ATTITUDE OF THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION TOWARD THE SOUTH
The new administration had been in power only a short while before it
became apparent to southern Republicans that they had very little to
expect from this administration. It was generally understood that a
southern man would be made Postmaster General in the new cabinet, but it
was assumed, of course, by those, at least, who were not fully informed
about the secret deals and bargains that had been entered into as a
condition precedent to a peaceable inauguration of the new
administration,--that he would be a Republican.
Senator Alcorn, of my own State, Mississippi, who had just retired from
the Senate, had an ambition to occupy that position. I was one to whom
that fact was made known. I did not hesitate to use what little
influence I had to have that ambition gratified. I was so earnest and
persistent in pressing his claims and merits upon those who were known
to be close to the appointing power, that I succeeded in finding out
definitely and authoritatively the name of the man that had been agreed
upon and would, no doubt, be appointed to that position. Ex-Senator
Key, a Democrat from Tennessee, was the man. When I informed Senator
Alcorn of that fact the manifestation of surprise, disappointment, and
disgust with which he received it can better be imagined than described.
This was not due so much to the fact that some other one than himself
had been selected, but to the fact that the fortunate man was a Southern
Democrat. For the first time the Senator became convinced that southern
Republicans had been made the subjects of barter and trade in the
shuffle for the Presidency, and that the sacrifice of southern
Republicans was the price that had to be paid for the peaceable
inauguration of Mr. Hayes. This, in Senator Alcorn's opinion, meant that
the Republican party in the reconstructed States of the South was a
thing of the past. There was no hope for it in the future.
"It would have been far better," said the Senator, "not only for the
Republican party at the South but for the country at large, to have
allowed the Democrats to inaugurate Tilden, and to have taken charge of
the Government, than to have purchased Republican victory at such a
fearful cost. What inducement can a southern white man now have for
becoming a Republican? Under the present state of things he will be
hated at home, and despised abroad. He will be rejected by his old
friends and associates, and discountenanced by his new ones. He will
incur the odium, and merit the displeasure and censure of his former
friends, associates, and companions with no compensating advantages for
the sacrifices thus made."
The Senator spoke with deep feeling. He could see that his efforts to
build up a strong Republican party at the South must necessarily fail
under such conditions, and that it was useless to make any further
effort in that direction. Under his influence and leadership very many
of the best and most influential white men in his state had identified
themselves with the Republican party. His efforts in that direction
would have been continued, in spite of the temporary defeat of the party
at the polls, however severe that defeat might have been, if those
efforts had been appreciated and appropriately recognized by the
national leaders of the organization. But when he saw that not only was
this not to be done, but that one of those who was known to be fully
identified with the political persecutors of southern Republicans was to
be recognized,--thus placing the stamp of approval upon their work by an
administration that was supposed to be Republican and therefore opposed
to such methods,--it was time for southern white men, who had been
acting with the Republican party and for those who may have such action
in contemplation, to stop and seriously consider the situation. It was
now in order for each one of them to ask himself the question: "Can I
afford to do this?"
The appointment of a southern Democrat to a seat in the Cabinet of a
Republican President, especially at that particular time, was a crushing
blow to southern Republicans. It was the straw that broke the camel's
back. Senator Alcorn was a man suitable in every way for the office of
Postmaster-General. He had a commanding presence, he was an eloquent
speaker, and an able debater,--by nature a leader and not a follower. He
had taken an active part in the politics of his state before and after
the War. After he identified himself with the Republican party he was
ambitious to be chiefly instrumental in building up a strong party in
his State and throughout the South which would not only recognize merit
in the colored people and accord absolute justice and fair play to them,
but which would include in its membership a large percentage, if not a
majority, of the best and most substantial white men of that section.
That he had made splendid progress along those lines cannot be denied.
The announced southern policy of the Hayes administration not only
completed the destruction of what had been thus accomplished, but it
made any further progress in that direction absolutely impossible. The
selection of ex-Senator Key was, however, not the only Cabinet
appointment which clearly indicated the southern policy of the
administration. There were two others,--those of William M. Evarts and
Carl Schurz. Those men had been prominent in their bitter opposition to
the southern policy of President Grant. Mr. Schurz had been one of the
leaders in the Greeley movement against President Grant and the
Republican party in 1872, while Mr. Evarts was later the principal
speaker at a public indignation meeting that was held at New York to
denounce the southern policy of the Grant administration. In fact, John
Sherman was the only one of the Cabinet ministers that had a positive
national standing, and even his brilliant star was somewhat marred on
account of the impression that, as one of the Hayes managers, he had
been a party to the deals and agreements that had been made and entered
into as a condition precedent to the peaceable induction of Mr. Hayes
into office. It was known, or at any rate believed, that Mr. Sherman's
appointment as Secretary of the Treasury was for the one specific
purpose of bringing about the resumption of specie payments. He was the
author of the act which fixed the date when specie payments should be
resumed. He had the reputation of being one of the ablest financiers the
country had produced. That he should be named to carry into effect the
act of which he was the author was to be expected. For the reasons above
stated, it was the one Cabinet appointment that met with general
approval.
It was soon seen, however, that the Cabinet was so constructed as to
make it harmonize with the southern policy of the administration. It was
not long before the announcement was officially made in prolix
sentences, of which Secretary Evarts was no doubt the author, that the
army could not and would not be used to uphold and sustain any State
Government in an effort to maintain its supremacy and enforce obedience
to its mandates. In other words, it was a public announcement of the
fact that if there should be an armed revolt in a State against the
lawful State Government which would be strong enough to seize and take
possession of that government, the National Government would refuse to
interfere, even though a request for assistance should be made by the
Chief Executive of the State in the manner and form prescribed by the
Constitution. I have never believed that this policy,--which was meant,
of course, for the South,--was in harmony with Mr. Hayes' personal
convictions; especially in view of his public utterances during the
progress of the campaign and immediately after the announcement had been
made that he had been defeated. But he no doubt asked himself the
question: "What can I do?" This is what he had been bound to do, by his
managers through the medium of an ante-inauguration pledge, which he
felt in honor bound to respect. Mr. Hayes was not a man of sufficient
force of character to disregard and repudiate such a pledge or bargain.
Had he been a Napoleon, or even an Andrew Jackson, he would have
declared that no man or set of men had any authority to make for him any
ante-inauguration pledge, promise, or bargain by which he would be bound
as chief magistrate of the country. To the contrary, he would have
openly and publicly declared:
"I am President, or I am not. That I am the legally elected President is
a recognized and undisputed fact, and, as such, I shall neither
recognize nor respect any pledge, promise or bargain which involves
dishonor on my part or acquiescence in the suspension, violation or
evasion of the Constitution or of any law made in pursuance thereof. As
President of the United States I have taken and subscribed to an oath by
which I am bound to uphold the Constitution of my country, and to see
that the laws are duly executed and enforced. That oath I am determined
to respect and honor. I shall not only do all in my power to see that
the Constitution and the laws of the land are obeyed and enforced,--both
in letter and in spirit,--but it is also my determination to see that
every American citizen is protected in the exercise and enjoyment of his
rights, as far as it may be in the power of the President to protect
him." Such a declaration, accompanied by an honest effort to carry the
same into effect, even if he had been unsuccessful, would have carried
the name of R.B. Hayes down in history as one of the greatest and most
brilliant statesmen our country had ever produced. But, he was not equal
to the occasion, and therefore failed to take advantage of such a golden
opportunity. On the contrary, he decided to live up to and carry out to
the very letter, every pledge, promise, agreement or bargain that had
been made in his behalf, which involved the dishonor of his own name and
the disgrace of his country. Packard, for Governor of Louisiana, and
Chamberlain, for Governor of South Carolina, were voted for at the same
time that the Hayes electors were voted for in their respective States.
Each of these candidates polled a much larger vote than that of the
Hayes electors. If, therefore, Mr. Hayes was legally or mortally
entitled to the electoral votes of those States, without which he could
not have been elected, those men were entitled to be recognized and
supported as Governor of their respective States. But it was a
well-known fact that without the support and backing of the National
Administration at that particular time, they could not maintain and
enforce their authority against the organization of the Democratic
party. The public announcement of the southern policy of the National
Administration put an effectual end to any further effort on the part
of either Packard or Chamberlain. The Administration not only deserted
and abandoned those two men and the party for which they had so bravely
and so gallantly stood, but it allowed the very men whose votes made Mr.
Hayes President to be harassed and persecuted for what they had done in
that direction. After Packard surrendered to the inevitable he was
tendered a position in the foreign service, which he accepted. When
Chamberlain was forced to abandon the hopeless struggle in South
Carolina, he moved to New York and engaged in the practice of law.
Politically he affiliated with the Democratic party until his death.