agriculture. It is remarkable for the dryness of its atmosphere, and hence has become a great health resort. Its growth in population and wealth has been rapid; the Pacific Railroads have done much to make this growth possible.

383. Impeachment of Belknap; Nomination of Presidential Candidates. (1876.) At the Presidential election in 1876 there seemed to be no great political questions before the country, and so the Republicans reaffirmed their old platform and dilated upon what the party had done in the past. The Democrats, encouraged by their successes in 1874, attacked the Republicans vigorously for the mistakes that had been made, and for the political corruptions which had been disclosed. These last had been increased by the charge that the Secretary of War, W. W. Belknap, had received bribes in relation to the appointment of office-holders. For this he was impeached by the House of Representatives, but having resigned the office before the impeachment, there was some question as to the power of Congress to take such action after his resignation had been accepted by the President. As a two-thirds majority did not vote for conviction, the prosecution fell to the ground.

An interesting feature of the campaign, showing the drifts and currents of public opinion, was the appearance in the field of two other parties with candidates. These were, first, the National Greenback Party, which held that the Resumption Act should be repealed, and that the currency of the country should be paper money, convertible at the will of the holder into United States bonds bearing 3.65 per cent annual interest; secondly, the National Prohibition Party, which advocated, as the name implies, the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors for a beverage. After a bitter contest in the convention, the Republican fac

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tions compromised by nominating Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for President and William A. Wheeler of New York for VicePresident. The Democratic convention, rehearsing the shortcomings of the Republicans and demanding the speedy repeal of the Resumption Act, nominated Samuel J. Tilden of New York for President and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana for Vice-President. After a most exciting canvass, it was found, after the election day, that the result was exceedingly close, and that the decision chiefly rested upon the votes of Florida and Louisiana.

384. Returning Boards. (1876, 1877.) — During the reconstruction period in the South, one feature of the legislation had been the creation by law of committees called "Returning Boards," whose duties were to receive the election returns from the various parts of the state and count the number of votes for the different candidates. The discretionary power given to these boards was very great, and from their decision there was no appeal. Such powers would seem unwise under almost any circumstances, but the facts should not be overlooked in the discussion of the question. It was seen that the action of these boards would probably decide the election, and public attention was at once and closely directed to these states. On the face of the returns in both Florida and Louisiana, the Democrats had a majority of votes; but the Returning Board in each of these states, having Republican majorities in each case, threw out so many votes on the ground of intimidation of voters, a legal excuse if true, that each state was given to the Republicans. The Democrats very naturally claimed that they had been cheated out of the election by fraud, and resolved to refuse to admit the votes of these two states, as well as of two or three others, when the time came for the counting of the electoral votes in Con

gress. If they were successful in this, the Democratic candidates would be chosen, or the choice of the President would devolve upon the House of Representatives, which, having a Democratic majority, would, of course, choose the ones claimed by the Democrats to be elected. The Republicans were equally strong in the determination to seat their candidates, who they declared were legally and justly chosen. Congress had exercised for a long time the right to decide disputed electoral votes; but now the Senate and House were controlled by different parties, and there seemed no hope of an agreement, as neither house would consent to any plan which would surely seat the opposing candidate. "Never since the formation of the government, nor even in the darkest days of the Civil War, were there such anxious forebodings among thoughtful men as prevailed for some days in January, 1877.”

385. Electoral Commission. (1877.) Finally the sober men of both parties in Congress united upon a plan to settle the dispute, which after much discussion was accepted by Congress and the President. This was, that a “Joint High Commission" should be appointed, to which all questions relative to points concerning the electoral votes upon which both houses of Congress could not agree, should be referred, and whose decision should be final. This commission was to consist of fifteen, five to be chosen by the Senate and five by the House of Representatives, four to be Justices of the Supreme Court, who were to choose another justice of the same court to complete the fifteen. It was so arranged that the fourteen were equally divided between the two political parties; and it was expected that the justices would choose as their associate, Justice David Davis, who was classed as an independent in politics, and whose views no one knew. Just

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at this time, however, Davis was elected senator for the state of Illinois; and it was deemed unsuitable for him to act on the commission. The justices accordingly chose another of the associates in his place. This one happened to be Republican in his views, so the commission was constituted of eight Republicans and seven Democrats.

1

(1877.) When

386. Decision in Favor of Republicans. the first disputed case came up before it, the commission decided, eight to seven, that it would not go behind the returns of the Returning Boards and investigate the local proceedings in the contested states. This decision practically gave the election to the Republicans. On all the important points which came before it, the commission decided in favor of the Republican candidates, who were accordingly declared elected early on the morning of the 3d of March. Thus one of the greatest dangers to which the country has ever been exposed was peaceably averted. "It has been reserved for a government of the people, where the right of suffrage is universal, to give to the world the first example in history of a great nation, in the midst of a struggle of opposing parties for power, hushing its party tumults, to yield the issue of the contest to adjustment according to the forms of law" (Hayes's Inaugural). The decision of the commission not to go behind the returns was a wise one. Any attempt to investigate the alleged frauds would have led to endless trouble and dangerous delay, resulting in no legal government, as the investigation would necessarily have lasted long after the 4th of March, the time for a new administration. to enter office. The acquiescence of both the Democratic candidates and of the party in the decision is worthy of great praise.

1 That the decision should have been in accord with the political views of the majority was to be expected. Such has been the almost universal experience in England and other countries.

CHAPTER XIX.

RECENT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.

REFERENCES.

General.-W. Wilson, Division and Reunion (Epochs of American History), pp. 288-299; James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, ii. 595-676 (to 1881). Note: Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia, 1876-1893, and "The Review of Reviews" (American edition), vols. i.-viii. (1890-1893), will be found very helpful for information in regard to recent topics.

Biographies. Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography; J. M. Brown, Life of James A. Garfield.

Special. — A. Johnston, American Politics, Chap. xxiv.; E. Stanwood, History of Presidential Elections, Chap. xxv. to end; E. McPherson, HandBooks of Politics, 1878-1892. James A. Garfield: Century Magazine, xxiii. 168, 299, 431; James Russell Lowell, Democracy, etc., pp. 43-56. Civil Service Act: Publications of the National Civil Service Reform League; J. M. Comstock, Civil Service in the United States. Chinese Immigration: Forum, October, 1890. Railroad Strikes: North American Review, cxxv. 125, 351. Mississippi Jetties: Scribner's Monthly, xix. 46. Brooklyn Bridge: St. Nicholas, x. 689. New Orleans Cotton Exposition: Century Magazine, xxx. 3, 185. The South: A. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 283-322; Susan Dabney Smede, Memorials of a Southern Planter; H. W. Grady, The New South. The Negro Question: A. G. Haygood, Our Brother in Black; Century Magazine, xxx. 674; Atlantic Monthly, lxx. 828. Charleston Earthquake: Magazine of American History, xviii. 25. Lottery: Forum, xii. 555, 569. Bering Sea: American History Leaflets, No. 6; E. J. Phelps, Harper's Monthly, lxxxii. 766; Review of Reviews, September, 1893. Tariff of 1883 and McKinley Tariff: F. W. Taussig, Tariff History of the United States (new edition), pp. 230–332. Confederate Pensions: Forum, xvi. 68.

387. Hayes and his Administration. (1877-1881.) - Rutherford B. Hayes, born in Ohio, 1822, a lawyer by profession,