Attractive Mrs. Belknap

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wasn't any need of following a trail. It was all open and above board. Thousands of people knew about it.

Surely it was, but the great reformer Bristow doesn't want to see it in that light.

After Grant had listened for several weeks to talk of this kind the Presidential air, when Bristow approached, was like a breeze from an iceberg. He saw that he was no longer wanted in the cabinet, so he handed in his resignation and disappears from our narrative.

87

The Whisky Ring scandal still hung in the sky like a waning moon when there began to be talk of another exposure. This time it centered on W. W. Belknap, the Secretary of War, who had succeeded Rawlins on the latter's death. The dramatis persona of the Belknap Case are:

General Belknap—

Secretary of War—a cabinet officer without any financial means except his salary. He is a pleasant, popular person, with a desire to oblige everyone-particularly his handsome wife.

Mrs. Belknap

Wife of the Secretary of War. Very fashionable, and socially ambitious. Wears expensive French clothes, drives about Washington in a splendid carriage, and is known as the last word in elegance. Everyone wonders where she obtains the money to do it.

Caleb P. Marsh

An astute person, who takes money wherever and whenever he can get it, without troubling himself about its origin.

John S. Evans

A nondescript, with an uneasy countenance. He is licensed by the War Department as the official post

trader at Fort Sill in the Indian Territory-a very lucrative position.

H. Clymer

Member of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the House Committee on Expenditures of the War Department. A ferret, in a small way, with honesty wrapped around him like a snow-white cloak.

Mrs. Belknap, sometime in 1870, was a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh. In a conversation about the War Department and its affairs she told Marsh that post-traderships in the Indian Territory were very profitable. The traders had a monopoly as merchants around the military posts. They charged high prices for goods and had no competition.

She suggested that Marsh might get a trader's post if he wanted it. He replied that he would like to have such a place, if there was as much money to be made as she thought there was. Yes, there would be a lot of money in it, but she would have to get a share of the profits for her services in persuading her husband to give Marsh the place. Then she added: "If I can prevail upon the Secretary of War to award you a post you must be careful to say nothing to him about presents, for a man once offered him ten thousand dollars for a tradership of this kind, and he told him that if he did not leave the office he would kick him downstairs."

(I have condensed this conversation from the evidence printed in the Congressional Record, 44th Congress, 1st Session, Vol. IV., Feb. 10th to March 28, 1876.)

Marsh made application to the Secretary for the post at Fort Sill, which was already held by a man named Evans. Belknap looked over Marsh's application and said that he thought it would be all right, but what about Evans? Marsh did not know anything about that part of it. Well, Evans was at that time in Washington, Belknap remarked, and perhaps

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Marsh had better look him up. They might get together in some partnership arrangement.

When Marsh saw Evans the latter was much disturbed over the matter. He had made quite an investment of money at Fort Sill; he did not want to lose it, and so on. Then there was some going back and forth. Marsh called on Mrs. Belknap and talked with her. From these conferences the idea emerged that Evans might keep the post if he would pay Marsh twelve thousand dollars a year. Evans hemmed and hawed, and went to see the Secretary. He learned from Belknap that Marsh was going to get the appointment if he wanted it—so he went back to Marsh and signed an agreement whereby he was to pay Marsh twelve thousand dollars a year, in consideration of being allowed to continue in the position.

Half of the money was turned over by Marsh to Mrs. Belknap until her death, which occurred not long after this transaction was concluded. Thereafter Marsh, who did nothing at all for his share of the proceeds, continued to send the remittances to Secretary Belknap himself. If Belknap happened to be in New York, where Marsh lived, at the time of the quarterly payment he received it in person, usually in cash.

Mr. Clymer, investigating the expenditures of the War Department, heard rumors of the post trader at Fort Sill paying somebody in New York a bribe to keep his place. Clymer had Evans brought before him, and with that clue he unraveled the entire transaction. He learned that Evans had paid Marsh more than forty-two thousand dollars; and then he summoned Marsh and made him tell about Belknap.

At eleven o'clock on the morning of March 2, 1876, Clymer rose on the floor of the House and charged Belknap with malfeasance in office, and demanded that he be impeached. Some kind friend of Belknap who was on Clymer's committee had taken the news to the War Department early that morning. There was a good deal of rushing around right after breakfast. Belknap rushed over to the White House with his

resignation in his hand, the ink still wet on it. They can't impeach a man who has already resigned, can they?

Grant accepted the resignation immediately, and Belknap was out of the War Department forty minutes before Clymer charged him with malfeasance in office. In accepting Belknap's resignation the President wrote: "Your tender of resignation as Secretary of War, with the request to have it accepted immediately, is received and the same is hereby accepted with great regret." Grant said emphatically he did not believe Belknap to be guilty, although at that time he knew nothing whatever about the nature or validity of the evidence.

Belknap had got out of office by the skin of his teeth, but the Senate tried him, anyway. He pleaded ignorance as his defence. The money that came from Marsh was income from his late wife's investments, or so he thought. But Marsh testified that Belknap had never spoken of investments, nor had he ever made any inquiry as to the source of the money that he received.

The proceedings dragged on through hundreds of pages of small type. Conviction failed for lack of a two-thirds majority. Most of the Senators who voted against conviction declared themselves convinced of Belknap's guilt, but as he had already resigned, they were in doubt as to the Senate's jurisdiction.

U

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE RECONSTRUCTED SOUTH

§1

NDER the supervision of the military governors the
Southern states were reconstructed. In all of them

the Republican ticket was elected with large majorities; and the legislatures, made up principally of carpetbaggers and negroes, settled down to the grinding duties of statesmanship. The highly placed Radical Republicans at Washington-contemplating their own work-felt like the spirit of destiny. They were convinced that a good job had been done; and that one problem, at least, was permanently settled.

Grant shared this opinion, or adopted it. The plan of reconstruction must be a wise one, he thought. It had been conceived in Congress, which included not less than fifty lawyers.

The South Carolina legislature consisted of ninety-four negroes and thirty white men. Of the white men seven were carpet-baggers. The remaining twenty-three white membersnatives of the state and Democrats-sat grim and silent. They were hopelessly outnumbered, and all they were able to do was to record their unavailing votes against the spoliation of the state.

The Speaker is black, the clerk is black, the doorkeepers are black, the little pages are black, the chairman of the Ways and Means is black, and the chaplain is coal-black. At some of the desks sit colored men whose types it would be hard to find outside of Congo; whose costumes, visages,