623. Demonetization of Silver-1873: Inflation Bill-1874: Resumption Act-1875. The financial panic of 1873, in which thousands were ruined, served to call the attention of the country to the unsettled state of the finances. Grant's second term was therefore filled with financial questions. In 1873 congress passed a bill making gold the standard of value in the United States, in other words, "demonetizing silver,” an act which later gave rise to much discussion and ill-feeling. In April, 1874, impelled by the belief of many citizens that "plenty of money was a good thing," congress passed a bill known as the Inflation Bill, which provided that the minimum issue of paper money should be $400,000,000. President Grant, who believed that this would be a great evil, vetoed the bill. At this time the country had no gold or silver money in circulation, and, if the bill had been passed, it was unlikely that specie would have come into general circulation for many years. Many people urged that only by having gold or silver could business be put on a sound basis and prices kept from going constantly up and down. A one-dollar bill, measured in gold or silver, would not buy more than 80 or 90 cents' worth of goods,-thus paper money was not equal to its face value. If more paper had been issued, a paper dollar would have been worth still less. Grant's veto, therefore, was a good one, and made him popular with many who had before disliked him. In order to hinder such bills in future, a demand was now made that the country should return to gold and silver money, or "resume payments in specie," as it was called. As a consequence, the Resumption Act was passed in January, 1875, which declared that after the first of January, 1879, the United States would pay all its debts in gold and silver, on demand.

624. Trouble with the Sioux: Custer's Massacre-1876.— In 1874 gold was found in the Black Hills, on the Sioux reservation. The whites poured in and began digging the gold, in spite of the protests of the Indians. The govern

ment tried to settle the difficulty by moving the Sioux to a new reservation. They objected, and early in 1876, under the lead of "Sitting Bull," began war. In June, General George A. Custer, with 262 men, was ambushed by an overwhelming number of Sioux. A battle followed, which became a massacre, every one of Custer's band being killed, fighting desperately to the end. The massacre struck horror into the people of the country. The government poured troops into the disputed territory, the Indians were forced to yield, and then affairs were left precisely as before.

625. Amnesty Bill-1872: Withdrawal of Troops from the South-1874 to 1877.-In 1872 congress passed a bill of amnesty pardoning all who took part in the war against the union, with the exception of about 350 of the most prominent leaders. Federal troops were still used in the south, however, to protect the colored man and many who wished to see him fairly dealt with in the right to vote and hold office as guaranteed in the constitution. The presence of these troops provoked constant trouble, riots, and outbreaks. The people of the north were now heartily tired of these difficulties. As President Grant said in 1874, "The whole public are tired out with these annual autumnal outbreaks in the south, and a great majority now are ready to condemn any interference on the part of the government.” Most of the troops were withdrawn in Grant's administration. The reconstruction governments vanished wherever this took place. The election of 1874 was the turning point, although there was still interference by the national government due to claims of fraud at the elections. It was not until 1876 that the national government ceased its watchfulness over southern elections. In 1877 President Hayes withdrew the troops entirely. The long struggle had divided the political parties of the south along race lines, a condition most unfortunate for that part of the union. "The solid south" is the result. The colored man's right to vote is not denied, but is rendered of no account by intimidation, and other

methods, some of which to-day are being looked upon with apprehension by many serious-minded citizens in all parts of the union.

626. The Credit Mobilier and Other Scandals: The Whiskey Ring. In 1872 charges against the Union Pacific railroad were made. It was said that the builders of the road had spent $9,000,000 to bribe congressmen. An investigation followed, and, although the charges were not proved, many congressmen were found to have taken stock in the road, and then to have voted it liberal assistance. This was known as the "Credit Mobilier Scandal," taking its name from the name of a Pennsylvania corporation.

The administration itself was mixed up in two great scandals. The first of these involved the war department. Secretary Belknap and some of the under officials were accused of selling offices, and of forcing officers to pay in order to hold their positions. In 1876 the house voted unanimously to impeach Belknap. He then resigned the secretaryship and escaped all punishment. The treasury department was also charged with several frauds. The right to collect internal revenue taxes was sold, the proceeds to be shared between the buyer and the treasury officials. In 1874 the acting secretary resigned, as a consequence of the exposure of these frauds. B. H. Bristow of Kentucky became secretary, and immediately found himself face to face with the biggest fraud of all-the "Whiskey Ring." Internal revenue officers and distillers of whiskey formed this ring with the purpose of cheating the government out of the revenue tax. By 1875 over $2,800,000 had thus been 'stolen. Bristow, with the president's hearty assistance, fought the ring and broke it down in many places. But president and secretary together were not able to overthrow it completely. In fact, the ring was so strongly supported that in 1876 it forced the secretary out of office. The same corruption was active in many of the city governments of the country, especially in that of New York. Here the infamous "Tweed

Ring" plundered right and left. Over $160,000,000 were stolen. In 1871 the city broke from the clutches of this ring and Tweed, the leader, was arrested, tried, convicted, and some years later died in jail.

627. The Ninth Census-1870.-The ninth census of the United States showed a total population of 38,558,378,-a gain of more than 7,000,000 people, and this, too, in spite of the civil war. Of this number, 4,880,009 were free colored persons. Since 1860 nearly 2,500,000 people had arrived from Europe-about half of them from the British Islands.

628. Campaign of 1876.-Owing to the scandals in the treasury department under Republican rule, the Democrats were very confident of victory. They nominated Samuel J. Tilden, governor of New York, as their choice for president.

The Republicans named Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. A third party now appeared in the field, called the Greenback party. It demanded the repeal of the Resumption Act, declared for financial reform, and protested against any further issue of gold bonds for sale in foreign markets. It favored a paper currency. Peter Cooper of New York was their candidate for president. After a bitter contest, the campaign ended with no one certainly elected. This result was due to the fact that the boards which counted the votes in Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina threw out Democratic votes and declared the states Republican. They did this on the ground that the Democrats in these states cheated in the election. In Oregon also there was a dispute as to whether the state had voted for the Democratic or the Republican candidate. If Tilden received only one of all these disputed votes, he would be elected, while Hayes had to get them all. Both parties claimed the election. For a time it looked as if a civil war was about to break out.

629. The Electoral Commission.-At last, however, congress created a commission to decide the disputed votes. This commission was made up of five senators, five repre

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sentatives, and five members of the supreme court. the fifteen, eight were Republicans, seven Democrats. every disputed question eight members voted fo. the Republican claims, seven for the Democratic. Hayes was declared elected by a vote of 185 in the electoral college to 184 awarded to Tilden. William A. Wheeler of New York was declared elected vice-president.