could have bought them of an outside dealer for fifty 
 cents per bushel, while the price in the company stores is eighty cents per bushel. If the men do 
 not deal in the store they are discharged. 
 
 " I never met one of these Slavonians who could speak English. We tried to organize the men 
 to enforce the statutes of Pennsylvania, but it was a failure. The companies discharged the men 
 who were active in the matter. They were blacklisted and refused work throughout the region. 
 I was urged at another time to get up a strike by one of the operators so that the price of coko 
 BUgUt be raised.
 
 230 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 "The Hungarians are paid sixty cents per ton, but they are so igmorant that they do not know 
 what a ton is. The miners are wet, and these people work from 1 o'clock A.M. to 7 P.M. for a day. 
 Americans and more gkilled workmen could do the some amount of work iu eight hours, but all 
 have to wait on the wagons, the filling of which is delayed by these men, thereby putting the 
 skilled and the unskilled on an equality. We dare not lay our grievance before the coke manufac- 
 turers, for whoever does so will be immediately discharged. We are opposed to strikes, as they 
 are of no use, and could not succeed with us while these people are in this state of ignorance. 
 Our citizens and merchants are leaving the region. The conditions are becoming insufferable. 
 The works run from two to five days per week, and the wages paid about $1.25 per day, or gen- 
 erally eight tons at thirteen cents per ton. The coke manufacturers are now trying to form a 
 sjmdicate, that they may monopolize the coke business. There are some manufacturers who will 
 not employ these foreigners, one of whom lives in the region." 
 
 William Ashton, of Philadelphia, Pa., W. ft. W. A., said: 
 
 " My information is in regard to importation of foreigners to Baltimore, Md. These men were 
 brought under a contract; they were window glass blowers. The first importation took place in 
 1879; forty-eight w^ere then brouglit over by Swindell P.riis. The following year Baker Bros, im- 
 ported seventeen. King Eros, twenty-two, and Swindell Bros, twenty-three. The first importation 
 occurred during a strike; there was no strike when the second importation occurred. Some of 
 the foreigners refused to work and were arrested, but discharged before a hearing was had; their 
 clothing was retained by tlie firm and it was weeks before they could secure it. They were kept 
 locked in houses, when not working, and could not be seen by the Americans. Most of them have 
 since returned home, some being sent by the glassblowers' association, and some by the Belgian 
 consul, who complained bitterly of the treatment they received. The effect of their importation 
 was the reduction of wages about 12 per cent. An injunction was issued against the American 
 workmen from interfering with them and made perpetnul by Judge Brown, of Baltimore. Before 
 these men were imported wc had as good a set of American workmen as could be found anywhere. 
 The system in vogue in Europe and America differs materially. The Europeans work according to 
 old methods and processes; in fact, they bring their tools and moulds with them. The European 
 workman cannot turn out within 35 per cent, as much ware as the American workman, and as a 
 result do not or are not able to fulfill their contract, hence the employers are at liberty to pay 
 them what they please." 
 
 Val Haas, Baltimore, Md., W. G. W. A., said: 
 
 " The situation was misrepresented to them; some of them, when the exact situation was ex- 
 plained to them, quit. Two Germans who quit work were refused their clothes and were arrested. 
 I have been called up at night by these men to explain to them the trouble, as we could not get 
 near them or they near us, eo that an understanding might be had. They were under constant 
 police surveillance, and we were enjoined from interfering with them. These foreigners were 
 natives of France, Belgium and Germany; they were brought in three different parties. In 1879, 
 Baker Bros, brought forty-eight, and King & Bros, twenty-five. Baker Bros, brought a second lot 
 of twcniy-five, and King A Bros, and Swindell & Bros., twenty-three. Previous to this last im- 
 X)ortation there was no strike; some cf these men are here yet, others have gone away. The 
 effect has been a 12 per cent, reduction of wages." 
 
 Charles Lepfler, Baltimore, Md., W. G. W. A., said: 
 
 '• My statement is substantially the same as Mes.srs. Ashton and Haas. Mr. Swindell says he 
 does not want the foreigners anymore; they accomplished the object intended — the reduction 
 of wages." 
 
 J. Campbell, of Pittsburgh, Pa., said: 
 
 " We have no objection to these men coming here voluntarily, but wc object to them coming 
 under contract, and to reduce American wages." 
 
 John Schlicker, of Pittsburgh, Pa., W. G. W. A., said : 
 
 " The difference in working in the glass industry in this country and Europe consists in the fact 
 that there they have two factories and work eleven months a year. I have worked in glass works 
 for 30 years and have not averaged eight months per year in that time. The difference in wages is 
 not material, when nil things are considered, between this countrj' and Europe. At Kent, Ohio, 
 these imported men are working on Sunday.'" 
 
 Fred. Turner, of Philadelphia, Pa., secretary of Knights of Labor, said : 
 
 " It is the nnivcrsal sentiment that the bill of Mr. Foran should be passed. The importation of 
 foreign workmen is getting as bad as that i;f the Chinese. We have not the slightest objection to
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 231 
 
 their voluntary coming. The African slave was better off than are the:-o pt'ople under some of 
 these contracts. The slave had some one to look after his welfare; these people have not. We 
 present a petition to the committee containing 35,000 names of iicrsons who pray for relief by the 
 passage of a bill to remedy this matter." 
 
 Frask Pouter, of Cambridge, Mass., cotton mill, said : 
 
 " I voice the sentiment of New England and ask that Mr. Foran'a bill be passed. The manufac> 
 turers of Xew England have imported men, time after time, during strikes, from England, Ireland, 
 Scotland, and Canada, whether under contract or not we arc not able to prove, but we believe 
 they were imfwrted under contract. The Canadians, as a rule, do not become citizens, but returu 
 to Canada." 
 
 John S. McClelland, Hoboken, X. J., telegraph operator, said : 
 
 " I was one of the men who participated iu the late strike of telegraph Ojjerators. The telegraph 
 ■companies would have imported foreign telegraphers if they could have gotten them. They could 
 not get them from England as there they are iu Government service, and if they once leave, when 
 they return they are forced to begin at the bottom." 
 
 F. C. MoBGAN, of Washington, D. C, said : 
 
 " T saw an agent, when I was in Brazil, in 1879, trying to engage the natives of Brasil to come ta 
 the cotton fields of the United States. I do not know that he engaged any who went." 
 
 JooN CosTELLO again said that these imported workmen signed contracts, waiving the benefits 
 of the statutes of Pennsylvania, which were passed for the protection of workmen, and thereby iu 
 their ignorance injuring the workingmen and nullifying the salutary laws of Pemieylvania, which 
 were enacted to protect the workmen from the avarice of greedy manufacturers. 
 
 Copies of agreements with foreign ivorkmen, executed in Belgium. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 (Original in English.) 
 
 Agreement made by and between the firm of Day, Williams & Co., of Kent, Ohio, of the first part, 
 
 and each of the signers hereto of the second part, exactly as if a separate agreement were made 
 
 between said firm and each of said signers. 
 
 Each of the signers of the second part agrees and promises to work for the said first party at the 
 business of window glass making for the term of three (3) consecutive years beginning January 1, 
 18S0, and to faithfully perform his duties ; shall be paid the wages currently paid by the New York 
 State manufacturers. Said first party agrees that the wages of each flattener shall be not less than 
 at the rate of sixty (60) dollars per calendar month, and that the wages of each cutter shall be not 
 less than at the rate of fifty (50) dollars ptr calendar month for work actually performed, or during 
 the fire. It is agreed that said first party shall retain ten (10) per cent, of the wages of each and 
 every workman until the expiration of this contract, as a guaranty of its faithful performance ; 
 said ten (10) per cent, to be forfeited by each and every workman who shall fail to i)erfomi the 
 conditions of this contract. It is also agreed that said first party shall advance the passage money 
 of the party of the second part to Kent, Ohio, and that iu case any workman shall fail to perform 
 the conditions of thi.s contract, he shall repay to said first party the amount of said passage money. 
 It is also agreed that said first party shall have the right to discharge any workman who shall 
 neglect his work through drunkenness or idleness, or who shall attempt to create dissatisfaction 
 among the workmen. The said Day, Williams & Co., its successors and assigns, however con- 
 £titnted, shall always be taken as the party of the first part. 
 
 Signed by said first party by its firm name and by eacli of the signers of the second party by his 
 own name, as of this second day of December, 1879. It is agreed that the flatteners shall receive 
 J30 (thirty dollars) per month for all work done other than flattening. 
 
 DAY, WILLIAMS & CO. 
 HENKY PIERRE. 
 ADOLPH BRESSON. 
 AUGWST COENEN.
 
 232 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 (Original in German.) 
 
 Agreement between the firm of Swindell Bros, of the first part, and John Schmidt, gatherer, and 
 Carl Wagner, blower, of the second part. 
 
 The undersigned, of the second part, covenants and agrees with the party of the first part that 
 they will for two consecative years, be£;inning January 1st, 18S'2, work and duly perform such 
 duties as instructed by the party of the first part, or his superintendents. The party of the first 
 part covenants and agrees to pay the undersigned, who may duly perform their duties, the i)rice 
 generally paid by Baltimore manufacturers for the size of IC by 24 inches, and all sheets shall be 
 estimated at 8 sheet of 36 by 54 in. for 100 square feet. The party of the fir.st part covenants and 
 agrees that the wages of each glass blower shall be an average of 880 per calendar month, on con- 
 dition that he makes 180 boxes of 100 square feet per calendar month. 
 
 The gatherer shall receive Co per cent, of the sum paid the blower for wages per calendar month 
 for actual work pcrfonned during the fire. It is agreed that the party of the first part shall retain 
 10 per cent, of the wages of each and every workman until the expiration of this contract as a 
 guarantee of the faithful performance of the provisions of this contract. The aforesaid 10 per 
 cent, shall be forfeited by each and every workman who shall fail to comply with the provisions of 
 this contract. 
 
 It is further agreed that the party of the first part shall advance the passage money of the par- 
 ties of the second part. 
 
 It is further agreed that the party of the first part have the right to discharge any of the work- 
 men for drunkenness, or neglect of duty, or for disturbing the peace, or creating dissatisfaction 
 among them, or for joining any association of American workmen. 
 
 The said Swindell Bros., their hc-irs and assigns, shall be considered the parties of the first part, 
 and they agree to pay each blower $12 per week and the gatherer $9 per week, on condition that 
 each perform his work faithfully at every blowing. The parties of the first part agrees to make 
 monthly settlements with the parties of the second part, after the advances for passage, &c., shall 
 have been repaid. Provided you faithfully perform your work for the term of contract (two 
 year«\ we will pay back the passage money from Europe to America. 
 
 Antwerp, Dec. 15, 1882. 
 
 SWINDELL BROS, 
 YOHONX SCHMIDT, 
 
 Gatherer. 
 
 CARL WAGENER, 
 
 Blower. 
 
 Notwithstanding the admitted necessity for the speedy passage of this bill the 
 Senate failed to take action on it. 
 
 The hill relative to the Eight-hour act was amended and passed by the House. 
 The Senate took no action. The other measures arc on the calendar for consid- 
 eration next session. At no session of Congress has so much attention been 
 paid to measures for the benefit and protection of the wage worker of the 
 country. 
 
 In contrast with the zeal of the Democratic House on Labor questions is the 
 neglect and indifference of the Republican Senate ; the failure of the 47th Con- 
 gress to take action on laljor measures; the utter disregard by the administration 
 to enforce the plain mandates of the Eight-hour law; the failure to stop the im- 
 portation of contract labor, and the opposition to the Chinese bill. The feeling 
 of that party was shown by the act approved July 4, 1864, for which it is pre- 
 sumed Mr. Blaine voted, as there as there is no vote recorded against it. Con- 
 cerning this act Mr. O'Neill, of Missouri, said, .June 19, 1884: 
 
 " I wish now to refer to one of the curiosities of American legislation which 
 has attracted my attention. In an act entitled "An act to encourage immigra- 
 tion," approved July 4, 1864, I find the following provisions: 
 
 Be it enacted, dtc, That the President of the United States is hereby author- 
 ized, by and Avith the advice and the consent of the Senate, to appoint a commis-
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 233 
 
 sioner of immigration, who shall be subject to the direction of the Department 
 of State, &c. 
 
 The remainder of that section relates only to clerks, salaries, and tenure of 
 office, but the second section is very interesting: 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That all contracts that shall be made by emi- 
 grants to the United States in foreign countries, in conformity to regulations that 
 may be established by the said commissioner whereby emigrants shall pledge the 
 wages of their labor for a term not exceeding twelve months, to repay- the ex- 
 penses of their emigration, shall l)e held to be valid in law, and may be enforced 
 in the courts of the United States or of the several States and Territories ; and such 
 advances, if so stipulated in the contract, and the contract be recorded in the Re- 
 corder's oflice in the county where the emigrant shall settle, shall operate as a 
 lien upon any land thereafter acquired, until liquidated by the emigrant, whether 
 under the homestead law when the title is consummated, or on property otherwise 
 acquired by the emigrant; but nothing herein contained shall be deemed to au- 
 thorize any contract contravening the Constitution of the United ltat«s, or cre- 
 ating in any way the relation of slavery or servitude. 
 
 Why insert the words " creating in any way the relation of slavery or servi- 
 tude " but for the reason that they well knew that it was a death blow aimed at 
 American workmen at the instance of wealthy capitalists whose only excuse was 
 their greed ? 
 
 At a time when the Republican party was in full control of all branches of the 
 Government it became a law, and is a pioneer work in encouraging the introduc- 
 tion of alien imported labor, to destroy American labor. And yet at the national 
 convention recently held at Chicago they incorporated in their platform a 
 provision condemning the importation of aliens under contract to perform labor 
 in the United States. How consistent ! 
 
 A Member. What is the date of that act ? 
 
 Mu. O'Xeill, of Missouri. Julj' 4, 1804 ; and I believe it remained a law for 
 many years, though an appropriation could never be obtained to carry it into 
 effect. 
 
 Now, the 4th of July was a patriotic day to plant in the statute books of 
 this country the most infamous law that could be framed, and which meant no 
 more than servitude, which meant to create a lien ou everything that an unfor- 
 tunate immigrant could acquire after he came here in response to their desire for 
 cheap labor. I think it proi5«r to refer to that, when I see this canting, hypocritical 
 party now masquerading before the country as having been always the friend of 
 labor ! Heaven save workingmen from such friends, which even at this session, 
 in the branch of legislation that they control, have emascrulated the labor bureau 
 bill demanded by every labor organization of the country. 
 
 What a contrast is presented in the present Democratic House, creating for the 
 first time in Congress a distinct committee on labor, a majority of which com- 
 mittee I am proud to say are men who worked at the bench as mechanics, and 
 who know from experience exactly what the workingmen of this country desire, 
 and who have favorably reported back every measure demanded by the labor 
 interests. They are not demagogues, as gentlemen on the other side would seen 
 to intimate, and they tell you here to-day. sir, that while the constitutional 
 lawyers in this House may find flaws in this bill the principle is right, and that it 
 is exactly what the mechanics of this country ask for at your hands.
 
 234 PROTECnON OF LABOR. 
 
 THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 Party lines were not strictly adhered to iu the consideration of the Chinese 
 ■bill, but the record of the debates and votes in both the Senate and House shows 
 the Democratic party is eiatitled to the chief credit for the earnest stand it made 
 against the degradation of American labor and the impending danger to Ameri- 
 can society and theories of government. 
 
 The Republican sentimentalism upon this serious question, which should be 
 considered from the standpoint of practical statesmanship, was expressed by 
 Senator Hoar in his speech iu the Senate March 1st, 1882. 
 
 He said : 
 
 "Mr. President: A hundre<l years ago the American people founded a 
 nation upon tlie moral law. They overthrew by force the authoritj- of their 
 sovereign, and separated themselves from the country which had planted 
 them, alleging as their justification to mankind certain propositions which 
 they held to be self evident. 
 
 "They declared — and that declaration is the one foremost action of human 
 history — that all men equally derive from their Creator the right to the pur- 
 suit of happiness; that equality in the light to that pursuit is the fundamen- 
 tal rule of the Divine justice in its application to mankind; that its security 
 is the end for which governments are formed, and its destruction good cause 
 why governments should be overthrown. 
 
 "The insertion of the phrase 'the pursuit of happiness,' in the enumera- 
 tion of the natural rights for securing 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 Ms welfare may 
 require is beyond the rightful control of government. It is a birthright de- 
 rived 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 before 
 appointed and the bounds of their habitation.' 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 bonds 
 of their habitation." 
 
 The Democratic doctrine was well expressed in the House on the 22d of 
 March, by Mr. Tucker, of Virginia, who said : 
 
 "It is said by gentlemen here, and I heard the honorable gentleman from 
 Iowa [Mr. Kasson] this morning say, that this bill was contrary to the great 
 principles of American policy ; which is, to let everybody come at his pleasure 
 to this ' land of the free and this home of the brave,' to this asylum for the op- 
 pressed and the downtrodden everywhere. 
 
 " Mr. Speaker, I have a proper sympathy with these sentiments, and while ac- 
 cording mucli to them in our general policy, and giving large privilege to im- 
 migrants from other lands, yet when the right to come is claimed for them I pro- 
 test against it as no part of our policy. I do not so read the Constitution of my 
 country. Look at its preamble : 
 
 We thepeople of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, in- 
 sure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and 
 secure the blessinjjs of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish the Consti^ 
 tution for the United States of America. 
 
 "The men who formed that Constitution formed it for the people of the United 
 States ; for the i)eople of the several States who were unite<l by the former ar- 
 ticles of confederation, but who were to be continued in unity under this Con- 
 stitutioa.
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 235 
 
 *' GeDtlemen quote Scripture for their purpose : 
 
 Cod hath made of one — 
 
 '•That ia the new translation contained in the Revision which was admitted free of duty the 
 -other day, and therefore I may so quote it as by authority of Congress — 
 
 " God hath made of one all the nations of men to dwell upon the face of the earth — 
 
 "Very ■well, that is all true ; but gentlemen forget to quote the remainder of 
 the passage — 
 
 having determined their appointed seasons and the bounds of their habitation. 
 
 " What are these determined bounds? Asia for the Mongolian and Semetic races; Africa for 
 the sons of Ham; Europe for the Caucasians and America, thank God, for the great Caucasian 
 family of nations. [Applause.] 
 
 **♦♦**•♦♦«♦ 
 
 "I hold that American statesmen to be the best humanitarian who ia a legistor for oar own 
 •country, who attends to the business and looks to the interests of our own people, and who 
 strives for the preseri'ation of the liberty and happiness and prosperity of the citizens of this 
 great Union of States. [Applause.] 
 
 *********** 
 
 " And yet what is the doctrine we hear advo<Jated on this floor ? It is that the Chinaman is the 
 cheaper laborer, and therefore he should be allowed to come into this country and compete with 
 our laborers. And gentlemen who hold to the doctrine (and I desire to call attention to this) that 
 we ought to have a tariff high enotigh to protect the American laborer against the pauper laborer 
 of Europe are instant in season and out of season in advocacy of a policy which would Import 
 millions of the poor laborers of China against whom our laborers at home must run the gauntlet 
 of a destructive competition. 
 
 ****** ***** 
 
 " With your leave, Mr. Speaker, I will present one other point and then close. This is a graver 
 question than one merely of trade. It is a question of the i)ermauence, the peaceful and loving 
 permanence of the American Union. The States on the Pacific Coast, separated from us by the 
 ^ocky Mountains, are open to Asiatic immigration ; we on the Atlantic Coast are open to Euro- 
 pean immigration. Now, if these two tides of immigration are allowed to come in to an unlimited 
 extent the effect will be that while we on the Atlantic Seaboard will be Caucasian in our civiliza- 
 tion the Pacific States will Ix-come Asiatic, and how can a union continue between States on the 
 Pacific dominated by Asiatic ideas and States on the Atlantic dominated by the free principles of 
 the Caucasian family ?" [Applause.] 
 
 Senator Maxey, of Texas, stated the case in the Senate en the 3d of March, as 
 follows : 
 
 " Mr. President, I desire to place on record in a very few words the reasons which will control 
 me ill supporting the measure now before the Senate. I beg to say that in that vote I am not con- 
 trolkd or influenced by any ecstatic sentimentality or sublimated philanthropy which would cause 
 me to welcome into this country consecrated to liberty regulated by law, and to Christian civiliza- 
 tion, all the people of all climes and colors and of all nationalities, including Chinese, and without 
 regard to their adaptal)ility to our institutions and form of Government. My views have never 
 extended that far, but rather I believed that — 
 
 If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, ho hath denied the 
 faith, and is worse than an infidel. 
 
 " 'I love my own country better than any other country, and my own race better than any other 
 race,' was the sentiment uttered by Mr. Clay, and it expresses precisely the views I entertain, I 
 welcome cordially the Englishman, the Scotchman, the Irishman, the Frenchman, the German, and 
 men of my own race and color wheresoever dispersed around the globe. They come among us to 
 enjoy the blessings of free government, and soon become part of us. They make valuable addi- 
 tions to the body politic, but I trust that the refuse and dregs of the countless hordes of China 
 will never find a welcome here." 
 
 The Democratic doctrine upon this subject was further expressed by Senator 
 Test of Missouri, who said upon this floor of the Senate, April 27th, as follows; 
 
 " WTien the junior Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. Hoar,] for whose learning and eloquence 
 I have the greatest respect, (and I read his speech last night, for I was detained from the Senate 
 at the time it was delivered; I read it with great pleasure and great attention,) declares that thia 
 <ountry is to become the great mis"'onary station of the world, that the Declaration of Indepeod*
 
 236 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 ence meant that our institutions were made not for Americans aod for their descendants, but for the 
 whole world to come here and take possession of this continent, bought with our blood and our 
 treasure and that of our fathers, I denj' the doctrine, aesthetical as it may be, and ranch as it appeals 
 to the feeling of missionary Christianity among our people. 
 
 " Sir, this is a question of practical statesmanship. I am first for my own people against the 
 •world. I am first for the American system, which protects the labor and the interest of the Ameri- 
 can people before all others. 
 
 " What is this Chinese immigration ? Are they citizens of the United States? Do they come 
 ^ere to meet the reciprocal obligation between our people and the Government to which they owe 
 allegiance ? I understand the doctrine of government is that government protects the citizen in 
 life, liberty and property, and the citizen assumes the responsibilities and duties of allegiance to 
 the government and a part in the government of the country itself. The greatest responsibility 
 and the greatest duly of any dweller in these United States is his share in the Government and the 
 legislation of this great country. Do the Chinese come here to share in these responsibilities ? 
 They are parasites, like those insects which fasten themselves upon vegetables or upon animals 
 and feed and feed until satiety causes them to release their hold. They come to this country not 
 to partake in the responsibilities of citizenship; they come here with no love for our institutions; 
 they do not hold intercourse with the people of the United States except for gain; they do not 
 homologate in any degree with them. On the contrary, they are parasites when they come, para- 
 sites while they are here, and parasites when they go. 
 
 " Not in the learned and eloquent speech of the junior Senator from Massachusetts does he meet 
 the proposition as I have put it. Nowhere in this whole debate in either House of Congress has 
 the evidence been brought that the Chinese come here for any other purpose but to fatten upon the 
 people of the Unittd States and carry their plunder back with them. They are not of us; they 
 are not with us. They cannot be made American citizens by any process known to our laws or 
 even to the laws of God himself. I'hey are made for a different destiny. They are crystallized in 
 their habits, and their opinions. 
 
 ********** ** 
 
 ■' Mr. President, for myself, when my people of the Pacific States, blood of my blood and bone 
 of my bone, call to me, 'Deliver us from the body of this death, deliver us from this incubus and 
 these fungi which are fastened upon us,' I shall not be deaf to the appeal. As Prentiss, of Missis- 
 sippi, said once, ' I am first for my own hearth, then for my country, then my State, then for the 
 Union, and then for the world.' Sir, in the concentric circles of the human heart comes at last the 
 formation of a great Government and a great State. Take away the individuality, the home feel- 
 ing, the home love of a man, and what is he ? I oppose woman suffrage because it brings down the 
 deity of home, woman, as wife and mother. I oppose it because it destroys all that is conservative 
 and sacred in society. 
 
 " For the same reason, among others, I oppose Chinese immigration. They have no homes with 
 ns; they come here to carry back §45,000,000 annually from the people of California, and leave be- 
 hind them only the memory of their vile habits and their most infamous doctrines. 
 
 " To the thrifty German, the generous and gallant Celt, the hardy Scandinavian, to all who come 
 to share the responsibilities and work out the problem of our civilization and destiny, to all who 
 seek home and shelter in our vast domain, fling wide the portals; but to the people that come not 
 for homes or shelter but only for gain, who have no share in our destiny, no love for our institu- 
 tions, no reverence for our religion, we have the right to say, and do say, 'You have no lot or part in 
 this great matter.' 
 
 In a speech in the Senate, April 25th, Senator ]\I organ (Democrat) said : 
 
 "There is no mere sentimentality on our sida of this question. We are driven by facts which 
 we cannot resist or avoid, to the conclusion that it has became a solemn necessity on our part to 
 protect the Caucasian race on this continent against the intrusion of the Oriental people. We 
 make no war against a man because he is black or white, or red, or yellow; because he speaks one 
 dialect or another. Ours is the expression of a firm and solid conviction that the Government of 
 the United States under its peculiar organism is designed for a higher class of intelligence and vir- 
 tue than that which belongs to the people who are migrating to this country from Asia in such, 
 swarms. We believe in the sanctity of the patrimony handed down to us by our fathers. We be- 
 lieve in its value morally, socially, and materially. We believe that it is our right and privilege, ia 
 competition with the great race to which we belong, to move this continent and this hemisphere to 
 the front of the advanced march r.f civilization in such manner as to add to the glorious renown 
 which this people have already won in the history of mankind, and we do not wish nor do we pro- 
 pose to be obstructed in this career by the iutrotluction of a class of men who have no claim upoit 
 OS except upou some vagary of diseased and mawkish seasibility."
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 237 
 
 A more practical view was taken by the Democratic side. ilr. Flower (Dem.), 
 of New York, pointed out the effect upon the laboring classes in the following 
 language : 
 
 "When I hear Republicans who will go to the polls sbonting protection to American indnstries; 
 when I hear the men who boast of their kind patronage and fatherly protection to American labor; 
 when I hear these men protest against a bill looking to the expulsion of pauper labor from our 
 midst; when I hear them sound the trumpet of the coolie system mid the principle of freedom 
 tosether; when I see them attempting to deprive the Ameriran laborer of his employment by 
 introducing a class of ' helots ' ; w hen I see them trying f<> drive our native born and adopted citi- 
 zens from their vocations Ijy the aid of mcrcenarict!; when I sec them advocating protection and 
 at the same time importing labor machines free of duty, I can neither doubt Hheir inconsistency 
 nor trust their disinterestedness. 
 
 " The strongest instinct of the human race is self preservation. The nest, love of offspring. 
 When you ask men to cut off the comforts of their homes, to decrease the advantages their children 
 enjoy, to go out and work in competition with a pauper or a slave, to welcome to their land of 
 comfort and civilization a heathen coming to reduce them to bis level, when you ask this in ttie 
 name of liberty and equal rights you profane their names. 
 
 "Liberty and equal lights are liberty and equal rights of men, not of slaves, not of cooliee. 
 The freedom of an eating, drinking, opium smoking, working automaton is not the freedom which 
 our citizens enjoy. The rights of a well-worked machine tro not their rights ; they have higher 
 rights and broader liberties, and they use them. They have the chance of education and of pro- 
 motion ; they have the liberty of self protection against injustice. Ask them to weigh these 
 rights, these liberties, these advantages against the hypocritical sentiment which would leave their 
 lives one bitter, ceaseless struggle with starvation, and I am confident the veil will be torn from 
 the idol, and the philantrophic schemer, unmasked, will stand out in his true colors. My vote 
 shall go toward closing the gap between capital and labor on the American continent. The gap 
 has become too broad already. I am in favor of any measure that will ameliorate and elevate 
 labor, and I shall vote for this bill on that principle." 
 
 Mr. Curtin (Dem.), of Pennsylvania, also presented the Democratic view of the 
 question from the standpoint of practical statesmanship, lie said, in a speech 
 delivered in the House, March 23, 1883 : 
 
 "Disguise it as you will, conceal or cover it with the humanitarian principles underlying our 
 structure of government, summon from the history of the past, as has been done on this floor dar- 
 ing the long debate, tile sublime utterances of the Continental Congress through the Declaration of 
 Independence, what is the question we are to meet on our votes on this measure ? It is sentiment 
 and only sentiment ; and it fades before the wonderful growth and changing interests of the 
 country, its progress, its wealth, its great future, and the true logic of the necessities of the con- 
 dition of our people and government now present, as did the silver tones of the great bell when 
 thefathersof the Eepublic sealed their immortal fame in the declaration, and rung out the pro- 
 clamation of liberty and equality to nil humanity. And here we are in the presence of the ques- 
 tion which, I repeat, is the protection of American labor. Do we prefer t« have 100,000 Chinamen 
 take the place of 100,000 American laborers, part and parcel of the body politic, owing allegiance 
 to our Government, with the right of the ballot, insuring for their children our free education, and 
 with American hopes and aspirations ?" 
 
 " I say to my friends on the other side if you are in favor of protecting labor 
 you now have the opportunity. 
 
 " It is said on this Hoor, and it is a gentimcnt which can bear repetition, that we opened the por- 
 tals of our Government and invited the oppressed people of all the world to come here in i)eaceful 
 approch and enjoy our true civil and religions liberty and the dead level of American social organ- 
 ization ; and yet who would for a moment believe in that liberal declaration which is claimed in 
 its behalf in this discuc3ion. 
 
 " We would not suffer paupers or criminals or diseased people to come here to spread contagion 
 or disturb us by crime in order to make this continent a great reformatory asylum, which it would 
 become if the declarations of gentlemen on this floor were carried to their full and logical conclu- 
 sions. Wemight reform such people and cure their diseases, but they might infuse their virus 
 into the health and morality of the American peoi)le. 
 
 " I have said, Mr. Speaker, *hat it is a common and favorite topic, liow- er sincere, to speak of 
 labor, and very much has been said of its power and its demands for ju^^t protection by and 
 through the Government. This Government should give protection to the laboring classes in any
 
 238 
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 enactment of this Congress. The object of previous legislation has generally been the protection 
 of capital, and the protection of their interests the incident. Sir, we have given away empires to 
 corporations. We raise subsidies. "We extend the credit of our Government to assist centralized 
 and incorporated capital, and we protect the products of our own ingenuity and industry by im- 
 posing duties on foreign competition when we raise revenue. Of that I do not complain, be- 
 cause I know capital offers enterprises in which labor will find emplojTnent and pay. And, eir, 
 if the centralization of power and of capital, which I must not think that American citizens 
 look upon with satisfaction for the future of this country, and if we do not direct the legislation 
 made to the protection of all classes engaged in and necessary to develop our resources in which, 
 capital is invited to active employment, we fail in our duty. 
 
 '•Now, sir, it is not likely to occur, but it is possible to bring 50,000 Chinamen from California 
 and settle them down in Massachusetts, at Lowell or Lynn or Fall River or other enterprising 
 towns, where thoy are as busy as bees in their productive industries, and thus displace 50,000 
 Massachusetts workmen and laborer. I apprehend the enlightened workmen who now make 
 the flourishing cities I have mentioned so prosperous and j-ield such plentiful returns to 
 the capital invested in their manufacturing establishments, I apprehend, sir, that strikes 
 might be expected, and John Chinaman would not fare better, or as well, in the land and 
 under the protection of the steady habits and exalted political ideas of the Puritan; and the 
 violent denunciation of the enlightened Yankee orator wotild dwarf into harmless, inane 
 prattle, the crude oratory of the shambles and the sand lots of California. [Laughter and loud 
 applause.] Then, sir, they would scarcely entertain the sympathy that now goes out with such 
 generosity, and in the expression of which their me'^bcrs on this floor are so eloquent, toned 
 and beautified by the perfection of their language. 
 
 " If, then, the introduction of forty or fifty thousand Chinamen would interfere with the rights 
 or the interests or happiness or ability to work in New England, where so much of their prosperity 
 depends on labor, we have the right, nay, it is our dut}', when the people of a great State, one of 
 the great sovereignties which make up our Gouvcmment, a^k for relief, to grant it if in our 
 power. If New England could not tolerate such an invasion, and the Chinamen in thousands 
 should be carried to the South by capital, seeking cheap labor ; or if he should go there to a 
 climate adopted to his nature and work and production, in harmony with his life and teachings, 
 what would become of the colored man, and what of the poor white man of that section ? Who 
 would inflict such a grievous wrong on the black man, the ward of the nation, and take from him 
 the interests, the teachings, and sympathy of tlie white man, his real friend ? Such a calamity is 
 not to be for a moment contemplated to the colored man of this nation. 
 
 " I will most heartily give my vote for this bill ; and accepting the principle as admitted by all 
 the gentlemen who have discussed this question that we have the right to put a limitation on the 
 immigration of the Chinese people under the treaty with that nation, a question I need not now 
 discuss, I will vote for twenty years' suspension of immigration because, first, we assert the right ; 
 we believe the representations made by all the people of the Pacific coast to be true, and they are 
 our own people, and as they are our best judges of the limitations as to time, I yield any judgment 
 I might have to the better judgment of those who should understand this question. When we 
 concede to their judgment we give it force and effect by our legislation in this Congress. [Great 
 applause.]" 
 
 VOTE IX THE HOUSE. 
 
 The original bill suspending the immigration of Chinese laborers for a period 
 of 20 years passed the House March 23 by the following vote. 
 
 The question was taken ; and there were — yeas 1G7, naysCG ; as follows ; 
 
 YEAS— 167. 
 
 * Aiken, 
 
 ♦Aldrich, 
 
 ♦Armfleld, 
 
 ♦Atkins, 
 
 Bayne, 
 
 Belford, 
 
 ♦Belmont, 
 
 ♦Berry, 
 
 Bingham, 
 
 ♦Blackburn, 
 
 ♦Blanchard, 
 
 ♦Bli.ss, 
 
 ♦Blount, 
 
 Brewer, 
 
 BllUMM, 
 
 ♦Buckner, 
 BUKKOWK, .Tn 
 
 ♦Davis, Lowndes II. 
 
 l)e Motte, 
 
 *Deu8ter, 
 
 Dezendorf, 
 
 *Dibble, 
 
 *DibrelI, 
 
 *Dowd, 
 
 *l)ugro, 
 
 "'Ermentrout, 
 
 Errett, 
 
 Farwell, Chas. B. 
 
 j'inley. 
 
 Fowler, 
 Ford, 
 ♦Forney, 
 
 Fulkereon, CReadj.) 
 ♦Garrison, 
 
 *IIntchins, 
 
 Jones, Georok W 
 
 'Jones, James K. 
 
 Jorgensen, 
 
 *Keiina, 
 
 ♦King, 
 
 *Klotz, 
 
 *Knott. 
 
 Ladd, 
 
 ♦Leedom, 
 
 Lewis, 
 
 Marsh, 
 
 *Martin, 
 
 ♦Malsoii, 
 
 McClure, 
 
 McCook, 
 
 •McKenxie, 
 
 *Rosecrans, 
 
 Scranton. 
 
 Shalleiibergcr, 
 
 Sherwiii, 
 
 *Simonton, 
 
 -Siufjleton, Otho R. 
 
 Smitli, A. Ilerr, 
 
 Smith, Dietricli, C. 
 
 Smith, J. llyi.tt (Ind.) 
 
 •■Sparks, 
 
 Spaulding, 
 
 *Speer, 
 
 "Springer, 
 
 ■ Stockslager, 
 
 Strait, 
 
 *Talbott, 
 
 Thomas,
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 38» 
 
 Butterworth, 
 
 ♦Cabell, 
 
 ♦Caldwell, 
 
 Calkins, 
 
 Campbell, 
 
 Cannon, 
 
 ♦Cassidy, 
 
 Caswell, 
 
 ♦Chalmers, 
 
 ♦Chapman, 
 
 ♦Clark, 
 
 ♦Clements, 
 
 ♦Cobb, 
 
 ♦Converse, 
 
 ♦Cook. 
 
 Cornell, 
 
 ♦Cox, Samuel S. 
 
 ♦Cox, William K 
 
 ♦Covington, 
 
 ♦Cravens, 
 
 ♦Culbertson, 
 
 ♦Curtin, 
 
 Darrell, 
 
 ♦Davidson, 
 
 Davis, George R. 
 
 Anderson, 
 
 Barr, 
 
 ♦Bragg, 
 
 Briggs, 
 
 Browne, 
 
 Buck, 
 
 Camp, 
 
 Chandler, 
 
 Carpenter, 
 
 Chace, 
 
 Crapo, 
 
 Cullen, 
 
 Dawes, 
 
 Deering, 
 
 Dingley, 
 
 Dimnell, 
 
 Dwight, 
 
 ♦Geddes, 
 
 George, 
 
 ♦Gibson, 
 
 Guenther, 
 
 ♦Gunter, 
 
 ♦Hammond, 
 
 ♦Hardy, 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 ♦Harris, Henry S. 
 
 Hazei.tine, 
 
 ♦Hatch, 
 
 Hazleton, 
 
 Heilman, 
 
 ♦Herndon, 
 
 ♦Hewitt, Abram'S. 
 
 Hill. 
 
 Hi^'coc■k, 
 
 ♦Hoblitzell, 
 
 ♦Hoee, 
 
 ♦Holman, 
 
 Horr, 
 
 Houk, 
 
 ♦House, 
 
 Hubbell, 
 
 Hubbs, 
 
 McKinley, 
 
 ♦McLane, 
 
 ♦McMillin, 
 
 Miller, 
 
 ♦Mills, 
 
 ♦.Money, 
 
 Morey, 
 
 ♦Moulton, 
 
 MUKCH. 
 
 ♦Miitchier, 
 
 O'Neill. 
 
 Pacheco, 
 
 Page, 
 
 Paul, fReadj.) 
 
 Paj'son. 
 
 Peelle, ' 
 
 ♦Phelps, 
 
 ♦Phister, 
 
 Pound, 
 
 ♦Randall, 
 
 ♦Reagan, 
 
 Rice, Thkron M. 
 
 ♦Richardson, Jno. S. 
 
 ♦Robertson, 
 
 ♦Robinson, Wm. E. 
 
 NATS— C6. 
 
 Farwell, Sewell S. 
 
 Grout, 
 
 Hall, 
 
 Hammond. John, 
 
 ♦llardenbereh, 
 
 Harris, Benj. W. 
 
 Haskell, 
 
 Hawk, 
 
 Hi'tulerson, 
 
 Hepburn, 
 
 ♦Hooker, 
 
 Humphrey, 
 
 Jacobs, 
 
 Jones, Phineas, 
 
 Joyce, 
 
 Kasson, 
 
 Keicham, 
 
 Lord, 
 
 McCoid, 
 
 ♦Morse, 
 
 Norcross, 
 
 Orth, 
 
 Parker, 
 
 Ranney, 
 
 Reed, 
 
 Rice, John B. 
 
 Rice, NVilliam W 
 
 Rich, 
 
 Richardson, D. P. 
 
 Ritchie, 
 
 Robinson, Geo. D. 
 
 Russell, 
 
 Ryan, 
 
 Shulcz, 
 
 ♦Thompson, P. R 
 
 ♦Tillman, 
 
 Townsend. Amos, 
 
 ♦Townsend, R. W. 
 
 ♦Tucker, 
 
 ♦Turner, Henry G. 
 
 ♦Turner, Oscar, 
 
 lj)degraph, J. T. 
 
 ♦I'pson. 
 
 Valentine, 
 
 ♦Vance. 
 
 Van Horn, 
 
 ♦Warner, 
 
 Washburn, 
 
 Webber, 
 
 ♦Wellborn, 
 
 ♦Wliitthome, 
 
 ♦Williams, Thomas, 
 
 ♦Willis, 
 
 Willits. 
 
 ♦Wilson, 
 
 ♦Wise, George D. 
 
 ♦Wise, Morgan D. 
 
 Wood, Waller A. 
 
 Skinner, 
 
 Spooncr, 
 
 Stone, 
 
 Taylor, 
 
 Thompson, Wm. G. 
 
 Tyler, 
 
 I'pdegraff, Thomas, 
 
 LTruer, 
 
 Wadsworth, 
 
 Wait, 
 
 Walker, 
 
 Ward, 
 
 Watson, 
 
 White, 
 
 Williams, Chas. G. 
 
 The second bill, prepared after the President's veto, suspended the coming of 
 Chinese laborers for 10 years. It passed the House April 17 by the following 
 vote « 
 
 YEAS— 261. 
 
 ♦Aiken, 
 
 Aldrich, 
 
 Anderson, 
 
 ♦Armfleld, 
 
 ♦Atkins, 
 
 Bayne, 
 
 ♦Beach, 
 
 Belford. 
 
 ♦Berrj', 
 
 Bingham, 
 
 ♦Blackburn, 
 
 ♦Blanchard, 
 
 ♦Bland, 
 
 ♦Blount, 
 
 ♦Buchanan, 
 
 ♦Buckner, 
 
 Burrows, Julius C. 
 
 Bunitows, Jos. H. 
 
 Butterworth, 
 
 ♦Cabell, 
 
 ♦Caldwell, 
 
 Calkins, 
 
 Camp, 
 
 Campbell, 
 
 Cannon, 
 ♦Carlisle, 
 ♦Cassidy, 
 
 Caswell, 
 
 Chace, 
 ♦Chalmers, 
 ♦Chai)raan, 
 ♦Clardy, 
 
 ♦Dibble, 
 
 ♦Dibrell, 
 
 *Dowd, 
 
 Duiiuell, 
 
 ♦Ernientront, 
 
 Errett, 
 
 ♦Evins, 
 
 Farwell, Chas. B. 
 
 ♦Finley, 
 
 Fisher, 
 
 *Flower, 
 
 Ford, 
 
 ♦Forney, 
 
 Fulkcrson, (Readj.) 
 
 ♦Geddes, 
 
 George, 
 
 *Gibson, 
 
 Guenther, 
 
 ♦Gunter, 
 
 -♦Hammond, N. J. 
 
 ♦Hardy, 
 
 Harmer, 
 *Hurris, Henry S. 
 
 Haseltine, 
 
 Haskell, 
 ♦Hatch, 
 
 Hawk, 
 
 Hazelton, 
 
 Heilman, 
 ♦Hirbort, 
 ♦Hiriulon, 
 ♦Hewitt, Abrani S. 
 
 ♦Kenna, 
 
 Ketcham, 
 
 ♦Klotz, 
 
 ♦Knott, 
 
 Lacey, 
 
 Lahd, 
 
 ♦Latham, 
 
 ♦Leedoni, 
 
 ♦Le Fevre, 
 
 Lewis, 
 
 Lord, 
 
 ♦Manning, 
 
 Marsh, 
 
 Mason, 
 
 ♦Malson, 
 
 McClure, 
 
 McCook, 
 
 *3lcKenzie, 
 
 McKinley, 
 
 ♦McLane, 
 
 Miles, 
 
 Miller, 
 ♦Money, 
 
 Morey, 
 ♦Moi-rison, 
 
 MOSGKOVE, 
 
 ♦Moulton, 
 ♦Muldrow, 
 
 Mi'itcu, 
 
 Neal, 
 '■Nolan, 
 
 Gates, 
 
 ♦Robinson, Wm. E. 
 
 ♦Rosecrans, 
 
 ♦Ross, 
 
 Russell, 
 
 Ryan. 
 
 Stranton, 
 
 ♦Shackelford, 
 
 Shallenberger, 
 
 ♦Shelley, 
 
 Sherwin, 
 
 ♦Simonton, 
 
 ♦.Singleton, Otho R. 
 
 Smith, A. Hen- 
 
 Smith, Dietrich C. 
 
 Smith, J. Hyatt (Ind.) 
 
 ♦Sparks. 
 
 Spaiilding, 
 
 ♦bpoer, 
 
 Spooner. 
 
 ♦Springer, 
 
 Steele, 
 
 Strait, 
 ♦Talbott, 
 ♦Tilman, 
 
 Townsend, A mos 
 ♦Townshend, R. W. 
 ♦Turner, Henry G. 
 ♦Turner, Oscar 
 
 Tvler. 
 
 ITpdegrall, J. T. 
 ♦I'pson, 
 
 Vrner,
 
 240 
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 ►Clark, 
 
 *Hewitt, G. W. 
 
 O'Neill, 
 
 
 Valentine, 
 
 ►Olemenle, 
 
 Hill, 
 
 Pacheco, 
 
 
 ♦Vance. 
 
 ►Cobb, 
 
 Hiscock, 
 
 Page, 
 
 
 Van Horn, 
 
 *Colerick, 
 
 ♦Hoblitzell, 
 
 Paul. (Readj.) 
 
 Wait, 
 
 ►Converse, 
 
 *HoKe. 
 
 Pavson, 
 
 
 ♦Warner, 
 
 ►Cook, 
 
 ♦Holman, 
 
 Peelle, 
 
 
 Webber, 
 
 ►Cox, Samuel S. 
 
 Horr. 
 
 Peirce, 
 
 
 ♦Wellborn, 
 
 ►Covington, 
 
 Houk, 
 
 ♦Phelps, 
 
 
 West, 
 
 ►Cravens, 
 
 ♦House, 
 
 Pound, 
 
 
 ♦Wheeler, 
 
 ^Culberson, 
 
 Hubbs, 
 
 Prescott, 
 
 
 White, 
 
 Cullen, 
 
 ♦Hutching, 
 
 ♦Randall, 
 
 
 ♦Whitthorne, 
 
 *Curtin, 
 
 Jacobs, 
 
 ♦Reagan, 
 
 
 ♦^\'illiams, Thomas 
 
 Darrcll, 
 
 Jadwin 
 
 Reed, 
 
 
 ♦Willis. 
 
 ♦Davidson, 
 
 Jokes, George \V 
 
 Rice, Tueron M. 
 
 Willits, 
 
 Uavis, George R. 
 
 *Jones, James K. 
 
 Rich, 
 
 
 ♦Wise, George D. 
 
 ♦Davis, Lowndes H. 
 
 Jones, Phineas 
 
 ♦Robertson 
 
 
 ♦Wise, Morgan R. 
 
 De Motte, 
 
 Jorc;enseu, 
 
 Robeson, 
 
 
 
 ►Deuster, 
 
 Kasson, 
 
 Robinson, 
 
 Geo. D. 
 
 
 Dezendorf, 
 
 Kelly 
 
 Robinson, 
 NAYS-37. 
 
 James S. 
 
 
 Bowman, 
 
 Farwell, Sewell S. 
 
 Norcross, 
 
 
 Stone, 
 
 ►Bragg, 
 
 Grout, 
 
 Orth, 
 
 
 Thompson, Wm. G. 
 
 Briggs, 
 Buck, 
 
 Hall, 
 
 Parker, 
 
 
 Van Aernam. 
 
 Hammond, John 
 
 Ranney, 
 
 
 Van Voorhis, 
 
 Carpenter, 
 
 *Hardenbergh, 
 
 Rav, 
 
 
 Wadsworth, 
 
 Crapo, 
 
 Humphrey, 
 
 Rico , John B. 
 
 Ward, 
 
 Dawes, 
 
 Jovce, 
 
 Rice, William W. 
 
 Williams, Chae. G. 
 
 Deering, 
 
 McCoid, 
 
 Ritchie, 
 
 
 
 Dinglev, 
 Dwight, 
 
 Moore, 
 
 Shultz, 
 
 
 
 ♦Morse, 
 
 Skinner, 
 
 
 
 The first bili, suspending Chinese immigration for twenty years, passed the 
 Senate March 9th, as follows: 
 
 'Bavard, 
 ►Beck, 
 ►Call, 
 
 Cameron of Wis. 
 •■Cockrell, 
 ►Coke, 
 ►Fair, 
 ►Farley, 
 
 Aldrich, 
 Allison, 
 Blair, 
 ►Brown, 
 
 ♦Garland, 
 ♦George, 
 ♦Gorman, 
 
 Hale, 
 *narris, 
 
 Hill of Coloraib 
 ♦Jackson, 
 ♦Jonas, 
 
 r Conger, 
 ♦Davis of Illinois 
 
 Dawes, 
 
 Edmunds, 
 
 YEAS— 29. 
 
 Jones of Nevada, 
 Miller of Cal., 
 Miller of N. Y., 
 
 ♦Morgan, 
 
 ♦Pugh, 
 
 ♦Ransom, 
 Sawver, 
 
 ♦Slater, 
 
 NEAS— 15. 
 
 Frye. 
 Hoar, 
 Ingalls. 
 Lapham, 
 
 Teller, 
 ♦Vance, 
 ♦Vest, 
 ♦Voorhees, 
 •Walker. 
 
 McDii;. 
 McMillan, 
 
 Morrill. 
 
 The second bill, suspending it for ten years, passed the Senate April 28th, aa 
 follows: 
 
 YEAS— 32. 
 
 *Beck, 
 
 
 ♦Farley, 
 
 ♦Johnston, 
 
 ♦Pugh, 
 
 ♦Butler, 
 
 
 ♦GarlaiKl, 
 
 ♦Jonas, 
 
 Saunders, 
 
 ♦Call, 
 
 
 ♦George, 
 
 Jones of Nevada, 
 
 ♦Slater, 
 
 Cameron 
 
 of M'iB., 
 
 ♦G rover, 
 
 ♦Maxev, 
 
 ♦Vance, 
 
 Chilcott, 
 
 
 Hale, 
 
 Miller of Cal., 
 
 Van Wvck, 
 
 ►Coke, 
 
 
 ♦Hampton, 
 
 Miller of N. Y^ 
 
 ♦Vest. ■ 
 
 •Davis of Illinois, 
 
 ♦Harris, 
 
 ♦Morgan, 
 
 ♦Walker, 
 
 ►Fair, 
 
 
 Hill of Colorado, 
 
 ♦Pendleton . 
 NAYS— 15. 
 
 ♦Williams, 
 
 Allison, 
 
 
 Edmunds, 
 
 Hoar, 
 
 Morrill, 
 
 Blair, 
 
 
 Frye, 
 
 Ingalls, 
 
 Piatt, 
 
 Conger, 
 
 
 Harrison, 
 
 Lapham, 
 
 Sherman. 
 
 Dawes, 
 
 
 McMillan. 
 
 McMillan, 
 
 
 During the present Congress, on the 3d of May, 1884, the House having undei 
 consideration a bill to amend the law of March 6th, 1H82, Mr. Lamb (Dem'^ -rat), 
 of Indiana, said: 
 
 There is a record, Mr. Chairman, upon this question, not only of individuals, but a record of 
 parties as Well. Much has been said about the Democratic party being a party of free trade, as 
 was said so forcibly by my colleague from Indiana a while ago. I am proud to say that no single 
 Democrat upon this floor has lifted his voice to-day in behalf of the pauper labor of China and
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 241 
 
 against the interests of the free labor of America. I am glad that the opposition comes from that 
 side of the House which pretends always to protect the interests of the American laborer. And 
 may I not be pardoned for asking the gentlemen who for the past two weeks have with loud voices 
 and unmeasured tones denounced my side of the Chamber because of their wishing, as they iillegc, 
 to break down American labor to the depths of degradation of the pauper labor of Europe— I say 
 may I not be pardoned if I ask them whether they are in earnest, or whether it is not their en- 
 deavor to protect capital alone ?*»*••* When this legislation was before Congress 
 two years ago — and I have the record here before me— sisty-six Republicans, sixty-six members of 
 the other side of the House who stand here i)retending to protect American labor, voted against 
 that bilL When the bill to limit immigration for ten years was before the House, thirty-seven 
 members of the House voted against that bill, and of that number thirty-four were Republicans, 
 and but thijce Democrats. Upon this proi)08ition, then, as to whether my party is in favor of free 
 trade, in favor of i)lacing the labor of America upon a level with the pauiHT labor of Europe, I am 
 willing to be judged by the record. 
 
 The vote on this bill was as follows: 
 
 YEA.s— lai. 
 
 Aiken, 
 
 Ale.xaiider. 
 
 Atkinson, 
 
 Bagley, 
 
 Barksdale, 
 
 Bayne, 
 
 Beach, 
 
 Blanchard, 
 
 Bland, 
 
 CiUcheon, 
 
 Dargan, 
 
 JDavU, G. B. 
 
 Deuster, 
 
 Dibble, 
 
 Dibrell, 
 
 Dockery, 
 
 Dowd, 
 
 Dunham, 
 
 Diiiin, 
 
 Eaton, 
 
 Elliott, 
 
 Ellwood, 
 
 Ennentrout, 
 
 Evin^. J. H. 
 
 Ferrell, 
 
 Fiedler, 
 
 Kiiierty, 
 
 Follett, 
 
 Foran, 
 
 Forney, 
 
 Fyan, 
 
 Garrison, 
 
 George, 
 
 Gibson, 
 
 (ilascock, 
 
 Ooff, 
 
 Grives, 
 
 Green, 
 
 Grieiiloaf, 
 
 Gueniher, 
 
 Halsell. 
 
 Miininioiid, 
 
 Hancock. 
 
 Hardeman, 
 
 Hatch, W. H. 
 
 Henderson, !>.]'.. 
 
 Adams, G. E. 
 Brewer, F. B. 
 Brow'.e. T. it. 
 Everhart, 
 
 Boyle, 
 
 Brainerd. 
 
 Breckinridse, 
 
 Brown, W. ]f. 
 
 Brumm, 
 
 Buchunan, 
 
 Buckner, 
 
 Budd, 
 
 Biirnes, . 
 
 Henly, 
 
 Hepburn, 
 
 Herbert, 
 
 Hewitt, G. W. 
 
 Hill, 
 
 Iliscoclc, 
 
 Holman, 
 
 Holmes, 
 
 Hopkins, 
 
 Hon; 
 
 Honk, 
 
 Houseman, 
 
 Hurd, 
 
 Jfffords, 
 
 Jones, B. W. 
 
 Jones, J. H. 
 
 King, 
 
 Lacey, 
 
 Lamb, 
 
 Lanham, 
 
 Lawrence, 
 
 LeFevre, 
 
 Lewis, 
 
 Lovering, 
 
 Lovvry, 
 
 McAdoo, 
 
 McCoid, 
 
 Mc Comas, 
 
 Mc Cormivk, 
 
 McKinley, 
 
 McMillin, 
 
 Matson, 
 
 Mavbury, 
 
 iVIiller, J. F. 
 
 MUler. S. H. 
 
 MWikin, 
 
 Mitchell, 
 
 Henderson, T. J. 
 
 lIilL 
 
 Kean, 
 
 Lyman. 
 
 Caldwell. 
 
 Campbell, J. M. 
 
 Canaler, 
 
 Carleton, 
 
 Cassidy, 
 
 Clardy, 
 
 Clay, 
 
 Clements, 
 
 Cobb, 
 
 Money, 
 
 Morgan, 
 
 Morrison, 
 
 Murphy, 
 
 Murray, 
 
 Neece, 
 
 Nutting, 
 
 Gates, 
 
 O'Neill, J. J. 
 
 Paige, 
 
 Patton, 
 
 Pierce, 
 
 Peel, S. W. 
 
 Peele. S. J. 
 
 Feitibone, 
 
 Post, 
 
 Pryor, 
 
 Pusev, 
 
 Itandall, 
 
 Rankin, 
 
 Reese, 
 
 Robertson, 
 
 Jiobinson, J. S. 
 
 Rogers, J. H. 
 
 Rogers, W. F. 
 
 Rosecrans, 
 
 Bowfll, 
 
 Scales, 
 
 iSeney, 
 
 Seymour, 
 
 Shaw, 
 
 Shelley, 
 
 Singleton, 
 
 Skinner, T. G. 
 
 Slocum, 
 
 Smith, 
 
 Springer, 
 
 XAYS— 13. 
 
 PHce, 
 Bice, 
 
 Skinner, C. B. 
 Smalls, 
 
 Collins, 
 
 Connolly, 
 
 Con verse, 
 
 Cook, 
 
 Cosgrove, 
 
 Cox, S. S. 
 
 Crisp, 
 
 Culberson, D. B.. 
 
 CuUm, 
 
 Steele, 
 
 Stephenson. 
 
 Stewart, Charles 
 
 S;<>ck»lager, 
 
 Strait 
 
 Struble, 
 
 Sumner. C. A. 
 
 Sumner. D. H. 
 
 Taylor, J. M. 
 
 Throckmorton, 
 
 Tillman, 
 
 Tully, 
 
 Turner, H. J. 
 
 Turner, Oscar 
 
 A'an Alstyne, 
 
 Vance. 
 
 Van Eaton, 
 
 ^yakeneld, 
 
 Ward, 
 
 Warner, Richard 
 
 Weaver, 
 
 Wellborn, 
 
 Weller, 
 
 Wemple, 
 
 VThite, Milo 
 
 ^\Mting, 
 
 MMIkius, 
 
 Williams, 
 
 Willis, 
 
 Wilson, James 
 
 AVilson, W. L. 
 
 Winans. E. B. 
 
 Winans, John 
 
 AVise. G. D. 
 
 Wolford, 
 
 Wortlnugton, 
 
 Yaple. 
 
 Spooner. 
 
 The bill was ordered by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House, by a 
 farty vote, to be reported favorably, and tlie Record shows that every voice raised 
 against the bill and every vote cast against it was Republican. Its fate m the 
 Senate was exceedingly dubious until the necessities of the campaign rendered 
 its passage absolutely cssuutial. 
 
 16
 
 243 PROTECTION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY. 
 
 Protection of Personal Liberty." 
 
 Republican Tendencies. 
 
 A political party whose tendencies are toward centralization and imperialism in 
 affairs of state and officiousness in the private business itffairs of the people, 
 naturally seeks to regulate their morals by sumptuary legislation instead of leaving- 
 them where they properly belong, to social and religious influences. They seem 
 to forget that church and state have been permanently'divorced, for their obnoxious 
 Icnslation is based upon the ancient theory of government. They not only attempt, 
 through State laws, to regulate the appetites and tastes of the people, but even 
 invoke the strong arm of the feder.l government for similar purposes. 
 
 In illustration of this tendency we refer to a few recent attempts. 
 
 In January, 1876, a bill to provide a commission on the subject of alcoholic 
 liquor traffic was passed in the Senate by a vote of — yeas, 37 Republicans and 1 
 Democrat ; nays, 20 Democrats. Mr. Logan voted aye. 
 
 In January, 1878, Mr. Blair (Republican) offered a constitutional amendment 
 forbidding the manufacture, sale or importation of alcoholic liquors in the United 
 
 States. 
 
 In March, 1879, a bill to appoint a commission of five persons to investigate the 
 alcoholic liquor-traffic, principally in its relations to revenue, and also as to taxa- 
 tion and its general economic and scientific aspects in connection with the public 
 health and general welfare of the people, was passed in the Senate by a vote of — 
 ayes, 28 Republicans and 1 Democrat ; noes, 19 Democrats. 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1882, Mr. Joyce (Republican) moved in the House of 
 Representatives that the rules be suspended, and the following bill be taken up out 
 of order and passed : 
 
 Mr. Joyce's Bill. 
 
 Be it enacted, etc.. That there shall be appointed by the President, by and with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate, a commission of five persons, not all of whom shall be 
 advocates of prohibitory liquor laws, and neither of whom shall V)e the holder of any 
 office of profit or trust in the General Government or any State government. The said 
 commissioners shall \yt selected solely with reference to personal fitness and capacity for 
 an honest, impartial, and thorough investigation, and shall hold office until their duties 
 shall be accomplished, but not to exceed two years. It shall be their duty to investigate 
 the alcoholic, fermented, and vinous liquor traffic and mannfacture with reference to 
 revenue and taxation, and the effect of each class of such liquors in their economic, 
 criminal, moral, and scientific aspects in connection with pauperism, crime, social vice, 
 the public health, and general welfare of the people ; and also to inquire into the prac- 
 tical results of taxation and license, and of restrictive legislation for the prevention of 
 intemperance in the several States, Territories, and District of Columbia.
 
 PROTECTION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY. 
 
 243 
 
 Sec. 2. That the said commissioners shall further ascertain, as near as may be, the 
 number of gallons of wine, beer, or distilled liquors annually consumed in dificrent 
 countries, more especially within the United States ; the number of deaths annually 
 from alcoholism, the number and character of crimes resulting from the use of alcoholic 
 and malt liquors ; and the diseases produced by the use thereof, mental as well as 
 
 Ehysical ; the numlxjr of arrests for drunkenness; the amount of pauperism produced 
 y the use of such liquors ; the amount of revenue received by the Government from 
 the liquor traffic and li(iuor makin;^ ; the amount of tax or revenue received from such 
 manufacturing and Iraflic by State and municipal governments ; the amount of food 
 transformed into alcohol ; the probable retail cost of alcoholic and malt li<iuors con- 
 sumed ; the cost of caring for the insane, idiotic, criminals, and paupers made such by 
 the use of alcoholic and malt liquors ; the capital employed in the manufacture of such 
 liquors and in the traffic thereof; the quantity of such liquors imported and exported ; 
 the number of persons employed in the manufacture and sale of such liquors. 
 
 Skc. 3. That the said commissioners shall serve without salary, but are hereby 
 authorized to employ a secretary at a reasonable compensation, not to exceed $2,500 per 
 annum, which, with the necessary expenses, incidental to such investigation, of the secre- 
 tary and commissioners, shall be paid, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
 appropriated, upon vouchers signed by the president and countersigned by the secretary, 
 and approved by the Secretary ot the Treasury ; and the sum of S 10,000, or as much 
 thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to pay such vouchers. 
 
 Sec. 4. That said commissioners shall, as soon after their appointment as is con- 
 venient, meet and organize by the election of one of their number as president of such 
 board, and they shall also elect a secretary, as hereinbefore provided, who shall take the 
 usual oath of otifice, and give a bond to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United 
 States in the penal sum of $3,000 for the faithful performance of the duties of his 
 office, which bond and the sureties thereon shall be approved by such Secretary of the 
 Treasury. 
 
 Sec. 5. That it shall be the further duty of said commissioners to report the result 
 of their investigations and the expenses attending the same to the President, to be by him 
 transmitted to Congress. 
 
 The question was taken and there were— yeas 112, and nays 98, as follows : 
 
 .YEAS— 112. 
 
 Bayne, 
 
 Belford, 
 
 •Beltzhoover, 
 
 Bowman, 
 
 Briggs, 
 
 Browne, 
 
 Buck, 
 
 Burrows, Julius C. 
 
 Camp, 
 
 Candler, 
 
 Cannon, 
 
 Carpenter, 
 
 Caswell, 
 
 Chace, 
 
 Crapo, 
 
 *Culberson, 
 
 Cullen, 
 
 Dawes, 
 
 Deering, 
 
 De Motte, 
 
 Dingley, 
 
 Dunnell, 
 
 Farwell, Sewell S. 
 
 Fisher, 
 
 Ford, 
 
 George, 
 
 Godshalk, 
 
 Grout, 
 
 Hammond, John, 
 
 PIaseltixe, 
 
 Haskell, 
 
 Hawk, 
 
 Hazelton, 
 
 Heilman, 
 
 Henderson, 
 
 Hepburn, 
 
 Hiscock, 
 
 Horr, 
 
 Houk, 
 
 Hubbell, 
 
 Hubbs, 
 
 Humphrey, 
 
 Jacobs, 
 
 Jadwin, 
 
 *Jones, James K. 
 
 Jones, Phineas, 
 
 Jorgenson, 
 
 Joyce, 
 
 Kelley, 
 
 Lacey, 
 
 Ladd, 
 
 Lindsey, 
 
 Lord, 
 
 Marsh, 
 
 McClure, 
 
 McKinley, 
 
 Miller, 
 
 Moore, 
 
 Xeal, 
 
 O'Neil, 
 
 Orth, 
 
 Pacheco, 
 
 Page, 
 
 Parker, 
 
 Payson, 
 
 Peele, 
 
 Pierce, 
 
 Pettibone, 
 
 Pound, 
 
 Ranney, 
 
 Ray, 
 
 Reed, 
 
 Rice, William W. 
 
 Rich, 
 
 Richardson, D. P. 
 
 Ritchie, 
 
 Robeson, 
 
 Robinson, James S. 
 
 Russell, 
 
 Ryan, 
 
 Scranton, 
 
 Shallenberger, 
 
 Sherwin, 
 
 Shultz, 
 
 *Simonton, 
 
 Skinner, 
 
 Smith, A. Herr, 
 
 Smith, Dietrich C. 
 
 Smith, J. Hyatt, Ind. 
 
 Spaukling, 
 
 Spooner, 
 
 Steele, 
 
 Strait, 
 
 Taylor, 
 
 Thompson, Wm. G, 
 
 Tyler, 
 
 Updegraff, J. T. 
 
 Urner, 
 
 Valentine, 
 
 *Vance, 
 
 Van Aernam, 
 
 Van \'oorhis, 
 
 \\'adsworth. 
 
 Wait, 
 
 Ward, 
 
 Washburn, 
 
 Watson, 
 
 Webber, 
 
 West, 
 
 Williams, Chas. G. 
 
 WiUits, 
 
 Wood, Walter A.
 
 244 
 
 PROTECTION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY. 
 
 NATS — 98. 
 
 *Aiken, 
 
 *Arnifield, 
 
 •Atherton, 
 
 *Atkins, 
 
 *Barbour, 
 
 *Belmont, 
 
 *Berrv, 
 
 ♦Black, 
 
 •Blackburn, 
 
 *Blanchard, 
 
 •Bland, 
 
 •Blount, 
 
 •Brai,rg, 
 
 •Buchanan, 
 
 •Buckner, 
 
 •Caldwell, 
 
 •Carlisle, 
 
 •Cassidy, 
 
 •Chapman, 
 
 •Clardy, 
 
 •Clark, 
 
 •Clements, 
 
 •Cobb, 
 
 •Colerick, 
 
 •Converse, 
 
 •Cook, 
 
 •Cravens, 
 
 Davis, George R. 
 
 •Davis, Lowndes H. 
 
 •Duester, 
 
 •Dibble, 
 
 •Dibrell, 
 
 •Dowd, 
 
 •Ermentrout, 
 
 •Evins, 
 
 •Finley, 
 
 •Forney, 
 
 Fulkerson, (Readj.) 
 
 •Geddes, 
 
 •Gibson, 
 
 •Guenther, 
 
 •Hammond, N.J. 
 
 •Hardenberg, 
 
 •Hatch, 
 
 •Herbert, 
 
 •Herndon, 
 
 •Hewitt, Abram S. 
 
 •Hewitt, G. W. 
 
 •Hoblitzell, 
 
 ♦Hoge, 
 
 •Holman, 
 
 •House, 
 
 Jones George W. 
 
 •Kenna, 
 
 •Klotz, 
 
 •Knott, 
 
 •Latham, 
 
 •Le Fevre, 
 
 •Manning, 
 
 •Martin, 
 
 •Matson, 
 
 •McKenzie, 
 
 *McLane, 
 
 •McMiUin, 
 
 •Mills, 
 
 •Money, 
 
 •Morrison, 
 
 •Muldrow, 
 
 •Gates, 
 
 •Phelps, 
 
 •Phister, 
 
 •Reagan, 
 
 •Richardson, Jno. S. 
 
 •Robinson, Wm. E. 
 
 •Rosecrans, 
 
 •Scales, 
 
 •Shelley, 
 
 •Singleton, Jas. W. 
 
 •Smgleton, Otho R. 
 
 •Sparks, 
 
 •Speer, 
 
 •Springer, 
 
 •Stockslager, 
 
 •Thompson, P. B. 
 
 •Tillman, 
 
 •Tucker, 
 
 •Turner, Henry G. 
 
 •Turner, Oscar, 
 
 •Upson, 
 
 •Warner, 
 
 •Wellborn, 
 
 •Wlieeler, 
 
 •Whitthorne, 
 
 •Williams, Thomas, 
 
 •Willis, 
 
 •Wilson, 
 
 •Wise, George D. 
 
 Young. 
 
 Of which 105 Republicans voted in the affirmative, and 94 Democrats in the 
 negative. 
 
 The Iowa Liquor Law. 
 
 The tendency of sumptuary legislation is toward officiousness and tyranny, as 
 may be seen from a perusal of the new liquor law of Iowa : 
 
 A bill for an act to amend chapter 6, title ii of the Code, relating to intoxicating liquors, 
 and to provide additional penalties for violations of the provisions of said chapter, and 
 the amendments thereto. 
 
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa : 
 
 Section i. That section 1525 of the Code be and the same is hereby repealed, and 
 the following enacted in lieu thereof: 
 
 Sec. 1525. Every person who shall manufacture any intoxicating liquors, as in this 
 chapter prohibited, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon his first convic- 
 tion for said offense, shall pay a fine of two hundred dollars and costs of prosecution or 
 be imprisoned in the county jail not to exceed six months ; and on his second, and every 
 subsequent conviction for said offense, he shall pay a fine of not less than five hundred 
 dollars nor more than one thousand dollars and costs of prosecution, and be imprisoned 
 in the county jail one year. 
 
 Sec. 2. That section 1526 of the Code of 1873 be, and is hereby re-enacted and 
 amended by inserting the word "to," and before the words "buy and sell intoxicating 
 liquors," the words "manufacture or." 
 
 Sec. 3. That section 1527 of the Code be, and the same is hereby amended by 
 inserting after the words "desires to," and before the words "sell said liquors," in the 
 third line of said section the words "manufacture or." 
 
 Sec. 4. That section 1528 of the Code be, and the same is hereby amended by 
 adding thereto the words : provided, that in case of a permit to manufacture intoxicating 
 liquors, the penalty of the bond shall be five thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 5. That section 1531 of the Code be, and the same is hereby amended, by insert- 
 ing in the second line thereof, after the words "may lie," the words " manufactured 
 or." 
 
 Sec. 6. That section 1535 of the Code be, and the same is hereby amended, by insert- 
 ing after the words "record of," in the fourth line, the words " manufacture or." 
 
 Sec. 7. That section 1537 of the Code be, and the same is hereby amended by add- 
 ing thereto the words " and the provisions of this section shall apply to persons holding 
 a permit to manufacture intoxicating liquors, so far as the same relates to the report ;
 
 PROTECTION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY. 245 
 
 and any such manufacture shall, within the time specified for parties holding a permit to 
 sell, also report the quantity and kind of liquors by him manufactured since the date of 
 his last report, and also the quantity and kinds of liquors sold by him, and for what pur- 
 pose, and to whom sold." 
 
 Sec. 8. That section 1558 of the Code be and the same is hereby repealed, and the 
 following enacted in lieu thereoP: 
 
 Sec. 1538. Any person having such permit who shall sell intoxicating liquors at a 
 greater profit than is herein allowed, shall be liable to treble damages, to be recovered by 
 civil action in tavor of the party injured ; and any person holding a permit, either to 
 manufacture or sell, who shall fail to make monthly returns as herein ref[uired, or within 
 fifteen days thereafter, or who shall make a false return shall forfeit for each oft'ensc the 
 sum of $100, to be recovered in the name of the State of Iowa, upon the relation of any 
 citizen of the county by civil action on his bond with costs, and one-half of the sum 
 recovered shall go to the informer, and one-half shall go to the shool fund of the county. 
 
 Sec. 9. That section 1539 of the Code te, and is hereby amended by adding thereto 
 the following, to wit : One-half of the amount so recovered shall go to the informer, and 
 the other half shall go to the school fund of the county. 
 
 Sec 10. That section 1540 of the Code be repealed, and the following enacted in lieu 
 thereof : 
 
 "Sec. 1540. If any person not holding such a permit, by himself, his clerk, servant, 
 or agent, shall for himself, or any person else, directly or indirectly, or on any pretense, 
 or by any device, sell, or in consideration of the purchase of any other property, give to 
 any person any intoxicating liquors, he shall, for the first offense, be deemed guilty of a 
 misdemeanor, and on conviction for said first offense shall pay a fine of not less than $50 
 or more than $100 and costs of prosecution, and stand committed to the county jail until 
 such fine and costs are paid; for the second and every subsequent offense he shall pay, on 
 conviction thereof, a fine of not less than S300 nor more than S500, and costs of prosecution, 
 and be imprisoned in the county jail not to exceed six months. All clerks, servants and 
 agents of whatever kind, engaged or employed in the manufacture, sale, or keeping for 
 sale in violation of this chapter, of any intoxicating liquor, shall be charged and con- 
 victed in the same manner as principals may be, and shall be subject to the penalties 
 herein provided. Indictments and informations for violations under this section may 
 allege any number of violations of its provisions by the same party, but the various alle- 
 gations must be contained in separate counts, and the person so charged may be convicted 
 and punished for each of the violations so alleged as on separate indictments or informa- 
 tions, but a separate judgment must be entered on each count on which a verdict of 
 guilty is rendered. The second and subsequent convictions mentioned in this section 
 shall be construed to mean convictions on separate indictments or informations. And in 
 default of the payment of the fines and costs provided for the first conviction under this 
 section, the person so convicted shall not be entitled to the benefit of chapter 47, title 25 
 of this Code, until he shall have been imprisoned 60 days." 
 
 Sec. II. That section 1542 of the Code be repealed and the following enacted in lieu 
 thereof : 
 
 Sec. 1542. No person shall own, or keep, or be in any way concerned, engaged or 
 employed in owning or keeping any intoxicating liquors with intent to sell the same 
 within this State, or to permit the same to be sold therein in violation of the provisions 
 hereof, and any person who shall so own or keep, or be concerned, engaged, or employed 
 in owning or keeping such liquors with any such intent, shall be deemed, for tlie first 
 offense, guilty of a misdemeanor ; and on conviction for said first offense shall pay a fine 
 of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars and costs of prosecution, and 
 shall stand committed to the county jail until such fine an<l costs are paid, and in default 
 of such fine and costs, he shall not be entitled to the benefits of chapter forty -seven, title 
 twenty-five of the code, until he shall have beerr imprisoned sixty days ; for the second 
 and every subsequent offense he shall pay a fine of not less than three hundred dollars 
 nor more than five hundred, or be imprisoned in the county jail not more than six 
 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. And upon 
 trial of every indictment or information of violations of the provisions of this section, proof 
 of the finding of the liquor named in the indictment or in the information, in the posses- 
 sion of the accused in any place except his private dwelling-house, or its dependencies, 
 or in such dwelling-house or dependencies, if the same is a tavern, public eating house, 
 grocery, or other place of public resort, or in unusual quantities in the private dwelling- 
 house or its dependencies of any person keeping a tavern, public eating house, grocery, 
 or other place of public resort in some other place, shall be received and acted upon 
 by the court as presumptive evidence that such liquor was kept or held for sale contrary 
 to the provisions thereof.
 
 246 PROTECTION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY. 
 
 Sec. 12. That section 1543 of the Code be and the same is hereby repealed and the 
 following enacted in lieu thereof : 
 
 "Sec. 1543. In cases of violation of the provisions of either of the three preceding 
 sections, or of section 1525 of this chapter, the building or erection of whatever kind, or 
 the ground itself, in or upon which such unlawful manufacture, or sale, or keeping, with 
 intent to sell, use or give away, of any intoxicating liquor is carried on, or continued, or 
 e.\ists, and the lurniture, fixtures, vessels, and contents, is hereby declared a nuisance and 
 shall lie abated as hereinafter provided, and whoever shall erect or establish, or continue, 
 or use any buildnig, erection, or place for any of the purposes prohibited in said sections 
 shall be deemed guilty of a nuisance, and may be prosecuted and punished accordingly, 
 and upon conviction shall pay a fine of not exceeding $1,000 and costs of prosecution, 
 and stand committed until the fine and costs are paid ; and the provision of chapter 47, 
 title 25 of this Code shall not be applicable to persons committed under this section. Any 
 citizen of the county where such nuisance exists, or is kept or maintained, may maintain 
 an action in equity to abate and perpetually enjoin the same, and any person violating 
 the terms of any injunction granted in such proceedings, shall be punished as for con- 
 tempt by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or by 
 imprisonment in the county jail not more than six months, or by both such fine and 
 imprisonment in the discretion of the court. 
 
 Sec. 13. That section 155 1 of the Code be, and the same is hereby amended by adding 
 thereto the following: "Every peace officer shall give evitlence when called upon, of 
 any facts within his knowledge, tending to prove a violation of the provisions of this 
 chapter, but his evidence in no case shall be used against him in any prosecution against 
 him for a violation of the provisions of this chapter." 
 
 Sec. 14. That section 1553 of the Code be and the same is hereby repealed and the 
 following enacted in lieu thereof : 
 
 Sec. 1553. If any express company, railway company, or any agent, or person in the 
 employ of any express company or railroad company, or if any common carrier, or any 
 person in the employ of any common carrier, or if any other person shall knowingly 
 bring within this State for any other person or persons, or corporation, or shall transport 
 between points within this State for any other person or persons, or corporation, any in- 
 toxicating liquors, without first having been furnished with a certificate from and under 
 the seal of the county auditor of the county to which said liquor is to be transported or is 
 consigned for transportation, certifying that such consignee or person, for or to whom 
 said liquor is to be transported, is authorized to sell such intoxicating liquors in such 
 county, such company, corporation, or persons so offending, and each of them, and any 
 agent of such corporation or company so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be 
 fined in any sum not exceeding $100 for each offense and shall stand committed to 
 the county jail until such fine and the costs of prosecution are paid, and one half of the 
 fine shall go to the informer and the other half shall go to the school fund of the county; 
 and provided further, that the offense herein defined shall be held complete, and shall be 
 held to have been committed in any county of the State through or to which said intoxi- 
 cating liquors are transported, or in which the same are loaded for transporation; pro- 
 vided further, that it shall be the duty of the several county auditors of this State to issue 
 the certificate herein contemplated to any person having such permit, and the certificate 
 so issued shall be truly dated where issued, and shall specify the date at which the 
 authority or permit expires, as shown by the county records. 
 
 Sec. 15. Every person who shall, directly or indirectly, keep or maintain by himself, 
 or by associating or combining with others, or who shall in any manner aid, assist, or 
 abet, in keeping or maintaining any club-room, or other place in which intoxicating 
 liquors is received or kept for the purpose of use, gift, barter or sale, or for distribution or 
 division among the meml)ers of any club or association by any means whatever, and every 
 person who shall use, barter, sell or give away, or assist or abet another in bartering, 
 selling or giving away any intoxicating liquors as received or kept, shall l^e deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor shall Ije punished by a fine of not 
 less than Sioo nor more than $500, or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than 
 thirty days nor more than six months. 
 
 Sec. 16. All statutes and acts and parts ofacts inconsistent with the provisions of this 
 chapter as hereby amended, are herel)y repealed ; provided, however, that this repeal 
 shall not afl'ect any act done, any right accruing or which has accrued or been established, 
 nor any suit or proceeding had or commenced m any civil cause before the time such 
 repeal takes effect, and no offense committed, nor penalty or forfeiture incurred, and no 
 fuit or prosecution pending when the repeal takes effect, for an offense committed or 
 for the recovery of a penalty or forfeiture incurred, shall be affected by this repeal and the
 
 PROTECTION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY. 247 
 
 provisions of section 1555 as amended and substituted by the act of this general assembly, 
 approved March 4, 1884, shall apply and have relation to the provisions of this Code as 
 herein amended and all the penalties as herein provided, shall be held to apply to intoxicat- 
 ing liquors as delined in said act of March 4, 1884. 
 
 Mr. Blaine's Sentiments. 
 
 Mr. Blaine's sentiments on this (luestion may be seen from the following letter 
 by Neal Dow to Rev. C. Clark, editor of a prohibition newspaper in New Jersey : 
 
 Dear Sir : Your note of the 4th instant has just rejiched me. In answer to your 
 inquiry I say : I have had many letters from difl'erent parts of the country making 
 infiuiries about Mr. Blaine. My reply has been that he has always lx;en a friend of the 
 Maine law and has many times rendered important service to it. He is in favor nf the 
 proposed constitutional amendment and will vote for it. He is also a teetotaler and has 
 been so several years. 
 
 The Republican party of Maine has always made prohibition a part of its platform 
 and conceded to the people at the last Legislature an opportunity to vote on the 
 question of constitutional prohibition, as it is the undoubted right of the people to do. 
 The temperance men of Maine, therefore, may properly be loyal to the party which has 
 a just claim to their support. But outside of this State, Vermont, Kansas and Iowa, the 
 Republican party has no claim whatever upon temperance men lor help at the ballot box. 
 • We, the temperance men of Maine, are firm in the conviction that our object, the 
 prohibition and suppression of the liqnor traffic, can never be attained except by inde- 
 pendent political action. The sooner that policy is resorted to and vigorously pursued 
 the sooner we shall win. Respectfully, 
 
 NEAL DOW. 
 
 Portland, Me., July 8, 18S4. 
 
 Democratic Principles, 
 
 The Democratic party favors the largest personal liberty compatible with the 
 -welfare of the State, and leaves the regulation of appetites to moral and religious 
 influences, believing those agencies are the most effective and the most in harmony 
 Tvith the principles of free government. 
 
 It therefore approves and indorses the action of those citizens who recently 
 organized a National Protective Association to protect their personal liberties from 
 officious and undemocratic infringement, and who expressed their protest in the 
 following platform: 
 
 We hold that the constitution of the L^nited States, based on the declaration of inde- 
 pendence, guarantees the enjoyment of personal, civil, and religious lil:)erty and the pur- 
 suit of happiness, and warrants the enactment of no laws which seek to abridge or restrict 
 the same; that all existing prohibitory laws or contemplated legislation, which tend to 
 abridge personal rights, are tyrannical infringements on constitutional guarantees, and 
 should be respectively repealed and opposed; that all Sunday laws which abridge relig- 
 ious liberty and prevent the working classes from enjoying the public libraries, museums, 
 art galleries, and public parks, are tyrannical and unjust, and should be repealed, for 
 Sunday was made for man, and not man for Sunday; that the "public school system" 
 is the bulwark of our institutions, and must be kept clear and free from all sectarian in- 
 fluence and interference; that all organized ecclesiastical interference in civil aft'airs is in 
 violation of the spirit and letter of the constitution, the genius of American institutions, 
 and is demoralizing and pernicious, and must be restrained; that all private and corporate 
 property, whether real or personal, should bear the burdens of taxation equally.
 
 348 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 Protection of American Citizens Abroad. 
 
 Republican Neglect. 
 
 During ^Ir. Blaine's administration of the State Department in 1881, the Repub- 
 lican neglect of citizens abroad called for a stinging rebuke from Democratic 
 leaders. 
 
 Early in that year the history that preceded the war of 1812 began boldly to 
 repeat itself. American citizens temporarily resident in Ireland were thrown 
 into prison under the infamous "Coercion Act" of Great Britain. These men 
 were convicted of no crimes ; they were simply suspected of s^-mpathy with the 
 cause of Ireland. Vain efforts were made by individual friends and by societies 
 to have positive and effective action taken by our Government on behalf of these 
 unfortunate persons. 
 
 The'law upon this subject is as follows : 
 
 Section 2, GOO, Revised Statutes. All ttatura/ised citizens of the United States 
 while in foreipi countries are entitled to and shall receive from this Government the 
 same protection of persons and property which is accorded to native-born citizens. 
 
 Sec. 2, CGI. Whenever it is made known to the President that any citizen of the United 
 States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of any foreign 
 government, it shall be the duty of the President forthwith to demand of that government 
 the reasons of such imprisonment ; and, if it appear to be wrongful and in violation of 
 the rights of American citizenship, the President shall forthwith demand the release of 
 such, citizen ; and if the release so demanded is unreasonably delayed or refused, the 
 President shall use such means, not amountmg to acts of war, as he may think necessary 
 and proper to obtain or effectuate the release ; and all the facts and proceedings relative 
 thereto shall, as soon as practicable, be communicated by the President to Congress. 
 
 Notwithstanding this sacred obligation the neglect assumed alarming propor- 
 tions. 
 
 The principal cases were tho.«ie of O'Mahoney, McSweeney, Boynton, O'Connor, 
 Walsh, McEnery, Hart, Daly, White, and McCormack. 
 
 Case of O'Mahoney. 
 
 Henry O'Mahoney was imprisoned under the coercion act June 4, 1881. He 
 presented his case to Mr. Lowell, U. S. Minister to London, asking him to procure 
 him a speedy trial or liberation. To this request Mr. Lowell, while arknowkdging 
 his title to citizenship, regardless of the plain and mandatory words of .section 2000 
 R. S., above quoted, replied in effect that England had a right to arrest all per- 
 sons domiciled in the proclaimed districts, and that it was "manifestly futile to 
 claim that naturalized citizens of the United States should be exempt from its 
 operation."
 
 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 249 
 
 Mr. O'Mahoney's wife addressed a letter to E. P. Brooks, Consul at Cork, re- 
 questing his interference to secure her husband a speedy trial, and forwarded his 
 naturalization papers. Mr. Brooks, in a letter to Adam Badeau, Consul-General at 
 London, says : "I explained to Mrs. O'Mahoney that no interference by me could 
 possibly effect the result she sought." 
 
 The following speaks for itself : 
 
 Mr. Loxoell to Mr. O'Mahotuy. 
 
 "Legation of the United St.-vtes, ( 
 "London, July 19, 1881. f 
 "Sir : I have your letter of the 15th instant. I am waiting instructions from home 
 before taking action in such cases as yours. 
 
 "It is my opinion, however, and in this I shall probably be su>tamed by the Depart- 
 ment of State, that the fact of being an American citizen cannot of itself operate to exempt 
 any one from the penalties of a law which he had violated, and that it -mHI be tucessary 
 to shoru that some exceptional injustice had been practiced in any particular case before 
 the American Minister can be called upon to intervetie. 
 
 " 1 am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 "J. R. LOWELL." 
 
 Mr. O'Mahoney had informed Mr. Lowell that all he asked was his interference 
 to obtain a speedy trial. Our representative, however, evaded this direct request by 
 assuming that he asked protection from the verdict on the crime charged. 
 
 Mr. O'Mahoney's citizenship was e.stablished beyond question. He was 
 discharged from the United States Navy in 1865. He remained in this country 
 until 1874. Then sojourned in L-eland until 1879. In February, 1880, he obtained 
 naturalization papers at Lockport, N. Y. In January, 1881, he returned to 
 Ireland to dispose of his property and bring his family to this country. That his 
 citizenship was admitted, and with it his right to the benefit of section 2001, above 
 quoted, is shown by the question of U. S. Consul Brooks : " Supi)ose the British 
 Government were to permit your release from prison upon condition of your 
 immediate return to the United States, would you accept such terms?" 
 
 This question presupposed belief of his innocence of the alleged crime of 
 attempted murder by the British Government, and his honor and the honor of our 
 country demanded his trial. 
 
 Mr. O'Mahoney to Mr. Lozvell. 
 
 "Llmerick Prison, July 21, 1881. 
 
 "Dear Sir: I quite agree with you when you state that an American citizen 
 should not be exempt Irom the penalties of a law which he violates, and that it would 
 be necessary to show that some injustice had been practiced before your intervention, 
 and I respectfully submit the following facts for your kind consideration : 
 
 " 1st. That I am arrested charged with a crime. 
 
 "2d. That I am detained in prison without a shadow of evidence against me. 
 
 "3d. That I am debarred of the right of proving my innocence in connection with 
 the crime that I am suspected of. Tlierefore all the favors I ask (and I think I should 
 claim it as right) from the United States Government, through you, is a trial, in order 
 that I may show that there is exceptional injustice practiced in my case. Therefore I 
 repectfully ask your intervention to grant me a trial, and by so doing I will not only be 
 able to prove myself innocent of the charge that I am accused of, but of any other crime 
 punishable by law, except being a member of tlie Land League, an organization which 
 the Prime Minister himself declared to be perfectly constitutional. 
 
 "An early reply will ol)lige yours, respectfully, 
 
 "HENRY O'MAHONEY. 
 
 " P. S. — Kindly let me know if you can demand an impartial trial lor me ; if not I 
 I shall ask for no other favors. 
 
 "H.O'M."
 
 250 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 Case of McSweeney. 
 Daniel McSweeney, a n American citizen, for twenty years a resident of San 
 Francisco. Cal., was dragged, ill in health, from the bosom of his family on June 
 2, 1881, and lodged in Dundalk Jail. 
 
 Mr. McSweeney to Mr. Lmuell. 
 
 "Dundalk Jail, June 7, 1881. 
 
 "Sir: I am an American citizen, having resided twenty-five years in the United 
 States, twenty of which I spent in San Francisco, Cal. During that time I never was 
 either charged, accused, or even suspected of any crime, nor in fact never was accused of 
 any crime in my life, until on the 2d of the present month my house was surrounded by 
 an anned force and I was forcibly dragged from the bosom of my family and lodged in 
 jail. 
 
 "The charge against me now is, inciting persons to unlawfully assemble and commit 
 riot and assault. Now, there was no unlawful assembly, no riot or assault committed in 
 the district from which I was arrested, neither was there any incitement to commit such. 
 The government kindly furnished me with a shorthand reporter who carefully took down 
 every word I said in the English or Irish language, and I challenge him, or the govern- 
 ment, or all the landlords in Ireland, to prove that I uttered one word which could by 
 any possibility be construed to mean incitement to crime. On the contrary, from every 
 platform I advised the people to commit no crime, to violate no law, but to carefully work 
 witiiin the lines of the constitution. 
 
 "Now, sir, I want a fair trial; if I am innocent, I want, as an American, to be 
 released; I want to know if my naturalization papers are worth preserving ; whether, when 
 an American leaves home his mouth must l)e sealed, though slavery in its worst form 
 should exist in every country through which he may travel. 
 
 "Yours, respectfully, 
 
 " DANTEL SWEENEY." 
 
 Again, in utter disregard of sections 2000 and 2001 R. S., Mr. Lowell evades 
 the request for a fair and speedy trial thus : 
 
 Mr. Lowell to Mr. McSweeney. 
 
 " Legation of the United States, | 
 " London, Septeml^er 22, 1881. j 
 
 " Sir : I have to acknowledge the reception of your letter of the 17th instant. 
 
 " I have not thought it proper to make any application for your release from prison 
 for the following reasons : 
 
 " The coercion act, however exceptional and arbitrary, and contrary to the spirit and 
 fundamental principals of both English and American jurisprudence, is still the law of 
 land, and controls all parties domiciled in the proclaimed districts of Ireland, whether 
 they are British subjects or not. It would be manifestly futile to claim that naturalized 
 citizens of the United States should be excepted from its operatien. 
 
 "The only case, in my opinion, in which I ought to intervene, would be where an 
 American citizen who is in Ireland attending exclusively to his private business and taking 
 no part whatever in public meetings or political discussions, should be arrested . Under 
 such circumstances it would he proper to appeal to the courtesy of the government here 
 on the ground of mistake or misapprehension, and ask for the release ot the prisoner. 
 
 " I have communicated these views to the Department of State, and I have received, 
 so far, no instructions in a contrary spirit. 
 
 " It does not appear to me that the reasons above given for intervention exist in your 
 case so far as I understand it. 
 
 " I am, sir, etc., 
 
 "J. R. LOWELL. 
 
 The just, the patriotic indignation of an American citizen roused by this 
 ahameless epistle finds expression in the following words of McSweeney : 
 
 *'Mr. Sweeney to Mr. Lowell. 
 
 "Dundalk Jail, September 27, 1881. 
 "Sir: a letter bearing your signature, dated from the legation of the United 
 States, London, of the 22d instant, is received by me in my prison cell in Dundalk. I
 
 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 351 
 
 am unwilling to believe that this letter is the production of an American gentleman, 
 much less the American gentleman representing the United States at the Court of St. 
 James. I cannot believe that an American gentleman would treat the appeal of an 
 American citizen in prison with contempt, therefore permit me to presume that you signed 
 the letter in question by mistake, but as your signature is attached to it I may Ije per- 
 mitted to analyze it, and if possible, ascertain your meaning. 
 
 "The reasons which you say influence you in not making an application for my 
 release are not, in my opinion, good and sufficient reasons. Hut I will quote your own 
 words and leave the public on both sides of the Atlantic to judge : 
 
 " 'The Coercion act, however exceptional and arbitrary, and contrary to the spirit and 
 fundamental principles of English jurisprudence, is the law of the land.' 
 
 " That the coercion act is the law of the land no one will dispute, but many will be 
 inclined to the belief that the absence of coercive measures would be exceptional. 
 
 " ' It would be manifestly futile to claim that naturalized citizens of the United States 
 should be excepted from its operation.' 
 
 " Here we learn for the first time that there is a distinction between naturalized and 
 native-born American citizens regarding their right to claim protection abroad; but it is 
 evident that you are laboring under a misapprehension with regard to my claim. I did 
 not claim to be excepted from its operations; my claim is based on the fact that I did not 
 violate any law. 
 
 " ' The only case, in my opinion, in which I ought to interfere would be when an 
 American citizen who is in Ireland attending exclusively to his own business and taking 
 no part whatever in public meetings or political discussions should be arrested, it would 
 be proper to appeal to the courtesy of the British Government for the release of the 
 prisoner.' 
 
 " So that, in your opinion, the only right which an American citizen could claim abroad 
 would be an appeal to the courtesy of the Government who might deprive him of his 
 liberty. But should an American be so imprudent as to take part in a public meeting, 
 say a prayer-meeting, or engage in any political discussion with a Frenchman, a German, 
 or even a Zulu, according to your opinion, he would forfeit all claim not only to protec- 
 tion, but even to an appeal to courtesy. This throws new light on the question of 
 American citizenship. 
 
 "One would naturally expect that a gentleman intnisted with the important mission 
 of United States Minister at the English court should at least make a dignified reply to 
 what some gentleman occupying similar position might consider an insult. But on the 
 contrary, sir, you seem to have given up the fight, which, in my opinion, could not have 
 been a very determined one, and you sent me a message to my prison cell, where I have 
 been confined for over four months, and where I have to pass eighteen hours each day 
 in a space six by twelve, and you tell me that you have abandonded me to my fate; that 
 you would not intervene any further in my behalf. It will not be clear to the public that 
 you did intervene very far. 
 
 " British subjects took part in public meetings and political discussions in the 
 United States during the slave troubles. Had the American Government cast them 
 into prison and sentenced them to a term of imprisonment without trial, and refused to 
 give the British minister at Washington any information respecting the charge against 
 them, what would the British minister do ' under these circumstances ' ? Fold his arms, 
 take the matter good naturedly, send a message to the British subjects in prison that he 
 ' did not think it proper to intervene, ' or demand his passport ? 
 
 Yours, respectfully, 
 
 "DANIEL SWEENEY." 
 
 On April 15, 1883, the Senate having under consideration a resolution con- 
 demning the dilatory and unpatriotic course of the State Department, Mr. Voor- 
 heessaid : 
 
 "Sir, what is the attitude of the American Government at this time on this momen- 
 tous question ? Is it one which inspires a feeling of satisfaction and pride in the American 
 heart? I appeal to the record. On the 9th day of the last month this body made inquiry 
 in the following form after the condition of a citizen of the United States then confined 
 in a British jail : 
 
 Whereas, It is alleged that Daniel McSweeny, a citizen of the United States, and 
 lately a resident of the State of California, while peaceably sojourning in England, has 
 without just cause been imprisoned by the British Government ; l>e it therefore 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of State be, and is hereby, instructed to ascertain the
 
 252 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 cause for the alleged imprisonment of the said Daniel McSweeney, and make report to 
 the Senate at the earliest day possible. 
 
 " On the 2oth day of March, eleven days after the passage of this jieremptory resolu- 
 tion, the Secretary of State transmitted to us his answer. Every particle of information 
 on the subject was in his hands when the resolution reached him, and could have been 
 reported in twenty-four hours had he reported 'at the earliest day possible,' as 
 instructed. The American State Department, however, has always, in late years, taken 
 its greatest leisure and proceeded most slowly when an American citizen was in a foreign 
 prison, and this diplomatic custom was not broken in the present instance. But, sir, pre- 
 pared as I was for the exhibition of a weak foreign policy on our part, I was utterly 
 amazed at the contents of the communication froui the Secretary of State in this case. 
 It appears that Daniel McSweeny was arrested June 2, 1881, now more than ten months 
 ago, and that he has suffered in prison from that day to this. He was dragged from a 
 bed of sickness, in the presence of his wife and children, by British constables. He was 
 guilty of no crime, not even the shadow of any crime known to the laws of any civilized 
 nation on the face of the globe. No one will pretend that he was ; no one will rise here 
 and say so. If the party so long in power in this Government has a friend on this floor 
 who will risk his reputation in trying to point out the guilt of McSweeney, I want to 
 hear him. Let him stand forth at once and reconcile us if he can to the policy of the 
 Republican party in relation to the foreign-born citizens. This extraordinary document 
 from the Slate Department tells the whole miserable story. I challenge particular atten- 
 tion to dates. On the 3d day of August, 1881, Julia McSweeney wrote to the Secretary 
 of State from the County Donegal, Ireland, in behalf of her husband, and her letter was 
 received here in Washington on the i6th day of the same month. In that letter the 
 brave, high-spirited wife, says : 
 
 " ' Some four years ago I came with my family, on account of my husband's failing 
 health, to reside temporarily in this country. I was aware that England claimed this 
 island, but I was under the impression that Americans might venture to travel or reside 
 abroad protected by their flag, but in this I was mistaken.' 
 
 " And then she proceeds, with a woman's keen sense of wrong and outrage, to 
 descrilx: the brutal arrest of her invalid husband. She continues : 
 
 " ' It is not alleged that he committed any crime or violated any law. He, being an 
 American citizen, immediately forwarded his naturalization papers, together with a 
 solemn protest against this British outrage, to the American minister at London. That 
 gentleman answered that the matter would be laid before one Granville, and that 
 inquiries would be made as to the ground of his arrest.* 
 
 " And still there was no response to this American wife and mother. She 
 invoked the justice of law for her husband, innocent of crime, and she asked 
 in respectful terms whether she herself would be protected, or left to share his 
 fate because she could not help sharing his opinions. She spoke for him, for herself, 
 and for her virtually orphaned children. Sir, a government or the department of a 
 government which in any age of the world's history would turn a deaf ear to burning 
 words like these could not complain of being regarded with aversion and contempt in 
 all (juarters of the globe. A policy of silence and indifference under such circumstances 
 is so unmanly and pusillanimous that every American head will be bowed with shame 
 and every American heart filled with humiliation as the facts of this case liecome gener- 
 ally known. I feel degraded in my pride as a citizen of the American Republic when 
 compelled to state, as I now do, with the communication of the State Department in my 
 hand, that until six long and weary months to the prisoner after this Government had 
 received his wife's letter not a single step was taken by the authorities here directing 
 inquiry into the circumstances of his arrest, and then only when influenced to do so by 
 other considerations, as I shall show, than a just appreciation of his claims to protection. 
 
 "Mr.JoNiis, of Florida— Will the Senator permit me to ask him a question, without 
 interrupting him ? Is McSweeney now in prison ? 
 
 "Mr. VooRHEES — I understand so, as no notice whatever has been given of his 
 release. 
 
 "The woman's appeal lay unheeded in the official pigeon-holes of the Department 
 whose duty it was to protect her husband and all his family, but in the meantime the 
 voice of such an outrage could not be stifled, and was finding its way to the public ear 
 through more natural channels than the artificial and heartless methods of diplomacy. 
 On the 23d of January, 1882, there was published in the San Francisco Examiner a letter 
 from the prisoner himself. It was accompanied by an editorial in which it was stated, 
 among other things, that — 
 
 " 'The writer, Daniel McSweeney, was for many years a well-known and esteemed 
 resident of San Francisco, doing business at the corner of Ninth and Howard streets, 
 where he was engaged in the cattle trade.'
 
 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 2o3 
 
 "That he had a larije family, six ol his children beinjj with their mother in Ireland 
 and two in San Francisco, and that Mrs. .McSweeney's health was Ijein^ rapidly under- 
 mined on account of her husband's unjust imprisonment. Mr. McSweeney's letter was 
 written to his daughter in California, and its recitals are so simple, and yet so horrible, 
 coming from a man whose rights as an American citizen are as perfect as yours, Mr. 
 President, or as mine, that 1 cannot relrain from laying them again liefore the American 
 Senate. The letter is written from " Dundalk jail," and is dated " Decemlx?r 12, 18S1 ": 
 
 " 'My Dear Mamik : You must excuse me for not answering your last two letters 
 sooner. Since winter set in I was unable, owing to severe cold in this dungeon, to sit 
 still long enough to write even a few lines. I have to keep moving about continually in 
 my narrow space to keep from freezing. You n^ust know how dreadful it is to Ijc locked 
 up eighteen hours a day in this cold, damp climate, without any (ire, and, worse still, 
 we are compelled to stand or walk about daily for five hours in the open air, in a damp, 
 muddy yard, ankle-deep in water, and then retire to our cold cells, trembling with cold. 
 It requires a strong constitution to stand it long. I fear many of our brave fellows will 
 succumb before the winter is over. As I was only sentenced lor sixteen months, I 
 thought at first I might live it out ; but you know 1 was in delicate health when arrested, 
 being barely able to move about after a severe attack of sickness.' 
 
 "Sir, this is a picture of wanton brutality such as barbarians alone inflict on pris- 
 oners, whether guilty or innocent. It shows that the spirit of torture, which for so many 
 ages stained and blackened English history, is yet alive and active, and especially so 
 when the victim belongs to a government whose administration cares nothing for his 
 safety, and still less, if possible, for its own honor. 
 
 " But to continue Mr. McSweeney's letter : 
 
 " ' All efforts on the part of your mother and all our friends failed to discover the cause 
 of my arrest. I appealed to Mr. Ix)well, United States Minister at Ix)ndon, for protec- 
 tion, but he answered that it is absurd for a naturalized citizen of the United States to 
 claim protection. He says that even an American citizen could only have recourse to an 
 appeal to the courtesy of the British CJovemment to be released. He added, in a later 
 communication, that the British Government refused to give hiin any information alxjut 
 the charge against me, and that they snubbed him.' 
 
 "Strong as this statement is, contained in a letter written in jSil from a father to a 
 daughter, yet I will show that it is the exact truth when I come to comment on the dis- 
 patches and official conduct of Mr. Lowell, the American Minister at London. Mr. 
 McSweeney, however, proceeds in his letter : 
 
 " ' Your mother wrote to Mr. Blaine about my case, but that gentleman did not deign 
 even a reply. I heard nothing whatever from him. * * * I am now in jail going 
 on seven months, charged with no crime, and not even a shadow of suspicion that I 
 violated any law ; and wlien our American Minister asks a civil question about me he is 
 snubbed, insulted, and his flag trampled on ; but he does not appear to make much fuss 
 about it, and the American Ciovernment takes no notice of the question any more than 
 the king of the Sandwich Islands would.' 
 
 " Sir, I think Mr. McSweeney does injustice to the foreign policy of King Kalakaua 
 in placing it as low and weak as our own. • • • 
 
 " But, sir, there is another feature in this case arising out of the correspondence 
 before us which demands attention. The conduct of the American Minister at London 
 and his conceptions of duty on a question of such vital moment are matters of paramount 
 importance at this time. It will he rememliered that Mr. McSweeney states in his letter to 
 his daughter that he applied to Mr. Lowell for protection, and that he applied in vain. An 
 inspection of Mr. Lowell's dispatches and letters on this point'deepens and intensifies, if 
 possible, the sense of American humiliation. The prisoner alleged in his application for pro- 
 tection not only that he was not guilty of any violation of law, but that he was not even noti- 
 fied of any criminal charge against him ; that he was in prison without trial and without 
 accusation. With this statement he forwarded his naturalization papers, concerning 
 whose legality and sufficiency no question has ever been made. With the case thus made 
 out liefore him the first step taken by the American Minister was such, I venture to say, as 
 never before occurred in the diplomatic or judicial annals of the human race. On the 
 10th of June, 1881, he instructed the vice-consul at Belfast to ascertain the cause of 
 arrest, and, if innocent — if innocent — to present the matter in the competent quarter, 
 wherever that might l>e, and ask that Mr. McSweeney be released or brought to trial. 
 
 " I defy the records of the dullest-witted justice of the peace in the United States to 
 equal in the stupid evasion of duty this amazing diplomatic paper. The vice-consul at 
 Belfast was instructed to find out, if he could, the cause of McSweeney's arrest ; then in 
 some inconceivable and incomprehensible way he was to pass upon the entire question 
 of this unfortunate man's guilt or innocence. It was to be done without a judicial trial
 
 254 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 for that had been refused ; without witnesses, for the vice-consul had no power to call, 
 swear, or examine them in such a case ; without the presence of McSweeney himself, 
 for he was in jail, and could not attend. Under the instructions of Mr. Lowell the pris- 
 oner, while in the Dundalk jail, with a British turnkey over him, was to be tried and 
 convicted, or acquitted, without one single form of law, but simply in the void and 
 empty mind of a vice-consul at Belfast. But the result of this trial, not in a court of 
 law, but in the uninformed mental processes of the vice-consul, was perhaps to be the 
 most astounding feature of this whole disgraceful business. The vice-consul at Belfast 
 was instructed by the American Minister that if he found McSweeney innocent then he 
 was to ask, not demand, but ask that he be released or brought to trial ; and it seems 
 from the dispatch that which measure of relief, release, or trial he would ask was left to 
 himself to determine. 
 
 " If this is not the first time in the history of the nations of the earth that a man's- 
 right to a trial before the law was made to depend upon his ascertained innocence before- 
 hand, then my reading is at fault. If it is not also the first instance in which a respect- 
 able government was ever known to shrink from demanding a fair and open trial for one 
 of its own citizens imprisoned in a foreign country until his innocence was established, 
 then I will confess that I have overlooked the degrading example which we are following. 
 The dispatch of Mr. Lowell to the vice-consul at Belfast would be a farce if it were not a 
 crime'. It marks his total absolute unfitness for the place he holds. The man whose 
 methods of thought, whose education and legal training could give birth to such a docu- 
 ment as this, can not be trusted with the safety of American citizens or with the honor of 
 this Government. He reverses every rule of human responsibility to civilized jurispru- 
 dence. He appears ignorant of the fact that every man is innocent in the eye of the law 
 until his guilt is proven. He assumes McSwecney's guilt and requires his innocence to 
 be established before his demand for a legal trial will be presented to the British, 
 Government. 
 
 " Instead of saying to the British Government that this man was an American citizen^ 
 that he denied all violation of law, that the law itself presumed him innocent, and that, 
 therefore, he demanded for him a trial, Mr. Lowell's position was that only in case the 
 vice-consul at Belfast should be satisfied of McSweeney's innocence was the request to be 
 made for his trial or discharge. 
 
 " But what investigation, in point of fact, was made under the instructions of 
 the American Minister into McSweeney's guilt or innocence ? Absolutely none, 
 whatever. It was enough that the guardian of American rights abroad was 
 answered with insolent brevity that the prisoner was ' reasonably suspected, ' not 
 that he was charged upon oath or affirmation, not that he had been indicted by a grand 
 jury or committed by an examining magistrate, not that he had committed a breach of 
 the peace or been taken in the act of violating law, but that he was ' suspected ' by some 
 servile English detective ot a feeling, not an act — a feeling in common with the 
 enlightened and humane sentiment of the whole human race hostile to the colossal iniquity 
 of British spoliation, rapine, lust, and murder in Ireland. 
 
 " Upon receipt of this atrocious answer, the American Minister, in utter abandonment 
 of the laws of his own country and without pride or shame, announced that ' no further 
 means of ascertaining the justice of the accusation were open to the vice-consul.' He 
 never afterward officially broached the subject to the authorities of Great Britain. He 
 tells us, indeed, that at a subsequent date Mr. McSweeney having asserted his innocence, 
 he ventured unofficially, disrobing himself of all weight as a representative of this- 
 government, to communicate this circumstance, and to ask that the case might be 
 considered favorably. Then, however, Mr. Lowell was completely and perpetually 
 silenced by the curt and distinct reply of Lord Granville, ' that under no circumstances 
 would his request be granted.' Brow-beaten, insulted, and without tlie proper spirit to 
 resent arrogance or to execute American law, he sheltered himself under the expressed 
 belief, as will be seen on page 7 of the published correspondence, that the prisoner was 
 'no more innocent than the majority of those under arrest.' 'No more innocent ! ' 
 
 •'Mr. Jo.NES, of Florida — On that point I wish the Senator would observe that the 
 language of Lord Granville, as reported by Mr. Lowell to the State Department, is that 
 under no circumstance would any explanation be given to the American Minister of the 
 cause of the arrest of an American citizen, whether naturalized or native-born, beyond 
 what could be found on the face of the warrant under which he was arrested. 
 
 "Mr. VooRHEES — I have the statement before me, and have so repeated it. 'No 
 more innocent,' says the American Minister; there is no reason to suppose that McSweeney 
 is any more innocent than the rest of them. Will any Senator rise in his place and risk 
 his reputation by saying that a man who has given such an expression as that ought to 
 be retained in any branch of the public service ? Comparative innocence ! Everybody is 
 innocent until after a fair trial and a verdict of guilty, and yet the American Minister at
 
 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 255 
 
 London dares, with infinite hardihood, to assume and assert that all the untried, uncon- 
 victed 'suspects' in Hntish jails, who are citizens of the United States, are guilty, and 
 that Daniel McSweeney is as ^udty as the others. He does not know, he cannot know, 
 whether this is true or false; 1 presume he does not care. 
 
 " But this is not all. ( )utside ot and beyond the meagre and lifeless records of the 
 Department of State, a few letters from the American Minister to the American in prison 
 have found their way into the public press. They throw a light on our foreign policy at 
 this time which ought to be lully understood and thoroughly condemned. I did not sup- 
 pose that at this late day there was any doubt in any intelligent mind as to the equality 
 of the naturalized with the native-born American citizen in his right to the protection of 
 his government. I thought that question forever settled by the diplomatic writings of 
 Cass, Marcy, Webster, and other great Secretaries of State in past generations. Hut in 
 this it seems I was mistaken. The .American Minister at London asserts a distinction 
 between naturalized and native-born citizens of the United States as odious to every prin- 
 ciple of justice as the ancient spirit of the alien and sedition laws. I^t the following 
 letter attest the truth of this statement: 
 
 Legation of the United States, | 
 London, September 22, 1881. ( 
 
 Sir: I have to acknowledge your letter of the 17th instant. I have not thought it 
 proper to make any application for your release Irom prison for the following reasons: 
 The coercion act, however exceptional and arbitrary and contrary to the spirit and fun- 
 damental principles of both English and American jurisprudence, is *till the law of the 
 land, and controls all parties domiciled in the proclaimed district of Ireland, whether 
 they are British subjects or not. It would be manifestly futile to claim that naturalized 
 citizens of the United States should be excepted from its operation. The only case, in 
 my opinion, in which I ought to intervene would be when an American citizen who was 
 in Ireland attending exclusively to his own business, and taking no part whatever in pub- 
 lic meetings or political discussions, should be arrested. Under these circumstances it 
 would be proper to appeal to the courtesy of the government here on the ground of mis- 
 take or misapprehension, and ask for the release of the prisoner. 
 
 I have communicated these views to the Department of State, and have received so 
 far no instructions in a contrary spirit. It does not appear to me that the leasons above 
 given for intervention exist in your case so far as I understand it. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, J. R. LOWELL. 
 
 Mr. D. McSweeney. 
 
 •'Here we find the terms 'naturalized citizen ' and 'American citizen ' used in con- 
 tradistinction to each other. For the naturalized citizen Mr. Lowell says it would be 
 manifestly futile to claim protection Irom the operations of an act of Parliament which he 
 admits to be ' contrary to the spirit and fundamental principles of both English and Amer- 
 ican jurisprudence.' On the other hand, if 'an American citizen who was in Ireland 
 attending exclusively to his own business, and taking no part whatever in public meetings 
 or political discussions, shoukl be arrested,' the representative of American honor abroad 
 thinks he would venture to appeal to the courtesy of the British Government on the 
 ground not of right, but of mistake or misapprehension. The rule of action here declared 
 in behalf of the native American will excite the contempt of the civilized world, and yet 
 it is somewhat less infamous than the policy laid down in reference to those whom our 
 laws have adopted as citizens." There is a discrimination against the American of foreign 
 birth inconsistent with American law and with the law of nations." 
 
 The above cases have been selected to illustrate the "sickening sycophancy" 
 of our government to that of Great Britain at the sacrilice of our national honor. 
 The other cases present no features noticeably different from those given. It is. 
 the same story, from beginning to end, of disgraceful subserviency, under the title 
 of "diplomatic courtesy." 
 
 Interesting Correspondence. 
 The following extracts from correspondence on this subject will furnish some 
 "mighty interesting reading :" 
 
 " Mr. Barrows to Mr. McCormack. 
 
 "Consulate of the United St.vtes, (^ 
 " DiKLiN, Febi-uary 24, 18S2. \ 
 "Sir : I am in receipt of yours of the 23d, and in reply beg to inform you that the 
 fact of your being an American citizen confers upon you no immunity from arrest and 
 imprisonment under the coercion act. The minister can interfere only :
 
 256 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 " 1st. When such person being in Ireland in the prosecution of his lawful private busi- 
 ness, and taking no part in political meetings or partisan disturbances, has been arrested 
 by obvious mistake ; or, 
 
 "2d. When a distinction has been made to the disadvantage of the prisoner on the 
 ground of his American nationality. 
 
 " T lie above are the decisions of Minister Lowell, under whose instructions I am 
 acting. Should there be a peculiar hardship in your case, not afil'ected by these decisions, 
 please submit all the facts in the case, together with evidence of your American citizen- 
 ship, apd the matter shall have my prompt attention. 
 
 "I remain, etc., 
 
 " B. H. BARROWS, United States Consul." 
 
 Mr. Barrows, reiterating the decision of Minister Lowell, seems to be better 
 Informed as to the effect of a British law than the mandates of an American act of 
 Congress. Under the act of 1868 it was the duty of our Government to demand 
 an immediate trial or release. Our representative, however, while an acknowl- 
 edged citizen is languishing in a dungeon, spends the valuable time due to a suffer- 
 ing countrjrman in construing British laws. 
 
 '•Naas Bastile, April i8, 1882. 
 
 " Dear Sir : Herewith I forward you certificate of my American citizenship, and 
 beg to request that you will lose no time in forwarding it to Mr. Lowell. I lost the 
 ori>^inal document, and in consequence of your reply to me last February, 1 neglected 
 semling for a duplicate until the 20th ultimo. I trust that Mr. Lowell will lose no time 
 in representing my case, as I am now undergoing my fourth month's imprisonment 
 without the slighest shadow of a charge against me. Of course my business as a 
 journalist and "newspaper proprietor is suffering severely through this most wanton 
 outrage perpetrated on me by the British Government, and I think it would be nothing 
 more than ordinary justice that Mr. Lowell should demand compensation for me, for the 
 losses which I have sustained. I shall expect at least that my trial or unconditional 
 release will l^e demanded forthwith. Surely four months should be time enough for 
 the British authorities to trump up a charge against me if they could, but I defy them to 
 
 do so. 
 
 " It might be necessary for me to explain the slight difference between the name 
 under which I was arrested and that of my certificate of citizenship. The name under 
 which I was arrested is John R. McCormack, the R being used by me from my mother, 
 whose name is Ryan, in order to distinguish me from several John McCormacks m 
 Tipperary, amongst them three first cousins of my own. Of course I am prepared to 
 prove that I am the actual person mentioned in the inclosed duplicate. 
 
 "Your faithful fellow-citizen, 
 
 "JOHN R. McCORMACK." 
 
 The following shows to what an extent was carried the " diplomatic courtesy" 
 of the State Department. Nothing but ignorance or impertinence, barring 
 "diplomatic courtesy," could possibly have sent the minister from England to 
 complain to the Secretary of State of the wording of a resolution of the House of 
 Kepresentatives of the United States : 
 
 "Mr. West to Earl Gra>n>ille. 
 " W.\SHiNGTON, January 25, 1882. (Received February 12.) 
 
 "My Lord: I have the honor to inform your lordship that the Committee on 
 Foreign Affairs has reported back to the House a resolution to the following efitect : 
 
 " 'That the President l)e requested to obtain from the British Government a list of all 
 American citizens, naturalized or native-born, under arrest or imprisonment by authority 
 of said government, with a statement of the causes of such arrest or imprisonment, especi- 
 ally of such citizens as may have been thus arrested and imprisoned under a suspension 
 oi habeas corpus in Ireland, and if not incompatible with the public mterest, that lie com- 
 municate such information as he receives, together with all the correspondence now on 
 file in the Department of State relating to any existing arrest or imprisonment of citizens 
 as aforesaid ;' upon which Mr. Robinson, of New York, made a violent speech, copy of 
 which is herewith inclosed, against the British Government, and said, alluding to the pro- 
 hibition of the importation of hogs into Kngland from America some time ago, which 
 created so much sensation, 'Oh! that we only paid as much attention, as much honor, 
 to a live American citizen as we do to a dead Cincinnati hog !' I called Mr. Frelinghuy-
 
 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 257 
 
 sen's attention to the terms of this resolution, and to the language used in the debate upon 
 it, but he said he had no knowledge of any such resolution as I had now alluded to, and 
 which I showed to him, nor could he tell me what was likely to be the ultimate fate of 
 it. 1 remarked to Mr. Freliu;^huysen that, althou;^h not much importance need be 
 attached to such language as that used by Mr. Robinson, still the wordin.; of the resolution 
 was calculated to produce a b.id effect, and might cause unnecessary irritation. 
 
 " Mr. Frelinghuysen said he would make inquiries as to what had taken place in the 
 committee respecting the resolution. " 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 
 "L. S. S.\CKVILLE WEST.'* 
 
 Case of O'Connor. 
 
 In a recent interview in the New York Herald Hon. Perry Belmont states this 
 case as follows : 
 
 One of the most characteristic cases, perhaps, was that of Dennis H. O'Connor. That 
 case was brought to the attention of the Department of State about November, 1881. On 
 the 14th of February, 18S2, Mr. Cox of New York, brought it to the notice of the House. 
 The facts then appeared to be these : Dennis II. O'Connor was naturalized as an Ameri- 
 can citizen in 1875. He had lived for some time in Ireland and was in business there, 
 when in 1881 he was arrested as a 'suspect.' He was in ill health and his imprisonment 
 was likely to prove very injurious if not fatal to him. 
 
 "Mr. P. C. O'Connor, the brother of the prisoner, in November, 1881, laid these 
 facts in writing before the Department of State. In doing so he was supported in his 
 request by the Mayor of Baltimore in a note of introduction " — and Mr. Belmont, turning 
 to the files of the Congressinnai Record iovY^hrmry, 1882, indicated the following note, 
 which was read by Mr. Cox in the course of a speech : 
 
 De.\r Sir — Permit me to present to your kind attention Mr. P. C. O'Connor, of this 
 city, who desires to see you relative to his brother, a citizen of this conntry, who is under 
 arrest in Ireland. I commend him as a gentleman of honor, character and intelligence. 
 With kind regards, very sincerely yours, 
 
 WILLIAM PINCKNEY WHYTE, 
 
 Mayor of Baltimore. 
 
 Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. 
 
 " Under date of November 25, 1881," Mr. Belmont resumed, " a reply was made by 
 the Department to Mr. O'Connor's statement of his brother's case. Here it is : " 
 
 Mr. Belmont pointetl to the appended letter, which appears on the same page of the 
 Congressional Record as that just given. It bears Mr. Blaine's signature, and the most 
 significant passage of the document is the following : 
 
 The case of your brother, Mr. Dennis H. O'Connor, will take the same course as 
 those which have preceded it, and I can only express the hope that the efforts in his 
 behalf may result in his early liberation. In this connection I must, however, remind 
 you that the act of Parliament under which Mr.' O'Connor is held is a law of Great 
 Britian, and it is an elementary principle of public law that in such case the government 
 of that country in the exercise of its varied functions -judicial and executive — administers 
 and interprets the law in question. The right of every government in this respect is 
 absolute and sovereign, ancl every person who voluntarily brings himself within the juris- 
 diction of the country, whether permanently or temporarily, is subject to the operation 
 of Its laws, whether he be a citizen or a mere resident, so long as in the case of the alien 
 resident no treaty stipulation or principle of international law is contravened by the pro- 
 ceedings taken against him. 
 
 In stating this familiar principle no more is conceded to Great Britain than every 
 country may of right demand, and it is one of the sovereign rights that the government of 
 the United States has always insisted upon and maintained for itself. 
 
 " The whole point is whether or not a ' principle of international law was C9ntra- 
 vened ' by the proceedings taken against .Mr. O'Connor. There can be no doubt that a 
 principle of international law was contravened, and such appeared to be the view after- 
 M'ard taken by the Department of State under Mr. Frelinghuysen. On the 14th of March, 
 1882, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations received from Secretary Frelinghuysen 
 a reply to a comrnunication asking him what steps had been taken tor the relief ot the 
 American citizens arrestod in Ireland under the Coercion act. Mr. Frelinghuysen said 
 that on March 4, he had directed Minister Lowell, by cable, to ask that Americans 
 detained under the Coercion act should he brought to a speedy trial. Mr. Lowell, the 
 Secretary said, had replied by cable that he had carried out these instructions. This 
 shows what even a very conservative Secretary of State might do for citizens imprisoned 
 abroad. 
 
 17
 
 258 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 Democratic Principles and Protests. 
 
 Senator Voorhees' Speech. 
 
 In protesting against the Republican indifference to the rights and liberties of 
 our citizens abroad in the speech from which we have above quoted, Senator 
 Voorhees stated the Democratic principles, as follows: 
 
 The security, the dignity, and the inviolability of American citizenship constitute, 
 more than all other things combined, the strength and honor of this Government. Any 
 policy emanating from any source which ignores in the slightest degree this great fact 
 calls for prompt and stern condemnation. A government which is indifterent to the fate 
 of its own citizens, whether at home or abroad, which fails to respond boldly and swiftly 
 to their appeals for justice, and leaves them to waste away their lives in prison, untried, 
 unconvicted, is unworthy of allegiance and ought not to have and will not long retain a 
 respectable position among the independent powers of the earth. Duties are reciprocal 
 between the Government on the one hand and its citizens on the other. 
 
 A failure to perform these duties by either party to the political compact is fraught 
 with weakness, danger, and disgrace. If the citizen fails to keep upright faith with his 
 Government, and bear true obedience to its laws in peace and m war, he weakens, and 
 perhaps totally destroys his claim upon that Government for protection. If the Govern- 
 ment itself, however, abandons the citizen to injustice and oppression, permits him to be 
 stripped naked of all legal security or defense, turns a deaf ear to his just demands, and 
 leaves him to suffer indefinite terms of imprisonment without trial, either in his own or 
 foreign countries, no one will deny that the obligations of the citizen are at an end. And 
 it is equally true that such an example of weakness, timidity, or indifference on the part 
 of the Government must go far to shake the respect and attachment of the whole body of 
 its people, and to render it contemptible in the eyes of neighboring nations. 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Lewis Cass, near the close of his long and illustrious life, while Secretary of State in 
 1859, interposing for the protection of an American citizen of German birth, held the 
 following doctrine in a letter to the United States INlinister at Berlin : 
 
 " The right of expatriation cannot at this day be doubted or denied in the United 
 States. The idea has been repudiated ever since the origui of our Government that a 
 man is bound to remain forever in the country of his liirth. The doctrine of perpetual 
 allegiance is a relic of barbarism which has been disappearing from Christendom during 
 the last century." 
 
 Sir, this relic of barbarism, as it is here justly styled, has practically disappeared from 
 every quarter of Christendom, except the American embassy in London and the British 
 jails in Ireland. But still earlier than the letter of General Cass, from which I have 
 read, the law of American honor, strength and glory was announced in such majesty of 
 truth and power tliat I recur to it now in these degenerate days with the feeling of a 
 traveler in the burning desert as he approaches the cooling, healing waters of a fountain 
 in the depths of a grove. William L. Marcy ; honored forever be his name ! What 
 American can read his immortal letter to Mulseman, touching the arrest and imprison- 
 ment of Martin Koszta by the Austrian Empire, without feeling his patriotism kindle into 
 a flame and his pride of country rise high toward tiie zenith ? On the 26th day of Sep- 
 tember, 1853, the great Democratic vSecretary of State proclaimed the following grand 
 utterances to the listening, expectant, and wondermg nations of the earth : 
 
 "Whenever, by the operation of the law of nations, an individual becomes clothed 
 with our national character, be he native-born or naturalized citizen, an exile (lri\en from 
 his early home by political oppression, or an emigrant enticed from it by the hopes of a 
 better fortune for himself and his posterity, he can claim the protection of this Govern- 
 ment, and it may respond to that claim without being ol)liged to explain its conduct to 
 any foreign power, for it is its duty to make its nationality respected by other nations 
 and respectable in every quarter of the glol>e. • * • International law looks only 
 to the national character in determining what country has the right to protect. If a 
 person goes from this country abroad with the nationality of the L'nited States, (his law 
 enjoins upon other nations to respect him in regard to protection as an Anicrican citizen."' 
 
 Koszta was not yet a citizen of the United States ; he had simply declared his inten- 
 tion to Ijecome one. McSweeney's naturalization papers are full and complete. Koszta 
 had a domicil in this country less than two years. McSweeney has resided, a well- 
 known and respected business man, a (juarter of a century in San Francisco. Vet, having 
 laid down the principles of public law on the subject of American rights throughout the 
 world, Mr. Marcy continues :
 
 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 259 
 
 "Giving efiect to these well-established principles andapplying them to the facts in 
 the case, the result is that Koszta acquired, while in the United States, their national 
 character ; that he retained that character when he was seized at Smyrna, and that he 
 had a right to be respected as such while there by Austria and every other foreign power. 
 The right of a nation to protect and require otheis to resj:)ect at home and abroad all 
 who are clothed with its nationality is no new doctrine, now for the first time brought 
 into operation by the United States. It is common to ail nations, and has had the 
 sanction of their practice for ages, but it is new that at this late period, when the United 
 States assert a claim to it as a common inheritance, it should at once be discovered 
 that it is a doctrine fraught with danger and likely to compromit the peace of the 
 world. The United States sec no cause for alarm ; no reason for renouncing for them- 
 selves what others have so long ancl so harmlessly enjoyed."' 
 
 Sir, these are high, heroic words, and they well became the occasion. An American 
 sloop-of-war, the Saint Louis, Captain Ingraham, a son of South Carolina, commanding, 
 had, with shotted guns and lighted matches, rescued in a distant sea, from chains, dun- 
 geons and certain death the person of a wanderer and an exile who had barely touched 
 our shores, but who in that brief stay had clothed himself with the mantle of American 
 nationality. The imperial house of Hapsburg demanded that the Government of the 
 United States should tleliver him up to .Vusirian vengeance ; that it should disavow the 
 conduct of Captain Ingraham and all the .\mencan agents in the alTair ; punish them 
 severely, and then tender to .Vustria such satisfaction as she might deem proportionate to 
 the outrage complained of. And in oriler to enforce this demand upon the United States, 
 Austria applied to the principal powers of Europe, and actually induced them to warn 
 and admonish this Government in regard to its duty in tlie premises. 
 
 It was under these circumstances, with the whole world looking on, and with all 
 Europe in sympathy with Austria, that Marcy wrote his immortal comnmnication to the 
 representative of Austrian power and despotism. The Hungarian refugee was not 
 delivered up ; the conduct of Ingraham and the other American agents at Smyrna was 
 not disavowed ; they were not punished ; they were honored, and no other kind of sat- 
 isfaction than this was ever tendered to the Empire of Austria. [Manifestation of 
 applause in the galleries.] Now an American Secretary of State is content for the British 
 Government to inform him distinctly, througii the American minister, that it is none of 
 his business why American citizens are in British jails ; that the cause of their arrest will 
 not be given, and that they shall neither be tried nor released. The contrast is complete ; 
 it can go no further. 
 
 But it is said by the apologists of British arrogance and American pusillanimity that 
 under tiie act of Parliament, known as the Coercion act, it is lawful for men and women 
 to be arrested, sentenced, and indefinitely imprisoned who have committed no crime, 
 and are charged with none, but who have fallen under the suspicion of the spies and 
 informers of the British Government. We hear these unfortunate captives styled 
 "suspects," not criminals, but "suspects." 
 
 They are not alleged to have violated any law, but they are suspected of an intention 
 to discuss those questions, as old as human existence, which involve the scant measure 
 of bread on their poor tables, and the hard beds on which they and their children sleep 
 of nights. The law of sworn accusation, indictment, public trial, and conviction before 
 imprisonment under sentence, has given way to the law of suspicion. There can be no 
 more atrocious system of jurisprudence than this ; there can be no blacker crime com- 
 mitted by a government against its own citizens, or those who happen to sojourn within 
 its barbarous jurisdiction. Tiberius imprisoning and slaughtering Roman citizens upon 
 suspicions poured into his ears by his infamous parasite, Sejanus, presented not such a 
 spectacle of horror as the British Government in its policy towards Ireland now presents. 
 
 The evil-minded tyrant of Rome lived in a darker age than this. He was a heathen ; this 
 is the nineteenth century of the Christian era, and near its majestic close. Such an enactment 
 as the Coercion act now in operation in Ireland cannot be law at this period of the world; 
 it is the subversion of law ; it openly assaults every element of justice, human and divine; 
 it grapples with and seeks to overturn those immutable, eternal, inherent rights of man 
 which are higher and stronger than all the acts of repressive legislation in the entire 
 annals of despotism. If it is claimed that a government has the right to legislate for its 
 own citizens as it pleases, even this cannot be admitted without (jualification. The 
 civilized nations of the earth are not compelled to stand silently by and see one of their 
 number convert itself into a prison or a charnel house. International law recognizes a 
 point where they may interfere in the interests of humanity. But I am only insisting 
 now that Great Britain shall not be allowed to consign American citizens to chains ami 
 death, whatever she may do with her own, by virtue of an act which uproots, overturns, 
 and annihilates every vestige of freedom and law.
 
 360 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 I am insisting that when the American, "be he a native-born or naturalized citizen," 
 goes abroad in the peaceful pursuit of his own aflairs, whether of business or pleasure, 
 the nationality which lie carries shall protect him as well from judicial as from clandes- 
 tine murder ; from the ille;^al acts ot foreign governments as well as from the brutal con- 
 duct of foreign mobs. Under existing treaties with foreign powers American citizens 
 who happen within their jurisdiction are entitled to the best, not the worst, treatment 
 which the^e powers can furnish to their own people. Less than this would render our 
 citizenship delusion and a snare to all who relied upon it in the hour of need. 
 
 Sir, let us look this momentous question plainly in the face. We can less afford to 
 ignore' it or trifle with it than any other government on the globe. All our interests, 
 traditions, and every sentiment of sacred honor bind us to the most vigilant protection of 
 our citizens wherever they may be and whatever their nativity. The American Repub- 
 lic was established by the united valor and wisdom of the lovers of lil)erty 
 from all lands. The Frenchman with his gay disregard of danger, the 
 German with his steady courage, the Pole with his high enthusiasm, 
 and the Irisnman with all these qualities combined were here in tlie 
 long and bloody contest for American independence. La Fayette, the beloved of Wash- 
 ington ; Hamilton, who rode by his side and assisted to organize the Government ; 
 Pulaski', who fell at the head of his legions at Savannah ; De Kalb who died upon the 
 field witli all his sabre wounds in front ; Montgomery, who gave up his life in the storm 
 of (Juebec ; Steuben, the accomplished military organizer ; Kosciusko, with his genius 
 and'^daring ; and large numbers of their followers and associates were born under alien 
 skies and came to the banquet of battle and of death because of tlieir love for human 
 freedom. On every battle-plain of the Revolution, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, the 
 bones of their countrymen have long since crumbled to dust, and at every subsequent 
 period of American history the foreign-born citizen, in council and in field, has been 
 faithful to the common cause for which Jiis ancestry bled. 
 
 There are nearly 10,000,000 American citizens and inhabitants now of foreign birth. 
 They come notliere as aliens in blood with race prejudices against them. They are our 
 kindred • their blood and ours commingle. We are of a common parent stock. Shall 
 they be d'enied the protection of those institutions which they helped to purchase at so 
 dear a cost, and which they have done so much to uphold and honor? Sir, there are 
 now five Senators on this floor who were born subjects of Great Britain— three in Ireland, 
 one in Scotland, and one in England. Shall they fall under the law of suspicion if they 
 should revisit their native homes, be arrested at the pleasure of the British Government, 
 cast into dungeons without sworn charge, and held there indefinitely without trial ? 
 They are as Uable to such a fate as Daniel McSweeney or any other naturalized citizen, 
 and under the servile policy of the Department of State and Mr. Lowell, they would 
 remain in their cells instead of returning to their seats in this body. 
 
 It has been announced that an eminent American woman contemplates a visit to her 
 imprisoned son in Ireland. Mrs. Parnell would doubtless be arrested as a " suspect." 
 There is a two-fold reason why the suspicion of British spies would haunt her; she is the 
 mother of one who believes his people ought to have a chance to own their own hoines, and 
 who loves liberty and justice well enough to suffer for them; she is likewise the daughter 
 of Stewart of the " Ironsides," who saluted the British flag on the high seas in 1812, to 
 better purpose, and with far greater propriety, than the salute of October last at York- 
 town. [Applause in the galleries.] I plead for the right of this woman, and of all 
 women and men of foreign birth, or with foreign alliances, to visit their kindred, share in 
 their joys and their sorrows, look upon the graves of their parents, and caress the loved 
 ones they left Ijeliind them, without molestation or hindrance from any power whatever, 
 as long as they break no law. This is not a question a^ to the people of any one nativity; 
 it is not an Irish nor a German question; it applies to all naturalized citizens of every 
 clime and land, and it atTects their rights and their safety, on whatever sea or shore they 
 may wander. It will be settled at no distant day in accordance with American 
 honor. The people of the United States have too proud a sense of justice and of their 
 own strength and glorious destiny to suljmit longer to the policy of a party which per- 
 mits the American citizen, the American flag, and the American name to \x. outraged 
 with impunity by foreign nations. [Applause in the galleries.] 
 
 Governor Cleveland's Sentiments. 
 Fieivs Expressed When Mayor of Buffalo on the Release of the Ir'.sh Suspects. 
 When it became known in this country that Mr. Lowell had abandoned the 
 Americans imprisoned in Ireland without formal accusation, trial or conviction, the 
 public indignation found expression in mass meetings to protest against his course, and 
 about the time that the controvei-sy culminated such a meeting was called in this city. 
 It was held April 9, 1882, in St. James' Hall, and the Governor, who had been then three
 
 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 261 
 
 months ^layor of Buffalo, presided. On takini^ the chair he delivered the foUowintj 
 address, which is certainly as frank and outspoken in utterance in regard to the duties of 
 the American Government to its citizens abroad as any one need ask for : 
 
 " Fellow Citizens — This is the formal mode of address on occasions of this kind, 
 but 1 think we seldom realize fully its meaninij or how valuable a thinj; it is to be a 
 citizen. From the earliest civilization to be a citizen has been to be a free man, endowed 
 with certain privileges and advantages, and entitled to the full protection of the State. 
 The defense and protection of personal rights of its citizens has always lx:en the para- 
 mount and most important duty of a free, enlightened government. And perhaps no 
 government has this sacred trust more in its keeping than this, the Ixjst and freest of them 
 all ; for here the people who are to be protected are the source of those powers, which 
 they delegate upon the express compact that ilie citi/en shall Ix? protected. For this 
 purpose we choose those who for the tnne Licing shall manage the machinery which we 
 have set up for our defense and safety. 
 
 " And this protection adheres to us in all lands and places as an incident of citizen- 
 ship. Let but the weight of a sacrilegious hand be put upon this sacred thing, and a 
 great strong government springs to its feet to avenge the , wrong. Thus it is that the 
 native-born American citizen enjoys his birthright. But wlien, in the westward march of 
 empire, this nation was founded and took root, we beckoned to the Old World and 
 invited hither its immigration and provided a mode by which those who sought a home 
 among us might become our fellow citizens. They came by thousands and hundreds of 
 thousands ; they came and 
 
 ' Hewed the dark old woods away. 
 And gave the virgin fii-lds to-day ; ' 
 
 they came with strong sinews and brawny arms to aid in the growth and progress ot a 
 new country ; they came to our temples of justice and under the solemnity of an oath 
 renounced all allegiance to every other State, potentate and sovereignty, and surrendered 
 to us all the duty pertaining to such allegiance. We have accepted their fealty and 
 invited them to surrender the protection of their native land. 
 
 "And what should be given them in return? Manifestly, good faith and every dic- 
 tate of honor demands that we give them the same liberty and protection here and else- 
 where which we vouchsafe to our native-born citizens. And that this has been accorded to 
 them is the crowning glory of American institutions. It needed not the statute which is 
 now the law of the land, declaring that all naturalized citizens, while in foreign lands, 
 are entitled to and shall receive from this government the same protection of person and 
 property which is accorded to native-born citizens, to voice the policy of our nation. 
 
 "In all lands where the semblance of liberty is preserved, the right of a person 
 aiTCsted to a speedy accusation and trial is, or ought to be, a fundamental law as it is a 
 rule of civilization. At any rate, we hold it to be so, and this is one of the ri.;hts which 
 we undertake to guarantee to any native born or naturalized citizen of ours, whether he 
 be imprisoned by order of the Czar of Russia or under the pretext of a law administered 
 for the benefit of the landed aristocracy of England. We do not clami to make laws 
 for other countries, but we do insist that whatsoever those laws may lie they shall, in 
 the interests of human freedom and the rights of mankind, so far as they involve the 
 liberty of our citizens, be speedily administered. We have a right to say and do say that 
 mere suspicion without examination on trial is not sufficient to justify the long imprison- 
 ment of a citizen of America. Other nations may permit their citizens to he thus 
 imprisoned. Ours will not. And this in effect has been solemnly declared by statute. 
 
 "We have met here to-night to consider this subject and in>|uire into the cause and 
 the reasons and the justice of the imprisonment of certain of our fellow-citizens now held 
 in British prisons without the semblance of a trial or legal examination. Our law declares 
 that the Government shall act in such cases. But the people are the creators of the 
 Government. The undaunted apostle of the Christian religion, imprisoned and prose- 
 cuteil, appealing centuries ago to the Roman law and rights of Roman citizenship, 
 boldly demanded ; 'Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncon- 
 demned ? ' So, too, might we ask, appealing to the law of our land and the laws of 
 civilization: 'Is it lawful that these, our fellows, be imprisoned, who are American 
 citizens and uncondemned ? ' I deem it an honor to be called upon to preside at such a 
 meeting, and I thank you for it. What is your further pleasure ? " 
 
 In further illustration of the protection Americans abroad may expect from 
 Governor Cleveland, we reproduce the following from a recent letter to the New 
 York Uemld by Win. II. Hurlbert, who has recently given the subject very 
 thorough examination. He .says : 
 
 It is of good omen for the Democratic party that it invites the country to put the 
 control of this great issue into the hands of a President trained as Governor Cleveland
 
 2G2 PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD. 
 
 has been in that great school of executive responsibility from which the ablest managers 
 of the State Department, without distinction of party, have been graduated from the days 
 of ex-Governor Marcy down to the present time. 
 
 There are two great Declarations of Independence in our American history. 
 
 On the 4th of |uly, 1776, Tliomas Jeflerson drew up for the British colonies in 
 America the declaration of their right, as organized communities, to decide for themselves 
 the political conditions under whicli tliey would exist. 
 
 On the 20th of September, 1S53, ex-Governor Marcy, of New York, as Secretary of 
 State of the United States, under a Democratic administration, drew up and presented to 
 the world another and a scarcely less memorable declaration. 
 
 In his reply, tlien made, to the demand of Austria for the surrender of Martin Koszta, 
 a born subject of the Austrian Emperor as King of Hungary, who had taken part in the 
 Hungarian insurrection under Kossuth, escaped to America and declared his intention to 
 become an American citizen. Secretary Marcy once antl once for all made an end of the 
 European feudal doctrine of the indelible allegiance of the individual as impressed on him 
 at his l)irth. 
 
 This was the Democratic doctrine of ex-Governor Marcy. Tin's, we may be sure, will 
 be the Democratic doctrine of President Cleveland. Great Britain, after an obstinate 
 resistance of sixty years, found herselt compelled in 1871, by the able diplomacy of 
 another ex-Governor of New York, Mr. Hamilton Fish, formally to acquiesce in this 
 Democratic doctrine.
 
 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 263 
 
 Our Foreign Policy. 
 
 Importance of the Subject. 
 
 New foreign markets for our surplus j)roduets and manufactures is one of the 
 most pressing demands of the day. The American people think that a century is 
 enough for the adjustment of sectional rivalries, and that the time has now anived 
 when the public mind must not be limited to the consideration of home affairs. 
 They believe that 2,000,000,000 consumers in the markets of the whole world 
 will do more to relieve the farmer, the laborer, and the manufacturer than a lim- 
 ited home market of but o5, 000, 000 consumers. 
 
 An examination of our trade statistics shows the following remarkable, and we 
 miglit say, startling and disgraceful facts, viz : 
 
 But tico per cent, of our annual manufactures are sold abroad, notwithstanding 
 there are fifteen sister T^epublics soutli of us on the American Continent, exceed- 
 ingly deficient in and in need of manufactured articles of nearly every description. 
 
 About eighty per cent, of our exports are, on an average, the products of 
 agriculture. 
 
 Spanish-American Commerce. 
 
 Of our total annual exports, eighty per cent, goto Europe, and less than five per 
 cent, to the fifteen Spanish- American Republics. 
 
 We allow the trade of those Republics to be monopolized by England, France, 
 Germany and other European powers. 
 
 Recognizing the transcendent importance of a change in this respect, the 
 Democratic Party has incorporated in its National platform, the following resolu- 
 tion : 
 
 " We favor an American continental policy, ba.sed upon more intimate com- 
 mercial and political relations with the fifteen si.ster Republics of North, Central 
 and South America, but entangling alliances with none." 
 
 The total annual imports of these Spanish-American Republics, and our share 
 therein are, as stated in the last annual report of the State Department, as follows, 
 in value : 
 
 Mexico $35,000,000 |13,000.000 
 
 The five Central American Republics 10.100.000 1.626,000 
 
 The nine South American Republics 147,067,000 14.500.000 
 
 Imports from Imports from 
 ALL Countries. United States. 
 
 Total I *192,167,000 )j;29,126.000 
 
 Our share therein 15 per cent.
 
 204 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 Their total annual exports, and our share therein, are in value as follows : 
 
 Mexico $20,000,000 i $8,317,000 
 
 The five Central American Republics .... 14,328,000 I 2.905,000 
 
 The nine South American Republics 201,579,(00 ' 23,288,000 
 
 Exports to all Exports to the 
 Countries. United States. 
 
 Total $235,907,000 *34,510,000 
 
 Our share therein 14 per cent. 
 
 It will be observed from the above statistics that we supply less than one-sixth 
 part of their demand, and buy from them but about one-seventh part of their 
 surplus supply. 
 
 The present commerce of these coiintries is, however, but a drop in the bucket 
 compared with the enormous proportions it is bound to assume in the immediate 
 future, owinj^ to the tidal-wave of material development and progress which has 
 already extended as far south as the City of Mexico and is destined to continue 
 throughout the length and breadth of the foiu'teen other Republics beyond. We, 
 as a nation, cannot afford to sit still and see our European rivals reap the benefits 
 of the coming commercial harvest. 
 
 The great value and importance of the Spanish- American trade is owing to the 
 fact that those countries are in climate, resources, products, supply and demand, 
 the reverse and complement of the United States. Commercial exchanges based 
 upon such conditions are, therefore, most valuable, and in accordance with the 
 fundamental laws of trade and political econom}^ 
 
 If we are ever to have new foreign outlets for our surplus manufactures they 
 can best be found in these fifteen sister republics — countries in great need of rail- 
 way iron and supplies, farming implements, wagons and carriages, cotton and 
 woolen goods, boots and shoes, telegraph and telephone supplies, sewing machines, 
 and the various other manufactures which we have to sell. As Senator Maxey of 
 Texas, well said, in a recent speech in the United States Senate, in support of the 
 bill to aid the World's Industrial Exposition at New Orleans : " The importance 
 of securing the trade of Mexico and Central and South America cannot be over- 
 estimated. We must have an outlet for our surplus manufactured productions, or 
 the .shutting down of mills, the placement of workmen on half time, the reduction 
 of wages, and strikes will inevitably follow. We cannot hope for an extensive 
 market for our manufactured products in Europe, Tlie most inviting tield is the 
 country .south of us." 
 
 But we do not wish to be understood as asserting that the foreign policy of the 
 Democratic party will be limited to Spanish- America for its doctrine of " peace, 
 commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with 
 none," is broad enough to include the whole world. 
 
 We have selected these countries because they are to-day the most important, 
 and becau.se they best illu.strate the dangerous policy wliicli Mr. Blaine inaugurated 
 while Secretary of State.
 
 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 265 
 
 Dangerous Policy of Republican Party. 
 
 The nomination of Mr. Blaine as the standard-bearer of the Republican party, 
 drew forth from the Press the followinj^ significant comments : 
 
 Those of the Bodon Jim i Id are of peculiar interest, for the reason that it is 
 published in a city which has taken the lead in the railway development of Mexico. 
 It says, editorially, .June 27, as follows : 
 
 The criticism we make of Mr. Blaine's foreign policy is, that it was not well cal- 
 culated to commend us to the South American countries, or to secure an increase of our 
 trade with them. As a matter of fact, our unwise interference between Chili and Peru, as 
 the sponsors of an absurd guano claim, secured for us the ill-will ot both of those coun- 
 tries. 
 
 Mr. Blaine's policy did not seek peace and trade, or he did not know how to go to 
 work to secure them. The conference of American republics was to be held in obedience 
 to a call which excluded the consideration of commercial treaties. 
 
 What we need wliat would tend to increase our trade with the countries of South 
 America — is a comprehensive policy of quite another character from that of "jingo" and 
 guano. We need commercial treaties with those countries. Especially we need to be 
 represented in them by able, honest men, who know something alx)ut commerce, instead 
 of broken-down party 1 acks and "bummers," like Kilpatrick and IIurll>ert, sent out by 
 Mr. Blaine, and nearly all the official representatives of the United States in South Ame- 
 rica for fifty years. 
 
 The trade of South America is not to be secured by patronage and taffy, but by hon- 
 est dealing and respectful treatment. The leading men of the South American states are 
 alienated by the condescension of American politician-statesmen. It is their great gricv- 
 ante in dealing with this country, and they will never enter a conference, the apparent 
 object of which is merely to glorify the United States. 
 
 Finally, there is no need of a conterence, and there is no reason to suppose that it 
 would lead to any important result. We need new commercial treaties and steamship 
 lines, for the encouragement of which we are in favor of the most lilieral policy. 
 
 In another editorial July 17th, the Herald, says: 
 
 It may be said that Mr. Blaine, in spite of his desire to inaugurate a brilliant policy, 
 and in spite of the fact that no national policy is so brilliant as a war jiolicy, would have 
 the coolness and determination to resist temptation, and would neither seize on the 
 Panama canal nor abrogate the Clayton-Buhver treaty, if he thought that the peace of 
 the nation would thereby be jeopardized. We place very little confidence in arguments 
 of this kind, for the good and suflicient reason that, il .Mr. Blane is elected President, the 
 men to whom he owes his nomination, anil to whom he will owe election, will also dic- 
 tate to him the policy which he is to pursue. He has been nominated because he is 
 thought to be intensely and aggressively American, and, if he is elected, he cannot afford 
 to, and will not, disappoint his admirers by proving to them that they have mistaken 
 their man. We do not mean by this that the enthusiastic Republicans in the West would 
 welcome a foreign war, but we do assert that the policy of which they approve would 
 almost inevitably lead to that result, although at the present time we acquit them of 
 having that conclusion in view in so strenuously advocating it. In intercourse between 
 nations, a government cannot assert itself in an aggressive manner unless it is willing and 
 prepared to follow up its demands with armed force. To make a demand, and to then 
 back down from it when resistance is offered, is one of the most huniiliating conditions 
 into which a nation can fail, and yet the so-called .Vmerican, or jingo, policy, for the 
 development of which Mr. Blaine is pushed forward, is one which must lead us either 
 to make demands and back them up with cannon and bayonet, or submit to ungracious 
 snubs from those who are not disposed to yield what they consider their rights, unless 
 they are compelled to do so by superior force. 
 
 From the Mississippi Valley, also, which is so deeply interested in the railway 
 and commercial development of Mexico and Ihe other states of Spanish America, 
 comes an earnest protest against Mr. Blaine's foreign policy as illustrated by his 
 acts while Secretary of State. In a speech, opening the campaign in St. Louis, 
 lion. James O. Broadhead said : 
 
 Taking a business view of the matter, Mr. Blaine ought to be peculiarly objectional)le 
 to the people of St. Louis ami the whole Mississippi Valley. He has made himself
 
 266 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 obnoxious to our sister republics that lie south of us at a time when we are about to culti- 
 vate extreme friendly commercial relations wuh them. They fear his election because 
 they fear it will brmir disaster to them, and they have in various ways already given 
 expression to these fears. During the short time Mr. Blaine was Secretary of State 
 under Garfield, he alienated the good will of Mexico and one of the South American 
 republics by his course toward them as Secretary of State. He attempted to interfere in 
 tiie difficulties lietween Chili and Peru * * • * * and nearly succeeded in goad- 
 ing the republic of Chili into a decl.iration of hostilities toward us. 
 
 It is our interest, not only the interest of St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley, but of 
 the whole country, to secure the commerce of these sister republics. The imports of 
 these countries amount annually to nearly $500,000,000. We supply only one-sixth of 
 this amount. We ought to supply nearly all of it. They need our manufactures — par- 
 ticularly the manufactures of the Western States. We need tlieir raw materials. This 
 trade ought to be secured by treaties of reciprocity, but the platform of the Republican 
 party asserts that the duties on raw materials ought not to be abated. Unless they are 
 al>aled we cannot build up a profitable export trade in manufactured articles. 
 
 Our true policy is that of peace. We want no war with our sister republics. They 
 followed our example. They were born in the same atmosphere of freedom with our- 
 selves and the course of humanity and justice, as well as our own commercial interests, 
 require us to keep friendly relations with them. 
 
 Mr. Blaine is not our candidate. He antagonizes the interests of the people of this 
 great valley. 
 
 Again, in a letter by the Hon. James Speed of Kentucky, who was Attorney- 
 General in President Lincoln's Cabinet, we find the following : 
 
 The foreign relations of this country are pretty much in the hands of the President, 
 Duiing the short time Mr. Blaine acted as Secretary of State he exhibited sucli a view of 
 international law as to make me believe that, should he be elected President, if he would 
 not plunge us into needless foreign ditticulties he would bring our diplomacy into disrepute 
 and make us the laughingstock of the civilized world. No personal magnetism or brilliant 
 sentences can compensate for such a blunder. To vote for him would be like voting 
 against the peace and honor of my country. I cannot do that at the bidding of the 
 Republican party. 
 
 These are but a few of the many adverse criticisms, from various parts of the 
 United States, and from abroad of Mr. Blaine's foreign jiolicy while Secretary of 
 State. What, then, are the acts which call forth this condemnation. 
 
 The Chili-Peru Affair. 
 
 The voluminous record of the troubles between Chili and Peru, of the guano 
 claims, which were so vigorously prosecuted by Mr. Blaine while Secretarj- of 
 State, and of other matters in dispute between tho.se Eepublics is too lengthy to 
 reproduce in this connection. We can only give a few significant facts to illus- 
 trate the officiousness and dangerous drift of Mr. Blaine's course. 
 
 In Febi-uary, 1882, the following resolution was adopted by the House of 
 Representatives : 
 
 Whereas, it is alleged in the Chili-Peruvian correspondence recently and officially 
 published, upon the call of the two Houses of Congress, that one or more ministers 
 plenipotentiary of the United States were either personally interested or improperly con- 
 nected with business transactions in which the intervention of this Government was 
 requested or expected ; and 
 
 IVhereas, it is further alleged that certain papers in relation to the same subjects 
 have been improperly lost or removed from the files of the State Department : There- 
 fore, 
 
 Resolved^ That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be, and they are hereby, instructed 
 to inquire into the said allegations, and ascertain the facts relating thereto, and report 
 the same, with such recommendations as they may think proper, and they shall have 
 power to send for persons and papers. 
 
 In March, 1882, the following furtlier resolution was adopted l)y the Ilotise : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Affairs l)e directed to demand from 
 Jacob R. Shipherd of New York, copies of all correspondence between himself and
 
 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 267 
 
 any person or persons whatsoever, and all papers and other evidence in his possession 
 tending to show what said Shipherd did or attempted to do to enforce the claim of 
 the Peruvian Company or to induce the United States to enforce this claim against 
 Peru. 
 
 Under the authority of these resolutions the Committee entered into an extended 
 investig-ation. 
 
 The miuority report of lion. Perry Belmont i.s a.s follows : 
 
 "The undersigned concurs in the general conclusions of the foregoing report of the 
 committee, excepting so far as they are qualified by his statements in a speech delivered 
 byjhim in the House, July 5, 1882. He also submits the following statement in regard 
 to^the Landreau claims : 
 
 "Tlie claim is tor services alleged to have lieen rendered by Theophile Landreau, a 
 Frenchman, and amounts to a sum variously stated from seven millions three hundred 
 thousand to one hundred and twenty-five millions of dollars. Precisely what those 
 services were, or what amount of time, trouble, and money were expended in giving 
 them, is not shown. The claimant and his friends confine themselves to vague and 
 general allegations that they were very costly to him and important to the Government 
 of Peru. They consisted in searching for deposits of guano. Me did not Ixigin this 
 search nor prosecute it at the special request of the Peruvian Government, nor in pur- 
 suance of any contract or employment. He alleges that he undertook it l)ecause he was 
 attracted by certain decrees and proclamations offering a reward of thirty-three per cent, 
 for discovermg property previously unknown and Ijelonging to the government. He pro- 
 fessed to believe and to have the private opinion of some distinguished Peruvian, whom 
 he did not name, that he could, under these decrees and proclamations, entitle himself 
 to the reward of thirty-three per cent, if he ascertained that any particular part of the 
 public land contained guano. This was not a true construction of the decree, and he was 
 probably conscious of it. He conducted his searches clandestinely, and whatever dis- 
 coveries he made he kept to himself. Having made a "list" of the lands on which he 
 said that he had found guano, and sealed it up, lie offered to sell his secret to the govern- 
 ment. It was bought, or at least a bargain was made for it, upon terms which would 
 give the claimant an enormous fortune if his list was a true one. He alleges that the 
 property on which he had found guano was worth four hundred millions. The govern- 
 ment refused to pay on the basis of this list until it was verified by an examination of the 
 lands, and declared that Landreau's demand was so large that it could never be paid ; 
 but they were willing to pay him what he might reasonably deserve to have. They 
 insisted, however, that they must be allowed time to examine the whole subject, with a 
 view to the making of a new contract. This proposition was resented as a denial ot 
 justice. Much dispute followed, and a solemn declaration was made by the executive 
 branch of the government that the contract was void. It does not appear that there was 
 any absolute refusal to pay for the services whicli Landreau rendered, but the parties did 
 not agree on the terms of a new bargain. 
 
 "This action of Peru gave rise to much harsh denunciation. Landreau and his 
 supporters in that country and elsewhere loudly asserted that the government had 
 contracted the guilt and infamy of a repudiating State. To the undersigned it does not 
 appear so. Wliat they refused to pay was not an ascertained and honest debt. 
 
 "The fact that Landreau thrust his services upon the Peruvian government ; that he 
 gave the public authorities no notice of his intentions ; that he made no report to them 
 of his progress ; that when the bargain was made the government was utterly ignorant of 
 the subject matter it embraced ; that the officers consenting to it had no means of 
 knowing what Landreau would claim under it except by reference to papers which were 
 then close under seal and which Landreau would not permit them to open — these facts 
 show it to have l)een at best a catching bargain, not sanctioned by any principle of 
 public law or commercial morality. Kut, apart from all this, the enormous disparity 
 between the services rendered and the compensation claimed for, them under the contract 
 is per se evidence of fraud so strong that no chancellor in the world would enforce it in a 
 suit between private parties. The proper authorities were, therefore, perfectly justified 
 in pronouncing the contract void. 
 
 "Thi^ decision upjn the contract was made by the executive branch of the Peruvian 
 Government ; the legislature, being appealed to, refused to say it was wrong ; and when 
 the judicial courts were called upon by the claimant to enforce the contract they 
 decided that they had no jurisdiction of such a cause. Undoubtedly the courts 
 were right. No law of Peru gave the judiciary power to cite the Executive tiefore it and 
 rejudge its decision in such a case. In that country, as in this and every other, the 
 decision of the Executive is final in matters of contract between the sovereign and an
 
 268 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 individual, except where some special provision submits it to the cognizance of a judicial 
 tribunal. 
 
 "The claimant got a decision from the Executive. It was a right and tnie determin- 
 ation of the cause, and he falsely complained that justice was denied him. Justice was not 
 denied him ; it was given him by the only organ of the government which had 
 jurisdiction of the parties or the subject-matter in controversy. 
 
 "After the decision of the Executive against him and the refusal of the legislature to 
 interfere, and his failure in the courts, he applied to his own government — that of France 
 — to aid him in getting his claim acknowledged and paid. But here he was met by his 
 own express agreement that he should forfeit his claim it he proceeded or attempted to 
 piocure the diplomatic intervention of any foreign government in its favor. It will not 
 be denied that this was a perfectly lawful provision, which could not be violated without 
 incurring the stipulated penalty. It was a dependent covenant, and therefore an essential 
 part of the contract. It was wise, necessary, and just to insert it. Peru was willing to 
 make contracts with foreigners who would consent to put themselves on a level with her 
 own citizens, but she would not embroil herself with forergn governments about the 
 execution of contracts which concerned her own domestic affairs exclusively. The 
 conclusion from this is that Landreau forfeited and completely lost whatever rights he 
 might previously have had under the contract when he violated it by seeking the aid of 
 France. But the government of France refused to interfere, either because its authorities 
 saw that intervention would be ipso facto the legal destruction of the claim, or else because 
 it was, in their opinion, originally dishonest and unjust. Yet Landreau pressed it upon 
 them so persistently that it became necessary for the foreign office to instruct its diplomatic 
 agents in Peru to have no communication with him. 
 
 " Being thus silenced by the adverse judgment of both Peru and France, the device was 
 adopted of getting American influence to carry it. It might be supposed that the United 
 States would be very slow to give its protection to a French claim of such character and 
 with such a history. The pretenses upon which this was effected were very shallow. 
 
 "It seems that John C. Landreau, a younger brother of J. Theophile Landreau, had 
 come to America when about eighteen years of age, and was living in Louisiana. Our 
 authorities believed him to have become an American citizen, but that fact is doubtful ; 
 tor though he had a certificate of naturalization and was appointed fo a consulate in the 
 West Indies, which a foreigner could not hold, the records of the court in which he was 
 said to have been naturalized contain no trace of such an act. However that may be, 
 John C. Landreau was alleged, both by himself and his brother, to have an interest in the 
 claim which made it the duty of the American Government to prosecute it. 
 
 " What connection had John C. Landreau with the claim of Theophile? None 
 whatever that could justify or even excuse us for intervening. Certain letters between 
 the brothers are produced which, if authentic and written at the time of their date shows 
 that Theophile told John while he was prosecuting his searches for guano, what he was 
 engaged in and how largely he hoped to profit by it. " For my part,' he adds, " I take 
 you for my partner and wait with anxiety for tlic five thousand dollars you promised to 
 send me. " Subse(|uently he acknowledges the receipt of six thousand two hundred and 
 fifty dollars previously promised. On what account this remittance was made is not 
 shown, but it was manifestly not a contribution of John to the capital of any partnership 
 in Theophile's Peruvian adventure. There was never any agreement between them 
 which bound John to share losses, or which entitled him to profits. Theophile prosecuted 
 the business alone ; there was no privity of contract between Juhn and Peru ; John was 
 wholly unknown to that government, and his name was never mentioned in any of its 
 dealings with Theophile. 
 
 " If we assume that John was an American citizen and that he had a secret interest in 
 Theophile's contract by virtue of some unknown arrangement between themselves, is it 
 not still preposterous to say that these facts would metamorphose the Frenchman's case 
 into an American claim? At the beginning it was a French claim, if anything. France 
 pronounced it unworthy of su]5port. Did the claimant change his civic relations or the 
 nationality of his deman'd by simply revealing the fact that a naturalized citizen of the 
 L'nited .States had a secret interest in the success of the speculation ? 
 
 " But notwithstanding the obvious impropriety of our intermeddling with this bad claim 
 of a French adventurer, its supporters were ingenious enough to convince the State 
 Department that we ought to do so. Mr. Fish, who at first would have nothing to do 
 with it, was induced to say at a later period that it appeared to deserve examination ; the 
 officer whose duty it was to report upon its merits expressed an opinion strongly in its 
 favor ; a committee of this House went the length of instructing the President to prosecute 
 It, by a joint resolution, which, however, tailed to |>ass the Senate. Mr. Blaine, regard- 
 ing the judgment of his predecessors as conclusively binding on him, and believing he
 
 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 269 
 
 could not go l)ehind what he called the adjudication of this House, went in fact a long 
 step beyond that. 
 
 "In all the discussions of the subject, American officers conductint,' them have ignored 
 the fraudulent character of tlie ori;4nial contract ; the manifest justice ot the decision 
 made against it by the executive branch of the I'eruvian government ; the finality of that 
 decision under the laws of Peru ; the absolute renunciation expressed m the contract 
 itself of all right to call in the aid of any foreign government ; the refusal of the claim- 
 ant's own government to support him in his demands , the al)surdity of calling this an 
 American claim merely because an American citizen was sui)posed to have a secret 
 interest, not in the claim itself, but in the successful prosecution of it liy a foreigner, and 
 the total absence of all proof to show the existence even of that indirect interest. Over- 
 looking these facts, and listening only to accusations against Teru, as false as they were 
 vague, the authorities of this government became worked up to the point of asserting in 
 solemn diplomatic form that Peru was bound in duty and honor either "to supply an 
 impartial tribunal, extend the jurisdiction of the pre>ent courts, or else submit the case of 
 Landreau to arbitration." Peru was addressed in this decisive style upon the subject of 
 Theophile Landreau's false claim, alter it was adju.licated against him by the only 
 Peruvian tribunal which had any right to decide it, and after the government' of France 
 had resolutely and most emphatically refused to give it the slightest countenance. In the 
 same dispatch the Secretary of State instructs the Mmister at Lima not only to call the 
 attention of the Peruvian government to "this inju-tice," but directs the Minister to s.iy 
 "that the United States will c-.v/'i-ct some adequate and proper means to lie provided by 
 which Landreau can obtain a judicial decision upon his rights." The minister is further 
 instructed as follows : "As it may he presumed that you will l)e fully informed as to the 
 progress of negotiations l>etween Chili and Peru for a treaty of jK-ace, you will make 
 such efforts as you judiciously can to secure for Landreau a fair settlement of his claim." 
 
 " But this is not all. Anticipating that in a treaty of peace between Chili and Peru the 
 latter might be compelled to surrender a portion of her territory, including possibly the 
 guano deposits o*" which Landreau claimed to Ije the discoverer, he declared that the 
 treaty should stipulate " for the preservation and payment to Landreau of the amount 
 due under the contract." 
 
 " The Secretary, speaking for and in the name of the President, goes further. He 
 declares that if a transfer of territory be made to Chili it shall be understood that 
 Landreau's claim must be treated as :\. prL'r lien, and that Chili accepts the cession with 
 that condition annexed. We do not suppose that the word lien is used here in its proper 
 legal sense. The author of the dispatch meant to say that Chili must be made to take 
 an estate in the territory subject to a paramount title in Landreau for such part as his 
 claim covered ; that the treaty must recognize Landreau's rights as being superior to 
 those of the high contracting parties and /r/^r to all others; and that Chili must not 
 satisfy her own claim for expenses of the war without first indemnifying Landreau for 
 the failure of his speculation upon Peru. 
 
 " This was certainly taking very high ground, and the Secretary of State expresses the 
 determination of this government to hold it firmly ; for he instructs the minister in con- 
 clusion : "You will take especial care to notify both the Chilian and Peruvian authorities 
 of the character and status of the claim, in order that no definitive treaty of peace shall be 
 made in disregard ot the rights which Landreau may be found to possess." 
 
 " These acts of the State Department and of the minister are said in some quarters to 
 be unofficial. When a minister plenipotentiary, in pursuance of express instructions from 
 the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, comes between the authorities of two lielligerent 
 nations negotiating for peace with a notification addressed to both for the avowed pur- 
 pose of preventing a treaty to which otherwise they might consent, it is impossible to 
 say that the proceeding is unofficial. If the minister had violated his instructions by 
 neglecting or refusing to give the notification, would he not have been justly chargeable 
 with a breach of his oiiicial duty ? 
 
 "In the case of a contract between a citizen of one country and the sovereign of 
 another, the government of the private party has no right to do more than communicate 
 the facts and express its opinion upon their effect. This is the exercise of good offices. 
 Did we confine ourselves to good offices when we threw Landreau's claim l)etween Peru 
 and her victorious enemy, "so that no definitive treaty of peace should be made" with- 
 out a provision for its ultimate satisfaction ? Peru was engaged in a disastrous war, and 
 we notified her that she should make no peace without settling Landreau's claim. 
 Would we have proposed terms more harsh than these if we had threatened her with a 
 war of our own ? These were not good oflices, not the impartial advice of a friendly 
 mediator, but the urgency of a power intent upon forcing from her distress what her 
 sense of justice had denied.
 
 270 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 •'Chili was as much averse to this proposed American basis of a treaty as Peru. 
 Neither of them was willing to have anything to do witli Landreau or his exploded fraud. 
 It could not be expected that the successful belligerent would share the fruits of victory 
 with him, nor would the conquered country voluntarily diminish its means of buying oft 
 the invaders of its soil. It was perfectly natural, therefore, th^t both parties to the war 
 should reject the proposition with indignation. • 
 
 " The dispatches of August 4 and December 16, 1881, say, in words too plain to be 
 misunderstood, that no treaty could or should be made with the apjirobation of the 
 United States unless it contained a stipulation in favor of Landreau. The words admit 
 of no other construction. In the dispatch of August 4 the belligerents are to be notified 
 that no definitive treaty shall be made in disregard of Landreau's rights. Did these 
 words signify nothing ? It they had a meaning, what was it ? It is not possible to 
 understand them except as an expression of our determination to look with extreme dis- 
 favor upon any ajdustment of the troubles between Peru and Chili which would not pro- 
 mote the interests ot Landreau. It was a palpable effort to make Landreau a party to 
 the treaty. Whatever concessions might be made by one of the belligerents to the other, 
 our influence was to be used that both would yield to Landreau. 
 
 " The disgrace brought upon our government by producing this unjust demand at such 
 a juncture of affairs was wholly without a shadow of excuse, even if the claimant had 
 been entitled to our protection. But he was a French citizen, for whose fortunes, good 
 or bad, we were in no way responsible. 
 
 "We volunteered to lake up the case of this extravagant stranger after his own govern- 
 ment had cast it off. The Secretary did not see this imjiortant point correctly — most 
 likely did not advert to it all — therefore he called it "this claim of an American citizen," 
 which is a very confusing mode of speech. It was exclusively the claim of Theophile 
 Landreau, who is n'ot, and does pretend to be, an American citizen. If it be said that 
 John C. Landreau is an American citizen, the answer is oln'ious that it was no claim of 
 John's, for it is not founded on any contract or agreement with him, express or implied, 
 and had not its origin in any transaction to which he was a party. 
 
 " The United States had a deep interest in bringing about a peace between Peru and 
 Chili. As the leading power on this continent, our government was naturally looked to 
 with the respect which national power always inspires, and it might ea>ily have main- 
 tained the ascendency to which it was entitled. But when the belligerents perceived 
 that, instead of counseling moderation and justice, our authorities were to use their 
 influence to import false and foreign elements into the negotiations, all confidence in our 
 friendly intervention was destroyed." 
 
 We also invite attention to the following extract from one of Mr. Blaine's letter* 
 to Mr. Hurlburt (Aug. 4, 1881), particularly the last paragraph: 
 
 "While this government will not, as at present informed, undertake to construe the 
 contract or to decide upon the extent of the compensation due Landreau, you are instruc- 
 ted to call the attention of the Pemvian Government to this injustice, and say that the 
 Government of the United States will expect some adequate and proper means to be pro- 
 vided by which Landreau can obtain a judicial decision upon his rights. If the constitu- 
 tion of the Peruvian courts or the interpretation of the law by Peruvian judges deprives 
 Landreau of the justice which the contract itself guaranteed him, then, in the opinion of 
 this government, Peru is bound in duty and in honor to do one of three things, viz: 
 Supply an impartial tribunal, extend the jurisdiction of the present courts, or submit the 
 case of Landreau to arbitration. I desire also to call your attention to the fact that in the 
 anticipated treaty which is to adjust the relations of Chili and Pei'U, the latter may pos- 
 sibly be compelled to submit to the loss of territory. 
 
 " If the territory to be surrendered should include the guano deposits which were 
 discovered by Landreau, aiul for the discovery of which Peru contracteil to pay him a 
 royalty upon the tonnage removed, then the Peruvian Government should in the treaty 
 stipulate with Chili for the preservation and payment to Landreau ot the amount due 
 under his contract. If transfer be made to Chili it should be understood that this claim 
 of an American citizen, if fairly adjudicated in.his favor, shall be treated as a proper lien on 
 the property to which it attaches, and that Chili accepts the cession with that condition 
 annexed. As it mr.y be jiresumed that you will be fully informed as to the progress of 
 the negotiations between Chili and Peru for a treaty of peace, you will make such effort 
 as you judiciously can to secure for Landreau a fair settlement of his claim. Vou will 
 take special care to notify both the Chilian and Peruvian authorities of the character and 
 status of the claim in order that no definitive treaty of ]ieace shall be made in disiegard of 
 the rights which Landreau may be found to possess. "
 
 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 271 
 
 In this connection the following testimony of Mr. Blaine before the committee, 
 in response to questions by Mr. Belmont, becomes of interest : 
 
 Mr. BEi.MONT_Or either of (hem, because Mr. Trescot at that time was proceeding' 
 to Chili and Peru. Was not the effect of those instructions that (.eneral Ilurlljut sliould 
 ake fecial care to inform both the Chilian and Peruvian authont.es of the character and 
 sutus of the claim of J.C Landreau, in order that no defmitive treaty ot peace should be 
 made in disrejjard of the rights which Landreau might be found to possess . 
 
 a ^WasMiot'lh^ effect of those instructions to require General llurlbut to insist that 
 Chili should stipulate, in a treaty of peace, that if it slun. d be ;^'^^-',J^;,> >?>;. ''^..^^^"(^^^^l^j 
 Government that J. C. Landreau had a lien on any territory ceded to Chih, that Lh.li 
 should thereupon iecognize that lien?-A. Ves; that he should make that request 
 
 O If Chili had refused to make such stipulation, would not General Hurlbut have 
 been bound to resist, to the extent of his influence, the signmg of a treaty of peace with- 
 out the stipulation ? ,,••:> 
 
 The WiT.Miss -What had he to do with the signing i" 
 
 itr Belmont-I have not finished. Now, Mr. Blaine, without any more non- 
 
 sense 
 
 The W'lTNESS-Well, I am very glad to hear that, Mr. Belmont; I am very glad to 
 
 hear it, indeed. . 
 
 Mr. Belmont— Now, will you answer the ciuestion . 
 
 The Witness— If you will state it again I will. , it n » 
 
 t) I ask if Chili had refused to make such stipulation, would not General llurlbut 
 
 have been boun.l to resist, to the extent of his influence, the signing of a treaty of peace 
 
 ^'T'^^S^^rts^^'t.au.ii that he ought to have used all his influence 
 to p'revent a treaty of peace that should shut out the rights of an .\merican citizen. 
 
 o! You say that he would ?-A. Yes. sir. He would have been censurable if he 
 
 had not. _ , . 
 
 Q, Well, you have given the answer I was seeking. 
 
 In further illustration of Mr. Blaine's ofBciousness. we quote as follows from 
 his letter of instructions (Doc. 1, 1881) while Secretary of State to Mr. Trescott, 
 whom he was about sending on a mission to South America : 
 
 "In giving the support of recognition to the Calderon government so far was this 
 eovernmeit from doing what could be considered an unfriendly act to Chili that it was, in 
 Fact ui^ng ad to the very policy Chili avowed, and which, in the op.mon of competent 
 Ses was die only method of reasonable solution. And this conclusion ot the govern- 
 St warsueng?;:eLd and confirmed by the j-f i'nation vvhkh ^as transmitted to t.ie 
 deoartment 1)V Gen. Kilpatrick, United States Mmister to Cnb. As soon as 
 
 fhrfS indicated the possibilit; of real and independent vitality in he constitution of 
 he Caldea 1 'overnmJnt, the Chilian authorities issued an order forbidding any exercise 
 of it^?unct;o;s^vithi^ the'territo.y occupied l.y the ChHiananny that - -thin^he entire 
 territory west of the mountains, includingthe capital and .po^ts of Peru. Un.ahl. to 
 understand this sudden and-giving due regard to the professions of Chili-this unaccount- 
 able Sngec^^^^I^^^^^^^^^^^ go?eminent instructed its minister at Lima to continue to recog- 
 nl he Calderon government until more complete information woud enable .to send 
 further insictions. If our present information is correct, immediately on receipt of this 
 clmu," cS ar-csted President Calderon, and thus, as far as was in their power, 
 
 S Se h s 'overnment. The President does not now insist on the inference wh.cli 
 thrStSn would wa rant. He hopes there is some explanat on which will rel.eve hiin 
 this action ^'°" ' ;\^ ' • t. ^^^^ ,^,,en as a resentful reply to the continued recog- 
 
 SSn oV\l e Ca S-oT ";ernmr,n by t "e United States. f,' unfortunately, he should 
 Ef mis"-ike and uch motive be avowed, your duty will be a brief one. \ou will 
 say to tie Chilian government that the President considers such a proceeding as an 
 
 n entioiaf and unwarranted offence, and you will -----^^-^'^'-^'.L ^;7ed W he 
 
 r- .,,., r^f tlip I'niipcl States with the assurance that it will oe legarcieci uy luc 
 
 gorenimeni L 'In act o' such m'uriendly import as to require the immediate suspension 
 
 of all diplomatic intercourse. ^ 
 
 » * * * * 
 
 " Should the Chilian Government, while disclaiming any intention of offence, maintain 
 
 its ri.?ht to settle s difticult.es with Peru without the friendly intervention of other 
 
 ouLt-s and ?effi.e to allow the tormation of any government in Peru which doe. not 
 
 Jkdg?'co sei t to he cession of Peruvia.i territory, it will be your duty, in language as
 
 272 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 stronof as is consistent with the respect due an independent power, to express the disap- 
 pointment and dissatisfaction felt by the United Slates at such a deplorable policy. 
 
 " The United States, with which Peru has for many years maintained mjst cordial 
 relations, has a ri.;ht to feel and express deep interest in its distressed conilition, and 
 whde with equal friendliness to Chili, we will not interpose to deprive her of the fair 
 advanta;.;es of military success, nor to put any obstacle to the attainment of future 
 security, we cannot regard with unconcern the destruction of Peruvian nationality. If 
 our good offices are neglected, and this policy of the absorption of an independent 
 state be persisted in, this Government will consider itself discharged from any further 
 obligation to be influenced in its action by the position which Chili has assumed, and will 
 hold itself free to appeal to other republics of this continent to join it in an effort to avert 
 consequences which cannot be confined to Chili and Peru, but which threaten with 
 extremest danger the political institutions, peaceful progress, and liberal civilization of 
 all America. " 
 
 Boundary Between Mexico and Guatemala. 
 
 3Ir. Blaine's officiousness in matters in dispute between the two sister republics, 
 Mexico and Guatemala, may be seen from the following extracts from official cor- 
 respondence between bim, while Secretary of State, and Mr. Morgan, the United 
 States minister at the City of Mexico. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Morgan under date of June 16, 1881, Mr. Blaine wrote : 
 
 "Without, therefore, in any way prejudging the contention between Mexico and 
 Guatemala, but acting as the unbiased councillor of both, the President deems it his 
 dutv to set before the government of Mexico his conviction of the danger to the principles 
 which Mexico has so signally and successfully defended in the past which would eusue, 
 should disrespect be shown to the boundaries which separate her from her weaker neigh 
 bors, or should the authority of force be resorted to m e.>tal)lishment of rights over terri- 
 tory which they claim, without the conceded justification of her just title thereto. And 
 especially would the President regard as an unfriendly act toward the cherished plan of 
 upbuilding strong republican governments in Spanish America, if Mexico, whose power 
 and generosity should be a like signal in such a case, shall seek or permit any misunder- 
 standing with Guatemala, when the path toward a pacific avoidance of trouble is at once 
 so easy and so imperative an international duty." 
 
 In another letter to Mr. Morgan, June 21, 1881, Mr. Blaine wrote : 
 
 " This is a matter touching which ihe now-established policy of the government of 
 the United States to refrain from territorial acquisition gives it the right to use its friendly 
 offices in discouragement of any movement on the part of neighboring states which may 
 tend to disturb the l)alance of power between them. More than this, the maintenance 
 of this honorable atiitude of example involves, to a large extent, a moral obligation on 
 our part, as the strong but disinterested friend of all our sister states, to exert our influ- 
 ence for the preservation of the national life and integrity of any one of them against 
 aggression, whether this may come from abroad or from another American rei)ublic, by 
 his government to avert a conflict with Guatemala by diplomatic means, or, these failing, 
 by resort to arbitration. And you will especially intimate, discreetly but distinctly, thai 
 the good feeling between Mexico and the United States requires, and will be fortified by 
 a frank avowal that the Mexican policy toward the neighboring states is not one of con- 
 que.-t or aggrandizement, but of consideration, peace and friendship." 
 
 In a letter from Mr. Morgan to Mr. Blaine, July 12, 1881, he tlius alludes to an 
 interview had with Mr. Mariscal, Secretar}' of State of Me.vico : 
 
 " In reply to the suggestion of the aibitrament of the President of the United States, he 
 replied tiiat whatever Mexico might be willing to accede to m the future, there was 
 nothing at the present moment to arbitrate about. He said that Mexico had proposed to 
 Guatemala to renew the convention for the appointment of a commission to survey the 
 tract of country which was in dispute, that the <|uestion of the appointment of such a 
 commission was pending, and that until that question should be decided there was, in 
 reality, no dispute to submit to an arbitrator. He also declared that if there had been 
 any delay in the appointing of such a commission, the fault was altogether with (juate- 
 mala. He also said that troops had been sent to the frontier, as tiie President had 
 announced in his message to Congress, but that they were sent tiicre for the purpose of 
 protecting -Mexican citizens, and not with any view of making war upon Guatemala.
 
 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 273 
 
 Mr. Mariscal was very earnest in his denials of any cause of complaint on the part of 
 Guatemala, and as to the want of any necessity of an arbitration, so much so, that I 
 deemed it proper, in order that there mii^ht be no possible que>tion hereafter, either as to 
 the letter or the spirit of your instructions, or their interpretation by me, to read Senor 
 Mariscal your dispatch, and offered to send him a copy thereof, which he accepted, and 
 which I did." 
 
 In a letter from Mr. Morgan to Mr. Blaine. July 19, 1881, is the following 
 allusion to another interview with Mr. Mariscal : 
 
 " Senor Mariscal manifested somethin^j of excitement, I thoui^ht, and interrupted me 
 by repeating the complaints which Mexico had, as he said, just grounds to make against 
 Guatemala ; of her want of fair dealing, and, in tact, duplicity in pretending to negotiate 
 a convention with him for the appointment of commissioners to survey the strip of 
 territory which was in dispute, with the view of finally settling the boundaries between 
 the two countries, while she had Ixjen secretly attempting to obtain the interference of 
 the United States in their disputes, thus rendering the appointment of a commission 
 unnecessary. He insisted upon it that it was Guatemala that had committed acts of 
 aggression upon Mexico, instead of Mexico upon Guatemala. ' ' 
 
 In a letter from Mr. Morgan to Mr. Blaine, August 11, 1881, he again refers to 
 an interview with Mr. ^lariscal, as follows : 
 
 " Senor Mariscal said that he would not say that Mexico would altogether refuse the 
 arbitration proposed, Ijut that there were some points of difference between the two 
 countries which could not, under any circumstances, be submitted to question. " 
 
 In a letter from Mr. Morgan to Mr. Blaine, September 22, 1881, he draws the 
 following significant conclusion, after reporting an interview with Mr. Mariscal : 
 
 " Senor Mariscal reiterated that if there should be a war with Guatemala it would be 
 Guatemala's fault. He admitted that the course pursued by the United States was 
 friendly in its character, although he persisted in saying the facts of the case had been 
 misrepresented by Guatemala to you. 
 
 ' ' We parted on the best of terms, but he left me more than ever convinced that nothing 
 would prevent a war Ijetween the two countries unless a positive position was taken by 
 the United States, and I venture to suggest that unless the Government is prepared to 
 announce to the Mexican Government tliat it will actively, if necessary, preserve the 
 peace, it would be the part of wisdom on our side to leave the matter where it is. 
 Negotiations on the subject will not benefit Guatemala, and you may depend upon it that 
 what we have already done in this direction has not tended to the increasing of the 
 cordial relations which I know it is so much your desire to cultivate with this nation. " 
 
 Upon Mr. Blaine's reply to the letter from which we have just quoted, oflacious- 
 ness is indelibly stamped. In it under date of November 28, 1881, he says : 
 
 " 'To leave the matter where it is' you must perceive is simply impossible, for it will 
 not remain there. The friendly relations of the United States and Mexico would 
 certainly not be promoted by the refusal of the good oflices of this Government tendered 
 in a spirit of most cordial regard both for the interests and honor of Mexico, and suggested 
 only by the earnest desire to prevent a war useless in its purpose, deplorable in its means, 
 and dangerous to the best interests of all the Central American republics in its conse- 
 quences. To put aside such an amicable intervention as an unfriendly intrusion, or to 
 treat it, as I regret to see the Mexican secretary for foreign affairs seems disposed, as a 
 partisan manifestation on Ijehalf of claims which we have not examined and interests 
 which we totally misunderstand certainly cannot contribute ' to the increasing of the cordial 
 relations which you know it is so much our desire to cultivate with Mexico. ' 
 
 " If this Government is expected to infer from the language of Senor Mariscal that the 
 prospect of such a result is not agreeable to the policy of Mexico, and that the interest 
 which the United States has always manifested in its consummation renders unwelcome 
 the friendly intervention which we have offered, I can only say that it deepens the regret 
 with which we will learn the decision of the Mexican Government, and compels me to 
 declare that the Government of the United States will consider a hostile demonstration 
 against Guatamala, for the avowed purpose or with the certain result of weakening her 
 power in such an effort, as an act not in consonance with the position and character of 
 Mexico, not in harmony with the friendly relations existing between us, and injurious to 
 the bestinlerests of all the republics of this continent." 
 
 18
 
 274 OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 
 
 In a letter from Mr. ^lorgan to Mr. Blaine dated Mexico, November 3, 1881, is 
 the following significant paragraph : 
 
 "The subject is on every tongue. It is constantly discussed by the press, and I feel it 
 my duty to say that nothing has occurred since I have been here which has excited so 
 much bad feeling against us as this proffer of arbitration. Say what I may to the 
 contrary, it is considered as a menace. " 
 
 In Mr. Blaine's recent letter of acceptance, he has a new foreign policy of the 
 Quaker .style. The question naturally arises, which will be his policy if elected 
 President — that pursued while Secretary of State or that announced for campaign 
 purposes ? On the theory that acts speak louder than words, the intelligent and 
 conservative citizen will hesitate a long time before voting for one whose well 
 known officiousness, rashness, and audacity are anything but safeguards against 
 foreign complications. 
 
 Citizens of the United States have already spent upwards of |50,000,000 in the 
 construction of Mexican railways, and they do not wish their business interests 
 disturbed by needless animosities between the two countries. 
 
 Conservative Policy of the Democratic Party. 
 
 The Democratic foreign policy is inherited from the sentiments of Washington 
 and Jefferson. 
 
 In Washington's farewell address to the people of the United States was the 
 following excellent advice : 
 
 ' ' The gi"eat rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending 
 our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as pos- 
 sible. * * * It is our policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any 
 portion of the foreign world." 
 
 The doctrine laid down in Jefferson's inaugural address was as follows : 
 
 " Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances 
 with none."
 
 HONEST MONEY FOR HONEST LABOR. 275 
 
 Honest Money for Honest Labor. 
 
 Speech of Hon. Abram S. Hewitt. 
 
 In a speech in the House of Representatives, April 1, 1884, Hon. Abram S. 
 Hewitt, of New York, said : 
 
 I agree with the gentleman from Mame [Mr. Dingley] in his proposition that this 
 House shall not sanction by any act the increase of the coinage of the standard silver 
 dollar. But I go further than the gentleman from Maine. I think the time lias "come when 
 this House should put its seal of condemnation upon the coinage of one single additional 
 standard dollar. I\Iy friend from Missouri [Mr. Bland] has achieved, I was going to say 
 immortality, but certainly great renown, by having identified himself with a measure 
 which according to his view has made 85 cents' worth of silver etiuivalent in value to $1. 
 He has done that by act of Congress, and he has done it on the principle of lifting our- 
 selves by our shoulder-straps. Such experiments must always fail. If they could succeed, 
 then my friend from Missouri has discovered the philosopher's stone which would enable 
 us hereafter to dispense with all human efforts and to provide ourselves with all the com- 
 forts and luxuries of life by a simple act ©f Congress. 
 
 The gentleman from Alissouri now comes into the House with another proposition, 
 which suggests the old nursery rhyme of Mother Goose : 
 
 There was a man in our town 
 
 And he was wondrous wise. 
 He jumped into a bramble bush 
 
 And scratched out both his eyes. 
 
 And when he found his eyes were out, 
 
 With all his might and main. 
 He jumped into another bush 
 And scratched them in again. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 The proposition which the gentleman now makes to this House is the proposition of 
 free coinage for silver. By therestricted coinage which goes on under his bill of $2,000,000 
 per month the Government is making on paper as he said $300,000 of profit per month. 
 By opening the mints to unrestricted coinage he would give up the nominal profit to the 
 Government of $300,000 per month and transfer a real profit of 15 per cent, into the 
 pockets of those who shall be fortunate enough to get in first through the open doors of 
 the mint with their silver bullion. Now, Mr. Speaker, let us apply to this novel proposi- 
 tion the test of fact and of simple principle. 
 
 The unit of value by law in the United States is the gold dollar, weighing 25.8 grains, 
 
 Mr. Warner, of Ohio — When was it made so ? 
 
 Mr. Hewitt, of New York — I am merely stating a fact, and in the time I have I do 
 not wish to be interrupted. It was in 1854 that that was done. Now at 25.8 grains to 
 the dollar an ounce of gold is worth $18.60. By law the relative coinage value of gold 
 and silver is as one to sixteen. Therefore the coinage value of the ounce of silver is 
 $i.i6)4- We are able to go into the market to buy an ounce of silver at $i.oi, and, 
 taking the average of the last year, we are buying at a little less now than $i.oi per 
 ounce. 
 
 What is the proposition of the gentleman from Missouri ? That for the silver which 
 we can buy in unlimited quantities in this or any other market in the world for loi cents 
 per ounce, he would pay out of the treasury of this nation 116I2 cents per ounce. In 
 other words, he would give to every man who brings an ounce of silver to be coined 15
 
 276 HONEST MONEY FOR HONEST LABOR. 
 
 cents more in coin than the market value of that silver, and 15 cents more per ounce than 
 it is or can be bought for by the Government for coining purposes. 
 
 Mr. Bland — Will the gentleman yield for a moment ? 
 
 Mr. Hewitt, of New York — I cannot, for I have but a limited time. 
 
 Mr. Bland — I am glad that I was more polite to the gentleman than he is to me. 
 
 Mr. Hewitt, of New York— I will yield all my time to the gentleman. 
 
 ;Mr. Brand — I do not want it. 
 
 Mr. Hewitt, of New York — I will yield all my time. 
 
 Mr. Bland — I yielded to the gentleman. 
 
 Mr. Hewitt, of New York — Yes ; but the gentleman had an hour, while I have but 
 fifteen minutes. 
 Mr. Bland — I will not interrupt the gentleman. 
 
 Result of Free Coinage. 
 
 Mr. Hewitt, of New York — The controversy is one of fact. What would happen ? 
 Of course all the world who are now trying to sell silver for loi cents per ounce will 
 come to our mints, where they could sell it for Ii6i cents per ounce. It will be " the 
 devil take the hindmost" in the rush to sell silver for 15 cents per ounce more than its 
 market value. 
 
 And under his proposition the Government must take the silver and pay that rate for 
 it. I suppose the gentleman from Missouri would provide a bullion fund for this pur- 
 pose. Has he ever considered the magnitude of the bullion fund which would have to 
 be provided ? There is supposed to be in existence in the world S6, 000,000,000 of 
 silver ; and the holders of the whole of that $6,000,000,000 would rush to our mints 
 under the gentleman's proposition. And if we were to buy it all and keep the mints open 
 the bullion fund which we would have to provide would have to be on the scale of 
 magnificence proportioned to so vast an operation. It would certainly provide an outlet 
 at once for the idle and useless fund of $126,000,000 of silver dollars now stored at 
 great expense in the Treasury. 
 
 But no such thing would happen ; the limitation would be the coinage capacity of 
 our mints. To the extent of the coinage capacity of our mints, which would probably 
 not much, if any, exceed the silver production of this country, which is about $40,000,000 
 worth per annum, the Government would be giving 15 per cent, more than the market 
 value of silver bullion in this or any other markets in the world. 
 
 What is the next step? Every man who had thus received 116 cents per ounce for 
 that which is worth in the markets of the world only loi cents per ounce would hasten to 
 put it into some form of useful value. First of all he would prefer gold, for gold will 
 buy everything else in every market in the world. The consequence would be that the 
 rush for gold would immediately raise it to a premium, and the limit of that premium 
 will be just the difference in the bullion value of silver and gold. In other words, the 
 premium would be 15 per cent. , because, as everybody knows, gold and silver are dealt 
 in bv the money-brokers all over the world on a margin of one-eighth of i per cent. 
 
 Then, when gold went up to a premium, the next rush would be to buy commodities 
 with silver dollars on the old standard of values, and the price of commodities would all 
 advance. They are bought and sold to-day at gold value, but the price would then ad- 
 vance with the premium on gold, and they would thereafter loe sold at silver values. In 
 other words, all the necessaries of life would be rapidly advanced until they would pur- 
 chase as much gold as they did before the premium existed. 
 
 Wages of Labor. 
 
 Then the workingman who receives his wage of one or two dollars per day, as the 
 case may be, and 10 whom the rise always comes last and sometimes never comes, 
 would be-LO.npelled to buy his supplies at 15 per cent, advance. This measure, there- 
 fore, would operate as a deduction from the wages of labor of just 15 per cent. 
 
 Then what next would happen ? I shall be told that this proposition would enable 
 the poor man to pay his debts at 15 per cent, deduction from what he had agreed to 
 pay ; that this is sound in principle and a most beneficent feature of the jslan. In re- 
 sisting it I shall be told that I represent the capitalistic class and am the organ of Wall 
 street. Now, the rich man knows how to take care of himself. The poor man does 
 not know and can not know how to take care ofhimself, and we are sent here as far as 
 possible to take care of him, and it is for that reason I strive to-day to expose the fallacy 
 of a proposition which can only have the effect of making the rich richer and the poor 
 poorer. 
 
 I resist, then, this proposition of the gentleman from Missouri, because, ia the first 
 place, it would rob the poor man of 15 per cent, of his present wages, measured by its
 
 HONEST MONEY FOR HONEST LABOR. 277 
 
 purchasing power ; and in the next place it would rob him of 15 per cent, of the hard 
 earnings which he has saved against a rainy day. The rich men hold property which 
 would rise in value with the premium on gold. They hold bonds of railroad companies, 
 which by the letter of the contract are made payable in gold. 
 
 Savings of the People. 
 
 But all debts not payable in gold would Ijc solvable in silver. WTicre are those 
 debts, and to whom do ihey belong ? The great lenders of this country are the savings- 
 banks, the mutual insurance companies, and the incorporated companies which hold in 
 trust the savings of the poor and the earnings of labor. Their loans are made payable in 
 lawful money, and will be paid ot^'in the depreciated silver which will follow its free and 
 unlimited coinage, for in the end the silver coins can have no greater value than the 
 market price of the bullion from which they are coined. 
 
 Therefore, when this depreciation of 15 per cent, takes place all the loans made by 
 savings banks, trust companies, and mutual insurance comjianies, amounting to more 
 than $100,000,000, representing the earnings of professional men who live upon salaries, 
 the savings of clerks, the sole provision for widows and orphans would be payable in 
 silver, to the loss in my city and in my district of millions of dollars laboriously saved by 
 the most deserving classes of the community, and who, since the recent decision of the 
 Supreme Court of the Legal -tender case, have no other protection than in the wistlom of 
 Congress. 
 
 I represent a district in which there are but few capitalists. I represent 150,000 
 people who earn their daily bread by their daily labor. They are an industrious and 
 saving constituency. Their money is in the savings banks of the city of New York. You 
 will be astonished to know it, hut in the State of New York over §500,000,000 of the 
 savings of these people are to-day loaned out to be paid back in the money of the land. 
 If that money be depreciated 15 per cent., then the people will lose 15 per cent, of all 
 their accumulated earnings. And this depreciation is only the beginning of the down- 
 ward course in the value of silver. The commercial world has outgrown the use of silver 
 as a necessary tool of commerce. Gold and pajier instruments of exchange have taken 
 its place. They are better and cheaper tools of trade. Silver is relegated to its proper 
 place as a convenient subsidiary money, of which the intrinsic value is of no consequence 
 so long as there is local redemption for it within the area where it circulates. 
 
 But gold pays international balances, and is and will remain the sole standard of 
 value m the great markets of the world. Hence, Mr. Speaker, I oppose the whole pro- 
 position of the gentleman to open our mints to the free coinage of silver, for the reason 
 that thereby the nation would lose at once 15 per cent, on all the silver which would flow 
 into this country from foreign countries now earnestly seeking an opportunity to get rid 
 of the heavy load of silver which weighs them down and embarrasses their finances. In 
 the Bank of France alone there are $200,000,000 seeking a market. The German 
 Government stopped the sale of its silver when it went below 55 pence to the ounce, and 
 is waiting a chance to unload another one hundred millions on anybody that will buy it. 
 
 But outside of these countries, whence I have heard it said on this floor silver could 
 not come because " the people of this country were not such fools as to buy the worth- 
 less stuff," outside of these countrks are India and China, the sinks of silver for more 
 than two thousand years. In iheJk countries gold is already at a premium of 15 per 
 cent, as compared with silver ; and men who could bring silver from India to this coim- 
 try and convert it into gold, as the gentleman from Missouri would allow them to do by 
 his proposition of free coinage, would of course make all speed to gather up from all 
 quarters the vast fund of silver in those countries and dump it down upon the people of 
 this land, where the loss will fall upon the laboring classes, who, unless we interpose for 
 their benefit, will be hel])less to protect themselves. 
 
 Gentlemen who flatter themselves that the silver of the world will not seek the 
 market where bullion fetches the highest price deliberately shut their eyes to the 
 inexorable laws of trade. Silver circulates in France at the ratio of 15!^ to i of gold 
 only because there is no coinage of silver by the Latin Union. This coinage was sus- 
 pended simply to avoid the depreciation of silver coins to the bullion value which would 
 otherwise have taken place. Give it a market at more than its bullion value, and it will 
 be replaced with gold as surely as the air rushes into a vacuum. 
 
 The depreciation of our silver coins, Mr. Speaker, would occur at once if the mints 
 were now opened to the free coinage of silver. What would occur at once in that event, 
 is just as sure to occur, if you allow time enough, under the limited coinage act of $2,000,- 
 000 a month. This depreciation will be the slow but sure work of the monster steadily 
 digging away at the foundations of the wealth and prosperity of this country, so that in a 
 little while we shall be brought to the silver basis ; and then all the consequences I have
 
 278 
 
 HONEST MONEY FOR HONEST LABOR. 
 
 predicted will occur just as certainly as if the gentleman were able to carry out his plan 
 of free coinage at once. In that proposition he is perfectly logical . If we are to go on 
 with the coinage of silver at all, the unlimited coinage which the gentleman proposes is 
 the only defensible position, and ought to be put mto effect, if it were not for the disas- 
 trous consequences which would send a flood of ruin over this land. 
 
 But as I have said those consequences are unavoidable, whether we continue the lim- 
 ited coinage or institute the free coinage of silver. Twice in my life have I witnessed the 
 transfer in this country of vast masses ot wealth from the possession of those who have 
 created it, to the ownership of those who were shrewd or fortunate enough to profit by 
 the situation. Once was when the legal-tender act was passed and creditors were forced to 
 take 40 cents in payment of 100 cents which was their just due. Again, when the 
 resumption of specie payment took place in 1879, persons who had borrowed 40 cents were 
 forced to pay the debt with 100 cents. Xo tongue can describe the ruin and the misery 
 caused by thiswholesale transfer of property, the wrecks ofwhich still survive in every State 
 in this Union. It is l)ecause I hope to be spared the sad spectacle of another such unjust 
 and uncalled for reversal of the laws which ought to govern the acquisition and transfer 
 of property, that I oppose, and shall oppose, the degradation of the standard of value, 
 whereby one class of the community, and the most deserving as it is the most helpless 
 class, is pillaged by law for the benefit of those who live by the sweat and toil of their 
 less fortunate and more confiding fellow-men. [Applause. ] 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 INDIA — FALLING OFF IN THE DEMAND FOR SILVER. 
 
 The India department of finance and commerce states the silver imports and 
 exports of India, taking its trade with all countries for the last four years (the 
 ludiaa fiscal year, like the British, ending March 31), as follows : 
 
 Fiscal Year. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 ExpoRTe. 
 
 Net Imports. 
 
 1877-78 
 
 $78,832,660 
 27,968,495 
 48,025,010 
 
 26,580,780 
 
 $5,500,985 
 8,115,025 
 8,676,295 
 7,117,910 
 
 $73,331,675 
 
 lW8-'79 
 
 19,853,475 
 
 1879-'80 
 
 39,348,715 
 
 1880-'81 
 
 19,462,870 
 
 
 
 Table showing increase of circulation in the United States. 
 
 
 Total Cibcclation. 
 
 Per capita. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Paper. 
 
 Coin. 
 
 Total. 
 
 October 1, 1880 
 
 $1,225,359,234 
 1,529,548,612 
 1,566,659,668 
 1,730,598,074 
 
 $14 10 
 15 56 
 15 81 
 17 63 
 
 $10 66 
 
 14 93 
 
 15 42 
 
 16 88 
 
 $24 76 
 
 October 1, 1881 
 
 30 49 
 
 October 1, 1882 
 
 October 1, 1883 
 
 31 23 
 34 51 
 
 
 
 Total circulation in United States October 1, 1883. 
 
 Gold $606,197,000 
 
 Silver 240.399,000 
 
 Paper 884,002,074 
 
 Total $1,730,598,074
 
 HONEST MONEY FOR HONEST LABOR. 
 Table showing increase of silver in the United States Treasury. 
 
 279 
 
 Datb. 
 
 September 30, 1876 
 September 30, 1877 
 September 30, 1878 
 September 30, 1879 
 September 30, 1880 
 September 30, 1881 
 September 30, 1882 
 September 30, 1883 
 
 Per cent. 
 90.2 
 93.5 
 83.0 
 76.2 
 63.3 
 64.7 
 53.4 
 58.5 
 
 SlLVlB. 
 
 Per cent. 
 9.8 
 6.5 
 17.0 
 23.8 
 36.7 
 35.3 
 44.6 
 41.5 
 
 Ihble shmoing proportions of world's prodvctum of gold and silver. 
 
 * Pence per ounce in London.
 
 280 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 
 
 The Independent Tidal- Wave. 
 
 Its Significance. 
 
 Seldom in the history of American politics has there been such a popular upris- 
 ing against the Presidential nominee of their own party as the Republican bolt 
 against James G. Blaine. 
 
 Leading and influential newspapers, prominent business men, college professors, 
 and the scholars in politics, distinguished statesmen, and thousands, tens and 
 hundreds of thousands of thinking and intelligent voters view with sorrow, dis- 
 gust, and alarm the dangerous and corrupt tendencies of their party, and have 
 determined to rebuke it by voting for the Democratic nominee. 
 
 Among the causes of this independent tidal wave are the following: 
 
 Dissatisfaction with Mr. Blaine's bad public record. 
 
 Alarm at official corruption. 
 
 Alarm at the party's subserviencj' to monopolies. 
 
 Opposition to its rapid drift toward centralization. 
 
 Sorrow at its disi-egard of constitutional methods. 
 
 Irritation at its encroachments on personal liberty by the enactment of sumptu- 
 ary legislation. 
 
 Nausea at its hypocrisy. 
 
 A portion of these independent voters have stated the grounds of their opposi- 
 tion, and we will therefore let them tell their own story. 
 
 Mr. Codman's Address. 
 
 At a conference of Republicans and Independents in New York on the 22d of July, 
 Col. Charles R. Codman, of the Massachusetts Committee, was elected President 
 of the conference, and delivered the following address : 
 
 Fellow Citizens — You confer a great honor upon me m choosing me to preside in 
 this Conference, not of office-holders, nor of office-seekers, but of citizens desiring only 
 the honor and welfare of the Republic. We have not met here as party men, we are 
 not sent here by party maciiinery ; but we come representing large bodies of citizens, 
 who have determined for the time being to set aside the claims of party, whatever those 
 claims may lie, and to act together independently to maintain ideas, and, if possible, 
 aciiieve results which shall be for the highest good, as we see it, of the whole country. 
 The bond that unites us is a jealous sensitiveness for the national character, and resent- 
 ment at an attempt to lower it in the eyes of the world. It would be, we hold, an un- 
 speakaljle disgrace — in full knowdedge of the facts, and with our eyes wide open — to place 
 in the Presidential chair as the representative statesman of the United States a man who has 
 never cleared his reputation from imputations which, if true, show that public office was used 
 by him for private gain. \Vc iiave examined the evidence against Mr. Blaine, and l^eliev- 
 ing that it shows at the very least that his standard of pul)lic morality is low ; that he is a 
 man willing to expect and to claim pecuniary advantages from those whose interests he 
 has been enabled to advance in the exercise of his public office, and who does not stop 
 at this, but has no hesitation in promising to use his official power ami influence to further
 
 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 281 
 
 the private ends of those with whom he desires to aNsociate himself, — claiming that he 
 will be no " deadhead " in aiding an enterprise wiiich will be the gainer by Congressional 
 favor, — joined with the disposition, when put upon his defence, to equivocate and to 
 conceal material documents and material facts ; believing all this, we say, as we are 
 bound to say, to the American people, that this man is not fit to Ije their President. We 
 are making no charges against private character ; but we hold that the official record 
 and the public acts of Mr. Blaine, his attitude toward railroad legislation and all other 
 legislation, his transactions when Speaker of the House of Representatives or when 
 holding any legislative position, with corporations asking for Congressional aid or in 
 any way dependent on Congressional action, are fit and proper subjects for investigation 
 and comment. And, if we are convinced that his record shi>ws moral malfeasance in 
 office, it is our right and our duty boldly to declare our opinion and to ask our fellow- 
 citizens to refuse to confer upon such a man their highest honors and their most important 
 political trust. 
 
 Parties but Means to Ends. 
 
 That such is the conviction of the memlx;rs of this Conference need not to lie said, 
 for why else are we here to-day ? Acting as all of us have done at times with the 
 Republican party, and most of us never failing to support its nominations, and some of 
 us its supporters when it was neither successful nor popular, it is not without pain that 
 we find ourselves compelled to oppose the Presidential nomination of this historical 
 organization ; but we say that parties are but means to accomplish political ends ; that 
 they must stand for principles, if they are to have any more vitality than that of a mere 
 organization ; and that they cannot live alone upon the memory of great results achieved, 
 if they do not meet the demands of the time. And we do not see that at the present 
 time the great parties that divide the country are clearly and unmistakably at issue upon 
 any important question, so that we are confined in this Presidential canvxss almost 
 exclu-^ively to the question of the fitness of candidates. 
 
 It is in some respects fortunate that it is so ; for, if the Democrats had declared them- 
 selves in opposition to any political ideas which we have been accustomed to consider the 
 cardinal principles of the Republican party, and if then the Republicans had nominated 
 Mr. Blaine, our position would have been far more trying than it is to-day. We should have 
 been compelled to face the painful and discouraging alternative of not sustaining cher- 
 ished political opinions or of voting for a candidate we believe to be unworthy. But, hap- 
 pily, all the great principles, to maintain which the Republican party was founded, have 
 long since been firmly established in the legislation of the country. 
 
 The Maine Windmill. 
 
 It is true that Mr. Blaine, in his skillful letter of acceptance, has at last expressed 
 very positive opinions upon one subject. He has come out as an ardent civil service 
 reformer, now that the country has pronounced for the reform ; although in the day 
 when the cause was struggling and weak, it had no assistance from this always influen- 
 tial political leader. There have been one or two reactions, however, since then ; and 
 the people have in no uncertain tones proclaimed their will. It is certainly the fact to-day 
 that political managers will not openly oppose the popular demand, and no backward 
 steps will be taken in extending and maintaining the reform. 
 
 We have not taken the decided action that brings us hereto-day without some remon- 
 strances from our party associates. 1 hey have urged upon us the claims of the old 
 organization and have rung the changes upon its achievements. They have told us that 
 the great results of the war would be jeopardized if the Democratic party should conre 
 into power. They have warned us that capital would be destroyed and labor would be 
 paralyzed if there should be a discontinuance ol Republican administration. They have 
 said that Mr. Blaine should be chosen President because he would ilo what other Presi- 
 dents have not done and what he alone can do, and that is to make his country respected 
 by foreign nations. To all such suggestions, we have been impervious. 
 
 We have replied that the constitutional interpretations settled by the war are not dis- 
 puted ; that the Democrats, who are at least nearly half the people in the country, have no 
 desire, and can have no interest, to check the national prosperity ; and that this country 
 is respected throughout the world for its power, its Ireedom, its energy, and its resources, 
 and that it will continue to be so respected, unless some " aggressive " and " magnetic" 
 President shall succeed in making it ridiculous. There has not been much in such con- 
 siderations as these to induce us to give our support to a discredited and obnoxious 
 candidate. 
 
 But an appeal has also lx;en made to our sympathies and to our highest sense of 
 justice.
 
 ■282 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 
 
 Democracy not Responsible. 
 
 Are we ready, it has been asked, to justify or condone such incidents as the Copiah 
 massacre ? Will we ally ourselves with a political party that carries elections by mur- 
 ders and intimidation. 
 
 I answer that I Ijelieve we yield to none in our abhorrence of the affair at Copiah. It 
 was an outrage utterly without justification, and it is an infinite dist^race to the community 
 that tolerated it. Nor will we ally ourselves to a party that carries elections by murder 
 and mtimidation; but betore all things, we will be just, and we will not chari^e the whole 
 South or the whole Democratic party with the responsibility of an act that belongs to one 
 small community alone. 
 
 Our Republican critics know perfectly well — there are no men in the country that 
 know it better — that these occurrences could not have been prevented by any action of 
 the Federal Government. If they could, how does it happen that during two Republican 
 administrations there has been no attempt at Federal interference ? And why is it that 
 no Republican politician ventures to recommend such interference ? No, gentlemen, the 
 truth is that time and education and enlightened self-interest and the influence of civiliza- 
 tion and Christianity are the agencies that must be relied upon to prevent the?-e crimes; 
 and, if we may judge the future by the past, we may expect that, at no distant period, 
 the barbarous ideas and practices which slavery has left as a legacy to the South will yield 
 to these benign influences. No one can deny, and no one ought to fail to rejoice, that 
 such incidents as that at Copiah, which were once common, are now exceptional; and 
 that the two races which an over-ruling Providence has placed side by side in the Southern 
 States are approaching — under the influence of universal freedom, of equal political rights, 
 and a wider diffusion of knowledge — a better understanding of and a more generous con- 
 sideration for each other. 
 
 No Dust in Their Eyes. 
 
 But, fiowever that may be, we are not to be turned from what seems to us a plain and 
 obvious duty by an attempt to appeal to any sectional feeling, or even to our sense of the 
 wickedness of men or communities for whom we are not responsible. We shall not give 
 up our right to condemn and denounce lawlessness and oppression in the South any more 
 than our right to condemn political dishonesty in the North. We shall exercise both of 
 these rights. We shall not support Mr. Blame, nor shall we support any man who justifies 
 the Copiah murder, if indeed such a man be found for whom any one would ask the 
 suflTrages of the people. We respect the convictions of others ; but, for ourselves, we say 
 that it is just as impossible for us to support Mr. Blaine as it is to lie or to steal. 
 
 We are assembled here to-day to confer together and to consider what practical action 
 we shall take. We have one purpose in view, and as reasonable men we desire to act 
 together. But we shall not, I think, make any attempt to demand pledges or to bind 
 consciences. Whatever is done here, every man is free to follow his own course. No 
 pledges will be asked, and certainly none will be given 
 
 lor myself, I ilo not hesitate to say that the defeat of Mr. Blaine should be compassed 
 by all honorable means. It seems to me that the cause of good government, of pure 
 politics, of American character, requires it to l^e done. There is but one way to do it, 
 and that way must be obvious to us all. We desire, first of all, a President who is incor- 
 ruptible ; and, if, besides that, he is able and independent, so much the better. 
 
 The Man to Pin Faith To. 
 
 We have not far to go to find a man who is all this. It has been said recently by 
 some of the supporters of Mr. Blaine that no Democratic President was ever able to resist 
 the pressure of party managers. It may, perhaps, be true, and possibly some Republi- 
 can Presidents have been open to the same criticism ; but there is certainly one Demo- 
 cratic official who has shown the ability to successfully resist all pressure that would 
 interlere with the faithful performance of official duty, and he is now Governor of New 
 York and the Democratic candidate for President of the United States — a man whose 
 utterances and whose acts, whether as Mayor or Governor, have proved that he holds 
 office, not for personal ends, but as a trust for the people, whose servant he is. As a 
 lifelong opponent of the Democratic party, and with no intention now of Ixjcoming 
 identified with it, I will yet rejoice, and I will say that it is fortunate for the Repul)lic, 
 that, at a crisis when the party which has \yeen the party of progress halts and is unfaith- 
 ful, the party which we have been accustomed to distrust shows wise intelligence and 
 civic courage. It has risen to its great opportunity ; and those Republicans who would 
 make effectual opposition to a camlidatc they l>elieve to l^e unfit can with no loss of self- 
 respect, without surrendering a conviction, and in the exercise of the highest political 
 expediency, give their votes to the reform Governor o( New York.
 
 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 283 
 
 Let us, then, in a vigorous and business-like way, proceed to the work_l>efore us. I.et 
 us take steps to lay before the country the evidence that lias convinced us that the Repub- 
 lican nomination for President was unfit to be made. It is all contained in the official 
 record of the National Le<;islature and it is the conmion property of all the people. Let 
 us declare tliat we stand toi);ether, and that we ask our fellow citizens to join us to make 
 our protest effectual aj^'ainst corruption in office. Let us try to impress upon the voters 
 by our words and acts that political straightforwardness is lietter than political success ; 
 and, when we have done our work here, let us go to our homes, and use such influence 
 as we have to further the cause which we conceive to lie the cause of our country. 
 
 Mr. Curtis' Address. 
 
 On the same occasion George Williiim Curtis, of the New York Independents, 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 The paramount issue of the Presidential election of this year is moral rather than 
 political. It concerns the national honor and character and honesty of administration 
 rather than general policies of government, upon whicii the platforms of the two parties 
 do not essentially differ. No position taken by one platform is seriously traversed by the 
 other. Both evidently contemplate a general agreement of public opinion upon subjects 
 which have been long in controversy and mdicate an unwillingness to declare upon other 
 and cardinal questions views which, in the present condition of opinion, might seriously 
 disturb the parties within themselves. Parties, indeed, now cohere mainly by habit and 
 tradition, and since tlie great issues which have divided them have been largely settled, 
 the most vital political activity has been the endeavor of good citizens in both parties to 
 adjust them to living issues and to make them effective agencies of political progress and 
 reform. 
 
 The indispensable necessity of this course has been long apparent, for in a time 
 of profound peace at home and abroad the most threatening national peril is an insidious 
 political corru]ition, a mercenary and demoralizing spirit and tendency, the result of which 
 is well described by Senator Hoar, of Ma sachusetts, as "the shameless doctrine that the 
 true way by which power should be gained in the Republic is to bribe the people with 
 the oftices created for their service, and the true end for which it should be used when 
 gained is the promotion of selfish ambition and the gratification of personal revenge. "' 
 
 But this doctrine naturally has produced results which are still more alarming. The 
 corrupt spirit and tendency have so rapidly developed, that they seek political power not 
 only to gratify ambition and revenge but to [uomote private gain. They deride 
 appeals to the public conscience, defend the soiled reputations of public men by the 
 bold assertion that all public men are equally guilty, declare that success in obtaining 
 eminent position disposes of every imputation and suspicion of wrongdoing, and despising 
 all practical measures to reform the system of ofhcial patronage which fosters dishonest 
 politics, make a great party nominally responsible for prolonged and monstrous fraud, 
 and proclaim that it is the duty of every citizen who for great and beneficial ends has 
 habitually supported a party to' regard the success of the party at an election, without 
 regard to the character of those whom it selects as its executive agents, to be a supreme 
 national necessity. A tendency more fatal to the public welfare cannot be conceived, 
 and when by public indifierence or misundcstanding this corrupt spirit is able to demand 
 that the country shall approve it by according to it the highest honor in its gift, every 
 patriotic citizen' must perceive that no duty could be more pressing, vital and imperative 
 than that of baffling and defeating the demand. 
 
 If the Republican Convention has presented a candidate whose character and career 
 were the pledge of a resolute contest with the tendencies that we have described ; if they 
 had foretold a stern dealing with political corruption and a vigorous correction of the vast 
 abuses which the long and undisturbed tenure of power by any party is sure to breed ; if 
 the success of the candidate had promised inflexible honesty of administration, purifica- 
 tion of the Government, and elevation of the party standard, every Republican voter 
 would have gladly supported the nomination. But these are precisely the anticipations 
 which the nomination forbids. It offers a candidate who is an unfit leader, shown by his 
 own words and acknowledged acts, whicli are of official record, to be unworthy of respect 
 and confidence; who has traded upon his official trust for his pecuniary gain ; a repre- 
 sentative of men, methods and conduct, which the public conscience condemns, and which 
 illustrate the very evils that honest men would reform. 
 
 Such a nomination does not promise in the Executive chair inflexible official integrity, 
 calm and wise judgement, a sole regard for the public welfare, and an unshnnking 
 determination to ])romote reform in the civil service, and ceaselessly to pursue and punish 
 public robbers of every kind and degree. Independent voters have generally supported
 
 284 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 
 
 Republican nominations as more surely promising ref(n-m than those of the Democratic 
 Party. Independents, however, cannot support a nomination which is the culmination of 
 the tendency that they would correct. Republicans cannot hope that under such lead- 
 ership as we have mentioned the abuses of the past can he corrected or the party reformed. 
 We are very proud of the great record aud services of the Republican party, but not with 
 our consent and connivance shall that record be disgraced. 
 
 Every party must be constantly renewed by the intelligent independence of its own 
 members, or it will sink from an agency to secure good government into a remorseless 
 despotism. The Republican party sprang from a moral sentiment. It was the party of 
 political morality and of personal liberty. It appealed directly to the conscience of the 
 citizen. But, like all parties, it was a political agency not to be worshipped, but to be 
 carefully held to the spirit and purposes on which and for which it was organized. "I 
 do not know," said Mr. Seward, thirty years ago, when he left the Whig party to join 
 the Republican : "I do not know that it will always or even long preserve its courage, 
 its moderation, and its consistency. If it shall do so, it will secure and save the country. 
 If it shall become unfaithful, as all preceding parties have done, it will, without sorrow 
 or regret on my part, perish as they are perishing, and will give place to another, truer, 
 and better one." 
 
 This warning must not he forgotten. It is with a profound conviction of its wis- 
 dom that Rei)ublicans faithful to their party, but holding, with the great Republican 
 fathers, that political morality and purity of administration are more precious than party, 
 are now constrained to oppose the Republican Presidential nomination in the interest of 
 what they believe to be pure republicanism, of the public welfare, and of the honor of 
 the American name. 
 
 The Republic nomination has for the time superseded all other issues by raising the 
 question of official honesty. This question cannot be avoided except upon the plea that the 
 official character of candidates need not be considered, and that in order to secure a party 
 President the members of a party ought to vote for any candidate whatever who has been 
 regularly nominated. This is a plea beyond which party madness cannot go. Acqui- 
 •escence in it would require the surrender of the self-respect of every voter. There could 
 be no candidate so unfit that this plea would not demand his support, and Republican 
 success justified by an argument which defies the public conscience, would be the 
 overthrow of the vital principle of the party, and show that the spirit and character 
 which created its great traditions are rapidly perishing. 
 
 Upon the practical questions of tariff and finance, and other questions upon which both 
 parties are divided within themselves, we also are divided in opinion. We shall vote, 
 therefore, in the choice of representatives in Congress and other officers, according to 
 our individual opinions of their political views and their personal character. Divided on 
 other questions, we are united in conviction that the fountain of office and honor should 
 be pure and that the highest office in the country should be filled by a man of abso- 
 lutely unsuspected integrity. 
 
 As there is no distinctive issue upon public policy presented for the consideration of the 
 country, the character of the candidates becomes of the highest importance with all 
 citizens who do not hold that party victory should be secured at any cost. While the 
 Republican nomination presents a candidate whom we cannot support, the Democratic 
 party presents one whose name is the synonym of political courage and honesty 
 and of administrative reform. He has discharged every official trust with sole 
 regard to the public welfare and with just disregard of mere partisan and personal 
 advantage, wiiich, with the applause and confidence of both parties, have raised 
 him from the chief executive administration of a great city to that of a great 
 State. His unreserved, intelligent, and sincere support of reform in the civil service 
 has firmly established that reform in the State and the cities of New York ; and his 
 personal convictions, proved by his official acts more decisive than any possible platform 
 declaration, are the guarantee that in its spirits and in its letter the reform would be 
 enforced in the National Administration. His high sense of public duty, his absolute and 
 unchallenged official integrity, his inflexible courage in resisting party pressure and 
 public outcry, his great experience in the details of administration, and his commanding 
 executive ability and independence, are precisely the qualities wliich the political situation 
 demands in the chief executive officer of the Government to resist corporate monopoly on 
 the one hand and demagogue Communism on the other, and at home and abroad, without 
 menace or fear, to protect every right of American citizens and to respect every right of 
 friendly States by making political morality and private honesty the basis of constitutional 
 administration. 
 
 He is a Democrat who is happily free from all association with the fierce party dilTer- 
 ences of the slavery contest, and whose financial views are in harmony with those of the 
 best men in both parties. Coming into public prominence at a time when oflicial purity,
 
 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 285 
 
 couras^e, and character are of chief importance, he presents the quah"ties and the promise 
 which independent voters desire and which a yreat body ot Republicans, believing those 
 qualities to be absolutely mdispensable in the administration ot the Government at this 
 time, do not find in the candidate of their own party. 
 
 Such indejiendent voters do not propose to ally themselves inextricably with any 
 party. Such Republicans do not propose to abandon the Republican party nor to meri;e 
 themselves in any other party, but they do propose to aid in defeating a Republican 
 nomination which, not for reasons of expediency only, but for high moral and patriotic 
 consitlerations, with a due regard for the Republican name and for the .\merican charac- 
 ter, was unfit to be made. They desire not to evade the proper responsibility of American 
 citizens by declining to vote, and they desire also to make their votes as effective as 
 possible for honest and pure and wise administration. 
 
 How can such voters, who at this election cannot conscientiously support the Repub- 
 lican candidate, promote the oVjjects which they desire to accomplish more surely than 
 by supporting the candidate who represents the qualities, the spirit, and the purpose 
 which they all agree in believing to be of controlling importance in this election ? No 
 citizen can rightfully avoid the issue or refuse to cast his vote. The ballot is a trust. 
 Every voter is a trustee for good government, bound to answer to his private conscience 
 for his public acts. This conference, therefore, assuming that Republicans and indepen- 
 <lent voters, who for any reason cannot sustain the Republican nomination desire to take 
 the course which, under the necessary conditions and constitutional methods of a Presi- 
 dential election, will most readily and surely secure the result at which they aim, respect- 
 fully recommends to all such citizens to support the Electors who will vote for Grover 
 Cleveland in order most eflectually to enforce their conviction that nothing could more 
 deeply >tain the American name and prove more disastrous to the public welfare than 
 the deliberate indifference of the people of the United States to increa>ing public corrup- 
 tion and to the want of official integrity in the highest trusts of the Government. 
 
 Mr. Schurz's Address. 
 
 At a meeting at the Grand Opera House, iu Brooklyn, August 5th, Carl Schurz, 
 ■who had been invited to present his views on the issues of the campaign, delivered 
 an exhaustive and memorable argument, from which we reproduce the following 
 portions : 
 
 Fellow-Citizens : In obedience to the invitation with which I have been honored, 
 I stand here in behalf of Republicans opposing the presidential candidates of the Repub- 
 lican party. You may well believe me when I say that it is no pleasure to me to enter 
 upon a campaign like this. But a candid statement of our reasons for the step we have 
 taken is due to those whose companionship in the pending contest we have left. It is, 
 therefore, to Republicans that I address myself. I shall, of course, not waste any words 
 upon politicians who follow the name of the party, right or wrong ; but to the men of reason 
 and conscience will I appeal, who loved their party for the good ends it was serving, 
 and who were faithful to it in the same measure as it was faithful to the honor and the 
 true interests of the Republic. Let them hear me, and then decide whether the same 
 fidelity will not irresistibly lead them where we stand now. 
 
 The TarifT not the Issue. 
 
 At the threshold I have to meet a misapprehension of our motives. It has been said, 
 and, I suppose, believed by some, that we were dissatisfied with the Republican party 
 because its present candidates were protectionists. This is easily answered. Is Senator 
 Edmunds, of \'ermont, a free trader ? On the contrary, he is well known to be as 
 strong a protectionist as any member of the Senate. And who among the candidates 
 before the Republican National Convention was the favorite of the sanie "independent 
 Republicans " now opposing the Republican nominations? The same Senator Ed- 
 munds. Why was he their favorite ? Because he was thoroughly trusted as an honest 
 man who could be depended upon to be faithful to those moral principles and political 
 methods the observance of which would make and keep the Government honest. There 
 was the decisive point. We should have supported other Republican candidates even of 
 less prominence and of less ability than Mr. Edmunds possesses, no matter whether they 
 were as strong protectionists as he, provided they satisfied that one fundamental require- 
 ment of unimpeachable, positive, and active integrity This is a fact universally known 
 which no candid man will question. What, then, has the tariff question to do with the 
 motives of our opposition ? Nothing at all. And if any of those to whom these pres-
 
 286 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 
 
 ents may come still assert that the tariff is the moving cause of our action, they convict 
 themselves of being afraid of the real reasons which govern us, and of seeking artfully to 
 deceive the people about them. So far, it may have been a mistake ; now it will be a lie. 
 Undoubtedly the tariff is an interesting and important subject ; so is the currency ; 
 so is the bank question ; so is the Mormon question ; so are many others. At other 
 times they might absorb our attention. But this time the Republican National Conven- 
 tion has, with brutal directness, so that we must face it whether we will or not, forced 
 upon the country another issue, which is infinitely more important, because it touches 
 the vitality of our institutions. It is the question of honesty in government. I say the 
 Republican Convention has forced it upon the country, not by platform declarations, 
 but by nominating for the Presidency a man with a blemished public record. Under- 
 stand me fully. The question is not merely whether Mr. Blaine, if elected notwith- 
 standmg his past career, would or would not give the country a comparatively honest 
 Administration. The question is much larger than that. It is, whether the public 
 record of the Republican candidate is not such as to make his election by the American 
 people equivalent to a declaration on their part that honesty will no longer be one of the 
 requirements of the government of the Republic. It is, whether such a declaration will 
 not have the inevitable effect of sinking the Government for generations to come, per- 
 haps forever, into a depth of demoralization and corruption such as we have never 
 dreamed of before. If this is really the issue of the pending campaign, then you will 
 admit it to be the most momentous that has been upon us since the civil war ; nay, as 
 momentous as any involved in the civil war itself. 
 
 '*•** ** «•*» 
 
 If you want to know what the result of Mr. Blaine's election would be, stop and 
 observe what the result of his mere nomination already has been. What do you see ? 
 Men high in standing, who but yesterday were shocked at such things as Mr. Blaine has 
 done, who thought that the people would and ought to brand them with their emphatic 
 disapproval, now meekly apologizing for the same things and dismissing them as little 
 eccentricities of genius. Nay, some of them grow fairly facetious at the " Pharisees," 
 or "saints," or "dudes," or "gentle hermits" who denounce corruption to-day as they 
 themselves denounced it yesterday. Indeed, " Pharisees " and "saints." What, then, 
 are the strange and extravagant things which these Pharisees and saints demand, and 
 which after Six. Blaine's nomination have suddenly become so ridiculous ? Do they ask 
 that a candidate for the Presidency should be the ideal man and the embodiment of all 
 the human virtues ? That he should part his hair in the middle and wear lavender 
 gloves? No, not that. But these strange creatures, these " Pharisees " and " dudes," 
 insist that a man to be elected President of the United States should be a man of 
 mtegrity ; that he should have a just sense of official honor ; that he should not be one 
 with a record of prostituted official power, such as the Mulligan letters and the investiga- 
 tion show, upon his back. That is all. Why, how ridiculous this is, to be sure. Have- 
 you ever heard anything so outlandish ? 
 
 Well, fellow-citizens, when you see grave men, men of public standing, suddenly 
 disposed to laugh at other men who to-day refuse to honor bad practices which yesterday 
 they all in common condemned, it is not altogether amusing. It is a rather serious 
 symptom of the moral effect Mr. Blaine's mere nomination has already produced. But 
 it is only one of many. 
 
 There is corruption enough now. But when the American people shall have 
 proclaimed that they care nothing for a proper sense of honor in their public men and 
 the public service, then a crop of corruption and demoralization will ripen such as we 
 have never dreamed of. You complain now that the money kings and the great 
 corporations have too much power in our public concerns. But when the American 
 people by a solemn popular election shall have taught our politicians, young and old, 
 that they can make themselves rich by the prostitution of official trust without fear of 
 disgrace, that they may have pelf and public honor at the same time, there will be no 
 limit to the corrupting power of wealth, and your dreaded money kings and corpor- 
 ations will do in open daylight what they now attempt in the dark. Corruption will 
 irresistibly "broaden down from precedent to precedent." Its flood may overwhelm 
 all that we hold dear and are proud of to-day. 
 
 Citizens of the United States, I warn you solemnly not to take this fatal leap. 
 The honor of the American people, the vitality of our institutions, the whole future of 
 the Repuljlic are involved in the issue. Do you want to protect that honor, to save 
 those institutions from deadly rot and the future of the Republic from incalculable disaster 
 and disgrace ? There is but one thing to do. If a political party, however great and 
 glorious, has been so forgetful of its dignity and its duty as to nominate a candidate for 
 the Presidency conspicuously l)earing the fatal taint, then the .American people must
 
 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 287 
 
 show that they have moral sense enough to reject him, and to reject him overwhelm- 
 inflv That is the way of salvation. There is no other. 
 
 *'■', •• • • • • • 
 
 This IS not the cause of a mere partv. It is greater than any party. It is in the 
 broadest sense the cause of the people, the cause of all classes and honorable occupations- 
 alike. It speaks the language of interest and says to our merchants and business men : 
 You know that the successful working of commerce and trade hangs upon trust l)et ween 
 man and man. You need credit as a nation as you need confidence between individuals. 
 If you discover that a managing man in your business is in secret concert with any of 
 your customers and uses the opportunities of his position for his own personal protit, you 
 confide in him no longer, but you discharge him. If you learn that the cashier of your 
 bank so uses the opportunities of his place, you distrust the institution and withdraw 
 your deposits. What will you think of yourselves, what will the world thmk ot your 
 business judgment and your sense of honesty, if in something far greater than your shop 
 or your bank, if in the government of your country you promote the man who has done 
 this to the highest place of honor and trust ? You complain that the credit of our great 
 enterpri-es has most injuriously suffered at home and abroad by the unscrupulous tncks 
 of the inside rings in corporate management. How will it be if you give the solemn 
 sanction of your votes to something akin to the same practice in the Government of the 
 
 This is the cause of labor and says to the workingmen : What you need above all 
 things is a government of just laws and of honest men to execute the laws. You need 
 men who have the conscience and courage to say "No" to you when the law forbids 
 that which you may ask for ; for such men will have the conscience and courage to say 
 «'No" to those more powerful than you when they ask for what is unjust and injurious 
 to you. Beware of the dcmaijogue who the more he flatters you with promises to-day 
 the more he will lie likely to' betray you to-morrow. Beware of the political jobber, for 
 in the very nature of things he is always the monopolist's own pet and bedfellow. How 
 can you, laboring men, so betray your own interests as to support a candidate whose 
 election 'will mean that in the opinion of the American people jobbery in the Govern- 
 ment is a legitimate occupation not to be punished, but to be honored ? 
 
 This is the cause of patriotism and national pride, and it says to every citizen of the 
 Republic : Do you want the world abroad to respect the American name ? Then show 
 them first that the American people respect themselves. The American people will show 
 how they respect themselves by the choice they make for their highest honors. Ask 
 yourselves, Americans, how this Republic will stand in the esteem of mankind, and how 
 its influence will be upheld by the confidence of nations if the American people by a 
 solemn vote proclaim to the world that official honor is to them a thing of indiflerence, 
 and that they select their President from among those who have traded on high official 
 trust to make money. .,,,,, , li- ^ 
 
 And in the face of all this still the cry of "Party ! " Woe to the republic whose 
 cidzens think of party and nothing but party when the honor of their country and the 
 vitality of their Government are at stake. But, happily, what an impotent cry it is in 
 these days. Look around you and see what is going on. The time of a new migration 
 of political forces seems to have come. The elements are restlessly moving, in all direc- 
 tions breaking through the barriers of old organizations. Here they march, and there, 
 some with uncertain purposes, crossing one another's paths and sometimes even their 
 own. No doubt one ot the candidates of the two great parties will be President. But 
 neither of the two parties, when it issues from the struggle, will be what it was 
 before. This is the disorder which evolves new energies, for good or lor evil. Such are 
 periods of promise, but also of danger. What will come we cannot foresee. But in the 
 confusion that surrounds us it is the part of patriotic men to stand together with clear 
 heads and one firm purpose. The duty is plain. It is to see to it that, whatever the 
 future may build up, its foundations at least be kept sound ; that the honor of the Ameri- 
 can people l>e preserved intact, and that all political parties, new or old, become forever 
 impressed with the utter hopelessness of any attempt to win success without respecting 
 that vital condition of our greatness and glory, which is honest government. 
 
 Independent Press on Blaine. 
 
 {New York Herald, Jutu-].^ 
 
 Finally the great agony is over, and Mr. Blaine is the candidate of the Republican 
 party for the office of President of the United States. We are sorry for it, and we believe 
 the Republicans will all be sorry for it next Novemlier. But although every man who cares, 
 for the purity of public life and the welfare of the country, and especially all those who.
 
 288 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 
 
 hoped for the redemption of the Republican party from the evil elements that have already 
 nearly dragged it down the depths, must poignantly regret a nomination like this, yet 
 there has grown within a day or two in many circles a sentiment that will regard the nomi- 
 nation with a certain grim sense of satisfaction. Indignation of decent opinion at the 
 ever-recurring nuisance of the Blaine candidacy, a revolt against the open shamelessness 
 of the Blaine men and their methods, and at their scheme of carrying things with a roar 
 and not by reason, has made men feel that at last there was perhaps but one cure for all 
 this, which was to have the Blaine element carry the Convention and nominate their man, 
 and then see the man and the party buried out of sight by an overwhelming defeat at the 
 hands of the people. All who have felt that way have their cure before them; and they 
 may at least congratulate themselves that they are now indeed in a fair way to have done 
 with Blaine forever. 
 
 {New York Times, June 8.] 
 The demonstrations of welcome with which some former Presidential nominations have 
 been received have been formal and perfunctory, perhaps. Mr. Blaine's is the first to be 
 received in cold and disapproving silence by a large section of the party and with instant 
 protest and revolt by another large element. Thousands of Republicans with whom 
 patriotism is a sentiment enduring for life, while partisanship lasts only during the party's 
 good behavior, that is to say the right-thinking and reasi^nable men of the party, are 
 asking themselves to-day whether they are now Republicans, whether the party they 
 belonged to and were proud to serve any longer exists. Thousands of other Republicans, 
 less firmly attached to the party. Republicans whose allegiance is always dependent upon 
 good nominations and right intentions, are conferring one with another about the nomina- 
 tion of an independent Republican ticket in opposition to Blaine and Logan. The Re- 
 publican party was never brought to such a pass before. The Liberal Republican 
 episode of 1872 was a summer shower. The party now faces a " rattling storm of 
 arrows barbed with fire." 
 
 [From the Boston Advertiser — Rep.'\ 
 To a large section of the Republican party the news that the fierce struggle at Chicago 
 has ended by the nomination of Mr. Blaine will appear ominous of disaster. To them the 
 event will mean that the party of sound government and of high moral purpose is 
 required to abdicate its place as the exponent of principles and to undertake the excul- 
 pation of a man, and to them it will appear, as we believe, that the decision of a 
 National Convention no longer reflects the matured judgment of a great party holding 
 itself responsible for the guidance of the nation, but is the chance result of a contest in 
 which intense ambition, the most degraded political methods, and the clamor of a mob 
 within the hall of the convention have had a victory. We need not enter upon any 
 foiTTial declaration of our own entire agreement with those Republicans who thus fail to 
 find in the nomination any fit expression of the established principles and avowed aims 
 of the Republican party. The events of the last three days have given us no answer to 
 the objections so often urged in these columns against the nomination of Mr. Blaine and 
 against the course of Mr. Blaine as a public man, and have presented no contingency in 
 which these objections could be waived consistently with truth or political honor. We 
 have, then, nothing to retract and nothing to modify. With unabated devotion to the 
 great purposes for which the Republican party was organized and has been maintained, 
 we declare our inability to support the nomination, either in the present aspect of the 
 political field, or in any which now seems likely to present itself. 
 
 \From the Sprijig field Republican, yune 7.] 
 These nominations are revolutionary. They are such as the Republican party has 
 never before presented, and will carry dismay and alarm to thousands of men who have 
 regarded this as the party of safety, of integrity, of principle, and of high moral ends. 
 They portend deserved disaster and defeat to the Republican party, and a revolution in 
 the National Administration. Our readers will observe that even among the party press 
 the New York Times and the Boston Advertiser already decline to support the Repub- 
 lican ticket. 
 
 [From New York Evening Post, yufte 7.] 
 What is to be the issue from this deplorable and disastrous but deliberately created 
 muddle, it is yet too soon to forecast. That Mr. Blaine cannot be elected, we look on as 
 certain. Whether he can be defeated without ruining the organization which is l^eing 
 prostituted in the service of his selfish ambition remains to be seen. Tlie extent of his 
 defeat — that is, the size of the majority which will remove him permanently from the 
 ptolitical arena — will depend largely on the action of the Democrats. They have now an 
 opportunity offered them such as has not presented itself for a quarter of a century.
 
 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 289 
 
 [From the Worcester (^Mass.) Spy, Jiaie 7.] 
 
 Not only was Mr. Blaine the free choice of the convention, but it is safe to go further 
 and say that his nomination is acceptable to a considerable majority of the Republican 
 voters of the country. But that does not imply that his election will Ijc easy. No doubt 
 he will make a "rattlinf,' " campaign. There will be plenty of crowded meetings, ring- 
 ing speeches, and tremendous cheering. But no candidate who has i)een thought of has 
 so many resolute opponents among men who would gladly vote with tlie Republicans if 
 the Republican Party would give them a candidate for whom they could vote with a 
 good conscience. Mr. Blaine's admirers may think that they are unreasonable, obstinate, 
 and prejudiced ; that they magnify small faults into inexcusable ofienses ; that they 
 make ot slight objections insuperable obstacles; that they give too much weight to the 
 evidence against Mr. Blaine's character, and too little to that in his favor ; that they 
 exaggerate the personal aspects of the canvass, and do not think enough of its party 
 aspects. All this has been said many times, and will continue to be said in varying 
 forms of expression and in diverse tones and tempers, in the endeavor to pursuade or 
 drive into the party ranks the men who think .Mr. Blaine is not a fit candidate. No doubt 
 they will prevail with some of them, but there will be a remnant whose votes will be 
 sorely needed, perhaps will be indispensable, in the doubtful States, and especiallv in 
 New York. Unfortunately the vote of an enthusiast goes no further and counts tor no 
 more than that of a quiet man without violent preferences ; and, therefore, universal 
 esteem, equally distributed over the whole country, is preferable to blazing enthusiasm in 
 a majority of the party, with a sprinkling of settled distrust and stubborn hostilitv. 
 What the independent Republicans can do in New York was proved in the election of 
 1882. What they will do this year will be seen in November. We should have no pleas- 
 ure in predicting disaster to the Republican party, but it is impossible now to expect 
 with confidence Mr. Blaine's election. 
 
 [From the Boston Herald— Ind. Rep.] 
 
 Believing that Mr. Blaine would be a bad and dangerous President, we hope to see 
 him defeated. Believing him to be a weak candidate, we expect to see him defeated. 
 His zealots say he can be elected without the vote of New York. They will have a chance 
 to prove it. Perhaps they think he can be elected without the help of Massachusetts. It 
 IS not improbable that they may have a chance to test this also. If the Democrats rise 
 to the occasion, nominate Governor Cleveland and give him an honest support in his own 
 State, we believe they will carry the election. The government of the people, by the 
 people, is safe in the hands of any majority of the people. Now may be a good time for 
 the Republican party to step down and out. The National Convention has acted as if it 
 thought so. 
 
 [From the Chicago Daily News — Rep.\ 
 
 It is perhaps needless to say that the act of the Convention has not changed our 
 opinion of the man who is now the nominee of the Republican party. That act may 
 constitute in the eyes of many a veritable political letlie, but we see no reason to follow 
 those whose convictions are so easily changed. No one has disproved the charges made 
 against Mr. Blaine, nor have they ever been withdrawn. In short, he is to-day in all 
 respects the same man that he was before the Convention assembled. 
 
 [From the Philaaelpliia Times — Ind. ] 
 The sober, serious fact that Mr. Blame's partisans must face is that the large body of 
 conservative citizens who hold the balance of power in every one of the debatable eastern 
 States— New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and even Massachusetts— profoundly 
 distrust Mr. Blaine and will not support him for the Presidency. Whether their opposition 
 be made effective for his defeat will depend, of course, on the alternative offered by the 
 Democratic party next month, but if he be elected it will be through Democratic folly and 
 not in any case by brass bands. 
 
 [From the Buffalo Commercial — Rep.'\ 
 It would be arrant hypocrisy for the Commercial to pretend to be satisfied with the 
 result of the Chicago Convention. * * * The Commercial has freely criticized Mr. 
 Blaine's availability as a candidate. We have said that we did not believe he could carry 
 New York State, and that to elect him would demand the utmost exertions of the 
 Republican party. To what we have said we adhere. 
 
 [Boston Transcript {Rep. ), June 9.] 
 The Republicans of the country had a right to expect that their delegates at Chicago 
 would place in nomination a man for whose career no explanation nor apology need be 
 
 19
 
 290 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 
 
 made, pledged by his record and present utterances to administrate reform, and whose 
 broad and consei"vative judgment would be a guarantee of domestic prosperity and a 
 security against the dan^'ers of all ambitious and visionary policies. It is yet to be seen 
 to what extent the Republicans throughout the country will ratify the selection of the 
 convention. The efiervescence attending the nomination, when first made, is visibly wan- 
 ing, although Mr. Blaine's campaign, to be a successful one, must have the same whoop 
 and hurrah throughout that captured the Chicago Convention. We do not propose to 
 reiterate the charge against James G. Blaine of using public position for private gain. 
 Public opinion is fixed, we believe, as to the truth of that matter. But if this allegation 
 could be fully met then there would still remain Mr. Blaine's floundering course as Secre- 
 tary of Slate, his dangerous diplomacy while in that office, and the feeling this has pro- 
 duced in ihe community that his election would give the country a sensational rather than 
 a safe President. 
 
 [Nnv York Staats Zeiftmg.] 
 We would prefer that the country had been spared the danger of the election ot such 
 a President. It does not occur to us that Blame is a weak character. His "magnetism " 
 is no empty phrase. When he left Congress to become the head of the Executive (for he was 
 the only head of the Garfield Administration) he was obliged to prop up his popularity 
 by a combative foreign policy, which should tickle the vanity of the nation, so little did 
 he regai d the true interests of the people. To this course the man will always adhere, 
 no matter in what position he may be. He is the boldest, ablest representative of all those 
 who fight for that political power which misrepresents the people. 
 
 [IVilmington A'ews, (Rep.), June lo.] 
 
 Those who regarded Blame as an unavailable candidate are already justified in their 
 judgment, their predictions and their fears. This movement on the part of the Republican 
 press and in respect to the Republican candidate is startling by its suddenness, its deter- 
 mination and its extent. It adds squarely before the noise of the shouting at Chicago has 
 fairly died away, a new element of uncertainty, as to every eastern State that has 
 hitherto been conceded to be doubtful, and it distinctly adds Massachusetts to the list. 
 It is too early yet to measure the full force and significance of this Republican revolt. 
 That it exists at all is a striking evidence of the sagacity of those who regarded Mr. 
 Blaine's nommation as injudicious. It brings into the opposition to the Republican 
 ticket — not necessarily into the Democratic party — an intellectual and moral power 
 which hitherto has been among the most cherished and useful of the Republican 
 resources. 
 
 [A^dW Haven Mo7-ning N'ews {Rcp.\ June J.] 
 
 Is that man going to build up the party whose nomination alienates some of its most 
 honored leaders ? Is the great army of Republicans to be consolidated under a com- 
 mander who begins his first battle with a corps of Independent Republicans deserting 
 from his standard ? Is his selection the choice of a leader who will conciliate and unite 
 rather than distract and weaken ? A Republican National Convention has at last made 
 one of those mistakes which it has so often had opportunities to charge upon its foes. 
 Whether the error proves fatal depends largely on whether the coming Democratic 
 Tsational Convention gives voters only a choice of evils. 
 
 [C/iicae'o Evening Mail find.), June g. ] 
 Is James G.Blaine Jay Gould's man? Despite his friendly relations with General 
 Grant, Mr. Gould did his utmost to secure the nomination for Blaine in 1S76 and again in 
 1880. Evidently he has not changed his mind in the past eight years. He is still for 
 Blaine. Putting this and that together, the voters of the country have something upon 
 which to cogitate. There are some forfeited land grants in which the people and Jay 
 Gould have conflicting interests. Contingencies may at any time arise when it would be 
 most convenient for Mr. Gould to have a stanch friend in the Presidential chair. Occa- 
 sionally the veto is of inestimable value. Perhaps the impression that Mr. Gould stands 
 behind him does the Maine statesman grievous wrong. It behooves Mr. Blaine and his 
 friends to at once strive to disabuse the public mind. Otherwise mere suspicion will be 
 mistaken for irrefragable proof as the canvass progresses. The people are not quite ready 
 to elevate Mr. Gould to a place Ixdiind the throne greater than the throne itself. 
 
 \Frpm the Christian Union.] 
 The nominations at Chicago liave brought genuine grief to a large and very intelli- 
 gent body of voters inside the Republican party. They were never more ardently 
 attached to Republican principles than they are to-day, and they stand aloof rom their 
 old-time fellowshii)S in the crisis of a Presidential election with unfeigned regret. But
 
 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 291 
 
 they cannot do otherwise, again and again in the last eight years they have declared 
 their unalterable determination not to support Mr. Bl,-iine for the Presidency. Their 
 opposition is not captious; they have come to distrust Mr. Blaine with reluctance, and 
 have yielded to doubt only because they could not shut it out; they iiave never endeavored 
 to impose any candidate ot their own upon the party. It is through no fault of theirs 
 that they now stand silent in a campaign to which they had looked forward as opening 
 another and nobler chapter in the history of the nation. 
 
 [From thi Springjield Republican.^ 
 It is not to be wondered at that members of the Republican National Committee com- 
 plain bitterly that "the cause" is without satisfactory newspaper advocacy. Tius is the 
 first striking feature of the situation. The NrM York Tribune is playing light Blaine 
 tunes, the Commercial Advertiser generally does the same, and of the weekly and illus- 
 trated papers Frank Leslie's may 1« counted on supporting tlie Republican ticket — and 
 the trio represents a total circulation of perhaps loo.ooo copies. On the other side is 
 ranged almost solidly the rest ot the prcsb of the city, which stands tor a circulation of 
 over half a million copies, the Times, Herald, Evening Post, Telegram, World, Staats 
 Zeiiung, Harper's IVeekly, Puck znd J>wm— which is certainly anti- Blaine — makingjup the 
 interesting array. Whatever may be said about the influence of newspaper writing in 
 determining the results of elections, it will not be denied that newspapers reflect to a 
 great extent the local sentiment. 
 
 Independent Press on Cleveland. 
 
 [Nezu York Herald, July 12.] 
 
 "The Herald puts at the head of its columns the Democratic ticket for President and 
 Vice-President of the United States. We congratulate the Democratic party upon the 
 work of its Convention at Chicago and the opportunity it offers to the American people, 
 through a union of patriotic voters, by whatever name they call themselves — Democrats, 
 Independents, Labor Reformers, or whatsoever else — to redeem the country from the 
 disgrace and peril to which the Republichn party has plotted to expose it by the 
 thoroughly bad nominations of Blaine and Logan. 
 
 "Cleveland's easy nomination on the second ballot yesterday justifies all that we 
 have thought and said of the .sound judgment and good sense of this Convention when 
 put to a decisive test of choosing what is vital, sound and vigorous in the Democracy and 
 what is very much the other way; and the convention is to be congratulated upon the fact 
 that it has named the man who will be the ne.\t President. 
 
 [Harper's Weekly, July 19.] 
 " The nomination of Governor Cleveland defines sharply the actual issue of the Presi- 
 dential election of this year. He is a man whose absolute otticial mtegrity has never 
 been questioned, who has no laborious and doubthil explanations to undertake, and who 
 is universally known as the Governor of New York, elected by an unprecedented majority 
 which was not partisan, and represented both the votes and the consent of an enormous 
 body of Republicans, and who as the Chief Executive of the State has steadily with- 
 stood the blandishments and the threats of the worst elements of his party, and has justly 
 earned the reputation of a courageous, independent, and efficient friend and promoter of 
 administrative reform. His name has become that of the especial representative among 
 our public men of the integrity, purity, and economy of administration, which are the 
 objects of the most intelligent and patriotic citizens. ♦ • • * -pj^g 
 
 nomination of Governor Cleveland is due not so much to the preference of his party as 
 to the general demand of the country for a candidacy which stands for precisely the 
 qualities and services which are associated with his name." 
 
 [.V. Y. Tunes, July 12.] 
 It is not only in what he clearly represents but in what he distinctly opposes that 
 Grover Cleveland is strong before the American people. His career has made him the 
 exponent of clean and honest politics. In the atlministration of public trusts he has shown 
 that he is superior to partisan bias, indifferent to such party interests as are in conflict with 
 ofticial probity and the public welfare. He has been severely tried in the important and 
 responsible post he now occupies. He has resisted the importunities of designing politi- 
 cians, he has defeated the purposes of selfish schemers. All those members of his own 
 party who are not absorbed in private aims which are in conflict with the public good are 
 outspoken in his praise; and he has won the good opinion of all Republicans who are not 
 so far gone in partisanship as to have lost the power to commend upright conduct in a 
 jiolitical adversary.
 
 292 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 
 
 \The Xation, yuly 17.] 
 
 The nomination of Governor Cleveland by the Democratic Convention makes the way 
 perfectly plain and simple for all friends of good government who are for any reason 
 dissatisfied with the Republican candidate. This time the Democrats have made nO' 
 mistake. 
 
 * • * * Cleveland has happily something far stronger than the promise of a 
 strong character to commend him to the suttrages of good men of all parties. He is a 
 tried administrator. One of the Blaine organs in its great agony has tried to relieve itself 
 by calling him " a man destitute of experience." Of one kind of experience — experience 
 in political trickery and manipulation, and in the art of making money for himself and 
 his friends out of politics — he is, indeed, destitute. But the present extraordinary 
 political crisis is due to the profound and growing popular belief that this kind of experi- 
 ence is too common among our statesmen, and that the Republican candidate in 
 particular is too rich in it either for his own or his country's good. Of the kind of 
 experience which the present situation in national affairs most imperatively calls for, 
 experience in administration, Cleveland has more than any one wlio has entered the 
 White House since i860, more than any man whom either party has nominated within 
 that period, except Seymour and Tilden — more than Lincoln, more than Grant, more 
 than Hayes, more than Garfield, more than Arthur. 
 
 He laid at the start the best of all toundations for American statesmanship by becoming 
 a good lawyer. He began his executive career by being a good county sheriff. He was next 
 intrusted with the administration of a gieat city- — as severe a test of a man's capacity in 
 dealing with men and affairs as any American in our time can undergo. In both olhces 
 he gave boundless satisfaction to his fellow-citizens of both parties. His nomination for the 
 Governorship of this State came in due course, and at a crisis in State affairs which very 
 closely resembled that which we are now witnessing in national affairs. His election by 
 an unprecedented majority is now an old story. It was the beginning of a revolution. 
 It was the first thorough fright the tricky and jobbing element in politics ever received 
 here. It for tlie first time in the experience of such politicans gave reform an air of 
 reality." 
 
 [From the Springfield {Mass.) Republican.'] 
 
 The Democratic party has come fully up to its great opportunity and placed in 
 nomination for the presidency Governor Cleveland, of New York, with Hendricks, of 
 Indiana, in the second place, as in 1876. It is the old ticket of 1876, with the new 
 reforming Governor of New York in place of the old. This is a happy union of the avail- 
 able half of the ticket of 1876, and of the new and vigorous manhood of the party, with 
 its recent experience in practical administration, and its just appreciation of the present 
 issues. The nomination of this ticket gives the Democracy approximately an even chance 
 of carrying the country. They have sound candidates upon a good platform. 
 
 [From the Boston Herald.] 
 With Cleveland as the Democratic candidate the composition of the two parties will 
 be materially changed. Democrats who are in politics for the spoils and plunder they 
 can get out of it, will, many of them openly, or secretly, go for Blaine. The better 
 portion of the Republican party, embracing men of principle and independence, will 
 furnish votes for Cleveland. If the Republican leaders are satisfied with the exchange 
 they are not to be envied their capacity for being pleased. With a reform candidate, 
 nominated by the Democratic party solely because he is and has always been a reformer, 
 and is acceptable to the reform voters, it looks like the beginning of a practical reorgani- 
 zation of parties. It certainly looks like the beginning of the end of the Republican 
 party; as at present organized and led. Defeat will do the Republican party good. 
 Success will do the Democratic party good. 
 
 From the New York Siaats-Zeitung. 
 It cannot Ije honestly denied that a change of parties in office, brought about with- 
 out revolution, can only have a wholesome effect. No party can continue a long, 
 uninterrupted possession of power without becoming a prey to corruption. The Repub- 
 lican party has furnished ample proof of this. Let there be an opportunity offered to the 
 people for a change of parties of such a kind that the victors must give up all idea of a 
 general distribution of the offices among their adherents and the people will joyfully 
 agree to it. The nomination of Cleveland gives this guarantee. His record as chief 
 magistrate of a large city and a great State has made him in the popular mind the pro- 
 totype of a conscientious official, unwavering in principle, and one who, (o the deep 
 chagrin of professional politicians, has always held the public interest paramount to party 
 consideration-. Mr. Cleveland will certainly use the whole power of the Presidential
 
 THE INDEPENDENT TIDAL-WAVE. 293 
 
 office to purify the federal service, and to keep it pure, and this, above all, is expected 
 by the people of the President. Wherever corruption has taken root he will not, as 
 would be the case with a Republican President, have to exercise leniency, and he will 
 take proper precautions in order that the corruption may not be continued under the 
 Democratic regime. No earthly power will be able to induce him to let corruptionists 
 use the influence of his hij^h office. 
 
 His is the well-earned record of a personally pure man and a practical reformer of 
 the public service. With conscientious zeal he watched over the doings of the legislative 
 branch of the State government, and displayed the same conscientious care in scrutiniz- 
 ing and approving its acts. Mis reputation in this respect is an enviable one. These 
 considerations will have the same wholesome effect in the elections as in the nominating 
 Convention. The circumstances were and are such that a man of this stamp must be 
 brouglit forward ; hence he has been given the preference over the most tried leaders of 
 the jiarty in national politics. No one expects that he will Ik; a partisan leader in 
 national politics, but it is expected that the purification of the public service, which he 
 must undertake as chief of the executive branch of the government, will have a beneficial 
 effect upon the morals of his party as well as upon all branches of the government. It is 
 evident that for this very reason Mr. Cleveland will be the antipode of the Republican 
 candidate for the Presidency. The personal character and record of the Republican 
 nominee are such that they lead to the conclusion that under his administration corrup- 
 tion would be fostered more than ever and would completely poison the public service. 
 
 The point has been forcibly made in Chicago that Cleveland's strength among the 
 German -Americans is especially great, and this has, as we learn from good sources, 
 contributed essentially toward securing him the nomination. •»•«»•• 
 The Ciermans were recognized m Chicago as a model political element, which holds 
 reform measures paramount over all other considerations and which cannot be made to 
 swerve from tliis deep rooted opinion by party consideration or that kind of patriotism 
 commonly called State pride. Blaine's personal corruption has principally brought 
 about the decided aversion of the (Germans against him, and his identification with the 
 Prohibitionists and Knownothingism has given additional strength to this aversion. 
 
 The Republican party has, since Blaine's nomination, entirely lost the hold it once 
 had on the Germans, which had been greatly weakened after the slavery issue had been 
 disposed of, and especially since the Republican party became a synonym for corruption. 
 Hence, the nomination of Mr. Cleveland will make it especially advisable for the 
 Germans to join en masse the Democratic party. The large Northwestern States, where 
 the Germans have for so many years enabled the Republican party to maintain its 
 power, have, under these circumstancee, become doubtful States, and we may expect a 
 great political revolution in Indiana and Wisconsin, and perhaps even in Illinois.
 
 294 APPENDIX. 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson's Inaugural Address. 
 
 The first Democratic President, Thomas Jefferson, in his inaugural address on 
 the 4th of ^larch, 1801, promulgated the fundamental theories of government and 
 constitutional construction, which still constitute the party creed. They should be 
 studied and preserved in tlie minds and hearts of the people as an ever-living rebuke 
 to the imperial tendencies of the Republican party. They are as follows : 
 
 "About to enter, fellow citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend 
 everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper that you should understand what 
 I deem the essential principles of our government, and consequently those which 
 ought to shape its administration. I will compress them within the narrowest 
 compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. 
 
 " Equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion religious 
 or political. 
 
 ' ' Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances 
 with none. 
 
 " The support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent 
 administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti- 
 republican tendencies. 
 
 " The preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor, 
 as the shcet-anclior of our peace at home and safety abroad. 
 
 "A jealous care of the rights of election by the people — a mild and safe 
 corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable 
 remedies are unprovided. 
 
 "Absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority — the vital principle of 
 republics from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and imme- 
 diate parent of despotism. 
 
 "A well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments 
 of war, till the regulars may relieve them. 
 
 " The sujjremacy of the civil over the military authority. 
 
 " Economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened. 
 
 "The lionest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith. 
 
 " Encouragement of agriculture and of commerce as its handmaid. 
 
 "The diffusion of information and tlie arraignment of all abuses at the bar of 
 public reason. 
 
 ' ' Freedom of religion ; freedom of the press ; freedom of the person under the 
 protection of the habeas corpus ; and trials by juries impartially selected. 
 
 " These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and 
 guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of 
 our sages and the blood of o>ir lieroes have been devoted to their attainment. They 
 should be the creed of our political faith— tlie text of civil instruction— the touch-
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 295 
 
 stone by which to try the services of those we trust ; and should we wander from 
 them m moments of error or ahirm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain 
 the road which leads iihjue to peace, liberty, and safety." 
 
 William Allen's Definition of Democracy. 
 
 The fundanieutAl iirinciples of Dcmocrucy wen- nt-ver better stated than by 
 that distinguished leader e.v-Uuited SUitcs Senator William Allen, of Ohio. 
 
 "Democracy is a sentiment not to be appalled, corrupted, or compromised. 
 It knows no ba.seness ; it cowers to no danger ; it oppresses no weakness. Fear- 
 less, generous and humane, it rebukes the arrogant, cherishes honor, and sym- 
 pathizes with the humble. It asks nothing but what it concedes ; it concedes 
 nothing but what it demands. Destructive only of despotism, it is the sole con- 
 servator of liberty, labor and property. It is the sentiment of freedom, of equal 
 rights and equal obligations. It is tlie law of nature pervading the land. The 
 stupid, the selfish, and the base in spirit may denounce it as a vulgar thing ; but 
 in the history of our race, the Democratic principle has developed and illustrated 
 the highest moral and intellectual attributes of our nature. It is a noble, a sublime 
 sentiment which expands our affections, enlarges the circle of our sympathies, and 
 elevates the soul of man, until claiming an equality with the best, it rejects a.s 
 unworthy of its dignity any political imnuinities over the humblest of his fellows. 
 Yes, it is an ennobling principle ; and may that spirit which animated our revolu- 
 tionary fathers in their contest for its establishment, continue to animate us, their 
 sons, in the impending struggle for its preservation." 
 
 Samuel J. Tilden's Farewell Letter. 
 
 New York, June lo, 1884. 
 
 To Daniel Manning, Chairman of the Democratic State Committee of New York : 
 
 Sir— In my letter of June 18, 1880, addressed to the delegates from the State of New 
 York to the Democratic National Convention, I said : 
 
 " Having now borne faithfully my full share of labor and care in the public service, 
 and wearing the marks of its burdens, I desire nothing so much as an honorable 
 discharge. I wish to lay down the honors and toils of even quasi party leadership and 
 to seek the repose of private life. 
 
 '• In renouncing renomination for the Presidency, I do so with no doubt in my mind 
 as to the vote of the State of New York, or of the United States, but because I believe 
 that it is a renunciation of re-election to the Presidency. 
 
 " To those who think my renomination and re-election indispensable to an effectual 
 vindication of the right of the people to elect their rulers, violated in my person, I have 
 accorded as long a reserve of my decision as possible, but I cannot overcome my repug- 
 nance to enter into a new engagement which involves four years of ceaseless toil. 
 
 "The dignity of the Presidential office is above a merely personal ambition, but it 
 creates in me no illusion. Its value is as a great power for good to the country. I 
 said four years ago, in accepting the nomination : 
 
 " ' Knowing as I do, therefore, from fresh experience how great the difference is 
 between gliding through an official routine and working out a reform of systems and 
 policies, it is impossible for me to contemplate what needs to be done in the Federal 
 adminis'traUon without an anxious sense of the difficulties of the undertaking. 
 
 '"If summoned by the suffrages of my countrymen to attempt this work 1 shaU 
 endeavor with God's help to be the efficient instrument of their will.
 
 296 APPENDIX. 
 
 " ' Such a work of renovation, after many years of mismle, such a reform of systems 
 and pohcies, to which I would cheerfully have sacrificed all that remained to me of 
 health and life, is now, I fear, beyond my strength. ' " 
 
 My purpose to withdraw from further public service, and the grounds of it, were at 
 that time well known to you and to others ; and when, at Cincinnati, though respecting 
 my wishes yourself, you communicated to me an appeal from many valued friends to 
 relinquish that purpose, I reiterated my determination unconditionally. 
 
 In the four years which have since elapsed, nothing has occurred to weaken, but 
 everything to strengthen, the considerations which induced my withdrawal from public 
 life. To all who had addressed me on the subject, my intention has been frankly com- 
 municated. Several of my most confidential friends, under the sanction of their own 
 names, have publicly stated my determination to be irreversible. That I have occasion 
 now to consider the question is an event for which I have no responsibility. The appeal 
 made to me by the Democratic masses, with apparent unanimity, to serve them once 
 more is entitled to the most deferential consideration, and would inspire a disposition to 
 do anything desired of me if it were consistent with my judgment of duty. 
 
 I believe that there is no instrumentality in human society so potential in its influence 
 upon mankind for good or evil as the governmental machinery for administering justice 
 and for making and executing laws. Not all the eleemosynary institutions or the 
 private benevolence to which philanthropists may devote their lives are so fruitful in 
 benefits, as the rescue and preservation of this machinery from the perversions that make 
 it the instrument of conspiracy, fraud and crime against the most sacred rights and 
 interests of the people. 
 
 For fifty years, as a private citizen, never contemplating an official career, I have 
 devoted at least as much thought and effort to the duty of influencing aright the action of 
 the governmental institutions of my country, as to all other objects. I have never 
 accepted official service except for a brief period for a special purpose, and only where 
 the occasion seemed to require from me that sacrifice of private preferences to the public 
 welfare . 
 
 I undertook the State administration of New York because it was supposed that in 
 that way only could the executive power be swayed on the side of the reforms to which, 
 as a private citizen, I had given three years of my life. 
 
 I accepted the nomination for the Presidency in 1876 because of the general convic- 
 tion that my candidacy would best present the issue of Reform, which the Democratic 
 majority of the people desired to have worked out in the General Government, as it had 
 been in that of the State of New York. I believed that I had strength enough then to 
 renovate the administration of the Government of the United States, and at the close 
 of my term to hand over the great trust to a successor faithful to the same policy. 
 
 Though anxious to seek the repose of private life, I nevertheless acted upon the idea 
 that every power is a trust, and involves a duty. In reply to the address of the com- 
 mittee communicating my nomination, I depicted the difficulties of the undertaking, and 
 likened my feelings in engaging in it to those of a soldier entering battle, but I did not 
 withhold the entire consecration of my powers to the pul)lic service. 
 
 Twenty years of continuous mal-administration under the demoralizing influence of 
 intestine war and of bad finance have infected the whole governmental system of the 
 United States with the cancerous growth of false constructions and corrupt practices. 
 Powerful classes have acquired pecuniary interests in official abuses, and the moral 
 standards of the people hare lieen impaired. To redress these evils is a work of great 
 difficulty and labor, and cannot be accomplished without the most energetic, efficient 
 and personal action on the part of the Chief Executive of the Republic.
 
 APPENDIX. 297 
 
 The canvass and administration, which it is desired that I should undertake, would 
 embrace a period of nearly five years. Nor can I admit any illusion as to their burdens. 
 Three years of experience in the endeavor to reform the municipal government of the City 
 of New York, and two years of experience in renovating the administration of the State 
 of New York, have made me familiar with the requirements of such a work. 
 
 At the present time, the considerations which induced my action in 1880, have become 
 imperative. I ought not to xssume a task which I have not the physical strength to 
 carry through. To reform the administration of the Federal Government; to realize 
 my own ideal, and to fulfill the just expectations of the people, would indeed warrant, as 
 they could alone compensate, the sacrifices which the undertaking would involve. But, 
 in my condition of advancing years and declining strength, I feel no assurance of my 
 ability to accomplish these objects. I am, therefore, constrained to say, definitely, that 
 I cannot now assume the labors of an administration or of a canvass. 
 
 Undervaluing in no wise that best gift of heaven, the occasion and the power some- 
 times bestowed upon a mere individual to communicate an impulse for good ; grateful 
 beyond all words to my fellow countrymen who would assign such a beneficient function 
 to me, I am consoled by the reflection that neither the Democratic party, nor the Repub- 
 lic for whose future that party is the best guarantee, is now , or ever can be, dependent 
 upon any one man for their successful progrsss in the path of a noble destiny. 
 
 Having given to their welfare whatever of health and strength I possessed, or could 
 
 borrow from the future, and having reached the term of my capacity for such labors as 
 
 their welfare now demands, I but submit to the will of God in deeming my pu blic career 
 
 forever closed. 
 
 SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
 
 CONTENTS. 299 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 «♦» 
 
 I'AOES* 
 
 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM 1-7 
 
 GOV. CLEVELAND NOTIFIED 8-10 
 
 GOV. CLEVELAND'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE 11-13 
 
 GOV. HENDRICKS NOTIFIED l^'-l^ 
 
 GOV. HENDRICKS' LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE 1' 
 
 LIFE OF GOV. CLEVELAND 18-21 
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GOV. CLEVELAND 22-78 
 
 LIFE OF GOV. HENDRICKS '^^-^^ 
 
 PUBLIC RECORD OF GOV. HENDRICKS 83-89 
 
 RECORD OF BLAINE. 
 
 The Mulligan Letters 90-113 
 
 A Side Speculation 113 
 
 Press Comments 114-116 
 
 Blaine the Friend of Railroads 116-121 
 
 Blaine and the Miners 121-122 
 
 A RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS. 
 
 Democratic Principles 123 
 
 De Tocqueville's definition 123 
 
 Madison's rules of constitutional construction 128-125 
 
 Justice Field's protest against centralization 125-126 
 
 Horatio Seymour on State and Federal powers 126-128
 
 300 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES. 
 
 Republican Tendencies 138 
 
 Hamilton's theory of government 128 
 
 Blaine's revenue-centralization scheme 12&-132 
 
 The Centennial of the Constitution 132 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 
 
 Open the Books 133-145 
 
 Defalcations of United States Officials 145-169 
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 Republican Tendencies 170 
 
 Senator Hoar's arraignment 170 
 
 Robber Barons 170-171 
 
 Hubbell's letters of assessment 171-172 
 
 Letters of the present campaign 172-173 
 
 Democratic I*rinciple8 and Protests 173 
 
 Senator Pendleton's speech 173-178 
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF MONOPOLIES. 
 
 History of our Public Lands 179 
 
 How acquired 179 
 
 How disposed of 180-185 
 
 Land Grants to Railroads 185-222 
 
 Foreign Land Owners 222 
 
 Unlawful Fencing of Public Domajn 223-224 
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR. 
 
 History of Bills in 48th Congress 225 
 
 Bureau of labor statistics 225 
 
 Prohibition of contract labor 226-233 
 
 The eight-hour law 232 
 
 Miscellaneous bills 232-233 
 
 The Chinese Qxiestion 234-241
 
 ' SOUTHERN MGIONAL I..BBABY F^^;.T^ 
 Iron, which 11 wasbocrowed^
 
 .. University of CalHornJa 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FAaUTY^ 
 Ar« Hilaard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1 jnj 
 405 H"9a;d^jj;;*,hls material to the library 
 from which It v^as borrowed. 
 
 QL JAN 1 3 1991