│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
├─────────┬──────────┬────────┬────────┬──────────┬──────╫───────┬────────┬─────────┬─────────┬───────┬──────────┬─────────┬──────────┬─────────
STATES. │ Ulysses │ Thomas A.│B. Gratz│ Horace │Charles J.│David ║ Henry │B. Gratz│George W.│Alfred H.│John M.│Thomas E. │Nathaniel│William S.│Willis B.
│S. Grant,│Hendricks,│ Brown, │Greeley,│ Jenkins, │Davis,║Wilson,│ Brown, │ Julian, │Colquitt,│Palmer,│Bramlette,│P. Banks,│Groesbeck,│ Machen,
│ Ill. │ Ind. │ Mo. │ N. Y. │ Ga. │ Ill. ║ Mass. │ Mo. │ Ind. │ Ga. │ Ill. │ Ky. │ Mass. │ O. │ Ky.
─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────╫───────┼────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼──────────┼─────────┼──────────┼─────────
Maine │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Hampshire │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Vermont │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Massachusetts │ 13 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 13 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Connecticut │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New York │ 35 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 35 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Jersey │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 29 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 29 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Maryland │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Virginia │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
West Virginia │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
North Carolina │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Georgia │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ 3[24]│ 2 │ ―― ║ ―― │ 5 │ ―― │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ――
Florida │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Alabama │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Mississippi │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 8[24]│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 8[24]│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 8[24]│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Texas │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Arkansas │ 6[24]│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 6[24]│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ――
Missouri │ ―― │ 6 │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 ║ ―― │ 6 │ 5 │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee │ ―― │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ ―― │ 8 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1
Ohio │ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Michigan │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Illinois │ 21 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 21 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Wisconsin │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Minnesota │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Iowa │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Nebraska │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Kansas │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Nevada │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
California │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Oregon │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
├─────────┼──────────┼────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────╫───────┼────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼──────────┼─────────┼──────────┼─────────
Total (as declared)│ 286 │ 42 │ 18 │ ―― │ 2 │ 1 ║ 286 │ 47 │ 5 │ 5 │ 3 │ 3 │ 1 │ 1 │ 1
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[24] Rejected by Congress.
From the time that Greeley was nominated in May, until probably a month
after the meeting of the Democratic convention in July, everything
pointed to his triumphant election. Leading men of the party were daily
announcing themselves as his supporters, and a tidal wave that would
sweep Greeley into the Presidency seemed certain. But in August the
great business interests of the country, then rocked in the tempest
of inflation created by the war, became appalled at the prospect of
the election of Greeley, whose financial and business policy would
be but an experiment. All knew that the business of the country was
dangerously inflated, and that disaster must come sooner or later,
but they felt that it would be delayed by the re-election of Grant,
and in the brief period of one month the Greeley tide began its ebb,
which doomed him to a most humiliating defeat. Had David Davis been
the candidate there would have been no such apprehension in business
and monetary circles, and I have never doubted that he would have been
elected as the logical successor of Abraham Lincoln.
Although I had opposed the nomination of Greeley, he well understood
that it was solely because I felt that I was thus a better friend to
him than he was to himself, and I devoted my time to tireless effort
to give him success. Outside his editorial duties, in which he was
a master of masters, he was as guileless and unsophisticated as a
child, and even his closest friends trembled when they regarded his
election to the Presidency as more than probable. About the 1st of
August, before the revulsion had become visible, I was sent for by
Waldo Hutchings to meet the friends of Greeley in conference at the
Astor House. Among those present were Mr. Hutchings, Whitelaw Reid,
ex-Congressman Cochran, and several others, and they informed me
that I had been sent for to call upon Greeley and earnestly admonish
him against making any pledges or promises whatever, before the
election, as to his Cabinet appointments. They said that if elected
President his safety would be in having about him an able, faithful and
discreet Cabinet, and they feared that in the kindness of his heart he
would become complicated with those who sought to importune him for
preferment. In order to keep him from visitors he was then hidden away
in a private upstairs room in Brooklyn, where I was directed to call on
my mission.
I never saw a happier face than that of Greeley when I met him, as
he was then entirely confident of success, and in a very kind and
facetious way he reminded me that I had underestimated his strength
with the people. When opportunity came in the conversation I suggested
to him that a man who was elected President by a combination of
opposing political interests would have very grave and complicated
duties to perform, and that he should especially avoid any Cabinet
complications. With the simplicity and confidence of a child his answer
was: “Don’t misunderstand me; you ought to know that I would appoint
no Cabinet officer from your section without your approval.” He was
surprised to find that I was not there to obtain promises, but to warn
him against the peril of saying to others just what he had said to me,
and after reviewing the conditions he agreed that his only safety was
in avoiding all obligations relating to appointments until the duty
confronted him.
He asked me to go to North Carolina and give a week to the campaign
in that State, and to that I agreed, although I was in charge of
the Pennsylvania battle. That was the last time that I saw Horace
Greeley. After the disastrous elections of October, which clearly
foreshadowed his defeat, he made New England and Western tours, and
delivered speeches which well compare with the grandest utterances of
our best statesmanship. But the tide against him was resistless, and
while nursing a dying wife and worn out by his ceaseless offices of
affection, the blow came that clouded one of the noblest, purest, and
ablest of the great men of the land.
On the last day that he put pen to paper he wrote me a brief letter
saying that he was “a man of many sorrows,” but that he “could not
forget the gallant though luckless struggle” I had made in his behalf.
Broken in health, bereaved in his affections, and disappointed in his
greatest ambition, his reason toppled from its throne and he died
an inmate of an asylum. The two chieftains of the political contest
of 1872 were brought together soon after the victor and vanquished
were declared, as President Grant stood at the tomb of Horace Greeley
to pay the last tribute of himself and the nation to the fallen
philanthropist.
THE HAYES-TILDEN CONTEST
1876
The Presidential contest of 1876 brought into the national political
arena the strongest personality developed by the Republican party, with
the single exception of Abraham Lincoln. James G. Blaine was admittedly
the Henry Clay of the Republican party, and both were equally idolized
and equally fated. The Republican party had men of profounder
intellect than Blaine, but no one who so completed the circle of all
the qualities of a popular leader, including masterly ability as a
disputant. Like Clay, he was idolized by his friends and most bitterly
defamed by his foes, and both were twice defeated by their party for
Presidential nominations when the party was successful, and both
nominated only to suffer defeat.
With an intimate knowledge of the public men of the last half century,
I regard Blaine as the most magnetic man I have ever met. His greeting
to friend and stranger was always generous without gush, and at once
brought all who had any communication with him into apparently the
closest relations. He remembered names of the humblest and most distant
of his acquaintances; always knew something of their communities and
their interests. It was not the art of a demagogue, but the natural
impulse of a big-hearted, big-brained enthusiast, and Blaine was an
enthusiast in everything that enlisted his interest. When, in addition
to these charming personal qualities, he possessed every attribute
of a great popular orator, it is not difficult to understand why
Blaine became the favorite of the people. Like all who have reached
any measure of distinction in that line, he had bitter and malignant
foes, and he could well have said of himself, as Clay once did when
overcome by an exhibition of the generosity of his friends, who had
paid a note that greatly embarrassed him: “Never had man such friends
and such enemies as Henry Clay.” The chief difference between Clay and
Blaine was in the fact that the masses did not know Clay from personal
contact, while the masses well knew Blaine, and saw him as he was
in his every-day life as well as in his great achievements in politics
and statesmanship. In another respect Blaine differed widely from Clay.
Blaine was a fatalist, and from 1876, when he was first defeated for
the Republican nomination for President in Cincinnati, until his name
was last presented to the Republican National Convention in 1892, he
was oppressed, profoundly oppressed, with the belief that he never
could be President; while Clay hoped to realize the great dream of his
life, and confidently expected his election to the Presidency until his
final defeat in the Philadelphia convention of 1848.
[Illustration: RUTHERFORD B. HAYES]
I saw Blaine soon after the Cincinnati convention of 1876, and talked
with him for an hour alone at the Continental Hotel, and I well
remember the sad expression of his strong face when he said: “I am the
Henry Clay of the Republican party; I can never be President.” He was
standing by a window looking out upon the street, with his arm over my
shoulder, and he spoke of his hopes and fears with a subdued eloquence
that was painfully impressive. He was again defeated for nomination
in 1880, thus suffering two defeats when the candidates chosen by the
convention were elected. He was nominated in 1884 and defeated, thus
completing the circle of the sad history of Clay and the Whig party.
Clay was defeated in the Harrisburg convention of December, 1839,
by Harrison, who was elected; he was nominated by the Baltimore
convention in 1844, and defeated by Polk; and in 1848 he was again
defeated for the nomination in the Philadelphia convention by Taylor,
who was elected. Thus both Clay and Blaine were twice defeated in
their respective party conventions when their successful competitors
were elected, and both nominated when their parties suffered defeats.
Soon after Blaine’s nomination, in 1884, I sent a brilliant staff
correspondent of my paper, who had intimate personal relations with
Blaine, to stay with him at Augusta for several weeks. One pleasant
afternoon they walked along the banks of the Kennebec River, when
Blaine insensibly diverted the conversation into a soliloquy. He said:
“Clay was defeated in two conventions when he could have been elected
President, and he was nominated for President when his competitor
was elected, and that competitor was one who had not been publicly
discussed as a Presidential candidate before the meeting of the
Baltimore convention of 1844. I was defeated in two conventions when
I could have been elected. I am nominated now with a competitor alike
obscure with the competitor of Clay.” He then brought the soliloquy to
a climax by holding up his hand and repeating what he seemed to regard
as talismanic figures, “1844–1884.” Clay was defeated in 1844, and
Blaine was impressed with the belief that he would suffer defeat in
1884.
The prospect for Republican success was not flattering at the opening
of the campaign of 1876. The Grant administration was severely
criticised and the party greatly weakened by the scandals of the
Whiskey Ring, the impeachment of Secretary Belknap, and by the general
business depression that began in 1873. The Democrats had carried a
large majority in the popular branch of Congress in 1874, and the
Republicans were so seriously alarmed at the prospect of losing the
election of 1876 that Senator Oliver P. Morton, the ablest of the
Republican leaders, made an earnest effort to procure an amendment to
the Constitution providing for the election of Presidents by popular
vote, but the scheme failed. There was also some disturbance in the
Republican party, caused by the evident desire of General Grant to
secure a third term. He had written a letter to General Harry White, of
Pennsylvania, that was very unlike Grant, whose habit was to express
his convictions clearly and tersely, but in this letter he elaborately
discussed the question of a third term, without distinctly declaring
whether he would or would not accept it.
There was but one conclusion that could be drawn from the letter, and
that was that Grant was more than willing to have a third nomination
tendered to him. The State convention of Pennsylvania, over which
General White presided, had declared with emphasis “opposition to the
election to the Presidency of any person for a third term.” General
White expected a letter from President Grant in accord with that
expression, but the nearest that Grant came to a declination was in the
single sentence of the letter, speaking of the third term, he said: “I
do not want it any more than I did the first,” to which he added the
suggestion that the Constitution put no restriction upon the period a
President might serve.
Another pointed admonition to Grant not to press his candidacy was
given by the adoption of a resolution in the House, declaring that the
established precedent of Washington, who retired from the Presidency
after the second term, had become “a part of our Republican system
of government, and that any departure from this time-honored custom
would be unwise, unpatriotic, and fraught with peril to our free
institutions.” This resolution passed by 234 to 18, and was supported
not only by all the Democrats, but of the 88 Republicans voting, 70
voted for it. One of the peculiar features of the contest for the
Republican nomination was presented in the candidacy of Benjamin H.
Bristow, then Secretary of the Treasury, who was not in harmony with
the President, and yet refused to resign. He was the candidate of the
most violent anti-Grant element.
The Republican convention met at Cincinnati on the 14th of June,
and it was one of the most earnest and stubborn contests I have
ever witnessed. Blaine had a clear majority of the delegates in the
convention, and certainly would have been nominated with anything like
fair play. On the Sunday morning immediately before the meeting of
the convention, and when all the delegates and the outside political
hustlers were earnestly at work in Cincinnati, a dispatch came from
Washington that fell like a thunderbolt from an unclouded sky upon
Blaine’s friends. He had fallen at the church door when about to enter
for service, and was unconscious for some time, and the opponents of
Blaine made the most of the misfortune.
The first reports of his illness were greatly exaggerated, and his
friends at the convention were much disconcerted and discouraged, but
when on Monday morning he telegraphed them himself that his illness was
not serious, all were again thoroughly united to force his nomination.
The friends of Blaine had a majority of the convention. There was
not an hour during the sessions of that body that a majority of the
delegates did not desire to nominate him for President, but many
were held by instructions or other complications, as was the entire
Pennsylvania delegation, made up almost wholly of Blaine men, but
instructed for Governor Hartranft. Strange as it may seem, he received
the votes of a majority of all the delegates in the convention, but
not on any one ballot, and never was the wish of a nominating body so
artfully misled from its intent.
The speech of Ingersoll nominating Blaine was the most powerful and
impressive I ever heard before a deliberative body, and had a ballot
been reached on that day no combination could have prevented Blaine’s
success. The struggle was desperate for delay, and the opponents of
Blaine, fearing that the session might be extended into the evening,
and thus reach a ballot without adjournment, had the gas clandestinely
cut off from the building, and an adjournment was enforced by darkness.
The enemies of Blaine were very powerful. President Grant was one of
the most aggressive and vindictive, and ex-Senator Cameron, who was
then Secretary of War, was chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation, and
pitiless and tireless in his opposition to Blaine.
At nearly midnight, before the second day of the convention, Cameron
had decided that he must give up the battle against Blaine and assent
to his nomination, as his delegation had become very refractory, and
all knew that Blaine could be nominated whenever all who desired his
nomination were free to vote for him. His defeat was planned in and
executed from Cameron’s room, who had his trusted lieutenants about
him, including the late Robert W. Mackey, who was the most accomplished
and practical politician of his day in Pennsylvania, and the late
William H. Kemble. It was decided to propose to the Pennsylvania
delegation that as they were instructed for Hartranft, and to vote as
a unit, they should do so only while Hartranft’s vote increased, and
that whenever he dropped in the race the delegation should then vote
as a unit as the majority directed. This was enthusiastically accepted
by the friends of Blaine, as they believed that Hartranft’s strength
would soon be exhausted, and that then they would get a solid vote for
Blaine; but Mackey and Kemble, who understood how to manage politicians
of every grade, including the carpet-baggers and colored political
speculators from the South, arranged with a number of delegations,
chiefly in the Southern States, to have Hartranft’s vote increased
slightly on every ballot.
Instead of starting Hartranft with an exhibition of his full strength,
part of it was held back, and, to the consternation of the Blaine men
from this State, Hartranft’s vote was maintained until the climax came
in the landslide to Governor Hayes, of Ohio, as a compromise candidate.
But for Secretary Cameron and State Treasurer Mackey and ex-State
Treasurer Kemble, Blaine’s nomination would have been absolutely
certain at the Cincinnati convention in 1876.
The convention had as permanent president Edward McPherson, of
Pennsylvania, who was a devoted friend of Blaine, but whose delegation,
under the manipulation of Chairman Cameron, was held from Blaine until
it was too late to be of service to him. Conkling, of New York, who had
the unanimous support of his State, was the favorite candidate of the
administration, but from Blaine’s opponents was heard on every side the
slogan “anybody to beat Blaine.” It was not until the third day that
a ballot was reached, and on the 7th a stampede was made to Governor
Hayes, of Ohio, and he was unanimously declared the nominee of the
party. The following table exhibits the ballots in detail:
═══════════╤══════╤═══════╤══════╤═══════╤══════╤══════╤════════
│First.│Second.│Third.│Fourth.│Fifth.│Sixth.│Seventh.
───────────┼──────┼───────┼──────┼───────┼──────┼──────┼────────
Blaine │ 285 │ 296 │ 293 │ 292 │ 286 │ 308 │ 351
Morton │ 125 │ 120 │ 113 │ 108 │ 95 │ 85 │ ――
Bristow │ 113 │ 114 │ 121 │ 126 │ 114 │ 111 │ 21
Conkling │ 99 │ 93 │ 90 │ 84 │ 82 │ 81 │ ――
Hayes │ 61 │ 64 │ 67 │ 68 │ 104 │ 113 │ 384
Hartranft │ 58 │ 63 │ 68 │ 71 │ 69 │ 50 │ ――
Jewell │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Scattering │ 3 │ 4 │ 3 │ 5 │ 5 │ 5 │ ――
═══════════╧══════╧═══════╧══════╧═══════╧══════╧══════╧════════
William A. Wheeler, of New York, was nominated for Vice-President
without a formal ballot, as soon after the balloting began the several
other candidates were withdrawn, and he was nominated by acclamation.
The following platform was unanimously adopted:
When, in the economy of Providence, this land was to be purged of
human slavery, and when the strength of government of the people, by
the people, and for the people, was to be demonstrated, the Republican
party came into power. Its deeds have passed into history, and we look
back to them with pride. Incited by their memories to high aims for
the good of our country and mankind, and looking to the future with
unfaltering courage, hope, and purpose, we, the representatives of the
party in national convention assembled, make the following declaration
of principles:
1. The United States of America is a nation, not a league. By the
combined workings of the national and State governments, under their
respective Constitutions, the rights of every citizen are secured, at
home and abroad, and the common welfare promoted.
2. The Republican party has preserved these governments to the
hundredth anniversary of the nation’s birth, and they are now
embodiments of the great truths spoken at its cradle, “That all men
are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness; that for the attainment of these ends governments have
been instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent
of the governed.” Until these truths are cheerfully obeyed, or, if
need be, vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is
unfinished.
3. The permanent pacification of the Southern section of the Union,
and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment
of all their rights, is a duty to which the Republican party stands
sacredly pledged. The power to provide for the enforcement of the
principles embodied by the recent constitutional amendments is
vested by those amendments in the Congress of the United States, and
we declare it to be the solemn obligation of the legislative and
executive departments of the Government to put into immediate and
vigorous exercise all their constitutional powers for removing any
just causes of discontent on the part of any class, and for securing
to every American citizen complete liberty and exact equality in the
exercise of all civil, political, and public rights. To this end we
imperatively demand a Congress and a Chief Executive whose courage
and fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are
placed beyond dispute or recall.
4. In the first act of Congress signed by President Grant, the
National Government assumed to remove any doubts of its purpose to
discharge all just obligations to the public creditors, and “solemnly
pledged its faith to make provision, at the earliest practicable
period, for the redemption of the United States notes in coin.”
Commercial prosperity, public morals, and national credit demand that
this promise be fulfilled by a continuous and steady progress to
specie payment.