ample 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."

The cabinet appointments of President Hayes were generally regarded as good, and the men chosen were exceptionally able and well prepared for the positions to which they were assigned. William M. Evarts, one of the most distinguished among American lawyers, orators and men of learning, became secretary of state; Senator John Sherman, one of the ablest financiers in the United States senate, and the especial champion of sound money and the resumption of specie payments, became secretary of the treasury; Carl Schurz, secretary of the interior; George W. McCrary, who had given Iowa an able service in the National house of representatives, became secretary of war; Richard W. Thompson of Indiana, secretary of the navy; Charles Devens, one of the supreme judges of Massachusetts, attorney-general; and David M. Key of Tennessee, postmaster-general. The gentleman last named had served in the senate during the previous session, by appointment of the governor of his state, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ex-President Andrew Johnson. As he was a southern Democrat and an ex-confederate as well, the appointment was made to emphasize the new departure of Hayes in the attitude of the National government toward the south. The choice was severely criticised in portions of the north, but General Key disarmed much of this opposition before he had been long in office, by his moderate and manly course, and by attending to the discharge of his duties rather than the manipulations of politics.

Among the earliest official acts of the new administration was the issuing of a proclamation against domestic violence by mobs along the Baltimore & Ohio railroad in West Virginia, under date of July 18, 1877, and one of a few days later covering Maryland and Pennsylvania. These were called forth by the great railroad strikes that swept across the country in the summer of the year named. The policy of non-intervention in the south was early put in force, and the experiment set on foot of leaving the southern states to the resources embraced within their own purposes and laws. New Orleans and Louisiana were the chief scenes of action, as the main drama of personal and political contest had been laid there. The dispute between Packard and Nicholls as to which had been elected. governor was at its height, and in order to learn the facts in the case. and act with wisdom and justice, the President requested certain prominent gentlemen to proceed to New Orleans and make careful and honest investigation in his behalf. Their report led to an order for the withdrawal

*

* This commission consisted of General Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, Judge Charles Lawrence of Ohio, General John M. Harlin of Kentucky, Ex-Governor John C. Brown of Tennessee, and Hon. Wayne McVeagh of Pennsylvania.

of the National troops, which left it within the power of Nicholls to take his seat, as Packard had no means to advance his claim except by the support of the National government. The order by which this radical and important step in the treatment of the south was taken, was as follows: EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 20, 1877. WASHINGTON, April 20, 1877.

SIR: Prior to my entering upon the duties of the Presidency, there has been stationed by order of my predecessor in the immediate vicinity of the building used as a state house in New Orleans, Louisiana, and known as Mechanics' Institute, a detachment of United States infantry. Finding them in that place, I have thought proper to delay a decision of the question of their removal until I could determine whether the condition of affairs is now such as to either require or justify continued military intervention of the National government in the affairs of the state.

In my opinion there does not now exist in Louisiana such domestic violence as is contemplated by the Constitution as the ground upon which the military power of the National government may be invoked for the defence of the state. The disputes which exist as to the right of certain claimants to the chief executive office of that state are to be settled and determined not by the Executive of the United States, but by such orderly and peaceable methods as may be provided by the constitution and laws. of the state. Having the assurance that no resort to violence is contemplated, but on the contrary the disputes in question are to be settled by peaceful methods under and in accordance with law, I deem it proper to take action in accordance with the principles announced when I entered upon the duties of the Presidency.

You are therefore directed to see that the proper orders are issued for the removal of said troops at an early date from their present position to such regular barracks in the vicinity as may be selected for their occu pation.

R. B. HAYES.

To the Honorable George W. McCrary, Secretary of War. This order was carried into immediate effect, the troops being withdrawn on April 24. The feelings of Governor Packard and of those who gave him material support in New Orleans or moral support in the north, can be learned from an address delivered to Republican members of the legislature on the twenty-fifth, in which he said: "On this day, the fifteenth anniversary of the surrender of New Orleans to the forces of the United States, it becomes my duty to announce to you that the aid and countenance of the National government have been withdrawn from the Republicans of Louisiana, and that a government revolutionary in form is practically on the point of usurping the control of affairs in this state. . . I firmly believe that, had the legal government been recognized, it could have sustained itself without the interven

tion of troops; but the order for withdrawal, issued under the circumstances and in the manner in which it was issued, clearly indicate that even the moral support, which the legal government of Louisiana should have received from the National administration, would be denied. I waive none of my legal rights, but yield only to superior force. I am wholly discouraged by the fact that, one by one, the Republican state governments of the south have been forced to succumb to force, fraud or policy. Louisiana, the first state rehabilitated after the war, is the last state whose government thus falls, and I believe it will be among the first to raise itself again to a plane of equal and honest representation. I advise you to maintain your party organization, and continue to battle for the rights of citizenship and free government. We strive for these and not for man or men. It grieves me beyond expression that the heroic efforts you have made and the cruel sufferings you have undergone to maintain Republican principles in Louisiana, have had this bitter end."

serve.

The main issue made by a portion of the Republican party of the north and south with the southern policy of President Hayes, was based upon the action set forth in the above. It was argued that as the election of the President and of Mr. Packard rested substantially upon the same foundation, the refusal of the one to aid and recognize the other cast a doubt upon the title of both. "Having been placed in the Presidency, it was argued, "by a title as strong as could be confirmed under the Constitution and laws of the country, it was, in the judgment of the majority of the Republican party, an unwise and unwarranted act on the part of the President, to purchase peace in the south by surrendering Louisiana to the Democratic party." But this statement does not cover the case with such justice and fairness as the motive and course of President Hayes deA precedent had been already furnished in the refusal of President Grant to extend military aid to Governor Ames of Mississippi, for the plainly specified reason that it was not wise for the general government to maintain in office state governments which could not command the support of the people of the state. When the case of Louisiana and of other southern states arose toward the end of his term, no action was taken by Grant except to hold affairs in status quo for the action of his successor. The situation was of necessity one of embarrassment, and no matter what might be his action the incoming President was sure of censure and denunciation from the losing side. As the Republicans of the south had held their ground in the face of danger and intimidation and had made a Republican President possible, it was argued that when seated he could do no less than recognize their claims and defend them. "The beleaguered governors and legislatures," as has been said in an able statement of the President's side of the case,* "had the sympathy of the Republican *"Two Years of President Hayes." Atlantic Monthly, August, 1879, page 193.