the bill, 26 Democrats and 21 Republicans; 17 voted against it, 16 Republicans and 1 Democrat. It could then safely be called a Democratic measure, having received a Democratic majority of votes in both Houses, while every vote but one against it in the Senate was Republican, and in the House 68 of the 86 votes recorded against it were Republican. The commission as politically constituted consisted of eight Republicans and seven Democrats.

It had been expected by the Democrats, when the law was framed and carried through, that David Davis of Illinois would be the fifth justice chosen, which would make the commission practically Democratic instead of Republican. The count began on February 1, 1877, the president pro tempore of the Senate, Thomas W. Ferry, being the presiding officer. The count proceeded in alphabetical order till the vote of Florida was called, when the certificates of both Hayes and Tilden electors were read. Objections were made to each and the matter was at once referred to the Electoral Commission, the joint convention taking a recess, and each House resuming legislative business.

It was not till the 7th of February that the commission was ready to give its decision on the electors of Florida by a vote of eight to seven. It had decided that it was not competent "to go into evidence aliunde the papers opened by the president of the Senate, to prove that other persons than those regularly certified to by the governor" were appointed. The joint convention of both Houses then convened on February 10th and received the decision, to which objection was made, and the Houses separated for its consideration, the Senate. deciding that the vote should be counted, while the House voted that the electoral votes gives by the Tilden electors should be counted. There being no agreement in rejecting the decision of the commission, it stood, and the joint session of the two Houses was again resumed.

Similar procedure took place when the vote of Louisiana was reached, and again with the Oregon and South Carolina votes. In the case of Oregon the commission were unanimous in rejecting the Tilden Board of Electors, but decided by a

Decision of the Commission.

63

vote of eight to seven that the Hayes electors were the legal electors for that State.

Two other objections were made besides those concerning the votes of the four States in dispute, one regarding an elector in Vermont, and the other regarding an elector in Wisconsin. The final vote upon Wisconsin was reached upon March 2d, only two days before the date for inaugurating the new President. As the count had gone on from day to day, every decision having been declared in favor of the Republicans, the Democrats gradually realized that their case was lost and confidence was restored throughout the country.

Many of our best men, particularly those occupying judicial positions, believe and maintain that Mr. Tilden was elected to the Presidency. It was proven before the Electoral Commission, that while a large number of Republican votes cast in the State of Louisiana were thrown out, a still larger number of Democratic votes, amounting to some 13,000, were also thrown out, so that an average majority of 7639 for the Tilden electors was changed to a majority for the Hayes electors. It must be remembered, however, that the commission as constituted, whether or not it was itself a legal body, could not go back of the result as given by the returning boards of the States. The question, then, reverts to the legality as well as honesty of the returning boards in throwing out votes which they considered improperly cast and not to be counted. The returning boards, however, were constituted with this very end in view, and were given the power to count or reject votes as they saw fit. Having this power and having exercised it, the Electoral Commission could not reverse the decisions as given by these returning boards. As to whether the Electoral Commission itself was a legal body the controversy will no doubt be endless, but Democrats particularly should not forget that it was a Democratic creation, and that it carried out a principle which has been very dear to Democratic hearts for three quarters of a century, namely, the doctrine of States' rights.

On the next page will be found the popular and electoral

vote.

CHAPTER IV.

ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES-BLAND ACT-RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS-CAMPAIGN OF 1880 AND

THE

ELECTION OF GARFIELD.

HE Democrats who had by their own party majority in Congress constituted the Electoral Commission were at first inclined to repudiate its judgment, and were disposed to cause further disquietude, if not conflict; but the level-headed leaders of the party finally submitted, and caused the rank and file to submit, to the judgment of the commission and the final count.

It was after four o'clock on the morning of the 2d of March, 1877, that Mr. Ferry declared Rutherford B. Hayes elected President and William A. Wheeler Vice-President of the United States. The student of American politics who would study carefully the entire proceedings leading to the Electoral Commission and its finding can do so by obtaining part 4, volume 5, of the Congressional Record for 1877, it having been published in a single volume. The partisan of the present generation should not carelessly talk of the "crime of 1876" until he is able to analyze and pass judgment on the proceedings of that tribunal.

The main principle involved in 1877, as supported by the Republicans of the commission, was that the "votes to be counted are those presented by the State, and when ascertained and presented by the proper authority of the State they must be counted."

Although the Democrats resisted this principle and the application of it in 1877, yet ten years later the Democratic members of Congress and a Democratic President were united

VOL. II.-5.

in the strict application of this principle to all future presidential counts.

Inconsistency has always been one of the most prominent traits of the Democratic party. It can reverse its own decision as often as necessity requires and repudiate its own principles with the utmost celerity and freedom.

Only the so-called Republican frauds in the returning boards of 1876 and 1877 are alluded to by the Democrats. There was no examination by the commission into the cipher correspondence from Gramercy Park, New York City, and the conspiracy which was alleged to have been entered into to secure the vote of a Republican elector, and it is fair to add that there was no occasion for such an examination. Of the two candidates it can be said that Mr. Hayes held entirely aloof from the controversy, while Mr. Tilden was implicated in several attempts to bring about a result in favor of himself. Mr. Tilden was perhaps the most astute politician in the Democratic party. He was without doubt its wisest man, and yet in spite of the so-called fraud of 1876 and 1877, and the desire for vindication, he received but thirty-eight votes on the first ballot and but one vote on the final ballot in the Democratic National Convention of 1880. This may be considered as an admission that there had been dishonorable machinations on the part of Mr. Tilden four years previously, and yet for a generation we have heard of the manner in which Mr. Tilden was cheated of the Presidency, and how well he bore the injustice meted out to him and his party.

It must be remembered that the tribunal which settled that election was in large part a Democratic creation, and that while so-called Republican frauds were carefully considered, yet the Democratic frauds and attempted frauds were not looked into. President Hayes was inaugurated on March 5, 1877, saying, among other things, in his inaugural address:

Fellow-citizens, we have reached the close of a political contest marked by the excitement which usually attends the contests between great political parties, whose members espouse and advocate with earnest faith their respective creeds.