m WJvv S>i:I<;- LIBRARY | fl Jj presented to the UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO by JUDGE J.M. CARTER AMEEICAN POLITICS (NON-PARTISAN) FROM THE BEGINNING TO DATE. EMBODYING A HISTORY OF ALL THE POLITICAL PARTIES, GREAT SPEECHES ON ALL GREAT ISSUES, TABULATED HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS. BY HON. THOMAS V. COOPER, Member Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1870-71. Senate, 1874-84. Chairman Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania, 1881-88-83-84-85-86-87, AND HECTOR T. FENTON, ESQ., Of the Philadelphia Bar. FIFTEENTH AND REVISED EDITION. PHILADELPHIA : FIRESIDE PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1892. Entered according to Act of Congress In the year 1892, by the FIRESIDE PUBLISHING COMPANY, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C, ALTBMUS' BOOK BINDERY, PHILADELPHIA. PROPOSITION THAT ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS SHOULD TAKE AN INTEREST IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. PREFACE. The writer of this volume, in the pursuit of his profession as an editor, and throughout an active political life, has always felt the need of a volume from which any important fact, theory or record could be found at a moment's glance, and without a search of many records. He has also remarked the singular fact that no history of the political parties of the country, as they have faced each other on all leading issues, has ever been published. These things prompted an undertaking of the work on his own part, and it is herewith presented in the hope that it will meet the wants not only of those connected with politics, but of all who take an interest in public affairs. In this work very material aid has been rendered by the gentleman whose nume is also associated with its publication, and by many political friends, who have freely responded during the past year to the calls made upon them for records, which have been liberally employed in the writing and compilation of this work. THOS. V. COOPEK. ' TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK I. HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES. PAGE. COLONIAL PARTIES WHIG AND TOBY 3 P.AKTICULARISTS AND STRONG GOVERNMENT WHIGS 5 FEDERALS AND ANTI-FEDEBAL3 6 REPUBLICANS AND FEDERALS 8 DOWNFALL OF THE FEDERALS 12 DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS 17 JEFFERSON DEMOCRATS 19 HARTFORD CONVENTION 20 TREATY OF GHENT 20 CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS 21 PROTECTIVE TARIFF 21 MONROE DOCTRINE 23 MISSOURI COMPROMISE 24 TARIFF AMERICAN SYSTEM 25 TENURE OF OFFICE ELIGIBILITY 27 NULLIFICATION DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS 29 UNITED STATES BANK 31 JACKSON'S SPECIAL MESSAGE ON THE UNITED STATES BANK 33 CONCEPTION OF SLAVERY QUESTION 35 DEMOCRATS AND WHIGS 37 THE HOUR RULE 39 NATIONAL BANK BILL FIRST 41 SECOND 43 OREGON TREATY OF 1846 47 TREATY OF PEACE WITH MEXICO 49 CLAY'S COMPROMISE RESOLUTIONS 51 ABOLITION PARTY RISE AND PROGRESS OP 53 KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL 55 RITUAL OF THE AMERICAN PARTY 57 KANSAS STRUGGLE 71 LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE 73 CHARLESTON CONVENTION DEMOCRATIC, 1860 81 DOUGLAS CONVENTION, 1860, BALTIMORE 86 BBECKINRIDGE CONVENTION, 1860, BALTIMORE 86 CHICAGO REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, 1860 86 AMERICAN CONVENTION, 1860 87 SECESSION PREPARING, roa 87 vii v iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. SECESSION VIRGINIA CONVENTION, 1861 91 " INTER-STATE COMMISSIONERS 96 " SOUTHERN CONGRESS, PROCEEDINGS OP 97 " CONFEDERATE CONSTITUTION 97 " CONFEDERATE STATES 98 BUCHANAN'S VIEWS 99 CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE 104 PEACE CONVENTION 106 ACTUAL SECESSION 109 " " TRANSFERRING ARMS TO THE SOUTH. 109 FERNANDO WOOD'S SECESSION MESSAGE 112 CONGRESS ON THE EVE OF THE REBELLION 113 LINCOLN'S VIEWS 115 JUDGE BLACK'S VIEWS 115 ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS' SPEECH ON SECESSION 116 LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 120 CONFEDERATE MILITARY LEGISLATION 128 GUERRILLAS 129 TWENTY-NEGRO EXEMPTION LAW 130 DODGLtt ON THE REBELLION 130 POLITICAL LEGISLATION INCIDENT TO THE WAS. 130 THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS 131 COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION 135 LINCOLN'S APPEAL TO THE BORDER STATES 137 REVLY OF THE BORDER STATES . .- 138 BORDER STATE SLAVES 139 EMANCIPATION 141 PRELIMINARY PROCLAMATION or 141 " PROCLAMATION OF 143 LOYAL GOVERNORS, THE ADDRESS op 144 FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW, REPEAL OP 145 FINANCIAL LEGISLATION 149 SEWARD AS SECRETARY OF STATE 149 INTERNAL TAXES 151 CONFEDERATE DEBT 152 CONFEDERATE TAXES 153 WEST VIRGINIA ADMISSION OP 15? COLOR IN WAR POLITICS 159 THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT PASSAGE OP 167 LOUISIANA ADMISSION OP REPRESENTATIVES 168 RECONSTRUCTION 169 ARKANSAS ADMISSION op 170 RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES TEXT OP 171 FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT 174 McCLELLAN'8 POLITICAL LETTERS 175 LINCOLN'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 177 ANDREW JOHNSON AND HIS POLICY 178 " IMPEACHMENT TRIAL 179 GRANT 191 ENFORCEMENT ACTS 193 READMISSION OP REBELLIOUS STATES 193 LEGAL TENDER DECISION 194 GREENBACK PARTY 194 PROHIBITORY PARTY . 196 SAN DOMINGO ANNEXATION or . 196 TABLE OF CONTENTS. u JMBi ALABAMA CLAIMS ,. 197 FOECE BILL _ 197 CIVIL SEEVICE OEDEB OP PRESIDENT HAYES , 193 AMNESTY 199 LlBEEAL REPUBLICANS < 199 REFORM IN THE CIVIL SEEVIOB . 200 CBEDIT MOBILISE p 200 SALARY GEAB ^ 214 RETURNING BOARDS 217 GRANGEBS t 218 " ILLINOIS RAILROAD ACT OP 1873 218 CIVIL RIGHTS BILL SUPPLEMENTARY 221 MOBTON AMENDMENT . 222 WHISKY RING BELKNAP IMPEACHED . 223 WHITE LEAGUE m 223 WHEELEB COMPBOMISE TEXT OP 226 * ELECTION or HAYES AND WHEELEB 238 ELECTOEAL COUNT . 229 TITLE OP PEZSIDENT HAYES 233 CIPHEE DESPATCHES 234 THB HAYES ADMINISTBATION 239 NEGBO EXODUS 240 CAMPAIGN OP 1880 . 242 THREE PEB CENT. FUNDING BILL 244 HlSTOBY OP THE NATIONAL LOANS 245 GAEFIBLD AND ABTHUB INAUGURATION OF 253 REPUBLICAN FACTIONS }>53 THE CAUCUS 256 ASSASSINATION OP GAEFIELD . 260 ABTHUB, PBESIDENT 261 Boss RULE 261 READJUSTEES 263 MOBMONISM SUPPRESSION OP ; 264 TEXT OP THE BILL 265 SOUTH AMEBICAN QUESTION 269 STAB ROUTS SCANDAL 277 THE COMING STATES * 278 CHINESE QUESTION 281 " SPEECH OF SENATOB MILLEB OH 281 " REPLY OP SENATOR HOAR 285 MERCHANT MABINE 296 CUBBENT POLITICS 298 POLITICAL CHANGES IN 1882, 1883, 1884 304-318 CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION . . j '.-;;. 321 CONTESTS OF 1885, 1886, 1887 321 THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888 318-335 THB NATIONAL CONVENTIONS OF 1888 336 THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1888 337 PRESIDENT HARRISON'S MESSAGE ON THE CHILEAN TROUBLES 339 THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS OF 1892, 347 BOOK II. POLITICAL PLATFORMS. VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS, 1798 8 VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS, 1798 ANSWERS op THE STATE LEGISLATURES .... 6 RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 AND 1799 10 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS . 14 X TABLE OF CONTENTS. ALL NATIONAL PLATFORMS FROM 1800 TO 1892, 21-79 COMPARISON OF PLATFORM PLANKS ON GREAT QUESTIONS, 79-104 BOOK III. GREAT SPEECHES ON GREAT ISSUES. PAGE. JAMES WILSON'S VINDICATION or THE COLONIES 3 PATRICK HENRY BEFORE VIRGINIA DELEGATES 7 JOHN ADAMS ON THE DECLARATION 8 PATRICK HENRY ON THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 10 JOHN RANDOLPH AGAINST TARIFF 13 EDWARD EVERETT ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE NORTHERN TO THE SOUTHERN REPUBLICS OF AMERICA 18 DANIEL WEBSTER ON THE GRSEK QUESTION 19 JOHN RANDOLPH'S REPLY TO WEBSTER 20 ROBERT Y. HAYNE AGAINST TARIFF 21 HENRY CLAY ON HIS LAND BILL 23 JOHN C. CALHOUN'S REPLY TO CLAY 24 ROBT. Y. HAYNE ON SALES OF PUBLIC LAND THE FOOTE RESOLUTION 25 DANIEL WEBSTER'S GREAT REPLY TO HAYNE 48 JOHN C. CALHOUN ON THE RIGHTS OF THE STATES 80 HENRY CLAY ON THE AMERICAN PROTECTIVE SYSTEM 86 JAMES BUCHANAN ON AN INDEPENDENT TREASURY 95 LEWIS CASS ON THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 96 CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM ON SLAVERY .... 97 HORACE GREELEY ON PROTECTION 99 HENRY A. WISE AGAINST KNOW-NOTHINGISM ... 109 KENNETH RAYNOR ON THE FUSION OF FREMONT AND FILLMORE FORCES 112 RELIGIOUS TEST-DEBATE ON THE ARTICLE IN THE CONSTITUTION IN REGARD TO IT . 114 HENRY WINTER DAVIS ON THE AMERICAN PARTY 115 JOSHUA R. GIDDINGS AGAINST THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW 116 ROBERT TOOMBS IN FAVOR OF SLAVERY 117 JUDAH P. BENJAMIN ON SLAVE PROPERTY ] 19 WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION 120 THEODORE PARKER AGAINST THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW AND THE RETURN OF SIMS . 121 WILLIAM H. SEWARD ON THE HIGHER LAW . . . 122 CHARLES SUMNE$ ON THE FALLIBILITY OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS 123 GALUSHA A. GROW ON HIS HOMESTEAD BILL 123 LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE " " " DOUGLAS'S SPEECH 126 11 " " LINCOLN'S REPLY 133 " " DOUGLAS'S REJOINDER 143 JEFFERSON DAVIS ON RETIRING FROM THE UNITED STATES SENATE 147 HENRY WILSON ON THE GREELEY CANVASS 149 OLIVER P. MORTON ON THE NATIONAL IDEA 151 J. PROCTOR KNOTT ON " DULUTH," 154 HENRY CAREY ON THE RATES OF INTEREST 159 SIMON CAMERON ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 163 JOHN A. LOGAN ON SELF-GOVERNMENT 165 JAMES G. ELAINE ON THE M FALSE ISSUE," . . 171 ROSCOE CONKLINO ON THE EXTRA SESSION OF 1879 176 LINCOLN'S SPEECH AT GETTYSBURG 186 JOHN M. BROOMALL ON CIVIL RIGHTS 186 CHARLES A. ELDRIDGE AGAINST CIVIL RIGHTS ,189 A. K. McCLURE ON "WHAT OF THE REPUBLIC?" ' ' 191 ROBT. G. INGERSOLL NOMINATING ELAINE 201 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Xj PAGE. ROSCOE CONKLIKG NOMINATING GRANT 202 JAMES A. GARFIELD NOMINATING SHERMAN '. 203 DANIEL DOUGHERTY NOMINATING HANCOCK 205 GEORGE GRAY NOMINATING BAYARD 205 WILLIAM P. FRYE NOMINATING ELAINE (AT CHICAGO) 206 SENATOR HILL'S DENUNCIATION OF MAHONE 207 SENATOR MAHONE'S REPLY 217 JUSTIN S. MORRILL ON THE TARIFF COMMISSION 223 J. DON CAMERON ON REDUCTION OF REVENUE AS AFFECTING THE TARIFF .... 233 THOMAS H. BENTON ON THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENTS ' . 237 JAMES G. ELAINE'S EULOGY ON PRESIDENT GARFIELD 240 G. H. PENDLETON ON CIVIL SERVICE 251 JOHN J. INGALLS AGAINST CIVIL SERVICE 262 SAMUEL J. RANDALL ON THE TARIFF 274 WILLIAM MCKINLEY, JR., ON THE TARIFF 277 CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW NOMINATING HARRISON, 283 LEON ABBETT NOMINATING- CLEVELAND, 285 BOOK IV. PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE, ETC. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE , 3 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 6 JEFFERSON'S MANUAL . .22 BOOK V. TABULATED HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGICAL POLITICS. STATISTICS OF GENERAL INFORMATION, 1-24 CHRONOLOGICAL POLITICS, 25 AMERICAN POLITICS. BOOK I. HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE UNITED STATES. AMERICAN POLITICS. BOOK I. HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE UNITED STATES. Colonial Parties Whig and Tory. The parties peculiar to our Colonial times hardly have a place in American politics. They divided people in senti- ment simply, as they did in the mother country, but here there was little or no power to act, and were to gather results from party victories. Men were then Whigs or Tories because they had been prior to their emigration here, or because their parents had been, or because it has ever been natural to show division in in- dividual sentiment. Political contests, however, were unknown, for none enjoyed the pleasures and profits of power; the crown made and unmade rulers. The local self-government which our fore- fathers enjoyed, were secured to them by their charters, and these were held to be contracts not to be changed without the consent of both parties. All of the inhabi- tants of the colonies claimed and were justly entitled to the rights guaranteed by the Magna Charta, and in addition to these they insisted upon the supervision of all internal interests and the power to levy and collect taxes. These claims were con- ceded until their growing prosperity and England's need of additional revenues suggested schemes of indirect taxation. Against these the colony of Plymouth pro- tested as early as 1636, and spasmodic pro- tests from all the colonies followed. These increased in frequency and force with the growing demands of King George III. In 1651 the navigation laws imposed upon the colonies required both exports and imports to be carried in British ships, and all who traded were compelled to do it with Eng- land. In 1672 inter-colonial duties ^ere imposed, and when manufacturing sought to flank this policy, their establishment was forbidden by law. The passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 caused nigh excitement, and for the first time parties began to take definite sliujK! and manifest open antagonisms, and she words Whig and Tory then had a plaiaer meaning in America than in England. The Stamp Act was denounced by the Whigs as direct taxation, since it provided, that stamps previously paid for should be affixed to all legal papers. The colonies resented, and so general were the protests that for a time it seemed that only those who owed their livings to the Crown, or expected aid and comfort from it, re- mained with the Tories. The Whigs were the patriots. The war for the rights of the colonies began in 1775, and it was supported by majorities in all of the Co- lonial Assemblies. These majorities were as carefully organized then as now to pro- mote a popular cause, and this in the face of adverse action on the part of the sev- eral Colonial Governors. Thus in Vir- ginia, Lord Dunmore had from time to time, until 1773, prorogued the Virginia Assembly, when it seized the opportunity to pass resolves instituting a committee of correspondence, and recommending joint action by the legislatures of the other colonies. In the next year, the same body, under the lead of Henry, Randolph, Lee, Washington, Wythe and other patriots, officially deprecated the closing of 'the 3 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. port of Boston, and set apart a day to im- plore Divine interposition in behalf of the colonies. The Governor dissolved the House for this act, and the delegates, 89 in number, repaired to a tavern, organized themselves into a committee, signed arti- cles of association, and advised with other colonial committees the expediency of " appointing deputies to meet in a general correspondence really a suggestion for a Congress. The idea of a Congress, how- ever, originated with Doctor Franklin the vear before, and it had then been approved by town meetings in Providence, boston and New York. The action of Virginia lifted the proposal above individual advice and the action of town meetings, and called to it the attention of all the colo- nial legislatures. It was indeed fortunate in the incipiency of these political move- ments, that the people were practically unanimous. Only the far-seeing realized the drift and danger, while nearly all could join their voices against oppressive taxes and imposts. The war went on for colonial rights, the Whigs wisely insisting that they were wil- ling to remain as colonists if their rights should be guaranteed by the mother coun- try ; the Tories, chiefly fed by the Crown, were willing to remain without guarantee a negative position, and one which in the high excitement of the times excited little attention, save where the holders of such views made themselves odious by the enjoyment of high official position, or by harsh criticism upon, or treatment of the patriots. The first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in September, 1774, and there laid the foundations of the Republic. While its assemblage was first recom- mended by home meetings, the cause, as already shown, was taken up by the as- semblies of Massachusetts and Virginia. Georgia alone was not represented. The members were called delegates, who de- clared in their official papers that they were " appointed by the good people of these colonies." It was called the revo- lutionary government," because it derived its power from the people, and not from the functionaries of any existing govern- ment. In it each colony was allowed but a single vote, regardless of the number of delegates, and here began not only the unit rule, but the practice which obtains in the election of a President when the contest reaches, under the constitution and law, the National House of Representa- tives. The original object was to give equality to the colonies as colonies. In 1775, the second Continental Con- gress assembled at Philadelphia, all the colonies being again represented save Georgia. The delegates were chosen prin- cipally by conventions of the people, though some were sent by the popular branches of the colonial legislatures. In July, and soon after the commencement of hostilities, Georgia entered the Con- federacy. The Declaration of Independence, passed in 1776, drew yet plainer lines between the Whigs and Tories. A gulf of hatred sepa- rated the opposing parties, and the Tory was far more despised than the open foe, when he was not such, and was the first sought when he was. Men who contend for liberty ever regard those who are not for them as against them a feeling which led to the expression of a political maxim of apparent undying force, for it has since found frequent repetition in every earnest campaign. After the adoption of the De- claration by the Continental Congress, the Whigs favored the most direct and abso- lute separation, while the Tories supported the Crown. On the 7th of June, 1770, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, movwl the Declaration in these words: "Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and indepen- dent states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." Then followed preparations for the for- mal declaration, which was adopted on the 4th of July, 1776, in the precise language submitted by Thomas Jefferson. All of the state papers of the Continental Con- gress evince the highest talent, and the evils which led to its exhibition must have been long but very impatiently endured to impel the study of the questions involved. Possibly only the best lives in our memory invite our perusal, but certain it is that higher capacity was never called to the performance of graver political duties in the history of the world. It has been said that the Declaration is in imitation of that published by the Uni- ted Netherlands, but whether this be true or false, the liberty-loving world has for more than a century accepted it as the best protest against oppression known to political history. A great occasion con- spired with a great author to make it grandly great. Dr. Franklin, as early as July, 1775, first prepared a sketch of articles of confedera- tion between the colonies, to continue until their reconciliation with Great Britain, and in failure thereof to be perpetual. John Quincy Adams says this plan was never discussed in Congress. June 11, 1776, a committee was appointed to pre- pare the force of a colonial confederation, and the day following one member from each colony was appointed to perform the duty. The report was submitted. laid aside August 20, 1776, taken up April 7, BOOK i./ PARTICULARISTS STRONG GOVERNMENT WHIGS. 1777, and debated from time to time until November 15th, of the same year, when the report was agreed to. It was then submitted to the legislatures of the several states, these being advised to authorize their delegates in Congress to ratify the same. On the 26th of June, 1778, the rat- ification was ordered to be engrossed and signed by the delegates. Those of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn- sylvania, Virginia and South Carolina signed July 9th, 1778 ; those of North Car- olina July 21st ; Georgia July 24th ; Jersey November 26th, same year; Delaware February 22d and May 5th, 1779. Mary- land refused to ratify until the question of the conflicting claims of the Union and of the separate States to the property of the crown-lands should be adjusted. This was accomplished by the cession of the lands in dispute to the United States, and Maryland signed March 1st, 1781. On the 2d of March, Congress assembled un- der the new powers, and continued to act for the Confederacy until the 4th of March, 1789, the date of the organization of the government under the Federal constitu- tion. Our political life has therefore three periods, " the revolutionary government," the confederation," and that of the " fed- eral constitution," which still obtains. The federal constitution is the result of the labors of a convention called at Phila- delphia in May, 1787, at a time when it was feared by many that the Union was in the greatest danger, from inability to pay soldiers who had, in 1783, been dis- banded on a declaration of peace and an acknowledgment of independence; from prostration of the public credit and faith f f the nation ; from the neglect to provide Jt>r the payment of even the interest on iLe public debt ; and from the disappoint- ed hopes of many who thought freedom did not need to face responsibilities. A large portion of the convention of 1787 rtill clung to the confederacy of the states, and advocated as a substitute for the con- stitution a revival of the old articles of confederation with additional powers to Congress. A long discussion followed, and a most able one, but a constitution for the people, embodying a division of legis- lative, judicial and executive powers pre- vailed, and the result is now daily wit- nessed in the federal constitution. While the revolutionary war lasted but seven years, the political revolution incident to, identified with and directing it, lasted thirteen years. This was completed on the 30th of April, 1789, the day on which Washington was inaugurated as the first President under the federal constitution. The PartlcnlarUts. As questions of government were evolved by the struggles for independence, the Whigs, who of course greatly outnumbered all others during the Revolution, naturallv divided in sentiment, though their divf- sions were not sufficiently serious to excite the establishment of rival parties some- thing which the great majority of our fore- fathers were too wise to think of in time of war. When the war closed, however, and the question of establishing the Union was brought clear to the view of all, one class of the Whigs believed that state govern- ment should be supreme, and that no cen- tral power should have sufficient authority to coerce a state, or keep it to the com- pact against its will. All accepted the idea of a central government ; all realized the necessity of union, but the fear that the states would lose their power, or sur- render their independence was very great, and this fear was more naturally shown by both the larger and the smaller states. This class of thinkers were then called Partic- ularists. Their views were opposed by the Strong Government Wtoigs who argued that local self-government was inadequate to the establishment and per- petuation of political freedom, and that it afforded little or no power to successfully resist foreign invasion. Some of these went so far as to favor a government pat- terned after that of England, save that it should be republican in name and spirit. The essential differences, if they can be re- duced to two sentences, were these : The Particularist Whiga desired a government republican in form and democratic in spirit, with rights of local self-government and state rights ever uppermost. The Strong Government Whigs desired a gov- ernment republican in form, with check? upon the impulses or passions of the peo pie ; liberty, sternly regulated by. law, anrward to monarchy, the other to the rule of the mob. By 1793 partisan lines under the names of Federalists and Republicans, were plain- ly drawn, and the schism in the cabinet was more marked than ever. Personal ambition may have had much to do with it, for Washington had previously shown his desire to retire to private life. While he remained at the head of affairs he was unwilling to part with Jefferson and Ham- ilton, and did all in his power to bring about a reconciliation, but without suc- cess. Before the close of the first consti- tutional Presidency, however, Washington had become convinced that the people de- sired him to accept a re-election, and he was accordingly a candidate and unani- mously chosen. John Adams was re-elect- ed Vice-President, receiving 77 votes to 50 for Geo. Clinton, (5 scattering) the Re- publican candidate. Soon after the inau- guration Citizen Genet, an envoy from the French republic, arrived and sought to excite the sympathy of the United States and involve it in a war with Great Britain. Jefferson and his Republican party warmly sympathized with France, and insisted that gratitude for revolutionary favors commanded aid to France in her struggles. The Federalists, under Washington and Hamilton, favored non-intervention, and insisted that we should maintain friendly relations with Great Britain. Washington showed his usual firmness, and before the expiration of the month, in which Genet arrived, had issued his celebrated procla- mation of neutrality. This has ever since been the accepted foreign policy of the nation. Genet, chagrined at the issuance of this proclamation, threatened to appeal to the people, and made himself so obnoxious to Washington that the latter demanded his recall. The French government sent M. Fauchet as his successor, but Genet con- tinued to reside in the United States, and under his inspiration a number of Demo- cratic Societies, in imitation of the French Jacobin clubs, were founded, but like all such organizations in this country, they were short-lived. Secret political societies thrive only under despotisms. In Repub- lics like ours they can only live when the great parties are in confusion and greatly divided. They disappear with the union of sentiment into two great parties. If there were many parties and factions, as in 1 Mexico and some of the South American j republics, there would be even a wider field for them here than there. The French agitation showed its impress upon the nation as late as 1794, when a resolution to cut off intercourse with Great Britain passed the House, and was de- feated in the Senate only by the casting vote of the Vice-President. Many people favored France, and to such silly heights did the excitement run that these insisted on wearing a national cockade. Jefferson had left the cabinet the December pre- vious, and had retired to his plantation in Virginia, where he spent his leisure in writing political essays and organizing the Republican party, of which he was the ac- knowledged founder. Here he escaped the errors of his party in Congress, but it was a potent fact that his friends in official station not only did not endorse the non- intervention policy of Washington, but that they actively antagonized it in many ways. The Congressional leader in these movements was Mr. Madison. The policy of Britain fed this opposition. The forts on Lake Erie were still occupied by the British soldiery in defiance of the treaty of 1783 ; American vessels were seized on their way to French ports, and American citizens were impressed. To avoid a war, Washington sent John Jay as special en- voy to England. He arrived in June, 1794, and by November succeeded in mak- ing a treaty. It was ratified in June, 1795, by the Senate by the constitutional majority of two-thirds, though there was much de- clamatory opposition, and the feeling be- tween the Federal and Republican parties ran higher than ever before. The Republi- cans denounced while the Federals con- gratulated Washington. Under this treaty the British surrendered possession of all American ports, and as Gen'l Wayne dur- ing the previous summer had conquered the war-tribes and completed a treaty with them, the country was again on the road to prosperity. In Washington's message of 1794, ho plainly censured all " self-created political societies," meaning the democratic so- cieties formed by Genet, but this part of the message the House refused to endorse, the speaker giving the casting vote in the negative. The Senate was in harmony with the political views of the President Party spirit had by this time measurably affected all classes of the people, and as subjects for agitation here multiplied, the) opposition no longer regarded Washing- ton with that respect and decorum which it had been the rule to manifest. His wis- dom as President, his patriotism, and in- deed his character as a man, were all hotly questioned by political enemies. He was even charged with corruption in ex- pending more of the public moneys than 10 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK I had been appropriated charges which were soon shown to DC groundless. At the first session of Congress in De- cember, 1795, the Senate's administration majority had increased, but in the House the opposing Republicans had also in- creased their numbers. The Senate by 14 to 8 endorsed the message ; the House at first refused but finally qualified its an- swers. i In March, 1796, a new political issue was sprung in the House by Mr. Living- stone of New York, who offered a resolu- tion requesting of the President a copy of the instructions to Mr. Jay, the envoy who made the treaty with Great Britain. After a debate of several days, more bitter than any which had preceded it, the House passed the resolution by 57 to 35, the Re- publicans voting aye, the Federals no. Washington in answer, took the position that the House of Representatives was not part of the treaty-making power of the government, and could not therefore be entitled to any papers relating to such treaties. The constitution had placed this treaty making and ratifying power in the ha ads of the Senate, the Cabinet and the President. This answer, now universally accepted as the proper one, yet excited the House and increased political animosities. The Republicans charged the Federals with being the "British party," and in some instances hinted that they had been pur- chased with British gold. Indignation meetings were called, but after much sound and fury, it was ascertained that the people really favored abiding by the treaty in good faith, and finally the House, after more calm and able debates, passed the needed legislation to carry out the treaty by a vote of 51 to 48. In August, 1796, prior to the meeting of the Congressional caucus which then placed candidates for the Presidency in nomination, Washington issued his cele- brated Farewell Address, in which he gave notice that he would retire from public life at the expiration of his term. He had been solicited to be a candidate for re- election (a third term) and told that all the people could unite upon him a state- ment which, without abating one jot, our admiration for the man, would doubtless have been called in question by the Re- publicans, who had oecome implacably nostile to his political views, and who were encouraged to believe they could win con- trol of the Presidency, by their rapidly in- creasing power in the House. Yet the ad- dress was everywhere received with marks of admiration. Legislatures commended it by resolution and ordered it to be en grossed upon their records; journals praised it, and upon the strength of its plain doctrines the Federalists took new courage, and prepared to win in the Presi- dential battle which followed. Both parties were plainly arrayed and confident, and so close was the result that the leaders of both were elected John Adams, the nom- inee of the Federalists, to the Presidency, and Thomas Jefterson, the nominee of the Republicans, to the Vice-Presidency. The law which then obtained was that the candidate who received the highest num- ber of electoral votes, took the first place, the next highest, the second. Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina was the Fed- eral nominee for Vice-President, and Aaron Burr of the Republicans. Adams received 71 electoral votes, Jefferson 68, Pinckney 59, Burr 30, scattering 48. Pinckney had lost 12 votes, while Burr lost 38 -a loss of popularity which the latter regained four years later. The first impressions which our forefathers had of this man were the best. John Adams was inaugurated as Pres- ident in Philadelphia, at Congress Hall, March 4th, 1797, and in his inaugural was careful to denv the charge that the Fed- eral party had" any sympathy for England, but reaffirmed his endorsement of the policy of Washington as to strict neutral- ity. To this extent he sought to soften the asperities of the parties, and measurably succeeded, though the times were still stormy. The French revolution had reached its highest point, and our people still took sides. Adams found he would have to arm to preserve neutrality and at the same time punish the aggression of either of the combatants. This was our first exhibition of "armed neutrality." An American navy was quickly raised, and every preparation made for defending the rights of American. An alliance with France was refused, after which the American Minister was dismissed and the French navy began to cripple our trade. In May, 1797, President Adams felt it his duty to call an extra session of Congress, which closed in July. The Senate ap- proved of negotiations for reconciliation with France. They were attempted bui, proved fruitless; in May, 1798, a lull naval armament was authorized, and soon several French vessels were captured before there was any declaration of war. Indeed, neith- er power declared war, and as soon as France discovered how earnest the Ameri- cans were she made overtures for an ad- justment of difficulties, and these esulted in the treaty of 1800. The Republicans, though warmly favor- ing a contest, did not heartily support that inaugurated by Adams, and contended ifter this that the militia and a small naval force were sufficient for internal defense. They denounced the position of the Fed- erals, who favored the enlargement of the army and navy, as measures calculated to BOOK I.] REPUBLICANS AND FEDERALS. 11 overawe public sentiment in time of peace. The Federals, however, through their prompt resentment of the aggressions of France, had many adherents to their party. They organized their power and sought to perpetuate it by the passage of the alien and sedition, and a naturaliza- tion law. The alien and sedition law gave the President authority "to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United States, within such time as shall be expressed in such order." The provisions which followed were in keeping with that quoted, the 3d section command- ing every master of a ship entering a port of the United States, immediately on his arrival, to make report in writing to the collector of customs, the names of all aliens on board, etc. The act was to continue in force for two years from the date of its passage, and it was approved June 25th, 17-38. A resolution was introduced in the Sen- ate on the 25th of April, 1798, by Mr. Hillhouse of Connecticut, to inquire what provision of law ought to be made, &c., as to the removal of such aliens as may be dangerous to the peace of the country, &c. This resolution was adopted the next day, and Messrs. Hillhouse, Livermore and Read were appointed the committee, and subsequently reported the bill. It passed the Senate by 16 to 7, and the House by 46 to 40, the Republicans in the latter body resisting it warmly. The leading opposing idea was that it lodged with the Executive too much power, and was liable to great abuse. It has frequently since, n arguments against centralized power, been used for illustration by political speakers. The Naturalization law, favored by the Federalists, because they knew they could acquire few friends either from newly ar- rived English or French aliens, among other requirements provided that an alien must reside in the United States fourteen years before he could vote. The Republi- cans denounced this law as calculated to check immigration, and dangerous to our country in the fact that it caused too many inhabitants to owe no allegiance. They also asserted, as did those who op- posed Americanism later on in our history, that America was properly an asylum for all nations, and that those coming to America should freely share all the privi- leges and liberties of the government. T?hese laws and the political resentments which they created gave a new and what eventually proved a dangerous current to politica. thought and action. They were the immediate cause of the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798, Jefferson be- ing the author of the former and Madison of the latter. These resolutions were full of political significance, and gave tone to sectional dis- cussion up to the close of the war for the Union. They first promulgated the doc- trine of nullification or secession, and political writers mistake who point to Cal- houn as the father of that doctrine. It began with the old Republicans under the leadership of Jefferson and Madison, and though directly intended as protests against the alien and sedition, and the naturaliza- tion laws of Congress, they kept one eye upon the question of slavery rather that interest was kept in view in their declara- tions, and yet the authors of both were anything but warm advocates of slavery. They were then striving, however, to rein- force the opposition to the Federal party, which the administration of Adams had thus far apparently weakened, and they had in view the brief agitation which had sprung up in 1793, five years before, on the petition to Congress of a Pennsylvania society " to use its powers to stop the traffic in slaves." On the question of referring this petition to a committee there arose a sectional debate. Men took sides not be- cause of the party to which they belonged, but the section, and for the first time the North and South were arrayed against each other on a question not then treated either as partisan or political, but which most minds then saw must soon become both partisan and sectional. Some of the Southern de- baters, in their protests against interfer- ence, thus early threatened civil war. With a view to better protect their rights to slave property, they then advocated and suc- ceeded in passing the first fugitive slave law. This was approved February 12, 1793. The resolutions of 1798 will be found in the book devoted to political platforms. So highly were these esteemed by the Re- publicans of that day, and by the interests whose support they so shrewdly invited, that they more than counterbalanced the popularity acquired by the Federal* in their resistance to France, and by 1800 they caused a rupture in the Cabinet of Adams. In the Presidential election of 1$00 John Adams was the nominee for President and C. C. Pinckney for Vice-President. A " Congressional Convention" of Republi- cans, held in Philadelphia, nominated Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr as can- didates for these offices. On the election which followed the Republican chose 73 electors and the Federalists . Each elector voted for two persons, and the Re- publicans so voted that they unwisely gave Jefferson and Burr each 73 votes. Neither being highest, it was not legally determined AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. which should be President or Vice-Presi- dent, and the election had to go to the House. The Federalists threw 65 votes to Adams and 64 to Pinckney. The Repub- licans could have done the same, but Burr's intrigue and ambition prevented this, and the result was a prctracted contest in the House, and one which put the country in great peril, but which plainly pointed out some of the imperfections of the elec- toral features of the Constitution. The Federalists proposed to confess the inabil- ity of the House to agree through the vote by States, but to this proposition the Re- publicans threatened armed resistance. The Federalists next attempted a combina- tion with the friends of Aaron Burr, but this specimen of bargaining to deprive a nominee of the place to which it was the plain intention of his party to elect him, really contributed to Jefferson's popularity, if not in that Congress, certainly before the people. He was elected on the 36th ballot. The bitterness of this strife, and the dangers which similar ones threatened, led to an abandonment of the system of each Elector voting for two, the highest to be President, the next highest Vice-President, and an amendment was offered to the Con- stitution, and fully ratified by September 25, 1804, requiring the electors to ballot separately for President and Vice-Presi- dent. Jefferson was the first candidate nomi- nated by a Congressional caucus. It con- vened in 1800 at Philadelphia, and nomi- nated Jefferson for President and Burr for Vice-President. Adams and Pinckney were not nominated, but ran and were ac- cepted as natural leaders of their party, just as Washington and Adams were be- fore them. Downfall of the Federal Party. This contest broke the power of the Federal party. It had before relied upon the rare sagacity and ability of its leaders, but the contest in the House developed sucL attempts at intrigue as disgusted many and caused all to quarrel, Hamilton having early showed his dislike to Adams. As a party the Federal had been peculiarly brave at times when high bravery was needed. It had framed the Federal Gov- ernment and stood by the powers given it until they were too firmly planted for even newer and triumphant partisans to reck- lessly trifle with. It stood for non-inter- ference with foreign nations against the eloquence of adventurers, the mad impulses of mobs, the generosity of new-born free- men, the harangues of demagogues, and best of all against those who sought to fan these popular breezra to their own comfort. It provided for the payment of the debt, had the courage to raise revenues both from internal and external sources, and to increase expenditures, as the growth of the country demanded. Though it passed out of power in a cloud of intrigue and in a vain grasp at the " flesh-pots," it yet had a glorious history, and one which none un- tinctured with the better prejudices of that day, can avoid admiring. The defeat of Adams was not unexpect- ed by him, yet it was greatly regretted by his friends, for he was justly regarded as second to no other civilian in the estab- lishment of the liberties of the colonies. He was eloquent to a rare degree, possessed natural eloquence, and made the most famous speech in advocacy of the Declara- tion. Though the proceedings of the Revolutionary Congress were secret, and what was said never printed, yet Webster gives his version of the noted speech of Adams, and we reproduce it in Book III. of this volume as one of the great speeches of noted American orators. Mr. Jefferson was inaugurated the third President, in the new capitol at Washing- ton, on the 4th of March, 1801, and Vice- President Burr took his seat in the Senate the same day. Though Burr distinctly dis- avowed any participancy in the House contest, he was distrusted by Jefferson's warm friends, and jealousies rapidly cropped out. Jefferson endeavored through his inaugural to smooth factious and party asperities,and so well were his words chosen that the Federalists indulged, the hope that they would not be removed from office be- cause of their political views. Early in June, however, the first ques- tion of civil service was raised. Mr. Jeffer- son then removed Elizur Goodrich, a Fed- eralist, from the Collectorship of New Haven, and appointed Samuel Bishop, a Republican, to the place. Ths citizens re- monstrated, saying that Goodrich "-as prompt, reliable and able, and showed that his successor was 78 years old, and too in- firm for the duties of the office. To these remonstrances Mr. Jefferson, under date of July 12th, replied in language which did not then, as he did later on, plainly assert the right of every administration to have its friends in office. We quote the fol- lowing : "Declarations by myself, in favor of political tolerance, exhortations to har- mony and affection in social intercourse, and respect for the equal rights of the minority, have, on certain occasions, been quoted and misconstrued into assurances that the tenure of office was not to be dis- turbed. But could candor apply such a construction ? When it is considered that, during the late administration, those who were not of a particular sect of politics were excluded ixom all office ; when, by a steady pursuit of this measure, nearly the whole offices of the United States were BOOK I.] DOWNFALL OF THE FEDERALS. 13 monopolized by that sect ; when the public sentiment at length declared itself, and burst open the doors of honor and confi- dence to those whose opinions they ap- proved; was it to be imagined that this monopoly of office was to be continued in the hands of the minority ? Does it violate their equal rights to assert some rights in the majority also ? Is it politic^ intolerance to claim a proportionate share in the direc- tion of the public affairs ? If a due partici- pation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few, by resignation none. Can any other mode than that of removal be proposed? This is a painful office; but it is made my duty, and I meet it as such. I proceed in the operation with deliberation and inquiry, that it may injure the best men least, and effect the purposes of justice and public utility with the least private distress, that it may be thrown as much as possible on delinquency, on oppression, on intolerance, on ante-revolutionary adhe- renoe to our enemies. " I lament sincerely that unessential dif- ferences of opinion should ever have been deemed sufficient to interdict half the society from the rights and the blessings of self-government, to proscribe them as unworthy of every trust. It would have been to me a circumstance of great relief, had I found a moderate participation of office in the hands of the majority. I would gladly have left to time and accident to raise them to their just share. But their total exclusion calls for prompter correc- tions. I shall correct the procedure ; but that done, return with joy to that state of things when the only questions concerning a candidate shall be : Is he honest? Is he capable? Ishe faithful to the constitution?" Mr. Adams had made few removals, and aone because of the political views held by the incumbents, nearly all of whom had been appointed by Washington and continued through good behavior. At the date of the appointment of most of them, Jefferson's Republican party had no exist- ence; so that the reasons given in the quotation do not comport with the facts. Washington's rule was integrity and ca- pacity, for he could have no regard for politics where political lines had been ob- literated in his own selection. Doubtless these office-holders were human, and ad- hered with warmth to the administration which they served, and this fact, and this alone, must have angered the Republicans and furnished them with arguments for a change. Mr. Jefferson's position, however, made his later conduct natural. He was the ac- knowledged leader of his party, its founder indeed, and that party had carried him into power. He desired to keep it intact, to strengthen ita lines with whatever pa- tronage he had at his disposal, and he evi- dently regarded the cause of Adams in not rewarding his friends as a mistake. It was, therefore, Jefferson, and not Jackson, who was the author of the theory that " to the victors belong the spoils." Jackson gave it a sharp and perfectly defined shape by the use of these words, but the spirit' and principle were conceived by Jefferson, who throughout his life showed far greater originality in politics than any of the early patriots. It was his acute sense of just what was right for a growing political party to do, which led him to turn the thoughts of his -followers into new and popular directions. Seeing that they were at grave disadvantage when opposing the attitude of the government in its policy with foreign nations; realizing that the work of the Federalists in strengthening the power of the new government, in pro- viding revenues and ways and means fcr the payment of the debt, were good, he changed the character of the opposition by selecting only notoriously arbitrary measures for assault and changed it even more radically than this. He early saw that simple opposition was not progress, and that it was both wise and popular to be progressive, and in all his later politi- cal papers he sought to make his party the party favoring personal freedom, the one of liberal ideas, the one which, instead of shirking, should anticipate every change calculated to enlarge the liberties and the opportunities of citizens. These things were not inconsistent with his strong views in favor of local self-government ; indeed, in many particulars they seemed to sup- port that theory, and by the union of the two ideas he shrewdly arrayed po- litical enthusiasm by the side of politi- cal interest. Political sagacity more pro- found than this it is difficult to imagine. It has not since been equalled in the his- tory of our land, nor do we believe in the history of any other. After the New Haven episode, so jealous was Jefferson of his good name, that while he confided all new appointments to the hands of his political friends, he made few removals, and these for apparent cause. The mere statement of his position had proved an invitation to the Federalists in office to join his earlier friends in the sup- port of his administration. Many of them did it, so many that the clamorings of truer friends could not be hushed. With a view to create a new excuse, Jefferson declared that all appointments made by Adams after February 14th, when the House began its ballotings for President, were void, these appointments belonging of right to him, and from this act of Adams we date the political legacies which some of our Presidents have since han ded down to their successors. One of the AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i magistrates whose commission had been made out under Adams, sought to compel Jefferson to sign it by a writ of mandamus before the Supreme Court, but a " profound investigation of constitutional law " in- duced the court not to grant the motion. All commissions signed by Adams after the date named were suppressed. Jefferson's apparent bitterness against the Federalists is mainly traceable to the contest in the House, and his belief that at one time they sought a coalition with' Burr. This coalition he regarded as a vio- lation of the understanding when he was nominated, and a supposed effort to ap- point a provisional office he regarded as an usurpation in fact. In a letter to James Monroe, dated February 15th, speaking of this contest, he says : " Four days of balloting have produced not a single change of a vote. Yet it is confidently believed that to-morrow there is to be a coalition. I know of no founda- tion for this belief. If they could have been permitted to pass a law for putting the government in the hands of an officer, they would certainly have prevented an election. But we thought it best to de- clare openly and firmly, one and all, that the day such an act passed, the Middle States would arm, and that no such usur- pation, even for a single day, should be submitted to." It is but fair to say that the Federalists denied all such intentions, and that James A. Bavard, of Delaware, April 3, 1806, made formal oath to this denial. In this he says that three States, representing Federalist votes, offered to withdraw their opposition if John Nicholas, of Virginia, and the personal friend of Jefferson, would secure pledges that the public credit should be supported, the navy maintained, and that subordinate public officers, employed only in the execution of details, established by law, should not be removed from office on the ground of their public character, nor without complaint against their con- duct. The Federalists then went so far as to admit that officers of " high discretion and confidence," such as members of the cabinet and foreign ministers, should be known friends of the administration. This proposition goes to show that there is noth- ing very new in what are called our modern politics ; that the elder Bayard, as early as 1800, made a formal proposal to bargain. Mr. Nicholas offered his assur- , ance that these things would prove accep- table to and govern the conduct of Jeffer- son's administration, but he declined to con- sult with Jefferson on the points. General Smith subsequently engaged to do it, and Jefferson replied that the points given corresponded with his views and inten- tions, and that Mr. Bayard and his friends might confide in him accordingly. The opposition of Vermont, Maryland and De- laware was then immediately withdrawn, and Mr Jefferson was made President. Gen'l Smith, twelve days later, made an affidavit which substantially confirmed that of Bayard. Latimer, the collector of the port of Philadelphia, and M'Lane, col- lector of Wilmington, (Bayard's special friend) were retained in office. He had cited these two as examples of his opposi- tion to any change, and Jefferson seemed to regard the pledges as not sacred beyond the parties actually named in Bayard's ne- gotiations with Gen'l Smith. This misunderstanding or misconstruc- tion of what in these days would be plain- ly called a bargain, led to considerable political criticism, and Jefferson felt it ne- cessary to defend his cause. This he did in letters to friends which both then and since found their way into the public prints. One of these letters, written to Col. Monroe, March 7th, shows in evuy word and line the natural politician. I;a this he says : "Some (removals) I know must be made. They must be as few as possible, done gradually, and bottomed on some malversation or inherent disqualification. Where we shall draw the line between all and none, is not yet settled, and will not be till we get our administration together ; and perhaps even -then we shall proceed a talons, balancing our measures according to the impression we perceive them to make. This may give you a general view of our plan." A little later on, March 28, he wrote to Elbridge Gerry: " Officers who have been guilty of gross abuses of office, such as marshals pack ing juries, etc., I shall now remove, as my predecessor ought in justice to have done. The instances will be few, and governed by strict rule, not party passion. The right of opinion shall suffer no invasion from me." Jefferson evidently tired of this subject, and gradually modified his views, as shown in his letter to Levi Lincoln, July 11, wherein he says : " I am satisfied that the heaping of abuse on me personally, has been with the de- sign ana the hope of provoking me to make a general sweep of all Federalists out of office. But as I have carried no passion into the execution of this disagreeable duty, I shall suffer none to be excited. The clamor which has been raised will not pro voke me to remove one more, nor deter me from removing one less, than if not a word had been said on the subject. In the course of the summer, all which is neces- sary will be done ; and we may hope that, this cause of offence being at an end, the measures we shall pursue and propose for the amelioration of the public affairs, will BOOK I.] DOWNFALL OF THE FEDERALS. 15 be ao confessedly salutary as to unite all men not monarchists in principle." In the same letter he warmly berates the monarchical federalists, saying, " they are incurables, to be taken care of in a mad- house if necessary, and on motives of charity." The seventh Congress assembled. Po- litical parties were at first nearly equally divided in the Senate, but eventually there was a majority for the administration. Jefferson then discontinued the custom es- tablished by Washington of delivering in person his message to Congress. The change was greatly for the oetter, as it afforded relief from the requirement of immediate answers on the subjects con- tained in the message. It has ever since been followed. The seventh session of Congress, pursu- ant to the recommendation of President Jefferson, established a uniform system of naturalization, and so modified the law as to make the required residence of aliens five years, instead of fourteen, as in the act of 1798, and to permit a declaration of in- tention to become a citizen at the expiration of three years. By his recommendation also was established the first sinking fund for the redemption of the public debt. It required the setting apart annually for this purpose the sum of seven millions and three hundred thousand dollars. Other mea- sures, more partisan in their character, were proposed, but Congress showed an aversion to undoing what nad been wisely done. A favorite law of the Federalists establishing circuit courts alone was re- pealed, and this only after a sharp debate, and a close vote. The provisional army had been disbanded by a law of the previ- ous Congress. A proposition to abolish the naval department was defeated, as was that to discontinue the mint establishment. At this session the first law in relation to the slave trade was passed. It was to pre- vent the importation of negroes, mulattoes and other persons of color into any port of the United States within a state which had prohibited by law the admission of any such person. The penalty was one thou- sand dollars and the forfeiture of the vessel. The slave trade was not then prohibited by the constitution, nor was the subject then generally agitated, though it had been as early as 1793, when, as previously stated, an exciting sectional debate followed the presentation of a petition from Pennsylva- nia to abolish the slave trade. Probably the most important occurrence under the first administration of Jefferson was that relating to the purchase and ad- mission of Louisiana. There had been apprehensions of a war with Spain, and with a view to be ready Congress had passed an act authorizing the President to call upon the executives of such of the states as he might deem expedient, for detachments of militia not exceeding eighty thousand, or to accept the services of volunteers for a term of twelve months. The disagreement arose over the south-western boundary line and the right of navigating the Mississippi. Our government learned m the spring of 1802, that Spain had by a secret treaty made in October, 1800, actually ceded Louisiana to France. Our government had in 1795 made a treaty with Spain which gave us the right of deposite at New Or- leans for three years, but in October, 1802, the Spanish authorities gave notice by, proclamation that this right was withdrawn. Excitement followed all along the valley of the Mississippi, and it was increased by the belief that the withdrawal of the privi- lege was made at the suggestion of France, though Spain still retained the territory, as the formalities of ceding it had not been gone through with. Jefferson promptly took the ground that if France took pos- session of New Orleans, the United States would immediately become allies of Eng- land, but suggested to Minister Livingston at Paris that France might be induced to cede the island of New Orleans and the Floridas to the United States. It was Lis belief, though a mistaken one, that France had also acquired the Floridas. Louisiana then comprised much of the territory west of the Mississippi and south of the Mis- souri. The Federalists in Congress seized upon this question as one upon which they could make an aggressive war against Jefferson's administration, and resolutions were intro- duced asking information on the subject. Jefferson, however, wisely avoided all en- tangling suggestions, and sent Monroe to aid Livingston in effecting a purchase. The treaty was formed in April, 1803, and submitted by Jefferson to the Senate in October following. The Republicans ral- lied in favor of this scheme of annexation, and claimed that it was a constitutional right in the government to acquire territory a doctrine widely at variance with their previous position, but occasions are rare where parties quarrel with their administra- tions on pivotal measures. There was also some latitude here for endorsement, as the direct question of territorial acquisition had not before been presented, but only hypo- thetically stated in the constitutional dis- putations then in great fashion. Jefferson would not go so far as to say that the con- stitution warranted the acquisition to for- eign territory, but the scheme was never- theless his, and he stood in with his friends in the political battle which followed. The Federalists claimed that we had no power to acquire territory, and that the acquirement of Louisiana would give the South a preponderance which would " con- tinue for all time (poor prophets they !), 16 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK r. since southern would be more rapid than northern development ; " that states cre- ated west of the Mississippi would injure the commerce of New England, and they even went so far as to say that the " ad- mission of the Western World into the Union would compel the Eastern States to establish an eastern empire," Doubts were also raised as to the right of Louisi- anians, when admitted to citizenship un- der our laws, as their lineage, language and religion were different from our own. Its inhabitants were French and descend- ants of French, with some Spanish Cre- oles, Americans, English and Germans in all about 90,000, including 40,000 slaves. There were many Indians of course, in a territory then exceeding a million of square miles a territory which, in the language of First Consul Napoleon, "strengthens forever the power of the United States," and which will give to England a mari- time rival that will sooner or later humble her pride " a military view of the change fully justified by subsequent history. Na- poleon sold because of needed prepara- tions for war with England, and while he had previously expressed a willingness to take fifty million francs for it, he got sixty through the shrewd diplomacy of his min- isters, who hid for the time their fear of the capture of the port of New Orleans by the English navy. Little chance was afforded the Federal- ists for adverse criticism in Congress, for the purchase proved so popular that the people greatly increased the majority in both branches of the eighth Congress, and Jefferson called it together earlier for the Eurpose of ratification. The Senate rati- ed the treaty on the 20th of October, 1803, by a vote of 24 to 7, while the House adopted a resolution for carrying the treaty into effect by a vote of 90 to 25. Eleven million dollars of the purchase money was appropriated, the remaining four millions being reserved for the indemnity of Amer- ican citizens who had sustained losses by French assaults upon our commerce from which fact subsequently came what is known as the French Spoliation Bill. Impeachment trials were first attempted before the eighth Congress in 1803. Judge Pickering, of the district . court of the United States for New Hampshire, was impeached for occasional drunkenness, and dismissed frcm office. Judge Chase of the U. S. Supreme Court, and Judge Peters of the district court of Pennsylva- nia, both Federalists, were charged by arti- cles proposed in the House with illegal and arbitrary conduct in the trial of par- ties charged with political offenses. The Federalists took alarm at these proceed- ings, and so vehement were their charges against the Republicans of a desire to de- stroy the judiciary that their impeach* ments were finally abandoned. The Republicans closed their first na- tional administration with high prestige. They had met several .congressional re- verses on questions where defeat proved good fortune, for the Federalists kept a watchful defence, and were not always wrong. The latter suffered numerically, and many of their best leaders had fallen in the congressional contest of 1800 and 1802, while the Republicans maintained their own additions in talent and number. In 1804, the candidates of both parties were nominated by congressional caucuses. Jefferson and Clinton were the Republi- can nominees ; Charles C. Pinckney and Rufus King, the nominees of the Federal- ists, but they only received 14 out of 176 electoral votes. The struggle of Napoleon in Europe with the allied powers now gave Jefferso a an opportunity to inaugurate a foreign policy. England had forbidden all trade with the French and their allies, and France had in return forbidden all com- merce with England and her colonies. Both of these decrees violated our neutral rights, and were calculated to destroy our commerce, which by this time had become quite imposing. Congress acted promptly, and on the 21st of December passed what is known as the Embargo Act, under the inspiration of the Republican party, which claimed that the only choice of the people lay between the embargo and war, and that there was no other way to obtain redress from England and France. But the promised effects of the measure were not realized, and so soon as any dissatisfaction was manifested by the people, the Federalists made the qdes- tion a political issue. They declared it unconstitutional because it was not limited as to time; that it helped England as against France (a cunning assertion in view of the early love of the Republicans for the cause of the French), and that it laid violent hands on our home commerce and industries. Political agitation in- creased the discontent, and public opinion at one time turned so strongly against the law that it was openly resisted on the eastern coast, and treated with almost as open contempt on the Canadian border. The bill had passed the House by 87 to 35, the Senate by 19 to 9. In January, 1809, the then closing administration of Jefferson had to change front on the ques- tion, and the law was repealed on the 18th of March. The Republicans when they changed, went all the way over, and advo- cated full protection by the use of a navy, of all our rights on the high seas. If the Federals could have recalled their old leaders, or retained even a considerable portion of their power, the opportunity EOOK I.] DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS. 17 presented by the embargo issue couk nave brought them back to full politica' power, but lacking these leaders, the op portunity passed Democrats and Federalg. During the ninth Congress, which as sembled on the second of December, 1805 the Republicans dropped their name anc accepted that of " Democrats." In al their earlier strifes they had been chargec by their opponents with desiring to run to the extremes of the democratic or " mob rule," and fear of too general a belief in the truth of the charge led them to denials and rejection of a name which the father of their party had ever shown a fondness for. The earlier dangers which had threatened their organization, and the re- collection of defeats suffered in their at- tempts to establish a government anti-fed- eral and confederate in their composition, had been greatly modified by later suc- cesses, and with a characteristic cuteness peculiar to Americans they accepted an epithet and sought to turn it to the best account. In this they imitated the patriots who accented the epithets in the British satirical song of " Yankee Doodle," and called themselves Yankees. From the ninth Congress the Jeffersonian Republi- cans called themselves Democrats, and the word Republican passed into disuse until later on in the history of our political parties, the opponents of the Democracy accepted it as a name which well filled the meaning of their attitude* in the politics of the country. Mr. Randolph of Roanoke, made the first schism in the Republican party under Jefferson, when he and three of his friends voted against the embargo act. He resisted its passage with his usual earnestness, and all attempts at reconciling him to the mea- sure were unavailing. Self-willed/ strong in argument and sarcasm, it is believed that his cause made it even more desirable for the Republicans to change name in the hope of recalling some of the more wayward " Democrats " who had advoca- ted Jacobin democracy in the years gone by. The politicians of that day were never short of expedients, and no man so abounded in them as Jefferson himself. Randolph improved his opportunities by getting most of the Virginia members to act with him against the foreign policy of the administration, but he was careful not to join the Federalists, and quickly denied any leaning that way. The first fruit of Ha faction was to bring forth Monroe as a candidate for President against Madison a movement which proved to be quite popular in Virginia, but which Jefferson flanked by bringing about a reconciliation between Monroe and Madison. The now usual Congressional caucus followed at Washington, and although the Virginia Legislature in its caucus previously held had been unable to decide between Madi- son and Monroe, the Congressional body chose Madison by 83 to 11, the minority being divided between Clinton and Mon- roe, though the latter could by that time hardly be considered as a candidate. This action broke up Randolph's faction in Virginia, but left so much bitterness be- hind it that a large portion attached them- selves to the Federalists. In the election which followed Madison received 122 elec- toral votes against 47 for C. C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, and 6 for Geo. Clinton of New York. Before Jefferson's administration closed he recommended the passage of an act to prohibit the African slave trade after Jan- uary 1st, 1808, and it was passed accord- ingly. He had also rejected the form of a treaty received from the British minister Erskine, and did this without the formality of submitting it to the Senate first, be- cause it contained no provision on the ob- jectionable practice of impressing our sea- men ; second, * because it was accompanied by a note from the British ministers, by which the British government reserved to itself the right of releasing itself from the stipulations in favor of neutral rights, if the United States submitted to the British decree, or other invasion of those rights by France." This rejection of the treaty by Jefferson caused public excitement, and the Federalists sought to arouse the com- mercial community against his action, and cited the fact that his own trusted friends, Monroe and Pinckney had negotiated it. The President's party stood by him, and they agreed that submission to the Senate was immaterial, as its advice could not bind him. This refusal to consider the Teaty was the first step leading to the war of 1812, for embargoes followed, and Britain openly claimed the right to search Amer- can vessels for her deserting seamen. In 1807 this question was brought to issue )y the desertion of five British seamen rom the Hal fax, and their enlistment on he U. S. frigate Chesapeake. Four sepa- ate demands were made for these men, )ut all of the commanders, knowing the inn attitude of Jefferson's administration against the practice, refused, as did the Secretary of State refuse a fifth demand on the part of the British minister. On he 23a of June following, while the Chesapeake was near the capes of Virginia, )apt. Humphreys of the British ship Leo- re equal preten- sions, were coming upon the stage. It was tried several times with success and general approbation, because public sentiment was followed not led by the caucus. It was attempted. in 182-1 and failed; all the op- ponents of Mr. Crawford, by their joint efforts, succeeded, and justly in the fact though not in the motive, in rendering these Congress caucus nominations odious to the people, and broke them down. They were dropped, and a different mode adopted that of party nominations by conventions of delegates from the States. The administration of Mr. Adams com- menced with his inaugural address, in which the chief topic was that of internal national improvement by the federal gov eminent. This declared policy of the ad- ministration furnished a ground of opposi- tion against Mr. Adams, and went to the reconstruction of parties on the old line of strict, or latitudinous, construction of the Constitution. It was clear from the begin- ning that the new administration was to have a settled and strong opposition, and that founded in principles of government the same principles, under different forms, which had discriminated parties at the commencement of the federal govern- ment. Men of the old school survivors of the contest of the Adams and Jefferson times, with some exceptions, divided ac- cordingly the federalists going for Mr. Adams, the republicans against him, with the mass of the younger generation. The Senate by a decided majority, and the House by a strong minority, were opposed to the policy of the new President. In 1826 occurred the famous debates in the Senate and the House, on the proposed Congress of American States, to contract alliances to guard against and prevent the Mtettlttfament of any future European co- lony within its borders. The mission though sanctioned was never acted upon or carried out. It was authorized by very nearly a party vote, the democracy as a party being against it The President, Mr. Adams, stated the objects of the Congress to be as follows : " An agreement between all the parties represented at the meeting, that each will guard, by its own means, against the establishment of any future European colony within its own borders, may be advisable. This was, more than two years since, announced by my prede- cessor to the world, as a principle result- ing from the emancipation of both the American continents. It may be so de- veloped to the new southern nations, that they may feel it as an essential appendage to their independence." Mr. Adams had been a member of Mr. Monroe's cabinet, filling the department from which the doctrine would emanate. The enunciation by him as above of this " Monroe Doctrine," as it is called, is very different from what it has of late been sup- posed to be, as binding the United States to guard all the territory of the New World from European colonization. The mes- sage above quoted was written at a time when the doctrine as enunciated by the former President through the then Secre- tary was fresh in the mind of the latter, and when he himself in a communication to the American Senate was laying it down for the adoption of all the American na- tions in a general congress of their depu- ties. According to President Adams, this " Monroe Doctrine" (according to which it has been of late believed that the United States were to stand guard over the two Americas, and repulse all intrusive colo- nists from their shores), was entirely con- fined to our own borders ; that it was only proposed to get the other States of the New World to agree that, each for itself, and by its own means, should guard its own terri- tories ; and, consequently, that the United States, so far from extending gratuitous protection to the territories of other States, would neither give, nor receive, aid in any such enterprise, but that each skould use its own means, within its own borders, for its own exemption from European colonial intrusion. No question in its day excited more in- temperate discussion, excitement, and feel- ing between the Executive and the Senate, and none died out so quickly, than this, relative to the proposed congress of Ameri- can nations. The chief advantage to be derived from its retrospect and it is a real one is a view of the firmness with which the minority maintained the old policy of the United States, to avoid entangling al- liances and interference with the affairs of other nations ; and the exposition, by one so competent as Mr. Adams, of the true scope and meaning of the Monroe doc- trine. At the session of 1825-26 attempt was again made to procure an amendment to the Constitution, 'a relation to the moda 28 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK of election of President and Vice-Presi- dent, so as to do away with all intermedi- ate agencies, and give the election to the direct vote of the people. In the Senate the matter was referred to a committee who reported amendments dispensing with electors, providing for districts equal in number to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State was entitled in Congress, and obviating all excuses for caucuses and conventions to concentrate public opinion by providing that in the event of no one receiving a ma- jority of the whole number of district votes cast, that a second election should be held limited to the two persons receiving the highest number of votes; and in case of an equal division of votes on the second elec- tion then the House of Representatives shall choose one of them for President, as is prescribed by the Constitution. The idea being that the first election, if not re- sulting in any candidate receiving a ma- jority, should stand for a popular nomina- tion a nomination by the people them- selves, out of which the election is almost sure to be made on the second trial. The same plan was suggested for choosing a Vice-President, except that the Senate was to finally elect, in case of failure to choose at first and second elections. The amend- ments did not receive the requisite support of two-thirds of either the Senate or the House. This movement was not of a par- tisan character ; it was equally supported and opposed respectively by Senators and Representatives of both parties. Substan- tially the same plan was recommended by President Jackson in his first annual mes- sage to Congress, December 8, 1829. It is interesting to note that at this Ses- sion of 1825 and 26, attempt was made by the Democrats to pass a tenure of office bill, as applicable to government em- ployees and office-holders ; it provided that in* all nominations made by the President to the Senate, to fill vacancies occasioned by an exercise of the Presi- dent's power to remove from office, the fact of the removal shall be stated to the Senate at the same time that the nomina- tion is made, with a statement of the rea- sons for which such officer may have been removed." It was also sought at the same time to amend the Constitution to prohibit the appointment of any member of Con- press to any federal office of trust or profit, during the period for which he was elec- ted ; the design being to make the mem- bers wholly independent of the Executive, and not subservient to the latter, and in- capable of receiving favors in the form of bestowals of official patronage. The tariff of 1828 is an era in our politi- cal U-.irislation; from it the doctrine of "nullification" originated, and from that date began a serious division between the North and the South. This tariff law waa projected in the interest of the woolen manufacturers, but ended by including all manufacturing interests. The passage of this measure was brought about not because it was favored by a majority, but because of political exigencies. In the then ap- proaching presidential election, Mr. Adams, who was in favor of the " Ameri- can System," supported by Mr. Clay (his Secretary of State) was opposed by General Jackson. This tariff was made an admin- istration measure, and became an issue in the canvass. The New England States, which had formerly favored free trade, on account of their commercial interests; changed their policy, and, led by Mr. Webster, became advocates of the protec- tive system. The question of protective tariff had now not only become political, but sectional. The Southern States as a section, were arrayed against the system, though prior to 1816 had favored it, not merely as an ihcident to revenue, but as a substantive object. In fact these tariff bills, each exceeding the other in its de- gree of protection, had become a regular appendage of our presidential elections carrying round in every cycle of four years, with that returning event ; starting in 1816 and followed up in 1820-24, and now in 1828; with successive augmentations of duties ; the last being often pushed as a party measure, and with the visible pur- pose of influencing the presidential elec- tion. General Jackson was elected, hav- ing received 178 electoral votes to 83 re- ceived bv John Quincy Adams. Mr. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, who was on the tjcket with Mr. Adams, was de- feated for the office of Vice-President, and John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was elected to that office. The election of General Jackson was a triumph of democratic principle, and an assertion of the people's right to govern themselves. That principle had been vio- lated in the presidential election in the House of Representatives in the session of 1824-25; and the sanction, or rebuke, of that violation was a leading question in the whole canvass. It was also a triumph over the high protective policy, and the federal internal improvement policy, and the latitudinous construction of the Con- stitution ; and of the democracy over the federalists, then called national republi- cans ; and was the re-establishment of par- ties on principle, according to the land- marks of the early years of the govern- ment. For although Mr. Adams had re- ceived confidence and office from *Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe, and had classed with the democratic party during the " era of good feeling," yet he had previously been federal ; and on the re-establishment of old party lines which began to take place BOOKI.] NULLIFICATION DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS. 29 after the election of Mr. Adams in the House of Representatives, his affinities and policy became those of his former party ; and as a party, with many indivi- dual exceptions, they became his suppor- ters and his strength. General Jackson, on the contrary, had always been demo- cratic, so classing when he was a Senator in Congress under the administration of the first Mr. Adams ; and when party lines were most straightly drawn, and upon prin- ciple, and as such now receiving the support ot men and States which took this political position at that time, and maintained it for years afterwards ; among the latter, notably the States of Virginia and Pennsylvania. The short session of 1829-30 was ren- dered famous by the long and earnest de- bates in the Senate on the doctrine of nul- lification, as it was then called. It started by a resolution of inquiry introduced by Mr. Foot of Connecticut; it was united with a proposition to limit the sales of the public lands to those then in the market to suspend the surveys of the public lands and to abolish the office of Surveyor- General. The effect of such a resolution, if sanctioned upon inquiry and carried into legislative effect, would have been to check emigration to the new States in the West, and to check the growth and settlement of these States and Territories. It was warmly opposed by Western members. The de- bate spread and took an acrimonious turn, and sectional, imputing to the quarter of the Union from which it came an old and early policy to check the growth of the West at the outset by proposing to limit the sale of the Western lands, by selling no tract in advance until all in the rear was sold out ; and during the debate Mr. Webster referred to the famous ordinance of 1787 for the government of the north- western territory, and especially the anti- slavery clause which it contained. Closely connected with this subject to which Mr. Webster's remarks, during the debate, related, was another which excited some warm discussion the topic of slavery and the effect of its existence or non- ex Ntence in different States. Kentucky and Ohio were taken for examples, and the superior improvement and popula- tion of Ohio were attributed to its exemp- tion from the evils of slavery. This was an excitable subject, and the more so be- cause the wounds of the Missouri contro- versy in which the North was the undis- puted aggressor, were still tender. Mr. Hayne from South Carolina answered with warmth and resented as a reflection upon the Sieve States this disadvantageous com- parison. Mr. Benton of Missouri followed on the same side, and in the cqjirse of his remarks said, " I regard with admiration, that is to say, with wonder, the sublime morality of those who cannot bear the ah- stract contemplation of slavery, at tne dis- tance of five hundred or a thousand miles off." This allusion to the Missouri con- troversy, and invective against the free States for their part in it, by Messrs. Hayne and Benton, brought a reply from Mr. Webster, showing what their conduct had been at the first introduction of the slavery topic in the Congress of the United States, and that they totally refused to in- terfere between master and slave in any way whatever. But the topic which be- came the leading feature of the whole de- bate, and gave it an interest which cannot die, was that of nullification the a&sumed right of a State to annul an act of Congress then first broached in the Senate and in the discus&ion of which Mr. Webster and Mr. Hayne were the champion speakers on opposite sides the latter voicing the sentiments of the Vice-Presi- dent, Mr. Calhoun. This turn in the de- bate was brought about, by Mr. Hayne having made allusion to the course of New England during the war of 1812, and espe- cially to the assemblage known as the Hartford Convention, and to which designs unfriendly to the Union had been at- tributed. This gave Mr. Webster an op- portunity to retaliate, and he referred to the public meetings which had just then taken place in South Carolina on the sub- ject or the tariff, and at which resolves were passed, and propositions adopted sig- nificant of resisistance to the act ; and con- sequently of disloyalty to the Union. He drew Mr. Hayne into their defence and into an avowal of what has since obtained the current name of " Nullification." He said, " I understand the honorable gentle- man from South Carolina to maintain, that it is a right of the State Legislature to inter- fere, whenever, in their judgment, this government transcends its constitutional limits, and to arrest the operation of its laws, * * * * that the States may law- fully decide for themselves, and each State for itself, whether, in a given case, the act of the general government transcends its powers, * * * * that if the exigency of the case, in the opinion of any State government require it, such State gov- ernment may, by its own sovereign au- thority, annul an act of the general 'gov- ernment, which it deems plainly and pal- pably unconstitutional." Mr. Hayne was evidently unprepared to admit, or fully deny, the propositions as so laid down, but contented himself with stating the words of the Virginia Resolution of 1798, as fol- lows : " That this assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government as result- ing from the compact, to which the States are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact, as no farther valid than they 30 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact, and that, in case of a de- liberate, palpable and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the States who are parties thereto have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose, for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining, within their re- spective limits, the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them." This resolution came to be understood by Mr. Hayne and others on that side of the debate, in the same sense that Mr. Webster stated, as above, he understood the gentleman from the South to interpret it On the other side of the question, he argued that the doctrine had no foundation either in the Constitution, or on the Vir- ginia resolutions that the Constitution makes the federal government act upon citizens within the States, and not upon the States themselves, as in the old con- federation : that within their Constitution- al limits the laws of Congress were supreme and that it was treasonable to resist them with force : and that the question of their constitutionality was to be decided by the Supreme Court : with respect to the Virginia resolutions, on which Mr. Hayne relied, Mr. Webster disputed the interpre- tation put upon them claimed for them an innocent and justifiable meaning and exempted Mr. Madison from the suspicion of having framed a resolution asserting the right of a State legislature to annul an Act of Congress, and thereby putting it in the power of one State to destroy a form of government which he had just labored so hard to establish. Mr. Hayne on his part gave (as the prac- tical part of his doctrine) the pledge of for- cible resistance to any attempt to enforce unconstitutional laws. He said, " The gentleman has called upon us to carry out our scheme practically. Now, sir, if I am correct in my view of this matter, then it follows, of course, that the right of a State being established, the federal government is bound to acquiesce in a solemn decision of a State, acting in ito sovereign capacity, at least so far as to make an appeal to the people for an amendment to trie Constitu- tion. This solemn decision of a State binds the federal government, under the highest constitutional obligation, not to resort to any means of coercion against the citizens of the dissenting State. * * * Suppose Congress should pass an agrarian law, or a law emancipating our slaves, or should commit any other gross violation of our constitutional rights, will any gentlemen contend that the decision of every branch of the federal government, in favor of such laws, could prevent the States from de- claring them null and void, and protecting their citizens from their operation ? * * Let me assure the gentlemen that, when- ever any attempt shall be made from any quarter, to enforce unconstitutional laws, clearly violating our essential rights, our leaders (whoever they may be) will not be found reading black letter from the musty pages of old law books. They will look to the Constitution, and when called upon by the sovereign authority of the State, to preserve and protect the rights secured to them by the charter of their liberties, they will succeed in defending them, or ' perish in the last ditch.' " These words of Mr. Hayne seem almost prophetic in view of the events of thirty years later. No one then believed in any- thing serious in the new interpretation given to the Virginia resolutions nor in anything practical from nullification nor in forcible resistance to the tariff laws from South Carolina nor in any scheme of dis- union. Mr. Webster's closing reply was a fine piece of rhetoric, delivered in an elaborate and artistic style, and in an apparent spirit of deep seriousness. He concluded thus " When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dis- figured fragments of a once glorious Union ; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood. Let their last feeble and lingering glance, rather, behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored through- out the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their ori- ginal lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogator}' as, What is all this worth? nor those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty first and Union afterwards ; but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing in all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true Ameri- can heart Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ! " President Jackson in his first annual message to Congress called attention to the fact of expiration in 1836 of the charter of incorporation granted by the Federal government to a moneyed institution called The Bank of the United States, which was originally designed to assist the govern ment in establishing and maintaining a uniform and sound currency. He seriously doubted the constitutionality and expedi- ency of the law creating the bank, and was opposed to a renewal of the charter. His view of the matter was thatif such an institution \?as deemed a necessity it should be made a national one. in the sense of being founded on the credit of the govern- ment and its revenues, and not a corpora- SOOX I.] THE UNITED STATES BANK. 31 tiou independent from and not a part of the government. The House of Repre- sentatives was strongly in favor of the re- newal of the charter, and several of its committees made elaborate, ample and argumentative reports upon the subject. These reports were the subject of news- paper and pamphlet publication; and lauded for their power and excellence, and triumphant refutation of all the President's opinions. Thus was the " war of the Bank" commenced at once in Congress, and in the public press ; and openly at the instance of the Bank itself, which, forgetting its position as an institution of the govern- ment, for the convenience of the govern- ment, set itself up as a power, and strug- gled for continued existence, by demand for renewal of its charter. It allied itself at the same time to the political power opposed to the President, joined in all their schemes of protective tariff, and national internal improvement, and became the head of the American system. Its moneyed and political power, numerous interested affiliations, and control over other banks and fiscal institutions, was truly great and extensive, and a power which Avas exer- cised and made to be felt during the strug- gle to such a degree that it threatened a danger to the country and the government almost amounting to a national calamity. The subject of renewal of the charter was agitated at every succeeding session of Congress down to 1836, and many able speeches made for and against it. In the month of December, 1831, the National Republicans, as the party was then called which afterward took the name of " whig," held its convention in Balti- more, and nominated candidates for Presi- dent and Vice-President, to be voted for at the election in the autumn of the ensu- ing year. Henry Clay was the candidate for the office of President, and John Ser- geant for that of Vice-President. The platform or address to the people presented the party issues which were to be settled at the ensuing election, the chief subjects being the tariff, internal improvement, re- moval of the Cherokee Indians, and the renewal of the United States Bank charter. Thus the bank question was fully presented as an issue in the election by that part of its friends who classed politically against President Jackson. But it had also Demo- cratic friends without whose aid the re- charter could not be got through Congress, and they labored assiduously for it. The first Bank of the United States, chartered in 1791. was a federal measure, favored by General Hamilton, opposed by Mr. Jeffer- son, Mr. Madison, and the Republican party; and became a great landmark of party, not merely for the bank itself, but for the latitudinarian construction of the constitution in which it was founded, and the precedent it established that Congress might in its discretion do what it pleased, under the plea of being "necessary'' to carry into effect some granted power. The non-renewal of the charter in 1811, was the act of the Republican party, then in possession of the government, and taking the opportunity to terminate, upon its own limitation, the existence of an institution whose creation they had not been able to prevent. The charter of the second bank, in 1816, was the act of the Republican . party, and to aid them in the administra- tion of the government, and, as such, was opposed by the Federal party not seeming then to understand that, by its instincts, a great moneyed corporation was in sym- pathy with their own party, and would soon be with it in action which the bank soon was and now struggled for a con- tinuation of its existence under the lead of those who had opposed its creation and against the party which effected it. Mr. Webster was a Federal leader on both occasions against the charter in 1816 ; for the re-charter in 1832. The bill passed the Senate after a long and arduous con- test; and afterwards passed the House, quickly and with little or no contest at all. It was sent to the President, and vetoed by him July 10, 1832 ; the message stating his objections being an elaborate review of the subject ; the veto being based mainly on the unconstitutionality of the measure. The veto was sustained. Following this the President after the adjournment re- moved from the bank the government deposits, and referred to that fact in his next annual message on the second day of December, 1833, at the opening of the first session of the twenty-third Congress. Ac- companying it was the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Roger B. Taney, afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, giv- ing the reasons of the government for the withdrawal of the public funds. Long and bitter was the contest between the Presi- dent on the one side and the Bank and its supporters in the Senate on the other side. The conduct of the Bank produced dis- tress throughout the country, and was so intended to coerce the President. Distress petitions flooded Congress, and the Senate even passed resolutions of censure of the President. The latter, however, held firm in his position. A committee of investi- gation was appointed by the House of Representatives to inquire into the causes of the commercial emoarrassment and the public distress complained of in the numerous distress memorials presented to the two Houses during the session; and whether the Bank had been instrumental, through its management of money, in pro- ducing the distress and embarrassment of which so much complaint was made ; to 32 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK inquire whether the charter of the Bank had been violated, and what corruptions and abuses, if any, existed in its manage- ment ; and to inquire whether the Bank had used its corporate power or money to control the press, to interpose in politics, or to influence elections. The committee were granted ample powers for the execu- tion of these inquiries. It was treated with disdain and contempt by the Bank management ; refused access to the books and papers, and the directors and president refused to be sworn and testify. The committee at the next session made report of their proceedings, and asked for war- rants to be issued against the managers to bring them before the Bar of the House to answer for contempt ; but the friends of the Bank in the House were able to check the proceedings and prevent action being taken. In the Senate, the President was sought to be punished by a declination by that body to confirm the President's nomination of the four government direc- tors of the Bank, who had served the previous year ; and their re-nomination after that rejection again met with a similar fate. In like manner his re-nomination of Roger B. Taney to be Secretary of the Treasury was rejected, for the action of the latter in his support of the President and the removal of the public deposits. The Bank had lost much ground in the public estimation by resisting the investi- gation ordered and attempted by the House of Representatives, and in consequence the Finance Committee of the Senate made an investigation, with so weak an attempt to varnish over the affairs and acts of the corporation that the odious appellation of " wnite-washing committee " was fastened upon it. The downfall of the Bank speedily followed ; it soon afterwards be- came a total financial wreck, and its assets and property were seized on executions. With its financial failure it vanished from public view, and public interest in it and concern with it died out. About the beginning of March, 1831, a pamphlet was issued m Washington, by Mr. John C. Calhoun, the Vice-President, and addressed to the people of the United States, explaining the cause of a difference which had taken place between himself and the President, General Jackson, in- stigated as the pamphlet alleged, by Mr. Van Buren, and intended to make trouble between the first and second officers of the government, and to effect the political destruction of himself (Mr. Calhoun ) for the benefit of the contriver of the quarrel, the then Secretary of State, and indicated as a candidate for the presidential succession upon the termination of Jackson's term. The differences grew out of certain charges against General Jackson respecting his con- duct during the Seminole war which oc- curred in the administration of President Monroe. The President justified himself in published correspondence, but the inevita- ble result followed a rupture between the President and Vice-President which was quickly followed by a breaking up and reconstructing the Cabinet. Some of its members classed as the political friends of Mr. Calhoun, and could hardly be ex- pected to remain as ministers to the Presi- dent. Mr. Van Buren resigned ; a new Cabinet was appointed and confirmed. This change in the Cabinet made a great figure in the party politics of the day, and filled all the opposition newspapers, and had many sinister reasons assigned to it all to the prejudice of General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren. It is interesting to note here that during the administration of President Jackson, in the year 1833, the Congress of the United States, as the consequence of the earnest efforts in that behalf, of Col. R. M. Johnson, of Kentucky, aided by the re- commendation and support of the Presi- dent, passed the first laws, abolishing im- prisonment for debt, under process from the Courts of the United States : the only extent to which an act of Congress could go, by force of its enactments ; but by force of example and influence, has led to the cessation of the practice of imprisoning debtors, in all, or nearly all, of the States and Territories of the Union ; and without the evil consequences which had been dreaded from the loss of this remedy over the person. The act was a total abolition of the practice, leaving in full force all the re- medies against fraudulent evasions of debt. The American system, and especially its prominent feature of a high protective tariff was put in issue, in the Presidential canvass of 1832; and the friends of that system labored diligently in Congress in presenting its best points to the greatest advantage ; and staking its fate upon the issue of the election. It was lost ; not only by the result of the main contest, but by that of the congressional election which took place simultaneously with it. All the States dissatisfied with that system, were satisfied with the view of its speedy and regular extinction, under the legislation of the approaching session of Congress, ex- cepting only South Carolina. She has held aloof from the Presidential contest, and cast her electoral votes for persona who were not candidates doing nothing to aid the election of General Jackson, with whom her interests were apparently identified. On the 24th November, 1832, two weeks after the election which de- cided the fate of the tariff, that State issued an "Ordinance to nullify certain acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws laying duties and imposts on the importation THE PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL MESSAGE. 33 of foreign commodities." It declared that t.he Congress had exceeded its constitu- tional powers in imposing high and ex- cessive duties on the theory of "protec- tion," had unjustly discriminated in favor of one class or employment, at the expense and to the injury and oppression of other classes and individuals; that said laws were in consequence not binding on the State and its citizens; and declaring its right and purpose to enact laws to prevent the enforcement and arrest the operation of said acts and parts of the acts of the Congress of the United States within the limits of that State after the first day of February following. This ordinance placed the State in the attitude of forcible resist- ance to the laws of the United States, to take effect on the first day of February next ensuing a date prior to the meeting of the next Congress, which the country naturally expected would take some action in reference to the tariff laws complained of. The ordinance further provided that if, in the meantime, any attempt was made by the federal government to enforce the obnoxious laws, except through the tribu- nals, all the officers of which were sworn against them, the fact of such attempt was to terminate the continuance of South Car- olina in the Union to absolve her from all connection with the federal government and to establish her as a separate govern- ment, wholly unconnected with the United States or any State. The ordinance of nullification was certified by the Governor of South Carolina to the President of the United States, and reached him in Decem- ber of the same year ; in consequence of which he immediately issued a proclama- tion, exhorting the people of South Caro- lina to obey the laws of Congress ; point- ing out and explaining the illegality of the procedure ; stating clearly and distinct- ly his firm determination to enforce the laws as became him as Executive, even by resort to force if necessary. As a state paper, it is important as it contains the views of General Jackson regarding the nature and character of our federal gov- ernment, expressed in the following lan- fuage : " The people of the United States )rmed the constitution, acting through the State Legislatures in making the com- pact, to meet and discuss its provisions, and acting in separate conventions when they ratified those provisions; but, the terms used in the constitution show it to be a government in which the people of all the States collectively are represented. We are one people in the choice of Presi- dent and Vice-President. Here the States have no other agency than to direct the mode in which the votes shall be given. The people, then, and not the States, are represented in the executive branch. * * * In the House I of Representatives the members are all I representatives of the United States, not " representatives of the particular States from which they come. They are paid by the United States, not by the State, nor are they accountable to it for any act done in the performance of their legislative functions. * * * The constitution of the United States, then, forms a government, not a league ; and whether it be formed by a compact between the States, or in any other man- ner, its character is the same. It is a gov- ernment in which all the people are repre- sented, which operates directly on the people individually, not upon the States they retained all the power they did not grant. But each State, having expressly parted with so many powers as to consti- tute, jointly with the other States, a singJe nation, cannot, from that period, possess any right to secede, 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 could result from the contravention of a com- pact, but it is an offence against the whole Union. To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union, is to say that the United States are not a nation ; because it would be a solecism to contend that any part of a nation might dissolve .its connection with the other parts, to their injury or ruin, without committing any offence." Without calling on Congress for extra- ordinary powers, the President in his annual message, merely adverted to the attitude of the State, and proceeded to meet the exigency by the exercise of the powers he already possessed. The pro- ceedings in South Carolina not ceasing, and taking daily a more aggravated form in the organization of troops, the collec- tion of arms and of munitions of war, and in declarations hostile to the Union, he found it necessary early in January to re- port the facts to Congress in a special message, and ask for extraordinary powers. Bills for the reduction of the tariff were early in the Session introduced into both houses, while at the same time the Presi- dent, though not relaxing his efforts to- wards a peaceful settlement of the diffi- culty, made steady preparations for enforc- ing the law. The result of the bills offered in the two Houses of Congress, was the passage of Mr. Clay's " compromise " bill on the 12th of February 1833, which radi. cally changed the whole tariff system. The President in his message on the South Carolina proceedings had recom- mended to Congress the revival of some acts, heretofore in force, to enable him to execute the laws in that State ; and the Senate's committee on the judiciary had reported a bill accordingly early in th AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. session. It was immediately assailed by several members as violent and unconsti- tutional, tending to civil war, and de- nounced as " the bloody bill " the "force bill," &c. The bill was vindicated in the Senate, by its author, who showed that it contained no novel principle; was sub- stantially a revival of laws previously in force ; with the authority superadded to remove the office of customs from one building^ or place to another in case of need. The bill was vehemently opposed, and every effort made to render it odious to the people, and even extend the odium to the President, and to every person urging or aiding in its passage. Mr. Webster justly rebuked all this vitupera- tion, and justified the bill, both for the equity of its provisions, and the necessity for enacting them. He said, that an un- lawful combination threatened the integ- rity of the Union ; that the crisis called for a mild, temperate, forbearing but un- flexibly firm execution of the laws ; and finally, that public opinion sets with an irresistible force in favor of the Union, in favor of the measures recommended by the President, and against the new doc- trines which threatened the dissolution of the Union. The support which Mr. Web- ster gave to these measures was the regular result of the principles which he laid down in his first speeches against nullifi- cation in the debate with Mr. Hayne, and he could not have done less without being derelict to his own principles then avowed. He supported with transcendent ability, the cause of the constitution and of the country, in the person of a President to whom he was politically opposed, whose gratitude and admiration he earned for his patriotic endeavors. The country, without distinction of party, felt the same; and the universality of the feeling was one of the grateful instances of popular applause and justice when great talents are seen exerting themselves for the good of the country. He was the colossal figure on the political stage during that eventful time; and his labors, splendid in their day, survive for the benefit of distant posterity. During the discussion over the re-charter of the Bank of the United States, which as before mentioned, occupied the atten- tion of Congress for several years, the country suffered from a money panic, and a general financial depression and distress was generally prevalent. In 1834 a mea- sure was introduced into the House, for equalizing the value of gold and silver, and legalizing the tender of foreign coin, of both metals. The good effects of the bill were immediately seen. Gold began to flow into the country through all the channels of commerce, foreign and domes- tic ; the mint was busy ; and specie pay- ment, which had been suspended in the country for thirty years, was resumed, and gold and silver became the currency of the land ; inspiring confidence in all the pur- suits of industry. As indicative of the position of the de- mocratic party at that date, on the subject of the kind of money authorized by the Constitution, Mr. Benton's speech in the Senate is of interest. He said : " In the first place, he was one of those who be- lievea that the government of the United States was intended to be a hard money government ; that it was the intention and the declaration of the Constitution of the United States, ,that the federal currency should consist of gold and silver, and that there is no power in Congress to issue, or to authorize any company of individuals to issue, any species of federal paper cur- rency whatsoever. Every clause in the Constitution (said Mr. B.) which beara upon the subject of money every early statute of Congress which interprets the meaning of these clauses and every his- toric recollection which refers to them, go hand in hand in giving to that instrument the meaning which this proposition ascribes to it. The power granted to Congress to coin money is an authority to stamp me- tallic money, and is not an authority for emitting slips of paper containing promises to pay money. The authority granted to Congress to regulate the value of coin, is an authority to regulate the value of the metallic money, not of paper. The prohi- bition upon the States against making anything but gold and silver a legal ten- der, is a moral prohibition, founded in vir- tue and honesty, and is just as binding upon the Federal Government as upon the State Governments ; and that without a written prohibition ; for the difference in the nature of the two governments is such, that the States may do all things which they are not forbid to do ; and the Federal Government can do nothing which it ia not authorized by the Constitution to do. The framers of the Constitution (said Mr. B.) created a hard money government. They intended the new government to re- cognize nothing for money but gold and silver ; and every word admitted into the Constitution, upon the subject of money, defines and establishes that sacred inten- tion. Legislative enactment came, quickly to the aid of constitutional intention and historic recollection. The fifth statute passed at the first session of the first Con- gress that ever sat under the present Con- stitution was full and explicit on this head. It declared, " that the fees and duties pay- able to the federal government shall be received in gold and silver coin only." It was under General Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, in 1791, that the policy BOOK i.] THE INCEPTION OF THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 35 of the government underwent a change. In the act constituting the Bank of the United States, he brought forward his ce- lebrated plan for the support of the public credit that plan which unfolded the en- tire scheme of the paper system and imme- diately developed the great political line between the federalists and the republi- cans. The establishment of a national bank was the leading and predominant feature of that plan; and the original re- port of the secretary, in favor of establish- ing the bank, contained this fatal and de- plorable recommendation : "The bills and notes of the bank, originally made payable, or which shall have become payable, on demand, in gold and silver coin, shall be receivable in all payments to the United States." From the moment of the adop- tion of this policy, the moneyed character of the government stood changed and re- versed. Federal bank notes took the place of hard money ; and the whole edifice of the government slid, at once, from the solid rock of gold and silver money, on which its framers had placed it, into the troubled and tempestuous ocean of paper currency. The first session of the 35th Congress opened December 1835. Mr. James K. Polk was elected Speaker of the House by a large majority over Mr. John Bell, the previous Speaker ; the former being sup- ported by the administration party, and the latter having become identified with those who, on siding. with Mr. Hugh L. White as a candidate for the presidency, were considered as having divided from the democratic party. The chief subject of the President's message was the rela- tions of our country with France relative to the continued non-payment of the stip- ulated indemnity provided for in the treaty of 1831 for French spoliations of Ameri- can shipping. The obligation to pay was admitted, and the money even voted for that purpose ; but oifense was taken at the President's message, and payment refused until an apology should be made. The President commented on this in his mes- sage, and the Senate had under consider- ation measures authorizing reprisals on French shipping. At this point Great Britain offered her services as mediator be- tween the nations, and as a result the in- demnity was shortly afterwards paid. Agitation of the slavery question in the United States really began about this time. Evil-disposed persons had largely circulated through the Southern states, pamphlets and circulars tending to stir up strife and insurrection ; and this had be- come so intolerable that it was referred to by the President in his message. Congress at the session of 1836 was flooded with pe- titions and memorials urging federal inter- ference to abolish slavery in the States ; beginning with the petition of the Society of Friends of Philadelphia, urging the abolition of slavery in the District of Co- lumbia. These petitions were referred to Committees after an acrimonious debate as to whether they should be received or not. The position of the government at that time is embodied in the following resolution which was adopted in the House of Representatives as early as 1790, and substantially re-affirmed in 1836, as fol- lows : "That Congress have no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them within any of the States ; it remaining with the several States to provide any regulations therein which humanity and true policy may re- quire." In the Summer preceding the Presi- dential election of 1836, a measure was in- troduced into Congress, which became very nearly a party measure, and which in its results proved disastrous to the Democrat- ic party in after years. It was a plan for distributing the public land money among the States either in the shape of credit distribution, or in the disguise of a deposit of surplus revenue ; and this for the pur- pose of enhancing the value of the State stocks held by the United States Bank, which institution, aided by the party which it favored, led by Mr. Clay, was the prime mover in the plan. That gentleman was the author of the scheme, and great cal- culations were made by the party which favored the distribution upon its effect in adding to their popularity. The Bill passed the Senate in its original form, but met with less favor in the House where it was found necessary. To effectuate substan- tially the same end, a Senate Bill was in- troduced to regulate the keeping of the public money in the deposit banks, and this was turned into distribution of the surplus public moneys with the States, in proportion to their representation in Con- gress, to be returned when Congress should call for it ; and this was called a deposit with the States, and the faith of the States pledged for a return of the money. It was stigmatized by its opponents in Con- gress, as a distribution in disguise as a deposit never to be reclaimed ; as a mis- erable evasion of the Constitution ; as an attempt to debauch the people with their own money ; as plundering instead of de- fending the country. The Bill passed both houses, mainly by the efforts of a half dozen aspirants to the Presidency, who sought to thus increase their popularity. They were doomed to disappointment in this respect. Politically, it was no advan- tage to its numerous and emulous support- ers, and of no disservice to its few deter- mined opponents. It was a most unfortu- nate act, a plain evasion of the Constitu- tion for a bad purpose ; and it soon gave a sad overthrow to the democracy and disap- 36 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. pointed every calculation made upon it. To the States it was no advantage, raising expectations which were not fulfilled, and upon which many of them acted as reali- ties. The Bill was signed by the Presi- dent, but it is simple justice to him to say that he did it with a repugnance of feel- ing, and a recoil of judgment, which it re- quired great efforts of his friends to over- come, and with a regret for it afterwards which he often and publicly expressed. In a party point of view, the passage of this measure was the commencement of calam- ities, being an efficient cause in that gen- eral suspension of specie payments, which quickly occurred, and brought so much embarrassment on the Van Buren admin- istration, ending in the great democratic defeat of 1840. The presidential election of 1836 re- sulted in the choice of the democratic can- didate, Mr. Van Buren, who was elected by 170 electoral votes ; his opponent, Gene- ral Harrison, receiving seventy-three elec- toral votes. Scattering votes were given for Mr. Webster, Mr. Mangum, and Mr. Hugh L. White, the last named represent- ing a fragment of the democracy who, in a spirit of disaffection, attempted to divide the democratic party and defeat Mr. Van Buren. At the opening of the second ses- sion of the twenty-fourth Congress, Decem- ber, 1836, President Jackson delivered his last annual message, under circumstances exceedingly gratifying to him. The power- ful opposition in Congress had been broken down, and he had the satisfaction of seeing full majorities of ardent and tried friends in each House. The country was in peace and friendship with all the world ; all ex- citing questions quieted at home ; industry in all its brancb.es prosperous, and the revenue abundant. And as a happy sequence of this state of affairs, the Senate on the 16th of March, 1837, expunged from the Journal the resolution, adopted three years previously, censuring the Presi- dent for ordering the removal of the de- posits of public money in the United States Bank. He retired from the presidency with high honors, and died eight years afterwards at his home, the celebrated " Hermitage," in Tennessee, in full posses- sion of all his .faculties, and strong to the hist in the ruling passion of his soul love of country. The 4th of March, 1837, ushered in an- other Democratic administration the be- ginning of the term of Martin Van Buren aa President of the United States. In his inaugural address he commented on the prosperous condition of the country, and declared it to be his policy to strictly abide by the Constitution as written no latitu- dinarian constructions permitted, or doubt- ful powers assumed; that his political chart should be the doctrines of the demo- cratic school, as understood at the original formation of parties. The President, however, was scarcely settled in his new office when a financial aanic struck the country with irresistible force. A general suspension of the banks, a depreciated currency, and insolvency of the federal treasury were at hand. The aublic money had been placed in the cus- dy of the local banks, and the notes of all these banks, and of all others in the coun- .ry, were received in payment of public dues. On the 10th of May, 1837, the banks throughout the country suspended specie payments. The stoppage of the de- posit banks was the stoppage of the Trea- sury. Non-payment by the government was an excuse for non-payment by others. The suspension was now complete ; and it was evident, and as good as admitted by those who had made it, that it was the effect of contrivance on the part of politi- cians and the so-called Bank of the United States (which, after the expiration of its national charter, had become a State cor- poration chartered by the Legislature qf Pennsylvania in January, 1836) for the purpose of restoring themselves to power. The whole proceeding became clear to those who could see nothing while it was in progress. Even those of the democratic party whose votes had helped to do the mischief, could now see that the attempt to deposit forty millions with the States was destruction to the deposit banks ; that the repeal of President Jackson's order, known as the "specie circular" requiring pay- ment for public lands to be in coin was to fill the treasury with paper money, to be found useless when wanted ; that distress was purposely created to throw blame of it upon the party in power; that the promptitude with which the Bank of the United States had been brought forward as a remedy for the distress, showed that it had been held in reserve for that purpose ; and the delight with which the whig party saluted the general calamity, showed that they considered it their own passport to power. Financial embarrassment and general stagnation of business diminished t the current receipts from lands and customs, and actually caused an absolute deficit in the public treasury. In conse- quence, the President found it an inexora- ble necessity to issue his proclamation con- vening Congress in extra session. The first session of the twenty -fifth Con- gress met in extra session, at the call of the President, on the first Monday of Sep- tember, 1837. The message was a review of the events and causes which had brought about the panic ; a defense of the policy of the " specie circular," and a recommenda- tion to break off all connection with any bank of issue in any form ; looking to the establishment of an Independent Treasury, BOOK DEMOCRATS AND WHIGS. 37 and that the Government provide for the deficit in the treasury by the issue of treasury notes and by withholding the de- posit due to the States under the act then in force. The message and its recom- mendations were violently assailed both in (he Senate and House by able and effec- tive speakers, notably by Messrs. Clay and Webster, and also by Mr. Caleb Gushing, of Massachusetts, who made a formal and elaborate reply to the whole document under thirty-two distinct heads, and recit- ing therein all the points of accusation against the democratic policy from the be- ginning of the government down to that day. The result was that the measures proposed by the Executive were in sub- stance enacted; and their passage marks an era in our financial history making a total and complete separation of Bank and State, and firmly establishing the principle that the government revenues should be receivable in coin only. The measures of consequence discussed and adopted at this session, were the graduation of price of public lands under the pre-emption system, which was adopt- ed; the bill to create an independent Treasury, which passed the Senate, but failed in the House ; and the question of the re-charter of the district banks, the proportion for reserve, and the establish- ment of such institutions on a specie basis. The slavery question was again agitated in consequence of petitions from citizens and societies in the Northern States, and a memorial from the General Assembly of Vermont, praying for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and territories, and for the exclusion of future slave states from the Union. These peti- tions and memorials were disposed of ad- versely; and Mr. Calhoun, representing the ultra-Southern interest, in several able speeches, approved of the Missouri com- Sromise, he urged and obtained of the enate several resolutions declaring that the federal government had no power to interfere with slavery in the States ; and that it would be inexpedient and impolitic to interfere, abolish or control it in the District of Columbia and the territories. These movements for and against slavery in the session of 1837-38 deserve to be no- ticed, as of disturbing effect at the time, and as having acquired new importance from subsequent events. The first session of the twenty-sixth Congress opened December, 1839. The organization of the House was delayed by a closely and earnestly contested election from the State of New Jersey. Five De- mocrats claiming seats as against an equal number of Whigs. Neither set was admit- ted until after the election of Speaker, which resulted in the choice of Robert M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, the Whig candi- ] date, who was elected by the full Whig I vote with the aid of a few democrats I friends of Mr. Calhoun, who had for seve- S ral previous sessions been acting with the j Whigs on several occasions. The House ! excluding the five contested seats from New Jersey, was really Democratic ; hav- i ing 122 members, and the Whigs 113 mem- I bers. The contest for the Speakership was long and arduous, neither party adhering to its original caucus candidate. Twenty scattering votes, eleven of whom .were classed as Whigs, and nine as Democrats, prevented a choice on the earlier ballots, and it was really Mr. Calhoun's Democrat- ic friends uniting with a solid Whig vote on the final ballot that gained that party the election. The issue involved was a vital party question as involving the or- ganization of the House. The chief mea- sure, of public importance, adopted at this session of Congress was an act to provide for the collection, safe-keeping, and dis- bursing of the public money. It practi- cally revolutionized the system previously in force, and was a complete and effectual separation of the federal treasury and the Government, from the banks and moneyed corporations of the States. It was violent- ly opposed by the Whig members, led by Mr. Clay, and supported by Mr. Cushing, but was finally passed in both Houses by a close vote. At this time, and in the House of Re- presentatives, was exhibited for the first time in the history of Congress, the pre- sent practice of members "pairing off, as it is called ; that is to say, two members of opposite political parties, or of opposite views on any particular subject, agreeing to absent themselves from the duties of the House, for the time being. The practice was condemned on the floor of the House by Mr. John Quincy Adams, who intro- duced a resolution: "That the practice, first openly avowed at the present session of Congress, of pairing off, involves, on the part of the members resorting to it, the violation of the Constitution of th? United States, of an express rule of this House, and of the duties of both parties in the transaction, to their immediate consti- tuents, to this House, and to their coun- try." This resolution was placed in the calendar to take its turn, but not being reached during the session, was not voted on. That was the first instance of this justly condemned practice, fifty years after the establishment of the Government ; but since then it has become common, even in- veterate, and is now carried to great lengths. The last session of the twenty -sixth Con- gress was barren of measures, and neces- sarily so, as being the last of our adminis- tration superseded by the popular voice, and soon to expire ; and therefore restric- ted by a sense of propriety, during the 38 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. brief remainder of its existence, to the de- tails of business and the routine of service. The cause of this was the result of the presidential election of 1840. The same candidates who fought the battle of 1836 were again in the field. Mr. Van Buren was the Democratic candidate. His ad- ministration had been satisfactory to his party, and his nomination for a second term was commended by the party in the different States in appointing their dele- gates*; so that the proceedings of the con- vention which nominated him were en- tirely harmonious and formal in their na- ture. Mr. Richard M. Johnson, the ac- tual Vice-President, was also nominated for Vice-President. On the Whig ticket, General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, was the candi- date for President, and Mr. John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President. The lead- ing statesmen of the Whig party were again put aside, to make way for a milita- ry man, prompted by the example in the nomination of General Jackson, the men who managed presidential elections be- lieving then as now that military renown was a passport to popularity and rendered a candidate more sure of election. Availa- bility for the purpose was the only abili- ty asked for. Mr. Clay, the most promi- nent Whig in the country, and the ac- knowledged head of the party, was not deemed available; and though Mr. Clay was a candidate before the convention, the proceedings were so regulated that his nomination was referred to a committee, ingeniously devised and directed for the afterwards avowed purpose of preventing his nomination and securing that of Gene- ral Harrison ; and of producing the intend- ed result without showing the design, and without leaving a trace behind to show what was done. The scheme (a modifica- tion of which has since been applied to subsequent national conventions, and out of which many bitter dissensions have again and again arisen) is embodied and was executed in and by means of the following resolution adopted bv the convention : " Ordered, That the delegates from each State be requested to assemble as a delega- tion, and appoint a committee, not exceed- ing three in number, to receive the views and opinions of such delegation, and com- municate the same to the assembled com- mittes of all the delegations, to be by them respectively reported to their principals ; ann that thereupon the delegates from each State be requested to assemble as a delegation, and ballot for candidates for the offices of President and Vice-Presi- dent, and having done so, to commit the ballot designating the votes of each candi- date, and by whom given, to its commit- tee, and thereupon all the committees ishall assemble and compare the several ballots, and report the result of the same to their several delegations, together with such facts as may bear upon the nomina- tion ; and said delegation shall forthwith re-assemble and ballot again for candidates for the above offices, and again commit the result to the above committees, and if it shall appear that a majority of the bal- lots are for any one man for candidate for President, said committee shall report the result to the convention for its considera- tion ; but if there shall be no such majori- ty, then the delegation shall repeat the balloting until such a majority shall be obtained, and then report the same to the convention for its consideration. That the vote of a majority of each delegation shall be reported as the vote of that State ; and each State represented here shall vote its full electoral vote by such delegation in the committee." This was a sum in poli- tical algebra, whose quotient was known, but the quantity unknown except to those who planned it ; and the result was for General Scott, 16 votes ; for Mr. Clay, 90 votes; for General Harrison, 148 votes. And as the law of the convention implied- ly requires the absorption of all minorities, the 106 votes were swallowed up by the 148 votes and made to count for General Harrison, presenting him as the unani- mity candidate of the convention, and the defeated candidates and all their friends bound to join in his support. And in this way the election of 1840 was effected a process certainly not within the purview of those framers of the constitution who supposed they were giving to the nation the choice of its own chief magistrate. The contest before the people was a long and bitter one, the severest ever known in the country, up to that time, and scarcely equalled since. The whole Whig party and the large league of suspended banks, headed by the Bank of the United States making its last struggle for a new national charter in the effort to elect a President friendly to it, were arrayed against the Democrats, whose hard-money policy and independent treasury schemes, met with little favor in the then depressed condition of the country. Meetings were held in every State, county and town ; the people thoroughly aroused; and every argument made in favor of the respective candidates and parties, which could pos- sibly have any effect upon the voters. The canvass was a thorough one, and the elec- tion was carried for the Whig candidates, who received 234 electoral votes coming from 19 States. The remaining 60 electo- ral votes of the other 9 States, were given to the Democratic candidate ; though the popular vote was not so unevenly divided ; the actual figures being 1,275,611 for the Whig ticket, against 1,135,761 for the Democratic ticket. It was a complete rout BOOKI.] WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS THE HOUR RULE. 39 of the Democratic party, but without the moral effect of victory. On March 4, 1841, was inaugurated as President, Gen'l Wm. H. Harrison, the first Chief Magistrate elected by the Whig party, and the first President who was not a Democrat, since the installation of Gen'l Jackson, March 4, 1829. His term was a short one. He issued a call for a special session of Congress to convene the 31st of May following, to consider the condition of the revenue and finances of the country, but did not live to meet it. Taken ill with a fatal malady during the last days of March, he died on the 4th of April follow- ing, having been in office just one month. He was succeeded by the Vice-President, John Tyler. Then, for the first time in our history as a government, the person elected to the Vice-Presidency of the United States, by the happening of a con- tingency provided for in the constitution, had devolved upon him the Presidential office. The twenty-seventh Congress opened in extra session at the call of the late Presi- dent, May 31, 1841. A Whig member- Mr. White of Kentucky was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Whigs had a majority of forty-seven in the House and of seven in the Senate, and with the President and Cabinet of the same political party presented a harmony of aspect frequently wanting during the three previous administrations. The first measure of the new dominant party was the repeal of the independent treasury act passed at the previous session ; and the next in order were bills to establish a sys- tem of bankruptcy, and for distribution of public land revenue. The former was more than a bankrupt law ; it was practi- cally an insolvent law for the abolition of debts at the will of the debtor. It applied to all persons in debt, allowed them to institute the proceedings in the district where the petitioner resided, allowed con- itructive notices to creditors in newspapers declared the abolition of the debt where effects were surrendered and fraud not proved ; and gave exclusive jurisdiction to the federal courts, at the will of the debtor. It was framed upon the model of the Eng- lish insolvent debtors' act of George the Fourth, and embodied most of the pro- visions of that act, but substituting a re- lease from the debt instead of a release from imprisonment. The bill passed by a close vote in both Houses. The land revenue distribution bill of this session had its origin in the fact that the States and corporations owed about two hundred millions to creditors in Europe. These debts were in stocks, much depre- ciated by the failure in many instances to pay the accruing interest in some in- stances failure to provide for the principal. These creditors, becoming uneasy, wished the federal government to assume their dtbts. The suggestion was made as early as 1838, renewed in 1839, and in 1840 be- came a regular question mixed up with the Presidential election of that year, and openly engaging tha active exertions of foreigners. Direct assumption was not urged ; indirect by giving the public land revenue to the States was the mode pur- sued, and the one recommended in the message of President Tyler. Mr. Carhoun spoke against the measure with more than usual force and clearness, claiming that it was unconstitutional and without warrant. Mr. Benton on the same side called it a squandering of the public patrimony, and pointed out its inexpediency in the de- pleted state of the treasury, apart from its other objectionable features. It passed by a party vote. This session is remarkable for the insti- tution of the hour rule in the House of Representatives a very great limitation upon the freedom of debate. It was a Whig measure, adopted to prevent delay in the enactment of pending bills. It was a rigorous limitation, frequently acting as a bar to profitable debate and checking members in speeches which really impart information valuable to the House and the country. No doubt the license of debate has been frequently abused in Congress, as in all other deliberative assemblies, but the incessant use of the previous question, which cuts off all debate, added to the hour rule which limits a speech to sixty minutes (constantly reduced by interrup- tions) frequently results in the transaction of business in ignorance of what they are about by those who are doing it. The rule worked so well in the House, for the purpose for which it was devised made the majority absolute master of the body that Mr. Clay undertook to have the same rule adopted in the Senate ; but the determined opposition to it, both by his political opponents and friends, led to the abandonment of the attempt in that chamber. Much discussion took place at this ses- sion, over the bill offered in the House of Representatives, for the relief of the widow of the late President General Harrison appropriating one year's salary. It was strenuously opposed by the Democratic members, as unconstitutional, on account of its principle, as creating a private pen- sion list, and as a dangerous precedent. Many able speeches were made against the bill, both in the Senate and House ; among others, the following extract from the speech of an able Senator contains some interesting facts. He said : " Look at the case of Mr. Jefferson, a man than whom no one that ever existed on God's earth were the human family more indebted to. 40 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOX i. His furniture and his estate were sold to satisfy his creditors. His posterity was driven from house and home, and his bones now lay in soil owned by a stranger. His family are scattered : some of his descend- ants are married in foreign lands. Look at Monroe the able, the patriotic Monroe, whose services were revolutionary, whose blood was spilt in the war of Independence, whose life was worn out in civil service, and whose estate has been sold for debt, his family scattered, and his daughter buried in a foreign land. Look at Madi- son, the model of every virtue, public or private, and he would only mention in connection with this subject, his love of order, his economy, and his systematic regularity in all his habits of business. He, when his term of eight years had ex- pired, sent a letter to a gentleman (a son of whom is now on this floor) [Mr. Pres- ton], enclosing a note of five thousand dollars, which he requested him to en- dorse, and raise the money in Virginia, so as to enable him to leave this city, and re- turn to his modest retreat his patrimonial inheritance in that State. General Jack- son drew upon the consignee of hia cot- ton crop in New Orleans for six thousand dollars to enable him to leave the seat of government without leaving creditors behind him. These were honored leaders of the republican party. They had all been Presidents. They had made great sacrifices, and left the presidency deeply embarrassed ; and yet the republican party who had the power and the strongest dis- position to relieve their necessities, felt they had no right to do so by appropri- ating money from the public Treasury. Democracy would not do this. It was left for the era of federal rule and federal supremacy who are now rushing the country with steam power into all the abuses and corruptions- of a monarchy, with its pensioned aristocracy and to en- tail upon the country a civil pension list." There was an impatient majority in the House in favor of the passage of the bill. The circumstances were averse to delibera- tion a victorious party, come into power after a heated election, seeing their elected candidate dying on the threshold of his administration, poor and beloved : it was a case for feeling more than of judgment, es- pecially with the political friends of the deceased but few of whom could follow the counsels of the head against the impul- sions of the heart. The bill passed, and was approved ; and as predicted, it established a precedent which has since been followed in every similar case. The subject of naval pensions received more than usual consideration at this ses- sion. The question arose on the discussion of the appropriation bill for that purpose. A difference about a navy on the point of how much and what kind had always been a point of difference between the two great political parties of the Union, which, under whatsoever names, are always the same, each preserving its identity in prin- ciples and policy, but here the two parties divided upon an abuse which no one could deny or defend. A navy pension fund had been established under the act of 1832, which was a just and proper law, but on the 3d of March, 1837, an act was passed entitled " An act for the more equitable distribution of the Navy Pension Fund." That act provided : I. That Invalid naval pensions should commence and date back to the time of receiving the inability, in- stead of completing the proof. II. It ex- tended the pensions for death to all cases of death, whether incurred in the line of duty or not. III. It extended the widow's pensions for life, when five years had been the law both in the army and navy. IV. It adopted the English system of pension- ing children of deceased marines until they attained their majority. "f he effect of this law was to absorb and bankrupt the navy pension fund, a meri- torious fund created out of the government share of prize money, relinquished for that purpose, and to throw the pensions, arrears as well as current and future, upon the public treasury, where it was never in- tended they were to be. It was to repeal this act, that an amendment was intro- duced at this session on the bringing for- ward of the annual appropriation bill for navy pensions, and long and earnest were the debates upon it. The amendment was lost, the Senate dividing on party lines, the Whigs against and the Democrats for the amendment. The subject is instruc- tive, as then was practically ratified and re- enacted the pernicious practice authorized by the act of 1837, of granting pensions to date from the time of injury and not from the time of proof; and has grown up to such proportions in recent years that the last act of Congress appropriating money for arrears of pensions, provided for the payment of such an enormous sum of money that it would have appalled the original projectors of the act of 1837 could they have seen to what their system has led. Again, at this session, the object of the tariff occupied the attention of Congress. The compromise act, as it was called, of 1833, which was composed of two parts one to last nine years, for the benefit of manufactures ; the other to last for ever, for the benefit of the planting and con- suming interest was passed, as herein- before stated, in pursuance of an agree- ment between Mr. Clav and Mr. Calhoun and their respective friends, at the time the former was urging the necessity for a BOOK I.] THE NATIONAL BANK BILL. 41 continuance of high tariff for protection and revenue, and the latter was presenting and justifying before Congress the nullifi- cation ordinance adopted by the Legisla- ture of South Carolina. To Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun it was a political necessity, one to get rid of a stumbling-block (which protective tariff had become) ; the other to escape a personal peril which his nullify- ing ordinance had brought upon him, and with both, it was a piece of policy, to enable them to combine against Mr. Van Buren, by postponing their own conten- tion; and a device on the part of its author (Mr. Clayton, of Delaware) and Mr. Clay to preserve the protective system. It provided for a reduction of a certain per centage each year, on the duties for the ensuing nine years, until the revenue was reduced to 20 per cent, ad valorem on all articles imported into the country. In consequence the revenue was so reduced that in the last year, there was little more than half what the exigencies of the government required, and different modes, by loans and otherwise, were suggested to meet the deficiency. The Secretary of the Treasury had declared the necessity of loans and taxes to carry on the govern- ment ; a loan bill for twelve millions had been passed ; a tariff bill to raise fourteen millions was .depending ; and the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, Mr. Millard Fillmore, defended its necessity in an able speech. His bill proposed twenty per cent, additional to the existing duty on pertain specified articles, sufficient to make up the amount wanted. This en- croachment on a measure so' much vaunted when passed, and which had been kept inviolate while operating in favor of one of the parties to it, naturally excited complaint and opposition from the other, and Mr. Gilmer, of Virginia, in a speech against the new bill, said: " In referring to the compromise act, the true character- istics of that act which recommended it strongly to him, were that it contemplated that duties were to be levied for revenue only, and in the next place to the amount only necessary to the supply of the economi- cal wants of the government. He begged leave to call the attention of the committee to the principle recognized as the lan- guage of the compromise, a principle which ought to be recognized in all time to come by every department of the government. It is, that duties to be raised for revenue are to be raised to such an amount only as is necessary for an economical administra- tion of the government. Some incidental Erotection must necessarily be given, and e, for one, coming from an anti-tariff por- tion of the country, would not object to it." The bill went to the Senate where it found Mr Clay and Mr. Calhoun in posi- tions very different from what they occu- pied when the compromise act was passed then united, now divided then concur- rent, now antagonistic, and the antago- nism general, upon all measures, was to be special upon this one. Their connection with the subject made it their function to lead off in its consideration ; and their antagonist positions promised sharp en- counters, which did not fail to come. Mr. Clay said that he " observed that the Senator from South Carolina based his abstractions on the theories of books on English authorities, and on. the arguments urged in favor of free trade by a certain party in the British Parliament. Now he, (Mr. Clay,) and his friends would not ad- mit of these authorities being entitled to as much weight as the universal practice of nations, which IE all parts of the world was found to be in favor of protecting home manufactures to an extent sufficient to keep them in a nourishing condition. This was the whole difference. The Sena- tor was in favor of book theory and ab- stractions: he (Mr. Clay) and his friends, were in favor of the universal practice of nations, and the wholesome and necessary protection of domestic manufactures." Mr. Calhoun in reply, referring to his allusion to the success in the late election of the tory party in England, said : " The interests, objects, and aims of the tory party there and the whig party here, are identical. The identity of the two parties is remarkable. The tory party are the patrons of corporate monopolies ; and are not you ? They are advocates of a high tariff; and are not you ? They are support- ers of a national bank ; and are not you ? They are for corn-laws laws oppressive to the masses of the people, and favorable to their own power; and are not youf Witness this bill. * * * The success of that party in England, and of the whig party here, is the success of the great money power, which concentrates the in- terests of the two parties, and identifies their principles." The bill was passed by a large majority, upon the general ground that the govern- ment must have revenue. The chief measure of the session, and the great object of the whig party the one for which it had labored for ten years was for the re-charter of a national bank. Without this all other measures would be deemed to be incomplete, and the victori- ous election itself but little better than a defeat. The President, while a member of the Democratic party, had been opposed to the United States Bank ; and to over- come any objections he might have the bill was carefully prepared, and studiously contrived to avoid the President's objec- tions, and save his consistency a point upon which he was exceedingly sensitive. 42 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. The democratic members resisted strenu- ously, in order to make the measure odious, but successful resistance was impossible. It passed both houses by a close vote ; and contrary to all expectation the President disapproved the act, but with such expres- sions of readiness to approve another bill which should be free from the objections which he named, as still to keep his party together, and to prevent the resignation of bis cabinet. In his veto message the President fell back upon his early opinions against the constitutionality of a national bank, so often and so publicly expressed. The veto caused consternation among the whig members ; and Mr. Clay openly gave expression to his dissatisfaction, in the debate on the veto message, in terms to assert that President Tyler had violated his faith to the whig party, and had been led off from them by new associations. He said : " And why should not President Tyler have sufferea the bill to become a law without his signature? Without meaning the slightest possible disrespect to him (nothing is further from my heart than the exhibition of any such feeling towards that distinguished citizen, long my per- sonal friend), it cannot be forgotten that he came into his present office under peculiar circumstances. The people did not foresee the contingency which has happened. They voted for him as Vice President. They did not, therefore, scrutinize his opinions with the care which they probably ought to have done, and would have done, if they could have looked into futurity. If the present state of the fact could have been anticipated if at Harrisburg, or at the polls, it had been foreseen that General Harrison would die in one short month after the commencement of his administra- tion ; so that Vice President Tyler would be elevated to the presidential chair; that a bill passed by decisive majorities of the first whig Congress, chartering a national bank, would be presented for his sanction ; and that he would veto the bill, do I hazard anything when I express the con- viction that he would not have received a solitary vote in the nominating convention, nor one solitary electoral vote in any State in the Union ?'" The vote was taken on the bill over again, as required by the constitution, and so far from receiving a two-thirds vote, it received only a bare majority, and was re- turned to the House with a message stating his objections to it, where it gave rise to some violent speaking, more directed to the personal conduct of the President than to the objections to the bill stated in his message. The veto was sustained ; and so ended the second attempt to resuscitate the old United States Bank under a new name. This second movement to establish the bank has a secret history. It almost caused the establishment of a new party, with Mr. Tyler as its head; earnest efforts having been made in that behalf by many promi- nent Whigs and Democrats. The entire cabinet, with the exception of Mr. Webster, resigned within a few days after the second veto. It was a natural thing for them to do, and was not unexpected. Indeed Mr. Webster had resolved to tender his resigna- tion also, but on reconsideration determined to remain and publish his reasons there- for in a letter to the National Intelligencer, in the following words : " Lest any misapprehension should ex- ist, as to the reasons which led me to differ from the course pursued by my late col- leagues, I wish to say that I remain in my place, first, because I have seen no sufficient reasons for the dissolution of the late Cabi- net, by the voluntary act of its own mem- bers. I am perfectly persuaded of the ab- solute necessity of an institution, under the authority of Congress, to aid revenue and financial operations, and to give the country the blessings of a good currency and cheap exchanges. Notwithstanding what has passed, I have confidence that the Presi- dent will co-operate with the legislature in overcoming all difficulties in the attain- ment of these objects ; and it is to the union of the Whig party by which I mean the whole party, the Whig President, the Whig Congress, and the Whig people that I look for a realization of our wishes. I can look nowhere else. In the second place if I had seen reasons to resign my office, I should not have done so, without giving the President reasonable notice, and affording him time to select the hands to which he should confide the delicate and important affairs now pending in this de- partment." The conduct of the President in the matter of the vetoes of the two bank bills produced revolt against him in the party ; and the Whigs of the two Houses or Con- gress held several formal meetings to con- sider what they should do in the new con- dition of affairs. An address to the people of the United States was resolved upon. The rejection of the bank bill gave great vexation to one side, and equal exultation to the other. The subject was not per- mitted to rest, however ; a national bank was the life the vital principle of the Whig party, without which it could not live as a party ; it was the power which was to give them power and the political and financial control of the Union. A second attempt was made, four days after the veto, to accomplish the end by amend- ments to a bill relating to the currency, which had been introduced early in the session. Mr. Sargeant of Pennsylvania, moved to strike out all after the enacting clause, and insert his amendments, which were substantially the same as the vetoed BOOK I.] THE SECOND BANK BILL. 43 bill, except changing the amount of capi- tal and prohibiting discounts on notes other than bills of exchange. The bill was pushed to a vote with astonishing rapidity, and passed by a decided majority. In the Senate the bill went to a select committee which reported it back without alteration, as had been foreseen, the committee consist- ing entirely of friends of the measure; and there was a majority for it on final passage. Concurred in by the Senate without alter- ation, it was returned to the House, and thence referred to the President for his approval or disapproval. It was disap- proved and it was promulgated in language intended to mean a repudiation of the President, a permanent separation of the Whig party from him, and to wash their hands of all accountability for his acts. An opening paragraph of the address set forth that, for twelve years the Whigs had carried on a contest for the regulation of the currency, the equalization of exchanges, the economical administration of the finan- ces, and the advancement of industry all to be accomplished by means of a national bank declaring these objects to be mis- understood by no one and the bank itself held to be secured in the Presidential elec- tion, and its establishment the main object of the extra session. The address then proceeds to state how these plans were frustrated : " It is with profound and poignant regret that we find ourselves called upon to in- voke your attention to this point. Upon the great and leading measure touching this question, our anxious endeavors to respond to the earnest prayers of the nation have been frustrated by an act as unlocked for as it is to be lamented. We grieve to say to you that by the exercise of that power in the constitution which has ever been regarded with suspicion, and often with odium, by the people a power which we had hoped was never to be ex- hibited on this subject, by a Whig Presi- dent we have been defeated in two at- tempts to create a fiscal agent, which the wants of the country had demonstrated to us, in the most absolute form of proof to be eminently necessary and proper in the present emergency. Twice have we with the utmost diligence and deliberation matured a plan for the collection, safe- keeping and disbursing of the public moneys through the agency of a corpora- tion adapted to that end, and twice has it been our fate to encounter the opposition of the President, through the application of the veto power. * * * We are con- strained to say that we find no ground to justify us in the conviction that the veto of the President has been interposed on this question solely upon conscientious and well-considered opinions of constitutional cruple as to his duty in the case presented. On the contrary, too many proofs have been forced upon our observation to leave us free from the apprehension that the Presi- dent has permitted himself to be beguiled into an opinion that by this exhibition of his prerogative he might be able to divert the policy of his administration into a channel which should lead to new political combinations, and accomplish results which must overthrow the present divisions of party in the countrv ; and finally produce a state of things which those who elected him, at least, have never contemplated. * * * * * * In this state of things, the Whigs will naturally look with anxiety to the future, and inquire what are the actual relations between the President and those who brought him into power; and what, in the opinion of their friends in Congress, should be their course hereafter. * * * The President by his withdrawal of confi- dence from his real friends in Congress and from the members of his cabinet ; by his bestowal of it upon others notwith- standing their notorious opposition to lead- ing measures of his administrations has voluntarily separated himself from those by whose exertions and suffrage he was elevated to that office through which he has reached his present exalted station. * * * * The consequence is, that those who brought the President into power can be no longer, in any manner or degree, justly held responsible or blamed for the administration of the executive branch of the government; and the President arid his advisers should be exclusively here- after deemed accountable. * * * The conduct of the President has occasioned bitter mortification and deep regret. Shall the party, therefore, yielding to sentiments of despair, abandon its duty, and submit to defeat and disgrace ? Far from suffer- ing such dishonorable consequences, the very disappointment which it has unfor- tunately experienced should serve only to redouble its exertions, and to inspire it with fresh courage to persevere with a spirit unsubdued and a resolution unshak- en, until the prosperity of the country is fully re-established, and its liberties firmly secured against all danger from the abuses, encroachments or usurpations of the ex- ecutive department of the government. 1 ' This was the manifesto, so far as it con- cerns the repudiation of President Tyler, which Whig members of Congress put forth: it was answered (under the name of an address to his constituents) by Mr. Gushing, in a counter special plea coun- ter to it on all points especially on the main question of which party the Presi- dent was to belong to; the manifesto of the Whigs assigning him to the de- mocracy the address of Mr. Gushing, claiming him for the Whigs. It was es- AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. pecially severe on Mr. Clay, as setting up a caucus dictatorship to coerce the Presi- dent; and charged that the address em- anated from this caucus, and did m,t embody or represent the sentiments of all Whig leaders ; and referred to Mr. Webster's let- ter, and his remaining in the cabinet as proof of this. But it was without avail against the concurrent statements of the retiring senators, and the confirmatory statements of many members of Congress. The Whig party recoiled from the Presi- dent, and instead of the unity predicted by Mr. Webster, there was diversity and wide- spread dissension. The Whig party re- mained with Mr. Clay ; Mr. Webster re- tired, Mr. Gushing was sent on a foreign mission, and the President, seeking to en- ter the democratic ranks, was refused by them, and left to seek consolation in pri- vacy, for his political errors and omissions. The extra session, called by President Harrison, held under Mr. Tyler, domi- nated by Mr. Clay, commenced May 31, and ended Sept. 13, 1841 and was replete with disappointed calculations, and nearly barren of permanent results. The pur- poses for which it was called into being, failed. The first annual message of Presi- dent Tyler, at the opening of the regular session in December, 1841, coming in so soon after the termination of the extra ses- sion, was brief and meagre of topics, with few points of interest. In the month of March, 1842, Mr. Henry Clay resigned his place in the Senate, and delivered a valedictory address to that body. He had intended this step upon the close of the previous presidential cam- paign, but had postponed it to take per- sonal charge of the several measures which would be brought before Congress at the special session the calling of which he foresaw would be necessary. He resigned not on account of age, or infirmity, or dis- inclination for public life ; but out of dis- gust profound and inextinguishable. He had been basely defeated for the Presi- dential nomination, against the wishes of the Whig party, of which he was the ac- knowledged head he had seen his leading measures vetoed by the President whom his party had elected the downfall of the Bank for which he had so often pledged himself and the insolent attacks of the petty adherents of the administration in the two Houses : all these causes acting on his proud and lofty spirit, induced this withdrawal from public life for which he was so well fitted. The address opened with a retrospect of his early entrance into the Senate, and a grand encomium upon its powers and dig- nity as he hud found it, and left it. Mem- ory went back to that early year, 1806, when just past thirty years of age, he en- tered the United States Senate, and com- menced his high career a wide and lumi- nous horizon before him, and will and talent to fill it. He said : " From the year 1806, the period of my entering upon "this noble theatre of my public service, "with but short intervals, down to the present time, I have been engaged in the service of my country. Of the nature and value of those services, which I may have ren- dered during my long career of public life, it does not become me to speak. History, if she deigns to notice me, and posterity if a recollection of any humble service which I may have rendered, shall be transmitted to posterity will be the best, truest, and most impartial judges; and to them I defer for a decision upon their value. But, upon one subject, I may be allowed to speak. As to my public acts and public conduct, they are for the judg- ment of my fellow citizens; but my private motives of action that which prompted me to take the part which I may have done, upon great measures during their progress in the national councils, can be known only to the Great Searcher of the human heart and myself; and I trust I shall be pardoned for repeating again a declaration which I made thirty years ago : that whatever error I may have committed and doubtless I have committed many during my public service I may appeal to the Divine Searcher of hearts for the truth of the declaration which I now make, with pride and confidence, that I have been actuated by no personal motives that I have sought no personal aggrandize- ment no promotion from the advocacy of those various measures on which I h'ave been called to act that I have had an eye, a single eye, a heart, a single heart, ever devoted to what appeared to be the best interests of the country." Mr. Clay led a great party, and for a long time, whether he dictated to it or not, and kept it well bound together, without the usual means of forming and leading parties. It was surprising that-, without power and patronage, he was able so long and so undividedlv to keep so great a party together, and lead it so unresistingly. He had great talents, but not equal to some whom he led. He had eloquence superior in popular effect, but not equal in high oratory to that of some others. But his temperament was fervid, his will was strong, and his courage daring ; and these qualities, added to his talents, gave him the lead and supremacy in his party, where he was always dominant. The farewell address made a deep impression upon the Senators present ; and after its close, Mr. Preston brought the ceremony to a conclu- sion, by moving an adjournment, which was agreed to. Again at this session was the subject of the tariff considered, but this time, as a BOOK I.] WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS. 46 matter of absolute necessity, to provide a ] revenue. Never before were the coffers i and the credit of the treasury at so low an ebb. A deficit of fourteen millions in the treasury a total inability to borrow, either at home or abroad, the amount of the loan of twelve millions authorized the year before the treasury notes below par, and the revenues from imports inadequate and decreasing. The compromise act of 1833 in reducing the duties gradually through nine years, j to a fixed low rate ; the act of 1837 in dis- tributing the surplus revenue ; and the continual and continued distribution of the land revenue, had brought about this condition of things. The remedy was sought in a bill increasing the tariff, and suspending the land revenue distribution. Two such bills were passed in a single month, and both vetoed by the President. It was now near the end of August. Con- gress had been in session for an unpre- cedentedly long time. Adjournment could not be deferred, and could not take place without providing for the Treasury. The compromise act and the land distribution were the stumbling-blocks: it was resolved to sacrifice them together ; and a bill was introduced raising the duties above the fixed rate of twenty per cent., and that breach of the mutual assurance in relation to the compromise, immediately in terms of the assurance, suspended the land revenue distribution to continue it sus- pended while duties above the compromise limit continued to be levied. And as that has been the case ever since, the distribu- tion of the land revenue has been sus- pended ever since. The bill was passed, and approved by the President, and Con- gress thereupon adjourned. The subject of the navy was also under consideration at this session. The naval policy of the United States was a question of party division from the origin of parties in the early years of the government the Federal party favoring a strong and splendid navy, the Republican a moderate establishment, adapted to the purposes of defense more than of offense. And this line of division has continued. Under the Whig regime the policy for a great navy developed itself. The Secretary of the Navy recommended a large increase of ships, seamen and officers, involving a heavy expense, though the government was not in a condition to warrant any such expenditure, and no emergency required an increase in that branch of the public service. The vote was taken upon the in- crease proposed by the Secretary of the Navy, and recommended by the President; and it was carried, the yeas and nays being well defined by the party line. The first session of the twenty-eighth Congress, which convened December 1843, exhibited in its political complexion, se- rious losses in the Whig following. The Democratic candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives, was elected over the Whig candidate the vote standing 128 to 59. Thus an adverse majority of more than two to one was the result to the Whig party at the first election after the extra session of 1841. The President's message referred to the treaty which had lately been concluded with Great Britain relative to the northwestern territory ex- tending to the Columbia river, including Oregon and settling the boundary lines ; and also to a pending treaty with Texas for her annexation to the United States ; and concluded with a recommendation for the establishment of a paper currency to be issued and controlled by the Federal government. For more than a year before the meeting of the Democratic Presidential Conven- tion in Baltimore, in May 1844, it was evident to leading Democrats that Martin Van Buren was the choice of the party. To overcome this popular current and turn the tide in favor of Mr. Calhoun, who desired the nomination, resort was had to the pending question of the annexation of Texas. Mr. Van Buren was known to be against it, and Mr. Calhoun for it. To gain time, the meeting of the convention was postponed from December previous, which had been the usual time for holding such elections, until the following May. The convention met, and consisted of two hundred and sixty -six delegates, a decided majority of whom were for Mr. Van Buren, and cast their votes accordingly on the first ballot. But a chairman had been selected, who was adverse to his nomination ; and aided by a rule adopted by the convention, which required a concurrence of two-thirds to effect a nomination, the opponents of Mr. Van Buren were able to accomplish his defeat. Mr. Calhoun had, before the meeting of the convention, made known his determination, in a public address, not to suffer his name to go before that as- semblage as a candidate for the presidency, and stated his reasons for so doing, which were* founded mainly on the manner in which the convention was constituted ; his objections being to the mode of choosing delegates, and the manner of their giving in their votes he contending for district elections, and the delegates to vote indi- vidually. South Carolina was not repre- sented in the convention. After the first ballot Mr. Van Buren's vote sensibly de- creased, until finally, Mr. James K. Polk, who was a candidate for the Vice Presi- dency, was brought forward and nominated unanimously for the chief pifice. Mr. Geo. M. Dallas was chosen as his colleague for the Vice Presidency. The nomination of these gentlemen, neither of whom had 46 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK been mentioned until late in the proceed- ings of the convention, for the offices for which they were finally nominated, was a genuine surprise to the country. No voice in favor of it had been heard ; and no visible sign in the political horizon had announced it. The Whig convention nominated Henry Clay, for President; and Theodore Fre- linghuysen for Vice-President. The main issues in the election which ensued, were mainly the party ones of Whig and Democrat, modified by the tariff and Texas questions. It resulted in the choice of the Democratic candidates, who received 170 electoral votes as against 105 for their opponents; the popular majority for the Democrats being 238,284, in a total vote of 2,834,108. Mr. Clay re- ceived a larger popular vote than had been given at the previous election for the Whig candidate, showing that he would have been elected had he then been the nominee of his party ; though the popular vote at this election was largely increased over that of 1840. It is conceded that the 36 electoral votes of New York State gave the election to Mr. Polk. It was carried by a bare majority ; due entirely to the Gubernatorial candidacy of Mr. Silas Wright, who had been mentioned for the vice-presidential nomination in connection with Mr. Van Buren, but who declined it after the sacrifice of his friend and col- league; and resigning his seat in the Senate, became a candidate for Governor of New York. The election being held at the same time as that for president, his name and popularity brought to the presi- dential ticket more than enough votes to make the majority that gave the electoral vote of the State to the Democrats. President Tyler's annual and last mes- sage to Congress, in December 1844, con- tained, (as did that of the previous year) an elaborate paragraph on the subject of Texas and Mexico; the idea being the annexation of the former to the Union, and the assumption of her causes of grievance against the latter ; and a treaty was pend- ing to accomplish these objects. The scheme for the annexation of Texas was framed with a double aspect one looking to the then pending presidential election, the other to the separation of the Southern States ; and as soon as the rejection of the treaty was foreseen, and the nominating convention had acted, the disunion aspect manifested itself over m^ny of the South- ern States beginning with South Carolina. Before the end of May, a great meeting took place at Ashley, in that State, to combine the slave States in a convention to unite the Southern States to Texas, if Texas should not be received into the Union ; and to invite the President to convene Congress to arrange the terms of the dissolution of the Union if the rejec- tion of the annexation should be perse- vered in. Responsive resolutions were adopted in several States, and meetings held. The opposition manifested, brought the movement to a stand, and suppressed the disunion scheme for the time being only to lie in wait for future occasions. But it was not before the people only that this scheme for a Southern convention with a view to the secession of the slave States was a matter of discussion ; it was the subject of debate in the Senate ; and there it was further disclosed that the design of the secessionists was to extend the new Southern republic to the Califor- nias. The treaty of annexation was supported by all the power of the administration, but failed ; and it was rejected by the Senate by a two-thirds vote against it. Following this, a joint resolution was early brought into the House of Repre- sentatives for the admission of Texas as a State of the Union, by legislative action ; it passed the House by a fair majority, but met with opposition in the Senate un- less coupled with a proviso for negotia- tion and treaty, as a condition precedent. A bill authorizing the President and a commissioner to be appointed to agree upon the terms and conditions of said admission, the question of slavery within its limits, its deots, the fixing of bounda- ries, and the cession of territory, was coupled or united with the resolution ; and in this shape it was finally agreed to, and became a law, with the concurrence of the president, March 3, 1845. Texas was then in a state of war with Mexico, though at that precise point of time an armistice had been agreed upon, looking to a treaty of peace. The House resolution was for an unqualified admission of the State; the Senate amendment or bill was for negotia- tion ; and the bill actually passed would not have been concurred in except on the understanding that the incoming Presi- dent (whose term began March 4, 1845, and who was favorable to negotiation) would act under the bill, and appoint commissioners accordingly. Contrary to all expectation, the outgoing President, on the last day of his term, at the instigation of his Secretary of State, Mr. Calhoun, assumed the execution of the act providing for the admission of Texas adopted the legislative clause and sent out a special messenger with in- structions. The danger of this had been foreseen, and suggested in the Senate ; but close friends of Mr. Calhoun, speaking for the administration, and replying to the suggestion, indignantly denied it for them, and declared that they would not have the " audacity" to so violate the spirit and in- tent of the act, or so encroach upon the BOOK I.] OREGON TREATY OF 1846. 47 rights of the new President. These state- ments from the friends of the Secretary and President that the plan by negotiation would be adopted, quieted the apprehen- sion of those Senators opposed to legislative annexation or admission, and thus secured their votes, without which the bill would have failed of a majority. Thus was Texas incorporated into the Union. The legisla- tive proposition sent by Mr. Tyler was ac- cepted : Texas became incorporated with the United States, and in consequence the state of war was established between the United States and Mexico ; it only being a question of time and chance when the armistice should end and hostilities begin. Although Mr. Calhoun was not in favor of war with Mexico he believing that a money payment would settle the differ- ences with that country the admission of Texas into the Union under the legisla- tive annexation clause of the statute, was really his act and not that of the Presi- dent's ; and he was, in consequence, after- wards openly charged in the Senate with being the real author of the war which followed. The administration of President Polk opened March 4, 1845 ; and on the same day, the Senate being convened for the purpose, the cabinet ministers were nomi- nated and confirmed. In December fol- lowing the 29th Congress was organized. The House of Representatives, being largely Democratic, elected the Speaker, by a vote of 120, against 70 for the Whig candidate. At this session the " Ameri- can" party a new political organization first made its appearance in the Na- tional councils, having elected six mem- bers of the House of Representatives, four from New York and two from Penn- sylvania. The President's first annual message had for its chief topic, the admis- sion of Texas, then accomplished, and the consequent dissatisfaction of Mexico ; and referring to the preparations on the part of the latter with the apparent intention of declaring war on the United States, either by an open declaration, or by invading Texas. The message also stated causes which would justify this government in taking the initiative in declaring war mainly the non-compliance by Mexico with the terms of the treaty of indemnity of April 11, 1839, entered into between that State and this government relative to injuries to American citizens during the previous eight years. He also referred to the fact of a minister having been sent to Mexico to endeavor to bring about a settle- ment of the differences between the na- tions, without a resort to hostilities. The message concluded with a reference to the negotiations with Great Britain relative to the Oregon boundary ; a statement of the finances and the public debt, showing the latter to be slightly in excess of seventeen millions ; and a recommendation for a re- vision of the tariff, with a view to revenue as the object, with protection to home in- dustry as the incident. At this session of Congress, the States of Florida and Iowa were admitted into the Union ; the former permitting slavery within its borders, the latter denying it. Long before this, the free and the slave States were equal in number, and the prac- tice had grown up from a feeling of jealousy and policy to keep them evenly- balanced of admitting one State of each character at the same time. Numerically the free and the slave States were thus kept even : in political power a vast in- equality was going on the increase of population being so much greater in the northern than in the southern region. The Ashburton treaty of 1842 omitted to define the boundary line, and permitted, or rather did not prohibit, the joint occu- pation of Oregon by British and American settlers. This had been a subject of dis- pute for many years. The country on the Columbia River had been claimed by bo + ti. Under previous treaties the American northern boundary extended " to the lati- tude of 49 degrees north of the equator, and along that parallel indefinitely to the west." Attempts were made in 1842 and continuing since to 1846, to settle this boundary line, by treaty with Great Britain. It had been assumed that we had a divid- ing line, made by previous treaty, along the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes from the sea to the Rocky mountains. The sub- ject so much absorbed public attention, that the Democratic National convention of 1844 in its platform of principles de- clared for that boundary line, or war as the consequence. It became known as the 54-40 plank, and was a canon of political faith. The negotiations between the gov- ernments were resumed in August, 1844. The Secretary of State, Mr. Calhoun, pro- posed a line along the parallel of 49 de- grees of north latitude to the summit of the Rocky mountains and continuing that line thence to the Pacific Ocean ; and he made this proposition notwithstanding the fact that the Democratic party -to which he belonged were then in a high state of exultation for the boundary of 54 degrees 40 minutes, and the presidential canvass, on the Democratic side, was raging upon that cry. The British Minister declined this pro- position in the part that carried the line to the ocean, but offered to continue it from the summit of the mountains to the Columbia River, a distance of some three hundred miles, and then follow the river to the ocean. This was declined by Mr. Calhoun. The President had declared in his inaugural address in favor of the 5440 48 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. line. He was in a dilemma ; to maintain that position meant war with Great Britain ; to recede from it seemed impossible. The proposition for the line of 49 degrees hav- ing been withdrawn by the American gov- ernment on its non-acceptance by the Brit- ish, had appeased the Democratic storm which had been raised against the Presi- dent. Congress had come together under the loud cry of war, in which Mr. Cass was the leader, but followed by the body of the democracy, and backed and cheered by the whole democratic newspaper press. Under the authority and order of Congress notice had been served on Great Britain which was to abrogate the joint occupation of the country by the citizens of the two powers. It was finally resolved by the British Government to propose the line of 49 degrees, continuing to the ocean, as originally offered by Mr. Calhoun; and though the President was favorable to its acceptance, he could not, consistently with hia previous acts, accept and make a treaty, on that basis. The Senate, with whom lies the power, under the constitu- tion, of confirming or restricting all trea- ties, being favorable to it, without respect to party Tines, resort was had, as in the early practice of the Government, to the President, asking the advice of the Senate upon the articles of a treaty before negoti- ation. A message was accordingly sent to the Senate, by the President, stating the proposition, and asking its advice, thus shifting the responsibility upon that body, and making the issue of peace or war de- pend upon its answer. The Senate advised the acceptance of the proposition, and the treaty was concluded. The conduct of the Whig Senators, without whose votes the advice would not have been given nor the treaty made, was patriotic in preferring their country to their party in preventing a war with Great Britain and saving the administra- tion from itself and its party friends. The second session of the 29th Congress was opened in December, 1847. The President's message was chiefly in relation to the war with Mexico, which had been declared by almost a unanimous vote in Congress. Mr. Calhoun spoke against the declaration in the Senate, out did not vote upon it. He was sincerely opposed to the war, although his conduct had produced it. Had he remained in the cabinet, to do which he had not concealed his wish, he would, no doubt, have labored earnestly to have prevented it. Many members of Congress, of the same party with the ad- ministration, were extremely averse to the war, and had interviews with the President, to see if it was inevitable, before it was de- clared. Members were under the impression that the war could not last above three months. The reason for these impressions was that an intrigue was laid, with the know- ledge of the Executive, for a peace, even before the war was declared, and a special agent dispatched to bring about a return to Mexico of its exiled President, General Santa Anna, and conclude a treaty of peace with him, on terms favorable to the United States. And for this purpose Con- gress granted an appropriation of three millions of dollars to be placed at the dis- posal of the President, for negotiating for a boundary which should give the United States additional territory. While this matter was pending in Con- gress, Mr. Wilmot of Pennsylvania intro- duced and moved a proviso, '' that no part of the territory to be acquired should be open to the introduction of slavery." It was a proposition not necessary for the pur- pose of excluding slavery, as the only ter- ritory to be acquired was that of New Mexico and California, where slavery was already prohibited by the Mexican laws and constitution. The proviso was there- fore nugatory, and only served to bring on a slavery agitation in the United States. For this purpose it was seized upon by Mr. Calhoun and declared to be an outrage upon and menace to the slave-holding States. It occupied the attention of Con- gress for two sessions, and became the sub- ject of debate in the State Legislatures, several of which passed disunion resolu- tions. It became the watchword of party the synonym of civil war, and the dissolu- tion of the Union. Neither party really had anything to fear or to hope from the adoption of the proviso the soil was free, and the Democrats were not in a position to make slave territory of it, because it had just enunciated as one of its cardinal principles, that there was "no power in Congress to legislate upon slavery in Territo- ries." Never did two political parties con- tend more furiously about nothing. Close observers, who had been watching the pro- gress of the slavery agitation since its inauguration in Congress in 1835, knew it to be the means of keeping up an agitation for the benefit of the political parties the abolitionists on one side and the disunion- ists or nullifiers on the other to accom- plish their own purposes. This was the celebrated Wilmot Proviso, which for so long a time convulsed the Union ; assisted in forcing the issue between the North and South on the slavery question, and almost caused a dissolution of the Union. The proviso was defeated ; that chance of the nullifiers to force the issue was lost; an- other had to be made, which was speedily done, by the introduction into the Senate on the 19th February, 1847, by Mr. Cal- houn of his new slavery resolutions, de- claring the Territories to be the common property of the several States; denying BOOK I.] TREATY OF PEACE WITH MEXICO. 49 the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in a Territory, or to pass any law which would have the effect to deprive the citi- zens of any slave State from emigrating with his property (slaves) into such Terri- tory. The introduction of the resolutions was prefaced by an elaborate speech by Mr. Calhoun, who demanded an immediate vote upon them. They never came to a vote; they were evidently introduced for the mere purpose of currying a question to the slave States on which they could be formed into a unit against the free States ; and so began the agitation which finally led to the abrogation of the Missouri Com- promise line, and arrayed the States of one section against those of the other. The Thirtieth Congress, which assem- bled for its first session in December, 1847, was found, so far as respects the House of Representatives, to be politically adverse to the administration. The Whigs were in the majority, and elected the Speaker; Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, being chosen. The President's message contained a full report of the progress of the war with Mexico ; the success of the American arms in that conflict; the vic- tory of Cerro Gordo, and the capture of the City of Mexico ; and that negotiations were then pending for a treaty of peace. The message concluded with a reference to the excellent results from the indepen- dent treasury system. The war with Mexico was ended by the signing of a treaty of peace, in February, 1848, by the terms of which New Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the United States, and the lower Rio Grande, from its mouth to El Paso, taken for the boundary of Texas. For the territory thus acquired, the United States agreed to pay to Mexico the sum of fifteen million dol- lars, in five annual installments ; and be- sides that, assumed the claims of Ameri- can citizens against Mexico, limited to three and a quarter million dollars, out of and on account of which claims the war ostensibly originated. The victories achiev- ed by the American commanders, Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, during that war, won for them national reputa- tions, by means of which they were brought prominently forward for the Presidential uccession. The question of the power of Congress to legislate on the subject of slavery in the Territories, was again raised, at this session, on the bill for the establishment of the Oregon territorial government. An amend- ment was offered to insert a provision for the extension of the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific Ocean ; which line thus extended was intended by the amendment to be permanent, and to apply to all future territories established in trie West. This amendment was lost, but the bill was finally passed with an amendment incorporating into it the anti-slavery clause of the ordi- nance of 1787. Mr. Calhoun, in the Sen- ate, declared that the exclusion of slavery from any territory was a subversion of the Union ; openly proclaimed the strife be- tween the North and South to be ended, and the separation of the States accom- plished. His speech was an open invoca- tion to disunion, and from that time forth, the efforts were regular to obtain a meet- ing of the members from the slave States, to unite in a call for a convention of the slave States to redress themselves. He said : " The great strife between the North and the South is ended. The North is determined to exclude the property of the slaveholder, and, of course, the slaveholder himself, from its territory. On this point there seems to be no division in the North In the South, he regretted to say, there was some division of sentiment. The effect of this determination of the North was to convert all the Southern population into slaves ; and he would never consent to entail that disgrace on his posterity. He denounced any Southern man who would not take the same course. Gentle- men were greatly mistaken if they sup- posed the Presidential question in the South would override this more important one. The separation of the North and the South is completed. The South has now a most solemn obligation to perform to herself to the constitution to the Union. She is bound to come to a decision not to permit this to go on any further, but to show that, dearly as she prizes the Union, there are questions which she regards as of greater importance than the Union. This is not a question of territorial govern- ment, but a question involving the con- tinuance of the Union." The President, in approving the Oregon bill, took occa- sion to send in a special message, point- ing out the danger to the Union from the progress of the slavery agitation, and urged an adherence to the principles of the ordi- nance of 1787 the terms of the Missouri compromise of 1820 as also that involved and declared in the Texas case in 1845, as the n\eans of averting that danger. The Presidential election of 1848 was coming on. The Democratic convention* met in Baltimore in May of that year ; each State being represented in the con- vention by the number of delegates equal to the number of electoral votes it was en- titled to; saving only New York, which sent two sets of delegates, and both were excluded. The delegates were, for the most part, members of Congress and office- holders. The two-thirds rule, adopted by the previous convention, was again made a law of the convention. The main ques- tion which arose upon the formation of the platform for the campaign, wa th 50 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. doctrine advanced by the Southern mem- bers of non-interference with slavery in the States or in the Territories. The can- didates of the party were, Lewis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and General Wm. O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-Presi- dent. The Whig convention, taking advan- tage of the popularity of Genl. Zachary Taylor, for his military achievements in the Mexican war, then just ended ; and his consequent availability as a candidate, nominated him for the Presidency, over Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster and General Scott, who were his competitors before the convention. Millard Fillmore was selected as the Vice- presidential candidate. A third convention was held, consisting of the disaffected Democrats from New York who had been excluded from the Baltimore convention. They met at Utica, New York, and nominated Martin Van Bnren for President, and Charles Francis Adams for Vice President. The princi- ples of its platform, were, that Congress should abolish slavery wherever it consti- tutionally had the power to do so [which was intended to apply to the District of Columbia] that it should not interfere with it in the slave States and that it should prohibit it in the Territories. This party became known as " Free-soilers," from their doctrines thus enumerated, and their party cry of " free-soil, free-speech, free-labor, free-men." The result of the election, as might have been foreseen, was to lose New York State to the Baltimore candidate, and give it to the whigs, who were triumphant in the reception of 163 electoral votes for their candidates, against 127 for the democrats; and none for the free-soilers. The last message of President Polk, in December following, gave him the oppor- tunity to again urge upon Congress the necessity for some measure to quiet the slavery agitation, and he recommended the extension of the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific Ocean, passing through the new Territories of California and New Mexico, as a fair adjustment, to meet as far as possible the views of all parties. The President referred also to the state of the finances; the excellent condition of the public treasury; government loans, commanding a high premium ; gold and silver the established currency ; and the business interests of the country in a pros- perous condition. And this was the state of affairs, only one year after emergency from a foreign war. It would be unfair not to give credit to the President and to Senator Benton and others equally promi- nent and courageous, who at that time had to battle against the bank theory and national paper money currency, as strongly nrged and advocated, and to prove even- tually that the money of the Constitution gold and silver was the only currency to ensure a successful financial working of the government, and prosperity to the peo- ple. The new President, General Zachary Taylor, was inaugurated March 4, 1849. The Senate being convened, as usual, in extra session, for the purpose, the Vice President elect, Millard Fillmore, was duly installed ; and the Whig cabinet officers nominated by the President, promptly confirmed. An additional member of the Cabinet was appointed by this administra- tion to preside over the new " Home De- partment" since called the "Interior," created at the previous session of Con- gress. The following December Congress met in regular session the 31st since the or- ganization of the federal government. The Senate consisted of sixty members, among whom were Mr. Webster, Mr. Cal- houn, and Mr. Clay, who had returned to ' public life. The House had 230 members ; and although the whigs had a small ma- jority, the House was so divided on the slavery question in its various phases, that the election for Speaker resulted in the choice of the Democratic candidate, Mr. Cobb, of Georgia, by a majority of three votes. The annual message of the President plainly showed that he compre- hended the dangers to the Union from a continuance of sectional feeling on the slavery question, and he averred his deter- mination to stand by the Union to the full extent of his obligations and powers. At the previous session Congress had spent six months in endeavoring to frame a sat- isfactory bill providing territorial govern- ments for California and New Mexico, and had adjourned finally without accom- plishing it, in consequence of inability to agree upon whether the Missouri compro- mise line should be carried to the ocean, or the territories be permitted to remain as they were slavery prohibited under the laws of Mexico. Mr. Calhoun brought forward, in the debate, a new doctrine extending the Constitution to the territory, and arguing that as that instrument recog- nized the existence of slavery, the settlers in such territory should be permitted to hold their slave property taken there, and be protected. Mr. Webster's answer to this was that the Constitution was made for States, not territories; that it cannot operate anywhere, not even in the States for which it was made, without acts of Congress to enforce it. The proposed ex- tension of the constitution to territories, with a view to its transportation of slavery along with it, was futile and nugatory without the act of Congress to vitalize slavery under it. The early part of the year had witnessed ominous movements soon.] MR. CLAY'S COMPROMISE RESOLUTIONS. 51 nightly meetings of large numbers of mem- bers from the slave States, led by Mr. C.ilhoun, to consider the state of "things between, the North and the South. They appointed committees who prepared an address to the people. It was in this con- dition of things, that President Taylor ex- pressed his opinion, in his message, of the remedies required. California, New Mexico and Utah, had been left without governments. For California, he recom- mended that having a sufficient popula- tion and having framed a constitution, she be admitted as a State into the Union ; and for New Mexico and Utah, without mixing the slavery question with their territorial governments, they be left to ripen into States, and settle the slavery question for themselves in their State con- stitutions. With a view to meet the wishes of all parties, and arrive at some definite and permanent adjustment of the slavery ques- tion, Mr. Cluy early in the session in- troduced compromise resolutions which were practically a tacking together of the several bills then on the calendar, provid- ing for the admission of California the territorial government for Utah and New Mexico the settlement of the Texas boun- dary slavery in the District of Columbia and for a fugitive slave law. It was seriously and earnestly opposed by many, as being a concession to the spirit of dis- union a capitulation under threat of se- cession; and as likely to become the source of more contentions than it proposed to quiet. The resolutions were referred to a special committee, who promptly reported a bill embracing the comprehensive plan of com- promise which Mr. Clay proposed. Among the resolutions offered, was the following : " Resolved, that as slavery does not exist by law and is not likely to be introduced into any of the territory acquired by the United States from the Republic of Mexi- co, it is inexpedient for Congress to pro- vide by law either for its introduction into or exclusion from any part of the said ter- ritory ; and that appropriate territorial governments ought to be established by Congress in all of the said territory, and assigned as the boundaries of the proposed State of California, without the adoption of any restriction or condition on the sub- ject of slavery." Mr. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, objected that the measure gave nothing to the South in the settlement of the question ; and he required the exten- sion of the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific Ocean as the least that he would be willing to take, with the specific recognition of the right to hold slaves in the territory below that line ; and that, be- fore such territories are admitted into the Union as States, slares may be taken there from any of the United States at the option of their owner. Mr. Clay in reply, said : " Coming from a slave State, as I 'do, I owe it to myself, I owe it to truth, I owe it to the subject, to say that no earthly power could induce me to vote for a specific measure for the in- troduction of slavery where it had not be- fore existed, either south or north of that line. * * * If the citizens of those territories choose to establish slavery, and if they come here with constitutions es- tablishing slavery, I am for admitting them with such provisions in their consti- tutions; but then it will be their own work, and not ours, and their posterity will have to reproach them, and not us, for forming constitutions allowing the institu- tion of slavery to exist among them." Mr. Seward of New York, proposed a renewal of the Wilmot Proviso, in the fol- lowing resolution : " Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than by conviction for crime, shall ever be allowed in either of said territories of Utah and New Mexico ; " but his resolution was re- jected in the Senate by a vote of 23 yeas to 33 nays. Following this, Mr. Calhoun had read for him in the Senate, by his friend James M. Mason of Virginia, his last speech. It embodied the points cov- ered by the address to the people, pre- pared by him the previous year ; the prob- ability of a dissolution of the Union, and presenting a case to justify it. The tenor of the speech is shown by the following ex- tracts from it: "I have, Senators, believed from the first, that the agitation of the sub- ject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in disunion. Entertaining this opinion, I have, on all proper occasions, endeavored to call the attention of each of the two great parties which divide the country to adopt some measure to prevent so great a disas- ter, but without success. The agitation has been permitted to proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a period when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. You have had forced upon you the great- est and gravest question that can ever come under your consideration : How can the Union be preserved 9 * * * * * Instead of being weaker, all the elements in favor of agitation are stronger now than they were in 1835, when it first commenced, while all the elements of influence on the part of the South are weaker. Unl<--i something decisive is done, I again ask what is to stop this agitation, before the great and final object at which it aims- the abolition of slavery in the States is consummated ? Is it, then, not certain that if something decisive is not now done to arrest it, the South will be forced to choose between abolition and secession ? Indeed 52 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK T. as events are now moving, it will not re- quire the South to secede to dissolve the Union. * * * * If the agitation goes on, nothing will be left to hold the States together except force." He answered the question, How can the Union be saved? with which his speech opened, by suggest- ing. " To provide for the insertion of a provision in the constitution, by an amend- ment, which will restore to the South in substance the power she possessed of pro- tecting herself, before the equilibrium be- tween the sections was destroyed by the action of the government." He did not State of what the amendment should con- sist, but later on, it was ascertained from reliable sources that his idea was a dual executive one President from the free, and one from the slave States, the consent of both of whom should be required to all acts of Congress before they become laws. This speech of Mr. Calhoun's, is import- ant as explaining many of his previous ac- tions ; and as furnishing a guide to those who ten years afterwards attempted to carry out practically the suggestions chrown out by him. Mr. Clay's compromise bill was rejected. It was evident that no compromise of any kind whatever on the subject of slavery, under any one of its aspects separately, much less under all put together, could possibly be made. There was no spirit of concession manifested. The numerous measures put together in Mr. Clay's bill were disconnected and separated. Each measure received a separate and inde- pendent consideration, and with a result which showed the injustice of the at- tempted conjunction ; for no two of them were passed by the same vote, even of the members of the committee which had even unanimously reported favorably upon them as a whole. Mr. Calhoun died in the spring of 1850 ; before the separate bill for the admission of California was* taken up. His death took place at Washington, he having reached the age of 68 years. A eulogy upon him was delivered in the Senate by liio colleague, Mr. Butler, of South Caro- lina. Mr. Calhoun was the first great ad- vocate of the doctrine of secession. He was the author of the nullification doc- trine, and an advocate of the extreme doc- trine of States Rights. He was an elo- Sient speaker a man of strong intellect, ia speeches were plain, strong, concise, sometimes impassioned, and always severe. Daniel Webster said of him, that " he had the basis, the indispensable basis of all high characters, and that was unspotted integrity, unimpeached honor and char- acter!" In July of this year an event took place which threw a gloom over the country. The President, General Taylor, contracted a fever from exposure to the hot sun at a cel^- bration of Independence Day, from which he died four days afterwards. He was a man of irreproachable private character, undoubted patriotism, and established TV- Eutation for judgment and firmness. His rief career showed no deficiency of poli- tical wisdom nor want of political training. His administration was beset with difficul- ties, with momentous questions pending, and he met the crisis with firmness tind determination, resolved to maintain the Federal Union at all hazards. His first and only annual message, the leading points of which have been stated, evinces a spirit to do what was right among all the States. His death was a public calamity. No man could have been more devoted to the Union ncr more opposed to the slavery . agitation ; and his position as a Southern man and a slaveholder his military repu- tation, and his election by a majority of the people as well as of the States, ould have given him a power in the settlement of the pending questions of the day which no President without these qualifications could have possessed. In accordance with the Constitution, the office of President thus devolved upon the Vice-President, Mr. Millard Fill mure, who was duly inaugurated July 10, 1850. The new cabinet, with Daniel Webster as Se- cretary of State, was duly appointed and confirmed by the Senate. The bill for the admission of California as a State in the Union, was called up in the Senate and sought to be amended by extending the Missouri Compromise line through it, to the Pacific Oceaii, so as to authorize slavery in the State below that line. The amendment was introduced and pressed by Southern friends of the late Mr. Calhoun, and made a test question. It was lost, and the bill passed by a two- third vote ; whereupon ten Southern Sena- tors offered a written protest, the conclud- ing clause of which was : ' We dissent from this bill, and solemnly protest against its passage, because in sanctioning mea- sures so contrary to former precedents, to obvious policy, to the spirit and intent of the constitution of the United States, for the purpose of excluding the slaveholding States from the territory thus to be erected into a State, this government in effect de- clares that the exclusion of slavery from the territory of the United States is an ob- ject so high and important as to justify a disregard not only of all the principles of sound policy, but also of the constitution itself. Against this conclusion we must now and for ever protest, as it is destruc- tive of the safety and liberties of those whose rights have been committed to our care, fatal to the peace and equality of the States which we represent, and must lead, if persisted in, to the dissolution of that RISE AND PROGRESS OF ABOLITION PARTY. confederacy, in which the slaveholding States have never sought more than equality, and in which they will not be content to remain with less." On objec- tion being made, followed by debate, the Senate refused to receive the protest, or permit it to be entered on the Journal. The bill went to the House of Representa- tives, was readily passed, and promptly approved by the President. Thus was virtually accomplished the abrogation of the Missouri compromise line ; and the ex- tension or non-extension of slavery was then made to form a foundation for future political parties. The year 1850 was prolific with disunion movements in the Southern States. The Senators who had joined with Mr. Calhoun in the address to the people, in 18-19, united with their adherents in establishing at Washington a newspaper entitled " The Southern Press," devoted to the agitation of the slavery question ; to presenting the advantages of disunion, and the organi- zation of a confederacy of Southern States to be called the ''United, States South." Its constant aim was to influence the South against the North, and advoca- ted concert of action by the States of the former section. It was aided in its efforts by newspapers published in the South, more especially in South Carolina and Mississippi. A disunion convention was actually held, in Nashville, Tennessee, and invited the assembly of a Southern Con- gress. Two States, South Carolina and Mississippi responded to the appeal; passed laws to carry it into effect, and the former went so far as to elect its quota of Representatives to the proposed new Southern Congress. These occurrences are referred to as showing the spirit that prevailed, and the extraordinary and un- justifiable means used by the leaders to mislead and exasperate the people. The assembling of a Southern " Congress " was a turning point in the progress of disunion. Georgia refused to join ; and her weight as a great Southern State was sufficient to cause the failure of the scheme. But the seeds of discord were sown, and had taken root, only to spring up at a future time when circumstances should be more favorable to the accomplishment of the object. Although the Congress 01 the United States had in 1790 and again in 1836 formally declared the policy of the govern- ment to be non-interference with the States in respect to the matter of slavery within the limits of the respective States, the sub- ject continued to be agitated in conse- quence of petitions to Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, which was under the exclusive control of the fed- eral government; and of movements throughout the United States to limit, and finally abolish it. The subject first made ita appearance in national politics in 1840, when a presidential ticket was nominated by a party then formed favoring the abolition of slavery ; it had a very slight following which was increased ten-fold at the elec- tion of 1844 when the same party again put a ticket in the field with James G. Birney of Michigan, as its candidate for the Presidency ; who received 62,140 rotes. The efforts of the leaders of that faction were continued, and persisted in to such an extent, that when in 1848 it nominated a ticket with Gerritt Smith for President, against the Democratic candidate, Martin Van Buren, the former received 296,232 votes. In the presidential contest of 1852 the abolition party again nominated a ticket, with John P. Hale as its candidate for President, and polled 157,926 votes. This large following was increased from time to time, until uniting with a new party then formed, called the Republican party, which latter adopted a platform en- dorsing the views and sentiments of the abolitionists, the great and decisive battle for the principles involved, was fought in the ensuing presidential contest of 1856; when the candidate of the Republican party, John C. Fremont, supported by the entire abolition party, polled 1,341,812 votes. The first national platform of the Abolition party, upon which it went into the contest of 1840, favored the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and Territories; the inter-state slave trade, and a general opposition to slavery to tbe full extent of constitutional power. Following the discussion of the subject of slavery, in the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives, brought about by the presenta- tion of petitions and memorials, and the passage of the resolutions in 1836 rejecting such petitions, the question was again raised by the presentation in the House, by Mr. Slade of Vermont, on the 20th December 1837, of two memorials praying the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and moving that they be re- ferred to a select committee. Great excite- ment prevailed in the chamber, and of the many attempts by the Southern members an adjournment was had. The next day a resolution was offered that thereafter all such petitions and memorials touching the abolition of slavery should, when pre- sented, be laid on the table ; which resolu- tion was adopted by a large vote. During the 24th Congress, the Senate pursued the course of laying on the table the motion to receive all abolition petitions ; and both Houses during the 25th Congress continued the same course of conduct ; when finally on the 25th of January 1840, the House adopted by a vote of 114 to 108, an amend- ment to the rules, called the 21st Rule, which provided : " that no petition, me- morial or resolution, or other paper, pray- 54 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. ing the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, or any state or territory, or the slave-trade between the States or ter- ritories of the United States, in which it now exists, shall be received by this House, or entertained in any way what- ever." This rule was afterwards, on the 3d of December, 1844, rescinded by the House, on motion of Mr. J. Quincy Adams, by a vote of 108 to 80 ; and a motion to re-instate it, on the 1st of December 1845, was rejected by a vote of 84 to 121. .Within five years afterwards on the 17th September 1850, the Congress of the Tinted States enacted a law, which was ap- proved bv the President, abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. On the 25th of February, 1850, there was presented in the House of Representa- tives, two petitions from citizens of Penn- sylvania and Delaware, setting forth that slavery, and the constitution which per- mits it, violates the Divine law; is incon- sistent with republican principles; that its existence has brought evil upon the country ; and that no union can exist with States which tolerate that institution ; and asking that some plan be devised for the immediate, peaceful dissolution of the Union. The House refused to receive and consider the petitions; as did also the Senate when the same petitions were pre- sented the same month. The presidential election of 1852 was the last campaign in which the Whig party appeared in National politics. It nomi- nated a ticket with General Winfield Scott as its candidate for President. His oppo- nent on the Democratic ticket was General Franklin Pierce. A third ticket was placed in the field by the Abolition party, with John P. Hale as its candidate for Presi- dent. The platform and declaration of principles of the Whig party was in sub- stance a ratification and endorsement of the several measures embraced in Mr. Clay's compromise resolutions of the pre- vious session of Congress, before referred to ; and the policy of a revenue for the economical administration of the govern- ment, to be derived mainly from duties on imports, and by these means to afford pro- tection to American industry. The main plank of the platform of the Abolition party (or Independent Democrats, as they were called) was for the non-extension and jrradual extinction of slavery. The Demo- cratic party equally adhered to the com- promise measure. The election resulted fin the choice of Franklin Pierce, by a popular vote of 1,601,474, and 254 electoral votes, against a popular aggregate vote of 1,542,403 (of which the abolitionists polled 157,926) and 42 electoral votes, for the Whig and Abolition candidates. Mr. Pierce was duly inaugurated as President, March 4, 1853. The first political parties in the United States, from the establishment of the fede- ral government and for many years after- wards, were denominated Federalists and Democrats, or Democratic Republicans. The former was an anti-alien party. The latter was made up to a large extent of naturalized foreigners ; refugees from Eng- land, Ireland and Scotland, driven from home for hostility to the government or for attachment to France. Naturally, aliens sought alliance with the Democratic party, which favored the war against Great Britain. The early party contests were based on the naturalization laws ; the first of which, approved March 26, 1790, re- quired only two years' residence in this country ; a few years afterwards the time was extended to five years ; and in 1798 the Federalists taking advantage of the war fever against France, and then being in power, extended the time to fourteen years. (See Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798). Jefferson's election and Demo- cratic victory of 1800, brought the period back to five years in 1802, and re-inforced the Democratic party. The city of New York, especially, from time to time became filled with foreigners ; thus naturalized ; brought into the Democratic ranks ; and crowded out native Federalists from con- trol of the city government, and to meet this condition of affairs, the first attempt at a Native American organization was made. Beginning in 1835 ; ending in failure in election of Mayor in 1837, it was revived in April, 1844, when the Native American organization carried New York city for its Mayoralty candidate by a good majority. The success of the movement there, caused it to spread to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, it was desperately opposed by the Democratic, Irish and Roman Catholic element, and so furiously, that it resulted in riots, in which two Romish Churches were burned and destroyed. The adherents of the Ameri- can organization were not confined to Federalists or Whigs, but largely of native Democrats ; and the Whigs openly voted with Democratic Natives in order to secure their vote for Henry Clay for the Presi- dency ; but when in November, 1844, New York and Philadelphia both gave Native majorities, and so sapped the Whig vote, that both places gave majorities for the Democratic Presidential electors, the Whigs drew off. In 1845, at the April election in New York, the natives were defeated, and the new party disappeared there. As a result of the autumn election of 1844, the 29th Congress, which organ- ized in December, 1845, had six Native Representatives ; four from New York and two from Pennsylvania. In the 30th Con- gress, Pennsylvania had one. Thereafter for some years, with the exception of a POOK I.] THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL. 55 small vote in Pennsylvania and New York, Nativism disappeared. An able writer of that day Hon. A. H. H. Stuart, of Vir- ginia published under the nom-de-plume or' " Madison " several letters in vindication of the American party (revived in 1852,) in which he said : " The vital principle of the American party is Americanism develop- ing itself in a deep-rooted attachment to our own country its constitution, its union, and its laws to American men, and Ameri- can measures, and American interests or, in other words, a fervent patriotism which, rejecting the transcendental philan- thropy of abolitionists, and that kindred batch of wild enthusiasts, who .would seek to embroil us with foreign countries, in righting the wrongs of Ireland, or Hun- gary, or Cuba would guard with vestal vigilance American institutions and Ameri- ean interests against the baneful effects of foreign influence." About 1852, when the question of slavery in the territories, and its extension or its abolition in the States, was agitated and causing sectional differences in the coun- try, many Whigs and Democrats forsook their parties, and took sides on the ques- tions of the day. This was aggravated by the large number of alien naturalized citi- zens constantly added to the ranks of voters, who took sides with the Democrats and against the Whigs. Nativism then re-appeared, but in a new form that of a secret fraternity. Its real name and ob- jects were not revealed even to its mem- bers, until they reached a high degree in the order ; and the answer of members on being questioned on these, subjects was, " I don't know" which gave it the popular name, by which it is yet known, of " Know- nothing." Its moving causes were the growing power and designs of the Roman Catholic Church in America ; the sudden influx of aliens ; and the greed and inca- pacity of naturalized citizens for office. Its cardinal principle was : " Americans must rule America " ; and its countersign was the order of General Washington on a critical occasion during the war : " Put none but Americans on guard to-night." Its early nominations were not made pub- lic, but were made by select committees and conventions of delegates. At first these nominations were confined to selec- tions of the best Whig or best Democrat on the respective tickets ; and the choice not being made known, but quietly voted for by all the members of the order, the effect was only visible after election, and threw all calculation into chaos. For a while it was really the arbiter of elections. On February 8, 1853, a bill passed the House of Representatives providing a ter- ritorial government for Nebraska, embrac- ing all of what is now Kansas and Nebraska. It was silent on the subject of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. The bill was tabled in the Senate ; to be revived at the following session. In the Senate it was amended, on motion of Mr. Douglas, to read : " That so much of the 8th section of an act approved March 6, 1820, (the Missouri compromise) * * * which, being^ inconsistent with the princi- ples of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislature of 1850, com- monly called the Compromise measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void ; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it there- from, but to leave the people thereof per- fectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." It was further amended, on motion of Senator Clayton, to prohibit "alien suffrage." In the House this amendment was not agreed to ; and the bill finally passed without it, on the 25th May, 1854. So far as Nebraska was concerned, no excitement of any kind marked the initia- tion of her territorial existence. The persons who emigrated there seemed to regard the pursuits of business as of more interest than the discussion of slavery. Kansas was less fortunate. Her territory became at once the battle-field of a fierce political conflict between the advocates of slavery, and the free soil men from the North who went there to resist the estab- lishment of that institution in the terri- tory. Differences arose between the Legislature and the Governor, brought about by antagonisms between the Pro- slavery party and the Free State party ; and the condition of affairs in Kansas assumed so frightful a mien in January, 1856, that the President sent a special message to Congress on the subject, January 24, 1856 ; followed by a Proclama- tion, February 11, 1856, "warning all un- lawful combinations (in the territory) to retire peaceably to their respective abodes, or he would use the power of the local militia, and the available forces of the United States to disperse them." Several applications were made to Con- gress for several successive years, for the admission of Kansas as a state in the Union ; upon the basis of three separate and distinct constitutions, all differing as to the main questions at issue between the contending factions. The name of Kansas was for some years synonymous with all that is lawless and anarchical. Elections became mere farces, and the officers thus fraudulently placed in power, used their authority only for their own or their party's interest. The party opposed to slavery at length triumphed ; a constitution 56 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK L excluding slavery was adopted in 1859, and Kansas was admitted into the Union January 29, 1861. Under the fugitive slave law, which was passed hy Congress at the session of 1850, as one of the Compromise measures, intro- duced by Mr. Clay, a long and exciting litigation occurred to test the validity and constitutionality of the act, and the several laws on which it depended. The suit was instituted by Dred Scott, a negro slave, in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Missouri, in April Term, 1854, against John F. A. Sanford, his alleged owner, for trespass vi el armis, in holding the plaintiff and his wife and daughters in slavery in said District of Missouri, where by law slavery was pro- hibited ; they having been previously law- fully held in slavery by a former owner Dr. Emerson in the State of Illinois, from whence they were taken by him to Missouri, and sold to the defendent, San- ford. The case went up on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, and was clearly and elaborately argued. The majority opinion, delivered by Chief Jus- tice Taney, as also the dissenting opinions, are reported in full in Howard's U. S. Supreme Court Reports, Volume 19, page 393. In respect to the territories the Con- stitution grants to Congress the power " to make all needful rules and regulations concerning the territory and other property belonging to the United States.' 1 The Court was of opinion that the clause of the Constitution applies only to the terri- tory within the original States at the time the Constitution was adopted, and that it did not apply to future territory acquired by treaty or conquest from foreign na- tions. They were also of opinion that the power of Congress over such future terri- torial acquisitions was not unlimited, that the citizens of the States migrating to a territory were not to be regarded as colonists, subject to absolute power in Congress, but as citizens of the United States, with all the rights of citizenship guarantied by the Constitution, and that no legislation was constitutional which at- tempted to deprive a citizen of his property on his becoming a resident of a territory. This question in the case arose under the act of Congress prohibiting slavery in the territory of upper Louisiana, (acquired from France, afterwards the State), and of which the territory of Missouri was formed. Any obscurity as to what constitutes citizenship, will be re- moved by attending to the distinction be- tween local rights of citizenship of the United States according to the Constitu- tion. Citizenship at large in the sense of the Constitution can be conferred on a foreigner only by the naturalization laws of Congress. But each State, in the exer. cise of its local and reserved sovereignty, may place foreigners or other persons on a footing with its own citizens, as to politi- cal rights and privileges to be enjoyed within its own dominion. But State regu- lations of this character do not make the persons on whom such rights are conferred citizens of the United States or entitle them to the privileges and immunities of citizens in another State. See 5 Wheaton, (U. S. Supreme Court Reports), page 49. The Court said in The Dred Scott case, above referred to, that : " The right of property in a slave is distinctly and ex- pressly affirmed in the Constitution. The right to traffic in it like the ordinary article of merchandise and property was guar- antied to the citizens of the United States, in every State that might desire it for twenty years, and the government in ex- press terms is pledged to protect it in all future time if the slave escapes from his owner. This is done in plain words too plain to be misunderstood, and no word can be found in the Constitution which gives Congress a greater power over slave property, or which entitles property of that kind to less protection than the prop- erty of any other description. The only power conferred is the power coupled with the duty of guarding and protecting the owner in his rights. Upon these considera- tions, it is the opinion of the Court that the Act of Congress which prohibited a citizen from holding and owning property of this kind in the territory of the United States north of the line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitution and is therefore void.; and that neither Dred Scott himself, nor any of his family were made free by being carried into this terri- tory ; even if they had been carried there by the owner with the intention of becom- ing a permanent resident." The abolition of slavery by the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States ratified and adopted December 18, 1865, has put an end to these discussions formerly so numerous. As early as 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska controversy on the territorial government bill, resulted in a division of the Whig party in the North. Those not sufficiently opposed to slavery to enter the new Repub- lican party, then in its incipiency, allied themselves with the Know-Nothing order, which now accepting the name of Ameri- can party established a separate and in- dependent political existence. The party had no hold in the West ; it was entirely Middle State at this time, and polled a large vote in Massachusetts, Delaware and New York. In the State elections of 1855 the American party made a stride South- ward. In 1855, the absence of natural- ized citizens was universal in the South, and even so late as 1881 the proportion of BOOK THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 57 foreign-born population in the Southern States, with the exception of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas was under two per cent. At the early date 1855 the na- tivist feeling among the Whigs of that section, made it easy to transfer them to the American party, which thus secured in both the Eastern and Southern States, the election of Governor and Legislature in the States of New Hampshire, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, California and Kentucky ; and also elected part of its State ticket in Mary- land, and Texas ; and only lost the States of Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisi- ana, and Texas, by small majorities against it. The order began preparations for a cam- paign as a National party, in 1856. It aimed to introduce opposition to aliens and Ro- man Catholicism as a national question. On the 21st of February, 1856, the Nation- al Council held a session at Philadelphia, and proceeded to formulate a declaration of principles, and make a platform, which were as follows : " An humble acknowledgement to the Supreme Being, for his protecting care vouchsafed to our fathers in their success- ful Revolutionary struggle, and hitherto manifested to us, their descendants, in the preservation of the liberties, the indepen- dence, and the union of these States. 2d. The perpetuation of the Federal Union, as the palladium of our civil and religious liberties, and the only sure Bul- wark of American independence. 3d. Americans must rule America, and to this end, native-born citizens should be selected for all state, federal, and munici- pal offices or government employment, in preference to all others ; nevertheless, 4th. Persons born of American par- ents residing temporarily abroad, should be entitled to all the rights of native-born citizens ; but, 5th. No person shall be selected for po- litical station (whether of native or for- eign birth), who recognizes any allegiance or obligation, of any description, to any foreign prince, potentate, or power, or who refuses to recognize the Federal and State constitutions (each within its sphere) as Earamount to all other laws, as rules of po- tical action. 6th. The unqualified recognition and maintenance of the reserved rights of the several States, and the cultivation of har- mony and fraternal good will, between the citizens of the several States, and to this end, non-interference by congress with questions appertaining solely to the indi- vidual States, and non-intervention by each State with the affairs of any other State. 7th. The recognition of the right of the native-born and naturalized citizens of the United States, permanently residing in any territory thereof, to frame their con- stitution and laws, and to regulate their domestic and social affairs in their own mode, subject only to the provisions of the Federal Constitution, with the privilege of admission into the Union, whenever they have the requisite population for one rep- resentative in Congress. Provided always, that none but those who are citizens of the United States, under the Constitution and laws thereof, and who have a fixed resi- dence in any such territory, ought to par ticipate in the formation of the Constitu- tion, or in the enactment of laws for said. Territory or State. 8th. An enforcement of the principle that no State or Territory ought to admit others than citizens of the United States to the right of suffrage, or of holding politi- cal office. 9th. A change in the laws of naturali- zation, making a continued residence of twenty-one years, of all not hereinbefore provided for, an indispensable requisite for citizenship hereafter, and excluding all paupers, and persons convicted of crime, from landing upon our shores ; but no in- terference with the vested rights of foreign- ers. 10th. Opposition to any union between Church and State ; no interference with re- ligious faith, or worship, and no test oaths for office. llth. Free and thorough investigation into any and all alleged abuses of public functionaries, and a strict economy in pub- lic expenditures. 12th. The maintenance and enforce- ment of all laws constitutionally enacted, until said laws shall be repealed, or shall be declared null and void by competent judicial authority. The American Ritual, or Constitution, rules, regulations, and ordinances of the Order were as follows : AMERICAN RITUAL. Constitution of the National Council of the United State* of North America. ART. 1st. This organization shall be known by the name and title of THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, and its juris- diction and power shall extend to all the states, districts, and territories of the United States of North America. ART. 2d. The object of this organization shall be to protect every American citizen in the legal and proper exercise of all hia civil and religious rights and privileges ; to resist the insidious policy of the Church of Rome, and all other foreign innuoiu-e against our republican institutions in all lawful ways ; to place in all offices of honor trust, or profit, in the gift of the people, or by appointment, none but native-born Protestant citizens, and to protect, preserve, 58 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. and uphold the union of these states and the constitution of the same. ART. 3d. Sec. 1. A person to become a member of any subordinate council must be twenty-one years of age ; he must be- lieve in the existence of a Supreme Being as the Creator and preserver of the uni- verse. He must be a native-born citizen ; a Protestant, either born of Protestant parents, or reared under Protestant influ- ence ; and not united in marriage with a Roman Catholic; provided, nevertheless, that in this last respect, the state, district, or territorial councils shall be authorized to so construct their respective constitu- tions as shall best promote the interests of the American cause in their several juris- dictions ; and provided, moreover, that no member who may have a Roman Catholic wife shall be eligible to office in this order ; and provided, further, should any state, district, or territorial council prefer the words " Roman Catholic" as a disquali- fication to membership, in place of Pro- testant" as a qualification, they may so consider this constitution and govern their action accordingly. Sec. 2. There shall be an interval of three weeks between the conferring of the first and second degrees; and of three months between the conferring of the second and third degrees provided, that this restriction shall not apply to those who may have received the second degree pre- vious to the first day of December next ; and provided, further, that the presidents of state, district, and territorial councils may grant dispensations for initiating in all the degrees, officers of new councils. Sec. 3. The national council shall hold its annual meetings on the first Tuesday in the month of June, at such place as may be designated by the national council at the previous annual meeting, and it may adjourn from time to time. Special meet- ings may be called by the President, on the written request of five delegations repre- senting five state councils ; provided, that sixty days' notice shall be given to the state councils previous to said meeting. Sec. 4. The national council shall be composed of seven delegates from each state, to be chosen by the state councils ; and each district or territory where a dis- trict or territorial council shall exist, shall be entitled to send two delegates, to be chosen from said council provided that in the nomination of candidates for Presi- dent and Vice President of the United States, and each state shall be entitled to cast the same number of votes as they shall have members in both houses of Congress. In all sessions of the national council, thirty-two delegates, representing thirteen states, territories, or districts, shall consti- tute a quorum for the transaction of busi- ness. Sec. 5. The national council shall be vested with the following powers and privi- leges : It shall be the head of the organization for the United States of North America, and shall fix and establish all signs, grips, passwords, and such other secret work, as may seem to it necessary. It shall have the power to decide all matters appertaining to national politics. It shall have the power to exact from the state councils, quarterly or annual state- ments as to the number of members under their jurisdictions, and in relation to all other matters necessary for its information. It shall have the power to form state, territorial, or district councils, and to grant dispensations for the formation of such bodies, when five subordinate councils shall have been put in operation in any state, territory, or district, and application made. It shall have the power to determine upon a mode of punishment in case of any dereliction of duty on the part of its mem- bers or officers. It shall have the power to adopt cabal- istic characters for the purpose of writing or telegraphing. Said characters to be communicated to the presidents of the state councils, and by them to the presi- dents of the subordinate councils. It shall have the power to adopt any and every measure it may deem necessary to secure the success of the organization ; provided that nothing shall be done by the said national council in violation of the constitution; and provided further, that in all political matters, its members may be instructed by the state councils, and if so instructed, shall carry out such instruc- tions of the state councils which they repre- sent until overruled by a majority of the national council. Art. 4. The President shall always preside over the national council when present, and in his absence the Vice President shall preside, and in the absence of both the national council shall appoint a president pro tempore; and the presiding officers may at all times call a member to the chair, but such appointment shall not extend be- yond one sitting of the national council. Art. 5. Sec. 1. The officers of the National Council shall be a President, Vice- President, Chaplain, Corresponding Secre- tary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and two Sentinels, with such other officers as the national council may see fit to appoint from time to time ; and the secretaries and sentinels may receive such compensation as the national council shall determine. Sec. 2. The duties of the several officers created by this constitution shall be such as the work of this organization prescribes. Art. 6. Sec. 1. All officers provided for by this constitution, except the sentinels, shall be elected annually oy ballot. The BOOK I.] THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 59 president may appoint sentinels from time to time. Sec. 2. A majority of all the votes cast shall be requisite to an election for an office. Sec. 3. All officers and delegates of this council, and of all state, district, territorial, and subordinate councils, must be invested with all the degrees of this order. Sec. 4. All vacancies in the elective offices shall be filled by a vote of the na- tional council, and only for the unexpired term of the said vacancy. Art. 7. Sec.l. The national council shall entertain and decide all cases of appeal, and it shall establish a form of appeal. Sec. 2. The national council shall levy a tax upon the state, district, or territorial councils, for the support of the national council, to be paid in such manner and at such times as the national council shall determine. Art. 8. This national council may alter and amend this constitution at its regular annual meeting in June next, by a vote of the majority of the whole number of the members present. (Cincinnati, Nov. 24, 1854.) KULES AND REGULATIONS. Rule 1. Each State, District, or Terri- tory, in which there may exist five or more subordinate councils working under dispensations from the National Council of the United States of North America, or under regular dispensations from some State, District, or Territory, are duly em- owered to establish themselves into a tate, District, or Territorial council, and when so established, to form for them- selves constitutions and by-laws for their government, in pursuance of, and in con- sonance with the Constitution of the National Council of the United States ; provided, however, that all State, District, or Territorial constitutions shall be subject to the approval of the National Council of the United States. (June, 1854.) Rule 2. All State, District, or Terri- torial councils, when established, shall have full power and authority to establish all subordinate councils within their re- spective limits ; and the constitutions and by-laws of all such subordinate councils must be approved by their respective State, District, or Territorial councils. (June, 1854.) Rule 3. All State, District, or Terri- torial councils, when established and until the formation of constitutions, shall work under the constitution of the National Council of the United States. (June, 1854.) Rule 4. In all cases where, for the con- venience of the organization, two State or Territorial councils may be established, the two councils together shall be entitled to but thirteen delegates* in the National *HOTE. See Constitution, Art. 3, Sec. 4, p. 5. Council of the United States the propor- tioned number of delegates to depena on the number of members in the organiza- tions ; provided, that no State shall be al- lowed to have more than one State coun- cil, without the consent of the National Council of the United States. (June. 1854.) Kule 5. In any State, District, or Ter- ritory, where there may be more than one organization working on the same basis, (to wit, the lodges and "councils,") the same shall be required to combine; the officers of each organization shall resign and new officers be elected ; and thereafter these bodies shall be known as State coun- cils, and subordinate councils, and new charters shall be granted to them by the national council. (June, 1854.) Rule 6. It shall be considered a penal offence for any brother not an officer of a subordinate council, to make use of the sign or summons adopted for public noti- fication, except by direction of the Presi- dent; or for officers of a council to post the same at any other time than from mid- night to one hour before daybreak, and this rule shall be incorporated into the by- laws of the State, District, and Territorial councils. (June, 1854.) Rule 7. The determination of the neces- sity and mode of issuing the posters for public notification shall be intrusted to the State, District, or Territorial councils. (June, 1854.) Rule 8. The respective State, District, or Territorial councils shall be required to make statements of the number of mem- bers within their respective limits, at the next meeting of this national council, and annually thereafter, at the regular annual meeting. (June, 1854.) Rule 9. The delegates to the National Council of the United States of North America shall be entitled to three dollars per day for their attendance upon the national council, and for each day that may be necessary in going and returning from the same ; and five cents per mile for every mile they may necessarily travel in going to, and returning from the place of meeting of the national council; to be computed by the nearest mail route : which shall be paid out of the treasury of the national council. (November, 1854.) Rule 10. Each State, District, or Terri- torial council shall be taxed four cents per annum for every member in good standing belonging to each subordinate council un- der its jurisdiction on the first day of April, which shall be reported to the na- tional council, and paid into the national treasury, on or before the first day of the annual session, to be held in June ; and on the same day in each succeeding year. And the first fiscal year shall be considered as commencing on the first day of Decem- 60 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK L her, 1854, and ending on the fifteenth day of May, 1855. (November, 1854.) Rule 11. The following shall be the key to determine and ascertain the pur- port of any communication that may be addressed to the President of a State, Dis- | trict, or Territorial council by the Presi- j dent of the national council, who is hereby instructed to communicate a knowledge of the same to said officers : ABCDEFGHI JKLM 1 7 13 19 25 2 8 14 20 26 3 9 15 NOPQRSTUVWXY Z 21 4 10 16 22 5 11 17 23 6 12 18 24 Rule 12. The clause of the article of ihe constitution relative to belief in the Supreme Being is obligatory upon every State and subordinate council, as well as upon each individual member. (June, 1854.) Rule 13. The following shall be the compensation of the officers of this coun- cil: 1st. The Corresponding Secretary shall be paid two thousand dollars per annum, from the 17th day of June, 1854. 2d. The Treasurer shall be paid five hundred dollars per annum, from the 17th day of June, 1854. 3d. The Sentinels shall be paid five dol- lars for every day they may be in attend- ance on the sittings of the national coun- cil. 4th. The Chaplain shall be paid one hundred dollars per annum, from the 17th day of June, 1854. 5th. The Recording Secretary shall be paid five hundred dollars per annum, from the 17th day of June, 1854. 6th. The Assistant Secretary shall be paid five dollars per day, for every day he may be in attendance on the sitting of the national council. All of which is to be paid out of the national treasury, on the draft of the President. (November, 1854.) SPECIAL VOTING. Vote 1st. This national council hereby grants to the State of Virginia two State councils, the one to be located in Eastern and the other in Western Virginia, the Blue Ridge Mountains being the geo- graphical line between the two jurisdic- tions. (June, 1854.) Vote 2d. The President shall have power, till the next session of the national council, to grant dispensations for the for- mation of State, District, or Territorial councils, in form most agreeable to his own discretion, upon proper application being made. (June, 1854.) Vote 3d. The seats of all delegates to and members of the present national coun- cil shall be vacated on the first Tuesday in June, 1855, at the hour of six o'clock in the forenoon; and the national council convening in annual session upon that day, shall be composed exclusively of del- egates elected under and in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, as amended at the present session of this national council ; provided, that this reso- lution shall not apply to the officers of the national council. (November, 1854.) Vote 4th. The Corresponding Secretary of this council is authorized to have print- ed the names of the delegates to this national council ; also, those of the Presi- dents of the several State, District, and Territorial councils, together with their address, and to forward a copy of the same to each person named ; and further, the Corresponding Secretaries of each State, District, and Territory are requested to forward a copy of their several con- stitutions to each other. (November, 1854.) Vote 5th. In the publication of the constitution and the ritual, under the di- rection of the committee brothers Desh- ler, Damrell, and Stephens the name, signs, grips, and passwords of the order shall be indicated by [***], and a copy of the same shall be furnished to each State, District, and Territorial council, and to each member of that body. (Novem- ber, 1854.) Vote 6th. A copy of the constitution of each State, District, and Territorial coun- cil, shall be submitted to this council for examination. (November, 1854.) Vote 7th. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer, at each annual meeting of this body, to make a report of all moneys re- ceived or expended in the interval. (No- vember, 1854.) Vote 8th. Messrs. Gifford of Pa., Bar- ker of N. Y., Deshler of N. J., Williamson of Va., and Stephens of Md., are appointed a committee to confer with similar commit- tees that have been appointed for the pur- pose of consolidating the various American orders, with power to make the necessary arrangement for such consolidation sub- ject to the approval of this national coun- cil, at its next session. (November, 1854.) Vote 9th. On receipt of the new ritual by the members of this national council who have received the third degree, they or any of them may, and they are hereby empowered to, confer the third degree upon members of this body in their respective states, districts, and territories, ana upon the presidents and other officers of their state, district, and territorial councils. And further, the presidents of the state, district, and territorial councils shall in the first instance confer the third degree upon as many of the presidents and officers of their subordinate councils as can be as- sembled together in their respective local- ities ; and afterwards the same may be con- ferred upon officers of other subordinate BOOK I.] THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 61 councils, by any presiding officer of a coun- cil who shall have previously received it under the provisions of the constitution. (November, 1854.) Vote 10th. To entitle any delegate to a seat in this national council, at its annual session in June next, he must present a properly authenticated certificate that he was duly elected as a delegate to the same, or appointed a substitute in accordance with the requirements of the constitutions of state, territorial, or district councils. And no delegate shall be received from any state, district, or territorial council which has not adopted the constitution and ritual of this national council. (November, 18M.) Vote llth. The committee on printing the constitution and ritual is authorized to have a sufficient number of the same print- ed for the use of the order. And no state, district, or territorial council shall be al- lowed to reprint the same. (November, 1854.) Vote 12th. The right to establish all subordinate councils in any of the states, districts, and territories represented in this national council, shall be confined to the state, district, and territorial councils which they represent. (November, 1854.) CONSTITUTION FOR THE GOVERNMENT or SUBORDINATE COUNCILS. Art. I. Sec. 1. Each subordinate coun- cil shall be composed of not less than thir- teen members, all of whom shall have re- ceived all the degrees of the order, and shall be known and recognised as Council, No. , of the of the county of , and State of North Caro- lina. Sec. 2. No person shall be a member of any subordinate council in this state, un- less he possesses all the qualifications, and comes up to all the requirements laid down in the constitution of the national council, and whose wife (if he has one), is not a Roman Catholic. Sec. 3. No application for membership shall be received and acted on from a per- son residing out of the state, or resides in a county where there is a council in ex- istence, unless upon special cause to be stated to the council, to be judged of by the same ; and such person, if the reasons be considered sufficient, may be initiated the same night he is proposed, provided he reside* five miles or more from the place where the council is located. But no per- son can vote in any council, except the one of which he is a member. Sec. 4. Every person applying for mem- bership, shall be voted for* by ballot, in open council, if a ballot is requested by a single member. If one-third of the votes cast be against the applicant, he shall be rejected. If any applicant be rejected, he 1 shall not be again proposed within six months thereafter. Nothing herein con- tained shall be construed to prevent the initiation of applicants privately, by those empowered to do so, in localities where there are no councils within a convenient distance. Sec. 5. Any member of one subordinate council wishing to change his membership to another council, shall apply to the coun- cil to which he belongs, either in writing or orally through another member, and the question shall be decided by the council. If a majority are in favor of granting him an honorable dismission, he shall receive the same in writing, to be signed by the president and countersigned by the secre- tary. But until a member thus receiving an honorable dismission has actually been admitted to membership in another coun- cil, he shall be held subject to the disci- pline of the council from which he has re- ceived the dismission, to be dealt with by the same, for any violation of the require- ments of the order. Before being received in the council to which he wishes to trans- fer his membership, he shall present said certificate of honorable dismission, and shall be received as new members are. Sec. 6. Applications for the second de- gree shall not be received except in second degree councils, and voted on by second and third degree members only, and ap- plications for the third degree shall be received in third degree councils, and voted on by third degree members only. Art. II. Each subordinate council shall fix on its own time and place for meeting: and shall meet at least once a month, but where not very inconvenient, it is recom- mended that they meet once a week. Thir- teen members shall form a quorum for the transaction of business. Special meet- ings may be called by the president at any time, at the request of four members of the order. Art. III. Sec. 1. The members of each subordinate council shall consist of a pre- sident, vice-president, instructor, secre- tary, treasurer, marshal, inside and outside sentinel, and shall hold their offices for the term of six months, or until their succes- sors are elected and installed. Sec. 2. The officers of each subordinate council (except the sentinels, who shall be appointed by the president), shall be elect- ed at the first regular meetings in January and July, separately, and by ballot ; and each shall receive a majority of all the votes cast to entitle him to an election. No member shall be elected to any office, unless he be present and signify his assent thereto at the time of his election. Any vacancy which may occur by death, resig- nation, or otherwise, shall be filled at the next meeting thereafter, in the manner and form above described. 62 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Sec. 3. The President It shall be the duty of the president of each subordinate council, to preside in the council, and en- force a due observance of the constitution and rules of the order, and a proper respect for the state council and the national coun- cil ; to have sole and exclusive charge of the charter and the constitution and ritual of the order, which he must always have with him when his council is in session, to see that all officers perform their respec- tive duties ; to announce all ballotings to the council ; to decide all questions of order ; to give the casting vote in all cases of a tie ; to convene special meetings when deemed expedient ; to draw warrants on the treasurer for all sums, the payment of which is ordered by the council ; and to perform such other duties as are demanded of him by the constitutions and ritual of the order. Sec. 4. The vice-president of each sub- ordinate council shall assist the president in the discharge of his duties, whilst his council is in session ; and, in his absence, shall perform all the duties of the presi- dent. Sec. 5. The instructor shall perform the duties of the president in the absence of the president and vice-president, and shall, under the direction of the president, per- form such duties as may be assignee! to him by the ritual. Seb. 6. The secretary shall keep an ac- curate record of the proceedings of the council. He shall write all communica- tions, fill all notices, attest all warrants drawn by the president for the payment of money ; ne shall keep a correct roll of all the members of the council, together with their age, residence, and occupation, in the order in which they have been admit- ted ; he shall, at the expiration of every three months, make out a report of all work done during that time, which report he shall forward to the secretary of the state council ; and when superseded in his office shall deliver all books, papers, &c., in his hands to his successor. Sec. 7. The treasurer shall hold all mo- neys raised exclusively for the use of the state council, which he shall pay over to the secretary of the state council at its regular sessions, or whenever called upon by the president of the state council. He shall receive all moneys for the use of the subordinate council, and pay all amounts drawn for on him, by the president of the subordinate council, if attested by the se- cretary. Sec. 8. The marshal shall perform such duties, under the direction of the president, as may be required of him by the ritual. Sec. 9. The inside sentinel shall have charge of the inner door, and act under the directions of the president. He shall admit no person, unless he can prove him- self a member of this order, and of the same degree in which the council is opened, or by order of the president, or is satisfac- torily vouched for. Sec. 10. The outside sentinel shall have charge of the outer door, and act in ac- cordance with the orders of the president. He shall permit no person to enter the outer door unless he give the password of the degree in which the council is at work, or is properly vouched for. Sec. 11. The secretary, treasurer, and sentinels, shall receive such compensation as the subordinate councils may each con elude to allow. Sec. 12. Each subordinate council may levy its own fees for initiation, to raise a fund to pay its dues to the state council, and to defray its own expenses. Each council may, also, at its discretion, initiate without charging the usual fee, those it considers unable to pay the same. Sec. 13. The president shall keep in his possession the constitution and ritual of the order. He shall not suffer the same to go out of his possession under any pre- tence whatever, unless in case of absence, when he may put them in the hands of the vice-president or instructor, or whilst the council is in session, for the informa- tion of a member wishing to see it, for the purpose of initiation, or conferring of degrees. Art. IV. Each subordinate council shall have power to adopt such by-laws, rules, and regulations, for its own government, as it may think proper, not inconsistent with the constitutions of the national and state councils. FORM OF APPLICATION FOR A CHARTER TO ORGANIZE A NEW COUNCIL. Post Office county, Date . To President of the State Council of North Carolina : We, the undersigned, members of the Third Degree, being desirous of extending the influence and usefulness of our organi- zation, do hereby ask for a warrant of dis- pensation, instituting and organizing us as a subordinate branch of the order, under the jurisdiction of the State Council of the State of North Carolina, to be known and hailed as Council No. , and to be lo- cated at , in the county of , State of North Carolina. And we do hereby pledge ourselves to be governed by the Constitution of the State Council of the State of North Caro- lina, and of the Grand Council of the U. S. N. A., and that we will in all things con- form to the rules and usages of the order. Names. Residences. BOOK I.] THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 63 FORM OF DISMISSION FROM ONE COUNCIL TO ANOTHER. This is to certify that Brother , a member of Council, No. ;, having made an application to change his mem- bership from this council to that of Council, No. , at , in the county of- , I do hereby declare, that said brother has received an honorable dismis- sion from this council, and is hereby re- commended for membership in Coun- cil, No. , in the county of , N. C. ; provided, however, that until Brother has been admitted to membership in said council, he is to be considered subject to the discipline of this council, to be dealt with by the same for any violation of the requirements of the order. This the day of , 185, and the year of American Independence. President, Council, No. . Secretary. FORM OF CERTIFICATE FOR DELEGATES TO THE STATE COUNCIL. Council, No. , county of , N. C. This is to certify that and were at the regular meeting of this council, held on the , 185 , duly elected delegates to represent this council in the next an- nual meeting of the state council, to be held in , on the 3d Monday in Novem- ber next. And by virtue of the authority in me reposed, I do hereby declare the said and to be invested with all the rights, powers, and privileges of the delegates as aforesaid. This being the day of , 185 , and the year of our national independence. President of Council, No. Secretary. FORM OF NOTICE From the Subordinate Council to the State Council, whenever any Member of a Subordinate Council is expelled. Council, No. , county of , N. C. To the President of the State Council of North Carolina : Sir : This is to inform you that at a meeting of this council, held on the day of , 185 , was duly ex- pelled from membership in said council, and thus deprived of all the privileges, rights, and benefits of this organization. In accordance with the provisions of the constitution of the state council, you are hereby duly notified of the same, that you may officially notify all the subordinate councils of the state to be upon their guard against the said , as one unworthy to associate with patriotic and good men, and (if expelled for violating his obligation) as a perjurer to God and hia country. The said is about years of age, and is by livelihood a Duly certified, this the day of 185 , and in the year of our national independence. President of Council, No. . Secretary. FIRST DEGREE COUNCIL. To be admitted to membership in this order, the applicant shall be 1st. Proposed and found acceptable. 2nd. Introduced and examined under the guarantee of secrecy. 3rd. Placed under the obligation which the order imposes. 4th. Required to enrol his name and place of residence. 5th. Instructed in the forms and usages and ceremonies of the order. 6th. Solemnly charged as to the objects to be obtained, and his duties. [A recommendation of a candidate to this order shall be received only from a brother of approved integrity. It shall be accompanied by minute particulars as to name, age, calling, and residence, and by an explicit voucher for his qualifications, and a personal pledge for his fidelity. These particulars shall be recorded by the secretary in a book kept for that purpose. The recommendation may be referred, and the ballot taken at such time and in such a manner as the state council may prescribe ; but no communication shall be made to the candidate until the ballot has been declared in his favor. Candidates shall be received in the ante-room by the marshal and sec- retary.] OUTSIDE. Marshal. Do you believe in a Supreme Being, the Creator and Preserver of the universe? Ans. I do. Marshal. Before proceeding further, we require a solemn obligation of secrecy and truth. If you will take such an obligation, you will lay your right hand upon the Holy Bible and cross. (When it is known that the applicant is a Protestant, the cross may be omitted, or affirmation may be allowed.) OBLIGATION. You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will never reveal anything said or done in this room, the names of any persons present, nor the existence of this society, whether found worthy to proceed or not, and that all your declarations shall be true, so help you God ? Ans. " I do." Marshal. Where were you born ? Marshal. Where is your permanent residence ? 64 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. (If born out of the jurisdiction of the United States, the answer shall be written, the candidate dismissed with an admonition of secrecy, and the brother vouching for him suspended from all the privileges of the order, unless upon satisfactory proof that he has been misinformed.) Marshal. Are you twenty-one years of age? Aw." I am." Marshal. Were you born of Protestant parents, or were you reared under Protes- tant influence ? Ans." Yes." Marshal. If married, is your wife a Ro- man Catholic ? ("No" or "Yes" the answer to be valued as the Constitution of the State Council shall provide.) Marshal. Are you willing to use your influence and vote only for native-born American citizens for all offices of honor, trust, or profit in the gift of the people, to the exclusion of all foreigners and aliens, and Roman Catholics in particular, and without regard to party predilections ? Ans. " I am." INSIDE. (The marshal shall then repair to the council in session, and present the written list of names, vouchers, and answers to the president, who shall cause them to be read aloud, and a vote of the council to be taken on each name, in such manner as pre- scribed by its by-laws. If doubts arise in the ante-room, they shall be referred to the council. If a candidate be dismissed, he shall be admonished to secrecy. The candidates declared elected shall be con- ducted to seats within the council, apart from the brethren/ When all are present the president by one blow of the gavel, shall call to order and say:) President. Brother marshal, introduce the candidates to the vice-president. Marshal. Worthy Vice-rresident, I pre- sent to you these candidates, who have duly answered all questions. Vice- President, rising in his place. Gen- tlemen, it is my office to welcome you as friends. When you shall have assumed the patriotic vow by which we are all bound, TVC will embrace you as brothers. I am authorized to declare that our obligations enjoin nothing which is inconsistent with the duty which every good man owes to his Creator, his country, his family, or himself. We do not compel you, against your convictions, to act with us in our good work; but should you at any time wish to withdraw, it will be our duty to grant you a dismissal in good faith. If satisfied with this assurance, you will rise upon your feet (pausing till they do so), place the left hand upon the breast, and raise the right hand towards heaven. (The brethren to remain seated till called up.) OBLIGATION. In the presence of Almighty God and these witnesses, you do solemnly promise and swear, that you will never betray any of the secrets of this society, nor commu- nicate them even to proper candidates, ex- cept within a lawful council of the order ; that you never will permit any of the secrets of this society to be written, or in any other manner made legible, except for the purpose of official instruction ; that you will not vote, nor give your influence for any man for any office in the gift of the people, unless he be an American born citizen, in favor of Americans ruling America, nor if he be a Roman Catholic ; that you will in all political matters, so far as this order is concerned, comply with the will of the majority, though it may conflict with your personal preference, so long as it does not conflict with the Con- stitution of the United States of America, or that of the state in which you reside ; that you will not, under any circumstances whatever, knowingly 'recommend an un- worthy person for initiation, nor suffer it to be done, if in your power to prevent it ; that you will not, under any circumstances, expose the name of any member of this order, nor reveal the existence of such an association ; that you will answer an impe- rative notice issued by the proper authori- ty ; obey the command of the state council, president, or his deputy, while assembled by such notice, and respond to the claim of a sign or cry of the order, unless it be physically impossible ; and that you will acknowledge the State Council of as the legislative head, the ruling authori- ty, and the supreme tribunal of the order in the state of , acting under the jurisdiction of the National Council of the United States of North America. Binding yourself in the penalty of ex- communication from the order, the forfei- ture of all intercourse with its members, and being denounced in all the societies of the same, as a wilful traitor to your God and your country. (The president shall call up every per- son present, by three blows of the gavel, when the candidates shall all repeat aftei the vice-president in concert:) All this I voluntarily and sincerely promise, with a full understanding of the solemn sanctions and penalties. Vice-president. You have now taken solemn oaths, and made as sacred promises as man can make, that you will keep all our secrets inviolate; and we wish you dis- tinctly to understand that he that takes these oaths and makes these promises, and then violates them, leaves the foul, the deep and blighting stain of perjury resting on his soul. BOOK I.] THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 65 President. (Having seated all by one blow of the gavel.) Brother Instructor, these new brothers having complied with the demand of the order, are entitled to the secrets and privileges of the same. You will, therefore, invest them with every- thing appertaining to the first degree. Instructor. Brothers : the practices and proceedings in our order are as follows : We have pass- words necessary to be used to obtain admission to our councils ; forms for our conduct while there ; means of re- cognizing each other when abroad ; means >of mutual protection; and methods for 'giving notices to members. At the outer door you will* (make any ordinary alarm to attract the attention of ^he outside sentinel). When the wicket is opened you will pronounce the (words what's the pass], in 4 whisper. The outside sentinel will re- ply ( Give it), when you will give the term pass-word and be admitted to the ante- room. You will then proceed to the inner door and give (one rap). When the wicket is opened, give your name, the number of, and location of your council, the explanation of the term pass, and the degree pass-word. If these be found correct, you will be admitted ; if not, your name will be re- ported to the vice president, and must be properly vouched for before vou can gain admission to the council. You will then proceed to the centre of the room and ad- dress the (President) with the countersign, which is performed thus (placing the right hand diagonally across the mouth). When this salutation is recognized, you will quietly take your seat. This sign is peculiar to this degree, and is never to be used outside the council room, nor during the conferring of this degree. When retiring, you will address the ( Vice President) in the same manner, and also give the degree pass-word to the inside sentinel. The " term pass-word " is ( We are). (The pass-word and explanation is to be established by each State Council for its respective subordinates.) The " explanation " of the " term -pass, 1 ' to be used at the inner door, is (our jountry's hope.) The "degree pass-word " is (Native). The "traveling pass-word" is (The memory of our pilgrim fathers}. (This word is changed annually by the * In the Ritual the words in parentheses are omitted. In the key to the Ritual, they are written in figu^s the alphabet used being the same as printed below. So throughout. Key to Unlock Ccmmvnicntiom. ABCDEFQHI.TKLM I 7 13 19 25 2 8 14 20 20 3 9 15 NOPQRSTUVWXYZ II 4 10 16 22 6 11 17 23 6 12 18 4* 5 President of the National Council of the United States, and is to be made and used only when the brother is traveling beyond the jurisdiction of his own state, district, or territory. It and all other pass-words must be communicated in a whisper, and no brother is entitled to communicate them to another, without authority from the presiding officer.) " The sign of recognition " is (graspiny the right lappel of the coat with the right hand, the fore finger being extended in- wards.) The "answer" is given by (a similar action with the left hand. ) The " grip " is given by (an ordinary shake of the hand). The person challenging shall (then draw the fore finger along the palm of the hand). The answer will be given by (a similar ac- tion forming a link by hooking together the ends of the fore finger) ; when the follow- ing conversation ensues the challenging party first saying (is that yours f) The answer, (it is.) Then the response (how did you get itf), followed by the rejoinder (it is my birth-right). Public notice for a meeting is given by means of a {piece of white paper the shape of a heart). (In cities * the *** of the *** where the meeting is to be held, will be written legi- bly upon the notice ; and upon the election day said *** will denote the *** where your presence is needed. This notice will never be passed, but will be *** or thrown upon the sidewalk with a *** in the centre.) If information is wanting of the object of the gathering, or of the place, &c., the inquirer will ask of an undoubted brother (where' 's when ?) The brother will give the information if possessed of it ; if not it will be yours and his duty to continue the in- quiry, and thus disseminate the call throughout the brotherhood. If the color of the paper (be red), it will denote actual trouble, which requires that you come prepared to meet it. The "cry of distress" to be used only in time of danger, or where the American interest requires an immediate assemblage of the brethren is (oh, oh, oh.) The re- sponse is (hio, hio, h-i-o.) The "sign of caution" to be given when a brother is speaking unguardedly before a stranger is (drawing the forefing- er and thumb together across the eyes, the rest of the hand being closed), which sig- nifies " keep dark." Brothers, you are now initiated into and made acquainted with the work and or- ganization of a council of this degree of the order; and the marshal will present * Concerning what is said of cities, the key to the Ritual says : ^Considered unnecessary to decipher wHM is aaid in regard to cities." 66 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. you to the worthy president for admoni- tion. President. It has no doubt, been long apparent to you, brothers, that foreign in- fluence and Roman Catholicism have been making steady and alarming progress in our country. You cannot have failed to observe the significant transition of the foreigner and Romanist from a character quiet, retiring, and even abject, to one bold, threatening, turbulent, and despotic in its appearance and assumptions. You must have become alarmed at the syste- matic and rapidly augmenting power of these dangerous and unnatural elements of our national condition. So it is, brothers, with others beside yourselves in every state of the Union. A sense of danger has struck the great heart of the nation. In every city, town, and hamlet, the danger has been seen and the alarm sounded. And hence true men have devised this or- der as a means of disseminating patriotic principles, of keeping alive the fire of na- tional virtue, of fostering the national in- telligence, and of advancing America and the American interest on the one side, and on the other of checking the strides of the foreigner or alien, or thwarting the ma- chinations and subverting the deadly plans of the papist and Jesuit. Note. The President shall impress up- on the initiates the importance of secrecy, the manner of proceeding in recommend- ing candidates for initiation, and the re- sponsibility of the duties which they have assumed. SECOND DEGREE COUNCIL. Marshal. Worthy President : These brothers have been duly elected to the sec- ond degree of this order. I present them to you for obligation. President. Brothers: You will place your left hand upon your right breast, and extend your right hand towards the flag of our country, preparatory to obligation. (Each council room should have a neat American flag festooned over the platform of the President.) OBLIGATION. You, and each of you, of your own free will and accord, in the presence of Al- mighty God and these witnesses, your left hand resting upon your right breast, and your right hand extended to the flag of your country, do solemnly and sincerely swear, that you will not under any cir- cumstances disclose in any manner, nor suffer it to be done by others, if in your power to prevent it, the name, signs, pass- words, or other secrets of this degree, ex- cept in open council for the purpose of in- ttruction ; that you will in all things con- form to all the rules and regulations of this order, and to the .constitution and by-laws of this or any other council to which you may be attached, so long as they do not conflict with the Constitution of th'e United States, nor that of the State in which you reside; that you will under all circum- stances, if in your power so to do, attend to all regular signs or summons that may be thrown or sent to you bv a brother of this or any other degree of this order ; that you will support in all political matters, for all political offices, members of this order in preference to other persons ; that if it may be done legally, you will, when elect- ed or appointed to any official station con- ferring on you the power to do so remove all foreigners, aliens, or Roman Catholics from office or place, and that you will in no case appoint such to any office or place in your gift. You do also promise and swear that this and all other obligations which you have previously taken in this order shall ever be kept through life sacred and inviolate. All this you promise and declare, as Americans, to sustain and abide by, without any hesitation or mental reservation whatever. So help you God and keep you steadfast. (Each will answer " I do." President. Brother Marshal, you will now present the brothers to the instructor for instructions in the second degree of the order. Marshal. Brother Instructor, by direc- tion of our worthy president, I present these brothers before you that you may in- struct them in the secrets and mysteries of the second degree of the order. Instructor. Brothers, in this degree we have an entering sign and a countersign. At the outer door proceed (as in the-Jirst degree). At the inner door you will make (two raps], and proceed as in the first de- gree, giving the second degree pass-word, which is American, instead of that of ihe first degree. If found to be correct, you will then be admitted, and proceed (to the centre of ihe room), giving the countersign, which is made thus (extending the right arm to the national flag over the president, the palm of the hand being upwards). The sign of recognition in this degree is the same as in the first degree, with the addition of (the middle Jinger), and the re- sponse to be made in a (similar manner.) Marshal, you will now present the broth- ers to the worthy president for admonition. Marshal. Worthy President, I now pre- sent these candidates to you for admo- nition. President. Brothers, you are now duly initiated into the second degree of this or- der. Renewing the congratulations which we extended to you upon your admission to the first degree, we admonish you by every tie that may nerve patriots, to aid us in our efforts to restore the political institu- tions of our country to their original BOOK I.] THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 67 purity. Begin with the youth of our land. Instil into their minds the lessons of our country's history the glorious battles and the brilliant deeds of patriotism of our fathers, through which we received the in- estimable blessings of civil and religious liberty. Point them to the example of the sages and the statesmen who founded our government. Implant in their bosoms an ardent love for the Union. Above all else, keep alive in their bosoms the memory, the maxims, and the deathless example of our illustrious WASHINGTON. Brothers, recalling to your minds the solemn obligations which you have sever- ally taken in this and the first degree, I now pronounce you entitled to all the privileges of membership in this the second degree of our order. THIRD DEGREE COUNCIL. Marshal. Worthy President, these bro- thers having been duly elected to the third degree of this order, I present them before you for obligation. President. Brothers, you will place yourselves in a circle around me, each one crossing your arms upon your breasts, and grasping firmly each other's hands, hold- ing the right hand of the brother on the right and the left hand of the brother on the left, so as to form a circle, symbolical of the links of an unbroken chain, and of a ring which has no end. Note. This degree is to be conferred with the national flag elevated in the cen- tre of the circle, by the side of the presi- dent or instructor, and not on less than five at any one time, in order to give it solem- nity, and also for the formation of the cir- cle except in the first instance of confer- ring it on the officers of the state and sub- ordinate councils, that they may be em- powered to progress with the work. The obligation and charge in this de- gree may be given by the president or in- structor, as the president may prefer. OBLIGATION. _You, and each of you, of your own free will and accord, in the presence of Al- tnighty God and these witnesses, with your hands joined in token of that fraternal af- fection which should ever bind together the States of this Union forming a ring, in token of your determination that, so far as your efforts can avail, this Union shall have no end do solemnly and sincerely swear [or affirm] that you will not under any circumstances disclose in any manner, nor suffer it to be done by others if in your power to prevent it, the name, signs, pass- words, or other secrets of this degree, ex- cept to those to whom you may prove on trial to be brothers of the same degree, or in open council, for the purpose of instruc- tion ; that you do hereby solemnly declare your devotion to the Union of these States ; that in the discharge of your duties as American citizens, you will uphold, main- tain, and defend it ; that you will discour- age and discountenance any and every at- tempt, coming from any and every quarter, which you believe to be designed or calcu- lated to destroy or subvert it, or to weaken its bonds ; and that you will use your influ- ence, so far as in your power, in endeavor- ing to procure an amicable and equitable adjustment of all political discontents or differences which may threaten its injury or overthrow. You further promise ant! swear [or affirm] that you will not vote for any one to fill any office of honor, profit or trust of a political character, whom you know or believe to be in favor of a disso- lution of the Union of these States, or who is endeavoring to produce that result ; that you will vote for and support for all polit- ical offices, third or union degree members of this order in preference to all others; that if it may be done consistently with the constitution and laws of the land, you will, when elected or appointed to any official station which may confer on you the power to do so, remove from office or place all persons whom you know or believe to be in favor of a dissolution of the Union, or who are endeavoring to produce that result ; and that you will in no case appoint such per- son to any political office or place whatever. All this you promise and swear [or affirm] upon your honor as American citizens and friends of the American Union, to sustain and abide by without any hesitation or mental reservation whatever. You also promise and swear [or affirm] that this find all other obligations which you have pre- viously taken in this order, shall ever be kept sacred and inviolate. To all this you pledge your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honors. So help you God and keep you steadfast. (Each one shall answer, " I do.") President. Brother Marshal, you will now present the brothers to the instructor for final instruction in this third degree of the order. Marshal. Instructor, by direction of our worthy president, I present these brothers before you that you may instruct them in the secrets and mysteries of this the third degree of our order. Instructor. Brothers, in this degree as in the second, we have an entering pass- word, a degree password, and a token of salutation. At the outer door (make any ordinary alarm. The outside sentinel will say U ; you say ni; the sentinel will re- join on). This will admit you to the inner door. At the inner door vou will make (three) distinct (raps), tfhen announce your name, with the number (or name) 68 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. and location of the council to which you belong, giving the explanation to the pass- word, which is (safe). If found correct, you will then be admitted, when you will proceed to the centre of the room, and placing the (hands on the breast with the finger ^interlocked], give the token of salu- tation, which is (by boicing to the president}. Yon will then quietly take your seat. The sign of recognition is made by the same action as in the second degree, with the addition of (the third finger], and the response is made by (a similar action with the left hand.) (The grip is given by taking hold of the hand in the usual way, and then by slipping the finger around on the top of the thumb ; then extending the little finger and pressing the inside of the wrist. 'The person chal- lenging shall say, do you know what that is ? The answer is yes. The challenging party shall say, further, what is it f The answer is, Union. [The instructor will here give the grip of this degree, with explanations, and also the true password of this degree, which is (Union.)] CHAKOE. To be given by the president. Brothers, it is with great pleasure that I congratulate you upon your advancement to the third degree of our order. The re- sponsibilities you have now assumed, are more serious -and weighty than those which preceded, and are committed to such only as have been tried and found worthy. Our obligations are intended as solemn avowals of our duty to the land that gave us birth ; to the memories of our fathers ; and to the happiness and welfare of our children. Consecrating to your country a spirit un- selfish and a fidelity like that which dis- tinguished the patriots of the Revolution, you have pledged your aid in cementing the bonds of a Union which we trust will endure for ever. Your deportment since your initiation has attested your devotion to the principles we desire to establish, and has inspired a confidence in your patriot- ism, of which we can give no higher proof than your reception here. The dangers which threaten American liberty arise from foes without and from enemies within. The first degree pointed out the source and nature of our most im- minent peril, and indicated the first mea- sure of safety. The second degree defined the next means by which, in coming time, such assaults may be rendered harmless. The third degree, which you have just re- ceived, not only reiterates the lessons of the other two, but it is intended to avoid and provide for a more remote, bu+i no less terrible danger, from domestic ene.""es to oar tree institutions. Our object is briefly this : to perfect ar organization modeled after that of the Con- stitution of the United States, and coex- tensive with the confederacy. Its object and principles, in all matters of national concern, to be uniform and identical whilst in all local matters the component parts shall remain independent and sovereign within their respective limits. The great result to be attained the only one which can secure a perfect guarantee as to our future is UNION ; permanent, enduring, fraternal UNION ! Allow me, then, to impress upon your minds and memories the touching sentiments of the Father of his Country, in his Farewell Address : " The unity of government which consti- tutes you one people," says Washington, " is justly dear to you, for it is the main pillar in the edifice of your real independ- ence, the support of your tranquillity at home, of your peace abroad, of your safety, your prosperity even that liberty you so justly prize. " * * It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your National Union, to your col- lective and individual happiness. You should cherish a cordial, habitual, and im- movable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it, as the palladium of your political safety and pros- perity ; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing what- ever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned ; and in- dignantly frowning upon the dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now bind together the various parts." Let these words of paternal advice and warning, from the greatest man that ever lived, sink deep into your hearts. Cherish them, and teach your children to reverence them, as you cherish and reverence the memory of Washington himself. The Union of these states is the great conserva- tor of that liberty so dear to the American heart. Without it, our greatness as a na- tion would disappear, and our boasted self- government prove a signal failure. The very name of liberty, and the hopes of struggling freedom throughout the world, must perish in the wreck of this Union. Devote yourselves, then, to its maintenance, as our fathers did to the cause of independ- ence; consecrating to its support, as you have sworn to do, your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honors. Brothers : Recalling to your minds the solemn obligations which you have sever- ally taken in this and the preceding degrees, I now pronounce you entitled to all the privileges of membership in this organiza- tion, and take pleasure in informing you that you are now members of the order of [the American Union.) BOOK I.] POLITICAL NOMINATIONS IN 1856. American, AVhig, Republican and Demo- cratic Nominations of 1856. The American convention met the next day after the session of the National Coun- cil of the Order, on the 22d February, 1856. It was composed of 227 delegates ; all the States being represented except Maine, Vermont, Georgia and South Car- olina. Hon. Millard Fillmore was nom- inated for President, and Andrew J. Don- elson for Vice-President. The Whig Convention met at Baltimore, September, 17, 1856, and endorsed the nominations made by the American par- ty, and in its platform declared that " without adopting or referring to the pe- culiar doctrines of the party which has already selected Mr. Fillmore as a candi- date" * * * Resolved, that in the present exigency of political affairs, we are not called upon to discuss the subordi- nate questions of the administration in the exercising of the constitutional powers of the government. It is enough to know that civil war is raging, and that the Union is in peril ; and proclaim the con- viction that the restoration of Mr. Fill- more to the Presidency will furnish the best if not the only means of restoring peace." The first National Convention of the new Republican party met at Philadelphia, June 18, 1856, and nominated John C. Fremont for President, and William L. Dayton for Vice-President. Since the previous Presidential election, a new party consisting of the disaffected former adhe- rents of the other parties Native and In- dependent Democrats, Abolitionists, and Whigs opposed to slavery had sprung into existence, and was called by its adhe- rents and friends, the Republican party. This convention of delegates assembled in pursuance of a call addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to past political differences or divisions, who were opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. To the policy of President Pierce's administration: To the extension of slavery into free territory : In favor of the admission of Kansas as a free State : Of restoring the action of the fed- eral government to the principles of Wash- ington and Jefferson. . It adopted a platform, consisting of a set of resolutions, the principal one of which was: "That we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, of any individual, or association of individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States, while the present Constitution shall be maintained." And closed with a resolution : " That we invite the approbation and co-operation of the men of all parties, however different from us in other respects, in support of the principles herein declared ; and believing that the spirit of our institutions, as as the Constitution of our country, guar anties liberty of conscience and equality o 1 rights among citizens, we oppose all legia lation impairing their security." The Democratic Convention, met rt Cincinnati, in May 1856, and nominated James Buchanan for President, and John C. Breckenridge for Vice-President. ]i adopted a platform which contained th* material portions of all its previous plat forms, and also defined its position on the new issues of the day, and declared (1 ) that the revenue to be raised should not exceed the actual necessary expenses of the gov- ernment, and for the gradual extinction ot j the public debt; (2) that the Constitution ! does not confer upon the general govern- ment the power to commence and carry o\^ a general system of internal improvements; (3) for a strict construction of the power" granted by the Constitution to the fedeia> government; (4) that Congress has nu power to charter a national bank ; (5) that Congress has no power to interfere with slavery in the States and Territories ; the people of which have the exclusive right and power to settle that question for them- selves. (6) Opposition to native American- ism. At the election which followed, in No- vember, 1856, the Democratic candidates were elected, though by a popular minority vote, having received 1,838,160 popular votes, and 174 electoral votes, against 2,215,768 popular votes, and 122 electoral votes for John C. Fremont, the Republican candidate, and Mr. Fillmore, the Whig and American candidate. The aggregate vote cast for Mr. Fillmore, who was the nominee on both the Whig and American tickets, was 874,534, and his electoral vote was eight ; that of the State of Maryland. This was the last na- tional election at which the Whigs ap- peared as a party, under that name ; they having joined with the American and with the Republican parties, and finally united with the latter after the downfall and ex- tinction of the former. In the State elec- tions of that year, (1856) the American party carried Rhode Island and Maryland ; and in the 35th Congress, which met in December, 1857, the party had 15 to 20 Representatives and five Senators. When the 36th Congress met, in 1859, it had be- come almost a border State or Southern party, having two Senators; one from Kentucky and one from Maryland; and 23 Representatives, five from Kentucky, seven from Tennessee, three from Mary- land, one from Virginia, four from North Carolina, two from Georgia, and one from Louisiana. The American party had none of the elements of persistence. It made another desperate effort, however, in the next Presidential campaign, but having 70 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. failed to carry the South, disappeared finally from politics. The new Republican party polled a very large vote 1,341,234 out of a total vote of 4,053,928 and its candidates received 114 votes out of 296, in the electoral college ; having secured majorities in all the free States, except Illinois. Indiana, Pennsyl- vania. New Jersey and California. The successful candidate, Mr. James Buchanan, was duly inaugurated as Presi- dent of the United States, and entered tupon the discharge of his duties as such, March 4, 1857. After the election of November, 1856, the Republican Association of Washington issued an address to the people, in which the results of the election were examined, and the future policy of the party stated. It is an interesting paper, as laying the foundation of the campaign of 1860, which followed, and is here given in full : "Republican Association of Washington. Addrett to the Republicans of (he United States. " WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 1856. 14 The Presidential contest is over, and at last we have some materials to enable us to form a judgment of the results. " Seldom have two parties emerged from a conflict with less of joy in the victors, more of hope in the vanquished. The pro-slavery party has elected its Presiden- tial candidate, only, however, by the votes of a minority, and that of such a character as to stamp the victory as the offspring of sectionalism and temporary causes. The Republicans, wherever able to present clearly to the public the real issue of the canvass slavery restriction or slavery ex- tension have carried the people with them by unprecedented majorities; almost break- ing up in some States the organization of their adversaries. A sudden gathering to- gether of the people, alarmed at the in- roads of the slave power, rather than a well organized party, with but a few months to attend to the complicated de- tails of party warfare ; obstructed by a se- cret Order, which had pre-occupied the field, and obtained a strong hold of the national and religious prejudices of the masses; opposed to an old party, com- mencing the canvass with the united sup- port of a powerful section, hardened by long party drill, accustomed to victory, wielding the whole power of the federal administration a party which only four years ago carried all but four of the States, and a majority of the popular vote still, under all these adverse circumstances, they have triumphed in eleven, if not twelve of the free States, pre-eminent for enterprise and general intelligence, and containing one half of the whole population of the coun- try; given to their Presidential candidate nearly three times as many electoral votes as were cast by the Whig party in 1852 ; and this day control the governments of fourteen of the most powerful States of the Union. " Well may our adversaries tremble in the hour of their victory. 'The Demo- cratic and Black Republican parties,' they say, 'are nearly balanced in regard to power. The former was victorious in the recent struggle, but success was hardly won, with the aid of important accidental ad- vantages. The latter has abated nothing of its zeal, and has suffered no pause in its preparations for another battle.' With such numerical force, such zeal, intelligence, and harmony in counsel ; with so many great States, and more than a million voters rallied to their standard by the efforts of a few mouths, why may not the Republicans confidently expect a vic- tory in the next contest? The necessity for their organization still exists in all its force. Mr. Buchanan has always proved true to the demands of his party. He fully accepted the Cincinnati platform, and pledged himself to its .policy a policy of filibustering abroad, propa- gandism at home. Prominent and controll- ing among his supporters are men com- mitted, by word and deed, to that policy ; and what is there in his character, nis an- tecedents, the nature of his northern sup- port, to authorize the expectation that he will disregard their will? Nothing will be so likely to restrain him and counteract their extreme measures, as a vigorous and growing Republican organization, as noth- ing would be more necessary to save the cause of freedom and the Union, should he, as we have every reason to believe, con- tinue the pro-slavery policy of the present incumbent. Let us beware of folding our arms, and waiting to see what he will do. We know the ambition, the necessities, the schemes of the slave power. Its policy of extension and aggrandizement and univer- sal empire, is the law of its being, not an accident is settled, not fluctuating. Covert or open, moderate or extreme, according to circumstances, it never changes in spirit or aim. With Mr. Buchanan, the elect of a party controlled by this policy, administer- ing the government, the safety of the country and of free institutions must rest in the organization of the Republican party. What, then, is the duty before us? Organization, vigilance, action ; action on the rostrum, through the press, at the bal- lot-box ; in state, county, city, and town elections ; everywhere, at all times ; in every election, making Republicanism, or loyal- tv to the policy and principles it advocates, the sole political test. No primary or municipal election should be suffered to go by default. The party that would sue- BOOK I.] THE KANSAS STRUGGLE. 71 ceed nationally must triumph in states triumph in the state elections, must be prepared by municipal success. Next to the remaining power in the states already under their control, let the Republicans devote themselves to the work of disseminating their principles, and initiating the true course of political action in the states which have decided the election against them. This time we have failed, for reasons nearly all of which may be removed by proper effort. Many thousand honest, but not well-informed voters, who supported Mr. Buchanan under the delu- sive impression that he would favor the cause of free Kansas will soon learn their mistake, and be anxious to correct it. The timid policy of the Republicans in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, in post- poning their independent action, and tem- porizing with a party got up for purposes not harmonizing with their own, and the conduct of Mr. Fillmore's friends in either voting for Mr. Buchanan, or dividing the opposition by a separate ticket, can hardly be repeated again. The true course of the Republicans is to organize promptly, bold- ly, and honestly upon their own principles, so clearly set forth in the Philadelphia platform, and, avoiding coalitions with other parties, appeal directly to the masses of all parties to ignore all organizations and issues which would divert the public mind from the one danger that now threat- ens the honor and interests of the country, and the subtlety of the Union slavery propagandism allied with disunionism. Let us not forget that it is not the want of generous sentiment, but of sufficient in- formation, that prevents the American peo- ple from being united in action against the aggressive policy of the slave power. Were these simple questions submitted to-day to the people of the United States : Are you in favor of the extension of slavery ? Are you in favor of such extension by the aid or connivance of the federal government? And could they be permitted to record their votes in response, without embarrassment, without constraint of any kind, nineteen- twentieths of the people of the free States, and perhaps more than half of the people of the slave States, would return a decided negative to both. Let us have faith in the people. Let us believe, that at heart they are hostile to the extension of slavery, desirous that the territories of the Union be consecrated to free labor and free institutions ; and that they require only enlightenment as to the most effectual means of securing this end, to convert their cherished sentiment into a fixed principle of action. The times are pregnant with warning. That a disunion party exists in the South, no longer admits of a doubt. It accepts the election of Mr. Buchanan as affording time and means to consolidate its strength and mature its plans, which comprehend not only the enslavement of Kansas, and the recognition of slavery in all territory of the United States, but the conversion of the lower half of California into a slave State, the organization of a new slavery territory in the Gadsden purchase, the fu- ture annexation of Nicaragua and subju- gation of Central America, and the acqui- sition of Cuba ; and, as the free States are not expected to submit to all this, ultimate dismemberment of the Union, and the for- mation of a great slaveholding confeder' acy, with foreign alliances with Brazil and Russia. It may assume at first a moderate tone, to prevent the sudden alienation of its Northern allies ; it may delay the develop- ment of its plot, as it did under the Pierce administration ; but the repeal of the Mis- souri compromise came at last, and so will come upon the country inevitably the final acts of the dark conspiracy. When that hour shall come, then will the honest Dem- ocrats of the free States be driven into our ranks, and the men of the slave States who prefer the republic of Washington, Adams and Jefferson a republic of law, order and liberty to an oligarchy of slavehold- ers and slavery propagandists, governed by Wise, Atchison, Soule, and Walker, founded in fraud and violence and seeking aggran- dizement by the spoliation of nations, will bid God speed to the labors of the Repub- lican party to preserve liberty and the Union, one and inseparable, perpetual and all powerful. Washington, D. C., Nov. 27, 1856. The Kansas Struggle. It was the removal of the interdiction against slavery, in all the territory north of 36 30,' by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise which gave legality to the struggle for Kansas, and it was the doc- trine of popular sovereignty which gave an impartial invitation to both sides to en- ter the struggle. The aggressive men of both parties hurried emigrants to the Ter- ritory. Each accused the other of organ- ized efforts, and soon in the height of the excitement these charges were rather con- fessed than denied. A new question was soon evolved by the struggle, for some who entered from the South took their slaves with them. The Free State men now contended that sla- very was a local institution and confined to the States where it existed, and that it an emigrant passed into the territory with his slaves these became free. The South- ern view was, that slaves were recognized as property by the National Constitution ; that therefore their masters had a right to take them there and hold them under con- 72 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. stitutioual guarantees, the same as any other property ; that to assert anything else would be ' to deny the equality of the States within their common territory, and degrade them from the rank of equals to that of inferiors. This last proposition had such force that it would doubtless have received more general recognition if the North had not felt that the early compact dedicating the territories north of 36 30' to freedom, had been violated. In answer to this proposition they therefore pro- claimed in their platforms and speeches, and there" was no other logical answer, " that freedom was National, and slavery Sectional." We cannot enter upon a full description of the scenes in Kansas, but bloodshed and rapine soon followed the attempts of the opposing parties to get control of its Government. What were called the " Bor- er Ruffians " by the Free State men, be- cause of active and warlike organization in Missouri and upon its borders, in the earlier parts of the struggle, seemed to have the advantage. They were supported by friends near at hand at all times, and warlike raids were frequent. The Free State men had to depend mainly upon New England for supplies in arms and means, but organizations were in turn rapidly completed to meet their calls, and the struggle soon became in the highest degree critical. The pro-slavery party sustained the Territorial government appointed by the administration ; the anti-slavery party re- pudiated it, because of its presumed com- mittal to slavery. The election for mem- bers of the Territorial legislature had been attended with much violence and fraud, and it was claimed that these things prop- erly annulled any action taken by that body. A distinct and separate convention was called at Topeka to frame a State con- stitution, and the Free State men likewise elected their own Governor and Legisla- ture to take the place of those appointed by Buchanan, and when the necessary preliminaries were completed, they ap- plied for admission into the Union. After a long and bitter struggle Congress decided the question by refusing to admit Kansas under the Topeka Constitution, and by re- cognizing the authority of the territorial government. These proceedings took place during the session of 1856-7, which ter- minated immediately before the inaugura- ation of President Buchanan. At the beginning of Buchanan's admin- istration in 1857, the Republicans almost solidly faced the Democrats. There still remained part of the division caused by the American or Know-Nothing party, but its membership in Congress had already been compelled to show at least the ten- dency of their sentiments on the great question which was now rapidly dividing tne two great sections of the Union. The result of the long Congressional struggle over the admission of Kansas and Nebras- ka was simply this : " That Congress was neither to legislate slavery into any Terri- tory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom ; but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States,"* and it was specially prescribed that when the Territory of Kansas shall be admitted as a State, it shall be admitted into the Union with or without slavery as the con- stitution adopted should prescribe at the time of admission. This was, as it proved, but a temporary settlement on the principle of popular sovereignty, and was regarded at the time as a triumph of the views of Stephen A. Douglas by the friends of that great poli- tician. The more radical leaders of the South looked upon it with distrust, but the blood of the more excitable in both sections was rapidly rising toward fever heat, and the border men from the Free and Slave States alike were preparing to act upon a compromise which in effect in- vited a conflict. The Presidential election in 1856 had singularly enough encouraged the more aggressive of both sections. Buchanan's election was a triumph for the South ; Fremont's large vote showed the power of a growing party as yet but partially or- ganized, and crippled by schisms which grew out of the attempt to unite all ele- ments of opposition to the Democrats. The general plan of the latter was now changed into an attempt to unite all of the free-soil elements into a party organization against slavery, and from that time for- ward until its total abolition slavery was the paramount issue in the minds of the more aggressive men of the north. Lin- coln voiced the feelings of the Republi- cans when he declared in one of his Illi- nois speeches : " We will, hereafter, speak for freedom, and against slavery, as long as the Consti- tution guaranties free speech ; until every- where, on this wide land, the sun shall shine, and the rain shall fall, and the wind shall blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil." In the Congressional battle over the ad- mission of Kansas and Nebraska, Douglas was the most conspicuous figure, and the language which we have quoted from Buchanan's inaugural was the literal meaning which Douglas had given to his idea of "popular" or "squatter sover- eignty." Prior to the Kansas struggle the Free * President Buchanan's Inaugural Addreet, BOOK:.] THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE. 73 Soilers of the North had regarded Douglas as an ally of the South, and his admitted ambition for the Presidency gave color to this suspicion. He it was who reported and carried through Congress the bill for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, a measure which at that time was thought to obstruct Southern designs in the territories of the great West, but this repeal proved in fact the first plain steps toward the free- dom of the territories. Having repealed that compromise, something must take its place, and what better than "popular sovereignty," thought Douglas. Terri- tories contiguous to the Slave States, or in the same latitude, would thus naturally revert to slavery ; while those farther north, and at that time least likely of early ; tlement, would be dedicated to freedou .' There was a grave miscalculation just here. Slave-owners were not apt to change their homesteads, aod could not with either profit or convenience carry their property to new lands which might or might not be fruitful in the crops best adapted to slave labor. Slave-owners were few in .Dumber compared with the free citizens of the North and the thousands' of immigrants annually landing on our shores. People who had once moved from the New Eng- land or Middle States westward, were rather fond of it, and many of these swelled the tide which constantly sought homes in the territories ; and where these did not go in person their sons and daugh- ters were quite willing to imitate the early adventures of their parents. All these counted for the North under the doctrine of "popular sovereignty," and it was the failure of that doctrine to aid the South which from this time forward caused that section to mistrust the friendship of Douglas. No political writer has since questioned his motives, and we doubt if it can be done successfully. His views may have under- fone some change since 1850, and it would e singular if they had not ; for a mind as discerning as his could hardly fail to note the changes going on all about him, and no where more rapidly than in his own State. He thought his doctrine at least adapted to the time, and he stood by it with rare bravery and ability. If it had been accepted by the Republicans, it would have been fatal to their organization as a party. We doubt the ability of any party to stand long upon any mere compromise, made to suit the exigencies and avoid the dangers of the moment. It may be said that our government, first based on a con- federacy and then a constitution, with a system of checks and balances, with a di- vision of power between the people and the States, is but a compromise ; but the assertion will not hold good. These things were adopted because of a belief at the time that they were in themselves right, or as nearly right as those who participated in their adoption were given to see the right. There was certainly no attempt at a division of right and wrong, and the closest investigation will show nothing be- yond a surrender of power for the good of all, which is in itself the very essence and beginning of government. We have said that Douglas fought bravely for his idea, and every movement in his most remarkable campaign with Lincoln for the U. S. Senate demonstrated the fact. The times were full of agitation and excitement, and these were increased when it became apparent that Buchanan's administration would aid the effort to make Kansas a slave State. Douglas was the first to see that the application of ad- ministration machinery to his principle, would degrade and rob it of its fairness. He therefore resented Buchanan's inter- ference, and in turn Buchanan's friends sought to degrade him by removing him from the chairmanship of the Senate Com- mittee on Territories, the position which had given him marked control over all questions pertaining to the organization of territories and the admission of new States. The Lincoln and Douglas Debate. The Senatorial term of Douglas was drawing near to its close, when in July, 1858, he left Washington to enter upon the canvass for re-election. The Republican State Convention of Illinois had in the month previous met at Springfield, and nominated Abraham Lincoln as a candi- date for United States Senator, this with a view to pledge all Republican members of the Legislature to vote for him a practice since gone into disuse in most of the States, because of the rivalries which it engenders and the aggravation of the dangers of de- feat sure to follow in the selection of a can- didate in advance. " First get your goose, then cook it," inelegantly describes the basic principles of improved political tac- tics. But the Republicans, particularly of the western part of Illinois, had a double purpose in the selection of Lincoln. He was not as radical as they, but he well re- presented the growing Republican senti- ment, and he best of all men could cope with Douglas on the stump in a canvass which they desired should attract the at- tention of the Nation, and give shape to the sentiment of the North on all questions pertaining to slavery. The doctrine of popular sovereignty " was not acceptable to the Republicans, the recent repeal of the Missouri compromise having led them, or the more radical portion of them, to despise all compromise measures. The plan of the Illinois Republicans, if 74 AMERICAN POLITICS. ("BOOK X. indeed it was a well-settled plan, accom- plished even more than was anticipated, though it did not result in immediate suc- cess. It gave to the debate which followed between Lincoln and Douglas a world-wide celebrity, and did more to educate and train the anti-slavery sentiment, taken in connection with the ever-growing excite- ment in Kansas, than anything that could have happened. ' Lincoln's speech before the convention which nominated him, gave the first clear expression to the idea that there was an "irrepressible conflict" between freedom and slavery. Wm. H. Seward on October 25th following, at Rochester, N. Y., ex- pressed the same idea in these words : " It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the United States will sooner or later become either an entire slaveholding Na- tion, or an entirely free labor Nation." Lincoln's words at Springfield, in July, 1858, were : " If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could bet- ter judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise of putting an end to the slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, b'ut has constantly augmented. In my opinion it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dis- solved I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ulti- mate extinction ; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new North as well as South." Douglas arrived in Chicago on the 9th of July, and was warmly received by en- thusiastic friends. His doctrine of " pop- ular sovereignty " had all the attractions of novelty and apparent fairness. For months it divided many Republicans, and at one time the New York Tribune showed .indications of endorsing the position of Douglas a fact probably traceable to the attitude of jealousy and hostility manifested toward him by the Buchanan administra- tion. Neither of the great debaters were to be wholly free in the coming contest. Douglas was undermined by Buchanan, who feared him as a rival, and by the more bitter friends of slavery, who could not see that the new doctrine was safely in their interest ; but these things were dwarfed in the State conflict, and those who shared such feelings had to make at least a show of friendship until they saw the result. Lincoln was at first handicapped by the doubts of that class of Republicans who thought "popular sovereignty" not bad Republican doctrine. On the arrival of Douglas he replied to Lincoln's Springfield speech ; on the 16th he spoke at Bloomington, and on the 17th, in the afternoon, at Springfield. Lincoln had heard all three speeches, and replied to the last on the night of the day of its delivery. He next addressed to Douglas the following challenge to debate : CHICAGO, July 24th, 1858. HON. S. A. DOUGLAS : My Dear Sir : Will it be agreeable to you to make an ar- rangement to divide time, and address the same audience, during the present canvass? etc. Mr. Judd is authorized to receive your answer, and if agreeable to you, to en- ter into terms of such agreement, etc. Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN. Douglas promptly accepted the chal- lenge, and it was arranged that there should be seven joint debates, each alternately opening and closing, the opening speech to occupy one hour, the reply one hour and a half, and the closing half an hour. They spoke at Ottawa, August 21st ; Free- port, August 27th ; Jonesboro', September 15th ; Charleston, September 18th ; Gales- burg, October 7th ; Quincy, October 13th ; and Alton, October 15th. We give in Book III of this volume their closing speeches in full. Great crowds attended, and some of the more enterprising daily journals gave pho- nographic reports of the speeches. The enthusiasm of the North soon ran in Lin- coln's favor, though Douglas had hosts of friends ; but then the growing and the aggressive party was the Republican, and even the novelty of a new and attractive doctrine like that of " popular sovereignty" could not long divert their attention. The prize suspended in view of the combat- ants was the United States Senatorship, and to close political observers this was plainly within the grasp of Douglas by reason of an apportionment which would give his party a majority in the Legisla- ture, even though the popular majority should be twenty thousand against him a system of apportionment, by the way, not confined to Illinois alone, or not pecu- liar to it in the work of any of the great par- ties at any period when party lines were drawn. Buchanan closely watched the fight, and it was charged and is still believed by the friends of the " Little Giant," that the BOOK I.] THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE. T5 administration secretly employed its pa- tronage and power to defeat him. Certain it is that a few prominent Democrats de- serted the standard of Douglas, and that some of them were rewarded. In the heat of the battle, however, Douglas' friends were careless of the views of the adminis- tration. He was a greater leader than Buchanan, and in Illinois at least he over- shadowed the administration. He lacked neither money nor friends. Special trains of cars, banners, cannon, bands, proces- sions, were all supplied with lavish hands. The democracy of Illinois, nor yet of any other State, ever did so well before or since, and if the administration had been with him this enthusiasm might have spread to all other States and given his doctrine a larger and more glorious life. Only the border States of the South, how- ever, saw opportunity and glory in it, while the office-holders in other sections stood off and awaited results. Lincoln's position was different. He, doubtless, early realized that his chances for election were remote indeed, with the apportionment as it was, and he sought to impress the nation with the truth of his convictions, and this without other dis- play than the force of their statement and publication. Always a modest man, he wa^ never more so than in this great battle. He declared that he did not care for the local result, and in the light of what tran- spired, the position was wisely taken. Douglas was apparently just as earnest, though more ambitious ; for he declared in the vehemence of the advocacy of his doctrine, that " he did not care whether slavery was voted up or voted down." Douglas had more to lose than Lincoln a place which his high abilities had hon- ored in the United States Senate, and jwViich intriguing enemies in his own party made him doubly anxious to hold. Beaten, and he was out of the field for the Presi- dency, with his enthroned rival a candi- date for re-election. Successful, and that rival must leave the field, with himself in direct command of a great majority of the party. This view must have then been presented, but the rapid rise in public feel- ing made it in part incorrect. The calcu- lation of Douglas that he could at one and the same time retain the good will of all his political friends in Illinois and those of the South failed him, though he did at the time, and until his death, better represent the majority of his party in the whole country than any other leader. At the election which followed the de- bate, the popular choice in the State as a whole was for Lincoln by 126,084 to 121,- 940 for Douglas; but the apportionment of 1850 gave to Douglas a plain majority of the Senators and Representatives. At the Freeport meeting, August 27th, there were sharp questions and answers between the debaters. They were brought on by Lincoln, who, after alluding to some questions propounded to him at Ottawa, said : " I now propose that I will answer any of the interrogatories, upon condition that he will answer questions from me not ex- ceeding the same number, to which I give him an opportunity to respond. The judge remains silent ; I now say that I will an- swer his interrogatories, whether he an- swer mine or not, and that after I have done so I shall propound mine to him. " I have supposed myself, since the or- . ganization of the Republican party at Bloomington in May, 1856, bound as a party man by the platforms of the party, there, and since. If, in any interrogatories which I shall answer, I go beyond the scope of what is within these platforms, it will be perceived that no one is responsible but myself. " Having said thus much, I will take up the judge's interrogatories as I find them printed in the Chicago Times, and answer them seriatim. In order that there may be no mistake about it, I have copied the interrogatories in writing, and also my answers to them. The first one of these interrogatories is in these words : Question 1. I desire to know whether Lincoln to-day stands, as he did in 1854, in favor of the unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law ? Answer. I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law. Q. 2. I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to-day, as he did in 1854, against the admission of any more slave States into the Union, even if the people want them ? A. I do not now, nor ever did, stand pledged against the admission of any more slave States into the Union. Q. 3 I want to know, whether he stands lodged against the admission of a new itate into the Union, with such a Consti- tution as the people of the State may see fit to make? A. I do not stand pledged against the admission of a new State into the Union, with such a Constitution as the people of the State may see fit to make. Q. 4. I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia? A. I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in the District of Co- lumbia. Q. 5. I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the prohibition of the slave trade between the different States? A. I do not stand pledged to prohibi- tion of the slave trade between the different States. 76 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Q. 6. I desire to know whether he stands pledged to prohibit slavery in all the Territories of the United States, North as well as South of the Missouri Compro- mise line ? A. I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the RIGHT and DUTY of Congress to prohibit slavery in all of the United States' Territories. Q. 7. I desire him to answer, whether he is opposed to the acquisition of any new territory, unless slavery is first prohibited therein? A. I am not generally opposed to honest acquisition of territory ; and in any given case, I would or would not oppose such ac- quisition, according as I might think such acquisition would or would not aggravate the slavery question among ourselves. "Now, my friends, it will be perceived upon an examination of these questions and answers, that so far, I have only an- swered that I was not pledged to this, that, or the other. The judge has not framed his interroga- tories to ask me anything more than this and I have answered in strict accordance with the interrogatories, and have answered truly, that I am not pledged at all upon any of the points to which I have an- swered. But I am not disposed to hang upon the exact form of his interrogatories. I am rather disposed to take up, at least some of these questions, and state what I really think upon them. " The fourth one is in regard to the abo- lition of slavery in the District of Colum- bia. In relation to that, I have my mind very distinctly made up. I should be very glad to see slavery abolished in the Dis- trict of Columbia. I believe that Congress possesses the constitutional power to abolish it. Yet, as a member of Congress, I should not, with my present views, be in favor of endeavoring to abolish slavery in the Dis- trict of Columbia, unless it should be upon these conditions: FIRST, That the aboli- tion should be gradual ; SECOND, That it should be on a vote of a majority of quali- fied voters in the District; and THIRD, That compensation should be made to un- willing owners. With these three condi- tions, I confess I would be exceedingly glad to see Congress abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the lan- guage of Henry Clay, 'sweep from our Capital that foul blot upon our nation.' " I now proceed to propound to the judge the interrogatories, so far as I have framed them. I will bring forward a new in- stalment when I get them ready. I will bring now only four. The first one is : 1. If the people of Kansas shall, by means entirely unobjectionable in all other respects, adopt a Slate Constitution and ask admission into the Union under it before they have the requisite number of inhabitants, according to the English bill some ninety-three thousand will he vote to admit them? 2. Can the people of the United States Territory, in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a State Constitution ? 3. If the Supreme Court of the United States shall decide that States cannot ex- clude slavery from their limits, are you in favor of acquiescing in, adopting and fol- lowing such decision as a rule of political action ? 4. Are you in favor of acquiring addi- tional territory in disregard of how much acquisition may affect the nation on the slavery question? To these questions Mr. Douglas said: " In reference to Kansas, it is my opinion that, as she has population enough to con- stitute a slave State, she has people enough for a free State. I hold it to be a, sacred rule of universal application, to require a Territory to contain the requisite popula- tion for a member of Congress, before it is admitted as a State into the Union. 2. " It matters not what way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide, as to the ab- stract question whether slavery may or may not go into a Territory under the Constitution, the people have the lawful means to introduce it, or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a day, or an hour, anywhere, unless it is supported by local police regulations. These police regulations can only be estab- lished by the local legislature, and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will elect representatives to that body, who will, by unfriendly legislation, effectually pre- vent the introduction of it into their midst. If, on the contrary, they fcre for it, their legislation will favor its extension. Hence, no matter what the decision of the Su- preme Court may be on that abstract question, still the right of the people to make a slave Territory or a free Terri- tory is perfect and complete under the Nebraska bill. " 8. The third question which Mr. Lin- coln presented is, if the Supreme Court of the United States shall decide that a State of this Union cannot exclude slavery from its own limits, will I submit to it? I am amazed that Mr. Lincoln should ask such a question. He casts an imputation upon the Su- preme Court of the United States by sup- posing that they would violate the consti- tution of the United States. I tell him that such a thing is not possible. It would be an act of moral treason that no man on the bench could ever descend to. Mr. Lincoln, himself, would never, in his par- tisan feelings, so far forget what was right as to be guilty of such an act. BOOK I.] THE KANSAS STRUGGLE. 77 4. With our natural increase, growing with a rapidity unknown in any other part of the globe, with the tide of emigration that is fleeing from despotism in the old world, to seek refuge in our own, there is a constant torrent pouring into this coun- try that requires more land, more terri- x>ry upon which to settle, and just as fast is our interests and our destiny require j*i additional territory in the North, in the South, or on the Island of the Ocean, I am for it, and when we require it, will leave the people, according to the Nebraska bill, free to do as they please on the sub- ject of slavery, and every other ques- tion." The bitterness of the feelings aroused by the canvass and boldness of Douglas, can both be well shown by a brief abstract from his speech at Freeport. He had per- sisted in calling the Republicans " Black Republicans," although the crowd, the great majority of which was there against him, insisted that he should say "White Republican." In response to these oft re- peated demands, he said : "Now, there are a great many Black Republicans of you who do not know this thing was done. ("White, white, and great clamor)." I wish to remind you that while Mr. Lincoln was speaking, there was not a Democrat vulgar and black- fuard enough to interrupt him. But I now that the shoe is pinching you. I am clinching Lincoln now, and you are scared to death for the result. I have seen this thing before. I have seen men make ap- pointments for discussions and the mo- ment their man has been heard, try to in- terrupt and prevent a fair hearing of the other side. I have seen your mobs before and defy your wrath. (Tremendous ap- plause.) " My friends, do not cheer, for I need my whole time. " I have been put to severe tests. I have stood by my principles in fair weather and in foul, in the sunshine and in the rain. I have defended the great principle of self-government here among you when Northern sentiment ran in a torrent against me, and I have defended that same great principle when Southern sentiment came down like an avalanche upon me. I was not afraid of any test they put to me. I knew I was right I knew my principles were sound I knew that the people would see in the end that I had done right, and I knew that the God of Heaven would smile upon me if I was faithful : n the per- formance of my duty." As an illustration of the earnestness of Lincoln's position we need only quote two paragraphs from his speech at Alton : "Is slavery wrong? That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between the.se two principles right and wrong throughout the world. They are two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of King's. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, ' you work and toil, and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth ot a King who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and life by the fruitof theit labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it ia the same tyrannical principle. 1 ' And again : " On this subject of treating it as a wrong, and limiting its spread, let me say a word. Has anything ever threatened the existence of this Union save and except this very institution of slavery? What is it that we hold most dear among us ? Our own liberty and prosperity. What has ever threatened our liberty and prosperity save and except this institution of slavery ? If this is true, how do you propose to im- prove the condition of things? by enlarging slavery ? by spreading it out and making it bigger? You may have a wen or cancer upon your person and not be able to cut it out, lest you bleed to death ; but surely it is no way to cure it, to engraft it and spread it over your whole body. That is no proper way of treating what you regard a wrong. You see this peaceful way of dealing with it as a wrong restricting the spread of it, and not allowing it to go into new countries where it has not already existed. That is the peaceful way, the old-fashioned way, the way in which the fathers themselves set us the ex- ample." The administration of Pierce had left that of Buchanan a dangerous legacy. He found the pro-slavery party in Congress temporarily triumphant, it is true, and supported by the action of Congress in re- jecting the Topeka constitution and rec- ognizing the territorial government, but he found that that decision was not accep- table either to the majority of the people in the country or to a rapidly rising anti- slavery sentiment in the North. Yet he saw but one course to pursue, and that was to sustain the territorial government, which had issued the call for the Lecpmpton con- vention. He was supported in this view by the action of the Supreme Court, which had decided that slavery existed in Kansas under the constitution of the United States, and that the people therein could only re- lieve themselves of it by the election of delegates who would prohibit it in the constitution to be framed by the Lecomp* 78 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. ton convention. The Free State men re- fused to recognize the call, made little, if any, preparation for the election, yet on the last day a number of them voted for State officials and a member of Congress under the Lecompton constitution. This had the effect of suspending hostilities be- tween the parties, yet peace was actually maintained only by the intervention of U. S. troops, under the command of Col. Sumner, who afterwards won distinction in the war of the rebellion. The Free State people stood firmly by their Topeka constitution, and refused to vote on ques- tions affecting delegates to the Lecompton convention. They had no confidence in Governor Walker, the appointee of Presi- dent Buchanan, and his proclamations passed unheeded. They recognized their own Governor Robinson, who in a message dated December 7th, 1857, explained and defended their position in these words : " The convention which framed the con- stitution at Topeka originated with the people of Kansas territory. They have adopted and ratified the same twice by a direct vote, and also indirectly through two elections of State officers and members of the State Legislatuie. Yet it has pleased the administration to regard the whole tvoceeding as revolutionary." The Lecompton convention, proclaimed by Governor Walker to be lawfully con- stituted, met for the second time, Sept. 4th, 1857, and proceeded to frame a constitu- tion, and adjourned finally Nov. 7th. A large majority of the delegates, as in the first, were of course pro-slavery, because of the refusal of the anti-slavery men to participate in the election. It refused to submit the whole constitution to the people, it is said, in opposition to the desire of President Buchanan, and part of his Cabinet. It submitted only the question of whether or not slavery should exist in the new State, and this they were required to do under the Kansas-Nebraska act, if indeed they were not required to submit it all. Yet such was the hostility of the pro-slavery men to submission, that it was only by three majority the proposition to submit the main question was adopted a confession in advance that the result was not likely to favor their side of the con- troversy. But six weeks' time was also allowed for preparation, the election being ordered for Dec. 21st, 1857. Still another advantage was taken in the printing of the ballots, as ordered by the convention. The method prescribed was to endorse the bal- lots, "Constitution with Slavery," and " Constitution with no Slavery, thus com- pelling the voter, however adverse his views, as to other parts of the Constitution, to vote for it as a wnole. As a consequence, (at least this wa* criven as one of the rea- gons ) the Free State men as a rule refused to participate in the election, and the result as returned was 6,143 votes in favor of slavery, and 589 against it. The constitu- tion was announced as adopted, an election was ordered on the first Monday of Janu- ary, 1858, for State officers, members of the Legislature, and a member of Congress. The opponents of the Lecompton constitu- tion did not now refrain from voting, partly because of their desire to secure the repre- sentative in Congress, but mainly to secure an opportunity, as advised by their State officers, to vote down the Lecompton con- stitution. Both parties warmly contested the result, but the Free State men won, and with their general victory secured a large majority in the Legislature. The ballots of the Free State men were now headed with the words " Against the Lecompton Constitution," and they re- turned 10,226 votes against it, to 134 for it with slavery, and 24 for it against slavery. This return was certified by J. W. Denver, " Secretary and Acting Governor," and its validity was endorsed by Douglas in his report from the Senate Territorial Com- mittee. It was in better accord with his idea of popular sovereignty, as it shoTved almost twice as large a vote as that cast under the Lecompton plan, the fairness of the return not being disputed, while that of the month previous was disputed. But their previous refusal to vote on the Lecompton constitution gave their oppo- nents an advantage in position strangely at variance with the wishes of a majority of the people. The President of that conven- tion, J. Calhoun, forwarded the document to the President with an official request that it be submitted to Congress. This was done in a message dated 2d February, 1858, and the President recommended the admission of Kansas under it. This message occasioned a violent debate in Congress, which continued for three months. It was replete with sectional abuse and bitterness, and nearly all the members of both Houses participated. It finally closed with the passage of the " Act for the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union," passed May 4th, 1858. This Act had been reported by a committee of conference of both Houses, and was passed in the Senate by 31 to 22, and in the House by 112 to 103. There was a strict party vote in the Senate with the exception of Mr. DoUglas, C. E. Stuart of Michigan, and D. C. Broderick of Cal- ifornia, who voted with the Republican minority. In the House several anti- Lecompton democrats voted with the Re- publican minority. These were Messrs. Adrian of New Jersey ; Chapman of Penn- sylvania; Clark of New York; Cockerill of Ohio ; Davis of Indiana ; Harris of Il- linois ; Haskin of New York ; Hickmau of Pennsylvania; McKibben of California; BOOK I.] THE KANSAS STRUGGLE. 79 Marshall of Illinois; Morgan of New York ; Morris, Shaw, and Smith of Illinois. The Americans who voted with the Repub- licans were Crittenden of Kentucky ; Davis of Maryland ; Marshall of Kentucky ; Rlcaud of Maryland ; Underwood of Ken- tucky. A number of those previously classed as Anti-Lecompton Democrats voted against their colleagues of the same faction, and consequently against the bill. These were Messrs. Cockerill, Gwesheck, Hall, Lawrence, Pendleton and Cox of Ohio ; English and Foley of Indiana ; and Jones of Pennsylvania. The Americans who voted against the bill were Kennedy of Maryland ; Anderson of Missouri ; Eus- tis of Louisiana ; Gilmer of North Caro- lina ; Hill of Georgia ; Maynard, Ready and Zollicoffer of Tennessee; and Trippe of Georgia. Liecompton Constitution. The following are the political features of the Lecompton constitution : ARTICLE VII. Slavery. SEC. 1. The right of property is before and higher than any constitutional sanc- tion, and the right of the owner of a slave to such slave and its increase is the same, and as inviolable as the right of the owner of any property whatever. SEC. 2. The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of the owners, or without paying the owners previous to their emancipation a full equivalent in money for the slaves so emancipated. They shall have no power to prevent emigrants to the state from bringing with them such persons as are deemed slaves by the laws of any one of the United States or territories, so long as any person of the same age or description shall be continued in slavery by the laws of this state : Provided, That such person or slave be the bona fide property of such emigrants : And provided, also, That laws may be passed to prohibit the introduc- tion into this state of slaves who have committed high crimes in other states or territories. They shall have power to pass laws to permit the owners of slaves to emancipate them, saving the rights of creditors, and preventing them from be- coming a public charge. They shall have power to oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity, to provide for them necessary food and clothing, to ab- stain from all injuries to them extending to life or limb, and, in case of their neglect or refusal to comply with the direction of such laws, to have such slave or slaves sold for the benefit of the owner or owners. SEC. 3. In the prosecution of slaves for crimes of higher grade than petit larceny, the legislature shall have no power to de- prive them of an impartial trial by a petit SEC. 4. Any person who shall mali- ciously dismember, or deprive a slave of life, shall suffer such punishment as would be inflicted in case the like offence had been committed on a free white person, and on the like proof, except in case of insurrection of such slave. Free Negroes. Bill of Rights, SEC. 23. Free negroes shall not be allowed to live in this state under any circumstances. ARTICLE VIII. Elections and Rights of Suffrage. SEC. 1. Every male citizen of the United States, above the age of twenty- one years, having resided in this state one year, and in the county, city, or town in which he may offer to vote, three months next preceding any election, shall have the qualifications of an elector, and be en- titled to vote at all elections. And every male citizen of the United States, above the age aforesaid, who may be a resident of the state at the time this constitution shall be adopted, shall have the right of voting as aforesaid ; but no such citizen or inhabitant shall be entitled to vote ex- cept in the county in which he shall actually reside at the time of the elec- tion. The Topeka Constitution. The following are the political features of the Topeka constitution : Slavery. Bill of Rights, SEC. 6. There shall be no slavery in this state, nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of- crime. Amendments to the Constitution. SEC. 1. All propositions for amend- ments to the constitution shall be made by the General Assembly. SEC. 2. A concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected to each house shall be necessary, after which such proposed amendments shall be again referred to the legislature elected next succeeding said publication. If passed by the second legislature by a majority of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, such amendments shall be republished as afore- said, for at least six months prior to the next general election, at which election such proposed amendments shall be sub- mitted to the people for their approval or AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. rejection ; and if a majority of the electors voting at such election shall adopt such amendments, the same shall become a part of the constitution. SEC. 3. When more than one amend- ment is submitted at the same time, they shall be so submitted as to enable the electors to vote upon each amendment separately. No convention for the forma- tion of a new constitution shall be called, and no amendment to the constitution shall be, by the general assembly, made .before the year 1865, nor more than once in five years thereafter. Submission of Constitution to the People. Schedule, SEC. 2. That this constitution shall be submitted to the people of Kansas for ratification on the 15th day of Decem- ber next. That each qualified elector shall express his assent or dissent to the constitution by voting a written or printed ticket, labelled "Constitution," or "No Constitution;" which election shall be held by the same judges, and conducted under the same regulations and restric- tions as is hereinafter provided for the election of members of the general assembly. The Douglas Amendment. The following is the Douglas amend- ment, which really formed the basis of the bill for admission : " It being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any state or territory, nor to exclude it there- from, but to leave the people thereof per- fectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." The bill which passed on the 4th of May was known as the English bill, and it met the approval of Buchanan. To the measure was attached "a fundamental condition precedent," which arose from the fact that the ordinance of the convention accom- panying the constitution claimed for the new State a cession of the public lands six times greater than had been granted to other States, amounting in all to 23,500,- 000 acres. In lieu of this Congress pro- posed to submit to a vote of the people a proposition specifying the number of acres and the purposes for which the money arising from their sale were to be used, and the acceptance of this was to be followed by a proclamation that "thereafter, and without further proceedings from Congress the admission of the State of Kansas, into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, shall be complete and absolute." The con- dition was never fulfilled, for the people at the election on the 2d of August, 1858, rejected it by a majority of 9,513, and Kan- sas was not admitted under the Lecompton constitution. Finally, and after continued agitation, more peaceful, however, than that which characterized the earlier stages of the strug- gle, the territorial legislature of Kansas called an election for delegates to meet and form a constitution. They assembled in convention at Wyandot, in July, 1859, and reported a constitution prohibiting slavery. This was adopted by a majority exceeding 4000, and under it Kansas was admitted to the Union on the 29th of January, 1861. The comparative quiet between the re- jection of the English proposition and the adoption of the Wyandot constitution, was at one time violently disturbed by a raid made by John Brown at Harper's Ferry, with a view to excite the slaves to insur- rection. This failed, but not before GOT. Wise, of Virginia, had mustered his militia, and called for the aid of United States troops. The more radical anti-slavery men of the North were at first shocked by the audacity of an offense which many looked upon as an act of treason, but the anxiety of Virginia to hang Brown and all his followers who had been captured alive, changed a feeling of conservatism in the North to one of sympathy for Brown and deeper hatred of slavery. It is but fair to say that it engendered hostility to the Union in the South. The right and wrong of sla'very was thereafter more generally discussed than ever. The talent of the South favored it; while, with at least a large measure of truth it c"an be said that the talent of the North opposed it. So bitter grew the feeling that soon the churches of the sections began to divide, no other political question having ever be- fore disturbed the Union. We have not pretended to give a com- plete history of the Kansas trouble either m that State or in Congress, nor yet a. full history of the many issues raised on ques- tions which were *but subsidiary to the main one of slavery. Our object is to show the relation of the political parties through- out that struggle, for we are dealing with the history of parties from a national view, and not with battles and the minor ques- tions or details of parliamentary struggles. The contest had cemented the Democrats of the South as it had the Republicans of the North ; it divided both the Democrats of the North and the Americans in all sections. John Bell, of Tennessee, and Sam Houston of Texas, recognized leaders of the Americans, had shown their sym- pathy with the new stand taken by Doug- las, as early as 1854. Bell, however, was less decided than Houston, and took his position with many qualifications. Hous- ton opposed even the repeal of the Mis- souri Compromise, and made the last speech BOOK I.] THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. 81 against it in the Senate. He closed with these words: " In the discharge of my duty I have acted fearlessly. The events of the future are left in the hands of a wise Providence, and, in ray opinion, on the decision which we make upon this question must depend union or disunion." These sentiments were shared by many Americans, and the great majority of them drifted into the Republican party. The Abolitionists from the beginning of the struggle, allied themselves with the Repub- licans, a few of their leaders proclaiming, however, that this party was not sufficiently advanced in its views. The Charleston Convention. Such was the condition of the parties when the Democratic national convention met at Charleston, S. C., on the 23d of April, 1860, it being then the custom of the Democratic party, as it is of all major- ity parties, to call its convention first. It was composed of delegates from all the thirty-three States of the Union, the whole number of votes being 303. After the ex- ample of former Democratic conventions it adopted the two-third rule, and 202 votes were required to make nominations for President and Vice-President. Caleb Gush- ing, of Mass., presided. From the first a radical difference of opinion was exhibited among the members on the question of slavery in the Territories. Almost the entire Southern and a minority of the Northern portion believed in the Dred Scott decision, and held that slave property was as valid under the constitution as any other ?lass of property. The Dougla's delegates stood firmly by the theory of popular sovereignty, and avowed their in- difference to the fact whether it would lead to the protection of slave property in the territories or not. On the second day a committee on resolutions consisting of one member from each State, selected by the State delegates, was named, and then a resolution was resolved unanimously " that this convention will not proceed to ballot for a candidate for the Presidency until the platform shall have been adopted." On the fifth day the committee on resolutions presented majority and minority reports. After a long discussion on the respective merits of the two reports, they were both, on motion of Mr. Bigler, of Pennsylvania, re-committed to the Committee on Reso- lutions, with a view, if possible, to promote harmony ; but this proved to be impracti- cable. On the sixth day of the Conven- tion (Saturday, April 28th,) at an evening session, Mr. Avery, of North Carolina, and Mr. Samuels, of Iowa, from the majority 6 and minority of the committee, again made opposite and conflicting reports on the question of slavery in the Territories. On this question the committee had divided from the beginning, the one portion em- bracing the fifteen members from the slaveholding States, with those from Cali- fornia and Oregon, and the other consist- ing of the members from all the free States east of the Rocky Mountains. On all other questions both reports substantially agreed. The following is the report of the major- ity made on this subject by Mr. Avery, of North Carolina, the chairman of the com- mittee : " Resolved, That the platform adopted by the Democratic party at Cin- cinnati be affirmed with the following ex- planatory resolutions : 1st. That the Gov- ernment of a Territory, organized by an act of Congress, is provisional and tempo- rary, and during its existence all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the Terri- tory, without their rights, either of person or property, being destroyed or impaired by Congressional or Territorial legislation. 2d. That it is the duty of the Federal Gov- ernment, in all its departments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and property in the Territories, and wherever else its constitutional authority extends. 3d. That when the settlers in a Territory having an adequate population form a State Constitution, the right of sovereignty commences, and being consummated by admission into the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the people of other States, and the State thus organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union whether its constitution prohibits or recog- nizes the institution of slavery." The following is the report of the minor- ity, made by Mr. Samuels, of Iowa. After re-affirming the Cincinnati platform by the first resolution, it proceeds: '^Inas- much as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic party, as to the nature and ex- tent of the powers of a Territorial Legisla- ture, and as to the powers and duties of Congress, under the Constitution of the United States, over the institution of slavery within the Territories, Resolved, That the Democratic party will abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States upon questions of constitu- tional law." After some preliminary remarks, Mr. Samuels moved the adoption of the minor- ity report as a substitute for that of the majority. This gave rise to an earnest and excited debate. The difference be- tween the parties was radical and irrecon- cilable. The South insisted that the Cin- cinnati platform, whose true construction in regard to slavery in the Territories had always been denied by a portion of the Democratic party, should be explained and 82 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. settled by an express recognition of the principles decided by the Supreme Court. The North, on the other hand, refused to recognize this decision, and still main- tained the power to be inherent in the people of a Territory to deal with the question of slavery according to their own discretion. The vote was then taken, and the minority report was substituted for that of the majority by a vote of one hun- dred and sixty-five to one hundred and thirty-eight. The delegates from the six New England States, as well as from New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, fourteen free States, cast their entire vote in favor of the minority report. New Jersey and Pennsylvania alone among the free States east of the Rocky Mountains, refused to rote as States, but" their delegates voted as individuals. The means employed to attain this end were skillfully devised by the minority of the Pennsylvania delegation in favor of nominating Mr. Douglas. The entire del- egation had, strangely enough, placed this power in their hands, by selecting two of their number, Messrs. Cessna and Wright, to represent the whole on the two most im- portant committees of the Convention that of organization and that of resolu- tions. These gentlemen, by adroitness and parliamentary tact, succeeded in abrogat- ing the former practice of casting the vote of the State as a unit. In this manner, whilst New York indorsed with her entire thirty-five votes the peculiar views of Mr. Douglas, notwithstanding there was in her delegation a majority of only five votes in their favor on the question of Territorial sovereignty, the effective strength of Penn- sylvania recognizing the judgment of the Supreme Court, was reduced to three votes, this being the majority of fifteen on the one side over twelve on the other. The question next in order before the Convention was upon the adoption of the second resolution of the minority of the committee, which had been substituted for the report of the majority. On this ques- tion Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkan- sas, Texas, Florida, and Mississippi re- fused to vote. Indeed, it soon appeared that on the question of the final adoption of this second resolution, which in fact amounted to nothing, it had scarcely any friends of either party in the Convention. The Douglas party, without explanation or addition, voted against it. On the other hand, the old Democracy could not vote for it without admitting that the Supreme Court had not already placed the right over slave property in the Territories on the same footing with all other property, and therefore they also voted against it. In consequence the resolution was nega- tived by .a vote of only twenty-one in its favor to two hundred and thirty-eight. Had the seven Southern States just men- tioned voted, the negatives would have amounted to two hundred and eighty-two, or more than thirteen to one. Thus both the majority and the minority resolutions on the Territorial question were rejected, and nothing remained before the Conven- tion except the Cincinnati platform. At this stage of the proceedings (April 30th), the States of Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Tex- as, and Arkansas, having assigned their reasons for the act, withdrew in succession from the Convention. After these seven States had retired, the delegation from Virginia made an effort to restore har- mony. Mr. Russell, their chairman, ad- dressed the Convention and portrayed the alarming nature of the crisis. He ex- pressed nis fears that we were on the eve of a revolution, and if this Convention should prove a failure it would be the last National Convention of any party which would ever assemble in the United States. " Virginia," said he, " stands in the midst of her sister States, in garments red with the blood of her children slain in the first outbreak of the 'irrepressible conflict.' But, sir, not when her children fell at mid- night beneath the weapon of the assassin, was her heart penetrated with so profound a grief as that which will wring it when she is obliged to choose between a sepa- rate destiny with the South, and her com- mon destiny with the entire Republic." Mr. Russell was not then prepared to answer, in behalf of his delegation, whether the events of the day (the defeat of the majority report, and the withdrawal of the seven States) were sufficient to justify her in taking the irrevocable step in question. In order, therefore, that they might have time to deliberate, and if they thought proper make an effort to restore harmony in the Convention, he expressed a desire that it might adjourn and afford them an opportunity for consultation. The Con- vention accordingly adjourned until the next day, Tuesday, May 1st; and imme- diately after its reassembling the delega- tion from Georgia, making the eighth State, also withdrew. In the mean time the Virginia delega- tion had consulted among themselves, and had conferred with the delegation of the other Southern States which still remained in the Convention, as to the best mode of restoring harmony. In consequence Mr. Howard, of Tennessee, stated to the Con- vention that " he had a proposition to pre- sent in behalf of the delegation from Ten- nessee, whenever, under parliamentary rules, it would be proper to present it." In this Tennessee was joined by Kentucky and Virginia. He should propose the fol- lowing resolution whenever it would be in BOOK THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. 83 order : ' Resolved, That the citizens of the United States have an equal right to set- tle with their property in the Territories of the United States ; and that, under the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which we recognize as the correct exposition of the Constitution of the United States, neither the rights of person nor property can be destroyed or inpaired by Congressional or Territorial legislation.' '' On a subsequent day (May 3d), Mr. Rus- sell informed the Convention that this re- solution had, " he believed, received the approbation of all the delegations from the Southern States which remained in the Convention, and also received the ap- probation of the delegation from New York. He was informed there was strength enough to pass it when in order." Mr. Howard, however, in vain attempted to obtain a vote on his resolution. When he moved to take it up on the evening of the day it had been offered, he was met by cries of "Not in order," "Not in order." The manifest purpose was to postpone its consideration until the hour should arrive which had been fixed by a previous order of the Convention, in opposition to its first order on the same subject, for the balloting to commence for a Presidential candidate, when it would be too late. This the friends of Mr. Douglas accomplished, and no vote was ever taken upon it either at Charleston of Baltimore. Before the balloting commenced Mr. Howard succeeded, in the face of strong opposition, with the aid of the thirty-five votes from New York, in obtaining a vote of the Convention in re-affirmance of the two-thirds rule. On his motion they re- solved, by 141, to 112 votes, " that the Pre- sident of the Convention be and he is here- by directed not to declare any person nominated for the office of President or Vice-President, unless he shall have re- ceived a number of votes equal to two- thirds of the votes of all the electoral col- leges." It was well known at the time that this resolution rendered the regular nomination of Mr. Douglas impossible. The balloting then commenced (Tuesday evening, May 1st), on the eighth day of the session. Necessary to a nomination, under the two-thirds rule, 202 votes. On the first ballot Mr. -Douglas received 145J votes ; Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, 42 ; Mr. Guthrie, of Kentucky, 35 ; Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee, 12; Mr. Dickinson, of New York, 7; Mr. Lane, of Oregon, 6; Mr. Toucey, of Connecticut, 2; Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, 1, and Mr. Pearce, of Mary- land, 1 vote. The voting continued until May 3d, during which there were fifty-four addi- tional ballotings. Mr. Douglas never rose to more than 152J, and ended in 151J votes, 202 votes being necessary to a nomi- nation. Until 1824 nominations had been made by Congressional caucus. In these none participated except Senators and Demo- cratic States, and Representatives from Democratic Congressional districts. The simple majority rule governed in these caucuses, because it was morally certain that, composed as they were, no candidate could be selected against the will of the Democratic States on whom his election depended. But when a change was made to National Conventions, it was at once perceived that if a mere majority could nominate, then the delegates from Anti- Democratic States might be mainly instru- mental in nominating a candidate for whom they could not give a*single electo- ral vote. Whilst it would have been harsh and inexpedient to exclude these States from the Convention altogether, it wouid have been unjust to confer on them a con- trolling power over the nomination. To compromise this difficulty, the two-thirds rule was adopted. Under its operation it would be almost impossible that a candi- date could be selected, without the votes of a simple majority of delegates from the Democratic States. This was the argu- ment of its friends. It had now become manifest that it was impossible to make a nomination at Charleston. The friends of Mr. Douglas adhered to him and would vote for him and him alone, whilst his opponents, ap- prehending the effect of his principles should he be elected President, were equally determined to vote against his nomination. In the hope that some compromise might yet be effected, the Convention, on the motion of Mr. Russell, of Virginia, resolved to adjourn to meet at Baltimore on Monday, the 18th June ; and it was " re- spectfully recommended to the Democratic party of the several States, to make pro- vision for supplying all vacancies in their respective delegations to this Convention when it shall re-assemble." The Convention re-assembled at Balti- more on the 18th June, 1860, according to its adjournment, and Mr. Gushing, the President, took the chair. Immediately after the reorganization of the Convention, Mr. Howard, of Tennes- see, offered a resolution, "that the Presi* dent of this Convention direct the ser- geant-at-arms to issue tickets of admission to the delegates of the Convention, as orig- inally constituted and organized at Charles- ton." Thus the vitally important question was distinctly presented. It soon, how- ever, became manifest that no such reso- lution could prevail. In the abnence of the delegates who had withdrawn 'at Charleston, the friends of Mr. Douglas constituted a controlling majority. At the 84 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. threshold they resisted the admission of the original delegates, and contended that by withdrawing they had irrevocably re- signed their seats. In support of this po- sition, they relied upon the language of the resolution adjourning the Convention to Baltimore, which, as we have seen, "recommended to the Democratic party of the several States to make provision for supplying all vacancies in their respective delegations to this Convention, when it shall reassemble." On the other hand, the advocates of their readmission con- tended that a simple withdrawal of the delegates was not a final renunciation of their seats, but they were still entitled to reoccupy them, whenever, in their judg- ment, this course would be best calculated to restore the harmony and promote the success of the Democratic party ; that the Convention had no right to interpose be- tween them and the Democracy of their respective States ; that being directly re- sponsible to this Democracy, it alone could accept their resignation ; that no such re- signation had ever been made, and their authority therefore continued in full force, and this, too, with the approbation of their constituents. In the mean time, after the adjournment from Charleston to Baltimore, the friends of Mr. Douglas, in several of these States, had proceeded to elect delegates to take the place of those who had withdrawn from the Convention. Indeed, it was manifest at the time, and has since been clearly proved by the event, that these delegates represented but a small minority of the party in their respective States. These new delegates, nevertheless,appeared and demanded seats. * After a long and ardent debate, the Convention adopted a resolution, offered by Mr. Church, of New York, and modi- fied on motion of Mr. Gilmore, of Penn- sylvania, as a substitute for that of Mr. Howard, to refer " the credentials of all persons claiming seats in this Convention, made vacant by the secession of delegates at Charleston, to the Committee on Cre- dentials.'' They thus prejudged the ques- tion, by deciding that the seats of these delegates had been made and were still vacant. The Committee on Credentials had been originally composed of one dele- gate from each of the thirty-three States, but the number was now reduced to twen- ty-five, in consequence of the exclusion of eight of its members from the States of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Car- olina, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida. The committee, therefore, now stood 16 to 9 in favor of the nomination of Mr. Douglas, instead of 17 to 16 against it, according to its original organization. * From Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the eye of tha Rebellion, published by D. Appleton & Co., 1866. The committee, through their chairman, Mr. Krum, of Missouri, made their report on the 21st June, and Governor Stevens, of Oregon, at the same time presented a minority report, signed by himself and eight other members. It is unnecessary to give in detail these conflicting reports. It is sufficient to state that whilst the report of the majority maintained that the delegates, by with- drawing at Charleston, had resigned their seats, and these were still vacant ; that of the minority, on the contrary, asserted the right of these delegates to resume their seats in the Convention, by virtue of their original appointment. On the next day (June 22), the impor- tant decision was made between the con- flicting reports. Mr. Stevens moved to substitute the minority report for that of the majority, and his motion was rejected by a vote of 100J to 150. Of course no vote was given from any of the excluded States, except one half vote from each of the parties in Arkansas. The resolutions of the majority were then adopted in succession. Among other mo- tions of similar character, a motion had been made by a delegate in the majority to reconsider the vote by which the Con- vention had adopted the minority report, as a substitute for that of the majority, and to lay his own motion on the table. This is a common mode resorted to, ac- cording to parliamentary tactics, of de- feating every hope of a reconsideration of the pending question, and rendering the first decision final. Mr. Cessna with this view called for a vote on laying the motion to reconsider on the table. Should this be negatived, then the question of reconsideration would be open. The President stated the question to be first " on laying on the table the mo- tion to reconsider the vote by which the Convention refused to amend the majority report of the Committee on Credentials by substituting the report of the minority." On this question New York, for the first time since the meeting at Baltimore, voted with the minority and changed it into a majority. "When New York was called," says the report of the proceedings, " and re- sponded thirty-five votes" (in the nega- tive) " the response was greeted with loud cheers and applause." The result of the vote was 113 to 138 J " so the Convention refused to lay on the table the motion to reconsider the minority report." The Con- vention then adjourned until evening, on motion of Mr. Cochrane, of New York, amidst great excitement and confusion. This vote of New York, appearing to in- dicate a purpose to harmonize the party by admitting the original delegates from the eight absent States, was not altogether un- expected. Although voting as a unit, it BOOK I.] THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. was known that her delegation were greatly divided among themselves. The exact strength of the minority was afterwards stated by Mr. Bartlett, one of its members, in the Breckinridge Convention. He said : " Upon all questions and especially upon the adoption of the majority report on cre- dentials, in which we had a long contest, the line was strictly drawn, and there were thirty on one side and forty on the other." The position of New York casting an un- divided vote of thirty-five, with Dean Rich- mond at their head, had been a controlling power from the commencement. Strong expectations were, therefore, now entertained that after the New York dele- gation had recorded their vote against a motion which would have killed the mi- nority report beyond hope of revival, they would now follow this up by taking the next step in advance and voting for its re- consideration and adoption. On the even- ing of the very same day, however, they reversed their course and voted against its reconsideration. They were then cheered \>y the opposite party from that which had cheered them in the morning. Thus the action of the Convention in favor of the majority report became final and conclu- sive. Mr. Cessna, of Pennsylvania, at once moved " that the Convention do now pro- ceed to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States." Mr. Russell rose and stated, " It has be- come my duty now, by direction of a large majority of the delegation from Virginia, respectfully to inform you and this body, that it is not consistent with their convic- tions of duty to participate longer in its deliberations." Mr. Lander next stated " that it became his duty, as one of the delegates from North Carolina, to say that a very large majority of the delegation from that State were compelled to retire permanently from this Convention, on account, as he conceived, of the unjust course that had been pursued toward some of their fellow-citizens of the South. The South had heretofore relied upon the Northern Democracy to give them the rights which were justly due them ; but the vote to-day had satisfied the majority of the North Carolina delegation that these rights were now refused them, and, this being the case, they could no longer re- main in the Convention." Then followed in succession the with- drawal of the delegations from Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, California, Oregon, and Arkansas. The Convention now ad- journed at half-past-ten o'clock until the next morning at ten. Soon after the assembling of the Con- vention, the President, Mr. Gushing, whilst tendering his thanks to its members for their candid and honorable support in the performance of his duties, stated that not- withstanding the retirement of the delega- tions of several of the States at Charleston, in his solicitude to maintain the harmony and union of the Democratic party, he had continued in his post of labor. " To that end and in that sense," said he, " I had the honor to meet you, gentlemen, here at Baltimore. But circumstances have since transpired which compel me to pause. The delegations of a majority of the States have, either in whole or in part, in one form or another, ceased to participate in the deliberations of the Convention. * * * In the present circumstances, I deem it a duty of self-respect, and I deem it still more a duty to this Convention, as at present organized, * * * to resign my seat as President of this Convention, in order to take my place on the floor as a member of the delegation from Massachu- setts. * * * I deem this above all a duty which I owe to the members of this Convention, as to whom no longer would my action represent the will of a majority of the Convention." Governor Tod, of Ohio, one of the Vice- Presidents, then took the vacant chair, and was greeted with hearty and long-continued cheers and applause from members of the Convention. Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, now an- nounced that a portion of the Massachu- setts delegation desired to retire, but was interrupted by cries of "No," "No," " Call the roll." Mr. Cessna called for the original question, to wit, that the Conven- tion now proceed, to a nomination for Pres- ident and Vice-President. The President here ordered the -Secre- tary to call the States. Maine, New Hamp- shire, and Vermont were called, and they gave an unbroken vote for Stephen A. Douglas. When Massachusetts was called, Mr. Butler rose and said he had a respect- ful paper in his hand which he would desire the President to have. read. A scene of great confusion thereupon ensued, cries of I object" being heard upon all sides Mr. Butler, not to be baffled, contended for his right at this stage to make remarks pertinent to the matter, and cited in his support the practice of the Conventions at Baltimore in 1848 and 1852, and at Cin- cinnati in 1856. He finally prevailed, and was permitted to procee I. He then said he " would now withdra ? from the Con- vention, upon the ground that there had been a withdrawal, in who, e or in part, of a majority of the States; and further, which was a matter more personal to him- self, he could not sit in a convention where the African slave trade, which was piracy according to the laws of his country, was openly advocated." Mr. Butler then retired, followed by General Gushing and four others of th 86 AMERICAN POLITICS [BOOK i. Massachusetts delegation. All of these had voted with the South and against Douglas. The balloting now proceeded. Mr. Douglas received 173J votes ; Mr. Guthrie 9 ; Mr. Breckinridge 6i ; Mr. Bocock and Mr. Seymour each 1 ; and Mr. Dickersou and Mr. Wise each half a vote. On the next and last ballot Mr. Douglas received 181 J votes, eight of those in the minority having changed their votes in his favor. To account for this number, it is proper to state that a few delegates from five of the eight States which had withdrawn still remained in the Convention. On the last ballot Mr. Douglas received all of their votes, to wit : 3 of the 15 votes of Virginia, 1 of the 10 votes of North Carolina, 1 of the 3 votes of Arkansas, 3 of the 12 votes of Tennessee, 3 of the 12 votes of Ken- tucky, and 24 of the 8 votes of Maryland, making in the aggregate 14 votes. To this number may be added the 9 < votes of the new delegates from Alabama 'and the 6 from Louisiana, which had been admitted to the exclusion of the original dele- Mr. Douglas was accordingly declared to be the regular nominee of the Democra- tic party of the Union, upon the motion of Mr. Church, of New York, when, accord- ing to the report of the proceedings, " The whole body rose to its feet, hats were waved in the air, and many tossed aloft ; shouts, screams, and yells, and every boisterous mode of expressing approbation and unanimity, were resorted to." Senator Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, was then unanimously nominated as the candidate for Vice-President ; and the Convention adjourned sine die on the 23d Jane, the sixth and last day of its ses- sion. On the same day, but after the ad- journment, Mr. Fitzpatrick declined the nomination, and it was immediately con- ferred on Mr. Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, by the Executive Committee. Thus ended the Douglas Convention. But another Convention assembled at Baltimore on the same 23d June, styling itself the " National Democratic Conven- tion." It was composed chiefly of the delegates who had just withdrawn from the Douglas Convention, and the original delegates from Alabama and Louisiana. One of their first acts was to abrogate the two-third rule, as had been done by the Douglas Convention. Both acted under the same necessity, because the preserva- tion of this rule would have prevented a nomination by either. Mr. Gushing was elected and took the rhair as President. In his opening ad- dress he said : " Gentlemen of the Con- vention, we assemble here, delegates to the National Democratic Convention, duly accredited thereto from more than twenty States of the Union, for the purpose of nominating candidates of the Democratic party for the offices of President and Vice- President of the United States, for the purpose of announcing the principles of the party, and for the purpose of continu- ing and re-establishing that party upon the firm foundations of the Constitution, the Union, and the coequal rights of the several States." Mr. Avery, of North Carolina, who had reported the majority resolutions at Charleston, now reported the same from the committee of this body, and they "were adopted unanimously, amid great applause." The Convention then proceeded to select their candidates. Mr. Loring, on behalf of the delegates from Massachusetts, who with Mr. Butler had retired from the Douglas Convention, nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, which Mr. Dent, representing the Pennsylvania dele- gation present, " most heartily seconded." Mr. Ward, from the Alabama delegation, nominated R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia ; Mr. Ewing, from that of Tennessee, nomi- nated Mr. Dickinson, of New York ; and Mr. Stevens, from Oregon, nominated General Joseph Lane. Eventually all these names were withdrawn except that of Mr. Breckinridge, and he received the nomination by a unanimous vote. The whole number of votes cast in his favor from twenty States was 103. General Lane was unanimously nomi- nated as the candidate for Vice-President. Thus terminated the Breckinridge Conven- tion. The Chicago Republican Convention. The Republicans had named May 16th, 1860, as the date and Chicago as the place for holding their second National Conven- tion. They had been greatly encouraged by the vote for Fremont and Dayton, and, what had now become apparent as an ir- reconcilable division of the Democracy, encouraged them in the belief that they could elect their candidates. Those of the great West were especially enthusiastic, and had contributed freely to the erection of an immense " Wigwam," capable of holding ten thousand people, at Chicago. All the Northern States were fully repre- sented, and there were besides partial de> legations from Delaware, Maryland, Ken- tucky, Missouri and Virginia, with occa- sional delegates from other Slave States, there being none, however, from the Gulf States. David Wilmot, of Penna., author of the Wilmot proviso, was made tempo rary chairman, and George Ashman, of Mass., permanent President. No differ- ences were excited by the report of the com- mittee on platform, and the proceeding* BOOK I.] THE AMERICAN CONVENTION. 87 throughout were characterized by great harmony, though there was a somewhat sharp contest for the Presidential nomina- tion. The prominent candidates were Win. H. Seward, of New York ; Abraham Lin- coln, of Illinois ; Salmon P. Chase, ol Ohio ; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, and Edward Bates, of Missouri. There were three ballots, Mr. Lincoln receiving in the last 354 out of 446 votes. Mr. Sew- ard led the vote at the beginning, but he was strongly opposed by gentlemen in his own State as prominent as Horace Greeley and Thurlow Weed, and his nomination was thought to be inexpedient. Lincoln's successful debate with Douglas was still fresh in the minds of the delegates, and every addition to his vote so heightened the enthusiasm that the convention was finally carried "off its feet," the delegations rapidly changing on the last ballot. Lin- coln had been a known candidate but a month or two before, while Seward's name had been everywhere canvassed, and where opposed in the Eastern and Middle States, it was mainly because of the belief that his views on slavery were too radical. He was more strongly favored by the Abolition branch of the party than any other candi- didate. When the news of his success was first conveyed to Mr. Lincoln he was sit- ting in the office of the State Journal, at Springfield, which was connected by a telegraph wire with the Wigwam. On the close of the third ballot a despatch was handed Mr. Lincoln. He read it in silence, and then announcing the result said: " There is a little woman down at our house would like to hear this I'll go down and tell her," and he started amid the shouts of personal admirers. Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for Vice- President with much unanimity, and the Chicago Convention closed its work iri a single day. The American Convention. A "Constitutional Union," really an American Convention, had met at Balti- more on the 9th of May. Twenty States were represented, and John Bell, of Ten- nessee, and Edward Everett, of Massachu- setts, were named for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency. Their friends, though known to be less in number than either those of Douglas, Lincoln or Breckinridge, yet made a vigorous canvass in the hope that the election would be thrown into the House, and that there a compromise in the vote by States would naturally turn toward their candidates. The result of the great contest is elsewhere given in our Tabulated History of Politics. THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED. Lincoln received large majorities in nearly all of the free States, his popular vote being 1,866,452; electoral vote, 180. Douglas was next in the popular estimate, receiving 1,375,157 votes, with but 12 elec- tors. Breckinridge had 847,953 votes, with 76 electors; Bell, with 570,631 votes, had 39 electors. The principles involved in the contro- versy are given at length in the Book of Platforms, and were briefly these: The Republican party asserted that slavery should not be extended to the territories ; that it could exist only by virtue of local and positive law; that freedom was na- tional; that slavery was morally wrong, and the nation should at least anticipate its gradual extinction. The Douglas wing of the Democratic party adhered to the doctrine of popular sovereignty, and claimed that in its exercise in the terri- tories they were indifferent whether slavery was voted up or down. The Breckinridge wing of the Democratic party asserted both the moral and legal right to hold slaves, and to carry them to the territories, and that no power save the national constitu- tion could prohibit or interfere with it out- side of State lines. The Americans sup- porting Bell, adhered to their peculiar doctrines touching emigration and natural- ization, but had abandoned, in most of the States, the secrecy and oaths of the Know- Nothing order. They were evasive and non-committal on the slavery question. Preparing for Secession. Secession, up to this time, had not been regarded as treasonable in all sections and at all times. As shown in many previous pages, it .had been threatened by the Hart- ford Convention ; certainly by some of the people of New England who opposed the war of 1812. Some of the more extreme Abolitionists had favored a division of the sections. The South, particularly the Gulf States, had encouraged a secret organiza- tion, known as the "Order of the Lone Star," previous to and at the time of the annexation of Texas. One of its objects was to acquire Cuba, so as to extend slave territory. The Gulf States needed more slaves, and though the law made partici- pancy in the slave trade piracy, many car- goes had been landed in parts of the Gulf without protest or prosecution, just prior to the election of 1860. Calhoun had threatened, thirty years before, nullifica- tion, and before that again, secession in the event of the passage of the Public Land Bill. Jefferson and Madison had indicated that doctrine of State Rights on which secession was based in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798, facts which were daily discussed by the people of the South during this most exciting of all Presidential campaigns. The leaders in the South had anticipated defeat at the election, and many of them 88 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. made early preparations for the withdrawal of their States from the Union. Some of the more extreme anti-slavery men of the North, noting these preparations, for a time favored a plan of letting the South go in peace. South Carolina was the first to adopt a secession ordinance, and before it did so, Horace Greeley said in the New York Tribune: "If the Declaration of Independence justified the secession from the British Empire of three millions of colonists in 1776, we can not see why it would not jus- tify the secession of five millions of South- rons from the Federal Union in 1861.'-' These views, however, soon fell into dis- favor throughout the North, and the period of indecision on either side ceased when Fort Sumter was fired upon. The Gulf States openly made their preparations as soon as the result of the Presidential elec- tion was known, as a rule pursuant to a previous understanding. The following, condensed from Hon. Edward McPher- son's " Political History of the United States of America during the Great Rebellion," is a -jorrect statement of the movements which followed, in the several Southern States: SOUTH CAROLINA. November 5th, 1860. Legislature met to choose Presidential electors, who voted for Breckinridge and Lane for President and Vice President. Gov. William H. Gist recommended in his message that in the event of Abraham Lincoln's election to the Presidency, a convention of the people of the State be immediately called to consider and determine for themselves the mode and measure of redress. He ex- pressed the opinion that the only alterna- tive left is the " secession of South Caro- lina from the Federal Union." 7th. United States officials resigned at Charleston. 10th. U. S. Senators James H. Ham- mond and James Chestnut, Jr., resigned their seats in the Senate. Convention called to meet Dec. 17th. Delegates to be elected Dec. 6th. 13th. Collection of debts due to citi- zens of non-slaveholding States stayed. Francis W. Pickens elected Governor. 17th. Ordinance of Secession adopted unanimously. 21st. Commissioners appointed (Barn- well, Adarns, and Orr) to proceed to Washington to treat for the possession of U. 8. Government property within the lim- its of South Carolina. Commissioners ap- pointed to the other slaveholding States. Southern Congress proposed. 24th. Representatives in Congress with- drew. Gov. Pickens issued a proclamation " announcing the repeal, Dec. 20th, 1860, by the good people of South Carolina," of the Ordinance of May 23d, 1788, and " the dissolution of the union between the State of ISouth Carolina and other States under the name of the United States of Ameri- ca," and proclaiming to the world " that the State of South Carolina is, as she has a right to be, a separate, sovereign, free and independent State, and, as such, has a right to levy war, conclude peace, negotiate treaties, leagues, or covenants, and to do all acts whatsoever that rightfully apper- tain to a free and independent State. " Done in the eighty-fifth year of the sovereignty and independence of South Carolina." Jan. 3d, 1861. South Carolina Com- missioners left Washington. 4th. Convention appointed T. J. With- ers, L. M. Keitt, W. W. Boyce, Jas. Chest- nut, Jr., E. B. Ehett, Jr., E. W. Barnwell, and C. G. Memminger, delegates to South- ern Congress. 5th. Convention adjourned, subject to the call of the Governor. 14th. Legislature declared that any at- tempt to reinforce Fort Sumter would be considered an open act of hostility and a declaration of war. Approved the Gov- ernor's action in firing on the Star of the West. Accepted the services of the Cataw- ba Indians. 27th. Eeceived Judge Eoberteon, Com- missioner from Virginia, but rejected the proposition for a conference and co-oper- ative action. March 26th. Convention met in Charles- ton. April 3d. Eatified "Confederate" Con- stitution yeas 114, nays 16. 8th. Transferred forts, etc., to " Con- federate" government. GEORGIA. November 8th, 1860. Legislature met pursuant to previous arrangement. 18th. Convention called. Legislature appropriated $1,000,000 to arm the State. Dec. 3d. Resolutions adopted in the Leg- islature proposing a conference of the Southern States at Atlanta, Feb. 20th. January 17th, 1861. Convention met. Eeceived Commissioners from South Caro- lina and Alabama 18th. Eesolutions declaring it the right and duty of Georgia to secede, adopted yeas 165, nays 130. 19th. Ordinance of Secession passed yeas 208, nays 89. 21st. Senators and Eepresentatives in Congress withdrew. 24th. Elected Delegates to Southern Congress at Montgomery, Alabama. 28th. Elected Commissioners to othe> Slaveholding States. 29th. Adopted an address " to the South and the world." BOOK I.] PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 89 March 7th. Convention reassembled. 16th. Ratified the " Confederate " Consti- tutionyeas 96, nays 5. 20th. Ordinance passed authorizing the " Confederate" government to occupy, use and possess the forts, navy yards, arsenals, and custom houses within the limits of said State. April 26th. Governor Brown issued a proclamation ordering the repudiation by me citizens of Georgia of all debts due Northern men. MISSISSIPPI. November 26th, 1860. Legislature met Nov. 26th, and adjourned Nov. 30th. Elec- tion for Convention fixed for Dec. 20th. Convention to meet Jan 7th. Convention bills and secession resolutions passed unani- mously. Commissioners appointed to other Slaveholding States to secure "their co- operation in effecting measures for their common defence and safety." Jan. 7th, 1861. Convention assembled. 9th. Ordinance of Secession passed yeas 84, nays 15. In the ordinance the people of the State of Mississippi express their consent to form a federal union with such of the States as have seceded or may secede from the Union of the United States of America, upon the basis of the present Constitution of the United States, except such parts thereof as embrace other portions than such seceding States. 10th. Commissioners from other States received. Resolutions adopted, recogniz- ing South Carolina as sovereign and inde- pendent. Jan. 12th. Representatives in Congress withdrew. 19th. The committee on the Confederacy in the Legislature reported resolutions to provide for a Southern Confederacy, and to establish a provisional government for seceding States and States hereafter seced- ing. 21st. Senators in Congress withdrew. March 30th. Ratified "Confederate" Constitution yeas 78, nays 7. FLORIDA. November 26th, 1860. Legislature met. Governor M. S. Perry recommended imme- diate secession. Dec. 1st. Convention bill passed. Jan. 3d, 1861. Convention met. 7th. Commissioners from South Carolina and Alabama received and heard. 10th. Ordinance of Secession passed yeas 62, nays 7. 18th. Delegates appointed to Southern Congress at Montgomery. 21st. Senators and Representatives in Congress withdrew. Feb. 14th. Act passed by the Legisla- ture declaring that after any actual collision between Federal troops and those in the employ of Florida, the act of holding office under the Federal government shall be declared treason, and the person convicted shall suffer death. Transferred control of government property captured, to the " Con- federate " government. LOUISIANA. December 10th, 1860. Legislature -met llth. Convention called for Jan. 23d. Military bill passed. 12th. Commissioners from Mississippi re- ceived and heard. Governor instructed to communicate with Governors of other southern States. Jan 23d, 1861. Convention met and organized. Received and heard Commis- sioners from South Carolina and Alabama. 25th. Ordinance of Secession passed yeas 113, nays 17. Convention refused to submit the ordinance to the people by a vote of 84 to 45. This was subsequently reconsidered, and the ordinance was sub- mitted. The vote upon it as declared was 20,448 in favor, and 17,296 against. Feb. 5th. Senators withdrew from Con- gress, also the Representatives, except John E. Bouligny. State flag adopted. Pilots at the Balize prohibited from bringing over the bar any United States vessels of war. March 7th. Ordinance adopted in secret session transferring to " Confederate " States government $536,000, being the amount of bullion in the U. S. mint and customs seized by the State. 16th. An, ordinance voted down, submit- ting the " Confederate " Constitution to the people yeas 26, nays 74. 21st. Ratified the "Confederate "Consti- tution yeas 10L jays 7. Governor author- ized to transfi* the arms and property captured fror. the United States to the " Confederate " Government. 27th. Convention adjourned sine die. ALABAMA. January 7th, 1861. Convention met. 8th. Received and heard the Commis- sioner from South Carolina. llth. Ordinance of Secession passed in secret session yeas 61, nays 39. Proposi- tion to submit ordinance to the people lost yeas 47, nays 53. 14th. Legislature met pursuant to pre- vious action. 19th. Delegates elected to the Southern Congress. 21st. Representatives and Senators in Congress withdrew. 26th. Commissioners appointed to treat with the United States Government relative to the United States forts, arsenals, etc., within the State. The Convention requested the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, 90 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mis- souri to meet the people of Alabama by their delegates in Convention,February 4th, 1861, at Montgomery, for the purpose jof consulting as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted or harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for their common peace and security. Military bill passed. Commis- sioners appointed to other Slaveholding States. March 4th. Convention re-assembled. 13th. Ratified "Confederate" Constitu- tion, yeas 87, nays 6. Transferred control forts, of arsenals, etc., to " Confederate" Government. ARKANSAS. January 16th, 1861. Legislature passed Convention bill. Vote of the people on the Convention was 27,412 for it, and 15,- 826 against it. February 18th. Delegates elected. March 4th. Convention met. 18th. The Ordinance of Secession de- feated yeas 35, nays 39. The convention effected a compromise by agreeing to sub- mit the question of co-operation or seces- sion to the people on the 1st Monday in August. May 6th. Passed Secession Ordinance yeas 69, nays 1. Authorized her delegates to the Provisional Congress, to transfer the arsenal at Little Rock and hospital at Na- poleon to the " Confederate " Government. TEXAS. January 21st, 1861. Legislature met. 28th. People's State Convention met. 29th. Legislature passed a resolution de- claring that the Federal Government has no power to coerce a Sovereign State after she has pronounced her separation from the Federal Union. February 1st. Ordinance of Secession passed in Convention yeas 166, nays 7. Military bill passed. 7th. Ordinance passed, forming the foun- dation of a Southern Confederacy. Dele- gates to the Southern Congress elected. Also an act passed submitting the Ordi- nance of Secession to a vote of the people. 23d. Secession Ordinance voted on by the people ; adopted by a vote of 34,794 in favor, and 11,235 against it. March 4th. Convention declared the State out of the Union. Gov. Houston issued a proclamation to that effect. 16th. Convention by a vote of 127 to 4 deposed Gov. Houston, declaring his seat vacant. Gov. Houston issued a proclama- tion to the people protesting against this action of the Convention. 20th. Legislature confirmed the action of the Convention in deposing Gov. Hous- ton by a vote of 53 to 11. Transferred forts, etc., to "Confederate" Government 23d. Ratified the " Confederate" Consti- tution yeas 68, nays 2. NORTH CAROLINA. November 20th, 1860. Legislature met. Gov. Ellis recommended that the Legisla- ture invite a conference of the Southern States, or failing in that, send one or more delegates to the neighboring States so as to secure concert of action. He recommended a thorough reorganization of the militia, and the enrollment of all persons between 18 and 45 years, and the organization of a corps of ten thousand men ; also, a Con- vention, to assemble immediately after the proposed consultation with other Southern States shall have terminated. December 9th, Joint Committee on Fed- eral Relations agreed to report a Conven- tion Bill. 17th. Bill appropriating $300,000 to arm the State, debated. 18th. Senate passed above bill yeas, 41, nays, 3. 20th. Commissioners from Alabama and Mississippi received and heard the latter, J. Thompson, by letter. 22d. Senate bill to arm the State failed to pass the House. 22d. Adjourned till January 7th. January 8th, 1861. Senate Bill arming the State passed the House, yeas, 73, nays, 26. 30th. Passed Convention Bill election to take place February 28th. No Secession Ordinance to be valid without being rati- fied by a majority of the qualified voters of the State. 31st. Elected Thos. L. Clingman United States Senator, February 13th. Commissioners from Georgia publicly received. 20th. Mr. Hoke elected Adjutant Gen- eral of the State. Military Bill passed. 28th. Election of Delegates to Conven- tion took place. 28th. The vote for a Convention was 46,671; against 47,333 majority against a Convention 661. May 1st. Extra session of the Legisla- ture met at the call of Gov. Ellis. The same day they passed a Convention Bill, ordering the election of delegates on the 15th. 2d. Legislature adjourned. 13th. Election of delegates to the Con- vention took place. 20th. Convention met at Raleigh. 21st. Ordinance of Secession passed; also the " Confederate " Constitution rati- fied. June 5th. Ordinance passed, ceded the arsenal at Fayetteville, and transferred magazines, etc., to the "Confederate" Government. BOOK I.] PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 91 TENNESSEE. January 6th, 1861. Legislature met. 12th. Passed Convention Bill. 30th. Commissioners to Washington appointed. February 8th. People voted no Conven- tion : 67,360 to 54,156. May 1st. Legislature passed a joint re- eolution authorizing the Governor to ap- point Commissioners to enter into a mili- tary league with the authorities of the " Confederate " States. 7th. Legislature in secret session rati- fied the league entered into by A. O. W. Totten, Gustavus A. Henry, Washington Barrow, Commissioners for Tennessee, and Henry W. Hilliard, Commissioner for " Confederate " States, stipulating that Tennessee until she became a member of the Confederacy placed the whole military force of the State under the control of the President of the " Confederate" States, and turned over to the " Confederate " States all the public property, naval stores and munitions of war. Passed the Senate, yeas 14, nays 6, absent and not voting 5 ; the House, yeas 42, nays 15, absent and not voting, 18. Also a Declaration of In- dependence and Ordinance dissolving the Federal relations between Tennessee and the United States, and an ordinance adopt- ing and ratifying the Confederate Consti- tution, these two latter to be voted on by the people on June 8th were passed. June 24th. Gov. Isham G. Harris de- clared Tennessee out of the Union, the vote for Separation being 104,019 against 47,238. VIRGINIA. January 7th, 1861. Legislature con- vened. 8th. Anti-coercion resolution passed. 9th. Resolution passed, asking that the status quo be maintained. 10th. The Governor transmitted a des- patch from the Mississippi Convention, an- nouncing its unconditional secession from the Union, and desiring on the basis of the old Constitution to form a new union with the seceding States. The House adopted yeas 77, nays 61, an amendment submit- ting to a vote of the people the question of referring for their decision any action of the Convention dissolving Virginia's con- nection with the Union, or changing its organic law. The Richmond Enquirer denounced " the emasculation of the Con- vention Bill as imperilling all that Virgin- ians held most sacred and dear." 16th. Commissioners Hopkins and Gil- mer of Alabama received in the Legisla- ture. 17th. Resolutions passed proposing the Crittenden resolutions as a basis for adjust- ment, and requesting General Government to avoid collision with Southern States. Gov. Letcher communicated the Resolu- tions of the Legislature of New York, ex- pressing the utmost disdain, and saying that " the threat conveyed can inspire no terror in freemen." The resolutions were directed to be returned to the Governor of New York. 18th. $1,000,000 appropriated for the defence of the State. 19th. Passed resolve that if all efforts to reconcile the differences of the country fail, every consideration of honor and in- terest demands that Virginia shall unite her destinies with her sister slayeholding States. Also that no reconstruction of the Union can be permanent or satisfactory, which will not secure to each section self- protecting power against any invasion of the Federal Union upon the reserved rights of either. (See Hunter's proposition for adjustment.) 21st. Replied to Commissioners Hop- kins and Gilmer, expressing inability to make a definite response until after the meeting of the State Convention. 22d. The Governor transmitted the re- solutions of the Legislature of Ohio, with unfavorable comment. His message was tabled by a small majority. 30th. The House of Delegates to-day tabled the resolutions of the Pennsylvania Legislature, but referred those of Tennes- see to the Committee on Federal Relations. February 20th. The resolutions of the Legislature of Michigan were returned without comment. 28th. Ex-President Tyler and James A. Seddon, Commissioners to the Peace Con- gress, presented their report, and denounced the recommendation of that body as a de- lusion and a sham, and as an insult and an offense to the South. Proceedings of Virginia Convention. February 4th. Election of delegates to the Convention. 13th. Convention met. 14th. Credentials of John S. Preston, Commissioner from South Carolina, Fulton Anderson from Mississippi, and Henry L. Benning from Georgia, were received. 18th. Commissioners from Mississippi and Georgia heard ; both pictured the dan- ger of Virginia remaining with the North; neither contemplated such an event as re- union. 19th. The Commissioner from South Carolina was heard. He said his people believed the Union unnatural and mon- strous, and declared that there was no hunfan force no sanctity of human touch, that could re-unite the people of the North with the people of the South that it could never be done unless the economy of God were changed. 92 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK I. 20th. A committee reported that in all but sixteen counties, the majority for sub- mitting the action of the Convention to a vote of the people was 52,857. Numerous resolutions on Federal Relations intro- duced, generally expressing attachment to the Union, but denouncing coercion. 26th. Mr. Goggin of Bedford, in his speech, denied the right of secession, but admitted a revolutionary remedy for wrongs committed upon a State or section, and said wherever Virginia went he was with her. March 2d. Mr. Goode of Bedford offered a resolution that, as the powers delegated to the General Government by Virginia had been perverted to her injury, and as the Crittenden propositions as a basis of adjustment had been rejected by their Northern confederates, therefore every consideration of duty, interest, honor and patriotism requires that Virginia should de- clare her qonnection with the Government to be dissolved. 5th. The thanks of the State were voted to Hon. John J. Crittenden, by yeas 107, nays 16, for his efforts to bring about an honorable adjustment of the national diffi- culties. Mr. Harvie of Amelia offered a resolution, requesting Legislature to make needful appropriations to resist any attempt of the Federal authorities to hold, occupy or possess the property and places claimed by the United States in any of the seceded States, or those that may withdraw or col- lect duties or imposts in the same. . 9th. Three reports were made from the Committee on Federal Relations. The majority proposed to submit to the other States certain amendments to the Constitu- tion, awaiting the response of non-slave- holding States before determining whether " she will resume the powers granted by her under the Constitution of the United States, and throw herself upon her reserved rights ; meanwhile insisting that no coer- cion be attempted, the Federal forts in se- ceded States be not reinforced, duties be not collected, etc.," and proposing a Con- vention at Frankfort, Kentucky, the last Monday in May, of the States of Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas. Henry A. Wise "differed in details, and went fur- ther in the same direction. Messrs. Lewis E. Harvie, Robert L. Montague and Sam- uel C. Williams recommended the immedi- ate passage of an Ordinance of Secession. Mr. Barbour of Culpeper insisted upon the immediate adoption by the non-slavehold- ing States of needed guarantees of safety, and provided for the appointment of three Commigsioners to confer with the ConYed- erate authorities at Montgomery. 19th. Committee on Federal Relations reported proposed amendments to the Constitution, which were the substitute of Mr. Franklin of Pa., in "Peace Confer- ence," changed by using the expression " involuntary servitude " in place of " per- sons held to service." The right of owners of slaves is not to be impaired by congres- sional or territorial law, or any pre-exist- ing law in territory hereafter acquired. Involuntary servitude, except for crime, to be prohibited north of 3630 / , but shall not be prohibited by Congress or any Ter- ritorial legislature south of that line. The third section has some verbal alterations, providing somewhat better security for Eroperty in transit. The fifth section pro- ibits the importation of slaves from places beyond the limits of the United States. The sixth makes some verbal changes in relation to remuneration for fugitives by Congress, and erases the clause relative to the securing of privileges and immunities. The seventh forbids the granting of the elective franchise and right to hold office to persons of the African race. The eighth provides that none of these amendments, nor the third paragraph of the second sec- tion of the first article of the Constitution, nor the third paragraph of the second sec- tion of the fourth article thereof, shall be amended or abolished without the consent of all the States. 25th. The Committee of the Whole re- fused (yeas 4, nays 116) to strike out the majority report and insert Mr. Carlile's " Peace Conference " substitute. 26th. The Constitution of the " Confede- rate" States, proposed by Mr. Hall as a sub- stitute for the report of the committee, re- jected yeas 9, nays 78. 28th. The first and second resolutions reported by the committea adopted. April 6th. The ninth resolution of the majority report came up. Mr. Bouldin offered an amendment striking out the whole, and inserting a substitute declaring that the independence of the seceded States should be acknowledged without delay, which was lost yeas 68, nays 71. 9th. Mr. Wise's substitute for the tenth resolution, to the effect that Virginia re- cognizes the independence of the seceding States was adopted yeas 128, nays 20. April 17. Ordinance of Secession passed in secret session yeas 88, nays 55, one excused, and eight not voting. Same day the Commissioners adopted and ratified the Constitution of the Provi- sional Government of the " Confederate " States of America, this ordinance to cease to have legal effect if the people of Vir- ginia voting upon the Ordinance of Seces- sion should reject it. 25th. A Convention was made between Commissioners of Virginia, chosen by the Convention, and A. H. Stephens, Commis- sioner for " Confederates," stipulating that Virginia until she became a member of the Confederacy should place her military BOOK I.] PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 93 force under the direction of the President of the " Confederate " States ; also turn over to " Confederate " States all her pub- lic property, naval stores, and munitions of war. bigned by J. Tyler, W. B. Preston, S. McD. Moore, James P. Holcombe, Jas. C. Bruce, Lewis E. Harvie for Virginia ; and A. H. Stephens for " Confederate " States. June 25th. Secession vote announced as 128,884 for, and 32,134 against. July. The Convention passed an ordi- nance to the effect that any citizen of Vir- ginia holding office under the Government of the United States after the 31st of July, 1861, should be forever banished from the State, and be declared an alien enemy. Also that any citizen of Virginia, hereafter undertaking to represent the State of Vir- ginia in the Congress of the United States, should, in addition to the above penalties, be considered guilty of treason, and his property be liable to confiscation. A pro- vision was inserted exempting from the penalties of the act all officers of theUnited estates outside of the United States, or of the Confederate States, until after July 1st, 1862. KENTUCKY. December 12th, 1860. Indiana militia offer their services to quell servile insur- rection. Gov. Magoffin declines accepting them. January 17th, 1861. Legislature con- vened. 22d. The House by a vote of 87 to 6 re- solved to resist the invasion of the South at all hazards. 27th. Legislature adopted the Virginia resolutions requiring the Federal Govern- ment to protect Slavery in the Territories and to guarantee the right of transit of slaves through the Free States. February 2d. The Senate passed by a vote of 25 to 11, resolutions appealing to the Southern States to stop the revolution, protesting against Federal coercion and providing that the Legislature reassemble on the 24th of April to hear the responses from sister States, also in favor of making an application to call a National Conven- tion for proposing amendments to the Con- stitution of the United States, also by a vote of 25 to 14 declared jt inexpedient at this time to call a State Convention. 5th. The House by a vote of 54 to 40 passed the above resolutions. March 22d. State Rights Convention as- sembled. Adopted resolutions denouncing any attempt on the part of the Govern- ment to collect revenue as coercion ; and affirming that, in case of any such attempt, the border States should make common cause with the Southern Confederacy. They also recommended a border State Convention. April 24th. Gov. Magoffin called an extra session of the Legislature. May 20th. Gov. Magoffin issued a neu- trality proclamation. September llth. The House of Repre- sentatives by a vote of 71 to 26, adopted a resolution directing the Governor to issue a proclamation ordering the Confederate troops to evacuate Kentucky soil. The Governor vetoed the resolution, which was afterwards passed over his veto, and accordingly he issued the required procla- mation. , October 29th. Southern Conference met at Russellville. H. C. Burnett elected Chairman, R. McKee Secretary, T. S. Bryan Assistant Secretary. Remained in secret session two days and then adjourned sine die. A series of resolutions reported by G. W. Johnson were adopted. They recite the unconstitutional and oppressive acts of the Legislature, proclaim revolu- tion, provide for a Sovereignty Convention at Russellville, on the 18th of November, recommend the organization of county guards, to be placed in the service of and paid by the Confederate States Govern- ment ; pledge resistance to all Federal and State taxes, for the prosecution of the war on the part of the United States ; and ap- point Robert McKee, John C. Breckin- ridge, Humphrey Marshall, Geo. W. Ew- ing, H. W. Bruce, Geo. B. Hodge, William Preston, Geo. W. Johnson, Blanton Dun- can, and P. B. Thompson to carry out the resolutions. November 18th. Convention met and remained in session three days. 20th. It passed a Declaration of Inde- pendence and an Ordinance of Secession. A Provisional Government consisting of a Governor, Legislative Council of ten, a Treasurer, and an Auditor were agreed upon. Geo. W. Johnson was chosen Gov- ernor. Legislative Council were : Willis B. Machen, John W. Crockett, James P. p ,ates, Jas. S. Chrisman, Phil. B. Thomp- son, J. P. Burnside, H. W. Bruce, J. W. Moore, E. M. Bruce, Geo. B. Hodge. MARYLAND. Nov. 27th, 1860. Gov. Hicks declined to call a special session of the Legislature, in response to a request for such convening from Thomas G. Pratt, Sprigg Harwood, J. S. Franklin, N. H. Green, Llewellyn Boyle, and J. Pinkney. December 19th. Gov. Hicks replied to A. H. Handy, Commissioner from Missis- sippi, declining to accept the programme of Secession. 20th. Wm. H. Collins, E treat them in any other way than as neighbors, and that he had no dis- position to withhold from them any consti- tutional right. He assured the people that they would have all of their rights under the Constitution ' not grudgingly, but freely and fairly.' " He was peacefully inaugurated on the 4th of March, and yet AVashington was crowded as never before by excited multi- tudes. The writer himself witnessed the military arrangements of Gen'l Scott for preserving the peace, and with armed ca- valry lining every curb stone on the line of march, it would have been difficult in- deed to start or continue a riot, though it was apparent that many in the throng were ready to do it if occasion offered. The inaugural ceremonies were more than usually impressive. On the eastern front of the capitol, surrounded by such of the members of the Senate and House who had not resigned their seats and entered the Confederacy, the Diplomatic Corps, the Judges of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Taney, the author of the Dred Scott decision; the higher officers of Army and Navy, while close by the side of the new President stood the retiring one James Buchanan tall, dignified, reserved, and to the eye of the close observer appa- rently deeply grieved at the part his party and position had compelled him to play in a National drama which was now reaching still another crisis. Near by, too, stood Douglas (holding Lincoln's hat) more gloomy than was his wont, but determined as he had ever been. Next to the two Presidents he was most observed. If the country could then have been pacified, Lincoln's inaugural was well cal- culated to do it. That it exercised a wholesome influence in behalf of the Union, * From the " History of Abraham Lincoln and th Overthrow of Slavery," by lion. Isaac N. Arnold. BOOK i.] MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 121 and especially in the border States, soon became apparent. Indeed, its sentiments seemed for weeks to check the wild spirit of secession in the cotton States, and it took all the efforts of their most fiery ora- tors to rekindle the flame which seemed to have been at its highest when Major An- derson was compelled to evacuate Fort Moultrie. It is but proper in this connection, to make a few quotations from the inaugural address, for Lincoln then, as he did during the remainder of his life, better reflected the more popular Eepublican sentiment than any other leader. The very first thought was upon the theme uppermost in the minds of all. We quote : " Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administra- tion their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their in- spection. It is found in nearly all the pub- lished speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that ' I have no purpose directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no law- ful right to do so, and I have no inclina- tion to do so.' Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar decla- rations, and had never recanted them. And more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to them- selves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read : ' Resolved, That the maintenance invio- late of the rights of the States, and es- pecially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to the balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our politi- cal fabric depend, and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes).' I now reiterate these sentiments ; and in doing so, I only press upon the public at- tention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the prop- erty, peace, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause as cheerfully to one section as to Another." After conveying this peaceful assurance, he argued the question in his own way, and in a way matchless for its homely force : " Physically speaking, we cannot sepa- rate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an im- passable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other ; but the different parts of our coun- try cannot do this. They cannot but re- main face to face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that in- tercourse more advantageous or more satis- factory after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties be more faith- fully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends ? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always ; and when after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you. " This country, with its institutions, be- longs to the people who inhabit it. When- ever they shall grow weary of the existing Government they can exercise their con- stitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or over- throw it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitu- tion amended. While I make no recom- mendation of amendments, I fully recog- nize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the in- strument itself; and I should under exist- ing circumstances, favor rather than op- pose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems pref- erable, in that it allows amendments to ori- ginate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others, not es- pecially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse. I under- stand a proposed amendment to the Con- stitution which amendment, however, I have not seen has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institu- tions of the States, including that of per- sons held to service. To avoid misconstruc- tion of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amend- ments so far as to say that, holding such a provision now to be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable. 6 The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix terms for 122 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. the separation of the States. The people themselves can do this also if they choose ; but the Executive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present Government, as it came to his hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his successor. " In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow- countrymen, and not in mine, is the mo- mentous issue of civil war. The Govern- ment will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the ag- gressors. You have no oath registered' in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'pre- serve, protect and defend it.' "I am loth to close. We are not ene- mies but friends. We must not be ene- mies. Though passion may have strained, it must not creak our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." Lincoln appointed a Cabinet in thorough accord with his own views, and well suited to whatever shades of difference there were in the Republican party. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State, and Salmon P. Chase represented the more advanced anti-slavery element; General Simon Cameron, Secre- tary of War, from the first saw onlv a pro- longed war in which superior Northern resources and appliances would surely win, while Seward expressed the view that " all troubles would be over in three months ;" Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy ; Caleb B. Smith of the Interior ; Edward Bates, Attorney General, and Montgomery Blair, Postmaster General, represented the more conservative Republican view the two last named being well adapted to retaining the National nold on the Border States. Political events now rapidly succeeded each other. As early as March 11, John Forsyth of Alabama and Martin J. Craw- ford of Georgia, submitted to the Secretary of State a proposition for an unofficial inter- view. Mr. Seward the next day, from "purely public considerations," declined. On the 13th the same gentlemen sent a sealed communication, saying they had been duly accredited by the Confederate government as Commissioners, to negotiate for a speedy adjustment of all questions growing out of the political separation of seven States, which had formed a govern- ment of their own, etc. They closed this remarkable document by requesting the Secretary of State to appoint as early a day as possible in order that they may present to the President of the United States the credentials which they bear, and the object* of the mission with which they are charged. Mr. Seward's reply in substance, said that his " official duties were confined, subject to the direction of the President, to the conducting of the foreign relations of the country, and do not at all embrace domestic questions or questions arising be- tween the several States and the Federal Government, is unable to comply with the request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, to appoint a day on which they may pre- sent the evidences of their authority and the object of their visit to the President of the United States. On the contrary, he is obliged to state to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford that he has no authority, nor is he at liberty to recognize them as diploma- tic agents, or hold correspondence or other communication with them." An extended correspondence followed, but the administration in all similar cases, refused to recognize the Confederacy as a government in any way. On the 13tb of April the President granted an inter- view to Wm. Ballard Preston, Alex. H. Stuart, and George W. Randolph, who had been sent by the Convention of Virginia, then in session, under a resolution recited in the President's reply, the text of which is herewith given : GENTLEMEN: As a committee of the Virginia Convention, now in session, you present me a preamble and resolution in these words : " Whereas, in the opinion of this Con vention, the uncertainty which prevails in the public mind as to the policy which the Federal Executive intends to pursue toward the seceded States is extremely injurious to the industrial and commercial interests of the country, tends to keep up an excite- ment which is unfavorable to the adjust- ment of pending difficulties, and threatens a disturbance of the public peace : Therefore, "Resolved, That a committee of three delegates be appointed to wait on the Pre- sident of the United States, present to him this preamble and resolution, and respect- fully ask him to communicate to this Con- vention the policy which the Federal Exe- cutive intends to pursue in regard to the Confederate States." " In answer I have to say,-that, having at the beginning of my official term ex- pressed my intended policy as plainly as I was able, it is with deep regret and some mortification I now learn that there is great and injurious uncertainty in the pub- lic mind as to what that policy is, and what course I intend to pursue. " Not having as yet seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue the course marked out in the inaugural address. I commend a careful consideration of the whole document as the best expression J can give of my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now repeat : BOOKI.] MB. LINCOLN'-S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 123 " The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and imposts ; but beyond what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere." " By the words 'property and places be- longing to the Government' I chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were in the possession of the Govern- ment when it came into my hands. " But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to drive the United States authority from these places, an un- provoked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold myself at liberty to repossess, if I can, like places which had been seized before the Government was devolved upon me. And, in any event, I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by force. " In case it proves true that Fort Sum- ter has been assaulted, as is reported, I shall perhaps cause the United States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim to have seceded, believing that the commencement of actual war against the Government justifies and possibly demands it." " I scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and property situated within the States which claim to have seceded as yet belonging to the Govern- ment of the United States as much as they did before the supposed secession. " Whatever else I may do for the pur- pose, I shall not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any armed invasion of any part of the country not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the border of the country. " From the fact that I have quoted a part of the inaugural address, it must not inferred that I repudiate any other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what I now say of the mails may be regarded as a modification." We have given the above as not only fair but interesting samples of the semi- official and official transactions and corre- spondence of the time. To give more could not add to the interest of what is but a description of the political situation. The Border states and some others were "halting between two opinions." North Carolina at first voted down a proposition to secede by 46,671 for, to 47,333 against, but the secessionists called another con- vention in May, the work of which the people ratified, the minority, however, being very large. Before Lincoln had entered ofhce most of the Southern forts, arsenals, docks, cus- tom houses, etc., had been seized, and now that preparations were being made for ac- tive warfare by the Confederacy, many offi- cers of the army and navy resigned or de- serted, and joined it. The most notable were General Robert E. Lee, who for a time hesitated as to his " duty," and Gene- ral David E. Twiggs, the second officer in rank in the United States Army, but who had purposely been placed by Secretary Floyd in command of the Department of Texas to facilitate his joining the Con- federacy, which he intended to do from the beginning. All officers were permitted to go, the administration not seeking to restrain any, under the belief that until some open act of war was committed it ought to remain on the defensive. This was wise political policy, for it did more than all else to hold the Border States, the position of which Douglas understood fully as well as any statesman of that hour. It is remarked of Douglas (in Arnold's " His- tory of Abraham Lincoln"} that as early as January 1, 1861, he said to General Charles Stewart, of New York, who had made a New Year's call at his residence in Washington, and inquired, " What will be the result of the efforts of Jefferson Davis, and his associates, to divide the Union?" " Rising, and looking," says my informant, " like one inspired, Douglas replied, ' The cotton States are making an effort to draw in the border States to their schemes of secession, and I am but too fearful they will succeed. If they do succeed, there will be the most terrible civil war the world has ever seen, lasting for years.' Pausing a moment, he exclaimed, 'Vir- ginia will become a charnel house, but the end will be the triumph of the Union cause. One of their first efforts will be to take possession of this Capitol to give them prestige abroad, but they will never suc- ceed in taking it the North will rise en masse to defend it ; but Washington will become a city of hospitals the churches will be used for the sick and wounded n this house (Minnesota block, after- wards, and during the war, the Douglas Hospital) may be devoted to that purpose aefore the end of the war.' The friend to whom this was said inquired, ' What justi- fication for all this?' Douglas replied, There is NO justification, nor any pretense of any if they remain in the Union, I will o as far as the Constitution will permit, to maintain their just rights, and I do not doubt a majority of Congress would do the same. But,' said he, again rising on his feet, and extending his arm, ' if the South- rn States attempt to secede from this Union, without further cause, I am in fa- vor of their having just so many slaves, and just so much slave territory, as they can hold at the point of the bayonet, and NO MOKE.' " In the border states of Maryland, Vir- inia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Mis- 124 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. souri there were sharp political contests between the friends of secession and of the Union. Ultimately the Unionists tri- umphed in Maryland, Kentucky and Mis- souri in the latter state by the active aid of U. S. troops in Maryland and Ken- tucky by military orders to arrest any mem- bers of the Legislature conspiring to take their states out. In Tennessee, the Union men, under the lead of Andrew Johnson, Governor ("Parson") Brownlow, Horace Maynard and others, who made a most gal- -lant fight to keep the state in, and they had the sympathy of the majority of the people of East Tennessee. The Secessionists took Virginia out April 17th, and North Caro- lina May 20th. The leading Southerners encouraged the timid and hesitating by saying the North would not make war; that the political divisions would be too great there, and they were supported in this view by the speeches and letters of lead- ers like Clement L. Vallandigham. On the other hand they roused the excitable by warlike preparations, and, as we have stated, to prevent reconsideration on the part of those who had seceded, resolved to fire upon Sumter. Beauregard acted under direct instructions from the govern- ment at Montgomery when he notified Ma- jor Anderson on the llth of April to sur- render Fort Sumter. Anderson replied that he would evacuate on the 15th, but the original summons called for surrender by the 12th, and they opened their fire in ad- vance or the time fixed for evacuation a fact which clearly established the purpose to bring about a collision. It was this ag- gressive spirit which aroused and united the North, and made extensive political division therein impossible. The Southern leaders, ever anxious for the active aid of the Border States, soon saw that they could only acquire it through higher sectional excitement than any yet cultivated, and they acted accordingly. Roger A. Pryor, in a speech at Richmond April 10th, gave expression to this thought, when he said in response to a serenade : "Gentlemen, I thank you, especially that you have at last annihilated this ac- cursed Union, [applause,] reeking with corruption, and insolent with excess of tyranny. Thank God, it is at last blasted and riven by the lightning wrath of an outraged and indignant people. [Loud applause.] Not onlv is it gone, but gone forever. [Cries of ' You're right,' and ap- plause.] In the expressive language of Scripture, it is water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up [ Applause.] Like Lucifer, son of the morning, it has fallen, never to rise again. [Continued applause.] For my part, gentlemen, if Abra- ham Lincoln arid Hannibal Hamlin to- morrow were to abdicate their offices and were to give me a blank sheet of paper to write the conditions of reannexation to the defunct Union, I would scornfully spurn the overture. * * * * I invoke you, and I make it in some sort a personal appeal personal so far as it tends to our assistance in Virginia I do invoke you, in your demonstrations of popular opinion, in your exhibitions of official intent, to give no countenance to this idea of recon- struction. [Many voices, emphatically, ' Never,' and applause.] In Virginia they all say, if reduced to the dread dilemma of this memorable alternative, they will es- pouse the cause of the South as against the interest of the Northern Confederacy, but they whisper of reconstruction, and they say Virginia must abide in the Union, with the idea of reconstructing the Union which you have annihilated. I pray you, gentle- men, rob them of that idea. Proclaim to the world that upon no condition, and under no circumstance, will South Carolina ever again enter into political association with the Abolitionists of New England. [Cries of ' Never," and applause.] " Do not distrust Virginia. As sure as to-morrow's sun will rise upon us, just so sure will Virginia be a member of this Southern Confederation. [Applause.] And I will tell you, gentlemen, what will put her in the Southern Confederation in less than an hour by Shrewsbury clock STRIKE A BLOW ! [Tremendous applause.] The very moment that blood is shed, old Virginia will make common cause with her sisters of th e South. [Applause.] It is impossible she should do otherwise." Warlike efforts were likewise used to keep some of the states firmly to their pur- pose. Hon. Jeremiah Clemens, formerly United States Senator from Alabama, and a member of the Alabama Seceding Con- vention who resisted the movement until adopted by the body, at an adjourned Re- construction meeting held at Hunteville, Ala., March 13, 1864, made this significant statement : Mr. Clemens, in adjourning the meeting, said he would tell the Alabamians how their state was got out of the Union. " In 1861," said Mr. C., " shortly after the Con- federate Government was put in operation, I was in the city of Montgomery. One day I stepped into the office of the Secre- tary of War, General Walker, and found there, engaged in a very excited discussion, Mr. Jefferson Davis, Mr. Memminger, Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Gilchrist, a member of our Legislature from Loundes county, and a number of other prominent gentlemen. They were discussing the propriety of im- mediately opening fire on Fort Sumter, to which General Walker, the Secretary of War, appeared to be opposed. Mr. Gil- christ said to him, ' Sir, unless you sprinkle blood in the face of the people of Alabama they will be back in the old Union in less BOOK i.] MB. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 125 than ten days ! ' The next day General Beauregard opened his batteries on Sumter, and Alabama was saved to the Confed- eracy." When the news flashed along the wires that Sumter had been fired upon, Lincoln immediately used his war powers and is- sued' a call for 75,000 troops. All of the northern governors responded with prompt- ness and enthusiasm ; but this was not true of the governors of the southern states which at that time had not seceded, and the Border States. We take from McPhexson's admirable condensation, the evasive or hostile replies of the Governors referred to, and follow it with his statement of the military calls and legislation of both governments, but for the purposes of this work omit details which are too extended. REPLIES OF SOUTHERN STATE GOVERNORS TO LINCOLN'S CALL FOR 75,000 TROOPS. Governor BURTON, of Delaware, iesued a proclamation, April 26, recommending the formation of volunteer companies for the protection of the lives and property of the people of Delaware against violence of any sort to which they may be exposed, the companies not being subject to be or- dered by the Executive into the United States service, the law not vesting him with such authority, but having the option of offering their services to the General Government for the defence of its capital and the support of the Constitution and laws of the country. Governor HICKS, of Maryland, May 14, issued a proclamation for the troops, stat- ing that the four regiments would be de- tailed to serve within the limits of Mary- land or for the defence of the capital of the United States. Governor LETCHER, of Virginia, replied that " The militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers of Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in view. Your object is to subjugate the southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the Constitution or the act of 1795 will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil war, and having done o we will meet it in a spirit as determined as the Administration has exhibited to- ward the South." Governor ELLIS, of North Carolina, re- plied April 15 : " Your dispatch is received, and if gen- uine which its extraordinary character leads me to doubt I have to say in reply that I regard the levy of troops made by the Administration, for the purpose of sub- iugating the States of the South, as in vio- lation of the Constitution and a usurpation of power. I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and to this war upon the liberties of a free peo- ple. You can get no troops from North Carolina. I will reply more in detail when your call is received by mail. 1 ' Governor MAQOFFIN, of Kentucky, re- plied, April 15 : " Your dispatch is received. In answer I say emphatically, Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subdu- ing her sister Southern States." Governor HARRIS, of Tennessee, replied, April 18: " Tennessee will not furnish a single man for coercion, but fifty thousand, if necessa- ry, for the defence of our rights or those of our southern brethren." Governor JACKSON, of Missouri, replied : " Your requisition is illegal, unconstitu- tional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with." Governor RECTOR, of Arkansas, replied, April 22 : " None will be furnished. The demand is only adding insult to injury." ALL OTHER CALLS FOR TROOPS. May 3, 1861 The President called for thirty-nine volunteer regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry, with a mini- mum aggregate of 34,506 officers and en- listed men, and a maximum of 42,034; and for the enlistment of 18,000 seamen. May 3, 1861 The President directed an increase of the regular army by eight regi- ments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one of artillery minimum aggregate, 18,054; maximum, 22,714. August 6 Congress legalized this in- crease, and all the acts, orders, and pro- clamations respecting the Army and Navy. July 22 and 25, 1861 Congress author- ized the enlistment of 500,000 volunteers. September 17, 1861 Commanding offi- cer at Hatteras Inlet, N. C., authorized to enlist a regiment of loyal North Carolini- ans. November 7, 1861 The Governor of Missouri was authorized to raise a force of State militia for State defence. December 3, 1861 The Secretary of War directed that no more regiments, bat- teries, or independent companies be raised by the Governors of States, except upon the special requisition of the War Depart- ment. July 2, 1862 The President called for three hundred thousand volunteers. Under the act of July 17, 1862. August 4, 1862 The President ordered a draft of three hundred thousand militia, for nine months unless sooner discharged ; and directed that if any State shall not, by the 15th of August, furnish its quota of the additional 300,000 authorized by law, the deficiency of volunteers in that State will also be made up by special draft from the 126 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. militia. Wednesday, September 3, was subsequently fixed for the draft. May 8, 1863 Proclamation issued, de- fining the relations of aliens to the con- scription act, holding all aliens who have declared on oath their intention to become citizens and may be in the country within sixty-five days from date, and all who have declared their intention to become citizens and have voted. June 15, 1863 One hundred thousand men, for six months, called to repel the invasion of Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. October 17, 1863 A proclamation was issued for 300,000 volunteers, to serve for three years or the war, not, however, ex- ceeding three years, to fill the places of those whose terms expire "during the coming year," these being in addition to the men raised by the present draft. In States in default under this call, January 5, 1864, a draft shall be made on that day. February 1, 1864 Draft for 500,000 men for three years or during the war, ordered for March 10, 1864. March 14, 1864 Draft for 200,000 ad- ditional for the army, navy and marine corps, ordered for April 15, 1864, to supply the force required for the navy and to pro- vide an adequate reserve force for all con- tingencies. April 23, 186485,000 one hundred day men accepted, tendered by the Governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wis- consin ; 30,000, 20,000, 20,000, 10,000 and 5,000 being tendered respectively. UNION MILITARY LEGISLATION. 1861, July 22 The President was au- thorized to accept the services of volun- teers, not exceeding five hundred thousand, for a period not exceeding three years. July 27, this authority was duplicated. 1861, July 27 Nine regiments of in- fantry, one of cavalry, and one of artillery, added to the regular army. August 5 Passed bill approving and legalizing the orders of the President re- specting the armv and navy, issued from 4th of March to that date. 1862, July 17 Authorized the President, when calling forth the militia of the States, to specify the period of such service, not exceeding nine months ; and if by reason of defect* in existing laws or in the execu- tion of them, it shall be found necessary to provide for enrolling the militia, the President was authorized to make all necessary regulations, the enrollment to in- clude all able bodied male citizens between eighteen and forty-five, and to be appor- tioned according to representative popula- tion. He was authorized, in addition to the volunteers now authorized, to accept 100.000 infantry, for nine months; also, for twelve months, to fill up old regiments, a* many as may be presented for the pur- pose. 1863, February 7 Authorized the Gov- ernor of Kentucky, by the consent and under the , direction of the President, to raise twenty thousand volunteers, for twelve months, for service within the limits of the State, for repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, and guarding and protecting the public property two regi- ments to be mounted riflemen. With the consent of the President, these troops may be attached to, and become a part of, the body of three years' volunteers. 1863, March 3 The conscription act passed. It included as a part of the na- tional forces, all able bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of for- eign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, be- tween the ages of twenty-one and forty- five years, except such as are rejected as physically or mentally unfit for the service ; also, the Vice President, the judges of the various courts of the United States, the heads of the various executive departments of the Government, and the Governors of the several States ; also, the only son liable to military service, of a widow dependent upon his labor for support ; also, the only son of aged or infirm parent or parents, dependent upon his labor for support ; also, where there are two or more sons of aged or infirm parents, subject to draft, the father, or if he be dead, the mother, may elect which son shall be exempt ; also, the only brother of children not twelve years old, having neither father nor mother, de- pendent upon his labor for support ; also, the father of motherless children under twelve years of age, dependent upon his labor for support ; also, where there are a father and sons in the same family and household, and two of them are in military service of the United States as non-com- missioned oflicers, musicians, or privates, the residue of such family ; provided that no person who has been convicted of any felony shall be enrolled or permitted to serve in said forces. It divided the forces into two classes : 1st, those between twenty and thirty-five and all unmarried persons above thirty-five and under forty-five ; 2d, all others liable to military duty. It di- vided the country into districts, in each of which an enrollment board was established. The persons enrolled were made subject to be called into the military service for two years from July 1, 1863, and continue in service for three years. A drafted person was allowed to furnish an acceptable sub- stitute, or pay $300, and be discharged from further liability under that draft. Persons failing to report, to be considered deserters. Allpersons drafted shall be as- signed by the Presid -nt to military duty BOOKI.] MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 127 in such corps, regiments, or branches of the service as the exigencies of the service may require. 1864, Feb. 24 Provided for equalizing the draft by calculating the quota of each district or precinct and counting the num- ber previously furnished by it. Any per- son enrolled may furnish an acceptable substitute who is not liable to draft, nor, at any time, in the military or naval ser- vice of the United States ; and such per- son so furnishing a substitute shall be ex- empt from draft during the time for which such substitute shall not be liable to draft, not exceeding the time for which such sub- stitute shall have been accepted. If such substitute is liable to draft, the name of the person furnishing him shall again be laced on the roll and shall be liable to raft in future calls, but not until the pre- sent enrollment shall be exhausted. The exemptions are limited to such as are re- jected as physically or mentally unfit for the service ; to persons actually in the military or naval service of the Government, and all persons who have served in the military or naval service two years during the pre- sent war and been honorably discharged therefrom. The separate enrollment of classes is re- pealed and the two classes consolidated. Members of religious denominations, who shall by oath or affirmation declare that they are conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms, and who are pro- hibited from doing so by the rules and articles of faith and practice of said re- ligious denomination, shall when drafted, be considered non-combatants, and be as- signed to duty in the hospitals, or the care of freedmen, or shall pay $300 to the benefit of sick and wounded soldiers, if they give proof that their deportment has been uniformly consistent with their de- claration. No alien who has voted in county, State or Territory shall, because of alienage, be exempt from draft. " All able-bodied male colored persons between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, resident in the United States, shall be enrolled according to the provisions of this act, and of the act to which this is an amendment, and form part of the national forces ; and when a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the ser- vice of the United States, his master shall have a certificate thereof; and thereupon such slave shall be free, and the bounty of one hundred dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, shall be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was owing service or labor at the time of his muster into the service of the United States. The Secretary of War shall appoint a com- mission in each of the slave States repre- tented in Congress, charged to award to each loyal person to whom a colored volun- teer may owe service a just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars, for each such colored volunteer, payable out of the fund derived from commuta- tions, and every such colored volunteer on being mustered into the service shall be free. And in all cases where men of color have been enlisted, or have volunteered in the military service of the United States, all the provisions of this act so far as the payment of bounty and compensation are provided, shall be equally applicable, as to those who may be hereafter recruited. But men of color, drafted or enlisted, or who may volunteer into the military service, while they shall be credited on the quotas of the several States, or sub-divisions of States, wherein they are respectively draft- ed, enlisted, or shall volunteer, shall not be assigned as State troops, but shall be mustered into regiments or companies as United States colored troops." 1864, Feb. 29 Bill passed reviving the grade of Lieutenant General in the army, and Major General Ulysses S. Grant was appointed March 2d. 1864, June 15 All persons of color shall receive the same pay and emoluments, ex- cept bounty, as other soldiers of the regular or volunteer army from and after Jan. 1, 1864, the President to fix the bounty for those hereafter mustered, not exceeding $100. 1864, June 20 The monthly pay of pri- vates and non-commissioned officers was fixed as follows, on and after May 1 : Sergeant majors, twenty-six dollars ; quartermaster and commissary sergeants of Cavalry, artillery, and infantry, twenty- two dollars ; first sergeants of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, twenty-four dollars ; sergeants of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, twenty dollars ; sergeants of ordnance, sappers and miners, and pontoniers, thirty- four dollars ; corporals of ordnance, sap- pers and miners, and pontoniers, twenty dollars ; privates of engineers and ordnance of the first class, eighteen dollars, and of the second class, sixteen dollars ; corporals of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, eighteen dollars ; chief buglers of cavalry, twenty- three dollars ; buglers, sixteen dollars ; far- riers and blacksmiths, of cavalry, and arti- ficers of artillery, eighteen dollars ; privates of cavalry, artillery and infantry, sixteen dollars; principal musicians of artillery and infantry, twenty-two dollars; leaders of brigade and regimental bands, seventy- five dollars; musicians, sixteen dollars; hospital stewards of the first class, thirty- three dollars; hospital stewards of the second class, twenty-five dollars ; hospital stewards of the third class, twenty-three dollars." July 4 This bill became a law : Be it enacted, &c. That the President of 128 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. the United States may, at his discretion, at any time hereafter call for any number of men as volunteers for the respective terms of one, two, and three years for military service ; and any such volunteer, or, in ca&e of draft, as hereinafter provided, any sub- stitute, shall be credited to the town, town- ship, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of a county not so subdivided towards the quota of which he may have volunteered or engaged as a substitute; .and every volunteer who is accepted and mustered into the service for a term of one year, unless sooner discharged, shall re- ceive, and be paid by the United States, a bounty of one hundred dollars ; and if for a term of two years, unless sooner dis- charged, a bounty of two hundred dollars ; and if for a term of three years, unless sooner discharged, a bounty of three hun- dred dollars ; one third of which bounty shall be paid to the soldier at the time of his being mustered into the service, one- third at the expiration of one-half of his term of service, and one-third at the expi- ration of his term of service. And in case of his death while in service, the residue of his bounty unpaid shall be paid to his widow, if he shall have left a widow ; if not, to his children ; or if there be none, to his mother, if she be a widow. ******* SEC. 8. That all persons in the naval service of the United States, who have en- tered said service during the present rebel- lion, who have not been credited to the quota of any town, district, ward, or State, by reason of their being in said service and not enrolled prior to February twenty-four, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall be enrolled and credited to the quotas of the town, ward, district, or State, in which they respectively reside, upon satisfactory proof of their residence made to the Secre- tary of War. "CONFEDERATE" MILITARY LEGISLATION. February 28, 1861, (four days before the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln) The "Con- federate " Congress passed a bill provid- ing 1st. To enable the Government of the Confederate States to maintain its jurisdic- tion over all questions of peace and war, and to provide for thje public defence, the President be, and he is herebv authorized and directed to assume control of all mili- tary operations in every State, having re- ference to a connection with questions be- tween the said States, or any of them, and Powers foreign to themselves. 2d. The President was authorized to re- ceive from the several States the arms and munitions of war which have been ac- quired from the United States. 3d. He was authorized to receive into Government service such forces in the ser- vice of the States, as may be tendered, in such number as he may require, for any time not less than twelve months, unless sooner discharged. March 6, 1861 The President was au- thorized to employ the militia, military and naval forces of the Confederate States to repel invasion, maintain rightful possession of the territory, and secure public tran- quillity and independence against threat- ened assault, to the extent of 100,000 men, to serve for twelve months. May 4, 1861 One regiment of Zouaves authorized. May 6, 1861 Letters of marque and re- prisal authorized. 1861, August 8 The Congress author- ized the President to accept the services of 400,000 volunteers, to serve for not less than twelve months nor more than three years after they shall be mustered into ser- vice, unless sooner discharged. The .Richmond Enquirer of that date an- nounced that it was ascertained from offi- cial data, before the passage of the bill, that there were not less than 210,000 men then in the field. August 21 Volunteers authorized for local defence and special service. 1862, January Publishers of newspa- pers, or other printed matter are prohibited from giving the number, disposition, move- ment, or destination of the land or naval forces, or description of vessel, or battery, fortification, engine of war, or signal, un- less first authorized by the President or Congress, or the Secretary of War or Navy, or commanding officer of post, district, or expedition. The penalty is a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment not over twelve months. 1862, February The Committee on Na- val Affairs were instructed to inquire into the expediency of placing at the disposal of the President five millions of dollars to build gunboats. 1862 Bill passed to " regulate the de- struction of property under military neces- sity," referring particularly to cotton and tobacco. The authorities are authorized to destroy it to keep it from the enemy ; and owners, destroying it for the same purpose, are to be indemnified upon proof of the value and the circumstances of the de- struction. 1862, April 16 The first " conscription" bill became a law. 1864, February. The second conscription bill became a law. The Richmond Sentinel of February 17. 1864, contains a synopsis of what is called the military bill, heretofore forbidden to be printed : The first section provides that all white men residents of the Confederate States, between the ages of seventeen and fifty, shall be in the military service for the war. The second section provides that all be- BOOK i.] MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 129 tween eighteen and forty-five, now in ser- vice, shall be continued during the war in the same regiments, battalions, and com- panies to which they belong at the passage of this act, with the organization, officers, &c., provided that companies from one State organized against their consent, expressed at the time, with regrets, &c., from another State, shall have the privilege of being transferred to the same arm in a regiment from their own State, and men can be trans- ferred to a company from their own State. Section three gives a bounty eight months hence of $100 in rebel bonds. Section four provides that no person shall be relieved from the operations of this act heretofore discharged for disability, nor shall those who furnished substitutes be ex- empted, where no disability now exists ; but exempts religious persons who have paid an exemption tax. The tenth section provides that no per- son shall be exempt except the following : ministers, superintendents of deaf, dumb, and blind, or insane asylums ; one editor to each newspaper, and such employees as he may swear to be indispensable ; the Con- federate and State public printers, and the journeymen printers necessary to perform the public printing ; one apothecary to each drug store, who was and has been contin- uously doing business as such since Octo- ber 10, 1862 ; physicians over 30 years of age of seven years' practice, not including dentists ; presidents and teachers of col- leges, academies and schools, who have not less than thirty pupils ; superintendents of public hospitals established by law, and such physicians and nurses as may be in- dispensable for their efficient management. One agriculturist on such farm where there is no white male adult not liable to duty employing fifteen able-bodied slaves, between sixteen and fifty years of age, up- on the following conditions : The party exempted shall give bonds to deliver to the Government in the next twelve months, 100 pounds of bacon, or its equivalent in salt pork, at Government se- lection, and 100 pounds of beef for each such able-bodied slave employed on said farm at commissioner's rates. In certain cases this may be commuted in grain or other provisions. The person shall further bind himself to sell all surplus provisions now on hand, or which he may raise, to the Government, or the families of soldiers, at commissioner's rates, the person to be allowed a credit of 25 per cent, on any amount he may deliver in three months from the passage of this act; Provided that no enrollment since Feb. 1, 1864, shall deprive the person enrolled from the benefit of this exemption. In addition to the above, the Secretary of War is authorized to make such details as the public security requires. 9 The vote in the House of Representa- tives was yeas, 41 ; nays, 31. GUERRILLAS. 1862, April 21 The President was au- thorized to commission such officers as he may deem proper, with authority to form bands of partisan rangers, in companies, battalions or regiments, either as infantry or cavalry, to receive the same pay, rations, and quarters, and be subject to the same regulations as other soldiers. For any arms and munitions of war captured from the enemy by any body of partisan rangers, and delivered to any quartermaster at des- ignated place, the rangers shall pay their full value.* The following resolution, in relation to partisan service, was adopted by the Vir- ginia Legislature, May 17, 1862: Whereas, this General Assembly places a high estimate upon the value of the ran- ger or partisan service in prosecuting t'iie present war to a successful issue, and re- gards it as perfectly legitimate ; and it be- ing understood that a Federal commander on the northern border of Virginia has in- timated his purpose, if such service is not discontinued, to lay waste by fire the por- tion of our territory at present under his power. Resolved by the General Assembly, That in its opinion, the policy of employing such rangers and partisans ought to be carried out energetically, both by the authorities of this State and of the Confederate States, without the slightest regard to such threats. By another act, the President was au- thorized, in addition to the volunteer force authorized under existing laws, to accept the services of volunteers who may offer them, without regard to the place of en- listment, to serve for and during the exist- ing war. 1862, May 27 Major General John B. Floyd was authorized by the Legislature of Virginia, to raise ten thousand men, not now in service or liable to draft, for twelve months. 1862, September 27 The President was authorized to call out and place in the mil- itary service for three years, all white men who are residents, between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five, at the time the call may be made, not legally exempt. And such authority shall exist in the President, during the present war, as to all persons who now are, or hereafter may become eighteen years of age, and all persons be- tween eighteen and forty-five, once en- rolled, shall serve their full time. * 1864, February 15 Repealed the above act, but pro- vided for continuing organizations of partisan rangers acting as regular cavalry and so to continue ; and author- iring the Secretary of War to provide for uniting all bamls uf partiian 'rangers with other organization! and bringing them under the general discipline of thl pro- visional iiiiny. 130 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. THE TWENTY-NEGRO EXEMPTION LAW. 1862, October 11 Exempted certain classes, described in the repealing law of the next session, as follows : The dissatisfaction of the people with an act passed by the Confederate Congress, at its last session, by which persons owning a certain number of slaves were exempted from the operation of the conscription law, has led the members at the present session to reconsider their work, and already one branch has passed a bill for the repeal of the obnoxious law. This bill provides as follows : " The Congress of the Confederate States do enact, That so mifch of the act ap- proved October 11, 1862, as exempts from military service ' one person, either as agent, owner, or overseer, on each planta- tion on which one white person is required to be kept by the laws or ordinances of any State, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to military service, and in States having no such law, one person, as agent, owner, or overseer on such planta- tion of twenty negroes, and on which there is no white male adult not liab'e to mili- tary service ;' and also the following clause in said act, to wit : ' and furthermore, for additional police of every twenty negroes, on two or more plantations, within five miles of each other, and each having less than twenty negroes, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to military duty, one person, being the oldest of the owners or overseers on such plantations,' be and the same are hereby repealed ; and the persons so hitherto exempted by said clauses of said act are hereby made subject to military duty in the same manner that thev would be had said clauses never been embraced in said act." THE POSITION OP DOUGLAS. After the President had issued his first call, Douglas saw the danger to which the Capitol was exposed, and he promptly called upon Lincoln to express his full approval of the call. Knowing his politi- cal value and that of his following Lin- coln asked him to dictate a despatch to the Associated Press, which he did in these words, the original being left in the posses- sion of Hon. George Ashmun of Massachu- setts : ' April 18, 1861, Senator Douglas, called on the President, and had an interesting conversation, on the present condition of the countrv. The substance of it was, on the part of Mr. Douglas, that while he was unalterably opposed to the administration in all its political issue-", he was prepared to fullv sustain the President, in the exercise of all his Constitutional functions, to pre- serve the Union, maintain the Government, and defend the Federal Capitol. A firm po- licy and prompt action was necessary. The Capitol was in danger, and must be de- fended at all hazards, and at any expense of men and money. He spoke of the pre- sent and future, without any reference to the past." Douglas followed this with a great speech at Chicago, in which he uttered a sentence that vas soon quoted on nearly every Northern tongue. It was simply this, " fliat there now could be but two parties, patriots and traitors." It needed nothing more to rally the Douglas Democrats by the side of the Administration, and in the general feeling of patriotism awakened not only this class of Democrats, but many Northern supporters of Breckinridge also enlisted in the Union armies. The leaders who stood aloof and gave their sympathies to the South, were stigmatized as " Copper- heads," and these where they were so im- pudent as to give expression to their hos- tility, were as odious to the mass of North- erners as the Unionists of Tennessee and North Carolina were to the Secessionists with this difference that the latter were compelled to seek refuge in their moun- tains, while the Northern leader who sought to give " aid and comfort to the enemy " was either placed under arrest by the government or proscribed politically by his neighbors. Civil war is ever thus. Let us now pass to THE POLITICAL LEGISLATION INCIDENT TO THE WAR. The first session of the 37th Congress began July 4, 1861, and closed Aug. 6. The second began December 2, 1861, and closed July 17, 1862. The third began December 1, 1862 and closed March 4, 1863. All of these sessions of Congress were really embarrassed by the number of vol- unteers offering from the North, and suffi- ciently rapid provision could not be made for them. And as illustrative of how political lines had been broken, it need only be remarked that Benjamin F. Butler, the leader of the Northern wing of Breck- inridge's supporters, was commissioned as the first commander of the forces which Massachusetts sent to the field. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio the great West> all the States, more than met all early require- ments. So rapid were enlistments that no song was as popular as that beginning with the lines : " Wo are coming, Father Abraham, Six hundred thousand strong." The first session of the 37th Congress was a special one, called by the President. McPherson, in his classification of the membership, shows the changes in a body made historic, if such a thing can be, not onlv by its membership present, but that which had gone or made itself subject to BOOK i-.] MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 131 expulsion by siding with the Confederacy. We quote the list so concisely and correct- ly presented: MEMBERS OF THE 37TH CONGRESS. March 4, 1861, to March 4, 1863. HANNIBAL HAMLIN, of Maine, Presi- dent of the Senate. SENATORS. Maine Lot M. Morrill, Wm. Pitt Fes- senden. New Hampshire John P. Hale, Daniel Clark. Vermont Solomon Foot, Jacob Colla- mer. Massachusetts Charles Sumner, Henry Wilson. Rhode Island James F. Simmons,* Henry B. Anthony. Connecticut James Dixon, Lafayette S. Foster. New York Preston King, Ira Harris. New Jersey John B. Thomson,* John C. Ten Eyck. Pennsylvania David Wilmot, Edgar Cowan. Delaware James A. Bayard, Willard Saulsbury. Maryland Anthony Kennedy, James A. Pearce.* Virginia.* Ohio Benjamin F. Wade, John Sher- . man. Kentucky Lazarus W. Powell, John C. Breckinridge.* Tennessee Andrew Johnson. Indiana Jesse D. Bright,* Henry S. Lane. Illinois O. H. Browning,* Lyman Trumbull. Missouri Trusten Polk,* Waldo P. Johnson.* Michigan Z. Chandler, K. S. Bing- ham.* Iowa James W. Grimes, James Harlan. Wisconsin James R. Doolittle, Timothy 0. Howe. California Milton S. Latham, James A. McDougall. Minnesota Henry M. Rice, Morton S. Wilkinson. Oregon Edward D. Baker,* James W. Nesmith. Kansas James H. Lane, S. C. Pomeroy. REPRESENTATIVES. GALUSHA A. GROW, of Pennsylvania, Speaker of the House. Maine John N. Goodwin, Charles W. Walton,* Samuel C. Fessenden, Anson P. Morrill, John H. Rice, Frederick A. Pike. New Hampshire Gilman Marston, Ed- ward H. Rollins, Thomas M. Edwards. Vermont E. P. Walton, Jr., Justin S. Morrill, Portus Baxter. * SM memorandum at the end of list. Massachusetts Thomas D. Eliot, James Buffinton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Alexan- der H. Rice, William Appleton,* John B. Alley, Daniel W. Gooch, Charles R. Train, Goldsmith F. Bailey,* Charles Delano. Henry L. Dawes. Rhode Island William P. Sheffield, George H. Browne. Connecticut Dwight Loomis, James E. English, Alfred A. Burnham * George C. Woodruff. New York Edward H. Smith, Moses F. Odell, Benjamin Wood, James E. Kerri- gan, William Wall, Frederick A. Conk- ling, Elijah Ward, Isaac C. Delaplaine, Edward Haight, Charles H. Van Wyck, John B. Steele, Stephen Baker, Abraham B. Olin, Erastus Corning, James B. Mc- Kean, William A. Wheeler, Socrates N. Sherman, Chauncey Vibbard, Richard Franchot, Roscoe Conkling, R. Holland Duell, William E. Lansing, Ambrose W. Clarlc, Charles B. Sedgwick, Theodore M. Pomeroy, Jacob P. Chamberlain, Alexan- der S. Diven, Robert B. Van Valkenburgh, Alfred Ely, Augustus Frank, Burt Van Horn, Elbridge G. Spalding, Reuben E. Fenton. New Jersey John T. Nixon, John L. N. Stratton, William G. Steele, George T. Cobb, Nehemiah Perry. Pennsylvania William E. Lehman, Charles J. Biddle,* John P. Verree, Wil- liam D. Kelley, William Morris Davis, John Hickman, Thomas B. Cooper,* Syd- enham E. Ancona, Thaddeus Stevens, John W. Killinger, James H. Campbell, Hen- drick B. Wright, Philip Johnson, Galusha A. Grow, James T. Hale, Joseph Baily, Edward McPherson, Samuel S. Blair, John Covode, Jesse Lazear, James K. Moorhead, Robert McKnight, John W. Wallace, John Patton, Elijah Babbitt. Delaware George P. Fisher. Maryland John W. Crisfield, Edwin H. Webster, Cornelius L. L. Leary, Henry May, Francis Thomas, Charles B. Calvert. Virginia Charles H. Upton,* William G. Brown, John S. Carlile,* Kellian V. Whaley. Ohio George H. Pendleton, John A. Gurley, Clement L. Vallandigham, William Allen, James M. Ashley, Chilton A. White, Richard A. Harrison, Samuel Shella- barger, Warren P. Noble, Carey A. Trim- ble, Valentine B. Horton, Samuel S. Cox, Samuel T. Worcester, Harrison G. Blake, Robert H. Nugen, William P. Cutler, James R. Morris, Sidney Edgerton, Albert G. Riddle, John Hutchins, John A. Bing- ham. Kentucky Henry C. Burnett,* James S. Jackson,* Henry Grider, Aaron Harding, Charles A. Wickliffe, George W. Dunlap, Robert Mallory, John J. Crittenden, Wil- liam H. Wadsworth, John W. Menzies. See memorandum at eud of list. 132 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Tennessee Horace Maynard,* Andrew J. Clements,* George W. Bridges.* I in liana John Law, James A. Cravens, W. McKee Dunn, William S. Holman, George W. Julian, Albert G. Porter, Dan- iel W. Voorhees, Albert S. White, Schuyler ColJax, William Mitchell, John P. C. Shanks. Illinois Elihu B. Washburne, Isaac N. Arnold, Owen Lovejoy, William Kellogg, William A. Richardson,* John A. Mc- Clernand,* James C. Robinson, Philip B. Fouke, John A. Logan.* Missouri Francis P. Blair, Jr., James S. Rollins, John B. Clark,* Elijah H. Nor- ton, John W. Reid* John S. Phelps,* John W. Noell. Michigan Bradley F. Granger, Fer- nando C. Beaman, Francis W. Kellogg, Rowland E. Trowbridge. Iowa Samuel R. Curtis,* William Van- dever. Wisconsin John F. Potter, Luther Han- chett,* A. Scott Sloan. Minnesota Cyrus Aldrich, William Win- dom. Oregon Andrew J. Thayer.* Kansas Martin F. Conway. MEMORANDUM OF CHANGES. The following changes took place during the Congress : IN SENATE. Rhode Island 1862, Dec. 1, Samuel G. Arnold succeeded James F. Simmons, re- signed. yew Jersey 1862, Dec. 1, Richard S. Field succeeded, by appointment, John R. Thompson, deceased Sept. 12, 1862. 1863, Jan. 21, James, W. Wall, succeeded, by election, Richard S. Field. Maryland 1863, Jan. 14, Thomas H. Hicks, first by appointment and then by election succeeded James A. Pearce, de- ceased Dec. 20, 1862. Virginia 1861, July 13, John 8. Carlile and Waitman T. Willey, sworn in place of Robert M. T. Hunter and James M. Mason, withdrawn and abdicated. Kentucky 1861, Dec. 23, Garrett Davis succeeded John C. Breckinridge, expelled December 4. Indiana 1862, March 3, Joseph A. Wright succeeded Jesse D. Bright, expelled Feb. 5, 1863, Jan. 22, David Turpie, super- seded, by election, Joseph A. Wright. Illinois 1863, Jan. 30, William A. Rich- ardson superseded, by election, 0. H. Browning. Missouri 1861, Jan. 24, R. Wilson suc- ceeded Waldo P. Johnson, expelled Jan. 10. 1862, Jan. 29, John B. Henderson suc- ceeded Trusten Polk, expelled Jan. 10. Michigan 1862, Jan. 17, Jacob M. How- ard succeeded K. S. Bingham, deceased October 5, 1861. See memorandum mt and of lit. Oregon 1862, Dec. 1, Benjamin F. Hard- ing succeeded Edward D. Baker, deceased Oct. 21, 1862. IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Maine 1862, December 1, Thomas A. D. Fessenden succeeded Charles W. Wal- ton, resigned May 26, 1862. Massachusetts 1861, December 1, Amasa Walker succeeded Goldsmith F. Bailey, deceased May 8, 1862; 1861, December 2, Samuel Hooper succeeded William Apple- ton, resigned. Connecticut 1861, December 2, Alfred A. Burnham qualified. Pennsylvania 1861, December 2,Charles J. Biddle qualified ; 1862, June 3, John D. Stiles succeeded Thomas B. Cooper, de- ceased April 4, 1862. Virginia, 1861, July 13, John S. Carlile resigned to take a seat in the Senate ; 18(11, December 2, Jacob B. Blair, succeeded John S. Carlile, resigned; 1862, February 28, Charles H. Upton unseated by a vote of the House; 1862, May 6, Joseph Segar qualified. Kentucky 1862, December, 1, George H. Yeaman succeeded James S. Jackson, de- ceased ; 1862, March 10, Samuel L. Casey succeeded Henry C. Burnett, expelled De- cember 3, 1861. Tennessee 1861, December 2, Horace Maynard qualified ; 1862, January 13, An- drew J. Clements qualified ; 1863, Febru- ' ary 25, George W. Bridges qualified. Illinois 1861, December 12, A. L. Knapp qualified, in place of J. A. McClernand, re- signed; 1862, June 2, William J. Allen qualified, in place of John A. Logan, re- signed ; 1863, January 30, William A. Rich- ardson withdrew to take a seat in the Senate. Missouri 1862, January 21, Thomas L. Price succeeded John W. Reid, expelled December 2, 1861 ; 1862, January 20, Wil- liam A. Hall succeeded John B. Clark, ex- pelled July 13, 1861 ; 1862, May 9, John S. Phelps qualified. Iowa 1861, December 2, James F. Wil- son succeeded Samuel R. Curtis, resigned August 4, 1861. Wisconsin 1863, January 26, Walter D. Mclndoe succeeded Luther Hanchett, de- ceased November 24, 1862. Oregon 1861, July 30, George K. Shiel succeeded Andrew J. Thayer, unseated. Louisiana 1863, February 17, Michael Hahn qualified ; 1863, February 23, Ben- jamin A Flanders qualified. Lincoln, in his message, recited the events which had transpired since his inauguration, and asked Congress to con- fer upon him the power to make the conflict short and decisive. He wanted 400,000 men, and four hundred millions of money, remarking that " the people will save their BOOK i.] MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 138 government if the government itself will do its part only indifferently well." Con- gress responded by adding an hundred thousand to each request. There were exciting debates and scenes during this session, for many of the South- ern leaders remained, either through hesi- tancy or with a view to check legislation and aid their section by adverse criticism on the measures proposed. Most promi- nent in the latter list was John C. Breckin- ridge, late Vice President and now Senator from Kentucky. With singular boldness and eloquence he opposed every war mea- sure, and spoke with the undisguised pur- pose of aiding the South. He continued this course until the close of the extra session, when he accepted a General's commission in the Confederate army. But before its close, Senator Baker of Oregon, angered at his general course, said in reply to one of Breckinridge's speeches, Aug. 1st : "What would the Senator from Ken- tucky, have ? These speeches of his, sown broadcast over the land, what clear distinct meaning have they? Are they not intend- ed for disorganization in our very midst? Are they not intended to destroy our zeal ? Are they not intended to animate our enemies ? Sir, are they not words of bril- liant polished TREASON, even in the very Capitol of the Republic ?" [Here there were such manifestations of applause in the gal- leries, as were with difficulty suppressed.] Mr. Baker resumed, and turning directly to Mr. Breckinridge, inquired : " What would have been thought, if, in another Capitol, in another republic, in a yet more martial age, a Senator as grave, not more eloquent, or dignified than the Senator from Kentucky, yet with the Roman purple flowing over his shoulders, had risen in his place, surrounded by all the illustrations of Roman glory, and de- clared that the cause of the advancing Hannibal was just, and that Carthage ought to be dealt with in terms of peace ? What would have been thought if, after the bat- tle of Cannae, a Senator there had risen in his place, and denounced every levy of the Roman people, every expenditure of its treasure, and every appeal to the old recol- lections and the old glories ?" There was a silence so profound through- out the Senate and galleries, that a pinfall could have been heard, while every eye was fixed upon Breckinridge. Fessenden exclaimed in deep low tones, " he would have been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock !" Baker resumed : " Sir, a Senator himself learned far more than myself, in such lore, (Mr. Fessenden) tells me, in a low voice, " he would have been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock." It is a grand commentary upon the American Constitution, that we permit these words of the Senator from Ken- tucky, to be uttered. I ask the Senator to recollect, to what, save to send aid and comfort to the enemy, do these pre- dictions amount to ? Every word thus utter- ed, falls as a note of inspiration upon every Confederate ear. Every sound thus utter- ed, is a word, (and falling from his lips, a mighty word) of kindling and triumph to the foe that determines to advance." The Republicans of the North were the distinctive " war party," i. e., they gave unqualified support to every demand made by the Lincoln administration. Most of the Democrats, acting as citizens, did like- wise, but many of those in official position, assuming the prerogative of a minority, took the liberty in Congress and State Legislature to criticise the more important war measures, and the extremists went so far, in many instances, as to organize oppo- sition, and to encourage it among their constituents. Thus in the States bordering the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, organized and individual efforts were made to encour- age desertions, and the "Knights of the Golden Circle," and the " Sons of Liberty," secret societies composed of Northern sym- pathizers with the South, formed many troublesome conspiracies. Through their action troops were even enlisted in South- ern Indiana, Illinois and Missouri for the Confederate armies, while the border States in the Union sent whole regiments to bat- tle for the South. The " Knights of the Golden Circle " conspired to release Con- federate prisoners of war, and invited Mor- gan to raid their States. One of the worst forms of opposition took shape in a con- spiracy to resist the draft in New York city. The fury of the mob was several days beyond control, and troops had to be recalled from the front to suppress it. The riot was really political, the prejudices of the mob under cover of resistance to the draft, being vented on the negroes, many of whom were killed before adequate num- bers could be sent to their succor. The civil authorities of the city were charged with winking at the occurrence, and it was afterwards ascertained that Confederate agents really organized the riot as a move- ment to " take the enemy in the rear." The Republican was as distinctively the war party during the Great Rebellion, as the Whigs were during the Revolution, the Democratic-Republicans during the War of 1812, and the Democrats during the War with Mexico, and, as in all of these war decades, kept the majority sentiment of the country with them. This is such a plain statement of facts that it is neither partisan to assert, nor a mark of partv- fealty to deny. The history is indelibly written. It is stamped upon nearly every war measure, and certainly upon every political measure incident to growing out of the rebellion. 134 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. These were exciting and memorable scenes in the several sessions of the 37th Congress. During the first many Southern Senators and Representatives withdrew after angry statements of their reasons, generally in obedience to calls from their States or immediate homes. In this way the majority was changed. Others re- mained until the close of the first session, and then more quietly entered the rebellion. We haye shown that of this class was Breckinridge, who thought he could do more good for his cause in the Federal Congress than elsewhere, and it is well for the Union that most of his colleagues dis- agreed with him as to the propriety and wisdom of his policy. If all had followed his lead or imitated his example, the war would in all probability have closed in an- other compromise, or possibly in the ac- complishment of southern separations. These men could have so obstructed legis- lation as to make all its early periods far more discouragiag than they were. As it was the Confederates had all the advan- tages of a free and fair start, and the effect was traceable in. all of the early battles and negotiations with foreign powers. There was one way in which these advan- tages could have been supported and con- tinued. Breckenridge, shrewd and able politician as he was, saw that the way was to keep Southern Representatives in Con- gress, at least as long as Northern senti- ment would abide it, and in this way win victories at the very fountain-head of power. But at the close of the extra ses- sion this view had become unpopular at b< th ends of the line, and even Brecken- ridge abandoned it and sought to hide his original purpose by immediate service in the Confederate armies. It will be noted that those who vacated their seats to enter the Confederacy were afterwards expelled. In this connection a curious incident can be related, occuring as late as the Senate session of 1882 : The widow of the late Senator Nichol- son, of Tennessee, who was in the Senate when Tennessee seceded, a short time ago sent a petition to Congress asking that the salary of her late husband, after he return- ed to Tennessee, might be paid to her. Mr. Nicholsdn's term would have expired in 1865 had he remained in his seat. He did not appear at the special session of Congress convened in July, 1801, and with other Senators from the South was expelled from the Senate on July llth of that year. The Senate Committee on Claims, after examining the case thoroughly, submitted to the Senate an adverse report. After giving a concise history of the case the committee say : " We do not deem it proper, after the expiration of twenty years, to pass special acts of Congress to compen- sate the Senators and Representatives who seceded in 1861 for their services in the early part of that year. We recommend that the claim of the petitioner be disal- lowed." The Sessions of the 37th Congress changed the political course of many pub- lic men. It made the Southern believers in secession still more vehement ; it sepa- rated the Southern Unionists from their former friends, and created a wall of fire between them ; it changed the temper of Northern Abolitionists, in so far as to drive from them all spirit of faction, all pride of methods, and compelled them to unite with a republican sentiment which was making sure advances from the original declara- tion that slavery should not be extended to the Territories, to emancipation, and, finally, to the arming of the slaves. It changed many Northern Democrats, and from the ranks of these, even in represen- tative positions, the lines of the Repub- licans were constantly strengthened on pivotal questions. On the 27th of July Breckinridge had said in a speech : " When traitors become numerous enough treason becomes respectable." Senator Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, replied to this, and said : " God being willing, whether traitors be many or few, as I have hitherto waged war against traitors and treason, I intend to continue it to the end." And yet John- son had the year before warmly supported Breckinridge in his presidential campaign. Among the more conspicuous Republi- cans and anti-Lecompton Democrats in this session were Charles Sumner, a man who then exceeded all others in scholarly attainments and as an orator, though he was not strong in current debate. Great care and preparation marked every impor- tant effort, but no man's speeches were more admired throughout the North, and hated throughout the South, than those of Charles Sumner. An air of romance sur- rounded the man, because he was the first victim of a senatorial outrage, when beaten by Brooks of South Carolina ; but, sneered his political enemies, " no man more care- fully preserved his wounds for exhibition to a sympathetic world." He had some minor weaknesses, which were constantly displayed, and these centred in egotism and high personal pride not very popular traits but no enemy was so malicious as to deny his greatness. Fessenden of Maine was one of the great lights of that day. He was apt, almost beyond example, in debate, and was a re- cognized leader of the Republicans until, in the attempt to impeach President John- son, he disagreed with the majority of his party and stepped " down and out." Yet no one questioned his integrity, and all be- lieved that his vote was cast on this ques- tion in a line with his convictions. The leading character in the House was Th&d- BOOK i.] MB. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 135 deus Stevens, an original Abolitionist in sentiment, but a man eminently practical and shrewd in all his methods. The chances of politics often carry men into the Presidential Chair, into Cabinets, and with later and demoralizing frequency into Senate seats ; but chance never makes a Commoner, and Thaddeus Stevens was throughout the war, and up to the hour of his death, recognized as the great Com- moner of the Northern people. He led in every House battle, and a more unflinch- ing party leader was never known to par- liamentary bodies. Limp and infirm, he was not liable to personal assault, even in days when such assaults were common; but when on one occasion his fiery tongue had so exasperated the Southerners in Congress as to make them show their knives and pistols, he stepped out inu> the aisle, and facing, bid them defiance. He was a Radical of the Radicals, and con- stantly contended that the government the better to preserve itself could travel outside of the Constitution. What cannot be said of any other man in history, can be said of Thaddeus Stevens. When he lay dead, carried thus from Washington to his home in Lancaster, with all of his people knowing that he was dead, he was, on the day following the arrival of his corpse, and within a few squares of his re- sidence, unanimously renominated by the Republicans for Congress. If more poetic and less practical sections or lands than the North had such a hero, hallowed by such an incident, both the name and the inci- dent would travel down the ages in song and story.* The "rising" man in the 37th Congress was Schuyler Col fax, of Indiana, elected Speaker of the 38th, and subsequently \ ice President. A great parliamentarian, he was gifted with rare eloquence, and with a kind which won friends without olfending enemies something too rare to last. In the House were also Justin S. Morrill, the author of the Tariff Bill which supplied the " sinews of war," Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, then " the man of Statistics " and the " watch-dog of the treasury." Roscoe Conkling was then the admitted leader of the New York delega- tion, as he was the admitted mental superior of any other in subsequent terms in the Senate, up to the time of his resigna- tion in 1881. Reuben E. Fenton, his factional opponent, was also there. Ohio was strongly represented in both parties Pendleton, Cox and Vallandigham on the side of the Democrats ; Bingham and Ash- ley on the part of the Republicans. Illi- nois showed four prominent anti-Lecomp- ton supporters of the administration *This incident was related to the writer by Col. A. K. HcClure uf Philadelphia, who WM in Lancaster at the time.* Douglas in the Senate; Logan, McCler- nandand Richardson in the House; while prominent among the Republicans were Lovejoy (an original Abolitionist), Wash- burne, a candidate for the Presidential nomination in 1880 Kellogg and Arnold. John F. Potter was one of the prominent Wisconsin men, who had won additional fame by accepting the challenge to duel of Roger A. Pryor of Virginia, and naming tte American rifle as the weapon. Fortu- nately the duel did not come off. Penn- sylvania had then, as she still has, Judge Kelley of Philadelphia, chairman of Ways and Means in the 46th Congress ; also Edward McPherson, frequently since Clerk of the House, temporary President of the Cincinnati Convention, whose decision overthrew the unit rule, and author of several valuable political works, some of which we freely quote in this history. John Hickman, subsequently a Republi- can, but one of the earliest of the anti- Lecompton Democrats, was an admitted leader, a man of rare force and eloquence. So radical did he become that he refused to support the re-election cf Lincoln. He was succeeded by John M. Broomall, who made several fine speeches in favor of the constitutional amendments touching slavery and civil rights. Here also were James Campbell, Hendricks B. Wright, John Covode, James K. Morehead, and Speaker Grow the father of the Home- stead Bill, which will be found in Book V., giving the Existing Political Laws. At this session Senator Trumbull of Illinois, renewed the agitation of the slavery question, by reporting from the Judiciary Committee of which he was Chairman, a bill to confiscate all property and free all slaves used for insurrectionary purposes.* Breckinridge fought the bill, as indeed he did all bills coming from the Republicans, and said if passed it would eventuate in "the loosening of all bonds." Among the facts stated in support of the measure was this, that the Confederates had at Bull Run used the negroes and slayes against the Union army a state- ment never well established. The bill passed the Senate by 33 to 6, and on th 3d of August passed the House, though, several Republicans there voted against it, fearing a too rapid advance would preju- dice the Union cause. Indeed this fear was entertained by Lincoln when he re- commended COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION in the second session of the 37th Congress, which recommendation excited official dis- cussion almost up to the time the emanci- pation proclamation was issued as a war necessity. The idea of compensated eman- * Arnold's "History of Abraham Lincoln." 136 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. cipation originated with or was first form- ulated by James B. McKean of New York, who on Feb. llth, 1861, at the 2d session of the 36th Congress, introduced the fol- lowing resolution : WHEREAS, The "Gulf States" have as- sumed to secede from the Union, and it is deemed important to prevent the " border slave States " from following their exam- ple ; and whereas it is believed that those who are inflexibly opposed to any measure of compromise or concession that involves, or may involve, a sacrif ce of principle or the extension of slavery, would neverthe- less cheerfully concur in any lawful measure for the emancipation of the slaves : Therefore, Resolved, That the select committee of five be instructed to inquire whether, by the consent of the people, or of the State governments, or oy compensating the slaveholders, it be practicable for the Gen- eral Government to procure the emancipa- tion of the slaves in some, or all, of the "bor- der States ;" and if so, to report a bill for that purpose. Lincoiu was so strongly impressed with the fact, in the earlier struggles of the war, that great good would follow compensated emancipation, that on March 2d, 1862, he sent a special message to the 2d session of the 37th Congress, in which he said : " I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable bodies, which shall be substantially as follows: Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giv- ing to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to compen- sate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of sys- tem. " If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is the end ; but if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. The Federal Govern- ment would find its highest interest in such a measure, as one of the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the hope that this Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave States north of such part will then say, 'the Union for which we have struggled being already gone, we now choose to go with the southern section.' To deprive them of this hope, substantially ends the rebellion ; and the initiation of emancipation completely deprives them of it as to all the States initiating it. The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation ; but that, while the offer is equally made to all, the more northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain to the more southern that in no event will the former ever join the latter in their pro- posed confederacy. I say ' initiation,' be- cause, in my judgment, gradual, and not sudden emancipation, is better for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress, with the census tables and Treasury reports before him, can readily see for himself how very soon the current expenditures of this war would purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State. Such a proposition on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to interfere with slavery within State limits, referring, as it does the abso- lute control of the subject in each case to the State and its people immediately in- terested. It is proposed as a matter of per- fectly free choice with them. " In the annual message last December, I thought fit to say, ' the Union must be preserved; and hence all indispensable means must be employed.' I said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been made, and continues to be an indispensa- ble means to this end. A practical reac- knowledgment of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it would at once cease. If, however, resist- ance continues, the war must also continue ; and it is impossible to foresee all the inci- dents which may attend, and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency toward ending the strug- gle, must and will come. " The proposition now made, though an offer only, I hope it may be esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary con- sideration tendered would not be of more value to the States and private persons concerned, than are the institution, and property in it, in the present aspect of affairs ? " While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important prac- tical results. In full view of my great re- sponsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject." Mr. Conkling called the question up in the House March 10th, and under a sus- pension of the rules, it was passed by 97 to 36. It passed the Senate April 2, by 32 to 10, the Republicans, as a rule, voting for it, the Democrats, as a rule, voting against it ; and this was true even of those in the Border States. BOOK I.] COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION. 137 The fact last stated excited the notice of President Lincoln, and in July, 1862, he sought an interview with the Border State Congressmen, the result of which is con- tained in McPherson's Political History of the Great Rebellion, as follows : The President's Appeal to the Border States. The Eepresentatives and Senators of the border slaveholding States, having, by special invitation of the President, been convened at the Executive Mansion, on Saturday morning last, (July 12,) Mr. Lincoln addressed them as follows from a written paper held in his hand : " GENTLEMEN : After the adjournment of Congress, now near, I shall have no opportunity of seeing you for several months. Believing that you of the border States hold more power for good than any other equal number of members, I feel it a duty which I cannot justifiably waive, to make this appeal to you. "I intend no reproach or complaint when I assure you that, in my opinion, if you all had voted for the resolution in the gradual emancipation message of last March, the war would now be substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed is yet one of the most potent and swift means of ending it. Let the States which are in rebellion see definitely and certainly that in no event will the States you represent ever join their proposed Confederacy, and they cannot much longer maintain the contest. But you cannot divest them of their hope to ultimately have you with them so long as you show a determination to perpetuate the institution within your own States. Beat them at elections, as you have overwhelmingly done, and, noth- ing daunted, they still claim you as their own. You and I know what the lever of their power is. Break that lever before their faces, and they can shake you no more forever. "Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration, and I trust you will not now think I improperly touch what is exclusively your own, when, for the sake of the whole country, I ask, ' Can you, for your States, do better than to take the course I urge ? ' Discarding punctilio and maxims adapted to more manageable times, and looking only to the unprece- dentedly stern facts of our case, can you do better in any possible event? You prefer that the constitutional relations of the States to the nation shall be practically restored without disturbance of the insti- tution ; and, if this were done, my whole duty, in this respect, under the Constitu- tion and my oath of office, would be per- formed. But it is not done, and we are trying to accomplish it by war. The incidents of the war cannot be avoided. If the war continues long, as it must, if the object be not sooner attained, the in- stitution in your States will be ex- tinguished by mere friction and abrasion by the mere incidents of the war. It will be gone, and you will have nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value is gone already. How much better for you and for your people to take the step which at once shortens the war and secures substantial compensation for that which is sure to be wholly lost in any other event! How much better to thus save the money which else we sink forever in the war! How much better to do it while we can, lest the war ere long render us pecuniarily unable to do it ! How much better for you, as seller, and the nation, as buyer, to sell out and buy out that without which the war could never have been, than to sink both the thing to be sold and the price of it in cutting one another's throats ! " I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of a decision at once to emancipate gradually. Room in South America for colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance, and when numbers shall be large enough to be company and encour- agement for one another, the freed people will not be so reluctant to go. " I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned, one which threatens division among those who, united, are none too strong. An instance of it is known to you. General Hunter is an honest man. He was, and I hope still is, my friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing with me in the general wish that all men everywhere could be freed. He proclaimed all men free within certain States, and I repudiated the proclamation. He expected more good and less harm from the measure than I could believe would fallow. Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if not offence, to many whose support the country cannot afford to lose. And this is not the end of it. The pressure in thia direction is still upon me, and is increas- ing. By conceding what I now ask you can relieve me, and, much more, can re- lieve the country in this important point. " Upon these considerations I have again begged your attention to the mes- sage of March last. Before leaving the Capitol, consider and discuss it among yourselves. You are patriots and states- men, and as such I pray you consider this proposition ; and at the least commend it to the consideration of your States and people. As you would perpetuate popular government for the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do in no- wise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest 138 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of govern- ment is saved to the world, its beloved history and cherished memories are vin- dicated, and its happy future fully assured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more than to any others, the privi- lege is given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and to link your own names therewith forever." At the conclusion of these remarks some conversation was had between the President and several members of the delegations from the border States, in which it was represented that these States could not be expected to move in so great a matter as that brought to their notice in the foregoing address while as yet the Congress had taken no step beyond the passage of a resolution, expressive rather of a sentiment than presenting a substan- tial and reliable basis of action. The President acknowledged the lorce of this view, and admitted that the border States were entitled to expect a substantial pledge of pecuniary aid as the condition of taking into consideration a proposition so important in its relations to their social system. It was further represented, in the con- ference, that the people of the border States were interested in knowing the great importance which the President attached to the policy in question, while it was equally due to the country, to the President, and to themselves, that the representatives of the border slave-holding States should publicly announce the mo- tives under which they were called to act, and the considerations of public policy urged upon them and their constituents by the President. With a view to such a statement of their position, the members thus addressed met in council to deliberate on the reply they should make to the President, and, as the result of a comparison of opinions among themselves, they determined upon the adoption of a majority and minority an- swer. REPLY OF THE MAJORITY. The following paper was yesterday sent to the President, signed by the majority of the Representatives from the border slave- holding States : WASHINGTON, July 14, 1862. To the PRESIDENT : The undersigned, Representatives of Kentucky, Virginia, Missouri, and Mary- land, in the two Houses of Congress, have listened to your address with the profound sensibility naturally inspired by the high source from which it emanates, the earn- estness which marked its delivery, and the overwhelming importance of the sub- ject of which it treats. We have given it a most respectful consideration, and now lay before you our response. We regret that want of time has not permitted us to make it more perfect. We have not been wanting, Mr. Presi- dent, in respect to you, and in devotion to the Constitution and the Union. We have not been indifferent to the great dif- ficulties surrounding you, compared with which all former national troubles have been but as the summer cloud; and we have freely given you our sympathy and support. Repudiating the dangerous here- sies of the secessionists, we believed, with you, that the war on their part is aggressive and wicked, and the objects for which it was to be prosecuted on ours, denned by your message at the opening of the pres- ent Congress, to be such as all good men should approve. We have not hesitated to vote all supplies necessary to carry it on vigorously. We have voted all the men and money you have asked for, and even more ; we have imposed onerous taxes on our people, and they are paying them with cheerfulness and alacrity; we have encouraged enlistments and sent to the field many of our best men ; and some of our number have offered their persons to the enemy as pledges of their sincerity and devotion to the country. We have done all this under the most discouraging circumstances, and in the face of measures most distasteful to us and injurious to the interests we repre- sent, and in the hearing of doctrines avowed by those who claim to be your friends, must be abhorrent to us and our constituents. But, for all this, we have never faltered, nor shall we as long as we have a Constitution to defend and a Gov- ernment which protects us. And we are ready for renewed efforts, and even greater sacrifices, yea, any sacrifice, when we are satisfied it is required to preserve our admirable form of government and the priceless blessings of constitutional li- berty. A few of our number voted for the resolution recommended by your message of the 6th of March last, the greater por- tion of us did not, and we will briefly state the prominent reasons which in- fluenced our action. In the first place, it proposed a radical change of our social system, and was hur- ried through both Houses with undue haste, without reasonable time for consid- eration and debate, and with no time at all for consultation with our constituents, whose interests it deeply involved. It seemed like an interference by this Gov- ernment with a question which peculiarly and exclusively belonged to our respective States, on which they nad not sought ad- vice or solicited aid. Many of us doubted BOOK I.] COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION. 139 the constitutional power of this Govern- ment to make appropriations of money for the object designated, and all of us thought our finances were in no condition to bear the immense outlay which its adoption and faithful execution would impose upon the national Treasury. If we pause but a moment to think of the debt its accept- ance would have entailed, we are appalled by its magnitude. The proposition was addressed to all the States, and embraced the whole number of slaves. According to the census of 1860 there were then nearly four million slaves in the country ; from natural increase they exceed that number now. At even the low average of $300, the price fixed by the emancipa- tion act for the slaves of this District, and greatly below their real worth, their value runs up to the enormous sum of $1,200,- 000,000 ; and if to that we add the cost of deportation and colonization, at $100 each, which is but a fraction more than is ac- tually paid by the Maryland Colonization Society, we have $400,000,000 more. We were not willing to impose a tax on our people sufficient to pay the interest on that sum, in addition to the vast and daily in- creasing debt already fixed upon them by the exigencies of the war, and if we had been willing, the country could not bear it. Stated in this form the proposition is noth- ing less than the deportation from the country of $1,600,000,000 worth of produc- ing labor, and the substitution in its place of an interest-bearing debt of the same amount. But, if we are told that it was expected that only the States we represent would accept the proposition, we respectfully submit that even then it involves a sum too great for the financial ability of this Government at this time. According to the census of 1860 Slaves. Kentucky had 225,490 Maryland 87,188 Virginia.... 490,887 Delaware 1,798 Missouri 114,965 Tennessee 275,784 Making in the whole 1,196,112 At the same rate of valuation these would amount to.... $358,933,500 Add for deportation and colo- nization $100 each 11 8,244,533 And we have the enormous sum of. $478,038,133 We did not feel that we should be justi- fied in voting for a measure which, if car- ried out, would add this vast amount to our public debt at a moment when the Treasury was reeling under the enormous expenditure of the war. Again, it seemed to us that this resolu- tion was but the annunciation of a senti- ment which could not or was not likely to be reduced to an actual tangible proposi- tion. No movement was then made to provide and appropriate the funds required to carry it into effect ; and we were not en- couraged to believe that funds would be provided. And our belief has been fully justified by subsequent events. Not to mention other circumstances, it is quite sufficient for our purpose to bring to your notice the fact that, while this resolution was under consideration in the Senate, our colleague, the Senator from Kentucky, moved an amendment appropriating $500,- 000 to the object therein designated, and it was voted down with great unanimity. What confidence, then, could we reasonably feel that if we committed ourselves to the policy it proposed, our constituents would reap the fruits of the promise held out ; and on what ground could we, as fair men, approach them and challenge their sup- port? The right to hold slaves is a right apper- taining to all the States of this Union. They have the right to cherish or abolish the institution, as their tastes or their in- terests may prompt, and no one is autho- rized to question the right or limit the en- joyment. And no one has more clearly affirmed that right than you have. Your inaugural address does you great honor in this respect, and inspired the country with confidence in your fairness and respect for the law. Our States are in the enjoyment of that right. We do not feel called on to defend the institution or to affirm it is one which ought to be cherished ; perhaps, if we were to make the attempt, we might find that we differ even among ourselves. It is enough for our purpose to know that it is a right ; and, so knowing, we did not see why we should now be expected to yield it. We had contributed our full share to relieve the country at this terrible crisis ; we had done as much as had been required of others in like circumstances; and we did not see why .sacrifices should be expected of us from which others, no more loyal, were exempt. Nor could we see what good the nation would derive from it. Such a sacrifice submitted to by us would not have strengthened the arm of this Government or weakened that of the enemy. It was not necessary as a pledge of our loyalty, for that had been mani- fested beyond a reasonable doubt, in every form, and at every place possible. There was not the remotest probability that the States we represent would join in the re- bellion, nor is there now, or of their elect- ing to go with the southern section in the event of a recognition of the independence of any part of the disaffected region. Our 140 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. States are fixed unalterably in their reso- lution to adhere to and support the Union. They see no safety for themselves, and no hope for constitutional liberty but by its preservation. They will, under no cir- cumstances, consent to its dissolution ; and we do them no more than justice when we assure you that, while the war is conducted to prevent that deplorable catastrophe, they will sustain it as long as they can muster a man or command a dollar. Nor will they ever consent, in any event, to unite with the Southern Confederacy. The bitter fruits of the peculiar doctrines of that region will forever prevent them from placing their security and happiness in the custody of an association which has incor- porated in its organic law the seeds of its own destruction. ****** ** Mr. President, we have stated with frank- ness and candor the reasons on which we forbore to vote for the resolution you have mentioned ; but you have again presented this proposition, and appealed to us with an earnestness and eloquence which have not failed to impress us, to " consider it, and at the least to commend it to the con- sideration of our States and people." Thus appealed to by the Chief Magistrate of our beloved country, in the hour of its greatest peril, we cannot wholly decline. We are willing to trust every question relating to their interest and happiness to the con- sideration and ultimate judgment of our own people. While differing from you as to the necessity of emancipating the slaves of our States as a means of putting down the rebellion, and while protesting against the propriety of any extra-territorial inter- ference to induce the people of our States to adopt any particular line of policy on a subject which peculiarly and exclusively belongs to them, yet, when you and our brethren of the loyal States sincerely be- lieve that the retention of slavery by us is an obstacle to peace and national harmony, and are willing to contribute pecuniary aid to compensate our States and people for the inconveniences produced by such a change of system, we are not unwilling that our people shall consider the propriety of putting it aside. But we have already saiu that we re- garded this resolution as the utterance of a sentiment, and we had no confidence that it would assume the shape of a tangi- ble, practical proposition ; which would yield the fruits of the sacrifice it required. Our people are influenced by the same want of confidence, and will not consider the proposition in its present impalpable for in. The interest they are asked to give up is to them of much importance, and they ought not to be expected even to en- tertain the proposal until they are assured that when they accept it their just expect- ations will not be frustrated. We regard your plan as a proposition from the Nation to the States to exercise an admitted con- stitutional right in a particular manner and yield up a valuable interest. Before they ought to consider the proposition, it should be presented in such a tangible, practical, efficient shape as to command their confidence that its fruits are contin- gent only upon their acceptance. We can- not trust anything to the contingencies of future legislation. If Congress, by proper and necessary legislation, shall provide sufficient funds and place them at your disposal, to be ap- plied by you to the payment of any of our States or the citizens thereof who shall adopt the abolishment of slavery, either gradual or immediate, as they may deter- mine, and the expense of deportation and colonization of the liberated slaves, then will our State and people take this propo- sition into careful consideration, for such decision as in their judgment is demanded by their interest, their honor, and their duty to the whole country. We have the honor to be, with great respect, C. A. WICKLIFFE, Ch'n, GARRETT DAVIS, E. WILSON, J. J. CRITTENDEN, JOHN S. CARLILE, J. W. CRISFIELD, J. S. JACKSON, H. GRIDER, JOHN S. PHELPS, FRANCIS THOMAS, CHAS. B. CALVERT, C. L. LEARY, EDWIN H. WEBSTEK R. MALLORY, AARON HARDING, JAMES S. ROLLINS, J. W. MENZIES, THOMAS L. PRICE, G. W. DUNLAP, WM. A. HALL. Others of the minority, among them Sen- ator Henderson and Horace Maynard, for- warded separate replies, but all rejecting the idea of compensated emancipation. Still Lincoln adhered to and advocated it in his recent annual message sent to Con- gress, Dec. 1, 1862, from which we take the following paragraphs, which are in themselves at once curious and interesting : " We have two million nine hundred and sixty-three thousand square miles. Europe has three million and eight hundred thou- sand, with a population averaging seventy- three and one-third persons to the square mile. Why may not our country, at some time, average as many? Is it less fertile? Has it more waste surface, by mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts, or other causes ? Is it inferior to Europe in any natural ad- BOOK I.] EMANCIPATION. 141 vantage ? If, then, we are at some time to be as populous as Europe, how sqon? As to when this may be, we can judge by the past and the present ; as to when it will be, if ever, depends much on whether we maintain the Union. Several of our States are already above the average of Europe seventy-three and a third to the square mile. Massachusetts has 157 ; Rhode Island, 133; Connecticut, 99; New York and New Jersey, each, 80. Also two other great states, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are not far below, the former having 63 and the latter 59. The states already above the European average, except New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio, since passing that point, as ever before ; while no one of them is equal to some other parts of our country in natural capacity fcr sus- taining a dense population. "Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population and ratio of in- crease, for the several decennial periods, to be as follows : 1790 3,929,827 1800 5,305,937 1810 7,239,814 1820 9,638,131 1830 12,866,020 1840 17,069,453 1850 23,191,876 1860 31,443,790 Ratio of increase. 35.02 per cent. 36.45 33.13 33.49 32.67 35.87 35.58 This shows an annual decennial increase of 34.69 per cent, in population through the seventy years from our first to our last census yet taken. It is seen that the ratio of increase, at no one of these seven periods is either two per cent, below or two per cent, above the average ; thus showing how inflexible, and, consequently, how reliable, the law of increase in our case is. Assum- ing that it will continue, gives the follow- ing results : 1870 42,323,341 1880 56,967,216 1890 76,677,872 1900 103,208,415 1910 138,918,526 1920 186,984,335 1930 251,680,914 "These figures show that our country may be as populous as Europe now is at some point between 1920 and 1930 say about 1925 our territory, at seventy-three and a third persons to the square mile, be- in? of capacity to contain 217,186,000. And we will reach this, too, if we do not ourselves relinquish the chance by the folly and evils of disunion, or by long and exhausting war springing from the only great element of national discord among us. While it cannot be foreseen exactly how much one huge example of secession, breeding lesser ones indefinitely, would re- tard population, civilization, and prosperity no one can doubt that the extent of it would be very great and injurious. The proposed emancipation would short- en the war, perpetuate peace, insure this increase of population, and proportionately the wealth of the country. With these, we should pay all the emancipation would cost, together with our other debt, easier than we should pay our other debt without it. If we had allowed our old national debt to run at six per cent, per annum, simple in- terest, from the end of our revolutionary struggle until to-day, without paying any- thing on either principal or interest, each man of us would owe less upon that debt now than each man owed upon it then ; and this because our increase of men through the whole period has been greater than six per cent. ; has run faster than the interest upon the debt. Thus, time alone relieves a debtor nation, so long as its popu- lation increases faster than unpaid interest accumulates on its debt. "This fact would be no excuse for de- laying payment of what is justly due ; but it shows the great importance of time in this connection the great advantage of a policy by which we shall not have to pay until we number a hundred millions, what, by a different policy, we would have to pay now, when we number but thirty-one mil- lions. In a word, it shows that a dollar will be much harder to pay for the war than will be a dollar for emancipation on the proposed plan. And then the latter will cost no blood, no precious life. It will be a saving of both." Various propositions and measures re- lating to compensated emancipation, were afterwards considered in both Houses, but it was in March, 1863, dropped after a refusal of the House to suspend the rules for the consideration of the subject. Emancipation as a War Necessity. Before the idea of compensated emanci- pation had been dropped, and it was con- stantly discouraged by the Democrats and Border Statesmen, President Lincoln had determined upon a more radical policy, and on the 22d of September, 1862, issued his celebrated proclamation declaring that he would emancipate " all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States" by the first of January, 1863, if such sections were not " in good faith represented in Congress." He followed this by actual emancipation at the time stated. Proclamation of Sept. 33, 18659. I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of th United States of America, and Commander- in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, do 142 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK. i. hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and each of the States and the peo- ple thereof, in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed. That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tender- ing pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people thereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, imme- diate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respected limits ; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the Governments existing there, will be continued. That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- dred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such per- sons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, de- signate the States and parts of States, ii any, in which the people thereof respective- ly, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority ol the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed con- clusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not in rebellion against the United States. That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled " An act to make an additional article of war," approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures following : " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulga- ted as an additional article of war, for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such. " ARTICLE . All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective com- mands for the purpose of returning fugi- tives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service. " SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act " shall take effect from and after its passage." Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled " An act to suppress insur- rection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following : " SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Govern- ment of the United States or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escap- ing from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army ; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States ; and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deem- ed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. " SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United Stales in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aia and comfort thereto ; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other per- son, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pam of being dismissed from the service." And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and na- val service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections above recited. And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained BOOK I.] EMANCIPATION. 143 loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respective States and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or dis- turbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United Btates to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- dred and sixty-two, and of the Indepen- dence of the United States the eighty- Beventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President : WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. Proclamation of January 1, 1863. WHEREAS, on the twenty -second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the Presi- dent of the United States, containing among other things, the following, to wit : "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free; and the Executive Govern- ment of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual free- dom. "That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respec- tively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by mem- bers chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testi- mony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are then in rebellion against the United States." Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander- in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed re- bellion against the authority and Govern- ment of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and x sixty-three, and iik accord- ance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hun- dred days from the day first above men- tioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebel- lion against the United States, the follow- ing, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jef- ferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, La- fourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans,) Mis- sissippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Eliza- beth City, York, Princess Ann, and Nor- folk, including the cities of Norfolk amd Portsmouth,) and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all vio- lence, unless in necessary self-defence ; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Con- stitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty- seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLH. By the President : WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. 144 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. These proclamations were followed by many attempts on the part of the Demo- crats to declare them null and void, but all such were tabled. The House on the 15th of December, 1862, endorsed the first by a vote of 78 to 51, almost a strict party vote. Two classed as Democrats, voted for emancipation Haight and Noell ; seven classed as Republicans, voted against it- Granger, Harrison, Leary, Maynard, Benj. F. Thomas, Francis Thomas, and Whaley. Just previous to the issuance of the first proclamation a meeting of the Governors of the Northern States had been called to consider how best their States could aid the general conduct of the war. Some of them had conferred with the President, and while that meeting and the date of the emancipation proclamation are the same, it was publicly denied on the floor of Con- gress by Mr. Boutwell (June 25, 1864,) that the proclamation was the result of that meeting of the Governors. That they fully endorsed and knew of it, however, is shown by the following Address of loyal Governors to the President. Adopted at a meeting of Governors of loyal States, held to take measures for the more active support of the Govern- ment, at Altoona, Pennsylvania, on the 22d day of September, 1862. After nearly one year and a half spent in contest with an armed and gigantic re- bellion against the national Government of the United States, the duty and purpose of the loyal States and people continue, and . must always remain as they were at its origin namely, to restore and perpetuate the authority of this Government and the life of the nation. No matter what con- sequences are involved in our fidelity, this work of restoring the Republic, preserving the institutions of democratic liberty, ana justifying the hopes and toils of our fathers shall not fail to be performed. And we pledge without hesitation, to the President of the United States, the most loyal and cordial support, hereafter as heretofore, in the exercise of the functions of his great office. We recognize in b'm the Chief Executive Magistrate of the nation, the Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, their responsible and constitutional head, whose rightful authority and power, as well as the constitutional powers of Congress, must be rigorously ana religiously guarded and preserved, as the condition on which alone our form of Government and the constitu- tional rights and liberties of the people themselves can be saved from the wreck of anarchy or from the gulf of despotism. In submission to the laws which may have been or which may be duly enacted, and to the lawful orders of the President, co-operating always in our own spheres with the national Government, we mean to continue in the most vigorous exercise of all our lawful and proper powers, contend- ing against treason, rebellion, and the pub- lic enemies, and, whether in public life or in private station, supporting the arms of the Union, until its cause shall conquer, until final victory shall perch upon its standard, or the rebel foe shall yield a dutiful, rightful, and unconditional sub- mission. And, impressed with the conviction that an army of reserve ought, until the war shall end, to be constantly kept on foot, to be raised, armed, equipped, and trained at home, and ready for emergencies, we re- spectfully ask the President to call for such a force of volunteers for one year's service, of not less than one hundred thousand in the aggregate, the quota of each State to be raised after it shall have filled its quota of the requisitions already made, both for volunteers and militia. We believe that this would be a measure of military pru- dence, while it would greatly promote the military education of the people. We hail with heartfelt gratitude and en- couraged hope the proclamation of the President, issued on the 22d instant, de- claring emancipated from their bondage all persons held to service or labor as slaves in the rebel States, whose rebellion shall last until the first day of January now next ensuing. The right of any per- son to retain authority to compel any por- tion of the subjects of the national Gov- ernment to rebel against it, or to maintain its enemies, implies in those who are al- lowed possession of such authority the right to rebel themselves ; and therefore the right to establish martial law or mili- tary government in a State or territory in rebellion implies the right and the duty of the Government to liberate the minds of all men living therein by appropriate proclamations and assurances of protection, in order that all who are capable, intel- lectually and morally, of loyalty and obedience, may not be forced into treason as the unwilling tools of rebellious traitors. To have continued indefinitely the most efficient cause, support, and stay of the re- bellion, would have been, in our judg- ment, unjust to the loyal people whose treasure and lives are made a willing sacri- fice on the altar of patrotism would hare discriminated against the wife who is com- pelled to surrender her husband, against the parent who is to surrender his child to the Hardships of the camp and the perils of battle, in favor of rebel masters per- mitted to retain their slaves. It would have been a final decision alike against humanity, justice, the rights and dignity of the Government, and against sound and BOOK i.] REPEAL OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. 145 wise national policy. The decision of the President to strike at the root of the re- bellion will lend new vigor to the efforts and new life and hope to the hearts of the people. Cordially tendering to the Presi- dent our respectful assurance of personal and official confidence, we trust and be- lieve that the policy now inaugurated will be crowned with success, will give speedy and triumphant- victories over our enemies, and secure to this nation and this people the blessing and favor of Almighty God. We believe that the blood of the heroes who have already fallen, and those who may yet give their lives to their country, will not have been shed in vain. The splendid valor of our soldiers, their patient endurance, their manly patriotism, and their devotion to duty, demand from us and from all their countrymen the homage of the sincerest gratitude and the pledge of our constant reinforcement and support. A just regard for these brave men, whom we have contributed to place in the field, and for the importance of the duties which may lawfully pertain to us hereafter, has called us into friendly con- ference. And now, presenting to our national Chief Magistrate this conclusion of our deliberations, we devote ourselves to our country's service, and we will surround the President with our constant support, trusting that the fidelity and zeal of the loyal States and people will always assure him that he will be constantly maintained in pursuing with the utmost vigor this war for the preservation of the national life and the hope of humanity. A. G. CURTIN, JOHN A. ANDREW, KICHARD YATES, ISRAEL WASHBURNE, JR., EDWARD SOLOMON, SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD, O. P. MORTON, By D. G. ROSE, his represe atative, WM. SPRAGUE, F. H. PEIRPOINT, DAVID TOD, N. 8. BERRY, AUSTIN BLAIR. Repeal of the Fugitive Slave L.aw. The first fugitive slave law passed was that of February 12th, 1793, the second and last that of September 18th, 1850. Vari- ous efforts had been made to repeal the lat- ter before the war of the rebellion, with- out a prospect of success. The situation was now different. The war spirit was high, and both Houses of Congress were in the hands of the Republicans as early as December, 1861, but all of them were not then ready to vote for repeal, while the Democrats were at first solidly against it. The bill had passed the Senate in 1850 by 27 yeas to 12 nays ; the House by 109 yeas to 76 nays, and yet as late as 1861 such was still the desire of many not to offend the political prejudices of the Border States and of Democrats whose aid was counted upon in the war, that sufficient votes could not be had until June, 1864, to pass the re- pealing bill. Republican sentiment ad- vanced very slowly in the early years of the war, when the struggle looked doubt- ful and when there was a strong desire to hold for the Union every man and county not irrevocably against it; when success could be foreseen the advances were more rapid, but never as rapid as the more rad- ical leaders desired. The record of Con- gress in the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law will illustrate this political fact, in itself worthy of grave study by the poli- tician and statesman, and therefore we give it as compiled by McPherson : Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress.* In Senate, 1861, December 26 Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin, introduced a bill to repeal the fugitive slave law ; which was referred to the Committee on the Judici- ary. 1862, May 24 Mr. Wilson, of Massachu- setts, introduced a bill to amend the fugi- tive slave law ; which was ordered to be printed and lie on the table. June 10 Mr. Wilson moved to take up the bill ; which was agreed to Yeas 25, nays 10, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Kan- sas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilson, of Massachusetts. 25. NAYS Messrs. Carlile, Davis, Latham, * On the 23d of July, 1861, the Attorney General, in answer to a letter from the United States Marshal of Kansas, inquirins whether he should assist in the execu- tion of the fugitive slave law, wrote : ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, July 23, 18KL J. L. McDowiIiL, U. 8. Marshal, Kansas : Your letter, of the llth of July, received 19th, (under frank of Senator Lane, of Kansas, i asks advice whether you should give your official services in the execution of the fugitive slave law. It is the President's constitutional duty to " take car* that the laws be faithfully executed." That means all th< laws. He has no right to discriminate, no right to exe- cute the laws he likes, and leave unexecuted those ho dislikes And of course you and I, his subordinates, can have no wider latitude of discretion than he has. Mis- souri is a State in the Union. The insurrectionary dis- orders in Missouri are but individual crimes, and do not change the legal status of the State, nor change its rights and obligations as a member of the Union. A refusal by a ministerial officer to execute any law which properly belongs to his office, is an official misde- meanor, of which I have no doubt the President wouM take notice. Very respectfully KUWARD BATES. 146 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. McDougall, Nesmith, Powell, Saulsbury, Stark, Willey, Wright 10.* The bill was to secure to claimed fugi- tives a right to a jury trial in the district court for the United States for the district in which they may be, and to require the claimant to prove his loyalty. The bill repeals sections 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the act of 1850, and that part of section 5, which authorizes the summoning of the posse comitatus. When a warrant of return is made either on jury trial or confession of the party in the presence of counsel, hav- ing been warned of his rights, the fugitive is to be surrendered to the claimant, or the marshal where necessary, who shall remove him to the boundary line of the district, and there deliver him to the claimant. The bill was not further considered. In House, 1861, December 20 Mr. Julian offered this resolution : Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee be instructed to report a bill, so amending the fugitive slave law enacted in 1850 as to forbid the recapture or return of any fu- gitive from labor without satisfactory proof hrst made that the claimant of sucn fugi- tive is loyal to the Government. Mr. Holman moved to table the resolu- tion, which was disagreed to yeas 39, nays 78, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Ancona, Joseph Baity, Biddle, George H. Browne, Cobb, Cooper, Cox, Cravens, Crittenden, Dunlap, English. Fouke, Grider, Harding, Holman, Johnson, Law, Lazear, Leary, Lehman, Mallory, Mor- ris, Noble, Noell, Norton, Nugen, Odell, Pendleton, Robinson, Shiel, John B. Steele, William G. Steele, Vallandigham, Wads- worth, Webster, Chilton A. White, Wick- liffe, Woodruff, Wright 3d. NAYS Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Samuel 8. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Burnham, Chamberlain, Clark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Delano, Duell, Edwards, Eliot, Fessenden, Fran- chot, Frank, Gooch, Goodwin, Gurley, Hale, Hanchett, Harrison, Hooper, Hutch- ins, Julian, William Kellogg, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, McKnight, McPherson, Marston, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. Morrill, Justin 8. -Merrill, Olin, Patton, Pike, Pomeroy, Porter, John H. Kice, Rid- dle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedg- wick, Shanka. Shellabarger, Sherman, Sloan, Spaulding, Stevens, Benjamin F. Thomas, Train, Vandever. Wall, Wallace, Walton, Washburne, Wheeler, Whaley, 41bert 8. White, Wilson, Windom, Wor- cester 78. The resolution was then adopted veas 78, nays 39. 1862, June 9 Mr. Julian, of Indiana, * JUpnblicani in Roman; Democrat* In italics. introduced into the House a resolution in- structing the Judiciary Committee to re- port a bill for the purpose of repealing the fugitive slave law ; which was tabled yeas 66, nays 51, as follows : YEAS Messrs. William J. Allen, Anco- na, Baily, Biddle, Francis P. Blair, Jacob B. Blair, George H. Browne, William G, Brown, Burnham, Calvert, Casey, Clem- ents, Cobb, Corning, Crittenden, Delano, Diven, Granger, Grider, Haight, Hale, Harding, Holman, Johnson, William Kel- logg, Kerrigan, Knapp, Lazear, Low, May- nard, Menzies, Moorhead, Morris, Noble, Noell, Norton, Odell, Pendleton, John S. Phelps, Timothy G. Phelps, Porter, Rich- ardson, Robinson, James S. Rollins, Sar- gent, Segar, Sheffield, Shiel, Smith, John B. Steele, William G. Steele, Benjamin F. Thomas, Francis Thomas, Trimble, Val- landigham,\erree, Vibbard, Voorhees, Wads- worth, Webster, Chilton A. White, Wick- liffe, Wood, Woodruff, Worcester, Wright 66. NAYS Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Blake, Buffin- ton, Chamberlain, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Davis, Dawes, Edgerton, Ed- wards, Eliot, Ely, Franchot, Gooch, Good- win, Hanchett, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, Lansing, Lovejoy, McKnight, McPherson, Mitchell, Anson P. Morrill, Pike, Pomeroy, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Shellabarger, Sloan, Spaulding, Stevens, Train, Trowbridge, Van Horn, Van Valkenburgh,Wall, Wallace, Wash- burne, Albert S. White, Windom -51. Same day Mr. Colfax, of Indiana, of- fered this resolution : Resolved, That the Committee on the Ju- diciary be instructed to report a bill modi- fying the fugitive slave law so as to require a jury trial in all cases where the person claimed denies under oath that he is a slave, and also requiring any claimant under such act to prove that he has been loyal to the Government during the present rebellion. Which was agreed to yeas 77, nays 43, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Blake, Buffin- ton, Burnham, Chamberlain, Colfax, Fred- erick A. Conkling, Davis, Dawes, Delano, Diven, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, Ely, Franchot, Gooch, Goodwin, Granger, Gur- ley, Haight, Hale, Hanchett, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley > Francis W. Kellogg, Wil- liam Kellogg, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, Lowe, McKnight, McPherson, Mitchell, Anson P. Mornll, Justin S. Morrill, Nixon, Timothy G. Phelps, Pike, Pomeroy, Por- ter, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Shanks, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sloan, Spaulding, Stevens, Stratton, Benjamin F. BOOKI.] REPEAL OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 147 Thorns, Train, Trimble, Trowbridge, Van Valkenburgh, Verree, Wall, Wallace, Washburne, Albert, S. White, Wilson, Windom, Worcester 77. NAYS Messrs. William J. Allen, Ancona, Baily, Biddle, Jacob B. Blair, William G. Brown, Calvert, Casey, Clements, Cobb, Corning, Crittenden, Fouke, Grider, Hard- ing, Holman, Johnson, Knapp, Maynard, Menzies, Noble, Noell, Norton, Pendleton, John S. Phelps, Richardson, Robinson, James S Rollins, Segar, Shiel, Smith, John B. Steele, William G. Steele, Francis Thom- as, Vallandigham, Vibbard, Voorhees, Wads- worth, Webster, Chilian A. White, Wick- liffe, Wood, Wright 43. Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. In Senate, 1863, February 11 Mr. Ten Eyck, from the Committee on the Judici- ary, to whom was referred a bill, intro- duced by Senator Howe, in second session, December 26, 1861, to repeal the fugitive slave act of 1850, reported it back without amendment, and with a recommendation that it do not pass. First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. In House, 1863, Dec. 14. Mr. Julian, of Indiana, offered this resolution : Resolved, That the Committee on the Ju- diciary be instructed to report a bill for a repeal of the third and fourth sections of the " act respecting fugitives from justice and persons escaping from the service of their masters," approved February 12, 1793, and the act to amend and supplementary to the aforesaid act, approved September 18, 1850. Mr. Holman moved that the resolution lie upon the table, which was agreed to yeas 81, nays 73, as follows: YEAS Messrs. James C. Allen, William J. Allen, Ancona, Anderson, Baily, Au- gustus C. Baldwin, Jacob B. Blair, Bliss, Brooks, James S. Brown, William G. Browne, Clay, Cobb, Coffroth, Cox, Cravens, Creswell, Dawson, Demming, Denison, Eden, Edger- ton, Eldridge, English, Finck, Ganson, Grider, Griswold, Hall, Harding, Harring- ton, Benjamin G. Harris, Charles M. Har- ris, Higby, Holman, Hutchins, William Johnson, Kernan, King, Knapp, Law, La- zear, Le Blond, Long, Mallory, Marcy, Mar- vin, McBride, McDowell, McKinney, Wil- liam H. Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, Nelson, Noble, Odell, John O'Neil, Pendle- ton, William H. Randall, Robinson, Rogers, James S. Rollins, Ross, Scott, Smith, Smith- ers, Stebbins, John B. Steele, Stuart, Sweat, Thomas, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Ward, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Williams, Winfield, Fernando Wood, Yea- man 81. NAYS Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Arnold, Ashley, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, Beaman, Elaine, Blow, Boutwell, Boyd, Brandegee, Broomall, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clark, Cole, Henry Winter Da- vis, Dawes, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, Du- mont, Eckley, Eliot, Farnsworth, Fenton, Frank, Garfield, Gooch, Grinnell, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hnbbard, John H. Hubbard, Hulburd, Jenckes, Julian, Fran- cis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, Loan, Longyear, Lovejoy, McClurg, Mclndpe, Samuel F. Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Norton, Charles O'Neill, Orth, Patterson,Pike, Pom- eroy, Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Edward H. Rollins, Schenck, Scofield, Shannon, Spalding, Thayer, Van Valkenburgh, Elihu B. Wash- burne, William B. Washburn, Whaley, Wilder, Wilson, Windom, Woodbidge 73. 1864, June 6, Mr. Hubbard, of Connec- ticut, offered this resolution : Resolved, That the Committee on the Ju- diciary be instructed to report to this House a bill for the repeal of all acts and parts of acts which provide for the rendi- tion of fugitive slaves, and that they have leave to make such report at any time. Which went over under the rule. May 30, he had made an ineffectual effort to offer it, Mr. Holman objecting. REPEALING BILLS. 1864, April 19, the Senate considered the bill to repeal all acts for the rendition of fugitives from service or labor. The bill was taken up yeas 26, nays 10. Mr. Sherman moved to amend by insert- in^ these words at the end of the bill : Except the act approved February 12, 1793, entitled " An act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters." Which was agreed to yeas 24, nays 17, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile^ Col- lamer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Foster, Harris, Henderson, Hendricks, Howe, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, McDou- gall, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Saulsbury, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Win- kle, Willey 24. NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, Conness, Fessenden, Grimes, Hale, How- ard, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sprague, Sumner, Wil- kinson, Wilson 17. Mr. Saulsbury moved to add these sec- tions : And be it further enacted, That no white inhabitant of the United States shall be arrested, or imprisoned, or held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, except in cases arising in the land or na- val forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger, without due process of law. And be it further enacted, That no per- son engaged in the executive, legislative, 148 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. or judicial departments of the Government of the United States, or holding any office or trust recognized in the Constitution of the United States, and no person in mili- tary or naval service of the United States, shall, without due process of law, arrest or imprison any white inhabitant of the Uni- ted States who is not, or has not been, or shall not at the time of such arrest or im- prisonment be, engaged in levying war against the United States, or in adhering to the enemies of the United States, giv- ing them aid and comfort, nor aid, abet, procure or advise the same, 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. And any person asaforesaidso arresting, or imprisoning, or holding, as aforesaid, as in this and the second section of this act mentioned, or aiding, abetting, or procuring, or advising the same, shall be deemed guilty of fel- ony, and, upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be imprisoned for a term of not less than one nor more than five years, shall pay a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $6000, and shall be forever incapable of holding any office or public trust under the Gov- ernment of the United States. Mr. HALE moved to strike out the word "white" wherever it occurs; which was agreed to. The amendment of Mr. SAULSBURY, as amended, was then disagreed to yeas 9, nays 27, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan, Dam, Hendricks, McDougall, Powell, Rid- dle. Saulsbury 9. NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Colla- mer, Conness, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harris. Howard, Howe, Lane of Indiana, Lane, of Kansas, Morgan, Mor- rill. Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Win- kle, Wilkinson," Willey, Wilson 27. Mr. COXNE*S moved to table the bill which was disagreed to yeas 9, (Messrs Buckalew, Carlile, Conness, Davis, Hen- dricks, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Saulsbury,] nava 31. ft was not again acted upon. 1864, June 13 The House passed this bill, introduced by Mr. SPALDING, of Ohio and reported from the Committee on the Judiciary by Mi. MORRIS, of New York M follows : Be it enacted, etc., that sections three am four of an act entitled " An act respecting fugitives from justice and persons escapin) from the service of their masters," passe( February 12, 1793, and an Act entitle< " An act to amend, and supplementary to the act entitled ' An act respecting fugi tires from justice, and persons escapin from their masters,' passed February U 793," passed September 18, 1850, be, and lie same are hereby, repealed. Yeas 86, nays 60, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Ar- old, Ashley, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, Seaman, Elaine, Blair, Blow, Boutwell, ioyd, Brandegee, Broomall, Ambrose W. Clarke, Freeeman Clark, Cobb, Cole, Cres- vell, Henry Winter Davis, Thomas T. Da- vis, Dawes, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, Eck- ey, Eliot, Farnsworth, Fenton, Frank, Gar- eld, Gooch, Griswold, Higby, Hooper, lotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, John K. lubbard, Hulburd, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Ju- ian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, O. Kel- ogg, Littlejohn, Loan, Longyear, Marvin, VIcClurg, Mclndoe, Samuel F. Miller, Vloorhead, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos tlyers, Leonard Myers, Norton, Charles O'Neill, Orth, Patterson, Perham, Pike, rice, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Bchenck, Scofield, Shannon, Sloan, Spald- ng, Starr, Stevens, Thayer, Thomas, Tracy, Jpson, Van Valkenburgh, Webster, Wha- ey, Williams, Wilder, Wilson, Windom, Woodbridge 86. NAYS Messrs. James C. Allen, William Allen, Ancona, Augustus C. Baldwin, Bliss, Brooks, James S. Brown, Chanler, Coffroth, Cox, Cravens. Dawson, Denison, Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, English, Finck, Ganson, Grider, Harding, Harrington, Charles M. Harris, Herrick, Holman, Hutchins, Kalbfleisch, Kernan, King, Knapp, Law, Lazear, Le Blond, Mallory, Marcy, McDowell, McKinney, Wm. H. Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, Odell, Pendleton, Pruyn, Radford, Robinson, Jas. S. Rollins, Ross, Smitners, John B. Steele, Wm. G. Steele, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Sweat, Wads- worth, Ward, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Fernando Wood 60. June 22 This bill was taken up in the Senate, when Mr. SAULSBURY moved this substitute : That no person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escap- ing into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be de- livered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due ; and Congress shall pass all necessary and pro- per laws for the rendition of all such per- sons who shall so, as aforesaid, escape. Which was rejected yeas 9, nays 29, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan, Davis, McDougall, Powell, Richardson, Riddle, Saulsbury 9. NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chand- ler, Clark, Conness, Dixon, Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Hicks, Howard, Howe, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sprague, Sumner. Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Winkle, Wade, Willey . BOOKI.] FINANCIAL LEGISLATION INTERNAL TAXES. 149 Mr. JOHNSON, of Maryland, moved an amendment to substitute a clause repeal ing the act of 1850 ; which was rejected yeas 17, nays 22, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan Davis, Harris, Hicks, Johnson, Lane o Indiana, McDougall, Powell, Richardson Riddle, Saulsbury, Ten Eyck, Trumbull Van Winkle, Willey 17. NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chand ler, Clark, Conness, Dixon, Fessenden Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Howard Howe, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sprague, Sumner, Wade Wilson 22. The bill then passed yeas 27, nays 12 as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chand- ler, Clark, Conness, Dixon, Fessenden, Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Hicks, Howard, Howe, Lane of Indiana, Lane oi Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Ram- sey, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trum- bull, Wade, Wilson 27. NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan, Davis, Johnson, McDougall, Powell, Rich- ardson, Riddle, Saulsbury, Van Winkle, Willey 12. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Resident, approved it, June 28, 1864. Scvrartl as Secretary of State. Wm. H. Seward was a master in diplo- macy and Statecraft, and to his skill the Unionists were indebted for all avoidance of serious foreign complications while the war was going on. The most notable case coming under his supervision was that of the capture of Mason and Slidell, by Com- modore Wilkes, who, on the 8th of Novem- ber, 1861, had intercepted the Trent with Sin Jacinto. The prisoners were Confed- erate agents on their way to St. James and St. Cloud. Both had been prominent Sen- ators, early secessionists, and the popular impulse of the North was to hold and pun- ish them. Both Lincoln and Seward wisely resisted the passions of the hour, and when Great Britain demanded their release under the treaty of Ghent, wherein the right of future search of vessels was dis- avowed, Seward yielded, and referring to the terms of the treaty, said : " If I decide this case in favor of my own Government, I must disavow its most cherished principles, and reverse and for- ever abandon its essential policy. The country cannot afford the sacrifice. If I maintain those principles and adhere to that policy, I must surrender the case itself.'' The North, with high confidence in their President and Cabinet, readily conceded the wisdom of the argument, especially as it was clinched in the newspapers of the day by one of Lincoln's homely remarks : " One war at a time." A war with Great Britain was thus happily avoided. With the incidents oi the war, however, save as they affected politics and politi- cians, this work has little to do, and we therefore pass the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, which suspension was em- ployed in breaking up the Maryland Legis- lature and other bodies when they con- templated secession, and it facilitated the arrest and punishment of men throughout the North who were suspected of giving "aid and comfort to the enemy." The alleged arbitrary character of these arrests caused much complaint from Democratic Senators and Representatives, but the right was fully enforced in the face of every form of protest until the war closed. The most prominent arrest was that of Clement L. Vallandigham, member of Congress from Ohio, who was sent into the Southern lines. From thence he went to Canada, and when a candidate for Governor in Ohio, was de- feated by over 100,000 majority. Financial Legislation Internal Taxes. The Financial legislation during the war was as follows : 1860, December 17 Authorized an issue of $10,000,000 in TREASURY NOTES, to be redeemed after the expiration of one year from the date of issue, and bearing such a rate of interest as may be offered by the lowest bidders. Authority was given to issue these notes in payment of warrants in favor of public creditors at their par value, searing six per cent, interest per annum. 1861, February 8 Authorized a LOAN of 25,000,000, bearing interest at a rate not xceeding six per cent, per annum, and reimbursable within a period not beyond ;wenty yea*s nor less than ten years. This oau was made for the payment of the cur- rent, expenses, and was to be awarded to he most favorable bidders. March 2 Authorized a LOAN of $10,- 000,000, bearing interest at a rate not ex- jeeding six per cent, per annum, and re* mbursable after the expiration of ten years from July 1, 1861. In case propo- sals for the loan were not acceptable, au- thority was given to issue the whole amount in TREASURY NOTES, bearing in- .erest at a rate not exceeding six per cent, oer annum. Authority was also given to substitute TREASURE NOTES for the whole or any part of the loans for which the Sec- retary was by law authorized to contract vnd issue bonds, at the time of the passage f this act, and such treasury notes were to >e made receivable in payment of all pub- ic dues, and redeemable at any time within two years from March 2, 1861. March 2 Authorized an issue, should ,he Secretary of the Treasury deem it ex- pedient, of $2,800,000 in coupon BONDS, >earing interest at the rate of six per cent, 150 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. per annum, and redeemable in twenty vears, for the payment of expenses incurred oy the Territories of Washington and Oregon in the suppression of Indian hos- tilities during the year 1855-'56. July 17 Authorized a loan of $250,000,- 000, lor which could be issued BONDS bear- ing interest at a rate not exceeding 7 per cent, per annum, irredeemable for twenty years, and after that redeemable at the pleasure of the United States. TREASURY NOTES bearing interest at the rate of 7.30 per cent, per annum, payable three years after date ; and United States NOTES without interest, payable on demand, to the extent of $50,- 000,000. (Increased by act of February 12, 1862, to $60,000,000.) The bonds and treasury NOTES to be is- sued in such proportions of each as the Secretary may deem advisable. August 5 Authorized an issue of BONDS bearing 6 per cent, interest per annum, and payable at the pleasure of the United States after twenty years from date, which may be issued in exchange for 7.30 trea- sury notes ; but no such bonds to be issued for a less sum than $500, and the whole amount of such bonds not to exceed the whole amount of 7.30 treasury notes issued. February 6, 1862 Making $50,000,000 of notes, of denominations less than $5, a legal tender, as recommended by Secretary Chase, was passed January 17, 1862. In the House it received the votes of the Re- publicans generally, and 38 Democrats. In the Senate it had 30 votes for to 1 against, that of Senator Powell. 1862, February 25 Authorized the issue of $15,000,000 in legal tender United States XOTES, $50,000,000 of which to be in lieu of demand notes issued under act of July 17, 1801, $500,000,000 in 6 per cent, bonds, redeemable after five years, and payable twenty years from date, which may be ex- changed for United States notes, and a temporary loan of $25,000,000 in United States notes for not less than thirty days, payable after ten days' notice at 5 per cent, interest per annum. March 17 Authorized an increase of TEMPORARY LOANS of $25,000,000, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding 5 per cent, per annum. July 11 Authorize! a further increase of TEMPORARY LOANS of $50,000.000, mak- ing the whole amount authorized $100,- 000,000. March 1 Authorized an issue of CER- TIFICATES or INDEBTEDNESS, payable one year from date, in settlement of audited claims against the Government. Interest (] J.T cent, per annum, payable in gold on those issuea prior to March 4, 1863, and in lawful currency on those issued on and after that date. Amount of issue not specified. 1862, July 11 Authorized an additional issue of $150,000,0* '0 legal tender NOTES, $35,000,000 of which might be in denomi- nations less than five dollars. Fifty mil- lion dollars of this issue to be reserved to pay temporary loans promptly in case of emergency. July 17 Authorized an issue of NOTES of the fractional part of one dollar, receiv- able in payment of all dues, except cus- toms, less than five dollars. Amount of issue not specified. 1863, January 17 Authorized the issue of $100,000,000 in United States NOTES for the immediate payment of the army and navy ; such notes to be a part of the amount provided for in any bill that may hereafter be passed by this Congress. The amount in this resolution is included in act of March 3, 1863. March 3 Authorized a LOAN of $300,- 000,000 for this and 1600,000,000 for next fiscal year, for which could be issued bonds running not less than ten nor more than forty years, principal and interest payable in coin, bearing interest at a rate not ex- ceeding 6 per cent, per annum, payable on bonds not exceeding $100, annually, and on all others semi-annually. And TREASURY NOTES (to the amount of $400,000,000) not exceeding three years to run, with interest not over 6 per cent, per annum, principal and interest payable in lawful money, which may be made a legal tender for their face value, excluding interest, or convertible into United States notes. And a further issue of $150,000,000 in United States NOTES for the purpose of converting the Treasury notes which may be issuea under this act, and for no other purpose. And a further issue, if necessary, for the payment of the army and navy, and other creditors of the Government, of $150,000,- 000 in United States NOTES, which amount includes the $100,000,000 authorized by the joint resolution of Congress, January 17, 1863. The whole amount of bonds, treasury notes, and United States notes issued under this act not to exceed the sum of $900,000,000. March 3 Authorized to issue not ex- ceeding $50,000,000 in FRACTIONAL CUR- RENCY, (in lieu of postage or other stamps,) exchangeable for United States notes in sums not less than three dollars, and re- ceivable for any dues to the United States less than five dollars, except duties on im- ports. The whole amount issued, includ- ing postage and other stamps issued as currency, not to exceed $50,000,000. Authority was given to prepare it in the Treasury Department, under the supervi- sion of the Secretary. 1864, March 3 Authorized, in lieu of so much of the loan of March 3, 1863, a LOAN of $200,000,000 for the current fiscal year, for which may be issued bonds redeemable BOOK I.] INTERNAL TAXES. 151 after five and within forty years, principal and interest payable in coin, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding 6 per cent, per an- num, payable annually on bonds not over $100, and on all others semi-annually. These bonds to be exempt from taxation by or under State or municipal authority. 1864, June 30 Authorized a LOAN of $100,000,000. for which may be issued bonds, redeemable after five nor more than thirty years, or if deemed expedient, made payable at any period not more than forty years from date interest not exceeding six per cent, semi-annually, in coin. Pending the loan bill of June 22, 1862, before the House in Committee of the Whole, and the question being on the first section, authorizing a loan of $400,000,000, closing with this clause : And all bonds, Treasury notes, and oth- er obligations of the United States shall be exempt from taxation by or under state or municipal authority. There was a sharp political controversy on this question, but the House finally agreed to it by 77 to 71. Party lines were not then distinctly drawn on financial issues. INTERNAL TAXES. The system of internal revenue taxes imposed during the war did not evenly divide parties until near its close, when Democrats were generally arrayed against these taxes. They cannot, from the record, be correctly classed as political issues, yet their adoption and the feelings since en- gendered by them, makes a brief summary of the record essential. First Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. The bill to provide increased revenue from imports, &c., passed the House August 2, 1861 yeas 89, nays 39. Same day, it passed the Senate yeas 34, nays 8, (Messrs. Breckinridge, Bright, John- son, of Missouri, Kennedy, Latham, Polk, Powell, Saulsbury.)* Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. The Internal Revenue Act of 1862. 1862, April 8 The House passed the bill to provide internal revenue, support the Government, and pay interest on the public debt yeas 126, nays 15. The NAYS were : Messrs. William Allen, George H. Browne, Buffinton, Cox, Kerrigan, Knapp, Law, Norton, Pendleton, Richardson, Shiel. Val- landigham, Voorhees, Chilton A. White, Wickli/e15. June 6 The bill passed in the Senate yeas 37, nay 1, (Mr. Powell.) First Session Thirty-Eighth Congress. Internal /,'<>. ,m.< Act c/1864. April 28 The House passed the act of 1864 yeas 110, nays 39. The NAYS were : Messrs. James C. Allen, William J. Allen, * Democrats in italics. Ancona, Brooks, Chanler, Cox, Dawson, Denison, Eden, Eldridge, Finck, Harring- ton, Benjamin G. Harris, Herrick, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, Knapp, Law, Le Blond, Long, Marcy, McDowell, McKin- ney. James R. Morris, Morrison, Noble, John O'Neil, Pendleton, Perry, Robinson, Ross, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Voorhees, Ward, Chil- ton A. White, Joseph W. White, Fernando Wood 39. June 6 The Senate amended and passed the bill yeas 22, nays 3, (Messrs. Davis, Hendricks, Powell.} The bill, as finally agreed upon by a Committee of Conference, passed without a division. Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. Tariff Act of 1862. In House 1862, July 1 The House passed, without a division, a bill increasing temporarily the duties on imports, and for other purposes. July 8 The Senate passed it without a division. THE TARIFF ACT OF 1864. June 4 The House passed the bill yeas 81, nays 28. The NAYS were : Messrs. James C. Allen, Bliss, James S. Brown, Cox, Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, Grider, Harding, Harrington, Chas. M. Harris, Herrick, Holman, Hutchins, Le Blond, Long, Mallory, Marcy, McDowell, Morrison, Noble, Pendleton, Perry, Pruyn, Ross, Wadsworth, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White -28. June 17 The Senate passed the bill yeas 22, nays 5, (Messrs. Buckalew, Hen- dricks, McDougall, Powell, Richardson.) Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. Taxes in Insurrectionary District*, 1862. 1862, May 12 The bill for the collec- tion of taxes in the insurrectionary dis- tricts passed the Senate yeas 32, nays 3, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Harlan, Harris, Henderson, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Latham, McDougall, Mor- rill, Nesmith, Pomeroy, Rice, Sherman, Sumner, Ten Eyck, . Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Willey, Wilson, of Massachu- setts, Wright 32. NAYS Messrs. Howard, Powell, Sauls- bury 3. May 28 The bill passed House yeas 98, nays 17. The NAYS were : Messrs. Biddle, Calrert, Cravens, Johnson, Kerrigan, Law, Mallory, Menzies, Noble, Norton, Pendletnn, Perry, Francis Thomas Vallandigham, Ward, Wicklife, Wood 17. The Democrats who voted Aye were : Messrs. Ancona, Baily, Cobb, English, Haight, Holman, Lehman, Odell, Phelps t * Democrat* ID italics. 152 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Richardson, James S. Rollins, Sheffield, Smith, John B. Steele, Wm. G. Stede. TAXES IN INSURRECTIONARY DISTRICTS, 1804. In Senate, June 27 The bill passed the Senate without a division. July 2 It passed the House without a division. Many financial measures and proposi- tions were rejected, and we shall not at- tempt to give the record on these. All that were passed and went into operation can be more readily understood by a glance at our Tabulated History, in Book VII., which gives a full view of the financial history and sets out all the loans and reve- nues., We ought not to close this review, however, without giving here a tabulated statement, from " McPherson's History of the Great Rebellion," of The Confederate Debt. December 31, 1862, the receipts of the Treasury from the commencement of the " Permanent Government," (February 18, 1862,) were as follows : RECEIPTS. Patent fund . Customs Miscellaneous Repayments of disbursing offi- cers Interest on loans Call loan certificates .... One hundred million loan . . Treasury notes Interest bearing notes . . . War tax Loan 28th of February, 1861 . Coin received from Bank of Louisiana . $13,920 00 668,566 00 2,291,812 00 3,839,263 00 26,583 00 69,742,796 00 41,398,286 00 215,554,885 00 113,740.000 00 16,664,513 00 1,375,476 00 2,539,799 00 Total $457,855,704 00 Total debt up to December 31, 1862 656,105,100 00 Estimated amount at that date necessary to support the Gov- ernment to July, 1863, was 357,929,229 00 Up to December 31, 1862, the issues of the Treasury were : Notes .' . . . $440,678,510 00 Redeemed 80,193,479 60 Outstanding $410,485,030 50 From January 1, 1863, to September 30, 1863, the receipts of the Treasury were : For 8 per cent, stock .... $107,292,900 70 For 7 per cent, stock .... 38,757,650 70 For 6 per cent, stock .... 6,810,050 00 For 6 per cent stock .... 22,992,900 00 For 4 per cent, stock .... 482,200 00 Cotton certificates ..... 2,000,000 00 Interest on loans 140,210 00 War tax 4,128,988 97 Treasury notes 391,623,530 00 Sequestration 1,862,550 27 Customs 934,798 68 Export duty on cotton . . . 8,101 78 Patent fund 10,794 04 Miscellaneous, including re- payments by disbursing offi- cers 24,498,217 93 Total $601,522,893 12 EXPENDITURES DCRISQ THAT TIM*. War Department $377,988,244 00 Navy Department 38,437,661 00 rivil, miscellaneous, etc . . . 11,629,27800 Customs 56,636 00 Public debt 32,212,290 00 Notes cancelled and redeemed 69,044.449 00 Total expenditures . Total receipts . . . . $519,368,559 00 . 601,622,893 00 Balance in treasury . $82,154,334 00 But from this amount is to be deducted the amount of all Treasury notes that have been funded, but which have not yet received a true estimation, $65,000,000 ; total remaining, $17,- 154,334. CONDITION OF THE TREASURY, JANUARY 1, 1864. Jan. 25 The Secretary of the Treasury (C. G. Memminger) laid before the Senate a statement in reply to a resolution of the 20th, asking information relative to the funded debt, to call certificates, to non-in- terest and interest-bearing Treasury notes, and other financial matters. From this it appears that, January, 1864, the funded debt was as follows: Act Feb 28, 1861, 8$ cent., 15,000,00000 Act May 16, 1801, 8 $ cent , 8,774.900 00 Act Aug. 19, 1861, 8 f cent., 100,000,000 00 Act Apr. 12, 1862,8^ cent, 3,612,300 00 Act Feb. 20, ISM, 8 '& cent., 95,785,000 00 Act Feb. 20, 1863, 71* cent, 63,615,750 00 Act Mar 23,1863, 6$ cent, 2,831,700 00 Act April 30, 1863 (cotton interest coupons) 8,252,00000 $297,871,650 00 Call certificates 89,206,770 00 Non-interest bearing Treasury notes out- standing: Act May 16, 1861 Payable two years after date 8,320,875 00 Act Aug. 19, 1861 General currency 189,719,251 00 Act Oct. 13, 1861 All de- nominations 131,028,366 50 Act March 23 All denomi- nations 391,829,702 50 720,898,095 00 Interest-bearing Treasury notes outstand- ing * 102,465,45000 Amount of Treasury notes under $ 5, outstanding Jan. 1, 1864, Tiz: Act April 17, 1862, denomi- nations of S 1 and $ 2 4,860,277 50 Act Oct. 13, 1862, S 1 and $ 2 2,344,800 00 Act March 23, 1863, 60 cents - 3,419,000 00 Total under $ 5 10,424,077 50 Total debt, Jan. 1, 1864 $1,220,866,042 60 BOOK I.] CONFEDERATE TAXES. 153 ITS CONDITION, MA11CH 31, 1864. The Register of the Treasury, Robert Tyler, gave a statement, which appeared in the Richmond Sentinel after the passage of the funding law, which gives the amount of outstanding non-interest-bearing Trea- sury notes, March 31, 1864, as $796,264,403, as follows : Act May 16, 1861 Ten-year notes $7,201,375 00 Act Aug. 19, 1861 General currency 154,365,631 00 Act Apr. 19, 1862 ones and twos 4,516,509 00 Act Oct. 18, 1862 General currency 118,997,321 50 Act Mar. 23, 1863 General currency 511,182,566 50 Total $796,264,403 00 He also publishes this statement of the issue of non-interest>-bearing Treasury notes since the organization of the " Con- federate " government : Fifty cents $911,258 50 Ones 4,882,000 00 Twos 6,086,320 00 Fives 79,090,315 00 Tens 157,982,750 00 Twenties 217,425,120 00 Fifties 188,088,200 00 Total $973,277,363 50 Confederate Taxes. We also append as full and fair a state- ment of Confederate taxes as can be pro- cured, beginning with a summary of the act authorizing the issue of Treasury notes and bonds, and providing a war tax for their redemption : THE TAX ACT OF JULY, 1861. The Richmond Enquirer gives the fol- lowing summary of the act authorizing the issue of Treasury notes and bonds, and providing a war tax for their redemption : Section one authorizes the issue of Treasury notes, payable to bearer at the expiration of six months after the ratifica- tion of a treaty of peace between the Con- federate States and the United States. The notes are not to be of a less denomi- nation than five dollars, to be re-issued at pleasure, to be received in payment of all public dues, except the export duty on cot- ton, and the whole issue outstanding at one time, including the amount issued under former acts, are not to exceed one hundred millions of dollars. Section two provides that, for the pur- pose of funding the said notes, or for the purpose of purchasing specie or military stores, &c., bonds may be issued, payable not more than twenty years after date, to the amount of one hundred millions of dol- lars, and bearing an interest of eight per cent, per annum. This amount includes the thirty millions already authorized to be issued. The bonds are not to be issued in less amounts than $100, except when the subscription is for a less amount, when they may be issued as low as $50. Section three provides that holders of Treasury notes may at any time exchange them for bonds. Section four provides that, for the special purpose of paying the principal and inter- est of the public debt, and of supporting the Government, a war tax shall be as- sessed and levied of fifty cents upon each one hundred dollars in value of the follow- ing property in the Confederate States, namely : Real estate of all kinds ; slaves ; merchandise ; bank stocks ; railroad and other corporation stocks; money at in- terest or invested by individuals in the purchase of bills, notes, and other securi- ties for money, except the bonds of the Confederate States of America, and cash on hand or on deposit in bank or elsewhere ; cattle, horses, and mules ; gold watches, gold and silver plate ; pianos and pleasure carriages: Provided, however, That when the taxable property, herein above enu- merated, of any head of a family is of value less than five hundred dollars, such tax- able property shall be exempt from taxa- tion under this act. It provides further that the property of colleges, schools, and religious associations shall be exempt. The remaining sections provide for the collection of the tax. THE TAX ACT OF DECEMBER 19, 1861. An act supplementary to an act to authorize the issue of Treasury notes, and to pro- vide a war tax for their redemption. SEC. 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Sec- retary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to pay over to the several banks, which have made advances to the Government, in anticipation of the issue of Treasury notes, a sufficient amount, not exceeding $10,000,000, for the principal and interest due upon the said advance, according to the engagements made with them. SEC. 2. The time affixed by the said act for making assignments is hereby extend- ed to the 1st day of January next, and the time for the completion and delivery of the lists is extended to the 1st day of March next, and the time for the report of the said lists to the chief collector is extended to the 1st day of May next ; and in cases where the time thus fixed shall be found insufficient, the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to make further 'exten- sion, as circumstances may require. SEC. 3. The cash on hand, or on deposit in the bank, or elsewhere, mentioned in 154 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. the fourth section of said act, is hereby de- clared to be subject to assessment and tax- ation, and the money at interest, or invest- ed by individuals in the purchase of bills, notes, and other securities for money, shall be deemed to include securities for money belonging to non-residents, and such se- curities shall be returned, and the tax thereon paid by any agent or trustee hav- ing the same in possession or under his control. The term merchandise shall be construed to include merchandise belong- ing to any non-resident, and the property shall be returned, and the tax paid by any person having the same in possession as agent, attorney, or consignee: Provided, That the words "money at interest," as used in the act to which this act is an amendment, shall be so construed as to in- clude all notes, or other evidences of debt, bearing interest, without reference to the consideration of the same. The exception allowed by the twentieth section for agri- cultural products shall be construed to em- brace such products only when in the hands of the producer, or held for his ac- count. But no tax shall be assessed or levied on any money at interest when the notes, bond, bill, or other security taken for its payment, shall be worthless from the insolvency and total inability to pay of the payer or obligor, or person liable to make such payment ; and all securities for money payable under this act shall be assessed according to their value, and the assessor shall have the same power to as- certain the value of such securities as the law confers upon him with respect to other property. SEC. 4. That an amount of money, not exceeding $25,000, shall be and the same is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be disbursed under the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, to the chief State tax collectors, for such expenses as shall be actually incurred for salaries of clerks, office hire, stationery, and inciden- tal charges; but the books and printing required shall be at the expense 01 the de- partment, and subject to its approval. SEC. 5. The lien for the tax shall attach from the date of the assessment, and shall follow the same into every State in the Confederacy ; and in case any person shall attempt to remove any property which may be liable to tax, beyond the jurisdiction of the State in which the tax is payable, without payment of the tax, the collector of the district may distrain upon and sell the same, in the same manner as is pro- vided in cases where default is made in the payment of the tax. SEC. 6. On the report of any chief col- lector, that any county, town or district, or any part thereof, is occupied by the public enemy, or has been BO occupied as to occasion destruction of crops or property, the Secretary of the Treasury may suspend the collection of tax in such region until the same can be reported to Congress, and its action had thereon. SEC. 7. In case any of the Confederate States shall undertake to pay the tax to be collected within its limits before the time at which the district collectors shall enter upon the discharge of their duties, the Secretary of the Treasury may suspend the appointment of such collectors, and may direct the chief collector to appoint assess- ors, and to take proper measures for the making and perfecting the returns, assess- ments and lists required by law ; and the returns, assessments and lists so made, shall have the same legal validity, to all intents and purposes, as if made according to the provisions of the act to which this act is supplementary. SEC. 8. That tax lists already given, varying from the provisions of this act, shall be corrected so as to conform thereto. THE TAX ACT OF APRIL 24, 1863. [From the Richmond Whig, April 21.] We present below a synopsis of the bill to lay taxes for the common defence and to carry on the government of the Confed- erate States, which has passed both branches of Congress. It is substantially the bill proposed by the committee on conference : 1. The first section imposes a tax of eight per cent, upon the value of all naval stores, salt, wines and spirituous liquors, tobacco, manufactured or unmanufactured, cotton, wool, flour, sugar, molasses, syrup, rice, and other agricultural products, held or owned on the 1st day of July next, and not necessary for family consumption for the unexpired portion of the year 1863, and of the growth or production of any year preceding the year 1863 ; and a tax of one per cent, upon all moneys, bank notes or other currency on hand or on de- posit on the 1st day of July next, and on the value of all credits on which the in- terest has not been paid, and not employed in a business, the income derived from which is taxed under the provisions of this act: Provided, That all moneys owned, held or deposited beyond the limits of the Confederate States shall be valued at the current rate of exchange in Confederate treasury notes. The tax to be assessed on the first day of July and collected on the first day of October next, or as soon there- after as may be practicable. 2. Every person engaged, or intending to engage, in any business named in the fifth section, shall, within sixty days after the passage of the act, or at the time of be- ginning business, and on the first of Janu- ary in each year thereafter, register with the district collector a true account of the BOOK I.] CONFEDERATE 155 name and residence of each person, firm, or corporation engaged or interested in the business, with a statement of the time for which, and the place and manner in which the same is to be conducted, &c. At the time of the registry there shall be paid the specific tax for the year ending on the next 31st of December, and such other tax as may be due upon sales or receipts in such business. 3. Any person failing to make such registry and pay such tax, shall, in addi- tion to all other taxes upon his business im- posed by the act, pay double the amount of the specific tax on such business, and a like sum for every thirty days of such failure. 4. Requires a separate registry and tax for each business mentioned in the fifth section, and for each place of conducting the same ; but no tax for mere storage of goods at a place other than the registered place of business. A new registry required upon every change in the place of conduct- ing a registered business, upon the death of any person conducting the same, or upon the transfer of the business to an- other, but no additional tax. 5. Imposing the' following taxes for the year ending 31st of December, 1863, and for each year thereafter : Bankers shall pay $500. Auctioneers, retail dealers, tobacconists, pedlers, cattle brokers, apothecaries, pho- tographers, and confectioners, $50, and two and a half per centum on the gross amount of sales made. Wholesale dealers in liquors, $200, and five per centum on gross amount of sales. Retail dealers in liquors, $100, and ten per centum on gross amount of sales. Wholesale dealers in groceries, goods, wares, merchandise, &c., $200, and two and a half per centum. Pawnbrokers, money and exchange bro- kers, $200. Distillers, $200, and twenty per centum. Brewers, $100, and two and a half per cen- tum. Hotels, inns, taverns, and eating-houses, first class, $500 ; second class, $300 ; third class, $200 ; fourth class, 100 ; fifth class, $30. Every house where food or refresh- ments are sold, and every boarding house where there shall be six boarders or more, shall be deemed an eating house under this act. Commercial brokers or commission mer- chants, $200, and two and a half per cen- tum. Theatres, $500, and five per centum on all receipts. Each circus, $100, and $10 for each exhibition. Jugglers and other persons exhibiting shows, $50. Bowling alleys and billiard rooms, $40 for each alley or table registered. Livery stable keepers, lawyers, physi- cians, surgeons, and dentists, $50. Butchers and bakers, $50, and one per centum. 6. Every person registered and taxed is required to make returns of the gross amount of sales from the passage of the act to the 30th of June, and every three months thereafter. 7. A tax upon all salaries, except of per- sons in the military or naval service, of one per cent, when not exceeding $1,500, and two per cent, upon an excess over that amount : Provided, That no taxes shall be imposed by virtue of this act on the salary of any person receiving a salary not ex* ceeding $1,000 per annum, or at a like rate for another period of time, longer or shorter. 8. Provides that the tax on annual in- comes, between $500 and $1,500, shall be five per cent. ; between $1,500 and $3,000, five per cent, on the first $1,500 and ten per cent, on the excess ; between $3,000 and $5,000, ten per cent. ; between $5,000 and $10,000, twelve and a half per cent. ; over $10,000, fifteen per cent., subject to the following deductions : On incomes de- rived from rents of real estate, manufac- turing, and mining establishments, &c., a sum sufficient for necessary annual repairs ; on incomes from any mining or manufac- turing business, the rent, (if rented,) cost of labor actually hired, and raw material ; on incomes from navigating enterprises, the hire of the vessel, or allowance for wear and tear of the same, not exceeding ten per cent. ; on incomes derived from the sale of merchandise or any other property, the prime cost of transportation, salaries of clerks, and rent of buildings ; on incomes from any other occupation, the salaries of clerks, rent, cost of labor, material, &c. ; and in case of mutual insurance compa- nies, the amount of losses paid by them during the year. Incomes derived from other sources are subject to no deductions whatever. All joint stock companies and corpora- tions shall pay one tenth of the dividend and reserved fund annually. If the an- nual earnings shall give a profit of more than ten and less than twenty per cent, on capital stock, one eighth to be paid ; if more than twenty per cent., one sixth. The tax to be collected on the 1st of Janu^ ary next, and of each year thereafter. 9. Relates to estimates and deductions, investigations, referees, &c. 10. A tax of ten per cent, on all profits in 1862 by the purchase and sale of flour, corn, bacon, pork, oats, hay, rice, salt, iron or the manufactures of iron, sugar, mo- lasses made of cane, butter, woolen cloths, shoes, boots, blankets, and cotton cloths. Does not apply to regular retail business. 11. Each fanner, after reserving for hia 156 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. own use fifty bushels sweet and fifty bushels Irish potatoes, one hundred bushels corn or fifty bushels wheat produced this year, shall pay and deliver to the Con- federate Government one tenth of the grain, potatoes, forage, sugar, molasses, cot- ton, wool, and tobacco produced. After reserving twenty bushels peas or beans he shall deliver one tenth thereof. 12. Every farmer, planter, or grazier, one tenth of the hogs slaughtered by him, in cured bacon, at the rate of sixty pounds of bacon to one hundred pounds of pork ; one Eer cent, upon the value of all neat cattle, orses, mules, not used in cultivation, and asses, to be paid by the owners of the same ; beeves sold to be taxed as income. 13. Gives in detail the duties of post quartermasters under the act. 14. Relates to the duties of assessors and collectors. 15. Makes trustees, guardians, &c., re- sponsible for taxes due from estates, &c., under their control. 16. Exempts the income and moneys of hospitals, asylums churches, schools, and colleges from taxation under the act. 17. Authorizes the Secretary of the Trea- sury to make all rules and regulations ne- cessary to the operation of the act. 18. Provides that the act shall be in force for two years from the expiration of the present year, unless sooner repealed ; that the tax on naval stores, flour, wool, cotton, tobacco, and other agricultural pro- ducts of the growth of any year preceding 1863, imposed in the first section, snail be le- vied and collected only for the present year. The tax act of February 17, 1864, levies, in addition to the above rates, the follow- ing, as stated in the Richmond Sentinel of February, 1864: SEC. 1. Upon the value of real, personal, and mixed property, of every kind and de- scription, except the exemptions hereafter to be named, five per cent. ; the tax levied on property employed in agriculture to be credited by the value of property in kind. On gold and silver ware, plate, jewels, and watches, ten per cent. The tax to be levied on the value of nertv in 1860, except in the case of , slaves, cotton, and tobacco, pur- chased since January 1st, 1862, upon which the tax shall be levied on the price paid. SEC. 2. A tax of five per cent, on the Talue of all shares in joint stock companies of any kind, whether incorporated or not. The shares to be valued at their market value at the time of assessment. SEC. 3. Upon the market value of gold and silver coin or bullion, five per cent. ; also the same upon moneys held abroad, or all bills of exchange drawn therefor. A tax of five per cent, on all solvent credits, and on all bank bills and papers used as currency, except non-interest-bear- ing Confederate Treasury notes, and not employed in a registered business taxed twenty-five per cent. SEC. 4. Profits in trade and business taxed as follows : On the purchase and sale of agricultural Sroducts and mercantile wares generally, om January 1, 1863, to January 1, 1865, ten per cent, in addition to the tax under the act of April 24, 1863. The same on the purchase and sale of coin, exchange, stocks, notes, and credit* of any kind, and any property not in- cluded in the foregoing. On. the amount of profits exceeding twenty-five per cent, of any bank, banking company, or joint stock company of any de- scription, incorporated or not, twenty-five per cent, on such excess. SEC 5. The following aie exempted from taxation. Five hundred dollars' worth of property for each head of a family, and a hundred dollars additional for each minor child; and for each son in the army or navy, or who has fallen in the service, and a mem- ber of the family when he enlisted, the further sum of $500. One thousand dollars of the property of the widow or minor children of any officer, soldier, sailor, or marine, who has died in the service. A like amount of property of any offi- cer, soldier, sailor, or marine, engaged in the service, or who has been disabled therein, provided said property, exclusive of furniture, does not exceed in value$l,000. When property has been injured or de- stroyed by the enemy, or the owner unable temporarily to use or occupy it by reason of the presence or proximity of the enemy, the assessment may be reduced in propor- tion to the damage sustained by the owner, and the tax in the same ratio by the dis- trict collector. SEC. 6. The taxes on property for 1864 to be assessed as on the day of the passage of this act, and collected the 1st of June next, with ninety days extension west of the Mississippi. The additional tax on incomes or profits for 1863, to be paid forthwith ; the tax on incomes, &c., for 1864, to be collected according to the acts of 1863. SEC. 7. Exempts from tax on income for 1864, all property herein taxed ad valorem. The tax on Confederate bonds in no case to exceed the interest payable on the same; and said bonds exempt from tax when held by minors or lunatics, if the in- terest do not exceed one thousand dollars. THE TAX LAW. We learn that, according to the construc- tion of the recent tax law in the Treasury Department, tax payers will be required to state the articles and objects subjected to a specific or ad valorem tax, held, owned, or BOOK I.] CONFEDERATE TAXES. 157 possessed by them on the 17th day of Febru- ary, 1864, the date of the act. The daily wages of detailed soldiers and other employe's of the Government are not liable to taxation as income, although they may amount, in the aggregate, to the sum of |l,000 per annum. A tax additional to both the above was imposed as follows, June 1, 1864 : A bill to provide supplies for the army, and to prescribe the mode of making im- pressments. SEC. 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, Every person required to pay a tax in kind, under the provisions of the " Act to lay taxes for the common defense and carry on the Govern- ment of the Confederate States," approved April 24, 1863, and the act amendatory thereof, approved February 17, 1864, shall, in addition to the one tenth required by said acts to be paid as a tax in kind, de- liver to the Confederate Government, of the products of the present year and of the year 1865, one other tenth of the several products taxed in kind by the acts afore- said, which additional one tenth shall be ascertained, assessed and collected, in all respects, as is provided by law for the said tax in kind, and shall be paid for, on de- livery, by the Post-Quartermasters in the several districts at the assessed value there- of, except that payment for cotton and to- bacco shall be made by the agents of the Treasury Department appointed to receive the same. SEC. 2. The supplies necessary to the support of the producer and his family, and to carry on his ordinary business, shall be exempted from the contribution required by the preceding section, and from the ad- ditional impressments authorized by the act : Provided, however, That nothing here- in contained shall be construed to repeal or affect the provisions of an act entitled " An act to authorize the impressment of meat for the use of the army, under certain circumstances,'' approved Feb. 17, 1864, and if the amount of any article or product so necessary cannot be agreed upon be- tween the assessor and the producer, it shall be ascertained and determined by disinterested freeholders of the vicinage, as is provided in cases of disagreement as to the estimates and assessments of tax in kind. If required by the assessor, such freeholder shall ascertain whether a pro- ducer, who is found unable to furnish the additional one tenth of any one product, cannot supply the deficiency by the de- livery of an equivalent in other products, and upon what terms such commutation shall be made. Any commutation thus awarded shall be enforced and collected, in all respects, as is provided for any other contribution required by this act. SEC. 3. The Secretary of War may, at his discretion, decline to assess, or, after assessment, may decline to collect the whole or any part of the additional one tenth herein provided for, in any district or locality; and it shall be his duty promptly to give notice of any such de- termination, specifying, with reasonable certainty, the district or locality and the product, or the proportion thereof, as to which he so declines. SEC. 4. The products received for the contribution herein required, shall be dis- posed of and accounted for in the same manner as those received for the tax in kind ; and the Secretary of War may, whenever the exigencies of the public ser- vice will allow, authorize the sale of pro- ducts received from either source, to pub- lic officers or agents charged in any State with the duty of providing for the families of soldiers. Such sale shall be at the prices paid or assessed for the products sold, including the actual cost of collec- tions. SEC. 5. If, in addition to the tax in kind and the contribution herein required, the necessities of the army or the good of the service shall require other supplies of food or forage, or any other private property, and the same cannot be procured by con- tract, then impressments may be made of such supplies or other property, either for absolute ownership or for temporary use, as the public necessities may require. Such impressments shall be made in accordance with the provisions, and subject to the re- strictions of the existing impressment laws, except so far as is herein otherwise pro- vided. SEC. 6. The right and the duty of mak- ing impressments is hereby confided exclu- sively to the officers and agents charged in the several districts with the assessment and collection of the tax in kind and of the contribution herein required ; and all officers and soldiers in any department of the army are hereby expressly prohibited from undertaking in any manner to inter- fere with these officers and agents in any part of their duties in respect to the tax in kind, the contribution, or the impressment herein provided for : Provided, That this prohibition shall not be applicable to any district, county, or parish in which there shall be no officer or agent charged with the appointment and collection of the tax in kind. SEC. 7. Supplies or other property taken by impressment shall be paid for by the post quartermasters in the several districts, and shall be disposed of and accounted for by them as is required in respect to the tax in kind and the contribution herein re- quired ; and it shall be the duty of the post quartermasters to equalize and appor- tion the impressments within their die- 158 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK tricts, as far as practicable, so as to avoid oppressing any portion of the community. SEC. 8. If any one not authorized by law to collect the tax in kind or the contribu- tion herein required, or to make impress- ments, shall undertake, on any pretence of such authority, to seize or impress, or to collect or receive any such property, or shall, on any such pretence, actually obtain such property, he shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding five times the value of such property, and be imprisoned not exceeding five years, at the discretion of the court having jurisdic- tion. And it shall be the duty of all offi- cers and agents charged with the assess- ment and collection of the tax in kind and of the contribution herein required, promptly to report, through the post quar- termasters in the several districts, any vio- lation or disregard of the provisions of this act by any officer or soldier in the service of the Confederate States. SEC. 9. That it shall not be lawful to impress any sheep, milch cows, brood mares, stud horses, jacks, bulls, or other stock kept or necessary for raising horses, mules, or cattle. The following is the vote by which the bill passed the Senate : YEAS Messrs. Caperton, Graham, Haynes, Jemison, Johnson (Ark.), John- son (Mo.), Mitehell, Orr, Walker, Watson 10. NAYS Messrs. Baker, Burnett, Henry, Hunter, Maxwell, Semmes, Sparrow 7. Admitting West Virginia. An important political movement in the early years of the war was the separation of VVest Virginia from the mother State, which had seceded, and her admission in- to the Union. SECOND SESSION, THIRTY-SEVENTH CON- GRESS. In Senate, 1862, July 14. The bill pro- viding for the admission "of the State of West Virginia into the Union, passed yeas 23, nays 17, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Colla- mer, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howe, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Rice, Sherman, Simmons, Ten Eyck, Wade, Wilkinson, Willey, Wilson of Massachu- setts 23. NAYS Messrs. Bayard, Browning, Car- h'le, Chandler, Cowan, Davis, Howard, Kennedy, King, AfcDoiigal, Powell, Sauls- bury, Stark, Sumner, Trumbull, Wilson of Missouri, Wright 17. During the pendency of this bill, July 14, 1862, Mr. Stunner moved to strike from the first section of the second article the words : " the children of all slaves born within the limits of said State shall be free," and insert: Within the limits of the said State there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than in punishment o'f crimes whereof the party shall be duly convicted. Which was rejected yeas 11, nays 24, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Chandler, Clark, Grimes, King, Lane of Kansas, Pomeroy, Sumner, Trumbull, Wilkinson, Wilmot, Wilson, of Massachusetts 11. NAYSMessrs. Anthony, Bayardfirovrn- ing, Carlile, Collamer, Doolittle, Foot Fos- ter, Harris, Henderson, Howe, Kennedy, Lane of Indiana, Powell, Rice, Saulsbury, Sherman, Simmons, /Stark, Ten Eyck, Wade, Wiley, Wilson of Missouri, Wright - -24. Mr. Willey proposed to strike out all after the word "That" in the first section, and insert : That the State of West Virginia be, and is hereby, declared to be one of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the origi- nal States in all respects whatever, and un- til the next general census shall be entitled to three members in the House of Repre- sentatives of the United States : Provided always, That this act shall not take effect until after the proclamation of the Presi- dent of the United States hereinafter pro- vided for. SEC. 2. It being represented to Congress that since the convention of the 26th of November, 1861, that framed and proposed the constitution for the said State of West Virginia, the people thereof have expressed a wish to change the seventh section of the eleventh article of said constitution by striking out the same, and inserting the following in its place, namely. " The chil- dren of slaves born within the limits of this State after the 4th day of July, 1863, shall be free, and no slave shall be permit- ted to come into the State for permanent residence therein :" therefore, Be it further enacted, That whenever the people of West Virginia shall, through their said convention, and by a vote to oe taken at an election to be held within the limits of the State at such time as the con- vention may provide, make and ratify the change aforesaid and properly certify the same under the hand of the president of the convention, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to issue his proclamation stating the fact, and there- upon this act shall take effect and be in force from and after sixty days from the date of said proclamation. Mr Lane of Kansas moved to amend the amendment by inserting after the word "Heiein,' and before the word, "There- fore" the words: BOOK I.] COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 159 And that all slaves within the said State who shall at the time aforesaid be under the age of ten years shall be free when they arrive at the age of twenty-one years ; and all slaves over ten and under twenty- one yea^s shall be free when they arrive at the age of twenty-five years. Which was agreed to yeas 25, nays 12, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Colla- mer, Doolittle, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Har- lan, Harris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pome- roy, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmot, Wil- son, of Massachusetts 25. NAYS Messrs. Browning, Carlile, Davis, Henderson, Kennedy, McDougall, Powell, Saulsbury, Stark Willey, W.ilson of Mis- souri, Wright 12. The amendment as amended was then agreed to. A motion to postpone the bill to the first Monday of the next December was lost yeas 17, nays 23. In House, July 16 The bill was post- poned until the second Tuesday of the next December yeas 63, nays 33. THIRD SESSION, THIRTY-SEVENTH CON- GRESS. 1863, Dec. 10, the House passed the bill yeas 96, nays 57. 1863, April 20, the President issued a E reclamation announcing the compliance, y West Virginia, of the conditions of ad- mission. COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. Emancipation and its attendant agita- tions brought to the front a new class of political questions, which can best be grouped under the above caption. The following is a summary of the legislation : Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. To Remove Disqualification of Color in Carrying the Mail*. In Senate, 1862, April 11 -The Senate considered a bill " to remove all disquali- fication of color in carrying the mails of the United States." It directed that after the passage of the act no person, by reason of color, shall be disqualified from em- ployment in carrying the mails, and all acts and parts of acts establishing such dis- qualification, including especially the seventh section of the act of March 3, 1825, are hereby repealed. The vote in the Senate was, veas 24, navs 11, as follows: YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Browning Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolit- tle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Kansas, Mom. 1 Pomeroy, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson of Massachusetts 24. NAYS Messrs. Davis, Henderson, Ken- nedy, Lane of Indiana, Latham, Nesmith, Powell, Stark, Willey, Wilson of Missouri, Wright 11.* In House, May 21 It was considered in the House and laid on the table yeas 83, nays 43. First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. 1864, February 26 The Senate con- sidered the bill the question being on agreeing to a new section proposed by the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads as follows : SEC. 2. That in the courts of the United States there shall be no exclusion of any witness on account of color. Mr. Powell moved to amend by inserting after the word "States" the words: "in all cases for robbing or violating the mails of the United States." No further progress was made on the bill. NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN MONTANA TERRI- TORY. 1864, March 18 The House passed,with- out a division, a bill in the usual form, to provide a temporary government for the Territory of Montana. March 31 The Senate considered it, when Mr. Wilkinson moved to strike from the second line of the fifth section, (defin- ing the qualifications of voters,) the words "white male inhabitant" and insert the words : " male citizen of the United States, and those who have declared their inten- tion to become such ;" which was agreed to yeas 22, nays 17, as follows: YEAS Messrs. Brown, Chandler, Clark, Collamer,Conness, Dixon, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howard, Howe, Morgan, Morrill, Pome- roy, Sumner, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson 22. NAYS Messrs. Burkalew, Carlile, Cowan, Davis, Harding^ Henderson, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Sauls- bury, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Winkle, Willey 17. The bill was then passed yeas 29, nays 8,(Messrs. Buckalew, Davis, Johnson, Powell. Riddle, Saulsbury, Van Winkle, Willey.) April 15 The Senate adopted the report of the Committee of Conference on the Montana bill, which recommended the Senate to recede from their second amend- ment, and the House to agree to the first and third amendments of the Senate, (in- cluding the above.) April 15 Mr. Beaman presented the re- port of the Committee of Conference on the Montana bill, a feature of which was that the House should recede from its dis- * Republicans in ronmn ; Democrats in italics. 160 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. agreement to the Senate amendment strik- ing out the word " white " in the descrip- tion of those authorized to vote. Mr. Holman moved that the report be tabled ; which was lost by the casting vote of the Speaker yeas 66, nays 66. Upon agreeing to the report the yeas were 54, nays 85. On motion to adhere to its amendments, and ask another Committee of Conference, Mr. Webster moved instructions : And that said committee be instructed to agree to no report that authorizes any other than free white male citizens, and those who have declared their intention to become such, to vote. Which was agreed to yeas 75, nays 67. April 15 The Senate declined the con- ference upon the terms proposed by the House resolution of that day. April 18 The House proposed a further free conference, to which, April 25, the Senate acceded. May 17 In Senate, Mr. Morrill sub- mitted a report from the Conference Com- mittee who recommend that qualified voters shall be : All citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their intention to become such, and who are otherwise de- scribed and qualified under the fifth sec- tion of the act of Congress providing for a temporary government for the Territory of Idaho approved March 3, 1863. The report was concurred in yeas 26, nays 13. May 20 The above report was made by Mr. Webster in the House, and agreed to yeas 102, nays 26. IN WASHINGTON CITY.* 1864, May 6 The Senate considered the bill for the registration of voters in the city of Washington, when Mr. Cowan moved to insert the word " white " in the first section, so as to con- fine the right of voting to white male citizens. , May 12 Mr. Morrill moved to amend the amendment by striking out the words In I860 a rote was had In the State of New York on a proposition to permit negro suffrage without a property qualification The result of the city was yeas 1 640 nays 37,47 . In the State yean 197,506. nays 337,984! In 1864 a like proposition wa defeated yeaa 85,406, nays 2-24,336. In IR62, In August, a vote was, hul in the State of Illi- nois, on several propositions relating to negroes and mulattoes, with this result : For excluding them from the State 171 803 Against 71..T06 Against granting them suffrage or right toofflca 21 ,920 For 36,649 For the enactment of laws to prohibit them from going to, or voting In, the SUte _ 198,938 Again* 44,414 176,271 from McPfunon'i Hitter? of On Great B*tlliu+, 154,624 And shall have paid all school taxes and all taxes on personal property properly as- sessed against him, shall be entitled to vote for mayor, collector, register, members of the board of aldermen and board of common council, and assessor, and for every officer authorized to be elected at any election under any act or acts to which this is amendatory or supplementary, and inserting the words And shall within the year next preced- ing the election have paid a tax, or been assessed with a part of the revenue of the District, county, or cities, therein, or been exempt from taxation having taxable estate, and who can read and write with facility, shall enjoy the privileges of an. elector. May 26 Mr. Sumner moved to amend the bill by adding this proviso : . Provided, That there shall be no exclu- sion of any person from the registry on ac' count of color. May 27 Mr. Harlan moved to amend the amendment by making the word " per' son" read "persons," and adding the words Who have borne arms in the military service of the United States, and have been honorably discharged therefrom. Which was agreed to yeas 26, nays 12, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Conness, Dixon, Fessen- den, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Eamsey. Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Willey, Wilson 26. NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cow- an, Davis, Hendricks, McDougall, Powell Richardson, Saulsbury, Sumner, Van Winkle, Wilkinson 12. May 28 Mr. Sumner moved to add these words to the last proviso : And provided further, That all persons, without distinction of color, who shall, within the year next preceding the election, have paid a tax on any estate, or been as- sessed with a part of the revenue of said District, or been exempt from taxation having taxable estate, and who can read and write with facility, shall enjoy the privilege of an elector. But no person now entitled to vote in the said District, continuing to reside therein, shall be dis- franchised hereby. Which was rejected yeas 8, nays 27, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Pomeroy, Kamsey, Sum- ner, Wilkinson 8. NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Colla- mer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Har- ris, Hendricks, Hicks, Johnson, Lane C3 Indiana, McDougall, Morrill, Powett, Satut- BOOK I.] COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. bury, Sherman Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Winkle, Willey, Wilson 27. The other proposition of Mr. Sumner, amended on motion of Mr. Harlan, was then rejected yeas 18, nays 20, as follows: YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Chandler, Clark, Dixon, Foot, Foster, Hale, Harlan, Howard, Howe, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sumner, Wilkinson, Wilson 18. NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Canile, Co- wan, Davis, Grimes, Harris, Hendricks, ,Hicks, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, McDou- gall, Morrill, Nesmith, Powell, Richardson, Salisbury, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Winkle, Willey 20. The bill then passed the Senate, and afterward the House, without amendment. Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. Excluding Colored Persons from Cars. In Senate 1863, February 27 Pending a supplement to the charter of the Wash- ington and Alexandria Railroad Company, Mr. Sumner offered this proviso to the first section: That no person shall be excluded from the cars on account of color. Which was agreed to yeas 19, nays 18, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Arnold, Chandler, Clark, Fessenden, Foot, Grimes, Harris, Howard, King, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wil- kinson, Wilmot, Wilson, of Massachusetts 19, NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Bayard, Car- lile, Cowan, Davis, Henderson, Hicks, Howe, Kennedy, Lane of Indiana, Latham, McDougall, Powell, Richardson, Salisbury, Turpie, Willey, Wilson of Missouri 18. March 2. The House concurred in the amendment without debate, under the pre- vious question. First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. In Senate 1864, February 10 Mr. Sumner offered the following : Resolved, That the Committee on tne District of Columbia be directed to con- sider the expediency of further providing by law against the exclusion of colored persons from the equal enjoyment of all railroad privileges in the District of Colum- bia. Which was agreed to yeas 30, nays 10. February 24 Mr. Willey, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, made this report, and the committee were discharged . The Committee on the District of Co- lumbia, who were required by resolution of the Senate, passed February 8, 1864, "to consider the expediency of further providing by law against the exclusion of colored person* from the equal enjoyment of all railroad privileges in the District of 11 Columbia," have had the matter thun re- ferred to them under consideration, and beg leave to report : The act entitled " An act to incorporate the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company," approved May 17, 1862, makes no distinction as to passengers over isaid road on account of the color of the pas- sengers, and that in the opinion of the committee colored persons are entitled to all the privileges of said road which other persons have, and to all remedies for any denial or breach of such privileges which belongs to any person. The committee therefore ask to be dis- charged from the further consideration of the premises. March 17 The Senate considered the bill to incorporate the Metropolitan Rail- road Company, in the District of Columbia, the pending question being an amendment, offered by Mr. Sumner, to add to the four- teenth section the words : Provided, That there shall be no regula- tion excluding any person from any car on account of color. Which was agreed to yeas 19, nays 17, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, Conness, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Harlan, Howe, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sumner, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson 19. NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Davis, Doolittle, Harding, Harris, Hendricks, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Powell, Riddle, Saulsbury, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Winkle, Willey 17. The bill then passed the Senate. June 19 The House refused to strike out the proviso last adopted in the Senate yeas 60, nays 76. And the bill passed the House and was approved by the President. Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. Colored Persons as Witnesses. In Senate Pending the confiscation bill, June 28, 1862. Mr. Sumner moved these words as an addition to the 14th section : And in all the proceedings under this act there shall be no exclusion of any wit- ness on account of color. Which was rejected yeas 14, nays 25, as follows : YEAS Messrs. Chandler, Grimes, Har- lan, Howard, King, Lane of Kansas, Mor- rill, Pomeroy, Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmot 14. NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Carlile, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Harris, Henderson, Lane of Indiana, Nes- mith, Pearce, Powell, Sherman, Simmons, Stark, Ten Eyck, Willey, Wilson of Mis- souri, Wright 25. 162 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Pending the consideration of the supple- ment to the emancipation bill for the Dis- trict of Columbia, 1862, July 7 Mr. Sumner moved a new section : That in all the judicial proceedings in the District of Columbia there shall be no exclusion of any witness on account of color. Which was adopted yeas 25, nays 11. The bill then passed yeas 29, nays 6 ; (Messrs. Carlile, Davis, Kennedy, Powell, Wilson, of Missouri, Wright.) July 9 The bill passed the House yeas 69, nays 36. There was no separate vote on the above proposition. Pending the consideration in the Senate of the House bill in relation to the com- petency of witnesses in trials of equity and admiralty, 1862, July 15 Mr. Sumner offered this proviso to the first section : Provided, That there shall be no exclu- sion of any witness on account of color. Which was rejected yeas 14, nays 23. First Sesaton, Thirty- Eolith Congress. 1864, June 25 Pending the civil appro- priation bill, in Committee of the Whole, Mr. Sumner offered this proviso : Provided, That in the courts of the United States there shall be no exclusion of any witness on account of color. Mr. Buckalew moved to add : Nor in civil actions because he is a party to or interested in the issue tried. Which was agreed to ; and the amend- ment as amended was agreed to yeas 22, nays 16. The Senate subsequently concurred in this amendment yeas 29, nays 10. IN HOUSE. June 29 The question being on agree- ing to the amendment, Mr. Mallpry moved to add this proviso to the section amended in the Senate : Provided, That negro testimony shall only be taken in the United States courts in those States the laws of which authorize such testimony. Which was rejected yeas 47, nays 66. The amendment of the Senate was then agreed to yeas 67, nays 48. COLORED SCHOOLS. June 8. The House passed a bill to pro- vide for the public instruction of youth in Washington city, with an amendment pro- viding for separate schools for the colored children, by setting apart such a propor- tion of the entire school fund as the num- ber of colored children between the ages of six and seventeen bear to the whole num- ber of children in the District. The bill, with amendments, passed both Houses without a division. On all of these questions of color, the Democrats invariably, on test votes, were found against any concession of rights to the negro. These were frequently aided by some Republicans, more conservative than their colleagues, or representing closer districts where political prejudices would affect their return to their seats. It will be observed that on nearly all these ques- tions Senator Charles Sumner took the lead. He was at that time pre-eminently the Moses of the colored man, and led him from one right to another through Sena- torial difficulties, which by the way, were never as strong as that in the House, where Thaddeus Stevens was the boldest cham- pion of " the rights of the black man." In the field, rather in the direction of what should be done with the " contrabands " and escaped slaves, the Secretary of War, General Cameron, was their most radical friend, and his instructions were so out- spoken that Lincoln had to modify them. As early as December 1, 1861, General Cameron wrote : " While it is plain that the slave prop- erty of the South is justly subjected to all the consequences of this rebellious war, and that the Government would be untrue to its trust in not employing all the rights and powers of war to bring it to a speedy close, the details of the plan for doing so, like all other military measures, must, in a great degree, be left to be determined by particular exigencies. The disposition ot other property belonging to the rebels that becomes subject to our arms is governed by the circumstances of the case. The Gov- ernment has no power to hold slaves, none to restrain a slave of his liberty, or to ex- act his service. It has a right, however, to use the voluntary service of slaves 1 ib- erated by war from their rebel masters, like any other property of the rebels, in what- ever mode may be most efficient for the de- fence of the Government, the prosecution of the war, and the suppression of rebel- lion. It is clearly a right of the govern- ment to arm slaves when it may become necessary as it is to take gunpowder from the enemy. Whether it is expedient to do so is purely a military question. The right is unquestionable by the laws of war. The expediency must be determined by circum- stances, keeping in view the great object of overcoming the rebels, re-establishing the laws, and restoring peace to the na- tion. " It is vain and idle for the Government carry on this war, or hope to maintain its existence against rebellious force, with- out enjoying all the rights and powers of war. As has been said, the right to de^ irive the rebels of their property in slaves ind slave labor is as clear and absolute as he right to take forage from the field, or cotton from the warehouse, or powder and BOOK I.] COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 163 arms from the magazine. To leave the enemy in the possession of such property as forage and cotton and military stores, and the means of constantly reproducing them, would be madness. It is, therefore, equal madness to leave them in peaceful and secure possession of slave property, more valuable and efficient to them for war than forage, cotton and military stores. Such policy would be national suicide. What to do with that species of property is a question that time and circumstances will solve, and need not be anticipated further than to repeat that they cannot be held by the Government as slaves. It would be useless to keep them as prisoners of war ; and self-preservation, the highest duty of a Government, or of individuals, demands that they should be disposed of or em- ployed in the most effective manner that will tend most speedily to suppress the in- surrection and restore the authority of the Government. If it shall be found that the men who have been held by the rebels as slaves are capable of bearing arms and per- forming efficient military service, it is the right, and may become the duty, of this Government to arm and equip them, and employ their services against the rebels, under proper military regulations, disci- pline and command. " But in whatever manner they may be used by the Government, it is plain that, once liberated by the rebellious act of their masters, they should never again be re- stored to bondage. By the master's trea- son and rebellion he forfeits all right to the labor and service of his slave ; and the slave of the rebellious master, by his ser- vice to the Government, becomes justly en- titled to freedom and protection. "The disposition to be made of the slaves of rebels, after the close of the war, can be safely left to the wisdom and pat- riotism of Congress. The representatives of the people will unquestionably secure to the loyal slaveholders every right to which they are entitled under the Consti- tution of the country." [Subsequent events proved the wisdom of this policy, and it was eventually adopt- ed by an Administration which proclaimed its policy " to move not ahead but with the people."] President Lincoln and his Cabinet mod- ified the above language so as to make it read: "It is already a grave question what shall be done with those slaves who were abandoned by their owners on the advance of our troops into southern territory, as at Beaufort district, in South Carolina. The number left within our control at that point is very considerable, and similar cases will probably occur. What shall be done with them ? Can we afford to send them forward to their masters, to be by them armed against us, or used in pro- ducing supplies to sustain the rebellion ? Their labor may be useful to us ; withheld from the enemy it lessens his military re- sources, and withholding them has no ten- dency to induce the horrors of insurrec- tion, even in the rebel communities. They constitute a military resource, and, being such, that they should not be turned over to the enemy is too plain to discuss. Why deprive him of supplies by a blockade, and voluntarily give him men to produce them? " The disposition to be made of the slaves of rebels, after the close of the war, can be safely left to the wisdom and pat- riotism of Congress. The Representatives of the people will unquestionably secure to the loyal slaveholders every right to which they are entitled under the Constitution of the country." Secretary Cameron was at all times m favor of " carrying the war into Africa," and it was this stern view of the situation which eventually led him to sanctiun measures which brought him into plainer differences with the Administration. Lin- coln took offense at the printing of his re- port before submitting it to him. As a re- sult he resigned and went to Russia as Minister, on his return being again elected to the United States Senate a place which he filled until the winter of 1877, when he resigned, and his son, J. Donald Cameron, was elected to the vacancy, and re-elected for the term ending in 1885. General B. F. Butler was the author of the " contra- band " idea. A year later the views of x.he Administration became more radical on questions of color, and July 22, 1862, Stc- retary Stanton ordered all Generals in command " to seize and use any property, real or personal, which may be necessary or convenient for their several commands, for supplies, or for other military purposes ; and that while property may be destroyed for proper military objects, none shall be destroyed in wantonness or malice. " Second. That military and naval com- manders shall employ as laborers, within and from said States, so many persons of African descent as can be advantageously used for military or naval purposes, giving them reasonable wages for their labor. " Third. That, as to both property, and persons of African descent, accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail to show quantities and amounts, and from whom both property and such persons shall have come, as a basis upon which compensation can be made in proper cases ; and the several departments of this Gov- ernment shall attend to and perform their appropriate parts towards the execution of these orders. The manner and language employed by General McClellan in promulgating this 164 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. order to the Army of the Potomac, led to his political differences with the Adminis- tration, and in the end caused him to be the Democratic candidate for President in 1864, against Lincoln. His language is peculiar and some of it worthy of presenta- tion as of political importance. He said : " Inhabitants, especially women and children, remaining peaceably at their homes, must not be molested ; and wher- ever commanding officers find families peculiarly exposed in their persons or property to marauding from this army, they will, as heretofore, so far as they can do with safety and without detriment to the service, post guards for their protection. " In protecting private property, no refer- ence is intended to persons held to service or labor by reason of African descent. Such persons will be regarded by this army, as they heretofore have been, as oc- cupying simply a peculiar legal status under State laws, which condition the mili- tary authorities of the United States are not required to regard at all in districts where military operations are made neces- sary by the rebellious action of the State governments. " Persons subject to suspicion of hostile purposes, residing or being near our forces, will be, as heretofore, subject to arrest and detention, until the cause or necessity is removed. All such arrested parties will be sent, as usual, to the Provost Marshal General, with a statement of the facts in each case. " The general commanding takes this occasion to remind the officers and soldiers of this army that we are engaged in sup- porting the Constitution and the laws of the United States and suppressing rebel- lion against their authority ; that we are not engaged in a war of rapine, revenge, or subjugation ; that this is not a contest against populations, but against armed forces and political organizations; that it is a struggle carried on with the United States, and should be conducted by us upon the highest principles known to Christian civilization. At this time such were the prejudices of Union soldiers against negroes, because of growing political agitation in the North, that many would loudly Jeer them when seen within the lines. The feeling was even greater in the ranks of civilians, and yet Congress moved along, step by step. The 37th abolished slavery in the District of Columbia ; prohibited it in all the terri- tories ; confirmed the freedom of the slaves owned by those in arms against the govern- ment; authorized the employment of colored men in fortifications, their enlist- ment, etc.; and enacted an additional article of war, which prohibited any officer from returning or aiding the return of any fagitive slave. These were rapid strides, but not as rapid as were demanded by the more radical wing of the Republican party. We have shown that most of them were opposed by the Democrats, not solidly sure where they were plainly political, but this party became less solid as the war ad- vanced. Senator Wilson was the author of the bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. It excitea much debate, and the range of the speeches covered the en- tire question of slavery. Those from the Border States opposed it (a few Republicans and all Democrats) but some of the Demo- crats of the North supported it. The vote in the Senate was 29 for to 6 against. In the House Frank P. Blair, Jr., advocated colonization in connection with the bill, but his idea met with little favor. Crit- tenden, Wickliffe and Vallandigham were prominent in opposition. Its most promi- nent advocates were Stevens of Pennsyl- vania, and Bingham of Ohio. The vol'e was 92 for to 38 against. The bill of Arnold, of Illinois, " to ren- der freedom national and slavery sectional," the leading idea in the platform of the convention which nominated Lincoln, pro- hibited slavery in " all the Territories of the United States then existing, or there- after to be formed or acquired in any way." It was vehemently opposed, but passed with some modifications by 58 ayes to 50 noes, and it also passed the Senate. In the Spring of 1862 General David Hunter brought the question of the enlist- ment of colored troops to a direct issue by raising a regiment of them. On the 9th of June following, Mr. Wickliffe of Ken- tucky, succeeded in getting the House to adopt a resolution of inquiry. Corres- pondence followed with General Hunter. He confessed the fact, stated that " he found his authority in the instructions of Secre- tary Cameron, and said that he hoped by fall to enroll about fifty thousand of these hardy and devoted soldiers." When this reply was read in the House it was greeted with shouts of laughter from the Republi- cans, and signs of anger from the others. A great debate followed on the amendment to the bill providing for the calling out of the militia, clothing the President with full power to enlist colored troops, and to pro- claim "he, his mother, and wife and chil- dren forever free," after such enlistment. Preston King, of New York, was the author of this amendment. Davis, of Kentucky, and Carlisle of West Virginia, were promi- nent Senators in opposition ; while Ten Eyck, of New Jersey, Sherman of Ohio, and Browning of Illinois sought to modify it. Garrett Davis said in opposition : " Do you expect us to give our sanc- tion and approval to these things ? No, no I We would regard their authors as our worst enemies ; and there ia no foreign despot- BOOK I.] COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 165 ism that could come to our rescue, that we would not fondly embrace, before we would submit to any such condition of things." Senator Fessenden of Maine, in advo- cacy of the amendment, said : I tell the President from my place here as a Senator, and I tell the generals of our army, they must reverse their practices' and course of proceeding on this subject. * * * Treat your enemies as enemies, as the worst of enemies, and avail yourselves like men of every power which God has placed in your hands, to accomplish your purpose, within the rules of civilized war- fare." The bill passed, so modified, as to give freedom to all who should perform military service, but restricting liberty to the fami- lies of such only as belonged to rebel mas- ters. It passed the House July 16th, 1862, and received the sanction of the President, who said : "And the promise made must be kept!" General Hunter for his part in beginning colored enlistments, was out- lawed by the Confederate Congress. Hunter followed with an order freeing the slaves in South Carolina. In January, 1853, pursuant to a sugges- tion in the annual report of Secretary Stanton, who was by this time as radical as his predecessor in office, the House passed a bill authorizing the President to enroll into the land and naval service such number of volunteers of African descent as he might deem useful to suppress the rebellion, and for such term as he might prescribe, not exceeding five years. The slaves of loyal citizens in the Border States were excluded from the provisions of this bill. In the Senate an adverse re- port was made on the ground that the President already possessed these powers. In January, 1863, Senator Wilson, who was by this time chairman of the Military Committee of the Senate, secured the pas- sage of a bill which authorized a draft for the National force? from the ranks of all male citizens, and those of foreign birth who had declared their intentions, etc. The bill contained the usual exemp- tions. CONFEDERATE USE OF COLORED In June, 1861, the rebel Legislature of Tennessee passed this enlistment bill, which became a law : SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That from and after the passage of this act the Governor shall be, and he is hereby, authorized, at his discretion, to receive into the military service of the State all male free persons of color between the ages of fifteen and fifty, or such numbers as may be necessary, who may be sound in mind and body, and capable of actual ser- vice. 2. That such free persons of color shall receive, each, eight dollars per month, as pay, and such persons shall be entitled to draw, each, one ration per day, and shall be entitled to a yearly allowance each for clothing. 3. That, in order to carry out the provi- sions of this act, it shall be the duty of the sheriffs of the several counties in this State to collect accurate information as to the number and condition, with the names of free persons of color, subject to the pro- visions of this act, and shall, as it is prac- ticable, report the same in writing to the Governor. 4. That a failure or refusal of the sheriffs, or any one or more of them, to perform the duties required, shall be deemed an offence, and on conviction thereof shall be punished as a misde- meanor. 5. That in the event a sufficient number of free persons of color to meet the wants of the State shall not tender their services, the Governor is empowered, through the sheriffs of the different counties, to press such persons until the requisite number is obtained. 6. That when any mess of volunteers shall keep a servant to wait on the mem- bers of the mess, each servant shall be al- lowed one ration. This act to take effect from and after its passage. \V. C. WHITTHORNE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. B. L. STOVALL, Speaker of the Senate. Passed June 28, 1861. 1862, November 2 Governor Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia, issued a call announc- ing that if a sufficient supply of negroes be not tendered within ten days, General Mercer will, in pursuance of authority given him, proceed to impress, and asking of every planter of Georgia a tender of one fifth of his negroes to complete the fortifi- cations around Savannah. This one fifth is estimated at 15,000. 1863. The Governor of South Carolina in July, issued a proclamation for 3,000 negroes to work on the fortifications, " the need for them being pressing." THE CHANGING SENTIMENT OF CONGRESS. In the Rebel House of Representatives, December 29th, Mr. DARGAN, of Alabama, introduced a bill to receive into the mili- tary service all that portion of population in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, known as " Creoles." Mr. Dargan supported the bill in some remarks. He said the Creoles were a mixed-blooded race. Under the treaty of Paris in 1803, and the treaty of Spain in 1810, they were recognized as freemen. 166 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK r. M any of them owned large estates, and | copy of " An act to increase the efficiency were intelligent men. They were as much of the army by the employment of free negroes c.nd slaves in certain capacities." devoted to our cause as any class of men in the South, and were even anxious to go into service. They had applied to him to lately passed by the Rebel Congress. The negroes are to perform " such duties as the be received into service, and he had ap- j Secretary of War or Commanding General plied to Mr. Randolph, then Secretary of(,may prescribe." The first section is as War. Mr. Randolph decided against the follows : application, on the ground that it might fprnish to the enemy a pretext of arming our slaves against us. Some time after this he was again applied to by them, and he went to the present Secretary of War, Mr. Seddon, and laid the matter before him. Mr. Seddon refused to entertain the proposition, on the ground that it did not come up before him through the military authorities. To obviate this objection, Gen. Maury, at Mobile, soon afterwards represented their wishes to the War De- partment. Mr. Seddon refused the offer of their services, on the ground that it would be incompatible with the position we occu- Sied before the world ; that it could not be one. Mr. Dargan said he differed with the Secretary of War. He cared not for " the world." He cared no more for their opinions than they did for ours. He was anxious to bring into service every free man, be he who ne may, willing to strike for our cause. He saw no objection to employing Creoles; they would form a potent element in our army. In his dis- trict alone a brigade of them could be ruised. The crisis had been brought upon us by the enemy, and he believed the time would yet come when the question would not be the Union or no Union, but whether Southern men should be permitted to . ive at all. In resisting subjugation by such a barbarous foe he was for employing all our available force. He would go further and say that he teas for arming and j-mttinq the slaves into military service. He was in furor even of emlpoying them as a nn'fit'iry arm in the defence of the country. 1864. The Mayor of Charleston, Charles Macbeth, summons all slaveholders within the city to furnish to the military authen- tic- forthwith, one-fourth of all their male slaves between the apes of fifteen and fifty, to labor upon the fortifications. The penalty announced, in case of failure to comply with this requisition is a fine of $200 for every slave not forthcoming. Compensa- tion is allowed at the rate of $400 a year. All free male persons of color between the ages of fifteen and fifty are required to Ko themselves up for the same purpose, ose not complying will be imprisoned, and set to work upon the fortifications along the coast. To free negroes no other compensation than rations is allowed. NF.GROES IX THE ARMY. The Richmond pre^s publish the official The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all male free ne- groes, and other free persons of color, not including those who are free under the treaty of Paris, of 1803, or under the treaty of Spain, of 1819, resident in the Confed- erate States, between the ages of eighteen and fifty years, shall be held liable to per- form such duties with the army, or in con- nection with the military defences of the country, in the way of work upon the fortifications, or in government works for the production or preparation of materials of war, or in military hospitals, as the Sec- retary of War or the Commanding General of the Trans-Mississippi Department may, from time to time, prescribe; and while engaged in the performances of such duties shall receive rations and clothing and compensation at the rate of eleven dollars a month, under such rules and regulations as the said Secretary may establish : Pro- vided, That the Secretary of War or the Commanding General of the Trans-Missis- sippi Department, with the approval of the President, may exempt from the opera- tions of this act such free negroes as the interests of the country may require should be exempted, or such as he may think proper to exempt on the ground of justice, equity or necessity. The third section provides that when the Secretary of War shall be unable to procure the services of slaves in any mili- tary department, then he is authorized to impress the services of as many male slaves, not to exceed twenty thousand, as may be required, from time to time, to dis- charge the duties indicated in the first sec- tion of the act. The owner of the slave is to be paid for his services ; or, if he be killed or escape to the enemy," the owner shall receive his full value. Governor Smith, of Virginia, has made a call for five thousand male slaves to work on the batteries, to be drawn from fifty counties. The call for this force has been made by the President under a resolution of Congress. "CONFEDERATE" LEGISLATION UPON NE- GRO PRISONERS AND THEIR WHITE OFFICERS WHEN CAPTURED.* 1863, May 1 An act was approved de- claring that the commissioned officers of *Pecember 23, 1862 Jefferson Paris issued a procla- mation of outlawry against Major General B. F. Buttoi; the last two clauses of which are : BOOK I.] COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 167 the enemy ou^ht not to be delivered to the authorities ot the respective States, (as suggested in Davis's message ;) but all cap- tives taken by the Confederate forces ought to be dealt with and disposed of by the Confederate Government. President Lincoln's emancipation pro- clamations of September 22, 1862, and, January 1, 1863, were resolved to be in- consistent with the usages of war among civilized nations, and should be re- pressed by retaliation ; and the President is authorized to cause full and complete retaliation for every such violation, in such manner and to such extent as he may think proper. Every white commissioned officer com- manding negroes or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection, and shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished, at the discretion of the court. Every person charged with an offence made punishable under the act shall be tri^d by the military court of the army or corps of troops capturing him ; and, after conviction, the President may commute the punishment in such manner and on such terms as he may deem proper. All negroes and mulattoes who shall be engaged in war or taken in arms against the Confederate States, or shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate States, shall, when captured in the Con- federate States, be delivered to the author- ities of the State or States in which they shall be captured, to be dealt with accord- ing to the present or future laws of such State or States. '(Passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. The first amendment to the Constitution growing out of the war, and one of its di- rect results, was that of abolishing slavery. It was first introduced to the House De- cember 14th, 1863, by James M. Ashley of Ohio. Similar measures were introduced by James M. Wilson, Senators Henderson, Sumner and others. On the 10th of Feb- ruary, Senator Trumbull reported Hen- derson's joint resolution amended as fol- lows: " That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be Third. That all negro glaveg captured in arms be at once delivered over to the executive authorities of the respective States to which they belong, to be dealt with according to the law* of said States. Fourth. That the like orders be executed in all cases with respect to all commissioned officers of the United States when found serving In company with said slaves In insurrection against the authorities of the different States of this Confederacy. valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the said Constitution, namely : " ART. 13, Sec. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as a punish- ment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist with- in the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legisla- tion. 1 ' The Senate began the consideration of the question March 28th, Senator Trumbull opening the debate in favor of the amend- ment. He predicted that within a year the necessary number of States would rat- ify it. Wilson of Massachusetts made a long and able speech in favor. Davis of Kentucky and Saulsbury of Delaware led the opposition, but Reverdy Johnson, an independent Democratic Senator from Maryland, surprised all by his bold sup- port of the measure. Among other things he said : " I think history will bear me out in the statement, that if the men by whom that Constitution was framed, and the people by whom it was adopted, had anticipated the times in which we live, they would have provided by constitutional enactment, that that evil and that sin should in some comparatively unremote day be removed. Without recurring to authority, the writ- ings public or private of the men of that day, it is sufficient for my purpose to state what the facts will justify me in saying, that every man of them who largely par- ticipated in the deliberations of the Con- vention by which the Constitution was adopted, earnestly desired, not only upon grounds of political economy, not only up- on reasons material in their character, but upon grounds of morality and religion, that sooner or later the institution should terminate." Senator McDougall of California, op- posed the amendment. Harlan of Iowa, Hale of New Hampshire, and Sumner, made characteristic speeches in favor. Saulsbury advocated the divine right of slavery. It passed April 8th, by 38 ayes to 6 noes, the latter comprising Davis and Powell of Kentucky ; McDougall of Cali- fornia ; Hendricks of Indiana ; Saulsbury and Riddle of Delaware. Arnold of Illinois, was the first to se- cure the adoption in the House (Feb. 15, 1864,) of a resolution to abolish slavery ; but the Constitutional amendment required . a two-thirds vote, and this it was difficult to obtain, though all the power of the Ad- ministration was bent to that purpose. The discussion began May 31st ; the vote was reached June 15th, but it then failed of the required two-thirds 93 for to 65 against, 23 not voting. Its more pro- nounced advocates were Arnold, Ashley, 168 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Broomall, Stevens, and Kelly of Pennsyl- vania; Farnsworth and Ingersoll of Illi- nois, and many others. Its ablest oppo- nents were Holman, Wood, Mallory, Cox and Pendleton the latter rallying nearly all of the Democrats against it. Its Dem- ocratic friends were McAllister and Bailey of Pennsylvania; Cobb of Wisconsin; Griswold and Odell of New York. Before the vote was announced Ashley changed his vote so as to move a reconsideration and keep control of the question. At the next session it was passed, receiving every Re- publican and 16 Democratic votes, 8 Dem- ocrats purposely refraining, so that it would surely pass. Admission of Representative* from Louisiana. The capture of New Orleans by Admiral Farragut, led to the enrollment of 60,000 citizens of Louisiana as citizens of the United States. The President thereupon appointed a Military Governor for the en- tire State, and this Governor ordered an election for members of Congress under the old State constitution. This was held Dec. 3, 1862, when Messrs. Flanders and Hahn were returned, neither receiving 3,000 votes. They received certificates, pre- sented them, and thus opened up a new and grave political question. The Demo- crats opposed their admission on grounds so well stated by Voorhees of Indiana, that we quote them : " Understand this principle. If the Southern Confederacy is a foreign power, an independent nationality to-day, and you have conquered back the territory of Lou- isiana, you may then substitute a new sys- tm of laws in the place of the laws of that State. You may then supplant her civil in- stitutions by institutions made anew for her by the proper authority of this Government not by the executive but by the legisla- tive branch of the Government, assisted by the Executive simply to the extent of sign- ing his name to the bills of legislation. If the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, (Mr. Stevens) is correct; if the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Conway) is correct, and this assumed power in the South is a power of the earth, and stands to-day upon equal terms of nationality with ourselves, and reconquer back State by State its territory by the power of arms, then we may govern them independently of their local laws. But if the theory we have been proceeding upon here, that this Union is unbroken ; that no States have sundered the bonds that bind us together; that no successful disunion has yet taken place, if that theory is still to prevail in these halls, then this cannot be done. You are as much bound to uphold the laws of Iiouisiana in all their extent and in ail their parts, as you are to uphold the laws of Pennsylvania or New York, or any other State whose civil policy has not been disturbed." Michael Hahn, one of the Representa- tives elect, closed a very effective speech, which secured the personal good will of the House in favor of his admission, in these words : "And even, sir, within the limits of the dreary and desolated region of the rebel- lion itself, despair, which has already tak- en hold of the people, will gain additional power and strength, at the reception of the news that Louisiana sends a message of peace, good-will, and hearty fellowship to the Union. This intelligence will sound more joyful to patriot ears than all the oft repeated tidings of 'Union victories.' And of all victories, this will be the most glorious, useful and solid, for it speaks of re- organization, soon to become the great and difficult problem with which our statesmen will have to familiarize - themselves, and when this shall have commenced, we will be able to realize that God, in his infinite mercy has looked down upon our misfor- tunes, and in a spirit of paternal love and pity, has addressed us in the language as- cribed to him by our own gifted Longfel- low: " I am weary of your quarrels, Weary of your wars and bloodshed, Weary of your pniyers for vengeance, Of your wranglings mid dissensions ; All your strength is in your Union, All your danger is in discord, Therefore, be at peace, henceforward, And as brothers live together." Mr. Speaker, Louisiana ever loyal, hon- orable Louisiana seeks no greater bles- sing in the future, than to remain a part of this great and glorious Union. She has stood by you in the darkest hours of the rebellion ; and she intends to stand by you. Sir, raise your eyes to the gorgeous ceil- ings which ornament this Hall, and look upon her fair and lovely escutcheon. Care- fully read the patriotic words which sur- round her affectionate pelican family, and you will find there inscribed, 'Justice, Union, Confidence.' Those words have with us no idle meaning; and would to God that other members of this Union, could properly appreciate our motto, our motives and our position I " The debate attracted much attention, because of the novelty of a question upon which, it has since been contended, would have turned a different plan of reconstruct- ing the rebellious States if the President's plans had not been destroyed by his assas- sination. Davves, of Massachusetts, was the Chairman of the Committee on Elec- tions, and he closed the debate in favor of admission. The vote stood 92 for to 44 against, almost a strict party test, the Democrats voting no. BOOK I.] RECONSTRUCTION. 169 RECONSTRUCTION. In the House as early as Dec. 15, 1863, Henry Winter Davis moved that so much of the President's message as relates to the duty of the United States to guaranty a Republican form of government to the States in which the governments recog- nized by the United States have been ab- rogated or overthrown, be referred to a select committee of nine to report the bills necessary and proper for carrying into ex- ecution the foregoing guarantee, was passed, and on May 4th, 1864, the House adopted the first reconstruction bill by 74 yeas to 66 nays a strict party vote.* The Senate passed it by yeas 18, nays 14 Doolittle, Henderson, Lane of Indiana, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, and Van Winkle voting with the Democrats against it. The bill authorizes the President to ap- point in each of the States declared in re- bellion, a Provisional Governor,|with the pay and emoluments of a brigadier ; to be charged with the civil administration until a State government therein shall be recog- nized. As soon as the military resistance to the United States shall have been sup- pressed, and the people sufficiently re- turued to their obedience to the Constitu- tion and laws, the Governor shall direct the marshal of the United States to enroll all the white male citizens of the United States, resident in the State in their re- spective counties, and whenever a majority of them take the oath of allegiance, the loyal people of the State shall be entitled to elect delegates to a convention to act upon the re-establishment of a State gov- ernment the proclamation to contain de- tails prescribed. Qualified voters in the army may vote in their camps. No person who has held or exercised any civil, mili- tary, State, or Confederate office, under the rebel occupation, and who has voluntarily borne arms against the United States, shall vote or be eligible as a delegate. The convention is required to insert in the con- stitution provisions 1st. No person who has held or exercised any civil or military office, (except offices merely ministerial and military offices be- low a colonel,) State or Confederate, under the usurping power, shall vote for, or be a member of the legislature or governor. 2d. Involuntary servitude is forever pro- hibited, and the freedom of all persons is guarantied in said State. 3d. No debt, State or Confederate, cre- ated by or under the sanction of the usurp- ing power, shall be recognized or paid by the State. Upon the adoption of the constitution by the convention, and its ratification by the electors of the State, the Provisional Gov- * McPherson's History, page 317. ernor shall so certify to the President, who, after obtaining the assent of Congress, shall, by proclamation, recognize the gov- ernment as established, and none other, as the constitutional government of the State ; and from the date of such recognition, and not before, Senators and Representatives and electors for President and Vice-Presi- dent may be elected in such State. Until re-organization the Provisional Governor shall enforce the laws of the Union and of the State before the rebellion. The remaining sections are as follows : SEC. 12. That all persons held to invol- untary servitude or labor in the States aforesaid are hereby emancipated and dis- charged therefrom, and they and their pos- terity shall be forever free. And if any such persons or their posterity shall be re- strained of liberty, under pretence of any claim to such service or labor, the courts of the United States shall, on habeas cor- pus, discharge them. SEC. 13. That if any person declared free by this act, or any law of the United States, or any proclamation of the President, be restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in or reduced to involuntary servitude or labor, the person convicted before a court of competent jurisdiction of such act shall be punished by fine of not less than $1,500, and be imprisoned not less than five, nor more than twenty years. SEC. 14. That every person who shall hereafter hold or exercise any office, civil or military, except offices merely minis- terial and military offices below the grade of colonel, in the rebel service, State or Confederate, is hereby declared not to be a citizen of the United States. Lincoln's Proclamation on Reconstruction President Lincoln failed to sign the above bill because it reached him less than one hour before final adjournment, and there- upon issued a proclamation which closed as follows : " Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do pro- claim, declare, and make known, that, while I am (as I was in December last, when by proclamation I propounded a plan for restoration) unprepared, by a formal approval of this bill, to be inflexibly com- mitted to any single plan of restoration ; and, while I am also unprepared to declare that the free State constitutions and gov- ernments already adopted and installed in Arkansas and Louisiana shall be set aside and held for nought, thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who have set up the same as to further effort, or to declare a constitutional competency in Congress to abolish slavery in States, but am at the same time sincerely hoping and 170 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. expecting that a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery throughout the nation may be adopted, nevertheless I am fully satisfied with the system for restoration contained in the bill as one very proper i/lan for the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt it, and that I am, and at all times shall be, prepared to give the Ex- ecutive aid and assistance to any such peo- ple, so soon as the military resistance to the United States shall have been sup* pressed in any such State, and the people thereof shall .have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Constitution and laws of the United States, in which cases Military Governors will be appointed, with directions to proceed according to the bill." Admission of Arkansas. On the 10th of June, 1864, introduced a joint resolution for the recognition of the free State government of Arkansas. A new State government had then been or- ganized, with Isaac Murphy, Governor, who was reported to have received nearly 16,000 votes at a called election. The other State officers are : Lieutenant Governor, C. C. Bliss ; Secre- tary of State, R. J. T. White ; Auditor, J. B. Berry ; Treasurer, E. D. Ayers ; Attor- ney General, C. T. Jordan ; Judges of the Supreme Court, T. D. W. Yowley, C. A. Harper, E. Baker. The Legislature also elected Senators, but neither Senators nor Representatives obtained their seats. Trumbull, from the Senate Judiciary Committee, made a long report touching the admission of the Sen- ators, which closed as follows: " When the rebellion in Arkansas shall fcave been so far suppressed that the loy- al inhabitants thereof shall be free to re- establish their State government upon a republican foundation, or to recognize the one already set up, and by the aid and not in subordination to the military to main- tain the same, they will then, and not be- fore, in the opinion of your committee, be entitled to a representation in Congress, and to participate in the administration ol the Federal Government. Believing that such a state of things did not at the time the claimants were elected, and does not now, exist in the State of Arkansas, the committee recommend for adoption the following resolution : " Resolved, That William M. Fishback and Elisha Baxter are not entitled to seats as Senators from the State of Arkansas.' 1864 ; June 29 The resolution of the Committee on the Judiciary was adoptee yeas 27, nays 6. President Lincoln was known to favor the immediate admission of Arkansas anc Louisiana, but the refusal of the Senate to admit the Arkansas Senators raised an is- sue which partially divided the Republi- cans in both Houses, some of whom fa- vored forcible reconstruction through the aid of Military Governors and the machin- ery of new State goverr.merits, while others opposed. The views of those opposed to iie President's policy are well stated in a japer signed by Benjamin F. Wade and Senry Winter Davis, published in the New York Tribune, August 5th, 1864. From this we take the more pithy extracts : The President, by preventing this bill Tom becoming a law, holds the electoral votes of the rebel States at the dictation of lis personal ambition. If those votes turn the balance in his iavor, is it to be supposed that his compe- titor, defeated by such means, will ac- quiesce ? If the rebel majority assert their su- premacy in those States, and send votea which elect an enemy of the Government, will we not repel his claims ? And is not civil war for the Presidency inaugurated by the votes of rebel States ? Seriously impressed with these dangers, Congress, " the proper constitutional au- thority," formally declared that there are no State governments in the rebel States, and provided for their erection at a proper time ; and both the Senate and the House Representatives rejected the Senators and Representatives chosen under the au- thority of what the President calls the free constitution and government of Ar- kansas. The President's proclamation "holds for naught " this judgment, and discards the authority of the Supreme Court, and strides headlong toward the anarchy his pro- clamation of the 8th of December inaugu- rated. If electors for President be allowed to be chosen in either of those States, a sinis- ter light will be cast on the motives which induced the President to " hold for naught" the will of Congress rather than his gov- ernment in Louisiana and Arkansas. That judgment of Congress which th President defies was the exercise of an authority exclusively vested in Congress by the Constitution to determine what is the established government in a State, and in its own nature and by the highest judi- cial authority binding on all other depart- ments of the Government. * * * A more studied outrage on the legisla- tive authority of the people has never been perpetrated. Congress passed a bill ; the President re- fused to approve it, and then by proclama- tion puts as much of it in force as he sees fit, and proposes to execute those parts by officers unknown to the laws of the United States and not subject t~ ' '-^ confirmation of the Senate 1 BOOK. I.] RECONSTRUCTION. 171 The bill directed the appointment of Provisional Governors by and with the ad- vice and consent of the Senate. The President, after defeating the law, proposes to appoint without law, and with- out the advice and consent of the Senate, Military Governors for the rebel States I He has already exercised this dictatorial usurpation in Louisiana, and he defeated ' the bill to prevent its limitation. * The President has greatly presumed on the forbearance which the supporters of his Administration have so long practiced, in view of the arduous conflict in which we are engaged, and the reckless ferocity of our political opponents. But he must understand that our sup- port is of a cause and not of a man ; that the authority of Congress is paramount and must be respected; that the whole body of the Union men of Congress will not submit to be impeached by him of rash and unconstitutional legislation ; and if he wishes our support, he must confine himself to his executive duties to obey and execute, not make the laws to sup- pr/ss by arms armed rebellion, and leave political reorganization to Congress. If the supporters of the Government fail to insist on this, they become responsi- ble for the usurpations which they fail to rebuke, and are justly liable to the indig- nation of the people whose rights and security, committed to their keeping, they sacrifice. Let them consider the remedy for these usurpations, and, having found it, fear- lessly execute it. The question, as presented in 1864, now passed temporarily from public considera- tion because of greater interest in the closing events of the war and the Presi- dential succession. The passage of the 14th or anti-slavery amendment by the Spates also intervened. This was officially announced on the 18th of December 1865, by Mr. Seward, 27 of the then 36 States having ratified, as follows : Illinois, Rhode Island, Michigan, Maryland, New York, West Virginia, Maine, Kansas, Massachu- settSj Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Mis- souri, Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minne- sota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Tennessee, Ar- kansas, Connecticut, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia. TEXT OF THE RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES. 14th Constitutional Amendment. JbftU Resolution preparing an Amendment to the Constitu- tion of tht Untied States. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, (two- thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid as part of the Constitution, namely : [Here follows the 14th amendment. See Book IV.] Reconstruction Act of Thirty-Ninth Con- gress. An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States. . Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection for life or property now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas it is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said States until loyal and republican State governments can be legally established : Therefore Be it enacted, &c., That said rebel States shall be divided into military districts and made subject to the military authority of the United States, as hereinafter prescribed, and for that purpose Virginia shall consti- tute the first district ; North Carolina and South Carolina the second district ; Geor- gia, Alabama, and Florida the third dis- trict ; Mississippi and Arkansas the fourth district ; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth district. SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the President to assign to the command of each of said districts an officer of the army, not below the rank of brigadier general, and to detail a sufficient military force to enable such officer to perform his duties and enforce his authority within the dis- trict to which he is assigned. SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of each officer assigned as aforesaid to protect all persons in their rights of person and property, to suppress insurrection, disor- der, and violence, and to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace and criminals, and to this end he may allow local civil tribunals to tako jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or, when in his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of offenders, he shall have power to organize military commissions or tribunals for that purpose ; and all in terference under color of State authority with the exercise of military authority un- der this act shall be null and void. SEC. 4. That all persons put under mili- tary arrest by virtue of this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be in- flicted ; and no sentence of any military commission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting the life or liberty of any person, shall be executed until it is approved by the officer in command of the district, and 172 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. the laws and regulations for the govern- ment of the army shall not be affected by this act, except in so far as they conflict with its provisions : Provided, That no sentence of death under the provisions of this act shall be carried into effect without the approval of the President. SEC. 5. That when the people of any one of said rebel States shall have formed a constitution of government in conformity with the Constitution of the United States in all respects, framed by a convention of delegates elected by the male citizens of said State twenty-one years old and up- ward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition, who have been resident in said State for one year previous to the day of such election, except such as may be dis- franchised for participation in the rebel- lion, or for felony at common law, and when such constitution shall provide that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by all such persons as have the qualifications herein stated for electors of delegates, and when such constitution shall be ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the question of ratification who are qualified as electors for delegates, and when such con- stitution shall have been submitted to Congress for examination and approval, and Congress shall have approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of its legislature elected under said constitution, shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution ot the United States, proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article fourteen, and when said article shall have become a part of the Constitu- tion of the United States, said S',ate shall be declared entitled to representation in Congress, and Senators and Representa- tives shall be admitted therefrom on their taking the oaths prescribed by law, and then and thereafter the preceding sections of this act shall be inoperative in said State : Provided, That no person excluded from the privilege of holding office by said proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be eligible to election as a member of the convention to frame a constitution for any of said rebel States, nor shall any such person vote for members of such convention. SEC. 6. That until the people of said rebel States shall be by law admitted to repre- sentation in the Congress of the United States, any civil governments which may i exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and in all respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States at any time to abolish, modify, control, or supersede the same ; and in all elections to any office under such provisional govern- ments all persons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled to vote under the provisions of the fifth section of this act ; and no person shall be eligible to any office under any such provisional gov- ernments who would be disqualified from holding office under the provisions of the third article of said constitutional amend- ment. Passed March 2, 1867. Supplemental Reconstruction Act ot For- tieth Congress. AN ACT supplementary to an act entitled " An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and to facilitate restora- tion. . Be it enacted, &c., That before the first day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the commanding general in each district defined by an act entitled " An act to provide for the more efficient fovernment of the rebel States," passed larch second, eighteen hundred and sixty- seven, shall cause a registration to be made of the male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age and up- wards, resident in each county or parish in the State or States included in his dis- trict, which registration shall include only those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates by the act aforesaid, and who shall have taken and subscribed the fol- lowing oath or affirmation : " I, , do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) in the presence or Almightv God, that I am a citizen of the State of* ; that I have resided in said State for months next preceding this day, and now reside in the county of , or the parish of , in said State, (as the case may be ;) that I am twenty-one years old ; that I have not been disfranchised for participa- tion in any rebellion or civil war against the United States, nor for felony commited against the laws of any State or of the United States ; that I have never been a member of any State legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in any State and afterwards engaged in insurrec- tion or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, encourage others so to do, so help me God;" which oath or affirm- ation maybe administered by any register- ing officer. BOOK I.] RECONSTRUCTION. 173 SEC. 2. That after the completion of the registration hereby provided for in any State, at such time and places therein as the commanding general shall appoint and direct, of which at least thirty days' public notice shall be given, an election shall be held of delegates to a convention for the purpose of establishing a constitution and civil government for such State loyal to the Union, said convention in each State, except Virginia, to consist of the same number of members as the most numerous branch of the State legislature of such State in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, to be apportioned among the several districts, counties, or parishes of such State by the commanding general, giving to each representation in the ratio of voters or registered as aforesaid, as nearly as may be. The convention in Virginia shall con- sist of the same number of members as represented the territory now constituting Virginia in the most numerous branch of the legislature of said State in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, to be ap- pointed as aforesaid. SEC. 3. That at said election the regis- tered voters of each State shall vote for or a^aimt a convention to form a constitution therefor under this act. Those voting in favor of such a convention shall have written or printed on the ballots by which they vote for delegates, as aforesaid, the words " For a convention," and those vot- ing against such a convention shall have written or printed on such ballots the words " Against a convention." The per- son appointed to superintend said election, and to make return of the votes given thereat, as herein provided, shall count and make return of the votes given for and against a convention ; and the command- ing general to whom the same shall have been returned shall ascertain and declare the total vote in each State for and against a convention. If a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a con- vention, then such convention shall be held as hereinafter provided; but if a majority of said votes shall be against a convention, then no such convention shall be held un- der this act : Provided, That such con- vention shall not be held unless a majority of all such registered voters shall have voted on the question of holding such con- vention. SEC. 4. That the commanding general of each district shall appoint as many boards of registration as may be necessary, con- sisting of three loyal officers or persons, to make and complete the registration, su- perintend the election, and make return to him of the votes, lists of voters, and of the persons elected as delegates by a. plurality of the votes cast at said election ; and upon receiving said returns he shall open the P*me, ascertain the persons elected as dele- gates according to the returns of the offi- cers who conducted said election, and make proclamation thereof; and if a ma- jority of the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, the commanding general, within sixty days from the date of election, shall notify the delegates to as- semble in convention, at a time and place to be mentioned in the notification, and said convention, when organized, shall pro- ceed to frame a constitution and civil gov- ernment according to the provisions of this act and the act to which it is supplement- ary ; and when the same shall have been so framed, said constitution shall be sub- mitted by the convention for ratification to the persons registered under the provisions of this act at an election to be conducted by the officers or persons appointed or to be appointed by the commanding general, as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after the expiration of thirty days from the date of notice thereof, to be given by said convention ; and the returns thereof shtill be made to the commanding general of the district. SEC. 5. That if, according to said re- turns, the constitution shall oe ratified by a majority of the votes of the registered electors qualified as herein specified, cast at said election, (at least one-half of all the registered voters voting upon the question of such ratification,) the president of the convention shall transmit a copy of the same, duly certified, to the President of the United States, who shall forthwith transmit the same to Congress, if then in session, and if not in session, then imme- diately upon its next assembling; and if it shall, moreover, appear to Congress that the election was one at which all the reg- istered and qualified electors in the State had an opportunity to vote freely and with- out restraint, fear, or the influence of fraud; and if the Congress shall be satisfied that such constitution meets the approval of a majority of all the qualified electors in the State, and if the said constitution shall be declared by Congress to be in conformity with the provisions of the act to which this is supplementary, and the other provisions of said act shall have been complied with, and the said constitution shall be approved by Congress, the State shall be declared entitled to representation, and Senators and Representatives shall be admitted therefrom as therein provided. SEC. 6. That all elections in the States mentioned^ in the said " Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," shall, during the operation of said act, be by ballot ; and all officers making the said registration of voters and conduct- ing said elections shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, take and subscribe the oath prescribed by the act approved July second, eighteen bun- 174 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. dred and sixty-two, entitled "An act to prescribe an oath of office : * Provided, That if any person shall knowingly and falsely take and subscribe any oath in this act prescribed, such person so offending and being thereof duly convicted, shall be sub- ject to the pains, penalties, and disabilities which by law are provided for the punish- ment of the crime of w'lful and corrupt perjury. SEC. 7. That all expenses incurred by the several commanding generals, or by virtue of any orders issued, or appoint- ments made, by them, under or by virtue of this act, shall be paid out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. SEC. 8. That the convention for each State shall prescribe the fees, salary, and compensation to be paid to all delegates and other officers and agenta herein au- thorized or necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this act not herein other- wise provided for, and shall provide for the levy and collection of such taxes on the property in such State as may be ne- cessary to pay the same. SEC. 9. That the word article, in the sixth section of the act to which this is supplementary, shall be construed to mean section. Passed March 23, 1867. Votes of State Legislatures on the Four- teenth Constitutional Amendment.! LOYAL STATES. Baffled Twenty-one States. Maine SENATE, January 16, 1867, yeas This act is in these words : Be it fnactrd, Ac., That hereafter every person elected or appointed to any office of honor or profit under the government of the United States, either in the civil, mili- tary, or naval departments of the public service, except- ing the President of the United States, shall, before en- tering upon the duties of such office, and before being entitled to any of the salary or other emoluments there- of, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation : " I, A 11, do solemnly swear 'or affirm) that I have never Toluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have never sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the function* of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority, in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pre- ti-iiiled government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto; and I do further swear 'or affirm) that, U> the beat of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true fnith and al- legiance to the same ; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter; go help me God ;" which said oath, so taken and slimed, shall be prewired among the files of the Court, House of Con- gress, or Department to which the said office may apper- tain. And any person who sliall falsely take the said onth shall he guilty of perjury, and on conviction, in ad- dition to the penalties now prescril>ed for that otten*e, hall be deprived of hi* office, and rendered inrapuhle forever after, of holding any office or place under the United State*. t Compiled by Hon. Kdward McPherson in his Hand Book of Politic* for 1868. 31, nays ; HOUSE, January 11, 1867, yeas 126, nays 12. New 'Hampshire SENATE, July 6, 1866, yeas 9, nays 3 ; HOUSE, June 28, 1866, yeas 207, nays 112. Vermont SENATE, October 23, 1866, yeas 28, nays ; HOUSE, October 30, 1866, yeas 199, nays 11. Massachusetts SENATE, March 20, 1867, yeas 27, nays 6 ; HOUSE, March 14, 1867, yeas 120, nays 20. Rhode Island SENATE, February 5, 1867, yeas 26, nays 2 ; HOUSE, February 7, 1867, yeas 60, nays 9 Connecticut SENATE, June 25, 1866, yeas 11, nays 6 ; HOUSE, June 29, 1866, yeas 131, nays 92. Neio York SENATE, January 3, 1867, yeas 23, nays 3 ; HOUSE, January 10, 1867, yeas 76, nays 40. New Jersey SENATE, September 11, 1866, yeas 11, nays 10; HOUSE, September \\, 1866, yeas 34, nays 24. Pennsylvania SENATE, January 17, 1867, yeas 20, nays 9 ; HOUSE, February 6, 1867, yeas 58, nays 29. West Virginia SENATE, January 15, 1867, yeas 15, nays 3 ; HOUSE, January 16, 1867, yeas 43, nays 11. Ohio SENATE, January 3, 1867, yeas 21, nays 12; HOUSE, January 4, 1867, yeas 54, nays 25. Tennessee SENATE, July 11, 1866, yeas 15, nays 6 ; HOUSE, July 12, 1866, yeas 43, nays 11. Indiana SENATE, January 16, 1867, yeas 29, nays 18 ; HOUSE, January 23, 1867, yeas , nays . Illinois SENATE, January 10, 1867, yeas 17, nays 7 ; HOUSE, January 15, 1867, yeas 59, nays 25. Michigan SCNATE, 1867, yeas 25, nays 1 ; HOUSE, 1867, yeas 77, nays 15. Missouri SENATE, January 5, 1867, yeas 26, nays 6 ; HOUSE, January 8, 1867, yeas 85, nays 34. Minnesota SENATE, January 16, 1867, yeas 16, nays 5 ; HOUSE, January 15, 1867, yeas 40, nays 6. Kansas SENATE, January 11, 1867, unanimously ; HOUSE, January 10, 1867, yeas, 75, nays 7. Wisconsin SENATE, January 23, 1867, yeas 22, nays 10; HOUSE, February 7, 1867, yeas 72, nays 12. Oregon* Senate, , 1866, yeas 13, nays 7; House, September 19, 1866, yeas 25, nays 22. Nevada * SENATE, January 22, 1867, yeas 14, nays 2; HOUSE, January 11, 1867, yeas 34, nays 4. Rejected Three Btattt. Delaware SENATE, ; HoilSB, February 7, 1867, yeas 6, nays 15. Unofflcifcl. BOOK 1.] GENERAL McCLELLAN'S LETTERS. 175 Maryland SENATE, March 23, 1867, yeas 4, nays 13 ; HOUSE, March 23, 1867, yeas 12, nays 45. Kentucky SENATE, January 8, 1867, yeas 7, nays 24 ; HOUSE, January 8, 1867, yeas 26, nays 62. Not acted Three States. Iowa, California, Nebraska. INSURRECTIONARY STATES. Rejected^- Ten Statet. Virginia SENATE, January 9, 1867, unanimously ; HOUSE, January 9, 1867, 1 for amendment. North Carolina SENATE, December 13, 1866, yeas 1, nays 44 ; HOUSE, December 13, 1866, yeas 10, nays 93. South Carolina SENATE ; HOUSE, December 20, 1866, yeas 1, nays 95. Georgia SEN ATE, November 9, 1866, yeas 0, nays 36 ; HOUSE, November 9, 1866, yeas 2, nays 131. Florida SENATE, December 3, 1866, yeas 0, nays 20 ; HOUSE, December 1, 1866, yeas 0, nays 49. Alabama SENATE, December 7, 1866, yeas 2, nays 27; HOUSE, December 7, 1866, yeas 8, nays 69. Mississippi SENATE, January 30, 1867, yeas 0, nays 27 ; HOUSE, January 25, 1867, yeas 0, nays 88. Louisiana SENATE, February 5, 1867, unanimously ; HOUSE, February 6, 1867, unanimously. Texas SENATE, ; HOUSE, Oc- tober 13, 1866, yeas 5, nays 67. Arkansas^ -SENATE, December 15, 1866, yeas 1, nays 24; HOUSE, December 17, 1866, yeas 2, nays 68. The passage of the 14th Amendment and of the Reconstruction Acts, was followed by Presidential proclamations dated August 20, 1866, declaring the insurrection at an end in Texas, and civil authority existing throughout the whole of the United States. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1864. The Republican National Convention met at Baltimore, June 7th, 1864, and re- nominated President Lincoln unanimous- ly, save the vote of Missouri, which was cast for Gen. Grant. Hannibal Hamlin, the old Vice-President, was not re-nomi- nated, because of a desire to give part of the ticket to the Union men of the South, who pressed Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. "Parson" Brownlow made a strong appeal in his behalf, and by his elo- quence captured a majority of the Con- vention. The Democratic National Convention met at Chicago, August 29th, 1864, and nominated General George B. McClellan, of New Jersey, for President, and George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, for Vice-President. General McClellan was made available for the Democratic nomination through cer- tain political letters which he had written on points of difference between himself and the Lincoln administration. Two of these letters are sufficient to show his own and the views of the party which nominated him, in the canvass which followed : Gen. McClellan 's Letters. On Political Administration, July 7, 1862. HEADQUARTERS ARMY or THE POTOMAC, CAMP NEAR HARRISON'S LANDING, VA., July 7, 1862. MR. PRESIDENT : You have been fully informed that the rebel army is in the front, with the purpose of overwhelming us by attacking our positions or reducing us by blocking our river communications. I cannot but regard our condition as criti- cal, and I earnestly desire, in view of pos- sible contingencies, to lay before your ex- cellency, for your private consideration, my general views concerning the existing state of the rebellion, although they do not strictly relate to the situation of this army, or strictly come within the scope of my official duties. These views amount to convictions, and are deeply impressed upon my mind and heart. Our cause must never be abandoned ; it is the cause of free in- stitutions and self-government. The Con- stitution and the Union must be preserved, whatever may be the cost in time, treasure, and blood. If secession is successful, other dissolutions are clearly to be seen in the future. Let neither military disaster, polit- ical faction, nor foreign war shake your settled purpose to enforce the equal opera- tion of the laws of the United States upon the people of every State. The time has come when the govern- ment must determine upon a civil and military policy, covering the whole ground of our national trouble. The responsibility of determining, de> claring, and supporting such civil and mil- itary policy, and of directing the whole course of national affairs in regard to the reballion, must now be assumed and exer- cised by you, or our cause will be lost. The Constitution gives you power, even for the present terrible exigency. This rebellion has assumed the charac- ter of a war ; as such it should be regarded, and it should be conducted upon the high- est principles known to Christian civiliza- tion. It should not be a war looking to the subjugation of the people of any State, in any event. It should not be at all a war upon population, but against armed forces and political organizations. Neither confiscation of property, political execu- tions of persons, territorial organization of States, or forcible abolition of slavery, should be contemplated for a moment. In prosecuting the war, all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected, subject only to the ne- cessity of military operations ; all prirate AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. property taken for military use should be paid or receipted for; pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes ; all un- necessary trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military towards citizens promptly rebuked. Military ar- rests should not be tolerated, except in places where active hostilities exist ; and oaths, not required by enactments, consti- tutionally made, should be neither de- manded nor received. Military government should be confined to the preservation of public order and the protection of political right. Military power should not be allowed to interfere with the relations of servitude, either by supporting or impairing the authority of the master, except for repressing disorder, as in other cases. Slaves, contraband under the act of Congress, seeking military pro- tection, should receive it. The right of the government, to appropriate permanent- ly to its own service claims to slave labor should be asserted, and the the right of the owner to compensation therefor should be recognized. This principle might be ex- tended, upon grounds of military necessity and security, to all the slaves of a particu- lar State, thus working manumission in such State ; and in Missouri, perhaps in Western Virginia also, and possibly even in Maryland, the expediency of such a measure is only a question of time. A system of policy thus constitutional, and pervaded by the influences of Christianity and freedom, would receive the support of almost all truly loyal men, would deeply impress the rebel masses and all foreign nations, and it might be humbly hoped that it would commend itself to the favor of the Almighty. . Unless the principles governing the future conduct of our struggle shall be made known and approved, the effort to obtain requisite forces will be almost hope- less. A declaration of radical views, es- pecially upon slavery, will rapidly disin- tegrate our present armies. Tne policy of the government must be supported by con- centrations of nfilitary power. The na- tional forces should not be dispersed in expeditions, posts of occupation, and nu- merous armies, but should be mainly col- lected into masses, and brought to bear upon the armies of the Confederate States. Tnose armies thoroughly defeated, the political structure which they support would soon cease to exist. In carrying out any system of policy which you may form, you will require a Commander-in-chief of the army, one who possesses your confidence, understands your views, and who is competent to exe- cute your orders ? by directing the military forces of the nation to the accomplishment of the objects by you proposed. I do not ask that place for myself. I am willing to serve you in such position as you may as- sign me, and I will do so as faithfully as ever subordinate served superior. I may be on the brink of eternity ; and as I hope forgiveness from my Maker, I have written this letter with sincerity to- wards you and from love for my country. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, Major- General Commanding. His Excellency A. LINCOLN, President. IN FAVOR OF THE ELECTION OF GEORGE W. WOODWARD AS GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA. ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, October 12, 1863. DEAR SIR : My attention has been called to an article in the Philadelphia Press, asserting that I had written to the managers of a Democratic meeting at Allentown, disapproving the objects of the meeting, and that if I voted or spoke it would be in favor of Governor Curtin, and I am informed that similar assertions Lave been made throughout the State. It has been my earnest endeavor hereto- fore to avoid participation in parly politics. 1 had determined to adhere to this courBe, but it is obvious that I cannot longer maintain silence under such misrepresen- tations. I therefore request you to deny that I have written any such letter, or entertained any such views as those at- tributed to me in the Philadelphia Press, and I desire to state clearly and distinctly, that having some days ago had a full con- versation with Judge Woodward, I find that our views agree, and I regard his ejec- tion as Governor of Pennsylvania called for by the interests of the nation. I understand Judge Wocdward to b in favor of the prosecution of the war with all the means at the command of the loyal States, until the military power of the re- bellion is destroyed. I understand him to be of the opinion that while the war is urged with all possible decision and energy, the policy directing it should be in consonance with the principles of humanity and civilization, working no in- jury to private rights and property not demanded by military necessity and recog- nized by military law among civilized na- tions. And, finally, I understand him to agree with me in the opinion that the sole great objects of this war are the restoration of the unity of the nation, the preservation of the Constitution, and the supremacy of the laws of the country. Believing our opinions entirely agree upon these points, I would, were it in my power, give to Judge Woodward my voice and vote. T am, very respectfully, yours, GEORGE B. MCCLELLAJT. Hon. CHARLES J. BIDDLE. BOOK i.] LINCOLN'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 177 The views of Mr. Lincoln were well known ; they were i'elt in the general con- duct of the war. The Republicans adopted as one of their maxims the words of their candidate, " that it was dangerous to swap horses while crossing a stream." The cam- paign was exciting, and was watched by both armies with interest and anxiety. In this election, by virtue of an act of Con- gress, the soldiers in the field were per- mitted to vote, and a large majority of every branch of the service sustained the Administration, though two years before General McClellan had been the idol of the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln and Johnson received 212 electoral votes, against 21 for McClellan and Pendleton. Lilncoln'8 Second Administrate a. In President Lincoln's second inaugural address, delivered on the 4th of March, 1865, he spoke the following words, since oft quoted as typical of the kindly disposi- tion of the man believed by his party to be the greatest President since Washington : " 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 orphans to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Lincoln could well afford to show that generosity which never comes more prop- erly than from the hands of the victor. His policy was about to end in a great triumph. In less than five weeks later on General Lee had surrendered the main army of the South to General Grant at Appomattox, on terms at once magnani- mous and so briefly stated that they won the admiration of both armies, for the rebels had been permitted to retain their horses and side arm-*, and to go at once to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observed their paroles and the laws in force where they resided. Lee's surrender was rapidly followed by that of all Southern troops. Next came a grave political work the actual reconstruction of the States lately in rebellion. This work gave renewed fresh- ness to the leading political issues incident to the war, and likewise gave rise to new issues. It was claimed at once that Lin- coln had a reconstruction policy of his own, because of his anxiety for the prompt admission of Louisiana and Arkansas, but it had certainly never taken definite shape, nor was there time to get such a policy in shape, between the surrender of Lee and his own asa-issination. On the night of the 15th of April, six days after the sur- render, J. Wilkes Booth shot him while sitting in a box in Ford's theatre. The nation stood appalled at the deed. No man was ever more sincerely mourned in all sections and by all classes. The South- ern leaders thought that this rash act had lost to them a life which had never been harsh, and while firm, was ever generous. The North had looked upon him as "Father Abraham," and all who viewed the result of the shooting from sectional or partisan standpoints, thought his policy of " keep- ing with the people," would have shielded every proper interest. No public man ever felt less " pride of opinion" than Lincoln, and we do believe, had he lived, that he would have shaped events, as he did dur- ing the war, to the best interests of tht> victors, but without unnecessary agitation or harshness. All attempts of writers to evolve from his proclamation a reconstruc- tion policy, applicable to peace, have been vain and impotent. He had none which would not have changed with changing circumstances. A " policy " in an execu- tive office is too often but another name for executive egotism, and Lincoln was almost absolutely free from that weakness. On the morning of Mr. Lincoln's death, indeed within the same hour (and very properly so under the circumstances), the Vice President Andrew Johnson was in- augurated as President. The excitement was painfully high, and the new President, in speeches, interviews and proclamations if possible added to it. From evidence in the Bureau of Military Justice he thought the assassination of Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of Secretary Seward had been procured by Jefferson Davis, Clement C. Clay, Jacob Thompson, Geo. N. Saunder r s, Beverly Tucker, Wm. C. Cleary, and " other rebels and traitors harbored in Canada." The evidence, how* ever, fully drawn out in the trial of the co* conspirators of J. Wilkes Booth, showed that the scheme was hair-brained, and from rio responsible political source. The proclamation, however, gave keenness to the search for the fugitive Davis, and he was soon captured while making his way through Georgia to the Florida coast with the intention of escaping from the country. He was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe, and an indictment for treason was found ' against him, but he remained a close pris- oner for nearly two years, until times when political policies had been changed or modified. Horace Greeley was one of hia bondsmen. By this time there wag grave doubt whether he could be legally con- victed, * " now that the charge of inciting Wilkes Booth's crime had been tacitly abandoned. Mr. Webster (in his Bunker Hill oration) had only given clearer ex- pression to the American doctrine, that, * From Greeley 's Recollections of a Busy Life, page 41^ ITS AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. after a revolt has levied a regular army, and fought therewith a pitched battle, its champions, even though utterly defeated, cannot be tried and convicted as traitors. This may be an extreme statement; but surely a rebellion which has for years main- tained great armies, levied taxes and con- scriptions, negotiated loans, fought scores of sanguinary battles with alternate suc- cesses and reverses, and exchanged tens of thousands of prisoners of war, can hardly fail to have achieved thereby the position and the rights of a lawful belligerent." This view, as then presented by Greeley, was accepted by President Johnson, who from intemperate denunciation had become the friend of his old friends in the South. Greeley's view was not generally accepted by the North, though most of the leading men of both parties hoped the responsi- bility of a trial would be avoided by the escape and flight of the prisoner. But he was confident by this time, and sought a trial. He was never tried, and the best reason for the fact is given in Judge Un- derwood's testimony before a Congressional Committee (and the Judge was a Republi- can) "that no conviction was possible, ex- cept by packing a jury." Andrew Johnson. On the 29th of April, 1865, President Johnson issued a proclamation removing all restrictions upon internal, domestic and coastwise and commercial intercourse in all Southern States east of the Mississippi ; the blockade was removed May 22, and on May 29 a proclamation of amnesty was issued, with fourteen classes excepted therefrom, and the requirement or an " iron-clad oath " from those accepting its provisions. Proclamations rapidly fol- lowed in shaping the lately rebellious States to the conditions of peace and re- storation to the Union. These States were required to hold conventions, repeal seces- sion ordinances, accept the abolition of slavery, repudiate Southern war debts, pro- vide for Congressional representation, and elect new State Officers and Legislatures. The several constitutional amendments were of course to be ratified by the vote of the people. These conditions were eventually all complied with, some of the States being more tardy than others. The irreconcila- blea charged upon the Military officers, the Freedmen's Bureau, and the stern ap- plication of the reconstruction acts, these results, and many of them showed a politi- cal hostility which, after the election of the new Legislatures, took shape in what were in the North at the time denounced as "THE BLACK CODES." These were passed by all of the eleven States in the rebellion. The codes varied in severity, according to the views of the Legislatures, and for a time they seriously interfered with the recognition of the States, the Republicans charging that the design was to restore slavery under new forms. In South Carolina Gen'l Sickles issued military orders, as late as January 17, 1866, against the enforcement of such laws. To assure the rights, of the freedmen the 14th amendment of the Constitution was passed by Congress, June 18th, 1866. President Johnson opposed it, refused to sign, but said he would submit it to the several States. This was done, and it was accepted by the required three-fourths, January 28th, 1868. This had the effect to do away with many of the "black codes," and the States which desired re- admission to the Union had to finally give them up. Since reconstruction, and the political ousting of what were called the "carpet bag governments," some of the States, notably Georgia, has passed class laws, which treat colored criminals differ- ently from white, under what are now known as the " conduct laws." Terms of sentence are served out, in any part of the State, under the control of public and private contractors, and "vagrants" are subjected to sentences which it is believed would be less extended under a system of confinement. Johnson's Policy. While President Johnson's policy did not materially check reconstruction, it en- couraged Southern politicians to political effort, and with their well known tact they were not long in gaining the ascendancy in nearly every State. This ascendancy excited the fears and jealousies of the North, and the Republicans announced as their object and platform " that all the re- sults of the war should be secured before Southern reconstruction and representa- tion in Congress should be completed. On this they were' almost solidly united in Congress, but Horace Greeley trained an independent sentiment which favored com- plete amnesty to the South. President Johnson sought to utilize this sentiment, and to divide the Republican party through his policy, which now looked to the same ends. He had said to a delega- tion introduced by Gov. Oliver P. Morton, April 21, 1865 : "Your slavery is dead, but I did not murder it. As Macbeth said to Banquo's bloody ghost: ' Neyer shake thy gory locks at me ; Thou canst not say I did if " Slavery is dead, and you must pardon me if I do not mourn over its dead body ; you can bury it out of sight. In restoring BOOK I.] IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 179 the State, leave out that disturbing and dangerous element, and use only those parts of the machinery which will move in harmony. " But in calling a convention to restore the State, who shall restore and re-estab- lish it? Shall the man who gave his in- fluence and his means to destroy the Government? Is he to participate in the great work of reorganization ? Shall he who brought this misery upon the State be permitted to control its destinies ? If this be so, then all this precious blood of our brave soldiers and officers so freely poured out will have been wantonly spilled. All the glorious victories won by our noble ar- mies will go for nought, and all the battle- fields which have been sown with dead heroes during the rebellion will have been made memorable in vain." In a speech at Washington, Feb. 22nd, 1866, Johnson said : " The Government has stretched forth its strong arm, and with its physical power it has put down treason in the field. That is, the section of country that arrayed itself against the Government has been con- quered by the force of the Government itself. Now, what had we said to those people ? We said, ' No compromise ; we can settle this question with the South in eight and forty hours.' " I have said it again and again, and I repeat it now, 'disband your armies, ac- knowledge the supremacy of the Constitu- tion of the United States, give obedience to the law, and the whole question is set- tled.' " What has been done since ? Their ar- mies have been disbanded. They come now to meet us in a spirit of magnanimity and say, ' We were mistaken ; we made the effort to carry out the doctrine of se- cession and dissolve this Union, and hav- ing traced this thing to its logical and physical results, we now acknowledge the flag of our country, and promise obedience to the Constitution and +\xe supremacy of the law.' " I say, then, when you comply with the Constitution, when you yield to the law, when you acknowledge allegiance to the Government I say let the door of the Union be opened, and the relation be re- stored to those that had erred and had strayed from the fold of our fathers." It is not partisanship to say that John- son's views had undergone a change. He did not admit this in his speeches, but the fact was accepted in all sections, and the leaders of parties took position accordingly nearly all of the Republicans against him, nearly all of the Democrats for him. So radical had this difference become that he vetoed nearly all of the political bills passed by the Republicans from 1866 until the end of his administration, but such was ] the Republican preponderance in both [ Houses of Congress that they passed them over his head by the necessary two-thirds vote. He vetoed the several Freedmen's Bureau Bills, the Civil Rights Bill, that for the admission of Nebraska and Colo- rado, the Bill to permit Colored Suffrage in the District of Columbia, one of the Reconstruction Bills, and finally made a direct issue with the powers of Congress by his veto of the Civil Tenure Bill, March 2, 1867, the substance of which is shown in the third section, as follows : SEC. 3. That the President shall have power to fill all vacancies which may hap- pen during the recess of the Senate, by rea- son of death or resignation, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session thereafter. And if no appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall be made to such office so vacant or temporarily filled as aforesaid during such next session of the Senate, such office shall remain in abeyance without any salary, fees, or emoluments attached thereto, until the same shall be filled by appointment thereto, by and with the advice and con- sent of the Senate ; and during such time all the powers and duties belonging to such office shall be exercised by such other offi- cer as may by law exercise such powers and duties in case of a vacancy in such office. The bill originally passed the Senate by 22 to 10 all of the nays Democrats save Van. Winkle and Willey. It passed the House by 112 to 41 all of the yeas Re- publicans ; all of the nays Democrats save Hawkins, Latham and Whaley. The Senate passed it over the veto by 35 to 11 a strict party vote ; the House by 138 to 40 a strict party vote, except Latham (Rep.) who voted nay. The refusal of the President to enforce this act, and his attempted removal of Secretary Stanton from the Cabinet when against the wish of the Senate, led to the effort to impeach him. Stanton resisted the President, and General Grant took an active part in sustaining the War Secre- tary. He in fact publicly advised him to " stick," and his attitude showed that in the great political battle which must fol- low, they would surely have the support of the army and its great commander. Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson. * The events which led to the impeach- ment of President Johnson, maybe Driefly stated as follows : On the 21st of Febru- ary, 1868, the President issued an order to Mr. Stanton, removing him from office as Secretary of War, and another to General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the * From the Century of Independence by John Sully, Boiton. 180 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Army, appointing him Secretary of War dd interim, directing the one to surrender ami the other to receive, all the books, pa- pers, and public property belonging to the War Department. As these orders fill an important place in the history of the im- ]>carhment, we give them here. The or- der to Mr. Stanton reads : " By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by the Constitu- tion and laws of the United States, you are hereby removed from office as Secretary for the Department of War, and your functions as such will terminate upon the receipt of this communication. You will tnmsfer to Brevet Major-General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army, who has this day been authorized and em- powered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other public property now in your custody and i harge." The order to General Thomas reads : " The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been this day removed from office as Secre- tary for the Department of War, you are hereby authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately enter upon the discharge of the duties pertaining to that office. Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to you all the records, books, and other public property now in his custody and charge." These orders having been officially com- municated to the Senate, that body, after an earnest debate, passed the following resolution : " Resolved, by the Senate of the United States, That under the Constitution and laws of the United States the President has no power to remove the Secretary of War ana designate any other officer to per- form the duties of that office." The President, upon the 24th, sent a message to the Senate, arguing at length that not only under the Constitution, but also under the laws as now existing, he had the right of removing Mr. Stanton and appointing another to fill his place. The point of his argumentis: That by a special proviso in the Tenure-of-Office Bill the va- rious Secretaries of Departments "shall hold their offices respectively for and dur- ing the term of the President bv whom they may have been appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by ami with the advice 01 the Senate." The President affirms that Mr. Stanton was ap- pointed not by him, but by his predeces- sor, Mr. Lincoln, and held office only by the sufferance, not the appointment, of the present Executive ; and that therefore his tenure is, by the express reading of the law excepted from the general provision, that every person duly appointed to office, " by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," etc., shall be " entitled to hold office until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided." The essential point of the President's argument, therefore, is that, as Mr. Stanton was not appointed by him, he had, under the Ten- ure-of-Office Bill, the right at any time to remove him ; the same right which his own successor would have, no matter whether the incumbent had, by sufferance, not by appointment of the existing Executive, held the office for weeks or even years. " If," says the President, " my successor would have the power to remove Mr. Stan- ton, after permitting him to remain a peri- od of two weeks, because he was not ap- pointed by him, I who have tolerated Mr. Stanton for more than two years, certainly have the same right to remove him, upon the same ground, namely that he was not appointed by me but by my [ redecessor." In the meantime General Thomas pre- sented himself at the War Department and demanded to be placed in the position to which he had been assigned by the Pres- ident. Mr. Stanton refused to surrender his post, and ordered General Thomas to proceed to the apartment which belonged to him as Adjutant-General. This order was not obeyed, and so the two claimants to the Secretaryship of War held their ground. A sort of legal by-play then en- sued. Mr. Stanton entered a formal com- plaint before Judge Carter, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, charging that General Thomas had illegally exercised and attempted to exercise the duties of Secretary of War ; and had threatened to " forcibly remove the complainant from the buildings and apart- ments of the Secretary of War in the War Department, and forcibly take possession and control thereof under his pretended appointment by the President of the United States as Secretary of War ad in- terim ; " and praying that he might be ar- rested and held to answer this charge. General Thomas was accordingly arrested, and held to bail in the sum of $15,000 to appear before the court on the 24th. Ap- pearing on that day he was discharged from custody and bail ; whereupon he en- tered an action against Mr. Stanton for false imprisonment, laying his damages at $150,000. On the 22d of February the House Committee on Reconstruction, through its Chairman, Mr. Stevens, presented a brief report, merely stating the fact of the at- tempted removal by the President of Mr. Stanton, and closing as follows : " Upon the evidence collected by the Committee, which is hereafter presented, and in virtue of the powers with which they have been invested by the House, they are of the opinion that Andrew John- son, President of the United States, should BOOK I.] IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 181 be impeached of high crimes and misde- meanors. They, therefore, recommend to the House the adoption of the following resolution : " Resolved, That Andrew Johnson, Pres- ident of the United States be impeached ol high crimes and misdemeanors." After earnest debate, the question on the resolution was adopted, on the 24th, by a vote of 126 to 47. A committee of two members Stevens and Bingham were to notify the Senate of the action of the House ; and another committee of seven Boutwell, Stevens, Bingham, Wilson, Lo- gan, Julian, and Ward to prepare the articles of impeachment. On the 25th (February) Mr. Stevens thus announced to the Senate the action which had been taken by the House : " In obedience to the order of the House of Representatives we have appeared be- fore you, and in the name of the House of Representatives and of all the people of the United States, we do impeach Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors in office. And we further inform the Senate that the House of Representatives will in due time exhibit particular article? of impeachment against him, to make good the same; and in their name we demand that the Senate take due order for the appearance of the said Andrew Johnson to answer to the said impeachment." The Senate thereupon, by a unanimous vote, resolved that this message from the House should be referred to a select Com- mittee of Seven, to be appointed by the chair, to consider the same and report thereon. Tho Committee subsequently made a report laying down the rules of procedure to be observed on the trial. On tha 29th of February the Committee of the House appointed for that purpose presented the articles of impeachment which they had drawn up. These, with slight modification, were accepted on the 2d of March. They comprise nine articles, eight of which are based upon the action of the President in ordering the removal of Mr. Stanton, and the appointment of General Thomas as Secretary of War. The general title to the impeachment is: "Articles exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States, in the name of themselves and all the people of the United States, against Andrew Johnson, President of the- United States, is maintenance and support of their im- peachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors in office." Each of the articles commences with a preamble to the effect that the President, 'unmindful of the high.duties of his office, of his oath of office, and of the require- ments of the Constitution that he should take care that the laws be faithfully exe- cuted, did unlawfully and in violation of the laws and Constitution of the United States, perform the several acts specified in the articles respectively ; " closing with the de- claration: "Whereby the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did then and there commit and was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office." The phraseology is somewhat varied. In some cases the otfense is designated as a "mis- demeanor," in others as a "crime." The whole closes thus : " And the House of Representatives, by protestation, saving to themselves the lib- erty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any further articles or other accusation or impeachment against the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, and also of replying to his answers which he shall make to the articles herein pre- ferred against him, and of offering proof to the same and every part thereof, and to all and every other article, accusation, or impeachment which shall be exhibited by them as the case shall require, do demand that the said Andrew Johnson may be put to answer the high crimes and misdemean- ors in office herein charged against him, and that such proceedings, examinations, trials, and judgments may be thereupon had and given as may be agreeable to law aad justice." The following is a summary in brief of the points in the articles of impeachment, legal and technical phraseology being omit- ted: Article 1. Unlawfully ordering the re- moval of Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War, in violation of the provisions of the Tenure of-Office Act. Article 2. Unlawfully ap- pointing General Lorenzo Thomas as Sec- retary of War ad interim. -Article 3 is sub- stantially the same as Article 2, with the addition that there was at the time of the appointment of General Thomas no va- cancy in the office of Secretary of War. Article 4 charges the President with " con- spiring with one Lorenzo Thomas and other persons, to the House of Representatives unknown," to prevent, by intimidation and ;hreats, Mr. Stanton, the legally-appointed Secretary of War, from holding that office. Article 5 charges the President with con- spiring with General Thomas and others ;o hinder the execution of the Tenure-of- Office Act ; and, in pursuance of this con- spiracy, attempting to prevent Mr. Stanton :rom acting as Secretarv of War. Article 6 harges that the President conspired with General Thomas and others to take forcible possession of the War Department. Arti- cle 7 repeats the charge, in other terms, ;hat the President conspired with General Thomas and others to hinder the execution of the Tenure-of-Office Act, and to pre- vent Mr. Stanton from executing the office of Secretary of War. Article 8 again 182 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK t charges the President with conspiring with General Thomas and others to take posses- sion of the property in the War Depart- ment. Article 9 charges that the President called before him General Emory, who was in command of the forces in the Depart- ment of Washington, and declared to him that a law, passed on the 30th of June, 1867, directing that " all orders and in- structions relating to military operations, issued by the President or Secretary of War, shall be issued through the General of the Army, and, in case of his inability, through the" next in rank," was unconsti- tutional, and not binding upon General Emory ; the intent being to induce General Emory to violate the law, and to obey or- ders issued directly from the President. The foregoing articles of impeachment were adopted on the 2d of March, the votes upon each slightly varying, the aver- age being 125 ayes to 40 nays. The ques- tion then came up of appointment of man- agers on the part of the House to conduct the impeachment before the Senate. Upon this question the Democratic members did not vote ; 118 votes were cast, 60 being necessary to a choice. The following was the result, the number of votes cast for ea-'h elected manager being given : Stevens of Penn., 105; Butler, of Mass., 108; Bing- ham, of Ohio, 114; Boutwell, of Mass., 113; Wilson, of Iowa, 112; Williams, of iV.m., 107 ; Logan, of 111., 106. The fore- going seven Representatives were, there- fore, duly chosen as Managers of the Bill of Impeachment. The great body of the Democratic members of the House entered a formal protest against the whole course of proceedings involved in the impeach- ment of the President. They claimed to represent " directly or in principle more than one-half of the people of the United States." This protest was signed by forty- five Representatives. On the 3d the Board of Managers pre- sented two additional articles of impeach- ment, which were adopted by the House. The first charges, in substance, that " The President, unmindful of the high duties of his office and of the harmony and courtesies which ought to be main- tiined between the executive and legisla- tive branches of the Government of the United States, designing to set aside the rightful authority and powers of Congress, did attempt to bring into disgrace the Con- gress of the United States and the several branches thereof, to impair and destroy the regard and respect of all the good people of the United States for the Congress and legislative power thereof, and to excite the odium and resentment of all the good people of the United States against Con- irrf- and the laws by it enacted; and in pursuance of his said design openly and publicly, and before divers assemblages convened in divers parts thereof to meet and receive said Andrew Johnson as the Chief Magistrate of the United States, did on the 18th day of August, in the year of our Lord 1866, and on divers other days and times, as well before as afterward, make and deliver with a loud voice certain intemperate, inflammatory, and scandalous harangues, and did therein utter loud threats and bitter menaces as well against Congress as the laws of the United States duly enacted thereby." To this article are appended copious ex- tracts from speeches of Mr. Johnson. The second article is substantially as follows : " The President did, on the 18th day of August, 1866, at the City of Washington, by public speech, declare and affirm in substance that the Thirty-ninth Congress of the United States was not a Congress of the United States, authorized by the Constitution to exercise legislative power under the same, but, on the contrary, \vas a Congress of only a part of the States, thereby denying and intending to deny that the legislation of said Congress was valid or obligatory upon him, except in so far as he saw fit to approve the same, and did devise and contrive means by which he might prevent Edwin M. Stanton from forthwith resuming the functions of the office of Secretary for the Department o/ War ; and, also, by further unlawfully de- vising and contriving means to prevent the execution of an act entitled ' An act mak- ing appropriations for the support of the army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1868, and for other purposes,' approved March 2, 1867 ; and also to prevent the execution of an act entitled 'An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States,' passed March 2, 1867, did commit and was guilty of a high mis- demeanor in office." On the 4th of March the Senate notified the House that they were ready to receive the Managers of tLe Impeachment. They appeared, and the articles were formallv read. The Senate had meanwhile adopted the rules of procedure. Chief Justice Chase sent a communication to the Senate to the effect that this body, when acting upon an impeachment, was a Court presided over by the Chief Justice, and that all orders and rules should be framed by the Court. On the 5th the Court was formally organized. An exception was taken to the eligibility of Mr. Wade as a member of the Court, on the ground that he was a party interested, since, in the event of the impeachment be- ing sustained, he, as President of the Senate, would become Acting President of the United States. This objection was with- drawn, and Mr. Wade was sworn as a mem- ber of the Court. On the 7th the summons for the President to appear was formally served upon him. On the 13th the Court COOK I.] IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON, 183 was again formally reopened. The Presi- dent appeared by his counsel, Hon. Henry Stanbery, of Ohio ; Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, of New York ; Hon. Wm. S. Groesbeck, of Ohio ; Hon. Benjamin R. Curtis, of Massa- chusetts ; Hon. Thomas A. R. Nelson, of Tennessee, who asked for forty days to pre- pare an answer to the indictment. This was refused, and ten days granted ; it be- ing ordered that the proceedings should reopen on the 23d. Upon that day the President appeared by his counsel, and presented his answer to the articles of im- peachment. This reply was in substance as follows : The first eight articles in the Bill of Im- peachment, as briefly summed up in our last record, are based upon the action of the President in . ordering the removal of Mr. Stanton, and the temporary appoint- ment of General Thomas as Secretary of War. The gist of them is contained in the first article, charging the unlawful removal of Mr. Stanton ; for, this failing, the others would fail also. To this article a con- siderable part of the President's answer is devoted. It is mainly an amplifica- tion of the points put forth in the Mes- sage of February 24th, in which he gave his reasons for his orders. The President cites the laws by which this department of the administration was created, and the rules laid down for the duties pertaining to it ; prominent among which are : that the Secretary shall "conduct the business of the department in such manner as the President of the United States shall from time to time order and instruct; " and that he should " hold the office during the plea- sure of the President ; " and that Congress had no legal right to deprive the President of the power to remove the Secretary. He was, however, a'ware that the design of the Tenure-of-Office Bill was to vest this power of removal, in certain cases, jointly in the Executive and the Senate ; and that, while believing this act to be unconstitutional, yet.it having been passed over hia veto by tfie requisite majority of two-thirds, he con- sidered it to be his duty to ascertain in how far the case of Mr. Stanton came within the provisions of this law ; after consideration, he came to the conclusion that the case did not come within the prohibitions of the law, and that, by that law he still had the right of removing Mr. Stanton ; but that, \rishing to have the case decided by the Su- preme Court, he, on the 12th of August, issued the order merely suspending, not removing, Mr. Stanton, a power expresly granted by the Tenure-of-Office Act, and appointed General Grant Secretary of War ad interim. The President then recites the subsequent action in the case of Mr. Stanton ; and, as he avers, still believing that he had the constitutional power to re- move him from office, issued the order of February 21st, for such removal, designing to thus bring the matter before the Su- preme Court. He then proceeds formally to deny that at this time Mr. Stanton was in lawful possession of the office of Secre- tary of War ; and that, consequently, the order for his removal was in violation of the Tenure-of-Office Act; and that it was in violation of the Constitution or of any law ; or that it constituted any official crime or misdemeanor. In regard to the seven succeeding arti- cles of impeachment the President, while admitting the facts of the order appointing General Thomas as Secretary of War ad interim, denies all and every of the crimi- nal charges therein set forth. So of the ninth article, charging an effort to induce General Emory to violate the law, the President denies all such intent, and calls attention to the fact that while, for urgent reasons, he signed the bill prescribing that orders to the army should be issued only through the General, he at the same time declared it to be, in his judgment, unconsti- tutional ; and affirms that in his interview Avith General Emory he said no more than he had before officially said to Congress that is, that the law was unconstitutional. As to the tenth article, the first of the supplementary ones, the President, while admitting that he made certain public speeches at the times and places specified, does not admit that the passages cited are fair reports of his remarks' ; denies that he has ever been unmindful of the courtesies which ought to be maintained between the executive and legislative departments ; but he claims the perfect right at all times to express his views as to all public matters. The reply to the eleventh article, the second supplementary one, is to the same general purport, denying that he ever af- firmed that the Thirty-ninth Congress was not a valid Congress of the United States, and its acts obligatory only as they were approved by him; and denying that he had, as charged in the article, contrived unlawful means for preventing Mr. Stantou from resuming the functions of Secretary of War, or for preventing the execution of the act making appropriations for the sup- port of the army, or that to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States. In his answer to this article the President refers to his reply to the first ar- ticle, in which he sets forth at length all the steps, and the reasons therefor, relating to the removal of Mr. Stanton. In brief, the answer of the President to the articles of impeachment is a general denial of each and every criminal act charged in the ar- ticles of impeachment. The counsel for the President then asked for a delay of thirty days after the replication of the managers of the impeachment should have been rendered, before the trial should 184 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. formally proceed. This was refused, and the managers of the impeachment stated that their replication would be presented the next day : it was that, " The Senate will commence the trial of the President upon the articles of impeach- ment exhibited against him on Monday, the 30th day of March, and proceed there- in with all dispatch under the rules of the Senate, sitting upon -the trial of an im- peachment." The replication of the House of Repre- sentatives was a simple denial of each and every averment in the answer of the Pres- ident, closing thus : " The House of Representatives .... do say that the said Andrew Johnson, Presi- dent of the United States, is guilty of the high crimes and misdemeanors mentioned in the said articles, and that the said House of Representatives are ready to prove the same." The trial began, as appointed, on March 30. There being twenty-seven States rep- resented, there were fifty-four Senators, who constituted the Court, presided over by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio. SENATORS : California, Cole, Con- ness ; Connecticut, Dixon, Ferry ; Delaware, Bayard, Saulsbury; Indiana, Hendricks, Morton ; Illinois, Trumbull, Yates ; loica, Grimes, Harlan ; Kansas, Pomeroy, Ross ; Kentucky, Davis, McCreery ; Maine, Fes- senden, Morrill (LotM.) ; Maryland, John- son, Vickers ; Massachusetts, Sumner, Wil- son; Michigan, Chandler, Howard ; Minne- sota, Norton, Ramsay ; Missouri, Drake, Henderson ; Nebraska, Thayer, Tipton ; Nevada, Nye, Stewart; New Hampshire, Cragin, Patterson (J. W.) ; New Jersey, Cattell, Frelinghuysen ; New York, Conk- lin, Morgan ; Ohio, Sherman, Wade ; Ore- gon, Corbett, Williams ; Pennsylvania, Buckalew, Cameron ; Rhode Island, An- thony, Sprague ; Tennessee, Fowler, Patter- son (David); Vermont, Edmunds, Merrill, (J. 8.); West Virginia, Van Winkle, Wil- ley; Wisconsin, Doolittle, Howe. Manager x for the Prosecution: Messrs. Bingham, Boutwell, Butler, Logan, Ste- vens, Williams, Wilson. Counsel for the Resident. Messrs. Cur- tis, Evarts, Groesbeck, Nelson, Stanbery. The following was the order of proce- dure : The Senate convened at 11 or 12 o'clock, and was called to order by the president of that body, who, after prayer, would leave the chair, which was immedi- ately assumed by the Chief Justice, who wore his official robes. The prosecution was mainly conducted by Mr. Butler, who examined the witnesses, and, in conjunc- tion with the others, argued the points of law which came up. The defense, during the early part of the trial, was mainly con- ducted by Mr. Stanbery, who had resigned the office of Attorney-General for this pur- pose, but, being taken suddenly ill, Mr. Evarts took his place. According to the rule at first adopted, the trial was to be opened by one counsel on each side, and summed up by two on each side ; but this rule was subsequently modified so as to al- low as many of the managers and counsel as chose to sum up, either orally or by filing written arguments. THE PROSECUTION. The whole of the first day (March 30) was occupied by the opening speech of Mr. Butler. After touching upon the import- ance of the case, and the wisdom of the framers of the Constitution in providing for its? possible occurrence, he laid down the fol- lowing proposition, supporting it by a copi- ous array of authorities and precedents : " We define, therefore, an impeachable high crime or misdemeanor to be one, in its nature or consequences, subversive of some fundamental or essential principle of government, or highly prejudicial to the public interest, and this may consist of a violation of the Constitution, of law, of an official oath, or of duty, by an act com- mitted or omitted, or, without violating a positive law, by the abuse of discretionary powers from improper motives, or for any improper purpose." He then proceeded to discuss the nature and functions of the tribunal before which the trial is held. He asked : " Is this pro- ceeding a trial, as that term is understood, so far as relates to the rights and duties of a court and jury upon an indictment for crime ? Is it not rather more in the nature of an inquest?" The Constitution, he urged, " seems to have determined it to be the latter, because, under its provisions, the right to retain and hold office is the only subject to be finally adjudicated ; all preliminary inquiry being carried on solely to determine that question, and that alone." He then proceeded to argue that this body now sitting to determine the accusation, is the Senate of the United States, and not a court. This question is of consequence, he argued, because, in the latter case, it would be bound by the rules and prece- dents of common law-statutes ; the mem- bers of the court would be liable to chal- lenge on many grounds ; and the accused might claim that he could only be convicted when the evidence makes the fact clear be- yond reasonable doubt, instead of bv a pre- ponderance of the evidence. The fact that in this case the Chief Justice presides, it was argued, does not constitute the Senate thus acting a court, for in all cases of im- peachment, save that of the President, its regular presiding officer presides. Moreo- ver, the procedures have no analogy to those of an ordinary court of justice. The accused merely receives a notice of the case pending against him. He is not re- BOOK I.] IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 186 quired to appear personally, and the case will go on without his presence. Mr. Butler thus summed up his position in this regard : "A constitutional tribunal solely, you are bound by no law, either statute or com- mon, which may limit your constitutional prerogative. You consult no precedents eave those of the law and custom of par- liamentary bodies. You are a law unto yourselves, bound only by the natural principles of equity and justice, and that salus pnpuli suprema est lex." Mr. Butler then proceeded to consider the articles of impeachment. The first eight, he says, '* set out, in several distinct forms, the acts of the President in remov- ing Mr. Stanton and appointing General Thomas, differing, in legal effect, in the purposes for which, and the intent with which, either or both of the acts were done, and the legal duties and rights in- fringed, and the Acts of Congiess violated in so doing." In respect to all of these articles, Mr. Butler says, referring to his former definition of what constituted an impeachable high crime : " All the articles allege these acts to be in contravention of his oath of office, and in disregard of the duties thereof. If they are so, however, the President might have the power to do them under the law. Still, being so done, they are acts of official mis- conduct, and, as we have seen, impeacha- ble. The President has the legal power to do many acts which, if done in disregard of his duty, or for improper purposes, then the exercise of that power is an official misdemeanor. For example, he has the power of pardon ; if exercised, in a given case, for a corrupt motive, as for the pay- ment of money, or wantonly pardoning all criminals, it would be a misdemeanor." Mr. Butler affirmed that every fact charged in the first article, and substan- tially in the seven following, is admitted in the reply of the President; and also that the general intent to set aside the Tenure-of-Office Act is therein admitted and justified. He then proceeded to dis- cuss the whole question of the power of the President for removals from office, and especially his claim that this power was imposed upon the President by the Consti- tution, and that it could not be taken from him, or be vested jointly in him and the Senate, partly or in whole. This, Mr. Butler affirmed, was th real question at issue before the Senate and the American people. He said : "Has the President, uncler the Constitu- tion, the more than royal prerogative at will to remove from office, or to suspend from office, all executive officers or the United States, either civil, military or naval, and to fill the vacancies, without any restraint whatever, or possibility of re- straint, by the Senate or by Congress, through laws duly enacted ? The House of Representatives, in behalf of the people, join issue by affirming that the exercise of such powers is a high misdemeanor in office. If the' affirmative is maintained by the respondent, then, so far as the first eight articles are concerned unless such corrupt purposes are shown as will of themselves make the exercise of a legal power a crime the respondent must go, and ought to go, quit and free. This point as to the legal right of the President to make removals from office, which constitutes the real burden of the articles of impeachment, was argued at length. Mr. Butler assumed that the Sen- ate, by whom, in conjunction with the House, the Tenure-of-Office Act had been passed over the veto of the President, would maintain the law to be constitu- tional. The turning point was whether the special case of the removal of Mr. Stanton came within the provisions of this law. This rested upon the proviso of that law, that " The Secretaries shall hold their office during the term of the President by whom they may have ' been appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." The extended argument upon this point, made by Mr. Butler, was to the effect that Mr. Stanton having been appointed by Mr. Lincoln, whose term of office reached to the 4th of March, 1869, that of Mr. Stanton existed until a month later, unless he was previously removed by the concurrent ac- tion of the President and Senate. The point of the argument is, that Mr. Johnson is merely serving out the balance of the term of Mr. Lincoln, cut short by his as- sassination, so that the Cabinet officers ap- pointed by Mr. Lincoln held their places, by this very proviso, during that term and for a month thereafter ; for, he argued, if Mr. Johnson was not merely serving out the balance of Mr. Lincoln's term, then he is entitled to the office of President for four full years, that being the period for which a President is elected. If, continues the argument, Mr. Stanton's commission was vacated by the Tenure-of-Office Act, it ceased on the 4th of April, 1865 ; or, if the act had no retroactive effect, still, if Mr. Stanfcon held his office merely under his commission from Mr. Lincoln, then his functions would have ceased upon the passage of the bill, March 2, 1867 ; and, consequently, Mr. Johnson, in "employ- ing" him after that date as Secretary of War, was guilty of a high misdemeanor, which would give ground for a new arti- cle of impeachment. After justifying the course of Mr. Stan- ton in holding on to the secretaryship in 180 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. opposition to the wish of the President, on the, ground that " to desert it now would be to imitate the treachery of his accidental chief," Mr. Butler proceeded to discuss the reasons assigned by the Presi- dent in his answer to the articles of im- geachment for the attempt to remove Mr. tanton. These, in substance, were, that the President believed the Tenure-of-Of- fice Act was unconstitutional, and, there- fore, void and of no effect, and that he had the right to remove him and appoint another person in his place. Mr. Butler urged that, in all of these proceedings, the President professed to act upon the as- sumption that the act was valid, and that his action was in accordance with its pro- visions. He then went on to charge that the appointment of General Thomas as Secretary of War ad interim, was a sepa- rate violation of law. By the act of Feb- ruary 20, 1863, which repealed all previous laws inconsistent with it, the President was authorized, in case of the " death, resignation, absence from the seat of Gov- ernment, or sickness of the head of an executive department," or in any other case where these officers could not perform their respective duties, to appoint the head of any other executive department to ful- fil the duties of the office until a succes- sor be appointed, or until such absence or disability shall cease." Now, urged Mr. Butler, at the time of the appointment of General Thomas as Sectary of War ad interim, Mr. Stanton "had neither died nor resigned, was not sick nor absent," and, consequently, General Thomas, not being the head of a department, but only of a bureau of one of them, was not eligi- ble to this appointment, and that, there- fore, his appointment was illegal and void. The ninth article of impeachment, wherein the President is charged with en- deavoring to induce General Emory to take orders directly from himself, is dealt with in a rather slight manner. Mr. But- ler says, " If the transaction set forth in this article stood alone, we might well ad- mit that doubts might arise as to the suffi- ciency of the proof;" but, he adds, " the surroundings are so pointed and signifi- cant as to leave no doubt in the mind of an impartial man as to the intents and purposes of the President " these intents being, according to Mr. Butler, "to induce General Emory to take orders directly from himself, and thus to hinder the exe- cution of the Civil Tenure Act, and to prevent Mr. Stanton from holding his office of Secretary of War." As to the tenth article of impeachment, based upon various speeches of the Presi- dent, Mr. Butler undertook to show that the reports of these speeches, as given in the article, were substantially correct; and accepted the issue made thereupon as to whether they are " decent and becom- ing the President of the United States, and do not tend to bring the office into ridicule and disgrace." After having commented upon the eleventh and closing article, which charges the President with having denied the au- thority of the Thirty-ninth Congress, ex- cept so far as its acts were approved by him, Mr. Butler summed up the purport of the articles of impeachment in these words : " The acts set out in the first eight arti- cles are but the culmination of a series of wrongs, malfeasances, and usurpations committed by the respondent, and, there- fore, need to be examined in the light of his precedent and concomitant acts to grasp their scope and design. The last three articles presented show the perver- sity and malignity with which he acted, so that the man as he is known may be clearly spread upon record, to be seen and known of all men hereafter We have presented the facts in the con- stitutional manner ; we have brought the criminal to your bar, and demand judg- ment for his so great crimes." The remainder of Monday, and a por- tion of the following day, were devoted to the presentation of documentary evidence as to the proceedings involved in the order for the removal of Mr. Stanton and the appointment of General Thomas. The prosecution then introduced witnesses to testify to the interviews between Mr. Stanton and General Thomas. They then brought forward a witness to show that General Thomas had avowed his deter- mination to take forcible possession of the War Office. To this Mr. Stanbery,for the defense, objected. The Chief Justice de- cided the testimony to be admissible. Thereupon Senator Drake took exception to the ruling, on the ground that this ques- tion should be decided by the Senate not by the presiding officer. The Chief Jus- tice averred that, in his judgment, it was his duty to decide, in the first instance, upon any question of evidence, and then, if any Senator desired, to submit the deci- sion to the Senate. Upon this objection and appeal arose the first conflict in the Senate as to the powers of its presiding officer. Mr. Butler argued at length in favor of the exception. Although, in this case, the decision was in favor of the prosecution, he objected to the power of the presiding officer to make it. This point was argued at length by the mana- gers for the impeachment, who denied the right of the Chief Justice to make such decision. It was then moved that the Senate retire for private consultation on this point. There was a tie vote 25 aye* and 25 nays. The Chief Justice gave his casting vote in faror of the motion foi BOOK I.] IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 187 consultation. The Senate, by a vote of 31 to 19, sustained the Chief Justice, deciding that " the presiding officer may rule on all questions of evidence and on incidental questions, which decision will stand as the judgment of the Senate for decision, or he may, at his option in the first instance, submit any such question to a vote of the members of the Senate." In the further progress of the trial the Chief Justice, in most important cases, submitted the ques- tion directly to the Senate, without him- self giving any decision. Next morning (April 1) Mr. Sumner offered a resolution to the effect that the Chief Justice, in giv- ing a casting vote, " acted without author- ity of the Constition of the United States." This was negatived by a vote of 27 to 21, thus deciding that the presiding officer had the right to give a casting vote. The witness (Mr. Burleigh, delegate from Dakotah,) who had been called to prove declarations of General Thomas, was then asked whether, at an interview between them, General Thomas had said anything as " to the means by which he intended to obtain, or was directed by the President to obtain, posession of the War Department." To this question Mr. Stanbery objected, on the ground that any statements made by General Thomas could not be used as evi- dence against the President. Messrs. But- ler and Bingham argued that the testi- mony was admissible, on the ground that there was, as charged, a conspiracy be- tween the President and General Thomas, and that the acts of one conspirator were binding upon the other ; and, also, that in these acts General Thomas was the agent of the President. The Senate, by 39 to 11, decided that the question was admissible. Mr. Burleigh thereupon testified sub- stantially that General Thomas informed him that he had been directed by the Pres- ident to take possession of the War De- partment ; that he was bound to obey his superior officer; that, if Mr. Stanton ob- jected, he should use force, and if he bolt- ed the doors they would be broken down. The witness was then asked whether he had heard General Thomas make any statement to the clerks of the War Office, to the effect that, when he came into con- trol, he would relax or rescind the rules of Mr. Stanton. To this question objection was made by the counsel of the President on the ground of irrelevancy. The Chief Justice was of opinion that the question was not admissible, but, if any Senator de- manded, he would submit to the Senate whether it should be asked. The demand having been made, the Senate, by a vote of 28 to 22, allowed the question to be put, whereupon Mr. Burleigh testified that General Thomas, in his presence, called before him the heads of the divisions, and told them that the rules laid down by Mr. Stanton were arbitrary, and that he should relax them that he should not hold them strictly to their letters of instruction, but should consider them as gentlemen who would do their duty that they could come in or go out when they chose. Mr. Bur- leigh further testified that, subsequently, General Thomas had said to him that the only thing which prevented him from tak- ing possession of the War Department was his arrest by the United States marshal. Other witnesses were called to prove the declarations of General Thomas. Mr. Wilkeson testified that General Thomas said to him that he should demand possess- ion of the War Department, and, in case Mr. Stanton should refuse to give it up, he should call upon General Grant for a suf- ficient force to enable him to do so, and he did not see how this could be refused. Mr. Karsener, of Delaware, testified that he saw General Thomas at the President's house, told him that Delaware, of which State General Thomas is a citizen, expect- ed him to stand firm ; to which General Thomas replied that he was standing firm, that he would not disappoint his friends, but, that, in a few days, he would " kick that fellow out," meaning, as the witness supposed, Mr. Stanton. Thursday, April 2d. Various witnesses were introduced to testify to the occur- rences when General Thomas demanded possession of the War Department. After this General Emory was called to testify to the transactions which form the ground of the ninth article of impeachment. His testimony was to the effect that the Presi- dent, on the 22d of February, requested him to call ; that, upon so doing, the Pres- ident asked respecting any changes that had been made in the disposition of the troops around Washington ; that he in- formed the President that no important changes had been made, and that none could be made without an order from Gen- eral Grant, as provided for in an order founded upon a law sanctioned by the President. The President said that this law was unconstitutional. Emory replied that the President had approved of it, and that it was not the prerogative of the officers of the army to decide upon the constitu- tionality of a law, andinthatopinionhe was justified by the opinion of eminent counsel, and thereupon the conversation ended. The prosecution then endeavored to in- troduce testimony as to the appointment of Mr. Edmund Cooper, the Private Sec- retary of the President, as Assistant Sec- retary of the Treasury, in support of the eighth and eleventh articles of impeach- ment, which charge the President with an unlawful attempt to control the disposition of certain public funds. This testimony, by a vote of 27 to 22, was ruled out. The prosecution now, in support of the 188 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK L tenth and eleventh articles of impeach- ment, charging the President with endeav- oring to " set tiside the rightful authority of Congress," offered a telegraphic dis- patch from the President to Mr. Parsons, tit that time (January 17, 1867) Provisional Governor of Alabama, of which the follow- ing is the essential part: "I do not believe the people of the whole country will sustain any set of in- dividuals in the attempt to change the whole character of our Government by en- v abling acts in this way. I believe, on the contrary, that they will eventually uphold all who have patriotism and courage to Bland by the Constitution, and who place their confidence in the people. There should be no faltering on the part of those who are honest in their determination to sustain the several coordinate departments of the Government in accordance with its origi- nal design." The introduction of this was objected to by the counsel for the Presi- dent, but admitted by the Senate, the vote being 27 to 17. The whole Friday, and a great part of Saturday, (April 3d and 4th,) were occu- pied in the examination of the persons who reported the various speeches of the President which form the basis of the tenth article, the result being that the reports were shown to be either substantially or verbally accurate. Then, after some tes- timony relating to the forms in which commissions to office were made out, the managers announced that the case for the prosecution was substantially closed. The counsel for the President thereupon asked that three working days should be granted them to prepare for the defense. This, after some discussion, was granted by the Senate by a vote of 36 to 9, and the trial was adjourned to Thursday, April 9th. THE DEFENSE. The opening speech for the defense, oc- cupying the whole of Thursday, and a part of Friday, was made by Mr. Curtis. Reserving, for a time, a rejoinder to Mr. Butler's argument as to the functions of the Senate when sitting as a Court of Im- peachment, Mr. Curtis proceeded to a con- sideration of the articles of impeachment, in their order, his purpose being " to ascer- tain, in the first place, what the substantial allegations in each of them are, what is the legal proof and effect of these allegations, and what proof is necessary to be adduced in'order to sustain them." The speech is suhMuntially an elaboration of and argu- ment for the points embraced in the an- swer of the President. The main stress of the argument related to the first article, which, as stated by Mr. Curtis, when stripped of all technical language, amounts exactly to these things : ' First. That the order set out in the ar- ticle for the removal of Mr. Stanton, if executed, would have been a violation of the Tenure-of-Office Act. " Second. That it was a violation of the Tenure-of-Office Act. " Third. That it was an intentional vio- lation of the Tenure-of-Office Act. "Fourth. That it was in violation of the Constitution of the United States. "Fifth. That it was intended by the President to be so. " Or, to draw all these into one sentence, which I hope may be intelligible and clear enough, I suppose the substance of this first article is that the order for the remo- val of Mr. Stanton was, and was intended to be, a violation of the Constitution of the United States. These are the allega- tions which it is necessary for the honor- able managers to make out in order to support that article." Mr. Curtis proceeded to argue that the case of Mr. Stanton did not come within the provisions of the Tenure-of-Office Act, being expressly excepted by the proviso that Cabinet officers should hold their places during the term of the President by whom they were appointed, and for one month thereafter, unless removed by the consent of the Senate. Mr. Stanton was appointed by Mr. Lincoln, whose term of office came to an end by his death. He argued at length against the proposition that Mr. Johnson was merely serving out the remainder of Mr. Lincoln's term. The object of this exception, he said, was evi- dent. The Cabinet officers were to be "the immediate confidential assistants of the President, for whose acts he was -to be responsible, and in whom he was expected to repose the gravest honor, trust, and con- fidence ; therefore it was that this act has connected the tenure of office of these offi- cers with that of the President by whom they were appointed." Mr. Curtis gave a new interpretation to that clause in the Constitution which prescribes that the President " may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments upon any sub- ject relating to the duties of their several offices." He understood that the word " their " included the President, so that he might call upon Cabinet officers for advice " relating to the duties of the office of these principal officers, or relating to the duties of the President himself." This, at least, he affirmed, had been the practical inter- pretation put upon this clause from the beginning. To confirm his position as to the intent of the Tenure-of-Office Act in this respect, Mr. Curtis quoted from speeches made in both houses at the time when the act was passed. Thus, Senator Sherman said that the act, as passed " Would not prevent the present Presi- dent from removing the Secretary of War, COOK I.] IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 189 t!i > SoiTct:iry of the Navy, or the Secretary of State ; and, if I supposed that either of these gentlemen was so wanting in man-' hood, in honor, as to hold his place after the politest intimation from the President . of the United States that his services were no longer needed, I certainly, as a Senator, would consent to his removal at any time, and so would we all." Mr. Curtis proceeded to argue that there was really no removal of Mr. Stanton ; he still held his place, and so there was " no case of removal within the statute, and, therefore, no case of violation by removal." But, if the Senate should hold that the or- der for removal was, in effect, a removal, then, unless the Tenure-of-Office Act gave Mr. Stanton a tenure of office, this removal ivould not have been contrary to the pro- visions of this act. He proceeded to argue that there was room for grave doubt whether Mr. Stanton's case came within the provisions of the Tenure-of-Office Act, and that the President, upon due conside- ration, and having taken the best advice within his power, considering that it did not, and acting accordingly, did not, even if he was mistaken, commit an act " so wil- ful and wrong that it can be justly and properly, and for the purposes of this prosecution, termed a high misdemeanor." He argued at length that the view of the President was the correct one, and that '' the Senate had nothing whatever to do with the removal of Mr. Stanton, whether the Senate was in session or not." Mr. Curtis then went on to urge that the President, being sworn to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, must carry out any law, even though passed over his veto, except in cases where a law which he be- lieved to be unconstitutional has cut off a power confided to him, and in regard to which he alone could make an issue which would bring the matter before a court, so as to cause "a judicial decision to come between the two branches of the Govern- ment, to see which of them is right." This, said he, is what the President has done. This argument, in effect, was an answer to the first eight articles of impeachment. The ninth article, charging the Presi- dent with endeavoring to induce General Emory to violate the Taw by receiving or- ders directly from him, was very briefly touched upon, it being maintained that, as shown by the evidence, " the reason why the President sent for General Emory was not that he might endeavor to seduce that distinguished officer from his allegiance to the laws and Constitution of his country, but because he wished to obtain informa- tion about military movements which might require his personal attention." . As to the tenth article, based upon the President's speeches, it was averred f h't they were in no way in viol:it : on of t'le Constitution, or of any law existing at the time when they were made, and were not therefore, impeachable offenses. The reply to the eleventh article was very brief. The managers had " compounded it of the materials which they had previously worked up into others," and it " contained nothing new that needed notice." Mr. Curtis concluded his speech by spying that " This trial is and will be the most con- spicuous instance that has ever been, or even can be expected to be found, of American justice or of American injustice ; of that justice which is the great policy of all civilized States ; of that injustice which is certain to be condemned, which makes even the wisest man mad, and which, in the fixed and unalterable order of God's providence, is sure to return and plague the inventor." At the close of this opening speech for the defense, General Lorenzo Thomas was brought forward as a witness. His testi- mony, elicited upon examination and cross- examination, was to the effect that, having received the order appointing him Secre- tary of War ad interim, he presented it to Mr. Stanton, who asked, "Do you wish me to vacate the office at once, or will you give me time to get my private property together?" to which Thomas replied, "Act your pleasure." Afterward Stanton said, " I don't know whether I will obey yow instructions." Subsequently Thomas said that he should issue orders as Secretary of War. Stanton said he should not do so, and afterward gave him a written direc- tion, not to issue any order except as Ad- jutant-General. During the examination of General Thomas a question came up which, in many ways, recurred upon the trial. He was asked to tell what occurred at an interview between himself and the President. Objection was made by Mr. Butler, and the point was argued. The question was submitted to the Senate, which decided, by a vote of 42 to 10, that it was admissible. The testimony of Gen- eral Thomas, from this point, took a wide range, and, being mainly given in response to questions of counsel, was, apparently, somewhat contradictory. The substance was that he was recognized by the Presi- dent as Secretary of War ; th'it, since the impeachment, he had acted as such only in attending Cabinet meetings, but had given no orders ; thrtt, when he reported to the President that Mr. Stanton would not vacate the War Department, the President directed him to " take possession of the office;" that, without orders from the President, he had intended to do this by force, if necessary ; that, finding that this course might involve bloodshed, he hnd abandoned this purpose, but that, after this, he had, in several cases, affirmed his purpose to do so, but that these declara- 190 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. tions were " merely boast and brag." On the following day General Thomas was re- called as a witness, to enable him to cor- rect certain points in his testimony. The first was the date of an unimportant trans- action ; he had given it as taking place on the 21st of February, whereas it should have been the 22d. The second was that the words of the President were that he should " take charge," not " take posses- sion " of the War Department. In expla- j nation of the fact that he had repeatedly | sworn to the words " take possession," he said that these were " put into his mouth." Finally, General Thomas, in reply to a di- rect question from Mr. Butler, said that his testimony on these points was "all wrong." Lieutenant-General Sherman was then called as a witness. After some unim- portant questions, he was asked in refer- ence to an interview between himself and the President which took place on the 14th of January: "At that interview what conversation took place between the Presi- dent and you in reference to Mr. Stan- ton ? " To this question objection was made by Mr. Butler, and the point was elaborately argued. The Chief Justice decided that the question was admissible within the vote of the Senate of the pre- vious day ; the question then was as to the admissibility of evidence as to a conversa- tion between the President and General Thomas ; the present question was as to a conversation between the President and General Sherman. " Both questions," said the Chief Justice, " are asked for the pur- pose of procuring the intent of the Presi- dent to remove Mr. Stan ton." The ques- tion being submitted to the Senate, it was decided, by a vote of 28 to 23, that it should not be admitted. The examina- tion of General Sherman was jontinued, the question of the conversation aforesaid being frequently brought forward, and as often ruled out by the Senate. The only important fact elicited was that the Presi- dent had twice, on the 25th and 30th of January, tendered to General Sherman the office of Secretary of War ad interim. On Monday, April 13th, after transac- tions of minor importance, the general matter of the conversations between the President and General Sherman again came up, upon a question propounded by Senator Johnson "When the President tendered to you the office of Secretary of War ad interim, did he, at the very time of making such tender, state to you what his purpose in so doing was ? " This was admitted by the Senate, by a vote of 26 to 22. Senator Johnson then added to his question, " If he did, what did he state his purpose was? " This was admitted by a vote of 25 to 26. The testimony of Gen- eral Sherman, relating to several inter- views, was to the effect that the President said that the relations between himself and Mr. Stanton were such that he could not execute the office of President without making provision to appoint a Secretary of War ad interim, and he offered that office to him (General Sherman), but did not state that his purpose was to bring the matter directly into the courts. Sherman said that, if Mr. Stanton would retire, he might, although against his own wishes, undertake to administer the office ad interim, but asked what would be done in case Mr. Stanton would not yield. To this ' the President replied, " He will make no opposition ; you present the or- der, and he will retire. I know him bet- ter than you do ; he is cowardly." General Sherman asked time for reflection, and then gave a written answer, declining to accept the appointment, but stated that his reasons were mostly of a personal na- ture. On the 14th the Senate adjourned, on account of the sudden illness of Mr. Stan- bery. It re-assembled on the 15th, but the proceedings touched wholly upon for- mal points of procedure and the introduc- tion of unimportant documentary evidence. On the 16th Mr. Sumner moved that all evidence not trivial or obviously irrelevant shall be admitted, the Senate to judge of its value. This was negatived by a vote of 23 to 11. The 17th was mainly taken up by testi- mony as to the reliability of the reports of the President's speeches. Mr. Welles, Sec- retary of the Navy, was then called to tes- tify to certain proceedings in Cabinet Council at the time of the appointment of General Thomas. This was objected to. The Chief Justice decided that it was ad- missible, and his decision was sustained by a vote of 26 to 23. The defense then en- deavored to introduce several members of the Cabinet, to show that, at meetings pre- vious to the removal of Mr. Stanton, it was considered whether it was not desira- ble to obtain a judicial determination of the unconstitutionality of the Tenure-of- Office Act. This question was raised in several shapes, ana its admission, after thorough argument on both sides, as often refused, in the last instance by a decisive vote of 30 to 19. The defense considered this testimony of the utmost importance, as going to show that the President had acted upon the counsel of his constitu- tional advisers, while the prosecution claimed that he could not plead in justifi- cation of a violation of the law that he had been advised by his Cabinet, or any one else, that the law was unconstitutional. His duty was to execute the laws, and, if he failed to do this, or violated them, he did so at his own risk of the consequences. With the refusal of this testimony, the BOOK I.] GRANT. l&l case, except the final summings up and the yerdict of the Senate, was virtually closed. The case had been so fully set forth in the opening speeches of Messrs. Butler and Curtis, and in the arguments which came up upon points of testimony, that there remained little for the other counsel except t;> restate what had before been said. After the evidence had been closed the case was summed up, on the part of the managers by Messrs. Boutwell, Williams, Stevens, and Hingham in oral arguments, and Mr. Logan, who filed a written argu- ment, and on the part of the President by Messrs. Nelson, Groesbeck, Stanbery, and Evarts. Many of these speeches were dis- tinguished by great brilliancy and power, but, as no new points were presented, we omit any summary. The Court decided to take a vote upon the articles on Tuesday, the. 12th of May, at 12 o'clock, M. A secret session was held on Monday, during which several Senators made short speeches, giving the grounds upon which they expected to cast their votes. On Tuesday the Court agreed to postpone the vote until Saturday, the 16th. Upon that day, at 12 o'clock, a vote was taken upon the eleventh article, it having been determined to vote on that article first. The vote resulted in 35 votes for conviction, and 19 for acquittal. The question being put to each Senator, " How say you, is the respondent, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, guilty or not guilty of a high misdemeanor as charged in the article ?" those who re- sponded guilty were Senators Anthony, Cameron, Cattell, Chandler, Cole, Conk- ling, Conness, Corbett, Cragin, Drake, Ed- munds, Ferry, Frelinghuysen, Harlan, Howard, Howe, Morgan, Morrill, of Ver- mont, Morrill, of Maine, O. P. Morton, Nye, Patterson, N. H. Pomeroy, Sherman, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Thayer, Tipton, Wade, Willey, Williams, Wilson and Yates. Those who responded not guilty were Senators Bayard, Buckalew, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Fowler, Grimes, Hen- derson, Hendricks, Johnson, M'Creery, Norton, Patterson of Tennessee, Ross, Sauls- bury, Trumbull, Van Winkle and Vickers. The Constitution requiring a vote of two-thirds to convict, the President waa acquitted on this article. After taking this vote the Court adjourned until Tues- day, May 26th, when votes were taken upon the second and third articles, with precisely the same result as on the elev- enth, the vote in each case standing 35 for conviction and 19 for acquittal. A verdict of acquittal on the second, third, and elev- enth articles was then ordered to be en- tered on the record, and, without voting on the other articles, the Court adjourned sine die. So the trial was ended, and the President acquitted. The political differences between Presi- dent Johnson and the Republicans were not softened by the attempted impeach- ment, and singularly enough the failure of their effort did not weaken the Republi- cans as a party. They were so well united that those who disagreed with them passed at least temporarily from public life, some of the ablest, like Senators Trumbull and Fessenden retiring permanently. Presi- dent Johnson pursued his policy, save where he was hedged by Congress, until the end, and retired to his native State, ap- parently having regained the love of his early political associates there. Grant. The Republican National Convention met at Chicago, 111., May 20th, 1868, and nominated with unanimity, Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, for President, and Schuy- ler Colfax, of Indiana, for Vice President. The Democratic Convention met in New York City, July 4th, and after repeated ballots finally compromised on its presiding officers,* notwithstanding repeated and ap- * The following is a correct table of the ballots in the New York Democratic Convention : Candidates. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Horatio Seymour 9 George H. Pendleton 105 104 119% 118U 122 12214 137'X 156% 144 147U 144% Andrew Johnson 65 52 31/1 32 24 21 12V 6 5% 6 5% Winfield S. Hancock 33% 40U 45 Vi 43% 46 47 42% 28 34% 34 33% Sanford E Church 33 33 33 33 83 33 33 Asa Packer 26 26 26 26 27 ?7 26 26 2(>V 2714 26 Joel Parker 13 15% 13 13 13 13 7 7 7 7 James E. English 16 WH 7V< 7% 7 6 6 6 6 James R. Doolittle 13 i % 12 12 15 12 12 12 12 12 12% Reverdy Johnson 8% g 11 8 9% Thomas A. Hendricks A 2 9% 11% 19% 30 39% 75 80% 82% 88 F. P. Blair. Jr 10 H 4% 2 5 \< 12 Thomas Ewing /Z 1 1 ' 73 72 J. Q. Adams /i 1 George B. McClellan Salmon P. Chase Franklin Pierce John T. Hoffman Stephen J. Field AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. parently decided declarations on his part, 1 1 .ratio Seymour, of New York, was there- fore nominated ibr President, and Francis P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, for Vice Presi- dent.* An active canvass followed, in which the brief expression " let us have peace" in Grant's letter of acceptance, was liberally employed by Republican journals and ora- tors to tone down what were regarded as rapidly growing race and sectional differ- erences, and with such effect that Grant carried all of the States save eight, receiv- ing an electoral vote of 214 against 80. Grant inaugurated, and the Congres- sional plan of reconstruction was rapidly pushed, with at first very little opposition save that manifested by the Democrats in Congress. The conditions of readmission were the ratification of the thirteenth and fourteenth constitutional amendments. On the 25th of February, 1869, the fif- teenth amendment was added to the list by its adoption in Congress and submission to the States. It conferred the right of suf- frage on all citizens, without distinction of " race, color or previous condition of servi- tude." By the 30th of March, 1870, it was ratified by twenty-nine States, the required three-fourths of all in the Union. There was much local agitation in some of the Northern States on this new advance, and many who had never manifested their hos- tility to the negroes before did it now, and a portion of these passed over to the Demo- cratic party. The issue, however, was shrewdly handled, and in most instances met Legislatures ready to receive it. Many of the Southern States were specially inter- ested in its passage, since a denial of suf- frage would abridge their representation in Congress. This was of course true of all the States, but its force was indisputable in sections containing large colored popu- lations. The 41st Congress met in extra session March 4th, 1869, with a large Republican majority in both branches. In the Senate there were 58 Republicans, 10 Democrats and 8 vacancies ; in the House 149 Repub- licans, 64 Democrats and 25 vacancies, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia and Georgia not being represented. James G. Blaine, for several years previous its leading parlia- mentarian and orator, was Speaker of the House. All of Grant's nominations for Cabinet places were confirmed, except A. T. Stewart, of New York, nominated for Secretary of the Treasury, and being en- gaged in foreign commerce he was ineligi- ble under the law, and his name was with- drawn. The names of the Cabinet will be found in the list of all Cabinet officers elsewhere given. Their announcement at first created the impression that the Grant administration was not intended to be par- tisan, rather personal, but if there ever was such a purpose, a little political ex- perience on the part of the President quick- ly changed it. A political struggle soon followed in Congress as to the admission of Virginia, Mississippi and Texas, which had not ratified the Fourteenth Amendment or been reconstructed. A bill was passed April 10th, authorizing their people to vote on the constitutions already prepared by the State conventions, to elect members o r Congress and State officers, and requir- ing before readmission to the L T nion, their Legislatures to ratify both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. This work done, and the extra session adjourned. In all of the Southern States, those who then prided themselves in being " unrecon- structed" and "irreconcilable," bitterly opposed both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and on these issues excited new feelings of hostility to the " carpet baggers" and negroes of the South. With th* close of the war thousands of North- Candidates. 12. 13. 14. 15. 10. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Horatio Sevmour 317 ft- orj?e H. Perulleton 145V4 134V4 130 12914 107 \4 7oV 5dV Andrew Johnson Winfield 8. Hnncook 30 A 48^/| 56 fllf 79>2 5]4 113J-I fi 137V w* 144V 135 V, 142 IX 5 135V Siuiford E. Cliurc-li 20 20 20 22 J| 13 Thomax Ewinf? J. Q. Adams Georfte B. MoClpllan \ \t, Salmon P. Chase \t> \6 u V< v 4' 1 Franklin Pieron I* John T. Hoffman 3 3 Stephen J. Fit-Id 15 9 8 Thotna* H. Seymour 4 2 Necessary to choice .212 General Blair was nominated unanimously on the first ballot. BOOK i.] READMISSION OF REBELLIOUS STATES. IDS ern men had settled in the South. All of them were now denounced as political ad- venturers bv the rebels who opposed the amendments, reconstruction and freedman's bureau acts. Many of these organized themselves first into Ku Klux Klans, secret societies, organized with a view to affright negroes from participaney in the elections, and to warn white men of opposing politi- cal views to leave the country. The object of the organization broadened with the troubles which it produced. Efforts to affright were followed by midnight assaults, by horrible whippings, outrages and mur- ders, hardly a fraction of which could be traced to the perpetrators. Doubtless many of the stories current at the time were exaggerated by partisan newspapers, but all of the official reports made then and since go to show the dangerous exces- ses which political and race hostilities may reach. In Georgia the whites, by these agencies, soon gained absolute politi- cal control, and this they used with more wisdom than in most Southern States, for under the advice of men like Stevens and Hill, they passed laws providing for free public schools, etc., but carefully guarded their newly acquired power by also passing tax laws which virtually disfranchised more than half the blacks. Later on, several Southern States imitated this form of po- litical sagacity, and soon those in favor of " a white man's government," (the popular battle cry of the period) had undisputed control in Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas States which the Re- publicans at one time had reason to believe they could control. The Enforcement Acts. To repress the Ku Klux outrages, Con- gress in May 31, 1870, passed an act giving to the President all needed powers to pro- tect the freedmen in their newly acquired rights, and to punish the perpetrators of all outrages, whether upon whites or blacks. This was called in Congress the Enforce- ment Act, and an Amendatory Enforce- ment Act was inserted in the Sundry Civil Bill, June 10, 1872. The Ku Klux Act was passed April 20, 1871. All of these measures were strongly advocated by Sena- tor Oliver P. Morton", who through this advocacy won new political distinction as the special champion of the rights of the blacks. Later on James G. Blaine, then the admitted leader of the House, opposed some of the supplements for its better en- forcement, and to this fact is traceable the refusal on the part of the negroes of the South to give him tint warm support as a Presidential candidate which his high abili- ties commanded in other sections. The several Enforcement Acts and their supplements are too voluminous for inser- 13 tio'n here, and they are of little u e save as relics of the bitter days of reconstruction. They have little force now, although some of them still stand. They became a dead letter after the defeat of the " carpet-bag governments," but the President enforced them as a rule with moderation and wisdom. The enforcement of the Ku Klux Act led to the disbanding of that oiganization after the trial, arrest and conviction of many of the leaders. These trials brought out the facts, and awakened many South- ern minds, theretofore incredulous, to the enormity of the secret political crime* which had been committed in all the South- ern States, and for a time popular senti- ment even in the South, and amongst for- mer rebel soldiers, ran strongly against the Klan. With fresh political excitements, however, fresh means of intimidation were employed at elections. Rifle clubs were formed, notably in South Carolina and Mississippi, while in Louisiana the " White League'- sprang into existence, and was organized in all of the neighboring States. These were more difficult to deal with. They were open organizations, created un- der the semblance of State militia acts. They became very popular, especially among the younger men, and from this time until the close of the Presidential election in 1876, were potent factors in several Southern States, and we shall have occasion further on to describe their more important movements. Readmisslon of Rebellious States. Before the close of 1869 the Supreme Court, in the case of Texas vs. White, sus- tained the constitutionality of the Recon- struction acts of Congress. It held that the ordinances of secession had been " ab- solutely null ; " that the seceding States had no right to secede and had never been out of the Union, but that, during and after their rebellion, they had no govern- ments " competent to represent these States, in their relations with the National gov- ernment," and therefore Congress had the power to re-establish the relations of any rebellious State to the Union. This de- cision fortified the position of the Repub- licans, and did much to aid President Grant in the difficult work of reconstruc- tion. It modified the assaults of the Dem- ocrats, and in some mea-sure changed their purpose to make Reconstruction the pivot around which smaller political issues should revolve. The regular session of the 41st Congress met Dec. 4th, 1869, and before its close Virginia, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi had all complied with the conditions of re- construction, and were re-admitted to the Union. This practically completed the work of reconstruction. "To summarize :^ 194 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Tennessee was re-admitted July 24'th, 1866; Arkansas, June 22d, 1868; North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia and Florida under the act of June 25th, 1868, which provided that as soon as they fulfilled the conditions imposed by the acts of March, 1 67, they should be re- admitted. All did this promptly except Georgia. Virginia was re-admitted Jan- uary 26th, 1870; Mississippi, Feb. 23d, 1870 ; Texas, March 30th, 1870. Georgia, the most powerful and stubborn of all, had passed State laws declaring negroes incapa- ble of holding office, in addition to what was known as the " black code," and Con- gress refused full admission until she had revoked the laws and ratified the 15th Amendment. The State finally came back into the Union July 15th, 1870. The above named States completed the ratification of the 15th amendment, and the powers of reconstruction were plainly used to that end. Some of the Northern States had held back, and for A time its ratification by the necessary three-fourths was a matter of grave doubt. Congress next passed a bill to enforce it, May 30th, 1870. This made penal any interference, by force or fraud, with the right of free and full manhood suffrage, and authorized the President to use the army to prevent violations. The measure was generally supported by the Republicans, and opposed by all of the Democrats. The Republicans through other guards about the ballot by passing an act to amend the naturalization laws, which made it penal to use false naturalization papers, authorized the appointment of Federal supervisors of elections in cities of over 20,000 inhabitants ; gave to these power of arrest for any offense committed in their view, and gave alien Africans the right to naturalize. The Democrats in their oppo- sition laid particular stress upon the extra- ordinary powers given to Federal super- visors, while the Republicans charged that Seymour had carried New York by gigan- tic naturalization frauds in New York city, and sought to sustain these charges by the unprecedented vote polled. A popular quotation of the time was from Horace Greeley, in the New York Tribune, who showed thnt under the manipulations of the Tweed ring, more votes had been cast for Seymour in one of the warehouse wards of the city, "than there were men, women, children, and cats and dogs in it." The Legal Tender Decision. The Act of Congress of 1862 had made " greenback " notes a legal tender, and they passed as such until 1869 against the pro- tests of the Democrats in Congress, who had questioned the right of Congress to issue paper money. It was on this issue that Thaddeus Stevens admitted the Re- publicans were travelling " outside of the constitution " with a view to preserve the government, and this soon became one of his favorite ways of meeting partisan ob- jections to war measures. At the Decem- ber term of the Supreme Court, in 1869, a decision was rendered that the action of Congress was unconstitutional, the Court then being accidentally Democratic in its composition. The Republicans, believing they could not afford to have their favorite, and it must be admitted most useful finan- ial measure questioned, secured an in- crease of two in the number of Supreme Justices one under a law creating an ad- ditional Justiceship, the other in place of a Justice who had resigned and in March, 1870, after the complexion of the Court had been changed through Republican ap- pointments made by President Grant, the constitutionality of the legal tender at;t was again raised, and, with Chief Justice Chase (who had been Secretary of the Treasury in 1862 presiding) the previous decision was reversed. This was clearly a partisan struggle before the Court, and on the part of the Republicans an abandon- ment of old landmarks impressed on the country by the Jackson Democrats, but it is plain that without the greenbacks the war could not have been pressed with half the vigor, if at all. Neither party was consistent in this struggle, for Southern Democrats who sided with their North- ern colleagues in the plea of uncon- stitutionality, had when "out of the Union," witnessed and advocated the issue of the same class of money by the Con- federate Congress. The difference was only in the ability to redeem, and this ability depended upon success in arms the very thing the issue was designed to promote. The last decision, despite it partisan surroundings and opposition, soon won popularity, and this popularity was subsequently taken as the groundwork for the establishment of The Greenback Party. .This party, with a view to ease the rigors of the monetary panic of 1873, ad- vocated an unlimited issue of greenbacks, or an " issue based upon the resources of the country." So vigorously did dis- contented leaders of both parties press this idea, that they soon succeeded in demoral- izing the Democratic minority which was by this time such a plain minority, and so greatly in need ot new issues to make the people forget the war, that it is not surprising they yielded, at least par- tially, to new theories and alliances. The present one took them away from the principles of Jackson, from the hard- money theories of the early days, and would land them they knew not where, nor did BOOK I.'J THE GREENBACK PARTY. 195 many of them care, if they could once more get upon their feet. Some resisted, and comparatively few of the Democrats in the Middle States yielded, but in part of New England, the great West, and nearly all of the South, it was for several years quite difficult to draw a line between Greenbackers and Democrats. Some Re- publicans, too, who had tired of the " old war issues," or discontented with the man- agement and leadership of their party, aided in the construction of the Green- back bridge, and kept upon it as long as it was safe to do so. In State elections up to as late as 1880 this Greenback element was a most important factor. Ohio was carried by an alliance of Greenbackers and Democrats, Allen being elected Governor, only to be supplanted by Hayes (after- wards President) after a most remarkable contest, the alliance favoring the Green- back, the Republicans not quite the hard- money, but a redeemable-in-gold theory. Indiana, always doubtful, passed over to the Democratic column, while in the Southern States the Democratic leaders made open alliances until the Greenback- ers became over-confident and sought to win Congressional and State elections on their own merits. They fancied that the desire to repudiate ante-war debts would greatly aid them, and they openly advo- cated the idea of repudiation there, but they had experienced and wise leaders to cope with. They were not allowed to monopolize this issue by the Democrats, and their arrogance, if such it may be called, was punished by a more complete assertion of Democratic power in the South than was ever known before. The theory in the South was welcomed where it would suit the Democracy, crushed where it would not, as shown in the Presidential election of 1880, when Garfield, Hancock and Weaver (Greenbacker) were the can- didates. The latter, in his stumping tour of the South, proclaimed that he and his friends were as much maltreated in Ala- bama and other States, as the Republicans, and for some cause thereafter (the Demo- crats alleged " a bargain and sale " ) he practically threw his aid to the Repub- licans this when it became apparent that the Greenbackers, in the event of the elec- tion going to the House, could have no chance even there. Gen'l Weaver went from the South to Maine, the scene pf what was regarded at that moment as a pivotal struggle for the Presidency. Bluine had twice been the most prominent candidate for the Presi- dency 1876 and 1880 and had both times been defeated by compromise candi- dates. He was still, as he had been for many years, Chairman of the Republican State Committee of Maine, and now as ever before swallowed the mortification of defeat with true political grace. The Greenbackers had the year before formed a close alliance with the Democrats, and in the State election made the result so close that for many weeks it remained a matter of doubt who was elected Governor, the Democratic Greenbacker or the Re- publican. A struggle followed in the Legislature and belbre the Returning Board composed of State officers, who were Democrats, (headed by Gov. Gar- celon ) and sought to throw out returns on slight technicalities. Finally the Repub- licans won, but not without a struggle which excited attention all over the Union and commanded the presence of the State militia. Following Garfield's nomination another struggle, as we have stated, was inaugurated, with Davis as the Republican nominee-for Governor, Plaisted the Demo- cratic-Greenback, (the latter a former Re- publican). All eyes now turned to Maine, which voted in September. Gen'l Weaver was on the stump then, as the Greenback candidate for President, and all of his efforts were bent to breaking the alliance between the Greenbackers and Demo- crats. He advocated a straight-out policy for his Greenback friends, described his treatment in the South, and denounced the Demo- cracy with such plainness that it displayed his purpose and defeated his object. Plaisted was elected by a close vote, and the Republicans yielded after some threats to invoke the ' Garcelon precedents." This was the second Democratic-Green- back victory in Maine, the first occurring two years before, when through an alli- ance in the Legislature (no candidate having received a majority of all the popu- lar vote) Garland was returned. The victory of Plaisted alarmed the Re- publicans and enthused the Democrats, who now denounced Weaver, but still sought alliance with his followers. Gene- ral B. F. Butler, long a brilliant Republi- can member of Congress from Massachu- setts, for several years advocated Green- back ideas without breaking from his Re- publican Congressional colleagues. Be- cause of this fact he lost whatever of chance he had for a Republican nomination for Governor, " his only remaining politi- cal ambition," and thereupon headed the Greenbackers in Massachusetts, and in spite of the protests of the hard-money Democrats in that State, captured the De- mocratic organization, and after these tac- tics twice ran for Governor, and was de- feated both times bv. the Republicans, though he succeeded, upon State and " anti-blue blood " theories, in greatly re- ducing their majority. In the winter of 1882 he still held control of the Demo- cratic State Committee, after the Green- back organization had passed from view, 196 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK L and " what will he do next?" is one of the political questions of the hour. The Greenback labor party ceased all Congress!'. mil alliance with the Democrats alter their quarrel with General Weaver, and as late as the 47th session 1881-82 refused all alliance, and abstained from exercising what some still believe a " bal- ance of power " in the House, though nearly half of their number were elected more as Republicans than Greenbackers. As a party, the Greenbackers, standing alone, never carried either a State or a Congressional district. Their local suc- cesses were due to alliances with one or other of the great parties, and with the passage of the panic they dissolved in many sections, and where they still obtain it is' in alliance with labor unions, or in strong mining or workingmen's districts. In the Middle States they won few local successes, but were strong in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. Advocates of similar theories have not been wanting in all the countries of Western Europe follow- ing great wars or panics, but it was re- served to the genius of Americans to estab- lish an aggressive political party on the basis of theories which all great political economists have from the beginning an- tagonized as unsafe and unsound. The Prohibitory Party. The attempt to establish a third party in the Greenback, begot that to establish a National Prohibitory Party, which in 1880 ran James Black of Pennsylvania, as a candidate for the Presidency, and four years previous ran Neal Dow of Maine. lie, however, commanded little attention, and received but sparsely scattered votes in all the States. The sentiment at the base of this party never thrived save as in States, particularly in New England, where it sought to impress itself on the prevail- ing political party, and through it to influ- ence legislation. Neal Dow of Maine, first advocated a prohibitory law, and by his eloquent advocacy, secured that of Maine, which has stood for nearly thirty years. That of Massachusetts has recently been repealed. The prohibitory amendment to the Constitution of Kansas was adopted in 1881, etc. The Prohibitory Party, how- ever, never accomplished anything by sep- arate political action, and though fond of nominating candidate* for State and local officers, has not as yet succeeded in hold- ing even a balance of power between the political parties, though it has often con- tused political calculations as to results in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecti- cut, Massachusetts, etc. It seems never to have taken hold in any of the Southern States, and comparatively little in the Western, until the whole country was sur- prised in 1880 by the passage of the Kan- sas amendment by over 20,000 majority in a vote of the people invoked by the Legis- lature. An effort followed to submit a sim- ilar amendment through the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1881. It passed the House by a large majority, but after discussion in the Senate, and amendments to indemnify manufacturers and dealers in liquor (an amendment which would cripple if it would not bankrupt the State) was adopted. Gov- ernor St. John of Kansas, a gentleman fond of stumping for this amendment, insists that the results are good in his State, while its enemies claim that it has made many criminals, that liquor is every where smug- gled and sold, and that the law has turned the tide of immigration away from that great State. The example of Kansas, however, will probably be followed in other States, and the Prohibitory Party will hardly pass from view until this latest experiment has been fairly tested. It was also the author of " Local Option," which for a time swept Pennsylvania, but was repealed by a large majority after two years' trial. Annexation of San Domingo. The second session of the 41st Congress began December 5th, 1870. With all of the States represented, reconstruction be- ing complete, the body was now divided politically as follows : Senate, 61 Repub- licans, 13 Democrats ; House 172 Republi- cans, 71 Democrats. President Grant's an- nual message discussed a new question, and advocated the annexation of San Do- mingo to the United States. A treaty had been negotiated between President Grunt and the President of the Republic of San Domingo as early as September 4th, 1869, looking to annexation, but it had been re- jected by the Senate, Charles Sumner be- ing prominent in his opposition to the measure. He and Grant experienced & growing personal unpleasantness, because of the President's attempt to negotiate a treaty without consulting Mr. Sumner, who was Chairman of the Committee on For- eign Affairs, and it was charged that through the influence of the President he was removed by the Republican caucus from this Chairmanship, and Senator Si- mon Cameron put in his place. Whether this was true or not, the differences be- tween Grant and Sumner were universally remarked, and Sumner's imperious pride led him into a very vindictive assault up- on the proposition. Grant gave few other reasons for annexation than military ones, suggested that as a naval station it would facilitate all home operations in the Gulf, while in the hands of a foreign power, in the event of war, it would prove the depot for many and dangerous warlike prepa- BOOK I.] THE FORCE BILL. 197 rations. The question had little political significance, if it was ever designed to have any, and this second attempt to bring the scheme to the attention of Congress, was that a joint resolution (as in the annexa- tion of Texas) might be passed. This would require but a majority, but the ob- jection was met that no Territory could be annexed without a treaty, and this must be ratified by two-thirds of the Senate. A middle course was taken, and the Presi- dent was authorized to appoint three Com- missioners to visit San Domingo and as- certain the desires of its people. These reported favorably, but the subject was finally dropped, probably because the pro- position could not command a two-thirds vote, and has not since attracted attention. Amendatory Enforcement Acts. The operation of the 15th Amendment, being still resisted or evaded in portions of the South, an Act was passed to enforce it. This extended the powers of the Fed- era.! supervisors and marshals, authorized in the first, and gave the Federal Circuit Courts exclusive jurisdiction of all cases tried under the provisions of the Act and its supplements. It also empowered these Courts to punish any State officer who should attempt to interfere with or try such cases as iu contempt of the Court's jurisdiction. The Kepublicans sustained, the Democrats opposed the measure, but it was passed and approved February 28, 1871, and another supplement was insert- ed in the Sundry Civil Bill, and approved June 10th, 1872, with continued resistance on the part of the Democrats. After the appointment of a committee to investi- gate the condition of affairs in the South- ern States, Congress adjourned March 4th, 1871. The Alabama Claims. During this year the long disputed Ala- bama Claims of the United States against Great Britain, arising from the depreda- t ons of the Anglo-rebel privateers, built and fitted out in British waters, were re- ferred by the Treaty of Washington, dated May 8th, 1871, to arbitrators, and this was the first and most signal triumph of the plan of arbitration, so far as the Government of the United States was concerned. The arbitrators were appointed, at the invitation of the governments of Great Britain and the United States, from these powers, and from Brazil, Italy, and Switzerland. On September 14th, 1872, they gave to the United States gross dam- ages to the amount of $15,500,000, an amount which has subsequently proved to be really in excess of the demands-of mer- chants and others claiming the loss of property through the depredations of the rebel ram Alabama and other rebel priva- teers. We append a list of the representa- tives of the several governments : Arbitrator on the part of the United States CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Arbitrator on the part of Great Britain The Eight Honorable Sir ALEXANDER COCKBURN, Baronet, Lord Chief Justice of England. Arbitrator on the part of Italy His Ex- cellency Senator Count SCLOPIS. Arbitrator on the part of Switzerland Mr. JACOB STAMPFLI. Arbitrator on the part of Brazil Baron D'ITAJUBA. Agent on the part of the United States J. C. BANCROFT DAVIS. Agent on the part of Great Britain Eight Honorable LORD TENTERDEN. Counsel for the United States CALEB GUSHING, WILLIAM M. EVARTS, MORRI- SON E. WAITE. Counsel for Great Britain Sir EOUN- DELL PALMER. Solicitor for the United States CHARLES C. BEAM AN, Jr. The Force Bill. The 42d Congress met March 4, 1871, the Eepublicans having suffered somewhat in their representation. In the Senate there were 57 Eepublicans, 17 Democrats; in the House 138 Eepublicans, 103 Demo- crats. James G. Blaine was again chosen Speaker. The most exciting political question of the session was the passage of the " Force Bill," as the Democrats called it. The object was more rigidly to enforce observance of the provisions of the 14th Amendment, as the Eepublicans claim; to revive a waning political power in the South, and save the " carpet-bag " govern- ments there, as the Democrats claimed. The Act allowed suit in the Federal courts against any person who should deprive another of the rights of a citizen, and it made it a penal offense to conspire to take away any one's rights as a citizen. It also provided that inability, neglect, or refusal by any State governments to suppress such conspiracies, or their refusal to call upon the President for aid, should be deemed a denial by such State of the equal protec- tion of the laws under the 14th Amend- ment. It further declared such conspira- cies " a rebellion against the government of the United States," and authorized the President, when in his judgment the pub- lic safety required it, to suspend the privi- lege of habeas corpus in any district, and suppress any such insurrection by the army and navy. AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Pi trident II>V Civil Service Order. EiEomvE MANSION, Washington, June 22, 1877. SIR : I desire to call your attention to tlw following paragraph in a letter ad- dressed by me to the Secretary of the Treasury, on the conduct to be observed by thi officers of the General Government in relation to the elections : " No officer should be required or per- mitted to take part in the management of political organizations, caucuses, conven- tion * or election campaigns. Their right to vote and to express their views on public questions, either orally or through the press, is not denied, provided it does not interfere with the discharge of their offi- cial duties. No assessment for political purposes on officers or subordinates should be allowed." This rule is applicable to every depart- ment of vhe Civil Service. It should be understood by every officer of the General Go vernment that he is expected to conform his conduct to its requirements. Very respectfully, R. B. HAYES. S ime of the protests were strong, and it is difficult to say whether Curtis, Julian, or Eaton its three leading advocates or the politicians, had the best of the argu- meut. It was not denied, however, that a strong and very respectable sentiment had bi'en created in favor of the reform, and to this sentiment all parties, and the President a.- '.veil, made a show of bowing. It was fashionable to insert civil service planks ic. National and State platforms, but it was w;i* not such an i*sue as could livein the presence of more exciting ones; and while to this day it has earnest and able advo- cates, it has from year to year fallen into e^ater disuse. Actual trial showed the in practicability of some of the rules, and President Grant lost interest in he subject, &a did Congress, for in several instances it neglected to appropriate the funds necessary to carry out the provisions of the law. President Arthur, in his message, to Con- gress in December, 1-381, argued against its full application, and showed that it blocked the way to preferment, certainly of the middle-aged and older persons, who could not recall their early lessons ac- quired by rote; that its effect was to ele- vate the inexperienced to positions which required executive ability, sound judgment business aptitude, and experience. The feature of the message met the endorsment of nearly the entire Republican press, and at this writing the sentiment, at least of the Republican party, appears to favor a partial modification of the rules. The system was begun January 1st, 172, but in December, 1874, Congress refused to make any appropriations, and it was for a time abandoned, with slight and spasmodic revivals under the administration of Presi- dent Hayes, who issued the foregoing order. By letter from the Attorney-General, Charles Devens, August 1, 1877, this order was held to apply to the Pennsylvania Re- publican Association at Washington. Still later there was a further exposition, in which Attorney- General Devens, writing from Washington in October 1, 1877, ex- cuses himself from active participation in the Massachusetts State campaign, and says : " I learn with surprise and regret that any of the Republican officials hesitate either to speak or vote, alleging as a reason the President's recent Civil Service order. In distinct terms that order states that the right of officials to vote and express their views on public questions, either orally or through the press, is not denied, provided it does not interfere with the discharge of their official duties. If such gentlemen choose not to vote, or not to express or en- force their views in support of the princi- ples of the Republican party, either orally or otherwise, they, at least, should give a reason for such a course which is not jus- tified by the order referred to, and which is simply a perversion of it.'' Yet later, wheu the interest in the Penn- sylvania election became general, because of the sharp struggle between Governor Hoyt and Senator Dill for Governor, a committee of gentlemen (Republicans) visited President Hayes and induced him to " suspend the operation of the order " as to Pennsylvania, where political contribu- tions were collected. And opposition was manifested after even the earlier trials. Benjamin F. Butler de- nounced the plan as English and anti-Re- publican, and before long some of the more radical Republican papers, which had in- deed given little attention to the subject, began to denounce it as a plan to exclude faithful Republicans from and permit Democrats to enter the offices. These now argued that none of the vagaries of political dreamers could ever convince them that a free Government can be run without political parties ; that while rota- tion in office may not be a fundamental element of republican government, yet the right of the people to recommend is its corner-stone ; that civil service would lead to the creation of rings, and eventually to the purchase of places; that it would es- tablish an aristocracy of office-holders, who could not be removed at times when it might be important, as in the rebellion fpt the Administration to have only friends in public office ; that it would establish grades and life-tenures in civic positions, etc. For later particulars touching civil ser- vice, see the Act of Congress of 1883, and the regulations made pursuant to the same in Book V. BOOK I.] THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS. 199 Amnesty. The first regular session of the 42d Con- gress met Dec. 4th, 1871. The Democrats consumed much of the time in efforts to pass bills to remove the political disabilities of former Southern rebels, and they were materially aided by the editorials of Hor- ace Greeley, in the New York Tribune, which had long contended for universal amnesty. At this session all such efforts were defeated by the Republicans, who in- variably amended such propositions by ad- ding Sumner's Supplementary Civil Rights Bill, which was intended to prevent any dis- crimination against colored persons by common carriers, hotels, or other chartered or licensed servants. The Amnesty Bill, however was passed May 22d, 1872, after an an agreement to exclude from its provisions all who held the higher military and civic positions under the Confederacy in all about 350 persons. The following is a copy : Be it enacted, etc., (two-thirds of each House concurring therein,) That all legal and political disabilities imposed by the third section of the fourteenth article of the amendments of the Constitution of the United States are hereby removed from all persons whomsoever, except Senators and Representatives of the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congress, officers in the judicial, military, and naval service of the United States, heads of Departments, and foreign ministers of the United States. Subsequently many acts removing the disabilities of all excepted (save Jefferson Davis] from the provisions of the above, were passed. The Liberal Republicans. An issue raised in Missouri gave imme- diate rise to the Liberal Republican party, though the course of Horace Greeley had long pointed toward the organization of sometning of the kind, and with equal plainness it pointed to his desire to be its champion and candidate for the Presi- dency. In 1870 the Republican party, then in control of the Legislature of Mis- souri, split into two parts on the question of the removal of the disqualifications im- posed upon rebels by the State Constitu- tion during the war. Those favoring the removal of disabilities were headed by B. Gratz Brown and Carl Schurz, and they called themselves Liberal Republicans; those opposed were called and accepted the name of Radical Republicans. The former quickly allied themselves with the Democrats, and thus carried the State, though Grant's administration " stood in" with the Radicals. As a result the dis- abilities were quickly removed, and those who believed with Greeley now sought to promote a reaction in Republican senti- ment all over the country. Greeley waa the recognized head of this movement, and he was ably aided by ex-Governor Curtiu and Col. A. K. JVlcClure in Pennsylvania; Charles Francis Adams, Massachusetts ; Judge Trumbull, in Illinois ; Reuben E. Fenton, in New York ; Brown and Schurz in Missouri, and in fact by leading Re- publicans in nearly all of the States, who ! at once began to lay plans to carry the next Presidential election. They charged that the Enforcement Acts of Congress were designed more for the political advancement of Grant's adherents than for the benefit of the country ; that | instead of suppressing they were calcula- ted to promote a war of races in the South ; that Grant was seeking the establishment of a military despotism, etc. These leaders were, as a rule, brilliant men. They had tired of unappreciated and unrewarded service in the Republican party, or had a natural fondness lor " pastures new," and, in the language of the day, they quickly succeeded in making political movements " lively." In the spring of 1871 the Liberal Repub- licans and Democrats of Ohio and Ohio seems to be the most fertile soil for new ideas prepared for a fusion, and after fre- quent consultations of the various leaders with Mr. Greeley in New York, a call waa issued from Missouri on the 24th of Janu- ary, 1872, for a National Convention of the Liberal Republican party to be held at Cincinnati, May 1st. The well-matured plans of the leaders were carried out in the nomination of Hon. Horace Greeley for President and B. Gratz Brown for Vice- President, though not without a serious struggle over the chief nomination, which was warmly contested by the friends of Charles Francis Adams. Indeed he led in most of the six ballots, but finally all the friends of other candidates voted for Greeley, and he received 482 to 187 for Adams. Dissatisfaction followed, and a later effort was made to substitute Adams for Greeley, but it failed. The original leaders now prepared to capture the Demo- cratic Convention, which met at Baltimore, June 9th. By nearly an unanimous vote it was induced to endorse the Cincinnati platform, and it likewise finally endorsed Greeley and Brown though not without many bitter protests. A few straight-out Democrats met later at Louisville, Ky., Sept. 3d, and nominated Charles O'Couor, of New York, for President, and John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice- President, and these were kept in the race to the end, receiving a popular vote of about 30,000. The regular Republican National Con- vention was held at Philadelphia, June 5th. It renominated President Grant unanimously, and Henry Wilson, of Mas- 200 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK L sachusetts, for Vice -President by 364J votes to 321 for Schuyler Colfax, who thus shared the fate of Hannibal Hamlin in his second candidacy for Vice -President on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln. This change to Wilson was to favor the solid Republican States of New England, and to prevent both candidates coming from the West. Civil Service Reform. After considerable and very able agita- tion by Geo. W. Curtis, the editor of Harper's Weekly, an Act was passed March 3d, 1871, authorizing the President to be- gin a reform in the civil service. He ap- pointed a Commission headed by Mr. Cur- tis, and after more thau a year's preparation this body defeated a measure which se- cured Congressional approval and that of President Grant. The civil service law (and it is still a law though more honored now in the breach than the observance) embraced in a single section of the act making appropri- ations for sundry civil expenses for the year ending June 30, 1872, and authorize the President to prescribe such rules and reg- ulations for admission into the civil ser- vice as will best promote the efficiency thereof, and ascertain the fitness of each candidate for the branch of service into which he seeks to enter. Under this law a commission was appointed to draft rules and regulations which were approved and are now being enforced by the President. All applicants for position in any of the government departments come under these rules : all classes of clerks, copyists, coun- ters ; in the customs service all from deputy collector down to inspectors and clerks with the salaries of $1200 or more ; in ap- praisers' offices all assistants and clerks ; in the naval service all clerks ; all light- house keepers ; in the revenue, supervisors, collectors, assessors, assistants ; in the pos- tal really all postmasters whose pay is over $200, and all mail messengers. The rules apply to all new appointments in the de- partments or grades named, except that nothing shall prevent the reappointment at discretion of the incumbents of any of- fice the term of which is fixed by law." So that a postmaster or other officer escapes their application. Those specially exempt are the Heads of Departments; their immediate assistants and deputies, the diplomatic service, the judiciary, and the district attorneys. Each branch of the service is to be grouped, and admission shall always be to the lowest grade of any group. Such appointments are made fora probationary term of six months, when if the Board of Examiners approve the in- cumbent is continued. This Board of Ex- aminers, three in number in each case, shall be chosen by the President from the several Departments, and they shall e.r amine at Washington for any position there, or, when directed by an Advisory Board, shall assign places for examination in the several States. Examinations are in all cases first made of applicants within the office or department, and from the list three reported in the order of excellence ; if those within fail, then outside applicants may be examined. In the Federal Blue Book, which is a part of this volume, we give the Civil Service Rules. When first proposed, partisan politics had no part or place in civil service re- form, and the author of the plan was him- self a distinguished Republican. In fact both parties thought something good had been reached, and there was practically no resistance at first to a trial. The Democrats resisted the passage of this bill with even more earnestness than any which preceded it, but the Republi- can discipline was almost perfect, and when passed it received the prompt ap- proval of President Grant, who by this time was classed as " the most radical of the radicals." Opponents denounced it as little if any less obnoxious than the old Sedition law of 1798, while the Republi- cans claimed that it was to meet a state of growing war in the South a war of races and that the form of domestic violence manifested was in the highest degree dan- gerous to the peace of the Union and the safety of the newly enfranchised citizens. The Credit Mobilier. At the second session of the 42d Con- gress, beginning Dec. 2, 1872, the speaker (Blaine) on the first day called attention to the charges made by Democratic orators and newspapers during the Presidential campaign just closed, that the Vice Presi- dent (Colfax), the Vice President elect (Wilson), the Secretary of the Treasury, several Senators, the Speaker of the House, and a large number of Representatives had been bribed, during the years 1867 and 1868, by Oakes Ames, a member of the House from Massachusetts ; that he and his -agents had given them presents of stock in a corporation known as the Credit Mobilier, to influence their legislative ac- tion for the benefit of the Union Pacific Railroad Compay. Upon Speaker Elaine's motion, a com- mittee of investigation was appointed by Hon. S. S. Cox, of New York, a noted Democrat temporarily called to the Chair. After the close of the campaign, (as was remarked by the Republic Magazine at the time) the dominant party might well have claimed, and would nave insisted had they been opposed to a a thorough investigation BOOK I.] THE CREDIT MOBILIEK. 201 arid a full exposure of corruption, that the verdict of the people in the late canvss was sufficient answer to these charges ; but the Republican party not merely granted all the investigations sought, but sum- moned on the leading committee a ma- jority of its political foes to conduct the inquest. The committee consisted of Messrs. Po- land, of Vermont; McCreary, of Iowa; Banks, of Massachusetts ; Niblack, of Indi- ana, and Merrick, of Maryland. Messrs. Poland and McOeary the two Republicans were gentlemen of ability and standing, well known for their integ- rity, moderation, and impartiality. Gen- eral Banks was an earnest supporter of Horace Greeley, upon the alleged ground that the Republican organization had be- come eifete and corrupt : while Messrs. Niblack and Merrick are among the ablest representatives of the Democratic party ; in fact, Mr. Merrick belonged to the ex- treme Southern schocrl of political thought. Having patiently and carefully exam- ined and sifted the entire testimony often " painfully conflicting," as the committee remarked their report ought to be con- sidered a judicial document commanding universal approval, yet scraps of the testi- mony and not the report itself were used with painful frequency against James A. Garfield in his Presidential canvass of 1880. There has not been a state paper submitted for many years upon a similar' subject that carried with itgreater weight, or which bore upon its face a fuller reali- zation of the grave responsibilities assumed, and it is the first time in the political his- tory of the United States that an all-im- portant investigation has been entrusted by the dominant party to a majority of its po- litical foes. The report of the committee gives the bo,$t and by far the most reliable history of the whole affair, and its presentation here may aid in preventing partisan misrepre- sentations in the future misrepresenta- tions made in the heat of contest, and doubtless regretted afterwards by all who had the facilities for getting at the facts. We therefore give the OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE CREDIT MO- BILIER INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE. Mr. Poland, from the select committee to investigate the alleged Credit Mobilier bribery, made the following report Febru- ary 18, 1873 : The special committee appointed under the following resolutions of the House to wit : WHEREAS, Accusations have been made in the public press, founded on alleged letters of Oakes Ames, a Representative of Massachusetts, and upon the alleged affi- davits of Henry S. McComb, a citizen of Wilmington, in the State of Delaware, to the effect that members of this House were bribed by Oakes Ames to perform certain legislative acts for the benefit of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, by presents of stock in the Credit Mobilier of America, or by presents of a valuable char- acter derived therefrom : therefore, Resolved, That a special committee of five members be appointed by the Speaker pro tempore, whose duty it shall be to in- vestigate whether any member of this House was bribed by Oakes Ames, or any other person or corporation, in any matter touching his legislative duty. Resolved, further, That the committee have the right to employ a stenographer, and that they be empowered to send for persons and papers ; beg leave to make the following report: In order to a clear understanding of the facts hereinafter stated as to contracts and dealings in reference to stock of the Credit Mobilier of America, between Mr. Oakes Ames arid others, and members of Con- gress, it is necessary to make a preliminary statement of the connection of that com- pany with the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany, and their relations to each other. The company called the " Credit Mo- bilier of America " was incorporated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and in 1864 control of its charter and franchises had been obtained by certain persons in- terested in the Union Pacific Railroad Company, for the purpose of using it as a construction company to build the Union Pacific road. In September, 1864, a con- tract was entered into between the Union Pacific Company and H. M. Hoxie, for the building by said Hoxie of one hundred miles of said road from Omaha west. This contract was at once assigned by Hoxie to the Credit Mobilier Company, as it was expected to be when made. Under this contract and extensions of it some two or three hundred miles of road were built by the Credit Mobilier Company, but no considerable profits appear to have been realized therefrom. The enterprise of building a railroad to the Pacific was of such vast magnitude, and was beset by so many hazards and risks that the capitalists of the country were generally averse to in- vesting in it, and, notwithstanding the lib- eral aid granted by the Government it seemed likely to fail of completion. In 1865 or 1866, Mr. Oakes Ames, then and now a member of the House from the State of Massachusetts, and his brother Oliver Ames became interested in the Union Pacific Company and also in the Credit Mobilier Company as the agents for the construction of the road. The Mes- srs. Atnes were men of very large capital, and of known character and integrity in business. By their example and credit, 202 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. and the personal efforts of Mr. Oakes Ames, many men of capital were induced to embark in the enterprise, and to take stock in the Union Pacific Company and also in the Credit Mobilier Company. Among them were the firm of S. Hooper & Co., of Boston, the leading member of which, Mr. Samuel Hooper, was then and is now a member of the House ; Mr. John B. Alley, then a member of the House from Massachusetts, and Mr. Grimes, then a Senator from the State of Iowa. Not- withstanding the vigorous efforts of Mr. Ames and others interested with him, great difficulty was experienced in securing the required capital. In the spring of 1867 the Credit Mo- bilier Company voted to add 50 per cent, to their capital stock, which was then two and a half millions of dollars ; and to cause it to be readily taken each subscriber to it was entitled to receive as a bonus an equal amount of first mortgage bonds of the Union Pacific Company. The old stock- holders were entitled to take this increase, but even the favorable terms offered did not induce all the old stockholders to take it, and the stock of the Credit Mobilier Company was never considered worth its par value until after the execution of the Oakes Ames contract hereinafter men- tioned. On the 16th day of August, 1867, a con- tract was executed between the Union Pa- cific Railroad Company and Oakes Ames, by which Mr. Ames contracted to build six hundred and sixty-seven miles of the Union Pacific road at prices ranging from $42,000 to $96,000 per mile, amounting in the ag- gregate to $47,000,000. Before the con- tract was entered into it was understood tfc.at Mr. Ames was to transfer it to seven trustees, who were to execute it, and the profits of the contract were to be divided among the stockholders in the Credit Mo- bilier Company, who should comply with certain conditions set out in the instru- ment transferring the contract to the trus- tees. The Ames contract and the trans- fer to trustees are incorporated in the evi- dence submitted, and therefore further re- cital of their terms is not deemed neces- sary. Substantially, all the stockholders of the Credit Mobilier complied with the condi- tions named in the transfer, and thus be- came entitled to share in any profits said trustees might make in executing the con- tract. All the large stockholders in the Union Pacific were also stockholders in the Credit Mobilier, and the Ames contract and its transfer to trustees were ratified by the Union Pacific, and received the assent of the great body of stockholders, but not of all. After the Ames contract had been exe- cuted, it was expected by those interested that by reason of the enormous prices agreed to be paid for the work very large profits would be derived from building the road, and very soon the stock of -the Cred- it Mobilier was understood by those hold- ing it to be worth much more than its par value. The stock was not in the market and had no fixed market value, but the holders of it, in December, 1867, consid- ered it worth at least double the par value, and in January and February, 1868, three or four times the par value, but it does not appear that these facts were generally or publicly known, or that the holders of the stock desired they should be. The foregoing statement the committee think gives enough of the historic details, and condition and value of the stock, to make the following detailed facts intelli- gible. Mr. Oakes Ames was then a member of the House of Representatives, and came to Washington at the commencement of the session, about the beginning of December, 1867. During that month Mr. Ames en- tered into contracts with a considerable number of members of Congress, both Sen- ators and Representatives, to let them have shares of stock in the Credit Mobilier Company at par, with interest thereon from the first day of the previous July. It does not appear that in any instance he asked any of these persons to pay a higher price than the par value and interest, nor that Mr. Ames used any special effort or ur- gency to get these persons to take it. In all these negotiations Mr. Ames did not enter into any details as to the value of the stock or the amount of dividend that might be expected upon it, but stated gen- erally that it would be good stock, and in several instances said he would guarantee that they should get at least 10 per cent, on their money. Some of these gentlemen, in their con- versations with Mr. Ames, raised the ques- tion whether becoming holders of this stock would bring them into any embar- rassment as members of Congress in their legislative action. Mr. Ames quieted such suggestions by saying it could not, for the Union Pacific had received from Congress all the grants and legislation it wanted, and they should ask for nothing more. In some instances those members who con- tracted for stock paid to Mr. Ames the ^ioney for the price of the stock, par and interest; in others, where they had not the money, Mr. Ames agreed to carry the stock for them until they could get the money or it should be met by the divi- dends. Mr. Ames was at this time a large stock- holder in the Credit Mobiler, but he did not intend any of these transactions to be sales of his own stock, but intended to ful- BOOK I ] THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 203 fill all these contracts from stock belong- ing; to the company. At this time there were about six hun- dred and fifty shares of the stock of thecom- pa.ny, which had for some reason been placed in the name of Mr. T. C. Durant, one of the leading and active men of the concern. Mr. Ames claimed that a portion of this stock should be assigned to him to enable him to fulfill engagements he had made for stock. Mr. Durant claimed that he had made similar engagements that he should be allowed stock to fulfill. Mr. McComb, who was present at the time, claimed that he had also made engage- ments for stock which he should have stock given him to carry out. This claim of McComb was refused, but after the stock was assigned to Mr. Ames, McComb insisted that Ames should distribute some of the stock to his (McComb's) friends, and named Senators Bayard and Fowler, and Representatives Allison and Wilson, of Iowa. It was finally arranged that three hun- dred and forty-three shares of the stock of the company should be transferred to Mr. Ames to enable him to perform his engage- ments, and that number of shares were set over on the books of the company to Oakes A Dies, trustee, to distinguish it from the stock hefd by him before. Mr. Ames at the time paid to the company the par of the stock and interest from the July pre- vious, and this stock still stands on the books in the name of Oakes Ames, trustee, except thirteen shares which have been transferred to parties in no way connected w th Congress. The committee do not find that Mr. Ames had any negotiation what- ever with any of these members of Con- giess on the subject of this stock prior to the commencement of the session of De- cember, 1867, except Mr. Scofield, of Penn- sylvania, and it was not claimed that any obligation existed from Mr. Ames to him as the result of it. In relation to the purpose and motives of Mr. Ames in contracting to let members of Congress have Credit Mobilier stock at par, which he and all other owners of it considered worth at least double that sum, the committee, upon the evidence taken by them and submitted to the House, can- not entertain doubt. When he said he did not suppose the Union Pacific Company would ask or need further legislation, he stated what he believed to be true. But he feared the interests of the road might suffer by adverse legislation, and what he desired to accomplish was to enlist strength and friends in Congress who would resist any encroachment upon or interference with the rights and privileges already se- cured, and to that end wished to create in them an interest identical with his own. This purpose is clearly avowed in his let- ters to McComb, copied in the evidence. He says he intends to place the stock " where it will do most good to us." And again, "we want more friends in this Con- gress." In his letter to McComb, and also in his statement prepared by counsel, he gives the philosophy of his action, to wit, " That he has found there is no difficulty in getting men to look after their own property." The committee are also satis- fied that Mr. Ames entertained a fear that, when the true relations between the Credit Mobilier Company and the Union Pacific became generally known, and the means, by which the great profits expected to be made were fully understood, there was danger that congressional investigation and action would be invoked. The members of Congress with whom he dealt were generally those who had been friendly and favorable to a Pacific Rail- road, and Mr. Ames did not fear or expect to find them favorable to movements hos- tile to it; but he desired to stimulate their activity and watchfulness in opposition to any unfavorable action by giving them a personal interest in the success of the en- terprise, especially so far as it affected the interest of the Credit Mobilier Company. On the 9th day of December, 1867, Mr. C. C. Washburn, of Wisconsin, introduced in the House a bill to regulate by law the rates of transportation over the Pacific Railroad. Mr. Ames, as well as others interested in the Union Pacific road, was opposed to this, and desired to defeat it. Other mea- sures apparently hostile to that company were subsequently introduced into the House by Mr. Washburn of Wisconsin, and Mr. Washburne of Illinois The commit- tee believe that Mr. Ames, in his distribu- tions of stock, had specially in mind the hostile efforts of the Messrs. Washburn, and desired to gain strength to secure their defeat. The reference in one of his letters to " Washburn's move " makes this quite apparent. The foregoing is deemed by the commit- tee a sufficient statement of facts as to Mr. Ames, taken in connection with what will be subsequently stated of his transactions with particular persons. Mr. Ames made some contracts for stock in the Credit Mobilier with members of the Senate. In public discussions of this subject the names of members of both Houses have been so connected, and all these transactions were so nearly simultaneous, that the committee deemed it their duty to obtain all evidence in their power, as to all persons then mem- bers of either House, and to report the same to the House. Having done this, and the House having directed that evidence transmitted to the Senate, the committee consider their own power and duty, as well as that of the House, fully performed, so 204 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i far as members of the Senate are concerned. Some of Mr. Ames's contracts to sell stock were with gentlemen who were then mem- bers of the House, but are not members of the present Congress. The committee have sought for and ta- ken all the evidence within their reach as to those gentlemen, and reported the same to the House. As the House has ceased to have jurisdiction over them as members, the committee have not deemed it their duty to make any special finding of facts as to each, leaving the House and the country to their own conclusions upon the testimony. In regard to each or the members of the present House, the committee deem it their duty to state specially the facts they find proved by the evidence, which, in some instances, is painfully conflicting. ME. JAMES G. ELAINE, OF MAINE. Among those who have in the public press been charged with improper partici- pation in Credit Mobilier stock is the pre- sent Speaker, Mr. Biaine, who moved the resolution for this investigation. The com- mittee have, therefore, taken evidence in regard to him. They find from it that Mr. Antes had conversation with Mr. Biaine in regard to taking ten shares of the stock, and recommended it as a good investment. Upon consideration Mr. Biaine concluded not to take the stock, and never did take it, and never paid or received anything on account of it; and Mr. Biaine never had any interest, direct or indirect, in Credit Mobilier stock or stock of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. MU. HENBY L. DAWES, OF MASSACHUSETTS. Mr. Dawes had, prior to December, 1867, made some small investments in railroad bonds through Mr. Ames. In December, 1K67, Mr. Dawes applied to Mr. Ames to purchase a thousand-dollar bond of the Cedar Rapids road, in Iowa. Mr. Ames informed him that he had sold them all, but that he would let him have for his thousand dollars ten shares of Credit Mo- bilier stock, which he thought was better than the railroad bond. In answer to in- quiries by Mr. Dawes Mr. Ames said the Credit Mobilier Company had the con- tract to build the Union Pacific road, and thought they would make money out of it, and that it would be a good thing ; that he would guarantee that he should get 10 per cent, on his money, and that if at any time Mr. Dawes did not want the stock he would pay back his money with 10 per cent, interest. Mr. Dawes made some fur- ther inquiry in relation to the stock of Mr. John B. Alley, who said he thought it was good stock, but not as good as Mr. Ames thought, but that Mr. Ames's guarantee would make it a perfectly safe investment. Mr. Dawes thereupon concluded to pur- chase the ten shares, and on the llth of January he paid Mr. Ames $800, and in a few days thereafter the balance of the Srice of this stock, at par and interest from uly previous. In June, 1868, Mr. Ames received a dividend of 60 per cent, in money on this stock, and of it paid to Mr. Dawes $400, and applied the balance of $200 upon accounts between them. This $400 was all that was paid over to Mr. Dawes as a dividend upon this stock. At some time prior to December, 1868, Mr. Dawes was informed that a suit had been commenced in the courts of Pennsylvania by former owners of the charter of the Credit Mobilier, claiming that those then claiming and using it had no right to do so. Mr. Dawes thereupon informed Mr. Ames that as there was a litigation about the matter he did not desire to keep the stock. On the 9th of December, 1868, Mr. Ames and Mr. Dawes had a settlement of their matters in which Mr. Dawes was al- lowed for the money he paid for the stock with 10 per cent, interest upon it, and ac- counted to Mr. Ames for the $400 he had received as a dividend. Mr. Dawes re- ceived no other benefit under the contract than to get 10 per cent, upon his money, and after the settlement had no further in- terest in the stock. MB. GLENNI W. SCOFIELD, OF PENN- SYLVANIA. In 1866 Mr. Scofield purchased some Cedar Rapids bonds of Mr. Ames, and in that year they had conversations about Mr. Scofield taking stock in the Credit Mobilier Company, but no contract was consummated. In December, 1867, Mr. Scofield applied to Mr. Ames to purchase more Cedar Rapids bonds, when Mr. Ames suggested he should purchase some Credit Mobilier stock, and explained generally that it was a contracting company to build the Union Pacific road; that it was a Pennsylvania corporation, and he would like to have some Pennsylvanians in it ; that he would sell it to him at par and in- terest, and that he would guarantee he should get 8 per cent, if Mr. Scofield would , give him half the dividends above that. I Mr. Scofield said he thought he would take $1,000 of the stock ; but before any- thing further was done Mr. Scofield was called home by sickness in his family. On | his return, the latter part of January, 1868, he spoke to Mr. Ames about the stock, when Mr.. Ames said he thought it was all sold, but he would take his money and gjive him a receipt, and get the stock for him if he could. Mr. Scofield there- upon paid Mr. Ames $1,041, and took his receipt therefor. Not long after Mr. Ames informed Mr. Scofield he could have the stock, but could BOOK I.] THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 205 not give him a certificate for it until he could get a larger certificate dividend. Mr. Scofield received the bond dividend of 80 per cent., which was payable January 3, 1868, taking a bond for $1,000 and paying Mr. Ames the difference. Mr. Ames re- ceived the 60 per cent, cash dividend on the stock in June, 1868, and paid over to Mr. Scofield $600, the amount of it. Before the close of that session of Con- gress, which was toward the end of July, Mr. Scofield became, for some reason, dis- inclined to take the stock, and a settlement was made between them, -by which Mr. Ames was to retain the Credit Mobilier stuck and Mr. Scofield took a thousand dollars Union Pacific bond and ten shares of Union Pacific stock. The precise basis of the settlement does not appear, neither Mr. Ames nor Mr. Scofield having any full date in reference to it ; Mr. Scofield thinks that he only re- ceived back his money and interest upon it, while Mr. Ames states that he thinks Mr. Scofield had teu shares of Union Pacific stock in addition. The committee do not deem it specially important to settle this difference of recollection. Since that settlement Mr. Scofield has had no interest in the Credit Mobilier stock and derived ao benefit therefrom. MR. JOHN A. BINGHAM, OF OHIO. In December, 1867, Mr. Ames advised Mr. Bingham to invest in the stock of the Credit Mobilier, assuring him that it would return him his money with profitable divi- dends. Mr. Bingham agreed to take twenty shares, and about the 1st of Febru- ary, 1868, paid .to Mr. Ames the par value of the stock, for which Mr. Ames executed to him some receipt or agreement. Mr. Ames received all the dividends on the stock, whether in Union Pacific bonds, or stock, or money; some were delivered to Mr. Bingham and some retained by Mr. Ames. The matter was not finally ad- justed between them until February, 1872, when it was settled, Mr. Ames retaining the twenty shares of Credit Mobilier stock, and accounting to Mr. Bingham for such dividends upon it as Mr. Bingham had not already received. Mr. Bingham was treated as the real owner of the stock from the time of the agreement to take it, in December, 1867, to the settlement in Feb- ruary, 1872, and had the benefit of all the dividends upon it. Neither Mr. Ames nor Mr. Bingham had such records of their dealing as to be able to give the precise amount of those dividends. ME. WILLIAM D. KELLEY, OF PENNSYL- VANIA. The committee find from the evidence that in the early part of the second session of the Fortieth Congress, and probably in December, 1867, Mr. Ames agreed with Mr. Kelley to sell him ten shares of Credit Mobilier stock at par and interest from July 1, 1867. Mr. Kelley was not then prepared to pay for the stock, and Mr. Ames agreed to carry the stock for him until he could pay for it. On the third day of January, 1868, there was a dividend of 80 per cent, on Credit Mobilier stock in . Union Pacific bonds. Mr. Ames received the bonds, as the stock stood in his name, and sold them for 97 per cent, of their face. In June, 1868, there was a cash dividend of 60 per cent., which Mr. Ames also re- ceived. The proceeds of the bonds sold, and the cash dividends received by Mr. Ames, amounted to $1,376. The par value of the stock and interest thereon from the previous July amounted to $1,047 ; so that, after paying for the stock, there was a balance of dividends due Mr. Kelley of $329. On the 23d day of June, 1868, Mr. Ames gave Mr. Kelley a check for that sum on the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives, and Mr. Kelley re- ceived the money thereon. The committee find that Mr. Kelley then understood that the money he thus re- ceived was a balance of dividends due him after paying for the stock. All the subsequent dividends upon the stock were either in Union Pacific stock or bonds, and they we're all received by Mr. Ames. In September, 1868, Mr. Kelley received from Mr. Ames $750 in money, which was understood between them to be an advance to be paid out of dividends. There has never been any ad- justment of the matter between them, and there is now an entire variance in the tes- timony of the two men as to what the transaction between them was, but the committee are unanimous in finding the facts above stated. The evidence reported to the House gives some subsequent con- versations and negotiations between Mr. Kelley and Mr. Ames on this subject. The committee do not deem it material to refer to it in their report. MB. JAMES -A.. GARFIELD, OF OHIO. The facts in regard to Mr. Garfield, aa found by the committee, are identical with the case of Mr. Kelley to the point of re- ception of the check for $329. He agreed with Mr. Ames to take ten share < of Credit Mobilier stock, but did n >t pay for the same. Mr. Ames received the 80 per cent, dividend in bonds and sold them for 97 per cent., and also received the 60 per cent, cash dividend, which together paid the price of the stock and interest, and left a balance of $329. This sum was paid over to Mr. Garfield by a check on the Sergeant- at-Arma, and Mr. Garfield then understood this sum was the balance of dividends after paying for the stock. Mr. Ames received 206 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. all the subsequent dividends, and the com mittee do not find that, since the payment of the $329, there has been any communi- cation between Mr. Ames and Mr. Garfield on the subject until this investigation be- gan. Some correspondence between Mr. Garfield and Mr. Ames, and some conver- sations between them during this investi- . gation, will be fov.iid in the reported testi- mony. The committee do not find that Mr. Ames, in his negotiations with the persons above named, entered into any detail of the relations between the Credit Mobilier Company and the Union Pacific Company, or gave them any specific information as to the amount of dividends they would be likely to receive further than has been al- ready stated. They all knew from him, or otherwise, that the Credit Mobilier was a contracting company to build the Union Pacific road, but it does not appear that any of them knew that the profits and dividends were to be in stock and bonds of that company. The Credit Mobilier Company was a State corporation, not subject to congres- sional legislation, and the fact that its pro- fits were expected to be derived from building the Union Pacific road did not, apparently, create such an interest in that company as to disqualify the holder of Credit Mobilier stock from participating in any legislation affecting the railroad company. In his negotiations with these members of Congress, Mr. Ames made no suggestion that he desired to secure their favorable influence in Congress in favor of the railroad company, and whenever the question was raised as to whether the ownership of this stock would in any way interfere with or embarrass them in their action as members of Congress, he assured them it would not. The committee, therefore, do not find, as to the members of the present House above named, that they were aware of the object of Mr. Ames, or that they had any other purpose in taking this stock than to make a profitable investment. It is appa- rent that those who advanced their money to pay for their stock present more the ap- pearance of ordinary investors than those who did not, but the committee do not feel at liberty to find any corrupt purpose or knowledge founded upon the fact of non- payment alone. It ought also to be observed that those gentlemen who surrendered their stock to Mr. Ames before there was any public ex- citement upon the subject, do not profess to have done so upon any idea of impro- priety in holding it, but for reasons afreet- ing the value and security of the invest- ment. But the committee believe that they must have felt that there was some- thing so out of the ordinary course of business in the extraordinary dividends they were receiving as to render the in- vestment itself suspicious, and that this was one of the motives of their action. The committee have not been able to find that any of these members ot Congress have been affected in their official action in consequence of their interest in Credit Mobilier stock. It has been suggested that the fact that none of this stock was transferred to those with whom Mr. Ames contracted was a circumstance from which a sense of impro- priety, if not corruption, was to be infer- red. The committee believe this is capable of explanation without such inference. The profits of building the road, under the Ames contract, were only to be divided among such holders of Credit Mobilier stock as should come in and become par- ties to certain conditions set out in the contract of transfer to the trustees, so that a transfer from Mr. Ames to new holders would cut off' the right to dividends from the trustees, unless they also became par- ties to the agreement ; and this the com- mittee believe to be the true reason why no transfers were made. The committee are also of opinion that there was a satisfactory reason for delay on Mr. Ames's part to close settlements with some of these gentlemen for slock and bonds he had received as dividends upon the stock contracted to them. In the fall of 1868 Mr. McComb commenced a suit against the Credit Mobilier Company, and Mr. Ames and others, claiming. to be entitled to two hundred and fifty shares of the Credit Mobilier stock upon a sub- scription for stock to that amount. That suit is still pending. If McComb pre- vailed in that suit, Mr. Ames might be compelled to surrender so much of the stock assigned to him as trustee, and he was not therefore anxious to have the stock go out of his hands until that suit was terminated. It ought also to be stated that no one of the present members of the House above named appears to have had any knowledge of the dealings of Mr. Ames with other members. The committee do not find that either of the above-named gentlemen, in contract- ing with Mr. Ames, had any corrupt mo- tive or purpose himself, or was aware that Mr. Ames had any, nor did either of them suppose he was guilty of any impropriety or even indelicacy in becoming a purchaser of this stock. Had it appeared that these gentlemen were aware of the enormous di- vidends upon this stock, and how they were to be earned, we could not thus ac- quit them. And here as well as anywhere, the committee may allude to that subject. Congress had chartered the Union Pacific road, given to it a liberal grant of lands, and promised a liberal loan of Government BOOK I.] THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 207 bonds, to be delivered as fast as sections of the road were completed. As these alone might not be sufficient to complete the road, Congress authorized the company to issue their own bonds for the deficit, and secured them by a mortgage upon the road, which should be a lien prior to that of the Government. Congress never intended that the owners of the road should execute a mortgage on the road prior to that of the Government, to raise money to put into their own pockets, but only to build the road. The men who controlled the Union Pacific seem to have adopted as the basis of their action the right to incumber the road by a mortgage prior to that of the Government to the full extent, whether the money was needed for the construction of the road or not. It was clear enough they could not do this directly and in terms, and therefore they resorted to the device of contracting with themselves to build the road, and fix a price high enough to require the issue of bonds to the full extent, and then divide the bonds or the proceeds of them under the name of profits on the contract. All those acting in the matter seem to have been fully aware of this, and that this was to be the effect of the transaction. The sudden rise of value of Credit Mobilier atock was the result of the adoption of this scheme. Any undue and unreasonable profits thus made by themselves were as much a fraud upon the Government as if they had sold their bonds and divided the money without going through the form of denominating them profits on building the road. Now had these facts been known to these gentlemen, and had they understood they were to share in the proceeds of the scheme, they would have deserved the severest censure. Had they known only that the profits were to be paid in stock and bonds of the Union Pacific Company, and so make them interested in it, we cannot agree to the doctrine, which has been urged before us and elsewhere, that it was perfectly legiti- mate for members of Congress to invest in a corporation deriving all its rights from and subject at all times to the action of Congress. In such case the rules of the House, as well as the rules of decency, would require such member to abstain from voting on any question affecting his interest. But, after accepting the position of a member of Congress, we do not think he has the right to disqualify himself from acting upon subjects likely to come before Con- gress without some higher and more urgent motive than merely to make a profitable investment. But it is not so much to be feared that in such case an interested mem- ber would vote as that he would exercise his influence by personal appeal to his fel- low-members, and by other modes, which often is far more potent than a single silent vote. We do not think any member ought to feel so confident of his own strength as to allow himself to be brought into this temp- tation. We think Mr. Ames judged shrewdly in saying that a man is much more likely to be watchful of his own in- terests than those of other people But there is a broader view still which we think ought to be taken. This country is fast becoming filled with gigantic corporations, wielding and controlling immense aggrega- tions of money, and thereby commanding great influence and power. It is notorious in many State legislatures that these in- fluences are often controlling, so that in effect they become the ruling power of the State. Within a few years Congress has, to some extent, been brought within similur influences, and the knowledge of the pub- lic on that subject has brought great di- ciedit upon the body, far more, we belk.ve, than there were facts to justify. But such is the tendency of the time, and the belief is far too general that all men can be ruled with money, and that the use of such means to carry public measures is legitimate and proper. No member of Con- gress ought to place himself in circum- stances of suspicion, so that any discredit of the body shall arise on his account. It is of the highest importance that the na- tional legislature should be free of all taint of corruption, and it is of almost equal necessity that the people should feel confi- dent that it is so. In a free government like ours, we can- not expect the people will long respect the laws, if they lose respect for the law- makers. For these reasons we think it behooves every man in Congress or in any public position to hold himself aloof, as far as possible, from all such influences, that he may not only be enabled to look at every public question with an eye only to the public good, but that his conduct and mo- tives be not suspected or questioned. The only criticism the committee feel compelled to' make on the action of these members in taking this stock is that they were not suf- ficiently careful in ascertaining what they were getting, and that in their judgment the assurance of a good investment was all the assurance they needed. We commend to them, and to all men, the letter of the venerable Senator Bayard, in response to an offer of some of this stock, found on page 74 of the testimony. The committee find nothing in the con- duct or motives of either of these members in taking this stock, that calls for any recommendation by the committee of th House. 208 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. MR. JAMES BROOKS, OF NEW YORK. The case of Mr. Brooks stands upon a different state of facts from any of those al- ready given. The committee find from the evidence as follows : Mr. Brooks had been a warm advocate of a Pacific Railroad, both in Congress and in the public press. After persons interested in the Union Pacific road had obtained control of the Credit Mobil ier charter and organized under it for the purpose of making it a construction company to build the road. Dr. Durant, who was then the leading man in the en- terprise, made great efforts to get the stock of the Credit Mobilier taken. Mr. Brooks was a friend of Dr. Durant, and he made some efforts to aid Dr. Durant in getting subscriptions for the stock, introduced the matter to some capitalists of New York, but his efforts were not crowned with suc- cess. During this period Mr. Brooks had talked with Dr. Durant about taking some of the stock for himself, and had spoken of taking fifteen or twenty thousand dollars of it, but no definite contract was made between them, and Mr. Brooks was under no legal obligation to take the stock, or Durant to give it to him. In October, 1867, Mr. Brooks was appointed by the President one of the Government directors of the Union Pacific road. In December, 1867, after the stock of the Credit Mobilier was understood, by those familiar with the affairs between the Union Pacific and the Credit Mibilier, to be worth very much more than par, Mr. Brooks applied to Dr. Durant, and claimed that he should have two hundred shares of Credit Mobilier stock. It does not appear that Mr. Brooks claimed he had any legal contract for stock that he could enforce, or that Durant considered himself in any way legally bound to let him have any, but still, on account of what had been said, and the efforts of Mr. Brooks to aid him, he con- sidered himself under obligations to satisfy Mr. Brooks in the matter. The stock had been so far taken up, and was then in such demand, that Durant could not well comply with Brooks's de- mand for two hundred shares. After con- siderable negotiation, it was finally ad- justed between them by Durant's agreeing to let Brooks have one hundred shares of Credit Mobilier stock, and giving him with it $6,000 of Union Pacific bonds, and $20,- 000 of Union Pacific stock. Dr. Durant testifies that he then considered Credit Mobilier stock worth double the par value, and that the bonds and stock he was to give Mr. Brooks worth about $9,000, so thut lie saved about $1,000 by not giving Brooks the additional hundred shares he claimed. After the negotiation had been concluded between Mr. Brooks and Dr. Dnraiit, Mr. Brooks said that as he was a Government director of the Union Pacific road, and as the law provided such direc- tors should not be stockholders in that company, he would not hold this stock, and directed Dr. Durant to transfer it to Charles H. Neilson, his son-in-law. The whole negotiation with Durant was con- ducted by Mr. Brooks himself, and Neilson had nothing to do with the transaction, except to receive the transfer. The $10,- 000 to pay for the one hundred shares was paid by Mr. Brooks, and he received the $5,000 of Pacific bonds which came with the stock. The certificate of transfer of the hun- dred shares from Durant to Neilson is dated December 26, 1867. On the 3d of January, 1868, there was a dividend of 80 per cent, in Union Pacific bonds paid on the Credit Mobilier stock. The bonds were received by Neilson, but passed over at once to Mr. Brooks. It is claimed, bo ,h by Mr. Brooks and Neilson, that the $10,- 000 paid by Mr. Brooks for the stock was a loan of that sum by him to Neilson, nnd, that the bonds he received from Duraivt, and those received for the dividend, were delivered and held by him as collateral security for the loan. No note or obligation was given for the money by Neilson, nor, so far as we can learn from either Brooks or Neilson, was any account or memorandum of the trans- action kept by either of them. At the time of the arrangement or settlement above spoken of between Brooks and Du- rant, there was nothing said about Mr. Brooks being entitled to have 50 per cent, more stock by virtue of his ownership of the hundred shares. Neither Brooks nor Durant thought of any such thing. Some time after the transfer of the shares to Neilson, Mr. Brooks called on Sidney Dillon, then the president of the Credit Mobilier, and claimed he or Neilson was entitled to fifty additional shares of the stock, by virtue of the purchase of the one hundred shares of Durant. This was claimed by Mr. Brooks as his right by virtue of the 50 per cent, increase of the stock hereinbefore described. Mr. Dillon said he did not know how that was, but he would consult the leading stock- holders, and be governed by them. Mr. Dillon, in order to justify himself in the transaction, got up a paper authorizing the issue of fiftv shares of the stock to Mr. Brooks, and procured it to be signed by most of the principal shareholders. After this had been done, an entry of fifty shares was made on the stock-ledger to some per- son other than Neilson. The name in two places on the book has been erased, and the nante of Neilson inserted. The com- mittee are satisfied that the stock was first entered on the books in Mr. Brooks's name. Mr. Neilson soon after called for the cer* BOOK I.] THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 209 tificate for the fifty shares, and on the 29th of February, 1868," the certificate was issued to him, and the entry on the stock-book was changed to Neilson. Neilson procured Mr. Dillon to advance the money to pay for the stock, and at the same time delivered to Dillon $4,000 Union Pacific bonds, and fifty shares of Union Pacific stock as collateral security. These bonds and stock were a portion of divi- dends received at the time, as he was al- lowed to receive the same per centage of dividends on these fifty shares that had previously been paid on the hundred. This matter has never been adjusted be- tween Neilson and Dillon. Brooks and Neilson both testify they never paid Dillon. Dillon thinks he has received his pay, as he has not now the collaterals in his pos- session. If he has been paid it is probable that it was from the collaterals in some form. The subject has never been named between Dillon and Neilson since Dillon advanced the money, and no one connected with the transaction seems able to give any further light upon it. The whole business by which these fifty shares were procured was done by Mr. Brooks. Neilson knew nothing of any right to have them, and only went for the certificate when told to do so by Mr. Brooks. The committee find that no such right to fifty shares additional stock passed by the transfer of the hundred. And from Mr. Brooks's familiarity with the affairs of the company, the committee believe he must have known his claim to them was un- founded. The question naturally arises, How was he able to procure them ? The stock at this time by the stockholders was considered worth three or four times its par value. Neilson sustained no relations to any of these people that commanded any favor, and if he could have used any influence he did not attempt it ; if he had this right he was unaware of it till told by Mr. Brooks, and left the whole matter in his hands. It is clear that the shares were procured by the sole efforts of Mr. Brooks, and, as the stockholders who consented to it supposed, for the benefit of Mr. Brooks. What power had Mr. Brooks to enforce an unfounded claim, to have for $5,000, stock worth $15,000 or $20,000? Mr. McComb swears that he heard conversation between Mr. Brooks and Mr. John B. Alley, a large stockholder, and one of the executive com- mittee, in which Mr. Brooks urged that he should have the additional fifty shares, be- cause he was or would procure himself to be made a Government director, and also that, being a member of Congress, he " would take care of the democratic side of the House." Mr. Brooks and Mr. Alley both deny having had any such conversation, or that Mr. Brooks ever made such a statement to 14 Mr. Alley. If, therefore, this matter rested wholly upon the testimony of Mr. Mc- Comb, the committee would not feel justi- fied in finding that Mr. Brooks procured the stock by such use of his official posi- tion; but all the circumstances seem to point exactly in that direction, and we can find no other satisfactory solution of the question above propounded. Whatever claim Mr. Brooks had to stock, either legal or moral, had been adjusted and satisfied by Dr. Durant. Whether he was getting this stock for himself or to give to his son-in-law, we believe, from the cir- cumstances attending the whole transac- tion, that he obtained it knowing that it was yielded to its official position and in- fluence, and with the intent to secure his favor and influence in such positions. Mr. Brooks claims that he has had no interest in this stock whatever'; that the benefit and advantage of his right to have it he gave to Mr. Neilson, his son-in-law, and that he has had all the dividends upon it. The committee are unable to find this 1o be the case, for in their judgment all the facts and circumstances show Mr. Brooks to be the real and substantial owner, and that Neilson's ownership is merely nominal and colorable. In June, 1868, there was a cash dividend of $9,000 upon this one hundred and fifty shares of stock. Neilson received it, of course, as the stock was in his name ; but on the same day it was paid over to Mr. Brooks, as Neilson says, to pay so much of the $10,000 advanced by Mr. Brooks to pay for the stock. This, then, repaid all but $1,000 of the loan; but Mr. Brooks continued to hold $16,000 of Union Pacific bonds, which Neilson says he gave him as collateral security, and to draw the interest upon all but $5,000. The interest upon the others, Neilson says, he was permitted to draw and retain, but at one time in his. testimony he spoke of the amount he was allowed as being Christmas and New Year's presents. Neilson says that during the last summer he borrowed $14,000 of Mr. Brooks, and he now owes Mr. Brooks nearly as much as the collaterals ; but, ac- cording to his testimony, Mr. Brooks for four years held $16,000 in bonds as security for $1,000, and received the inter- est on $11,000 of the collaterals. No ac- counts appear to have been kept between Mr. Brooks and Neilson, and doubtless what sums he has received from Mr. Brooks, out of the dividends, were intended as presents rather than as deliveries of money belonging to him. Mr. Brooks's efforts procured the stock ; his money paid for it; all the cash divi- dends he has received ; and he holds all the bonds, except those Dillon received, which seem to have been applied toward paying for the fifty shares. Without 210 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. further comment on the evidence, the committee find that the one hundred and fifty shares of stock appearing on the books of the Credit Mobilier in the name of Neilson were really the stock of Mr. Brooks, and subject to his control, and that it was so understood by both the par- ties. Mr. Brooks had taken such an inter- est in the Credit Mobilier Company, and was so connected with Dr. Durant, that he must be regarded as having full knowledge of the relations between that company and the railroad company, and of the contracts between them. He must have known the cause of the sudden increase in value of the Credit Mobilier stock, and how the large expected profits were to be made. We have already expressed our views of the propriety of a member of Congress be- coming the owner of stock, possessing this knowledge. But Mr. Brooks was not only a member of Congress, but he was a Government director of the Union Pacific Company. As such it was his duty to guard and watch over the interests of the Govern- ment in the road and to see that they were protected and preserved. To insure such faithfulness on the part of Government directors, Congress wisely provided that they should not be stockholders in the road. Mr. Brooks readily saw that, though becoming a stockholder in the Credit Mobilier was not forbidden by the letter of the law, yet it was a violation of its spirit and essence, and therefore had the stock placed in the name of his son-in-law. The trans- fer of the Oakes Ames contract to the trustees and the building of the road un- der that con tract, from which the enormous dividends were derived, were all during Mr. Brooks's official life as a Government director, must have been within his know- ledge, and yet passed without the slightest opposition from him. The committee be- lieved this could not have been done without an entire disregard of his official obligation and duty, and that while ap- pointed to guard the public interests in the road he joined himself with the pro- moters of a scheme whereby the Govern- ment was to be defrauded, and shared in the spoil. In the conclusions of fact upon the evidence, the committee are entirely agreed. In considering what action we ought to recommend to the House upon these facts, the committee encounter a question which has been much debated : Has this House power and jurisdiction to inquire concern- ing offenses committed by its members prior to their election, and to punish them by cen- sure or expulsion? The committee are unanimous upon the right of jurisdiction of this House over the cases of Mr. Ames and Mr. Brooks, upon the facts found in regard to them. Upon the question of jurisdiction the committee present the fol- lowing views : The Constitution, in the fifth section of the first article, defines the power of either House as follows : " Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concur- rence of two-thirds expel a member.' It will be observed that there is no qual- ification of the power, but there is an im- portant qualification of the manner of its exercise it must be done " with the con- currence of two-thirds." The close analogy between this power and the power of impeachment is deserv- ing of consideration. The great purpose of the power of im- peachment is to remove an unfit and un- worthy incumbent from office, and though a judgment of impeachment may to some extent operate as punishment, that is not its principal object. Members of Congreiis are not subject to be impeached, but may be expelled, and the principal purpose of expulsion is not as punishment, but to re- move a member whose character and con- duct show that he is an unfit man to par- ticipate in the deliberations and decisions of the body, and whose presence in it tends to bring the body into contempt and dis- grace. In both cases it is a power of purgation and purification to be exercised for the public safety, and, in the case of expulsion, for the protection and character of the House. The Constitution defines the causes of impeachment, to wit, " treason, bribery, or other high crimes and mis- demeanors." The office of the power of expulsion is so much the same as that of the power to impeach that we think it may be safely assumed that whatever would be a good cause of impeachment would also be a good cause of expulsion. It hits never been contended that the power to impeach for any of the causes enumerated was intended to be restricted to those which might occur after appoint- ment to a civil office, so that a civil officer who had secretly committed such offense before his appointment should not be sub- ject upon detection and exposure to be convicted and removed from office. Every consideration of justice and sound policy would seem to require that the public in- terests be secured, and those chosen to be their guardians be free from the pollution of high crimes, no matter at what time that pollution had attached. If this be so in regard to other civil of- ficers, under institutions which rest upon the intelligence and virtue of the people, can it well be claimed that the law-making Representative may be vile and criminal with impunity, provided the evidences of BOOK I.] THE CREDIT MOBILIEB. 211 his corruption are found to antedate his election ? In the report made to the Senate by John Quincy Adams in December, 1807, upon the case of John Smith, of Ohio, the fol- lowing language is used: "The power of expelling a member for misconduct results, on the principles of common sense, from the interests of the nation that the high trust of legislation shall be invested in pure hands. When the trust is elective, it is not to be presumed that the constitu- ent body will commit the deposit to the keeping'of worthless characters. But when a man whom his fellow-citizens have hon- ored with their confidence on a pledge of a spotless repution, has degraded himself by the commission of infamous crimes, which become suddenly and unexpectedly revealed to the world, defective indeed would be that institution which should be impotent to discard from its bosom the con- tagion of such a member ; which should have no remedy of amputation to apply until the poison had reached the heart." The case of Smith was that of a Senator, who, after his election, but not during a session of the Senate, had been involved in the treasonable conspiracy of Aaron Burr. Yet the reasoning is general, and was to antagonize some positions which had been taken in the case of Marshall, a Senator from Kentucky; the Senate in that case having, among other reasons, de- clined to take jurisdiction of the charge for the reason that the alleged offence had been committed prior to the Senator's election, and was matter cognizable by the criminal courts of Kentucky. None of the com- mentators upon the Constitution or upon parliamentary law assign any such limita- tion as to the time of the commission of the offense, or the nature of it, which shall control and limit the power of expulsion. On the contrary they all assert that the power in its very nature is a discretionary one, to be exercised of course with grave circumspection at all times, and only for good cause. Story, Kent, and Sergeant, all seem to accept and rely upon the ex- position of Mr. Adams in the Smith case as sound. May, in his Parliamentary Practice, page 59, enumerates the causes for expulsion from Parliament, but he no- where intimates that the offense must have been committed subsequent to the election. When it is remembered that the framers of our Constitution were familiar with the parliamentary law of England, and must nave had in mind the then recent contest over Wilkes's case, it is impossible to con- clude that they meant to limit the discre- tion of the Houses as to the causes of ex- pulsion. It is a received principle of con- struction that the Constitution is to be in- terpreted according to the known rules of law at the time of its adoption, and there- fore, when we find them dealing with a recognized subject of legislative authority, and while studiously qualifying and re- stricting the manner of its exercise, assign- ing no limitations to the subject-matter itself, they must be assumed to have in- tended to leave that to be determined ac- cording to established principles, as a high prerogative power to be exercised accord- ing to the sound discretion of the body. It was not to be apprehended that two- thirds of the Eepresentatives of the people would ever exercise this power in any capricious or arbitrary manner, or trifle with or trample upon constitutional rights. At the same time it could not be foreseen what necessities for self-preservation or setf-purification might arise in the legisla- tive oody. Therefore it was that they did not, and would not, undertake to limit or define the boundaries of those necessities. The doctrine that the jurisdiction of thie House over its members is exclusively ecu- fined to matters arising subsequent to their election, and that the body is bound to re- tain the vilest criminal as a member if his criminal secret was kept until his election was secured, has been supposed by many to have been established and declared in the famous case of John Wilkes before al- luded to. A short statement of that ca.se will show how fallacious is that supposi- tion. Wilkes had been elected a member of Parliament for Middlesex, and in 1764 was expelled for having published a libel on the ministry. He was again elected and again expelled for a similar offense on the 3d of February, 1769. Being again elected on the 17th of February, 1769, the commons passed the following resolution : " That John Wilkes, Esq., having been in this session of Parliament expelled this house was and is incapable of being elected a member to serve in this present Parlia- ment." Wilkes was again elected, but the House of Commons declared the seat va- cant and ordered a new election. At this election Wilkes was again elected by 1,143 votes, against 296 for his competitor, Lut- trell. On the 15th of April, 1769, the house decided that by the previous action Wilkes had become ineligible, and that the votes given for him were void and could not be counted, and gave the seat to Luttrell. Subsequently, in 1783, the House of Com- mons declared the resolution of February 17, 1769, which had asserted the incapacity of an expelled member to be re-elected to the same Parliament, to be subversive of the rights of the electors, and expunged it from the journal. It will be seen from this concise statement of Wilkes's case that the question was not raised as to the power of the house to expel a member for offenses committed prior to his election ; the point decided, and afterward mosf AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. properly expunged, was that expulsion per ge rendered the expelled member legally ineligible, and that votes cast for him could not be counted. Wilkes's offense was of purely a political character, not involving moral turpitude; he had attacked the ministry in the press, and the proceedings against him in Parliament were then claimed to be a partisan political persecu- tion, subversive of the rights of the people and of the liberty of the press. These proceedings in Wilkes's case took place during the appearance of the famous Juni- us letters, and several of them are devoted to the discussion of them. The doctrine that expulsion creates ineligibility was at- tacked and exposed by him with great force. But he concedes that if the catise of expulsion be one that renders a man unfit and unworthy to be a member, he may be expelled for that cause as often as he shall be elected. The case of Mattesou, in the House of Representatives, has also often been quoted as a precedent for this limitation of juris- diction. In the proceedings and debates of the House upon that case it will be seen that this was one among many grounds taken in the debate ; but as the whole sub- ject was ended by being laid on the table, it is quite impossible to say what was de- cided by the House. It appeared, how- ever, in that case that the charge against Matteson had become public, and his letter upon which the whole charge rested had been published and circulated through his district during the canvass preceding his election. This fact, we judge, had a most important influence in determining the action of the House in his case. The committee have no occasion in this report to discuss the question as to the power or duty of the House in a case .where a constituency, with a full knowledge of the objectionable character of a man, have selected him to be their Representative. It is hardly a case to be supposed that any constituency, with a full knowledge that a man had been guilty of an offense involv- ing moral turpitude, would elect him. The majority of the committee are not pre- pared to concede such a man could! be forced upon the House, and would not con- aider the expulsion of such a man any vio- lation of the rights of the electors, for while the electors have rights that should be respected, the House as a body has rights also that should be protected ana preserved. But that in such case the judgment of the constituency would be entitled to the great- eat 'consideration, and that this should form an important element in its determination, is readily admitted. It is universally conceded, as we believe, that the House has ample jurisdiction to punish or expel a member for an offense committed during his term as a member, though committed during a vacation o^ Congress and in no way connected with his duties as a member. Upon what prin- ciple is it that such a jurisdiction can be maintained ? It must be upon one or both of the following: that the offense shows him to be an unworthy and improper man to be a member, or that his conduct brings odium and reproach upon the body. But suppose the offense has been committed prior to his election, but comes to light afterward, is the effect upon his own character, or the reproach and disgrace upon the body, if they allow him to remain a member, any the less? We can see no difference in principle in the two cases, and to attempt any would be to create a purely technical and arbitrary distinction, having no just foundation. In our judgment, the time is not at all material, except it be coupled with the further fact that he w:is re-elected with a knowledge on the part of his constituents of what he had been guill y, and in such event we have given our vieirs of the effect. It seems to us absurd to say that an elec- tion has given a man political absolution for an offense which was unknown to his constituents. If it be urged again, a it has sometimes been, that this view of the power of the House, and the true ground of its proper exercise, may be laid hold of and used improperly, it may be answered that no rule, however narrow and limited, that may be adopted can prevent it. If two-thirds of the House shall see fit to ex- pel a man because they do not like las political or religious principles, or with out any reason at all, they have the power, jind there is no remedy except by appeal to i'lie people. Such exercise of the power \vou.ld be wrongful, and violative of the princi- ples of the Constitution, but we see no encouragement of such wrong in the views we hold. It is the duty of each House to exercise its rightful functions upon appropriate oc- casions, and to trust that those who come after them will be no less faithful to duty, and no less jealous for the rights of free popular representation than themselves. It will be quite time enough to square other cases with right reason and principle when they arise. Perhaps the best way to prevent them will be to maintain strictly public integrity and public honor in all cases as they piesent themselves. Nor do we imagine that the people of the United States will charge their servants with in- vading their privileges when they confine themselves to the preservation of a stand- ard of official integrity which the common instincts of humanity recognize as essen- tial to all social order and good govern- ment. The foregoing are the views which we deem proper to submit upon the general BOO? I.] THE CREDIT MOBILIEB. 213 question of the jurisdiction of the House ov<;r its members. But apart from these geueral views, the committee are of opin- ion that the facts found in the present case amply justify the taking jurisdiction over them, for the following reasons: The subject-matter upon which the ac- tion of members was intended to be influ- enced was of a continuous character, and was as likely to be a subject of congres- sional action in future Congresses as in the Fortieth. The influences. brought to bear on members were as likely to be operative upon them in the future as in the present, and were so intended. Mr. Ames and Mr. Brooks have both continued members of the House to the present time, and so have most of the members upon whom these in- fluences were sought to be exerted. The committee are, therefore, of opinion that the acts of these men may properly be treated as offenses against the present House, and so within its jurisdiction upon tho most limited rule. Two members of the committee, Messrs. Nib lack and McCrary, prefer to express no opinion on the general jurisdictional questions discussed in the report, and rest their judgment wholly on the ground last stated. In relation to Mr. Ames, he sold to sev- eral members of Congress stock of the Credit Mobilier Company, at par, when it was worth double that amount or more, with the purpose and intent thereby to in- flueuce their votes and decisions upon mutters to come before Congress. The facts found in the report as to Mr. Brooks, show that he used the influence of hi:* official positions as member of Congress and Government director in the Union Pacific Railroad Company, to get fifty sli ires of the stock of the Credit Mobilier Company, at par, when it was worth three cr four times that sum, knowing that it was given to him with intent to influence his votes and decisions in Congress, and his action as a Government director. The sixth section of the act of February 26, 1853, 10 Stat. United States, 171, ia in the following words: " If any person or-persons shall, directly or indirectly, promise, offer, or give, or cause or procure to be promised, offered, or e'ven, any money, goods, right in action, ibe, present, or reward, or any promise, contract, undertaking, obligation, or se- curity for the payment or delivery of any money, goods, right in action, bribe, pres- ent, or reward, or any other valuable thing whatever, to any member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States, after his election as such member, and either before or after he shall have qualified and taken his seat, or to any offi- cer of the United States, or person holding any place of trust or profit, or discharging any official function under or in connec- tion with any Department of the Govern- ment of the* United States, or under the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States, after the passage of this act, with intent to influence his vote or de- cision on any question, matter, cause, or proceeding which may then be pending, or may by law, or under the Constitution of the United States, be brought before him in his official capacity, or in his place of trust or profit, and shall thereof be con- victed, such person or persons so offering, promising, or giving, or causing or pro- curing to be promised, offered, or given, any such money, goods, right in action, bribe, present, or reward, or any promise, contract, undertaking, obligation, or se- curity for the payment or delivery of any money, goods, right in action, bribe, pres- ent, or reward, or other valuable thing whatever, and the member, officer, or per- son who shall in anywise accept or receive the same, or any part thereof, shall be liable to indictment as for a high crime and misdemeanor in any of the courts of the United States having jurisdiction for the trial of crimes and misdemeanors ; and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not exceeding three times the amount so offered, promised, or given, and imprisoned in the penitentiary not exceeding three years ; and the person so convicted of so accepting or receiving the same, or any part thereof, if an officer or person holding any such place of trust or profit as afore- said, shall forfeit his office or place ; and any person so convicted under this section shall forever be disqualified to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States." In the judgment of the committee, the facts reported in regard to Mr. Ames and Mr. Brooks would have justified their con- viction under the above-recited statute and subjected them to the penalties therein provided. The committee need not enlarge npoo the dangerous character of these offenses. The sense of Congress is shown by the severe penalty denounced by the statute itself. The offenses were not violations of private rights, but were against the very life of a constitutional Government by poisoning the fountain of legislation. The duty devolved upon the committee has been of a most painful and delicate character. They have performed it to the best of their ability. They have proceeded with the greatest care and deliberation, for while thev desired to do their full duty to the House and the country, they were most anxious not to do injustice to any man. In forming their conclusions they have intended to oe entirely cool and dis- passionate, not to allow themselves to be swerved by any popular fervor on the one 214 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. hand, or any feeling of personal favor and sympathy on the other. The committee submit to the House and recommend the adoption of the following resolutions. " 1. Whereas Mr. Oakes Ames, a Repre- sentative in this House from the State of Massachusetts, has been guilty of selling to members of Congress shares of stock in the Credit Mobilier of America, for prices much below the true value of such stock, with intent thereby to influence the votes and decisions of such members in matters to be brought before Congress for action : Therefore, Resolved, That Mr. Oakes Ames be, and he is hereby, expelled from his seat as a member of this House. 2. Whereas Mr. James Brooks, a Repre- sentative in this House from the State of New York, did procure the Credit Mo- bilier Company to issue and deliver to Charles H. Neilson, for the use and bene- fit of said Brooks, fifty shares of the stock of said company, at a price much below its real value, well knowing that the same was so issued and delivered with intent to influence the votes and decisions of said Brooks, as a member of the House, in mat- ters to be brought before Congress for ac- tion, and also to influence the action of said Brooks as a Government director in the Union Pacific Railroad Company: Therefore, Resolved, That Mr. James Brooks be, and he is hereby, expelled from his seat as a member of this House." The House, after much discussion, modi- fied the propositions of the committee of investigation, and subjected Oakes Ames and James Brooks to the " absolute con- demnation of the House." Both members died within three months thereafter. The session was full of investigations, but all the others failed, to develop any tangible scandals. The Democrats de- manded and secured the investigation of til- New York custom-house; the United States Treasury ; the use of Seneca sand- stone; the Cnorpenning claim, and the Navy Department, etc. They were, as fcattd, fruitless. The "Salary Grab." At the same session 1871-73, acts were passed to abolish the franking privilege, to increase the President's salary from $25- 000 to $60,000, and that of Senators and Representatives from $5,000 to $7,500. The last proved quite unpopular, and was gene- rally denounced as " The Salary Grab," lift an-o of the feature which made it ap- Ely to the Congressmen who passed the ill. and of course to go backward to the beginning of the term. This was not new, as earlier precedents were found to excuse it, but the people were neverthe- less dissatisfied, and it was made an issue by both parties in the nomination and election of Representatives. Many were defeated, but probably more survived the issue, and are still enjoying public life. Yet the agitation was kept up until the obnoxious feature of the bill and the Con- gressional increase of salary were repealed, leaving it as now at the rate of $5,000 a year and mileage. A House committee, headed by B. F. Butler, on Feb. 7th, 1873, made a report which gave a fair idea of the expenses un- der given circumstances the increase to be preserved, but the franking privilege and mileage to be repealed. We quote the figures: Increase of President's salary $25,000 00 Increase of Cabinet ministers' salary 14,000 00 Increase of salary of judges United States Supreme Court 18,500 00 Increase of salary of Senators, Members, and Delegates... 972,000 00 Totalincrease $1,029,500 00 Saving to the Government, ac- cording to the official state- ment of the Postmaster- General, per annum, by the abolition of the franking privilege $2,543,327 72 Saving to the Government by abolition of mileage, sta- tionery, postage, and news- paper accounts (estimated) 200 000 00 $2,753,327 72 1,029,500 00 Total net saving $1,713,827 72 The House passed a bill for the aboli- tion of mileage, but in the Senate it was referred to the Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment, and not again heard from. So that the increased pay no longer obtains, the franking privilege only to the extent of mailing actual Congressional documents, and mileage remains. The following curious facts relating to these questions we take from Hon. Edward McPherson's admirable compilation in his "Hand- Book of Politics" for 1874. Statement of Compensation and Mileage. Drawn by U. 8. Senator* vnder the vuritnu Compeniatio* Actt. Mr. Gorham, Secretary of the Senate, prepared, under date of January 3, 1874, a statement, in answer to a resolution of the Senate, covering these points : BOOK I.] COMPENSATION AND MILEAGE. 215 I. The several rates of compensation fixed by various laws, and the cases in which the same were retroactive, and for what length of time. 1. By the act of September 22, 1789, the compensation of Senators and Representa- tives in Congress was fixed at six dollars a day, and thirty cents a mile for traveling to and from the seat of Government. This rate was to continue until March 4, 1795. The same act fixed the compensation from March 4, 1795, to March 4, 1796, (at which last-named date, by its terms, it ex- pired,) at seven dollars a day, and thirty- five cents a mile for travel. This act was retroactive, extending back six months and eighteen days, namely, to March 4, 1789. 2. The act of March 10, 1796, fixed the compensation at six dollars a day, and thirty cents a mile for travel. (This act extended back over six days only.) 3. The act of March 19, 1816, fixed the compensation at $1,500 a year, "instead of the daily compensation," and left the mile- age unchanged. This act was retroactive, extending back one year and fifteen days, namely to March 4, 1815. (This act was repealed by the act of February 6, 1817, but it was expressly declared that no former act was thereby revived.) 4. The act of January 22, 1818, fixed the compensation at eight dollars a day, and forty cents a mile for travel. This act was retroactive, extending back fifty-three days, namely, to the assembling of Congress, December 1, 1817. 5. The act of August 16, 1856, fixed the compensation at $3,000 a year, and left the mileage unchanged. This act was retroac- tive, extending back one year, five months, a ad twelve days, namely, to March 4, 1855. 6. The act of July 28, 1866, fixed the compensation at $5,000 a year, and twenty cents a mile for travel, (not to affect mile- age accounts already accrued.) This act was retroactive, extending back one year, four months, and twenty-four days, namely, to March 4, 1865. 7. The act of March 3, 1873, fixed the compensation at $7,500 a year, and actual traveling expenses; the mileage already paid for the Forty-Second Congress to be deducted from the pay of those who had received it. This act was retroactive, ex- tending back two years, namely, to March 4, 1871. NOTE. Stationery was allowed to Sena- tors and Representatives without any special limit until March 3, 1868, when the amount for stationery and newspapers for each Senator and Member was limited to $125 a session. This was changed by a subsequent act, taking effect July 1, 1869, to $125 a year. The act of 1873 abolished all allowance for stationery and news- papers. II. Names of Senators who drew pay un- der the retroactive provisions of the several laws, amounts drawn, and dates of same. ACT OF 1789. The records of my office do not furnish the exact information de- sired under this head concerning the First Congress, the compensation of which was fixed by act of September 22, 1789. It appears, however, that the account of each Senator was made up, and that each re- ceived the amount allowed by law. The following is a copy from the record : January 19, 1790. That there is due to the Senators of the United States for attendance in Congress the present session, to the 31st of March inclusive, and ex- penses of travel to Congress , as allowed by law, as follows, to wit : Messrs. Richard Basset, $496.50 ; Pierce Butler, $796; Charles Carroll, $186; Tristram Dalton, $612 ; Oliver Ellsworth, $546.50; Jonathan Elmer, $414 ; William Few, $833.50 ; John Henry, $596.50 ; Ben- jamin Hawkins, $615 ; William S. John- son, $544; Samuel Johnson, $534 ; Rufus King, $522 ; John Langdon, $618 ; William Maclay, $585; Robert Morris, $430.50; William Paterson, $514.50 ; George Read, 195; Caleb Strong, $575.50; Philip Schuyler, $571.50 ; PaineWingate, $616.50. ACT OF 1816. The record contains no showing as to the amount paid to Senators under the retroactive provision of the act of March 19, 1816. The following, taken from the books, shows the amount of com- pensation paid to each Senator for the en- tire Congress, exclusive of mileage : Messrs. Eli P. Ashmun, $920 ; James Barbour, $2,850 ; William T. Barry, $2,080; William W. Bibb, $2,070 ; James Brown, $2,980 ; George W. Campbell, $2,950 ; Dud- ley Chace, 3,000 ; John Conclit, $2,980 ; David Daggett, $3,000 ; Samuel W. Dana, $2,640 ; Elegius Fromentin, $3,000 ; John Gaillard, President, $6,000; Robert H. Goldsborough, $2,840 ; Christopher Gore, $1,940; Alexander Contee Hanson, $530; Martin D. Hardin, $900 ; Robert G. Har- per, $1,450 ; Outerbridge Horsey, $3,000 ; Jeremiah B. Howell, $3,000; William Hunter, $2,930; Rufus King, $2,660; Abner Lacock, $3,000 ; Nathaniel Macon, $2,946 ; Jeremiah Mason of New Hamp- shire, $2,680 ; Armistead T. Mason of Vir- ginia, $2,360 ; Jeremiah Morrow, $3,000 ; James Noble, $920; Jonathan Roberts, $3,000 ; Benjamin Ruggles, $3,000 ; Nathan Sanford, $2,720; William Smith, $540; Montfort Stokes, $810; Charles Tait, $3,000 ; Isham Talbot, $2,730 ; John Tay- lor of South Carolina, $1,990 ; Waller Tay- lor of Indiana, $920 ; Thomas W. Thomp- son, $2,850 ; 'Isaac Tichenor, $3,000 ; Georgo M. Troup, $830 ; James Turner, $2,060 ; Joseph B. Varnum, $3,000; William H. 21.6 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Wells, $2,610; John Williams, $3,000; James J. Wilson, $3,000. ACT OF 1818. Under the retroactive provision of the act of January 22, 1818, the following named Senators drew the amounts for compensation and mileage op- posite their respective names : Messrs. Eli P. Ashnum, $668; James Barbour, $520 ; James Burril, $762 ; Greorge W. Campbell, $1,008 ; John J. Crittenden, $1,007.20 ; David Daggett, $690.40 ; Samuel W. Dana, $283.20; Mahlon Dickerson, $628.80; John W. Eppes, $584; James Fisk, $848 ; Elegius Fromentin, $1,393.60 ; John Gaillard, $880 ; Robert H. Golds- borough, $483.20; Outerbridge Horsey, $485.60 ; William Hunter, $543.20 ; Henry Johnson, $1,273.60 ; Rufus King, $627.20 ; Abner Lacock, $649.60; Walter Leake, $1,384; Nathaniel Macon, $600 ; David L. Morril, $876; Jeremiah Morrow, $776; James Noble, $918.40 ; Harrison Gray Otis, $792.80 ; Jonathan Roberts, $564.80 ; Ben- jamin Buggies, $688; Nathan Sanford, $616 ; William Smith, $774.40 ; Montfort Stokes, $745.60 ; Clement Storer, $875.20 ; Charles Tait, $952; Isham Talbot, $872; Waller Taylor, $1,080; Isaac Tichenor, $784; George M. Troup, $952; Van Dyke, $380.80; Thomas H. Williams of Mississippi, $1,433.60; John W T illiams of Tennessee, $861.60 ; James J. Wilson, $568. ACT OF 1856. Under the retroactive provision of the act of August 16, 1856, the following named Senators drew the amounts opposite their respective names: Messrs. Stephen Adams, $2,243.77 ; Philip Allen, $2,202.79 ; James A. Bayard, $2,088.03; James Bell, $1,083.93; John Bell, $2,268.36; J. P. Benjamin, $2,210.99 ; Asa Biggs, $2,161.81 ; William Bigler, $1,- 594.24; Jesse D. Bright, president pro tempore, $6,772.40 ; R. Brodhead, $2,251.- 9V ; A. G. Brown, $2,251.97 ; A. P. Butler, $2,202.70 ; Lewis Cass, $2,251.97 ; C. C. Clayjr., $2,251.97 ; J. M. Clayton, $2,292.- 95 ; J". Collamer, $2,219.18 ; J. J. Critten- den, $2,243.79 ; H. Dodge, $2,292.95 ; S. A. Douglas, $2,268.36 ; C. Durkee, $2,235.56 ; J. J. Evans, $2,121.70 ; W. S. Fessenden, $2,276.56 ; H. Fish, $2,237.28 ; B. Fitzpat- rick, $2,194.50 ; S. Foot. $2,292.94 ; L. F. S. Foster, $2,1 12.62; H. S. Geyer, $2,276.- 66 ; J. P. Hale, $887.10 ; H. Hamlin, $1,- 989.68 ; J. Harlan, $2,268.36 ; S. Houston, $2,292.95; R. M. T. Hunter, 2,210.99; A. Iverson, $2,210.99 ; C. T.James, $2,210.99; R. W. Johnson, $632.21 ; G. W. Jones, $2,235.58; J. C. Jones, $2,047.05; S. R. Mallory, $2,276.56; J. M. Mason, $2,173; J. A. Pearce, $2,194.59; T. G. Pratt, $2,- 129.02; G. E. Pugh, $2,096.21 ; D. S.Reid, $2,235.58; T. J. Rusk, $2,292.95 ; W. K. Sebastian, $2,137.22 ; W. H. Seward, $2,- 293.95; John Slidell, $2,276.56; C. E. Stuart, $2,292.95; C. Sumner, $2,292.95; J. B. Thompson, $2,235.57; John R. Thomson, $2.022.46 ; Robert Toombs, $2,- 006.07 ; Isaac' Toucey, $2,292.65 ; L. Trum- bull, $2,251.97 ; B. F. Wade, $2,202.79 ; J. B. Weller, $2,251 97 ; H. Wilson, $2,178.- 20; W. Wright, $2,120.82; D. L. Yulee, $2,194.59. ACT OF 1866. Under the retroactive provision of the act of July 28, 1866, the following named Senators received the amounts opposite their respective names : Messrs. H. B. Anthony, $2.805 56 ; B. Gratz Brown, $2,805 56 ; C. R. Buckalew $2,805 56 ; Z. Chandler, $2,805 56 ; D'. Clark, $2,805 56 ; J. Collamer, $1,366 15 ; J. Conness, $2,805 56 ; E. Cowan, $2,- 805 56 ; A. H. Cragin, $2,805 56 ; J. A. J. Creswell, $2,805, 56 ; G. Davis, $2,805 56 ; J. Dixon, $2,805 56; J. R. Doolittle, $2,- 80556; W. P. Fessenden, $2,80556; S. Foot, $2,136 76 ; L. F. S. Foster, President pro tempore, $261 93 ; J. W. Grimes, $2,- 805 56 ; J. Guthrie, $2,805 56 ; L Harris, $2,805 56 ; J. B. Henderson, $2,805 56 ; T. A. Hendricks, $2,805.56 ; J. M. Howard, $2,805 56 ; T. O. Howe, $2,805 56 ; R. John- son, $2,80556; H. S. Lane, $2,80556; J. H. Lane, $2,710 49 ; James A. Mc- Dougall, $2,80556; E. D. Morgan, $2,- 805 56 ; L. M. Morrill, $2,805 56 ; J. W. Nesmith, $2,805 56 ; D. S. Norton, $2,- 805 56 ; J. W. Nye, $2,805 56; S. C. Pome- roy, $2, 805 56 ; A. Ramsey, $2,805 56 ; G. R. Riddle, $2,805 56 ; W. Saulsbury, $2,- 80556; J. Sherman, $2,80556; W. M. Stewart, $2,805 56 ; C. Sumner, $2,805 56 ; L. Trumbull, $2,805 56 ; P. G. Van Winkle, $2,80556; B. Wade, $2,80556; W. T. Willey, $2,805 56 ; G. H. Williams, $2,- 805 56; H. Wilson, $2,805 56; W. Wright, $2,805 56 ; R. Yates, $2,805 56 ; J. Harlan, $350 ; L. P. Poland, $1,361 ; John P. Stock- ton, $2,131 20; S. J. Kirkwood, $2,361 10; G. F. Edmunds, $66666; E. G. Ross, $180 40. ACT OF 1873. Under the retroactive provision of the act of March 3, 1873, the following named Senators received the sums set opposite their respective names : Messrs. A. Ames, $2,840; J. L. Alcorn, $2,312 39; J. T. Bayard, $4,865 60; F. P. Blair, $3,761 60; A. I. Boreman, $4,514; W. G. Brownlow, $4,588 ; A. Caldwell, $2,- 647 60 ; S. Cameron, $4,856 ; M. H. Cai* penter, $3,887 60 ; E. Casserly, $970 40 ; Z. Chandler, $3,90680; P. Clayton, $2,600; C. Cole, $970 40 ; H. Cooper, $3,760 ; H. G. Davis, $4,635 20 ; O. S. Ferry, $4,652 ; T. W. Ferry, $3,920 ; J. W. Flanagan, $2,- 000; A. Gilbert, $3,680; George Goldth- waite, $3,924 80 ; M. C. Hamilton, $2,480; Joshua Hill, $4,083 20 ; P. W. Hitchcock, $2,852 80 ; T. 0. Howe, $3,689 60 , J. W. Johnston, $4,705 60 ; John T. Lewis, $4- 80440; John A. Logan, $3,800; W. B. Machen, $552 98 ; L. M. Morrill, $4,190 ; J. S. Morrill, (draft in favor of the treas- BOOK I.] RETURNING BOARDS. 217 urer of the State of Vermont,) $4,386 80 T. M. Norwood, $4,169 60 ; J. W. Nye, $2,- 076 80; T. W. Osborn, $3,440; J. W. Pat- terson, $4,280; S. C. Pomeroy, $3,320 John Pool, $4,620 80 ; M. W. Ransom, $4,- 817 60 ; B. F. Rice, $3,200 ; T. J. Robert- son, $4,374 80 ; F. A. Sawyer, $4,294 40 George E. Spencer, $4,106; W. Sprague $4,508 ; W. M. Stewart, $1,486 40 ; J. R Stockton, $4,790 ; T. W. Tipton, $3,358 ; Lyman Trumbull, $3,980 ; G. Vickers, $4,- 880 ; J. R. West, $2,468 80. III. Names of Senators who covered into the Treasury amounts due them under re- troactive provisions of law, with date of such action. There is no record in my office showing that any Senator covered into the Trea- sury any money to which he was entitled by the retroactive provisions of either of the acts of September 22, 1789, March 19, 1816, January 22, 1818, August 16, 1856. or July 28, 1866. The following Senators covered into the Treasury the amounts due them under the retroactive provision of the act of March 3, 1873, namely : 1873. May 26, H. B. Anthony, $4,497 20 ; June 23, W. A. Buckingham, $4,553 60 ; Mav 21, R. E. Fenton, $4,184; June 2, F. T. Frelinghuysen, $4,644 80 ; May 19, H. Harnlin, $4,136 ; August 14, O. P. Morton, $3,922 40 ; April 9, D. D. Pratt, $4,121 60 ; August 25, A. Ramsey, $3,041 40 ; March 28, C. Schurz, $3,761 60 ; May 9, John Scott, $4,733 06; July 11, John Sherman, $4,336 40 ; May 2, C. Sumner, $4,445 60 ; May 22, A. G.Thurman, $4,35920; March 28, Henry Wilson, $4,448 ; September 6, George G. Wright, $3,140 80. NOTE. Several of these Senators, as \vell as others who have not either drawn or covered into the Treasury the amounts due them under the retroactive provision of the act of 1873, expressed to me their intention to allow the money to lapse into the Treasury by the ordinary operation of law, which they supposed would occur July 3, 1873. After learning that it could not be covered in, except by their order, before July 3, 1875, some gave me written instructions to anticipate the latter date. I am unable to furnish from any informa- tion in my office the names of Senators who themselves paid into the Treasury salary drawn under the act of 1873 or pre- vious acts. I have not furnished the names of Senators who have left increased salary undrawn, as this information was not called for in the resolution. IV. A Comparative Statement. Total compensation and allowance of Senators, under act of July 28, 1866, from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1872 : Com- pensation, $370,000 ; mileage, $37,041 20 ; stationery and newspapers, $9,250; total, $416,291 20 ; average per Senator, $5,- 625 55f f. Under same act, from March 4, 1872, to March 3, 1873, during which year members of the Senate received mileage for attend- ing the special session of the Senate, held in May, 1872, the following amounts were paid: Compensation, $370,000; mileage, $59,002 80 ; newspapers and stationery, $9,- 250 ; total, $438,252 80 ; average per Sen- ator, $5,922 23$?. Total compensation and allowance of Senators under act of March 3, 1873: Compensation, $555,000; traveling ex- penses, based upon the certificates of forty- six Senators, (twenty-eight having pre- sented none,) amounting to $4,607 95, giv- ing an average of $100 17x74=$7,412 58 ; total, $562,412 58; average per Senator, $7,600 17. In connection with this were statements, prepared by the Secretary of the Senate, and laid before that body by Senator CAMERON, January 9, 1874, of the amounts of mileage paid in dollars (cents omitted) at particular dates under the acts of 1856 and 1866, are given. The act of 1856 fixed mileage at forty cents per mile each way, and the act of 1866 fixed it at twenty cents per mile each way. Returning Boards. At the second session of the 42d Con- gress that body, and the President as well, were compelled to consider a new question in connection with politics an actual con- flict of State Governments. There had al- ways been, in well regulated State govern- ments, returning boards, but with a view the better to guard the newly enfranchised citizens of the South from intimidation, the Louisiana Republicans, under very bold and radical leaders, had greatly strengthened the powers of her returning boards. It could canvass the votes, reject the returns in part or as a whole of parishes where force or fraud had been used, and could declare results after such revision. The Governor of Louisiana had made several removals and appointments of State officers for the purpose mainly of making a friendly majority in the return- ing board, and this led to the appointment of two bodies, both claiming to be the le- gitimate returning board. There soon :ollowed two State governments and legis- atures, the Democratic headed by Gover- nor John McEnery, the Republican by jovernor Wm. Pitt Kellogg, later in the U. _S. Senate. Kellogg brought suit against the Democratic officers before Judge Durell, of the Federal District 3ourt, and obtained an order that the J. S. Marshal (S. B. Packard, afterwards Governor), should seize the State House and prevent the meetings of the McEnery 218 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK L legislature. Then both governments were hastily inaugurated, and claimed the re- cognition of Congress. The Senate Com- mittee reported that Judge Durell's deci- sion was not warranted, but the report refused a decisive recognition of either government. A bill was introduced de- claring the election of Nov. 4, 1872, on which this condition of affairs was based, null and void, and providing for a new election, but this bill was defeated by a close vote. Later on, Louisiana claimed a large share in National politics. Some- ; what similar troubles occurred in Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas, but they were settled with far greater ease than those of Louisi- ana. The correspondence in all of these casea was too voluminous to reproduce here, and we shall dismiss the subject until the period of actual hostilities were reached in Louisiana. The Granger*. So early as 1867 a secret society had been formed first in Washington, known as the Patrons of Husbandry, and it soon succeeded in forming subordinate lodges or granges in Illinois, Wisconsin, and other States. It was declared not to be politi- cal ; that its object was co-operation among farmers in purchasing supplies from first hands, so as to do away with middle-men, but, like many other secret organizations, it was soon perverted to political purposes, and for a time greatly disturbed the politi- cal parties of the Western States. This was especially true of the years 1873-74, when the Grangers announced a contem- plated war on railroad corporations, and succeeded in carrying the legislatures of Illinois and Wisconsin, and inducing them subsequently to pass acts, the validity of which the Supreme Courts of the State, under a temporary popular pressure which was apparently irresistible, could not sus- tain. The effect of these laws was to al- most bankrupt the Illinois Central, there- tofore wealthy, to cripple all railroads, to interfere largely with foreign exports, and to react against the interests of the people of the States passing them, that the demand for repeal was soon very much greater than the original demand for pas- sage. As these laws, though repealed, are still often referred to in the discussion of political and corporate questions, we give the text of one of them : Illinois Railroad Act of 1873. An Act to prevent extortion and unjust discrimination in the rates charged for the transportation of passengers and freights on railroads in this State, and to punish the same, and prescribe a mode of procedure and rules of evidence in relation thereto, and to repeal an aot en- titled " An act to prevent unjust discrim- ination and extortions in the rates to ba charged by the different railroads in this State for the transportation of freights on said roads," approved April 7, A. D. 1871. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, If any railroad corpo- ration, organized or doing business in this State under any act of incorporation, or general law of this State now in force, or 'which may hereafter be enacted, or any railroad corporation organized or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of any other State, and doing business in this State, shall charge, collect, demand, or receive more than a fair and reasonable rate of toll or compensation for the trans- portation of passengers or freight 'of any description, or for the use and transporta- tion of any railroad car upon its track, or any of the branches thereof, or upon any railroad within this State which it has the right, license, or permission to use, oper- ate, or control, the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion, and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided. SEC. 2. If any such railroad corporation aforesaid shall make any unjust discrimi- nation in its rates or charges of toll, or compensation, for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description, or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its said road, or upon any of the branches thereof, or upon rail- roads connected therewith, which it has the right, license, or permission to operate, control, or use, within this State, the same shall be deemed guilty of having violated the provisions of this act, and upon con- viction thereof shall be dealt with as here- inafter provided. SEC. 3. If any such railroad corporation shall charge, collect, or receive for the transportation of any passenger, or freight of any description, upon its railroad, for any distance within this State, the same or a greater amount of toll or compensa- tion than is at the same time charged, col- lected, or received for the transportation, in the same direction, 'of any passenger, or like quantity of freight of the same class, over a greater distance of the same rail- road ; or if it shall charge, collect, or re- ceive at any point upon this railroad a higher rate of toll or compensation for re- ceiving, handling, or delivering freight of the same class and quantity than it shall at the same time charge, collect, or receive at any other point upon the same railroad ; or if it shall charge, collect or receive for the transportation of any passenger, or freight of any description, over its railroad a greater amount as toll or compensation. BOOK I.] ILLINOIS RAILROAD ACT OF 1873. 219 than shall at the same time be charged, collected, or received by it for the trans- portation of any passenger or like quantity of freight of the same class, being trans- ported in the same direction over any por- tion of the same railroad of equal distance ; or if it shall charge, collect, or receive from any person or persons a higher or greater amount of toll or compensation than it ghall at the same time 'charge, collect, or receive from any other person or persons for receiving, handling, or delivering freight of the same class and like quantity at the same point upon its railroad ; or if it shall charge, collect, or receive from any person or persons for the transportation of any freight upon its railroad a higher or great- er rate of toll or compensation than it shall at the same time charge, collect, or receive from any other person or persons for the transportation of the like quantity of freight of the same class being transported from the same direction over equal distances of the same railroad ; or if it shall charge, collect, or receive from any person or per- sons for the use and transportation of any railroad car or caw upon its railroad for any distance the same or a greater amount of toll or compensation than is at the same time charged, collected, or received from any person or persons for the use and trans- portation of any railroad car of the same class or number, for a like purpose, being transported in the same direction over a greater distance of the same railroad; or if it shall charge, collect, or receive from any person or persons for the use and trans- portation of any railroad car or cars upon its railroad a higher or greater rate of toll or compensation than it shall at the same time charge, collect, or receive from any other person or persons for the use and transportation of any railroad car or cars of the same class or number, for a like purpose, being transported from the same point in the same direction over an equal distance of the same railroad ; all such dis- criminating rates, charges, collections, or receipts, whether made directly or by means of any rebate, drawback, or other shift or evasion, shall be deemed and taken against such railroad corporation as prima facie evidence of the unjust discriminations prohibited by the provisions of this act, and it shall not be deemed a sufficient ex- cuse or justification of such discriminations on the part of such railroad corporation, that the railway station or point at which it shall charge, collect, or receive the same or less rates of toll or compensation for the transportation of such passenger or freight, or for the use and transportation of such railroad car the greater distance than for the shorter distance, is a railway station or point at which there exists competition with any other railroad or means of trans- portation. This section shall not be con- strued so as to exclude other evidence tend- ing to show any unjust discrimination in freight and passenger rates. The pro- visions of this section shall extend andap ply to any railroad, the branches thereof, and any road or roads which any railroad corporation has the right, license, or per- mission to use, operate, or control, wholly or in part, within the State: Provided, however, That nothing herein c mtained shall be so construed as to prevent railroad corporations from issuing commutation, excursion, or thousand mile tickets, as the same are now issued by such corporations. SEC. 4. Any such railroad corporation . guilty of extortion, or of making any un- just discrimination as to passenger or freight rates, or the rates for the use and transportation of railroad cars, or in re- ceiving, handling, or delivering freights shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than one thousand dol- lars ($1,000) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the first offense; and for the second offense not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000;) and for the third offense not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) nor more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000;) and for every subsequent offense and convic- tion thereof shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000:) Provided, That in all cases under this act either party shall have the right of trial by jury. SEC. 5. The fines hereinbefore provided for may be recovered in an action of debt in the name of the people of the State of Illinois, and there may be several counts joined in the same declaration as to extor- tion and unjust discrimination, and as to passenger and freight rates, and rates for the use and transportation of railroad cars, and for receiving, handling, or delivering freights. If, upon the trial of any case instituted under this act, the jury shall find for the people, they shall assess and return with their verdict the amount of the fine to be imposed upon the defendant, at any sum not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five thou- sand dollars ($5,000,) and the court shall render judgment accordingly ; and if the jury shall find for the people, and that the defendant has been once before convicted of a violation of the provisions of this act, they shall return such finding with thrir verdict, and shall assess and return with their verdict the amount of the fine to be imposed upon the defendant, at any sum not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,- 000,) and the court shall render judgment accordingly; and if the jury shall find for the people, and that the defendant has been twice beiore convicted of a violation 220 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. of the provisions of this act, with respect to extortion or unjust discrimination, they shall return such finding with their ver- dict, and shall assess and return with their verdict the amount of the fine to be im- posed upon the defendant, at any sum not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) nor more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000;) and in like manner for every subsequent offense and conviction such de- fendant shall be liable to a fine of twenty- five thousand dollars ($25,000.) Provided, That in all cases under the provisions of this act a preponderance of evidence in favor of the people shall be sufficient to authorize a verdict and judgment for the people. SEC. 6. If any such railroad corporation shall, in violation of any of the provisions of this act, ask, demand, charge, or receive of any person or corporation, any extor- tionate charge or charges for the transpor- tation of any passengers, goods, mer- chandise, or property, or for receiving, handling, or delivering freights, or shall make any unjust discrimination against any person or corporation in its charges tbeiefor, the person or corporation so of- fended against may for each offense re- cover of such raiiroad corporation, in any form of action, three times the amount of th damages sustained by the party ag- grieved, together with cost of suit and a reasonable attorney's fee, to be fixed by the court where the same is heard, on ap- peul or otherwise, and taxed as a part of the costs of the case. BEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the rail- roitd and warehouse commissioners to per- sonally investigate and ascertain whether the provisions of this act are violated by any railroad corporation in this State, and to visit the various stations upon the line o.f each railroad for that purpose, as often as practicable; and whenever the facts in any manner ascertained by said commis- sioners shall in their judgment warrant such prosecution, it shall be the duty of said commissioners to immediately cause suits to be commenced and prosecuted against any railroad corporation which may violate the provisions of this act. Such suits and prosecutions may be insti- tuted in any county in the State, through or into which the line of the railroad cor- poration sued for violating this act may extend. And such railroad and ware- house commissioners are hereby author- ized, when the facts of the case presented to them shall, in their judgment, warrant the commencement of such action, to em- ploy counsel to assist the Attorney General in conducting such suit on behalf of the State. No such suite commenced by said commissioners shall be dismissed, except said railroad and warehouse commissioners and the Attorney General shall consent thereto. SEC. 8. The railroad and warehouse commissioners are hereby directed to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State, as soon as practi- cable, a schedule of reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation oi passengers and freight and cars on each ot said railroads ; and said schedule shall, in all suits brought against any such railroad corporations, wherein is in any way in- volved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars, or unjust dis- crimination in relation thereto, be deemed j and taken, in all courts of this State, as i prima facie evidence that the rates therein I fixed are reasonable maximum rates of i charges for the transportation of passen- ; gers and freights and cars upon the rail- j roads for which said schedules may have been respectively prepared. Said commis- sioners shall, from time to time, and as \ often as circumstances may require, change ' and revise said schedules. When such j schedules shall have been made or revised , as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of said commissioners to cause publication thereof j to be made for three successive weeks, in I some public newspaper published in the I city of Springfield in this state : " Provided, I That the schedules thus prepared shall I not be taken as prima facie evidence as herein provided until schedules shall have been prepared and published as aforesaid for all the railroad companies now organ- ized under the laws of this State, and until the filteenth day of January, A. D. 1874, or until ten days after (he meeting of the next session of this General Assembly, provided a session of the General Assembly shall be held previous to the fifteenth day i of January aforesaid." All such schedules, | purporting to be printed and published as i aforesaid, shall be received and held, in i all such suits, as prima facie the schedules of said commissioners, without further proof than the production of the paper in i which they were published, together with j the certificate of the publisher of said ; paper that the schedule therein contained 1 is a true copy of the schedule furnished for publication by said commissioners, and that it has been published the above speci- fied time ; and any such paper purporting to have been published at said city, and to be a public newspaper, shall be presumed to have been so published at the date thereof, and to be a public newspaper. SEC. 10. In all cases under the provi- sions of this act, the rules of evidence shall be the same as in other civil actions, ex- cept as hereinbefore otherwise provided. All fines recovered under the provisions of this act shall be paid into the county treasury of the county in which the suit i* BOOK i.] SUPPLEMENTARY CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. 221 tried, by the person collecting the same, iu the manner now provided by law, to be used for county purposes. The remedies hereby given shall be regarded as cumula- tive to the remedies now given by law against railroad corporations, and^this act shall not be construed as repealing any statute giving such remedies. Suits com- menced under the provisions of this act shall have precedence over all other busi- ness, except criminal business. SEC. 11. The term "railroad corpora- tion," contained in this act, shall be deemed and taken to mean all corpora- tions, companies, or individuals now own- ing or operating, or which may hereafter own or operate any railroad, in whole or in part, in this State ; and the provisions of this act shall apply to all persons, firms, an 1 companies, and to all associations of persons, whether incorporated or other- wise, that shall do business as common carriers upon any of the lines of railways in this State (street railways excepted) the same as to railroad corporations therein- before mentioned. SEC. 12. An act entitled " An act to pre- vent unjust discriminations and extortions in the rates to be charged by the different railroads in this State for the transporta- tion of freight on said roads," approved April 7, A. D. 1871, is hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not affect nor repeal any penalty incurred or right accrued under said act prior to the time this act takes effect, nor any proceedings or prose- cutions to enforce such rights or penalties. Approved May 2, 1873. S. M. CULLOM, Speaker House of Representatives. JOHN EARLY, President of the Senate. JOHN L. BEVERIDGE, Governor. The same spirit, if not the same organi- zation, led to many petitions to Congress for the regulation of inter-state commerce and freight rates, and to some able reports on the subject. Those which have com- manded most attention were by Senator Windom of Minnesota and Representative Reagan of Texas, the latter being the au- thor of a bill which commanded much consideration from Congress in the sessions of 1878-'80, but which has not yet secured favorable action. In lieu of such bill Senator Cameron, of Pennsylvania, intro- duced a joint resolution for the appoint- ment of a Commission to investigate and report upon the entire question. Final action has not yet been taken, and at this writing interest in the subject seems to have nagged. The disastrous political action attempted by the Grangers in Illinois and Wisconsin, led to such general condemnation that sub- sequent attempts were abandoned save in isolated cases, and as a rule the society has passed away. The principle upon which it was based was wholly unsound, and if strictly carried out, would destroy all home improvements and enterprise. Parties and societies based upon a class, and directed or perverted toward political objects, are very happily short-lived in this Republic of ours. If they could thrive, the Repub- lic could not long endure. Supplementary Civil Rights Bill. Senator Sumner's Supplementary Civil Rights Bill was passed by the second ses- sion of the 43d Congress, though its great author had died the year before March llth, 1874. The text of the Act is given in Book V. of this volume, on Existing Political Laws. Its validity was sustained by the U. S. District Courts in their in- structions to grand juries. The first con- viction under the Act was in Philadelphia, in February, 1876. Eev. Fields Cook, pastor of the Third Baptist colored church of Alexandria, Virginia, was refused sleep- ing and eating accommodations at the Bing- ham House, by Upton S. Newcomer, one of its clerks ; and upon the trial of the case, in the U. S. District Court, JOHN CADWALADER, Judge, instructed the jury as follows : The fourteenth amendment of the Con- stitution of the United States makes all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, citizens of the United States, nnd provides that no State shall make or en- force any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State * * * deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This amendment expressly gives to Congress the power to enforce it by appropriate legislation. An act of Congress of March 1, 1875, enacts that all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theatres and other places of public amusement, subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens of every race and color, and makes it a crimi- nal offense to violate these enactments by denying to any citizen, except for reasons by law applicable to citizens of every race and color, * * * the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facili- ties or privileges enumerated. As the law of Pennsylvania had stood until the22d of March, 1867, it was not wrongful for inn- keepers or carriers by land or water to dis AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. criminate against travelers of the colored race to such an extent as to exclude them from any part of the inns or public con- veyances which was set apart for the ex- clusive accommodation of white travelers. The Legislature of Pennsylvania, by an act of 22d of March, 1867, altered the law in this respect as to passengers on railroads. But the law of the State was not changed as to inns by any act of the State Legisla- ture. Therefore, independently of the amendment of the Constitution of the United States and of the act of Congress now in question, the conduct of the de- fendant on the occasion in question might, perhaps, have been lawful. It is not ne- cessary to express an opinion upon this point, because the decision of the case de- pends upon the effect of this act of Con- gress. I am under opinion that under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitu- tion the enactment of this law was within the legislative power of Congress, and that we are bound to give effect to the act of Congress according to its fair meaning. According to this meaning of the act I am of opinion that if this defendant, being in charge of the business of receiving travelers in this inn, and of providing necessary and proper accommodations for them in it, re- fused such accommodations to the witness Cook, then a traveler, by reason of his color, the defendant is guilty in manner and form as he stands indicted. If the case depended upon the unsupported tes- timony of this witness alone, there might be some reason to doubt whether this de- fendant was the person in charge of this part of the business. But under this head the additional testimony of Mr. Annan seems to be sufficient to remove all reason- able doubt. If the jury are convinced of the defendant's identity, they will con- sider whether any reasonable doubt of his conduct or motives in refusing the accom- modations to Fields Cook can exist. The case appears to the court to be proved ; but this question is for the jury, not for the court. If the jury have any reasonable doubt, they should find the defendant not guilty; otherwise they will find him guilty. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty, March 1, 1876, and the Court imposed a fine of $500. Tin- Morton Amendment. In the session of 73, Senator Morton, of Indiana, introduced an amendment to the Constitution providing for the general choice of Presidential Electors by Con- gressional districts, and delivered several speeches on the subject which attracted much attention at the time. Since then many amendments have been introduced on the subject, and it is a matter for an- nual discussion. We quote the Morton Amendment as the one most likely to com- mand favorable action : " Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of each House concurring therein:) That the fol- lowing article is hereby proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution, to wit: " ARTICLE . "I. The President and Vice-President shall be elected by the direct vote of the people in the manner following: Each State shall be divided into districts, equal in number to the number of Representa- tives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress, to be composed of con- tiguous territory, and to be as nearly equal in -population as may be ; and the person having the highest number of votes in each district for President shall receive the vote of that district, which shall count one pres- idential vote. " II. The person having the highest number of votes for President in a State shall receive two presidential votes from the State at large. " III. The person having the highest number of presidential votes in the United States shall be President. " IV. If two persons have the same number of votes in any State, it being the highest number, they shall receive each one presidential vote from the State at large ; and if more than two persons shall have each the same number of votes in any State, it being the highest number, no presidential vote shall be counted from the State at large. If more persons than one shall have the same number of votes, it being the highest number in any district, no presidential vote shall be counted from that district. " V. The foregoing provisions shall ap- ply to the election of Vice-President. " VI. The Congress shall have power to provide for holding and conducting the elections of President and Vice-President, and to establish tribunals for the decision of such elections as may be contested." VII. The States shall be divided into districts by the legislatures thereof, but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter the same. The present mode of election is given in Book V . of this volume. The WhUkjr During 1875 an extensive Whisky Ring, organized to control revenue legislation and avoidance of revenue taxes, was dis- BOOK I.] THE WHITE LEAGUE. 223 corered in the West. It was an associa- tion of distillers in collusion with Federal officers, and for a time it succeeded in de- frauding the government of the tax on dis- tilled spirits. This form of corruption, after the declaration by President Grant 'let no guilty man escape" was traced by detectives to the portals of the White House, but even partisan rancor could not connect the President therewith, O. E. Babcock, however, was his private Secre- tary, and upon him was charged complicity with the fraud. He was tried and acquit- ted, but had to resign. Several Federal officers were convicted at St. Louis. Impeachment of Belknap. Another form of' corruption was dis- covered in 1876, when the House im- peached Win. W. Belknap, the Secretary of War, on the charge of selling an Indian trading establishment. The first and main specification was, that On or about the second day of Novem- ber, eighteen hundred and seventy, said William W. Belknap, while Secretary of War as aforesaid, did receive from Caleb P. Marsh fifteen hundred dollars, in con- sideration of his having appointed said John S. Evans to maintain a trading- establishment at Fort Sill aforesaid, and for continuing him therein. The following summary of the record shows the result, and that Belknap escaped punishment by a refusal of two-thirds to vote "guilty:" The examination of witnesses was be- gun, and continued on various days, till July 26, when the case was closed. August 1. The SENATE voted. On the first article, thirty-five voted guilty, and twenty-five not guilty. On the second, third and fourth, Mr. MAXEY made the thirty-sixth who voted guilty. On the fifth, Mr. MORTON made the thirty-seventh who voted guilty. The vote on first was : VOTING GUILTY Messrs. Bayard, BOOTH, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Cockrell, Cooper, Davis, Dawes, Dennis, Edmunds, Gordon, Hamilton, Harvey, Hitchcock, Kelly, Kernan, Key, McCreery, McDonald, Merrimon, Mitchell, Morrill of Vermont, Norwood, Oglesby, Randolph, Ransom, Robertson, Sargent, Saulsbury, Sherman, Stevenson, Thurman, Wadleigh, Wallace, Whyte, Withers -35. VOTING NOT GUILTY Messrs. Allison, Anthony, Boutwell, Bruce, Cameron of Wisconsin, Christiancy, Conkling, Cono- ver, Cragin, Dorsey, Eaton, Ferry of Michi- gan, Frelinghuysen, Hamlin, Howe, In- galls, Jones of Nevada, Logan, McMillan, Paddock, Patterson, Spencer, West, Win- dom, Wright 25. Mr. JONES of Florida declined to vote. Those " voting not guilty" generally de- nied jurisdiction, and so voted accordingly. Belknap had resigned and the claim was set up that he was a private citizen. The White League. By 1874 the Democrats of the South, who then generally classed themselves as Conservatives, had gained control of all the State governments except those of Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina. In nearly all, the Republican governments had called upon President Grant for mili- tary aid in maintaining their positions, but this was declined except in the presence of such outbreak as the proper State authori- ties could not suppress. In Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, Grant declined to interfere save to cause the Attorney General to give legal advice. The condition of all these governments demanded constant attention from the Ex- ecutive, and his task was most difficult and dangerous. The cry came from the Demo- cratic partisans in the South for home-rule ; another came from the negroes that they were constantly disfranchised, intimidated and assaulted by the White League, a body of men organized in the Gulf States for the purpose of breaking up the "carpet- bag governments.'' So conflicting were the stories, and so great the fear of a final and destructive war of races, that the Con- gressional elections in the North were for the first time since the war greatly in- fluenced. The Forty -fourth Congress, which met in December, 1875, had been changed by what was called " the tidal wave," from Republican to Democratic, and M. C. Kerr, of Indiana, was elected Speaker. The Senate remained Republican with a re- duced margin. The troubles in the South, and especially in Louisiana, had been in the year previous and were still of the gravest character. Gen'l Sheridan had been sent to New Or- leans and on the 10th of January, 1875, made a report which startled the country as to the doings of the White League. As it still remains a subject for frequent quo- tation we give its text: SHERIDAN'S REPORT. NEW ORLEANS, January 10, 1875. HON. W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War Since the year 1866, nearly thirty -five hundred persons, a great majority of whom were colored men, have been killed and wounded in this State. In 1868 the official record shows that eighteen hundred and eighty-four were killed and wounded. From 1868 to the present time, no official investigation has been made, and the civil authorities in all but a few cases have been 224 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. unable to arrest, convict and punish per- petrators. Consequently, there are no cor- rect records to be consulted for informa- tion. There is ample evidence, however, to show that more than twelve hundred persons have been killed and wounded du- ring this time, on account of their political sentiments. Frightful massacres have oc- curred in the parishes of Bossier, Caddo, Catahoula, Saint Bernard, Saint Landry, Grant and Orleans. The general charac- ter of the massacres in the above named parishes is so well known that it is unneces- sary to describe them. The isolated cases can best be illustrated by the following in- stances which I have taken from a mass of evidence now lying before me of men killed on account of their political princi- ples. In Natchitocb.es Parish, the num- ber of isolated cases reported is thirty- three. In the parish of Bienville, the number of men killed is thirty. In Bed River Parish the number of isolated cases of men killed is thirty-four. In Winn Par- ish the number of isolated cases where men were killed is fifteen. In Jackson Parish the number killed is twenty ; and in Cata- houla Parish the number of isolated cases reported where men were killed is fifty ; and most of the country parishes through- out the State will show" a corresponding state of affairs. The following statement will illustrate the character and kind of these outrages. On the 29th of August, 1874, in Red River Parish, six State and parish officers, named Twitchell, Divers, Holland, Howell, Edgerton and Willis, were taken, together with four negroes, under guard, to be carried out of the State, and were deliberately murdered on the 30th of August, 1874. The White League tried, sentenced, and hung two negroes on the 28th of August, 1874. Three negroes were shot and killed at Brownsville, just before the arrival of the United States troops in the parish. Two White Leaguers rode up to a negro cabin and called for a drink of water. When the old colored man turned to draw it, they shot him in the back and killed him. The courts were all broken up in this district, and the district judge driven out. In the parish of Caddo, prior to the arrival of the United States troops, all of the officers at Shreveport were com- pelled to abdicate by the White League, which took possession of the place. Among those obliged to abdicate were Walsh, the mayor, Rapers, the sheriff, Wheaton, clerk of the court, Durant, the recorder, and Ferguson and Renfro, administrators. Two colored men, who had given evidence in regard to frauds committed in the parish, were compelled to flee for their lives and reached this city last night, having been smuggled through in a cargo of cotton. In the parish of Bossier the White League have attempted to force the abdication of Judge Baker, the United States Commis- sioner and parish judge, together with O'Neal, the sheriff, and Walker, the clerk of the court ; and they have compelled the parish and district courts to suspend opera- tions. Judge Baker states that the White Leaguers notified him several times that if he became a candidate on the republican ticket, or if he attempted to organize the republican party, he should not live until election. They also tried to intimidate him through his family by making the same threats to his wife, and when told by him that he was a United States commissioner, they notified him not to attempt to exercise the functions of his office. In but few of the country parishes can it be truly said that the law is properly enforced, and in some of the par- ishes the judges have not been able to hold court for the past two years. Human life in this State is held so cheaply, that when men are killed on account of political opinions, the murderers are regarded rathor as heroes than as criminals, in the locali- ties where they reside, and by the White League and their supporters. An illustra- tion of the ostracism that prevails in the State may be found in a resolution of a White League club in the parish of De Soto, which states, " That they pledge themselves under (no?) circumstances after the coming election to employ, rent land to, or in any other manner give aid, com- fort, or credit, to any man, white or black, who votes against the nominees of the white man's party." Safety for individuals who express their opinion in the isolated portion of this State has existed only when that opinion was in favor of the princi] >les and party supported by the Ku-Klux and White League organizations. Only yos- terday Judge Myers, the parish judge of the parish of Natchitoches, called on me upon his arrival in this city, and stated that in order to reach here alive, he was obliged to leave his home by stealth, and after nightfall, and make his way to Little Rock, Arkansas, and come to this city by way of Memphis. He further states that while his father was lying at the point of death in the same village, he was unable to visit him for fear of assassination ; and yet he is a native of the parish, and pro- scribed for his political sentiments only. It is more than probable that if bad gov- ernment has existed in this State it is the result of the armed organizations, which have now crystallized into what is called the White League ; instead of bad government developing them, they have by their ter- rorism prevented to a considerable extent the collection of taxes, the holding of courts, the punishment of criminals, and vitiated public sentiment by familiarizing it with the scenes above described. 1 am now engaged in compiling evidence for a BOOK I.] THE WHITE LEAGUE. 225 detailed report upon the above subject, but it will be some time before I can obtain all the requisite data to cover the cases that have occurred throughout the State. I will also report in due time upon the same subject in the States of Arkansas and Mis- sissippi. P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant- General. President Grant said in a special mes- sage to Congress, January 13, 1875 : "It has been bitterly and persistently alleged that Kellogg was not elected. Whether he was or not is not altogether certain, nor is it any more certain that his competitor, McEnery, was chosen. The election was a gigantic fraud, and there are no reliable returns of its result. Kellogg obtained possession of the office, and in my opinion has more right to it than his competitor. " On the 20th of February, 1873, the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the Senate made a report, in which they say they were satisfied by testimony that the manipulation of the election machinery by Warmoth and others was equivalent to twenty thousand votes ; and they add, to recognize the McEnery government ' would be recognizing a government based upon fra'ud, in defiance of the wishes and intention of the voters of the State.' As- suming the correctness of the statements in this report, (and they seem to have been generally accepted by the country,) the great crime in Louisiana, about which so much has been said, is, that one is holding the office of governor who was cheated out of twenty thousand votes, against another whose title to the office is undoubtedly based on fraud, and in defiance of the wishes and intentions of the voters of the State. " Misinformed and misjudging as to the nature and extent of this report, the sup- porters of McEnery proceeded to displace by force in some counties of the State the appointees of Governor Kellogg; and on the 13th of April, in an effort of that kind, a butchery of citizens was committed at Colfax, which in blood-thirstiness and bar- barity is hardly surpassed by any acts of savage warfare. " To put this matter beyond controversy, I quote from the charge of Judge Woods, of the United States circuit court, to the jury in the case of the United States vs. Cruikshank and others, in New Orleans, in March, 1874. He said : ' ' In the case on trial there are many facts not in controversy. I proceed to state some of them in the presence and hearing of counsel on both sides ; and if I state as a conceded fact any matter that is disputed, they can correct me.' After stating the origin of the diffi- 15 culty, which grew put of an attempt of white persons to drive the parish judge and sheriff, appointees of Kellogg, from office, and their attempted protection by colored persons, which led to some fight- ing in which quite a number of negroes were killed, the judge states: " ' Most of those who were not killed were taken prisoners. Fifteen or sixteen of the blacks had lifted the boards and taken refuge under the floor of the court- house. They were all captured. About thirty-seven men were taken prisoners ; the number is not definitely fixed. They were kept under guard until dark. They were led out, two by two, and shot. Most of the men were shot to death. A few were wounded, not mortally, and by pre- tending to be dead were afterward, during the night, able to make their escape. Among them was the Levi Nelson named in the indictment. " ' The dead bodies of the negroes killed in this affair were left unburied until Tues- day, April 15, when they were buried by a deputy marshal and an officer of the militia from New Orleans. These persons found fifty-nine dead bodies. They show- ed pistol-shot wounds, the great majority in the head, and most of them in the back of the head. In addition to the fifty-nine dead bodies found, some charred remains of dead bodies were discovered near the court-house. Six dead bodies were found under a warehouse, all shot in the head but one or two, which were shot in the breast. "'The only white men injured from the beginning of these troubles to their close were Hadnot and Harris. The court- house and its contents were entirely con- sumed. " ' There is no evidence that any one in the crowd of whites bore any lawful war- rant for the arrest of any of the blacks. There is no evidence that either Nash or Cazabat, after the affair, ever demanded their offices, to which they had set up claim, but Register continued to act as parish judge, and Shaw as Sheriff. " ' These are facts in this case, as I under- stand them to be admitted.' " To hold the people of Louisiana gen- erally responsible for these atrocities would not be just ; but it is a lamentable fact that insuperable obstructions were thrown in the way of punishing these murderers, and the so-called conservative papers of the State not only justified the massacre, but denounced as Federal tyranny and despot- ism the attempt of the United States offi- cers to bring them to justice. Fierce de- nunciations ring through the country about office-holding and election matters in Louisiana, while everyone of the Colfax miscreants goes unwhipped of justice, and no way can be found in this boasted! land 226 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. of civilization and Christianity to punish the perpetrators of this bloody and mon- strous crime. " Not unlike this was the massacre in August last. Several northern young men of capital and enterprise had started the little and flourishing town of Coushatta. Some of them were republicans and office- holders under Kellogg. They were there- fore doomed to death. Six of them were seized and carried away from their homes and murdered in cold blood. No one has been punished ; and the conservative press of the State denounced all efforts to that end, and boldly justified the crime." The House on the 1st of March, 1875, by a strict party vote, 155 Republicans to 86 Democrats, recognized the Kellogg gov- ernment. The Senate did the same on March 5th, by 33 to 23, also a party vote. Under the influence of the resolution unanimously adopted by the House of Representatives of the United States, recommending that the House of Repre- sentatives of that State seat the persons rightfully entitled thereto from certain districts, the whole subject was, by consent of parties, referred to the Special Commit- tee of the House who examined into Louisiana affairs, viz. : Messrs. George F. Hoar, William A. Wheeler, William P. Frye, Charles Foster, William Walter Phelps, Clarkson N. Potter and Samuel S. Marshall, who, after careful examination, made an award, which was adopted by the Legislature in April, 1875. It is popularly known as the " Wheeler Compromise." Text of the Wheeler Compromise. NEW ORLEANS, March, 1875. Whereas, It is desirable to adjust the difficulties growing out of the general elec- tion in this State, in 1872, the action of the Returning Board in declaring and pro- mulgating the results of the general elec- tion, in the month of November last, and the organization of the House of Repre- sentatives, on the 4th day of January last, such adjustment being deemed necessary to the re-establishment of peace and order in this State. Now, therefore, the undersigned mem- bers of the Conservative party, claiming to have been elected members of the House of Representatives, and that their certifi- cates of election have been illegally with- held by the Returning Board, hereby severally agree to submit their claims to seats in the House of Representatives to the award and arbitrament of George F. Hoar, William A. Wheeler, William P. Frye, Charles Foster, William Walter Phelps, Clarkson N. Potter, and Samuel S.' Marshall, who are hereby authorized to examine and determine the same upon the equities -of the several cases ; and when such awards shall be made, we hereby severally agree to abide by the same : And such of us as may become members of the House of Representatives, under this arrangement, hereby severally agree to sustain oy our influence and votes the joint resolution herein set forth. [Here follow the signatures of the Demo- crats who claimed that their certificates of election as members of the House of Re- presentatives had been illegally withheld by the Returning Board.] And the undersigned claiming to have been elected Senators from the Eighth and Twenty-Second Senatorial Districts, hereby agree to submit their claims to the fore- going award and arbitrament, and in all respects to abide the results of the same. [Here follow the signatures of the Demo- crats, who made a like claim as to seats in the Senate.] And the undersigned, holding certifi- cates of election from the Returning Board, hereby severally agree that upon the com- ing in of the award of the foregoing arbi- trators they will, when the same shall have been ratified by the report of the Commit- tee on Elections and Qualifications of the body in session at the State House claim- ing to be the House of Representatives, attend the sitting of the said House for the purpose of adopting said report, and if said report shall be adopted, and the mem- bers embraced in the foregoing report shall be seated, then the undersigned seve- rally agree that immediately upon the adoption of said report they will vote for the following joint resolution : [Here follow the signatures of the Demo- cratic members of the House of Represen- tatives in relation to whose seats there was no controversy.] JOINT RESOLUTION. Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana, That said Assembly, without approving the same, will not dis- turb the present State Government claim- ing to have been elected in 1872, known as the Kellogg Government, or seek to im- peach the Governor for any past official acts, and that henceforth it will accord to said Governor all necessary and legitimate support in maintaining the laws and ad- vancing the peace and prosperity of the people of this State : and that the House of Representatives, as to its members, as constituted under the award of George F. Hoar, W. A. Wheeler, W. P. Frye, Charles Foster, Samuel S. Marshall, Clarkson N. Potter, and William Walter Phelps, shall remain without change except by resignation or death of members until a new general election, and that the Senate, as now organized, shall also remain un- changed except so far as that body shall make changes on contests. BOOKI.] TEXT OF THE WHEELER COMPROMISE. 227 TEXT OF THE AWARD. NEW YORK, March 13, 1875. The undersigned having been requested to examine the claims of the persons here- inafter named to seats in the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana, and having examined the re- turns and the evidence relating to such claims, are of opinion, and do hereby find, award and determine, that F. S. Goode is entitled to a seat in the Senate from the Twenty-second Senatorial District ; and that J. B. Elam is not entitled to a seat in the Senate from the Eighth Senatorial District; and that the following named persons are entitled to seats in the House of Representatives from the following named parishes respectively: From the Parish of Assumption, R. R. Beaseley, E. F. X. Dugas ; from the Parish of Bien- ville, James Brice ; from the Parish of De Soto, J. S. Scales, Charles Schuler; from the Parish of Jackson, E. Kidd ; from the Parish of Rapides, James Jeffries, R. C. Luckett, G. W. Stafford ; from the Parish of Terrebone, Edward McCollum, W. H. Keyes ; from the Parish of Winn, George A. Kelley. And that the following named persons are not entitled to seats which they claim' from the following named parishes respectively, but that the persons now holding seats from said parishes are entitled to retain the seats now held by them ; from the Parish of Avoyelles, J. O. Quinn ; from the Parish of Iberie, W. F. Schwing ; from the Parish of Caddo, A. D. Land, T. R. Vaughan, J. J. Horan. We are of opinion that no person is en- titled to a seat from the Parish of Grant. In regard to most of the cases, the undersigned are unanimous; as to the others the decision is that of a majority. GEORGE F. HOAR, W. A. WHEELER, W. P. FRYE, CHARLES FOSTER, CLARKSON N. POTTER, WILLIAM WALTER PHELPS, SAMUEL S. MARSHALL. This adjustment and award were accept- ed and observed, until the election in No- vem'^er, 1876, when a controversy arose as to the result, the Republicans claiming the election of Stephen B. Packard as Govern- or by about 3,500 majority, and a Republi- can Legislature ; and the Democrats claim- ing the election of Francis T. Nicholls a: Governor, by about 8,000 majority, and a Democratic Legislature. Committees ol gentlemen visited- New Orleans, by request of President Grant and of various politi- cal organizations, to witness the count o the votes by the Returning Board. Anc in December, 1876, on the meeting of Con- gress, committees of investigation were ap- pointed by the Senate and by the House o " Representatives. Exciting events were now daily transpiring. On the 1st of Jan- uary, 1877, the Legislature organized in the State House without exhibitions of vio- ence. The Democrats did not unite in the proceedings, but met in a separate build- ng, and organized a separate Legislature. Telegraphic communication was had be- ;ween the State House and the Custom House, where was the office of Marshal Pitkin, who with the aid of the United States troops, was ready for any emergency. About-noon the Democratic members, ac- companied by about 500 persons, called at ;he State House and demanded admission. The officer on duty replied that the mem- Ders could enter, but the crowd could not. A formal demand was then made upon eneral Badger and other officials, by the spokesman, for the removal of the obstruc- tions, barricades, police, etc., which pre- vented the ingress of members, which being denied, Col. Bush, in behalf of the crowd, read a formal protest, and the Democrats retifed. Gov. Kellogg was presented by a Committee with a copy of the protest, and jie replied, that as chief magistrate and conservator of the peace of the State, be- lieving that there was danger of the or- ganization of the General Assembly being violently interfered with, he had caused a police force to be stationed in the lower portion of the building ; that he had no motive but to preserve the peace ; that no member or attache of either house will be interfered with in any way, and that no United States troops are stationed in the capitol building. Clerk Trezevant declined to call the House to order unless the police- men were removed. Upon the refusal to do so, he withdrew, when Louis Sauer, a mem- ber, called the roll, and 68 members a full House being 120 answered to their names. Ex-Gov. Hahn was elected Speaker, re- ceiving 53 votes as against 15 for Ex-Gov. Warmoth. The Senate was organized by Lieutenant- Governor Antoine with 19 present a full Senate being 30 eight of whom held over, and 11 were returned by the Board. Gov. Kellogg's message was presented to each House. The Democrats organized their Legisla- ture in St. Patrick's hall. The Senators were called to order by Senator Ogden. Nineteen Senators, including nine holding over, and four, who were counted out by the board, were present. The Democratic members of the House were called to order by Clerk Trezevant, and 61 answered to their names. Louis Bush was elected Speaker. January 3d Republican Legislature passed a resolution asking for military pro- tection against apprehended Democratic violence, and it was telegraphed to the President. 228 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. On Sunday, January 8th, Gov. Kellogg telegraphed to President Grant to the same effect. January 8th Stephen B. Packard took the oath of office as Governor, and C. C. Antoine as Lieutenant-Governor, at the Slate House at 1 : 30, in the presence of the Legislature. January 8 Francis T. Nicholls and L. A. Wiltz to-day took the oath of office of .Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, re- spectively, on the balcony of Sk Patrick's hall. By the llth of January both parties were waiting for the action of the authorities at Washington. Gov. Packard to-day com- missioned A. S. Badger Major-General of the State National Guard, and directed him to organize the first division at once. Two members of the Packard Legislature, Mr. Barrett, of Rapides, and Mr. Kennedy, of St. Charles, had withdrawn from that body and gone over-to the Nicholls Legis- lature. Messrs. Breux, Barrett, Kennedy, Es-' topival,. Wheeler, and Hamlet, elected as Republicans, under the advice of Pinch- < back a defeated Republican candidate for* U. S. Senator, left the Packard or Repub- lican, and joined the Nicholls Legislature. On the 15th, Governor Packard, after receiving a copy of the telegram of the President to General Augur, issued a proclamation aimed at the " organized and armed combination and conspiracy of men now offering unlawful and violent resist- ance to the lawful authority of the State government." The Nicholls court issued an order to Sheriff Handy to provide the means for protecting the court from any violence or intrusion on the part of the adherents of " S. B. Packard, a wicked and shameless impostor." Governor Packard on the 16th, in a let- ter to Gen. Augur, acknowledges the re- ceipt of a communication from his aide- de-camp asking for assurances from him that the President's wishes concerning the preservation of the present status be re- spected, and says that the request would have been more appropriate if made im- mediately after his installation as Gov- ernor and before many of the main branches of the Government had been forcibly taken possession of by the oppo- sition. He says: "I had sca'rcely taken the oath of office when the White League were called to arms; the Court room and the records of the Supreme Court of the State were forcibly taken possession of, and various precinct police-stations were captured in like manner by overwhelm- ing forces. Orders had been issued by the Secretary of War early on that day that all unauthorized armed bodies should de- sist A dispatch from yourself of the same date to the Secretary of War, conveyed the assurances that Nicholls had promised the disbandment of his armed forces. * * * * It was my understanding, that neither side should be permitted to inter- fere with the status of the other side. Yet the day after this order was received and the pledge given by Nicholls, a force of several hundred armed White Leaguers repaired to the State Arsenal and took there- from into their own keeping five pieces of artillery, and a garrison of armed men was placed in and around the Supreme Court building. That on the following day, Jan- uary 11, an armed company of the White League broke into and took possession of the office of the Recorder of Mortgages. * * * * In view of all these facts it seemed to me that to give the pledge ver- bally asked of me this morning would be to sanction revolution, and by acquies- cence give it the force of accomplished fact, and I therefore declined." Many telegrams followed between the Secretary of War, J. Don. Cameron, Gen'l Augur and Mr. Packard, the latter daily complaining of new "outrages by the White League," while the Nicholls gov- ernment professed to accord rights to all classes, and to obey the instructions from Washington, to faithfully maintain the status of affairs until decisive action should be taken by the National government. None was taken, President Grant being unwilling to outline a Southern policy for his successor in office. Election of Hayes and Wheeler. The troubles in the South, and the al- most general overthrow of the " carpet bag government," impressed all with the fact that the Presidential election of 1876 would be exceedingly close and exciting, and the result confirmed this belief. The Green- backers were the first to meet in National Convention, at Indianapolis, May 17th. Peter Cooper of New York was nominated for President, and Samuel F. Gary of Ohio, for Vice President. The Republican National Convention met at Cincinnati, June 14th, with James G. Elaine recognized as the leading candi- date. Grant had been named for a third term, and there was a belief that his name would be presented. Such was the feeling on this question that the House of Con- gress and a Republican State Convention in Pennsylvania, had passed resolutions declaring that a third term for President would be a violation of the " unwritten law " handed down through the examples of Washington, and Jackson. His name, however, was not then presented. The "unit rule" at this Convention was for the*first time resisted, and by the friends of Elaine, BOOK. I.] THE ELECTORAL COUNT. 229 with a view to release from instructions of State Conventions some of his friends. New York had instructed for Conkling, and Pennsylvania for Hartranft. In both of these states some delegates had been chosen by their respective Congressional districts, in advance of any State action, and these elections were as a rule confirmed by the State bodies. Where they were not, there were contests, and the right of dis- trict representation was jeopardized if not destroyed by the reinforcement of the unit rule. It was therefore thought to be a question of much importance by the war- ring interests. Hon. Edw. McPherson was the temporary Chairman of the Conven- tion, and he took the earliest opportunity presented to decide against the binding force of the unit rule, and to assert the lib- erty of each delegate to vote as he pleased. The Convention sustained the decision on an appeal. Ballots of the Cincinnati Republican Convention, 1876 : Ballots, 1234567 Elaine, 285 296 292 293 287 308 351 Conkling, 113 114 121 126 114 111 21 Bristow, 99 93 90 84 82 81 Morton, 124 120 113 108 95 85 Hayes, 61 64 67 68 102 113 384 Hartranft, 58 63 68 71 69 50 Jewell, 11 Washb'ne, 11334 Wheeler, 332222 Gen. Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, was nominated for President, and Hon. Wm. A. Wheeler, of New York, for Vice President. The Democratic National Convention met at St. Louis, June 28th. Great interest was excited by the attitude of John Kel- ly, the Tammany leader of New York, who was present and opposed with great bitterness the nomination of Tilden. He afterwards bowed to the will of the major- ity and supported him. Both the unit and the two-thirds rule were observed in this body, as they have long been by the Dem- ocratic party. On the second ballot, Hon. Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, had 535 votes to 203 for all others. His leading competitor was Hon. Thomas A. Hen- dricks, of Indiana, who was nominated for Vice President. Tin- Klectoral Count. The election followed Nov. 7th, 1876, Hayes and Wheeler carrying all of the Northern States except Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Indiana; Tilden and Hendricks carried all of the Southern Ste.tes except South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. The three last named States were claimed by the Democrats, but their members of the Congressional Investiga- ting Committee quieted rival claims as to South Carolina by agreeing that it had fairly chosen the Republican electors. So close was the result that success or failure hinged upon the returns of Florida and Louisiana, and for days and weeks conflict- ing stories and claims came from these States. The Democrats claimed that they had won on the face of the returns from Louisiana, and that there was no authority to go behind these. The Republicans pub- licly alleged frauds in nearly all of the Southern States ; that the colored vote had been violently suppressed in the Golf States, but they did not formally dispute the face of the returns in any State save where the returning boards gave them the victory. This doubtful state of affairs in- duced a number of prominent politicians of both the great parties to visit the State capitals of South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana to witness the count. Some of these were appointed by President Grant ; others by the Democratic National Com- mittee, and both sets were at the time called the " visiting statesmen," a phrase on which the political changes were rung for months and years thereafter. The electoral votes of Florida were de- cided by the returning board to be Repub- lican by a majority of 926, this after throwing out the votes of several districts where fraudulent returns were alleged to be apparent or shown by testimony. The Board was cited before the State Supreme Court, which ordered a count of the face of the returns ; a second meeting only led to a second Republican return, and the Republican electors were then declared to have been chosen by a majority of 206, though before this was done, the Electoral College of the State had met and cast their four votes for Hayes and Wheeler. Both parties agreed very closely in their counts, except as to Baker county, from which the Republicans claimed 41 majority, the Dem- ocrats 95 majority the returning board ac- cepting the Republican claim. In Louisiana the Packard returning board was headed by J. Madison Wells, and this body refused to permit the Demo- crats to be represented therein. It was in session three weeks, the excitement all the time being at fever heat, and finally made the following average returns : Republican electors, 74,436; Democratic, 70,505; Re- publican majority, 3,931. McEnery, who claimed to be Governor, gave the Demo- cratic electors a certificate based on an average vote of 83,635 against 75,759, a Democratic majority of 7,876. In Oregon, the three Republican electors had an admitted majority of the popular vote, but on a claim that one of the number was a Federal office-holder and therefore ineligible, the Democratic Governor gave a certificate to two of the Republican elec- 230 AMERICAN' POLITICS. [BOOK i. tors, and a Mr. Cronin, Democrat. The three Republican electors were certified by the Secretary of State, who was the can- vassing officer by law. This Oregon busi- ness led to grave suspicions against Mr. Tilden, who was thereafter freely charged by the Republicans with the use of his immense private fortune to control the re- sult, and thereafter, the New York Tribune, with unexampled enterprise, exposed and reprinted the "cipher dispatches" from Gramercy, which Mr. Pelton, the nephew end private secretary of Mr. Tilden, had sent to Democratic " visiting statesmen " in the four disputed sections. In 1878, the Potter Investigating Committee subse- quently confirmed the " cipher dispatches " but Mr. Tildeu 'denied any knowledge of them. The second session of the 44th Congress met on Dec. 5th, 1876, and while by that time all knew the dangers of the approach- ing electoral count, yet neither House would consent to the revision of the joint rule regulating the count. The Republi- cans claimed that the President of the Sen- ate had the sole authority to open and an- nounce the returns in the presence of the two Houses ; the Democrats plainly disputed this right, and claimed that the joint body could control the count under the law. Some Democrats went so far as to say that the House (which was Democratic, with Samuel J. Randall in the Speaker's chair) could for itself decide when the emergency hud arrived in which it was to elect a President. There was grave clanger, and it was as- serted that the Democrats, fearing the President of the Senate would exercise the power of declaring the result, were preparing first to forcibly and at least with secrecy swear in and inaugurate Tilden. Mr. Watterson, member of the House from Kentucky, boasted that he had completed arrangements to have 100,000 men at Washington on inauguration day, to see that Tilden was installed. President Grant and Secretary of War Cameron, thought the condition of affairs critical, and both made active though secret preparations to secure the safe if not the peaceful inaugu- ration of Hayes. Grant, in one of his sen- tentious utterances, said he " would have peace if he had to fight for it." To this end he sent for Gov. Hartranft of Penn- sylvania, to know if he could stop any at- tempted movement of New York troops to Washington, as he had information that the purpose was to forcibly install Tilden. Gov. Hartranft replied that he could do it with the National Guard and the Grand Army of the Republic. He was told to return to Harris! .urg and prepare for such an emergency. This he did, and as the Legislature was then in session, a Repub- lican caucus was called, and it resolved, without knowing exactly why, to sustain any action of the Governor with the re- sources of the State. Secretary Cameron also sent for Gen'l Sherman, and for a time went on with comprehensive prepa- rations, which if there had been need for completion, would certainly have put a speedy check upon the madness of any mob. There is a most interesting unwrit- ten history of events then transpiring which no one now living can fully relate without unjustifiable violations of political and personal confidences. But the danger was avoided by the patriotism of prominent members of Congress representing both of the great political parties. These gentle- men held several important and private conferences, and substantially agreed upon a result several days before the exciting struggle which followed the introduction of the Electoral Commission Act. The leaders on the part of the Republicans in these conferences were Conkling, Edmunds, Frelinghuysen ; on the part of the Demo- crats Bayard, Gordon, Randall and Hewitt, the latter a member of the House and Chairman of the National Democratic Committee. The Electoral Commission Act, the basis of agreement, was supported by Conkling in a speech of great power, and of all men engaged in this great work he was at the time most suspected by the Republicans, who feared that his admitted dislike to Hayes would cause him to favor a bill which would secure the return of Tilden, and as both of the gentlemen were $ew Yorkers, there was for several days grave fears of a combination between the two. The result showed the injustice done, and convinced theretofore doubting Republi- cans that Conkling, even as a partisan, was faithful and far-seeing. The Electoral Commission measure was a Democratic one, if we are to judge from the character of the votes cast for and against it. In the Senate the vote stood 47 for to 17 against. There were 21 Republicans for it and 16 against, while there were also 26 Demo- crats for it to only 1 (Eaton) against. In the House much the same proportion was maintained, the bill passing that body by 191 to 86. The following is the text of the ELECTORAL COMMISSION ACT. An a t to provide for and regulate the counting of votes for. President and Vice- President, and the decision of questions arising thereon, for the term commencing March fourth, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-seven. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the hall of the House of Represen- tatives, at the hour of one o'clock poet BOOK I.] THE ELECTORAL COUNT. 231 meridian, on the first Thursday in Febru- ary, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-seven ; the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer. Two tellers shall be previously appointed on the part of the Senate, and two on the part of the House of Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the Pre- sident of the Senate, all the certificates, and papers purporting to be certificates, of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened, presented and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with the letter A; and aid tellers having then read the same in presence and hearing of the two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates ; and the votes having been ascertained and counted as in this act provided, the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, and the names of the persons, if. any elected, which announce- ment shall be deemed a sufficient declara- tion of the persons elected President and Vice-President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the journals of the Houses. Upon such reading of any such certificate or paper when there shall only be one return from a State, the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and without argu- ment, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received. When all objections so made to any vote or paper from a State shall have been re- ceived and read, the Senate shall there- upon withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the Senate for its decision ; and the Speaker of the House of Represen- tatives shall, in like manner, submit such objections to the House of Representatives for its decision ; and no electoral vote or votes from any State from which but one return has been received shall be rejected, except by the affirmative vote of the two Houses. When the two Houses have votes, they shall immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then an- nounce the decision of the question sub- mitted. SEC. 2. That if more than one return, or paper purporting to be a return from a State, shall have been received by the President of the Senate, purporting to be the cer- tificate of electoral votes given at the last preceding election for President and Vice- President in such State (unless they shall be duplicates of the same return), all such returns and papers shall be opened by hinj in the presence of the two Houses when met as aforesaid, and read by the tellers, and all such returns and papers shall thereupon be submitted to the judgment and decision as to which is the true and lawful electoral vote of such State, of a commission consti- tuted as follows, namely : During the ses- sion of each House, on the Tuesday next preceding the first Thursday in February, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, each House shall, by viva voce vote, appoint five of its members, with the five associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States to be ascertained as hereinafter pro- vided, shall constitute a commission for the decision of all questions upon or in respect of such double returns named in this sec- tion. On the Tuesday next preceding the first Thursday in February, Anno Domini, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, or as soon thereafter as may be, the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States now assigned to the first, third, eighth, and ninth circuits shall select, in such manner as a majority of them shall deem fit, another of the associ- ate justices of said court, which five per- sons shall be members of said commission ; and the person longest in commission of said five justices shall be the president of said commission. The members of said commission shall respectively take and subscribe the following oath : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will impartially examine and consider all questions submitted to the commission of which I am a member, and a true judgment give thereon, agreeably to the Constitution and the laws : so help me God ; " which oath shall be filed with the Secretary of the Senate. When the commission shall have been thus organized, it shall not be in the power of either House to dissolve the same, or to with- draw any of its members ; but if any such Senator or member shall die or become physically unable to perform the duties required by this act, the fact of such death or physical inability shall be by said commission, before it shall proceed fur- ther, communicated to the Senate or House of Representatives, as the case may be, which body shall immediately and without debate proceed by viva voce vote to fill the place so vacated:, and the person so appointed shall take and subscribe the oath hereinbefore prescribed, and become a member of said commission ; and in like manner, if any of said justices of the Su- preme Court shall die or become physically incapable of performing the duties re- quired by this act, the other of said jus- tices, members of the said commission, shall immediately appoint another justice of said court a member of said commission, and in like manner, if any of said justices of the Supreme Court shall die or become physically incapable of performing the duties required by this act, the other of said 232 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. justices, members of the said commission, shall immediately appoint another justice of said court a member of said commission, and, in such appointment, regard shall be had to the impartiality and freedom from bias sought by the original appointments to said commission, who shall thereupon immediately take and subscribe the oath hereinbefore prescribed, and become a member of said commission to fill the vacancy so occasioned. All the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes of each State shall be opened, in the alphabetical order of the States, as provided in section one of this act ; and when there shall be more than one such certificate or paper, as the certifi- cates and papeis from such State shall so be opened (excepting duplicates of the same return), they shall be read by the tellers, and thereupon the Bresident of the Senate shall call for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and with- out argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one member of the House of Representa- tives before the same shall be received. When all such objections so made to any certificate, vote, or paper from a State shall have been received and read, all such cer- tificates, votes and papers so objected to, and all papers accompanying the same, together with such objections, shall be forthwith submitted to said commission, which shall proceed to consider the same, with the same powers, if any, now possessed for that purpose by the two Houses acting separately or together, and, by a majority or votes, decide whether any and what votes from such State are the votes provid- ed for by the Constitution of the United States, and how many and what persons were duly appointed electors in such State, and may therein take into view such peti- tions, depositions, and other papers, if any, as shall, oy the Constitution and now exist- ing law, be competent and pertinent in such consideration ; which decision shall be made in writing, stating briefly the ground thereof, and signed by the members of said commission agreeing therein ; whereupon the two Houses shall again meet, and such decision shall be read and entered in the journal of each house, and the count- ing of the vote shall proceed in conformity therewith, unless, upon objection made thereto in writing by at least five Senators and five members of the House of Repre- sentatives, the two Houses shall separately concur in ordering otherwise, in which case such concurrent order shall govern. No votes or papers from any other State shall be acted upon until the objections previ- ously made to the votes or papers from any State shall have been finally disposed of. SEC. 3. That, while the two Houses shall be in meeting, as provided in this act, no debate shall be allowed and no question shall be put by the presiding officer, except to either House on a motion to withdraw , and he shall have power to preserve order. SEC. 4. That when the two Houses sepa- rate to decide upon an objection that may have been made to the counting of any electoral vote or votes from any State, or upon objection to a report of said commis- sion, or other question arising under this act, each Senator and Representative may speak to such objection or question ten min- utes, and not oftener than once ; but after such debate shall have lasted two hours, it shall be the duty of each House to put the main question without further debate. SEC. 5. That at such joint meeting of the two Houses, seats shall be provided as fol- lows : For the President of the Senate, the Speaker's chair ; for the Speaker, immedi- ately upon his left ; the Senators in the body of the hall upon the right of the pre- siding officer ; for the Representatives, in the body of the hall not provided for the Senators ; for the tellers, Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of Repre- sentatives, at the Clerk's desk ; for the other officers of the two Houses, in front of the Clerk's desk and upon each side of the Speaker's platform. Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed and the result declared ; and no recess shall be taken unless a question shall have arisen in regard to counting any such votes, or other- wise under this act, in which case it shall be competent for either House, acting sepa- rately, in the manner hereinbefore provid- ed, to direct a recess of such House not be- yond the next day, Sunday excepted, at the hour of ten o'clock in the forenoon. And while any question is being considered by said commission, either House may pro- ceed with its legislative or other business. SEC. 6. That nothing in this act shall be held to impair or affect any right now ex- isting under the Constitution and laws to question, by proceeding in the judicial courts of the United States, the right or title of the person who shall be declared elected, or who shall claim to be President or Vice-President of the United States, if . any such right exists. SEC. 7. That said commission shall make its own rules, keep a record of its proceed- ings, and shall have power to employ such persons as may be necessary for the trans- action of its business and the execution of ite powers. Approved, January 29, 1877. Member* of tin- CommlMlon. Hon. NATHAN CLIFFORD, Associate Jut- tice Supreme Court, First Circuit- OQZ I.] THE TITLE OF PRESIDENT HAYES. 233 Hon. WILLIAM STRONG, Associate Justice Supreme Court, Third Circuit. Hon. SAMUEL F. MILLER, Associate Justice Supreme Court, Eighth Circuit. Hon. STEPHEN J. FIELD, Associate Jus- tice Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit. Hon. JOSEPH P. BRADLEY, Associate Justice Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit. Hon. GEORGE F. EDMUNDS, United States Senator. Hon. OLIVER P. MORTON, United States Senator. Hon. FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN, United States Senator. Hon. ALLEN G. THURMAN, United States Senator. Hon. THOMAS F. BAYARD, United States Senator. Hon. HENRY B. PAYNE, United States Representative. Hon. EPPA HUNTON, United States Rep- resentative. Hon. JOSIAH G. ABBOTT, United States Representative. Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD, United States Representative. Hon. GEORGE F. HOAR, United States Representative. The Electoral Commission met Febru- ary 1st, and by uniform votes of 8 to 7, de- cided all objections to the Electoral votes of Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon, in favor of the Eepublicans, and while the two Houses disagreed on nearly all of these points by strict party votes, the electoral votes were, under the provisions of the law, given to Hayes and Wheeler, and the final result declared to be 185 electors for Hayes and Wheeler, to 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. Questions of eligi- bility had been raised' against individual electors from Michigan, Nevada, Pennsyl- vania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wis- consin, but the Commission did not sustain any of them, and as a rule they were un- supported by evidence. Thus closed the gravest crisis which ever attended an elec- toral count in this country, so far as the Nation was concerned ; and while for some weeks the better desire to peacefully settle all differences prevailed, in a few weeks partisan bitterness was manifested on the part of a great majority of Northern Demo- .crats, who believed their party had been deprived by a partisan spirit of its right- ful President. The Title of President Ilayt-s. The uniform vote of 8 to 7 on all im- portant propositions considered by the Electoral Commission, to their minds showed a partisan spirit, the existence of which it was difficult to deny. The action of the Republican " visiting statesmen " in Louisiana, in practically overthrowing the Packard or Republican government there, caused distrust and dissatisfaction in the minds of the more radical Republicans, who contended with every show of reason that if Hayes carried Louisiana, Packard must also have done so. The only sensible excuse for seating Hayes on the one side and throwing out Governor Packard on the other, was a patriotic desire for peace in the settlement of both Presidential and Southern State issues. This desire was plainly manifested by President Hayes on the day of his inauguration and for two years thereafter. He took early occasion to visit Atlanta, Ga.,and while at that point" and en route there made the most concilia- tory speeches, in which he called those who had engaged in the Rebellion, " broth- ers," " gallant soldiers," etc. These speech- es excited much attention. They had lit- tle if any effect upon the South, while the more radical Republicans accused the President of " slopping over." They did not allay the hostility of the Democratic party, and did not restore the feeling in the South to a condition better than that which it had shown during the exciting days of the Electoral count. The South then, under the lead of men like Stephens, Hill and Gordon, in the main showed every desire for a peaceful settlement. As a rule only the Border States and Northern Demo- crats manifested extreme distrust and bit- terness, and these were plainly told by some of the leaders from the Gulf States, that so far as they were concerned, they had had enough of civil war. As late as April 22, 1877, the Maryland Legislature passed the following : Resolved by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the Attorney General of the State be, and he is hereby, instructed, in case Congress shall provide for expe- diting the action, to exhibit a bill in the Supreme Court of the United States, on behalf of the State of Maryland, with proper parties thereto, setting forth the fact that due effect has not been given to the electoral vote cast by this State on the 6th day of December, 1876, by reason of fraudulent returns made from other States and allowed to be counted provisionally by the Electoral Commission, and subject to judicial revision, and praying said court to make the revision contemplated by the act establishing said commission ; and upon such revision to declare the returns from the States of Louisiana and Florida, which were counted for Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler, fraudulent and Toid. and that the legal electoral votes of said States were cast for Samuel J. Tilden as President, and Thomas A. Hendricks as Vice President, and that by virtue there- of and of 184 votes cast by other States, of which 8 were cast by the State of Mary- land, the said Tilden and Hendricks wore 234 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. duly elected, and praying said Court to decree accordingly. P It vf&s this resolution which induced the Clarkson N. Potter resolution of investi- gation, a resolution the passage of which was resisted by the Republicans through filibustering for many days, but was finally passed by 146 Democratic votes to 2 Demo- cratic votes (Mills and Morse) against, the Republicans not voting. Tlit- Cipher Despatches. An amendment offered to the Potter resolution but not accepted, and defeated by the Democratic majority, cited some fair specimens of the cipher dispatches exposed by the New York Tribune. These are matters of historical interest, and con- vey information as to the methods which politicians will resort to in desperate emer- gencies. We therefore quote the more per- tinent portions. Resolved, That the select committee to whom this House has committed the in- vestigation of certain matters affecting, as is alleged, the legal title of the President of the United States to the high office which he now holds, be and is hereby in- structed in the course of its investigations to fully inquire into all the facts connected with the election in the State of Florida in November, 1876, and especially into the circumstances attending the transmission and receiving of certain telegraphic dis- patches sent in said year between Tallahas- see in said State and New York City, viz. : " TALLAHASSEE, November 9, 1876. " A. 8. HEWITT, New York : " Comply if possible with my telegram. "Geo. P. RAREY." Also the following : " TALLAHASSEE, December 1, 1876. " W. T. PELTON, New York : "Answer Mac's dispatch immediately, or we will be embarrasssed at a critical time. WILKINSON CALL." Also the following : " TALLAHASSEE, December 4, 1876. "W. T. PELTON: "Things culminating here. Answer Mac's despatch to-day. W. CALL." And also the facts connected with all telegraphic dispatches between one John F. Coyie and said Pelton, under the lat- ter s real or fictitious name, and with any and all demands for money on or about December 1, 1876, from said Tallahassee, on said Pelton, or said Hewitt, or with any attempt to corrupt or bribe any official of the said State 01 Florida by any person acting for said Pelton, or in the interest of Samuel J. Tilden as a presidential candi- date. Also to investigate the charges of in- timidation at Lake City, in Columbia county, where Joel Niblack and other white men put ropes around the necks of colored mdh and proposed to hang them, but released them on their promise to join a Democratic club and vote for Samuel J. Tilden. Also the facts of the election in Jackson county, where the ballot-boxes were kept out of the sight of voters, who voted through openings or holes six feet above the ground, and where many more Republican votes were thus given into the hands of the De- mocratic inspectors than were counted or returned by them. Also the facts of the election in Waldo precinct, in Alachua county, where the passengers on an emigrant-train, passing through on the day of election, were al- lowed to vote. Also the facts of the election in Manatee county, returning 235 majority for the Tilden electors, where there were no county officers, no registration, no notice of the election, and where the Republican party, therefore, did not vote. Also the facts of the election in the third precinct of Key West, giving 342 Demo- cratic majority where the Democratic in- spector carried the ballot-box home, and pretended to count the ballots on the next day, outside of the precinct and contrary to law. Also the facts of the election in Hamil- ton, where the election-officers exercised no control over the ballot-box, but left it in unauthorized hands, that it might be tampered with. Also the reasons why the Attorney.. General of the State, Wm. Archer Cocke, as a member of the Canvassing Board, offi- cially advised the board, and himself voted, to exclude the Hamilton county and Key West precinct returns, thereby giving, in any event, over 500 majority to the Re- publican electoral ticket, and afterwards protested against the result which he had voted for, and whether or not said Cocke was afterward rewarded for such protest by being made a State Judge. OREGON. And that said committee is further in- structed and directed to investigate into all the facts connected with an alleged at- tempt to secure one electoral vote in the State of Oregon for Samuel J. Tilden for President of the United States, and Thom- as A. Hendricks for Vice-President, by un- lawfully setting up the election of E. A. Cronin as one of such presidential electors elected from the State of Oregon on the 7th of November, the candidates for the BOOK I.] THE CIPHER DESPATCHES. 235 presidential electors on the two tickets be- ing as follows : On the Republican ticket: \V. C. Odell, J. C. Cartwright, and John W. Watts. On the Democratic ticket : E. A. Cronin, W. A. Laswell, and Henry Klippel. The votes received by each candidate, as shown by the official vote a'a canvassed, declared, and certified to by the Secretary of State under the seal of the State, the Secretary being under the laws of Oregon sole canvassing-officer, as will be shown hereafter, being as follows : W. K. Odell received 15,206 votes John C. Cartwright received.. ..15,214 John W. Watts received 15,206 E. A. Cronin received 14,157 W. A. Laswell receiyed 14,149 Henry Klippel received 14,136 And by the unlawful attempt to bribe one of said legally elected electors to recognize said Cronin as an elector for President and Vice-President, in order that one of the electoral votes of said State might be cast for said Samuel J. Tilden as President and for Thomas A. Hendricks as Vice-Presi- dent ; and especially to examine and inquire into all the facts relating to the sending of money from New York to some place in said Oregon for the purposes of such bribery, the parties sending and receiving the same, and their relations to and agency for said Tilden, and more particu- larly to investigate into all the circum- stances attending the transmission of the following telegraphic despatches : "PORTLAND, Oregon, Nov. 14, 1876. " Gov. L. F. GROVER : " Come down to-morrow if possible. " W. H. EFFINGER, " A. NOLTNER, " C. P. BELLINGER." " PORTLAND, November 16, 1876. " To Gov. GROVER, Salem : " We want to see you particularly on account of despatches from the East. " WILLIAM STRONG, S. H. REED, "C. P. BELLINGER, W. W. THAYER, " C. E. BRONAUGH." Also the following cipher despatch sent from Portland, Oregon, on the 28th day of November, 1876, to New York City : " PORTLAND, November 28, 1876. " To W. T. Pelton, No. 15 Gramercy Park, New York: " By vizier association innocuous negli- gence cunning minutely previously read- mit doltish to purchase afar act with cunning afar sacristy unweighed afar pointer tigress cattle superannuated sylla- bus dilatoriness misapprehension contra- band Kountz bisulcuous top usher spinifer- ua answer. J. H. N. PATRICK. " I fully endorse this. " JAMES K. KELLY." Of which, when the key was discovered, the following was found to be the true in- tent and meaning: " PORTLAND, November 28, 1876. " To W. T. PELTON, No. 15 Gramercy Park t New York: " Certificate will be issued to one Demo crat. Must purchase a Republican electoi to recognize and act with Democrats and secure the vote and prevent trouble. De posit $10,000 to my credit with Kountz Brothers, Wall Street. Answer. J. H. N. PATRICK. " I fully endorse this. " JAMES K. KELLY." Also the following : " NEW YORK, November 25, 1876. " A. BUSH, Salem : " Use all means to prevent certificate. Very important. C. E. TILTON." Also the following : "December 1, 1876. " To Hon. SAM. J. TILDEN, No. 15 Gra- mercy Park, New York : " I shall decide every point in the case of post-office elector in favor of the highest Democratic elector, and grant certificate accordingly on morning of 6th instant. Confidential. GOVERNOR." Also the following : " SAN FRANCISCO, December 5. " LADD & BUSH, Salem : " Funds from New York will be de- posited to your credit here to-morrow when bank opens. I know it. Act accordingly. Answer. W. C. GRISWOLD." Also the following, six days before the foregoing : " NEW YORK, November 29, 1876. " To J. H. N. PATRICK, Portland, Oregon : " Moral hasty sideral vizier gabble cramp by hemistic welcome licentiate muskeete compassion neglectful recoverable hathouse live innovator brackish association dime afar idolater session hemistic mitre." [No signature.] Of which the interpretation is as follows: " NEW YORK, November 29, 1876. " To J. H. N. PATRICK, Portland, Oregon .- " No. How soon will Governor decide certificate ? If you make obligation con- tingent on the result in March, it can be done, and slightly if necessary." [No signature.] Also the following, one day later : 236 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. " PORTLAND, November 30, 1876. " To W. T. PELTON, No. 15 Gramercy Park, New York : "Governor all right without reward. Will issue certificate Tuesday. This is a secret. Republicans threaten if certificate issued to ignore Democratic claims and fill vacancy, and thus defeat action of Gover- nor. One elector must be paid to recog- nize Democrat to secure majority. Have employed three lawyers, editor of only Re- publican paper as one lawyer, fee $3,000. tWill take 5,000 for Republican elector; must raise money ; can't make fee contin- gent. Sail Saturday. Kelly and Bellin- ger will act. Communicate with them. Must act promptly." [No signature]. Also the following : " SAN FRANCISCO, December 5, 1876. "To KOUNTZE BROS., No. UWall St., New York: " Has my account credit by any funds lately ? How much ? "J. H.N.PATRICK." Also the following : " NEW YORK, December 6. 11 J. H. N. PATRICK, San Francisco : " Davis deposited eight thousand dollars December first. KOUNTZE BROS." Also the following : " SAN FRANCISCO, December 6. "To JAMES K. KELLY: "The eight deposited as directed this morning. Let no technicality prevent winning. Use your discretion." [No signature.] And the following: "NEW YORK, December 6. "HON. JAS. K. KELLY: "Is your matter certain? There must be no mistake. All depends on you. Place no reliance on any favorable report from three southward. Sonetter. Answer quick." [No signature.] Also the following: "DECEMBER 6, 1876. "To Col. W. T.- PELTON, 15 Gramercy Part, N. Y. : "Glory to God I Hold on to the one vote in Oregon! I have one hundred thousand men to back it up I " CORSE." And said committee is further directed to inquire into and bring to light, so far as it may be possible, the entire correspondence and conspiracy referred to in tne above telegraphic despatches, and to ascertain \vh;it were the relations existing between any of the parties sending or receiving said despatches and W. T. Pel ton, of New York, and also what relations existed between said W. T. Pelton and Samuel J. Tilden, of New York. April 15, 1878, Mr. Kimmel introduced a bill, which was never finally acted upon, to provide a mode for trying and deter- mining by the Supreme Court of the United States the title of the President and Vice- President of the United States to take their respective offices when their election to such offices is denied by one or more of the States of the Union. The question of the title of President was finally settled June 14, 1878, by the following report of the House Judiciary Commitee : Report of the Judiciary Committee. June 14 Mr. HARTRIDGE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, made the fol- lowing report : The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom were referred the bill (H. R. No. 4315) and the resolutions of the Legisla- ture of the State of Maryland directing judicial proceedings to give effect to the electoral vote of that State in the last elec- tion of President and Vice-President of the United States, report back said bill and resolutions with a recommendation that the bill do not pass. Your committee are of the opinion that Congress has no power, under the Consti- tution, to confer upon the Supreme Court of the United States the [original juris- diction sought for it by this bill. The only clause of the Constitution which could be plausibly invoked to enable Con- gress to provide the legal machinery for the litigation proposed, is that which gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in " cases " or " controversies " between a State and the citizens of another State. The committee are of the opinion that this expression "cases" and controversies" was not intended by the framers of the Constitution to embrace an original pro- ceeding by a State in the Supreme Court of the United States to oust any incum- bent from a political office filled by the de- claration and decision of the two Houses of Congress clothed with the constitutional power to count the electoral votes and de- cide as a final tribunal upon the election for President and Vice-President. The Forty-fourth Congress selected a commis- sion to count the votes for President and Vice-President, reserving to itself the rigiic to ratify or reject such count, in the way prescribed in the act creating such com- mission. By the joint action of the two Houses it ratified the count made by the commission, and thus made it the expres- sion of its own judgment. All the Departments of the Federal BOK I.] THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION. 237 Government, all the State governments in their relations to Federal authority, for- eign nations, the people of the United States, all the material interests and indus- tries of the country, have acquiesced in, and acted in accordance with, the pro- nounced finding of that Congress. In the opinion of this committee, the present Congress has no power to undo the work of its predecessor in counting the electoral ivote, or to confer upon any judicial tri- bunal the right to pass upon and perhaps get aside the action of that predecessor in reference to a purely political question, the decision of which is confided by the Con- stitution in Congress. But apart from these fundamental ob- jections to the bill under consideration, there are features and provisions in it which are entirely impracticable. Your committee can find no warrant of authority to summon the chief-justices of the supreme courts of the Several States to sit at Washington as a jury to try any case, however grave and weighty may be its nature. The right to summon must carry with it the power to enforce obedience to the mandate, and the Committee can see no means by which the judicial officers of a State can be compelled to assume the functions of jurors in the Supreme Court of the United States. There are other objections to the prac- tical working of the bill under considera- tion, to which we do not think it necessary to refer. It may be true that the State of Mary- land has been, in the late election for President and Vice -President, deprived of her just and full weight in deciding who were legally chosen, by reason of frauds perpetrated by returning boards in some of the States. It may also be true that these fraudulent acts were countenanced or encouraged or participated in by .some who now enjoy high offices as the fruit of such frauds. It is due to the present gen- eration of the people of this country and their posterity, and to the principles on which our Government is founded, that all evidence tending to establish the fact of such fraudulent practices should be c ilmly, carefully, and rigorously examined. But your committee are of the opinion that the consequence of such examination, if it discloses guilt upon the part of any in high official position, should not be an ef- fort to set aside the judgment of a former Congress as to the election of a President and Vice- President, but should be confined to the punishment, by legal and constitu- tional means, of the offenders, and to the preservation and perpetuation of the evi- dences of their guilt, so that the American people may be protected from a recurrence of the crime. Your committee, therefore, recommend the adoption of the accompanying resolu- tion : Resolved, That the two Houses of the Forty-fourth Congress having counted the votes cast for President and Vice-Presi- dent of the United States, and having de- clared Rutherford B. Hayes to be elected President, and William A. Wheeler to be elected Vice-President, there is no power in any subsequent Congress to reverse that declaration, nor can any such power be exercised by the courts of the United States, or any other tribunal that Congress can create under the Constitution. We agree to the foregoing report so far as it states the reasons for the resolution adopted by the committee, but dissent from the concluding portion, as not having re- ference to such reasons, as not pertinent to the inquiry before us, and as giving an implied sanction to the propriety of the pending investigation ordered by a ma- jority vote of the House of Representatives, to which we were and. are opposed. WM. P. FBYE. O. D. CONGER. E. G. LAPHAM. Leave was given to Mr. KNOTT to pre- sent his individual views, also to Mr. BUT- LER (the full committee consisting of Messrs. Knott, Lynde, Harris, of Virginia, Hartridge, Stenger, McMahon, Culberson, Frye, Butler, Conger, Lapham.) The question being on the resolution re- ported by the committee, it was agreed to yeas 235, nays 14, not voting 42. The Hayes Administration. It can be truthfully said that from the very beginning the administration of Pre- sident Hayes had not the cordial support of the Republican party, nor was it solidly opposed by the Democrats, as was the last administration of General Grant. His early withdrawal of the troops from the Southern States, and it was this with- drawal and the suggestion of it from the " visiting statesmen " which overthrew the Packard government in Louisiana, em- bittered the hostility of many radical Re- publicans. Senator Conkling was conspi- cuous in hia opposition, as was Logan of Illinois; and when he reached Washing- ton, the younger Senator Cameron, of Pennsylvania. It was during this admi- nistration, and because of its conservative tendencies, that these three leaders formed the purpose to bring Grant again to the Presidency. Yet the Hayes' administra- tion was not always conservative, and many Republicans believed that its mode- ration had afforded a much needed breath- ing spell to the country. Toward its close all became better satisfied, the radical por* 238 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. tion by the President's later efforts to pre- vent the intimidation of negro voters in the South, a form of intimidation which was now accomplished by means of rifle clubs, still another advance from the White League and the Ku Klux. He made this a leading feature in his annual message to the Congress which began December 2d, 1878, and by a virtual abandonment of his earlier policy he succeeded in reuniting what were then fast separating wings of his own party. The conference report on the Legislative Appropriation Bill was adopted by both Houses June 18th, and approved the 21st. The Judicial Expenses Bill was vetoed by the President June 23d, on the ground that it would deprive him of the means of executing the election laws. An attempt on the part of the Democrats to pass the Bill over the veto failed for want of a two-thirds vote, the Republicans voting solidly against it. June 26th the veltoed bill was divided, the second division etill forbidding the pay of deputy marshals at elections. This was again vetoed, and the President sent a special message urging the necessity of an appropriation to pay United States marshals. Bills were accord- ingly introduced, but were defeated. This failure to appropriate moneys called for continued until the end of the session. The President was compelled, therefore, to call an extra session, which he did March 19th, 1879, in words which briefly explain the cause : THE EXTRA SESSION OF 1879. "The failure of the last Congress to make the requisite appropriation for legis- lative and judicial purposes, for the ex- penses of the several executive departments of the Government, and for the support of the Army, has mi de it necessary to call a special session of the Forty-sixth Con- gress. "The estimates of the appropriations needed, which were sent to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury at the opening of the last session, are renewed, and are herewith transmitted to both the Senate and the House of Representatives. " Regretting the existence of the emer- gency which requires a special session of Congress at a time when it is the general judgment of the country that the public welfare will be best promoted by perma- nency in our legislation, and by peace and rest, I commend these few necessary mea- sures to your considerate attention." By this time both Houses were Demo- cratic. In the Senate there were 42 De- mocrats, 33 Republicans and 1 Independent (David Davis). In the Hou-e 149 Demo- crats, 130 Republicans, and 14 Nationals a name then assumed by the Greenbackers and Labor-Reformers. The House passed the Warner Silver Bill, providing tor the unlimited coinage of silver, the Senate Fi- nance Committee refused to report it, the Chairman, Senator Bayard, having refused to report it, and even after a request to do so from the Democratic caucus, a course of action which heralded him every where as a " hard-money " Democrat. The main business of the extra session was devoted to the consideration of the Appropriation Bills which the regular ses- sion had failed to pass. On all of these the Democrats added "riders" for the purpose of destroying Federal supervision of the elections, and all of these political riders were vetoed by President Hayes. The discussions of the several measure? and the vetoes were highly exciting, an? this excitement cemented afresh the Re-- publicans, and caused all of them to act in accord with the administration. The De- mocrats were equally solid, while the Na- tionals divided Forsythe, Gillette, Kelley, Weaver, and Yocum generally voting with the Republicans; De La Matyr, Steven- son, Ladd and Wright with the Demo- crats. President Hayes, in his veto of the Army Appropriation Bill, said : " I have maturely considered the im- portant questions presented by the bill en- titled 'An Act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, and for other pur- poses,' and I now return it to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, with my objections to its approvaj. " The bill provides, in the usual form, for the appropriations required for the support of the Army during the next fiscal year. If it contained no other provisions, it would receive my prompt approval. It includes, however, further legislation, which, at- tached as it is to appropriations which are requisite for the efficient performance of some of the most necessary duties of the Government, involves questions of the gravest character. The sixth section of the bill is amendatory of the statute now in force in regard to the authority of persons in the civil, military and naval service of the United States ' at the place where any eneral or special election is held in any tate.' This statute was adopted February 25, 1865, after a protracted debate in the Senate, and almost without opposition in the House of Representatives, by the con- current votes of both of the leading political parties of the country, and became a law by the approval of President Lincoln. It was re-enacted in 1874 in the Revised Sta- tutes of the United States, sections 2002 and 5528. ******* " Upon the assembling of this Congress, in pursuance of a call for an extra session, which was made necessary by the failure of the Forty-fifth Congress to make the BOOK I.] THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION. 239 needful appropriations for the support of the Government, the question was presented whether the attempt made in the last Con- gress to engraft, by construction, a new principle upon the Constitution should be persisted in or not. This Congress has ample opportunity and time to pass the appropriation bills, and also to enact any political measures which may be deter- mined upon in separate bills by the usual and orderly methods of proceeding. But the majority of both Houses have deemed it wise to adhere to the principles asserted and maintained in the last Congress by the majority of the House of Representatives. That principle is that the House of Repre- sentatives has the sole right to originate bills for raising revenue, and therefore has the right to withhold appropriations upon which the existence of the Government may depend, unless the Senate and the Presi- dent shall give their assent to any legisla- tion which the House may see fit to attach to appropriation bills. To establish this principle is to make a radical, dangerous, and unconstitutional change in the charac- ter of our institutions. The various De- partments of the Government, and the Army and Navy, are established by the Constitution, or by laws passed in pursuance thereof. Their duties are clearly defined, and their support is carefully provided for by law. The money required for this pur- pose has been collected from the people, and is noAV in the Treasury, ready to be paid out as soon as the 'appropriation bills are passed. Whether appropriations are made or not, the collection of the taxes will go on. The public money will accu- mulate in the Treasury. It was not the in- tention of the framers of the Constitution that any single branch of the Government should have the power to dictate conditions upon which this treasure should be applied to the purpose for which it was collected. Any such intention, if it had been enter- tained, would have been plainly expressed in the Constitution." The vote in the House on this Bill, not- withstanding the veto, was 148 for to 122 against a party vote, save the division of the Nationals, previously given. Not re- ceiving a two-thirds vote, the Bill failed. The other appropriation bills with po- litical riders shared the same fate, as did the bill to prohibit military interference at elections, the modification of the law touch- ing supervisors and marshals at congres- sional elections, etc. The debates on these measures were bitterly partisan in their character, as a few quotations from the Congressional Record will show : The Republican view was succinctly and very eloquently stated by General Garfield, when, in his speech of the 29th of March, 18T79, he said to the revolutionary Demo- cratic House : " The last act of Democratic domination in this Capitol, eighteen years ago, was striking and dramatic, perhaps heroic. Then the Democratic party said to the Re- publicans, ' If you elect the man of your choice as President of the United States we will shoot your Government to death ; ' and the people of this country, refusing to be coerced by threats or violence, voted as they pleased, and lawfully elected Abra- ham Lincoln President of the United States. "Then your leaders, though holding a majority in the other branch of Congress, were heroic enough to withdraw from their seats and fling down the gage of mortal battle. We called it rebellion ; but we recognized it as courageous and manly to avow your purpose, take all the risks, and fight it out on the open field. Notwith- standing your utmost efforts to destroy it, the Government was saved. Year by year since the war ended, those who resisted you have come to believe that you have finally renounced your purpose to destroy, and are willing to maintain the Government. In that belief you have been permitted to re- turn to power in the two Houses. " To-day, after eighteen years of defeat, the book of your domination is again opened, and your first act awakens every unhappy memory and threatens to destroy the confidence which your .professions of patriotism inspired. You turned down a leaf of the history that recorded your last act of power in 1861, and you have now signal- ized your return to power by beginning a second chapter at the same page ; not this time by a heroic act that declares war on the battle-field, but you say if all the legis- lative powers of the Government do not consent to let you tear certain laws out of the statute-book, you will not shoot our Government to death as you tried to do in the first chapter ; but you declare that if we do not consent against our will, if you cannot coerce an independent branch of this Government against its will, to allow you to tear from the statute-books some laws put there by the will of the people, you will starve the Government to death. [Great applause on the Republican side.] " Between death on the field and death by starvation, I do not know that the American people will see any great differ- ence. The end, if successfully reached, would be death in either case. Gentlemen, you have it in your power to kill this Gov- ernment ; you have it in your power, by withholding these two bills, to smite the nerve-centres of our Constitution with the paralysis of death ; and you have declared your purpose to do this, if you cannot break down that fundamental element of free consent which up to this hour has always ruled in the legislation of this Govern- ment." 240 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i The Democratic view was ably given by Representative Tucker of Virginia, April 3, 1879: "I tell you, gentlemen of the House of Representatives, the Army dies on the 30th day if June, unless we resuscitate it by legislation. And what is the question here on this bill ? Will you resuscitate the Army after the 30th of June, with the power to use it as keepers of the polls ? That is the question. It is not a question of repeal. It is a question of re-enact- ment. If you do not appropriate this money, there will be no Army after the 30th of June to be used at the polls. The only way to secure an Army at the polls is to appropriate the money. Will you ap- propriate the money for the Army in order that they may be used at the polls f We say no, a thousand times no. * * * The gentlemen on the other side say there must e no coercion. Of whom ? Of the Presi- dent ? But what right has the President to coerce us ? There may be coercion one way or the other. He demands an uncon- ditional supply. We say we will give him no supply but upon conditions. * * * When, therefore, vicious laws have fas- tened themselves upon the statute-book which imperil the liberty of the people, this House is bound to say it will appro- priate no money to give effect to such laws until and except upon condition that they are repealed. [Applause on the Demo- cratic side.] * * We will give him the Army on a single condition that it shall never be used or be present at the polls when an election is held for members of this House, or in any presidential election, or in any State or municipal election. * * * Clothed thus with unquestioned power, bound by clear duty, to expunge these vi- cious laws from the statute-book, following a constitutional method sanctioned by venerable precedents in English history, we feel that we have the undoubted right, and are beyond cavil in the right, in de- claring that with our grant of supply there must be a cessation of these grievances, and we make these appropriations condi- tioned on securing a free ballot and fair juries for our citizens." The Senate, July 1, passed the House bill placing quinine on tne free list. The extra session finally passed the Ap- propriation bills without riders, and ad- journed July 1st, 1879, with the Republi- can party far more firmly united than at the beginning of the Hayes administra- tion. The attempt on the part of the Demo- crat* to pass these political riders, and their threat, in the words of Garfield, who had then succeeded Stevens and Blaine as the Republican Commoner of the House, re- awakened all the partisan animosities which the administration of President Hayes had up to that time allayed. Even the President caught its spirit, and plainly manifested it in his veto messages. It was a losing battle to the Democrats, for they had, with the view not to " starve the gov- ernment," to abandon their position, and the temporary demoralization which fol- lowed bridged over the questions pertain- ing to the title of President Hayes, over- shadowed the claims of Tilden, and caused the North to again look with grave con- cern on the establishment of Democratic power. If it had not been for this extra session, it is asserted and believed by many, the Republicans could not have so soon gained control of the lower House, which they did in the year following ; and that the plan to nominate General Han- cock for the Presidency, which originated with Senator Wallace of Pennsylvania, could not have otherwise succeeded if Til- den's cause had not been kept before his party, unclouded by an extra session which was freighted with disaster to the Demo- cratic party. The Negro Exodus. During this summer political comment, long after adjournment, was kept active by a great negro exodus from the South to the Northwest, most of the emigrants going to Kansas. The Republicans ascribed this to ill treatment, the Democrats to the opera- tions of railroad agents. The people of Kansas welcomed them, but other States, save Indiana, were slow in their manifes- tations of hospitality, and the exodus soon ceased for a time. It was renewed in South Carolina in the winter of 1881-82, the de- sign being to remove to Arkansas, but at this writing it attracts comparatively little notice. The Southern journals generally advise more liberal treatment of the blacks in matters of education, labor contracts, etc., while none of the Northern or West- ern States any longer make efforts to get the benefit of their labor, if indeed they ever did. Closing Hours of the Hayes Admlnistra- tlon. At the regular session of Congress, which met December 1st, 1879, President Hayes advised Congress against any further legis- ' lation in reference to coinage, and favored the retirement of the legal tenders. The most important political action ta- ken at this session was the passage, for Congress was still Democratic, of a law to prevent the use of the army to keep the peace at the polls. To this was added the Garfield proviso, that it should not be con- strued to prevent the Constitutional use of the army to suppress domestic violence in a State a proviso which in the view of the Republicans rid the bill of material partisan objections, and it was therefore CLOSING HOURS OF HAYES' ADMINISTRATION. 241 passed and approved. The " political ri- ders" were again added to the Appropria- tion and Deficiency bills, but were again vetoed and failed in this form to become laws. Upon these questions President Hayes showed much firmness. During the session the Democratic opposition to the General Election Law was greatly tem- pered, the Supreme Court having made an important decision, which upheld its con- stitutionality. Like all sessions under the administration of President Hayes and since, nothing was done to provide perma- nent and safe methods for completing the electoral count. On this question each party seemed to be afraid of the other. The session adjourned June 16th, 1880. The second session of the 46th Congress began December 1st, 1880. The last an- nual message of President Hayes recom- mended the earliest practicable retirement of the legal-tender notes, and the mainte- nance of the present laws for the accumula- tion of a sinking fund sufficient to extin- guish the public debt within a limited peri- od. The laws against polygamy, he said, should be firmly and effectively executed. In the course of a lengthy discussion of the civil service the President declared that in his opinion " every citizen has an equal right to the honor and profit of en- tering the public service of his country. The only just ground of discrimination is the measure of character and capacity he has to make that service most useful to the people. Except in cases where, upon just and recognized principles, as upon the theory of pensions, offices and promotions are bestowed as rewards for past services, their bestowal upon any theory which dis- regards personal merit is an act of injus- tice to the citizen, as well as a breach of that trust subject to which the appointing power is held. Considerable space was given in the Message to the condition of the Indians, the President recommending the passage of a law enabling the govern- ment to give Indians a title-fee, inaliena- ble for twenty-five years, to the farm lands assigned to them by allotment. He also repeats the recommendation made in a former message that a law be passed admit- ting the Indians who can give satisfactory proof of having by their own labor sup- ported their families for a number of years, and who are willing to detach themselves from their tribal relations, to the benefit of the Homestead Act, and authorizing the government to grant them patents contain- ing the same provision of inalienability for a certain period. The Senate, on the 19th, appointed a committee of five to investigate the causes of the recent negro exodus from the South. On the same day a committee was appoint- ed by the House to examine into the sub- ject of an inter-oceanic ship-canal. 16 The payment of the award of the Hali- fax Fisheries Commission $5,500,000 to the British government was made by the American minister in London, November 23, 1879, accompanied by a communica- tion protesting against the payment being understood as an acquiescence in the re- sult of the Commission " as furnishing any just measure of the value of a participa- tion by our citizens in the inshore fisheries of the British Provinces." Oh the 17th of December 1879, gold was sold in New York at par. It was first sold at a premium January 13, 1862. It reached its highest rate, $2.85, July 11, 1864. The electoral vote was counted without any partisan excitement or disagreement. Georgia's electoral college had met on the second instead of the first Wednesday of December, as required by the Federal law. She actually voted under her old Confed- erate law, but as it could not change the result, both parties agreed to the count of the vote' of Georgia in the alternative," i. e. "if the votes of Georgia were counted the number of votes for A and B. for Presi- dent and Vice-President would be so many, and if the votes of Georgia were not counted, the number of votes for A and B. for President and Vice-President would be so many, and that in either case A and B are elected." Among the bills not disposed of by this session were the electoral count joint rule ; the funding bill ; the Irish relief bill ; the Chinese indemnity bill; to restrict Chinese immigration ; to amend the Constitution as to the election of President ; to regulate the pay and number of supervisors of elec- tion and special deputy-marshals ; to abro- gate the Clayton-Bulvver Treaty ; to pro- hibit military interference at elections ; to define the terms of office of the Chief Su- pervisors of elections ; for the appointment of a tariff commission ; the political assess- ment bill ; the Kellogg-Spofford case ; and the Fitz-John Porter bill. The regular appropriation bills were all completed. The total amount appropria- ted was about $186,000 000. Among the special sums voted were $30,000 for the cen- tennial celebration of the Yorktown vic- tory, and $100,000 for a monument to com- memorate the same. Congress adjourned March 3d, 1881, and President Hayes on the following day re- tired from office. The effect of his admin- istration was, in a political sense, to strengthen a growing independent senti- ment in the ranks of the Republicans an element more conservative generally in its views than those represented by Conkling and Elaine. This sentiment began with Bristow, who while in the cabinet made a show of seeking out and punishing all cor- ruptions in government office or service. On this platform and record he had con- 242 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. tested with Hayes the honors of the Presi- dential nominations, and while the latter was at the time believed to well represent the same views, they were not urgently pressed during his administration. Indeed, without the knowledge of Hayes, what is believed to be a most gigantic "steal," and which is now being prosecuted under the name of the Star Route cases, had its birth, and thrived so well that no import- ant discovery was made until the incoming of the Garfield administration. The Hayes administration, it is now fashionable to say, made little impress for good or evil upon the country, but impartial historians will give it the credit of softening party as- perities and aiding very materially in the restoration of better feeling between the North and South. Its conservatism, al- ways manifested save on extraordinary oc- casions, did that much good at least. The Campaign of 1880. The Republican National Convention met June 5th, 1880, at Chicago, in the Ex- position building, capable of seating 20,000 people. The excitement in the ranks of the Republicans was very high, because of the candidacy of General Grant for what was popularly called a " third term," thougn not a third consecutive term. His three powerful Senatorial friends, in the face of bitter protests, had secured the in- structions of their respective State Conven- tions for Grant. Conkling had done this in New York, Cameron in Pennsylvania, Logan in Illinois, but in each of the three States the opposition was so impressive that no serious attempts were made to substi- tute other delegates for those which had previously been selected by their Congres- sional districts. As a result there was a large minority in the delegations of these States opposed to the nomination of Gene- ral Grant, and the votes of them could only be controlled by the enforcement of the unit rule. Senator Hoar of Massachusetts, the President of the Convention, decided against its enforcement, and as a result all of the delegates were free to vote upon ei- ther State or District instructions, or as they chose. The Convention was in session three daya. We present herewith the BALLOTS. Ballot*. 123456 Grant, Blaine, 304 305 305 305 305 305 284 282 282 281 281 281 Sherman, 93 94 93 95 Edmunds, 34 32 32 Washburne,30 32 81 Windom, 10 Garfield, Harrison, 10 1 1 10 1 95 32 82 81 81 10 31 31 10 10 Ballots. 7 8 Grant, 305 306 Blaine, 281 284 Sherman, 94 91 Edmunds, 32 31 Washburne, 31 32 Windom, 10 10 Garfield, 1 1 Hayes, 9 10 11 12 308 305 305 304 282 282 281 283 90 91 62 93 31 32 10 1 30 31 22 32 10 33 10 10 2 1 1 2 Ballots, 13 14 Grant, 305 305 Blaine, 285 285 Sherman, 89 89 Edmunds, 31 31 Washburne, 33 35 Windom, 10 10 Garfield, 1 Hayes, 1 1 Davis, McCrary, 1 15 16 17 18 309 306 303 305 281 283 284 283 88 88 90 92 31 31 31 31 36 36 34 35 10 10 10 10 Ballots, 19 20 21 22 23 24* Grant,' 305 308 305 305 304 305 Blaine, 279 276 276 275 274 279 Sherman, 95 93 96 Edmunds, 31 31 31 Washburne, 31 35 35 Windom, 10 10 10 Garfield, 111 Hartranft, 111 95 31 98 31 35 36 10 10 1 2 1 93 31 35 10 2 Ballots, 25 26 27 Grant, 302 303 306 Blaine, 281 280 277 Sherman, 94 93 93 Edmunds, 31 31 31 Washburne, 36 35 36 Windom, 10 Garfield, 2 10 2 10 2 There was little change from the 27th ballot until the 36th and final one, which resulted as follows : Whole number of votes 755 Necessary to a choice 378 Grant 306 Blaine 42 Sherman 3 Washburne 5 Garfield 399 As shown, General James A. Garfield, of Ohio, was nominated on the 36th ballot, the forces of General Grant alone remain- ing solid. The result was due to a sudden union of the forces of Blaine and Sherman, it is believed with the full consent of both, for both employed the same wire leading from the same room in Washington in telegraphing to their friends at Chicago. The object was to defeat Grant. After Garfield's nomination there was a tempo- rary adjournment, during which the friends of the nominee consulted Conkling and his leading friends, and the result was the selection of General Chester A. Arthur BOOK I.] THE CAMPAIGN OF 1880. 243 of New York, for Vice-President. The object of this selection was to carry New York, the great State which was then al- most universally believed to hold the key to the Presidential position. The Democratic National Convention met at Cincinnati, June 22d. Tilden had up to the holding of the Pennsylvania State Convention been one of the most prominent candidates. In this Convention there was a bitter struggle between the Wallace and Randall factions, the former favoring Hancock, the latter Tilden. Wal- lace, after a contest far sharper than he expected, won, and bound the delegation by the unit rule. When the National Convention met, John Kelly, the Tam- many leader of New York, was again there, as at St. Louis four years before, to oppose Tilden, but the latter sent a letter disclaiming that he was a candidate, and yet really inviting a nomination on the is- sue of " the fraudulent counting in of Hayes." There were but two ballots, as follows : FIRST BALLOT. Eandall 6 Loveland 5 McDonald 3 McClellan 3 English 1 Jewett 1 Black 1 Lothrop 1 Parker..., ,. 1 Hancock 171 Bayard 153 } Payne 81 Thurman 63J Field 66 Morrison 62 Hendricka 46 J Tilden 38 Ewing 10 Seymour 8 SECOND BALLOT. Hancock 705 Tilden 1 Bayard 2 Hendricks 30 Thus General Winfield S. Hancock, of New York, was nominated on the second ballot. Wm. H. English, of Indiana, was nominated for Vice-President. The National Greenback-Labor Conven- tion, held at Chicago, June 11, nominated General J. B. Weaver, of Iowa, for Presi- dent, and General E. J. Chambers, of Texas, for Vice-Presideut. In the canvass which followed, ,je Re- publicans were aided by such orators as Conkling, Elaine, Grant, Logan, Curtis, BoutwelT, while the Camerons, father and son, visited the October States of Ohio and Indiana, as it was believed that these would determine the result, Maine having in September very unexpectedly defeated the Republican State ticket by a small ma- jority. The Democrats were aided bv Bayard, Voorhees, Randall, Wallace, Hill, Hampton, Lamar, and hosts of their best orators. Every issue was recalled, but for the first time in the history of the Repub- licans of the West, they accepted the tariff issue, and made open war on Watterson's plank in the Democratic platform " a tariff for revenue only." Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana, all elected the Republican State tickets with good margins ; West Virginia went Democratic, but the result was, not- withstanding this, reasonably assured to the Republicans. The Democrats, how- ever, feeling the strong personal popularity of their leading candidate, persisted with high courage to the end. In November all of the Southern States, with New Jer- sey, California,* and Nevada in the North, went Democratic; all of the others Re- publican. The Greenbackers held only a balance of power, which they could not exercise, in California, Indiana, and New Jersey. The electoral vote of Garfield and Arthur was 214, that of Hancock and Eng- lish 155. The popular vote was Republi- can, 4,442,950; Democratic, 4,442,035; Greenback or National, 306,867 ; scatter- ing, 12,576. The Congressional elections in the same canvass gave the Republicans 147 members ; the Democrats, 136 ; Green- backers, 9 ; Independents, 1. Fifteen States elected Governors, nine of them Republicans and six Democrats. General Garfield, November 10, sent to Governor Foster, of Ohio, his resignation as a Senator, and John Sherman, the Secretary of the Treasury, was in the win- ter following elected as his successor. The third session of the Forty-sixth Congress was begun December 6. The President's Message was read in both Houses. Among its recommendations to Congress were the following : To create the office of Captain-General of the Army for General Grant ; to defend the inviola- bility of the constitutional amendments ; to promote free popular education by grants of public lands and appropriations from the United States Treasury ; to ap- propriate $25,000 annually for the expen- ses of a Commission to be appointed by the President to devise a just, uniform, and efficient system of competitive exami- nations, and to supervise the application of the same throughout the entire civil service of the government ; to pass a law defining the relations of Congressmen to appointments to office, so as to end Con- gressional encroachment upon the appoint- ing power ; to repeal the Tenure-of- office Act, and pass a law protecting office- holders in resistance to political assess- ments ; to abolish the present system of executive and judicial government in Utah, and substitute for it a government by a commission to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, or, in case the present government is con- tinued, to withhold from all who practice * One Democratic elector was defeated, being cut toy oVer 600 voters on a local issue. 244 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. polygamy the right to vote, hold office, and sit on juries ; to repeal the act authorizing the coinage of the silver dollar of 412i grains, and to authorize the coinage of a new silver dollar equal in value as bullion with the gold dollar; to take favorable ac- tion on the bill providing for the allotment of lands on the different reservations. Two treaties between this country and China were signed at Pekin, November 17, 1881, one of commerce, and the other se- curing to the United States the control and regulation of the Chinese immigration. President Hayes, February 1, 1881, sent a message to Congress sustaining in the main the findings of the Ponca Indian Commission, and approving its recom- mendation that they remain on their reser- vation in Indian Territory. The Presi- dent suggested that the general Indian policy for the future should embrace the following ideas : First, the Indians should be prepared for citizenship by giving to their young of both sexes that industrial and general education which is requisite to enable them to be self-supporting and capable of self-protection in civilized com- munities; second, lands should be allot- ted to the Indians in severally, inalienable for a certain period; third, the Indians should have a fair compensation for their lands not required for individual allot- ments, the amount to be invested, with suitable safeguards, for their benefit; fourth, with these prerequisites secured, the Indians should be made citizens, and invested with the rights and charged with the responsibilities of citizenship. . The Senate, February 4, passed Mr. Morgan's concurrent resolution declaring that the President of the Senate is not in- vested by the Constitution of the United States with the right to count the votes of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, so as to determine what votes shall be received and counted, or what votes shall be rejected. An amendment was added declaring in effect that it is the duty of Congress to pass a law at once providing for the orderly counting of the electoral vote. The House concurred February 5, but no action by bill or otherwise has since been taken. Senator Pendleton, of Ohio, December 15, 1881, introduced a bill to regulate the civil service and to promote the efficiency thereof, and also a bill to prohibit Federal officers, claimants, and contractors from making or receiving assessments or contri- butions for political purposes. The Burnside Educational Bill passed the Senate December 17, 1881. It pro- vides that the proceeds of the sale of pub- lic land and the earnings of the Patent Office shall be funded at four per cent, and the interest divided among the States in proportion to their illiteracy. An amendment by Senator Morgan provides for the instruction of women in the State agricultural colleges in such branches of technical and industrial education as are suited to their sex. No action has yet been taken by the House. On the 9th of February the electoral votes were counted by the Vice-President in the presence of both Houses, and Gar- field and Arthur were declared elected President and Vice-President of the United States. There was no trouble as to the count, and the result previously stated was formally announced. The Three Per Cent. Funding Bill. The 3 per cent. Funding Bill passed the House March 2, and was on the following day vetoed by President Hayes on the ground that it dealt unjustly with the Na- tional Banks in compelling them to accept and employ this security for their circu- lation in lieu of the old bonds. This fea- ture of the bill caused several of the Banks to surrender their circulation, conduct which for a time excited strong political prejudices. The Republicans in Congress as a rule contended that the debt could not be surely funded at 3 per cent. ; that 3 was a safer figure, and to go below this might render the bill of no effect. The same views were entertained by President Hayes and Secretary Sherman. The Dem- ocrats insisted on 3 per cent., until the veto, when the general desire to fund at more favorable rates broke party lines, and a 3 per cent, funding bill was passed, with the feature objectionable to the National Banks omitted. The Republicans were mistaken in their view, as the result proved. The loan was floated so easily, that in the session of 1882 Secretary Sherman, now a Senator, him- self introduced a 3 per cent, 'bill, which passed the Senate Feb. 2d, 1882, in this shape : Be it enacted, &c. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to receive at the Treasury and at the office of any Assistant Treasurer of the United States and at any postal money order of- fice, lawful money of the United States to the amount of fifty dollars or any multiple of that sum or any bonds of the United States, bearing three and a-half per cent, interest, which are hereby declared valid, and to issue in exchange therefore an equal amount of registered or coupon bonds of the United States, of the denom- ination of fifty, one hundred, five hundred, one thousand and ten thousand dollars, of such form as he may prescribe, bearing in- terest at the rate three per centum per annum, payable either quarterly or semi- annually, at the Treasury of the United BOOK I.] HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LOANS. 245 States. Such bonds shall be exempt from all taxation by or under state authority, and be payable at the pleasure of the United States. " Provided, That the bonds herein authorized shall not be called in and paid so long as any bonds of the United States heretofore issued bearing a higher rate of interest than three per centum, and which shall be redeemable at the pleasure of the United States, shall be outstanding and uncalled. The last of the said bonds originally issued and their substitutes under this act shall be first called in and this order of payment shall be followed until all shall have been paid." The money deposited under this act shall be promptly applied solely to the re- demption of fche bonds of the United States bearing three and a-half per centum in- terest, and the aggregate amount of de- posits made and bonds issued under this act shall not exceed the sum of two hun- dred million dollars. The amount of law- ful money so received on deposit, as afore- said, shall not exceed, at any time, the sum of twenty-five million dollars. Be- fore any deposits are received at any pos- tal money office under this act, the post- master at such office shall file with the Secretary of the Treasury his bond, with satisfactory security, conditioned that he will promptly transmit to the Treasury of tha United States the money received by him in conformity with regulations to be prescribed by such secretary ; and the de- posit with any postmaster shall not at any time, exceed the amount of his bond. SECTION" 2. Any national banking asso- ciation now organized or hereafter or- ganized desiring to withdraw its circulat- ing notes upon a deposit of lawful money with the Treasury of the United States as provided in section 4 of the Act of June 20, 1874, entitled " An act fixing the amount of United States notes providing for a redistribution of National bank cur- rency and for other purposes," shall be re- quired to give thirty days' notice to the Controller of the Currency of its intention to deposit lawful money and withdraw its circulating notes.; provided that not more than five million of dollars of lawful money shall be deposited during any cal- ender month for this purpose; and pro- vided further, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to bonds called for redemption by the Secretary of the Trea- sury. SECTION 3. That nothing -in this act shall be so construed as to authorize an in- crease of the public debt. In the past few years opinions on the rates of interest have undergone wonderful changes. Many supposed indeed it was a "standard" argument that rates must ever be higher in new than old countries, that these higher rates comported with and aided the higher rates paid for commodi- ties and labor. The funding operations since the war have dissipated this belief, and so shaken political theories that no party can now claim a monopoly of sound financial doctrine. So high is the credit of the government, and so abundant are the resources of our people after a com- paratively short period of general prosper- ity, that they seem to have plenty of sur- plus funds with which to aid any funding operation, however low the rate of interest, ii the government State or National shows a willingness to pay. As late as February, 1882, Pennsylvania funded seven millions of her indebtedness at 3, 3J and 4 per cent., the two larger sums commanding premiums sufficient to cause the entire debt to be floated at a little more than 3 per cent., and thus floating commands an additional premium in the money ex- changes. History of the Natio In Book VII of this volume devoted to Tabulated History, we try to give the read- er at a glance some idea of the history of our National finances. An attempt to go into details would of itself fill volumes, for no class of legislation has taken so much time or caused such a diversity of opinion Yet it is shown, by an admirable review of the loans of the United States, by Eafael A. Bayley, of the Treasury Department published in the February (1882) number of the International Review, that the "finan- cial system of the government of the United States has continued the same from its organization to the present time." Mr. Bayley has completed a history of our Na- tional Loans, which will be published in the Census volume on "Public Debts." From his article in the Review we con- dense the leading facts bearing on the his- tory of our national loans. The financial system of the United t States, in all its main features, is simple and well defined, and its very simplicity may proba- bly be assigned as the reason why it ap- pears so difficult of comprehe ision by many people of intelligence and education. It is based upon the principles laid down by Alexander Hamilton, and the practical adoption of the fundamental maxim which he regarded as the true secret for render- ing public credit immortal, viz., " that the creation of the debt should always be ac- companied with the means of extinguish- ment." A faithful adherence to this sys- tem by his successors has stood the test of nearly a century, with the nation at peace or at war, in prosperity or adversity : so that, with all the change that progress has entailed upon the people of the age, no valid grounds exist for any change here. " During the colonial period, and under AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK r the confederation, the financial operations of the Government were based on the law of necessity, and depended for success upon the patriotism of the people, the co- operation of the several States, and the assistance of foreign powers friendly to our cause. " It was the willingness of the pec nle to receive the various kinds of paper Ljoney issued under authority of the Continental Congress, and used in payment for services and supplies, together with the issue of similar obligations by the different States, lor the redemption of which they assumed the responsibility ; aided by the munificent gift of money from Louis XVI. of France, followed by loans for a large amount from both France and Holland, that made vic- tory possible, and laid the foundations for the republic of to-day, with its credit un- impaired, and with securities command- ing a ready sale at a high premium in all the principal markets of the world. " Authorities vary as to the amount of paper money issued and the cost of the war ror independence. On the 1st of Septem- ber, 1779, Congress resolved that it would ' on no account whatever emit more bills of credit than to make the whole amount of such bills two hundred millions of dol- lais.' Mr. Jefferson estimates the value of this sum at the time of its emission at $36,367,719.83 in specie, and says ; ' If we estimate at the same value the like sum of $200,000,000 ' supposed to have been emitted by the States, and reckon the Federal debt, foreign and domestic, at about $43,000,000, and the State debt at $25,000,000, it will form an amount of $140,000,000, the total sum which the war cost the United States. It continued eight years, from the battle of Lexington to the cessation of hostilities in America. The annual expense was, therefore, equal to about $17,500,000 in specie.' " The first substantial aid rendered the colonies by any foreign power was a free gift of money and military supplies from Louis XVI. of France, amounting in the aggregate to 10,000,000 livres, equivalent to $1,815,000. "These supplies were not furnished openly, for the reason that France was not in a position to commence a war with Great Britain. The celebrated Caron de Beaumarchais was employed as a secret agent, between whom and Silas Deane, as the political and commercial agent of the United States, a contract was entered into whereby the former agreed to furnish a large amount of military supplies from *be arsenals of France, and to receive Ameri- can produce in payment therefor. " Under this arrangement supplies were furnished by the French Government to the amount of 2,000,000 livres. An addi- tional 1,000,000 was contributed by the Government of Spain for the same pur- pose, and through the same agency. The balance of the French subsidy was paid through Benjamin Franklin. In 1777 a loan of 1,000,000 livres was obtained from the 'Farmers General of France' under a contract for its repayment in American tobacco at a stipulated price. From 1778 to 1783, additional loans were obtained from the French King, amounting to 34,- 000,000 livres. From 1782 to 1789, loans to the amount of 9,000,000 guilders were negotiated in Holland, through the agency of John Adams, then the American Minis- ter to the Hague. " The indebtedness of the United States at the organization of the present form of government (including interest to Decem- ber 31, 1790) may be briefly stated, as fol- lows : Foreign debt $11,883,315.96 Domestic debt 40,256,802.45 Debt due foreign officers... 198,208.10 Arrears outstanding (since discharged) 450,395.52 Total $52,788,722.03 To this should be added the individual debts of the several States, the precise amount and character of which was then unknown, but estimated by Hamilton at that time to aggregate about $25,000,000. " The payment of this vast indebtedness was virtually guarantied by the provisions of Article VI. of the Constitution, which says : ' All debts contracted, and engage- ments entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the confederation.' On the 21st of September, 1789, the House of Repre- sentatives adopted the following resolu- tions : Resolved, That this House consider an adequate provision for the support of the public credit as a matter of high import ance to the national honor and prosperity. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to prepare a plan for that purpose, and to report the same to this House at its next meeting. " In reply thereto Hamilton submitted his report on the 9th of January, 1790, in which he gave many reasons for assuming the debts of the old Government, and of the several States, and furnished a plan for supporting the public credit. His rec- ommendation's were adopted, and embodied in the act making provision for the pay- ment of the debt of the United States, approved August 4, 1790. ft This act authorized a loan of $12,000,- 000, to be applied to the payment of the foreign debt, principal and interest ; a loan equal to the full amount of the domestic debt, payable in certificates issued for its BOOK I.] HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LOANS. 247 amount according to their specie value, and computing the interest to December 31, 1791, upon such as bore interest; and a further loan of $21,500,000, payable in the principal and interest of the certificates or notes which, prior to January 1, 1790, were issued by the respective States as evi- dences of indebtedness incurred by them for the expenses of the late war. ' In the case of the debt of the United States, in- terest upon two-thirds of the principal only, at 6 per cent., was immediately paid ; interest upon the remaining third was de- ferred for ten years, and only three per cent, was allowed upon the arrears of in- terest, making one-third of the whole debt. In the case of the separate debts of the States, interest upon four-ninths only of the entire sum was immediately paid ; in- terest upon two-ninths was deferred for ten years, and only 3 per cent, allowed on three- ninths.' Under this authority 6 per cent, stock was issued to the amount of $30,060,- 511, and deferred 8 per cent, stock, bear- ing interest from January 1, 1800, amount- ing to $14,635,386. This stock was made subject to redemption by payments not ex- ceeding, in one year, on account both of principal and interest, the proportion of eight dollars upon a hundred of the sum mentioned in the certificates ; $19,719,237 was issued in 3 per cent, stock, subject to redemption whenever provision should be made by law for that purpose. " The money needed for the payment of the principal and interest of the foreign debt was procured by new loans negotiated in Holland and Antwerp to the amount of $9,400,000, and the issue of new stock for the balance of $2,024,900 due on the French debt, this stock bearing a rate of interest one-half of one per cent, in ad- vance of the rate previously paid, and re- deemable at the pleasure of the Govern- ment. Subsequent legislation provided for the establishment of a sinking fund, under the management of a board of com- missioners, consisting of the President of the Senate, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and Attorney General, for the time being, who, or any three of whom, were authorized, under the direction of the President of the United States, to make purchases of stock, and otherwise provide for the gradual liquidation of the entire debt, from funds set apart for this purpose. On assuming the position of Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton found himself en- tirely without funds to meet the ordinary expenses of the Government, except by borrowing, until such time as the revenues from duties on imports #nd tonnage began to come into the Treasury. Under these circumstances, he was forced to make ar- rangements with the Bank of New York and the Bank of North America for tem- porary loans, and it was from the moneya received from these banks that he paid the first installment of salary due President Washington, Senators, Representatives and officers of Congress, during the first ses- sion under the Constitution, which began at the city of New York, March 4, 1789. " The first ' Bank of the United States ' appears to have been proposed by Alex- ander Hamilton in December, 1790, and it was incorporated by an act of Congress, approved- February 25, 1791, with a capi- tal stock of $10,000,000 divided into 25,- 000 shares at $400 each. The government subscription of $2,000,000, under authority of the act, was paid by giving to the bank bills of exchange on Holland equivalent to gold, and borrowing from the bank a like sum for ten years at 6 per cent, inter- est. The bank went into operation very soon after its charter was obtained, and declared its first dividend in July, 1792. It was evidently well managed, and was of great benefit to the Government and the people at large, assisting the Government by loans in cases of emergency, and forc- ing the ' wildcat ' banks of the country to keep their issues ' somewhere within reasonable bounds.' More than $100,000,- 000 of Government money was received and disbursed by it without the loss of a single dollar. It made semi-annual divi- dends, averaging about 8J per cent., and its stock rose to a high price. The stock belonging to the United States was sold out at different times at a profit, 2,220 shares sold in 1802 bringing an advance of 45 per cent. The government subscription, with ten years' interest amounted to $3,200- 000, while there was received in dividends and for stock sold $3,773,580, a profit of nearly 28.7 per cent. In 1796 the credit of the Government was very low, as shown by its utter failure to negotiate a loan for the purpose of paying a debt to the Bank of the United States for moneys borrowed and used, partly to pay the expenses of sup- pressing the whisky insurrection in Penn- sylvania and to buy a treaty with the pirates of Algiers. On a loan authorized for $5,000,000, only $80,000 could be ob- tained, and this at a discount of 12 per cent.; and, there being no other immediate resource, United States Bank stock to the amount of $1,304,260 was sold at a pre- mium of 25 per cent. " Under an act approved June 30, 1798, the President was authorized to accept such vessels as were suitable to be armed for the public service, not exceeding twelve in number, and to issue certificates, or other evidences of the public debt of the United States, in payment. The ships George Washington, Merrimack, Maryland and Patapsco, brig Richmond, and frigates Boston, Philadelphia, John Adams, Essex and New York, were purchased, and 6 per 248 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. cent, stock, redeemable at the pleasure of it within the power of the Government to Congress, was issued in payment to the amount of $711,700. "The idea of creating a navy by the reimburse the amount refunded within a short time, as under the old laws these stocks could only be redeemed at the rate purchase of vessels built by private parties of 2 per cent, annually. Stock was issued and issuing stock in payment therefor, ! amounting to $6,294,051, nearly all of seems to have originated with Hamilton. I which was redeemed within four years. " In the years 1797 and 1798 the United Under the same act old ' 3 per cent, stock ' States, though nominally at peace with all to the amount of $2,861,309 was converted the world, was actually at war with France into 6 per cents., at sixty-five cents on the a war not formally declared, but carried dollar, but this was not reimbursable with- on upon the ocean with very great viru- , out the assent of the holder until after the lence. John Marshall, Elbridge Gerry and whole of certain other stocks named in the Charles C. Pinckney were appointed en- voys extraordinary to the French Repub- lic, with power for terminating all differ- ences and restoring harmony, good under- standing and commercial and friendly in- tercourse between the two nations ; but their efforts were in vain, and extensive preparations were made to resist a French by an act approved May 1, 1810, and $2.- ! Tx -1 i J.1 J. Al -1* nKf\ t\f\f\ 1 _ i / A" A invasion. It was evident that the ordinary revenues of the country would be inade- quate for the increased expenditure, and a loan of $5,000,000 was authorized by an act approved July 16, 1798, redeemable at pleasure after fifteen years. The rate of interest was not specified in the act, and the market rate at the time being 8 per cent, this rate was paid, and ft was thought by a committee of Congress that the loan was negotiated ' upon the best terms that could be procured, and with a laudable eye to the public interest. ' A loan of $3,500,000 was authorized by an act ap- proved May 7, 1800, for the purpose of meeting a large deficit in the revenues of the preceding year, caused by increased expenditures rendered necessary on ac- count of the difficulties with France, and stock bearing 8 per cent, interest, reim- bursable after fifteen years, was issued to the amount of $1,481,700, on which a pre- mium was realized of nearly 5f per cent. These are the only two instances in which the Government has paid ^ per cent, in- terest on its bonds. "The province of Louisiana was ceded to the United States by a treaty with France, April 30, 1803, in payment for which 6 per cent, bonds, payable in fifteen years, were issued to the amount of $11,- 250,000, and the balance which the Gov- ernment agreed to pay for the province, amounting to $3,750,000, was devoted to reimbursing American citizens for French depredations on their commerce. These claims were paid in money, and the stock redeemed by purchases made under the di- rection of the Commissioners of the Sink- ing Fund within twelve years. Under an act approved February 11, 1807, a portion of the ' old 6 per cent.' and ' deferred stocks " was refunded into new stock, bear- ing the same rate of interest, but redeema- ble at the pleasure of the United States. This was done for the purpose of placing act was redeemed. The stock issued under this authority amounted to $1,859,871. It would appear that the great majority of the holders of the ' old stock " preferred it to the new. A loan equal to the amount of the principal of the public debt reimbursa- ble during the current year was authorized 750,000 was borrowed at 6 per cent, interest from the Bank of the United States, for the purpose of meeting any deficiency arising from increased expenditures on account of the military and naval establishments. This was merely a temporary loan, which was repaid the following year. " The ordinary expenses for the year 1812 were estimated by the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of Representatives at $1,200,000 more than the estimated re- ceipts for the same period, and the impend- ing war with Great Britain made it abso- lutely necessary that some measures should be adopted to maintain the public credit, and provide the requisite funds for carrying on the Government, imposed upon the Additional taxes were people, but as these could not be made immediately available there was no other resource but new loans and the issue of Treasury notes. This was the first time since the formation of the new Government that the issue of such notes had been proposed, and they were objected to as engrafting on our system of finance a new and untried measure. " Under various acts of Congress ap- proved between March 4, 1812, and Feb- ruary 24, 1815, 6 per cent, bonds were is- sued to the amount of $50,792,674. Thes bonds were negotiated at rates varying from 20 per cent, discount to par, the net cash realized amounting to $44,530,123. A fur- ther sum of $4,025,000 was obtained by temporary loans at par, of which sum $225,000 was for the purpose of repairing the public buildings in Washington, dam- aged by the enemy on the night of August 24, 1814. These ' war loans ' were all made redeemable at the pleasure of the Government after a specified date, and the faith of the Unite/i States was solemnly pledged to provide sufficient revenues for this purpose. The ' Treasury note system ' was a new feature, and its success was re- garded as somewhat doubtful. BOOK I.] HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LOANS. 249 *' Its subsequent popularity, Lowever, was owing to a variety of causes. The notes were made receivable everywhere for dues and customs, and in payment for pub- lic lands. They were to bear interest from the day of issue, at the rate of 5 2-5 per cent, per annum, and their payment was guaranteed by the United States, principal and interest, at maturity. They thus fur- nished a circulating medium to the coun- try, superior to the paper of the suspend- ed and doubtful State banks. These issues were therefore considered more desirable than the issue of additional stock, which could be realized in cash only by the payment of a ruinous dis- count. The whole amount of Treasury notes issued during the war period was $36,680,794. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund were authorized to provide for their redemption by purchase, in the same manner as for other evidences of the public debt, and by authority of law $10,- 575,738 was redeemed by the issue of cer- tificates of funded stock, bearing interest at from 6 to 7 per cent, per annum, redeema- ble at any time after 1824. " During the years 1812-13 the sum of $2,984,747 of the old 6 per cent, and de- ferred stocks were refunded into new 6 per cent, stock redeemable in twelve years ; and by an act approved March 31, 1814, Con- gress having authorized a settlement of the Yazoo claims ' by an issue of non-interest- bearing stock, payable out of the first re- ceipts from the sale of public lands in the Missisipi territory, $4,282,037 was issued for this purpose. On the 24th of February, 1815, Secretary Dallas reported to Congress that the public debt had been increased, in consequence of the war with Great Bri- tain, $68,783,122, a large portion of which was due and unpaid, while another con- siderable proportion was fast becoming due. These unpaid or accruing demands were in part for temporary loans, and the balance for Treasury notes either due or maturing daily. To provide for their pay- ment a new loan for the full amount needed was authorized by act of March 3, 1815, and six per. cent stock redeemable in fifteen years, was issued in the sum of $12,288,148. This stock was sold at from 95 per cent, to par, and was nearly all re- deemed in 1820 by purchases made by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. " The Government became a stockholder in the second Bank of the United States, to the amount of 70,000 shares, under the act of incorporation, approved April 10, 1816. Thecapital stock was limited to $35,000,000, divided into 350,000 shares of $100 each. The Government subscription was paid by the issue of 5 per cent, stock to the amount of $7,000,000, redeemable at the pleasure of the Government. This was a profitable investment for the United States, as in ad- dition to $1,500,000 which the bank paid a* act was $10,010,- 900, of which $4,840,000 bore interest at 12 per cent. Additional offers followed, ranging from 15 to 36 per cent., but the Treasury declined to accept them. " Up to this period of our national exist- ence the obtaining of the money necessary for carrying on the Government and the Preservation inviolate of the public credit ad been comparatively an easy task. The people of the several States had contributed in proportion to their financial resources ; and a strict adherence to the fundamental maxim laid down by Hamilton had been maintained by a judicious system of taxa- tion to an extent amply sufficient to pro- vide for the redemption of all our national securities as they became due. But the time had come when we were no longer a united people, and the means required for defraying the ordinary expenses of the Government were almost immediately cur- tailed and jeopardized by the attitude of the States which attempted to secede. The confusion which followed the inauguration of the administration of President Lincoln demonstrated the necessity of providing unusual resources without delay. A sys- tem of internal revenue taxation was in- troduced, and the tariff adjusted with a view to increased revenues from customs. As the Government had not only to exist and pay its way, but also to provide for an army and navy constantly increasing in numbers and equipment, new and extiaor-* dinary methods were resorted to for the purpose of securing the money which must be had in order to preserve the integrity of the nation. Among these were the issue of its own circulating medium in the form of United States notes* and circulating notes, f for the redemption of which the faith of the nation was solemnly pledged. New loans were authorized to an amount never before known in our history, and the success of our armies was assured by the determination manifested by the peo- ple themselves to sustain the Government at all hazards. A brief review of the loan transactions during the period covered by the war is all that can be attempted within the limited space afforded this article. The first war loan may be considered as having been negotiated under the authority of an act approved Februarys, 1861. The cred- it of the Government at this time was very low, and a loan of $18,415,000, having twenty years to run, with 6 per cent, inter- est, could only be negotiated at a discount of $2,019,776.10, or at an average rate of $89.03 per one hundred dollars. From this time to June 30, 1865, Government se- curities of various descriptions were issued under authority of law to the amount of $3,888,686,575, including the several issues of bonds, Treasury notes, seven-thirties, legal tenders and fractional currency. The whole amount issued under the same au- thority to June 30, 1880, was $7,137,646,836, divided as follows : Six per cent, bonds $1,130,279,000 Five per cent, bonds 196,118,300 Temporary loan certificates.. 969,992,250 Seven-thirty notes 716,099,247 Treasury notes and certifi- cates of indebtedness 1,074,713,132 Old demand notes, legal tend- ers, coin certificates and fractional currency 3,050,444,907 Total $7,137,646,836 "This increase may be readily accounted for by the continued issue of legal tenders, ' * Commonly sailed " Greenbacks," or " Legal Tender notes " f Commonly cai'.ed " National Bank notus," 252 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK r. compound interest notes, fractional cur- rency and coin certificates, together with a large amount of bonds issued in order to raise the money necessary to pay for mili- tary supplies, and other forms of indebted- ness growing out of the war. The rebel- lion was practically at an end in May, 1865, yet the large amount of money re- quired for immediate use in the payment and disbandment of our enormous armies necessitated the still further negotiation of loans under the several acts of Congress then in force, and it was not until after the 31st of August, 1865, that our national debt began to decrease. At that time the total indebtedness, exclusive of the " old funded and unfunded debt " of the Revo- lution, and of 'cash in the Treasury, amounted to $2,844,646,626.56. The course of our financial legislation since that date has been constantly toward a reduction of the interest, as well as the principal of the public debt. " By an act approved March 3, 1865, a loan of $600,000,000 was authorized upon similar terms as had been granted for pre- vious loans, with the exception that no- thing authorized by this act should be made a legal tender, or be issued in smaller denominations than fifty dollars. The rate of interest was limited to 6 per cent, in coin, or 7.3 per cent, in currency, the bonds issued to be redeemable in not less than five, nor more than forty, years. Authority was also given for the conversion of Trea- sury notes or other interest-bearing obliga- tions into bonds of this loan. An amend- ment to this act was passed April 12, 1886, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury, at his discretion, to receive any Treasury notes or other obligations issued under any act of Congress, whether bearing interest or not, in exchange for any description of bonds authorized by the original act ; and also to dispose of any such bonds, either in the United States or elsewhere, to such an amount, in such manner, and at such rates as he might deem advisable, for lawful money, Treasury notes, certificates of in- debtedness, certificates of deposit, or other representatives of value, which had been or might be issued under any act of Congress ; the proceeds to be used only for retiring Treasury notes or other national obligations, provided the public debt was not increased thereby. As this was the first important measure presented to Congress since the tlose of the war tending to place our secu- rities upon a firm basis, the action of Con- gress in relation to it was looked forward to with a great deal of interest. The dis- cussion took a wide range, in which the whole financial administration of the Go- vernment during the war was reviewed at length. After a long and exciting debate the bill finally passed, and was approved by the President. Under the authority of these two acts, 6 per cent, bonds to the amount of $958,483,550 have been issued to date. These bonds were disposed of at an aggregate premium of $21,522,074, and un- der the acts of July 14, 1870, and January 20, 1871, the same bonds to the amount of $725,582,400 have been refunded into other bonds bearing a lower rate of interest. The success of these several loans was remarka- ble, every exertion being used to provide for their general distribution among the people. " In 1867 the first issue of 6 per cent, bonds, known as five-twenties, authorized by the act of Feb. 25, 1862, became re- deemable, and the question of refunding them and other issues at a lower rate of in- terest had been discussed by the Secretary of the Treasury in his annual reports, but the agitation of the question as to the kinds of money in which the various obligations of the Government should be paid, had so excited the apprehension of investors as to prevent the execution of any refunding scheme. " The act to strengthen the public credit was passed March 18, 1869, and its effect was such as secured to the public the strong- est assurances that the interest and princi- pal of the public debt outstanding at that time would be paid in coin, according to the terms of the bonds issued, without any abatement. "On the 12th of January, 1870, a bill authorizing the refunding and consolidation of the national debt was introduced in the Senate, and extensively debated in both Houses for several months, during which the financial system pursued by the Go- vernment during the war was freely re- viewed. The adoption of the proposed measure resulted in an entire revolution of the refunding system, under which the public debt of the United States at that time was provided for, by the transmission of a large amount of debt to a succeeding generation. The effect of this attempt at refunding the major portion of the public debt was far more successful than any si- milar effort on the part of any Government, so far as known. The act authorizing refunding certifi- cates convertible into 4 per cent, bonds, approved February 26, 1879, was merely intended for the benefit of parties of limit- ed means, and was simply a continuation of the refunding scheme authorized by. previous legislation. " The period covered precludes any at- tempt toward reviewing the operation by which the immediate predecessor of the present Secretary reduced the interest on some six hundred millions of 5 and 6 per cent, bonds to 3* per cent. It is safe to say, however, that under the administration of the present Secretary ttiere will be no de- viation from the original law laid down by Hamilton. BOOK I.] REPUBLICAN FACTIONS. 253 James A. Garficld. James A. Garfield and Chester A. Ar- thur were publicly inaugurated President and Vice President of the United States March 4, 1881. President Garfield in his inaugural ad- dress promised full and equal protection of the Constitution and the laws for the negro, advocated universal education as a safe- guard of suffrage, and recommended such an adjustment of our monetary system "that the purchasing power of every coined dollar will be exactly equal to its debt- paying power in all the markets of the world." The national debt should be re- funded at a lower rate of interest, without compelling the withdrawal of the National Bank notes, polygamy should be prohibit- ed, and civil service regulated by law. An extra session of the Senate was opened March 4. On the 5th, the follow- ing cabinet nominations were made and confirmed: Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, of Maine ; Secretary of the Treas- ury, William Windom, of Minnesota; Secretary of the Navy, William H. Hunt, of Louisiana ; Secretary of War, Eobert T. Lincoln, of Illinois ; Attorney General, Wayne MacVeagh, of Pennsylvania ; Post- master General, Thomas L. James, of New York ; Secretary of the Interior, Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa. In this extra session of the Senate Vice President Arthur had to employ the cast- ing vote on all questions where the parties divided, and he invariably cast it on the side of the Republicans. The evenness of the parties caused a dead -lock on the ques- tion of organization, for when David Davis, of Illinois, voted with the Democrats, the Republicans had not enough even with the Vice President, and he was not, therefore, called upon to decide a question of that kind. The Republicans desired new and Republican officers; the Democrats de- sired to retain the old and Democratic ones. Republican Faction*. President Garfield, March 23d, sent in a large number of nominations, among which was that of William H. Robertson, the . leader of the Blaine wing of the Republi- can party in New York, to be Collector of Customs. He had previously sent in five names for prominent places in New York, at the suggestion of Senator Conkling, who had been invited by President Garfield to name his friends. At this interview it was stated that Garfield casually intimated that he would make no immediate change in the New York Collectorship, and both fac- tions seemed satisfied to allow Gen'l Edwin A. Merritt to retain that place for a time at least. There were loud protests, however, at the first and early selection of the friends of Senator Conkling to five important places, and these protests were heeded by the President. With a view to meet them, and, doubtless, to quiet the spirit of faction rapidly developing between the Grant and anti-Grant elements of the party in New York, the name of Judge Robertson was sent in for the Collectorship. He had bat- tled against the unit rule at Chicago, dis- avowed the instructions of his State Con- vention to vote for Grant, and led the Blaine delegates from that State while Blaine was in the field, and when with- drawn went to Garfield. Senator Conkling now sought to confirm his friends, and hold back his enemy from confirmation; but these tactics induced Garfield to withdraw the nomination of Conkling's friends, and in this way Judge Robertson's name was alone presented for a time. Against this course V ice- President Arthur and Senators Conkling and Platt remonstrated in a let- ter to the President, but he remained firm. Senator Conkling, under the plea of " the privilege of the Senate," a courtesy and custom which leaves to the Senators of a State the right to say who shall be con- firmed or rejected from their respective States if of the same party now sought to defeat Robertson. In this battle he had arrayed against him the influence of his great rival, Mr. Blaine, and it is presumed the whole power of the administration. He lost, and the morning following the secret vote, May 17th, 1881, his own and the resignation of Senator Platt were read. These resignations caused great excitement throughout the entire country. They were prepared without consultation with any one even Vice-President Arthur, the in- timate friend of both, not knowing any- thing of the movement until the letters were opened at the chair where he pre- sided. Logan and Cameron Conkling's colleagues in the great Chicago battle were equally unadvised. The resignations were forwarded to Gov. Cornell, of New York, who, by all permissible delays, sought to have them reconsidered and withdrawn, but both Senators were firm. The Senate confirmed Judge Robertson for Collector, and General Merritt as Con- sul-General at London, May 18th, Presi- dent Garfield having wisely renewed the Conkling list of appointees, most of whom declined under the changed condition of affairs. These events more widely separated the factions in New York one wing calling itself "Stalwart," the other "Half-Breed," a term of contempt flung at the Indepen- dents by Conkling. Elections must follow to fill the vacancies, the New York Legis- lature being in -session. These vacancies gave the Democrats for the time control of the United States Senate, but they thought it unwise to pursue an advantage which 254 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. would compel them to show their hands for or against one or other of the opposing Republican factions. The extra session of the Senate adjourned May 20th. The New York Legislature began ballot- ing for successors to Senators Conkling and Platt on the 31st of May. The majority of the Republicans (Independents or "Half- breeds") supported Chauncey M. Depew as the successor of Platt for the long term, and William A. Wheeler as the successor of Conkling for the short term, a few sup- porting Cornell. The minority (Stalwarts) renominated Messrs. Conkling and Platt. The Democrats nominated Francis Kernan for the long term, and John C. Jacobs for the short term ; and, on his withdrawal, Clarkson N. Potter. The contest lasted until July 22, and resulted in a compro- mise on Warner A. Miller as Platt's suc- cessor, and Elbridge G. Lapham as Conk- ling's successor. In Book VII., our Tabu- lated History of Politics, we give a correct table of the ballots. These show at a sin- gle glance the earnestness and length of the contest. The factious feelings engendered thereby were carried into the Fall nominations for the Legislature, and as a result the Demo- crats obtained control, which in part they subsequently lost by the refusal of the Tammany Democrats to support their nominees for presiding officers. This De- mocratic division caused a long and tire- some deadlock in the Legislature of New York. It was broken in the House by a promise on the part of the Democratic candidate for Speaker to favor the Tam- many men with a just distribution of the committees a promise which was not satisfactorily carried out, and as a result the Tammany forces of the Senate joined hands with the Republicans. The Repub- lican State ticket would also have been lost in the Fall of 1881, but for the inter- position of President Arthur, who quickly succeeded in uniting the warring factions. This work was so well done, that all save one name on the ticket (Gen'l Husted) succeeded. The same factious spirit was manifested in Pennsylvania in the election of U. S. Senator in the winter of 1881, the two wings taking the names of " Regulars " and " In- iependents." The division occurred be- fore the New York battle, and it is trace- ble not alone to the bitter nominating jontest at Chicago, but to the administra- tion of President Hayes and the experi- ment of civil service reform. Administra- tions which are not decided and firm upon political issues, invariably divide their parties, and while these divisions are not always to be deplored, and sometimes lead to good results, the fact that undecided administrations divide the parties which they represent, ever remains. The exam- ples are plain : Van Buren's, Tyler's, Fill- more's, Buchanan's, and Hayes'. The lat- ter's indecision was more excusable than that of any of his predecessors. The in- exorable firmness of Grant caused the most bitter partisan assaults, and despite all his efforts to sustain the " carpet-bag govern- ments " of the South, they became unpopu- lar and were rapidly supplanted. As they disappeared, Democratic representation from the South increased, and this increase continued during the administration of Hayes the greatest gains being at times when he showed the greatest desire to con- ciliate the South. Yet his administration did the party good, in this, that while at first dividing, it finally cemented through the conviction that experiments of that kind with a proud Southern people were as a rule unavailing. The re -opening of the avenues of trade and other natural causes, apparently uncultivated, have ac- complished in this direction much more than any political effort. In Pennsylvania a successor to U. S. Senator Wm. A. Wallace was to be chosen. Henry W. Oliver, Jr., received the nomi- nation of the Republican caucus, the friends of Galusha A. Grow refusing to enter after a count had been made, and declaring in a written paper that they would not participate in any caucus, and would independently manifest their choice in the Legislature. The following is the first vote in joint Convention OLIVER. WALLACE. Senate 20 Senate 16 House 75 House 77 Total 95 Total 93 GROW. AGNEW. Senate 12 Senate 1 House 44 House Total 56 Total 1 BREW8TER. BAIRD. Senate Senate House... . 1 House 1 Total 1 M'VEAGH. Senate ... House 1 Total. Total. Whole number of votes cast, 248 ; ne- cessary to a choice, 125. On the 17th of January the two factions issued opposing addresses. From these we quote the leading ideas, which divided the factions. The " Regulars " said : "Henry W. Oliver, jr., of Allegheny county, was nominated on the third ballot, receiving 79 of the 95 votes present. Un- der the rules of all parties Known to the BOOK 1.] REPUBLICAN FACTIONS. 256 present or past history of our country, a majority of those participating should have been sufficient ; but such was the desire for party harmony and for absolute fairness, that a majority of all the Republican mem- bers of the Senate and House was required to nominate. The effect of this was to give those remaining out a negative voice in the proceedings, the extent of any priv- ilege given them in regular legislative ses- sions by the Constitution. In no other caucus or convention has the minority ever found such high consideration, and we be- lieve there remains no just cause of com- plaint against the result. Even captious faultfinding can find no place upon which to hang a sensible objection. Mr. Oliver was, therefore, fairly nominated by the only body to which is delegated the power of nomination and by methods which were more than just, which, from every stand- point, must be regarded as generous ; and in view of these things, how can we, your Senators and Representatives, in fairness withhold our support from him in open sessions ; rather how can we ever abandon a claim established by the rules regulating the government of all parties, accepted by all as just, and which are in exact harmony with that fundamental principle of our Government which proclaims the right of the majority to rule? To do otherwise is to confess the injustice and the failure of that principle something we are not pre- pared to do. It would blot the titles to our own positions. There is not a Senator or member who does not owe his nomina- tion and election to the same great prin- ciple. To profit by its acceptance in our own cases and to deny it to Mr. Oliver would be an exhibition of selfishness too flagrant for our taste. To acknowledge the right to revolt when no unfairness can be truthfully alleged and when more than a majority have in the interest of harmony been required to govern, would be a tra- vesty upon every American notion and upon that sense of manliness which yields when fairly beaten." The " Independent " address said . " First. We recognize a public senti- ment which demands that in the selection of a United States Senator we have regard to that dignity of the office to be filled, its important duties and functions, and the qualifications of the individual with refer- ence thereto. This sentiment is, we un- derstand, that there are other and higher qualifications for this distinguished posi- tion than business experience and success, and reckons among these the accomplish- ments of the scholar, the acquirements of the student, the mature wisdom of experi- ence and a reasonable familiarity with public affairs. It desires that Pennsylva- nia shall be distinguished among her sister Commonwealths, not only by her populous cities, her prosperous communities, her vast material wealth and diversified indus- tries and resources, but that in the wis- dom, sagacity and statesmanship of her representative she shall occupy a corres- ponding rank and influence. To meet this public expectation and demand we are and have at all times been willing to su- bordinate our personal preferences, all local considerations and factional differ- ences, and unite with our colleagues in the selection of a candidate in whom are com- bined at least some of these important and essential qualifications. It was only when it became apparent that the party caucus was to be used to defeat this popular desire and to coerce a nomination which is con- spicuously lacking in the very essentials which were demanded, that we determined to absent ourselves from it. * * * * " Second, Having declined to enter the caucus, we adhere to our determination to defeat, if possible, its nominee, but only by the election of a citizen of unquestioned fidelity to the principles of the Eepubli- can party. In declaring our independency from the caucus domination we do not forget our allegiance to the party whose chosen representatives we are. The only result of our policy is the transfer of the contest from the caucus to the joint con- vention of the two houses. There will be afforded an opportunity for the expression of individual preferences and honorable rivalry for an honorable distinction. If the choice shall fall upon one not of ap- proved loyalty and merit, the fault will not be ours." After a long contest both of the leading candidates withdrew, and quickly the Reg- ulars substituted General James A. Beaver, the Independent Congressman, Thomas M. Bayne. On these names the dead-lock remained unbroken. Without material change the balloting continued till Febru- ary 17th, when both Republican factions agreed to appoint conference committees of twelve each, with a view to selecting by a three-fourths vote a compromise candi- date. The following were the respective committees: For the Independents: Sena- tors Davis, Bradford ; Lee, Venango ; Stew- art, Franklin; Lawrence, Washington; Representatives Wolfe, Union; Silver- thorne, Erie ; Mapes, Venango ; McKee, Philadelphia; Slack, Allegheny; Stubs, Chester; Niles, Tioga; and Derickson, Crawford. For the Regulars: Senators Greer, Butler; Herr, Dauphin; Smith, Philadelphia; Keefer, Schuylkill; Cooper, Delaware ; Representatives Pollock, Phila- delphia; Moore ; Allegheny; Marshall, Huntingdon; Hill, Indiana; Eshleman. Lancaster; Thomson, Armstrong; ana Billingsley, Washington. The joint convention held daily sessions and balloted without result until February 256 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. 22d, when John I. Mitchell, of Tioga, Congressman from the 16th district, was unanimously agreed upon as a compro- mise candidate. He was nominated by a full Republican caucus on the morning of February 23d, and elected on the first bal- lot in joint convention on that day, the vote standing: Mitchell, 150 ; Wallace, 92; MacVeagh, 1 ; Brewster, 1. The spirit of this contest continued until fall. Senator Davies, a friend of Mr. Grow, was a prominent candidate for the Repub- lican nomination for State Treasurer. He was beaten by General Silas M. Baily, and Davies and his friends cordially made Baily's nomination unanimous. Charles S. Wolfe, himself the winter before a can- didate for United States Senator, was dis- satisfied. He suddenly raised the Inde- pendent flag, in a telegram to the Phila- delphia Press, and as he announced was "the nominee of a convention of one" for State Treasurer. After a canvass of re- markable energy on the part of Mr. Wolfe, General Baily was elected, without suffer- ing materially from the division. Mr. Wolfe obtained nearly 50,000 votes, but as almost half of them were Democratic, the result was, as stated, not seriously affected. The Independents in Pennsylvania, however, were subdivided into two wings, known as the Continental and the Wolfe men the former having met since the election last fall, (State Senator John Stewart, chairman) and proclaimed them- selves willing and determined to abide all Republican nominations fairly made, and to advocate "reform within the party lines." These gentlemen supported Gen. Baily and largely contributed to his suc- cess, and as a rule they regard with dis- favor equal to that of the Regulars, what is known as the Wolfe movement. These divisions have not extended to other States, nor have they yet assumed the shape of third parties unless Mr. Wolfe's individual canvass can be thus classed. Up to this writing (March 10, 1882,) neither wing has taken issue with President Arthur or his appointments, though there were some temporary indications of this when Attor- ney General MacVeagh, of Pennsylvania, persisted in having his resignation ac- cepted. President Arthur refused to ac- cept, on the ground that he desired Mac- Veagh's services in the prosecution of the S :ir Route cases, and Mr. MacVeagh with- drew for personal and other reasons not yet fully explained. In this game of po- litical fence the position of the President was greatly strengthened. Singularly enough, in the only two States where factious divisions have been recently manifested in the Republican ranks, they effected almost if not quite as seriously the Democratic party. There can be but one deduction drawn from this, to wit: That a number in both of the great parties, were for the time at least, weary of their allegiance. It is possible that nothing short of some great issue will restore the old partisan unity, and partisan unity in a Republic, where there are but two great parties, is not to be deplored if relieved of other than mere political dif- ferences. The existence of but two great parties, comparatively free from factions, denotes government health; where divi- sions are numerous and manifest increas- ing growth and stubbornness, there is grave danger to Republican institutions. We need not, however, philosophize when Mexico and the South American Repub- lics are so near. The Caucus. Both the "Independents" of Pennsyl- vania and the " Half- Breeds " of New York at first proclaimed their opposition to the caucus system of nominating candidates for U. S. Senators, and the newspapers in their interest wrote as warmly for a time against " King Caucus" as did the dissat- tisfied Democratic journals in the -^ays of De Witt Clinton. The situation, however, was totally different, and mere declamation could not long withstand the inevitable. In Pennsylvania almost nightly " confer- ences " were held by the Independents, as indeed they were in New York, though in both States a show of hostility was kept up to nominating in party caucus men who were to be elected by representative, more plainly legislative votes. It was at first claimed that in the Legislature each man ought to act for himself or his constituents, but very shortly it was found that the cau- cuses of the separate wings were as binding upon the respective wings as they could have been upon the whole. Dead-locks were interminable as Ion gas this condition of affairs obtained, and hostility to the caucus system was before very long quietly discouraged and finally flatly abandoned, for each struggle was ended by the ratifi- cation of a general caucus, and none of them could have been ended without it. The several attempts to find other means to reach a result, only led the participants farther away from the true principle, under republican forms at least, of the right of the majority to rule. In Pennsylvania, when Mr. Oliver withdrew, fifty of his friends assembled and informally named General Beaver, and by this action sought to bind the original 95 friends of Oliver. Their conduct was excused by the plea that they represented a majority of their fac- tion. It failed to bind all of the original number, though some of the Independents were won. The Independents, rather the original 44, bound themselves in writing not to change their course of action unless BOOK I.] THE CAUCUS. 257 there was secured the previous concurrence of two-thirds, and this principle was ex- tended to the 56 who supported Mr. Bayne. Then when the joint committee of 24 was agreed upon, it was bound by a rule re- quiring three-fourths to recommend a can- didate. All of these were plain departures from a great principle, and the deeper the contest became, the greater the departure. True, these were but voluntary forms, but they were indefensible, and are only re- ferred to now to show the danger of mad assaults upon great principles when per- sonal and factious aims are at stake. Op- position to the early Congressional caucus was plainly right, since one department of the Government was by voluntary agencies actually controlling another, while the law gave legal forms which could be more pro- perly initiated through voluntary action. The writer believes, and past contests all confirm the view that the voluntary action can only be safely employed by the" power by the law with the right of selection. Thus the people elect township, county and State officers, and it is their right and duty by the best attainable voluntary action to indicate their choice. This is done through the caucus or convention, the latter not differing from the former save in extent and possibly breadth of representation. The same rule applies to all offices elective by the people. It cannot properly apply to appointive offices, and while the attempt to apply it to the election of U. S. Senators shows a strong desire on the part, frequently of the more public-spirited citizens, to ex- ercise a greater share in the selection of these officers than the law directly gives them, yet their representatives can very properly be called upon to act as they would act if they had direct power in the pre- mises, and such action leads them into a party caucus, where the will of the majority of their respective parties can be fairly ascertained, and when ascertained re- spected. The State Legislatures appoint U. S. Senators, and the Representatives and Senators of the States are bound to consider in their selection the good of the entire State. If this comports with the wish of their respective districts, very well ; if it does not, their duty is not less plain. Probably the time will never come when the people will elect United States Senators ; to do that is to radically change the Federal system, and to practically de- stroy one of the most important branches of the Government ; yet he is not a careful observer who does not note a growing dis- position on the part of the people, and largely the people of certain localities, and imaginary political sub-divisions, to control these selections. The same is true of! Presidential nominations, where masses of people deny the right of State Conventions to instruct their delegates-at-large. In many States the people composing either of the great parties now select their own representative delegates to National Conventions, and where their selections are not respected, grave party danger is sure to follow. There is nothing wrong in this, since it points to, and is but paving the way for a more popular selection of Presidents and Vice Presidents to an eventual selection of Presidential electors probably by Congressional districts. Yet those to be selected at large must through practical voluntary forms be nominated in that way, and the partisan State Conven- tion is the best method yet devised for this work, and its instructions should be aa binding as those of the people upon their representatives. In this government of ours there is voluntary and legal work delegated to the people directly ; there is legal work .delegated to appointing power's, and an intelligent discrimination should ever be exercised between the two. " Ren- der unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's," unless there be a plain desire, backed by a good reason, to promote popu- lar reforms as enduring as the practices and principles which they are intended to support. Fredrick W. Whitridge, in an able re- view of the caucus system published * in T^a- lor's Encyclopcedia of Political Science, says : "A caucus, in the political vocabulary of the United States, is primarily a private meeting of voters holding similar views, held prior to an election ibr the purpose of furthering such views at the election. With the development of parties, and the rule of majorities, the caucus or some equivalent has become an indispensable adjunct to party government, and it may now be defined as a meeting of the majority of the electors belonging to the same party in any political or legislative body .held preliminary to a meeting thereof, for the purpose of selecting candidates to be voted for, or for the purpose of de- termining the course of the party at the meeting of the whole body. The candidates of each party are univer- sally selected by caucus, either directly or indirectly through delegates to conven- tions chosen in caucuses. In legislative bodies the course of each party is often predetermined with certainty in caucus, and often discussion between parties has been, in consequence, in some degree superseded. The caucus system is, in short, the basis of a complete electoral system which has grown up within each party, side by side with that which is alone contemplated by the laws. This condition has in recent years attracted much atten- tion, and has been bitterly announced as an evil. It was, however, early foreseen. John Adams, in 1814, wrote in the " Tentk * By Rand & McNally, Chicago, 111., 1882. 258 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Letter on Government:" "They have invented a balance to all balance in their caucuses. We have congressional caucuses, state caucuses, county caucuses, city cau- cuses, district caucuses, town caucuses, parish caucuses, and Sunday caucuses at church doors, and in these aristocratical caucuses elections have been decided." The caucus is a necessary consequence of majority rule. If the majority is to define the policy of a party, there must be some method within each party of ascertaining the mind of the majority, and settling the party programme, before it meets the op- posing" party at the polls. The Carlton and Reform clubs discharge for the Tories and Liberals many of the functions of a congressional caucus. Meetings of the members of the parties in the reichstag, the corps legislatif and the chamber of deputies are not unusual, although they have generally merely been for consulta- tion, and neither in England, France, Germany or Italy, has any such authority been conceded to the wish of the majority of a party as we have rested in the deci- sion of a caucus. What has been called a caucus has been established by the Liberals of Birmingham, England, as to which, see a paper by W. Eraser Rae, in the " International Review " for August, 1880. The origin of the term caucus is obscure. It has been derived from the Algonquin word Kaw-kaw-wus to con- sult, to speak but the more probable derivation makes it a corruption of caulkers. In the early politics of Boston, and particularly during the early difficul- ties between the townsmen and the British troops, the seafaring men and those em- ployed about the ship yards were promi- nent among the town-people, and there were numerous gatherings which may have very easily come to be called by way of reproach a meeting of caulkers, after the least influential class who at- tended them, or from the caulking house or caulk house in which they were held. What was at first a derisive description, came to be an appellation, and the gather- ings of so-called caulkers became a cau- cus. John Pickering, in a vocabulary of words and phrases peculiar to the United States (Boston, 1816), gives this derivation of the word, and says several gentlemen | mentioned to him that they had heard this derivation. Gordon, writing in 1774, says : " More than fifty years ago Mr. Samuel Adams' father and twenty others, one or two from fie north end of the town where all the shi business is carried on, used to meet, make a caucus and lay their plan for introducing certain persons into places of trust and power. When they had settled it they separated, and each used their particular influence within his own circle. He and his friends would furnish themselves with ballots, including the names of the parties fixed upon, which they distributed on the days of election. By acting in concert, together with a care- ful and extensive distribution of ballots, they generally carried their elections to their own mind. In like manner it was that Mr. Samuel Adams first became a representative for Boston." (History oj the American Revolution, vol. i., p. 365.) February, 1763, Adams writes in his diary : " This day I learned that the cau- cus club meets at certain times in the gar- ret of Tom Dawes, the adjutant of the Bos- ton regiment. He has a large house and he has a movable partition in his garret which he takes down and the whole club meets in his room. There they smoke tobacco until they cannot see one end of the room from another. There they drink flip, I suppose, and there they choose a moderator who puts questions to the vote regularly ; and selectmen, assessors, col- lectors, wardens, fire wards and representa- tives are regularly chosen in the town. Uncle Fairfield, Story, Ruddock, Adams, Cooper, and a rudis indigestaques moles ol others, are members. They send commit- tees to wait on the merchants' club, and to propose in the choice of men and measures. Captain Cunningham says, they have of- ten solicited him to go to the caucuses ; they have assured him their benefit in hia business, etc." (Adams' Works, vol. ii., p. 144.) Under the title caucus should be considered the congressional nominating caucus ; the caucuses of legislative assem- blies ; primary elections, still known out- side the larger cities as caucuses ; the evils which have been attributed to the latter, and the remedies which have been pro- posed. These will accordingly be men- tioned in the order given. " The democratic system is the result of the reorganization of the various anti- Tammany democratic factions, brought about, in 1881, by a practically self-ap- pointed committee of 100. Under this sys- tem primary elections are to be held annu- ally in each of 678 election districts, at which all democratic electors resident in the respective districts may participate, pro- vided they were registered at the last gene- ral election. The persons voting at any primary shall be members of the election district association for the ensuing year, which is to be organized in January of each year. The associations may admit demo- cratic residents in their respective districts, who are not members, to membership, and they have general supervision of the inte- rests of the party within their districts. Primaries are held on not less than four days' public notice, through the newspa- pers, of the time and place, and at the ap- pointed time the meeting is called to order by the chairman of the election district as- BOOK I.] THE CAUCUS. 259 sociation, provided twenty persons be pre- sent; if that number shall not be present, the meeting may be called to order with a less number, at the end of fifteen minutes. The first business of the meeting is to se- lect a chairman, and all elections of dele- gates or committeemen shall take place in open meeting. Each person, as he offers to vote, states his name and residence, which may be compared with the registration list at the last election, and each person shall state for whom he votes, or he may hand to the judges an open ballot, having designated thereon the persons for whom he votes, and for what positions. Nominations are all made by conventions of delegates from the districts within which the candidate to be cho ;en is to be voted for. There is an as- sembly district committee in each assembly district, composed of one delegate for each 100 votes or fraction thereof, from each election district within the assembly dis- trict. There is also a county committee composed of delegates from each of the as- sembly district committees. The function of these committees is generally to look af- ter the interests of the parties within their respective spheres. This system is too new for its workings to be as yet fairly criti- cised. It may prove a really popular sys- tem, or it may prove only an inchoate form of the other systems. At present it can only be said that the first primaries under it were participated in by 27,000 electors. "The evils of the caucus and primary election systems lie in the stringent obliga- tion which is attached to the will of a for- mal majority ; in the fact that the process of ascertaining what the will of the major- ity is, has been surrounded with so many restrictions that the actual majority of votes are disfranchised, and take no part in that process, so that the formal majority is in consequence no longer the majority in fact, although it continues to demand recogni- tion of its decisions as such. " The separation between the organiza- tion and the party, between those who no- minate and those who elect, is the sum of the evils of the too highly organized cau- cus system. It has its roots in the notion that the majority is right, because it is the majority, which ii the popular view thus expressed by Hammond : ' I think that when political friends consent to go into caucus for the nomination of officers, every member of such caucus is bound in honor to support and carry into effect its deter- mination. If you suspect that determina- tion will be so preposterous that you can- not in conscience support it, then you ought on no account to become one of its mem- bers. To try your chance in a caucus, and then, because your wishes are not gratified, to attempt to defeat the result of the deli- beration of your friends, strikes me as a palpable violation of honor and good faith. You caucus for no other possible purpose than under the implied argument that the opinion and wishes of the minority shall be yielded to the opinions of the majority, and ihe sole object of caucusing is to ascertain what is the will of the majority. I repeat that unless you intend to carry into effect the wishes of the majority, however con- trary to your own, you have no business at a caucus.' (Political History of New York, vol. i., p. 192). In accordance with this theory, the will of the majority becomes obligatory as soon as it is made known, and one cannot assist at a caucus in order to ascertain the will of the majority, ^(ithout thereby being bound to follow it ; and the theory is so deeply rooted that, under the caucus and primary election system, it has been extended to cases in which the ma- jorities are such only in form. " The remedies as well as the evils of the caucus and nominating system have beon made the subject of general discussion in connection with civil service reform. It is claimed that that reform, by giving to pub- lic officers the same tenure of their positions which is enjoyed by the employes of a cor- poration or a private business house, or during the continuance of efficiency or good behaviour, would abolish or greatly dimi- nish the evils of the caucus system by de- priving public officers of the illegitimate incentive to maintain it under which they now act. Other more speculative remedies have been suggested. It is proposed, on the one hand, to very greatly diminish the number of elective officers, and, in order to do away with the pre-determinatipn of elec- tions, to restrict the political action of the people in their own persons to districts so small that they can meet together and act as one body, and that in all other affairs than those of these small districts the people should act by delegates. The the- ory here seems to be to get rid of the ne- cessity for election and nominating ma- chinery. (See 'A True Republic,' by Al- bert Strickney, New York, 1879; and a se- ries of articles in Scribner's Monthly for 1881, by the same writer). On the other hand, it is proposed to greatly increase the number of elections, by taking the whole primary system under the protection of the law.* This plan proposes : 1. The direct nomination of candidates by the members of the respective political parties in place of nominations by delegates in conventions. 2. To apply the election laws to primary elections. 3. To provide that both politi- cal parties shall participate in the same primary election instead of having a differ- ent caucus for each party. 4. To provide for a final election to be held between two candidates, each representative of a party * This was partially done by the Legislature of Pennsylvania m 1881. 260 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK r. who have been selected by means of the Srimary election. This plan would un- oubtedly do away with the evils of the present caucus system, but it contains no guarantee that a new caucus system would not be erected for the purpose of influ- encing ' the primary election ' in the same manner in which the present primary sys- tem now influences the final election. (See however ' The Elective Franchise in the United States,' New York, 1880, by D. C. McClellan.) The effective remedy for the evils of the caucus system will probably be found m the sanction of primary elections by iaw." * * * Bills for this purpose were introduced by the Hon. Erastus Brooks in the New York Legislature in 1881, which provided substantially for the system pro- posed by Mr. McClellan, but they were left unacted upon, and no legislative attempt to regulate primaries, except by providing for their being called, and for their pro- cedeure, has been made elsewhere. In Ohio what is known as the Baber law pro- vides that where any voluntary political association orders a primary, it must be by a majority vote of the central or control- ling committee of such party or association ; that the call must be published for at least five days in the newspapers, and state the time and place of the meeting, the autho- rity by which it was called, and the name of the person who is to represent that au- thority at each poll. The law also provides for challenging voters, for punishment of illegal voting, and for the bribery or inter- vention of electors or judges. (Bev. Stat. Ohio, sees. 2916-2921.) A similar law in Missouri is made applicable to counties only of over 100,000 inhabitants, but by this law it is made optional with the volun- tary political association whether it will or not hold its primaries under the law, and if it does, it is provided that the county shall incur no expense in the conduct of such elections. (Laics of Missouri 1815, p. 54.) A similar law also exists .in Cali- fornia. (Laws of California, 1865-1866, p. 438.) These laws comprise all the existing legislation on the subject, except what is known as the Landis Bill of 1881, which requires primary officers to take an oath, and which punishes fraud." resident Garfleld. At 9 o'clock on the morning of Satur- day, July 2d, 1881, President Garfield, ac- companied by Secretary Blaine, left the Executive Mansion- to take a special train from the Baltimore and Potomac depot for Now England, where he intended to visit the college from which he had gradu- ated. Arriving at the depot, he was walk- ing arm-in-arm through the main waiting- room, when Charles J. Guiteau, a persist- ent applicant for an office, who had some time previously entered through the main door, advanced to the centre of the room, and having reached within a few feet of his victim, firmed two shots, one of which took fatal effect. The bullet was of forty- four calibre, and striking the President about four inches to the right of the spinal column, struck the tenth and badly shat- tered the eleventh rib. The President sank to the floor, and was conveyed to a room where temporary conveniences were attainable, and a couch was improvised. Dr. Bliss made an unsuccessful effort to' find the ball. The shock to the President's system was very severe, and at first appre- hensions were felt that death would ensue speedily. Two hours after the shooting, the physicians decided to remove him to the Executive Mansion. An army ambu- lance was procured, and the removal ef- fected. Soon after, vomiting set in, and the patient exhibited a dangerous degree of prostration, which threatened to end speed- ily in dissolution. This hopeless condition of affairs continued until past midnight, when more favorable symptoms were ex- hibited. Dr. Bliss was on this Sunday morning designated to take charge of the case, and he called Surgeon - General Barnes, Assistant Surgeon-General Wood- ward, and Dr. Reyburn as consulting phy- sician. To satisfy the demand of the country, Drs. Agnew, of Philadelphia, and Hamilton, of New York, were also sum- moned by telegraph, and arrived on a special train over the Pennsylvania Rail- road, Sunday afternoon. For several days immediately succeeding the shooting, the patient suffered great inconvenience and pain in the lower limbs. This created an apprehension that the spinal nerves l:ad been injured, and death was momentarily expected. On the night of July 4th a favorable turn was observed, and the morn- ing of the 5th brought with it a vague but undefined hope that a favorable issue might ensue. Under this comforting con- viction, Drs. Agnew and Hamilton, after consultation with the resident medical at- tendants, returned to their homes ; first having published to the country an in- dorsement of the treatment inaugurated. During July 5th and 6th the patient con- tinued to improve, the pulse and respira- tion showing a markea approach to the condition of healthfulness, the former being reported on the morning of the 6th at 98, and in the evening it only increased to 104. On the 7th Dr. Bliss became very confident of ultimate triumph over the malady. In previous bulletins meagre hope was given, and the chances for recO' very estimated at one in a hundred. From July 7th to the 16th there was a slight but uninterrupted improvement, and the country began to entertain a confident hope that the patient would recover. BOOK I.] "BOSS RULE." 261 Hope and fear alternated from day to day, amid the most painful excitement. On the 8th of August Drs. Agnevv and Hamilton had to perform their second operation to allow a free flow of pus from the wound. This resulted in an important discovery. It was ascertained that the track of the bullet had turned from its downward deflection to a forward course. The operation lasted an hour, and ether was administered, the effect of which was very unfortunate. Nausea succeeded, and vomiting followed every effort to adminis- ter nourishment for some time. However, he soon rallied, and the operation was pro- nounced successful, and, on the following day, the President, for the first time, wrote his name. On the 10th he signed an im- portant extradition paper, and on the llth wrote a letter of hopefulness to his aged mother. On the 12ch Dr. Hamilton ex- pressed the opinion that the further at- tendance of himself and Dr. Agnew was unnecessary. The stomach continued weak, however, and on the loth nausea re- turned, and the most menacing physical prostration followed the frequent vomiting, and the evening bulletin announced that " the President's condition, on the whole, is less satisfactory." Next a new complication forced itself upon the attention of the physicians. This was described as " inflammation of the right parotid gland." On August 24th it was decided to make an incision below and forward of the right ear, in order to prevent suppuration. Though this opera- tion was pronounced satisfactory, the pa- tient gradually sank, until August 25th, when all hope seemed to have left those in attendance. Two days of a dreary watch ensued ; on the 27th an improvement inspired new hope. This continued throughout the week, but failed to build up the system. Then it was determined to remove the pa- tient to a more favorable atmosphere. On the 6th of September this design was exe- cuted, he having been conveyed in a car arranged for the purpose to Long Branch, where, in a cottage at Elberon, it was hoped vigor would return. At first, indi- cations justified the most sanguine expec- tations. On the 9th, however, fever re- turned, and a cough came to harass the wasted sufferer. It was. attended with purulent expectoration, and became so troublesome as to entitle it to be regarded as the leading feature of the case. The surgeons attributed it to the septic condi- tion of the blood. The trouble increased until Saturday, September 10th, when it was thought the end was reached. He rallied, however, and improved rapidly, during the succeeding few days, and on Tuesday, the 13th, was lifted from the bed and placed in a chair at the window. The improvement was not enduring, however, and on Saturday, September 17th, the rigor returned. During the nights and days .succeeding, until the final moment, hope rose and fell alternately, and though the patient's spirits fluctuated to justify this change of feeling, the improvement failed to bring with it the strength neces- sary to meet the strain. President Garfield died at 10.35 on the night of Sept. 19th, 1881, and our nation mourned, as it had only done once before, when Abraham Lincoln also fell by the hand of an assassin. The assassin Guiteau was tried and convicted, the jury rejecting his plea of insanity. President Arthur. Vice-President Arthur, during the long illness of the President, and at the time of his death, deported himself so well that he won the good opinion of nearly all classes of the people, and happily for weeks and months all factious or partisan spirit was hushed by the nation's great calamity. At midnight on the 19th of September the Cabinet telegraphed him from Long Branch to take the oath of office, and this he very properly did before a local judge. The Government cannot wisely be left without a head for a single day. He was soon afterwards again sworn in at Washing- ton, with the usual ceremonies, and took occasion to make a speech which improved the growing better feeling. The new Presidont requested the Cabinet to hold on until Congress met, and it would have remained intact had Secretary Windom not found it necessary to resume his place in the Senate. The vacancy was offered to ex-Governor Morgan, of New York, who was actually nominated and confirmed before he made up his mind to decline it. ' Judge Folger now fills the place. The several changes since made will be found in the Tabulated History, Book VII. It has thus far been the effort of Presi- dent Arthur to allay whatever of factious bitterness remains in the Republican party. In his own State of New York the terms " Half- Breed " and "Stalwart" are pass- ing into comparative disuse, as are the terms "Regulars" and "Independents" in Pennsylvania. " BOBS Rule." The complaint of " Boss Rule " in these States by which is meant the control of certain leaders still obtains to some ex- tent. Wayne MacVeagh was the author of this very telling political epithet, and he used it with rare force in his street speeches at Chicago when opposing the nomination of Grant. It was still further cultivated 262 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. by Ruftis E. Shapley, Esq,, of Philadel- phia, the author of " Solid for Mulhooly," a most admirable political satire, which had an immense sale. Its many hits were freely quoted by the Reformers of Phila- delphia, who organized under the Com- mittee of One Hundred, a body of mer- chants who first banded themselves together to promote reforms in the munici- pal government. This organization, aided by the Democrats, defeated Mayor Win. S. Stokley for his third term, electing Mr. King, theretofore a very popular Demo- cratic councilman. In return for this sup- port, the Democrats accepted John Hun- ter, Committee's nominee for Tax Receiver, and the combination succeeded. In the fall of 1881 it failed on the city ticket, but in the spring of 1882 secured material suc- cesses in the election of Councilmen, who were nominees of both parties, but aided by the endorsement of the Committee of One Hundred. A similar combination failed as between Brown (Rep.) and Eisen- brown (Dem.) for Magistrate. On this part of the ticket the entire city voted, and the regular Republicans won by about 500 majority. The following is the declaration of prin- ciples of the Citizens' Republican Associ- ation of Philadelphia, which, under the banner of Mr. Wolfe, extended its organi- zation to several counties : I. We adhere to the platform of the National Convention of the Republican party, adopted at Chicago, June 2d, 1880, and we proclaim our unswerving alle- giance to the great principles upon which that party was founded, to wit : national supremacy, universal liberty, and govern- mental probity. II. The Republican party, during its glorious career, having virtually estab- lished its principles of national supremacy and universal liberty as the law of the land, we shall, while keeping a vigilant watch over the maintenance of those prin- ciples, regard the third one, viz. : govern- mental probity, as the living issue to be struggled for in the future ; and as the pure administration of government is es- sential to the permanence of Republican institutions, we consider this issue as in no way inferior in importance to any other. III. The only practical method of re- storing purity to administration is through the adoption of a system of civil service, under which public officials shall not be the tools of any man or of any clique, sub- ject to dismissal at their behest, or to as- sessment in their service; nor appoint- ment to office be "patronage" at the disposal of any man to conso' : 'ate his power within the party. IV. It is the abuse of this appointing power which has led to the formation of the " machine," and the subjection of the party to " bosses." Our chosen leader, the late President Garfield, fell a martyr in his contest with the " bosses." We take up the struggle where he left it, and we hereby declare that we will own no allegiance to any " boss," nor be subservient to any "machine;" but that we will do our ut- most to liberate the party from the " boss" domination under which it has fallen. V. Recognizing that political parties are simply instrumentalities for the en- forcement of certain recognized principles, we shall endeavor to promote the principles of the Republican party by means of that party, disenthralled and released from the domination of its " bosses." But should we fail in this, we shall have no hesitation in seeking to advance the principles of the party through movements and organiza- tions outside of the party lines. The idea of the Committee of One Hun- dred is to war against " boss rule" in muni- cipal affairs. James McManes has long enjoyed the leadership of the Republican party in Philadelphia, and the reform ele- ment has directed its force against his power as a leader, though he joined at Chicago in the MacVeagh war against the form of " boss rule," which was then di- rected against Grant, Conkling, Logan and Cameron. This episode has really little, if anything, to do with Federal politics, but the facts are briefly recited with a view to explain to the reader the leading force which supported Mr. Wolfe in his inde- pendent race in Pennsylvania. Summed up, it is simply one of those local wars against leadership which precede and fol- low factions. The factious battles in the Republican party, as we have stated, seem to have spent their force. The assassination of President Garfield gave them a most seri- ous check, for men were then compelled to look back and acknowledge that his plain purpose was to check divisions and heal wonnds. Only haste and anger assailed, and doubtless as quickly regretted the as- sault. President Arthur, with commend- able reticence and discretion, is believed to be seeking the same end. He has made few changes, and these reluctantly. Hia nomination of ex-Senator Conkling to a seat in the Supreme Bench, which, though declined, is generally accepted as an assu- rance to New Yorkers that the leader hated by one side and loved by the other, should be removed from partisan politics peculiar to his own State, but removed with the dignity and honor becoming his high abilities. It has ever been the policy of wise administrations, as with wise gene- rals, to care for the wounded, and Conk- ling was surely and sorely wounded in his battle against the confirmation of Robert- son and his attempted re-election to the Senate. He accepted the situation with iOOK I.] THE READJUSTEES. 263 quiet composure, and saw his friend Ar- thur unite the ranks which his resignation had sundered. After this there remained little if any cause for further quarrel, and while in writing history it is dangerous to attempt a prophecy, the writer believes that President Arthur will succeed in keeping his party, if not fully united, at least as compact as the opposing Democra- tic forces. Tlie Readjusters. This party was founded in 1878 by Gen'l William Mahone, a noted Brigadier in the rebel army. He is of Scotch-Irish de- scent, a man of very small stature but most remarkable energy, and acquired wealth in the construction and develop- ment of Southern railroads. He sounded the first note of revolt against what he styled the Bourbon rule of Virginia, and being classed as a Democrat, rapidly di- vided that party on the question of the Virginia debt. His enemies charge that he sought the repudiation of this debt, but in return he not only denied the charge, but said the Bourbons were actually re- pudiating it by making no provision for its payment, either in appropriations or the levying of taxes needed for the pur- pose. Doubtless his views on this ques- tion have undergone some modification, and that earlier in the struggle the uglier criticisms were partially correct. Certain it is that he and his friends now advocate full payment less the proportion equitably assigned to West Virginia, which sepa- rated from the parent State during the war, and in her constitution evaded her responsibility by declaring that the State should never contract a debt except one created to resist invasion or in a war for the government. This fact shows how keenly alive ttfe West Virginians were to a claim which could very justly be pressed in the event of Virginia being restored to the Union, and this claim Gen'l Mahone has persistently pressed, and latterly urged a funding of the debt of his State at a 3 per cent, rate, on the ground that the State is unable to pay more and that this is in ac- cord with proper rates of interest on the bonds of State governments a view not altogether fair or sound, since it leaves the creditors powerless to do otherwise than accept. The regular or Bourbon Demo- crats proclaimed in favor of full payment, and in this respect differed from their party associates as to ante-war debts in most other Southern States. Gen. Mahone rapidly organized his re- volt, and as the Republican party was then in a hopeless minority in Virginia, public- ly invited an alliance by the passage of a platform which advocated free schools for the blacks and a full enforcement of the National laws touching their evil rights. The Legislature was won, and on the 16th of December, 1880, Gen'l Mahone was elected to the U. S. Senate to succeed Sen- ator Withers, whose term expired March 4, 1881. In the Presidential campaign of 1880, the Readjusters supported Gen'l Hancock, but on a separate electoral ticket, while the Republicans supported Garfield on an electoral ticket of their own selection. This division was pursuant to an under- standing, and at the time thought advi- sable by Mahone, who, if his electors won, could go for Hancock or not, as circum- stances might suggest ; while if he failed ' the Republicans might profit by the sepa- ration. There was, however, a third horn to this dilemma, for the regular Democratic electors were chosen, but the political complexion of the Legislature was not changed. Prior to the Presidential nomi- nations Mahone's Readjuster Convention had signified their willingness to support Geu'l Grant if he should be nominated at Chicago, and this fact was widely quoted by his friends in their advocacy of Grant's nomination, and in descanting upon his ability to carry Southern States. The Readjuster movement at first had no other than local designs, but about the time of its organization there was a great desire on the part of the leading Republi- cans to break the ''Solid South," and every possible expedient to that end was suggested. It was solid for the Democratic party, and standing thus could with the aid of New York, Indiana and New Jersey (them all Democratic States) assure the election of a Democratic President. One of the favorite objects of President Hayes was to' break the " Solid South." He first obtained it by conciliatory speech- es, which were so conciliatory in fact that they angered radical Republicans, and there were thus threatened division in un- expected quarters. He next tried it through Gen'l Key, whom he made Post- master General in the hope that he could resurrect and reorganize the old Whig elements of the South. Key was to attend to Southern postal patronage with this end in view, while Mr. Tener, his able First As- sistant, was to distribute Northern or Re- publican patronage. So far as dividing the South was concerned, the scheme was a flat failure. The next and most quiet and effectual effort was made by Gen'l Simon Cameron, Ex-Senator from Pennsylvania. He started on a brief Southern tour, ostensibly for health and enjoyment, but really to meet Gen'l Mahone, his leading Readjuster friends, and the leading Republicans. Conferences were held, and the union of the two forces was made to embrace Na- tional objects. This was in the Fall of 1879. 264 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Not long thereafter GenT Mahone consult- ed with Senator J. Don. Cameron, who was of course familiar with his father's movements, and he actively devised and carried out schemes to aid the new combi- nation by which the "Solid South" was to be broken. In the great State campaign of 1881, when the Bourbon and anti-Bour- bon candidates for Governor, were stump- ing the State, Gen'l Mahone found that a large portion of his colored friends were handicapped by their inability to pay the taxes imposed upon them by the laws of Virginia, and this threatened defeat. He sought aid from the National administra- tion. President Garfield favored the com- bination, as did Secretary Windoni, but Secretary Blaine withheld his support for several months, finally, however, acceding to the wishes of the President and most of the Cabinet. Administration influences caused the abandonment of a straight-out Republican movement organized by Con- gressman Jorgensen and others, and a movement which at one time threatened a disastrous division was overcome. The tax question remained, and this was first met by Senator J. Don. Cameron, who while summering at Manhattan Island, was really daily engaged in New York City raising funds for Mahone, with which to pay their taxes. Still, this aid was insuf- ficient, and in the heat of the battle the revenue officers throughout the United Slates, were asked to contribute. Many of them did so, and on the eve of election all taxes were paid and the result was the election of William E. Cameron (Read- juster) as Governor by about 20,000 ma- jority, with other State officers divided be- tween the old Readjusters and Republi- cans. The combination also carried the Legislature. In that great struggle the Readjusters became known as the anti-Bourbon move- ment, and efforts are now being made to extend it to other Southern States. It has taken root in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and more recently in Kentucky, where the Union War Democrats in State Convention as late as March 1, 1882, separated from the Bourbon wing of the party. For a better idea of these two elements in the South, the reader is referred to the recent speeches of Hill and Mahone in the me- morable Senate scene directly after the latter took the oath of office, and cast his vote with the Republicans. These speeches will be found in Book III of this volume. Suppressing Mormonism. Polygamy, iustly denounced as "the true relic of barbarism " while slavery ex- isted, has ever since the settlement of the Mormons in Utah, been one of the vexed questions in American politics. Laws passed for its suppression have proved, thus far, unavailing ; troops could not crush it out, or did not at a time when battles were fought and won; United States Courts were powerless where juries could not be found to convict. Latterly a new and promising effort has been made for its sup- pression. This was begun in the Senate m the session of 1882. On the 16th of February a vote was taken by sections on Senator Edmunds' bill, which like the law of 1862 is penal in its provisions, but di- rectly aimed against the crime of poly- gamy. President Arthur signed the Edmunds anti-polygamy bill on the 23d of March, 1882. Delegate Cannon of Utah, was on the floor of the Senate electioneering against the bill, and he plead with some success, for several Democratic Senators made speeches against it. The Republicans were unanimously for the bill, and the Demo- crats were not solidly against it, though the general tenor of the debate on this side was against it. Senator Vest (Democrat) of Missouri, said that never in the darkest days of the rule of the Tudors and Stuarts had any measure been advocated which came so near a bill of attainder as this one. It was monstrous to contend that the people of the United States were at the mercy of Congress without any appeal. If this bill passed it would establish a precedent that would come home to plague us for all time to come. The pressure against poly- gamy to-day might exist to-morrow against any church, institution or class in this broad land, and when the crested waves of prejudice and passion mounted high they would be told that the Congress of the United States had trampled upon the Con- stitution. In conclusion, he said : " I am prepared for the abuse and calumny that will follow any man who dares to criticise any bill against polygamy, and yet, if my official life had to terminate to-morrow, I would not give my vote for the unconsti- tutional principles contained in this bill." Other speeches were made by Messrs. Mor- gan, Brown, Jones, of Florida, Saulsbury, Call, Pendleton, Sherman, and Lamar, and the debate was closed by Mr. Edmunds in an eloquent fifteen-minutes' speech, in which he carefmlly reviewed and contro- verted the objections urged against the bill of the committee. He showed great anxiety to have the measure disposed of at once and met a re- quest from trie Democratic side for a post- ponement till other features should be em- bodied in the bills with the remark that this was the policy that had hitherto proven a hindrance to legislation on this subject BOOK I.] SUPPRESSING MORMONISM. 265 and that he was tired of it. In the bill as amended the following section provoked more opposition than any other, although the Senators refrained from making any particular mention of it : " That if any male person in a Territory or other place over which the United States have exclu- sive jurisdiction hereafter cohabits with more than one woman he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof he shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both said punishments in the discretion of the court." The bill passed viva voce vote after a re-arrangement of its sections, one of the changes being that not more than three of the commissioners shall be mem- bers of the same party. The fact that the yeas and nays were not called, shows that there is no general desire on either side to make the bill a partisan measure. The Edmunds Bill passed the House March 14, 1882, without material amend- ment, the Republican majority, refusing to allow the time asked by the Democrats for discussion. The vote was 193 for to only 45 against, all of the negative votes being Democratic save one, that of Jones, Green- backer from Texas. The only question was whether the bill, as passed by the Senate, would accomplish that object, and whether certain provisions of this bill did not provide a remedy which was worse than the disease. Many Demo- crats thought that the precedent of inter- fering with the right of suffrage at the polls, when the voter had not been tried and convicted of any crime, was so dan- gerous that they could not bring them- selves to vote for the measure. Among these democrats were Belmont and Hew- itt, of New York, and a number of others ei jually prominent. But they all professed their readiness, to vote for any measure which would affect the abolition of poly- gamy without impairing the fundamental rights of citizens in other parts of the coun- try. THE TEXT OF THE BILL. Be it enacted, &c., That section 5,352 of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows, namely : " Every person who has a husband or wife living who, in a Territory or other place over which the United States have exclusive jurisdiction, hereafter marries another, whether married or single, and any man who hereafter simultaneously, or on the same day, marries more than one woman-, in a Territory or other place over which the United States has exclusive jurisdiction, is guilty of polygamy, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 and by imprisonment for a term of not more than five years ; but this section shall not extend to any person by reason of any former marriage whose husband or wife by such marriage shall have been absent for five successive years, and is not known to such person to be living, and is believed by such person to be dead, nor to any person by reason of any former marriage which shall have been dissolved by a valid de- cree of a competent court, nor to any per- son by reason of any former marriage which shall have been pronounced void by a val- id decree of a competent court, on the ground of nullity of the marriage con- tract." SEC. 2. That the foregoing provisions shall not affect the prosecution or punish- ment of any offence already committed against the section amended by the first section of this act. SEC. 3. That if any male person, in a Territory or other place over which the United States have exclusive jurisdiction, hereafter cohabits with more than one wo- man, he shall be deemed guilty of a mis- demeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both said punish- ments in the discretion of the court. SEC. 4. That counts for any or all of the offences named in sections 1 and 3 of this act may be joined in the same information or indictment. SEC. 5. That in any prosecution for biga- my, polygamy or unlawful cohabitation under any statute of the United States, it shall be sufficient cause of challenge to any person drawn or summoned as a juryman or talesman, first, that he is or has been living in the practice of bigamy, poly- gamy, or unlawful cohabitation with more than one woman, or that he is or has been guilty of 'an offence punishable by either of the foregoing sections or by section 5352 of the Revised Statutes of the United States or the act of July 1, 1862, entitled " An act to punish and prevent the prac- tice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States and other places, and disap- proving and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah ;" or, second, that he believes it right for a man to have more than one living and ' undivorced wife at the same time, or to live in the practice of cohabiting with more than one woman, and any person appear- ing or offered as a juror or talesman and challenged on either of the foregoing grounds may be questioned on his oath as to the existence of any such cause of chal- lenge, and other evidence may be intro- duced bearing upon the question raised by such challenge, and this question shall be tried by the court. But as to the first ground of challenge before mentioned the person challenged shall be bound to answer if he 266 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. shall say upon his oath that he declines on the ground that his answer may tend to criminate himself, and if he shall answer to said first ground his answer shall not be given in evidence in any criminal prose- cution against him for any offense named in sections 1 or 3 of this act, but if he declines to answer on any ground he shall be rejected as incompetent. SEC. 6. That the President is here6y au- thorized to grant amnesty to such classes of offenders guilty before the passage of this act of bigamy, polygamy, or unlawful cohabitation before the passage of this act, on such conditions and under such limita- tions as he shall think proper ; but no such amnesty shall have effect unless the condi- tions thereof shall be complied with. SEC. 7. That the issue of bigamous or polygamous marriages known as Mormon marriages, in cases in which such marriages have been solemnized according to the ceremonies of the Mormon sect, in any Territory of the United States, and such issue shall have been born before the 1st day of January, A. D. 1883, are hereby legitimated. SEC. 8. That no polygamist, bigamist, or any person cohabiting with more than one wo/nan, and no woman cohabiting with any of the persons described as aforesaid in this section, in any Territory or other place over which the United States have ex- clusive jurisdiction, shall be entitled to vote at any election held in any such Territory or other place, or be eligible for election or appointment to or be entitled to hold any office or place of public trust, honor or emolument in, under, or for such Territory or place, or under the United States. SEC. 9. That all the registration and election offices of every description in the Territory of Utah are hereby declared va- cant, and each and every duty relating to th e registration of voters, the conduct of elections, the receiving or rejection of votes, and the canvassing and returning of the same, and the issuing of certificates or other evidence of election in said Terri- tory, shall, until other provision be made by the Legislative Assembly of said Terri- tory as is hereinafter by this section pro- vided, be performed under the existing laws of the United States and of said Ter- ritory by proper persons, who shall be ap- pointed to execute such offices and perform such duties by a board of five persons, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and not more than three of whom shall be mem- bers of one political party, and a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. The members of said board so appointed by the President shall each receive a salary at the rate of $3,000 per annum, and shall con- tinue in office until the Legislative As- sembly of said Territory shall make pro- vision for filling said offices as herein au- thorized. The secretary of the Territory shall be the secretary of said board, and keep a journal of its proceedings, and at- test the action of said board under this section. The canvass and return of all the votes at elections in said Territory for members of the Legislative Assembly thereof shall also be returned to said board, which shall canvass all such returns and issue certificates of election to those per- sons who, being eligible for such election, shall appear to have been lawfully elected, which certificate shall be the only evidence of the right of such persons to sit in such Assembly : Provided, That said board of five persons shall not exclude any person otherwise eligible to vote from the polls on account of any opinion such person may entertain on the subject of bigamy or po- lygamy, nor shall they refuse to count any such vote on account of the opinion of the person casting it on the subject of bigamy or polygamy ; but each house of such As- sembly, after its organization, shall have power to decide upon the elections and qualifications of its members. And at or after the first meeting of said Legislative Assembly whose members shall have been elected and returned according to the pro- visions of this act, said Legislative Assem- bly may make such laws, conformable to the organic act of said Territory and not inconsistent with other laws of the United States, as it shall deem proper concerning the filling of the offices in said Territory declared vacant by this act. John K. McBride writing in the Febru- ary number (1882) of The International Review, gives an interesting and correct view of the obstacles which the Mormons have erected against the enforcement of United States laws in the Territory. It requires acquaintance with these facts to fully comprehend the difficulties in the way of what seems to most minds a very plain and easy task. Mr. McBride says : Their first care on arriving in Utah was to erect a " free and Independent State," called the " State of Deseret." It included in its nominal limits, not only all of Utah as it now is, but one-half of California, all of Nevada, part of Colorado, and a large portion of four other Territories now or- ganized. Brigham Young was elected Governor, and its departments, legislative and judicial, were fully organized and put into operation. Its legislative acts were styled " ordinances," and when Congress, disregarding the State organization, insti- tuted a Territorial Government for Utah, the legislative body chosen by the Mor- mons adopted the ordinances of the " State of Deseret." Many of these are yet on the statute book of Utah. They show con- clusively the domination of the ecclesiasti- cal idea, and how utterly insignificant in BOOK I.] SUPPRESSING MORMONISM. 267 comparison was the power of the civil authority. They incorporated the Mormon Church into a body politic and corporate, and by the third' section of the act gave it supreme authority over its members in everything temporal and spiritual, and as- signed as a reason for so doing that it was because the powers confirmed were in " support of morality and virtue, and were founded on the revelations of the Lord." Under this power to make laws and punish and forgive offenses, to hear and determine between brethren, the civil law was super- seded. The decrees of the courts of this church, certified under seal, have been ex- amined by the writer, and he found them exercising a jurisdiction without limit ex- cept that of appeal to the President of the church. That the assassinations of apos- tates, the massacres of the Morrisites at Morris Fort and of the Arkansas emigrants at Mountain Meadows, were all in pursu- ance of church decrees, more or less formal, no one acquainted with the system doubts. This act of incorporation was passed Febru- ary 8, 1851, and is found in the latest com- pilation of Utah statutes. It is proper also to observe that, for many years after the erection of the Territorial Government by Congress, the " State of Deseret " organiza- tion was maintained by the Mormons, and collision was only prevented because Brig- ham was Governor of both, and found it unnecessary for his purpose to antagonize either. His church organization made both a shadow, while that was the sub- stance of all authority. One of the earli- est of their legislative acts was to organ- ise a Surveyor General's Department, 1 and title to land was declared to be in the per- sc.ns who held a certificate from that office. 1 Having instituted their own system of government and taken possession of the ,nd, and assumed to distribute that in a system of their own, the next step was to vest certain leading men with the control of the timbers and waters of the country. By a series of acts granting lands, waters and timber to individuals, the twelve apostles became the practical proprietors of the better and more desirable portions of the country. By an ordinance dated Octo- ber 4, 1851, there was granted to Brigham Young the " sole control of City Creek and Canon for thesumof*five hundred dollars." By an ordinance dated January 9, 1850, the " waters of North Mill Creek and the waters of the Canon next north" were granted to Heber C. Kimball. On the same day was granted to George A. Smith the " sole control of the caflons and timber of the east side of the ' West Mountains." On the 18th of January, 1851, the North Oottonwood Canon was granted exclusively to Williard Richards. On the 15th of Janu- 1 At of March 2, 1350. *Act of January 19, 1866. ary, 1851, the waters of the "main chan- nel " of Mill Creek were donated to Brig- ham Young. On the 9th of December, 1850, there was granted to Ezra T. Benson the exclusive control of the waters of Twin Springs and Rock Springs, in Tooelle Val- ley; and on the 14th of January, 1851, to the same person was granted the control of all the canons of the " West Mountain " and the timber therein. By the ordinance of September 14, 1850, a " general con- ference of the Church of Latter Day Saints" was authorized to elect thirteen men to become a corporation, to be called the Emigration Company ; and to this com- pany, elected exclusively by the church, was secured and appropriated the two islands in Salt Lake known as Antelope and Stansberry Islands, to be under the exclusive control of President Brigham Young. These examples are given to show that the right of the United States to the lands of Utah met no recognition by these people. They appropriated them, not only in a way to make the people slaves, but indicated their claim of sovereignty as superior to any. Young, Smith, Benson and Kimball were apostles. Richards was Brigham Young's counselor. By an act of December 28, 1855, there was granted to the " University of the State of Deseret " a tract of land amounting to about five hundred acres, inside the city limits of Salt Lake City, without any reservation to the occupants whatever; and everywhere was the authority of the United States over the country and its soil and people utterly ignored. Not satisfied with making the grants re- ferred to, the Legislative Assembly entered upon a system of municipal incorporations, by which the fertile lands of the Territory were withdrawn from the operation of the preemptive laws of Congress; and thus while they occupied these without title, non- Mormons were unable to make settlement on them, and they were thus engrossed to Mormon use. From a report made by the Commissioner of the General Land Of- fice to the United States Senate, 1 it appears that the municipal corporations covered over 400,000 acres of the public lands, and over 600 square miles of territory. These lands 1 are not subject to either the Home- stead or Preemption laws, and thus the non- Mormon settler was prevented from attempt- ing, except in rare instances, to secure any lands in Utah. The spirit which prompted this course is well illustrated by an instance which was the subject of an investigation in the Land Department, and the proofs are found in the document just referred to. George Q. Cannon, the late Mormon dele- gate in Congress, was called u> exercise his 1 Senate doc. 181, 46th Congress. Sec. 2, 258, Rev. Stat. U.S. 2G8 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. duties as an apostle to the Tooelle "Stake" at the city of Grantvilie. In a discourse on Sunday, the 20th day of July, 1875, Mr. Cannon said : l " God has given us (mean- ing the Mormon people) this land, and, if any outsider shall come in to take land which we claim, a piece six feet by two is all they are entitled to, and that will last them to all eternity." By measures and threats like these have the Mormons unlawfully controlled the ag- ricultural lands of the Territory and ex- cluded therefrom the dissenting settler. The attempt of the United States to es- tablish a Surveyor-General's office in Utah in 1855, and to survey the lands in view of disposing of them according to law, was met by such opposition that Mr. Burr, the Surveyor-General, was compelled to fly for life. The monuments of surveys made by his order were destroyed, and the records were supposed to have met a like fate, but were afterwards restored by Brigham Young to the Government. The report of his experience by Mr. Burr was instru- mental in causing troops to be sent in 1857 to iissert the authority of the Government. When this army, consisting of regular troops, was on the way to Utah, Brigham Young, as Governor, issued a proclamation, dated September 15, 1857, declaring mar- tial law and ordering the people of the Territory to hold themselves in readiness to march to repel the invaders, and on the 29th of September following addressed the commander of United States forces an or- der forbidding him to enter the Territory, and directing him to retire from it by the same route he had come. Further evidence of the Mormon claim that they were inde- pendent is perhaps unnecessary. The trea- sonable character of the local organization is manifest. It is this organization that controls, not only the people who belong to it, but the 30,000 non-Mormons who now re- side in Utah. Every member of the territorial Legisla- ture is a Mormon. Every county officer is a Mormon. Every territorial officer is a Mormon, except such as are appointive. The schools provided by law and supported by taxation are Mormon. The teachers are Mormon, and the sectarian catechism af- firming the revelations of Joseph Smith is regularly taught therein. The municipal corporations are under the control of Mor- mons. In the hands of this bigoted class all the material interests of the Territory are left, subject only to such checks as a Federal Governor and a Federal judiciary can impose. From beyond the sea they im- port some thousands of ignorant converts annually, and, while the non-Mormons are increasing, they are overwhelmed by the muddy tide of fanaticism shipped in upon 1 According to the affidavits of Samnel Howard and ethers, page 11. them. The suffrage has been bestowed upon all classes bv a statute so general that the ballot box is filled with a mass of votes which repels the free citizen from the ex- ercise of that right. If a Gentile is cho- sen to the Legislature (two or three such instances have occurred), he is not admit- ted to the seat, although the act of Congress (June 23, 1874) requires the Territory to pay all the expenses of the enforcement of the laws of the Territory, and of the care of persons convicted of offenses against the laws of the Territory. Provision is made for jurors' fees in criminal cases only, and none is made for the care of criminals. 1 While Congress pays the legislative ex- penses, amounting to $20,000 per session, the Legislature defiantly refuses to comply with the laws which its members are sworn to support. And the same body, though failing to protect the marriage bond by any law whatever requiring any solemnities for entering it, provided a divorce act which practically allowed marriages to be annulled at will. 2 Neither seduction, adultery nor incest find penalty or recognition in its legal code. The purity of home is destroyed by the beastly practice of plural marriage, ancl the brows of innocent children are branded with the stain of bastardy to gratify the lust which cares naught for its victims. Twenty-eight of the thirty-six members of the present Legislature of Utah are re- ported as having from two to seven wives each. While the Government of the Uni- ted States is paying these men their mile- age and per diem as law -makers in Utah, those guilty of the same offense outside of Utah are leading the lives of felons in con- vict cells. For eight years a Mormon dele- gate has sat in the capitol at Washington having four living wives in his harem in Utah, and at the same time, under the shadow of that capitol, lingers in a felon's prison a man who had been guilty of mar- rying a woman while another wife was still living. For thirty years have the Mormons been trusted to correct these evils and put them- selves in harmony with the balance of civilized mankind. This they have refused to do. Planting themselves in the heart of the continent, they have persistently defied the laws of the land, the laws of modern society, and* the teachings of a common humanity. They degrade woman to the office of a breeding animal, and, after depriving her of all property rights in her husband's estate,* all control of her children,* they, with ostentation, bestow upon her the ballot in a way that makes it a nullity if contested, and compels her to use it to perpetuate her own degrada- tion if she avails herself of it. 1 See Report of Attorney- General t'nited States, 1880-81. * Act of March 6, 18C2. * Act of February 16, 187i. Sees. 1 and 2, act of February 3, 1852. BOOK I.] THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 269 No power has been given to the Mor- mon Hierarchy that has not been abused. The right Qf representation in the legisla- tive council has been violated in the ap- portionment of members so as to disfran- chise the non-Mormon class. 1 The system of revenue and taxation was for twenty- five years a system of confiscation and ex- tortion. 2 The courts were so organized and controlled that they were but the organs of the church oppressions and ministers of its vengeance. 8 The legal profession was abolished by a statute that prohibited a lawyer from recovering on any contract for service, and allowed every person to appear as an attorney in any court. 4 The attorney was compelled to present " all the facts in the case," whether for or against his client, and a refusal to disclose the confidential communications of the latter subjected the attorney to fine and imprison- ment. 5 No law book except the statutes of Utah and of the United States, " when applicable," was permitted to be read in any court by an attorney, and the citation of a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, or even a quotation from the Bible, in the trial of any cause, sub- jected a lawyer to fine and imprisonment. 6 The practitioners of medicine were equally assailed by legislation. The use of the most important remedies known to modern medical science, including all an- aesthetics, was prohibited except under conditions which made their use impossi- ble, " and if death followed " the adminis- tration of these remedies, the person ad- ministering them was declared guilty of manslaughter or murder. 7 The Legislative Assembly is but an organized conspiracy against the national law, and an obstacle in the way of the advancement of its own people. For sixteen years it refused to lay its enactments before Congress, and they were only obtained by a joint resolution demanding them. Once in armed rebel- lion against the authority of the nation, the Mormons have always secretly strug- gled for, as they have openly prophesied, its entire overthrow. Standing thus in the pathway of the material growth and devel- opment of the Territory, a disgrace to the balance of the country, with no redeeming virtue to plead for further indulgence, this travesty of a local government demands radical and speedy reform. The South. American Question. If it was not shrewdly surmised before it is now known that had President Garfield 1 See act of January 17. 1862. 5 Act of January 7, 1854, sec. 14, 'Acts of Jan 21, 18:>3, and of January, 1855, sec. 29. Act of February 18, 18.-.2. * Act of February 18, 1852. Act of January 14, 1 854. 'Ssc. 106. Act March 6, J852. lived he intended to make his administra- tion brilliant at home and abroad a view confirmed by the policy conceived by Secretary Elaine and sanctioned, it must be presumed, by President Garfield. This policy looked to closer commercial and political relations with all of the Republics on this Hemisphere, as developed in the following quotations from a correspond- ence, the publication of which lacks com- pleteness because of delays in transmitting all of it to Congress. Fx-Secretary Elaine on the 3d of Janu- ary sent the following letter to President Arthur : " The suggestion of a congress of all the American nations to assemble in the city of Washington for the purpose of agreeing on such a basis of arbitration for interna- tional troubles as would remove all possi- bility of war in the Western hemisphere was warmly approved by your predecessor. The assassination of July 2 prevented his issuing the invitations to the American States. After your accession to the Pre- sidency I acquainted you with the project and submitted to you a draft for such an invitation. You received the suggestion with the most appreciative consideration, and after carefully examining the form of the invitation directed that it be sent. It was accordingly dispatched in November to the independent governments of Ameri- ca North and South, including all, from the Empire of Brazil to the smallest re- public. In a communication addressed by the present Secretary of State on January 9, to Mr. Trescot and recently sent to the Senate I was greatly surprised to find a proposition looking to the annulment of these invitations, and I was still more sur- prised when I read the reasons assigned. If I correctly apprehend the meaning of his words it is that we might offend some European powers if we should hold in the United States a congress of the " selected nationalities" of America. " This is certainly a new position for the United States to assume, and one which I earnestly beg you will not permit this government to occupy. The European powers assemble in congress whenever an object seems to them of sufficient import- ance to justify it. I have never heard of their consulting the government of the United States in regard to the propriety of their so assembling, nor have I ever known of their inviting an American representa- tive to be present. Nor would there, in mv judgment, be any good reason for their so doing. Two Presidents of the United States in the year 1881 adjudged it to be expedient that the American powers should meet in congress for the sole purpose of agreeing upon some basis for arbitration of differences that may arise between thorn and for the prevention, as far as possible, 270 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOIC i. of war in the future. If that movement is now to be arrested for fear that it may give offense in Europe, the voluntary hu- miliation of this government could not be more complete, unless we should press the European governments for the privilege of holding the congress. I cannot conceive how the United States could be placed in a less enviable position than would be se- cured by sending in November a cordial invitation to all the American governments to meet in Washington for the sole pur- pose of concerting measures of peace and in January recalling the invitation for fear that it might create "jealousy aiid ill will " on the part of monarchical govern- ments in Europe. It would be difficult to devise a more ^effective mode for making enemies of the American Government and it would certainly not add to our prestige in the European world. Nor can I see, Mr. President, how European governments should feel "jealousy and ill will " towards the United States because of an effort on our own part to assure lasting peace be- tween the nations of America, unless, in- deed, it be to the interest of European power that American nations should at intervals fall into war and bring re- proach on republican government. But from that very circumstance I see an ad- ditional and powerful motive for the American Governments to be at peace among themselves. " The United States is indeed at peace with all the world, as Mr. Frelinghuysen well says, but there are and have been serious troubles between other American nations. Peru, Chili and Bolivia have been for more than two years engaged in a desperate conflict. It was the fortunate intervention of the United States last spring that averted war between Chili and the Argentine Republic. Guatemala is at this moment asking the United States to interpose its good offices with Mexico to keep off war. These important facts were all communicated in your late message to Congress. It is the existence or the men- ace of these wars that influenced President Garfield, and as I supposed influenced yourself, to desire a friendly conference of all the nations of America to devise methods of permanent pence and conse- quent prosperity for all. Shall the United States now turn back, hold aloof and re- fuse to exert its great moral power for the advantage of its weaker neighbors? If you have not formally and finally re- rallc'd the invitations to the Peace Con- gress, Mr. President, I beg you to consider well the effect of so doing. The invitation was not mine. It was yours. I performed onlv the part of the Secretary to advise and to draft. You spoke in the name of the United States to each of the indepen- dent nations of America. To revoke that invitation for any cause would be embar- rassing ; to revoke it for the avowed fear of "jealousy and ill will " on the part of European powers would appeal as little to American pride as to American hospitality. Those you have invited may decline, and having now cause to doubt their welcome will, perhaps, do so. This would break up the congress, but it would not touch our dignity. Beyond the philanthropic and Christian ends to be obtained by an American con- ference devoted to peace and good-will among men, we might well hope for material advantages, as the result of a bet- ter understanding and closer friendship with the nation of America. At present the condition of trade between the United States and its American neighbors is un- satisfactory to us, and even deplorable. According to the official statistics of our own Treasury Department, the balance against us in that trade last year was $120,000,000 a sum greater than the yearly product of all the gold and silver mines in the United States. This vast balance was paid by us in foreign exchange, and a very large proportion of it went to England, where shipments of cotton, pro- visions and breadstuff's supplied the money. If anything should change or check the balance in our favor in Euro- pean trade our commercial exchanges with Spanish America would drain us of our reserve of gold at a rate exceeding $100,- 000,000 per annum, and would probably precipitate a suspension of specie payment m this country. Such a result at home might be worse than a little jealousy and ill-will abroad. I do not say, Mr. Presi- dent, that the holding of a peace congjess will necessarily change the currents of trade, but it will bring us into kindly re- lations with all the American nations ; it will promote the reign of peace and law and order ; it will increase production and consumption and will stimulate the de- mand for articles which American manu- facturers can furnish with profit. It will at all events be a friendly and auspicious beginning in the direction of American influence and American trade in a large field which we have hitherto greatly ne- glected and which has been practically monopolized by our commercial rivals in Europe. As Mr. Frelinghuysen's dispatch, fore- shadowing the abandonment of the peace congress, has been made public, I deem it a matter of propriety and justice to give this letter to the press. JAS. G. ELAINE. The above well presents the Elaine view of the proposition to have a Con- gress of the Republics of America at Washington, and under the patronage of this government, with a view to settle all BOOK I.~| THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 271 difficulties by arbitration, to promote trade, and it is presumed to form alliances ready to suit a new and advanced application of the Monroe doctrine. The following is the letter proposing a conference of North and South American Republics sent to the U. S. Ministers in Central and South America : SIR : The attitude of the United States with respect to the question of general peace on the American Continent is well known through its persistent efforts for years past to avert the evils of warfare, or, these efforts failing, to bring positive con- flicts to an end through pacific counsels or the advocacy of impartial arbitration. This attitude has been consistently main- tained, and always with such fairness as to leave no room for imputing to our Govern- ment any motive except the humane and disinterested one of saving the kindred States of the American Continent from the burdens of war. The position of the United States, as the leading power of the new world, might well give to its Govern- ment a claim to authoritative utterance for the purpose of quieting discord among its neighbors, with all of whom the most friendly relations exist. Nevertheless the good offices of this Government are not, and have not at any time, been tendered with a show of dictation or compulsion, but only as exhibiting the solicitous good will of a common friend. THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN STATES. For some years past a growing disposi- tion has been manifested by certain States of Central and South America to refer dis- putes affecting grave questions of inter- national relationship and boundaries to arbitration rather than to the sword. It has been on several occasions a source of profound satisfaction to the Government of the United States to see that this country is in a large measure looked to by all the American powers as their friend and mediator. The just and impartial counsel of the President in such cases, has never been withheld, and his efforts have been rewarded by the prevention of sanguinary strife or angry contentions be- tween peoples whom we regard as brethren. The existence of this growing tendency convinces the President that the time is ripe for a proposal that shall enlist the good will and active co-operation of all the States of the Western Hemisphere both North and South, in the interest of hu- manity and for the common weal of na- tions. He conceives that none of the Govern- ments of America can be less alive than our own to the dangers and horrors of a state of war, and especially of war between kinsmen. He is sure that none of the chiefs of Government on the Continent can be less sensitive than he is to the sacred duty of making every endeavor to do away with the chances of fratricidal strife, and he looks with hopeful confidence to such active assistance from them as will serve to show the broadness of our common hu- manity, the strength of the ties which bind us all together as a great and har- monious system of American Common- wealths. A GENERAL CONGRESS PROPOSED. Impressed by these views, the President extends to all the independent countries of North and South America an earnest in- vitation to participate in a general Con- gress, to be held in the city of Washing- ton, on the 22d of November, 1882, for the purpose of considering and discussing the methods of preventing war between the nations of America. He desires that the attention of the Congress shall be strictly confined to this one great object; and its sole aim shall be to seek a way of per- manently averting the horrors of a cruel and bloody contest between countries oftenest of one blood and speech, or the even worse calamity of internal commotion and civil strife; that it shall regard the burdensome and far-reaching consequences of such a struggle, the legacies of exhausted finances, of oppressive debt, of onerous taxation, of ruined cities, of paralyzed in- dustries, of devastated fields, of ruthless conscriptions, of the slaughter of men, of the grief of the widow and orphan, of em- bittered resentments that long survive those who provoked them and heavily afflict the innocent generations that come after. THE MISSION OF THE CONGRESS. The President is especially desirous to have it understood that in putting forth this invitation the United States does not as- sume the position of counseling or attempt ing, through the voice of the Congress, to counsel any determinate solution of exist- ing questions which may now divide any of the countries. Such questions cannot properly come before the Congress. Its mission is higher. It is to provide for the interests of all in the future, not to settle the individual differences of the present. For this reason especially the President has indicated a day for the assembling of the Congress so far in the future as to leave good ground for the hope that by the time named the present situation on the South Pacific coast will be happily termi- nated, and that those engagea in the con- test may take peaceable part in the discus- sion and solution of the general question affecting in an equal degree the well-being of all. It seems also desirable to disclaim in ad- 272 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. vance any purpose on the part of the United States to prejudge the issues to be presented to the Congress. It is far from the intent of this Government to appear before the Congress as in any sense the protector of its neighbors or the predestined and necessary arbitrator of their disputes. The United States will enter into the deliber- ations of the Congress on the same footing as other powers represented, and with the loyal determination to approach any pro- posed solution, not merely in its own inter- est, or with a view to asserting its own *power, but as a single member among many co-ordinate and co-equal States. So far as the influence of this Government may be potential, it will be exerted in the direction of conciliating whatever con- flicting interests of blood, or government, or historical tradition that may necessarily come together in response to a call embracing such vast and diverse ele- ments. INSTRUCTIONS TO THE MINISTERS. You will present these views to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Elca, enlarging, if need be, in such terms as will readily occur to you upon the great mission which it is within the power of the proposed Congress to accomplish in the in- terest of humanity, and the firm purpose of the United States of America to main- tain a position of the most absolute and impartial friendship toward all. You will, therefore, in the name of the President of the United States, tender to his Excel- lency, the President of , a formal invitation to send two commissioners to the Congress, provided with such powers and instructions on behalf of their Govern- ment as will enable them to consider the questions brought before that body within the limit of submission contemplated by this invitation. The United States, as well as the other powers, will in like manner be represented by two commissioners, so that equality and impartiality will be amply secured in the proceedings of the Congress. In delivering this invitation through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, you will read this despatch to him and leave with him a copy, intimating that an answer is desired by this Government as promptly as the just consideration of so important a propo- sition will permit. I am, sir, your obedient servant, JAMES G. ELAINE. Minister Logan's Reply. The following is an abstract of the re- ply of Minister Logan to the above. " From a full review of the situation, as heretofore detailed to you, I am not clear as to being able to obtain the genuine co- operation of all the States of Central America in the proposed congress. Each, I have no doubt, will ultimately agree to send the specified number of commission- ers and assume, outwardly, an appearance of sincere co-operation, but, as you will perceive from your knowledge of the pos- ture of affairs, all hope of effecting a union of these States except upon a basis the leaders will never permit that of a free choice of the whole people will be at an end. The obligation to keep the peace, imposed by the congress, will bind the United States as well as all others, and thus prevent any efforts to bring about the desired union other than those based upon a simple tenderof good offices this means until the years shall bring about a radical change must be as inefficient in the future as in the past. The situation, as it ap- pears to me, is a difficult one. As a means of restraining the aggressive tendency of Mexico in the direction of Central Ameri- ca, the congress would be attended by the happiest results, should a full agreement be reached. But as the Central American States are now in a chaotic condition, politi- cally considered; with their future status wholly undefined, and as a final settlement can only be reached, as it now appears, through the operation of military forces, the hope of a Federal union in Central America would be crushed, at least in the immediate present. Wiser heads than my own may devise a method to harmonize these difficulties when the congress is ac- tually in session, but it must be constantly remembered that so far as the Central American commissioners are concerned they will represent the interests and posi- tive mandates of their respective govern- ment chiefs in the strictest and most abso- lute sense. While all will probably send commissioners, through motives of expedi- ency, they may possibly be instructed to secretly defeat the ends of the convention. I make these suggestions that you may have the whole field under view. " I may mention in this connection that I have received information that up to the tenth of the present month only two mem- bers of the proposed convention at Pana- ma had arrived and that it was considered as having failed." Contemporaneous with these movements or suggestions was another on the part of Mr. Elaine to secure from England a mod- ification or abrogation of the Clayton- Bulwer treaty, with the object of giving to the United States, rather to the Republics of North and South America, full super- vision of the Isthmus and Panama Canal when constructed. This branch of the correspondence was sent to the Senate on the 17th of February. Lord Granville, in his despatch of January 7th to Minister West in reference to the Clayton-Bulwer BOOK I.] THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 273 Treaty controversy, denies any analogy between the cases of the Panama and Suez Canals. He cordially concurs in Mr. Elaine's statement in regard to the unex- ampled development of the Pacific Coast, but denies that it was unexpected. He says the declaration of President Monroe anterior to the treaty show that he and his Cabinet had a clear prevision of the great future of that region. The de- velopment of the interests of the British possessions also continued, though possibly less rapidly. The Government are of the opinion that the canal, as a water way be- tween the two great oceans and Europe and Eastern Asia, is a work which concerns not only the American Continent, but the whole civilized world. With all deference to the considerations which prompted Mr. Elaine he cannot believe that his propo- sals will be even beneficial in themselves. He can conceive a no more melancholy spectacle than competition between nations in the construction of fortifications to com- mand the canal. He cannot believe that any South American States would like to admit a foreign power to erect fortifications on its territory, when the claim to do so is accompanied by the declaration that the canal is to be regarded as a part of the American coast line. It is difficult to be- lieve, he says, that the territory between it and the United States could retain its pres- ent independence. Lord Granville believes that an invitation to all the maritime states to participate in an agreement based on the stipulations of the Convention of 1850, would make the Convention adequate for the purposes for which it was designed. Her Majesty's Government would gladly see the United States take the initiative towards such a convention, and will be prepared to endorse and support such action in any way. provided it does not conflict with the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. Lord Granville, in a subsequent despatch, draws attention to the fact that Mr. Elaine, in using the argument that the treaty has been a source of continual difficulties, omits to state that the questions in dispute which related to points occupied by the British in Central America were removed in 1860 by the voluntary action of Great Britain in certain treaties concluded with Honduras and Nicaragua, the settlement being recognized as perfectly satisfactory by President Buchanan. Lord Granville says, further, that during this controversy America disclaimed any desire to have the exclusive control of the canal. The Earl contends that in cases where the details of an international agreement have given rise to difficulties and discus- sions to such an extent as to cause the contracting parties at one time to contem- plate its abrogation or modification as one of several possible alternatives, and where 18 it has yet been found preferable to arrive at a solution as to those details rather than to sacrifice the general bases of the en- gagement, it must surely be allowed that such a fact, far from being an argument against that engagement, is an argument distinctly in its favor. It is equally plain that either of the contracting parties which had abandoned its own contention for the purpose of preserving the agreement in its entirety would have reason to complain if the differences which had been settled by its concessions were afterwards urged as a reason for essentially modifying those other provisions which it had made this sacrifice to maintain. In order to strengthen these arguments, the Earl reviews the corres- pondence, quotes the historical points made by Mr. Elaine and in many instances in- troduces additional data as contradicting the inferences drawn by Mr. Elaine and supporting his own position. The point on which Mr. Elaine laid particular stress in his despatch to Earl Granville, is the objection made by the government of the United States to any concerted action of the European powers for the purpose of guarantying the neu- trality of the Isthmus canal or determin- ing the conditions of its use. CHILI AND PERU. The entire question is complicated by the war between Chili and Peru, the latter owning immense guano deposits in which American citizens have become financially interested. These sought the friendly in- tervention of our government to prevent Chili, the conquering Republic, from ap- propriating these deposits as part of her war indemnity. The Landreau, an original French claim, is said to represent $125,- 000,000, and the holders were prior to and during the war pressing it upon Calderon, the Peruvian President, for settlement; the Cochet claim, another of the same class, represented $1,000,000,000. Doubt- less these claims are speculative and largely fraudulent, and shrewd agents are inter- ested in their collection and preservation. A still more preposterous and speculative movement was fathered by one Shipherd, who opened a correspondence with Minis- ter Hurlburt, and with other parties for the establishment of the Credit Industriel, which was to pay the $20,000,000 money indemnity demanded of Peru by Chili, and to be reimbursed by the Peruvian nitrates and guano deposits. THE SCANDAL. All of these things surround the ques- tion with scandals which probably fail to truthfully reach any prominent officer of our government, but which have neverthe- less attracted the attention of Congress to 274 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK r such an extent that the following action has been already taken : On February 24th Mr. Bayard offered in the Senate a resolution reciting that where- as publication has been widely made by the public press of certain alleged public commercial contracts between certain com- panies and copartnerships of individuals relative to the exports of guano and nitrates from Peru, in which the mediation by the Government of the United States between the Governments of Peru, Bolivia and Chili is declared to be a condition for the effectuation and continuance of the said contracts; therefore be it resolved, that the Committee on Foreign Relations be instructed to inquire whether any promise or stipulation by which the intervention by the United States in the controversies ex- isting between Chili and Peru or Chili and Bolivia has been expressly or impliedly given by any person or persons officially connected with the Government of the United States, or whether the influence of the Government of the United States has been in any way exerted, promised or inti- mated in connection with, or in relation to the said contracts by any one officially con- nected with the Government of the United States, and whether any one officially con- nected with the Government of the United States is interested, directly or indirectly, with any such alleged contracts in which the mediation as aforesaid of the United States is recited to be a condition, and that the said committee have power to send for persons and paper and make report of their proceedings in the premises to the Senate at the earliest possible day. Mr. Edmunds said he had drafted a resolution covering all the branches of " that most unfortunate affair " to which reference was now made, and in view of the ill policy of any action which would commit the Senate to inquiries about de- claring foreign matters in advance of a careful investigation by a committee, he now made the suggestion that he would have made as to his own resolution, if he had offered it, namely, that the subject be referred to the Committee on Foreign Re- lations. He intimated that the proposition prepared by himself would be considered by the committee as a suggestion bearing upon the pending resolution. Mr. Bayard acquiesced in the reference with the remark that anything that tended to bring the matter more fully before the country was satisfactory to him. The resolution accordingly went to the Committee on Foreign Relations. In the House Mr. Kasson, of Iowa, offered a resolution reciting that whereas, it is alleged, in connection with the Chili Peruvian correspondence recently and officially published on the call of the two Houses of Congress, that one or more Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States were either personally interested or improperly connected with a business transaction in which the intervention of this Government was requested or expected and whereas, it is alleged that certain pa- pers in relation to the same subject have been improperly lost or removed from the files of the State Department, that there- fore the Committee on Foreign Affairs be instructed to inquire into said allegations and ascertain the facts relating thereto, and report the same with such recommen- dations as they may deem proper, and they shall have power to send for persons and papers. The resolution was adopted. THE CLAIMS. The inner history of what is known as the Peruvian Company reads more like a tale from the Arabian Nights than a plain statement of facts. The following is gleaned from the prospectus of the compa- ny, of which only a limited number of cop- ies was printed. According to a note on the cover of these " they are for the strictly private use of the gentlemen into whose hands they are immediately placed." The prospects of the corporation are based entirely upon the claims of Cochet and Landreau, two French chemists, resi- dents of Peru. In the year 1833, the Pe- ruvian government, by published decree, promised to every discoverer of valuable deposits upon the public domain a premium of one-third of the discovery as an incen- tive to the development of great natural resources vaguely known to exist. In the beginning of 1830, Alexandre Cochet, who was a man of superior information, occu- pied himself in the laborious work of manu- facturing nitrate of soda in a small oficina in Peru, and being possessed with quick intelligence and a careful observer he soon came to understand that the valuable pro- perties contained in the guano an article only known to native cultivators of the soil would be eminently useful as a restora- tive to the exhausted lands of the old con- tinent. With this idea he made himself completely master of the mode of applica- tion adopted by the Indians ana small farmers in the province where he resided, and after a careful investigation of the chemical effects produced on the land by the proper application of the regenerating agent, he proceeded in the year 1840 to the capital (Lima) in order to interest some of his friends in this new enterprise. Not without great persuasion and much hesita- tion, he induced his countryman, Mr. Achil- les Allier, to take up the hazardous specu- lation and join with him in his discovery. He succeeded, however, and toward the end of the same year the firm of Quiroz & Allier obtained a concession for six years from the government of Peru for the ex- BOOK I.] THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 275 portation of all the guano existing in the afterwards famous islands of Chinchi for the sum of sixty thousand dollars. In consequence of the refusal of that firm to admit Cochet, the discoverer, to a partici- pation in the profits growing out of thi contract a series of lawsuits resulted and a paper war ensued in which Cochet was baffled. In vain he called the attention ol the government to the nature and value of this discovery ; he was told that he was a " visionary." In vain he demonstrated that the nation possessed hundreds of mil- lions of dollars in the grand deposits : this only confirmed the opinion of the Council of State that he was a madman. In vain he attempted to prove that one cargo of guano was equal to fourteen cargoes of grain ; the Council of State cooly told him that guano was an article known to the Spaniards, and of no value : that Commis- sioner Humbolt had referred to it, and that they could not accept his theory respecting its ^superior properties, its value and its probable use in foreign agriculture at a pe- riod when no new discovery could be made relative to an article so long and of so evi- dent small value. At length a new light began to dawn on the lethargic understanding of the officials in power, and as rumors continued to ar- rive from Europe confirming the assevera- tions of Cochet, and announcing the sale of guano at from $90 to $120 per ton, a de- gree of haste was suddenly evinced to se- cure once more to the public treasury this new and unexpected source of wealth ; and at one blow the contract with Quiroz & Allier, which had previously been extend- ed, was reduced to one year. Their claims were cancelled by the payment of ten thou- sand tons of guano which ' Congress de- creed them. There still remained to be settled the just and acknowledged indebt- edness for benefits conferred on the coun- try by Cochet, benefits which could not be denied as wealth and prosperity rolled in on the government and on the people. But few, if any, troubled themselves about the question to whom they were indebted for so much good fortune, nor had time to pay Sirticular attention to Cochet's claims, inally, however, Congress was led to de- clare Cochet the true discoverer of the value, uses and application of guano for European agriculture, and a grant of 5,000 tons was made in his favor September 30th, 1849, but was never paid him. After passing a period of years in hopeless expectancy from 1840 to 1851 his impoverished cir- cumstances made it necessary for him to endeavor to procure, through the influence of his own government, that measure of support in favor of his claims which would insure him a competency in his old age. He resolved upon returning to France, after having spent the best part of his life in the service of a country whose cities had risen from desolation to splendor under the sole magic of his touch a touch that had in it for Peru all the fabled power of the long-sought " philosopher's stone." In 1853 Cochet returned to France, but he was then already exhausted by enthusiastic explora- tions in a deadly climate and never rallied. He lingered in poverty for eleven painful years and died in Paris in an almshouse in 1864, entitled to an estate worth $500,000,- 000 the richest man in the history of the world and was buried by the city in the Potters' Field ; his wonderful history well il- lustrating that truth is stranger than fiction. THE LANDREATT CLAIM. About the year 1844 Jean Theophile Landreau, also a French citizen, in part- nership with his brother, John C. Landreau, a naturalized American citizen, upon the faith of the promised premium of 33 per cent, entered upon a series of extended sys- tematic and scientific explorations with a view to ascertaining whether the deposits of guano particularly pointed out by Co- chet constituted the entire guano deposit of Peru, and with money furnished by his part- ner, John, Theophile prosecuted his search- es with remarkable energy and with great success for twelve years, identifying beds not before known to the value of not less than $400,000,000. Well aware, however, of the manner in which his fellow-country- man had been neglected by an unprinci- pled people, he had the discretion to keep his own counsel and to extort from the Pe- ruvian authorities an absolute agreement in advance before he revealed his treasure. This agreement was, indeed, for a royalty of less than one-sixth the amount promised, but the most solemn assurances were given that the lessened amount would be prompt- ly and cheerfully paid, its total would give the brothers each a large fortune, and pay- ments were to begin at once. The solemn agreement having been concluded and duly certified, the precious deposits having been pointed out and taken possession of by the profligate government, the brothers were at first put off with plausible pretexts of de- lay, and when these grew monotonous the government calmly issued a decree recog- nizing the discoveries, accepting the trea- sure, and annulling the contract, with a sug- gestion that a more suitable agreement might be arranged in the future. It will be seen that these two men, Co- chet and Landreau, have been acknow- ledged by the Peruvian government as claimants. No attempt has ever been made to deny the indebtedness. The very de- ree of repudiation reaffirmed the obliga- tion, and all the courts refused to pronounce against the plaintiffs. Both of these clai ms came into the possession of Mr. Peter W. Hevenor, of Philadelphia. Cochet left one 276 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. son whom Mr. Hcvenor found in poverty in Lima and advanced money to push his father's claim of $500,000,000 against the government. After $50,000 were spent voung Cochet's backer was surprised to learn of the Laudreaus and their claim. Not wishing to antagonize them, he ad- vanced them money, and in a short time owned nearly all the fifteen interests in the Landreau claim of $125,000,000. To the Peruvian Company Mr. Hevenor has transferred his titles, and on the basis of these that corporation maintains that eventually it will realize not less than $1,- 200,000,000, computed as follows : The amount of guano already taken out of the Cochet Islands including the Chin- chas will be shown by the Peruvian Cus- tom House records, and will aggregate, it is said, not far from $1,200,000,000 worth. The discoverer's one-third of this would be $400,000,000, and interest upon this amount at six per cent, say for an equalized aver- age of twenty years would be $480,000,000 more. The amount remaining in these islands is not positively known, and is pro- bably not more than $200,000,000 worth ; and in the Landreau deposits say $300,000,- 000 more. The Chilian plenipotentiary re- cently announced that his government are about opening very rich deposits on the Lo- bos Islands which are included in this group. It is probably within safe limits, says the Peruvian Company's prospectus, to say that, including interest to accrue before the claim can be fully liquidated, its owners will realize no less than $1,200,000,000. THE COUNTRIES IIsVOLVED. In South America there are ten inde- pendent governments ; and the three Gui- anas which are dependencies on European Ewers. Of the independent governments azil is an empire, having an area of 3,609,160 square miles and 11,058,000 in- habitants. The other nine are republics. In giving area and population we use the most complete statistics at our command, but they are not strictly reliable, nor as late as we could have wished. The area and the population of the republics are : Venzuela, 426,712 square miles and 2,200,- 000 inhabitants ; United States of Colom- bia, 475,000 square miles and 2,900,000 in- habitants ; Peru, 580,000 square miles and 2,500,000 inhabitants; Ecuador, 208,000 square miles and 1,300,000 inhabitants; Bolivia, 842,730 square miles and 1,987,352 inhabitants; Chili, 200,000 square miles and 2,084,960 inhabitants ; Argentine Re- public, 1,323,560 square miles and 1,887,- 000 inhabitants; Paraguay, 73,000 square miles and 1,337,439 inhabitants ; Uruguay, 66,716 square miles and 240,000 inhabi- tants, or a total in the nine republics of 3,789,220 square miles and 16,436,751 in- habitants. The aggregate area of the nine republics exceeds that of Brazil 180,060 square miles, and the total population ex- ceeds that of Brazil 5,069,552. Brazil, be- ing an empire, is not comprehended in the Blaine proposal she rather stands as a strong barrier against it. Mexico and Guatamala are included, but are on this continent, and their character and re- sources better understood by our people. In the South American countries generally the Spanish language is spoken. The edu- cated classes are of nearly pure Spanish ex- traction. The laboring classes are of mixed Spanish and aboriginal blood, or of pure aboriginal ancestry. The characteristics of the Continent are emphatically Spanish. The area and population we have already given. The territory is nearly equally di- vided between the republics and the em- pire, the former having a greater area of only 180,060 square miles; but the nine republics have an aggregate population of 5,059,522 more than Brazil. The United States has an area of 3,634,797 square miles, including Alaska; but excluding Alaska, it has 3,056,797 square miles. The area of Brazil is greater than that of the United States, excluding Alaska, by 552,- 363 square miles, and the aggregate area of the nine republics is greater by 732,423 square miles. This comparison of the area ot the nine republics and of Brazil with that of this nation gives a definite idea of their magnitude. Geographically, these republics occupy the northern, western and southern portions of South America, and are contiguous. The aggregate exports and imports of South America, according to the last available data, were $529,300,000; those of Brazil, $168,930,000 ; of the nine republics, $360,360,000. These resolutions will bring out volumi- nous correspondence, but we nave given the reader sufficient to reach a fair understand- ing of the subject. Whatever of scandal may be connected with it, like the Star Route cases, it should await official in- vestigation and condemnation. Last of all should history condemn any one in ad>. vance of official inquiry. None of the governments invited to the Congress had accepted formally, and in view of obstacles thrown in the way by the present adminis- tration, it is not probable they will. Accepting the proposition of Mr. Blaine as stated in his letter to President Arthur, as conveying his true desire and meaning, it is due to the truth to say that it compre- hends more than the Monroe doctrine, the text of which is given in President Mon- roe's own words in this volume. While he contended against foreign intervention with the Republics on this Hemisphere, he ne- ver asserted the right of our government to participate in or seek the control either of the internal, commercial or foreign policy of any of the Republics of America, by ar- BOOK I.] THE STAR ROUTE SCANDAL. 277 bitration or otherwise. So that Mr. Elaine is the author of an advance upon the Mon- roe doctrine, and what seems at this time a radical advance. What it may be when the United States seeks to "spread itself" by an aggressive foreign policy, and by aggrandizement of new avenues of trade, possibly new acquisitions of territory, is another question. It is a policy brilliant beyond any examples in our history, and a new departure from the teachings of Washington, Avho advised absolute non-in- tervention in foreign affairs. The new doctrine might thrive and acquire great popularity under an administration friendly to it ; but President Arthur has already intimated his hostility, and it is now be- yond enforcement during his administra- tion. The views of Congress also seem to be adverse as far as the debates have gone into the question, though it has some warm friends who may revive it under more favo- rable auspices. The Star Route Scandal. Directly after Mr. James assumed the position of Postmaster-General in the Cabinet of President Garfield, he disco- vered a great amount of extravagance and probably fraud in the conduct of the mail service known as the Star Eoutes, author- ized by act of Congress to further extend the mail facilities and promote the more rapid carriage of the mails. These routes proved to be very popular in the West and South-west, and the growing demand for mail facilities in these sections would even in a legitimate way, if not closely watched, lead to unusual cost and extravagance ; but it is alleged that a ring was formed headed by General Brady, one of the Assistant Postmaster-Generals under General Key, by which routes were established with the sole view of defrauding the Government that false bonds were given and enormous and fraudulent sums paid for little or no service. This scandal was at its height at the time of the assassination of President Garfield, at which time Postmaster-General James, Attorney-General MacVeagh and other officials were rapidly preparing for the prosecution of all charged with the fraud. Upon the succession of President Arthur he openly insisted upon the fullest prosecution, and declined to receive the resignation of Mr. MacVeagh from the Cabinet because of a stated fear that the prosecution would suffer by his withdrawal. Mr. MacVeagh, however, withdrew from the Cabinet, believing that the new Presi- dent should not by any circumstance be prevented from the official association of Friends of his own selection ; and at this writing Attorney-General Brewster is push- ing the prosecutions. On the 24th of March, 1882, the Grand Jury sitting at Washington presented in- dictments for conspiracy in connection with the Star Route mail service against the fol- lowing named persons: Thomas J. Brady, J. W. Dorsey, Henry M. Vail, John W. Dorsey, John R. Miner, John M. Peck, M. C. Rerdell, J. L. Sanderson, Wm. H. Tur- ner. Also against Alvin O. Buck, Wm. S. Barringer and Albert E. Boon*, and against Kate M. Armstrong for perjury. The in- dictment against Brady, Dorsey and others, which is very voluminous, recites the ex- istence, on March 10, 1879, of the Post Of- fice Department, Postmaster-General and three assistants, and a Sixth Auditor's office and Contract office and division. "To the latter was subject," the indict- ment continues, " the arrangement of the mail service of the United States and the letting out of the same on contract." It then describes the duties of the inspecting division. On March 10, 1879, the grand jurors represent, Thomas J. Brady was the lawful Second Assistant Postmaster-Gene- ral engaged in the performance of the du- ties of that office. William H. Turner was a clerk in the Second Assistant Postmaster- General's office, and attended to the busi- ness of the contract division relating to the mail service over several post routes in Ca- lifornia, Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska, and the Territories. On the 16th of March, 1879, the indictment represents Thomas J. Brady as having made eight contracts with John W. Dorsey to carry the mails from July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1882, from Ver- million, in Dakota Territory, to Sioux Falls and back, on a fourteen hour time schedule, for $398 each year ; on route from White River to Rawlins, Colorado, once a week of 108 hours' time, for $1,700 a year; on route from Garland, Colorado, to Parrott City, once a week, on a schedule of 168 hours' time, for $2,745 ; on route from Ou- ray, Colorado, to Los Pinos, once a we.ek, in 12 hours' time, for $348; on route from Sil- verton, Colorado, to Parrott City, twice a week, on 36 hours' time, for $1,488; on route from Mineral Park, in Arizona Ter- ritory, to Pioche and back, once a week, in 84 hours' time, $2,982 ; on route from Tres Almos to Clifton and back, once a week, of 84 hours' time, for $1,568. It further sets forth that the Second As- sistant Postmaster-General entered into five contracts with John R. Miner on June 13, 1878, on routes in Dakota Territory and Colorado, and on March 15, 1879, with John M. Peck, over eight post routes. In the space of sixty days after the making of these contracts they were in full force. On March 10, 1879, John W. Dorsey, John R. Miner, and John M. Peck, with Stephen W. Dorsey and Henry M. Vaile, M. C. Rerdell and J. L. Sanderson, mutually in- terested in these contracts and money, to be paid by the United States to the three 278 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK L parties above named, did unlawfully and maliciously combine and conspire to fraud- ulently write, sign, and cause to be written and signed, a large number of fraudulent letters and communications and false and fraudulent petitions and applications to the Postmaster-General for additional service and increase of expenditure on the routes, which were purported to be signed by the people and inhabitants in the neighborhood of the routes, which were filed with the papers in the office of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General. Further that these parties swore falsely in describing the num- ber of men and animals required to perform the mail service over the routes ana States as greater than was necessary. These false oaths were placed on file in the Second Assistant Postmaster-General's office; and by means of Wm. H. Turner falsely making and writing and endorsing these papers, with brief and untrue state- ments as to their contents, and by Turner preparing fraudulent written orders for al- lowances to be made to these contractors and signed by Thomas J. Brady fraudu- lently, and for the benefit and gain of all the parties named in this bill, the service was increased over these routes ; and that Brady knew it was not lawfully needed and required. That he caused the order for in- creasing to be certified to and filed in the Sixth Auditor's office for fraudulent addi- tional compensation. That Mr. Brady gave orders to extend the service so as to include other and different stations than those men- tioned in the contract, that he and others might have the benefits and profits of it : that he refused to impose fines on these contracts for failures and delinquencies, but allowed them additional pay for the ser- vice over these routes. During the conti- nuance of these contracts the parties ac- quired unto themselves several large and excessive sums of money, the property of the United States, fraudulently and un- lawfully ordered to be paid them bv Mr. Brady. These are certainly formidable indict- ments. Others are pending against persons in Philadelphia and other cities, who are charged with complicity in these Star Eoute frauds, in giving straw bonds, &c. The Star Route service still continues, the Post Office Department under the law having sent out several thousand notifications this year to contractors, informing them of the official acceptance of their proposals, and some of these contractors are the same named above as under indictment. This well exemplifies the maxim of the law re- lative to innocence until guilt be shown. The Coming State*. P>ills are pending before Congress for the [mission of Dakota, Wyoming, New Mexico and Washington Territories. The Bill for the admission of Dakota divides the old Territory, and provides that the new State shall consist of the territory in- cluded within the following boundaries : Commencing at a point on the west line of the State of Minnesota where the forty- sixth degree of north latitude intersects the same ; thence south along the west boun- dary lines of the States of Minnesota and Iowa to the point of intersection with the northern boundary line of the State of Nebraska; thence westwardly along the northern boundary line of the State of Nebraska to the twenty-seventh meridian of longitude west from Washington ; thence north along the said twenty-seventh degree of longitude to the forty-sixth degree of north latitude ; to the place of beginning. The bill provides for a convention of one hundred and twenty delegates, to be chosen by the legal voters, who shall adopt the United States Constitution and then pro- ceed to form a State Constitution and gov- ernment. Until the next census the State shall be entitled to one representative, who, with the Governor and other officials, shall be elected upon a day named by the Con- stitutional Convention. The report sets apart lands for school purposes, and gives the State five per centum of the proceeds of all sales of public lands within its limits subsequent to its admission as a State, ex- cluding all mineral lands from being thus set apart for school purposes. It provides that portion of the the Territory not in- cluded in the proposed new State shall continue as a Territory under the name of the Territory of North Dakota. The proposition to divide comes from Senator McMillan, and if Congress sus- tains the division, the portion admitted would contain 100,000 inhabitants, the en- tire estimated population being 175,000 a number in excess of twenty of the present States when admitted, exclusive of the original thirteen ; while the division, which shows 100,000 inhabitants, is still in excess of sixteen States when admitted. Nevada, with less than 65,000 popula- tion, was admitted before the close Presi- dential election of 1876, and it may be said that her majority of 1,075, in a total poll of 19,691 votes, decided the Presidential result in favor of Hayes, and these votes counteracted the plurality of nearly 300,000 received by Mr. Tilden elsewhere. This fact well illustrates the power of States, as States, and however small, in controlling the affairs of the country. It also accounts for the jealousy with which closely balanced political parties watch the incoming States. Population is but one of the considera- tions entering into the question of admit- ting territories, State sovereignty does not rest upon population, as in the make-up of the U. S. Senate neither population.. BOOK I.] THE STAR ROUTE SCANDAL. 279 size, nor resources are taken into account. Rhode Island, the smallest of all the States, and New York, the great Empire State, with over 5,000,000 of inhabitants, stand upon an equality in the conservative branch of the Government. It is in the House of Representatives that the popula- tion is considered. Such is the jealousy of the larger States of their representation in the U. S. Senate, that few new ones would be admitted without long and con- tinuous knocking if it were not for partisan interests, and yet where a fair number of people demand State Government there is no just cause for denial. Yet all questions of population, natural division, area and resources should be given their proper weight. The area of the combined territories Utah, Washington, New Mexico, Dakota, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Indian is about 900,000 square miles. We exclude Alaska, which has not been sur- veyed. Indian Territory and Utah are for some years to come excluded from admission the one being reserved to the occupancy of the Indians, while the other is by her peculiar institution of polygamy, generally thrown out of all calculation. And yet it may be found that polygamy can best be made amenable to the laws by the compul- sory admission of Utah as a State an idea entertained by not a few who have given consideration to the question. Alaska may also be counted out for many years to come. There are but 30,000 inhabitants, few of these permanent, and Congress is now con- sidering a petition for the establishment of a territorial government there. Next to Dakota, New Mexico justly claims admission. The lands comprised within its original area were acquired from Mexico, at the conclusion of the war with that country, by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and by act of September 9, 1850, a Territorial government was or- ganized. By treaty of December 30, 1853, the region south of the Gila river the Gadsden purchase, so called was ceded by Mexico, and by act of August 4, 1854, added to the Territory, which at that time included within its limits the present Ter- ritory of Arizona. Its prayer for admis- sion was brought to the serious attention of Congress in 1874. The bill was pre- sented in an able speech by Mr. Elkins, then delegate from the Territory, and had the warm support of many members. A bill to admit was also introduced in the Senate, and passed that body February 25, 1875, by a vote of thirty-two to eleven, two of the present members of that body, Messrs. Ingalls and Windom, being among its supporters. The matter of admission came up for final action in the House at the same session, just prior to adjournment, and a motion to suspend the rules, in order to put it upon its final passage, was lost by a vote of one hundred and fifty-four to eighty-seven, and the earnest efforts to se- cure the admission of New Mexico were thus defeated. A bill for its admission is now again before Congress, and it is a mat- ter of interest to note the representations as to the condition of the Territory then made, and the facts as they now exist. It has, according to the census of 1880, a population of 119,565. It had in 1870 a population of 91,874. It was claimed by the more moderate advocates of the bill that its population then numbered 135,000 (15,435 more than at present), while others placed it as high as 145,000. Of this pop- ulation, 45,000 were said to be of American and European descent. It was stated by Senator Hoar, one of the opponents of the bill, that, out of an illiterate population of 52,220, by far the larger part were native inhabitants of Mexican or Spanish origin, who could not speak the English language. This statement seems to be in large degree confirmed by the census of 1880, which shows a total native white population of 108,721, of whom, as nearly as can be as- certained, upward of 80 per cent, are not only illiterates of Mexican and Spanish extraction, but as in 1870, speaking a for- eign language. The vote for Mr. Elkins, Territorial Delegate in 1875, was reported as being about 17,000. The total vote in 1878 was 18,806, and in 1880, 20,397, show- ing a comparatively insignificant increase from 1875 to 1880. The Territory of Washington was con- stituted out of Oregon, and organized as a Territory by act of March 2, 1853. Its population by the census of 1880 was 75,- 116, an increase from 23,955 in 1870. Of this total, 59,313 are of native and 15,803 of foreign nativity. Its total white popu- lation in the census year was 67,119; Chi- nese, 3,186; Indian, 4,105; colored, 326, and its total present population is probably not far from 95,000. Its yield of precious metals in 1880, and for the entire period since its development, while showing re- sources full of promise, has been much less than that of any other of the organized Ter- ritories. Its total vote for Territorial Dele- gate in 1880, while exceeding that of the Territories of Arizona, Idaho, and Wyo- ming, was but 15,823. The Territory of Arizona, organized out of a portion of New Mexico, and provided with a territorial government in 1863, con- tains about 5,000,000 acres less than the Territory of New Mexico, or an acreage exceeded by that of only five States and Territories. Its total population in 1870 was 9,658, and in 1880, 40,440, 351,60 of whom were whites. Of its total population in the census year, 24,391 were of native and 16,049 of foreign birth, the number (A 280 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Indians, Chinese, and colored being 5,000. Idaho was originally a part of Oregon, from which it was separated and provided with a territorial government by the act of March 3, 1863. It embraces in its area a little more than 55,000,000 acres, and had in 1880 a total population of 32,610, being an increase from 14,999 in 1870. Of this population, 22,636 are of native and 9,974 of foreign birth ; 29,013 of the total inhabi- tants are white, 3,379 Chinese and 218 In- dians and colored. The Territory of Montana, organized by act of May 26, 1864, contains an acreage larger than that of any other Territory save Dakota. While it seems to be inferior in cereal producing capacity, in its area of valuable grazing lands it equals, if it does not excel, Idaho. The chief prosperity of the Territory, and that which promises for it a future of growing importance, lies in its extraordinary mineral wealth, the pro- ductions of its mines in the year 1880 hav- ing been nearly twice that of any other Territory, with a corresponding excess in ite total production, which had reached, on June 30, 1880, the enormous total of over $53,000,000. Its mining industries represent in the aggregate very large in- vested capital, and the increasing products, with the development of new mines, are attracting constant additions to its popula- tion, which in 1880 showed an increase, as compared with 1870, of over 90 per cent. For particulars see census tables in tabu- lated history. Wyoming was constituted out of the Territory of Dakota, and provided with territorial government July 25, 1868. Ly- ing between Colorado and Montana, and adjoining Dakota and Nebraska on the east, it partakes of the natural characteris- tic of these States and Territories, having a fair portion of land suitable for cultiva- tion, a large area suitable for grazing pur- poses, and a wealth in mineral resources whose development, although of recent be- ginning, has already resulted in an en- couraging yield in precious metals. It is the fifth in area. Henry Randall Waite, in an able article in the March number of the International Review (1882,) closes with these interest- ing paragraphs: It will be thui seen that eleven States organized from Territories, when author- ized to form State governments, and the same number when admitted to the Union, had free populations of less than 60,000, and that 01 the slave States included in this number, seven in all r not one had the required number of free inhabitants, either when authorized to take the first steps to- ward admission or when finally admitted ; and that both of these steps were taken by two of the latter States with a total popu- lation, free and slave, below the required number. Why so many States have been authorized to form State governments, and have been subsequently admitted to the Union with populations so far below the requirements of the ordinance of 1787, and the accepted rules for subsequent ac- tion may be briefly explained as follows: 1st, by the ground for the use of a wide discretion afforded in the provisions of the ordinance of 1787, for the admission of States, when deemed expedient, before their population should equal the required number; and 2d, by the equally wide dis- cretion given by the Constitution in the words, 'New States may be admitted by Congress into this Union,' the only provi- sion of the Constitution bearing specifical- ly upon this subject. Efforts have been made at various times to secure the strict enforcement of the original rules, with the modification resulting from the increase in the population of the Union, which pro- vided that the number of free inhabitants in a Territory seeking admission should equal the number established as the basis of representation in the apportionment of Representatives in Congress, as determined by the preceding census. How little suc- cess the efforts made in this direction have met, may be seen by a comparison of the number of inhabitants forming the basis of representation, as established by the dif- ferent censuses, and the free population of the Territories admitted at corresponding periods. "At this late date, it is hardly to be ex- pected that rules so long disregarded will be made applicable to the admission of the States to be organized from the existing Territories. There is, nevertheless, a growing disposition on the part of Con- gress to look with disfavor upon the forma- tion of States whose population, and the development of whose resources, render the expediency of their admission ques- tionable ; and an increasing doubt as to the propriety of so dividing the existing Territories as to multiply to an unn.eces- sary extent the number of States, with the attendant increase in the number of Repre- sentatives in the National Legislature. " To recapitulate the facts as to the pre- sent condition of the Territories with re- ference to their admission as States, it may be said that only Dakota, Utah, New Mexico and Washington are in possession of the necessary population according to the rule requiring 60,000 ; that only the three first named conform to the rule de- manding a population equal to the present basis of representation ; that only Dakota, Utah and Washington give evidence of that intelligence on the part of their in- habitants which is essential to the proper exercise, under favorable conditions, of the extended rights of citizenship, and of that BOOK. I.] THE CHINESE QUESTION. 281 progress in the development of their re- sources which makes self-government es- sential, safe, or in any way desirable; and that only Dakota can be said, unquestion- ably, to possess all of the requirements which, by the dictates of a sound policy, should be demanded of a Territory at this time seeking admission to the Union. " Whatever the response to the Terri- torial messengers now waiting at the doors of Congress, a few years, at most, will bring an answer to their prayers. The stars of a dozen proud and prosperous States will soon be added to those already blazoned upon the blue field of the Union, and the term Territory, save as applied to the frozen regions of Alaska, will disappear from the map of the United States." The Chinese Question. Since 1877 the agitation of the prohibi- tion of Chinese immigration in California and other States and Territories on the Pacific slope has been very great. This led to many scenes of violence and in some instances bloodshed, when one Dennis Kearney led the Workingmen's party in San Francisco. On this issue an agitator and preacher named Kalloch was elected Mayor. The issue was carried to the Leg- islature, and in the vote on a constitu- tional amendment it was found that not only the labor but nearly all classes in California were opposed to the Chinese. The constitutional amendment did not meet the sanction of the higher courts. A bill was introduced into Congress restrict- ing Chinese immigrants to fifteen on each vessel. This passed both branches, but was vetoed by President Hayes on the ground that it was in violation of the spirit of treaty stipulations. At the sessions of 1881-82 a new and more radical measure was introduced. This prohibits immigra- tion to Chinese or Coolie laborers for twen- ty years. The discussion in the U. S. Senate began on the 28th of February, 1882, in a speech of unusual strength by Senator John F. Miller, the author of the Bill. From this we freely quote, not alone to show the later views entertained by the people of the Pacific slope, but to give from the lips of one who knows the lead- ing facts in the history of the agitation. Abstracts front the Text of Senator Miller's Speech. On his BiU to Prohibit Chinese Immigration. In the Senate, Feb. 28lh, 1882, Mr. Miller said : " This measure is not a surprise to the Senate, nor a new revelation to the country. It has been before Congress more than once, if not in the precise form in which it is now presented, in substance the same, and it has passed the ordeal of analytical debate and received the affirma- tive vote of both Houses. Except for the Executive veto it would have been long ago the law of the land. It is again pre- sented, not only under circumstances as imperative in their demands for its enact- ment, but with every objection of the veto removed and every argument made against its approval swept away. It is an interest- ing fact in the history of this measure, that the action which has cleared its way of the impediments which were made the reasons for the veto, was inaugurated and consum-' mated with splendid persistance and en- ergy by the same administration whose ex- ecutive interposed the veto against it. Without stopping to inquire into the mo- tive of the Hayes administration in this proceeding, whether its action was in obe- dience to a conviction that the measure was in itself right and expedient, or to a public sentiment, so strong and universal as to demand the utmost vigor in the di- plomacy necessary for the removal of all impediments to its progress, it must be ap- parent that the result of this diplomatic action has been to add a new phase to the question in respect of the adoption of the measure itself. " In order to fully appreciate this fact it may be proper to indulge in historical reminiscence for a moment. For many years complaints had been made against the introduction into the United States of the peculiar people who come from China, and the Congress, after careful considera- tion of the subject, so far appreciated the evil complained of as to pass a bill to in- terdict it. " The Executive Department had, prior to that action, with diplomatic finesse, ap- proached the imperial throne of China, with intent, as was said, to ascertain whether such an interdiction of coolie im- portation, or immigration so called, into the United States would be regarded as a breach of friendly relations with China, and had been informed by the diplomat, to whom the delicate task had been com- mitted, that such interdiction would not be favorably regarded by the Chinese Govern- ment. Hence, when Congress, with sur- prising audacity, passed the bill of inter- diction the Executive, believing in the truth of the information given him, thought it prudent and expedient to veto the bill, but immediately, in pursuance of authority granted by Congress, he appointed three commissioners to negotiate a treaty by which the consent of China should be given to the interdiction proposed by Congress. These commissioners appeared before the Government of China upon this special mission, and presented the request of the Government of the United States i82 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. affirmatively, positively, and authorita- tively made, and after the usual diplomatic ceremonies, representations, misrepresenta- tions, avowals, and concealments, the treaty was made, the concession granted, and the interdiction agreed upon. This treaty was presented here and ratified by the Senate, with what unanimity Senators know, and which the rules of the Senate forbid me to describe. " The new phase of this question, which we may as well consider in the outset, sug- gests the spectacle which this nation should present if Congress were to vote this or a similar measure down. A great nation cannot afford inconsistency in action, nor betray a vacillating, staggering, incon- stant policy in its intercourse with other nations. No really great people will pre- sent themselves before the world through their government as a nation irresolute, fickle, feeble, or petulant ; one day eagerly demanding of its neighbor an agreement or concession, which on the next it ner- vously repudiates or casts aside. Can we make a solemn request of China, through the pomp of an extraordinary embassy and the ceremony of diplomatic negotiation, and with prudent dispatch exchange ratifi- cations of the treaty granting our request, and within less than half a year after such exchange is made cast aside the concession and, with childish irresolution, ignore the whole proceeding? Can we afford to make such a confession of American imbecility to any oriental power? The adoption of this or some such measure becomes neces- sary, it seems to me, to the intelligent and consistent execution of a policy adopted by this Government under the sanction of a treaty with another great nation. " If the Executive department, the Sen- ate, and the House of Representatives have all understood and appreciated their own action in respect of this measure ; if in the negotiation and ratification of the new treaty with China, the Executive and the Senate did not act without thought, in blind, inconsiderate recklessness and we know they did not if the Congress of the United States in the passage of the fifteen passenger bill had the faintest conception of what it was doing and we know it had then the policy of this Government in respect of so-called Chinese immigration has been authoritatively settled. " This proposition is submitted with the greater confidence because the action I have described was in obedience to, and in harmony with, a public sentiment which seems to have permeated the whole coun- try. For the evidence of the existence of such a sentiment, it is only necessary to produce the declarations upon this subject of the two ^reat historical parties of the country, deliberately made oy their na- tional conventions of 1880. One of these (the Democratic convention) declared that there shall be " ' No more Chinese immigration except for travel, education, and foreign com- merce, and therein carefully guarded.' "The other (the Republican) convention declared that " ' Since the authority to regulate immi- gration and intercourse between the United States and foreign nations rests with Con- gress, or with the United States and its treaty-making power, the Republican party, regarding the unrestricted immi- gration of the Chinese as an evil of great magnitude, invokes the exercise of these powers to restrain and limit the immigra- tion by the enactment of such just, nu- mane, and reasonable provisions as will produce that result.' " These are the declarations of the two great political parties, in whose ranks are enrolled nearly all the voters of the United States; and whoever voted at the last Presidential election voted for the adop- tion of the principles and policy expressed by those declarations, whether he voted with the one or the other of the two great parties. Both candidates for the Presidency were pledged to the adoption and execu- tion of the policy of restriction thus de- clared by their respective parties, and the candidate who was successful at the polls, in his letter of acceptance, not only gave expression to the sentiment of his party and the country, but with a clearness and conciseness which distinguished all his ut- terances upon great public questions, gave the reasons for that public sentiment." He said : " ' The recent movement of the Chinese to our Pacific Coast partakes but little of the qualities of an immigration, either in its purposes or results. It is too much like an importation to be welcomed with- out restriction ; too much like an invasion to be looked upon without solicitude. We cannot consent to allow any form of servile labor fb be introduced among us under the guise of immigration.' * * * * * * * * " In this connection it is proper also to consider the probable effect .of a failure or refusal of Congress to pass this bill, upon the introduction of Chinese coolies into the United States in the future. An adverse vote upon such a measure, is an invitation to the Chinese to come, It would be in- terpreted to mean that the Government of the United States had reversed its policy, and is now in favor of the unrestricted im- portation of Chinese; that it looks with favor upon the Chinese invasion now in progress. It is a fact well known that the hostility to the influx of Chinese upon the Pacific coast displayed by the people of California has operated as a restriction, and has discouraged the importation of BOOK I.] THE CHINESE QUESTION. 283 Chinese to such a degree that it is probable that there are not a tenth part the number of Chinese in the country there would have been had this determined hostility never been shown. Despite the inhospi- tality, not to say resistance, of the Cali- fornia people to the Chinese, sometimes while waiting for the action of the General Government difficult to restrain within the bounds of peaceable assertion, they have poured through the Golden Gate in con- stantly increased numbers during the past year, the total number of arrivals at San Francisco alone during 1881 being 18,561. Nearly two months have elapsed since the 1st of January, and there have arrived, as the newspapers show, about four thousand more. "The defeat of this measure now is a shout of welcome across the Pacific Ocean to a myriad host of these strange people to come and occupy the land, and it is a re- buke to the American citizens, who have so long stood guard upon the western shore of this continent, and who, seeing the dan- ger, have with a fortitude and forbearance most admirable, raised and maintained the only barrier against a stealthy, strategic, but peaceful invasion as destructive in its results and more potent for evil, than an invasion by an army with banners. An adverse vote now, is to commission under the broad seal of the United States, all the speculators in human labor, all the im- porters of human muscle, all the traffickers in human flesh, to ply their infamous trade without impediment under the protection of the American flag, and empty the teem- ing, seething slave pens of China upon the soil of California ! I forbear further spec- ulation upon the results likely to flow from such a vote, for it presents pictures to the mind which one would not willingly con- template. "These considerations which I have presented ought to be, it seems to me, de- cisive of the action of the Senate upon this measure ; and I should regard the argu- ment as closed did I not know, that there still remain those who do not consider the question as settled, and who insist upon further inquiry into the reasons for a policy of restriction, as applied to the Chinese. I am not one of those who would place the consideration of consistency or mere ap- pearances above consideration of right or justice ; but since no change has taken place in our relations with China, nor in our domestic concerns which renders a re- versal of the action of the government proper or necessary, I insist that if the measure of restriction was right and good policy when Congress passed the fifteenth passenger bill, and when the late treaty with China was negotiated and ratified, it is right and expedient now. "This measure had its origin in Cali- fornia. It has been pressed with great vigor by the Representatives of the Pacific coast in Congress, for many years. It has not been urged with wild vehement decla- mation by thoughtless men, at the behest of an ignorant unthinking, prejudiced con- stituency. It has been supported by in- controvertible fact and passionless reason- ing and enforced by the logic of events. Behind these Representatives was an in- telligent, conscientious public sentiment universal in a constituency as honest, gen- erous, intelligent, courageous, and humane as any in the Republic. " It had been said that the advocates of Chinese restriction were to be found only among the vicious, unlettered foreign ele- ment of California society. To show the fact in respect of this contention, the Leg- islature of California in 1878 provided for a vote of the people upon the question of Chinese immigration (so called) to be had at the general election of 1879. The vote was legally taken, without excitement, and the response was general. When the bal- lots were counted, there were found to be 883 votes for Chinese immigration and 154,638 against it. A similar vote was tak- en in Nevada and resulted as follows : 183 votes for Chinese immigration and 17,259 votes against. It has been said that a count of noses is an ineffectual and illusory method of settling great questions, but this vote of these two States settled the conten- tion intended to be settled; and demon- strated that the people of all others in the United States who know most of the Chinese evil, and who are most competent to judge of the necessity for restriction are practically unanimous in the support of this measure. " It is to be supposed that this vote of California was the effect of an hysterical spasm, which had suddenly seized the minds of 154,000 voters, representing the sentiment of 800,000 people. For nearly thirty years this people had witnessed the effect of coolie importation. For more than a quarter of a century these voters had met face to face, considered, weighed, and discussed the great question upon which they were at last called upon, in the most solemn and deliberate manner, to express an opinion. I do not cite this extraordinary vote as a conclusive argument in favor of Chinese restriction ; but I present it as an important fact suggestive of argument. It may be that the people who have been brought face to face with the Chinese in- vasion are all wrong, and that those who have seen nothing of it, who have but heard something of it, are more competent (being disinterested) to judge of its pos- sible, probable, and 'actual effects, than those who have had twenty or thirty years of actual continuous experience and con- tact with the Chinese colony in Amwrica; 2B4 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK r. and it may be that the Chinese question is to be settled upon considerations other than those practical common sense reasons and principles which form the basis of po- litical science. " It has sometimes happened in dealing with great questions of governmental policy that sentiment, or a sort of emotional inspiration, has seized the minds of those engaged in the solution of great problems, by which they have been lifted up into the ethereal heights of moral abstraction. I trust that while we attempt the path of in- quiry in this instance we shall keep our feet firmly upon the earth. This question relates to this planet and the temporal government of some of its inhabitants ; it is of the earth earthly ; it involves prin- ciples of economic, social, and political science, rather than a question of morals ; it is a question of national policy, and should be subjected to philosophical analy- sis. Moreover, the question is of to-day. The conditions of the world of mankind at the present moment are those with which we have to deal. If mankind existed now in ime grand co-operative society, in one universal union, under one system of laws, in a vast homogeneous brotherhood, serenely beatified, innocent of all selfish aims and unholy desires, with one visible temporal ruler, whose judgments should be justice and whose sway should be eter- nal, then there would be no propriety in this measure. " But the millennium has not yet begun, and man exists now, as he has existed always in the economy of Providence in societies called nations, separated by the peculiarities if not the antipathies of race. In truth the history of mankind is for the most part descriptive of racial con- flicts and the struggles between nations for e tistence. By a perfectly natural process these nations have evolved distinct civ- ilizations, as diverse in their characteristics as the races of men from which they have sprung. These may be properly grouped into two grand divisions, the civilization of the East and the civilization of the West. These two great and diverse civiliza- tions have finally met on the American shore of the Pacific Ocean. " During the late depression in busi- ness affairs, which existed for three or four years in California, while thousands of white men and women were walking the streets, begging and pleading for an oppor- tunity to give their honest labor for any wages, the great steamers made their regu- lar arrivals from China, and discharged at the wharves of San Francisco their ac- customed cargoes of Chinese who were conveyed through the city to the distribu- ting dens of the Six Companies, and with- in three or four days after arrival every Chinaman was in his place at work, and the white people unemployed still went about the streets. This continued until the white laboring men rose in their des- peration and threatened the existence of the Chinese colony when the influx was temporarily checked ; but now since busi- ness has revived, and the pressure is re- moved, the Chinese come in vastly in- creased numbers, the excess of arrivals over departures averaging about one thousand per month at San Francisco alone. The importers of Chinese had no difficulty in securing openings for their cargoes now, and when transportation from California to the Eastern States is cheapened, as it soon will be, they will extend their opera- tions into the Middle and Eastern States, unless prevented by law, for wherever there is a white man or woman at work for wages, whether at the shoe bench, in the factory, or on the larm, there is an opening for a Chinaman. !No matter how low the wages may be, the Chinaman can afford to work for still lower wages, and if the competition is free, he will take the white man's place. " At this point we are met by the query from a certain class of political econo- mists, '"What of it? Suppose the Chinese work for lower wages than white men, is it not advantageous to the country to em- ploy them?' The first answer to such question is, that by this process white men are supplanted by Chinese. It is a sub- stitution of Chinese and their civilization for white men and Anglo-Saxon civiliza- tion. This involves considerations higher than mere economic theories. If the Chi- nese are as desirable as citizens, if they are in all the essential elements of man- hood the peers or the superiors of the Cau- casian ; if they will protect American in- terests, foster American .institutions, and become the patriotic defenders of republi- can government ; if their civilization does not antagonize ours nor contaminate it ; if they are free, independent men, fit for liberty and self-government as European immigrants generally are, then we may begin argument upon the question whether it is better or worse, wise or unwise, to permit white men, American citizens, or men of kindred races to be supplanted and the Chinese to be substituted in their places. Until all this and more can be shown the advocates of Chinese importa- tion or immigration have no base upon which to even begin to build argument. "The statistics of the manufacture of cigars in San Fiancisco are still more sug- gestive. This business was formerly car- ried on exclusively by white people, many hundreds finding steady and lucrative em- ployment in that trade. I have here the certified statement fiom the office of the collector of internal revenue at San Fran- cisco, showing the number of white people BOOK I.] THE CHINESE QUESTION. 285 and Chinese, relatively, employed on the 1st of November last in the manufacture of cigars. The statement is as follows : Number of white men employed...., 493 Number ot white women employed. 170 Total whites .: 663 Number of Chinese employed 5 182 " The facts of this statement were care- fully ascertained by three deputy collec- tors. The San Francisco Assembly of Trades certify that there are 8,265 Chinese employed in laundries. It is a well-known fact that white women who formerly did this work have been quite driven out of that employment. The same authority certifies that the number of Chinese now employed in the manufacture of clothing in San Francisco, is 7,510, and the num- ber of whites so employed is 1,000. In many industries the Chinese have entirely supplanted the white laborers, and thou- sands of our white people have quit Cali- fornia and sought immunity from this grinding competition in other and better- favored regions." ******** " If you would ' secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity/ there must be some place reserved in which, and upon which, posterity can exist. What will the blessings of liberty be worth to posterity if you give up the country to the Chinese? If China is to be the breed- ing-ground for peopling this country, what chance of American posterity? We of this age hold this land in trust for our race and kindred. We hold republican govern- ment and free institutions in trust for American posterity. That trust ought not to be betrayed. If the Chinese should in- vade the Pacific coast with arms in their hands, what a magnificent spectacle of martial resistance would be presented to a startled world! The mere intimation of an attempt to make conquest of our west- ern shore by force would rouse the nation to a frenzy of enthusiasm in its defense. For years a peaceful, sly, strategic con- quest has been in progress, and American statesmanship has been almost silent, until the people have demanded action. " The land which is being overran by the oriental invader is the fairest portion of our heritage. It is the land of the vine and the fig tree ; the home of the orange, the olive, and the pomegranate. Its winter is a perpetual spring, and its summer is a golden harvest. There the northern pine peacefully sways against the southern palm ; the tender azalea and the hardy rose min- gle their sweet perfume, and the tropic vine encircles the sturdy oak. Its valleys are rich and glorious with luscious fruits and waving grain, and its lofty Mountains like giants stand, 'I'n scntiuel the enchanted land. " I would see its fertile plains, its se- questered vales, its vine-clad hills, its deep blue canons, its furrowed mountain-sides, dotted all over with American homes the homes of a free, happy people, reso- nant with the sweet voices of flaxen-haired children, and ringing with the joyous laughter of maiden fair Soft as her clime, and sunny as her skies like the homes of New England; yet brighter and better far shall be the homes which are to be builded in that wonder- land by the sunset sea, the homes of a race from which shall spring The flower of men, To serve as mod"l for the mighty world, And be the fair beginning of a time." Reply of Senator Geo. F. Hoar. Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, replied to Senator Miller, and presented the sup- posed view of the Eastern States in a mas- terly manner. The speech covered twenty- eight pamphlet pages, and was referred to by the newspaper as an effort equal to some of the best by Charles Sumner. We make liberal extracts from the text, as fol- lows: "Mr. PRESIDENT: A hundred years ago the American people founded a nation upon the moral law. They overthrew by force the authority of their sovereign, and separated themselves from the country which had planted them, alleging as their justification to mankind certain proposi- tions which they held to be self-evident. " They declared and that declaration is the one foremost action of human his- tory that all men equally derive from their Creator the right to the pursuit of happiness ; that equality in the right to that pursuit is the fundamental rule of the divine justice in its application to man- kind ; that its security is the end for which governments are formed, and its destruc- tion good cause why governments should be overthrown. For a hundred years this principle has been held in honor. Under its beneficent operation we have grown al- most twenty-fold. Thirteen States have become thirty-eight; three million have become fifty million ; wealth and comfort and education and art have flourished in still larger proportion. Every twenty vears there is added to the valuation of this country a wealth enough to buy the whole German Empire, with its buildings and its ships and its invested property. This has been the magnet that has dnnvn immigration hither. The human stream, hemmed in by banks invisible but impassa- ble, does not turn toward Mexico, which can feed and clothe a world, or South America, which can feed and clothe a hun- 286 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. dred worlds, but seeks only that belt of States where it finds this law in operation. The marvels of comfort and happiness it has wrought for us scarcely surpass what it has done for other countries. The im- migrant sends back the message to those he has left behind. There is scarcely a nation in Europe west of Russia which has not felt the force of our example and whose institutions are not more or less slowly ap- proximating to our%wn. " Every new State as it takes its place in the great family binds this declaration as a frontlet upon its forehead. Twenty-four of the States, including California herself, declare it in the very opening sentence of their constitutions. The insertion of the phrase ' the pursuit of happiness,' in the enumeration of the natural rights for secur- ing which government is ordained, and the denial of which constitutes just cause for its overthrow, was intended as an explicit affirmation that the right of every human being who obeys the equal laws to go everywhere on the surface of the earth that his welfare may require is beyond the rightful control of government. It is a birthright derived immediately from him who ' made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times be- fore appointed and the bounds of their habi- tation.' He made, so our fathers held, of one blood all the nations of men. He gave them the whole face of the earth whereon to dwell. He reserved for himself by his agents heat and cold, and climate, and soil, and water, and land to determine the bounds of their habitation. It has long been the fashion in some quarters, when honor, justice, good faith, human rights are appealed to, and especially when the truths declared in the opening sentences of the Declaration of Independence are in- voked as guides in legislation to stigmatize those who make the appeal as sentimenta- lists, incapable of dealing with practical affairs. It would be easy to demonstrate the falsehood of this notion. The men who erected the structure of this Government were good, practical builders and knew well the quality of the corner-stone when they laid it. When they put forth for the consideration of their contemporaries and of posterity the declaration which they thought a decent respect for the opinions of mankind reauired of them, they weighed carefully the fundamental proposition on which their immortal argument rested. Lord Chatham's famous sentence will bear repeating again : When your lordships look at the papers transmitted to us from America, when you consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause and wish to make it your own. For myself I must declare and avow that in all my reading and observation and it has been my favorite study, I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master states of the world that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a com- plication of difficult circumstances, no na- tion or body of men can stand in preference to the general Congress assembled at Philadelphia. The doctrine that the pursuit of happi- ness is an inalienable right with which men are endowed by their Creator, asserted by as religious a people as ever lived at the most religious period of their history, pro- pounded by as wise, practical, and far- sighted statesmen as ever lived as the vin- dication for the most momentous public act of their generation, was intended to commit the American people in the most solemn manner to the assertion that the right to change their homes at their plea- sure is a natural right of all men. The doc- trine that free institutions are a monopoly of the favored races, the doctrine that op- pressed people may sever their old alle- giance at will, but have no right to find a new one, that the bird may fly but may never light, is of quite recent origin. California herself owing her place in our Union to the first victory of freedom in the great contest with African slavery, is pledged to repudiate this modern heresy, not only by her baptismal vows, but by her share in the enactment of the statute of 1868. Her constitution read thus until she took Dennis Kearney for her law- giver : We, the people of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in ordei to secure its blessings, do establish this con- stitution. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. SECTION 1. All men are by nature free and independent, and have certain inalien- able rights, among which are those of enjoy- ing and defending life and liberty, acquir- ing, possessing, and defending property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness. ******* SEC. 17. Foreigners who are or who may hereafter become bona fide residents of this State, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property, as native born citizens. In the Revised Statutes, section 1999, Congress in the most solemn manner de- clare that the right of expatriation is be- yond the lawful control 01 government : SEC. 1999. Whereas the right of expa- triation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pur- suit of happiness; and BOOK. I.J THE CHINESE QUESTION. 287 Whereas in the recognition of this prin- ciple this Government has freely received emigrants from all nations, ana invested them with the rights of citizenship. This is a re-enactment, in part, of the statute of 1868, of which Mr. Conness, then a California Senator, of Irish birth, was, if not the author, the chief advocate. The California Senator called up the bill day after day. The bill originally provided that the President might order the arrest and detention in custody of "any subject or citizen of such foreign government " as should arrest and detain any naturalized citizen of the United States under the claim that he still re- mained subject to his allegiance to his na- tive sovereign. This gave rise to debate. But there was no controversy* about the part of the bill which I have read. The preamble is as follows : Whereas the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for the protection of which the Government of the United States was es- tablished ; and whereas in the recogni- tion of this principle this Government has freely received emigrants from all nations and vested them with the rights of citizen- ship, &c. Mr. Howard declares that The absolute right of expatriation is the great leading American principle. Mr. Morton says: That a man's right to withdraw from his native country and make his home in an- other, and thus cut himself oft from all connection with his native country, is a part of his natural liberty, and without that his liberty is defective. We claim that the right to liberty is a natural, in- herent, God-given right, and his liberty is imperfect unless it carries with it the right of expatriation. The bill containing the preamble above recited passed the Senate by a vote of 39 to 5. The United States of America and the Emperor of China cordially recognize the inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home and allegiance, and also the mutual advantage of the free migra- tion and emigration of their citizens and subjects respectively from the one country to the other for purposes of curiosity, of trade, or as permanent residents. "The bill which passed Congress two years ago and was vetoed by President Hayes, the treaty of 1881, and the bill now before the Senate, have the same origin and are parts of the same measure. Two years ago it was proposed to exclude Chi- nese laborers from our borders, in express disregard of our solemn treaty obligations. This measure was arrested by President Hayes. The treaty of 1881 extorted from unwilling China her consent that we might regulate, limit, or suspend the coming oi Chinese laborers into this country a con- sent of which it is proposed by this bill to take advantage. This is entitled " A bill to enforce treaty stipulations with Chi- na." " It seems necessary in discussing the statute briefly to review the history of the treaty. First let me ^ay that the title of this bill is deceptive. There is no stipu- lation of the treaty which the bill enforces. The bill where it is not inconsistent with the compact only avails itself of a privi- lege which that concedes. China only re- laxed the Burlingame treaty so far as to permit us to ' regulate, limit, or suspend the coming or residence ' of Chinese la- borers, ' but not absolutely to prohibit it.' The treaty expressly declares ' such limi- tation or suspension shall be reasonable.' But here is proposed a statute which for twenty years, under the severest penalties, absolutely inhibits the coming of Chinese laborers to this country. The treaty pledges us not absolutely to prohibit it. The bill is intended absolutely to prohibit it. " The second article of the treaty is this : " Chinese subjects, whether proceeding to the United States as traders, students, or merchants, or from curiosity, together with their body and household servants, and Chinese laborers, who are now in the Uni- ted States, shall be allowed to go and come of their own free will and accord, and shall be accorded all the rights, privileges, immunities, and exemptions which are ac- corded to the citizens and subjects of the most favored nations. " Yet it is difficult to believe that the com- plex and cumbrous passport system pro- vided in the last twelve sections of the bill was not intended as an evasion of this agreement. Upon what other nation, fa- vored or not, is such a burden imposed? This is the execution of a promise that they may come and go ' of their own free will.' " What has happened within thirteen years that the great Republic should strike its flag ? What change has come over us that we should eat the bravest and the tru- est words we ever spoke? From 1858 to 1880 there was added to the population of the country 42,000 Chinese. " I give a table from the census of 1880 showing the Chinese population of each State : Statement showing the Chinese population in each State and Territory, according to the United States censuses of 1870 and of 1880. Alabama 4 Alaska Arizona 20 1,630 288 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK I. Arkansas 98 134 California 49,310 75,025 Colorado 7 610 Connecticut 2 Dakota 238 Delaware District of Columbia 3 Florida Georgia.,. 1 Idaho 4,274 Illinois 1 Indiana Iowa 3 Kansas... . 13 18 17 3,378 210 33 47 19 'Kentucky 1 10 Louisiana 71 481 Maine 1 8 Maryland 2 5 Massachusetts 97 237 Michigan 2 27 Minnesota 53 Misssissippi 16 52 Missouri 3 94 Montana 1,949 1,764 Nebraska 18 Nevada 3,152 5,420 New Hampshire 14 New Jersey 15 176 New Mexico 55 New York 29 924 North Carolina Ohio 1 114 Oregon 3,330 9,513 Pennsylvania 14 160 Ehode Island... 27 South Carolina 1 9 Tennessee 26 Texas 25 141 Utah 445 501 Vermont Virginia 4 6 Washington 234 3,182 West Virginia 14 Wisconsin 16 Wyoming 143 914 Total 63,254 105,463 " By the census of 1880 the number of Chinese in this country was 105,000 one five-hundredth part of the whole popula- tion. The Chinese are the most easily governed race in the world. Yet every Chinaman in America has four hundred and ninety-nine Americans to control him. The immigration was also constantly de- creasing for the last half of the decade. The Bureau of Statistics gives the num- bers as follows, (for the first eight years the figures are those of the entire Asiatic im- migration :) The number of immigrants from Asia, as reported by the United States Bureau of Statistics is as follows, namely : 1871 .. 7,236 1872 7,825 1873 20,326 1874 13,857 1875 16,498 1876 22,943 1877 10,640 1878 9,014 Total 108,339 And from China for the year ended June 30 1879. 1880. 9,604 5,802 Total 15,406 Grand Total 123,745 " See also, Mr. President, how this class of immigrants, diminishing in itself, di- minishes still more in its proportion to the rapidly increasing numbers who come from other lands. Against 22,943 Asiatic immigrants in 1876, there are but 5,802 in 1880. In 1878 there were 9,014 from Asia, in a total of 153,207, or one in seventeen of the entire immigration; and this in- cludes all persons who entered the port of San Francisco to go to any South American country. In 1879 there were 9,604 from China in a total of 250,565, or one in twenty-six. In 1880 there were 5,802 from China in a total immigration of 593,359, or one in one hundred and two. The whole Chinese population, then, when the cen- sus of 1880 was taken, was but one in five hundred of our people. The whole Chinese immigration was but one in one hundred and two of the total immigration ; while the total annual immigration quadrupled from 1878 to 1880, the Chinese was in 1880 little more than one-half what it was in 1878, and one- fourth what it was in 1876. " The number of immigrants of all nations was 720,045 in 1881. Of these 20,711 were Chinese. There is no record in the Bureau of Statistics of the number who departed within the year. But a very high anti-Chinese authority places it above 10,000. Perhaps the expection that the hostile legislation under the treaty would not affect persons who entered before it took effect stimulated somewhat their coming. But the addition to the Chinese population was less than one seventy- second of the whole immigration. All the Chinese in the country do not exceed he population of its sixteenth cily. All the Chinese in California hardly surpass :he number which is easily governed in Shanghai by a police of one hundred men. There are as many pure blooded Gypsies wandering about the country as there are Chinese in California. What an insult to American intelligence to ask leave of }hina to keep out her people, because his little handful of almond -eyea Asiatics threaten to destroy our boasted civiMza- BOOK I.] THE CHINESE QUESTION. 289 tion. We go boasting of our democracy, and our superiority, and our strength. The flag bears the stars of hone to all nations. A hundred thousand Chinese land in California and everything is changed. God has not made of one blood all the nations any longer. The self-evident truth be- comes a self-evident lie. The golden rule does not apply to the natives of the con- tinent where it was first uttered. The United St ites surrender to China, the Re- public to the despot, America to Asia, Jesus to Joss. " There is another most remarkable ex- ample of this prejudice of race which has happily almost died out here, which has come down from the dark ages and which survives with unabated ferocity in Eastern Europe. I mean the hatred of the Jew. The persecution of the Hebrew has never, so far as I know, taken the form of an affront to labor. In every other particular the reproaches which for ten centuries have been leveled at him are reproduced to do service against the Chinese. The Hebrew, so it was said, was not a Chris- tian. He did not affiliate or assimilate into the nations where he dwelt. He was an unclean thing, a dog, to whom the crime of the crucifixion of his Saviour was never to be forgiven. The Chinese quar- ter of San Francisco had its type in every city of Europe. If the Jew ventured from his hiding-place he was stoned. His wealth made him the prey of the rapacity of the noble, and his poverty and weakness the victim of the rabble. Yet how has this Oriental conquered Christendom by the sublimity of his patience? The great poet of New England, who sits by every Ameri- can fireside a beloved and perpetual guest, in that masterpiece of his art, the Jewish Cemetery at Newport, has described the degradation and the triumph of these per- secuted children of God. How came they here ? What burst of Christian hate, What persecution, merciless and blind, Drove o'er the sea that desert desolate These Ishmaels and Hagrars of mankind? They lived in narrow streets and lanes obscure, Ghetto and Judcnstrags, in mirk and mire; Taught in the school of patience to endure The life of anguish and the death of fire. Anathema maranatha! was the cry That rang from town to town, from street to street; At every gato the accursed Mordecai Was mocked and jeered, and spurned by Christian feet. Pride and humiliation hand in hand Walked with them through the world where'er tkey went; Trampled and beaten were they as the sand, And yet unshaken as the continent. Forty years ago Says Lord Beaconsfield, that great Jew who held England in the hollow of his hand, and who played on her aristocracy as on an organ, who made himself the master of an alien nation, : ts ruler, its 19 oracle, and through it, and in despite of it, for a time the master of Europe Forty years ago uot a longer period than the children of Israel were wandering in the desert the two most dishonored races in Europe were the Attic and the He- brew. The world has probably by this discovered that it is impossible to destroy the Jews. The attempt to extirpate them has been made under the most favorable auspices and on the largest s^ale ; the most considerable means that man could com- mand have been pertinacious!}' applied to this object for the longest period of re- corded time. Egyptian Pharaohs, Assyrian kings, Roman emperors, Scandinavian crusaders, Gothic princes, and holy inqui- sitors, have*alike devoted their energies to the fulfillment of this common purpose. Expatriation, exile, captivity, confiscation, torture on the most ingenious and massa- cre on the most extensive scale, a curious system of degrading customs and debasing laws which would have broken the heart of any other people, have been tried, and vain. " Lord Beaconsfield admits that the Jews contribute more than their proportion to the aggregate of the vile ; that the lowest class of Jews are obdurate, malignant, odious, and revolting. And yet this race of dogs, as it has been often termed in scorn, furnishes Europe to-day its masters in finance and oratory and statesmanship and art and music. Rachel, Mozart, Men- delssohn, Disraeli, Rothschild, Benjamin, Heine, are but samples of the intellectual power of a race which to-day controls the finance and the press of Europe. " I do not controvert the evidence which is relied upon to show that there are great abuses, great dangers, great offenses, which have grown out of the coming of this peo- ple. Much of the evil I believe might be cured by State and municipal authority. Congress may rightfully be called upon to go to the limit of the just exercise of the powers of government in rendering its aid. " We should have capable and vigilant consular officers in the Asiatic ports from which these immigrants come, without whose certificate they should not be re- ceived on board ship, and who should see to it that no person except those of good character and no person whose labor is not his own property be allowed to come over. Especially should the trade in human labor under all disguises be suppressed. Filthy habits of living must surely be with- in the control of municipal regulation. Every State may by legislation or by muni- cipal ordinance in its towns and cities pre- scribe the dimension of dwellings and limit the number who may occupy the same tenement. "But it is urged and this in my judg- ment is the greatest argument for the bill 290 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. that the introduction of the labor of the Chinese reduces the wages of the American laborer. ' We are ruined by Chinese cheap labor " is a cry not limited to the class to whose representative the brilliant humor- ist of California first ascribed it. I am not in favor of lowering any where the wages of any American labor, skilled or unskilled. On the contrary, I believe the maintenance and the increase of the purchasing power of the wages of the American working man should be the one principal object of our legislation. The share in the product of agriculture or manufacture which goes to labor should, and I believe will, steadily increase. For that, and for that only, ex- ists our protective system. The acquisition of wealth, national or individual, is to be desired only for that. The statement of the accomplished Senator from California on this point meets my heartiest concur- rence. I have no sympathy with any men, if such there be, who favor high protection and cheap labor. " But I believe that the Chinese, to whom the terms of the California Senator attri- bute skill enough to displace the American in every field requiring intellectual vigor, will learn very soon to insist on his full share of the product of his work. But whe- ther that be true or not, the wealth he cre- ates will make better and not worse the con- dition of every higher class of labor. There may be trouble or failure in adjusting new relations. But sooner or later every new class of industrious and productive labor- ers elevates the class it displaces. The dread of an injury to our labor from the Chinese rests on the same fallacy that op- posed the introduction of labor-saving ma- chinery, and which opposed the coming of the Irishman and the German and the Swede. Within my memory in New Eng- land all the lower places in factories, all places of domestic service, were filled by the sons and daughters of American farm- ers. The Irishmen came over to take their laces; but the American farmer's son and aughter did not suffer; they were only elevated to a higher plane. In the in- creased wealth of the community their share is much greater. The Irishman rose from the bog or the hovel of his native land to the comlbrt of a New England home, and placed his children in a New England school. The Yankee rises from the loom and the spinning-jenny to be the teacher, the skilled laborer in the machine shop, the inventor, the merchint, or the opulent landholder and former of the West. A letter from F. A. Bee, Chinese Con- sul, approving the management of the es- tate, accompanied the report of the re- feree: "Mr. President, I will not detain the Senate by reading the abundant testimony, of which this is but the sample, of the pos- session by the people of this race of the possibility of a development of every qua- lity of intellect, art, character, which fits them for citizenship, for republicanism, for Christianity. "Humanity, capable of infinite depths of degradation, is capable also of infinite heights of excellence. The Chinese, like all other races, has given us its examples of both. To rescue humanity from this degradation is, we are taught to believe, the great object of God's moral government on earth. It is not by injustice, exclusion, caste, but by reverence for the individual soul that we can aid in this consummation. It is not by Chinese policies that China is to be civilized. I believe that the immor- tal truths of the Declaration of Indepen- dence came from the same source with the Golden Rule and the Sermon on th Mount. We can trust Him who promul- gated these laws to keep the country safe that obeys them. The laws of the universe have their own sanction. They will not fail. The power that causes the compass to point to the north, that dismisses the star on its pathway through the skies, pro- mising that in a thousand years it shall re- turn again true to its hour and keep His word, will vindicate His own moral law. As surely as the path on which our fathers entered a hundred years ago led to safety, to strength, to glory, so surely will the path on which we now propose to enter bring us to shame, to weakness, and to peril" On the 3d of March the debate was re- newed. Senator Farley protested that un- less Chinese immigration is prohibited it will be impossible to protect the Chinese on the Pacific coast. The feeling against them now is such that restraint is difficult, as the people, forced out of employment by them, and irritated by their constantly in- creasing numbers, are not in a condition to submit to the deprivations they suffer by the presence of a Chinese population im- ported as slaves and absorbing to their own benefit the labor of the country. A remark of Mr. Farley about the Chinese led Mr. Hoar to ask if they were not the inventort of the printing press and of gunpowder. To this question Mr. Jones, of Nevada, made a brief speech, which was considered remarkable, principally because it was one of the very few speeches of any length that he has made since he became a Senator. Instead of agreeing with Mr. Hoar that the Chinese had inveuted the printing press and gunpowder, he said that information he had received led him to believe that the Chinese were not entitled to the credit of either of these inventions. On the con- trary, they had stolen them from Aryans or Caucasians who wandered into the king- BOOK I.] THE CHINESE QUESTION. 291 dim. Mr. Hoar smiled incredulously and nuide a remark to the effect that he had never heard of those Aryans or Caucasians before. Continuing his remarks, Mr. Farley ex- pressed his belief that should the Mongo- lian population increase and the Chinese come in contact with the Africans, the con- tact would result in demoralization and bloodshed which the laws could not pre- vent. Pig-tailed Chinamen would take the place everywhere of the working girl unless Congress extended its protection to Califor- nia and her white people, who had by their votes demanded a prohibition of Chinese immigration. Mr. Maxey, interpreting the Constitution in such a way as to bring out of it an argument against Chinese immi- gration, said he found nothing iu it to jus- tify the conclusion that the framers of it intended to bring into this country all na- tions and races. The only people the fathers had in view as citizens were those of the Caucasian race, and they contempla- ted naturalization only for such, for they had distinctly set forth that the heritage of freedom was to be for their posterity. No- body would pretend to express the opinion that it was'expected that the American peo- ple should become mixed up with all sorts of races and call the result " our posterity." While the American people had, in conse- quence of their Anglo-Saxon origin, been ible to withstand the contact with the Af- rican, the Africans would never stand be- fore the Chinese. Mr. Maxey opposed the Chinese because they do not come here to be citizens, because the lower classes of Chinese alone are immigrants, and because by contact they poison the minds of the less intelligent. Mr. Saulsbury had something to say in favor of the bill, and Mr. Garland, who vo- ted against the last bill because the treaty had not been modified, expressed his belief that the Government could exercise proper- ly all the powers proposed to be bestowed bv this bill. Some time was consumed by Mr. Ingalls in advocacy of an amendment offered by him, proposing to limit the sus- pension of immigration to 10 instead of 20 years. Mr. Miller and Mr. Bayard op- posed the amendment, Mr. Bayard taking the ground that Congress ought not to dis- regard the substantially unanimous wish of the people of California, as expressed at the polls, for absolute prohibition. The debate was interrupted by a motion for an executive session, and the bill went over un- til Monday, to be taken up then as the un- finished business. On March 6th a vote was ordered on Senator Ingalls' amendment. It was de- feated on a tie vote yeas 23, nays 23. The vote in detail is as follows: Yeas Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, Brown, Cockrell, Conger, Davis of Illinois, Dawes, Edmunds, Frye, Harris, Hoar, In- galls, Jackson, Lapham, McDill, McMil- lan, Mitchell, Morrell, Saunders, Sewell, Sherman and Teller 23. NaysMessrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Came- ron of Wisconsin, Coke, Fair, Farley, Gar- land, George, Hale, Hampton, Hill of Colorado, Jonas, Jones of Nevada, Mc- Pherson, Marcy, Miller of California, Mil- ler of New York, Morgan, Ransom, Slater, Vest and Walker 23. Pairs were announced between Davis, of West Virginia, Saulsbury, Butler, John- son, Kellogg, Jones, of Florida, and Grover, against the amendment, and Messrs. Win- dom, Ferry, Hawley, Platt, Pugh, Rollins and Van Wyck in the affirmative. Mr Camden was also paired. Mr. Edmunds, partially in reply to Mr. Hoar argued that the right to decide what constitutes the moral law was one inherent in the Government, and by analogy the right to regulate the character of the peo- ple who shall come into it belonged to a Government. This depended upon national polity and the fact as to most of the ancient republics that they did not possess homo- geneity was the cause of their fall. As to the Swiss Republic, it was untrue that it was not homogeneous. The difference there was not one of race but of different varieties of the same race, all of which are analogous and consistent with each other. It would not be contended that it is an advantage to a republic that its citizens should be made of diverse races, with di- verse views and diverse obligations as to what the common prosperity of all required. Therefore there was no foundation for the charge of a violation of moral and public law in our making a distinction as to the foreigners we admit. He challenged Mr. Hoar to produce an authority on national law which denied the right of one nation to declare what people of other nations should come among them. John Hancock and Samuel Adams, not unworthy citizens of Massachusetts, joined in asserting in the Declaration of Independence the right of the colonies to establish for themselves, not for other peoples, a Government of their own, not the Government of some- body else. The declaration asserted the family or consolidated right of a people within any Territory to determine the con- ditions upon which they would go on, ani this included the matter of receiving the people from other shores into their family. This idea was followed in the Constitution by requiring naturalization. The China- man may be with us, but he is not of us. One of the conditions of his naturalization is that he must be friendly to the institu- tions and intrinsic polity of our Govern- ment. Upon the theory of the Massachu- setts Senators, that there is a universal oneness of one human being with every 292 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. other human "being on the globe, this tra- ditional and fundamental principle was entirely ignored. Such a theory as applied to Government was contrary to all human experience, to all discussion, and to every step of the founders of our Government. lie said that Mr. Sumner, the predecessor of Mr. Hoar, was the author of the law on the coolie traffic, which imposes fines and penalties more severe than those in this bill upon any master of an American ves- sel carrying a Chinaman who is a servant. The present bill followed that legislation. Mr. Edmunds added that he would vote against the bill if the twenty-year clause was retained, but would maintain the soundness of principle he. had enunciated. Mr. Hoar argued in reply that the right of expatriation carried with it the right to a home for the citizen in the country to which he comes, and that the bill violated not only this but the principles of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments which made citizenship the birthright of every one born on our soil, and prohibited an abridgement of the suffrage because of race, color, etc. Mr. Ingalls moved an amendment post- poning the time at which the act shall take effect until sixty days after information of its passage has been communicated to China. After remarks by Messrs. Dawes, Teller and Bayard, at the suggestion of Mr. Brown Mr. Ingalls modified his amendment by providing that the act shall not go into effect until ninety days after its passage, and the amendment was adopted. On motion of Mr. Bayard, amendments were adopted making the second section read as follows : " That any master of any vessel' of whatever nationality, who shall knowingly on such vessel bring within the jurisdiction of the United States and per- mit to be landed any Chinese laborer, " &c. Mr. Hoar moved to amend by add- ing the following: ''Provided, that this bill shall not app.y to any skilled laborer who shall establish that he comes to this country without any contract beyond which his labor is the property of any person be- sides himself. " Mr. Farley suggested that all the Chinese test claim to be skilled laborers. Mr. Hoar replied that it would whether the bill struck at coolies or at skilled labor. The amendment was rejected Yeas, 17 ; nays, 27. Mr. Call moved to strike out the section which forfeits the vessel for the offense of the master. Lost. Mr. Hoar moved to amend by inserting: " Provided that any laborer who shall re- ceive a certificate from the U. S. Consul at the port where he shall embark that he is an artisan coming to this country at his own expense and of his own will, shall not be affected by this bill." Lost yeas 19, nays 24. On motion of Mr. Miller, of California, the provision directing the removal of any Chinese unlawfully found in a Customs Collection district by the Collector, was amended to direct that he shall be removed to the place from whence he came. On motion of Mr. Brown an amendment was adopted providing that the mark of a Chinese immigrant, duly attested by a witness, may be taken as his signature upon the certificate of resignation or regis- tration issued to him. The question then recurred on the amendment offered by Mr. Farley that hereafter no State Court or United States Court shall admit Chinese to citizenship. Mr. Hawley, of Conn., on the following day spoke against what he denounced as " a bill of iniquities." On the 9th of March what proved a long and interesting debate was closed, the leading speech being made by Senator Jones (Rep.) of Nevada, in favor of the bil 1 After showing the disastrous effects of the influx of the Chinese upon the Pa- cific coast and answering some of the argu- ments of the opponents of restriction, Mr. Jones said that he had noticed that most of those favoring Chinese immigration were advocates of a high tariff to protect American labor. But, judging from indi- cations, it is not the American laborer, but the lordly manufacturing capitalist who is to be protected as against the European capitalist, and who is to sell everything he has to sell in an American market, one in which other capitalists cannot compete with him, while he buys that which he has to buy the labor of men iti the most open market. He demands for the latter free trade in its broadest sense, and would have not only free trade in bringing in la- borers of our own race, but the Chinese, the most skilful and cunning laborers of the world. The laborer, however, is to buy from his capitalist master in a protec- tive market, but that which he himself has to sell, his labor, and which he must sell every day (for he cannot wait, like the capitalist, for better times or travel here and there to dispose of it), he must sell in the openest market of the world. When the artisans of this country shall be made to understand that the market in which they sell the only thing they have to sell is an open one they will demand, as one of the conditions of tneir existence, that they shall have an open market in which to buy what they want. As the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Dawes) said he wanted the people to know that the bill was a blow struck at labor, Mr. Jones said he reitera- ted the assertion with the qualification that it was not a blow at our own, bu* at BOOK I.] THE CHINESE QUESTION. 293 underpaid pauper labor. That cheap labor ! produces national wealth is a fallacy, as ' shown by the home condition o.^ *he 350,- 000,000 of Chinamen. " Was the bringing of the little brown man a sort of counter balance to the trades unions of this country ? If he may be brought here, why may not the products of his toil come in ? Now, when the la- borer is allowed to get that share from his \ labor that civilization has decided he shall ; have, the little brown man is introduced. ! He (Mr. Jones) believed in protection, I and had no prejudice against the capital- ' ist, but he would have capital and labor equally protected. Enlarging upon the consideration that the intelligence or crea- tive genius of a country in overcoming ob- stacles, not its material resources, consti- tutes its wealth, and that the low wages of the Chinese, while benefiting individual employers, would ultimately impoverish the country by removing the stimulant to create labor-saving machinery and like in- ventions. Mr. Jones spoke of what he called the dearth of intellectual activity in the South in every department but one, that of politics. " This was because of the presence of a servile race there. The absence of South- ern names in the Patent Office is an illus- tration. We would not welcome the Africans here. Their presence was not a blessing to us, but an impediment in our way. The relations of the white and colored races of the South were now no nearer adjustment than they were years ago. He would prophesy that the African race would never be permitted to dominate any State of the South. The experiment to that end had been a dismal failure, and a failure not because i-tv on an unheard of scale U practised in connection with these pensions. It is cstini iti-il that f 120,1 i 1,000 (24 00i,OOW.) will have to be paid during the present fiscal year, for arrears of pension, ami the num- ber of claimant* i constantly increasing, [Tho writer evidently got tb*u "facto" from sensational sources.] -Am. Pol. digence ; and it has been stated that after Andrew Johnson left the White House, he was reduced to the necessity of follow- ing his old trade. General Grant was much more fortunate; and we have re- cently seen that the American people have subscribed for Mrs. Garfield a sum nearly equal to 70,000. But a pension system for Civil Servants is not likely to be adopted. Permanence in office is another principle which has found no favor with the rank and file of either party in America, although it has sometimes been introduced into party platforms for the sakt< of. producing a good effect. The plan of quick rotation' is far more at- tractive to the popular sense. Divide the spoils, and divide them often. It is true that the public indignation is sometimes aroused, when too eager and rapacious a spirit is exhibited. Such a feeling was dis- played, in 1873, in consequence of an Act passed by Congress increasing the pay of its own members and certain officers of the Government. Each member of Congress was to receive $7,500 a year, or 1,500. The sum paid before that date, down to 1865, was $5000 a year, or 1000, and 'mileage' free added that is to say, members were entitled to be paid twenty cents a mile for traveling expenses to and from Washington. This Bill soon became known as the 'Salary Grab' Act, and popular feeling against it was so greatthat it was repealed in the following Session, and the former pay was restored. As a general" rule, however, the 'spoils' system has not been heartily condemned by the nation ; if it had been so condemned, it must have fallen long ago. " President Arthur has been admonished by his English counsellors to take heed that he follows closely in the steps of his predecessor. General Garfield was not long enough in office to give any decided indications of the policy which he intend- ed to pursue ; but, so lar as he had gone, impartial observers could detect very little difference between his course of conduct in regard to patronage and that of former Presidents. He simply preferred the friends of Mr. Elaine to the friends of Mr, Conkling ; but Mr. Elaine is a politician of precisely the same class as Mr. Conkling both are men intimately versed in all the intricacies of ' primaries,' the ' caucus,' and the general working of the 'machine.' They are precisely the kind of men which American politics, as at present practised and understood, are adapted to produce. Mr. Conkling, however, is of more impe- rious a disposition than Mr. Elaine ; the first disappointment or contradiction turns him from a friend into an enemy. Presi- dent Garfield removed the Collector of New York the most lucrative and most coveted post in the entire Union and in- BOOK I.] CURRENT POLITICS. 301 stead of nominating a friend of Mr. Conk- ling's for the vacancy, he nominated a friend of Mr. Elaine's. Now Mr. Conk- ling had done much to secure New York State for the Republicans, and thus gave them the victory ; and he thought himself entitled to better treatment than he re- ceived. But was it in the spirit of true re- form to remove the Collector, against whom no complaint had been made, merely for the purpose of creating a vacancy, and then of putting a friend of Mr. Elaine's into it a friend, moreover, who had been largely instrumental in securing General Garfield's own nomination at Chicago? * Is this all that is meant, when the Reform party talk of the great changes which they desire to see carried out? Again, the new President has been fairly warned by his advisers in this country, that he must abolish every abuse, new or old, connected with the distribution of patronage. If he is to execute this commission, not one term of office, nor three terms, will be sufficient for him. Over every appointment there will inevitably arise a dispute ; if a totally untried man is chosen, he will be suspected as a wolf coming in sheep's clothing ; if a well known partizan is nominated, he will be denounced as a mere tool of the leaders, and there will be another outcry against ' machine politics.' ' One party or other/ said an American journal not long ago, 'must begin the work of administering the Government on business principles,' and the writer admitted that the work would ' cost salt tears to many a politician.' The honor of making this beginning has not yet been sought for with remarkable eagerness by either party ; but seems to be deemed necessary to promise that some- thing shall be done, and the Democrats, being out of power, are naturally in the position to bid the highest. The reform will come, as we have intimated, when the people demand it ; it cannot come before, for few, indeed, are the politicians in the United States who venture to trust them- selves far in advance of public opinion. And even of that few, there are some who have found out, by hard experience, that there is little honor or profit to be gained by undertaking to act as pioneers. " It is doubtless a step in advance, that both parties now admit the absolute ne- cessity of devising measures to elevate the character of the public service, to check the progress of corruption, and to intro- duce a better class of men into the offices which are held under the Government. The necessity of great reforms in these re- spects has been avowed over and over again by most of the leading journals and influential men in the country. The most * The undeniable facto of th" easo were n we hare briefly indicated al>ove See. fur example, a letter to the 'New York Nation,' Nov. J, 1861. radical of the Republicans, and the most conservative of the Democrats, are of ono mind on this point. Mr. Wendell Phil- lips, an old abolitionist and Radical, once publicly declared that Republican govern- ment in cities had been a complete fail- ure.* An equally good Radical, the late Mr. Horace Greeley, made the following still more candid statement : ' There are probably at no time less than twenty thousand men in this city [New York] who would readily commit a safe murder for a hundred dollars, break open a house for twenty, and take a false oath for five. Most of these are of European birth, though we have also native miscreants who are ready for any crime that will pay.' f Strong testimony against the working of the suffrage and it must have been most unwilling testimony was given in 1875 by a politician whose long familiarity with caucuses and ' wire-pulling ' in every form renders him an undeniable authority. Let it be widely proclaimed,' he wrote, ' that the experience and teachings of a republican form of government prove nothing so alarmingly suggestive 01 and pregnant with danger as that cheap suf- frage involves and entails cheap represen- tation.' J Another Republican, of high character, has stated that ' the methods of politics have now become so repulsive, the corruption so open, the intrigues and per- sonal hostilities are so shameless, that it is very difficult to engage in them without a sense of humiliation.'" $ Passing to another question, and one worthy of the most intelligent discussion, but which has never yet taken the shape of a political demand or issue in this country, this English writer says : " Although corruption has been suspect- ed at one time or other in almost every Department of the Government, the Pres- idential office has hitherto been kept free from its stain. And yet, by an anomaly of the Constitution, the President has some- times been exposed to suspicion, and still more frequently to injustice and misrepie- sentation, in consequence of the practical irresponsibility of his Cabinet officers. They are his chief advisers in regard to the distribution of places, as well as in the higher affairs of State, and the discredit of any mismanagement on their part falls upon him. It is true that he chooses them, and may dismiss them, with the concur- rence of the Senate ; but, when once ap- pointed, they are beyond reach of all effec- tive criticism for newspaper attacks are easily explained by the suggestion of party malice. They cannot be questioned in * Speech In New York, March 7. 1881. 'New York Tribune,' Feb. -a, 1870. Letter in New York papers, Feb. 20, 1875. Mr. George William Curtis, in ' Harper's 1870. 302 AMERICAN POLITICS. TBOOK I. Congress, for they are absolutely pro- hibited from sitting in either House. For months together it is quite possible for the Cabinet to pursue a course which is in direct opposition to the wishes of the people. This was seen, among other Oc- casions, in 1873^i, when Mr. Ilichardson was Secretary of the Treasury, and at a time when his management of the finances caused great dissatisfaction. At last a par- ticularly gross case of negligence, to use no harsher word, known as the ' Sanborn contracts,' caused his retirement ; that is to say, the demand for his withdrawal be- came so persistent and so general, that the President could no longer refuse to listen to it. His objectionable policy might have been pursued till the end of the Presiden- tial term, but for the accidental discovery of a scandal, which exhausted the patience of his friends as well as his enemies. Now had Mr. Richardson been a member of either House, and liable to be subjected to a rigorous cross-questioning as to his pro- ceedings, the mismanagement of which he was accused, and which was carried on in the dark, never could have occurred. Why the founders of the Constitution should have thrown this protection round the per- sons who happen to fill the chief offices of State, is difficult to conjecture, but the clause is clear : ' No person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his con- tinuance in office.'* Mr. Justice Story de- clares that this provision ' has been vindi- cated upon the highest grounds of public authority,' but he also admits that, as ap- plied to the heads of departments, it leads to mary evils. He adds a warning which many events of our own time have shown to be not unnecessary: 'if corruption ever eata its way silently into the vitals of this Republic, it will be because the peo- ple are unable to bring responsibility home to the Executive through his chosen Min- iate. . They will be betrayed when their suspicions are most lulled by the Execu- tive, under the guise of an obedience to , the will of Congress.'f The inconveniences occasioned to the public service under the present system are very great. There is no c^cial personage in either House to ex- -.. "m the provisions of any Bill, or to give ^Jormation on pressing matters of public business. Cabinet officers are only brought into communication with the nation when they send in their annual reports, or when a special report is called for by some un- usual emergency. Sometimes the Presi- dent himself goes down to the Capitol to talk over the merits of a Bill with mem- bers. The Department whirh happens to be interested in any particular measure Article I. Bpct. rl. 2 f ' Commentaries, 'I . book ill. sect. 869; puts it under the charge of some friend of the Administration, and if a member par- ticularly desires any further information respecting it he may, if he thinks proper, go to the Department and ask for it. But Congress and Ministers are never brought face to face. It is possible that American ' Secretaries ' may escape some of the in- convenience which English Ministers are at times called upon to undergo ; but the most capable and honest of them forfeit many advantages, not the least of which is the opportunity of making the exact na- ture of their work known to their country- men, and of meeting party misrepresenta- tions and calumnies in the most effectual way. In like manner, the incapable mem- bers of the Cabinet would not be able, under a different system, to shift the bur- den of responsibility for their blunders up- on the President. No President suffered more in reputation for the faults of others than General Grant. It is true that he did not always choose his Secretaries with suf- ficient care or discrimination, but he was made to bear more than a just proportion of the censure which was provoked by their mistakes. And it was not in Gen- eral Grant's disposition to defend himself. In ordinary intercourse he was sparing of his words, and could never be induced to talk about himself, or to make a single speech in defense of any portion of his conduct. The consequence was, that his second term of office was far from being worthy of the man who enjoyed a popu- larity, just after the war, which Washing- ton himself might have envied, and who is still, and very justly, regarded with re* spect and gratitude for his memorable ser- vices in the field. " The same sentiment, to which we have referred as specially characteristic of the American people hostility to all changes in their method of government which are not absolutely essential will keep the Cabinet surrounded by irresponsible, and sometimes incapable, advisers. Contrary to general supposition, there is no nation in the world so little disposed to look favor- ably on Radicalism and a restless desire for change, as the Americans. The Constitu- tion itself can only be altered by a long and tedious process, and after every State in the Union has been asked its opinion on the question. There is no hesitation in enforcing the law in case of disorder^ as the railroad rioters in Pennsylvania found out a few years ago. The state of affairs, which the English Government has per- mitted to exist in Ireland for upwards of a year, would not have been tolerated twenty- four hours in the United States. The maintenance of the law first, the discussion of grievances afterwards ; such is, and al- ways has been, the policy of every Ameri- can Government, until the evil day of BOOK I.] CURRENT POLITICS. 303 James Buchanan. The governor of every State is a real ruler, and not a mere orna- ment, andjthe President wields a hundred- fold more power than has been left to the Sovereign of Great Britain. Both parties as a rule, combine to uphold his authority, and, in the event of any dispute with a foreign Power, all party distinctions disap- pear as if by magic. There are no longer Democrats and Republicans, but only Americans. The species of politician, who endeavors to gain a reputation for himself by destroying the reputation of his country was not taken over to America in the ' May- flower,' and it would be more difficult than ever to establish it on American ground to-day. A man may hold any opinions that may strike his fancy on other subjects, but in reference to the Government, he is expected, while he lives under it, to give it his hearty support, especially as against foreign nations. There was once a faction called the ' Know Nothings,' the guiding principle of which was inveterate hostility to foreigners ; but a party based upon the opposite principle, of hostility to one's own country, has not yet ventured to lift up its head across the Atlantic. That is an in- vention in politics which England has introduced, and of which she is allowed to enjoy the undisputed monopoly. * * * " Display and ceremonial were by no means absent from the Government in the beginning of its history. President Wash- ington never went to Congress on public business except in a State coach, drawn by six cream-colored horses. The coach was an object which would excite the admira- tion of the throng even now in the streets of London. It was built in the shape of a hemisphere, and its panels were adorned with cupids, surrounded with flowers worthy of Florida, and of fruit not to be equalled out of California. The coachman and postillions were arrayed in gorgeous liveries of white and scarlet. The Phila- delphia 'Gazette,' a Government organ, regularly gave a supply of Court news for the edification of the citizens. From that the people were allowed to learn as much as it was deemed proper for them to know about the President's movements, and a fair amount of space was also devoted to Mrs. Washington who was not referred to as Mrs. Washington, but as ' the amiable con- sort of our beloved President. ' When tha President made his appearance at a ball or public reception, a dais was erected for him upon which he might stand apart from the vulgar throng, and the guests or visitors bowed to him in solemn silence. ' Repub- lican simplicity' has only come in later times. In our day, the hack-driver who takes a visitor to a public reception at the White House, is quite free to get off his box, walk in side by side with his fare, and shake hands with the President with as | much familiarity as anybody else. Very I few persons presumed to offer to shake ; hands with General Washington. One of | his friends, Gouverneur Morris, rashly undertook, for a foolish wager, to go up to him and slap him on the shoulder, saying, ' My dear General, I am happy to see you look so well.' The moment fixed upon arrived, and Mr. Morris, already half- repenting of his wager, went up to the President, placed his hand upon his shoul- der, and uttered the prescribed words. ' Washington,' as an eye-witness described the scene, ' withdrew his hand, stepped suddenly back, fixed his eye on Morns for several minutes with an angry frown, until the latter retreated abashed, and sought refuge in the crowd.' No one else ever tried a similar experiment. It is recorded of Washington, that he wished the official title of the President to be ' High Mighti- ness,' * and at one time it was proposed to engrave his portrait upon the national coinage. No royal levees were more punc- tiliously arranged and ordered than those of the First President. It was Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic party, who introduced Democratic manners into the Republic. He refused to hold weekly re- ceptions, and when he went to Congress to read his Address, he rode up unattended, tied his horse to a post, and came away with the same disregard for outward show. After his inauguration, he did not even take the trouble to go to Congress with his Message, but sent it by the hands of his Secretary a custom which has been found so convenient that it has been followed ever since. A clerk now mumbles through the President's Message, while members sit at their desks writing letters, or reading the Message itself, if they do not happen to have made themselves masters of its contents beforehand." The writer, after discussing monopolies and tariffs, closes with hopes and predic- tions so moderately and sensibly stated that any one will be safe in adopting them as his own. "The controversies which have yet to be fought out on these issues [the tariff and corporate power] may sometimes become formidable, but we may hope that the really dangerous questions that once con- fronted the American people are set at rest for ever. The States once more stand in their proper relation to the Union, and any interference with their self-government is never again likely to be attempted, for the feeling of the whole people would condemn it. It was a highly Conservative system which the framers of the Constitution adopted, when they decided that each State should be entitled to make its own laws, * [Those are mere traditions tinged with the spirit of some of the sasaults made in the " good old days" eyen against so illustrious a man as Washington.---^"*. Pol] 304 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. to regulate its own franchise, to raise its own taxes, and settle everything in connec- tion with its own affairs in its own way. The general government has no right whatever to send a single soldier into any State, even to preserve order, until it has been called upon to act by the Governor of that State. The Federal Government, as it has been said by the Supreme Court, is one of enu- merated powers ; ' and if it has ever acted in excess of those powers, it was only when officers in States broke the compact which existed, and took up arms for its destruc- tion. They abandoned their place in the Union, and were held to have thereby for- feited their rights as States. In ordinary times there is ample security against the abuse of power in any direction. If a State government exceeds its authority, the people can at the next election expel the parties who have been guilty of the offense ; if Congress trespasses upon the functions of the States, there is the remedy of an ap- peal to the Supreme Court, the ' final in- terpreter of the Constitution ; ' if usurpa- tion should be attempted in spite of these safeguards, there is the final remedy of an appeal to the whole nation under the form of a Constitutional Amendment, which may at any time be adopted with the con- sent of three-fourths of the States. Only, therefore, as Mr. Justice Story has pointed out, when three-fourths of the States have combined to practice usurpation, is the case 1 irremediable under any known forms of the Constitution.' It would be difficult to conceive of any circumstances under which such a combination as this could arise. No form of government ever yet devised has proved to be faultless in its operation ; but that of the United States is well adapted to the genius and character of the people, and the very dangers which it has passed through render it more precious in their eyes than it was before it had been tried in the fire. It assures freedom to all who live under it ; and it provides for the rigid ob: servance of law, and the due protection of every man in his rights. There is much in the events which are now taking place around us to suggest serious doubts, whether these great and indispensable ad- vantages are afforded by some of the older European systems of government which we have been accustomed to look upon as better and wiser than the American Con- stitution." A final word as to a remaining great is- sue that of the tariff. It must ever be a political issue, one which parties cannot wholly avoid. The Democratic party as a mass, yet leans to Free Trade ; the Repub- lican party, as a mass, favors Tariffs and high ones, at least plainly protective. Within a year, two great National Conven- tions were held, one at Chicago and one at New York, both in former times, Free Trade centres, and in these Congress was petitioned either to maintain 01 improve the existing tariff. As a result we see presented and advocated at the current session the Tariff Commission Bill, decisive action upon which has not been taken at the time we close these pages. The effect of the conventions was to cause the Demo- cratic Congressional caucus to reject the effort of Proctor Knott, to place it in its old attitude of hostility to protection. Many of the members sought and for the time secured an avoidance of the issue. Their ability to maintain this attitude in the face of Mr. Watterson's* declaration that the Democratic party must stand or fall on that issue, remains to be seen. * Mr. Watterson, formerly a distinguished member of Confess, is the author of the " tariff for revenue only " plank in the Democratic National Platform of 1880, and ia now, as he has been for years, the chief editor of the LuuisiilU Courier Journal. POLITICAL CHANGES IN 1882. With a view to carry this work through the year 1882 and into part of 1883, very plain reference should be made to the campaign of 1882, which in several im- portant States was fully as disastrous to the Republican party as any State elec- tions since the advent of that party to national supremacy and power. In 1863 and 1874 the Republican reverses were almost if not quite as general, but in the more important States the adverse majori- ties were not near so sweeping. Political " tidal waves " had been freely talked of as descriptive of the situation in the earlier years named, but the result of 1882 has been pertinently described by Horatio Seymour as the " groundswell," and such it seemed, both to the active participants in, and lookers-on, at the struggle. Political discontent seems to be periodi- cal under all governments, and the periods are probably quite as frequent though less violent under republican as other forms. Certain it is that no political party in our history has long enjoyed uninterrupted success. The National success of the Re- publicans cannot truthfully be said to have been uninterrupted since the first BOOK I.] REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS. 305 election of Lincoln, as at times one or the other of the two Houses of Congress have been in the hands of the Democratic party, while since the second Grant administra- tion there has not been a safe working majority of Republicans in either House. Combinations with Greenbackers, Read- justers, and occasionally with dissenting Democrats have had to be employed to preserve majorities in behalf of important tneasures, and these have not always suc- ceeded, though the general tendency of side-parties has been to support the majo- rity, for the very plain reason that majori- ties can reward with power upon commit- tees and with patronage. Efforts were made by the Democrats in the first session of the 47th Congress to reduce existing tariffs, and to repeal the internal revenue taxes. The Repub- licans met the first movement by establish- ing a Tariff Commission, which was ap- pointed by President Arthur, and com- posed mainly of gentlemen favorable to protective duties. In the year previous (1881) the income from internal taxes was $135,264,385.51, and the cost of collecting $4,327,793.24, or 3.20 per cent. The cus- toms revenues amounted to $198,159,676.02, the cost of collecting the same $6,383,288. 10, or 3.22 per cent. There was no gene- ral complaint as to the cost of collecting these immense revenues, for this cost was greatly less than in former years, but the surplus on internal taxes (about $146,000, 000) was so large that it could not be profitably employed even in the payment of the public debt, and as a natural result all interests called upon to pay the tax (save where there was a monopoly in the product or the manufacture) complained of the burden as wholly unnecessary, and large interests and very many people de- manded immediate and absolute repeal. The Republicans sought to meet this de- mand half way by a bill repealing all the taxes, save those on spirits and tobacco, but the Democrats obstructed and defeated every attempt art partial repeal. The Republicans thought that the moral senti- ment of the country would favor the re- tention of the internal taxes upon spirits and tobacco (the latter having been pre- viously reduced) but if there was any such sentiment it did not manifest itself in the fall elections. On the contrary, every form of discontent, encouraged by these great causes, took shape. While the Tariff Commission, by active and very in- telligent work, held out continued hope to the more confident industries, those which had been threatened or injured by the failure of the crops in 1881, and by the assassination of President Garfield, saw only prolonged injury in the probable work of the Commission, for to meet the 20 close Democratic sertiment and to umte that which it was hoped would be gene- rally friendly, moderate tariff rates had to be fixed ; notably upon iron, steel, i\nd many classes of manufactured gocds. Manufacturers of the cheaper grades of cotton goods were feeling the pressure of competition from the South where goods could be made from a natural product close at hand while those of the North found about the same time thai the tastes of their customers had improved, and hence their cheaper grades were no longer in such general demand. There was over- production, as a consequence grave depres- sion, and not all in the business could at once realize the cause of the trouble. Doubt and distrust prevailed, and early in the summer of 1882, and indeed until late in the fall, the country seemed upon the verge of a business panic. At the same time the leading journals of the country seemed to have joined in a crusade against all existing political methods, and again ft all statutory and political abuses. Tlie cry of " Down with Boss Rule ! " was hcai-d in many States, and this rallied to tlie swelling ranks of discontent all who are naturally fond of pulling down leaders* and the United States Senatorial elections of 1883 quickly showed that the blow was aimed at all leaders, whether they vrere alleged Bosses or not. Then, too, the forms of discontent which could not take practical shape in the great Presidential contest between Gartield and Hancock, came to the front with cumulative force after the assassination. There is little use in philosophizing and searching for suffi- cient reasons leading to a fact, when the fact itself must be confessed and whe.u ita force has been felt. It is a plain fact that many votes in the fall of 1882 were deter- mined by the nominating struggle for the Presidency in 1880, by the quarrels which followed Garfield's inauguration, and by the assassination. Indeed, the nation had not recovered from the shock, and many very good people looked with very grave suspicion upon every act of President Arthur after he had succeeded to the chair. The beet informed, broadest and most liberal political minds aw in his course an honest effort to heal existing differences in the Republican party, but many acts of recommendation and appoint- ment directed to this end were discounted by the few which could not thus be traced, and suspicion and discontent swelled the chorus of other injuries. The result was the great political changes ot 1882. It be- gan in Ohio, the only important and de- batable October State remaining at this time. The causes enumerated above (pave the assassination and the conflict between the friends of Grant and Elaine) operated 306 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK. i. with less force in Ohio than any other sec- tion for here leaders had not been held up as " Basses ;" civil service reform had many advocates among them; the people were not by interest specially wedded to high tariff duties, nor were they large payers of internal revenue taxes. But the liquor issue had sprung up in the Legislature the previous winter, the Republicans attempt- ing to levy and collect a tax from all who sold, and to prevent the sale on Sundays. These brief facts make strange reading to the people of other States, where the sale of liquor has generally been licensed, and forbidden on Sundays. Ohio had previ- ously passed a prohibitory constitutional amendment, in itself defective, and as no legislation had been enacted to enforce it, those who wished began to -sell as though the right were natural, and in this way be- came strong enough to resist taxation or license. The Legislature of 1882, the ma- jority controlled by the Republicans, at- tempted to pass the Pond liquor tax act, and its issue was joined. The liquc- in- terests organized, secured control of the Democratic State Convention, nominated a ticket pledged to their interests, made a platform which pointed to unrestricted sale, and by active work and the free use of funds, carried the election and reversed the usual majority. Governor Foster, the boldest of the Republican lead- ers, accepted the issue as presented, and stumped in favor of license and the sanc- tity of the Sabbath ; but the counsels of the Republican leaders were divided, Ex- Secretary Sherman and others enacting the role of ' confession and avoidance." The result carried with it a train of Republi- can disasters. Congressional candidates whom the issue could not legimately touch, fell before it, probably on . the principle that " that which strikes the head injures the entire body." The Democratic State aod Legislative tickets succeeded, and the German element, which of all others is most favorable to freedom in the observ- ance of the Sabbath, transferred its vote almost as an entirety from the Republican to the Democratic party. Ohio emboldened the liquor interests, and in their Conventions and Societies in other States they agreed as a rule to check and, if possible, defeat the advance of the prohibitory amendment idea. This started m Kansas in 1880, under the lead of Gov. St. John, an eloquent temperance advo- cate. It wJis passed by an immense majority, and it was hardly in force be- fore conflicting accounts were scattered throughout the country as to its effect. Some of the friends of temperance con- tended that it improved the public con- dition ; its enemies all asserted that in the larger towns and cities it produced free and irresponsible instead of licensed sale. The latter seem to have had the best of the argument, if the election re- sult is a truthful witness. Gov. St. John was again the nominee of the Repub- licans, but while all of the remainder of the State-ticket was elected, he fell under a majority which must have been pro- duced by a change of forty thousand votes. Iowa next took up the prohibitory amend- ment idea, secured its adoption, but the result was injurious to the Republicans in the Fall elections, where the discontent struck at Congressmen, as well as State and Legislative officers. The same amendment had been pro- posed in Pennsylvania, a Republican House in 1881 having passed it by almost a solid vote (Democrats freely joining in its support), but a Republican Senate de- feated, after it had been loaded down with amendments. New York was co- quetting with the same measure, and ae a result the liquor interests well-organiwd and with an abundance of money, aw a rule struck at the Republican party in both New York and Pennsylvania, and thus largely aided the groundswell. Th& same interests aided the election of G*iul. B. F. Butler of Massachusetts, but from a different reason. He had, in one of his earlier canvasses, freely advocated the right of the poor to sell equally with those who could pay heavy license fees, and had thus won the major sympathy of the interest. Singularly enough, Massachu- setts alone of all the Republican States meeting with defeat in 1882, fails to s! ow in her result reasons which harmouize with those enumerated as making up f;be elements of discontent. Her people most do favor high tariffs, taxes on liquors and luxuries, civil service reforms, and were supposed to be more free from legal and political abuses than any other. Massa- chusetts had, theretofore, been considered to be the most advanced of &11 the States in notions, in habit, and in law yet Butler's victory was relatively more pro- nounced than that of any Democratic candidate, not excepting that of Cleve- land over Folger in New York, the Democratic majority here approaching two hundred thousand. How are we to explain the Massachusetts' result? Gov. Bishop was a hi^h-toned and able gentle- man, the typft of every reform contended for. There is but one explanation. Massachusetts had had too much of re- form ; it had come in larger and faster doses than even her progressive people could stand and an inconsistent discon- tent took new shape there that of very plain reaction. This view is confirmed by the subsequent attempt of Gov. Butler to defeat the re-election of Geo. F. Hoar to BOOK I.] CURRENT POLITICS. 307 the U. S. Senate, by a combination of Democrats with dissatisfied Republicans. The movement failed, but it came very near to success, and lor days the result was in doubt. Hoar had been a Senator of advanced views, of broad and com- prehensive statesmanship, but that com- munistic sentiment which occasionally crops out in our politics and strikes at all leaders, merely from the pleasure of assert- ing the right to tear down, assailed him with a vigor almost equal to that which struck Windom of Minnesota, a statesman of twenty-four years' honorable, able and sometimes brilliant service. To prejudice the people of his State against him, a photograph of his Washington residence had been scattered broadcast. The print in the photograph intended to prejudice being a coach with a liveried lackey It might have been the coach and lackey of a visitor, but the effect was the same where discontent had run into a fever. Political discontent gave unmistakable manifestations of its existence in Ohio, Massachusetts, New York (where Ex- Governor Cornell's nomination had been defeated by a forged telegram), Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Connecticut, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The Republican position was well maintained in New Hampshire, Ver- mont, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin. It was greatly improved in Virginia, where Mahone's Republican Readjuster ticket carried the State by nearly ten thousand, and where a United States' Senator and Congressman-at-large were gained, as well as some of the District Congressmen. The Republicans also im- proved the situation in North Carolina and Tennessee, though they failed to carry either. They also gained Congress- men in Mississippi and Louisiana, but the Congressional result throughout the country was a sweeping Democratic vic- tory, the 48th Congress, beginning March 4, 1883, showing a Democratic majority of 71 in a total membership of 325. In Pennsylvania alone of all the Northern States, were the Republican elements of discontent organized, and here they were as well organized as pos- sible under the circumstances. Charles S. Wolfe had the year previous proclaimed what he called his "independence of the Bosses," by declaring himself a candidate for State Treasurer, " nominated in a con- vention of one." He secured 49,984 votes, and this force was used as the nucleus for the better organized Independent Repub- lican movement of 1882. Through this a State Convention was called which placed a full ticket in the field, and which in many districts nominated separate legisla- tire candidates. The complaints of the Independent Republicans of Pennsylvania were very much like those of dissatisfied Repub- licans in other Northern States'where no adverse organizations were set up, and these can best be understood by giving the official papers and correspondence con- nected with the revolt, and the attempts to conciliate and suppress it by the regular organization. The writer feels a delicacy in appending this data, inasmuch as he was one of the principals in the negotia- tions, but formulated complaints, methods and principles peculiar to the time can be better understood as presented by organ- ized and official bodies, than where mere opinions of cotemporaneous writers and speakers must otherwise be given. A very careful summary has been made by Col. A. K. McClure, in the Philadelphia Timet Almanac, and from this we quote the data connected with the The Independent Republican Re-volt In Pennsylvania. The following call was issued by Chair- man McKee, of the committee which con- ducted the Wolfe campaign in 1881 : HEADQUARTERS STATE COMMITTEE;, CITIZENS' REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION, GIRARD HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA, December 16, 188.1. To the Independent Republicans of Penn- sylvania : You are earnestly requested to send re- presentatives from each county to a State conference, to be held at Philadelphia, Thursday, January 12th, 1882, at 10 o'clock A. M., to take into consideration the wis- dom of placing in nomination proper per- sons for tLe offices of Governor, Lieuten- ant Governor, Secretary of Internal Affairs and Supreme Court Judge, and such other matters as may come before the confer- ence, looking to the overthrow of " boss rule," and the elimination of the pernicious " spoils system," and its kindred evils, from the administration of public affairs. It is of the utmost importance that those fifty thousand unshackled voters who supported the independent candidacy of Hon. Charles S. Wolfe for the office of State Treasurer . as a solemn protest against ring domina- tion, together with the scores of thousands of liberty -loving citizens who are ready to join in the next revolt against " bossism," shall be worthily represented at this con- ference. I. D. McKEE, Chairmav. FRANK WILLING LEACH, Secretary. Pursuant to the above call, two hundred and thirteen delegates, representing thirty- three of the sixty-six counties, met at the Assembly Building, January 12th, 1882, 308 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. and organized by the election of John J. Pinkerton as chairman, together with a suitable list of vice-presidents and secre- taries. After a general interchange ol views, a resolution was adopted directing the holding of a State Convention for the nomination of a State ticket, May 24th. An executive committee, with power to arrange for the election of delegates from each Senatorial district, was also appointed, consisting of Messrs. I. D. McKee, ol Philadelphia; Wharton Barker, of Mont- gomery; John J. Pinkerton, of Chester; F. M. Nichols, of Luzerne ; H. S. McNair, of York, and C. W. Miller, of Crawford. Mr. Nichols aftewards declining to act, George E. Mapes, of Venango, was sub- stituted in his place. Before the time arrived for the meeting of the convention of May 24th, several futile efforts were made to heal the breach between the two wings of the Republican party. At a con- ference of leading Independents held in Philadelphia, April 23d, at which Senator Mitchell was present, a committee was appointed for the purpose of conferring with a similar committee from the regular organization, upon the subject of the party differences. The members of the Peace Conference, on the part of the Indepen- dents, were Charles S. Wolfe, I. D. McKee, Francis B. Reeves, J. W. Lee, and Whar- ton Barker. The committee on the part of the Stalwarts were M. S. Quay, John F. Hartranft, C. L. Magee, Howard J. Reeder, and Thomas Cochran. A preliminary meeting was held at the Continental Hotel, on the evening of April 29th, which adjourned to meet at the same place on the evening of May 1st; at which meeting the following peace propositions were agreed upon : Resolved, That we recommend the adop- tion of the following principles and methods by the Republican State Conven- tion of May 10th. First. That we unequivocally condemn the use of patronage to promote personal political ends, and require that all offices bestowed within the party shall be upon the sole basis of fitness. Second. That competent and faithful officers should not be removed except for cause. Third. That the non-elective minor offices should be filled in accordance with rules established by law. Fourth. That the ascertained popular will shall be faithfully carried out in State and National Conventions, and by those holding office by the favor of the party. Fifth. That we condemn compulsory assessments for political purposes, and pro- scription for failure to respond either to such assessments or to requests for volun- tary coctributions, and that any policy of political proscription is unjust, and calcu- lated to disturb party harmony. Sixth. That public office constitutes a high trust to be administered solely for the people, whose interests must be paramount to those of persons or parties, and that it should be invariably conducted with the same efficiency, economy, and integrity as are expected in the execution of private trusts. Seventh. That the State ticket should be such as by the impartiality of its con- stitution and the high character and ac- knowledged fitness of the nominees will justly commend itself to the support of the united Republican party. Resolved, That we also recommend the adoption of the following permanent rules for the holding of State Conventions, and the conduct of the party : First. That delegates to State Conven- tions shall be chosen in the manner in which candidates for the General Assem- bly are nominated, except in Senatorial districts composed of more than one coun- ty, in which conferees for the selection of Senatorial delegates shall be chosen in the manner aforesaid, and the representation of each county shall be based upon its Re- publican vote cast at the Presidential elec- tion next preceding the convention. Second. Hereafter the State Convention of the Republican party shall be held on the second Wednesday of July, except in the year of the Presidential election, when it shall be held not more than thirty days previous to the day fixed for the National Convention, and at least sixty days' notice shall be given of the date of the State Con- vention. Third. That every person who voted the Republican electoral ticket at the last Presidential election next preceding any State Convention shall be permitted to articipate in the election of delegates to itate and National Conventions, and we recommend to the county organizations that in their rules they allow the largest freedom in the general participation in the primaries consistent with the preservation of the party organization. M. S. QUAY, J. F. HARTRANFT, THOMAS COCHRAN, HOWARD J. REEDER, C. L. MAGEE, On the part of theRepublican State Com- mittee, appointed by Chairman Cooper. CHARLES S. WOLFE, . I. D. McKEE, FRANCIS B. REEVES, WHARTON BARKER, J. W. LER, On the part of Senator Mitchell's Inde- pendent Republican Committee. BOOK I.] CURRENT POLITICS. 309 The following resolution was adopted by this joint conference . Resolved, That we disclaim any authority to speak or act for other persons than our- selves, and simply make these suggestions as in our opinion are essential to the pro- motion of harmony and unity. In order, however, that there might be no laying down of arms on the part of the Independents, in the false belief that the peace propositions had ended the contest, without regard to whether they were ac- cepted in good faith, and put in practice by the regular convention, the following call was issued by the Independent Execu- tive Committee : EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, CITIZENS' REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA, GIRARD HOUSE. PHILADELPHIA, May 3d, 1882. To the Independent Republicans of Pennsyl- vania : At a conference of Independent Repub- licans held in Philadelphia, on January 12th, 1882, the following resolution was adopted, to wit: Resolved, That a convention be held on the 24th day of May, 1882, for the purpose of placing in nomination a full Indepen- dent Republican ticket for the offices to be filled at the general election next Novem- ber. In pursuance and by the authority of the above resolution the undersigned, the State Executive Committee appointed at the said conference, request the Independent Re- publicans of each county of the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania to send delegates til the Independent Convention of May 2Uh, the basis of representation to be the suine as that fixed for Senators and Repre- sentatives of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. Should the convention of May 10th fail to nominate as its candidates men who in their character, antecedents and affiliations are embodiments of the principles of true Republicanism free from the iniquities of bossism, and of an honest administration of public affairs free from the evils of the spoils system, such nominations, or any such nomination, should be emphatically repudiated by the Independent Convention of May 24th, and by the Independent Re- publicans of Pennsylvania in November next. The simple adoption by the Harrisburg Convention of May 10th of resolutions of plausible platitudes, while confessing the existence of the evils which we have stren- uously opposed, and admitting the justice of our position in opposing them, will not satisfy the Independent Republicans of this Commonwealth. We are not battling for the construction of platforms, but for the overthrow of bossism, and the evils of the spoils system, which animated a de- spicable assassin to deprive our loved Pres- ident Garfield of his life, and our country of its friend and peacemaker. The nomination of slated candidates by machine methods, thereby tending to the perpetuation of boss dominion in our Com- monwealth, should never be ratified by the Independent Republicans in convention assembled or at the polls. Upon this very vital point there should be no mistake in the mind of any citizen of this State. The path of duty in this emergency leads for- ward, and not backward, and forward we should go until bossism and machineism and stalwartism aye, and Cameronism are made to give way to pure Republican- ism. The people will not submit to tem- porizing or compromising. We appeal to the Independent Republi- cans of Pennsylvania to take immediate steps toward perfecting their organization in each county, and completing the selec- tion of delegates to the Independent State Convention. Use every exertion to secure the choice as delegates of representative, courageous men, who will not falter when the time arrives to act who will not de- sert into the ranks of the enemy when the final time of testing comes. Especially see to it that there shall not be chosen as dele- gates any Pharisaical Independents, who preach reform, yet blindly follow boss leadership at the crack of the master's whip. Act quickly and act discreetly. A State Campaign Committee of fifty, comprising one member from each Sena- torial district, has been formed, and any one desiring to co-operate with us in this movement against the enemies of the in- tegrity of our State, who shall communi- cate with us, will be immediately referred to the committeeman representing: the dis- trict in which he lives. We urgently invite a correspondence from the friends of politi- cal independence from all sections of the State. Again we say to the Independent Repub- licans of Pennsylvania in the interest of justice and the Commonwealth's honor, leave no stone unturned to vindicate the rights of the people. I. D. McKEE, Chairman. WHARTON BARKER. JOHN J. PINKERTON. GEO. E. MAPES. H. S. McNAiR. CHARLES W. MILLER. FRANK WILLING LEACH, Secretary. In pursuance of the above call, the In- dependent Convention met. May 24th. in Philadelphia, and deciding that the action of the regular Republican Convention, held 310 AMERICAN POLITICS. BOOK! at Harrisburg on May 10th, did not give the guarantee of reform demanded by the Independents, proceeded to nominate a ticket and adopt a platform setting forth their views. Although the break between the two wings of the party was thus made final to all appearances, yet all efforts for a recon- ciliation were not entirely abandoned. Thos. M. Marshall having declined the nomination for Congressman at Large on the Republican ticket, the convention was reconvened June 21st, for the purpose of filling the vacancy, and while in session, instructed the State Central Committee to use all honorable means to secure harmony between the two sections of the party. Accordingly, the Republican State Com- mittee was called to meet in Philadelphia, July f 13th. At this meeting the following propositions were submitted to the Inde- pendents : Pursuant to the resolution passed by tie Harrisburg Convention of June 21st, and authorizing the Republican State Com- mittee to use all honorable means to pro- mote harmony in the party, the said com- mittee, acting in conjunction with the Re- publican candidates on the State ticket, respectfully submit to the State Committee and candidates of the Independents the following propositions : First. The tickets headed by James A. Beaver and John Stewart, respectively, be submitted to a vote of the Republican electors of the State, at primaries, as here- inafter provided for. Second. The selection of candidates to be voted for by the Republican party in November to be submitted as aforesaid, every Republican elector, constitutionally and legally qualified, to be eligible to nomination. Third. A State Convention to be neld, to be constituted as recommended by the Continental Hotel Conference, whereof Wharton Barker was chairman and Francis B. Reeves secretary, to select candidates to be voted for by the Republican party in November, its choice to be limited to the candidates now in nomination, or unlimit- ed, as the Independent State Committee may prefer. The primaries or convention referred to in the foregoing propositions to be held on or before the fourth Wednesday of August next, under regulations or ap- portionment to be made by Daniel Agnew, Hampton L. Carson, and Francis B. Reeves, not in conflict, however, with the acts of Assembly regulating primary elec- tions, and the candidates receiving the highest popular vote, or the votes of a majority of the members of the convention, to receive the united support of the party. Resolved, That in the opinion of the Re- publican State Committee the above pro- positions fully carry out, in letter and spirit, the resolution passed by the Harris- burg Convention, June 21st, and that we hereby pledge the State Committee to carry out in good faith any one of the foregoing propositions which may be ac- cepted. Jtesolved, That the chairman of the Re- publican State Committee be directed to forward an official copy of the proceedings of this meeting, together with the forego- ing propositions, to the Independent State Committee and candidates. Whereupon, General Reeder, of North- ampton, moved to amend by adding a further proposition, as follows. Fourth. A State Convention, to be con- stituted as provided for by the new rules adopted by the late Republican State Con- vention, to select candidates to be voted for by the Republican party in November, provided, if such convention be agreed to, said convention shall be held not later than the fourth Wednesday in August. Which amendment was agreed to, and the preamble and resolutions as amended were agreed to. This communication was addressed to the chairman of the Independent State Committee, I. D. McKee, who called the Independent Committee to meet July 27th, to consider the propositions. In the meantime the Independent candidates held a conference on the night of July 13th, and four of them addressed the fol- lowing propositions to the candidates of the Stalwart wing of the party : PHILADELPHIA, July 13th, 1882. To General James A. Beaver, Hon. William T. Davies, Hon. John M. Greer, William Henry Rawle, Esq., and Marriott Brosius, Esq. Gentlemen : By a communication re- ceived from the Hon. Thomas V. Cooper, addressed to us as candidates of the Inde- pendent Republicans, we are advised of the proceedings of the State Committee, which assembled in this city yesterday. Without awaiting the action of the In- dependent State Committee, to which we have referred the communication, and at- tempting no discussion of the existing differences, or the several methods pro- posed by which to secure party unity, we beg to say that we do not believe that any of the propositions, if accepted, would pro- duce harmony in the party, but on the contrary, would lead to wider divisions. We therefore suggest that the desired re- sult can be secured by the hearty co-op- eration of the respective candidates. We have no authority to speak for the great body of voters now giving their support to the Independent Republican ticket, nor BOOK L] CURRENT POLITICS. 311 can we include them by any action we may take. We are perfectly free, however, to act in our individual capacity, and Je- sire to assure you that we are not only willing, but anxious to co-operate with you in the endeavor to restore peace and harmony to our party. That this can be accomplished beyond all doubt we feel en- tirely assured, if you, gentlemen, are pre- pared to yield, with us, all personal con- siderations, and agree to the following propositions : .First. The withdrawal of both tickets. Second. The several candidates of these tickets to pledge themselves not to accept any subsequent nomination by the pro- posed convention. Under these conditions we will unite with you in urging upon our respective constituencies the adoption of the third proposition submitted by your committee, and conclude the whole controversy by our final withdrawal as candidates. Such withdrawal of both tickets would remove from the canvass all personal as well as political antagonisms, and leave the party united and unembarrassed. We trust, gentlemen, that your judgment will approve the method we have suggest- ed, and that, appreciating the importance of concluding the matter with as little de- lay as possible, you will give us your re- ply within a week from this date. Very respectfully, your obedient servants, JOHN STEWART, LEVI BIRD DUFF. GEORGE W. MERRICK. GEORGE JUNKIN. William McMichael, Independent can- dissented and following communication to Chairman Cooper : PHILADELPHIA, July 13th, 1882. Hon. Thomas V. Cooper, Chairman, etc. Dear Sir: Your letter of July 12th is received, addressed to the chairman of the State Committee of the Independent Re- publicans and their candidates, containing certain propositions of your committee. I decline "those propositions, because they involve an abandonment of the cause of the Independent Republicans. If a new convention, representing all Republicans, had nominated an entirely new ticket, worthy of popular support, and not containing the name of any candidate on either of the present tickets, and sin- cerely supporting the principles of the Independent Republicans, the necessity for a separate Independent Republican movement would not exist. Your propo- sition, however, practically proposes to re-nominate General Beaver, and reaffirm the abuse which we oppose. The convention of Independent Repub licans which met in Philadelphia on May 24th, announced principles in which I believe. It nominated me for Congress- man at Large, and I accepted that nomi- nation. It declared boldly against boss- ism, the spoils system, and all the evils which impair Republican usefulness, and in favor of popular rule, equal rights of all, national unity, maintenance of public credit, protection to labor, and all the great principles of true Republicanism. No other ticket now in the field presents those issues. The people of Pennsylvania can say at the polls, in November, whether they approve of those principles, and will support the cause which represents them. I will not withdraw or retire unless events hereafter shall give assurance that ne- cessary reform in the civil service shall be adopted; assessments made upon office- holders returned, and not hereafter exact- ed ; boss, machine, and spoils methods forever abandoned; and all our public offices, from United States Senator to the most unimportant officials, shall be filled only by honest and capable men, who will represent the people, and not attempt to dictate to or control them. I shall go on with the fight, asking the support of all my fellow-citizens whobeliove in the principles of the Independent lie- publican Convention of May 24th. Yours truly, WILLIAM MCMICHAEL. To these propositions General Beaver and his colleagues replied in the following communication : PHILADELPHIA, July 15th, 1882. Hon. Thomas V. Cooper, Chairman Repub' lican State Committee, Philadelphia, Pa. Sir ; We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt through you of a communica- tion addressed to us by the Hon. John Stewart, Colonel Levi Bird Duff, Major G. W. Merrick, and George Junkin, Esq.; in response to certain propositions submitted by the Republican State Committee, re- presenting the Republican party of Penn- sylvania, looking to an amicable and hon- orable adjustment of whatever differences there may be among the various elements of the party. Without accepting any of the propositions submitted by your com- mittee, this communication asks us, as a condition precedent to any recommenda- tion on the part of the writers thereof, to declare that in the event of the calling of a new convention, we will severally forbid the Republicans of Pennsylvania to call upon us for our services as candidates for the various positions to be filled by the people at the coming election. To saj 312 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK I. that in the effort to determine whether or not our nomination was the free and un- biased choice of the Republican party we must not be candidates, is simply to try the question at issue. We have no de- sire to discuss the question in any of its numerous bearings. We have placed our- selves unreservedly in the hands of the Republicans of Pennsylvania. We have pledged ourselves to act concurrently with your committee, and are bound by its ac- tion. We therefore respectfully suggest that we have no power or authority to act in- dependently of the committee, or make any declaration at variance with the proposi- tions submitted in accordance with its ac- tion. There ought to be and can be no such thing as personal antagonism in this contest. We socially and emphatically disclaim even the remotest approach to a feeling of this kind toward any person. We fraternize with and are ready to sup- port any citizen who loves the cause of pure Republicanism, and with this decla- ration we submit the whole subject to your deliberate judgment and wise considera- tion. JAMES A. BEAVER. WILLIAM HENRY RAWLE, MARRIOTT BROSIUS. W. T. DAVIES. JOHN M. GREER. At the meeting of the Independent State Committee, July 27th, the propositions of the Regular Committee were unanimously rejected, and a committee appointed to draft a reply, which was done in the fol- lowing terms : Thamas V. Cooper, Esq., Chairman Repub- lican State Committee. Dear Sir : I am instructed to advise you that the Independent Republican State Committee have considered the four sug- gestions contained in the minutes of the proceedings of your committee,forwarded to me by you on the 12th instant. I am directed to say that this committee find that none of the four are methods fitted to obtain a harmonious and honora- ble unity of the Republican voters of Pennsylvania. All of them are inadequate to that end, for the reason that they afford no guarantee that, being accepted, the principles upon which the Independent Republicans have taken their stand would be treated with respect or put into action. All of them contain the probability that an attempt to unite the Republicans of the State by their means would either result in reviving and strengthening the political dictatorship which we condemn or would permanently distract the Republican body, and insure the future and continued triumph of our common opponent, the Democratic party. Of the four suggestions, the first, second and fourth are so inadequate as to need no separate discussion : the third, which alone may demand attention, has the fatal defect of not including the withdrawal of that " slated '' ticket which was made up many months ago, and long in advance of the Harrisburg Convention, to represent and to maintain the very evils of control and abuses of method to which we stand op- posed. This proposition, like the others, supposing it to have been sincerely, put forward, clearly shows that you miscon- ceive the cause of the Independent Repub- lican movement, as well as its aims and purposes. You assume that we desire to measure the respective numbers of those who support the Harrisburg ticket and those who find their principles expressed by the Philadelphia Convention. This is a complete and fatal misapprehension. We are organized to promote certain reforms, and not to abandon them in pursuit of votes. Our object is the overthrow of the "boss system " and of the " spoils system." In behalf of this we are willing and anxious to join hands with you whenever it is assured that the union will be honestly and earnestly for that purpose. But we cannot make alliances or agree to com- promises that in their face threaten the very object of the movement in which we have engaged. Whether your ticket has the support of many or few, of a majority or a minority of the Republican voters, does not affect in the smallest degree the duty of every citizen to record himself against the abuses which it represents. Had the gentlemen who compose it been willing to withdraw themselves from the field, as they were invited to join in doing, for the common good, by the Independent Republican candidates, this act would have encouraged the hope that a new con- vention, freely chosen by the people, and unembarrassed by claims of existing can- didates, might have brought forth the needed guarantee of party emancipation and public reform. This service, however, they have de- clined to render their party; they not only claim and receive your repeated assurances of support, but they permit themselves to be put forward to secure the use of the In- dependent Republican votes at the same time that they represent the "bessism," the "spoils" methods, and the "machine " management which we are determined no longer to tolerate. The manner in which their candidacy was decreed, the means employed to give it convention formality, the obligations which they incur by it, the political methods with which it identifies them, and the political and personal plans for which their official influence would be required, all oin to make it the most im- BOOK I.] CURRENT POLITICS. 313 perative public duty not to give them sup- port at this election under any circum- stances. In closing this note, this committee must express its regret, that, having con- sidered it desirable to make overtures to the Independent Republicans, you should have so far misapprehended the facts of the situation. It is our desire to unite the Republican party on the sure ground of principle, in the confidence that we are thus serving it with the highest fidelity, and preserving for the future service of the Commonwealth that vitality of Repub- licanism which has made the party useful in the past, and which alone confers upon it now the right of continued existence. The only method which promises this re- sult in the approaching election is that proposed by the Independent Republican candidates in their letter of July 13th, 1882, which was positively rejected by your committee. On behalf of the Independent Repub- lican State Committee of Pennsylvania, I. D. McKEE, Chairman. With this communication ended all efforts at conciliation. ******** The election followed, and the Demo-, cratic ticket, headed by Robert E. Pattison of Philadelphia, received an average plurality of 40,000, and the Independent Republican ticket received an average vote of about 43,000 showing that while Independence organized did not do as well in a gubernatorial as it had in a previous off-year, it yet had force enough to defeat the Republican State ticket headed by (aim. James A. Beaver. All of the three s<;reral State tickets were composed of !\.i\Q men, and the force of both of the Republican tickets on the hustings excited great interest and excitement ; yet the Republican vote, owing to the division, was not out by nearly one hundred thou- sand, and fifty thousand more Republicans than Democrats remained at home, many of them- purposely. In New York, where dissatisfaction had no rallying point, about two hundred thousand Republicans re- mained at home, some because of anger at the defeat of Gov. Cornell in the State nominating convention some in protest against the National Administrations, which was accused of the desire for direct endorsement where it presented the name of Hon Chas. J. Folger, its Secretary of the Treasury, as the home gubernatorial candidate, others because of some of the many reasons set forth in ths bill of complaints which enumerates the causes of the dissatisfaction within the party. At this writing the work of Republican repair is going on. Both the Senate and House at Washington are giving active work to the passage of a tariff bill, the re- peal of the revenue taxes, and the passage of a two-cent letter postage bill measures anxiously hastened by the Republicans in order to anticipate friendly and defeat un- friendly attempts on the part of the Democratic House, which comes in with the first session of the 48th Congress. In Pennsylvania, as we close this review of the struggle of 1882, the Regular and Independent Republican State Committees at least the heads thereof are devising a plan to jointly call a Republican State^ Convention to nominate the State ticket to be voted for in November, 1883. The groundswell was so great that it had no sooner passed, than Republicans of all shades of opinion, felt the need of har- monious action, and the leaders every- where set themselves to the work of repair. The Republicans in the South differed from those of the North in the fact that their complaints were all directed against a natural political enemy the Bourbons and wherever there was opportunity they favored and entered into movements with Independent and Readjuster Democrats, with the sole object of revolutionizing political affairs in the South. Their suc- cess in these combinations was only great in Virginia, but it proved to be promising in North Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisi- ana, and may take more definite and generalshapeinthegreatcampaignof 1884. The Democratic party was evidently surprised at its great victory in 1882, and has not yet formally resolved what it will do with it. The Congress beginning with December, 1883, will doubtless give some indication of the drift of Democratic events. The most notable law passed in the closing session of the 47th Congress, was the Civil Service Reform Bill, introduced by Senator Geo. H. Peudleton of Ohio, but prepared under the direction of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Re- publicans, feeling that there was some public demand for the passage of a measure of the kind, eagerly rushed to its support, at a time when it was apparent that the spoils of office might slip from their hands. From opposite motives the Democrats, who had previously encour- aged, now ran away from it, but it passed both Houses with almost a solid Repub- lican vote, a few Democrats in each House voting with them. President Arthur signed the bill, but at this writing the Commission which it creates has not been appointed, and of course none of the rules and constructions under the act have been formulated. Its basic principles are fixed tenure in minor places, competitive ex- aminations, and non-partisan selections. 314 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. POLITICAL CHANGES-1883. In the fall of 1883 nearly all of the States swept by the tidal wave of 1882 showed that it had either partially or completely receded, and for the first time since the close of the Hayes administration (always excepting the remarkable Garfield-Han- cock campaign), the Republican party ex- hibited plain signs of returning unity and strength. Henry Ward Beecher has wittily said that " following the war the nation needed a poultice, and got it in the Hayes administration." The poultice for a time only drew the sores into plainer view, and healing potions were required for the con- tests immediately following. The divisions of 1882 were as much the result of the non- action of the Hayes administration, as of the misunderstandings and feuds which later on found bitter manifestation between the Stalwarts and Half Breeds of New York. The Independents took no organized form except in New York and Pennsylvania, and yet the underlying causes of division for the time swept from their Republican moorings not only the States named, but also Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Colorado and Califor- nia. The year 1882 seemed the culmination of every form of Republican division, and then everything in the States named gave place to faction. Very wisely the Repub- lican leaders determined to repair the mis- chief, as far as possible, in the otherwise uneventful year of 1883. Their efforts were in most instances successful, especially in Massachusetts where Robinson over- threw Gen. Butler's State administration by 20,000 majority ; in Pennsylvania, where the Republican State ticket received about 20,000 majority, after the reunion ol the Regular and Independent factions. In Pennsylvania the efforts at reconcilia- tion made in the Continental Conference, and in subsequent conventions, gave fruit in 1883, and at this writing in July, 1884 there is no mark of division throughout the entire State, if we except such as must in- evitably follow the plain acceptance ot Free Trade and Protective issues. Very few of the Republicans of Pennsylvania favor Free Trade, and only in the ranks of this few could any division be traced after the close of the elections of 1883. Ohio was an exception to the Republican work of reconciliation. Division still con- tinued, and Judge Hoadly, a leading and very talented Democrat, was elected Governor by about 15,000 majority, after a contest which involved the expenditure of large sums of money. In the Convention which nominated Hoadly, Senator Pen- dleton was practically overthrown because of his attachment to the Civil Service law which takes his name, and later on he was defeated for U. S. Senator by Mr. Payne, the McLean and Bookwalter factions uniting for his overthrow, which was ac- complished despite the efforts of Thurman, Ward and other leaders of the older ele- ments of the party. Both the Hoadly and Payne battles Were won under the banners of the " Young Democracy." Any compilation of the returns % pf 1883 must be measurably imperfect, for in only a few of the States were important and de- cisive battles waged. Such as they were, however, are given in the table on the next page: BOOK I.] POLITICAL CHANGES 1883. 315 jf *oo *o * r i I-H r-< ri '"r^^t'CO'CO O O CO 00 25 OOiO>O * * O .^(N ,Q .u5(OOC^r-iico .ccocct-oo . c ca 2 C - 1 ^ . vt< .c^Ji cc^ro . ,3> o*i-r 'co" *'c'co* f-ri-r^t-rco" *co*o* TO" 'd* -co" ^r-^i-r -of rH rH rn rO (N e^x^a CO rH o-j p- # ^ - _ e Q o CA e e>- o a H o < o> < jl'Or-lOOtC^r-Oi-<<- *CO *OiO *CO ^ ' -31 Cl qi * . QC ^ 00 . . . .OOCJi-H .f-i .COO* ,^J r- -. ,>ir-iT'. > .f^-iTj.Kr-O'H ic^-rOOrl OS M 05 t~ * * 00 >O 00 IN t- r1 O5 lO !C CO r- -r IN O (N lO ffi * 35(M(MiC'^^OOOS^*^CFHt-.cOt-OCOO icO'ror-cou':xco'-03'i*9'5coco c^Ctit^ r-co*o3^t-4iF-ocsrr-c:O . , ,OOMOOOOH"'C100OOOO OOOOnOOH M M M CO MMCI H W ^*"COMMMMt-tMC1MMMfOM Mt^CI^ *O HC40I I4MC4 HJOOUI-J I ire3cr[ | M com . *...., .MOO.. .00 M o vo . 10 M . moo vo ^oo o>ooooo N N *o >o oooco N N *o >o oooco ^^ o t^M'T >O MWC* nnnnnnnn I o O . . n n a | MOO...OO Mmp.iv . . .Mt^-^-MO^.Mt^Ov.^CO^-Mt^OCI .1O.MOO . . W . tx\O M,M,VQ ..n.C1.M|U1 I M M vo >o . 10 M . cooo voro>n--NNMint^M roo vo . ooo co mvo cx.Ht^ro.nnM HCI.M n M|> aureig " " . . ' . ' * . on uqo/ 'ucuuaqg H oo vo vo jlj | in H liji*. 11 lii 1= ^>^^ ^O22^P^^O 318 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. States. Teas Nayt Alabama. 14 6 States. Yea* tfayt Mississmpi 18 Missouri 18 24 Arkansas 14 California 16 Colorado 4 2 Connecticut.... 2 10 Delaware 6 Florida 2 6 Nevada 6 NewHamp*hire 8 New Jersey 14 4 New York - 72 North Carolina 10 12 Ohio 25 21 Georgia 12 12 Illinois 22 22 Indiana 30 Iowa 6 20 Oregon 6 Pennsylvania... 21 39 Rhode Inland 8 South Carolina 3 14 Tennessee 17 7 Texas 12 10 Kansas 3 15 Kentucky 20 6 Louisiana. 16 Main* _ 2 lo Maryland 16 Massachusetts.. 21 7 Michigan _ 12 12 Minnesota 14 The Secretary ann the vote as follows votes cast, 795 ; yeas, The report of the ( nent Organization v name of W. H. Vila ing presented as Pr vice-presidents) one several secretaries an the secretaries and rary organization be permanent organizati Virginia 6 18 West Virginia.. 9 3 Wisconsin 5 17 ounced the result of : Total number of 332; nays, 463. Committee on Perma- ws then made ; the is, of Wisconsin, be- esident, with a list of from each state) and d assistants, and that clerks of the tempo- continued under the on. The Contest over the Platform. There was a two-days contest in the Com- mittee on Resolutions over the adoption of the revenue features of the Platform. It advocated the collection of revenue for public uses exclusively, the italicized word being the subject of the controversy. It was retained by a vote of 20 to 18. To avoid extended debate in the Convention an agreement was made that Gen. Butler should make a minority report, and that three speeches should be made, these by Butler, Converse and Watterson. Col. Morrison, of Illinois, made the majority report, which was adopted with but 97 J negative votes out of a total of 820. The Ballots. Before balloting an effort was made to abolish the two-third rule, but this met with such decided disfavor that it was withdrawn before the roll of States was completed. There were two ballots taken on the Presidential candidates, and they were as follows : First. Total number of votes... 820 Necessary to a choice f>47 Grover Cleveland, of New York 392 Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware 168 Allen G. Tnurman, of Ohio 88 Samuel J. Randall, of Penn 78 Joseph E. McDonald of Indiana 56 John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky 27 Roswell P. Flwer, of New York 4 George Hoadly, of Ohio 3 ..;., Samuel J. Til5en, oT New York 1 Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana... 1 45% Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, who was de- feated eight years ago on the Tilden ticket, was nominated for Vice President by ac- clamation. The Kelly and Butler elements of the Convention, at all of the important stages, manifested their hostility to Cleveland, but there was no open bolt, and the Con- vention completed its work after sitting four days. [In the Book of Platform is given the Democratic Platform in full, and its tariff plank will be found in comparison with the Republican in the same book.] Second. 820 647 684 BN 4 I THE CAMPAIGN OF 1884. In what wero regarded as the pivotal States the campaign of 1884, was attended with thetitmost interest and excitement. Blaine, the most brilliant political leader of modern times, was acceptable to all of the more active and earnest elements of the Republican party, and the ability with which he haa championed the protective system and a more aggressive foreign policy, attracted very many Irishmen who had formerly been Democrats. The young and more intelligent leaders of this element promptly espoused the cause of the Republicans, ana their action caused a serious division in the Demo- cratic ranks. Wherever Irish- Americans were sufficiently numerous to form so- cieties of their own, such as the " Irish- American League," the "Land League," the " Clan na Gael," etc., there supporters of Blaine were found, and these were by a singular coincidence most numerous in the doubtful States of New York, New' Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio and Indiana. Cleveland's nomination by the Democrats had angered the Tammany wing of the party in New York, and not until very close to the election was a reconciliation effected. Tilden had from the first favored Cleveland, and with Daniel Man- ning as his manager in New York, no effort was spared to heal Democratic divisions and to promote tkem in the Republican ranks. Thus the Indepen- dent or Civil Service wing of the Repub- lican party, which in Boston and Kew BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 319 York cities, and in the cities of Connecti- cut, confessed attachment to free trade, was easily rallied under the Democratic banner. In convention in New York city this element denounced Elaine on what it pronounced a paramount moral issue, and for a time such brilliant orators as Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, George W. Curtis and Carl Schurz, "rang the changes " upon the moral questions pre- sented by the canvass. They were halted by scandals about Cleveland, and the Maria Halpin story, almost too indecent for historical reference, became a promi- nent feature of the campaign with the acquiescence, if not under the direction of the Republican managers. Many of our. best thinkers deplored the shape thus given to the canvass, but the responsi- bility for it is clearly traceable to the plan of campaign instituted by the Inde- pendents, or "Mugwumps," as they were called "Mugwump" implying a small leader.^ Only Ohio, West Virginia and Iowa remained as October States, and in the height of the canvass all eyes were turned upon Ohio. In all of the Western States both of the great parties had been dis- tracted by prohibitory and high license issues, and Ohio, because of temperance agitations, which still remained as dis- turbing elements had drifted into the Democratic column. If it were again lost to the Republicans, their national campaign would practically have ended then and there, so far as reasonable hopes could be entertained for the election of Elaine. This fact led to an extraordinary effort to influence favorable action there, and both Elaine and Logan made tours of the State, and speeches at the more important points. Mr. Elaine first went to New York city, thence through New Jersey, speaking at night at all import- ant points on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was the following day received by the Union League of Philadelphia. In the evening he reviewed a procession of 20,000 uniformed men. He then returned to New York, not yet having uttered a partisan sentence, but in passing west- ward through its towns, he occasionally referred to their progress under the sys- tem of protection. Reaching Ohio, he spoke more and more plainly of the issues of the canvass as his journey pro- ceeded, and wherever he went his speeches commanded national comment and attention. His plain object was, for the time at least, to smother local issues by the graver national ones, and he did this with an ability which has never been matched in the history of American oratory. The result was a victory for the Republicans in October; they carried Ohio by about 15,000, and greatly reduced the Democratic majority in West Vir- ginia. From this time forward the battle on the part of the Republicans was hopeful ; on the part of the Democrats desperate but not despairing. Senator Barnum, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was a skilled and trained pol- itician, and he sedulously cultivated In- dependent and Prohibition defection in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wis- consin and Indiana. Whether the scan- dals growing out of the result be true or false, every political observer could see that the elements named were under at least the partial direction of the Demo- cratic National Committee, for their sup- port was inconsiderable in States where they were not needed in crippling the chances of the Republicans. The Republi- can National Committee, headed by Mr. B. F. Jones, of Pennsylvania, an earnest and able, but an untrained leader, did not seek to check these plain efforts at defec- tion. This Committee thought, and at the time seemed to be justified in the be- lief that the defection of Irish-Americans in the same States would more than counterbalance all of the Independent and Prohibitory defection. The Republi- cans were likewise aided by General But- ler, who ran as the Greenback or " Peo- ple's " candidate, as he called himself. It would have done it easily, but for an acci- dent, possibly a trick, on the Thursday preceding the November election. Mr. Elaine was at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York, and among the many delega- tions which visited him was one of three hundred ministers who wished to show their confidence in his moral and intel- lectual fitness for the Chief Magistracy. The oldest of the ministers present was Mr. Burchard, and he was assigned to deliver the address. In closing it he re- ferred to what he thought ought to be a common opposition to " Rum, Romanism and Rebellion," an alliteration which not only awakened the wrath of the Democracy, but which quickly estranged many of the Irish-American supporters of Elaine and Logan. Mr. Elaine on the two following days tried to counteract the effects of an imprudence for which he was in no way responsible, but the allit- eration was instantly and everywhere em- ployed to revive religious issues and hatreds, and to such an extent that circu- lars were distributed at the doors of Catholic churches, implying that Elaine himself had used the offensive words. A more unexpected blow was never known in our political history ; it was quite as sudden and more damaging than the Morey forgery at the close of the Garfield campaign. It determined the result, and was the most prominent of half a dozen 320 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. mishaps, which if they had not hapm must have inevitably led to the efe< jened, inevitably led to the election of Elaine As it was, the result was so close in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Indiana and West Virginia, that it required several days to determine it, and it was not known as to New York until the 19th of November. The popular vote for Presidential elec- tors was cast on the 4th of November last, and the results are tabulated below. Where differences were found to exist in the vote for Electors in any State the vote for the highest on each ticket is given in all cases where the complete statement of the vote of the State has been received. The results show a total vote of 10,046,073, of which the Cleveland ticket received 4,913,901, the Elaine ticket 4,847,659, the Butler ticket 133,880, and the St. John ticket 150,633, showing a plurality of 66,242 for Cleveland. The total vote in 1860 was 9,218,251, and Garfield's plurality 9464. It should be noted, in considering the tabulated statement of this year's vote, that the Elaine Electoral tickets were supported by the Republicans and 1884. STATES. Elaine, Rep. Cleveland, Dem. Butler, People's. .v. John, Pro. ELECTORAL VOTE. Elaine. Cleveland. Alabama.....: 59,444 GQJM 102,397 Mn 65^96 12,778 28,031 47,603 340,497 238,480 197,082 154,406 118,674 46,347 72,209 5,699 146,724 192,669 111,685 42,774 202,029 7i.sT7 7,193 43,249 123,436 562,005 125,068 400,082 26,852 474,268 19,(>30 21,733 124,078 88,353 38,411 139,356 63,913 161,157 92,973 72.927 etaM 27,627 67.182 17,054 31,769 94,567 312,314 244,992 177,286 90,132 152,757 62,546 52.140 B8JM9 122.481 189,361 70,065 78,547 235,988 54.:-V4 5,577 8,iaa 127,798 563,154 142,905 368,280 24,593 393,747 12.394 69,890 133,258 223,208 17,342 145,497 67,331 146,477 762 1,847 2,017 1,957 1,685 6 ~'l25 10,910 8,293 16,346 1,655 120 3,953 531 24,433 763 3,583 610 10 7 _.... 3 4 12 "'"is n 8 8 9 16 9 36 11 9 12 13 ""'i-j 6 California. 2,920 759 2,494 55 74 184 12.074 3,013 1,472 4.495 3,106 338 2,160 2.7W 10,026 18,403 4,684 6 3 ""a ""'is 9 ....... 14 13 7 Connecticut..... .. Delaware- Florida ~ ...... CJeorgta. ..... Illinois ....... Iowa Kansas _ Kentucky ... Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts _ .... Michigan M i n m-sota M ississi ppl Missouri. 2,153 2,858 5 3 4 ""a 3 30 4 Nebraska ......... Nevada., Nt-\ Hampshire 552 3,496 17,064 57l79 723 16,992 422 1,575 6,159 25,008 448 11,069 488 15,306 928 New Jersey New York North Carolina. Ohio . Oregon _ Pennsylvania Rhode Island _. South Carolina. _. Tennessee 957 3,321 785 "805 4,596 1,131 3,511 1,612 143 927 7,656 4 "'"ii Texas.. _ Vermont. Virginia \\vt Virginia. _ Wisconsin ~. Total.... 4,847,659 4,913,901 66,242 133,880 150,633 182 219 Plurality the People's Party in Missouri and West Virginia, and that Cleveland Electoral tii-kcts were supported by the Democrats and the People s Party in Iowa, Michigan ami Nebraska. The People's Party claims to have cast alx>ut 41,300 votes for the fusion tirketin Michigan and about33,000 in Iowa. The vote of California is official from all but two counties; the unofficial reports from these are included in the totals given in the table. South Carolina returns 1237 "scattering" votes. There was no hi' -h in the count of the vote in any of the Electoral Colleges, held at the capitols of the various States. On the 9th of February, 1885, the two Houses of Congress assembled to witness the counting of the vote. Mr. Edmunds, President of the Senate, upon its comple- tion, announced that " it appears " from the count that Mr. Cleveland has been elected President, etc. This form was used upon his judgment as the only one which he could lawfully use. the Electoral law not having as yet determined the power or prescribed the form for de- claring the result of Presidential elec- tions. BOOK I. AMEEICAN POLITICS. 321 Cleveland's Administration. PRESIDENT CLEVELAND was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1885, amid much military and civic pomp and ceremony. Jubilant Democrats from all parts of the country visited the National Capital to celebrate their return to National power after a series of Republican successes ex- tending through twenty-four years. The inaugural address was chiefly noted for its promises in behalf of civil service reform. It showed a determination on the part of the President to adhere to the pledges given to what are still termed the ' ' Mug- wumps " prior to the election. The senti- ments expressed secured the warm approval of Geo. W. Curtis, Carl Schurz, Henry Ward Beecher and other civil service re- formers, but were disappointing to the straight Democrats, who naturally wished to enjoy all of the fruits of the power won after so great a struggle. Vice President Hendricks voiced this, radical Democratic sentiment, and was rapidly creating a schism in the ranks of the party, but his sudden death checked the movement and deprived it of organization, though there still re- mains the seed of dissatisfaction, much of which displayed itself in the contests of 1885. President Cleveland appointed the fol- lowing Cabinet : Secretary of State : Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware. Secretary of the Treasury : Daniel Man- ning of New York. Secretary of War: W. C. Endicott of Massachusetts. Postmaster -General: Win. P. Vilas of Wisconsin. Secretary of the Interior : L. Q. C. Lamar of Mississippi. Attorney General : Augustus H. Garland of Arkansas. Up to this writing, May, 1886, the Ad- ministration of President Cleveland has not been marked by any great event or crisis its greatest political efforts being directed toward appeasing the civil and holding in close political alliance with the civil service reformers, without disrupting the Demo- cratic party by totally refusing to distribute the spoils of office. It had long been pre- dicted by practical politicians that a serious attempt to defeat the doctrine "to the victor belongs the spoils," would destroy the administration attempting it. The elections of 1885 point to a realization of 21 this prophecy, though it is yet too soon to accurately judge the result with nearly three years of administration yet to be de- voted to its pursuit. Ohio witnessed in her last October elec- tion the first great struggle under the Democratic State and National Adminis- trations. Gov. Hoadley was renotninated by the Democrats, and Judge Foraker was renominated by the Republicans. The latter were aided by the strong canvass of John Sherman for his return to the U. S. Senate. The contest was throughout ex- citing, some of the best speakers of the country taking the stump. The result was as follows: Foraker, R 359,538 Hoadley, D 341,380 Leonard, Pro .... 28,054 Northrop, G .... 2,760 The Irish- Americans who had left the Democratic party to vote for Blaine, ad- hered to the Republican standard, and really increased their numbers more than a third more voting for Foraker than for Blaine, while the Mugwump element prac- tically disappeared. The Prohibition vote had almost doubled, but as all third or fourth parties as a rule attract their vote from the parties in which the most discon- tent prevails, the excess came not from the Republican but the Democratic ranks. Pennsylvania's result, following in No- vember, was similar in all material points to that of Ohio. Col. M. S. Quay, an ac- knowledged political leader and a man of national reputation, thought it wise that his party should oppose in the most radical and direct way, the Democratic State and National Administration, and with this purpose became a candidate for State Treasurer. The Democrats nominated Conrad B. Day of Philadelphia. The result was as follows : Quay, R 324,694 Day, D 281,178 Spangler, Pro. . . . 15047 Whitney, G 2,783 Col. Quay's majority greatly exceeded all expectation, and was universally ac- cepted as a condemnation of the two Demo- cratic administrations. New York, of all the November States, very properly excited the most attention. The Democrats renominated Gov. Hill upon a platform tantamount to a condemna- tion 01 civil service reform a platform dictated by Tammany Hall, which was al- ready quarrelling with the National admin- istration. The Mugwump leaders and journals immediately condemned both t the Democratic ticket and platform, and joined 322 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. with the Republicans in support of Dav- enport. The result was : GOVERNOR. Hill, D 501,418 Davenport, R. . . . 489,727 Bascom, Pro .... 30,866 Jones, G 2,127 LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR. Jones, D. ...... 495,450 Carr, R 492,288 Demorest, Pro. . . . 31,298 Gage, G 2,087 In New York the Irish-Americans, an- gered by the return of the Mugwumps, whose aristocratic and free trade tenden- cies they were especially hostile to, under the lead of the Irish World left the Re- publicans and returned to the support of the Democracy. They decided the contest and their attitude in the future will be 01 immediate concern in all political calcula- tions. The net results in three great States gave satisfaction to both parties probably the most to the Republicans, but it is cer- tain that they left politics in a very inter- esting and very uncertain shape- THE CAMPAIGN OF 1886. THE campaign of 1886 showed that the Republican party was capable of making gains in the South, especially in Congres- sional districts and upon protective and educational issues. Indeed, so plain was this in the State of Virginia that Randolph Tucker, for whom the Legislature had ap- portioned a district composed of eleven white counties, refused to run again, and Mr. Yost, editor of the Staunton Virgin- ian, who had canvassed the entire district on tariff issues and in favor of the Blair educational bill, was returned over a popu- lar Democrat, by 1900 majority. Of the ten Congressmen from Virginia the Repub- licans elected six. Morrison, the tariff-re- form leader of Illinois, was defeated, as was Burd of Ohio, while Speaker Carlisle's seat was contested by Mr. Thoche, a pro- tectionist candidate of the Knights of Labor. These and other gains reduced the Democratic majority in the House to about fifteen, and this could not be counted upon for any tariff reduction or financial meas- ures. The Republicans lost one in the U. 8. Senate. Local divisions in the Republican ranks were seriously manifested in but one State, that of California, which chose a Demo- cratic Governor and a Republican Lieuten- ant Governor, so close was the contest. The Governor has since died, the Lieuten- ant Governor has taken his place, but the Legislature re-elected Senator Hearst, Democrat, who had previously been ap- pointed before the retirement of Governor Stoneman. New York city witnessed, not a revolu- tion, but such a marked change in politics that it excited comment throughout the entire country. The Labor party ran Henry George, the author of Progress and Pov- erty, and other works somewhat socialistic and certainly agrarian in their tendencies, for Mayor of the city. Hewitt, the well- known Congressman, was the candidate of the Democracy, while the Republicans pre- sented Roosevelt, known chiefly for his municipal-reform tendencies. Hewitt was elected, but George received over 60,000 votes, and this unlopkedfor poll changed the direction of political calculations for a year. George was aided by nearly all the Labor organizations, and he drew from the Democrats about two to the one drawn from the Republicans a fact which greatly raised the hopes of the latter and at the same time made the Democrats more cau- tious. In 1886 the Republicans and Democrats, with the qualifications noted above, held their party strength, with the future pros- Sects so promising to both that at this early ate preparations began for the Presiden- tial campaign, General Beaver, defeated for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1882 by a plurality of 40,000, was now elected by a plurality of 43,000, though the Prohibi- tionists polled 32,000 votes, two-thirds of which came from the Republican part^. The general result of the campaign indi- cated that the Republicans were gaining in unity and numbers. BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 323 INTEREST in the forthcoming Presiden- tial campaign was everywhere manifested in the struggles of 1887. The first skirmish was lost by the Republicans, and while it encouraged Mr. Cleveland's administration, it gave warning to the Republicans through- out the country that they must heal all differences and do better work. So quickly was this determination reached that Rhode Island came back to the Republican column in November, by the election of a Con- gressman. The elections of the year, as a whole, were largely in favor of the Republicans, and three pivotal States were captured Connecticut, New Jersey, and Indiana, with Virginia claimed by both parties. True the issues and candidates in Indiana and Con- necticut were purely local, a fact which contributed largely to the continued hope- fulness of the Democracy, who had again carried New York by an average majority of 14,000, notwithstanding Henry George now ran for Secretary of State in the hope of more greatly dividing the Democratic than the Republican vote. He did this, in somewhat less proportion than when he ran for Mayor of the city, but the agitation of High License for the cities alone, and the Prohibitory agitation led to the union of all the saloon interests with the Democracy. These interests, headed by the organization of brewers, established Personal Liberty Leagues in all of the larger cities, which Leagues held a State Convention at Albany said to represent 75,000 voters, or 500 to each delegate. The figures were grossly exaggerated, but nevertheless an alliance was formed with the Democratic party in the State by the substantial adoption of the anti-sumptuary plank in its platform. Suf- ficient Republicans were in this way won to balance the Henry George defections from the Democracy, and the result was practically the same as in 1886. The Mug- wumps supported the Republicans in 1886, but they cut little if any figure in 1887. It was very plain to the hind-sight of the Republican leaders of New York, that if they had resisted and resented the forma- tion of the Personal Liberty Leagues, and made a direct and open issue against the control of the saloon in politics, they would have easily won a victory like that achieved in Pennsylvania. Two acts contributed to the swelling of the Prohibitory vote, which in 1887 came more equally from both par- ties. Governor Hill had vetoed the High License act, and thus angered the Temper- ance Democrats, while the Republicans had failed to submit to a vote of the people the prohibitory amendment, thus angering an additional number of Republicans, so that the Prohibitory vote was swelled to 42,000. New York's complete vote for Secretary of State was: Grant, Republican . . Cook, Democrat . Huntington, Prohibitionist George, United Labor Beecher, Greenback Preston, Union Labor Hall, Progressive Labor Scattering . Total vote 452,822 469,802 41,850 69,836 988 983 7,768 1,351 1,045,405 The Republicans of Pennsylvania met the growing temperance agitation in such a way as to keep within and recall to its lines nearly all who naturally affiliated with that party. The State Convention of 1886 promised to submit the prohibitory amend- ment to a vote of the people, and the Re- publican Legislature of 1887 passed the amendment for a first time, and also passed a High License law, which placed the heaviest licenses upon the cities, but in- creased all, and gave four-fifths and three- fifths of the amount to the city and country treasuries. . During the closing week of the campaign of 1885 in Pennsylvania, a combination was made by the brewers of Allegheny County with the Democracy for a combined raid against the Republican State ticket headed by General Beaver. A large sum of money was raised, and the singing societies, or such of them as could be induced to enter the movement, were marshalled as a new and potent element. The result was a surprise to the Republicans and a reduction of aoout 4,000 in their majority. Thus began the movement which this year culminated in the organization of Personal Liberty Leagues throughout the cities of New York and Pennsylvania. Encouraged by this local success in Pennsylvania and angered by the passage of a High License law, an immense fund was raised in Philadelphia and Pitts- burg, and the Democratic workers in all singing and social clubs and societies were employed to create from these, as their nucleus, the Petsonal Liberty Leagues. In Philadelphia alone the Central Convention represented over 300 societies, and this fact led to extravagant claims as to the number 324 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. of voters whose views were thus reflected. The organization was secret, but the brew- ers, maltsters, and wholesale dealers who created it, opened State headquarters and likewise established a State headquarters for the Leagues. Much the same plan was adopted in Pittsburg and great boasts were made that it would oe extended to all the towns and cities of the State. From the first combinations were made by the Demo- cratic city committees, the State Committee giving them a friendly wink. Tins work was allowed to go on for a full month, the Republican State Committee, and the Republican city committees as well, giving such careful investigation to the facts that every charge could be proven. Then it was that the State Address was issued, wherein all the leading facts were given and each and every challenge accepted. The Republican party thus publicly renewed its pledge to cast the second and final legisla- tive vote for submission to the people the prohibitory amendment for the mainten- ance of high license, and just as unequivo- cally pledged the maintenance of the Sun- day laws assailed by the Personal Liberty Leagues. The effect was to group in a solid and an aggressive mass of good citizens all who believed that the people should not be de- nied the right to make their own laws upon liquor as upon other questions; all who valued a high license which, while general, placed the higher charges upon the cities, and which gave three and four-fifths of all the revenues to the city and county treas- uries, and as well all who believed in main- taining an American Sabbath. The grouping of these three positions proved more powerful than the quarter of a million dollars supplied the combination by the brewing and wholesale liquor inter- t-t-*: more powerful than the hundreds of social and singing societies supposed to be grouped with the Democratic liquor com- bination ; more powerful than all of the combined elements of disorder planted by the side of the Democracy. It was a royal battle, fought out in the open day! Indeed, the Republican address compelled publicity and made a secret battle thereafter impossible. Every effort at con- tinued secrecy was immediately exposed by the Republican State Committee and the leading daily Republican journals, and every country paper bristled with these^exposures. In very desperation the combination became more and more public as the canvass ad- vanced. It was shown that the Personal Liberty Leagues were under the direction of the Socialists, and this arrayed against them all of the Israelites in the State be- sides thousands of other law-abiding citi- zens : the demand for the repeal of the Sunday laws compelled the opposition of all branches of religious Germans Catho- lics, Lutherans, Mennonites, Dunkards, etc. and called forth the protests of nearly all of the pulpits. The fact that in Philadel- phia and Allegheny the brewers and whole- sale dealers, just as they do in the great cities of New York, own nearly all of the saloons drinking places without accommodations for strangers and travellers and that their battle was for the saloon in competition with the hotel, inn or tavern, divided the liquor interests and induced all who favored the High License bill, partially framed to protect this class, to support the Republican party. So true was this that a resolution before the Convention of the State Liquor League indorsing high license save a few vexatious features, came so near passing that the saloon keepers subsequently estab- lished a separate organization. The battle at no time and in no place took shape for prohibition beyond that sense of fair play which suggests submission to a vote of the people any question which a law-abiding and respectable number desire to vote upon. The battle was almost dis- tinctly for and against the Sunday laws and for and against high license, and the Repub- licans everywhere gave unequivocal support to these measures. In Allegheny, shocked the year before by the sudden raid of the brewers, some of the leading politicians for a time feared to face the issues as presented by the Republican State Committee, and really forced upon them by the Democratic liquor combination, but an eloquent Presby- terian divine sounded from his pulpit the slogan, a great Catholic priest followed, the Catholic Temperance Union and the T. A. B.'s, not committed to prohibition, but pub- licly committed to high license, passed reso- lutions denouncing the combination. Some of the assemblies of the Knights of Labor followed, and in open battle the Republicans of Allegheny accepted the issue and the challenge and were rewarded for their cour- age by a gain of 1,200 just where brewing and distillery interests are strongest. The Democratic liquor combination did not show a gain over their Gubernatorial majorities in a single German county except North- ampton, where a citizens' local movement by its sharp antagonism drew out the full Democratic vote for their State ticket. The combination, with' all of the power of money, with the entire saloon interests, with the Personal Liberty Leagues, called from the Republican ranks in the entire State not over 12.000 votes, of which 6,000 were in Philadelphia and 4,000 in Allegheny. These were more than made up by 15.000 out of 32,000 Prohibitionists who returned to the Republican party, and by 5,000 Democrats who joined the Republican column. Given more time, and with the issues as univer- sally acknowledged by all parties as they BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 325 have been since the election, far more Pro- hibitionists would have returned and more Democrats would have voted the Republican ticket. As it was, the Prohibition vote cast was about equally divided between the Democrats and Republicans; there was probably more Democrats than Republi- cans. In 1886 the 32,000 Prohibitionists comprised 24,000 Republicans and 8000 Democrats. All of the latter remained and were reinforced in nearly every quarter. There had always been from 5,000 to 6,000 third party Prohibitionists. If the Republicans had not bravely faced the issues thus forced upon them they would have lost the State, for the Demo- cratic liquor combination polled 15,000 votes more than the Republican candidate Col- onel Quay, an exceptionally strong man had received in 1885 ; but the bravery of the Republicans and the fact that their attitude was right called out 60,000 more votes than the party cast in '85, and in this way increased its majority despite all combinations. These are the leading facts in the most novel of all the campaigns known to Penn- sylvania's history. The situation was much the same in New York. The total vote for State Treasurer was : Hart, Republican . . . 385.514 McQrann, Democrat . . . 340,269 Irish, Prohibitionist . . . 18,471 Kennedy, Greenback . . 8,900 Total .... 753,154 An important feature of the year was the interest shown in the question of pro- hibiting the manufacture aud sale of intox- icating liquors. Four States have voted on this issue, Michigan leading off in April, Texas voting in August. Tennessee in Sep- tember, and Oregon in November. Prohi- bition was defeated in each instance, but its advocates succeeded in polling a sur- prisingly large vote. The poll in these States was as follows : For Pro. Against Pro. Michigan 178,488 184,429 Texas 129,273 221,627 Tennessee 117,504 145,197 Oregon 19,973 27,958 Totals 445,238 579,211 Majority against prohibition 133,973 To this should be added the defeat of prohibition in Atlanta and Fulton counties, Ga., by 1122 majority, where it had won two years before by 228 majority. The in- ! terest shown in local option and high license as a solution of the temperance question, and its popularity wherever adopted, is also a marked feature of the year's politics. In Michigan local option succeeded the failure of prohibition, while in Pennsylvania the people are promised a choice between high license and prohibition. The elections of 1887 as a whole, without removing doubts as to the future, were gen- erally accepted as favorable to the Repub- licans. The following is a fair comparison with Rhode Island omitted, for the plain reason that her spring result was reversed in the fall : 1883. 1887. Mass New York.. New Jersey Penna Maryland.. Ohio Kentucky.. Iowa Nebraska .. Virginia ... Rep. 160,092 429,757 97,047 319,106 80,707 347,164 89,131 164,182 56,381 144,419 Dem. 150,228 445,976 103,856 302,031 92,694 359,793 133,615 139,093 41,998 124,080 Rep. 136,000 452,435 107,026 385,514 86,644 356,937 126,476 168,696 86,725 119,380 Dem. 118,394 469,886 104,407 340,269 98,936 333,205 143,270 152,886 56,548 119,806 Totals 1,888,036 1,893,364 2,025,833 1,937,607 Democratic majority in 1883 5,328 Republican majority in 1887 '..., 88,226 Gain in the Dem. vote in four years 44,243 Gain in the Rep. vote in four years 137,797 The vote in Rhode Island would probably reduce the Republican gain of the year about 5000. But as the figures for Virginia are disputed and not the official vote, which it is known would add several thousand to the Republican total, the above result can be taken as a just estimate of the gain made by the Republicans in these eleven states, where general elections were held. It would be at least 25,000 larger if the vote of the highest candidate, instead of the head of the ticket, were taken. 326 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1888. THE fiftieth Congress convened in De- cember, 1887, the Senate consisting of 38 Republicans. 37 Democrats, and 1 Read- juster, Mr. Riddleberger, of Virginia. In the House there were 168 Democrats, 153 Republicans, and 4 Independents Ander- son, of Iowa and Hopkins, of Virginia, classed with the Democrats, and Smith of Wisconsin and Nichols of North Carolina, classed with the Republicans upon tariff and educational subjects two questions which in the form of Revenue measures and of the Blair educational bill, gave early promise of becoming the issues for the campaign of 1888. Upon the assembling of the fiftieth Con- gress President Cleveland, instead of send- ing the usual message describing the con- dition of the Nation and its relations with foreign nations, together with such recom- mendations as he desired to make, sent simply a message upon questions of revenue, and in this way gave the subject such em- phasis as to make his views the issue in the campaign to follow. The message excited wide and varied political comment, and when Mr. Elaine, who at the time was in Paris, permitted an answer to be wired to the New York Tribune, the two opposing views seemed to meet the wishes of the two great opposing parties, and they were at once accepted as defining the tendencies of each party, at least, upon tariff and revenue subjects. As these two papers will prove the text for much of the discussion incident to the campaign of 1888, we give below their text: President Cleveland's Message. To the Congresn of the United States : You are confronted at the threshold of your legislative duties with a condition of the national finances which imperatively demands immediate and careful considera- tion. The amount of money annually exacted, through the operation of the present laws, from the industries and necessities of the people, largely exceeds the sum necessary to meet the expenses of the government. \Vhen we consider that the theory of our institutions guarantees to every citizen the full enjoyment of all the fruits of his industry and enterprise, with only such deduction as may be his share towards the careful and economical maintenance of the government which protects him, it is plain that the exaction of more than this is inde- fensible extortion, and a culpable betrayal of American fairness and justice. This wrong inflicted upon those who bear the burden of national taxation, like other wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil conse- quences. The public treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the people's tribute to its legitimate objects of expendi- ture, becomes a hoarding-place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use, thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's develop- ment, preventing investment in productive enterprise, threatening financial disturbance, and inviting schemes of public plunder. This condition of our treasury is not altogether new ; and it has more than once of late been submitted to the people's rep- resentatives in the Congress, who alone can apply a remedy. And yet the situation still continues, with aggravated incidents, more than ever presaging financial convulsion and widespread disaster. It will not do to neglect this situation be- cause its dangers are not now palpably imminent and apparent. They exist none the less certainly, and await the unforeseen and unexpected occasion when suddenly they will be precipitated upon us On the 30th day of June, 1885, the excess of revenues over public expenditures after complying with the annual require- ment of the sinking-fund act, was $17,859,- 735 84 ; during the year ended June 30, 1886, such excess amounted to $49,405,- 545.20 ; and during the year ended June 30, 1887, it reached the sum of $55,567,- 849.54, The annual contributions to the sinking- fund during the three years above specified, amounting in the aggregate to $138,058,- 320.94, and deducted from the surplus as stated, were made by calling in for that purpose outstanding three per cent, bonds of the government. During the six months prior to June 30, 1887, the surplus revenue nad grown so large by repeated accumula- tions, and it was feared the withdrawal of this great sum of money needed by the people would so affect the business of the country that the sum of $79,864,100 of such surplus was applied to the payment of the principal and interest of the three per cent, bonds still outstanding, and which were then payable at the option of the government. The precarious condition of financial affairs among the people still need BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 327 ing relief, immediately after the 30th day of June, 1887, the remainder of the three per cent, bonds then outstanding, amount- ing with principal and interest to the sum of $18,877,500, were called in and applied to the sinking-fund contribution for the cur- rent fiscal year. Notwithstanding these operations of the Treasury Department, representations of distress in business circles not only continued but increased, and abso- lute peril seemed at hand. In these circum- stances the contribution to the sinking fund for the current fiscal year was at once com- pleted by the expenditure of $27,684,283.55 in the purchase of government bonds not yet due bearing four and four and a half percent, interest, the premium paid thereon averaging about twenty-four per cent, for the former and eight per cent, for the latter. In addition to this, the interest accruing during the current year upon the outstand- ing bonded indebtedness of the government was to some extent anticipated, and banks selected as depositories of public money were permitted to somewhat increase their de- posits. While the expedients thus employed, to release to the people the money lying idle in the Treasury, served to avert immediate danger, our surplus revenues have continued to accumulate, the excess for the present year amounting on the 1st day of December to $55,258,701.19, and estimated to reach the sum of $113,000,000 on the 30th of June next, at which date it is expected that this sum, added to prior accumulations, will swell the surplus in the Treasury to $140,000,000. There seems to be no assurance that, with such a withdrawal from use of the people's circulating medium, our business community may not in the near future be subjected to the same distress which was quite lately produced from the same cause. And while the functions of our National Treasury should be few and simple, and while its best condition would be reached, I believe, by its entire disconnection with private business interests, yet when, by a perversion of its purposes, it idly holds money uselessly sub- tracted from the channels of trade, there seems to be reason for the claim that some legitimate means should be devised by the government to restore in an emergency, without waste or extravagance, such money to its place among the people. . If such an emergency arises there now exists no clear and undoubted executive power of relief. Heretofore the redemption of three per cent, bonds, which were pay- able at the option of the government, has afforded a means for the disbursement of the excess of our revenues ; but these bonds have been all retired, and there are no bonds outstanding the payment of which we have the right to insist upon. The contri- bution to the sinking fund which furnishes the occasion for expenditure in the purchase of bonds has been already made for the cur- rent year, so that there is no outlet in that direction. In the present state of legislation the only pretence of any existing executive power to restore, at this time, any part of our surplus revenues to the people by its expenditure, consists in the supposition that the Secre- tary of the Treasury may enter the market and purchase the bonds of the government not yet due, at a rate of premium to be agreed upon. The only provision of law from which such a power could be derived is found in an appropriation bill passed a number of years ago ; and it is subject to the suspicion that it was intended as tem- porary and limited in its application, in- stead of conferring a continuing discretion and authority. No condition ought to exist which would justify the grant of power to a single official, upon his judg- ment of its necessity, to withhold from or release to the business of the people, in an unusual manner, money held in the Treas- ury, and thus affect, at his will, the financial situation of the country ; and if it is deemed wise to lodge in the Secretary of the Treas- ury the authority in the present juncture to purchase bonds, it should be plainly vested, and provided, as far as possible, with such checks and limitations as will define this official's right and discretion, and at the same time relieve him from undue responsibility. In considering the question of purchasing bonds as a means of restoring to circulation the surplus money accumulating in the Treasury, it should be borne in mind that premiums must of course be paid upon such purchase, that there may be a large part of these bonds held as investments which can- not be purchased at any price, and that com- binations among holders who are willing to sell may unreasonably enhance the cost of such bonds to the government. It has been suggested that the present bonded debt might be refunded at a less rate of interest, and the difference between the old and new security paid in cash, thus finding use for the surplus in the Treasury. The success of this plan, it is apparent, must depend upon the volition of the holders of the present bonds; and it is not entirely certain that the inducement which must be offered them would result in more financial benefit to the Government than the pur- chase of bonds, while the latter proposition would reduce the principal of the debt by actual payment, instead of extending it. The proposition to deposit the money held by the Government in banks through- put the country, for use by the people, is, it seems to me, exceedingly objectionable in principle, as establishing too close a rela- 328 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. tionship between the operations of the Government Treasury and the business of the country, and too extensive a com- mingling of their money, thus fostering an unnatural reliance in private business upon public funds. If this scheme should be adopted it should only be done as a tempo- rary expedient to meet an urgent necessity. Legislative and executive effort should gen- erally be in the opposite direction and should have a tendency to divorce, as much and as fast as can safely be done, the Treasury Department from private enter- prise. Of course it is not expected that unneces- sary and extravagant appropriations will be made for the purpose of avoiding the accumulation of an excess of revenue. Such expenditure, beside the demoraliza- tion of all just conceptions of public duty which it entails, stimulates a habit of reck- less improvidence not in the least consistent with the mission of our people or the high and beneficent purposes of our government. I havedeemed it my duty to thus bring to the knowledge of my countrymen, as well as to the attention of their representatives charged with the responsibility of legislative relief, the gravity of our financial situation. The failure of the Congress heretofore to provide against the dangers which it was quite evident the very nature of the diffi- culty must necessarily produce, caused a condition of financial distress and appre- hension since your last adjournment, which taxed to the utmost all the authority and expedients within executive control ; and these appear now to be exhausted. If dis- aster results from the continued inaction of Congress, the responsibility must rest where it belongs. Though the situation thus far considered is fraught with danger which should be fully realized, and though it presents feat- ures of wrong to the people as well as peril to the country, it is but a result growing out of a perfectly palpable and apparent cause, constantly reproducing the same alarming circumstances a congested na- tional treasury and a depleted monetary condition in the business of the country. It need hardly be stated that while the present sit nation demands a remedy, we can only be saved from a like predicament in the future by the removal of its cause. Our scheme of taxation, by means of which this needless surplus is taken from the people and put into the public treasury, consists of a tariff or duty levied upon im- portations from abroad, and internal revenue taxes levied upon the consumption of to- bacco and spirituous and malt liquors. It must be conceded that none of the things subjected to internal revenue taxation are, strictly speaking, necessaries : there appears to be no just complaint of this taxation by the consumers of these articles, and there seems to be nothing so well able to bear the burden without hardship to any portion of the people. But our present tariff laws, the vicious, inequitable and illogical source of unneces- sary taxation, ought to be at once revised and amended. These laws, as their primary and plain effect, raise the price to consumers of all articles imported and subject to duty, by precisely the sum paid for such duties. Thus the amount of the duty measures the tax paid by those who purchase for use these imported articles. Many of these things, however, are raised or manufactured in pur own country, and the duties now levied upon foreign goods and products are called protection to these home manufac- tures, because they render it possible for those of our people who are manufacturers, to make these taxed articles and sell them for a price equal to that demanded for the imported goods that have paid customs duty. So it happens that while compara- tively a few use the imported articles, mil- lions of our people, who never use and never saw any of the foreign products, pur- chase and use things of the same kind made in this country, and pay therefor nearly or quite the same enhanced price which the duty adds to the imported articles. Those who buy imports pay the duty charged thereon into the public treasury, but the great majority or our citizens, who buy domestic articles of the same class, pay a sum at least approximately equal to this duty to the home manufacturer. This ref- erence to the operation of our tariff laws is not made by way of instruction, but in order that we may be constantly reminded of the manner in which they impose a burden upon those who consume domestic products as well as those who consume imported articles, and thus create a tax upon all our people. It is not proposed to entirely relieve the country of this taxation. It must be ex- tensively continued as the source of the government's income ; and in a readjust- ment of our tariff the interests of American labor engaged in manufacture should be carefully considered, as well as the preserva- tion of pur manufacturers. It may be called protection, or by any other name, but relief from the hardships and dangers of pur present tariff laws should be devised with especial precaution against imperilling the existence of our manufacturing interests. But this existence should not mean a con- dition which, without regard to the public welfare or a national exigency, must always insure the realization of immense profits in- stead of moderately profitable returns. As the volume and diversity of our national activities increase, new recuits are added to those who desire a continuation of the ad- vantages which they conceive the present BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 329 system of tatiff taxation directly affords them. So stubbornly have all efforts to re- form the present condition been resisted by those of our fellow-citizens thus engaged, that they can hardly complain of the sus- picion, entertained to a certain extent, that there exists an organized combination all along the line to maintain their advan- tage. We are in the midst of centennial cele- brations, and with becoming pride we re- joice in American skill and ingenuity, in American energy and enterprise, and in the wonderful natural advantages and resources developed by a century's national growth. Yet when an attempt is made to justify a scheme which permits a tax to be laid upon every consumer in the land for the benefit of our manufacturers, quite beyond a reason- able demand for governmental regard, it suits the purposes of advocacy to call our manufactures infant industries, still needing the highest and greatest degree of favor and fostering care that can be .wrung from Fed- eral legislation. It is also said that the increase in the price of domestic manufactures resulting from the present tariff is necessary in order that higher wages may be paid to our work- ingmen employed in manufactories, than are paid ^br what is called the pauper labor of Europe. All will acknowledge the force of an argument which involves the welfare and liberal compensation of our laboring people. Our labor is honorab'e in the eyes of every American citizen ; and as it lies at the foundation of our development and pro- gress, it is entitled, without affectation or hypocrisy, to the utmost regard. The standard of our laborers' life should not be measured by that of any other country less favored, and they are entitled to the full share of all our advantages. By the last census it is made to appear that of the 17,392,099 of our population engaged in all kinds of industries 7,670,493 are employed in agriculture, 4,074,238 in professional and personal service, (2,934,- 876 of whom are domestic servants and laborers,) while 1,810,256 are employed in trade and transportation, and 3,837,112 are classed as employed in manufacturing and mining. For present purposes, however, the last number given should be considerably re- duced. Without attempting to enumerate all, it will be conceded that there should be deducted from those which it includes 375,- 143 carpenters and joiners, 285,401 milli- ners, dressmakers, and seamstresses, 172,726 blacksmiths, 133,756 tailors and tailoresses, 102.473 masons, 76,241 butchers, 41,309 bakers, 22,083 plasterers and 4,891 engaged in manufacturing agricultural implements, amounting in the aggregate to 1,214,023, leaving 2,623,089 persons employed in such manufacturing industries as are claimed to I be benefited by a high tariff. To these the appeal is made to save their employment and maintain their wages by resisting a change. There should be no disposition to answer such suggestions by the allegation that they are in a minority among those who labor, and therefore should forego an advantage, in the interest of low prices for the majority ; their com- pensation, as it may be affected by the op- eration of the tariff laws, should at all times be scrupulously kept in view; and yet with slight reflection they will not overlook the fact that they are consumers with the rest; that they, too, have their own wants and those of their families to supply from their earnings, and that the price of the neces- saries of life, as well as the amount of their wages, will regulate the measure of their welfare and comfort. But the reduction of taxation demanded should be so measured as not to necessitate or justify either the loss of employment by the working man nor the lessening of his wages; and the profits still remaining to the manufacturer, after a necessary read- justment, should furnish no excuse for the sacrifice of the interests of his employes either in their opportunity to work or in the diminution of their compensation. Nor can the worker in manufactures fail to understand that while a high tariff is claimed to be necessary to allow the pay- ment of remunerative wages, it certainly results in a very large increase in the price of nearly all sorts of manufactures, which, in almost countless forms, he needs for the use of himself and his family. He receives at the desk of his employer his wages, and perhaps before he reaches his home is obliged, in a purchase for family use of an article which embraces his own labor, to return in the payment of the increase in price which the tariff permits, the hard- earned compensation of many days of toil. The farmer and the agriculturist who manufacture nothing, but who pay the in- creased price which the tariff imposes, upon every agricultural implement, upon all he wears and upon all he uses and owns, ex- cept the increase of his flocks and herds and such things as his husbandry produces from the soil, is invited to aid in maintain- ing the present situation ; and he is told that a high duty on imported wool is neces- sary for the benefit of those who have sheep to shear, in order that the price of their wool may be increased. They of course are not reminded that the farmer who has no sheep is by this scheme obliged, in his pur- chase of clothing and woolen goods, to pay a tribute to his fellow farmer as well as to the manufacturer and merchant ; nor is any mention made of the fact that the sheep- ownera themselves and their households, 330 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. must wear clothing and use other articles manufactured from the wool they sell at tariff prices, and thus as consumers must return their share of this increased price to the tradesman. I think it may be fairly assumed that a large proportion of the sheep owned by the farmers throughout the country are found in small flocks numbering from twenty-five to fifty. The duty on the grade of imported wool which these sheep yield, is ten cents each pound if of the value of thirty cents or less, and twelve cents if of the value of more than thirty cents. If the liberal estimate of six pounds be allowed for each fleece, the duty thereon would be sixty or seventy-two cents, and this may be taken as the utmost enhancement of its price to the farmer by reason of this duty. Eighteen dollars would thus represent the increased price of the wool from twenty-five sheep and thirty six dollars that from the wool of fifty sheep ; and at present values this ad- dition would amount to about one-third of its price. If upon its sale the farmer re- ceives this or a less tariff profit, the wool leaves his hands charged with precisely that sum, which in all its changes will adhere to it, until it reaches the consumer. When manufactured into cloth and other goods and material for use, its cost is not only in- creased to the extent of the farmer's tariff profit, but a further sum has been added For the benefit of the manufacturer under the operation of other tariff laws. In the meantime the day arrives when the farmer finds it necessary to purchase woolen goods and material to clothe himself and family for the winter. When he faces the trades- man for that purpose he discovers that he is obliged not only to return in the way of increased prices, his tariff profit on the wool he sold, and which then perhaps lies before him in manufactured form, but that he must add a considerable sum thereto to meet a further increase in cost caused by a tariff duty on the manufacture. Thus in the end he is aroused to the fact that he has paid upon a moderate purchase, as the result of the tariff scheme, which, when he Bold his wool seemed so profitable, an in- crease in price more than sufficient to sweep away all the tariff profit he received upon the wool he produced and sold. When the number of farmers engaged in wool-raising is compared with all the farm- ers in the country, and the small proportion they bear to our population is considered ; when it is made apparent that, in the case of a large part of those who own sheep, the benefit of the present tariff ^n wool is illu- sory ; and, above all, when it must be con- ceded that the increase of the cost of living caused by such a tariff, becomes a burden upon those with moderate means and the poor, the employed and the unemployed, the sick and well, and the young and old, and that it constitutes a tax which, with, relentless grasp, is fastened upon the cloth- ing of every man, woman, and child in the land, reasons are suggested why the re- moval or reduction of this duty should be included in a revision of our tariff laws. In speaking of the increased cost to the consumer of our home manufactures, result- ing from a duty laid upon imported articles of the same description, the fact is not over- looked that competition among our domestic producers sometimes has the effect of keep- ing the price of their products below the highest limit allowed by such duty. But it is notorious that this competition is too often strangled by combinations quite pre- valent at this time, and frequently called trusts, which have for their object the regu- lation of the supply and price of commodi- ties made and sold by members of the com- bination. The people can hardly hope for any consideration in the operation of these selfish schemes. If, however, in the absence of such com- bination, a healthy and free competition re- duces the price of any particular dutiable article of home production, below the limit which it might otherwise reach under pur tariff laws, and if, with such reduced price, its manufacture continues to thrive, it is entirely evident that one thing has been discovered which should be carefully scru- tinized in an effort to reduce taxation. The necessity of combination to maintain the price of any commodity to the tariff point, furnishes proof that some one is willing to accept lower prices for such com- modity, and that such prices are remunera- tive ; and lower prices produced by compe- tition prove the same thing. Thus where either of these conditions exists, a case would seem to be presented for an easy reduction of taxation The considerations which have been pre- sented touching our tariff laws are intended only to enforce an earnest recommendation that the surplus revenues of the govern- ment be prevented by the reduction of our customs duties, and, at the same time, to emphasize a suggestion that in accomplish- ing this purpose, we may discharge a double duty to our people by granting to them a measure of relief from tariff taxation in quarters where it is most needed and from sources where it can be most fairly and justly accorded. Nor can the presentation made of such considerations be, with any degree of fair- ness, regarded as evidence of unfriendliness toward our manufacturing interests, or of any lack of appreciation of their value and importance. These interests constitute a leading and most substantial element of our national greatness and furnish the proud proof of BOOK I.] AMEKICAN POLITICS. 331 our country's progress. But if in the emer- gency that presses upon us our manufactur- ers are asked to surrender something for the public good and to avert disaster, their patriotism, as well as a grateful recognition of advantages already afforded, should lead them to willing cooperation. No demand is made that they shall forego all the bene- fits of governmental regard ; but they can- not fail to be admonished or their duty, as well as their enlightened self-interest and safety, when they are reminded of the fact that financial panic and collapse, to which the present condition tends, afford no greater shelter or protection to our manu- factures than to our other important enter- prises- Opportunity for safe, careful, and deliberate reform is now afforded; and none of us should be unmindful of a time when an abused and irritated people, heed- less of those who have resisted timely and reasonable relief, may insist upon a radical and sweeping rectification of their wrongs. The difficulty attending a wise and fair revision of our tariff laws is not underesti- mated. It will require on the part of the Congress great labor and care, and espe- cially a broad and national contemplation of the subject, and a patriotic disregard of such local and selfish claims as are unreason- able and reckless of the welfare of the en- tire country. Under our present laws more than four thousand articles are subject to duty. Many of these do not in any way compete with our own manufactures, and many are hardly worth attention as subjects of revenue. A considerable reduction can be made in the aggregate, by adding them to the free list. The taxation of luxuries presents no features of hardship; but the necessaries of life used and consumed by all the people, the duty upon which adds to the cost of living in every home, should be greatly cheapened. The radical reduction of the duties im- posed upon raw material used in manufac- tures, or its free importation, is of course an important factor in any effort to reduce the price of these necessaries ; it would not only relieve them from the increased cost caused by the tariff on such material, but the manu- factured product being thus cheapened, that part of the tariff now laid upon such product, as a compensation to our manufacturers for the present price of raw material, could be accordingly modified. Such reduction, or free importation, would serve beside to largely reduce the revenue. It is not ap- parent how such a change can have any in- jurious effect upon our manufacturers. On the contrary, it would appear to give them a better chance in foreign markets with the manufacturers of other countries, who cheapen their wares by free material. Thus our people might have the opportunity of extending their sales beyond the limits of home consumption saving them from the depression, interruption in business, and loss caused by a glutted domestic market, and affording their employes more certain and steady labor, with its resulting quiet and contentment. The question thus imperatively presented for solution should be approached in a spirit higher than partisanship and consid- ered in the light of that regard for patriotic duty which should characterize the action of those intrusted with the weal of a con- fiding people. But the obligation to de- clared party policy and principle is not wanting to urge prompt and effective action. Both of the great political parties now represented in the Government have, by repeated and authoritative declarations, condemed the condition of our laws which permits the collection from the people of unnecessary revenue, and have, in the most solemn manner, promised its correction ; and neither as citizens or partisans are our countrymen in a mood to condone the de- liberate violation of these pledges. Our progress toward a wise conclusion will not be improved by dwelling upon the theories of protection and free trade. This savors too much of bandying epithets. It is a condition which confronts us not a theory. Relief from this condition may involve a slight reduction of the advantages which we award our home productions, but the entire withdrawal of such advantages should not be contemplated. The question of free trade is absolutely irrelevant ; and the persistent claim made in certain quar- ters, that all efforts to relieve the people from unjust and unnecessary taxation are schemes of so-called free-traders, is mis- chievous and far removed from any consid- eration for the public good. The simple and plain duty which we owe the people is to reduce taxation to the nec- essary expenses of an economical operation of the government, and to restore to the business of the country the money which we hold in the treasury through the per- version of governmental powers. These things can and should be done with safety to all our industries, without danger to the opportunity for remunerative labor which our workingmen need, and with benefit to them and all our people, by cheapening their means of subsistence and increasing the measure of their comforts. The Constitution provides that the Pres- ident "shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Union." It has been the custom of the Executive, in compliance with this provi- sion, to annually exhibit to the Congress, at the opening of its session, the general condition of the country, and to detail, with some particularity, the operations of the different Executive Departuieuts. It would 332 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK I. be especially agreeable to follow this course at the present time, and to call attention to the valuable accomplishments of these departments during the last fiscal year. But I am much impressed with the para- mount importance of the subject to which this communication has thus far been devoted, that I shall forego the addition of j any other topic, and only urge upon your immediate consideration the "state of the Union" as shown in the present condition of our treasury and our general fiscal situa- tion, upon which every element of our safety and prosperity depends. The reports of the heads of departments, which will be submitted, contain full and explicit information touching the transac- tion of the business intrusted to them, and such recommendations relating to legisla- tion in the public interest as they deem ad- visable. I ask for these reports and recom- mendations the deliberate examination and action of the Legislative branch of the government There are other subjects not embraced in the departmental reports demanding legis- lative consideration and which I should be 6 lad to submit. Some of them, however, ave been earnestly presented in previous messages, and as to them, I beg leave to repeat prior recommendations. As tii" law makes no provision for any report from the department of State, a brief history of the transactions of that important Department, together with other matters which it may hereafter be deemed essential to commend to the attention of the Congress, may furnish the occasion for a future communication. G ROVER CLEVELAND. WAMIMOTON, Dteembtr 6, 1887. Mr. Blaine'* Answer to Cleveland. Of Cubit lolheN. T. Tribune. PARIS, Dec. 7, 1887. After reading an abstract of the President's message, laid be- fore all Europe this morning. I saw Mr. Bluine and asked him if he would be willing i to give his views upon the recommendation of the President in the form of a letter or interview. He preferred an interview, if I would agree to send him an intelligent short- hand reporter, with such questions as should give freo scope for an expression of his views. The following lucid and powerful statement is the result. Mr. Blaine began by saying to the reporter: " I have been reading an abstract of the President's message and have been espe- cially interested in the comments of the London papers. Those papers all assume to declare that the message is a free trade manifesto and evidently are anticipating , an enlarged market for English fabrics in i the United States as a consequence of, the President's recommendations. Perhaps that fact stamped the character of the mes- sage more clearly than any words of mine can." "You don't mean actual free trade with- out duty?" queried the reporter. "No," replied Mr. Blaine. "Nor do the London papers mean that. They simply mean that the President has recommended what in the United States is known as a revenue tariff, rejecting the protective feat- ure as an object and not even permitting protection to result freely as an incident to revenue duties." "I don't know that I quite comprehend that last point," said the reporter. "I mean," said Mr. Blaine, "that for the first time in the history of the United States the President recommends retaining the internal tax in order that the tariff may be forced down even below the fair revenue standard. He recommends that the tax on tobacco be retained, and thus that many millions annually shall be levied on a do- mestic product which would far better come from a tariff on foreign fabrics." "Then do you mean to imply that you would favor the repeal of the tobacco tax?' "Certainly; I mean just that," said Mr. Blaine. "I should urge that it be done at once, even before the Christmas holidays. It would in the first place bring great relief to growers of tobacco all over the country, and would, moreover, materially lessen the price of the article to consumers. Tobacco to millions of men is a necessity. The Presi- dent calls it a luxury, but it is a luxury in no other sense than tea and coffee are lux- uries. It is well to remember that the lux- ury of yesterday becomes a necessity of to- day. Watch, if you please, the number of men at work on the farm, in the coal mine, along the railroad, in the iron foundry, or in any calling, and you will find 95 in 100 chewing while they work. After each meal the same proportion seek the solace of a pipe or a cigar. These men not only pay the millions of the tobacco tax, but pay on every plug and every cigar an enhanced price which the tax enables the manufac- turer and retailer to impose. The only ex- cuse for such a tax is the actual necessity under which the government found itself during the war, and the years immediately following. To retain the tax now in order to destroy the protection which would inci- dentally flow from raising the same amount of money on foreign imports, is certainly a most extraordinary policy for our govern- ment." " Well, then, Mr. Blaine, would you ad- vise the repeal of the whiskey tax also?" " No, I would not. Other considerations than those of financial administration are to be taken into account with regard to whiskey. There is a moral side to it. To BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. cheapen the price of whiskey is to increase its consumption enormously. There would be no sense in urging the reform wrought by high license in many States if the National Government neutralizes the good effect by making whiskey within reach of every one at twenty cents a gallon. Whiskey would be everywhere distilled if the surveillance of the government were withdrawn by the remission of the tax, and illicit sales could not then be prevented even by a policy as rigorous and searching as that with which Russia pursues the Nihilists. It would de- stroy high license at once in all the States. "Whiskey has done a vast deal of harm in the United States. I would try to make it do some good. I would use the tax to fortify our cities on the seaboard. In view of the powerful letter addressed to the democratic party on the subject of fortifi- cations by the late Samuel J. Tilden, in 1885, I am amazed that no attention has been paid to the subject by the democratic administration. Never before in the his- tory of the world has any government al- lowed great cities on the seaboard, like Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Balti- more, New Orleans, and San Francisco, to remain defenceless." '"But," said the reporter, "you don't think we are to have a war in any direction?' ' "Certainly not," said Mr. Blaine, "Nei- ther, I presume, did Mr. Tilden when he wrote his remarkable letter. But we should change a remote chance into an absolute impossibility. If our weak and exposed points were strongly fortified ; if to-day we had by any chance even such a war as we had with Mexico our enemy could procure ironclads in Europe that would menace our great cities with destruction or lay them under contribution. ' ' "But would not our fortifying now pos- sibly look as if we expected war?" " Why should it any more than fortifica- tions made seventy or eighty years ago by our grandfathers when they guarded them- selves against successful attack from the armaments of that day. We don't neces- sarily expect a burglar because we lock our doors at night, but if by any possibility a burglar conies it contributes vastly to our peace of mind and our sound sleep to feel that he can't get in." "But after the fortifications should be constructed would you still maintain the tax on whiskey?" "res," said Mr. Blaine, "So long as there is whiskey to tax I would tax it, and when the National Government should have no use for the money I would divide the tax among the Federal Union with specific ob- ject of lightening the tax on real estate. The houses and farms of the whole country pay top large a proportion of the total taxes, if ultimately relief could be given in that direction it would, in my judgment., be a wise and beneficent policy. Some honest but misguided friends of temperance have urged that the government should not use the money derived from the tax on whiskey. My reply that the tax on whiskey by the Federal Government, with its suppression of all illicit distillation and consequent en- hancement of price, has been a powerful agent in the temperance reform by putting it beyond the reach of so many. The amount of whiskey consumed in the United States per capita to-day is not more than 40 per cent, of that consumed thirty years ago. ' After a few moments' silence Mr. Blaine added that in his judgment the whiskey tax should be so modified as to permit all who use pure alcohol in the arts or mechanical pursuits to have it free from tax. In all such cases the tax should be remitted without danger of fraud, just as now the tax on spirits exported is remitted. "Besides your general and sweeping op- position to the President's recommendation have you any further specific objection?" "Yes," answered Mr. Blaine; "I should seriously object to the repeal of the duty on wool. To repeal that would work great injustice to many interests and would seriously discourage what we should en- courage, namely, the sheep culture among farmers throughout the Union. To break wool -growing and be dependent on foreign countries for the blanket under which we sleep and the coat that covers our back is not a wise policy tor the National Govern- ment to enforce. "Do you think if the President's re- commendation were adopted it would in- crease our export trade ?' "Possibly iu some articles of peculiar construction it might, but it would increase our import trade tenfold as much in the great staple fabrics, in woollen and cotton goods, in iron, in steel, in all the thousand and one shapes in which they are wrought. How are we to export staple fabrics to the markets of Europe unless we make them cheaper than they do in Europe, and how are we to manufacture them cheaper than they do in Europe unless we get cheaper labor than they have in Europe?" "Then you think that the question of labor underlies the whole subject?" "Of course it does," replied Mr. Blahie. "It is, in fact, the entire question. Whenever we can force carpenters, masons, iron workei-s, and mechanics in every department to work as cheaply and live as poorly in the United States as similar workmen in Europe, we can, of course, manufacture just as cheaply as they do in England and France. But 1 am totally opposed to a policy that would entail such results. To attempt it is equivalent to a social and financial revolution, one that would bring untold distress." 834 AMERICAN POLITICS. BOOK I. "Yes, but might not the great farming class be benefited by importing articles from Europe instead of buying them at higher prices at home?" "The moment," answered Mr. Blaine, "you begin to import freely from Europe you drive our own workmen from mechan- ical and manufacturing pursuits. In the same proportion they become tillers of the soil, increasing steadily the agricultural products and decreasing steadily the large home demand which is constantly enlarg- ing as home manufactures enlarge. That, of course, works great injury to the farmer, glutting the market with his products and tending constantly to lower prices." " Yes, but the foreign demand for farm products would be increased in like ratio, would it not ?' ' ' ' Even suppose it were," said Mr. Blaine, "do you know the source from which it will be supplied ? The tendency in Russia to- day, and in the Asiatic possessions of Eng- land, is toward a large increase of the grain supply, the grain being raised by the cheap- est possible labor. Manufacturing countries will buy their breadstuffs where they can get them the cheapest, and the enlarging of the home market for the American farmer being checked, he would search in vain for one of the same value. His foreign sales are already checked by the great com- petition abroad. There never was a time when the increase of a large home market was so valuable to him. The best proof is that the farmers are prosperous in pro- portion to the nearness of manufacturing centres, and a protective tariff tends to spread manufactures. In Ohio and Indiana, for example, though not classed as manu- facturing States, the annual value of fabrics Ls larger than the annual value of agricul- tural products." "But those holding the President's views," remarked the reporter, "are always quoting the great prosperity of the country under the tariff of 1846." " That tariff did not involve the one de- structive point recommended by the Presi- dent, namely, the retaining of direct in- ternal taxes in order to abolish indirect taxes levied on foreign fabrics. But the country had peculiar advantages under it by the Crimean War involving England, trance, and Russia, and largely impairing their trade. All these incidents, or acci- dents, if you choose, were immensely stimu luting to the trade in the United States, regardless to the nature of our tariff. But in irk the end of this European experience with the tariff of 1846, which for a time gave an illusory and deceptive show of pros- perity. Its enactment wan immediately followed by the Mexican War; then, in 1848, by the great convulsions of Europe ; then, in 1849 and succeeding years, by the I enormous gold yield in California. The ! powers made peace in 1856, and at the same time the output of gold in California felli off. Immediately the financial panic of 1857 came upon the country with disastrous force. Though we had in these years mined a vast amount of gold in California, every bank in New York was compelled to suspend specie payment. Four hundred millions in gold had been carried out of the country in eight years to pay for foreign goods that should have been manufactured at home, and we had years of depression and distress as an atonement for our folly. ' ' "Then do you mean to imply that there should be no reduction of the national revenue?" " No ; what I have said implies the re- verse. I would reduce it by a prompt re- peal of the tobacco tax, and would make here and there some changes in the tariff, not to reduce protection, out wisely foster it." " Would you explain your meaning more fully?" "I mean," said Mr. Blaine, "that no great system of revenue, like our tariff, can operate with efficiency and equity unless the changes of trade be closely watched and the law promptly adapted to those changes. But I would make no change that should impair the protective character of the whole body of the tariff laws. Four years ago, in the act of 1883, we made changes of the character I have tried to indicate. If such changes were made, and the fortifying of our sea coast thus under- taken at a very moderate annual outlay, no surplus would be found after that already accumulated had been disposed of. The outlay of money on fortifications, while doing great service to the country, would give good work to many men." "But what about the existing surplus?" "The abstract of the message I have seen," replied Mr. Blaine, "contains no reference to that point. I, therefore, make no comment further that to endorse Mr. Fred. Grant's remark, that a surplus is always easier to handle than a deficit." The reporter repeated the question whether the President's recommendation would not, if adopted, give us the advantage of a large increase in exports. "I only repeat," answered Mr. Blaine, " it would vastly increase our imports while the only export it would seriously increase would be our gold and silver. That would flow out bounteously, just as it did under the tariff of 1846. The President's recom- mendation enacted into law would result, as did an experiment in drainage of a man who wished to turn a swamp into a pro- ductive field. He dug a drain to a neigh- boring river, but it happened, unfortunately, that the level of the nver was higher than BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 335 the level of the swamp. The consequence need not be told. A parallel would be found when the President's policy in at- tempting to open a channel for an increase of exports should simply succeed in making way for a deluging inflow of fabrics to the destruction of home industry." "But don't you think it important to in- crease our export trade?" ' Undoubtedly ; but it is vastly more im- portant not to lose our own great market for our own people in vain effort to reach the impossible. It is not our foreign trade that has caused the wonderful growth and expansion of the republic. It is the vast domestic trade between thirty-eight States and eight Territories, with their population of, perhaps, 62,000,000 to-day. The whole amount of our export and import trade to- gether has never, I think, reached $1,900,- 000,000 any one year. Our internal home trade on 130,000 miles of railway, along 15,000 miles of ocean coast, over the five great lakes and along 20,000 miles of navi- gable rivers, reaches the enormous annual aggregate of more than $40,000,000,000, and perhaps this year $50,000,000,000. "It is into this illimitable trade, even now in its infancy and destined to attain a magnitude not dreamed of twenty years ago, that the Europeans are struggling to enter. It is the heritage of the American people, of their children, and of their children's children. It gives an absolutely free trade over a territory nearly as large as all Eu- rope, and the profit is all our own. The genuine Free-trader appears unable to see or comprehend that this continental trade not our exchanges with Europe is the great source of our prosperity. President Cleveland now plainly proposes a policy that will admit Europe to a share of this trade. ' ' "But you are in favor of extending our foreign trade, are you not?" ' ' Certainly I am, in all practical and ad- vantageous ways, but not on the principle of the Free-traders, by which we shall be constantly exchanging dollar for dime. Moreover, the foreign trade is often very delusive. Cotton is manufactured in the' city of my residence. If a box of cotton goods is sent 200 miles to the province of New Brunswick, it is foreign trade. If shipped 17,000 miles round Cape Horn to Washington Territory it is domestic trade. The magnitude of the Union and the im- mensity of its internal trade require a new political economy. The treatises written for European States do not grasp our peculiar situation." "How will the President's message be received in the South?" "I don't dare to answer that question. The truth has been so long obscured by certain local questions of unreasoning preju- dice that nobody can hope for industrial enlightenment among the leaders just yet But in my view the South above all sec- tions of the Union needs a protective tariff. The two Virginias, North Carolina, Ken- tucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia have enormous resources and facili- ties for developing and handling manufac- tures. They cannot do anything without protection. Even progress so vast as some of those States have made will be checked if the President's message is enacted into law. Their Senators and Representatives can prevent it, but they are so used to fol- fowing anything labelled ' democratic ' that very probably they will follow the Presi- dent and the progress already made. By the time some of the Southern States get free iron ore and coal, while tobacco is taxed, they may have occasion to sit down and calculate the value of democratic free trade to their local interests. ,' "Will not the President's recommenda- tion to admit raw material find strong sup- port?" " Not by wise Protectionists in our time. Perhaps some greedy manufacturers may think that with free coal or free iron ore they can do great things, but if they should succeed in trying will, as the boys say, catch it on the rebound. If the home trade in raw materials is destroyed or seriously in- jured railroads will be the first to feel it. If that interest is crippled in any direction the financial fabric of the whole country will feel it quickly and seriously. If any man can give a reason why we should ar- range the tariff to favor the raw material of other countries in a competition against our material of the same kind, I should like to hear it. Should that recommendation of the President be approved it would turn 100,000 American laborers out of employ- ment before it had been a year in opera- tion." " What must be the marked and general effect of the President's message?" "It will bring the country where it ought to be brought to a full and fair contest on the question of protection. The President himself makes the one issue by presenting no other in his message. I think it well to have the question settled. The democratic party in power is a standing menace to the industrial prosperity of the country. That menace should be removed or the policy it foreshadows should be made certain. No- thing is so mischievous to business as un- certainty, nothing so paralyzing as doubt." GK W. SMALLET. 336 AMERICAN POLITICS, [BOOK i. THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS OF 1888. The Democratic Convention. THE Democratic party, being in power, assumed the customary role of the majority party, and after a close struggle its National Committee called its Convention at St. Louis, June 5th, two weeks in advance of the time fixed by the Republicans. The sessions continued throughout three days, being somewhat prolonged by the differ- ences of opinion upon the platform, the immediate friends of the Cleveland admin- istration desiring an unqualified endorse- ment of the Presidential message relating to the tariff, and as well to the Mills bill, the measure supported in the lower House of Congress by all of the Democrats save those led by Samuel J. Randall, who stood upon the platform "straddle" of 1884. Finally the differences were partially ad- justed by a reaffirrnation of the platform of 1884, and very decided endorsements ot both the President's message and the Mills bill. The result was not satisfactory to the Protective-Tariff Democrats, but they were without large or courageous representation, and the platform was adopted with but one dissenting vote. (For platform and com- parison of platforms of the Conventions ol the two great parties, see Book II.) i the third day Grover Cleveland, oi New York, was nominated for President by acclamation. A ballot was started for Vico- President, between Allen G.Thurman of Ohio, and Governor Gray, of Indiana, but before it closed Thnrman's nomination was so apparent that Gray was withdrawn, an 1 the nomination made unanimous. It tlio midst of the applause which followed, tho California dcleiration presented to the C invention thousands of the "red ban- dana" worn by the "oM Roman" Thur- man. and it was immediately placed upon tlio standard of every State, and accepted as the emblem of the Democratic party. The Republican Convention. The National Convention of the Repub- lican party met in Chicago, June 19th, and continued its sessions until the evening of the 2oth. Major McKinley, of Ohio, was the Chairman of the Committee on Platform, and on the second day made a unanimous report, which was adopted with great enthusiasm. The platforms of the two great parties, 20* setter than anything else, illustrate the lines of difference between them. One of the ines was plainly drawn by President Cleve- _and's message to Congress. This paper plainly advocated a reduction of tariff duties with a view to reduce to the actual require- ments of an economic administration of governmental affairs, the surplus in the treasury, then approximating $80,000,000. He opposed the repeal or reduction of the internal revenue taxes, upon the ground that the" were placed upon luxuries. Mr. Elaine answered this message for the Re- publican party, and opposed any system of tariff reduction which tended to free trade, and favored the repeal of the internal revenue taxes upon tobacco and upon all liquors used in the arts. So that the truth- ful and probably the most compact state- ment of the position of the two great parties is this : The Democratic party in the cam- paign of 1888 favors an established tendency to free trade ; the Republican party opposes any such tendency, and rather than pro- mote it in any way, would repeal all of the internal revenue taxes and enlarge the pension list in this way disposing of the treasury surplus. The platform of the Republican party not only followed, but went beyond the expressed views of Mr. Elaine, and accepted in the plainest way the issue thrust upon the country by Mr. Cleveland's message. The position of the two great parties had been anticipated by their respective leaders, and both Conven- tions advanced beyond the lines laid down by these leaders, and entered upon the campaign in this shape. During the ballotings of the Republican Convention Mr. Elaine was upon all save the last solidly supported by the California delegation and by scattering votes On the last day Hon. Charles A. Boutelle, Chairman of the Maine delegation, read two cablegrams from Mr. Elaine, who was then in Edinboro, Scotland, asking his friends to lespect his Paris letter of declination. It was at any time within the power of his friends to nominate him, but his final refusal led nearly all of them to vote for General Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, at all times one of the leading candidates before the Convention. There was no general combi- nation, but the nomination was largely traceable to the expediency of selecting both of the candidates from pivotal States. BOOK I.]' AMERICAN POLITICS. 337 Summary of the Ballots. Friday. Saturday. Monday. 1st Sherman, 229 Gresham, 111 Depew, 99 Alger, 84 Harrison, 80 Allison, Ingalls, Phelps, Rusk, Filler, Hawley, Lincola, MoKinley, 2 Miller, Douglas ... Foraker, Grant, Haymond, Elaine, 2d 3d 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 249 244 235 224 244 231 119 108 123 98 87 91 91 59 99 91 Withdrawn. 116 122 135 142 137 120 100 91 94 217 213 231 278 544 75 88 88 99 73 76 ... Withdrawn. 5 16 ' Withdrawn. Withdrawn. 221 2 ... 3 8 11 14 12 16 4 10 18 211 1 ... 1 1 1 1 35 33 35 42 48 40 15 Total, 830 830 830 829 827 829 832 831 Mr. Griggs, of New Jersey, presented the name of" William Walter Phelps, of New Jersey, for Vice-President, which was seconded by Mr. Gibson, of Ohio, Mr. Eagan, of Nebraska, and Mr. Oliver, of Iowa, and others. Senator Warner Miller, of New York, presented the name of Hon. Levi P. Mor- ton, of New York, which was seconded by Mr. Sage, of California, Governor Foster, of Ohio, Mr. Oliver, of South Carolina, General Hastings, of Pennsylvania, and others. Mr. McElwee, of Tennessee, presented the name of William R. Moore, of that State. One ballot was taken, reBulting as fol- lows: Morton 591 Phelps 119 Bradly 103 Bruce 11 Thomas 1 The nomination was then made unani- mous. Mr. Bputelle, of Maine, then addressed the Chair and stated that he desired to offer a resolution to be added to the plat- form, as follows : "The first concern of all good govern- ment is the virtue and sobriety of the people and the purity of the home. The Republican paity cordially sympathizes with all wise and well-directed efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality." As soon as this was read there was a rush from, the various States to second the motion, and, after some time, the question was put and the resolution adopted by a rising vote, only one delegate from Mary- land recording himself in the negative. In this way the above temperance senti- ment was made part of the platform. It was due largely to the attitude of the Re- publican party within many of the States, where in the current and previous year it favored . high-license laws and the submis- sion to a vote of the people prohibitory constitutional amendments. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 188a SHORTLY after the adjournment of the National Conventions, the National Com- mittees of the two great parties opened head- quarters in New York City, Senator M. S. Quay being Chairman of the Republican National and Executive committees, with full authority in one head, while ex-Senator Barnum headed the Democratic National, and Calvin Brice its Executive Committee. Both Committees devoted themselves to practical political work, and the result was a greater expenditure of money than was ever previously known. From information gathered by the writer, it can be safely stated that the Democratic National Com- mittee, with its drafts upon the Federal office-holders, raised two millions of dollars, while the Republican business men and manufacturers contributed one million three 22 hundred thousand to their National Com- mittee. It was a business battle, largely waged between the manufacturing and im- porting interests, the smaller farmers being allies of the manufacturers, the planters adhering to their support of the Free Trade tendencies of the Democratic party. The literary and oratorical features of the can- vass were not neglected, and tariff discussion was the order of the day and the night throughout the entire country. The pivotal States were, in the order of their import- ance, New York, Indiana, Connecticut, New Jersey, West Virginia, and California. From the day of General Harrison's nomi- nation, Indiana became, and continued, the scene of the most intense political excite- ment. Visiting delegations called upon the nominee from every town and hamlet in 338 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. the State, and the fever extended to adja- cent States. The ordeal was a most trying one fora candidate, and, for a time, there was grave fear that a mistake might be made, or a trap sprung, like that of Bur- chard's upon J31aiue in 1884; but General Harrison was singularly fortunate in all of his remarks, and yet so earnest and able that his own work soon began to be recog- nized as the best of the campaign. Presi- dent Cleveland was compelled by his official duties, and probably by inclination, to keep out of even the speaking part of the cam- paign. Senator Quay regarded New York as the sole key to the contest, and his determina- tion to carry that State, even at the risk of all others, was maintained with the greatest firmness. The usual appeals came from hopeful States, like Virginia, North Caro- lina, Tennessee, and even Delaware and Maryland, while alarming predictions as to Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa flew thick and fast; but the Republican National Chairman, wisely clothed with absolute authority as general of the battle, kept up his steady assault upon New York, and organized so closely that the usual frauds in New York City and Brooklyn became im- possible. The wisdom of this policy was confirmed by the result, and to it is directly tiaceable the Republican victory which fol- lowed. General Harrison carried N ew York by 14,000 plurality, while Governor Hill, the Democratic candidate for reelection, carried it by 18,000. This appsfrent polit- ical phenomenon finds its explanation in the liquor issue, which attracted wide attention throughout the State. Warner Miller, the Republican candidate, favored high license, while Governor Hill opposed it. The Northwest, always before believed to be inclined to Free Trade, gave surprising tariff majorities, while Kansas proved the banner Republican State, giving over 80,000 for Harrison in a territory made up mostly by farmers. Indeed, the farming excelled many of the manufacturing sections in showing tariff or Republican gains. Results proved to be very close in Con- necticut, the two Virginias, Maryland, and Tennessee, and for a time the attitude of the lower House of Congress was in doubt. At this writing the Republican majority is estimated at seven, and the new Congress will have to consider more than a dozen contested seats. The Republicans made a net gain of one in the Senate by their suc- cess in the counties of Sussex and Kent, in Delaware. This was due to a quarrel be- tween the Bayard and Saulsbury factions of the State. New Jersey remained with the Democrats, aud the Republicans elected General Goff for Governor of West Vir- ginia, with three Labor men holding the balance of power in the Legislature. jr.,i> r,,\_ a \ji\. Harrison. -IJ-i If 1 !. Cleveland. California ... 8 Alabama. 10 Colorado .... 3 Arkansas 7 Illinois .... 22 Connecticut 6 Indiana .... 15 Delaware . 3 Iowa 13 Florida . 4 Kansas ... 9 Georgia . 12 Kentucky 13 Massachusetts . 14 Louisiana 8 Michigan . . . 13 Maryland 8 Minnesota . . 7 Mississippi 9 Nebraska . . 5 Missouri . 16 Nevada . . . 3 New Jersey 9 New Hampshire 4 North Carolina 12 New York . . 36 South Carolina 9 Ohio .... 23 Tennessee . 11 Oregon . . . 3 Texas . . . 13 Pennsylvania . 30 Virginia . . 12 Rhode Island . 4 West Virginia 6 Vermont . . . 4 ___ Wisconsin . . 11 168 233 168 Harrison's majority 65 Here is a majority of 65 electors, and yet less than 3000 votes in New York, cast for Cleveland, would have reelected him, but with grave danger to the country, because of disputed results in the two Virginias. THE POPULAR VOTK-1888. Bnp. Dem. Pro. Labor. Alabama S7 iQr 117,320 583 Arkansas 58,752 85,962 614 10,613 California 124.809 117,899 5,761 1,591 Colorado 50,831 37,3-15 2,490 1,287 Connecticut 74,584 74,920 4,234 240 Delaware 12.950 16,414 400 1 Florida 26,659 39.561 403 .. Georgia 40,413 100,742 1,802 136 Illinois 370,241 348,360 21,562 8,556 Indiana 263,361 261.013 9,881 2,694 Iowa 211,598 179,877 3,550 9,105 Kansas 182,610 102.580 6,452 36,236 Kentucky 155,154 183,800 5,225 622 Louisiana 30,181 84,941 130 ... Maine 73.734 50,482 2.690 1,345 Maryland 99,761 106,172 5,358 1,241 Massachuset 8 183.447 151,990 8,641 Michigan 236.307 213,404 20.942 4,542 Minnesota 142,492 104,385 15,341 1,097 Mississippi 30,096 85.476 218 22 Missouri 236,325 261,957 4,954 15,853 Nebraska 108,425 80,552 9,429 4,226 Nevada 7,088 5,149 41 N. Hampshir e 45,728 43,457 1,570 13 New Jersey 144.344 151,493 7,904 ._ New York 650,337 635,965 30,321 5,362 N. Carolina 134.734 147.902 2,788 ._ Ohio 416,054 396,455 24,356 3,496 Oregon 33,293 26.524 1,677 363 Pennsylvania 526,223 446,934 20,758 3.873 Rhode Island 21 .960 17,533 1,281 South Carolina 13,740 65,825 Tennessee . 133,988 158.779 5,969 48 Texas . 88.422 234,883 4.749 29,459 Vermont . 45,192 16,788 1,459 Virginia . 150 442 151,977 1,678 West Virginia 75,052 75,558 669 1,064 Wisconsin . 176,553 155,232 14,277 8,552 Total! . 6,438,157 5,535,626 250,157 150,624 BOOK L] AMERICAN POLITICS. 339 ANALYSIS OP THE POPULAR VOTE. In the following tables the vote is arranged according to sections: The Northern States, the Middle or Border States, and the Gulf States. THE NORTHERN STATES. 1884. 1888. MIDDLE (OR BORDER) STATES. 1884. 1888. Rep. Dem. Rep. Dem Delaware . 12,951 16,964 12,950 16,414 Maryland . 85,699 96,932 99,761 106,172 Virginia . 139,356 145,497 150,442 151.977 W.Virginia 63,096 67,317 75,052 75,588 Kentucky 118,122 152,961 155.154 183,800 Tennessee 124,078 133,258 139,815 159,079 Arkansas . 50.895 72,927 58,752 85,962 N. Carolina 125,068 142,950 134,784 147,902 Missouri . 202,929 235,988 236,325 261,957 Rep. Dem. Rep. Dem. Maine . 72,209 52,140 72,659 49,730 N. Hampsh'e 43,249 39,183 45,728 43,444 Vermont . 39,514 17,331 45,192 16,788 Massachus'ts 146,724 122,352 183,447 151,990 Rhode Island 19,030 12,391 21,960 17.533 Connecticut 65.923 67,199 74,584 74,920 New York 562.005 563,154 649,114 635,715 New Jersey 123,366 127,778 144,426 151,154 Penna. . 473,804 392,785 626,223 446,934 Ohio . 400.082 368,280 416,054 396.455 Indiana . 238,463 244,990 263,361 261,013 Illinois . 337,469 312,351 370,241 348.360 Michigan . 192,669 149.835 236,307 213,404 Wisconsin 161.157 146,459 176.553 155.232 Iowa . 197,089 177,316 211,592 177,899 Minnesota 111,685 70,065 136,359 99.664 Colorado . 36,166 27,603 51,796 37,610 California. 102,416 89,288 124,809 117,729 Kansas . 154,406 90,132 182,610 102,580 Nebraska . 76,912 54,391 108,425 80,552 Nevada . 7-.193 5,578 7,233 5,326 Oregon . 26,860 24,604 33,293 26,524 Totals 922,194 1,064,794 1,063,035 1,138,851 Democratic majority in 1834 . . 142,600 Democratic majority in 1888 . . 125,816 GULP STATES. S. Carolina 21,733 69,890 13,740 65.825 Florida . 23,031 31,766 26,659 39,561 Georgia . 28,617 97,292 40\496 100,499 Alabama . 59,444 92,973 56.197 117.320 Mississippi 43.509 76,510 30,096 85,476 Louisiana 46.347 62,540 30,181 84,941 Texas . 93,141 225,309 88,442 234,883 Totals 328.822 656,280 285,811 728.505 Democratic majority in 1888 . . 442,698 Democratic majority in 1684 . . 327,458 Totals 3,608,965 3,153,912 4,081,971 361,0556 Republican majority in 1388 . . 471,415 Republican majority in 1834. . . 455,053 Democratic gain .... 115,240 Republican gain 16,362 PRESIDENT HARRISON'S MESSAGE ON THE CHILEAN TROUBLES. In October, 1891, directly after the over- throw of Balinaceda by the Congressional- ista of Chile, U. S. Minister Egan sheltered a number of political refugees, as did other foreign ministers. Both the government and populace at Valparaiso took special umbrage at the action of the authorities of the United States, and as a result a mob of citizens, police and soldiers assaulted Amer- ican sailors on shore, killing two and wound- ingsixteen. President Harrison's message, sent to Congress on the 25th of January, 1892, is the strongest state paper in behalf of the rights of American citizens abroad' yet given to the country. It explains all: of the facts as to the Chilean difficulties, and as well lays down the principles which conduct his course. It was well received by the American Congress, and compelled Chile to act promptly in answer to the! American demands. We quote its text, for it will be historically very valuable : To THE SENATE AND HOUSE OP REPRE- SENTATIVES : In my Annual Message, de- livered to Congress at the beginning of the present session, after a brief statement of the facts then in the possession of this government touching the assault in the streets of Valparaiso, Chile, upon theeailors of the United States steamship Baltimore, on the evening of the 1 6th of October last, I said : " This government is now awaiting the result of an investigation which has been conducted by the criminal court at Valpa- raiso. It is reported unofficially that the investigation is about completed, and it is expected that the result will soon be com- municated to this government, together with some adequate and satisfactory re- 340 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. sponse to the note by which the attention \ Chilean government in a position to deny of Chile was called to this incident. If tin-,- just expectations should be disap- pointed, or further needless delay intervene, I will, by a special message, bring this mat- ter again to the attention of Congress for such action as may be necessary." In my opinion the time has now come when I should lay before the Congress and the country the correspondence between this government and the government of Chile from the time of the breaking out of the revolution against Balmaceda, together with all other facts in the possession of the Executive Department relating to this matter. The diplomatic correspondence is here- with transmitted, together with some cor- respondence between the naval officers for the time in command in Chilean waters and the Secretary of the Navy, and also the evidence taken at the Mare Island navy yard since the arrival of the Baltimore at San Francisco. I do not deem it neces- siry in this communication to attempt any full analysis of the correspondence or of the evidence. A brief restatement of the inter- national questions involved, and of -the reasons why the responses of the Chilean government are unsatisfactory is all that I deeni necessary. It may be well, at the outset, to say that whatever may have been said in this coun- try or in Chile in criticism of Mr. Egan, our minister at Santiago, the true history of the exciting period in Chilean affairs, from the outbreak of the revolution until this time, discloses no act upon the part of Mr. Egan unworthy of his position, or that could justly be the occasion of serious animadver- sion or criticism. He has, I think, on the whole borne himself in very trying circum- stances with dignity, discretion and courage, and^ conducted the correspondence with ability, courtesy and fairness. It is worth while, also, at the beginning to say that the right of Mr. Egan to give shelter in the legation to certain adherents of the Balmaceda government who applied to him for asylum nas not been denied by the Chilean authorities, nor has any de- mand been made for the surrender of these refugees. the right of asylum to political refugees, and seemed very clearly to support Mr. Egan's contention that a safe conduct to neutral territory was a necessary and ac- knowledged incident of the asylum. These refugees nave very recently, without formal safe conduct, but by the acquiescence of the Chilean authorities, been placed on board the Yorktown, and are now being conveyed to Callao, Peru. This incident might be considered wholly closed but for the disrespect manifested towards this government by the close and offensive police surveillance of the legation premises which was maintained during most of the period of the stay of the refu- gees therein. After the date of my annual message and up to the time of the transfer of the refu- gees to the Yorktown, the legation premises seem to have been surrounded by police, in uniform, and police agents or detectives, in citizens' dress, who offensively scrutinized persons entering or leaving the legation, and, on one or more occasions, arrested members of the minister's family. Commander Evans, who, by my direction, recently visited Mr. Egan at Santiago, in his telegram to the Navy Department de- scribed the legation as "a veritable pris- on," and states that the police agents or detectives were, after his arrival, withdrawn during his stay. It appears further, from the note of Mr. Egan, of November 20, 1891, that, on one occasion at least, these police agents, whom he declares to be known to him, in vaded^ the legation premises, pounding upon its windows and using insulting ana threatening language towards persons therein. This breach of the right of a minister to freedom from police espionage and restraint seems to have been so flagrant that the Argentine minister, who was dean of the diplomatic corps, having observed it, felt called upon to protest against it to the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Chilean authorities have, as will be ob- served from the correspondence, charged the refugees and the inmates of the legation with insulting the police ; but it seems to me incredible that men whose lives were in That there was urgent need of asylum is! jeopardy and whose safety could only be shown by Mr. tgan s note of August 24, ; secured by retirement and quietness, should 891, describing the disorders that prevailed have sought to provoke a collision which in Santiago, and by the evidence of Captain could only end in their destruction, or to schley as to the pillage and violence th at ! aggravate their condition by intensifying a prevailed at Valparaiso. The correspond- popular feeling that at one time so t'hreat- ence discloses, however, that the request of Mr. Egan for a safe conduct from the country, in behalf of these refugees, was denied. The precedents cited by him in the corre- ened the legation as to require Minister Egan to appeal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. But the most serious incident disclosed by the correspondence is that of the attack spondence, particularly the case of the revo- 1 upon the sailors of the Baltimore in the lutionmPeru in 1865, did not leave the'streetsof Valparaiso on the 16th of October BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 341 last. In ray annual message, speaking upon the information then in my possession, I said : "So far as I have yet been able to learn, no other explanation of this bloody work has been suggested than that it had its origin in hostility to those men as sailors of the United States, wearing the uniform of their government, and not in any indi- vidual act or personal animosity." We have now received from the Chilean government an abstract of the conclusions of the Fiscal General upon the testimony taken by the Judge of Crimes in an inves- tigation which was made to extend over three months. I very much regret to be compelled to say that this report does not enable me to modify the conclusion an- nounced in my annual message. I am still of the opinion that onr sailors were as- saulted, beaten, stabbed and killed, not for anything they or any of them had done, but for what the government of the United States had done, or was charged with hav- ing done by its civil officer and naval com- manders. If that be the true aspect of the the United States, not to these poor sailors who were assaulted in the manner so bru- tal and so cowardly. Before attempting to give an outline of the facts upon which this conclusion rests, The officers and sailors of the Baltimore were in the harbor of Valparaiso under the orders of their government, not by their own choice, They were upon the shore by the implied invitation of the govern m out of Chile and with the approval of their commanding officer, and it does not distin- guish their case from that of a consul that his stay is more permanent or that he holds the express invitation of the local govern- ment to justify his longer residence. Nor does it affect the question that the injury was the act of a mob. If there had been no participation by the police or military in this cruel work, and no neglect on their part to extend protection, the case would still be one, in my opinion, when its extent and character are considered, involving interna- tional rights. The incidents of the affair are, briefly, as follows : On the 1 6th of October last, Captain Schley, commanding the United States steamer Baltimore, gave shore leave to 117 petty officers and sailors of his ship. These men left the ship about 1.30 P.M. No case, the injury was to the government of incident of violence occurred ; none of our men were arrested ; no com plaint was lodged against them ; nor did any collision or out- break occur until about 6 o'clock P.M. Captain Schley says that he was himself on shore and about the streets until 5.40 P.M.; I think it right to say a word or two uponjthat he met very many of his men who the legal aspect of the case. The Balti-iwere upon leave; that they were sober and more was in the harbor of Valparaiso by 'were conducting themselves with propriety, virtue of that general invitation which saluting Chilean and other officers as they nations are held to extend to the war ves- met them. Other officers of the ship, and sels of other powers with which they have! Captain Jenkins, of the merchant ship friendly relations. This invitation I think jKeweenaw, corroborate Captain Schley as must be held ordinarily to embrace the to the general sobriety and good behavior privilege of such communication with the shore as is reasonable, necessary and proper for the comfort and convenience of the of- ficers and men of such vessels. Captain Schley testifies that when his vessel returned to Valparaiso, on September 14th, the city officers, as is customary, extended the hos- pitalities of the city to his officers and crew. It is not^ claimed that every personal collision or injury in which a sailor or officer of such naval vessel visiting the shore may be involved raises an international ques- tion ; but I am clearly of the opinion that where such sailors or officers are assaulted by a resident population, animated by hos- tility to the government whose uniform these sailors and officers wear, and in resent- ment of acts done by their government, not its rights and dignity, not in a secondary way as where a citizen is injured and pre- sents his claim through his own govern- ment, but in a primary way, precisely as if its minister or consul of the flag itself had been the object of the same character of assault. of our men. The Sisters of Charity at the hospital to which our wounded men were taken, when inquired of, stated that they were sober when received. If the situation had been otherwise, we must believe that the Chilean police authorities would have made arrests. About 6 P.M. the assault began, and it is remarkable that the investigation by the Judge of Crimes, though so protracted, does not enable him to give any more satis- factory account of its origin than is found in the statement that it began between drunken sailors. Repeatedly in the corres- pondence it is asserted that it was impossi- ble to learn the precise cause of the riot. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Matta, in his telegram to Mr. Montt under date of by them, their nation must take notice of December 31st, states that the quarrel be- the event as one involving an infraction of gan between two sailors in a tavern, and was continued in the street, persons who were passing joining in it. The testimony of Talbot, an apprentice who was with Riggin, is that the outbreak in which they were involved beean by Chilean sailor spitting in the face of Talbot, which was resented hy a knock-down. It 342 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. appears that Riggin and Talbot were at that time unaccompanied by any others of theii shipmates. These two men were immediately beset by a crowd of Chilean citizens and sailors, through which they broke their way to a street car and entered it tor safety. They were pursued, driven from the car, and Ri ir inn was so seriously beaten that he fell in the street apparently dead. There is nothing in the report of the Chilean inves- tigation made to us that seriously im- peaches this testiinony. It appears from Chilean sources that almost instantly, with a suddenness that strongly implies pre- meditation and preparation', a mob, stated by the police authorities at one time to number 2000, and at another 1000, was engaged in the assault upon our sailors, who are represented as resisting "with stones, clubs and bright arms. " The report of the Intendente of October 30th states that the fight began at 6 P. M. in three streets, which are named, that Information was re- ceived at the intendencia at 6.15, and that the police arrived on the scene at 6. 30, a full half hour after the assault began. At that time he saye that a mob of 2000 men had collected, and that for several squares there was the appearance of a " real bat tic-field." The scene at this point is very graphi- cally set before us by the Chilean testimony. The American sailors, who, after so long an examination, have not been found guilty of any breach of the peace, so far as the Chilean authorities are able to discover, unarmed and defenceless, are fleeing for their lives, pursued by overwhelming num- bers, and fighting only to aid their own escape from death or to succor some mate whose life is in greater peril. Eighteen of them are brutally stabbed and beaten, while one Chilean seems, from the report, to have suffered some injury ; but how serious or with what character of weapon, or whether by a missile thrown by our men or by some of his fellow-rioters is unascer- tained. The pretense that our men were fighting " with stones, clubs, and bright arms," is, in view of these facts, incredible. It is further refuted by the fact that our prison- ers, when searched, were absolutely without arms, only seven penknives being found in the possession of the men arrested, while there were received by our men more than thirty stab wounds, even' one of which was inflicted in the back, and almost every con- tused wound was in the back or back of the _ head. The evidence of the ship's officer of] should the day is that even the jack-knives of the men were taken from them before leaving the ship. As to the brutal nature of the treatment received by our men, the following extract from the account given of the affair by the La Patria newspaper, of Valparaiso, of October 17th, cannot be regarded as too friendly : " The Yankees, as soon as their pursuers gave chase, went by way of the Calle del Arsenal towards the city car sta- tion. In the presence of an ordinary num- ber of citizens, among whom were some sailors, the North Americans took seats in the street car to escape from the stones which the Chileans threw at them. It was believed for an instant that the North Americans had saved themselves from Sopular fury, but such was not the case, carcely had the car begun to move, when a crowd gathered around and stopped its progress. " Under these circumstances, and without any cessation of the howling and throwing of stones at the North Americans, the con- ductor entered the car, and seeing the risk of the situation to the vehicle, ordered them to get put. At the instant the sailors left the car, in the midst of a hail of stones, the said conductor received a stone blow on the head. One of the Yankee sailors managed to escape in the direction of the plaza Wheelright, but the other was felled to the ground by a stone. Managing to raise himself from the ground where he lay he staggered in an opposite direction from the station. In front of the house of Senor Mazzini he was again wounded, falling then senseless and breathless." No amount of evasion or subterfuge is able to cloud our clear vision of this brutal work. It should be noticed, in this connec- tion that the American sailors arrested, after an examination, were, during the four days following the arrest, every one dis- charged, no charge of any breach of the peace or other criminal conduct having been sustained against a single one of them. The Judge of Crimes, Foster, in a note to the Intendente, under date of October 22d, before the dispatch from the government, of the following day, which aroused the authorities of Chile to a better sense of the gravity of the affair, says : ' ' Having presi- sided temporarily over this court in regard jo the seamen of the United States cruiser Baltimore, who have been tried on account of the deplorable conduct which took f>lace." The noticeable point here is that our sailors had been tried before the 22d of October, and that the trial resulted in their acquittal and return to their vessel. It is quite remarkable and quite charac- teristic of the management of this affair the Chilean police authorities that we uld now be advised that seaman David- son, of the Baltimore, has been included n the indictment, his offence being so far as [ have been able to ascertain, that he at- tempted to defend a shipmate against an assailant who was striking at him with a BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 343 knife. The perfect vindication of our men is furnished by this report; one only is found to have been guilty of criminal fault, and that for an act clearly justifiable. As to the part taken by the police in the affair, the case made by Chile is also far from satisfactory. The point where Riggin was killed is only three minutes walk from the police station and not more than twice that distance from the Intendencia; and yet, according to their official report, a full half hour elapsed after the assault began before the police were upon the ground. It has been stated that all but two of our men have said that the police did their duty. The evidence taken at Mare Island shows that if such a statement was procured from our men it was accomplished by requiring them to sign a writing in a language they did not understand and by the representa- tion that it was a mere declaration that they had taken no part in the disturbance. Lieutenant McCrea, who acted as interpre- ter, says in his evidence that when our sail- ors were examined before the Court the subject of the conduct of the police was so carefully avoided that he reported the fact to Captain Schley on his return to the vessel. The evidences of the existence of animos- ity toward our sailors in the minds of the Chilean navy and of the populace of Val- paraiso are so abundant and various as to when they were endeavoring to escape from the city on the night of the assault. The market boats of the Baltimore were threat- ened, and even quite recently the gig of Commander Evans, of the Yorktown, was storied while waiting for him at the Mole. The evidence of our sailors clearly shows that the attack was expected by the Chilean people; that threatshave been made against our men, and that in one case, somewhat early in the afternoon, the keeper of one house into which some of our men had gone, closed his establishment in anticipa- tion of the attack, which he advised them would be made upon them as darkness came on. In a report of Captain Schley to the Navy Department he says : "In the only interview that I had with Judge Foster, who is investigating the case relative to the disturbance before he was aware of the entire gravity of the matter, he informed me that the entire assault upon my men was the outcome of hatred for our people among the lower classes because they thought we had sympathized with the Bal- maceda Government on account of the Itata^ matter, whether with reason or without he could, of course, not admit; but such he thought was the explanation of the assault at that time." Several of our men sought security from the mob by such complete or partial changes leave no doubt in the mind of any one who [in their dress as would conceal the fact of will examine the papers submitted. It their being seamen of the Baltimore, and manifested itself in threatening and insult- found it then possible to walk the streets ing gestures toward our men as they passed without molestation. These incidents con- the Chilean men-of-war in their boats, andlclusively establish that the attack was upon in the derisive and abusive epithets with the uniform the nationality and not which they greeted every appearance of an American sailor on the evening of the riot. Captain Schley reports that boats from the Chilean warships several times went upon the men. The origin of this feeling is probably found in the refusal of this government to give recognition to the Congressional party out of their course to cross the bows of his before it had established itself, in the boats, compelling them to back water. He complained of the discourtesy, and it was corrected. That this feeling was shared by men of higher rank is shown by an incident related by Surgeon Stitt, of the Baltimore. After the battle of Placilla he, with other medical officers of the war vessels in the harbor, was giving voluntary assistance to seizure of the Itata for an alleged violation of the Neutrality law in the cable incident, and in the charge that Admiral Brown con- veyed information to Valparaiso of the landing at Quinteros. It is not my purpose to enter here any defense of the action of this government in these matters. It is enough for the present purpose to say that the wounded in the hospitals. The son of | if there was any breach, of international a Chilean army officer of high rank was comity or duty on our partjt should have under his care, and when the father discov- ered it he flew into a passion and said he would^ rather have his son die than have Americans touch him, and at once had him removed from the ward. This feeling is not well concealed in the dispatches of the Foreign Office, and had quite open expression in the disrespectful treatment of the American Legation. The Chilean boatmen in the bay refused, even for large offers of money, to return our sailors who crowded the Mole, to their ship been made the subject of official complaint through diplomatic channels, or of re- prisals for which a full responsibility was assumed. We cannot consent that these incidents and these perversions of the truth shall be used to exite a murderous attack upon our unoffending sailors and the Government of Chile go acquit of responsibility. In fact the conduct of this government during the war in Chile pursued those lines of inter- national duty which we had so strongly in- 344 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. sisted upon on the part of other nations when this country was in the throes of civil conflict. We continued the established diplomatic relations with the government in power until it was overthrown, and promptly and cordially recognized the new government when it was established. The good offices of this government were offered to bring about a peaceful adjust- ment, and the interposition of Mr. Egan to mitigate severities and to shelter adherents of the Congressional party were effective and frequent. The charge against Admiral Brown is too base to gain credence with any one who knows his high personal and pro- fessional character. Recurring to the evidence of our sailors, I think it is shown that there were several distinct assaults, andso nearly simultaneous as to show that they did not spread from one point. A press summary of the re- port of the Fiscal shows that the evidence of the Chilean officials and others was in conflict as to the place of origin, several places being named by different witnesses as to the locality where the first outbreak % occured. This, if correctly reported, shows that there were several distinct outbreaks, and so nearly at the same time as to cause this confusion. La Patria, in the same issue from which I have already quoted, after describing the killing of Riggin and the flight which from that point extended to the Mole, says : " At the same time in other streets of the port the Yankee sailors fought fiercely with the people of the town, who believed to see in them incarnate enemies of the Chilean navy." The testimony of Captain Jenkins, of the American merchant ship Keweenaw, which had gone to Valparaiso for repairs, and who was a witness of some part of the assault upon the crew of the Baltimore, is strongly corroborative of the testimony of our own sailors when he says that he saw Chilean gentries drive back a seaman, seek- ing shelter, upon a mob that was pursuing him. The officers and men of Captain Jenkins' ship furnish the most conclusive ships, can only secure their safety by de- nying their nationality, it must be time to readjust our relations with a government that permits such demonstrations. Aa to the participation of the police, the evidence of our sailors shows that our men were struck and beaten by police officers before and after arrest, and that one, at least, was dragged with a lasso about his neck by a mounted policeman. That the death of Riggin was the result of a rifle shot fired by a policeman or soldier on duty is shown directly by the testimony of John- son, in whose arms he was at the time, and by the evidence of Charles Langen, an American sailor, not then a member of the Baltimore's crew, who stood close and saw the transaction. The Chilean authorities do not pretend to fix the responsibility of this shot upon any particular person, but avow their inability to ascertain who fired it, further than that it was fired from a crowd. The character of the wound, as described by one of the surgeons of the Baltimore, clearly supports his opinion that it was made by a rifle ball, the orifice of exit being as much as an inch or an inch and a quarter in width. When shot, the poor fellow was unconscions, and in the arms of a comrade, who was endeavoring to carry him to a neighboring drug-store for treat- ment. The story of the police, that iu coming up the street they passed these men and left them behind them is incon- sistent with their own statement as to the direction of their approach and with their duty to protect them, and is clearly dis- proved. In fact, Riggin was not behind, but in front of the advancing force, and was not standing in the crowd, but was unconscious and supported in the arms of Johnson when he was shot. The communications of the Chilean gov- ernment in relation to this cruel and disas- trous attack upon our men, as will appear from the correspondence , have not in any degree taken the form of a manly and satis- factory expression of regret, much less of apology. The event was of so serious a character that if the injuries suffered by our men had been wholly the result of an accident in a Chilean port, the incident was grave enough to have called for some public expression of sympathy and regret from the local authorities. It is not enough to say that the affair was lamentable, for humanity would require that expression even if the beating and killing of our men had been justifiable. It is not enough to say that the incident is regretted, coupled with the statement that the affair was not of an unusual char- acter in ports where foreign sailors are accustomed to meet. It is not for a gener- ous and sincere government to seek for words of small or equivocal meaning in which to convey to a friendly power an apology for an offence so atrocious as this. In the case of the assault by a mob in New Orleans upon the Spanish consulate in 1851 , Mr. Websterwrote to the Spanish minister, Mr. Calderon, that the acts complained of were a " disgraceful and flagrant breach of duty and propriety," and that his govern- ment " regrets them as deeply as Minister Calderon or his government could possibly do;" that "these acts have caused the President great pain, and he thinks a BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 345 proper acknowledgment is due to her Majesty's government." He invited the Spanish consul to return to his post, guar- anteeing protection, and offering to salute the Spanish flag if the consul should come in a Spanish vessel. Such a treatment by the government of Chile of this assault would have been more creditable to the Chilean authorities ; and much less can hardly be satisfactory to a government that values its dignity and honor. In our note of October 23d last, which ap- pears in the correspondence, after receiving the report of the board of officers appointed by Captain Schley to investigate the affair, the Chilean government was advised of the aspect which it then assumed, and called upon for any facts in its possession that might tend to modify the unfavorable im- pression which our report had created. It is very clear from the correspondence that before the receipt of this note the exam ina- tion was regarded by the police authorities as practically closed. It was, however, re- opened and protracted through a period of nearly three months. We might justly have complained of this unreasonable de- lay, but in view of the fact that the gov- ernment of Chile was still provisional, and with a disposition to be forbearing and hopeful of a friendly termination, I have awaited the report which has but recently been made. On the 21st instant I caused to be com- municated to the government of Chile, by the American minister at Santiago, the con- clusions of this government after a full consideration of all the evidence and of every suggestion affecting this matter, and to these conclusions I adhere. They were stated as follows : " First That the assault is not relieved of the aspect which the early information of the eventgave to it, viz : That an attack was made upon the uniform of the United States Navy, having its origin and motive in a feeling of hostility to this government, and not on any account of the sailors or any of them. " Second That the public authorities of Valparaiso flagrantly failed in their duty to protect our men, and that some of the police and of the Chilean soldiers and sailors were themselves guilty of unprovoked assaults upon our sailors before and after arrest, He (the President) thinks the preponder- ance of the evidence and of the inherent probabilities lead to the conclusion that Biggin was killed by the police or soldiers. ' ' Third That he (the Presiden t) is there- fore compelled to bring the case back to the position taken by this government in the note of Mr. Wharton on October 23d last, * and to ask for a suitable apology and for some adequate reparation for the injury done to this country." In the same note the attention of the Chilean government was called to the offen- sive character of a note addressed by Mr. Matta, its Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Mr, Montt, its minister at this capital, on the 11 th ult. This dispatch was not offici- ally communicated to this government, but as Mr. Montt was directed to translate it, and to give it to the press of this country, it seemed to me that it could not pass with- out official notice. It was not only undip- lomatic, but grossly insulting to our naval officers and to the Executive Department, as it directly imputed untruth and insin- cerity to the reports of the naval officers and to the official communications made by the Executive Department to Congress. It will be observed that I have notified the Chilean government that unless this note is at once withdrawn and an apology as public as the offence made, I will terminate diplomatic relations. The request for the recall of Mr. Egan upon the ground that he was not persona grata, was unaccompanied by any sugges- tion that could properly be used in support of it, and I infer that the request is based upon official acts of Mr. Egan, which have received the approval of this government, But however that may be, I could not con- sent to consider such a question until it had first been settled whether our correspond- ence with Chile could be conducted upon a basis of mutual respect, In submitting these papers to Congress for that grave and patriotic consideration which the questions involved demand, 1 desire to say that I am of the opinion that the demands made of Chile by this govern- ment should be adhered to and enforced. If the dignity as well as the prestige and influence of the United States are not to be wholly sacrificed we must protect those who, in foreign ports, display the flag or wear the colors of this government against insult, brutality, and death, inflicted in resentment of the acts of their government, and not for any faults of their own. It has been my desire in every way to cultivate friendly a'nd intimate relations with all the governments of this hemisphere. We do not covet their territory ; we de- sire their peace and prosperity. We look for no advantage in our relations with them except the increased exchanges of commerce upon a basis of mutual benefit. We regret every civil contest that disturbs their peace and paralyzes their develop- ment, and are always ready to give our good offices for the restoration of peace. It must, however, be understood that this government, while exercising the utmost forbearance towards weaker powers, will extend its strong and adequate protection to its citizens, to its officers, and to its humblest sailor, when made the victims of 346 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. wantonness and cruelty in resentment, not of their personal misconduct, but of the official acts of their government. Upon information received that Patrick Shields, an Irishman and probably a British subject, but at the time a fireman of the American steamer Keweenaw, in the harbor of Valparaiso for repairs, had been subjected to personal injuries in that city largely by the police I directed the Attorney General to cause the evidence of the officers and crew of that vessel to be taken upon its ar- rival in San Francisco, and that testimony is also herewith transmitted. The brutality and even savagery of the treatment of this poor man by the Chilean police would be incredible if the evidence of Shields was not supported by other di- rect testimony, and by the distressing con- dition of the man himself when he was finally able to reach his vessel. The captain of the vessel says : " He came back a wreck : black from his neck to his hips, from beating ; weak and stupid, and is still in a kind of paralyzed condition, and has never been able to do duty since." A claim for reparation has been made in behalf of this man, for, while he was not a citizen of the United States, the doctrine longheld by us, as expressed in the Consu- lar Kegulations, is : "The principles which are maintained by this government in regard to the protec- tion as distinguished from the relief of sea- men are well settled. It is held that the circumstance that the vessel is American is evidence that the seamen on board are such ; and in every regularly documented merchant vessel the crew will find their protection in the flag that covers them." I have as yet received no reply to our note of the 21st inst., but, in my opinion, I ought not to delay longer to bring these matters to the attention of Congress for such action as may be deemed appropriate. BENJAMIN HARRISON. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Jan. 25, 1892. BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 347 Tbe National Conventions of 1S92. REPUBLICAN. The National Republican Convention for 1892 was called to meet at Minneapolis June 7th. The Convention was close at hand before any candidates were named, other than President Harrison. In Feb- ruary Mr. Blaine had written to Mr. Clarkson, Chairman of the National Con- vention, saying that his name would not be presented as a candidate, and declining in such positive terms that it was accepted as meaning what it said at the time. Later on the opposition to the President's nomination, led by a syndicate of very strong names Platt, of New York ; Quay, of Pennsylvania; Clarkson, of Iowa; Conger, of Ohio ; Kellogg, of Louisiana ; Wolcott, of Colorado ; Bourne, of Ore- gon ; Filley, of Missouri agreed to pre- sent Mr. Blaine, upon the statement that he would accept if his nomination was plainly for the good of the party. Three days preceding the Convention Mr. Blaine suddenly resigned as Secretary of State, and thus created the impression that he would accept and that he was a candidate. The first effect of the resignation was to enthuse his friends, many of them already assembled at Minneapolis, but when the correspondence was published, and its terseness was traceable entirely to Mr. Elaine's haste, a great reaction followed in all parts of the country, and groups of business men from all prominent towns and cities wired their delegates of the change in sentiment, and as a rule they were asked to re-nominate President Harrison. A feeling affected the Blaine delegates, and many of the leaders began to look for a third man, in the person of Major McKinley, the father of the tariff bill of 1890, since chosen Governor of Ohio. Major McKinley himself voted for Harri- son and resisted a proposed stampede in his own behalf, which had been planned to plump Ohio, Oregon and Pennsylvania solidly for McKinley. The plan failed, partly because Harrison had gained largely over estimates after New York had voted, and Pennsylvania cast 19 votes for him at the only moment which could have been at all critical. The Convention organized at noon on the 7th, with Major McKinley as its Presi- dent. The first contest was upon the question of the majority and minority re- ports of the Committee on Contests, the majority being adopted and generally re- garded as a victory for the friends of Har- rison. The contests were important only in the case of Alabama, where two full sets of delegates disputed for the seats. Senator Wolcott, of Colorado, presented the name of Mr. Blaine, and it was sec- onded by ex-Se'nator Warner Miller, of New York. Ex-Secretary of the Navy Richard T. Thompson, of Indiana (on that day eighty- three years of age, and a delegate to every previous Republican National Conven- tion), presented the name of President Harrison. It was seconded by Chauncey M. Depew, of New York, in a speech re- markable for its force and eloquence. The first and only ballot was taken on the morning of June 10th, with the fol- lowing result : THE BALLOT DETAIL. STATES. d B Blaine. McKinley. Alabama 15 15 8 4 4 8 26 34 30 20 11 22 8 14 18 7 8 13^ 28 5 15 4 18 27 17% 2 1 1 19 5 13 8 17 22 8 9 1 12 10 4 2 1 1 6 2 2 9 8 1 6 14 5 2 8 12 1 2 9 T 6 2 2 35 y 3 1 3 4 6 13 6 2 2 1 2 1 7 1 1 8 1 1 9 1 2 11 19 1 2 1 10 1 45 7 42 1 2 3 2 1 3 Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nevada New Hampshire- New Jersey New York. North Carolina... North Dakota Ohio Oregon ... ... Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina... South Dakota Texas Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia.... Wisconsin Wyoming TERRITORIES. Alaska Dist. of Columbia Indian Territory. New Mexico Oklahoma Utah Total 535)6 182% 182 Absent and not voting, 1%. Reed, of Maine, received 3 votes, and Lincoln, of Illinois, 1. 348 AMEETCAN POLITICS. [BOOK i. Major McKinley moved to make the j this to prevent combinations by the oppo- nomination unanimous, and it was adopted with great enthusiasm. In response to the unanimous request of the New York delegation, Hon. Whitelaw Reid was nominated for Vice-President by acclamation. [See Book TI. for Platform and Com- parison of Platforms; Book III. for speech of Hon. Chauncey M. Depew.] DEMOCRATIC. The Democratic National Convention assembled at Chicago, June 2 1st, and its deliberations excited great interest because of the opposition of the New York dele- gation to the nomination of Cleveland. Under the leadership of Governor Hill, the New York Democracy, in the canvass of 1891, carried the State, electing Flower as Governor, and Hill as U. S. Senator, the latter only after a severe contest and depriving three Republican State Senators of their seats by contests settled before partisan courts. The New York opposi- tion to Cleveland, with the active aid of Tammany, united upon Hill as a Presiden- tial candidate. A " snap " or mid-winter State Convention was called to elect dele- gates to the National Convention, and 72 Hill men were chosen and instructed. This system of forestalling public sentiment angered the Cleveland Democrats, who signed a protest to the number of 200,000 and three months later elected a contesting delegation, with instructions for Cleveland. Mr. Croker, Tammany's Chief, and State Chairman Murphy were the Hill leaders at Chicago, and they gave early and public notice, in very bitter language, that if nominated Cleveland could not carry New York. Ex-Secretary of the Navy Whitney was the Cleveland leader, and he readily mustered more than two-thirds of the Convention, and felt so assured of victory that he advised the withdrawal of the contest against Hill's delegation. Singu- larly enough the minority desired the repeal of the unit rule, for they had ascertained, after a careful canvass, that Cleveland would lose enough votes to check and possibly prevent his nomination if all of the delegates were permitted to vote separately. The unit rule, however, was carefully re-enacted in the report of the Committee on Rules. Governor Wm. L. Wilson, of West Virginia, was elected President. Governor Leon Abbett, of New Jersey, presented the name of Grover Cleveland ; William ('. D.-Witt. of New York, that of Senator David B. Hill, and John M. Duncombe, of Iowa, that of Governor Boies. A ballot was reached at 4 o'clock on the morning of the 23d, the Cleveland leaders doing THE BALLOT IN DETAIL. STATES. d 03 "3 > e 5 1 "o j 1 bb B c 1 Alabama 14 16 18 12 6 5 17 48 30 20 18 3 9 6 24 28 18 8 34 15 8 20 3% 6 14 8 64 8 2 7 24 23 8 12 8 7 24 3 2 5 2 4 2 2 2 2 3 5 1 1 4 3 72 1 6 3 1 11 1 1 1 5 6 26 2 11 1 3 6 4 9 16 13 1 6 1 1 4 1 h 4 1 2 9 5 1 3 3 1 4 3 6 1 1 1JK 5 1 Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire- New Jersey New York North Carolina .. North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina .. South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming TERRITORIES. Alaska Dist. of Columbia New Mexico Oklahoma Utah . Indian Territory. Total 617% 115 103 36^ 88% Number of votes cast, 909 J. Necessary to a choice, 607. Of the scattering votes Campbell got two from Alabama. Carlisle got 3 from Florida, 6 from Ken- tucky, 5 from Ohio. Total 14. Stephenson got 1 6$ from North Carolina. Pattison got 1 from West Virginia. Russell got 1 from Massachusetts. Whitney got 1 from Maine. Adlai E'. Stevenson, of Illinois, former As- sistant Postmaster General, was nominated Vice President on the first ballot, his chief competitor being Senator Gray, of Indiana. BOOK I.] AMERICAN POLITICS. 349 [See Book II. for Democratic National Platform and Comparison; Book III. for Governor Abbett's speech nominating Cleveland.] A notable scene in the Convention was created by Mr. Neal, of Ohio, who moved to substitute a radical free trade plank as a substitute for the somewhat moderate ut- terances reported by ex-Secretary of the Interior Vilas, who read the report of the of Committee on Platform. The substitute denounced the protective tariff as a fraud. Mr. Neal made an earnest speech in support of his substitute and was ably sec- onded by Mr- Watterson. Mr. Vilas replied defending the majority report in a vigorous speech, which was as is generously applauded as that which pre- ceded. The debate was animated and made specially interesting by the suggestions and calls from the galleries. The substitute was finally accepted by Chairman Jones on behalf of the committee, but this did not satisfy the friends of the substitute, who persisted in having a roll call upon its adoption. A synopsis of the platform was submit- ted to and received the approval of Mr. Cleveland, and it was reported that the Neal substitute was prepared by the anti- Cleveland leaders, and the fact that the roll call was persisted in by the anti-Cleve- land men gave color to this report. There was a great deal of confusion and excitement preceding the roll call, and its progress was watched with as much interest as though its result was to decide the nomination. The States at the head of the roll generally cast their votes accord- ing to what was believed to be the feeling of their delegations on the Presidency, but later on the order was more varied, States known to be for Cleveland casting their solid vote for the substitute. New York was loudly cheered when the 72 votes of the State were given for the substitute. It was a most inconsistent vote, as Tammany is not regarded as a free trade organization rather as one favoring moderate tariffs. A ripple of excitement was occasioned when Chairman Hensel cast the 64 votes of Pennsylvania against the substitute. Mr. Wallace protested that 15 of the delegates favored the substitute, and he demanded that the delegation be polled. A colloquy followed between Hensel and Wallace on the rules of the Convention, and the point raised by the former that Wallace's motion was not in order under the unit rules was sustained by the Chair. The result of the vote was 564 for the substitute and 342 against it. AMERICAN POLITICS. BOOK H POLITICAL PLATFOKMS. 23 AMERICAN POLITICS. BOOK n. POLITICAL PLATFORMS. THE FIRST POLITICAL PLATFORM ENUNCIATED IN THE UNITED STATES TO COMMAND GENERAL ATTENTION WAS DRAWN BY MR. MADISON IN 1798, WHOSE OBJECT WAS TO PRONOUNCE THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND TO DEFINE THE RIGHTS OF THE STATES. Virginia Resolutions of 1798. Pronouncing the Alien and Sedition Laws to be uncon- stitutional, and Defining the rights of the States. Drawn by Mr. Madison. In the Virginia House of Delegates, Friday, Dec. 21, 1798. Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia doth unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the constitution of this state, against every aggression either foreign or domestic; and that they will support the government of the United States in all measures war- ranted by the former. That this Assembly most solemnly de- clares a warm attachment to the Union of the states, to maintain which it pledges its powers ; and, that for this end, it is their duty to watch over and oppose every in- fraction of those principles which consti- tute the only basis of that Union, because a faithful observance of them can alone secure its existence and the public happi- ness. That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government, as re- sulting from the compact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument con- stituting that compact, as no farther valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact ; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dan- gerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose, for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintainkg within their respective limits the authori- ties, rights, and 1 liberties appertaining 1o them. That the General Assembly doth alfo express its deep regret, that a spirit has, in sundry instances, been manifested by the federal government, to enlarge its powers by forced constructions of the coa- stitutional charter which defines them; and, that indications have appeared o? a design to expound certain general phrases (which, having been copied from the v ?ry limited grant of powers in the former Ar- ticles of Confederation, were the less liable to be misconstrued) so as to destroy the meaning and effect of the particular enumeration which necessarily explains, and limits the general phrases, and so as to consolidate the states by degrees into one sovereignty, the obvious tendency and inevitable result of which would be, to transform the present republican system of the United States into an absolute, or at best, a mixed monarchy. That the General Assembly doth par- ticularly protest against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution, in the two late cases of the " Alien and Sedition Acts," passed at the last session of Congress ; the first of which exercises a power nowhere delegated to the federal government, and which, by uniting legis- lative and judicial powers to those of executive, subverts the general principles of free government, as well as the particu- lar organization and positive provisions of the Federal Constitution; and the other AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. ol' which acts exercises, in like manner, a power not delegated by the Constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and posi- tively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto; a power which, more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is levelled against the right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right. That this state having by its Conven- tion, which ratified the Federal Constitu- tion, expressly declared, that among other (-" ntial rights, "the liberty of conscience and the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, n-t ruined, or modified by any authority of the United States," and from its extreme anxiety to guard these rights from every t> nble attack of sophistry and ambition, having with other states recommended an amendment for that purpose, which amend- ment was, in due time, annexed to the Constitution, it would mark a reproachful inconsistency, and criminal degeneracy, if an indifference were now shown to the most palpable violation of one of the rights, thus declared and secured ; and to the establishment of a precedent which mav be fatal to the other. That the good people of this common- wealth, having ever felt, and continuing to feel the most sincere affection for their brethren of the other states; the truest anxiety for establishing and perpetuating the Union of all : and the most scrupulous fidelity to that Constitution, which is the pledge of mutual friendship, and the in- strument of mutual happiness; the General A--einbly doth solemnly appeal to the like dicporitions in the other States, in confi- dence that they will concur with this com- monwealth, in declaring, as it does hereby declare, that the acts aforesaid are uncon- stitutional ; and, that the necessary and proper measures will be taken by each for co-operating with this state, in maintain- ing unimpaired the authorities, rights, and liberties, reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people. That the governor be desired to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to the executive authority of each of the other states, with a request that the same may be communicated to the legislature thereof; and that a copy be furnished to each of the Senators and Representatives representing this state in the Congress of the United States. Attest, JOHN STEWART. 1798. December 24th. Agreed to by the Senate. H. BROOKE. A true copy from the original deposited in the office of the General Assembly. JOHN STEWART, Keeper of Rolls. Extracts from the Address to the People, which accompanied the foregoing resolu- tions : Fellow - Citizens : Unwilling to shrink from our representative responsibility, conscious of the purity of our motives, but acknowledging your right to supervise oui conduct, we invite your serious attention to the emergency which dictated the sub- i joined resolutions. Whilst we disdain to alarm you by ill-founded jealousies, we recommend an investigation, guided by the coolness of wisdom, and a decision bot- tomed, on firmness but tempered with moderation. It would be perfidious in those intrusted with the guardianship of the state sover- eignty, and acting under the solemn obliga- tion of the following oath : " I do swear, that I will support the Constitution of the United States," not to warn you of encroach- ments, which, though clothed with ths pretext of necessity, or disguised by argu- ments of expediency, may yet establish precedents, which may ultimately devote a generous and unsuspicious people to all the consequences of usurped power. Encroachments, springing from a govern- ment whose organization cannot be main- tained without the co-operation of the states, furnish the strongest incitements upon the state legislatures to watchfulness, and impose upon them the strongest obliga- tion to preserve unimpaired the line of partition. The acquiescence of the states under in- fractions of the federal compact, would either beget a speedy consolidation, by precipitat/ng the state governments into impotency and contempt ; or prepare tiie way for a revolution, by a repetition of these infractions, until the people are aroused to appear in the majesty of their strength. It is to avoid these calamities, that we exhibit to the people the momen- tous question, whether the Constitution of the United States shall yield to a construc- tion which defies every restraint and over- whelms the best hopes of republicanism. Exhortations to disregard domestic usur- pations until foreign danger shall have passed, is an artifice which may be for ever used ; because the possessors of power, who are the advocates for its extension, can ever create national embarrassments, to be successively employed to soothe the people into sleep, whilst that power is swelling silently, secretly, and fatally. Of the same character are insinuations of a foreign in- fluence, which seize upon a laudable en- thusiasm against danger from a broad, and distort it by an unnatural application, so as to blind your eyes against danger at home. The sedition act presents a scene which was never expected by the early friends of the Constitution. It was then admitted BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. that the state sovereignties were only di- minished by powers specifically enumer- ated, or necessary to carry the specified powers into effect. Now federal authority is deduced from implication, and from the existence of state law it is inferred that Congress possesses a similar power of legis- lation ; whence Congress will be endowed with a power of legislation in all cases whatsoever, and the states will be stript of every right reserved by the concurrent 'claims of a paramount legislature. The sedition act is the offspring of these tremendous pretensions, which inflict a death wound on the sovereignty of these states. For the honor of American understand- ing, we will not believe that the people have been allured into the adoption of the Constitution by an affectation of defining powers, whilst the preamble would admit a construction which would erect the will of Congress into a power paramount in all cases, and therefore limited in none. On the contrary, it is evident that the objects for which the Constitution was formed were deemed attainable only by a particu- lar enumeration and specification of each power granted to the federal government ; reserving all others to the people, or to the states. And yet it is in vain we search for any specified power, embracing the right of legislation against the freedom of the press. Had the states been despoiled of their sovereignty by the generality of the Ereamble, and had the federal government een endowed with whatever they should judge to be instrumental towards union, justice, tranquillity, common defence, gen- eral welfare, and the preservation of liberty nothing could have been more frivolous than an enumeration of powers. All the preceding arguments rising from a deficiency of constitutional power in Con- gress, apply to the alien act, and this act is liable to other objections peculiar to itself. If a suspicion that aliens are dangerous constitute the justification of that power exercised over them by Congress, then a similar suspicion will justify the exercise of a similar power over natives. Because there is nothing in the Constitution dis- tinguishing between the power of a state to permit the residence of natives and aliens. It is therefore a right originally possessed, and never surrendered by the respective states, and which is rendered dear and valuable to Virginia, because it is assailed through the bosom of the Constitution, and because her peculiar situation renders the easy admission of artisans and labor- ers an interest of vast importance. But this bill contains other features, still more alarming and dangerous. It dispen- ees with the trial by jury : it violates the judicial system; it confounds legislative, executive, and judicial powers ; it punishes without trial; and it bestows upon the President despotic power over a numerous class of men. Are such measures consistent with our constitutional principles? And will an accumulation of power so extensive in the hands of the executive, over aliens, secure to natives the blessings of republi- can liberty ? If measures can mould governments, and if an uncontrolled power of construc- tion is surrendered to those who administer them, their progress may be easily foreseen and their end easily foretold. A lover of monarchy, who opens the treasures of cor- ruption, by distributing emolument among devoted partisans, may at the same time be approaching his object, and deluding the people with professions of republicanism. He may confound monarchy and republic- anism, by the art of definition. He may varnish over the dexterity which ambition never fails to display, with the pliancy f language, the seduction of expediency, ox the prejudices of the times. And he may come at length to avow that so extensive a territory as that of the United States can only be governed by the energies of mon- archy ; that it cannot be defended, exempt- by standing armies ; and that it cannot be united, except by consolidation. Measures have already been adopted which may lead to these consequences. They consist: In fiscal systems and arrangements, which keep a host of commercial and wealthy individuals, embodied and obedient to the mandates of the treasury. In armies and navies, which will, on 'foe one hand, enlist the tendency -of man to pay homage to his fellow-creature who can feed or honor him ; and on the other, em- ploy the principle of fear, by punishing imaginary insurrections, under the pretest of preventive justice. In swarms of officers, civil and military, who can inculcate political tenets tending to consolidation and monarchy, both by indulgences and severities ; and can act as spies over the free exercise of human reason. In restraining the freedom of the press, and investing the executive with legisla- tive, executive, and judicial powers, over a numerous body of men. And, that we may shorten the catalogue, in establishing by successive precedents such a mode of construing the Constitution, as will rapidly remove every restraint upon federal power. Let history be consulted ; let the man of experience reflect ; nay, let the artificers of monarchy be asked what farther mate- rials they can need for building up their favorite system ? These are solemn, but painful truths; and yet we recommend it to you not to for get the possibility of danger from without AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK IT. although danger threatens us from within. Usurpation is indeed dreadful, but against foreign invasion, if that should happen, let us rise with hearts and hands united, and repel the attack with* the zeal of freemen, who will strengthen their title to examine and correct domestic measures by having defended their country against foreign ag- gression. Pledged as we are, fellow-citizens, to these sacred engagements, we yet humbly and fervently implore the Almighty Dis- poser of events to avert from our land war and usurpation, the scourges of mankind ; to permit our fields to be cultivated in peace; to instill into nations the love of friendly intercourse ; to suffer our youth to be educated in virtue ; and to preserve our morality from the pollution invariably in- cident to habits of war ; to prevent the laborer and husbandman from being har- assed by taxes and imposts; to remove from ambition the means of disturbing the commonwealth; to annihilate all pretexts for power afforded by war; to maintain the Constitution ; and to bless our nation with tranquillity, under whose benign in- fluence we may reach the summit of hap- piness and glory, to which we are destined by Nature and Nature's God. Attest, JOHN STEWART, C. H. D. 1799, Jan. 23. Agreed to by the Senate. H. BROOKE, C. S. A true copy from the original, deposited in the office of the General Assembly. JOHN STEWART, Keeper of Rolls. Answers of the several State Legislatures. STATE OF DELAWARE. In the House of Representatives, Feb. 1, 1799. Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the state of Delaware, in General Assembly met, that they consider the reso- lutions from the state of Virginia as a very unjustifiable interference with the general government and constituted authorities of the United States, and of dangerous tend- ency, and therefore not fit subject for the further consideration of the General As- sembly. ISAAC DAVIS, Speaker of the Senate. STEPHEN LEWIS, Speaker of the H. of R's. Test- JOHN FISHER. C. S. JOHN CALDWELL, C. H. R. ?TATE OF RHOPE ISLAND AND PROV- IDENCE PLANTATIONS. In General As- sembly ; February, A. D. 1799. Certain resolutions of the Legi ilature of Virginia, passed on 21st of December last, being communicated to this Assembly, 1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this legislature, the second section of third ur- ticle of the Constitution of the United States in these words, to wit : The judi- cial power shall extend to all cases arising under the laws of the United States, vesta in the federal courts, exclusively, and in the Supreme Court of the United States ultimately, the authority of deciding on the constitutionality of any act or law of the Congress of the United States. 2. Resolved, That for any state legisla- ture to assume that authority, would DC, 1st. Blending together legislative and judicial powers. 2d. Hazarding an interruption of the peace of the states by civil discord, in case of a diversity of opinions among the state legislatures ; each state haying, in that case, no resort for vindicating its own opinions, but to the strength of its own arm. 3d. Submitting most important que> tions of law to less competent tribunal* and 4th. An infraction of the Constitution of the United States, expressed in plain terms. 3. Resolved, That although for the above reasons, this . legislature, in their public capacity, do not feel themselves authorized to consider and decide on the constitu- tionality of the sedition and alien laws (so called) ; yet they are called upon by the exigency of this occasion, to declare, that in their private opinions, these laws are within the powers delegated to Congress, and prom otive of the welfare of the Uni- ted States. 4. Resolttd, That the governor commu- nicate these resolutions to the supreme ex- ecutive of the state of Virginia, and at 1he same time express to him that this legisla- ture cannot contemplate, without extreme concern and regret, the many evil and fatal consequences which may flow from the very unwarrantable resolutions afore- said, or the legislature of Virginia, passed on the twenty -first day of December last. A true copy. SAMUEL EDDY, Sec. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. In Senate, Feb. 9, 1799. The legisla- ture of Massachusetts having taken into serious consideration the resolutions of the State of Virginia, passed the 21st day of December last, and communicated by his excellency the governor, relative to certain supposed infractions of the Con- stitution of the United States, by the gov- ernment thereof, and being convinced that the Federal Constitution is calculated to promote the happiness, prosperity, and safety of the people of these United States. and to maintain that union of the several states, so essential to the welfare of the whole ; and being bound by solemn oath BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. to support and defend that Constitution, feel it unnecessary to make any professions of their attachment to it, or of their firm determination to support it against every aggression, foreign or domestic. But they deem it their duty solemnly to declare, that while they hold sacred the principle, that consent of the people is the only pure source of just and legitimate power, they cannot admit the right of the state legislatures to denounce the adminis- tration of that government to which the people themselves, by a solemn compact, have exclusively committed their national concerns : That, although a liberal and enlightened vigilance among the people is always to be cherished, yet an unreasona- ble jealousy of the men of their choice, and a recurrence to measures of extremity, upon groundless or trivial pretexts, have a strong tendency to destroy all rational lib- erty at home, and to deprive the United States of the most essential advantages in their relations abroad : That this legisla- ture are persuaded that the decision of all cases in law and equity, arising under the Constitution of the United States, and the construction of all laws made in pursu- ance thereof, are exclusively vested by the eople in the judicial courts of the United tates. That the people in that solemn compact, which is declared to be the supreme law of the land, have not constituted the state legislatures the judges of the acts or mea- sures of the federal government, but have confided to them the power of proposing such amendments of the Constitution, as shall, appear to them necessary to the in- terests, or conformable to the wishes of the people whom they represent. That by this construction of the Con- stitution, an amicable and dispassionate remedy is pointed out for any evil which experience may prove to exist, and the peace and prosperity of the United States may be preserved without interruption. But, should the respectable state of Vir- ginia persist in the assumption of trie right to declare the acts of the national government unconstitutional, and should she oppose successfully her force and will to those of the nation, the Constitution would be reduced to a mere cipher, to the form and pageantry of authority, without the energy of power. Every act of the federal government which thwarted the views or checked the ambitious projects of a particular state, or of its leading and in- fluential members, would be the object of opposition and of remonstrance ; while the people, convulsed and confused by the conflict between two hostile jurisdictions, enjoying the protection of neither, would be wearied into a submission to some bold leader, who would establish himself on the ruins of both. 21 The legislature of Massachusetts, al- though they do not themselves claim the right, nor admit the authority of any of the state governments, to decide upon the constitutionality of the acts of the federal government, still, lest their silence should e construed into disapprobation, or at best into a doubt of the constitutionality of the acts referred to by the State of Vir- ginia ; and, as the General Assembly of Virginia has called for an expression of their sentiments, do explicitly declare, that they consider the acts of Congress, com- monly called "the alien and sedition acts," not only constitutional, but expedient and necessary: That the former act respects a description of persons whose rights were not particularly contemplated in the Con- stitution of the United States, who are en- titled only to a temporary protection, while they yield a temporary allegiance ; a protection which ought to be withdrawn whenever they become " dangerous to the public safety," or are found guilty of " treasonable machination " against the government : That Congress having been especially intrusted by the people with the general defence of the nation, had not only the right, but were bound to protect it against internal as w T ell as external foes. That the United States, at the time of pass- ing the act concerning aliens, were threat- ened with actual invasion, had been driv- en by the unjust and ambitious conduct of the French government into warlike pre- parations, expensive and burthensome, and had then, within the bosom of the coun- try, thousands of aliens, who, we doubt not, were ready to co-operate in any ex- ternal attack. It cannot be seriously believed, that the United States should have waited till the poignard had in fact been plunged. The removal of aliens is the usual preliminary of hostility, and is justified by the invari- able usages of nations. Actual hostility had unhappily long been experienced, and a formal declaration of it the government had reason daily to expect. The law, therefore, was just and salutary, and no officer could, with so much propriety, be intrusted with the execution of it, as the one in whom the Constitution has reposed the executive power of the United States. The sedition act, so called, is, in the opinion of this legislature, equally defen- sible. The General Assembly of Virginia, in their resolve under consideration, ob- serve, that when that state by its conven- tion ratified the Federal Constitution, it expressly declared, "That, among other essential rights, the liberty of conscience and of the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified by any authority of the United States," and from its extreme anxiety to guard these rights from every possible attack of sophistry or AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. ambition, with other states, recommend an amendment for that purpose : which amendment was, in due time, annexed to the Constitution ; but they did not surely expect that the proceedings of their state convention were to explain the amend- ment adopted by the Union. The words of that amendment, on this subject, are, " Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press." The act complained of is no abridgment of the freedom of either. The genuine liberty of speech and the press, is the lib- erty to utter and publish the truth ; but the constitutional right of the citizen to utter and publish the truth, is not to be confoundea with the licentiousness in speaking and writing, that is only em- ployed in propagating falsehood and slan- der. This freedom of the press has been explicitly secured by most, if not all, the state constitutions ; and of this provision there has been generally but one construc- tion among enlightened men ; that it is a security for the rational use and not the abuse of the press ; of which the courts of law, the juries, and people will judge; this right is not infringed, but confirmed and established by the late act of Congress. By th( Constitution, the legislative, ex- ecutive, and judicial departments of gov- ernment are ordained and established ; and general enumerated powers vested in them respectively, including those which are prohibited to the several states. Cer- tain powers are granted in general terms by the people to their general government, for the purposes of their safety and protec- tion. The government is not only em- powered, but it is made their duty to re- pel invasions and suppress insurrections ; to guaranty to the several states a repub- lican form of government ; to protect each state against invasion, and, when applied to, against domestic violence ; to hear and decide all cases in law and equity, arising under the Constitution, and under any treaty or law made in pursuance thereof; and all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and relating to the law of na- tions. Whenever, therefore, it becomes necessary to effect any of the objects de- signated, it is perfectly consonant to all just rules of construction, to infer, that the usual means and powers necessary to the attainment of that object, are also granted : But the Constitution has left no occasion to resort to implication for these powers; it has made an express grant of them, in the 8th section of the first article, which ordains, "That Congress shall have power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by tlie Constitution in the govern- ment of the United States or in any de- partment or officer thereof." This Constitution has established a Su- preme Court of the United States, but has made no provisions for its protection, even against such improper conduct in its pres- ence, as might disturb its proceedings, un- less expressed in the section before recited. But as no statute has been passed on this subject, this protection is, and has been for nine years past, uniformly found in the application of the principles and usages of the common law. The same protection may unquestionably be afforded by a stat- ute passed in virtue of the before-men- tioned section, as necessary and proper, for carrying into execution the powers vested in that department. A construction of the different parts of the Constitution, per- fectly just and fair, will, on analogous principles, extend protection and security against the offences in question, to the other departments of government, in dis- charge of their respective trusts. The President of the United States is bound by his oath " to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution," and it is ex- pressly made his duty, " to take care that the laws be faithfully executed ; " but this would be impracticable by any created being, if there could be no legal restraint of those scandalous misrepresentations of his measures and motives, which directly tend to rob him of the public confidence. And equally impotent would be every other public officer, if thus left to the mercy of the seditious. It is holden to be a truth most clear, that the important trusts before enumerated cannot be discharged by the government to which they are committed, without the power to restrain seditious practices and unlawful combinations against itself, and to protect the officers thereof from abusive misrepresentations. Had the Constitution withheld this power, it would have made the government responsible for the effects without any control over the causes which naturally produce them, and would have essentially failed of answering the great ends for which the people of the United States declare, in the first clause of that in- strument, that they establish the same, viz : " To form a more perfect union, es- tablish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general warfare, and secure the bless- ings of liberty to ourselves and posterity." Seditious practices and unlawful combi- nations against the federal government, or any officer thereof, in the performance of his duty, as well as licentiousness of speech and of the press, were punishable on the principles of common law in the courts of the United States, before the act in ques- tion was passed. This act then is an ame- lioration of that law in favor of the party accused, as it mitigates the punishment which that authorizes, and admits of any BOOK Ilr POLITICAL PLATFORMS. investigation of public men and measures which is regulated by truth. It is not in- tended to protect men in office, only as they are agents of the people. Its object is to afford legal security to public offices and trusts created for the safety and hap- piness of the people, and therefore the se- curity derived from it is for the benefit of the people, and is their right. The construction of the Constitution and of the existing law of the land, as well as the act complained of, the legislature of Massachusetts most deliberately and firmly believe results from a just and full view of the several parts of the Constitution : and they consider that act to be wise and ne- cessary, as an audacious and unprincipled spirit of falsehood and abuse had been too long unremittingly exerted for the pur- pose of perverting public opinion, and threatened to undermine and destroy the whole fabric of government. The legislature further declare, that in the foregoing sentiments they have ex- pressed the general opinion of their consti- tuents, who have not only acquiesced without complaint in those particular measures of the federal government, but have given their explicit approbation by re-electing those men who voted for the adoption of them. Nor is it apprehended, that the citizens of this state will be ac- cused of supineness or of an indifference to their constitutional rights ; for while, on the one hand, they regard with due vi- gilance the conduct of the government, on the other, their freedom, safety and happi- ness require, that they should defend that government and its constitutional mea- sures against the open or insidious attacks of any foe, whether foreign or domestic. And, lastly, that the legislature of Mas- pacnusetts feel a strong conviction, that the several United States are connected by a common interest which ought to ren- der their union indissoluble, and that this state will always co-operate with its con- federate states in rendering that union pro- ductive of mutual security, freedom, and happiness. Sent down for concurrence. SAMUEL PHILIPS, President. In the House of Representatives, Feb. 13, 1799. Read and concurred. EDWARD H. ROBBINS, Speaker. A true copy. Attest, JOHX AVERT, Secretary. STATE OF NEW YORK. In Senate, March 5, 1799. Whereas, the people of the United States have established for themselves a free and independent national government: And whereas it is essential to the existence of every government, that it have authority to defend and preserve its constitutional powers inviolate, inas- much as every infringement thereof tends to its subversion: And whereas the judi- cial power extends expressly to all cases* of law and equity arising under the Consti- tution and the laws of the United States whereby the interference of the legislatures of the "particular states in those cases is manifestly excluded: And whereas our peace, prosperity, and happiness, eminent- ly depend on the preservation of the Union, in order to which, a reasonable confidence in ^the constituted authorities and chosen representatives of the people is indispen- sable : And whereas every measure calcu- lated to weaken that confidence has a ten- dency to destroy the usefulness of our pub- lic functionaries, and to excite jealousies equally hostile to rational liberty, and the principles of a good republican govern- ment : And whereas the Senate, not per- ceiving that the rights of the particular states have been violated, nor any uncon- stitutional powers assumed by the general government, cannot forbear to express the anxiety and regret with which they observe the inflammatory and pernicious senti- ments and doctrines which are contained in the resolutions of the legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky sentiments and doctrines, no less repugnant to the Consti- tution of the United States, and the prin- ciples of their union, than destructive to the Federal government and unjust to those whom the people have elected to ad- minister it: wherefore, Resolved, That while the Senate feel themselves con- strained to bear unequivocal testimony against such sentiments and doctrines, they deem it a duty no less indispensable, explicitly to declare their incompetency, as a branch of the legislature of this state, to su- pervise the acts of the general government. Resolved, That his Excellency, the Governor, be, and he is hereby requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolu- tion to the executives of the states of Vir- ginia and Kentucky, to the end that the same may be communicated to the legisla- tures thereof. A true copy. ABM. B. BAUCKER, Clerk. STATE OF CONNECTICUT. At a General Assembly of the state of Connecticut, holden at Hartford, in the said state, on the second Thursday of May, Anno Domi- ni 1799, his excellency the governor hav- ing communicated to this assembly sundiy resolutions of the legislature of Virginia, adopted in December, 1793, which relate to the measures of the general government ; and the said resolutions having been con- sidered, it is Resolved, That this Assembly views with deep regret, and explicitly disavows, the principles contained in the aforesaid reso- 10 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii lutions; and particularly the opposition to the "Alien and Sedition Acts" acts which the Constitution authorized ; which the exigency of the country rendered ne- cessary ; which the constituted authorities have enacted, and which merit the entire approbation of this Assembly. They, therefore, decidedly refuse to concur with the legislature of Virginia, in promoting any of the objects attempted in the afore- said resolutions. And it is further resolved, That his ex- cellency the governor be requested to trans- mit a copy of the foregoing resolution to the governor of Virginia, that it may be communicated to the legislature of that state. Passed in the House of Representatives unanimously. Attest, JOHN C. SMITH, Clerk. Concurred, unanimously, in the upper House. Teste, SAM. WYLLYS, Sec'y. STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. In the House of Representatives, June 14, 1799. The committee to take into considera- tion the resolutions of the General Assem- bly of Virginia, dated December 21, 1798 ; also certain resolutions of the legislature of Kentucky, of the 10th of November, 1798; report as follows : The legislature of New Hampshire, hav- ing taken into consideration certain reso- lutions of the General Assembly of Vir- ginia, dated December 21, 1798 ; also cer- tain resolutions of the legislature of Ken- tucky, of the 10th of November, 1798, Resolved, That the legislature of New Hampshire unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Con- stitution of the United States, and the con- stitution of this state, against every aggres- sion, either foreign or domestic, and that they will support the government of the United States in all measures warranted by the former. That the state legislatures are not the proper tribunals to determine the consti- tutionality of the laws of the general gov- ernment ; that the duty of such decision is projicrly and exclusively confided to the judicial department. That if the legislature of New Hamp- shire, for mere speculative purposes, were to express an opinion on tne acts of the general government, commonly called "the Alien and Sedition Bills," that opinion would unreservedly be, that those acts are constitutional and, in the present critical situation of our country, highly ex- pedient. That the constitutionality and expedi- ency of the acts aforesaid have been very ably advocated and clearly demonstrated by manv citizens of the United States, more especially by the minority of the General Assembly of Virginia. The legislature of New Hampshire, therefore, deem it unne' cessary, by any train of arguments, to at- tempt further illustration of the proposi- tions, the truth of which, it is confidently believed, at this day, is very generally seen* and acknowledged. Which report, being read and considered, was unanimously received and accepted, one hundred and thirty-seven members being present. Sent up for concurrence. JOHN PRENTICE, Speaker. In Senate, same day, read and concurred in unanimously. AMOS SHEPARD, President. Approved June 15, 1799. J. T. GILMAN, Governor. A true copy. Attest, JOSEPH PEARSON, Sec'y. STATE OF VERMONT. In the House of Eepresentatives, October 30, A. D. 1799. The House proceeded to take under their consideration the resolutions of the Gene- ral Assembly of Virginia, relative to cer- tain measures of the general government, transmitted to the legislature of this state for their consideration ; whereupon, Resolved, that the General Assembly of the state of Vermont do highly disapprove of the resolutions of the General Assembly of the state of Virginia, as being unconsti- tutional in their nature and dangerous in their tendency. It belongs not to state legislatures to decide on the constitution- ality of the laws made by the general gov- ernment; this power being exclusively vested in judiciary courts of the Union. That his excellency the governor be re- quested to transmit a copy of this resolu- tion to the executive of Virginia, to be communicated to the General Assembly of that state; and that the same be sent to the Governor and Council for their con- currence. SAMUEL C. CRAFTS, Clerk. In Council, October 30, 1799. Read and concurred in unanimously. RICHARD WHITNEY, Sec'y. Resolutions of 1798 and 1799. (The original draught prepared by Thomas Jefferson.) The following resolutions passed the House of Representatives of Kentucky, Nov. 10, 1798. On the passage of the first resolution, one dissentient; 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, two dissentients; 9th, three dissentients. 1. Resolved, That the several states com- posing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; BOOK. II.] 1'OMTICAL PLATFORMS. n but that by compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they consti- tuted a general government for special pur- poses, delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each state to it- self, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government: and, that whenso- ever the general government assumes un- delegated powers, its acts are unauthorita- tive, void, and of no force ; that to this compact each state acceded as a state, and is an integral party ; that this govern- ment, created by this compact, was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers ; but, that as in all other cases of compact among parties having no com- mon judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress. 2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States having delegated to Con- gress a power to punish treason, counter- feiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the laws of nations, and no other crimes whatever ; and it being true, as a general principle, and one of the amend- ments to the Constitution having also de- clared, " that 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," therefore also the same act of Congress, passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, and entitled "An act in addition to the act entitled An act for the punishment of cer- tain crimes against the United States ;" as also the act passed by them on the 27th day of June, 1798, entitled "An act to punish frauds committed on the Bank of the United States," (and all other their acts which assume to create, define, or punish crimes other than those enumerated in the Constitution), are altogether void and of no force, and that the power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is reserved, and of right appertains solely and exclusively to the respective states, each within its own territory. 3. Resolved, That it is true, as a general principle, and is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution, that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- hibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people ;" and that no power over the freedom of re- ligion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, all lawful powers respect- ing the same did of right remain, and were reserved to the states or to the people ; that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without les- sening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should be tolerated rather than the use be destroyed ; and thus also they guarded against all abridgment by the United States, of the freedom of religious principles and exercises, and retained to themselves the right of protecting the same, as this, stated by a law passed on the gen- eral demand of its citizens, had already protected them from all human restraint or interference : and that, in addition to this general principle and express declaration, another and more special provision has been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that " Congress shall make no laws respect- ing an establishment of religion, or pro- hibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press," thereby guarding in the same sen- tence, and under the same words, the free- dom of religion, of speech, and of the press, insomuch that whatever violates either, throws down the sanctuary which covers the others ; and that libels, false- hood, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from the cognisance of federal tribunals. That there- fore the act of the Congress of the United States, passed on the 14th of July, 1798, entitled " An act in addition to the act en- titled An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States," which does abridge the freedom of the press, is not law, but is altogether void and of no force. 4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of the state wherein they are : that no power over them has been delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the indi- vidual states distinct from their power over citizens ; and it being true, as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that " the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states re- spectively, or to the people," the act of th Congress of the United States, passed the 22d day of June, 1798, entitled " An act concerning aliens," which assumes power over alien friends not delegated by the Con- stitution, is not law, but is altogether void and of no force. 5. Resolved, That in addition to the gen- eral principle as well as the express de- claration, that powers not delegated are re- served, another and more special provision inferred in the Constitution, from abund- ant caution has declared, " that the migra- 12 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. tion or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808." That this commonwealth does admit the migra- tion of alien friends described as the sub- joct of the said act concerning aliens ; that a provision against prohibiting their migra- tion, is a provision against all acts equiva- lent thereto, or it would be nugatory ; that to remove them when migrated is equiva- lent to a prohibition of their migration, and is, therefore, contrary to the said pro- yision of the Constitution, and void. 6. Resolved, That the imprisonment of a person under the protection of the laws of this commonwealth on his failure to obey the simple order of the President to dopurt out of the United States, as is under- taken by the said act, entitled, " An act concerning aliens," is contrary to the Con- stitution, one amendment in which has provided, that "no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law," and, that another having provided, " that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed as to the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in nis favor, and to have assist- ance of counsel for his defence," the same act undertaking to authorize the President to remove a person out of the United States who is under the protection of the law, on his own suspicion, without jury, without public trial, without confrontation of the witnesses against him, without having wit- nesses in his favor, without defence, with- out counsel, is contrary to these provisions al^o.of the Constitution, is therefore not la w, but utterly void and of no force. That transferring the power of judging any person who is under the protection of the laws, from the courts to the President of the United States, as is undertaken by the same act concerning aliens, is against the article of the Constitution which pro- vides, that "the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in the courts, the judges of which shall hold their office during good behavior," and that the said act h void for that reason also ; and it is further to be noted that this transfer of judiciary power is to that magistrate of the general government who already possesses all the executive, and a qualified negative in all the legislative powers. 7. Resolved, That the construction ap- plied by the general government (as is evident by sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Congress power to lay and collect taxes, duties, im- posts, excises ; to pay the debts, and pro- vide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States, and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or any department thereof, goes to the destruction of all the limits prescribed to their power by the Constitution : That words meant by that instrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of the limited powers, ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part so to be taken as to destroy the whole residue of the in- strument : That the proceedings of the general government under color of those articles, will be a fit and necessary subject for revisal and correction at a time of greater tranquillity, while those specified in the preceding resolutions call for imme- diate redress. 8. Resolved, That the preceding resolu- tions be transmitted to the Senators and Representatives in Congress from this com- monwealth, who are enjoined to present the same to their respective Houses, and to use their best endeavors to procure at the next session of Congress a repeal of the aforesaid unconstitutional and obnox- ious acts. 9. Resolved lastly, That the governor of this commonwealth be, and is hereby au- thorized and requested to communicate the preceding resolutions to the legislatures of the several states, to assure them that this commonwealth considers union for special national purposes, and particularly for those specified in their late federal com- pact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness, and prosperity of all the states that, faith- ful to that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in which it was under- stood and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preservation ; that it does also believe, that to take from the states all the powers of self-govern- ment, and transfer them to a general and consolidated government, without regard to the special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness, or prosperity of these states ; and that, therefore, this com- monwealth is determined', as it doubts not its co-states are, to submit to undelegated and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or body of men on earth : that if the acts before specified should stand, these conclusions would flow from them ; that the general government may place any act they think proper on the list of crimes and punish it themselves, whether enumerated or not enumerated by the Constitution as cognisable by them ; that they may trans- fer its cognisance to the President or any other person, who may himself be the ac- cuser, counsel, judge, and jury, whose sus- picions may be the evidence, his order the sentence, his officer the executioner, and BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 13 his breast the sole record of the transac- tion ; that a very numerous and valuable description of the inhabitants -of these states, being by this precedent reduced as outlaws to the absolute dominion of one man and the barriers of the Constitution thus swept from us all, no rampart now re- mains against the passions and the power of a majority of Congress, to protect from a like exportation or other grievous pun- ishment the minority of the same body, the legislatures, judges, governors, and counsellors of the states, nor their other peaceable inhabitants who may venture to reclaim the constitutional rights and liber- ties of the states and people, or who, for other causes, good or bad, may be obnox- ious to the view or marked by the suspi- cions of the President, or to be thought dan- gerous to his or their elections or other interests, public or personal ; that the friendless alien has been selected as the safest subject of a first experiment ; but the citizen will soon follow, or rather has already followed ; for, already has a sedi- tion act marked him as a prey : that these and successive acts of the same character, unless arrested on the threshold, may tend to drive these states into revolution and blood, and will furnish new calumnies against republican governments, and new pretexts for those who wish it to be be- lieved, that man cannot be governed but by a rod of iron ; that it would be a dan- gerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights ; that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism ; free government is found in jealousy and not in confidence ; it is jealousy and not con- fidence which prescribes limited constitu- tions to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power ; that our Con- stitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no farther, our confidence may go ; and let the honest advocate of confidence read the alien and sedition acts, and say if the Constitution has not been wise in fixing limits to the government it created, and whether we should be wise in destroying those limits ? Let him say what the government is, if it be not a tyranny, which the men of our choice have conferred on the President, and the President of our choice has assented to and accepted over the friendly strangers, to whom the mild spirit of our country and its laws had pledged hospitality and protection ; that the men of our choice have more respected the bare suspicions of the President than the solid rights of innocence, the claims of justification, the sacred force of truth, and the forms and substance of law and justice. In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That tfiis Commonwealth does therefore call on its co-states for an expression of their sentiments on the acts concerning aliens, and for the punishment of certain crimes hereinbefore specified, plainly declaring whether these acts are or are not authorized by the federal compact. And it doubts not that their sense will be so announced as to prove their attachment to limited government, whether general or particular, and that the rights and liberties of their co-states will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked on a com- mon bottom with their own : but they will concur with this commonwealth in consid- ering the said acts as so palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an undis- guised declaration, that the compact is not meant to be the measure of the powers of the general government, but that it will proceed in the exercise over these states of all powers whatsoever. That they will view this as seizing the rights of the states and consolidating them in the hands of the general government, wifh a power assumed to bind the states (not merely in cases made federal) but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their consent, but by others against their consent ; that this would be to surrender the form of govern- ment we have chosen, and live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and not from our authority ; and that the co- states recurring to their natural rights in cases not made federal, will concur in de- claring these void and of no force, and will each unite with this Commonwealth in re- questing their repeal at the next session of Congress. EDMUND BULLOCK, S. H. R. JOHN CAMPBELL, S. P. T. Passed the House of Representatives, Nov. 10, 1798. Attest, THOS. TODD, C. H. R. In Senate, Nov. 13, 1798. Unanimously concurred in. Attest, B. THURSTON, C. S. Approved, Nov. 19, 1798. JAS. GARRARD, Gov. of Ky. By the Governor, HARRY TOULMIN, Sec. of State. House of Representatives, Thursday, ) Nov. 14, 1799. j The House, according to the standing order of the day, resolved itself into a committee of the whole House, on the state of the commonwealth, Mr. Desha in the chair ; and after some time spent therein, the speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Desha reported that the committee had taken under consideration sundry resolu- tions passed by several state legislatures, on the subject of the alien ana sedition laws, and had come to a resolution there- upon, which he delivered in at the clerk's 14 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. table, where it was read and unanimously agreed to by the House, as follows : The representatives of the good people of this commonwealth, in General Assem- bly convened, having maturely considered the answers of sundry states in the Union, to their resolutions passed the last session, respecting certain unconstitutional laws of Congress, commonly called the alien and sedition laws, would be faithless, indeed, to themselves and to those they represent, were they silently to acquiesce in the prin- ciples and doctrines attempted to be main- tained in all those answers, that of Vir- ginia only excepted. To again enter the field of argument, and attempt more fully or forcibly to expose the unconstitutional- ly of those obnoxious laws, would, it is apprehended, be as unnecessary as unavail- ing. We cannot, however, but lament that, in the discussion of those interesting subjects by sundry of the legislatures of our sister states, unfounded suggestions and uncandid insinuations, derogatory to the true character and principles of this commonwealth, have been substituted in place of fair reasoning and sound argu- ment. Our opinions of these alarming measures of the general government, to-' gether with our reasons for those opinions, were detailed with decency and with tem- per, and submitted to the discussion and judgment of our fellow-citizens throughout the Union. Whether the like decency and temper have been observed in the an- swers 01 most of those states who have denied or attempted to obviate the great truths contained in those resolutions, we have now only to submit to a candid world. Faithful to the true principles of the Fed- eral Union, unconscious of any designs to disturb the harmony of that Union, and anxious only to escape the fangs of despot- ism, the good people of this common- wealth are regardless of censure or calum- niation. Lest, however, the silence of this commonwealth should be construed into an acquiescence in the doctrines and principles advanced and attempted to be maintained by the said answers, or lest those of our fellow-citizens throughout the Union who so widely differ from us on th< IM- important subjects, should be deluded by the expectation, that we shall be de- terred from what we conceive our duty, or shrink from the principles contained in those resolutions therefore, Resolved, That this commonwealth con- eiders the Federal Union, upon the terms and for the purposes specified in the late compact, as conducive to the liberty and happiness of the several states : That it does now unequivocally declare its attach- ment to the Union, and to that compact, agreeably to its obvious and real intention, :iii'l will be among the last to seek its dis- solution: That if those who administer the general government be permitted to transgress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total disregard to the special delega- tions of power therein contained, an anni- hilation of the state governments, and the creation upon their ruins of a general con- solidated government, will be the inevita- ble consequence: That the principle and construction contended for by sundry of the state legislatures, that the general gov- ernment is the exclusive judge of the ex- tent of the powers delegated to it, stop nothing short of despotism since the dis- cretion of those who administer the gov- ernment, and not the Constitution, would be the measure of their powers : That the several states who formed that instrument being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of the in- fraction ; and that a nullification by those sovereignties of all unauthorized acts done under color of that instrument is the right- ful remedy : That this commonwealth does, under the most deliberate reconsid- eration, declare that the said alien and sedition laws are, in their opinion, palpa- ble violations of the said Constitution ; and, however cheerfully it may be disposed to surrender its opinion to a majority of its sister states, in matters of ordinary or doubtful policy, yet, in momentous regula- tions like the present, which so vitally wound the best rights of the citizen, it would consider a silent acquiescence as highly criminal : That although this com- monwealth, as a party to the federal com- pact, will bow to the laws of the Union, yet it does, at the same time, declare that it will not now, or ever hereafter, cease to oppose in a constitutional manner every attempt, at what quarter soever offered, to violate that compact. And, finally, in or- der that no pretext or arguments may be drawn from a supposed acquiescence on the part of this commonwealth in the con- stitutionality of those laws, and be thereby used as precedents for similar future viola- tions of the federal compact this com- monwealth does now enter against them its solemn protest. Extract, &c. Attest, T. TODD, C. H. R. In Senate, Nov. 22, 1799 Read and con- curred in. Attest, B. THUKSTON, C. S. Washington's Farewell Address to the Pe- ple of the United States, Sept. 17, 1796. Accepted at a Platform for the People of tiie Nation, regard- lets of party. FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS: The period for a new election of a citi- zen to administer the executive govern- ment of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in desig- nating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me pro- BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 15 per, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be as- sured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his coun- try ; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence, in my situation, might imply, I am influenced by no dimi- nution of zeal for your future interests ; no deficiency of grateful respect of your past kindness ; but am supported by a full con- viction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suf- frages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I con- stantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, pre- vious to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer ren- ders the pursuit of inclination incompati- ble with the sentiment of duty or propriety ; and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. The impressions with which I first un- dertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have with good intentions contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience, in my own eyes perhaps still more in the eyes of others has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the in- creasing weight of years admonishes me, more and more, that the abode of retire- ment is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circum- stances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to bel'eve that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the politi- cal scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me ; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me ; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness un- equal to my zeal. If benefits have re- sulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direc- tion, were liable to mislead; amidst ap- pearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging ; in situations in which, not unfrequently, want of suc- cess has countenanced the spirit of criti- cism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans, by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated by this new idea, I shall carry it wU-h me to my grave, as a strong incitement to un- ceasing vows, that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its benefi- cence ; that union and brotherly affection may be perpetual ; that the free Constitu- tion, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained ; that its ad- ministration, in every department, may be stamped with wisdom and virtue ; that in fine, the happiness of the people of these states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preser- vation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recom- mending it to the applause, the affection, and the adoption of every nation which ia yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps, I ought to stop; but a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehen- sion of danger natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, ana to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable ob- servation, and which appear to me all-im- portant to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be afforded to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warning of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel ; nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with 16 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. every ligament of your hearts, no recom- mendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The unity of government which consti- tutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from differ- jent quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively, (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite mo- ment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accus- toming yourself to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity, watching for its preserva- tion with jealous anxiety; discountenan- cing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link to- gether the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that coun- try has a right to concentrate your affec- tions. The name of American, which be- longs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patri- otism, more than appellations derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and joint efforts, of common dan- gers, sufferings, and successes. But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are generally outweighed by those which ap- ply more immediately to your interest; here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The North, in an unrestrained inter- course with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the productions of the latter, great ad- ditional resources of maritime and com- mercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow, and its commerce expanded. Turn- ing partly into its own channels the sea- men of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated ; and while it con- tributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protec- tion of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of in- terior communication, by land and by water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which each brings from abroad or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies re- quisite to its growth or comfort, and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must, of necessity, owe the secure enjoy- ment of indispensable outlets for its own productions, to the weight, influence, and the maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interests as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically pre- carious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular in- terest in union, all the parts combined can- not fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent inter- ruption of their peace by foreign nations ; and what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries, not tied together by the same government ; which their own rivalship alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to re- publican liberty ; in this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of one ought to endear to you the pre- servation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic de- sire. Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation, in such a case, were criminal. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 17 We are authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, with the aux- iliary agency of governments for the re- spective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, while ex- perience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be rea- son to distrust the patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as a matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations Northern and Southern Atlantic and Western : whence designing men may en- deavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire in- fluence within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of oth- er districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart- burnings which spring from these misrep- resentations ; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by paternal affection. The inhabi- tants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head ; they have seen in the negotiation by the executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event through- out the United States, decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them, of a policy in the general government, and in the Atlantic States, unfriendly to their interest in regard to the Mississippi that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wis- dom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? To the efficacy and permanency of your Union a government of the whole is indis- pensable. No alliance, however strict be- tween the parties, can be an adequate sub- stitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, in all time, have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of govern- ment, better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the effica- cious management of your common con- cerns. This government, the offspring of 24 our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed adopted upon full investigation and ma- ture deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers uniting security with energy, and con- taining within itself a provision for its owu amendment, has a just claim to your con- fidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, ac- quiescence in ite measures, are duties en- joined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of government; but the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacred- ly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and right of the people to estab- lish government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. All obstruction to the execution of laws, all combinations and associations under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive to this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community ; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous pro- jects of fashion, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels and modified by mu- tual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, am- bitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying, afterwards, the very engines which had lifted them to un- just dominion. Towards the preservation of your gov- ernment, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of as- sault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to un- dermine what cannot be directly over- thrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and 18 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK it. habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions ; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country ; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion ex- poses to perpetual change, from the end- less variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a govern- ment of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispen- sable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distri- buted, and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprise of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits de- scribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state with particu- lar reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you, in the most solemn manner, against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all govern- ments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissensions, which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads, at length, to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries whicn result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and re- pose in the absolute power of an indi- vidual ; and sooner or later, the chief of ome prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own ele- vation on the ruins ot public liberty. Without looking iorward to an ex- tremity of this kind (which, nevertheless, ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to dis- courage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public adminis- tration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments, occasionally, riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself, through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one coun- try are subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion that parties, in free countries, are useful checks upon the ad- ministration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant dan- ger of excess, the effort ought to be, by orce of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, should in- spire caution in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves with- in their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to con- solidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and prone- ness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by diviuing and distributing it into different deposito- ries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal, against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experi- ments, ancient and modern ; some of them in our own country, and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as neces- sary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be, in any particular, wrong, let it be cor- rected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instru- ment of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly over- balance, in permanent evil, any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and pub- lic felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experi- ence both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of re- ligious principles. It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation ofthe fabric? Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that pub- lic opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as spar- ingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remem- bering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it ; avoiding, likewise, the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which un- avoidable wars may have occasioned ; not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practi- cally bear in mind, that toward the payments of debts there must be revenues ; that to have revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties) ought to be a decisive moment for a can- did construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measure For obtain- ing revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations ; cultivate peace and harmony with all ; religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a na- tion with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices ? In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, in- veterate antipathies against particular na- tions, and passionate attachment for others, should be excluded : and that in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. It is a slave to its ani- mosity or to its affection ; either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and untractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence fre- quent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts, through passion, what reason would reject ; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation sub- servient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, some- times perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. So likewise a passionate attachment of one nation to another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite na- tion, facilitating the illusion of an im- aginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infus- ing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite 20 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK it. nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions ; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld ; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or de- luded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interest of their own country, without odium ; sometimes even with popu- larity ; gilding with the appearance of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commend- able deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition. vrup- tion, or infatuation. As avenues to foreign influence in in- numerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlight- ened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the art of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils? Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens), the jealousy of a free peo- ple ought to be constantly awake ; since nistory and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impar- tial ; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dis- like for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil, and even second, the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the ap- plause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. The great rule of conduct for us, in re- gard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possi- ble. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. There let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. Our detached and distant situation in- vites and- enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance ; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making. acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we may choose peace or war, as our interests, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so pecu- liar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by in- terweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambi- tion, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice ? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as * r e are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is al- ways the best policy. I repeat it, there- fore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our com- mercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor grant- ing exclusive favors or preferences; con- sulting the natural cause of things ; diffus- ing and diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of commerce, by forcing nothing ; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to de- fine the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinions will permit, but temporary, and liable to be, from time to time, abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for dis- interested favors from another; that it must pay, with a portion of its independ- ence, for whatever it may accept under that character ; that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of hav- ing given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingrati- tude for not giving more. There can be BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 21 no greater error than to expect, or calcu- late upon, real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from run- ning the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations ; but if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good ; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign in- trigues, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the princi- ples which have been delineated, the pub- lic records, and other evidences of my con- duct, must witness to you and the world. To myself, the assurance of my own con- science is, that I have at least believed my- self to be guided by them. In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 23d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, un- influenced by any attempts to deter or di- vert me from it. After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and inter- est to take a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with mod- eration, perseverance, and firmness. The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not neces- sary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, that, according to my understand- ing of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The duty of holding neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and hu- manity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain invio- late the relations of peace and unity to- wards other nations. The inducements of interests, for observ- ing that conduct, will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive nas been to endeavor to gain time to our country to Bettle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own for- tunes. Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error; I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think it pro- bable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my coun- try will never come to view them with in- dulgence ; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this, as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate, with pleasing ex- pectation, that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government the ever favorite object of my heart and happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. GEORGE WASHINGTON. United States, 17th of Sept., 1796. 1800. No Federal Platform. Republican Platform, Philadelphia. Adopted in Congressional Caucus. 1. An inviolable preservation of the Federal constitution, according to the true sense in which it was adopted by the states, that in which it was advocated by ite friends, and not that which its enemies apprehended, who, therefore, became its enemies. 2. Opposition to monarchizing its fea- tures by the forms of its administration, with a view to conciliate a transition, first, to a president and senate for life; and, secondly, to an hereditary tenure of those offices, and thus to worm out the elective principle. 3. Preservation to the states of the pow- ers not yielded by them to the Union, and to the legislature of the Union its constitu- tional share in division of powers ; and re- sistance, therefore, to existing movements for transferring all the powers of the state* 22 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. to the general government, and all of those of that government to the executive branch. 4. A rigorously frugal administration of the government, and the application of all the possible savings of the public revenue to the liquidation of the public debt ; and resistance, therefore, to all measures look- ing to a multiplication of officers and sala- ries, merely to create partisans and to aug- ment the public debt, on the principle of its being a public blessing. 5. Reliance for internal defense solely upon the militia, till actual invasion, and for such a naval force only as may be suf- ficient to protect our coasts and harbors from depredations ; and opposition, there- fore, to the policy of a standing army in time of peace which may overawe the pub- lic sentiment, and to a navy, which, by its own expenses, and the wars in which it will implicate us, will grind us with pub- lic burdens and sink us under them. 6. Free commerce with all nations, po- litical connection with none, and little or no diplomatic establishment. 7. Opposition to linking ourselves, by new treaties, with the quarrels of Europe, entering their fields of slaughter to pre- serve their balance, or joining in the con- federacv of kings to war against the princi- ples of liberty. 8. Freedom of religion, and opposition to all maneuvers to bring about a legal as- cendency of one sect over another. 9. Freedom of speech and of the press ; and opposition, therefore, to all violations of the constitution, to silence, by force, and not by reason, the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their public agente. 10. Liberal naturalization laws, under which the well disposed of all nations who may desire to embark their fortunes with us and share with us the public burdens, may have that oppportunity, under mode- rate restrictions, for the development of honest intention, and severe ones to guard against the usurpation of our flag. 11 Encouragement of science and the arts in all their branches, to the end that the American neople may perfect their in- dependence of all foreign monopolies, in- stitutions and influences. 1801-1811.-No Platform*. (So Contention or Oauau keld.) 1813. No Republican Platform. >">> at,y, N. Y., February 3. Resolved, That in support of our cause, we invite all citizens opposed to Martin Van Buren and the Baltimore nominees. Resolved, That Martin Van Buren, by intriguing with the executive to obtain his influence to elect him to the presidency, has set an example dangerous to our free- dom and corrupting to our free institutions. Resolved, That the support we render to William H. Harrison is oy no means given to him solely on account of his brilliant and successful services as leader of our armies during the last war, but that in him we view also the man of high intellect, the stern patriot, uncontaminated by the machinery of hackneved politicians a man of the school of Washington. Resolved, That in Francis Granger we recognize one of our most distinguished fellow-citizens, whose talents we admire, BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 25 whose patriotism we trust, and whose prin- ciples we sanction. 1839. Abolition Resolution, Warsaw, If. Y., November 13. Resolved, That, in our judgment, every consideration of duty and expediency which ought to control the action of Chris- tian freemen, requires of the Abolitionists of the United States to organize a distinct and independent political party, embracing all the necessary means for nominating candidates for office and sustaining them by public suffrage. Abolition Platforms. The first national platform of the Aboli- tion party upon which it went into the contest in 1840, favored the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and Territories ; the inter-state slave-trade, and a general opposition to slavery to the full extent of constitutional power. In 1848, that portion cf the party which did not support the Buffalo nominees took the ground of affirming the constitutional authority and duty of the General Govern- ment to abolish slavery in the States. Under the head of " Buffalo," the plat- form of the Free Soil party, which nomi- nated Mr. Van Buren, will be found. 1840. Democratic Platform, Baltimore, May 5. Resolved, That the Federal government is one of limited powers, derived solely from the constitution, and the grants of power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the government, and that it is inexpe- dient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 2. Resolved, That the constitution does not confer upon the general government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvements. 3. Resolved, That the constitution does not confer authority upon the Federal government, directly or indirectly, to as- sume the debts of the several states, con- tracted for local internal improvements or other state purposes ; nor would such as- sumption be just or expedient. 4. Resolved, That justice and sound po- licy forbid the Federal government to foster one branch of industry to the detri- ment of another, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the injury of another portion of our common country that every citizen and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete and ample protection of persons and property from domestic violence or foreign aggression. 5. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the government to enforce and Practice the most rigid economy in con- ucting our public affairs, and that DO more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the government. 6. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a United States bank ; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the coun- try, dangerous to our republican institu- tions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the business of the country within the control of a concen- trated money power, and above the laws and the will of the people. 7. Resolved, That Congress has no power under the constitution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several states ; and that such states are the sole and proper judges of everything per- taining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the constitution; that all efforts, by Abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in rela- tion thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequen- ces, and that all such efforts have an inevi- table tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanence of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our political institutions. 8. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the government and the rights of the people. 9. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal prin- ciples in the democratic faith ; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becoming citizens, and the owners of soil among us, ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and sedition laws from our statute book. Whereas, Several of the states which have nominated Martin Van Buren as a candidate for the presidency, have put in nomination different individuals as candi- dates for Vice-President, thus indicating a diversity of opinion as to the person best entitled to the nomination ; and whereas, some of the said states are not represented in this convention ; therefore, Resolved, That the convention deem it 26 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK it. expedient at the present time not to choose between the individuals in nomination, but to leave the decision to their repub- lican fellow-citizens in the several states, trusting that before the election shall take place, their opinions will become so con- centrated as to secure the choice of a Vice- President by the electoral college. 1843. laiMsrtjr Platform. Buffalo, Augtut 30. 1. Resolved. That human brotherhood is a cardinal principle of true democracy, as well as of pure Christianity, which spurns all inconsistent limitations; and neither the political party which repudiates it, nor the political system which is not based upon it, can be truly democratic or per- manent. 2. Resolved, That the Liberty party, placing itself upon this broad principle, will demand the absolute and unqualified divorce of the general government from slavery, and also the restoration of equal- ity of rights among men, in every state here the party exists, or may exist. 3. Resolved, That the Liberty party has not been organized for any temporary pur- pose by interested politicians, but has arisen from among the people in conse- quence of a conviction, hourly gaining ground, that no other party in the country represents the true principles of American liberty, or the true spirit of the constitu- tion of the United States. 4. Resolved, That the Liberty party has not been organized merely for the over- throw of slavery ; its first decided effort must, indeed, be directed against slave- holding as the grossest and most revolting manifestation of despotism, but it will also carry out the principle of equal rights into all its practical consequences and applica- tions, and support every just measure con- ducive to individual and social freedom. 5. Resolved, That the Liberty party is not a sectional party but a national party ; was not originated in a desire to accom- plish a single object, but in a comprehen- sive regard to the great interests of the vhole country ; is not a new party, nor a third party, but is the party of 1776, re- viving the principles of that memorable era, and striving to carry them into prac- tical application. 6. Resolved, That it was understood in the times of the declaration and the constitu- tion, that the existence of slavery in some of the states was in derogation of the prin- ciples of American liberty, and a deep stain upon the character of the country, and the implied faith of the states and the nation was pledged that slavery should never be extended beyond its then exist- ing limits, but should be gradually, and yet, at no distant day, wholly abolished by state authority. 7. Resolved, That the faith of the state*, and the nation thus pledged, was most nobly redeemed by the voluntary aboli- tion of slavery in several of the states, and by the adoption of the ordinance of 1787, for the government of the territory north- west of the river Ohio, then the only ter- ritory in the United States, and conse- quently the only territory subject in this respect to the control of Congress, by which ordinance slavery was forever ex- cluded from the vast regions which now compose the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and the territory of Wisconsin, and an incapacity to bear up any other than freemen was impressed on the soil itself. 8. Resolved, That the faith of the states and the nation thus pledged, has been shamefully violated by the omission, on the part of many of the states, to take any measures whatever for the abolition of slavery within their respective limits ; by the continuance of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the territories of Louisiana and Florida ; by the legislation of Congress ; by the protection afforded by national legislation and negotiation to slaveholding in American vessels, on the high seas, employed in the coastwise Slave Traffic ; and by the extension of slavery far beyond its original limits, by acts of Congress admitting new slave states into the Union. 9. Resolved, That the fundamental truths of the Declaration of Independence, that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- ness, was made the fundamental law of our national government, by that amend- ment of the constitution which declares that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. 10. Resolved, That we recognize as sound the doctrine maintained by slaveholding jurists, that slavery is against natural rights, and strictly local, and that its ex- istence and continuance rests on no other support than state legislation, and not on any authority of Congress. 11. Resolved, That the general govern- ment has, under the constitution, no pow- er to establish or continue slavery any- where, and therefore that all treaties and acts of Congress establishing, continuing or favoring slavery in the District of Co- lumbia, in the territory of Florida, or on the high seas, are unconstitutional, and all attempts to hold men as property within the limits of exclusive national jurisdic- tion ought to be prohibited by law. 12. Resolved, That the provisions of the BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 27 constitution of the United States which confers extraordinary political powers on the owners of slaves, and thereby consti- tuting the two hundred and fifty thousand slaveholders in the slave states a privi- leged aristocracy ; and the provisions for the reclamation of fugitive slaves from service, are anti-republican in their char- acter, dangerous to the liberties of the peo- ple, and ought to be abrogated. 13. Resolved, That the practical opera- tion of the second of these provisions, is seen in the enactment of the act of Con- gress respecting persons escaping from their masters, which act, if the construc- tion given to it by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Prigg vs. Pennsylvania be correct, nullifies the ha- beas corpus acts of all the states, takes away the whole legal security of per- sonal freedom, and ought, therefore, to be immediately repealed. 14. Resolved, That the peculiar patron- age and support hitherto extended to slavery and slaveholding, by the general government, ought to be immediately with- drawn, and the example and influence of national authority ought to be arrayed on the side of liberty and free labor. 15. Resolved, That the practice of the general government, which prevails in the slave states, of employing slaves upon the public works, instead of free laborers, and paying aristocratic masters, with a view to secure or reward political services, is utterly indefensible and ought to be abandoned. 16. Resolved, That freedom of speech and of the press, and the right of petition, and the right of trial by jury, are sacred and inviolable ; and that all rules, regula- tions and laws, in derogation of either, are oppressive, unconstitutional, and not to be endured by a free people. 17. Resolved, That we regard voting, in an eminent degree, as a moral and reli- gious duty, which, when exercised, should be by voting for those who will dp all in their power for immediate emancipation. 18. Resolved, That this convention re- commend to the friends of liberty in all those free states where any inequality of rights and privileges exists on account of color, to employ their utmost energies to remove all such remnants and effects of the slave system. Whereas, The constitution of these Uni- ted States is a series of agreements, cove- nants or contracts between the people of the United States, each with all, and all with each ; and, Whereas, It is a principle of universal morality, that the moral laws of the Crea- tor are paramount to all human laws ; or, in the language of an Apostle, that " we ought to obey God rather than men ; " and, Whereas, The principle of common law that any contract, covenant, or agree- ment, to do an act derogatory to natural right, is vitiated and annulled by its in- herent immorality has been recognized by one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, who in a re- cent case expressly holds that " any con- tract that rests upon such a basis is void;" and, Whereas, The third clause of the second section of the fourth article of the constitu- tion of the United States, when construed as providing for the surrender of a fugitive slave, does "rest upon such a basis," in that it is a contract to rob a man of a natural right namely, his natural right to his own liberty and is therefore ab- solutely void. Therefore, 19. Resolved, That we hereby give it to be distinctly understood by this nation and the world, that, as abolitionists, con- sidering that the strength of our cause lies in its righteousness, and our hope for it in our conformity to the laws of God, and our respect for the rights of man, we owe it to the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, as a proof of our allegiance to Him, in all our civil relations and offices, whether as pri- vate citizens, or public functionaries sworn to support the constitution of the United States, to regard and to treat the third clause of the fourth article of that instru- ment, whenever applied to the case of a fugitive slave, as utterly null and void, and consequently as forming no part of the constitution of the United States, when- ever we are called upon or sworn to sup- port it. 20. Resolved, That the power given to Congress by the constitution, to provide for calling out the militia to suppress in- surrection, does not make it the duty of the government to maintain slavery by military force, much less does it make it the duty of the citizens to form a part of such military force ; when freemen unsheathe the sword it should be to strike for liberty, not for despotism. 21. Resolved, That to preserve the peace of the citizens, and secure the blessings of freedom, the legislature of each of the free states ought to keep in force suitable statutes rendering it penal for any of its inhabi- tants to transport, or aid in transporting from such state, any person sought to be thus transported, merely because subject to the slave laws of any other state ; this remnant of independence being accorded to the free states by the decision of the Supreme Court, in the case of Prigg e. the state of Pennsylvania. 1844. WfctK Plmtfbrm. 7!.il/im..r,', M-III 1. 1. Betolved, That these principles may 28 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. be summed as comprising a well-regulated national currency : a tariff for revenue to defray the necessary expenses of the gov- ernment, and discriminating with special reference to^he protection of the domes- tic labor of the country ; the distribution of the proceeds from the sales of the pub- lic lands ; a single term for the presidency ; a reform of executive usurpations; and generally such an -administration of the affairs of the country as shall impart to every branch of the public service the greatest practical efficiency, controlled by a well-regulated and wise economy. 1844,-Democratic Platform. Baltimore, May 27. Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, of the platform of 1840, were reaffirmed, to which were added the following : 10. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly ap- plied to the national objects specified in the constitution, and that we are opposed to the laws lately adopted, and to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among the states, as alike inexpedient in policy and repugnant to the constitution. 11. Resolved, That we are decidedly op- posed to taking from the President the qualified veto power by which he is ena- bled, under restrictions and responsibili- ties amply sufficient to guard the public interest, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits can not secure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which nas thrice saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the bank of the United States. 12. Resolved, That our title to the whole of the territory of Oregon is clear and un- questionable ; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power, and that the reoccupation of Ore- gon and the reannexation of Texas at the earliest practicable period, are great American measures, which this conven- tion recommends to the cordial support of the democracy of the Union. 1848. -Democratic Platform. Baltimore, MIIIJ 22. 1. Resolved, That the American democ- racy place their trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating jus- tice of the American people. 2. Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our political creed which we are proud to maintain before the world, as the great moral element in a brm of government springing from and upheld by the popular will ; and contrast t with the creed and practice of federal- sm, under whatever name or form, which seeks to palsy the will of the constituent, and which conceives no imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity. 3. Resolved, Therefore, that entertain- ng these views, the Democratic party of his Union, through the delegates assem- )led in general convention of the states, :oming together in a spirit of concord, of devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free representative government, and appealing /) their fellow-citizens for the rectitude of heir intentions, renew and reassert before ;he American people, the declaration of mnciples avowed by them on a former oc- casion, when, in general convention, they presented their candidates for the popular suffrage. Resolutions 1, 2, 3 and 4, of the plat- 'brm of 1840, were reaffirmed. 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every jranch of the government to enforce and sractice the most rigid economy in con- ducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is re- quired to defray the necessary expenses of the government, and for the gradual but :ertain extinction of the debt created by he prosecution of a just and necessary war. Resolution 5, of the platform of 1840, was enlarged by the following : And that the results of democratic legis- lation, in this and all other financial mea- sures, upon which issues have been made between the two political parties of the country, have demonstrated to careful and practical men of all parties, their sound- ness, safety and utility in all business pur- suits. Resolutions 7, 8 and 9, of the platform of 1840, were here inserted. 13. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the con- stitution ; and that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among the states as alike inexpedient in policy and repugnant to the constitution. 14. Resolved, That we are, decidedly op- posed to taking from the President the qualified veto power, by which he is en- abled, un der. restrictions and responsibili- ties amply sufficient to guard the public in- terests, to supend the passage of a bill whose merits can not secure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which nas saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the Bank of the United States, and from a cor- rupting system of general internal im provemente. BOOK ii.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 29 15. Resolved, That the M ar with Mexi- co, provoked on her part by years of insult and injury, was commenced by her army crossing the Rio Grande, attacking the American troops, and invading our sister state of Texas, and upon all the principles of patriotism and the laws of nations, it is a just and necessary war on our part, in which every American citizen should have shown himself on the side of his country, and neither morally nor physically, by word or by deed, have given "aid and comfort to the enemy. " 16. Resolved, That we would be rejoiced at the assurance of peace with Mexico, founded on the just principles of indem- nity for the past and security for the fu- ture ; but that while the ratification of the liberal treaty offered to Mexico remains in doubt, it is the duty of the country to sus- tain the administration and to sustain the country in every measure necessary to pro- vide for the vigorous prosecution of the war, should that treaty be rejected. 17. Resolved, That the officers and sol- diers who have carried the arms of their country into Mexico, have crowned it with imperishable glory. Their unconquerable courage, their daring enterprise, their un- faltering perseverance and fortitude when assailed on all sides by innumerable foes and that more formidable enemy the diseases of the climate exalt their devoted patriotism into the highest heroism, and give them a right to the profound grati- tude of their country, and the admiration of the world. 18. Resolved, That the Democratic Na- tional Convention of thirty states composing the American Republic, tender their fra- ternal congratulations to the National Con- vention of the Republic of France, now as- sembled as the free suffrage representative of the sovereignty of thirty-five millions of Republicans, to establish government on those eternal principles of equal rights, for which their La Fayette and our Washing- ton fought side by side in the struggle for our national independence ; and we would especially convey to them, and to the whole people of France, our earnest wishes for the consolidation of their liberties, through the wisdom that shall guide their councils, on the basis of a democratic con- stitution, not derived from the grants or concessions of kings or dynasties, but orig- inating from the only true source of political power recognized in the states of this Union the inherent and inalienable right of the people, in their sovereign capacity, to make and to amend their forms of gov- ernment in such manner as the welfare of the community may require. 19. Resolved, That in view of the recent development of this grand political truth, of the sovereignty of the people and their capacity and power for self-government, which is prostrating thrones and erecting republics on the ruins of despotism in the old world, we feel that a high and sacred duty is devolved, with increased responsi- bility, upon the Democratic party of this country, as the party of the people, to sustain and advance among us constitutional lib- erty, equality, and fraternity, by continu- ing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the constitution, which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive people. 20. Resolved, That a copy of these reso- lutions be forwarded, through the American minister at Paris, to the National Conven- tion of the Republic of France. 21. Resolved, That the fruits of the great political triumph of 1844, which elect- ed James K. Polk and George M. Dallas, President and Vice-President of the United States, have fulfilled the hopes of the de- mocracy of the Union in defeating the de- clared purposes of their opponents in creating a National Bank ; in preventing the corrupt and unconstitutional distribu- tion of the land proceeds from the com- mon treasury of the Union for local pur- poses ; in protecting the currency and labor of the country from ruinous fluctuations, and guarding the money of the country for the use of the people by the establishment of the constitutional treasury ; in the noble impulse given to the cause of free trade by the repeal of the tariff of '42, and the crea- tion of the more equal, honest, and pro- ductive tariff of 1846; and that, in our opinion, it would be a fatal error to weaken the bands of a political organization by which these great reforms have been achieved, and risk them in the hands of their known adversaries, with whatever delusive appeals they may solicit our sur- render of that vigilance which is the only safeguard of liberty. 22. Resolved, That the confidence of the democracy of the Union in the principles, capacity, firmness, and integrity of James K. Polk, manifested by his nomination and election in 1844, has been signally justified by the strictness of his adherence to sound democratic doctrines, by the purity of pur- pose, the energy and ability, which have characterized his administration in all our affairs at home and abroad ; that we tender to him our cordial congratulations upon the brilliant success which has hitherto crowned his patriotic efforts, and assure him in advance, that at the expiration of his presidential term he will carry with him 30 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. to his retirement, the esteem, respect and admiration of a grateful country. 23. Resolved, That this convention here- by present to the people of the United States Lewis Cass, of Michigan, as the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of President, and William O. Butler, of Ken- tucky, for Vice-President of the United States. 1848. Whig Principles Adopted at a Rati- fication Meeting, Philadelphia, June 9. 1. Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States, here assembled by their representatives, heartily ratify the nomi- nations of General Zachary Taylor as Pres- ident, and Millard Fillmore as Vice-Pres- ident, of the United States, and pledge themselves to their support. 2. Resolved, That in the choice of Gen- eral Taylor as the Whig candidate for President, we are glad to discover sympathy with a great popular sentiment throughout the nation a sentiment which having its origin in admiration of great military suc- cess, has been strengthened by the develop- ment, in every action and every word, of sound conservative opinions, and of true fidelity to the great example of former days, and to the principles of the constitu- tion as administered by its founders. 3. Resolved, That General Taylor, in say- ing that, had he voted in 1844, he would have voted the Whig ticket, gives us the assurance and no better is needed from a consistent and truth-speaking man that his heart was with us at the crisis of our political destiny, when Henry Clay was our candidate, and when not only Whig principles were well defined and clearly asserted, but Whig measures depended on success. The heart that was with us then is with us now, and. we have a soldier's word of honor, ana a life of public and private virtue, as the security. 4. Resolved, That we look on General Taylor's administration of the government as one conducive of peace, prosperity and nni in ; of peace, because no one better knows, or has greater reason to deplore, what he has seen sadly on the field 01 vic- tory ; the horrors of war, and especially of a foreign and aggressive war ; or prosperity, now more than ever needed to relieve the nation from a burden of debt, and restore industry agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial to its accustomed and peace- ful functions and influences; of union, be- cause we have a candidate whose very position as a southwestern man, reared on the banks of the great stream whose trib- utaries, natural and artificial, embrace the whole Union, renders the protection of the interests of the whole country his first trust, and whose various duties in past life have been rendered, not on the soil, or under the flag of any state or section, but over the wide frontier, and under the broad banner of the nation. 5. Resolved, That standing, as the Whig party does, on the broad and firm platform of the constitution, braced up by all its in- violable and sacred guarantees and com- promises, and cherished in the affections, because protective of the interests of the people, we are proud to have as the ex- ponent of our opinions, one who is pledged to construe it by the wise and generous rules which Washington applied to it, and who has said and no Whig desires any other assurance that he will make Wash- ington's administration his model. 6. Resolved, That as Whigs and Ameri- cans, we are proud to acknowledge our gratitude for the great military services which, beginning at Palo Alto, and end- ing at Buena Vista, first awakened the American people to a just estimate of him who is now our Whig candidate. In the discharge of a painful duty for his march into the enemy's country was a reluctant one ; in the command of regulars at one time, asd volunteers at another, and of both combined ; in the decisive though punctual discipline of his camp, where all respected and loved him ; in the negotia- tion of terms for a dejected and desperate enemy ; in the exigency of actual conflict when the balance was perilously doubtful we have found him the same brave, dis- tinguished, and considerate, no heartless spectator of bloodshed, no trifler with hu- man life or human happiness ; and we do not know which to admire most, his hero- ism in withstanding the assaults of the enemy in the most hopeless fields of Buena Vista mourning in generous sorrow over the graves of Binggold, of Clay, of Hardin or in giving, in the heat of battle, terms of merciful capitulation to a vanquished foe at Monterey, and not being ashamed to avow that he did it to spare women and children, helpless infancy and more help- less age, against whom no American sol- dier ever wars. Such a military man, whose triumphs are neither remote nor doubtful, whose virtues these trials have tested, we are proud to make our candidate. 7. Resolved, That in support of this nomination, we ask our Whig friends throughout the nation to unite, to co-op- erate zealously, resolutely, with earnest- ness, in behalf of our candidate, whom calumny can not reach, and with respect- ful demeanor to our adversaries, whose can- didates have yet to prove their claims on the gratitude of the nation. 1848. Buffalo Platform. fViV.i, Jnnf 22. Whereas, We have assembled in conven- tion as a union of freemen, for the sake of BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 31 freedom, forgetting all past political dif- ference, in a common resolve to maintain the rights of free labor against the aggres- sion of the slave power, and to secure free soil to a free people ; and, Whereas, The political conventions re- cently assembled at Baltimore and Phila- delphia the one stifling the voice of a great constituency, entitled to be heard in its deliberations, and the other abandoning its distinctive principles for mere avail- ability have dissolved the national party organization heretofore existing, by nomi- nating for the chief magistracy of the United States, under the slaveholding dic- tation, candidates, neither of whom can be supported by the opponents of slavery ex- tension, without a sacrifice of consistency, duty, and self-respect ; and, Whereas, These nominations so made, furnish the occasion, and demonstrate the necessity of the union of the people under the banner of free democracy, in a solemn and formal declaration of their independ- ence of the slave power, and of their fixed determination to rescue the Federal gov- ernment from its control, 1. Resolved, therefore, That we, the peo- ple here assembled, remembering the ex- ample of our fathers in the days of the first Declaration of Independence, putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and invoking His guidance in our endeavors to advance it, do now plant our- selves upon the national platform of free- dom, in opposition to the sectional plat- form of slavery. 2. Resolved, That slavery in the several states of this Union which recognize its existence, depends upon the state laws alone, which can not be repealed or modi- fied by the Federal government, and for which laws that government is not respon- sible. We therefore propose no interfer- ence by Congress with slavery within the limits of any state. 3. Resolved, That the proviso of Jeffer- son, to prohibit the existence of slavery, after 1800, in all the territories of the United States, southern and northern ; the votes of six states and sixteen delegates in Congress of 1784, for the proviso, to three states and seven delegates against it ; the actual exclusion of slavery from the North- western Territory, by the Ordinance of 1787, unanimously adopted by the states in Congress ; and the entire history of that period, clearly show that it was the settled policy of the nation not to extend, na- tionalize or encourage, but to limit, lo- calize and discourage, slavery ; and to this policy, which should never have been de- parted from, the government ought to return. 4. Resolved, That our fathers ordained the constitution of the United States, in order, among other great national objects, to establish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty ; but expressly denied to the Federal gov- ernment, which they created, all constitu- tional power to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due legal process. 5. Resolved, That in the judgment of this convention, Congress has no more power to make a slave than to make a king ; no more power to institute or estab- lish slavery than to institute or establish a monarchy ; no such power can be found among those specifically conferred by the constitution, or derived by just implication from them. 6. Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal government to relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence or con- tinuance of slavery wherever the govern- ment possesses constitutional power to legislate on that subject, and it is thus re- sponsible for its existence. 7. Resolved, That the true, and, in the judgment of this convention, the only safe means of preventing the extension of slavery into territory now free, is to pro- hibit its extension in all such territory by an act of Congress. 8. Resolved, That we accept the issue which the slave power has forced upon us ; and to their demand for more slave states, and more slave territory, our calm but final answer is, no more slave states and no more slave territory. Let the soil of our extensive domains be kept free for the hardy pioneers of our own land, and the oppressed and banished of other lands, seeking homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in the new world. 9. Resolved, That the bill lately re- ported by the committee of eight in the Senate of the United States, was no com- promise, but an absolute surrender of the rights of the non-slaveholders of all the states ; and while we rejoice to know that a measure which, while opening the door for the introduction of slavery into the territories now free, would also have opened the door to litigation and strife among the future inhabitants thereof, to the ruin of their peace and prosperity, was defeated in the House of Representatives, its passage, in hot haste, by a majority, embracing several senators who voted m open violation of the known will of their constituents, should warn the people to see to it that their representatives be not suffered to betray them. There must be no more compromises with slavery ; if made, they must be repealed. 10. Resolved. That we demand freedom and established institutions for our breth- ren in Oregon, now exposed to hardships, peril, and massacre, by the reckless hos- tility of the slave power to the establish- ment of free government and free territo- 32 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii ties ; and not only for them, but for pur brethren in California and New Mexico. 11. Resolved, It is due not only to this occasion, but to the whole people of the United States, that we should also declare ourselves on certain other questions of na- tional policy ; therefore, 12. Resolved, That we demand cheap postage for the people ; a retrenchment of the expenses and patronage of the Federal government ; the abolition of all unneces- sary offices and salaries ; and the election by the people of all civil officers in the service of the government, so far as the same may be practicable. 13. Resolved, that river and harbor im- provements, when demanded by the safety and convenience of commerce with for- eign nations, or among the several states, are objecte of national concern, and that it is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its constitutional power, to provide there- for. 14. Resolved, That the free grant to actual settlers, in consideration of the ex- penses they incur in making settlements in the wilderness, which are usually fully equal to their actual cost, and of the pub- lic benefits resulting therefrom, of reason- able portions of the public lands, under suitable limitations, is a wise and just measure of public policy, which will pro- mote in various ways the interests of all the states of this Union ; and we, there- fore, recommend it to the favorable con- sideration of the American People. 15. Resolved, That the obligations of honor and patriotism require the earliest practical payment of the national debt, and we are, therefore, in favor of such a tariff of duties as will raise revenue adequate to defray the expenses of the Federal govern- ment, and to pay annual installments of our debt and the interest thereon. 16. Resolved, That we inscribe on our banner, " Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men," and under it we will fight on, and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions. 1859.- Democratic Platform. Baltimore, June 1. Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, of the platform of 1848, were reaffirmed, to which were added tha following : 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the government to enforce anc practice the most rigid economy in con- ducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the government, and for the gradual bu certain extinction of the public debt. 9. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a National Bank ; that we be- ieve such an institution one of deadly lostility to the best interests of the coun- ty, dangerous to our republican institu- ions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the business of the xmntry within the control of a concen- ;rated money power, and that above the aws and will of the people ; and that the results of Democratic legislation, in this and all - other financial measures, upon which issues have been made between the two political parties of the country, have demonstrated to candid and practical men of all parties, their soundness, safety, and utility, in all business pursuits. 10. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the government and the rights of the people. 11. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith ; and every attempt to abridge the privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of the soil among us, ought to be resisted with the same spirit that swept the alien and sedition laws from our statute books. 12. Resolved, That Congress has no power under the constitution to interfere with, or control, the domestic institutions of the several states, and that such states are the sole and proper judges of every- thing appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the constitution; that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with ques- tions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous conse- quences ; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happi- ness of the people, and endanger the sta- bility and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our political institutions. 13. Resolved, That the foregoing propo- sition covers, and is intended to emorace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress; and therefore the Democratic party of the Union, standing on this na- tional platform, will abide by, and adhere to, a faithful execution of the acts known as the Compromise measures settled by last Congress, " the act for reclaiming fugi- tives from service labor " included ; which act, being designed to carry out an ex- press provision of the constitution, can not, with fidelity thereto, be repealed, nor so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency. 14. Resolved, That the Democratic party BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 33 will resist all attempts at renewing in Con- gress, or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made. [Here resolutions 13 and 14, of the plat- form of 1848, were inserted.] 17. Resolved, That the Democratic party will faithfully abide by and uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1792 and 1798, and 'in the report of Mr. Madison to the Vir- ginia Legislature in 1799 ; that it adopts those principles as constituting one of the .main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry them out in their ob- vious meaning and import. 18. Resolved, That the war with Mexico, upon all the principles of patriotism and the law of nations, was a just and necessary war on our part, in which no American citizen should have shown himself opposed to his country, and neither morally nor physically, by word or deed, given aid and comfort to the enemy. 19. Resolved, That we rejoice at the re- storation of friendly relations with our sister Republic of Mexico, and earnestly desire for her all the blessings and pros- perity which we enjoy under republican institutions, and we congratulate the American people on the results of that war which have so manifestly justified the policy and conduct of the Democratic party, and insured to the United States indemnity for the past and security for the future. 20. Resolved, That, in view of the condi- tion of popular institutions in the old world, a high and sacred duty is devolved with increased responsibility upon the De- mocracy of this country, as the party of the people, to uphold and maintain the rights of every state, and thereby the union of states, and to sustain and advance among them constitutional liberty, by con- tinuing to resist all monopolies and exclu- sive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the consti- tution which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it is, and the Union as it should be, in the full expansion of the energies and ca- pacity of this great and progressive people. 1853. -Whig Platform. Baltimore, June 16. The Whigs of the United States, in con- vention assembled adhering to the great conservative principles by which they are controlled and governed, and now as ever relying upon the intelligence of the Ameri- can people, with ao abiding confidence in their capacity for self-government and 25 their devotion to the constitution and the Union, do proclaim the following as the political sentiments and determination for the establishment and maintenance ot which their national organization as a party was effected : First. The government of the United States is of a limited character, and is con- fined to the exercise of powers expressly granted by the constitution, and such as may be necessary and proper for carrying the granted powers into full execution, and that powers not granted or necessarily implied are reserved to the states respec- tively and to the people. Second. The state governments should be held secure to their reserved rights, and the General Government sustained in its constitutional powers, and that the t) nion should be revered and watched over as the palladium of our liberties. Third. That while struggling freedom everywhere enlists the wannest sympathy of the Whig party, we still adhere to the doctrines of the Father of h.s Country, as announced in his Farewell Address, of keeping ourselves free from all entangling alliances with foreign countries, and of never quitting our own to stand upon for- eign ground ; that our mission as a repub- lic is not to propagate our opinions, or im- pose on other countries our forms of gov- ernment, by artifice or force, but to teach by example, and show by our success, moderation and justice, the blessings of self-government, and the advantages of free institutions. Fourth. That, as the people make and control the government, they should obey its constitution, laws and treaties as they would retain their self-respect and the re- spect which they claim and will enforce from foreign powers. Fifth. Governments should be conduc- ted on the principles of the strictest econo- my ; and revenue sufficient for the expen- ses thereof, in time of peace, ought to be derived mainly from a duty on imports, and not from direct taxes ; and on laying such duties sound policy requires a just discrimination, and, when practicable, by specific duties, whereby suitable encour- agement may be afforded to American in- dustry, equally to all classes and to all portions of the country. Sixth. The constitution vests in Con- gress the power to open and repair har- bors, and remove obstructions from navi- gable rivers, whenever such improvements are necessary for the common defense, and for the protection and facility of commerce with foreign nations or among the states, said improvements being in every instance national and general in their character. Seventh. The Federal and state govern- ments are parts of one system, alike neces- sary for the common prosperity, peace and 34 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOS. n. security, and ought to be regarded alike with a cordial, habitual and immovable at- tachment. Respect for the authority of each, and acquiescence in the just consti- tutional measures of each, are duties re- quired by the plainest considerations of national, state and individual welfare. Eighth. That the series of acts of the 82d Congress, the act known as the Fugi- tive Slave Law included, are received and acquiesced in by the Whig party of the United States as a settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and excit- ing questions which they embrace ; and, so far as they are concerned, we will main- tain them, and insist upon their strict en- forcement, until time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity of further legis- lation to guard against the evasion of the laws on the one hand and the abuse of their powers on the other not impairing their present efficiency ; and we deprecate all further agitation of the question thus settled, as dar gerous to our peace, and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation whenever, where- ever or however the attempt may be made ; and we will maintain the system as essen- tial to the nationality of the Whig party, and the integrity of the Union. 1852. Free-soil Platform. PMsbunj, August 11. Having assembled in national conven- tion as the free democracy of the United States, united by a common resolve to maintain right against wrong, and freedom against slavery; confiding in the intelli- gence, patriotism, and discriminating jus- tice of the American people ; putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and invoking His guidance in our endea- vors to advance it, we now submit to the candid judgment of all men, the following declaration of principles and measures : 1. That governments, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, are instituted among men to secure to all those inalienable riglits of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, with which they are endowed by their Creator, and of which none can be deprived by valid legislation, except for crime. 2. That the true mission of American democracy is to maintain the liberties of the people, the sovereignty of the states, and the perpetuity of the Union, by the impartial application of public affairs, without sectional discriminations, of the fundamental principles of human rights, strict justice, and an economical adminis- tration. 3. That the Federal government is one of limited powers derived solely from the constitution, and the grants of power there- in ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the government, and it is inexpedient and dangerous to ex- ercise doubtful constitutional powers. 4. That the constitution of the United States, ordained to form a more perfect Union, to establish justice, and secure the blessings of liberty, expressly denies to the general government all power to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; and, there- fore, the government, having no more power to make a slave than to make a king, and no more power to establish slavery than to establish a monarchy, should at once proceed to relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence of slavery, wherever it possesses constitutional power to legislate for its extinction. 5. That, to the persevering and importu- nate demands of the slave power for more slave states, new slave territories, and the nationalization of slavery, our distinct and final answer is no more slave states, no slave territory, no nationalized slavery, and no national legislation for the extra- dition of slaves. 6. That slavery is a sin against God, and a crime against man, which no human en- actment nor usage can make right ; and that Christianity, humanity, and patriot- ism alike demand its abolition. 7. That the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is repugnant to the constitution, to tlie prin- ciples of the common law, to the spirit of Christianity, and to the sentiments of the civilized world; we, therefore, deny its binding force on the American people, and demand its immediate and total re- peal. 8. That the doctrine that any human law is a finality, and not subject to modi- fication or repeal, is not in accordance with the creed of the founders of our gov- ernment, and is dangerous to the liberties of the people. 9. That the acts of Congress, known as the Compromise measures of 1850, by mak- ing the admission of a sovereign state con- tingent upon the adoption of other mea- sures demanded by the special interests of slavery; by their omission to guarantee freedom in the free territories ; by their at- tempt to impose unconstitutional limita- tions on the powers of Congress and the people to admit new states ; by their pro- visions for the assumption of five millions of the state debt of Texas, and for the pay- ment of five millions more, and the cession of large territory to the same state under menace, as an inducement to the relin- quishment of a groundless claim ; and by tneir invasion of the sovereignty of the states and the liberties of the people, through the enactment of an unjust, op- pressive, and unconstitutional fugitive BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 35 slave law, are proved to be inconsistent! with all the principles and maxims of de- mocracy, and wholly inadequate to the settlement of the questions of which they are claimed to be an Adjustment. 10. That no permanent settlement of the slavery question can be looked for ex- cept in the practical recognition of the truth that slavery is sectional and freedom national ; by the total separation of the general government from slavery, and the exercise of its legitimate and constitutional influence on the side of freedom ; and by leaving to the states the whole subject of slavery and the extradition of fugitives from service. 11. That all men have a natural right to a portion of the soil ; and that as the use of the soil is indispensable to life, the right of all men to the soil is as sacred as their right to life itself. 12. That the public lands of the United States belong to the people and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to corpora- tions, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of the people, and should be granted in limited quantities, free of cost, to landless settlers. 13. That due regard for the Federal constitution, a sound administrative poli- cy, demand that the funds of the general government be kept separate from bank- ing institutions ; that inland and ocean postage should be reduced to the lowest possible point; that no more revenue should be raised than is required to defray the strictly necessary expenses of the pub- lic service and to pay off the public debt ; and that the power and patronage of the government should be diminished by the abolition of all unnecessary offices, salaries and privileges, and by the election of the people of all civil officers in the service of the United States, so far as may be consist- ent with the prompt and efficient transac- tion of the public business. 14. That river and harbor improvements, when necessary to the safety and con- venience of commerce with foreign nations, or among the several states, are objects of national concern ; and it is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its constitu- tional powers, to provide for the same. 15. That emigrants and exiles from the old world should find a cordial welcome to homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in the new ; and every attempt to abridge their privilege of becoming citizens and owners of soil among us ought to be resist- ed with inflexible determination. 16. That every nation has a clear right to alter or change its own government, and to administer its own concerns in such manner as may best secure the rights and promote the happiness of the people ; and foreign interference with that right is a dangerous violation of the law of nations, against which all independent govern- ments should protest, and endeavor by all proper means to prevent ; and especially ie it the duty of the American government, representing the chief republic of the world, to protest against, and by all pro- per means to prevent, the intervention of kings and emperors against nations seek- ing to establish for themselves republican or constitutional governments. 17. That the independence of Hayti ought to be recognized by our government, and our commercial relations with it placed on the footing of the most favored nations. 18. That as by the constitution, "the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citi- zens in the several states," the practice of imprisoning colored seamen of other states, while the vessels to which they belong lie in port, and refusing the exercise of the right to bring such cases before the Su- preme Court of the United States, to test the legality of such proceedings, is a fla- grant violation of the constitution, and an invasion of the rights of the citizens of other states, utterly inconsistent with the professions made by the slaveholders, that they wish the provisions of the constitu- tion faithfully observed by every state in the Union. 19. That we recommend the introduc- tion into all treaties hereafter to be nego- tiated between the United States and for- eign nations, of some provision for th amicable settlement of difficulties by a re- sort to decisive arbitrations. 20. That the free democratic party is not organized to aid .either the Whig or Democratic wing of the great slave compro- mise party of the nation, but to defeat them both ; and that repudiating and re- nouncing both as hopelessly corrupt and utterly unworthy'bf confidence, the pur- pose of the Free Democracy is to take pos- session of the Federal government and ad- minister it for the better protection of the rights and interests of the whole people. 21. That we inscribe on our banner Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men, and under it will fight on and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions. 22. That upon this platform, the con- vention presents to the American people, as a candidate for the office of President of the United States, John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and as a candidate for the office 01 Vice-President of the United States, George W. Julian, of Indiana, and earnestly commend them to the support of all freemen and all parties. 1856. The American I Mat form. Adopted at Philadelphia February 21. 1. An humble acknowledgment to the 36 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. Supreme Being for His protecting care vouchsafed to our fathers in their success- ful revolutionary struggle, and hitherto manifested to us, their descendants, in the preservation of the liberties, the indepen- dence, and the union of these states. 2. The perpetuation of the Federal Union and constitution, as the palladium of our civil and religious liberties, and the only sure bulwarks of American independ- ence. 3. Americans must rule America ; and to this end nae cherished ; that the dissevered Union, now happily restored, should be perpetuated, and that the liber- ties secured to this generation should be transmitted, undiminished, to future gene- rations; that the order established and the credit acquired should never be impaired ; that the pensions promised should be paid ; that the debt so much reduced should be extinguished by the full payment of every dollar thereof; that the reviving industries should be further promoted ; and that the 62 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii commerce, already so great, should be steadily encouraged. 2. The constitution of the United States is a supreme law, and not a mere contract ; out of confederate states it made a sove- reign nation. Some powers are denied to the nation, while others are denied to states ; but the boundary between the pow- ers delegated and those reserved is to be determined by the national and not by the state tribunals. 3. The work of popular education is one left to the care of the several states, but it is the duty of the national government to aid that work to the extent of its constitu- tional ability. The intelligence of the na- tion is but the aggregate of the intelligence in the several states ; and tbe destiny of the nation must be guided, not by the genius of any one state, but by the aver- age genius of all. 4. The constitution wisely forbids Con- gress to make any law respecting an es- tablishment of religion ; but it is idle to hope that the nation can be protected against the influences of sectarianism while eacla state is exposed to its domination. We, therefore, recommend that the constitution be tx> amended as to lay the same prohibi- tion upon the legislature of each state, to forbid the appropriation of public funds to the support of sectarian schools. 5. We reaffirm the belief, avowed in 1876, that the duties levied for the pur- pose of revenue should so discriminate as to favor American labor ; that no further grant of the public domain should be made to any railway or other corporation; that slavery having perished in the states, its twin barbarity -polygamy must die in the territories ; that everywhere the pro- tection accorded to citizens of American biith must be secured to citizens by Ameri- can adoption. That we esteem it the duty of Congress to develop and improve our water-courses and harbors, but insist that further subsidies to private persona or cor- porations must cease. That the obliga- tions of the republic to the men who pre- served its integrity in the day of battle are undiminished by the lapse of fifteen years since their final victory to do them perpetual honor is, and shall forever be, the grateful privilege and sacred duty of the American people. 6. Since the authority to regulate immi- gration and intercourse between the United States and foreign nations rests with the Congress of the United States and its treity-making powers, the Republican pa)ty, regarding the unrestricted immigra- tion of the Chinese as an evil of great magnitude, invoke the exercise of that power to restrain and limit that immigra- tion by the enactment of such just, humane, and reasonable provisions as will produce that result That the purity and patriotism which characterized the early career of Ruther- ford B. Hayes in peace and war, and which guided the thoughts of our immediate pre- decessors to select him for a presidential candidate, have continued to inspire him in his career as chief executive, and that history will accord to his administration the honors which are due to an efficient, just, and courteous discharge of the public business, and will honor his interposition between the people and proposed partisan laws. 8. We charge upon the Democratic party the habitual sacrifice of patriotism and justice to a supreme and insatiable lust for office and patronage. That to obtain pos- session of the national and state govern- ments, and the control of place and position, they have obstructed all efforts to promote the purity and to conserve the freedom of suffrage ; have devised fraudulent certifi- cations and returns ; have labored to un- seat lawfully-elected members of Congress, to secure, at all hazards, the vote of a ma- jority of the states in the House of Repre- sentatives ; have endeavored to occupy, by force and fraud the places of trust given to others by the people of Maine, and rescued by the courageous action of Maine's pa- triotic sons ; have, by methods vicious in principle and tyrannical in practice, at- tached partisan legislation to appropria- tion bills, upon whose passage the very movements of government depend ; have crushed the rights of the individual ; have advocated the principle and sought the favor of rebellion against the nation, and have endeavored to obliterate the sacred memories of the war, and to overcome its inestimably valuable results of nationality, personal freedom, and individual equality. Equal, steady, and complete enforcement of the laws, and protection of all our citizens in the enjoyment of all privileges and im- munities guaranteed by the constitution, are the first duties of the nation. The dan- ger of a solid south can only be averted by the faithful performance of every promise which the nation made to the citizen. The execution of the laws, and the punishment of all those who violate them, are the only safe methods by which an enduring peace can be secured, and genuine prosperity es- tablished throughout the south. \V hat- ever promises the nation makes, the na- tion must perform ; and the nation can not with safety relegate this duty to the states. The solid south must be divided by the peaceful agencies of the ballot, and all opinions must there find free expression ; and to this end honest voters must be pro- tected against terrorism, violence, or fraud. And we affirm it to be the duty and the purpose of the Republican party to use all legitimate means to restore all the states of this Union to the most perfect harmony BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 63 which may be practicable ; and we submit to the practical, sensible people of the United States to say whether it would not be dan- gerous to the dearest interests of our coun- try, at this time to surrender the adminis- tration of the national government to a party which seeks to overthrow the exist- ing policy, under which we are so prosper- ous, and thus bring distrust and confusion where there is now order, confidence, and hope. 9. The Eepublican party, adhering to a principle affirmed by its last national con- vention, of respect for the constitutional rule covering appointments to office, adopts the declaration of President Hayes, that the reform of the civil service should be thorough, radical, and complete. To this end it demands the co-operation of the legislative with the executive department of the government, and that Congress shall so legislate that fitness, ascertained by proper practical tests, shall admit to the public service ; and that the power of re- moval for cause, with due responsibility for the good conduct of subordinates, shall accompany the power of appointment. 1880. National (Greenback) Platform, Chicago, Illinois. June 9. The civil government should guarantee the divine right of every laborer to the re- suite of his toil, thus enabling the pro- ducers of wealth to provide themselves with the means for physical comfort, and facilities for mental, social, and moral cul- ture ; and we condemn, as unworthy of our civilization, the barbarism which imposes upan wealth-producers a state of drudgery as the price of a bare animal existence. Notwithstanding the enormous increase of productive power by the universal intro- duction of labor-saving machinery and the discovery of new agents for the increase of wealth, the task of the laborer is scarcely lightened, the hours of toil are but little shortened, and few producers are lifted from poverty into comfort and pecuniary independenca The associated monopolies, the international syndicates, and other in- come classes demand dear money, cheap labor, and a strong government, and, hence, a weak people. Corporate control of the volume of money has been the means of dividing society into hostile classes, of an unjust distribution of the products of labor, and of building up monopolies of associated capital, endowed with power to confiscate private property. It has kept money scarce ; and the scarcity of money enforces debt-trade, and public and cor- porate loans ; debt engenders usury, and usury ends in the bankruptcy of the bor- rower. Other results are deranged mar- kets, uncertainty in manufacturing enter- prises and agriculture, precarious and intermittent employment for the laborer, industrial war, increasing pauperism and crime, and the consequent intimidation and disfranchisement ot the producer, and a rapid declension into corporate feudalism. Therefore, we declare First. That the right to make and issue money is a sovereign power, to be main- tained by the people for their common benefit. The delegation of this right to corporations is a surrender of the central attribute of sovereignty, void of constitu- tional sanction, and conferring upon a sub- ordinate and irresponsible power an abso- lute dominion over industry and commerce. All money, whether metallic or paper, should be issued, and its volume controlled, by the government, and not by or through banking corporations ; and, when so issued, should be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private. Second. That the bonds of the United States should not be refunded, but paid as rapidly as practicable, according to con- tract. To enable the government to meet these obligations, legal-tender currency should be substituted for the notes of the national banks, the national banking sys- tem abolished, and the unlimited coinage of silver, as well as gold, established by law. Third. That labor should be so pro- tected by national and state authority as to equalize its burdens and insure a just dis- tribution of its results. The eight hour law of Congress should be enforced, the sanitary condition of industrial establish- ments placed under the rigid control, the competition of contract convict labor abol- ished, a bureau of labor statistics estab- lished, factories, mines, and workshops in- spected, the employment of children under fourteen years of age forbidden, and wages paid in cash. Fourth. Slavery being simply cheap labor, and cheap labor being simply sla- very, the importation and presence of Chinese serfs necessarily tends to brutalize and degrade American labor; therefore, immediate steps should be taken to ab- rogate the Burlingame treaty. Fifth. Railroad land grants forfeited by reason of non-fulfillment of contract should be immediately reclaimed by the govern- ment, and, henceforth, the public domain reserved exclusively as homes for actual settlers. Sixth. It is the duty of Congress to reg- ulate inter-state commerce. All lines of communication and transportation should be brought under such legislative control as shall secure moderate, fair, and uniform rates for passenger and freight traffic. Seventh. We denounce as destructive to property and dangerous to liberty the ac- tion of the old parties in fostering and sur 64 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. taining gigantic land, railroad, and money corporations, and monopolies invested with and exercising powers belonging to the government, and yet not responsible to it for the manner of their exercise. Eighth. That the constitution, in giving Congress the power to borrow money, to declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, never in- tended that the men who loaned their money for an interest-consideration should be preferred to the soldiers and sailors who periled their lives and shed their blood on land and sea in defense of their country ; and we condemn the cruel class legislation of the Republican party, which, while pro- fessing great gratitude to the soldier, has most unjustly discriminated against him and in favor of the bondholder. Ninth. All property should bear its just proportion of taxation, and we demand a graduated income tax. Tenth. We denounce as dangerous the efforts everywhere manifest to restrict the right of suffrage. Eleventh. We are opposed to an increase of the standing army in time of peace, and the insidious scheme to establish an enor- mous military power under the guise of militia laws. Twelfth. We demand absolute democra- tic rules for the government of Congress, placing all representatives of the people upon an equal footing, and taking away from committees a veto power greater than that of the President. Thirteenth. We demand a government of the people, by the people, and for the peo- Ele, instead of a government of the bond- older, by the bondholder, and for the bondholder ; and we denounce every at- tempt to stir up sectional strife as an effort to conceal monstrous crimes against the people. Fourteenth. In the furtherance of these ends we ask the co-operation of all fair- minded people. We have no quarrel with individuals, wage no war on classes, but only against vicious institutions. We are not content to endure further discipline from our present actual rulers, who, having dominion over money, over transportation, over land and labor, over the press and the machinery of government, wield unwar- rantable power over our institutions and life and property. ,880. Prohibition Reform Platform, Cleveland, Ohio, June 17. The prohibition Reform party of the United States, organized, in the name of the people, to revive, enforce, and perpetu- ate in tne government the doctrines of the Declaration of Independence, submit, for the suffrage of all good citizens, the follow- ing platform of national reforms and mea- sures: In the examination and discussion of the temperance question, it has been proven, and is an accepted truth, that alcoholic drinks, whether fermented, brewed, or dis- j tilled, are poisonous to the healthy human i body, the drinking of which is not only needless but hurtful, necessarily tending to form intemperate habits, increasing greatly the number, severity, and fatal termina- tion of diseases, weakening and deranging the intellect, polluting the affections, hard- ening the heart and corrupting the morals, depriving many of reason and still more of its healthful exercise, and annually bring- ing down large numbers to untimely graves, producing, in the children of many who drink, a predisposition to intemperance, insanity, and various bodily and mental diseases, causing diminution of strength, feebleness of vision, fickleness of purpose, and premature old age, and inducing, in all future generations, deterioration of moral and physical character. Alcoholic drinks are thus the implacable foe of man as an individual. First. The legalized importation, manu- facture, and sale of intoxicating drinks ministers to their use, and teaches the erro- neous and destructive sentiment that such use is right, thus tending to produce and perpetuate the above mentioned evils. Second. To the home it is an enemy proving itself to be a disturber and de- stroyer of its peace, prosperity, and happi- ness ; taking from it the earnings of the husband; depriving the dependent wife and children of essential food, clothing, and education ; bringing into it profanity, abuse, and violence ; setting at naught the vows of the marriage altar ; breaking up the family and sundering the children from the parents, and thus destroying one of the most beneficent institutions of our Cre- ator, and removing the sure foundation of good government, national prosperity, and welfare. Third. To the community it is equally an enemy -producing vice, demoralization, and wickedness ; its places of sale being resorts of gaming, lewdness, and debauch- ery, and the hiding-place of those who fc prey upon society ; counteracting the efficacy of religious effort, and of all means of intellectual elevation, moral purity, social happiness, and the eternal good of mankind, without rendering any counter- acting or compensating benefits ; being in its influence and effect evil and only evil, and that continually. Fourth. To the state it is equally an enemy legislative inquiries, judicial inves- tigations, and official reports of all penal, reformatory, and dependent institutions showing that the manufacture and sale of such beverages is the promoting cause of BOOK II.J POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 65 intemperance, crime, and pauperism, and of demands upon public and private charity, imposing the larger part of taxation, para- lyzing thrift, industry, manufactures, and commercial life, which, but for it, would be unnecessary ; disturbing the peace of streets and highways ; filling prisons and poor-houses ; corrupting politics, legisla- tion, and the execution of the laws ; short- ening lives ; diminishing health, industry, and productive power in manufactures and art; and is manifestly unjust as well as injurious to the community upon which it is imposed, and is contrary to all just views of civil liberty, as well as a violation of the fundamental maxim of our common law, to use your own property or liberty BO as not to injure others. Fifth. It is neither right nor politic for the state to afford legal protection to any traffic or any system which tends to waste the resources, to corrupt the social habits, and to destroy the health and lives of the people ; that the importation, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating beverages is proven to be inimical to the true interests of the individual home, community, and state, and destructive to the order and wel- fare of society, and ought, therefore, to be classed among crimes to be prohibited. Sixth. In this time of profound peace at home and abroad, the entire separation of the general government from the drink- traffic, and its prohibition in the District of Columbia, territories, and in all places and ways over which, under the constitu- tion, Congress has control and power, is a political issue of the first importance to the peace and prosperity of the nation. There can be no stable peace and protection to personal liberty, life, or property, until secured by national or state constitutional provisions, enforced by adequate laws. Seventh. All legitimate industries require deliverance from the taxation and loss which the liquor traffic imposes upon them ; and financial or other legislation could not accomplish so much to increase production and cause a demand for labor, and, as a result, for the comforts of living, as the suppression of this traffic would bring to thousands of homes as one of its blessings. Eighth. The administration of the gov- ernment and the execution of the laws are through political parties ; and we arraign the Republican party, which has been in continuous power in the nation for twenty years, as being false to duty, as false to loudly-proclaimed principles of equal jus- tice to all and special favors to none, and of protection to the weak and dependent, insensible to the mischief which the trade in liquor has constantly inflicted upon in- dustry, trade, commerce, and the social happiness of the people ; that 5,652 dis- tilleries, 3,830 breweries, and 175,266 places for the sale of these poisonous liquors, in- 27 volving an annual waste to the nation of one million five hundred thousand dollars, and the sacrifice of one hundred thousand lives, have, under its legislation, grown up and been fostered as a legitimate source of revenue ; that during its history, six terri- tories have been organized and five states been admitted into the Union, with consti- tutions provided and approved by Con- gress, but the prohibition of this debasing and destructive traffic has not been pro- vided, nor even the people given, at the time of admission, power to forbid it in any one of them. Its history furthei shows, that not in a single instance has an original prohibitory law been passed by any state that was controlled by it, while in four states, so governed, the laws found on its advent to power have been repealed. At its national convention in 1872, it de- clared, as part of its party faith, that " it disapproves of the resort to unconstitu- tional laws for the purpose of removing evils, by interference with rights not sur- rendered by the people to either the state or national government," which, the au- thor of this plank says, was adopted by the platform committee with the full and implicit understanding that its purpose was the discountenancing of all so-called temperance, prohibitory, and Sunday laws. Ninth. We arraign, also, the Democra- tic party as unfaithful and unworthy of reliance on this question; for, although not clothed with power, but occupying the relation of an opposition party during twenty years past, strong in numbers and organization, it has allied itself with liquor-traffickers, and become, in all the states of the Union, their special political defenders, and in its national convention in 1876, as an article of its political faith, declared against prohibition and just laws in restraint of the trade in drink, by say- ing it was opposed to what it was pleased to call "all sumptuary laws." The Na- tional party has oeen dumb on this ques- tion. Tenth. Drink -traffickers, having the his- tory and experience of all ages, climes, and conditions of men, declaring their business destructive of all good finding no support in the Bible, morals, or reason appeal to misapplied law for their justification, and intrench themselves behind the evil ele- ments of political party for defense, party tactics and party inertia become battling forces, protecting this evil. Eleventh. In view of the foregoing facts and history, we cordially invite all voters, without regard to former party affiliations, to unite with us in the use of the ballot for the abolition of the drinking system, under the authority of our national and state governments. We also demand, as a right, that women, having the privileges of citi- zens in other respects, be clothed with th 66 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. ballot for their protection, and as a rightful means for the proper settlement of the liquor question. Twelfth. To remove the apprehension of some who allege that a loss of public rev- enue would follow the suppression of the direct trade, we confidently point to the experience of governments abroad and at home, which shows that thrift and revenue from the consumption of legitimate manu- factures and commerce have so largely fol- lowed the abolition of drink as to fully supply all loss of liquor taxes. Thirteenth. We recognize the good provi- dence of Almighty God, who has preserved and prospered us as a nation ; and, asking for His Spirit to guide us to ultimate suc- cess, we all look for it, relying upon His omnipotent arm. 1880. Democratic Platform, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 22. The Democrats of the United States, in convention assembled, declare : First. We pledge ourselves anew to the constitutional doctrines and traditions of the Democratic party, as illustrated by the teachings and examples of a long line of Democratic statesmen and patriots, and embodied in the platform of the last na- tional convention of the party. Second. Opposition to centralization, and to that dangerous spirit of encroach- ment which tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism ; no sumptuary laws ; separation of the church ana state for the good of each ; common schools fostered and protected. Third. Home rule ; honest money, con- gifting of gold and silver, and paper, con- vertible into coin on demand ; the strict maintenance of the public faith; state and national ; and a tariff for revenue only ; the subordination of the military to the civil power ; and a general and thorough reform of the civil service. Fourth. The right to a free ballot is a right preservative of all rights ; and must and shall be maintained in every part of the United States. Fifth. The existing administration is the representative of conspiracy only ; and its claim of right to surround the ballot-boxes with troops and deputy marshals, to in- timidate and obstruct the elections, and the unprecedented use of the veto to main- tain its corrupt and despotic power, insults the people and imperils their institutions. We execrate the course of this administra- tion in making places in the civil service a reward for political crime ; and demand a reform, by statute, which shall make it for- ever impossible for a defeated candidate to bribe his way to the seat of a usurper by billeting villains upon the people. Sixth. The great fraud of 1876-7, by which, upon a false count of the electoral votes of two states, the candidate defeated at the polls was declared to be President, and, for the first time in American history, the will of the people was set aside under a threat of military violence, struck a deadly blow at our system of representa- tive government. The Democratic party, to preserve the country from the horrors of a civil war, submitted for the time, in the firm and patriotic belief that the people would punish the crime in 1880. This is- sue precedes and dwarfs every other. It imposes a more sacred duty upon the people of the Union than ever addressed the con- sciences of a nation of freemen. Seventh. The resolution of Samuel J. Tilden, not again to be a candidate for the exalted place to which he was elected by a majority of his countrymen, and from which he was excluded by the leaders of the Republican party, is received by the Democrats of the United States with deep sensibility ; and they declare their confi- dence in his wisdom, patriotism, and in- tegrity unshaken by the assaults of the common enemy ; and they further assure him that he is followed into the retirement he has chosen for himself by the sympathy and respect of his fellow-citizens, who re- gard him as one who, by elevating the standard of the public morality, and adorn- ing and purifying the public service, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and his party. Eighth. Free ships, and a living chance for American commerce upon the seas ; and on the land, no discrimination in favor of transportation lines, corporations, or monopolies. Ninth. Amendments of the Burlingame treaty ; no more Chinese immigration, ex- cept for travel, education, and foreign com- merce, and, therein, carefully guarded. Tenth. Public money and public credit for public purposes solely, and public land for actual settlers. Eleventh. The Democratic party is the friend of labor and the. laboring man, and pledges itself to protect him alike against the cormorants and the commune. Twelfth. We congratulate the country upon the honesty and thrift of a Demo- cratic Congress, which has reduced the public expenditure $10,000,000 a year; upon the continuation of prosperity at home and the national honor abroad ; and, above all, upon the promise of such a change in the administration of the govern- ment as shall insure a genuine and lasting reform in every department of the public service. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 67 Virginia Republican. [Adopted August 11.] Whereas, It is proper that when the people assemble in convention they should avow distinctly the principles of govern- ment on which they stand ; now, therefore, be it, Resolved, That we, the Republicans of Virginia, hereby make a declaration of our allegiance and adhesion to the principles of the Republican party of the country, and our determination to stand squarely by the organization of the Republican party of Virginia, always defending it against the assaults of all persons or parties what- soever. Second. That amongst the principles of the Republican party none is of mof e vital importance to the welfare and interest of the country in all its parts than that which pertains to the sanctity of Government contracts. It therefore becomes the special duty and province of the Republican party of Virginia to guard and protect the credit of our time-honored State, which has been besmirched with repudiation, or received with distrust, by the gross mismanagement of various factions of the Democratic party, which have controlled the legisla- tion of the State. Tkird. That the Republican party of Virginia hereby pledges itself to redeem the State from the discredit that now hangs over her in regard to her just obligations for moneys loaned her for constructing her internal improvements and charitable in- stitutions, which, permeating every quarter of the State, bring benefits of far greater value than their cost to our whole people, and we in the most solemn form pledge the Republican party of the State to the full payment of the whole debt of the State, less the one-third set aside as justly falling on West Virginia ; that the industries of the country should be fostered through pro- tective laws, so as to develop our own re- sources, employ our own labor, create a home market, enhance values, and promote the happiness and prosperity of the people. Fourth. That the public school system of Virginia is the creature of the Repub- lican party, and we demand that every dollar the Constitution dedicates to it shall be sacredly applied thereto as a means of educating the children of the State, with- out regard to condition or race. Fifth. That the elective franchise as an equal right should be based on manhood qualification, and that we favor the repeal of the requirements of the prepayment of the capitation tax as a prerequisite to the franchise as opposed to the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of the condition whereby the State was read- mitted as a member of our Constitutional Union, as well as against the spirit of the Constitution ; but demand the imposition of the capitation tax as a source of revenue for the support of the public schools with- out its disfranchising effects. Sixth. That we favor the repeal of the disqualification for the elective franchise by a conviction of petty larceny, and of the infamous laws which place it in the power of a single justice of the peace (oft- times being more corrupt than the criminal before him) to disfranchise his fellow-man. Seventh. Finally, that we urge the repeal of the barbarous law permitting the im- position of stripes as degrading and inhu- man, contrary to the genius of a true and enlightened people, and a relic of bar- barism. [The Convention considered it inexpe- dient to nominate candidates for State officers.] Virginia Readjnster. [Adopted Jnne 2.] First. We recognize our obligation to support the institution for the deaf, dumb and blind, the lunatic asylum, the public free schools and the Government out of the revenues of the State ; and we depre- cate and denounce that policy of ring rale and subordinated sovereignty which for years borrowed money out of banks at high rates of interest for the discharge of these paramount trusts, while our revenues were left the prev of commercial exchanges, available to the State only at the option of speculators and syndicates. Second. We reassert our purpose to settle and adjust our State obligations on ihe principles of the " Bill to re-establish pub- lic credit," known as the " Riddleberger bill," passed by the last General Assembly and vetoed by the Governor. We main- tain that this measure recognizes the just debt of Virginia, in this, that it assumes two-thirds of all the money Virginia bor- rowed, and sets aside the other third to West Virginia to be dealt with by her in her own way and at her own pleasure; that it places those of her creditors who have received but 6 per cent, instalments of in- terest in nine years upon an exact equality with those who by corrupt agencies were enabled to absorb and monopolize our means of payment ; that it agrees to pay such rate of interest on our securities as can with certainty be met out of the rev- enues of the State, and that it contains all the essential features of finality* Third. We reassert our adherence to the Constitutional requirements for the " equal and uniform" taxation of property, ex- empting none except that specified by the Constitution and used exclusively for " re- ligious, charitable and educational pur- poses." 68 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. Fourth. We reassert that the paramount obligation of the various works of internal improvement is to the people of the State, by whose authority they were created, by whose money they were constructed and by whose grace they live ; and it is enjoin- ed upon our representative and executive officers to enforce the discharge of that duty ; to insure to our people such rates, facilities and connections as will protect every industry and interest against dis- crimination, tend to the development of our agricultural and mineral resources, en- courage the investment of active capital in manufactures and the profitable employ- ment of labor in industrial enterprises, grasp for our city and our whole State those advantages to which by their geographical position they are entitled, and fulfil all the great public ends for which they were de- signed. Fifth. The Readjusters hold the right to a free ballot to be the right preservative of all rights, and that it should be maintained in every State in the Union. We believe the capitation tax restriction upon the suf- fi"age in Virginia to be in conflict with the Xlvth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. We believe that it is a violation of that condition of reconstruc- tion wherein the pledge was given not so to amend our State Constitution as to de- prive any citizen or class of citizens of a right to vote, except as punishment for such crimes as are felony at common law. We believe such a prerequisite to voting to be contrary to the genius of our institu- tions, the very foundation of which is re- presentation as antecedent to taxation. We know that it has been a failure as a measure for the collection of revenue, the pretended reason for its invention in 1876, and we know the base, demoralizing and dangerous uses to which it has been pros- tituted. We know it contributes to the increase of monopoly power, and to cor- rupting the voter. For these and other reasons we adhere to the purpose hitherto expressed to provide more effectual legisla- tion for the collection of this tax, dedicated by the Constitution to the public free schools, and to abolish it as a qualification for and restriction upon suffrage. Sixth. The Readjusters congratulate the whole people of Virginia on the progress of the last few years in developing mineral resources and promoting manufacturing enterprises in the State, and they declare their purpose to aid these great and grow- ing industries by all proper and essential legislation, State and Federal. To this end they will continue their efforts in behalf of more cordial and fraternal relations be- tween the sections and States, and espe- cially for that concord and harmony which will make the country to know how earn- estly and sincerely Virginia invites all men into her borders as visitors or to become citizens without fear of social or political ostracism; that every man, from whatever section of country, shall enjoy the fullest freedom of thought, speech, politics and religion, and that the State which first formulated these principles as fundamental in free government is yet the citadel for their exercise and protection. Virginia Democratic. [Adopted Auffutt 4.] The Conservative Democratic party of Virginia Democratic in its Federal rela- tions and Conservative in its State policy- assembled in convention, in view of the present condition of the Union and of this Commonwealth, for the clear and distinct assertion of its political principles, doth declare that we adopt the following articUs of political faith : First. Equality of right and exact jus- tice to all men, special privileges to none ; freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of the person under the pro- tection of the habeas corpus ; of trial by juries impartially selectea, and of a pure, upright and non-partisan judiciary ; elec- tions by the people, free from force or fraud of citizens or of the military and civil of- ficers of Government; and the selection for public offices of those who are honest and best fitted to fill them ; the support of the State governments in all their rights as the most competent administrations of our domestic concerns and_the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies ; and the preservation of the General Govern- ment in its whole constitutional vigor as the best sheet-anchor of our peace at home and our safety abroad. Second. That the maintenance of the public credit of Virginia is an essential means to the promotion of her prosperity. We condemn repudiation in every shape and form as a blot upon her honor, a blow at her permanent welfare, and an obstacle to her progress in wealth, influence and power ; and that we will make every effort to secure a settlement of the public debt, with the consent of her creditors, which is consistent with her honor and dictated by justice and sound public policy; that it is eminently desirable and proper that the several classes of the debt now existing should be unified, so that equality, which is equity, may control in the annual pay- ment 01 interest and the ultimate redemp- tion of principal ; that, with a view of se- curing such equality, we pledge our party to use all lawful authority to secure a settle- ment of the State debt so that there shall be but one class of the public debt; that we will use all lawful and constitutional means in our power to secure a settlement BOOK POLITICAL PLATFORM. 69 of the State debt upon the basis of a 3 per cent, bond, and that the Conservative- Democratic party pledges itself, as a part of its policy, not to increase the present rate or taxation. ' Third. That we will uphold, in its full constitutional integrity and efficiency, our public-school system for the education of both white and colored children a system inaugurated by the Constitution of the State and established by the action of the Conservative party years before it was re- quired by the Constitution ; and will take tne most effectual means for the faithful execution of the same by applying to its support all the revenues set apart for that object by the Constitution or otherwise. Fourth. Upon this declaration of prin- ciples we cordially invite the co-operation of all Conservative Democrats, whatever may hav6 been or now are their views upon the public debt, in the election of the nominees of this Convention and in the maintenance of the supremacy of the Democratic party in this State. Resolved, further, That any intimation, coming from any quarter, that the Con- servative-Democratic party of Virginia has been, is now, or proposes to be, opposed to an honest ballot and a fair count, fe a calumny upon the State of Virginia as un- founded in fact as it is dishonorable to its authors. That special efforts be made to foster and encourage the agricultural, mechanical, mining, manufacturing and other indus- trial interests of the State. That, in common with all good citizens of the Union, we reflect with deep abhor- rence upon the crime of the man who aimed a blow at the life of the eminent citizen who was called by the constitutional voice of fifty millions of people to be the President of the United States ; and we tender to him and to his friends the sym- pathy and respect of this Convention and of those we represent, in this great calam- ity, and our hearty desire for his complete restoration to health and return to the dis- charge of his important duties, for the wel- tare and honor of our common country. 1884 Democratic Platform. Adopted by the Chicago Convention, July 10th. The Democratic party of the Union through its representatives in the National Convention assembled, recognizes that as the Nation grows older new issues are born, of time and progress, 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 con- tinuance 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 Constitution will ever form the true basis of our liberties, and can never be surrendered without destroying that bal- ance 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 indispensa- ble for the practical application and en- forcement of these fundamental principles that the Government should not always be controlled by one political party. Frequent change of administration is as necessary as a constant recurrence to the popular will. Otherwise abuses grow, and the Govern- ment, instead of being carried 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. This is now the condition of the country, hence a change is demanded. The Repub- lican party, so far as principle is concerned, is a reminiscence in practice, it is an organization 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 authority, made reckless by the long possession of power, have succumbed to its corrupting influences, and have placed in nomination a ticket against which the Independent portion of the party are in open revolt. Therefore a change is de- manded. Such a change was alike neces- sary in 1876, but the will of the people was then defeated by a fraud which can never be forgotten nor condoned. Again in 1880 the change demanded by the people was defeated by the lavish use of money, contributed by unscrupulous contractors and shameless jobbers, who had bargained for unlawful profits or for high office. The Republican party during its legal, its stolen and its bought tenures of power, has steadily decayed in moral character and political capacity. Its platform pro- mises 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 shipping has been depressed. It imposed and has continued those burdens. It professes the policy of reserving the public lands for small hold- ings by actual settlers. It has given away the people's heritage till now a few rail- 70 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. roads and non-resident aliens, individual and corporate, possess a larger area than that of all our faring between the two seas. It professes a preference for free institu- tions. 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 work- ingmeu to the competition of convict and imported contract labor. It professes grat- itude to all who were disabled or died in the war leaving widows and orphans. It left to a Democratic House of Representa- tives the first effort to equalize both boun- ties and pensions. It proffers a pledge to correct the irregularities of our tariff. It created and has continued them. Its own tariff commission confessed the need of more than 20 per cent, reduction. Its Con- gress gave a reduction of less than 4 per cent. It professes the protection of Amer- ican manufacturers. It has subjected them to an increasing flood of manufac- tured goods and a hopeless competition with manufacturing nations, not one of which taxes raw materials. It professes to protect all American industries. It has impoverished many to subsidize a few. It professes the protection of American labor. It has depicted the returns of American agriculture, an industry followed by half our people. It professes the equality of men before the law. Attempting to fix the status of colored citizens, the act of its Congress was overset by the decision of its courts. It " accepts anew the duty of lead- ing in the work of progress and reform." Its caught criminals are permitted to es- cape through contrived delays or actual connivance in the prosecution. Honey- combed with corruption, outbreaking ex- Eosures no longer shock its moral sense, its onest members. Its independent journals no longer maintain a successful contest for authority in its counsels or a veto upon bud nominations. That a change is necessary is proved by an existing surplus of more than.$100,000,- 000, which has yearly been collected from a suffering people. Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. We denounce the Re- publican party for having failed to relieve the people from crushing war taxes which have paralyzed business, crippled indus- try, and deprived labor of employment and of just reward. The Democracy pledges itself to purify the administration from corruption, to restore economy, to revive the respect of the law, and to reduce taxa- tion 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 legisla- tion affecting the occupations of the people should be cautious and conservative in method, not in advance of public opinion, but responsive to its demands, the Demo- cratic party is pledged to revise the tariff in a spirit of fairness to all. But in making a reduction in taxes, it is not proposed to injure any domestic industries, but rather to promote their healthy growth. From the foundation of this Government tuxes 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 legisla- tion for successful continuance, so that any change of law must be at every step re- gardful of the labor and the capital thus involved. The process of reform must be subject in the execution to this plain dic- tate of justice. All taxation shall be limited to the requirements of economical 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. Sufficient rev- enue to pay all the expenses of the Federal Government, economically administered, including pensions, interest and principal of the public debt, can be got, under our present system of taxation, from custom house taxes on fewer imported 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 taxa- tion shall be exclusively for public pur- poses and shall not exceed the needs of the Government economically adminis- tered. 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 the worthy soldiers disabled in 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 ; and any surplus should be paid into the treasury. We favor an American continental pol- icy, 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 Consti- BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 71 tution, and a circulating medium convert- ible 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 Democrats in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Con- gresses by which a reluctant Republican opposition was compelled to assent to legislation making everywhere illegal the presence of troops at the polls, as the con- clusive proof that a Democratic adminis- tration 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 citizens and interfere with individual liberty. We favor honest civil service reform, and the compensation of all United States officers by fixed salaries ; the separation of Church and State and the diffusion of free educa- tion by common schools, so that every child in the land may be taught the rights and duties of citizenship. While we favor all legislation which will tend to the equitable distribution of pro- perty to the prevention of monopoly, and to the strict enforcement of individual rights against corporate abuses, we hold that the welfare of society depends upon a scrupulous regard for the rights of pro- perty as defined by law. We believe that labor is best rewarded where it is freest and most enlightened. It should, therefore, be fostered and chen- ished. We favor the repeal of all laws restricting the free action of labor, and the enactment of laws by which labor organi- zations may be incorporated, and of all such legislation as will tend to enlighten the people as to the true relations of capi- tal and labor. We believe that the public lands ought, as far as possible, to be kept as homesteads for actual settlers ; that all unearned lands heretofore improvidently granted to rail- road corporations by the action of the Re- publican party, should be restored to the public domain, and that no more grant of land shall be made to corporations, or be allowed to fall into the ownership of alien absentees. We are opposed to all pro- positions which upon any pretext would convert the General Government into a machine for collecting taxes to be distrib- uted among the States or the citizens thereof. All the great woes of our country havs come because of imported labor. Our fathers made this land the home of the free for all men appreciating our institutions, with energy enough to bring themselves here, and such we welcome, but our coun- try ought never to be a lazar-house for the deportation of the pauper labor of otber countries through governmental aid, or the importation of the same kind of labor as an instrument with which capital can de- base American workingmen and women from the proud position they now occupy by competing with them by imported labor or convict labor, while at the same time, capital asks and receives protection of its interests at the hands of the Government, under guise of providing for American labor. This evil like all others finds birth in the cupidity and selfishness of men. The laborer's demands should be redressed by law. Labor has a right to demand a just share ot the profits of its own produc- tions. The future of the country unites with the laboring men in the demand for the liberal support by the United States of the school system of the States for the com- mon education of all the children, the same affording a sufficient foundation for the coming generations to acquire due knowledge of their duties as citizens. That every species of monopoly engend- ers two classes, the very rich and the very poor, both of which are equally hurtful to a Republic which should give to its people equal rights and equal privileges under the law. That the public lands of the United States were the equal heritage of all the citizens and should have been held open to the use of all in such quantities only as are needed for cultivation and improve- ment by all. Therefore we view with alarm the absorption of these lands by cor- porations and individuals in large areas, some of them more tban equal to princely domains, and demand of Congress to apply appropriate remedies with a stern hand so that the lands of the people may be held by the many and not b*y the few. That the public lands of the Nation an, held by the Government in trust for tnose who make their homes in the United States, and who mean to become citizens of the Republic, and we protest against the purchase and monopolization of these lands by corporations and the alien aristocracy of Europe. That all corporate bodies, created eithw 72 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n in the States or Nation for the purpose of performing public duties, are public ser- vants and to be regulated in all their actions by the same power that created them at its own will, and that it is within the power and is the duty of the creator to so govern its creature that by its acts it shall become neither a monopoly nor a burden upon the people, but be their servant and conveni- ence, which is the true test of its useful- ness. Therefore we call upon Congress to exercise its great constitutional powers for regulating inter-estate commerce to provide that by no contrivance whatever, under forms of law or otherwise, shall discrimi- nating rates and charges for the transpor- tation of freight and travel be made in favor of the few against the many or en- hance the rates of transportation between the producer and the consumer. The various offices of the Government belong to the people thereof and who rightfully demand to exercise and fill the same whenever they are fitted by capacity, integrity and energy, the last two qualifi- cations never to be tested by any scholastic examination. We hold that frequent changes of Federal officials are shown to be necessary. First, to counteract the grow- ing aristocratic tendencies to a caste of life offices. Second, experience having shown that all investigation is useless while the incumbent and his associates hold their places. Frequent change of officers is necessary to the discovery and punishment of frauds, peculations, defalcations and em- bezzlements of the public money. In reaffirming the declaration 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 a land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith," we neverthless do not sanction the importation of foreign labor or the admis- sion 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. Ameri- can civilization demands that against the immigration or importation of Mongolians to these shores our gates be closed. The Democratic party insists that it is the duty of this Government to protect with great fidelity and vigilance the rights of its citi- zens, native and naturalized, at home and abroad ; and to the end that this protection may be assured to the United States, papers of naturalization, issued by courts of competent jurisdiction, must be re- spected by the executive legislative depart- ments of our own Government and by all foreign powers. It is an imperative duty of this Government to efficiently protect all the rights of persons and property of every American citizen in foreign lands, and demand and enforce full reparation for any violation thereof. An American citizen is only responsible to his own Gov- ernment for an act done in his own coun- try or under her flag, and can only be tried therefore 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 the Democratic administration. That policy has never 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 re- call the acquisition of Louisiana, Florida, California and of the adjacent Mexican Territory by purchase alone, and contrast these grand acquisitions of Democratic Statesmanship with the purchase of Alaska, the sole fruit of a Republican administra- tion of nearly a quarter of a century. The Federal Government should care for and improve the Mississippi river and other great water ways of the Republic, so as to secure for the interior States easy and cheap transportation to tide water. Under a long period of Democratic rule and policy our merchant marine was fast overtaking and on the point of outstrip- ping that of Great Britain. Under twenty- five years of Republican rule and policy our commerce has been left to British bot- toms, 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 Dem- ocratic rule and policy our merchants and sailors flying the stars and stripes in every port, successfully searched out a market for the varied products of American indus- try. Under a quarter of a century of Re- publican rule and policv, despite our manifest advantage over all other nations, high-paid labor, favorable climates and teeming soils; despite freedom of trade among these United States ; despite their population by the foremost races of men and the annual immigration of the young, thrifty and adventurous of all nations ; de- spite our freedom here from the inherited burdens of life and industry in the Old World monarchies their costly war navies their vast tax-consuming, non-producing standing armies; despite twenty years of peace that Republican rule and policy have managed to surrender to Great Britain, along with our commerce, the control of the markets of the world. In- BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 73 stead of the Republican party's British policy, we demand in behalf of the Amer- ican Democracy an American policy. In- stead of the Republican party's discredited scheme and false pretense of friendship for American labor, expressed by imposing taxes, we demand in behalf of the Demo- cracy freedom for American labor by re- ducing 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. With profound regret we have been ap- prised by the venerable statesman through whose person was struck that blow at the vital principle of republics acquiescence in the will of the majority that he can- not 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 Go- vernment is an undertaking now too heavy for his age and failing strength. Re- joicing that his life has been prolonged until the general judgment of our fellow- countrymen 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 career not only our respectful sympathy and esteem, but also the best homage of freedom, the pledge of our devotion to the principles and the cause now inseparable in the history of this Republic, from the labors and the name of Samuel J. Tilden. With this statement of the hopes, prin- ciples and purposes of the Democratic party, the great issue of reform and change in administration is submitted to the peo- ple 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 exten- sion of trade, the employment and due reward of labor and capital and the gene- ral welfare of the whole country. 1884. Republican Platform. Adopted by tht Chicago Convention, June 3d to 6th. The Republicans of the United States, in National Convention assembled, renew their allegiance to the principles upon which they have triumphed in six suc- cessive Presidential elections, and con- gratulate the American people on the attainment of so many results in legisla- tion and administration by which the Re- publican party has, after saving the Union, done so much to render its institutions just, equal and beneficent the safeguard of liberty and the embodiment of the best thought and highest purposes of our citizens. The Republican party has gained its strength by quick and faithful response to the demands of the people for the free- dom and the equality of all men ; for a united nation, assuring the rights of all citizens ; for the elevation of labor ; for an honest currency ; for purity in legislation, and for integrity and accountability in all departments of the Government; and it accepts anew the duty of leading in the work of progress and reform. We lament the death of President Gar- field, whose sound statesmanship, long conspicuous in Congress, gave promise of a strong and successful administration, a promise fully realized during the short period of his office as President of the United States. His distinguished success in war and in peace has endeared him to the hearts of the American people. In the administration of President Arthur we recognise a wise, conservative, and patriotic policy, under which the country has been blessed with remarkable prosperity, and we believe his eminent ser- vices are entitled to, and will receive, the hearty approval of every citizen. It is the first duty of a good Government to protect the rights and promote the in- terests of its own people. The largest diversity of industry is most productive of general prosperity and of the comfort and independence of the people. We, there- fore, demand that the imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be made, not for revenue only, but that in raising the requi- site revenues for the Government such duties shall be so levied as to afford security to our diversified industries and protection to the rights and wages of the laborer, to the end that active and intelli- gent labor, as well as capital, may have its just reward, and the laboring man hi 11 share in the national prosperity. Againstthe so-called economic system of the Democratic party which would degrade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter our earnest protest. The Democratic party has failed completely to relieve the people of the burden of unnecessary taxa- tion by a wise reduction of the surplus. The Republican party pledges itself to correct the inequalities of the tariff, and to reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and indiscriminate process of horizontal reduc- 74 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOS n. tion, but by such methods as will relieve the taxpayer without injuring the laborer or the great productive interests of the country. We recognize the importance of sheep husbandry in the United States, the serious depression which it is now experiencing and the danger threatening its future pros- perity ; and we therefore respect the de- mands of the representatives of this impor- tant agricultural interest for a re-adjust- ment of duty upon foreign wool, in order that such industry shall have full and ade- quate protection. We have always recommended the best money known to the civilized world, and we urge that an effort be made to unite all commercial nations in the establishment of an international standard which shall fix for all the relative value of gold and silver coinage. The regulation of commerce with foreign nations and between the States is one of the most important prerogatives of the General Government, and the Republican party distinctly announces* its purpose to support such legislation as will fully and efficiently carry out. the constitutional power of Congress over inter-State com- merce. The principle of the public regulation of railway corporations is a wise and salu- tary one for the protection of all classes of the people, and we favor legislation that shall prevent unjust discrimination and excessive charges for transportation, and that shall secure to the people and to the railways alike the fair and equal protection of the laws. We favor the establishment of a national bureau, of labor, the enforcement of the eight-hour law, and a wise and judicious system of general education by adequate appropriation from the national revenues wherever the same is needed. We believe that everywhere the protection to a citizen of American birth must be secured to citi- zens of American adoption, and we favor the settlement of national differences by international arbitration. The Republican party having its birth in a hatrea of slave labor, and in a desire that all men may be free and equal, is un- alterably opposed to placing our working- men in competition with any form of ser- vile labor, whether at home or abroad. In this spirit we denounce the importation of contract labor, whether from Europe or Asia, as an offense against the spirit of American institutions, and we pledge our- selves to sustain the present law restricting Chinese immigration, and to provide such further legislation as is necessary to carry out its purposes. The reform of the civil service, auspi- ciously begun under Republican adminis- tration, should be completed by the further extension of the reformed system, already established by law, to all the grades of the service to which it is applicable. The spirit and purpose of the reform should be observed in all executive appointments, and all laws at variance with the objects or existing reformed legislation should be re- pealed, to the end that the danger to free institutions which lurks in the power of official patronage may be wisely and effect- ively avoided. The public lands are a heritage of the people of the United States, and should be reserved, as far as possible, for small hold- ings by actual settlers. We are opposed to the acquisition of large tracts of these lands by corporations or individuals, espe- cially where such holdings are in the hands of non-resident aliens, and we will endea- vor to obtain such legislation as will tend to correct this evil. We demand of Con- gress the speedy forfeiture of all land grants which have lapsed by reason of non- compliance with acts of incorporation, in all cases where there has been no attempt in good faith to perform the conditions of such grants. The grateful thanks of the American people are due to the Union soldiers arid sailors of the late war, and the Republican party stands pledged to suitable pensions for all who were disabled, and for the widows and orphans of those who died in the war. The Republican party also pledges itself to the repeal of the limita- tion contained in the arrears act of 1879, so that all invalid soldiers shall share alike and their pensions shall begin with the date of disability or discharge, and not with the date of their application. The Republican party favors a policy which shall keep us from entangling alli- ances with foreign nations, and which shall give the right to expect that foreign nations shall refrain from meddling in American affairs the policy which seeks peace, and can trade with all Powers, but especially with those of the Western Hem- isphere. We demand the restoration of our navy to its old-time strength and efficiency, that it may, in any sea, protect the rights of Amencan citizens and the interests of American commerce, and we call upon Congress to remove the burdens under which American shipping has been de- BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFOKMS. 75 pressed, so that it may again be true that we have a commerce which leaves no sea unexplored, and a navy which takes no law from superior force. Resolved, That appointments by the President to offices in the Territories should be made from the bona-fide citizens and residents of the Territories wherein they are to serve. Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to enact such laws as shall promptly and effectually suppress the system of polyg- amy within our territory, and divorce the political from the ecclesiastical power of the so-called Mormon Church, and that the law so enacted should be rigidly en- forced by tbe civil authorities if possible, and by the military if need be. The people of the United States, in their organized capacity, constitute a Nation and not a mere confederacy of States. The National Government is supreme within the sphere of its national duty, but the States have reserved rights which should be faithfully maintained ; each should be guarded with jealous care, so that the har- mony of our system of government may be preserved and the Union be kept inviolate. The perpetuity of our institutions rests upon the maintenance of a free ballot, an honest count, and correct returns. We denounce the fraud and violence practised by the Democracy in Southern States by which the will of the voter is de- feated, as dangerous to the preservation of free institutions, and we solemnly arraign the Democratic party as being the guilty recipient of the fruits of such fraud and violence. We extend to the Republicans of the South, regardless of their former party affiliations, our cordial sympathy, and pledge to them our most earnest efforts to promote the passage of such legislation as will secure to every citizen, of whatever race and color, the full and complete recognition, possession and exer- cise of all civil and political rights. 1888. Democratic National Platform. Adopted ly the St. Louis Omvention, June 5, 1888. The Democratic party of the United States, in National Convention assembled, renews the pledge of its fidelity to Demo- cratic faith, and reaffirms the platform adopted by its representatives in the Con- vention of 1884, and endorses the views ex- pressed by President Cleveland in his last annual message to Congress as the correct interpretation of that platform upon the question of tariff reduction ; and also en- dorses the efforts of our Democratic repre- sentatives in Congress to secure a reduction of excessive taxation. Chief among its principles of party faith are the mainten- ance of an indissoluble union of free and indestructible States, now about to enter upon its second century of unexampled progress and renown ; devotion to a plan of goverment regulated by a written con- stitution strictly specifying every granted power and expressly reserving to the States or people the entire ungranted residue of power; the encouragement of a jealous popular vigilance, directed to all who have been chosen for brief terms to enact and execute the laws, and are charged with the duty of preserving peace, ensuring equality and establishing justice. The Democratic party welcome an ex- acting scrutiny of the administration of the executive power which, four years ago, was committed to its trusts in the election of Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, but it challenges the most searching inquiry concerning its fidelity and devotion to the pledges which then invited the suffrages of the people. Dur- ing a most critical period 01 our financial affairs, resulting from over taxation, the anomalous condition of our currency and a public debt unmatured, it has, by the adoption of a wise and conservative course, not only averted a disaster, but greatly pro- moted the prosperity of our people. It has reversed the improvident and unwise policy of the Republican party touch- ing the public domain, and has reclaimed from corporations and syndicates alien and domestic and restored to the people nearly one hundred million acres of valuable land, to be sacredly held as homesteads for our citizens. While carefully guarding the interest to the principles of justice and equity, it has paid out more for pensions and bounties to the soldiers and sailors of the Republic than was ever paid out during an equal period. It has adopted and constantly pursued a firm and prudent foreign policy, preserving peace with all nations while scrupulously maintaining all the rights and interests of our own Government and peo- ple at home and abroad. The exclusion from our shores of Chinese laborers has been effectually secured under the provi- sion of a treaty, the operation of which has been postponed by the action of a Repub- lican majority in the Senate. Honest re form in the Civil Service has been inaugurated and maintained by President Cleveland, and he has brought the public service to the highest standard of efficiency, not only by rule and precept, but by the example of his own untiring and unselfish administration of public affairs. In every department and branch of the Government, under Democratic control, the rights and the welfare of all the people have been guarded and defended; every public interest has been protected, and the equality of all our citizens before the law without regard to race or color has been steadfastly maintained. Upon its record thus exhibited, and upon the pledge of a continuance to the people of the benefits of Democracy, invokes a renewal^ of popu- lar trust by the re-election of a Chief Magis- trate who has been faithful, able and prudent. To invoke in addition to that 76 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK IT. trust by the transfer also to the Democracy of the entire legislative power. The Republican party controlling the Senate and resisting in both Houses of Congress a reformation of unjust and un- equal tax laws, which have outlasted the necessities of war and are now undermin- ing the abundance of a long peace, deny to the people equality before the law, and the fairness and the justice which are their right. Then the cry of American labor for a better share in the rewards of industry is stiffled with false pretences, enterprise is fettered and bound down to home markets, capital is discouraged with doubt, and un- equal, unjust laws can neither be properly amended nor repealed. The Democratic party will continue with all the power confided to it, the struggle to reform these laws in accordance with the pledges of its last platform, endorsed at the ballot-box by the suffrages of the people. Of all the industrious freemen of our land, the immense majority, including every tiller of the soil, gain no advantage from excessive tax laws, but the price of nearly everything they buy is increased by the favoritism of an unequal system of tax legislation. All unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. It is repugnant to the creed of Demo- cracy that by such taxation the cost of the necessaries of life should be unjustifiably ncreased to a'l our people. Judged by {Democratic principles the interests of the people are betrayed when, by unnecessary taxation, trusts and combinations are per- mitted to exist, which, while unduly enrich- ing the few that combine, rob the body of the citizens by depriving them of the bene- fits of natural competition. Every Demo- cratic rule of governmental action is violated when, through unnecessary taxation, a vast sum of money, far beyond the needs of an economical administration, is drawn from the people and the channels of trade and accumulated as a demoralizing surplus in the National Treasury. The money now lying idle in the Federal Treasury, resulting from superfluous taxa- tion, amounts to more than one hundred and twenty-five millions, and the surplus collected is reaching the sum of more than sixty millions annually. Debauched by this immense temptation, the remedy of the Republican party is to meet and exhaust by extravagant appropriations and expen- ses, whether constitutional or not, the accumulation of extravagant taxations. The Democratic policy is to enforce fru- gality in public expense and abolish un- necessary taxation. Our established do- mestic industries and enterprises should not and need not be endangered by the reduction and correction of the burdens of taxation. On the contrary, a fair and careful revis:on of our tax laws, with due allowance for the difference between the wages of American and foreign labor, must promote and encourage every branch of such industries and enterprises by giving them assurance of an extended market and steady and continuous operations. In the interests of American labor, which should in no event be neglected, revision of our tax laws, contemplated by the Democratic party, should promote the advantage of such labor by cheapening the cost of neces- saries of life in the home of every working man, and at the same time securing to him steady and remunerative employment. Upon this question of tariff reform, so closely concerning every phase of our national life, and upon every question involved in the problem of good govern- ment, the Democratic party submits its principles and professions to the intelligent suffrages of the American people. Resolved, That this Convention hereby endorses and recommends the early passage of the bill for the reduction of the revenue now pending in the House of Representa- tives (Referring to the Mills bill. ) Resolved, That we express our cordial sympathy with the struggling people of all nations in their efforts to secure for them- selves the inestimable blessings of self- government and civil and religious liberty; and we especially declare our sympathy with the efforts of those noble patriots who, led by Gladstone and Parnell, have conducted their grand and peaceful contest for Home Rule in Ireland. The Republican National Platform, Adopted at Chicago Convention, June 19, 1888. The Republicans of the United States, assembled by their delegates in National Convention, pause on the threshold of their proceedings to honor the memory of their first great leader, the immortal cham- pion of liberty and the rights of the peo- ple Abraham Lincoln and to cover also with wreaths of imperishable remem- brance and gratitude the heroic names of our later leaders who have more recently been called away from our councils Grant, Garfield, Arthur, Logan, Conkling. May their memories be faithfully cher- ished. We also recall with our greetings, and with prayer for his recovery, the name of one of our living heroes whose memory will be treasured in the history both of 4 the Republicans and the republic the name of that noble soldier and favorite child of victory, Philip H. Sheridan. In the spirit of these great leaders and of our own devotion to human liberty, and with that hostility to all forms of des- potism and oppression which is the funda- mental idea of the Republican party, we add fraternal congratulation to our fellow- Americans of Brazil upon their great set of emancipation, which completed the abol- ition of slavery throughout the two Ameri- can continents. We earnestly hope that we may soon congratulate our fellow-citi- zens of Irish birth upon the peaceful re- covery of Home Rule for Ireland. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFOKMS. 77 We reaffirm our unswerving devotion to the National Constitution and to the in- dissoluble union of the States; to the autonomy reserved to the States under the Constitution ; to the personal rights and liberties of citizens in all the States and Territories in the Union, and especially to the supreme and sovereign right of every lawful citizen, rich or poor, native or foreign born, white or black, to cast one free ballot in public elections, and to have that duly counted. We hold the free and honest popular ballot and the just and equal representation of all the people to be the foundation of our Republican gov- ernment, and demand effective legislation to secure the integrity and purity of elec- tions, which are the fountains of all public authority. We charge that the present administration 'and the Democratic major ity in Congress owe their existence to the suppression of the ballot by a criminal nullification of the Constitution and laws of the United States. We are uncompromisingly in favor of the American system of protection. We protest against its destruction as proposed by the President and his party. They serve the interests of Europe ; we will sup- port the interests of America. We accept the issue and" confidently appeal to the people for their judgment. The protective system must be maintained. Its abandon- ment has always been followed by general disaster to all interests except those of the usurer and the sheriff. We denounce the Mills bill as destructive to the general business, the labor and the farming inter- ests of the country, and we heartily en- dorse the consistent and patriotic action of the Republican Representatives in Con- gress in opposing its passage. We condemn the proposition of the Democratic party to place wool on the free list, and we insist that the duties thereon shall lie adjusted and maintained so as to furnish full and adequate protection to that industry. The Republican party would effect all needed reduction of the national revenue by repealing the taxes upon tobacco, which are an annoyance and burden to agricul- ture, and the tax upon spirits used in the arts and for mechanical purposes, and by such revision of the tariff' laws as will tend to check imports of such articles as are produced by our people, the production of which gives employment to our labor, and release from import duties those articles of foreign production (except luxuries) the like of which cannot be produced at home. If there shall still remain a larger revenue than is requisite for the wants of the Gov- ernment, we favor the entire repeal of in- ternal taxes rather than the surrender of any part of our protective system at the joint behest of the whisky trusts and the agents of foreign manufacturers. We declare our hostility to the introduc- tion into this country of foreign contract labor, and of Chinese labor, alien to our civilization and our Constitution, and we demand the rigid enforcement of the ex- isting laws against it, and favor such im- mediate legislation as will exclude such labor from our shores. We declare our opposition to all com- binations of capital organized in trusts or otherwise to control arbitrarily the condi- tion of trade among our citizens, and we recommend to Congress and to the State Legislatures in their respective jurisdic- tions such legislation as will prevent the execution of all the schemes to oppress the people by undue charges on their supplies, or by the unjust rates for the transporta- tion of their products to market. We ap- prove the legislation by Congress to pre- vent alike unjust burdens and unfair dis- criminations between the States. We reaffirm the policy of appropriating the public lands of the United States to be homesteads for American citizens and settlers, not aliens, which the Republican party established in 1862, aga'nst the per- sistent opposition of the Democrats in Congress, and which has brought our great western domain into such magnificent de- velopment. The restoration of unearned railroad land grants to the public domain, for the use of the actual settlers, which was begun under the administration of President Arthur, should be continued. We deny that the Democratic party has ever revoked one acre to the people, but declare that, by the joint action of Re- publicans and Democrats, about fifty mil- lions of acres of unearned lands originally granted for the construction of railroads have b en restored to the public domain, in pursuance of the conditions inserted by the Republican party in the original grants. We charge the Democratic administration with failure to execute the laws securing to settlers titles to their homesteads, and with using appropriations made for that purpose to harass innocent settlers with spies and prosecutions under the false pretense of ex- posing frauds and vindicating the law. The Government by Congress of the Territories is based upon necessity only, to the end that they may become States in the Union ; therefore, whenever the con- ditions of population, material resources, public intelligence nnd morality are such as to insure a stable Government therein, the people of such territories should be per- mitted, as a right inherent in them, tin- right to form for themselves constitutions and State Governments and be admitted into the Union. Pending the preparation for statehood, all officers thereof should be selected from the bona-fide residents and citizens of the territory wherein they are to serve. South Dakota should of right be immediately admitted as a State in the Union under the Constitution framed and adopted by her people, nnd we heartily en- dorse the action of the Republican Senate in twice passing bills for admission. The AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. refusal of the Democratic House of Rep- resentatives, for partisan purposes, to favorably consider these bills, is a willful violation of the sacred American principle of local self government and merits the condemnation of all just men. The pend- ing bills in the Senate for acts to enable the people of Washington, North Dakota and Montana territories to form Constitutions and establish State Governments, should be 'passed without unnecessary delay. The Re- publican party pledges itself to do all in its power to facilitate the admission of the Ter- ritories of New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho and Arizona to the enjoyment of self- government as States, such of them as are not qualified as soon as they may become so. The political power of the Mormon church in the Territories, as exercised in the past, is a menace to free institutions, a danger no longer to be suffered ; Therefore, we pledge the Republican party to appropriate legislation asserting the sovereignty of the Nation in all Terri- tories where the same is questioned, and in furtherance of that end to place upon the statute books legislation stringent enough to divorce the political from the ecclesiasti- cal power, and thus stamp out the attend- ant wickedness of polygamy. The Republican party is in favor of the use of both gold and silver as money, and condemns the policy of the Democratic Administration in its efforts to demonetize silver. We demand the reduction of letter pos- tage to one cent per ounce. In a Republic like ours, where the citi- zen is the sovereign and the official the ser- vant ; where no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is important that the sovereign the people should possess intelligence. The free school is the promotor of that intelligence which is to preserve us as a free nation ; the State or nation, or both combined, should support free institutions of learning sufficient to af- ford to every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education. We earnestly recommend that prompt action be taken by Congress in the enact- ment of such legislation as will best secure the rehabilitation of the American mer chant marine, and we protest against the passage bv Congress of a free ship bill, as calculated to work injustice to labor by lessening the wages of those engaged in preparing materials as well as those di- rectly employed in our ship yards. We de- mand appropriations for the early re- building of our navy ; for the construction of coast fortifications and modern ordnance and other approved modern means of de- fence for the protection of our defenceless harbors and citU's; fur the payment of just pensions to our soldier* ; for neces- sary works of national importance in the improvement of harbors and the channels of internal, coastwise and foreign com- merce ; for the encouragement of the ship- ping interests of the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific States, as well as for the payment of the maturing public debt. This policy will give employment to our labor, ac- tivity to our various industries, increase the security of our country, promote trade, open new and direct markets for our pro- duce, and cheapen the cost of transporta- tion. We affirm this to be far better for our country than the Democratic policy of loaning the Government's money without interest to " pet banks." The conduct of foreign affairs by the present administration has been distin- guished by its inefficiency and its coward- ice. Having withdrawn from the Senate all pending treaties affected by Republi- can administrations for the removal of foreign burdens and restrictions upon our commerce and for its extension into better markets, in has neither effected nor proposed any others in their stead. Pro- fessing adherence to the Monroe doctrine, it has seen with idle complacency the ex- tension of foreign influence in Central America and of foreign trade everywhere among our neighbors. It has refused to charter, sanction or encourage any Amer- ican organization for constructing the Nicaragua canal, a work of vital impor- tance to the maintenance of the Monroe doctrine and of our national influence in Central and South America, and neces- sary for the development of trade with our Pacific territory, with South America and with the islands and further coasts of the Pacific Ocean. We arraign the present Democratic ad- ministration for its weak and unpatriotic treatment of the fisheries question, and its pusillanimous surrender of the essential- privileges to which our fishing vessels are entitled in Canadian ports under the treaty of 1818, the reciprocal maritime legislation of 1830, and the comity of nations, and which Canadian fishing vessels receive in ports of the United States. We condemn the policy of the present administration and the Democratic major- ity in Congress towards our fisheries as un- friendly and conspicuously unpatriotic, and as tending to destroy a valuable national industry and an indispensable resource of defense against a foreign enemy. The name of American applies alike to all citizens of the Republic, and imposes upon all alike the same obligation to obedi- ence to the laws. At the same time that citizenship is and must be the panoply and safeguard of him who wears it, and protect him, whether high or low, rich or poor, in all his civil rights, it should and must af- ford him protection at home and follow and protect him abroad in whatever land he may be ori a lawful errand. The men who abandoned the Republican party in 1884 and continue to adhere to the Democratic party have deserted not only the cause of honest government, of BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 79 sound finance, of freedom and purity of the ballot, but especially have deserted the cause of reform in the civil service. We will not fail to keep our pledges because they have broken theirs or because their candidate has broken his. We therefore re- peat our declaration of 1884, to-wit : "The reform of the Civil Service, auspiciously begun under the Republican administration should be completed by the further exten- sion of the reform system already estab- lished by law to all grades of the service to which it is applicable. The spirit and pur- pose of the reform should be observed in all executive appointments, and all laws at variance with the object of existing reform legislation should be repealed, to the end that the dangers to free institutions which lurk in the power ot official patronage may be wisely and effectively avoided. ' ' The gratitude of the nation to the de- fenders of the Union cannot be measured by laws. The legislation of Congress should conform to the pledge made by a loyal people, and be so enlarged and ex- tended as to provide against the possibility that any man who honorably wore the Federal uniform shall become an inmate of an almshouse, or dependent upon private charity. In the presence of an overflow- ing treasury it would be a public scandal to do less for those whose valorous service preserved the G-oyernment. We denounce the hostile spirit shown by President Cleveland in his numerous vetoes of measures for pension relief, and the action of the Democratic House of Representa- tives in refusing even a consideration of general pension legislation. In support of the principles herewith enunciated we invite the co-operation of patriotic men of all parties, and especially of all workingmen, whose prosperity is seriously threatened by the free trade policy of the present administration. On motion of Hon. Chas. A. Boutelle of Maine, the following was also adopted : ' ' The first concern of all good govern- ment is the virtue and sobriety of the peo- ple and the purity of the home. The Re- publican party cordially sympathizes with all wise and well-directed efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality. ' ' COMPARISON OF PLATFORM PLANKS ON GREAT POLITICAL QUESTIONS. General Party Doctrine*. REPUBLICAN. 1856 That the maintenance of the principles promul- gated in the Decla- ration of Independ- ence and embodied in the Federal Con- stitution, is essential DEMOCRATIC. 1856 That the liberal principles embodied oy Jeffer- son in the Declara- tion of Independ- ence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which makes ours DEMOCRATIC. the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed o f every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becom- ing citizens and the owners of soil among us ought to be re- sisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and sedi- tion laws from our statute books. [Plank 8. 1860 Reaffirm- ed. 1864 1868 1872 We recog- nize the equality of all men before the law, and hold that REPUBLICAN. to the preservation of our Republican institutions, and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the union of the States shall be pre- served; that with our Republican fathers, we hold it to be a self-evident truth that all men are en- dowed with the in- alienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit o f happi- ness, and that the primary object and ulterior design of our Federal Govern- ment were to secure these rights to all persons within ite exclusive jurisdic- tion. [Plank 1. I860 That the maintenance of the principles promul- gated in the Decla- ration of Independ- ence and embodied in the Federal Con- stitution. "That all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rigl ts ; that among these are life, libertv, and the pursuit of hap- piness ; that to se- cure these rights governments are in- stituted among men, deriving their just, powers from the consent of the gov- erned," is essential to the preservation of pur Republican institutions ; and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the Union of the States must and shall be presenreJ. [Plank' 2. 1864 1868 1872 Complete liberty and exact equality in the en- joyment of all civil. AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. it is the duty of Gov- ernment in its deal- political and public rights should oe es- periment of war, during which, un- authority of the Constitution and ings with the peo- tablished and effec- der the pretense of laws of the United ple to mete out tually maintained a military necessity States ; and that lay- equal and exact jus- throughout the Un- or war-power higher ing aside all differ- tice to all, of what- ion by efficient and than the Constitu- e n c e s of political ever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, appropriate State and federal Legis- tion, the Constitu- tion itself has been opinions, we pledge ourselves as Union religious or politi- lation. Neither the disregarded in every men, animated by cal. [Plank 1. law nor its adminis- part, and public lib- a common senti- . tration should ad- erty and private ment, and aiming at mit any discrimina- right alike trodden a common object, to tion in respect ol down, and the ma- d o everything i n citizens by reasons terial prosperity of our power to aid the of race, creed, color the country essen- Government, in or previous condi- tially impaired, jus- quelling by force of tion of servitude. tice, humanity, lib- arms the rebellion 1876 [Plank 3. 1876 The United erty ? and the public welfare demand that now raging against its authority, and in States of America is immediate efforts be bringing to the pun- a Nation not a made for a cessation ishment due to theii league. By the com- of hostilities, with a crimes the rebels bined workings of view to the ultimate and traitors arrayed the National and convention of the against it. State Governments, States, or other That we approve under their respec- peaceable means. the determmatio n t i v e constitutions, to the end that, at of the Government the rights of every the earliest practi- of the United States citizen are secured cable moment peace not to compromise at home or abroad, may be restored on with rebels, or to and the common the basis of the Fed- offer them any terms welfare promoted. eral Union of the of peace, except 1880 Opposi- 1880 The consti- States. such as may De tion to centraliza- tution of the United [1st resolution. based upon an un- tionism, and to that States is a supreme conditional sur- dangerous spirit of law and not a mere render of their hos- encroachment contract. Out of tility and a return which tends to con- confederate States it to their just allegi- solidate the powers made a sovereign ance to the Constitu- of all the depart- nation. Some pow- tion and laws of the ments in one, and ers are denied to the United States; and thus to create, what- nation, while others that we call upon ever be the form of are denied to the the Government to Government, a real States, but the maintain this posi- ee n otism. boundary between tion and to prose- [Plank 2. the powers dele- cute the war with gated! and those re- the utmost possible served is to be de- vigor to the com- termined by the Na- plete suppression of tional, and not b} the rebellion, in full the State tribunal. reliance upon the [Cheers.] self-sacrificing p a- [Plank 2. triotism, the heroic valor, and the un- dying devotion of The Rebellion. the American peo- ple to the country DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. and its free institu- 1864 That this 1864 That it is tions. convention does ex- the highest duty of [1st and 2d resolu- plicitly declare, as every American cit- tions.] the sense of the i z e n to maintain American people, against all their Home Role. that after four years enemies the integ- DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. of failure to restore rity of the Union 1856 That we 1856 * * the Union by the ex- and the paramount recognize the right The dearest consti- BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 81 DEMOCRATIC. of the people in all the Territories, in- cluding Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the legally and fairly expressed will of a majority of actual residents, and wherever the number of their in- habitants justifies it, to form a constitu- tion * * * and be admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other States. 28 REPUBLICAN. tutional rights of the people of Kan- sas have been fraud- ulently and violent- ly taken from them ; their territory has been invaded by an armed force; spur- ious and pretended legislative, judicial, and executive of- ficers have been set over them, by whose usurped authority, sustained by the military power of the Government, tyrannical and un- constitutional laws have been enacted and enforced ; the right of the people to keep ana bear arms has been in- fringed ; test-oaths of an extraordinary and entangling na- ture have been im- posed as a condition of exercising the right of suffrage and holding office; the right of an ac- cused person to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury has been de- nied; the right of the people to be se- cure in their per- sons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seiz- ures, has been vio- lated ; they have been deprived of life, liberty, and prop- erty without due process of law ; that the freedom of speech and of the press has been abridged; the right to choose their rep- resentatives has been made of no effect ; murders, rob- beries, and arsons have been instigated and encouraged, and the offenders have been allowed to go unpunished ; that all these things have been done DEMOCRATIC. 1860 That when the settlers in a Ter- ritory, having an ad- equate population, form a State Consti- tution, the right of sovereignty com- mences, and, being consummated by ad- mission into the Un- ion, they stand on an equal footing with the people of other States; and the State thus organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union, whether its consti- tution prohibits or recognizees the insti- t u 1 1 o n o f slavery. [Plank 3, Breckin- ridge, Dem. 1864 1868 After the most solemn and unanimous pledge of both Houses of Con- gress to prosecute the war exclusively for the maintenance of the Government and the preservation of the Union under the Constitution, it [the Republican party] has repeatedly vio- REPUBLICAN. with the knowledge, sanction, and pro- curement of the present Admi nis- tration, and that for this high crime against the Consti- tution, the Union, and humanity, we arraign the Admin- istration, the Presi- dent, his advisers, agents, supporters, apologists, and ac- cessories, either be- fore or after the fact, before the country and before the world; and that it . is our fixed purpcwe to bring the actu al perpetrators of thei*e atrocious outrag es and their accom- plices to a sure and condign punish- ment. [Plank 3, I860 That the maintenance invio- late of the rights of the States, and espe- cially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusive- ly, is essential to tfxat balance of powei on which the perfection and endurance of oui political fabric de- pends; and we de- nounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Terri- tory, no matter un- der what pretext, aa among the gravest of crimes. [Plank 4. 1864 1868 We con- gratulate the coun- try on the assured success of the recon- struction policy of Congress, as evinced by tne adoption, in the majority of the States lately in re- bellion, of constitu- tions securing ec[ual civil and political rights to all ; and it 82 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. DEMOCRATIC. lated that most sa- cred pledge under which alone was ral- lied that noble vol- unteer army which carried our flag to victory. Instead of restoring the Union, it has, so far as in its power, dissolved it, and subjected ten States, in time of profound peace, to military despotism and negro suprema- cy. It has nullified there the right of trial by jury ; it has abolished the habeas corpus, that most sa- cred writ of liberty ; it has overthrown the freedom of speech and the press; it has substituted arbitrary seizures and arrests, and military trials and secret star-cham- ber inquisitions for the constitutional tribunals ; it has disregarded in time of peace the right of the people to be free from searches and seizures ; it has en- tered the post and telegraph offices, and even the private rooms of individuals, and seized their pri- vate papers and let- ters without any spe- cific charge or notice of affidavit, as re- quired by the or- ganic law; it has converted the Amer- can Capitol into a bastile ; it has estab- lished a system of spies and official es- pionage to which no constitutional mon- archy of Europe would now dare to resort; it has abol- ished the right of appeal on important constitutional ques- tions to the supreme judicial tribunals, and threatens to cur- tail or destroy its original jurisdiction, which is irrevocably REPUBLICAN. is the duty of the Government to sus- tain those institu- tions and prevent the people of such States from being remitted to a state of anarchy. DEMOCRATIC. vested by the Con- stitution, while the learned Chief Jus- tice has been sub- jected to the most atrocious calumnies, merely because he woula not prostitute his high office to the support of the false and partisan charges preferred against the President. * * * Under its repeated assaults the pillars of the Government are rocking on their base, and should it succeed in Novem- ber next and inaugu- rate its President, we will- meet as a sub- jected and conquered people, amid the ruins of liberty and the scattered frag- ments of the Consti- tution. 1872 Local self- government, with impartial suffrage, vill guard the rights f all citizens more securely than any centralized power. The public welfare requires the supre- macy of the civil over the military au- thority, and freedom of persons under the protection of the ha- beas corpus. We de- mand for the indi- vidual the largest liberty consistent with public order ; for the State self- government, and for the nation a return to the methods of peace and the con- stitutional limita- tions of power. [Plank 4. 1880 ** "Home Rule." [Plank 3. REPUBLICAN. 1872 We hold that Congress and the President have only fulfilled an im- perative duty in their measures for the suppression of violent and treason- able organizations in certain lately rebel- lious regions, and for the protection of the ballot-box ; arid, therefore, they are entitled to the thanks of the nation. [Plank 12. 1880 Internal Improvement*. DEMOCRATIC. 1856 That the Constitution does not confer upon the general Government REPUB~ 1856 That ap- propriations by con- gress for the im- provement of rivers the power to com- and harbors of ft ua- BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 83 DEMOCRATIC. mence and carry on a general system of internal improve- ments. [Plank 2. I860 Reaffirmed. REPUBLICAN. tional character, re- quired for the ac- commodation and security of our exist- ing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution and justified by the obli- gation of Govern- ment to protect the lives and property of its citizens. [Plank 7. I860 That ap- propriations by Con- gress for river and harbor improve- ments of a national character, required for the accommoda- tion and security of an existing com- merce, are author- ized by the Constitu- tion and justified by the obligation of Government to pro- tect the lives and property of its citi- zens. [Plank 15. 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 * * * That we deem it the duty of Congress to de- velop and improve our seacoast and harbors, but insist that further subsi- dies to private per- sons or corporations must cease. The National Debt and Interest, the Public Credit* Repudiation, etc. V864 1868 1872 1876 1880 Plank 2 of 1856 reaffirmed. DEMOCRATIC. 1864 REPUBLICAN. 1864 That the National faith, pledged for the re- demption of the public debt, must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend eco- nomy and rigid re- sponsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxa- tion ; and that it is the duty of every DEMOCRATIC. 1868 Payment of the public debt of the United States as rapidly as practica- ble ; all moneys drawn from the peo- ple by taxation, ex- cept so much as is requisite for the ne- cessities of the Gov- ernment, economi- cally administered, being honestly ap- plied to such pay- ment, and where the obligations of the Government do not expressly state upon their Ijace, or the law under which they were issued does not provide that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right ana in justice, to be paid in the lawful money of the United States. [Plank 3. Equal taxation of every species of pro- perty according to its real value, in- cluding Government bonds and other public securities. [Plank 4. 1872 We de- mand a system of Federal taxation which shall not un- necessarily interfere with the industries of the people, and REPUBLICAN. loyal State to sustain the credit and pro- mote the use of the National currency. [Plank 10. 1868 We de- nounce all forms of repudiation as a Na- tional crime ; and the National honor requires the pay- ment of the public indebtedness in the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only according to the letter, but the spirit of the laws under which it was contracted. [Plank 3. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be equalized and re- duced as rapidly as the national faith will permit. [Plank 4. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preser- vation of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair period for redemption; and it is the duty of Con- gress to reduce the rate of interest thereon whenever it can be honestly done. [Plank 5. That tne best po- licy to diminish our burden of debt is to so improve our cred- it that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower rates of interest than we now pay and must continue to pay so long as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threat- ened or suspected. [Plank 6. 1872 * * * A uniform national currency has been provided, repudia- tion frowned down, the national credit sustained under th 84 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. which shall provide most extraordinary cent, bonds are the means necessa- burdens, and new eagerly sought at a ry to pay the expen- bonds negotiated at ses of the Govern- lower rates. premium. [Preamble. ment, economically [Plank 1. administered, the We denounce re- pensions, the inter- pudiation of the Resumption. est on the public public debt, in any DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. debt, and a mode- form of disguise, as 1872 A speedy 1872* * * Our rate reduction ai a national crime, nually of the princi We witness with pal thereof. * * * pride the reduction The public credit of the principal of must be sacredly the debt, and of the maintained, and we rates of interest upon denounce repudia- the balance. return to specie pay- excellent national ment is demanded currency will be alike by the highest perfected by a spee- c o n s i d e rations of dy resumption of commercial morali- specie payment, ty and honest gov- [Plank 13. ernment. tion in every form [Plank 13. [Plank 8. and guise. [Plank 7. 1876 We de- 1876 In the first 1876 Reform is 1876 In the first necessary to estab- act of Congress lish a sound curren- signed by President cy, restore the pub- Grant, the National lie credit, and main- Government as- nounce the financial act of Congress imbecility and im- signed by President morality of that Grant, the National party, which, during Gov ernment as- eleven years of sumed to remove tain the national sumed to remove peace, has made no any doubts of its hxmor. any doubts of its purpose to discharge all just obligations to the public credi- advance toward re- purpose to discharge sumption, no prepa- all just obligations ration for resump- to the public credi- tion, but instead has tors, and solemnly tors, and " solemnly pledged its faith to obstructed resump- pledged its faith tion, by wasting our to make provision make provision at resources and ex- at the "earliest the earliest practica- ble period for the redemption of the United States notes hausting all our sur- practicable period plus income; and, for the redemption while annually pro- of the United States fessing to intend a notes in coin." Corn- in coin." Commer- cial prosperity, pub- speedy return to mercial prosperity, specie payments, public morals and lic morals, and na- tional credit demanc has annually enac- national credit de- ted fresh hindrances mand that this pro- that this promise be thereto. As such mise be fulfilled by fulfilled by a con- hindrance u>e de- a continuous and tinuance and steady nounce the resump- steady progress to progress to specie payment. [Plank 4 1880* * * Hon- 1880 It [the Re- est m o n e y t h e publican party] has strict maintenance raised the value o: of the public faith our paper currency consisting of gold from 38 per cent, to and silver, and pa- the par of gold [ap- per convertible into plause] ; it has re- coin on demand ; stored, upon a solic the strict mainte- basis, payment in nance of the public coin of all nationa tion clause of the act specie payment. oflS75,andwehere 1880* ** It demand its repeal. [the Republican 1880* * * Hon- party] has restored, est money, * * * upon a solid basis, consisting of gold, payment in coin of and silver, and pa- all National obli- per convertible into g a t i o n s , and has coin on demand. given us a currency absolutely good and equal in every prt of our extenoiod faith, State and na- obligations, and has country. tional. [Plank 3. given us a currency absolutely good anc equal in every par of our extendet Capital and Labor. country [applause] DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN it has lifted the 1868 Resolved, 1868 credit of the nation That this conven- from the point o tion sympathize cor- where 6 per cent d i a 1 1 y with the bonds sola at 86, to working men of the that where 4 pe United States in BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 85 DEMOCRATIC. their efforts to pro- tect the rights and interests of the la- boring classes of the country. 1880 The Demo- cratic party is the friend of labor and the laboring man, and pledges itself to protect him alike against the cormo- rant and the com- mune. [Plank 13. REPUBLICAN. 1872 Among the questions which press for attention is that which concerns the relations of capi- tal and labor, and the Republican par- ty recognizes the du- ty of so shaping le- gislation as to secure full protection and the amplest field for capital,and for labor, the creator of capital the largest opportu- nities and a just share of the mutual profits of these two great servants of ci- vilization. [Plank 11. 1880 Tariff. DEMOCRATIC. 1856 The time has come for the people of the United States to declare themselves in favor of * * * progressive free trade through- out the world, by solemn manifesta- tions, to place their moral influence at the side of their suc- cessful example. [Resolve I. That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Govern- ment to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of any other, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the injury of another portion of our com- mon country. [Plank 4. REPUBLICAN. 1856 DEMOCRATIC. 1860 Reafirmed. 1864 1868 * * * A tariff for revenue upon foreign im- ports, and such equal taxation under the Internal Revenue laws as will afford incidental protec- tion to domestic manufactures, and as will, without im- pairing the revenue, impose the least burden upon and best promote and encourage the great industrial interests of the country. [Plank 6. 1872 * * * * Re- cognizing that there are in our midst honest but irrecon- cilable differences of opinion with regard to the respective systems of protection and free trade, we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in their Con- gressional districts, and to the decision of the Congress thereon, wholly free from executive in- REPUBLICAN. I860 That, while providing revenue for the support of the general Govern- ment by duties upon imports, sound poli- cy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encour- age the development of the industrial in- terests of the whole country ; and we commend that poli- cy of national ex- changes which se- cures to the work- ingmen liberal wa- ges, to agriculture re- munerative prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the nation commer- cial prosperity and independence. [Plank 12. 1864 1868 1872 * * Revenue except so much as may be derived from a tax upon tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, and pro- mote the industries prosperity, and growth of the whole country. [Plank 7. 86 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. DEMOCRATIC. terference or dicta- tion. [Plank 6. 1876 * * * * We demand that all custom-house taxa- tion shall be only for revenue. [Plank 11. 1880 * * * * A tariff for revenue on- ly. [Plank 3. REPUBLICAN. 1876 The reve- nue necessary for current expendi- tures and the obliga- tions of the public debt must be largely derived from duties upon importations, which so far as pos- sible, should be ad- justed to promote the interests of American labor and advance the prosper- ity of the whole country. [Plank 8. 1880 Reaffirmed. Education. DEMOCKATIC. 1876 The false issue with which they [the Republi- cans] would enkindle sectarian strife in re- spect to the public schools, of which the establishment and support belong exclusively to the several States, and which the Democra- tic party has cherish- ed from their foun- dation, and is resolv- ed to maintain with- out prejudice or preference for any class, sect, or creed, and without larges- ses from the Trea- sury to any. 1880 ***Com- mon Schools foster- ed and protected. [Plank 2. REPUBLICAN. 1876 The public school system of the several States is the bulwark of the American Republic, and with a view to its security and per- manence we recom- mend an Amend- ment to the Consti- tution of the United States, forbidding the application of any public funds or property for the ben- efit of any schools or institutions under sectarian control. [Plank 4. 1880 The work of popular education is one left to the care of the several States, but it is the duty of the National Government to aid that work to the ex- tent of its constitu- tional ability. The intelligence of the nation is but the aggregate of the in- telligence in the several States, and the destiny of the Nation must be DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. guided, not by the enius of any one tate, but by the average genius of all. [Plank 3. Duty to Union Soldiers and Sailor*. DEMOCRATIC. 1864 That the sympathy of the De- mocratic party is heartily and earnest- ly extended to the soldiery of our army and sailors of our navy, who are and have been in the field and on the sea under the flag of our coun- try, and, in the event of its attaining pow- er, they will receive all the care, protec- tion, and regard that the brave soldiers and sailors of the Republic so nobly earned. [Plank 6. 1868 ******* That our soldiers and sailors, who car- ried the flag of our country to victory, against a most gal- lant and determined foe, must ever be gratefully remem- bered, and all the guarantees given in their favor must be faithfully carried into execution. REPUBLICAN. 1864 That the thanks of the Ameri- can people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy, who have periled their lives in defense of the coun- try and in vindica- tion of the honor of its flag; that the na- tion owes to them some permanent re- cognition of their pa- triotism and their valor, and am pie and permanent provi- sion for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds in the serv- ice of the country ; and that the memor- ies of those who have fallen in its defence shall be held in grateful and ever- lasting remem- brance. [Plank 4. 1868 Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there were none en- titled to more espe- cial honor than the brave soldiers and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise and imperiled their lives in the service of their country ; the bounties and pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation are obli- gations never to be forgotten ; the wi- dows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the peo- ple a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's care. [Plank 10. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 87 DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. DEMOCRATIC. 1872* We re- 1872 We hold in duty of this Govern- member with grati- undying honor the ment to protect the tude the heroism soldiers and sailors naturalized citizen and sacrifices of the whose valor saved in all his rights, soldiers and sailors the Union. Their whether at home or of the Republic, and pensions are a sacred in foreign lands, to no act of ours shall debt of the nation, the same extent as ever detract from and the widows and .its native-born ci- their justly earned orphans of those tizens. [Plank 6. fame for the full re- who died for their ward of their patriot- country are entitled lisir [Plank 9. to the care of a gen- erous and grateful people. We favor such additional le- gislation as will ex- tend the bounty of the Government to 1864 all our soldiers and 1868 Equal sailors who were rights and protec- honorably discharg- tion for naturalized ed, and who in the and native-born citi- line of duty became zens at home and disabled, without re- abroad, the assertion gard to the length of of American nation- service or the cause ality which shall of such discharge. command the re- [Plank 8. spect of foreign 1876*** The soldiers and sailors 1876 The pledges which the nation powers, and furnish an example and en- of the Republic, and has given to her couragement to peo- the widows and or- soldiers and sailors ple struggling for phans of those who must be fulfilled, national integrity, have fallen in battle, and a grateful people constitutional liber- have a just claim will always hold ty, and individual upon the care, pro- those who imperiled rights and the main- tection, and grati- their lives for the tenance of the rights tude of their fellow- country's preserva- of naturalized citi- citizens. tion, in the kindest zens against the ab- [Last resolution. remembrance. solute doctrine of [Plank 14. immutable allegi- 1880- 1880 That the ance, and the claims obligations of the of foreign powers to Kepublic to the men punish them for al- who preserved its in- leged crime com- tegrity in the day of mitted beyond their battle are undimin- jurisdiction. ished by the lapse [Plank 8. of fifteen years since their final victory. To do them honor is and shall forever be the grateful pri- vilege and sacred duty of the Ameri- can people. 1871 Natnrallxatlon and Allegiance. DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. I860 That the De- 1860 The Re- mocracy of the Uni- publican party is ted States recognize opposed to any it as the imperative change in our na- REPUBLICAN, turalization laws, or any State legislation by which the rights of citizenship hith- erto accorded to im- migrants from for- eign lands shall be abridged or impair- ed ; and in favor of giving a full and ef- ficient protection to the right of all clas- ses of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both home and abroad. [Plank 14. 1864 1868 The doc- trine of Great Bri- tain and other Eur<- pean Powers, tluit because a man is once a subject he if always so, must b resisted at every hazard by the Uui.' ted States, as a re- lic of feudal times, not authorized by the laws of nations, and at war with our national honor and independence. Na- turalized citizens are entitled to protec- tion in all their rights of citizenship as though they w ere native-born ; and no citizen of the United States, native or ca- turalized, must be liable to arrest arid imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done or words spoken in this country; and, if eo arrested and im- Srisoned, it is the uty of the Govern- ment to interfere in his behalf. [Plank 9. 1872 The doc- trine of Great Bri- tain and other Eu- ropean Powers con- cerning allegiance "once a subject always a subject " having at fat t through the efforts of the Republican party, been aban- 88 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. DEMOCRATIC. 1876- 1880 REPUBLICAN. doned, and the Ame- rican idea of the in- dividual's right to transfer allegiance having been accep- ted by European nations, it is the duty of our Govern- ment to guard with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens against the assumption of unau- thorised claims by their former Gov- ernments, and we urge continued care- ful encouragement and protection ol voluntary immigra- tion. [Plank 9. 1876 It is the im- perative duty of the Government so to modify existing trea- ties with European governments, that the same protection shall be afforded to the adopted Ameri- can citizen that is given to the native- born, and that all necessary laws should be passed to protect emigrants in the absence of pow- er in the State for that purpose. [Plank 10. 1880 * * * * Everywhere the pro- tection accorded to a citizen of American birth must be se- cured to citizens by American adoption. [Plank 5. The t'h In* DEMOCRATIC. 1876 Reform is necessary to correct the omissions of a Republican C o n - gress, and the errors of our treaties and our diplomacy, which have stripped our fellow-citizens of foreign birth and kindred race re- crossing the Atlan- tic, of the shield of American citizen- REPUBLICAN. 1876 It is the immediate duty of Congress to fully in- vestigate the effect of the immigration and importation of Mongolians upon the moral and ma- terial interests of the country. [Plank 11. DEMOCRATIC. ship, and have ex- posed our brethren of the Pacific coast to the incursions of a race not sprung from the same great parent stock, and in fact now by law de- nied citizenship through naturaliza- tion as being neither accustomed to the traditions of a pro- gressive civili- zation nor ex- ercised in liberty under equal laws. We denounce the Solicy which thus iscards the liberty- loving German and tolerates a revival of the coolie trade in Mongolian women imported for im- moral purposes, and Mongolian men held to perform servile labor contracts, and demand such modi- fication of the trea- ty with the Chinese Empire, or such le- gislation within con- stitutional limita- tions, as shall pre- vent further impor- tation or immigra- tion of the Mongo- lian race. 1880 Amend- ment of the Burlin- game Treaty. No more Chinese immi- gration, except for travel, education, and foreign com- merce, and therein carefully guarded. [Plank 11. REPUBLICAN 1880 Since the authority to 1'egu- 1 a t e immigration and intercourse be- tween the United States and foreign nations rests with the Congress of the United States and the treaty-making power, the Republi- can party, regarding the unrestricted im- migration of Chinese as a matter of grave concernment under the exercise of both these powers, would limit and restrict that immigration by the enactment of such just, humane, and reasonable laws and treaties as will produce that result. [Plank 6. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 89 Civil Service. DEMOCRATIC. 1872 The civil service of the gov- ernment has become a mere instrument of partisan tyranny and personal ambi- tion and an object of selfish greed. It is a scandal and 're- proach upon free in- stitutions and breeds a demoral iza- tion dangerous to the perpetuity of Republican Govern- ment. We therefore regard a thorough reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing neces- sities of the hour; that honesty, ca- pacity and fideli- ty constitute the only valid claim to public employment; and the offices of the Government cease to be a matter of ar- bitrary favoritism and patronage, and public station be- come again a post of honor. To this end it is imperative- ly required that no President shall be a candidate for re- election. 1876 Reform is necessary in the civil service. Ex- perience that proves efficient, economical conduct of Govern- mental business is not possible if the civil service be sub- ject to change at every election, be a prize fought for at the ballot-box, be a brief reward of party zeal, instead of posts of honor assigned for proved competency, and held for fidelity in the public em- REPUBLICAN. 1872 Any system of the civil service, under which the subordinate p o s i - tions of the Govern- ment are considered rewards for mere party zeal is fatally demoralizing, and we therefore favor a reform of the system by laws which shall abolish the evils of patronage and make honesty, efficiency and fidelity the es- sential qualifications for public positions, without practically creating a life ten- ure of office. [Plank 5. 1876 Under the Constitution the President and heads of Departments are to make nomina- tions for office ; the Senate is to advise and consent to ap- pointments, and the House of Represen- tatives to accuse and prosecute faithless officers. The best interest of the pub- lic service demands that these digtinc- tions be respected ; that Senators and Eepresenta tivea DEMOCRATIC. ploy ; that the dis- pensing of patron- age should neither be a tax upon the time of all our pub- lic men, nor the in- strument of their ambition. 1880 * * Tho- rough reform in the civil service. REPUBLICAN. who may be judges and accusers should not dictate appoint- ments to office. The invariable rule in a p po i ii t in en ts should have refer- ence to the honesty, fidelity and capacity of the appointees, giving to the party in power those places where harmo-, iiy and vigor of ad- ministration require its policy to be re- presented, but per- mitting all others to be filled by persons selected with sole reference to the effi- ciency of the public service, and the right of all citizens to share in the honor of rendering faith- ful service to the country. [Plank 5. 1880 The Ke- publican party, ad- hering to the prin- ciples affirmed by its last National Convention of re- spect for the Consti- tutional rules gov- erning appoint- ments to o ffi c e , adopts the declara- tion of President Hayes, that the re- form of the civil ser- vice should be tho- rough, radical and complete. To this end it demands the co-operation of the legislative with the executive depart- ments of the Gov- ernment, and that Congress shall so legislate that fitness, ascertained by pro- per practical tests, shall admit to the public service. 90 POLITICAL PLATFORMS. [BOOK ir. The Tariff Isaac of 1884. REPUBLICAN. We therefore de- mand that the im- position of duties on foreign imports shall be made not for "revenue only,' 1 but that in raising the requisite revenues for the government such duties shall be so levied as to afford security to our di- versified industries and protection to the rights and wages of the laborer, to the end that active and intelligent labor, as well as capital, may have its just award and the laboring man his full share in the national pros- perity. Against the so-called economi- cal system of the Democratic party, which would de- grade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter our earnest protest. The Dem- ocratic party has failed completely to relieve the people of the burden of un- necessary taxation by a wise reduction of the surplus. The Republican party pledges itself to correct the ine- qualities of the tariff and to reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and indis- criminate process of horizontal r e d u c - tion, but by such methods as will re- lieve the taxpayer without injuring the laborer or the great productive interests of the country. We recognize the importance of sheep DEMOCRATIC. The Democracy pledges itself to purify the adminis- tration from corrup- tion, to restore economy, to revive respect for law and to reduce taxation to the lowest limit consistent with due regard to the preser- vation of the faith of the nation to its creditors and pen- sioners. Knowing full well, however, that legislation af- fecting the occupa- tions of the people should be cautious and conservative in method, not in ad- vance of public opinion, but respon- sive to its demands, the Democratic par- ty is pledged to re- vise tne 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 con-, tinue to be. More- over, many indus- tries have come to rely upon legisla- tion 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 REPUBLICAN. husbandry in the United States, the serious depression which it is now ex- periencing and the danger threatening its future prosperity, and we therefore re- spect the demands of the representa- tives of this impor- tant agricultural in- terest for a readjust- ment of duty upon foreign wool, in order that such in- dustry shall have full and adequate protection. We have always recommended the best money known to the civilized world and we urge that an effort be made to unite all commercial nations in the estab- lishment of the in- ternational standard which shall fix for all the relative value of gold and silver coinage. DEMOCRATIC. the execution to thie plain dictate of jus- tice. All taxation shall be limited to the requirements of economical govern- ment. The necessary reduction in taxa- tion can and must be effected without depriving American labor of the ability to compete success- fully 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 conse- quence of the higher rate of wages pre- vailing in this coun- try. Sufficient rev- enue to pay all the expenses of the Federal government economically ad- ministered, includ- ing pensions, inter- est and principal of the public debt, can be got under our present system of taxation from Cus- tom House taxes on fewer imported arti- cles, bearing heav- iest on articles of luxury and bearing lightest on articles of necessity. We therefore de- nounce the abuses of the existing tariff and subject to the preceding limita- tions we demand that Federal taxa- tion shall be exclu- sively for public purposes and shall not exceed the needs of the government economically ad- ministered. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 91 The Tariff and Revenue, 1888. DEMOCRATIC. The Democratic party of the United States, in National Convention assem- bled, renews the pledge of its fidelity to Democratic faith, and reaffirms the platform adopted by its representatives in the Convention of 1884, and endorses the views expressed by President Cleve- land in his last an- nual message to Congress as the cor- rect interpretation of that platform upon the question of tariff reduction ; and also endorses the efforts of our Demo- cratic representa- tives in Congress^ to secure a reduction of excessive taxa- tion. Chief among its principles of party faith are the maintenance of an indissoluble union of free and indestruc- tible States, now about to enter upon its second century of unexampled pro- gress and renown ; devotion to a plan of government regu- lated by a written constitution strictly specifying every granted power and expressly reserving to the States or people the entire un- granted residue of power ; the encour- agement of a jealous popular vigilance, directed to all who have been chosen for brief terms to enact and execute the laws, and are charged with the duty of preserving peace, ensuring equality, and establishing justice. ***** It is repugnant to the creed of Demo- REPUBLICAN. We are uncom- promisingly in favor of the American system of protection. We protest against its destruction as proposed by the President and his party. They serve the interests of Europe ; we will support the interests of America. We accept the issue and confidently appeal to the people for their judgment. The pro- tective system must be maintained. Its abandonment has always been followed by general disaster to all interests except those of the usurer and the sheriff. We denounce the Mills bill as destructive to the general business, the labor and the farming interests of the country, and we heartily endorse the consistent and patri- otic action of the Re- publican Represen- tatives in Congress in opposing its pas- sage. We condemn the proposition of the Democratic party to place wool on the free list, and we in- sist that the duties thereon shall be ad- justed and main- tained so as to fur- nish full and ade- quate protection to that industry. The Republican party would effect all needed reduction of of the national rev- enue by repealing the taxes upon to- bacco, which are an annoyance and bur- den to agriculture, and the tax upon spirits used in the arts and for mechan- ical purposes, and by such revision of DEMOCRATIC. cracy that by such taxation the cost of the necessaries of life should be un- justifiably increased to all our people. Judged by Demo- cratic principles the interest of the peo- ple are betrayed when, by unneces- sary taxation, trusts and combinations are permitted to ex- ist, which, while un- duly enriching the few that combine, rob the body of the citizens by depriving them of the benefits of natural competi- tion. Every Demo- cratic rule of govern- mental action is vio- lated when, through unnecessary taxa- tion, a vast sum of money, far beyond the needs of an eco- nomical administra- tion, is drawn from the people and the channels of trade and accumulated as a demoralizing sur- plus in the National Treasury. The money now lying idle in the Federal Treasury, re- sulting from super- fluous taxation, amounts to more than one hundred and twenty-five mil- lions, and the surplus collected is reaching the sum of more than sixty millions anu- ally. Debauched by this immense temp- tation, the remedy of the Republican party is to meet and exhaust by extrava- gant appropriations and expenses, whether constitu- tional or not, the accumulation of ex- travagant taxations. The Democratic Eolicy is to enforce ugality in public expense and abolish unnecessary taxa- REPUBLICAN. the tariff laws as will tend to check imports of such arti- cles as are produced by our people, the production of which gives employment to our labor, and re- lease from import duties those articles of foreign production (except luxuries) the like of which cannot be produced at home. If there shall still remain a larger rev- enue than is requi- site for the wants of the Government, we favor the entire re- peal of internal taxes rather than the sur- render of any part of our protective system at the joint behest of the whisky trusts and the agents of foreign manufac- turers. 92 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. DEMOCRATIC. tion. Our estab- lished domestic in- dustries and enter- prises should not and need not be en- dangered by the re- duction and correc- tion of the burdens of taxation. On the contrary, a fair and careful revision of our tax laws, with due allowance for the difference be- tween the wages of America and foreign labor, must promote and encourage every branch of such in- dustries and enter- prises bygivingthem assurances of an ex- tended market and steady and continu- ous operations. In the interests- of American labor, which should in no event be neglected, revision of our tax laws, contemplated by the Democratic party, should pro- mote the advantage of such labor by cheapening the cost of necessaries of life in the home of every working man, and at the same time se- curing to him steady and remunerative employment. Upon this question of tariff reform, so closely concerning every phase of our national life, and upon every question involved in the problem of good government, the Democratic party submits its princi- ples and professions to the intelligent suffrages of the American people. Resolved, That this Convention hereby endorses and recommends the early passage of the bill for the reduction of the revenue now pending in the House of Representatives. REPUBLICAN. DEMOCRATIC. Resolved, That we express our cordial sympathy with struggling people of all nations in their efforts to secure for themselves the ines- timable blessings of self-government and civil and religious liberty ; and we espe- cially declare our sympathy with the efforts of those noble patriots who, led by Q-ladstone and Par- nell, have conducted their grand and gsaceful contest for ome rule in Ire- land. REPUBLICAN. Civil Service Reform, 1888. DEMOCRATIC. Honest reform in the Civil Service has been inaugurated and maintained by Presi- dent Cleveland, and he has brought the public service to the highest standard of efficiency, not only by rule and precept, but by the example of his own untiring and unselfish admin- istration of public affairs. REPUBLICAN. The men who abandoned the Re- publican party in 1884 and continue to adhere to the Demo- cratic party have de- serted not only the cause of honest gov- ernment, of sound finance, of freedom and purity of the ballot, but especially have deserted the cause of reform in the civil service. We will not fail to keep our pledges because they have broken theirs or because their candidate has broken his. We therefore repeat our declaration of 1884, to wit: "The re- form of the Civil Service, auspiciously begun under the Re- publican administra- tion should be com- pleted by the further extension of the re- form system already established by law to all the grades of the service to which it is applicable. The spirit and purpose of the reform should be observed in all executive appoint- ments, and all laws at variance with the BOOTK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 93 DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. object of existing re form legi slation should be repealed, to the end that the dangers to free insti- tutions which lurk in the power of offi- cial paronage may be wisely and effectively avoided. ' ' Pensions, Etc., 1888. DEMOCRATIC. While carefully guarding the interest to the principles of justice and equity, it has paid out more for pensions and bounties to the sol- diers and sailors of the Republic than was ever paid out during an equal period. REPUBLICAN. The gratitude of the nation to the de fenders of the Union cannot be measured by laws. The legis- lation of Congress should conform to the pledge made by a loyal people, and be so enlarged and extended as to pro- vide against the pos- sibility that any man who honorably wore the Federal uniform shall become an in- mate of an alms- house, or dependent upon private charity. In the prese nee of an overflowing treasury it would be a public scandal to do less for those whose valorous service preserved the Government. We denounce the hostile spirit shown by President Cleveland in his numerous vetoes of measures for pension relief, and the action of the Democratic House of Representatives in refusing even a con- sideration of general pension legislation. The Republican party is in favor of the use of both gold and silver as money, and condemns the policy of the Demo- cratic Administra- tion in its efforts to demonetize silver. We demand the reduction of letter postage to one cent per ounce. Pauper Labor. DEMOCRATIC. The exclusion from our shores of Chinese laborers has been ef- fectually secured un- der the provision of a treaty, the opera- tion of which has been postponed by the action of a Re- publican majority in the Senate. REPUBLICAN. We declare our hostility to the intro- duction into this country of foreign contract labor, and of Chinese labor, alien to our civilization and our Consti tution , and we demand the rigid enforcement of the existing laws against it, and favor such immediate legislation as will exclude such labor from our shores. Foreign Policy, 1888. DEMOCRATIC. It has adopted and constantly pur- sued a firm and pru- dent foreign policy, preserving peace with all nations, while scrupulously maintaining all the rights and interests of our government and people at home and abroad. REPUBLICAN. The conduct of foreign affairs by the present administra- tion has been distin- guished by its ineffi- ciency and its cow- ardice. Having withdrawn from the Senate all pending treaties affected by Republican admin- istrations for the re- moval of foreign burdens and restric- tions upon our com- merce and for its ex- tension into, better markets, it has neither affected nor proposed any others in their stead. Pro- fessing adherence to the Monroe doctrine, it has seen with idle complacency the ex- tension of foreign influence in Central America and of for- eign trade every- where among our neighbors. It has refused to charter, sanction, or encour- age any American organization Jbr con- structing the Nica- ragua canal, a woik or vital importance to the maintenance of the Monroe doc- trine and of our na- tional influence in Central and South America, and neces- 94 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK ii. DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. s&ry for the develop- ment of trade with our Pacific territory, with South America and with the islands and further coasts of the Pacific ocean. We arraign the present Democratic administration for its weak and unpa- triotic treatment of the fisheries ques- tion, and its pusil- lanimous surrender of the essential privi- leges to which our fishing vessels are entitled in Canadian ports under the treaty of 1818, the reciprocal maritime legislation of 1830, and the comity of nations, and which Canadian fishing vessels receive in the ports of the United States. We condemn the policy of the present administration and the Democratic ma- jority in Congress DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. toward our fisheries as unfriendly and conspicuously unpa- triotic, and as tend- ing to destroy a valuable national in- dustry and an indis- pensable resource of defence against a foreign enemy. The name of American applies alike to all citizens of the Republic, and imposes upon all alike the same obli- gation to obedience to the laws. At the same time that citi- zenship is and must be the panoply and safeguard of him who wears it, and Erotecthim, whether igh or low, rich or poor, in all his civil rights. It should and must afford him protection at home and follow and pro- tect him abroad in whatever land he may be on a lawful errand. THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE. This organization sprang into active political existence in 1890, and it swept Kansas, Nebraska, and the two Dakotas ; not, however, without local fusions with the Demo- crats. It originated in the State of North Carolina, and so rapidly extended to South Carolina that it controlled the Democratic State nominations, and elected a Democratic- Alliance State ticket against one run by the old or Bourbon Democracy. In Georgia it sought control of the Legislature, and acquired it, but was defeated by Gen. Gordon for the United States Senate; not, however, without committals from the latter upon all anti-corporation points. It was defeated in like contests in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. As yet it has not adopted a National political platform, unless that at Ocala, Fla., can be called National. Here the chief idea was a sub-treasury plan, calling upon the government to establish State agencies for the receipt of farm products, upon which 80 per cent, of their market value was to be advanced, at a cost to tho producer of not more than 2 per cent, interest. This plank has since divided the or- ganization, and at this writing (May, 1892] it seems impossible to make the organiza- tion a National one, committed to political objects. In the elections of 1891-92 it lost its hold upon all of the Western States, and maintains its spirit only in the Southern States west of the Mississippi river. The party quickly divided itself upon its sub-treasury and free-coinage planks, and lost all opportunity for National promise after its first battle much of its membership refusing to break old political ties, while others endeavored to limit the organization to social and business purposes. BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 1802. Republican National Platform. Adopted at Minneapolis, June 9th. The representatives of the Republicans of the United States, assembled in general convention on the shores of the Mississippi river, the everlasting bond of an indestruc- tible republic, whose most glorious chap- ter of history is the record of the Republi- can party, congratulate their countrymen on the majestic march of the nation under the banners inscribed with the principles of our platform of 1888, vindicated by victory at the polls and prosperity in our fields, workshops and mines, and make the following declaration of principles. We reaffirm the American doctrine of sovereign right guaranteed by the Con- stitution, The free and honest popular ballot, the Protection. We call attention to its growth abroad. We prosperous condition largely due to the wise revenue legislation of the Republican Congress. We believe that all articles which cannot be produced in the United States, except luxuries, should be admitted free of duty, and that on all imports coming into com- petition with the products of American labor there should be levied duties equal to the difference between wages abroad maintain that the of our country is just and equal representation of all the and at home. We assert that the prices of manu- factured articles of general consumption have been reduced under the operations of the tariff act of 1890. We denounce the efforts of the Democra- tic majority of the House of Representa- tives to destroy our tariff laws, as is mani- fested by their attacks upon wool, lead and States, and we ask the people for their judgment thereon. We point to the success of the Kepubli- can policy of reciprocity, under which our export trade has vastly increased and new and enlarged markets have been opened for the products of our farms and work- shops. We remind the people of the bitter op- position of the Democratic party to this practical business measure, and claim that, executed by a Republican administration, our present laws will eventually give us control of the trade of the world. The American people, from tradition and interest, favor bi-metallism, and the Republican party demands the use of both gold and silver as standard money, with such restrictions and under such pro- visions, to be determined by legislation , as will secure the maintenance of the parity values of the two metals, so that the pur- chasing and debt-paying power of the dollar, whether of silver, gold or paper, shall be at all times equal. The interests of the producers of the country, its fanners and its workingman, demand that every dollar, paper or coin, issued by the govern- ment, snail be as good as any other. We commend the wise and patriotic steps already taken by our government to secure an international conference, to adopt such measures as will insure a parity of value between gold and silver for use as money throughout the world. We demand that every citizen of the United States shall be allowed to cast one free and unrestricted ballot in all public elections and that such ballot shall be counted and returned as cast; that such laws shall be enacted and enforced as will secure to every citizen, be he rich or poor, native or foreign born, white or black, this people, as well as their just and equal protection under the laws, are the founda- tion of our republican institutions, and the party will never relax its efforts until the integrity of the ballot and the purity of election shall be fully guaranteed and protected in every State. We denounce the continued inhuman outrages perpetrated upon American citi- zens for political reasons in certain South- ern States of the Union. We favor the extension of our foreign commerce, the restoration of our mercan- tile marine by home-built ships and the creation of a navy for the protection of our national interests and the honor of our flag ; the maintenance of the most friendly relations with all foreign powers, entan- lead ores, the chief product of a number of gling alliance with none, ana the protection of the rights of our fishermen. We reaffirm our approval of the Monroe doctrine, and believe in the achievement of the manifest destiny of the Republic in its broadest sense. We favor the enactment of more stringent laws and regulations for the restriction of criminal, pauper and contract immigration. We favor efficient legislation by Congress to protect the life and limbs of employes of transportation companies engaged in carrying on inter-state commerce, and re- commend legislation by the respective States that will protect employe's engaged in State commerce, in mining and manu- facturing. The Republican party has always been the champion of the oppressed and recognizes the dignity of manhood, irrespective of faith, color or nationality ; :t sympathizes with the cause of Home Rule in Ireland, and protests against the persecution of the Jews in Russia. The ultimate reliance of free popular government is the intelligence of the people and the maintenance of freedom among its men. We, therefore, declare 96 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. anew our devotion to liberty of thought and conscience, of speech and press, and approve all agencies and instrumentalities which contribute to the education of the children of the land ; but, while insisting upon the fullest measure of t religious liberty, we are opposed to any union of church and State. We reaffirm our opposition, declared in the Republican platform of 1888, to all combinations of capital organized in trusts or otherwise to control arbitrarily the con- dition of trade among our citizens. We heartily endorse the action already taken upon this subject, and ask for such further legislation as may be required to remedy any defects in existing laws and to render their enforcement more complete and effective. We approve the policy of extending to towns, villages and rural communities the advantages of the free delivery service, now enjoyed by the larger cities of the country, and reaffirm the declaration con- tained in the Republican platform of 1888, pledging the reduction of letter postage to one cent at the earliest possible moment consistent with the maintenance of the Post-office Department and the highest class of postal service. We commend the spirit and evidence of|cipl reform in the Civil Service and the wise and consistent enforcement by the Re- publican party of the laws regulating the same. The construction of the Nicaragua Canal is of the highest importance to the American people as a measure of a national defence and to build up and maintain American commerce, and it should be con- trolled by the United States Government. We favor the admission of the remain- ing Territories at the earliest practical date, having due regard to the interests of the people of the Territories and of the United States. All the Federal officers appointed for the Territories should be selected from bona fide residents thereof, and the right of self-government should be accorded as far as practicable. We favor cession, subject to the home- stead laws, of the arid public lands to the States and Territories in which they lie, under such Congressional restrictions as to disposition, reclamation and occupancy by settlers as will secure the maximum bene- fit to the people. The World's Columbian Exposition is a great national undertaking, and Con- gress should promptly enact such reasonable legislation in aid thereof as will insure a discharging of the expense and obliga- tions incident thereto and the attainment of result* commensurate with the dignity andprocess of the nation. We sympathize with all wise and legiti- mate efforts to lesson and prevent the evils of intemperance and promote morality. Ever mindful of the services and sacri- fices of the men who saved the life of the nation, we pledge anew to the veteran soldiers of the republic a watchful care and recognition of tneir just claims upon a grateful people. We commend the able, patriotic and thoroughly American administration of President Harrison. Under it the country has enjoyed remarkable prosperity, and the dignity and honor of the nation at home and abroad have been faithfully managed, and we offer the record of pledges kept as a guarantee of perfor- mance in the future. 1892. Democratic National Platform. Adopted at Chicago, June 22d. SECTION 1. The representatives of the Democratic party of the United States, in National Convention assembled, do reaf- firm their allegiance to the principles of the party as formulated by Jefferson, and ex- emplified by the long and illustrious line of his successors in Democratic leadership from Madison to Cleveland. We believe the public welfare demands that these prin- "_ eg be applied in the conduct of the fed- eral government through the accession to power of the party that advocates them, and we solemnly declare that the need of a return to these fundamental principles of a free popular government, based on home rule and individual liberty, was never more urgent than now, when the tendency to centralize all power at the federal capital has become a menace to the reserved rights of the States, that strikes at the very roots of our government under the constitution as framed by the fathers of the Republic. SEC. 2. We warn the people of our common country, jealous for the preserva- tion of their free institutions, that the policy of federal control of elections, to which the Republican party has committed itself, is fraught with the gravest dangers, scarcely less momentous than would result from a revolution practically establishing mon- archy on the ruins of the Republic. It strikes at the North as well as the South, and injures the colored citizen even more than the white ; it means a horde of dep- uty marshals at every polling place, armed with federal power ; returning boards ap- pointed and controlled by federal author- ity; the outrage of the electoral rights of the people in the several States; tne sub- a jugation of the colored people to the^ con- trol of the party in power and the reviving of race antagonisms now happily abated, of the utmost peril to the pafety and hap- piness of all ; a measure deliberately ^and justly described by a leading Republican BOOK II.] POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 97 Senator as "the most infamous bill that ' necessaries and comforts of life among our ever crossed the threshold of the Senate." own people. Such a policy, if sanctioned bylaw, SEC. 5. We recognize in the trusts and would mean the dominance of a self-per- combinations which are designed to enable petuating oligarchy of office-holders, and! capital to secure more than its just share the party first intrusted with its machinery | of the joint product of capital and labor, a could be dislodged from power only by an I natural consequence 9f the prohibitive appeal to the reserved right of the people to resist oppression which is inherent in all self-governing communities. Two years ago this revolutionary policy was emphatically condemned by the people at the polls ; but in contempt of that ver- taxes which prevent the free competition which is the life of honest trade, but we believe their worst evils can be abated by law, and we demand the rigid enforcement of the laws made to prevent and control them, together with such further legisla- dict the Republican party has defiantly de-!tion in restraint of their abuses as exper- clared in its latest authoritative utterance ience may show to be necessary. that its success in the coming elections will SEC. 6. The Republican party, while mean the enactment of the Force bill and professing a policy of reserving the public the usurpation of despotic control over! land for small holdings by actual settlers, elections in all the States. jhas given away the people's heritage till Believing that the preservation of re- now a few railroad and non-resident aliens, publican government in the United States individual and corporate, possess a larger is dependent upon the defeat of this policy 'area than that of all our farms between the of legalized force and fraud, we invite the! two seas. The last Democratic adminis- support of all citizens who desire to see the tration reversed the improvident and un- constitution maintained in its integrity, with the laws pursuant thereto, which have given our country a hundred years of un- exampled prosperity, and we pledge the Democratic party, if it be entrusted with power, not only to the defeat of the Force bill, but also to relentless opposition to the Republican policy of profligate expenditure which in the short space of two years has wise policy of the Republican party touch- ing the public domain, and reclaimed from corporations and syndicates, alien and domestic, and restored to the people nearly one hundred million acres 01 valu- able land to be sacredly held as homesteads for our citizens, and we pledge ourselves to continue this policy until every acre of land so unlawfully held shall be reclaimed squandered an enormous surplus and emp-jand restored to the people. tied an overflowing treasury after piling i SEC. 7. We denounce the Republican new burdens of taxation upon the already overtaxed labor of the country. SEC. 3. We denounce the Republican legislation known as the Sherman act of 1890 as a cowardly makeshift fraught with possibilities of danger in the future which policy of protection as a fraud on the labor should make all of its supporters, as well of the great majority of the American peo- ple for the benefit of the few. _ We declare it to be a fundamental prin- ciple of the Democratic party that the fed- eral government has no constitutional power to impose and collect tariff duties except for the purposes of revenue only, and we demand that the collection of such as its author, anxious for its speedy repeal. We hold to the use of both gold and silver as the standard money of tho country, and to the coinage of both gold and silver without discriminating against either metal or charge of mintage, but the dollar unit of coinage for both metals must be of equal intrinsic and exchangeable value, or be taxes shall be limited to the necessities of adjusted through international agreement the government when honestly and eco- ; or by such safeguards of legislation as nomically administered. [shall insure the maintenance of the parity SEC. 4. Trade interchange on the basis 'of the two metals, and the equal power of of reciprocal advantages to the countries every dollar at all times in the markets participating is a time-honored doctrine and in the payment of debts,_ and we de- of the Democratic faith, but we denounce the sham reciprocity which juggles with the people's desire for enlarged foreign markets and freer exchanges by pretend- mand that all paper currency shall be kept at par with and redeemable in such coin. We insist upon this policy as especially necessary for the protection of the farmers ing to establish closer trade relations for aland laboring classes, the first and most country whose articles of export are almost defenceless victims of unstable money and i * 1 I* 1 J '.i.1- exclusively agricultural products with other countries that are also agricultural, a fluctuatingcurrency. SEC. 8. We recommend that the pro- while erecting a Custom House barrier ofj hibitorv ten per cent, tax on State bank prohibitive tariff taxes against the rich issues be repealed. countries of the world that stand ready to SEC. 9. Public office is a public trust, take our entire surplus of products and to We reaffirm the declaration of the Demo- exchange therefor commodities which arelcratic National Convention of 1876 for the 98 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK n. reform of the civil service and we call for the honest enforcement of all laws regula- ting the Bame. The nomination of a Pres- ident, as in the recent Republican conven- tion, by delegations composed largely of his appointees, holding office at his pleas- ure, is a scandalous satire upon free popu- lar institutions and a startling illustration of the methods by which a President may gratify his ambition. We denounce a policy under which federal office-holders usurp control of party conventions in the States, and we pledge the Democratic party to the reform of these and all other abuses which threaten individual liberty and local self-government. SEC. 10. The Democratic party is the only party that has ever given the country a foreign policy consistent and vigorous, compelling respect abroad and inspiring confidence at home. While avoiding entangling alliances it has aimed to culti- vate friendly relations with other nations and especially with our neighbors on the American continent whose destiny is closely linked with our own, and we view with alarm the tendency to a policy of irritation and bluster, which is liable at any time to confront us with the alternative of humiliation or war. We favor the maintenance of a navy strong enough for all purposes of national defence and to properly maintain the honor and dignity of the country abroad. SEC. 11. The country has always been the refuge of the oppressed from every land exiles for conscience sake and in the spirit of the founders of our govern- ment we condemn the oppression practised by the Russian government upon its Lu- theran and Jewish subjects, and we call upon our national government, in the in- terest of justice ana humanity, by all just and proper means, to use its prompt and best efforts to bring about a cessation of these cruel persecutions in the dominions of the Czar and to secure to the oppressed equal rights. We tender our profound and earnest sympathy to those lovers of freedom who are struggling for home rule and the great cause of local self government in Ireland. SEC. 12. We heartily approve all legi- timate efforts to prevent the United States from being used as the dumping ground for the known criminals and professional paupers of Europe, and we demand the rigid enforcement of the laws aerainst Chinese imnii given by Daniel Webtter. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the begin- ning we aimed not at independence. But there's a divinity which shapes pur ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it ia ours. Why then should we defer the declara- tion ? Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own life and his own honor ? Are not you, sir, who sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable col- league near you, are you not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance ? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you. what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws? If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, or to give up the war? BOOK m.J JOHN ADAMS ON THE DECLARATION. 9 Do we mean to submit to the measures of parliament, Boston port bill and all ? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do we intend to violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that plighting, before God, of our sacred honor to Washington, when putting him forth to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, with our fortunes and our lives ? I know there is not a man here, who would not rather see a general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, having, twelve months ago, in this place, moved you that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces, raised or to be raised, for de- fence of American liberty, may my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support I give him. The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war must go on, why put off longer the declaration of independ- ence ? That measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we acknow- ledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I maintain that Eng- land, herself, will sooner treat for peace with us on the footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to ac- knowledge that her whole conduct toward us has been a course of injustice and op- pression. Her pride will be less wounded by iubmitting to that course of things which now predestinates our independ- ence, than by yielding the points in con- troversy to her rebellious subjects. The former she would regard as the result of fortune ; the latter she would feel as her own deep disgrace. Why then, why then, sir, do we not as soon as possible change this from a civil to a national war ? And since we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory ? If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause will raise up armies ; the cause will create navies. The people, the people, if we are true to them, will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously, through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have been found. I know the people of these colo- nies, and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its willing- ness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the declaration will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for restoration of privi- leges, for redress of grievances, for char- tered immunities, held under a British king, set before them the glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. Read this declaration at the head of the army ; every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pulpit; re- ligion will approve it, and the love of re- ligious liberty will cling round it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to the public halls ; proclaim it there ; let them hear it, who heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon ; let them see it, who saw their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker hill, and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see clearly through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may not live to the time when this declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die, colonists ; die, slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacri- fice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a country, and that a free country. But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured, that this declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will richly com- pensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires and illuminations. On its annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment apprpvesthis measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it ; and I leave off as I begun, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment; independence now; and INDEPENDENCE FOE EVER. 10 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK iii, Speech of Patrick Henry, On the expediency of adopting the Federal C<>n*titution de- livered in the convention of Virginia, June 24, 1788.* Enun- ciating viewt which have ever tince been accepted by the Democratic party. MR. CHAIRMAN : The proposal of rati- fication is premature. The importance of the subject requires the most mature deliberation. The honorable member must forgive me for declaring my dissent from it, because, if I understand it rightly, it admits that the new system is defective, and most capitally ; for, immediately after the proposed ratification, there comes a declaration, that the paper before you is not intended to violate any of these three great rights the liberty of religion, liberty of the press, and the trial by jury. What is the inference, when you enumerate the rights which you are to enjoy ? That those not enumerated are relinquished. There are only three things to be retained reli- gion, freedom of the press, and jury trial. Will not the ratification carry every thing, without excepting these three things? Will not all the world pronounce, that we intended to give up all the rest? Every thing it speaks of, by way of rights, is comprised in these three things. Your subsequent amendments only go to these three amendments. I feel myself distressed, because the necessity of securing our personal rights seems not to have pervaded the minds of men ; for many other valuable things are omitted. For instance : general warrants, by which an officer may search suspected place? without evidence of the commission of a fact, or seize any person without evidence of his crime, ought to be prohibited. As these are admitted, any man may be seized ; any property may be taken, in the most arbitrary manner, with- out any evidence or reason. Every thing, the most sacred, may be searched and ransacked by the strong hand of power. We have infinitely more reason to dread general warrants here, than they have in England; because there, if a person be confined, liberty may be quickly obtained by the writ of habeas corpus. But here, a man living many hundred miles from the judges may rot in prison before he can get that writ. Another most fatal omission is, with re- spect to standing armies. In your bill of rights of Virginia, they are said to be dan- gerous to liberty ; and it tells you, that the proper defence of a free state consists in militia ; and so I might go on to ten or eleven things of immense consequence se- cured in your bill of rights, concerning * Upon the resolution of Mr. Wythe, which proposed, "That tht committee should ratify the constitution, and thnt whatsoever amendments might be deemed necessary should be recommended to the consideration of the con- gress, which should first assemble under the constitu- tion, to be acted upon according to the mode prescribed therein " which that proposal is silent. Is that the language of the bill of rights in England ? Is it the language of the American bill of rights, that these three rights, and these only, are valuable? Is it thelanguage of men going into a new government? Is it not necessary to speak of those things be- fore you go into a compact? How do these three things stand ? As one of the parties, we declare we do not mean to give them up. This is very dictatorial ; much more so than the conduct which proposes altera- tions as the condition of adoption. In a compact, there are two parties one ac- cepting, and another proposing. As a party, we propose that we shall secure these three things ; and before we have the as- sent of the other contracting party, we go into the compact, and leave these things at their mercy. What will be the conse- quence ? Suppose the other states will call this dictatorial: they will say, Virginia has gone into the government, and carried with her certain propositions, which, she says, ought to be concurred in by the other states. They will declare, that she has no right to dictate to other states the condi- tions on which they shall come into the union. According to the honorable mem- ber's proposal, the ratification will cease to be obligatory unless they accede to these amendments. We have ratified it. You have committed a violation, they will say. They have not violated it. We say we will go out of it. You are then reduced to a sad dilemma to give up these three rights, or leave the government This is worse than our present confederation, to which we have hitherto adhered honestly and faithfully. We shall be told we have vio- lated it, because we have left it for the in- fringement and violation of conditions, which they never agreed to be a part of the ratification. The ratification will be complete. The proposal is made by one party. We, as the other, accede to it, and propose the security of these three great rights ; for it is only a proposal. In order to secure them, you are left in that state of fatal hostility, which I shall as much de- plore as the honorable gentleman. I ex- hort gentlemen to think seriously before they ratify this constitution, and persuade themselves that they will succeed in mak- ing a feeble effort to get amendments after adoption. With respect to that part of the proposal which says that every power not granted remains with the people, it must be previous to adoption, or it will in- volve this country in inevitable destruc* tion. To talk of it is a thing subsequent, not as one of your inalienable rights, is leaving it to the casual opinion of the con- gress who shall take up the consideration of the matter. They will not reason with you about the effect of this constitution. They will not take the opinion of this com- BOOK III.] HENRY'S DEMOCRATIC DOCTRINES. 11 mittee concerning its operation. They will construe it as they please. If you place it subsequently, let me ask the con- sequences. Among ten thousand implied powers which they may assume, they may, if we be engaged in war, liberate every one of your slaves, if they please. And this must and will be done by men, a majority of whom have not a common interest with you. They will, therefore, have no feeling for your interests. It has been repeatedly said here that the great object of a national government is national defence. That power which is said to be intended for security and safety, may be rendered detestable and oppressive. If you give power to the general govern- ment to provide for the general defence, the means must be commensurate to the end. All the means in the possession of the people must be given to the government which is intrusted with the public defence. In this state there are two hundred and thirty-six thousand blacks, and there are many in several other states ; but there are few or none in the Northern States ; and yet, if the Northern States shall be of opinion that our numbers are numberless, they may call forth every national resource. May congress not say, that every black man must fight? Did we not see a little of this in the last war? We were not so hard pushed as to make emancipation general : but acts of assembly passed, that every slave who would go to the army should be free. Another thing will contribute to bring this event about : slavery is detested ; we feel its fatal effects ; we deplore it with all the pity of humanity. Let all these considerations, at some future period, press with full force on the minds of congress. Let that urbanity, which I trust will dis- tinguish America, and the necessity of na- tional defence let all these things operate on their minds, and they will search that paper, and see if they have power of manu- mission. And have they not, sir? Have they not power to provide for the general defence and welfare ? May they not think that these call for the abolition of slavery ? May they not pronounce all slaves free, and will they not be warranted by that pow.er? There is no ambiguous implica- tion, or logical deduction. The paper speaks to the point. They have the power in clear, unequivocal terms, and will clearly and certainly exercise it. As much as I deplore slavery, I see that prudence forbids its abolition. I deny that the feneral government ought to set them free, ecause a decided majority of the states have not the ties of sympathy and fellow- feeling for those whose interest would be affected by their emancipation. The ma- jority of congress is to the north, and the slaves are to the south. In this situation, I see a great deal of the property of the people of Virginia in jeopardy, and their peace and tranquillity gone away. I re- peat it again, that it would rejoice my very soul that every one of my fellow-beings was emancipated. As we ought with gratitude to admire that decree of Heaven which has numbered us among the free, we ought to lament and deplore the necessity of holding our fellow-men in bondage. But is it practicable, by any human means, to liberate them, without producing the most dreadful and ruinous consequences ? We ought to possess them in the manner we have inherited them from our ancestors, as their manumission is incompatible with the felicity of the country. But we ought to soften, as much as possible, the rigor of their unhappy fate. I know that in a va- riety of particular instances, the legisla- ture, listening to complaints, have admitted their emancipation. Let me not dwell on this subject. I will only add, that this, as well as every other property of the peo- ple of Virginia, is in jeopardy, and put in the hands of those who have no similarity of situation with us. This is a local mat- ter, and I can see no propriety in subject- ing it to congress. [Here Mr. Henry informed the com- mittee, that he had a resolution prepared, to refer a declaration of rights, with cer- tain amendments to the most exception- able parts of the constitution, to the other states in the confederacy, for their consid- eration, previous to its ratification. The clerk then read the resolution, the de- claration of rights, and amendments, which were nearly the same as those ultimately proposed by the convention, for the con- sideration of congress. He then resumed the subject.] I have thus candidly sub- mitted to you, Mr. Chairman, and this committee, what occurred to me as proper amendments to the constitution, and the de- claration of rights containing those funda- mental, inalienable privileges, which I conceive to be essential to liberty and hap- piness. I believe, that, on a review of these amendments, it will still be found, that the arm of power will be sufficiently strong for national purposes, when these restrictions shall be a part of the govern- ment. I believe no gentleman, who op- poses me in sentiments, will be able to dis- cover that any one feature of a strong government is altered ; and at the same time your inalienable rights are secured by them. The government unaltered may be terrible to America, but can never be loved, till it be amended. You find all the resources of the continent may be drawn to a point. In danger, the presi- dent may concentre to a point every effort of the continent. If the government be constructed to satisfy the people and re- move their apprehensions, the wealth and strength of the continent will go where 12 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in, public utility shall direct. This govern- ment, with these restrictions, will be a strong government united with the priv- ileges of the people. In my weak judg- ment, a government is strong, when it ap- plies to the most important end of all gov- ernments the rights and privileges of the people. In the honorable member's pro- posal, jury trial, the press, and religion, and other essential rights, are not to be given up. Other essential rights what are they ? The world will say, that you intended to give them up. When you go into an enumeration of your rights, and stop that enumeration, the inevitable con- clusion is, that what is omitted is intended to be surrendered. Anxious as I am to be as little trouble- some as posible, I cannot leave this part of the subject without adverting to one re- mark of the honorable gentleman. He says, that, rather than bring the union into danger, he will adopt it with its imperfec- tions. A great deal is said about disunion, and consequent dangers. I have no claim to a greater share of fortitude than others ; but I can see no kind of danger. I form my judgment on a single fact alone, that we are at peace with all the world ; nor is there any apparent cause of a rupture with any nation in the world. Is it among the American states that the cause of disunion is to be feared ? Are not the states using all their efforts for the promotion of union ? New England sacrifices local prejudices for the purposes of union. We hear the necessity of the union, and predilection for the union, re-echoed from all parts of the continent ; and all at once disunion is to follow ! If gentlemen dread disunion, the very thing they advocate will inevitably produce it. A previous ratification will raise insurmountable obstacles to union. New York is an insurmountable obstacle to it, and North Carolina also. They will never accede to it till it be amended. A great part of Virginia is opposed, most de- cidedly, to it, as it stands. This very spirit which will govern us in these three states, will find a kindred spirit in the adopting states. Give me leave to say, that it is very problematical whether the adopting states can stand on their own legs. I hear only on one side, but as far as my in- formation goes, there are heart-burnings and animosities among them. Will these animosities be cured by subsequent amend- ments? Turn away from American, and consid- er European politics. The nations there, which can trouble us, are France, Eng- land, and Spain. But at present we know for a certainty, that those nations are en- gaged in a very different pursuit from American conquests. We are told by our intelligent amt>a<*ador, that there is no such danger as has been apprehended. Give me leave then to say, that dangers from beyond the Atlantic are imaginary. From these premises, then, it may be con- cluded, that, from the creation of the world to this time, there never was a more fair and proper opportunity than we have at this day to establish such a government as will permanently establish the most tran- scendent political felicity. Since the rev- olution there has not been so much ex- perience. Since then, the general interests of America have notbeen better understood, nor the union more ardently loved, than at this present moment. I acknowledge the weakness of the old confederation. Every man says, that something must be done. Where is the moment more favorable than this? During the war, when ten thous- and dangers surrounded us, America was magnanimous. What was the language of the little state of Maryland ? "I will have time to consider. I will hold out three years. Let what may come I will have time to reflect." Magnanimity appeared everywhere. What^ was the upshot? America triumphed.* Is there any thing to forbid us to offer these amendments to the other states? If this moment goes away unimproved, we shall never see its return. We now act under a happy system, which says, that a majority may alter the government when necessary. But by the paper proposed, a majority will forever en- deavor in vain to alter it. Three fourths may. Is not this the most promising time for securing the necessary alterations? Will you go into that government, where it is a principle, that a contemptible mino- rity may prevent an alteration? What will be the language of the majority? Change the government Nay, seven eighths of the people of America may wish the change ; but the minority may come with a Roman Veto, and object to the alter- ation. The language of a magnanimous country and of freemen is, Till you remove the defects, we will not accede. It would be in vain for me to show, that there is no danger to prevent our obtaining those amendments, if you are not convinced al- ready. If the other states will not ajpee to them, it is not an inducement to union. The language of this paper is not dic- tatorial, but merely a proposition for amendments. The proposition of Virginia met with a favorable reception before. We proposed that convention which met at Annapolis. It was not called dictatorial. We proposed that at Philadelphia. Was Virginia thought dictatorial? But Vir- ginia is now to lose her pre-eminence. Those rights of equality, to which the meanest individual in the community is entitled, are to bring us down infinitely below the Delaware people. Have we not a right to say, Hear our propositions? Why, sir, your slaves have a right to make BOOK in.] JOHN RANDOLPH AGAINST A TARIFF. 13 their humble requests. Those who are in the meanest occupations of human life, have a right to complain. What do we require ? Not pre-eminence, but safety ; that our cit- izens may be able to sit down in peace and security under their own fig-trees. I am confident that sentiments like these will meet with unison in every state ; for they will wish to banish discard from the American soil. I am certain that the warmest friend of the constitution wishes to have fewer enemies fewer of those who pester and plague him with opposition. I could not withhold from my fellow-citizens anything so reasonable. I fear you will have no union, unless you remove the cause of opposition. Will you sit down contented with the name of union without any solid foundation ? Speech of John Randolph Against the Tariff BUI, delivered in the House of Represent- ative! of the United States, April 15, 1824. I AM, Mr. Speaker, practising no de- ception upon myself, much less upon the house, when I say, that if I had consulted my own feelings and inclinations, I should not have troubled the house, exhausted as it is, and as I am, with any further re- marks upon this subject. I come to the discharge of this task, not merely with re- luctance, but with disgust; jaded, worn down, abraded, I may say, as I am by long attendance upon this body, and con- tinued stretch of the attention upon this subject. I come to it, however, at the suggestion, and in pursuance of the wishes of those, whose wishes are to me, in all clatters touching my public duty, para- mount law ; I speak with those reserva- tions, of course, which every moral agent must be supposed to make to himself. It was not more to my surprise, than to my disappointment, that on my return to the house, after a necessary absence of a few days, on indispensable business, I found it engaged in discussing the general principle of the bill, when its details were under consideration. If I had expected such a turn in the debate, I would, at any private sacrifice, however great, have re- mained a spectator and auditor'of that dis- cussion. With the exception of the speech, already published, of my worthy colleague on my right (Mr. P. P. Barbour), I have been nearly deprived of the benefit of the discussion which has taken place. Many weeks have been occupied with this bill (I hope the house will pardon me for saying so) before I took the slightest part in the deliberations of the details; and I now sincerely regret that I had not firmness enough to adhere to the resolution which I had laid down to myself, in the early stage of the debate, not to take any part in the discussion of the details of the mea- sure. But, as I trust, what I now have to say upon this subject, although more and better things have been said by others, may not be the same that they have said, or may not be said in the same manner. I here borrow the language of a man who has been heretofore conspicuous in the councils of the country ; of one who was unrivalled for readiness and dexterity in debate ; who was long without an equal on the floor of this body ; who contributed as much to the revolution of 1801, as any man in this nation, and derived as little benefit from it ; as, to use the words of that celebrated man, what I have to say is not that which has been said by others, and will not be said in their manner, the house will, I trust, have patience with me during the time that my .strength will allow me to occupy their attention. And I beg them to understand, that the notes which I hold in my hand are not the notes on which I mean to speak, but of what others have spoken, and from which I will make the smallest selection in my power. ******* Sir, when are we to have enough of this tariff question ? In 1816 it was supposed to be settled. Only three years thereafter, another proposition for increasing it was sent from this house to the senate, baited with a tax of four cents per pound on brown sugar. It was fortunately rejected in that body. In what manner this bill is baited, it does not become me to say ; but I have too distinct a recollection of the vote 4 in committee of the whole, on the duty upon molasses, and afterwards of the vote in the house on the same question ; of the votes of more than one of the states on that question, not to mark it well. I do not say that the change of the vote on that question was affected by any man's voting against his own motion ; but I do not hesitate to say that it was effected by one man's electioneering against his own motion. I am very glad, Mr. Speaker, that old Massachusetts Bay, and the prov- ince of Maine and Sagadahock, by whom we stood in the days of the revolution, now stand by -the south, and will not aid in fixing on us this system of taxation, com- pared with which the taxation of Mr. Grenville and Lord North was as nothing. I speak with knowledge of what I say, when I declare, that this bill is an attempt to reduce the country, south of Mason and Dixon's line and east of the Allegheny mountains, to a state of worse than colonial bondage ; a state to which the domination of Great Britain was, in my judgment, far preferable ; and I trust I shall always have the fearless integrity to utter any politiml sentiment which the head sanctions and the heart ratifies ; for the British parlu- 14 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. ment never would have dared to lay such duties on our imports, or their exports to us, either " at home " or here, as is now proposed to be laid upon the imports from abroad. At that time we had the com- mand of the market of the vast dominions then subject, and we should have had those which have since been subjected, to the British empire ; we enjoyed a free trade eminently superior to any thing that we can enjoy, if this bill shall go into opera- tion. It is a sacrifice of the interests of a part of this nation to the ideal benefit of the rest. It marks us out as the victims of a worse than Egyptian bondage. It is a barter of so much of our rights, of so much of the fruits of our labor, for politi- cal power to be transferred to other hands. It ought to be met, and I trust it will be met, in the southern country, as was the stamp act, and by all those measures, which I will not detain the house by re- capitulating, which succeeded the stamp act, and produced the final breach with the mother country, which it took about ten years to bring about, as I trust, in my conscience, it will not take as long to bring about similar results from this measure, should it become a law. Sir, events now passing elsewhere, which plant a thorn in my pillow and a dagger in my heart, admonish me of the difficulty of governing with sobriety any people who are over head and ears in debt. That state of things begets a temper which sets at nought everv thing like reason and com- mon sense. This country is unquestionably laboring under great distress ; but we can- not legislate it out of that distress^ We may, by your legislation, reduce all the country south and east of Mason and Dixon's line, the whites as well as the blacks, to the condition of Helots : you can do no more. We have had placed be- fore us, in the course of this discussion, for- eign examples and authorities ; and among other things, we have been told, as an ar- gument in favor of this measure, of the prosperity of Great Britain. Have gentle- men taken into consideration the peculiar advantages of Great Britain ? Have they taken into consideration that, not except- ing Mexico, and that fine country which lies between the Orinoco and Caribbean sea, England is decidedly superior, in point of physical advantages, to every country under the sun? This is unquestionably true. I will enumerate some of those aa- vantages. First, there is her climate. In England, such is the temperature of the air, that a man can there do more days' work in the year, and more hours' work in the day, than in any other climate in the world ; of course I include Scotland and Ireland in this description. It is in such a climate only, thattbe human animal can bear without extirpation the corrupted air, the noisome exhalations, the incessant labor of these accursed manufactories. Yes, sir, accursed ; for I say it is an accurs- ed thing, which I will neither taste, nor touch, nor handle. If we were to act here on the English system, we should have the yellow fever at Philadelphia and New York, not in August merely, out from June to January, and from January to June. The climate of this country alone, were there no other natural obstacle to it, says aloud, You shall not manufacture ! Even our tobacco factories, admitted to be the most wholesome of any sort of factories, are known to be, where extensive, the very nidus (if I may use the expression) of yel- low fever and other fevers of similar type. In another of the advantages of Great Britain, so important to her prosperity, we are almost on a par with her, if we know how properly to use it. Fortunatos nimi- um sua si bona norint for, as regards de- fence, we are, to all intents and purposes, almost as much an island as England her- self. But one of her insular advantages we can never acquire. Every part of that country is accessible from the sea. There, as you recede from the sea, you do not get further from the sea. I know that a great deal will be said of our majestic rivers, about the father of floods, and his tributary streams ; but, with the Ohio, frozen up all the winter and dry all the summer, with a long tortuous, difficult, and dangerous navi- gation thence to the ocean, the gentlemen of the west may rest assured that they will never derive one particle of advantage from even a total prohibition of foreign manu- factures. You may succeed in reducing us to your own level of misery ; but if we were to agree to become your slaves, you never can derive one farthing of advantage from this bill. What parts of this coun- try can derive any advantage from it? Those parts only, where there is a water power in immediate contact with naviga- tion, such as the vicinities of Boston, Pro- vidence, Baltimore, and Richmond. Pe- tersburg is the last of these as you travel south. You take a bag of cotton up the river to Pittsburg, or to Zanesville, to have it manufactured and sent down to New Orleans for a market, and before your bag of cotton has got to the place of manufac- ture, the manufacturer of Providence has received his returns for the goods made from his bag of cotton purchased at the same time that you purchased yours. No, sir, gentlemen may as well insist that be- cause the Chesapeake bay, mare nostrum, our Mediterranean sea, gives us every ad- vantage of navigation, we shall exclude from it every thing but steam-boats and those boats called KIT' f?o^i>,per emphasin, par excellence, Kentucky boats a sort of nuge square, clumsy, wooden box. And why not insist upon it? Hav'n't you " the BOOK in.] JOHN RANDOLPH AGAINST A TARIFF. 1ft power to REGULATE COMMERCE " ? Would not that too be a " REGULATION OF COM- MERCE? " It would, indeed, and a pretty regulation it is ; and so is this bill. And, sir, I marvel that the representation from the great commercial state of New York should be in favor of this bill. If opera- tive and if inoperative why talk of it? if operative, it must, like the embargo of 1807 1809, transfer no small portion of the wealth of the London of America, as New York has been called, to Quebec and Montreal. She will receive the most of her imports from abroad, down the river. I do not know any bill that could be better calculated for Vermont than this bill ; because, through Vermont, from Quebec, Montreal, and other positions on the St. Lawrence, we are, if it passes, unquestion- ably to receive our supplies of foreign goods. It will, no doubt, suit the Niagara frontier. But, sir, I must not suffer myself to be led too far astray from the topic of the pe- culiar advantages of England as a manu- facturing country. Her vast beds of coal are inexhaustible ; there are daily discov- eries of quantities of it, greater than ages past have yet consumed ; to which beds of coal her manufacturing establishments have been transferred, as any man may see who will compare the present population of her towns with what it was formerly. It is to these beds of coal that Birmingham, Manchester, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Leeds, and other manufacturing towns, owe their growth. If you could destroy her coal in one day, you would cut at once the sinews of her power. Then, there are her metals, and particularly tin, of which she has the exclusive monopoly. Tin, I know, is to be found in Japan, and perhaps elsewhere; but, in practice, England has now the monopoly of that article. I might go further, and I might say, that England possesses an advantage, quoad hoc, in her institutions; for there men are compelled to pay their debts. But here, men are not only not compelled to pay their debts, but they are protected in the refusal to pay them, in the scandalous evasion of their legal obligations ; and, after being convict- ed of embezzling the public money, and the money of others, of which they were appointed guardians and trustees, they have the impudence, to obtrude their un- blushing fronts into society, and elbow honest men out of their way. There, though all men are on a footing of equality on the high way, and in the courts of law, at will and at market, yet the castes in Hindoostan are not more distinctly separa- ted, one from the other, than the different classes of society are in England. It is true that it is practicable for a wealthy merchant or manufacturer, or his de- scendants, after having, through two or three generations, washed out, what is con- sidered the stain of their original occupa tion, to emerge, by slow degrees, into the higher ranks of society ; but this rarely happens. Can you find men of vast for- tune, in this country, content to move in the lower circles content as the ox under the daily drudgery of the yoke? Itlstrue that, in England, some of these wealthy people take it into their heads to buy seats in parliament. But, when they get there, unless they possess great talents, they are mere nonentities ; their existence is only to be found in the red book which contains a list of the members of parliament. Now, sir, I wish to know if, in the western coun- try, where any man may get beastly drunk for three pence sterling in England, you cannot get a small wine-glass of spirits under twenty-five cents ; one such dnnk of grog as I aave seen swallowed in this country, would there cost a dollar in the western country, where every man can get as much meat and bread as he can consume, and yet spend the best part of his days, and nights top, perhaps, on the tavern benches, or loitering at the cross roads asking the news, can you expect the people of such a coun- try, with countless millions of wild land and wild animals besides, can be cooped up in manufacturing establishments, and made to work sixteen hours a day, under the superintendence of a driver, yes, a driver, compared with whom a southern overseer is a gentleman and man of refine- ment ; for, if they do not work, these work people in the manufactories, they cannot eat ; and, among all the punishments that can be devised (put death even among the number), I defy you to get as much work out of a man by any of them, as when he knows that he must work before he can eat. *#***** In the course of this discussion, I have heard, I will not say with surprise, because nil admirari is my motto no doctrine that can be broached on this floor, can ever, hereafter, excite surprise in my mind I have heard the names of Say, Ganilh, Adam Smith, and Ricardo, pronounced not only in terms, but in a tone of sneering contempt, visionary theorists, destitute of practical wisdom, and the whole clan of Scotch and Quarterly Reviewers lugged in to boot. This, sir, is a sweeping clause of proscription. With the names of Say, Smith, and Ganilh, I profess to be ac- quainted, for I, too, am versed in title- pages; but I did not expect to hear, in this nouse, a name, with which I am a little further acquainted, treated with so little ceremony ; and by whom ? I leave Adam Smith to the simplicity, the majesty, and strength of his own native genius, which has canonized his name a name which will be pronounced with veneration, when 16 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK iii. not one in this house will be remembered. But one word as to Ricardo, the last men- tioned of these writers a new authority, though the grave has already closed upon him, and set its seal upon his reputation. I shall speak of him in the language of a man of as great a genius as this, or per- haps any, age has ever produced ; a man remarkable for the depth of his reflections and the acumen of his penetration. " I had been led," says this man, " to look into loads of books my understanding had for too many years been intimate with severe thinkers, with logic, and the great masters of knowledge, not to be aware Of the utter feebleness of the herd of modern economists. I sometimes read chapters from more recent works, or part of parlia- mentary debates. I saw that these [omi- nous words !] were generally the very dregs and rinsings of the human intellect." [I am very glad, sir, ha did not read our de- bates. What would he have said of ours ?] " At length a friend sent me Mr. Ricardo's book, and, recurring to my own prophetic anticipation of the advent of some legisla- tor on this science, I said, Thou art the man. Wonder and curiosity had long been dead in me; yet I wondered once more. Had this profound work been really written in England during the 19th cen- tury? Could it be that an Englishman, and he not in academic bowers, but op- pressed by mercantile and senatorial cares, had accomplished what all the universities and a century of thought had failed to ad- vance by one hair's breadth ? All other writers had been crushed and overlaid by the enormous weight of facts and docu- ments : Mr. Ricardo had deduced, a priori, from the understanding itself, laws which first gave a ray of light into the unwieldy chaos of materials, and had constructed what had been but a collection of tentative discussions, into a science of regular pro- portions, now first standing on an eternal oasis." I pronounce no opinion of my own on Ricardo ; I recur rather to the opinion of a man inferior, in point of original and na- tive genius, and that highly cultivated, too, to none of the moderns, and few of the ancients. Upon this subject, what shall we say to the following fact ? Butler, who is known to gentlemen of the profes- sion of the law, as the annotator, with Hargrave, on lord Coke, speaking with Fox as to political economy that most extraordinary man, unrivalled for his pow- ers of debate, excelled by no man that ever lived, or probably ever will live, as a public debater, and of the deepest political erudition, fairly confessed that he had never read Adam Smith. Butler said to Mr. Fox, " that he had never read Adam Smith's work on the Wealth of Nations." " To tell you the truth," replied Mr. Fox, " nor I neither. There is something in all these subjects that passes my comprehen- sion something so wide that I could never embrace them myself, or find any one who did." And yet we see how we, with our little dividers, undertake to lay off the scale, and with our pack-thread to take the soundings, and speak with a confidence peculiar to quacks (in which the regular- bred professor never indulges) on this ab- struse and perplexing subject. Confidence is one thing, knowledge another ; of the want of which, overweening confidence is notoriously the indication. \Vhat of that? Let Ganilh, Say, Ricardo, Smith, all Greek and Roman fame be against us ; we appeal to Dionysius in support of our doctrines ; and to him, not on the throne of Syracuse, but at Corinth not in absolute possession of the most wonderful and enigmatical city, as difficult to comprehend as the ab- strusest problem of political economy which furnished not only the means but the men for supporting the greatest wars a king- dom within itself, under whose ascendant the genius of Athens, in her most high and palmy state, quailed, and stood re- buked. No ; we follow the pedagogue to the schools dictating in the classic shades of Longwood (lucus a non lucendo) to his disciples. * * * But it is said, a measure of this sort is necessary to create employment for the people. Why, sir, where are the handles of the plough ? Are they unfit for young gentlemen to touch ? Or will they rather choose to enter your military academies, where the sons or the rich are educated at the expense of the poor, and where so many political janissaries are every year turned out, always ready for war, and to support the powers that be equal to the strelitzes of Moscow or St. Petersburg. I do not speak now of individuals, of course, but or the tendency of the system the hounds follow the huntsman because he feeds them, and bears the whip. I speak of the system. I concur most heartily, sir, in the censure which has been passed upon the greediness of office, which stands a stigma on the pre- sent generation. Men from whom we might expect, and from whom I did expect, bet- ter things, crowd the ante-chamber of the palace, for every vacant office ; nay, even before men are dead, their shoes are wanted for some barefooted office-seeker. How mistaken was the old Roman, the old con- sul, who, whilst he held the plough by one hand, and death held the other, exclaimed, " Diis immortalibus sero I " Our fathers, how did they acquire their property? By straightforward industry, rectitude, and frugality. How did they become dispossessed of their property ? By indulging in speculative hopes and designs ; seeking the shadow whilst they lost the substance ; and now, instead of being, as BOOK m.] JOHN RANDOLPH AGAINST A TARIFF. they were, men of respectability, men of substance, men capable and willing to live independently and honestly, and hospita- bly too for who so parsimonious as the prodigal who has nothing to give ? what nave we become? A nation of sharks, preying on one another through the instru- mentality of this paper system, which, if Lycurgus had known of it, he would un- questionably have adopted, in preference to his iron money, if his object had been to make the Spartans the most accom- plished knaves as well as to keep them poor. The manufacturer of the east may carry his woolens or his cottons, or his coffins, to what market he pleases I do not buy of him. Self-defence is the first law of na- ture. You drive us into it. You create heats and animosities among this great fa- mily, who ought to live like brothers ; and, after you have got this temper of mind roused among the southern people, do you expect to come among us to trade, and ex- pect us to buy your wares ? Sir, not only shall we not buy them, but we shall take such measures (I will not enter into the detail of them now) as shall render it im- possible for you to sell them. Whatever may be said here of the " misguided coun- sels," as they have been termed, " of the theorists of Virginia," they have, so far as regards this question, the confidence of united Virginia. We are asked Does the south lose any thing by this bill why do you cry out ? I put it, sir, to any man from any part of the country, from the gulf of Mexico, from the Balize, to the eastern shore of Maryland which, I thank Hea- ven, is not yet under the government of Baltimore, and will not be, unless certain theories should come into play in that state, which we have lately heard of, and a majority of men, told by the head, should govern whether the whole country be- tween the points I have named, is not una- nimous in opposition to this bill. Would it not be unexampled, that we should thus complain, protest, resist, and that all the while nothing should be the matter ? Are our understandings (however low mine may be rated, much sounder than mine are engaged in this resistance), to be rated so low, as that we are to be made to believe that we are children affrighted by a bug- bear? We are asked, however, why do you cry out? it is all for your good. Sir, this reminds me of the mistresses of George II., who, when thev were insulted by the populaee on arriving in London (as all such creatures deserve to be, by every mob), put their heads out of the window, and said to them in their broken English, " Goot people, we be come for your goots ;" to which one of the mob rejoined " Yes, and for our chattels too, I fancy." Just so it is with the oppressive exactions proposed 30 and advocated by the supporters of this bill, on the plea of the good of those who are its victims. * * * * I had more to say, Mr. Speaker, could I have said it, on this subject. But I cannot sit down without asking those, who were once my brethren of the church, the elders of the young family of this good old repub- lic of the thirteen states, if they can con- sent to rivet upon us this system, from which no benefit can possibly result to themselves. I put it to them as descendants of the re- nowned colony of Virginia; as children sprung from her loins ; if for the sake of all the benefits, with which this bill is pre- tended to be freighted to them, granting such to be the fact for argument's sake, they could consent to do such an act of violence to the unanimous opinion, feelings, preju- dices, if you will, of the whole Southern States, as to pass it? I go farther. I ask of them what is there in the condition of the nation at this time, that calls for the immediate adoption of this measure? Are the Gauls at the gate of the capitol? If they are, the cacklings of the Capitoline geese will hardly save it. What is there to induce us to plunge into the vortex of those evils so severely felt in Europe from this very manufacturing and paper policy? For it is evident that, if we go into this system of policy, we must adopt the Euro- pean institutions also. ",Ve have very good materials to work with; we have only to make our elective king president for life, in the first place, and then to make the succession hereditary in the family of the first that shall happen to have a promising son. For a king we can be at no loss ex quovis ligno any block will do for him. The senate may, perhaps, be transmuted into a house of peers, although we should meet with more difficulty than in the other case ; for Bonaparte himself was not more hardly put to it, to recruit the ranks of his mushroom nobility, than we should be to furnish a house of peers. As for us, we are the faithful commons, ready made to hand ; but with all our loyalty, I congratu- late the house I congratulate the nation that, although this body is daily degraded by the sight of members of Congress manu- factured into placemen, we have not yet reached such a point of degradation as to ' suffer executive minions to be manufac- tured into members of congress. We have shut that door; I wish we cpuld shut the other also. I wish we could have a per- petual call of the house in this view, and suffer no one to get out from its closed doors. The time is peculiarly inauspicious for the change in our policy which is pro- posed by this bill. We are on the eve of an election that promises to be the morf; distracted that this nation has ever yet undergone. It may turn out to be a PoliHU election. At such a time, ought* any 18 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in, measure to be brought forward which is supposed to be capable of being demon- strated to be extremely injurious to one great portion of this country, and benefi- cial in proportion to another? Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. There are firebrands enough in the land, without this apple of discord being cast into this assem- bly. Suppose this measure is not what it is represented to be ; that the fears of the south are altogether illusory and visionary ; that it will produce all the good predicted of it an honorable gentleman from Ken- tucky said yesterday and I was sorry to hear it, for I have great respect for that gentleman, and for other gentlemen from that state that the question was not whether a bare majority should pass the bill, but whether the majority or the mi- nority should rule. The gentleman is wrong, and, if he will consider the matter rightly, he will see it. Is there no differ- ence between the patient and the actor? We are passive : we do not call them to act or to suffer, but we call upon them not so to act as that we must necessarily suffer; and I venture to say, that in any govern- ment, properly constituted, this very con- sideration would operate conclusively, that if the burden is to be laid on 102, it ought not to be laid by 105. We are the eel that is being flayed, while the cook-maid pats us on the head, and cries, with the clown in King Lear, " Down, wantons, down." There is but one portion of the country which can profit by this bill, and from that portion of the country comes this bare majority in favor of it. I bless God that Massachusetts and old Virginia are once again rallying under the same banner, against oppressive and unconstitutional taxation; for, if all the blood be drawn from out the body, I care not whether it be by the British parliament or the American congress ; by an emperor or a king abroad, or by a president at home. Under these views, and with feelings of mortification and shame at the very weak opposition I have been able to make to this bill, I entreat gentlemen to consent that it may lie over, at least, until the next ses- sion of congress. We have other busi- ness to attend to, and our families and affairs need our attention at home; and indeed I, sir, would not give one farthing for any man who prefers being here to being at home; who is a good public man and a bad private one. With these views and feelings, I move you, sir, that the bill be indefinitely postponed. Kil ivn r6'io* of America THE great triumphs of constitutional freedom,to which our independence has fur- nished the example, have been witnessed in the southern portion of our hemisphere. Sunk to the last point of colonial degrada- tion, they have risen at once into the organization of three republics. Their struggle has been arduous ; and eighteen years of checkered fortune have not yet brought it to a close. But we must not infer, from their prolonged agitation, that their independence is uncertain ; that they have prematurely put on the toga virilis of freedom. They have not begun too soon ; they have more to do. Our war of inde- pendence was shorter ; happily we were contending with a government, that could not, like that of Spain, pursue an inter- minable and hopeless contest, in defiance of the people's will. Our transition to a mature and well adjusted constitution was more prompt than that of our sister repub- lics; for the foundations had long been settled, the preparation long made. And when we consider that it is our example, which has aroused the spirit of indepen- dence from California to Cape Horn ; that the experiment of liberty, if it had failed with us, most surely would not have been attempted by them; that even now our counsels and acts will operate as powerful precedents in this great family of republics, we learn the importance of the post which Providence has assigned us in the world. A wise and harmonious administration of the public affairs, a faithful, liberal, and patriotic exercise of the private duties of the citizen, while they secure our happi- ness at home, will diffuse a healthful in- fluence through the channels of national communication, and serve the cause of liberty beyond the Equator and the Andes. When we show a united, conciliatory, and imposing front to their rising states we show them, better than sounding eulogies can do, the true aspect of an independent republic; we give them a living example that the fireside policy of a people is like that of the individual man. As the one, commencing in the prudence, order, and industry of the private circle, extends itself to all the duties of social life, of tb.3 family, the neighborhood, the country ; so the true domestic policy of the republic, beginning in the wise organization of its own institu- tions, pervades its territories with a vigilant, prudent, temperate administra- tion ; and extends the hand of cordial in- terest to all the friendly nations, especially to those which are of the household of liberty. It is in this way that we are to fulfil our destiny in the world. The greatest engine of moral power, which human nature knows, is an organized, prosperous state. All that man, in his individual capacity, can do all that he can effect by his fraternities by his ingenious discoveries and wonders of art, or by his influence BOOK III.] WEBSTER ON THE GREEK QUESTION. 19 over others is as nothing, compared with the collective, perpetuated influence on human affairs and human happiness of a well constituted, powerful commonwealth. It blesses generations with its sweet influ- ence ; even the barren earth seems to pour out its fruits under a system where pro- perty is secure, while her fairest gardens are blighted by despotism ; men, think- ing, reasoning men, abound beneath its benignant sway; nature enters into a beautiful accord, a better, purer asiento with man, and guides an industrious citizen to every rood of her smiling wastes ; and we see, at length, that what has been called a state of nature, has been most falsely, calumniously so denominated ; that the na- ture of man is neither that of a savage, a hermit, nor a slave ; but that of a member of a well-ordered family, that of a good neighbor, a free citizen, a well informed, good man, acting with others like him. This is the lesson which is taught in the charter of our independence ; this is the lesson which our example is to teach the world. The epic poet of Eome the faithful subject of an absolute prince in unfold- ing the duties and destinies of his coun- trymen, bids them look down with disdain on the polished and intellectual arts of Greece, and deem their arts to be To rule the nations with imperial sway ; To spare the tribes that yield ; fight down the proud ; And force the mood of peace upon the world. A nobler counsel breathes from the char- ter of our independence ; a happier pro- vince belongs to our republic. Peace we would extend, but by persuasion and ex- ample, the moral force, by which alone it can prevail among the nations. Wars we may encounter, but it is in the sacred character of the injured and the wronged ; to raise the trampled rights of humanity from the dust ; to rescue the mild form of liberty from her abode among the prisons and the scaffolds of the elder world, and to seat her in the chair of state among her adoring children ; to give her beauty for ashes; a healthful action for her cruel agony ; to put at last a period to her war- fare on earth ; to tear her star-spangled banner from the perilous ridges or battle, and plant it on the rock of ages. There be it fixed for ever, the power of a free people slumbering in its folds, their peace reposing in its shade ! Close of the Speech of Daniel 'Webster On the Greek question, in the House of Representative* of the United States, January, 1824. The house had gone into committee of the whole, Mr. "Baylor in the chair, on the resolution offered by Mr. Webster, which Is in the words following: " Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law for defraying the expense, incident to the appointment of an at;.|it. or cottimissii'U. r, t.> <;pw. \\li-iirver the 1'resi- dent shall deem it expedient to make such appointment." MR. CHAIRMAN, It may be asked, will this resolution do the Greeks any good? Yes, it will do them much good. It will give them courage and spirit, which i* better than money. It will assure them of the public sympathy, and will inspire them with fresh constancy. It will teach them that they are not forgotten by the civilized world, and to hope one day to oc- cupy, in that world, an honorable station. A farther question remains. Is this measure pacific? It has no other charac- ter. It simply proposes to make a pecuni- ary provision for a mission, when the pre- sident shall deem such mission expedient. It is a mere reciprocation to the sentiments of his message; it imposes upon him no new duty ; it gives him no new power ; it does not hasten or urge him forward ; it simply provides, in an open and avowed manner, the means of doing, what would else be done out of the contingent fund. It leaves him at the most perfect liberty, and it reposes the whole matter in his sole discretion. *He might do it without this* resolution, as he did in the case of South America, but it merely answers the query, whether on so great and interesting a ques- tion as the condition of the Greeks, this house holds no opinion which is worth ex- pressing? But, suppose a commissioner is sent, the measure is pacific still. Where is the breach of neutrality ? Where a just cause of offence ? And besides, Mr. Chair- man, is all the danger in this matter on one side? may we not inquire, whose fleets cover the Archipelago? may we not ask, what would be the result to our trade should Smyrna be blockaded? A com- missioner could at least procure for us what we do not now possess that is, au- thentic information of the true state of things. The document on your table ex- hibits a meagre appearance on this point what does it contain? Letters of Mr. Luriottis and paragraphs from a French paper. My personal opinion is, that an agent ought immediately to be sent ; but the resolution I have offered by no means goes so far. Do gentlemen fear the result of this re- solution in embroiling us with the Porte? Why, sir, how much is it ahead of the whole nation, or rather let me ask how much is the nation ahead of it? Is not this whole people already in a state of open and avowed excitement on this sub- ject? Does not the land ring from side to side with one common sentiment of sym- pathy for Greece, and indignation toward lier oppressors? nav, more, sir are we not giving money to this cause? More still, sir is not the secretary of state in open correspondence with the president of the Greek committee in London ? The nation 20 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK 1:1. has gone as far as it can go, short of an offi- cial act of hostility. This resolution adds nothing beyond what is already done nor can any of the European governments take offence at such a measure. But if they would, should we be withheld from an honest expression of liberal feelings in the cause of freedom, for fear of giving umbrage to some member of the holy alliance? We are not, surely, yet pre- Sared to purchase their smiles by a sacri- ce of every manly principle. Dare any Christian prince even ask us not to sym- pathize with a Christian nation struggling against Tartar tyranny ? We do not inter- fere we break no engagements we violate no treaties ; with the Porte we have none. Mr. Chairman, there are some things which, to be well done, must be promptly done. If we even determine to do the thing that is now proposed, we may do it too late. Sir, I am not of those who are for withholding aid when it is most ur- gently needed, and when the stress is past, and the aid no longer necessary, over- whelming the sufferers with caresses. I will not stand by and see myjellow man drowning without stretching out a hand to help him, till he had by his own efforts and presence of mind reached the shore in safety, and then encumber him with aid. With suffering Greece now is the crisis of her fate, her great, it may be, her last struggle. Sir, while we sit here deliberat- ing, her destiny may be decided. The Greeks, contending with ruthless oppres- sors, turn their eyes to us, and invoke us by their ancestors, slaughtered wives and children, by their own blood, poured out like water, by the hecatombs of dead they have heaped up as it were to heaven, they invoke, they implore us for some cheering sound, some look of sympathy, some token of compassionate regard. They look to us as the great republic of the earth and they ask us by our common faith, whether we can forget that they are struggling, as we once struggled, for what we now so happily enjoy ? I cannot say, sir, that they will succeed ; that rests with heaven. But for myself, sir, if I should to-morrow hear that they have failed that their last pha- lanx had sunk beneath the Turkish cime- ter, that the flames of their last city had tank in its ashes, and that naught remained but the wide melancholy waste where Greece once was, I should still reflect, with the most heartfelt satisfaction, that I have asked you in the name of seven millions of freemen, that you would give them at least the cheering of one friendly voice. John Randolph on the other side of Same Question. MR. CHAIRMAN, It is with serious con- cern and alarm, that I have heard doc- trines broached in this debate, fraught with consequences more disastrous to the best interests of this people than any that I have ever heard advanced during the five-and-twenty years that I have been honored with a seat on this floor. They imply, to my apprehension, a total and fundamental change of the policy pursued by this government, ab urbe condita from the foundation of the republic, to the present day. Are we, sir, to go on a cru- sade, in another hemisphere, for the pro- pagation of two objects objects as dear and delightful to my heart as to that oi any gentleman in this, or in any other as- sembly liberty and religion and, in the name of these holy words by this power- ful spell, is this nation to be conjured and persuaded out of the highway of heaven out of its present comparatively happy state, into all the disastrous conflicts aris- ing from the policy of European powers, with all the consequences which flow from them? Liberty and religion, sir ! I believe that nothing similar to this proposition is to be found in modern history, unless in the famous decree of the French national as- sembly, which brought combined Europe against them, with its united strength, and, after repeated struggles, finally effect- ed the downfall of the French power. Sir, I am wrong there is another example of like doctrine ; and you find it among that strange and peculiar people in that mys- terious book, which is or the highest au- thority with them, (for it is at once their gospel and their law,) the Koran, which enjoins it to be the duty of all good Mos- lems to propagate its doctrines at the point of the sword by the edge of the cimeter. The character of that people is a peculiar one : they differ from every other race. It has been said, here, that it is four hundred years since they encamped in Europe. Sir, they were encamped, on the spot where we now find them, . before this country was discovered, and their title to the country which they occupy is at least as good aa ours. They hold their possessions there by the same title by which all other coun- tries are held possession, obtained at first by a successful employment of force, con- firmed by time, usage, prescription the best of all possible titles. Their policy has been not tortuous, like that of other states of Europe, but straightforward : they had invariably appealed to the sword, and they held by the sword. The Russ had, indeed, made great encroachments on their empire, but the ground had been contested incn by inch; and the acquisitions of Russia on the side of Christian Europe Livonia, Ingria, Courland Finland, to the Gulf of Bothnia Poland ! had been greater than that of the Mahometans. And, in consequence of thi* straightfor* BOOK III.J HAYNE AGAINST A TARIFF. 21 ward policy to which I before referred, this peculiar people could boast of being the only one of the continental Europe, whose capital had never been insulted by the presence of a foreign military force. It was a curious fact, well worthy of atten- tion, that Constantinople was the only capital in continental Europe for Moscow was the true capital of Russia that had never been in possession of an enemy. It is, indeed, true, that the Empress Catharine did inscribe over the gate of one of the cities that she had won in the Krimea, (Cherson, I think,) "the road to Byzan- tium ;" hut, sir, it has proved perhaps too low a word for the subject but a stumpy road for Russia. Who, at that day, would have been believed, had he foretold to that august (for so she was) and illustrious woman that her Cossacks of the Ukraine, and of the Don, would have encamped in Paris before tbey reached Constantinople? Who would have been believed, if he had foretold that a French invading force such as the world never saw before, and, I trust, will never again see would lay Moscow itself in ashes? These are con- siderations worthy of attention, before we embark in the project proposed by this resolution, the consequences of which no human eye can divine. I would respectfully ask the gentleman from Massachusetts, whether in his very able and masterly argument. and he has said all that could be said upon the sub- ject, and more than I supposed could be said by any man in favor of his resolution whether he himself has not furnished an answer to his speech I had not the happi- ness myself to hear his speech, but a friend has read it to me. In one of the argu- ments in that speech, toward the conclu- sion, I think, of hia speech, the gentleman lays down, from Puffendorf, in reference to the honeyed words and pious profes- sions of the holy alliance, that these are all surplusage, because nations are always supposed to be ready to do what justice and national law require. Well, sir, if this be so, why may not the Greeks pre- sume why are they not, on this principle, bound to presume, that this government is disposed to do all, in reference to them, that they ought to do, without any formal resolutions to that effect? I ask the gen- tleman from Massachusetts, whether the doctrine of Puffendorf does not apply as strongly to the resolution as to the declara- tion of the allies that is, if the resolution of the gentleman be indeed that almost nothing he would have us suppose, if there be not something behind this nothing which divides this house (not horizontally, as the gentleman has ludicrously said but vertically] into two unequal parties, one the advocate of a splendid system of cru- sades, the other the friends of peace and harmony ; the advocates of a fireside pol- icy for, as had been truly said, as long as all is right at the fireside, there cannot be much wrong elsewhere whether, I repeat, does not the doctrine of Puffendorf apply as well to the words of the resolution as to the words of the holy alliance ? But, sir, we have already done more than this. The president of the United States, the only organ of communication which the people have seen fit to establish be- tween us and foreign powers, has already expressed all, in reference to Greece, that the resolution goes to express actum est it is done it is finished there is an end. Not, that I would have the house to infer, that I mean to express any opinion as to the policy of such a declaration the practice of responding to presidential addresses and messages nad gone out for, now, these two or three-and-twenty years. Extract from Mr. Ilaj-ne's Speech against the Tariff Bill, in Congress, January, 1832. MR. PRESIDENT, The plain and seem- ingly obvious truth, that in a fair and equal exchange of commodities all parties gained, is a noble discovery of modern times. The contrary principle naturally led to com- mercial rivalries, wars, and abuses of all sorts. The benefits of commerce being re- garded as a stake to be won, or an advan- tage to be wrested from others by fraud or by force, governments naturally strove to se- cure them to their own subjects ; and when they once set out in this wrong direction, it was quite natural that they should not stop short till they ended in binding, in the bonds of restriction, not only the whole country, but all of its parts. Thus we are told that England first protected by her restrictive policy, her whole empire against all the world, then Great Britain against the colonies, then the British islands against each other, and ended by vainly attempting to protect all the great interests and employment of the state by balancing them against each other. Sir, such a system, carried fully out, is not confined to rival na- tions, but protects one town against another, considers villages, and even families ^aa rivals ; and cannot stop short of " Robin- son Crusoe in his goat skins." It takes but one step further to make every man his own lawyer, doctor, farmer, and shoe- maker and, if I may be allowed an Irish- ism, his own seamstress and washerwoman. The doctrine of free trade, on the contrary, is founded on the true social system. It looks on all mankind as children of a com- mon parent and the great family of na- tions as linked together by mutual inter. -ts. Sir, as there is a religion, so I believe th r.? is a politics of nature. Cast your eye* over 22 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOO* in. this various earth see its surface diversi- fied by hills and valleys, rocks, and fertile fields. Notice its different productions its infinite varieties of soil and climate. See the mighty rivers winding their way to the very mountain's base, and thence guiding man to the vast ocean, dividing, yet con- necting nations. Can any man who con- siders these things with the eye of a philo- sopher, not read the design of the great Creator (written legibly in his works) that his children should be* drawn together in a free commercial intercourse, and mutual exchanges of the various gifts with which a bountiful Providence has blessed them. Commerce, sir, restricted even as she has been, has been the great source of civiliza- tion and refinement all over the world. Next to the Christian religion, I consider free trade in its largest sense as the greatest blessing that can be conferred upon any people. Hear, sir, what Patrick Henry, the great orator of Virginia, whose soul was the very temple of freedom, says on this subject : " Why should we fetter commerce? If a man is in chains, he droops and bows to the earth, because his spirits are broken, but let him twist the fetters from his legs, and he will stand erect. Fetter not com- merce ! Let her be as free as the air. She will range the whole creation, and return on the four winds of heaven to bless the land with plenty." Bat, it has been said, that free trade would do very well, if all nations would adopt it; but as it is, every nation must protect itself from the effect of restrictions by countervailing measures. I am per- suaded, sir, that this is a great, a most fatal error. If retaliation is resorted to for the honest purpose of producing a redress of the grievance, and while adhered to no longer than there is a hope of success, it may. like war itself, be somstimes just and necessary. Bat if it have no such object, " it is the unprofitable combat of seeing which can do the other the most harm." The case can hardly be conceived in which permanent restrictions, as a measure of re- taliation, could be profitable. In every possible situation, a trade, whether more or less restricted, is profitable, or it is not. This can only be decided by experience, and if the trade be left to regulate itself, water would not more naturally seek its level, than the intercourse adjust itself to the true interest of the parties. Sir, as to this idea of the regulation by government of the pursuits of men, I consider it as a remnant of barbarism disgraceful to an en- lightened age, and inconsistent with the first principles of rational liberty. I hold government to be utterly incapable, from its position, of exercising such a power widely, prudently, or justly. Are the rulers 01 the world the depositaries of its collected wisdom? Sir, can we forget the advice of a great statesman to his son " Go, see the world, my son, that you may learn with how little wisdom mankind is governed." And is our own government an exception to this rule, or do we not find here, as every where else, that "Man, proud man, Robed in a little brief authority, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, As make the angels weep?" The gentleman has appealed to the ex- ample of other nations. Sir, they are all against him. They have had restrictions enough, to be sure; but they are getting heartily sick of them, and in England, par- ticularly, would willingly get rid of them if they could. We have been assured, by the declaration of a minister of the crown, from his place in parliament, " that there is a growing conviction, among all men of sense and reflection in that country, that the true policy of all nations is to be found in unrestricted industry. Sir, in England they are now retracing their steps, and en- deavoring to relieve themselves of the system as fast as they can. Within a few years past, upwards of three hundred sta- tutes, imposing restrictions in that coun- try, have been repealed ; and a case has recently occurred there, which seems to leave no doubt that, if Great Britain has grown great, it is, as Mr. Huskisson has declared, " not in consequence of, but in spite cf their restrictions." The silk manu- facture, protected by enormous bounties, was found to be in such a declining condi- tion, that the government was obliged to do something to save it from total ruin. And what did they do? They consider- ably reduced the duty on foreign silks, joth on the raw material and the manu- factured article. The consequence was the immediate revival of the silk manufac- ure, which has since been nearly doubled. Sir ; the experience of France is equally decisive. Bonaparte's effort to introduce cotton and sugar has cost that country millions ; and, out the other day, a foolisli attempt to protect the iron mines spread devastation through half of France, and nearly ruined the wine trade, on which one ifth of her citizens depend for subsistence. As to Spain, unhappy Spain, " fenced round with restrictions," her experience, one would suppose, would convince us, if anything could, that the protecting system n politics, like bigotry in religion, was ut- terly at war with sound principles and a liberal and enlightened policy. Sir, I say, in the words of the philosophical statesman of England, " leave a generous nation free to seek their own road to perfection." Thank God, the night is passing away, and ve have lived to see the dawn of a glorious day. The cause of free trade must and will prosper, and finally triumph. The politi- BOOK III.] CLAY ON HIS LAND BILL. 23 cal economist is abroad ; light has come into the world ; and, in this instance at least, men will not " prefer darkness rather than light." Sir, let it not be said, in after times, that the statesmen of America were behind the age in which they lived that they initiated this young and vigorous country into the enervating and corrupt- ing practices of European nations and that, at the moment when the whole world were looking to us for an example, we ar- rayed ourselves in the cast-off follies and exploded errors of the old world, and, by the introduction of a vile system of artifi- cial stimulants and political gambling, im- paired the healthful vigor of the body politic, and brought on a decrepitude and premature dissolution. Mr. Clay's Speech on his Public Lands Bill. MR. PRESIDENT, Although I find my- self borne down by the severest affliction with which Providence has ever been pleased to visit me, I have thought that my private griefs ought not longer to pre- vent me from attempting, ill as I feel quali- fied, to discharge my public duties. And I now rise, in pursuance of the notice which has been given, to ask leave to introduce a bill to appropriate, for a limited time, the proceeds of the sales of the public lands of the United States, and for granting land to certain states. I feel it incumbent on me to make a brief explanation of the highly important measure which I have now the honor to propose. The bill which I desire to intro- duce, provides for the distribution of the proceeds of the public lands in the years 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836 and 1837, among the twenty-four states of the union, and con- forms substantially to that which passed in 1833. It is therefore of a temporary char- acter ; but if it shall be found to have sal- utary operation, it will be in the power of a future congress to give it an indefinite continuance ; and if otherwise, it will ex- pire by its own terms. In the event of war unfortunately breaking out with any for- eign power, the bill is to cease, and the fund which it distributes is to be applied to the prosecution of the war. The bill directs that ten per cent, of the net pro- ceeds of the public lands sold within the limits of the seven new states, shall be first set apart for them, in addition to the five per cent, reserved by their several com- pacts with the United States ; and that the residue of the proceeds, whether from sales made in the states or territories, shall be divided among the twenty-four states in proportion to their respective federal popu- lation. In this respect the bill conforms to that which was introduced in 1832. For ne, I should have been willing to have allowed the new states twelve and a half instead of ten per cent. ; but as that was objected to by the president, in his veto message, and has been opposed in other quarters, I thought it best to restrict the allowance to the more moderate sum. The bill also contains large and liberal grants of land to several of the new states, to place them upon an equality with others to which the bounty of congress has been heretofore extended, and provides that, when other new states shall be admitted into the union, they shall receive their share of the com- mon fund. ******** Mr. President, I have ever regarded, with feelings of the profoundest regret, the de- cision which the president of the United States felt himself induced to make on the bill of 1833. If the bill had passed, about twenty millions of dollars would have been, during the last three years, in the hands of the several states, applicable by them to thebeneficent purposes of internal improve- ment, education or colonization. What immense benefits might not have been dif- fused throughout the land by the active employment of that large sum ? What new channels of commerce and communication might not have been opened ? What in- dustry stimulated, what labor rewarded? How many youthful minds might have re- ceived the blessings of education and know- ledge, and been rescued from ignorance, vice, and ruin? How many descendants of Africa might have been transported from a country where they never can enjoy po- litical or social equality, to the native land of their fathers, where no impediment ex- ists to their attainment of the highest de- gree of elevation, intellectual, social and political ! where they might have been successful instruments, in the hands of God, to spread the religion of His Son, and to lay the foundation of civil liberty. But, although we have lost three precious years, the secretary of the treasury tells us that the principal of this vast sum is yet safe; and much good may still be achieved with it. The spirit of improve- ment pervades the land in every variety of form, active, vigorous and enterprising, wanting pecuniary aid as well as intelligent direction. The states are strengthening the union by various lines of communication thrown across and through the mountains. New York has completed one great chain. Pennsylvania another, bolder in conception and more arduous in the execution. Vir- ginia has a similar work in progress, worthy of all her enterprise and energy. A fourth, further south, where the parts of the union are too loosely connected, has been pro- jected, and it can certainly bo executed with the supplies which this bill atfords, and perhaps not without them. This bill passed, and these and other si 24 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. milar undertakings completed, we may in- dulge the patriotic hope that our union will be bound by ties and interests that render it indissoluble. As the general government withholds all direct agency from these truly national works, and from all new objects of internal improvement, ought it not to yield to the states, what is their own, the amount received from the public lands? It would thus but execute faithfully a trust expressly created by the original deeds of cession, or resulting from the treaties of acquisition. With this ample resource, every desirable object of improvement, in every part of our extensive country, may in due time be ac- complished. Placing this exhaustless fund in the hands of the several members of the confederacy, their common federal head may address them in the glowing language of the British bard, and, Bid harbors open, public ways extend, Bid temples worthier of the God ascend. Bid the broad arch the dangerous flood contain, The mole projecting break the roaring main. Back to his bounds their subject sea command, And roll obedient riven through the land. I confess I feel anxious for the fate of this measure, less on account of any agency I have had in proposing it, as I hope and believe, than from a firm, sincere and tho- rough conviction, that no one measure ever presented to the councils of the nation, was fraught with so much unmixed good, and could exert such powerful and enduring influence in the preservation of the union itself and upon some of its highest interests. If I can be instrumental, in any degree, in the adoption of it, I shall enjoy, in that re- tirement into which I hope shortly to en- ter, a heart- feeling satisfaction and a lasting consolation. I shall carry there.no regrets, no complaints, no reproaches on my own account. When I look back upon my hum- ble origin, left an orphan too young to have been conscious of a father's smiles and ca- resses ; with a widowed mother, surrounded by a numerous offspring, in the midst of pecuniary embarrassments ; without a re- gular education, without fortune, without friends, without patrons, I have reason to be satisfied with my public career. I ought to be thankful for the high places and ho- nors to which I have been called by the favor and partiality of my countrymen, and I am thankful and grateful. And I shall take with me the pleasing conscious- ness that in whatever station I have been placed, I have earnestly and honestly la- bored to justify their confidence by a faith- ful, fearless, and zealous discharge of my public duties. Pardon these personal al- lusions. Speech of John C. Calhonn, Agattut the PMic Land* Bill, January 23, 1841. u Whether the government can constitu- tionally distribute the revenue from the public lands among the states must depend on the fact whether they belong to them in their united federal character, or indi- vidually and separately. If in the for- mer, it is manifest that the government, as their common agent or trustee, can have no right to distribute among them, for their individual, separate use, a fund de- rived from property held in their united and federal character, without a special power for that purpose which is not pre- tended. A position so clear of itself and resting on the established principles of law, when applied to individuals holding property in like manner, needs no illustra- tion. If, on the contrary, they belong to the states in their individual and separate character, then the government would not only have the right but would be bound to apply the revenue to the separate use of the states. So far is incontrovertible, which presents the question : In which of the two characters are the lands held by the state? "To give a satisfactory answer to this question, it will be necessary to distinguish between the lands that have been ceded by the states, and those that have been pur- chased by the government out of the com- mon funds of the Union. "The principal cessions were made by Virginia and Georgia. The former of all the tract of country between the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the lakes, including the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Mich- igan, and the territory of Wisconsin ; and the latter, of the tract included in Ala- bama and Mississippi. I shall begin with the cession of Virginia, as it is on that the advocates for the distribution mainly rely to establish the right. " I hold in my hand an extract of all that portion of the Virginia deed of cession which has any bearing on the point at issue, taken from the volume lying on the table before me, 'with the place marked, and to which any one desirous of examin- ing the deed may refer. The cession is ' to the United States in Congress assem- bled, for the benefit of said states.' Every word implies the states in their united federal character. That is the meaning of the phrase United States. It stands in con- tradistinction to the states taken separately and individually ; and if there could be, by possibility, any doubt on that point, it would be removed by the expression ' in Congress assembled ' an assemblage which constituted the very knot that united them. I regard the execution of such a deed to the United States, so assembled, so con- clusive that the cession was to them in their united and aggregate character, in contradistinction to their individual and separate character, and, by necessary con- sequence, that the lands so ceded belonged to them in their former and not in their BOOK in.] HAYNE ON SALES OF PUBLIC LANDS. 25 latter character, that I am at a loss for words to make it clearer. To deny it would be to deny that there ia any truth ir language. "But strong as this is, it is not all The deed proceeds and says, that all the lands so reded ' shall be considered a com- mon fund for the use and benefit of such o: the United States as have become, or shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of said states, Virginia in- clusive, and concludes by saying, ' and shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatever.' K it were possible to raise a doubt before, those full, clear, and explicit terms would dispel it. It is impossible for language to be clearer. To be ' considered a common fund ' is an ex- pression directly in contradistinction to separate or individual, and is, by necessary implication, as clear a negative of the lat- ter as if it had been positively expressed. This common fund to ' be for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall become, members ol the confederation or federal alliance.' That is as clear as language can express it, for their common use in their united federal character, Virginia being included as the grantor, out of abundant caution." "The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay), and, as I. now understand, the Sena- tor from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster), agree, that the revenue from taxes can be applied only to the objects specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Thus re- pudiating the general welfare principle, as applied to the money power, so far as the revenue may be derived from that source. To this extent they profess to be good State Rights Jeffersonian Eepublicans. Now, sir, I would be happy to be informed by either of the able senators, by what political alchemy the revenue from taxes, by being vested in land, or other property, can, when again turned into revenue by sales, be entirely freed from all the consti- tutional restrictions to which they were lia- ble before the investment, according to their own confessions. A satisfactory ex- planation of so curious and apparently in- comprehensible a process would be a treat. " When I look, Mr. President, to what induced the states, and especially Virginia, to make this magnificent cession to the Union, and the high and patriotic motives urged by the old Congress to induce them to do it, and turn to what is now pro- posed, I am struck with the contrast and the great mutation to which human affairs are subject. The great and patriotic men of former times regarded it as essential to the consummation of the Union and the preservation of the public faith that the lands should be ceded as a common fund ; but now, men distinguished for their ability and influence are striving with all their might to undo their holy work. Yes, sir ; distribution and cession are the very reverse, in character and effect; the ten- dency of one is to union, and the other to disunion. The wisest of modern states- men, and who had the keenest and deepest glance into futurity (Edmund Burke), truly said that the revenue is the state ; to which I add, that to distribute the revenue, in a confederated community, amongst its members, is to dissolve the community that is, with us, the Union as time will prove, if ever this fatal measure should be adopted." Speech of Hoii. Robt. V. Ilaym- Senator from South Carolina, delivered in th e Senate Chamber January 21,1830, on Mr. Foot's resolution relating to the iale of the public landt. Mr. Hayne said, when he took occasion, two days ago, to throw out some ideas with respect to the policy of the government, in relation to the public lands, nothing certainly could have been further from his thoughts, than that he should have been compelled again to throw himself upon the indulgence of the Senate. Little did I expect, said Mr. H., to be called upon to meet such an argument as was yesterday urged by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.^Webster.) Sir, I questioned no man's opinions ; I impeached no man's motives ; I charged no party, or state, or section of country with hostility to any other, but ventured, as I thought, in a becoming spirit to put forth my own sentiments in relation to a great national question of public policy. Such was my course. The gentle- man from Missouri, (Mr. Benton,) it is true, had charged upon the Eastern States an early and continued hostility towtrds the west, and referred to a number of his- torical facts and documents in support of that charge. Now, sir, how have these different arguments been met? The honor- able gentleman from Massachusetts, after deliberating a whole night upon his course, comes into .this chamber to vindicate New England; and instead of making up his issue with the gentleman from Missouri, on the charges which he had preferred, chooses to consider me as the author of those charges, and losing sight entirely of that gentleman, selects me as his adversary, and pours out all the vials of his mighty wrath upon my devoted head. Nor is he willing to stop there. He goes on to assail the institutions and policy of the south, and calls in question the principles ana conduct of the state which I have the lonor to represent. When I find a gentle- man of mature age and experience, of ac- cnowledged talents and profound sagacity, pursuing a course like this, declining tlie ontest offered from the West, and making 26 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK iii. war upon the unoffending south, I must believe, I am bound to believe, he has some object in view which he has not ventured to disclose. Mr. President, why is this? Has the gentleman discovered in former controversies with the gentleman from Mi-s-mri, that he is overmatched by that senator? And does he hope for an easy vic- tory over a more feeble adversary ? Has the gentleman's distempered fancy been dis- turbed by gloomy forebodings of "new alliances to be formed," at which he hinted ? Has the ghost of the murdered COALITION come back, like the ghost of Banquo, to " sear the eyeballs of the gentleman," and will it not down at his bidding ? Are dark visions of broken hopes, and honors lost forever, still floating before his heated imagination? Sir, if it be his object to thrust me between the gentleman from Missouri and himself, in order to rescue the east from the contest it has provoked with the west, he shall not be gratified. Sir, I will not be dragged into the defence of my friend from Missouri. The south shall not be forced into a conflict not its own. The gentleman from Missouri is able to fight his own battles. The gallant west needs no aid from the south to repel any attack which may be made on them from any quarter. Let the gentleman from Massachusetts controvert the facts and arguments of the gentleman from Mis- souri, if he can and if he win the victory, let him wear the honors ; I shall not de- prive him of his laurels. The gentleman from Massachusetts, in reply to my remarks on the injurious operations of our land system on the pros- perity of the west, pronounced an extrav- agant eulogium on the paternal care which the government had extended towards the west, to which he attributed all that was great and excellent in the present condi- tion of the new states. The language of the gentleman on this topic fell upon my ears like the almost forgotten tones of the tory leaders of the British Parliament, at the commencement of the American revo- lution. They, too, discovered that the colonies had grown great under the foster- ing care of the mother country; and I must confess, while listening to the gentle- man, I thought the appropriate reply to his argument was to be found in the re- mark of a celebrated orator, made on that occasion : " They have grown great in spite of your protection." The gentleman, in commenting on the policy of the government in relation to the new states, has introduced to our notice a certain Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, to whom he attributes the celebrated ordi- nance of '87, by which he tells us, " slavery was forever excluded from the new states north of the Ohio." After eulogizing the wisdom of this provision in terms of the most extravagant praise, he breaks forth in admiration of the greatness of Nathan Dane and great indeed he must be, if it be true, as stated by the senator from Mas- sachusetts, that "he was greater than Solon and Lycurgus, Minos, Numa Pom- pilius, and all the legislators and philoso- phers of the world," ancient and modern. Sir, to such high authority it is certainly my duty, in a becoming spirit of humility, to submit. And yet, the gentleman will pardon me, when I say, that it is a little unfortunate for the fame of this great legis- lator, that the gentleman from Missouri should have proved that he was not the author of the ordinance of '87, on which the senator from Massachusetts has reared so glorious a monument to his name. Sir, I doubt not the senator will feel some com- passion for our ignorance, when I tell him, that so little are we acquainted with the modern great men of New England, that until he informed us yesterday that we pos- sessed a Solon and a Lycurgus in the person of Nathan Dane, he was only known to the south as a member of a celebrated assembly, called and known by the name of the "Hartford Convention." In the proceedings of that assembly, which I hold m my hand, (at p. 19,) will be found in a few lines, the history of Nathan Dane; and a little farther on, there is conclusive evidence of that ardent devotion to the interest of the new states, which, it seems, has given him a just claim to the title 01 " Father of the West." By the 2d resolu- tion of the " Hartford Convention," it is declared, " that it is expedient to attempt to make provisions/or restraining Congvess in the exercise of an unlimited power to make new states, and admitting them into the Union." So much for Nathan Dane, of Beverly, Massachusetts. In commenting upon my views in rela- tion to the public lands, the gentleman in- sists, that it being one of the conditions of the grants that these lands should be ap- plied to " the common benefit of all the states, they must always remain a fund for revenue ; " and adds, " they must be treated as 90 much treasure." Sir, the gentleman could hardly find language strong enough to convey his disapprobation of the policy which I had ventured to recommend to the favorable consideration of the country. And what, sir, was that policy, and what is the difference between that gentleman and myself on that subject? I threw out the idea that the public lands ought not to be reserved forever, as "a great fund for revenue ; " that they ought not to be " treated as a great treasure ; " butthatthe course of our policy should rather be di- rected toward the creation of new states, and building up great and flourishing communities. Now, sir, will it be believed, by those BOOK III.] MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 27 who now hear me, and who listened to the gentleman's denunciation of my doc- trines yesterday, that a book then lay open before him nay, that he held it in his hand, and read from it certain passa- ges of his own speech, delivered to the House of Representatives in 1825, in which speech he himself contended for the very doctrine I had advocated, and almost in the same terms ? Here is the speech of the Hon. Daniel Webster, contained in the first volume of Gales and Seaton's Regis- ter of Debates, (p. 251,) delivered in the House of Representatives on the 18th of January, 1825, in a debate on the Cum- berland road the very debate from which the senator read yesterday. I shall read from the celebrated speech two passages, from which it will appear that both as to the past and the future policy of the gov- ernment in relation to the public lands, the gentleman from Massachusetts main- tained, in 1825 } substantially the same opinions which I have advanced, but which he now so strongly reprobates. I said, sir, that the system of credit sales by which the west had been kept constantly in debt to the United States, and by which their wealth was drained off to be expended elsewhere, had operated injuriously on their prosperity. On this point the gentle- man from Massachusetts, in January, 1825, expressed himself thus : " There could be no doubt, if gentlemen looked at the money received into the treasury from the sale of the public lands to the west, and then looked to the whole amount expended by government, (even including the whole amount of what was laid out for the army,) the latter must be allowed to be very in- considerable, and there must be a constant drain of money from the west to pay for the public lands" It might indeed be said that this was no more than the refluence of capital which had previously gone over the mountains. Be it so. Still its practical effect was to produce inconvenience, if not distress, by absorbing the money of thepeople. I contended that the public lands ought not to be treated merely as " a fund for re- venue ; " that they ought not to be hoarded " as a great treasure." On this point the senator expressed himself thus : Govern- ment, he believed, had received eighteen or twenty millions of dollars from the pub- lic lands, and it was with the greatest satis- faction he adverted to the change which had been introduced in the mode of pay- ing for them ; yet he could never think the national domain was to be regarded as any great source of revenue. The great object of the government, in respect of these lands, was not so much the money derived from their sale, as it was the getting them 'settled. What he meant to say was, he did not think they ought to hug that domain AS A GEEAT TREASURE, to enrich the Exchequer." Now, Mr. President, it will be seen that the very doctrines which the gentleman so indignantly abandons were urged by him in 1825 ; and if I had actually bor- rowed my sentiments from those which he then avowed, I could not have followed more closely in his footsteps. Sir, it is only since the gentleman quoted this book, yesterday, that my attention has been turned to the sentiments he expressed in 1825 ; and if I had remembered them, I might possibly have been deterred from uttering sentiments here, which, it might well be supposed, I had borrowed from that gentleman. In 1825, the gentleman told the world that the public lands " ought not to be treated as a treasure." He now tells us that " they must be treated as so much treasure." What the deliberate opinion of the gentleman on this subject may be, belongs not to me to determine ; but'l do not think he can, with the shadow of jus- tice or propriety, impugn my sentiments, Avhile his own recorded opinions are iden- tical with my own. When the gentleman refers to the conditions of the grants under which the United States have acquired these lands, and insists that, as they are declared to be " for the common benefit ol all the states," they can only be treated as so much treasure, 1 think he has applied a rule of construction too narrow for the case. If in the deeds of cession it has been declared that the grants were in- tended for " the common benefit of all the states," it is clear, from other provisions, that they were not intended merely as so much property ; for it is expressly declared, that the object of the grants is the erection of new states ; and the United States, in accepting this trust, bind themselves to tacilitate the foundation of these states, to be admitted into the Union with all the rights and privileges of the original states. This, sir, was the great end to which all parties looked, and it is by the fulfillment of this high trust that " the common benefit of all the states " is to be best promoted. Sir, let me tell the gentleman, that in the part of the country in which I live, we do not measure politi- cal benefits by the money standard. We consider as more valuable than gold liber- ty, principle, and justice. But, sir, if we are oouna to act on the narrow principles contended for by the gentleman, I am wholly at a loss to conceive how he can reconcile his principles with his own prac- tice. The lands are, it seems, to be treated "as so much treasure," and must be ap- plied to the " common benefit of all the states." Now, if this be so, whence does he derive the right to appropriate them f'r partial and local objects? How can the gentleman consent to vote away lmmMe bodies of these lands for canala m Indiana AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in, and Illinois, to the Louisville and Portland Canal, to Kenyon College in Ohio, to Schools for the Deaf and Dumb, and other objects of a similar description ? If grants of this character can fairly be considered as made " for the common benefit of all the states," it can only be, because all the states are interested in the welfare of each a principle which, carried to the full extent, destroys all distinction between local and national objects, and is certainly broad enough to embrace the principles for which I have ventured to contend. Sir, the true difference between us I take to be this : the gentleman wishes to treat the public lands as a great treasure, just as so much money in the treasury, to be applied to all objects, constitutional and unconsti- tutional, to which the public money is constantly applied. I consider it as a sacred trust which we ought to fulfil, on the principles for which I have con- tended. The senator from Massachusetts has thought proper to present, in strong con- trast, the friendly feelings of the east to- wards the west, with sentiments of an op- posite character displayed by the south in relation to appropriations for internal im- provements. Now, sir, let it be recollected that the south have made no professions ; I have certainly made none in their be- half, of regard for the we^t. It has been reserved for the gentleman from Massa- chusetts, while he vaunts over his own personal devotion to western interests, to claim for the entire section of country to which he belongs an ardent friendship for the west, as manifested by their support of the system of internal improvement, while he casts in our teeth the reproach that the south has manifested hostility to western interests in opposing appropriations for such objects. That gentleman, at the same time, acknowledged that the south entertains constitutional scruples on this subject. Are we then, sir, to understand that the gentleman considers it a just subject of reproach that we respect our oaths, by which we are bound " to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the U. States?" Would the gentleman have us manifest our love to the west by trampling under foot our constitutional scruples? Doe? he not perceive, if the south is to be reproached with unkindness to the west, in voting against appropriations which the gentleman admits they could not vote for without doing violence to their constitu- tional opinions,, that he exposes himself to the question, whether, if he was in our situation, he could vote for these appro- priations, regardless of his scruples ? No, sir, I will not do the gentleman so great injustice. He has fallen into this error from not having duly weighed the force and effect of the reproach which he was endeavoring to cast upon the south. In relation to the other point, the friendship manifested by New England towards the west, in their support of the system of in- ternal improvement, the gentleman will pardon me for saying, that I think he is equally unfortunate in having introduced that topic. As that gentleman has forced it upon us, however, I cannot suffer it to pass unnoticed. When the gentleman tells us that the appropriations for internal improvement in the west would, in almost every instance, have failed but for New England votes, he has forgotten to tell us the when, the how, and the wherefore this new-born zeal for the west sprung up in the bosom of New England. If we look back only a few years, we will find in both houses of Congress a uniform and steady opposition on the part of the mem- bers from the Eastern States, generally, to all appropriations of this character. At the time I became a member of this house, and for some time afterwards, a decided majority of the New England senators were opposed to the very measures which the senator from Massachusetts tells us they now cordially support. Sir, the Journals are before me, and an examina- tion of them will satisfy every gentleman of that fact. It must be well known to every one whose experience dates back as far as 1825, that up to a certain period, New England was generally opposed to appro- priations for internal improvements in the west. The gentleman from Massachusetts may be himself an exception, but if he went for the system before 1825, it is cer- tain that his colleagues did not go with him. In the session of 1824 and '25, however, (a memorable era in the history of this country,) a wonderful change took place in New England, in relation to western in- terests. Sir, an extraordinary union of sympathies and of interests was then ef- fected, which brought the east and the west into close alliance. The book from which I have before read contains the first public annunciation of that happy recon- ciliation of conflicting interests, personal and political, which brought the east and west together and locked in a fraternal embrace the two great orators of the east and the west. Sir, it was on the 18th of January, 1825, while the result of the presidential election, in the House of Rep- resentatives, was still doubtful, while the whole country was looking with intense anxiety to that legislative hall where the mighty drama was so soon to be acted, that we saw the leaders of two great par- ties in the house and in the nation, " tak- ing sweet counsel together," and in a cele- brated debate on the Cumberland road, fighting side by side for western interests. BOOK III.] MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 29 It was on that memorable occasion that the senator from Massachusetts held out the white flag to the west, and uttered those liberal sentiments which he yesterday so indignantly repudiated. Then it was, that that happy union between the two mem- bers of the celebrated coalition was con- summated, whose immediate issue was a president from one quarter of the Union, with the succession (as it was supposed) secured to another. The "American sys- tem," before a rude, disjointed, and misshapen mass, now assumed form and consistency. Then it was that it became " the settled policy of the govern- ment," that this system should be so ad- ministered as to create a reciprocity of in- terests and a reciprocal distribution of government favors, east and west, (the tariff and internal improvements,) while the south yes, sir, the impracticable south was to be " out of your protec- tion." The gentleman may boast as much as he pleases of the friendship of New England for the west, as displayed in their support of internal improvement; but when he next introduces that topic, I trust that he will tell us when that friend- ship commenced, how it was brought about, and why it was established. Before I leave this topic, I must be permitted to say that the true character of the policy now pursued by the gentleman from Mas- sachusetts and his friends, in relation to appropriations of land and money, for the benefit of the west, is in my estimation very similar to that pursued by Jacob of old towards his brother Esau: "it robs them of their birthright for a mess of pottage." The gentleman from Massachusetts, in alluding to a remark of mine, that before any disposition could be made of the public lands, the national debt, for which they stand pledged, must be first paid, took occasion to intimate " that the extraordinary fervor which seems to exist in a certain quarter, (meaning the south, sir,) for the payment of the debt, arises from a disposition to weaken the ties which bind the people to the Union." While the gentleman deals us this blow, he professes an ardent desire to see the debt speedily extinguished. He must excuse me, however, for feeling some distrust on that subject until I find this disposition manifested by something stronger than professions. I shall look for acts, decided and unequivocal acts ; for the performance of which an opportu- nity will very soon (if I am not greatly mistaken) be afforded. Sir, if I were at liberty to judge of the course which that gentleman would pursue, from the princi- ples which he has laid down in relation to this matter, I should be bound to conclude that he will be found acting with those with whom it is a darling object to pre- vent the payment of the public debt. He tells us he is desirous of paying the debt " because we are under an obligation to discharge it." Now, sir, suppose it should happen that the public creditors, with whom we have contracted the obligation, should release us from it, so far as to de- clare their willingness to wait for payment for fifty years to come, provided only the interest shall be punctually discharged. The gentleman from Massachusetts will then be released from the obligation which now makes him desirous of paying the debt; and, let me tell the gentleman, the holders of the stock will not only release us from this obligation, but they will im- plore, nay, they will even pay us not to gay them. But, adds the gentleman, so ir as the debt may have an effect in bind- ing the debtors to the country, and thereby serving as a link to hold the states to- gether, he would be glad that it should exist forever. Surely then, sir, on the gentleman's own principles, he must be op- posed to the payment of the debt. Sir, let me tell that gentleman, that the south repudiates the idea that a pecuniary dependence on the federal government is one of the legitimate means of holding the states together. A moneyed interest in the government is essentially a base inter- est ; and just so far as it operates to bind the feelings of those who are subjected to it to the government, just so iar as it operates in creating sympathies and inter- ests that would not otherwise exist, is it opposed to all the principles of free gov- ernment, and at war with virtue and pa- triotism. Sir, the link which binds the public creditors, as such, to their country, binds them equally to all governments, whether arbitrary or free. In a free gov- ernment, this principle of abject depend- ence, if extended through all the ramifica- tions of society, must be fatal to liberty. Already have we made alarming strides in that direction. The entire class of manu- facturers, the holders of stocks, with their hundreds of millions of capital, are held to the government by the strong link of pe- cuniary interests ; millions of people en- tire sections of country, interested, or be- lieving themselves to be so, in the public lands, and the public treasure are bound to the government by the expectation of pecuniary favors. If this system is carried much further, no man can fail to see that every generous motive of attachment to the country will be destroyed, and in its place will spring up tho.se low. grovelling, base, and selfish feelings which bind men to the footstool of a despot bv bond? a strong and enduring as tho-e which attach them to free institut'ons. Sir, I would lay the foundation of this government in the affections of the people I would teach them to cling to it by dispensing equal AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK HI. justice, and above all, by securing the ] " blessings of liberty " to " themselves and to their posterity." The honorable gentleman from Massa- chusetts has gone out of his way to pass a high eulogium on the state of Ohio. In the most impassioned tones of eloquence, j he described her majestic march to great- j ness. He told us, that, having already , left all the other states far behind, she was now passing by Virginia and Pennsylvania, and about to take her station by the side of New York. To all this, sir, I was dis- posed most cordially to respond. When, however, the gentleman proceeded to con- trast the state of Ohio with Kentucky, to the disadvantage of the latter, I listened to him with regret; and when he proceeded further to attribute the great, and, as he supposed, acknowledged superiority of the former in population, wealth, and general prosperity, to the policy of Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, which had secured to the people of Ohio (by the ordinance of '87 ) a population of freemen, I will confess that my feelings suffered a revulsion which I am now unable to describe in any lan- guage sufficiently respectful towards the gentleman from Massachusetts. In con- trasting the state of Ohio with Kentucky, for the purpose of pointing out the superi- ority of the former, and of attributing that superiority to the existence of slavery in the one state, and its absence in the other, I thought I could discern the very spirit of the Missouri question, intruded into this debate, for objects best known to the gen- tleman himself. Did that gentleman, sir, when he formed the determination to cross the southern border, in order to invade the state of South Carolina, deem it prudent or necessary to enlist under his banners the prejudices of the world, which, like Siciss troops, may be engaged in any cause, and are prepared to serve under any leader? Did he desire to avail himself of those remorseless allies, the passions of mankind, of which it may be more truly said than of the savage tribes of the wil- derness, " that their known rule of warfare is an indiscriminate slaughter of all ages, sexes, and conditions?" Or was it sup- posed, sir, that, in a premeditated and un- provoked attack upon the south, it was advisable to begin by a gentle admonition of our supposed weakness, in order to pre- vent us from making that firm and manly resistance due to our own character and our dearest interests? Was the significant hint of the weakness of slaceholf parties in this country will recognize in the points now in dispute between the sen- .xtor from Massachusetts and myself the very grounds which have, from the begin- ning, divided the two great parties in this country, and which (call these parties by \f h jt names you will, and amalgamate them as /t>u may) will divide them forever. The true Distinction between those parties is laid dotva in a celebrated manifesto, issued bv the convention of the Federalists of Massachusetts, assembled in Boston, in February, lb?4, on the occasion of organ- izing a party o,.n,osifeion to the reelection of Governor Eusas. The gentleman will recognize this as ''the canonical book of political scripture;" and it instructs us that, when the American colonies redeemed themselves from British bondage, and be- came so many independent nations, they proposed to form a NATIONAL UNION, (not a Federal Union, sir, but a national Union. ) Those who were in favor of a union of the states in this form became known by the name of Federalists ; those who wanted no union of the states, or disliked the proposed form of union, became known by the name of Anti- Federalists. By means which need not be enumerated, the Anti- Federalists became (after the expiration of twelve years) our national rulers, and for a period of sixteen years, until the close of Mr. Madison's administration, in 1817, contin- ued to exercise the exclusive direction of our public affairs. Here, sir, is the true history of the origin, rise, and progress of the party of National Republicans, who date back to the very origin of the govern- ment, and who, then, as now, chose to con- sider the constitution as having created, not a Federal, but a National Union; who regarded " consolidation " as no evil, and who doubtless considered it "a consumma- tion devoutly to be wished " to build up a great " central government," "one and indi- visible." Sir, there have existed, in every age and every country, two distinct orders of men the lovers of freedom, and the devoted advocates of power. The same great leading principles, modi- fied only by the peculiarities of manners, habits, and institutions, divided parties in the ancient republics, animated the whigs and tories of Great Britain, distinguished in our own times the liberals and ultras of France, and may be traced even in the bloody struggles of unhappy Spain. Sir, when the gallant Riego, who devoted him- self, and all that he possessed, to the libertiefe of his country, was dragged to the scaffold followed by the tears and lamentations or every lover of freedom throughout the world, he perished amid the deafening cries of " Long live the absolute king ! " The people whom I represent, Mr. President, are the descendants of those who brought with them to this country, as the most pre- cious cf their possessions, " an ardent love of liberty ; " and whl'ie that shall be pre- served, they will always be found manfully struggling against the consolidation of the government AS THE WORST OF EVILS. The .senator from Massachusetts, in allu- ding to the tariff, becomes quite facetious. He tells us that " he hears of nothing but tariff, tariff, tariff ; and, if a word could be found to rhyme with it, he presumes it would be celebrated in verse, and set to music." Sir, perhaps the gentleman, in mockery of our complaints, may be himself disposed to sing the praises of the tariff, in doggerel verse, to the tune of " Old Hun- dred." I am not at all surprised, however, at the aversion of the gentleman to the very name of tariff. I doubt not that it must always bring up some very unpleasant recollections to his mind. If I am not greatly mistaken, the senator from Massa- chusetts was a leading actor at a great meeting got up in Boston, in 1820, against the tariff. It nas generally been supposed that he drew up the resolutions adopted by that meeting, denouncing the tariff system as unequal, oppressive, and unjust, and if I am not much mistaken, denying its consti- tutionality. Certain it is, that the gentle- man made a speech on that occasion in support of those resolutions, denouncing the system in no very measured terms; and, if my memory serves me, calling its constitutionality in question. I regret that I have not been able to lay my hands on those proceedings ; but I have seen them, and cannot be mistaken in their character. At that time, sir, the senator from Massa- chusetts entertained the very sentiments in relation to the tariff which the south now entertains. We next find the senator from Massachusetts expressing his opinion on the tariff, as a member of the House oi Representatives from the city of Boston, in 1824. On that occasion, sir, the gentle- man assumed a position which commanded the respect and admiration of his country. He stood forth the powerful and fearless champion of free trade. He met, in that BOOK III.] MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. conflict, the advocates of restriction am monopoly, and they " fled from before his face." With a profound sagacity, a fulnes of knowledge, and a richness of illustration that have never been surpassed, he main- tained and established the principles ol commercial freedom, on a foundation never to be shaken. Great indeed was the vic- tory achieved by the gentleman on that occasion; most striking the contrast be- tween the clear, forcible, and convincing arguments by which he carried away the understandings of his hearers, and the narrow views and wretched sophistry of another distinguished orator, who may be truly said to have " held up his farthing candle to the sun." Sir, the Senator from Massachusetts, on that, the proudest day of his life, like a mighty giant, bore away upon his shoulders the pillars of the temple of error and delu- sion, escaping himself unhurt, and leaving his adversaries overwhelmed in its ruins. Then it was that he erected to free trade a beautiful and enduring monument, and " inscribed the marble with his name." Mr. President, it is with pain and regret that I now go forward to the next great era in the political life of that gentleman when he was found on this floor, support- ing, advocating, and finally voting for the tariff of 1828 that " bill of abominations." By that act, sir, the senator from Massa- chusetts has destroyed the labors of his whole life, and given a wound to the cause of free trade never to be healed. Sir, when I recollect the position which that gentle- man once occupied, and that which he now holds in public estimation, in relation to this subject, it is not at all surprising that the tariff should be hateful to his ears. Sir, if I had erected to my own fame so proud a monument as that which the gen- tleman built up in 1824, and I could have been tempted to destroy it with my own hands, I should hate the voice that should ring " the accursed tariff" in my ears. I doubt not the gentleman feels very much, in relation to the tariff, as a certain knight did to " instinct," and with him would be disposed to exclaim, " Ah ! no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me." But, Mr. President, to be more serious ; ifhat are we of the south to think of what we have heard this day ? The senator from Massachusetts tells us that the tariff is not an eastern measure, and treats it as if the east had no interest in it. The senator from Missouri insists it is not a western measure, and that it has done no good to the west. The south comes in, ana, in the most earnest manner, represents to you that this measure, which we are told " is of no value to the east or the west," is " utterly destructive of our interests." We represent to you that it has spread ruin and devasta- tion through the land, and prostrated our hopes in the dust. We solemnly declare that we believe the system to be wholly unconstitutional, and a violation of the compact between the states and the Union ; and our brethren turn a deaf ear to our complaints, and refuse to relieve us from a system "which not enriches them, but makes us poor indeed." Good God ! Mr. President, has it come to this f Do gentle- men hold the feelings and wishes of their brethren at so cheap a rate, that they re- fuse to gratify them at so small a price? Do gentlemen value so lightly the peace and harmony of the country, that they will not yield a measure of this description to the affectionate entreaties and earnest re- monstrances of their friends? Do gentle- men estimate the value of the Union at so low a price, that they will not even make one effort to bind the states together with the cords of affection ? And has it come to this ? Is this the spirit in which this gov- ernment is to be administered ? If so, let me tell, gentlemen, the seeds of dissolu- tion are already sown, and our children will reap the bitter fruit. The honorable gentleman from Massa- chusetts, (Mr. Webster,) while he exoner- ates me personally from the charge, inti- mates that there is a party in the country who are looking to disunion. Sir, if the gentleman had stopped there, the accusa- tion would have "passed by me like the idle wind, which I regard not." But when he goes on to give to his accusation " a local habitation and a name," by quoting the expression of a distinguished citizen of South Carolina, (Dr. Cooper,) "that it was time for the south to calculate the value of the Union," and in the language of the bitterest sarcasm, adds, " Surely then the Union cannot last longer than July, 1831," it is impossible to mistake either the allu- sion or the object of the gentleman. Now, Mr. President, I call upon every one who hears me to bear witness that this contro- versy is not of my seeking. The Senate will do me the justice to remember that, at the time this unprovoked and uncalled-for attack was made on the south, not one word had been uttered by me in disparage- ment of New England ; nor had I made the most distant allusion either to the sen- ator from Massachusetts or the state he re- jresents. But, sir, that gentleman has ihought proper, for purposes best known himself, to strike the south, through me, ;he most unworthy of her servants. He las crossed the border, he has invaded the state of South Carolina, is making \v;ir ipon her citi/ens, and endeavoring to over- grow her principles and her institutions. Sir, when the gentleman provokes me to such a conflict, I meet him at the tlm-h- old ; I will struggle, while I have life, few 36 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. our altars and our firesides ; and, if God gives me strength, I will drive back the in- vader discomfited. Nor shall I stop there. If the gentleman provokes the war, he shall have war. Sir, I will not stop at the border; I will carry the war into the enemy's territory, and not consent to lay down my arms until I have obtained " in- demnity for the past and security for the future." It is with unfeigned reluctance, Mr. President, that I enter upon the per- formance of this part of my duty ; I shrink almost instinctively from a course, however necessary, which may have a tendency to excite sectional feelings and sectional jeal- ousies. But, sir, the task has been forced upon me ; and I proceed right onward to the performance of my duty. Be the conse- quences what they may, the responsibility is with those who have imposed upon me this necessity. The senator from Massa- chusetts has thought proper to cast the first stone ; and if he shall find, according to a homely adage, "that he lives in a glass house," on his head be the consequences. The gentleman has made a great flourish about his fidelity to Massachusetts. I shall make no professions of zeal for the interests and honor of South Carolina ; of that my constituents shall judge. If there be one state in the Union, Mr. President, (and I say it not in a boastful spirit,) that may challenge comparison with any other, for a uniform, zealous, ardent, and uncalculating devotion to the Union, that state is South Carolina. Sir, from the very commence- ment of the revolution up to this hour, there is no sacrifice, however great, she has not cheerfully made, no service she has ever hesitated to perform. She has adhered to you in your prosperity ; but in your ad- versity she has clung to you with more than filial affection. No matter what was the condition of her domestic affairs, though deprived of her resources, divided by par- ties, or surrounded with difficulties, the call of the country has been to her as the voice of God. Domestic discord ceased at the sound ; every man became at once recon- ciled to his brethren, and the sons of Car- olina were all seen crowding together to the temple, bringing their gifts to the altar of their common country. What, sir, was the conduct of the South during the revolution ? Sir, I honor New England for her conduct in that glorious struggle. But great as is the praise which belongs to her, I think, at least, equal honor is due to the south. They espoused the quarrel of their brethren with a gener- ous zeal, which did not suffer them to stop to calculate their interest in the dispute. Favorites of the mother country, possessed of neither ships nor seamen to create a commercial nvalship, they might have found in their situation a guarantee* that their trade would be forever fostered and protected by Great Britain. But, tramp- ling on all considerations either of inter- est or of safety, they rushed into the conflict and fighting for principle, perilled all, in the sacred cause of freedom. Never was there exhibited in the history of the world higher examples of noble daring, dreadful suffering, and heroic endurance, than by the whigs of Carolina during the revolu- tion. The whole state,from the mountains tc the sea, was overrun by an overwhelming force of the enemy. The fruits of industry perished on the spot where they were pro- duced, or were consumed by the foe. The "plains of Carolina" drank up the most precious blood of her citizens. Black and smoking ruins marked the places which had been the habitations of her children. Driven from their homes into the gloomy and almost impenetrable swamps, even there the spirit of liberty survived, and South Carolina (sustained by the example of her Sumpters and her Marions) proved, by her conduct, that though her soil might be overrun, the spirit of her people was invincible. But, sir, our country was soon called upon to engage in another revolutionary struggle, and that, too, was a struggle for principle. I mean the political revolution which dates back to '98, and which, if it had not been successfully achieved, would have left us none of the fruits of the revolution of 76. The revolution of '98 restored the constitution, rescued the liberty of the cit- izens from the grasp of those who were aim- ing at its life, and in the emphatic language of Mr. Jefferson, "saved the constitution at its last gasp." And ' by whom was it achieved ? By the south, sir, aided only by the democracy of the north and west. I come now to the war of 1812 a war which, I will remember, was called in derision (while its event was doubtful) the southern war, and sometimes the Caro- lina war ; but which is now universally ac- knowledged to have done more for the honor and prosperity of the country than all other events in our history put togeth- er. What, sir, were the objects of that war? "Free trade and sailors' rights!" It was for the protection of northern ship- ping and New England seamen that the country flew to arms. What interest had the south in that contest ? If they had sat down coldly to calculate the value of their interest involved in it, they would have found that they had every thing to lose, and nothing to gain. But, sir, with that generous devotion to country so character- istic of the south, they only asked if the rights of any portion of their fellow-citi- zens had been invaded ; and when told that northern ships and New England sea- men had been arrested on the common highway of nations, they felt that the hon- or of their country was assailed ; and act- BOOK in.] MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 37 ing on that exalted sentiment " which feels a stain like a wound," they resolved to seek, in open war, for a redress of those injuries which it did not become freemen to en- dure. Sir, the whole south, animated as by a common impulse, cordially united in ' declaring and promoting that war. South ' Carolina sent to your councils, as the ad- ! vocates and supporters of that war, the noblest of her sons. How they fulfilled j that trust let a grateful country tell. Not i a measure was adopted, not a battle fought, | not a victory won, which contributed, in ! any degree, to the success of that war, to wliich southern councils and southern valor did not largely contribute. Sir, since South Carolina is assailed, I must be suf- fered to speak it to her praise, that at the very moment when, in one. quarter, we heard it solemnly proclaimed, " that it did j not become a religious and moral people to rejoice at the victories of our army or our navy," her legislature unanimously " Resolved, That we will cordially sup- port the government in the vigorous pros- ecution of the war, until a peace can be obtained on honorable terms, and we will cheerfully submit to every privation that may be required of us, by our government, for the accomplishment of this object." South Carolina redeemed that pledge. She threw open her treasury to the gov- ernment. She put at the absolute disposal of the officers of the United States all that she possessed her men, her money, and her arms. She appropriated half a million of dollars, on her own account, in defence of her maritime frontier, ordered a brigade of state troops to be raised, and when left to protect herself by her own means, never suffered the enemy to touch her soil, with- out being instantly driven off or captured. Such, sir, was the conduct of the south such the conduct of my own state in that- dark hour " which tried men's souls." When I look back and contemplate the spectacle exhibited at that time in another quarter of the Union when I think of the conduct of certain portions of New Eng- land, and remember the part which was acted on that memorable occasion by the political associates of the gentleman from Massachusetts nay, when I follow that gentleman into the councils of the nation, j and listen to his voice during the darkest period of the war, I am indeed astonished that he should venture to touch upon the topics which he has introduced into this de- bate. South Carolina reproached by Mas- sachusetts! And from whom does this ac- cusation come ? Not from the democracy of New England ; for they have been in times past, as they are now, the friends and allies of the south. No, sir, the accusation comes from that party whose acts, during the most trying and eventful period of our national history, were of such a character, that their own legislature, but a few years ago, actually blotted them out from their records, as a stain upon the honor of the country. But how can they ever be blot- ted out from the recollection of any one who had a heart to feel, a mind to com- prehend, and a memory to retain, the events of that day! Sir, I shall not attempt to write the history of the party in New- England to which I have alluded the war party in peace, and the peace party in war. That task I shall leave to some future bio- grapher of Nathan Dane, and I doubt not it will be found quite easy to prove that the peace party of Massachusetts were the only defenders of their country during their war, and actually achieved all our victories by land and sea. In the mean- time, sir, and until that history shall be written, I propose, with the feeble and glimmering lights which I possess, to re- view the conduct of this party, in connec- tion with the war, and the events which immediately preceded it. It will be recollected, sir, that our great causes of quarrel with Great Britain were her depredations on the northern com- merce, and the impressment of New Eng- land seamen. From every quarter we were called upon for protection. Importunate as the west is new represented to be en another subj ect, the importunity of the east on that occasion was far greater. I hold in my hands the evidence of the fact. Here are petitions, memorials, and remon- strances from all parts of New England, setting forth the injustice, the oppresM< us. the depredations, the insults, the outrages committed by Great Britain against the unoffending commerce and seamen of New England, and calling upon Congress for redress. Sir, I cannot stop to read these memorials. In that from Boston, after stating the alarming and extensive con- demnation of our vessels by Great Biitain, which threatened " to sweep our com meice from the face of the ocean,' 1 and "to in- volve our merchants in bankruptcy," they call upon the government " to a.'sert our rights, and to adopt such measures as will support the dignity and honor of the United States. - From Salem we heard a 'mngnage still more decisive ; they call explicitly lor "an appeal to arms," and pledge their live? and property in support of any measures wliich Congress mignt adopt. From Nrultury- port an appeal was made "to the firnme-s and justice of the government to obtain com- pensation and protection." It was lit re, I think, that, when the war was declared, it was resolved "to resist our own covrrn- ment even unto blood." (Olive Branch, p. 101.) In other quarters the common language of that day was, that our commerce and our seamen were entitled to protection ; and that 38 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in it was the duty of the government to afford it at every hazard. The conduct of Great Britain, we were then told, was " an out- j rage upon our national independence." | These clamors, which commenced as early j as January, 1806, were continued up to ' 1812. In a message from the governor of, one of the New England States, as late as the 10th October, 1811, this language is held : " A manly and decisive course has become indispensable ; a course to satisfy foreign nation-*, that, while we desire peace, we have the means and the spirit to repel aggression. We are false to our- selves when our commerce, or our terri- tory, is invaded with impunity." About this time, however, a remarkable change was observable in the tone and temper of those who had been endeavoring to force the country into a war. The lan- guage of complaint was changed into that of insult, and calls far protection converted into reproaches. "Smoke, smoke!" says one writer ; " my life on it, our executive has no more idea of declaring war than my grandmother." The committee of ways and means," says another, " have come out with their Pandora's box of taxes, and Vet nobody dreams of war." "Congress do not mean to declare war; they dare not." But why multiply exam- ples ? An honorable member or the other house, from the city of Boston, [Mr. Quincy,] in a speech delivered on the 3d April, 1812, says, " Neither promises, nor threats, nor asseverations, nor oaths will m ike me believe that you will go to war. The navigation states are sacrificed, and the spirit and character of the country prostrated by fear and avarice." " You cannot," said the same gentleman, on another occasion, " be kicked into a war." Well, sir, the war at length came, and what did we behold ? The very men who had been for six years clamorous for war, and for whose protection it was waged, became at once equally clamorous against it. They had received a miraculous visitation; a new light suddenly beamed upon their minds ; the scales fell from their eyes, and it was discovered that the war was declared from " subserviency to France ; " and that Congress, and the executive, " had sold thennelves to Napoleon ; " that Great Bri- tain had in fact done us no essential in- jury;" that she was "the bulwark of our religion ; " that where " she took one of our ships, she protected twenty ; " and that, if Great Britain had impressed a few of our seamen, it was because " she could not distinguish them from their own." And so far did this spirit extend, that a com- mittee of the Massachusetts legislature ac- tually fell to calculation, and discovered, to their infinite satisfaction, but to the astonishment of all the world besides, that only eleven Massachusetts sailors had ever been impressed. Never shall I forget the appeals that had been made to the sympa- thies of the south in behalf of the " thou- sands of impressed Americans," who had been torn from their families and friends, and immured in the floating dungeons of Britain." The most touching pictures were drawn of the hard condition of the American sailor, " treated like a slave," forced to fight the battles of his enemy, " lashed to the mast, to be shot at like* a dog." But, sir, the very moment we had taken up arms in their defence, it was dis- covered that all these were mere " fictions of the brain ; " and that the whole number in the state of Massachusetts was but eleven; and that even these had been " taken by mistake." Wonderful discov- ery ! The secretary of state had collected authentic lists of no less than six thousand impressed Americans. Lord Castlereagh himself acknowledged sixteen hundred. Calculations on the basis of the number found on board of the Guerriere, the Macedonian, the Java, and other British ships, (captured by the skill and gallantry of those heroes whose achievements are the treasured monuments of their coun- try's glory,) fixed the number at seven thousand ; and yet, it seems, Massachusetts had lost but eleven ! Eleven Massachu- setts sailors taken by mistake ! A cause of war indeed ! Their ships too, the cap- ture of which had threatened " universal bankruptcy," it was discovered that Great Britain was their friend and protector; where she had taken one she had protected twenty." Then was the discovery made, that subserviency to France, hostility to commerce, " a determination, on the part of the south and west, to break down the Eastern States," and especially as reported by a committee of the Massachusetts legis- lature) " to force the sons of commerce to populate the wilderness," were the true causes of the war." (Olive Branch, pp. 134, 291.) But let us look a little further into the conduct of the peace party of New England at that important crisis. What- ever difference of opinion might have ex- isted as to the causes of the war, the country had aright to expect, that, when once in- volved in the contest, all America would have cordially united in its support. Sir, the war effected, in its progress, a union of all parties at the south. But not so in New England; there great efforts were made to stir up the minus of the people to oppose it. Nothing was left undone to embarrass the financial operations of the government, to prevent the enlistment of troops, to keep back the men and money of New England from the service of the Union, to force the president from his seat. Yes, sir, " the Island of Elba, or a halter ! : were the alternatives they presented to the excellent and venerable James Madison. BOOK III.J MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 39 Sir, the war was further opposed by openly carrying on illicit trade with the enemy, by permitting that enemy to establish her- self on the very soil of Massachusetts, and by opening a free trade between Great Britain and America, with a separate cus- tom house. Yes, sir, those who cannot endure the thought that we should insist on a free trade, in time of profound peace, could, without scruple, claim and ex- ercise the right of carrying on a free trade with the enemy in a time of war ; and finally by getting up the renowned " Hart- ford Convention," and preparing the way for an open resistance to the government, and a separation of the states. Sir, if I am asked for the proof of those things, I fear- lessly appeal to the contemporary history, to the public documents of the country, to the recorded opinion and acts of public assemblies, to the declaration and acknow- ledgments, since made, of the executive and legislature of Massachusetts herself.* Sir, the time has not been allowed me to trace this subject through, even if I had been disposed to do so. But I cannot re- frain from referring to one or two docu- ments, which have fallen in my way since this debate began. I read, sir, from the Olive Branch of Matthew Carey, in which are collected " the actings and doings " of the peace party in New England, during the continuance of the embargo and the war. I know the senator from Massachu- setts will respect the high authority of his political friend and fellow -laborer in the great cause of " domestic industry." In p. 301, et seq., 309 of this work, is a detailed account of the measures adopted in Massachusets during the war, for the ex- press purpose of embarrassing the financial operations of the government, by prevent- ing loans, and thereby driving our rulers from their seats, and forcing the country * In answer to an address of Governor Eustis, denounc- ing the conduct of the peace party during the war, the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, in June, 1823, gay, " The change of the political sentiments evinced In the late elections forms indeed a new era in the history of our commonwealth. It is the triumph of reason over passion ; of patriotism over party spirit Massachusetts has returned to her first love, and is no longer a stranger in the Union. We rejoice that though, during the last war, such measures were adopted in this tate as occasioned double sacrifice of treasure and of life, covered the friends of I he nation with humiliation and mourning, and fixed a stain on the page of our his- tory, a redeeming spirit has at length arisen to take away our reproach, anil restore to us our good name, our rank among our sister states, and our just Influence in the Union. "Though we would not renew contentions, or irritate wantonly, we believe that there are cased when It is necessary we should ' wound to heal.' And we consider it among the first duties of the friends of our national government, on this return of power, to disavow the un- warrantable course pursued by this state, during the late war, and to hold up the measures of that period as bea- cons; that the present and succeeding generations may shun that career which must inevitably terminate in the destruction of the individual or party who pursues it; and may learn the important lesson, that, in all times, the path of duty is the path of safety ; and that it is never dangerous to rally around the standard of our country." into a dishonorable peace. It appears that the Boston banks commenced an operation, by which a run was to be made upon all the banks of the south ; at the same time stopping their own discounts ; the effect of which was to produce a sudden and almost alarming diminution of the circulating medium, and universal distress over the whole country " a distress which they failed not to attribute to the unholy war." To such an extent was this system car- ried, that it appears, from a statement of the condition of the Boston banks, made up in January, 1814, that with nearly $5,000,000 of specie in their vaults, they had but $2,000,000 of bills in circulation. It is added by Carey, that at this very time an extensive trade was carried on in Brit- ish government bills, for which specie was sent to Canada, for the payment of the British troops, then laying waste our north- ern frontier ; and this too at the very mo- ment when New England ships, sailing under British licenses, (a trade declared to be lawful by the courts both of Great Brit- ain and Massachusetts,*) were supplying with provisions those very armies destined for the invasion of our own shores. Sir, the author of the Olive Branch, with a holy indignation, denounces these acts as "treasonable;" "giving aid and comfort to the enemy." I shall not follow his ex- ample. But I will ask, With what justice or propriety can the south be accused of disloyalty from that quarter? If we had any evidence that the senator from Massa- chusetts had admonished his brethren then, he might, with a better grace, assume the office of admonishing us now. When I look at the measures adopted in Boston, at that day, to deprive the govern- ment of the necessary means for carrying on the war, and think of the success and the consequences of these measures, I feel my pride, as an American, humbled in the dust. Hear, sir, the language of that day. I read from pages 301 and 302 of the Olive Branch. " Let no man who wishes to con- tinue the war, by active means, by vote, or lending money, dare to prostrate himself at the altar on the fast day." " Will fede- ralists subscribe to the loan? Will they lend money to our national rulers? It is impossible. First, because of principle, and secondly, because of principal and in- terest." " Do not prevent the abusers of their trust from becoming bankrupt. Do not prevent them from becoming odious to the public, and being replaced by better men/' " Any federalist who lends money to government must go and shake hands with James Madison, and claim fellowship with Felix Grundy." (I beg pardon of my honorable friend from Tennessee but * 2d Dodson's Admiralty Reports, 48. 13th MAM. Bo- ports, 20. 40 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. he is in good company. I had thought it was " James Madison, Felix Grundy, and the devil.") Let him no more "call himself a federalist, and a friend to his country : he will be called by others infamous," &c. Sir, the spirit of the people sunk under vhese appeals. Such was the effect pro- duced by them on the public mind, that the very agents of the government (as ap- pears from their public advertisements, now before me) could not obtain loans without a pledge that " the names of the subscribers should not be known." Here are the advertisements : " The names of all .mbscribers " (say Gilbert and Dean, the brokers employee! by government) " shall be known only to the undersigned." As if those who came forward to aid their coun- try, in the hour of her utmost need, were engaged in some dark and foul conspiracy, they were assured " that their names should not' be known." Can any thing show more conclusively the unhappy state of public feeling which prevailed at that day than this single fact? Of the same character with these measures was the conduct of Massachusetts in withholding her militia from the service of the United States, and devising measures for withdrawing her quota of the taxes, thereby attempting, not merely to cripple the resources of the coun- try, but actually depriving the government (as far as depended upon her) of all the means of carrying on the war of the bone, and muscle, and sinews of war " of man and steel the soldier and his sword." But it seems Massachusetts was to reserve her resources for herself she was to defend and protect her own shores. And how was that duty performed? In some places on the coast neutrality was declared, and the enemy was suffered to invade the soil of Massachusetts, and allowed to occupy her territory until the peace, without one ef- fort to rescue it from his grasp. Nay, more while our own government and our rulers were considered as enemies, the troops of the enemy were treated like friends the most intimate commercial re- lations were established with them, and maintained up to the peace. At this dark period of our national affairs, where was the senator from Massachusetts? How were his political associates employed ? " Calculating the value of the Union ? " Yes, sir, that was the propitious moment, when our country stood alone, the last hope of the world, struggling for her ex- istence against the colossal power of Great Britain, " concentrated one mighty effort to crush us at a blow ;" that was the chosen hour to revive the grand scheme of build- ing up " a great northern confederacy " a scheme which, it is stated in the work before me, had its origin as far back as the year 1796, and whicn appears never to have been entirely abandoned. In the language of the writers of that day, (1796,) rather than have a constitu- tion such as the anti-federalists were con- tending for, (such as we are now contend- ing for,) the Union ought to be dissolved ; " and to prepare the way for that measure, the same methods were resorted to then that have always been relied on for that purpose, exciting prejudice against the south. Yes, sir, our northern brethren were then told, " that if the negroes were good for food, their southern masters would claim the right to destroy them at pleasure." (Olive Branch, p. 267.) Sir, in 1814, al] these topics were revived. Again we hear of " northern confederacy." " The slave states by themselves ; " " the mountains are the natural boundary ; " we want neither " the counsels nor the power of the west,' &c., &c. The papers teemed with accusa- tions against the south and the west, and the calls for a dissolution of all connection with them were loud and strong. I cannot consent to go through the disgusting details. But to show the height to which the spirit of disaffection was carried, I will take you to the temple of the living God, and show you that sacred place, which should be de- voted to the extension of " peace on earth and good will towards men," where " one day's truce ought surely to be allowed to the dissensions and animosities of man- kind," converted into a fierce arena of po- litical strife, where, from the lips of the priest, standing between the horns of the altar, there went forth the most terrible denunciations against all who should be true to their country in the hour of her utmost need. " If you do not wish," said a reverend clergyman, in a sermon preached in Bos- ton, on the 23d cf July, 1812,' " to become the slaves of those who own slaves, and who are themselves the slaves of French slaves, you must either, in the language of the day, CUT THE CONNECTION or so far alter the national compact as to insure to your- selves a due share in the government." (Olive Branch, p. 319.) "The Union," says the same writer, (p. 320,) "has been long since virtually dissolved, and it is full time that this part of the disunited states should take care of itself." Another reverend gentleman, pastor of a church at Medford, (p. 321,) issues his ana- thema " LET HIM STAND ACCURSED " against all. all who by their " personal servi- ces," for " loans of money,"," conversation," or " writing," or " influence," give counte- nance or support to the righteous war, in the following terms: "That man is an ac- complice in the wickedness he loads his conscience with the blackest crimes he brings the guilt of blood upon his soul, and in the sight of God and his law, he is a MURDERER." One or two more quotations, sir, and I KOOKIII.I MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 41 shall have done. A reverend doctor of di- vinity, the pastor of a church at Byfield, Massachusetts, on the 7th of April, 1814, thus addresses his flock, (p. 321:) "The Israelites became weary of yielding the fruit of their labor to pamper their splendid tyrants. They left their political woes. THEY SEPARATED; where is our Moses? Where the rod of his miracles? Where is our Aaron ? Alas I no voice from the burning bush has directed them here." " We must trample on the mandates of despotism, or remain slaves forever," (p. 322.) "You must drag the chains of Virginian despotism, unless you discover some other mode of escape." "Those Western States which have been violent for this abominable war those states which have thirsted for blood God has given them blood to drink," (p. 323.) Mr. President, I can go no further. The re- eords of the day are full of such sentiments, issued from the press, spoken in public as- semblies, poured out from the sacred desk. God forbid, sir, that I should charge the Reople of Massachusetts with participating i these sentiments. The south and the west had there their friends men who stood by their country, though encom- passed all around by their enemies. The senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Silsbee) was one of them ; the senator from Con- necticut (Mr. Foot) was another; and there are others now on this floor. The sentiments J have read were the sentiments of a party embracing the political associ- ates of the gentleman from Massachusetts. If they could only be found in the columns of a newspaper, in a few occasional pam- phlets, issued by men of intemperate feel- ing, I should not consider them as afford- ing any evidence of the opinions even of the peace party of New England. But, sir, they were the common language of that day ; they pervaded the whole land ; they were issued from, the legislative hall, from the pulpit, and the press. Our books are full of them ; and there is no man who now hears me but knows that they were the sentiments of a party, by whose members they were promulgated. Indeed, no evi- dence of this would seem to be required beyond the fact that such sentiments found their way even into the pulpits of New England. What must be the state of pub- lic opinion, where any respectable clergy- man would venture to preach, and to print, sermons containing the sentiments I have quoted? I doubt not the piety or moral worth of these gentlemen. I am told they were respectable and pious men. But they were men, and they " Kindled in a common blaze." And now, sir, I must be suffered to remark that, at this awful and melancholy period of our national his- tory, the gentleman from Massachusetts, who DOW manifests so great a devotion to the Union, and so much anxiety lest it should be endangered from the south, was " with his brethren in Israel." He saw all these things passing before his eyes he heard these sentiments uttered all around him. I do not charge that gentleman with any participation in these acts, or with approving of these sentiments. But I will ask, why, if he was animated by the same sentiments then which he now professes, if he can "augur disunion at a distance, and snuff up rebellion in every tainted breeze," why did he not, at that day, exert his great talents and acknowledged influence with the political associates by whom he was surrounded, and who then, as novf, looked up to him for guidance and direction, in allaying this general excite- ment, in pointing out to his deluded friends the value of the Union, in instructing them that, instead of looking " to some prophet to lead them out of the land of Egypt," they should become reconciled to their brethren, and unite with them in the sup- port of a just and necessary war ? Sir, the gentleman must excuse me for saying, that if the records of our country afforded any evidence that he had pursued such a course, then, if we could find it recorded in the history of those times, that, like the immortal Dexter, he had breasted that mighty torrent which was sweeping before it all that was great and valuable in our political institutions if like him he had stood by his country in opposition to his party, sir, we would, like little children, listen to his precepts, and abide by his counsels. As soon as the public mind was suffi- iently prepared for the measure, the cele- brated Hartford Convention was got up ; not as the act of a few unauthorized individ- uals, but by the authority of the legisla- ture of Massachusetts ; and, as has been shown by the able historian of that con- vention, in accordance with the views and wishes of the party of which it was the organ. Now, sir, I do not desire to call in question the motives of the gentlemen who composed that assembly. I knew many of them to be in private life accom- plished and honorable men, and I doubt not there were some among them who did not perceive the dangerous tendency of their proceedings. I will even go further, and say, that if the authors of the Hart- ford Convention believed that " gross, de- liberate, and palpable violations of the constitution " had taken place, utterly de- structive of their rights and interests, I should be the last man to deny their right to resort to any constitutional measures for redress. But, sir, in any view of the case, the time when and the circumstances under which that convention assembled, as well as the measure* recommended, render their conduct, in my opinion 42 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK iii. wholly indefensible. Let us contemplate for a moment, the spectacle then exhibitec to the view of the world. I will not over the disasters of the war, nor describe the difficulties in which the government was involved. It will be recollected that its credit was nearly gone, Washington had fallen, the whole coast was blockaded and an immense force, collected in the West Indies, was about to make a de- scent, which it was supposed we had no means of resisting. In this awful state ol our public affairs, when the government seemed almost to be tottering on its base, when Great Britain, relieved from all her other enemies, had proclaimed her purpose of " reducing us to unconditional submis- sion," we beheld the peace party of New England (in the language of the work be- fore us) pursuing a course calculated to do more injury to their country, and to ren- der England more effective service than all her armies." Those who could not find it in their hearts to rejoice at our victories sang Te Deum at the King's Chapel in Boston, for the restoration of the Bour- bons.' Those who could not consent to illuminate their dwellings for the capture of the Guerriere could give no visible tokens of their joy at the fall of Detroit. The "beacon fires" of their hills were lighted up, not for the encouragement of their friends, but as signals to the enemy ; and in the gloomy hours of midnight, the very lights burned blue. Such were the dark and portentous signs of the times, which ushered into being the renowned Hartford Convention. That convention met, and, from their proceedings, it ap- pears that their chief object was to keep back the money and men of New England from the service of the Union, and to ef- fect radical changes in the government changes that can never be effected without dissolution of the Union. Let us now, sir, look at their proceed- ings. I read from "A Short Account of .the Hartford Convention,'' (written by one of its members,) a very rare book, of which I was fortunate enough, a few years ago, to obtain a copy. [Here Mr. H. read from the proceedings.*] * It appear* at p. 6 of the "Account" that by a vote of the Honse of Representative* of Massachusetts, (200 to 290) delegates to this convention were ordered to be ap- p'int.-d to consult upon the subject "of their public flfievanceii and concern*," and ii|>on " the best means of preserving their resources," and for procuring a revision of the constitution of the United States, " more effectu- ally to secure the support and attachment of all the ] pi--, l>y placing all upon the basis of fair represen- tati.m." The convention assembled at Hartford on the 15th December, 1S14. On the next day it was ttetnleed, That the most inviolable secrecy shall be ob- served by each member of this convention, including the secretary, as to all propositions, detmb-s, and proceedings thereof, until this injunction shall be suspended or al- tered. On the 24th of I)ecem1x-r, the committee appointed to prepare and report a general project of each, measures as It is unnecessary to trace the matter further, or to ask what would have been the next chapter in this history, if the measures recommended had been carried into effect ; and if, with the men and money of New England withheld from the government of the United States, she had been withdrawn from the war ; if New Or- leans had fallen into the hands of the ene- my; and if, without troops and almost destitute of money, the Southern and the Western States had been thrown upon their own resources, for the prosecution of the war, and the recovery of New Orleans. Sir, whatever may have been the issue of the contest, the Union must have been dissolved. But a wise and just Providence, which " shapes our ends, roughhew them as we will," gave us the victory, and crowned our efforts with a glorious peace. The ambassadors of Hartford were seen re- tracing their steps from Washington, " the bearers of the glad tidings of great joy.'' Courage and patriotism triumphed the country was saved the Union was pre- served. And are we, Mr. President, who stood by our country then, who threw open our coffers, who bared our bosoms, who freely perilled all in that conflict, to be re- proached with want of attachment to the Union ? If, sir, we are to have lessons of patriotism read to us, they must come from a different quarter. The senator from may be proper for the convention to adopt, repotted among other things, " 1. That it was expedient to recommend to the l.'tfs* latures of the states the adoption of the most enVtiial and decisive measures to protect the militia of the states from the usurpations contained in these proceedings." [The proceedings of Congress and the executive, iu rela- tion to the militia and the war.] " 2. That it was expedient also to prepare a statement, exhibiting the necessity which the improvidence and in- ability of the general government have Imposed upon the states of providing for their own defence, and the im- possibility of their discharging this duty, aniat the same time fulfilling the requisitions of the gcno/al gov- ernment, and also to recommend to the legislatiu-es of the several states to make provision for mutual defence, and to make an earnest application to the governmimt of the L T nited States, with a view to some arrangement whereby the state may he enabled to retain a portion of the taxeer evied by Congress, for the purpose of self-defence, and for the reimbursement of expenses already incurred on account of the United States. " 3. That it is expedient to recommend to tl >e several state legislatures certain amendments to the constitution, viz.. " That the power to dec-lure or make war, bj the Con- gress of the United States, be restricted. " That it is expedient to attempt to make prevision for restraining Congress' in the exercise of an .inlimited tower to make new states, and admit them into the Jnion. " That an amendment be proposed respecting siave representation and slave taxation." On the 29th of December, 1814, it vas proposed " that ,he rapacity of naturalized citizens to hold offices of trust, lonor, or profit ought to be restrained," *c. The subsequent proceeding's re not given at large. Jut it seems that the report of the committee was adopted, and also a recommendation of certain measures (of the character of which we are not informed) to the states for heir mutual defence: and having votexl that the injunc- :ion of secrecy, in regard to all the debates and proceed- ngs of the convention, (except no far as relates to th eport finally adopted.) be continued, the convention nd ourned nine die. but as was supposed, to meet again when circumstances should require it. BOOK m.] MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'3 RESOLUTION. 43 Massachusetts, who is now so sensitive on all subjects connected with the Union, seems to have a memory forgetful of the political events that have passed away. I must therefore refresh his recollection a little further on these subjects. The his- tory of disunion has been written by one whose authority stands too high with the American people to be questioned ; I mean Thomas Jefferson. I know not how the gentleman may receive this authority. When that great and good man occupied the presidential chair, I believe he com- manded no portion of the gentleman's re- spect. I hold in my hand a celebrated pamph- let on the embargo, in which language is held, in relation to Mr. Jefferson, which my respect for his memory will prevent me from reading, unless any gentleman should call for it. But the senator from Massa- chusetts has since joined in singing hosan- nas to his name ; he has assisted at his apotheosis, and has fixed him as " a bril- liant star in the clear upper sky." I hope, therefore, he is now prepared to receive with deference and respect the high author- ity of Mr. Jefferson. In the fourth volume of his Memoirs, which has just issued from the press, sve have the following history of disunion from the pen of that illustrious statesman: "Mr. Adams called on me pending the embargo, and while endeavors were making to obtain its repeal : he spoke of the dissatisfaction of the eastern portion of our confederacy with the restraints of the embargo then existing, and their rest- lessness under it; that there was nothing which might not be attempted to rid them- selves of it; that he had information of the most unquestionable authority, that certain citizens of the Eastern States (I think henamed Massachusetts particularly) were in negotiation with agents of the British government, the object of which was an agreement that the New England States should take no further part in the war (the commercial war, the 'war of re- strictions,' as it was called) then going on, and that, without formally declaring their separation from the Union, they should withdraw from all aid and obedience to them, &c. From that moment," says Mr. J., " I saw the necessity of abandoning it, [the embargo,] and,' instead of effecting our purpose by this peaceful measure, we must fight it out or break the Union." In another letter Mr. Jefferson adds, " I doubt whether a single fact known to the world will carry as clear conviction to it of the correctness of our knowledge of the treason- able views of the federal party of that day, as that disclosed by this, the most nefa- rious and daring attempt to dissever the Union, of which the Hartford Convention was a subsequent chapter; and both of these having failed, consolidation becomes the fourth chapter of the next book of their history. But this opens with a vast accession of strength, from their younger recruits, who, having nothing in them of the feelings and principles of 76, now look to a single and splendid government, &c., riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman and beggared yeomanry." (vol. iv. pp. 419, 422.) The last chapter, says Mr. Jefferson, of that history, is to be found in the conduct of those who are endeavoring to bring about consolidation ; ay, sir, that very con- solidation for which the gentleman from Massachusetts is contending the exercise by the federal gpverment of powers not delegated in relation to " internal improve- ments " and " the protection of manufac- tures." And why, sir, does Mr. Jefferson consider consolidation as leading directly to disunion ? Because he knew that the exercise, by the federal government, of the powers contended for, would make this "a government without limitation of powers," the submission to which he con- sidered as a greater evil than disunion it- self. There is one chapter in this history, however, which Mr. Jefferson has not filled up ; and I must therefore supply the defi- ciency. It is to be found in the protests made by New England against the acquisi- tion of Louisiana. In relation to that sub- ject, the New England doctrine is thus laid down by one of her learned doctors of that day, now a doctor of laws, at the head of the great literary institution of the east ; I mean Josiah Quincy, president of Har- vard College. I quote from the speech delivered by that gentleman on the floor of Congress, on the occasion of the admis- sion of Louisiana into the Union. " Mr. Quincy repeated and justified a remark he had made, which, to save all misapprehension, he had committed to writing, in the following words : If this bill passes, it is my deliberate opinion that it is virtually a dissolution of the Union ; that it will free the states from their moral obli- gation ; and as it will be the right of allj so it will be the duty of some, to prepare for a separation, amicably if they can, violently if they must." Mr. President, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that all the remarks I have made on this subject are intended to be exclusively applied to a party, which I have described as the " peace party of New England" embracing the political asso- ciates of the senator from* Massachusetts a party which controlled the operation- of that state during the embargo and the w:ir, and who are justly chargeable with all the measures I have reprobated. Sir, nothing has been further from my thoughts than to impeach the character or conduct of the people of New England. For their steady habits and hardy virtues I trust I enter. AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in, tain a becoming respect. I fully subscribe to the truth of the description given be- fore the revolution, by one whose praise is the highest eulogy, " that the perseverance of Holland, the activity of France, and the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, have been more than equalled by this recent people." The hardy peo- ple of New England of the present day are worthy of their ancestors. Still less, Mr. President, has it been my intention to say anything that could be construed into a want of respect for that party, who, have been true to their principles in the worst of times ; I mean the democracy of New England. Sir, I will declare that, highly as I appre- ciate the democracy of the south, I con- uider even higher praise to be due to the democracy of New England, who have maintained their principles " through good and through evil report," who, at every period of our national history, have stood up manfully for " their country, their whole country, and nothing but their country." In the great political revolution of '98, they were found united with the democracy of the south, marching under the banner of the constitution, led on by the patriarch of liberty, in search of the land of politi- cal promise, which they lived not only to behold, but to possess and to enjoy. Again, sir, in the darkest and most gloomy period of the war, when our country stood single- handed against " the conqueror of the con- querors of the world," when all about and around them was dark and dreary, disas- trous and discouraging,they stood a Spartan band in that narrow pass, where the honor of their country was to be defended, or to find its grave. And in the last great strug- gle, involving, as we believe, the very ex- istence of the principle of popular sover- eignty, where were the democracy of New England? Where they always have been found, sir, struggling side by side, with their brethren of the south and the west for popular rights, and assisting in that tri- umph, by which the man of the people was elevated to the highest office in their gift. Who, then, Mr. President, are the true friends of the Union ? Those who would confine the federal government strictly within the limits prescribed by the consti- tution ; who would preserve to the states and the people all powers not expressly delegated ; who would make this a federal and not a national Union, and who, ad- ministering the government in a spirit of equal justice, would make it a blessing, and not a curse. And who are its ene- mies? Those who are in favor of con- solidation ; who are constantly stealing power from the states, and adding strength to the federal government ; who, assuming an unwarrantable jurisdiction over the states and the people, undertake to regu- late the whole industry and capital of the country. But, sir, of all descriptions of men, I consider those as the worst enemies of the Union, who sacrifice the equal rights which belong to every member of the con- federacy to combinations of interested ma- jorities, for personal or political objects. But the gentleman apprehends no evil from the dependence of the states on the federal government ; he can see no danger of corruption from the influence of money or of patronage. Sir, I know that it is supposed to be a wise saying that " patron- age is a source of weakness ;" and in sup- port of that maxim, it has been said, that every ten appointments make a hundred enemies." But I am rather inclined to think, with the eloquent and sagacious orator now reposing on his laurels on the banks of the Roanoke, that "the power of conferring favors creates a crowd of de- pendants ;" he gave a forcible illustration of the truth of the remark, when he told us of the effect of holding up the savory morsel to the eager eyes of the hungry hounds gathered around his door. It mat- tered not whether the gift was bestowed on Towzer or Sweetlips, " Tray, Blanche, or Sweetheart ;" while held in suspense, they were governed by a nod, and when the mor- sel was bestowed, expectation of favors of to-morrow kept up the subjection of to-day. The senator from Massachusetts, in de- nouncing what he is pleased to call the Carolina doctrine, has attempted to throw ridicule upon the idea that a state has any constitutional remedy, by the exercise of its sovereign authority, against " a gross, palpable, and deliberate violation of the constitution." He calls it "an idle" or " a ridiculous notion,' 1 or something to that effect, and added, that it would make the Union a " mere rope of sand." Now, sir, as the gentleman has not condescended to enter into any examination of the question, and has been satisfied with throwing the weight of kis authority into the scale, I do not deem it necessary to do more than to throw into the opposite scale the author- ity on which South Carolina relies ; and there, for the present, I am perfectly will- ing to leave the controversy. The South Carolina doctrine, that is to say, the doc- trine contained in an exposition reported by a committee of the legislature in De- cember, 1828, and published by their au- thority, is the good old republican doctrine of '98 the doctrine of the celebrated "Virginia Resolutions" of that year, and of " Madison's Report " of '99. It will be recollected that the legislature of Virginia, in December, '98, took into consideration the alien and sedition laws, then considered by all republicans as a gross violation of the constitution of the United States, and on that day passed, among others, the fol- lowing resolutions , BOOK III.] MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 45 " The General Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government, as re- sulting from the compact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument con- stituting that compact, as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact ; v and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and danger- ous exercise of other powers not granted by the said compact, the states who are parties thereto have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining, within their respective limits, authorities, rights, and liberties, belonging to them." In addition to the above resolution, the General Assembly of Virginia " appealed to the other states, in the confidence that they would concur with that common- wealth, that the acts aforesaid [the alien and sedition laws] are unconstitutional, and that the necessary and proper mea- sures would be taken by each for co-operat- ing with Virginia in maintaining un- impaired the authorities, rights, and liber- ties reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." The legislatures of several of the New England States, having, contrary to the expectation of the legislature of Virginia, expressed their dissent from these doc- trines, the subject came up again for consideration during the session of 1799, 1800, when it was referred to a select com- mittee, by whom was made that celebrated report which is familiarly known as " Madison's Report,' 1 and which deserves to last as long as the constitution itself. In that report, which was subsequently adopted by the legislature, the whole sub- ject was deliberately re-examined, and the objections urged against the Virginia doc- trines carefully considered. The result was, that the legislature of Virginia re- affirmed all the principles laid down in the resolutions of 1798, and issued to the world that admirable report which has stamped the character of Mr. Madison as the pre- server of that constitution which he had contributed so largely to create and estab- lish. I will here quote from Mr. Madison's report one or two passages which bear more immediately on the point in contro- versy. " The resolutions, having taken this view of the federal compact, proceed to infer ' that in case of a deliberate, palpa- ble, and dangerous exercise of other powers the states who are parties thereto have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining, within their respective limits, the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them.' " It appears to your committee to be a plain principle, founded in common sense, illustrated by common practice, and essen- tial to the nature of compacts, that, where resort can be had to no tribunal superior to the authority of the parties, the parties themselves must be the rightful judges in the last resort, whether the bargain made has been pursued or violated. The con- stitution of the United States was formed by the sanction of the states, given by each in its sovereign capacity. It adds to the stability and dignity, as well as to the au- thority, of the constitution, that it rests upon this legitimate and solid foundation. The states, then, being the parties to the constitutional compact, and in their sov- ereign capacity, it follows of necessity that there can be no tribunal above their au- thority, to decide, in the last resort, wheth- er the compact made by them be violated, and consequently that, as the parties to it, they must decide, in the last resort, such questions as may be of sufficient magni- tude to require their interposition." "The resolution has guarded against any misapprehension of its object by ex- pressly requiring for such an interposition 'the case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous breach of the constitution, by the exercise of powers not granted by it.' It must be a case, not of a light and tran- sient nature, but of a nature dangerous to the great purposes for which the constitu- tion was established. " But the resolution has done more than guard against misconstructions, by ex- pressly referring to cases of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous nature. It speci- fies the object of the interposition, which it contemplates, to be solely that of arrest- ing the progress of the evil of usurpation, and of maintaining the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to the states, as parties to the constitution. "From this view of the resolution, it would seem inconceivable that it can in- cur any just disapprobation from those who, laying aside all momentary impress- ions, and recollecting the genuine source and object of the federal constitution, shall candidly and accurately interpret the meaning of the General Assembly. If the deliberate exercise of dangerous powers, palpably withheld by the constitution, could not justify the parties to it in inter- posing even so far as to arrest the progress of the evil, and thereby to preserve the constitution itself, as well as to provide for the safety of the parties to it, there would be an end to all relief from usurped power, and a direct subversion of the rights speci- fied or recoganized under all the state constitutions, as well as a plain denial of the fundamental principles on which our independence itself was declared." But, sir, our authorities do not stop here. The state of Kentucky responded to Vir- ginia, and on the 10th of November, 1798, 46 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. adopted those celebrated resolutions, well known to have been penned by the author of the Declaration of American Independ- ence. In those resolutions, the legislature of Kentucky declare, "that the govern- ment created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself, since that would have made its discretion, and not the constitution, the measure of its powers ; but that, as in all other cases of compact among parties having no com- mon judge, each party has an equal right to judge, for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress." At the ensuing session of the legislature, the subject was re-examined, and on the 14th of November, 1799, the resolutions of the preceding year were deliberately reaf- firmed, and it was, among other things, sol- emnly declared, "That, if those who administer the gen- eral government be permitted to transgress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total disregard to the special delegations of power therein contained, an annihilation of the state governments, and the erection upon their ruins of a general consolidated government, will be the inevitable conse- quence. That the principles of construc- tion contended for by sundry of the state legislatures, that the general government is the exclusive judge of the extent of the powers delegated to it, stop nothing short of despotism ; since the discretion of those who administer the government, and not the constitution, would be the measure of their powers. That the several states who formed that instrument, being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction, and that a nullification, by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under color of that instrument, is the rightful remedy." Time and experience confirmed Mr. Jefferson's opinion on this all important point. In the year 1821, he expressed himself in this emphatic manner : "It is a fatal heresy to suppose that either our state governments are superior to the fed- eral, or the federal to the state ; neither is authorized literally to decide which be- longs to itself or its copartner in govern- ment ; in differences or opinion, between their different sets of public servants, the appeal is to neither, but to their employ- ers peaceably assembled bv their repre- sentatives in convention." The opinion of Mr. Jefferson on this subject has been so repeatedly and so solemnly expressed, that they may be said to have been the most fixed and settled convictions of his mind. In the protest prepared by him for the legislature of Virginia, in December, 1825, in respect to the powers exercised by the federal government in relation 'to the tariff and internal improvements, which he de- clares to be " usurpations of the powers re- tained by the states, mere interpolations into the compact, and direct infractions of it," he solemnly reasserts all the principles of the Virginia Resolutions of '98, protests against " these acts of the federal branch of the government as null and void, and de- clares that, although Virginia would con- sider a dissolution of the Union as among the greatest calamities that could befall them, yet it is not the greatest. There it one yet greater submission to a govern- ment of unlimited powers. It is only when the hope of this shall become absolutely desperate, that further forbearance could not be indulged." In his letter to Mr. Giles, written about the same time, he says, " I see as you do, and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides with which the federal branch of our government is ad- vancing towards the usurpation of all the rights reserved to the states, and the con- solidation in itself of all powers, foreign and domestic, and that too by constructions which leave no limits to their powers, &c. Under the power to regulate commerce, they assume, indefinitely, that also over agriculture and manufactures, &c. Under the authority to establish post roads, they claim that of cutting down mountains for the construction of roads, and digging canals, &c. And what is our resource for the preservation of the constitution? Eeason and argument ? You might as well reason and argue with the marble columns encir- cling them, &c. Are we then to stand to our arms with the hot-headed Georgian? No ; [and I say no, and South Carolina has said no;] that must be the last resource. We must have patience and long endurance with our brethren, &c., and separate from our companions only when the sole alter- natives left are a dissolution of our Union with them, or submission. Between these two evils, when we must make a choice, there can be no hesitation." Such, sir, are the high and imposing au- thorities in support of " The Carolina doc- trine," which is, in fact, the doctrine of the Virginia Resolutions of 1798. Sir, at that day the whole country was divided on this very question. It formed the line of demarcation between the federal and republican parties; and the great po- litical revolution which then took place turned upon the very questions involved in these resolutions. That question was de- cided by the people, and oy that decision the constitution was, in the emphatic lan- guage of Mr. Jefferson, " saved at its last gasp." I should suppose, sir, it would re- quire more self-respect than any gentleman here would be willing to assume, to treat lightly doctrines derived from such high resources. Resting on authority like this, I will ask gentlemen whether South Carolina BOOK in.J MR. HAYNE ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 47 has not manifested a high regard for the Union, when, under a tyranny ten times more grievous than the alien and sedition laws, she has hitherto gone no further than to petition, remonstrate, and to solemnly protest against a series of measures which she believes to be wholly unconstitutional and utterly destructive of her interests. Sir, South Carolina has not gone one step further than Mr. Jefferson himself was dis- posed to go, in relation to the present sub- ject of our present complaints not a step further than the statesman from New Eng- land was disposed to go, under similar cir- cumstances; no further than the senator from Massachusetts himself once considered as within "the limits of a constitutional opposition." The doctrine that it is the right of a state to judge of the violations of the constitution on the part of the federal government, and to protect her citizens from the operations of unconstitutional laws, was held by the enlightened citizens of Boston, who assembled in Faneuil Hall, on the 25th of January, 1809. They state, in that celebrated memorial, that "they looked only to the state legislature, who were competent to devise relief against the unconstitutional acts of the general gov- ernment That your power (say they) is adequate to that object, is evident from the organization of the confederacy." A distinguished senator from one of the New England States, (Mr. Hillhouse,) in a speech delivered here, on a bill for enforc- ing the embargo, declared, " I feel myself bound in conscience to declare, (lest the blood of those who shall fall in the execu- tion of this measure shall be on my head,) that I consider this to be an act which directs a mortal blow at the liberties of my country an act containing unconstitutional pro- visions, to which the people are not bound to submit, and to which, in my opinion, they will not submit." And the senator from Massachusetts him- self, in a speech delivered on the same sub- ject in the other house, said, "This opposi- tion is constitutional and legal ; it is also conscientious. It rests on settled and sober conviction, that such policy is destructive to the interests of the people, and danger- ous to the being of government. The ex- perience of every day confirms these senti- ments. Men who act from such motives are not to be discouraged by trifling obsta- cles, nor awed by any dangers. They know the limit of constitutional opposition ; up to that limit, at their own discretion, they will walk, and walk fearlessly." How " the being of the government " was to be endan- gered by " constitutional opposition " to the embargo, I leave the gentleman to explain. Thus it will be seen, Mr. President, that the South Carolina doctrine is the republi- can doctrine of '98 that it was promul- gated by the fathers of the faith that it was maintained by Virginia and Kentucky in the worst of times that it constituted the very pivot on which the political revo- lution of that day turned that it embraces the very principles, the triumph of which, at that time, saved the constitution at its last gasp, and which New England states- men were not unwilling to adopt, when they believed themselves to be the victims of unconstitutional legislation. Sir, as to the doctrine that the federal government is the exclusive judge of the extent as well as the limitations of its powers, it seems to m to be utterly subversive of the sovereignty and independence of the states. It makes but little difference, in my estimation, whether Congress or the Supreme Court are invested with this power. If the federal government, in all, or any, of its depart- ments, is to prescribe the limits of its own authority, and the states are bound to sub- mit to the decision, and are not to be al- lowed to examine and decide for them- selves, when the barriers of the constitution shall be overleaped, this is practically " a government without limitation of powers." The states are at once reduced to mere petty corporations, and the people are en- tirely at your mercy. I have but one word more to add. In all the efforts that have been made by South Carolina to resist the unconstitutional laws which Congress has extended over them, she has kept steadily in view the preservation of the Union, by the only means by which she believes it can be long preserved a firm, manly, and steady resistance against usurpation. The measures of the federal government have, it is true, prostrated her interests, and will soon involve the whole south in irretriev- able ruin. But even this evil, great as it is, is not the chief ground of our complaints. It is the principle involved in the contest a principle which, substituting the dis- cretion of Congress for the limitations of the constitution, brings the states and the people to the feet of the federal govern- ment, and leaves them nothing they can call their own. Sir, if the measures of the federal government were less oppressive, we should still strive against this usurpa- tion. The south is acting on a principle she has always held sacred resistance to unauthorized taxation. These, sir, are the principles which induced the immortal Hampdcn to resist the payment of a tax of twenty shillings. Would twenty shil- lings have ruined his fortune? No! but the payment of half twenty shillings, on the principle on which it was demanded, would have made him a slave. Sir, if act- ing on these high motives if animated by that ardent love of liberty which has ahva vs been the most prominent trait in the south- ern character we should be hurried be- yond the bounds of a cold nnd calculating prudence, who is there, with one noble and 48 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. generous sentiment in his bosom , that w juid not be disposed, in the language ol Burke, to exclaim, "You must pardon something to the spirit of liberty? " In which hi " Erpourult the Constitution,* 1 delicered m Senate, January 26, 1830. Following Mr. Hayne in the debate, Mr. Webster addressed the Senate as fol- lows : Mr. President: When the mariner has been tossed, for many days, in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he natu- rally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence, and before we float farther, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are. I ask for the reading of the resolu- tion. I The Secretary read the resolution as follows : " Resolved, That the committee on pub- lic lands be instructed to inquire and re- port the quantity of the public lands remaining unsold within each state and territory, and whether it be expedient to limit, for a certain period, the sales of the public lands to such lands only as have heretofore been offered for sale, and are now subject to entry at the minimum price. And, also, whether the office of surveyor general, and some of the land offices, may not be abolished without detriment to the public interest ; or whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten the sales, and extend more rapidly the surveys of the public lands."] We have thus heard, sir, what the reso- lution is, which is actually before us for consideration ; and it will readily occur to every one that it is almost the only subject about which something has not been said in the speech, running through two days, by whicn the Senate has been now enter- tained by the gentleman from South Caro- lina. Everv topic in the wide range of our public affaire, whether past or present, every thing, general or local, whether be- longing to national politics or party poli- tics, seems to have attracted more or less of the honorable member's attention, save only the resolution before us. He has spoken of everything but the public lands. They have escaped his notice. To that subject, in all his excursions, he has not paid even the cold respect of a passing glance. When this debate, sir, was to be resumed, on Thursday morning, it so happened that it would have been convenient for me to be elsewhere. The honorable member, however, did not incline to put off the dis- cussion to another day. He had a shot, he said, to return, and he wished to discharge it. That shot, sir, which it was kind thus to inform us was coming, that we might stand out of the way, or prepare ourselves to fall before it, and die with decency, has now been received. Under all advantages, and with expectation awakened by the tone which preceded it, it has been dis- charged, and has spent its force. It may become me to say no more of its effect than that, if nobody is found, after all, either killed or wounded by it, it is not the first time in the history of human affairs that the vigor and success of the war have not quite come up to the lofty and sounding phrase of the manifesto. The gentleman, sir, in declining to post- pone the debate, told the Senate, with the emphasis of his hand upon his heart, that there was something rankling here, which he wished to relieve. [Mr. Hayne rose and disclaimed having used the word rankling.] It would not, Mr. President, be safe for the honorable member to appeal to those around him, upon the question whether he did, in fact, make use of that word. But he may have been unconscious of it. At any rate, it is enough that he disclaims it. But still, with or without the use of that particular word, he had yet something here, he said, of which he wished to rid himself by an immediate reply. In this respect, sir, I have a great advantage over the honorable gentleman. There is nothing here, sir, which gives me the slight- est uneasiness ; neither fear, nor anger, nor that which is sometimes more troublesome than either, the consciousness of having been in the wrong. There is nothing either originating here, or now received here, by the gentleman's shot. Nothing original, for I had not the slightest feeling of disre- spect or unkindness towards the honorable member. Some passages, it is true, had occurred, since our acquaintance in this body, which I could have wished might have been "otherwise; but I had used phil- osophy, and forgotten them. When the honorable member rose, in his first speech, I paid him the respect of attentive listen- ing ; and when he sat down, though sur- prised, and I must say even astonished, at some of his opinions, nothing was farther from my intention than to commence any personal warfare ; and through the whole of the few remarks I made in answer, I avoided, studiously and carefully, every thing which I thought possible to be con- strued into disrepect. And, sir, while there is thus nothing originating here, which I wished at any time, or now wish to discharge, I must repeat, also, that no- thing has been received Acre which rankles, or in any way gives me annoyance. I will BOOKIII.] WEBSTER'S GREAT REPLY TO HAYNE. 49 n?t accuse the honorable member of violat- ing the rules of civilized war I will not say that he poisoned his arrows. But whether his shafts were, or were not, dipped in that which would have caused rankling if they had reached, there was not, as it happened, quite strength enough in the bow to bring them to their mark. If he wishes now to find those shafts, he must look for them elsewhere ; they will not be found fixed and quivering in the object at which they were aimed. The honorable member complained that I had slept on his speech. I must have slept on it, or not slept at all. The mo- ment the honorable member sat down, his friend from Missouri arose, and, with much honeyed commendation of the speech, sug- gested that the impressions which it had produced were too charming and delight- ful to be disturbed by other sentiments or other sound--, and proposed that the Senate should adjourn. Would it have been quite amiable in me, sir, to interrupt this excel- lent good feeling? Must I not have been absolutely malicious, if I could have thrust myself forward to destroy sensations thus pleasing? Was it not much better and kinder, both to sleep upon them myself, *nd to allow others, also, the pleasure of sleeping upon them? But if it be meant, by sleeping upon his speech, that I took time to prepare a reply to it, it is quite a mistake ; owing to other engagements, I could not employ even the interval be- tween the adjournment of the Senate and its meeting the next morning in attention to the subject of this debate. Nevertheless, sir, the mere matter of fact is undoubtedly true I did sleep on the gentleman's speech, and slept soundly. And I slept equally well on his speech of yesterday, to which I am now replying. It is quite possible that, in this respect, also, I possess some advantage over the honorable member, at- tributable, doubtless, to a cooler tempera- ment on my part ; for in truth I slept upon his speeches remarkably well. But the gentleman inquires why he was made the object of such a reply. Why was he singled out? If an attack had been made on the east, he, he assures us, did not be- in it it was the gentleman from Missouri, ir, I answered the gentleman's speech, be- cause I happened to hear it ; ana because, also, I choose to give an answer to that speech, which, if unanswered, I thought most likely to produce injurious impres- sions. I did not stop to inquire who was the original drawer of the bill. I found a responsible endorser before me, and it was my purpose to hold him liable, and to bring him to his just responsibility without delay. But, sir, this interrogatory of the honorable member was only introductory to another. He proceeded to ask me whether I had turned upon him in this de- 32 bate from the consciousness that I should find an overmatch if I ventured on a con- test with his friend from Missouri. If, sir, the honorable member, ex gratia modesties. had chosen thus to defer to his friend, ana to pay him a compliment, without inten- tional disparagement to others, it would have been quite according to the friendly courtesies ot debate, and not at all ungrate- ful to my own feelings. I am not one of those, sir, who esteem any tribute of regard, whether light and occasional, or more seri- ous and deliberate, which may be be- stowed on others, as so much unjustly with- holden from themselves. But the tone and manner of the gentleman's question, forbid me thus to interpret it. I am not at liberty to consider it as nothing more than a civility to his friend. It had an air of taunt and disparagement, a little of the loftiness of asserted superiority, which does not allow me to pass it over without notice. It was put as a question for me to answer, and so put as if it were difficult for me to answer, whether I deemed the member from Missouri an overmatch for myself in debate here. It seems to me, sir, that is extraordinary language, and an extraordi- nary tone for the discussions of this body. Matches and overmatches? Those terms are more applicable elewhere than here, and fitter for other assemblies than this. Sir, the gentleman seems to forget where and what we are. This is a Senate ; a Senate of equals ; of men of individual honor and personal character, and of ab- solute independence. We know no mas- ters ; we acknowledge no dictators. This is a hall of mutual consultation and dis- cussion, not an arena for the exhibition of champions. I offer myself, sir, as a match for no man ; I throw the challenge of de- bate at no man's feet. But, then, sir, since the honorable member has put the question in a manner that calls for an answer. I will give him an answer; and I tell him that, holding myself to be the humblest of the members here, I yet know nothing in the arm of his friend from Missouri, either alone or when aided by the arm of his friend from South Carolina, that need deter even me from espousing whatever opinions I may choose to es- pouse, from debating whenever I may choose to debate, or from speaking what- ever I may see fit to say on the floor of the Senate. Sir, when uttered as matter of commendation or compliment, I should dissent from nothing which the honorable member might say of his friend. Still less do I put forth any pretensions of my own. But when put to me as a matter of taunt, I throw it back, and say to the gentleman that he could possibly say nothing less likely than such a comparison to wound my pride of personal character. The an- ger of its tone rescued the remark from 50 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. intentional irony, which otherwise, pro- bably, would have been its general accep- tation. But, sir, if it be imagined that by this mutual quotation and commendation ; if it be supposed that, by casting the characters of the drama, assigning to each his part, to 'one the attack, to another the cry of onset, or if it be thought that by a loud and empty vaunt of anticipated victory any laurels are to be won here ; if it be imagined, especially, that any or all these things will shake any purpose of mine, I can tell the honorable member, once for all, that he is greatly mistaken, and that he is dealing with one of whose temper and character he has yet much to learn. Sir, I shall not allow myself, on this occasion I hope on no occasion to be betrayed into any loss of temper ; but if provoked, as I trust I never shall allow myself to be, into crimination and recrimi- nation, the honorable member may, per- haps, find that in that contest there will be blows to take as well as blows to give ; that others can state comparisons as signi- ficant, at least, as his own ; and that his impunity may, perhaps, demand of him whatever powers of taunt and sarcasm he may possess. I commend him to a pru- dent husbandry of his resources. But, sir, the coalition ! The coalition ! Aye, " the murdered coalition ! " The gentleman asks if I were led or frighted into this debate by the spectre of the coali- tion. " Was it the ghost of the murdered coalition," he exclaims, "which haunted the member from Massachusetts, and which, like the ghost of Banquo, would never down?" "The murdered coali- tion ! " Sir, this charge of a coalition, in reference to the late administration, is not original with the honorable member. It did not spring up in the Senate. Whether as a fact, as an argument, or as an embel- lishment, it is all borrowed. He adopts it, indeed, from a very low origin, and a still lower present condition. It is one of the thousand calumnies with which the press teemed during an excited political can- vass. It was a charge of which there was not only no proof or probability, but which was, in itself, wholly impossible to be true. No man of common information ever believed a svllable of it. Yet it was of that class of falsehoods which, by con- tinued repetition through all the organs of detraction and abuse, are capable of mis- leading those who are already far misled, and of further fanning passion already kindling into flame. Doubtless it served its day, and, in a greater or less degree, the end designed by it. Having done that, it has sunk into the general mass of stale and loathed calumnies. It is the very cast- off slough of a polluted and shameless press. Incapable of further mischief, it ties in the sewer lifeless and despised. It is not now, sir, in the power of the honora* ble member to give it dignity or decency, by attempting to elevate it, and to intro- duce it into the Senate. He cannot change it from what it is an object of general disgust and scorn. On the contrary, the contact, if he choose to touch it, is more likely to drag him down, down, to the place where it lies itself. But, sir, the honorable member was not, for other reasons, entirely happy in his al- lusion to the story of Banquo's murder and Banquo's ghost. It was not, I think, the friends, but the enemies of the murdered Banquo, at whose bidding his spirit would not down. The honorable gentleman is fresh in his reading of the English classics, and can put me right if I am wrong ; but according to my poor recollection, it was at those who had begun with caresses, and ended with foul and treacherous murder, that the gory locks were shaken. The ghost of Banquo, like that of Hamlet, was an honest ghost. It disturbed no innocent man. It knew where its appearance would strike terror, and who would cry out A ghost ! It made itself visible in the right quarter, and compelled the guilty, and the conscience-smitten, and none others, to start, with, " Prithee, gee there ! behold ! look ! lo ! If 1 stand here, I saw him t " TJieir eyeballs were seared was it not so, sir? who had thought to shield them- selves by concealing their own hand and laying the imputation of the crime on a low and hireling agency in wickedness; who had vainly attempted to stifle the workings of their own coward consciences, by circulating, through white lips and chattering teeth, "Thou canst not say I did it I " I have misread the great poet, if it was those who had no way partaken in the deed of the death, who either found that they were, or feared that they should be, pushed from their stools by the ghost of the slain, or who cried out to a spectre created by their own fears, and their own remorse, Avaunt ! and quit our sight ! There is another particular, sir, in which the honorable member's quick per- ception of resemblances might, I should think, have seen something in the story of Banquo, making it not altogether a sub- ject of the most pleasant contemplation. Those who murdered Banquo, what did they win by it? Substantial good? Per- manent power? Or disappointment, rath- er, and sore mortification dust and ashes the common fate of vaulting ambition overleaping itsself ? Did not even-handed justice, ere long, commend the poisoned chalice to their own lips ? Did they not soon find that for another they had filed their mind?" that their ambition though apparently for the moment successful, had BOOK in.] WEBSTER'S GREAT REPLY TO HAYNE. 51 but put a barren sceptre in their grasp ? Aye, sir, " A barren eceptre in their gripe, Thence to be wrenched by an unlineal hand, Ab son of theirs succeeding." Sir, I need pursue the allusion no fur- ther. I leave the honorable gentleman to run it out at his leisure, and to derive from it all the gratification it is calculated to administer. If he finds himself pleased with the associations, and prepared to be quite satisfied, though the parallel should be entirely completed, I had almost said I am satisfied also but that I shall think of. Yes, sir, I will think of that. In the course of my observations the oth- er day, Mr. President, I paid a passing tribute of respect to a very worthy man, Mr. Dane, of Massachusetts. It so hap- pened that he drew the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the North-western Territory. A man of so much ability, and so little pretence ; of so great a capacity to do good, and so unmixed a disposition to do it for its own sake ; a gentleman who acted an important part, forty years ago, in a measure the influence of which is still deeply felt in the very matter which was the subject of debato, might, I thought, re- ceive from me a c< 'mmendatory recogni- tion. But the honorable gentleman was in- clined to be facetiou s on the subject. He was rather disposed to make it a matter of ridicule that I had ? ntroduced into the de- bate the name of one Nathan Dane, of whom he assures uf he had never before heard. Sir, if the honorable member had never before hea*'d of Mr. Dane, I am sorry tor it. It shows him less acquainted with the public men of the country than I had supposed. Let me tell him, however, that a sneer fVm him at the mention of the name of Mr. Dane is in bad taste. It may well be a high mark of ambition, sir, either with the honorable gentleman or myself, to accomplish as much to make our names known to advantage, and re- membered with gratitude, as Mr. Dane has accomplished. But the truth is, sir, I sus- pect that Mr. Dane lives a little too far north. He is of Massachusetts, and too near the north star to be reached by the honorable gentleman's telescope. If his sphere had happened to range south of Mason and Dixon's line, he might, prob- ably, have come within the scope of his vision 1 I spoke, sir, of the ordinance of 1787, which prohibited slavery in all future times north-west of the Ohio, as a measure of great wisdom and foresight, and one which had been attended with highly beneficial and permanent consequences. I suppose that on this point no two gentle- men in the Senate could entertain different opinions. But the simple expression of this sentiment has led the gentleman, not only into a labored defence of slavery in the abstract, and on principle, but also into a warm accusation against me, as having attacked the system of slavery now exist- ing in the Southern States. For all this there was not the slightest foundation in anything said or intimated by me. I did not utter a single word which any ingenu- ity could torture into an attack on th slavery of the South. I said only that it was highly wise and useful in legislating for the north-western country, while it was yet a wilderness, to prohibit the introduc- tion of slaves ; and added, that I presumed, in the neighboring state of Kentucky, there was no reflecting and intelligent gentleman who would doubt that, if the same prohibition had been extended, at the same early period, over that common- wealth, her strength and population would, at this day, have been far greater than thev are. If these opinions be thought doubtful, they are, nevertheless, I trust, neither ex- traordinary nor disrespectful. They at- tack nobody and menace nobody. And yet, sir, the gentleman's optics have dis- covered, even in the mere expression of this sentiment, what he calls the very spirit of the Missouri question ! He rep- resents me as making an attack on the whole south, and manifesting a spirit which would interfere with and disturb their domestic condition. Sir, this in- justice no otherwise surprises me than as it is done here, and done without the slightest pretence of ground for it. I say it only surprises me as being done here ; for I know full well that it is and has been the settled policy of some persons in the south, for years, to represent the people of the north as disposed to interfere with them in their own exclusive and peculiar concerns. This is a delicate and sensitive point in southern feeling ; and of late years it has always been touched, and generally with effect, whenever the object has been to unite the whole south against northern men or northern measures. This feeling, always carefully kept alive, and maintained at too intense a heat to admit discrimina- tion or reflection, is a lever of great power in our political machine. It moves vast bodies, and gives to them one and the same direction. But the feeling is without adequate cause, and the suspicion which exists wholly groundless. There is not, and never has oeen, a disposition in the north to interfere with these interests of the south. Such interference has never been supposed to be within the power of the government, nor has it been in any way attempted. It has always been regarded as a matter of domestic policy, left with the states themselves, and with which tht federal government had nothing to do. 52 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK IIL Certainly, sir, I am, and ever had been, of that opinion. The gentleman, indeed, argues that slavery in the abstract is no evil. Most assuredly I need not say I dif- fer with him altogether and most widely on that point. I regard domestic slavery as one of the greatest evils, both moral and political. But, though it be a malady, and whether it be curable, and if so, by what means ; or, on the other hand, whether it be the culnus immedicabile of the social system, I leave it to those whose right and duty it is to inquire and to decide. And this I believe, sir, is, and uniformly has been, the sentiment of the north. Let us look a little at the history of this matter. When the present constitution was sub- mitted for the ratification of the people, there were those who imagined that the powers of the government which it pro- posed to establish might, perhaps, in some possible mode, be exerted in measures tending to the abolition of slavery. This suggestion would, of course, attract much attention in the southern conventions. In that of Virginia, Governor Kandolph " I hope there is none here, who, consi- dering tne subject in the calm light of phi- losophv, will make an objection dishonora- ble to Virginia that, at the moment they are securing the rights of their citizens, an objection is started, that there is a spark of hope that those unfortunate men now held in bondage may, by the operation of the general government, be made free." At the very first Congress, petitions on the subject were presented, if I mistake not, from different states. The Pennsylva- nia Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, took a lead, and laid before Con- gress a memorial, praying Congress to pro- mote the abolition by such powers as it possessed. This memorial was referred, in the House of Representatives, to a select committee, consisting of Mr. Foster, of New Hampshire, Mr. Gerry, of Massachu- setts, Mr. Huntington, of Connecticut, Mr. Lawrence, of New York, Mr. Dickin- son, of New Jersey, Mr. Hartley, of Penn- sylvania, and Mr. Parker, of Virginia ; all of them, sir, as you will observe, northern men, but the last. This committee made a report, which was committed to a commit- tee of the whole house, and there consid- ered and discussed on several days ; and being amended, although in no material respect, it was made to express three dis- tinct propositions on the subjects of slavery and the slave trade. First, in the words of the constitution, that Congress could not, prior to the year 1808, prohibit the migra- tion or importation of such persons as any of the states then existing should think E roper to admit. Second, that Congress ad authority to restrain the citizens of the United States from carrying on the African slave trade for the purpose of supplying foreign countries. On this proposition, our early laws against those who engage in that traffic are founded. The third proposition, and that which bears on the present ques- tion, was expressed in tne following terms : " Resolved, That Congress have no au- thority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or of the treatment of them in any of the states ; it remaining with the several states alone to provide rules and regulations therein, which humanity and true policy may require." This resolution received the sanction of the House of Representatives so early as March, 1790. And, now, sir, the honorable member will allow me to remind him, that not only were the select committee who re- ported the resolution, with a single excep- tion, all northern men, but also that of the members then composing the House of Representatives, a large majority, I believe nearly two-thirds, were northern men also. The house agreed to insert these resolu- tions in its journal ; and, from that day to this, it has never been maintained or con- tended that Congress had any authority to regulate or interfere with the condition of slaves in the several states. No northern gentleman, to my knowledge, has moved any such question in either house of Con- gress. The fears of the south, whatever fears they might have entertained, were allayed and quieted by this early decision ; and so remained, till they were excited afresh, without cause, but for collateral and indi- rect purposes. When it became necessary, or was thought so, by some political per- sons, to find an unvarying ground for the exclusion of northern men from confidence and from lead in the affairs of the republic, then, and not till then, the cry was raised, and the feeling industriously excited, that the influence of northern men in the public councils would endanger the relation of master and slave. For myself, I claim no other merit, than that this gross and enor- mous injustice towards the whole north has not wrought upon me to change my opin- ions, or my political conduct. I hope I am above violating my principles, even under the smart of injury and false impu- tations. Unjust suspicions and undeserved reproach, whatever pain I may experience from them, will not induce me, I trust, nevertheless, to overstep the limits of con- stitutional duty, or to encroach on the rights of others. The domestic slavery of the south I leave where I find it in the hands of their own governments. It is their affair, not mine. Nor do I complain of the peculiar effect which the magnitude of that population has had in the distribu- tion of power under this federal govern- ment. We know, sir, that the representa* BOOK m.] WEBSTER'S GREAT REPLY TO HAYNE. 53 tion of the states in the other house is not equal. We know that great advantage, in that respect, is enjoyed by the slaveholding states ; and we know, too, that the intended equivalent for that advantage that is to say, the imposition of direct taxes in the same ratio has become merely nominal ; the habit of the government being almost invariably to collect its revenues from other sources, and in other modes. Nevertheless, I do not complain; nor would I counte- nance any movement to alter this arrange- ment of representation. It is the original bargain, the compact let it stand ; let the advantage of it be fully enjoyed. The Union itself is too full of benefit to be hazarded in propositions for changing its original basis. I go for the constitution as it is, and for the Union as it is. But I am resolved not to submit, in silence, to accu- sations, either against myself indi vidually, or against the north, wholly unfounded and unjust accusations which impute to us a disposition to evade the constitutional compact, and to extend the power of the government over the internal laws and do- mestic condition of the states. All such accusation?, wherever and whenever made, all insinuations of the existence of any such purposes, I know and feel to be groundless and injurious. And we must confide in southern gentlemen themselves ; we must trust to those whose integrity of heart and magnanimity of feeling will lead them to a desire to maintain and disseminate truth, and who possess the means of its diffusion with the southern public ; we must leave it to them to disabuse that public of its prejudices. But, in the mean time, for my own part, I shall continue to act justly, whether those towards whom justice is ex- ercised receive it with candor or with con- tumely. Having had occasion to recur to the or- dinance of 1787, in order to defend myself against the inferences which the honorable member has chosen to draw from my former observations on that subject, I am not willing now entirely to take leave of it without another remark. It need hardly be said, that that paper expresses just sen- timents on the great subject of civil and religious liberty. Such sentiments were common, and abound in all our state papers of that day. But this ordinance did that which was not so common, and which is not, even now, universal ; that is, it set forth and declared, as a high and binding duty of government itself, to encourage schools and advance the means of educa- tion; on the plain reason that religion, morality and knowledge are necessary to good government, and to the happiness of mankind. One observation further. The important provision incorporated into the constitution of the United States, and sev- eral of those of the states, and recently, as we have seen, adopted into the reformed constitution of Virginia, restraining legis- lative power, in questions of private right, and from impairing the obligation of con- tracts, is first introduced and established, as far as I am informed, as matter of ex- press written constitutional law, in this or- dinance of 1787. And I must add, also, in regard to the author of the ordinance, who has not had the happiness to attract the gentleman's notice heretofore, nor to avoid his sarcasm now, that he was chairman of that select committee of the old Congress, whose report first expressed the strong sense of that body, that the old confedera- tion was not adequate to the exigencies of the country, and recommending to the states to send delegates to the convention which formed the present constitution. An attempt has been made to transfer from the north to the south the honor of this exclusion of slavery from the North- western territory. The journal, without argument or comment, refutes such at- tempt. The session of Virginia was made March, 1784. On the 19th of April fol- lowing, a committee, consisting of Messrs. Jefferson, Chase and Howell, reported a plan for a temporary government of the territory, in which was this article : " That after the year 1800, there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been convicted." Mr. Speight, of North Carolina, moved to strike out this paragraph. The question was put ac- cording to the form then practiced : Shall, these words stand, as part of the plan ? " &c. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania seven states voted in the affirmative; Maryland, Virgin- ia and South Carolina, in the negative. North Carolina was divided. As the consent of nine states was necessary, the words could not stand, and were struck out accordingly. Mr. Jefferson voted for the clause, but was overruled by his colleagues. In March of the next year (1785) Mr. King, of Massachusetts, seconded by Mr. Ellery, of Rhode Island, proposed the formerly rejected article, with this addi- tion : " And that this regulation shall be an article of compact, and remain a funda- mental principle of the constitution between the thirteen original states and each of the states described in the resolve," &c. On this clause, which provided the adequate and thorough security, the eight Northern States, at that time, voted affirmatively, and the four Southern States negatively. The votes of nine states were not yet ob- tained, and thus the provision was again rejected by the Southern States. The per- severance of the north held out, and two years afterwards the object was attained. AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. It is no derogation from the credit, what- ever that may be, of drawing the ordi- nance, that its principles had before been prepared and discussed, in the form of resolutions. If one should reason in that way, what would become of the distin- guished honor of the author of the decla- ration of Independence? There is not a sentiment in that paper which had not been voted and resolved in the assemblies, and other popular bodies in the country, over and over again. But the honorable member has now found out that this gentleman, Mr. Da.ne, was a member of the Hartford Convention. However uninformed the honorable mem- ber may be of characters and occurrences at the north, it would seem that he has at his elbows, on this occasion, some high- minded and lofty spirit, some magnani- mous and true-hearted monitor, possessing the means of local knowledge, and ready to supply the honorable member with every thing, down even to forgotten and moth-eaten twopenny pamphlets, which may be used to the disadvantage of his own country. But, as to the Hartford Convention, sir, allow me to say that the proceedings of that body seem now to be less read and studied in New England than farther south. They appear to be looked to, not in New England, but else- where, for the purpose of seeing how far they may serve as a precedent. But they will not answer quite too tame. the purpose they are The latitude in which they originated was too cold. Other con- ventions, of more recent existence, have gone a whole bar's length beyond it. The learned doctors of Colleton and Abbeville have pushed their commentaries on the Hartford collect so far that the original text writers are thrown entirely into the shade. I have nothing to do, sir ; with the Hartford Convention. Its journal, which the gentleman has quoted, I never read. So far as the honorable member may dis- cover in its proceedings a spirit in any degree resembling that which was avowed and justified in those other conventions to which I have alluded, or so far as those proceedings can be shown to be disloyal to the constitution, or tending to disunion, so far I shall be as ready as any one to bestow on them reprehension and cen- sure. Having dwelt long on this convention, and other occurrences of that day, in the hope, probably, (which will not be grati- fied,) that I should leave the course of this debate to follow him at length in those ex- cursions, the honorable member returned, and attempted another object. He re- ferred to a speech of mine in the other house, the same which I had occasion to allude to myself the other day ; and has quoted a passage or two from it, with a bold though uneasy and laboring air of confidence, as if he had detected in me an inconsistency. Judging from the gentle- man's manner, a stranger to the course of the debate, and to the point in discussion, would have imagined, from so triumphant a tone, that the honorable member was about to overwhelm me with a mani- fest contradiction. Any one who heard him, and who had not heard what I had, in fact, previously said, must have thought me routed and discomfited, as the gentle- man had promised. Sir, a breath blows all this triumph away. There is not the slightest difference in the sentiments of my remarks on the two occasions. What I said here on Wednesday is in exact ac- cordance with the opinions expressed by me in the other house in 1825. Though the gentleman had the metaphysics of Hudibras though he were able " to sever and divide A hair 'twixt north and north -west side," he could not yet insert his metaphysical scissors between the fair readin marks in 1825 and what I saic of my re- here last week. There is not only no contradiction, no difference, but, in truth, too exact a similarity, both in thought and language, to be entirely in just taste. I had myself quoted the same speech ; had recurred to it, and spoke with it open before me ; and much of what I said was little more than a repetition from it. In order to make finishing work with this alleged contradic- tion, permit me to recur to the origin of this debate, and review' its course. This seems expedient, and may be done as well now as at any time. Well, then, its history is this : the hon- orable member from Connecticut moved a resolution, which constituted the first branch of that which is now before us ; that is to say, a resolution instructing the com- mittee on public lands to inquire into the expediency of limiting, for a certain pe- riod, the sales of public lands to such as have heretofore been offered for sale ; and whether sundry offices, connected with the sales of the lands, might not be abolished without detriment to the public service. In the progress of the discussion which arose on this resolution, an honorable mem- ber from New Hampshire moved to amend the resolution, so as entirely to reverse its object ; that is to strike it all out, and in- sert a direction to the committee to inquire into the expediency of adopting measures to hasten the sales, and extend more ra- pidlv the surveys of the lands. The honorable member from Maine (Mr. Sprague) suggested that both these propo- sitions might well enough go, for considera- tion, to the committee ; and in this state of the question, the member from South Carolina addressed the Senate in his first SOOKIII.J WEBSTER'S GREAT REPLY TO HAYNE. 55 speech. He rose, he said, to give his own free thoughts on the public lands. I saw him rise, with pleasure, and listened with expectation, though before he concluded I was filled with surprise. Certainly, I was never more surprised than to find him following up, to the extent he did, the sen- timents and opinions which the gentleman from Missouri had put forth, and which it is known he has long entertained. I need not repeat, at large, the general topics of the honorable gentleman's speech. When he said, yesterday, that he did not attack the Eastern States, he certainly must have forgotten not only particular remarks, but the whole drift and tenor of his speech ; unless he means by not at- tacking, that he did not commence hostili- ties, but that another had preceded him in the attack. He, in the first place, disap- proved of the whole course of the govern- ment for forty years, in regard to its dis- positions of the public land ; and then, turning northward and eastward, and fan- cying he had found a cause for alleged narrowness and niggardliness in the " ac- cursed policy " of the tariff, to which he represented the people of New England as wedded, he went on, for a full hour, with remarks, the whole scope of which was to exhibit the results of this policy, in feelings and in measures unfavorable to the west. I thought his opinions unfounded and erro- neous, as to the general course of the gov- ernment, and ventured to reply to them. The gentleman had remarked on the analogy of other cases, and quoted the con- duct of European governments towards their own subjects, settling on this conti- nent, as in point, to show that we had been harsh and rigid in selling when we should have given the public lands to settlers. I thought the honorable member had suf- fered his judgment to be betrayed by a false analogy ; that he was struck with an appearance of resemblance where there was no real similitude. I think so still. The first settlers of North America were enterprising spirits, engaging in private adventure, or fleeing from tyranny at home. When arrived here, they were forgotten by the mother country, or remembered only to be oppressed. Carried away again by the appearance of analogy, or struck with the eloquence of the passage, the honor- able member yesterday observed that the conduct of government towards the western emigrants, or my representation of it, brought to his mind a celebrated speech in the British Parliament. It was, sir, the speech of Colonel Barre. On the ques- tion of the stamp act, or tea tax, I forget which, Colonel Barre had heard a member on the treasury bench argue, that the peo- ple of the United States, being British colonists, planted by the maternal care, nourished by the indulgence, and protected by the arms of England, would not grudge their mite to relieve the mother country from the heavy burden under which she groaned. The language of Colonel Barre, in reply to this, was, " They planted by your care ? Your oppression planted them in America. They fled from your tyranny, and grew by your neglect of them. So- soon as you began to care for them, you showed your care by sending persons to spy out their liberties, misrepresent their char- acter, prey upon them, and eat out their substance." And does this honorable gentleman mean to maintain that language like this is ap- plicable to the conduct of the govern- ment of the United States towards the western emigrants, or to any representa- tion given by me of that conduct? Were the settlers in the west driven thither by our oppression ? Have they flourished only by our neglect of them ? Has the govern- ment done nothing but prey upon them, and eat out their substance ? Sir, this fer- vid eloquence of the British speaker, just when and where it was uttered, and fit to remain an exercise for the schools, is not a little out of place, when it was brought thence to be applied here, to the con- duct of our own country towards her own citizens. From America to England it may be true ; from Americans to their own government it would be strange lan- guage. Let us leave it to be recited and declaimed bv our boys against a foreign nation ; not introduce it here, to recite and declaim ourselves against our own. But I come to the point of the alleged contradiction. In my remarks on Wednes- day, I contended that we could not give away gratuitously all the public lands ; that we held them in trust ; that the govern- ment had solemnly pledged itself to dis- pose of them as a common fund for the common benefit, and to sell and settle them as its discretion should dictate. Now, sir, what contradiction does the gentleman find to this sentiment in the speech of 1825 ? He quotes me as having then said, that we ought not to hug these lands as a very great treasure. Very well, sir; supposing me to be accurately reported in that ex- pression, what is the contradiction ? I have not now said, that we should hug these lands as a favorite source of pecuniary in- come. No such thing. It is not my view. What I have said, and what I do say, is, that they are a common fund to be dis- posed of for the common benefit to be sold at low prices, for the accommodation of settlers, keeping the object of settling the lands as much in view as that of raising money from them. This I say now, ana this I have always said. Is this hugging them as a favorite treasure ? Is there no difference between hugging and hoard- ing this fund, on the one hand, as a great AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. treasure, and on the other of disposing of it at low prices, placing the proceeds in the general treasury of the Union ? My opin- ion is, that us much is to be made of the land, as fair and reasonably may be, selling it all the while at such rates as to give the fullest effect to settlement. This is not giving it all away to the states, as the gen- tleman would propose , nor is it hugging the fund closely and tenaciously, as a fa- vorite treasure ; but it is, in my judgment, a just and wise policy, perfectly according with all the various duties which rest on government. So much for my contradic- tion. And what is it? Where is the ground of the gentleman's triumph ? What inconsistency, in word or doctrine, has he been able to detect? Sir, if this be a sam- ple of that discomfiture with which the honorable gentleman threatened me, com- mend me to the word discomfiture for the rest of my life. But, after all, this is not the point of the debate; and I must bring the gentleman back to that which is the point. The real question between me and him is , Where has the doctrine been advanced, at the south or the east, that the popula- tion of the west should be retarded, or, at least, need not be hastened, on account of its effect to drain off the people from the Atlantic States? Is this doctrine, as has been alleged, of eastern origin? That is the question. Has the gentleman found any- thing by which he can make good his ac- cusation ? I submit to the Senate, that he has entirely failed ; and as far as this de- bate has shown, the only person who has advanced such sentiments is a gentleman from South Carolina, and a friend to the honorable member himself. This honor- able gentleman has given no answer to this; there is none which can be given. This simple fact, while it requires no com- ment to enforce it, defies all argument to refute it. I could refer to the speeches of another southern gentleman, in years be- fore, of the same general character, and to the same effect, as that which has been quoted ; but I will not consume the time of the Senate by the reading of them. So then, sir, New England is guiltless of the policy of retarding western population, and of all envy and jealousy of the growth of the new states. Whatever there be of that policy in the country, no part of it is hers. If it has a local habitation, the honor- able member has probably seen, by this time, where he is to look for it ; and if it now has received a name, he himself has christened it. We approach, at length, sir, to a more important part of the honorable gentle- man's observations. Since it does not ac- cord with my views of justice and policy, to vote away the public lands altogether, as mere matter of gratuity, I am asked, by , the honorable gentleman, on what ground it is that I consent to give them away in particular instances. How, he inquires, do I reconcile with these professed senti- ments my support of measures appropri- ating portions of the lands to particular roads, particular canals, particular rivers, and particular institutions of education in the west? This leads, sir, to the real and wide difference in political opinions be- tween the honorable gentleman and my- self. On my part, I look upon all these objects as connected with the common good, fairly embraced in its objects and its terms ; he, on the contrary, deems them all, if good at all, only local good. This is our difference. The interrogatory which he proceeded to put, at once explains this difference. " W T hat interest," asks he, " has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio?" Sir, this very question is full of significance. It develops the gentleman's whole political system ; and its answer expounds mine. Here we differ toto ccelo. I look upon a road over the Alleghany, a canal round the falls of the Ohio, or a canal or railway from the Atlantic to the western waters, as being objects large and extensive enough to be fairly said to be for the common benefit. The gentleman thinks otherwise, and this is the key to open his construction of the powers of the government. He may well ask, upon his system, What in- terest has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio ? On that system, it is true, she has no interest. On that system, Ohio and Carolina are different governments and different countries, connected here, it is true, by some slight and ill-defined bond of union, but in all main respects separate and diverse. On that system, Carolina has no more interest in a canal in Ohio than in Mexico. The gentleman, therefore, only follows out his own principles ; he does no more than arrive at the natural conclusions of his own doctrines ; he only announces the true results of that creed which he has adopted himself, and would persuade others to adopt, when he thus declares that South Carolina has no inter- est in a public work in Ohio. Sir, we nar- row-minded people of New England do not reason thus. Our notion of things is entirely different. We look upon the states not as separated, but as united. We love to dwell on that Union, and on the mutual happiness which it has so much promoted, and the common renown which it has so greatly contributed to acquire. In our con- templation, Carolina and Ohio are parts of the same country states united under the same general government, having interests common, associated, intermingled. In whatever is within the proper sphere of the constitutional power of this government, we look upon the states as one. We do not impose geographical limits to our patri- BOOKIII.] WEBSTER'S GREAT REPLY TO HAYNE. 57 otic feeling or regard; we do not follow rivers, and mountains, and lines of latitude, to find boundaries beyond which public improvements do not benefit us. We, who come here as agents and representatives of those narrow-minded and selfish men of New England, consider ourselves as bound to regard, with equal eye, the good of the whole, in whatever is within our power of legislation. Sir, if a railroad or canal, beginning in South Carolina, appeared to me to be of national importance and nation- al magnitude, believing as I do that the power of government extends to the en- couragement of works of that description, if I were to stand up here and ask, " What interest has Massachusetts in a railroad in South Carolina?" I should not be willing to face my constituents. These same narrow- minded men would tell me that they had sent me to act for the whole country, and that one who possessed too little compre- hension, either of intellect or feeling one who was not large enough, in mind and heart, to embrace the whole was not fit to be intrusted with the interest of any part. Sir, I do not desire to enlarge the powers of government by unjustifiable construc- tion, nor to exercise any not within a fair interpretation. But when it is believed that a power does exist, then it is, in my judgment, to be exercised for the general benefit of the whole : so far as respects the exercise of such a power, the states are one. It was the very great object of the constitution to create unity of interests to the extent of the powers of the general government,. In war and peace we are one; in commerce one; because the author- ity of the general government reaches to war and peace, and to the regulation of commerce. I have never seen any more difficulty in erecting lighthouses on the lakes than on the ocean ; in improving the harbors of inland seas, than if they were within the ebb and flow of the tide ; or of removing obstructions in the vast streams of the west, more than in any work to facili- tate commerce on the Atlantic coast. If there be power for one, there is power also for the other ; and they are all and equally for the country. There are other objects, apparently more local, or the benefit of which is less general, towards which, nevertheless, I have con- curred with others to give aid by donations of land. It is proposed to construct a road in or through one of the new states in which the government possesses large quantities of land. Have the United States no right, as a great and untaxed proprietor are they under no obligation to con- tribute to an object thus calculated to pro- mote the common good of all the pro- prietors, themselves included? And even with respect to education, which is the ex- treme case, let the question be considered. In the first place, as we have seen, it wag made matter of compact with these states that they should do their part topromote education. In the next place, our whole system of land laws proceeds on the idea that education is for the common good; because, in every division, a certain por- tion is uniformly reserved and appropriated for the use of schools. And, finally have not these new states singularly strong claims, founded on the ground already stated, that the government is a great un- taxed proprietor in the ownership of the soil? It is a consideration of great im- portance that probably there is in no part of the country, or of the world, so great.a call for the means of education as in those new states, owing to the vast number of persons within those ages in which educa- tion and instruction are usually received, if received at all. This is the natural con- sequence of recency of settlement and rapid increase. The census of these states shows how great a proportion of the whole population occupies the classes between infancy and childhood. These are the wide fields, and here is the deep and quick soil for the seeds of knowledge and virtue ; and this is the favored season, the spring time for sowing them. Let them be dis- seminated without stint. Let them be scattered with a bountiful broadcast. Whatever the government can fairly do towards these objects, in my opinion, ought to be done. These, sir, are the grounds, succinctly stated, on which my vote for grants of lands for particular objects rest, while I main- tain, at the same time, that it is all a com- mon fund, for the common benefit. And reasons like these, I presume, have in- fluenced the votes of other gentlemen from New England. Those who have a differ- ent view of the powers of the government, of course, come to different conclusions on these as on other questions. I observed, when speaking on this subject before, that if we looked to any measure, whether for a road, a canal, or any thing else intended for the improvement of the west, it would be found, that if the New England ayes were struck out of the list of votes, the southern noes would always have rejected the measure. The truth of this has not been denied, and cannot be denied. In stating this, I thought it just to ascribe it to the constitutional scruples of the south, rather than to any other less favorable or less charitable cause. But no sooner had I done this, than the honorable gen- tleman asks if I reproach him and his friends with their constitutional scruples. Sir, I reproach nobody. I stated a fact, and gave the most respectful reason for it that occurred to me. The gentleman can- not deny the fact he may, if he choose, disclaim the reason. It is not long since 58 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. I had 'occasion, in presenting a petition from his own state, to account for its being intrusted to my hands by saying, that the constitutional opinions of the gentleman and his worthy colleague prevented them from supporting it. Sir, did I state this as a matter of reproach ? Far from it. Did I attempt to find any other cause than an honest one for these scruples ? Sir, I did not. It did not become me to doubt, nor to insinuate that the gentleman had either changed his sentiments, or that he had made up a set of constitutional opinions, accommodated to any particular combina- tion of political occurrences. Had I done so, I should have felt, that while I was en- titled to little respect in thus questioning other people's motives, I justified the whole world in suspecting my own. But how has the gentleman returned this respect for others' opinions? His own candor and justice, how have they been exhibited towards the motives of others, while he has been at so much pains to maintain what nobody has disputed the purity of his own ? Why, sir, he has asked when, and how, and why New England votes were found going for measures favor- able to the west ; he has demanded to be informed whether all this did not begin in 1825, and while the election of President was still pending. Sir, to these questions retort would be justified ; and it is both cogent and at hand. Nevertheless, I will answer the inquiry not by retort, but by facts. I will tell the gentleman when, and how , and why New England has supported measures favorable to the west. I have already referred to the early history of the government to the first acquisition of the lands to the original laws for disposing of them and for governing the territories where they lie ; and have shown the in- fluence of New England men and New England principles in all these leading measures. I should not be pardoned were I to go over that ground again. Coming to more recent times, and to measures of a less general character, I have endeavored to prove that every thing of this kind de- signed for western improvement has de- pended on the votes of New England. All this is true beyond the power of contradic- tion. And now, sir, there are two measures to which I will refer, not so ancient as to be- long to the early history of the public lands, and not so recent as to be on this side of the period when the gentleman charitably imagines a new direction may have been given to New England feeling and New England votes. These measures, and the New England votes in support of them, may be taken as samples and speci- ' mens of all the rest. In 1820, (observe, Mr. President, in 1820,) the people of the west besought Congress for a reduction in the price of lands. In favor of that reduc- tion, New England, with a delegation of forty members in the other house, gave thirty-three votes, and one only against it. The four Southern States, with fifty mem- bers, gave thirty-two votes for it, and seven against it. Again, in 1821, (observe again, sir, the time,) the law passed for the relief of the purchasers of the public lands. This was a measure of vital importance to the west, and more especially to the south- west. It authorized the relinquishment of contracts for lands, which had been entered into at high prices, and a reduction, in other cases, of not less than 37 per cent, on the purchase money. Many millions of dollars, six or seven I believe at least, probably much more, were relinquished by this law. On this bill New England, with her forty members, gave more affirma- tive votes than the four Southern States with their fifty-two or three members. These two are far the most important measures respecting the public lands which have been adopted within the last twenty years. They took place in 1820 and 1821. That is . the time when. And as to the manner how, the gentleman already sees that it was by voting, in solid column, for the required relief; and lastly, as to the cause why, I tell the gentleman, it was be- cause the members from New England thought the measures just and salutary ; because they entertained towards the west neither envy, hatred, nor malice ; because they deemed it becoming them, as just and enlightened public men, to meet the exi- gency which had arisen in the west with the appropriate measure of relief; because they felt it due to their own characters of their New England predecessors in this government, to act towards the new states in the spirit of a liberal, patronizing, mag- nanimous policy. So much, sir, for the cause why ; and I hope that by this time, sir, the honorable gentleman is satisfied ; if not, I do not know when, or how. or why, he ever will be. Having recurred to these two important measures, in answer to the gentleman's inquiries, I must now beg permission to go back to a period still something earlier, for the purpose still further of showing how much, or rather how little reason there is for the gentleman's insinuation that politi- cal hopes, or fears, or party associations, were tne grounds of these New England votes. And after what has been said, I hope it may be forgiven me if I allude to some political opinions and votes of my own, of very little public importance, cer- tainly, but which, from the time at which they were given and expressed, may pass for good witnesses on this occasion. This government, Mr. President, from its origin to the peace of 1815, had been too much engrossed with various other impor- BOOK in.] WEBSTER'S GREAT REPLY TO HAYNE. tant concerns to be able to turn its thoughts inward, and look to -the develop- ment of its vast internal resources. In the early part of President Washington's ad- ministration, it was fully occupied with organizing the government, providing for the public debt, defending the frontiers, and maintaining domestic peace. Before the termination of that administration, the fires of the French revolution blazed forth, as from a new opened volcano, and the whole breadth of the ocean did not en- tirely secure us from its effects. The smoke and the cinders reached us, though not the burning lava. Difficult and agitating ques- tions, embarrrassing to government, and dividing public opinion, sprung out of the new state of our foreign relations, and were succeeded by others, and yet again by others, equally embarrassing, and equally exciting division and discord, through the long series of twenty years, till they finally issued in the war with England. Down to the close of that war, no distinct, marked and deliberate attention had been given, or could have been given, to the internal condition of the country, its capacities of improvement, or the constitutional power of the government, in regard to objects connected with such improvement. The peace, Mr. President, brought about an entirely new and a most interesting state of things ; it opened to us other pros- pects, and suggested other duties ; we our- selves were changed, and the whole world was changed. The pacification of Europe, after June, 1815, assumed a firm and per- manent aspect. The nations evidently manifested that they were disposed for peace : some agitation of the waves might be expected, even after the storm had sub- sided ; but the tendency was, strongly and rapidly, towards settled repose. It so happened, sir, that I was at that time a member of Congress, and, like others, naturally turned my attention to the contemplation of the newly-altered condition of the country, and of the world. It appeared plainly enough to me, as well as to wiser and more experienced men, that the policy of the government would necessarily take a star tin anew direction, because new directions would necessarily be given to the pursuits and occupa- tions of the people. We had pushed our commerce far and fast, under the ad- vantage of a neutral flag. But there were mow no longer flags, either neutral or bel- ligerent. The harvest of neutrality had been great, but we had gathered it all. With the peace of Europe, it was obvious there would spring up, in her circle of na- tions, a revived and invigorated spirit of trade, and a new activity in all the business and objects of civilized life. Hereafter, our commercial gains were to be earned only by success in a close and intense competition. Other nations would pro- duce for themselves, and carry for them- selves, and manufacture for themselves, to the full extent of their abilities. The crops of our plains would no longer sus- tain European armies, nor our ships longer supply those whom Avar had rendered un- able to supply themselves. It was obvious that under these circumstances, the coun- try would begin to survey itself, and to estimate its own capacity of improvement. And this improvement, how was it to be ac- complished, and who was to accomplish it? We were ten or twelve millions of peo- ple, spread over almost half a world. We were twenty-four states, some stretching along the same sea-board, some along the same line of inland frontier, and others on opposite banks of the same vast rivers. Two considerations at once presented them- selves, in looking at this state of things, with great force. One was th at that great branch of improvement, which consisted in furnishing new facilities of intercourse, necessarily ran into different states, in every leading instance, and would benefit the citizens of all such states. No one state therefore, in such cases, would assume the whole expense, nor was the co-opera- tion of several states to be expected. Take the instance of the Delaware Breakwater. It will cost several millions of money. Would Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware have united to accomplish it at their joint expense? Certainly not, for the same reason. It could not be done, therefore, but by the general government. The same may be said of the large inland undertakings, except that, in them, gov- ernment, instead of bearing the whole ex- pense, co-operates with others to bear a part. The other consideration is, that the United States have the means. They en- joy the revenues derived from commerce,, and the states have no abundant and easy sources of public income. The custom houses fill the general treasury, while the states have scanty resources, except by re- sort to heavy direct taxes. Under this view of things, I thought it necessary to settle, at least for myself, some definite notions, with respect to the powers of government, in regard to internal af- fairs. It may not savor too much of self- commendation to remark, that, with this ob- ject, I considered the constitution, its judi- cial construction, its contemporaneous ex- position, and the whole history of the legislation of Congress under it; and I arrived at the conclusion that government had power to accomplish sundry objects, or aid in their accomplishment, which are now commonly spoken of as INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. That conclusion, sir, may have been right or it may have been wrong. I am not about to argue the grounds of it at large. I say only that it was adopted, and 60 AMERICAN POLITICS. [BOOK in. acted on, even so early as in 1816. Yes, Mr. President, I made up my opinion, and de- termined on my intended course of politi- cal conduct on these subjects, in the 14th Congress iu 1816. And now, Mr. Presi- dent, I have further to say, that I made up these opinions, and entered on this course of political conduct, Teucro duce. Yes, sir, I pursued, in all this, a South Carolina track. On the doctrines of internal im- provement, South Carolina, as she was then represented in the other house, set forth, in 1816, under a fresh and leading breeze ; and I was among the followers. But if my leader sees new lights, and turns a sharp corner, unless I see new lights also, I keep straight on in the same path. I repeat, that leading gentlemen from South Carolina were first and foremost in behalf of the doctrines of internal improve- ments, when those doctrines first came to be considered and acted upon in Congress. The debate on the bank question, on the tariff of 1816, and on the direct tax, will show who was who, and what was what, at that time. The tariff of 1816, one of the plain cases of oppression and usurpation, from which, if the government does not recede, individual states may justly secede from the government, is, sir, in truth, a South Carolina tariff, supported by South Carolina votes. But for those votes, it could not have passed in the form in which it did>pass ; whereas, if it had depended on Massachusetts votes, it would have been lost. Does not the honorable gentleman well know all this? There are certainly those who do full well know it all. I do not say this to reproach South Carolina ; I only state the fact, and I think it will ap- pear to be true, that among the earliest and boldest advocates of the tariff, as a measure of protection, and on the express ground of protection, were leading gentle- men of South Carolina in Congress. I did not then, and cannot now, understand their language in any other sense. While this tariff of 1816 was under discussion in the House of Representatives, an honora- ble gentleman from Georgia, now of this house, (Mr. Forsyth,) moved to reduce the proposed duty on cotton. He failed by four votes, South Carolina giving three votes (enough to have turned the scale) against his motion. The act, sir, then ji:i-