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LIFE
AND
PUBLIC SEKYICES
OF
Hon. Groyer Gleyeund
THE MODEL CITIZEN, EMINENT JURIST, AND EFFICIENT REFORM GOVERNOR
OF THE EMPIRE STATE, ALSO THE UNANIMOUS NOMINEE
OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR THE
Presidency of^hI United States.
By HON. WM. DORSHEIMER,
MEMBER OP THE U. S. CONGRESS AND LATE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OP
NEW YORK, THE BOSOM FRIEND AND CHOSEN BIOGRAPHER
OF GOVERNOR CLEVELAND.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE
STATESMAN AND SENATOR,
Hon. Thomas a. Hendricks,
DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT.
By W. U. HENSEL, '^^ c) '^.fO
/
EDITOR OP THE LANCASTER, PA., INTELLIGENCER, AND CHAIRMAN OP THB "
DEMOCRATIC STATE COMMITTEE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED.
HUBBARD BROTHERS, Publishers:
Philadelphia; New York; Boston; Cincinnati; Chicago;
St. Louis; Kansas City;
A. L. BANCROFT & CO., San Francisco, Cal.
hl,9i
\-^
^'
Copyright, According to Act of Congress,
By Alfred Hamilton,
1884.
2d. COPY
SUPPLIED FROM
COPYRIGHT FILES
JANUARY, 1911.
PREFACE.
Campaign Biographies are a national neces-
sity. Why? Curiosity concerning candidates
prompts many persons to secure and read them,
but there is a broader and deeper reason for
their production than the demand of mere curi-
osity.
Our Presidents are far from being absolute
monarchs. The humblest citizen has no need to
stand in personal fear of our Chief Magistrate.
He is a citizen among his fellow-citizens, like them
amenable to the laws of the land. And yet the
Presidency is no sinecure. The President is not
a figure head to the good "Ship of State." Nor
is he the commander. He is rather the pilot.
His hand is on the helm. He directs the move-
ments so long as they be presumptively right and
reasonably safe ; but there is a commander in the
embodied nation whose word can dismiss the
pilot, and whose might can control the ship,
whether it be for her safety or her loss. The
people know their power. They make and
6 PREFACE.
unmake Presidents. But they do both these
duties with reason and for cause, and this is
why the thoughtful people will read about the
candidates, for whom their votes are asked.
Here rests, therefore, the national necessity for
Campaign Biographies,
And this Biography of the Democratic candi-
dates for our highest national offices is a most
worthy one? Long before the nominating Con-
vention met, careful inquiry was entered into to
discover the certainties, the probabilities, and the
possibilities of the approaching contest. The cer-
tainties were few; the possibilities were unlimited.
But all promising lines were worked, and, at no
small expense, material was gathered concerning
every probable candidate. In none of these
experimental efforts was there better success than
in the case of those on whom the uncertain
honors fell at last.
Forwarded beyond all compeers by this prelim-
inary work, and vigorously pushed, night and
day, by competent authors, this Biography of the
Democratic nominees is believed to be the first
in the field, and wholly worthy of the nation's
patronage.
The Publishers.
THE WIDEST DirFLSION OF
F'OIvIXICAIv IWXELLIQENCE
TO THE ITRTHERANCE OF
NIERELY PARXIZAN ENDS
THIS VOLUME DEDICATED.
CONTENTS.
PREFATORY i-iS
BIOGRAPHY OF GROVER CLEVELAND
CHAPTER I.
Parentage and Early Life 21
CHAPTER II.
Professional Life 32
CHAPTER HI.
The Mayoralty 40
CHAPTER IV.
Canvass for Governor .• 52
CHAPTER V.
The GovERNORSHir. — Veto of the Five-cent Fare and other r)ills . 64
CHAPTER VI.
The Governorship. — Hi.s appointments to office — Labor Questions
— Car Conductors' Bill . . . , So
9
lO CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
The Governorship. — Corporations 91
CHAPTER VIII.
The Governorship. — Municipalities 97
CHAPTER IX.
The Governorship. — Second Message and general Official Course . 118
CHAPTER X.
The Presidenti.^l Nominations. — Democratic Candidates, Mc-
Donald, Randall, Thuiman, Morrison, Carlisle, Bayard .... 130
CHAPTER XI.
Political Situation. — The Monison Bill — State Convention . . 149
CHAPTER XII.
The Convention and Nomination. — The Unit Rule 157
BIOGRAPHY OF HON. THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
CHAPTER I.
The Office of Vice-President 177
CHAPTER II.
Ancestry and Early Life 182
CHAPTER HI.
The Education of the Lad 192
CHAPTER IV.
At the Bar ...,,,, , , 195
CONTENTS. I I
CHAPTER V.
An Early Political Career ". . 203
CHAPTER VI.
Two Terms in Congress 207
CHAPTER VH.
During the War 216
CPiAPTER VHI.
In the United States Senate 224
CHAPTER IX.
Two Gubernatorial Terms 233
CHAPTER X.
Elected Vice-President 243
CHAPTER XL
Mr. Hendricks at Home 253
CHAPTER XII.
A Popular Public Speaker 264
CHAPTER XIII.
On the Stump 269
CHAPTER XIV.
In Controversy .275
CHAPTER XV.
Renominated for Vice-President 282
CHAPTER XVI.
After the Nomination 289
1 2 COiXTENTS.
CHAPTER XVII.
Notification and Acceptance 296
RECORD OF THE CONVENTION.
Chapter I. Gathering of the Hosts 303
Chapter II. Balloting 321
Chapter III. The riatform 331
PRINCIPLES OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
Chapter I. Principles of Washington 343
Chapter II. Principles of Jefferson 348
Chapter III. Principles of Madison 351
Chapter IV. Principles of Jackson 354
Chapter V. The Principle of State Rights 361
Chapter VI. The Right of Coercion 367
Chapter VII. The Future of Democracy 371
OUR PRESIDENTS.
1. George Washington ^ . 385
2. John Adams 399
3. Thomas Jefferson 405
CONTENTS. 1 3
4. James Madison 415
5. James Monroe 418
6. John Quincy Adams 422
7. Andrew Jackson 426
8. Martin Van Buren 4^^
9. William Heniy Hanison . . . .• 436
10. John Tyler 440
11. James Knox Polk 444
12. Zachaiy Taylor 44S
13. Millard Fillmore 455
14. Franklin Pierce 458
15. James Buchanan 462
16. Abraham Lincoln 467
17. Andrew Johnson 479
18. Ulysses Simpson Grant 482
19 Rutherford Birchard Hayes 494
20. James Abram Garfield 49S
21. Chester Allan Arthur 529
THE CITIZEN'S HAND-BOOK.
1. Bird-Eye View of Presidential Contests 535
2. Tables of Presidential Election 543
3. Presidential Elections of 1884 546
4. Qualifications of Voters 547
5. Presidents 548
6. Vice-Presidents 549
7. Cabinets 549
14 CONTENTS.
8. Commanders of Anny ^ ece
9. Commanders (5f Navy 556
10. Speakers of Congress 557
11. Congressional Representation of States 557
12. vSupreme Court Justices 559
13. Homes of Chief Officers 560
14. Our Representatives Abroad 561
15. Representatives from Abroad 562
16. Pay of Navy Officers 563
17. Pay of Army Officers 564
18. Pensions Paid 564
19. Balance of Trade 565
20. Revenues 566
21. National Debt 567
22. Political Divisions of Congress 568
23. Constitution of the United States 569
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,
His Excellency, Grover Cleveland (steel), Froiitispicce.
State St , Albany, and the Capitol, . . 53
Governor's Mansion at Albany, N. Y., . . 65
Executive Chamber in the Capitol, Albany, N. Y., 107
Samuel J Tilden, 133
Allen G. Thurman, 133
Joseph E. McDonald, 139
William R. Morrison, ..... 139
Samuel J. Randall, 145
Thomas F. Bayard, 145
Benjamin F. Butler, 153
Roswell p. Flower, 153
Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks (steel), . . , 175
Convention in Session, .... 307
John Kelly, the " Tammany " Leader, . , 319
John D. Carlisle, Speaker of Congress, . 325
George M. Hoadley, 325
15
1 6 illustrations.
Capitol at Washington, .... 329
The Presidents — Washington to Harrison, . . 383
Mount Vernon, The Home of Washington, . 397
Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, . . . 401
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, . . .401
House where " The Declaration " was Written, 407
Monticello, the Home of Jefferson, . . 411
The White House, Washington, D. C, . . 449
East Room of the White House, . . . 449
The Presidents — Tyler to Grant, . . . 469
Lincoln's Birthplace, Elizabethtown, Ky., . 477
Lincoln's Residence at Springfield, III., . . 477
Birthplace of Grant, 483
Rutherford B. Hayes, 495
James A. Garfield, ...... 499
Garfield's Home at Mentor, O., ... 503
Chester A. Arthur, . • • • 533
THE LIFE
GROVER CLEVELAND,
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK
AND
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
HON. WILLIAM DORSHEIMER,
EX-LIKUTENANT GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK AND NOW
MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
I UNDERTOOK the composition of the following-
sketch of Grover Cleveland's life under circum-
stances which made it difficult to refuse. I had
known him since he first came to Buffalo, and was
yvell-acquainted with the events of his life in that
city. I also knew the men with whom he was
associated there, and I know most of those who
are now his friends and adherents. These quali-
fications for the task are, however, subject to
serious limitations. It is impossible to speak of
the living with freedom, either by way of praise
or blame. Besides, in some of the events
referred to, I have been an actor, and cannot
deal with them with complete impartiality. My
work had to be done so quickly that it cannot fail
to have serious imperfections, but it is the expres-
sion of my deliberate judgment, and is, I believe,
substantially correct.
William Dorsheimer.
Hyde Park, N. Y., July 31st, 1884.
CHAPTER I
PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE.
Grover Cleveland was born at Caldwell,
Essex County, N. J., on the iSth day of March,
1837. His father, Richard F. Cleveland, was
a Presbyterian minister, the son of William
Cleveland, a watch maker, who lived at Nor-
wich, Conn. His mother was Anna Neal, the
daughter of an Irishman, a bookseller and pub-
lisher in Baltimore, Md., who had married Bar-
bara Real, a German Quakeress, of Germantown,
Pa. In 1 84 1, the Rev. Richard F. Cleveland
moved to Fayetteville, Onondaga County, N. Y.
The family lived there nine years and then
removed to Clinton, Oneida County; and in 1853
to Holland Patent, a small villag-e fifteen miles
north of Utica. At this time Richard Cleveland
was described as a man of liberal culture, with
a fine voice and considerable talents. Three
weeks after he began his ministry at Holland
Patent he died, leaving a widow and nine children,
of whom Grover was the third.
The mother upon whom this sudden responsi-
bility had fallen was a woman of dignified appear-
ance, with a kindly face and unusual strength of
2 2 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
character. She combined the traits of her Irish and
German ancestors. She hved to rear and educate
her large family and died in April, 1882. Mr.
and Mrs. Cleveland are buried in the cemetery at
Holland Patent. Their children have erected a
monument to mark their graves It bears the
followinp- inscriptions:
Rev. R. F. CLEVELAND,
Pastor at
Holland Patent,
Died Oct. i, 1853
Aged 49 years.
ANNA NEAL,
Wife of
R. F. Cleveland,
Died July 10, 1882,
Aged 78 years.
Her children arise up
And call her blessed.
Grover had received such teaching- as the
country schools could furnish. But his father's
narrow means compelled him to earn his living as
soon as possible, and when he was fourteen years
of age he became a clerk in a country store at
Fayetteville. His salary the first year was fifty
dollars, and he was to have one hundred dollars
the second year. The removal of the family to
Clinton gave Grover an opportunity to attend the
academy there, and he left Fayetteville before the
end of the second year. At Clinton he pursued
the usual preparatory studies, intending to enter
PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE. 2 7,
Hamilton Collesfe. But his father's death shut
him out of college and compelled him to begin the
struggle of Hfe. He was then seventeen years
old.
His elder brother William had found employ-
ment as a teacher in the New York Institution for
the Blind, which is situated on Ninth Avenue
between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets.
In October, 1853, William was appointed princi-
pal in the male department, and about the same
time Grover was appointed his assistant. The
pupils were taught orally, there being at that time
few text-books which could be read by the sense
of touch. Grover remained at the institution a
little more than a year. He passed the winter
of 1854-5 at his mother's house in Holland Patent.
This was the last of his home life. A neighbor,
the late Ingham Townsend, who had become
interested in the youth, proposed to him that he
should enter college with a view of making the
ministry his profession, but the young man's mind
was already fixed upon the law, and declining his
friend's offer, he asked him for a loan of twenty-
five dollars, to carry him to Cleveland, Ohio, where
he hoped for employment in a lawyer's office.
On his way west he stopped in Buffalo to visit his
uncle, Lewis F. Allen. Mr. Allen, who is still
living at an advanced age, was one of the most
influential cidzens of Buffalo. He was the owner
of a large farm on Grand Island, in the Niagara
24 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
river, where he had a herd of short-horn catde,
and Hved at Black Rock, formerly a separate
town, but which had been lately annexed to
Buffalo. Mr. Allen's house is pleasantly situated
on the bank of the river, and in the midst of con-
siderable grounds. It is an ample old-fashioned
brick building, and was built by General Peter B.
Porter, who lived there for many years. A broad
hall runs from the front door, to the western
piazza, which commands a wide view of the
Niagara and the Canadian shore. A mile or two
to the north-west are the ruins of Fort Erie,
the scene of desperate fighting during the War of
1812, in which General Porter had been greatly
distinguished. At this point the river is an inter-
esting sight. It sweeps by with a current of
between six and seven miles an hour and its broad
green surface is flecked with foam and broken by
countless eddies. It is not difficult for one who
looks upon the tumultuous river and listens to its
deep voice to imagine that it feels some premoni-
tion of the agony which awaits it below. Grover
was no stranger to his uncle's hospitable roof.
He had made frequent visits there during his
boyhood. He told Mr. Allen of his intention to
go to Cleveland and study law. But his uncle
strongly advised him to remain in Buffalo. The
young man had no acquaintances in Cleveland,
while Mr. Allen knew all the principal people in
Buffalo and held close and friendly relations with
PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE. 25
•
them. Mr. Allen had, not long before, begun the
compilation of the "Short-horn Herd Book," and
he proposed that Grover should assist him, offering
him compensation and a comfortable home. In
the autumn, on Mr. Allen's application, Grover
entered the law office of Henry W. Rogers and
Denis Bowen, who, under the firm name of Rog-ers
& Bowen, did a larg-e business at the bar of
Erie County. Thus began Grover Cleveland's
life in Buffalo.
It may be well enough to consider his surround-
ings. Buffalo was then a city with about one
hundred thousand inhabitants. It was a com-
mercial and manufacturing community, and held
in its control the lake commerce, then erowinsr
into great dimensions. There were many notable
men amongr its citizens. Mr. Fillmore had two
years before left the Presidency and returned to
live there. His neighbor, Nathan K. Hall, who
had served in his cabinet as Postmaster-General,
v/as United States Judge of the Northern District
of New York. vSolomon G. Haven, a lawyer of
remarkable talent, then a member of Congress,
was the leader of the bar. Retired from his pro-
fession and from politics was Albert H. Tracy,
who may be described as the most interesting
and distinguished figure in Buffalo at that time.
He had been chosen to Congress before he was
old enough to take his seat, and had served in
the House of Representatives during the admin-
26 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
istrations of Monroe and John Ouincy Adams ;
he had been for eight years in die State Senate ;
and in the Court of Errors he had won a judicial
reputation, hardly inferior to any in the history of
the State. He had acted both with the Whig and
the Democratic parties. But it was his misfortune
to be out of relation, in both instances, with the
leader of his parties. He despised Jackson, and
disliked Clay. He had assisted Seward, Weed,
and Fillmore to create the Whig party, and left it
in 1840, in the hour of its triumph. Mr. Webster
tried to persuade him into Tyler's cabinet with
the offer of the Treasury Department, but he
declined, preferring, doubtless, to retain his Dem-
ocratic associations which the acceptance of Mr,
Webster's offer would have broken. Mr. Tracy
never held office afterwards. He devoted so
much of his time as was necessary to the care of
his estate, but gave himself chiefly to reading and
the society of those who interested him. Mr.
Tracy exercised a great influence over all young
men who came within his reach, and it is impos-
sible to speak of Buffalo at that time without
recalling his gracious presence, his kindly counsels
and his delightful and instructive conversation.
Mr. Allen was one of Mr. Tracy's intimate
friends and the nephew was soon taken to the
Tracy house.
The gentlemen who made the firm of Rogers
& Bowen were both notable men. Henry W.
PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE. 2"]
Rogers was a lartje man with a somewhat loud
but hearty manner. He had at command a great
store of anecdote, and without being- witty he
easily said smart things, and still more easily
bitter ones. Mr. Rogers was the advocate of the
firm, and was a strong jury lawyer.
Denis Bowen was a very different person. He
was quiet and unobtrusive, never went into court,
nor ever sought publicity. He was a master of
detail, an excellent business lawyer, with a calm
dispassionate judgment to which his clients
trusted implicitly. Beneath a somewhat cold
manner was hidden a most gentle disposition, and
Denis Bowen was not only greatly respected, but
greatly loved by those among whom he lived.
At that time upon the bench of the Superior
Court were Isaac A. Verplanck, Joseph G. Masten
and George W. Clinton. The latter of these is,
happily, still living, and I will, therefore, not speak
of him. Judge Verplanck had a vigorous and
thoroughly unpartial mind, and a huge unwieldy
body. No one could ever find how much he
weighed. He once made a journey to the plains
in the stage-coach days, with Mr, Fargo and a
party of gentlemen. It was arranged that the
coach should be driven on to the scales at the next
station and weighed, passengers and all, and then
Verplanck' s weight was to be got by deducting
the weight of the coach and the other passengers.
But no sooner did the driver pull up than the
25 IJFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Judge, who was as quick of mind as slow of body,
saw what his friends were at, and jumped from
the coach before its weight could be taken. Judge
Verplanck was a good lawyer and an excellent
jucige. As a ftisi prius judge he could not be
excelled. His dislike of work made him impa-
tient of delay, and eager to get through. Busi-
ness before him was done rapidly. But it was in
criminal cases that his generous heart showed
itself. There was little danger that injustice
would be done in his court to any criminal, how-
ever wretched, friendless, or guilty. Once he
sent for a young lawyer and asked him to defend a
man charged with murder. The youthful advocate
pleaded his inexperience and dread of the respon-
sibility. " Have no fear," said the Judge ; " I
will see to it that your client does not suffer."
In private Judge Verplanck was the pleasantest
of companions. He was fond of food, of wine
and good company. There was no bitterness in
his temper, but always a genial sunshine which
made him welcome everywhere.
Joseph G. Mastin was by far the most learned
lawyer in Buffalo. Those who knew him and
others well enough to judge, thought there was
no better lawyer anywhere. Like Verplanck, he
had a great social charm, and was a prominent
figure in a society full of able and interesting
men.
After the death of Mr. Haven, which took place
PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE. 29
in 1 86 1, John Garison came to be the leader of
the Buffalo bar. He had a clear and vigorous
intellect and untiring industry. He had been
carefully educated and thoroughly trained for his
profession. No one could equal him in the care
with which his causes were prepared, nor in the
clearness with which, brushing aside all extrane-
ous matter, he presented the essential points of
his argument. He had no eloquence, but his
lucidity and conciseness, and his instinct for the
strong points of a case, made him a very success-
ful advocate. He served with distinction in Con-
gress and in the State Senate, and his sudden
death, in 1874, brought to a close a career which
was full of promise.
The principal person in Buffalo society at that
time was Dr. Walter Cary, a gentleman widely
known in this country and in Europe. The doc-
tor had retired from his profession by reason of
delicate health. A large estate and a ready dis-
position to new enterprises, gave him abundant
occupation. Travel and society were his chief
pleasures, and the influence of his example did
much to give to Buffalo its reputation for hospi-
tality.
Albert Haller Tracy was the oldest son of
Albert H. Tracy, mentioned above. He and
Grover Cleveland were about the same age.
After his father's death, by which event he came
into a large fortune, Tracy retired from the pro-
30 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
fession In which he might easily have won distinc-
tion. He had a mind remarkable for judgment
and moderation. His knowledge of men and
affairs was extensive, his reading considerable,
and his memory most retentive.
I have mentioned the most prominent men in
the city in which Grover Cleveland had made his
home, where his character was to be formed, his
career begfun, and where he was to find an
entrance, if he ever did, into the path which
should lead him to fame and greatness. I have,
however, spoken only of the dead. There are
many living persons who should be mentioned, if
it were intended to make a complete description
of the associations in which Cleveland found him-
self; but I am not permitted to speak of the living
with the freedom which would be necessary.
It will thus be seen that before he was twenty
years old, Cleveland had begun the study of his
profession under most favorable circumstances.
He was in the family of an uncle who lived com-
fortably and well. He was thrown into associa-
tion with men of talent and distinction. He was
in the employ of a firm of able and successful
lawyers, who were entrusted with very important
affairs.
Thenceforth there was no element of hardship
in Cleveland's life. He probably never knew
what want was. He had all that it was possible
to have. He had opportunity as full and com-
PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE. 3 1
plete as if he had been born to wealth. Indeed,
he had, in the necessity for exertion, a stimulant
and a trainincr which wealth could not have criven
him. The transplanted tree had found a con-
genial soil.
Grover Cleveland remained with Rogers &
Bowen, as student and clerk, until 1863. At the
outbreak of the war, the question had come to
him as to the duty he owed his country. While
teaching in New York, and while studying in
Buffalo, he had always sent whatever money he
could spare to his mother. He was then earning
enough to make his contributions of importance
to the family. It was therefore decided that the
two younger brothers should go to the army, and
that the bread winner should stay and work for
the support of his mother and sisters.
CHAPTER II.
PROFESSIONAL LIFE.
Grover Cleveland had been admitted to the
bar in 1859, and in January, 1863, he was
appointed Assistant District Attorney for the
County of Erie. This position brought young
Cleveland into court, and accustomed him to the
trial of causes. At that time the District Attorney
had but one assistant, and upon him fell a large
share of the work of the office. His industry
and evenness of temper fitted him, peculiarly,
for his duties, and he soon held a more important
relation to the public business than it had been
usual for an Assistant District Attorney to have.
This was, perhaps, due, in part, to the fact that
Mr. Torrance, the District Attorney, did not live
in the city, but in a village twenty-five miles dis-
tant. He therefore naturally left much to the
capable and industrious assistant, who was con-
stantly at hand. The three years in the District
Attorney's office were of great value to Cleve-
land. They gave him confidence in himself,
accustomed him to the trial of causes and to
addressing juries ; enabled him to make a wide
acquaintance among the people in the country
32
PROFESSIONAL LIFE. ^^
towns, as well as in the city, and attracted to him
the attention of clients and the bar.
The Assistant District Attorneyship also
brought him into politics. From the time of his
acceptance of that office, he was known as a
Democratic politician. Mr, Dean Richmond, a
man of singular ability and force of character,
was then the principal Democrat in Western New
York, and Qroverned local affairs with a firm hand.
At the expiration of Mr. Torrance's term, Cleve-
land received the Democratic nomination for
District Attorney. His nomination to so import-
ant an office, when he was only twenty-nine years
old, is the strongest evidence that can be given
of the standing he had obtained in the community
and in his profession. His opponent was Lyman
K. Bass, a young Republican lawyer, afterwards
a member of Congress, and who has been pre-
vented by ill-health from completely fulfilling the
promise of his youth. After a heated canvass,
Cleveland was beaten, a result not to be wondered
at, for the county then usually went Republican.
The writer of this sketch well remembers meetino-
Cleveland the day after the election, and recalls
the perfect coolness and good-humor with which
he took his defeat.
He at once set about the general practice of
his profession, and soon formed a law-partnership
with the late Isaac V. Vanderpool. In 1867, the
writer having been appointed by President John-
3
34 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
son, United States Attorney for the Northern
District of New York, offered Cleveland an
appointment as Assistant District Attorney. This
offer he declined, for the reason that the duties of
the office would require frequent absence from
the city, and he preferred to attend to his rapidly-
growing clientage. He soon after became asso-
ciated with the late A. P. Lanning and Oscar
Fulsom, a young companion of Cleveland, who
had taken the Assistant Attorneyship which the
former had declined. The name of the new firm
was Lanning, Cleveland & Fulsom.
The writer remembers that one clay, early in
the autumn of 1870, Cleveland came into his
office, and said he wanted his opinion upon a
matter personal to himself. He said that his
political friends had offered him the nomination
for sheriff of the county. "Now," said he, "I
know that it is not usual for lawyers to be sheriffs.
I do not remember of any lawyer being a sheriff
But, there are some reasons why I should consider
the matter carefully. I have been compelled to
earn my living since I was seventeen. I have
never had time for reading, nor for thorough pro-
fessional study. The sheriff's office would take
me out of practice, but it would keep me about
the courts, and in professional relations. It would
crive me considerable leisure, which I could devote
to self-improvement. Besides, it would enable
me to save a modest competency, and give me
PROFESSIONAL LIFE, 35
the pecuniary independence which otherwise I
may never have. I have come for your advice.
What would you do in my place?" I told him
that if I were in his place I would accept the
nomination. He received the same advice from
other friends. He took the nomination and was
elected. Naturally, some of the duties of the
sheriff's office were grievously distasteful to him,
but he performed them with that strong sense of
duty which has always characterized him.
He used the opportunities of the position as he
had said he would. He made a considerable
saving, and he gave his leisure time to profes-
sional and other studies. As soon as he returned
to the bar the effect was noticeable. He was a
stronger and a broader man than he had been
before, and he at once took a higher place than
he had ever held.
At the close of his term as sheriff, he formed a
partnership with his old antagonist, Lyman K.
Bass, and Wilson S. Bissell. Falling health com-
pelled Mr. Bass to remove to Colorado, and after-
wards Mr, George J. Sicard entered the firm,
which was known as Cleveland, Bissell & Sicard.
From this time, 1874, until his elecdon as Mayor,
Cleveland practiced his profession with constantly
increasing success. He came to have great skill
in trying causes, and his arguments to the court in
banc were nodceable for lucidity and thorough-
ness. Many important matters were entrusted to
36 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
him, and before he again took office he was
beginning to receive large fees. There can be
no doubt that, had he remained at the bar, he
would have won as great a success as the theatre
in which he acted would permit.
But during these years of professional labor,
Cleveland was not indifferent to politics. Indeed,
he was all the time a counsellor of his party.
After the death of Dean Richmond, in 1866,
Joseph Warren, the editor of the Coiirie7% became
the head of the Democratic organization in Buf-
falo. He was a native of Vermont, who had,
when a very young man, gone to Albany, and
from there to Buffalo. He found employment in
the editorial office of the Coui'icr, while the late
William A. Seaver was its proprietor and editor.
Upon the retirement of Mr. Seaver, he succeeded
to the control of the paper, and was one of its prin-
cipal owners. Mr. Warren directed party affairs
with great judgment and self-control. . He never
aspired to office himself, was very appreciative of
the talents of others, and always ready to aid in
advancing the fortunes of his friends. He was,
besides, a promoter of all the generous enter-
prises which promised to add to the prosperity of
the city. All the public institutions were aided by
his wise counsel and unselfish labors. Mr. War-
ren was a warm friend of Cleveland's, and was
one of the first to recognise his talents and predict
his success. He died in 1S76, and thenceforward
PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 37
Cleveland was drawn into more responsible politi-
cal relations. He was not willing to take the local
leadership, which he might easily have had, for he
could not give to it the necessary time and atten-
tion. But he served on party com.mittees, and
there was little done in party matters in Buffalo
as to which his advice was not taken. When he
went to Albany, many thought him ignorant of
political methods. But they were greatly mis-
taken. Few men know practical politics better
than he does.
During all these years he had been a Democrat
of Democrats. Through good report and evil
report, he had stood with his party. Neither
slavery nor the war had, for an instant, diminished
his allegiance or his zeal.
During the early period of Cleveland's Buffalo
life the city had begun a new career. Its wealth
had greatly increased, and a number of young
men with more education than their elders had
become active in affairs. A desire for a higher
civilization beran to show itself. The Youne
Men's Association, which maintained a small
library and a course of public lectures in the
winter, had long been the principal, and it may be
said the only literary society. But it had lan-
guished upon a meagre income. During this time
a movement was set afoot to secure an endow-
ment for it. Through the exertion of several
gentlemen, among whom the late S. V. R. Wat-
3o LIFE OF CxROVER CLEVELAND.
son was most prominent, a fund of between
eighty and ninety thousand dollars was raised by
subscription and the sale of life-memberships. A
valuable property was purchased and the associa-
tion provided with an abundant income. During
this period the Buffalo Historical Society, of which
Mr. Fillmore was the first president, was formed,
and also the Buffalo Academy of Fine Arts. Both
of these institutions excited the interest of the
more liberal citizens. It doubtless seemed to
many, an ambitious undertaking to establish an
Academy of Fine Arts in a place so given over to
business as Buffalo. Once, in those early days,
Ralph Waldo Emerson went through the gallery,
which was then largely made up of pictures on
sale contributed by the artists of New York and
Boston, but which also contained a number of
works, the property of the academy, that were
worthy of attention. Said the philosopher : "This
has begun well and will come to something in the
course of the agfes." Indeed those who began the
work knew as well as any one. how little could be
done during their life-time, but they thought a
beginning should be made. To this period, also,
belongs the Society of Natural History, which
owes its success chiefly to the scientific zeal of
George W. Clinton.
Any traveler who, to-day, shall visit the Institu-
tions I have mentioned, and thoroughly examine
their collections, will be surprised to find how
PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 39
much has been accomplished in twenty-five years.
He will see that Buffalo has become the centre of
literary, artistic and scientific activities, and that
forces have been set at work which are sure to
strengthen with time, and to greatly influence
the character of the place and the lives of its
people.
Grover Cleveland was hardly old enough to
take part in the beginning of these things. But
he has done his share of work in building them
up to their present prosperous state.
In 1872, Cleveland lost his younger brothers,
who had represented the family in the army during
the Civil War. They were drowned at sea in the
burning of the Steamship Missouri near the Island
of Abaco, October 2 2d, of that year. It is said
that they exhibited unusual coolness and courage ;
that they stood by the boats when they were
lowered and helped the passengers into them,
doinor the work the frightened officers should have
done. But when the boats were lowered there
was no room for them and they went down with
the ship
CHAPTER III.
THE MAYORALTY.
Four years ago Grover Cleveland was, as has
been seen, living quietly in Buffalo and practicing
law. Neither he nor any one foresaw the career
which was before him, and upon which he was
soon to enter. This may be said without dis-
paragement, for if any intelligent resident of
Buffalo had been asked to name a citizen who was
by nature fit to be Governor and President, he
would have been more likely to mention Cleveland
than any other man in the place.
The defeat of 1880 had not seriously impaired
Democratic strength in Buffalo, and when the
election of 1881 drew near, there was a strong
feeling that a proper person could be elected to
the Mayoralty if the Democrats should nominate
him. City affairs were in an unsatisfactory state,
and there was a general feeling in favor of munici-
pal reform. The party leaders urged Cleveland
to take the nomination. At first he refused, but
it was pressed upon him with such urgency, and
with so strong an appeal to his sense of duty, that
he at last consented. His candidacy led to a
spirited canvass, and to his election by a majority
40
THE MAYORALTY. 4 1
of 3500, the largest ever known in the history of
the city.
He took office as Mayor on the ist day of Jan-
uary, 1882. He at once called to his side, as his
secretary, Mr. Harmon S. Cutting, a devoted friend,
and a lawyer of excellent standing and great expe-
rience, who was unrivalled for his knowledge of
municipal law. Mr. Cleveland entered upon his
office with a strong feeling that the affairs of
the municipality should, so far as possible, be
kept apart from party politics. He could not
see why the paving, lighting and cleaning of
streets, should depend upon the exigencies of
parties which had been formed upon lines of state
or national policy. His first resolve was to do
what he thought the interests of the city required,
without reference to the effect his action would
have upon either the Democratic or the Republi-
can party. In his speech accepting the nomination
for Mayor, he said: "There is, or there should
be, no reason why the affairs of our city should
not be manaofed with the same care and the same
economy as private interests ; and when we con-
sider that public officials are the trustees of the
people and hold their places and exercise their
powers for the benefit of the people, there should
be no higher inducement to a faithful and honest
discharge of public duty." In his inaugural mes-
sage, he used the following language :
"We hold the money of the people in our
42 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
hands, to be used for dieir purposes and to fur-
ther their interests as members of the munici-
pahty, and it is quite apparent that, when any part
of the funds which the taxpayers have thus
intrusted to us are diverted to other purposes, or
when, by design or neglect, we allow a greater
sum to be applied to any municipal purpose than
is necessary, we have, to that extent, violated our
duty. There surely is no difference in his duties
and obligations, whether a person is intrusted
with the money of one man or many."
These two declarations laid down the rule by
which he meant to be guided. A trust had been
placed in his hands, and as a trust he intended to
administer his office. The public moneys were to
be dealt with as private moneys are dealt with, by
a competent and honest trustee. This rule he at
once rigidlyapplied to municipal affairs. Heapplied
it, in a striking manner, to a resolution which was
passed by the city council appropriating five hun-
dred dollars to defray the expenses attending a
proper observance of Decoration Day. It was
proposed, that this sum of money should be paid
out of what was known as the Fourth of July fund,
and therefore the resolution was obnoxious to a
provision in the charter of the city, which made
it a misdemeanor to appropriate money raised for
one purpose to any other object. Upon this
ground he refused to approve the resolution.
But he also placed his refusal upon broader
THE MAYORALTY. 43
erounds. In his veto messaije, amono- other
things, he said :
"I deem the object of this appropriation a most
worthy one. The efforts of our veteran soldiers
to keep ahve the memory of their fallen comrades
certainly deserves the aid and encouragement of
their fellow-citizens. We should all, I think, feel
it a duty and a privilege to contribute to the funds
necessary to carry out such a purpose. And I
should be much disappointed if an appeal to our
citizens for voluntary subscriptions for this patri-
otic object should be in vain.
" But the money so contributed should be a free
gift of the citizens and taxpayers, and should not
be extorted from them by taxation. This is so,
because the purpose for which this money is asked
does not involve their protection or interest as
members of the community, and it may or may
not be approved by them.
" The people are forced to pay taxes into the
city treasury only upon the theory that such
money shall be expended for public purposes, or
purposes in which they all have a direct and practi-
cal interest.
" The logic of this position leads directly to the
conclusion that, if the people are forced to pay
their money into the public fund and it is spent by
their servants and agents for purposes in which the
people as taxpayers have no interest, the exaction
of such taxes from them is oppressive and unjust.
44 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
"I cannot rid myself of the idea that this city
government, in its relation to the taxpayers, is a
business establishment, and that it is put in our
hands to be conducted on business principles.
'* This theory does not admit of our donating
the public funds in the manner contemplated by
the action of your honorable body,
"I deem it my duty, therefore, to return both
of the resolutions herein referred to without my
approval."
^This act attracted the attention of the whole
community. The leading newspapers, without dis-
tinction of party, gave it their approval. But in
order that the object for which the money had
been voted should be accomplished, a subscription
was at once set afoot, which the Mayor headed by
a liberal contribution. He soon had an opportu-
nity to apply his principles to a more important
matter. The City Council had awarded the con-
tract for cleaning the streets for five years for the
sum of four hundred and twenty-two thousand,
five hundred dollars. Another party had offered
to do the work for one hundred thousand dollars
less, and the person to whom the contract had
been given had himself, a few weeks before, pro-
posed to perform the same service for fifty thou-
sand less. This scandalous transaction was dealt
with by the Mayor with a commendable directness
and frankness ; he returned the resolution with a
message, which contained the following language :
THE MAYORALTY. 45
"This is a time for plain speech, and my objec-
tion to the action of your honorable body now
under consideration shall be plainly stated. I
withhold my assent from the same, because I regard
it as the culmination of a most barefaced, impudent
and shameless scheme to betray the interests of
the people, and to worse than squander the public
money.
" I will not be misunderstood in this matter.
There are those whose votes were ofiven for this
resolution whom I cannot and will not suspect of
a willful neglect of the interests they are sworn to
protect ; but it has been fully demonstrated that
there are influences, both in and about your hon-
orable body, which it behooves every honest man
to watch and avoid with the greatest care.
''When cool judgment rules the hour, the people
will, I hope and believe, have no reason to com-
plain of the action of your honorable body. But
clumsy appeals to prejudice or passion, insinua-
tions, with a kind of low, cheap cunning, as to the
motives and purposes of others, and the mock
heroism of brazen effrontery which openly declares
that a wholesome public sentiment is to be set at
naught, sometimes deceives and leads honest men
to aid in the consummation of schemes, which, if
exposed, they would look upon with abhorrence.
"If the scandal in connection with this street
cleaning contract, which has so aroused our citi-
zens, shall cause them to select and watch with
46 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
more care those to whom they intrust their inter-
ests, and if it serves to make all of us who are
charged with official duties more careful in their
performance, it will not be an unmitigated evil.
" We are fast gaining positions in the grades of
public stewardship. There is no middle ground.
Those who are not for the people, either in or out
of your honorable body, are against them, and
should be treated accordingly."
This bold and honorable act attracted wide at-
tention, and laid the foundation of a reputation
which soon extended throughout the State.
Mr. Cleveland continued to apply to the affairs
of Buffalo the same inflexible rule of administering
his office as though it were a trust. There can
be no doubt that the result was a success greater
than has ever been accomplished upon so narrow
a political field as a single municipality. At home,
the favor which he obtained was quite universal.
All party differences disappeared before a public
officer who performed his duties with so complete
a reference to the general welfare.
During the short term of his mayoralty there
were several occasions which compelled him to
speak upon important topics. But whatever sub-
ject he dealt with was presented in the light of
the principle he had from the first declared should
guide his conduct. In speaking at the semi-cen-
tennial celebration of the foundation of the city,
July 3d, 1882, he said:
THE MAYORALTY. 47
"We boast of our citizenship to-night. Bid
this citizenship brings with it duties not unlike those
we ozve our neighbor and our God. There is no
better time than this for self-examination. He
who deems himself too pure and holy to take part
in the affairs of his city, will meet the fact that
better men than he have thought it their duty to
do so. He who cannot spare a moment in his
greed and selfishness to devote to public con-
cerns, will, perhaps, find a well- grounded fear
that he may become the prey of public plun-
derers ; and he who indolently cares not who
administers the government of his city, will find
that he is living falsely, and in the neglect of his
highest duty."
When laying the corner-stone of the Young
Men's Christian Association building, on the yth of
September, 1882, he used the following language :
" We all hope and expect that our city has
entered upon a course of unprecedented pros-
perity and growth. But to my mind not all
the signs about us point more surely to real great-
ness than the event which we here celebrate.
Good and pure goveriiment lies at the foundation
of the wealth and progress of every community. As
the chief executive of this proud city, I congratu-
late all my fellow-citizens that to-day we lay the
foundadon stone of an edifice which shall be a
beautiful ornament, and, what is more important,
shall enclose within its walls such earnest Chrisdan
48 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
endeavors as must make easier all our efforts to
administer safely and honestly a good municipal
ofovernment."
These utterances disclose the high moral pur-
pose in which his whole nature seemed to be
absorbed, and which he was, in a measure, com-
pelled to profess upon every occasion when he
was required to address the people. Perhaps
there was no occasion on which he made so clear
a revelation of himself and his character as by the
address which he delivered on the 9th of April,
1882, when taking the chair at a mass meeting to
protest against the treatment of American citizens
imprisoned abroad. This short speech is worthy
of the careful attention of all those who wish to
understand his mind and character:
" Fellow Citizens. — This is the formal mode
of address on occasions of this kind, but I think
we seldom realize fully its meaning or how valu-
able a thing it is to be a citizen.
" From the earliest civilization to be a citizen
has been to be a free man, endowed with certain
privileges and advantages, and entitled to the full
protection of the State. The defense and protec-
tion of the personal rights of its citizens has always
been the paramount and most important duty of
a free, enlightened government.
" And perhaps no government has this sacred
trust more in its keeping than this — the best and
freest of them all ; for here the people who are to
THE MAYORALTY. 49
be protected are the source of those powers which
they delegate upon the express compact that the
citizen shall be protected. For this purpose we
chose those who, for the time being:, shall manag^e
the machinery which we have set up for our
defense and safety.
" And this protection adheres to us In all lands
and places as an incident of citizenship. Let but
the weight of a sacrilegious hand be put upon this
sacred thine, and a great strono- grovernment
springs to its feet to avenge the wrong. Thus it
is that the native born American citizen enjoys his
birthrigfht. But when, in the westward march of
empire, this nation was founded and took root,
we beckoned to the Old World, and invited hither
its immigration, and provided a mode by which
those who sought a home among us might become
our fellow citizens. They came by thousands and
hundreds of thousands ; they came and
Hewed the dark old woods away,
And gave the virgin fields to day ;
they came with strong sinews and brawny arms
to aid In the growth and progress of a new coun-
try ; they came, and upon our altars laid their
fealty and submission ; they came to our temples
of justice, and under the solemnity of an oath
renounced all allegiance to every other State,
potentate and sovereignty, and surrendered to us
all the duty pertaining to such allegiance. We
4
50 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
have accepted their fealty, and invited them to
surrender the protection of their native land.
"And what should be given them in return?
Manifestly, good faith and every dictate of honor
demand that we give them the same liberty and
protection here and elsewhere which we vouchsafe
to our native-born citizens. And that this has
been accorded to them is the crowning glory of
American institutions.
" It needed not the statute, which is now the
law of the land, declaring that all 'naturalized
citizens while in foreign lands are entitled to and
shall receive from this government the same pro-
tection of person and property which is accorded
to native-born citizens,' to voice the policy of our
nation.
"In all lands where the semblance of liberty is
preserved, the right of a person arrested to a
speedy accusation and trial is, or ought to be, a
fundamental law, as it is a rule of civilization.
'•/Vt ^ny rate, we hold it to be so, and this is
one of the rights which we undertake to guarantee
to any native-born or naturalized citizen of ours,
whether he be imprisoned by order of the Czar
of Russia or under the pretext of a law admin-
istered for the benefit of the landed aristocracy
of England.
"We do not claim to make laws for other
countries,. but we do insist that whatever those
laws may be they shall, in the interests of human
THE MAYORALTY. 5 I
freedom and the rights of mankind, so far as they
invoh'e the Hberty of our citizens, be speedily
administered. We have a right to say, and do
say, that mere suspicion without examination or
trial, is not sufficient to justify the long imprison-
ment of a citizen of America. Other nations
may permit their citizens to be thus imprisoned.
Ours will not. And this in effect has been
solemnly declared by statute.
"We have met here to-niaht to consider this
subject and to inquire into the cause and the
reasons and the justice of the imprisonment of
certain of our fellow-citizens now held in British
prisons without the semblance of a trial or legal
examination. Our law declares that the govern-
ment shall act in such cases. But the people are
the creators of the government.
"The undaunted apostle of the Christian relig-
ion imprisoned and persecuted, appealing centuries
ago to the Roman law and the rights of Roman
citizenship, boldly demanded : "Is it lawful for
you to scourge a man that is a Roman and
uncondemned ? "
"So, too, might we ask, appealing to the law
of our land and the laws of civilization: 'Is it
lawful that these our fellows be- imprisoned who
are American citizens and uncortdemned ? '
"I deem it an honor to be called upon to pre-
side at such a meeting, and I thank you for it.
What is your further pleasure? "
CHAPTER IV.
CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR.
Early in the summer of 1882 Mr. Cleveland's
friends began to consider the propriety of bring-
ing him forward as a candidate for Governor.
The first public announcement of this intention
was made in the columns of The Daily News,
a Republican paper, which had become a strong
supporter of Mayor Cleveland. The editor sent
letters to many prominent people in the State,
asking their opinion as to Mr. Cleveland's candi-
dacy. The responses were remarkably favorable,
and showed that the Mayor's course had attracted
attention in all parts of the State. The public
opinion of Buffalo responded readily to the appeals
which were made by The Nezvs. No citizen
of Buffalo had ever been Governor. Mr. Fill-
more had been a candidate upon the Whig
ticket in 1844, but was defeated by Silas Wright.
Since that time no Buffalonian had ever received
even a nomination for the office. Buffalo men
had long felt that they were overlooked. Indeed,
not only the city, but the whole western region,
known as the Eighth Judicial District, had reason
to think that it had not received its fair share of
STATE STRF.KT AND CAPITOL, ALBANY, N. Y.
CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR. 55
party honors. With the exception of Governor
Fenton, no Governor or United States Senator
had ever been chosen from all the country west
of the Genesee river. It was easy to awaken the
pride of a people who had so long been neglected.
The movement in favor of Cleveland rapidly
spread through all the western counties. After
the Republican Convention had nominated Judge
Folger, it took the character of a non-party move-
ment. It was soon difficult to determine who
were most in favor of Cleveland, the Democrats
who brought him forward, or the Republicans who
came to his support. The popular impulses were
quickened by the general confidence in his char-
acter, judgment and integrity. Many thought
that it would be well to send to Albany a man
who had shown himself so trustworthy at home.
When the Democratic Convention met in Syra-
cuse, all the delegates from the western counties
came there, ardent supporters of Cleveland, They
were accompanied by a large body of citizens,
who advocated their favorite with an energy such
as was shown in behalf of no one else.
Up to this time the Cleveland movement had
excited only a languid interest at the East. It
was not believed, by the party managers, that a
new man, living at the western end of the State,
could become a formidable competitor for the
nomination. The Chairman of the State Commit-
tee had received the suggestion of Mr. Cleveland's
56 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
candidacy with indifference and incredulity. But
the political situation was singularly favorable to
a man who lived away from the scene of party
contentions, and who was unconnected with the
factions into which the Democrats of New York
and Brooklyn were divided. In New York these
divisions were so serious as to make it doubtful
whether the party could be united. In 1878 the
opponents of the regular organization had made
an open alliance with the Republicans, and a coali-
tion ticket, made up partly of Democrats and
partly of Republicans, had been elected. It had
been usual for the Governor to stand aloof from
municipal factions, but in 1878, the Governor, Mr.
Robinson, openly sided with the coalition, and
used all of his power to defeat the party nominees.
In consequence of this, Tammany Hall determined
not to support Governor Robinson, if he were
nominated for election, and openly declared that
intention before the meeting of the Convention.
This avowal was artfully used by the friends of
Governor Robinson. It was represented to the
country Democracy as a threat, and they were
urged not to submit to Tammany dictation. The
Republican journals, eager to promote Democratic
dissensions, enforced this view, and their columns
were filled with appeals to the country Democrats
to stand firm ; and with denunciations of Mr. Kelly
and his followers. Prejudice and passion were
easily excited. The Democratic Convention of
CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR. 57
1879 met under the stress of a feeling so strong- as
to make deliberation impossible. Tammany was
listened to, indeed, but her advocates addressed
minds already resolved. Their remonstrances
were disregarded, and Governor Robinson was
re-nominated. The Tammany representatives at
once left the Convention, and meeting the same
evening with some sympathizers from other coun-
ties, nominated John Kelly, of New York, as their
candidate for Governor. A contest then took
place without parallel in the history of the State.
Mr. Kelly's supporters had no organization any-
where except in the City of New York, no means
of distributing tickets or securing attendance at
the polls. Notwithstanding the lack of organiza-
tion, Mr. Kelly received votes in every County in
the State, and when the returns were canvassed,
it was found that seventy thousand Democrats,
about one in seven of the Democratic voters, had
thrown their ballots for a candidate who, it was
certain, could not be elected.
This result made a decided change in the politi-
cal situation. It was impossible to ignore a body
of men whose friends were found ever^avhere, and
whose numbers were so great. Therefore, in
1880, the Tammany representatives were received
at the State Convention. But in 1881 the dele-
gates from Tammany Hall were refused admission
to the Convention.
The organization again showed its usual
58 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Strength at the polls. A majority of the Demo-
crats of the city supported its candidates, and it
elected a sufficient number of Senators and
Assemblymen to hold the balance of power in the
Legislature.
The question, in 1882, was how to secure a
union of Democrats in the city. It was clear that
this could most easily be done by nominating some
gentleman who had not been connected with State
politics, but who had still acquired the necessary
reputation and standing. Mr. Cleveland filled all
these conditions. Indeed, he was more fortunate
than either of his rivals. These were Roswell P.
Flower and General Henry W. Slocum. Mr.
Flower had acted, in 1877, as Chairman of the
State Executive Committee, and in that capacity
had managed the successful campaign of that year.
He had served a term in Congress, but his reputa-
tion was chiefly that of a business man, and he had
had, or was supposed to have had, such intimate
relations with Tammany Hall, that the opponents
of that organization looked upon him with sus-
picion. General Slocum was well fitted for the
highest public employments. He was an excel-
lent soldier. He had risen rapidly from the com-
mand of a regiment to a Major-Generalship, and
had proved himself equal to all the emergencies
of war. Any one who will study the battle of
Glendale, the last great encounter of the war, will
come to the conclusion that General Slocum might
CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR. 59
have been entrusted with the most important
miHtary operations. But he was not generally-
appreciated at his true value. He has no faculty
for public display, and a somewhat reserved dis-
position makes it difficult to know him well ; and
full knowledge of him is needed before one is
likely to realize how strong and able a man he is.
He was presented to the Convention by the
Brooklyn delegation, but the relations between the
Brooklyn leaders and the New York Democrats
had been such as to make the latter reluctant to
accept General Slocum.
The Tammany representatives were admitted
to the Convention. On the third ballot their votes
were thrown for Grover Cleveland, and secured
his nomination.
As soon as the canvass opened it was seen that
the choice had been a wise one. The movement
for Cleveland rose in the West to a great height
and ran swiftly through the State, Everywhere
factional differences were swept away. In New
York the adherents of Tammany and of the
County and Irving Hall organizations united in
support of the State ticket, and upon all other
important nominations.
The Republican dissensions were increased in
proportion to the growth of Democratic union
and enthusiasm. Those Republicans who were
disposed to vote against their party, were not
deterred by fear of failure. The certainty of
6o LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND,
Cleveland's election increased die temptation to
aid his cause. Thousands were eager to add to
the weight of the blow which was to fall on the
Administration and its friends. The Republican
candidate was an eminent citizen. He had shown
high abilities in many public employments. His
character was without a stain. He was Chief
Justice of the State ; and a long career on the
bench had won for him that general esteem and
public favor which successful judicial service almost
always wins. But the more worthy the candidate
the more impressive the lesson of his defeat. The
murder of Garfield was to be avenged ; party
chains were to be broken ; an accidental President
was to be rebuked ; the forgery of a telegram
was to be punished, and Republican independence
and manhood were to be asserted. The party
difficulties were increased by the attitude of lead-
ing men.
Mr. Evarts, who had always been ready to give
his elaborate eloquence to his party, was silent, and
what was of far more importance, Roscoe Conk-
ling also was silent. For more than a decade he
had been the Republican advocate. His popular
triumphs had been without precedent. In 1872,
when Republican supremacy was threatened by a
revolt, formidable on account of the number and
the character of the rebels, he excited the Repub-
licans who remained faithful to their party to un-
exampled efforts ; efforts which created a Demo-
CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR. 6 1
cratic supineness far more effective at the polls
than the liberal Republican rebellion. In 1876 he
had held his party together amid great discour-
agements, and upon a lost field. He had after-
wards stood aloof from the intrigues by which Mr,
Tilden had been deprived of the office to which
he had been elected. In 1882, at a time when
Republican defeat seemed to be certain — when
Mr. Blaine had been beaten in Maine, and the
October elections in Ohio and' Indiana were in the
greatest doubt — he reluctantly came forward to
aid a candidate whom he distrusted and despised.
He threw himself into the canvass with all his
accustomed zeal. Those who have never heard
Mr. Conklinor addressinof a g^reat meetine can
have but little idea of the vigor, brilliancy, and
fiery energy of his picturesque eloquence. The
effect of his speeches at the West, and in this
State, cannot be over-stated. Never, in our
politics, has any one made such a display of per-
sonal power. But in 1882 he was silent. It is
not necessary to explain here the causes of his
silence. Its effects were to be seen plainly
enough by all who watched the events of that
year.
The Republican disaffection grew more power-
ful every day. Party journals, like the Buffalo
Express, openly advocated Cleveland's election.
The Albany yoiirnal, the New York Tinics, and
the Tribune gave Judge Folger but a cold sup-
62 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
port. The friends of Garfield wished his defeat.
The friends of ConkHng wished his defeat ; and
to these discontents, added to Democratic enthu-
siasm, the friends of President Arthur could make
but little resistance. The Republican treasury
was without funds, and had the canvass lasted two
weeks longer, the Republican cause would proba-
bly have been practically abandoned. The elec-
tion resulted in a majority of one hundred and
ninety-two thousand for Grover Cleveland ; in
the election of twenty-one Democratic members
of the House of Representatives, and of a large
majority in the State Assembly. The wisdom of
those who had advised Mr, Cleveland's nomina-
tion was abundantly vindicated by this overwhelm-
ing victory.
In that hour of triumph there was one man
whose mind was filled with anxiety. The Demo-
cratic candidate had, during the canvass, borne
himself modestly, and had passed his time in the
duties of his office. He heard the news of his
success with joy, indeed, but it was a joy tempered
by a sense of the undefined responsibilities which
lay before him. This feeling showed itself in the
speech which he made the night of his election
at the Manhattan Club, and even more strongly
in the address which he made upon taking the
oath of ofifice.
To many, the governorship thus attained sug-
gested the presidency. If this high anticipation
CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR. 63
came to him, as it did to others, it made no change
in his demeanor. DeUberately and calmly he
began to prepare for his departure, and performed
the preliminary work in the composition of his
message and the selection of his staff, as unosten-
tatiously as if they were in the ordinary course of
his daily employment.
" If chance will have one king, why, chance may crown me
Without my stir."
CHAPTER V.
THE GOVERNORSHIP.
VETO OF THE FIVE-CENT FARE BILL AND OTHER VETOES.
Mr. Cleveland entered upon the Governor-
ship under certain disadvantages. The accession
of a new Governor always excites pubhc expecta-
tion. This expectation was greatly increased and
quickened by the incidents of the canvass, by the
unprecedented majority he had received, and by
the fact that he was new to public life. The peo-
ple naturally looked with exceeding curiosity for
the first of his public acts in order that they might
determine what manner of man he was, and how
fitted for the great place into which he had so sud-
denly come. His acquaintance with public men
was limited, and his acquaintance with the affairs
of the State was probably only such as would be
obtained by a lawyer in the ordinary course of his
profession. He had never been in the Legisla-
ture, nor in any way connected with the State
administration. He set about his work with a
strong sense of these deficiencies, but with a reso-
lution to do whatever he found to be his duty, so
64
GOVERNOR'S MAN-SION, ALBANY, N. Y.
THE CxOVERNORSHIP. ^"J
clear and firm that those who knew hnii best had
httle doubt of his success.
The niofht before his inausfuration he said to a
friend that he looked forward to the three years
to come with dread. Said he : "I shall never be
happy again until I get back to Buffalo." His
friend replied : "You will change your mind. I
will come here at the beginning of the second
year, and you will then tell me that you have
found the Governorship a pleasant place, for you
will find in it abundant opportunities to be useful."
It was not necessary to wait a year for the change
of opinion : for when the gentlemen met a few
months afterwards, the Governor confessed that
he had not found his office as unpleasant as he
had expected. The situation was not an easy one.
The labor questions, as they are called, had come
to be pressing and important. The employment of
convict labor in manufactures had oriven offence
to many of the working men, and presented a sub-
ject of great delicacy and difficulty.
A strong feeling had grown up in respect to the
corporations, and there was much discussion as
to the taxation they should be made to bear. This
feeling had brought about the passage of a law
creatincr a railroad commission. The Leoislature
had not been willing to give to Governor Cornell
the appointment of the Commissioners, and that
duty had been thrown upon his successor. In
addition to these more prominent subjects there
68 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
were a great variety of important affairs, such as
are always incident to government in a common-
wealth like New York.
Governor Cleveland's first message to the Leg^-
islature was a simple, and, it may be said, a some-
what timid document. At the outset he made an
intimation that a newly elected Executive could
"hardly be prepared to present a complete exhibit
of State affairs." He therefore confined himself
to such a review of the finances and of the various
departments of the government as could be predi-
cated upon reports made to him by State officials.
It was clear that the Governor intended to wait for
some other occasion in which to give the public
a taste of his quality.
There was, doubtless, some popular disappoint-
ment over the first message. But it was not long
before he was able to show so clearly that it could
not be doubted, that a man of great force of char-
acter and strength of purpose had come into the
Governorship. He began to use the veto power
with unusual frequency. Between the 26th of
January and the ist of March he sent to the Leg-
islature eieht veto messages. These documents
clearly disclose his purposes. In one, he refused
to permit the County of Montgomery to borrow
money. In another he refused his consent to an
amendment of the charter of Elmira which was
intended to change the liability of the city for in-
juries received in consequence of the streets being
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 69
in an unsafe and dangerous condition. He re-
fused his signature to a bill which would have
relieved the library association of Fredonia from
the payment of local taxes, and to one that author-
ized the County of Chautauqua to appropriate
money for a soldiers' monument. He vetoed an
act authorizing the village of Fayetteville, where
he had lived during his boyhood, to borrow money
for the purpose of purchasing a steam fire-engine,
and also one authorizing the village of Mechanics-
ville to borrow money for the same purpose.
By these vetoes he showed that he was deter-
mined to adhere to the rule which had gov-
erned him while Mayor of Buffalo, and to deal
with the public moneys on the principle that offi-
cials are the trustees of the people.
On the 2d of March, 1883, he did an act
which has proved the most important one of
his administration, and which has subjected him
to severe criticism. This was the veto of a bill
which reduced the fares on the elevated railroads
in New York to five cents. This act was of such
far-reaching consequence as to require full expla-
nation and the consideration of the reasons and
motives which controlled the Governor.
The question involved may be simply stated.
It has been generally supposed that it was merely
a question of a change by the Legislature in the
law, by which railway fares were regulated, and to
the suggestion commonly made that the act author-
5
yo LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
izing a railway corporation to charge certain rates
of fares was in the nature of a contract ; the answer
had been made that one Legislature could not so
bind the action of a future Legislature as to create
a contract which would be protected by the pro-
vision in the Constitution of the United States,
prohibiting any State from impairing the obliga-
tion of a contract. But the question presented
by the five-cent fare bill was not such a question
at all. By an act of the Legislature, passed in
April, 1868, it had been provided that the railway
company and the city of New York might enter
into an arrangement by which the company should
undertake to pay into the city treasury five per
cent, of its net earnings, and by which the company
should be entitled to charge certain rates of fare
which should not be chanored without the mutual
consent of the parties to the said agreement. This
contract was subsequently ratified and confirmed
by an act of the Legislature. It will be seen,
therefore, that a contract had been made, pursuant
to Legislative permission, and which had after-
wards received Legislative ratification, as to which
there was, to say the least, a serious question as
to. whether it was not protected by the clause in
the Constitution of the United States above referred
to. The position taken by the Governor as to
this branch of the case was supported by several
decisions of the Supreme Court of the United
States and of the Courts of New York.
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 7 I
There were also other questions involved in
the bill. There were high considerations of pub-
lic policy and public faith. It had been found
extremely difficult to obtain the necessary capital
to build the rapid transit roads in New York.
There was no precedent upon which business
men could base their calculations. For years all
the rapid transit enterprises had languished. The
great capitalists of the city refused to invest in
them. Neither Vanderbilt nor the Astors, none
of the great railway proprietors, none of the great
real estate owners invested in them. The men
who finally carried them through were mainly
merchants, and others who were accustomed to
hazardous speculations.
Chief among them was Cyrus W. Field, who
had risked his whole estate in the scheme of lay-
ing the cable across the Atlantic ; Mr. Tilden,
who had made his fortune by speculation ; and
Commodore Garrison, one of the most daring
and venturesome of the business men of his time.
The final success of the enterprise was not
assured. It had not yet been ascertained how
long the expensive structures would last. Dis-
putes had arisen with the city about taxation,
involving several millions. The question whether
the company was liable to the owners of adjoining
property for damages was still undecided, and
was pending in the courts. Under circumstances
like these, it mi^ht well be doubted whether
72 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
it was politic for the State to impair the com-
pany's revenues. If the fares could be reduced
to five cents, they might be reduced to three cents.
But the faith of the State was also seriously
involved. The fares of the New York Central
had been fixed at two cents a mile by an act
passed thirty years before. The fares of the other
railway corporations were also limited by law.
It was not to be doubted that the capital by which
these great works had been constructed was fur-
nished upon the belief that the legalized rates of
fare would be continued, and certainly that no
change would be made except in accordance with
the provisions of the statute, which declared that
the rates of fare should not be reduced unless the
comptroller and the state engineer should ascer-
tain that the corporation was earning a profit
greater than ten per cent, upon the cost of con-
struction. For a commercial community like New
York to disregard the implied obligation which
had arisen between the State and its citizens, and
between the State and citizens of other states
and countries, would have been, in the judgment
of many thoughtful men, a dangerous and per-
nicious act. This latter view was taken by
Governor Cleveland, in the following extract from
his veto messagfe :
"But we have especially in our keeping the
honor and eood faith of a orreat State, and we
should see to it that no suspicion attaches, through
THE GOVERNORSHIP. "] -^
any act of ours, to the fair fame of the Common-
wealth. The State should not only be strictly
just, but scrupulously fair, and in its relations to
the citizen every legal and moral obligation should
be recognized. This can only be done by legis-
lating without vindictiveness or prejudice, and
with a firm determination to deal justly and fairly
with those from whom we exact obedience."
Mr, Edson, the Mayor of the city had earnestly
advised the Governor not to sign the bill, and Mr.
Erastus Brooks, a member of the Assembly, and
a citizen of great consideration and distinction,
warmly approved the veto. The Rev. Dr. Ander-
son, President of Rochester University, and a
political opponent of Governor Cleveland, wrote
to him in warm terms of approval. In a letter
which he addressed to Governor Cleveland, on the
4th of March, 1883, he said :
"I cannot, in justice to my convictions, refrain from
expressing my gratitude for your veto message, which I
have just read. I have no personal interest in any of the
great corporations which were directly or indirectly
affected by the bill, from which you have so wisely with-
held your approval. But the just and statesmanlike
position taken in your message, seems to me a most fit-
ting rebuke to the demagogism which is ready to trifle
with those sacred rights of property guaranteed by our
State and national constitutions. In these safeguards of
property, the poor man has a more vital interest than the
capitalist, for they make secure the poor man's savings,
which constitute his only means of support.
74 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
" I have taken occasion to commend your message to
the careful consideration of my students as an exhibition
of the principles which should govern their actions
should they be called to fill public station in their future
lives. I trust you will pardon me for obtruding myself
upon your attention. As a teacher of young men, I feel
grateful to any public functionary who illustrates in his
person the lessons which I am so anxious to impress
upon their minds. Again I thank you for the courage-
ous and worthy action which you have adopted to secure
sound government for our great State."
Andrew D. White, the President of Cornell
University, in writing to a friend, used the follow-
ing language :
" I will say to you frankly, that I am coming to have
a very great respect and admiration for our new Governor.
His course on the Elevated Railroad bill first com-
mended him to me. Personally, I should have been glad
to have seen that company receive a slap. But the
method of administering it seemed to me very insidious
and even dangerous, and glad was I to see that the Gov-
ernor rose above all the noise and clap-trap which was
raised about the question, went to the fundamental point
of the matter and vetoed the bill. I think his course at
that time gained the respect of every thinking man in the
State."
Whatever the public opinion was as to the
points of law stated by the Governor in his veto
message, or as to the wisdom of his action, no
one doubted his sincerity, nor was there thence-
forward any doubt whatever as to his firmness
and courage.
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 75
There were many who had advised him to let
the bill become a law without his signature, and
to leave it to the courts to decide whether the law
was constitutional or not. But it had never been
customary for the Governors of New York to
shirk their duties, and Governor Cleveland was
not willing to set a bad example. He said in his
message, " I am convinced, that in all cases the
share which falls upon the Executive regarding
the legislation of the State, should be in no man-
ner evaded, but fairly met by the expression of
his carefully guarded and unbiased judgment."
It may be doubted whether there were any,
even among those who most loudly denounced
his action, who did not have a higher opinion of
him after the veto than before. By the owners of
property throughout the whole State his conduct
was received with approval.
Soon after the veto, the railroad commissioners
were instructed to examine and report as to the
cost of running the elevated railroad. Their
report showed that a reduction to a five-cent fare
would, at the number of passengers carried in
1882, so reduce the income of the companies as
to prevent them from providing for the interest on
their bonded debt. It also appeared that the rate of
fare during what are known as commission hours,
to wit, from half-past five to half-past eight in the
morning, and from half-past four to half-past seven
in the evening, was five cents ; and that trains
•76 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
were run at those rates upon the two principal
roads, at intervals of forty-five seconds. It was
manifest, therefore, that the laborers who eo to
their work before half-past eight in the morning,
and who return before half-past seven in the even-
ing, had no interest in the proposed reduction.
Had it taken effect, it would have operated almost
entirely in favor of the wealthier classes, who use
the roads during the mid-day hours, and would
have been a severe blow to the surface roads and
all their employees.
On the 9th of April, 1883, the Governor sent to
the Assembly another veto which attracted great
attention. An Act had been passed amending the
Charter of the City of Buffalo, the object of which
was to reorganize the Fire Department of that
City. Less than three years before the Fire
Department had been placed under the control of
three Commissioners, who were appointed by the
Mayor. The proposed measure abolished the
Commission and placed the department under the
control of a Chief, who, with his assistants, was to
be appointed by the Mayor. The resignation by
Governor Cleveland of the mayoralty of Buffalo
had, of course, produced a change in the personnel
of the city government ; and the plain object of
the bill was to give the new Mayor control of an
important department, and to place a considerable
patronage in his hands. The Governor promptly
vetoed the bill, and closed his message as follows :
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 'J*]
" The purpose of the bill is too apparent to be
mistaken. A tried, economical and efficient
administration of an important department in a
large city is to be destroyed upon partisan grounds,
or to satisfy personal animosities, in order that
the places and patronage attached thereto may be
used for party advancement.
"I believe in an open and steady partisanship,
which secures the legitimate advantages of party
supremacy ; but parties were made for the people,
and I am unwilling, knowingly, to give my assent
to measures purely partisan, which will sacrifice
or endanger their interests."
This act caused great criticism among those who
had promoted it ; but it was generally approved in
Buffalo and in other parts of the State.
Another very important veto of Governor Cleve-
land's during his first winter at Albany, was that
of an act providing for the construction, mainten-
ance and operation of Street Railways in cities,
towns and villaofes.
Great pressure was brought to bear upon Gover-
nor Cleveland to approve this measure. The late
amendment to the Constitution had prohibited the
Legislature from passing special acts granting
charters to Street Railway Companies, and
required that a general law should be passed which
should provide for the organization of such com-
panies wherever, throughout the State, they might
be needed. In some of the cities there was a great
78 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
necessity for additional street railway facilities, but
it was particularly so in the city of New York, the
growth of which was seriously retarded by the
want of them. Under these circumstances it was
difficult for the Governor to resist the arguments
in favor of the bill which came from many quar-
ters, and which were pressed upon him by influ-
ential friends. He, however, came to the conclu-
sion that the act contained improper provisions,
and was passed in the interests of a single locality,
rather than those of the whole State. He said :
" In any event, if it is proposed to act under the
Constitution, there should honestly and fairly be
accorded to the people the protection which the
Constitution intended.
"I think no one can read the peculiar provi-
sions of this bill, without being convinced that its
design is more to further private and corporate
schemes, than to furnish the citizens of the State
street railroad facilities, under the spirit and letter
of the Constitution, and within the limits therein
fixed for the benefit of the people."
Governor Cleveland's veto messages, during
his first winter at Albany, together with the mem-
orandum of objections accompanying the supply
bill, make a book of more than one hundred
pages. They furnish an interesting expression
of his character and methods of thought. They
are well-written, in a clear and simple style. They
show how consistently he acted upon the rule he
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 79
had laid down. It was his Buffalo rule that public
office is a trust, and that public moneys are to be
dealt with as trust-funds are dealt with. As
Governor he has held rigidly to the same prin-
ciple, which all sound business men strongly
endorse.
CHAPTER VI.
THE GOVERNORSHIP.
HIS APPOINTMENTS TO OFFICE — LABOR QUESTIONS — CAR CONDUCTOR'S BILL.
Governor Cleveland applied his favorite rule
of conduct to the important appointments which
he had to make soon after taking office. His
selections were made upon an estimate which he
had formed of the fitness of the person, and with
less reference to party considerations. It is true
that, in all cases where he could, he appointed
Democrats, but he selected men more with refer-
ence to their ability to do their work satisfactorily,
than to their party usefulness.
He appointed a gentleman who had long been
the assistant in the Insurance Department to the
headship of that department. He brought a builder
from Binghampton, and made him Commissioner
of the Capitol, and a business man in Buffalo was
appointed Commissioner of Public Buildings.
The Superintendent of Public Works whom he
selected, although a strong and vigorous partisan,
had had a long and responsible connection with
the management of the canals. In making these
appointments Governor Cleveland, of course, set
80
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 8 1
aside candidates who were strongly pressed by
political leaders, and upon party grounds, but the
result has well-justified his choice, and the general
opinion in New York is, that the Governor's
appointments have contributed to the efficiency
of the public service.
His action as to one important office has had
serious consequences. A former Legislature had
passed an act providing for the abolishment of the
Quarantine Commission in the City of New York,
and permitting the appointment of one Commis-
sioner. The Governor selected for the place a
gentleman entirely qualified, but who was a resi-
dent of Brooklyn, while the duties of the office
were to be performed in New York, where the
operations of the Commission had always been
carried on. The selection of a non-resident for
so important an office produced a lively feeling
of discontent among the Democrats of Tammany
Hall. The Senators who represented that organ-
ization, were instructed to oppose Mr. Murtha's
confirmation. This led to a breech between the
Governor and influential party leaders, and may
be said to have been the beginning of the opposi-
tion which he has encountered in his own party.
The most important places which Governor Cleve-
land was called upon to fill had been created by
an Act of the last Legislature, providing for a
Railroad Commission. This Act had excited great
interest throughout the State, and particularly in
82 LIFE OF HROVER CLEVELAND.
the minds of those who had engaged in what were
known as the "anti-monopoly" movements. The
law provided that one of the three Commissioners
should be nominated to him by certain business
associations. It also required that another of the
Commissioners should be a Republican, and that
one of the Board should have had a practical
experience in railroad management. These limi-
tations seriously restricted the Governor's choice.
The gentleman who was nominated by the business
associations was not a practical railroad man. The
Governor thought it desirable that there should
be a lawyer in the board, and therefore, in select-
ing the two remaining Commissioners, he chose
for one Mr. John D. Kernan, of Utica, a son of
Hon. Francis Kernan, and a lawyer of excellent
standing, and Mr. William E. Rogers, who was a
graduate of West Point, had been an officer of
engineers, and had been engaged in the construc-
tion and management of railroads, and who filled
the requirement that one of the appointees should
be a Republican. All the selections were good,
and the Board has, during the short period of its
service, done very important work, and has
acquired a reputation second only to the long-
established Massachusetts Commission,
Governor Cleveland, who was the son of a poor
clergyman, and was compelled to earn his living
from the time he was seventeen years old, has been
charged with a want of sympathy with the laboring
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 83
classes. This charge shows a complete misunder-
standing of his character. From the beginning
of his career he has been associated with plain
people, among whom he has lived : sharing their
feelings, and sympathizing with their purposes.
He is himself a man of simple life and plain
manners. It may be doubted whether a public
man can any where be found less liable to this
charp^e. He is not, however, a demao-oorue, nor
accustomed to make loud professions of his devo-
tion either to the poor or to the rich.
The Convention which nominated him had been
greatly influenced by the demands of the laboring
men, and had adopted the following resolution as
part of the party platform :
" Twelfth. We reaffirm the policy always maintained
by the Democratic party that it is of the first importance
that labor should be made free, healthful, and secure of
just remuneration. That convict labor should not come
into competition with the industry of law-abiding citizens.
That the labor of children should be surrounded with
such safeguards as their health, their rights of education
and their future, as useful members of the community,
demand. That work shops, whether large or small,
should be under such sanitary control, as will insure the
health and comfort of the employed, and will protect all
against unwholesome labor and surroundings. That
labor shall have the same rights as capital to combine
for its own protection, and that all legislation which
cramps industry, or which enables the powerful to
oppress the weak, should be repealed ; and, to promote
84 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
the interests of labor, we recommend the collection of
statistics and information respecting the improvements,
needs and abuses of the various branches of industry."
This declaration had been accepted by the can-
didate. Mr. Cleveland, in his letter accepting
the gubernatorial nomination, used the following
lanpfuaee :
" The platform of principles adopted by the
Convention meets with my hearty approval. The
doctrines therein enunciated are so distinctly and
explicitly stated that their amplification seems
scarcely necessitated. If elected to the office for
which I have been nominated, I shall endeavor to
impress them upon my administration and make
them the policy of the State."
Further on, in the same letter, he says :
" The laboring classes constitute the main part
of our population. They should be protected in
their efforts to assert their rights when endangered
by aggregated capital, and all statutes on this sub-
ject should recognize the case of the State for
honest toil, and be framed with a view of improv-
inof the condition of the workinor man."
These pledges have been faithfully kept. The
Governor signed all but one of the bills which
were prepared by the direction of the labor organ-
ization. One of these was an act providing for
the establishment of a Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Another was what is known as the "Tenement
House" bill, which prohibits the manufacture of
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 85
cigars in tenement houses. The third was an act
prohibiting the manufacture of woolen hats in
the State prisons, penitentiaries, and reform-
atories of the State.
The Convict Labor Bill did not reach him dur-
ing the first session. The question involved in it
was submitted to the voters of the State at the
election of 1883, and the popular decision was
against the continuance of convict labor. In 1884
the question was again presented to the Governor
in what is known as the " Comstock Bill," a
measure which, while it did away with the exist-
ing system, provided no means whatever for
the employment of the convicts. It is clearly
necessary as a matter of discipline, and, indeed,
as a matter of mercy, that the convicts should be
kept fully employed. The bill was, also, in sev-
eral respects, defective, and the Governor sent
for Mr. Thayer, the President of the State Trades
Assembly, and suggested that the bill should be
recalled, and its defects remedied. This was
, done, and the Governor signed the bill, although
the most important of its defects still remained, —
the failure to provide some employment for the
convicts. The Legislature of last winter, which
was Republican, did not pass any adequate meas-
ure upon this important subject, and the result
is, that when the existing contracts expire, the
convicts in the prisons and penitentiaries of the
State will be without employment.
86 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Another measure which received Governor
Cleveland's approval, is known as die " Child
Contract Bill," which makes it unlawful for the
managers of Houses of Refuge, or other reform-
atory institutions, to contract or let out the labor
of a child committed to their care.
An act was sent to him, applying only to King's
and Queen's counties, interfering with the lien
which a mechanic now has. The bill gave to all
parties having claims, whether mechanics or not,
a first lien, thus impairing the preference they
have under existing laws. This act the Governor
vetoed.
The official act of Governor Cleveland which
has subjected him to the greatest criticism was
his refusal to sign the bill known as the " Car
Conductors and Drivers' Bill." The act is in the
following terms :
" Section i . On and after the passage of this act it
shall be unlawful for any officer or agent of any railroad
corporation in any of the cities of this State, whose cars
are drawn by horses, to exact from conductors or driv-
ers employed by them more than twelve hours labor for
a day's work, and such corporations shall, out of said
twelve hour's labor, allow such conductors and drivers a
reasonable time to obtain meals.
" Sec. 2. Any officer or agent of any such corporation
who shall violate or otherwise evade the provisions of
this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, pun-
ishable by a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars, or
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 87
imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both fine and
imprisonment for each offense.
" Sec. 3. This act shall take effect immediately."
It was passed at the very close of the session,
and did not reach the Governor until after the
final adjournment, so that there was no opportu-
nity to return It for amendment. A careful con-
sideration of the measure shows it to have been
extremely defective. It makes it unlawful for any
railroad corporation, in any of the cities of the
State, to exact from conductors and drivers more
than twelve hours labor for a day's work. It does
not provide that twelve hours shall be a day's
work, nor prevent a corporation and its employees
from agreeing for longer hours of labor. The
bill was so unskillfully drawn as plainly to be in-
operative. The Governor, therefore, considering
the matter simply as a lawyer, refused to sign an
act which he knew would be useless.
One of his early acts was to sign a valuable
measure making the wages or salaries owing to
employees by any assignor, preferred claims upon
the assiofnor's estate.
He also vetoed a bill which permitted savings
banks and trust companies to invest their funds in
such securities as might be approved by the super-
intendent of the Banking Department, the Gov-
ernor, Comptroller, and the State Treasurer, or a
majority of them. He said :
" But I am firmly of the opinion that these insti-
88 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND,
tutions are, as their name implies, a place of
deposit for the savings of those among the poor
and laboring people who see the propriety of put-
ting aside a part of their earnings for future need,
or as the beginning of an accumulation. Such
depositors are not, and should not be, investors
seeking, as a paramount purpose, an income by
way of interest on their deposits. When they
come to that, there are other instrumentalities
which should be employed.
"Absolute safety of the principal deposited is
what the patrons of savings banks should seek ;
and any governmental control over these institu-
tions should, first of all, be directed to that end.
" I am not satisfied that this is done, when State
officials, already charged with onerous duties, are
called to decide upon the value of proposed securi-
ties, and when the safety of deposits is left to their
determination, and the care of directors and trus-
tees, often tempted to speculative ventures, beyond
their power to resist."
Any one who will carefully examine his public
acts will find that he has, as Governor, been most
careful of the riehts of labor and most watchful
of the interests of the poor.
In order that the public may judge what impres-
sion Governor Cleveland's course has produced
upon the minds of those most interested, a letter
lately written by Walter N. Thayer, President of
the State Trades Assembly, is here given :
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 89
" To the Argus :
" I have been informed that a statement has been pub-
Hshed to the effect that while in Chicago at the recent
National Democratic Convention I stated that I could
pledge the vote of the workingmen, of this and other
localities, to Governor Cleveland. I wish to state that no
such expression ever fell from my lips, and that no inter-
view with me was ever published in which I made such
a statement. On the contrary, I stated that no man could
pledge the vote of the labor element of New York State,
or of any portion of it, to any candidate, nor did any man
have sufficient iniluence to cause it to be cast against any
candidate. I stated that if any man pretended to pledge
the workingmen's vote to any candidate, he did so with-
out any authority. I stated that I had no authority to
speak for them on political questions, nor had any one else.
" I was asked what ray personal preferences were, and
I said that I preferred Governor Cleveland. When asked
my reasons, I expressed them as follows : The working-
men's assembly of this State has, since I have been at the
head of that organization, succeeded in passing through
the Legislature the following bills : Abolishing the man-
ufacture of hats in State prisons; creating a bureau of
labor statistics ; the tenement house cigar bill (tzciee) ;
the abolition of convict contract labor; the lien law; and
the conductors and drivers' bills — seven in all. Of these
measures Governor Cleveland signed Jive Siud vetoed two,
viz., the lien law, and the conductors and drivers' bill.
As to the lien law, it is generally acknowledged now that
he did us a kindness in vetoing that bill, because, through
errors of our own in drafting the measure, the bill as
passed would have been a positive injury to us. The
conductors and drivers' bill, I think, he should have
signed.
90 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
" So the record shows that we have sent to Governor
Cleveland six perfect bills and he has signed five and
vetoed one. On this record I am not prepared to con-
demn him. If the Governor does us five favors and com-
mits but one error, I feel that he is entitled to my sup-
port. In addition to the labor measures prepared by our
organization, Governor Cleveland has signed a bill intro-
duced by Senator Fassett, which makes workingmen
preferred creditors in case of assignment or failure of the
firm or corporation by which they are employed. Rec-
ognizing the justice of the measure and its great benefits
to the working class, I asked Governor Cleveland to sign
it, and he did so without hesitation. So, to sum the
matter up, he has approved of six bills favorable to our
interests and disapproved of one. By his record on
legitimate labor measures I judge him, and on the strength
of that record I shall support him. I do not wish it
understood that I am voicing the sentiments or prefer-
ences of any one but myself I have no authority to
speak for the workingmen on political subjects.
" Yours truly,
" Walter N. Thayer.
" Troy, July 21, 1884."
CHAPTER VII.
THE GOVERNORSHIP.
CORPORATIONS.
He has also been charo-ed with beine biased in
favor of corporations. He has never been con-
nected with corporate management or interested
in corporate properties. Even in his profession,
his connection with them has been incidental and
casual, nor has he ever been known as, what is
called, a corporation lawyer.
In his second annual message to the Legislature,
the Governor made most important recommenda-
tions with reference to the management of cor-
porations. Criticisms upon corporate manage-
ment are common enough, but practical remedies
for the evils complained of are not often sug-
gested. Perhaps the chief evil which our society
suffers from these institutions, erows out of the
fact that corporations have been and are the chief
corrupters of our public life. They furnish a large
part of the money which is used to corrupt our
elections, and they furnish all the money which is
used to corrupt our Legislatures. The creatures
of the State have become its dangerous enemies,
and it is not to be wondered at, that public opin-
91
92 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
ion with reference to them, assumes a threatening
character. What remedy can be found for the
evil ? All the States have passed severe penal
laws. Everywhere bribery is a crime. The State
of New York has made it a felony for a person to
o-ive or to receive a bribe. But the laws are not
executed. Such offenses are common, but there
is not an instance in our later history of the suc-
cessful prosecution and punishment of an offender.
Political parties have denounced these corruptions.
The press has inveighed against them and exposed
them. The pulpit has warned the people against
them. Public opinion has inflicted upon the
offenders every penalty which it can command,
and yet the evil has not been checked nor greatly
diminished. It has grown to be a serious danger,
not only to the regular administration of affairs,
but to the very existence of our system of Gov-
ernment.
The problem still is how can this evil be
checked. It is clear that the first step is to expose
its methods. Corporate funds, like the moneys of
the State, are in the nature of trust funds. In
none of the great corporations do they belong
exclusively to the directors or trustees who
administer the corporate affairs. They belong to
large bodies of citizens scattered throughout the
community. A railway director, or the trustee of
a bank, or an insurance company, acts in a fidu-
ciary capacity, and not in a personal one.
THE GOVERNORSHIP, 93
It was thouo^ht that a grreat reform would be
worked out, if the managers of corporations were
compelled to expose their accounts, and to pro-
duce vouchers for every item of their expendi-
tures. This plan suggested itself to Governor
Cleveland, before he began the preparation of his
second message. He determined therefore to
recommend that the great railway and other
moneyed corporations, should be compelled to
report their expenditures to some department of
the State Government. If they should be
required to furnish detailed statements of all
disbursements, clearly showing what use was
made of the corporate funds, and in all cases pre-
senting the proper vouchers, it is clear that it
would be difficult to conceal the use of corporate
moneys for corrupt purposes.
The following is an extract from his second
annual message, dealing with this subject :
"It would, in my opinion, be a most valuable
protection to the people if other large corporations
were obliged to report to some department their
transactions and financial condition.
"The State creates these corporations upon the
theory that some proper thing of benefit can be
better done by them than by private enterprise,
and that the aggregation of the funds of many
individuals may be thus profitably employed.
They are launched upon the public with the seal
of the State, in some sense, upon them. They
94 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
are permitted to represent the advantages they
possess and the wealth sure to follow from admis-
sion to membership. In one hand is held a charter
from the State, and in the other is proffered their
stock.
"It is a fact, singular though well established,
that people will pay their money for stock in a
corporation engaged in enterprises in which they
would refuse to invest if in private hands.
"It is a grave question whether the formation
of these artificial bodies ought not to be checked
or better regulated, and in some way supervised.
"At any rate, they should always be kept well
in hand, and the funds of its citizens should be
protected by the State which has invited their
investment. While the stockholders are the own-
ers of the corporate property, notoriously they are
oftentimes completely in the power of the direct-
ors and managers, who acquire a majority of the
stock and by this means perpetuate their control,
using the corporate property and franchises for
their benefit and profit, regardless of the inter-
ests and rights of the minority of stockholders.
Immense salaries are paid to ofificers ; transactions
are consummated by which the directors make
money, while the rank and file among the stock-
holders lose it; the honest investor waits for
dividends and the directors erow rich. It is
suspected, too, that large sums are spent under
various disofuises in efforts to influence lesfislation.
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 95
"It is not consistent to claim that the citizen
must protect himself, by refusing to purchase
stock. The law constantly recognizes the fact
that people should be defended from false repre-
sentations and from their own folly and cupidity.
It punishes obtaining goods by false pretences,
gambling and lotteries.
"It is a hollow mockery to direct the owner of a
small amount of stock in one of these institutions
to the courts. Under existing statutes, the law's
delay, perplexity and uncertainty leads but to
despair.
"The State should either refuse to allow these
corporations to exist under its authority and
patronage, or acknowledging their paternity and
its responsibility, should provide a simple, easy
way for its people, whose money is invested, and
the public generally, to discover how the funds of
these institutions are spent, and how their affairs
are conducted. It should at the same time pro-
vide a way by which the squandering or misuse
of corporate funds would be made good to the
parties injured thereby.
"This might well be accomplished by requiring
corporations to frequently file reports made out
with the utmost detail, and which would not allow
lobby expenses to be hidden under the pretext
of legal services and counsel fees, accompanied by
vouchers and sworn to by the officers making
them, showing particularly the debts, liabilities^
g6 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
expenditures and property of the corporation.
Let this report be dehvered to some appropriate
department or officer, who shall audit and examine
the same; provide that a false oath to such
account shall be perjury, and make the directors
liable to refund to the injured stockholders any
expenditure which shall be determined improper
by the auditing authorit)^
"Such requirements might not be favorable to
stock speculation, but they would protect the inno-
cent investors ; they might make the management
of corporations more troublesome, but this ought
not to be considered when the protection of the
people is the matter in hand. It would prevent
corporate efforts to influence legislation ; the
honestly conducted and strong corporations would
have nothing to fear ; the badly managed and weak
ought to be exposed."
It would be difficult to find in the record of any
of our public men so well-considered a plan as
that here presented, dealing with the glaring evils
of legislative and official corruption.
If Governor Cleveland's suggestions should be
acted upon, all corporate acts would become public
acts, and a more effective remedy for pernicious
and dangerous crimes would be found than by the
enactment of any penal statutes, however severe.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE GOVERNORSHIP.
MUNICIPALITIES.
Governor Cleveland's first political office was
that of Mayor of Buffalo. The first political
questions with which he had to deal were those
connected with municipal government.
The municipalities in New York have long been
in an unsatisfactory condition. In all of them the
expenditures are large, taxation is high, and the
administration wasteful and extravagant. The
great sums of money raised for municipal pur-
poses do not accomplish the proper results. The
cities are generally unclean, badly paved and in
most instances the public service is costly and
inefficient. Many persons have come to think
that a government by universal suffrage cannot
be successfully applied to municipal affairs. Gov-
ernor Cleveland, however, was not of this opinion.
He thought that proper remedies for existing evils
could be found, and economy and thoroughness
introduced into the city governments as well as
into that of the State.
His plan was to throw upon the people of the
municipalities the responsibility of self-govern-
97
98 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
ment ; therefore, he asked that they should be.
invested with full powers to deal with their own
affairs, and that the legislature, after having-
granted such powers, should cease to interfere
with the local administration. In his first messaofe
he said :
"They [municipal governments] should be so
organized as to be simple in their details, and to
cast upon the people affected thereby the full
responsibility of their administration. The differ-
ent departments should be in such accord as in
their operation to lead toward the same results.
Divided counsels and divided responsibility to the
people, on the part of municipal officers, it is
believed, give rise to much that is objectionable
in the government of cities. If, to remedy this
evil, the chief executive should be made answer-
able to the people for the proper conduct of the
city's affairs, it is quite clear that his power in the
selection of those who manage its different depart-
ments should be greatly enlarged."
And again he said :
"It is not only the right of the people to admin-
ister their local government, but it should be made
their duty to do so. Any departure from this
doctrine is an abandonment of the principles upon
which our institutions are founded, and a conces-
sion of the infirmity and partial failure of the
theory of a representative form of government.
"If the aid of the Legislature is invoked to
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 99
further projects which should be subject to local
control and management, suspicion should be at
once aroused, and the interference sought should
be promptly and sternly refused.
"If local rule is in any instance bad, weak or
inefficient, those who suffer from maladministra-
tion have the remedy within their own control.
If, through their neglect or inattention, it falls into
unworthy hands, or if bad methods and practices
gain a place in its administration, it is neither
harsh nor unjust to remit those who are respon-
sible for those conditions to their self-invited fate,
until their interest, if no better motive, prompts
them to an earnest and active discharge of the
duties of good citizenship."
The application of these principles to the
affairs of the cities of the State is a task of o-reat
difficulty. Ever since the organization of the
present political parties, there has been a wide
difference in political opinion between the inhabit-
ants of New York and Brooklyn and the other
parts of the State. The cities have been over-
whelmingly Democratic ; the counties have been
strongly Republican. During the long period of
Republican domination the powers of the State
government were constantly used to weaken the
Democratic orofanizations in New York and
Brooklyn To accomplish this, frequent changes
were made in the charters of the cities. The
object, generally, was to secure a share of the
lOO LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
local offices, and a part of what Is called "party
patronage."
It is impossible to point out in detail the devices
which were resorted to, to accomplish these ends,
but the general result has been clear enough.
They are without doubt the sources of many
municipal evils and the chief cause of the failure
of municipal governments. They have destroyed
the responsibility of officials. They have given
opportunities for combination between the corrupt
men of both parties. They have accustomed the
people to misgovernment, and made them sus-
picious as to the sincerity of those who proposed
a reform. When the Democrats had become
strong enough to get a share in the government
of the State, they yet failed to obtain control of
the Legfislature.
Jealousy between the city and country has led
the Legislature, by an unfair apportionment, to
refuse to the cities their just representation.
Therefore a Republican majority will usually be
elected to both branches of the Legislature, even
when the State has gone Democratic. Thus it
has happened, that only in two instances during
the last twenty-five years, has a Democratic Gov-
ernor found a Democratic Leo^isiature. One of
these instances was in 1883.
When Governor Cleveland came to Albany both
branches of the Legislature were Democratic. It
was, therefore, hoped that the reforms long waited
THE GOVERNORSHIP. lOI
for might be accomplished, and that the principle
of local self-government might at last be rigidly
applied to the two great cities. But meanwhile
serious difficulties had arisen in the cities them-
selves. In Brooklyn Democratic supremacy had
been destroyed, and a Republican chosen to the
mayoralty, who was supported by a considerable
body of Democrats. In New York the Democ-
racy had become divided into two organizations,
both jealous of each other and both striving for
local control. This condition of affairs has pre-
vented the work of reform from being accom-
plished. As respects Brooklyn much has been
done by the application of the principle of local
responsibility.
In New York great changes have been made.
A system of fees, yielding to certain officials ex-
travagant emoluments, has been abolished, and
the power of the Mayor has been vastly increased.
By these new laws the Mayor of New York has
been given a power almost without example. He
is, within his sphere, more powerful than any other
official in the United States, and it must be remem-
bered that the sphere is not a narrow one. The
city government, as respects the magnitude of its
I operations and its revenues and expenditures, is
far more important than that of the State, and is
second only to the Federal Government. In this
domain the Mayor is now supreme. He has an
unrestricted power of appointment to most of the
7
I02 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
great offices, and will hold all departments of the
government, with the exception of the financial
department, entirely in his control.
This change denotes a great reaction in public
opinion. During the period which began with
Jefferson's administration and ended with the out-
break of the Civil War, political opinion had
demanded a restriction of executive power. Meas-
ures of reform were generally measures which
diminished the function of the executive and which
widened the field of popular action. By the Con-
stitution of 1847 the Governor of New York had
been shorn of all his patronage and most of his
authority. Offices, both executive and judicial,
which had hitherto been filled by appointment had
been made elective. A system of short terms and
frequent elections had been introduced. It seemed
as if the experience of more than half a century
had satisfied the people of their capacity for self-
government, and had created a desire that there
should be a direct government by the people, and
as little as possible a representative one.
During the last ten years, however, there has
been a strong tendency in another direction.
During that time the patronage of the Governor
has been largely increased. Several important de-
partments of the State government have been taken
away from officers elected by the people, and given
into the hands of officers appointed by the Gov-
ernor. He has been vested with the extraordinary
THE GOVERNORSHIP, IO3
power of vetoing items in the appropriation bills.
The effect of this change has been to make him a
part of the Legislature, so that his opinion is fre-
quently taken upon matters involving the expen-
diture of public moneys, before a law is passed or
even introduced.
Meanwhile, a strong distrust of Legislative
bodies has grown up. This is shown in the state
of public opinion with reference to the Legislature
and to Congress. It would seem as if further ex-
perience of our system had dissatisfied the people
with a government based upon Legislative author-
ity, and had taught them to trust more to execu-
tives of their own choice, invested with great
powers and responsible to them alone.
The question as to which is the better govern-
ment, one in which the Legislature is the chief, or
one in which the executive is the chief is an old ques-
tion. The one is parliamentary government, the
other is a dictatorship. A wise and patriotic par-
liament has often rendered oreat service to man-
kind. An enlightened prince has sometimes aided
the progress of our race. But it is a strange con-
clusion that it is safer for a free people to govern
themselves by dictators periodically chosen, than
by an open assemblage of representatives who act
after deliberation and debate. And yet, so de-
cided is this popular distrust of Legislative methods
that there is now a strong pressure brought to
bear, and even from many Democratic quarters,
I04 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
in favor of an amendment to the Constitution of
the United States, giving to the President power
to veto items in appropriation bills. If this power
were given him he would have an authority never
yet given to the ruler of a free people. If the
President of the United States, in addition to
his power of appointment, had such an enormous
veto power, there would be little limit to the
authority which a bold and able man might exer-
cise. Who can doubt what its effect would be ?
It maybe said that the United States has not yet
suffered from the ambition of its public men. This
source of social and political evils, which in Europe
has been so prolific, has never caused disturbance '
here. But the danger exists here as well as
there. The passions of men are the same here.
An American Democracy cannot safely entrust
unrestricted power to its rulers any more than can
the citizens of a European State. Neither would
they escape the consequences of a confidence so
blind and unreasonable.
The chano-e which has been made in the munic-
ipal government of New York is in harmony
with the drift of public opinion. What the conse-|
quences of that change are to be cannot certainly
be predicted, but there are many thoughtful men
who do not look to the future with the confidence
which must have inspired those who brought about
this remarkable alteration in our municipal affairs.
The Governor's attitude upon this subject is
THE GOVERNORSHIP. IO5
worthy of careful attention. His position was an em-
barrassing one. He had advised the Legislature to
give self-government to the municipalities. The
form of government, however, he had not under-
taken to prescribe, nor is it probable that he had
formed a definite opinion upon that subject. The
bill which was presented to him, increasing the
power of the Mayor, was not one which he had
advised. It is most likely that when he came to
act upon it he was largely influenced by the con-
sideration that the question of the proposed change
was a Legislative question rather than one for the
executive to decide. He accompanied his signa-
ture of the bill with a memorandum, grivino- the
reasons of his act, which is, in many respects, the
most thoughtful as it is the most important of his
State papers. His arguments had a great effect
upon public opinion, and seemed to put an end to
doubts, which at the time, were anxiously ex-
pressed in all parts of the State. It is likely, how-
ever, that those who adhere upon principle to the
theory of a government of limited powers, a part
of which are to be exercised by the Legislature,
a part by the executive, and a part by the judiciary,
and in which the powers of each department shall
be subject to clearly-defined limitations, are not
convinced that it is wise to invest any public officer
with an authority so great and irresponsible as that
f/hich after the ist of January next will be exer-
I06 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Instead of introducing changes as to which the
people of the community had expressed no opin-
ion, and which never had in any way been sub-
mitted to them for their judgment, the Legislature,
had it desired to follow the recommendations of
the Governor, might have passed an act providing
for a municipal convention which should have
power to frame a charter, and for the submission
of the charter to the people. Had such a charter
been framed and accepted the city of New York
would have had its own government created by
itself If evils of administration had followed,
its people alone would have been the sufferers. The
correction of these evils, if the power had been
placed in their hands, would have been brought
about by natural and inevitable laws, for if those
who suffer and have the power to correct public
wrongs will not do it, it is quite certain that no one
else can or will. The Message of Governor Cleve-
land is given here at length, and all who read it will
recognize the candor and the courage of its
author :
" Executive Chamber,
"Albany, March 17, 1884
"The interest which has been aroused regard
ing the merits of this bill, and quite a determined
hostility which has been developed on the part of
those entitled to respectful consideration, appear
to justify a brief reference to the principles and
purposes which seem to me to be involved in the
J
GOVERNOR'S ROOM IN STATE CAPITOL AT ALBANY, N. Y.
THE GOVERNORSHIP. IO9
measure, and an incidental statement of the pro-
cess of thought by which I have been led to
approve the same.
" The opponents of the bill have invoked the
inviolability of the right of the people to rule
themselves, and have insisted upon the preserva-
tion of a wise distribution of power among the dif-
ferent branches of government ; and I have listened
to solemn warning against the subversive ten-
dency of the concentration of power in municipal
rule, and the destructive consequences of any
encroachment upon the people's rights and pre-
rogatives.
" I hope I have not entirely misconceived the
scope and reach of this bill ; but it seems to me
that my determination as to whether or not it
should become a law does not depend upon the
reverence I entertain for such fundamental prin-
ciples.
" The question is not whether certain officers
heretofore elected by the people of the city of New
York shall, under the provisions of a new law, be
appointed. The transfer of power from an elec-
tion by the people to an appointment by other
authority, has already been made.
" The present charter of the city provides that
the mayor ' shall nominate, and by and with the
consent of the Board of Aldermen, appoint the
heads of departments.'
"The bill under consideration provides that
no LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
after the ist day of January, 1885, 'all appoint-
ments to office in the city of New York now made
by the Mayor and confirmed by the Board of Alder-
men, shall be made by the Mayor without such
confirmation.'
"The change proposed is clearly apparent.
" By the present charter the Mayor, elected by
all the people of the city, if a majority of twenty-
four Aldermen elected by the voters of twenty-
four separate districts concur with him, may ap-
point the administrative officers who shall have
charge and management of the city departments.
"The bill presented for my action allows the
Mayor alone to appoint these officers. This
authority is not conferred upon the Mayor now in
office, who was chosen without anticipation on the
part of the people who elected him, that he should
exercise this power, but upon the incoming Mayor
who, after the passage of the act, shall be elected
with the full knowledge on the part of the people,
at the time they cast their votes, that they are con-
stituting an agent to act for them in the selection
of certain other city officers.
"This selection under either statute is dele-
gated by the people. In the one case it is exer-
cised by the chief executive acting with twenty-
four officers representing as many different
sections of the municipality ; in the other by the
chief executive alone.
"I cannot see that any principle of Democratic
THE GOVERNORSHIP. I I I
rule Is more violated in the one case than in the
other. It appears to be a mere change of instru-
mentalities.
" It will hardly do to say that because the Alder-
men are elected annually, and the Mayor every
two years, that the former are nearer the people
and more especially their representatives. The
difference in their terms is not sufficient to make
a distinction in their direct relation to the cidzen.
"Nor are the rights of the people to self-gov-
ernment in theory and principal, better protected
when the power of appointment is vested in
twenty-five men, twenty-four of whom are respon-
sible only to their constituents In their respective
districts, than when this power Is put In the hands
of one man elected by all the people of the
municipality with particular reference to the exer-
cise of such power. Indeed In the present condi-
tion of affairs, if disagreement arises between the
Mayor and the A.ldermen, the selection of officers
by the representadve of all the people, might be
defeated by the adverse action of thirteen repre-
sentatives of thirteen aldermanic districts. And
it Is perfectly apparent that these thirteen might,
and often would, represent a decided minority of
the people of the municipality.
"It cannot be claimed that an arrangement
which permits such a result Is pre-eminently dem-
ocratic.
"It has been urged that the proposed change
112 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
is opposed to the principle of home rule. If it is
intended to claim that the officers, the creation of
which is provided for, should be elected, it has no
relevancy ; for that question is not in any manner
presented for my determination. And it surely
cannot be said that the doctrine of home rule pre-
vents any change by the Legislature of the
organic law of municipalities. The people of the
city cannot themselves make such change ; and if
Legislative aid cannot be invoked to that end, it
follows that abuses, flao-rant and increasino- must
be continued, and existing charter provisions, the
inadequacy of which for the protection and pros-
perity of the people is freely admitted, must be
perpetuated. It is the interference of the Legis-
lature with the administration of municipal gov-
ernment, by agencies arbitrarily created by legis-
lative enactment, and the assumption by the law-
making power of the State, of the rights to regu-
late such details of city government as are or
should be under the supervision of local authori-
ties, that should be condemned as a violation of
the doctrine of home rule.
" In any event I am convinced that I should not
disapprove the bill before me on the ground that
it violates any principle which is now recognized
and exemplified in the government of the city of
New York.
"I am also satisfied that as between the system
now prevailing and that proposed, expediency
THE GOVERNORSHIP. II3
and a close regard to improved municipal admin-
istration lead to my approval of the measure.
"If the chief executive of the city is to be held
responsible for its order and good government,
he should not be hampered by any interference
with his selection of subordinate administrative
officers ; nor should he be permitted to find in a
divided responsibility an excuse for any neglect
of the best interests of the people.
"The plea should never be heard that a bad
nomination had been made because it was the
only one that could secure confirmation.
"No instance has been cited in which a bad
appointment has been prevented, by the refusal
of the Board of Aldermen of the city of New
York to confirm a nomination.
"An absolute and undivided responsibility on
the part of the appointing power accords with
correct business principles, the application of
which to public affairs will always, I believe, direct
the way to good administration and the protection
of the people's interests.
"The intelligfence and watchfulness of the
citizens of New York, should certainly furnish a
safe guarantee that the duties and powers devolved
by this legislation upon their chosen representa-
tive, will be well and wisely bestowed ; and if
they err or are betrayed, their remedy is close at
hand.
"I can hardly realize the unprincipled boldness
114 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
of the man who would accept at the hands of his
neighbors this sacred trust, and standing alone in
the full light of public observation, should willfully
prostitute his powers and defy the will of the
people.
"To say that such a man could by such means
perpetuate his wicked rule, concedes either that
the people are vile or that self-government is a
deplorable failure.
"It is claimed that because some of these
appointees become members of the Board of
Estimate and Apportionment, which determines
very largely the amount of taxation, therefore the
power to select them should not be given to the
Mayor. If the question presented was whether
officials having such important duties and func-
tions should be elected by the people or appointed,
such a consideration might well be urged in favor
of their election. But they are now appointed,
and they will remain appointive whether the pro-
posed bill should be rejected or approved. This
being the situation, the importance of the duties
to be performed by these officials, has to do with
the care to be exercised in their selection, rather
than the choice between the two modes of appoint-
ment which are under consideration.
"For some time prior to the year 1872, these
appointments were made by the mayor without
confirmation, as is contemplated by the bill now
before me. In that year a measure passed the
THE GOVERNORSHIP. I I 5
Legislature giving the power of appointment to
the Common Council. The chief executive of
the State at that time was a careful and thorough
student of municipal affairs, having large and
varied experience in public life. He refused to
approve the bill, on the ground that it was a
departure from the principle which should be
applied to the administration of the affairs of the
city and for the reason that the Mayor should be
permitted to appoint the subordinate administra-
tive officers without the interference of any other
authority.
"This reference to the treatment of the subject
by one of my distinguished predecessors in office,
affords me the opportunity to quote from his able
and vigorous veto message which he sent to the
Legislature on that occasion. He said:
"'Nowhere on this continent is it so essentially
a condition of good government as in the City of
New York, that the chief executive officer should
be clothed with ample powers, have full control
over subordinate administrative departments, and
so be subject to an undivided responsibility to
the people and to public opinion for all errors,
short comings and wrong doings by subordinate
officers.'
"He also said:
"'Give to the city a chief executive, with full
power to appoint all heads of administrative depart-
ments. Let him have power to remove his
I 1 6 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
subordinates, being required to publicly assign his
reason.'
"He further declared:
'"The members of the Common Council, in New
York, will exert all the influence over appoint-
ments which is consistent with the public good,
without having the legal power of appointment,
or any part of it, vested in their hands.'
"In 1876, after four added years of reflection
and observation, he said, in a public address, when
suggesting a scheme of municipal government:
"'Have, therefore, no provision in your charter
requiring the consent of the Common Council to
the Mayor's appointments of heads of depart-
ments ; that only ope7is the way for dictation by
the Council or for bargains. This is not the way
to get good men nor to fix the full responsibility
for mal-administration upon the people's chosen
prime minister.'
"These are the utterances of one who, during
two terms had been Mayor of the City of New
York and for two terms Recorder of that city;
and who for four years had been Governor of the
State.
"No testimony, it seems to me, could be more
satisfactory and convincing.
"It is objected that this bill does not go far
enough, and that there should be a re-arrange-
ment of the terms of these officers ; also that some
of them should be made elective. This is undoubt-
THE GOVERNORSHIP. II7
edly true ; and I shall be glad to approve further
judicious legislation supplementary to this, which
shall make the change more valuable and surround
it with safeguards in the interests of the citizens.
But such further legislation should be well digested
and conservative, and, above all, not proposed for
the purpose of gaining a mere partisan advantage.
"I have not referred to the pernicious practices
which the present mode of making appointments
in the City of New York engenders, nor in the
constantly recurring bad results for which it is
responsible. They are in the plain sight of every
citizen of the State.
"I believe the change made by the provisions
of this bill gives opportunity for an improvement
in the administration of municipal affairs ; and I
am satisfied that the measure violates no ri^ht of
the people of the locality affected, which they now
enjoy. But the best opportunities will be lost
and the most perfect plan of city government will
fail, unless the people recognize their respon-
sibilities and appreciate and realize the privileges
and duties of citizenship. With the most carefully
devised charter, and with all the protection which
legislative enactments can afford them, the people
of the City of New York will not secure a wise
and economical rule until those havino- the most
at stake determine to actively interest themselves
in the conduct of municipal affairs.
" Grover Cleveland."
CHAPTER IX.
THE GOVERNORSHIP.
SECOND MESSAGE AND GENERAL OFFICIAL COURSE.
When Governor Cleveland had parted with
his first legislature, public opinion with reference
to him had undergone a great change. He was
no longer an unknown nor an untried man. He
had, of course, displeased many people. His
action both in vetoing and signing bills had
affected important interests, and it was impossible
for him to escape criticism. There can, however,
be no doubt that the general judgment of dis-
interested people was favorable to him, and he
was recognized by all as a firm and courageous
man who took great pains to find his duty, who
came to his conclusions deliberately, and acted
upon them without fear.
So industrious a governor had never been seen
in Albany. No hard-working lawyer has ever
devoted himself to business with an industry
greater than he had shown in doing the public's
work. He came to his room in the capitol at nine
"o'clock in the morning, and he seldom left it,
except to take his meals, before midnight. He
examined every bill with a close and critical
ii8
THE GOVERNORSHIP. II9
attention, nor ever decided upon one with whose
provisions he was not perfectly famihar. The
same care was taken with all other official acts.
The result has been not only an excellent per-
formance of the public service, but the Governor
has, himself, received a severe discipline and a
wide education from his labors. His second
annual message is a thorough and able docu-
ment, and shows that he had made himself famil-
iar with the concerns of all departments of the
State government, and was able to present
important suggestions for the increase of their
efficiency.
To every department he had given a proper
share of his time, thougrht and attention.
The building of a new capitol has been a work
of great embarrassment. It was begun under
the expectation that it could be built for about
four million dollars. It is not yet finished and
has cost sixteen millions. For a longf time it was
in charge of a commission appointed by the Gov-
ernor and Senate, In 1865 the constitution of
the commission was changed, and the duties of
Capitol Commissioner was devolved upon three of
the State officers, the Lieutenant Governor, the
Attorney-General and the Auditor of the Canal
Department. A change of administration had
led to a change of plan, but no changes had
brought about any diminution of cost. Nor was
that possible in view of the scale upon which the
I20 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
buildinof had been beorun. Unlike most of his
predecessors, Governor Cleveland at once
evinced a ereat interest in this work. He
expressed a desire that it should be completed
during his term ; that the delays which had been
frequent should no. longer be permitted, and that
the appropriations should be sufficient to carry it
continuously forward. He was willing to become,
himself, directly responsible for it. Accordingly,
he assented to a radical change in the administra-
tion of the building by which future construction
was placed under the charge of a single commis-
sioner.
The insane asylums and the other charitable
institutions have had the advantage of his watch-
fulness and care. He has insisted upon economy
in expenditures, but he has constantly shown that
he has taken a personal as well as an official
interest in their welfare.
The National Guard of New York has long
been a subject of importance to the Common-
W'calth. It has been brought to a state of
discipline quite unusual, and may be favorably
compared with any body of volunteer soldiery.
From the first, Governor Cleveland showed great
interest in the oreanization. He selected his staff
with an express reference to the promotion of its
efficiency, and he has given a very unusual amount
of his time and attendon to Its affairs.
He approved two measures relating to the sol-
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 121
cliers of the late war. By one of these acts Union
soldiers and sailors are given preference for
employment upon the public works. By another,
provision is made for the completion of the
records of the New York volunteers during the
war, and for their safe keeping.*
In a community so large as New York, and con-
taining so many great cities, the pardoning power
becomes one of the governor's most important
prerogatives. During Governor Cleveland's term
this power has been exercised with extraordinary
thoughtfulness and discretion. It is impossible
here to present the details of his action in the
performance of this duty, but any one who
chooses to examinf^ the memorandum which always
accompanies a pardon will find that every case
has been thoroughly examined, and that his
opinion has been formed after judicially consider-
ing all the facts and circumstances.
So, too, in the performance of the more painful
duty of deciding upon charges against public offi-
cers, the Governor has a considerable power of
removal. This power applies to sheriffs, district
attorneys, and some other officials. He has
always exercised it after great deliberation and in
a way which showed a strong sense of public duty.
A remarkable instance was the case of the District
Attorney of Queens County, against whom charges
had been made of malfeasance in office. It is not
in any way important here to recite these charges.
122 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
The most interesting matter connected with this
subject is the time and manner of the Governor's
action. An election was pending, and the accused
officer had been nominated by the Democrats for
the State Senate. If he were removed from office
it was quite clear that his Republican opponent
would be elected. The Governor, however, did
not hesitate to act by reason of these political
considerations, and having made up his mind, he
issued the order of removal on the 29th of Octo-
ber, about one week before the election.
Among the measures passed during his first
winter was an Act providing for the appointment
of a Commission to select and set-apart such lands
as might be found to be necessary for the preser-
vation of the scenery at Niagara Falls. All the
islands immediately above the falls, and the lands
upon the main shore, had early in the century
been sold to private citizens. Some of them have
been devoted to manufacturing purposes, the
forests upon the main land have been cut down,
and a process of deterioration has begun, which,
if continued, will soon destroy the charm and
interest which Niagara has had, as an object of
natural beauty and sublimity.
It had been some time in contemplation to pre-
serve Niagara by creating a State reservation, by
removing unsightly constructions and restoring,
so far as practicable, the scenery to its original
character. The efforts in this direction had been
I
THE GOVERNORSHIP. I 23
thwarted by the action of Governor Cornell, who
had indicated that if the proposed measure were
passed, he would refuse to sign it. Governor
Cleveland, however, showed a generous disposi-
tion to the undertaking, and encouraged the pas-
sage of the bill. The final step for the completion
of this work will probably be taken at the next
session of the Legislature, and if the recommend-
ations of the Commissioners are approved. Gov-
ernor Cleveland's administration will have won the
regard of the lovers of nature in all parts of the
world.
One important function which Governor Cleve-
land has exercised, may be said to be original
with himself, and is shown in the frequency with
which he has returned defective measures to the
Legislature for correction. It cannot be said that
this had not been done before but it had never
been done so often nor with such thoroughness.
It was his custom, when examining bills which
were presented to him for signature, not only to
consider whether they were constitutional or not,
but to carefully determine whether they accom-
plished the objects for which they were intended,
and also whether their provisions could not be
improved. He has frequently returned defective
bills to the Legislature with an elaborate commu-
nication not only pointing out defects but explain-
ing how they could be remedied. This work
devolved upon him a great labor, but has been of
124 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
high value to the State. Defects in the drawing
of laws are a source of constant difficulty, and of
litigations which occupy a large part of the time
of the courts.
Among the Important measures which he was
unable to sign on account of the defective
condition in which it came to him, was what has
been known as The Tenure of Office Bill, being
an Act fixing and regulating the tenns of office
of certain public officers in the City of New York.
The reasons which the Governor s^ave forvetoino-
this measure were so conclusive that the author
of the bill heartily approved of the Governor's
action, which was also tommended by the journals
in New York, which had at first expressed dissat-
isfaction with his action.
When Governor Cleveland entered upon his
office he was convinced of the necessity of a
reform in the Civil Service, especially as to the
selection of subordinate officers. The Demo-
cratic party in New York had been committed to
this policy by declarations repeatedly made by its
State Conventions. One of the first acts of the
Democratic Legislature of 1883 was the passage
of a bill establishino- a Board of Civil Service
Commissioners, who were to devise a system for
the reform of the service, not only In the depart-
ments of the State government, but also In the
municipalities of the State. The Commission
was made up by the appointment of John Jay,
THE GOVERNORSHIP. I 25
Augustus Schoonmaker and Henry A. Richmond,
This system has been put in operation in respect
to all State officers and institutions.
The Adirondack wilderness stretches over a
mountainous region about one hundred miles in
length and sixty in width, in the northeastern
corner of the State. This country was, until
lately, in its primeval state ; its forests were full
of eame, and its beautiful lakes and rivers
abounded with fish. It was the occasional resort
of adventurous travelers. But twenty years ago
a journey into the Adirondacks was in the nature
of an exploration, and was undertaken only by
those who were willing to' endure some hardships
and to encounter some dangers.
These conditions have lately changed. The
mountains have been made accessible, and are
now resorted to by crowds of summer tourists,
and hotels have been built upon the principal
lakes. The State has, from time to time, sold
many of the lands, and the forests have been cut
off from laro^e areas. The ereat rivers of the
State take their rise in this region, — the Hud-
son, the Mohawk and the Black River. Their
waters supply the Erie Canal and the upper
channels of the Hudson, and are essential to the
commerce of the State. The rapid destruction
of the northern woods endangers the water
courses by exposing them to disastrous inunda-
tions and to protracted droughts. Plans for the
126 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
preservation of the forests have been much dis-
cussed by the pubhc press and by the New York
Chambers of Commerce and other pubhc bodies.
In his second message the Governor treated
this subject at length, and under his inspiration
the Legislature has taken cautious action, and a
Commission of Inquiry has been appointed.
No thoughtful person, who has read this brief
summary of Mr. Cleveland's career as Governor,
will fail to notice how he has grown with time
and the occasion. The hand which took the
reins of power hesitatingly has become accus-
tomed to them, and now holds them in a firm and
skillful grasp.
A speech which the Governor made at the Albany
High School contains some observations which
must have been derived from his own experience.
It is here given both as an expression of his opin-
ions upon important subjects, and by reason of
its biographical value. He said :
" I accepted the invitation of your principal to visit
your school this morning with pleasure, because I
expected to see much that would gratify and interest me.
In this I have not been disappointed. But I must con-
fess that if I had known that my visit here involved my
attempting to address you, I should have hesitated, and
quite likely have declined the invitation.
" I hasten to assure you now that there is not the
slightest danger of my inflicting a speech upon you, and
that I shall do but little more than to express my pleasure
THE GOVERNORSHIP. 12/
in the proof I have of the excellence of the methods and
management of the school, and of the opportunities
which those who attend have within their reach of
obtaining a superior education.
" I never visit a school in these days without contrast-
ing the advantages of the scholar of to-day with those of
a time not many years in the past. Within my remem-
brance even, the education which is freely offered you
was only secured by those whose parents were able to
send them to academies and colleges. And thus, when
you entered this school very many of you began where
your parents left off.
" The theory of the State in furnishing more and better
schools for the children, is that it tends to fit them to
better perform their duties as citizens, and that an
educated man or woman is apt to be more useful as a
member of the community.
" This leads to the thought that those who avail them-
selves of the means thus tendered them are in duty
bound to make such use of their advantages as that the
State shall receive in return the educated and intelligent
citizens and members of the community which it has the
right to expect from its schools. You, who will soon be
the men of the day, should consider that you have
assumed an obligation to fit yourselves by the education,
which you may, if you will, receive in this school, for the
proper performance of any duty of citizenship, and to
fill any public station to which you may be called. And
it seems to me to be none the less important that those
who arc to be the wives and mothers should be educated,
refined and intelligent. To tell the truth, I should be
afraid to trust the men, educated though they should be,
if they were not surrounded by pure and true woman-
128 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
hood. Thus it is that you all, now and here, from the
oldest to the youngest, owe a duty to the State which can
only be answered by diligent study and the greatest
possible improvement. It is too often the case that in
all walks and places the disposition is to render the least
possible return to the State for the favors which she
bestows.
" If the consideration which I have mentioned fails to
impress you, let me remind you of what you have often
heard, that you owe it to yourselves and the important
part of yourselves to seize, while you may, the oppor-
tunities to improve your minds, and store into them, for
your own future use and advantage, the learning and
knowledge now fairly within your reach.
" None of you desire or expect to be less intelligent or
educated than your fellows. But unless the notions of
scholars have changed, there may be those among you
who think that in some way or manner, after the school
day is over, there will be an opportunity to regain any
ground now lost, and to complete an education without
a present devotion to school requirements. I am sure
this is a mistake. A moment's reflection ought to con-
vince all of you that when you have once entered upon
the stern, uncompromising and unrelenting duties of
mature life, there will be no time for study. You will
have a contest then forced upon you which will strain
every nerve and engross every faculty. A good educa-
tion, if you have it, will aid you, but if you are without
it, you cannot stop to acquire it. When you leave the
school you are well equipped for the van in the army
of life, or you are doomed to be a laggard, aimlessly and
listlessly following in the rear.
" Perhaps a reference to truths so trite is useless here.
THE GOVERNORSHIP. I 29
I hope it is. But I have not been able to forego the
chance to assure those who are hard at work that they
will surely see their compensation, and those, if any such
there are, who find school duties irksome, and neglect or
slightingly perform them, that they are trifling with serious
things and treading on dangerous ground."
CHAPTER X.
THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION.
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES, MCDONALD, RANDALL, THURMAN, MORRISON,
CARLISLE, FIELD, BAYARD.
It was inevitable that immediately after his
election men should begin to consider Governor
Cleveland as a probable candidate for the Presi-
dency. There are powerful circumstances which
always tend to the nomination of a New Yorker
by the Democratic National Convention. As long
as the party is out of power these influences are
likely to control. The vote of the State in the
electoral college is necessary to success, and the
wealth of the State must be relied upon to pro-
vide for the expenses of a campaign. It has
happened, therefore, that since i860 all the
Democratic candidates for the Presidency, except
one, have been New Yorkers, or residents of
New York. For these reasons it is hardly pos-
sible for any one to come into special prominence
in the politics of the State without being looked
upon as a presidential possibility. This was
particularly so when a citizen came into the gov-
ernorship by a majority of nearly two hundred
thousand.
130
THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. I3I
The Governorship of New York had before
been the theatre where great national reputation
was won. In that office Horatio Seymour had
gained a fame wider and more tenderly cherished
than any Democrat of his time. He had never
held any federal employment whatever. All his
public life had been passed in the service of the
State, and two terms as governor had made him
the leader of his party, the recognized advocate
of its cause, and, in 1868, its nominee for Presi-
dent.
In the Governorship, Samuel J. Tilden had
made himself the most influential public man of
the day. He took office during General Grant's
second term at a time when public thought was
o^iven to federal affairs, and when Washino-ton
was the centre of political activities. Within six
months after Governor Tilden came to Albany,
that city had become the political centre, and he
the most prominent man in public life. His
ingenious, fertile and subtle intellect soon devised
interesting and far-reaching policies most attrac-
tive to thoughtful men, especially to those who
were influenced by the existing discontents, who
sought a reform in the administration of affairs
and aspired to higher and more intellectual
political life. His career at Albany brought him
a triumphant nomination to the Presidency, and
carried him successfully through one of the most
vehement contests ever known in this country.
132 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
The fraudulent devices by which the will of the
people was defeated had indeed deprived him of
the office to which he had been chosen, but had
brought to him a great accession of strength in
the popular sympathy and respect. The state of
his health had prevented him from accepting a
re-nomination in 1880, but during the past year
there arose a demand, quite universal, for his
nomination in 1884. All obstacles created by
personal hostilities, all jealousies, all aspirations
of rivals, and all interests of locality disappeared
before this vehement and commanding opinion.
Had he been permitted to yield to the popular
wish, he would have been nominated by his party
without a ballot, and with a unanimity not seen in
our history since the second administration of
Jackson. But it had long been known to intimate
friends that the resolve of 1880 was unchanged,
and that his health would not permit him to take
an office the duties of which are so onerous and
exacting. It was known therefore, at least to the
better instructed public men in New York, that
Governor Tilden would not be a candidate. His
candidacy was not an obstacle to any other
aspirant. This was not, however, generally
believed by the people and even up to within
a few weeks before the Convention the belief was
common that Mr. Tilden would accept the nom-
ination, and many delegates to the National Con-
vention were chosen as his supporters.
THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. I 35
It was by no means clear to the politicians of
New York what should be done. Difficulties had
arisen in the way of Governor Cleveland's nom-
ination. In 1863 the Republicans had elected
one of their candidates on the State ticket. Mr.
Purcell, the editor of the Rochester Union, had
been the Democratic candidate for Secretary of
State in 1881 and had been defeated with the rest
of the ticket, all the Democratic nominees having
also been defeated, except one. In 1883 he was
again a candidate, but his renomination was
opposed and defeated by those who were sup-
posed to have acted in accordance with the wishes
of the Governor. This incident produced a con-
siderable discontent, which showed itself at the
election by the defeat of Mr. Maynard, who had
been nominated in place of Mr. Purcell. All the
other Democratic candidates were elected, but
both branches of the Leg-islature were lost.
This untoward event the first year of Mr.
Cleveland's governorship, was considered by
many as most ominous, and as putting him out of
the question as a Presidential candidate. But as
time advanced and the meeting of another Legis-
lature again brought his official acts to the public
notice and consideration the adverse opinions
seemed to diminish.
Mr. Roswell P. Flower, his rival for the Gov-
ernorship, came openly forward as a Presidential
candidate in all parts of the State. Even before
136 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
the State Committee had issued its call for a Con-
vention, constituencies began to elect delegates
in Mr. Flower's interest. General Slocum was
also spoken of, but his name soon came to be
more frequently associated with the Vice-Pres-
idency, for which he would doubtless have been
nominated had a western man been chosen for the
first place. Mr. Abram S. Hewitt was also con-
sidered, and there were many reasons which
favored his selection. There are few men in the
public life of the country, who equal him in attain-
ments, and in the variety and value of his services.
But the opinion of the State steadily tended
towards Governor Cleveland, with a daily increas-
ing strength, retarded mainly by the doubts which
existed as to Mr. Tilden's intentions.
During all this time, Governor Cleveland occu-
pied a passive attitude. He took no steps what-
ever to promote his nomination. To those who
approached him, even his most intimate friends,
he was either silent or expressed a preference that
the matter should be dropped. He told the
writer that the discussion of his name was merely
a temporary incident, and that he did not think
there was any strong desire for his nomination.
He steadily refused to have any of the usual
means employed. He declined to have letters
written in his behalf, or to have any efforts made
to secure the election of delegates in his favor
from other States. He, in terms, forbade the
THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. 1 37
raising of any money, or the employment of any
agents, or the sending out of any biographical or
other hterary matter, to direct attention or influ-
ence opinion. He said, "If my party friends in
New York choose to present my name to the
National Convention, and if the delegates from
other States think well of it, and give me the
nomination, I will accept it, and if elected, will do
my duty as well as I can- ; but I will not myself
do, nor will I permit any one whom I can control
'to do, anything to influence party action upon the
subject."
The candidacy of Governor Cleveland was
greatly strengthened by the situation of other
public men in the party. For a time it seemed
as if the Western States would be substantially
united in favor of Mr. McDonald, lately United
States Senator from Indiana, but as the time for the
nomination approached, it became manifest that
the movement in his favor would not be sufficiently
strong to control Ohio and Illinois, nor even a
majority of the delegations from the Northwest.
There was some division, of opinion in his own
State, and notwithstanding the adhesion of Mr.
Hendricks to his cause, it can hardly be doubted
that there were a larofe number of Democrats in
Indiana who preferred Hendricks to McDonald,
In Illinois was General Palmer, an eminent
lawyer and a distinguished officer during the Civil
War, and also Colonel William R. Morrison, the
9
130 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Democratic leader of the House. Colonel Mor-
rison has remarkable qualifications for the Presi-
dency, and a career which has been full of inter-
esting incident. He was a soldier at Buena Vista,
and carried a musket in the ranks of the Illinois
regiment all through that day. He was the first
Union officer wounded at Donelson, and was
shot through the body while leading his regiment
in the first assault upon the fort. He has been
in the House since 1863, and knows the Govern-
ment, and its affairs, as well as any man in the
country. He is a frank and generous man, an
open foe, a tenacious friend. He has always
maintained the ancient doctrines of his party, and
has never yielded to the heresies which have
sometimes swept other men from their feet. His
record as to public expenditures, the tariff, and
the currency, has been without defect. His elec-
tion would have brought into the White House
an old-fashioned Democrat, plain in manners,
prompt in speech, with an abundance of shrewd
sense and dauntless courage. But for reasons
not well understood outside of the State, neither
Colonel Morrison nor General Palmer could bring
a united delegation from Illinois.
Mr. Randall was presented by Pennsylvania
early in the spring. He had afterwards lost a
great opportunity. He organized and led a suc-
cessful opposition to the efforts his party was
making to reduce taxation. Had he been willing
■w^^^^^
THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. I4I
to take a practicable and obvious course ; had he
assented to the party measures, which he could
easily have shaped, and led the Democrats of the
House in their attacks upon the oppressive and
unnecessary taxation, he would have rendered, a
great service to his country, and have become the
representative of a wise and beneficent policy.
In such a case, his nomination would have been
probable. But the course which, acting doubtless
upon honorable motives, he preferred to take as
to the most important measure of the session,
made it certain that his nomination would cause
serious divisions in the party. Mr, Carlisle, the
Speaker of the House, had gained great reputation
by his conduct during the session, but the condition
of party opinion upon the tariff, and perhaps the
fact that he was a resident of Kentucky, formerly
a slave State, soon made his nomination unlikely.
In the State of Ohio, opinion was greatly
divided. The defeat of Mr. Pendleton, who was
a candidate for re-election to the Senate, and
whose public career had been distinguished by his
devotion to the reform of the civil service, had
produced serious discontent among the Demo-
crats of the State. Judge Thurman occupied such
a position, and his career had been so eminent,
that it was supposed that all the Democrats of
Ohio would support his candidacy. This expecta-
tion, however, proved unfounded. The delegation
refused to present his name.
142 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Stephen J. Field, of California, a Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States, who had in
former years been considered in connection with
the Presidential office, was brought into prom-
inence by the decision of the Supreme Court
upon the question of the power of Congress, in
time of peace, to make treasury notes a legal
tender. This decision had carried what are
called the implied powers of Congress much
farther than had ever before been admitted o^
even suspected. It confers upon Congress not
only all that can be directly implied from the lan-
guage of the Constitution, but also all that can
well be imagined. To many persons this decision
seems to make a complete change in our system,
and if it is correct it will, doubtless, materially
diminish the respect for the Constitution, almost
amounting to veneration, which has hitherto been
felt for it by the people.
Justice Field delivered an opinion of great
learning, directness and eloquence, dissenting
from the new doctrines. He stood alone in the-
court, and instantly in all parts of the country
public thought turned towards him as one who
might fitly lead the Democratic forces.
But the American people have always shown
themselves unwilling to select a President from
the bench of the Supreme Court. Several
eminent judges have, in the past, been candi-
dates for the nomination, but in no important ^
THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. 1 43
instance has any of them succeeded. This is,
doubtless, due to a strong- disposition to hold the
judiciary as set apart from political strifes, and
as, in a sense, disqualified for political office. In
the case of Judge Field this disposition was, per-
haps, strengthened by an opposition to him in his
own State, which was carried so far that the State
Convention, in terms, refused to permit the pre-
sentation of his name.
The most formidable competitor, outside of
the State of New York, for the Presidential nom-
ination, was Thomas F, Bayard, Senator from the
State of Delaware. Mr. Bayard has been in the
Senate ever since his early manhood. During
his lonof career he has been identified with the
best approved public measures. All tendencies
in favor of reform inclined towards him. He
was acceptable to those classes of men in the
Republican party who were offended at party
methods, and who sought a reform of administra-
tion. He is personally most attractive. He has
a winning charm of conversation and of manner.
His life is in all respects honorable. He is sur-
rounded by able and influential friends, who not
only respect him, but regard him with warm affec-
tion. No one doubts his fitness for the place;
indeed, if such a question could be submitted to
and be decided by those best able to judge, he
would, doubtless, be selected for the Presidency
almost without dissent in his party.
144 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
The difficulties, however, which He in his way
appear to be serious ones. He was born in what
was called a slave State, although there were but
few slaves in Delaware at the breaking out of the
Civil War. In 1861 he delivered a speech at
Dover, in Maryland, which it is thought would
subject him to serious opposition in the Northern
States on account of the sympathy with the South
w^hich is betrayed. This speech is extremely
moderate in tone, and when one considers the
time of its delivery, and Mr. Bayard's youth, and
the influences which surrounded him, its modera-
tion is remarkable. To one who remembers the
condition of public opinion in June, 1861, the
excitement almost reaching frenzy, which filled
both North and South, the calm and patriotic
expressions of the Dover address disclose a
character of unusual temperance, and with a self-
control not often found in one so young, nor in a
time so exciting.
But whether rightfully or not, the Dover
speech, taken in connection with Mr. Bayard's
Southern birth, has hitherto prevented his selec-
tion. The delegates from the Southern States,
themselves, are never willing to incur what they
consider to be the risk of his nomination, and his
own State of Delaware is so small that it has little
power to assist him in a Convention. It is greatly
to be regretted that Mr. Bayard rests under such
disabilities, for no one doubts that he would bring
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THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. 1 47
to the Presidential office the completest qualifica-
tions, a mind thoroughly trained in affairs, and a
character quite Washingtonian in its symmetry.
It will be a strange and harsh result if so slight a
circumstance shall permanently deprive him of
our highest civic honor.
CHAPTER XL
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
THE MORRISOiN BILL — THE STATE CONVENTION.
The Presidential question had been greatly
affected by the course of events in Congress.
The result of the session had been such as to leave
the Democracy without a clearly defined political
issue. A demand for reform hardly presents a
question of politics, but must always depend upon
professions which can be made as easily by one
party as by the other.
When Congress met it seemed to be easy to
make an issue of the most absorbing character.
The former Cono-ress had refused to reduce taxa-
tion. The public revenues had swollen to enorm-
ous dimensions, and were largely in excess of the
necessities of the Government. One would say
that it would be difficult to present to a practical
and business people like the Americans, a subject
more likely to interest them than the abolition of
unnecessary taxes. They were descended from a
people who had deposed and beheaded their king
because of o-rievances about taxation. Their
ancestors, when poor and few in numbers, had for
148
THE rOLITICAL SITUATION. 1 49
a similar reason revolted and wacred an eiofht
years' war.
It was easy to cut off seventy millions of
taxes. The Democrats in the House set them-
selves to this work with considerable confidence
of success. The only doubt was, as to whether
the Republican Senate would concur. But if the
Senate should refuse, the issue would be sent to
the country under the most favorable conditions
for Democratic success in the elections. It was
not thought that the Republicans would walk into
so open a trap. But the Republicans at once
refused to consent to the reduction of taxation.
They seemed to think that high taxes were of the
essence of orooci ofovernment.
Mr. Blaine, early in the session proposed, in a
public letter, that the taxes upon distilled spirits
should be made permanent, and that when no
longer needed by the Federal Government, the
revenues should be distributed among the States.
Such a measure would destroy the last vestige of
State independence. Relieved of the necessity
of providing for local purposes, the State Legis-
latures would soon disappear, and the government
of the country become a consolidated one.
The measures contemplated by the Democrats
were designed to effect a reduction of between
sixty^ and seventy millions, of which about one-
half was to be taken from the tariff and the remain-
der from internal taxes. The first of these meas-
150 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
ures, that relating to the tariff, was known as the
Morrison Bill, and was reported to the House as
soon as it could be matured by the committee.
A party caucus approved it. The Democrats
had a majority so large as to be able to carry any
measure they supported. But some of their num-
ber determined, on one ground and another, to
oppose the bill, and the question of its considera-
tion was saved from defeat by a narrow majority.
After a debate lasting three weeks, at the stage
of the proceedings when, under the rules, amend-
ment was for the first time possible, a Demo-
cratic Representative from Ohio moved that the
enactinor clause be stricken out. This motion had
to be decided without debate and was carried by
a majority of two, forty Democrats voting with the
Republicans in favor of the motion.
This action prevented any political issue from
being based upon a reform of the tariff and the
reduction of taxes. It is believed that it is the
only instance in history in which a party out of
power, and soliciting the favor of the people,
has deliberately refused to reduce unnecessary
taxes.
It is commonly said that Democratic defeats
during the past fifteen years have been due to the
blunders of the Democrats themselves. But this
is perhaps a superficial opinion. The cause of the
defeats may more easily be found, in the lack of
that unity of opinion which must exist in order that
THE POLITICAL SITUATION. I5I
a voluntary association, like a political party, shall
have coherency and discipline.
The absence of any political issue between the
parties was favorable to the nomination of a can-
didate who had not been connected with Federal
affairs.
The Republican Convention, however, supplied
the country with another issue. The nomination
of Mr. Blaine presented a serious question as to
his fitness. He had been charged with gross mis-
conduct, and even in his own party there were
many who believed the charges to be true. His
nomination was followed by a great defection, and
amonor the dissenters were men of the hiehest
political and personal consideration. Most prom-
inent among them were George William Curtis,
the editor of Harpers Weekly, and Carl Shurz,
a German, who has played a distinguished part in
our affairs.
Mr. Blaine's nomination made it essential that*
the Democratic candidate should antaofonize him
as to the matters which subjected him to reproach.
The New York State Convention was appointed to
meet on the i8th of June, and the week before
Mr. Tilden broke the silence which up to that
time he had preserved, and published a letter,
addressed to Mr. Manning, the Chairman of the
State Committee, announcing to the public his
intention, long privately known, not to accept the
Presidential nomination.
152 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
This event brought matters to a crisis. The
name of Governor Cleveland was immediately
presented to the people by an article in the
Albany Argiis, to which paper is given the char-
acter of the party organ. It was received with
favor in all parts of the country, and particularly
so by the Republican journals which had refused
to support Mr. Blaine, and by the citizens whom
they represented. In some of the States there
was at once a stronof drift of sentiment in favor of
Cleveland, but in New York there sprung up a
vigorous and resolute opposition to him. The
Nciij York S2U1, the paper 01 the widest circulation,
and by far the most influential of the journals
which advocate Democratic doctrines, refused to
accept his candidacy, and the Democrats who
meet in Tammany Hall also refused to accept it.
To this opposition was added that of certain of the
labor and other industrial organizations, which
seemed to have accepted the leadership of
General Butler.
The State Convention met at Saratoga Springs
under circumstances of considerable doubt as
to what its action would be. There was a ques-
tion before the Convention as to the represent-
ation which should be given to Tammany Hall.
The Tammany men were dissatisfied with that
which had been granted them in 1882-3, and
demanded to be at least placed on an equality
with the county Democracy. After some diffi-
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THE rOLITICAL SITUATION. 1 55
ciilty, this demand was yielded to, but it was
thought to be wise, by those who had Governor
Cleveland's interests in hand, not to present
to the Convention the direct question of his
candidacy. In 1876, the State Convention had
formally presented Governor Tilden to the
consideration of the National Convention. At
Saratoga, it was resolved not to follow that
precedent
The Convention confined its action, so far as
respected the Presidential nomination, to the
selection of delegates, and to the passage of the
usual resolution, authorizing a majority of the
delegation to throw the vote of the State as a
unit. Immediately upon its adjournment, a
serious doubt was raised as to whether the dele-
gation was, in fact, in favor of Governor
Cleveland. Two of the delegates at laro-e were
open opponents. The Brooklyn politicians, who
had for years acted with what is known as the
Tilden wing- of the party, had, at the State Con-
vention, stood apart from their old allies. The
eight representatives of the Tammany Democracy
were opponents of the Governor. Mr. Purcell
was in the delegation, and was earnestly against
him ; and other delegates, whose number, how-
ever, was uncertain, were either favorable to Mr.
Flower, or friends of Senator Bayard. Indeed, it
was confidently asserted, that when the delegation
came to meet at Chicago, it would be found that
156 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
a majority of its members were in favor of Mr.
Bayard's nomination.
These circumstances gave rise to an angry
public discussion almost without precedent, and
yet amidst all the clamor, it was clearly observ-
able that general opinion gradually tended
towards Governor Cleveland. Mr. Cleveland
may be said to have grown up since the war.
His whole career was subsequent to that event,
and none of his public actions had had any rela-
tion to the causes of difference which had pro-
duced the war, or which were involved in the
controversies that came after it had ended. He
had therefore no connection with the first issues
which had divided parties in the past. There
was against him no such obstacle as Mr. Bayard's
Dover speech, and like Mr. Bayard his character
and career stood in marked contrast with that of
Mr. Blaine. Besides, it was easy for the Repub-
licans who had voted for him in 1882 to do so again.
In a sense he had been their Governor. They
were in part responsible for him, and were satis-
fied with him. During all this discussion, down to
the very last, Mr. Cleveland's attitude was
unchanged. He had accepted the idea of his
candidacy, and no longer remonstrated with the
friends who were advocating It, but he turned
neither to the rieht nor to the left.
CHAPTER XII.
THE CONVENTION AND NOMINATION.
THE UNIT RULE — PLATFORM.
It does not lie within the scope of this sketch
to present a detailed account of the proceeding
at Chicago. A National Convention is always an
interesting expression of the political life of this
country. No such thing exists or can exist any-
where else. It meets under conditions which
require immediate action. The work it has to do
must necessarily be done quickly, and with little
discussion. So numerous an assemblage cannot
long be kept together. It therefore presents a
theatre where action must be prompt and decisive,
and where men of strong characters, who are
able to deal with great masses of people, and at
once to master important affairs, find a fit field
for their powers.
It is always an able body, far more able than
Congress ; but the Convention which assembled
at Chicago on the 8th of July contained a very
unusual number of important men. General
Butler, who had already received the nomination
of at least two political bodies, was a member of
157
158 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
the Massachusetts delegation. Judge Thurman
was in the delegation from Ohio. Colonel Mor-
rison and General Palmer were both representa-
tives from Illinois, and Mr. Hendricks, who had
been Mr, Tilden's rival in 1876, and had been his
party's candidate that year for Vice-President,
was at the head of the Indiana delegation. With
him was associated Mr. Vorhees, almost unequaled
for the power and effectiveness of his popular
oratory. The Governor of Connecticut headed
the delegation from that State. Mr. Vilas of
Wisconsin, an orator who has lately risen to dis-
tinction, was the permanent President. The dele-
gation from New York contained Mr. Belmont,
Mr. Cooper, Mr. Manning, Mr. Magone, Mr.
Hewitt, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Travers, Mr. Kings-
ley and other men of mark. A large number of
the members of the House of Representatives
were delegates, and several of the Senators.
Nearly all the prominent Democrats in both
Houses of Congress were present either as par-
ticipants, or as witnesses to the proceedings of
the body.
The opposition to Governor Cleveland at Chi-
cago was carried on with the greatest vigor, under
the leadership of Mr. Kelly and General Buder,
assisted by the friends of Mr. Bayard and Senator
Thurman. Every inch of ground was contested.
Their first effort was to abrogate the rule by
which a majority of a State delegation was per-
THE CONVENTION AND NOMINATION. 1 59
mitted to cast the entire vote of the State as a
unit.
This rule was of ancient origin. The Demo-
cratic National Conventions from the first estab-
lished two somewhat peculiar rules of procedure.
One of these requires that a nomination must be
made by the votes of two-thirds of the delegates.
The other recognizes the right of the State to
authorize the majority of its delegation to throw
its entire vote as a unit upon a!l questions. The
latter of these rules was made the point of attack.
It had before been subjected to assault. In the
National Convention of 1844 an effort was made
to chancre it. That effort had caused a lone
debate, in which the ablest Democratic leaders
of that time took part ; but the Convention then
refused to change the rule.
New York has always granted this power to
the majority of its delegation, but the power
has not been always used. On a memorable
occasion, those who had it in their hands refrained
from using it. In 1852 William L. Marcy, of
New York, was a candidate for the Presidential
nomination. The majority of the delegation, led
by Horatio Seymour, was friendly to him, but
there was a considerable opposition in the delega-
tion. The session of the Democratic Convention
of that year was very protracted. The vote of
New York was divided between Mr. Marcy and
other candidates. Several times the delegates
l60 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
from other States, in particular those from Vir-
ginia, went to the New York leader, and told him
that if the united vote of New York were thrown
for Marcy they would come to his support. At
one time such a movement would doubtless have
produced Marcy's nomination. But the majority
of the delegation was not willing to coerce their
colleagues. For that reason the vote of the State
was never united.
Governor Seymour, speaking of these events a
few years ago, said : " It is quite likely that I
there made the greatest error of my life. Had
Governor Marcy been the President, we might
have avoided the repeal of the Missouri Compro-
mise, and the fatal consequences of that measure.
But, I could not bring myself to throw the vote
of a representative against his will."
It is thought that the discussion at Chicago will
lead to the abrogfation of the unit rule. But there
are certain considerations, not obvious at first, in
favor of its continuance. The unit rule is an
expression of the anatomy of the State. In a
Democratic Convention the States and not the
districts are represented. It is they who act and
not the individual delegates. Besides, the rule
adds to the power and influence of the large
States. If the rule should be broken New York
would not be more potent in a National Conven-
tion than New Enofland.
This question was presented at Chicago by
THE CONVENTION AND NOMINATION. l6l
some of the delegates from New York, who were
powerfully seconded by gentlemen from other
States. Had they succeeded the result of the
Convention micrht have been different. The
motion to change the unit rule was, of course,
opposed by the friends of Governor Cleveland.
After a vicrorous debate the motion was defeated
by a decisive vote, and it then became quite certain
that Governor Cleveland's nomination could not
be prevented.
The subject of the platform was also a matter
of unusual interest. The action of Congress had
strengthened the difference which had always
existed in Democratic ranks upon the subject of
tariff taxation. The Committee on Resolutions was
so organized that, as to the tariff, it was quite equally
divided. Mr. Watterson of Kentucky, Mr. Hewitt
of New York, and Col. Morrison of Illinois were
members of the Committee and represented the
tariff reformers. General Butler and Mr. Con-
verse of Ohio represented those who wished to
recognize the principle of protection. Mr. Manton
Marble, who was the author of the platform of
1876, a public document of unusual merit, and the
declaration of principles upon which the party
had succeeded at the elections for the only time
in a quarter of a century, was present in Chicago
and actively assisted the Committee.
The work of the Committee was finally accom-
plished without compromising the historic position
1 62 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
of the party upon the subject of the tariff The
Democratic platform, a thoughtful and elaborate
document, is presented in the later pages of this
volume.
Even after the vote upon the unit rule it was
not certain that two-thirds of the Convention were
in favor of Cleveland. Therefore, an effort was
made to concentrate all the opposition to him
upon some one of the candidates. It was thought
that, if that could be done, a compact body of
more than one-third could be organized who
would so protract the proceedings as to compel
the majority to assent to the nomination of some
other person. This effort, however, proved unsuc-
cessful, and upon the second ballot Governor
Cleveland received the nomination by a vote oi
much more than two-thirds of the deleofates in
attendance.
Mr. Cleveland's cause at Chicago was cham-
pioned by skillful politicians. Most of them came
from the large cities. They were accustomed to
act together, and to encounter opposition vigor-
ously, but without unnecessary temper. Many
of them were young men with the dash and
energy of youth. Prominent among them were
the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Hill ; the Comp-
troller, Mr. Chapin ; and Mr. Apgar, a politician
of unusual sagacity and experience.
After a session of only four days the Conven-
tion adjourned, amidst expressions of unbounded
THE CONVENTION AND NOMINATION. 1 63
enthusiasm and confidence, having chosen as the
Democratic candidates :
FOR PRESIDENT,
GROVER CLEVELAND,
OF NEW YORK.
FOR VICE-PRESIDENT,
THOMAS A. HENDRICKS,
OF INDIANA.
When he was nominated, Governor Cleveland
was in his office at Albany. He had been there
all the morning busily at work. A message came
announcing the nomination. He interrupted his
work long enough to receive the congratulations
of some friends, and to direct that the news
should be telephoned to his sister, and then
turned to his desk and papers.
He has ever since treated the matter as if it
was not a personal concern. He spends his days
in his office as he has been accustomed to do.
No introduction to him is needed. No one is
excluded from his room. He will not take any
part in the canvass. He will live in the Gov-
ernor's house, and attend to his duties. If it is
the people's will that he shall be elected, it is for
them to express their purpose. He will do noth-
ing to influence their judgment. He can do
nothing more. They must decide upon the prin-
ciples for which he stands, and upon his life and
character.
164 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
On the 29th of July, the last event connected
with his nomination took place. According to
custom, the National Convention appointed a
committee to inform the candidates of their selec-
tion. This ceremony took place in the drawing-
room of the Governor's house at. Albany. The
candidate was surrounded by members of his
family, by the sisters to whose support he had
given the scanty earnings of his youth, and by
many of his personal and political friends. The
speech which he delivered in reply to the address
of the Chairman of the Committee is in these
words :
''Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee :
"Your formal announcement does not, of course,
convey to me the first information of the result
of the Convention lately held by the Democracy
of the Nation, and yet, when, as I listen to your
message, I see about me representatives from all
parts of the land of the great party which, claim-
ing to be the party of the people, asks them to
intrust to it the administration of their govern-
ment, and when I consider under the influence of
the stern reality which the present surroundings
create, that I have been chosen to represent the
plans, purposes and the policy of the Democratic
party, I am profoundly impressed by the solemnity
of the occasion, and by the responsibility of my
position. Though I gratefully appreciate it I do
THE CONVENTION AND NOMINATION. 1 65
not at this moment congratulate myself upon the
distinguished honor which has been conferred
upon me, because my mind is full of an anxious
desire to perform well the part which has been
assigned to me.
"Nor do I at this moment forget that the rights
and interests of more than fifty millions of my
fellow-citizens are involved in our efforts to eain
Democratic supremacy. This reflection presents
to my mind the consideration which more than all
others gives to the action of my party in conven-
tion assembled its most sober and serious aspect.
The party and "its representatives which ask to be
entrusted at the hands of the people with the
keeping of all that concerns their welfare and
their safety, should only ask it with the full appre-
ciation of the sacredness of the trust, and with a
firm resolve to administer it faithfully and well. I
am a Democrat because I believe that this truth
lies at the foundation of true Democracy. I have
kept the faith, because I believe if rightly and
fairly administered and applied. Democratic doc-
trines and measures will insure the happiness,
contentment and prosperity of the people.
"If, in the contest upon which we now enter, we
steadfastly hold to the underlying principles" of
our party creed, and at all times keep in view the
people's good, we shall be strong, because we are
true to ourselves, and because the plain and
independent voters of the land will seek by their
1 66 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
suffrages to compass their release from party
tyranny, where there should be submission to the
popular will, and their protection from party cor-
ruption where there should be devotion to the
people's interests. These thoughts lend a conse-
cration to our cause, and we go forth, not merely
to gain a partisan advantage, but pledged to
give to those who trust us the utmost benefits
of a pure and honest administration of National
affairs. No higher purpose or motive can stimu-
late us to supreme effort, or urge us to continuous
and earnest labor and effective party organization.
Let us not fail in this, and we may confidently
hope to reap the full reward of patriotic services
well performed. I have thus called to mind some
simple truths, and, trite though they are, it seems
to me we do well to dwell upon them at this time.
I shall soon, I hope, signify, in the usual formal
manner, my acceptance of the nomination which
has been tendered to me. In the meantime I
gladly greet you all as co-workers in the noble
cause."
CHAPTER XIII.
GENERAL ESTIMATE OF FITNESS OF CHARACTER.
In conclusion, it seems appropriate that some-
thing should be said by way of an estimate of
Grover Cleveland's fitness for the great office to
which he has been nominated.
It is said that he is without the necessary expe-
rience and training. But in this particular, his
deficiencies, if they exist, are not without pre-
cedent. Neither Jackson, nor Taylor, nor Lincoln,
nor Grant, had had as much civil experience as
Cleveland has had. Jackson's short service in
Congress is hardly remembered. Lincoln's only
official training had been a single term in the
House, and a man may be half a life-time in the
House without being subjected to the discipline
which a year in the Governorship of New York
will give. Taylor and Grant, when they came to
the Presidency, had never been in any kind of
civil employment.
As has been seen, Cleveland went into official
life when he was only twenty-six years old. The
District Attorneyship of a large city is an admirable
school for a public man, and gives a wide experi-
ence of men and life. He was afterwards, for
167
I 68 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
three years, the Sheriff of the county, and, on the
I St of January next, he will have had three years'
experience in high executive office. The two
years in the Governorship has been a period of
severe labor. The subjects presented to him
have been more varied and more perplexing than
most matters upon which a President has to act.
He has had the anomalous power of vetoing
items in appropriation bills. He has thus been a
part of the Legislature, and has been called upon
to consider the propriety of measures before they
were introduced.
The Legislature of New York deals with a
greater variety of interests, and with more compli-
cated topics than Congress. It regulates all the
concerns of a community more populous and
far more wealthy than England in the reign of
Elizabeth. The laws passed at Albany are more
than double the volume of those passed in Wash-
ington. But in Washington, legislation is more
carefully done. The work of committees is more
thorough. The New York Legislature sits but
four days in a week, while Congress quite gener-
ally sits every week day. The President is never
perplexed by imperfect measures. No one can
recall an instance in which he has returned a bill
with suggestions for its correction and amend-
ment, while, as has been seen, this is a frequent
occurrence at Albany. The President has more
time for deliberation than the Governor, for the
ESTIMATE OF FITNESS OF CHARACTER. 1 69
bills which are presented to him are few in
number, and he is never thrown under the stress
of four or five hundred bills, precipitated upon
him at once, and to be disposed of in thirty days,
as is always the case at the close of the Session
at Albany. Besides, the President has the assist-
ance of a Cabinet, which he may choose from the
most experienced and eminent men in the country.
The Governor has no such assistance. The heads
of departments in Albany are in no sense his
adjutants. They are often of different politics, and,
during Governor Cleveland's first year, all of the
State offices, save one, were filled by Republicans.
The opinion is here deliberately expressed, that
two years in the Governorship are, to say the
least, quite equal, as a school of Statesmanship, to
the same time in the Presidency. Would any
one doubt, that a man who had served two years
as President, as acceptably as Mr. Cleveland has
as Governor, would be a fit Presidential candi-
date ?
The qualifications of a public man are not neces-
sarily, nor often, proportioned to the length of his
official career. The history of the United States
and England is full of examples of men who have
passed long lives in office and in useful and honor-
able service, but who never became fitted for the
highest employments. A statesman must be
judged by what he has done, not by the length of
his service. Judged by this test, can there be a
lyO LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
doubt that Mr. Cleveland will meet the require-
ments of the Presidency? The most essential
of those requirements are qualities of character
and not intellectual ones. A President should
have courage, integrity, firmness and self-reliance.
Governor Cleveland has shown all these traits in
more than one conspicuous instance.
At the present time it is of special importance
that a Democratic President should have a certain
independence of party. The election of a Demo-
crat can only be brought about by a great change in
the public opinion of the Northern States. Thous-
ands of Republicans must become willing to vote
for a Democrat. It is not likely that they will be
willing to vote for one who is, in the strictest
sense, a partisan, and who will go into office with
violent partisan feelings and purposes. This last
qualification Governor Cleveland certainly pos-
sesses. He has clearly shown that he knows
where the line is which separates duty to country
from duty to party, and he has never failed to rise
to the higher level when the occasion called him
there.
At the same time, no one can well administer
the affairs of our Government without the assist-
ance of a party organization. It is through parties
that men come to an agreement as to policies,
through them they announce their principles and
their intentions. A neglect of party obligations
would therefore be the betrayal of a trust. These
ESTIMATE OF FITNESS OF CHARACTER. I71
obligations should rest with special force upon the
conscience of a Chief Magistrate who stands before
the world, the incarnation of his country's honor,
and whose betrayal of his party's trust would sap
the foundations of the State, and set up an evil
example to the world.
Grover Cleveland has been a steadfast Demo-
crat. He has shared all the fortunes of his party,
and has always been found under its standard,
whether the hour was one of victory or defeat.
His administration will be Democratic in form
and in substance.
To these qualifications he adds a steady, sub-
stantial and vigorous mind. He expresses him-
self in nervous and intelligible terms. All his
utterances can be understood by plain unlettered
people. He takes a firm hold of every subject
which comes before him, and looks at it from
every side, until he understands it completely.
He is ready to take advice, and often asks for it,
but he makes up his own mind, and then acts not
only with courage, but without misgiving.
He is a genuine American — the product of
our own soil and institutions. He has never been
even a visitor to foreign countries. In his veins
ilows the blood of EnofHshmen, of Irishmen, and
of Germans. These are the races who have
peopled the United States and made them great.
He represents them all. He has a strong man's
love for the land where he was born, and in which
172 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
his parents are buried. His kindred have lived
here many generations ; they have been soldiers,
and farmers and mechanics, and preachers of the
Gospel. His ancestry is the best that can be
found, an ancestry of frugal, laborious and patriotic
men and women.
The writer of these pages has known Grover
Cleveland well ever since he came to Buffalo,
knows all the main events of his life, and all the
features of his mind and character, and has no
doubt that, if elected to the Presidency, he will fill
the office honorably, and most usefully to his
country.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
OF
Thomas A, Hendricks,
Nominee for the Vice-Presidency of the
United States.
BY
W. U. HENSEL.
"He is a good Democrat; a reputable man." — New
York Times, Rep.
"Since the war commenced I have uniformly said
that the authority of the Government of the United
States is not questioned in Indiana, and that I regarded
it as the duty of the citizens of Indiana to respect and
maintain that authority, and to give the Government an
honest and earnest support in the prosecution of the
war, until, in the providence of God, it may be brought
to an honorable conclusion and the blessings of peace
restored to our country, postponing until that time all
controversy in relation to the causes and responsibilities
of the war. No man will feel a deeper solicitude in the
welfare and proud bearing of Indiana's soldiery, in the
conflict of arms to which they are called, than my-
self."— Thomas A. Hendricks, April 24th, 186 1.
"An honest jurist, an able and incorruptible states-
man, and a wise politician." "His record as Senator,
Representative, Commissioner, and State Legislator is
pure and untarnished." — JVew York Tribune, July 22d,
1872.
"We need to have the books in the Government
ofiices opened for examination." — Thomas A. Hendricks,
July I2th, J884.
oy^ 6^ A/^
\^
CHAJ'TER I.
THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT.
" Gentlemen, I do not know whether the framers of the Constitution
had in view the two Kings of Sparta, the two Consuls of Rome, or the
two Suffetes of Carthage when they formed ii — -the one to have all the
power while he held it, and the other to be nothing. Gentlemen, I feel
great difficulty how to act. I am possessed of two separate powers — the
one in esse, the other in fosse. I am Vice-President. In this I am nothing,
but I may be everything. But I am President also of the Senate. \\ hen
the President comes into the Senate what shall I be? I wi>h, gentlemen,
to think, what I shall be." — John Adams, First Vice-President, to the
Senate.
THERE have been Vice-Presidents and
Vice-Presidents. John Adams held sec-
ond place to Washington and succeeded
him in the Executive Chair. Thomas Jefferson
followed Adams' succession. Aaron Burr's treach-
erous abuse of the generous confidence which
made him the choice of Jefferson's friends for the
Vice-Presidency did not secure for him the end of
his ambition; neither could it be punished by his
exclusion from the next place of prominence in
the Federal Government. But it led to that
change of the fundamental law which, in the en-
actment and adoption of the Twelfth Amendment,
empowered the electors to choose directly the
Vice-President instead of bestowing that office
upon the second highest candidate for President.
The differences arising out of the bitter quarrel
177
178 Z//:i5 OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
that ensued between Burr and the Jeffersonians
were the beginning of that downward career
which cuhninated in Burr's crime and ended in his
poverty, neglect, and death. Under Jefferson's
second Administration and the first of Madison's
terms, Georcre CHnton brouQ^ht to the Vice-Presi-
dency an honored name, worth and fit dignity ;
Elbridge Gerry, elected Vice-President to Madi-
son, died suddenly in the second year of his term ;
Daniel D. Tompkins, who went into office and
out of it with Monroe, in the uneventful era of
good feeling, was a more conspicuous statesman
before than after he became Vice-President ; John
C. Calhoun, previously distinguished as a Repre- '
sentative and by brilliant cabinet service, became
Vice-President by the mutual consent of the fierce
Adams and Jackson factions in the electoral strug-
gle of 1824, but differed almost throughout his
Administration from the President, and was an
active party to the combination which defeated
him. Personal and political alienation and a re-
vival of the old troubles between Monroe's War
Secretary and the chief captain of the Seminole
War soon produced a far more violent rupture
between Jackson and Calhoun than had ever oc-
curred between Adams and Calhoun, ensuing in
the latter's antagonism of Van Buren, followed
with Van Buren's own political ascendency, first
as Vice-President, then as President, to be followed
with his defeat, even after Calhoun had become
THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT.
1/9
reconciled to his support. Richard M. Johnson,
the Van Buren candidate for Vice-President, failed
of election in the Electoral College, but was
chosen by the House. It was not until 1841 that
John Tyler realized to the country the importance
of the Vice-Presidential succession, and by his es-
trangement from the party which had made Har-
rison President taught the politicians that they had
not, by the policy pursued in the selections they
made for Vice-President, avoided the dangers
which it had been sought to obviate by the consti-
tutional amendment of 1S03.
Since then it has happened, within a period no
longer than the space of a generation, that three
Vice-Presidents have succeeded to vacancies
caused by death, and none of them has attained,
by election, the office to which he came by acci-
dent, though all aspired to It. Fillmore was chosen
Vice-President by the same electors who made
Taylor President, but his signature to the Fugitive
Slave Law, approved by a vote of 227 to 60, In
the next National Convention of his party, lost
him a renomlnatlon. William R. KInof's Ions?
career of usefulness and distinction was crowned
with election to the Vice-Presidency ; and a grace-
ful grant by Congress gave him permission to
take the oath of office in Cuba, where, on March
4th, 1853, he was sojourning for his health.
John C. Breckenrldge's name was a fit one to be
associated with any Democratic candidate and to
l8o ^^-^^ ^^ THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
be honored by election in 1856. He was the
nominee of one wing of his party, in its fatal dis-
sensions of i860, for the highest place. Hamlin's
defeat for renomination, in 1864, was due to a
spirit of concession to the Southern Loyalists,
and resulted in the Johnson succession to the
murdered Lincoln, with all the train of political
complications that followed. Colfax's defeat for
renomination as Vice-President with Grant is as-
cribed to the hostility of the newspaper corres-
pondents, whose righteous wrath he had provoked.
Mr. Wheeler " elided through the official routine "
of Hayes' term, to be submerged by the obscurity
which has settled upon the whole of that Admin-
istration ; while Arthur has shared the fate of Fill-
more— in seeing his policy almost unanimously
indorsed by his party and himself rejected.
I have thought it wise, for reasons which may
or may not be obvious, to preface the biographi-
cal sketch of the Democratic nominee for Vice-
President of 1884 with this brief review of those
who have been chosen to the place, their relations
with their Presidents and to their parties, and
especially to note the peculiar tendency of par-
ties at all times to balance their tickets by select-
ing candidates for second place upon such con-
siderations as would almost certainly foreshadow
a departure of administration in the event of their
constitutional succession during the term for
which the President had been chosen.
THE OFFICE OF VICE-FRESIDEXT. j c^ ^
Despite the fact that In the present event Mr.
Hendricks, without any forethought and certainly
by no action of his own, was at one time during
the proceedings of the Convention which nomi-
nated Mr. Cleveland his principal competitor in the
balloting for first place, his nomination to the
second was effected by widely different influences,
and was directed by other considerations than those
which have so often produced the fateful results
of party dissensions following Vice-Presidential
successions.
In tracing, however briefly, his career, his pri-
vate character and his public life, his steady
progress in popular affection and esteem, his un-
exampled continuance of leadership in one of the
great parties of a great State — alternating control
of it — his course as Senator and Governor, at all
times a faithful representative of the people and
a conservator of sound public Interests, I hope to
be able to demonstrate the propriety and fitness
and wisdom of his nomination, and to present an
example of Integrity of conduct and purity of
character and sound judgment to those who be-
lieve these qualities are essential to the adminis-
trators of government, and to show to the aspiring
youth of the country that in the end it Is the
genius of common sense which conquers and con-,
verts obstacle into opportunity.
CHAPTER II.
ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE.
IN the settlement of Pennsylvania, where were
nourished the springs which fed streams of
emigration and pioneer enterprise reaching to
every part of the West, Northwest, and South there
were no better strains of blood than the Irish and
Scotch, or that in which these commingled and
which came to be called — not without dispute as to
the propriety of it — " Scotch-Irish." The people
thus called had above all things " grit," and they j
displayed it in social life, in religion and politics, in '
war and council ; they bred men and women of
full stature ; they built churches and colleges ;
they were true to their homes and hospitable to
the stranger ; they educated their children ; they
were patriots and politicians ; they could fight and
pray. The more thrifty and cautious German often
succeeded to their inheritance of the soil, but they
le/t the imperishable stamp of their individuality
wherever they settled, and they wrote their names
yvith steel and flint on the records of the time.
Out in the Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland
Cqunty, Western Pennsylvania, there is a stream
called " Hendricks' Run," which flows into the
Conemaugh ; thence its waters reach the Alle-
182
ANCESTR V AND EARL Y LIFE. \ 8 -^
gheny, and finally find dieir way to the Gulf.
To one of the water powers of that brook, which
murmured
" Under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses,"
the ancestors of Thomas A. Hendricks chained
their wheel more than a century ago, and their name
abides with the stream while men come and go.
On the father's side his people were from the North
of Ireland. Four years before the Colonies had
sworn to be free, theThomson family, of pure Scotch
blood, settled in the Cumberland Valley, Penn-
sylvania, near Shippensburg, in Cumberland
County, whence John Thomson sent back to Scot-
land that famous address setting forth the advan-
tages of climate, soil, and opportunities in the New
World which brought so many of his countrymen
hither, to heavily tax but never exhaust his hos-
pitality. Of that family was Alexander Thomson,
a jurist of renown. President Judge of the Franklin-
Somerset-Fulton-Bedford district, in which office
he preceded Judge Black, and after his retirement
from it his library became the law school of Mar-
shall College, an honored seat of learning then at
Mercersburg, a dozen miles or more from Cham-
bersburg, Franklin County, where he lived. A son
of that Judge Thomson, Vice-President Frank
Thomson, of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
illustrates in the management of that vast corpo-
ration his ancestral energy and enterprise. Of the
i84
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
Hendricks family, Abraham, grandfather of the
subject of this sketch served in various pubHc
offices and as a member of the Legislature of
Pennsylvania 1792-3 ; 1793-4; 1796-7; 1797-8,
a time when the '''per diem " and mileage attaching
to such service did not outweigh the dignity of
popular representation nor influence the duration
of legislative sessions.
Jane Thomson, sister of Judge T., and John
Hendricks, father of Thomas A., met at the resi-
dence of Rev. Dr. Black, in Pittsburg, father of the
late Colonel Samuel Black, deceased, and from
that meeting and the resulting intimacy, which
ripened into love and had its fruition in marriage,
sprang a relationship which connects the names
of Hendricks, Thomson, Wylie, Black, Agnew,
and many others distinguished in the annals
of Western Pennsylvania; though from almost the
date of this marriage the history of this branch of
the Hendricks family is lost to that State. William
Hendricks, an elder brother of John, had already
pushed westward to Cincinnati, where he success-
fully engaged in the practice of law; thence he
removed to Indiana and became the second Gov-
ernor of that State after its constitutional organi-
zation. Prior to that he had been Representative
in Congress, and subsequently was United States
Senator. One of the counties of the common-
wealth in which he so early took conspicuous part
bears his name, and his public services are an
ANCESTR Y AXD EARL Y LIFE. j 3 :-
honorable part of the Iiistory of his State. His
brother John and his bride, with her niece, followed
his track, settling first near Zanesville, in Muskin-
gum County, Ohio, where Thomas A. Hendricks,
their eldest born, first saw the light, September 7th,
1 81 9, sixteen years after the admission of Ohio
into the Union, and when the State of Indiana
was not yet three years old. The father tarried
not long there, but pushing farther westward, set-
tled the next spring after his son's birth near Madi-
son, then the chief city of Indiana, and the home
of his brother William. Two years later he loca-
ted a farm, which afterward became part of the
site of Shelby ville, the county seat of Shelby Coun-
ty, a region of level surface and fertile soil.
John Hendricks was a tanner as well as a
farmer, in a day when distinctions of vocation were
not so well marked as now ; but more from force
of character, culture, and commanding intellect,
than from eminence of occupation, he was the
foremost citizen of his community. He was dep-
uty surveyor of lands under Jackson and ran the
first lines around his own preemption. There,
on the bluffs of the Blue River Valley, east of and
adjacent to what is now Shelbyville, he built his
frontier home of hewn logs, a mansion in its day,
dedicated from the laying of the foundation wall
to social cheer and hospitality. This early struct-
ure is still standing on the "Michigan road turn-
pike," its front looking westward across the beau-
iS6
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
tiful valley. Subsequently, he erected a more
commodious dwelling, this time a story and a half
brick building, a little north of the site of the
other, and for the transportation of material
to this young Tom drove the oxen. The lad
had no experience in the tan yard, his father
having early abandoned that business, but led the
life of a farmer's boy, first attending a winter school
taught by Mrs. Kent, and working in the summer.
John Hendricks subsequently built himself a
spacious dwelling in the town of Shelbyville,
where he ended his days. But wherever his
home was, it was the abode of domestic happiness,
refinement, and warm hearted entertainment of
neighbor and stranger. He himself was not only
a man of striking personal presence and vigorous
physique, but of unusual natural intelligence and
accomplishments. But the presiding genius of
that home was the gentle wife and mother, "who
tempered the atmosphere of learning and zeal with
thesweetinfluencesof charityand love. Essentially
clever and persistent, she was possessed of a rare
quality of patience, which stood her in better stead
than a turbulent, aggressive spirit." It only needed
this complement of her husband's good qualities
to make a complete conjugal union and to found
a homestead of delight. Theirs was the leading
family of the community. Born to the religious
faith of the Covenanter, she mellowed it to the
stern enough Presbyterian creed of her husband,
ANCESTR Y AXD EARL \ ' L IFE. j g -,
and their house was a landmark of the scattered
Calvinists in that sparsely settled region. Its
doors stood wide open alike to the Methodist
circuit-rider and to the man of God who came
with cowl and crucifix. No wayfarer was denied
shelter there, and the vagrant went not from that
threshold unfed nor turned cheerless from the
gate. The spirit of levity was not excluded from
the portals of the Hendricks home, and during
" court week " judges and lawyers made regular
visitations there.
Few of the great men of our land, of such re-
cent development, have not had the valuable
experience of early life in the country. One of
his boyhood rural recollections served Mr. Hen-
dricks admirably on an occasion a few years ago,
and was the subject of a most felicitous public
address. DurinQ[" the meetinof of the Millers' Na-
tional Association, in 1878, the members were
given an excursion over the "Belt" Railroad on
May 30th. Being appointed to welcome them to
a public dinner in Indianapolis, Governor Hen-
dricks in the course of his address spoke as
follows:
"Indianapolis is a city of no mean pretensions
in her manufacturing enterprise, and she is sur-
rounded upon every side with uncommonly rich
lands that are now rapidly coming under superior
cultivation. And so, if the investigations and de-
liberations of your Society shall result in obtaining
I 88 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HEXD RICKS.
from every bushel of grain an increased amount
of food for man, and of such superior quaHty as
to make its way into the markets of the world, ) ou
are entitled from us to the benediction which
Dean Swift bestowed upon the good citizen who
'could make two ears of corn or two blades of
grass to grow upon a spot of ground where only
one ofrew before.'
"You have come here from many localities and
from many different sections, and were strangers
to us when you came ; but we do not feel it so
now. Indeed, I could not at any time realize that
you were strangers. As a boy, I was acquainted
with the miller, and I thought him a great man.
When he raised the gate with such composure
and confidence, and the tumbling waters drove
the machinery ahead, I admired his power. And
then he talked strongly upon all questions. He
was very positive upon politics, religion, law, and
mechanics. Any one bold enough to dispute a
point was very likely to have a personal argument
thrown into his face, for he knew all the gossip
among his customers. He was cheerful. I thought
it was because he was always in the music of the
running water and the whirling wheels. He was
kind and clever, indeed, so much so that he would
promise the grists before they could be ready,
and so the boys had to go two or three times.
He was a chancellor and prescribed the law,
every one in his turn.
ANCESTR Y AND EARL V LIFE.
189
"That miller, standing in the door of his mill, all
white with dust, is a picture even upon the mem-
ory of this generation. It is the picture of a
manly figure. I wonder if you, gentlemen, the
lords of many runs and bolts, are ashamed to own
him as your predecessor? It was a small mill,
sometimes upon 'a willowy brook,' and some-
times upon the larger river, but it stood upon the
advance line of the settlements. With its one
wheel to grind the Indian corn and one for wheat,
and In the fall and winter season one day in
the week set aside for orindinof buckwheat, it
did the work for the neiofhborhood. Plain and
unpretentious as compared with your stately
structures, I would not say that it contributed less
toward the development of the country and the
permanent establishment of society. So great a
favorite was it, and so important to the public
welfare, that the authorities in that day invoked
in its favor the highest power of the State, that
of eminent domain. That mill and miller had to
go before you and yours, and I am happy to re-
vive the memory of the miller at the custom mill,
who with equal care adjusted the sack upon the
horse for the boy to ride upon, and his logic in
support of his theory in politics or his dogma in
reliofion.
" It was always an interesting story, and one of
•which you are proud, that in a period when the
rich and strong were able to corrupt the juries of
19^
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
England, Sir Mathew Hale, the Chief Justice,
threw off the robes ot his office and assumed the
garb of a miller and found his way into the jury-
box, and thereby drove out corruption and re-
stored honesty and virtue.
"We have now reached the period when the little
mill and the simple machinery of a former day are
insufficient, when success and advancement require
capital, improved machinery, and skilled labor.
All the interests and pursuits of society welcome
you. You give good food to all. You give em-
ployment to the laborer and artisan in the shop,
and your success is heard in
'The reapers' song among the sheaves.' "
When Mr. Hendricks, a few years ago, visited
the place where his ancestors dwelt in the Ligo-
nier Valley, of Western Pennsylvania, he eagerly
sought out the site of their mill.
In the early history of Pennsylvania the name
of Hendricks frequently occurs in the records of its
pioneer settlements. In 1749, Tobias Hendricks was
Collector of Taxes for East Pennsboro' Township,
Cumberland County, Pa. The next year, 1750,
his name appears on the list of taxables for that
township, and Abraham Hendricks' name appears
on the list of "freemen," There were Hendrickses
among the Scotch-Irish settlers of Donegal Town-
ship, Lancaster County, Pa., about 1722. After
the Cumberland Valley was opened- for settlement,
on the extinguishment of the Indian title in 1736,
ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE. j
many of the Scotch-Irish crossed the Susquehanna
and made homes in the " Great Valley." In a
petition of the valley inhabitants, relative to trou-
bles with the Indians, dated July 15th, 1754, ad-
dressed to the Governor and Council, Tobias
Hendricks' name is appended. It also appears
on another petition dated August 28th, i 756. The
Indian purchase of 1768 opened the lands of the
province west of the Allegheny Mountains for
settlement the next year, and many of the Scotch-
Irish flocked thither from the eastern counties.
That territory was then in Cumberland, but fell
into Bedford County on its erection in 1771, and
into Westmoreland two years later. Warrants
for land in Westmoreland County were granted
as follows : Thomas Hendricks, December 20th,
1786; Abraham Hendricks, January i8th, 1793;
Abraham Hendricks, January 9th, 1 794,
CHAPTER III.
THE EDUCATION OF THE LAD.
WITH his brothers and sister, young Tom
Hendricks attended the village schools,
from which his brother Abram passed
to the University of Ohio, became a Presbyterian
minister in the West, and is now deceased. Sub-
sequently a neighbor, John Robinson, living some
six miles distant, secured an Eastern instructor
to prepare his own boys for college, and extended
the advantages of the school to young Hendricks
and other neighbor boys. They embraced the
opportunity and boarded at Mr. Robinson's, until,
one day, the teacher left suddenly. The boys
walked to Shelbyville, and the school was broken
up. Meantime, Thomas Hendricks developed
more aptitude for books than for woodcraft or
the labors of the farm, and "his tastes were not
discouraged by either of his parents. The influ-
ence of his father's character and the associations
of his home made their inevitable impression upon
him ; but the gentleness of his mother's dispo-
sition, her law of love, and all the gracious power
of a noble. Christian womanhood, guided and nur-
tured him to the development of a character
which he has never lost, and he never ceases to be
192
THE EDUCATION OF THE LAD. jn3
grateful for his mother's influence. For whatever
exemption he has enjoyed from the infirmities and
vices too frequent among pubHc men, and for the
unwavering exercise of those fireside virtues
which most exalt the popular representative, he
never ceases to give thanks to the purity and
tenderness of maternal love and care, which, after
sixty years, bloom with perennial freshness and
fragrance.
During his residence at the Robinson school
one of his earliest political impressions was
formed. His father, though a Democrat at that
time, was not a violent partisan. The school-boys
attended a political meeting at St. Omer, two miles
off, and heard John Dumont, the Whig candidate
for Governor against Wallace, make his argu-
ment, on questions purely of State policies, for a
classification of the public works, of which the
State at that time, as subsequent events unmis-
takably proved, was carrying too great a load.
Dumont's logic and power captured and converted
all his young Democratic hearers to his support.
Previous to this, however, young Hendricks
had been made secure in his Democratic loyalty
in national politics by the circumstance of seeing
a huge pole erected In Shelbyville, by the Hickory
i Democrats, with a new broom at the top of it.
Upon inquiry he was told that this signified the
determination of Jackson to sweep all the corrup-
tion out of the governmental departments. He
.jQ^ LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
was struck with the idea, and never abandoned
the purpose to "turn the rascals out."
To complete his classical education the youth
was sent to Hanover College. It was located
on the Ohio River, near Madison, and seventy
miles south of Shelbyville. It was a Presbyterian
institution, and the president was Dr. McMaster,
brother of James McMaster, now editor of the
Freeman^ s yournal, New York. He was a re-
markable man, six feet in stature, beardless, with
a gentle voice and great ability. More than half
the students were from the South. Of his class-
mates it is difficult to keep track ; but several
years ago, when Mr. Hendricks went back to his
alma inafej- to make a literary address, he chose
to illustrate the relations of college life with the
duties and chances of the great world beyond
by tracing the prospects, fates, and fortunes of
three of his fellow-students. The extremes that
they presented and the moral of the lesson may
be gathered from the fact that a few years ago
Mr. Hendricks, traveling among the foothills of
California, came across one of the most brilliant
geniuses of the old college days — a self-aban-
doned drunkard and social outcast — while another
probably of less early promise — is now a brilliant
and distinguished member of the Chicajjo Bar.*
* John Lyle King, Esq.
CHAPTER IV.
AT THE BAR.
MR. HENDRICKS' chosen profession was
the law, and he has never abandoned it.
Leaving Hanover College in 1841, he
entered upon his professional studies with the
late Judge Major, deceased, who then was a
leading lawyer of Shelbyville, and subsequendy
removed to Indianapolis and acquired wider
distinction. The advantages of the law school
conducted in his uncle's office in Chambers-
burg, however, and the desire to visit the East,
induced him to become a student and member of
the family of Judge Thomson. With an outfit of
two hundred dollars in silver, he took the steamer
Lawrenceburg up the Ohio, stopping off at Cin-
cinnati, where, for the first time, he visited a the-
atre, and saw Edward S. Connor in the drama.
The mountains of Western Pennsylvania, to the
lad who had grown up on the Indiana prairies,
were objects of supreme wonder, and the scenery
as well as the associations of his ancestors' home
in the Ligonier Valley inspired him with love for the
State which had cradled the men and women
from whom he sprang. During the spring and
summer and part of the fall of 1843 ^^^ ^"^^^ the
195
jg5 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
guest and student of Judge Alexander Thomson,
to whose instruction and example he owed much
of his professional training, and before returning
to the West he paid a week's visit to Philadelphia,
the recollection of which is one of the most pleas-
ant memories of his life. GIrard College claimed
his attention for an entire day, the munificent plan
of the institution and the architectural features of
the structure making deep impression upon him.
With one dollar and twenty-five cents of his store
of silver in his pocket, he returned to Indiana one
week too late for the regular fall examinations for
admission to the Supreme Court, and was tested
in a special examination by the Circuit Judges,
amonof whom were such celebrities as Whitcomb,
Howard, and Wright. He was easily admitted
to full practice, and for some years following his
career was that of the ordinary fledgeling barris-
ter in a country town. He was diligent, upright,
suave and popular, and these qualities made
moderate success sure; signal triumphs were
rarely to be won in that limited sphere. His
practice was miscellaneous; inclination and cir-
cumstances usually directed him in criminal cases
to the side of the defense. Twice he volunteered
for the prosecution.
On one occasion, while on his way to the court-
house, he was appealed to by a negro who was
fleeing from a rough fellow's assault. The ruffian
came up and boasted that he would "teach the
AT THE BAR. ^^^
d — d nigger" to speak to him. Mr. Hendricks
calmly inquired if that was the colored man's sole
offense. Upon being so assured, he told the assail-
ant that he would teach him a lesson. He had
an indictment framed, bill found, conducted the
prosecution, and in two hours had the rough sent
to jail. That was the first person up to that time
imprisoned in Shelby County for assault and bat-
tery. In those early days one dollar fine was
considered fair punishment for such an offense.
The injured was expected to get redress without
resort to law. In his address to the jury, Mr. Hen-
dricks had argued that the inferior social position
of the negro in that day made the assault upon him
more reprehensible; it was as though a man with
his hands tied had been set upon.
Again, a prominent man in the community,
owning a fine farm and of eminent social position,
was charged with, and was manifestly guilty of,
concealing stolen horses and produce for a robber
gang who plundered the neighborhood. When'
fears were expressed that his influence would de-
feat the law, young Hendricks volunteered to
prosecute him, and did It so successfully that he
was sent to the penitentiary, though released by
the higher court on a technicality.
The story told of his first-earned fee is that
Major Powell and Major Hendricks were
neighbors and leading men of their day. Nathan,
a son of the former, and Thomas, son of the
198
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
latter, grew up together, finished their education
about the same time, and opened their law offices
within a few days of each other. Soon after
hanging out their shingles, a petty case was to be
tried before Esquire Lee, and the young attorneys
volunteered to appear in it — one on either side.
When the trial came off the 'Squire's office was
filled with the friends of the young barristers,
anxious to hear their maiden speeches. A lot of
apples were procured and held ready to be given
him who won the case. Hendricks won it and
received the apples, which he generously divided
among his friends.
He had been at the bar only four years when
his political career began with election to the
Legislature, and for thirty-six years he has been
active and conspicuous in Indiana politics, never
losing his influence nor forfeiting the confidence
of his constituents, and gradually coming to fill a
larger place in the view of the country at large.
During this time he has not only at no time aban-
doned his profession, but has steadily developed
and strengthened in it, and reached his pre-
eminence as a lawyer after he had been elected to
the office of Vice-President in 1S76 — and de-
frauded out of it by the electoral juggle of 1877.
His idea of the relation, of politics to the legal
profession was expressed upon one occasion at
the University of Michigan. Visiting Ann Arbor
to deliver his lecture on "Revolution," he was
A T THE BAR. j ^q
accorded a grand reception by the students, and
next morning made an address to the pupils of
the law school, in which he declared that his suc-
cess as a lawyer had always been his greatest
pride, and further he said: "The law teaches the
highest morality. The lawyer must be a man of
honor, truthful alike in the office and court-room.
The highest morality taught, except, perhaps,
from religious sources, is derived from our courts
of chancery, and the true lawyer is a democratic
element in society. He takes •the poor man into
his protection, and makes him equal with the rich
man who is fiirhtinLr asfainst him in court. He
upholds the weak man against the strong. The
legal profession prepares one for every sphere
of life." He advised the law students to go into
politics, but if successful not to stay too long — to
learn public life and then return to their pro-
fession.
After his term of service in Congress, and when
he had returned to the practice of the law, he ac-
cepted the unexpected appointment by President
Pierce to be Commissioner of the General U. S.
Land Office, only because after consultation with
his father it was determined that the official expe-
rience miofht oe of value in enlarmno- his knowl-
edge of the land law, then such an important
feature of Western practice.
With a keen, natural aptitude for the law, and
acute perceptions/)f it, well grounded in the fund-
200
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
amental principles, and with an earnest, logical
cast of mind, Mr. Hendricks has been so frequently
withdrawn from legal practice to public duties
that he has been more distinguished in politics
than in law; but his natural fitness and extraor-
dinary readiness have served him so well that,
with all interruptions, he has held with facility his
place in the front rank of lawyers in his State and
scored many brilliant triumphs before bench and
jury. Removing from Shelbyville to Indianapolis,
the commercial, political, and geographical capital
of the State, in December, i860, he has there
continued in active practice ever since, save dur-
ing the four years that he was Governor, when
he entirely withdrew from practice. His first
legal partnership was with Oscar B. Hord, ex- Attor-
ney-General, who is still associated with him, and
his cousin, Abraham W. Hendricks. The firm of
Hendricks & Hord, which lost one member by
Thomas A. Hendricks' inauguration as Governor
in 1872, gained another by the admission of the
retiring Governor, Conrad Baker, on the same
day. Four years before, Mr. Baker had beaten
Mr. Hendricks for Governor by a slender and
almost questionable majority after an exciting
canvass, but their personal relations were such
that the law partnership, readjusted after the ex-
piration of Governor Hendricks' term, included
them both, and so continues.
Their practice is of a general commercial
AT THE BAR.
20I
character, and during recent years has covered
many of the leading Indiana cases, including the
famous C, C. and I. C. Railway case, when Gov-
ernor Hoadley, Justice Stanley Matthews, and ex-
Senator McDonald were the array of opposing
counsel. Mr. Hendricks is wise in consultation
and weighty in advice, but his popular reputation
as a lawyer has been won by his ready handling
of many exciting trials in court.
One of his most celebrated efforts was his suc-
cessful defense of Jay Voss, of Indianapolis, who
found a negro in his father's house under circum-
stances justifying the belief that he contemplated
a felonious assault upon a female domestic, and
took the negro into custody. The prisoner broke
from his captor and was shot and killed. By a
speech of great power and subtle reasoning Mr.
Hendricks acquitted Voss.
George Harding, the brilliant newspaper wit^
tried for assault with intent to kill, was the sub-
ject of another of Mr. Hendricks' most eloquent
and successful efforts for the defense. In the case
of Miller, one of the embezzling officers of the
First National Bank, of Indianapolis, arraigned
before Judge Blodgett in the United States Circuit
Court, Mr. Hendricks was subjected to a most
severe test by the Court suddenly interrupting his
impassioned argument of fact with a broad intima-
tion that he would decide the law of the case
squarely against his client, the defendant. Though
202
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
totally unprepared for such a dangerous emer-
gency, the quick counsel framed on the instant a
plan of legal argument which, though apparently
aimed at a court committed against it, was really
directed with such impassioned energy, vehement
legal logic, and forensic eloquence to the jury that
they overrode the Judge's instructions and ac-
quitted the defendant. The scene is described by
those who witnessed it as having been a most
remarkable one, and an eminent lawyer who was
witness to the fortitude, the address, and the
strategic skill with which Mr. Hendricks met the
crisis says " It was the test of a great man."
Mr. Hendricks, while he has accurate and
acute legal perceptions, is not a technical lawyer ;
he is not a specialist, but has the average quali-
ties of a great lawyer in eminent degree, and, as has
been well said, " In the readiness with which he
gathers up and gets well in hand the questions
both of law and of fact in any case in which he is
engaged, no advocate in the country excels
him and very few equal him." His standing at
the bar is clearly recognized throughout the West,
and when, at the banquet to Chief Justice Cole-
ridge, in Chicago, he responded to the toast, "A
common system of jurisprudence must cement
national friendship," his scholarly and original
treatment of the theme was no surprise to his
compeers in the legal profession.
CHAPTER V.
AN EARLY POLITICAL CAREER.
MR. HENDRICKS has ascended to his
present political eminence by the gradual
stacres which have marked the course of
the most useful and most illustrious statesmen of
the <:ountry. No sudden accident gave him pop-
ularity or official position ; no adventitious circum-
stances promoted him to high station ; no
" bon-inza " mine has furnished the resources of
his political strength, and no corporate power
sent him as its attorney into the halls of the State
or Federal Legislature. In tracing his political
career, the several features of it which bring them-
selves Into prominence are the practically unani-
mous assent of his party to every nomination
which he has received since his first candidacy for
Compress, the willinofness with which he has
yielded at all times to the wishes of his party and
the public when fairly expressed, the candor of
his relations with his party, the freedom from fac-
tious contentions of his position In the organiza-
tion, and his consistent and unwavering devotion
to principle ; which, together with no small degree
of political astuteness, have enabled him to main-
tain an unchallenged leadership of his party in his
204
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
State for a Ioniser period than any other man In
American politics ever held such control.
Born of a family that cherished strong political
convictions, and sprung from a race which never
failed to bear its part in public affairs, during
the Polk-Clay campaign he took an active part
on the stump, and in 1848 was nominated by the
Democrats of his county for its representative in
the Assembly. His foremost competitor and
most frequent antagonist of the local bar, Martin
M, Rav, was the candidate of the Whicrs for Sen-
ator, and they stumped the county together, " two
moneyless and almost clientless barristers," says a
contemporary, with not strict accuracy, "trying to
disagree upon the subject of State banks."
His immediate opponent for the Legislature,
however, whom he encountered in joint debate,
after the fashion of that day, was Captain Nathan
Earlywine, and their discussion on Flat Rock Is
to this day a vivid tradition of the community. In
his speech, from a high bluff along the river, Ear-
lywine charged the Democrats with bringing on
the Mexican War, and alleged that some time be-
fore Hendricks in a private conversation had ad-
mitted this, but boasted that he intended to shift
the responsibiliiy from the Democrats to the
Whigs. Hendricks, standing some distance down
the bank, caught the speaker's words and shouted
out, "You know that's a lie." For a time a sud-
den and rather violent termination of the meetingf
AN EARLY POLITICAL CAREER. 20=;
was threatened, but when Mr, Hendricks got
upon the stump he so far justified his declaration
that even his opponents gave him their attention
and respect. It was a close fight over the thirteen
townships of the county, but Hendricks ran ahead
of his ticket and was elected.
Of this same Earlywine, with whom Hendricks
was ordinarily on the best of terms, the story is
related that, being appointed to make the village
Fourth of July oration soon after Hendricks had
been admitted to the bar, he went to the latter to
borrow from him the manuscript of an oration
which Hendricks had made at a barbecue, the
year before, in "Johnny Young's Grove." He
desired, likewise, to have it adapted to later times
by the addition of some reference to the pending
Oregon question. Hendricks, knowing him to be
a violent Whig, though not very acute in his dis-
tinction of political principles, played a trick
upon him by inserting in his speech this valiant
Democratic sentiment: "If any lines are to be
drawn across the map of Oregon, let them be
drazvn in bloody Earlywine delivered the speech
with explosive eloquence, but the Democrats
present were equally astonished and amused at
his patriotic sentiments on the Oregon question.
In the Legislature, as a member of the Com-
mittee on Banks, he opposed the extension of the
State Bank's branches with ability, and as the re-
sult of a careful study of the subject and of pro-
^q5 life of THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
found conviction. The increasing demands of
his profession and a disinchnation for legislative
service prompted him to decline renomlnation ;
but in 1850, by the wish of all parties and without
opposition, he was chosen a member of the Con-
vention called to amend the original Constitution
(1816) of the State. Among the members of the
Convention were Robert Dale Owen, Judges Pettit
and Biddle, his seniors ; W. S. Holman and
Schuyler Colfax, who were younger than
Hendricks. That body was not organized nor
divided upon party lines. Mr. Hendricks was on
the Banking and Judiciary Committees, and his
close attention to responsible duties and his suc-
cessful disputations with men of greater fame
gave him a reputation that made him a promi-
nent candidate for the Congressional nomina-
tion In his district. It was composed of all the
counties between Brown and Tipton, Madison
and Hendricks, and being strongly Democratic,
nearly every county had a candidate, and one of
them presented six. On the fifty-third ballot
Hendricks was chosen — and this was the last time
in his public career that any nomination conferred
upon him was seriously contested. His election
followed the Democratic nomination by a majority
of more than three thousand over his opponent,
Colonel Rush, of Hancock.
CHAPTER VI.
TWO TERMS IN CONGRESS.
^ J "^HE first term in Congress is usually an
I uneventful one to the new member, but Mr.
•^ Hendricks made himself popular with his
associates and proved attentive to his constituents.
He was renominated, as a matter of course, in a
re-apportioned district of six counties, and his
second campaign (made the next year, under the
new Constitution) involved a famous joint discus-
sion with his opponent, named Bradley. The lat-
ter had spoken thirteen times in Shelby County,
and Hendricks had eno-aeement to make but one
o o
speech on the familiar ground. Flat Rock, on the
forenoon of the day before election. There he
was met with the news that Bradley had invaded
Shelbyville and was posted to speak there that
afternoon, to the great terror of the Democrats.
After his speech at Flat Rock, Hendricks hastened
to engage the adversary, and, like Sheridan on
his way to Winchester, the first that he saw
" Were the groups of stragglers, and then the retreating troops."
His affrighted friends had actually gone out to
meet him and to tell him that "Bradley had come,"
though no joint discussion had been arranged. The
Whigs were correspondingly elated. After eat-
2C7
2o8 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
ing his dinner, Mr. Hendricks proceeded to the
meeting where his antagonist was savagely assault-
ing his votes in Cono^ress on the river and harbor
bill and on the division of the public lands. Just
as he discovered Mr. Hendricks, he declared with
violence that some one had reported that he was an
Abolitionist, and, looking straight at Hendricks, he
pronounced the author of the charge to be a
"liar." Every eye was turned to the newcomer,
and the Whigs were charmed, delighted, and
fairly intoxicated with the aggressive attitude of
their candidate.
Biding his time, and undaunted by the prevail-
ing sympathy with his opponent, Mr. Hendricks
took the platform. For once he played the brag-
gart ; it was the only time he was ever known to
take off his coat in a public political debate, and,
departing from his wonted custom to appeal only
to the higher instincts and cooler judgment of his
audience, he rivaled his opponent in skillfully
playing upon their feelings. He defended his
course in the matters upon which he had been
assailed, and fearlessly told his hearers to vote
against him if, when he had finished, they were
not satisfied with his course. He deliberately took
up the issues presented by Bradley, and made the
most adroit use of a rather trifling difference
which he detected between his veritable record
and that which his enemies had circulated by hand-
bill. He appealed to the Western sense of fair
TIVO TERMS IX COXGRESS. 2O0
play, and when, after summing up, he asked, "Does
anybody now disapprove my vote ? " not a man of
tht- thoroughly routed opposition made reply, Brad-
ley left the court-house a beaten man. Almost
frantic with rage and disappointment, he mounted
a store box on the street, and vainly tried to rally
his panic-stricken supporters with incoherent re-
joinder. The result was that the ordinary Dem-
ocratic majority in the county was nearly doubled
for Hendricks, and he was returned to Congress
by a very decided majority in his district.
During his second term in Congress that body
and the whole country were exercised over the
passage of the Nebraska-Kansas bill, involving
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Doug-
las led the debate in the Senate for the creation
of the two Territories, sustained generally by his
party, with Seward, Chase, Sumner, and Wade —
of whom three lived to be in political accord with
Mr. Hendricks — directing the opposition. After
an exciting struggle and the memorable passage
of the bill at midnight in the Senate, it went to
the House. Here another violent struggle en-
sued, closed by the strategic parliamentary lead-
ership of Alexander H. Stephens, when the bill
passed, without amendment, by one hundred
and thirteen to one himdred, though Mr. W.
H. English — then, as now, a Democrat, who
became the nominee of his party for Vice-
President in iS8o — had offered an amendment
210 LIFE OF ThOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
more acceptable to the Whigs, which was cut
off by the order of the previous question. Of
the votes for the measure, forty-four were con-
tributed by Democrats from the Free States,
fifty-seven by Democrats and twelve by Whigs
from the Slave States. Of the negative votes
there were forty-four Whigs, forty- four Democrats,
and three Free Soilers, from the North ; two
Democrats (counting Colonel Thomas H. Benton)
and seven Whigs from the South. Mr. Hendricks
voted with the bulk of his party for the measure.
Linn Boyd was Speaker of the House during his
term of service, and amonsf his most distinofuished
contemporaries was Hon. Thomas H. Benton,
conspicuous for long experience in the Senate, and
who separated from his party on the Kansas-
Nebraska bill.
It has been repeatedly urged that his vote for this
measure was the cause of Hendricks' defeat for
re-election, but it was cast strictly in accord with
the sentiments of his constituents, who remained
throughout the Douglas controversies in the party
fast adherents of that popular leader. Upon enter-
ing his second term, Mr. Hendricks had avowed his
unwillingness to be a candidate the third time, and
only the taunts of the opposition and the chal-
lenge of those who criticised his course in Con-
gress changed his determination. He was unan-
imously renominated, and all the elements of op-
position combined in support of Lucien Barbour,
TWO TERMS TV COXGRESS.
271
who had been a Democrat, and who now rahicd
to his cause Free-Soilers, Abohtionists, Temper-
ance men, Know-Nothings, Whigs, and every ele-
ment of opposition which, in those days of piebald
politics and Whig disintegration, sprang up to
confront and destroy the party in power. None
of these was more intense and potential for a
brief season than the Know-Nothing party, and
as its principles are still cherished by a large por-
tion of the opposition to the Democracy, and as
Mr. Hendricks has never modified his convictions
upon that subject, an extract from his speech at
Shelbyville, in the Congressional canvass of 1854,
is illustrative of his opinion on a theme of abiding
interest in a land of such composite nationality as
ours. On that occasion Mr. Hendricks said:
" When die Democratic Administration of Jef-
ferson came in, liberal laws were enacted, and our
young Republic said to the oppressed millions of
Europe, ' Come, and cheap lands shall furnish you
a home ; come, and the flag of the free shall wave
over and protect you ; come, and just laws shall
make you free.' They did come, and with them
came the scholar, the artist, the farmer, the me-
chanic, and the laborer, and they brought no
trouble upon our fathers, but much strength, and
contributed largely to the development of the
country. Our fathers were then only five millions
strong, but they were not afraid for their liberties
or for their Protestant religion in the adoption of
2 ' 2
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
that policy. Since that day half a century has
gone by, and our last census shows us to be a
people of twenty-three millions, with a native-
born white population of seventeen millions and
three-quarters, and a population of foreign birth
of only two millions and one-quarter. Our for-
eign population, animated by a common sentiment
of admiration for our institutions, have abandoned
the lands of their birth, and with their wives and
children have settled down among us, making our
fortunes their fortunes, our hopes their hopes, and
our destiny their destiny. When have they re-
fused to discharge any duty required by Govern-
ment ? Do they not promptly pay their taxes,
diligently labor upon the highways, faithfully serve
in our armies, and valiantly fight in defense of our
country? It is not true that our liberties or our
religion are endangered by the presence of our
foreign population. Our fathers intended to se-
cure the liberties of the citizen, that the Church
and State should be separate, and that the
Church should not control the State, nor the State
corrupt the Church. No test can be made by law,
whereby one class of men shall be promoted to
office and another class deprived of office because
of their religion. The Constitution prohibits it for
the reason that such a thing ought not to be done."
That wave of political revolution rose beyond
the high-water mark of partisan folly in many
States, and though it ebbed more swiftly than
TIVO TERMS IN CONGRESS. 2 f -»
even it flowed, the ugly marks of its ascendency
were visible for many years, and the debris which
floated on its crest is still to be seen scattered
here and there in American politics. Mr. Hen-
dricks was submerged by it, and retired from
Congress March 5th, 1855, fully intending to re-
sume the assiduous practice of his profession in
Shelbyville.
This purpose was Interrupted a few months
later by the totally unsolicited and unexpected
tender from President Pierce, In a personal letter,
of the appointment to the office of Commissioner of
the General Land Office, in the Department of the
Interior, then administered by Secretary Robert M.
McClelland, of Michigan — one of the three Cab-
inet offices ever held by that State. The position
was accepted only after much deliberation, and
with the view of promoting Mr. Hendricks'
knowledge of the land law, as he had resolved to
devote his future career to his chosen profession.
Mr. Hendricks continued in this office, at the
request of the succeeding Secretary, Jacob
Thompson, of President Buchanan's Administra-
tion, and remained Commissioner until 1859, when
he resigned to resume his law practice. He had
brought to the place vast aptitude for the dis-
charge of its duties, and the business and organ-
izinnr faculty which Its proper administration re-
quired. During his term and his superlntendency
of the one hundred and eighty clerks employed,
214
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
twenty-two thousand contested cases were settled
and over four hundred thousand patents issued.
The exercise of his functions was distinguished
by careful surveys, early examinations and prompt
decision of titles, ready aid to settlers, a recog-
nition of the value to the remainino- crovernmental
domain of improvements upon preempted sec-
tions, and the assurance to owners under Federal
grants of certain and unimpeachable rights. In
his general view at that early day, and before the
subject had become one of such vital apprehension
as it is now. he regarded with most favor the
claims of small settlers, and he guarded with
jealous care against the absorption of the public
domain, the people's inheritance, by grasping
monopolies, reckless speculators, greedy corpora-
tions, and alien landowners.
His decisions were rarely overruled, and his
services to the sections of the country opened up
in the days of his administration have been cher-
ished in grateful memory by the people who were
benefited. On July 5th, 1865 Senator Hendricks,
visiting St. Paul, was tendered a banquet by the
Common Council and citizens of that place "in
recognition of his good offices toward Minnesota
as Commissioner of the General Land Office and
as United States Senator." In making a journey
to San Francisco in 1869, passing through Omaha
he was received with a great popular ovation, and
five thousand people gathered in the evening to
Tiro TEEMS nV CONGKESS. 2 I 5
honor him and to Hsten to an oration on the state
of the country, in the course of which he appHecl
himself largely to the proper disposal of our pub-
lic lands, and maintained, as he had always held in
his official position, that every advantage in the dis-
position of them should be given to the private
settler.
CHAPTER VII.
DURING THE WAR.
IN the differences of the Democratic party im-
mediately preceding the Presidential struggle
of i860, and which lead to its defeat that year,
the overwhelming sentiment of the Indiana Democ-
racy was with Douglas, and Mr. Hendricks sym-
pathized with it. He clearly foresaw the impending
consequences of these dissensions, and was not
disposed to be a candidate for the Gubernatorial
nomination of his party. But circumstances had
made him the leader of the Democracy of the
State, and with one voice his fellows called upon
him to be its standard-bearer in the great contest
which opened almost with the year in the State
Convention held on Jackson's Day, January 8th,
i860. The defecdon of Jesse D. Bright, the old-
time Democratic leader, aggravated the situation,
but thus early Mr. Hendricks had made the reso-
lution which he has ever since adhered to, never
to turn a deaf ear to the call of a party which he
feels has honored him. He took the nomination
and made the fight, leading it not so much for his
own sake as for the Douglas electors and the suc-
cess of the National Democracy in their life-and-
death struggle. Henry S. Lane was his opponent
216
DURING THE WAR.
217
and they canvassed die State in joint debate. Tlie
Republican canvass was materially aided by Oliver
P. Morton, another recruit from the Democratic
ranks, who was the candidate for Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor, with a good understanding that in the
event of Republican success Lane was to be
elected to the United States Senate, and Morton
would succeed to the Executive chair for nearly a
full term. All this was realized in Lane's election
by a majority of nine thousand seven hundred
and fifty-seven, which the Republicans doubled
next month in the Presidential contest. Lane was
chosen to the Senate in three days after his inaug-
uration, and Morton entered upon his career as
" War Governor," in which office he showed
great ability and developed such political resources
as made him the unquestioned captain of his party
In Indiana while he lived. Between him and Hen-
dricks, as the respective leaders of the organiza-
tions thenceforth to be engaged continually in
dubious conlTict, there was the sharpest contrast of
public and prlv^ate character. Their gladiatorial
contests, one campaign after another, made them
conspicuous figures before the whole country ; the
always doubtful issue In their State and the easy
command by each of his respective organization
kept them in the forefront of popular attention,
and Indiana was proud of both. Morton's statue
in bronze ornaments the "Circle" Square in In-
dianapolis; Mr. Hendricks lives in that city, com-
2 I 8 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
mandlng- the universal respect of his fellow-citi-
zens who await higher honors for him, but need no
further formal distinction to signalize their appre-
ciation of his public services and personal worth.
After his defeat for Governor, having mean-
v^hile removed to Indianapolis, Mr. Hendricks
entered upon an enlarged law practice, without
relaxing his interest or abandoning active par-
ticipation in politics. Upon the gathering of the
war clouds, in common with most of his party and
all conservative men, he deprecated civil war and
favored any honorable constitutional compromise
to avert its horrors. At a meeting of the Indiana
Democracy, January 8th, i86i, Mr. Hendricks
being Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions,
it was resolved that it was the highest aim and
most imperative duty of patriotism and philan-
thropy to preserve the Union of the States in its
integrity and maintain the Federal compact in its
spirit. His position was subsequently made the
subject of bitter misrepresentation, to some of
which he made ht reply in this letter, which may
be comprehensively taken as the index to his
political position throughout the war:
Governor Hendricks' Views on the Rebellion.
A Letter to the Indianapolis Journal, Thursday, April
25th, 1S61.
"Indianapolis, April 24th.
" Mr. Editor: — My attention has been called to
an editorial in the Jon-riLal this morning, in which
DURING THE WAR. 210
it Is stated that at a Union meeting held at Shel-
byville a few evenings since a Committee was
appointed to wait upon me, with the request that
I should speak ; that, being called upon by the
Committee, I refused to speak, saying that I had
no hand in originating the difficulty, and would
have nothing to do in extricating the country from
its perilous condition.
" The writer has been wholly misinformed. I
never heard of the appointment of such a Commit-
tee, and suppose none was appointed. No Com-
mittee waited upon me with such a request. Had
I been so honored, I certainly would have respond-
ed. I have never withheld my views upon any
question of public Interest from the people of
Shelby County. Upon all occasions, when It ap-
peared proper, I have expressed my opinions In
relation to our present troubles. Since the war
commenced I have uniformly said that the author-
ity of the Government of the United States Is not
questioned In Indiana, and that I regarded it as
the duty of the citizens of Indiana to respect and
maintain that authority, and to give the Govern-
ment an honest and earnest support in the prose-
cution of the war, until, In the providence of God,
It may be brought to an honorable conclusion, and
the blessings of peace restored to our country,
postponing until that time all controversy In re-
lation to the causes and responsibilities of the
, war. No man will feel a deeper solicitude In the
2 20 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
welfare and proud bearing of Indiana's soldiery,
in die conflict of arms to which they are called,
than myself.
" Allow me to add, that in my judgment, a citizen
or newspaper is not serving the country well in
the present crisis by attempting to give a partisan
aspect to the war, or by seeking to pervert the
cause of the country to party ends.
"Respectfully,
"Thomas A. Hendricks."
In this manly statement of a patriotic position,
from which no partisan consideration nor any tide
of passion ever swerved him, is to be found the
most effective answer to profuse misstatements
which have been indulged in by his enemies.
Throughout the war his party in Indiana was
often radically intolerant, and as frequently it was
the subject of unmitigated persecution and radical
misrepresentation, but throughout these stormy
times Mr. Hendricks kept the respect and confi-
dence of his native State, conserved the fiercer
antagonisms of the clay, and on the first occasion
of political preferment was vindicated by election
to the United States Senate.
Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, his political asso-
ciate and friend of many years standing, has borne
this discriminating testimony to the honorable
attitude of Mr. Hendricks ciuring the war period :
"The fact that he was a leader of the Democratic
party during the war, and that neither the insinua-
DURING THE WAR. o -• I
tions nor the insults of wily opponents ever pro-
voked from him one act or one expression not
reverential to the Constitution and laws of the
country, I regard as something well worth re-
membering. He could never be driven to an
utterance possible to torture or construe into
anything like hostility to the Union or enmity to
any candid effort for its preservation. With his
reasons for apprehension that our system of gov-
ernment was to be hopelessly injured, occupying
the position he did, the most conspicuous figure
for party malignity in the Republic, his motives
purposely misinterpreted and his slightest mis-
take liable to be largely magnified, his course was
such as attested the loftiest public worth,"
His patriotism was appreciated and recognized
by those who best knew him and who fathomed
his motives. Often waiving his own judgment to
sustain the Government in its extremity, he was
the friend of Abraham Lincoln, and that great and
good man gave him patient hearing when he went
to appeal for the preservation of constitutional
law by Executive interposition to prevent the
hanging of Milliken and Bowles, the two Indiana
victims of military courts, whose execution
would have defaced our civil annals with ineradi-
cable stain had not the tempestuous eloquence
and overpowering logic of Judge Black " shook
the arsenal " and arrested the faltering judgment
of the Supreme Court. Upon the occasion of that
222
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
interview President Lincoln spoke warmly to Mr.
Hendricks in commendation of peace proposals, and
detained him in counsel for two hours, while the
agents of the Republican party in Indiana cooled
their heels outside, though they abated none of
their clamor for the blood of the men whom they
sought to hang by drum head processes of
justice.
In June, 1 863, upon the exciting popular question
of the enrollment and the draft, Hendricks made a
speech to the people of Rushville, Rush County, In-
diana, in which he urged the necessity of obedience
to the act and to all Constitutional enactments,
both as a matter of duty upon the part of the citi-
zens, and as the best means of preserving peace
and order. In the course of this address he said:
" Respect for legitimate authority and obedience
to law has long been the cherished sentiment of
the political party to which it is my pride to
belong. The dangerous doctrine that the con-
science of the citizen may sit in judgment upon laws
enacted in proper fonn, zuith a view to their resist-
ance, has never been adopted by any considerable
portion of the people of this State, and has at all
times been bitterly opposed by the Democracy!' A
better exposition of the genius of Democracy it
would be difficult to find.
In the campaign of 1872, Governor Morton
having charged that Hendricks, as a Senator, had
opposed every war measure, Mr. Hendricks con-
DURING THE WAR. 22^
ciiisively answered by showing that he had voted
for the army appropriation bills during his term,and
particularly for that which sent Sherman triumph-
ant in his march to the sea, replenished the ranks
of Grant before Petersburg^, and crave vioor and
success to all subordinate operations of the war.
That bill of five hundred and twenty-eight mil-
lion dollars for such purposes was the largest ap-
propriation ever made on earth.
Mr. Hendricks never lacked appreciation of
the gallantry and heroism of the true soldier, and
in a letter to the managers of a banquet to Gen-
eral Sherman, in Indianapolis, July 25th, 1865, he
wrote: "I am gratified that his old associates in
arms now in this city have determined in a suita-
ble and elegant manner to do honor to one of
the m.ost gifted and illustrious captains of this age,
whose skillful leadership of his gallant and grand
army has shed so much lustre on American arms
and contributed so greatly to restore peace for
the country, and whose enlightened policy and
spirited magnanimity toward the enemy in the
hour of their defeat has reflected credit upon our
character and people."*
* Again, before the Army of the Tennessee, Indianapolis, November ist,
1878, he said, "The name of the ijreat captain whose genius conceived
and whose strategic and tactical skill conducted the march to the sea, will
live in the memory of the Indiana school-boy long after Xenophon's
memorable march shall have been forgotten by scholars."
CHAPTER VIII.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
THE political reaction came very early in
Indiana. In tlie election of 1862 the
Democrats obtained a majority of the
Legislature on joint ballot, and there never was
any doubt that it would elect Mr. Hendricks to
the Senate, such was his pre-eminence in his
party. He was elected early in 1863 and
entered the United States Senate on the 4th
of March of that year. Into that body he took
the qualities which had distinguished him in
his previous public experience, and his urbanity
of disposition won for him many friends among
his colleagues, irrespective of party. The Demo-
crats in the Senate were overshadowed by an
adverse majority, but maintained their organiza-
tion with unflinching courage in the face of the bitter
hostility which was born of the excitement of the
war period and the malignant popular misrepre-
sentation to which the opposition to the Adminis-
tration was subjected. The reputation which had
preceded him and his recognized ability gained
for him early a place in the leadership of his party
in the Senate, and he served with distinction and
industry on the Committees of Claims, Public
224
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. ^^^
Buildings, Judiciary, Public Lands, and Naval
Affairs. That his Senatorial experience in that
critical epoch worked no depreciation of his worth
in popular estimation is best proved by the suc-
cess of his subsequent political career. His re-
lations with the politics of that period are thus
summed up by a discriminating- critic"'' of public
men and measures :
"He was a Democratic Senator in the most
trying times of the war, when many less faithful
or less discreet men made hopeless shipwreck of
their political future, but the record of Mr. Hen-
dricks has stood the severest test and is con-
spicuous for its freedom from the partisan blun-
ders which then and since have ranked as crimes.
" The sweep of Republicanism over the North
as a necessity to sustain the Lincoln Administra-
tion, carried Indiana with it, and anchored it in
the Republican column under Oliver P. Morton,
the ablest politician and statesman of the oppo-
sition. Mr. Hendricks fell himself in one of Mor-
ton's great battles, but he then, as ever before
and after, proved himself stronger than his party ;
and he was the first of the overthrown Demo-
cratic chieftains to recover his State."
For four years of his Senatorial term he was
the colleague of Senator Lane, and for the re-
maining two years Governor Morton, who suc-
ceeded Lane, was his junior colleague. It was in
* Colonel A. K. McClure in Philadelphia Times, April 25th, 1880.
2 26 ZZ(^i5' OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
the discussion of the reconstruction questions that
Mr. Hendricks took most prominence, and upon
one occasion, January 30th, 1868, he engaged in
masterly dispute with Morton on the vital issue
of all the reconstruction debate. It was of that
speech that ex-Senator McDonald has recently
said : " I was in Washington during Mr. Hen-
dricks' Senatorial term, and heard his speech in
reply to Morton, who favored a military bill then
up for discussion. It was certainly the ablest ef-
fort of Mr. Hendricks' life, and I do not remem-
ber ever to have heard a more adroit, earnest, and
eloquent discourse. It had a marked influence at
the time, and won the highest order of admiration
from his opponents." Mr. Hendricks had shared
Mr. Lincoln's friendship and confidence, and knew
his disposition toward the South. He was fre-
quently at the White House and was always
warmly and cordially welcomed there. In March,
1865, just before the assassination, after the ad-
journment of the Senate, Mr. Hendricks called
on Lincoln to bid him good-bye. He took the
Senator kindly by the hand and said : " I know,
Hendricks, that you are a Democrat; but you
have treated my Administration fairly, and I think
it is due you now to say to you that things will
shortly assume a shape across the river [turning
a.nd pointing to the Potomac] when I can have a
general jubilee." It was certainly the purpose of
the President to have offered the South a gener-
JN- THE SEMATli OP THE VMITED STATES.
227
ous policy of reconstruction, which would prob-
ably have alienated from him the Radicals of his
own party, but as certainly would have com-
manded for him the confidence of the late rebel-
lious States and the co-operation of the great
conservative element of the North.
His tragic taking off, alas ! interrupted this. His
successor was not able to carry out the work, if
he even rightly understood his fallen chief's
purposes and plans. But throughout the debate
that ensued over the restoration of political rights
to the Southern States Mr. Hendricks maintained
by law and logic what he believed to be the posi-
tion of Mr. Lincoln with regard to them, and
favored what he thought would have been the
practical policy of the murdered President. That
policy he proved most conclusively, in his speech
of January, 1868, by citations from the speeches
of Morton and Wade of a few years before, to
have been in accordance with the Democratic
theory of 1868. For instance, he quoted this pas-
sage from a speech by Morton :
"From the beginning of the war up to the pres-
ent time, every message of the President, every
proclamation, every State paper, and every act of
Congress, has proceeded upon the hypothesis that
no State could secede from the Union ; that once
in the Union, always in the Union. Mr. Lincoln,
in every proclamation, went on the principle that
this was an insurrection, a rebellion against the
228 Z/y^ie OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
Constitution and laws of the United States ; not
a rebellion of States, but a rebellion of the indi-
viduals, the people of the several Southern States ;
and every man who went into it was personally
and individually responsible for his acts, and could
not shield himself under the action or authority of
his State. He went on the principle that every
ordinance of secession, every act of the Legisla-
tures of the rebel States in that direction, was a
nullity, unconstitutional and void, having no legal
force or effect whatever, and that as these States
were, according to law, in the Union, their stand-
ing could not be affected by the action of the peo-
ple ; that the people of these States were
personally responsible for their conduct, just as a
man is responsible who violates the statute in re-
gard to the commission of murder, and to be
treated as criminals, just as the authorities thought
proper ; that the people of a State can forfeit
their rights, but that so far as their action is con-
cerned, in a legal point of view, they had no power
to affect the condition of the State in the Union.
Every proclamation and every act of Congress
have proceeded upon this hypothesis."
Senator Wade also had said in the Thirty-
eighth Congress :
"It has been contended in the House of Rep-
resentatives, it has been contended upon this floor,
that the States may lose their organizations, may
lose their rights as States, may lose their corpo-
IN THE SENATE OE THE UNITED STATES. 320
rate capacity, by rebellion. I utterly deny that
doctrine. I hold that once a State of this Union,
always a State ; that you cannot by wrong and
violence displace the rights of anybody or disor-
ganize the State. It would be a most hazardous
principle to assert that. No, sir ; the framers of
of your Constitution intended no such thing. And
how gentlemen, with this principle of the Consti-
tution staring them in the face, can fancy that
States can lose their rights because more or less
of the people have gone off into rebellion, is mar-
velous to me."
Mr. Hendricks turned these arguments most
effectually upon the opposition in the establishment
of his theory that the existence of a State which
had been in rebellion, " its organization as a State,
its Constitution, which was the bond of its organiza-
tion, continued all the way through the war ; and
when peace came it found the State with its Con-
stitution and laws unrepealed and in full force,
holding that State to the Federal Union, except
all laws enacted in aid of the Rebellion." In fur-
ther support of his position, Mr. Hendricks said:
" Mr, Lincoln, in most express terms, in most
emphatic language, in language at the time some-
what offensive to some members of his own party,
held the same doctrine ; and I call the attention
of Senators to the proclamation to which I refer.
In the first place, Mr. Lincoln, on the 8th of De-
cember, 1863, issued a proclamation, first, of gen-
2 ■^o ^^^^ ^^ THOMAS A. HEMDRlCtCS.
era! amnesty to those who would take a prescribed
oath, and then assuring them that if the people of
these States would recognize State Governments
loyal in their character the Executive would re-
spect and, under this clause of the Constitution,
would guarantee those Governments. Here is
his language — not calling upon Congress as the
source of power for the action of the people, but
appealing directly to the people independently of
Congress. He says that if they will reorganize
their State Governments, such shall be recog-
nized as the true Government of the State, and
the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of
the Constitutional provision which declares that
'the United States shall guarantee to every State
in this Union a republican form of government,' "
etc.
He further reminded his Republican colleagues
that the Winter Davis bill passed on the last day
or two of the first session of the Thirty-eighth
Congress. It provided a legislative mode of re-
organization, a legislative policy. Instead of
acting under that bill, Lincoln threw it back in the
face of Congress, and said that Congress should
not tie his hands to any particular mode of re-
oro-anization. Such was his proclamation, dated
on the 8th day of July, 1864, after he had been re-
nominated ; and after that he was re-elected by
his party. Continuing his illustrations and cita-
tions, he made unanswerable statement of the
iN THE SENATE OE THE UNITED STATES. o -> T
Democratic position and convincing^ proof that it
Was the pohcy of Lincoln. He reviewed with
tnaster hand the wrongs and oppression of carpet-
bag Governments and miUtary satrapies in the
South, and forcibly arraigned the Republican
Congress for its infractions of the Constitution.
Knowing the hopelessness of an appeal to
reason or justice on the part of the majority, but
looking to the country and the future, he said:
" There are not many of us In the minority here,
but few as we are, we feel that we are standing In
the Thermopylae of our country's history, and I
believe there will not one flee from the combat."
It will hardly be disputed In the light of subse-
quent history that the minority in that eventful
struo-o-le were rlo-ht.
During the impeachment trial of Andrew
Johnson, when Benjamin Wade, acting Vice-Presi-
dent, took his seat as one of the triers In the case
and proposed to exercise his Senatorial preroga-
tive to vote on the question of Johnson's guilt or
innocence, himself being next in succession, Mr.
Hendricks challenged him and forcibly stated the
objections to such an assumption when he de-
clared that " no man should help to take from the
President his office when that man is to fill the
office if the proceeding succeed." The question
thus raised was characterized by Mr. Sumner as
one " of much novelty," and in Its different parlia-
mentary phases it was the subject of a two days'
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
J'
2X2
debate. It was finally made a point of order that
a motion to postpone the swearing in of Mr.
Wade was out of order, " under the rules and
under the Constitution of the United States."
Chief Justice Chase submitted the point for debate,
and after a prolonged discussion Mr. Hendricks
withdrew his objection, because Senator Bayard
and other of his colleasfues who agfreed with him
on the merits of the case were of the opinion that
the question ought more properly to be raised
when the court was fully organized.
H
CHAPTER IX.
TWO GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGNS.
IS leadership in the Senate was so marked,
and his exposition of the Democratic
position so candid, fair, and able, that Mr.
Hendricks in 1868 was a leading candidate of his
party for President. In the National Convention
held in New York his name was received with
great enthusiasm, and was supported by many
votes through the twenty-one ballots in which the
Convention souQ-ht to reach a decision between
the eighteen names before it. On the twenty-first
ballot Hancock led with one hundred and thirty-
five and a half to one hundred and thirty- two for
Hendricks, when the break was made for Seymour
and he became the unwilling nominee by acclaim.
Mr. Hendricks never sulked in his tent. From
the moment the choice of the Convention was
made it had his loyal support. Much against his
inclination, he was nominated unanimously by his
party in Indiana for Governor, but he shrank not
from carrying the standard placed in his hand,
and, after a most exciting joint debate over the
the State with his opponent, Conrad Baker (sub-
sequently and at present associated with the
Hendricks law-firm), Mr. Hendricks was defeated
233
2'hA LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS
on the face of the returns by nine hundred and
forty-two pluraHty. For four years following hd
devoted himself assiduously to the practice of his
profession. When the disintegration of parties
was threatened in 1872 he anticipated an organic
union of many elements of the Republican party
with the Democratic and thoucrht this could be best
accomplished by the nomination of Hon. David
Davis in the Liberal Republican Convention in
Cincinnati. Disappointed at the selection of Mr.
Greeley, he yielded to the party sentiment which
ratified that nomination at Baltimore, and was
aeain without dissent made the candidate of his
party for Governor, being pitted on this occasion
against General " Tom " Browne, the popular
Republican nominee.
The campaign of 1872 in Indiana was the best
fought battle that the Democratic organization of
that State ever made. It had slight equipment of
money, but 'conducted the canvass in the most
thorouofh manner. It was a hand-to-hand conflict,
Morton leading the opposition to save his State
for his party. Nothing but the power of Hen-
dricks and his personal popularity prevented utter
defeat for the Democrats. The Legislature was
lost, and the entire State ticket, except Superinten-
dent of Public Instruction and Governor, to which
latter office Hendricks was elected by one thou-
sand, one hundred and forty-eight over Browne.
The overwhelming defeat of his party in the
TWO GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGNS. o -> r
Other sections of the country that year abated for
a season Democratic interest in National poHtics,
but a single circumstance of the times proves the
hold which the Governor of Indiana had on the
affections and respect of his party at large. The
Greeley electors had been chosen in Maryland,
Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and
Texas — a total of sixty-eight. After the election
and before the meeting of the Electoral College,
Mr. Greeley died, quickly following his beloved
wife, at whose death-bed he had been watcher
and mourner during that fiery canvass. The un-
precedented and unprovided for contingency of a
party with a certain number of electoral votes being
left without a candidate had occurred — as it is lia-
ble to happen any time, though no party has taken
warning from this notable experience to provide
for it. When the Democratic electors, in their
several States, thus freed from obligation to the
nominee of the National Convention, were left to
their free choice, forty-two of them voted for Mr.
Hendricks, while eighteen voted for B. Gratz
Brown, the candidate for Vice-President, two Tor
Chas. J.Jenkins, and one for David Davis.
Mr. Hendricks was inaugurated Governor Jan-
uary 13th, 1873, and began an administration
marked by his characteristic conservatism, close
attention to details, practical wisdom and good
judgment upon public questions. The integrity
of his motives and conduct was never called into
2'>5 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
question. With a wise system of State govern-
ment, which had not suffered from serious malad-
ministration of its internal affairs, the Common-
wealth of Indiana was in fairly prosperous condition
when he found it, and his administration improved
its healthful state.
One of his official acts which provoked conten-
tion and criticism was his approval of the Baxter
bill of a Republican Legislature, regarded in some
quarters as an extreme temperance measure and
distasteful to an element of his party which had
given him political support. The enactment was
not in accordance with his views of legislation, but
had been passed by both branches of the Assem-
bly upon the recommendation of his predecessor.
Although he knew the bill would become a law,
whether approved by him or not. Governor Hen-
dricks would have been willing to interpose the
Executive veto if he could have found a constitu-
tional objection of substantial weight to the meas-
ure, but this not appearing, he signed it. With
characteristic frankness and fearlessness he went
into the next State Convention of his party to dis-
cuss the issue raised by his approval of the bill ;
and being made Chairman of the Convention,
he addressed it at length upon current topics,
making this reference to the Baxter bill :
"I came to the conclusion that its provisions
were not in violation of the Constitution. It was
not a case of hasty or inconsiderate legislation.
Tiro GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGNS. 0-7
It was deliberately considered in both branches
of the Leg-islature. Believino- the bill to be con-
stitutional, and that it expressed the deliberate
judgment and will of the Legislature, it was my
duty to sign it. / believe the veto poiver is con-
ferred to arrest unconstitutional and hasty legisla-
tion, and legislation in derogation of fundamental
and essential rights, such as the equality of represen-
tation, a7td 7iot to enable the Governor to oppose his
opinions to those of the peoples immediate represen-
tatives upon questions of 7nere policy or police regu-
lation. That law has not received the popular
support necessary to make it efficient. It has
encountered determined hostility on the part of
those engaged in the liquor business, and for
many months extreme temperance people, in a
very extraordinary manner, have shown an un-
willingness to abide by its provisions.
" Propositions will be brought before the next
Legislature for the material modification or repeal
of the law. What legislation shall take its place?
Our Supreme Court has declared absolute pro-
hibition to be unconstitutional, and experience,
I believe, has shown it to be impracticable. It
then only remains to regulate the traffic.
" Any useful law must rest upon the proposi-
tion that there are serious evils to society and to
individuals connected with the traffic in intoxica-
ting liquors which it is the province of the law to
restrain and prevent. Sales should not be made
238 Z//^£ OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
to boys; and if necessary to prevent it, the boy
who misrepresents or conceals his age to obtain
liquor should be punished as well as the party
who knowingly sells to him. Drunkenness should
be punished as well as selling to the intoxicated.
All sales should be forbidden when the public
peace or safety requires it ; and, like other pur-
suits, it should be suspended in the night time.
Perhaps the hour now fixed is unnecessarily and
inconveniently early, but society should be pro-
tected from the disturbances and bloodshed inci-
dent to the traffic in the middle of the night.
"I think it might properly be considered whether
a difference in regulation could not safely be made
for the sale of vinous and malt liquors and the
stronger and more intoxicating- drinks. There is
certainly a great difference in the evils that result
from their use.
"With these and such other provisions as may
seem reasonable and necessary, I think experi-
ence justifies the adoption of the license system.
The amount required for the license in each case
should be (greater than heretofore. It should
be sufficient to make the party selling feel that
his interest is identified with that of society in
preserving order and good conduct at his place
of business, and avoiding all violations of law.
This policy will bring a large revenue into the
school fund, and will prove more efficient in sup-
f^ressing the evils of intemperance 'than the
TWO GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGNS. 239
present system. I cannot appreciate the objec-
tion that by receiving a hcense fee society uses
money received from an improper source. Un-
der the present law the State grants the permit
and declares the business lawful Under a policy
which we have long maintained, every violation
of our criminal law that is punished by fines adds
to the school fund. No law upon this subject can
be useful unless supported by public opinion in
its favor. The wise legislatoV considers the weak-
ness as well as the strength, the follies as well as
the wisdom, of man, and adapts the laws to his
real wants and necessities."
The eminent wisdom of his position and the
practical results of it were demonstrated by sub-
sequent events. He followed his speeches in the
Convention and on the stump with recommenda-
tions to the Legislature. The Baxter bill was re-
pealed, a license system substituted that has con-
tributed millions to the school fund of Indiana,
the evils of intemperance were mitigated, while
the legitimate liquor and beer traffic was placed
upon a basis and subject to a regulation far more
satisfactory to those engaged in it.
The extract from his speech on the Baxter
bill, which is italicized in the fore2:oinQf citation, is
a commendable view of the veto power, of which
few Executives have shown such intelliQi'ent com-
prehension.
Upon one occasion during his term as Gov-
240
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
ernor the Legislature of Indiana adjourned with-
out completing its business. Governor Hendricks
brought it back straightway. His admonition that
the neglected measures required little time, and
that the members, having not yet left the capital,
had not earned mileage, brought about a prompt
dispatch of the neglected business and prevented
unnecessary prolongation of the extra session.
During his term as Governor, December 29th,
1874, at the opening exercises of the State Teach-
ers' Association, he delivered an address full of
thoughtful concern for the educational interests
of the State, which always had his earnest atten-
tion.
Under his administration the debt of the State,
which is now no considerable amount, was largely
taken up, the credit of the Commonwealth sus-
tained and enhanced, and its material affairs pros-
pered. It was during this period that the financial
issue threatened to divide the Democracy. As a
sufficient answer to the misrepresentation which
Mr. Hendricks' attitude toward this question has
been subject to, there is appended here an extract
from his speech in the Convention of 1878. From
these sentiments he never departed, though the
Indiana Platforms in some degree had tran-
scended his views and also that of the Ohio De-
mocracy, in the campaign when he went over to
help them, but he invariably steered his course
consistently with these sentiments :
ThVO GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGNS. 241
"We desire a return to specie payments. It is
a serious evil when there are commercial mediums
of different values; when one description of our
money is for one class and purpose, and another
for a different class and purpose. We cannot too
strongly express the importance of the policy that
shall restore uniformity of value to all the money
of the country, so that it shall be always and read-
ily convertible. That gold and silver are the
real standard of value is a cherished Democratic
sentiment not now or hereafter to be abandoned.
But I do not look to any arbitrary enactment of
Congress for a restoration of specie payments.
Such an effort now would probably produce wide-
spread commercial disaster. A Congressional dec-
laration cannot make the paper currency equal to
gold in value. It cannot make a bank note equal to
your dollar. The business of the country alone can
do that. When we find the coin of the country in-
creasing, then we may know that we are moving in
the direction of specie payments. The important
financial question is, How can we increase and
make permanent ou r supply of gold ? The reliable
solution is by increasing our productions and
thereby reducing our purchases, and increasing
our sales abroad. He can readily obtain money
who produces more than he consumes of articles
that are wanted in the market, and I suppose that
is also true of communities and nations,"
CHAPTER X.
ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT AND COUNTED OUT.
WITH such a loyal support of his party
in his own State as no man as ever
retained in American politics, and with
an unchallenged place in the front rank of the
leaders of the Democracy of the whole country as
he had now come to hold, popular sentiment made
Mr. Hendricks one of the two conspicuous candi-
dates of his party for the Democratic Presidential
nomination in 1876. He had proved his states-
manship in long and honorable public service, his
integrity had never been assailed, he had led the
battles of his party for supremacy in Indiana, and
he had demonstrated his ability to carry that State,
one of the pivotal points of the electoral struggle.
In the St. Louis Convention his name was pre-
sented by Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Fuller,
both of Indiana, and Mr. Campbell, of Tennessee,
for his delegation, spoke in favor of Hendricks'
nomination. But in the long struggle of the Reso-
lutions Committee the supporters of Mr. Tilden
had secured the vantage ground by successful
advocacy of the " hard money " platform. The
first ballot practically decided the result. It was
as follows:
242
ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT AND COUNTED OUT.
FIRST BALLOT, ST. LOUIS CONVENTION, 1876.
243
STATES.
0
s
-a
-2
.a
0
New York
70
26
19
12
14
12
Massachusetts
Illinois
23
California
Maine
Arkansas
Colorado
6
Connecticut
12
14
Alabama
5
6
30
10
I
2
2
Iowa
Indiana
Kansas
Georgia
5
10
I
16
4
Virginia
New Hampshire
West Virginia
"is"
10
New Jersey
Texas ,
10
14
8
2
19
2^
2
I
Vermont
South Carolina
Rhode Island
2
Missouri
7
I
19
Wisconsin
Delaware
6
Tennessee
24
Mississippi
16
9
6
Louisiana
5
c>
Oregon
Ohio
44
Pennsylvania
58
Minnesota
10
II
8
9
24
3
6
14
403^
Maryland
3
4
2
Florida
5
2
Kentucky
Nevada
3
Nebraska
Michigan
8
133^
77
18
31
56
19
Whole vote 713
Necessary for a choice 476
Tilden 403^
Hendricks ^SSyi
Broadhead
Hancock 75
Allen 56
Bayard 27
Parker 18
•19
^AA LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
The issue of administrative reform and tlie con-
sideration given to the larger importance of New
York's thirty-five electoral votes, determined the
struorcrle after one ballot in favor of Mr. Tilden.
The first ballot was reported as given, and after
the announcement of it the States soon tumbled
in to make his vote the necessary two-thirds.
After the Presidential nomination tlie Conven-
tion took a recess until next morning, and during
the interval every thought of any other nominee
for Vice-President than Mr, Hendricks was aban-
doned. Upon reassembling, the delegates nomi-
nated him with great enthusiasm by acclamation
on the first ballot, though no assurance was had
from him or from the delegates who had presented
him for the first place that he would accept the
second. Importunities quickly poured in upon
him from all parts of the country, and, yielding to
the universal demand from the party which had
honored him, and which he was always ready to
serve, he accepted the nomination and bore his
part bravely in the memorable campaign of
1876.
In his letter of acceptance of that year he re-
peated his financial views as they had been previ-
ously expressed; and, while he avowed distrust
of artificial devices to secure resumption as hin-
drances rather than helps, he reiterated the doc-
trine that "Gold and silver are the real standards of
value, and our national currency will not be a
ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT AND COUNTED OUT.
245
perfect medium of exchange until it shall be con-
vertible at the pleasure of the holder."
Upon other subjects of more timely and abiding
interest, Mr. Hendricks declared with great vigor
his sympathy with the declarations of the platform
and the official acts and utterences of Mr. Tilden.
For example, he said : '
"The institutions of our country have been
sorely tried by the exigencies of civil war, and
since the peace by a selfish and corrupt manage-
ment of public affairs which have shamed us before
civilized mankind. By unwise and partial legisla-
tion, every industry and interest of the people
have been made to suffer; and in the executive
departments of the Government dishonesty, rapa-
city, and venality have debauched the public ser-
vice. Men known to be unworthy have been
promoted, while others have been degraded for
fidelity to official duty. Public office has been
made the means of private profit, and the country
has been offended to see a class of men who boast
the friendship of the sworn protectors of the State
amassing fortunes by defrauding the public Treas-
ury and by corrupting the servants of the people.
In such a crisis of the history of the country, I re-
joice that the Convention at St. Louis has so nobly
raised the standard of reform. Nothing can be
well with us or with our affairs until the public
conscience, shocked by the enormous evils and
abuses which prevail, shall have demanded and
* 2A.6 ^^^^ ^^ THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
compelled an unsparing reformation of our na-
tional Administration, 'in its head and in its mem-
bers.' In such a reformation, the removal of a
single officer, even the President, is comparatively
a trifling matter if the system which he repre-
sents, and which has fostered him as he has fos-
tered it, is suffered to remain. The President
alone must not be made the scape-goat for the
enormities of the system which infects the public
service and threatens the destruction of our insti-
tutions. In some respects I hold that the present
Executive has been the victim rather than the
author of that vicious system. Congressional and
party leaders have been stronger than the Presi-
dent. No one man could have created it, and
the removal of no one man could amend it. It is
thoroughly corrupt, and must be swept remorse-
lessly away by the selection of a Government com-
posed of elements entirely new and pledged to
radical reform.
" With the industries of the people there have
been frequent interferences. Our platform truly
says that many industries have been impoverished
to subsidize a few. Our commerce has been de-
graded to an inferior position on the high seas ;
manufactures have been diminished; agriculture
has been embarrassed ; and the distress of the
industrial classes demands that these things shall
be reformed.
"The burdens of the people must also be light-
Elected vice-president and counted out. 247
ensd by a great change in our system of public
expenses. The profligate expenditure which in-
creased taxation from five dollars per capita in
i860 to eighteen dollars in 18 70 tells its own story
of our need of fiscal reform.
"Our treaties with foreign powers should also be
revised and amended, in so far as they leave citi-
zens of foreign birth in any particular less secure
in any country on earth than they would be if they
had been born upon our own soil ; and the iniqui-
tous coolie system, which, through the agency of
wealthy companies, imports Chinese bondmen, and
establishes a species of slavery, and interferes
with the just rewards of labor on our Pacific
coast, should be utterly abolished.
" In the reform of our civil service I most heartily
indorse that section of the platform which declares
that the civil service ought not to be ' subject to
change at every election,' and that it ought not
to be made ' the brief reward of party zeal,' but
ought to be awarded for proved competency and
held for fidelity in the public employ. I hope
never again to see the cruel and remorseless pro-
scription for political opinions which has disgraced
the Administration of the last eight years. Bad
as the civil service now is, as all know, it has some
men of tried integrity and proved ability. Such
men, and such men only, should be retained in
office ; but no man should be retained, on any
consideration, who has prostituted his office to the
24.S
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
purposes of partisan intimidation or compulsion,
or who has furnished money to corrupt the elec-
tions. This is done, and has been done, in almost
every county of the land. It is a blight upon the
country, and ought to be reformed.
"Of sectional contentions and in respect to our
common schools I have only to say this : That, in
my judgment, the man or party that would involve
our schools in political or sectarian controversy is
an enemy to the schools. The common schools
are safer under the protecting care of all the people
than under the control of any party or sect. They
must be neither sectarian nor partisan, and there
must be neither division nor misappropriation of the '
funds for their support. Likewise I regard the man
who would arouse or foster sectional animosities
and antagonisms among his countrymen as a
dangerous enemy to his country. All the people
must be made to feel and know that once more
there is established a purpose and policy under
which all citizens of every condition, race, and
color will be secure in the enjoyment of whatever
rights the Constitution and laws declare or recog-
nize ; and that in controversies that may arise the
Government is not a partisan, but within Its con-
stitutional authority the just and powerful guard-
Ian of the rights and safety of all. The strife be-
tween the sections and between races will cease
as soon as the power for evil Is taken away from
a party that makes political gain out of scenes of
ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT AND COUNTED OUT.
249
violence and bloodshed, and the constitutional
authority is placed in the hands of men whose
political welfare requires that peace and good
order shall be preserved everywhere."
Upon the issues thus formulated, Mr. Tilden
and Mr. Hendricks were elected, after a campaign
in which the candidate for Vice-President took an
effective part. Of the popular vote the electors
supported by the Democratic party received
4,284,885, to 4,033,950 for those who represented
Hayes and Wheeler, 81,740 for Peter Cooper,
9,525 for Green Clay Smith, and 2,636 scattering.
The States divided as follows :
Tilden and Hendricks had the votes of the
States of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana,
Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Florida,
South Carolina, Louisiana, and West Virginia ;
total, 203.
Hayes and Wheeler had the votes of the States
of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu-
setts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois,
Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota,
Oregon, Kansas, Nevada, Nebraska, and Col-
orado ; total, 1 66.
But the electoral votes of Florida, Louisiana,
South Carolina, and Oregon were disputed. Mr.
Hendricks favored insistence upon the lawful
election of the Democratic candidates and a refer-
250
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
ence of any legal questions that might arise to the
constitutional tribunals appointed to decide them.
Mr. Tilden, it is held, was also for standing on
the law and precedents, which would have seated
him and his colleaofue. But the Democrats in
Congress, to escape what seemed to them to be
the danger of civil war, assented to the creation
of an extra constitutional Electoral Commission,
made up of members of the House, Senate, and
Supreme Court Judges, consisting of fifteen in all,
of whom
Eight were Republicans,
Seven were Democrats.
The Republicans voted almost invariably for
any proposition that would confirm the title of
Hayes and Wheeler, and by excluding evidence
when it was hurtful and admitting the same kind
of evidence when it helped their case, by going
behind the returns in one instance and refusing
to go behind them in another, by confirming fraud
and ratifying forgery, they justified a report which
gave all the disputed votes to Hayes and Wheeler,
and seated them by one electoral vote. After an
exciting struggle in Congress the report was
adopted and fraud was made triumphant.
Two Republicans in the House — Henry L.
Pierce and Julius H. Seelye — raised their voices in
protest against the fraud, and they continue to
have the respect of honest men. Senator Roscoe
Conkling absented himself from the proceedings of
ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT AND COUNTED OUT. 25 1
Congress while the ravishment of Louisiana was
being perpetrated by his party.
Hayes and Wheeler Hved through their term, and
at the expiration of it retired to their respective
homes. Before the Electoral Commission Judge
Black had concluded his argument with the pro-
phecy that the slowly turning mills of the gods,
which are poetically supposed to grind out retribu-
tion, would some of these days have the water
turned on them. The time for fulfillment seems
to be at hand. The beneficiaries of the fraud re-
turned to Ohio and New York and have since
lived in great obscurity, objects of general con-
tempt. Neither has ever been mentioned for
other political office or dignity, and Hayes' name
is received in conventions, even of his own party,
with hissing, or popularly recalled only by the
prominence of his wife in temperance and relig-
ious associations.
Mr. Garfield, who visited Louisiana in behalf of
his party in 1876 and sat as one of the Commission
to judge the Louisiana case in 1877, was nomi-
nated by the Republicans for President in 1880
and was inaugurated, but he was assassinated by
a fanatic named Guiteau, who claimed to be a stal-
wart of Stalwart Republicans. A most despicable
character by nature, Guiteau was inflamed to the
frenzy of his foul crime by the excitement which
prevailed in his party over the appointment of a
Collector to the Port of New York. At the sup-
2 1-2 ^^^^ ^^ THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
posed instigation of the Secretary of State, Mr.
Blaine — certainly with a view of rewarding one of
Blaine's friends — the President had removed the
efficient officer who held this post, without good
cause and against the wishes of the New York
Senators. This disagreement threatened to
divide the party, and at the period of President
Garfield's death the breach was imminent. The
political suavity of his successor has healed It for
a time.
Senator Edmunds, of the Electoral Commission,
and Senator Sherman, of the " visiting statesmen "
of that year, have both been urged as candidates
for the Presidency; and ill-luck has even attended
the candidacy of four of the Democratic members
of the Commission, though they all stood up man-
fully for the right and the law. While the mildew
of retribution has thus blighted the political pros-
pects of those who were responsible for the great
fraud and those who were its beneficiaries, the
most conspicuous sufferers by it — Samuel J. Til-
den and Thomas A. Hendricks — have steadily
grown in the respect of the public and the favor
of their party. Had his physical condition per-
mitted, a mere nod of assent from Mr. Tilden
would have commanded for him unanimous re-
nomination in 1884, and with one voice the Con-
vention laid at the feet of Mr. Hendricks its
nomination to the place from which he was ex-
cluded by fraud In 1877.
CHAPTER XI.
MR. HENDRICKS AT HOME.
IT has been nearly a quarter of a century since
Mr. Hendricks first made his office and resi-
dence in Indianapolis. With his inborn love
of rural life and associations, strengthened by his
experience of maturer years, he for a time had
his home on a little farm four miles from the city,
whence he removed within the municipal limits
after his election as Governor, to meet the require-
ments of the law which prescribes that the Execu-
tive of Indiana shall live in the capital city of the
State, He has always lived in democratic sim-
plicity, like a gentleman with refined but not
luxurious or extravagant tastes. With o-enuine
hospitality he entertained his personal friends
and public acquaintances during his Gubernatorial
term, and his frequent popular receptions to the
Legislature were occasions of great pleasure to
the members and his fellow-citizens. After his
retirement from office and during the visit of him-
self and wife to Europe, their residence was closed,
and in the interval between that time and the re-
sumption of their housekeeping they boarded at
the Bates House, where their pleasant rooms
were accessible to friends, and visitors were always
welcomed with genial hospitality.
253
254
LIFE Of THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
About four years ago Mr. Hendricks and his
wife — constituting their whole family — removed to
and since then have lived in one of the two houses
owned by him in the central part of the city of
Indianapolis, on North Tennessee Street, near the
corner of Ohio, across the street from the new
Capitol of the State in course of erection. His
residence is a modest two-story flat-roofed brick
building, painted a drab color and standing a con-
siderable distance in from the street. A spacious
grassy lawn stretches in the front and to the side
of it, with an ailanthus tree and several young
maples scattered about the grounds. • Straggling
hollyhocks and other old-fashioned garden flowers
usually found about country houses are seen along
the side fence, and an appearance of half neg-
lect, without any untidiness, gives the entire place
a cheerful, easy look that makes the humblest caller
feel at home and the most stately and fastidious
will have no ri^ht feeling of taste or order offended.
No "broad sheets of plate glass" attract the won-
derment of the visitor here, nor is there "ample
poi'te cockered' neither "baronial hall" nor "massive
stairways decorated with carvings " betokening
grandeur of fortune or desire of display. It is the
modest, fitting home of an American gentleman,
with a Lroad and hospitable hall, tastefully but
simply furnished double parlors, well-filled book-
cases being a feature of the rear room. Mr. Hen-
dricks' own library and ofifice are in a chamber
MR. HENDRICKS A T HOME. 255
on the second floor, and here, within easy reach,
are his law books, poHtical manuals, reports, and
all the tools of his varied work.
The Democratic candidate for Vice-President,
ex-Senator, ex-Governor, and leader of his party
in Indiana, is a well-preserved man of about five
feet nine inches in stature, well proportioned and
stoutly built, though not corpulent, with small and
shapely hands and feet ; his once light hair, now
thin, is well minsfled with the silver of agfe, but not
of enfeeblement ; his gray eyes have lost no lustre
and in their use he shows no signs of failing sight;
his nose is a prominent feature of his face ; his
mouth and chin, and, indeed, the whole contour of
his face, are expressive of firm, strong character,
with a gentleness of disposition and tender touch ;
he wears the least of side whiskers, which are light
gray, and his complexion is fair. In conversation
he is easy, courteous, cautious, and deferential. In
his face, and form, in the freedom of his counte-
nance from the wrinkles of age or care, in the
firmness of his figure and the elasticity of his step,
he shows the results of a temperate, upright
life and the unmistakable evidences of a sound
mind in a sound body, both preserved by pru-
dent modes of living and constant self-control.
Mr. Hendricks was married In 1845 to Miss
Eliza C. Morgan, of the well-known Virginia fam-
ily transplanted to Ohio, near the metropolis of
which State her mother still resides. His bride
2c5 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
was a beautiful and brilliant girl, who laid her
hand in his and joined her fortunes with those of
young Hendricks when his career was all before
him, and she has been his faithful friend and coun-
selor in all their happy years of conjugal union.
A not unfriendly but no more than fair newspaper
writer has recently printed this personal note of
Mrs. Hendricks : " She is a fine-looking lady,
about fifty years old, rather small of stature, with
dark hair and eyes. She wears eye-glasses,
which give her something of a distingue appear-
ance, and she dresses richly but plainly. She is
a brilliant conversationalist and a lady of rare
tact. For many years she has devoted much at-
tention to charitable matters, and for four years
was one of the Board of Trustees, appointed by
the Republican Governor, of the State Institution
for the Reformation of Girls. While president of
the Board a legfislative investio^ation of the institu-
tion was held, and developed the fact that the
affairs had been managed much more economi-
cally and effectively than when under control of
men. When Mr. Hendricks was Governor of the
State she visited with him the various penal and
reformatory institutions, and was not satisfied
with a casual inspection of them, but inquired
into their afiairs closely. She is valuable to him
in various other ways, for she has an extended
knowledge of political affairs and excellent judg-
ment regarding them. All of his carefully pre-
MR. HENDRICKS A T HOME. o^J
pared speeches bear the impress of her work.
They are a charming couple, thoroughly congenial
and almost equally talented."
At home and in his travels she is his constant
friend ; every detail of his life commands her
closest attention and most faithful care, and she
enters largely into all plans of his political future.
But she springs from a family averse to politics.
Her father, elected to the Ohio Legislature, re-
signed and quit the place in three days because
of his distaste for political service ; and she never
hesitates to say that she married Mr. Hendricks
" as a lawyer," and takes her highest pride in his
achievements at the bar. True wife and woman,
she has the loyal ambition of her sex to have him
succeed in all undertakings and ardent hopes for
his election when nominated; but of more supreme
interest and attraction to her than political intrigue
or affairs of State is her care for his personal ease
and domestic comfort. She appreciates that to
his public and professional success no ministry
can be more useful than that which wards off dys-
pepsia ; to the public man, no service so helpful
as that which affords sleep, "balmy, light, from
pure digestion bred."
The first and only offspring of Mr. and Mrs.
Hendricks was a son, who was born while they
dwelt in their plain frame dwelling at Shelbyville,
and there at the age of three he died. His grave
is marked by a graceful marble shaft inscribed,
258
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
"Our Little Morcran." Portraits which hanof in
ahnost every room of their house show a sweet
baby face with laughing brown eyes, dark curls
shadowing the brow, and firm, calm lips, resembling
those of the father. His blessed and perennial
memory has strengthened their bond of union and
has been a sunbeam in their home wherever they
have made it.
During his Senatorial term, Mr. Hendricks and
his wife never kept house in Washington, and by
no appearance of residence there did he ever
separate himself from or become a stranger to
his constituents. With remarkable devotion to
the people among whom he grew to manhood, and
with unfailing attachment to them personally and
to their interests, he has made it an almost inva-
riable rule to visit and speak in Shelbyville, his
old home, during every general campaign. He
is authority in that community, and the sympathy
he has always had from its citizens is one of the
best tests of a successful public life. During the
campaign of 1876, the local pride in his career
and position manifested itself in the erection of a
campaign pole in Shelbyville, the largest ever put
up in this country. Its erection occupying several
weeks' time and involving an expense of over one
thousand dollars. After the judgment of the
Electoral Commission it was cut down and made
into walking-sticks, which had a large sale among
Jiis admirers.
MJi. HEXDklCKS A T HOME.
^59
Soon following the electoral dispute of 1877,
Mr. Hendricks and his wife took a journey to Eu-
rope, visiting Ireland, Scotland, England, France,
Germany, and Austria. His letters reflecting his
observations upon these countries, their people and
institutions, were full of interest and replete with
practical wisdom. During the winter of 1883-84,
Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks again visited Europe,
their time being spent in England, France, and
Rome, and covering a trip to Algiers. After their
arrival in New York homeward, they paid a visit
to Mr. Tilden before returning to Indiana, and
when they reached their home in Indianapolis,
April 1 6th, 1884, there was a great popular ova-
tion to them, marked by a serenade from fifteen
hundred of their fellow-citizens and speeches by
leading men of the city.
Mr. Hendricks was born and baptized in the
Presbyterian Church, of which his father was an
elder, and although always a strict moralist and
generous supporter of agencies for the preaching
and spread of religion, he connected himself for-
mally with the Church for the first time about
twenty years ago, when he joined the Protestant
Episcopal denomination, and has been for many
years a warden of St. Paul's Cathedral Church in
Indianapolis, being the senior in that office now.
Rev. Dr. J. S. Jenckes, Dean and Rector of St.
Paul's, speaks in the highest terms of his charac-
ter as a man and a churchman. His presence as
2 6o LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
a lay delegate in the General Convocation of the
Church in Philadelphia in 1883 was notable,
when Senator Edmunds declared himself "a can-
didate for no Presidency," and ex-Secretary of
State Hamilton Fish was another distinguished
one of the laymen in that body.
HIS FAITH.
The simple, earnest Christian faith of the man,
which knows no doubt and has not been shaken by
the assaults of modern Agnosticism, is set forth in
the report by an Indianapolis newspaper of an
address by ex-Governor Hendricks before the
Young Men's Church Guild in that city, in course
of which he said :
*' I care not which one of the highways you pur-
sue toward knowledge, you will come to a place
in the course of your travel where you will stop
— where you can go no further — as upon the road
it shall be a mountain or an impassable gulf, and
beyond that what is the distant land then becomes
a question exclusively of faith. This side of that
boundary line it is not allowed to us to adopt
faith ; but I take it that the providence which
intended that human intellect should always be
stimulated to inquiry intended that we should
rely upon our efforts and investigation within the
realm of proper inquiry. But we reach a line and
boundary beyond which inquiry cannot go, some-
times, very early in our progress. I know scarcely
MR. HEXD RICKS A T HOME. 2 6 1
any question that does not have this Hmit and
restriction. Take your own person, and you know
of its existence, you know of its faculties and
powers ; but really you know but little of your-
self. Have you any idea how it is that your will
does govern your body ? You know the fact that
by the will the mind itself does work, but how it is
and what it is you know not. You know that
some faculty is connected with your body that
controls its action ; but just what that faculty is
you know as much as Adam and Eve when they
stepped out of the garden. They knew just as
much as you do. No philosopher has gone fur-
ther. How it is that spirit dwells with matter,
and how it influences the action of matter, no man
knows nor will ever know. So I mig-ht go on to
give several illustrations, but I will not undertake
it. For myself, when I come to that boundary
where faith begins, I choose for my faith that
which is the most beautiful, the most charming,
and that which will promote man's happiness to
the greatest extent and add to the glory and
honor of the Great Author of all things."
TRIBUTE TO CHRISTIANITY.
No less sincere and eloquent was his tribute
to Christianity in his oration at the laying of the
corner-stone of the new Capitol building of the
State, in Indianapolis, in 1880, when in tracing
the elements of a State's greatness he thus ex-
262 L^i'^ ^^^'' THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
pressed the obligations of society to the religion
of Jesus Christ:
"We can judge of the future by the causes
only that have operated in the past and that are
operating now. While the religion of a people
should be, and in this country is, kept separate
and distinct from its civil government, still the re-
hgion of a people insensibly moulds the national
institutions. It tempers their character, and to
this temper their laws must conform. It is the
atmosphere that surrounds and pervades the very
structure of government. In conjecturing as to
the future of a people, its religion should be re-
garded. The social and political institutions that
have taken their form and spirit under the influ-
ences of the prevailing religion will be beneficent
in their influences and of longer probable duration
in proportion as it is true and enduring.
"Christianity has breathed its spirit upon the
institutions that surround us. Some of its solem-
nities have attended the laying of this corner-
stone. If the frightful thought could enter our
minds that Christianity is all a delusion that must
fade away before the advancing light of science,
still a comfortinor assurance would remain that
its gentle and humanizing and elevating influences
have already so potently acted upon the minds of
men that no pernicious or degrading superstition
could ever take its place in any land that it has
enlightened. If it were possible that r.kepticism,
MR. HENDRICKS AT HOME. 26'*
"born of science, could destroy our belief in the
divinity of Christ, and overthrow all that part of
our religion that teaches our duties to heaven, it
cannot be conceived as possible that any form of
faith could ever be substituted that would better
teach man his duties in his relation to earth, or
that would be incompatible with our political in-
stitutions."
CHAPTER XII.
A POPULAR PUBLIC SPEAKER.
SINCE the day he met Nathan Earlywine on
Flat Rock, Mr. Hendricks has maintained
his reputation and popularity as a pubHc
speaker. He is not violent nor declamatory in his
expression, nor is he specially gifted with strength
of voice and grace of manner ; he has not the
happy anecdotal style of the popular stump
speaker, nor is he distinguished for ready wit,
quick repartee, .and severity of invective. He
neither tears a passion in tatters nor splits the
ears of the groundlings; he does not drape his
thoughts in splendor of rhetorical imagery, and
he suffers somewhat from a lack of imagination and
inability to readily quote from his extensive read-
ing of the English classics and parliamentary
debates, with which, for other purposes, he is
familiar. But he has a candid, vigorous, persua-
sive style that attracts and holds the attention of
the average auditor and entertains without tiring,
while it convinces and instructs an audience and
challenges the respect of even the unwilling
listener. His language is always well chosen,
and usually dignified and temperate ; if he is
caustic and merciless to opponents, his severity is
264
A POPULAR PUBLIC SPEAKER.
265
generally the stern logic of irrefutable facts and
unanswerable statistics. He speaks extempora-
neously with fluency, but very often prepares his
addresses with great care and delivers them from
manuscript; and several instances of the accuracy
with which he makes even startling statements
have warned those who grapple in controversy
with him that he is not one to lightly make accusa-
tions without a just appreciation of their gravity.
Of his popular addresses not of a strictly
political character one of the most elaborate was
his eulogy of Washington and the influence of his
character and principles upon American institu-
tions. This was delivered before the Democratic
Association, in the Academy of Music, Philadel-
phia, February 2 2d, 1869, arfd was repeated in
other places. While Governor, he very often made
fitting addresses at public gatherings of a social,
literary, educational, commercial, or agricultural
character, and his public utterances were invaria-
bly in good taste, and displayed rare common
sense. . He made an address at the meeting of
Governors on behalf of the great Centennial
Exhibition, in Philadelphia, October 21st, 1875,
which was a glowing approval of that great project
and a thrilling plea for a restoration of good feel-
ing among all parts of the Union. His address
at the Southern Industrial Exposition, New Or-
leans, February 26th, 1876, while ornate and
eloquent in all its parts, was a rich mine of care-
266 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
fully collated information and wise counsel upori
material subjects. On April 12th, 1882, at the
annual commencement of the Central Law School
of Indiana, he delivered an address on " The
Advocate," concluding with a fit and generous
eulogy of Governors Whitcomb and Morton, the
latter his foremost political antagonist. Mr. Hen-
dricks' lecture on " Revolution," delivered in a
number of cities during late years, is a philo-
sophical and historical production of much literary
merit.
THE CAPITOL ORATION.
At the laying of the corner-stone of the new
Capitol of Indiana, September 28th, 1880, the ora-
tion was made by Mr. Hendricks. In stirring
passages he recalled the history of his State since
its entrance into the Union, and how the enterprise
of its people had conquered the elements and
subdued its soil. But of higher importance than
the swelling of the census tables with the annals
of its material increase he rated its intellectual
and moral development. " The dark forests have
disappeared," he said, " the wet lands have been
drained ; malarial diseases no longer prevail ;
and two million of prosperous and happy people
occupy the rich lands of Indiana. But population
alone cannot confer rank and dignity upon the
State. Who cares to remember Persia, with her
many provinces, her myriads of people, and her
A POPULAR PUBLIC SPEAKER.
267
vast wealth ? But in all the course of time the
little State of Attica canruDt be forgotten. Greek
thought and culture and devotion of liberty are
immortal. Roman law and learnino- and taste
and couraore have enriched the blood of all civil-
ized nations. Ancient Gaul is known to us be-
cause Caesar conquered it and wrote the story of
his conquest. The men of Indiana not only love
liberty, but they have a thorough appreciation of
the advantages of orood orovernment and an intel-
ligent understanding of what is necessary on their
part to preserve and maintain it. They recognize
the fact that wherever a State is controlled di-
rectly or indirectly by the people, public virtue
and popular intelligence are indispensable. They
know that free institutions cannot be made to
rest securely upon ignorance and vice." * * *
" The building whose corner-stone we lay to-day
will be no kingly palace where an arbitrary ruler
shall wield powers not voluntarily conferred upon
him by the governed. It will be no temple dedicated
to some false worship. It will be an edifice where
the sovereignty of a free and enlightened people —
a sovereignty invisible indeed, but nevertheless
as realandaspotentas any that Europe or Asia has
ever known, shall have its seat — a house from
which shall go forth those Influences that preserve
social order and foster public prosperity- — a temple
where 'sovereign law, the State's collected will,
sits empress, crowning good, repressing III,' — a
2 68 Z//"£' OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
political temple sacred to the exercise of a popu-
lar self-government — a form of government that
when once well established can never be over-
thrown, and that is destined in some future ac^e,
in God's good time, to supersede every form of
government that ambition, aided by power and
superstition, has imposed upon the peoples of the
earth."
CHAPTER XIII.
ON THE STUMP.
DURING every political campaign Mr.
Hendricks' services on the stump are in
great demand, not only from the Democ-
racy of his own State, but of every part of the
Union. The old Macedonian cry from his Demo-
cratic brethren of other Commonwealths has never
fallen upon a deaf ear when Thomas A. Hen-
dricks was asked to " come over and help." His
party patriotism knows no limitation of State
lines ; his personal comfort or individual interests
never controlled his movements in a campaign.
When asked once if he was out of politics, he
answered that he did not expect to be while he
was out of his erave. And ag-ain he has said that
the Democratic party has treated him with such
kindness and bestowed so many favors upon him
that it could ask no sacrifice of him that he would
not make. He has presided over many State
Conventions of his party, notably those of July
15th, 1874, February 20th, 1878, and of 1880, and
on these or other occasions he has been wont to
" strike the key-note " of the Indiana campaigns.
While Governor of the State, witness to the de-
moralization which ensued from the concentration
269
270
LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
of all the Federal forces in the State in October,
he recommended that the Constitution should be
so changed that the Qreneral State election take
place in November instead of October.
Before the Convention of 1874 he made a
speech, in which occurs that striking passage in
arraienment of the mismanaofement of the South
by the Federal Government and its relation to
national prosperity: " Cotton and tobacco are the
most important staples in our exports, at some
times exceeding all other commodities. Since the
close of the war it has been the suggestion of wis-
dom to encourage their production in the largest
possible quantities, as it had been the dictate of
humanity, Christianity, and patriotism to promote
reconciliation and harmony between the sections.
But political and partisan interests have been
made paramount to humanity and the welfare of
the country. Bad governments have been estab-
lished and, as far as possible, maintained in the
South. Intelligence and virtue have been placed
under the dominion and servitude of ignorance
and ,vice. Corruption has borne sway ; public
indebtedness has become frightful, and taxes too
heavy to carry, have crushed development and
manacled enterprise. In a word, it has been the
government of hatred, and all this that party
might bear rule. They have nourished the nox-
ious plants of corruption — violence and fraud — in
Louisiana and other States rather than the cotton
ON THE STUMP. 271
plant and sugar-cane. Agriculture cannot flourish
under bad laws, corrupt administration, and cruel
taxation."
He made a very impressive speech on "Town-
ship Democracy" at the Park Theatre, Indianap-
olis, March 30th, 1881. In his Fourth of July
oration at Greencastle, the same year, he ex-
pressed profound sympathy for Garfield, stricken
down by the bullet of an assassin. In the State
Convention of August 2d, 1883, he was Chairman
of the Resolutions Committee. At the Jackson
banquet given by the Iroquois Club, of Chicago,
March 15th, 1882, he replied to the toast, "Our
Country," and he made an address before the
third semi-annual Convention of Democratic Edi-
tors of Indiana, June 30th, 1882.
TRUE REFORM.
In his speech at Zanesville, Ohio, September
3d, 1875, he reviewed in a most masterly way the
increasing extravagance and corruption in the
administration of public affairs and laid bare to
the bone the occasion for deep-reaching and
genuine civil-service reform.
A FAVORITE IN PENNSYLVANIA.
Mr. Hendricks took part in the Iowa canvass
of 1883 ; but in no State is he more of a favorite
or have his services on the stump been more
eagerly sought by his party than in Pennsylvania,
272 LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
where both lines of his immediate ancestry had
their roots. He spoke with great favor to a
Philadelphia audience October 2 2d, 1875, in the
Gubernatorial campaign, at the invitation of the
Americus Club, and roused his hearers to enthu-
siasm again and again as he pleaded for the resto-
ration of good government and the wiping out of
all sectional lines in an impassioned speech, of
which a single extract will convey some idea of the
spirit:
"Why, gentlemen, is not the wheat that is
grown upon the rich lands of Indiana a part of
the wealth of Philadelphia as well as the wheat
that grows in Chester County ? [Cheers.] Ah,
gentlemen, it was the teaching of a wise states-
manship to promote the industries of the South,
and it was the dictate of Christianity and of all
religion that the past relations of the two sections
should be speedily restored. Every religious or
charitable consideration appealed to you and to
me and to all of us whose ears were more open
to the appeals of suffering humanity than to the
narrow-minded demands of party to close up the
breach, and said to us: 'The war is over, the
winds of heaven have blown away the smoke of
the battle ; we are one people ; one flag once more
floats over us all ; one Constitution establishes
the framework of government for us all, and one
destiny awaits us all. Let us, in heart and in
hand, in sentiment, in affection, and fraternity, be
ON THE STUMP. 273
again one people.' [Here the audience re-
sponded by rising tumultuously and waving hats
and handkerchiefs, while makinsf the hall riner with
huzzas.]
"I repeat that stern statesmanship and mild-
eyed religion come to us together with one mes-
sage, saying, 'Restore the old relations of amity
and concord between all parts of the distracted
country, and have prosperity in every portion
thereof.' [Applause.] But how has it been with
us? Virginia several years ago was able to re-
cover her self-government ; Georgia soon after
resumed control of her own affairs; and finally
North Carolina came In, and then Texas, and at
last Arkansas; and just as soon as self-govern-
ment was restored to all these States, It seemed
as if blessings literally rained down from heaven
upon the people. They once more built up their
waste places; the bramble was taken from their
fields, and the cotton-plant, the sugar-cane, the
tobacco-plant, and the corn placed In the ground,
and prosperity reappeared." [Cheers.]
The speeches of Governor Hendricks at Phil-
lipsburg, Centre County, and in Allegheny City, in
the Pennsylvania Gubernatorial canvass of 1878,
were signally effective; the wildest enthusiasm
ever witnessed at a public meeting In that town
was manifested when he uttered this sentiment In
his speech In Allegheny: "Do you think the Dem-
ocratic party can die ? Other parties can die,
274 Z/i^i£' OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
Other parties may die, other parties do die, but
the Democratic party can never die. Democracy,
democratic principles, are always enthroned m
the hearts of the free and liberty-loving people.
Although Jefferson was the great teacher ot our
faith, yet democracy did not have its birth in the
United States. In the past ages, in all countries
where there was a desire for better government,
where man wanted better laws for mankind, and
where the hearts of the whole people longed for
equal justice before the law for all the people, there
was democracy born." On his way to get to Alle-
gheny some railroad detention had created fears
that he might not arrive in time to speak, and a
special train was rigged up and sent out to meet
him. To get him to the hall in season it was run
fifty miles in less than an hour, and he was borne
to the stage on the shoulders of the people, but
the enthusiasm over his speech exceeded even the
tumult of applause which his arrival had excited.
A
CHAPTER XIV.
IN CONTROVERSY.
FREQUENT misapprehension of Mr.
Hendricks' character is that he is a
negative man. This impression obtains
because in the too frequent dissensions which
have disturbed the harmony of his party he
has often refused to take sides radically, and
more than once has successfully attempted to
allay rather than widen the differences. Mr.
Hendricks has the gift of seeing what too many
public men fail to see — that there is generally a
measure of truth on either side of great popular
controversies. The radicals unquestionably have
some uses as pioneers and axe-men in the cause
of truth, but if it was left entirely to their destruc-
tive services it is doubtful if its substantial victory
would ever be achieved. Mr. Hendricks is one
" that holds fast the golden mean," and comes to
his opinions rather by argument and conviction
than through prejudice ; he discusses more than
dogmatizes, and deems it no proof of good sea-
manship to escape Scylla by being engulfed in
Charybdis. But he keeps his views none the less
tenaciously, enforces them no less aggressively,
and defends them with no sliofhter decree of skill
275
2^5 ^^^^ ^^ THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
and persistency because of these habits of
thought. The best test of his quaHty of mind is
made in controversy. Illustrations have been
cited from his earlier professional and political
experience in support of this. Let these of more
recent date serve to confirm it :
Upon the Invitation of the editor of the Noi^th
American Review, he discussed the tariff question
with cogency and clearness in its pages in 1879.
Again, he engaged in a " symposium " in the
same periodical with Messrs. Blaine, Lamar,
Hampton, Garfield, Stephens, Phillips, and Blair,
upon the questions, " Ought the Negro to be
disfranchised? OuQfht he to have been enfran-
chlsed?" He summed up his answers to these
questions in this concise style :
" I am not able to see why the subject of negro
suffrage should be discussed. It must be known
to all that the late amendments will not be, can-
not be, repealed. There is but the duty upon all
to make the political power now held by the en-
franchised race the cause of the least evil and of
the greatest possible good to the country. The
negro is now free, and Is the equal of the white
man In respect to his civil and political rights.
He must now make his own contest for position
and power. By his own conduct and success he
will be judged. It will be unfortunate for him if
he shall rely upon political sympathy for position
rather than upon duties well and intelligently dis-
IN CONTR 0 VERS Y. 2 '^ 7
charged. Everywhere the white race should help
him, but his reliance must mainly be upon him-
self."
IN THE CAMPAIGN OF l88o.*
Mr. Hendricks' most notable political speech
was made in Indianapolis during the canvass in
i88o. The State Committee had appointed
August 14th as the day for opening the cam-
paign along the entire line. All the available
orators, both home and foreign, were to be
drafted into the service. Mr. Hendricks was, as
usual, in universal demand. From almost every
one of the ninety-two counties of Indiana demands
came pouring in upon the State Committee insist-
ing that they must have Hendricks. Being the
leader and idol of his party in Indiana, it had long
fallen upon him to make the speech setting the
State campaign in motion.
So strong was the demand that he should carry
out the precedent which had established the com-
mon law of the party that Mr. Hendricks accepted
the urgent invitation of the people of Marion,
Grant County, Ind., to open the campaign on
August 1 2th, two days prior to the general open-
ing planned by the Committee. Contrary to his
*For the particulars of this account I am indebted to Mr. George F.
Parker, of the Philadelphia Times and the Weekly Post. He was a
resident of Indianapolis in 1880, and the above incident came under his
personal observation, W. U. H.
2 78 ^^^^ ^^ THOMAS A. tlEMD RICKS.
practice, he prepared his speech with great care.
It was written out and condensed down, to the
last degree. It was a vigorous presentation of
the issues of the day and the merits of the Demo-
cratic candidates without a passionate, a doubtful,
or a useless word. Naturally, Mr. Hendricks had
always felt most keenly the wrong done him and
the country by the decision of the Electoral Com-
mission, and had studied all the elements which
led up to it. He had given special attention to
the proceedings of the so-caUed visiting states-
men at New Orleans in the winter of \Z']o-'], and
was perfectly familiar with the share each one
had had in that sinful and shameless proceeding.
At the close of the Marion speech he therefore
took occasion to animadvert briefly but in the
severest terms upon the part which General Gar-
field had played in the execution of this wrong.
He asserted that the Republican Presidential can-
didate had occupied an "inner room" of the New
Orleans Custom House, where he had examined
witnesses from the country parishes and had
coached them in their testimony, which testimony
he afterward adjudged as a member of the Com-
mission. This severe accusation attracted no un-
usual attention for several days ; but in due time
it came to General Garfield's attention. The can-
didate did not deign to take any personal notice
even of so serious a charge upon his personal and
political character, but by his advice and con-
IN CONTRO VERS V. 2 70
sent the Indianapolis yournal, the Repubhcan
organ, on the 6th day of August, contained a
bitter editorial article reflecting upon Mr. Hen-
dricks, accusing him of misrepresenting and ma-
ligning General Garfield, and calling upon him to
either substantiate or disavow his charges, with the
promise that his reply would be published in its
columns.
Mr. Hendricks' attention was called to this
article about nine o'clock of the day on which it
was published. He at once resolved to reply in a
public speech in the evening. It happened to be
the turn of the Democrats to occupy the wigwam
on that night, and a young negro Democratic ora-
tor was billed for the principal speech. The an-
nouncement was given as wide a circulation as
was possible in the brief intervening time, by
handbills, wagons, and other accepted methods of
political advertising, that Mr. Hendricks would
speak from the same stand with the negro. It
was impossible to make known that he would
reply to his traducers, but as the Hoosiers are a
speech-loving people, and as their favorite always
drew when announced, the wigwam was crowded
with a large and expectant audience.
In the meantime Mr. Hendricks, with only a
few hours for preparation, was diligently studying
the testimony taken by the different committees
that had investigated the New Orleans infamy
and was making ready an answer. He had neither
^gQ LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
time, inclination, nor necessity for writing his
speech. He therefore came to the meeting with
no notes except the passages he had marked in the
printed testimony, providing himself with two
stenographers to make a verbatim report. Plung-
ing at once into the subject at issue, with the an-
nouncement that it was purely a question of
veracity between himself and his newspaper and
candidate accuser, he began a review of the facts.
Never hesitating for a word, with all the details of
that extensive conspiracy at his tongue's end, be-
fore an audience in keenest sympathy with himself
and his cause, he showed from General Garfield's
own testimony that he had been in sympathy with
the conspiracy, that he had a personal interest in
its success, and that he had participated in it at
every turn, just as had been charged in the Ma-
rion speech. Mr. Hendricks' manner was cool and
deliberate, the arrangement of the matter simple
and logical, and his self-possession perfect. Every
word did its part in unfolding the story of this
crowning outrage, by which the rights of the ma-
jority of a people had been trampled under foot.
For an hour and a quarter did this terrible and pit-
iless denunciation go on, and when it was closed
his hearers felt, not only that he had outdone him-
self, but that they had listened to a masterpiece of
political oratory. When he had concluded and
the applause had been stilled, Mr. Hendricks
quietly introduced the negro to the audience, he
IN CONTR OVERSY. 2 8 1
and they remaining to hear an eloquent speech
from the representative of the race upon whose
members the opposing party had always claimed
to have a mort^aofe.
When the speech was published next day, as it
was the country over, congratulations poured in
upon Mr. Hendricks from every quarter. The
speech had impressed the public as forcibly as it
had the few thousand people who had listened to
it, and the response was equally prompt.
When the full report of the speech was pre-
sented to the accusing newspaper, it violated all
decc^ncy and its own promise by refusing to pub-
lish it or in any way correct the foul aspersions
it had cast upon the most distinguished man in its
own city or State. .
CHAPTER XV.
RENOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT.
THE results of the electoral campaign of
1877 were disastrous to the hopes of the
Democracy ; hence an angry contention has
been waged ever since, with more or less violence,
within the party as to who of its members was
responsible in largest degree for the apparent
assent of the organization to the creation of that
extra-constitutional tribunal. In all the recrimi-
nation upon this subject no word of approval for
the scheme has ever been reported as having
issued from Mr. Hendricks in those troublous days.
Further, it is not necessary to dip into that discus-
sion here. This controversy, in its various phases,
entered into the ca;ivass for the Presidential nomi-
nation in 1880. There wasantagonism rather than
co-operation between the friends of Mr. Tilden
and those of Mr. Hendricks, and after the former's
letter of withdrawal was published it was gener-
ally recognized that the remaining survivor of the
" old ticket " could not be nominated for first place.
He was placed in nomination in an eloquent
speech by Senator Voorhees at the Cincinnati
Convention of 1880, and was loyally supported by
the delegates from his State, who did not offer him
282
RENOMINATED FOR VICE-RRESIDENT. 28^
for any other office nor did they propose the name
of any candidate from Indiana for second place
after General Hancock's nomination. Other States
made Mr. EngHsh, of Indiana, the candidate for
Vice-President, and the delegates from his own
State assented. As has been seen, the ticket had
Mr. Hendricks' most zealous support, but his party
in Indiana lacked the popular influence of his can-
didacy that year, and its defeat there in October
presaged the general disaster of November.
Subsequently Mr. Hendricks engaged in the
practice of the law, devoted his leisure to literary
work and personal enjoyment, visited Europe, and
deemed his public career closed. The suggestion
of the name of Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, from his
own State, for the Presidential nomination of his
party met with his approval and support, and by
Mr. McDonald's request Mr. Hendricks was
placed at the head of the delegation to the Chi-
cago Convention from Indiana, and was appointed
to put his distinguished fellow-citizen in nomina-
tion. At the same time, the proposition to re-
dress the fraud of 1876-77 by the renomination
of Tilden and Hendricks met with such favor in
Indiana that Mr. McDonald stood ready to defer
to It in the event of Mr. Tilden's consent to such
renomination. When his letter of peremptory
declination was made public, Mr. Hendricks was
entirely out of the field.
His appearance in the National Convention —
284 Z//v£: OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
for the first time a delegate to such a body — cre-
ated great enthusiasm, and every time he entered
the Convention hall he was received with marked
demonstrations of popular favor, like encomiums
and expressions of good-will being directed to the
distinguished Senator Thurman, of Ohio, also a
member of the Convention. When Mr. Hen-
dricks took the platform and made his speech
nominating Mr. McDonald, the enthusiasm in-
creased in force, and throughout his address its
points were marked by thunders of applause and
unceasing popular tributes of personal respect.
On the last day of the Convention and during
its second ballot for President, the single vote of
a delegate from Illinois for Mr. Hendricks had the
startling effect of a spark dropped into a great
pile of combustible material. It has since trans-
pired that after the ballot of the previous night
session, in which Cleveland had shown such de-
cided strength, his opponents, after a careful sur-
vey of the field, had determined that Mr. Hendricks
was the only name upon which all the elements
of opposition could be united and which had a
positive strength that might be successfully joined
with these to make the movement a success.
Accordingly, by preconcerted arrangement — to
which neither Mr. Hendricks nor the delegation
from his State was a party, of course — as soon
as the single Illinois vote was cast for him a
tumult of cheering broke out from every quarter
RENOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 28 S
of the hall. It was intensified by the recollection
of the electoral fraud and strengthened by the
sentiment rife in the Convention for the renom-
ination of the " old ticket," or at least a repre-
sentative of it. Personal consideration for Mr.
Hendricks and local pride in a Western nomination
swelled the greeting which his name received, and
for nearly half an hour the sight and sound that
ensued were such as to baffle descriptive powers.
The vast audience was moved to louder and
deeper and more expressive demonstrations of its
satisfaction, and the tumult reached its climax
when the banner of Indiana was carried to the
President's desk and Senator Voorhees' tall form
and waving arms, looming up like the branching
sycamore, were seen on the platform, and his rich,
sonorous voice told of the transfer of Indiana's
votes from McDonald to Hendricks.
But the flood was broken as^ainst the break-
water of the rest of the Illinois delegation, who
announced the bulk of their vote for Cleveland.
The superior organization, cooler heads, and bet-
ter discipline of his forces triumphed, and his nom-
ination was soon accomplished.
During this eventful time bulletin boards all
over the country and at nearly every cross-roads
in Indiana revealed the situation, and for a half
hour the name of Hendricks was on every lip as
the likely nominee for President. The sudden
and totally unexpected demonstration of the
286 Z/i^£ OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
popular esteem for him overtook him with such
starthngf effect in the clischar^je of his duties as a
delegate, that, after the motion was offered and
put and carried, at his instance, to make Mr,
Cleveland's nomination unanimous, he retired
from the Convention, leaving Mr. English to act
in his stead, and went to his hotel for rest.
Durinof the recess taken after the head of the
ticket was named, the prominent members of the
party held a hurried consultation as to the best
name with which to supplement the choice of the
Governor of New York. The fitness of Mr.
Hendricks' selection was almost unanimously con-
ceded, and to the suggestion that it would be dis-
tasteful to him and force the Convention to make
another choice, the ready answer from those who
knew him best, though without any authority to
speak for him, was that he held his party duty too
high to decline any service imposed upon him
by its expressed will.
When the Convention met and the roll of
States was called, there were various nomina-
tions made until Pennsylvania was reached, and
then ex-Senator W. A. Wallace arose and said :
" I rise again in my place on the floor of this
Convention, not to place in nomination a Pennsyl-
vania man by birth, but, sir, to place in nomination
for the second gift of the American people a man
springing from old Pennsylvania's stock, from the
western portion of the Commonwealth. In the
RENOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 28?
Star of the West he found the lineaa-e that orives
him to thf. West. This gentleman is conversant
with pubHc affairs ; throughout his entire Hfe he
has known of government and its details. Not
only a statesman, but a pure and upright citizen,
the representative of the grossest wrong that was
ever perpetrated upon the American people, I
nominate to this Convention as its candidate for
the Vice-Presidency of the United States Thomas
A. Hendricks."
Immediately the scenes of the previous ses-
sion were renewed with undiminished force. The
Indiana delegates, in the heat of their disappoint-
ment at the events of the earlier session, sought
to dissuade and discourage the Convention by
statements that Mr. Hendricks was not a candi-
date, and by intimations that he might not accept.
But it was all in vain. The tide rose higher and
higher. Governor Waller, of Connecticut; ex-
Senator Wallace, Governor Hubbard, of Texas
and one after another distinguished representa-
tives of solid delegations spoke for Hendricks'
nomination and with enthusiasm, but upon the
deliberate call of the roll every vote in die Con-
vention was reported for him. The scene that
followed is thus described by an eye-witness :
"When the vote of Indiana was announced for
Hendricks, and it was apparent that his nomina-
tion was unanimous, the delegates and the audi-
ence rose to their feet. The whole house was a
238 Z//'^ (9/ THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
sea of undulating color, formed by waving hand-
kerchiefs of every hue, hats, umbrellas, and every-
thing else which could be seized upon by the ex-
cited assemblage. The band broke in with the
strains of ' Hail to the Chief;' a number of the
delegates seized the standards and bore them to
the platform, where they were gathered into a
cluster, about which were congregated two or
three hundred delegates, who formed themselves
into a procession and marched around the hall,
while the band favored the crowd with ' The Star
Spangled Banner.' Immediately upon the cessa-
tion of the music the people began again with a
second chapter of uproar, when the band came in
with * Dixie,' followed with ' Auld Lang Syne,'
thousands of voices chanting the words. Then
the solemn notes of 'Old Hundred' came floating
down from the gallery, and ten thousand voices
joined in the grand old hymn. 'America' and
' Home, Sweet Home* were rendered by the band
and voiced by the crowd, and the demonstration,
after a continuance of something over twenty
minutes, was at an end."
CHAPTER XVI.
AFTER THE NOMINATION.
THE news reached Indianapolis promptly
and revived the enthusiasm, which had
been checked by the disappointment felt
after Mr. Hendricks' failure to be nominated for
President. About midnight a salute was fired,
and early next morning Mr. Hendricks, returning
to his home, was greeted on all sides with con-
gratulations and was visited during the succeed-
ing day by hundreds of his friends and fellow-
townsmen. At a ratification meeting called on
Saturday night, to which he was escorted by
crowds of citizen Democrats, he spoke extempo-
raneously, expressing his grateful recognition of
the kindness shown him by his party of the whole
country and of the expression of good feeling on
the part of his neighbors. He thus voiced the
Democratic demand for an opening of the books
in Washino-ton :
" I will tell you what we need — Democrats
and Republicans will alike agree upon that — we
need to have the books in the Government office
opened for examination. [Cheers, and cries 'That
is it.'] Do you think that men in this age never
yield to temptation ? [Laughter.] It is only two
289
2 go LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
weeks ago that one of the Secretaries at Wash-
iniJ^ton was called before the Senate Committee to
testify in regard to the condition of his depart-
ment, and in that department was the Bureau of
Medicine and Surgery. In that department an
examination was being had by a committee from
the Senate, and it was ascertained by the oath of
the Secretary who sits at the head of the depart-
ment that the defalcation found during last year,
as far as it had been estimated, was sixty-three
thousand dollars. And when asked about it, he
said that he had received a letter a year ago in-
forming him of some of these outrages, and a
short time since somebody had come to him and
told him there were frauds going on in the ser-
vice ; but members of Congress had recommended
a continuance of the head of the bureau with such
earnestness that he thought it must be all right,
and now it turns out that the public was sixty-
three thousand dollars out, and how much more
no man, I expect, can now tell. But what is the
remedy? To have a President who will appoint
a head of the bureau that will investigate the con-
dition of the books and bring all guilty parties to
trial."
In the foregoing speech, and in his speech nomi-
nating Mr. McDonald in the Convention, Mr.
Hendricks had animadverted severely upon the
decline of official indignation at corruption by the
reference to William E. Chandler's indifference
AFTER THE NOMINATION. 2QI
when the defalcation of sixty-three thousand dol-
hirs in the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery was
discovered. Secretary Chandler thought it in-
cumbent upon him to take cognizance of this
second attack, and replied in an open letter, in
which he defended himself by alleging that much
of the defalcation occurred before he came into
office, and by asserting that many Democrats had
recommended Dr. Wales, the chief of the Bureau,
for reappointment. Thereupon Mr. Hendricks
replied by an open letter on the following day as
follows :
MR. Hendricks' letter.
Indianapolis, July 14th, 1884.
The Hon. W. E. Ckandlej^ :
Sir: I find in the newspapers this morning a
letter to me from yourself, written yesterday and
circulated throucjh the Associated Press. You
complain that I did you injustice in an address to
the people of this city, made the evening before.
In that address I uro^ed that " We need to have
the books in the Government office opened for
examination," and as an illustration I cited the
case of a fraudulent voucher in one of the bureaus
of your department, and stated that upon your tes-
timony before a sub-committee of the Senate, it
appeared that the frauds amounted to sixty-three
thousand dollars. And is not every word of that
true ? You were brouMit before the committee
2Q2 LIFE OF r HO MAS A. HENDRICKS.
and testified as I stated. You admitted under
oath that the sum of money lost amounted to six-
ty-three thousand dollars, but your defense was
that the embezzlement did not wholly occur under
your administration, but that a part of it was
under that of your predecessor. It seems to have
covered the period from June 21st, 1880, down to
January 25th, 1884. Does that help your case ?
You were at the head of the department a year and
nine months of that period, and your predecessor
about one year and ten months. He was in office
at the payment of the first false voucher, on June
2ist, 1880, and up to April 17th, 1882, when you
came in, and you continued thence until the last
false voucher was paid, January 25th, 1884. The
period was almost equally divided between your-
self and your predecessor. How much of the six
ty-three thousand dollars was paid out under
yourself and how much under your predecessor
your letter does not show. But, sir, upon the
question that I was discussing, does it make any
difference who was Secretary when the false
vouchers were paid ?
I urged that in cases like this, when frauds are
concocted in the vaults or in the books of the de-
partment, the only remedy of the people is by a
change of the control, so that the books and vouch-
ers shall come under the examination of new and
disinterested men. Do you think I am answered
when you say I was mistaken in supposing that in
AFTER THE NOMIXATION. o/^->
this case the frauds were all under your adminis-
tration, when, in fact, a part of them extended back
into that of your predecessors ? Why, sir, that
makes your case worse. For the Bureau of Med-
icine and Surgery the defalcation is large, but the
more serious fact is that it could and did extend
through two administrations of the department, a
period of nearly four years, without detection. Biit
it becomes more serious, so far as you are individ-
ually concerned, when the fact is considered that
you had notice and yet took no sufficient action.
The information upon which I spoke was from
Washington, the 26th of last month, by the Asso-
ciated Press, the same that brings me your letter.
The x^ssociated Press obtained its information
either in your department or from the investigat-
ing committee. If you were not correctly re-
ported, that was the time for complaint and
correction. You testified that the total of the
suspicious vouchers discovered so far was about
sixty-three thousand dollars, and that the money
fraudulendy obtained was in some instances divi-
ded between a watchman in the department Car-
rigan, the Chief Clerk, and Kirkwood, in charge
of the accounts. Now, what notice had you?
According to the Associated Press report of your
testimony you received a letter last year charging
Carrigan, one of the parties, with drunkenness,
and after that a man came to you and told you
that Kirkwood and Carrigan were engaged in
2gA LIFE OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
frauds. Did not that put you upon notice and in-
vestigation ? You testified that some inquiry was
made, and the conclusion was that while there
was some suspicious circumstances they did not
warrant a conclusion of guilt. After a notice,
verbal and in writing, you left the men in office.
You did not bring the fraud to light nor the guilty
parties to punishment. It was Government De-
tective Wood who discovered the frauds, and the
Associated Press report says that Wood declared
he would have no further dealings with your de-
partment, but would press an investigation before
Congress.
What is your next excuse? Worse, if possible,
than all before. You say a large number of Con-
p^ressmen, includinof some o-entlemen of preat
inliuence and position, recommended that the
head of the bureau. Dr. Wales, should be reap-
pointed. Members of Congress knew nothing of
the frauds ; they had no opportunity to know. It
was within your reach and duty. They were
probably his personal friends ; you were his
official superior. But, in fact, did you reappoint
him? I understand not. Perhaps the detective
discovered the frauds too soon. But Dr. Wales
\va.s not one of the three guilty parties. He
neither forged the vouchers nor embezzled the
qioney. His responsibility in the case is just the
same as your own. He was the official superior
of the three rogues, as you were of himself as
AFTER THE AOMINATION. 20";
well as of them. Neither he nor yourself exposed
the frauds or punished the parties. I have not
thought of or considered this as a case of politics.
Addressing my neighbors, I said that this and like
cases admonish them to demand civil service re-
form in the removal from office who will not seek
to promote it within the sphere of their official
duty and authority of all. Respectfully,
T. A. Hendricks.
The Secretary of the Navy, without further re-
joinder, started out to sea upon the Government
vessel Tallapoosa, visiting the seaports and navy
yards of the Atlantic coast.
With this prompt deliverance upon the vital
issues of the day, Mr. Hendricks' candidacy for
his second election to the Vice-Presidency was
placed before the country, and there is every
likelihood that in its results will be realized the
fulfillment of the prophecy which he uttered at
the Manhattan Club reception in New York in
1877:
" A great and sincere people will pass their
final verdict upon the outrageous act. Demo-
cratic principles will be carried out by Democrats
and by such fair-minded Republicans as will not
make themselves a party to the wrong done last
winter. This will be accomplished by the major-
ity of voters in the several States * * * and
Indiana will again do her duty."
CHAPTER XVII.
NOTIFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE.
FOR several weeks subsequent to the Chi-
cago Convention Mr. Hendricks remained
at his home in IndianapoHs, where he re-
ceived the visits and congratulations of many
political and personal friends from all parts of the \
country and disposed of a vast amount of corre-
spondence. Toward the close of July, accom-
panied by Mrs. Hendricks, he went to Saratoga,
as had been his wont in the summer, and during
his stay there was visited by the Committee of
the National Convention appointed to officially
inform him of his nomination. On Wednesday,
July 30th, the day after the Committee had waited
upon Governor Cleveland for a similar purpose,
its members assembled in the ladies' parlor of the
Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga, to present their
address to Mr. Hendricks. The room was
crowded with a brilliant company of ladies and
gentlemen, who greeted the appearance of Mr. )|
Hendricks with applause. The members of the
Committee arose when he entered, and remained
on their feet during the proceedings. ,
Colonel W. F. Vilas, Chairman of the Commit- |
tee, then addressed the nominee and presented
296
NO TIFICA TIO.V AXD A CCEPTAXCE. 207
the formal notification of his Committee. After it
had been read Mr. Hendricks repHed as follows :
MR. Hendricks' reply.
" Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Com-
mittee : I cannot realize that a man should ever
stand in the presence of a committee representing
a more august body of men than that which you
represent. In the language of another, ' the Con-
vention was large in numbers, august in culture,
and patriotic in sentiment,' and may I not add to
that, that because of the power and greatness and
the virtues of the party which it represented it was
itself in every respect a very great Convention.
"The delegates came from all the States and
Territories, and I believe, too, from the District of
Columbia. They came clothed with authority to
express judgment and opinion on all those ques-
tions which are not settled by constitutional law.
For the purpose of passing upon those questions
and selecting a ticket for the people that Conven-
tion assembled. They decided upon the princi-
ples that they would adopt as a platform. They
selected the candidates that they would propose
to the party for their support, and that Convention
work was theirs.
" I have not reached the period when it was pro-
per for me to consider the strength and force of
the statements made in the platform. It is enough
for me to know that it comes at your hands from
2q8 life of THOMAS A. IIEXDRICKS.
that Convention, addressed to my patriotic devo-
tion to the Democratic party. I appreciate the
honor that is done me ; I need not question that.
But at the same time that I accept the honor from
you and from the Convention, I feel that the duties
and responslblhty of the office rest upon me also.
"I know that sometimes it is understood that this
particular office — that of Vice-President — does not
involve much responsibility, and as a general thing
that is so, but sometimes it comes to represent
very great responsibilities, and it may be so in the
near future, for at this time the Senate of the
United States stands almost equally divided be-
tween the two great parties, and it may be that
those two great parties shall so exactly differ that
the Vice-President of the United States shall have
to decide upon questions of law by the exercise
of the casting vote. The responsibility would
then become very great. It would not then be
the responsibility of representing a State or a
district ; it would be the responsibility of repre-
senting the whole country, and the obligation
would be to the judgment of the whole country,
and that vote, when tlius cast, should be in obedi-
ence to the just expectations and requirements of
the people of the United States. It might be,
gendemen, that upon another occasion this respon-
sibility would attach to the office :
"It might occur that under circumstances of
some difficulty — I don't think it will be next elec-
NOTIFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE. 2QQ
tion, but It may occur under circumstances of
some difficulty — the President of the Senate will
have to take his part in the counting of the elec-
toral vote ; and allow me to say that that duty is
not to be discharged in obedience to any set of
men or to any party, but in obedience to a higher
authority. Gentlemen, you have referred to the
fact that I am honored by this nomination In a
very special degree. I accept the suggestion that
In this candidacy I will represent the right of the
jDeople to choose their own rulers, that right that
is above all, that lies beneath all, for if the people
are denied the right to choose their own officers
according to their own judgment, what shall be-
come of the rights of the people at all? What
shall become of free government if the people
select not their officers ? how shall they control
the laws, their administration and their execution?
so that in suggesting that In this candidacy I repre-
sent that right of the people, as you have sug-
gested, a great honor has devolved upon me by
the confidence of the Convention. As soon as It
may be convenient and possible to do so I will
address you more formally In respect to the letter
you have given me. I thank you, gendemen."
At the close of' Mr. Hendricks' remarks hearty
applause was given, and a general handshaking
followed, after which the assembled audience paid
their respects to Mr. Hendricks and then quiedy
dispersed.
RECORD
Democratic Convention
CHICAGO,
JTJXj'Z" 8-11, 1884.
CHAPTER I.
GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
WHETHER Chicago is to be congratu-
lated or to be pitied in her flood of
nominating conventions is a question.
Those who Hve by troops of visitors and lodgers —
hotel and boarding-house people, venders of cigars,
refreshments, drinks, peanuts, etc., rejoice. News-
boys, bootblacks, car drivers, and cabmen find plenty
to do; but whether the solid, sensible, orderly, quiet-
loving souls are happy is the problem. Possibly
Chicago is not overstocked with residents lof that
character. If this be so, Chicago is constitutionally
the place for nominating conventions.
Some idea of the "racket" raised on Sunday
morning, July 6di, 1884, may be caught' from the
following graphic picture, sketched by an eye-wit-
ness. He says : " At a very, very early hour this
morning the New York County Democracy, five
hundred strong, each man decorated with a two-
story badge and mansard roof attachment, entered
the town amid a blaze of rockets, the elare of cal-
cium lights, and the brilliancy of Roman candles.
The bands played, and the boys swore because all
of the places for refreshment had been closed since
one o'clock in the morning. The Americus Club,
303
504
GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
of Philadelphia, with the Weccacoe Band, escorted
by the Cook County Democratic Club, also made
the city lively for an hour or so by marching- through
the principal streets. Cream-colored hats and
dark-brown suits constituted the uniform of the
members, and the lapel of every coat was em-
blazoned with a badge of purple and gold as
handsome as a Fifth Avenue front door.
"The Irving Hall Democracy got in at five, and
had for their welcome the escort of the County
Democracy, the crowd massing, as usual, at the
Palmer House.
"After the County Democracy had escorted the
Irving Hall party to the Palmer and marched them
over the broad streets, the different sections of the
newly arrived delegation were distributed among
the hotels. The appearances of the men were not
only good, but their marching elicited applause all
along the route.
" The noise of the half-dozen bands had scarcely
stopped when another escort was formed, composed
of the Cook County Democratic Club, the Americus
Club, and Samuel J. Randall Club, of Philadelphia,
all with banners, fiags, and colors flying, moving
over the same route just covered by the Irving Hall
party. They marched to the Michigan Southern
depot, where, at half-past six, the trains bearing
Tammany were unloaded of their precious burden.
All Chicago had by this time prayed, dined, and
wined, and for recreation and out of curiosity
GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
305
crowded along the line the procession was ex-
pected to pass. Mayor Harrison contributed a
guiding escort of some of the 'finest' the city can
produce. It was not Intended Tammany should
parade until nine o'clock In the evening, to give the
sachems, braves, and warriors time to wash and
change their feathers ; but Irving Hall had just
made so much music, and the thousands and tens
of thousands that blocked the thoroughfares were
so expectant, that it was resolved at the last mo-
ment to give the town a treat."
So It readily came to pass all through the day
that clatter and bang and push and drive were in
order, much to the disorder of things generally
and to the discomfort of the good citizens and
church-goers. But to all ills there is an end, and
so, after the rush of Sunday and of Monday, the
eventful opening-day arrived, dawning cool and
clear.
Prompdy at 12:30?. m. on Tuesday, July 8th,
1884, the Convention was called to order by ex-
Senator Barnum, Chairman of the National Dem-
ocratic Committee.
Prayer was offered by Rev. D. C. Marquis, of
the Northwestern Theological Seminary. He
prayed for "a blessing on this great assembly of
representative citizens, that they should be en-
dowed plentifully with that wisdom which is first
pure, then peaceable, and gende, and easy to be
entreated; that nothing should be done through
306 GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
Strife and vain jealousy, but that they should be
filled with that charity which is not puffed up and
doth not behave itself unseemly." He prayed
that their deliberations would be guided to such
conclusions as would best promote the glory of
God and the welfare of the nation. Chairman
Barnum said :
Gentlemen of the Convention : Harmony
seems to be the sentiment of this Convention.
Even the air seems saturated with a desire and
determination to nominate a ticket for President
and Vice-President which will be satisfactory to
the North and to the South, to the East and to the
West ; nay, more, a ticket that will harmonize the
Democracy throughout the Union and insure a
victory in November. Harmony prevailed in the
deliberations of the National Committee. No
effort was made to nominate a temporary Chair-
man in the interest of any candidate, but, on the
contrary, cne who shall preside over the delibera-
tions of this Convention with absolute impar-
tiality.
In that spirit, and to that end, I have been di-
rected by the unanimous vote of the National
Committee to name the Hon. Richard B. Hub-
bard, of Texas, for temporary Chairman of this
Convention. As many as favor the election of
R. B. Hubbard for temporary Chairman will say
"aye." [A universal "aye."] Contrary, "no."
[Not a voice responded on this side.] Hon. R.
GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
309
B. Hubbard, of Texas, is unanimously elected
temporary Chairman of this Convention. The
Chair appoints Senator B. F. Jonas, of Louisiana ;
Hon. George T. Barnes, of Georgia, and Hon.
Abram S. Hewitt, of New York, a committee to
wait upon Mr. Hubbard and conduct him to the
chair." Mr. Hubbard having been led to the plat-
form, the Chairman led him to the front, and said:
" Gentlemen of the Convention, I have the dis-
tinguished honor of presenting to this Conven-
tion Hon. Richard B. Hubbard, of Texas, as the
absolutely impartial temporary Chairman of this
Convention."
ADDRESS OF THE TEMPOTIARY CHAIRMAN.
Mr. Hubbard came forward amid loud applause,
and said :
" M r. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Democratic
Convention of the Union : I am profoundly grate-
ful for the confidence which you have reposed in
me in ratifying the nomination of the National
Executive Committee, who have done your bid-
ding for the last four years by your authority. I
accept it, my fellow-Democrats, not as a tribute
to the humble citizen and your fellow-Democrat
who speaks to you to-day, but rather as a com-
pliment to the great State from whence I come —
a State which, more than any other American
State, is absolutely cosmopolitan in every fibre of
its being. In its early days and struggles, thither
came to our relief, as the winds sweep across the
3IO
GA THERIXG OF THE HOSTS.
sea, men of Illinois and New York, men of Maine
and New England, men of Georgia and along the
coast, gave their lives at the Alamo and San Ja-
cinto for the freedom of Texas. I can only recall
to you in the brief moments which I shall detain
you the fact that our neighboring sister State,
her women — her glorious Spartan women — sent
to us the twin cannon that belched into (glorious
victory at San Jacinto ; but above all we accept it
as a tribute to the fact, my fellow-Democrats, that
Texas, with her 2,000,000 people, gladly at each
recurring election place in the ballot-box over
100,000 Democratic majority.
'* Fellow-Democrats, we have met upon an occa-
sion of great and absorbing interest to our party
as well as to our common country. The occasion
would not justify me, nor demand that I should
attempt, to speak to you of its great history and
its distinctive principles through two-thirds of the
most glorious history of our country. I could
not stop to discuss, if I would, its munificent policy
of progress ; the part which she has taken in
building up our country, its progress, its territory,
and its wealth. I can only say to you to-day, in
brief, that the Democratic party in all the essen-
tial elements is the same as it was when it was
founded by the framers of the Constitution, nearly
three-quarters of a century ago.
" Men die as the leaves of autumn, but prin-
ciples underlying liberty and self-government
GA THE RING OF THE HOSTS. -, x .
— the right of representation and taxation going
hand in hand ; economy in the administration of
the Government, so that the Government shall
make the burdens as small as they may be upon
the millions who constitute our countrymen —
these and other principles underlie the Demo-
cratic party and cannot be effaced from the earth,
though their authors may be numbered with the
dead.
" I thank God, fellow-citizens, that though we
have been out of power for a quarter of a cen-
tury, we' are to-day, in all that makes adherence
and confidence and zeal, as much a party organ-
ized for aggressive war as when the banners of
victory waved over our heads.
"The Democratic party, fellow-citizens, since
the war time, commencing with reconstruction,
with our hands manacled, with our ballot-boxes
surrounded by the gleaming bayonet, with carpet-
bag rulers, with the voice of freemen who pay
their taxes to the Government stifled — the Demo-
cratic party has lived to see through all this mis-
rule the day come when in a great majority of our
States the Democratic party has resumed its con-
trol, its power. It has your House of Representa-
tives, and but for treason stalking in the Senate
Chamber we would have that, too.
"We have had the Presidency, too. But with
impious hands — the hands of the robber — our
rights were stricken down at the ballot-box, and,
312
GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
through perjury and bribery and corruption, men,
uttering falsehood through pale lips and chatter-
ing teeth, in the very temples of liberty, stole the
Presidency from this country. Some of the men
who participated in it have passed beyond the
river and stand to o-ive an account of their stew-
ardship. But history will not lie when it records,
as it has, that that Electoral Commission an-
nounced in the Senate Chamber through the
House that it would consider the question and
the evidence of fraud in the returns of the vote of
Louisiana. I remember it. It is the blackest
page in our country's history, and all good Re-
publicans to-day are ashamed of it.
"They turned their faces as well as their con-
sciences upon the promise of the past, and re-
fused to consider the evidence, all reeking with
ignominy and bribery and shame, and counted in
a man who had not received under the Constitu-
tion and the laws the suffrages of his countrymen.
That is a wronof that we have met here to rioht.
Eight years have passed, that is true. We are
told that the law has given the verdict to them;
that is true. When a jury is in its box under the
statute of your State and a judge upon the bench
who holds the scales of justice unevenly, holds
with guilty hands a parchment from the executive
of your State, and allows the jury sitting in the
box to condemn a man to death, under the segis
of law, he does what all the law writers of civili-
GA THERING OF THE HOSTS. , t ->
zatioii for hundreds of years have cursed and
damned as leo;al murder. Oh! the ereat sin of
that Electoral Commission remains to-day unpun-
ished, and will ever be unavenged so lone as the
Republican party is In power in this country. I
thank God tliat there is no statute of limitations
running- in favor of that party [applause] ; and in
that connection, my fellow-Democrats, be It said,
to the credit of the Democratic party, that it ex-
hibited none of that spirit of the Hotspur, and of
that spirit which sought to engulf this country in
war, fresh as it was from a great and fratricidal
strucrale.
" But our great leaders, Tilden and Hendricks
[here the speaker was Interrupted by long-con-
tinued applause, the delegates rising to their feet
and waving their hats] — our great leaders, Tilden
and Hendricks, with the dignity of heroic states-
men, with the courage of men who love their
country better than its pelf and Its power, ac-
cepted the wrong and Injury of perjury and of
fraud ; and they are grander to-day in their de-
feat than the men who wear the power at the ex-
pense of justice and right. Thus we have suc-
ceeded In the face of Federal power ; we would
have succeeded in 1880 but for Federal gold and
Federal greenbacks, fresh and uncut, from Wash-
ington—money earned and held by Star-route
contractors and the loving friends of a venal Ad-
ministration. They bought the Presidency.
3-4
GA T FIE RING OF THE HOSTS.
"Fellow-Democrats, we want reform, God
knows ! not only in the persoftnel of men but
also in the measures of the Government. We
want men there whose very lives and whose very
names would be a platform to this people ; we
want men there who shall, in all the departments
of the Government — in its Department of Justice,
its postal affairs, its Interior Department, every-
where— follow its servants with the eye of the
ministers of justice, and see that every cent that
belonofs to the Government shall remain with the
Government; that no tribute shall be demanded
except the tribute that is due the Government ;
that no assessments shall be levied upon 100,000
office holders, who are paid ;^ 1 00,000,000 annually,
^5,000,000 to go into a corrupt political fund.
These, we thank God, will be corrected when the
Democratic party shall get into power once more.
"We read the enunciation of principles by the
Republican party. They tell us they have civil-
service reform, and yet they demand in the next
breath from every Federal office-holder of the one
hundred thousand his tribute to the corrupt fund
that shall be paid out to the voters at the polls.
They tell us they have a Puritan Government, and
yet not a solitary felon has been condemned in
the flock of those who have stolen their millions
from the Treasury. Your Springer Committee,
only on yesterday and the day before, tells us of
the perjury, of the corruption, of the subornations,
GATHERING OF THE HOS'JS. ^15
that run all along- through the ministers of justice
in the prosecution of the Government. We want
real reform, a reform, my countrymen, that shall
mean what it says and that will say what it
means.
"Fellow-citizens, it is not my business as your
presiding officer to-day to enunciate anything
that shall be embodied in your platform. But I
wish to commend one thing in this great assem-
blage of freemen to your Committee on Platform
— that you endeavor to unite upon the basis of prin-
ciples which we have advocated for the years that
are gone, and that you will have no Delphic oracle
speaking with double tongue in the platform which
shall be named by you. Let the Green Mountain
Boys of Vermont, and the men of Maine, of
Texas, of Louisiana, and Georgia, the men from
the Carolinas to the Golden Coast, demand that
the Committee on Platform shall say in our noble
vernacular of purest English tongue what they
mean, so that the wayfaring man, though a fool,
need not err in readino^ it. In doino" this we will
declare against the corruptions of the Government ;
that is, we will declare against the enormities of
its system of civil service, its Department of so-
called Justice, its postal service — the robbery in
high places by men in power. It will say, more-
over, that the burdens of the Government shall
be placed alike, equally and equitably, upon all
classes of our countrymen, having respect for the
-> I 5 GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
greatest good to the greatest number. That the
hundred milhons of surplus revenue shall not be
allowed to accumulate as a corruption fund,
and that there shall be a radical reformation and
reduction in the taxes as well as the methods of
taxation in our country.
"But, fellow-citizens, in conclusion let me say
that harmony and conciliation should rule your
councils. There never was a time in the history
of the Democratic party when the enemy invites
the victory as now. The great and unnumbered
hosts of dissatisfied men of the Republican party
are heard in the distance — in New Entjland and in
New York, on the lakes and in the West, and
everywhere ; and while the Democratic party
should not deviate one iota from its principles, it
should with open arms say to these men (hundreds
of thousandsGod grant there may be) : ' Here is
the party of the Constitution and the Union, that
loves our common country. Come hither, and go
with us for honest rule and honest government.'
" The Democratic party, while it may have its
local differences, when the onset of the charge
comes will be together ; and whoever you may
nominate, of all the great and good names that
are before you — from the East to the West, from
the North to the South — he who stands back in
the hour of peril because his own State or himself
shall not have received the choice — yea, the choice
of his heart — is less than a good Democrat and
GATHERING OF THE HOSTS. -jy
hardly a patriot in this our country's hour of
peril.
"The Democratic party is loyal to the Union.
The ' bloody shirt,' in the vulgar parlance of the
times, has at each recurring election been flaunted
in the faces of Southern Democrats and in
your own faces. With Logan on the ticket, I pre-
sume it will be again. Blaine could hardly afford
it, as he did not indulge much in that 'unpleas-
antness.' They will endeavor to stir up the bad
blood of the past. My countrymen, the war is
over for a quarter of a century, and they know it.
Why, our boys have married the young maidens
of the North, and children have been born to
them since those days. They will continue to go
to the altar and stand side by side at dying beds.
They will talk of that bourne whence no traveler
returns, will lie down and be buried together.
Why, the Boys in die Blue and the Gray have slept
together for a quarter of a century upon a thou-
sand fields of common glory. Let their bones
alone. They are representing the best blood of
the land, and, though differing in the days that
should be forgotten, the good men of all parties
in our country to-day, I thank God, have united
in the great common progress of our race to forget
the war memories of the war times.
"I thank you, fellow-citizens, for your attention,
trusting that your forbearance will be extended
to me. What mistakes I shall make doubtless
2iS GATHERING OF THE HOSTS.
you will treat lightly and kindly. Hoping that
success may crown your efforts, that you may
send a ticket to our country upon whom all may
unite, is the wish of him whom you have honored
with your suffrages this day."
The close of the address was greeted with long-
continued and loud applause.
The rest of the temporary organization having
been announced, Mr. Smalley, of the National
Committee, offered a resolution that the rules of
the last Democratic Convention shall govern this
body, except that in voting for candidates no State
shall be allowed to change its vote until the roll
of the States had been called and until every State
had cast its vote, and thus the great Convention
proceeded to its work.
HON. JOHN KELLY,
of New York.
CHAPTER II.
BALLOTING.
THE first ballot for the Presidential nominee
began near midnight on Thursday, the
loth, and was not completed till about
12.30 A. M. of the next day. This ballot showed
Cleveland to be within nineteen of a majority of
the Convention, and as a majority is regarded as
commanding the necessary two-thirds vote by
Democratic custom, the field had to defeat a
second ballot or surrender to Cleveland. Fili-
bustering was resorted to, and after a most bois-
terous and ill-tempered ballot the motion to ad-
journ was defeated by eleven votes. Another
ballot was then ordered, and ofeneral confusion
followed until another motion to adjourn to a later
hour was got in and a call of the States demanded.
The roll-call was about to begin when Mr. Man-
nino-, the Cleveland leader, rose and wiselv sec-
onded the motion to adjourn. It was of course
carried at once, and the battle ended at i.oo a. m.
There was an evident disposition on the part
of the field or anti-Cleveland forces to delay and
prevent a ballot, but Jenkins, of Wisconsin, a
Cleveland man, forced the fight by moving a ballot
for President which resulted as follows :
321
322
BALLOTING.
FIRST BALLOT.
States and Territories,
1
u
•6
-0
B
M
2
s
0
P
c
3
0
w
3
4
14
14
I
I
16
I
5
12
6
8
lO
28
12
2
2
I
II
30
I
I
23
II
I
5
.
I
2
26
13
12
6
5
14
14
I
15
8
I
I
I
10
21
I
2
II
15
10
I
I
3
I
I
3
I
6
Nebriska
8
4
72
3
II
New York,
22
21
2
5
6
8
2
II
8
13
7
12
23
2
4
2
10
8
10
55
Rhode Island
I
3
I
9
4
Texas
9
2
I
I
2
I
2
I
2
2
I
2
2
2
2
2
I
2
Utah
I
Totals,
392
170
78
56
88
3
27
Tilden had one vote in Tennessee, Flower had four votes in Wisconsin, and Hendricks
had one vote in Illinois.
BALLOTING.
323
It was understood when the Convention assem-
bled on Friday morning that Randall had with-
drawn from the contest and that most of his
streno^th would o;o to Cleveland.
The Convention was called to order at eleven
o'clock, and prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Clin-
ton Locke, of Grace Church, Chicago. He prayed
that the consultations of the body be for the fur-
therance of just and equal laws, for the preservation
of liberty, for the punishment of wrong-doers, and
for the praise of those who do well; that every
delegate should be kept from being guided by his
own selfish gain, by his own pride, or his own
likings or dislikings. He prayed that in the great
and noble contest which was opening before the
American people there would be a cessation from
strife and anger; that men's eyes should not be
blinded to that which is fair and just; that all cor-
ruption, bribery, and illegal voting be kept far
away, and that after the election the whole people
may join in their support of the President.
A motion was made that the Convention pro-
ceed to a second ballot. Then Mr. Snowden, of
Pennsylvania, with thanks to those who had voted
for Samuel J. Randall, withdrew that gentleman's
name.
Then came the balloting, amid great confusion
at times as favorite men were named or changes
occurred in the votes. When all had responded
it was evident that Cleveland led the race.
324
BALLOTING.
SECOND BALLOT.
States and Territories.
■a
S3
1
2
§
>>
E
3
H
•c
c
u
-0
e
0
H
5
14
i6
6
12
I
14
20
16
6
Connecticut
12
6
6
Florida *
8
22
43
30
26
17
4
15
12
16
8
23
14
2
32
9
8
I
2
24
44
30
J '
26
I
21
18
I
I
26
16
12
^1 .* ' ,
16
7^2
3
28
26
14
14
2
18
32
I
10
Nevada !'
5
6
8
5
72
22
46
6
42
7
10
24
26
8
23
10
22
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
8
2
II
18
72
22
46
6
2
I
8
II
4
60
8
i8
24
26
8
I
24
2
22
2
2
2
2
2
Utah
2
2
2
2
6S3
2
81^
4
45^
4
820
Necessary for a choice, 547.
BALLOTING. ,27
MADE UNANIMOUS.
A motion was next made to make the nomina-
tion unanimous, and it was carried triumphantly.
Then the mammoth oil painting representation of
Cleveland's head and bust was carried in front of
the speaker's stand and exhibited to the enthusi-
astic spectators, who greeted it with cheers and
whistling and the waving of everything that could
be put into requisition for that purpose, while the
band was playing " Marching Through Georgia,"
"The Red, White, and Blue," and other airs. After
order was restored the Chair announced that the
motion to make the nomination unanimous havino-
been carried, Grover Cleveland was declared the
nominee of the National Democracy for the next
Presidency of the United States. [Cheers.] A
dispatch was read from Governor Hoadly, con-
gratulating the Convention, the Democracy, and
the country on the wise thing done, and prom-
ising a Democratic victory in Ohio in October and
November next.
The Convention at 1.25 took a recess until 5
p. M. Upon reassembling several parties were
put in nomination for the Vice-Presidency, but
one after the other the candidates were with-
drawn, until only Hendricks was left. People
could not cheer enough. The call of the roll
gave Hendricks every vote in the Convention.
The scene which ensued was beyond description.
Almost every one in the immense hall rose to his
328
BALLOTING.
feet and swunofhis hat and cheered. The standards
of New York and Indiana were torn from their
fastenings and borne to the spaces in front of the
chair. These were soon speedily followed by the
standards of the other States until the whole
thirty-eight were held aloft together. Then began
a march about the hall, deleo;ates fallins^ into line*
with arms about each other. The bands in the
music galle-rywere turned on and a scene exceed-
ing anything known to the late Republican Con-
vention was enacted. It was a vivid reminder of
the incidents followino; the Garfield nomination
four years ago. As the procession moved a
thousand voices with the band accompaniment
started "Auld Lang Syne," and other thousands,
with ladies all over the hall, took up the chorus.
New York and Indiana were saluted by the pro-
cession of States as it went around. The Cleve-
land men were delighted with the result and
showed it. The Indiana men became enthusiastic
and joined the enthusiastic shouters. The chorus
was changed from "Auld Lang Syne" to "Sweet
Home." The Convention had done its work and
the people were glad to get away.
iiiiiiipsiiiai
CHAPTER III.
THE PLATFORM.
OF course a platform must be laid on which
the party is to stand in a figurative sense,
and from which the orators are to declaim
in favor of their respective leaders. The plat-
form of the Democratic Convention was fully
discussed and finally adopted as follows :
THE PLATFORM.
The Democratic party of the Union, through its represen-
tatives in national convention assembled, recognizes that, as
the nation grows older, new issues are born of time and i)ro-
gress and old issues perish. But the fundamental principles
of the Democracy, approved by the united voice of the
people, remain, and will ever remain, as the best and only
security for the continuance of free government. The pre-
servation of personal rights, the equality of all citizens before
the law, the reserved rights of the States and the supremacy
of the Federal Government within the limits of the Consti-
tution, will ever form the true basis of our liberties and can
never be surrendered without destroying that balance of
rights and powers which enables a continent to be developed
in peace and social order to be maintained by means of local
self-government. But it is indispensable for the practical
operation and enforcement of these fundamental principles
that the Government should not always be controlled by one
political power. Frequent change of administration is as
33^
THE FLATFORM.
necessary as constant recurrence to the popular will. Other-
wise abuses grow and the Government, instead of being car-
ried on for the general welfare, becomes an instrumentality
for imposing heavy burdens on the many who are governed
for the benefit of the few who govern. Public servants thus
become arbitrary rulers.
A CHANGE DEMANDED.
This is now the condition of the country, hence a change
is demanded. The Republican party, so far as principle is
concerned, is a reminiscence. In practice it is an organiza-
tion for enriching those who control its machinery. The
frauds and jobbery which have been brought to light in every
department of the Government are sufficient to have called
for reform within the Republican party, yet those in author-
ity, made reckless by the long possession of power, have suc-
cumbed to its corrupting influence and have placed in
nomination a ticket against which the independent portion
of the party are in open revolt.
Therefore a change is demanded. Such a change was alike
necessary in 1876, but the will of the people was then
defeated by a fraud which can never be forgotten nor con-
doned. Again in 1880 the change demanded by the people
was defeated by the lavish use of money contributed by
miscrupulous contractors and shameless jobbers who had
bargained for unlawful profits or for high office.
REPUBLICAN FAILURES.
The Republican party, during its legal, its stolen, and its
bought tenures of power, has steadily decayed in moral char-
acter and political capacity. Its platform promises are now
a list of its past failures. It demands the restoration of our
navy ; it has squandered hundreds of millions to create a
navy that does not exist. It calls upon Congress to remove
the burdens under which American shii)ping has been de-
pressed ; it imposed and has continued those burdens. It
professes the policy of reserving the public lands for small
THE PLATFORM. -i^^
holdings by actual settlers ; it has given away the people's
heritage till now a few railroads and non-resident aliens, indi-
vidual and corporate, possess a larger area than that of all our
farms between the two seas. It professes a preference for free
institutions ; it organized and tried to legalize a control of
State elections by Federal troops. It professes a desire to
elevate labor ; it has subjected American workingmen to the
competition of convict and imported contract labor. It pro-
fesses gratitude to all who were disabled or died in the war,
leaving widows and orphans ; it left to a Democratic House of
Representatives the first effort to equalize both bounties and
pensions. It proffers a pledge to correct the irregularities of
our tariff; it created and has continued them. Its own Tar-
iff Commission confessed the need of more than twenty per
cent, reduction ; its Congress gave a reduction of less than
four per cent. It professes the protection of American man-
ufactures ; it has subjected them to an increasing flood of
manufactured goods and a hopeless competition with manu-
facturing nations, not one of which taxes raw materials. It
professes to protect all American industries ; it has impover-
ished many to subsidize a few. It professes the protection of
American labor ; it has depleted the returns of American
agriculture, an industry followed by half of our people. It
professes the equality of men before the law ; attempting to
fix the status of colored citizens, the acts of its Congress
were overset by the decisions of its Court. It "accepts anew
the duty of leading in the work of progress and reform;" its
caught criminals are permitted to escape through continued
delays or actual connivance in the prosecution.
Honeycombed with corruption, outbreaking exposures no
longer shock its moral sense. Its honest members, its inde-
pendent journals, no longer maintain a successful contest for
authority in its counsels or a veto upon bad nominations.
That change is necessary is proved by an existing surplus
of more than one hundred million dollars, which has yearly
been collected from a suffering people. Unnecessary taxa-
334 ^'-^^^ PLATPORM.
tion is unjust taxation. We denounce the Republican party
for having failed to relieve the people from crushing war
taxes, which have paralyzed business, crippled industry, and
deprived labor of employment and of just reward.
REDUCING TAXATION.
The Democracy pledges itself to purify the Administration
from corruption, to restore economy, to revive respect for
law, and to reduce taxation to the lowest limit consistent with
due regard to the preservation of the faith of the nation to its
creditors and pensioners. Knowing full well, however, that
legislation affecting the occupations of the people should be
cautious and conservative in method, not in advance of pub-
lic opinion, but responsive to its demands, the Democratic
party is pledged to revise the tariff in a spirit of fairness to all
interests. But in making reduction in taxes it is not pro-
posed to injure any domestic industries, but rather to pro-
mote their healthy growth. From the foundation of this
Government taxes collected at the Custom House have been
the chief source of Federal revenue ; such they must continue
to be. Moreover, many industries have come to rely upon
legislation for successful continuance, so that any change of
law must be at every step regardful of the labor and capital
thus involved. The process of reform must be subject in the
execution to this plain dictate of justice.
LABOR MUST BE PROTECTED.
All taxation shall be limited to the requirements of econo-
mical government. The necessary reduction in taxation can
and must be effected without depriving American labor of the
ability to compete successfully with foreign labor and without
imposing lower rates of duty than will be ample to cover any
increased cost of production which may exist in consequence
of the higher rate of wages prevailing in this country. Suffi-
cient revenue to pay all the expenses of the Federal Govern-
ment economically administered, including pensions, interest,
and principal of the public debt, can be got under our present
THE PLATFORM.
335
iiystem of taxation from Custom-House taxes on fewer im-
ported articles, bearing heaviest on articles of luxury and
bearing lightest on articles of necessity.
We therefore denounce the abuses of the 'existing tariff, and
subject to the preceding limitations we demand that Federal
taxation shall be exclusively for public purposes and shall not
exceed the needs of the Government economically admin-
istered.
The system of direct taxation, known as the " internal
revenue," is a war tax, and so long as the law continues the
money derived therefrom should be sacredly devoted to the
relief of the people from the remaining burdens of the war,
and be made a fund to defray the expense of the care and
comfort of worthy soldiers disabled in the line of duty in the
wars of the Republic, and for the payment of such pensions as
Congress may, from time to time, grant to such soldiers, a
like fund for the sailors having been already provided j and
any surplus should be paid into the Treasury.
A CONTINENTAL POLICY.
We favor an American continental policy based upon more
intimate commercial and political relations with the fifteen
sister Republics of North, Central, and South America, but
entangling alliances with none.
We believe in honest money, the gold and silver coinage
of the Constitution, and a circulating medium convertible
into such money without loss.
Asserting the equality of all men before the law, we hold
that it is the duty of the Government, in its dealings with the
people, to mete out equal and exact justice to all citizens of
whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, religious or
political.
We believe in a free ballot and a fair count, and we recall
to the memory of the people the noble struggle of the Demo-
crats in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses, by which
a reluctant Republican opposition was compelled to assent to
legislation making everywhere illegal the presence of troops
2>Z^
THE PLATFORM.
at the polls, as the conclusive proof that a Democratic Ad-
ministration will preserve liberty with order.
The selection of Federal officers for the Territories should
be restricted to citizens previously resident therein.
We oppose sumptuary laws which vex the citizen and inter-
fere with individual liberty; we favor honest civil service
reforms and the compensation of all United States officers
by fixed salaries ; the separation of Church and State, and
the diffusion of free education by common schools, so that
every child in the lacid may be taught the rights and duties
of citizenship.
While we favor all legislation which will tend to the equita-
ble distribution of property, to the prevention of monopoly
and to strict enforcement of individual rights against cor-
porate abuses, we hold that the welfare of society depends
upon a scrupulous regard for the rights of property as defined
by law. We believe that labor is best rewarded where it is
freest and most enlightened. It should therefore be fostered
and cherished. We favor the repeal of all laws restricting
the free action of labor, and the enactment of laws by which
labor organizations may be incorporated, and of all such
legislation as will tend to enlighten the people as to the true
relation of capital and labor.
LAND GRANTS.
We believe that the public land ought as far as possible to
be kept as homesteads for actual settlers ; that all unearned
lands heretofore improvidently granted to railroad corpora-
tions by the action of the Republican party should be restored
to the public domain, and that no more grants of land shall
be made to corporations or to be allowed to fall into the
ownership of alien absentees.
We are opposed to all propositions which, upon any pre-
text, would convert the General Government into a machine
for collecting taxes to be distributed among the States or the
citizens thereof.
THE PLATFORM.
Z1
In reaffirming the declarations of the Democratic platform
of 1856, that " the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson
in the Declaration of Independence and sanctioned in the
Constitution, which make ours the land of liberty and the
asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been
cardinal principles in the Democratic faith," we nevertheless
do not sanction the importation of foreign labor or the ad-
mission of servile races unfitted by habits, training, religion
or kindred for absorption into the great body of our people
or for the citizenship which our laws confer. American
civilization demands that against the immigration or impor-
tation of Mongolians to these shores our gates be closed.
FOREIGN POLICY.
The Democratic party insists that it is the duty of the
Government to protect with equal fidelity and vigilance the
rights of its citizens, native and naturalized, at home and
abroad, and to the end that this protection may be assured
United States papers of naturalization issued by courts of
competent jurisdiction must be respected by the executive
and legislative departments of our own Government and by
all foreign powers. It is an imperative duty of this Govern-
ment to efficiently protect all the rights of persons and prop-
erty of every American citizen in foreign lands, and demand
and enforce full reparation for any invasion thereof. An
American citizen is only responsible to his own Government
for any act done in his own country or under her flag, and
can only be tried therefor on her own soil and according to
her laws, and no power exists in this Government to expatriate
an American citizen to be tried in any foreign land for any
such act.
This country has never had a well-defined and executed
foreign policy save under Democratic administration. That
policy has ever been in regard to foreign nations, so long as
they do not act detrimental to the interests of the country
or hurtful to our citizens, to let them alone ; that as the result
of this policy we recall the acquisition of Louisiana, Horida,
^r>g THE PLAiFOkM.
California, and of the adjacent Mexican territory by pllf-
chase alone, and contrast these grand acquisitions of Demo-
cratic statesmanship with the purchase of Alaska, the sole
fruit of a Republican administration of nearly a quarter of a
century.
The Federal Government should care for and improve the
Mississippi River and other great waterways of the Republic
so as to secure for the interior States easy and cheap transpor-
tation to tidewater.
AN AMERICAN POLICY DEMANDED.
Under a long period of Democratic rule and policy our
merchant marine was fast overtaking and on the point of out-
stripping that of Great Britain. Under twenty years of Re-
publican rule and policy our commerce has been left to British
bottoms and almost has the American flag been swept off the
high seas. Instead of the Republican party's British policy
we demand for the people of the United States an American
policy. Under Democratic rule and policy our merchants
and sailors, flying the Stars and Stripes in every port, success-
fully searched out a market for the varied products of Ameri-
can industry ; under a quarter of a century of Republican
rule and policy, despite our manifest advantages over all other
nations in high paid labor, favorable climates, and teeming
soils, despite freedom of trade among all these United States,
despite their population by the foremost races of men and an
annual immigration of the young, thrifty, and adventurous
of all nations, despite our freedom here from the inherited
burdens of life and industry in old world monarchies, their
costly war navies, their vast tax-consuming, non-producing
standing armies, despite twenty years of peace, that Repub-
lican rule and policy have managed to surrender to Great
Britain along with our commerce the control of the markets
of the world.
Instead of the Republican party's British policy we de-
mand, in behalf of the American Democracy, an American
policy. Instead of the Republican party's discredited scheme
THE PL A TFORM. -, >,q
and false pretence of friendship for American labor, expressed
by imposing taxes, we demand in behalf of the Democracy,
freedom for American labor by reducing taxes to the end that
these United States may compete with unhindered powers
for the primacy among nations in all the arts of peace and
fruits of liberty.
TILDEN.
With profound regret we have been apprised by the vener-
able statesman through whose person was struck that blow at
the vital principle of Republics — acquiescence in the will of
the majority — that he cannot permit us again to place in his
hands the leadership of the Democratic hosts for the reason
that the achievement of reform in the Administration of the
Federal Government is an undertaking now too heavy for his
age and failing strength. Rejoicing that his life has been
prolonged until the general judgment of our fellow-country-
men is united in the wish that wrong were righted in his
person, for the Democracy of the United States we offer to
him in his withdrawal from public cares not only our respect-
ful sympathy and esteem, but also that best homage of free-
men— the pledge of our devotion to the principles and the
cause now inseparable in the history of the Republic from the
labors and the name of Samuel J. Tilden.
With this statement of the hopes, principles, and purposes
of the Democratic party, the great issue of reform and
change in administration is submitted to the people in calm
confidence that the popular voice will pronounce in favor of
new men and new and more favorable conditions for the
growth of industry, the extension of trade, the employment
and due reward of labor and of capital and the general wel-
fare of the whole country.
After the above was presented by Mr. Morrison,
Chairman of the Committe on Platform, " Ben "
Butler presented and spoke upon a minority
^^o THE PLATFORM.
report from himself alone. It was not accepted,
but the platform as presented by the majority of
the committee was approved, on a vote of 714^2
to 97^, amid great applause. Butler's rejected
plank was as follows:
Resolved, That no taxes, direct or indirect, can be right-
fully imposed upon the people except to meet the expenses of
an economically administered Government. To bring taxa-
tion down to this point is true administrative revenue reform.
The people will tolerate direct taxation for the ordinary ex-
penses of the Government only in case of dire necessity or
war, therefore the revenue necessary for such expenses should
be raised by customs duties upon imports after the manner of
our fathers. In levying such taxes two principles should be
carefully observed : First, that all materials used in the arts
and manufactures and the necessaries of life not produced in
this country shall come free, and that all articles of luxury
should be taxed as high as possible up to the collection point ;
second, that in imposing customs duties the law must be care-
fully adjusted to promote American enterprise and industries,
not to create monopolies, and to cherish and foster American
labor.
PRINCIPLES
Democratic Party,
PRINCIPLES
DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
CHAPTER I.
THE PRINCIPLES OF WASHINGTON.
"T T TASHINGTON lived before the days
\ /\ / of party politics. He exemplified his
^ principles by his conduct, whether at
the head of the army or of the civil Administra-
tion. He had studied well the principles of free
governments in former ages and was well
grounded in the faith. In his Farewell Address to
the American people he left a legacy any party
might well be proud of. Not because he was at
the head of a so-called Democratic or Republican
or any party, but because the few fundamental
principles upon which rested the perpetuity of the
Union which he announced have always been a
part of the faith of the Democracy, does it be-
come appropriate here to insert those principles.
No person can be a sound Democrat who cannot
give unqualified assent to them. In substance he
announced the following principles :
343
344
DEMO CRA TIC PRINCIPL ES.
"The union of the government is the main
pillar in the edifice of our real independence:
the support of our tranquillity at home, our peace
abroad ; of our safety and our prosperity, yea, of
the very liberty all so highly prize."
He warned his countrymen that from different
causes and from different quarters great pains
would be taken (as was the case three-quarters
of a century after that), and many artifices would
be employed to weaken in the minds of the
people the conviction of this great truth. He
told them that this was a point in their political
fortress ao^ainst which the batteries of internal and
external enemies would most constantly and most
actively, though covertly and insidiously, direct
their assaults.
He entreated them to cherish a cordial, habitual,
and immovable attachment to the Union, accus-
toming them to think and speak of it as the pal-
ladium of their political safety and prosperity,
watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety,
discountenancing- whatever miofht even suofofest a
suspicion that it could in any event be abandoned,
and Indignantly frown upon the first dawning of
every attempt to alienate any portion of our coun-
trymen from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred
ties which link together the various parts of our
common country.
Whether he called himself a Democrat or not
makes no difference, this principle of cherishing
DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES. -, . cr
an absolute devotion to the existence of the Union
under one form of o-overnment is a sacred Demo-
cratic principle that must be subscribed to by
every citizen of this great Republic who aspires
to be called an American Democrat. It is be-
cause Democrats have ever entertained the same
convictions and (save by the men who called
themselves Democrats, but had forgotten or dis-
regarded the warning voice of Washington, and
went into a rebellion against the Government,
thereby seeking to destroy the Union) have ever
been true to these principles, and above all other
parties most profoundly impressed with the truth
of this doctrine, that many of the most thought-
ful men have ever been Democrats.
Washington sought by most cogent arguments
to impress upon his countrymen that all parts of
the country, North, South, East, and West, had a
common destiny and a common interest in the
general welfare of every other section, and be-
cause each added strength and security to the
other, and in this sense the Union was the main
prop of our liberties, so that the love for one
should endear to the people the preservation of
the other, and thus become the primary object of
patriotic desire.
Democrats believe all this ; and though the party
itself became distracted and many of its adher-
ents were dragged into a rebellion, still, so soon
as military force was overcome and the conviction
346
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
of the mind could be freely exercised, even those
again became as ardently attached to the Union
as any other portion of our people, and since the
close of the war have sought, by every means
within their power, to bring together and bind
more closely the whole people of this Union in
the bonds of a fraternal brotherhood of States.
Washington warned his countrymen against sec-
tionalism. He cautioned them that desiijning-
men, as they ever have, would endeavor to excite
a belief that there was a real difference of local
interests and views. He said one of the expedi-
ents of partyisms would be to acquire influence
in one particular section by misrepresenting the
opinions and aims of another section, and that
they could not shield themselves too much against
the jealousies and heart-burnings aroused by
these misrepresentations, tending to alienate the
sections from each other instead of binding them
more closely together with fraternal regard and
affection, bringing about the opposite result. It
is because we have seen the Democratic party en-
deavoring by every possible means in its power
to inculcate these same great truths, while its op-
ponents have conducted themselves toward one
section precisely in the way and manner suggested
by Washington men would, that they are forced
to be Democrats when true to their convictions
of right.
He cautioned his countrymen against heaping
DEMOCRATIC PkWClPLES.
347
Up public debts for posterity to pay, thus ungen-
erously throwing upon them burdens which we
ourselves should pay. This whole business of
bonded indebtedness is undemocratic and ought
not to be indulged in if by any means it can be
avoided. It is true that men calling themselves
Democrats have been led astray by the plausible
arguments of those who regarded "public debts
as public blessings," still the Democratic party, as
such, has ever denounced the practice, and be-
cause they have always coincided with him in this
particular they are Democrats.
Against the insidious wiles of foreisfn influence,
he conjured his fellow-citizens, their jealousy
ought to be constantly awake. Numerous oppor-
tunities would be offered, he said, to tamper with
domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction,
to mislead public opinion, to Influence public coun-
cils.
No attachment, therefore, for one nation to the
exclusion of another should be tolerated.
Such conduct would lead to concessions to one
nation and denials of privileges to others, and
would Invite a multitude of evils upon us.
It is because this has been a fundamental prin-
ciple of the Democratic party, who most heartily
believe In the doctrine, hence they are Democrats.
Washington also advised his countrymen to re-
sist with care the spirit of innovation upon the
principles on which the Government was founded,
348
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
however specious the pretext might be. One
method of assault would be, he said, to effect
under the forms of the Constitution alterations
which would impair the whole system. It is be-
cause the Democratic party, impressed by the
truth of these teachings of Washington, has op-
posed the numerous amendm.ents constantly being
proposed that they are Democrats, believing that
in this they adhere more strictly to the teachings
of Washington than any other party.
A
CHAPTER II.
THE PRINCIPLES OF JEFFERSON.
LTHOUGH in his time not called "a
Democrat," yet the leader of what was
then known as the Republican party, con-
tending against the Federal, or strong govern-
ment party, Thomas Jefferson was perhaps one
of the best expounders of those principles now
held by the Democratic party among all of those
Revolutionary sages.
In his writings and official messages as Presi-
dent we find the most frequent allusions to and
rigid application of them in the administration of
public affairs, so that he has been called " the
father of the Democratic party." It was pecu-
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. ^^q
liarly appropriate that he should do so, because,
though early in the history of our Government
yet, anti-democratic principles were already slowly
creeping into the administration of public affairs
under the Administration of the elder Adams, so
that it required vigorous opposition and deter-
mined application to bring the Government back
once more to be administered in accordance with
those pure principles of a representative demo-
cratic o-overnment.
In his inaugural address, delivered to Congress
on March 4th, 1801, the commencement as well
of a new century as of a new era in our govern-
ment, President Jefferson announced the follow-
ing fundamental doctrines of democracy, which,
he said, he deemed essential principles of our
Government, which should guide him in its admin-
istration. He compressed them within the
smallest possible compass, stating only the gen-
eral principles, but not all their limitations :
First. Equal and exact justice to all men of what-
ever State or persuasion, religious or political.
Second. Peace, commerce, and honest friend-
ship with all nations; entangling alliance with
none.
Third. The support of the State govern-
ments in all their rights as the most competent
administrators of our domestic concerns and the
surest bulwarks against anti-republican tenden-
cies.
so.
DEMOCRA TIC PRlMCrPLES.
Fourth. The preservation of the General Gov-
ernment in its whole constitutional vigor as the
sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety
abroad.
Fifth. A jealous care of the right of election
by the people, a mild and safe corrective of
abuses, which are lopped by the sword of revolu-
tion where peaceable means are unprovided.
Sixth. Absolute acquiescence in the decisions
of the majority, the vital principles of republics,
from which is no appeal but to force, the vital
principle and immediate parent of despotism.
Seventh. A well-disciplined militia, our best
reliance in peace, and for the first moments of
war, till regulars may relieve them.
Eighth. The supremacy of the civil over the
military authority.
Ninth. Economy in the public expenses, that
labor may be lightly burdened.
Tenth. The honest payment of our debts and
the sacred preservation of the public faith.
Eleventh. Encouraofement of ao-riculture and
of commerce as its handmaid.
Twelfth. The diffusion of information and
arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public
reason.
Thirteenth. Freedom of religion.
Fourteenth. Freedom of the press.
Fifteenth. Freedom of the person under the
protection of the habeas corpus.
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. -^ r i
Sixteenth. Trial by juries impartially selected.
" These principles," said Jefferson, " form the
brio-ht constellation which has ofone before us and
guided our steps through the age of revolution
and reformation. The wisdom of our saees and
the blood of our heroes have been devoted to
their attainment. They should be the creed of
our political faith, the text of civic instruction,
the touchstone by which to try the services of
those we trust ; and should we wander from them
in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to
retrace our steps and to regain the road which
alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."
It is because Democrats believe every one of
those fundamental principles to be true that they
are Democrats.
CHAPTER III.
THE PRINCIPLES OF MADISON.
DEMOCRATS beheve in a full, unequivocal,
and hearty support of the Constitution, in
a strict construction of it, and in the spirit
and the purpose for which it was formed, and in
Madison, also, who took such a deep interest in
its formation as to be called "the father of the
Constitution," they have another exponent of sound
Democratic principles.
1--2 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
He knew well the principles on which that Con-
stitution was founded. He had studied the rise,
progress, decay, and fall, of every free govern-
ment which had gone before, and, profiting by the
very misfortunes of other nations, he had secured
in the adoption of our Constitution such principles
as he fondly believed would prevent us as a people
from falling into similar errors. Standing upon
the threshold of his great office as President of
the United States, succeeding Jefferson, he an-
nounced the following as additional principles
vital to the welfare of the American people in
their intercourse with foreign nations. They were
in part but the echoes which came from the lips
of Washington and Jefferson and became the
policy of the Democratic party ever since. He
announced them as follows :
First. To cherish peace and friendly intercourse
with all nations having a corresponding disposi-
tion.
Second. To maintain sincere neutrality toward
belligerent nations.
Third. To prefer in all cases amicable discus-
sions and reasonable accommodation of differences
to a decision of them by an appeal to arms.
Fourth. To exclude foreign intrigues and for-
eign partialities, so degrading to all countries and
so baneful to free ones.
Fifth. To foster a spirit of independence, too
just to invade the rights of others, too proud to
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
353
surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unwor-
thy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not to
look down upon them in others.
Sixth. To hold the Union of the States as the
basis of their peace and happiness.
Seventh. To support the Constitution, which is
the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations
as in its authorities.
Eighth. To respect the rights and authorities
reserved to the States and the people as equally
incorporated with and essential to the success of
the general system.
Ninth. To avoid the slightest interferences with
the rio-hts of conscience or the functions of reli-
gion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction.
Tenth. To preserve in their full energy the
salutary provisions in behalf of private and per-
sonal rights and the freedom of the press.
Eleventh. To observe economy in public ex-
penditures.
Twelfth. To liberate public resources by an
honorable discharge of the public debts.
Thirteenth. To keep within the requisite limits
a standing military force, always remembering
that an armed and trained militia is the firmest
bulwark of republics.
Fourteenth. That without standing armies, their
liberties can never be in danger, nor with large
ones, safe.
Ei/teenth. To promote, by authorized means,
^r^ iDiEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
improvements friendly to agriculture, to commerce
to manufactures, and to external as well as inter-
nal commerce.
Sixteenth. To favor, in like manner, the ad-
vancement of science and diffusion of information
as the best aliment of true liberty.
Seventeenth. To carry on benevolent plans for
the conversion of our aboriginal neighbors from
the deofradation and wretchedness of savage life
to a participation of the improvements of which
the human mind and manners are susceptible in
a civilized state.
In one of his messages he also laid down the
principle that a well-instructed people alone can
be permanently free, all of which Democrats de-
voutly believe.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PRINCIPLES OF JACKSON.
IN the principles of Andrew Jackson the De-
mocracy take great pride. From his inaugu-
ral address, on March 4th, A. D. 1829, to the
close of his Administration of eight years, in every
messaofe to Congress he uttered Democratic sen-
timents in a terse, vigorous style, which, on ac-
count of their self-evident truth, deeply rooted
themselves in American hearts and became the
DEMOCRA TIC rRINCIPLES.
35:
principles of the Democratic party, which during
his Administration first took that name and which
it has held ever since. They are found scattered
all through his messages, and were his guide in
deciding all questions of national policy, so many
of which pressed themselves upon him during his
term of office. From these the following may be
selected and placed in order, which should be
thoroughly studied and applied to all questions
which may even now arise.
First. He said; "Regard should be had for the
rights of the several States, taking care not to
confound the powers reserved to them with those
they had in the Constitution granted to the Gen-
eral Government.
Second. In every aspect of the case advan-
tage must result from strict and faithful economy
in the administration of public affairs.
Third. He declared the unnecessary duration
of the public debt incompatible with real inde-
pendence.
Fourth. In the adjustment of a tariff for reve-
nue, he insisted that a spirit of equity, caution, and
compromise requires the great interests of agri-
culture, manufactures, and commerce to be equally
favored.
Fifth. He admitted the policy of internal im-
provements to be wise only in so far as they could
be promoted by constitutional acts of the General
Government.
^ ^ /c DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
Sixth. He declared standing armies to be dan-
gerous to free government, and that the mihtary
should be in strict subordination to the civil power.
Seventh. He declared the national militia to
be the bulwark of our national defense. In en-
forcing this principle, he declared that so long as
the Government was administered for the orood of
the people and regulated by their will; so long as
it secured to the people the rights of person and
of property, liberty of conscience and of the press,
the Government would be worth defending, and
so long as it was worth defending the patriotic
militia would cover it with an impenetrable csgis.
Eighth. He pledged himself to the work of
reform in the Administration, so that the patronage
of the General Government, which had been
brought into conflict with the freedom of elections
and had disturbed the rightful course of appoint-
ments by continuing in power unfaithful and in-
competent public servants, should no longer be
used for that purpose.
Ninth. He declared his belief in the principle
that the integrity and zeal of public officers would
advance the interests of the public service more
than mere numbers.
Tenth. He declared the right of the people to
elect a President, and that it was never designed
that their choice should in any case be defeated
by the intervention of agents, enforcing this
principle by saying, what experience had amply
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. -^r^
proved, that in proportion as agents were multi-
plied to execute the will of the people, there was
the danger increased that their wishes would
be frustrated. Some may be unfaithful — all liable
to err. So far, then, as the people were con-
cerned it was better for them to express their own
will.
Eleventh. The majority should govern. No
President elected by a minority could so success-
fully discharge his duties as he who knew he was
supported by the majority of the people.
Twelfth. He advocated rotation in office. Cor-
ruption, he said, would spring up among those in
power, and therefore he thought appointments
should not be made for a longer period than four
years. Everybody had equal right to office, and
he favored removals as a leading principle which
would give healthful action to the political system.
Thirteenth. He advocated unfettered com-
merce, free from restrictive tariff laws, leaving it
to flow into those natural channels in which indi-
vidual enterprise, always the surest and safest
guide, might direct it.
Fourteefith. He opposed specific tariffs, be-
cause subject to frequent changes, generally pro-
duced by selfish motives, and under such influ-
ences could never be just and equal.
Fifteenth. The proper fostering of manufac-
tures and commerce tended to increase the value
of agricultural products.
^c8 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
Sixteenth. In cases of real doubt as to matters
of mere public policy he advocated a direct ap-
peal to the people, the source of all power, as the
most sacred of all obligations and the wisest and
most safe course to pursue.
Seventeenth. He advocated a just and equita-
ble bankrupt law as beneficial to the country at
large, because after the means to discharge debts
had entirely been exhausted, not to discharge
them only served to dispirit the debtor, sink him
into a state of apathy, make him a useless drone
in society, or a vicious member of it, if not a feel-
ing witness of the rigor and inhumanity of his
country. Oppressive debt being the bane of en-
terprise it should be the care of the Republic not
to exert a grinding power over misfortune and
poverty.
Eighteenth. He declared in favor of the prin-
ciple that no money should be expended until first
appropriated for the purpose by the Legislature.
The people paid the taxes, and their direct repre-
sentatives should alone have the right to say what
they should be taxed for, in what sums, and how
and when it should be paid.
Nineteenth. He utterly opposed the system of
Government aiding private corporations in mak-
ing internal improvements. It was deceptive and
conducive of improvidence in the expenditure of
public moneys. For this purpose appropriations
could be obtained with greater facilities, granted
DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
159
with inadequate security, and frequently compli-
cated the administration of Government.
Twentieth, The operations of the General Gov-
ernment should be strictly confined to the few-
simple but important objects for which it was origi-
nally designed.
1 wenty-jirst. He favored the veto power in the
Executive, but only lo be exercised in cases of at-
tempted violation of the Constitution, or in cases
next to it in importance.
Twenty-second, He advocated State rights as
far as consistent with the riofhtful action of the
General Government as the very best means of
preserving harmony between them; and pro-
nounced this the true faith, and the one to which
might be mainly attributed the success of the en-
tire system, and to which alone we must look for
stabiHty in it.
1 wenty-third. He advocated "a uniform and
sound currency," but doubted the constitutionality
and expediency of a National Bank; and after-
wards made his Administration famous by suc-
cessfully opposing the renewal of its charter.
Iwenty-foici'th. Precious metals as the only cur-
rency known to the Constitution. Their peculiar
properties rendered them the standard of values
in other countries, and had been adopted in this.
The experience of the evils of paper money had
made it so obnoxious in the past that the framers
of the Constitution had forbidden its adoption as
the Icigal-tf-nder rurrcncv of the country.
36o
DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
Variableness must ever be the characteristic of
a currency not based upon those metals. Expan-
sion and contraction, without regard to principles
which reo-ulate the value of those metals as a
standard in the general trade of the world, were,
he said, extremely pernicious.
Where these properties are not infused into the
circulation, and do not control it, prices must vary
according to the tide of the issue; the value and
stability of property exposed, uncertainty attend
the administration of institutions constantly liable
to temptations of an interest distinct from that of
the community at large, all this attended by loss
to the laboring class, who have neither time nor
opportunity to watch the ebb and flow of the
money market.
Twenty-fifth. He renews his advocacy of a
cheerful compliance with the will of the majority;
and the exercise of the power as expressed in a
spirit of moderation, justice and brotherly kind-
ness as the best means to cement and forever pre-
serve the Union. Those, he closes, who advocate
sentiments adverse to those expressed, however
honest, are, in effect, the worst enemies of their
country.
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. -gj
CHAPTER V.
THE PRINCIPLE OF STATE RIGHTS.
THE rights of the States under our Federal
Constitution has long been a question
discussed on which great differences of
opinion have arisen, even within the Democratic
party itself. The view held by Andrew Jackson
is the one always prevailing in National Conven-
tions, the only body having power to settle the
question for the whole party, viz. : that the Gen-
eral Government is one of expressly granted
powers, in the exercise of which it is supreme ;
that these powers, faithfully and vigorously carried
out, are necessary to the general welfare of the
whole ; that all powers not expressly granted in
tlie Constitution to the Federal Government, in
the language of that instrument itself, are re-
served to the States and to the people.
The Republican party at the time of its organi-
zation planted itself on this doctrine ; and in their
platform at Chicago, when Abraham Lincoln was
first nominated for President, they passed the
following resolution:
" Fourth. That the maintenance inviolate of
the rights of the States, and especially the right
of each State to order and control its own
domestic institutions according to its own judg-
2 62 DEMOCRATIC PRIA'CiriES.
ment exclusively, is essential to that balance of
power on which the perfection and endurance of
our political fabric depends; and we denounce
the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of
any State or Territory, no matter under what
pretext, as one of the gravest of crimes."
So thoroughly had this constitutional doctrine
engrafted itself upon the public mind, found
utterance in both of the great political parties and
in their platforms, that it ought to have been
acquiesced in by all.
The National Democratic party still adheres to
that idea. It is unalterably fixed in its creed;
but it has not appeared in the Republican party
platform from that time down to the present,
while the Democracy have reaffirmed the same
upon every occasion. Ever since the clays of
Jackson's Administration has the question, in the
Democratic party, of the right of secession
been settled, so far as the power of a National
party Convention could settle it. No matter what
individual members of the party may have said,
no matter what State and District Conventions
may have declared on the subject, the National
Convention only of a national party can settle
national questions ; and, therefore, " no matter
how frothy orators may fret and fume and tear
passion into tatters " over a " Secession Democ-
racy," the record proves that it never was the
doctrine of the National Democratic party.
DEMOCRATIC PRINCiriES. ^5^
The Republican party has frequently announced
with a great flourish of trumpets that our Gov-
ernment was not a league, but a nation ; but no
true Jackson Democrat ever disputed that propo-
sition as he understood its terms. Jackson, in
his immortal proclamation, said :
"The Constitution of the United States, then,
forms a Government, not a league ; whether it be
formed by compact between the States or other-
wise, or in any other manner, its character is the
same. It is a Government in which the people are
represented, which operates directly on the people
individually, not upon the State ; they retain all the
power they did not grant. But each State hav-
ing expressly parted with so many powers as to
constitute, jointly with the other States, a single
nation cannot from that period possess any right
to .ec'.de, because such secession does not break a
league, but destroys the unity of the nation ; and
any injury to that unity is not only a breach which
would result from the contravention of a com-
pact, but it is an offense against the whole Union.
To say that any State may at pleasure secede
from the Union is to say that the United States
is not a nation ; because it would be a solecism
to contend that any part of a nation might dis-
solve its connection with the other part, to their
injury and ruin, without committing any offense.
Secession, like any other revolutionary act, may
be morally jusufied by the extremity of oppres-
-^4 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
sion ; but to call it a constitutional right is con-
founding the meaning of terms, and can only be
done through gross error or to deceive those who
are willing to assert a right, but would pause be-
fore they made a revolution or incur the penalties
consequent on a failure." Herein is set forth in
the plainest terms the principles adhered to by
the great Democratic party of the country ; and
to charge the party with the errors, mistakes,
and crimes of those who disregarded the teach-
ings of their party is so grossly unjust that it
needs no further refutation. It is because the
Democracy have through all the past, through
years of sectional madness and party strife, ad-
hered in conscious integrity to those views that
they have been denounced by enraged sectional-
ists North and South, until reason has been again
enthroned, and the nation can see where they
have stood all these years.
They constitute the only party which has a
record upon this question, dating from its first
inception to the present moment. Democrats op-
posed the New England secessionists who held
the Hartford Convention in the interest of North-
ern nullification and secession. They opposed
the South Carolina nullifiers at a later date, and
have, as a great national organization, opposed
the doctrine at all times, under all circumstances,
and against all persons, no matter whether they
claimed to be Democrats or not. But it may be
DEMOCRATIC PRIXCITLES. oA-
said that when the Rebelhon was first organized
a Democratic Administration did not do its duty
to suppress it. President Buchanan, elected by
Southern votes as well as Northern, denied the
right of secession. He was a representative
Democrat, and he said in his message of De-
cember, i860: "This Government is a great and
powerful Government invested with all the at-
tributes of sovereignty over the subjects to which
its authority extends. Its framers never intended
to plant in its bosom the seeds of its own destruc-
tion, nor were they guilty of the absurdity of pro-
viding for its own dissolution. It was not in-
tended by its framers to be the baseless fabric of
a vision which at the touch of the enchanter
would vanish in thin air, but a substantial and
mighty fabric capable of resisting the slow decay
of time and defying the storms of ages. * * *
In short, let us look the danger fully In the face ;
secession is neither more nor less than revolution."
Thus it will be seen that at no time, even the
most critical, have true National Democrats,
either in National Conventions or by their Chief
Executives, ever countenanced this heresy of
secession. There Is, therefore, no reason on this
account why a man should not be a Democrat,
because as such he is compelled to subscribe to
the soundest plank ever put forth by either party
In its platforms on the subject of the relation of
the Federal to the State Governments. We are
Z66
DEMOCRATIC PRIXCITLES.
Democrats because we believe in the doctrine
held by the party on this most important question.
Fanaticism never stops to reason. Driven
by honest impulses, it rushes to its object
without regard to obstacles. So it was with
the secession movement, and so it was with
the political Abolitionists of the North. Driven
on, they ceased not their agitation until the
clash of arms came. Slavery went down, and
now it becomes the duty of every patriot to
repair the injury done by war, and place our
institutions on even a more solid foundation
than ever before. The disturbing cause is
now removed, and it is time for sober reflec-
tion and intelligent action, so that we may
preserve intact the Government our fathers
transmitted to us, unimpaired, unchanged, and
vigorous as it came from the hands of its
founders. To do this, we conscientiously believe,
the great Democratic party of the Union now
offers the best means by which this can be
done. It reaches out into every section of this
great country; it stands united once more upon
these grand principles of fraternal union,
upon the basis of the Constitution, the just
rights of the Federal Government undisputedly
granted to it, while the reserved rights of the
States are equally preserved to them. It is
the only national party that can conciliate the
angry sections and make this country what
DEMOCRATIC PRIXCITLES. ^67
the sao-es and heroes of the Revolution de-
signed it should be, a sisterhood of States, a
land of freedom, a home for the oppressed
of all lands.
CHAPTER VI.
THE RIGHT OF COERCION.
IT has been said by some who have but poorly
studied the formation of our Government
that because Democrats opposed coercion
before the Rebellion commenced, that therefore it
was " a disloyal party," and the world disloyal is
pronounced as if it were a horrible thing to hold
the opinion so ably set forth by the Fathers of the
Republic and by all sound constitutional lawyers
and statesmen since then. Andrew Johnson, Sen-
ator from Tennessee, then applauded for his opin-
ions, and the candidate of the Republican party
for Vice-President in 1864, elected by them, and
afterward President of the United States, held
these views. He said in the Senate of the United
States, on December i8th, 1S60: "The Federal
Government has no power to coerce a State, be-
cause by the eleventh amendment of the Consti-
tution of the United States it is expressly pro-
vided that you cannot even put one of those States
before the courts of the country as a party. As
368 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
a State, the Federal Government has no power to
coerce it ; but it is a member of the compact, to
which it agreed with the other States, and this
Government has the right to pass laws, and to
enforce tJiose laws on individuals, and it has the
right and the power not to coerce a State, but to
enforce and execute the law upon individuals
within the limits of a State." This was the view
held by Hon. John A. Logan, and by many who
even now are members of the Republican party,
and why should it be strange that Democrats an-
nounced those doctrines? They did not deny the
duty and power of the Federal Government to
enforce its laws at the point of the bayonet if
resisted. President Buchanan, in his message to
Congress on January 8th, A. D. i86r, says: "The
dangerous and hostile attitude of the States to-
ward each other has already far transcended and
cast in the shade the ordinary executive duties
already provided for by law, and has assumed
such vast and alarming proportions as to place
the subject entirely beyond executive control. The
fact cannot be disguised that we are in the midst
of a great revolution. In all its various bearings,
therefore, I commend the question to Congress
as the only human tribunal under Providence
possessing the power to meet the existing emer-
gency. To them exclusively belongs the power
to declare war or to authorize the employment of
the military force in all cases contemplated by
the Constitution."
DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
:/9
Concrress miCTht then have taken action. The
RepubHcan party had the power in both branches
of Congress by reason of the secession of South-
ern Senators, who left the RepubHcans in control
of the Senate, and they had held the House of
Representatives before that event occurred. No
person ever doubted the right and duty of Con-
gress to pass laws to enable the President to de-
fend the Union against armed rebellion. At this
time the question of coercion had already passed
away. The Southern States had seceded and
taken forcible possession of public property, and
had themselves become the assailants. To this Con-
gress the President appealed to decide the ques-
tion ; but though the Republicans were in power in
both branches. Congress shrunk from its duty. It
might have been commendable had it desired to
prevent the effusion of fraternal blood and restore
the Union — perhaps it might have been their ob-
ject—still, the duty of the hour confronted It and
they shrunk from it. Had it promptly passed the
bill to enable the P^resident to call forth the militia
or to accept the services of volunteers, as Lincoln
did when Congress was not In session, It might
complain ; but It failed to do so, and is estopped
from charging others with a want of vigor In this
respect. Why, then, charge Democrats with de-
reliction of duty when Its own chosen party legis-
lative power was then assembled and failed to do
that with which they would now blame the Dem-
o/
0 DEMOCRATIC PKIXCIPLES.
ocracy? It was his duty to enforce the laws, theirs
to pass them ! Then how absurd to blame others
for that which they were guilty of themselves !
This, then, is a brief allusion to the subject of co-
ercion and the exercise of military power to sup-
press the Rebellion, and there is nothing- in it that
any Democrat need blush to acknowledge. These
charges are only made to divert the mind of the
voter from the real questions at issue between
the parties and can furnish no reason whatever
why a man should not be a Democrat after more
than twenty years have passed .away, and almost
a new generation has come upon the stage of
action.
Rather should these sound views of the Consti-
tution and convictions of patriotic duty in those
trying days of our national peril induce men once
more to rally under the flag of Democracy, and
place in power those who have been thus true to
the great principles of free institutions upon which
our Government is founded. True Democrats
believe this to be their duty.
DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES. ^ ^ ,
CHAPTER VII.
THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY.
RECONCILIATION must take place. That
these principles will finally triumph in the
administration of our public affairs we
can have no doubt. The progress our country
has made under their benign influence, notwith-
standing their interruption by the events occur-
ring- durincr the greatest civil war known in his-
tory, forshadows this.
No other policy will preserve the Union and
the liberties of the people at the same time, and
we believe both will be our heritaije. The limits
to which this principle of co-equal sovereign
States, bound together in one National Govern-
ment, under a Constitution of granted powers,
can be extended, is scarcely conceivable. Each
attending to its local concerns and domestic affairs,
free from interference by the central or supreme
Government, brings the power to govern the
people home to their own firesides.
If dissatisfaction arises it can be remedied by
themselves without disturbing the peace of the
whole. It is emphatically the principle of local
self-government in the States. They are alone
responsible for their bad laws. They reap the
blessings of good ones, while the great mass of
5*72 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
the people of the United States, now numbering
over fifty milHons, can go on with their enterprises
developing the country and building up the great
West — founding States, each possessing the same
right to pass such laws as to them may seem best.
As the country becomes enlarged, and population
increases, the application of these principles be-
comes the more necessary. Then why not adopt
them as the rule of our political action. Why
demand a stronger government, as the Repub-
licans do, when this is absolutely the stronger of
the two.
Centralization must mean despotism, A gov-
ernment, to reach out to the verge of a mighty
empire, must of necessity be centralized, power-
ful, and not depend upon the masses, but
the military, for enforcing its requirements, or
else its duties must be few and simple, and only
concern national affairs, easily enforced, and felt
as little as possible by the citizens of the country.
This the Democracy want. Any other form will
be a failure. Our present form of government
is, therefore, the best ever devised by man, espe-
cially is it so, for the circumstances under which
we find this country placed. A climate ranging
from the rigorous winters of the extreme North,
to almost the tropics of the South, has a variety
of productions of the soil, and diversified interests
to consider. No legislation could, under these
manifold conditions, be generally acceptable. We
DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
1 " f
must have legislation by smaller districts. The
whole people could not be sufficiently represented
in one great national assembly. Therefore, of ne-
cessity, the great mass of our laws, in order to be
satisfactory, must be remitted to the people in the
States.
When Cong-ress has regulated commerce with
other nations, established a uniform rule of natu-
ralization and bankruptcy, coined money and
regulated the value thereof, declared war, in case
of necessity, established posts- offices and post-
roads, and exercised a few other powers, it has
not only enough to do to occupy its time, but has
exhausted all its powers granted under the Con-
stitution. If these powers be wisely exercised, in
such a manner as to bear with equal weight upon
all, in no spirit of sectional superiority, there is no
limit to the power of expansion under our system.
Whatever makes men love their government
makes it strong ; especially is this true in a free
government like ours.
If this system be adhered to, and the North and
the South and the East and the West be made
to love, respect and obey it, because of the bless-
ings it brings to them, what may not the next
hundred years in America witness ? With a soil
naturally productive in all sections of the country,
mineral wealth stored away beneath it in abund-
ance, lakes, rivers, and railroads affording abund-
ant facilities to interchange products and manu-
, y. DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
factures with each other ; the wants of one section
SLippHed by another creating activity in trade,
incentives to enterprise, stimulants to progress,
where are to be found brighter prospects to a
nation, if we are true to the principles on which
our Government is founded, than here in this
heaven favored land. But in order to continue
our national prosperity and enjoy the full fruition
of our hopes we must bury our sectional preju-
dices, and enforce the benign principles so patriot-
ically announced by Washington when he took
public leave of his countrymen. This reconcilia-
tion cannot be brought about by force. It is alike
impossible that the bitter passions of the war
period can long be continued, or that force and
oppression or denunciation should bring about
reconciliation. A beneficent providence has so
constituted our natures that a violent des^ree of
passion exercised in one direction is sooner or
later followed by a re-action in the opposite direc-
tion. If this were not so, and as Everett said
upon the brow of Cemetery Hill, at Gettysburg,
where but a few months before had been turned
back the rebel armies, and their success became
impossible, "were hatred always returned by equal
and still stronger feelings of hatred; if injuries
inflicted always lead to still greater injuries by
way of retaliation, and thus forever a compound
of accumulated hatred, revenge, and retaliation
were the result, then for thousands of years would
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. ^yr
this world have been inhabited with demons only,
and this earth have been a perfect hell. But this
is not so ; all history tells us it is not true."
The North and the South will and must be re-
conciled. The Democracy must do it. All must
feel that they have a common interest, and a her-
itage under a common Government ; and the
strength of the government will be beyond calcu-
lation ; but upon the other hand you station the
military force of the Union in their towns and
cities, place national supervisors of elections at
their polls, send down your federal deputy marsh-
als to arrest and imprison their people, distrusting
their ability and patriotism to guard their elections
against fraud and violence, and the generation is
yet unborn that will see a perfect Union of those
States. The great problem how to break down
sectionalism North and South and so order affairs
that parties shall not be divided by geographical
lines, is still unsettled. What party is so well
qualified to do this as the national Democratic
party ; who better calculated to do it than that or-
ganization under the guidance of its chosen leader,
the hero of Gettysburg ?
When Everett delivered his last great speech
at Gettysburg in A. D. 1863, he did not know that
he was predicting a parallel to the history recitec^
in portraying the close of other rebelliqns. He
brought to mind the fact that the War of the Roses
in England had lasted thirty years, from 1455 to
-,-5 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
1485. It was one of the fiercest civil wars known
in history ; eighty princes of the royal blood had
lost their lives ; and the families of the nobility
almost annihilated. The strong feelings of affec-
tion which kindred families then bore for one an-
other, and the vindictive spirit which that age of
the world made it a point of honor to maintain,
rendered the great families of England implacable
enemies. But at last the titles of the two con-
tending families were centered in one person.
Henry VII went up from Bosworth field to mount
the throne. He was received everywhere with
joyous exclamations and regarded as one sent by
Heaven to put an end to that terrible strife and
give peace and prosperity to a distracted country.
Take the instance of another rebellion in Eng-
land, lasting from 1620 to 1640, twenty years,
ending suddenly with the return of Charles II.
These again were twenty years of discord, of con-
flict, civil war, confiscation, plunder, havoc and
destruction. A proud, hereditary peerage trampled
in the dust; a national church overturned; its
clergy beggared ; its most eminent Prelate put to
death ; a military despotism established upon the
ruins of a monarchy that had lasted seven hundred
years, and its legitimate sovereign brought to the
block. All this and more done to embitter and
estrange a people, and madden and enrage con-
tending factions, and yet these people were recon-
ciled! Not by a gende transition but suddenly
DEMOCRATIC PR IXC/ PL ES. ^.ll
when the restoration had appeared most hopeless.
The son of the beheaded monarch was brought
back to his father's house and to his bloodstained
throne amid such universal and inexpressible joy
as led the merry monarch to exclaim, he doubted
it was his own fault he had been so long absent,
for there seemed to be no one who did not pro-
test that he long since wished for his return.
God has ofttimes in a wonderful manner ended
rebellions. It was hoped at one time that ours —
by Sherman's agreement — would have ended as
suddenly and as joyously ; but those in authority
did not so will it.
Take one more later instance, that of the
French Revolution. It was a reisfn of terror un-
derstood by all. A blacker page of crime cannot
be found in all history. Another church broken
up, its clergy murdered ; men slaughtered by
boat-loads, and beheaded by machinery ! A mon-
archy destroyed ; a royal family extinguished, and
their adherents exiled or beheaded. If the most
deadly feud had the power permanently to alien-
ate one portion of a people from another, surely
here we have an example ; but far otherwise was
the fact. Napoleon brought order out of chaos ;
the Jacobins of France welcomed home the re-
turning emigrants, and royalists whose estates
they had confiscated and whose kindred they had
brought to the guillotine.
After another turn of the wheel of fortune,
-^yg DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
Louis XVIII was restored to his throne, and he
took the regicide Fouche to his cabinet and to
his confidence, though he had voted for the decree
ordeiing his brother's death. So, too, should the
dissensions in this country cease. It would have
already been so had not base, designing men for
their own selfish purposes, prevented it. But they
cannot do it much longer. This Union must be
restored. The great public heart yearns for it.
The South in convention assembled with the
North as a pledge of peace and loyalty and good-
will to the Northern soldiers, as they did to the
civilians, with Horace Greeley, eight years ago,
stands forth and says: Take the hero of your
greatest battles; take him who turned back our
hosts at Gettysburg; who, after the repeated as-
saults of Longstreet with the flower of the South-
ern army, scattered them as a chaff before the
wind, and made it impossible to achieve our in-
dependence; take him whom our bullets have
wounded; take him who, from the very nature of
the case, suffered most in his own person by our
acts ; take him who has sympathy for his com-
rades in arms ; but take him also, because, when
the war was over, he gave us back our own local
government; take him who was a patriot in war
as well as a civilian, though a soldier, in peace,
and we will obey the laws ; we will be loyal to our
common Government. Take him and let us have
peace with you. Should we reject this propo-
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. --^
sition ? Should not the whole country welcome
back those once in rebellion into the folds of a
common nationality, and forever silence the dis-
trust of sections ?
Let us cast away this revengeful disposition ;
let the better principles of our nature do their
work, and soon we shall see a nation of freemen
rejoicing over the restoration of their Unicn, and
the reconciliation of their difficulties, as none have
ever rejoiced before. It is the knowledge of these
things, their importance to the country, the neces-
sity that it should be speedily accomplished, that
impels Democrats to the task. They are Demo-
crats because they earitestly desire to see this
great result accomplished.
LIVES
All the Presidents
UNITED STATES.
liiiiilL
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE NATION'S HISTORY
P
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
"^IRST President of the United States, was
born in Westmoreland County, Virginia,
on the 2 2d of February, 1732. He was
the son of Augustine Washington, a wealthy
planter, and his second wife, Mary Ball. John
Washinorton, the orreat-g^randfather of the illus-
trious subject of this sketch, emigrated from Eng-
land and settled in Virginia about 1657. George
Washino-ton's father died when he was in his
eleventh year, leaving him in the care of his
mother, a woman of marked strenofth of charac-
ter. She was worthy of her trust. From her he
acquired that self-restraint, love of order, and
strict regard for justice and fair dealing, which,
with his inherent probity and truthfulness, formed
the basis of a character rarely equaled for its
simple, yet commanding nobleness.
Apart from his mother's training, the youthful
Washington received only the ordinary country-
385
^c^ dUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
school education of the time, never having attended
college, or taken instruction in the ancient lan-
guages. He had no inclination for any but the
most practical studies, but in these he was remark-
ably precocious. When barely sixteen Lord Fair-
fax, who had become greatly interested in the
promising lad, engaged him to survey his vast
estates lying in the wilderness west of the Blue
Ridge. So satisfactory was his performance of
this perilous and difficult task, that, on its comple-
tion, he was appointed Public Surveyor. This
office he held for three years, acquiring consider-
able pecuniary benefits, as well as a knowledge
of the country, which was of value to him in his
subsequent military career.
When only nineteen, Washington was appointed
Military Inspector of one of the districts into which
Virginia was then divided. In November, 1753,
he was sent by Governor Dinwiddle on a mission
to the French posts, near the Ohio River, to ascer-
tain the designs of France in that quarter. It was
a mission of hardship and peril, performed with
rare prudence, sagacity, and resolution. Its bril-
liant success laid the foundation of his fortunes.
"From that time," says Irving, "Washington was
the rising hope of Virginia."
Of Washington's services in the resulting war,
we cannot speak in detail. An unfortunate mili-
tary expedition to the frontier was followed by a
campaign under Braddock, whom he accompanied
GEORGE WASHINGTON. ^3-
as aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, in his
march against Fort Duquesne. That imprudent
General, scorning the advice of his youthful aid,
met disastrous defeat and death. In the batde,
Washington's coat was pierced by four bullets.
His bravery and presence of mind alone saved
the army from total destruction.
Washington, on his return, was appointed com-
mander-in-chief of all the troops of the colony,
then numberinof about two thousand men. This
was in 1755, when he was but little more than
twenty-three years of age. Having led the Vir-
ginia troops in Forbes' expedition in 1758, by
which Fort Duquesne was captured, he resigned
his commission, and, in January, 1759, married
Mrs. Martha Custis {iiee Dandridge), and settled
down at Mount Vernon, on the Potomac, which
estate he had inherited from his elder brother
Lawrence, and to which he added until it reached
some ei2:ht thousand acres.
The fifteen years following his marriage were,
lo Washington, years of such happiness as is
rarely accorded to mortals. It was the halcyon
period of his life. His home was the centre of a
generous hospitality, where the duties of a busy
planter and of a Judge of the County Court were
varied by rural enjoyments and social intercourse.
He managed his estates with prudence and econ-
omy. He slurred over nothing, and exhibited,
even then, that rigid adherence to system and
-53 OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
accuracy of detail which subsequently marked his
performance of his public duties.
In the difficulties which presently arose between
Great Britain and her American Colonies, Wash-
ington sympathized deeply with the latter, and
took an earnest, though not specially prominent
part in those movements which finally led to tiie
War of Independence. In the first general Con-
gress of the Colonies, which met in Philadelphia,
on the 5th of September, 1774, we find the name
of W^ashington among the Virginia Delegates.
As to the part he took in that Congress, we can
only judge from a remark made by Patrick Henry,
also a Delegate: "Colonel Washington," said the
great orator, "was undoubtedly the greatest man
on that floor, if you speak of solid information and
sound judgment,"
In the councils of his native province, we also
get glimpses of his calm and dignified presence.
And he is ever on the side of the Colonies — mod-
erate, yet resolute, hopeful of an amicable adjust-
ment of difficulties, yet advocating measures look-
ing to a final appeal to arms.
At length the storm broke. The Battle of
Lexington called the whole country to arms.
While in the East the rude militia of New Eng-
land beleaguered Boston with undisciplined but
stern determination, Congress, in May, 1775, met
a second time in Philadelphia. A Federal Union
was formed and an army called for. As chair-
GEORGE WASHINGTON. ogQ
man of the various Committees on Military Affairs,
Washington drew up most of the rules and regu-
lations of the army, and devised measures for
defense. The question now arose — By whom
was the army to be led ? Hancock, of Massa-
chusetts, was ambitious of the place. Sectional
jealousies showed themselves. Happily, how-
ever, Johnson, of Maryland, rising in his seat,
nominated Washington. The election was by
ballot, and unanimous. Modestly expressing sin-
cere doubts as to his capability, Washington
accepted the position with thanks, but refused to
receive any salary. " I will keep an exact account
of my expenses," he said. "These I doubt not
Congress will discharge. That is all I desire."
On the 15th of June he received his commis-
sion. Writing a tender letter to his wife, he
rapidly prepared to start on the following day
to the army before Boston. He was now in the
full vigor of manhood, forty-three years of age,
tall, stately, of powerful frame and commanding
presence. " As he sat his horse with manly
grace," says Irving, " his military bearing de-
lighted every eye, and wherever he went the air
rung with acclamations."
On his way to the army, Washington met the
tidings of the Batde of Bunker Hill. When told
how bravely the militia had acted, a load seemed
lifted from his heart. "The liberties of the coun-
try are safe !" he exclaimed. On the 2d of July
^,(^0 OUJi FORMER PRESIDENTS.
he took command of the troops, at Cambridge,
Mass., the entire force then numbering about
15,000 men. It was not until March, 1776, that
the siege of Boston ended in tlie withdrawal of
the British forces. Washington's admirable con-
duct of this siege drew forth the enthusiastic ap-
plause of the nation. Congress had a gold medal
struck, bearing the effigy of Washington as the
Deliverer of Boston.
Hasteninof to defend New York from threat-
ened attack, Washington there received, on the
9th of July, 1776. a copy of the "Declaration of
Independence," adopted by Congress five days
previously. On the 27th of the following month
occurred the disastrous battle of Long Island, the
misfortunes of which were retrieved, however,
by Washington's admirable retreat, one of the
most brilliant achievements of the war. Ao-ain 1
I
defeated at White Plains, he was compelled to !
retire across New Jersey. On the 7th of De-
cember he passed to the west side of the Dela-
ware, at the head of a dispirited army of less than
four thousand effective men. many of them with-
out shoes, and leaving tracks of blood in the
snow. This was the darkest period of the war.
But suddenly, as if inspired, Washington, in the
midst of a driving storm, on Christmas night re-
crossing the Delaware, now filled with floating te
ice, gained in rapid succession the brilliant vic-joi
tories of Trenton and Princeton, thus changinguv
GEORGE WASHINGTON. ^ot
the entire aspect of affairs. Never were victories
better timed. The waning hopes of the people
in their cause and their commander were at once
restored as if by magic.
It is not possible, in this necessarily brief
sketch, to give the details of the agonizing strug-
gle in which Washington and his little army were
now involved. Superior numbers and equip-
ments often inflicted upon him disasters which
would have crushed a less resolute spirit.
Cheered, however, by occasional glimpses of vic-
tory, and wisely taking advantage of what his
troops learned in hardship and defeat, he was at
length enabled, by one sagacious and deeply
planned movement, to bring the war virtually to
a close in the capture of the British army of
7,000 men, under Cornwallis, at Yorktown, on
the 19th of October, 1781.
The tidings of the surrender of Cornwallis
filled the country with joy. The lull in the ac-
tivity of both Congress and the people was not
viewed with favor by Washington. It was a
period of peril. Idleness in the army fostered
discontents there, which at one time threatened
the gravest mischief. It was only by the utmost
exertion that Washington induced the malcon-
tents to turn a deaf ear to those who were at-
tempting, as he alleged, " to open the flood-gates
of civil discord, and deluge our rising empire
with blood."
^Q2 OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
On September 3d, 1 783, a treaty of peace was
signed at Paris, by which the complete indepen-
dence of the United States was secured. On the
23d of December following, Washington for-
mally resigned his command. The very next
morning he hastened to his beloved Mount Ver-
non, arriving there that evening, in time to enjoy
the festivities which there greeted him.
Washington was not long permitted to enjoy
his retirement. Indeed, his solicitude for the per-
petuity of the political fabric he had helped to
raise he could not have shaken off if he would.
Unconsciously, it might have been, by his letters
to his old friends still in public life, he continued
to exercise a powerful influence on national affairs.
He was one of the first to propose a remodeling
of the Articles of Confederation, which were now
acknowledged to be insufficient for their purpose.
At length, a convention of delegates from the
several States, to form a new Constitution, met at
Philadelphia, in May, 1787. Washington pre-
sided over Its session, which was long and stormy.
After four months of deliberation was formed
that Constitution under which, with some subse-
quent amendments, we now live.
When the new Constitution was finally ratified,
Washington was called to the Presidency by the
unanimous voice of the people. In April, i 789,
he set out from Mount Vernon for New York,
then the seat of Government, to be inaugurated.
GEORGE WASHINGTON. ^g^
" His progress," says Irving, " was a continuous
ovation. The ringing of bells and the roaring of
cannon proclaimed his course. Old and young,
women and children, thronged the highways to
bless and welcome him." His inaueuration took
place April 30th, 1 789, before an immense multi-
tude.
The eight years of Washington's Administra-
tion were years of trouble and difficulty. The
two parties which had sprung up — the Federalist
and the Republican — were greatly embittered
against each other, each charging the other with
the most unpatriotic designs. No other man than
Washington could have carried the country safely
through so perilous a period. His prudent, firm,
yet conciliatory spirit, aided by the love and ven-
eration with which the people regarded him, kept
down insurrection and silenced discontent.
That he passed through this trying period
safely cannot but be a matter of astonishment.
The angry partisan contests, to which we have
referred, were of themselves sufficient to dis-
hearten any common man. Even Washington was
distrustful of the event, so fiercely were the par-
tisans of both parties enlisted — the Federalists
clamoring for a stronger government, the Repub-
licans for additional checks on the power already
intrusted to the Executive. Besides, the Revolu-
tion then raging in France became a source of
contention. The Federalists sided with England,
-jQA OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
who was bent on crushing that Revolution, the
RepubHcans, on the other hand, sympathized
deeply with the French people : so that between
them both, it was with extreme difficulty that the
President could prevent our young Republic, bur-,
dened with debt, her people groaning under taxes
necessarily heavy, and with finances, commerce,
and the industrial arts in a condition of chaos,
from beinof dras^ored into a fresh war with either
France or England.
But^ before retiring from the Presidency, Wash-
ington had the happiness of seeing many of the
difficulties from which he had apprehended so much,
placed in a fair way of final adjustment. A finan-
cial system was developed which lightened the
burden of public debt and revived the drooping
energies of the people. The country progressed
rapidly. Immigrants flocked to our shores, and
the regions west of the Alleghanies began to fill
up. New States claimed admission and were
received into the Union — Vermont, in 1791 ; Ken-
tucky, in 1792 ; and Tennessee, in 1796 ; so that,
before the close of Washington's second term, the
original thirteen States had increased to sixteen.
Having served two Presidential terms, Wash-
ingfton, declininor another election, returned once
more to Mount Vernon, " that haven of repose to
which he had so often turned a wistful eye," bear-
ing with him the love and gratitude of his country-
men, to whom, in his memorable " Farewell Ad-
GEORGE WASHINGTON. ^g^
dress," he bequeathed a legacy of practical politi-
cal wisdom which it will be well for them to
remember and profit by. In this immortal docu-
ment he insisted that the union of the States was
"a main pillar" in the real independence of the
people. He also entreated them to "steer clear
of any permanent alliances with any portion of
the foreio-n world."
At Mount Vernon Washington found constant
occupation in the supervision of his various
estates. It was while taking his usual round on
horseback to look after his farms, that, on the 12th
of December, 1799, he encountered a cold, winter
storm. He reached home chill and damp. The
next day he had a sore throat, with some hoarse-
ness. By the morning of the 14th he could
scarcely swallow. " I find I am going," said he to
a friend. " I believed from the first that the
attack would be fatal." That night, between ten
and eleven, he expired, without a struggle or a
sigh, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, his disease
being acute laryngitis. Three days afterward
his remains were deposited in the family tombs at
Mount Vernon, where they still repose.
Washington left a reputation on which there is
no stain. " His character," says Irving, " possessed
fewer inequalities, and a rarer union of virtues
than perhaps ever fell to the lot of one man„
* '" * It seems as if Providence had endowed
him in a pre-eminent degree with the qualities
^q6 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
requisite to fit him for the high destiny he was
called upon to fulfill."
In stature Washincfton was six feet two inches
in height, well proportioned, and firmly built.
His hair was brown, his eyes blue and set far
apart. From boyhood he was famous for great
strength and agility. Jefferson pronounced him
"the best horseman of his age, and the most grace-
ful figure that could be seen on horseback." He
was scrupulously neat, gentlemanly, and punctual,
and always dignified and reserved.
In the resolution passed upon learning of his
death, the National House of Representatives
described him for the first time in that well-known
phrase, " First in war, first in peace, and first in
the hearts of his countrymen," — a tribute which
succedine generations have continued to bestow
upon Washington without question or doubt. By
common consent to him is accorded as pre-emi-
nently appropriate the title, " Pater Patriae," — the
" Father of his Country."
Of Washington, Lord Brougham says : " It will
be the duty of the historian and the sage, in all
ages, to omit no occasion of commemorating this
illustrious man; and until time shall be no more
will a test of the progress our race has made in
wisdom and virtue be derived from the veneration
paid to the immortal name of Washington."
fOMN ADAMS. 390
JOHN ADAMS,
SECOND President of the United States,
was born at Braintree, now Ouincy, Mass.,
October 19th, 1735. He was the eldest son
of John Adams, a farmer, and Susanna Boylston.
Graduating from Harvard in 1755, he studied law,
defraying his expenses by teaching. In 1764, hav-
ing meanwhile been admitted to the bar, he mar-
ried Miss Abigail Smith, a lady whose energy of
character contributed largely to his subsequent
advancement.
As early as 1761, we find young Adams look-
ing forward, with prophetic vision, to American
Independence. When the memorable Stamp Act
was passed in 1765, he joined heart and soul in
opposition to it. A series of resolutions which he
drew up against it and presented to the citizens of
Braintree was adopted also by more than forty
other towns in the Province. He took the ad-
vanced grounds that it was absolutely void —
Parliament having no risfht to tax the Colonies.
In 1 768 he removed to Boston. The rise of the
young lawyer was now rapid, and he was the lead-
ing man in many prominent cases. When, in Sep-
tember, 1774, the first Colonial Congress met, at
Philadelphia, Adams was one of the five Delegates
from Massachusetts. In that Congress he took
a prominent part He it was who, on the 6th of
^OO ^^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
May, 1776, boldly advanced upon the padi oi
Independence, by moving " the adoption of such
measures as would best conduce to the happiness
and safety of the American people." It was
Adams, who, a month later, seconded the resolu-
tion of Lee, of Virginia, " that these United States
are, and of right ought to be, independent." It
was he who uttered the famous words, " Sink or
swim, live or die, survive or perish, with my
country is my unalterable determination." He,
too, it was, who, with Jefferson, Franklin, Sher-
man, and Livingston, drew up that famous " Dec-
laration of Independence," which, adopted by Con-
gress on the 4th of July, 1776, decided a question,
"greater, perhaps, than ever was or will be de-
cided anywhere." During all these years of
engrossing public duty he produced many able
essays on the rights of the Colonies. These ap-
peared in the leading journals of the day and
exerted wide influence. The motion to prepare
a Declaration of Independence was opposed by a
strong party, to the champion of which Adams
made reply and Jefferson said, "John Adams was
the ablest advocate and champion of indepen-
dence on the floor of the House."
Writing to his wife on July 3d, 1776, and refer-
ring to the Declaration of Independence, that day
adopted, he forecast the manner of that day's
celebration by bonfires, fireworks, etc., as " the
ijreat anniversary festival." During all the years
JOHN ADAMS. aq^
of the war he was a most zealous worker and val-
ued counselor. After its years of gloom and
trial, on the 21st of January, 1783, he assisted in
the conclusion of a treaty of peace, by which
Great Britain acknowledged the complete inde-
pendence of the United States. On the previous
October, he had achieved what he ever regarded
as the Greatest success of his life — the formation
of a treaty of peace and alliance with Holland,
which had a most important bearing on the nego-
tiations leading to the final adjustment with Eng-
land.
He was United States Minister to England from
1785 to 1788, and Vice-President during both the
terms of Washington. During these years, as
presiding officer of the Senate, he gave no less
than twenty casting votes, all of them on ques-
tions of great importance, and all supporting the
policy of the President. Mr. Adams was himself
inaugurated President on the 4th of March, 1797,
having been elected over Jefferson by a small
majority. Thomas Pinckney was nominated for
the Vice-Presidency with him, they representing
the Federal party, but in the Electoral College
Thomas Jefferson received the choice and became
Vice-President. He retained as his Cabinet the
officers previously chosen by Washington.
He came into office at a critical period. The
, conduct of the French Directory, in refusing to
receive our ambassadors, and in trying to injure
Iqa our FORMEk PRESWEMTS.
our commerce by unjust decrees, excited intense
ill-feeling, and finally led to what is known as "the
Quasi War " with France, Congress now passed
the so-called "Alien and Sedition Laws," by which
extraordinary and, it is alleged, unconstitutional
powers were conferred upon the President.
Though the apprehended war was averted, the
odium of these laws effectually destroyed the pop-
ularity of Adams, who, on running for a second
term, was defeated by Mr. Jefferson, representing
the Republicans, who were the Democratic party
of that day. On the 4th of March, 1801, he re-
tired to private life on his farm near Quincy. His
course as President had brought upon him the
reproaches of both parties, and his days were
ended in comparative obscurity and neglect. He
lived to see his son, John Quincy Adams, in the
Presidential chair.
By a singular coincidence, the death of Mr.
Adams and that of his old political rival, Jefferson,
took place on the same day, and almost at the
same hour. Stranger still, it was on July the 4th,
1826, whilst bells were ringing and cannon roar-
ing to celebrate the fiftieth Anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence, their own immortal
production, that these two men passed away.
Mr, Adams was asked if he knew what day it was.
"Oh! yes!" he exclaimed, "It is the Fourth of
July, God bless it! God bless you all ! It is a
great and glorious day!" and soon after quietly
expired, in the ninety-first year of his age.
"THOMAS JEFFERSOt^. k^f
Mr. Adams possessed a vigorous and polished
intellect, and was one of the most upright of men.
His character was one to command respect^ rather
than to win affection. There was a certain lack
of warnith in his stately courtesy which seemed
to forbid approach. Yet nobody, we are told,
could know him intimately without admiring the
simplicity and truth which shone in all his actions.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, who succeeded
Adams as President, was born at Shadwell,
Albermarle County, Va., April 2d, 1743.
Peter Jefferson, his father, was a man of great
force of character and of remarkably powerful
physique. His mother, Jane Randolph, was from
a most respectable English family. He was the
eldest of eio^ht children. He became a classical
student when a mere boy, and entered college in
an advanced class when but seventeen years of
age. Having passed through college, he studied
law under Judge Wythe, and in 1767 commenced
practice. In 1769, he was elected to the Virginia
Legislature. Three years later, he married Mrs.
Martha Skelton, a rich, handsome, and accom-
plished young widow, with whom he went to reside
in his new mansion at Monticello, near to the spot
where he was born. His practice at the bar grew
4o6
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
rapidly and became very lucrative, and he early
engaged in the political affairs of his own State.
For years the breach between England and her
Colonies had been rapidly widening. Jefferson
earnestly advocated the right of the latter to local
self-government, and wrote a pamphlet on the
subject which attracted much attention on both
sides of the Atlantic. By the spring of 1775 the
Colonies were In revolt. We now find Jefferson
in the Continental Congress — the youngest mem-
ber save one. His arrival had been anxiously
awaited. He had the reputation "of a matchless
pen." Though silent on the floor, in committee
" he was prompt, frank, explicit, and decisive,"
Early in June, 1776, a committee, with Jefferson
as chairman, was appointed to draw up a " Decla-
ration of Independence." Unanimously urged by
his associates to write it, he did so, Franklin and
Adams, only, making a few verbal alterations.
Jefferson has been charged with plagiarism in the
composition of this ever-memorable paper. Vol-
umes have been written on the subject; but those
who have investigated the closest, declare that
the Mecklenburg Declaration, from which he was
charged with plagiarism, was not then in existence.
Jefferson distinctly denies having seen it. Prob-
ably, in preparing it, he used many of the popular
phrases of the time ; and hence it was that it
seized so quickly and so irresistibly upon the
public heart. It was the crystallized expression
THOMAS JEFFERSON. ^OQ
of the spirit of the age. Edward Everett pro-
nounced this Declaration " equal to anything ever
born on parchment or expressed in the visible
siens of thought." Bancroft declares, " The heart
of Jefferson in writing it, and of Congress in
adopting it, beat for all humanity."
Chosen a second time to Congress, Jefferson
declined the appointment, in order that he might
labor in re-orofanizinof Virofinia. He therefore
laccepted a seat in the Legislature, where he
zealously applied himself to revising the funda-
Imental laws of the State. The abolition of primo-
geniture and the Church establishment was the
result of his labors, and he was justly proud of
it. No more important advance could have been
made. It was a step from middle-age darkness
into the broad light of modern civilization.
In 1778, Jefferson procured the passage of a
law prohibiting the further importation of slaves.
The following year he was elected Governor,
succeeding Patrick Henry in this honorable posi-
tion, and at the close of his official term he again
sought the retirement of Monticello. In 1782,
shortly after the death of his beloved wife, he was
summoned to act as one of the Commissioners to
negotiate peace with England. He was not
required to sail, however ; but, taking a seat in
Congress, during the winter of 1783, he, who had
drawn up the Declaration of Independence, was
the first to officially announce its final triumph.
4IO
OUR FORMER PR^S/D£j\rTS.
At the next session of Congress, he secured the
adoption of our present admirable system of coin-
age. As chairman of a committee to draft rule^
for the government of our Northwest Territory-
he endeavored, but without success, to secure the
prohibition of slavery therefrom forever. In May,
1784, he was sent to Europe, to assist Adams and j
Franklin in negotiating treaties of commerce with ;
foreign nations. Returning home in 1789, he'
received from Washington the appointment of
Secretary of State, which office he resigned in 1 793.
He withdrew, says Marshall, " at a time when he
stood particularly high in the esteem of his coun-
trymen." His friendship for France, and his dis-
like of England ; his warm opposition to the
aggrandizement of the central power of the Gov-
ernment, and his earnest advocacy of every mea-
sure tending to enlarge popular freedom, had won
for him a laro-e followinof, and he now stood the
acknowledofed leader of the sfreat and orrowinof
Anti-federal party.
Washington declining a third term, Adams, as
we have already seen, succeeded him, Jefferson
becoming Vice-President. At the next election,
Jefferson and Burr, the Republican candidates,
stood highest on the list. By the election law of
that period, he who had the greatest number of
votes was to be President, while the Vice-Presi-
dency fell to the next highest candidate. Jeffer-
son and Burr having an equal number of votes,
THOMAS JEFFERSON: ^ j ^
it remained for the House of Representatives to
decide which should be President. After a long
and heated canvass, Jefferson was chosen on the
thirty-sixth ballot. He was inaugurated, on the
4th of March, 1801, at Washington, whither the
Capitol had been removed a few months pre-
viously. In 1804, he was re-elected by an over-
whelming majority. At the close of his second
term, he retired once more to the quiet of Monti-
cello.
The most important public measure of Jeffer-
son's Administration, to the success of which he
directed his strongest endeavors, was the pur-
chase from France, for the insignificant sum of
^15,000,000, of the immense Territory of Louisi-
ana. It was during his Administration, too, that
the conspiracy of Burr was discovered, and
thwarted by the prompt and decisive action of the
President. Burr's scheme was a mad one — to
break up the Union, and erect a new empire, with
Mexico as its seat. " Jefferson is regarded as hav-
ing: initiated the custom of removingf incumbents
from office on political grounds alone.
From the retirement into which he withdrew at
the end of his second term, Jefferson never
emerged. His time was actively employed in
the management of his property and in his exten-
sive correspondence. In establishing a Univer-
sity at Charlottesville, Jefferson took a deep in-
terest, devoting to it much of his time and means.
y,TA OUR FORMER rRESWEIVTS. \.
414 I
He was proud of his work, and directed diat die jj
words " Father of the University of Virginia " \
should be inscribed upon his tomb. He died, J
shortly after mid-day, on the Fourth of July,
1826, a few hours before his venerable friend andi
compatriot, Adams. j
Jefferson was the very embodiment of the |
democracy he sought to make the distinctive feat-
ure of his party. All titles were distasteful to
him, even the prefix Mr. His garb and manners
were such that the humblest farmer was at home
in his society. He declared that in view of the
existence of slavery he "trembled for his coun-
try when he remembered that God is just." He
was of splendid physique, being six feet two and
a half inches in height, but well built and sinewy.
His hair was of a reddish brown, his countenance
ruddy, his eyes light hazel. Both he and his wife
were wealthy, but they spent freely and died in-
solvent, leaving but one daughter.
His moral character was of the highest order..
Profanity he could not endure, either in himself
or others. He never touched cards, or strong
drink in any form. He was one of the most
generous of men, lavishly hospitable, and in
everything a thorough gentleman. Gifted with
an intellect far above the average, he had added
to it a surprising culture, which ranked him'
among our most accomplished scholars. To
his extended learning, to his ardent love of lib-
JAMES MADISON. a-{c
erty, and to his broad and tolerant views, Is due
much, very much, of whatever is admirable in our
instkutions. In them we discern everywhere
traces of his master spirit. ^
JAMES MADISON.
WHEN Mr. Jefferson retired from the
Presidency, the country was almost on
the verge of war with Great Britain.
Disputes had arisen In regard to certain restric-
tions laid by England upon our commerce. A
hot discussion also came up about the right
claimed and exercised by the commanders of
English war-vessels, of searching American ships
and of taking from them such seamen as they
miorht choose to consider natives of Great Britain.
Many and terrible wrongs had been perpetrated
In the exercise of this alleofed ricrht. Hundreds
of American citizens had been ruthlessly forced
into the British service.
It was when the public mind was agitated by
such outrages, that James Madison, the fourth
President of the United States, was Inaugurated.
When he took his seat, on the 4th of March,
1809, he lacked but a few days of being fifty-eight
years of age, having been born on the 15th of
March, 1 75 1. His father was Colonel James
Madison, his mother Nellie Conway. He gradu-
.j5 ^^'^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
ated at Princeton College, New Jersey, in 1771,
after which he studied law.
In his twenty-sixth year he had been a memben
of the Convention which framed the Constitution
of Virginia ; in 1780 had been elected to the
Continental Congress, in which he at once took a
commanding position ; had subsequently entered
the Virginia Legislature, where he co-operated
with his friend and neighbor, Jefferson, in the ab-
rogation of entail and primogeniture, and in the
establishment of religious freedom ; had drawn
up the call in answer to which the Convention to
Draught a Constitution for the United States met
at Philadelphia in 1787, and had been one of the
most active members of that memorable assem-
blatre in reconcilincr the discordant elements of
which it was composed. He had also labored
earnestly to secure the adoption of the new Con-
stitution by his native State ; had afterward en-
tered Congress ; and when Jefferson became
President, in March, 1801, had been by him ap-
pointed Secretary of State, a post he had declined !
when it was vacated by Jefferson in December,!
1793. In this important post for eight years, hei
won the highest esteem and confidence of the \
nation. Having been nominated by the Repub- :
licans, he was in 1808 elected to the Presidency,!
receiving one hundred and twenty-two electoral i
votes, while Charles C. Pinckney, the Federal can- f
didate, received but forty-seven.
JAMES MADISON. .^y
In 1794, he married Mrs. Dorothy Todd, a
young widow lady, whose bright intelHgence and
fascinating manners were to gain her celebrity as
one of the most remarkable women who ever
presided over the domestic arrangements of the
Presidential Mansion.
Of a weak and delicate constitution, and with
the habits of a student, Mr. Madison would have
preferred peace to war. But even he lost patience
at the insults heaped upon the young Republic by
it ancient mother; and when, at length, on the
1 8th of June, 1812, Congress declared war against
Great Britain, he gave the declaration his official
sanction, and took active steps to enforce it.
Though disasters in the early part of the war
greatly strengthened the Federal party, who were
bitterly opposed to hostilities, die ensuing Presi-
dential canvass resulted in the re-election of Mr.
Madison by a large majority, his competitor, De
Wit*: Clinton, receiving eighty-nine electoral votes
to one hundred and twenty-eight for Madison.
On the 1 2th of August, 18 14, a British army took
Washington, the President himself narrowly esca
ping capture. The Presidential Mansion, the Cap-
itol, and all the public buildings were wantonly
burned. The 14th of December following, a treaty
of peace was signed at Ghent, in which, however,
England did not relinquish her claim to the righc
of search. But as she has not since attempted to
exercise it, the question may be regarded as hav-
ing been finally settled by the contest.
^jg OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
On the 4th of March, 181 7, Madison's second
term having expired, he withdrew to private Yxic
at his paternal homeofMontpeUer, Orange Count)
Va. During his administration, two new State;
had been added to the Union, making the total
number at this period nineteen. The first to
claim admittance was Louisiana, in 181 2. It was
formed out of the Southern portion of the vast
Territory, purchased, during the Presidency of
Jefferson, from France. Indiana — the second
State — was admitted in 18 16.
After his retirement from office, Mr. Madison
passed nearly a score of quiet years at Montpe-
lier. With Jefferson, who was a not very distant
neighbor, he co-operated in placing the Charlottes-
ville University upon a substantial foundation. In
1829, he left his privacy to take part in the Con-
vention which met at Richmond to revise the
Constitution of the State. His death took place
on the 28th of June, 1836, in the eighty-fifth year
of his age.
JAMES MONROE.
MADISON'S successor in the Presidential
chair was James Monroe, whose Admin-
istration has been called " the Era of
Good Feeling," from the temporary subsidence at
that time of party strife. He was a son of Spence
Monroe, a planter. He was born on his father's
JAMES MONK OE. ^ ^ g
plantation in Westmoreland County, Va., on the
28th of April, 1758. At the age of sixteen he
entered William and Mary College; but when,
two years later, the Declaration of Independence
called the Colonies to arms, the young collegian,
dropping his books, girded on his sword, and en-
tered the service of his country. Commissioned
a lieutenant, he took part in the battles of Harlem
Heiofhts and White Plains. In the attack on
Trenton he was wounded in the shoulder, and for
his bravery promoted to a captaincy. Subse-
quently he was attached to the staff of Lord Ster-
ling with the rank of major, and fought by the
side of Lafayette, when that officer was wounded
at the battle of Brandywine, and also participated
in the battles of Germantown and Monmouth.
He was afterward given a colonel's commission,
but, being unable to recruit a regiment, began the
study of law in the office of Jefferson, then Gover-
nor of Virginia.
When only about twenty-three years old, he
was elected to the Virginia Legislature. The next
year he was sent to Congress. On the expiration
of his term, having meanwhile married, in New
York, Miss Kortright, a young lady of great
intelligence and rare personal attractions, he re-
turned to Fredericksburg, and commenced prac-
tice as a lawyer. He espoused the cause of the
Anti-Federal or Republican party, being thor-
oughly democratic in his ideas, as was his eminent
420 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
j3receptor, Jefferson. In i 789, he was elected to
the United States Senate. In 1794, he was ap~
pointed minister-plenipotentiary to France, but
recalled from his mission two years later because
of his 'outspoken sympathies with the republicans
of that country.
Shortly after his return, Monroe was elected
Governor of Virginia, which post he held for three
years (i 799-1 802). On the expiration of his
official term, he was sent to co-operate with Ed-
ward Livingston, then resident Minister at Paris,
in negotiating the treaty by which the Territory of
Louisiana was secured to the United States. In
181 1, he was again elected Governor of Virginia,
but presently resigned to become Madison's Sec-
retary of State.
During the period following the capture of
Washington, September, 1814-March, 181 5, he
acted as Secretary of War, and did much to restore
the nation's power and credit. He continued
Secretary of State until March, 181 7, when he
became President. He was chosen by the Dem-
ocratic party, till then known as the Republican.
He received one hundred and eighty-three elec-
toral votes, his opponent, Rufus King, receiving
but thirty-four votes. The violence of party spirit
greatly abated during his first term, and he was
re-elected in 1821, with but one dissenting vote
out of the two hundred and thirty-two cast by the
electoral college. On the 4th of March, 1825, he
yAMES MONROE. a 2 1
retired to the quiet and seclusion of his estate at
Oak Hill, in Loudon County, Virginia.
During Monroe's Administration, the bound-
aries of the United States were considerably
enlarged by the purchase of Florida from Spain.
Five new States were also admitted into the
Union: Mississippi, in 181 7; Illinois, in 181 8;
Alabama, in 1819; Maine, in 1820; and Missouri,
in 1821.
The discussion in Congress over the admission
of Missouri showed the existence of a new dis-
turbing element in our national politics. It was
the question of the further extension of slavery ;
not so much in regard to its moral aspects as to
its bearing on the question of the balance of polit-
ical power. For a brief period two parties, one
in favor of and the other against admitting any
more Slave States, filled Congress and the country
with angry discussion. This was quieted for the
time by what is known as " the Missouri Compro-
mise," which restricted slavery to the territory
lying south of the southern boundary of Missouri.
The somewhat celebrated " Monroe Doctrine "
is regarded as one of the most important results
of Monroe's Administration. It was enunciated
in his message to Consfress on the 2d of Decem-
ber, 1823, and arose out of his sympathy for the
new Republics then recently set up in South
America. In substance it was, that the United
States would never entangle themselves with the
A 22 OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
quarrels of Europe, nor allow Europe to interfere
with the affairs of this continent.
In 1830, the venerable ex-President went to
reside with his son-in-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur,
in New York, where he died in the seventy-fourth
year of his age, on the 4th of July, 1831, being the
third of our five Revolutionary Presidents to pass
from earth on the anniversary of that memorable
day, which had contributed so largely to the
shaping of their destinies.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
THE son of Jolm Adams, our second Presi-
dent, and himself the sixth chief executive
of the Union, was born at Quincy, Mass.,
on the nth of July, 1767. He enjoyed rare
opportunities for culture from his mother, who
was a lady of very superior talents. While yet a
mere boy, he twice accompanied his father to
Europe, and at the age of fourteen was appointed
private secretary to Francis Dana, then Minister
to Russia, Graduating from Harvard in 1788, he
studied law under Theophilus Parsons, and com-
menced practice in Boston in 1791. In 1794, he
was appointed by Washington Minister to Holland.
In July, 1797, he married Louisa, daughter of
Joshua Johnson, then American Consul at London.
In 1797, his father, who was then President, gave
him the mission to Berlin, being urged to this
JOHN Q UTNC V J DAMS. . 2 ■?
recognition of his own son by Washington, who
pronounced the younger Adams " the most valu-
able public character we have abroad."
On the accession of Jefferson to the Presidency,
Mr. Adams was recalled from Berlin. Soon after
his return, however, he was elected to the United
States Senate, where he speedily won a command-
ing position, ardently supporting Jefferson's mea-
sures of resistance aofainst the arrocjance and
insolence of England in her encroachments upon
our commerce and in her impressment of our
seamen. The Leo^Islature of Massachusetts havinof
censured him for his course, Adams resigned his
z seat; but, in 1809, was selected by Madison to
> represent the United States at St. Petersburg.
On the 24th of December, 18 14, he, in conjunction
with Clay and Gallatin, concluded the Treaty of
Ghent, which closed " the Second War of Inde-
pendence." In 181 7, he was recalled to act as
Secretary of State for President Monroe.
At the election for Monroe's successor, In 1824,
party spirit ran high. The contest was an excit-
ing one. Of the two hundred and sixty electoral
votes, Andrew Jackson received 99, John Oulncy
Adams 84, Wm. H. Crawford 41, and Henry
Clay ;^y. As there was no choice by the people,
the election devolved upon the House of Repre-
sentatives. Here Mr. Clay gave the vote of
Kentucky to Adam-^, and otherwise promoted his
cause, so that he received the votes of thirteen
States, and was elected.
,^ i OUR FORMER PRESlDEMf^.
The Administration of the younger Adams has
been characterized as the purest and most
economical on record. Yet, during his entire
term, he was the objectof the most rancorous parti-
san assaults. He had appointed Clay as his Sec-
retary of State, whereat the Jackson men accused
them both of " bargaining and corruption," and in
all ways disparaged and condemned their work.
In his official intercourse, it was said Adams often
displayed " a formal coldness which froze like an
iceberg." This coldness of manner, along with
his advocacy of a high protective tariff and the
policy of internal improvements, and his known
hostility to slavery, made him many bitter enemies,
especially in the South, and at the close of his
first term he was probably the most unpopular
man who could have aspired to the Presidency ;
and yet, in his contest with Jackson at that time,
Adams received eighty-three electoral votes, Jack-
son being chosen by one hundred and seventy-
eigrht.
On the 4th of March, 1829, General Jackson
having been elected President, Mr. Adams re-
tired to private life; but, in 1831, was elected to
the House of Representatives of the United
States, where he took his seat, pledged, as he said,
to no party. He at once became the leader of
that little band, so insignificant in numbers, but
powerful in determination and courage, who, re-
garding slavery as both a moral and a political
JOHM QUINC y ADAMS. ^2 ^
evil, began, in Congress, to advocate its abolition.
By his continual presentation of petitions against
slavery, he gradually yet irresistibly led the pub-
lic mind to familiarize itself with the idea of its
final extinction. To the fiery onslaughts of the
Southern members he opposed a cold and unim-
passioned front.
In 1842, to show his consistency in upholding
the right of petition, he presented to Congress
the petition of some thirty or forty over-zealous
anti-slavery persons for the dissolution of the
Union. This brought upon the venerable ex-
President a perfect tempest of indignation. Reso-
lutions to expel him were introduced ; but, after
eleven days of stormy discussion, they were laid
on the table. The intrepidity displayed by " the
old man eloquent " was beginning to tell. Even
those who most bitterly opposed his doctrines
were learning to respect him. When, after a
season of illness, he re-appeared in Congress, in
February, 1847, every member instinctively rose
in his seat to do the old man honor. On the
2 1 St of February, 1848, Mr. Adams was struck
down by paralysis on the fioor of the House of
Representatives. He was taken, senseless, into
an ante-room. Recoverinof his consciousness, he
looked calmly around, and said : "This is the last
of earth : I am content." These were his last
words. In an apartment beneath the dome of the
Capitol he expired, on February 23d, in the
eighty-first year of his age.
426
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
ANDREW JACKSON,
SEVENTH President of the United States,
was born in Mecklenburg County, North
Carohna, on the 15th of March, 1767. His
father, who was a poor Irishman, dying a few days
before Andrew's birth, he and his two older
brothers were left to the care of his mother.
The boys had little schooling. Andrew was a
rude, turbulent lad, at once vindictive and gener-
ous, full of mischief, but resolute, of indomitable
courage, and wonderfully self-reliant. When but
thirteen, fired by the death of his oldest brother,
who had perished from heat and exhaustion at
the Battle of Stono, he shouldered a musket and
took part in the War of Independence. He and
his remaining brother were made prisoners by
the British, but were soon released through the
exertions of their mother. It was during this
captivity that Andrew received a wound from a
British officer for refusing to black the boots of
that dignitary. Both the released boys were soon
sent home with the small-pox, of which the elder
died, and Andrew barely escaped death. The
mother went next, dying of ship fever, contracted
while attending upon the patriot prisoners at
Charleston. Thus left an orphan, Andrew worked
a short time in a saddler's shop. He then tried
school-teaching, and finally studied law, being
ANDRE W JA CKSON. j^ 2 7
admitted to practice when but twenty years old.
At that time he was very commanding in appear-
ance, being six feet one inch in height, and dis-
tinguished for courage and activity.
In 1 791, Jackson married, at Nashville, where
he had built up a lucrative practice, Mrs. Rachel
Robards, the divorced wife, as both he and the
lady herself supposed, of Mr. Lewis Robards.
They had lived together two years, when it was
discovered that Mrs. Robards was not fully di-
vorced at the time of her second marriage. As,
however, the divorce had subsequently been per-
fected, the marriage ceremony was performed
anew, in 1794. In after years, this unfortunate
mistake was made the basis of many calumni-
ous charges against Jackson by his partisan
enemies.
Tennessee having been made a State in 1796,
Jackson was successively its Representative and
Senator in Congress, and a Judge of its Supreme
Court. Resigning his judgeship in 1804, he en-
tered into and carried on for a number of years
an extensive trading business. He was also
elected at this period major-general in the militia.
In 1806 he was severely wounded in a duel with
Charles Dickenson, who had been making dis-
paraging remarks against his wife, something
which Jackson could neither forget nor forgive.
Dickenson fell mortally wounded, and, after suf-
fering intense agony for a short time, died. This
^28 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
sad affair, in which Jackson displayed much vin-
dictiveness, made him for awhile very unpopular.
When, in 1812, war was declared against Eng-
land, Jackson prompdy offered his services to the
General Government. During the summer of
181 3 he had another of those personal rencontres
into which his fiery temper was continually lead-
ing him. In an affray with Thomas H. Benton, he
received a pistol-shot in the shoulder at the hands
of Benton's brother, from the effects of which he
never fully recovered. He was still suffering
from the immediate consequences of this wound,
when tidingrs were received at Nashville of the
massacre at Fort Mimms by Creek Indians. Jack-
son, regardless of his wounds, at once took the
field. An energetic campaign, in which, winning
victory after victory, he established his reputation
as one of our best military chieftains, ended the
Creek War, and broke forever the power of the
Indian races in North America.
In May, 1 8 1 4, Jackson was made a major-gen-
eral in the regular army and became the acknowl-
edged military leader in the Southwest. New
Orleans being threatened by the British, he hast-
ened to defend it. There, on the 8th of January,
181 5, with less than five thousand men, mostly
untrained militia, he repulsed the attack of a well-
appointed army of nearly fourteen thousand vet-
eran troops, under some of the most distinguished
ofBcers in the English service. Generals Paken*
ANDREW JACKSON. a 2^
ham and Gibbs, of the British forces, were killed,
too-ether with seven hundred of their men, fourteen
hundred more being wounded and five hundred
taken prisoners. Jackson lost but eight killed and
fourteen wounded. Ten days later the enemy-
withdrew, leaving many of their guns behind
them. The full glory of Jackson's triumph at
New Orleans partisan rancor subsequently sought
to dim. But high military authorities, even in
England, have sustained the popular judgment
that it was a brilliant victory, achieved by rare
foresight, wise conduct, and undoubted warlike
eenius.
Jackson's success at New Orleans gave him
immense popularity. He received a vote of
thanks from Congress, was made Commander-in-
chief of the southern division of the army, and
even began to be talked of as a candidate for the
Presidency, President Monroe offered him the
post of Secretary of War, In the Seminole War,
which commenced about the close of 1817, he
took the field in person. He was successful,
with but little fiofhtino-. His execution of Arbuth-
not and Armbruster, two British subjects, found
guilty by a military court of inciting the Indians
to hostilities, caused an angry discussion between
England and the United States which at one time
threatened to end in open rupture. In Congress,
also, it excited a warm debate ; but resolutions
censuring the General were rejected by the
^-^O '^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
House, and came to no conclusion in the
Senate.
When Spain ceded Florida to the Union, Jack-
son was appointed Governor of the Territory.
In 1823 he was elected to the United States Sen-
ate by the Legislature of Tennessee, which, at the
same time, nominated him for the Presidency.
This nomination, though ridiculed on account of
Jackson's alleged unfitness for the office, never-
theless resulted, at the ensuing election, in his
receiving more votes than any other single can-
didate ; but the choice devolving on the House
of Representatives, Adams, as we have seen, was
elected. For Henry Clay's part in this success of
Adams, Jackson became his bitter enemy, stigma-
tizing him as the "Judas of the West." In the
next campaign, however, Jackson achieved a de-
cided triumph, having a majority of eighty-three
out of two hundred and sixty-one electoral votes.
In retaliation for the bitter personal attacks he
had received during the campaign, Jackson com-
menced a wholesale political proscription of his
partisan opponents. Adopting the war-cry of his
Secretary of State, Marcy, of New York, that
"to the victors belong the spoils," he initiated that
system, ever since so prevalent, of turning out of
office every man not on the side of the winning
party. His veto of the bill re-chartering the
United States Bank, which for a time caused quite
a panic in commercial circles, and his determined
ANDRE IV JA CKSON. . -, j
Stand against the " nulHfiers," under the lead of
Calhoun, who, with threats of armed resistance,
demanded a reduction of the tariff, excited a warm
opposition to the President. But, in spite of
every effort, the election of 1828 brought him
again into the Presidential chair with an over-
whelming majority, he receiving two hundred
and nineteen electoral votes out of two hundred
and eighty-eight, which was then the total number.
On the loth of December, 1832, Jackson was
compelled by the conduct of South Carolina to
issue a proclamation threatening to use the army
in case of resistance to the execution of the tariff
laws; but, fortunately, Mr, Clay succeeded in
bringing about a compromise, by which, the tariff
being modified, the South Carolinians were ena-
bled to recede from their position with becoming
dignity.
Jackson's removal of the deposits, in 1833,
caused an intense excitement throughout the
country. In Congress, his course was censured
by the Senate, but approved by the House. A
panic existed for some time in business circles ;
but before the close of his second term the great
mass of the people were content with the Presi-
dent's course.
Jackson's foreign diplomacy had been very
successful. Useful commercial treaties were
made with several countries and renewed with
others. Indemnities for spoliations on American
432 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
commerce were obtained from various foreiofn
countries. The national debt was extinguished,
the Cherokees were removed from Georgia and
the Creeks from Florida, while the original num-
ber of the States was doubled by the admission
into the Union of Arkansas, in 1836, and of
Michigan, in 1837. On the other hand, the slavery-
dispute was renewed with much bitterness, and
the Seminole War re-commenced.
On the 4th of March, 1837, Jackson retired
from public life. He returned to " the Hermit-
age," his country seat, where he remained until
his death, on the 8th of June, 1845. The imme-
diate cause of his death was dropsy; but through
the greater part of his life he had been a sufferer
from disease in one form or another.
General Jackson has been described as a man
of unbounded hospitality. He loved fine horses
and had a passion for racing them, " His temper,"
writes Colonel Benton, "was placable as well as
irascible, and his reconciliations were cordial and
sincere." He abhorred debt, public as well as
private. His love of country was a master pas-
sion. " He was a thoroughly honest man, as
straightforward in action as his thoughts were
unsophisticated." Of book-knowledge he pos-
sessed little — scarcely anything ; but his vigorous
native Intelligence and intuitive judgment carried
him safely through where the most profound
learninor without them would have failed.
MARTIN VAN BUR EN. a^X
MARTIN VAN BUREN,
THE eighth chief executive of the Union,
was the son of a thrifty farmer in the old
town of Kinderhook, in Columbia County,
New York, where he was born on the 5th of
December, 1782. Early evidencing unusual
mental vigor, a good academic education was
given to him. Finishing this at the age of four-
teen, he then began the study of the law. After
seven years of study he was admitted to the bar,
and commenced to practice in his native village.
His growing reputation and practice warranting
him in seeking a wider field, in 1809 he removed
to Hudson. In 1812, he was elected to the Sen-
ate of New York ; and, in 181 5, having been
appointed Attorney-General of the State, he re-
moved to Albany. In 1 821, he was elected to
the United States Senate, and was also a member
of the Convention to revise the Constitution of
New York. He speedily rose to distinction in
the National Senate, and, in 1827, was re-elected
to that body, but the year following resigned
his seat to take the position of Governor of New
York.
In 1829, General Jackson, whose election to
the Presidency was no doubt due in a great mea-
sure to the shrewd political management of Van
Buren, offered him the post of Secretary of State.
4 -7 A OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
In 1 83 1, circumstances making it necessary for
Jackson to re-organize his Cabinet, Van Buren
resigned his Secretaryship, but was immediately
named Minister to England. The Senate, how-
ever, greatly to the President's dissatisfaction,
refused to confirm the nomination, though Van
Buren had already reached London. This rejec-
tion of his friend aroused all of Jackson's deter-
mined spirit. He not only succeeded in placing
Mr. Van Buren in the Vice-Presidency during his
own second term, but he also began to work zeal-
ously to obtain Van Buren's nomination as his
successor in the Presidency. He triumphed, and
his friend received the Democratic nomination,
and was elected by a handsome majority, taking
his seat in the Presidential chair on the 4th of
March, 1837.
Shortly after Van Buren's inauguration, a finan-
cial panic, ascribed to General Jackson's desire to
make specie the currency of the country, and his
consequent war upon the banks, brought the
country to the very verge of ruin. Failures
came fast and frequent, and all the great indus-
tries of the nation were paralyzed. At the same
time, the war in Florida against the Seminoles lin-
gered along, without the slightest apparent pros-
pect of coming to an end, entailing enormous
expenses on the Government; while the anti-
slavery agitation, growing steadily stronger, ex-
cited mobs and violence, and threatened to shake
MAR TIN VAN B UREN y, ^ c
the Republic from its foundations. Rightly or
wrongly, these troubles were attributed to Presi-
dent Van Buren and his party, as resulting from
the policy they had pursued. His popularity
waned rapidly, and at the Presidential election in
184'J, In which he was a candidate for re-election,
he was overwhelmingly defeated.
Retiring to Lindenwald, his fine estate near
KInderhook, Van Buren, In 1844, endeavored to
procure a re-nomination for the Presidency, but
was unsuccessful, though a majority of delegates
was pledged to support him. His defeat was due
to the opposition of Southern members, based on
the fact that he had written a letter adverse to
the annexation of Texas.
In 1848, he was brought forward by the Free-soil
Democrats. Though not elected, the party which
had nominated him showed unexpected strength,
nearly three hundred thousand votes having been
cast in his favor.
Mr. Van Buren now retired from public life.
Fourteen years later, at the age of eighty, on the
24th of July, 1862, he died at Lindenwald. He
was a man of more than ordinary ability, of culd-
vated manners, and genial disposition. Though
shrewd, he was not a dishonest politician. His
private character was beyond reproach. He de-
serves a conspicuous position among those who
have been worthy successors of our Immortal
first President.
436
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, ninth
President of the United States, was
born at Berkeley, on the banks of the
James River, in Virginia, on the 9th of February,
1773. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was one of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence,
and for several years Governor of Virginia. Hav-
ing received a good education at Hampden-Sid-
ney College, young Harrison began the study of
medicine; but the barbarities of the savages on
our northwestern frontier having excited his
sympathies in behalf of the suffering settlers, he
determined to enter the army, as being a place
where he could do good service. Accordingly, in
I 79 1, shortly after St. Clair's defeat, he obtained
from President Washington a commission as en-
sign in the artillery. Though winter was coming
on, he at once set out on foot across the wilder-
ness to Pittsburg, whence he descended the Ohio
to Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. He soon
became a favorite with his superiors, and by his
bravery in battle speedily attained the rank of
captain. In 1797, when but twenty-four years old,
having recently married, he resigned his commis-
sion, to accept the secretaryship of the Northwest
Territory. In 1801, he was appointed Governor
of " the Indiana Territory," comprising the present
WILLIAM HENR V IIAHKISON. ^ -, «
States of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. This
office he filled satisfactorily to both whites and
Indians for twelve years, during which time he
negotiated many excellent treaties.
During the summer of 1811, the Indians of the
Northwest, under the lead of the celebrated Te-
cumseh, and instigated, it is thought, by the emis-
saries of England, with whom we were upon the
point of going to war, broke out into open hos-
tility. Collecting a considerable force of militia
and volunteers, Harrison took the field. On the
7th of November, he encountered and defeated
Tecumseh on the banks of the Tippecanoe River.
This was one of the most hotly contested battles
ever fought between the Indians and the whites.
Its victorious results added greatly to Harrison's
already high reputation; and in 181 2, after Hull's
ignominious surrender of Detroit, he was ap-
pointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the
Northwest. Invested with almost absolute power,
he displayed an. energy, sagacity, and courage
which justified the confidence reposed in him.
By almost superhuman exertions, he managed to
collect an arrr.y. Perry, on the loth of Septem-
ber, 181 3, having defeated the British fleet on
Lake Erie, HLirrison, who had been waiting the
course of events, now hastened to take the field.
Crossing into Canada, he repossessed Detroit,
and, pushing on in pursuit of the flying enemy,
finally brought them to a stand on the banks of
4 -,3 OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
the Thames. Here, after a brief but sanguhiary
contest, the British and their savage aUies were
defeated with heavy loss. Tecumseh, the leading
spirit of the Indians, was left dead on the field.
Harrison's triumph was complete and decisive.
Shortly after this victory, which gave peace to
the Northwest, Harrison, having had some diffi-
culty with the Secretary of War, threw up his
commission, but was appointed by the President
to negotiate a treaty with the Indians. In 1816,
he was elected to the lower house of Congress,
where he gained considerable reputation, both as
an active working member and as an eloquent
and effective speaker. In 1824, he was sent from
Ohio to the United States Senate. In 1828, he
was appointed by John Ouincy Adams Minister
to the Republic of Colombia ; but President Jack-
son, who bore him no good-will, the following
year recalled him. On his return home, he retired
to his farm at North Bend, on the Ohio River,
and was presently elected clerk of the Hamilton
County Court. In 1836, he was one of the four
candidates who ran against Van Buren for the
Presidency. Jackson's favorite, as we have seen,
came out ahead in this race. But, though Harri-
son was not elected, there was such evidence of
his popularity as to warrant the Whigs in uniting
upon him as their candidate in the campaign of 1 840.
That campaign was a memorable one. It was,
perhaps, the most exciting, yet, at the same time^
IVIL L I A M IIENR V HA RRISON. . -> n
one of the freest from extreme partisan bitterness,
of any Presidential canvass ever known. As
" the hero of Tippecanoe " and " the log-cabin
candidate," which latter phrase w^as first used in
contempt, Harrison swept everything before him,
securing two hundred and thirty-four out of the
two hundred and ninety-four electoral votes cast,
and this, too, in spite of all the efforts of Jackson
to prevent his success. His journey to be inau-
gurated was one continued ovation. His inaueu-
ration, which took place on the 4th of March,
1 841, was witnessed by a vast concourse of peo-
ple from all parts of the Union. His address, by
the moderation of its tone, and by its plain, prac-
tical, common-sense views, confirmed his immense
popularity. Selecting for his Cabinet some of
the most eminent public men of the country, he
began his Administration with the brightest pros-
pects. But, in the midst of these pleasing antici-
pations, he was suddenly attacked by a fit of
sickness, which, in a few days terminated in his
death, on the 4th of /\pril, just one month after
his inauguration. His last words, spoken in the
delirium of fever, were characteristic of the con-
scientiousness with which he had accepted the
responsibilities of the Presidential office. " Sir,"
he said, as if, conscious of his approaching end,
he were addressing his successor, " I -wish you to
understand the principles of the Government. I
wish them carried out. I ask nothing more."
A.Q OUH FORMER PRESIDENTS.
The sudden and unexpected death of President
Harrison threw the whole country into mourning-.
Much had been hoped from liim, as one who had
the best interests of every portion of the Union
at heart. There was a noble simplicity in his
character which had won all hearts. Without
being brilliant, his was an intellect of solid, sub-
stantial worth. He was a frank, guileless-hearted
man, of incorruptible integrity, and stands forth
among our Presidents, brief as was his official
term, as a noble representative of the plain, prac-
tical, honest yeomanry of the land. " Not one
single spot," says Abbott, " can be found to sully
the brightness of his fame ; and through all the
ages, Americans will pronounce with love and
reverence the name of William Henry Harrison."
JOHN TYLER.
N the death of General Harrison, April
4th, 1 841, for the first time in our history
the administration of the Government de-
volved on the Vice-President. The Q-entleman
thus elevated to the Presidency was John Tyler,
the son of a wealthy landholder of Virginia, at
one time Governor of that State. Born in
Charles City County, March 29th, 1790, young
Tyler, at the age of seventeen, graduated from
William and Mary College with the reputation of
JOIIX TYLER. 441
havinof delivered the best commencement oration
ever heard by the faculty. When only nineteen
he began to practice law, rising to eminence in
his profession with surprising rapidity. Two
years later he was elected to the Legislature.
After serving: hve successive terms in the Lefjis-
lature, he was, in 181 6, in 181 7, and again in
1819, elected to Congress. Compelled by ill-
health to resign his seat in Congress, he was, in
1825, chosen Governor of the State. In 1827, he
was elected to the United States Senate over the
celebrated John Rardolph, of Roanoke.
During the whole of his Congressional career,
Mr. Tyler was an earnest advocate of the strict
construction doctrines of the then Democratic
party, opposing the United States Bank, a protec-
tive tariff, internal improvements by the General
Government, and, in short, all measures tending
to the centralization of power. He was also an
ardent opponent of any restrictions upon slavery,
and avowed his sympathies with the nullification
theories of Calhoun. On this last subject he
finally came into the opposition against Jackson.
In the session of 1833-34, he voted for Clay's
resolutions censuring Jackson for his removal of
the deposits. In 1836, when the Virginia Legis-
lature instructed its representatives in Congress
to vote for the rescinding of these resolutions,
Mr. Tyler, who had early committed himself to
the right of instruction, could not conscientiously
M.2 OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
comply with the request of the Legislature, nor
hold his seat in disregard of its mandate, and ac-
cordingly resigned. In 1838, he was again sent
to the Legislature, and, in 1839, ^^ fi'^^ \\\\vl a
deleo:ate to the Whig; National Convention,
which, at Harrisburg, nominated Harrison and
himself as candidates for President and Vice-
President. Of the campaign which followed, and
of the subsequent death of Harrison, we have
already given an account.
On receiving tidings of the President's death,
Mr. Tyler hastened to Washington, and, on the
6th of April, was inaugurated, and he retained
all the Cabinet officers Harrison had appointed.
Three days later, he issued an inaugural address,
which was well received, both by the public and
by his partisan friends, who, knowing his antece-
dents, had been somewhat dubious as to what
policy he would pursue. But this was only the
calm before the storm. Tyler's veto of the bill
for a " fiscal bank of the United States," led to a
complete rupture with the party by which he had
been elected, who charged him with treachery to
his principles. Attempting conciliation, he only
displeased the Democrats, who had at first shown
a disposition to stand by him, without regaining
the favor of the Whigs. In consequence of this
course of action, Tyler's Cabinet all resigned,
and in their places several Democrats were ap-
pointed.
JOHN TYLER. »*->
During his Administration several very impor-
tant measures were adopted. Among them the
act estabHshing a uniform system of bankruptcy,
passed in 1841, the tariff law of 1842, and the
scheme for the annexation of Texas, which, by the
vigorous efforts of the President, was brought to
a successful issue by the passage of joint resolu-
tions in Congress, on the ist of March, 1845, j^^^
three days before the close of his term. The
formal act of annexation, however, was not passed
until a later period. One new State — Florida —
was also admitted into the Union under Mr.
Tyler's Administration, in 1845.
After his retirement from the Presidency, on
the 4th of March, 1845, ^'^^- Tyler remained in
private life at his beautiful home of Sherwood
Forest, in Charles City County, till, in 1861, he
appeared as a member of the Peace Convention,
composed of delegates from the " Border States,"
which met at Washino^ton to endeavor to arrantje
terms of compromise between the seceded States
and the General Government, Of this Conven-
tion, which accomplished nothing, he was presi-
dent.
Subsequently, Mr. Tyler renounced his alle-
giance to the United States, and was chosen a
member of the Confederate Congress. While
acting In this capacity he was taken sick at Rich-
mond, where he died after a brief illness, on the
17th of January, 1862.
444 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
JAMES KNOX POLK.
MECKLENBURG County, North Caro-
lina, has the distinction of being the
birthplace of two Presidents of the
United States — Andrew Jackson and James Knox
Polk — the latter of whom was born there on the
2d of November, 1795. Like his friend and
neighbor, General Jackson, Mr. Polk was of
Scotch-Irish descent. It was his great-uncle. Col-
onel Thomas Polk, who, on the 19th of May, 1 775,
read from the steps of the court-house, at Char-
lotte, that famous "Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence," to which reference has been made
in our sketch of Jefferson. James at a very early
age manifested decided literary tastes. After a
vain attempt to induce him to become a store-
keeper, his father finally consented to his enter-
ing the University of North Carolina, at Chapel
Hill, from which, in his twenty-third year, he grad-
uated with the highest honors. Studying law at
Nashville, Tennessee, where he renewed a former
acquaintance with General Jackson, he was ad-
mitted to the bar, and commenced practice at
Columbia.
In 1823, he was elected to the Legislature of
Tennessee, and during the following year was
married to Miss Sarah Childress, a beautiful and
accomplished young lady, of refined manners and
JAMES KNOX POLK. ma^
rare social gifts. In the fall of 1825, he was
elected to Congress, where he remained the next
fourteen years, during five sessions occupying the
responsible and honorable position of Speaker of
the House, the duties of which he performed with
a dignity and dispassionateness which won for -him
the warmest encomiums from all parties. In 1839,
he was chosen Governor of Tennessee. Again a
candidate in 1841, and also in 1843, he was both
times defeated, — a result due to one of those
periodical revolutions in politics which seem in-
separable from republican forms of government,
rather than to Mr. Polk's lack of personal popu-
larity.
As the avowed friend of the annexation of
Texas, Mr. Polk, in 1844, was nominated by the
Democrats for the Presidency. Though he had
for his opponent no less a person than the great
and popular orator and statesman, Henry Clay, he
received one hundred and seventy out of two hun-
dred and seventy-five votes in the electoral col-
lege. He was inaugurated on the 4th of March,
1845. Three days previously, his predecessor,
John Tyler, had signed the joint resolutions of
Congress favoring the annexation of Texas to the
United States. Consequently, at the very begin-
ning of his Administration, Mr. Polk found the
country involved in disputes with Mexico, which,
on the formal annexation of Texas, in December,
1845, threatened to result in hostilities between
^ -5 ^^'^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
the two countries. General Zachary Taylor was
sent with a small army to occupy the territory
stretching from the Neuces to the Rio Grande,
which latter stream Texas claimed as her western
boundary. Mexico, on the other hand, declaring
that Texas had never extended further west than
the Neuces, dispatched a force to watch Taylor.
A slight collision, in April, 1846, was followed, a
few days later, by the battles of Palo Alto and
Resaca de la Palma, in which General Taylor was
victorious. When the tidings of these battles
reached Washington, the President, on May i ith,
sent a special message to Congress, declaring
" that war existed by the act of Mexico," and ask-
ing for men and money to carry it on. Congress
promptly voted ten million dollars, and authorized
the President to call out fifty thousand volun-
teers. Hostilities were prosecuted vigorously. An
American army, under General Scott, finally fought
its way to the capture of the City of Mexico. On
the 2d of February, 1848, the treaty of Guada-
loupe Hidalgo was signed, and ratified by the
Senate on the loth of March following, by which
New Mexico and Upper California, comprising a
territory of more than half a million square miles,
were added to the United States. In return, the
United States agreed to pay Mexico fifteen mil-
lion of dollars, and to assume the debts due by
Mexico to citizens of the United States, amount-
ine to three and a half millions more.
JAMES KNOX POLK. ^^y
Besides Texas, two other States were admitted
into the Union durino- Mr. Polk's Administration.
These were Iowa and Wisconsin — the former in
1846 and the latter in 1848.
When the war with Mexico first broke out,
negotiations were pending between England and
the United States, in regard to Oregon^ which we
had long deemed a portion of our own territory.
" Fifty-four forty [54" 40'] or fight !" had been one
of the Democratic battle-cries during the canvass
which resulted in Mr. Polk's election, and he, in
his inaugural, had maintained that our title to
Oregon was unquestionable. England, however,
still urged her claim to the whole country. After
considerable negotiation, the President finally, as
an amicable compromise, offered the boundary of
the parallel of 49°, giving Vancouver's Island to
Great Britain. His offer was accepted, and war
perhaps avoided. Another important measure of
Mr. Polk's Administration was a modification of
the tariff, in 1846, by which its former protective
features were much lessened.
On his nomination, in 1 844, Mr. Polk had pledged
himself to the one-term principle. Consequently
he was not a candidate for re-election in 1848,
Havinof witnessed the inaupfuration of his sue-
cessor. General Taylor, he returned to his home
near Nashville. " He was then," says Abbott,
but fifty-four years of age. He had ever been
strictly temperate in his habits, and his health was
448 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
good. With an ample fortune, a choice Hbrary, a
cultivated mind, and domestic ties of the dearest
nature, it seemed as though long years of tran-
quillity and happiness were before him." But it
was not so to be. On his way home he felt pre-
monitory symptoms of cholera, and when he
reached there his system was much weakened.
Though at first able to work a little in superin-
tending the fitting up of his grounds, he was soon
compelled to take to his bed. He never rose
from it again. Though finally the disease was
checked, he had not strensfth left to brino; on the
necessary reaction. " He died without a struggle,
simply ceasing to breathe, as when deep and quiet
sleep falls upon a weary man," on the 15th of
June, 1849, 3. little more than three months after
his retirement from the Presidency. His remains
lie in the spacious lawn of his former home, where
his widow still lives (1884).
ZACHARY TAYLOR,
TWELFTH President of the United States,
was born in Orange County, Virginia, No-
vember 24th, 1784. His father, Colonel Rich-
ard Taylor, was a noted Revolutionary officer.
His mother, as is usually the case with the moth-
ers of men who have risen to distinction, was a
woman of ereat force of character. Whilst he
THE FAMOUS EAST ROOM OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
THE WHITE HOUSE— HOME OF THE PRESIDENTS.
ZA CHA RY TA YL OR. ^ r x
was yet an infant, his parents removed to the then
wilderness near the present city of Louisville.
Here in the depths of the forest swarming with
hostile savages, young Taylor found few educa-
tional advantao-es, though the traininor he received
was no doubt one to develop those military qual-
ities he subsequently displayed. He grew up a
I rugged, brave, self-reliant youth, with more of a
' certain frank, almost blunt, off-handedness, than
exterior polish.
In 1808, he received a lieutenant's commission
in thearmy,and in 1810 married Margaret Smith.
His military career fairly opened in 181 2, when
he was sent to the defense of our western border.
While in command of Fort Harrison, on the
Wabash, with a garrison of but fifty-two men, he
was suddenly attacked by a band of Indians, who
succeeded in setting fire to the fort. But the
young captain with his handful of men extinguished
the flames, and forced the enemy to retreat. For
this gallant exploit, he received a brevet major's
commission.
Nothing remarkable occurred in his life for
many years subsequent, until, in 1837, we find
him a colonel in Florida, operating against the
Seminoles. On Christmas Day of that year he
won the battle of Okechobee, one of the most
fiercely contested actions in the annals of Indian
warfare. The Seminoles never rallied again in
formidable numbers. For his signal services in
452
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
this affair Taylor was made a brigadier, and ap-
pointed Commander-in-chief. This post he retained
till 1840, when, having purchased an estate near
Baton Rouge, in Louisiana, he was, at his own
request, placed in the command of the Department
of the Southwest.
While still holding this command in the spring
of 1845, Congress having passed joint resolutions
for the annexation of Texas, General Taylor was
sent with four thousand troops to Corpus Christi,
on the west bank of the Neuces, and in territory
claimed by both Mexico and Texas. It has been
said that it was the secret object of our Govern-
ment to provoke a conflict with Mexico, yet so
that the responsibility of it should appear to rest
upon General Taylor. If such was the object,
the scheme signally failed. Taylor made no move
without explicit orders. It was by the President's
positive command that, on the 8th of March, 1846,
the wary old General began his march into the
disputed district lying between the Neuces and
the Rio Grande. Reaching the latter stream on
the 28th, he built Fort Brown immediately oppo-
site the Mexican town of Matamoras. On the
1 2th of March the Mexican commander peremp-
torily ordered Taylor to retire beyond the Neuces.
A refusal to do this, he said, would be regarded
as a declaration of war. General Taylor replied
that his instructions would not permit him to
retire, and that if the Mexicans saw fit to com-
ZA CHAR Y TA YL OR. ^ c ^
mence hostilities he would not shrink from the
conflict. Six thousand Mexicans at once crossed
the Rio Grande. With less than three thousand
troops, Taylor, on the 8th of April, attacked and
defeated them at Palo Alto. Rallying in a strong
position at Resaca de la Palma, the Mexicans
were aofain attacked, and after a stubborn fiirht
driven back across the river with great loss. These
victories were hailed with the wildest enthusiasm
throughout the country, and Taylor was promoted
to a major-generalship.
Moving rapidly forward to Monterey, he took
that strongly fortified city, after a desperate fight
of three days. Making it his headquarters, the
victor was preparing for an important move, when
General Scott, who was about to lead an expedi-
tion against Vera Cruz, took away the best part
of his troops, leaving him with only five thousand
men, mostly raw volunteers. Hearing of this,
Santa Anna, undoubtedly the ablest of the Mexican
generals, with twenty thousand picked men,
pushed rapidly down the Rio Grande with the
design of overpowering Taylor's little army. The
latter, on the 21st of February, 1847, took position
at Buena Vista and awaited the approach of his
antagonist, who made his appearance the following
day, and at once began a fierce attack. Never
was battle fought with more desperate courage
or greater skill. Three times during the day
victory seemed with the Mexicans ; but finally the
Ac^ OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
Stubborn valor of Taylor's little band won the
field.
The tidings of this brilliant victory excited the
greatest enthusiasm and gained an imperishable
renown for the triumphant General. On his re-
turn home in November, " Old Rough and Ready,"
as his soldiers familiarly called him, was greeted
everywhere by the warmest demonstrations of
popular applause. Even before this he had been
nominated at public meetings for the Presidency; \
and now the Whigs, casting about for a popular
candidate, made him their party nominee. Not-
withstanding the defection from their ranks of
Henry Wilson and others, who were opposed to
Taylor as being a slave-holder, he was elected by
a respectable majority, receiving one hundred and
sixty-three electoral votes. His inauguration
took place on Monday, March 5th, 1849.
Though he selected an excellent Cabinet, the
old soldier found himself in a trying position. A
vehement struggle had commenced in Congress
about the organization of the new Territories, the
admission of California, and the settlement of the
boundary between Texas and New Mexico, all
these questions being connected with the great
and absorbing one of the extension or non-ex-
tension of slavery. Taylor, in his message to
Conofress, recommended the admission of Cali-
fornia as a free State, and that the remaining
Territories should be allowed to form State Con-
MILLARD FIL L MORE. ^rc
stitutions to suit themselves. Nothing could have
been more distasteful to the extremists of the
South, many of whom made open threats of seces-
sion in case of the adoption of the President's
suggestions. To adjust the difficulty, Mr. Clay,
in the Senate, introduced his " compromise mea-
sures," which were still under debate, when, on
the 4th of July, 1850, General Taylor was seized
with bilious fever, of which he died on the 9th at
the Presidential Mansion. His last words were :
" I have tried to do my duty."
MILLARD FILLMORE.
ON the death of General Taylor, his suc-
cessor, according to the Constitution, was
the Vice-President. The gentleman then
filling that position was Millard Fillmore, an emi-
nent lawyer of New York. He was compara-
tively a young man, having been born on the 7th
of January, 1800, at Summer Hill, Cayuga County,
New York. His father being poor, his means of
education had been limited. Apprenticed at the
age of fourteen to a clothier, he found time during
his evenings to gratify an insatiable thirst for
knowledge by reading. His studious habits, fine
personal appearance, and gentlemanly bearing
having attracted the attention of a lawyer in the
neighborhood, that gendeman offered to receive
AtQ OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
him in his office and to assist him pecuniarily
until he should be admitted to the bar. This offer
young Fillmore, then in his nineteenth year, thank-
fully accepted. With this help, and by teaching
during the winters, he was enabled to prosecute
his studies to a successful issue, and in 1823 was
admitted to the bar, opening an office in the vil-
lage of Aurora, New York, In 1826, he married
Miss Abigail Powers, a lady of eminent worth.
Mr. Fillmore steadily rose in his profession.
In 1829, he was elected by the Whigs to the State
Legislature, and soon afterward removed to Buf-
falo. In 1832, he was chosen a member of Con-
gress, and again in 1837, but declined running a
third time. He now had a wide reputation, and
in the year 1847 was elected State Comptroller
and removed to Albany. The following year, he
was placed in nomination as Vice President on the
ticket with General Taylor. When, on the 5th of
March, 1849, Taylor took the Presidential chair,
Mr. Fillmore, by virtue of his office, became
President of the United States Senate. Here, the
first presiding officer to take so firm a step, he
announced his determination, in spite of all prece-
dents to the contrary, to promptly call Senators to
order for any offensive words they might utter in
debate.
When, after the unexpected death of General
Taylor, on July 9th, 1850, the office of chief ex-
ecutive devolved upon Mr. Fillmore, he found
MILLARD FILLMORE. .^j
his position no easy or pleasant one. His political
opponents had a majority in both houses of Con-
gress. The controversy on the slavery question
had embittered public feeling, and it required a
skillful pilot to guide the ship of state safely through
the perils by which she was surrounded. The com-
promise measures of Mr. Clay, to which we have
already referred in our sketch of General Taylor,
were finally passed, and received the approving
signature of Mr. Fillmore. One of these meas-
ures was the admission of California as a free
State ; another was the abolition of slavery in the
District of Columbia. These were thought to be
concessions to the cause of freedom ; while, on
the other hand, to satisfy the pro-slavery agitators,
a bill was passed to give the owners of slaves
power to recapture fugitive slaves in any part of
the free States and carry them back without a jury
trial. But, though enacted in the hope of allay-
ing sectional animosity, these measures brouqht
about only a temporary calm, while they aggra-
vated the violence of extremists both North and
South.
The compromise measures and the fitting owX
of the famous Japan expedition were the prir^cipal
features of Mr. Fillmore's otherwise yneventfiil
Administration. On the 4th of March, 1853, he
retired from office, and immediately afterward
took a long tour through the Southern States,
where he met with a cordial reception.
^cg 067? FORMER PRESIDENTS.
In 1855, Mr. Fillmore visited Europe. He was
everywhere received with those marks of atten-
tion which, according to European ideas, are due
to those who have occupied the most distinguished
positions. On his return home, in 1856, he was
nominated for the Presidency by the so-called
"Know-nothing," or "American" party; but being
very decidedly defeated, he retired to private life.
He died at Buffalo, New York, on the 8th of
March, 1874.
FRANKLIN PIERCE,
"FOURTEENTH President of the United
States, was born at Hillsborough, N. H.,
November 23d, 1804. His father, General
Benjamin Pierce, was a soldier of the Revolution,
and was a man of considerable local repute, hav-
ing also served as Governor of New Hampshire.
Graduating from Bowdoin College in 1824, Mr.
Pierce studied law with the celebrated Levi
Woodbury, and commenced practice in his native
town in 1837. ^^ married in 1834. He early
entered the political field and, in 1833, after hav-
ing previously served several terms in the State
Legislature, was elected to Congress. Here he
showed himself an earnest State-rights Democrat,
and was regarded as a fair working member. In
1837, when but thirty-three years of age, he was
FRANKLIN PIERCE. ^ c n
elected to the National Senate and, during the
following year, removed to Concord, where he at
once took rank among the leading lawyers of the
State.
Though Mr. Pierce had declined the office of
Attorney-General of the United States, offered
to him by President Polk, he, nevertheless, when
hostilities were declared against Mexico, accepted
a brigadier-generalship in the army, successfully
marching with twenty-four hundred men from the
sea-coast to Puebla, where he reinforced General
Scott. The latter, on the arrival of Pierce, imme-
diately prepared to make his long-contemplated
attack upon the City of Mexico. At the batde of
Contreras, on the 19th of August, 1847, where he
led -an assauldng column four thousand strong,
General Pierce showed himself to be a brave and
energetic soldier. Early in the fight his leg was
broken by his horse falling upon him, yet he kept
his saddle during the entire conflict, which did not
cease till eleven o'clock at night. The next day
also, he took part in the still more desperate fight
at Churubusco, where, overcome by pain and
exhaustion, he fainted on the field. At Molino
Del Rey, where the hottest batde of the war was
fought, he narrowly escaped death from a shell
which bursted beneath his horse.
The American army triumphandy entered the
City of Mexico on the 13th of September, 1847.
General Pierce remained there until the following
a6o ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
December, when he returned home and resumed
the practice of his profession. In the Democratic
Convention which met at Baltimore, June ist,
1852, Cass, Buclianan, and Douglas were the
prominent candidates. After thirty-five indecisive
ballots Franklin Pierce was proposed, and on the
forty-ninth ballot he was nominated for the Presi-
dency. He was elected by an overwhelming
majority, and was inaugurated Chief Magistrate
on the 4th of March, 1853, receiving two hundred
and fifty-four electoral votes, while his opponent,
General Winfield Scott, received but forty-two.
Though both the great parties of the country
had adopted platforms favoring the recent com-
promise measures of Clay, and deprecating any
renewal of the agitation of the slavery question,
General Pierce's Administration, by reason of the
bringing up of that very question, was one of the
most stormy In our history. Douglas's bill for the
organization of Kansas and Nebraska, by which
the MissouriCompromlse Actof 1820 was repealed
allowing slavery to enter where It had been for-
ever excluded, and which, having the support of
the President, became a law on the last day of
May, 1853, excited the most intense Indignation
in the free States, and greatly Increased the
strength of the anti-slavery power. In Kansas a
bitter contest, almost attaining the proportions
of civil war, began between the partisans of
the South and the North. This contest was
FRANKLIN PIERCE. ^gj
Still raging when Mr. Pierce's term drew to its
close. Other events of his Administration were the
bombardment of Greytown, in Central America,
under orders from our Government ; efforts
under Government direction for the acquisition
of Cuba ; and the use of the President's official
influence and patronage against the Anti-Slavery
settlers of Kansas.
His friends sought to obtain his nomination for
a second term, but did not succeed. On the 4th of
March, 1857, therefore, he retired to his home at
Concord. That home, already bereaved by the
loss of three promising boys — his only children,
— was now to have a still erreater loss, — that of
the wife and afflicted mother, who, grief-stricken
at the sudden death, by a railroad accident, of her
last boy, sunk under consumption, leaving Mr.
Pierce alone in the world — wifeless as well as
childless.
The sorrowinof ex-President soon after took a
trip to Madeira, and made a protracted tour In
Europe, returning home in i860. During the
Civil War he delivered In Concord a speech, still
known as the " Mausoleum of Hearts Speech,"
In which he is regarded as having expressed a
decided sympathy for the Confederates. He died
at Concord on the 8th of October, 1869, having
lost much of his hold on the respect of his fellow-
citizens, both North and South, by his lack of
decision for either.
462
OUR 1<0RMER PRESIDENTS.
JAMES BUCHANAN,
F "FIFTEENTH President of the United States,
was born in Franklin County, Pa., April
2 2d, 1 79 1. His father, a native of the
North of Ireland, who had come eight years before
to America, with no capital but his strong arms
and energetic spirit, was yet able to give the
bright and studious boy a good collegiate educa-
tion at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., where he
graduated in 1809. He then began the study of
law at Lancaster, and, after a three years' course,
was admitted to practice in 181 2. He rose rap-
idly in his profession, the business of which in-
creased with his reputation, so that, at the age of
forty, he was enabled to retire with an ample
fortune.
Mr. Buchanan early entered into politics.
When but twenty-three years old, he was elected
to the Legislature of Pennsylvania. Though an
avowed Federalist, he not only spoke in favor of
a vigorous prosecution of the War of 181 2, but
likewise marched as a private soldier to the de-
fense of Baltimore. In 1820, he was elected to
the lower House of Congress, where he speedily
attained eminence as a finished and energetic
speaker. His political views are shown in the
following extract from one of his speeches in
Congress : " If I know myself, I am a politician
JAMES BUCHANAN. ^5^
neither of the West nor the East, of the North nor
of the South. I therefore shall forever avoid any
expressions the direct tendency of which must be
to create sectional jealousies, and at length dis-
union— that worst of all political calamities,"
That he sincerely endeavored in his future career
to act in accordance with the principles here
enunciated no candid mind can doubt, however
much he may be regarded to have failed in doing
so, especially during the eventful last months of
his Administration.
In 1 83 1, at the close of his fifth term, Mr, Bu-
chanan, having declined a re-election to Congress,
was sent as Minister Plenipotentiary to St. Peters-
burg, where he concluded the first commercial
treaty between the United States and Russia.
On his return home in 1833, he was elected to
the National Senate. Here he became one of
the leading spirits among the supporters of Presi-
dent Jackson, and also supported the Administra-
tion of Martin Van Buren. He was re-elected
to the Senate, and his last act as a Senator was
to report favorably on the admission of Texas,
he being the only member of the Committee on
Foreign Relations to do so.
On the election of Polk to the Presidency, in
1845. Mr. Buchanan was selected to fill the im-
portant position of Secretary of State. He
strongly opposed the " Wilmot Proviso," and all
other provisions for the restriction of slavery.
^54 ^^'^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
At the close of Polk's term, he withdrew to private
life, but was subsequently sent by President
Pierce as our Minister to England. It was while
acting in this capacity that he united with Mason
and Soule in the once celebrated "Ostend Mani-
festo," in which strong ground was taken in favor
of the annexation of Cuba to the United States,
by purchase, if possible, but if necessary, by force.
Returning home in 1856, he was nominated as
the Democratic candidate for the Presidency,
and, after a stormy campaign, elected, receiving
one hundred and seventy-four out of three hun-
dred and three electoral votes. His opponents
were John C. Fremont, Republican, and Millard
Fillmore, American. He was inaugurated on the
4th of March, 1857. With the exception of a slight
difficulty with the Mormons in Utah, and of the
admission into the Union of Minnesota in 1858,
and of Oregon in 1859, the chief interest of Mr.
Buchanan's Administration centered around the
slavery controversy.
At the time of his inauguration, it is true, the
country looked confidently forward to a period of
political quiet. But, unhappily, the Kansas diffi-
culty had not been settled. The Free-State party
in that territory refused obedience to the laws
passed by the local Legislature, on the grounds
that that Legislature had been elected by fraudu-
lent means. They even chose a rival Legislature,
which, however, the President refused to recog-
y.l JJES B UCIIANA N. . g ^
nize. Meanwhile the so-called reofular Legislature,
which Congress had sanctioned, passed a bill for
the election of delegates by the people to frame a
State Constitution for Kansas. An election was
accordingly held; the Convention met, and after a
stormy and protracted session, completed its work.
The Lecompton Constitution, as it was called, when
laid before Congress, met with strong opposition
from the Republicans, on the ground that it had
been fraudulently concocted. The President, how-
ever, gave it ail his influence, believing that it
would bring peace to the country, while not pre-
venting Kansas from being a free State, should its
people so desire; and finally, after a struggle of
extraordinary violence and duration, it received
the sanction of Congress.
But quiet was not restored. In the North, the
feeling against the President and his party be-
came intense. The election in i860 resulted in
the triumph of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican
candidate for the Presidency. The period between
Lincoln's election and his inauguration was one
of peculiar trial to President Buchanan. An at-
tempt to incite a slave insurrection, made at Har-
per's Ferry, in 1859, by John Brown, of Kansas, for
which he was hanged by the authorities of Virginia,
had created a profound sensation in the South,
where it was regarded by many as indicative of
the fixed purpose of the North to destroy slavery
at all hazards. The election of Lincoln following
^56 ^^'^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
SO soon after this event, added strength to their
apprehensions. As soon as the result of the
canvass became known, South Carohna seceded
from the Union. Mr. Buchanan, apparently re-
garding the fears and complaints of the South
as not without some just grounds, seems to have
endeavored to bring about a peaceful solution of
the difficulties before him by attempts at concilia-
tion. But however good his intentions may have
been, his policy, which has been characterized as
weak, vacillating, and cowardly, so signally failed,
that when, on the 4th of March, 1861, he retired
from the Presidency, he handed over to his suc-
cessor an almost hopelessly divided Union, from
which seven States had already seceded.
Mr. Buchanan also used his influence for the
purchase of Cuba as a means of extending slave
territory. He permitted the seizure of Southern
forts and arsenals, and the removal of muskets
from Northern to Southern armories as the seces-
sion movements matured, and in his message of
December, i860, he directly cast upon the North
the blame of the disrupted Union.
Remaining in Washington long enough to wit-
ness the installation of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Buch-
anan w^ithdrew to the privacy of Wheatland, his
country home, near Lancaster, in Pennsylvania.
Here he spent the remainder of his days, taking
no prominent part in public affairs. In 1866, he
published a volume entitled, Mr. Buchanans
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ^(^y
Administration, in which he explained and de-
fended the pohcy he had pursued while in the
Presidential office. He never married. His death
occurred at his mansion at Wheatland, on the ist
of June, 1868.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
SIXTEENTH President of the Union, was
born in Hardin County, Kentucky, on the
1 2th of February, 1809. His parents were
extremely poor, and could give him but scant
opportunities of education. It is supposed that
his ancestors came to this country from England
among the original followers of William Penn.
About the middle of the last century they lived in
Berks County, Pennsylvania, whence one branch
of the family moved to Virginia. The subject of
this sketch was taught to read and write by his
mother, a woman of intelligence far above her
humble station. When he was in his eighth year,
the family removed to the then wilderness of
Spencer County, Indiana, where, in the course of
three or four years, the boy Abraham, who was
quick and eager to learn, had a chance to acquire
the rudiments of the more ordinary branches of
such a common-school education as was to be
obtained in that rude frontier district; but his
mother died when he was about eleven years old,
i58 ^^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
which was to him a sad loss. At the age of nine'
teen, he set out in a flat-boat, containing a cargo
of considerable value, on a voyage to New Or-
leans. While passing down the Mississippi, they
were attacked by a thieving band of negroes, but
they courageously beat off the robbers, and suc-
ceeded in reaching their destination safely.
In 1830, Lincoln's father removed to Decatur
County, Illinois. Here Abraham assisted in estab-
lishing the new home. It was on this occasion
that he split the famous rails from which, years
after, he received his name of "the rail-splitter."
During the severe winter which followed, by his
exertions and skill as a hunter, he contributed
greatly in keeping the family from starvation.
The next two years he passed through as a farm-
hand and as a clerk in a country store. In the
Black-Hawk War, which broke out in 1832, he
served creditably as a volunteer, and on his re-
turn home ran for the Legislature, but was de-
feated. He next tried store-keeping, but failed ;
and then, having learned something of surveying,
worked two or three years quite successfully as a
surveyor for the Government. In 1834, he was
elected to the Legislature, in which he did the ex-
tremely unpopular act of recording his name
against some pro-slavery legislation of that body.
He soon after took up the study of law, being ad-
mitted to the bar in 1837, when he removed to
Springfield, and began to practice. John T. Stuart
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ah j
was his business partner. In 1842, he married
Miss Mary Todd, daughter of Robert S. Todd,
Esq., of Lexington, Kentucky. He rose rapidly
in his profession, to which having served a second
term in the Legislature, he devoted himself assidu-
ously till 1844, during which year he canvassed
the State in behalf of Mr. Clay, the Whig candi-
date for the Presidency. In 1 847, he took his seat
in the lower house of Congress, where he was the
only Whig from the whole State of Illinois. Ser-
ving but a single term in Congress, Mr. Lincoln,
in 1848, canvassed the State for General Taylor,
and the following year was an unsuccessful can-
didate for a seat in the United States Senate.
He now renewed his devotion to his legal pur-
suits, yet still retained a deep interest in national
politics.
The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which
created a profound sensation throughout the
entire North, brought about a complete political
revolution in Illinois, and the State went over to
the Whigs. In this revolution Mr. Lincoln took
a most active part, and gained a wide reputation
as an effective stump speaker. In 1856, he was
brought prominently before the first Republican
National Convention, and came very near being
nominated as its candidate for the Vice-Presidency.
In 1858, as Republican candidate for United
States Senator, he canvassed Illinois in opposition
to Judge Douglas, the Democratic nominee.
472 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
Douglas was, perhaps, one of the most effectivG
pubHc speakers of the time, yet it is generally
conceded that Lincoln, though he failed to obtain
the Senatorship, was fully equal to his distin-
guished and no doubt more polished opponent.
The rare versatility and comprehensiveness of
Mr. Lincoln's mind found full illustration in this
exciting contest.
During the next eighteen months, Mr. Lincoln
visited various parts of the country, delivering
speeches of marked ability and power ; and when,
in May, i860, the Republican National Conven-
tion met at Chicago, he was, on the third ballot,
chosen as its candidate for the Presidency. In
consequence of a division in the Democratic party,
he was elected, receiving one hundred and eighty
out of three hundred and three electoral votes.
In the popular vote the result was as follows :
Lincoln, 1,887,610; Douglas, 1,291,574; Brecken-
ridge. Pro-slavery Democrat, 880,082 ; Bell, Con-
stitutional-Union party, 646,124: thus leaving
Lincoln in the minority of the popular vote by
nearly a million.
The election of Lincoln was at once made a
pretext for dissolving the Union. Though he had
repeatedly declared his intention not to interfere
with the existing institutions of the South, and to
hold inviolate his official oath to maintain the
Constitution, all was of no avail to dissuade that
section from its predetermined purpose. A
ABRAHAM llNCOlI^. 47^
month before he was inaugurated six Southern
States, having solemnly withdrawn from the
Union, met in convention and framed the Consti-
tution of a new and independent Confederacy.
The President-elect left his home in Springfield
on the nth of February, 1861, and proceeded by
a somewhat circuitous route to Washington, de-
Hvering short, pithy addresses in the larger
towns and cities through which he passed. He
also visited the Legislatures of several North-
ern States, everywhere reiterating his purpose,
while not disturbing the domestic relations of
the South, to maintain the Union intact at all
hazards. Though informed at Philadelphia
that a plot had been formed for his assassination
in Baltimore, he reached Washington on Feb-
ruary 23d without molestation, and on the 4th
of March was duly inaugurated in the presence
of an immense assemblage from all parts of the
country.
In his inaugural address the new President, as-
suring the people of the South that he had taken
the oath to support the Constitution unreservedly,
and that there were no grounds for any fear that
"their property," peace, or persons were to be
endanorered. declared it to be his firm intention
to execute the laws, collect duties and imposts,
and to hold the public properties In all the
States — with no bloodshed, however, unless it
should be forced upon the national authority.
474 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
On entering upon the duties of his office, Mr,
Lincoln found the condition of affairs far from
encouraging. Seven States had already with-
drawn from the Union, and others were preparing
to follow their example. The credit of the Gov-
ernment was low ; the army and navy not only
small and inefficient, but scattered all through our j
wide domain ; and the greater part of the public !
arms, through the treachery of certain officials, i
were in the possession of the seceded States. |
Still, he was hopeful and buoyant, and believed
that the pending difficulties would soon be ad-
justed. Even when, on the 14th of April, 1861,
the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter by
a Confederate Army roused the North to intense
action, though he immediately issued a call for
75,000 volunteers, it was seemingly with but a
faint idea that they would be needed. The fact
that they were summoned for only three months —
a period far from long enough for the organization
of so large a body of men — is of itself sufficient
evidence of the delusion under which he was
laboring.
The battle of Bull Run, on the 21st of July,
1 861, which resulted in the total route of the
Government forces, in a great measure dispelled
this delusion. The real mao^nitude of the contest
now beean to show itself to Mr. Lincoln. Yet
his courage never faltered, nor was he less hope-
ful of the final triumph of the Union. Cheerfully
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. .-h
accepting the burden of cares and responsibilities
so suddenly thrown upon him, he put his whole
heart in the work before him, and not even the
disasters of 1862, that gloomiest year of the war,
could for a moment shake his confiding spirit.
People were not wanting who found fault with the
buoyant temper he displayed at that period ; but
his apparent cheeriness was of as much avail as
our armies in bringing about the triumph which
at last came.
Of the struggle which resulted in this triumph
we shall give no details, only referring briefly to
some of the more important actions of the Presi-
dent. The most momentous of these, without
doubt, was the Emancipation Proclamation, issued
on the 22d of September, 1862, and to take effect
on the I St of January, 1863, by which slavery was
at once and forever done away with in the United
States. In his message to Congress, the Presi-
dent thus explains this act: "In giving freedom
to the slave wc assure freedom, to the free, hon-
orable alike in what we give and what we pre-
serve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the
last, best hope of earth. '^ "•'' '^ The way is
plain, peaceful, glorious, just — a way which, if
followed, the world will forever applaud and God
must forever bless."
In 1864, by a respectable majority in the popu-
lar vote and a laro-e one in the electoral colleee^
Mr. Lincoln was re-elected to the Presidency.
AyiS OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
At the period of his second inauguration, the
complete triumph of the Federal authority over
the seceded States was assured. The last battles
of the war had been fought. War had substan-
tially ceased. The President was looking forward
to the more congenial work of pacification. How
he designed to carry out this work we may judge
from the following passage in his second inaugu-
ral : " With malice toward none, with charity
for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work
we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care
for him who shall have borne the battle, and for
his widow and his orphans, to do all that may
achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations."
Unfortunately, the kind-hearted Lincoln was
not to carry out the work of pacification to which
he looked forward with such bright anticipations.
But a little more than a month after his second
inauguration — on the night of the 14th of April,
1865 — John Wilkes Booth, one of a small band
of desperate conspirators, as insanely foolish as
they were wicked, fired a pistol-ball into the brain
of the President as he satin his box at the theatre.
The wound proved fatal in a few hours, Mr. Lin-
coln never recovering his consciousness.
The excitement which the assassination of the
President occasioned was most intense. The
whole country was in tears. Nor was this grief
BIRTH-PLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ELIZABETHTOWN, K.Y.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RESIDENCE AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL.
AMD RE tV y OHNSOhr. ^ 7 g
cdrifined to our own people. England, France,
all Europe, and even the faf-off countries of China
and Japan, joined in the lamentation. Never was
man more universally mourned, or more deserv-
ing of such widespread sorrow.
The funeral honors were grand and imposing.
His body, having been embalmed, was taken to
his home at Springfield, Illinois, passing through
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buf-
falo, Cleveland, Chicago, and other large towns
and cities. The entire road seemed to be lined
with mourners, while in the chief cities the funeral
ceremonies were equally solemn and magnificent.
ANDREW JOHNSON,
THE constitutional successor to President
Lincoln, was born in Raleigh, N. C, De-
cember 29th, 1808. Prevented by the
poverty of his parents from receiving any school-
ing, he was apprenticed, at the age of ten, to a
tailor. On the expiration of his apprenticeship,
he went to Greenville, Tenn., where he married.
By his wife he was taught to write and to cipher,
having already learned to read. Taking consid-
erable interest in local politics, he formed a work-
ingman's party in the town, by which he was
elected alderman, and afterward Mayor. In
1835, he was elected to a seat in the Legislature,
.go ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
Failing of re-election in 1837, ^^ ^^^ again suc-
cessful in 1839; and in 1841, was elected to the
State Senate. His ability was now recognized
and, in 1843, he was sent to Congress as a Rep-
resentative of the Democratic party. Having
served five successive terms in Congress, he was,
in 1853, elected Governor of Tennessee, and
again in 1855. Two years later, he was called
upon to represent Tennessee in the United States
Senate, where he speedily rose to distinction as a
man of great native energy. The free homestead
bill, giving one hundred and sixty acres of the
public land to every citizen who would settle upon
it and cultivate it a certain number of years, owes
its passage to his persistent advocacy. On the
slavery question he generally went with the Dem-
ocratic party, accepting slavery as an existing
institution, protected by the Constitution.
In the Presidential canvass of i860, Mr. John-
son was a supporter of Breckinridge, but took
stronof orrounds against secession when that sub-
ject came up. His own State having voted itself
out of the Union, it was at the peril of his life
that he returned home in 1861. Attacked by a
mob on a railroad car, he boldly faced his assail-
ants, pistol in hand, and they slunk away. On
the 4th of March, 1862, he was appointed Military
Governor of Tennessee. He entered upon the
duties of his office with a courage and vigor that
soon entirely reversed the condition of affairs in
ANDRE W JOHNSON. j^g j
the State. By March, 1864, he had so far restored
order that elections were held for State and
County officers, and the usual machinery of civil
government was once more set in motion.
On the 4th of March, 1865, Mr. Johnson was
inaugurated as Vice-President of the United
States. The assassination of President Lincoln,
a little more than a month afterward, placed him
in the vacant chief executive chair. Though Mr.
Johnson made no distinct pledges, it was thought
by the tone of his inaugural that he would pursue
a severe course toward the seceded States. Yet
the broad policy of restoration he finally adopted,
met the earnest disapproval of the great party by
which he had been elected. The main point at
issue was, " whether the seceded States should
be at once admitted to representation in Congress,
and resume all the rights they had enjoyed before
the Civil War, without further guarantees than the
surrender of their armies, and with no provision
for protecting the emancipated blacks."
Johnson, opposed to making any restrictive
conditions, therefore persistently vetoed the vari-
ous reconstructive measures adopted by Congress.
Though these measures were finally passed over
the President's vetoes by two-thirds of the votes
of each house, yet his determined opposition to
their policy, on the ground that it was unconsti-
tutional, gave Congress great offense. This feeling
finally became so intense, that the House of Repre-
48:
OrR FORMER PRESibENTS.
sentatives brought articles of impeachment against
him. The trial — the first of its kind known in out"
history — was conducted by the United States
Senate, presided over by the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. The impeachment failed, how-
ever, yet only lacked one vote of the two-thirds
majority requisite to the President's conviction.
In 1866, Mr. Johnson made a tour to Chicago,
in the course of which he made many petty
speeches, which brought upon him both censure
and ridicule, but he was regarded as politically
harmless, and to the close of his term, March 4th,
1869, he was allowed to pursue his own policy
with but little opposition. Retiring to his home
at Greenville, he began anew to take an active
part in the politics of his State. It required sev-
eral years, however, for him to regain anything
like his earlier popularity ; but finally, in January,
1875, he succeeded in securing his election once
more to the Senate of the United States, but
he died on the 30th of the following July.
ULYSSES S. GRANT.
HISTORY has recorded few instances of
the rapid and unexpected rise of individ-
uals in humble circumstances to the hio-h-
est positions, more remarkable than that afforded
by the life of Ulysses S. Grant, the eighteenth
UL YSSES S. GRANT. aQ ^
President of the United States. He was the son
of Jesse R. and Hannah Simpson Grant, both na-
tives of Pennsylvania. He was born April 27th,
1822, at Point Pleasant, Clermont Coui)ty, Ohio.
His early education was merely that of the com-
mon schools of his day. By a conjunction of
favoring circumstances, he passed, in 1839, froni
the bark- mill of his father's tannery to the Mili-
tary Academy at West Point. He was a diligent
but not distingfuished student. Havincr graduated
in 1843-, the twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine, he
signalized himself by his bravery in the Mexican
War, being rewarded therefor by a captain's com-
mission. He then married Miss Julia J. Dent, of
Saint Louis, and, after spending several years with
his regiment in California and Oregon, left the
service in July, 1854, tried farming and the real
estate business with moderate success, and finally
was taken by his father as a partner in his leather
store at Galena.
He was yet thus humbly employed when Presi-
dent Lincoln Issued his call for 75,000 three
months' men. Marching to Springfield at the
head of a company of volunteers, his military
knowledge made him exceedingly useful to Gov-
ernor Yates, who retained him as mustering officer,
until he was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-
first Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, on the 1 7th of
June, t86i. The following August, having been
made a brigadier-general, he took command atCai-
^gg OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
ro, where he displayed much activity and attracted
some attention. On the 7th of November he
fought the Battle of Belmont, where he had a
horse shot under him. His capture of Fort Don-
elson, with all its defenders, on the 15th of Febru-
ary, 1862, after a severe battle resulting in the first
real and substantial triumph of the war, at once
gave Grant a national reputation. For this bril-
liant victory he was immediately rewarded by a
commission as major-general of volunteers.
Soon after the capture of Donelson, General
Grant was placed in command of an important
expedition up the Tennessee River. At Pittsburg
Landing, while preparing for an attack on Corinth,
a part of his army was surprised, at daybreak of
the 6th of April, by an overwhelming force of
Confederates, and driven from their camp with
severe loss. Rallying his men that evening under
the protection of the gun-boats. Grant, having
been reinforced during the night, renewed the
battle the following morning, and, after an obsti-
nate contest, compelled the enemy to fall back
upon Corinth.
In July, General Grant was placed in command
of the Department of West Tennessee, with his
headquarters at Corinth, which the Confederates
had evacuated in the previous May. On the 19th
of September he gained a complete victory over
the Confederates at luka, and then removed his
headquarters to Jackson, Tennessee. Vicksburg,
ULYSSES S. GRANT. ^gy
on the Mississippi, having been strongly fortified
and garrisoned by the enemy, the duty of taking
that place devolved upon Grant. After several
attempts against it from the north, all of which
resulted more or less disastrously, he finally
moved his army down the west bank of the river,
and, crossing to the east side, at a point below the
city, began, on the i8th of May, 1863, a formal
siege, which lasted until the 4th of the ensuing
July, when the place was surrendered, with nearly
thirty thousand prisoners and an immense amount
of military stores.
Grant's capture of Vicksburg, the result of that
tenacity of purpose which is a marked trait in his
character, was hailed with unbounded delight by
the whole country. He was immediately commis-
sioned a major-general in the regular army, and
placed in command of the entire military Division
of the Mississippi. Congress also, meeting in
December, ordered a gold medal to be struck for
him, and passed resolutions of thanks to him and
his army. Still further, a bill reviving the grade
of lieutenant-general was passed, and, on the ist
of March, 1864, Grant was appointed by Presi-
dent Lincoln to the position thus created.
Having now been placed at the head of an
army of seven hundred thousand men. Grant,
announcing that his headquarters would be in the
field, " at once planned two movements, to be di-
rected simultaneously against vital points of the
488 ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
Confederacy." One of these, with Richmond for
its point of attack, he commanded in person ; the
other, against Atlanta, in Georgia, was headed by
General Sherman.
On the 3d of May, Grant began the movement
against Richmond, crossing the Rapidan, and
pushing determinedly into the " Wilderness,"
where, met by Lee, a bloody battle was fought,
foiling his first attempt to place himself between
the Confederate Army and their threatened capi-
tal. Advancing by the left flank, he was again
confronted by Lee at Spottsylvania, and com-
pelled to make another flank movement, resulting
in his again being brought to a stand by his wary
antaofonist. Declarinor his determination " to
fight it out on this line if it took him all summer,"
Grant still pushed on by a series of flank move-
ments, each culminating in a sanguinary battle,
in which his losses were fearful, and finally, pass-
ing Richmond on the east, crossed the James,
and laid siege to the city of Petersburg, the cap-
ture of which now became the great problem of
the war.
Grant crossed the James on the 15th of June,
1864. It was not until the beginning of April,
1865, after a series of desperate assaults, coming
to a crisis in the battle of Five Forks, in which
Grant gained a crowning triumph, that Peters-
burg finally succumbed. The fall of Petersburg
compelled Lee to evacuate Richmond with the
UL YSSES S. GRANT. ^gg
remnant of his army. He retreated
westward toward Danville, followed closely by
Grant. At the same time Sherman, who had met
with almost unparalleled success in his part of the
concerted movement, was marching triumphantly
through Alabama and Georgia to the sea-coast,
along which he swept northward, and was threat-
ening Lee from another quarter, so that, placed
between two large armies, both flushed with vic-
tory, no* other resource was left him than to sur-
render the thin remnant of his force. This he
did, to Grant, at Appomattox Court-House, on the
9th of April, 1865, and the "Great Rebellion " was
thus virtually brought to a close.
On the conclusion of the war, Grant made
Washington his headquarters, and was, in July,
1866, commissioned General of the United States
Army — a rank which had been specially created
to do him honor. In August, 1867, he for awhile
acted as Secretary of War ad interim under
President Johnson ; but, notwithstanding the lat-
ter's earnest request to the contrary, he, when the
Senate refused to sanction Stanton's removal,
restored the position to that gentleman, from
whom it had been taken.
In the Republican National Convention, held at
Chicago, on the 21st of May, 1868, General Grant
was on the first ballot unanimously nominated as
th.e candidate of that party for the Presidency.
His Democratic competitor was Horatio Sey-
^QO OUR- FORMER PRESIDENTS.
mour, of New York. The election resulted in
Grant receiving two hundred and fourteen out of
two hundred and ninety-four electoral votes. He
was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1869.
Though brought into conHict with some of the
prominent men of his party by his determined
effort to bring about the annexation of San Do-
mingo to the United States, President Grant's
first official term gave satisfaction to the mass of
his Republican adherents. During the first six
months of his term the public debt was reduced
some fifty millions of dollars, order and prosper-
ity were rapidly restored throughout the Southern
States, and the hatred and animosities of the war
were greatly softened, though Grant's firmness in
many instances had begotten severe opposition.
In their National Convention at Philadelphia,
on the 5th of June, 1872, he was nominated by
acclamation for a second term. His opponent in
this contest was Horace Greeley, who was sup-
ported by both the Democrats and the so-called
Liberal Republicans. The election resulted in
the success of General Grant, who received two
hundred and sixty-eight out of the three hundred
and forty-eight electoral votes cast. He was in-
augurated a second time on the 4th of March,
1873.
Grant's second term was one of improving
prospects, though the transitions from the exces-
sive inflations attendant on the war to the solid
UL YSSES S. GRANT. ^n^
business basis of peace made financial affairs un-
steady and led to the famous panic of '']'})• But
prosperity returned gradually and on a more solid
basis, and the great Centennial Exposition of 1876,
at Philadelphia, was a fitting crown upon the final
year of Grant's eight years of Presidential work
and honor. In his last message to Congress
he urged compulsory common-school education
where other means of education are not provided;
the exclusion of all sectarianism from public
schools; the prohibition of voting, after 1890, to
all persons unable to read and write ; the perma-
nent separation of Church and State; entire reli-
gious freedom for all sects, and legislation to
speedily secure a return to sound currency.
General Grant was strongly urged to accept
the nomination for a third term, but declined the
honor and retired to private life, March 4th, 1877.
After his long-continued public service, an ex-
tended trip abroad was deemed desirable by the
General. Arrangements were matured accord-
ingly, and on May 17th, 1877, he sailed from Phila-
delphia in the steamer Indiana. His journey was
prosperous in every respect. He made the tour
of the world and reached San Francisco Septem-
ber 20th, 1879. Everywhere he was the recipient
of the hiofhest honors. The most dlstlno-uished
crowned heads and military leaders of all nations
were proud to do him honor, and he in return did
many personal friendly offices which were most
,g. OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
gratefully recognized. He finally settled in New
York city, where he is justly honored and highly
appreciated by all.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES,
the nineteenth incumbent of the Presiden-
tial chair, was born at Delaware, Ohio, i
October 4th, 1822. He enjoyed the most favorable
surroundings of refinement and culture in his ^
youth, and graduated at Kenyon College in 1842.
In 1845, ^^ graduated from the Harvard Law
School and began practice in Fremont, Ohio,
from which place he removed to Cincinnati in 1849.
He served as City Solicitor for several years,
until the breaking out of the war, when he took
the field as major of the Twenty-third Ohio Volun-
teers. He had a splendid record, rising to the com-
mand of a division, being breveted major-general,
and continuing until June ist, 1865, when he re-
sig-ned his rank and returned to Cincinnati.
In December, 1865, he entered Congress, to
which he had been elected before he left the army.
He was re-elected to this position, but resigned
to become Governor of Ohio, to which office he
was three times chosen, an honor never before
conferred in that State. The prominent issues in
his last campaign for the Governorship were the
^.
kVTHEkFORD B. HAYES. ig*
currency and the school questions. So satis-
factory were his view^ on these measures, that he
received much favorable mention for nomination
in the Presidential campaign then approaching-.
On June i6th, 1876, the Republican Convention
met at Cincinnati, and on the seventh ballot
Hayes received the nomination over James G.
Blaine and Benjamin H. Bristow. Hayes received
three hundred and eighty-four votes, Blaine three
hundred and fifty-one, and Bristow twenty-one.
The contest was bitter in the Convention and in
the succeeding canvass, and its close was a disputed
election, the electoral votes of Florida, South Caro-
lina, and Louisiana being claimed by both parties,
as was one electoral vote of Oreg^on also. The
contest was finally referred to an Electoral Com-
mission, which decided by a vote of eight to seven
that Hayes was elected, and he, accordingly, suc-
ceeded General Grant in the office on March 4th,
1877, the inauguration occurring on the next day,
Monday, March 5th. The great feature of this
Administration was the full resumption of specie
payments, a success achieved without jar or con-
fusion of any kind in the business of the country.
At the close of his term, March 4th, 1881, Mr.
Hayes turned over the Administration to his suc-
cessor amid peace and prosperity such as the na-
tion seldom enjoyed, and returned to his home in
Ohio, where he still lives (June, 1884), respected
and beloved by all his fellow-citizens.
498
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
THE nation's choice for the twenty-fourth
Presidential term, James Abram Garfield,
was born November 19th, 1 831, at Orange,
Cuyahoga County, Ohio. His ancestors were early
immigrants of New England, and they bore noble
part in all the hardships and sufferings of the Rev-
olutionary and earlier periods. His parents were
Abram and Eliza Garfield, his father dying when
James was but a child, and his mother surviving to
see his exaltation to the Presidency and his un-
timely end.
James Garfield's early life was one filled with
the struggles incident to poverty on the frontier
settlements. On the farm, on the canal, and at
the carpenter's bench, he toiled energetically, read-
ing and studying all the while, that he might fit
himself for college. He finally betook himself to
teaching as a means of subsistence, and while so
engaged pressed his own education diligently. He
decided to enter Williams College, Mass., which
he did, in June, 1854, in a class nearly two years
advanced. He had saved some money, but he
worked during his vacations and at spare mo-
ments, and so was enabled to complete his course,
though somewhat in debt, graduating August, 1856.
While yet a student, he became much interested in
politics and made some speeches on his favorite
views.
^Jkd^i^y^'^e^^C
1
JAMES A. GARFIELD. cqI
After his graduation, he entered Hiram College,
Ohio, as a teacher of ancient languages and liter-
-ature, and soon after became its President. Mean-
while, he was active in a wide variety of good
works, preaching, addressing temperance meet-
ings, making political speeches, and at the same
time pursuing the study of the law. In 1858, he
married Lucretia Rudolph, who had been a fellow-
student with him in his academic schooldays.
As a logical and effective political speaker, Gar-
field soon became prominent, and in 1859 was
elected to the Senate of his native State, where he
immediately took high rank, although he still con-
tinued to be much engaged in literary and relig-
ious work. In August, 1861, he solemnly consid-
ered the question of entering the army, and wrote
his conclusion thus : " I regard my life as given to
my country. I am only anxious to make as much
of it as possible before the mortgage on it is fore-
closed."
As a soldier, Garfield was thorough, brave, and
efficient. He had a large share of hard fighting in
the West and the Southwest, but he won high praise
in it all, rising from the rank of lieutenant-colonel
to that of brio-adier-creneral and chief of staff to
General Rosecrans, in which capacity he served
until the battle of Chickamauga had been fought,
when he was promoted to a major-generalship
for "gallant and meritorious conduct" on that
bloody field.
f02 ^^'^ FORMER PRE^WFMfS.
Just before this battle, Garfield had been chosen
by his fellow-citizens in Ohio as their representa-
tive in Congress. To accept this post was deemed
his duty by all his friends and advisers, so he re-
signed his commission on the 5th of December,
1863, and took his place in Congress at less than
half the salary drawn by one of his military rank.
In this new position he exercised the same earn-
est conscientiousness he had ever shown. He was
a master workman in every line of duty there for
seventeen years, during which period he left the
imprint of his ability and patriotism as thoroughly
upon the legislation of the country as any one
man in public service. He certainly realized the
meaning of the title, " a public benefactor," as de-
fined in his own speech made on December loth,
1878, in which he said: "The man who wants to
serve his country must put himself in the line of
its leadinof thouo^ht, and that is the restoration of
business, trade, commerce, industry, sound polit-
ical economy, hard money, and the payment of all
obligations, and the man who can add anything in
the direction of accomplishing any of these pur-
poses is a public benefactor."
No man with such an ideal could fail to at once
take high rank. Nor did Garfield fail to do so.
At the outset he was recognized as a leader, and
his influence grew with his service. He was at
once appointed on the Military Committee, under
the chairmanship of General Schenck and the col-
Gen. GARFIELD'S Home, Mentor, Ohio.
JAMES A. GARFIELD. cqc
leagueshlp of Farnsworth, both fresh from the
field. In this work he was of great service — just
as Rosecrans anticipated he would be. His thor-
ough knowledge of the wants of the army was of
the first value in all legislation pertaining to mil-
itary matters. He was appointed chairman of a
select committee of seven appointed to investigate
the alleged frauds in the money-printing bureau
of the Treasury, and on other very important and
complicated matters he rendered service of the
greatest value.
He did most excellent work, as an orator, on
many momentous questions, as the following partial
list of his published Congressional speeches will
show : " Free Commerce between the States ;"
"National Bureau of Education;" "The Public
Debt and Specie Payments ;" " Taxation of United
States Bonds ;" " Ninth Census ;" " Public Expen-
ditures and Civil Service;" "The Tariff;" " Cur^
rency and the Banks ;" " Debate gn the Currency
Bill ;" " On the McGarrahan Claim ;" " The Right
to Originate Revenue Bills ;" " Public Expendi-
tures;" ''National Aid to Education," "The Cur-
rency ;" " Revenues and Expenditures ;" " Curren-
cy and the Public Faith ;" "Appropriations;" "Count-
ing the Electoral Vote ;" " Repeal of the Resump-
tion Law ;" " The New Scheme of American Fi-
nance ;" "The Tariff;"" Suspension and Resump-
tion of Specie Payments ;" " Relation of the Na-
tional Government to Science ;" " Sugar Tariff."
5o6
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
It was a surprise to nobody, but a real pleasure
to multitudes, when at Chicago, on June 8th, 1880,
James A. Garfield received the nomination for
the Presidency by three hundred and ninety-nine
votes in a total of seven hundred and fifty-five.
This was upon the thirty-sixth ballot of the nomi-
nating Convention, but not until then had Garfield
been prominently brought forward. His nomi-
nation was at once made unanimous in the Con-
vention, and hailed with joy throughout the land.
His chief opponent was the superb soldier, Major-
General Winfield S. Hancock, but Garfield and
Arthur received two hundred and fourteen of
three hundred and sixty-nine electoral votes and
secured the hiofhest offices in the orift of the na-
tion.
Garfield was inauorurated amid general satisfac-
tion throughout the nation. His venerable mother
saw her son's exaltation on that memorable In-
auguration Day, and received from him, as the
newly made President, his kiss of filial love.
Every department of the public service felt the
force of the new regime, and prosperity beamed
on every side until the fatal Saturday, July 2d,
1 88 1, when the assassin's bullet cut short the era
of joy and hopefulness which had just fairly
dawned. Of the subsequent weeks of suffering
and anxiety, through which that valuable life
trembled in the balance, while the nation's hopes
and fears rose and fell alternately, and of the sad,
JAMES A. GARFIELD. cog
sad end at Elberon, New Jersey, on September
29th, the world is well inlbrmed. The wound
then made in the nation's heart is open still, and
further mention need not here be made of those
agonizing and still fresh experiences. But the
fittest tribute that can here be paid to ^Garfield's
memory is from the lips of his intimate associate and
fellow-worker, Hon. James G. Blaine. By request
of the national authorities, he delivered, February
27th, 1882, the official eulogy upon the deceased
President. All the magnates of the capital were
present in the Hall of Representatives to hear
that oration, from which masterly effort the follow-
ing somewhat disconnected, but none the less
effective, paragraphs are taken :
No manly man feels anything of shame in
looking back to early struggles with adverse cir-
cumstances, and no man feels a worthier pride than
when he has conquered the obstacles in his pro-
gress. But no one of noble mold desires to be
looked upon as having occupied a menial position,
as having been repressed by a feeling of inferiority,
or as having suffered the evils of poverty until re-
lief was found at the hand of charity. General
Garfield's youth presented no hardships which
family love and family energy did not overcome,
subjected him to no privations which he did not
cheerfully accept, and left no memories save those
which were recalled with delight and transmitted
with profit and with pride.
5IO
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
Garfield's early opportunities for securing art
education were extremely limited, and yet were
sufficient to develop in him an intense desire to
learn. He could read at three years of age, and
each winter he had the advantage of the district
school. He read all the books to be found within
the circle of his acquaintance ; some of them he
got by heart. While yet In childhood he was a
constant student of the Bible, and became familiar
with Its literature. The dignity and earnestness
of his speech In his maturer life gave evidence of
this early training. At eighteen years of age he
was able to teach school, and thenceforward his
ambition was to obtain a collegfe education. To
this end he bent all his efforts, working in the har-
vest field, at the carpenter's bench, and, in the
winter season, teaching the common schools of
the neighborhood. While thus laboriously occu-
pied he found time to prosecute his studies, and
was so successful that at twenty-two years of age
he was able to enter the junior class at Williams
College, then under the presidency of the vener-
able and honored Mark Hopkins, who. In the full-
ness of his powers, survives the eminent pupil to
whom he was of inestimable service.
The history of Garfield's life to this period pre-
sents no novel features. He had undoubtedly
shown perseverance, self-reliance, self-sacrifice,
and ambition — qualities which, be it said for the
honor of our country, are everywhere to be found
yAMES A. GARFIELD. e j j
among the young men of America. But from his
graduation at Williams onward, to the hour of
his tragical death, Garfield's career was eminent
and exceptional. Slowly working through his
educational period, receiving his diploma when
twenty-four ye.irs of age, he seemed at one bound
to spring into conspicuous and brilliant success.
Within six years he was successively president of
a college. State Senator of Ohio, Major-General
of the Army of the United States, and Repre-
sentadve-elect to the National Congress. A
combination of honors so varied, so elevated, within
a period so brief, and to a man so young, is without
precedent or parallel in the history of the country.
Garfield's army life was begun with no other
military knowledge than such as he had hastily
gained from books in the few months preceding
his march to the field. Stepping from civil life to
the head of a regiment, the first order he received
when ready to cross the Ohio, was to assume com-
mand of a brigade, and to operate as an indepen-
dent force in Eastern Kentucky. His immediate
duty was to check the advance of Humphrey
Marshall, who was marching down the Big Sandy
with the intention of occupying, in connection with
other Confederate forces, the entire territory of
Kentucky, and of precipitating the State into se-
cession This was at the close of the year i86„.
Seldom, if ever, has a young college professoi
been thrown into a more embarrassing and dis
r J 2 OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
couraging position. He knew just enough of
military science, as he expressed it himself, to
measure the extent of his ignorance, and with a
handful of men he was marchinor, in rouofh winter
weather, into a strange country, among a hostile
population, to confront a largely superior force
under the command of a distinguished graduate
of West Point, who had seen active and import-
ant service in two preceding wars.
The result of the campaign is matter of history.
The skill, the endurance, the extraordinary energy
shown by Garfield, the courage he imparted to his
men, raw and untried as himself, the measures he
adopted to increase his force and to create in the
enemy's mind exaggerated estimates of his num-
bers, bore perfect fruit in the routing of Marshall,
the capture of his camp, the dispersion of his
force, and the emancipation of an important
territory from the control of the Rebellion. Com-
ing at the close of a long series of disasters to
the Union arms, Garfield's victory had an unusual
and extraneous importance, and in the popular
judgment elevated the young commander to the
rank of a military hero. With less than two
thousand men in his entire command, with a mo-
bilized force of only eleven hundred, without can-
non, he had met an army of five thousand and
defeated them, driving Marshall's forces succes-
sively from two strongholds of their own selec-
tion, fortified with abundant artillery. Major-
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
513
General Buell, commanding the Department of
the Ohio, an experienced and able soldier of the
Regular Army, published an order of thanks and
conorratulation on the brilliant result of the Bi^r
Sandy campaign, which would have turned the
head of a less cool and sensible man than Gar-
field. Buell declared that his services had called
into action the highest qualities of a soldier, and
President Lincoln supplemented these words of
praise by the more substantial reward of a briga-
dier-general's commission, to bear date from the
day of his decisive victory over Marshall.
Early in 1863, Garfield was assigned to the
highly important and responsible post of chief of
staff to General Rosecrans, then at the head of
the Army of the Cumberland. Perhaps in a great
military campaign, no subordinate officer requires
sounder judgment and quicker knowledge of men
than the chief of staff to the commanding general.
An indiscreet man in such a posidon can sow more
discord, breed more jealousy, and disseminate
more strife than any other officer in the entire or-
ofanizadon. When General Garfield assumed his
new duties he found various troubles already well
developed, and seriously affecting the value and
efficiencyof the Army of the Cumberland. The en-
ergy, the impartiality, and the tact with which he
sought to allay these dissensions, and to discharge
the dudes of his new and trying position, will
always remain one of the most striking proofs ot
5H
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
his great versatility. His military duties closed
on the memorable field of Chickamauga, a field
which, however disastrous to the Union arms, gave
to him the occasion of winning imperishable laurels.
The very rare distinction was accorded him of a
great promotion for his bravery on a field that
was lost. President Lincoln appointed him a ma-
jor-general in the army of the United States for
gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of
Chickamauga.
The Army of the Cumberland was reorganized
under the command of General Thomas, who
promptly offered Garfield one of its divisions. He
was extremely desirous to accept the position, but
was embarrassed by the fact that he had, a year
before, been elected to Congress, and the time
when he must take his seat was drawing near.
He preferred to remain in the military service, and
had within his own breast the largest confidence
of success in the wider field which his new rank
opened to him. Balancing the arguments on the
one side and the other, anxious to determine what
was for the best, desirous above all things to do
his patriotic duty, he was decisively influenced by
the advice of President Lincoln and Secretary
Stanton, both of whom assured him that he could,
at that time, be of especial value In the House of
Representatives. He resigned his commission of
Major-General on the fifth day of December, 1863,
and took his seat in the house of Representatives
JAMES A. GARFIELD,
515
on the seventh. He had served two years and
four months in the army, and had just completed
his thirty-second year.
The Thirty-Eighth Congress is pre-emlnenth'
entitled in history to the designation of the War
Congress. It was elected while the war was fla-
grant, and every member was chosen upon the is-
sues involved in the continuance of the struggle.
The Thirty-Seventh Congress had, indeed, legis-
lated to a large extent on war measures, but it
was chosen before anyone believed that secession
of the States would be actually attempted. The
magnitude of the work which fell upon its suc-
cessor was unprecedented, both in respect to the
vast sums of money raised for ^he support of the
army and navy, and of the new and extraordinary
powers of legislation which it was forced to ex-
ercise. Only twenty-four States were represented,
and one hundred and eighty-two members were
upon its roll. Among these were many dis-
tinguished party leaders on both sides, veterans
in the public service, with established reputations
for ability, and with that skill which comes only
from parliamentary experience. Into this assem-
blage of men Garfield entered without special
preparation, and it might almost be said unex-
pectedly. The question of taking command of a
division of troops under General Thomas, or tak-
ing his seat in Congress, was kept open till the
last moment — so late, indeed, that the resignatiun
5i6
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
of his military commission and his appearance in
the House were almost contemporaneous. He
wore the uniform of a Major-General of the
United States Army on Saturday, and on Monday,
in civilian's dress, he answered to the roll-call as a
Representative in Congress from the State of
Ohio.
With possibly a single exception, Garfield was
the youngest mem.ber in the House when he en-
tered, and was but seven years from his college
graduation. But he had not been in his seat sixty
days before his ability was recognized and his place
conceded. He stepped to the front with the confi-
dence of one who belonged there. The House
was crowded with strong men of both parties ;
nineteen of them have since been transferred to
the Senate, and many of them have served with
distinction in the gubernatorial chairs of their re-
spective States, and on foreign missions of great
consequence ; but among them all none grew so
rapidly, none so firmly as Garfield. As is said by
Trevelyan of his parliamentary hero, Garfield suc-
ceeded " because all the world in concert could
not have kept him in the background, and because
when once in the front he played his part with a
prompt intrepidity and a commanding ease that
were but the outward symptoms of the immense
reserves of energy on which it was in his power
to draw." Indeed, the apparently reserved force
which Garfield possessed was one of his great
JAMES A. GARFIELD. r j m
characteristics. He never did so well but that it
seemed he could easily have done better. He
never expended so much strength but that he
seemed to be holding additional power at call.
This is one of the happiest and rarest distinctions
of an effective debater, and often counts for as
much in persuading an assembly as the eloquent
and elaborate argument.
The great measure of Garfield's fame was filled
by his service in the House of Representatives.
His military life, illustrated by honorable perform-
ance, and rich in promise, was, as he himself felt,
prematurely terminated, and necessarily incom-
plete. Speculation as to what he might have done
in a field where the great prizes are so few, cannot
be profitable. It is sufficient to say that, as a sol-
dier, he did his duty bravely; he did it intelligently;
he won an enviable fame, and he retired from the
service without blot or breath against him. As a
lawyer, though admirably equipped for the pro-
fession, he can scarcely be said to have entered on
its practice. The few efforts he made at the bar
were distinguished by the same high order of talent
which he exhibited on every field where he was
put to the test, and if a man may be accepted as a
competent judge of his own capacities and adapta-
tions, the law was the profession to which Garfield
should have devoted himself. But fate ordained
otherwise, and his reputation in history will rest
largely upon his service in the House of Repre-
5-8
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
sentatives, to a place in which he was chosen for
nine consecutive terms,
Garfield's nomination to the Presidency, while
not predicted or anticipated, was not a surprise to
the country. His prominence in Congress, his
solid qualities, his wide reputation, strengthened
by his then recent election as Senator from Ohio,
kept him in the public eye as a man occupying the
very highest rank among those entitled to be
called statesmen. It was not mere chance that
brought him this high honor. "We must," says
Mr. Emerson, "reckon success a constitutional
trait. If Eric is in robust health, and has slept
well, and is at the top of his condition, and thirty
years old at his departure from Greenland, he will
steer west, and his ships will reach Newfoundland.
But take Eric out, and put in a stronger and bolder
man, and the ships will sail six hundred, one thou-
sand, fifteen hundred miles farther, and reach Lab-
rador and New England. There Is no chance in
o
results."
As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popu-
lar favor. He was met with a storm of detraction
at the very hour of his nomination, and it con-
tinued with increasinor volume and momen.':um
until the close of his victorous campaign: —
" No might nor greatness in mortality
Can censure 'scape; back-wounding calumny
The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue ?"
JAMES A. GARFIELD. r j g
Under it all he was calm, and strong, and confi-
dent; never lost his self-possession, did no unwise
act, spoke no hasty or ill-considered word. In-
deed, nothing in his whole life is more remark-
able or more creditable than his bearing through
those five full months of vituperation — a prolonged
agony of trial to a sensitive man, a constant and
cruel draft upon the powers of moral endurance.
The great mass of these unjust imputations passed
unnoticed, and with the general debris of the cam-
paign fell into oblivion. But in a few instances
the iron entered his soul, and he died with the in-
jury unforgotten, if not unforgiven.
One aspect of Garfield's candidacy was unpre-
cedented. Never before, in the history of partisan
contests in this country, had a successful Presiden-
tial candidate spoken freely on passing events and
current issues. To attempt anything of the kind
seemed novel, rash, and even desperate. The
older class of voters recalled the unfortunate Ala-
bama letter, in which Mr. Clay was supposed to
have signed his political death warrant. They re-
membered also the hot-tempered effusion by
which General Scott lost a large share of liis
popularity before his nomination, and the unfor-
tunate speeches which rapidly consumed the re-
mainder. The younger voters had seen Mr.
Greeley in a series of vigorous and original ad-
dresses, preparing the pathway for his own defeat.
Unmindful of these warnings, unheeding the ad-
520
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
vice of friends, Garfield spoke to large crowds as
he journeyed to and from New York in August,
to a great multitude in that city, to delegations
and deputations of every kind that called at Mentor
during the summer and autumn. With innumer-
able critics, watchful and eager to catch a phrase
that might be turned into odium or ridicule, or a
sentence that might be distorted to his own or
his party's injury, Garfield did not trip or halt in
any one of his seventy speeches. This seems all
the more remarkable when it is remembered that
he did not write what he said, and yet spoke with
such logical consecutiveness of thought, and such
admirable precision of phrase as to defy the acci-
dent of misreport, and the malignity of misrepre-
sentation.
In ^the beginning of his Presidential life, Gar-
field's experience did not yield him pleasure or
satisfaction. The duties that eno^ross so laro^e a
portion of the President's time were distasteful to
him, and were unfavorably contrasted with his
lemslative work. *T have been dealinof all these
years with ideas," he impatiently exclaimed one day,
" and here I am dealing only with persons, I have
been heretofore treating of the fundamental prin-
ciples of government, and here I am considering
all day whether A or B shall be appointed to this
or that office." He was earnestly seeking some
practical way of correcting the evils arising from
the distribution of overgrown and unwieldy pat-
JAMES A. GARFIELD. c^j
ronage — evils always appreciated and often dis-
cussed by him, but whose magnitude had been more
deeply impressed upon his mind since his acces-
sion to the Presidency. Had he lived, a compre-
hensive improvement in the mode of appointments
would have been proposed by him.
Garfield's ambition for the success of his ad-
ministration was hiorh. With strong caution and
conservatism in his nature, he was in no danger
of attempting rash experiments or of resorting to
the empiricism of statesmanship. But he believed
that renewed and closer attention should be Q^iven
to questions affecting the material interests and
commercial prospects of fifty millions of people.
He believed that our continental relations, exten-
sive and undeveloped as they are, involved re-
sponsibility, and could be cultivated into profitable
friendship or be abandoned to harmless indiffer-
ence or lasting enmity. He believed with equal
confidence that an essential forerunner to a new
era of national progress must be a feeling of con-
tentment in every section of the Union, and a
generous belief that the benefits and burdens of
government would be common to all. Himself a
conspicuous illustration of what ability and am-
bition may do under republican institutions, he
loved his country with a passion of patriotic de-
votion, and every waking thought was given to
her advancement. He was an American in all
his aspirations, and he looked to the destiny and
-^, OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
influence of the United States with the philosophic
composure of Jefferson and the demonstrative
confidence of John Adams.
The religious element in Garfield's character
was deep and earnest. In his early youth, he
espoused the faith of the Disciples, a sect of that
great Baptist Communion, which, in different
ecclesiastical establishments, is so numerous and
so influential throughout all parts of the United
States. But the broadening tendency of his mind
and his active spirit of inquiry were early appar-
ent and carried him beyond the dogmas of sect
and the restraints of association. In selectino- a
college in whicli to continue his education he
rejected Bethany, though presided over by Alex-
ander Campbell, the greatest preacher of his
Church. His reasons were characteristic : first
that Bethany leaned too heavily towards slavery ;
and, second, that being himself a Disciple and the
son of Disciple parents, he had little acquaintance
with people of other beliefs, and he thought it
would make him more liberal, quoting his own
words, both in his religious and general views, to
go into a new circle and be under new influences.
The liberal tendency which he anticipated as the
result of wider culture was fully realized. He
was emancipated from mere sectarian belief, and
with eager interest pushed his investigations in
the direction of modern progressive thought. He
followed with quickening step into the paths of
JAMES A. GARFIELD. C2'2
exploration and speculation so fearlessly trodden
by Darwin, by Huxley, by Tyndall, and by other
living scientists of the radical and advanced type.
His own Church, binding its disciples by no for-
mulated creed, but accepting the Old and New
Testaments as the word of God, with unbiased
liberty of private interpretation, favored, if it. did
not stimulate, the spirit of investigation. Its mem-
bers profess with sincerity, and profess onlv, to be
of one mind and of one faith with those who im-
mediately followed the Master, and who were first
called Christians at Antioch.
But however high Garfield reasoned of "fixed
fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute," he was
never separated from the Church of the Disciples
in his affections and in his associations. For him
It held the ark of the covenant. To him it was
theorateof Heaven. The world of relifrious belief is
o o
full of solecisms and contradictions. A philoso-
phic observer declares that men by the thousand
will die In defense of a creed whose doctrines
they do not comprehend and whose tenets they
habitually violate. It is equally true that men by
the thousand will clincr to Church or^ranizations
with instinctive and undying fidelity when their
belief in maturer years Is radically different from
that which inspired them as neophytes.
But after this range of speculation, and this
latitude of doubt, Garfield came back always with
freshness and delight to the simpler Instincts of
C2A. ^^^ FORMER PRESIDENTS.
religious faith, which, earhest implanted, longest
survive. Not many weeks before his assassina-
tion, walking on the banks of the Potomac with a
friend, and conversing on those topics of personal
relifjion concerninof which noble natures have an
unconquerable reserve, he said that he found the
Lord's Prayer and the simple petitions learned in
infancy Infinitely restful to him, not merely in their
stated repetition, but In their casual and frequent
recall as he went about the daily duties of life. \
Certain texts of Scripture had a very strong hold
on his memory and his heart. He heard, while in
Edinburgh some years ago, an eminent Scotch
preacher who prefaced his sermon with reading
the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans,
which book had been the subject of careful study
with Garfield durinor all his relisfious life. He was
greatly impressed by the elocution of the preacher
and declared that it had imparted a new and
deeper meaning to the majestic utterances of
St. Paul. He referred often In after years to
that memorable service, and dwelt with exaltation
of feeling upon the radiant promise and the as-
sured hope with which the great Apostle of the
Gentiles was "persuaded that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us irom the love of God, which
is In Christ Jec.is oui Lord."
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
525
The crowning characteristic of General Gar-
field's religious opinions, as, indeed, of all his opin-
ions, was his liberality. In all things he had char-
ity. Tolerance was of his nature. He respected
in others the qualities which he possessed himself,
sincerity of conviction and frankness of expres-
sion. With him the Inquiry was not so much what
a man believes, but does he believe it ? The lines
of his friendship and his confidence encircled men
of every creed, and men of no creed, and to the
end of his life, on his ever-lengthening list of
friends, were to be found the names of a piOus
Catholic priest and of an honest-minded and gen-
erous-hearted free-thinker.
On the morning of Saturday, July 2d, the Presi-
dent was a contented and happy man — not in an
ordinary degree, but joyfully, almost boyishly
happy. On his way to the railroad station, to
which he drove slowly, in conscious enjoyment of
the beautiful morning, with an unwonted sense of
leisure and a keen anticipation of pleasure, his
talk was all In the grateful and gratulatory vein.
He felt that after four months of trial his adminis-
tration was strong in its grasp of affairs, strong In
popular favor, and destined to grow stronger;
that grave difficulties confronting him at his In-
auguration had been safely passed ; that trouble
lay behind him and not before him ; that he was
soon to meet the wife whom he loved, now recov-
ering from an illness which had but lately disqui-
526
OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
eted and at times almost unnerved him ; tha<- he
was going to his Alma Mater to renew the ost
cherished associations of his young manhood, andi
to exchange greetings with those whose deepen-
ing interest had followed every step of his upward
progress from the day he entered upon his college
course until he had attained the loftiest elevation
in the gift of his countrymen.
Surely, if happiness can ever come from the
honors or triumphs of this world, on that quiet
July morning James A. Garfield may well have
been a happy man. No foreboding of evil haunted
him ; no slightest premonition of danger clouded
his sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an
instant. One moment he stood erect, strong, con-
fident in the years stretching peacefully out before
him ; the next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless,
doomed to weary weeks of torture, to silence, and
the grave.
Great in life, he was surpassingly great m death.
For no cause, in the very frenzy of wantonness
and wickedness, by the red hand of murder, he
was thrust from the full tide of this world's interest,
from its hopes, its aspirations, its victories, into the
visible presence of death — and he did not quail.
Not alone for the one short moment in which,
stunned and dazed, he could give up life, hardly
aware of its relinquishment, but through days of
deadly languor, through weeks of agony, that was
not less agony because silently borne, with clear
JAMES A. GARFIELD. ^nj
sight and calm courage, he looked into his open
grave. What blight and ruin met his anguished
eyes, whose lips may tell ? — what brilliant, broken
plans; what baffled, high ambitions ; what sunder-
ing of strong, warm, manhood's friendships; what
bitter rending of sweet household ties ! Behind
him a proud, expectant nation, a great host of sus-
taining friends, a cherished and happy mother,
wearing the full, rich. honors of her early toil and
tears ; the wife of his youth, whose whole life lay
in his ; the little boys not yet emerged from
childhood's days of frolic; the fair young daughter ;
the sturdy sons just springing into closest com-
panionship, claiming every day and every day
rewarding a father's love and care ; and in his
heart the eager, rejoicing power to meet all
demands. Before him, desolation and great dark-
ness ! And his soul was not shaken. His coun-
trymen were thrilled with instant, profound, and
universal sympathy. Masterful in his mortal
weakness, he became the centre of a nation's love,
enshrined in the prayers of a world. But all the
love and all the sympathy could not share with
him his suffering. He trod the wine-press alone.
With unfaltering front he faced death. With
unfailing tenderness he took leave of life. Above
the demoniac hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard
the voice of God. With simple resignaUon he
bowed to the Divine decree.
As the end drew near, his early craving for die
528
CUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
sea returned. The stately mansion of powei »ad^
been to him the wearisome hospital of pain, and
he begged to be taken from its prison walls, from
its oppressive, stifling air, from its homelessness
and its hopelessness. Gently, silently, the love of
a great people bore the pale sufferer to the longed-
for healing of the sea, to live or to die, as God
should will, within sight of its heaving billows,
within sound of its manifold voices. With wan,
fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze,
he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing
wonders ; on its far sails, whitening in the morn-
ing light ; on its restless waves, rolling shoreward
to break and die beneath the noonday sun ; on the
red clouds of eveniufj, archincj low in the horizon ;
on the serene and shining pathway of the stars.
Let us think that his dying eyes read a mystic mean-
ing which only the rapt and parting soul may know.
Let us believe that in the silence of the receding
world he heard the great waves breaking on a
farther shore, and felt already upon his wasted
brow the breath of the eternal morning.
After extended and most impressive funeral
obsequies, President Garfield's mortal remains
were laid to rest in Lake View Cemetery in the
fair City of Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday, Sep-
tember 26th, 1 88 1, and thus a new shrine was
reared to which the patriotic hearts of America
will never cease to turn with profound interest.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR. ^jQ
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
^ ff "^HE exodus from foreign lands to this conn-
I try has at all times since the early years
-*- of the present century been remarkable
for its steadiness — though varying during the de-
cades. A home in freedom and a chance for a
fortune in climes where centuries have not bound
with iron every man's position is always an incen-
tive to brave spirits.
Among those who took the tide in its flow, at
the beginning of the twenties, was a young Pro-
testant Irishman from Ballymena, County Antrim,
who bore the name of William Arthur. He was
eighteen years of age, a graduate of Belfast Col-
lege, and thoroughly imbued with the intention of
becoming a Baptist clergyman. In this he perse-
vered, was admitted to the ministry, took a degree
of D.D., and followed a career of great usefulness,
which did not terminate until he died, at Newton-
ville, near Albany, October 27th, 1875. He was
in many respects a remarkable man. He acquired
a wide fame in his chosen career, and entered suc-
cessfully the great compedtion of authors. He
published a work on Family Names that is to-
day regarded as one of the curiosities of English
erudite literature.
He married, not long after entering the minis-
try, an American, Malvina Stone, who bore him
r-O OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
a family of two sons and five daughters. Of
these, Chester Allan, the subject of this sket ,
was born at Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont,
October 5th, 1830. From his home studies he
went to a wider field of instruction in the insti-
tutions of Schenectady, in the grammar school of
which place he was prepared for entering Union
College. This he did at the age of fifteen (1845),
and took successfully the regular course, excelling
in all his studies and graduating very high in the
class of 184S.
On o^raduatincj he entered the law school at Ball-
ston Springs. By rigid economj^and hard work, he
had managed to save five hundred dollars, and with
this in his pocket he went to New York, and entered
the law office of Erastus D. Culver, afterward minis-
ter to one of the South American States and a judge
of the Civil Court of Brooklyn. Soon after entering
Judge Culver's office, he was—in 1852 — admitted
to the bar, and formed the firm of Culver, Partsen
& Arthur, which was dissolved in 1837. No sooner
had he won his title to appear in the courts, than
he formed a partnership with an old friend, Henry
D. Gardner, with an intention of practicing in the
West, and for three months these young gentle-
men roamed through the Western States in search
of a place to locate. In the end, not satisfied, they
returned to New York and began practice.
The law career of Mr. Arthur includes some
notable cases. One of his first cases was the cele-
CHESTER A. ARTHUR. c^t
brated Lemmon suit. In 1S52, Jonathan and Juliet
Lemnion, Virginia slaveholders, intending to emi-
grate to Texas, went to New York to await the
sailinor of a steamer, brino^inof eio^ht slaves with
O '000
them, A writ of habeas corpus was obtained from
Judge Paine to test the question whether the
provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law were in force
in that State. Judge Paine rendered a decision
holding that they were not, and ordering the Lem-
mon slaves to be liberated. Henry L. Clinton
was one of the counsel for the slaveholders. A
howl of rage went up from the South, and the
Virginia Legislature authorized the Attorney-
General of that State to assist in taking an appeal.
William M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were
employed to represent the people, and they won
their case, which then went to the Supreme Court
of the United States. Charles O'Conor here
espoused the cause of the slaveholders, but he,
too, was beaten by Messrs. Evarts and Arthur,
and a long step was thus taken toward the
emancipation of the black race.
Mr. Arthur always took an interest in politics
and the political surroundings of his day. His
political life began at the age of fourteen, as a
champion of the Whig party. He shared, too, in
the turbulence of political life at that period, and
it is related of him during the Polk-Clay canvass
that, while he and some of his companions were
raising an ash pole in honor of Henry Clay, some
r-,2 OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS,
Democratic boys attacked the party of Whigs,
and young Arthur, who was the recognized leader
of the party, ordered a charge, and, taking the
front ranks himself, drove the young Democrats
from the field with broken heads and subdued
spirits. He was a delegate to the Saratoga Con-
vention that founded the Republican party in New
York State. He was active in local politics, and
he gradually became one of the leaders. He
nominated, and by his efforts elected, the Hon.
Thomas Murphy a State Senator. When the
latter resigned the Collectorship of the Port, in
November, 1871, Arthur was appointed by Presi-
dent Grant to fill the vacancy.
He was nominated for the Vice-Presidency at
Chicago on the evening of Tuesday, June loth.
He was heartily indorsed by the popular and
electoral vote, and on the death of President
Garfield, September 19th, 1881, he assumed the
Presidential chair. His Administration has been
an uneventful one, attended with general peace
and prosperity.
PRESIDENT AKTHUK,
THE
Citizen's Handbook
Valuable Facts for Campaign Work.
"In order to have any success in life, or any worthy
success, you must resolve to carry into your work a full-
ness of Knowledge — not merely a Sufficiency, but more
than a Sufficiency."
James A. G irfiehL
PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS. c-e
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE PRESIDENTIAL
CONTESTS.
Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John
Quincy Adams, and Jackson were chosen to the Presidency
without the machinery of either State or National Conven-
tions for their nomination.
Washington was chosen by common consent and demand,
receiving the unanimous electoral vote, sixty-nine, ten States
only voting. New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island
not having adopted the Constitution or framed election laws,
and four qualified delegates being absent. At his second
election he received all the votes but three, viz.: one hundred
and thirty-two out of one hundred and thirty-five, fifteen
States voting. In 17S9, eleven other persons were voted for
on the same ballots with Washington, he who received the next
highest vote to be the Vice-President, as was the rule until
1804. John Adams was thus chosen by thirty-four votes over
the following competitors: John Jay, R. H. Harrison, John
Rutledge, John Hancock, George Clinton, Samuel Hunt-
ingdon, John Milton, James Armstrong, Benjamin Lincoln,
and Edward Telfair. In 1792, John Adams was again chosen
Vice-President, by seventy-seven out of one hundred and
thirty-two votes, over George Clinton, Thomas Jefferson, and
Aaron Burr. Adams represented the Federalist or Adminis-
tration party of the day, the opposition being then known
as the Republican party.
Adams, having twice held the Vice-Presidency, was thought
to have a claim on the higher position, and in 1796, sixteen
States voting, he received seventy- one electoral votes, Jeffer-
son receiving sixty-eight, and becoming Vice-President over
Thomas Pinckney, Aaron Burr, Samuel Adams, Oliver Ells-
worth, George Clinton, John Jay, James Iredell, George
Washington, John Henry, S. Johnson, and Charles C. Pimk-
ney, for each of whom from one to fifty-nine electoral vo.es
53^
PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS.
were cast. The successful candidates represented the two
parties of the da}'. In 1800, the parties in Congress each
held a caucus and each nominated its own candidates.
Jefferson was chosen President in iSoo, on the thirty-
sixth ballot of the House of Representatives, he and Aaron
Burr having a tie vote of seventy-three in the Electoral Col-
lege, sixteen States voting. Burr then became Vice-President
over John Adams, Charles C. Pinckney, and John Jay, who
represented the Federalists. In 1803, the Constitution was
amended prescribing the present method of choosing the
nation's chief officers. After this for a long period the Re-
publican party and its successor, the Democratic party, had
things as they pleased. In 1804, Jefferson was re-elected
over Charley C. PincJ^ney by one hundred and sixty-two
votes to fourteen, George Clinton becoming Vice-President
over Rufusi King. Thi^ w^s a result of the Congressional
caucus. 3eventger\ Spates yoteci.
Madison, the nominee of the Rep.u|Dlican caucus, received
onehundred and twenty-two electoral votes in 1808, seventeen
Statesvoting, his opponent, Charles C. Pinckney, receiving but
fourteen, and George Clinton, another candidate, receiving
none. Clinton received onehundred and thirteen votes for the
Vice-Presidency, however, and was chosen over Rufus King,
John Langdon, James Madison, and James Monroe.
In 1812, Madison received one hundred and twenty-eight
electoral votes out of two hundred and eighteen, eighteen
States voting, l)e Witt Clinton receiving eighty-nine votes.
Elbridge Gerry was chosen to the second place by one hun-
dred and thirty-one votes, Jared IngersoU receiving eighty-six.
Monroe was twice lifted into power by the caucus, receiv-
ing one hundred and eighty-three votes to thirty-four for
Rufus King, in 1816, and two hundred and thirty-one to one
only for John Quincy Adams, in 1820, nineteen States voting
in the first election and twenty-four in the second. D. D.
Tompkins received one hundred and eighty-three votes for
PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS
537
Vice-President in iSi6, and two hundred and eighteen in
1820, his competitors in the first race being John E. Howard,
James Ross, John Marshall, and Robert G. Harper, and in
the second Richard Stockton, Daniel Rodney, Robert G. Har-
per, and Richard Rush. At the end of Monroe's term parties
began to break up and new combinations to form under lead
of the State Legislatures, several of which brought out their
favorite sons.
John Quincy Adams was the Coalition nominee of Massa-
chusetts 111 1824. Jackson was put forward by Tennessee, as
were William H. Crawford and Henry Clay by their respective
States; twenty-four States voted in this contest, having two lum-
dred and sixty-one electoral votes, of which Jackson received
ninety-nine, and Adams eighty-four, the remainder being
divided among the other two candidates. No choice being
made, the House of Representatives settled the contest, giving
Adams thirteen States, Jackson seven States, and Crawford
four States. Jackson's popular vote was one hundred and
fift) -five thousand eight hundred and seventy-two; that cf
Adams, one hundred and five thousand three hundred and
twenty-one, while Crawford and Clay together jiolled ninety
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine. A tempest of ill-feel-
ing was begotten by this decision. John C. Calhoun was chosen
Vice-President, however, receiving one hundred and eighty-
two votes, his opponents being Nathan Sanford, Nathaniel
Macon, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and Henry Clay.
Jackson was so enraged by his defeat that he left the Senate
and threw all his tremendous energy into the campaign of
1828, he being the leader of the newly formed Democratic
party. Twenty-four States voted, with two hundred and
sixty one electoral votes, of which Jackson secured one hun-
dred and seventy-eight, to eighty-three for Adams, and a
popular vote of six hundred and forty-seven thousand twq
hundred and thirty-one, to five hundred and njne thousancj
and ninety-seven for Adams. Calhoun again became Vice-
President by one hundred and seventy-one votes, RichauU
538 PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS.
Rush and William Smith being his vanquished rivals. In
1832, Jackson again swept the board, receiving two hundred
and nineteen electoral votes and six hundred and eighty-seven
thousand two hundred and thirty-one popular votes, Henry
Clay, the National Republican candidate, receiving forty-nine
electoral votes, and five hundred and thirty thousand one
hundred and eighty-nine popular votes. John Floyd and
William Wirt received some thirty-three thousand votes from
the people and eighteen from the electors. Martin Van
Buren became Vice-President in Jackson's second term, re-
ceiving one hundred and eighty-nine votes, his competitors
being John Sergeant, Henry Lee, Amos Ellmaker, and
William Wilkins.
The Convention system was born under Jackson's Adminis-
tration. Its object was to prevent defeat by scattered votes
in the same party The anti-Masonic party held the first
gathering of the sort, William Wirt being its nominee. The
National Republicans followed in 1831, the Democrats in
1832. This machinery bore its first fruits in Jackson's second
Presidential campaign. The Whig party made its first ap-
pearance in 1836, but its counsels were divided and it lost.
Van Buren was nominated by the Democrats, and in 1836,
Iwenty-six States voting, he received one hundred and seventy -
electoral votes, four Whig candidates, William H. Harrison,
Hugh L. White, Daniel Webster, and W. P. Mangum divid-
ing among themselves eleven electoral votes. Van Buren 's
popular vote was seven hundred and sixty-one thousand five
hundred and forty-nine; that of all others, seven hundred
and thirty-six thousand six hundred and fifty-six. R. M.
Johnson, who received one hundred and seventy electoral
votes for Vice-President, not receiving a majority of all, was
plectef^ by the Senate. His competitors were Francis
granger, John Tyler, and William Smith.
Harrison, in 1840, received a popular vote of one million
two hundred and seventy-five thousand and seventeen, and an
electoral vote of two hundred and thirty-four, as did John
PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS. 539
Tyler, his associate on the Whig ticket. He was opposed by-
Van Buren, who polled one million one hundred and twenty-
eight thousand seven hundred and two popular votes, and
sixty of the electoral college, and by James G. Birney, of the
Liberty or Abolition party, who polled seven thousand and
fifty-nine votes. R. M. Johnson, L. W. Tazewell, and James
K. Polk were candidates for the Vice-Presidency, receiving in
all sixty electoral votes. Twenty-six States voted. Harrison's
election was the first Whig success, and the campaign preced-
ing it has been aptly termed " the great national frolic."
Polk was chosen President in 1844 over Birney, the Abo-
litionist, and Clay, the Whig, receiving a popular vote of
one million three hundred and thirty-seven thousand two
hundred and forty-three, and an electoral vote of one hundred
and seventy, to Clay's one million two hundred and ninety-
nine thousand and sixty-eight popular and one hundred and
five electoral, Birney's vote being sixty-two thousand three
hundred popular and none electoral. For Vice-President
George M. Dallas received the same electoral vote as Polk,
and Theodore Frelinghuysen the same as Clay.
Taylor was chosen by the Whigs in 1848, Clay and Web-
ster being abandoned. He and his associate, Millard Fill-
more, received each one hundred and sixty-three electoral
votes and a popular vote of one million three hundred and
sixty thousand one hundred and one. Lewis Cass, the Demo-
cratic nominee, and Wm. O. Butler, his associate, were re-
garded as a weak combination, but they polled one million
two hundred and twenty thousand five hundred and forty-four
votes, with one hundred and twenty-seven electors. Van
Buren ran on the Free Soil ticket with Charles Francis Adams,
and received two hundred and ninety-one thousand two
hundred and sixty-three votes, thirty States voting. Taylor
died, and Fillmore quarreled with his party, thus impairing
its strength sadly.
Pierce rode into power over the fragments of the Whig
party, he and his associate, William R. King, receiving two
540
PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS.
hundred and fifty-four electoral and one million six hundred
and one thousand four hundred and seventy-four popular
votes. Winfield Scott and William A. Graham, the Whig
nominees, received forty-two electoral and one million three
hundred and eighty-six thousand five hundred and seventy-
eight popular votes, John P. Hale and George W. Julian,
Free Democrats, polling one hundred and fifty-six thousand
one hundred and forty-nine suffrages. This contest ended
the Whig party. Thirty-one States voted.
Buchanan" was chosen in 1S56 by one hundred and sev-
enty-four electoral votes, John C. Breckenridge being his
associate, they receiving a popular vote of one million eight
hundred and thirty-eight thousand one hundred and sixty-
nine, John C. Fremont and Wm. L. Dayton, nominees of the
newly-formed Republican party, receiving one hundred and
fourteen electoral and one million three hundred and forty-
one thousand two hundred and sixty-four popular votes,
while Millard Fillmore and A. J. Donelson, of the American
party, had eight electoral and eight hundred and seventy-four
thousand five hundred and thirty-four popular votes. This
was a most bitter campaign, saturated with all the issues of
slavery, disunion, and border ruffianism.
Lincoln was elected in i860 by a popular vote of one
million eight hundred and sixty-six thousand three hundred
and fifty-two, and an electoral vote of one hundred and
eighty, Hannibal Hamlin being his associate. This Avas the
first victory for the Republicans. Democrats, Constitutional
Unionists, and Independent Democrats voted respectively
for Breckenridge and Lane, Bell and Everett, and Douglas
and Johnson, who received electoral votes as follows:
Breckenridge, seventy-two; Bell, thirty-nine; Douglas,
twelve ; and popular votes : Breckenridge, eight hundred
and forty-five thousand seven hundred and sixty-three; Bell,
five hundred and eighty-nine thousand five hundred and
eighty-one; and Douglas, one million three hundred and
seventy-five thousand one hundred and fifty-seven. Thirty-
PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS.
541
three States engaged in this contest, of which Lincohi carried
seventeen, Breclcenridge eleven, Bell three, and Douglas
two. Lincoln's second election, Andrew Johnson being his
associate, was by two hundred and twelve electoral and two
million two hundred and sixteen thousand andsixty-seven pop-
ular votes, George B. McClellan and G. H. Pendleton receiv-
ing twenty-one electoral and one million eight hundred and
eight thousand seven hundred and twenty-five popular votes.
Eleven States and eighty-one electors were not represented
in this election. Of twenty-five voting States Lincoln carried
all but three.
Grant was chosen in 1872 over Horatio Seymour by two
hundred and fourteen votes of the Electoral College to eighty,
twenty-three electors, three States, not represented. Schuyler
Colfax and Frank P Blair, Jr., were the respective Vice-Pres-
idential nominees. The popular vote was three million fifteen
thousand and seventy-one, for Grant, to two million seven
hundred and nine thousand six hundred and thirteen for Sey-
mour. At the election of 1872 Grant had a long line of com-
petitors, but he polled three million five hundred and ninety-
seven thousand and seventy popular votes, and two hundred
and eighty-six electoral out of a possible three hundred and
sixty-six. All the States voted. His competitors on various
tickets were Horace Greeley, Charles O' Conor, James Black,
Thos. A. Hendricks, Charles J. Jenkins, and David Davis.
Henry Wilson was chosen Vice-President, over B. Gratz Brown,
Geo. W. Julian, A. H. Colquitt, John M. Palmer, T. E. Bram-
lette, W. S. Groesbeck, Willis B. Machen, and N. P. Banks.
Hayes was elected, with his associate, Wm. A. Wheeler, in
a scattering contest. His popular vote was four million thirty-
three thousand nine hundred and fifty. Samuel J. Tilden,
(Democrat) received four million two hundred and eighty-
four thousand eight hundred and eighty-five votes. Peter
Cooper, (Greenback) eighty-one thousand seven hundred and
forty. Green Clay Smith (Prohibition), nine thousand five
hundred and twenty-two, and two thousand six hundred and
542
PRESIDENTIAL CONTESTS.
thirty-six were scattering. T. A. Hendricks was Mr. Tilden's
associate. The disputed vote was settled by an Electoral Com-
mission which awarded Hayes one hundred and eighty-five
electoral votes and Tilden one hundred and eighty-four.
Garfield received, in 1880, a popular vote of four million
four hundred and forty-nine thousand and fifty-three, and an
electoral vote of two hundred and fourteen, together with
Chester A. Arthur, his associate. Winfield S. Hancock and
William H. English received four million four hundred and
forty-two thousand and thirty-five popular, and one hundred
and fifty-five electoral votes. The Greenback candidates,
James B. Weaver and B. J. Chambers, received three hundred
and seven thousand three hundred and six votes, and twelve
thousand five hundred and seventy-six were reported as scat-
tering. Thus the Re[)ublicans held the Presidency from Lin-
coln's election in i860.
rRESIDENTIAL ELECTIOXS. 54^
TABLES or PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
SUMMARY OF POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTES FOR PRESI-
DENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1789-
1876.
,',
0
6
^5
c5
0)
0
Political
Party.
* Presidents. i
* Vice-Presidents.
Candidates.
Vote. |
Candidates.
6
1%
©••5
ei
Popular.
2
0
0
i
3
1789 +ifi
73
135
138
138
George Washington
69
15
16
16
34
Jolin J;iy
n
R. H. Harrison
n
John Rutledge
6
4
George Clinton.
»
Samuel Huntingdon
John Milton
<f.
?.
1
Benjamin Lincoln. .
1
Federalist. .
Federalist..
Republican
Edward Telfair .
1
4
132
4
1792
George Washington
77
50
Thomas Jeff .Tson..
4
1
Federalist. .
Republican
Federalist..
Republican
3
71
3
1796
Tliomas Jefferson..
68
30
15
Oliver Ellsworth ..
11
George Clinton
7
5
3
George Washington
2
2
2
Republican
Republican
Federalist..
Federalist..
Charles C. Pinckney
1
1800
t73
;73
65
Charles C.Pinckney
04
1
'
__
• Previous to the election of ISM each elector voted for two canddates for President ; the
one receiving the hishest number of votes, if a majority, was declared elected President,
and the next liighest Vice-President.
t Three States out of thirteen did not vote, viz. : New York, which had not passed an elec-
toral law ; and North Carolina and Rhode Island, which had not adopted the Constitution.
t There having been a tie vote, the choice devolved upon the House of Representatives,
A choice was made on the Sbth ballot, which was as foilows : Jefrera<)ii-Ueorgia, Kentuclcy.
Maryland, New Jersey. New York, North Carolina. Pennsylvania. Tennessee. Vermont and
VSrginia-^10 States ; Burr-Connecticut, Massachusetts. New HaaapBhirc, and Rhod« Wand
•~4 States ; Blank— Dslaware and South Caroliua— 2 States.
544
rorCLAR AXD ELECTORAL J'OTES.
i
x
>
PouncAL
Pabty.
Presidents. ]
Vice-Presidents.
^ ■§ •
Cakdidates.
VOTK.
Candidates.
BO
O
d
o
o
Er-
15
2
12
5
a
Popular. 2
o
1604, 17
ne Republican
Federalist..
176 Republican
Thomas Jefferson. .
Charles C. Pinckney
James Madison. ..
Charles C. Pinckney
162
14
122
47
6
Gtxirge Clinton..
jRufus King
George Clinton. .
Rufus King
John Laugdon..
James Madison.
James Monroe..
ifi?i
180S 17
14
IIS
18
19
24
24
24
24
26
218
221
235
261
261
288
294
Federalist. .
47
^
H
Republican.
Federalist..
Vacancy
1
128
69
1
188
34
1
1812
James Madison
DeWitt Clinton
11
7
Elhridce Gcrrv. .
Jared Ingersoll. .
D. D. Tompkins.
John E. Howard
James Ross
.lohn Marshall..
Robt.G. Harper.
13T
m
1
IMG
Republican.
Federalist. .
.lames Monroe
Rufus King
16
3
1M
'?A
5
4
f»
Republican
Opposition.
Vacancies
4
231
1
4
i«?n
James Monroe
John Q. Adams
24
D. D. Tompkins.
Rich. Stockton..
Daniel Rodney.
Kobt. G. Harper
Richard Rush...
John C. Calhoun
Nathan Sanford.
Nathaniel JIactn
Andrew Jackson
M. Van Buren..
Henry Clay
f'-S
H
4
r
1
1824
Republican.
Coalition..
Republican.
Republican.
Vacancies. ......
Andrew Jackson. . .
John Q. Adams
Wm. H. Crawford..
Henry Clay
10
8
3
3
155,872
105,321
44,282
40.587
8
♦00
84
41
37
3
l.'=3
24
13
q
2
Democratic
Nat. Repub.
Vacancy
1
1828
[Andrew Jackson. . .
John Q. Adams . . .
15
9
647,231
609,097
178
83
John C. Calhoun
Richard Rush..
1 William Smith..
M. Van Buren...
John Sergeant. . .
Henry Lee
Amos EllmaUer.
WiUiam Wilkins
R. M. Johneont.
Francis Granger.
John Tyler
William Smith..
171
t>3
7
1832
Democratic
Nat. Repub.
Andrew Jackson...
Henry Clay
•John Flovd 1
William Wirt.... )
1
1
687,502
630,189
33,108
219
19
11
1S9
49
11
Anti-Mason
7
30
1636
Democratic.
Whig
Whis;
Whig
Whig
Vacancies
Martin Van Buren.
Wm. H. Harrison"
Husrh L. White..
Dauiel Webster..
W. P. Mantmm...
15
7
2
1
1
761,549
736,656
2
170
73
26
14
11
3
147
77
47
23
i
• No choice having been made by the Electoral College, the choice devolved upon tha
House of Kepresentatives. A choice was made on the first liallol, which was as follows:
Adams— Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana. Ma.ne, Maryland, Massachusetts. Mis-
souri. New Hampshire, New York, GJiio, Rhode Island, and Vermont— 13 States • Jackson —
Alabama, Indi.iHa, Mississippi, New .Jersey, Pennsylvania. South Carolina, and Tenaess:!C —
7 States ; Cniwford— Delaware, Georgiii, North Carolina, and Virginia — 4 States.
t No candid.ite having received a majority of the votes of the Electoral College, the t-en-
•te tlMted R. M, JohQMn Vice-Pre«ltleot, who received 83 votM ; FrwasQrtuieerr«cciv«d U>
rorULAR AXD ELECTORAL VOTES.
545
1840 26
1841 26
1&18 30
1852
185G
1834 'SG
18S8 tsr
1872
1876
18801
294
275
290
296
296
303
314
poltticax
Party.
Whig
Democratic
Liberty
PUEHIDBN 18.
Candidates.
Wm. H. narrison..
Martin Van Buren.
James G. Birney...
Democratic Jamea K. Polk. . .
Whig Eenry Clay
Liberty James G. Birney.
Whig
Democratic
Free Soil...
Democratic
Whig
Free Dem..
Democratic
Republican.
American . .
Republican.
Democnitic.
Cons. Union
Ind. Dem. . .
Republican.
Democratic
317| Republican.
Democratic.
366
Republican.
Dem. &Lib.
Democratic.
Temp'rance
Zachary Taylor
Lewif Cass
Martin Van Buren.
Franklin Pierce.
Wiiilield Scott..
John P. Hale
James Buchanan. .
John C. Fremont.
Millard Fillmore..
Abraham Lincoln.
J. C. Breckinridge.
John Bell
S. A. Dou^rlas
Abraham Lincoln.
Geo. B. McClellaa.
Vacancies!
LHysses S. Grant. .
HoratiO beymour ,
Vacancies
Ulysses S. Grant...
Horace Greeley
Charles O'Cunor. . .
James Black
Thos. A. Hendricks
B. Gratz Brown . . .
Charles J Jenkins
David Davis
% Not Counted.
369 Republican. Rutherford B.Hayee 21
Democratic. Samuel J. Tildcn... 1
Greenback. .iPeterCooper
Prohibition Green Clay Smith.
Scattering
38 369 RepuDflcan.. Jamos A. Garfield. ..'19
] Democratic. iWinfloliI S.Haucockiia
Greenback.. James B. Weaver. ..|...
Scattering
Pop'ilar.
1,275,017
1,128,702
7,059
Vioe-Prksidbntb
Candidates.
234 John Tyler 234
60 R. M. Johnson . . 43
1,337,243 170
l,2;)9.(>(i8 105
62,300 ...
L. W. Tazewell.
James K. Polk..
Geo. M. Dallas.. 170
T. Frelinghuyseni loS
l,3fA101 1C3 Millard FillmoreiieS
l,-.ivi(),:,44 l-.;7i Wm. O. Butlcr..jl2T
:i'Jl,2(J3| . . . LChas. F. Adams.
],6<)1,474 254 Wm. R. King. .. 254
1,380.578 42 Wm. A. Graham 42
156,149 ... Geo. W.Julian..
1.838.109 174 'j. C. Breckinr'ge 174
1,341.204 114;:Wm. L. Dayton. 114
871,534 8 JA. J. Donelson.. 8
1,%0,.3,52 180' Hannibal Hamlin 180
" ' 78
39
IS
84.).7(j:i 72 Joseph Lane,
."iH.t.aSl! 89 Edward Everett.
1,370,157 12,:U. V. Johnson.,
2,216,007 212 'Andrew Johnson 21*
1,808.725 21;;g. H.Pendleton. i 21
81|| 81
214 Schnyler Colfas l?14
80 F. P. Blair, Jr...j 80
ail 23
3,015,071
2,709,613
3,r>97,070'28U: Henry Wilson... 'S8«
2,831,079
29,-408
6,608
B. Gratz Brown
Geo. W. Julian.
. ..i A. H. Colquitt...
42 John M. Palmer.
18 iT. E. Bramlctte.
2 JW. S. Groei^beok
lliWillisB.Machen
. ..I N. P. Banks
17:
4,033,9.'jO ia5 Wm. A. Wheeler 185
4,284,885 184 T. A. llendrickii 184
81,740
9.522
2,636,
4,449.068 214' aieeter A. Arthurian
4,442,0:15155 iWm. H. EngUah. 165
307.a06 B. J. Chambers......
12,!>70 L...
* Elevea States did not vote, viz.: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mid
eiasippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
t Tliree States did not vote, viz.: Mississippi, Texas, ami Virginia.
X Three electoral votes of Georgia cast for Horace Greeloy. and the votes ef Arlcanaas, ft
and Louisiana, 8, cast for U. S. Grant, were rejected. If all had heen included In ttie count
the eiec^nu vote would bave beea 900 for U. S. Urwt, cuiti $$ for opposlni; caadlutbi.
54'5
NATIONAL ELECTIONS.
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
The Presidential election will take place on Tuesday,
November 4th, 1S84. The Constitution prescribes that each
State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number
of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be
entitled in Congress. For the election this year the electors
by States will be as follows :
States. Electoral States. Electoral
Vote. Vute.
Alabama 10 Missouri 16
Arkansas 7 Nebraska 5
California 8 Nevada 3
Colorado 3 New Hampshire 4
Connecticut 6 New Jersey g
Delaware 3 New York. 36
Florida 4 North Carolina II
Georjijia 12 Ohio 23
Illinois 22 Oregon 3
Indiana 15 Pennsylvania... . 30
Iowa 13 Rhode Island... 4
Kansas 9 South Carolina 9
Kentucky 13 Tennessee 12
Louisiana 8 Texas 13
Maine 6 Vermont 4
Maryland 8 Virginia 12
Massachusetts 14 We^t Virginia , 6
Michigan 13 Wisconsin 11
Minnesota 7
Mississippi 9I Total 401
Necessary to a choice, 201.
No Senator or Representative, or person holding an ofifice of
profit or trust under the United States, shall be an elector.
In all the States, the laws thereof direct that the people shall
choose the electors. The Constitution declares that the dav
when electors are chosen shall be the same throughout the
United States. The electors shall meet in their respective
States on the first Wednesday in December, and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom at least shall
not be an inhabitant of the same State as themselves.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS.
547
QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS.
States.
Alabama ....
Arkansas
California . .
Colorado
Connecticut.
Delaware ....
Requirement
as to
Citizenship.
Florida 21
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine..
Maryland
Massachusetts.
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi. ...
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
N. Hampshire
New Jersey...
New York
N. Carolina...
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania .
Rhode Island
S. Carolina....
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
W.Virginia...
Wisconsin
Citizens or declared intention.
Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens
!i Citizens or declared intention.
'21 Actual citizens
'21 Actual County ta.xpayers
f United States citizens or "1
\ declared intention j
Actual citizens .
Actual citizens
Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens
Citizens or declared intention.
Free white male citizens
Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens
Actual citizens
Citizens
Citizens or declared intention.
2ilCitizens or declared intention.
2 1 Actual citizens
Citizens or declared intention
Citizens or declared intention
Citizens or declared intention,
Actual citizens
Actual citizens ,
21 Actual citizens
21 [Actual citizens
2 1 Actual citizens
21 'Citizens or declared intention
21 Actual citizens
21 Actual tax-paying citizens
21 Actual citizens
21 Actual citizens
Residence
6 mo
I mo
6 mo
gods
6ods
6ods
I yr. 3 mo
I yr. 6mo
I yr. 9ods
6mo
lyr.
I yr.
I yr.
I yr.
1 yr.
6 mo
6 mo
6 mo
2 yrs
I yr.
3 mo
lyr.
I yr.
3 mo
4 mo
6 mo
I yr.J6ods
6 mo
6mo!3ods
iSmo
Registration.
No law.
Prohibited.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Not required.
6 mo' Required.
I yr.
6 mo
6 mo
I yr.'4mo
gods
Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens
Actual citizens
Actual citizens
Citizens or declared intention.
lyr.
lyr.
I yr.
6 mo
lyr.
lyr.
I yr.
I yr.
I yr.
lyr.
I yr.
lyr.
lyr.
6ods
6 mo
6 mo
6ods
No law.
Required.
No law.
Required.
Req'd in cities
Not required.
No law.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Reciuired.
Required.
Req'd in cities
Required.
Required.
Required.
Req'd in cities
Req'd in cities
Required.
Not required.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Not required.
Prohibited.
Required.
Required.
Prohibited.
1 Required.
Note.— In several States women are permitted to vote on the school questions, sdo
lion of directors, etc.
548
HOMES OF THE PRESIDENTS.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Presi-
dential
Term.
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
lo
II
12
13
14
15
i6
17
i8
19
20
21
22
23
24
Name.
George Washington..
George Washington..
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Tliomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Madison
James Monroe
lames Monroe
John Quincy Adams.
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren...
Wm. n. Harrison.*
John Tyler
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor*
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham IJncoln
Abraham Lincoln *..
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield* . . .
Chester A. Arthur
Qualified.
April 30,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 5,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
April 6.
: March
I March
jjuly
March
{March ^,
I March 4,
March 4,
! April 15,
March 4,
i March 4,
March 5,
I March 4,
[Sept'r 20,
Born.
4,
5,
9.
4,
4.
1789
1793
1797
1801
1805
1809
1813
1817
1821
1825
1829
1833
1837
1841
1841
1845
1849
1850
1853
1857
1861
1865
1865
1869
1873
1877
Feb. 22, 1732
Oct. 19 1735,
April 2, 1743
March 5, 1751
Died.
Dec. 14,
July 4,
July 4,
1799
1826
1826
June 28, 1836
April 28, 1758 July 4,
July II, 1767 Feb. 23.
Mar. 15, 1767 June 8,
Dec. 5, 1782 July 24,
Feb. 9, 1 773' April 4,
Mar. 29, l79oljan. 17,
Nov. 2, 1 795 June 15,
Nov. 24, 1784 July 9,
Jan. 7, 1800
Nov. 23, 1804 Oct. 8
April 22, 1 79 1 June I,
Feb. 12, 1809 April 15,
Dec. 29, 1 80S
April 27, 1822
Oct. 4, 1822
Nov. 19, 1831 Sept. 19,
Oct. 5, 1830
1S31
1848
145
1862
1841
1862
1849
1850
1869
1868
1865
July 30,1875
[881
* Died in office.
Total number of incumbents, 21.
HOMES OF THE PRESIDENTS.
Washington.
Native State.
Virginia Virginia
Adams ! Massachusetts.
Whence Elected.
Virginia.
Massachusetts..,
North Carolina..
New York
Virginia
North Carolina.
Massachusetts.
Virginia.
Jefferson
Madison
Monroe
Adams, J. Quincy
Jackson
Van Buren
Harrison
Tyler „
Polk
Tayior Virgini
Fillmore New York.
Pierce 'New Hampshire... New H.Tmpshire.
Buchanan 1 Pennsylvania 1 Pemisylvania.
Lincoln Kentucky Illinois.
Johnson North Carolina Tennessee.
Grant |Ohio 'Illinois.
Hayes ^ " iOhio.
Garfield " "
Arthwr '.'.....'.'. 'New York ^New York.
Massachusetts.
Tennessee.
New York.
Ohio.
Virginia.
Tennessee.
Louisiana.
New York.
VICE- PRESIDENTS.
549
VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Vice-
Fres.
Terra.
Name.
John Adams
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Aaron Burr
George Clinton .
George Clinton*
William II. Crawfordf.
Elbridge Gerry*
John Gaillard*
Daniel D. Tompkins....
Daniel D. Tompkins...
John C.Calhoun
John C Calhoun J
Hugh L. Whitef
Martin Van Buren
Richard M. Johnson....
John Tyler^
.Samuel L. Southardf...
Willie P. Mangumf ....
George M. Dallas
Millard Fillmore§
William R. Kingf
William R. King*
David R. Atchisonf....
Jesse D. I5right f
John C. lireckenridge..
Hannibal Hamlin
\ndrew Johnson^
Lafayette S. Fosterf
Benjamin F. Wadef ...
Schuyler Colfax
Henry W' ilson*
Thomas W. Ferry f
William A. Wheeler...,
Chester A. Arthur \
David Davis f
George F. Edmundsf...
Qualified.
June 3
Dec. 2,
March 4,
March 4
March 4,
March 4,
April 10
March 4,
Nov. 25,
March 4,
March 5,
March 4,
March 4,
Dec. 28^
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
April 6
May 31
March 4
March 5
July II
March 4
April
Dec.
March
March
March
April 1
March
March 4
March 4
Nov. 22
March 5
March 4
13
3
Oct. .
March
7891
793/
797
801
8051.
809 J
812
813
814
817
821
8251
829/
832
833
837
841
841
842
845
849
8501
853 i
853
854
857
861
865
865
867
869
873
875
877
881
Born.
1735
1743
1756
1739
1772
1744
1744
1782
1773
1782
1780
1790
1787
1792
1792
1800
1786
1807
1812
1821
1809
1808
1806
1800
1823
1812
1827
1819
1830
1815
1828
* Died in office, t Acting Vice-President and President pro tern, of the Scnatef
X Resigned the Vice-Presidency, g Became President.
CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.
George Washington: April 30, 1789— March 4, 1797 (two terms).
Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson, appointed Sept. 26, 1789
Edmund Randol]ih,
Timothy Pickering,
Jan. 2, 1794
Dec. 10, 1795
550
CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.
Stcretary of Treasury
■ Alexander Hamilton,
appointed Sept. 11,
1789
« »
Oliver Wolcott,
"
Feb. 2,
1795
War:
Henry Knox,
"
Sept. 12
1789
" "
Timothy Pickering,
"
Jan. 2,
1795
" "
James ^IcHenry,
«
Jan. 27,
1796
Postmaster General:
Samuel Osgood,
<<
Sept. 26,
1789
11 <(
Timothy Pickering,
"
Aug. 12,
1 791
" «
Joseph Habersham,
It
Feb. 25,
179s
Attorney- General:
Edmund Randolph,
"
Sept. 26,
1789
" "
William Bradford,
"
Jan. 27,
1794
" "
Charles Lee,
<<
Dec. 10,
1795
John Adams: March
4. 1797 — March 4, 180
I (one term
).
Secretary of State :
Timothy Pickering,
appointed
March 4,
1797
" "
John Marshall,
"
May 13,
1800
" Treasury.
Oliver Wolcott,
"
March 4,
1797
" "
Samuel Dexter,
"
Jan. I,
iSoi
tVar:
James Mc Henry,
"
March 4,
1797
'• "
Samuel Dexter,
•'
May 13,
iSoo
« iC
Rodger Oriswold,
"
Feb. 3,
1801
Navy:
Benjamin Stoddart,
"
May 21,
1798
Postmaster- General:
Joseph Habersham,
"
March 4,
1797
Attoi-ney- General:
Charles Lee,
"
March 4,
1797
" "
Theophilus Parsons,
"
Feb. 20,
1801
Thomas Jefferson:
Vlarch 4, iSoi — March
4, 1S09 {U\
0 terms).
Secretary of State :
James Madison,
appointed March 5,
1801
" Treasury.
Albert Gallatin,
"
May 14,
1801
War:
Henry Dearborn,
"
iSIarch 5,
1801
" Nazy:
Benjamin Stoddert,
((
March 4,
1801
I' «
Robert Smith,
«'
July 15.
1 801
(( (<
J. Crowninshield,
"
March 3,
1805
Postmaster- General :
Joseph Habersham,
«'
March 4,
I So I
" "
Gideon Granger,
"
Nov. 28,
iSoi
Attorney- General:
Levi Lincoln,
"
March 5,
1801
« u
Robert Smith,
"
March 3,
1S05
i< «
John Breckinridge,
"
Aug. 7,
1805
(( «
Caesar A. Rodney,
"
Jan. 28,
1807
James Madison: March 4, 1809 — March 4, i
Si 7 (two terms).
Secretary of State :
Robert Smith,
appointed
March 6,
1809
" "
James Monroe,
"
April 2,
iSii
" Treasury
• Albert Gallatin,
"
March 4,
1809
" "
George W. Campbell,
"
Feb. 9,
1814
« ti
Alexander J. Dallas,
((
Oct. 6,
1S14
<» <j
William H. Crawford,
"
Oct. 22,
1S16
" jr^/v
William Eustis,
"
March 7,
1809
" "
John Armstrong,
"
Jan. 13,
1813
" "
James Monroe,
"
Sept. 27,
1814
« «
William H. Crawford
"
Aug. I,
1815
" Nazy:
Paul Hamilton,
«
March 7,
1809
" "
William Jones,
"
Jan. t2,
1S13
M «
B. W. Crowninshield,
"
Dec. 19,
1814
CABINETS OP THE PRESIDENTS.
55 T
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General:
Gideon Granger, appointed March 4, iSoxf
Return J. Meigs, Jr., " March 17, 1814
Csesar A, Rodney, " March 4, 1809
William Pinkney, " Dec. 11,1811
Richard Rush, " Feb. 10, 1814
James Monroe: March 4, 1S17 — March 4, 18
Secretary of State:
" Treasury
War :
" N'avy :
Post)7iasler- General :
Attorney- General :
John Quincy Adams,
William II. Crawford,
George Graham,
John C. Calhoun,
B. W. Crowninshield,
Smith Thompson,
Samuel L. Southard,
Return J. Meigs, Jr.,
John McLean,
Richard Rush,
William Wirt,
25 (two terms).
appointed March 5, 1817
" March 5, 181 7
'' ad interim.
Oct. 8, 1817
'' March 4, 1817
Nov. 9, 1818
" Sept. 16, 1823
" March 4, 1817
•' June 26, 1823
" March 4, 181 7
" Nov. 13, 1817
John Quincy Adams: March 4, 1825 — March 4, 1829 (one term).
Secretary of State : Henry Clay, appointed March 7, 1835
" N'avy :
Postmaster- General
Attorney- General :
Treasury: Richard Rush,
War: James I5arbour,
" Peter B. Porter,
Samuel L. Southard,
John McLean,
William Wirt,
Andrkw Jackson
Secretary of State :
March 4, 1829 — March 4,
Martin Van Buren,
Edward Livingston,
Louis McLane,
John Forsyth,
Samuel D. Ingham,
Louis McLane,
William J. Duane,
Roger B. Taney,
Levi Woodbury,
John II. Eaton,
Lewis Cass,
John Branch,
Levi Woodbury,
Mahlon Dickerson,
William T. Barry,
Amos Kendall,
John M. Berrien,
Roger B. Taney,
" " Benjamin F. Butler,
Martin Van Buren: March 4, 1837— March
Secretary of State: John Forsyth,
" Treasury : Levi Woodbury,
" IVar: Joel R. Poinsett,
Treasury
War:
N^avy .
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General:
March 7, 1825
" March 7, 1825
May 26, 1828
" March 4, 1825
" March 4, 1825
" March 4, 1825
1837 (two terms).
appointed March 6, 1829
" May 24, 1 83 1
" May 29, 1S33
" June 27, 1S34
" March 6, 1829
" Aug. 2, 1831
'< May 29, 1833
Sept. 23, 1833
" June 27, 1834
" March 9, 1829
<' Aug. I, 1831
" March 9, 1S29
" May 23, 1S31
June 30, 1834
" March 9, 1829
'' May I, 1835
" March 9, 1829
" July 20, 1831
Nov. IS, 1833
4, 1841 (one term).
appointed March 4, 1837
" March 4, 1837
" March 7, 1837
552
CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.
Secretary of Navy :
Postmaster- General:
Attorney- General:
Mahlon Dickerson,
James K. Paulding,
Amos Kendal,
John M. Niles,
Benjamin F. Butier,
Felix Grundy,
Henry D. Gilpin,
appointed March 4, 1837
" June 25, 1838
" March 4, 1837
" May 25, 1840
" March 4, 1837
July 5, 1838
" Jan. II, 1840
William H. Harrison: March 4, 1841 — April 6, 1841 (partial term).
Secretary of State : Daniel Webster,
" Treasury : Thomas Ewing,
« War: John Bell,
" Navy : George E. Badger,
Postmaster-General : Francis Granger,
Attorney- General: John J. Crittenden,
appointed March 5, 1841
« March 5, 1841
" March 5, 1841
" March 5, 1841
" March 6, 1841
" March 5, 1841
John Tyler: April 6, 1841 — March 4, 1845 (partial term).
Secretary of State : Dahiel Webster, appointed April 6,
'« " Hugh S. Legare, " May 9,
" « Abel P. Upshur, " July 24,
« " John C. Calhoun, " March 6,
" Treasury: Thomas Ewing, " April 6,
" " Waker Forward, " Sept. 13,
" " John C. Spencer, " March 3,
" " George M. Bibb, " June 15,
" War: John Bell, " April 6,
" '* John C. Spencer, " Oct. 12,
« " James M. Porter, " March 8,
«' " William Wilkins, " June 15,
" Navy: George E. Badger, " April 6,
«' " Abel P. Upshur, " Sept. 13,
« " David Henshaw, " July 24,
" " Thomas W. Gilmer, " Feb. 15,
" " John Y. Mason, " March 14,
Postmaster- General : Francis Granger, " April 6,
Charles A. Wickliffe, " Sept. 13,
Attorney-General: John J. Crittenden, " April 6,
" " Hugh S. Legare, " Sept. 13,
" " John Nelson, " July i,
James K. Polk: March4, 1845 — March 5, 1849 (one term).
841
843
843
844
841
841
843
844
841
841
843
844
841
841
843
844
844
841
841
841
841
843
Secretary of State :
" Treasury
" War :
" Navy :
« i<
Postmaster- General:
Attorney- General :
James Buchanan,
• Robert J. Walker,
William L. Marcy,
George Bancroft,
John Y. Mason,
Cave Johnson,
John Y. Mason,
Nathan Clifford,
Isaac Toucey,
appointed March 6, 1845
" March 6, 1845
" March 6, 1845
«' March 10, 1845
" Sept. 9, 1846
" March 6, 1845
" March 6, 1845
" Oct. 17, 1846
« June 21, 1848
CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.
55.
Zachary Taylor : March 5, 1849 — July 9, 1850 (partial term).
Secretary of State :
" Treasury .
War:
" Navy :
'' Interior :
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General :
John M. Clayton,
William M. Meredith,
George W. Crawford,
William B. Preston,
Thomas Ewing,
Jacob Collamer,
Reverdy Johnson,
Millard Fillmore: July 9, 1850 — March 4,
Secretary of State : Daniel Webster,
" " Edward Everett,
Treasury : Thomas Corwin,
" War :
" Navy :
a a
" Interior.
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General :
Charles M. Conrad,
William A. Graham,
John P. Kennedy,
Alex. H. H. Stuart,
Nathan K. Hall,
Samuel D. Hubbard,
John J. Crittenden,
appointed March 7, 1849
" March 8, 1849
" March 8, 1849
" March 8, 1849
" March 8, 1849
" March 8, 1849
" March 8, 1849
1853 (partial term).
yppointed July 32, 1850
" Nov. 6, 1852
July 23, 1850
" Aug. 15, 1850
" July 22, 1850
" July 22, 1852
" Sept. 12, 1850
'' July 23, 1S50
Aug. 31, 1852
" July 22, 1850
Franklin Pierce: March 4, 1853 — March 4, 18^7 (one term)
Secretary of State :
•' Treasury
" War:
" Na'tj:
" Interior:
Postmaster- General:
Attorney- Getieral:
William L. Marcy,
James Guthrie,
Jefferson Davis,
James C. Dobbin,
Robert McClelland,
James Campbell,
Caleb Gushing,
appointed March 7, 1853
" March 7, 1853
" March 5, 1853
" March 7, 1853
" March 7, 1853
" March 5, 1853
" March 7, 1853
James Buchanan: March 4, 1857 — March 4, 1861 (one term).
Secretary of State:
" War:
<< <<
" Navy:
" Interior.
Postmaster- General-
Attorney- General:
Lewis Cass,
Jeremiah S. Black,
Treasury: Howell Cobb,
" Philip F. Thomas,
" John A. Dix,
John B. Floyd,
Joseph Holt,
Isaac Toucey,
Jacob Thompson,
Aaron V. Brown,
Joseph Holt,
Horatio King,
Jeremiah .S. Black,
Edwin M. Stanton,
appointed March 6,
«' Dec. 17,
" March 6,
" Dec. 12,
•' Jan. II,
" March 6,
Jan. 18,
" March 6,
" March 6,
" March 6,
" March 14,
" Feb. 12,
" March 6,
" Dec. 20,
1857
i860
1857
i860
1861
1857
1861
1857
1857
1857
i«59
1861
1857
i860
Abraham Lincoln: March 4, 1 861— April 15, 1865 (one term and a
part).
Secretary of State : William H. Seward, appointed March 5, 1861
« Treasury: Salmon P. Chase, " March 7, 1861
554
CABINETS OF TME PRESIDENTS.
Secretary of Treasury .
<( <<
" War:
" Navy :
" Interior:
<< <<
Postmaster- General :
H (<
Attorney- General :
William P. Fessenden,
Hugh McCulloch,
Simon Cameron,
Edwin M. Stanton,
Gideon Welles,
Caleb B. Smith,
John P. Usher,
Montgomery Blair,
William Dennison,
Edward Bates,
Titian J. Coffey, ad int.,
James Speed,
appointed July i, 1864
" March 7, 1865
" March 5, 1861
" Jan. 15, 1862
" March 5, 1861
" March 5, 1 861
Jan. 8, 1863
" March 5, 1861
'' Sept. 24, 1864
" March 5, i86l
" June 22, 1863
" Dec. 2, 1864
Andrew Johnson: April 15, 1865 — March 4, 1869 (partial term).
Secretary of State .
Treasury
War:
Navy :
Interior :
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General :
William 11. Seward,
Elihu B. Washburne,
Hugh McCulloch,
Edwin M. Stanton,
Ulysses S. Grant, ad int.,
Lorenzo Thomas,
John M. Schofield,
Gideon Welles,
John P. Usher,
James Harlan,
Orville H. Browning,
William Dennison,
Alexander W. Randall,
James Speed,
Henry Stanbery,
William M. Evarts,
appointed April 15,
'' March 5,
" April 15,
April 15,
Aug. 12,
Feb. 21,
May 28,
April 15,
April 15,
May 15,
July 27,
April 15,
July 25,
April 15,
July 23,
July 15.
1865
1869
1865
1865
1868
1868
1868
1865
1865
1865
1866
1865
1866
1865
1866
1868
Ulysses S. Grant: March 4, 1869 — March 5, 1877 (two terms).
Secretary of State : Hamilton Fish, appointed March II, 1869
George S. Boutwell, " March 11,1869
William A. Richardson, " March 17, 1873
Benjamin H. Bristow, " June 4,1^74
Lot M. Morrill, " July 7, 1876
John A. Rawlins, " March 11, 1869
William W. Belknap, " Oct. 25, 1869
Alphonso Taft, " March 8, 1876
James D. Cameron, " May 22, 1876
Adolph E. Borie, " March 5, 1869
George M. Robeson, " June 25, 1869
Jacob D. Cox, " March 5, 1869
Columbus Delano, " Nov. i, 1870
Zachariah Chandler, " Oct. 19, 1875
John A. J. Creswell, " March 5, 1869
Marshall Jewell, " Aug. 24, 1874
James N. Tyner, " July 12, 1876
E. Rockwood Hoar, " March 5, 1869
Amos T. Akerman, " June 23, 1870
George H. Williams, " Dec. 14, 1871
Edwards Pierrepont, " April 26, 1875
Alphonso Taft, " May 29, 1876
Treasury
War.
Navy :
Interior .
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General .
COMMANDERS OF THE U. S. ARMY.
555
Rutherford B, Hayes : March 5, 1877— March 4, i88i (one term).
Secretary of State : William M. Evarts,
Treasury : John Sherman,
appointed March
" March
" War .
<( <(
" Navy :
« <<
" Interior :
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General :
James A. Garfield :
Secretary of State :
'' Treasury
" War :
" Navy :
" Interior :
Postmaster- General :
Attorney- General :
George W. McCrary, " March
Alexander Ramsey, " Dec.
Richard W. Thompson, " March
Nathan Goft', Jr., " Jan.
Carl Schurz, " March
David McK. Key, •' March
Horace Maynard, " June
Charles Devens, " March
12, 1877
8, 1877
12, 1877
10, 1879
12, 1877
6, 1881
12, 1877
12, 1877
2, 1S80
12, 1877
March 4, 1881 — September 19, 1881 (partial term).
James G. Blaine,
William Windom,
Robert T. Lincoln,
William H. Hunt,
Samuel J. Kirkwood,
Thomas L. James,
Wayne MacVeagh,
appointed March 5, 1881
" March 5, 1 88 1
March 5, 1881
March 5, 1881
March 5, 1881
" March 5, 1881
" March 5, 1881
Chester A. Arthur, September 20, 1881-
Secretary of State :
" Treasury .
" War :
" Navy :
" Interior :
Postmaster- General:
F. T. Frelinghuysen,
Charles J. Folger,
Robert T. Lincoln,
William E. Chandler,
Henry M. Teller,
Timothy O. Howe,
Attorney- General : Benjamin H. Brewster,
appointed Dec. 12, 1881
Oct. 27, 1 88 1
" Sept. 20, 1881
" April I, 1882
" April 6, 1882
" Dec. 20, 1881
" Dec. 19, 1881
COMMANDERS OF THE U. S. ARMY— 1775-1884.
Major-General George Washington 1""* '5> '77S> '° December 23, 1783.
Major-General Henry Knox December 23, 1783, to June 20, 1784.
Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah Harmer, gener-
ai-in-chief by brevet September, 1788, to March, 1791.
Major-General Arthur St. Clair March 4, 1791, to March, J792.
Major-General Anthony Wayne April 11, 1792, to December 15, 1796.
Major-General James Wilkinson December 15, 1796, to July. 1798.
Lieutenant-General George Washington. ..July 3, 1798, to his death, December 14, 1799.
Major-General James Wilkinson June, 1800, to January, 1812.
Major-General Henry Dearborn January 27, 1812, to June, 1815.
Major-General Jacob Brown June, 1815, to February 2t, 1828
Major-General Alexander Macomb May 24, 1828, to June, 1841.
Major-General Winfield Scott (brevet Lieu-
tenant-General) June, 1841, to November I, 1861.
Major-General George B.McClellan November 1, 1861, to March 11, 1862.
Major-General Henry W. Halleck July ". 1862. to March 12. 1864.
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant March 12 1864, to July 25, 1866, and as Gen-
eral to March 4, 1869.
General William T. Sherman March 4, 1869, to November i. 1883.
Lieutenant-General Philip H. Sheridan. ...Since November i, 1883.
556
CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. NAVY.
CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. ARMY.
Entered the Army.
General of the Army Lieut. -Gen. Philip H.Sheridan 1853
Major-Generals Winfield S. Hancock 1844
John M. Schofield 1853
John Pope 1842
Brigadier-Generals Oliver O. Howard 1854
Alfred H. Terry 1865
Christopher C. Augur 1843
George Crook 1852
Nelson A. Miles 1866
Ranold S. Mackenzie 1862
CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. NAVY.
Name.
Whence
Ap-
pointed.
Original
Entry
into
Service.
Rank. )
David D. Porter
Penn
1829
Admiral.
Stephen C. Rowan...
John L. Worden
Edward T. Nichols..
George H. Cooper..
Aaron K. Hughes
Charles H. Baldwin.
Robert W. Shufeldt.
Thomas Pattison
Edward Simpson
William G. Temple...
Thomas S. Phelps
Clark H. Wells
S. P. Huackenbush
Earl English
John 11. Upshur
Francis A. Roe
Samuel R. Franklin....
Edward Y. McCauley.
J.C. P. de Krafft
Oscar C. Badger
Stephen B. Luce
John Lee Davis
Alexander A. Semmes.
William T. Truxtun...,
Jonathan Young
William K. Mayo
James E. Jowett
T. Scott Fillebrown....
Tohnuss H. Rell
Ohio ,
N. Y
Ga
N. Y
N. Y
N. Y
N. Y
N. Y
N. Y
Vt
Maine...
Penn
N. Y....
N. J
D. C
N. Y....
Penn
Penn
Ill
Penn
N. Y
Ind
Md
Penn
Ill
Va
Ky
Maine...
Md
1826
1834
1836
1837
1838
1839
1839
1839
1840
1840
1840
1840
1840
184
184
184
184
184
184
Vice-Admiral.
\ Rear- Admirals.
- Commodorei>,
SPEAA'ERS.
557
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES."
F. A. Muhlenberg Pennsylvania
Jonathan Trumbull "Connecticut,
F.A.Muhlenberg....
Jonathan Dayton
Theodore Sedgwick
Nathaniel Macon ,
Joseph B. Varnum..
Henry Clay
Langdon Cheves.,
Henry Clay ,
John W. Taylor New York..
Philip P. Barbour Virginia.,
Henry Clay Kentucky..
John W.Taylor iNew York,
Andrew Stevenson i Virginia.,..
Pennsylvania .
New Jersey....
Massachusetts...
North Carolina.
Massachusetts..
Kentucky
South Carolina.
Kentucky
John Bell
James K. Polk.
Tennessee.
Robert M. T. Hunter j Virginia ,
John White ! Kentucky
ohn W. Jones 'Virginia
John W. Davis ilndiana
Robert C. Winthrop | Massachusetts .
Howell Cobb Georgia
Linn Boyd JKentucky
Nathaniel P. Banks Massachusetts..
James L. Orr , South Carolina.,
Wm. Pennington New Jersey
Galusha A. Grow Pennsylvania ...
Schuyler Colfax Indiana
James G. Blaine.
Michael C. Kerr....
Samuel J. Randall.
J. Warren Keifer..
John G. Carlisle....
Indiana
Pennsylvania.
Ohio
Kentucky.,
ist
2d
3d
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
gth
loth
nth
I2th
13th
13th
14th
15th
1 6th
i6th
17th
1 8th
19th
2oth
2ISt
22d
23d
23d
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
31st
32d
33C1
34th
35th
36th
37th
38th
39th
40th
41st
42d
43d
44th
44th
45th
46th
47th
48th
April I,
October 24,
December 2,
December 7,
May 15,
December 2,
December 7,
October 17,
December 2,
October 26,
May 22,
November 4,
May 24,
January 19,
December 4,
December i,
December 6,
November 15,
December 4,
December i,
December 5,
December 3,
December 7,
December 5,
December 2,
June 2,
December 7,
September 5,
Decemberi6,
May 31,
December 4,
December i,
December 6,
December22,
December i,
December 5,
February 2,
December 7,
February i,
J'lly 4,
December 7,
December 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
December i,
December 6,
December 4,
October 15,
March i8,
December 5,
December 3,
789, to March 4
791, to March 4
71)3, to March 4
795, to March 4
797, to March 3
799, to March 4
801, to March 4
S03, to March 4
805, to March 4
807, to March 4
809, to March 4
8n, to March 4
813, to Jan'y 19
814, to March 4
815, to March 4,
817, to March 4
819, to May 15
820, to March 4
821, to March 4,
823, to March 4
I25, to March 4
827, to March 4
829, to March 4
S31, to March 4
833, to June 2
834, to March 4
835, to March 4
837, to March 4
839, to March 4
841, to March 4
843, to March 4,
845, to March 4
847, to March 4
849, to March 4
851, to March 4
853, to March 4
856, to March 4
857, to March 4
860, to March 4
86i, to March 4
863, to March 4
865, to March 4
867, to March 4
869, to March 4
871, to March 4
873, to March 4
875, to Aug. 20
876, to March 4
877, to March 4
879, to March 4
881, to March 4
883, to
791
793
795
797
799
807
809
811
813
814
815
817
819
820
821
S23
82s
827
829
831
833
834
835
837
839
841
843
845
847
849
85X
853
855
857
859
861
863
865
867
869
871
873
875
876
877
879
83i
883
* Not including Speakers/ri? Um.
CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION OF THE STATES.
I. Ratio ok Representatives and Population.
By Constitution, 1789 One to 30,000.
• " First Census, from March 4th, 1793 " 33,000.
" Second " " " 1803 " 33.000-
«« Third " " " 1813 " 35.ooo-
55?
CONGRESSTONAL REPRESENTA TION.
By Fourth Census, from March 4th, 1823 One to 40,odd!
" Fifth " " " 1833 " 47,700.
" Sixth " " "1843 " 7o,68d;
" Seventh " " " 1853 " 93,423.
" Eii^hth " " " 1863 " 127,381.
'• Ninth " " " 1873 " 131,425.
" Tenth " " " 1883 " 154,325.
II. Representatives from Each State Under Each Census.
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire.
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina...
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina....
Virginia
Kentucky
Vermont
Tennessee ..
Ohio
Alabama
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Maine.
Mississippi
Missouri
Arkansas
Michigan
California ,
Florida
Iowa
Minnesota
Oregon
Texas.
Wisconsin
Kansas
Nebraska
Nevada
Colorado
West Virginia.
Consti-
tution,
1789.
5
I
3
6
8
3
4
6
5
8
I
5
10
^ c to C
!-5 3
Whole number 65 105 141 181 213 240 223 237 243 293 325
j2 3 'j= 3
SUPREME COURT.
559
Chief Justices and Associate Justices of
the U. S. Supreme Court.*
John Jayt
John Rutledgef
William Cushing§
James Wilson g
John Blairf
Robert H. Harrison f ....
James Iredell I
Thomas Johnson f
William Patterson \ ,
John Rutledge I
Samuel Chase §
Oliver Ellsworth f...
Bushrod Washington \...
Alfred Moore f ,
John Marshall^
William Johnson 1........
Brockholst Livingston \ . .
Thomas Todd§
Joseph Story^
Gabriel Duval-}-
Smith Thompson ^
Robert Trimble g
John McLean §.
Henry Baldwin^
James ^L Wayne |
Roger B. Taney ?
Philip P. Barbour §
John Catron §
John McKinley^
Peter V. Daniel I
Samuel Nelson f
Levi Woodbury |
Robert C. Grierf
Benjamin R. Curtis f....
John A. Campbell -f-
Nathan Clifford?
Noah H. Swaynef
Samuel F. Miller
David Davisf
Stephen J. Field
Salmon P. Chase §...
William Strongf
Joseph P. Bradley
Ward Hunt
Morrison R. "Waite.
John M. Harlan
William B. Woods
Stanley Matthews ,
Horace Gray
Samuel Blatchford ,
State Whence Appointed.
New York
South Carolina...
Massachussetts....
Pennsylvania
Virgmia
Maryland
North Carolina...
Maryland
New Jersey
South Carolina...
Maryland
Connecticut
Virginia
North Carolina...
Virginia
South Carolina...
New York
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Maryland
New York
Kentucky
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Georgia
Maryland
Virginia
Tennessee
Alabama
Virginia
New York
New Hampshire.
Pennsylvania
Massachusetts
Alabama
Maine
Ohio
Iowa
Illinois
California ,
Ohio
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
iKentucky
[Georgia
'Ohio
Massachusetts
New York
Term of
Service.
1789-
1789-
17S9-
1789-
1789.
1789-
1790-
179I-
1793-
1795-
1796-
1796-
1798-
1799-
180I-
1S04-
1806-
1807-
1811-
181I-
1S23-
1826-
1829-
1830-
1835-
1836-
1836-
1837-
1837-
184I-
1845-
1845-
1846
1851-
1853-
1858-
1861-
1862-
1862-
1863-
1864-
1870-
1870-
1872- 1882
1874-
1877-
1880-
1881-
1881-
I1882-
795
791
810
798
796
790
799
793
806
795
811
801
829
804
835
834
823
826
845
836
845
828
86i
846
867
864
841
S65
852
860
872
851
869
857
861
881
881
877
873
880
• Chief Justices in heavy type, f Resigned. X Presided one term, g Died in office.
560 WHERE OUR CHIEF OFFICERS CAME FROM.
WHERE OUR CHIEF OFFICERS CAME FROM.
From the beginning of the Government in ijSg to 1884.
States.
1 c
>l
p.
0
•E V.
S B
0
CO
0
'5 S
u
u
0
.1; 0
1/3
S2 .
S c
SO
c
c
0
t;
3
u S
U 3
3
-g 0
3
0
a
0
t
K
5
•
Alabama
I
2
2
5
Arkansas
California
I
I
Colorado
Connecticut
I
I
I
2
I
4
I
I
I
3
■ I
15
4
Delaware
2
Florida
Georgia
I
I
2
I
2
2
2
I
I
2
2
I
2
2
2
I
3
I
I
3
14
8
Illinois
2
I
Indiana
II
Iowa
I
5
Kansas
Kentucky
2
I
I
I
I
I
3
I
3
2
2
3
I
I
I
I
4
3
3
2
^
23
Louisiana
I
I
Maine
I
2
I
I
5
5
I
5
4
2
2
2
I
4
8
Maryland
I
4
I
3
5
2
?i
Massachusetts
Michigan
2
3
36
6
Minnesota
I
Mississippi
I
I
I
I
I
4
3
Rfissouri
I
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
I
I
2
3
2
4
I
2
6
2
5
3
I
I
3
I
2
I
I
I
8
I
5
4
3
9
New York
3
7
4
5
North Carolina
10
Ohio
3
4
3
3
3
I
6
76
Oregon
I
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
I
I
3
7
6
2
2
4
3
2
3
2
I
3
6
3
2
2
4
38
7.
South Carolina
3
I
I
2
I
2
2
I
I
I
2
I
M
Tennessee
3
16
Texas
I
Vermont ..
I
<f
Virginia..
5
2
6
3
4
4
5
40
West Virginia . ..
Wisconsin
2
30
I
50
30
3
38
Total
21
20
29
34
37
30
14
38
49
OUR REPRESENTATIVES ABROAD.
561
OUR REPRESENTATIVES ABROAD,
COUKTRY.
Name and Rank.
Residence.
Salary,
Argentine Republic
Thomas O. Osbom, Min. Res
Alphonso Taft,* E. E. and W. P
Henry White, Sec. Leg., and C. G
#7.500
Austria-Hungary ...
3.5°o
7.500
5,000
Rich.-ird Gibbs, M. R. and C. G
La Paz
Brazil
Thomas A. Osborne, E. E. and M. P.
Charles B. Trail, Sec. Legation
Central American
States
Henry C. Hall, E. E. and M. P
C. A. Logan, E. E. and M. P
Chili
Santiago _
J. Russell Young, E. E. and M. P
Jhester Holcombe, Sec. and Int
Wm. L. Scruggs, Minister Res
Lucius H. Foote, E. E. and M. P
Wick'm Hoffman, M. R. and C. G....
Levi P. Morton, E. E. and M. P
Peking
5,000
7.500
5,000
5,000
17.500
3,625
Paris
E. J. Brulatour, Sec. Legation
Paris. .
Henri Vignaud, 2d Sec. Legation
Aaron A. Sargent, E. E. and M. P....
H. Sidney Everett, Sec. Legation
Chapman Coleman, 2d S. Legation
James R. Lowell, E. E. and M. P
Paris
17,500
2,625
Berlin
Berlin
London
17.500
Greece
Eugene Schuyler, M. R. and C. G
RoUin M. Daggett, Min. Res
6,500
7,500
John M. Langston, M. R. and C. G..
Wm. W. Astor, E. E. and M. P
Lewis Richmond, Sec. of Leg. and C.
G
Port au Prince
3.500
John A. Bingham, E. E. and M. P....
Sustavus Goward, Sec. Legation
Tokei (Yedo)
2,500
2,500
S.ooo
Tokei (Yedo)
T 'he '
J. H. Smyth, M. R. and C. G
Philip H. Morgan, E. E. and M. P...
Henry H. Morgan, Sec. Legation
Wm. L. Dayton, Minister Res
1,800
The Hague
7.500
5,000
Paragruay and Uru-
Wm. Williams, Charge d' Affaires
S. G. W. Benjamin, ISIin. Res. and
5,000
SethS. Phelps, E. E. and M.P
John M. Francis, M. R. and C. G
Eugene Schuyler, M.R.andC. G
George W. Wertz, Sec. Legation
Eugene Schuyler, M. R. and C. G...._
J. A. Halderman, M. R.and C. G
John W. Foster, E. E. and M. P
Dwight T. Reed, Sec. and C. G
Wm. W.Thomas, Jr., Min. Res
Michael J. Cramer, M. R. and C. G...
Lewis Wallace, E. E. and M. P
G. Harris Heap. Sec. Leg. and C. G..
5,000
6,500
St. Petersburg
17.S00
c
Athens
6,500
'? ■
5.000
Madrid
12,000
P*'
Madrid
3,000
7,5a>
5.090
Sweden and Norway
Berne,
Constantinople
7.500
lurey
3.500
3,000
7.S00
Jehu Baker, Minister Res
\
562
OL/J? REPRESENTATIVES FROM ABROAD.
OUR REPRESENTATIVES FROM ABROAD
Country.
Name.
-i
Argentine Republic.
Austria- Hungary ....
Belgium
Senor Don Douis L. Dominguez.*
Senor Don Florencio L. Dominguez.f
Baron Ignatz von Schaeffer (absent).*
Count von Ijppe Weissenfield.J
Mr. Bounder de Melsbroeck.*
ICount Gaston d'Arschot.J
Brazil Senhor J. G. do Amaral Valente.J
Chili Senor Don Joaquin Godoy.*
Senor Don Federico Pinto. f
China [Mr. Cheng Tsao Ju.*
;Mr. Tsii Shau Pung.f
Denmark 'Mr. Carl Steen Anderson de Billie.g
France Mr. Theodore Roustan (absent).*
[Mr. Horace Denaut.J
Germany [Captain C. von Eisendacker.*
Count Lyden.f
Great Britain The Honorable L. S. Sackville West.*
Dudley E. Saurin, Esq.f
Hawaii Mr. H. A. P. Carter.*
Hayti Mr. Stephen Preston.*
Mr. Charles A. Preston.f
Italy 'Baron de Fava (absent).*
Marquis A. Dalla Valle de Mirabello.J
Japan Joshii Terashima Munenori (absent").*
Mr. Naito Ruijiro.f
Mexico Senor Don Matias Romero (absentV*
Sefior Don Cayetano Romero. |
Netherlands Mr. G. de Weckherlin (absent).?
Baron P. de Smeth Van Alphen \
Peru Senor Don J. Federico Elmore. |
Portugal IViscount das Nogueiras.*
Russia Mr. Charles de Struve.*
Mr. Gregoire de Willamov.f
Spain
Sweden and Norway.
Switzerland .
Turkey...
Uruguay ,
Sefior Don Juan Valera.*
Senor Don Enrique Dupuy de Lome. J
Count Carl Lewenhaupt (absent).*
Mr. C. de Bildt.J
Colonel Emile Frey.*
Major Karl Kloss.f
Tewfik Pasha.*
Rustem Effendi.f
Senor Don Enrique M. Estrazulas. \
* Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, -r Secretary of Legation.
t Counselor and Charge d' Affaires, g Minister Resident^nd Consul General.
FAV OF CHIEF OFFICERS U. S. NAVY. rg^
PAY OF THE CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. NAVY.
Admiral
Vice-Admiial
Rear- Admirals
Commodores
Captains...
Commanders
Lieutenant-Commanders—
First four years
After four years
Lieutenants — First five years
After five years
Masters — -First five years
After five years
Ensign.s — First five years
After five years
Midshipmen
Cadet Midshipmen
Mates
Medical and Pay Directors, Inspectors, and
Chief Engineers
Fleet Surgeons, Paymasters, and Engineers
Surgeons, Paymasters, and Chief Engineers —
First five years
Second five years
Third five years
Fourth five years
After twenty years
Passed A.ssistant Surgeons, Paymasters, and
Engineers — First five years
After five years
Assistant Surgeons, Paymasters, and Engi-
neers-
First five years
After five years
Chaplains — First five years
After five years...
Boatswains, Gunners, Carpenters, and Sail-
makers —
First three years
Second three years
Third three years
Fourth three years
After twelve years
Cadet Engineers (after examination)
On Leave
At Sea.
On Shore
or Waiting
Duly.
Orders
13,000
$13,000
;?i3,ooo
9,000
8,000
6,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
4,500
3,500
2,800
3,500
3,000
2,300
2,800
2,400
2,000
3,000
2,600
2,200
2,400
2,000
1,600
2,600
2,200
1, 800
1,800
1,500
1,200
2,000
1,700
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
1,400
1,200
1,000
1,000
800
600
500
500
500
900
700
500
4,400
4,400
2,800
2,400
2,000
3,200
2,800
2,400
3,500
3,200
2,600
3.700
3,600
2,800
4,200
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,800
1,500
2,200
2,000
1,700
1,700
1,400
1,000
1,900
1,600
1,200
2,500
2,000
1,000
2,800
2,300
1,900
1,200
900
700
1,300
1,000
800
1,400
1,300
900
1,600
1,300
1,000
i,Soo
1,600
1,200
1,000
800
600
2 64 PAYMENTS FOR PENSIONS.
PAY OF CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. ARMY.
Pay of Officers in Active Service.
Grade or Rank,
Yearly Pay.
First 5
years
service.
After 5
years
service.
After 10
years
service.
After 15
years
service.
After 20
years
service.
^13,500
1 1 ,000
7,500
5.500
3.500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,800
1,800
1,800
1,600
1,500
1,500
1,400
1,500
10 /. C.
20 /. c.
30 /. c.
40 /. C.
Lieutenant-Gencral
Maior-General
Brigadier-General •. .
Colonel
^3,850
3.300
2,750
2,200
1,980
1,980
1,980
1,760
1,650
1,650
1,540
1,650
^4,200
3,600
3,000
2,400
2,160
2,160
2,160
1,920
1,800
1,800
1,680
1,800
;S4,5oo
3.900
3.250
2,600
2,340
2,340
2,340
2,080
1,950
1,950
1,820
1,950
^4,500
4,000
3.500
2,S00
Major
Captain, mounted
Captain, not mounted
2,520
2,530
2,520
2,240
2,100
2,100
1,960
2,100
Regimental Adjutant
Regimental Quartermaster
1st Lieutenant, mounted
1st Lieutenant, not mounted...
2d Lieutenant, mounted
2d Lieutenant, not mounted..
Chaplain
PAYMENTS FOR PENSIONS IN 1883.
Pensions paid during the Year.
Number of
Pensioners.
States.
For Regular'^ J- ^^
Pensions, j p^„3ig„,.
Maine
Massachusetts
Illinois
Ohio
New Hampshire..
Iowa
Michigan
Indiana
Tennessee
Kentucky
Wisconsin
New York
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
California
New York
Kansas
Dist. of Columbia
Dollars.
1,948,453.54
4,045,320.08
5.863,544-76
5,636,155-64
2,087,440.80
3,616,997.31
2,755.227-40
5,100,507.50
2,842,400.69
1,600,370.16
3,282,322.78
2,809,535.73
3,176,762.17
3,054.975-95
408,379.66
4,088,557.37
4,174,624.48
3,572,433-21
Dollars.
521.47
4,091.60
5,260.30
8.43'-57
4,216.72
1,413-73
2,760.28
4,126.67
7,48383
7.353-60
3,515-42
3,965-93
s. 364-72
4,081.47
2,198.01
8,053.01
6,970-37
60,064,009.23 79,808.70
Salary and
Expenses
of Pension
Agents.
Dollars.
11,938.11
18,858.60
22,643.97
23,562.99
13.264-55
14,358-56
14,039.04
17^483.23
15,379-76
8,353-37
14.391 -13
19,205.99
17.997-49
13,224.50
5,859.22
19,240.51
16,438.17
22,915-73
Total
Disburse-
ments.
Dollars.
.913-12
,270.28
,449.03
,150.201
,922.07'
,769.60
,026.72'
,117.40]
,264.28!
i077-i3i
,229.33
,707.65
.124-38
,281.92
4,068,
5,89',
5,668^
2,104
3.632
2,772
5,122
2,865]
1,616,
3,300
2,832,
3,200,
3,072
414:
4,109,
4,199:
3,601,
995.89
115.66,
.319-311
11,526
22,004
23,557
26,163
11,028
13,860
11,999
18,805
17,693
6,606
13,033
16,017
18,715
16,250
1,962
20,962
15,193
20,324
288,154.92 160,431,972.851
285,697
11,827
23,49s
25.854
27,686
11,007
16,051
13,080
20,921
17,189
7,001
14,653
16,141
19,300
16,006
2,191
22,338
17,525
21,393
303.658
BALANCE OF TRADE.
565
BALANCE OF TRADE,
Showing our imports, our exports, and the excess either way for
twenty years.
Year.
Merchandise at Gold Value.
Imports.
Exports.
Excess.
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
$316,447,283
238,745.580
434,812,066
395,703,100
357,430,440
417,506,379
435.958,408
520,223,684
626,505,077
642,136,210
567,406,342
533.005,436
460,741,191
451,323,126
437.051.532
445.777.775
667,954.746
642,664,628
724,639,574
723,180,914
$158,887,988
162,013,500
348,859,522
297,303.653
281,952,899
286,117,697
392,771,768
442,820,178
444,177,586
522,479,317
586,283,040
513,441,711
540,384,671
602,475,220
694,848,496
710,439,441
835,638,658
902,367,346
750,542,257
823,839,402
Imports $157,559,295
Imports 76,732,082
Imports 85,952,544
Imports 98,459,447
Imports 75,483,541
1869
1870
1871
1S72
1873
Imports 131,388,682
Imports 43,186,640
Imports 77,403,506
Imports 182,417,491
Imports 119,656,288
1S74
Exports 18,876,698
1875
Imports 19,563,725
1876
Exports 79,623,480
1877
Exports 152,152,094
1878
Exports 257,796,964
1879
Exports 264,661,666
1880
Exports 167,683,912
1881
Exports 259,702,718
1882
Exports 25,902,683
188^
Exports 100,658,488
-^ .
Year.
Specie.
Imports.
Exports.
Excess.
1864
$13,115,612
9,810,072
10,700,092
22,070,475
14,188,368
19,807,876
26,419,179
21,270,024
13,743.689
21,480,937
28,454,906
20,900,727
15,936,681
40,774,414
29,821,314
20,296,000
93,034.310
iio,57S,497
$105,396,541
67,643,226
86,044,071
60,868,372
93,784,102
57.138,380
58,155,666
98,441,988
79,877.534
84,608,574
56,630,405
92,132,142
56,506,302
56,162,237
33,733,225
24,997.441
17,142,919
Exports $92,280,929
1865
Exports 57,833,154
1866
Exports 75.343.079
1867
Exports 38.797,897
1868
Exports 79.595.734
1869
Exports 37,330.504
1870
Exports 31,736,486
1871
Exports 77,171,964
1872
Exports 66,133,845
187^
Exports 63,127,637
1874
Exports 28,175,499
i87t;
Exports 71,231,425
1S76
Exports 40,569,621
1877
1878
1870
Exports 15,387,753
Exports 3,911,911
Exports 4,701,441
1880
Imports 75.891,191
18S1
10,406,847 1 Imports 01,168,650
1882
42,472,390 1 49.417,479 ! Exports 0,945,089
1883
28,489,391
31,820,333
Exports 3,330,942
566
REVENUES OF THE UNITED STATES.
Year Endbd
Junk 30.
Amount
collected.
Expense
of collecting.
185S $41,789,620.96 $2,903,336.89
1859 49,565,824.38 3,407,93177
i860 53,187,511.87 3,337,188.15
1861 39,582,125.64 2,843,455.84
1862 49,056,397.62 3,276,560.39
1863 69,059,642.40 3.181,026.17
1864 102,316,152.99 4,192,582.43
1865 84928,260.60 5,415,449.32
1866. 179,046,651.5s 5,342,469.99
1867 176,417,810.88 5,763,979.01
1868 164,464,599.56 7,641,116.68
1869 180,048,426.63 5,388,082.31
1870 194,538,374.44 6,233,747.68
1871 206,270,408.05 6,568,350.61
1872 216,370,286.77 6,950,173.88
1873 188,089,522.70 7,077,864.70
1874 163,103,833.69 7,321,469.94
1875 157^167,722.35 7,028,521.80
1876 148,071,984.61 6,704,858.09
1877 130,956,493.07 6,501,037.57
1878 130,170,680.20 5,826,974.32
1879 137,250,047-70 5,477,421.52
1880 186,522,064.60 6,023,253.53
1881 198,159,076.02 6,383,288.10
1882 220,410,730.25 6,506,359.26
1883 214,706,496.93 6,593,509.43
f 1863 1^37,640,787.95 $108,685.00
1864. 109,741,134.10 253,372.99
1865 209,464,215.25 385,239.52
1866 309,226,813.42 5,783,128.77
1867 266,027,537.43 7,335,029.81
1868 191,087,589.41 8,705,366.36
1869 158,356,460.86 7,257,176.11
1870 184,899,756.49 7,253,439.81
1871 143,098,153.63 7,593,714.17
1872 130,642,177.72 5,694,116.86
1873 113,729,314.14 5,340,230.00
1874 102,409,784.90 4,509,976.05
1875 110,007,493.58 4,289,442.71
1876 116,700,732.03 3,942,613.72
1877 118,630,407.83 3,556,943-85
1878 110,581,624.74 3,280,162.22
1879 113,561,610.58 I 3,527,956.56
1880 124,009,373.92 1 3,657,105.10
1881 1135,264,385.51 4,327,793.24
1882 146,497,595.45 4,097,241.34
1883 1144,720,368.98 I 4,424,707,39
PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES.
567
PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES.
[■7V January ist of each year to 1842. To July ist,from 1843- 1883. '\
1791 ^75-463.476
1792 77,227,924
1793 80,352,634
1794 78,427,404
1795 80,747,587
1796 83,762,172
1797 82,064.479
1798 79,228,529
1799 78,408,669
1800 82,976,294
1 801 83,038,050
1802 86,712,632
1803 77,054,686
1804 86,427,120
1805 82,312,150
1806 75,723,270
1807 69,218,398
1808 65,196,317
1809 57,023,192
1810 53.173.217
181 1 48,005,587
1812 45,209,737
1813 55,962,827
1814 81,487,846
1815 99,833,660
1816 127,334,933
1817 123,491,965
1 818 103,466,633
1819 95.529.648
1820 91,015,566
1821 89,987,427
1822 93,546,676
1823 90,875,877
1824 90,269,777
1825 83,788,432
1826 81,054,059
1827 73.987,357
1828 67,475,043
1829 58,421,413
1830 48,565,406
1831 39,123,191
1832 24,322,235
1833 7,001,698
1834 4,760,082
1835 37.513
1836 336,957
1837 3.308,124
1838 ;gio,434,22i 14
1839 3,573-343 82
1840 5,250.875 54
1841 13,594,480 73
1842 20,601,226 28
1843 32,742,922 00
1S44 23,461,652 50
1845 15.925.303 01
1S46 15,550,202 97
1847 38,826,534 77
1S48 47,044,862 23
1849 63,061,858 69
1850 63,452,773 55
1851 68,304,796 02
1852 66,109,341 71
1853 59,803,117 70
1854 42,242,222 42
1855 35,586,858 56
1856 31.972,537 90
1857 28,699,831 85
1S58 44,911,881 03
1859 58,496,837 88
i860 64,842,287 88
1861 90,580,873 72
1862 524,176,412 13
1863 1,119,772,138 63
1864 1,815,784,370 57
1865 2,680,647,869 74
1866 2,773,236,173 69
1867 , 2,678,126,103 87
1868 2,611,687,851 19
1869 2,588,452,213 94
1870 2,480,672,427 81
1871 2,353,211,332 32
1872 2,253,251,328 78
1873 2,234,482,993 20
1874 2,251,690,468 43
1875 2,232,284,531 95
1876 2,180,395,067 15
1877 2,205,301,392 10
1878 2,256,205,892 53
1S79 2,245,495,072 04
1880 2,120,415,370 63
1 881 2,069,013,569 58
1882 1,918,312.994 03
1S83 1,884,171,728 07
568
POLITICAL DIVISION OF THE HOUSE.
POLITICAL DIVISION OF THE PRESENT HOUSE OF REPRE.
SENTATIVES.
States.
Alabama
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut....
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts.,
Michigan ,
Minnesota
Mississippi
States.
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire.
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina...
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania. ...
Rhode Island
South Carolina...
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
jWest Virginia...
Wisconsin
Total.
14
5
I
3
124
Total 322
Greenback i
Vacancies 2
325
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
[Went into operation on the first Wednesday in March, 1789.]
PREAMBLE.
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union establisli justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com-
mon defense, promote tlie general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Con-
stitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE I.
or THE LEGISLATIVE POWER.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and Hous*
of Representatives.
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be comiiosed of members
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the elec-
tors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for elestors of the
most numerous branch of the State Legislature.
No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of tlie United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in
which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several
States which maybe included within this Union, according to tlieir re-
spective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-flfths of all other persons.
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsoiiuent
term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by laM' direct. The num-
ber of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, hut
each State shall have at least one Representative; and, until such enume-
ration shall be Tn;ul(\ the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to
choose three, Massarhuselts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Planta-
tions one, Connecticut five. New York six. New .Jersey four, Pennsylvania
eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five,
South Carolina five and Georgia three.
When vacancies hajspen in the representation from any State, the execu-
tive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to till such vacancies.
The House of Uejiresintatives shall choose their speaker and other offi-
cers; and shall have the sole power of iiupeachmeut.
OF THE SENATE.
Sec. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators
from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years; and each
Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in coiisequence of the first
election, thev shall be divided as ei|nallvas maybe into three classes.
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at tlie expira-
tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that
one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies hapjien by
resignation, or otherwise, during the rti'fss of the liCgislature ofaiiy Stat^
tlie executive thereof may make temjjorary ai)pointments until the next
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
569
570
CONSTITUTION'
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age oi
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who
Bhall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall
be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate,
but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and have a President ^ra
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise
the office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. "When the
President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and
no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the
members present.
Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of
honor, trust or profit, under the United States; but the party convicted
Bhall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and
punishment according to law.
MANNER OF ELECTING MEMBERS.
Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators
and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature
thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such
regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
CONGRESS TO ASSEMBLE ANNTJALLY.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meet-
ing shall be on tiie first Monday in December, unless they shall by law
appoint a different day.
POWERS.
Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and quali-
fications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a
quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day tp
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members,
in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may jirovide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its mem-
bers for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds,
expel a member.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment,
require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house
on any question shall, at thedesireof one-fifth of those present, be entered
on the journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the con-
sent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place
than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
COMPENSATION, ETC., OF MEIWBEES.
Sec. fi. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation
for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury
of the United States. They shall in all casses, except treason, felony and
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at
the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from
the same; and for any speech or debate in either liouse, they shall not be
questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office
under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his
continuance in office.
MANTTER OF PASSING BILLS, ETC.
Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Repr«-
sentatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on
uther bills.
OF THE UNITED STA TES. t>ji
Every hill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of
the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return
it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who
shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to recon-
sider It. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall
agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, tofiether with the objections, to tlie
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved
by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the
names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on
the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned
by the President within ten days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in likemanner as if he had
signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, iu
which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a (juestion of
adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the ITnitcd States;
and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or lu'ing
disaijproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of the Senate and
House oi Repieseutatives, according to 'the rules and limitations pre-
scribed in the case of a bill.
powt;r of congress.
Sec. 8. The Congress shall haveipower to lay and collect taxes, duties,
imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense
and general welfare of tlie United States; but all duties, imposts and
excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the
subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix
the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and cur-
rent coin of the United States;
To establish post-offlces and post-roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited
times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective
writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court*
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas,
and otfenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marcjue and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no ajipropriation of money to that use
Bhall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval
forces; ,^, _. ^
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union,
suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
'J'o provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for
governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the
United States, reserving to the States respectively the ai)pointment or the
onicers, and the authority of training the militia according the diseiplmo
]ircscrilied by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such dis-
trict (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by rcssion of particular-
States and the acceptance of Congress, become the scat of the government
of the United States, and to exercise lik.> authority over all pla<'es pur-
cliased bv the consent of the I>egisiature of the State in which the same
slial I be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards and other
iipcilfnl bniUlings; and
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
•xecutiou the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Coa-
572
CONSTITUTION
stltution in the government of the United States, or in any department or
officer thereof.
LIMITATION OF THE POWERS OF CONGRESS.
Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States
now existing sliall think proper to admit, sliall not be proiiibited by tlie
Congress prior to tiie year one tliousand eiglit hundred and eiglit, but a
tax or duty may be imposed on sucli importation, not exceeding ten dol-
lars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless
■when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or cr post fai'to law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to
the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue
to the ports of on« State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to,
or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in cojisequence of
appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from
time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no person
holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent
of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any
kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign State.
LIMITATION OF THE POWERS OF THE INDTVIDTTAL STATES.
Sec. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation;
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit;
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation
of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or
duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and
imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the re-
vision and control of the Congress.
No State shall, without the consent of Congres-, lay any duty of tonnage,
keep troops, or ships of war, in time of peace, enter into any agreement or
compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war,
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit or
delay.
ARTICLE II.
EXECUTIVE POWER.
Sec. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United
States of America. He sh;ill hold his office during the term of four years,
and together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected
as follows:
MANNER OF ELECTING.
Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may
direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but
no Senator or Representative, or person holding an ofllce of trust or profit
under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.
The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for
two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant with the
same State as themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons
voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of
the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The
person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if
there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal
OF THE UNITED STATES.
57,
nrimVier of votes, thpii the TToase of Reprpspnlativps shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a
majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in
like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, tin-
votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each .State having
one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consistof a member or members
from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States sliall be
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, tlie
person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the
Vice-President. But If there should remain two or more who have equal
Vjtes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.
TIUTE OF CTTOOSING ELECTOBS.
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and tho
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the saiu*
throughout the United States.
"WHO ELIGIBLE.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the
tiffice of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that oflice who
shall not have attained the age of thirty-live years, and been fourteen
years a resident within the United States.
WHEN THE PRESIDETTT'S POWER DEVOLVES ON THE VICE-PRESIDENT.
In case of the removal of the President from oflice, or of his deatli, resig-
nation or inability to dischai'ge the powers and duties of tliesaid ollice,
tlie same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by
law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both
of tlie President and Vice-President, declaring wliat ofliccr shall tlien act
as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be
removed, or a President shall be elected.
president's COMPENSATION.
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compens.'v»
tion which shall neither 1)0 increased nor diminished during the [leriod
for wiiich he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that
period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.
OATH.
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following
oath or aftirmation : '• I do solemnly swear ^oraltiriu) that 1 will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best
of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
POWERS AND DUTIES.
Sec. 2. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army and
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States when
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal oflicer in each of the executive de-
partments upon any subject relating to the duties of their resi)cctive
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for ollences
airainst the United States, except in cases of impeac;hruent.
lie shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators iircsent concur; find
he shall nominate, and by and with the advice antl consent of the Senate,
shall appoint ambassatlors, other public ministers and cuiisuls, .Judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other otlicei-K of the I'nited States, whose ap-
pointments are not herein otherwise i^-ovided fur, and which shall bo
established by law; but the CoTiiiress may l)y law vest the appointment of
such inferior officers, as they tlunk proper, in the President alone, in tho
Courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall ex-
pire at the end of their next session.
Skc. 3. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information ol
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such mea-
574
CONS TITUTION
surcs as he shall judffe necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary
oc'Oivsioiis, convene Ijoth bouses, or either of tlieni, and in case of disagree-
ment between tliem, with respect lo the time of adjournment, he rnay
adjourn them to sucii time as ho shall think proper ; he shall receive am-
bassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws bo
fiiithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United
States.
OFFICERS REMOVHO.
Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United
States, shall bo removed from office, on imijoacliment for, and conviction
of, treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III.
or THE JUDICIARY.
Sec. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one
Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time
to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and infe-
rior Courts, shall hold tlieir offices during good behavior, and shall, at
stated times, receive for their services a comjiensation which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in othce.
Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity,
arising under this < 'onstitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties
made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty
and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United States
shall be a party; to coutroversics between two or more States; between
a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States;
between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different
States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, ajid foreign States,
citizens or subjects.
JTTRISDICTION OF STTPREME COXTRT.
In all cases aflfecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls,
and those in whicli a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall liave
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme
Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such
exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
OF TRIALS FOR CRIMES.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury;
and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall liave
been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial
shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
OF TREASON.
Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and
comfort.
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two
witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open Court.
The Congress sliall liave power to declare the punishment of treason,
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture,
except during the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE TV.
STATE ACTS.
Sec. 1. Full faith and credit sliall be given in each State to the public
acts, records and judicial iiroceedings of every other State. And the Con-
gress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts,
records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENS.
Sec. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and
Immunities of citizens in the several States.
A person charged in any State with treason, felony or other crime, who
shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of
OF THE UNITED STATES. c<-jr
the execmtive authority of the State from which lie fled, he dolivored up,
to be removed to the State having j urisdiction of the crime.
RUNAWAYS TO BE DELIVERED UP.
No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall, in cousoquonce of any law or ros^ulatioa
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
NEW STATES.
Sec. 3. Xew States maybe admitted by tlie Congress into this ITiiio .;
but no new State shall be formed or erected witiiin the jurisdiction of any
other State ; nor any State be formed by tlio J unction of two or more States, "
or parts of States, without tlie consent of the Legislatures of the States
concerned as well as of the Congress.
TERRITORIAL AND OTHER PROPERTY.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful rules
and regulations respecting, the territory, or other property licloni^ing to
tlie United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall bo so construed
as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular Slate.
Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a
republican form of government, "and shall protect each of them aifainst
invasion ; and, on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive
(when the Legislature cannot be convened;, against domestic,violence.
ARTICLE V.
AMENDMENTS.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it neces-
sary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution; or, on tlie applica-
tion of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a
Convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall bo
valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratittcd
by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conven-
tions in three-fourths thereof, as the on(^ or the other mode of ratification
may be proposed by Congress; provided, that no amendment which may
be made prior to the vcar one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in
any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth Section of the
first Article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of
its equal suffrage iu the Senate.
ARTICLE VI.
DEBTS.
All debts contracted, and ensagements entered into, before the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution as under the Confederation.
SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND.
This Constitution, and the laws of the Unite<l States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or winch shall be made,
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law ol the
land- and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithslaiidiug.
OATH.— NO RELIGIOUS TEST.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members
of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and juihcia olhcers,
both of the United States and of the several Slates, shall be liouiid by oalh
or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious testshall ever
be rec]uired as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under the
United States.
ARTICLE VII.
The ratifications of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for
the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the
Doiie in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present,
576
CONSTITUTION
the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the twelfth. In witness wliereof we have hereunto sub-
scribed our names.
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
President, and Deputy from Virginia,
Neio Hampshire— .lohn Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. M(u^sacliusetts — Na-
thaniel Gorham, Rufus King. C()nnccticut~V\^ iWiaxa Samuel Johnson,
Roger Sherman. New Fw-A— Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey — William
Livingston, David Brearley, William Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. Pcnn-
■■sylv(uii(i—P>cn'yAn\\\\ Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George
Clyracr, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Jared IngersoU, James Wilson, Governeur
Morris. /)cto(mrc— George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson,
Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. Ma ryhmd— James M'Henry, Daniel of St.
Tho. Jenifer, Daniel Carroll. Virc/inia — John Blair, James Madison, Jr.
North Carolina— \X\\\iti.n\ Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh William-
son. South Oaroj in a— 3 o\\n Rutledge, Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles
Pinckney, Pierce Butler. Georgia — William Few, Abraham Baldwin.
Attest William Jackson, Secretary.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
[The first ten amenrlments were proposed by Congress at their first session, in
1789. Tho eleventh was proposed in 1794, and the twelfth in 1803.]
ARTICLE I.
FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
ARTICLE II.
RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS.
_ A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right cf the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
ARTICLE in.
NO SOLDIER TO BE BILLETED, ETC.
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered In any house without the
consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed
by law.
ARTICLE IV.
UNREASONABLE SEARCHES PROHIBITED.
Tlie right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated;
and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the persons or things to bo seized.
ARTICLE V.
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual
service, in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offense to be put twice in Jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall
be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor
be deprived of life, liberty or property witliout due process of law; nor
shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
OF THE UNITED STATES. eyy
ARTICLE VI.
MODK OF TRIAL.
In all criminal prosecutions tlie accused shall enjoy the right to a uncedy
and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wlierem the
crime shall have been committed, whicli district shall liave been previ-
ously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of
the.aceusation; to be confronted with tlic witnesses asainst him; to have
conipulsory process for obtaininsi witnesses in his favor; and to have tli«
assistance of counsel for his defense.
ARTICLE VII.
EIGHT OF TRIAL BY JURY.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversr shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact
tried by jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United
States than according to the rules of the common law.
ARTICLE VIIL
BAIL.— FIXES.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
truel and unusual punishments inflicted.
ARTICLE IX.
EIGHTS NOT ENTTMERATED.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain riprhts, shall not be con-
strued to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
ARTICLE X.
POWERS EESERVED.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to
the people.
ARTICLE XL
LIMITATION OF JUDICIAL POWER.
The iudicial power of the L^nited States shall not be construed to extent?
to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of ilio
United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of
another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State.,
ARTICLE XII.
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT.
The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for
President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, sliall not be an in-
habitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person
voted for as Vice-President; and they shall make distinct lists of all per-
sons voted for as President and of all i)ers()ns voted for as N'icc-Presiileiit,
and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign and ccriily,
and transmiti. sealed to the seat of the Government of the liiitcd states,
directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate sliall,
in the presence of the Senate and House of Reprosonta lives, ojien all the
certificates, and the votes shall then bo counted; the iierson having tlio
greatest number of votes for President sliall be the President, if sudi
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if
no person have such a majority, then from the persons liaving tho liiirliest
numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President,
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately liy ballot flio
President. But in choosing the President, the vote sliall be taken by
States, the representatives from each State having one vote; a quorum
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of
the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a president when-
ever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fiairth day of
March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, a*
57S
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
in the case of the death or other Constitutional disability of the Presi-
dent.
The person having tlie greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall
be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the wliole number
of f'loctdis appointed; and if no person have a majority, tlien from the
Vwu I liiihest numbers on tlie list, the. Senate sliall choose the Vice-President;
a (luorum for 1 ho purpose sliall consist of two-thirds of tlie whole number
of 8cnators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necssary to a
choice.
But no person Constitutionally ineligible to tlie oflice of President shall
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
[Ratified in 1805.]
ARTICLE XIII.
Skc. 1. Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punisli-
ment for crime, whi rcDf tlie party shall have been duly convicli d, ^hall
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdictiDU.
Sbx'. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce ihis article by ai>pr<jpriate
legislation.
[Ratified in 1868.]
ARTICLE XIV.
Sec. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the TTnited States, and subject
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of th6
State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law wliich
shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United
States. Nor shall any State deprive any person of lifCj liberty or property,
without due process of law, nor deny to any jjerson within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.
Sec. 2. Representatives sliall be apportioned among the several States
according to tlieir respective numbers, counting the whole number of per-
sons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed; but whenever tlie right
to vote at any election for electors of President and Vice-President, or
United States Representatives in Congress, executive and judicial officers,
or the members of the Legislature therof, is denied to any of the male in-
habitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the
United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion
or other crimes, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the
proportion which tlie number of such male citizens shall bear to the
wliole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in that State.
Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or mili-
tary, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously
taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United
States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judi-
cial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States,
shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given
aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; hut Congress may, by a vote of two-
thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized
by law, including debts incurred for the payment of pensions and bounties
for service in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shalVnot be ques-
tioned; but neither the TTnited States nor any State shall assume to pay
any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against
the ITnited States, or any claim for the loss or einancipation of any slave,
but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be illegal and void.
Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legis-
lation, the provisions of tliis article.
XI 5^ ^ **. ' ^ [Ratified in 1870.]
X ^ ^^^ ARTICLE XV:
Sec. 1. The right of citizens of the TTnited States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of
race, color or previous condition of servitude.
Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appro-
i)riate legislation.
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