(NINETEENTH PRESIDENT: 1877-1881.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.—U. S. Troops at the South Withdrawn. —President Hayes's Southern policy was one of conciliation. The troops which had hitherto sustained the republican State governments in South Carolina and Louisiana were withdrawn, and democratic officials at once took control of the local affairs.
A Railroad Strike was inaugurated by workmen on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the summer of 1877. The cause was a reduction of wages by the managers of the different roads in the country. Seventy trains were stopped near Martinsburg, W. Va., and the blockade was raised only by the arrival of regular troops. The strike, however, rapidly extended to nearly all the principal railroads in the Northern States. Travel was suspended, and business came to a standstill. A tumult occurred in Baltimore, which was suppressed with some bloodshed. There was a terrible riot at Pittsburg, Pa., and cars, buildings, and an immense amount of property were destroyed, the loss of the Pennsylvania Railroad being estimated at $3,000,000. The troops at last quelled the disturbance, but at the cost of about one hundred lives. There were alarming riots also at Hornellsville, N. Y., at Chicago, Ill., at Louisville, Ky., and at Reading, Pa. These were suppressed, in part, by regular troops, but the militia generally proved reliable, and the citizen soldiery in this perilous crisis merited the gratitude of the republic. Quiet was finally restored, but the coal regions of Pennsylvania remained for a long time in disorder.
[Illustration: THE SILVER DOLLAR (1878)]
"Bland Silver Bill" —In 1873, Congress demonetized silver, and made gold the sole standard of our currency. Opposition to this measure gradually arose, and in December, 1877, a bill was introduced into Congress making silver a legal tender in payment of debts. This measure, after having been amended, was passed (Feb. 21, 1878).
Fishery Award (1878).—Difficulties having arisen between the United States and Great Britain concerning the fisheries of the Northeastern coast, the matter was referred, by the Treaty of Washington (p. 289), to a commission for adjudication. This body sat at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and awarded Great Britain the sum of $5,500,000.
The Yellow Fever broke out in New Orleans during the summer of 1878, and spread northward along the Mississippi into Missouri and Tennessee. Over 20,000 cases, with 7,000 deaths, were reported.
The Resumption of specie payments (Jan. 1, 1879) through the entire country, brought gold and silver once more into general circulation.
Indian Difficulty (1879).—The Ute Indians at the White River agency, dissatisfied by the encroachments of the miners and the non-payment of money promised by the government, took up arms, massacred the white men at the agent's station, and also Major Thornburgh, who, with a small force, was marching to subdue the revolt. The U. S. troops were hurried thither, and peace was once more restored. The women and children were found to have been saved by a friendly chief.
STATES ADMITTED DURING THIS EPOCH.—Nebraska, the thirty-seventh State, was admitted to the Union March 1, 1867. The name signifies "water valley." Colorado, the thirty-eighth State, was received March 3, 1875. Its constitution, however, was not ratified by the people until July 1, 1876; whence it is known as the "Centennial State." This region was explored by Coronado in 1540, while De Soto was rambling over the site of the future Gulf States.