A Short History of the United States Part 55

453. Election of 1872.--In fact, this condition of the public service made many persons doubtful of the wisdom of reelecting President Grant. There was not the slightest doubt as to Grant's personal honesty.

There were grave doubts as to his judgment in making appointments.

Reconstruction, too, did not seem to be restoring peace and prosperity to the South. For these reasons many voters left the Republican party.

They called themselves Liberal Republicans and nominated Horace Greeley for President. He had been one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery. The Democrats could find no better candidate, so they, too, nominated Greeley. But many Democrats could not bring themselves to vote for him. They left their party for the moment and nominated a third candidate. The result of all this confusion was the reelection of Grant. But the Democrats elected a majority of the House of Representatives.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HEART OF MODERN CHICAGO.]

[Sidenote: Rebellion in Cuba, 1867.]

[Sidenote: Spanish cruelty.]

[Sidenote: The _Virginius_ affair.]

[Sidenote: Spanish promises end rebellion, 1877.]

454. The Cuban Rebellion, 1867-77.--When the other Spanish-American colonies won their independence (p. 223), Cuba remained true to Spain.

But by 1867 the Cubans could no longer bear the hards.h.i.+ps of Spanish rule. They rebelled and for ten years fought for freedom. The Spaniards burned whole villages because they thought the inhabitants favored the rebels. They even threatened to kill all Cuban men found away from their homes. This cruelty aroused the sympathy of the Americans. Expeditions sailed from the United States to help the Cubans, although the government did everything it could to prevent their departure. One of these vessels carrying aid to the Cubans was named the _Virginius_. The Spaniards captured her, carried her to Santiago, and killed forty-six of her crew. There came near being a war with Spain over this affair. But the Spaniards apologized and saluted the American flag. In 1877 President Grant made up his mind that the war had lasted long enough. He adopted a severe tone toward Spain. The Spanish government made terms with the rebels, and the rebellion came to an end.

[Sidenote: The Credit Mobilier.]

[Sidenote: The Whiskey Ring.]

455. Scandals in Political Life.--In 1872 the House of Representatives made a searching inquiry into the charges of bribery in connection with the building of the Pacific railroads. Oakes Ames of Ma.s.sachusetts was the head of a company called the "Credit Mobilier."

This company had been formed to build the Union Pacific Railway. Fearing that Congress would pa.s.s laws that might hurt the enterprise, Ames gave stock in the company to members of Congress. But nothing definite could be proved against any members, and the matter dropped. Soon after the beginning of Grant's second term, many evil things came to light. One of these was the Whiskey Ring, which defrauded the government of large sums of money with the aid of the government officials. Grant wished to have a thorough investigation, and said, "Let no guilty man escape." The worst case of all, perhaps, was that of W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War. But he escaped punishment by resigning.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A MISSISSIPPI RIVER COTTON STEAMER.]

[Sidenote: Failure of reconstruction. _Source-Book_, 349-351.]

456. Anarchy in the South.--Meantime reconstruction was not working well in the South. This was especially true of Louisiana, Arkansas, and South Carolina. In Louisiana, and in Arkansas also, there were two sets of governors and legislatures, and civil war on a small scale was going on. In South Carolina the carpetbaggers and the negroes had gained control. They stole right and left. In other Southern states there were continued outrages on the negroes. President Grant was greatly troubled.

"Let us have peace," was his heartfelt wish. But he felt it necessary to keep Federal soldiers in the South, although he knew that public opinion in the North was turning against their employment. It was under these circ.u.mstances that the election of 1876 was held.

[Sidenote: Election of 1876. _Higginson_, 331-334.]

[Sidenote: The electoral commission.]

[Sidenote: Hayes inaugurated, 1877.]

457. Election of 1876.--The Republican candidate was Rutherford B.

Hayes of Ohio. He was a gallant soldier of the Civil War, and was a man of the highest personal character. His Democratic opponent was Samuel J.

Tilden of New York--a shrewd lawyer who had won distinction as governor of the Empire State. When the electoral returns were brought in, there appeared two sets of returns from each of three Southern states, and the vote of Oregon was doubtful. The Senate was Republican, and the House was Democratic. As the two houses could not agree as to how these returns should be counted, they referred the whole matter to an electoral commission. This commission was made up of five Senators, five Representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court. Eight of them were Republicans and seven were Democrats. They decided by eight seven that Hayes was elected, and he was inaugurated President on March 4, 1877.

[Sidenote: Southern politics _Higginson_, 334-335.]

[Sidenote: Troops withdrawn.]

458. Withdrawal of the Soldiers from the South.--The People of the North were weary of the ceaseless political agitation in the South. The old Southern leaders had regained control of nearly all the Southern states. They could not be turned out except by a new civil war, and the Northern people were not willing to go to war again. The only other thing that could be done was to withdraw the Federal soldiers and let the Southern people work out their own salvation as well as they could.

President Hayes recalled the troops, and all the Southern states at once pa.s.sed into the control of the Democrats.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RUINS AFTER THE PITTSBURGH RIOTS.]

[Sidenote: Panic and hard times.]

[Sidenote: The Pittsburgh riots, 1877.]

459. Strikes and Riots, 1877.--The extravagance and speculation of the Civil War, and the years following its close, ended in a great panic in 1873. After the panic came the "hard times." Production fell off. The demand for labor diminished. Wages were everywhere reduced. Strikes became frequent, and riots followed the strikes. At Pittsburg, in western Pennsylvania, the rioters seized the railroad. They burned hundreds of railroad cars and locomotives. They destroyed the railroad buildings. At last the riot came to an end, but not until millions of dollars' worth of property had been destroyed.

[Sidenote: The Stalwart Republicans.]

[Sidenote: Garfield elected President, 1880.]

460. Election of 1880.--At the beginning of his administration Hayes had declared that he would not be a candidate for reelection. Who should be the Republican standard bearer? Grant's friends proposed to nominate him for a third term. The politicians who advocated a third term for Grant were opposed to the candidacy of James G. Blaine. They were called the Stalwart Republicans. In the convention they voted steadily and solidly for Grant. Finally their opponents, with the cry of "Anything to beat Grant," suddenly turned to an entirely new man, whose name had been little mentioned. This was James A. Garfield of Ohio. He had won distinction in the Civil War and had served with credit in Congress. For Vice-President the Republicans nominated Chester A.

Arthur, a New York banker. The Democrats, on their part, nominated one of the most brilliant and popular soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, General Winfield Scott Hanc.o.c.k. The campaign was very hotly contested.

In the end Garfield won.

[Sidenote: Garfield murdered, 1881.]

[Sidenote: President Arthur.]

[Sidenote: Civil Service Reform. _Source-Book_, 363-365.]

461. Garfield murdered; Civil Service Reform.--President Garfield took the oath of office on March 4, 1881. On July 2 he was shot in the back by a disappointed office-seeker. Week after week he endured terrible agony. At length, on September 19, the martyred President died.

Now at last the evils of the "Spoils System" were brought to the attention of the American people. Vice-President Arthur became President and entered heartily into projects of reform. A beginning was soon made.

But it was found to be a very difficult thing to bring about any lasting reform. The Const.i.tution gives the President the appointment of officers, subject to the confirmation of the Senate. No act of Congress can diminish the const.i.tutional powers of the President except so far as he consents, and one President cannot bind succeeding Presidents. Any scheme of reform also costs money, which must be voted annually by Congress. It follows, therefore, that the consent of every President and of both Houses of every Congress is necessary to make the reform of the civil service permanent. Nevertheless the reform has made steady progress until now by far the greater part of the civil service is organized on the merit system.

[Sidenote: J.G. Blaine]

[Sidenote: The Mugwumps.]

[Sidenote: Grover Cleveland.]

[Sidenote: Cleveland elected President, 1884.]

[Sidenote: Tariff reform.]

462. Election of 1884.--In 1884 the Republicans nominated James G.

Blaine of Maine for President. He was a man of magnetic address and had made many friends, but he also had made many enemies. Especially many Republican voters distrusted him. They felt that he had used his position for private gain, although nothing was proved against him.

These Republicans were called "Mugwumps." They "bolted" the nomination and supported the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland. As mayor of Buffalo, Cleveland had done very well. He had then been elected governor of New York by a very large majority. The campaign of 1884 was conducted on lines of personal abuse that recall the campaigns of 1800 and of 1828. Cleveland carried four large Northern states and the "solid South"

and was elected.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GROVER CLEVELAND.]

463. Cleveland's Administration, 1885-89.--The great contest of Cleveland's first term was a fierce struggle over the tariff. The government's need of money during the Civil War had compelled Congress to raise large sums by means of internal revenue taxes. These taxes in turn had brought about a great increase in the tariff rates on goods imported from foreign countries. The internal revenue taxes had been almost entirely removed, but the war tariff substantially remained in force. In 1887 Cleveland laid the whole question before Congress. For a time it seemed probable that something would be done. But the opposition in Congress was very active and very strong. It fell out, therefore, that nothing important was done. The real significance of Cleveland's first administration lay in the fact that the Southerners were once again admitted to a share in the government of the nation. It marked, therefore, the reunion of the American people.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

CHAPTER 42