The Greater Republic Part 54

One of the most destructive visitations of yellow fever was in the summer and autumn of 1873. Memphis and New Orleans suffered the most, and at one time those cities were abandoned by all who could leave them.

Other portions of the country contributed every possible a.s.sistance in the way of medical help, nurses, and money, but before the scourge was extirpated by cool weather fully 15,000 persons had succ.u.mbed.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1878.

The Republican National Convention was held in Chicago at the opening of June. As General Grant had returned from his memorable tour round the world, having been received everywhere with the highest honors, a determined effort was now made to renominate him for a third term.

Roscoe Conkling, United States senator from New York, was the leader in the movement, and the whole number of Grant's supporters was 306, who without a break cast their vote for him thirty-six times in succession.

They failed because of the widespread opposition to any man holding the exalted office for a longer period than Was.h.i.+ngton, the Father of his Country.

The princ.i.p.al rivals of General Grant were James G. Blaine, of Maine, and John Sherman, of Ohio. There being a deadlock, the supporters of these two candidates united and thereby nominated James A. Garfield, of Ohio, with Chester A. Arthur, of New York, as the nominee for Vice-President.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRANT IN j.a.pAN.]

The Democratic Convention, which met in Cincinnati in the latter part of June, placed in nomination General Winfield S. Hanc.o.c.k, of New York, and William H. English, of Indiana. The prospect of Hanc.o.c.k's election was excellent, but he destroyed it by one of those unfortunate expressions which more than once have defeated candidates for high office. When questioned concerning the tariff he expressed the opinion that it was a "local issue," a remark which many accepted as displaying ignorance of the important subject, and they, therefore, voted against him. The result was as follows: James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, 214 electoral votes; W.S. Hanc.o.c.k and W.H. English, 155; James B. Weaver and B.J. Chambers, the Greenback candidates, received 307,306 popular votes; Neal Dow and H.A. Thompson, the Prohibition, 10,305; and John W. Phelps and S.C. Pomeroy, American, 707; but none of the three secured an electoral vote.

James A. Garfield was born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 19, 1831. While he was an infant his father died and he was left to the care of his n.o.ble mother, to whom he was devotedly attached.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BOY JAMES GARFIELD BRINGING HIS FIRST DAY'S EARNINGS TO HIS MOTHER.]

Garfield spent his boyhood in the backwoods, and at one time was the driver of a ca.n.a.l-boat. He became strong, rugged, and a fine athlete, and at the same time obtained the rudiments of an English education. At the age of seventeen he attended the high school at Chester, and by hard study acquired an excellent knowledge of Latin, Greek, and algebra. He was a student at Hiram College, and became an instructor in 1854. The same year he entered Williams College, from which he was graduated with honor in 1856. He returned to Ohio, and was appointed a professor in Hiram College. He indulged his taste for politics and law, and served for a time in the State Senate, but was president of the college when the war broke out. He at once volunteered, and was appointed lieutenant-colonel and afterward colonel of the Forty-second Regiment of Ohio Volunteers.

Garfield displayed remarkable ability in the military service, and had he remained would have won high distinction. As a brigadier-general he did fine work in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was chief-of-staff to General Rosecrans, and showed great gallantry in the tremendous battle of Chickamauga. He was in the field when elected to Congress in 1862.

His desire was to remain, but, at the personal request of President Lincoln, he entered Congress, where it was felt his help was needed in the important legislation before the country. The estimate in which he was held by his fellow-citizens is shown by the fact that he served as a member of Congress for seventeen years. In 1879 he was chosen United States senator, but did not take his seat because of his nomination for the presidency.

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.

The question of "civil service reform," as it is termed, a.s.sumed prominence during the term of Hayes. This, as all understand, means that the public offices should be filled not in accordance with politics, but be determined by fitness. The charge has been made with reason that, when public servants have become skilled in the discharge of their duties, they are turned out to make room for the friends of the new administration, where politics are different. In that way public service is injured.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES A. GARFIELD (1831-1881.) One partial term, 1881.]

The opponents of civil service reform maintain, on the other hand, that there are thousands out of office who are just as capable as those in office, and that the party ought to reward those that have helped it to success. "To the victor belong the spoils" was the policy of Andrew Jackson, and it has been followed in a greater or less degree ever since. The cry of civil service reform was long a well-sounding motto with which to catch votes, but no serious effort was made to enforce it.

Hayes tried his hand, but the clamor for political rewards was so insistent that he gave it up, and matters dropped back into their old ruts. The vexatious question was inherited by Garfield, and the hope was general that he would not only make a determined effort, but would succeed in carrying out the principles of real civil service reform.

The task soon proved beyond the capacity of himself or any human being.

It seemed as if nearly every man in the country had been the deciding factor in the election of the President, while the "original Garfield man" would have formed a full regiment. The executive threw up his hands, and decided to pa.s.s over the plague to the next administration.

The quarrel produced a split in the Republican party itself, and two wings were formed, known as "Half-breeds" and "Stalwarts." At the head of the latter was the brilliant New York senator, Roscoe Conkling, who had been so persistent in his efforts to renominate General Grant for a third term. The leader of the Half-breeds was James G. Blaine, as brilliant as Conkling, while both were strong personal opponents. The Stalwarts claimed the right of dividing the offices, as had been the custom for a century, the senators and representatives apportioning the plums among the horde of claimants. The President was supported by the Half-breeds in his claim that it was his province to bestow these gifts as he saw fit.

The collectors.h.i.+p of the port of New York is one of the best offices at the disposal of the administration. The President nominated Judge William Robertson. He was personally distasteful to Conkling, and, when he found himself unable to prevent his confirmation by the Senate, he and Thomas C. Platt, the junior senator from New York, resigned their seats. Both afterward sought and failed to secure a re-election from the Legislature. Congress adjourned in June.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE AGED MOTHER OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.]

a.s.sa.s.sINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.

Relieved from the pressure of his duties, the President now made his arrangements for placing his two sons in Williams College and joining his invalid wife at the seash.o.r.e. On the 2d of July, 1881, accompanied by Secretary Blaine and several friends, he rode to the Baltimore Railroad station to board the cars. He had just entered the building and was chatting with his secretary, when a miscreant named Charles Julias Guiteau stepped up behind him and shot him with a pistol in the back.

The wounded President sank to the floor and was carried to the executive mansion, while the a.s.sa.s.sin was hurried to prison before he could be lynched, as he a.s.suredly would have been but for such prompt action by the authorities.

The shock to the country was scarcely less than when Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theatre. Although the wound of the President was severe, it was not believed to be necessarily fatal. He received the best medical attention, and prayers for his recovery were sent up from every quarter of the land and across the sea. Daily bulletins of his condition were issued and messages of sympathy were received from many crowned heads on the other side of the Atlantic. The sufferer was removed on the 6th of September to Elberon, New Jersey, where it was hoped the invigorating sea-air would bring back strength to his wasted frame.

These hopes were vain, and, on the 19th of September, he quietly breathed his last. It may be noted that this date was the anniversary of the battle of Chickamauga, where General Garfield performed his most brilliant service in the war. Amid universal expressions of sympathy the remains were borne to Cleveland, where a fine monument has been erected to his memory.

[Ill.u.s.tration: a.s.sa.s.sINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.]

Guiteau was a miserable "crank," who had long dogged the President for an appointment, failing to obtain which he shot him. That his brain was partly awry, with perhaps a taint of insanity, cannot be questioned, but, none the less, it was shown that he clearly knew the difference between right and wrong and was morally responsible for his unspeakable crime. He was given a fair trial, and, having been found guilty, was hanged on the 30th of June, 1882.

THE TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT.

Chester Alan Arthur, who was immediately sworn in as President, was born in Vermont, October 5, 1830. He received his education at Union College, from which he was graduated in 1849. He taught school for a time in his native State, and then removed to the City of New York, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. His ability speedily brought him to the front and gave him a lucrative practice. He was quartermaster-general of the State of New York during the war and displayed fine executive ability. When the war ended, he resumed the practice of law and was made collector of customs for the port of New York in 1871. Seven years later he was removed by President Hayes, and shortly after he entered the presidential canva.s.s of 1880. He died November 18, 1886.

Arthur took the oath of office in New York, on the day succeeding the death of Garfield, and left at once for Was.h.i.+ngton. Chief Justice Waite administered the oath again to him in the vice-president's room. Among those present were General Grant, General Sherman, Senator Sherman, and ex-President Hayes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TABLET IN THE WAITING-ROOM OF THE RAILWAY STATION WHERE GARFIELD WAS SHOT.]

While President Arthur showed slight disposition to change the policy of the administration, he inherited many vexatious matters from his predecessor. One of the worst of these was the "Star Route Frauds."

The rapid settlement of the West naturally created a demand for improved mail facilities. In a number of places, fast mail routes had been organized by the postoffice department, and these were designated on the official doc.u.ments by the figures of stars. The authorized expenditures of the postoffice department were clearly defined, but a clause in the law permitted it to "expedite" such routes as proved to be inefficient.

This opened the door for fraud, and, as is always the case, it lost no time in entering.

The contracts were let at the legal rates, and then, availing themselves of the legal authority, the same routes were "expedited" at immense profits. The money thus stolen--and it amounted to immense sums--was divided among the parties letting the contracts and the contractors.

Stephen W. Dorsey, John W. Dorsey, and Thomas J. Brady--formerly second-a.s.sistant postmaster-general--were indicted for a conspiracy to defraud the government and enrich themselves. All were prominent politicians, and their trial attracted national attention. Although the testimony seemed to establish the guilt of the parties accused, all three escaped, the miscarriage of justice causing a qualm of disgust and indignation among right-minded citizens.

One of the famous structures in the country is the Brooklyn Bridge, which was completed and opened for traffic May 24, 1883. Operations on it were begun January 3, 1870, and the towers were finished six years later. The first wire reaching from tower to tower was strung August 14, 1876. Each of the four cables contains 5,296 wires, untwisted, lying straight, and held in place by other wires coiled tightly around them.

The length of the main span is 1,595-1/2 feet; the two land spans are 930 feet each; the masonry approach on the New York side is 1,562 feet long, and that on the Brooklyn side 971 feet. The total distance, therefore, is about 6,000 feet, or more than a mile. The middle of the main span is about 135 feet above the water in summer, and in winter, owing to the contraction caused by cold, it is three feet more. The height is such that nearly any s.h.i.+p can pa.s.s under the bridge without lowering its top-mast. Twenty persons were killed during the construction of the bridge. Although the day was inclement and unfavorable, the opening of the structure to travel was attended with many ceremonies, including civic and military processions, oratory, salutes by naval vessels, and illuminations and fireworks in the evening.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR.

(1830-1886.) One partial term, 1881-1885.]

THE CHINESE.

The State of California, on account of its situation, received thousands of Chinese immigrants every year from across the Pacific. These people live so meanly that they could afford to work for wages upon which a white man would starve. Consequently they crowded out other laborers and caused so much discontent that something in the nature of a revolt took place against them. The grievance of the Californians was so well-founded that Congress, while Hayes was President, pa.s.sed a bill which forbade the immigration of Chinese laborers to this country, and requiring those already here to take out certificates, if they left the United States, so as to identify themselves before being allowed to return. President Hayes vetoed the bill, but it was pa.s.sed in 1882. The amazing ingenuity of the Chinese has enabled them to evade the law in many instances, but their immigration was substantially checked.

Probably there is no more degraded community on the face of the earth than the part in San Francisco known as "Chinatown." Most of the yellow celestials live underground, where their unspeakable villainies are a flaming reproach to the authorities that permit them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE.]

THE MORMONS.

The Mormons proved a thorn in the side of the body politic. Their polygamous practices led to the pa.s.sage in 1882 of Senator Edmunds' bill which excluded polygamists from holding office. A good many persons were convicted and sentenced for violation of the law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.

While this legislation did much to abate the crime, it cannot be said that it effectually ended it, for, at this writing, one of the representatives from the new State of Utah is the husband of several wives, and it is apparent that still more severe legislation will be required to stamp out the evil.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SCENE IN CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO.]