Part 30

12. The abolition of executive and legislative patronage, and the election of President, Vice-President, United States Senators, and of all civil officers, so far as practicable, by the direct vote of the people.

13. The practice of a friendly and liberal policy to immigrants from all nations, the guarantee to them of ample protection, and of equal rights and privileges.

14. The separation of the money of Government from all banking institutions. The National Government only should exercise the high prerogative of issuing paper money, and that should be subject to prompt redemption on demand in gold and silver, the only equal standards of value recognized by the civilized world.

15. The reduction of the salaries of public officers in a just ratio with the decline of wages and market prices, the abolition of sinecures, unnecessary offices, and official fees and perquisites; the practice of strict economy in Government expenses, and a free and thorough investigation into any and all alleged abuses of public trusts.

A mass convention held under the name of the American National party met in Pittsburg on the 9th of June, 1875, and nominated James B. Walker, of Illinois, for President, and Donald Kirkpatrick, of New York, for Vice-President. This political organization made no figure in the contest of 1876, and did not again appear in the subsequent national elections. The following platform was adopted:

We hold: 1. That ours is a Christian and not a heathen nation, and that the God of the Christian Scriptures is the author of civil government.

2. That God requires and man needs a Sabbath.

3. That the prohibition of the importation, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage is the true policy on the temperance question.

4. The charters of all secret lodges granted by our Federal and State Legislatures should be withdrawn, and their oaths prohibited by law.

5. That the civil equality secured to all American citizens by Article 13th, 14th, and 15th of our amended Constitution should be preserved inviolate.

6. That arbitration of differences with nations is the most direct and sure method of securing and perpetuating a permanent peace.

7. That to cultivate the intellect without improving the morals of men, is to make mere adepts and experts; therefore, the Bible should be associated with books of science and literature in all our educational institutions.

8. That land and other monopolies should be discountenanced.

9. That the Government should furnish the people with an ample and sound currency, and a return to specie payment as soon as practicable.

10. That maintenance of the public credit, protection to all loyal citizens, and justice to Indians are essential to the honor and safety of our nation.

11. And finally, we demand for the American people the abolition of electoral colleges, and a direct vote for President and Vice-President of the United States.

The contest of 1876 was conducted with great earnestness, but it was not distinguished for the defamation of candidates. The popular tide seemed to be with Tilden, as the reformation he had wrought in the Democratic party by the overthrow of Tweed in New York presented him in bold contrast to the administration of Grant, that had brought a tempest of scandals upon the party; but misfortune seemed to multiply upon Tilden from the beginning to the close of the battle. His first disaster, and what in the end proved to be a fatal one, was the result of the admission of Colorado into the Union. Thomas N. Patterson, an active Democrat, had been chosen as a delegate to Congress from Colorado in 1874 by a majority of 2163, and he gave the Democrats, who largely controlled the House, the positive assurance that the admission of Colorado would bring in another Democratic State. They had the power to exclude Colorado, but believing that the large majority of the Democrats had, under Patterson’s lead in 1874, anchored the Territory safely in the Democratic column, the Democrats admitted the new State, and her three electoral votes decided the election against Tilden, as even with South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana taken from Tilden, all of which had voted for him, Hayes was chosen by a single vote.

The first State election in Colorado was held in the summer of 1876, and to the utter consternation of the Democrats the Republicans elected the entire State ticket with 25 majority on joint ballot in the Legislature, and it was settled before the State election that the new State would not be put to the trouble and expense of another election for President in the fall, and that the Legislature would choose the electors, as it did. Tilden thus started in the contest with three electoral votes positively assured against him in the new State, that had been admitted because it was confidently expected to be Democratic.

On the popular vote Tilden had, according to the Republican returns, 252,224 majority over Hayes, and had the electoral colleges cast their votes as the popular vote was cast in Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina, Tilden would have received 203 to 156 for Hayes. The following table presents the popular vote and gives the Democratic and Republican returns of Florida and Louisiana, with the totals as they would appear with either count accepted:

══════════════════════════╤══════════╤══════════╤══════════╤══════════ STATES. │Samuel J. │Rutherford│ Peter │Green Clay │ Tilden. │ B. Hayes.│ Cooper. │ Smith. ──────────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────── Maine │ 49,917 │ 66,300 │ 663 │ ―――― New Hampshire │ 38,509 │ 41,539 │ 76 │ ―――― Vermont │ 20,350 │ 44,428 │ ―――― │ ―――― Massachusetts │ 108,777 │ 150,063 │ 779 │ 84 Rhode Island │ 10,712 │ 15,787 │ 68 │ 60 Connecticut │ 61,934 │ 59,034 │ 774 │ 378 New York │ 521,949 │ 489,207 │ 1,987 │ 2,359 New Jersey │ 115,962 │ 103,517 │ 712 │ 43 Pennsylvania │ 366,204 │ 384,184 │ 7,187 │ 1,319 Delaware │ 13,381 │ 10,752 │ ―――― │ ―――― Maryland │ 91,780 │ 71,981 │ 33 │ 10 Virginia │ 139,670 │ 95,558 │ ―――― │ ―――― West Virginia │ 56,495 │ 42,046 │ 1,373 │ ―――― North Carolina │ 125,427 │ 108,417 │ ―――― │ ―――― South Carolina │ 90,896 │ 91,870 │ ―――― │ ―――― Georgia │ 130,088 │ 50,446 │ ―――― │ ―――― Florida[25] │ 22,927 │ 23,849 │ ―――― │ ―――― Florida[26] │ 24,434 │ 24,340 │ ―――― │ ―――― Alabama │ 102,989 │ 68,708 │ ―――― │ ―――― Mississippi │ 112,173 │ 52,605 │ ―――― │ ―――― Louisiana[25] │ 70,508 │ 75,315 │ ―――― │ ―――― Louisiana[26] │ 83,723 │ 77,174 │ ―――― │ ―――― Texas │ 104,803 │ 44,803 │ ―――― │ ―――― Arkansas │ 58,071 │ 38,669 │ 289 │ ―――― Missouri │ 203,077 │ 145,029 │ 3,498 │ 64 Tennessee │ 133,166 │ 89,566 │ ―――― │ ―――― Kentucky │ 159,696 │ 97,156 │ 1,944 │ 818 Ohio │ 323,182 │ 330,698 │ 3,057 │ 1,636 Michigan │ 141,095 │ 166,534 │ 9,060 │ 766 Indiana │ 213,526 │ 208,011 │ 17,233 │ 141 Illinois │ 258,601 │ 278,232 │ 9,533 │ ―――― Wisconsin │ 123,926 │ 130,070 │ 1,509 │ 27 Minnesota │ 48,799 │ 72,962 │ 2,311 │ 72 Iowa │ 112,121 │ 171,326 │ 9,901 │ 36 Nebraska │ 17,554 │ 31,916 │ 2,320 │ 1,599 Kansas │ 37,902 │ 78,322 │ 7,776 │ 110 Colorado[27] │ ―――― │ ―――― │ ―――― │ ―――― Nevada │ 9,308 │ 10,383 │ ―――― │ ―――― California │ 76,468 │ 78,322 │ 44 │ ―――― Oregon │ 14,149 │ 15,206 │ 510 │ ―――― ├──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────── Total, Republican count │4,285,992 │4,033,768 │ 81,737 │ 9,522 Total, Democratic count │4,300,590 │4,036,298 │ 81,737 │ 9,522 ══════════════════════════╧══════════╧══════════╧══════════╧══════════

[25] Republican count.

[26] Democratic count.

[27] By Legislature.

On the morning after the election, newspapers of all parties announced the election of Tilden for President, but a murmur of the coming storm came at the same time from Senator Chandler, of New Hampshire, who was secretary of the national committee, of which Senator Zachariah Chandler, of Michigan, was chairman, who announced that Hayes was elected, and declared that the States of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina had honestly voted for Hayes, and that he would finally receive their electoral votes. With the whole machinery of the Government in the hands of the Republicans, it was almost a hopeless battle for Tilden to fight for the disputed Southern States, but the Democratic people became violently aroused, and threats were freely made that the inauguration of Hayes would be prevented by mob violence if attempted.

So grave had the situation become that both branches of Congress finally passed an act, creating what was known as the Electoral Commission, that should be a tribunal of last resort, to determine the disputed election. The bill passed the House by the vote of 158 Democrats and 33 Republicans, with 68 Republicans and 18 Democrats voting in the negative; and in the Senate the bill was passed by the votes of 26 Democrats and 21 Republicans, with 16 Republicans and 1 Democrat voting against it. The measure was approved by the President on the 29th of January. As a majority of the Democrats in both Houses favored the measure, it was assumed that Tilden desired them to support it, but in point of fact Tilden was irresolute, and put it upon his friends to decide what should be done. Had any other man been the Democratic candidate, he would have been a great leader and an aggressive one; but from the beginning to the close of the post-election battle Tilden was apparently dwarfed into utter helplessness, and when it became evident that the Commission would decide against him, he distinctly disclaimed all responsibility for the creation of the tribunal. The Electoral Commission was finally made up under the law, composed of Senators Edmunds, Morton, Frelinghuysen, Republicans, and Thurman and Bayard, Democrats; of Representatives Payne, Hunton, and Abbott, Democrats, and Garfield and Hoar, Republicans, with Justices Strong and Miller, Republicans, and Clifford and Field, Democrats, and the fifth member of the court to be chosen by the four. Justice David Davis was first chosen as the fifth judicial member of the court, but he declined, as he had just been elected to the Senate by Illinois, and Justice Bradley was then selected to fill his place. Had Davis remained on the Commission, it is reasonably certain that the vote of the Electoral Commission would have been 8 for Tilden and 7 for Hayes. This Commission, whose judgment was to be final, decided in favor of Hayes on every disputed proposition by a vote of 8 to 7, and thus made him President by the following electoral vote:

════════════════╤════════╤════════ STATES. │ Hayes. │ Tilden. ────────────────┼────────┼──────── Maine │ 7 │ ―― New Hampshire │ 5 │ ―― Vermont │ 5 │ ―― Massachusetts │ 13 │ ―― Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― Connecticut │ ―― │ 6 New York │ ―― │ 35 New Jersey │ ―― │ 9 Pennsylvania │ 29 │ ―― Delaware │ ―― │ 3 Maryland │ ―― │ 8 Virginia │ ―― │ 11 West Virginia │ ―― │ 5 North Carolina │ ―― │ 10 South Carolina │ 7 │ ―― Georgia │ ―― │ 11 Florida │ 4 │ ―― Alabama │ ―― │ 10 Mississippi │ ―― │ 8 Louisiana │ 8 │ ―― Texas │ ―― │ 8 Arkansas │ ―― │ 6 Missouri │ ―― │ 15 Tennessee │ ―― │ 12 Kentucky │ ―― │ 12 Ohio │ 22 │ ―― Michigan │ 11 │ ―― Indiana │ ―― │ 15 Illinois │ 21 │ ―― Wisconsin │ 10 │ ―― Minnesota │ 5 │ ―― Iowa │ 11 │ ―― Nebraska │ 3 │ ―― Kansas │ 5 │ ―― Colorado │ 3 │ ―― Nevada │ 3 │ ―― California │ 6 │ ―― Oregon │ 3 │ ―― ├────────┼──────── │ 185 │ 184 ════════════════╧════════╧════════

The true history of the struggle for the control of the electoral votes of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana has never been written and now never can be fully written. The ablest men of both sides attended the contest in those States to battle for or against the action of the returning boards. All three States had voted for Tilden, but the returning boards, which had been created by the carpet-bag rule of the South, set aside the returns on the plea of fraud and certified the electoral vote for Hayes. The strength of the claim of the Democrats was practically admitted after the inauguration of Hayes by the President aiding in the adjustments which gave the Democrats the Governors and the Legislatures of those States, and ousting the Republicans who had given the electoral vote to the President.

The chief factor in the bold and revolutionary action that returned the three States named for the Republican candidate for President was J. Donald Cameron, then Secretary of War under President Grant, and later United States Senator. He is nothing if not heroic when occasion demands it. I remember calling upon him at the Continental Hotel a few days after the election, and inquired of him whether he really meant to force the reversal of the vote in those States and have Hayes returned as elected. He answered with perfect frankness that he had started in to do it, that he meant to do it, and that it was right to do it, as the Republicans had not opportunity to vote in the South, and the only way to meet such frauds was by the strong power of the Government.

But for the assurance that the army and navy would sustain the returning boards of those States in whatever they did under color of law, the reversal of the popular vote never could have been accomplished. The State of Florida was manipulated by Robert W. Mackey, who was the most accomplished politician the Republicans have ever produced in Pennsylvania. He was apparently dying of consumption for ten years, and when it became necessary to send some competent man to handle Florida, he was selected. He started on his mission, and his racking cough and general consumptive features gave plausibility to the statement that he was going South to nurse his health. Two Democratic visiting committeemen were on the same train, and he overheard them mature their plans to hold the State for Tilden. He telegraphed to C. D. Brigham, who had been a prominent editor and Republican politician in Pittsburg, but who then resided in Florida, to meet him at the station, and before the Democrats attempted to carry their plans into execution they were completely blocked by Mackey, who could summon all the Federal officials to his aid.

Governor Curtin and Senator Sherman met face to face at New Orleans in the struggle to win the electoral vote of Louisiana, and at one stage of the battle Tilden could have secured the vote by telegraphing a single word to Curtin; but Tilden seemed to have lost his cunning, and hesitation was exhibited by him at every stage of the conflict when the promptest action was indispensable. I visited him at his home in Gramercy Park when the contest was on at white heat, and was amazed to find his table covered with legal briefs, as though his election depended upon the law that would govern before a competent and impartial judicial tribunal. He permitted himself and his friends to become involved in a compromising way in the Oregon dispute for a single elector, and had the same method been adopted in Louisiana, he would have won. Instead of discussing the situation as it was, he presented to me elaborate arguments to show how it should be, and I could not refrain from reminding him that he was not dealing with judicial tribunals nor with honest men, and that he must either meet them on their own ground and with their own weapons or he must fall in the fight. He seemed to be utterly bewildered, and the man who had organized his nomination and election with consummate skill shrivelled up into pitiable indecision and inaction when he had the power to cast the die for or against himself.

The severe strain upon the popular sentiment of the country that had given Tilden 250,000 majority for President was greatly tempered, especially in the South, by a very shrewd movement planned early in the after-election contest to conciliate the leading people of the South. They received positive assurances from men very close to Hayes, and who gave the assurance of Hayes’s approval of the movement, that if Hayes should be inaugurated President without violence the State governments of Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina would be given to the Democrats. That Hayes approved of the plan is evidenced by the fact that after he became President he stood resolutely by the promise made by his friends to give the Democrats control of the governments of those States.

There was not serious friction in Florida; the Democratic candidate for Governor was allowed to be inaugurated on a returned majority of 195 as given by the Supreme Court. In South Carolina the face of the returns gave Wade Hampton 1134 majority for Governor, with about a like majority for the Democratic Presidential electors, but the Returning Board threw out Democratic counties and returned Chamberlain, Republican, as elected Governor by a majority of 3433, and gave the Republican electors majorities ranging from 600 to 900.

Two Legislatures were organized and two claimants for the Governorship were qualified, but after a long siege, in which the friends of Hampton were with difficulty restrained from taking violent possession of the Capitol, the Republicans gave up the contest, as they discovered that President Hayes would not support them, and Hampton and his associate Democratic candidates and a Democratic Legislature were accepted.

The great battle was made in Louisiana, where the Returning Board gave Hayes the State by a majority of 4807, and declared the Republican electors chosen by about the same majority. The face of the returns gave a majority of 7876 for Tilden and 8101 for Nichols, Democratic candidate for Governor. There, as in South Carolina, two Governors were qualified and two Legislatures organized, and Stephen B. Packard, who had been counted in as the Republican Governor, and had been largely instrumental in giving the electoral vote to Hayes, and thereby electing him, demanded that the President should sustain him, logically insisting that if Hayes was elected Packard was elected, and that if Packard must go out Hayes must go out with him.

The faith of the President and his friends were pledged to the people of property in Louisiana that they should have their own State government, but it was a most difficult obligation to discharge. Finally, the President appointed a committee of eminent Republicans, two of whom were the present Senator Hawley, of Connecticut, and ex-Attorney-General Wayne MacVeagh, of Washington, to go to New Orleans and solve the problem. The first necessity to accomplish that result was to withdraw enough Senators and Representatives from the Packard Legislature to the Nichols Legislature to give Nichols a quorum in both houses of undisputed legislators, as that would leave Packard without a Legislature and clothe Nichols’s government with all the ceremony of law.

Many of the Packard legislators were negroes, and most of them commercial. The change could be effected only by purchase, in which the Hawley and MacVeagh committee had no part. There were enough and to spare of Packard legislators who were willing to sell out, but the Democrats were impoverished and could not raise money to buy them. One of the active men in the movement was Duncan F. Kenner, one of the most prominent men in the State for many years, and among the Senators in the market was one of his former slaves, who demanded a high price. The State had been desolated, business paralyzed, and the people of Louisiana had not recovered from the universal waste of war, and while they were more than willing to buy enough of the Packard men to give Nichols the Legislature, they were absolutely without the means to do it.

In this emergency the Louisiana Lottery Company came forward and proposed to furnish the citizens of New Orleans, who were managing the movement, all the money they needed on condition that when the Democrats came into power and amended the Constitution, they should give the Louisiana Lottery a twenty-five-year charter in the Constitution. It was a hard bargain, but as they could do no better they accepted the proffer, and a very large sum of money was thus furnished and paid to the negroes and carpet-bag legislators, who were very glad to get under cover with cash in their pockets, knowing that the end of carpet-bag rule was near at hand. Packard finally found himself abandoned by a majority of the undisputed Senators and Representatives. His administration thus ended, and the promise of the friends of Hayes, which Hayes manfully sustained, was fully performed, and the property people of the South were given their right to govern their own States as the price of assenting to Hayes as President.

The Nichols government kept faith with the Louisiana Lottery Company, and the people of Louisiana have ever since been unjustly criticised as the only State in the Union that gave the highest possible charter to a lottery company, as they could not explain the inexorable conditions which compelled them to do it. This was the last act of the great political drama of 1876–77 that made Rutherford B. Hayes President.

The action of Tilden defeating Chase in the Democratic convention of 1868 had its sequel with mingled romance and reality in the defeat of Tilden for the Presidency in 1877, when the vote of Louisiana was passed upon by the Senate. Kate Chase Sprague was the most brilliant woman in Washington society during the war period, and in every way one of the most attractive. Her home in Washington was the centre of the most accomplished men in public life, and among them was Roscoe Conkling, the ablest of the Republican Senators. The contest for the Presidency before the Electoral Commission in 1876–77 turned on the vote of Louisiana, and it required the approving vote of the Senate to give the electoral vote of that State to Hayes. Had it been given to Tilden, he would have been the President. Many believed that Hayes had not been elected and should not be declared elected, and among those who shared that conviction was Mr. Conkling, although he did not publicly express it.