The Democratic Convention assembled at St. Louis, Mo., June 27th. The nomination of Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, was almost a foregone conclusion before the Convention met, and he was nominated on the second ballot. Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, who was the strongest opponent of Tilden for the presidential nomination, was named for Vice-President by a unanimous vote. The Democratic platform of 1876 was a lengthy and remarkable one, containing "the sustended arguments of a stump speech." Its planks, with few exceptions, began with "we denounce" or "reform is necessary," and it was a general arraignment of the entire course of the Republican Party while in power, and stated near its conclusion, "reform can only be had by peaceful, civic revolution. We demand a change of system, a change of administration, and a change of parties, that we may have a change of measures and men."
The other political conventions of this year were the Prohibition Convention held at Cleveland, Ohio, on May 17th, at which Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky, was nominated for President, and G. T. Stewart, of Ohio, for Vice-President. The Independent National or Greenback Party met at Indianapolis May 18th, and nominated Peter Cooper, of New York, for President, and U. S. Senator Newton Booth, of California, for Vice-President, who declined and was replaced by Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio. Its platform demanded the immediate repeal of the Specie Resumption Act of January 14, 1875, and the issuance of United States notes, convertible on demand into United States obligations, bearing a rate of interest not exceeding one cent a day on each $100.00, and exchangeable for United States notes at par, as being the best circulating medium that could be devised. It insisted that bank paper must be suppressed, and it protested against the further issuance of gold bonds for sale in foreign markets, and against the sale of government bonds for the purpose of purchasing silver to be used as a substitute for fractional currency. At the election in November the Greenback Party polled a total of 81,737 votes, not influencing the electoral vote of any State, with the possible exception of Indiana, which Tilden carried with 213,526 votes to 208,011 for Hayes, Cooper receiving 17,233 in this State. The total Prohibition vote this year was 9,522. The Democrats, throughout the campaign, had high hopes of success; the hard times which had followed the panic of 1873, the factional disturbances in the Republican Party, charges of official dishonesty, and dissatisfaction of some Republicans with the financial policy of the party, and the success of the Democrats in several of the Northern States all indicated an exceedingly close election. The Republican campaign was largely in the hands of Zachariah Chandler, of Michigan, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, as Mr. Hayes took little part in the details or organization of the canvass. Colorado, admitted in August of this year, raised the number of States to thirty-eight, with a total electoral vote of 369, making 185 votes necessary for an election. The October States did not indicate anything decisive for either side; Ohio going Republican and Indiana Democratic by small majorities. The election was held on Nevember 7th, and a few hours after the polls were closed it was found that Tilden and Hendricks had carried Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Indiana, and if they had received the vote of the solid South it would give them 203 of the electoral votes and consequently the election. But Mr. Chandler, on information received, sent out a telegram from headquarters in Washington saying that the Republicans had been successful in South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida, and that Hayes and Wheeler were elected by a majority of one. A general outline of the remarkable contest that now followed, and its decision, must suffice for these pages. Each party sent a number of its prominent members to the capitals of the disputed States to witness the count. The legal canvassing boards in all of these States decided in favor of Hayes and Wheeler. Then followed, as it was afterwards discovered, many attempts to bribe an elector in the disputed States to vote for Mr. Tilden, but when the electors met in the various States on December 6th, the vote was 185 for Hayes and Wheeler and 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. As hostile sets of electors were present in four States—Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana and Oregon—it was therefore of the highest importance to know who would count the votes when Congress jointly assembled for that purpose. The Senate and its presiding officer were Republicans, the House was Democratic, and it was apparent that with so much at stake neither would make any concession to the other. This was a state of affairs unprovided for in the Constitution or in any laws that had been passed, and the result was that for four months after the election nobody knew who would be inaugurated as President in March, 1877. The difficulty was temporarily solved by the Electoral Commission Law, which became effective January 29, 1877. It provided that any electoral votes from any State from which but one return had been received should not be rejected except by the affirmative vote of the two Houses, but if more than one return was received from any State it should be referred to a Commission, to be composed of five members of the Senate, five members of the House and five Supreme Court Justices, and the decision of a majority of this Commission was to decide unless otherwise ordered by a concurrent vote of both Houses. Senators Oliver P. Morton, George F. Edmunds, F. T. Frelinghuysen, Republicans, and Allan G. Thurman and Thomas F. Bayard, Democrats, were chosen to represent the Senate; Josiah G. Abbott, Eppa Hunton and H. B. Payne, Democrats, and James A. Garfield and George F. Hoar, Republicans, represented the House; four Justices of the Supreme Court had been designated by the law to act, and these were Nathan Clifford and Stephen J. Field, Democrats, and William Strong and Samuel F. Miller, Republicans; they were to choose the fifth Justice, and Joseph P. Bradley, Republican, was selected. By a strict party vote the Commission decided, 8 to 7, all questions in favor of the Republicans. These decisons, as already noted, could not be set aside without the concurrent vote of both Houses, which manifestly could not be obtained, and at 4:10 a. m. March 2, 1877, it was declared by Mr. Ferry, President pro tem. of the Senate, that Hayes and Wheeler had been elected by 185 votes to 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. The popular vote at the November election was Tilden 4,285,992 and Hayes 4,033,768.
[Illustration: Rutherford B. Hayes.]
Before passing to the events of President Hayes' administration, it is interesting to note that when the second session of the Forty-fourth Congress met on December 4, 1876, an election was held to fill the position of Speaker, left vacant by the death of Mr. Kerr. Samuel J. Randall, Democrat, was elected by 162 votes to 82 votes for James A. Garfield, and it is therefore seen that President Hayes would enter upon his term with one branch of Congress Democratic.
Mr. Hayes was publicly inaugurated March 5, 1877, the 4th falling upon Sunday. The striking declaration of his inaugural address was the paragraph setting forth the policy that he would pursue in the Southern question, and this policy was exactly the reverse of that of his predecessor. He withdrew the military protection to the colored voter and entered upon a policy of pacification by putting the whites of the South on their honor. This was practically turning over the entire South to the Democrats, and they were not slow to seize the advantage, and they immediately began to work for a "solid South," which became an assured fact when the results of the election of 1880 were known. This policy was extremely unsatisfactory to most of the members of the Republican Party, and considerable antagonism to the President was shown. Lapse of time, however, has vindicated President Hayes, and it is now felt that while his administration was not brilliant, still it was safe, progressive and satisfactory. The President also had his ideas on the subject of Civil Service Reform, and on June 22, 1877, he issued an order that no officer of the Government should be required or permitted to take part in the management of political organizations or election campaigns.
The first session (extra) of the Forty-fifth Congress opened October 15, 1877. The most important business of this session, and indeed of President Hayes' administration, was the legislation on the silver question, which came up before the House suddenly on November 5, 1877, on motion of Mr. Richard P. Bland, of Missouri, that the rules be suspended so as to permit the introduction of a bill for the free coinage of the standard silver dollar. The motion was carried, and had the effect of cutting off all debate and amendment. The bill, as passed in the House, provided for the coinage of the standard silver dollar (412½ grains), to be legal tender at face value for all debts public and private, and any owner of silver bullion might deposit it in any United States mint and have it coined into dollars for his own benefit. The Bland bill was thus a remonetization of silver on absolutely a free coinage basis, and if passed by the Senate and approved by the President in its original form it would unquestionably have had a serious effect upon the credit of the Government. Its introduction and passage in the House caused a flurry in the money market, and distinctly affected the refunding of the public debt, but fortunately it was amended in the Senate so as to deprive it largely of its destructive effect on the national credit. Mr. Allison (Republican), of the Committee on Finance in the Senate, reported an amendment, striking out the free coinage provision, and providing that the Secretary of the Treasury should purchase at the market price not less than $2,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 per month of silver bullion to be coined into dollars, any gain to be for the benefit of the Treasury. The House accepted the Allison amendment, but President Hayes vetoed the bill and it was passed over his veto February 28, 1878.
A strong but unsuccessful attempt had been made to repeal the specie resumption act, but now, after seventeen years of suspension of specie payment, which had seriously affected the public credit during all these years, the time approached for resumption. John Sherman was Secretary of the Treasury under President Hayes, and the great act of resumption took place quietly under his direction on January 1, 1879. Mr. Sherman had fought for resumption in both Houses of Congress, and was now permitted, by his official position, to bring about the execution of the law. Its effect on the public credit had been marked for several months before the statutory time of resumption by a better feeling throughout the country in financial circles. The manner in which the entire subject had been treated reflected the greatest credit on the ability of Mr. Sherman, and ranked him with Alexander Hamilton as a great financier.
The Chinese Immigration question had been growing in prominence for several years, and it resulted in a bill to restrict this immigration. The bill passed the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by President Hayes, and its supporters were unable to obtain the necessary vote to pass it over the veto. As the Forty-fifth Congress had adjourned without making the necessary appropriations for the legislative, executive and judicial departments, President Hayes was forced to call an extra session of the Forty-sixth Congress, which met March 18, 1879. In the House Mr. Randall was re-elected Speaker by 143 votes to 125 for James A. Garfield, and for the first time since 1857 the Democratic Party was in complete control of both branches of Congress.
As the time approached for another national campaign the merits of several possible candidates were thoroughly discussed. President Hayes was not a candidate, and the contest for the nomination was seemingly between General Grant and James G. Blaine, with John Sherman as a possible compromise candidate. Several interesting elements entered into the situation and made it extremely doubtful who would be successful, and the result was the most remarkable contest the party had had in any of its previous conventions, and was solved by the selection, on the thirty-sixth ballot, of one whose name had not even been placed in nomination.