History of the United States

by John Clark Ridpath

9. As the first term of President Grant drew to a close, the political parties made ready for the twenty-second presidential election. Many parts of the chief magistrate's policy had been made the subjects of controversy. The congressional plan of reconstruction had been unfavorably received in the South. The elevation of the negro race to the rights of citizenship was regarded with apprehension. The military spirit was still rife in the country, and the issues of the civil war were rediscussed with much bitterness. On these issues the people divided in the election of 1872. The Republicans renominated General Grant for the presidency. For the vice-presidency Mr. Colfax was succeeded by Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. As the standard-bearer of the Liberal Republican and Democratic parties, Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, was nominated. This was the last act in that remarkable man's career. For more than thirty years he had been a leader of public opinion in America. The canvass was one of wild excitement. Mr. Greeley was overwhelmingly defeated, and died in less than a month after the election.

Horace Greeley.

The Boston Fire.

10. On the evening of the 9th of November, a fire broke out on the corner of Kingston and Summer streets, Boston; spread to the northeast; and continued with unabated fury until the morning of the 11th. The best portion of the city, embracing some of the finest blocks in the United States, was laid in ashes. The burnt district covered an area of sixty-five acres. Fifteen lives, eight hundred buildings, and property to the value of eighty million dollars were lost in the conflagration.

The Modoc War.

11. In the spring of 1872, the Modoc Indians were ordered to remove from their lands on Lake Klamath, Oregon, to a new reservation. They refused to go; and in the following November, a body of troops was sent to force them into compliance. The Modocs resisted, kept up the war during the winter, and then retreated into a volcanic region called the lava-beds. Here, in the spring of 1873, the Indians were surrounded. On the 11th of April, a conference was held between them and six members of the peace commission; but in the midst of the council the savages rose upon the kind-hearted men who sat beside them, and murdered General Canby and Dr. Thomas in cold blood. Mr. Meacham, another member of the commission, was shot, but escaped with his life. The Modocs were then besieged in their stronghold; but it was the 1st of June before Captain Jack and his band were obliged to surrender. The chiefs were tried by court-martial and executed in the following October.

The Credit Mobilier.

12. About the beginning of President Grant's second term, the country was agitated by the Credit Mobilier Investigation in Congress. The Credit Mobilier was a joint stock company, organized in 1863 for the purpose of constructing public works. In 1867, another company, which had undertaken to build the Pacific Railroad, purchased the charter of the Credit Mobilier, and the capital was increased to three million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Owing to the profitableness of the work, the stock rose in value and large dividends were paid to the shareholders. In 1872 it became known that much of this stock was owned by members of Congress. A suspicion that those members had voted corruptly in matters affecting the Pacific Railroad seized the public mind, and led to a congressional investigation, in the course of which many scandalous transactions were brought to light.