As it was, the result was so close in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Indiana and West Virginia, that it required several days to determine it, and it was not known as to New York until the 19th of November.
The popular vote for Presidential electors was cast on the 4th of November last, and the results are tabulated below. Where differences were found to exist in the vote for Electors in any State the vote for the highest on each ticket is given in all cases where the complete statement of the vote of the State has been received. The results show a total vote of 10,046,073, of which the Cleveland ticket received 4,913,901, the Blaine ticket 4,847,659, the Butler ticket 133,880, and the St. John ticket 150,633, showing a plurality of 66,242 for Cleveland. The total vote in 1880 was 9,218,251, and Garfield’s plurality 9464. It should be noted, in considering the tabulated statement of this year’s vote, that the Blaine Electoral tickets were supported by the Republicans and the People’s Party in Missouri and West Virginia, and that Cleveland Electoral tickets were supported by the Democrats and the People’s Party in Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska. The People’s Party claims to have cast about 41,300 votes for the fusion ticket in Michigan and about 33,000 votes in Iowa. The vote of California is official from all but two counties; the unofficial reports from these are included in the totals given in the table. South Carolina returns 1237 “scattering” votes.
| STATES. | 1884. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaine, Rep. | Cleveland, Dem. | Butler, People’s | St. John, Pro. | Electoral Vote. | ||
| Blaine. | Cleveland. | |||||
| Alabama | 59,444 | 92,973 | 762 | 610 | 10 | |
| Arkansas | 50,895 | 72,927 | 1,847 | 7 | ||
| California | 102,397 | 89,264 | 2,017 | 2,920 | 8 | |
| Colorado | 36,277 | 27,627 | 1,957 | 759 | 3 | |
| Connecticut | 65,898 | 67,182 | 1,685 | 2,494 | 6 | |
| Delaware | 12,778 | 17,054 | 6 | 55 | 3 | |
| Florida | 28,031 | 31,769 | 74 | 4 | ||
| Georgia | 47,603 | 94,567 | 125 | 184 | 12 | |
| Illinois | 340,497 | 312,314 | 10,910 | 12,074 | 22 | |
| Indiana | 238,480 | 244,992 | 8,293 | 3,013 | 15 | |
| Iowa | 197,082 | 177,286 | 1,472 | 13 | ||
| Kansas | 154,406 | 90,132 | 16,346 | 4,495 | 9 | |
| Kentucky | 118,674 | 152,757 | 1,655 | 3,106 | 13 | |
| Louisiana | 46,347 | 62,546 | 120 | 338 | 8 | |
| Maine | 72,209 | 52,140 | 3,953 | 2,160 | 6 | |
| Maryland | 85,699 | 96,932 | 531 | 2,794 | 8 | |
| Massachusetts | 146,724 | 122,481 | 24,433 | 10,026 | 14 | |
| Michigan | 192,669 | 189,361 | 763 | 18,403 | 13 | |
| Minnesota | 111,685 | 70,065 | 3,583 | 4,684 | 7 | |
| Mississippi | 42,774 | 78,547 | 9 | |||
| Missouri | 202,029 | 235,988 | 2,153 | 16 | ||
| Nebraska | 76,877 | 54,354 | 2,858 | 5 | ||
| Nevada | 7,193 | 5,577 | 3 | |||
| New Hampshire | 43,249 | 39,192 | 552 | 1,575 | 4 | |
| New Jersey | 123,436 | 127,798 | 3,496 | 6,159 | 9 | |
| New York | 562,005 | 563,154 | 17,064 | 25,003 | 36 | |
| North Carolina | 125,068 | 142,905 | 448 | 11 | ||
| Ohio | 400,082 | 368,280 | 5,179 | 11,069 | 23 | |
| Oregon | 26,852 | 24,593 | 723 | 488 | 3 | |
| Pennsylvania | 474,268 | 393,747 | 16,992 | 15,306 | 30 | |
| Rhode Island | 19,030 | 12,394 | 422 | 928 | 4 | |
| South Carolina | 21,733 | 69,890 | 9 | |||
| Tennessee | 124,078 | 133,258 | 957 | 1,131 | 12 | |
| Texas | 88,353 | 223,208 | 3,321 | 3,511 | 13 | |
| Vermont | 38,411 | 17,342 | 785 | 1,612 | 4 | |
| Virginia | 139,356 | 145,497 | 143 | 12 | ||
| West Virginia | 63,913 | 67,331 | 805 | 927 | 6 | |
| Wisconsin | 161,157 | 146,477 | 4,598 | 7,656 | 11 | |
| Total | 4,847,659 | 4,913,901 | 133,880 | 150,663 | 182 | 219 |
| Plurality | 66,242 | |||||
There was no hitch in the count of the vote in any of the Electoral Colleges, held at the capitols of the various States. On the 9th of February, 1885, the two Houses of Congress assembled to witness the counting of the vote. Mr. Edmunds, President of the Senate, upon its completion, announced that “it appears” from the count that Mr. Cleveland has been elected President, etc. This form was used upon his judgment as the only one which he could lawfully use, the Electoral law not having as yet determined the power or prescribed the form for declaring the result of Presidential elections.
Cleveland’s Administration.
President Cleveland was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1885, amid much military and civic pomp and ceremony. Jubilant Democrats from all parts of the country visited the National Capital to celebrate their return to National power after a series of Republican successes extending through twenty-four years. The inaugural address was chiefly noted for its promises in behalf of civil service reform. It showed a determination on the part of the President to adhere to the pledges given to what are still termed the “Mugwumps” prior to the election. The sentiments expressed secured the warm approval of Geo. W. Curtis, Carl Schurz, Henry Ward Beecher and other civil service reformers, but were disappointing to the straight Democrats, who naturally wished to enjoy all of the fruits of the power won after so great a struggle. Vice-President Hendricks voiced this radical Democratic sentiment, and was rapidly creating a schism in the ranks of the party, but his sudden death checked the movement and deprived it of organization, though there still remains the seed of dissatisfaction, much of which displayed itself in the contests of 1885.
President Cleveland appointed the following Cabinet:
Secretary of State: Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware.
Secretary of the Treasury: Daniel Manning of New York.
Secretary of War: W. C. Endicott of Massachusetts.