1876] Election of 1876 549 ate shall, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted." In 1876 the Senate was Republican and the President of the Senate was a Republican; the House of Representatives, on the other hand, was in the control of the Democrats. Two sets of certificates had been received from Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina, and there was a controversy as to the vote of Oregon. If all these votes should be counted for the Republican candidate, he would be elected by a majority of one; but if the votes of one only of these states should be thrown out or given to the Democratic nominee, the latter would be elected. Under these circumstances, it was most important to secure an impartial count of the ballots; but what man, or body of men, under the Constitution, had the authority to decide as to the validity of the disputed certificates? Was it the business of the President of the Senate? Or should it be confided to the Senate and House of Representatives sitting together or sitting apart? Congress could come to no agreement on these points; but both houses were able to agree to refer the matter to an extra-legal Electoral Commission of five senators, five representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court. It turned out that eight of the fifteen members of the commission were Republicans, and they voted together on every important question. On March 2, 1877, the commission, by a vote of eight to seven, reported that Hayes was elected, and two days later he was inaugurated. 390. A New Epoch, 1876. The administration of President Hayes marks the close of an epoch in the history of the United States. He removed the soldiers who still upheld the federal authority in two Southern states, and left the Southern people free to work out their new life as best they might. The old Southern leaders had regained control of the Southern state governments, and had practically suppressed the political privileges guaranteed to the freedmen. They were determined to retain political power in Hayes's ad 1877-81. their own hands, but had no desire, or at least had no intention, to return to the slave system, or again to assert the doctrine of states' rights; these two issues were dead in the South as they were in the North. The politics of the country were to turn on other issues in the future: the re Ja Garfield form of the civil ser vice, the revision of the tariff, and the substitution of silver for gold. On these issues there has been little difference in principle between the two great parties. The Democrats inherited from earlier days a desire for freer trade than existed under the war tariff, and perhaps would have rejoiced to see free trade established, while the Repub licans, as a party, have argued for extreme protection. Both have supported civil service reform, especially when out of power. Until 1896, both parties favored the making of laws to put more silver money into circulation. 391. Political History, 1877-96.- President Hayes ministration, began his administration under many disadvantages; his election had been achieved by dubious methods, and the House of Representatives was in the hands of the Democrats, who were disposed to hamper him in every possible way. During the first two years of his term of office the number of dissatisfied Republicans steadily increased, and, in 1878, the Democrats gained control of the Senate while retaining their majority in the House. They made blunder after blunder, and the quiet, dignified administration of Hayes attracted many of the independent Republican voters back to their old party allegiance. In 1880 a determined at 1880] Political History 551 Stanwood's tempt was made to nominate Grant for a third term, but Election of the traditional limit of two terms was so firmly fixed in the 1880. nation's prejudices that even the "stalwart Republicans," Elections, as those favorable to a third term were called, were obliged ch. xxv. to yield. James A. Garfield of Ohio became the Republican candidate and was elected. The Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives also, and became so weak in Soon after his inauguration, Garfield was murdered by a Civil service disappointed office seeker, and Chester A. Arthur of New reform. York, the Vice-President, succeeded to the chief magistracy. Garfield's death was so evidently due to the prevailing system of appointment to the civil service, that public attention was aroused to the evils attendant on the existing practice of political appointment. Arthur entered heartily into the scheme of civil service reform, and a beginning was made Election of 1884. Stanwood's Elections, ch. xxvi. in the right direction. In 1884 the Republicans nominated one of the "stalwart " leaders, James G. Blaine, who was not trusted by a large number of men who usually voted for Republican candidates. They either abstained from voting or cast their ballots for Grover Cleveland of New York, the Democratic candidate, and he was elected. The Democrats also secured a majority in the House of Representatives. The new President extended the scope of the reform of Cleveland's administration, 1885-89. Election of 1884 the civil service, and something was done toward the revision of the tariff, in the direction of lower duties. Parties were evenly divided; but the prominence of the old Southern element in the Democratic councils, and its lack of consideration for the business interests of the country, turned away many Northern voters who had supported Cleveland. This feeling led to the election in 1888 of Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, the Republican candidate. The Republicans also secured control of Congress, and 1888] Civil Service Reform 553 Stanwood's end. On silver ston's Ora "reformed the tariff," as the phrase was, by largely increasing Politics, the duties. They also passed a law obliging the government 1888-96. to buy a large amount of silver each month, and coin it into dollars, whose market value as metal was about fifty-three ch. xxviii to cents in gold. Senator Sherman and Representative McKinley of Ohio were the leaders in this policy. Industrial and legislation, business interests became alarmed, the government's revenues see Johndeclined, and Grover Cleveland was again elected President tions, IV, in 1892. Harrison had also extended the scope of the merit 296-366. system, and Cleveland, in his second term, again extended it. In Cleveland's time also the Sherman silver law was repealed, and the McKinley Tariff was modified toward lower rates. Cleveland, however, was not at all in harmony with the great mass of the Democratic voters. In 1896 the Democratic convention met at Chicago and nominated William J. Bryan of Nebraska for the presidency, on a platform. advocating the free coinage of silver and the institution of many changes in the direction of socialism. The Republicans, on the other hand, advocated the retention of the gold standard, and they also demanded the restoration of the protective system in its entirety. On this platform they nominated William McKinley of Ohio, who was elected. It will be well now to consider in a more connected way some of the leading topics in the political history of this period, and then to examine with care the condition of the country in the census year, 1900. 1868-96. Orations, IV, 367-420. Fiske's Civil 392. Civil Service Reform, 1868-96.- The system of Civil service appointing to office only the members of one's political reform, party was begun by the Federalists, accepted by the early Johnston's Republicans, and carried to its logical conclusion by Jackson and his successors. The people had paid slight attention to the subject, however, until the scandals that came to Government, light in Grant's second term compelled their observation. Any reform of the civil service is very difficult to accomplish, because no limitation can be placed upon the President's constitutional power of nomination. A reform of this nature also requires the appropriation of money for the payment of 261. |