the Electoral bill, as compared with the Democrats who voted against it in both branches, was in the proportion of more than ten to one; whereas but two-fifths of Republicans in the two houses voted for the bill, and threefifths against it. Only a single Democrat in the senate, Mr. Eaton of Connecticut, cast a negative vote; and he acknowledged in doing it that the state senate of Connecticut, controlled by the Democrats, had requested him to support the bill. All the leading Democrats of the senate, Mr. Thurman, Mr. Bayard, Mr. Pinkney Whyte, made earnest speeches in favor of it. Mr. McDonald of Indiana declared that the popular sentiment of his state was overwhelmingly in favor of it, and he reproached Mr. Morton for opposing it. Other prominent Republicans in the senate, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Cameron of Pennsylvania, Mr. Hamlin, Mr. Blaine, earnestly united with Mr. Morton in his opposition to the measure. The division was the same in the house. Mr. Henry B. Payne of Ohio, Mr. Abram S. Hewitt, Mr. Clarkson N. Potter, Mr. Samuel S. Cox, and nearly all the influential men on the Democratic side, united in supporting the bill; while General Garfield, Mr. Frye, Mr. Kasson, Mr. Hale, Mr. Martin I. Townsend, and the leading Republicans of the house opposed it. The house was stimulated to action by a memorial presented by Mr. Randall L. Gibson from New Orleans, demanding the passage of the bill; while Governor Vance of North Carolina, afterwards elected senator, telegraphed that the North Carolina legislature had almost unanimously passed resolutions in favor of it. The Democrats, therefore, had in a remarkable degree concentrated their influence and their votes in its favor. It was fashioned precisly as they desired it."

During the long contest Governor Hayes remained at the capital city of Ohio, engaged in the duties of his gubernatorial office, and doing and saying nothing that could be construed into an attempt to dictate the course of events, or influence the decisions of the commission. A few days before the fourth of March, as the general result began to be foreshadowed by the various votes of the commission, he was advised by leading Republicans to proceed to Washington, so as to be on hand for any emergency that might arise, and did so, making the journey as quietly as possible, so as to attract no attention and give no chance for the violence that was threatened from various quarters. The inauguration occurred on Monday, March 5, the fourth having fallen on Sunday. As a matter of precaution, General Hayes received the oath of office from Chief-Justice Waite on Sunday, so that he should be legally President of the United States upon the completion of Grant's term, and be prepared to meet any emergency that might arise. Although his title had been in doubt to within a few hours of inauguration, he had carefully prepared his inaugural address, which attracted universal attention from the moment of its delivery, and sowed the seed of discord among those of the radical wing of the

Republican party who were not prepared for a policy of conciliation toward the south; while the more conservative of the party hailed the opening of his administration as the beginning of a new era. "It was made evident by his words," one historian has said, "that he would adopt a new policy on the southern question and upon the question of civil service reform. It was plainly his determination to withdraw from the south all National protection to the colored people, and to put the white population of the reconstructed states upon their good faith and their honor, as to their course touching the political rights of all citizens. . . Many Democrats would have supported Mr. Hayes cordially but for the mode of his election. It was impossible for them to recover from the chagrin and disappointment of Mr. Tilden's defeat. The new President, therefore, began his administration with a bitter personal opposition from the Democracy, and with a distrust of his own policy on the part of a large number of those who had signally aided in his election." As one of the evidences of that distrust and disappointment among Republicans, this significant fact may be cited in passing, that Ohio, because of the failure of the Republicans of the Western Reserve and other strongly Republican portions of the state to go to the polls and endorse a policy they did not accept, elected a Democratic governor by a majority of 22,520 in the fall of 1877. The President's purpose and the reasons which led him to his policy of peace, can only be understood by a quotation of his own language thereon; and as this attempt to win the friendship of the south before it was ready to grant it freely, forms one of the most interesting chapters in the closing history of the civil war, the space could not be used to better advantage. In the course of his opening remarks he said: "I shall not undertake to lay down irrevocable principles or measures of administration, but rather to speak of the motives which should animate us, and to suggest certain important ends to be attained in accordance with our institutions and essential to the welfare of our country." Renewing the pledges of his letter of acceptance, he next proceeded to the discussion of the southern question in these words: "The permanent pacification of the country upon such principles and by such measures as will secure the complete protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their constitutional rights, is now the one subject in our public affairs, which all thoughtful and patriotic citizens regard as of supreme importance. Many of the calamitous effects of the tremendous revolution which has passed over the southern states still remain. The immeasurable benefits which will surely follow, sooner or later, the hearty and generous acceptance of the legitimate results of that revolution, have not yet been realized. Difficult and embarrassing questions meet us at the threshold of this subject. The people of those states are still impoverished, and the inestimable blessing of wise, honest and peaceful self-government is not

fully enjoyed. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the cause of this condition of things, the fact is clear that, in the progress of events, the time has come when such government is the imperative necessity required by all the varied interests, public and private, of those states. But it must not be forgotten that only a local government which recognizes and maintains inviolate the rights of all, is a true self-government. With respect to the two distinct races whose peculiar relations to each other have brought. upon us the deplorable complications and perplexities which exist in these states, it must be a government which guards the interests of both races carefully and equally. It must be a government which submits loyally and heartily to the Constitution and the laws-the laws of the Nation and the laws of the states themselves-accepting and obeying faithfully the whole Constitution as it is. Resting upon this sure and substantial foundation, the superstructure of beneficent local governments can be built up, and not otherwise. In furtherance of such obedience to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, and in behalf of all that its attainment implies, all so-called party interests lose their apparent importance, and party lines may well be permitted to fade into insignificance. The question we have to consider for the immediate welfare of those states of the Union is the question of government or no government, of social order and all the peaceful industries and the happiness that belong to it, or a return to barbarism. It is a question in which every citizen of the Nation is deeply interested, and with respect to which we ought not to be, in a partisan sense, either Republicans or Democrats, but fellow citizens and fellow men, to whom the interests of a common country and a common humanity are dear.

"The sweeping revolution of the entire labor system of a large portion of our country, and the advance of four millions of people from a condition of servitude to that of citizenship, upon an equal footing with their former masters, could not occur without presenting problems of the gravest moment, to be dealt with by the emancipated race, by their former masters, and by the general government, and author of the act of emancipation. That it was a wise, just and providential act, fraught with good for all concerned, is now generally conceded throughout the country. That a moral obligation rests upon the National government to employ its constitutional power and influence to establish the rights of the people it has emancipated, and to protect them in the enjoyment of those rights when they are infringed or assailed, is also generally admitted. The evils which afflict the southern states can only be removed or remedied by the united and harmonious efforts of both races, actuated by motives of mutual sympathy and regard. And while in duty bound and fully determined to protect the rights of all by every constitutional means at the disposal of my administration, I am sincerely anxious to use every legitimate influence in favor of

honest and efficient local self-government as the true resource of those states for the promotion of the contentment and prosperity of their citizens. In the effort I shall make to accomplish this purpose, I ask the cordial cooperation of all who cherish an interest in the welfare of the country, trusting that party ties and the prejudice of race will be freely surrendered in behalf of the great purpose to be accomplished. In the important work of restoring the south, it is not the political situation alone that merits attention. The material development of that section of the country has been arrested by the social and political revolution through which it has passed, and now needs and deserves the considerate care of the National government within the just limits prescribed by the Constitution and wise public economy. But at the basis of all prosperity, for that as well as for every part of the country, lies the improvement of the intellectual and moral condition of the 'people. Universal suffrage should rest on universal education. To this end, liberal and permanent provision should be made for the support of free schools by the state governments, and if need be, supplemented by legitimate aid from National authority.

"Let me assure my countrymen of the southern states that it is my earnest desire to regard and promote their truest interests, the interests of the white and of the colored people, both and equally, and to put forth my best efforts in behalf of a civil policy which will forever wipe out in our political affairs the color line and the distinction between north and south, to the end that we may have not merely a united north or a united south, but a united country."

In referring to another great question at that time agitating the country more powerfully than at any before, he characterized it as "a reform not merely as to certain abuses and practices of so-called official patronage, which have come to have the sanction of usage in the several departments of the government, but a change in the system of appointment itself; a reform that shall be thorough, radical and complete; a return to the principles and practices of the founders of the government. The fact that both the great political parties of the country, in declaring their principles prior to the election, gave a prominent place to the subject of reform of our civil service, recognizing and strongly urging its necessity in terms almost identical in their specific import with those I have here employed, must be accepted as a conclusive argument in behalf of these measures. It must be regarded as the expression of the united voice and will of the whole country upon this subject, and both political parties are virtually pledged to give it their unreserved support. The President of the United States of necessity owes his election to office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political party the members of which cherish with ardor, and regard as of essential importance, the principles of their party organization. But he should

strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best who serves his country best.

"In furtherance of the reform we seek, and in other respects a change of great importance, I recommend an amendment to the Constitution. prescribing a term of six years for the Presidential office, and forbidding. a reëlection.'

After brief reference to the currency question, in which he re-affirmed the hard-money views already set forth in these pages, he paid a tribute to President Grant's course in the settling of vexed foreign complications by arbitration, and declared his purpose to pursue the same policy in all questions then pending or that might otherwise arise. In conclusion he expressed the following views upon the contest just past, and the manner in which its complications had been disentangled and brought to a peace ful conclusion: "We have reached the close of a political contest, marked by the excitement which usually attends the contests between great political parties, whose members espouse and advocate with earnest faith their respective creeds. The circumstances were, perhaps, in no respect extraordinary, save in the closeness and the consequent uncertainty of the result For the first time in the history of the country it has been deemed best, in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case, that the objections and questions in dispute with reference to the counting of the electoral votes, should be referred to the decision of a tribunal appointed for this purpose. That tribunal-established by law for this sole purpose; its members, all of them, men of long-established reputation for integrity and intelligence, and, with the exception of those who are also members of the supreme judiciary, chosen equally from both political parties; its deliberations enlightened by the research and arguments of able counsel— was entitled to the fullest confidence of the American people. Its decisions have been patiently waited for, and accepted as legally conclusive by the general judgment of the public. For the present, opinion will widely vary as to the wisdom of the several conclusions announced by that tribunal. This is to be anticipated in every instance where matters of dispute are made the subject of arbitration under the forms of law. Human judgment is never unerring, and is rarely regarded as otherwise than wrong by the unsuccessful party in the contest. The fact that two great political parties have in this way settled a dispute, in regard to which good men differ as to the facts and the law, no less than as to the proper course to be pursued in solving the question in controversy, is an occasion for general rejoicing. Upon one point there is entire unanimity in public sentiment—that conflicting claims to the Presidency must be peaceably and amicably adjusted, and that when so adjusted the general acquiescence of a Nation ought surely to follow. It has been reserved for a government of a people, when the right of suffrage is universal, to give to the world the first ex