CHAPTER XXXVIII. VICE-PRESIDENT ARTHUR BECOMES PRESIDENT.
When President Garfield was assassinated Vice-President Arthur was on his way from Albany to New York, on a steamboat, and received the intelligence on landing. That night he went to Washington, where he was the guest of Senator Jones, who then occupied the large granite house directly south of the Capitol, erected a few years previously by General Butler. On the evening of July 4th, when the President's death seemed imminent, Secretary Blaine visited Mr. Arthur and said: "The end is at hand; the President is dying; you must prepare to assume the responsibilities which the Constitution places upon you in such an event."
Mr. Arthur, sick with sorrow, reluctantly accepted as true the statement respecting the President's condition, and replied that when the Cabinet and Justice Field, the senior Justice of the Supreme Court, then in Washington, should call upon him, he would be ready to take the oath of office. Soon afterward, while waiting in sorrowful expectation that the next moment might bring him the sad news that the President had died, the door-bell was rung violently, and an orderly handed in a message from Secretary Blaine, which the Vice-President eagerly snatched, opened, and read. "Thank God!" he said, handing it to Senator Jones.
It announced that with the rising of the cool breeze, the President's condition had changed for the better. No apprehension of his immediate death was entertained.
The next morning a correspondent who called on the Vice-President alluded to editorials in a Democratic paper at Louisville, and a Republican paper at New York, connecting his name and that of Senator Conkling with Guiteau's crime. The Vice-President seemed deeply moved by these insinuations. "No one," he said, "deplores the calamity more than Senator Conkling and myself. These reports are so base and so unfounded that I cannot believe they will be credited. They do not affect Senator Conkling and myself as much as they do the entire country. They are a slur upon our institutions, an attack upon the integrity of republican government. Good God! if such a thing were possible, then liberty is impossible. Such a calamity as this should be treated as national, not only by every citizen, but by the entire press of the country. Party and faction should be forgotten in the general grief."
After condemning the perpetrator of the crime in the strongest terms, the Vice-President said: "If it were possible for me to be with the President, I would not only offer him my sympathy, I would ask that I might remain by his bedside. All personal considerations and political views must be merged in the national sorrow. I am an American among millions of Americans grieving for their wounded chief."
The Vice-President remained at Washington until the President was taken to Long Beach. He continued to experience great mental anguish, never even alluding to the chances of his becoming President of the United States. He went from Washington to his own home in New York, where he received news of the President's death on the evening of its occurrence. It had been determined between Vice- President Arthur and the members of the Cabinet that in the event of the President's death his successor should be sworn in without delay. Justice Brady was sent for, and the oath was administered in the presence of eight persons. At its conclusion the President, who had stood with uplifted hand, said, impressively, "So help me, God, I do!" A few moments afterward his son, Alan, approached, and laying one hand on his father's shoulder, kissed him.
President Arthur repeated the oath of office in the Vice-President's room at the Capitol on the twenty-second of September. The members of General Garfield's Cabinet, who had been requested by his successor to continue for the present in charge of their respective departments, were then present, with General Sherman in full uniform, ex-Presidents Hayes and Grant, and Chief Justice Waite, in his judicial robes, escorted by Associate Justices Harlan and Matthews. There were also present Senators Anthony, Sherman, Edmunds, Hale, Blair, Dawes, and Jones, of Nevada, and Representatives Amos Townsend, McCook, Errett, Randall, Hiscock, and Thomas. Ex-Vice- President Hamlin, of Maine, and Speaker Sharpe, of New York, were also present.
When President Arthur entered the room, escorted by General Grant and Senator Jones, he advanced to a small table, on which was a Bible, and behind which stood the Chief Justice, who raised the sacred volume, opened it, and presented it to the President, who placed his right hand upon it. Chief Justice Waite then slowly administered the oath, and at its conclusion the President kissed the book, responding "I will, so help me God!" He then read a brief but eloquent inaugural address.
As President Arthur read his inaugural address his voice trembled, but his manner was impressive, and the eyes of many present were moistened with tears. The first one to congratulate him when he had concluded was Chief Justice Waite, and the next was Secretary Blaine. After shaking him by the hand, those present left the room, which was closed to all except the members of the Cabinet, who there held their first conference with the President. At this Cabinet meeting a proclamation was prepared and signed by President Arthur, designating the following Monday as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer.
President Arthur soon showed his appreciation of the responsibilities of his new office. Knowing principles rather than persons, he subordinated individual preferences and prejudices to a well-defined public policy. While he was, as he always had been, a Republican, he had no sympathy for blind devotion to party; he had "no friends to reward, no enemies to punish," and he was governed by those principles of liberty and equality which he inherited. His messages to Congress were universally commended, and even unfriendly critics pronounced them careful and well-matured documents. Their tone was more frank and direct that was customary in such papers, and their recommendations, extensive and varied as they were, showed that he had patiently reviewed the field of labor so sadly and so unexpectedly opened before him, and that he was not inclined to shirk the constitutional duty of aiding Congress by his suggestions and advice. An honest man, who believed in his own principles, who followed his own convictions, and who never hesitated to avow his sentiments, he gave his views in accordance with his deliberate ideas of right.
The foreign relations of the United States were conducted by Secretary Frelinghuysen, under the President's direction, in a friendly spirit, and, when practicable, with a view to mutual commercial advantages. He took a conservative view of the management of the public debt, approving all the important suggestions of the Secretary of the Treasury and recognizing the proper protection of American industry. He was in favor of the great interests of labor, and opposed to such tinkering with the tariff as would make vain the toil of the industrious farmer, paralyze the arm of the sturdy mechanic, strike down the hand of the hardy laborer, stop the spindle, hush the loom, extinguish the furnace fires, and degrade all independent toilers to the level of the poor in other lands. The architect of his own fortune, he had a strong and abiding sympathy for those bread-winners who struggle against poverty.
The reform of the civil service met with President Arthur's earnest support, and his messages showed that every department of the Government had received his careful administration. Following the example of Washington, he had personally visited several sections of the United States, and had especially made himself thoroughly acquainted with the great and complicated problem of Indian civilization.
President Arthur's Administration was characterized by an elevated tone at home and abroad. All important questions were carefully discussed at the council table, at which the President displayed unusual powers of analysis and comprehension. The conflicting claims of applicants for appointments to offices in his gift were carefully weighed, and no action was taken until all parties interested had a hearing. The President had a remarkable insight into men, promptly estimating character with an accuracy that made it a difficult matter to deceive him, or to win his favor either for visionary schemes, corrupt attacks upon the Treasury, or incompetent place-hunters.
Possessing moral firmness and a just self-reliance, President Arthur did not hesitate about vetoing the "Chinese Bill," and the "Bill making Appropriations for Rivers and Harbors," for reasons which he laid before Congress in his veto messages. The wisdom and sagacity which he displayed in his management of national affairs was especially acceptable to the business interests of the country. They tested his administration by business principles, and they felt that so long as he firmly grasped the helm of the ship of state, she would pursue a course of peace and prosperity.
President Arthur convened the Senate for the transaction of executive business on the 10th of October, 1881. The galleries of the Senate Chamber were filled at an early hour on that day, and those who had the privilege of the floor availed themselves of it. Roscoe Conkling's absence was, of course, noticed by those who had seen him occupying a seat in the very centre of the Senate Chamber during the past fourteen years. That seat was occupied by Angus Cameron, of Wisconsin, a gray-haired, tall, spare man, who lacked only the kilt and plaid to make him a perfect Scotchman. General Burnside's seat was occupied by Eugene Hale, a graceful and ready debater, while in the place of Mr. Blaine was Senator Frye, his successor. Senator Edmunds returned rejuvenated, and although he appeared to miss his old friend and antagonist, Senator Thurman, he gave potent evidence during the afternoon of his ability as an intellectual gladiator, strong in argument, ready in retort, and displaying great parliamentary keenness and knowledge of affairs.
Senator Anthony, the Republican nominee for the President of the Senate pro tempore, sat a quiet observer of the contest, and around him were Allison, Sherman, Dawes, Ingalls, Hoar, Logan, and the other Republican war-horses, with the more recent comers, including Hale, Mitchell, and Conger. With them, if not of them, was General Mahone, with the delicate frame of a woman, a large head covered with flowing brown hair, sharp, piercing eyes, a flowing beard, and a manner which showed his revolutionary instincts.
Mr. Pendleton, portly and gentlemanly, was the central figure on the Democratic side, as their caucus Chairman. At the commencement of the session, the Democratic nominee for the Presidency—Bayard —sat by his side to give him counsel. Senator Harris, of Tennessee, who would have liked himself to be President pro tem., was a better parliamentarian, to whom the rules and the manual were as familiar as "household words." Senator Jones, of Florida, the best Constitutional lawyer in the body, had some volumes of debates on his desk, and was examining the precedents. Senator Ben. Hill sat leaning back in his chair apparently rather dejected, but his countenance lighted up as he gave Edmunds a cordial greeting. Senators Lamar and Butler, and Ransom and Hampton, were all in their seats, and on the sofa behind them were ex-Senators Gordon and Withers, and a dozen or more Democratic Representatives.
After prayer had been offered and the President's proclamation had been read, Senator Pendleton offered a resolution declaring Mr. Bayard President pro tem. Senator Edmunds adroitly endeavored to secure the admission of Messrs. Lapham, Miller, and Aldrich, but in vain. At first, Senator Davis voted with the Republicans in a low and undecided tone, but when the final vote came he did not vote at all. This was interpreted to mean that he would not vote, after the three Senators had been admitted, to oust Mr. Bayard, and without his vote it could not be done.
The next day Senators Lapham and Miller, of New York, and Aldrich, of Rhode Island, were duly qualified, and the Republicans reversed the election of the preceding day by electing Senator David Davis President pro tem. He was not willing to aid in the election of Senator Anthony as presiding officer and he voted to oust Senator Bayard from the chair, but abstained from voting when his own name was presented by Senator Logan. Senator Davis, then in his sixty- seventh year, was a genial gentleman, and moved about with great activity, considering that he weighed some three hundred and fifty pounds. On that day he was more carefully dressed than usual, wearing a black broadcloth coat, light trousers and vest, a white cravat, and low-quartered shoes. He knew what was in store for him, and a placid smile showed his satisfaction. It was as good as a play to see him, his broad countenance wreathed in smiles, escorted to the President's chair by Senator Bayard, who had been deposed by his vote, and by Senator Anthony, who would have been elected if Davis would have voted for him. In a brief speech he accepted the position as a tribute to the independent ground which he claimed to have long occupied in the politics of the country.
[Facsimile] Chester A. Arthur CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR was born at Fairfield, Vt., October 5th, 1830; was graduated from Union College in 1845; studied law and commenced practice in New York city; was appointed by President Grant Collector of the Port of New York in November, 1871; was elected Vice-President on the Garfield ticket, and inaugurated, March 4th, 1881; on the death of President Garfield, September 19th, 1881, he became President, serving until March 4th, 1885; died in New York, November 18th, 1886.