GRANT.
" ... I endorse their resolutions, and, if elected to the office of
President of the United States, it will be my endeavor to administer all
the laws in good faith, with economy, and with a view of giving peace,
quiet and protection everywhere... Peace, and universal prosperity, its
sequence, with economy of administration, will lighten the burden of
taxation, while it constantly reduces the national debt. Let us have
peace."
_Ulysses S. Grant's Letter of Acceptance_, _May_ 29, 1868.
The impeachment of President Johnson had not been finally disposed of
in the Senate when the Fourth Republican National Convention assembled
in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, on May 20, 1868, for the purpose of
nominating one whom, it was confidently believed, would succeed
President Johnson and thus end the long controversy between the
President and Congress, and between the North and the South. There was
absolutely no question as to who would be the presidential nominee, for
the overwhelming sentiment of the party had long since crystallized in
favor of a man whose wonderful career and talents had made him
pre-eminently the strongest candidate in the party.
[Illustration: Ulysses S. Grant.]
Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio in 1822, and had graduated from West
Point in 1843. He took part in the Mexican War, and was brevetted
Captain for gallant services. A few years after the close of that war he
resigned his commission and engaged in business until the call to arms
in 1861. His great success in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson
brought him the rank of Major General and made him at once one of the
most prominent and promising of the Union Generals. His subsequent
successes in Tennessee, the capture of Vicksburg and the opening of the
Mississippi caused him to be appointed to the revived rank of
Lieutenant-General, and taking personal command of the campaign against
Richmond, he had, by his dogged persistence, brought success and ended
the great conflict. He continued to remain at the head of the Army, and
in the bitter contest between the President and Congress during the
reconstruction period, though placed in a most trying position, he had
displayed rare qualities of tact and judgment, and had gained the
confidence of the entire party, and indeed of the American people. Such,
briefly, was the career of the man who was now called to accept a
presidential nomination.
The assembling at Chicago of a great convention of soldiers and sailors
at the same time the Republican Convention met, made the latter even
more enthusiastic than the convention of 1860, and the number in
attendance was much larger. The Soldiers' Convention met before the
Republican Convention, and amid scenes of the wildest enthusiasm,
nominated Gen. Grant for the presidency, and condemned the seven
Republicans--"traitors" as they were then called--who had voted
against the impeachment of President Johnson. At noon, May 20th, the
Republican Convention was called to order by Governor Marcus L. Ward, of
New Jersey. He named Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin, as temporary Chairman.
The temporary Secretaries were B. R. Cowen, of Ohio, Luther Caldwell, of
New York, and Frank S. Richards, of Tennessee. Committees on
Credentials, Permanent Organization, Resolutions and Rules were then
appointed, each of the committees, with some few exceptions, having on
it a representative from each of the States. The name of Joseph R.
Hawley was reported for President of the Convention, and the names of
one representative from each State as Vice-President, and also
thirty-six secretaries. A delegation from the Soldiers' and Sailors'
Convention now presented a resolution nominating Gen. Grant for
President, and it caused great enthusiasm. Such a procedure was contrary
to the rules of the Convention, but the delegates were almost unanimous
in desiring the nomination to be made at once, but order was finally
restored. After some debate it was decided to give representation in the
Convention to the Territories, and to the States not yet reconstructed.
The Convention then adjourned until the following morning at ten
o'clock, at which time, on assembling, impatient attempts were again
made to nominate Gen. Grant contrary to the rules, but the Convention
finally quieted down and listened to speeches delivered by F. Hassaurek,
John M. Palmer and John W. Forney. The platform, reported by Richard W.
Thompson, of Indiana, was adopted with many cheers.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1868.
The National Republican Party of the United States, assembled in
national convention in the City of Chicago on the 21st day of May,
1868, make the following declaration of principles:
1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the
reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, in the
majority of the states lately in rebellion, of Constitutions securing
equal civil and political rights to all; and it is the duty of the
government to sustain those institutions and to prevent the people of
such states from being remitted to a state of anarchy.
2. The guaranty by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at
the South was demanded by every consideration of public safety, of
gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the question
of suffrage in all the loyal states properly belongs to the people of
those states.
3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime; and the
national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in the
uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only
according to the letter, but the spirit of the laws under which it was
contracted.
4. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be
equalized, and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will permit.
5. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preservation of
the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair period
for redemption; and it is the duty of Congress to reduce the rate of
interest thereon whenever it can be honestly done.
6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is to so improve
our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower rates of
interest than we now pay, and must continue to pay, so long as
repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened or
suspected.
7. The government of the United States should be administered with the
strictest economy; and the corruptions which have been so shamefully
nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson call loudly for radical reform.
8. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death of Abraham
Lincoln, and regret the accession of the Presidency of Andrew Johnson,
who has acted treacherously to the people who elected him and the cause
he was pledged to support; who has usurped high legislative and judicial
functions; who has refused to execute the laws; who has used his high
office to induce other officers to ignore and violate the laws; who has
employed his executive powers to render insecure the property, the
peace, the liberty and life of the citizen; who has abused the pardoning
power; who has denounced the national legislature as unconstitutional;
who has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every means in his
power, every proper attempt at the reconstruction of the states lately
in rebellion; who has perverted the public patronage into an engine of
wholesale corruption; and who has been justly impeached for high crimes
and misdemeanors, and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote of
thirty-five senators.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers, that because
a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted at every
hazard by the United States, as a relic of feudal times, not authorized
by the laws of nations, and at war with our national honor and
independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to protection in all
their rights of citizenship as though they were native born; and no
citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to
arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done or words
spoken in this country; and, if so arrested and imprisoned, it is the
duty of the government to interfere in his behalf.
10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war there were
none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers and seamen
who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and imperilled their
lives in the service of the country; the bounties and pensions provided
by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation are obligations
never to be forgotten; the widows and orphans of the gallant dead are
the wards of the people--a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's
protecting care.
11. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the
wealth, development, and resources, and increase of power to this
republic--the asylum of the oppressed of all nations--should be
fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
12. This convention declares itself in sympathy with all oppressed
people struggling for their rights.
13. That we highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and forbearance
with which men who have served in the rebellion but who now frankly
and honestly co-operate with us in restoring the peace of the country
and reconstructing the Southern state governments upon the basis of
impartial justice and equal rights, are received back into the communion
of the loyal people; and we favor the removal of the disqualifications
and restrictions imposed upon the late rebels in the same measure as the
spirit of disloyalty will die out, and as may be consistent with the
safety of the loyal people.
14. That we recognize the great principles laid down in the immortal
Declaration of Independence as the true foundation of democratic
government; and we hail with gladness every effort toward making these
principles a living reality on every inch of American soil.
Nominations now being in order, John A. Logan, in a few words remarkable
for their force and beauty, nominated Ulysses S. Grant for President.
After the enthusiasm had abated the roll of the States was called, and
the unanimous vote of the delegates, 650 in number, was given to Gen.
Grant, and the audience went wild with delight. The great contest of the
Convention now came over the nomination for Vice-President. Henry
Wilson, Schuyler Colfax, Benjamin F. Wade, Reuben E. Fenton, James
Speed, Andrew G. Curtin, Hannibal Hamlin, James Harlan, S. C. Pomeroy,
J. A. J. Creswell and William D. Kelley were nominated. The leading
candidates were Benj. F. Wade, of Ohio, Mr. Colfax, of Indiana, Mr.
Curtin, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Fenton,
of New York, all of whom had rendered the most conspicuous services to
the party. Five ballots were taken as follows:
1st 2d 3d 4th 5th
Ballot Ballot Ballot Ballot Ballot
Wade .......... 147 170 178 206 38
Wilson ........ 119 114 101 87
Colfax ........ 115 145 165 186 541
Fenton ........ 126 144 139 144 69
Curtin ........ 51 45 40
Only the votes for the leading candidates are here given. Mr. Colfax was
therefore nominated on the fifth ballot, and it was felt that his name
added great strength to the ticket. He was then Speaker of the House, to
which he had been elected with the organization of the party in 1854,
and had served with great ability for six terms.
The Democratic Convention met in New York in Tammany Hall on July 4,
1868. It was a gathering composed principally of Southern leaders and
Generals and Northern Copperheads. After a troubled session of six days
the Chairman of the Convention, Horatio Seymour, of New York, was
nominated for President on the twenty-second ballot, and Francis P.
Blair, Jr., of Missouri, was nominated for Vice-President. The platform
advocated the payment of the national debt in depreciated currency, the
overthrowing of all that had been done under the reconstruction policy
of Congress and the taxing of Government bonds. The platform practically
doomed the party to defeat before the campaign had really opened. The
canvass was exciting, but the October States practically decided the
contest, and the election on November 3d registered what had long been
conceded. Grant and Colfax received the 214 electoral votes of
twenty-six States; Seymour and Blair only carrying eight States, New
York among them, with their 80 electoral votes. The popular vote gave
Grant and Colfax 3,012,833, and Seymour and Blair 2,703,249.
The third session of the Fortieth Congress assembled on December 7,
1868. One phase of the slavery question still remained unsettled, that
of giving the negro the right of suffrage. For several years a strong
sentiment had shown itself in the North in favor of granting this right,
and Congress had already recognized this sentiment by giving the negro
the right to vote in the District of Columbia, which act was passed over
President Johnson's veto. The great injustice of freeing the negro and
withholding from him the means of protecting his freedom by the right of
suffrage was not generally felt, and it remained now for a Republican
Congress to crown with a great act of justice the long labors of the
party, to remove all the evils of insufferable bondage, and to complete
the work of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Amendments.
On February 27, 1869, Congress proposed, through the Department of
State, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race,
color or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
This Amendment, after submission to the States, was proclaimed a part
of the Constitution in 1870.
In his message to Congress in December, 1868, President Johnson said:
"The holders of our securities have already received upon their bonds
a larger amount than their original investment, measured by the gold
standard. Upon this statement of facts it would seem but just and
equitable that the six percent interest now paid by the Government
should be applied to the reduction of the principal in semi-annual
installments, which in sixteen years and eight months would liquidate
the entire national debt."
The policy of repudiation advocated by the Democratic Party in the
campaign of 1868 and the repudiation now advocated by President Johnson,
were promptly rejected by the Republican Congress, and both branches
passed resolutions of condemnation.
General Grant was inaugurated on March 4, 1869, and the Fortieth
Congress adjourned on the same day. The Forty-first Congress immediately
convened and elected James G. Blaine, of Maine, Speaker by 105 votes to
57 votes for Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana. Mr. Blaine was also elected
Speaker of the Forty-second Congress when it met on March 4, 1871. On
the 18th of March, 1869, Congress decided by the "Act to strengthen the
public credit," to remove as far as possible the damage done at home and
abroad by the repudiation platform of the Democratic Party, and the
repudiation message of President Johnson. This Act pledged the
Government at the earliest practicable moment to pay in coin or its
equivalent all obligations, notes and bonds except those where the law
authorizing their issue stipulated that payment might be made in lawful
money.
May 10, 1869, witnessed the opening for traffic of the Union Pacific
Railroad, which had first been advocated by the Republican Party in its
platform in 1856, and which was now brought to a successful opening by
necessary subsidies of money and land given the railroad by Republican
Congresses. The war had resulted in a wonderful development of the
physical wealth of the North and West, and the railroad was opened at a
most opportune moment to connect the East and West, and make possible
the development of all the wonderful resources of the nation. It was
unfortunate, however, that unwise management of the bonds and credit of
the Western Railroads led to such a disastrous climax in the fall of
1873.
In the decade between 1860 and 1870 the admission of four new States--
Kansas in 1861, West Virginia in 1863, Nevada in 1864, and Nebraska in
1867--had raised the total number of States to thirty-seven. In
addition, six new Territories had been organized--Colorado and Dakota
in 1861, Idaho and Arizona in 1863, Montana in 1864, and Wyoming in
1868. The admission of these new States, the completing of the railroad,
the discovery of precious metals, and the general awakening of the North
caused a large increase in the population, especially in the West. The
total population of the country in 1870 was 38,558,371, of which
4,880,009 were negroes, about 4,400,000 of them living in the Southern
States.
The second session of the Forty-first Congress met December 6, 1869. The
President in his message advocated the refunding of the National Debt,
and this was done by the Act of July 14, 1870, which authorized the
refunding of the debt at five, four and one-half and four percent,
payable in coin and exempt from taxation.
The sentiment in favor of a general amnesty of all persons who had
engaged in the rebellion was now growing in the North, and in December,
1869, and March, 1870, Acts were passed removing legal and political
disabilities from a large class of persons in the South, but a full
pardon was not yet extended to all. The South at this time was most
bitter against negro suffrage, and the opposition was shown in a series
of most violent outrages and murders perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klans
and other similar organizations formed for the purpose of preventing the
negro from voting and the "carpet bagger" from living in the community.
The outrages and murders done by these organizations became so flagrant
that Congress passed a special Act on April 20, 1871 (the Ku Klux Act),
to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.
The other events of Gen. Grant's administration were chiefly of a
diplomatic nature, and it is not necessary to dwell upon them in these
pages. With the opening of 1872 came the year for another presidential
campaign, and the only serious issue was the threatened split in the
Republican Party over the question of the treatment of the South. The
Democrats were demoralized and had no candidate, and the situation was
the most peculiar and abnormal in the history of presidential campaigns.
A group of Republicans in Missouri were in favor of a more liberal
policy toward the South, and President Grant was roundly condemned for
his military rule. This movement became known as the Liberal Republican
movement, and a convention was called to meet in Cincinnati on May 1st.
This year also witnessed the organization for political action of the
Prohibition Party and the Labor Reform Party. The latter held the first
of the political conventions and met at Columbus, Ohio, February 22,
1872. Judge David Davis, of Illinois, was nominated for President, and
Judge Joel Parker, of New Jersey, for Vice-President; both subsequently
withdrew, and in August this party nominated Charles O'Conor for
President, who also declined. The platform of the Labor Reform Party
demanded lower interest on and taxation of government bonds; the repeal
of the law establishing the national banks and withdrawal of the
national bank notes; the issue of paper money based on the faith and
resources of the nation to be legal tender for all debts; exclusion of
the Chinese; no more land grants to corporations, and the organization
of a National Labor Reform party. The National Prohibition Convention
also met in Columbus, Ohio, on February 22d, and nominated James Black,
of Pennsylvania, for President, and Rev. John Russell, of Michigan, for
Vice-President.
The National Liberal Republican Convention met at Cincinnati, Ohio, May
1, 1872. It was a mass convention, and Carl Schurz presided as Permanent
Chairman. The prominent candidates for the presidency were Judge David
Davis, Lyman Trumbull, Chas. Francis Adams, B. Gratz Brown and Horace
Greeley, whose name had not been seriously considered until the
Convention assembled, and who, on May 3d was nominated on the sixth
ballot for President, and B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, was nominated for
Vice-President. The platform demanded universal amnesty and a liberal
policy, no more land grants to corporations, and denounced repudiation.
The Republicans met in their Fifth National Convention at Philadelphia,
June 5th, in the Academy of Music. There was no question but that
President Grant would be renominated, and the only contest was that
between Henry Wilson and Schuyler Colfax for the nomination for
Vice-President. William Claflin, of Massachusetts, called the meeting to
order and named Morton McMichael as temporary Chairman. The usual
committees were appointed, and while they were deliberating the
convention listened to a number of stirring speeches, several by colored
men, who appeared as representatives in a national convention for the
first time. Thomas Settle, of North Carolina, was reported as permanent
chairman. On the following day, after some preliminary business had been
disposed of, Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, nominated President Grant
for a second term, and the vote, 752, was made unanimous. Henry Wilson,
Schuyler Colfax, John F. Lewis, Edmund J. Davis, and Horace Maynard were
nominated for Vice-President. One ballot was cast and resulted in the
nomination of Henry Wilson, who received 364-1/2 votes to 321-1/2 for Colfax,
26 for Maynard, 16 for Davis, and one each for Jos. R. Hawley and E. F.
Noyes. The fifth Republican platform, which was now adopted, read as
follows:
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1872.
The Republican Party of the United States, assembled in national
convention in the city of Philadelphia on the 5th and 6th days of
June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and
announces its position upon the questions before the country.
1. During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted with grand courage
the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a gigantic rebellion,
emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal citizenship of
all, and established universal suffrage. Exhibiting unparalleled
magnanimity, it criminally punished no man for political offenses, and
warmly welcomed all who proved loyalty by obeying the laws and dealing
justly with their neighbors. It has steadily decreased with firm hand
the resultant disorders of a great war and initiated a wise and humane
policy toward the Indians. The Pacific Railroad and similar vast
enterprises have been generously aided and successfully conducted, the
public lands freely given to actual settlers, immigration protected and
encouraged, and a full acknowledgment of the naturalized citizens'
rights secured from European powers. A uniform national currency has
been provided, repudiation frowned down, the national credit sustained
under the most extraordinary burdens, and new bonds negotiated at lower
rates. The revenues have been carefully collected and honestly applied.
Despite annual large reductions in the rates of taxation, the public
debt has been reduced during General Grant's presidency at the rate of a
hundred millions a year; great financial crises have been avoided, and
peace and plenty prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign
difficulties have been peacefully and honorably composed, and the honor
and power of the nation kept in high respect throughout the world. This
glorious record of the past is the party's best pledge for the future.
We believe the people will not intrust the government to any party or
combination of men composed chiefly of those who have resisted every
step of this beneficent progress.
2. The recent amendments to the National Constitution should be
cordially sustained because they are right, not merely tolerated
because they are law, and should be carried out according to their
spirit by appropriate legislation, the enforcement of which can
safely be entrusted only to the party that secured those amendments.
3. Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all civil,
political and public rights should be established and effectually
maintained throughout the Union, by efficient and appropriate state and
federal legislation. Neither the law nor its administration should admit
any discrimination in respect of citizens by reason of race, creed,
color, or previous condition of servitude.
4. The national government should seek to maintain honorable peace with
all nations, protecting its citizens everywhere, and sympathizing with
all people who strive for greater liberty.
5. Any system of the civil service under which the subordinate positions
of the government are considered rewards for mere party zeal is fatally
demoralizing, and we therefore favor a reform of the system by laws
which shall abolish the evils of patronage and make honesty, efficiency
and fidelity the essential qualifications for public positions, without
practically creating a life-tenure of office.
6. We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to corporations
and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be set apart for
free homes for the people.
7. The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures, pensions, and
the interest on the public debt, should furnish a moderate balance for
the reduction of the principal, and that revenue, except so much as may
be derived from a tax on tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties
upon importations, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid
in securing remunerative wages to labor, and promote the industries,
prosperity, and growth of the whole country.
8. We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose valor saved
the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt of the nation, and the
widows and orphans of those who died for their country are entitled to
the care of a generous and grateful people. We favor such additional
legislation as will extend the bounty of the government to all our
soldiers and sailors who were honorably discharged, and who in the line
of duty became disabled, without regard to the length of service or the
cause of such discharge.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers concerning
allegiance--"Once a subject always a subject"--having at last, through
the efforts of the Republican party, been abandoned, and the American
idea of the individual's right to transfer allegiance having been
accepted by European nations, it is the duty of our government to guard
with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens against the assumption
of unauthorized claims by their former governments, and we urge
continued careful encouragement and protection of voluntary immigration.
10. The franking privilege ought to be abolished and the way prepared
for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage.
11. Among the questions which press the attention is that which concerns
the relations of capital and labor, and the Republican party recognizes
the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full protection and the
amplest field for capital, and for labor, the creator of capital, the
largest opportunities and a just share of the mutual profits of these
two great servants of civilization.
12. We hold that Congress and the President have only fulfilled an
imperative duty in their measures for suppression of violent and
treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious regions, and
for the protection of the ballot-box; and therefore they are entitled
to the thanks of the nation.
13. We denounce repudiation of the public debt, in any form or disguise,
as a national crime. We witness with pride the reduction of the
principal of the debt, and of the rates of interest upon the balance,
and confidently expect that our excellent national currency will be
perfected by a speedy resumption of specie payment.
14. The Republican party is mindful of its obligations to the loyal
women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of freedom. Their
admission to wider fields of usefulness is viewed with satisfaction; and
the honest demand of any class of citizens for additional rights should
be treated with respectful consideration.
15. We heartily approve the action of Congress in extending amnesty to
those lately in rebellion, and rejoice in the growth of peace and
fraternal feeling throughout the land.
16. The Republican party proposes to respect the rights reserved by the
people to themselves as carefully as the powers delegated by them to the
state and to the federal government. It disapproves of the resort to
unconstitutional laws for the purpose of removing evils by interference
with rights not surrendered by the people to either the state or
national government.
17. It is the duty of the general government to adopt such measures as
may tend to encourage and restore American commerce and ship-building.
18. We believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest purpose, the
sound judgment, the practical wisdom, the incorruptible integrity,
and the illustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant have commended him
to the heart of the American people, and with him at our head we
start to-day upon a new march to victory.
19. Henry Wilson, nominated for the Vice-Presidency, known to the whole
land from the early days of the great struggle for liberty as an
indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incorruptible legislator, and
representative man of American institutions, is worthy to associate with
our great leader and share the honors which we pledge our best efforts
to bestow upon them.
It is important also to note that Grant and Wilson had already been
nominated by the Workingmen's National Convention in New York on May
23d.
The Democratic National Convention met at Baltimore on July 9th and
endorsed the Liberal Republican nominees, Greeley and Brown, and the
Liberal Republican platform. A convention of "straight-out" Democrats
met at Louisville, Kentucky, September 3d to 5th, and repudiated the
Baltimore convention, nominating Charles O'Conor, of New York, for
President, and John Q. Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President, who
both declined, but the convention, unable to secure other candidates,
left the ticket as named. A Colored Liberal Republican Convention at
Louisville on September 25th also nominated Greeley and Brown. In
addition to these various conventions, the Liberal Republican Revenue
Reformers' Convention met in New York June 25th, and nominated William
S. Groesbeck, of Ohio, for President, and F. L. Olmstead, of New York,
for Vice-President.
The contest between Grant and Greeley was a remarkable one, and at its
opening there was considerable doubt as to the outcome; but as the
summer months went by it was seen that the coalition between the Liberal
Republicans and the Democrats was working out unsatisfactorily. The
October States went Republican, and indicated clearly what could be
expected in November. The election on November 5th was an overwhelming
victory for the Republicans; Grant and Wilson carried 29 States with
their 286 electoral votes out of a total electoral vote of 366, Arkansas
and Louisiana not being counted for either side. The popular vote gave
Grant 3,597,132, Greeley 2,834,125, O'Conor 29,489, Black 5,608. The
election was followed in a few weeks by the death of Mr. Greeley;
broken-hearted by the death of his wife a few days before the election,
and exhausted by the tremendous strains of the campaign, and
disappointed by the result, the great editor closed one of the most
remarkable careers in American history.
The hostility of England to the North during the Civil War led to the
filing of the Alabama Claims, which were adjusted by the Geneva
Tribunal, and the United States, on September 14, 1872, was awarded
$15,500,000 in gold in full payment of these claims.
The third session of the Forty-second Congress began December 2, 1872,
and immediately, on motion of Mr. Blaine, a committee was appointed to
investigate the Democratic charges made during the preceding
presidential campaign, that the Vice-President, the Secretary of the
Treasury, Speaker of the House, and other prominent Republicans, had
accepted, in return for political influence, stock in the Credit
Mobilier, a company originally engaged in the construction of the Union
Pacific. The result of this committee's investigation was the clearing
of the prominent men charged, but a vote of censure was passed on
Representatives Oakes Ames and James Brooks for connection with the
scandal.
An Act went into effect on February 12, 1873, the provisions of which,
it was afterwards argued, caused the "demonetization" of silver. This
demonetization had already occurred in 1853, when nothing was said in
the Act of that year as to the silver dollar piece which had for some
years entirely disappeared from circulation. The Act of 1873 simply
recognized a condition which had been present for more than twenty years
when it provided for the coinage of ten, twenty-five and fifty-cent
silver pieces and omitted the dollar. The Act of 1873 was passed because
all coin had been driven out of circulation by the United States notes
and fractional currency issued during the War, and the Treasury
Department, deeming the time appropriate for the issuance of subsidiary
silver coins and revision of the coinage laws, suggested, after
consultation with experts, the Act of 1873. The Act was, in fact, an
important step toward specie resumption. This law also provided for a
trade dollar for use in trade with China and Japan. This dollar was to
weigh 420 grains, so as to give it the advantage over the Mexican dollar
of 416 grains. It was made legal tender for a limited amount only, and
several years afterwards was withdrawn from circulation.
President Grant was reinaugurated on March 4, 1873, and the Republican
Party seemingly had a prospect of a long lease of power, for the
strength of all opposition seemed to have been dissipated by the
campaign of 1872; but before the year of the reinauguration had passed,
circumstances occurred absolutely beyond the control of the party, the
result of which caused a complete change of the political aspect of the
country. In September, 1873, while business affairs were in a good
condition and labor well employed, a sudden financial panic engulfed the
country and brought demoralization to almost all industries. The direct
cause of this panic was the abuse of credit in the enormous building of
railroads which had been going on for several years prior to 1873. The
market had been flooded with railroad bonds, and as the old portions of
the Western railroads did not earn enough to pay for new construction,
the railroads gradually began to default in the payment of interest on
their bonds, and the New York bankers became overburdened with them; the
natural result was that they were compelled to call in their loans,
money became tight, and the storm broke in September, 1873, when the
great financial house of Jay Cooke & Co. closed its doors. By the end of
October the panic was over, but the effects were felt long afterwards in
thousands of ruined enterprises. It gave new arguments to the champions
of fiat currency, and the whole situation told against the success of
the Republican Party. When the first session of the Forty-third Congress
opened on December 1, 1873 (James G. Blaine elected Speaker), arguments
for currency inflation were advanced on all sides, and resulted in the
passage of a bill on April 14, 1874, to inflate the currency
$44,000,000. President Grant wisely vetoed the measure and it failed of
passage over his veto. The Congressional elections in the fall of 1874
showed the influence of the disastrous industrial conditions upon
politics, for the Democrats obtained control of the House for the first
time in fifteen years. That a great political revulsion was in progress
was apparent when Ohio in 1873 and New York in 1874 elected Democratic
Governors. When the Forty-fourth Congress convened on December 6, 1875,
Michael C. Kerr, Democrat, of Indiana, was chosen Speaker by 173 votes
over James G. Blaine, who received 106. This practically showed the
party strength in the House.
The most important Act of President Grant's second term was the
Resumption of specie payment, which was provided for in the bill
reported to the Senate December 21, 1874, by John Sherman. By this Act
there was to be a coinage of ten, twenty-five and fifty-cent silver
pieces, which were to be exchanged for fractional currency until it was
all redeemed. There was to be an issue of bonds, and the surplus revenue
was to be used to buy coin. So much of the Act of 1870 which limited the
amount of national bank notes to $350,000,000 was repealed, and these
banks were now authorized to issue more bills; but for every $100.00
issued the Secretary of the Treasury must call in $80.00 of the
greenbacks until but $300,000,000 of them remained. The total amount of
paper currency in the United States at this time was $780,000,000,
divided into $382,000,000 U. S. notes, $44,000,000 fractional currency
and $354,000,000 national bank notes, and each dollar of this paper
currency was worth about eighty-nine cents in coin. The Act further
provided that after January 1, 1879, the Secretary of the Treasury was
to redeem in coin all United States legal tender notes then outstanding,
on presentation. President Grant approved this bill January 14, 1875,
with a special message to Congress.
The spring of 1876 witnessed the opening of the Centennial Exposition at
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, by President Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro
II, of Brazil. In this year a successor was to be chosen to President
Grant, and for the first time in the history of the party since 1860
there was to be a contest over the presidential nomination. The long
continuance in power of the party had its natural effect of creating
factions, and this, together with the recent Democratic successes, made
necessary a most careful selection of a candidate and of a platform for
this campaign.