population of each State and Territory, at each time the census has been
taken by the United States. It shows the increase at each decade from
1790, the first time it was taken, to 1870—the last at this date. This
table also shows the increase in the number of States, from the original
13 to the present 37, besides the Territories, which alone are larger
than the original 13 States, and nearly as numerous.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
Was established by an act of Congress, May, 1862. It is not, like
the other Departments of the Executive Branch of the government,
superintended by a Secretary with a seat in the President’s Cabinet. Its
Head is called The Commissioner of Agriculture, and he is appointed by
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, like
other civil officers. The creation of this office is a recognition of
the extreme importance of this industry to the prosperity and welfare
of the nation. Our country is eminently an agricultural one; and the
interests confided to this department are those of a class of the people
more numerous than any other, and on the success of whose labors depends
the well being of all. In proportion as this industry attains a high
state of development, and is generally prosperous, do the professional,
mercantile, and manufacturing classes increase in wealth. It is the
foundation on which they build.
The great fertility of our country, and the breadth of area adapted to
all the most useful products of the world, and the need of instruction,
suggestion, and aid in properly adapting agricultural products to the
soil and climate, by the large number of settlers in regions with whose
peculiarities they are but partially familiar, give a special interest
and value to this new Department.
Its duty is to watch over this large field and make such suggestions
to Congress in regard to legislation as shall seem called for; to
disseminate such practical information among the people as it may be
able to acquire by intelligent observation in this and other countries;
and the testing and dissemination of rare and untried plants of other
countries that promise to increase our agricultural resources.
For experiments in the latter case, a propagating garden and grounds
are provided, and the most skillful and intelligent officers, bringing
all the lights of science to their assistance, devote themselves to the
study of these plants, as to the soil and climate best adapted to them,
the proper modes of cultivation, and to acclimating them to our country.
This branch of the department sends, to suitable sections of the country,
such plants and seeds as it has reason to believe it will be profitable
to introduce and cultivate. This usage, continued for many years, will,
no doubt, contribute very greatly to the variety of useful products which
add to our comfort and wealth.
The department keeps skillful chemists and naturalists constantly
employed to gather information of various kinds, that may be useful to
agriculturists. The character of soils, the influences of climate, the
best system of farming, the diseases of domestic animals, and plants
and their cure, the best mode of preserving crops from the ravages of
insects, and many others are the subjects of careful investigation, and
the information thus gained is freely communicated to the country at
large.
There is a statistical division, in which facts are gathered from the
whole country and published monthly. This serves many useful purposes.
It also collects data, for purposes of comparison and instruction, from
foreign countries. Whatever facts it may be most useful for farmers to
know, whatever crops it may be most profitable for them to produce, and
whatever improvements in the modes of agriculture and in agricultural
implements are discovered to be possible are communicated to all without
cost.
Agricultural education receives much attention from the department, and
all the facts and influences that can aid in making farmers thoroughly
intelligent in their own pursuit, are gathered and employed with effect.
Agriculture cannot but improve immeasureably under this fostering care,
and this Department is likely to become one of the most important and
useful in the government. It is yet in its infancy, but has already
accomplished much good.
The commissioner reports annually to Congress. He has power to appoint
such officers as Congress considers necessary. In 1868 a fine building
for this department was completed at a cost of $140,000. It contains
a chemical laboratory with all the necessary apparatus and materials,
and a museum, or collection of specimens, of value in the study of
agriculture, store-rooms for seeds to be sent throughout the country, &c.
The beauty of the building and grounds adds a very attractive feature to
the National Capital, and the Institution itself is a favorable comment
on the wise and provident care bestowed by the government on the leading
interest of the people.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT AND POST MASTER GENERAL.
This department of the government, whose head, the Post Master General,
is a member of the Cabinet, exists by virtue of Section 8, Article 1st of
the Constitution, where are these words: “Congress shall have the power
to establish post offices and post roads.”
From small beginnings, in early colonial times, and continued through
the Revolutionary War, it has grown to be one of the largest and most
important departments of the government. The security, speed, and
cheapness of intercourse between all parts of the country and with
foreign lands, is of the utmost importance to business and commerce; it
encourages social intercourse and intimate relations among the people,
and is of no small consequence in developing their intelligence and
promoting their improvement.
By successive laws of Congress it has been perfected to its present
state of excellence. The duties connected with it are performed by many
thousands of persons in every part of the country. They are of average
intelligence and education, and must be trained to their work almost
without personal instruction or supervision, yet so complete is the
organization, and so pervading the influence of the central power, the
regulations so simple, clear, and precise, that mistakes are extremely
rare, considering the great number of transactions, and instances of
misconduct in office are probably less frequent than in any other branch
of the public service, though employing persons well trained and under
close surveillance.
The Post Master General is appointed by the President and the Senate for
four years. His office is in the General Post Office at Washington. He
has three assistants, appointed in the same manner as himself. He has
a seal of his office, an impression from which must be affixed to the
commission of every postmaster in the United States; and also to all
copies of papers and documents that may be wanted from his office. This
only can give them official value of the same importance as the original
papers. He must give bonds as security for faithfulness in office, and
take the usual official oath.
He has the entire direction and management of the Department, and the
appointment of all local postmasters (in law considered as his deputies),
whose salary is less than $1,000 per annum. All others are appointed by
the President and Senate.
That its business may be more conveniently arranged and prepared for
his final action, it is distributed among several bureaus, or minor
departments as follows:
THE APPOINTMENT OFFICE.
Includes the divisions of appointments; bonds given by postmasters,
agents, and clerks; salaries and allowances, where they are not provided
for by law; free delivery in cities; and the agency of blanks used in
the extensive business and reports of the department. This office is in
charge of the First Assistant Post Master General.
THE CONTRACT OFFICE.
This includes the divisions of contracts for carrying the mails, by
persons or companies; the inspection of the entire process of carrying
the mails, to secure their safe, regular, and prompt delivery; mail
equipment, or the supply of all the material and conveniences for
transportation of the mail, furnished by the department; special agents,
and mail depredations, which has the care of all violations of law and
the conduct and accounts of all agents employed for the suppression and
prevention of abuses; and the Topographical, which has charge of maps and
diagrams of mail routes, and geographical information, required for the
various branches of the service. It is in charge of the Second Assistant
Post Master General.
THE FINANCE OFFICE.
This is separated into the divisions of Finance, which has charge of the
entire cash receipts, transfers, and disbursements of the department;
of postage stamps and stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, and postal
cards; registered letters and seals; and the examination of Dead Letters
and their return to the writers. Dead letters are those not taken out of
the office to which they were sent. After being advertised three weeks in
some newspaper near the office where they were sent, they are returned
to the General Post Office, where they are examined; and if they contain
money or valuable papers they are returned to the writers and an account
of them kept at the General Post Office. The sums, so lost and taken care
of, amount annually to tens of thousands of dollars. The Third Assistant
Post Master General has charge of it.
THE MONEY ORDER OFFICE.
The Money Orders System furnishes very convenient and safe banking
facilities for the transfer of money in small sums. It diminishes as much
as possible the exposure of money to loss by theft or otherwise, through
the plan of depositing in one office, and sending a certificate of such
deposit which is good for the money at another office. Immense sums are
so exchanged and business facilitated without any actual passage of the
money from one point to the other. When it is necessary to preserve the
balances it is done by, and at the risk of, the department.
No more than fifty dollars can be sent in one order, nor more than three
orders to the same person in one day. The number of these offices is more
than 1,400.
The rates of commission on money orders are,
On orders not exceeding $10 5 cents.
Over $10, and not exceeding $20 10 cents.
” $20, ” ” $30 15 cents.
” $30, ” ” $40 20 cents.
” $40, ” ” $50 25 cents.
No fractions of cents allowed in orders.
When a money order has been lost or destroyed, a duplicate can be got, by
the person who bought the order or by the person it was bought for, by
applying either at the office where the order was bought or at the office
where it should be paid. The Money Order Department is in charge of the
Superintendent of the Money Order System.
An international money order system, between the United States and
Switzerland, went into operation September 1st, 1869, whereby the
exchange of Postal orders between the two countries is effected through
the agency of two Post Offices termed International Exchange Offices. The
Office of New York City being set apart for the United States, and that
of Basle, in Switzerland, for that country. The amount drawn for cannot
exceed fifty dollars in one order, three orders only can be obtained by
the same person in one day. The system works satisfactorily, and will no
doubt be extended to Great Britain, and perhaps other European Nations at
an early day.
THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN MAILS.
It has the care of all foreign postal arrangements and the supervision of
the ocean mail service. It is presided over by a Superintendent.
THE AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY FOR THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
This is a bureau of the Treasury Department, which, for convenience,
is located in the General Post Office. To this officer is assigned
the duty of auditing the accounts of the Post Office Department, all
communications relating to the accounts of postmasters, mail contractors,
and other agents of the Department, are addressed to this officer.
The head of so large and important a department of the public service is
properly a chief officer of the government and has a seat in the cabinet.
NUMBER OF POST OFFICES AND MILES OF POST ROADS IN THE U. S.
In 1790 there were but 75 post offices, and 1,875 m. of post-roads.
1800 ” 903 ” 20,817 ”
1810 ” 2,300 ” 36,400 ”
1820 ” 4,500 ” 72,492 ”
1830 ” 8,450 ” 115,176 ”
1840 ” 13,463 ” 155,739 ”
1850 ” 18,417 ” 178,672 ”
1860 ” 28,498 ” 240,594 ”
1870 ” 28,492 ” 231,232 ”
POSTMASTERS GENERAL.
Samuel Osgood, Mass., Sept. 26, 1789.
Timothy Pickering, Mass., Aug. 12, 1791.
Joseph Habersham, Ga., Feb. 25, 1795.
Gideon Granger, Ct., Nov. 28, 1801.
Return J. Meigs, O., March 17, 1814.
John McLean, O., June 25, 1823.
William T. Barry, Ky., March 9, 1829.
Amos Kendall, Ky., March 1, 1835.
John M. Niles, Ct., May 18, 1840.
Francis Granger, N. Y., March 6, 1841.
Charles A. Wickliff, Ky., Sept. 13, 1841.
Cave Johnson, Tenn., March 5, 1845.
Jacob Collamer, Vt., March 7, 1849.
Nathan K. Hall, N. Y., July 20, 1850.
S. D. Hubbard, Ct., Aug. 31, 1852.
James Campbell, Pa., March 5, 1853.
Aaron V. Brown, Tenn., March 6, 1857.
Joseph Holt, Ky., March 14, 1859.
Horatio King, Jan. 1, 1861.
Montgomery Blair, Md., March 7, 1861.
William Dennison, O., Oct. 1, 1864.
Alexander W. Randall, Wis., July 15, 1866.
J. A. J. Creswell, Md., March 5, 1869.
” ” reappointed March 17, 1873.
Marshall Jewell, July 1874.
CHAPTER XL.
RATES OF POSTAGE IN THE UNITED STATES
On each letter weighing not more than one-half ounce three cents, and for
each additional half-ounce or fraction thereof, three cents.
All packages containing matter not in itself chargeable with letter
postage, but in which is enclosed or concealed any letter, memorandum, or
other thing chargeable with letter postage, or upon which is any writing
or memorandum; and manuscripts for publication in newspapers, magazines,
or periodicals—three cents for each half-ounce or fraction thereof.
Weight of packages limited to four pounds.
On local or drop letters, at offices where free delivery by carriers is
established, two cents for each half ounce or fraction thereof; and where
free delivery has not been established, one cent for each half ounce or
fraction thereof.
On seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots and scions, one cent for each ounce or
fraction thereof. Weight of packages limited to four pounds.
On pamphlets and occasional publications, all transient printed matter,
unsealed circulars, book manuscripts, proof sheets, corrected proof
sheets, maps, prints, engravings, etc., one cent for each ounce or
fraction thereof. Weight of packages limited to four pounds.
On samples of ores, metals, minerals, and merchandise, one cent for each
ounce or fraction thereof. Weight of packages limited to four pounds.
On books, one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof. Weight of packages
limited to four pounds.
All domestic matter, including newspapers, magazines and periodicals sent
to actual subscribers from a known office of publication, must be prepaid
by postage stamps affixed thereto.
Newspapers issued weekly, or oftener, and sent from publishers or news
agents, to subscribers or dealers, two cents per pound; and if not issued
as often as weekly, three cents per pound.
Papers sent miscellaneously, and not regularly, postage the same as on
books.
FOREIGN POSTAGE.
-----------------------------------------------------+--------+---------
| | News
|Letters |papers
FOREIGN COUNTRIES. | per | not
| ½ oz. |exceed’g
| | 4 oz.
-----------------------------------------------------+--------+---------
Alexandria, Egypt, British closed mail via | |
Southampton | 16 | 4
Aspinwall, U. S. packet * | 10 | 2
Australia, British mail via Southampton | 16 | 4
” ” ” Brindisi | 22 | 8
” German mail, direct, via Brindisi | † 20 | 12
Austria, including Hungary, German mail, direct | † 6 | 3
” ” ” ” closed mail via | |
England | † 7 | 4
Belgium, by direct steamers | † 6 | 3
” via Great Britain | † 8 | 4
Bermuda, U. S. packet * | 10 | 2
Brazil | 15 | 3
” British mail | 28 | 4
British Columbia (Letters unpaid 10 cents per ½ oz.) | † 6 | 2
Canada, England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland (unpaid | |
10c. per ½ oz.) | † 6 | 2
Postal Cards to Canada or British Columbia one | |
cent extra. | |
Central America * | 10 | 2
Chili, via Panama | 22 | 4
China, via San Francisco | 19 | 2
” Southampton | 28 | 6
” Brindisi | 34 | 8
Constantinople, German mail, direct | 10 | 6
” ” closed mail, via England | 11 | 7
Cuba, U. S. packet * | 10 | 2
Denmark * | 7 | 4
East India, British, via San Francisco | 10 | —
” ” ” British mail, via Southampton | 22 |
” ” ” ” ” Brindisi | 28 | 8
Ecuador | 20 | * 2
Egypt, except Alexandria British mail, via | |
Southampton | 20 | 6
Falkland Islands, British mail, via Southampton | 16 | 4
France, direct * | 10 | 2
Germany, via Hamburg or Bremen, direct | † 6 |
” closed mail, via England | † 7 |
Postal Cards to Germany one cent additional. | |
Gibraltar, British mail, via Southampton | 16 | 4
Gold Coast, ” ” ” | 16 | 4
Great Britain and Ireland | † 6 | 2
Greece, German mail, direct | † 14 | 9
Guatemala, U. S. packet * | 10 | 2
Havana, U. S. packet * | 10 | 2
Hawaiian Islands, U. S. packet (Newspapers one cent | |
per ounce) | 6 | —
Holland | 10 | 4
Honduras, via St. Thomas | 18 | 4
Hong Kong, including Canton, Amoy, Swatow, and | |
Foo-Chow, U. S. packet | 10 | 2
Hong Kong, British mail, via Southampton | 28 | 6
Italy * | † 10 | 4
Jamaica, U. S. packet * | 10 | 2
Japan, U. S. packet | 10 | —
Java, British mail, via Southampton | 28 | 6
Jerusalem, German mail, direct | † 11 | 7
” ” closed, via England | † 12 | 8
Malta, British mail, via Southampton | 16 | 4
Mexico, U. S. packet (by sea) | 10 | 3
Morocco, British mail, via Southampton | 16 | 4
Natal, ” ” ” | 28 | 4
Netherlands, same as Holland. | |
Newfoundland | 6 | 2
New South Wales, British mail, via Southampton | 16 | 4
New Zealand, ” ” ” | 16 | 4
Norway, via England and Christiana | 10 | 4
Panama, U. S. packet | 10 | 3
Paraguay, U. S. packet (Newspapers 4 cents each) | 18 | 4
Peru, British mail, via Panama, ” | 22 | 4
Portugal, British mail, via Southampton | 16 | 6
Prince Edward Island (Unpaid letters 10 cents each | |
½ oz.) | 6 | 2
Russia, German mail, direct | 10 | 6
” ” closed mail, via England | † 11 | 7
Sandwich Islands (Newspapers one cent per two ounces)| 6 | —
Shanghai, U. S. packet | 10 | 2
Sierra Leone, British mail, via Southampton | 16 | 4
Spain, German mail, direct | 11 | 6
” via New Orleans * | 10 | 2
Sweden and Norway, by direct steamers for U. S. | † 6 | 2
Sweden, via England and Christiana | 9 | 4
Switzerland, via England | † 10 | 4
” ” Germany | † 8 | 3
Vancouver’s Island (Letters, if unpaid, 10 cents per | |
½ oz.) | † 6 | 2
West Indies, except otherwise stated, via St. Thomas | 18 | 4
-----------------------------------------------------+--------+---------
* Denotes that the postage is the United States postage only, which must
be prepaid on matter sent and collected on matter received.
† Denotes that prepayment of postage is optional; in all other cases it
is compulsory.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.—Letters wholly unpaid or insufficiently
prepaid are subject on delivery, in addition to the deficient postage,
to a fine of 6 cents in the United States and 3d. in Great Britain. Book
manuscript and corrected proof may be sent at book-packet rate of postage.
CHAPTER XLI.
REGISTERED AND DEAD LETTERS.
REGISTERED LETTERS.
Within the last few years the Registered Letter Department has grown to
enormous proportions. In former times the registering of a letter was
only a notice to those handling it that it was valuable, the process
being to simply paste a Registered Letter Bill to the letter and place
it among the ordinary letters. If any officer was dishonest and wanted
the letter, all he had to do was to take it and destroy the bill, and
the chances of detection were very slight. The fee was small and the
safety smaller. Under the new system which has been in operation some few
years, and is copied from England, the safe transmission and delivery of
money and valuables is almost certain. Only letters or other mail matter
on which letter rates of postage are fully prepaid can be registered.
Each postmaster is furnished with all the proper blanks, including
the package envelopes and seals. The latter is a large whitish brown
envelope, longer and broader than an ordinary official size envelope,
and “Registered Letter” printed in large red letters across the face.
The seal is similar to a postage stamp, only larger, and is placed over
the lap after the envelope is sealed, and then cancelled. When a letter
is presented for registration at any post office, the postmaster must
require that the name and post office address of the writer thereof be
endorsed on its face; he must also see that the postage, as well as the
fee for registering, is fully prepaid by stamps affixed to such letter;
he will then fill out a receipt, entering thereon the number of the
letter, the date and name of his office, the name and address of the
writer, and the address of the letter, sign and deliver it to the person
presenting the letter. The postmaster then makes out his “registered
letter bill” and “return registered letter bill” each of which contains
a full description of the letter consisting of address and number. The
registered letter bill is then placed in the package envelope with the
letter. The package is then sealed up and the name of the post office for
which it is destined, and the number and stamp of the mailing office are
plainly marked upon the package. It is then ready for delivery to the
route agent or postal clerk upon whose route it properly belongs, who is
required to give a receipt for it, and also to keep a complete record of
it, as are all officers of the Department who handle registered matter
in transit. He must also take a receipt from the officer to whom he next
delivers the package. The return registered letter bill is sent in an
ordinary envelope in the regular mail to the office of final destination,
which will, by reason of the fact that no registered letters are sent
in through mails, and only in charge of postal clerks upon day trains,
nearly always reach the office in advance of the registered letter; and
the postmaster, then knowing that such letter is on the way, is on the
lookout for it, and if it comes in due time signs the receipt and returns
it to the mailing office. All this is done for a fee of only eight cents
in addition to the regular postage.
If a registered letter should not reach its destination in a reasonable
length of time after the receipt of the return bill, the post master
will notify the post master at the mailing office of the non-receipt of
the letter. It then becomes the duty of the last mentioned officer to
inform a special agent of the fact, who will make out what is called
a “tracer,” which is a complete description of the letter, with blank
space for each person who handled the original letter to state, from
his records and receipts, exactly what disposition he made of it and
whose receipt he holds; he then passes it along to the next. Thus by
this complete chain of records and receipts, though it may reach from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, a registered letter may be readily traced
to its final destination, or until the records cease. If a break should
occur in the chain and the loss be fastened upon any post office or mail
agent, the case is rigidly “investigated” by the proper officer, and if
it appears that the loss occurs through carelessness, the loser is made
to pay the value of the lost letter, and receive a severe reprimand, and
if it should occur again is very apt to be dismissed the service. If the
special detective is convinced that the missing letter is stolen, he then
takes a different course and commences his system of “decoys,” etc., to
catch the thief, and is almost always successful, as the man who robs the
mails always becomes careless, and grows bolder with each repetition of
the offense.
The amount and extent of the registered letter business may be judged
when it is stated that during the month of January, 1874, at the post
office in New York over sixty thousand registered letters were received,
nearly thirty thousand of which were for delivery in the city, and the
rest for other places, New York being a distributing office.
DEAD LETTERS.
About all that people know or understand of the workings of the Dead
Letter bureau of the Post Office Department is that if a letter is not
delivered in due time it is sent to the Dead Letter Office, and there
opened and returned to the writer. When, each year, they see the report
of the Postmaster General, the amount of money and number of letters that
are returned to the senders seems enormous, but when it is considered
that millions of letters and thousands of dollars are carried and safely
delivered correctly each year in the United States, the number that
fails of delivery, by contrast, does not seem so great. During the month
of November, 1873, nearly ten millions of letters were received and
dispatched in New York City.
Every effort is always made to return money or any articles of value
which may be found in dead letters. It is required that everything
valuable shall be registered free when returned to the owners; but if for
any reason it cannot be delivered to the rightful owner, it is held in
the Department subject to the owners control for four years, and after
that time it is conveyed to the Treasury, and goes towards decreasing
the annual deficit in the Post Office Department. All letters which are
properly stamped and addressed, and go to their destination, but are
not delivered at the end of one week, by reason of the person addressed
not being found, are advertised, either by publishing once in a daily
or weekly paper, or by posting the list in a conspicuous place in the
office. At the end of four weeks all then undelivered are sent to the
dead letter office. The matter of advertising in newspapers is left to
the discretion of the Postmaster General, and it is but few of the larger
offices that are allowed to do so. The compensation is fixed by law at
one cent for each letter, which is to be paid by the person receiving
the letter; but by reason of the fact that by far the larger portion of
those advertised are not delivered, the expense is so great that but
few offices can be allowed to advertise. All letters which are dropped
into an office without stamps or only part paid, or the address is not
readable, are sent at once to the Dead Letter office, except in some few
offices where a bulletin board is provided for the purpose of displaying
to the public letters of this character. When a letter which is wholly
or in part unpaid, and upon which the address is legible, is found to
contain a valuable enclosure a printed circular is sent to the party
addressed requesting that the requisite amount of postage be forwarded in
stamps and the letter will be forwarded to its proper address.
A great many articles which are of value only to the senders or the
persons for whom they are intended, such as little baby shoes, stockings,
photographs, etc., etc., find their way to the Dead Letter office.
Special effort is always made to deliver things of this character.
Perhaps the little shoe or stocking may have belonged to some little one
whose feet are still forever, and is being sent to a grandmother or some
other near relation as a memento of the little one that is gone. Such
articles as this may be of no possible value to any one but the owners,
but the post office authorities make as great an effort, even greater
to deliver this class of articles, than they do money or jewels. At the
present time in the Dead Letter office are great stores of small articles
of very little or no value to any but the owners, waiting to be called
for.
CHAPTER XLII.
ATTORNEY GENERAL.
It will be readily perceived that, in a country developing so rapidly as
ours, producing, thereby, an almost unbroken series of new situations,
requiring a cautious application of old laws and the constant enactment
of new ones, and so, a danger of confusion of legislative rules, that the
President and his Cabinet would need a legal adviser of eminent ability,
and of extensive acquirements in legal affairs, to give instruction and
counsel on various lines of action contemplated by the executive branch
of the government, and of the lawful course to be taken in the numerous
particular cases constantly coming up for determination. Besides,
various suits require to be instituted or defended in the courts, by the
government, and some officer is needed to prosecute or defend them in its
name and interest.
To answer these requirements, the office of Attorney General was created
by the first Congress in 1789. He is a member of the Cabinet, is
nominated by the President, and confirmed by the Senate, and is removable
at the pleasure of the President. He has an assistant and various clerks
to aid him in the discharge of his responsible duties.
By an act passed in 1861 he is made Superintendent of all the Attorneys
and Marshals in all the Judicial Districts of the United States. His
office is at the seat of Government.
The following is a complete list of the Attorneys General:
ATTORNEYS GENERAL.
Edmund Randolph, Va., Sept. 26, 1789.
William Bradford, Pa., June 27, 1794.
Charles Lee, Va., Dec. 10, 1795.
T. Parsons, Mass., Feb. 20, 1800.
Levi Lincoln, Mass., March 5, 1801.
Robert Smith, Md., March 2, 1805.
John Breckinridge, Ky., Dec. 1806.
Cæsar A. Rodney, Del., Jan. 20, 1807.
William Pinckney, Md., Dec. 11, 1811.
Richard Rush, Pa., Feb. 10, 1814.
William Wirt, Md., Dec. 16, 1817.
John McPherson Berrien, Ga., Mar. 9, 1829.
Roger B. Taney, Md., July 20, 1831.
Benjamin F. Butler, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1833.
Felix Grundy, Tenn., July 7, 1838.
Henry D. Gilpin, Pa., Jan. 11, 1840.
John J. Crittenden, Ky., Mar. 5, 1841.
Hugh S. Legaré, S. C., Sept. 13, 1841.
John Nelson, Md., July 1, 1843.
John Y. Mason, Va., Mar. 5, 1845.
Nathan Clifford, Me., Oct. 16, 1846.
Isaac Toucey, Ct., Jan. 21, 1848.
Reverdy Johnson, Md., Mar. 7, 1849.
John J. Crittenden, Ky., July 20, 1850.
Caleb Cushing, Mass., Mar. 5, 1853.
Jeremiah S. Black, Pa., Mar. 6, 1857.
Edwin M. Stanton, Pa., Dec. 14, 1860.
Edward Bates, Mo., Mar. 5, 1861.
James Speed, Ky., Dec. 1864.
Henry Stanberry, O., July, 1866.
William M. Evarts, N. Y., 1868.
Eben E. Hoar, March 5, 1869.
Amos T. Akerman, Ga., July 8, 1870.
George H. Williams, Oregon, 1871.
Edward Pierrepont, New York, 1875.
CHAPTER XLIII.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
An Elector, in the sense of the Constitution, is one who has been
appointed to choose or elect the President of the United States. Electors
have been chosen in various ways. At first they were often appointed by
the State Legislatures, or these passed a law directing their election
by the people. This has gradually disappeared, and now the people, by
law of Congress assemble on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November preceding the close of a presidential term, and vote for the
electors. The electors in each State are called its Electoral College.
They meet on the first Wednesday in December following their election,
in their respective States, and vote by ballot for a President and
Vice-President. These cannot both, according to the Constitution, be
citizens of the same State. They count, certify, and seal these votes
and send the sealed package by a messenger, appointed for that express
purpose, to the President of the United States Senate. On the second
Wednesday in February following, the members of the Senate and House of
Representatives assemble together, the packages are opened and the votes
counted in their presence, and the result is officially proclaimed.
It is evident that this is now a mere form, and the President and
Vice-President are virtually determined by the people in November. It is
not in harmony with the other parts of our system of government, which
aims at simplicity and practical usefulness, and it will probably soon
be dispensed with. It was originally designed, by those who framed the
Constitution, to act as a check to party spirit, and was expected to
serve a very useful purpose. They felt the great importance attaching
to the office of Chief Magistrate, on whom they had conferred so much
power, and thought, by this means, to raise his election above disturbing
influences. It was not expected that the candidates for those offices
would come in question, in the popular elections. The choice was designed
to be left with the electors, with whom, being chosen by the people for
that purpose, it was supposed they would feel safe in leaving it. It was
believed that a select body of eminent men would act with more prudence
and wisdom than the people at large. But the people felt themselves
competent to judge for themselves, and have, like imperious sovereigns,
imposed their choice on the Electors, so that that part of our
constitutional machinery has become a dead letter. The people know their
own minds better, and are more resolute in imposing their will on their
representatives than was expected; and they have favorably disappointed
the best hopes of those who believed most in their discretion. So we see
that the failure of the Electoral System, planned by the Fathers of the
Republic, is an honorable commentary on the ability of the people for
self-government.
Their success in making their own choice authoritative has led them
to overlook the incongruity of the system, so that they have never
resolutely required it to be abolished. Perhaps the idea that it might be
useful in some important crisis of national affairs has had an influence
to prevent interference with it. As its retention is attended with
considerable expense, when questions of Economy come to take a leading
place in public policy it is likely to be laid aside, in form, as well as
in fact.
The elections for President, Congressmen, Governors of the States and
their Legislatures, determining the general policy of the government,
and the class of men who shall be appointed to the various minor offices
under its control; those who feel a strong interest in that policy from
their judgment of its effect on the welfare of the country, or their
desire to promote special measures; and those who are anxious to obtain
or hold office, are very warmly interested in them. They divide into
parties according to their views and exert themselves to the utmost to
influence the result.
Most human affairs have their good and bad side, and this is not
an exception. This party warmth is useful in causing discussion,
examination, and thought, and stirring up the people to a careful study
of their institutions and the principles of government, and the effect
which particular measures may have on the public welfare. Its tendency,
in this direction is, to make all the people statesmen—a point of the
highest importance in a free government, where the People are Sovereign.
The disadvantage is, that it often awakens an undue degree of passion and
prejudice, the parties and men who are candidates for office abuse and
misrepresent each other in order to destroy each others influence, when,
perhaps, they are equally in earnest in seeking the good of the country.
For this there is no apparent remedy, but in the intelligence and good
sense of the people themselves. They must learn to be careful and
candid in their judgment of men and measures, and to examine all sides
of a question before rendering a decision. All should strive toward this
intelligent moderation during important elections.
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
The Presidents of the Continental Congress—as the Legislative body of
the United States was called up to 1789, when the new Constitution went
in effect—were chosen by its members, which then consisted of only one
House, in the same manner as the Speaker of the House of Representatives
is chosen now; nor was his authority more extensive. He was simply the
presiding officer of a legislative body; and one that had by no means
the effective authority of our present Congress, although no body in the
world ever more deserved the gratitude and reverence of all time; for it
founded and gave direction and character to a great nation—it may be, the
greatest the world will ever know.
These Presidents had little, except the name, in common with the
Presidents of the United States, as the Constitution made them. The
Presidents were now to be appointed by the people, and become the
depositaries of the Power of the Nation in Action. It was fit that, in a
government deriving all its authority from the People, as the source of
power, its Special Agent, its acting Representative, should be chosen by
them.
In the summer of 1788 three-fourths of the States had ratified the
Constitution, and it became authoritative as the Fundamental Law of the
country. The Continental Congress, therefore, closed its own career by
ordering elections for the new Congress, and for the electors who were
to appoint the first President. It directed that these elections should
take place on the first Wednesday in January, 1789; that the electors
should meet on the first Wednesday in February following, to discharge
the duty to which they were appointed; and that, on the first Wednesday
in March, (which, in that year, was the fourth,) Congress should meet,
the President be inaugurated, and the new government be put in operation.
This brought all these important events close upon the heels of one
another; and on the 4th of March there was not a quorum of the Members
of Congress assembled. The States lay far apart, and the roads were bad
in those times, and at that season of the year. Though a bare quorum had
gathered by the last of March, and many measures of pressing necessity
were attended to, a full representation was waited for before the
President elect was notified that they were ready for his inauguration;
and that event took place only on the 30th of April. The presidential
term, however, was considered to have legally commenced at the time
previously ordered, and closed on that day of the year and month; so that
it became the first day of our political year. It commences and closes
the President’s term of office and ends the regular session of Congress.
FIRST ELECTION, 1789.
There were but 69 electors, and the choice of George Washington for
President, and John Adams for Vice-President, was unanimous. He had
declared, when resigning his commission as commander-in-chief, that he
took leave “of all the employments of public life,” and only the earnest
solicitations of the leading public men of the time, and their opinion
that he alone could successfully inaugurate the new government, decided
him to leave his cherished retirement. Washington’s ambition was known
to be free from spot or stain of self seeking, and his moderation and
judgment were trusted in as the sheet anchor of a new government which
many feared would become too strong for the liberties of the people.
They dreaded an abuse of power; but they had no fear of such abuse while
wielded by Washington. There was a solid foundation to Washington’s fame,
in his character.
The presidential electors were mainly chosen by the State legislatures
during the times immediately following the adoption of the Constitution.
That instrument did not decide how they should be chosen, but left it
to the discretion of the State governments. In some States conventions
chose them, and the practice was various; but after a time it proved to
be more satisfactory to refer the choice directly to the people, and
very soon the people themselves practically selected the President, the
electors being pledged to the choice of the candidate favored by their
constituents, so that their significance was lost. It is a proof of the
_popular_ character of our government. The system of electors indicated
a fear of the people; a want of confidence in their judgment and self
control. The electors, it was supposed, would be wiser, less accessible
to passion and caprice than those who elected them. The people set them
quietly aside, and proceeded to do their own work themselves, using the
electors only to register their decision. Public men have seldom ventured
to oppose the clearly formed and definite purposes of the people.
THE SECOND ELECTION, 1792.
Washington was again unanimously elected. He desired to lay down the
burdens of office; but so many perplexing questions and disturbing
influences threatened the stability of the government that he could not
be spared. His name and character were a rock of strength. John Adams
was re-elected Vice-President. Only 11 States had voted at the first
election; North Carolina and Rhode Island not having then ratified the
Constitution. They had now done so, and Vermont and Kentucky had been
admitted, so that there were 15 States voting at this election. There
were 132 electors. Washington declined another election absolutely, and
the government had proved so suitable as to be fairly settled in the
confidence of the people.
THE THIRD ELECTION, 1796.
Four persons were voted for at this election.
John Adams received 71 electoral votes.
Thomas Jefferson ” 69 ”
Thomas Pinckney ” 59 ”
Aaron Burr ” 38 ”
As, by the Constitutional provision regarding electors, the person
having the largest number of votes became President, and the one who had
the next in number became Vice-President, Adams was now President, and
Jefferson Vice-President. Tennessee had now been admitted into the Union,
and there were 16 States voting.
Conflicting views on foreign policy, and vexing questions of internal
administration began to exert a strong influence, and party spirit, for
the next twenty years, was very bitter. Mr. Adams was a Federalist; Mr.
Jefferson was an anti-Federalist.
THE FOURTH ELECTION, 1800.
The same candidates were again in the field. The political parties had
become clearly defined. Adams and Pinckney were the Federal candidates,
receiving—Adams, 64, Pinckney 63, electoral votes, while Jefferson and
Burr had each 73. They were of the anti-Federal, or Republican party.
The election did not decide which of the two, Jefferson or Burr,
should be President and Vice-President, and, by the provisions of
the Constitution, the House of Representatives decided it in favor
of Jefferson. Party heats were so great that it took 7 days and 36
ballots to reach this result. It was felt that there was a defect in the
Constitutional provision that left it undecided, in such a case, which
of the candidates was the choice of the electors for President, and
it resulted in the ratification of the 12th amendment before the next
election.
The Federal party never regained the power of administration lost at
this election, though they continued to be a strong opposition until
the close of the war of 1812. But an opposition, to criticize and
point out faults, is often more useful out of office than in; and the
Republican party was obliged to adopt substantially the general features
of the policy pursued by their predecessors, while they added some very
important ones of their own, in their disposition to favor popular rights.
THE FIFTH ELECTION, 1804.
Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton were the candidates of the
Republicans. Charles C. Pinckney and Rufus King of the Federalists.
Jefferson was popular, and received 162 votes—Clinton receiving the same.
Pinckney and King received only 14 votes. The admission of Ohio, in 1802,
made 17 States to vote at this election.
The Federal party was much weaker than in the following election.
THE SIXTH ELECTION, 1808.
James Madison was the Republican candidate for President, and Geo.
Clinton for Vice-President. Pinckney and King were again candidates on
the part of the Federalists.
Madison received 123 electoral votes.
Clinton ” 113 ”
Pinckney and King each, 47 ”
Geo. Clinton died before the end of his term. There was the same number
of States voting as in the previous election, viz.: 17.
THE SEVENTH ELECTION, 1812.
Madison was re-elected, with Elbridge Gerry as Vice-President. They each
received 128 electoral votes.
De Witt Clinton and Jared Ingersoll, the candidates of the Federal party,
received, Clinton 89, Ingersoll 57, votes. Louisiana having been recently
admitted into the Union, there were now 18 States.
War with England was formally declared this year. It had actually
begun on the ocean sometime before. It was a very trying and painful
presidential term, owing to the violent and injudicious opposition made
to the measures of the government, and the unfortunate choice of generals
for the first two years; yet the ultimate result was highly creditable to
the standing and reputation of the United States, and put an end to the
annoying and insulting interferences with our vessels and commerce that
had brought it on. It was a war waged for the honor and inviolability of
our Flag, which was ever after duly respected.
THE EIGHTH ELECTION, 1816.
James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins were the candidates of the
Republicans, who now began to be called Democrats. The Federalist party
was now near its end. It nominated Rufus King who received 34 electoral
votes, Monroe obtaining 183.
Indiana was admitted this year in time to vote, making 19 States.
This period marked an important era in the internal history, as well
as foreign relations, of the country. The period of trial for the
Constitution was passed, and full confidence began to be felt in the
system it had founded.
THE NINTH ELECTION, 1820.
Monroe and Tompkins were re-elected, the vote being substantially
unanimous, for the first and last time since Washington. The close
of this term made the Republican rule in the administration 24 years
in succession, under three Presidents, each once re-elected, and all
citizens of Virginia.
Four new States had been admitted during the previous term, viz.:
Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, and Maine, so that 23 States took part in
this election.
THE TENTH ELECTION, 1824.
Four candidates were in the field for the presidency at this election.
Missouri having been admitted since the ninth election there were 24
States to vote. The whole number of electors was 261; necessary to a
choice, 131.
The candidates and votes were as follows:
Andrew Jackson 99
John Quincy Adams 84
Wm. H. Crawford 41
Henry Clay 31
By the Constitution the House of Representatives was required to select
the President from the 3 candidates having the highest number of votes.
They were to vote by States, and a majority of States would elect. J. Q.
Adams received the vote of 13 States, and was declared elected. John C.
Calhoun having received 182 electoral votes for the Vice-Presidency, was
thereby elected to that office. 18 of the States appointed the electors
by popular vote and 6 appointed them by their legislatures.
THE ELEVENTH ELECTION, 1828.
Andrew Jackson was elected President, and John C. Calhoun re-elected
Vice-President.
John Quincy Adams and Richard Rush were also candidates for President
and Vice-President, respectively. The contest was very hot and bitter.
Jackson received 178, and Adams 171 electoral votes. The Popular vote
was 650,028 for Jackson to 512,158 for Adams. The number of electors
was the same as in the 10th election. The most violent excitement
divided the north and the south on the tariff question, which culminated
during this term in the “nullification ordinance,” which Jackson met
with the decision and vigor for which he was distinguished, ending
in the submission of the nullifiers. Calhoun resigned his office as
Vice-President, Dec. 28th, 1832. He was the leader of the nullifiers.
THE TWELFTH ELECTION, 1832.
Jackson’s vigorous dealing with nullification was highly approved by the
people, and he was re-elected, with Martin Van Buren as Vice-President.
Henry Clay was the candidate of the Whig party for President, and John
Sergeant for Vice-President.
Jackson received 682,502 popular, and 219 electoral votes.
Clay ” 550,189 ” 49 ”
------- ----
Jackson’s majority 132,313 170
Van Buren received 189 electoral votes for Vice-President. Twenty-four
States voted at this election.
THE THIRTEENTH ELECTION, 1836.
Van Buren was run, by the Democrats, for the Presidency, and Richard M.
Johnson for the Vice-Presidency, against Wm. H. Harrison, Hugh L. White,
Daniel Webster, and W. P. Mangum. Van Buren’s vote was 762,149 popular,
and 170 electoral. Harrison and the others united was 736,736 popular,
and 124 electoral. The whole number of electors being 294, the number
necessary to a choice was 148. Johnson failed by one electoral vote
to be elected to the Vice-Presidency, and the case went to the Senate
for decision, as directed by the Constitution. The remaining electoral
votes for Vice-President being divided between 3 candidates, Johnson was
appointed by the Senate.
Michigan and Arkansas having been admitted this year took part in the
election, making 26 States.
THE FOURTEENTH ELECTION, 1840.
The Whig party this year concentrated on Wm. H. Harrison for President,
and John Tyler for Vice-President.
The Democrats opposed them with Van Buren and Johnson again. The country
had been passing through a financial crisis of extreme severity during
the thirteenth presidential term, and this election, involving the
decision of a financial policy, was very exciting.
Harrison was an Ohio farmer, and, the Democrats said, “lived in a log
cabin and drank hard cider.” The Whigs took the hint, built log cabins
to hold their campaign gatherings in, drank much hard cider, and sung
stirring political songs.
Harrison’s popular vote was 1,274,783—his electoral vote 234
Van Buren’s ” 1,128,702 ” 60
--------- ---
Majority, 46,081 174
Tyler’s vote as Vice-President was the same as Harrison’s.
Harrison died on the 4th of April, one month after his inauguration, and
John Tyler succeeded to the Presidency. His term was made remarkable by
his disagreement with the measures of Congress, on financial questions.
This was the first time a Vice-President had been called on to serve as
a substitute for the President. There were 26 States taking part in this
election.
THE FIFTEENTH ELECTION, 1844.
The slavery question entered into this election as a leading point.
The Republic of Texas asked admission into the Union. As it would be
certain to be a slave State, and many of the people objected to extending
that institution while others favored it, the parties took it up; the
Democrats favoring the admission, the Whigs opposing.
James K. Polk was the candidate for President, and Geo. M. Dallas for
Vice-President, run by the Democrats.
The Whigs opposed against them Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen.
The vote for Polk and Dallas was 1,335,834, electoral vote 170
” Clay and Frelinghuysen 1,297,033, ” 105
--------- ---
Polk and Dallas’ majority, 38,801 65
This was the third time Mr. Clay had been defeated as a candidate for the
Presidency, to the great regret of many, even of those who voted against
him.
The war with Mexico followed as a consequence of the policy of the United
States government, decided upon in this election. Texas had formerly been
a part of Mexico, and that country considered its admission into the
Union as an act of hostility to herself.
SIXTEENTH ELECTION, 1848.
The Whigs were successful in this election, owing to a division in the
ranks of the Democratic party. The Whigs nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor
for President, and Millard Fillmore for Vice-President; the Democrats
Lewis Cass for President, and Wm. O. Butler for Vice-President; the Free
Soil Democrats—who opposed the extension of slavery—Martin Van Buren for
President, and Charles F. Adams for Vice-President.
The vote resulted thus:
Taylor and Fillmore’s popular vote 1,362,024, electoral vote 163
Cass and Butler’s ” 1,222,419, ” 127
Van Buren and Adams’ ” 291,678.
The third ticket secured no electoral votes.
Four new States had been admitted into the Union since the 15th election,
viz.: Texas, Florida, Iowa, and Wisconsin; and 30 States voted this year.
Gen. Taylor died July 9th, 1850, one year, four months, and four days
after his inauguration, and Mr. Fillmore filled out his term of office.
THE SEVENTEENTH ELECTION, 1852.
During the previous Presidential term the subject of slavery, and the
strategy of politicians in favor of and against it, absorbed public
attention. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 opened the whole
question, and a trial of strength as to which side should occupy the
new territory, was prepared for. The crisis of preparation had not been
reached when this election occurred, and comparatively little interest
was taken in it.
The Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce for President, and Wm. R. King
for Vice-President; the Whigs chose as their candidates Gen. Winfield
Scott for President, and Wm. A. Graham for Vice-President.
Pierce and King received, of popular votes 1,590,490, of electoral, 254.
Scott and Graham received, of popular votes, 1,378,589, of electoral,
42. Pierce’s majority, on popular vote, 211,901, on electoral, 212.
California had been admitted since the 16th election, and there were 31
States to vote in this.
This was the last election in which the Whig party nominated a candidate.
The contest in regard to slave and free territory absorbing all the
interest of the country, the parties were rearranged, those in favor
of slavery, or wishing to leave that institution undisturbed, gathered
to the Democratic party; while those wishing to actively oppose the
extension of slavery to territory not yet occupied by it, united, under
the name of the Republican party, the Whigs becoming extinct, as a party.
THE EIGHTEENTH ELECTION, 1856.
The Democrats nominated James Buchanan, and John C. Breckenridge for
President and Vice-President; the Republicans, John C. Fremont and
William L. Dayton. A third party, in favor of putting only native
Americans in office, voted for Millard Fillmore and Andrew J. Donnelson.
The result was the following:
Popular vote for Buchanan and Breckenridge 1,803,029, electoral, 174.
Popular vote for Fremont and Dayton 1,342,164, electoral, 114. Popular
vote for Fillmore and Donnelson, 874,625, electoral, 8.
Buchanan had only what is called a plurality popular vote; the two others
united had a majority over him of 413,760 votes. A majority of electoral
votes, however, was 149, and he received 174, and a majority of 52
electoral votes over the others united.
Only 31 States voted at this election. Mr. Buchanan was much blamed for
not taking more vigorous measures to quench the secession movement that
commenced in the last months of his administration. The contrast between
his course and Jackson’s in 1832 was very marked.
THE NINETEENTH ELECTION, 1860.
The Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln for President, and
Hannibal Hamlin for Vice-President. The south, finding it impossible to
uphold the slavery extension system against the growing Republican party,
and the compromise that had protected that system having been laid aside
in 1850, must submit to the gradual extinction of slavery, or withdraw
from the Union. They chose the latter, and favored the division of the
Democratic party, which was still much the largest, into several parts.
Three tickets of that party were run, against one in the Republican,
which assured the election of Lincoln.
The Northern Democrats voted mainly for Stephen A. Douglas and H. V.
Johnson; the Southern Democrats for John C. Breckenridge and Joseph
Lane; and those who wished to stop the contest on the slavery question
altogether, on both sides, voted for John Bell and Edward Everett. The
result was as follows:
The vote for Lincoln and Hamlin was 1,866,452, electoral 180
” Douglas and Johnson 1,370,157, ” 72
” Breckenridge and Lane 847,953, ” 39
” Bell and Everett 590,631, ” 12
The three divisions of the Democrats together had a popular majority
of 947,289 over the Republicans, but the latter had a majority of 57
electoral votes over all the others united.
Two new States had been admitted since the eighteenth election, Minnesota
and Oregon, and there were 33 States voting. The census of 1860 gave the
population as 31,148,048. All the votes cast at this election amounted
to 4,680,193, the largest number by more than 500,000 that had ever been
known. The Southern States seceded within a few months, and the Civil War
began. It was remarkable as the most gigantic war of its kind, perhaps of
any kind, known in history; and for the obstinate bravery and resolution
displayed on both sides. It continued during this entire presidential
term.
THE TWENTIETH ELECTION, 1864.
The election this year was confined to the States that had remained loyal
to the Constitution and the Union. Eleven States had seceded.
The Republicans re-nominated Lincoln for President, with Andrew Johnson
for Vice-President. The Democratic party nominated Gen. Geo. B. McClellan
for President, and Geo. H. Pendleton for Vice-President. The result was
as follows:
The popular vote for Lincoln and Johnson was 2,223,035
” ” McClellan and Pendleton 1,811,754
---------
Lincoln’s popular majority 411,281
Electoral votes for Lincoln 212
” ” McClellan 21
---
Lincoln’s electoral majority 191
The total number of popular votes was 4,034,789. Lincoln’s vote at this
election was the largest that had ever been cast for one candidate,
though there were less votes cast by all parties by 600,000 than in the
nineteenth election. Two new States, Kansas and West Virginia, had been
admitted since the previous election, which with the 11 in rebellion
omitted, left 24 States voting.
The civil war closed with the submission of the seceded States to the
general government soon after Lincoln’s re-inauguration; but he was
assassinated about the same time, on the evening of April 13th, 1865,
and died on the following day, leaving a nation in mourning, and the
civilized world struck with horror. Andrew Johnson acted as President
during the remainder of this term. Mr. Johnson’s administration was
marked by the great difference in the policy of reconstructing the
seceded States adopted by him and by the Congress, by the limitations
which the latter threw around him, and the attempt to impeach him, which
failed by a few votes.
THE TWENTY-FIRST ELECTION, 1868.
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was nominated by the Republicans for President, and
Schuyler Colfax for Vice-President.
The nominees of the Democratic party were Horatio Seymour and Francis P.
Blair.
Grant’s popular majority was 309,588. Questions of reconstruction and
finance were determined by this election, the people upholding the policy
pursued by Congress since the close of the war.
THE TWENTY-SECOND ELECTION, 1872.
Grant was nominated by the Republican party for President, and Henry
Wilson for Vice-President. The Democrats nominated Horace Greeley for
President, and B. Gratz Brown for Vice-President. A second Democratic
party had a ticket, nominating Chas. O’Connor and J. Q. Adams.
Grant’s popular majority was 762,991; and he received 218 electoral
votes. 30 States gave him majorities, Pennsylvania reaching 137,000
majority in his favor. The whole popular vote at this election was
6,431,149. The colored people voted for the first time, under the
amendment to the Constitution abolishing the distinction in citizenship
in regard to color.
The elections are now held on the same day in all the States, by a
general law. The number of States voting at the 22d election was
thirty-seven. This election set a final seal on the policy of the
Republican party, leaving the country free to turn its attention to other
questions relating to its internal interests.
CHAPTER XLV.
CABINETS OF ALL THE PRESIDENTS.
For convenience of reference we insert a list of the members of the
Cabinet in each administration from 1789 down to 1874, to which is added
the name of the Vice-President of each presidential term, though he is
not a member of the Cabinet.
FIRST ADMINISTRATION, FROM 1789 TO 1797—7 YEARS, 10 MONTHS, AND 4 DAYS.
George Washington, Va., President.
John Adams, Mass., Vice-President.
CABINET.
Thomas Jefferson, Va., Secretary of State.
Edmund Randolph, Va., ” ”
Timothy Pickering, Mass., ” ”
Alexander Hamilton, N. Y., Secretary of the Treasury.
Oliver Wolcott, Conn., ” ”
Timothy Pickering, Mass., Secretary of War.
James McHenry, Md., ” ”
Henry Knox, Mass., ” ”
SECOND ADMINISTRATION, 1797 TO 1801—4 YEARS.
John Adams, Mass., President.
Thomas Jefferson, Va., Vice-President.
CABINET.
Timothy Pickering, Mass., Secretary of State.
John Marshall, Va., ” ”
Oliver Wolcott, Ct., Secretary of the Treasury.
Samuel Dexter, Mass., ” ”
James McHenry, Md., Secretary of War.
Samuel Dexter, Mass., ” ”
Roger Griswold, ” ”
George Cabot, Mass., Secretary of the Navy.
Benjamin Stoddert, Md., ” ”
THIRD ADMINISTRATION, 1801 TO 1809—8 YEARS.
Thomas Jefferson, Va., President.
Aaron Burr, N. Y., Vice-President.
George Clinton, N. Y., ”
CABINET.
James Madison, Va., Secretary of State.
Samuel Dexter, Mass., Secretary of the Treasury.
Albert Gallatin, Pa., ” ”
Henry Dearborn, Mass., Secretary of War.
Benjamin Stoddert, Md., Secretary of the Navy.
Robert Smith, Md., ” ”
FOURTH ADMINISTRATION, 1809 TO 1817—8 YEARS.
James Madison, Va., President.
George Clinton, N. Y., Vice-President.
Elbridge Gerry, Mass., ”
CABINET.
Robert Smith, Md., Secretary of State.
James Monroe, Va., ” ”
Albert Gallatin, Pa., Secretary of the Treasury.
George W. Campbell, Tenn., ” ”
Alexander J. Dallas, Pa., ” ”
William Eustis, Mass., Secretary of War.
John Armstrong, N. Y., ” ”
James Monroe, Va., ” ”
William H. Crawford, Ga., ” ”
Paul Hamilton, S. C., Secretary of the Navy.
William Jones, Pa., ” ”
B. W. Crowninshield, Mass. ” ”
FIFTH ADMINISTRATION, 1817 TO 1825—8 YEARS.
James Monroe, Va., President.
Daniel D. Tompkins, N. Y., Vice-President.
CABINET.
John Q. Adams, Mass., Secretary of State.
William H. Crawford, Ga., Secretary of the Treasury.
Isaac Shelby, Ky., Secretary of War.
John C. Calhoun, S. C., ” ”
B. W. Crowninshield, Mass., Secretary of the Navy.
Smith Thompson, N. Y., ” ”
Samuel L. Southard, N. J., ” ”
SIXTH ADMINISTRATION, 1825 TO 1829—4 YEARS.
John Q. Adams, Mass., President.
John C. Calhoun, S. C., Vice-President.
CABINET.
Henry Clay, Ky., Secretary of State.
Richard Rush, Pa., Secretary of the Treasury.
James Barbour, Va., Secretary of War.
Peter B. Porter, N. Y., ” ”
Samuel L. Southard, N. J., Secretary of the Navy.
SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1829 TO 1837—8 YEARS.
Andrew Jackson, Tenn., President.
John C. Calhoun, S. C., Vice-President.
Martin Van Buren, N. Y., ”
CABINET.
Martin Van Buren, N. Y., Secretary of State.
Edward Livingston, La., ” ”
Louis McLane, Del., ” ”
John Forsyth, Geo., ” ”
Samuel D. Ingham, Pa., Secretary of the Treasury.
Louis McLane, Del., ” ”
William J. Duane, Pa., ” ”
Roger B. Taney, Md., ” ”
Levi Woodbury, N. H., ” ”
John H. Eaton, Tenn., Secretary of War.
Lewis Cass, Mich., ” ”
Benjamin F. Butler, N. Y., ” ”
John Branch, N. C., Secretary of the Navy.
Levi Woodbury, N. H., ” ”
Mahlon Dickerson, N. J., ” ”
POSTMASTERS GENERAL,
And for the first time considered members of the Cabinet,
John McLean, O.
William F. Barry, Ky.
Amos Kendall, Ky.
EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION, 1837 TO 1841—4 YEARS.
Martin Van Buren, N. Y., President.
Richard M. Johnson, Ky., Vice-President.
CABINET.
John Forsyth, Geo., Secretary of State.
Levi Woodbury, N. H., Secretary of the Treasury.
Joel R. Poinsett, S. C., Secretary of War.
Mahlon Dickerson, N. J., Secretary of the Navy.
James K. Paulding, N. Y., ” ”
Amos Kendall, Ky., Postmaster General.
John M. Niles, Ct., ” ”
NINTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1841, TO APRIL 4, 1841.
William Henry Harrison, O., President.
John Tyler, Va., Vice-President.
CABINET.
Daniel Webster, Mass., Secretary of State.
Thomas Ewing, O., Secretary of the Treasury.
John Bell, Tenn., Secretary of War.
George E. Badger, N. C., Secretary of the Navy.
Gideon Granger, N. Y., Postmaster General.
TENTH ADMINISTRATION, APRIL 6, 1841, TO MARCH 4, 1845.
John Tyler, Va., (acting) President, by death of Harrison.
CABINET.
Daniel Webster, Mass., Secretary of State.
Abel P. Upshur, Va., ” ”
John C. Calhoun, S. C., ” ”
Thomas Ewing, O., Secretary of the Treasury.
Walter Forward, Pa., ” ”
John C. Spencer, N. Y., ” ”
George M. Bibb, Ky., ” ”
John Bell, Tenn., Secretary of War.
John C. Spencer, N. Y., ” ”
James M. Porter, Pa., ” ”
William Wilkins, Pa., ” ”
George E. Badger, N. C., Secretary of the Navy.
Abel P. Upshur, Va., ” ”
David Henshaw, Mass., ” ”
G. W. Gilmer, Va., ” ”
John Y. Mason, Va., ” ”
Hugh S. Legaré, S. C., Attorney-General.
John Nelson, Md., ” ”
Francis G. Granger, N. Y., Postmaster General.
Charles A. Wickliffe, Ky., ” ”
ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1845, TO MARCH 4, 1849.—4 YEARS.
James K. Polk, Tenn., President.
George M. Dallas, Pa., Vice-President.
CABINET.
James Buchanan, Pa., Secretary of State.
Robert J. Walker, Miss., Secretary of the Treasury.
William L. Marcy, N. Y., Secretary of War.
George Bancroft, Mass., Secretary of the Navy.
John Y. Mason, Va., ” ”
Cave Johnson, Tenn., Postmaster General.
John Y. Mason, Va., Attorney General.
Nathan Clifford, Me., ” ”
Isaac Toucey, Ct., ” ”
TWELFTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1849, TO JULY 10, 1850—1 YEAR AND 4
MONTHS.
Zachary Taylor, La., President.
Millard Fillmore, N. Y., Vice-President.
CABINET.
John M. Clayton, Del., Secretary of State.
George W. Crawford, Geo., Secretary of War.
William M. Meredith, Pa., Secretary of the Treasury.
William B. Preston, Va., Secretary of the Navy.
Thomas Ewing, Ohio, Secretary of the Interior.
Jacob Collamer, Vt., Postmaster General.
Reverdy Johnson, Md., Attorney General.
THIRTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, JULY 10, 1850, TO MARCH 4, 1853.—2 YEARS AND 8
MONTHS.
Millard Fillmore, (acting) President by death of Taylor.
No Vice-President.
CABINET.
Daniel Webster, Mass., Secretary of State.
Thomas Corwin, Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury.
Charles M. Conrad, La., Secretary of War.
William A. Graham, N. C., Secretary of the Navy.
Alexander H. H. Stuart, Va., Secretary of the Interior.
Nathan K. Hall, N. Y., Postmaster General.
John J. Crittenden, Ky., Attorney General.
FOURTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1853, TO MARCH 4, 1857.
Franklin Pierce, N. H., President.
William R. King, of Ala., who was elected Vice-President with Mr. Pierce,
but died before he took his seat, and there was no Vice-President during
Pierce’s administration.
CABINET.
William L. Marcy, N. Y., Secretary of State.
James Guthrie, Ky., Secretary of the Treasury.
Jefferson Davis, Miss., Secretary of War.
J. C. Dobbin, N. C., Secretary of the Navy.
Robert McClelland, Mich., Secretary of the Interior.
James Campbell, Pa., Postmaster General.
Caleb Cushing, Mass., Attorney General.
FIFTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1857, TO MARCH 4, 1861.
James Buchanan, Pa., President.
John C. Breckenridge, Vice-President.
CABINET.
Lewis Cass, Mich., and Jeremiah S. Black, Pa., Secretaries of State.
Howell Cobb, Ga., Philip F. Thomas, and John A. Dix, N. Y., Secretaries
of the Treasury.
John B. Floyd, Va., and Joseph Holt, Ky., Secretaries of War.
Isaac Toucey, Ct., Secretary of the Navy.
Jacob Thompson, Miss., Secretary of the Interior.
Aaron V. Brown, Tenn., Joseph Holt, Ky., and Horatio King, Postmasters
General.
Jeremiah S. Black, Pa., and Edwin M. Stanton, Pa., Attorneys General.
SIXTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1861, TO APRIL 14, 1865,—4 YEARS, 1
MONTH, AND 10 DAYS.
Abraham Lincoln, Ill., President.
Hannibal Hamlin, Me., Vice-President, first term, and Andrew Johnson,
Tenn., Vice-President, second term.
CABINET.
William H. Seward, N. Y., Secretary of State.
Salmon P. Chase, Ohio, William P. Fessenden, Me., Hugh McCulloch, Ind.,
Secretaries of the Treasury.
Simon Cameron, Pa., Edwin M. Stanton, Pa., Secretaries of War.
Gideon Welles, Conn., Secretary of the Navy.
John P. Usher, Ind., Secretary of the Interior.
Montgomery Blair, Md., William Dennison, O., Postmasters General.
Edward Bates, Mo., James Speed, Ky., Attorneys General.
SEVENTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, APRIL 15, 1865, TO MARCH 4, 1869.
Andrew Johnson, acting President.
No Vice-President.
CABINET.
William H. Seward, N. Y., Secretary of State.
Hugh McCulloch, Ind., Secretary of the Treasury.
Edwin M. Stanton, Pa., Ulysses S. Grant, Ill., and J. M. Schofield,
Secretaries of War.
Gideon Welles, Conn., Secretary of the Navy.
James Harlan, Iowa, Orville H. Browning, Ill., Secretaries of the
Interior.
James Speed, Ky., Henry Stanbery, Ohio, William M. Evarts, N. Y.,
Attorneys General.
William Dennison, Ohio, Alexander W. Randall, Wis., Postmasters General.
EIGHTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1869, TO MARCH 4, 1873.
Ulysses S. Grant, Ill., President.
Schuyler Colfax, Ind., Vice-President.
CABINET.
Elihu B. Washburne, Ill., Secretary of State.
Hamilton Fish, N. Y., ” ”
George S. Boutwell, Mass., Secretary of the Treasury.
John A. Rawlins, Secretary of War.
William T. Sherman, ” ”
William W. Belknap, ” ”
Adolph E. Borie, Pa., Secretary of the Navy.
George M. Robeson, N. J., ” ”
Jacob D. Cox, Ohio, Secretary of the Interior.
Columbus Delano, O., ” ”
J. A. J. Creswell, Md., Postmaster General.
Eben Rockwood Hoar, Mass., Attorney General.
Amos T. Akerman, Ga., ” ”
NINETEENTH ADMINISTRATION, MARCH 4, 1873, TO MARCH 4, 1877.
Ulysses S. Grant, Ill., President.
Henry Wilson, Mass., Vice-President.
CABINET.
Hamilton Fish, N. Y., Secretary of State.
W. A. Richardson, Ill., Secretary of the Treasury.
B. H. Bristow, Ky., ” ”
W. W. Belknap, Iowa, Secretary of War.
George M. Robeson, N. J., Secretary of the Navy.
Columbus Delano, Ohio, Secretary of the Interior.
J. A. J. Creswell, Md., Postmaster General.
Marshall Jewell, Conn., ” ”
George H. Williams, Oregon, Attorney General.
Edward Pierrepont, N. Y., ” ”
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 1875.
THE EXECUTIVE.
ULYSSES S. GRANT, of Illinois, _President of the United
States_ Salary $50,000
HENRY WILSON, of Massachusetts, _Vice-President of the
United States_, ” 10,000
THE CABINET.
HAMILTON FISH, of New York, _Secretary of State_ Salary $10,000
B. H. BRISTOW, of Kentucky, _Secretary of the Treasury_ ” 10,000
WILLIAM W. BELKNAP, of Iowa, _Secretary of War_ ” 10,000
GEORGE M. ROBESON, of New Jersey, _Secretary of the Navy_ ” 10,000
COLUMBUS DELANO, of Ohio, _Secretary of the Interior_ ” 10,000
EDWARD PIERREPONT, of New York, _Attorney-General_ ” 10,000
MARSHALL JEWELL, of Connecticut, _Postmaster-General_ ” 10,000
THE JUDICIARY.
_SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES._
MORRISON R. WAITE, _Chief Justice_ Salary $10,500
NATHAN CLIFFORD, of Me., _Associate Justice._
NOAH H. SWAYNE, of Ohio, ”
SAMUEL F. MILLER, of Iowa, ”
DAVID DAVIS, of Illinois, ”
STEPHEN J. FIELD, of Cal., ”
WILLIAM M. STRONG, of Pa., ”
JOSEPH P. BRADLEY, of N.J., ”
WARD HUNT, of New York, ”
Salary of Associates $10,000. Court meets first Monday in December, at
Washington.
MINISTERS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES
COUNTRY. CAPITAL. MINISTERS. SALARY. APP’T’D.
_ENVOYS EXTRAORDINARY AND MINISTERS PLENIPOTENTIARY._
Austria Vienna Hon. Godlove S. Orth, Ind. $12,000 1868
Brazil Rio Janeiro James R. Partridge, Md. 12,000 1871
Chili Santiago Cornelius A. Logan, Kansas 10,000 1873
China Pekin Frederick F. Low, Cal. 12,000 1869
France Paris Elihu B. Washburne, Ill. 17,500 1869
Great Britain London Robert C. Schenck, Ohio 17,500 1870
Italy Rome George P. Marsh, Vt. 12,000 1861
Mexico Mexico John W. Foster, Indiana 12,000 1878
Peru Lima Francis Thomas, Md. 10,000 1872
Germany Berlin J. C. Bancroft Davis, 17,500 1867
Russia St. Petersburgh George H. Boker, Pa. 17,500 1873
Spain Madrid Caleb Cushing, Mass. 12,000 1874
_MINISTERS RESIDENT._
Argentine
Republic Buenos Ayres Julius White, Ill. 7,500 1872
Belgium Brussels J. R. Jones, Ill. 7,500 1869
Bolivia La Paz John T. Croxton, Ky. 7,500 1872
Central Amer.
States San Jose George Williamson, La. 10,000 1873
Denmark Copenhagen M. J. Cramer, Ky. 7,500 1870
Ecuador Quito E. Rumsey Wing, Ky. 7,500 1870
Greece Athens J. Meredith Read, Pa. 7,500 1873
Hawaiian
Islands Honolulu Henry A. Pierce, Mass. 7,500 1869
Japan Yeddo John A. Bingham, Ohio 12,000 1873
Netherlands Hague Charles T. Gorham, Mich. 7,500 1870
Portugal Lisbon Benjamin Moran, Va. 7,500 1870
Sweden and
Norway Stockholm C. C. Andrews, Minn. 7,500 1869
Switzerland Berne Horace Rublee, Wis. 7,500 1869
Turkey Constantinople Hon. Horace Maynard, Tenn. 7,500 1870
Uruguay &
Paraguay Montevideo John L. Stevens, Me. 10,000 1871
U.S. of
Colombia Bogota William L. Scruggs, Ga. 7,500 1873
Venezuela Caracas William A. Pile, Mo. 7,500 1871
_MINISTERS RESIDENT AND CONSULS GENERAL._
Hayti Port-au-Prince E. D. Bassett, Pa. 7,500 1869
Liberia Monrovia J. Milton Turner, Mo. 4,000 1871
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
CHAPTER XLVI.
CONGRESS.
1. All government consists of three steps, series, or departments. It has
a Rule by which its action is governed; and this embraces the general
principles guiding all action, as well as the special rules of conduct
in regard to limited classes of actions—the next step in the series is
the action demanded to put its rules in actual force—to apply them—the
third is, to determine the application of the rule when supposed to
be violated, and the agreement of the special rule with the general
principle. That is to say, government is divided into the Legislative,
or law making power; the Executive, or law enforcing power; and the
Judicial, or law discriminating, or judging, power.
2. In some governments all these are in the same hands, and this produces
a Despotism. In others they are variously divided or mixed. In our
country the separation between them is made as distinct as possible. The
People are regarded as the source or fountain of Power. The Constitution
represents, in its general Principles or Rules, the Will and purposes
of the People; and outside of the principles or regulations of this
instrument no legislation is valid. The Constitution, emanating from
the people, defines the boundary of all the Departments. Congress
is the law-making power, enacting within the prescribed limits. The
Judiciary takes care that these limits are not overstepped by legislative
enactments, or executive action. The executive power, or the President,
is the concentrated force, the vigorous Arm, of the government.
It is Congress, the Legislative Authority, that we have now to consider.
3. The National Congress is a body of men representing, and acting in the
place of, the people. They are elected by the people to enact laws for
the public good—to do all—and no more nor less—than the people would do,
if it were possible for them to assemble in one great body and make the
laws by which they wish to be governed.
It was constituted as wisely, to guard against the errors to which
humanity is liable, as the experience of the past permitted to the
thoughtful and patriotic statesmen who had charge of the organization
of the government, when the successful termination of the War of
Independence left the interests of a new Nation in their hands. England,
from which they had mostly sprung, and which governed them until that
period, was in possession of the freest and most enlightened government
of those times, in the Old World; and they copied from her institutions
and general structure what they judged adapted to our circumstances;
prudently avoiding untried experiments, as far as possible.
4. Congress, like the English Parliament, consists of two Houses,
one, the House of Representatives, (answering to the English House of
Commons) being directly elected, for a short term, by the people, so as
to express their views and interests as clearly as possible; the other,
the Senate, (answering partially to the English House of Lords) appointed
by the State Legislatures for a longer term, and from among statesmen
of acknowledged ability and mature character and experience. This was
expected to supply the necessary check to hasty and ill considered
action, as they were required to mutually agree on all laws enacted.
5. Both are required to assemble, at the same time, in the Capitol
at Washington, on the first Monday in December of each year. This is
the regular session—extra sessions being occasionally called by the
President when unusual circumstances demand it.
The members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years,
the members of the Senate for six. As the first contains by far the
largest number, a Congress is said to exist for two years, and the 20th
Congress would be the one existing during the 40th and 41st years of the
Republic, dating from the first Congress in 1789.
THE SENATE
6. Is composed of two persons, chosen by the legislature of each State,
to represent it as a whole. It makes no difference whether the State be
large or small, whether population counts by the million or the thousand.
The States are sovereign in their sphere, and this constitution of the
Senate keeps that fact in view, operates against undue centralization of
power, and oppression of the smaller States by the larger.
7. A Senator must be thirty years of age, must have been nine years
a citizen, (he may have been born in a foreign State, and a citizen
of it previously,) and must be a citizen of the State—(a voter in it)
at the time of appointment. He is appointed for six years. The Senate
is arranged in three classes so that the terms of one-third of the
whole number shall expire every two years. They may be re-elected as
often as the State legislatures choose. In one case, a Senator was
continued thirty years in the Senate, without intermission. It has equal
legislative power with the House of Representatives, except that it
cannot originate laws for raising money, but it must approve and adopt
all laws made by the House to render them valid. It has some powers that
do not belong to the House. It confirms or rejects the nominations of the
President, to office, and the treaties he makes with foreign powers, and
is the only High Court of Impeachment.
8. When the Senate meets to consider the nominations of the President
to office, it is called an Executive Session, and only a majority of
votes is required to approve or confirm them; but when a treaty is to
be ratified, or judgment given in a case of impeachment, a vote of
two-thirds of the members present is required.
The Vice-President of the United States is the presiding officer of
the Senate; but in case of a vacancy in that office, when he is acting
as President, or if he be absent, it chooses a president from its own
members.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9. Is composed of persons elected by the people in the various States, in
proportion to the number of inhabitants. A Representative is elected for
a term of two years. He must be twenty-five years of age, must have been
a citizen of the United States seven years, and must be a citizen of the
State he represents. This is often called the “Lower House,” or popular
branch of the National Legislature, as the Senate is sometimes called the
“Upper House,” because it is more select, and greater in dignity.
10. The House of Representatives has the sole power of presenting
articles of Impeachment, and it alone can originate laws for raising
revenue. A larger part of the laws are actually originated in it,
because it is more numerous, its members better known to the people
whom they immediately represent, and the people are better acquainted
with them; and more petitions for particular laws are sent to them.
Each representative is voted for by the people of his Congressional
District alone, and not by all the people of each State; and he specially
represents the views and wants of his District.
In each branch of Congress, when a Bill, or plan of a law, has been
passed, it is sent to the other House, where it is referred to a
Committee who examine it, and report on it to the House; by which it is
discussed and adopted, amended, or rejected according to its judgment,
and returned to the House in which it originated. By this method every
law is meant to be subjected to a careful and cool investigation, its
defects discovered and corrected, and its appropriateness clearly made
manifest. Whoever will examine, with care and thoroughness the whole
structure of our government will everywhere discover traces of the same
wisdom and watchful foresight. He will see reason for more admiration
of the prudent statesmanship of those who organized our institutions,
and feel less surprised at the wonderful prosperity of the country, and
at the strength of the government when subjected to the severest trial.
Everything human is more or less imperfect, and we shall never be without
subjects of complaint, and opportunities for improvement; but every
American, well informed concerning his own and foreign governments, will
discover many weighty reasons for self-congratulation and pride that
our first statesmen and people were so wise and prudent in laying the
foundation, and that their successors have built on it with so much skill.
11. The presiding officer in the House of Representatives is called “The
Speaker,” and is chosen by the House, at the beginning of each Congress.
He serves during its two years of existence. The Clerk of the House and
its minor officers are chosen by its members—and each House makes its
own rules, or Parliamentary Laws. The term Congress properly covers both
branches of the National Legislature; but, by custom, the members of
the upper house are called Senators, and those of the lower Members of
Congress, (commonly abbreviated to M. C.)
12. The Compensation of Members of Congress was originally fixed at eight
dollars a day, but has, of late years, been several times changed. In
1856 it was made $3,000 per session, or $6,000 for a Congress of two
years. In 1866 it was increased to $5,000 per session, and, in 1873 to
$7,500 per session, the Speaker of the House, and the President of the
Senate, by this last law, receiving $10,000 per year; but it produced so
much dissatisfaction among the people that the law was changed at the
following session, and they now receive $5,000 per annum.
13. The members of each house receive the same compensation. Mileage is
allowed them in addition to the salary. This has been forty cents per
mile, by the usual routes between the members residence and Washington.
In 1865 it was reduced to twenty cents per mile, which still seems
more adapted to the days of stages and slow traveling than to the
modern improvements in rapidity and cheapness. They formerly enjoyed
the franking privilege, so called, i. e.: they could send letters and
documents through the mails free. This was abolished in 1873, and they
now pay their postage, the same as other people.
14. The first Congress under the Constitution met in New York City, where
two sessions were held, when it was removed to Philadelphia. It remained
there until 1800, when Washington became the capital. The Capitol there,
in which Congress meets, is one of the largest buildings in the world;
and the offices for the different executive Departments are immense
structures. In 1874 there were 37 States and therefore 74 Senators. The
number of Representatives was fixed by a law of March, 1873, at 292, at
which number it will remain until the next census in 1880.
CHAPTER XLVII.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS—CONGRESSMEN.
1. Each State is entitled to a number of Representatives in Congress
proportioned to its inhabitants; but, instead of counting the whole
number together, and leaving all the people in the State to vote for all
the representatives of their State, it is divided into districts, each
containing the prescribed number entitled to representation. The voters,
then, in each district, select or nominate the men they wish to vote
for—and thus they find it easy to send men they know and on whom they can
rely to secure their interests. Besides, it is more convenient for them
to meet and ascertain by consultation who would be most acceptable to
the majority of those interested. Each Member of Congress, therefore, is
chosen by a single district. The districting of States is done by their
State Legislatures.
2. Sometimes a State is admitted into the Union before it has as many
inhabitants as the law requires to one Congressman, in which case the
law is relaxed, and they are permitted at least one Representative.
Contiguous counties or towns are set apart in this way and numbered as
1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c., Congressional District. In large cities as many
wards, lying together, as include the requisite number, are erected into
Districts. In case the number of Congressmen allotted to a State is
larger than the number of districts, those in excess are voted for by the
State at large. They are arranged as soon as possible after every census,
so that this does not often occur. In the Western States the number
continually increases and changes must be made after each census. By this
means the balance of power gradually follows the emigration from East to
West.
CONGRESSMEN.
3. We have already remarked, in the chapter on Congress that, though the
term Congressman properly applies to the members of both Houses, it is by
common usage, confined to members of the lower House, those of the upper
House being distinguished as Senators, so that the abbreviation M. C.
(Member of Congress) is understood to specify a Representative.
4. These are the only members of any branch of the government who are
chosen and elected directly by the people, and we may see herein the
propriety of their having the control of all enactments for raising
money, this being a point of vital interest to the people. The short term
assigned them, (two years,) and their election by Districts, enables
the people to interfere very soon if their purse strings are drawn
too widely open—a very satisfactory reflection to the economical. Any
citizen, whether native or foreign born, may become a Member of Congress,
if he can obtain the consent of the voters in his district; but he must
have been a citizen during the previous seven years. It is an office of
dignity and responsibility, and the welfare of the country depends on the
wisdom of the people in their choice.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY.
1. In the capitol there is a large library, consisting of two parts;
one part called the Congressional library, the other, the law library.
The latter is made a part of the former by an act of Congress. Both
are subject to the same laws and rules, and both are supported by
appropriations made by Congress.
This institution, called as a whole, “The Congressional Library,”
contains the works supposed to be useful to legislators, but is
not confined to their use alone. Its use has been extended to the
judges of the Supreme Court; to all the heads of departments; to the
Attorney General; to all the members of the diplomatic corps, (foreign
ministers); to the secretary of the Senate; to the clerk of the House of
Representatives, to the chaplains of Congress, to all ex-Presidents, and
to the solicitor of the Treasury.
2. It has a librarian, appointed by the President and Senate, who is
allowed to appoint two assistants. No book or map is allowed to be taken
out of the library by any person, except the President, Vice-President,
members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives.
People in general, who are interested to do so, may obtain information
from the books and records when properly authorized, under such
restrictions as the circumstances require.
3. Here are kept all the laws which have ever been enacted by Congress,
together with a record of all its proceedings, the laws of all the
different States, with many of those of foreign countries; also a
large collection of books on promiscuous subjects, useful to Members
of Congress and to those who have to administer the government. No
where else can so complete a history of the acts and proceedings of the
government be found, as in the Congressional library at Washington.
This institution dates back to the year 1800, when an act was passed
making the first appropriation of $5,000 for its establishment. The books
purchased with this $5,000, with those belonging to both Houses, were
placed together, and thus this library was commenced.
CHAPTER XLIX.
COPYRIGHTS.
A Copyright is an exclusive privilege given to any citizen, or resident
in the United States to print, publish, or sell any book, map, chart,
engraving, or musical composition of which he or she is the author or
proprietor. This right is given by the laws of Congress. No State can
give it. The object is to encourage authors, and to compensate them for
their labors, which they could not be sure of obtaining if any one might
publish and sell their productions. A copyright conveys all the rights of
ownership, and may be bought and sold like other property.
DIRECTIONS FOR SECURING COPYRIGHTS UNDER THE REVISED ACT OF CONGRESS,
WHICH TOOK EFFECT JULY 8, 1870.
1. A printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dramatic or
musical composition, engraving, cut, print, photograph, or a description
of the painting, drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or model or design
for a work of the fine arts, for which copyright is desired, must be sent
by mail, prepaid, addressed, “Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.”
This must be done before publication of the book or other article.
2. A fee of 50 cents, for recording the title of each book or other
article, must be inclosed with the title as above, and 50 cents in
addition (or $1 in all) for each certificate of copyright under the seal
of the Librarian of Congress, which will be transmitted by return mail.
3. Within ten days after publication of each book or other article, two
complete copies of the best edition issued must be sent, to perfect the
copyright, with the address
LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D. C.
It is optional with those sending books and other articles to perfect
copyright, to send them by mail or express; but, in either case, the
charges are to be prepaid by the senders. Without the deposit of copies
above required, the copyright is void, and a penalty of $25 is incurred.
No copy is required to be deposited elsewhere.
4. No copyright hereafter issued is valid unless notice is given by
inserting in every copy published, on the title page or the page
following, if it be a book; or, if a map, chart, musical composition,
print, cut, engraving, photograph, painting, drawing, chromo, statue,
statuary, or model or design intended to be perfected as a work of the
fine arts, by inscribing upon some portion of the face or front thereof,
or on the face of the substance on which the same is mounted, the
following words, viz.: _Entered according to act of Congress, in the year
____, by ____, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington._
The law imposes a penalty of $100 upon any person who has not obtained
copyright who shall insert the notice “_Entered according to act of
Congress_,” etc., or words of the same import, in or upon any book or
other article.
5. Any author may reserve the right to translate or dramatize his own
work. In this case notice should be given by printing the words, _Right
of translation reserved_; or, _All rights reserved_, below the notice
of copyright entry, and notifying the Librarian of Congress of such
reservation, to be entered upon the record.
6. Each copyright secures the exclusive right of publishing the book or
article copyrighted for a term of twenty-eight years. At the end of that
time, the author or designer, or his widow or children, may secure a
renewal for the further term of fourteen years, making forty-two years in
all. Applications for renewal must be accompanied by explicit statement
of ownership in the case of the author, or of relationship in the case of
his heirs, and must state definitely the date and place of entry of the
original copyright.
7. The time within which any work copyrighted may be issued from the
press is not limited by any law or regulation, but depends upon the
discretion of the proprietor. A copyright may be secured for a projected
work as well as for a completed one.
8. Any copyright is assignable in law by any instrument of writing,
but such assignment must be recorded in the office of the Librarian of
Congress within sixty days from its date. The fee for this record is
fifteen cents for every 100 words, and ten cents for every 100 words for
a copy of the record of assignment.
9. A copy of the record (or duplicate certificate) of any copyright entry
will be furnished under seal, at the rate of fifty cent each.
10. In the case of books published in more than one volume, if issued
or sold separately, or of periodicals published in numbers, or of
engravings, photographs, or other articles published with variations, a
copyright is to be taken out for each volume of a book, or number of a
periodical, or variety, as to size or inscription, of any other article.
11. To secure a copyright for a painting, statue, or model or design
intended to be perfected as a work of the fine arts, so as to prevent
infringement by copying, engraving, or vending such design, a definite
description must accompany the application for copyright, and a
photograph of the same, at least as large as “cabinet size,” must be
mailed to the Librarian of Congress within ten days from the completion
of the work.
12. Every applicant for a copyright must state distinctly the name and
residence of the claimant, and whether the right is claimed as author,
designer, or proprietor. No affidavit or formal application is required.
Up to 1849 the Secretary of State had the care of issuing copyrights. It
was then assigned to the newly created Department of the Interior, and so
remained until 1870, when it was transferred to the Librarian of Congress.
CHAPTER L.
PRESIDING OFFICERS OF CONGRESS.
1. These are the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
of Representatives. The latter is chosen by ballot of the Members of
the House. As this position gives him considerable influence over the
course of legislation the party having a majority in the House are
careful to select one on whose sympathy with their views and aims they
can rely. When there is nearly or quite a balance of parties, it becomes
an important and difficult matter to adjust; and has, in some instances,
required a long struggle to elect the Speaker. The result, in such a
case, usually determines which shall control the general legislation of
that Congress.
2. The President of the Senate, under ordinary circumstances, is
determined by the Constitution, that instrument devolving the office on
the Vice-President. It is the only active duty assigned him while the
President is in condition to perform the duties belonging to that office.
It seems to befit his relations, being the highest honorary place in the
government below that of President, subjects him to no superior, and,
from the part the Senate takes in the responsibilities of the President,
makes him acquainted with the general conduct of affairs; which may be an
important advantage to him should he be called to act as President. In
the latter case, and in case of the decease, resignation, or disability
of the Vice-President, the Senate proceeds to elect its President in
the same way as in the House of Representatives, i. e.: by ballot, for a
candidate among its own members.
3. Their duties are to open every sitting of their respective Houses by
calling the members to order at the appointed time, on the appearance
of a quorum to cause the journal of the preceding day to be read, to
preserve order and decorum during the deliberations, to decide questions
of order that may arise, (from which an appeal may be taken to the House,
at the instance of any two members,) to formally state, and call for the
votes on, a question to be decided, and to declare the result of the same
after the vote has been taken.
This is the regular routine duty of a presiding officer. They, as
the recognized Heads of their respective Houses, have the general
oversight of its interests, and a general control of the conduct of its
business. They examine the Journal to see that it is correct, may order
the galleries and lobby to be cleared in case of any disturbance by
spectators, and have general control over the unoccupied rooms in the
capitol belonging to their respective Houses. They are required to sign
all acts, addresses, and joint resolutions, and appoint the members of
all committees whose appointment is not specially directed by the House
to be otherwise made. In all cases of ballot the Speaker of the House
must vote; but he is not required to vote in other cases unless there is
a tie, (an equal number for and against,) when he must give the casting
vote. The President of the Senate may vote only in case of a tie.
When the House of Representatives goes into Committee of the Whole, the
Speaker leaves the chair, but appoints a chairman to preside for the time
being; and when the President of the United States is impeached before
the Senate the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides.
4. Their duties are very distinctly defined in the rules adopted by each
House for their guidance, but many opportunities for exerting great
influence often arise, and many cases requiring great tact and judgment
and an intimate knowledge of Parliamentary Law. They receive a much
larger salary than ordinary Members of Congress.
The following are the names of all the Speakers of the House of
Representatives. A list of Vice-Presidents is given in the chapter
devoted to that officer.
Frederick A. Muhlenburgh, Penn., 1789 to 1791
Jonathan Trumbull, Conn., 1791 ” 1793
Frederick A. Muhlenburgh, Penn., 1793 ” 1797
Jonathan Dayton, N. J., 1797 ” 1798
Theodore Sedgwick, Mass., 1798 ” 1801
Nathaniel Macon, N. C., 1801 ” 1807
Joseph B. Varnum, Mass. 1807 ” 1811
Henry Clay, Ky., 1811 ” 1814
Langdon Cheeves, S. C., 1814 ” 1815
Henry Clay, Ky., 1815 ” 1820
John W. Taylor, N. Y., 1820 ” 1821
Philip P. Barbour, Va., 1821 ” 1823
Henry Clay, Ky., 1823 ” 1825
John W. Taylor, N. Y., 1825 ” 1827
Andrew Stevenson, Va., 1827 ” 1835
John Bell, Tenn., 1835 ” 1837
James K. Polk, Tenn., 1837 ” 1839
Robert M. T. Hunter, Va., 1839 ” 1841
John White, Ky., 1841 ” 1843
John W. Jones, Va., 1843 ” 1845
John W. Davis, Ind., 1845 ” 1847
Robert C. Winthrop, Mass., 1847 ” 1849
Howell Cobb, Ga., 1849 ” 1851
Lynn Boyd, Ky., 1851 ” 1856
Nathaniel P. Banks, Mass., 1856 ” 1858
James L. Orr, S. C., 1858 ” 1859
William Pennington, N. J., 1860 ” 1861
Galusha A. Grow, Penn., 1861 ” 1863
Schuyler Colfax, Ind., 1864 ” 1869
James G. Blaine, Me., 1869 ” 1873
” 1873 ” 1875
CHAPTER LI.
SUBORDINATE OFFICERS OF CONGRESS.
1. The Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives,
are the officers next in rank in the two bodies forming Congress.
They are appointed by vote of their respective Houses. They are not
necessarily selected from among the members of the Senate or House, as is
the custom in case of the presiding officers, but may be chosen by the
members at will.
2. Their chief duties are in connection with a record or journal of
the proceedings of their respective Houses. This is an official and
correct account of all the transactions of each body, is examined by
the presiding officer, and read before the members for criticism and
approval. They cause this journal to be printed and a copy be delivered
to each member at the commencement of every session of Congress, as also
to the Executive and to each branch of the Legislature of every State.
So also they arrange, cause to be printed, and distribute to the members
all the current documents of each House that may be useful to them in the
discharge of their duties, as often as the case requires. All contracts
for furnishing anything required by Congress, or for any labor done for
it, are made with, or approved by, the Clerk of the House and Secretary
of the Senate.
3. They act also as treasurers of the special, or contingent funds
of Congress, from which payments are made on their order, after the
accounts, on which the order is based, are approved by the Committee of
Accounts; and give bonds in a large sum for the faithful use of these
funds, making a detailed report of all expenditures.
THE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS
4. Is a kind of police and executive officer, who aids or acts under the
direction of the presiding officer in keeping order, and executes the
commands of Congress. All arrests ordered by Congress are made by him or
his deputies, and all legal processes served by him. He bears a mace as
the symbol of his office when on duty. He keeps the accounts of the pay
and mileage of the members of Congress, prepares checks, and draws and
pays the money to them.
5. The other officers are a Doorkeeper—whose business it is to see that
only the proper persons gain admission to the sessions of Congress,
and watches over, and is responsible for, the furniture contained in
the rooms of the capitol placed in his charge—and a postmaster, whose
business it is to superintend a postoffice kept in the capitol for the
accommodation of members of Congress. Various clerks, deputies, and
messengers are employed under most of these officers, to aid them in the
discharge of their duties.
CHAPTER LII.
CONGRESS AT WORK.
1. Congress is required by the Constitution to assemble on the first
Monday in December of each year. It may, by a law duly made to that
effect, change that time, but no permanent change has ever been made. As
soon after that time as a quorum of its members, which the Constitution
declares shall be a majority of each House, has assembled each House
proceeds to the election of officers (which, however, is done only every
other year,) and the arrangement of its committees, and it is ready for
work.
2. As soon as the organization is ascertained to be complete the other
House of Congress and the President are informed of the fact, after which
propositions, or bills as they are called, of new laws, or repeals or
revisals of old ones are entertained. Of these there is never any lack.
They are taken up in regular order, referred to an appropriate committee
for examination, a report is in due time made by the committee, discussed
at such length as the members see cause for, in a regular manner, and
finally are voted on. Sometimes, if the members are not satisfied with
the information presented on some point or points, they return them to
the committee with instructions to investigate further, and make another
report; sometimes they “lay them on the table,” that is, put them aside
for future action; or they accept, amend, or change them to meet their
views, and then accept or reject them altogether.
3. When a bill has reached a vote and been accepted by the House in
which it originated, it is sent to the other House, by which it is taken
up, referred to a committee, usually passing through substantially the
same course and form of consideration as in the first case, laid aside,
amended, accepted or rejected according to circumstances, and returned
to the former House. If it is accepted by both they then send it to the
President, who carefully considers it. If it meets his approbation, he
signs and returns it to Congress, and it becomes the Law of the Land,
and all to whom it refers are bound to obey it, it being the duty of the
President to see that it is enforced. It is called an “Act of Congress,”
because it is the proper exercise of its law making authority, and
because all such laws are preceded by the clause, “Be it enacted by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
Congress assembled.”
4. If the President does not think it a suitable law, and is unwilling
to assume the responsibility of signing it, he returns it to Congress,
with his reasons for not doing so. If Congress is not satisfied with
these reasons it may take another vote on it, and if the members in its
favor amount to two-thirds of each House, it becomes a law without the
signature of the President. This power of the President to decline to
sign a law of Congress is called his “Veto.” Sometimes it is carried over
the veto, and sometimes it fails for lack of the requisite number in its
favor.
5. The larger part of Congressional laws are passed in this way, which is
the regular Parliamentary form; but sometimes its authority is expressed
by a Resolution instead of a bill. This is a kind of informal way of
passing a law, though it usually takes that form because of the peculiar
character of the subject of the Resolution; as an amendment to the
Constitution would be commenced by a resolution passed by both Houses;
but, as Congress has not the sole power over that question, it requiring
the concurrence of three fourths of the States, it is put in that form.
When some demand is to be made by Congress on the President, or on
various officers of the government, and in a variety of other cases, a
resolution has the force of law, disobedience to which would involve a
penalty. Many resolutions merely express the views of Congress, and are
of force and value only on account of the respectability and dignity of
the body expressing them. Some resolutions require to be passed in both
Houses to acquire legal force, and are then called Concurrent Resolutions.
A bill must pass through the regular forms of printing, reference to a
committee, report, placing in order on the records, and calling up at a
proper time for consideration and decision. This is very proper to avoid
hasty action before all the bearings of the case have been examined;
but would consume too much time if required in every case. A resolution
may be debated and decided at once, and it facilitates the progress of
business, in the class of cases to which it is applicable.
6. The amount of business to be done by Congress is immense. Each
branch of the executive department makes a yearly report to it, which
must be considered and suitable laws passed; many hundreds of laws are
commonly asked to be passed, repealed, or revised, by the President or
the people; and all the interests of a great and growing country looked
after. Those who are at a distance cannot always judge accurately of the
difficulties it meets with in endeavoring to give satisfaction to all,
nor of the different appearance which questions may present when closely
examined and looked at on all sides, and Congress has a great deal of
short-sighted criticism to bear.
Congressmen cannot always tell what is best more than other people, nor
always find themselves able to do what they prefer, or judge to be best,
and the account to which they are held is sometimes unjust; yet, on the
whole they have always respected, and sought to serve, the views and
interests of the people as a whole, and deserve much praise. The country
has become prosperous and free under their legislation, and what the
majority of the people clearly call for is always done for them.
7. The more carefully the people whom they represent watch them at work,
and study the subjects they are required to legislate on, the less reason
will they find for denunciation of them, and the more intelligently
will they be able to lay out their work for them. They are the servants
of the people, notwithstanding they seem to command and order, and are
liable to be dismissed and turned out of place if they do not give
satisfaction. They are men like ourselves, with interests, temptations,
and weaknesses. We should aid them in their work, and assist them to walk
uprightly by our intelligence and careful regard for reason and right.
Our representatives will always, in character and conduct, present a
fair statement of what we are ourselves. If we are just, honest, and
high-minded they will not dare to be otherwise than faithful and true,
and if we are intelligent we shall never put ignorant and vile men in
office. So the Congress of the United States of America will always be a
truly Representative Body.
CHAPTER LIII.
PUBLIC PRINTING.
1. Among the Institutions of the government is that heading this chapter.
The amount of printing required to be done for Congress, the various
branches of the government, and for the benefit of the people, is very
great indeed. All the proceedings of both Houses of Congress as recorded
by the secretaries are required to be printed under authority; since many
copies are required by the members and for general purposes. All the
laws are printed in great numbers for circulation among the many millions
interested; and when a bill is proposed it requires to be printed for the
use of the several hundred members who need it for examination and study,
although it often never becomes a law.
2. The President’s Messages, and all the reports of heads of departments
and bureaus; the reports and commissions of army and navy officers,
of investigating committees, of various superintendents, agents, and
government employees, and many other things are printed, sometimes
only for use of Congress; sometimes for extensive circulation. Thus it
is easily seen that the government printing is a heavy expense, and a
very large part is indispensable; though many believe that a judicious
selection of documents and a careful study as to the number of some of
them printed might largely reduce the expense, without injury to the
public welfare. We do not wish to pay for the printing of documents that
are never read. It is a waste of the people’s money; yet, we must not
forget that it is of the utmost importance that the people should become
intimately acquainted with all the affairs of the government. Perhaps
Congress is sometimes wiser than the people, and that many documents
are wisely printed, and unwisely left unread by those most interested.
Economy and intelligence are to be equally regarded.
3. Until 1860, the government hired men to do this work, and a printer
was employed by each house of Congress. But great complaints were made
of the enormous expense to which the country was subjected in this item
of its expenditures; and at the date named, Congress passed an act
establishing a government printing office, to be under the direction of a
superintendent of public printing. The sum of $150,000 was appropriated
for the purchase of necessary buildings, machinery, and materials for the
purpose. By the provisions of the act it was made the superintendent’s
duty to overlook all the public printing and binding, not only of
Congress, but of all the departments, and of the United States courts; to
purchase all necessary materials and to employ all the workmen required.
And that Congress may know how the establishment is conducted and at
what expense, the superintendent is required to report to Congress at
the commencement of every session, the work done, the number of hands
employed, and the exact state and condition of the establishment. He is
prohibited from paying more for work done in this office than is given
for the same services in private printing offices in Washington.