V. CENTENNIALS AND PROSPERITY

CHAPTER LI.

REVOLUTIONARY MEMORIALS AND

NEW YORK'S THIRD AND FOURTH PRESIDENTS

Centennial Celebrations. This last period of history opened and closed with civic celebrations. The President proclaimed July 4, 1876, a day of extraordinary rejoicing. In schoolhouse, town-hall, theater, church, and cemetery were heard patriotic songs and oratory commemorating the century of freedom. Charles O'Conor delivered a remarkable address before the New York Historical Society. Kingston celebrated the adoption of the first state constitution (July 30, 1877) in splendid decorations, military parades, and speeches. Oriskany followed with a memorial of the bloody battle fought there, and ex-Governor Seymour gave the address (Aug. 6, 1877). Cherry Valley remembered the horrible massacre (Aug. 15, 1877). The battle of Bemis Heights was next celebrated (Sept. 19, 1877). At Schoharie the corner-stone of a monument to David Williams, one of the captors of André, was laid (Sept. 23, 1876). Burgoyne's surrender was commemorated at Schuylerville (Oct. 17, 1877). And General Sullivan's remarkable expedition (1779) was celebrated a century later at Elmira, Newtown, Waterloo, Geneseo, Aurora, and other places.

Governor Cornell.-The Republican victory in the gubernatorial election of 1879 was due to a breach in the Democratic ranks. Tammany Hall opposed Robinson for governor and nominated John Kelly, whose 77,000 votes would have re-elected Robinson. Cornell's majority was 43,000. He was born in the state (1832), learned the trade of telegraph-operator, and at 33 was manager of the Western Union in New York City. In 1859 he returned to Ithaca to manage his father's business, and from this time on took a very active part in local and state politics. His administration was marked by the passage of many reform acts for city government. The national guard was reduced from 20,000 to 12,000 and increased in efficiency. After his term expired he engaged in great business enterprises in the metropolis.

Breach in the Republican Party. The Republicans were in control of the state, but were divided into hostile camps. One, led by Platt and Conkling, favored the nomination of Grant for a third term; the other, headed by Warner Miller, Chauncey M. Depew, and William A. Wheeler, opposed it. In the state convention the former predominated, but could not prevent the sending of anti-Grant delegates to the national convention. Grant was defeated, and James A. Garfield was nominated with Chester A. Arthur of New York for second place. They received New York's electoral vote. Garfield felt no obligation to the Grant faction in New York, and hence trouble arose over patronage. Thomas L. James was appointed Postmaster-General. The name of William H. Robertson was sent to the Senate by the President for collector of the port at

New York. Conkling and Platt, United States senators from New York, protested against the nomination. Their protest was unheeded, so they resigned (May 14, 1881) and stood for re-election. After a hard fight Warner Miller and Elbridge G. Lapham were chosen to succeed them.

New York's Third President.-Garfield's assassination (July 2, 1881) made Arthur President (Sept. 19) and gave New York her third chief executive. He made such a good record that his friends tried to nominate him for President (1884), but, though getting 278 votes on the first ballot, he was defeated by James G. Blaine. To control the situation in New York it was thought best by Arthur and his friends to nominate for governor Judge Charles J. Folger, Arthur's Secretary of the Treasury. This was done in a convention full of heat and divisions (1882). Governor Cornell's friends denounced the act as one of force. Thousands of Republicans, while admiring Folger personally, repudiated his nomination at the polls. Consequently he was defeated by a plurality of 192,854, unparalleled up to that time.

in the state's history.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR

Grover Cleveland. -The Democrats' victorious candidate, Grover Cleveland, took his office with both houses in accord with him (1882). For the next twelve

years his party was in power. He was born in New Jersey (1837), the son of a Presbyterian clergyman. He was store-clerk, teacher of the blind, bookkeeper, and lawyer, being admitted to the bar at Buffalo (1859). During the war he entered political life, and in 1881 was elected mayor of Buffalo. His inauguration was simple, and his term of office was marked by radical reforms in his own office, by careful appointments, strict watch over corporations, and rigid economy.

President Cleveland.-Cleveland's rapid political rise in New York soon won him a national reputation so great that he was nominated for President in the Democratic national convention at Chicago (July 8, 1884). The campaign was personal rather than political, and New York was the battle-field. The canvass was hot and bitter. The Cleveland men were active and well organized. The Independents worked for him.

GROVER CLEVELAND

Other Parties. The Republicans were no less alert and united. Their candidate, Blaine, the "plumed knight," went up and down the state greeting thousands. The Prohibitionists worked hard for their nominee, and no doubt drew largely from the Republican ranks. The Greenback Labor party's leader, General Benjamin F. Butler of New York, also made a tour of the state.