608. Factions in the Republican Party.—Even before the nomination of Garfield[[278]] and Arthur, it was evident that the Republican party was inclined to divide into two factional sections. The questions at issue related partly to the method of appointing the minor government officers and partly to the attitude of the party toward the South. In general, those Republicans who were popularly known as “Stalwarts” advocated a more rigorous policy toward the South than Hayes had pursued; while the other division of the party, contemptuously called “Half-breeds” by their opponents, supported the administration of Hayes and approved of the withdrawal of troops. The “Half-breeds,” moreover, advocated a reform of the Civil Service, while the “Stalwarts” insisted that the offices should be given to those who had consistently supported the party. Garfield was supposed to represent the “Half-breeds,” while Arthur was nominated as a representative of the “Stalwarts.” The leader of the latter was Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York, a brilliant orator, notorious for the violence of his partisanship. Conkling had been a stanch supporter of General Grant for the nomination in 1880; but, although he helped Garfield in the canvass preceding the latter’s election, he was soon at odds with the new administration on the question of appointments. He did not like the selection of Blaine for Secretary of State, and was aggrieved by other selections of Cabinet advisers made by the new President. Garfield was amply justified in resisting dictation from Conkling and other leaders with regard to appointments, for the platform on which he was nominated had called for a “thorough, radical, and complete reform of the Civil Service.” Moreover, he had been nominated without having been announced as a candidate in advance of the nomination, and had made few, if any, promises to bestow offices on special men.
609. Strife for Offices: Assassination of Garfield.—Soon after the election, the strife for offices became unusually intense. Many of the senators, acting in accordance with former custom, continued to insist upon practically dictating who should be appointed within their own states; but the President continued to resist them. When he refused to appoint as Collector of the Port of New York the candidate whom Senators Conkling and Platt had urged for the place, these “Stalwarts” were intensely indignant and resigned their seats in the Senate. The New York legislature expressed its disapproval of their course, by refusing to reëlect them.[[279]] The result was not a little agitation and bitterness between the two factions, which perhaps was partly responsible for the assassination of the President by a fanatic named Charles J. Guiteau, to whom an office had been refused. Garfield was shot on the 2d of July, 1881, just as he was about to take a train at the Pennsylvania Railroad station in Washington. After lingering in great pain, but with heroic endurance, for nearly three months, he died, September 19, at Elberon, New Jersey. His death called forth sincere expressions of sympathy from all parts of the world. Arthur[[280]] was at once sworn in as President. Guiteau, after a long trial, was adjudged not insane, but responsible for his act, and was hanged.
CHIEF FEATURES OF ARTHUR’S ADMINISTRATION.
Chester A. Arthur.
610. Success of Arthur.—The effect of the assassination was everywhere deeply felt throughout the country, and the impression was almost universal that in the death of Garfield the nation had suffered an irreparable loss. President Arthur, however, at once showed that he was a man of firmness, intelligence, and good judgment, fully capable of filling satisfactorily his great office. He chose a good Cabinet, his Secretary of the Navy, William E. Chandler, being especially energetic in increasing the efficiency of that branch of the service. Arthur’s recommendations to Congress were judicious, and in the case of Civil Service legislation, the need for which had been emphasized by President Garfield’s assassination, particularly important (§ [616]).
611. Feats of Engineering.—Arthur’s administration was marked by several great triumphs of engineering. In 1881 the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge was celebrated. This structure, the main avenue of traffic between New York and Brooklyn, and the longest and boldest suspension bridge in the world, was designed in 1869 by John A. Roebling, an engineer who had designed and constructed the first suspension bridge across Niagara River below the Falls. The Washington monument (dedicated in 1885), the highest stone structure in the world, was also completed during Arthur’s administration, after great delay and certain difficulties of construction which were finally obviated by engineering skill. The monument is an obelisk of white marble, five hundred and fifty-five feet high, and is impressive in its simple grandeur.[[281]]
612. Condition of the Lower Mississippi.—About this time the attention of the country was called to the difficulty of protecting the inhabitants of the lower Mississippi Valley against the dangers of inundation. The waters of the Mississippi and of the Missouri bring down enormous amounts of earth, which are deposited, partly in the bottom of the former river and partly in the Gulf of Mexico. This continuous deposit gradually raises the channel, so that, in places, the bed of the river is higher than the surrounding country. It also fills up the mouth of the stream and obstructs navigation. During the administration of Hayes a system of jetties, consisting of thousands of bundles of fagots, was devised for the purpose of narrowing the channel, and by so doing, increasing the current so that the silt or mud might be carried far out into the Gulf. This plan was due to Engineer James B. Eads, who had distinguished himself by the construction of ironclads during the war and of the great steel arch bridge across the river at St. Louis. The jetty system was temporarily successful, but it did not prevent the gradual rising of the river bed and consequent inundations. In the first year of Arthur’s administration, as many as a hundred thousand people were driven from their homes and vast amounts of property were destroyed.
Brooklyn Bridge.