t

<-~a.jittmu.imum. nn ¦.¦."¦

ili'iiffW^MM'liMiiiiij.ii,,'.);

,jiiniiLJ'i-ta!miaj.x'M!i.M

Yale University Library

mm

KTMJEJp

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Purchased from the income
of the bequest of
WILLIAM ROBERTSON COE
Honorary M.A. 1949, for
material in the field
of American Studies

-« » *?%v

¦:-:0^Y

'I:

Early Life and Public Career

HOI JAMES G. BLAISE,
PATRIOT, STATESMAN AND HISTORIAN,
Reofding the Annals of his Brilliant Career from Obscurity to
the Foremost Position in the Councils op the Nation
and the Affections of the Teople.

INCLUDING A BIOGRAPHY' OF

GEN'L JOHN A. LOGAN,
and embracing a
HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPLES.AND ACHIEVEMENTS
, OF the
REPUBLICAN PARTY,
"With Platfokms of Both Paktibs fkom 1856, and Othek
Valuable Political Documents.

FULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS AND OTHER ENGRAVINGS.

WALTER R. HOUGHTON, A. M.
Professor Political Science, Indiana University, and author of " Conspectus
of the History of Political Parties," " Wall Chart of United States
History, Literature and Geography," " Wheels of State
and National Government," and "History
of American Politics."

MANSFIELD, OHIO:
THE HOME PUBLISHING CO..
1884.

COPTBIGHT. 1884.
By James Clarke.

PRINTED AND BOUND BY
DONOHUE & Henneberrv,
CHICAGO.

PREFACE.

fT^HE American Nation, through the instrumentality of
-L the great political parties of our land, has entered
upon a campaign which must ever be memorable in the
political annals of the country.
Nominations have been made with the greatest fore
sight and wisdom, and political parties stand facing and
opposing each other, importuning the people to hear their
warning voice. The Democratic party, having suffered
defeat after defeat, and its treasures having been drained
without compensation, enters upon the canvass doubtful
of its strength and without assurance of success.
On the other hand, the Republican party, proud of its
achievements and principles, eager for the contest, vigor
ous and full of life, appeals to the American people with
a confidence that insures success.
The career of this party is full of wonder.
It has accomplished for mankind more in the same
length of time than any other political organization, and it
looks upon its long career of supremacy and recalls to mind
but fejv things for regret.
Its value to the country, its aid to the people and the just
ness of its cause, commend it to all voters for their con
tinued acceptance of its rule. The nominees of this party
are the pride of our republic, and ;their qualities are such as
to unite all the shades of Republican belief in one unbroken
rank of opposition to opposing political parties.
James. G-. Blaine is a great favorite of the American
people, and as such will be the standard bearer of a cam
paign, as successful and brilliant as has been his career.
3

4 PREFACE.
General Logan possesses those sterling attributes so
much admired by our citizens, and which will render the
Senate and Cabinet the possessor of one of America's
ablest sons.
That the story of the celebrated career of James G.
Blaine may be rendered accessible to all, and that the prin
ciples which his nomination involves may be clearly set
forth, this publication has been designed and written.
Whether or not the object is accomplished, the reader
is left to judge.
Walter R. Houghton.

TABLE Or CONTENTS.

PART FIRST.
CHAPTER I.
ancestry and parentage.
Ephraim Blaine "Washington's Commissary General — James Gilles
pie Blaine, the diplomat — Family of Ephraim L. Blaine — Birth
place of James G. Blaine — Possessions of Ephraim L. Blaine —
Brownsville, Pennsylvania  15-20
• CHAPTER n.
LIFE AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE.
Blaine's father, prothonotary — Family removes to Washington —
Characteristics of James on entering college — Argumentative
nature — Love for politics — Respect for instructors — Remarkable
memory — Partial to journalism — Leader in college — Attendance
at church— Graduates with honors  21-28
CHAPTER III.
EDITOR AND STATE POLITICAL LEADER.
Professor in college — Defense of the oppressed — Marriage — Journal
ist in Maine — A State political leader  29-33
- CHAPTER IV.
A CONGRESSMAN PROM MAINE.
First efforts in Congress — Reconstruction period — Positive convic
tions  34-41
5

8 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
SPEAKER OP THE HOUSE.
During Forty-first Congress — Second election, Forty-second Con
gress — Takes the floor in self-defense — Credit-Mobilier investiga
tion — Third election, Forty -third Congress — Reception of the
Hawaiian king — Valedictory address — Retirement from the
speaker's chair  42-53
CHAPTER VI.
REPUBLICAN LEADER ON THE FLOOR OP THE HOUSE.
Political acumen — Famous discussion on amnesty — Great speech
on finances — "On Riders and Bribery "—Eyes of the nation
toward him — Reasons for his candidacy — An alarming stroke. 54-67
CHAPTER Vn.
BEFORE THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION, 1876.
Proceedings of the convention — Speech of Colonel Ingersoll nomi
nating Mr. Blaine — Speech of Hon. M. Turner, seconding the
nomination of Mr. Blaine — Speech of William B. Frye — Ballot
ing — Ballots on last day of the convention — The true spirit — Pro
posed amendment  68-78
CHAPTER VIII.
MR. BLAINE A UNITED STATES SENATOR.
Successor to Senator Morrill — The silver dollar — Speech on cur
rency at Biddeford — Violations of rights at elections — Tariff —
Removing disabilities — Chinese immigration — Peace at the polls —
Order out oi' chaos — Ohio campaign, 1879 — Eulogy on Senator
Chandler — The Republican National Convention, 1880 — Speech
of James F. Joy, nominating James G. Blaine — Speech of Mr.
Pixley, seconding the nomination of James G. Blaine — Speech of
William B. Frye, seconding the nomination of James G. Blaine —
A look beyond  79-128
CHAPTER IX.
SECRETARY OP STATE.
Garfield's invitation — Extra session of the Senate — The immortal
eighty days — Hopes of the nation — Neutrality of the Isthmian

CONTENTS. f
canal— The war between Chili and Peru— Peace congress at
Washington— Retirement of Secretary Blaine— President Arthur's
foreign policy— Blaine's letter to President Arthur  129-180
CHAPTER X.
blatne's FOREIGN POLICY.
Summary  181-193
CHAPTER XI.
THE HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE CITIZEN.
Twenty years in Congress — At home — Characteristics of Mr.
Blaine — Oration on Garfield  194-203
CHAPTER XII.
republican National convention, Chicago, june 3, 1884.
Speech of Judge West nominating James G. Blaine — Nomination
seconded by Governor Davis — Nomination seconded by Thomas
C. Piatt,  ,  204-214
CHAPTER XIII.
LOGAN, THE CIVILIAN.
Parentage, education — Lieutenant in Mexican war — A leading attor
ney — Marriage — A member of Congress  215-225
CHAPTER XIV.
LOGAN, THE SOLDIER.
Congressman Logan at Bull Run — He returns to Washington and
to " Egypt" — The sacrifices he made for the Union cause — The
magical effect of his patriotic eloquence upon a howliDg mob —
How he turned secession sympathizers into Union soldiers — How
Southern Illinois was saved to the Union — The effect of his great
influence there  226-229
CHAPTER XV.
Colonel Logan at the battle of Belmont — His bravery and " admira
ble tactics " — His horse shot under him — His care for the proper

8 CONTENTS. .- „"
outfit and comfort of his men— Logan at Fort Henry— His intre-
pidityand skill at Fort Donelson— He is wounded and carried from
the field, having earned a brigadier-generalship  230-234
CHAPTER XVI.
General Logan in command of a brigade— His services at and about
Corinth — General Sherman's appreciation of them — Logan solic
ited to return to Congress — His grandly patriotic refusal — "I
have entered the field to die, if need be, for this government"—
His only politics, his " attachment for the Union "  235-236
CHAPTER XVII.
General Logan leads the advance in the Northern Mississippi cam
paign — The return to Memphis, Tennessee — The campaign to
and before Vicksburg— Logan in command of the third division
of McPherson's corps — Canaling at Lake Providence — A bold
proposal — Logan's men man the transports that*run the terrible
/ fire of Vicksburg's guns — The victory of Port Gibson — Logan's
men determine the day — Battle of the Big Black — Logan flanks
the enemy, who are driven again — Consequent evacuation of
Grand Gulf — " The road to Vicksburg now open "  237-241
CHAPTER XVni.
The battle of Raymond — Logan's division wins it — "One of the
hardest small battles of the war" — Logan outflanks the enemy at
the battle of Champion's Hill and secures victory to the Union
arms — Retreat and rout of the enemy — "The most complete,
defeat of the Confederates since the commencement of the
war".  242-248
CHAPTER XIX.
The siege of Vicksburg — "The Gibraltar of the South" — Logan at
the centei — Bombardment by land and water — the two desperate
and bloody assaults — The regular siege works — Logan blows up
Fort Hill, the "Melakoff" of Vicksburg— The fight of Logan's
men in the crater— Logan's close approaches to the enemy's
works — He advises a final assault, orders for which are issued —
The armistice and surrender — Logan's column leads the entry —
He is made military governor of Vicksburg, and receives a
medal  249-254

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XX.
A military interlude— Logan takes the stump in support of the
Lincoln administration — He attacks "the enemy in the rear" —
His eloquent appeals to the patriotism of the North to stand by
the government and its armies — The good they did to "the
cause"  255-259
CHAPTER XXI.
Logan in command of the fifteenth army corps — He orders as its
corps badge a cartridge-box and " forty rounds " — The advance
on Atlanta — The stubborn battle of Resaca — Logan's victorious
attack on the enemy's flank — The battle of Dallas — Logan's corps
brilliantly repulses repeated charges of Hardee's veteran corps —
Logan's gallant bearing at a critical moment — He is again
wounded  260-266
CHAPTER XXII.
The battle of BigKgnesaw Mountain — The desperate assault upon
the impregnable face of Little Kenesaw Mountain — Wonderful
discipline of our brave soldiers of the West — Unparalleled hero
ism of Logan and his men — On, through Marietta and Decatur,
to the front of Atlanta  ,  267-269
CHAPTER XXIII.
The great battle of Atlanta— The death of the gallant McPherson —
The heroic Logan succeeds him — Taking command of an army
flanked in front and rear, with its idolized commander killed, and
panic impending, Logan converts threatened disaster into victory —
"The bloodiest battle of the West" — Logan's personal prowess-
One of the finest battle pictures of the war  270-282
CHAPTER XXIV.
Another flank movement in a pitch-dark night, with Logan all night
in the saddle — Logan's military skill displayed — Howard's ap
pointment to command the Army of the Tennessee — Without a
word Logan returns to his brave corps — The desperate battle of
Ezra Chapel — Logan's corps defeats the enemy's army, repulsing
six gallant charges  283-288

10 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXV.
Logan again whips Lee's and Hardee's corps badly at the battle of
Jonesboro' — Consequent evacuation of Atlanta — Logan's pathetic
address to his gallant corps  289-295
CHAPTER XXVI.
Another interlude — Logan on the stump again, defending the party
of the Union — Assigned to the command of the Army of the Cum
berland — Logan performs an act of rare magnanimity — He ac
cordingly rejoins his old corps at Savannah  296-297
CHAPTER XXVII.
He establishes the fifteenth corps in comfortable quarters — Returns
to Illinois amid great rejoicing of her people — Mass-meeting at
Carbondale — His eloquent and impassioned speeches — His return
to the field and his promotion — Assumes command of three army
corps — Strong sense of duty — Resumes command of the fifteenth
corps — Mid-winter campaign — As a volunteer fireman — General
Logan as he appeared at the final grand review of troops at
Washington  298-303
CHAPTER XXVIH.
General summary  804-312
CHAPTER XXIX
LOGAN'S SPEECHES.
Union speech at Chicago, August 10, 1863— A hero's eloquence— A
brilliant battle picture by General John A. Logan — Letter of Hon
orable John A. Logan to Honorable John A. Rawlins, secretary
of war, in regard to the importance of continuing the improve
ments of the Illinois River— Logan on the witness stand in the
Credit Mobilier— Logan's popularity with the people— Logan at
Fort Donelson— The Grant Triumvirate ensconsed at the Capitol
—Speech in the House of Representatives, July 12, 1867—
Logan for Vice-President— General and Mrs. Logan  313-380
CHAPTER XXX.
Life of Chester Allan Arthur  381-389

CONTENTS. 11
CHAPTER XXXI.
Life of John Sherman  390-396
CHAPTER XXXII.
Life of George F. Edmunds  397-399

12 CONTENTS.
PART SECOND.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
Inspiration to citizens — Unbroken success — Vastness of Repub
lican enterprises  403-404
CHAPTER II.
GROWTH OF REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES.
Slave oligarchy — Awakening of conscience — Missouri compro
mise — Nullification — National Anti-slavery society — Right of.
Petition — Abolition party — Barnburners — Free soil party —
Compromise measures of 1850 — Dissolution of the Whig party
— Kansas-Nebraska bill — Anti-Nebraska party — Organization
of the Republican party  405-409
CHAPTER III.
FREE SOIL — FREE SPEECH — FREE LABOR — FREE MEN.
Resolutions as to free soil — Freedom, the normal condition of
territory — Extended application of free soil doctrine — The
twenty-first rule — Meaning of free speech — Slavery in the
District of Columbia — Emancipation — Fugitive slave law — Re
publican success a necessity — Confidence lost in Democratic
leaders — Lincoln's opinion on the perpetuity of the Union. .410-413
CHAPTER IV.
NON-EXTENSION OF SLAVERY.
Annexation of Texas — Wilmot proviso — The government for the
Mexican cession— Purchase of Cuba— Fillibustering expeditions
— Homestead bills — Resolution of Republican platforms, 1856
and 1880 — Election of Lincoln  414-416
CHAPTER V.
PRESERVATION OF THE UNION — REVIEW OF SECESSION MOVEMENTS.
Secession Confederate States of America — The Crittenden compro
mise — The peace convention — Inaugural address — Attempted
adjustment of difficulties — The border States— Bombardment of
Fort Sumter — Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand troops 
Reply of Southern governors— Republican party in power. 41 7-443

CONTENTS. 13
CHAPTER VI.
Extirpation of slavery  444-448
CHAPTER VII.
The war party  449-451
CHAPTER VIII.
A sound national currency— National banks— Specie resumption— 452-456
CHAPTER IX.
Amendments to the Constitution  457-468
CHAPTER X.
The United States a Nation  469-472
CHAPTER XI.
Reconstruction by Congress  473-477
CHAPTER XII.
Tariff for the Protection of American Labor  478-482
CHAPTER XIII.
Suppression of Polygamy  483-486
CHAPTER XIV.
Development of the West  487-488
CHAPTER XV.
Party Traditions  489-492
CHAPTER XVI.
A Free Ballot and a Fair Count — Authority of the Govern
ment  493-499

14 CONTENTS.

PART THIRD.
1856— Democratic Platform  503-508
1856— Republican Platform  508-510
1860— Republican Platform  510-513
1860— Democratic (Douglas) Platform  513-514
1860— Democratic (Breckinridge) Platform  514-515
1864— Republican Platform  515-517
1864— Democratic Platform  518-519
Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lmcoln  519-520
1868— Republican Platform  521-523
1868— Democratic Platform  523-526
1872— Liberal Republican Platform  526-528
1872— Democratic Platform  528-528
1872— Republican Platform  528-531
1872— Democratic (straight out) Platform  531-532
1876— Independent (Greenback) Platform  532-533
1876— Republican Platform  533-536
1876— Democratic Platform  636-541
1878— National Platform  541-543
1880— Republican Platform  543-
1884 — Democratic Platform  555-
POLITICAL STATISTICS COMPILED PROM OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE
GOVERNMENT.
Rank of States, with Divisions of Population  563-564
Revenue Losses to the United States  565-565
Summary of Popular and Electoral votes  566-567
Statement showing expenditures  568-571
Summary of Popular and Electoral votes in Presidential elec
tions, 1789, 1880  .'  572-573
Speakers of the House of Representatives  574-575
Presidents of the United States  576

THE LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

CHAPTER I.
ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE.
EPHRAIM BLAINE, WASHINGTON'S COMMISSARY-GENERAL.
f I "^HE impoverished condition of Washington's army at
-L Valley Forge, coupled with the lack of patriotism,
prompted many inhabitants in the country about Phila
delphia to take food and provisions to the British soldiers,
from whom they received remuneration in a better cur
rency than the continental money of the American soldiers.
Colonel Walter Stewart wrote to General Washington on
the 22d of January, 1778, and called attention to the con
duct of the citizens in carrying food to the British army.
Colonel Ephraim Blaine, who had received the title of
commissary of purchases in Washington's army, was the
officer set apart to counteract this conduct on the part of
the inhabitants.
The general, amazed at the great amount of provisions
reported to be going daily into Philadelphia, took measures
to find out whether the action proceeded from the remiss
ness of guards or from the connivance of the officers, and
spoke to Colonel Blaine regarding the unwelcome intelli
gence and the inefficiency of his deputies. Commissary
Blaine informed the general that he would look after the
matter in person, or send a competent officer. In addi
tion to this, Washington told General Lacey, who was well
acquainted with the roads of the country, that if any par
ticular mode of cutting off the pernicious communication
15

16 LIFE OE JAMES G. BLAINE.
should occur to him, the same should be reported at once.
The property taken was ordered to be seized without dis
tinction, and persons captured were to be punished, since
they could not plead ignorance of their crime, having had
ample warnings. The commander-in-chief ordered that
captures of provisions going into Philadelphia had to be
made under the eye and with the approbation of a com
missioned officer, or no forfeiture could take place. Pro
visions so taken were for the benefit of the captors, who
received pay for them, provided they presented an authen
tic certificate of capture to Ephraim Blaine, the commis
sary of purchases in Washington's camp.
The preceding furnishes an instance of Colonel Ephraim
Blaine's connection with the father of our country, and of.
the manner in which he did commendable service in sus
taining his General through these perilous and evil times.
In 1778 he received the title of Commissary-General of the
Continental Army, and so continued until the end of the
war. After the rebellion of the colonies resulted in a
successful revolution he returned to private life, and be
came a leading and respectable citizen of Carlisle, Cum
berland county, Pennsylvania.
JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE, THE DIPLOMAT.
James Gillespie Blaine, the son of Colonel Ephraim Blaine,
was educated as a lawyer. He visited Europe, and remained
there for a number of years. His life abroad diverted his
attention from pursuing the practice of his profession.
Possessing independent means, he was enabled to follow a
life of leisure. In 1793 he returned from Europe, having
achieved a certain diplomatic distinction. He brought with
him, as special bearer of dispatches, a famous treaty with a
foreign power, since become memorable. On his return
he made Carlisle, Pennsylvania, his home, chiefly following
the life of a private gentleman, but subsequently removed
to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, where he was made justice

ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE. 17
of the peace, and was known as James Blaine, Senior.
He was a man of commanding appearance, being broad-
shouldered and six feet in hight. A general favorite among
the people, he was especially liked by the boys. He de
lighted to see improvement in the young, and would stop
the school children upon the street, point to their books,
inquire of their progress, and close the greeting with a
cordial word of advice.
The household of this diplomat was made pleasant by
the presence of four intelligent sons, named Ephraim L.,
James, Samuel and William. These boys, all studious,
attended school in their native town, and were recognized
as among the ready reciting pupils of their class. Though
careful and obedient, they were spirited and full of life.
William, the youngest, was especially mischievous, and
was singled out as such by his teacher, who denominated
the three youngest as "Blaine, Senior," "Blaine, Junior,"
and "Blaine, Rowdy."
FAMILY OF EPHRAIM L. BLAINE,
Ephraim L. Blaine, the oldest of the four sons, born
and reared in Carlisle before his father removed to Browns
ville, was a well-educated young man for the day and
place in which he lived. He traveled extensively beyond
the borders of the United States, visiting Europe, the
West Indies, and South America, before he made Wash
ington county his home. At Brownsville, there was a
noteworthy lady, Miss Maria, the daughter of Mr. Neal
Gillespie, the head of a family well known in that section
of the country, and interesting to a certain portion of the
community as much for the attractiveness of his daughters
as for his wealth and personal qualities. Miss Maria Gil
lespie, refined, gentle and beautiful, became the wife of
Ephraim L. Blaine. Both were fond of society, and their
winning qualities attracted young people to their house.
Mr. Blaine was "tall, fine-looking and handsome, and with
2

IS LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
eyes remarkable for their strength and brilliancy." He
walked erect, dressed well, and went through the world
with a stateliness that tended to attract attention. Mrs.
Blaine, with winning ways and sterling nature, cultivated
those special qualities which rendered her life pleasant and
her company desirable. The children, following the
inclination of their parents, were as a rule fond of society.
Neal G. Blaine and Ephraim were the two oldest sons.
Next to Ephraim was Eliza, who married a naval officer,
Mr. Robert G. Walker, of Elizabethtown.
BIRTHPLACE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
The first stone house ever erected on the western side
of the Monongahela river, located on Indian Hill Farm,
in Washington county, Pennsylvania, was the home of this
happy family. Here, on the thirty-first of January, 1830,
was born the mother's favorite son, James Gillespie Blaine.
For him, named after his grandfather, the diplomat, she
prophesied fame; but it is hardly probable that her vision
saw him the favorite of the people inhabiting the greatest
republic that ever existed on the face of the earth. This
house, built by the elder Neal Gillespie, and now famous,
has the appearance of two buildings, though it is really
one, the parts being connected by a covered alley-way
between them. Although the building is over eighty
years old, it is still occupied by tenants. A pilgrimage to
the old homestead was made by Mr. Blaine six years ago,
-on which occasion he spent several hours alone in the room
in which he was born. Within this house James G. Blaine
spent part of his boyhood, but when he was about ten
years old, his parents removed into a neighboring house in
the town of West Brownsville. While a citizen of this
place, Ephraim L. Blaine was justice of the peace, a place
of considerable importance at that time, and was always
highly esteemed by his neighbors.

ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE. 19
POSSESSIONS OF EPHRAIM L. BLAINE.
He was the possessor of a generous heart, like many
gentlemen of his time, and kept an open house, generally
living beyond his means. Though this resulted in the
dwindling of a handsome patrimony, he was a very suc
cessful business man, and the ample means left him by his
father, James Gillespie Blaine, he invested in the purchase
of great tracts of. land in western Pennsylvania. These
lands are, at the present, the site of numerous coal fields
and iron mines, and are worth millions of dollars. Although
he did not hold on to this property till anything of its
x modern value was discovered, yet he retained enough to
leave a handsome patrimony to his son.
In 1825, this landowner deeded to the Economites, a
band of socialists from Germany headed by Father Rapp,
a splendid tract now occupied by the city of Pittsburgh.
For this property he received twenty- five thousand dollars,
little dreaming the many millions at which it would ulti
mately be valued. Ephraim Blaine was likewise the pos
sessor of timber tracts on the Alleghany river, and coal
lands on the Monongahela, which represent vast sums in
the hands of their present owners. He left to his son
James, highly valued coal tracts in the Monongahela val
ley. Their extent is but a part of what he might have
hoped to inherit; but it is much greater in value than all
the lands owned by his father a half century ago.
BROWNSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.
Brownsville, one of the oldest and quaintest villages in
Pennsylvania, is located on the banks of the Monongahela
river, some fifty miles above the city of Pittsburgh. It was
famous in the days of the stage-coach as the head of
western navigation, the old national road across the Alle
ghany mountains passing through it and affording a place
for freight transfer from the road wagons to steamboats

20 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
which would ply down the Monongahela to Pittsburgh,
connecting there with the big Ohio and Mississippi river
steamboats. Now the town is a quiet but beautiful village,
situated at the head of a valley unsurpassed for its natural
resources, and made famous by its coke, coal, and other
interests. Brownsville proper is on the east side of the Mononga
hela, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. On the west side
of the river in Washington county, in the same State,
is West Brownsville, the early home of Mr. Blaine, and
the place that is now of so much interest, and toward
which, in every section of the Union, all eyes are turned.
A ferry opposite the old' Gillespie House, affording trans
portation across the river, and connecting these towns, was
at one time kept by Ephraim L.- Blaine. Prior to 1842
the family of this gentleman lived at West Brownsville,
but in this year an event occurred that occasioned removal
to the county seat, and henceforth the name of Washington
becomes intimately connected with that of Blaine.

ROOM WHERE J.G.BLAINE WAS BORN] N

RESIDENCE OP JAMES G. BLAINE
Drawn by our Special Artist. The only correct picture in existence.

CHAPTER II.
LIFE AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE.
blaine's father, prothonotary.
THE advantages of education thrust in the way of
James G. Blaine were accidental, yet of the most
desirable kind. Before entering college he spent a year at
Lancaster, Ohio, where he had special instructors and' the
advantage of a preliminary training school with his rela
tives, the family of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, then secre
tary of the treasury. He had for a classmate his cousin,
General Thomas Ewing, who was recently in Congress.
These boys were under the tuition of William Lyons, an
Englishman, a brother of the elder Lord Lyons and uncle
of the Lord Lyons who was recently a British minister
at Washington. At the expiration of twelve months an
event of accidental occurrence called the youth back to
Pennsylvania. There was now an opportunity to send the
boy to school a number of years, and advantage was taken
of it, for the father took special pains to give his son a
thorough intellectual training. It was with this idea that
the boy was sent to Ohio the previous year.
The Democratic party was dominant at that time in
Washington county, but on account of alleged unfairness
in the nomination for prothonotary, the party presented
two candidates — Squire James Pollock and Zachariah
Reynolds. This was in the election of 1842. The chance
for the Whigs was good. They nominated Ephraim L.
Blaine for prothonotary (clerk of the district court), and
succeeded in electing their candidate. This success was
especially gratifying to Mr. Blaine, for it opened the way
21

22 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
by which his son James would have the advantage of a
collegiate training. FAMILY REMOVES TO WASHINGTON.
The duties of prothonotary required the presence of Mr.
Blaine at the county seat of Washington county. Living
on the Monongahela river, and in the extreme eastern part
of the county, he decided to move his family to Washing
ton, the place where his duties would be performed, and
accordingly, in December, of 1842, the removal was made
and the family were at their new home, in a town destined
to be ever memorable in the annals of the Republic.
Here was located Washington College, a Presbyterian
institution of learning, to which James G. Blaine, then
aged twelve years, was at once admitted. Herein was a
most fortuitous event in the life of the youth who would
soon develop so rapidly. The election of his father had
rendered his higher education a certainty, and the thought
was highly gratifying, for without the advantages of this
office at the county seat the willing parent could not main
tain his son in college.
CHARACTERISTICS OF JAMES ON ENTERING COLLEGE.
When Ephraim Blaine moved to Washington, Pennsyl
vania, the youthful collegian was familiarly known as
" Jim." A lady who frequently visited Mrs. Blaine, and
who was attending the seminary while James was a stu
dent, relates that all the family were fond of society,
excepting Jim. She never knew him to go into the parlor
when any one was there. His idea was a book, and he
would read anything he could get his hands on. She had
been visiting his mother a long time before she met him;
though she knew there was a Jim in the family, he had
never come within range of her vision. Speaking of her
first sight of him, she says: "I was going to his mother's,
and he was coming down the steps, as I approached.

LIFE AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE. 23
There were four or five steps, and he was down before
I started up, but he turned to look, walking one way,
with his eyes another, until his foot caught on the cellar-
door. He fell down full length, and the books he was
carrying were scattered in every direction. I had just
reached- the top of the steps in time to see him fall, and I
stood laughing immoderately— laughed until he had good
cause to grow angry. He got up, blushing, and took my
bad behavior good-naturedly. He was not a fine looking
boy at that stage of his career. His development was
just then beginning. He had the frame for the large man
he is now, but then he was very thin and ungainly look
ing; his clothes never seemed to fit, and he was not care
ful about the way he dressed or kept himself fixed. At
that age I never saw him looking tidy. His hobby for
books told on him, and his whole appearance said that he
was a student. He was just at the age when boys cannot
be made to look nice. As he grew older and began to fill
out he became more careful, and by the time he graduated
he was a fine looking youth."
This statement accords with other narratives on the
same subject, all indicating that Jim was shy and reserved,
afraid of the girls, troubled about the proper disposition
of his hands and feet, and giving no indication of the true
metal that contact with the world was ultimately to bring
from its hiding-place beneath the surface. Such was the
boy when he entered college. But not long was he to be
the subject of such a description. Improvements on these
-features were so rapid that the statements concerning
him in other parts of his college course would seem to
apply to another individual. Indeed, the great trans
formation which a college course makes upon the average
college graduate was applicable to him in an unusual
degree. He was familiarly known among the students
and in town as stout, rugged and full of vim. His work
in college was up to the standard desired by his parents.

24 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
He was regarded by his college class-mates as a brilliant
and progressive student, being very "smart" and excelling
alike in mathematics and the sciences. He was the most
skilled mathematician in his class, and would sometimes
demonstrate a problem in a way not found in the text.
The professor was sometimes known to say, " Mr. Blaine,
you are not demonstrating that in the proper way." " I
know I am not, would be the reply, but give me a chance
to work it out, and you will see it come out all right."
And the result would be as he stated.
Bright and industrious, he made early morning his
favorite time for study, and after breakfast he usually
indulged in a brisk walk. Fond of exercising, he could
"outrun and outjump any of his classmates." Athletic
sports were limited at that time, but he had certainly his
share of what there were. Yet this fondness for outdoor
sports was not carried to excess, for best of all, he loved
tlie seclusion of his books.
In his literary society he did not seem to aspire after
honors, but his proclivities were in an argumentative
direction. His whole aim was set on superiority in the
college work, and this he achieved in an unusual degree.
When president of the society, he exhibited great execu
tive ability, and thus foreshadowed that parliamentary
skill which he wielded with such efficiency in later years.
ARGUMENTATIVE NATURE.
He was always at home in an argument, and generally
invited the same. His room was debating headquarters,
where he would sit and talk politics as long as he could
get any one to talk back or listen. He desired an oppo
nent, but if he was unable to get one he was content if any
person would sit and listen to him. He had a fashion of
sitting at the table with his feet elevated in such a man
ner that he could swing his right hand around and hit the
table. In this attitude he was prone to sit and prolong

LIFE AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE. 25
his discussions. " Many a night," said an old room-mate,
"have I plead with him to stop and let me go to sleep;
but the only way to accomplish this was to put out the
visitors and the lights at the same time; then James had
to go to bed." LOVE FOR POLITICS.
The Democratic politicians delighted to engage him in
political discussions, for then he was well versed in polit
ical history, and to the very last ardently supported the
doctrine of the Whig party. During his second collegiate
year, in 1844, the party lines were drawn unusually close
regarding some widely discussed questions, that led to the
Mexican war, and so ready was the young Mr. Blaine on
all these topics that his arguments became matters of
general remark. It was during this year that the Whigs
had, near the college, a log cabin, which they used as
their headquarters, and which was the scene of frequent
meetings, whereat Mr. Blaine was an active and aggressive
worker in defense of the Whig policy. He was what is
called a born politician. His grandfather had been in
political life as justice of the peace, a place of consequence
in those times; his father had been both justice of the
peace and prothonotary, and it was but natural that his
son in college, with versatility of talent, fondness for
argument, and" aggressive as to temperament, should
develop into a politician. He was an ardent Clay man,
and admired his hero so much that it has been supposed
he got some of his peculiar powers from a study of the life
and character of the great western compromiser. He
became intensely interested in politics, while in college,
during the presidential campaign of Clay and Polk in
1844. It is asserted by those who have had an opportunity
to judge, that the manners of Mr. Blaine, as speaker of
the House, greatly resembled those of Henry Clay in the
sp,me positjon.

26 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
RESPECT FOR INSTRUCTORS.
The youthful Blaine won the respect and confidence of
his teachers. During two terms of his course he boarded
at the house of Professor Nicholas Murry, who held the
chair of Ancient Languages at Washington College for
nearly fifteen years. Between this professor and James
Blaine there always existed the warmest friendship, which
lasted as long as the professor lived. After his death the
alumni of the college erected a monument to his memory,
which to-day stands upon the campus, the inscription.
being in Latin. Mr. Blaine was among the first to engage
in the work of raising subscriptions among the college
boys. REMARKABLE MEMORY.
The leading and preponderating quality of this young
student's mind was a remarkable memory. In this he far
excelled every other member of his class, and this natural
gift, which he greatly strengthened by rigid discipline, is
the secret of his grand success in public life. Being a great
reader of history and very methodical in his arrangement
of facts, he could in an instant present an array of argu
ments that would overwhelm any opponent. On his.
" fingers' ends he had national, state and county affairs;
was familiar with men and measures," and could enumer
ate all of them with unusual readiness. When he was a
little boy, his sister challenged him to a contest in naming
the counties in the State of Pennsylvania. She named
them all, and he immediately named them, and every
county seat besides. PARTIAL TO JOURNALISM.
From his earliest college days he seemed to have an
especial ambition to make his mark as a journalist. He
was an industrious writer, and.prepared, perhaps, during
his college course, a greater number and a greater variety

LIFE AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE. 27
of essays than any other member of his class. Some of
his essays, written when he was a student, are still extant,
and are worthy of publication in the best of magazines.
It was sometimes remarked by him that a school-teacher
or an editor could accomplish more good in this world than
any one else; and he thought after leaving college that he
would surely enter the newspaper business. Had he fol
lowed this profession exclusively he would most probably
have shone with the same brilliancy that has marked his
career in political life.LEADER IN COLLEGE.
He was a social, good fellow, and clever in his manner,
exhibiting the same traits that have since made him so
influential among men He was always considered a leader
among the students, being conspicuous in his ability to
control others; and if anything was going on outside, he
was sure to assert himself and make his presence felt. In
his own classes he was always foremost as a scholar, and
personally very popular. To the new scholars who entered
in succeeding classes he was a hero: uniformly kind to
them, ready to give advice and assistance, and eager to
make pleasant their path in college life. The appearance
which he manifested when entering college wore away,
and his handsome and neat attire, his ready sympathy and
prompt assistance, his frank and generous nature, and his
brave and manly bearing, made him the best known, the
best beloved, and the most popular boy at college. He
was the arbiter among the young boys in all their disputes,
and the authority with those of his own age on all ques
tions. As to knowledge of politics, he was far above every
one else in college. He was a close student, and possessed
the happy faculty of assimilating knowledge from books
and teachers far more easily and quickly than most of his
fellows. He showed in a most marked degree the " qualities
of quick apprehension of all advantages and difficulties in

28 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
his road and perfect command of all resources for instan
taneous use. His ability to give utterance to anything he
had to say in the most forcible way was noticeable in his
wrangles or political discussions with his fellow students."
One distinctive mark of his character was absolute self-
control under exciting and difficult circumstances.
ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH.
While at college Mr. Blaine, being a great hand for a
sermon, attended the Presbyterian church and Sunday-
school, his face never being missed in the old-fashioned
gallery where the students had their places. " His mother,"
says a college mate, "was a devout Catholic, and one of the
best women that ever lived. No one was more highly
esteemed by her neighbors, nor could any mother be more
conscientious or exemplary in her life. He always had a
deep respect for his mother's faith, but never in all our
talks did he show any affection for it. His relatives and
friends were all, outside of his immediate family, Presby
terians, and that is the only faith to which he ever showed
any tendency." GRADUATES WITH HONORS.
After an attendance of five years at college, having won
a reputation as a scientist, a mathematician, an historian,
an essayist, a debator, and a presiding officer, he graduated
in 1847 with the first honors of his class, ready to go forth
into the world, and well prepared in the acquirements and
training that fit him to deal with the problems of practical
life, bearing as a crown of youthful honor the affection
and esteem of all his associates. On this occasion his
thirty classmates began the active duties of life, recogniz
ing James G. Blaine as their leader, an honor subsequently
accorded him by his Commonwealth, and afterward by all
the States of the Union.

CHAPTER III.
EDITOR AND STATE POLITICAL LEADER.
PROFESSOR IN COLLEGE.

W'HEN the young Blaine graduated he was seventeen
years and eight months old, and too young to meet
with that support in a profession which maturity of years,
coupled with ability, always secures. Accordingly, Mr.
Blaine did not at once engage in professional duties, but
remained a while at home. Here he could not stay long
in justice to himself, for his father's earnings as prothono
tary were almost insufficient to maintain his large family,
and, as a consequence, the youth looked elsewhere for
occupation. He decided to engage in the work of giving
instruction, for which his college course had prepared him,
and following the example of Webster, and Lincoln, and
Sumner, and Douglas, he began his career by teaching.
He went to Kentucky with the object of teaching school in
the country, and became professor in the Western Military
Institute, located at Blue Lick Springs, about four hun
dred and fifty boys being in attendance at the school. A
retired officer who was a student there at the time relates
that Professor Blaine was then a handsome, earnest young
man, with the same fascinating manners that have always
been attached to him since he attained his national repu
tation. He was from the first popular with the boys, who
trusted him, made friends with him, and became warmly
attached to him. Here he used his excellent memory to
good advantage. He knew the given names of all the four
hundred and fifty boys, and understood their strong points
and' shortcomings. An occurrence at college afforded
29

30 LIFE ©F JAMES G. BLAINE.
evidence of his great personal courage. During a fight
between the faculty of the school and the owners of the
Springs, involving some questions about the removal of
the school, he behaved in the bravest manner, exerting
himself to keep down mental excitement. Knives and,
revolvers were used with freedom, but the young teacher
used only his well-disciplined muscles.
DEFENSE OF THE OPPRESSED.
The late John F. Edmonds, of Hopkinsville, Ken
tucky, a gentleman of fine culture and popularity in the
southwest relates that Professor Blaine stood bravely by
him in trouble while he was a college boy at the Military
Institute. "I shall never forget his manly, generous
friendship," remarked the gentleman. " I was involved
in a difficulty with a boy belonging to a wealthy and
influential family, and in the course of the quarrel he
applied a vulgar epithet to my mother, for which I
knocked him down. I was arraigned before the fac
ulty, sharply reproved for violating college rules, and
threatened with disgrace if I did not make an ample
apology. The faculty were all against me except Prof.
Blaine. He arose and with much warmth and feeling said
that he could not withhold his sympathy for a boy when
love and reverence for his mother had involved him in
trouble. ' This boy,' said he, ' only resented a foul
insult to his absent mother. What boy of manliness and
honor, especially with the peculiar training of a Kentucky
boy, would not resent such an insult more quickly than an
insult offered to himself? I will not only not consent to
censure him, but say that I think he did right, and that I
feel more like praising than reproving him.' This brief,
magnetic speech worked like magic on the strict minds of
the faculty, and the offender was turned loose with a gen
tle admonition." The hearty sympathy herein manifested
is part of Mr. Blaine's nature, and shows itself for the

EDITOR AND POLITICAL LEADER. - 31
oppressed on all occasions. It is one of those popular
touches of nature that make the people kin to great
national leaders like Henry Clay and James G. Blaine.
MARRIAGE.
The principal of the military school was Colonel Thorn
ton F. Johnson, and his wife had a school for young
ladies at Millersburg, twenty miles distant from Blue Lick
Springs. It was at this place that Professor Blaine met
Miss Stanford, a lady belonging to an excellent family in
Massachusetts. She subsequently became his wife. After
spending a year or two at teaching, Mr. Blaine made up
his mind to return to Pennsylvania and engage in another
pursuit. He began the study of law, read it carefully,
obtained a thorough knowledge of its principles, but never
presented himself as a candidate for admission to the bar.
JOURNALIST IN MAINE.
After her marriage to Mr. Blaine, Miss Stanford, being
a native of Maine, was anxious for him to make that state
his home. This he determined to do, and in -1853 the
young coup'le removed to Augusta, where they have ever
since made their home, though temporarily residing in
Washington. The following year Mr. Blaine entered into
partnership with Joseph Baker, a prominent lawyer of
that town, and the two purchased the Kennebec Journal,
of which Mr Blaine at once became editor. The Journal
was a weekly paper, one of the organs of the Whig party,
and exercised considerable political influence. This paper
had the state printing, yet the income was insufficient for
Mr. Blaine's support. In vain did he endeavor to obtain
a salary of twelve hundred dollars. This prompted him,
in 1857, to dispose of his interest in the Journal,^ and
assume the editorship of the Portland Daily Advertiser.
In the campaign of 1860 he returned temporarily to his
old post on the Kennebec Journal, on account of the illness

32 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
of its editor. His career in journalism lasted only six
years, but was marked throughout by ability and success,
and it served to give him a good introduction to the world
of politics and statesmanship.
A STATE POLITICAL LEADER.
When the old Whig party went to pieces, Mr. Blaine
joined hands with Governor Anson P. Morrill in organ
izing the Republican party in the Pine Tree State. His
vigorous attacks upon Buchanan's Administration made
him a power in the new organization. Journalism rapidly
led him into politics.
" He first acquired reputation as a speaker in the Fre
mont campaign in 1856. He was a delegate to the first
National Convention of the Republican party at Philadel
phia, which put General Fremont in nomination for the
Presidency. He was one of the secretaries of the conven
tion. When he returned, he was called upon at a ratifica
tion meeting to give a report of the doings of the conven
tion, and then made the maiden speech of his life. At
that time he had exhibited all the qualifications of an
orator, but had never ventured upon the public platform.
He seemed to have a strong fear of addressing a public
audience, and it was only after much persuasion that he
consented on this occasion to speak. When he arose to
his feet he was in such a state of perturbation and embar
rassment that it was some time before he was able to com
mand himself so as to begin to talk. From the moment
he got possession of his voice he continued, and made one
of the finest speeches he ever made in his life."
In 1858, when he was in his twenty-ninth year, Mr.
Blaine was elected by the people a member of the Maine
Legislature, and by his fellow members, in 1860, speaker of
the lower branch of that body. He availed himself of that
opportunity to perfect theknowledge of parliamentary law
that enabled him later to direct with marked ability the pro-

EDITOR AND POLITICAL LEADER.

33

ceedings of the House of Representatives. He was elected
a member of Congress seven terms by the following
majorities:

1862  3,422
1864  4,328
1866  6,591
1868  3,346

1870  2,320
1872  3,568
1874  2,830

" Almost from the day of his assuming editorial charge
of the Kennebec Journal, at the age of twenty-three, Mr.
Blaine," writes Governor Kent, " sprang into a position of
great influence in the politics and policy of Maine. At
twenty-five he was a leading power in the councils of the
party, so recognized by Fessenden, Hamlin and the two
Morrills, and others then and still prominent in the State.
Before he was twenty-nine he was chosen Chairman of the
Executive Committee of the Republican organization in
Maine — a position from which he has shaped and directed
political campaigns in the State — leading his party to
brilliant victory. Had Mr. Blaine been New-England
born, he would probably not have received such rapid
advancement at so early an age, even with the same ability
he possessed. But there was a sort of Western dash about
him that took with us Down-Easters — an expression of
frankness, candor, and confidence that gave him, from the
start, a very strong and permanent hold on our people,
and, as the foundation of all, pure character and a mas
terly ability equal to all demands made upon him."
3

CHAPTER IV.
A CONGRESSMAN FROM MAINE.
FIRST EFFORTS IN CONGRESS.
THE estimation in which Mr. Blaine was held as editor
and state political leader, drew to his support the
voters of his congressional district. In 1862 he was
elected a Representative to Congress, having received in
Kennebec district a majority of three thousand votes. A
long career in the National Legislature followed this elec
tion. The House at that time was noted for its men of
talent. Among his colleagues were E. B. Washburn e, of
Illinois; George W. Julian, of Indiana; James A. Garfield,
of Ohio; Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, and many
other men of national reputation. None surpassed Bing
ham, of Ohio, in aptness of debate, yet Thaddeus Stevens,
the "great commoner," was the Ajax of the day. It is
doubtful whether he had a peer in the House or out of it.
Among these Mr Blaine was soon recognized as a man
of ability, and destined to have an influence which would
be felt, and increase with time. He delivered a speech on
the ability of the American people to suppress jthe rebell
ion, which, with other things, elicited from Thaddeus
Stevens the compliment that Mr. Blaine, of Maine, had
shown as great aptitude and ability for the higher walks
of public life as any man that had come to Congress dur
ing his period of service. The approbation with which
this speech was received, influenced the National Commit
tee to circulate two hundred thousand copies of it as a
campaign document during the Presidential canvass of
1864. 34

A CONGRESSMAN FROM MAINE. 35
Though Mr. Blaine during his first term gave himself
up, in a great measure, to study and observation, yet Con
gress had not been in session three weeks before his voice
was heard on the floor of the House. On the 21st of
December that body suspended the rules and went into a
committee of the whole on the state of the Union, and
during a discussion regarding an appropriation, Mr. Blaine
read a paragraph from the report of the Secretary of the
Treasury, which he designed as settling all that might be
said about commutation money from drafted citizens.
Thus early did Mr. Blaine manifest his watchfulness and
indicate his knowledge of public affairs. These qualities
were again shown on the 6th of January, 1864, when he
offered a resolution providing for the distribution of prize
money to officers and seamen of our navy, asserting that
the prolonged delay in this was working serious injury to
the service, by retarding enlistments, as the result of cre
ating a distrust in the good faith of the government.
The representative from Maine has always been a zealous
guardian of the interests of the states. Feeling that they
should not be burdened by debts for prosecuting the war,
he submitted a resolution to the House, directing the
Secretary of the Treasury to ascertain the amount of debts
incurred in the several states in their effort to aid in sup
pressing the rebellion, and providing that all debts legiti
mately and necessarily contracted for this purpose should
be ultimately assumed and liquidated by the General
Government. Mr. Blaine's information is extensive and varied. Dur
ing the first session of the Thirty-eighth Congress, he spoke
on bills relating to the adjustment of the revenue, qon-
scription for the army, tariff for protection, appropriations
for government, the slave law for fugitive slaves, expenses
for the war, and. other topics of similar interest and
importance. During the second session of the same Congress, whether

36 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
the subject of discussion was coinage, or cabinet officers, or
the military academy, or calling <-it the national forces, or
the fisheries, or resolutions amending the rules, Mr. Blaine
was ready to be heard, manifesting an aptness for his
duties and an interest in his work. He was an industri
ous committeeman, and as a member of the post-office
committee first made his reputation in Congress. He
took an active part in co-operation with the chairman,
Hon. J. B. Alley, and Mr. Brooks, of New York, in estab
lishing the system of postal cars now in use all over the
country. No attempt at distribution of mail on the cars
had been made on a large scale, prior to the efforts of this
committee, on which Mr. Blaine was so efficient. Appro
priations for this enlarged service were made, but not
without opposition.
Soon after entering Congress he attracted the attention
of Lincoln. It was the young representative's habit at
the outset of his career to make short, crisp speeches. He
never occupied at these more than a page of the Con
gressional Record, and never spoke unless he had some
thing to say. This attracted Lincoln's attention. He
was almost the first man to divine Blaine's future, and
accurately prophesy what he would accomplish.
Mr. Blaine would not allow insinuating remarks upon
the State he represented. S. S. Cox, of Ohio, having cast
some reflections upon Maine, Mr. Blaine took occasion
to say that no State was more attached to the Federal
Union than Maine, that her affections and her pride were
centered in the Union, and that she had contributed her
best blood and treasure without stint in supporting the
war for the Union, and that she would so continue till the
end of the struggle. He resented the insinuation that she
derived an undue advantage from federal legislation, or
that she got a single dollar that she did not pay back.
He would not allow the State of Maine to be slandered by
the gentleman from Ohio, or by gentlemen from any other

A CONGRESSMAN FROM MAINE. 37
State. " The sentiment of Maine is loyal to the core," he
said, " and she has shown her loyalty by complying with
patriotic readiness to all demands thus far made upon her
for soldiers to recruit the army, or for sailors to man the
navy." In June, 1864, there was a conscription bill
before Congress, which provided harsh measures toward
citizens that had not enlisted in the war. It was merciless
and sweeping in its nature. Mr. Blaine opposed this, and
advocated commutation and substitution, as sufficiently
effective if judiciously enforced. Such a conscription as
the one under consideration was never resorted to but
once, even in the French empire under the absolutism of
the First Napoleon, and for the Congress of the United
States to attempt its enforcement upon their constituents
was to ignore the first principles of republican and repre
sentative government. The pending measure was so
severe that Mr. Blaine did not believe it would receive the
support of a respectable minority in any district of the
loyal states.
The enrollment bill was under consideration in the
House, February, 1865, and Mr. Blaine moved to amend the
second* section thereof, by providing that in "any call for
troops no county, town, township, ward, precinct or elec
tion district shall have credit, except for men actually
furnished on said call, or preceding call, by said county,
town, township, ward, precinct, or election district, and
mustered into the military or naval service on the quota
thereof." This amendment was leveled at substitute
brokers, who were selling credits obtained in some myste
rious way, as one would sell town script in the market,
and from this source had arisen a large amount of con
structive "paper credits."
Mr. Blaine would not allow, without protest, anything
to happen that would discourage and dishearten the brave
men at the front who were enduring the dangers of the
battle field, and he believed that proper measures adopted

38 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
at home for the relief and protection of the soldiers, were
supports to the gallant ones, which should never be neg
lected. "Let us, then," remarked he, "in this hour of
triumph to the national arms, do our duty here, our duty
to the troops in the field, our duty to our constituents at
home, and our duty, above all, to our country, whose
existence has been in such peril in the past, but whose
future of greatness and glory seems now so assured and so
radiant." Toward the close of the War, when drafting had
caused disorder in many parts of the country, every State
and constituency wanted to be credited, right or wrong,
with as many men as possible. James B. Fry was pro
vost-martial-general under Secretary Stanton. He was
understood to be a citizen of Maine. Mr. Conkling took
Fry to task for not having given due credit to the State
of New York in the matter of troops. Mr. Blaine defended
General Fry, and Mr. Conkling, impatient of opposition,
fell on Mr. Blaine expecting to crush him; but he met his
match, and retired from the wordy contest. From this
is dated the reported lack of friendship between these
two distinguished gentlemen.
The period of the Thirty-ninth Congress witnessed the
evolution of new and difficult issues; yet Mr. Blaine
advanced with the times, and was prepared for the new
tasks as they appeared before him. Among the numerous
things for consideration, there were the all-important ones
of the hostile attitude of President Johnson and the recon
struction of the States which had been in rebellion. It
was during this Congress that Mr. Blaine gained national
prominence, and henceforth to the end of his congressional
career occupied a foremost place among the Republican
leaders. RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD.
The work of Congress during the reconstruction period
stands alone in the annals of governmental history. That

A CONGRESSMAN FROM MAINE. 39
body was compelled to act without a model, and without a
guide. Yet it was equal to the task, and Mr. Blaine was
found on every measure, energetic and intelligent. On
this subject he made many speeches which attracted a
great deal of attention, and spread his fame as an orator.
In January, 1868, he introduced a resolution in relation
to Congressional representation, which was referred to the
reconstruction committee, and was subsequently made the
basis of the Fourteenth Amendment No other part of
Congressional history is so instructive and valuable as that
setting forth the discussions on the great series of recon
struction questions, in which Mr. Blaine so prominently
figured. POSITIVE CONVICTIONS.
Mr. Blaine is not a two-sided man. His views on all
public questions have been clearly defined and boldly
announced. In February, 1866, he declared for protection
as follows : " In theory and in practice, I am for protecting
American industry in all its forms, and to this end we
must encourage American manufactures, and we must
equally encourage American commerce."
In December of the same year, when citizens in some
¦)f the states were not protected in their rights, and when
the subject before the House was, " What the Government
Owes its Subjects," Mr. Blaine spoke as follows-: 'Among
the most solemn duties of a sovereign government is the
protection of those citizens who, under great temptations
and amid great perils, maintain their faith and their
loyalty. The obligation of the Federal government to
protect the loyalists of the South is supreme, and they
must take all needful means to assure that protection.
Among the most needful is the gift of free suffrage, and
that must be guaranteed. There is no protection you can
extend to a man so effective and conclusive as the power to
protect himself. And in assuring protection to the loyal
citizen you assure permanency to the government; so that

40 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
the bestowal of suffrage is not merely the discharge of a
personal obligation toward those who are enfranchised, but
it is the most far-sighted provision against social disorder,
the surest guaranty for peace, prosperity and public jus
tice." A portion of 1867 Mr. Blaine spent in Europe; and while
there General Butler, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Pendleton,
of Ohio, started the theory of paying off the public debt in
greenbacks. This proposition was assaulted by Mr. Blaine
soon after his return to America. The remarks were made
in Congress in November, and Mr. Blaine was the first man
of national reputation in either branch of the legislative
department to attack the proposition enunciated by Gen
eral Butler; and since that time, Mr. Blaine, in Congress,
out of Congress, in the East, and in the West, has been
more prominent than any other man in reaching the mind
and arousing the popular judgment on the question of
the proper financial standing.
In November, 1868, General Grant became the choice
of the American people for president, and a feeling of
satisfaction pervaded the land at the thought that our
helm of state would be managed during the succeeding
administration by a man so honored and so respected as
the hero of Appomattox. Mr. Blaine shared in this feeling,
and thought that General Grant's administration would
have high vantage ground from the day of its inaugura
tion. He felt that the executive qualities of the adminis
tration would be all that the people expected, and based
his belief on the remembrance that great military leaders
have uniformly proved the wisest, firmest and best of civic
rulers. "Cromwell, William III., Charles XIL, Fred
erick of Prussia — are not," said Mr. Blaine, " more con
spicuous instances, in monarchical government than Wash
ington, Jackson and Taylor have proved in our own.
Whatever, therefore, may lie before us in the untrodden
and often beclouded path of the future, whether it be

A CONGRESSMAN FROM MAINE. 41
financial embarrassment, or domestic trouble of another
and more serious type, or misunderstandings with foreign
nations, or the extension of our flag and our sovereignty
over insular or continental possessions, north or south,
that fate or fortune may peacefully offer to our ambition
— let us believe with all confidence that General Grant's
administration will meet every exigency, with the courage,
the ability and the conscience which American nationality
and Christian civilization demand."

CHAPTER V.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
DURING FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
ON the 4th of March, 1869, the long nightmare of
Andrew Johnson passed away, and the country,
shaking from its breast the frightful incubus, was arous
ing itself to a pleasant awakening of the bright and
cheery dawn of a new administration. President Grant
was inaugurated amid imposing and memorable ceremo
nies, and Speaker Colfax having delivered his farewell
address, was tendered a complimentary vote of thanks,
whereupon, Mr. James G. Blaine, having just been chosen
Speaker, and conducted to the chair, addressed the House
in a speech, setting forth his feelings on that auspicious
occasion. He was profoundly thankful for the great
honor conferred upon him; and it was indeed an honor,
for he was succeeding to a chair made illustrious by the
services of such eminent statesmen and skilled parliament
arians as Clay, Stevenson, Polk, Winthrop, Banks, Grow
and Colfax, and he well distrusted his ability to meet
the just expectations of those who had shown him such
marked partiality. Yet he hoped to perform all duties
faithfully and fearlessly, and to retain the confidence and
kindly regard of his generous supporters. He stated that
the Forty-first Congress had assembled at an auspicious
period in the history of the government, and that the
splendid and impressive ceremonial which they had just
witnessed in another part of the capitol, "appropriately
symbolized the triumphs of the past, and the hopes of the
future." The Speaker closed by saying: "A great chief
tain, whose sword, at the head of gallant and victorious
42

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 43
armies, saved the republic from dismemberment and ruin,
has been fitly called to the highest civic honor which a
grateful people can bestow. Sustained by a Congress that
so ably represents the loyalty, the patriotism, and the
personal worth of the nation, the President this day in
augurated will assure to the country an administration of
purity, fidelity and prosperity; an era of liberty regulated
by law, and of law thoroughly inspired with liberty. Con
gratulating you, gentlemen, upon the happy auguries of
the day, and invoking the gracious blessing of Almighty
God on the arduous and responsible labors before you, I
am now ready to take the oath of office, and enter upon
the discharge of the duties to which you have called me."
After two years of faithful attention to duty, Mr. Blaine
received the thanks of the House, and in adjourning the
assembly took occasion to state that the Congress which
then closed enjoyed a memorable distinction in that it was
the first in which all of the States had been represented on
that floor, since the baleful winter that preceded the late
bloody war. " Ten years have passed since then," continued
the Speaker; "years of wild destruction and years of care
ful 'rebuilding; -and after all, and as the result of all,
the National Government is here to-day, united, strong,
proud, defiant and just, with a territorial area vastly
expanded, and with three additional States represented on
the folds of its flag. For these prosperous fruits of our
great struggle let us humbly give thanks to the God of
battles and to the Prince of Peace. And now, gentlemen,
with one more expression of the obligation I feel for the
considerate kindness with which you have always sustained
me, I perform the only remaining duty of my office, iu
declaring, as I now do,, that the House of Representatives
of the Forty-first Congress is adjourned without day."
SECOND ELECTION, FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS.
On the following day, the first session of the Forty-

44 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
second Congress convened, and Hon. James G. Blaine, of
Maine, opposing George W. Morgan, of Ohio, was elected
Speaker of the House of Representatives by a vote of 126
to 92. When Mr. Blaine had taken the chair, he ad
dressed the House in language which showed that he
deemed his re-election an enviable honor, and one which
carried with it the peculiar gratification that it implied an
approval of his official bearing. The duty of Speaker
required him to give to the minority their full rights
under the rules which he was called upon to administer,
and the successful working of our grand system of govern
ment, he remarked, depended largely upon the vigilance
of party organizations, in which the opposing forces
watched and balanced one another. He concluded by
trusting the official intercourse would be free from all per
sonal asperity, believing that all their labors would eventu
ate for the public good.
TAKES THE FLOOR IN SELF-DEFENSE.
While performing the duties of Speaker, Mr. Blaine did
not put himself before the House as an advocate of any
partisan measure, but in self -protection he was ever will
ing to defend himself. In March of 1871 a resolution was
before that body providing for an investigation into alleged
outrages perpetrated upon the loyal citizens of the South.
Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, indulged in criticisms upon
the Speaker for being the author of the resolution, and for
being mainly responsible for its adoption by a caucus of
the Republican members of the House.
Having called Mr. Wheeler, of New York, to the chair,
Mr. Blaine took the floor in self-defense, and entered into
a colloquy with Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, and among
other things spoke as follows:
" Mr. Speaker, in old times it was the ordinary habit of
the Speaker of the House of Representatives to take part in
debate. The custom has fallen into disuse. For one, I

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 45
am very glad that it has. For one, I approve of the con
clusion that forbids it. The Speaker should, with consist
ent fidelity to his own party, be the impartial administrator
of the rules of the House, and a constant participation in
the discussions of members would take from him that
appearance of impartiality which it is so important to
maintain in the rulings of the chair. But at the same
time I despise and denounce the insolence of the gentle
man from Massachusetts when he attempts to say that the
representative from the third district of the State of Maine
has no right to frame a resolution; has no right to seek
that under the rules that resolutions shall be adopted; has
no right to ask the judgment of the House upon that reso
lution. Why, even the insolence of the gentleman himself
never reached that sublime height before. * * * Now,
Mr, Speaker, nobody regrets more sincerely than I do any
occurrence which calls me to take the floor. On questions
of propriety, I appeal to members on both sides of the
House, and they will bear me witness, that the circulation
of this letter in the morning prints; its distribution
throughout the land by telegraph; the laying it upon the
desks of members, was intended to be by the gentleman
from Massachusetts, not openly and boldly, but covertly —
I will not use a stronger phrase — an insult to the Speaker
of this House. As such I resent it. I denounce it in all
its essential statements, and in all its misstatements, and
in all its mean inferences and meaner innuendoes. I
denounce the letter as groundless, without justification;
and the gentleman himself, I trust, will live to see the day
when he will be ashamed of having written it."
CREDIT MOBILIER INVESTIGATION.
The third session of the Forty-second Congress was
called to order by the Speaker, James G. Blaine, on the
second day of December, 1872. After the transaction of
some previous business, relating to messages, the death of

46 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
Horace Greeley, and a committee on foreign affairs, Mr.
Blaine called to the chair Mr. Cox, a Democrat from New
York, and, having taken the floor, spoke as follows: "Mr.
Speaker, I rise to a question of the highest privilege, to
one that concerns the integrity of members of this House
and the honor of the House itself. It is quite generally
known to the members of this House that during the
recent Presidential campaign there was a widespread accu
sation of bribery of members; that members of this House
were bribed to perform certain legislative acts for the
benefit of the Union Pacific Railroad Company/by presents
of stock in a corporation known as the ' Credit Mobilier.' "
The charge included the Vice-President of the United
States and the Vice-President elect; it included three
Senators of the United States, two of them ex-Senators
from Tennessee and Delaware, and one Senator from New
Hampshire; it included the Secretary of the Treasury of
the United States, and prominent members of the House.
There were Dawes, Garfield, Kelly, Bingham, Scofield,
Brooks, and Eliot. The accusations were that the several
persons received bribes from the hands of the Representa
tive from Massachusetts. "The charge of bribery of
members is the gravest," said Mr. Blaine, "that can be
made in a legislative body. It seems to me, sir, that this
charge demands prompt, thorough, and impartial investi
gation, and I have taken the floor for the purpose of
moving that investigation. Unwilling, of course, to ap
point any committee of investigation to examine into a
charge in which I was myself included, I have called you,
sir, to the chair, an honored member of the House, hon
ored here and honored in the country; and when on Sat
urday last I called upon you and advised you of this service,
I placed upon you no other restriction in the appointment
of a committee than that it should not contain a majority
of my political friends. I therefore send to the Clerk's

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 47
desk, for adoption by the House, a preamble and accom
panying resolution."
It was read by the Clerk as follows:
Whereas, Accusations have been made in the public press,
founded on the alleged letters of Oakes Ames, a representative from
Massachusetts, and upon the alleged affidavit of Henry C. McComb,
a citizen of Wilmington, in the State of Delaware, to the effect that
members of this House were bribed by Oakes Ames to perform cer
tain legislative acts for the benefit of the Union Pacific Railway Com
pany, by presents of stock in the Credit Mobilier of America, or by
presents of a valuable character derived therefrom; therefore,
Resolmd, That a special committe of five members be appointed by
the Speaker pro tempore, whose duty it shall be to investigate and
ascertain whether any member of this House was bribed by Oakes
Ames in any matter touching his legislative duty.
Resolved further, That the committee have the right to employ a
stenographer, and that they be empowered to send for persons and
papers. The resolution was agreed to.
Upon the motion of Speaker Blaine, a committee of
investigation was appointed by S. S. Cox, of New York,
who was a noted Democratic member of the House. After
the close of the campaign, the Republican party might well
have claimed, and should have insisted, had they been
opposed to a thorough investigation, and full exposure of
corruption, that the verdict of the people in the late can
vass was sufficient answer to these charges. The party
not merely granted all the investigation sought, but sum
moned to the committee a majority of its political foes to
conduct the inquest. The committee consisted of Messrs.
Poland, of Vermont; McCreary, of Iowa; Banks, of Massa
chusetts; Niblack, of Indiana, and Merrick, of Maryland.
The report of the committee gave a reliable history of the
whole affair, and a part of it read as follows:
"Among those who have been in -the public press,
charged with improper participation in the Credit Mobilier
stock, is the present Speaker, Mr. Blaine, who moved the

48 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
resolution for this investigation. The committee have,
therefore, taken evidence in regard to him. They find
from it that Mr. Ames had a conversation with Mr. Blaine
in regard to taking ten shares of the stock, and recom
mended it as a good investment. Upon consideration Mr.
Blaine concluded not to take the stock, and never did take
it, and never paid or received anything on account of it;
and Mr. Blaine never had any interest, direct or indirect,
in Credit Mobilier stock, or stock of the Union Pacific
Railroad Company."
The 3d of March, 1873, was the day for adjournment
of the Forty-second Congress, and in his closing speech
Mr. Blaine regarded it as a source of honorable pride that
he had so administered his trust as to secure the confidence
and approbation of both sides of the House. He thought
it would not be strange, if in the necessarily rapid dis
charge of the daily business, he should have erred in some
of the decisions made on points, and often without prece
dent to guide him. It was always his good fortune to be
sustained by the House, and in no single instance did he
ever have a ruling reversed. He adverted to this gratify
ing fact in no vain spirit of exaltation, but as furnish
ing a powerful motive for undissembled gratitude. "And
now, gentlemen," closed he, "with a hearty God bless you
all, I discharge my only remaining duty in declaring that
the House of Representatives for the Forty-second Congress
is adjourned without day."
THIRD ELECTION — FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
Nine months from this time, the Hon. James G. Blaine
by a vote of one hundred and eighty-nine to eighty, was
again chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives.
This was the third time the honor had been thrust upon
him, and the compliment thus shown was duly appreciated
and appropriately expressed in his remarks immediately
following the election. "To be chosen Speaker of the

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 49
American House of Representatives, is always an honor
able distinction; to be chosen a third time enhances the
honor more than three-fold; to be chosen by the largest
body that ever assembled in the capitol, imposes a burden
of responsibility which only your indulgent kindness could
embolden me to assume. The first occupant of this chair
presided over a House of sixty-five members represent
ing a population far below the present aggregate of the
State of New York. At that time in the whole United
States, there were not fifty thousand civilized inhabit
ants to be found one hundred miles distant from the
flow of the Atlantic tide. To-day, gentlemen, a large
body of you come from beyond that limit, and represent
districts then peopled only by the Indian and adventurous
frontiersman. The National Government is not yet as
old as many of its citizens; but in this brief span of time,
less than one lengthened life, it has, under God's provi
dence, extended its power until a continent is the field of
its empire and attests the majesty of its law. With the
growth of new States and the resulting changes in the
centers of population, new interests are developed, rival to
the old, but by no means hostile; diverse but not antago
nistic. Nay, rather are all these interests in harmony;
and the true science of just government is to give to each
its full and fair play, oppressing none by undue exaction,
favoring none by undue privilege. It is this great lesson
which our daily experience is teaching us, binding us
together more closely, making oury mutual dependence
more manifest, and causing us to feel, whether we live in
the North or in the South, in the East or in the West,
that we have indeed but ' one country, one Constitution,
one destiny.'" RECEPTION OF THE HAWAIIAN KING.
The following December the King of the Hawaiian
Islands was given a reception by the United States Senate
4

50 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
and House of Representatives. Upon that occasion, after
the senators had taken their seats in the House, and the
King had been escorted down the main aisle fronting the
Speaker, Mr. Blaine addressed his Majesty as follows:
" Your Majesty: On behalf of the American Congress
I welcome you to these halls. The Senators from our
States and the Representatives of our people unite in cor
dial congratulations upon your auspicious journey, and in
the expression of the gratification and pleasure afforded by
your presence in the Capitol of the Nation as the Nation's
guest. Your Majesty's appearance among us is the first
instance in which a reigning sovereign has set foot upon
the soil of the United. States, and it is a significant cir
cumstance that the visit comes to us from the West and
not from the East. Probably no single event could more
strikingly typify the century's progress in your Majesty's
country and in our own than the scene here and now trans
piring. The rapid growth of the Republic on its Western
coast has greatly enlarged our intercourse with your in
sular kingdom, and has led us all to a knowledge of your
wisdom and beneficence as a ruler, and your exalted virtues
as a man. Our whole people cherish for your subjects the
most friendly regard. They trust and believe that the re
lations of the two countries will always be as peaceful as
the great sea that rolls between us — uniting, and not divid
ing!" A response to this speech was made by Chief Justice
Allen, of the Hawaiian Islands, in behalf of his King.
VALEDICTORY ADDRESS.
The Forty-third Congress expired on the third day of
March, 1875, and Mr. Blaine in his valedictory address
took occasion to say that he had " closed six years' service
as Speaker of the House of Representatives — a period
surpassed in length by but two of my predecessors, and
equaled by only two others. The rapid mutations of per-

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 51
sonal and political fortunes in this country have limited
the great majority of those who have occupied this chair
to shorter terms of office.
" To those," continued the speaker, " from whom I
differ in my party relations — the minority of this House —
I tender my acknowledgments for the generous courtesy
with which they have treated me. By one of those sudden
and decisive changes which distinguish popular institu
tions, and which conspicuously mark a free people, that
minority is transformed in the ensuing Congress to the
governing power of the House. However it might possi
bly have been under other circumstances, that event ren
ders these words my farewell to the chair. The speaker t
ship of the American House of Representatives is a post of
honor, of dignity, of power, of responsibility. Its duties
are at once complex and continuous; they are both onerous ¦
and delicate; they are performed in the broad light of day,
under the eye of the whole people, subject at all times to
the closest observation, and always attended with the
sharpest criticism. I think no other official is held to
such instant and such rigid accountability. Parliamentary
rulings in their very nature are peremptory, almost abso
lute in authority, and instantaneous in effect. They can
not always be enforced in such a way as to win applause or
secure popularity; but I am sure that no man of any party
who is worthy to fill this chair will ever see a dividing line
between duty and policy. Thanking you once more, and
thanking you most cordially for the honorable testimonial
you have placed on record to my credit, I perform my
only remaining duty in declaring that the Forty-third
Congress has reached its constitutional limit, and that the
House of Representatives stands'adjourned without day."
RETIREMENT FROM THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR.
This retirement of Mr. Blaine from the chair of Speaker
of the House of Representatives, was an event of no little

52 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
importance. He had filled that place for six years; and
in the discharge of the duties of Speaker had displayed a
fitness and an ability of the highest order. At the expira
tion of each Congress he was complimented by a vote of
thanks in which the House most heartily concurred. Res
olutions complimenting him were offered by Mr. Cox, of
New York; Mr. Niblack, of Indiana; Mr. Randall, of
Pennsylvania; Mr. Voorhees, of Indiana, and Mr. Wheeler
and Mr. Potter, of New York.
Speaker Blaine's knowledge of parliamentary law was
complete and instinctive. He ruled with such fairness as
to receive the united thanks of the majority and the
minority. It has been said of him that no other man
since Mr. Clay had presided with such knowledge of the
rules of the House, or with so rapid and faithful discharge
of business. The position of Speaker is at all times an arduous one,
but the duties of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
had become extremely complicated during the incumbency
of Mr. Blaine. A successful Speaker requires the incum
bent of the chair to be a man of ability. To be successful,
he must always command the personal respect and confi
dence, both of the majority and the minority. It makes
no difference how strong may be the party by which he is
elected. He must rely upon the confidence of the whole
House, and this he can only retain by being frank and fair
in all his movements. The power of the Speaker is very
great, much greater than is generally supposed. Under
the peculiarities of our parliamentary law, extraordinary
powers are necessarily yielded to him. These powers he
exercises not so much by yirtue of the law as by the gen
eral acquiescence of the House. A competent Speaker,like
Mr. Blaine, backed by the confidence and the respect of
the whole House, can greatly expedite business, avoid
unseemly complications, preserve the rights and equalities
of all the members, and prevent the despotism of the

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 53
majority. There are always in every party having a large
majority, a number of extreme men who favor the rough
shod policy, and who deny that the minority have any rights
which the majority are bound to respect. These men are
of necessity at variance with the Speaker, who, as the pre
siding officer of the whole House, must hold the balance
even, and without partiality.
The sessions of Congress during Mr. Blaine's speaker
ship were inarked by a succession of a two thirds majority
by the Republican party. The struggle of the minority
by factious opposition to defeat the will of the House, and
the struggle of an extreme faction on the other side to
crush out the minority, furnished repeated occasions re
quiring ability, energy, unwearied attention, and strict im
partiality on the part of the Speaker. Mr. Blaine proved
himself equal to all the requirements of his high office,
and in laying down the gavel at the close of his six years'
service, he did so with the universal respect of the whole
country, and with the admiration of all those of all parties
who served in Congress under his speakership.

CHAPTER VI.
REPUBLICAN LEADER ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE.
POLITICAL ACUMEN.
THE Democratic "tidal wave" of 1874 returned a
large Democratic majority to the House, elected
Mr. Kerr, of Indiana, Speaker; and Mr. Blaine returned to
the floor December 6, 1875, where his parliamentary skill
and self possession, together with his audacity of manner
and versatility of talent, made him one of the most adroit
and aggressive leaders ever enjoyed by a political party.
He was at once recognized as the leader of the Republican
minority, and his influence was felt on the first day's
session of the Democratic House, December 6, 1875. An
attempt was made by the Democratic majority to tear
open once more the Louisiana question, which had been
put to rest by the President of the United States, by both
Houses of Congress, and by the people of Louisiana; but
Mr. Blaine, through superior political acumen and parlia
mentary skill, carried the day against the advantage of
numbers. His success was brilliant and complete, and his
victory handsomely won.
A few days after this success, Mr. Blaine proposed an
amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the sectarian
control or division of public school funds in any State.
This proposition never came up as a political issue, but it
is an indication of Mr. Blaine's watchfulness for the pro
tection of all. FAMOUS DISCUSSION ON AMNESTY.
In the first days of the Forty-fourth Congress the issue
between the Democrats and Republicans on the amnesty
54

REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE. 55
question was clearly defined by Mr. Blaine. A bill had
been introduced by Mr. Randall and called up for consid
eration on the 10th of January, 1876. The bill granted
general amnesty without exception, and made Jefferson
Davis eligible to a seat in the Senate, which he had aban
doned to place himself at the head of a rebellion. Mr.
Randall moved the previous question, thereby intending
to cut off all debates and amendments, and then force the
House to a vote. The bill failing to receive the two thirds
vote required by the constitution, was lost, whereupon
Mr. Blaine moved to reconsider, with a view of moving an
amendment. There was a general rule in Congress that
no person should be relieved of his political disabilities
unless upon application of that person; and no person
making that application had ever been refused. There
were a class of persons at the South, including Davis and
Toombs, who spurned the amnesty, and ridiculed those
who had sought it — they claiming practically to be no
longer citizens under an usurping government. The bill
of Randall dispensed with this application, and granted
amnesty without condition. The Blaine amendment had
for its special object the exclusion of Jefferson Davis. It
proposed to make him the solitary exception, both for the
general reason of his chieftainship as instigator and leader
in the rebellion, and for his personal conduct in the cruelty
practiced toward the prisoners at Andersonville.
Mr. Blaine addressed the House in one of the strongest
speeches ever made in that body, showing that the Repub
licans, though possessing the two thirds majority in both
Houses of Congress, had never refused amnesty to any
person who had asked for it. He then examined the
record of Jefferson Davis' direct responsibility for the
inhuman barbarities with which the Union prisoners were
treated at Andersonville, and other rebel prisons. Mr.
Blaine produced a general order, issued in 1864, with the
approval of Jefferson Davis, to the effect that in case any

56 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
portion of the Union army should advance within seven
miles of Andersonville, the Confederate artillery at that
place was to open fire with grape shot on the prison, con
taining thirty-five thousand helpless Union prisoners. Mr.
Blaine stated that there were a great many instances and
proofs to show that Jefferson Davis was in entire possession
of the facts in relation to Andersonville. When an inva
sion of that portion of the country was under way, there
was danger, or supposed danger, that it might come into
the neighborhood of Andersonville. The following order —
a regular military order — No. 13, dated Headquarters
Confederate States Military Prison, Andersonville, July
27, 1864, was issued by Brigadier-General John H. Winder:
The officers on duty and in charge of the battery of Florida artil
lery at the time, will, upon receiving notice that the enemy have
approached within seven miles of this post, open fire upon the stockade
with grape-shot without reference to the situation beyond these lines of
defense. "Here," said Mr. Blaine, "were those thirty-five thou
sand poor, helpless, naked, starving, sick and dying men.
A Catholic priest states that he went to General Cobb to
represent to him that, if he could not exchange them they
should be taken to the Union lines in Florida and paroled
and let go free; and yet, if the Union forces were to come
within seven miles, that regular order of Mr. Davis' was
to open a battery of grape shot on those poor wretches,
without the slightest possible regard to what was going on
outside. Now, I do not arraign the Southern people for
this; God forbid that I should charge any people with
sympathizing with such an order. There were many evi
dences of great uneasiness among the Southern people
about it, and one of the great crimes of Jefferson Davis
was that he concealed it from the Southern people."
This atrocious order, issued at Andersonville by au
thority and by direction from Richmond, had been for
gotten by many persons, and was new to thousands who

REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE. 57
had grown up since the war. It is an order without par
allel in the conduct of civilized warfare, and that it was
not carried into execution is due to the fact that the con
tingency on which it was based did not arise.
Ordinarily the American people were disposed to let
Mr. Davis and the rebellion pass into oblivion, but this
bill framed and pressed so ostentatiously to make Mr.
Davis eligible to the Presidency and to the Senate, became
practically a bill for that purpose, and Mr. Blaine's resist
ance of it, represented the public sentiment of the great
body of the American people.
" The history of Andersonville," said Mr. Blaine, " star
tled and shocked the world with a tale of horror, of woe
and death before unheard and unknown to civilization.
No pen can describe, no painter sketch, no imagination
comprehend its fearful and unutterable iniquity. It would
seem as if the concentrated madness of earth and hell had
found its final lodgment in the breast of those who inaugu
rated the rebellion and controlled the policy of the con
federate government, and that the prison at Andersonville
had been selected for the most terrible human sacrifice
which the world has ever seen. Into its narrow walls
were crowded thirty-five thousand enlisted men, many of
them the bravest and best, the most devoted and heroic of
those grand armies which carried the flag of their country
to final victory. For long and weary months here they
suffered, maddened, were murdered, and died. Here they
lingered, unsheltered from the burning rays of a tropical
sun by day, and drenching and deadly dews by night, in
every stage of mental and physical disease, hungered,
emaciated, starving, maddened; festering with unhealed
wounds; gnawed by the ravages of scurvy and gangrene;
with swollen limb and distorted visage; covered with ver
min which they had no power to extirpate; exposed to the
flooding rains, which drove them drowning from the mis
erable holes in which, like swine, they burrowed; parched

58 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
with thirst and mad with hunger; racked with pain or
prostrated with the weakness of dissolution; with naked
limbs and matted hair; filthy with smoke and mud; soiled
with the very excrement from which their weakness would
not permit them to escape; eaten by^the gnawing worms
which their own wounds had engendered; with no bed but
the earth; no covering save the cloud or the sky; these
men, these heroes, born in the image of God, thus crouch
ing and writhing in their terrible torture and calculating
barbarity, stand forth in history as a monument of the
surpassing horrors of Andersonville as it shall be seen and
read in all future time, realizing in the studied torments
of their prison-house the ideal of Dante's Inferno and
Milton's Hell."
The debates of this memorable session are still fresh in
the minds of the people. The excitements which grew
out of them brought Mr. Blaine more prominently before
the country than any other citizen of the time, and cen
tered upon him a malignant hostility from his enemies and
an admiration from his friends far more enthusiastic than
are often inspired by public service.
GREAT SPEECH ON FINANCES.
On the 10th of February, Hon. James G. Blaine deliv
ered a speech on the question of finance, and to him the
attention was so great that it was called a personal ovation.
The galleries were packed from an early hour, and the
floor during the delivery of the speech was occupied by
most of the persons of prominence in Washington. Secre
tary Bristow was an attentive listener. The speech was a
concise and graphic epitome of the financial history of this
country, and a severe arraignment of the Democratic
party. It attracted the more attention from the fact that
it was a formal declaration of the financial policy of one
of the leading presidential candidates. The speech was
expressed in good, clear, and strong English, was pointed

REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE. 59
in its application to history, being firm in its adherence to
the doctrine of good faith under all circumstances. It
described the condition of the country, and explained the
causes, pointed out the inevitable results of inevitable laws,
exposed the consequences of the proposed annihilation of
the national banks, and the proposed expansion of the cur
rency, vindicated the national honor and pledges, insisted
upon such national legislation as would by gradual means
bring the legal-tender note to par. He took the ground
that while the Democrats, as a party, were divided on this
subject, there was no division among the Republicans, who
had always been united in maintaining the national credit
and favoring the resumption of specie payments. He
graphically told the history of the legal-tender notes. The
overwhelming necessity of a treasury without a dollar at
its command to carry on the war, the issue of the first
legal-tender notes, their subsequent increase, and decline
in value, resulting in the solemn promise that the aggre
gate of these notes should never exceed four hundred
millions of dollars, were clearly portrayed by the speaker.
The instructive point was made that in 1864 when the
amount of legal-tender notes, by successive issues had
been inflated, the whole four hundred millions then out
would not purchase as much gold as could have been pur
chased by the original issue of one hundred and fifty mill
ions of notes. The expansion of the notes, therefore, did
not add to their aggregate value, and such would be the
result then, if the United States should become under the
discretion of the majority in Congress the exclusive cur
rency-maker. Such a result was inevitable when the
volume of an irredeemable currency was inflated.
The Democratic hostilities to the issue of the legal-
tender notes — their assumed fidelity to the Constitution
which restrained them in time of war from voting for an
illegal currency, even to enable the government to carry
on the war for the national existence, and their subsequent

60 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
demand in time of peace for the issue of that same cur
rency, to an amount equal to the purchase of sixteen hun
dred millions of bonds, were admirably contrasted by Mr.
Blaine. The ability of the United States to maintain specie pay
ments was strongly vindicated, and the vindication was
strengthened by references to the example of the Pacific
States, and of Canada, where a population less than that of
New York, overwhelmed in debt, with fewer productions,
and frozen up one half the year, enjoyed the luxury of
specie payments with American coin, and were prospering
accordingly. The great error of the past was the discredit given to
the legal-tender notes, by the withdrawal of the privilege
of funding them. Up to that time they had the character
of being redeemed, and kept pace with the other obliga
tions of the government, but that form of redemption
being removed, the damaging impression had been created
that these notes were never to be redeemed. Mr. Blaine
stated that, Congress having taken away the provision
for redemption, the public had naturally come to regard
the legal-tender as perpetually irredeemable, and one of
the first steps toward resumption was to change that
impression by reviving the funding privilege in a bond of
lower rate, with extended time, and a limitation on the
amount that would be funded in any given period.
In addition, Mr. Blaine said: "As an amelioration to
the debtor class the suggestion has been made that the
bonds into which the legal tenders should be thus con
verted might themselves be made a legal tender for all
debts contracted prior to the passage of the act."
ON "RIDERS" AND BRIBERY.
In March, 1876, "riders" on appropriation bills were
under discussion in the House. Mr. Blaine objected to
the use of "riders" in connection with such a bill, and

REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE. 61
thought that every conceivable measure of a certain kind
might be piled upon an appropriation bill, and under the
thumb-screw— under the pressure that attends legislation
on appropriation bills— might be forced through Congress,
which in its calmer moments could not be done.
In the same month the House of Representatives con
sidered a bill making it a misdemeanor for any person in
the employ of the United States to demand or contribute
election funds. On this subject Mr. Blaine stated that he
had run seven times for Congress, and had never contrib
uted so much as a postage stamp for any improper pur
pose in securing his election; he. stated that there was
only one thing worse than the bribing of voters, and that
was the fraudulent count of the votes after they were
deposited in the ballot-box. " Bad as bribing the voter is,
and it is an unendurable evil almost, it is not so bad as
bold, naked fraud in the count. There you have literally
taken away the foundations of free government. A fraud
in the count is the destruction of republican government.
One or two men may do more there than a thousand bribed
men can do outside. * * * This country demands
elections shall be pure. There is not an honest man in
either party who does not desire it. Without that, all
government is a failure; and, sir, there is a widespread
conviction to-day that in a good many of the States of this
Union it is impossible to get a fair election. That the
persons entitled to vote under the fifteenth amendment to
the Constitution — tbe colored voters — get a fair show and
equal chance to deposit their ballots is not believed by ten
honest men north of Mason and Dixon's line, in my judg
ment. * * * We invite you to go with us in provid
ing, after we shall have destroyed bribery outside of the
polling-booth, that you shall not have the embodiment of
rascality behind it to vitiate and destroy the purity of elec
tions within."

62 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

EYES OF THE NATION TOWARD HIM.
While Mr. Blaine was thus sustaining himself in the
House so admirably, the eyes of the nation were turned
toward him, and his popularity was manifest in all parts
of the Union at Republican meetings and conferences.
His philippic arraigning of Davis for his horrible cruel
ties to the Union prisoners at Andersonville, awakened
sympathic echoes in the hearts of multitudes of men, and
before the effect of this emotion had subsided he delivered
his powerful speech, appealing to the judgment of intelli
gent men in favor of a return to honest money. These
two bold presentations of his feelings and his views on
amnesty and currency, revealed Mr. Blaine to the people
in a light that seemed to have thoroughly captivated the
popular affections and understanding. The power, the
courage, and the parliamentary skill with which he had
attacked the Democrats jn the amnesty debate gained for
him the distinguished honor of being the heaviest and
most scientific hitter in the House. The whole country
applauded and encored the performance. Even his bitter
est political opponents in the south, as well as north, were
not able to repress their admiration for the man's ability.
When he took hold of the currency question and handled
it in such a masterly manner as to arrest the attention of
the entire nation, the current began to set in strongly in
his favor for the Presidency. Blaine had been a growing
man since the time he first set foot in Congress. Each
year he developed increasing strength, as he studied the
lessons of statesmanship and experience.
REASONS FOR HIS CANDIDACY.
His six years' training in the Speaker's chair tamed
down his natural impetuosity, seasoned his judgment, and
gave him a clear insight into the character of men and
the secret springs of human action. It was fortunate for

REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE. 63
him that his party in the House was in the minority, as it
placed him on the floor as a leader of the opposition to the
Democracy, and afforded him an admirable opportunity to
lead his forces in attack and aid them in defense; in short,
to exhibit to the very best advantage the sterling qualities
of the man. Among the complimentary reasons given for
the candidacy of Mr. Blaine in 1876, was the statement
that Mr. Blaine was a national man. He was born and
brought up in Pennsylvania, lived for'a time in Kentucky,
and then became a resident of New England. He was
intimate with Western men, and familiar with Western
character and interests, as well as with those in the East.
While Speaker of the House, he was so broad and liberal
in his views, as to make him equally as popular among
Western members as among the members of his own sec
tion of the country, and this fact greatly contributed to
secure for him so large a backing, as was shown in the
State conventions. He had no sympathy with the "bloody
shirt " in politics, and it was under his speakership, and by a
committee he appointed, that the Louisiana and Arkansas
complications were straightened out. He was mainly in
strumental in defeating the obnoxious Force Bill, which
Mr. Conklin had done so much to secure, and which, had
it become a law, would have rendered the defeat of the
Republican party certain at the North.
Mr. Blaine was declared to be warm-blooded, to have
great elements of popularity, and to be in every way closer
to the people than other candidates who had been named.
It was said of him, that he was a man of large and noble
views, a great favorite with multitudes of people, and
widely known and admired; a conspicuous man in the
history of the preceding fifteen years; an admirable execu
tive officer, and a genial and experienced statesman, who
would adorn the office of President to the satisfaction of
the American people.
Additional reasons were, that from first to last he had

64 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
been a strenuous supporter of a policy of leniency which
some political conventions flatly denounced. He supported
all the measures of reconstruction, and aided largely by
his efforts each one of the States having been in rebellion
to be restored to self-government, brought back within
the Union and the people rehabilitated in political power.
He had framed every amnesty bill, and the latest and
grandest effort of his political career was a ten days' strug
gle to remove every political disfranchisement resulting
from the rebellion, except in the solitary instance where
the subject had forfeited human respect by his cruelties to
the prisoners of war. He won a warm place in the hearts
of the right thinking people by his opposition to force bills
and civil government administered by men with bayonets.
He left the ' ' bloody shirt " to Mr. Butler and the carpet
baggers, and addressed himself to the work of peace and
reconciliation — the rebuilding of a harmony between the
races, and the establishment of government sustained by
popular sentiment. AN ALARMING STROKE.
While portions of the Republican party were marshall
ing their forces for a contest in the national convention at
Cincinnati, the whole country, on the eleventh of June,
was surprised and alarmed at the intelligence that the
Hon. James G. Blaine had been stricken with unconscious
ness while attending church in Washington. He rose at
the usual hour, and, after breakfast, played with his chil
dren for a time and was in excellent humor. He remarked
about his pleasant night's sleep, and spoke cheerfully of
his prospects at Cincinnati. Shortly before eleven o'clock
his wife asked him if he was going to church. He answered
that he would go along in a moment if she would wait. He
joined her presently, and the family, consisting of Miss
Dodge and two young daughters of Mr. Blaine, stepped
out to the sidewalk. Mrs. Blaine reminded her husband

REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE. 65
that it was very warm, and they would better ride. Mr.
Blaine said he would prefer to walk. Reference during
the walk was made to the extreme heat, but Mr. Blaine
made little complaint of it. When he reached the steps
of the church, he put his handkerchief to his eyes in a
strange manner, and his wife asked him what was the
matter; if he had anything in his eyes. He said " Oh, no,
I think I am sun-struck. Oh, my head! Oh, my head! " and
sank down insensible in his wife's arms at the threshold of
the church. His little daughter, Hattie, about five years
old, ran into the church and told General Ballerch, who
was at the door, that her father had fainted. On the steps
of the church there was a sad scene'. His wife held his
head in her lap and the rest of the family bent over her,
none knowing whether death had not already overtaken
the prostrate form.
Assistance was soon at hand. A passing omnibus was
reined up against the walk and the deathlike form was
carefully lifted within. Arriving at the house, Mr. Blaine
was borne inside, and by a strong effort said: "Lay me
on the floor." He was at once stretched on the parlor
floor, his shoes removed, and a cushion placed under his
head. Physicians soon arrived, and-caref ul hands smoothed
his pillow all day. It would be difficult to described the
excitement that spread through the city. Crowds gathered
at the hotels and shady places, and, before half an hour,
the walk in front of Mr. Blaine's residence was filled with
anxious visitors. A panic seemed to move the people and
exaggerated statements floated about from tongue to
tongue. The report first gained circulation that Mr.
Blaine had been stricken with- paralysis, but it was soon
learned that his limbs were flexible and sensitive, and his
features natural. Then it was reported that he had an
attack of apoplexy, but a closer examination showed the
symptoms were not at all like it. Surgeon Palmer of the
army, was probably the first to discover the nature of the
i

66 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
attack. He unhesitatingly pronounced it sunstroke. For
the first two hours Mr. Blaine seemed insensible. His
eyes were wide open and staring, and his features without
expression. But gradually his eyes wore a more intelli
gent look, his features improved, and although he said
nothing, he seemed to be conscious of what was occurring.
His eyes occasionally turned, and, sometimes, the lids
dropped over. General Sherman, who bent over the bed
shortly after four o'clock, said, in quite a loud voice:
" Blaine, do you know me?" The lips seemed to move a
little, but no response came. Sometime afterward Mrs.
Blaine said, "James, do you not know me?" He spoke
her name distinctly, and subsequently asked, " What is it?"
and then again, " Where am I?"
An immense crowd was before the house all day and
up to 12 o'clock at night. Mrs. Blaine showed extraordi
nary nerve, and never lost hope. While relatives and
friends were shedding tears and giving way to their sor
rows, she, with strong self-control, was attending to the
more necessary task of nursing her stricken husband.
Had not Mr. Blaine been a man of perfect habits, it is
probable that the attack would have killed him; but no
man in public life has- taken better care of himself than
Mr. Blaine. He neither uses liquor nor tobacco in any
shape. He eats simple food and plenty of it, and sleeps
regularly and long. While he was in this condition in
Washington, his supporters were spreading his banner to
the breeze in Cincinnati on the eve of the convention; yet
the news did not cause an abatement of efforts made in his
behalf, though intelligence of his illness created the most
intense excitement among. the delegates.
Many causes combined to predispose Mr. Blaine to the
attack. For months he had been under a terrible strain,
and on two or three occasions had been forced to put forth
every energy in defense of his character and reputation,
assailed by a band of conspirators, who pursued him with

THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON.

REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE. 67
all the arts of relentless malignity. Recently prostrate
from the effects of a severe attack of malarial fever, he
was forced to appear in the House and committee-room
before he had fully recovered, there to defy and hurl back
the statements of scandal concocted by his enemies. Un
der these circumstances, worn out by incessant toil,
oppressed by a multitude of cares, perplexed by the anxiety
of the campaign and exhausted by the long continued
nervous strain, his powerful constitution yielded to the
excessive heat and he fell a victim to relentless persecution;
but in this terrible emergency, his life was saved by the
strength of his constitution and his well preserved mind
and body. The whole nation sympathized with him in his
affliction, and seemed to cordially unite in a fervent hope
for his rapid recovery, and the full restoration of all his
giant faculties of mind and body. The affliction proved
to be of the nature of a sunstroke, and Mr. Blaine's
friends had the pleasure of witnessing his gradual recovery
and his presentation to the convention at Cincinnati as a
candidate for the Presidency of the United States.

CHAPTER VII.
BEFORE THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION,
1876.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION.
THE sixth national convention of the Republican party
met at Cincinnati, June 14, 1876. The attendance
was greater than at any previous gathering of the party,
and embraced the most noted men in its ranks. To those
who had not attended the convention held in Philadelphia,
four years previous to that time, the number of colored
delegates present caused some surprise. Among them were
congressmen, or ex-congressmen, from South Carolina,
Alabama, and other Southern States.* The convention
was called to order by ex-Governor Morgan, chairman of
the Republican national committee, who arose and addressed
the convention in an interesting opening speech. At the
close of his remarks, he nominated Hon. Theodore M.
Pomeroy, of New York, for temporary presiding officer of
the convention. Mr. Pomeroy's address, which immedi
ately followed his introduction, was received with great
applause. During the hours of the first session, speeches
were made by George William Curtis, General Logan,
General Hawley, Governor Noyes, Henry Garnett, and
Frederick Douglas. The Hon. Edward MacPherson, of
Pennsylvania, was made permanent chairman of the con
vention. After the adoption of the platform, Mr. Kellogg pre
sented the name of Hon. Marshall Jewell, of Connecticut,
as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States;
Colonel Thompson nominated Oliver P. Morton; General
Harlan, of Kentucky, presented the name of Benjamin
68

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION— 1876. 69
H. Bristow; Stuart L. Woodford presented the name of
Hon. Roscoe Conkling; Governor E. W. Noyes nomi
nated General Rutherford B. Hayes; Linn Bartholomew
put in nomination General John F. Hartranft, of Penn
sylvania, and Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll nominated the
Hon. James G. Blaine. This nomination by Mr. Ingersoll
was one of the greatest events of the convention; the
speaker carried with him, for the moment, friend and foe
alike by the power of his fervid eloquence. William M.
Evarts once greatly distinguished himself on the presen
tation of the name of William H. Seward to the convention
of 1860. Gentlemen who heard the nominating speech of
Colonel, Ingersoll, and who had the pleasure of listening to
Mr. Evarts sixteen years before, declared that Mr. Inger-
soll's effort far excelled that of Mr. Evarts; in a word, that
the speech of Mr. Ingersoll had no parallel in the history
of convention oratory.
When Mr. Ingersoll walked up the aisle at the call of
Maine, the convention fairly turned itself into a vocal
tornado. Previous to his appearance, the cheers had been
largely in the galleries and outside the space assigned to
delegates, but now two thirds of the floor of the conven
tion seemed to give a great heave upwards, and such a
tossing of hats and handkerchiefs, and such a scene of
wild enthusiasm had rarely been witnessed, on any other
occasion. The seven hundred distinguished guests behind
the President's chair, sprang to their feet with one impulse;
the galleries were alive with waving hats and swaying
forms; as wave on wave rose and fell, a very tempest of
cheers seemed to shake the building. The shouts died
away only to be resumed again and again, " until it seemed
as if they would never cease," but at last quiet was restored
and Mr. Ingersoll began.
His speech cannot be described. It was the chief topic
of conversation the night following its delivery, and the
Illinois delegation were as proud of Colonel Ingersoll's

70 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
oratory as the Massachusetts Whigs were of "Webster's
Reply to Hayne." A perfect deluge of applause rained
upon him; even those sitting opposed to Mr. Blaine were
carried away, for the moment forgot themselves and
joined heartily in the cheers that greeted the great western
tribute to a great man. Mr. Ingersoll's speech was deliv
ered in his inimitable manner. Carl Schurz came to him
after he had ceased speaking, and taking his hand, said,
" Mr. Ingersoll, let me congratulate you upon that speech;
it was the most beautiful speech I ever heard. I can only
regret that it was not made on the other side." " Sena
tor," replied Ingersoll, "I could not have made that
speech for another man. If what I said was effective, it was
because I meant it. Every word I said of James G. Blaine
was true, and I felt it." " There is no difficulty," rejoined
Schurz " in seeing that you are a Blaine man."
SPEECH OF COLONEL INGERSOLL, NOMINATING MR.
BLAINE.
" Massachusetts may be satisfied with the loyalty of Ben
jamin H. Bristow; so am I. But if any man nominated
by this convention cannot carry the State of Massachu
setts, I am not satisfied with the loyalty of that State. If
the nominee of this convention cannot carry the grand old
Commonwealth of Massachusetts by 75,000 majority, I
would advise them to sell out Faneuil Hall as a Democratic
headquarters. I would advise them to take from Bunker
Hill that old monument of glory.
"The Republicans of the United States demand as
their leader in the great contest of 1876 a man of intelli
gence, a man of integrity, a man of well-known and
approved political opinions. They demand a statesman.
They demand a reformer, after, as well as before, the
election. They demand a politician in the highest, broad
est and best sense — a man of superb moral courage. They
demand a man acquainted with public affairs, with the

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION — 1876. 71
wants of the people, with not only the requirements of the
hour, but with the demands of the future. They demand
a man broad enough to comprehend the relations of this
government to the other nations of the earth. They
demand a man well versed in the powers, duties and pre
rogatives of each and every department of this govern
ment. They demand a man who will sacredly preserve
the financial honor of the United States; one who knows
enough to know that the national debt must be paid
through the prosperity of his people; one who knows
enough to know that all the financial theories in the world
cannot redeem a single dollar; one who knows enough to
know that all the money must be made not by law but by
labor; one who knows enough to know that the people of
the United States have the industry to make the money,
and the honor to pay it over just as fast as they make it.
" The Republicans of the United States demand a man
who knows that prosperity and resumption, when they
come, must come together; that when they come, they
will come hand in hand through the golden harvest fields;
hand in hand by the whirling spindles and the turning
wheels; hand in hand past the open furnace doors; hand
in hand by the flaming forges; hand in hand by the chim
neys filled with eager fire, greeted and grasped by the
countless sons of toil. This money has to be dug out of
the earth. You cannot make it by passing resolutions in
a political convention.
"The Republicans of the United States want a man
who knows that this government should protect every
citizen at home and abroad; who knows that any govern
ment that will not defend its defenders, and protect its
protectors, is a disgrace to the map of the world. They
demand a man who believes in the eternal separation and
divorcement of church and state. They demand a man
whose political reputation is spotless as a star; but they
do not demand that their candidate shall have a certificate

72 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
of moral character signed by a Confederate Congress. The
man who has, in full, heaped and rounded measure, all
these splendid qualifications, is the present grand and gal
lant leader of the Republican party — James G. Blaine.
"Our country, crowned with the vast and marvelous
achievements of its first century, asks for a man worthy
of the past and prophetic of her future; asks for a man
who has the audacity of genius; asks for a man who is
the grandest combination of heart, conscience and brain
beneath her flag. Such a man is James G. Blaine. For
the Republican host, led by this intrepid man, there can
be no defeat.
"This is a grand year — a year filled with the rec
ollections of the Revolution; filled with proud and tender
memories of the past; with the sacred legends of liberty;
a year in which the sons of freedom will drink from
the fountains of enthusiasm; a year in which the people
call for a man who has preserved in Congress what our
soldiers won upon the field; a year in- which they call for
the man who has torn from the throat of treason the
tongue of slander; for the man who has snatched the
mask of Democracy from the hideous face of rebellion;
for the man who, like an intellectual athlete, has stood in
the arena of debate and challenged all comers, and who is
still a total stranger to defeat.
"Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James
G. Blaine marched down the halls of the American Con
gress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the
brazen foreheads of the defamers of his country and the
maligners of his honor. For the Republican party to
desert this gallant leader now, is as though an army
should desert their general upon the field of battle.
"James G. Blaine is now, and has been for years, the
bearer of the sacred standard of the Republican party.
I call it sacred because no human being can stand beneath
its folds without becoming and without remaining free.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION— 1876. 73
"Gentlemen of the convention, in the name of the
great Republic — the only republic that ever existed upon
this earth — in the name of all her defenders and of all her
supporters; in the name of all her soldiers living; in the
name of all her soldiers dead upon the field of battle, and
in the name of those who perished in the skeleton clutch
of famine at Andersonville and Libby, whose sufferings
he so vividly remembers, Illinois — Illinois nominates for
the next President of this country that prince of parlia
mentarians, that leader of leaders, James G. Blaine."
SPEECH OF HON. M. TURNER, SECONDING THE NOMINA
TION OF MR. BLAINE.
" When I left my home in Georgia, and went westward,
I determined in passing through several States, to ascertain
the will of the people. I knew it would be almost impos
sible to give Georgia's electoral vote to any Republican
President, notwithstanding the fact that the dead have
been raised. Everywhere I went, everywhere I mingled
with the people, the name of Blaine seems to have been
talismanic, and it extorted a cheer, and the people seemed
to be alive at the very announcement of it. I wish to-day
to second the nomination of the Hon. James G. Blaine.
In doing this, Mr. President, and gentlemen of the con
vention, I want it understood that some of the names par
ticularly that have been mentioned, I honor and revere
with a reverence that my tongue could not express. The
name of Morton, the champion of governors; Pinchback,
the defender of the outraged people of Louisiana. I
would borrow Dore's pencil and dip it in the sunlight of
heaven and write on the brow of Oliver P. Morton the
title of honor. Mr. President, I believe we have before us
now a name that arouses the people of this great country
in a manner that the names of others cannot. I have
nothing to say against Mr. Bristow. I listened to the elo
quence of the great poet of New York as he defended the

74 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
name of Bristow. I paid deep deference to that generous
son of Massachusetts, our Minister to England, but in the
person of the Hon. James G. Blaine we have a Republican
about whom there is no question. He has commanded the
party for twenty-five years. He has been its front, and
to-day he stands the champion of Republican principles, I
believe, in the United States of America. He gave his
own State, so says an aged and learned doctor of divinity
of Maine, to that party, and forever, I expect, buried
Democracy in that sacred soil. It will never lift its head
there again, I trust. He originated the spirit of the four
teenth amendment. He stood by the immortal Lincoln
during the trial through which the country was passing
for freedom, and justice and equity and all mankind, and
to chase out of the nation a set of insurgents who lifted
their impious hands against that flag that still floats in
heaven, thank God!
" There is one thing I like about Mr. Blaine, he is the
representative of young America; no question about that.
He is no dead fossil. He is not tied on to any old consti
tutional barriers that shut out a class and parcel of God's
humanity, and fetter and bind him to a set of principles
that are antiquated. I have a dozen points I want to
make, but I will only make one now, and it is this: but
for Mr. Blaine, to-day you would have had no Republican
party. I will show it. When the Democrats carried this
country at the last election, the Republican party all over
this land was thunderstruck, paralyzed, dead and bleeding,
bleeding to death; but it was Blaine standing in the halls
of Congress that shook life into the party and defied the
Democracy of this nation. He breathed again the spirit
of activity and hope into this prostrate party. Who can
deny it?" SPEECH OF WILLIAM B. FRY.
" The impatience of the convention is a warning to me
which I take heed of a.s I start, and I would not trespass.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION— 1876. 75
one word upon your patience or time did I not feel bound
as a citizen of Maine, as a Republican of Maine, to stand
here before this great convention and declare her confi
dence in her favorite, her idol son, James G. Blaine. She
is a daughter of the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
But, sir, I say here, and I say now, that whoever is nomi
nated in this convention as a candidate of the Republican
party shall carry the State of Maine by twenty thousand
majority. And why is it a contest of life? It is a contest
between right and wrong, between liberty and slavery,
between barbarism and civilization, and in God's name is
this Republic to go down now at the commencement of
the second century forever and ever? Are we to take this
beloved Republic, baptized again and again in the blood
of our sons, sanctified and purified by the prayers and
tears of our mothers and our wives, and to-day pass it over
into the hands of men who, bloody-handed within a score
of years, endeavored to destroy its life forever ? My friends,
that is the question which is to be settled here and now;
and when we have nominated our candidate, we know he
will sweep all the loyal Union men of the whole country
as a tornado sweeps the branches of the great West. For
twenty-five years have we of Maine known James G. Blaine
as we knew our own household. He is honest, he is pure,
he is spotless, he is sagacious, he is wise, he is great. He
will be a power to salvation as a candidate of the Repub
lican party." BALLOTING.
On the third and last day of the convention the ballot
ing for candidates took place. The vote for Blaine rose
and fell and then rose again; that for Morton and Conk
ling slowly declined, while Bristow kept for a while the
place first taken. At last his supporters also began to
scatter, and slowly dropped in the Blaine or Hayes col
umns. Michigan made the first important break on the
fifth ballot, joined Ohio and cast her twenty-two votes

76

LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

for R. B. Hayes. The sixth ballot saw but little charge,
excepting between Hayes and Blaine, who gained slowly,
while Bristow dropped behind. When the ballot was con
cluded there was great confusion, and it was evident that
changes would be made in the next vote. At the call of
Indiana, the chairman of the delegation mounted the plat
form, withdrew Senator Morton's name and cast twenty-
five votes for Hayes. This announcement was heard with
loud cheers, arid from that time on until the close the
wildest enthusiasm prevailed; finally, on the seventh bal
lot, the vote was 384 for Hayes, 351 for Blaine, and 21 for
Bristow. The long and exciting convention came to a
close, and Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and William A.
Wheeler, of New York, composed the presidential ticket
for the centennial year.
It was a sad disappointment to the Republicans through
out the country that Mr. Blaine was not nominated. It
was as a personal grief to thousands in Pennsylvania and in
Maine, as the news of the defeat came to them. Mr. Blaine
was decidedly the most popular man in the convention,
and lacked but little of receiving the nomination, after
combinations had been formed against him.

BALLOTS ON LAST DAY OF

THE

CONVENTION.

+3 o
pq

¦8

+3 o

r%

o

o
3

CANDIDATES.

3ffl
pq
"a
"3
pq
pq
-a
xi
PQ
pq
¦fl
ECH
rtoo
133
I
¦3
35
0CD>
Blaine 
298
296
293
292
286
308111 81
8550
113 2
351 21
Bristow 
114
113
121
126
114 82
Conkling 
93
99
90
84
Morton 
111
124
113
108
9569
Hartranf t 
63
58
68
71
Hayes 
64
61
67
68
104
384
Jewell 
11 a
11 3
2
2
2
Washburne 
1
1
1
3
3
4
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION— 1876. 77

THE TRUE SPIRIT.
Mr. Blaine's true spirit and his loyalty to Republican
principles could not have been made more apparent than
by his conduct immediately following the convention at
Cincinnati. He at once gave in his adherence to Mr.
Hayes, and during the campaign which followed, entered
the canvass as a political orator. In the various States his
voice was heard in support of the Republican party, and
all the powerful influence of the man was thrown into the
canvass. He was seen and heard by tens of thousands, and
.his oratory during the campaign endeared him to the
people more closely than before.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT.
During the summer of 1876, the constitutional amend
ment proposed by Mr. Blaine received considerable atten
tion. The preceding December he had introduced in the
House of Representatives an amendment to the Constitu
tion of the United States, prohibiting the use of any school
fund or other public money by any state or municipal
government for the endowment of any school or educa
tional or other institution under the control of any religious
sect or denomination, or where any religious doctrine should
be taught. The proposed amendment was reported unan
imously from the judiciary committee, and passed the
House of Representatives with but few dissenting votes.
When the amendment reached the senate, the lawyers of
that body pronounced it altogether too loose, and pro
ceeded to modify it, and succeeded in making it more of a
statute than a constitutional provision. They further
included in it the proviso that it was not to be construed
to prohibit the reading of the Bible in any schools, which
proviso was susceptible of meaning that such reading of
the Bible should not be excluded. It also provided that
where certain schools were already endowed, such endow-

78 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
ments were not to be impaired. The result was that an
opposition was excited, and the amendment failed to
receive the required vote. One House did not put enough
in the amendment, and the other put too much, and
between the two the amendment failed to pass.
This amendment was designed to prevent any religious
denomination obtaining such power as to disrupt the
American free public school system. This danger exists
at all times, and one strong religious body is as apt to
make the attempt as another. This danger can be averted
for all time only in one way, and that is by the adoption
of a constitutional amendment similar to that proposed by
Mr. Blaine. Such an amendment should receive support,
not only from all liberal-minded citizens of all parties, but
from the various religious denominations themselves. Pro
tection would be insured for all by means of such a pro
vision, and all sects would be on an equal footing, and
the rights of the weakest, as well as of the strongest, would
be fully protected under the law. The provision would
protect the interests and prosperity of this government,
which depend upon the absolute and permanent separa
tion of church and state, of politics and religion.

CHAPTER VIII.
MR. BLAINE A UNITED STATES SENATOR.
SUCCESSOR TO SENATOR MORRILL.
ON the 3d of July, 1876, Governor Conner, of Maine,
appointed Mr. Blaine United States Senator, to suc
ceed the Hon. Lot M. Morrill, who had just resigned to
accept the post of Secretary of the Treasury, succeeding
Mr Bristow, who had just retired from that trust. He
was subsequently chosen by the Legislature of Maine to fill
out the unexpired term and the one succeeding it. When
this honor had been conferred upon Mr. Blaine, he wrote
a farewell address to his congressional district, in which he
said: "Beginning with 1862, you have, by continuous
elections, sent me as your representative to the Congress
of the United States. For such marked confidence I have
endeavored to return the most zealous and devoted service
in my power, and it is certainly not without a feeling of
pain that I now surrender a trust by which I have always
felt so signally honored. It has been my boast in public
and private, that no man on the floor of Congress ever
represented a constituency more distinguished for intelli
gence, for patriotism, for public and personal virtue. The
cordial support you have so uniformly given me through
these fourteen eventful years is the chief honor of my life.
In closing the intimate relations I have so long held with
the people of this district, it is a great satisfaction to me
to know that, with returning health, I shall enter upon
a field of duty in which I can still serve them in common
with the larger constituency of which they form a part."
Mr. Blaine entered the Senate when the country was
79

80 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
worked up to fever heat over the doubtful presidential
election. His great prominence in national affairs at once
made him a prominent figure in his new capacity, and he
often broke over the traditions of the body which require
that the new members be silent and allow their seniors to
monopolize the debates. The plan proposed for settling
the disputed presidential election provided for an electoral
commission to consist of five senators, five representatives,
and five supreme court judges. Both. Houses warmly dis
cussed the bill and passed it in January, 1877. The Re
publican candidates were declared elected. Mr. Blaine
opposed the electoral commission and in this opposition
was supported by Senator Morton and other distinguished
members of that body.
Promptly after his inauguration President Hayes recog
nized the Democratic State governments in South Carolina
and Louisiana, and withdrew such federal troops as had
been detained there during the previous administration.
This provision, known as Hayes' southern policy, was
opposed by Mr. Blaine, who took a decided stand against it,
not believing that the Republican party should abandon the
protection of the colored people in the south.
THE SILVER DOLLAR.
In February, 1878, the Senate was considering the bill
authorizing the free coinage of the standard silver dollar and
restoring its legal-tender character. Mr. Blaine offered
a substitute for the bill which provided, First: That the
dollar shall contain four hundred and twenty-five grains of
standard silver, shall have unlimited coinage, and be an
unlimited legal tender. Second: That all profits of coin
age shall go to the government, and not to the operator in
silver bullion. Third: That silver dollars or silver bullion,
assayed and mint-stamped, may be deposited with the
Assistant Treasurer of New York, for which coin-certifi
cates may be issued, the same in denomination as United

nlIP

'-WS^iiteSb.-S" i^^

raws 11111

¦

UNITED STATES TREASURY BUILDING.

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 81
States notes, not below ten dollars, and that these shall be
redeemable on demand in coin or bullion, thus furnishing
a paper circulation based on an actual deposit of precious
metal, giving us notes as valuable as those of the Bank of
England, and doing away at once with the dreaded incon
venience of silver on account of bulk and weight.
Mr. Blaine addressed the Senate in a very effective
speech. He took the ground that " The effect of paying
the labor of this country in silver coin of full value, as
compared with the irredeemable paper, or as compared
even with silver of inferior value, will make itself felt in a
single generation to the extent of tens of millions, per
haps hundreds of millions, in the aggregate savings which
represent consolidated capital. It is the instinct of man,
from the savage to the scholar — developed in childhood
and remaining with age — to value the metals which in all
tongues are called precious. Excessive paper money leads
to extravagance, to waste, and to want, as we painfully
witness on all sides to-day. And in the midst of the proof
of its demoralizing and destructive effect, we hear it pro
claimed in the halls of Congress that ' the people demand
cheap money.' I deny it. I declare such a phrase to be
a total misapprehension — a total misinterpretation of the
popular wish. The people do not demand cheap money.
They demand an abundance of good money, which is an
entirely different thing. They do not want a single gold
standard, that will exclude silver and benefit those already
rich. They do not want an inferior silver standard, that
will drive out gold and not help those already poor. They
want both metals, in full value, in equal honor, in what
ever abundance the bountiful earth will yield them to the
searching eye of science and to the hard hand of labor.
" The two metals have existed, side by side, in harmo
nious, honorable companionship as money, ever since
intelligent trade was known among men. It is well nigh
forty centuries since ' Abraham weighed to Ephron four

82 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
hundred shekels of silver — current money with the me
chant.' Since that time nations have risen and fallei
races have disappeared, dialects and languages have bee
forgotten, arts have been lost, treasures have perishec
continents have been discovered, islands have been sunk i
the sea, and through all these ages and through all thes
changes silver and gold have reigned supreme, as the re]
resentatives of value, as the media of exchange. Tl
dethronement of each has been attempted in turn, an
.sometimes the dethronement of both; but always in vaii
And we are here to-day, deliberating anew over the prol
lem which comes down to us from Abraham's time — tl
weight of the silver that shall be ' current money with tli
merchant.'" SPEECH ON CURRENCY AT BIDDEFORD.
Mr. Blaine's views on currency are well known to tb
people of the country, not only from his speeches in Coi
gress, but from those in other sections of the country. I
August, 1878, he delivered a speech on financial questior
at Biddeford, Maine. The currency question was by con
mon consent the great question of the hour. The speakc
regretted that condition of things, because if there ws
one thing the people could not afford it was a politics
currency question. He wanted it settled, and to have
settled right. He then reviewed the history of currenc
from 1861 to the time then present.
VIOLATION OF RIGHTS AT ELECTIONS.
Mr. Blaine had the national ear in the Senate, Decen
ber 11, speaking on the resolution purposing an inquii
in all cases into the rights of citizens wherein any may hai
been abridged or violated in recent elections. The resi
lutions singled out no State or collection of States.
included Massachusetts along with South Carolina, an
New York, as well as Louisiana. Mr. Blaine's ideas wen

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 83
as presented in his address, that the South claimed a repre
sentation in Congress in proportion to the total population
including ex-slaves as well as whites. But the practical
disfranchisement of the blacks permitted the white voters
in the South to elect nearly twice as many representatives
as they would be entitled to if the blacks were excluded in
the apportionment as well as in voting. - The three States
of South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana had seventeen
representatives apportioned on the basis of 1,035,000 white
votes and 1,224,000 colored. Nine of the representatives
given these three States were apportioned by choice of the
colored population who were not permitted to elect one of
them. The result was that 1,035,000 white voters had as
many representatives in Congress and as large a voice in
the affairs of the nation as the 2,247,000 white voters of
Iowa and Wisconsin, who had seventeen representatives.
In other words, Mr. Blaine put it thus: 60,000 white
people in those southern States had precisely the same
political power as 132,000 white people had in Iowa and
Wisconsin. This state of things gave the South more
advantage over the North than was given in the days of
slavery. Then the whites elected representatives to Con
gress for three-fifths of their colored population in addition
to their own apportionment. Now the Southern appor
tionment included the entire colored population, which as
a matter of fact had no more voice in choosing repre
sentatives than it had while in a condition of slavery. The
argument was based of course upon the assumption that
the colored voters were practically disfranchised, which
was the subject of inquiry.
The success of Mr. Blaine in supporting his position
was regarded a brilliant stroke, and won for him applause
throughout the Nation. One rule prevailed all over
the South: Wherever the colored people were in the mi
nority, they were permitted to vote as they pleased; wher-.
ever they were in the majority, they were not permitted to

84 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
vote as they pleased. A variety of methods had been
adopted to nullify the colored majority wherever it existed.
In some cases the ballot had been taken from them by
imposing an excessive poll-tax, and other conditions with
which the majority could not comply. In other cases
they were disfranchised, their candidates driven off, some
of their number killed, and others threatened and terrified.
In still other cases, the tissue and the stuffing of the ballot-
boxes had accomplished the business. The net result was
the same, namely, that the colored people were counted
to give the South thirty-five more congressmen than it
otherwise would be entitled to, but they were not per
mitted to choose any of these congressmen. The North
had a selfish interest, as well as a patriotic concern in this
matter. By the disfranchisement of the colored voters,, the
confederates of the South controlled one hundred and six
Representatives and thirty-five Senators. They required
but a small number of accomplices at the North to be able
to disrupt the legislation and the policy of the country.
The great financial, commercial and agricultural interests
of the New England, Eastern, Middle and Western States
might thus be made §ubject to the absolute despotism of
the minority within that section of the country by the
operation of a fraud. Such a result could not be patiently
submitted to by the people north of Mason and Dixon's
line. In replying to Mr. Blaine, Mr. Thurman intimated
that a solid South was the pretext for a solid North, but it
was thought to be more accurate to say that a solid North
would be the natural result of a solid South. The South,
by a system of frauds and the prostitution of local legisla
ture and judiciary, had succeeded in avoiding the consti
tutional amendments, for incurring the penalty of a loss
in representation, and if there should be no other peaceful
and lawful way of either preventing or punishing this
avoidance, then the remedy was in a solid North, and it

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 85
was asserted that the Democratic leaders should not pre
cipitate the issue. "But," contined Mr. Blaine, "when
ever a feeble protest is made against such injustice, as I
have described in the South, the response we get comes to
us in the form of a taunt, ' What are you going to do about
it?' and ' How do you propose to help yourselves?' This
is the stereotyped answer of defiance which intrenched
Wrong always gives to inquiring Justice; and those who
imagine it to be conclusive do not know the temper of the
American people. For, let me assure you, that against
the complicated outrage upon the right of representation,
lately triumphant in the South, there will be arrayed many
phases of public opinion in the North not often hitherto
in harmony. Men who have cared little, and affected to
care less, for the rights or the wrongs of the Negro, sud
denly find that vast monetary and commercial interests,
great questions of revenue, adjustments of tariff, vast in
vestments in manufactures, in railways, and in mines, are
under the control of a Democratic Congress, whose major
ity was obtained by depriving the Negro of his rights under
a common Constitution and common laws. Men who have
expressed disgust with the ' waving of bloody shirts,' and
have been offended with talk about Negro equality, are be
ginning to perceive that the pending question of to-day
relates more pressingly to the equality of white men under
this Government, and that however careless they may be
about the rights or the wrongs of the Negro, they are very
jealous and tenacious about the rights of their own race,
and the dignity of their own firesides and their own kin
dred. "I know something of public opinion in the North. I
know a great deal about the views, wishes and purposes of
the Republican party of the Nation. Within that entire
great organization there is not one man, whose opinion is
entitled to be quoted, that does not desire peace and har
mony and friendship, and a patriotic and fraternal union

86 LIFE OF JAMES a. BLAINE.
between the North and the STJuth. This wish is sponta
neous, instinctive, universal throughout the Northern
States; and yet, among men of character and sense, there
is surely no need of attempting to deceive ourselves as to
the precise truth. First pure, then peaceable. Gush will
not remove a grievance, and no disguise of State rights will
close the eyes of our people to the necessity of correcting a
great national wrong. Nor should the South make the
fatal mistake of concluding that injustice to the Negro is
not also injustice to the white man ; nor should it ever be
forgotten that for the wrongs of both a remedy will assur
edly be found. The war, with all its costly sacrifices, was
fought in vain, unless equal rights for all classes be estab
lished in all the States of the Union; and now, iu words
which are those of friendship, however differently they may
be accepted, I tell the men of the South here on this floor
and beyond this chamber, that even if they could strip the
Negro of his constitutional rights, they can never perma
nently maintain the inequality of white men in. this Nation —
they can never make a white man's vote in the South
doubly as powerful in the administration of the Govern
ment as a white man's vote in the North.
"In a memorable debate in the House of Commons, Mr.
Macaulay reminded Daniel O'Connell, when he was mov
ing for repeal, that the English Whigs had endured
calumny, abuse, popular fury, loss of position, exclusion
from Parliament, rather than the great Agitator himself
should be less than a British subject; and Mr. Macaulay
warned him that they would never suffer him to be more.
And let me now remind you that the Government under
whose protecting flag we sit to-day, sacrificed myriads of
lives and expended thousands of millions of treasure that
our countrymen of the South should remain citizens of the
United States, having equal personal rights and equal
political privileges with all other citizens. And I venture,
now and here, to warn the men of the South, in the exact

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 87
words of Macaulay, that we will never suffer them to be
more !" TARIFF.
In April, 1878, Mr. Blaine offered these resolutions:
Resolved, That any radical change in our present tariff laws would,
in the judgment of the Senate, be inopportune, would needlessly derange
the business interests of the country, and would seriously retard that
return to prosperity for which all should earnestly co-operate.
Resolved, That, in the judgment of the Senate, it should be the
fixed policy of this Government so to maintain our tariff for revenue
as to afford adequate protection to American labor.
Nine days after this, Mr. Blaine called up his resolu
tions, and urged their passage. The appointment of the
tariff commission received consideration by the Senate,
but Mr. Blaine thought it a most mischievous measure in
its effects — not, of course, so designed by the mover of it —
but he said that nothing would more effectually unsettle
the business of the country, and that the roving of the
commission over the country would only elongate the evil;
would only increase it, and keep drawing it out over a long
time. There was no form, in his judgment, which the
tariff discussions or the tariff legislations could take, that
would be fraught with more mischief to the country than
to have the eommission sitting upon it. After they had
made their report, it could not affect legislation here or
influence the opinion of any person in either branch of
Congress one way or the other. " We have had many of
these commissions upon divers and sundry subjects, and I
have never known them to do a particle of good, so far as
producing a result in practical legislation."
After listening to a speech on the tariff, delivered by
Senator Beck, Mr. Blaine said:
"Mr. President: The honorable Senator from Ken
tucky (Mr. Beck), quite prematurely, and without my
expectation, launched forth into an argument on the sub
ject of the tariff; and very naturally, taking the side he

88 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
does, he quarrels with the civilization of the nineteenth
century. He says it is the machinery that is to blame.
We have got machinery in this country, he says, that will
do the work of one hundred and seventy-five million men,
and there is where all the trouble is. Of course, the
logical result of the Senator's argument is to abolish the
locomotive, the steam-engine and all modern appliances of
transportation and manufacture, and go back to the hand-
loom and the wagon. * * *
" The Senator said — he may correct his argument now —
that we had the machinery here, which was the slave of
the owners of it, that they could command it to stand still
or to turn when they chose, that the laborer was their
servant, and that he had no independence outside of the
machinery. I do not understand any logical result, or see
how the Senator can free the laborer from the position he
puts him in, but by abolishing the machinery; I do not
understand it otherwise. And I think among the anoma
lies that American politics turn up — and we meet many of
them in this chamber — among the strange contradictions
that history develops, is that the seat of Henry Clay, in
the Senate of the United States, should be the place from
which a free-trade argument to overthrow the American
system and take the side of the free-trader should be made.
It is one of the anomalies of American politics; and the
argument of the Senator from Kentucky goes right back
to what was said before the war by a distinguished southern
man, that he hoped to see the day when the old barter
between the English ship that was anchored in the Savan
nah or the Potomac, or the Cooper or the Ashley, should
be resumed with the planter who shipped directly to
England; and it is that spirit to-day which holds in man
acles and paralyzes the development of the southern
country. " The Senator recalled to us the great tariff of Robert
J. Walker, and cited to us the vast achievement of politi-

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 89
cal philosophy and economy that man presented to us in
his three reports of 1845, 1846 and 1847. Well, the tariff
of Robert J. Walker had abundant opportunity to ' run
and be glorified ' in this country, and it ran us into bank
ruptcy and want and ruin. It was modified in 1857, going
still further in the same direction. The years 1857, 1858,
1859 and 1860 were years of prostration and financial ruin,
and wide-spread disaster and want, in which the laborer
was not employed. Those four years were much more
severe in many portions of this country than even the
four past years which we have just gone through. So,
when the Senator presents to us the fact that Robert J.
Walker established the tariff of 1846, he presents it as a
beacon of warning to every man who remembers its effect
throughout the length and breadth of the manufacturing
industries of this country.
"There we see developed a little collision between our
friends on the other side. When the Senator from Ken
tucky (Mr. Beck) was laying down the Simon Pure Demo
cratic doctrine as it was announced at the last national
sanhedrim of that party, the Senator from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Wallace) put in an exception, and the Senator from
Pennsylvania said that it was fully understood that the
free-trade side of the tariff question was not to be a
Democratic doctrine, but that all the Congressional dis
tricts were to be left to determine that matter for them
selves. Everybody knows that was a contrivance got up
for the benefit of gentlemen placed exactly in the delicate
attitude of the Senator from Pennsylvania, who have pro
tective-tariff constituents behind, allied with the free-
trade party in the country at large, and the guise which
was made and attempted for the benefit of Mr. Greeley in
his campaign, was boldly thrown off at St. Louis when
Mr. Tilden became the standard-bearer.
"The Senator from Kentucky warned us that the
trouble is radical, and he called, up the fact of an Amerj-

90 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
can ship being launched a few days since on the Delaware;
and he said you may build that ship at the same rate that
an English ship is, load her with goods manufactured in
this country as cheaply as in England, and send her to her
port, and the trouble is she has nothing to bring back. I
wish the Senator would give me his attention this moment.
The trouble is that we have nothing to bring back, the
Senator says. Well, he was singularly unfortunate in his
allusion, because, of a- total export annually from Brazil of
less than $90,000,000, we take $40,000,000; of a total
export from Brazil of $500,000,000 within the last six
years we have taken well-nigh $250,000,000. The Senator
says the trouble is that we may sail our ships wherever we
please, but we can get no return cargo. I suppose the
idea is that we had better take our coffee and dyewoods
and other things of that sort from Brazil in British bot
toms. Mr. Beck. — Will the Senator allow me to say, that I
referred to vessels sailing to Valparaiso and trading with
Chili? and every fact I stated is true, and I hold evidence
in my hand, compiled by Mr. Wells in a little work that
the Senator from Maine would do well to read, giving
exactly the facts that I stated. As to Brazil, we have
more trade with her because coffee has been made free
lately; and that is the only reason we trade with Brazil.
Mr: Blaine. — We took scarcely less coffee when it was
taxed. Mr. Beck. — I never mentioned Brazil in my remarks.
Mr. Blaine. — The Senator mentioned the City of Para
and the port to which she was destined to run. The City
of Para was launched for a Brazilian line, and all the
parade of Congress and the President that went over there
was to inaugurate that line. Is not that the fact? You
may mention any other South American port, but you do
not change the argument a particle. We take a great deal
more from all these countries than we send to them, and

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 91
yet the Senator says the trouble is we can get no return
cargo. His argument does not stand at all. Mr. Presi
dent, there is no more hurtful agitation to-day in this
country than the agitation of the tariff. The Senator
talks of a lobby being here. That is always the cry, when
anything comes up, "there is a lobby!" Has the Senator
seen a tariff lobby here ?
Mr. Beck. — I served upon the Committee of Ways and
Means in the House under the distinguished Senator from
Massachusetts (Mr. Dawes), and our room was full of
them, from the time we met until we adjourned, demand
ing more protection.
Mr. Blaine. — When the gentleman was on the Com
mittee of Ways and Means, the persons interested in the
tariff were coming there to give testimony; they* were
coming to give just what you propose now to get a Com
mission to give. They were coming in there to give you
voluntarily what you propose to get a roving Commission
rambling all over the country to inquire into.
Mr. Beck. — I am not a member of the present Com
mittee on Finance, and how far their rooms are filled I
cannot tell, but I know that there are men here from all
parts of the country resisting the reduction of the tariff.
Mr. Blaine. — Very well. Now I ask the Senator from
Kentucky another question. Does he know of, has he
seen, a petition presented in either House of Congress at
the present session for a repeal or modification of the pres
ent tariff?
Mr. Beck. — I will answer the Senator that the great
unorganized mass of the people have nobody to speak for
them. Mr. Blaine. — Ah!
Mr. Beck. — It is only the classes that are interested
who come here. Did the Senator ever know of petitions
asking for a reduction of taxes?
Mr. Blaine.— What is to hinder the great unorganized

92 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
mass of people out in Kentucky sending petitions to their
distinguished Senators to be presented here?
Mr. Beck. — Because they have to rely on their Repre
sentatives on this floor and the other to speak for them;
but it is men who want something, special protection, to
tax all the people to give them more, that are always here
asking for more. Of course, the people who are interested
are scattered all over the country, and can neither organize
nor get together. They have no clubs, they have no rings,
they have no associations through which they can speak.
Mr. Dawes. — The Senator from Kentucky has alluded
to his service upon the Committee of Ways and Means in
the House of Representatives, and said that the room of
the Committee of Ways and Means was crowded with men
demanding more protection. Does the Senator mean to
say that there was one more man in the room of the Com
mittee of Ways and Means demanding protection than
there were men demanding that the tariff should be re
duced ? Does not the Senator know that there were or
ganizations represented before the committee, whose sole
purpose it was to institute just such a tariff as the tariff
of 1846 ? They had their organs here; they had their
office in this city; they had their bureau; they had their
men employed on a salary here who wore in the room of
the Committee of Ways and Means, day in and day out,
urging their consideration upon the Committee; and the
result of it all was that they were discomfited and routed
in the argument, and they have been quiet from that day
to this. Mr. Beck. — I never heard of organizations of that sort.
There may have been, and the Senator from Massachusetts
may know of them.
Mr. Dawes. — If the Senator from Kentucky has for
gotten the names of those who represented those organi
zations, I can give them to him.
Mr. Beck, — What organizations were they?

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 93
Mr. Dawes. — There was an organization represented by
a man by the name of Grosvenor, from Missouri here, who
had a bureau on Pennsylvania avenue, and who urged upon
that Committee a system of tariff which would put the
manufactured article below the raw material in the duty;
and when I suggested to him to make a tariff upon his prin
ciple and bring it to the committee-room, which would raise
a revenue that would defray the expenses of the Govern
ment and pay the interest on the national debt, and I would
submit it, he utterly failed and confessed his inability to
do it. The Committee of Ways and Means had to meet
this question to raise revenue for the country and pay the
interest on the public debt, and say whether they would
put the duty for that purpose on the raw material or upon
the manufactured article, and the Committee of Ways and
Means came to the conclusion, after having heard all par
ties, that it was wiser to put it upon the manufactured
article than upon the raw material; and the policy of that
committee was to put the raw material, wherever it was
produced, at the door of the shop of the manufacturer as
cheaply as it was possible to do it, taking off the duty and
reducing the transportation, putting it at the door of the
manufacturer as cheaply as possible, and put the duty upon
tea and coffee and upon the manufactured articles to meet
the exigencies of the country.
Mr. Blaine. — But there was one very remarkable ex
ception of raw %iaterial, and that was hemp, which was
produced by the State of Kentucky. While they took good
care to make almost all other raw materials cheap, I think
the honorable Senator from Kentucky wisely looked out
for his own State, and got a very large duty put on
hemp, jute, and all kindred grasses.
Mr. Beck. — I desire to say to the Senator from Maine
and the Senator from Massachusetts, that they are unfort
unate in their facts, because they are not true.

94 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
Mr. Blaine. — All I know on' that point is, that the
Senator from Kentucky was a member of the Committee
of Ways and Means, and that in the tariff bill reported
there was a very large protection, which I believe still-
exists, on hemp. It was exceptionally large, as contrasted
with the other raw materials needed for the manufactures
of this country, and I always gave credit to the Senator
from Kentucky, who is a watchful and able and zealous
representative of his constituents, for getting that pro
tection put in. He took good care to have his own door
step swept very clean, but seems to have cared very little
about what became of his neighbors.
Mr. Beck. — That is all very smart. I have answered
that the facts are not so, and I will show it to-morrow
when I get a chance.
Mr. Blaine. — If the Senator can show that there has
not been, from the time he was a member of the Com
mittee of Ways and Means, an exceptionally heavy duty
on hemp, then he can show that I am mistaken, and I will
very gracefully, or as gracefully as I can, acknowledge it;
but I think the Senator from Kentucky will not be quite
able to show the fact. I do not wish to trench upon the time
given to other measures before the Senate; but this matter
I hope will come up when- we can have a freer discussion.
REMOVING DISABILITIES.
In the spring of 1878 there was a bill Before the Senate
making appropriations for arrears of pensions. Mr.
Blaine took an active part in the discussion, the most
interesting portion of which pertained to remarks on
removing the disabilities from Jefferson Davis. He
defended the action of the Republican party regarding
amnesty, and in reply to a remark of Mr. Thurman, Mr.
Blaine resented with some little feeling the Senator's com
plaint that the Republicans were taking some extraordi
nary course with the name of Jefferson Davis. "We do not

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 95
bring him here," said Mr. Blaine. " You bear his mangled
remains before us, and then, if we do not happen to view
them with the same admiration that seems to inspire the
Senator from Ohio, we are doing something derogatory to
our own dignity and to the honor of the country; 'and
when the honorable Senator from Mississippi comes to his
defense, the first word he had to speak for Mr. Davis was
that he never counseled insurrection against the govern
ment. I took the words down. He has never counseled
insurrection! Let us be thankful. Why should we not
pension a man who has shown such loyalty that he has
never counseled insurrection? That is from the repre
sentative of his own State. I took the words down when
he spoke them; I was amazed; I did not exactly consider
the words of the honorable Senator from Mississippi a
wanton insult to apply to me or anybody else, but I con
sider them to be most extraordinary words, that when
pleading the cause of Jefferson Davis at the bar of the
American Senate to be pensioned on its roll of honor, his
personal representative, his associate, his friend, his fol
lower, commends him to the American people, because he
has been so loyal that he has never counseled insurrection
since the war was over.
" This is the man brought in here who, according to
the Senator from Mississippi, is to go down to history the
peer of Washington and Hampden, fighting in the same
cause, entitled to the same niche in history, inspired by
the same patriotic motives, to be admired for the same
self-consecration. " Let me tell the honorable Senator from Mississippi,
that in all the years that I have served in Congress I have
never voluntarily brought the name of Jefferson Davis be
fore either branch; but I tell him that he is asking human
ity to forget its instincts and patriotism to be changed to
crime, before he will find impartial history place Mr.
Jefferson Davis anywhere in the roll that has for its

96 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
brightest and greatest names, George Washington and
John Hampden.
"The government of the United States never disfran
chised or put under political disabilities more than four
teen thousand men in the entire south. Out of two
millions who were in the war it never disfranchised over
fourteen thousand men. . There are not two hundred left
to-day with political disabilities upon them. There is not
one that ever respectfully, or any other way, petitioned to
be relieved and was refused. I know very well what the
honorable Senator from Ohio meant, when he said that
Hon. Jefferson Davis should commend himself, because he
was not an office-seeker and had not asked to be relieved
of disabilities. Why, if the newspapers are to be credited,
especially those in the Southern Democratic interest, Mr.
Davis is a candidate for office; he is pledged to sit on the
other side of this Chamber two years hence, and the hon
orable Senator from Ohio will in the next Congress with
his eloquence — I am predicting now — urge that these dis
abilities be removed from him. I predict further that he
will urge it without Jefferson Davis paying the respect to
the great government against which he rebelled, simply
asking in respectful language that disabilities be taken
from him. He has never asked it; I am very sure that
another great leader in the south, Mr. Toombs, of Georgia,
has boasted that he would never do it; and in the House
of Representatives three years ago, when the general
amnesty bill was pending and it was proposed that the
amnesty should be granted merely on the condition that it
should be asked for by each person desiring it, that it was
resisted to the bitter end — this great government was to go
to them and ask them if they would take it. The action
of the Democratic House of Representatives — I am speak
ing of the past now, which is quite within parliamentary
limits — the action of the Democratic House of Representa
tives was not that Jefferson Davis might have his disabili-

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 97
ties removed upon respectful petition, but that we should
go to him and petition him to allow us to remove them."
CHINESE IMMIGRATION.
Senator Blaine having canvassed in the interest of the
Republican party in the fall of 1878, entered the Senate in
December of that year. During this session the Chinese
bill created much interest. The bill did not propose to
interfere or disturb any Chinamen then in the country,
but applied only to the future; and in favor of this bill
Mr. Blaine's voice was heard both in the Senate and out
of it. Mr. William Lloyd Garrison had published in the
New York papers some remarks reflecting upon the Sena
tors who voted for the bill restricting Chinese immigration.
Mr. Blaine wrote a letter to Mr. Garrison, setting forth
his views upon the subject. He gave ten reasons for his
support of the bill, calling attention to Mr. Carlisle's
statement that America would have no trouble so long as
it had few people and much land, but when it should have
much people and little land its trials would begin. In
giving one of his reasons, Mr. Blaine said that "if the Chi
nese felt that they were safe and had a firm footing in
California, they would come in enormous numbers, because
the population of China was practically inexhaustible.
Such, indeed, is the unbroken testimony of all who were
entitled to express an opinion. The decision of Congress
on this matter, therefore, becomes one of the very greatest
importance. Had they been in favor of Chinese immigra
tion, with the encouragement and protection of them,
they would have imposed it. It requires no vivid imagi
nation to foresee all the great slope between the Sierras
and the Pacific become the emigrating ground from the
Chinese empire, so that I do not at all exaggerate when I
say that on the adoption and recognition of the policy
passed upon by Congress hangs the fate of the Pacific
slope, whether its labor shall be that of American free-
7

98 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
men or servile Mongolians. If Mr. Garrison declares the
interests of his countrymen, his own government, and in a
still larger sense, the interests of humanity and civilization
will be promoted by giving wp the Pacific slope to Mongolian
labor, I beg respectfully to differ from him; but Mr. Lloyd
Garrison would not feel obliged to receive in his family a
person that would physically contaminate or morally cor
rupt his children. As with a family so with a nation.
The same instincts of self-preservation exist, the same
right to prefer the interests of our own people, the same
duty to exclude that which is corrupting and vile from
the Republic. The article on immigration in the Chinese
treaty has not been observed by that government for a
single hour since it was made. All the testimony taken
on the subject, and it has been full and copious, shows
conclusively that the entire immigration was under con
tract; that the coolies had been gathered together for
export, and gathered as agents in our western States would
gather live stock for shipment.
" A very competent witness in California, speaking upon
this point, says that on the arrival of the Chinese in Cali
fornia, they are consigned like hogs to the different Chinese
companies. The cooly commences to pay his company
certain earnings. This is to insure care if he is taken jsick,
and his return home dead or alive. His return is pre
vented until after his contract has been fulfilled. If he
breaks his contract, the spies of the Six Companies hunt
him to prevent his returning to China. By arrangement
with the steamship company or their agents, he is pre
vented from getting a ticket; and the agents of the steam"-
ship company testified to the same fact. If a ticket is
obtained for him by others, he is forcibly stopped on the
day of sailing by the employes of the Six Companies, called
highbinders, who can always be seen guarding the coolies."
Mr. Joseph J. Ray, of Philadelphia, and a long resi
dent in China, and a close observer of its emigration,

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 99
testifies that nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every
thousand of the Chinese who have reached our shores were
not free agents in their coming. Files of the Hong Kong
newspapers from 1861, would supply information regarding
the barracoons at that port. When the system had become
too great a scandal, they were removed to Macao, a Portu
guese colony, forty miles distant, in which the Chinese, in
every sense prisoners, were retained until their shipment to
San Francisco. These, called by courtesy emigrants, were
collected from within the radius of from two hundred to
three hundred miles from Canton, and consisted of the
abjectly poor, who, willingly or not, were sold to obtain
food for their families or for gambling debts, or they were
the scape-graces of the country fleeing to avoid punish
ment." Mr. Blaine's great array of facts could not well be
resisted, and they were, so fully appreciated by the inhab
itants of the Pacific slope that Mr. Blaine in that portion
of the country was rendered pre-eminently popular among
the people. PEACE AT THE POLLS.
The following April the Senate had under consideration
the bill making appropriations for the support of the army
for the fiscal year ending* June 30, 1880, and for other
purposes. Upon an amendment to this bill whereby every
civil officer should be prohibited from calling upon United
States troops to keep the peace at the polls, Mr. Blaine
delivered a speech- in which the spectre of terrorism
lost its frightful aspect when it was shown that it would
be the function of every individual soldier in the army to
overrun seven hundred square miles and intimidate about
forty thousand able-bodied voters, in order to realize the
pretended fears of the Democrats.
Mr. Blaine spoke as follows:
"Mr. President: The existing section of the revised
statutes numbered 2002 reads thus: No military or naval

100 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE. *
officer, or other person engaged in the civil, military, or
naval service of the United States, shall order, bring, keep
or have under his authority or control, any troops or
armed men at the place where any general or special elec
tion is held in any State, unless it be necessary to repel the
armed enemies of the United States, or to keep the peace at
the polls.
"The object of the proposed section, which has just
been read at the Clerk's desk, is to get rid of the eight
closing words, namely, ' or to keep the peace at the polls,'
and therefore the mode of legislation proposed in the
army bill now before the Senate is an unusual mode; it is
an extraordinary mode. If you want to take off a single
sentence at the end of a section in the revised statutes
the ordinary way is to strike off those words, but the mode
chosen in this bill is to repeat and re-enact the whole
section, leaving those few words out. While I do not wish
to be needlessly suspicious on a small point, I am quite
persuaded that this did not happen by accident, but that
it came by design. If I may so speak, it came of cunning,
the intent being to create the impression that, whereas the
Republicans in the administration of the general govern
ment had been using troops right and left, hither and
thither, in every direction, as soon as the Democrats got
power they enacted this section.. I can imagine Demo
cratic candidates for Congress all over the country reading
this section to gaping and listening audiences as one of the
first offsprings of Democratic reform, whereas every word
of it, every syllable of it, from its first to its last, is the
enactment of a Republican Congress.
" I repeat that this unusual form presents a dishonest
issue, whether so intended or not. It presents the issue
that as soon as the Democrats got possession of the federal
government they proceeded to enact the clause which is
thus expressed. The law was passed by a Republican Con
gress in 1865. There were forty-six Senators sitting in

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 101
this chamber at the time, of whom only ten, or at most
eleven, were Democrats. The House of Representatives
was overwhelmingly Republican. We were in the midst
of a war. The Republican administration had a million,
or possibly twelve hundred thousand, bayonets at its com
mand. Thus circumstanced and thus surrounded, with
the amplest possible power to interfere with elections had
they so designed, with soldiers in every hamlet and county
of the United States, the Republican party themselves
placed that provision on the statute-book, and Abraham
Lincoln, their President, signed it.
" I beg you to observe, Mr. President, that this is the
first instance in the legislation of the United States, in
which any restrictive clause whatever was put upon the
statute-book in regard to the use of troops at the polls.
The Republican party did it with the Senate and the
House in their control. Abraham Lincoln signed it when
he was commander-in-chief of an army larger than ever
Napoleon Bonaparte had at his command. So much by
way of correcting an ingenious and studied attempt at mis
representation. " The alleged object is to strike out the few words that
authorize the use of troops to keep peace at the polls.
This country has been alarmed, I rather think, indeed,
amused, at the great effort made to create a wide-spread
impression that the Republican party relies for its popular
strength upon the use of the bayonet. This Democratic
Congress has attempted to give a bad name to this coun
try throughout the civilized world, and to give it on a false
issue. They have raised an issue that has no foundation
in fact — that is false in whole and detail, false in the
charge, false in all the specifications. That impression
sought to be created, as I say, not only throughout the
North American continent, but in Europe to-day, is that
elections are attempted in this country to be controlled by
the bayonet.

102 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
"I denounce it here as a false issue. I am not at
liberty to say that any gentleman making the issue knows
it to be false; I hope he does not; but I am going to prove
to him that it is false, and that there is not a solitary inch
of solid earth on which to rest the foot of any man that
makes that issue. I have in my hand an official transcript
of the location and the number of all the troops of the
United States east of Omaha. By ' east of Omaha,' I
mean all the United States east of the Mississippi river
and that belt of States that border the Mississippi river on
the west, including about forty-one millions out of the forty-
five millions of people that this country is supposed to con
tain to-day. In that magnificent area — I will not pretend
to state its extent — but with forty-one millions of people —
how many troops of the United States are there to-day?
Would any Senator on the opposite side like to guess, or
would he like to state, how many men with muskets in
their hands there are in the vast area I have named?
There are two thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven !
And not one more.
"From the headwaters of the Mississippi river to the
lakes, and down the great chain of lakes, and down the
Saint Lawrence, and down the valley of the Saint John,
and down the Saint Croix, striking the Atlantic ocean
and following it down to Key West, around the gulf, up
to the mouth of the Mississippi again, a frontier of eight
thousand miles, either bordering on the ocean or upon
foreign territory, is guarded by these troops. Within this
domain forty-five fortifications are manned and eleven
arsenals protected. There are sixty troops to every million
of people. In the South I have the entire number in each
State, and will give it,
"I believe the Senator from Delaware is alarmed,
greatly alarmed, about the over-riding of the popular ballot
by troops of the United States ! In Delaware there is not

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 103
a single armed man— not one. The United States has not
even one soldier in the State.
"The honorable Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Hereford), on Friday last, lashed himself into a passion, or
at least into a perspiration,- over the wrongs of his State,
trodden down by the iron heel of military despotism.
There is not a solitary man of the United States, uni
formed, on the soil of West Virginia, and there has not
been for years.
"In Maryland? — I do not know whether my esteemed
friend from Maryland (Mr. Whyte) has been greatly
alarmed or not; but at Fort McHenry, guarding the
entrance to the beautiful harbor of his beautiful city,
there are one hundred and ninety-two artillerymen located.
"In Virginia, there is a school of practice at Fortress
Monroe. My honorable friend (Mr. Withers), who has
charge of this bill, knows very well, and if he does not I
will tell him, that outside of that school of practice at
Fortress Monroe, which has two hundred and eighty-two
men in it, there is not a federal soldier on the soil of Vir
ginia — not one.
"North Carolina. Are the Senators from that State
alarmed at the immediate and terrible prospect of being
over-run by the army of the United States? On the whole
soil of North Carolina there are but thirty soldiers guard
ing a fort at the mouth of Cape Fear river — just thirty.
"South Carolina. I do not see a Senator on the floor
from that State. There are one. hundred and twenty
artillerymen guarding the approaches to Charleston har
bor, and not another soldier on her soil.
" Georgia. Does my gallant friend from Georgia (Mr.
Gordon), who knows better than I the force and strength
of military organization — the senior Senator, and the
junior also — are both or either of those Senators alarmed
at the presence of t wenty-nine soldiers in Georgia ? [Laugh
ter. J There are just twenty-nine there.

104 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
"Florida has one hundred and eighty-two at three
separate posts, principally guarding the navy yard, near
which my friend on the opposite side (Mr. Jones) lives.
" Tennessee. Is the honorable Senator from Tennessee
(Mr. Bailey) alarmed at the progress of military despotism
in his State? There is not a single federal soldier on the
soil of Tennessee — not one.
" Kentucky. I see both the honorable Senators from
Kentucky here. They have equal cause with Tennessee
to be alarmed, for there is not a federal soldier in Ken
tucky — not one!
" Missouri. Not one.
"Arkansas. Fifty-seven in Arkansas.
"Alabama. I think my friend from Alabama (Mr.
Morgan) is greatly excited over this question, and in his
State there are thirty-two federal soldiers located at an
arsenal of the United States.
" Mississippi. The great State of Mississippi, that is in
danger of being trodden under the iron hoof of military
power, has not a federal soldier on its soil.
" Louisiana has two hundred and thirty-nine.
" Texas, apart from the regiments that guard the front
ier on the Rio Grande and the Indian frontier, has not one.
"And the entire South has eleven hundred and fifty-five
soldiers to intimidate, over-run, oppress and destroy the
liberties of fifteen million people ! In the Southern States
there are twelve hundred and three counties. If you dis
tribute the soldiers, there is not quite one for each county;
and when I give the counties I give them from the census
of 1870. If you distribute them territorially there is one
for every seven hundred square miles of territory, so that
if you make a territorial distribution, I would remind the
honorable Senator from Delaware, if I saw him in his seat,
that the quota for his State would be three — ' one ragged
sergeant and two abreast,' as the old song has it. [Laugh-

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 105
ter.] That is the force ready to destroy the liberties of
Delaware! " Mr. President, it was said, as the old maxim has it,
that the soothsayers of Rome could not look each other in
the face without smiling. There are not two Democratic
Senators on this floor who can go into the cloak-room and
look each other in the face without smiling at this talk, or,
more appropriately, I should say, without blushing — the
whole thing is such a prodigious and absolute farce, such a
miserably manufactured false issue, such a pretense with
out the slightest foundation in the world, and talked about
most and denounced the loudest in States that have not
had a single federal soldier. In New England we have
three hundred and eighty soldiers. Throughout the South
it does not run quite seventy to the million people. In
New England we have absolutely one hundred and twenty
soldiers to the million. New England is far more over-run
to-day by the federal soldier, immensely more, than the
whole South is. I never heard anybody complain about it
in New England, or express any very great fear of their
liberties being endangered by the presence of a handful of
troops. "As I have said, the tendency of this talk is to give us a
bad name in Europe. Republican institutions are looked
upon there with jealousy. Every misrepresentation, every
slander, is taken up and exaggerated and talked about to
our discredit, and the Democratic party of the country
to-day stands indicted, and I here indict them, for public
slander of their country, creating the impression in the
civilized world that we are governed by a ruthless military
despotism. I wonder how amazing it would be to any man
in Europe, familiar as Europeans are with great armies, if
he were told that over a territory larger than France and
Spain and Portugal and Great Britain and Holland and
Belgium and the German Empire all combined, there were
but eleven hundred and fifty-five soldiers! That is all

106 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
this Democratic howl, this mad cry, this false issue, this
absurd talk, is based on — the presence of eleven hundred
and fifty-five soldiers on eight hundred and fifty thousand
square miles of territory, not double the number of the
Democratic police in the city of Baltimore, not a third of
the police in the city of New York, not double the Demo
cratic police in the city of New Orleans. I repeat, the
number indicts them; it stamps the whole cry as without
any foundation; it derides the issue as a false and scan
dalous and partisan make-shift.
" What then is the real motive underlying this move
ment? Senators on that side, Democratic orators on the
stump, cannot make any sensible set of men at the cross
roads believe that they are afraid of eleven hundred and
fifty-five soldiers distributed one to each county in the
South. The minute you state that, everybody sees the
utter, palpable, and laughable absurdity of it, and there
fore we must go further and find a motive for all this cry.
We want to find out, to use a familiar and vulgar phrase,
what is 'the cat under the meal.' It is not the troops.
That is evident. There are more troops, by fifty per cent,
scattered through the Northern States east of the Missis
sippi to-day than through the Southern States east of the
Mississippi, and yet nobody in the North speaks of it;
everybody would be laughed at for speaking of it; and
therefore the issue, I take no risk in stating, I make bold
to declare, that this issue on the troops being a false one,
being one without foundation, conceals the true issue,
which is simply to get rid of the federal presence at fed
eral elections, to get rid of the civil power of the United
States in the election of Representatives to the Congress of
the United States. That is the whole of it; and, disguise
it as you may, there is nothing else in it or of it."
ORDER OUT OF CHAOS.
In September, 1878, an election was held in Maine for

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 107
the office of Governor. The very next day after the elec
tion, it was notorious that the Republicans had carried the
State. It soon became known that Davis, the Republican
candidate for Governor had about three times as many votes
as Garcelon, the Democratic candidate, a vast plurality
over Smith, the Greenback candidate, and came within
a few votes of having a majority over all the other candi
dates. The counting of the votes showed that tbe Repub
licans had elected ninety members of the House against
sixty-one members elected by the Democrats and Green-
backers, and eighteen Republican Senators against thirteen
Fusionists. The result when definitely ascertained, was
promulgated throughout the country and contested by the
Democrats. It soon began to be noised about that the Democratic
majority had organized a conspiracy to count out the
Republicans. The Governor and his Council were the
Returning Board of the State; Garcelon and his associates
were pliant tools in the hands of the conspirators. The
canvassing of the returns began in September, and were
according to star chamber fashion. The Republican candi
dates applied in person, through counsel and through the
Republican committee, for the privilege of scrutinizing
the returns, with a view to correcting any errors; but they
were refused. The Democratic and Greenback candidates
had been given the privilege which was denied to the
Republicans. The conspiracy contemplated the election of Smith, the
Greenbacker, as Governor, with the understanding that the
Democrats should have the United States Senator the next
year. During a part of December and the following
January, Maine was almost on the verge of civil war and
anarchy. The Republican party, with its troubles at this
time, was conducted by Mr. Blaine, through whose steadi
ness and perseverance law and order were brought out of
chaos and threatened violence.

108 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
It has been said that no finer display of statesmanlit
qualities has been seen in this country than those exhibite
by Mr. Blaine in the protracted and perilous struggle i
Maine, for in this trying time he exhibited all the qualitie
requisite for the discharge of delicate and difficult dutic
connected with an executive station.
OHIO CAMPAIGN, 1879.
In the fall of 1879, during the political campaign i:
Ohio, Mr. Blaine took an active part, and his politic
tour through the State was similar to a triumphal march
enormous audiences and great enthusiasm greeted him i:
every portion of the State. Charles Foster was a candi
date for Governor, and for his election Mr. Blaine laborei
earnestly and actively, although Thomas Ewing, the cousii
of Mr. Blaine was running for the same office as that o
Mr. Foster. The Republican candidate was elected by
large majority. At Columbus, though incidentally passin:
through on his way to Pomeroy, Senator Blaine met wit]
the most spontaneous reception that had been accorded t>
any public man for years. An immense concourse o
people met the Senator at the depot with bands of musi
and escorted him to the hotel. Notwithstanding the fac
that the Senator had declared that he was unable to speak
an assemblage of over four thousand people declined t<
leave. An elevation was secured, and mounting it tb
Senator addressed the audience for half an hour, receivinj
the most emphatic applause. "Blaine from Maine" wa
on every one's lips, and at every railroad station larg
crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of tlieir politica
friend. At Kenton, he addressed a monster meeting. A
London, bonfires and colored lights beautifully illumin
ated the town, and the "Man from Maine" was agaii
forced to make a short speech. He traveled one hundrei
miles by rail, and made four speeches between noon am
night. This is but an instance of ovations paid to him

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 109
Public sentiment at that time was turning toward Mr.
Blaine, and it was remarked that his visit to the State
would give him a prestige which could not bepvercome by
other presidential aspirants. Mr. Blaine was at Bellaire
on the 26th of September. From the time that he landed
in that place amid the firing of cannon and the playing of
music, until he reached Steubenville, he was surrounded
by crowds wherever he appeared. At Bellaire, the people
seemed almost wild to see him and to shake hands with
him over the Republican prospects. He was surrounded
by a continual jam, and men and beardless youths were
among the foremost to shake hands with him.
Many incidents will show Mr. Blaine's faculty of remem
bering every person and every circumstance with which he
has been connected. When Mr. Blaine stepped on the
stage before opening his speech, a short, red -faced man
rushed up to him and grasped him by the hand, saying:
" Mr. Blaine, I don't suppose you remember me, but I
knew you when you were a student/' "Yes, I do," said
Mr. Blaine. " Your name is Israel Werich, and you used
to live at Colesworthtown." " That's my name," answered
the man; " but you are mistaken about the place. I lived
at another place." " No, no; it was Colesworth," emphat
ically answered Mr. Blaine; "I remember meeting you
there once, and you told me you lived there." The man
looked up quick, with a smiling recollection, and said:
"Yes, Senator, you are right; I remember it well now;
but I staid there only a short time, and had forgotten it."
The little man got down off the stage and went away
laughing, and telling every one that he knew Blaine well,
and he and the Senator had been talking over old times
together. When the train stopped at Bridgeport an old
man entered the train and said he wanted to see Blaine.
Mr. Blaine was pointed out to him. He then walked
slowly up to him, and, extending his trembling hand, said:
"Mr. Blaine, I want to shake hands with you. I shook

110 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
hands with General La Fayette, with Abraham Lincoln,
with Andrew Jackson and with General Grant, and I want
to" shake hands with you." The Senator gave him a hearty
shake, and the old man departed rejoicing.
During his stay in Steubenville his hotel was filled
with visitors, and Garrett's hall, where his meeting was
held, was crowded to its utmost capacity. The large
crowd accompanied him to the depot], and as the train left,
three loud cheers went up for the Senator from Maine,
from the crowd on the platform.
While Mr. Blaine was standing on the platform, a coach
was driven up, and the shriveled hand of an old gray-
headed man was seen extending from its open door to the
crowd who were standing around the Senator. Mr. Blaine
went up to the coach and was then introduced to the old
colored man, who said he had felt that he must see " Dat
Jimmie Blaine." He had known Mr. Blaine's father well,
and had been acquainted with the then prospective Sena
tor when he was yet in short clothes. During the whole
of the trip Mr. Blaine was repeatedly told by people that
they wanted to see him their next President, and the sub
ject was much talked of among the people in the crowd.
Senator Blaine, however, always shook his head at these
remarks, and modestly said that he did not expect any
such thing. Just as he was leaving Steubenville, a work
ing man entered the train, and extending his hand, said,
"Senator, I want to shake hands with the next President
of the United States." "You won't find him in this car,
my friend," replied Mr. Blaine, as he cordially shook the
hand extended to him.
EULOGY ON SENATOR CHANDLER.
Mr. Blaine's eulogy on the late United States Senator,
Zachariah Chandler, delivered in the United States Senate,
in January, 1880, has been much read and widely circu
lated. "Mr. Chandler's fame," said Mr. Blaine, "was

UNITED STATES SENATOR. Ill
enlarged by his successful administration of an important
cabinet position. Called by President Grant to the head
of the Interior Department by telegraphic summons, he
accepted without reluctance and without distrust. His
eighteen years of positive and uncompromising course in
the Senate ljad borne the inevitable fruit of many enmi
ties, as well as the rich reward of countless friends. The
appointment was severely criticised and unsparingly con
demned by many who, a year later, were sufficiently just
and magnanimous to withdraw their harsh words and bear
generous testimony to his executive ability, his painstak
ing industry, and his inflexible integrity; to his admirable
talent for thorough organization, and to his prompt and
graceful dispatch of public business. What his friends
had before known of his character and his capacity, the
chance of a few brief months in an administrative position
had revealed to his entire country, and had placed in his
tory. "It would not be just, even in the generous indulgence
conceded to eulogy, to speak of Mr. Chandler as a man
without faults. But assuredly no enemy, if there be one
above his lifeless form, will ever say that he had mean
faults. They were all on the generous and larger
side of his nature. In amassing his princely fortune he
never exacted the pound of flesh; he never ground the
faces of the poor; he was never even harsh to an honest
debtor unable to pay. His wealth came to him through
his own great ability, devoted with unremitting industry
for a third of a century to honorable trade in that enlarg
ing, ever-expanding region whose capacities and resources
he was among the earliest to foresee and appreciate.
" To his friends, Mr. Chandler was devotedly true.
Like Colonel Benton, he did not use the word ' friend '
lightly, and without meaning. Nor did he ever pretend
to be friendly to a man whom he did not like. He never
dissembled. To describe him in the plain and vigorous

112 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
Saxon which he spoke himself — he was a true friend, a
hard hitter, an honest hater.
" In that inner circle of home life, sacred almost from
preference, Mr. Chandler was chivalric in devotion, inex
haustible in affection, and exceptionally happy in all his
relations. Whatever of sternness there was in. his charac
ter, whatever of roughness in his demeanor, whatever of
irritability in his temper, were one and all laid aside when
he sat at his own hearthstone, or dispensed graceful and
generous hospitality to unnumbered guests. There he
was seen at his best, and there his friends best love to
recall him. As Burke said of Lord Keppel, ' He was a
wild stock of jDride on which the tenderest of hearts had
grafted the milder virtues.'
"A sage, whose words have comforted many genera
tions of men, tells us that when death comes, every one
can see its deplorable and grievous side — only the wise can
see causes for reconcilement. Let us be wise to-day, and
celebrate the memory of_a man who stood on the confines
of age without once feeling its weakness or realizing its
decay — who passed sixty-six years in this world without
losing a single day of mental activity or physical strength;
who had a business career of great length and unbroken
prosperity; who had attained in public life a fourth elec
tion to the Senate of the United States — an honor enjoyed
by fewer men in the republic than even its chief ruler-
ship; and who, strengthening with his years, stood higher
in the regard of his countrymen, stronger with his con
stituency, nearer to his friends, dearer to his kindred, at
the close of his career, than on any preceding day of his
eventful life."
THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION, 1880.
The Republican National Convention at Chicago, was
organized on the 2d of June with the Hon. George F.
Hoar, of Massachusetts, as temporary chairman. Consid-

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 113
erable time was consumed in calling the roll of States and
Territories, for the appointment of committees, and for the
presentation of credentials. General U. S. Grant, James
G. Blaine, and John Sherman, were the most prominent
candidates before the people for the Republican nomination.
General U. S. Grant had a short time previously returned
from a tour around the world, and his political admirers
were very ardent in pressing his claims before the people
of the Nation. The supporters of Senator Blaine were very
enthusiastic in promoting the interests of their candidate,
and the adherents of Mr. Sherman, Secretary of the Treas
ury, comprised some men of influence, among whom was
General Garfield. The interests of General Grant at the
convention were headed by Senators Roscoe Conkling, of
New York; James D. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, and John
A. Logan, of Illinois. The alliance of these three men gave
them great power at the convention, and their efforts were
of an aggressive character. Each Senator had an unusual
amount of influence in his State, and any effort to overcome
the influence of these three statesmen had necessarily to
be very great; but the people as a mass entered a protest
against a third term.
Immediately preceding the convention, an anti-Grant
meeting was held in Chicago, being an immense popular
outpouring; and it manifested a sentiment which could not
be mistaken. The most radical utterances were the most
loudly cheered, and the people declared that they would
not submit to boss rule; that they would not have a third
term; and that they "would defeat all the attempts to
deprive them of their liberties." A more earnest audience
was never seen in Chicago. People came there determined
to be pleased, but they would not support the third term,
as much as they admired the great General. They shouted
themselves hoarse for Blaine and other favorite candidates.
Against the combinations in favor of General Grant were
the friends of the other candidates for the Republican
8

] 14 LIFE "OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
nomination. These candidates were Senator James G.
Blaine, of Maine; Senator George Edmunds, of Vermont;
Senator William Windom, of Minnesota; John Sherman,
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Hon. Elihu B. Wash-
burne, of Illinois. Notwithstanding the great efforts put
forth by the Senators in favor of General Grant, many of
the States sent Blaine delegates to Chicago, and a large
number of leading newspapers in the country were his
enthusiastic admirers. The Republican masses desired
his nomination, and it was evident that he was the people's
favorite, as he had been at Cincinnati in 1876, and they
could have no sympathy with the third-term movement in
favor of the ex-President.
The convention was one of the most important ever
held in the United States; it was a struggle from begin
ning to end, a battle-ground on which were settled some
very important questions. The right of the people to select
their own delegates, the unit rule, and district represen
tation were settled after a long and hard-fought struggle.
Senator Cameron was chairman of the Republican
National Committee. Usage, which holds good to-day,
has made it the duty of the chairman of this committee to
call the national convention to order and to nominate a
temporary chairman; if no objection be made, the person
proposed by the chairman of the committee is elected, and
then the chairman of the committee drops out of official
sight. Until the temporary chairman is appointed by the
convention, the chairman of the national committee is
the presiding officer.
The unit rule provides that the majority of each dele
gation shall be permitted to vote for themselves and also
for the minority of such delegation; while the opposite
position allows each delegate to vote for himself and have
his vote recorded as he may direct. A majority of the
committee decided that in organizing the convention to
the extent of appointing a temporary chairman, if a vote

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 115
should be taken, the delegates should be allowed to vote
individually, each man's vote to be recorded as he should
give it. Senator Cameron, without regard to this, insisted
that instead of recording the vote of New York forty-eight
for Grant, twenty for Blaine, two for Sherman, it should be
recorded seventy for Grant, if the majority of the delega
tion so directed; and instead of recording the vote of Penn
sylvania thirty-five for Grant, twenty-three for Blaine, it
should be recorded fifty-eight for Grant, if the majority
of the delegates should so direct. In this way the forty-
five delegates of two States would be denied the right of
voting, and their votes would be given in direct opposition
to their wishes and those of their districts, and would make
a difference of ninety votes in the final result.
To the unit rule the Grant forces were fully committed,
for it was only through this rule that they could force the
nomination of their candidate. The Republican National
Committee met at the Palmer House before the conven
tion opened. An effort was made by the anti-Grant
men to break down the unit rule by which they could
prevent the delegates from New York, Pennsylvania and
Illinois, from compliance with the wishes of Senators
Logan, Conkling, and Cameron. Mr. Chandler, of New
Hampshire, a supporter of Senator Blaine, offered two
resolutions recognizing the right of individual delegates to
vote according to their wishes, disregarding the actions of
their State conventions, which bound them to vote as a
unit. Mr. Chandler's first resolution was adopted unani
mously, but the second resolution was ruled out of order
by Chairman Cameron, who refused to entertain an appeal
from his decision. Mr. Frye, of Maine, wanted to know
where the chairman had learned parliamentary law, and
Mr. Chandler announced that if the chairman would not
comply with the wishes of the committee, the same power
that had elected him could depose him and elect another.
A committee of six was appointed to nominate a tempo-

116 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
rary chairman, and the committee adjourned for a recess.
The resolution during intermission, determined upon by
the anti-Grant men to deprive Cameron of his power, was
modified when the committee reconvened. It was in session
till midnight, but before adjourning it selected the Hon.
George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, as temporary chairman,
and adopted a resolution that, should Mr. Cameron be
unable for any cause to present to the convention the
name of Mr. Hoar, Mr. Chandler as chairman of the
committee should report his name and make the proper
presentation. Intense excitement prevailed over these
proceedings, and Senator Cameron's arbitrary ruling re
sulted in a protest by New York and Pennsylvania dele
gates in language such as the following;
"The undersigned, delegates to the Republican Na
tional Convention, representing our several congressional
districts from the State of New York, are desirous of the
success of the Republican party at the election, and real
izing the ruination attending an injudicious nomination,
declare our purpose to resist the nomination of General
U. S. Grant by all honorable means. We are sincere in
the conviction that in New York at least his nomination
will insure defeat. We have a great battle to fight, and
victory is within our reach, but we earnestly protest
against entering the contest with a nomination which we
regard as unwise and perilous."
Mr. Arthur, on behalf of the Grant supporters, was the
one who proposed that Senator Hoar be accepted as tem
porary chairman of the convention. He suggested that
nothing be done toward enforcing the unit rule until the
committee on credentials should report, at which time
the question of the unit rule could be settled by the
convention in its own way. After due deliberation this
proposition was accepted by the anti-Grant men, and it
was agreed that the regular delegates from Louisiana and
Illinois should be allowed to participate in the temporary

UNITED STATBS SENATOR. 117
organization, after which they could take their chances
with the committee on credentials.
Senator Cameron having called the convention to order
delivered a short address and presented the name of
Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, as temporary chairman.
Contestants were announced from Alabama, Arkansas,
Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Utah, and ten districts of Illi
nois. Mr. Conger, of Michigan, was elected chairman of
the committee on credentials; General Garfield was made
chairman of the committee on rules. The committee on
permanent organization voted by thirty-one to nine to
propose Mr. Hoar as president of the convention. At
three o'clock the convention adjourned till the next day.
On the second day the permanent organization of the
convention was effected with the choice of Mr. Hoar as
president and the election of vice-presidents and secre
taries. A recess was then taken until five o'clock.
The evening was consumed in skirmishing, and the
convention adjourned for the day without accomplishing
any definite result.
On the third day, Senator Conkling moved a resolution
pledging each delegate to support the nominee of the
convention, whoever he might be. The resolution was
adopted almost unanimously, a few delegates from West
Virginia casting the only votes in the negative. Mr. Conk
ling then moved that these delegates who had voted "no "
should be expelled. A very warm debate followed, in
which the delegates voting " no " eloquently defended them
selves as to their action and opinion. General Garfield,
after speaking in warm terms of the character and service
of the West Virginia delegates, closed by expressing the
hope that Mr. Conkling would withdraw his resolution.
After some hesitation, the motion was withdrawn and the
matter was ended. The reading of the reports of the Com
mittee on Rules and Credentials, and the admission of the
anti-Grant contestants from Illinois, completed the work of

118 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
the day's session. In the evening there was a spirited dis
cussion on the Alabama case, involving the right of district
representation in the convention, which was upheld by a
vote of four hundred and forty-nine against three hundred
and six. This settled the unit-rule question, and was a
decisive defeat for the Grant forces. In a speech by Mr.
Storrs regarding Illinois contestants, the names of Grant
and Blaine were alluded too, and were loudly cheered by
their respective supporters. Senator Conkling led the
cheers for Grant, and Colonel Ingersoll, waving a lady's
shawl, was a conspicuous leader in cheering for Blaine,
which lasted many minutes. A lady in company with
Marshall Jewell, of Connecticut, waved two flags aud
repeatedly shouted, "Hurrah for Blaine!" For half an
hour this uproar continued and the enthusiasm of the
Blaine people knew no bounds.
The fourth day of the convention found the delegates
physically wearied out by the long continued strain of
excitement. Having assembled, they decided the con
tested cases from Kansas, West Virginia and Utah in favor
of the contestants. Following this was the calling up of
the report of the Committee on Rules, which was read in
connection with a minority report against the anti-unit
rule. Delay was asked for by the minority of the com
mittee, which was advocated by General Sharpe, who
moved that the convention immediately proceed to the
nomination of the candidate for President. This was
voted down by a large majority, and the rules reported
by the majority of the committee were adopted. The
next thing in order was the adoption of the platform.
The evening was taken up by the presentation of candi
dates. Mr. Joy, of Michigan, presented the name of
James G. Blaine, seconded by Mr. Pixley, of California,
and Mr. Frye, of Maine. Mr. E. F. Drake, of Minnesota,
presented the name of Mr. Windom, of that State. The
name of General Grant was presented in an impressive

UNITED' STATES SENATOR. 119
manner by Senator Conkling, and seconded by Mr. Bradley,
of Kentucky. General Garfield presented the name of
Secretary Sherman, seconded by Mr. Winkler, of Wis
consin, and Mr. Elliott, of South Carolina. Mr. Edmunds,
of Vermont, was nominated' by Mr. Billings, and seconded
by Mr. Sandford, of Massachusetts. Mr. E. B. Washburne,
of Illinois, was nominated by Mr. Cassidy, of Wisconsin,
and seconded by Mr. Brandagee, of Connecticut. The
convention then adjourned to meet at ten o'clock Monday
morning. Vast crowds on Monday filled the Exposition Hall
where the convention was held. On motion of Mr. Hale,
of Maine, the convention proceeded to ballot for the candi
date for President. Ten ballots were taken on this day
without any decisive result, during all of which the Grant
men stood firm, the vote ranging from 303 to 309. Blaine's
friends also stood nobly by him, with votes ranging from
280 to 285. General Garfield's votes were small during the
first of the balloting, but on the thirty- fourth ballot his
vote was 17, supporters of Edmunds and Windom having1
gone over to him. The Blaine delegates finding it impos
sible to nominate their favorite, threw their votes for
Garfield, as the only means of defeating Grant, and on
the thirty-sixth ballot General Garfield was made the
nominee of the Republican party for President in 1880.
When the result was announced, a vast crowd sang the
"Battle-Cry of Freedom," and the volume was augmented
by the playing of a band and by the booming of cannon.
Chester A. Arthur was nominated for Vice-President,
and on Tuesday, the 8th of June, the convention adjourned
without day, after one of the most gigantic political strug
gles on record.
Though Mr. Blaine was the popular candidate, the
combinations were such that he could not receive the
nomination; yet he was the means of thwarting the third-
term movement.

Tuesday, June 8. Monday Ev'g, June 7.

Monday Afternoon, June 7.
,  *  ,
i-ii-ih-i-i-«-i-J-t-J.i-i-i-ii-».cDOO<?CsCrr^COlOi-i
00<JC5Cn^WfcDI-LO=^r-J££C;'^ElCLQiCQ

cocococococococoOh-L|->.00000O5C0tOCD<CQ0CSC7

cocococococococococo
oooooooooo
-aOCOWOlrf^OlOtGOO?

cocococococococococococococococococo
oooooooooooooooooo
OlC0O5COCJTCJ[h^.OtOTQ0O5OTC^C^OrCJTC?!^

*>d to w t>3 to to ^
&0-3C7TOSOCSCDGO

totototototosotototo<J~30000<*<I-3<J<J--3
«D^JOM-COWOIQ05?0

tOfcOtOtOtOtOtOtOtOtOtOCOtOtOfcOtOtOfcO
00 GO OO GO OO GO GO OO GO GO 00 00 00 OO GO 00 00 00

H-OGOCO'CCOlOCOWOKi^.OTOlOlCO^W

cocococococococococo

COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCC

CO rf^ rf^- CO CO rf^ <? oooooooooo oooooooooooooooooo

tOtOtOtOfcOtOM-M-M-M-

|-L|-t.(v0t-H^>|_LtOtOf_Lt_L^I-l.

Grant.

Blaine.

Sherman.

Washburne.

Edmunds.

Windom.

Garfield.

Hayes.

Harrison.

McCrary.

Davis, Tex.

Hartranft.

CD

m

?. H

o

£¦ o
P H-1
rt- o
& 3
CD «¦
g«, 3 £'
t-1M1=1
w
I ^
rt- »
cfed
o' £1
<^
p rt-
S»
1~b Hb
KH
Q rt-
2 p*
M
P CD
15 rt-
M
P tr
M
i»
& 1
!2i
M
g1 S'
ir so
3 p-
cp"
UNITED STATES SENATOR. 121
The oratory displayed in nominating candidates was
brilliant, enthusiastic and eloquent. Mr. Blaine's name
was put forward by the Hon. James F. Joy, of Michigan,
in a speech containing sound sense, business-like clearness,
and a strong appeal in behalf of the candidate.
SPEECH OF JAMES F. JOY, NOMINATING JAMES G. BLAINE.
"Gentlemen of the Convention: I shall never cease
to regret that circumstances have been such as to impose
the duty upon myself to make the nomination of a candi
date to this convention. I have been absent from the
country for the past two months, and had but arrived
home just before this convention. Since the convention
has been in. session I have been employed upon the floor
all the time. If, therefore, words of mine are important
for the candidate who shall be proposed, they will benefit
him but little. I will, however, bring him before the con
vention in as brief a manner as possible. That it will be
very brief will, I presume, satisfy the convention and the
audience, because we are now all impatient for the voting.
It was in 1862 I think, that a then young man, born in an
old Eastern State, but resident in the State of Maine,
entered the House of Representatives. It was at a time
when the sky was lowering, when the horizon was filled
with clouds indicating a tempest. It was just before the
war. The tempest burst upon the country, and the war
ensued, which raged for four long years. Fortunately for
us, there were at the helm of the ship of state the right
men, and it was manned with the right crew. After the
whirlwind of war had raged for four years the elements of
strength in one of the contending parties gave way, and
peace at length settled down upon the country.
"Then ensued the contest for reconstruction, which
occupied nearly three or four years more. During all that
period of time, that young man always true, always brave,
always eloquent, applied his talent in all the debates, and

122 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
in all the procedures which were necessary either to carry
on the war, or to bring about reconstruction upon a proper
basis; and during the period of these controversies, his
reputation had been emerging, growing, towering, until at
last, when, in 1868, reconstruction had been practically
secured, his reputation was towering before the country,
and one of the great names of the country had become
spread abroad all over the land. It had become a house
hold word; it was familiar in every corner; it was looked
up to from every part of the country. That name was the
Hon. James G. Blaine, the Senator from Maine.
" When the stormy period of Andrew Johnson's time had
passed away, or was passing away, and General Grant was
nominated by the country for President of the United
States, all eyes in the country turned to the Hon. James
G. Blaine, who was called upon to canvass the country.
He canvassed the country from Maine to the Mississippi
and beyond. He made himself familiar with the great
North and the great West. The people became familiar
with him in the North and in the great West; and he had
about him that wonderful power of attraction which half
a century earlier was possessed in the most eminent de
gree also by another great man of this country, the great
son of the great State of Kentucky, Henry Clay.
. " On the second nomination of General Grant in 1872,
he was called upon in the same way, and he traversed the
land, exercising his power, his ability, and his eloquence
in the cause of the country over the same extent of this
northern border. He had become so well known, the peo
ple of the country had become so well acquainted with
him, he had fastened them to him by attractions so great,
that in the convention that was held at Cincinnati four
years ago, he had become the leading candidate of the
northern people for the Presidency of 1 he United States.
He was the favorite candidate of the State which I repre
sent in this convention. Its delegates went to that con-

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 123
ventiou with a view of urging and securing, if it were
possible, his nomination. He came within a few votes of
success, when for some reason his column broke, and the
result was another nomination which had not been before
the country. You all know the disappointment, you all
know perhaps the astonishment which was created in some
sections of the country at that result. In the State which
I have the honor to represent upon this floor, it was con
sidered almost a calamity to the individual members of
the Republican party of that State; they felt it almost as
a personal blow. But while he might have been disap
pointed reasonably in the results, when the canvass came
on, and when the fight was a close one, and when it was
doubtful whether the Republicans would succeed in elect
ing their candidate, although he had been repudiated at
the convention, he buckled on his harness and entered the
ranks; he traversed the country, and fought manfully,
gloriously and vigorously, until the battle was won, though
by a small majority. The result was, gentlemen, that he
endeared himself tenfold more to the Republicans of this
northwest than he had ever done before, and when this con
vention was called, the people of the State which I repre
sent, and which had so earnestly advocated him before,
determined again to place him before this convention. I
am but executing their wish when I do so. Now, gentle
men, I will say, with regard to the State of Michigan, it
is not a doubtful State. It is a State which stands by its
banner all the time. It will not matter, so far as the
work, the vigor and the energy which that State will put
into the contest, whether he be nominated here or not;
we stand by the flag whoever may be the standard bearer.
With these remarks, gentlemen, longer than I intended, I
have the honor to present to this convention as a candi
date for the Presidential chair for the ensuing term, to be
voted for by the people, the name of the Hon. James G.
Blaine, of the State of Maine."

124 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

speech of mr. pixley, seconding the nomination
of james g. blaine.
"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Repub
lican National Convention : I have been assigned to
a most pleasurable duty. It has been accorded to me by
the desire of my associates, and by the consent of the
friends of Mr. Blaine, that I should have the honor to
second his nomination in this convention for the office of
President of the United States. All the delegates of the
Territories of Washington, Idaho and Arizona, and the
States of Oregon, Nevada and California, composing to
gether the magnificent empire of the Pacific, a grander
and prouder empire than which does not exist under the
sun, unite with me in the pleasure of this opportunity to
second the nomination of Mr. Blaine, and will supplement
the compliment by casting for him the united vote of all
the States and all the Territories composing this Pacific
empire. "Our delegation, though limited in number, represents
an empire broad in territorial area, extending with Alaska
from the eternal ice of the Arctic seas to the semi-
tropical belt, where the apple and the pineapple grow
side by side, — extending from the wave-washed sands of
the golden sea to the rock-ribbed mountains that separate
but do not divide us from you, our eastern friends — em
bracing the present worth of gold, and grain, and wine,
and wool, and an incalculable wealth that shall yet aston
ish the world. It is a broad and splendid domain. Its west
ern shore looks westward to eastern lands; its golden gates
stand wide ajar to admit the commerce of the Orient, and
to welcome the intercourse necessary to its enjoyment. It
is the future home of your children — it is the inheritance
of your sons — it is the rich dower of your daughters; and
we think, and all our Republicans think, that the nomi
nation of James G. Blaine will result in his becoming the

UNITED states senator. 125
President of the United States; and because we think, and
because the whole of the Republican party think, that as
President he will help to guard this rich empire, and to
preserve it as the home and inheritance and dower of all
the children of their Christian commonwealth, Washing
ton territory, Idaho, and Arizona, Oregon, Nevada and
California have sent us a united delegation, to cast an
-unbroken vote for the distinguished statesman and Senator
from Maine.
" In him we recognize the distinguished ability, the un
flinching nerve, which is at all times demanded in the per
formance of public duties. The possession of an unstained
name, which even partisan malice has been unable to
blacken; the possession of a brain and heart that embraces in
its magnetic sympathy all his countrymen who love their
country, honor its institutions and obey its laws. He is
gifted, eloquent and brave; he is patriotic, honest and true;
he has been tried in long public service, and may be
trusted. He will carry into his great office no personal nor
party resentments; he will bring to the discharge of his
official duties no local nor sectional prejudices; he is broad-
minded, comprehensive and generous in the exercise of
undaunted moral courage; will dare to defy the baser polit
ical elements, and delight to surround himself with the
best and ablest men of the nation. He will call into the
counsels of his administration the tried and honored and
honest men of his party. He will exert to the fullest extent
the powers and prerogatives of the presidential office,
and secure to the humblest citizen the protection of the
lav/. He will, in the performance of his executive duty,
shirk no responsibility, nor seek to avoid any duty required
of him by the Constitution and the law.
" His nomination will violate none of the time-honored
traditions of the oountry; traditions that in their long-
continued existence and force have become binding as the
unwritten laws of the land; traditions that ought to be

126 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
more invulnerable than formulated codes, and as sacred as
the written constitution of our fathers. His nomination
is demanded by the majority of the delegates from the
solid Republican North, and it ought to be conceded by
the solid South, that has everything to receive and nothing
to give, that in the coming contest has everything to gain
and nothing except honor that it has not already lost.
Give us this gentleman for a candidate and we of the ulti
mate west pledge to you the gallant service of the gallant
band of Republican soldiers, that has now for these twenty
years held and guarded the frontier outpost of your Re
publican army. We have never been surprised or found
off of duty; we have never flinched a fight nor lost a
presidential battle; we have never allowed a Democratic
vote to be deposited in the electoral urn since we have
been welcomed to the sisterhood of States. Give us this
gentleman for a candidate, and we will go back to our
homes with banners flying — with glad, proud hearts; our
people will welcome and applaud us; our western sea shall
sound its waving anthems across the continent to your
eastern ocean; our pine-clad Sierras shall nod their tassels
in graceful courtesy to the bending plumes of Maine, and
we, Mr. President and gentlemen, will give twelve elect
oral votes to make James G. Blaine the next President of
the United States."
speech of william p. frye, seconding the nomina
tion, of james g. blaine.
"Mr. President, and Gentlemen of .the Conven
tion: I saw once a storm at sea in the night time, and our
staunch old ship battling for its life with the fury of the
tempest — darkness everywhere; the wind shrieking and
howling through the rigging; the huge waves beating upon
the sides of that ship, and making her shiver from stem
to stern. The lightnings were flashing; the thunders were
rolling. There was danger everywhere. I saw at the helm

UNITED STATES SENATOR. 127
a calm, bold, courageous, immovable, commanding man.
In the tempest, calm; in the commotion, quiet; in the
dismay, hopeful. I saw him take that old ship and bring
her into the harbor, into still waters, into safety. That
man was a hero. I saw the good old ship, the State of
Maine, within the last year, fighting her way through the
same darkness, through the same perils, against the same
waves, against the same dangers. She was freighted with
all that is precious in the principles of our Republic;
with the rights of American citizenship; with all that is
guaranteed to the American citizen by our Constitution.
The eyes of the whole nation were upon her; an intense
anxiety filled every American heart, lest the grand old
ship, the State of Maine, might go down beneath the
waves forever, carrying her precious freight with her. But,
sir, there was a man at the helm, calm, deliberate, com
manding, sagacious; he made even the foolish men wise;
courageous, he inspired the timid with courage; hopeful,
he gave heart to the dismayed, and he brought that good
old ship safely into the harbor, into safety; and there
she floats to-day, brighter, purer, stronger, from her bap
tism of danger. That man, too, was a hero, and his name
was James G. Blaine.
" Maine sends greetings to this magnificent convention.
With the memory of her own salvation from impending
peril fresh upon her, she says to you, representatives of
fifty millions of American people, who have met here to
counsel how the Republic shall be saved, she says to you,
representatives of the people, take a mau, a true man, a
staunch man for your leader, who has just saved her, and
who will bear you to safety and to certain victory."
A LOOK BEYOND.
A sigh of relief went up from the hearts of myriads
throughout the nation Avhen the intelligence was spread
abroad that Garfield had been nominated, and the risk of a

128 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
third-term experiment had been avoided. The followers of
Mr. Blaine were disappointed, but they had the consolation
of having been engaged in establishing most desirable and
longed-for precedents, and of looking beyond the veil to a
time when the twice-deferred choice would be taken up
by the people and made the triumphant standard bearer,
whose name would be talismanic and the herald of
Republican victory.

"mm

CHAPTER IX.
SECRETARY OF STATE.
GARFIELD'S INVITATION.
rpHE influence of Mr. Blaine was used for the ©lection
J- of the Republican candidate in 1880. In November
following the election, General Garfield decided upon a
visit to Washington. ' Mr. Blaine at that time was in
Bangor, Me., and received a note from the President-elect
appointing an interview in Washington about November
24th. Mr. Blame reached the capital two days after this,
and on the afternoon of the same day he called upon Gen
eral Garfield at his private residence. For two hours
these distinguished gentlemen were in consultation with
out interruption from any person. At this conference,
General Garfield tendered the State Department to Mr.
Blaine. In reply to this offer, the Senator said: "Gen
eral, I am hardly prepared for this tender on your part.
I do not know how to make answer. I would like some
time for reflection and consultation. In the meantime
I will advise you."
Upon this General Garfield urged Mr. Blaine to accept,
but no binding answer was made at that time. Not long
after this, Mr. Blaine had a consultation with his closest
friends, and the weight of their testimony was that he
should resign his position as Senator and become Secretary
of State.
After this meeting with adherents, the fact that Gen
eral Garfield had offered the Senator the leading place in
his cabinet was communicated to one or two of Senator
Blaine's eonfidential friends, and to them he said: "If
139

130 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
the sentiment of the country indorses the selection Gen
eral Garfield has made, I will accept; otherwise not."
Early in the following month two newspapers made
the announcement directly and absolutely that Senator
Blaine had been invited by General Garfield to take the
Department of State. This soon became an accepted
fact. The expression of the newspapers was universal
that the selection was a good one. Having noticed the
opinion of the public, Senator Blaine wrote the following
letter of acceptance: Washington, December 20, 1880.
My Dear Garfield : — Your generous invitation to enter your
cabinet as Secretary of State has been under consideration for more
than three weeks. The thought had really never occurred to my
mind until, at our late conference, you presented it with such cogent
arguments in its favor, and with such warmth of personal friendship,
in aid of your kind offer. I know an early reply is desirable, and I
have waited only long enough to consider the subject in all its bear
ings and to make up my mind definitely and conclusively.
I now say to you, in the same cordial spirit in which you have
invited me, that I accept the position.
It is no affectation for me to add that I make this decision not for
the honor of the promotion it gives me in the public service, but
because I think I can be useful to the country and to the party, and
useful to you as the responsible leader of the party and the great head
of the government. I am influenced somewhat, perhaps, by the
shower of letters I have received urging me to accept, written me in
consequence of the mere unauthorized newspaper report that you had
been pleased to offer me the place. While I have received these let
ters from all sections of the Union, I have been especially pleased,
and even surprised, at the cordial and widely -extended feeling in my
favor throughout New England, where I had expected to encounter
local jealousy and, perhaps, a rival aspiration. In our new relation I
shall give all I am, and all I can hope to be, freely and joyfully to
your service. You need no pledge of my loyalty in heart and in act.
I should be false to myself did i not prove true both to the great
trust you confide to me and to your own personal and political fort
unes, in the present and in the future. Your administration must
be made brilliantly successful and strong in the confidence and pride
of the people, not at all struggling its energies for re-election, and

SECRETARY OF STATE. 131
yet compelling that result by the logic and by the imperious necessi
ties of the situation. To that most desirable consummation I feel
that, next to yourself, I can possibly contribute as much influence as
any other one man. I say this not from egotism or vain-glory, but
merely as a deduction from a plain analysis of the political forces
which have been at work in the country for five years past, and which
have been significantly shown in two great national conventions. I
accept it as one of the happiest circumstances connected with this
affair that in allying my political fortunes with yours — or rather, for
the time, merging mine with yours— my heart goes with my head,
and that I carry to you not only political support but personal and
devoted friendship.
I can but regard it as somewhat remarkable that two men of the
same age, entering Congress at the same time, influenced by the same
aims and cherishing the same ambition, should never, for a single
moment in eighteen years of close intimacy, have had a misunder
standing or coolness, and that our friendship has steadily grown with
our growth and strengthened with our strength. It is this fact which
has led me to the conclusion embodied in this letter, for however
much, my dear Garfield, I might admire you as a stateman, I would
not enter your cabinet if I did not believe in you as a man and love
you as a friend. Always faithfully yours, James G. Blaine.
This communication seems to have been written as a
private letter to the President-elect, and not designed
for publication, but containing a number of features char
acteristic of Mr. Blaine as showing the warmth of his
friendship and his devotion to the President, it was given
to the press without reservation.
The cabinet, headed, by Secretary Blaine, was promptly
confirmed by the Senate. It was said of him at the time
that he was in one sense a truly national character. He
was an eastern man with a western temperament. It was
confidently expected that in the discharge of his official
duties he would first consider the interests of his own
country, and afterwards the small amenities which would
play so important a part in our diplomacy. Joining to an
unusually quick and vigilant mind an extensive knowledge
of human nature; courteous and deferential as to manner,

132 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
and of a strong will, he united most happily the character
istics that the head of the foreign office should possess.
His extended information rendered him a most competent
advisor of the President.
EXTRA SESSION OF THE SENATE.
The necessity for an extra session of the Senate was
made known by President Hayes in a proclamation pre
ceding the close of his term of service. In accordance
with this call the Senate met in extra session on the 4th of
March, 1881. The parties were so evenly divided that
business involving political questions could not be rapidly
transacted. This evenness of the parties resulted in a
dead-lock that was not broken without weeks of bitter
personal discussion. That which clogged the work of the
Senate was the question of organization. The Republicans
desired officers chosen from their own par^y, and the
Democrats wished to retain the old officers who were mem
bers of their party. Senator Davis, of Illinois, was classed
as an Independent, and when he voted with the Republicans
they were unable to carry their measures by the casting-
vote of the Vice-President, their presiding officer, and when
Mr. Davis voted with the Democrats the vote of the Vice-
President was of no avail to the Republicans. On the
question of organization the views of Mr. Davis accorded
with those of the Democrats. The dead-lock was not
broken until a sufficient uumber of recently chosen Repub
licans entered the Senate to overcome the slight advantage
of the Democrats.
During this session much was said by the Senate and
the press on Senatorial courtesy, a privilege of the Senate
which, according to custom, leaves to the Senators of the
State the right to say who should be appointed from their
respective States, provided the Senators are of the same
party as ihe President. One wing of the Republican party,
headed by Senator Conkling, put great stress upon this eus-

SECRETARY OF STATE. 133
torn, while the other wing supporting the government set
it at naught. President Garfield sent in the names of ten
persons, whom he nominated for important positions in
New York. This had been done at the suggestion of Sen
ator Conkling, who had been invited by the President to
name his friends. While this was satisfactory to the Sen
ator and his adherents, it called forth loud protests from
those who did not believe that so many nominees should be
selected from the friends of Mr. Conkling. For the Col
lector of Customs of New York no nomination was at first
made, General Edwin H. Merritt being the incumbent.
To allay the dissatisfaction occasioned by the five nomina
tions and to quiet the rapidly developing spirit of faction
in New York between the Grant and the anti-Grant par
tisans, President Garfield, on the 23d of March, sent in the
name of Judge Wm. H. Robertson for the New York Col-
lectorship. .The Judge had opposed the rule at Chicago
and disavowed the instructions of the New York Conven
tion to vote for General Grant and headed the Blaine del
egates from that State on the withdrawal of the latter,
using his influence for the nomination of General Garfield.
He was not, therefore, in political accord with Sen
ator Conkling. The latter now endeavored to secure the
confirmation of his friends and defeat that of the Judge,
who was his political enemy. This effort caused the Presi
dent to withdraw the names that had been suggested by
the Senate, thus leaving for confirmation for the time
being the name of Judge Robertson alone. Against this
withdrawal the New York Senator remonstrated in a
letter to the Executive. The President did not recede from
his position, whereupon Senator Conkling endeavored to
defeat the nomination of Robertson under the plea of the
privilege of the Senate as to " Senatorial courtesy.'' There
were -arrayed against him the influence of Mr. Blaine, Sec
retary of State, and a sufficient number of Senators to
counteract the influence of Conkling. Seeing th at the con-

134 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
firmation of the Judge could not be prevented, Senators
Conkling and Piatt sent in their resignations, which were
read to the Senate. These were prepared without consul
tation with their intimate friends, and created great ex
citement throughout the country. Governor Cornell, of
New York, to whom the resignations were sent, used his
influence in vain to have them reconsidered and withdrawn.
After this act President Garfield returned to the Senate the
list of appointees that he had withdrawn, most of whom,
under the condition of affairs, declined the nomination.
President Garfield, during all this contest, was sup
ported by the popular sentiment of the Republican party
all over the country, and subsequent events vindicated the
wisdom of his position. Senator Blaine adhered to the
President throughout these difficulties, and was believed
by Senator Conkling to be the chief instigator of what
the President had done.
THE IMMORTAL EIGHTY DAYS.
On the second of July, 1881, President Garfield, in
company with Secretary Blaine, left the Executive Man
sion at nine a.m., and proceeded to the depot of the
Baltimore and Potomac Railway, where the President
designed to take a special train to- visit, in New England,
the college from which he had graduated. Having en
tered the main waiting-room, walking arm-in-arm with
the Secretary, Charles J. Guiteau, a persistent applicant
for office, advanced toward the President and fired at him
two shots, one of which was harmless, but the other
entered the body of the President about four inches to
the right of the spinal column, striking the tenth and
eleventh ribs. The wounded President sank to the floor,
and was conveyed at once to a room where he could receive
attention. Doctor Bliss made an effort to find the ball,
but was not successful. The system of the President was
severely shocked, and it was supposed death would soon
ensue. He was removed to the Executive Mansion two

SECRETARY OF STATE. 135
hours after the shooting. But little hope of recovery was
entertained until on July 4th a favorable turn was discov
ered, and on the following morning there was a vague
hope that the result would be favorable. Improvement
continued until the seventh of July, when Dr. Bliss
became very confident of the ultimate triumph over the
disease. From this on until the sixteenth, there was
truly an improvement, and the country began to entertain
hopes that the President would recover. On the ninth
he wrote his name for the first time, and on the next
day he signed an important extradition paper. On the
eleventh he wrote a letter to his aged mother at Mentor,
and used words of a hopeful tendency. Hopes and fears
alternated from day to day until on the sixth of Sep
tember, when he was removed to Elberon in a car pre
pared for the purpose. After being placed in the cottage
at Elberon, the country watched with feverish excitement
the news of the patient's condition, which was first for
the better and then for the worse. On Tuesday, the
thirteenth of September, the improvement was such that
the patient was placed in a chair at the window, where he
could watch the waters of the ocean. Though from this
time until the closing moments, there were frequent hopes
of recovery, the suffering form was sinking day by day.
President Garfield died on September 19, 1881, at ten
o'clock and thirty-five minutes, and the Nation mourned
his loss by a sympathy unparalleled, and only approxi
mated by that which was occasioned by the assassination
of President Lincoln.
At midnight on the nineteenth the cabinet at Long
Branch telegraphed Vice-President Arthur to take
promptly the oath of office. This he did before a local
Judge in New York. He then went to Washington and
took the oath of office in the marble room in the Capitol,
in the presence of the members of the cabinet, the Justices
of the Supreme Court and a few Senators and members of

136 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
the House of Representatives. The President then read
from manuscript a brief inaugural address. On the same
day the cabinet, through Secretary Blaine, tendered their
resignations, but President Arthur said he did not desire
to accept them, and would esteem it a personal favor if the
cabinet would continue in the discharge of their duties.
The emergency being -great, the cabinet manifested a
desire to aid the President in the arrangement of public
duties until he should see fit to form a cabinet of his own
selection. During the immortal eighty days of the President's
sickness Secretary Blaine watched the suffering patient
with a tenderness and care that attracted the attention of
the world. The country still remembers vividly the devo
tion with which he watched at the bedside, and the calm
dignity with which during these long weeks of suspense he
discharged the painful duties of his position, the admirable
precision of the bulletins which he issued to the press,
and, through Minister Lowell, to the Foreign Legations,
and the perfection of the replies which he dictated to
official expressions of sympathy at home and abroad. It
is the universal testimony of press and people that during
the weary weeks which intervened between the President's
injury and death, Mr. Blaine's every action and constant
demeanor were absolutely faultless. The disabilities of
the President while prostrated by sickness were such that he
could not attend to the duties of the great station to which
he was elected, and during the sad hours of his life the
Vice-President did not interfere in any way regarding the
duties which should be performed. Consequently Secre
tary Blaine was virtually the acting President of the
United States during these trying days of mental anxiety
and physical toil. HOPES OF THE NATION.
A feeling of satisfaction and contentment pervaded the

SECRETARY OF STATE. 137
Nation after the auspicious and imposing inauguration of
President Garfield and the appointment of one of the
country's favorites as a chief executive adviser. Much was
expected of the efforts from Secretary Blaine. Many inter
ests of the United States were at stake, and many high hopes
were excited. Numerous suggestions were made from
various sources, and the newspapers vied with one another
in calling attention to the great opportunities before him.
As an evidence of the feeling of the enterprising portion of
the Nation, the following extract is given:
"Mr. Blaine has an opportunity for accomplishing a
great American international commercial system, without
precedent in its magnitude and incomparable in its benefits.
"On the north of the present limits of the United States
are the British provinces, extending from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, most of which are included in the Dominion of
Canada. To the south of us lies unfortunate, poor and
feeble Mexico; beyond this, to the Isthmus, the smaller
States included in the Central American Group; southeast
of us lie the Spanish West Indian Islands, fertile and pro
ductive, and to which the people of this country pay large
tribute. These several States, from Hudson's Bay to the
Isthmus of Panama, naturally form what may be called an
exclusively American system, not merely political, but in
the matter of natural products and reciprocal commercial
interests. They have varied climates and productions,
speak various languages, have different habits, customs,
forms of government and religions; but they have an iden
tity of interests, the same absence of serious European
alliances, the strongest inducements for the closest com^
mercial relations, and have essentially the common feeling
that as against the rest of the world they should be a unit.
" No one not a madman proposes that these States should
be consolidated, or that the United States should annex
them, either by force, negotiation, or otherwise. What
ever extension of territory to the United States may take

138 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
place in the future must take place under the healthy
fruition of time and by the free choice of people who can
not be kept separate any longer.
¦" Mr. Blaine's opportunity is not in the line of an annex
ationist, but in the more useful work of including the
whole continent north of Mexico under one system of com
mercial regulation, whereby one and the same tariff law,
the same scale of duties and imports, the same custom
house rules, shall prevail everywhere alike in the United
States and in the Dominion provinces, and at the same
time a liberal reciprocity of trade with Mexico, Central
America and the West Indies.
" The United States exhibit the grand system of no less
than thirty-eight States, containing over 50,000,000 people,
with a great inter-state trade, and with all their varied
interests, climates, productions and wants, harmoniously
exchanging commodities under one common tariff and one
common system of commerce. If this be possible and
successful under thirty-eight States, why not under forty-
eight States ? The productions of Maine or New Bruns
wick, or Michigan and Ontario differ no more than those
of Iowa and Illinois, or Kentucky and Ohio. The exten
sion of this great inter-state system to Canada would be no
more difficult than was its extension to Texas and Cali
fornia a comparatively short time since. Twenty years ago
the man would have been pronounced insane who had pro
posed that a Canadian postal-stamp should carry a letter
through the mails of the United States ; now the stamp
of any of the civilized governments of the world will carry a
letter free of other charge to the uttermost limits of the
earth. To propose now to carry into execution an exten
sion of the American inter-state commerce to the British
possessions at the north, and a liberal reciprocity treaty
with Mexico and the Central American States, is no more
visionary and is decidedly more practicable than was the
now world-wide Postal Union a few years ago.

SECRETARY. OF STATE. 139
More than twenty-five years ago, the present State of
Texas was forcibly wrenched from Mexico by a revolution
conducted entirely by Americans who had settled there.
Subsequently the United States made Texas a part of the
Union, and then waged war on Mexico ; the result of the
war was the spoliation of Mexico of immense portions of her
remaining territory. That unfortunate country, torn by
domestic dissensions, sold and betrayed by popular leaders,
with her industries paralyzed by chronic civil war, has
always entertained strong resentment toward this country,
and cherished deep distrust of our people. The once
favored scheme for the conquest of Mexico, that room might
be made for the extension of slavery, perished with slavery.
No one now desires to conquer a foot of Mexican soil.
The conquest that is sought is in the line of peaceful
commerce. American capital is now building railroads
into Mexico, which railroads are to penetrate that country
just as they do in American States, reaching forward to
every locality, every port, and every productive center in
the land, seeking a market in which to sell and in which
to buy. Two lines of railway are now under way — one,
crossing the boundary of El Paso and moving down to
the Pacific coast, the other extending through Texas, and
pushing through the more densely populated States direct
to the City of Mexico.
" For what is this money to be expended ? To estab
lish trade and commerce? Let us see how and on what
terms we can trade with Mexico. At present, under the
tariff of Mexico, a duty will be levied on all American
goods crossing the boundary, and also a duty to the State
the train first enters. As the train bearing the goods
reaches the boundary of the next State, another tax is
collected, and so on. Every time the goods are moved
from one State over the line of another State a new duty is
collected. By the time the goods reach to any extent into
the country, the National, the State, and even the munici-

140 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
pal tariffs have so swollen the cost that there are but few
persons in Mexico able to purchase them. So, when
Mexico has anything to sell, each State and each munici
pality, as well as the National government, levies and
collects an export duty on all that goes out, and by the
time Mexican goods would reach the American boundary,
their cost would become too great to admit of any one
buying them here. To talk of expending several hundred
millions of American money to build railroads through
Mexico to establish a trade between this and that country
so long as Mexico has a prohibitory tariff system such as
we have mentioned, is out of the question.
"The time for a continental system of exchanges is
eminently propitious, and if Mr. Blaine will accomplish a
reformation by the extension north and south of an inter
national arrangement of duties, uniform and common to
this and to all adjoining countries, he will accomplish for
himself imperishable credit, and have gained for his coun
try and for the people of the neighboring States benefits
which will be enduring. He will practically establish a per
petual peace on this continent. He will bind these sixty or
more millions of people in the strong links of commercial
unity; he will cement the feeling of Americanism, and,
while necessarily producing no change or disturbance in
their political governments, he will practically unite them
all, commercially, into that ' ocean-bound republic' which
was once supposed could only be accomplished by the
force of arm's."
It is probable that Mr. Blaine's views did not accord
exactly with the thoughts of the preceding, but that he
designed to establish perpetual peace on this continent is
fully shown by this invitation to the countries of America
to meet in peace congress at Washington.
It seemed that every act of Secretary Blaine tended to
confirm the hopes of his friends. His just appreciation of
the serious work that was before him was manifested in his

SECRETARY OF STATE. 141
appointment of Judge C. Bancroft Davis, of the Court of
Claims, to be Assistant Secretary of State. Mr. Davis
possessed diplomatic experience in an eminent degree. He
served as Assistant Secretary under Mr. Fish and as Agent
of the United States before the famous Geneva Commis
sion. In both of these positions he acquitted himself with
marked ability, and it has been said that the gaining of
the American case at Geneva was largely due to his efforts.
The public were still further encouraged in its anticipations
when, after a brief incumbency of less than four months, it
was found that Mr. Blaine had been transacting business
with a vigor and success unusual to those who had occupied
his position. The public had been surprised with the
appearance of a series of able communications to foreign
governments concerning certain parts of American com
merce ; they had been informed of the award to our gov
ernment of seventy-five thousand dollars on account of
the Fortune Bay outrages ;. they had heard of the prompt
enforcement of the rights of American citizens in the
Bussi case before the Spanish Mixed-Claims Commission,
resulting in the offer of the Spanish government to com
promise Bussi's claim ; and they had been told of the
agent recently dispatched to Ireland to look after adopted
American citizens in that down-trodden country. All
these successful and vigorous efforts were rapidly gaining
for him a reputation as a diplomatist characteristic of his
success in other departments of statesmanship.
NEUTRALITY OF THE ISTHMIAN CANAL.
The uniting of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by
means of a ship canal is an idea almost as old as the dis
covery of America. Cortez made mention of an inter-
oceanic ship canal in some of his reports to the Spanish
government, and that power made it an offense punishable
by death for any Spaniard to give the world any informa
tion on the subject.

142 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
After the Central American republics became independ
ent of Spanish domination, many efforts were made by
different countries to select a proper route by which a
canal might be constructed. About the middle of the
nineteenth century, the United States took much interest
in this great enterprise. After the war of the Rebellion,
President Grant became much interested, and appointed
a commission which should take charge of all surveys
made in the interest of the canal. Several important
lines were surveyed and reports made thereon to the
government of the United States. All of these reports
united in declaring any canal constructed across the
Isthmus must be by the aid of locks. During the adminis
tration of President Hayes, a conference of the engineers
of the world was called to meet in Paris, Count de
Lesseps being the one under whose instructions and wishes
the engineers were called together This convention,
against the advice of American engineers, decided that a
tide-water canal at Panama was possible, and it was thought
by the French people that such a vote, believed in by such
a man as Count de Lesseps, was sufficient reason for large
investments in the enterprise. Accordingly many millions
of dollars were raised, and DeLesseps heading the enter
prise, a canal at Panama was begun about the time
General Garfield was inaugurated.
The United States of Colombia through whose territory
the canal is designed to pass, made a proposition that
certain European powers should unite in guaranteeing the
neutrality of this canal. The idea of neutrality under
European dictation was contrary to the Monroe doctrine
and to the spirit of American diplomacy, and was something
that the government could not allow nor the American
people afford. President Hayes and various Executives
preceding his time, as far back as Monroe, had enunciated
the American idea of the supremacy of the United States
in the Western Hemisphere. That the United States

SECRETARY OF STATE. 143
might not be placed in an improper position, Secretary
Blaine wrote to the powers of the world, through Minister
Lowell, the following able document:
mr. blaine to mr. lowell.
Department of State, )
Washington, June 24, 1881. )
Sir : It has fallen under the observation of the President, through
the current statements of the European press and other usual chan
nels of communication, that the great powers of Europe may possibly
be considering the subject of jointly guaranteeing the neutrality of
the interoceanic canal now projected across the Isthmus of Panama.
The United States recognizes a proper guarantee of neutrality as
essential to the construction and successful operation of any highway
across the Isthmus of Panama, and in the last generation every step
was taken by this government that is deemed requisite in the prem
ises. The necessity was foreseen and abundantly provided for, long
in advance of any possible call for the actual exercise of power.
In 1846 a memorable and important treaty was negotiated and
signed between the United States of America and the Republic of
New Granada, now the United States of Colombia. By the thirty-
fifth article of that treaty, in exchange for certain concessions made
to the United States, we guaranteed "positively and efficaciously"
the perfect neutrality of the isthmus and of any interoceanic com
munications that might be constructed upon or over it for the
maintenance of free transit from sea to sea; and we also guaranteed
the rights of sovereignty and property of the United States of Colom
bia over the territory of the isthmus as included within the borders of
the State of Panama.
In the judgment of the President this guarantee, given by tho
United States of America, does not require reinforcement, or acces
sion, or assent from any other power. In more than one instance this
government has been called upon to vindicate the neutrality thus
guaranteed, and there is no contingency now foreseen or apprehended
in which such vindication would not be within the power of this
nation. There has never been the slightest doubt on the part of the United
States as to the purpose or extent of the obligation then assumed, by
which it became surety alike for the free transit of the world's com
merce over whatever land-way- or water-way might be opened from
sea to sea, and for the protection of the territorial rights of Colombia
from aggression or interference of any kind. Not; has there ever

144 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
been room to question the full extent of the advantages and benefits,
naturally due to its geographical position and political relations on
the western continent, which the United States obtained from the
owner of the isthmian territory in exchange for that far-reaching and
responsible guarantee.
If the foreshadowed action of the European powers should assume
tangible shape, it would be well for you to bring to the notice of Lord
Granville the provisions of the treaty of 1846, and especially of ils
thirty -fifth article, and to intimate to him that any movement in tlic
sense of supplementing the guarantee contained therein would neces
sarily be regarded by this government as an uncalled-for intrusion
into a field where the local and general interests of the United States
of America must be considered before those of any other power save
those of the United States of Colombia alone, which has already
derived and will continue to derive such eminent advantages from the
guarantee of this government.
The President deems it due to frankness to be still more explicit
on this subject, and to elucidate the views of the United States gov
ernment with somewhat of detail to the end that no uncertainty shall
subsist as to the integrity of our motives or the distinctness of
our aims.
It is not the wish or the purpose of the United States to interfere
with any commercial enterprise in which the citizens or subjects of
any foreign power may see fit to embark under a lawful privilege.
The fact of the stock and franchises of the Panama canal or the Pan
ama railway being owned in Europe, either in whole or principally,
is no more a subject of complaint on the part of the United States .
than is the circumstance that the stock of many of its own great lines
of railway is largely held abroad. Such ownership, with its attendant
rights, is in the United States amply secured by the laws of the land,
and on the Isthmus is doubly secured by the local laws of Colombia,
under the superior guarantee of the United States.
Nor, in time of peace, does the United States seek to have any
exclusive privileges accorded to American ships in respect to prece
dence or tolls through an interoceanic canal any more than it has
sought like privileges for American goods in transit over the Panama
railway, under the exclusive control of an American corporation.
The extent of the privileges of American citizens and ships is meas
urable under the treaty of 1846 by those of Colombian citizens and
ships. It would be our earnest desire and expectation to see the
world's peaceful commerce enjoy the same just, liberal and rational
treatment.

SECRETARY OF STATE. 145
It is as regards the political control of such a canal, as distin
guished from its merely administrative or commercial regulation, that
the President feels called upon to speak with directness and with
emphasis. During any war to which the United States of America or
the United States of Colombia might be a party, the passage of armed
vessels of a hostile nation through the canal at Panama would be no
more admissible than would the passage of the armed forces of a
hostile nation over the railway lines joining the Atlantic and Pacific
shores of the United States or of Colombia. And the United States
of America will insist upon her right to take all needful precautions
against the possibility of the Isthmus transit being in any event used
offensively against her interests upon the land or upon the sea.
The two republics between which the guarantee of neutrality and
possession exists have analogous conditions with respect to their ter
ritorial extension. Both have a long line of coast on either ocean to
protect as well as to improve. The possessions of the United States
upon the Pacific coast are imperial in extent and of extraordinary
growth. Even at their present stage of development they would
supply the larger part of the traffic which would seek the advantages
of the canal. The States of California and Oregon, and the Terri
tory of Washington, larger in area than England and Prance, pro
duce for export more than a ton of wheat for each inhabitant, and
the entire freights demanding water transportation eastward, already
enormous, are augmenting each year with an accelerating ratio.
While the population and products of the Pacific slope are thus
increasing upon a vast scale, the railway system connecting the Gulf
of Mexico with the interior and with the great lakes is being rapidly
extended, thus affording additional facilities for enlarging the com
merce that must seek the coast line to the Pacific, of which the pro
jected canal at Panama will form a part and be as truly a channel of
communication between the Eastern and far Western States as our
own transcontinental railways. It is the perception of this domestic
function of the long-sought water-way between the two seas that
border the republic which has caused the project to be regarded as of
vital importance by this government. The history of the enterprise
is marked from the outset by the numerous expeditions which have,
from time to time, been sent out by the United States, at large ex
pense, to explore the various routes, and thus facilitate the work
when the time should be ripe and the vast capital be forthcoming for
the undertaking.
If the proposed canal were a channel of communication near to
the countries of the Old World, and employed wholly, or almost
10

146 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
wholly, by their commerce, it might very properly be urged that the
influence of the European powers should be commensurate with their
interests. With the exercise of such influence the United States
could find no fault, especially if assured of equal participation in the
peaceable enjoyment of the commercial facilities so afforded. The
case, however, is here reversed, and an agreement between the Euro
pean States to jointly guarantee the neutrality and, in effect, control
the political character of a highway of commerce remote from them
and near to us, forming substantially a part of our coast-line and
promising to become the chief means of transportation between our
Atlantic and Pacific States, would be viewed by this government
with the gravest concern.
The policy of the United States is one of peace and friendly inter
course with every government and people. This disposition is frankly
avowed and is, moreover, abundantly shown in the fact that our arma
ments by land and sea are kept within such limits as to afford no
ground for distrust or suspicion of menace to other nations. The
guarantee entered into by this government in 1846 was manifestly in
the interest of peace, and the necessity imposed by circumstances
upon the United States of America to watch over a highway between
its two coasts was so imperative that the resultant guarantee was the
simplest justice to the chief interests concerned. Any attempt to
supersede that guarantee by an agreement between European powers
which maintain vast armies and patrol the sea with immense fleets,
and whose interest in the canal and its operation can never be so vital
and supreme as ours, would partake of the nature of an alliance
against the United States and would be regarded by this government
as an indication of unfriendly feeling. It would be but an inade
quate response to the good- will we bear them and to our cheerful and
constant recognition of their own rights of domestic policy, as well
as those resulting from proximity or springing from neighborly
interest. The great European powers have repeatedly united in agreements
such as guarantees of neutrality touching the political condition of
States like Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and parts of the
Orient, where the localities were adjacent or where the interests
involved concerned them nearly and deeply. Recognizing these
facts, the United States has never offered to take part in such agree
ments or to make any agreements supplementary to them.
While thus observing the strictest neutrality with respect to com
plications abroad, it is the long-settled conviction of this government
that any extension to our shores of the political system by which

SECRETARY OF STATE. 147
the great powers have controlled and determined events in Europe
would be attended with danger to the peace and welfare of this
nation. While the government of the United States has no intention of
initiating any discussion upon this subject, it is proper that you
should be prepared, in case of concerted action or conference, or
exchange of opinions thereon, between the great powers of Europe,
to communicate to the government to which you are accredited the
views of the President as frankly and as fully as they are herein set
forth. And at suitable times in your personal and friendly inter
course with your colleagues of the diplomatic body at London, you
may find it proper to give discreet expression to the policy and motives
of your government in the premises.
You will be careful, in any conversations you may have, not to
represent the position- of the United States as the development of a
new policy or the inauguration of any advanced, aggressive steps to
be taken by this government. It is nothing more than the pro
nounced adherence of the United States to principles long since
enunciated by the highest authority of the government, and now, in
the judgment of the President, firmly inwoven as an integral and
important part of our national policy.
In his address upon taking the oath of office the President dis
tinctly proclaimed the position which the government of the United
States would hold upon this question, and if the European cabinets
have failed to observe or give due heed to the declarations then
made, it may be well for you on some proper occasion to call the
attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the language used by
the President. I am, etc., James G. Blaine.
Sent mutatis mutandis to United States Ministers in Europe.
The publication of this document elicited much com
ment in the United States, and especially in Great Britain.
England declared that the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1846,
was an insurmountable barrier to the position taken by Mr.
Blaine in his remarkable letter to the powers. Mr. Blaine
did not at first reply to the position taken by Great
Britain in opposition to his letter to Minister Lowell, but
after President Arthur had become chief executive, and
the people were getting composed after the great excitement
of Garfield's assassination, the Secretary wrote a supple-

148 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
mentary letter to Minister Lowell, wherein he shows that
the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty must not be a hindrance to the
United States in maintaining her position regarding her
supremacy over the Isthmian Canal. The text of the
supplementary letter is as follows:
me. blaine to mr. lowell.
Department op State, )
Washington, November 19, 1881. f
Sir: In pursuance of the premises laid down in my circular note
of June 24th of this year, touching the determination of this govern
ment with respect to the guarantee of neutrality for the Interoceanic
canal at Panama, it becomes my duty to call your attention to the-
convention of April 19, 1850, between Great Britain and the United
States, commonly known as the Clayton-Bulwer treaty.
According to the articles of that convention, the high contracting
parties, in referring to an interoceanic canal, through Nicaragua,
agreed —
" That neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain
for itself any exclusive control over said ship canal, and that neither
will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same
or in the vicinity thereof."
In a concluding paragraph, the high contracting parties agreed —
"To extend their protection by treaty stipulations to aay other
practicable communications, whether by canal or railway across the
isthmus * * * which are now proposed to be established by
way of Tehuantepec or Panama."
This convention was made more than thirty years ago, under ex
ceptional and extraordinary conditions which have long since ceased to
exist — conditions which at best were temporary in their nature and
which can never be reproduced. The remarkable development of
the United States on the Pacific coast since that time has created new
duties for this government, and devolved new responsibilities upon
it, the full and complete discharge of which requires, in the judg
ment of the President, some essential modifications in the Clayton-
Bulwer treaty. The interests of Her Majesty's government involved
in this, question, in so far as they may be properly judged by the
observation of a friendly power, are so inconsiderable in comparison
with those of the United States that the President hopes a readjust
ment of the terms of the treaty may be reashed in a spirit of amity
and concord.

SECRETARY OF STATE. 149
The respect due to Her Majesty's government demands that the
objections to the perpetuity of the convention of 1850, as it now
exists, should be stated with directness and with entire frankness;
and among the most salient and palpable of these is the fact that the
operation of the treaty practically concedes to Great Britain the con
trol of whatever canal may be constructed. The insular position of
the home government, with its extended colonial possessions, requires
the British Empire to maintain a vast naval establishment, which in
our continental solidity we do not need, and in time of peace shall never
create. If the United States binds itself not to fortify on land, it
concedes that Great Britain, in the possible case of a struggle for the
coqtrol of the canal, shall at the outset have an advantage which
would prove decisive, and which could not be reversed, except by the
expenditure of treasure and force. The presumptive intention of the
treaty was to place the two powers on a plane of perfect equality with
respect to the canal, but in practice, as I have indicated, this would
prove utterly delusive, and would instead surrender it, if not in form,
yet in effect, to the control of Great Britain.
The treaty binds the United States not to use its military force in
any precautionary measure, while it leaves the naval power of Great
Britain perfectly free and unrestrained — ready at any moment of need
to seize both ends of the canal and render its military occupation on
land a matter entirely within the discretion of Her Majesty's govern
ment. The military power of the United States, as shown by the
recent civil war, is without limit, and in any conflict on the American
continent altogether irresistible. The Clayton-Bulwer treaty com
mands this government not to use a single regiment of troops to pro
tect its interests in connection with the Interoceanic canal, but to
surreader the transit to the guardianship and control of the British
navy. If no American soldier is to be quartered on the isthmus to
protect the rights of his country in the Interoceanic canal, surely, by
the fair logic of neutrality, no war vessel of Great Britain should be
permitted to appear in the waters that control either entrance to the
canal. A more comprehensive objection to the treaty is urged by this gov
ernment. Its provisions embody a misconception of the relative
positions of Great Britain and the United States with respect to the
interests of each government in questions pertaining to this continent.
The government of the United States has no occasion to disavow an
aggressive disposition. Its entire policy establishes its pacific charac
ter, and among its chief aims is to cultivate the most friendly and
intimate relations with its neighbors, both independent and colonial.

150 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
At the same time, this government, with respect to European States,
Will not consent to perpetuate any treaty that impeaches our rightful
and long-established claim to priority on the American continent.
The United States seeks only to use for the defense of its own
interests the same forecast and prevision which Her Majesty's gov
ernment so energetically employs in defense of the interests of the
British Empire. To guard her eastern possessions, to secure the most
rapid transit for troops and munitions of war, and to prevent any
other nation from having equal facilities in the same direction, Great
Britain holds and fortifies all the strategic points that control the
route to India. At Gibraltar, at Malta, at Cyprus, her fortifications
give her the mastery of the Mediterranean. She holds a controlling
interest in the Suez canal, and by her fortifications at Aden and on
the island of Perim she excludes all other powers from the waters of
the Red Sea, and renders it mare clausum. It would, in the judg
ment of the President, be no more unreasonable for the United States
to demand a share in these fortifications, or to demand their absolute
neutralization, than for England to make the same demand in per
petuity from the United States with respect to the transit across the
American continent. The possessions which Great Britain thus care
fully guards in the East, are not of more importance to her than is
the Pacific slope, with its present development and assured growth to
the Government of the United States.
The States and Territories appurtenant to the Pacific Ocean, and
dependent upon it for commercial outlet, and hence directly interested
in the canal, comprise an area of nearly eight hundred thousand
square miles — larger in extent than the German Empire and the four
Latin countries of Europe combined. This vast region is but fairly
beginning its prosperous development. Six thousand miles of railway
are already constructed within its limits, and it is a moderate calcula
tion to say that within the current decade the number of miles will,
at least, be doubled. In the near future the money value of its sur
plus for export will be as large as that of British India, and perhaps
larger. Nor must it be forgotten that India is but a distant colony of
Great Britain, while the region on the Pacific is an integral portion of
our National Union, and is of the very form and body of our State.
The inhabitants of India are alien from England in race, language,
and religion. The citizens of California, Oregon, and Nevada, with
the adjacent Territories, are of our own blood and kindred — bone of
our bone and flesh of our flesh.
Great Britain appreciates the advantage and perhaps the necessity
of maintaining at the cost of large military and naval establishments

BECRETARY OF STATE. 151
the interior and nearest route to India, while any nation with hostile
intent is compelled to take the longer route and travel many thousand
additional miles through dangerous seas. It is hardly conceivable
that the same great power which considers herself justified in taking
these precautions for the safety of a remote colony on another continent
should object to the United States adopting similar but far less demon
strative measures for the protection of the distant shores of her own
domain, for the drawing together of the extremes of the Union in
still closer bonds of interest and sympathy, and for holding in the
quiet determination of an honorable self-defense the absolute control
of the great water-way which shall unite the two oceans, and which
the United States will always insist upon treating as part of her
coast-line. If a hostile movement should at any time be made against the
Pacific coast, threatening danger to its people and destruction to its
property, the Government .of the United States would feel that it had
been unfaithful to its duty and neglectful toward its own citizens if it
permitted itself to be bound by a treaty which gave the same right
through the canal to a war-ship bent on an errand of destruction that
is reserved to its own navy sailing for the defense of our coast and
the protection of the lives of our people. And as England insists by
the might of her power that her enemies in war shall strike her Indian
possessions only by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, so the Govern
ment of the United States will equally insist that the interior, more
speedy, and safer route of the canal shall be reserved for ourselves,
while our enemies, if we shall ever be so unfortunate as to have any,
shall be remanded to the voyage around Cape Horn.
A consideration of controlling influence in this question is the
well-settled conviction on the part of this government that only by the
United States exercising supervision can the Isthmus canals be defi
nitely and at all times secured against the interference and obstruction
incident' to war. A mere agreement of neutrality on paper between
the great powers of Europe might prove ineffectual to preserve the
canal in time of hostilities. The first sound of a cannon in a general
European war would, in all probability, annul the treaty of neutrality,
and the strategic position of the canal, commanding both oceans might
be held by the first naval power that could seize it. If this should be
done, the United States would suffer such grave inconvenience and
loss in her domestic commerce as would enforce the duty of a defen-
• sive and protective war on her part, for the mere purpose of gaining
that control which, in advance, she insists is due to her position and
demanded by her necessities.

152 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
I am not arguing or assuming that a general war, or any war at
all, is Imminent in Europe. But it must not be forgotten that within
the past twenty-five years all the great powers of Europe have been
engaged in war — most of them more than once. In only a single
instance in the past hundred years has the United Stales exchanged a
hostile shot with any European power. It is in the highest degree
improbable that for a hundred years to come even that experience
will be repeated.
It consequently becomes evident that the one conclusive mode of
preserving any Isthmus canal from the possible distraction and
destruction of war, is to place it under the control of that government
least likely to be engaged in war, and able in any and in every event
to enforce the guardianship which she will assume. Por self -protec
tion to her own interest, therefore, the United States in the first
instance asserts her right to control the Isthmus transit ; and, secondly,
she offers by such control that absolute neutralization of the canal as
respects European powers, which can in no other way be certainly
attained and lastingly assured.
Another consideration forcibly suggests the necessity of modifying
the convention under discussion. At the time it was concluded,
Great Britain and the United States were the only nations prominent
in the commerce of Central and South America. Since that time
other leading nations have greatly enlarged their commercial connec
tions with that country, and are to-day contending for supremacy in
the trade of those shores; within the past four years, indeed, the
number of Prench and German vessels landing on the two coasts of
Central America, far exceeds the number of British vessels.
While, therefore, Great Britain and the United States may agree
to do nothing, and according to the present convention each remains
bound to the other in common helplessness, a third power, or a fourth,
or a combination of many, may step in and give direction to the
project which the Clayton-Bulwer treaty assumed to be under the
sole control of the two English-speaking nations. Indeed, so far as
the canal scheme now projected at Panama finds a national sponsor
or patron, it is in the Republic of France, and the non-intervention
enjoined upon this country by the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, if applied
to that Canal, would paralyze the arm of the United States in any
attempt to assert the plain rights and privileges which this govern
ment acquired through a solemn treaty with the Republic of Colombia,
anterior to the Clayton-Bulwer convention. The modification of the
treaty of 1850, now sought, is not only to free the United States from
unequal and inequitable obligations to Great Britain, but also to

SECRETARY OF STATE. 153
empower this government to treat with all other nations seeking a
foothold on the Isthmus, on the same basis of impartial justice and
independence. One of the motives that originally induced this government to
assent to the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, not distinctly expressed in the
instrument, but inferable from every line of it, was the expected aid
of British capital in the construction of the Nicaraguan canal. That
expectation has not been realized, and the changed condition of this
country since 1850 has diminished, if it has not entirely removed from
consideration, any advantage to be derived from that source.
Whenever, in the judgment of the United States Government, the
times shall be auspicious and the conditions favorable for the con
struction of the Nicaraguan canal, no aid will be needed outside of
the resources of our own government and people ; and while foreign
capital will always be welcomed and never repelled, it cannot hence
forth enter as an essential factor in the determination of this problem.
It is earnestly hoped by the President that the considerations now
presented will have due weight and influence with Her Majesty's
Government, and that the modifications of the treaty desired by the
United States will be conceded in the same friendly spirit in which
they are asked. The following is a summary of the changes necessary
to meet the views of this government.
First. Every part of the treaty which forbids the United States
fortifying the canal and holding the political control of it in conjunc-
tiop with the country in which it is located, to be canceled.
Second. Every part of the treaty in which Great Britain and the
United States agree to make no acquisition of territory in Central
America, to remain in full force. As an original proposition, this
government would not admit that Great Britain and the United States
should be put on the same basis, even negatively, with respect to ter-
ritoriar acquisitions on the American continent, and would be unwill
ing to establish such a precedent without full explanation. But the
treaty contains that provision with respect to Central America, and if
the United States should seek its annulment it might give rise to
erroneous and mischievous apprehensions among a people with whom
this government desires to be on the most friendly terms. The United
States has taken special occasion to assure the Spanish-American
Republics to the south of us, that we do not intend and do not desire
to cross their borders or in any way disturb their territorial integrity,
and we shall not willingly incur the risk of a misunderstanding by
annulling the clauses in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty which forbid such
a step with respect to Central America. The acquisition of military

154 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
and naval stations necessary for the protection of the canal and vol
untarily ceded to the United States by the Central American States,
is not to be regarded as a violation of the provision contained in the
foregoing. Third. The United States will not object to maintaining the
clause looking to the establishment of a free port at each end of
whatever canal may be constructed, if England desires it to be re
tained. Fourth. The clause in which the two governments agreed to
make treaty stipulations for a joint protectorate of whatever railway
or canal might be constructed at Tehuantepec or Panama, has never
been perfected. No treaty stipulations for the proposed end have
been suggested by either party, although citizens of the United States
long since constructed a railway at Panama, and are now engaged in
the same work at Tehuanlepec. It is a fair presumption, in the
judgment of the President, that this provision should be regarded as
obsolete by the non-action and common consent of the two govern
ments. Fifth. The clause defining the distance from either end of tbe
canal, where, in time of war, captures might be made by either
belligerent on the high seas, was left incomplete and the distance was
never determined. In the judgment of the President, speaking in the
interest of peaceful commerce, this distance should be made as liberal
as possible, and might, with advantage, as a question relating to the
high seas and common to all nations, be a matter of stipulation
between the great powers of the world.
In assuming as a necessity the political control of whatever canal
or canals may be constructed across the isthmus, the United States
will act in entire harmony with the governments within whose territory
the canals should be located. Between the United States and the other
American republics there can be no hostility, no jealousy, no rivalry,
no distrust. This government entertains no design in connection with
this project for its own advantage which is not also for the equal or
greater advantage of the country to be directly and immediately
affected, nor does the United States seek any exclusive or narrow
commercial advantage. It frankly agrees, and will by public procla
mation declare at the proper time, in conjunction with the republic
on whose soil the canal may be located, that the same rights and
privileges, the same tolls and obligations for the use of the canal
shall apply with absolute impartiality to the merchant marine of
every nation on the globe. And equally, in time of peace, the harm
less use of the canal shall be freely granted to the war vessels of other

SECRETARY OF STATE. 155
nations. In time of war, aside from the defensive use to be made of
it by the country in which it is constructed and by the United States,
the canal shall be impartially closed against the war vessels of all
belligerents. It is the desire and the determination of the United
States that the canal shall be used only for the development and
increase of peaceful commerce among all the nations, and shall not
be considered a strategic point in warfare which may tempt the
aggressions of belligerents, or be seized under the compulsions of
military necessity by any of the great powers that may have contests
in which the United States has no stake; and will take no part.
If it be asked why the United States objects to the assent of
European governments to the terms of neutrality for the operation of
the canal, my answer is that the right to assent implies the right to
dissent, and thus the whole question would be thrown open for
contention as an international issue. It is the fixed purpose of the
United States to confine it strictly and solely as an American question,
to be dealt with and decided by the American governments.
In presenting the views contained herein to Lord Granville, you
will take occasion to say that the government of the United States
seeks this particular time for the discussion as most opportune and
auspicious. At no period since the peace of 1783 have the relations
between the British and American governments been so cordial and
friendly as now. And I am sure Her Majesty's government will find
in the views now suggested, and the propositions now submitted,
additional evidence of the desire of this government to remove all
possible grounds of controversy between two nations, which have
so many interests in common, and so many reasons for honorable and
lasting peace.
You will at the earliest opportunity acquaint Lord Granville with
the purpose of the United States touching the Clayton-Bulwer treaty,
and, in your own way, you will impress him fully with the views of
your government. I refrain from directing that a copy of this instruc
tion be left with his lordship, because, in reviewing the case, I have
necessarily been compelled, in drawing illustrations from British
policy, to indulge somewhat freely in the argumentum ad hominem.
This course of reasoning, in an instruction to our own minister, is
altogether legitimate and pertinent, and yet might seem discourteous
if addressed directly to the British government. You may deem it
expedient to make this explanation to Lord Granville, and if after
ward he shall desire a copy of this instruction, you will, of course,
furnish it. I am, etc., ,
James G. Blaine.

156 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

THE WAR BETWEEN CHILI AND PERU.
The Republic of Chili, desiring to replenish its ex
chequer by conquest, sought a quarrel with Peru, by
which it was designed to reap vast treasures by the pro
secution of a vigorous war. Two months before the Gar
field administration began the war between Chili and Peru
had come to a close. This contest was brought about
through a difficulty concerning certain beds of nitrate in
what was the Peruvian district of Tarapaca before Chili
robbed her of it. For many years Peru and Bolivia had
enjoyed a monopoly of the nitrate and guano deposits in
the Islands which were along their coasts. Some capi
talists in Europe, notably the French, were interested in
contracts with the Peruvian governments, but moneyed
men in Great Britain had not been successful in obtain
ing a hold in Peru. English capital, however, had al
ways been at the disposition of the government of Chili.
This Republic, undoubtedly inspired by British money,
turned her eyes toward the nitrate deposits in Tarapaca.
Her aggressions were resisted by the united efforts of
Bolivia and Peru, though they had to oppose the iron
clads and bayonets of Great Britain, which were known
to be at the back of the Chilian government. Certain
capitalists of Chili obtained possession of a small tract of
nitrate deposits in the country of Peru, the rest of the
deposits having passed from Bolivia into the possession
of Peru by purchase or cession. The pretext for the war
was based upon an export duty levied on a nitrate bed
owned by citizens of Chili.
As a result of the quarrel regarding this duty and
certain broken treaties, the Chilian nitrate works at Auto-
fagasta were confiscated. Upon this pretext, the Chilian
government occupied a portion of the coast of Peru.
Bolivia with Peru having identical interests and having
rightfully enjoyed the monopoly of the nitrate and guano

SECRETARY OF STATE. 157
beds, formed an alliance against Chili. On both sides the
war was carried on with carnage, cruelty and bloodshed.
In the course of the struggle there occurred the celebrated
naval battle in which the Peruvian iron-clad " Independ
ent " was destroyed. Up to this time these two govern
ments had two iron-clads each, and it is probable that
Peru would not have been rendered the victim of Chili had
this iron-clad been saved from destruction.
The Chief Executive of Peru, Prado, was driven from
power, to be succeeded by Pierola, the Dictator and brill
iant military commander. On all sides the Chilian forces
were triumphant, being conquerors in Tacna, Arica and in
Tarapaca. The fleet of Peru was destroyed and Callao was
blockaded. This government on the verge of destruction
had, in the meanwhile, sent a special envoy to the United
States to obtain the good offices of our government as
mediator. This visit was followed in 1880 by the famous
conference of Arica. This took place on board the United
States steamer Lackawanna. Chili, proud of her triumph,
and in all probability encouraged by English capitalists to
make exorbitant demands, insisted upon extravagant
terms, both as to money indemnity and large accessions of
territory. The money indemnity it was impossible for
bankrupt Peru to pay, and to have surrendered the terri
tory required would have been to surrender her nation
ality. To make certain that Chili should have no more diffi
culty with conquered Peru, the former Republic demanded
the cession of all the celebrated salt-petre districts of Auto-
fagasta and the nitrate territory of Tarapaca. Peru had
nothing else of value to give. To such humiliation the
Dictator, Pierola, declined to yield, and the Conference of
Arica, as a consequence, was a failure, and hostilities were
resumed by the Chilian government. In a few months the
Chilian forces were victorious and the ensign of their
country was floating over Lima and Callao, and the Peru-

158 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
vian Government was reduced to an absolutely powerless
condition. At Miraflores the Dictator, Pierola, lost his
prestige as a military commander, and escaped for safety
to the Andes mountains. Upon this, an effort was under
taken to establish the Government of Garcia Calderon,
about which so much has been said and heard in recent
American diplomacy.
The object in establishing the Calderon Government
was to obtain some authority with which negotiations for
peace could be made. This President convoked a Con
gress in the vicinity of Lima. The State Department of
this country made vigorous efforts to bring about the con
clusion of an early peace among the belligerent states, two
of which had been rendered prostrate at the hands of the
other, which was victorious. Upon this victorious country
the influence of the United States was brought to bear in
the interests of peace and magnanimity, but, owing to
an unfortunate misapprehension, Mr. Blaine's instructions
to the United States Ministers did not promote the ends
of peace. Special envoys were accordingly sent to South
America accredited to the three Governments with gen
eral instructions which should enable them to bring these
belligerent powers into friendly relations.
Mr. Trescot was the leading spirit of the envoys. He
was accompanied by Mr. Walker Blaine. Their mission
was to perform a most delicate and important diplomatic
duty in behalf of peace. The instructions given Mr.
Trescot by Secretary Blaine are here inserted, since they
furnish sufficient data from which to judge of the position
taken by the United States Government.
mr. blaine to mr. trescot.
Department of State, )
Washington, November 30, 1881. j
Sir : You will receive herewith your commission as special envoy,
with the rank of minister plenipotentiary, to the republics of Chili,
Peru and Bolivia. This commission will not supersede tbe ordinary

SECRETARY OF STATE. 159
duties of the ministers plenipotentiary and resident now accredited to
those governments. But, as they will be duly informed, all com
munications and negotiations connected with the settlement of the
pending difficulties between Chili, Peru, and Bolivia, so far as this
government may deem it judicious to take action, will be transferred
to your charge. Under the instructions which will be furnished, you
will place yourself in direct communication with those governments ;
but it is expected, as I am sure you will desire, that you should learn
from the United States ministers now there the exact condition of
existing political relations, and that you will give due regard to such
suggestions as their recent experience enables them to submit to your
consideration. Whatever action, however, you may take, must be
decided upon your own responsibility, and will be the exercise of your
independent authority.
After full consideration of your suggestion that it may be neces
sary to conduct the same negotiation at more than one point, the
President has directed the Third Assistant Secretary of State to
accompany you. Should the occasion which you anticipate arise,
you are authorized to give Mr. Blaine the necessary instructions ; his
official rank in the department, and his detail for special service on
this mission being sufficient to authorize him, without a formal com
mission, to execute your instructions.
Your expenses, and those of the Third Assistant Secretary who
accompanies you, going and returning, and such as are incidental to
your residence in South America and the mission upon which you
are sent, will be allowed by this department, in the confidence that
with due regard to the proprieties of your position, and the duties
with which you are charged, these expenses will be reasonably and
carefully regulated. I am, etc., James G. Blaine.
mr. blaine to mr. walker blaine.
Department of State, >
Washington, November 30, 1881. J
Sir: You are aware that the President has deemed it proper to
send a special mission to Chili, Peru and Bolivia, and that the Hon.
William Henry Trescot, of South Carolina, has been appointed special
envoy. As it is probable that the contemplated negotiations will have to be
conducted at the same time at different points, you will, by direction
of the President of the United States, be attached to this mission, on

160 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
special service, with your official rank as Third Assistant Secretary of
State. Mr. Trescot is authorized. to empower you to represent the
government in any of the countries named, should the necessity
occur, under such instructions as he shall give you, and he is directed,
in case of his own absence, to place the mission under your charge
during such absence.
While with Mr. Trescot, you will render such assistance in the
discharge of his duties as he may require.
As you are already a salaried officer of the United States, no com
pensation can be given you beyond the repayment of your proper and
necessary expenses, for which you will render an account, with such
vouchers as may be obtainable, such account to be audited by the
Secretary of State.
You will, in the course of your special service, communicate
freely with the department, by telegraph and in cipher, when practi
cable and requisite; and you will from time to time receive such
instructions as may be necessary.
The Secretary of the Navy has directed the commanders of our
national vessels on the South American Pacific coast to assist Mr.
Trescot's movements and yours in all possible ways. To this end, a
vessel of war will await your arrival at Panama.
Trusting that the success of this mission will meet the confident
expectations of the President and of this department,
I am, sir, etc., James G. Blaine.
mr. blaine to mr. trescot.
— Department of State, )
Washington, December 1, 1881. )
Sir: While the circumstances under which the President has
deemed it proper to charge you with a special mission to the Repub
lics of Chili, Peru and Bolivia, render it necessary that very much
must be confided to your own discretion, it is desirable that you
should be placed in full possession of his views as to the general line
of conduct which you will be expected to pursue.
For this purpose it is not necessary at present to go further back
in the history of the unfortunate relations between Chili on the one
hand and Peru and Bolivia on the other, than the time when the
defeat of General Pierola, his abandonment of the capital and the
coast and their occupation by the Chilian army seemed to have put an
end to all responsible native government in Peru. Lima having been
surrendered on the 19th January, 1881, Pierola driven across the

SECRETARY OF STATE. 161
mountains, the Chilian military occupation consolidated, and the
Chilian government refusing to recognize Pierola as representing tho
government of Peru, it became absolutely necessary that some gov
ernment should be established, if Peru was not to remain simply a
military district of Chili.
On February 25, 1881, Mr. Christiancy, the United States minis
ter at Lima, wrote this department as follows:
" A movement has, therefore, been initiated among some of the
leading citizens of Lima and Callao and encouraged by the Chilian
authorities, to establish a new government in opposition to that of
Pierola [who is still at Tacna or Yareja.] "
From this date to April 13, 1881, Mr. Christiancy kept the depart
ment informed of the probabilities of the establishment of the Calde
ron government, so called from the name of the eminent Peruvian
statesman who had been chosen as President. On that date he wrote:
"In my own private opinion, however, if the provisional govern
ment had come up without any appearance of support from the
Chilian authorities, it would have had many elements of popularity,
and would probably have succeeded in obtaining the acquiescence of
the people. This new government realizes the importance of an early
peace with Chili, the necessity of which must be recognized by every
thoughtful man; while that of Pierola professes to intend to carry on
the war; but it has no means for the purpose at present, and my own
opinion is that any effort to do so will end in still greater calamities to
Peru." On May 23, the same minister, in a postscript to his dispatch of
the 17th says:
" Since writing the above, it has become still more probable that
the threat of ' indefinite occupation ' was intended only to drive the
Peruvians into the support of the pr6visional government, as two
days ago they allowed the government to send seventy -five soldiers to
Tacna, Oroyo, etc., to control that part of the country, so as to allow
the members of Congress to come to Lima; and it now begins to look
as if Calderon might secure a quorum (two thirds) of the Congress.
If he does succeed, it will be some evidence that Peru acquiesces in
that government. And if he gets the two thirds of the members, I
think I shall recognize the pravisional government, or that of the
Congress and the President they may elect, unless in the meantime I
shall receive other instructions."
On the 9th of May, 1881, instructions had been sent to him from
the department, which crossed this dispatch, in which he was told:
"If the Calderon government is supported by the character and
11

162 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
intelligence of Peru, and is really endeavoring to restore constitu
tional government with a view both to order within and negotiations
with Chili for peace, you may recognize it as the existing provisional
government, and render what aid you can by advice and good offices
to that end."
Acting under these instructions, although with some expressed
doubt as to the probable permanence of its existence, Mr. Christiancy,
on the 26th of June, 1881, formally recognized tbe Calderon govern
ment. It is clear that (his recognition was not an unfriendly inter
vention as far as the wishes and interests of Chili were concerned, for
under date of May 7, 1881, two days before these instructions of the
9th were sent to Mr. Christiancy, Mr. Osborn, the United States min
ister to Chili, wrote from Santiago as follows:
" In my 201, of date April 5, regarding the war in this section, I
mentioned the fact that the minister of war, Mr. Vergara, who had
been with the army at Lima, had been sent for, and was then on his
way to Chili. Since his arrival the government has labored to reach
a conclusion touching the course to be pursued with Peru, and to that
end numerous and extended discussions among the ministers and
prominent citizens of the Republic, who had been invited to partici
pate, have taken place. Three plans or propositions were discuseed:
First, that spoken of by me in my 201, involving the withdrawal of
the army to Arica; second, the occupation of the entire Peruvian
coast by the Chilian forces, and its government by Chilian authori
ties; and third, the strengthening of the government of Calderon,
and the negotiation of a peace therewith. The propriety of entering
into negotiations with Pierola was not even dignified with a consider
ation. After much labor the government reached the conclusion that
the last proposition afforded the easiest way out of their complica
tions, and it has been determined to send to Peru, in charge of the
negotiations, Mr. Godoy. * * * The ministry has freely coun
seled with me regarding the difficulties of the situation, and in view
of their previous determination to have nothing to do with Pierola, I
cannot but applaud the result of their deliberations. To vacate the
country now would be to turn it over to anarchy, and to attempt to
oocupy the entire coast would, in time, involve both countries in ruin.
The most feasible way to peace is, in my opinion, tlie one resolved
upon. In fact it is the only one which offers any reasonable hope of
a solution'of the difficulties during the present generation."
In giving the support of recognition to the Calderon government,
therefore, so far was this government from doing what could be con
sidered an unfriendly act to Chili, that it was, in fact, giving its aid

SECRETARY OF STATE. 163
to the very policy which Chili avowed, and which, in the opinion of
competent judges, was the only method of reasonable solution.
And this conclusion of the government was strengthened and con
firmed by the information which was transmitted to the Department
by General Kilpatrick, the United States minister to Chili. General
Kilpatrick was appointed after the recognition of the Calderon gov
ernment, and was furnished with instructions to which I have already
referred. In his dispatch No. 3, under date of August 15, 1881, he says:
"I have the honor to report that so far as the assurance of public
men can be relied upon, your instructions have been complied with;
your ideas of final terms of peace accepted, not only by the present
administration at Santiago, but still better by Seiior Santa Maria, the
president elect, whose administration will have begun when you
receive this note."
General Kilpatrick then proceeds to give a detailed account of a
lengthy interview with the leading and most influential members of
the Chilian government, in which he quotes the following as the final
assurances given to him by the Chilian secretary of state:
"You may therefore say to your government that every effort
would be given by Chili to strengthen the government- of President
Calderon, giving to it the most perfect freedom of action, considering
the Chilian occupation. That no question of Chilian annexation
would be touched until a constitutional government could be estab
lished in Peru, acknowledged and respected by the people, with full
powers to enter into diplomatic negotiation for peace. That no terri
tory would be exacted unless Chili failed to secure ample and just
indemnification in other and satisfactory ways, as also ample security
for the future ; and that in no case would Chili exact territory save
where Chilian enterprise and Chilian capital had developed the desert
and where to-day nine tenths of the people were Chilian."
But after this recognition, made in entire good faith to both par
ties, three things followed:
1. The presence of a United States minister at Lima accredited to
the Calderon government, and the reception in Washington of a min
ister from that government, gave it, unquestionably increased strength
and confidence.
2. The adherents of Pierola, realizing the necessity of peace and
the existence of a stable government to negotiate it, gradually aban
doned the forlorn hope of continued resistance, and gave their adhe
sion to the Calderon government.
3. The congress which assembled within the neutral zone set

164 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
apart for that purpose- by the Chilian authorities, and which was fur
ther allowed by the Chilian government to providei for the military-
impositions by the use of the national credit, and thus recognized as
the representative of the Peruvian people, authorized President Cal
deron to negotiate a peace, but upon the condition that no territory
should be ceded.
As soon as these facts indicated the possibility of a real and inde
pendent vitality in the constitution of the Calderon government the
Chilian military authorities issued an order forbidding any exercise
of its functions within the territory occupied by the Chilian army —
that is, within the entire territory west of the mountains, including
the capital and ports of Peru.
Unable to understand this sudden and, giving due regard to the
professions of Chili, this unaccountable change of policy, this govern
ment instructed its minister at Lima to continue to recognize the Cal
deron government until more complete information would enable it
to send further instructions. If our present information is correct,
immediately upon the receipt of this communication they arrested
President Calderon, and thus, as far as was in their power, extin
guished his government. The" President does not now insist upon the
inference which this action would warrant. He hopes that there is
some explanation which will relieve him from the painful impression
that it was taken in resentful reply to the continued recognition of
the Calderon government by the United States. H, unfortunately, he
should be mistaken, and such a motive be avowed, your duty will be
a brief one. You will say to the Chilian government that the Presi
dent considers such a proceeding as an intentional and unwarranted
offense, and that you will communicate such an avowal to the Gov
ernment of the United States, with the assurance that it will be
regarded as an act of such unfriendly import as to require the imme
diate suspension of all diplomatic intercourse. You will inform me
immediately of the happening of such a contingency and instructions
will be sent you.
But I do not anticipate such an occurrence. From the informa
tion before the Department, of which you are possessed, it is more
probable that this course will be explained by an allegation that the
conduct and language of the United States minister in Peru had
encouraged the Calderon government to such resistance of the wishes
of Chili as to render the negotiation of a satisfactory treaty of peace
with the Calderon government impossible. Any explanation which
relieves this action of the Chilian government of the character of an
intentional offense will be received by you to that extent, provided it

SECRETARY OF STATE. 165
does not require as a condition precedent the disavowal of Mr. Hurl-
but. Whatever may be my opinion as to the discretion of all that
may have been said or done by Mr. Hurlbut, it is impossible for me
to recognize the right of the Chilian government to take such action
without submitting to the consideration of this government any
cause of complaint which it was prepared to allege against the pro
ceedings of the representative of the United States. The Chilian
government was in possession of the instructions sent to that minister,
as well as those to his colleague at Santiago. There was no pretense
that the conduct of General Kilpatrick was anything but friendly.
Chili was represented here by a minister who enjoyed the confidence
of his government, and nothing can justify the assumption that the
United States was acting a double part in its relations to the two
countries. If the conduct of the United States minister seemed
inconsistent with what Chili had every reason to know was the
friendly intention of the United States, a courteous representation
through the Chilian minister here would have enabled this govern
ment promptly to correct or confirm him. You are not therefore
authorized to make to the Chilian government any explanation of the
conduct of General Hurlbut, if that government, not having afforded
us the opportunity of 'accepting or disavowing his conduct, insists
upon making its interpretation of his proceedings the justification of
its recent action.
It is hoped, however, that you will be able, by communication, at
once firm and temperate, to avoid these embarrassments. If you
should fortunately reach the ground where frank, mutual explanation
can be made, without the sacrifice of that respect which every gov
ernment owes to itself, you will then be at liberty, conforming your
explanation to the recent instruction to Mr: Hurlbut, with a copy of
which you are furnished, to show to the government of Chili how
much both his words and acts have been misconceived.
It is difficult for me to say now how far an explanation would be
satisfactory to the President, which was not accompanied by the
restoration or recognition of the Calderon government. The objects
which he has at heart are, first, to prevent the misery, confusion and
bloodshed which the present relations between Chili and Peru seem
only too certain to renew; and, second, to take care that in any
friendly attempt to reach this desirable end the government of the
United States is treated with the respectful consideration to which its
disinterested purpose, its ligitimate influence, and its established posi
tion entitle it. The President feels in this matter neither irritation
nor resentment. He regrets that Chili seems to have misconceived

166 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
both the spirit and intention of the government of the United States,
and thinks her conduct has been inconsiderate. He will gladly learn
that a calmer and a wiser judgment directs her counsels, and asks in no
exacting spirit the correction of what were, perhaps, natural mis
understandings. So he would be satisfied with the manifestation of a
sincere purpose on the part of Chili to aid Peru, either in restoring
the present provincial government, or establishing in its place one
which will be allowed the proper freedom of action necessary to re
store internal order and to conduct a real negotiation to some substan
tial result.
Should the Chilian Government, while disclaiming any intention
of offense, maintain its right to settle its difficulties with Peru with
out the friendly intervention of other powers, and refuse to allow the
fonnation of any government in Peru which does not pledge its
consent to the cession of Peruvian territory, it will be your duty, in
language as strong as is consistent with the respect due an independ
ent power, to express the disappointment and dissatisfaction felt by
the United States at such a deplorable policy.
You will say that this government recognizes without reserve the
right of Chili to adequate indemnity for the cost of the war, and a
sufficient guarantee that it will not again be subjected to hostile
demonstration from Peru ; and further, that if Peru is unable or un
willing to furnish such indemnity, the right of conquest has put it in
the power of Chili to supply them, and the reasonable exercise
of that right, however much its necessity may be regretted, is not
ground of legitimate complaint on the part of other powers. But
this government feels that the exercise of the right of absolute con
quest is dangerous to the best interests of all the republics on this
continent ; that from it are certain to spring other wars and political
disturbances ; and that it imposes, even upon the conqueror, burdens
which are scarcely compensated by the apparent increase of strength
which it gives. This government also holds that between two inde
pendent nations hostilities do not, from the mere existence of war,
confer the right of conquest until the failure to furnish the indemnity
and guarantee which can be rightfully demanded.
The United States maintains, therefore, that Peru has the right to
demand that an opportunity should be allowed her to find such indem
nity and guarantee. Nor can this government admit that a cession
of territory can be properly exacted far exceeding in value the amplest
estimate of a reasonable indemnity.
Already, by force of its occupation, the Chilian Government has
collected great sums from Peru ; and it has been openly and officially

SECRETARY OF STATE. 167
asserted in the Chilian Congress that these military impositions
have furnished a surplus beyond the cost of maintaining its armies
in that occupation The annexation of Tarapaca, which, under
proper administration, would produce annually a sum sufficient to
pay a large indemnity, seems to us to be not consistent with the execu
tion of justice.
The practical prohibition of the formation of a staple government
in Peru, and the absolute appropriation of its most valuable territory,
is simply the extinction of a State which has formed part of the
system of republics on this continent, honorable in the traditions and
illustrations of its past history, and rich in the resources for future
progress. The United States, with which Peru has for many years
maintained the most cordial relations, has the right to feel and express
a deep interest in its distressed condition ; and while with equal -
friendliness to Chili, we will not interpose to deprive her of the fan-
advantages of military success, nor put any obstacle to the attainment
of future security, we cannot regard with unconcern the destruction
of Peruvian nationality. If our good offices are rejected, and this
policy of absorption of an independent State be persisted in, this
government will consider itself discharged from any further obliga
tion to be influenced in its action by the position which Chili has
assumed, and will hold itself free to appeal to the other republics of
this continent to join it in an effort to avert consequences which can
not be confined to Chili and Peru, but which threaten with extremest
danger the political institutions, the peaceful progress, and the liberal
civilization, of all America.
If, however, none of these embarrassing obstacles supervene, and
Chili receives in a friendly spirit the representations of the United
States, it will be your purpose:
First. To concert such measures as will enable Peru to establish
a regular government, and initiate negotiation.
Second. To induce Chili to consent to such negotiation without
cession of territory as a condition precedent.
Third. To impress upon Chili, that in such negotiation she ought
to allow Peru a fair opportunity to provide for a reasonable indem
nity; and, in this connection, to let it be understood that the United
States would consider the imposition of an extravagant indemnity, so
as to make the cession of territory necessary in satisfaction, as more
than is justified by the actual cost of the war, and as a solution
threatening renewed difficulty between the two countries.
As it is probable that some time will elapse before the completion
of all the arrangements necessary for a final negotiation, this govern-

168 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
ment would suggest a temporary convention, which, recognizing the
spirit of our present friendly representation, would bring Peru and
Chili into amicable conference, and provide for a meeting of plenipo
tentiaries to negotiate a permanent treaty of peace.
If negotiation be assured, the ability of Peru to furnish the
indemnity will be a matter of direct interest. Upon this subject we
have no information upon which definite instructions can now be
based. While you will carefully abstain from any interposition in
this connection, you will examine and report to this department
promptly any plans which may be suggested.
You will not indicate any wish that the government of the United
States should act as umpire in the adjudications between the contend
ing powers. Should an invitation to that effect be extended, you will
communicate by telegraph for instructions. The single and simple
desire of this government is to see a just and honorable peace at the
earliest day practicable, and if any other American government can
more effectively aid in producing this auspicious result, the United
States will cordially sustain it, and lend such co-operation as the cir
cumstances demand. I am, etc., James G. Blaine.
PEACE CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON.
Two days before Mr. Blaine issued instructions to the
envoys who were sent to Peru and Chili for the purpose of
negotiating peace, he addressed a letter of invitation to the
independent Republics of North and South America, in
viting them all to meet in congress at Washington, D.C.,
on the 24th day of November, 1882, for the purpose of
considering and discussing the methods of preventing war
among the nations of America. Particular stress was laid
upon the suggestion that the congress must be strictly
confined to this one object; and the circular further dwelt
upon the far-reaching consequences of war, the exhausted
finances, oppressive debts, ruined States, paralyzed indus
tries, devastated fields, slaughtering of men, the grief of
the widow and the orphan, and the embittered resentments
handed down to future generations. The entire tone of
the invitation was designed to impress upon the South
American and Central American States,- so frequently in-

SECRETARY OF STATE. 169
volved in external dissensions, that the purpose of the
congress was to consider, and, if possible, agree upon
conditions which would avoid them in the future. But it
also expressly stated that the United States did not assume
to determine any existing differences, and that such ques
tions would not properly come before the conference.
Finally it was proposed that each government should send
two commissioners to the congress, and that the United
States would enter it upon the same footing as the other
States. A circular letter was addressed to Mr. Osborn,
Minister to the Argentine Republic, in the following
words: mr. blaine to mr. osborn.
Department of State, !
Washington, November 29, 1881. )
Sir: The attitude of the United States with respect to the question
of general peace on the American continent is well known through its
persistent efforts for years past to avert the evils of warfare, or, these
efforts failing, to bring positive conflicts to an end through pacific
counsels or the advocacy of impartial arbitration.
This attitude has been consistently maintained, and always with
such fairness as to leave no room for imputing to our government any
motive except the humane and disinterested one of saving the kindred
States of the American continent from the burdens of war. The posi
tion of the United States as the leading power of the New World might
well give to its government a claim to authoritative utterance for the
purpose of quieting discord among its neighbors, with all of whom
the most friendly relations exist. Nevertheless, the good offices of
this government are not and have not at any time been tendered with
a show of dictation or compulsion, but only as exhibiting the solicit
ous good-will of a common friend.
For some years past a growing disposition has been manifested by
certain States of Central and South America to refer disputes affecting
grave questions of international relationship and boundaries to arbi
tration rather than to the sword. It has been on several such occasions
a source of profound satisfaction to the Government of the United
States to see that this country is in a large measure looked to by all
the American powers as their friend and mediator. The just and im
partial counsel of the President in such cases has never been withheld,

170 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
and his efforts have been rewarded by the prevention of sanguinary
strife or angry contentions between peoples whom we regard as
brethren. The existence of this growing tendency convinces the President
that the time is ripe for a proposal that shall enlist the good-will and
active co- operation of all the States of the western hemisphere, both
north and south, in the interest of humanity and for the common weal
of nations. He conceives that none of the governments of America
can be less alive than our own to the dangers and horrors of a state
of war, and especially of war between kinsmen. He is sure that none
of the chiefs of governments on the continent can be less sensitive than
he is to the sacred duty of making every endeavor to do away with
the chances of fratricidal strife. And he looks with hopeful confi
dence to such active assistance from them as will serve to show the
broadness of our common humanity and the strength of the ties which
bind us all together as a great and harmonious system of American
commonwealths. ,
Impressed by these views, the President extends to all the independ
ent countries of North and South America an earnest invitation to par
ticipate in a general congress to be held in the city of Washington on
the 24th day of November, 1882, for the purpose of considering and
discussing the methods of preventing war between the nations of
America. He desires that the attention of the congress shall be strictly
confined to this one great object; that its sole aim shall be to seek a
way of permanently averting the horrors of cruel and bloody combat
between countries, of tenest of one blood and speech, or the even worse
calamity of internal commotion and civil strife; that it shall regard the
burdensome and far-reaching consequences of such struggles, the leg
acies of exhausted finances, of oppressive debt, of onerous taxation,
of ruined cities, of paralyzed industries, of devastated fields, of ruthless
conscription, of the slaughter of men, of the grief of the widow and
the orphan, of embittered resentments, that long survive those who
provoked them and heavily afflict the innocent generations that come
after. The President is especially desirous to have it understood that, in
putting forth this invitation, the United States does not assume the
position of counseling, or attempting, through the voice of the con
gress, to counsel any determinate solution of existing questions which
may now divide any of the countries of America. Such questions
cannot properly come before the congress. Its mission is higher. It
is to provide for the interests of all in the future, not to settle the indi
vidual differences of the present. For this reason especially the Presi-

SECRETARY OF STATE. 171
dent has indicated a day for the assembling of the congress so far in
the future as to leave good ground for hope that by the time named
the present situation on the South Pacific coast will be happily termi
nated, and that those engaged in the contest may take peaceable part in
the discussion and solution of the general question affecting in an equal
degree the well-being of all.
It sfems also desirable to disclaim in advance any purpose on fhe
part of the United States to prejudge the issues to be presented to the
congress. It is far from the intent of this government to appear be
fore the congress as in any sense the protector of its neighbors or the
predestined and necessary arbitrator of their disputes. The United
States will enter into the deliberations of the congress on the same
footing as the other powers represented, and with the loyal determina
tion to approach any proposed solution, not merely in its own interest,
or with a view to asserting its own power, but as a single member
among many co-ordinate and co-equal States. So far as the influence
of this government may be potential, it will be exerted in the direction
of conciliating whatever conflicting interests of blood, or government,
or historical tradition may necessarily come together in response to a
call embracing such vast and diverse elements.
You will present these views to the minister of foreign relations of
the Argentine Republic, enlarging, if need be, in such terms as will
readily occur to you, upon the great mission which it is within the
power of the proposed congress to accomplish in the interest of
humanity, and upon the firm purpose of the United States to main
tain a position of the most absolute and impartial friendship toward
all. You will thereupon, in the name of the President of the United
States, tender to His Excellency, the President of the Argentine
Republic, a formal invitation to send two commissioners to the con
gress, provided with such powers and instructions on behalf of their
government as will enable them to consider the questions brought
before that body within the limit of submission contemplated by this
invitation. The United States, as well as the other powers, will, in like
manner, be represented by two commissioners, so that equality and
impartiality will be amply secured in the proceedings of the congress.
In delivering this invitation through the minister of foreign
affairs, you will read this dispatch to him and leave with him a copy
intimating that an answer is desired by this government as promptly
as the just consideration of so important a proposition will permit.
I am, etc., James G. Blaine.

172 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
RETIREMENT OF SECRETARY BLAINE.
Mr. Blaine withdrew from the State Department in a
quiet and unostentatious way, having retired on the 19th
of December, 1881. His diplomatic career began with his
appointment as Secretary of State, on the 5th of March,
and closed with his resignation three months after the
death of President Garfield. He did not desire to remain
in connection with the Administration of President Arthur,
but exhibited no unseemly haste in quitting the position
wliich he had accepted at the solicitation of Mr. Arthur's
predecessor. His retirement was marked by the same
decorum and good judgment which distinguished his con
duct of public affairs during the long and trying period of
President Garfield's prostration. There was nothing sen
sational about either. He did not retire and relapse into
obscurity ; he stepped out in the full flush of success, a
bold and hopeful statesman, confident in the admiration
and friendship of the great mass of the people. Upon his
retirement from the position, many attempts were made to
assail his administration of affairs, but in the end the
public were fully informed of his actions and the Secre
tary was found not only to be free from charge, but to
have exercised the duties of his office in a manner most
commendable. Though pursued by envious enemies, his
admirers flocked to his standard with a promptness and
enthusiasm which fully showed that as long as he lived he
must be counted an element in American politics. They
declared him the Henry Clay of his time ; the ideal of vast
masses of the people, and having a name the most potent
of any with which to conjure. He who would reckon
without including Mr. Blaine in the count, reckoned with
out his host. It was said of him that he combined with the
brilliant, electrifying qualities of the Irish orators Locke,
Phillips, Curran, Grattan or Emmet, the obstinate per
sistency and shrewdness of the Yankee. If there was an

SECRETARY OF STATE. 173
" imminent deadly breach " in the party castle-wall, Mr.
Blaine stood there proudly breathing not only defiance,
but threatenings of slaughter to its enemies. Never was
more fitting title given to man than that to Mr. Blaine,
"The Plumed Knight." He never waited to be chal
lenged ; " he flung his glove impetuously into the arena of
the combat, and with flashing eyes and intellectual facul
ties met whoever came."
A writer, commenting at the time, used language such
as this: " Mr. Blaine's contests in the House of Represen
tatives will never be forgotten. His victories over the
Democratic party there made him the Republican hero
par-excellence, and caused him to be worshiped by Repub
licans as Wellington was worshiped by Englishmen after
the Battle of Waterloo. Mr. Blaine is to the Republican
party what Lord Brougham was to the Reform Party in
England. Brougham's force as a public speaker was as
compared to the thunderbolt. Blaine's incisive keenness
is like a flash of electric light — it exposes and transfixes his
opponent. Brougham associated his name conspicuously
and liberally with every great measure of reform in England
during his brilliant career. The stamp of Blaine's genius
is to be found upon every great measure proposed and
carried by the Republican party, whether in convention or
in Congress from the date of his entry upon the political
stage down to the present time. Mr. Blaine is no less
daring than was the late Mr. Disraeli, but he is less selfish;
nor is he like Mr. Disraeli in that the latter, to advance his
political fortunes, shifted his allegiance from Tory to
Liberal, and back again from Liberal to Tory. Mr. Blaine
has been a life-long Republican, and nothing else. He
holds a large place in the public heart, because in character
he is a Yankee. He can be compared with no one man in
American public life. He is a statesman of a peculiar type,
and stands a little apart from all other public men, and in
this isolated position he is viewed alone. That he is a

174 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
colossal figure is more evident now in the time of his retire
ment than at any period of his career, since, although he
holds no public office, he is constantly in the public eye.
His enemies will not let him rest. They dread his blows,
but seem to court them. There is a fascination about the
man that is irresistible, even to his enemies. Like moths
flitting about a candle, they place themselves within reach
of his trenchant blow and are stricken down. Mr. Blaine
is indeed a man to be dealt with fairly and kindiy. He
has the keen intuition of a woman, the logic of a man, and
the force of a Hercules."
Thus was Mr. Blaine regarded when he retired from the
position of Secretary of State, and thus he continues to be
regarded, holding aloft the Republican flag and the stand
ard-bearer of throngs as enthusiastic as ever marshaled
under the banner of a conquering hero.
PRESIDENT ARTHUR'S FOREIGN POLICY.
After Mr. Trescot and Mr. Walker Blaine had set out
to South America on their delicate mission, Secretary Blaine
resigned, and Mr. Frelinghuysen became his successor.
The new Secretary at once reversed the diplomatic policy
of Mr. Blaine with such haste, that Mr. Trescot on arriv
ing at his destination was informed by the Chilian Minister
of Foreign Affairs that the instructions which he held had
been countermanded, and that his mission was of no avail.
By this extraordinary reversal of diplomatic methods and
purposes the influence of our government on the South
American Coast was reduced to so low a point as to become
insignificant. The policy of Mr. Blaine had been both
pacific and strong. It was followed by a period of scarcely
any policy at all, which enabled the Republic of Chili to
impose the terms of a conquerer upon the vanquished, and
to seize such territory from Peru as pleased its greedy
generals. Trescot was sent to South America for the
purpose of saving Peru from confiscation at the hands of
victorious Chili. There was no other object in his mission.

SECRETARY OF STATE. 175
When Secretary Frelinghuysen came into office he in
structed Mr. Trescot to let negotiations take their course.
Secretary Frelinghuysen preferred that the envoys should
remain instead of being recalled, though Mr. Trescot
could not see any object in his mission after the instruc
tions had been reversed. Chili dictated the most extrava
gant terms. It took possession of the guano and nitrate
districts of Peru, and then exacted a war indemnity, which
Peru could not pay while deprived of its natural resources.
The Secretary dispatched Trescot to urge moderation
upon the part of Chili, but at the same time continued to
remind her that the American Government merely pro
posed to give counsel to aid the negotiations. Chili was
encouraged by this to receive the American suggestions
with contempt. Trescot was compelled to reply to the
State Department as follows: " The terms of peace will
not be modified by Chili: the publication of instructions
to me made it impossible to secure a modification."
Chili was not disposed to abandon its policy of spolia
tion to suit any government which had not the courage of
its convictions to pronounce in advance that it would
not interfere with auy conditions that might be imposed
upon the vanquished Republic. Mr. Trescot could not
see why he should be there at all. He felt the awkward
ness and humiliation of his position, and asked to be
recalled to Washington.
In addition to the action of the government regarding
the settlement of difficulties between Chili and Peru,
Secretary Frelinghuysen took such measures as to recall
the invitation to the Peace congress at Washington City,
which had been sent out by Mr. Blaine on the 1st of
December. Whatever may have been the motives of the Adminis
tration in reversing the policy of Mr. Blaine, it is sufficient
to state that in the course of a few months such modifica
tions were made by the government as indicated its deter-

176 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
mination to resume, wholly or in part, the policy of Secre
tary Blaine. This measure of Mr. Frelinghuysen was
styled by the press of the day the "no-policy" of the
government on the South American question, and was
severely criticised by that part of the press which had sup
ported President Garfield. The London Times referring
to the diplomacy of Mr. Frelinghuysen, said: "English
men regard it with as sincere good will as if devised on
their special behalf; " and this was the key-note to the atti
tude of Chili.
blaine's letter to president Arthur.
When it became known to the public that President
Arthur designed the recall of invitations to the Peace
congress at Washington, Secretary Blaine became very
much interested, and deeply regretted that any such action
should take place. Accordingly he addressed a letter to
the President, setting forth his views. This letter appealed
irresistibly to the judgment of the American people. The
idea of the Peace congress originated with President Gar
field, who decided to issue such a circular, inviting every
independent State in North and South America, including
Brazil, to send two delegates or representatives to a
Bi- Continental Congress to meet at Washington. Before
this letter was actually sent, the President was killed by
an assassin, and no action was taken until Mr. Arthur
became President. The unexecuted plan was then brought
to his notice, and he most heartily approved it, and
endorsed the views of the Secretary.
No more was heard of the letter until Mr. Freling-
hnysen's instructions to Trescot were published, by which
it appeared that Mr. Arthur gave notice that the invita
tions were revoked, and the conference was not only aban
doned, but disapproved. Against this sudden change of
front, both from public and personal considerations, Mr.
Bhiine, properly and with considerable dignity, protested
and urged the President to recall this ill-advised revoca-

SECRETARY OF STATE. 177
tion. Mr. Frelinghuysen did not state in his letter any
of the reasons inducing the President to revoke in Janu
ary the invitations issued by him in December, beyond an
intimation that the conference of the States of the con
tinent of North and South America, without the consent
and countenance of European nations, would be an of
fense, prejudicial to ourfriendly relations with the gov
ernments of Europe. This was not deemed by all a suf
ficient reason, since conferences by representatives are of
common occurrence in Europe ; but the United States is
never invited. This is never deemed an offense to this
country. The American Republic has no concern in Eu
ropean matters, and never interposes her authority or
advice concerning them. The nations of North and South
America have interests in common, wholly distinct from
those of the rest of the earth. They have a common
safety to secure from European aggression. Many of
them are weak and opposed to conquest by any of the
great nations of Europe. They can appeal to no one save
their neighbors on the American continent. The safety and
protection of one is the safety and protection of all. The
occurrence of a protracted and destructive war in South
America, ending in the defeat of one South American
Republic, exposed both to the danger of being seized by
an European power for money due to bond-holders. An
understanding for mutual defense as against European
seizure and spoliation, and a closer union for commercial
and industrial purposes, suggested themselves to all the
peoples and States. To make that wish a reality instead of
a theory, was the thought of President Garfield, as it
was undoubtedly the thought of acting-President Arthur,
in proposing this conference of all the governments of the
two hemispheres. The whole country shared the surprise
which Mr. Blaine expressed at the proceeding, and united
in the appeal which he made, The following is the text
of his letter :
18

178 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

Washington, D. C, February 3.
To the President of the United States, — The suggestion of a congress
of all American nations to assemble in the city of Washington for the
purpose of agreeing on such a basis of arbitration for international
troubles as would remove all possibility of war on the western hem
isphere was warmly approved by your predecessor. His assassination
July 2 prevented his issuing the invitation to the American States.
After your accession to the Presidency I acquainted you with the
project, and submitted to you the draft for such aa invitation. You
received the suggestion with most appreciative consideration, and,
after carefully examining the form of invitation, directed it to be sent.
It was accordingly dispatched, in November, to the independent gov
ernments of America, North and South, including all, from the
empire of Brazil to the smallest republic. In a communication
addressed by the present Secretary of State, on the 9th of last month,
to Mr. Trescot, and recently sent to the Senate, I was greatly sur
prised to find a proposition looking to the annulment of these invita
tions, and I was still more surprised when I read the reasons assigned.
I quote Frelinghuysen's language:
"The United States is at peace with all nations of the earth, and
the President wishes hereafter to determine whether it will conduce
to the general peace, which he would cherish and promote, for this
government to enter into negotiations and consultations for the pro
motion of peace with selected friendly nationalities, without extend
ing the line of confidence to other people with whom the United
States is on equally friendly terms. If such partial confidence would
create jealousy and ill-will, peace, the object sought by such consul
tation, would not be promoted. The principles controlling the rela
tions of the republics of this hemisphere with other nationalities may,
on investigation, be found to be so well-established that little would
be gained at this time by re-opening the subject, which is not novel."
If I correctly apprehend the meaning of these words it is, that we
might offend some European powers if we should hold in the United
States a congress of "selected nationalities" of America.
This is certainly a new position for the United States to assume,
and one which I earnestly beg you will not permit this government
to occupy. European powers assemble in congress whenever an
object seems to them of sufficient importance to justify it. I have
never heard of their consulting the government of the United States
in regard to the propriety of their so assembling, nor have I ever
known their inviting an American representative to be present, noi

SECRETARY OF STATE. 179
would there, in my judgment, be any good reason for their so doing.
Two Presidents of the United States in the year 1881 adjudged it to
be expedient that American powers should meet in congress for the
sole purpose of agreeing upon some basis for arbitration of differ
ences that may arise between them, and for the prevention, as far as
possible, of wars in the future. If that movement is now to be
arrested for fear it may give offense to Europe, the voluntary humili
ation of this government could not be more complete unless we
should petition European governments for the privilege of holding
the congress.
I cannot conceive how the United States could be placed in a less
enviable position than would be secured by sending, in November, a
cordial invitation to all American governments to meet in Washing
ton for the sole purpose of concerting . measures of peace, and in
January recalling the invitation for fear it might create "jealousy
and ill-will" on the part of monarchical governments in Europe. It
¦ would be difficult to devise a more effective mode of making enemies
of the American governments, and it would certainly not add to our
prestige in the European world. Nor can I see, Mr. President, how
European governments should feel "jealousy and ill-will" toward the
United States because of an effort on our part to assure lasting peace
between the nations of America, unless, indeed, it be the interest of
the European powers that the American nations should at intervals
fall into war, and bring reproach on republican government. But
from that very circumstance 1 see an additional and powerful motive
for American governments to be at peace among themselves. The
United States is indeed at peace with all the world, as Mr. Freling
huysen well says; but there are, and have been, serious troubles
between other American Republics. Peru, Chili and Bolivia have
been for more than two years engaged in a desperate conflict. It was
the fortunate intervention of the United States last spring that averted
war between Chili and the Argentine Republic. Guatemala is at this
moment asking the United States to interpose its good offices with
Mexico to keep off war.
These important facts were all communicated in your late message •
to Congress. It is the existence or menace of these wars that influ
enced President Garfield, and, as I suppose, influenced yourself, to
desire a friendly conference of all nations of America to devise
methods of permanent peace and consequent prosperity for all. Shull
the United States now turn back, hold aloof, and refuse to exert its
great moral power for the advantage of its weaker neighbors? If you
have, not formally and fully recalled the invitations to a peace Qoq-

180 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
gress, Mr. President, I beg of you to consider well the effect of so
doing. The invitation was not mine. It was yours. I performed
only the part of secretary to advise and draft. You spoke in the
name of the" United States to each of the independent nations of
America. To revoke that invitation for any cause would be embar
rassing; to revoke it for avowed "fears of jealousy and ill-will" on
the part of European powers would appeal as little to American pride
as to American hospitality. Those you have invited may decline,
and, having now cause to doubt their welcome, will perhaps do so.
This would break up the congress, but would not touch our dignity.
Beyond the philanthropic and Christian ends to be obtained by the
American conference, devoted to peace and good-will among men, we
might well hope for material advantages as a result of a better under
standing and closer friendship with the nations of America. At
present the condition of trade between the United States and its
American neighbors is unsatisfactory to us, and even deplorable.
According to the official statistics of our own Treasury Depart
ment the balance against us in that trade last year was $120,000,000 —
a sum greater than the yearly product of the gold and silver mines in
the United States. This vast balance was paid by us in foreign
exchange, and a very large proportion of it went to England, where
shipments of cotton, provisions and breadstuffs supplied tbe money.
If anything should change or check the balance in our favor in
European trade, our commercial exchanges with Spanish America
would drain us of our reserve of gold coin at a rate exceeding
$100,000,000 per annum, and would probably precipitate the suspen
sion of specie payment in this country. Such a result at home might
be worse than a little "jealousy and ill-will" abroad. I do not say,
Mr. President, the holding of a peace congress will necessarily change
the currents of trade, but it will bring us into kindly relations with
all the American nations; it will promote the reign of peace, and law,
and order; it will increase production and consumption, and will
stimulate the demand for articles which American manufacturers can
furnish with profit. It will, at all events, be a friendly and auspicious
beginning in the direction of American influence and American trade
in a large field which we have hitherto greatly neglected, and which
has been practically monopolized by our commercial rivals in Europe.
As Mr. Frelinghuysen's dispatch foreshadowing an abandonment of
a peace congress is being made public by your direction, I deem it a
matter of propriety and justice to give this letter to the press.
I am, Mr. President, with great respect, your ever obedient
servant, J, ames G. Blaine,

CHAPTER X.
BLAINE'S FOREIGN POLICY.
N the case of Peru, the rights of some American citizens
were jeopardized, and besides these there were claimants
in America and France who sought the intervention of the
United States. These claims were known as those of
Cochet, the Peruvian Company, Landreau and the Credit
Industriel; but the Cochet claim and that of the Peruvian
Company were identical. Soon after Mr. Blaine retired
from the cabinet, reports were spread abroad that he had
been unduly ambitious in advocating his foreign policy, and
had also been interested in private claims in demanding
the protection of Peru. Accordingly a congressional com
mittee was ordered to look into the South American policy
of the Garfield administration, and the proceedings of the
investigation which followed comprised 800 printed pages
of documents and 400 printed pages of testimony. The
investigation was intended as a crusade against Mr. Blaine,
and a great many charges were raised and answered.
It was charged in some of the newspapers directly, and
insinuated in many others, that Mr. Blaine had concealed
certain papers, which, in the language of the day, were
known as the "missing papers," and contained evidence
against the Secretary. The charge was based upon a state
ment of Mr. Shipherd, an adventurer in. the interest of
the Cochet claim, who perjured himself before the com
mittee and would have been brought to trial in all proba
bility had he been regarded altogether in his right mind.
The investigation showed that Mr. Blaine never saw the
papers, and that they were not addressed to him, but to
the President of the United States. The unimportance
of these letters was also shown, and it was found out that
181

182 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
they were of a kind which were no more likely to be
brought to the Secretary's attention than every check
going through the bank is likely to be brought to the at
tention of the President ; and that they had never been
considered of the least consequence after Shipherd pro
duced duplicates of them.
It went the rounds of the newspapers, and was largely
discussed, that Mr. Blaine deceived President Arthur
regarding the instructions to Mr. Trescot, making them
much more belligerent than the President supposed them
to be. Mr. Blaine read to the committee the very draft,
patched with mucilage, interlined, which he had read to
President Arthur in his bedroom, and which is identical
with the printed instructions. After this presentation to
the committee there was not a whisper on the subject
from the bitterest anti-Blaine newspapers, but there was
not sufficient generosity on the part of any one to retract
the charge.
The accusation was put forth that Mr. Blaine, during
the illness of President Garfield, usurped the functions of
the dying Executive. This was the meanest of all the
unfounded charges. The dates of the public correspond
ence show that not a letter was written by Mr. Blaine
during the entire sickness of the President which it is at
all likely would have been shown to him had he been well,
and engaged in the discharge of.his duties, with the excep
tion perhaps, of a letter to the President of France
declining his proposition for a joint convention of France
and the United States in the South American difficulties.
It is a good illustration of the unfairness with which Mr.
Blaine was treated that this dispatch, in which he simply
declined to commit the government to a course at once
injudicious and un-American, has been sought as a proof
that he was usurping his power during the disability of
the President to initiate a bold form of policy and to secure
his retention in office.

FOIiEIGN POLICY. 183
Mr. Shipherd testified that he had written a letter to
Mr. Hurlbut, offering him a bribe of $250,000, in stock,
and that Mr. Blaine knew of this bribe. The testimony
was disproved by Mr. Blaine by abundant documentary
evidence, and it was also shown that no such letter was
heard of until it appeared in print. All the testimony of
Mr. Shipherd derogatory to Mr. Blaine was demonstrated
to be false, and mercilessly stripped him of all his preten
sions, and exposed the fact that he was a reckless advent
urer and bold falsifier.
A fifth matter for investigation was that Mr. Blaine's
policy toward Chili and Peru was directly in the inter
est of the Cochet claim. This was the whole cry at the
beginning of the investigation. The list of stock-holders
of the Peruvian company, when found, was to contain
the name of Mr. Blaine. Mr. Shipherd's scheme was to
secure American intervention between Chili and Peru to
obtain recognition of a claim made by one Cochet to a
third interest in the guano deposits, based on the right of
discovery and an old Peruvian law. He represented a
company who claimed succession to the Cochet claim
through an illegitimate son. A French company, known
as the Credit Industriel, also set up a claim to the Peru
vian guano and nitrates. Mr. Shipherd hoped and
endeavored to secure the active influence of the State
Department and the American minister in favor of his
Peruvian company and against the French company. In
this he did not succeed, for neither one of those companies
secured from the State Department or the American min
ister in Peru, any concession of aid or influence from the
American government.
General Hurlbut having been ascertained to be a man
who could not be influenced in favor of the Cochet claim,
Shipherd endeavored to use his influence for the removal
of the General, in the hope that some other person more
tractable would be appointed Minister to Peru, that he

184 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
might use him in the interest of his claims. The instruc
tions to Ministers Kilpatrick and Hurlbut sent on the
same day, June 15th, indicated a course towards the
countries represented, from which the Department did not
vary so long as Mr. Blaine was at the head of it, and were
sent six weeks before Mr. Blaine saw Mr. Shipherd, and
then heard for, the first time, as he testifies, of the Cochet
claim. That claim is first mentioned by Mr. Blaine more
than a month after the death of President Garfield, and
five months after the appointment of Mr. Blaine as Secre
tary. What the Secretary did in reference to this claim
may be inferred from the following letter of August 4th :
" The two claims for special consideration and active inter
vention that have been asked are those known as the Cochet
claim and the Landreau claim. In reference to the
Cochet claim, there has been no information laid before
the Department of a sufficiently definite character to war
rant a specific instruction, and in the absence of the
requisite data here, you will be left to take such steps as
may seem expedient on investigation of the origin of the
claim. The primal point at issue is, whether any Amer
ican citizen or association of citizens has acquired an
interest in the claim in a manner entitling him or them
to the good offices of the government in making represen
tations to Peru. As the American holders of the claims
or their attorneys will be on the ground, you will no
doubt be placed in possession of all the facts ; but you
will take no steps to commit your government to the use
of its good offices without first reporting in full to the De
partment for well-considered and definite instructions."
Mr. Blaine, while Secretary of State, wrote only three
other letters in which the Cochet claim was mentioned.
In one of these, dated November 17th, he says: " After the
instructions in my No. 7 in regard to this subject had been
mailed, I became convinced that there was no need of even
the preliminary inquiry which I suggested in regard to the

FOREIGN POLICY. 185
Cochet claim. There is no just ground whatever on which
this government could intervene in behalf of it." Again,
in a communication directed to General Hurlbut, Novem
ber 17, referring to the probability of the Minister being
asked to promote the interest of the Peruvian Company by
its agents, Mr. Blaine said: " Specifically avoid any advo
cacy of the claims of that or any other company or indi
vidual in the pursuit of personal ends or business enter
prises." Another letter of December 15th took note of the
fact that Minister Hurlbut had suggested that Shipherd
was perhaps not in his right mind.
In spite of evidences such as these, the enemies of Mr.
Blaine persisted in charging that he was in league with the
Peruvian Company, until Shipherd's extravagant perjuries
involved the whole subject in ridicule. They then aban
doned Shipherd entirely and retreated to the next position.
This was that Mr. Blaine's policy was wholly in the interests
of the Landreau claim. This charge could be substantiated
only on the ground that the Cochet claim and that of
Landreau were bound up together; that the titles were the
same, and that the interests of the supposed claimants
were identical. This was not true. Shipherd had nothing
to do with the Landreau claim; he did not even know that
Landreau was still alive. This charge is still held by the
original owner, an American citizen, who in 1882 was
Consul at Santiago de Cuba. It had been commended to
the attention of Congress by the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs, and the good offices of the government in
its behalf were asked by a unanimous vote of the House.
Mr. Fish and others had instructed our Ministers to Peru
to use their good offices to have a formal adjudication of it.
Mr. Blaine did the same thing — nothing more, and nothing
less. In his note of August, 1881, to Mr. Hurlbut, the Sec
retary of State called attention to the course of Peru re
garding jurisdiction of the Landreau claim, and said :

186 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
" In the opinion of this government, Peru is bound in
duty and honor to do one of three things, viz. : Supply
an impartial tribunal, or extend the jurisdiction of the
present courts, or submit the case to arbitration." Hurl
but was further instructed to see that the conclusion of
peace between Peru and Chili should not impair the rights
which Landreau, after a judicial investigation, should be
found to possess, and that his claim should follow the ter
ritory if the latter should be transferred to Chili. In
point of fact this same territory afterwards was trans
ferred to the English bondholders, and consumed the
claim of Landreau and very many other things besides.
Landreau's claim is for seven million three hundred thou
sand dollars. It is not a thing without substance, such as
Shipherd's claim, which was for nine hundred millions, for
which he is said to have paid eleven dollars.
Whether the Landreau claim was a good one is one
question ; whether our government was justified in urging
the Peruvian government to adjudicate upon it, is quite
another question, but there can be no doubt whatever that
it was the duty of the State Department in view of the
action of Congress to save the rights of Landreau to a
judicial determination of his claim, when it was proposed
to transfer the property in question from one government
to another. In a letter of August 4th, Mr. Blaine says to
General Hurlbut: "In regard to the Landreau claim, I
see no reason to differ from the conclusion to which my
predecessors seem to have arrived." He then gives a his
tory of the claim, and states that "the opinion of this
government is that Landreau ought to be given a hearing,
and if he be found to possess rights, no definite treaty
should be made in disregard of them."
In another communication, Mr. Blaine says : " The
claim must not of course be pressed in any manner that
would seem to embarrass Peru in the hour of her great
distress." He expressed the opinion that the resources of

FOREIGN POLICY. 187
Peru should not be exhausted in the settlement of other
claims to the detriment of one belonging to an American
citizen. The instructions to Mr. Trescot in a letter of
December 16, states in a few terse sentences all that was
ever said by Mr. Blaine regarding the Landreau claim,
and disposes of a number of misrepresentations. It reads
as follows :
"While disabusing the mind of the Chilian government
of any impression that the United States meditates inter
vention on behalf of private claims beyond the use of its
good offices, you will see that justice seems to demand
that Landreau should have an opportunity to be heard in
support of his claim before a tribunal in Peru competent
to decide it, and that if decided in his favor, a treaty of
peace which might cede the territory to Chili should not
be made in disregard of any rights which Mr. Landreau
may be found, after an impartial investigation, to possess.
Further than this, the Department of State has not felt
authorized to go, and expresses the hope that the govern
ments of Chili and Peru, to both of which you are
accredited, will recognize the moderation and justice of
the request made by this government."
As a branch of this idea, it was further charged that
Mr. Blaine's policy was intended to force the Landreau
and Cochet claims upon Peru. The quotations just given
show that the claims were treated on an entirely different
basis, and were kept distinct throughout.
The Cochet claim was thrown out of Court at the
beginning ; and all that was ever asked for the Landreau
claim was an adjudication.
The charge went the rounds that Mr. Blaine favored an
nexing Peru to the United States. The evidence in re
gard to all these questions showed that the charges were
groundless, and if not originated for the purpose of injur
ing Mr. Blaine, could have no special meaning save that
of creating a sensation. On the subject of annexing

188 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
Peru, Mr. Blaine once informally said : "Why, you might
as well talk of annexing Terra del Fuego or the Island of
Juan Fernandez to this country. Mr. Christiancy men
tioned some such thing as being desired in Peru, but I
never thought it of sufficient consequence or importance
to call for any comment. It was merely a despairing cry
upon the part of the down-trodden Peruvians. My dis
patches on the Isthmian Canal question, by order of the
President, disclaimed for the United States any desire to
territorial acquisition in Mexico or Central America. It
never occurred to me that annexation of South American
territory called for a disclaimer."
Other charges similar to these, and involving the same
ideas could be multiplied at length, but these are sufficient
to show the nature of the investigation and the fairness of
Mr. Blaine's defense. When the first portion of these
charges appeared, a Washingtonian who was not-a parti
san of Mr. Blaine, said that they had the look to him of
" violent inferences." This phrase is a description of
every charge that was made against the ex-Secretary. They
.have all been "violent inferences," from a man who
was engaged in attending to his business in a straightfor
ward, successful and business-like way. In connection
with the same matter, Mr. Trescot wrote a letter to clear
up certain points in the South American diplomacy. He
said : York, Me., July 17, 1882.
To the Honorable James G. Blaine: Dear Sir — I am in receipt of
yours asking me, as late special envoy of the United States to the
belligerents in South America, to state my knowledge of certain
matters connected with your administration as Secretary of State.
First: From your formal instructions to me and in personal consulta
tions that you had with me before my departure on that mission, I have
never been able to see that there was any ground for misunderstand
ing or misconstruing your position in regard to the Credit Industriel.
It has been consistent throughout, as I understood it. You have
always expressed yourself to me as desirous that the Credit Indus-

FOREIGN POLICY. 189
triel might, if possible, be made useful to Peru in her distress; but
you are entirely unwilling that the United States should make the
programme of that company part of our own negotiations, or should
assume to guarantee any arrangement which it might make with the
Peruvian government. You did not favor the project of a protect
orate over any part of South America.
Your idea was to leave Peru free to negotiate with the Credit
Industriel, and you instructed General Hurlbut, and afterwards
myself, to report the result of such negotiations to the Department.
What action might lie beyond was necessarily for the decision of the
government, and its policy would, in all probability, have depended
largely upon the report made by its ministers. As a matter of fact,
neither General Hurlbut nor myself was ever called upon to take any
action in regard to the Credit Industriel during our respective mis
sions in South America.
Second: As to your designing war, that supposition is too absurd
for serious consideration. If you had any such purpose, it was care
fully concealed from me, and I left for South America with the impres
sion that I would completely fail in my mission if I should not succeed
in obtaining an amicable settlement of the differences between the bel
ligerents. You will allow me to add that I would have declined the
mission if I had thought otherwise. As I understood you, your
object was, by a friendly solution of existing difficulties, to pre
pare the way for a meeting of the Peace Congress at Washington,
when you hoped to establish such relations between the republics of
the two Americas as would prevent the possibility of a future war.
But for the strange misconception, for which I cannot account, and
which reached the misled Chilian Cabinet through some of the leading
influential papers of the United States, I believe my purpose would
have been accomplished under your instructions.
Third: In regard to the Cochet' and Landreau claims, it is suffi
cient to say that you rejected the first absolutely, and as to the second
you instructed General Hurlbut to ask, if the proper time for such
request should come, that Landreau 'should be heard before a Peru
vian tribunal in support of his claim, and that in case of a peace pro
viding for the cession of Peruvian territory, the condition of his claim
should be brought to the attention of Chili and Peru. This instruc
tion, as stated in your dispatch, was made in view of the fact that
numerous claims of Europeans for frivolous amounts were being
pressed, and you were anxious, as you expressed it, that the resources
of Peru should not be exhausted in the settlement of claims of for
eigners to the prejudice of one belonging to an American citizen,

190 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
This notification would not have interposed an obstacle to the conclu
sion of a treaty of peace, but would have simply signified to both
parties that these provisions could not put aside any rights which
Landreau might be found to possess after an impartial judicial inves
tigation. Under the restrictions of these instructions, General Hurl
but, although approving the justice of Landreau's claim, in his dis
patch of September 14, 1881, never brought it in any way to the con
sideration of the Peruvian government. During my mission in South
America I never referred to it. So that in point of fact, during your
secretaryship, the Landreau claim was never mentioned either to the
Chilian government or the Peruvian government by the minister of
the United States. It could not, therefore, have affected the diplo
matic questions in the remotest degree.
Yours very truly and faithfully, William H. Trescot.
This investigation was very advantageous to Mr. Blaine.
The reflections which Shipherd made by innuendo upon the
Secretary of State proved to be the means of clearing up
the whole Peruvian business more quickly and more
thoroughly than could have been hoped for from any other
source. Mr. Blaine brushed away the charges and pre
sented the case in a nutshell ; Shipherd was the char
latan whose pretenses were repudiated from the first at
the State Department; they never had a footing in gov
ernment considerations, and his statements of intimate
important interviews and confidential communications
were entirely false. His claim was instantly recognized at
its true value by the State Department, and his name was
soon stricken from the roll of privileged attorneys. He
had an illegitimate claim, coming from an illegitimate
son, transferred for a trifling consideration to an American,
with an illegitimate purpose. There was not the slightest
intention on the part of anybody to give his extravagant
scheme the backing of government authority. An ex
tended review of all the features of the investigation will
show that Mr. Blaine's defense of himself against these
charges was greatly to his credit, and derogatory to those
who bad undertaken the crusade,

foreign policy. 191
blaine's foreign policy.
Early in March of 1882, a debate in the House of
Representatives on diplomatic affairs proved to be one of
the most interesting incidents of that session of Congress.
The most significant feature about it was the evident dis
position of the Democrats to applaud the foreign policy of
ex-Secretary Blaine. This retired diplomat commanded
the situation. His foreign policy was not only approved
of by his friends, but also by his opponents. Strenuous
efforts were made by the supporters of the Administration
to harmonize the policy of the new Secretary with the one
that had just retired, the statement being that there was
no definite change of policy, but that the new Secretary
was only waiting time for deliberation. Notwithstanding
the many attempts made by the traducers of Mr. Blaine
to show that his diplomatic relations were improper, never
theless the fact was soon developed that the policy was
consistent throughout, and in accordance with the spirit
of the Monroe doctrine, the commercial interests of the
country, and the sentiment of the American people.
Ex- President Hayes had declared the position of the
United States in a special message, and Congress had re
asserted by a formal resolution the claim of our govern
ment to the control of any inter-oceanic highway or water
way that might be constructed. The question re-appeared
under Mr. Blaine's administration of the State Department.
There was an effort looking to the joint guarantee of the
neutrality of the Isthmian Canal by the European powers.
Blaine protested against such action on the part of his
government. If he had not done this he would have been
untrue to his trust, and there would be nothing left to the
Monroe doctrine short of high sounding words. The Clay
ton-Bulwer Treaty was cited as a barrier to exclusive Amer
ican protection over the Isthmian Canal, and the answer
was that the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was. a mistake in this

192 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
respect, and should be modified. There could be no other
reply consistent with the position which had been taken by
the American President and the American Congress.
Mr. Blaine should not be charged with unworthy
political motives, because he was able, bold, and effective
in defending the American idea. The war between Chili
and Peru likewise turned upon the vindication of the
United States government's paramount influence upon
the American continent. The war between Chili and
Peru was ended. Great Britain was the creditor of Chili
and saw a chance to secure its debt by the confiscation of
Peruvian wealth, and Chili was a willing tool in the trans
action. Our government could not be expected to view
so gross an injustice with indifference. Secretary Blaine
protested on the principle of comity and humanity against
further persecution of Peru in the interests of robbery,
and that protest would have been effectual had it not been
with drawn by his successor. Any representation in regard
to tlie Landreau claim was merely incidental to the general
policy that Chili could not assume to deprive Peru of all
jurisdiction over its own affairs, nor to exclude from
proper consideration any claim which should be made by
au American citizen simply on the ground that Peru had
been conquered, robbed, and annihilated.
Those who suppose for one moment that Mr. Blaine is
to be injured in the eyes of the American people by going
to the rescue of a weak and outraged people, or by defend
ing American rights, or by an effort to block England's
way to supremacy in South American affairs, very much
mistake the temper of the American people. The move
ment for a Peace Congress was not belligerent ; it was the
last thing that could result in war ; it was the last thing
calculated to bring about a conflict between Peru and the
United States ; and our government could not be in danger
of an attack, because Mr. Blaine proposed that all the gov
ernments of this, continent should consult as, to the best

FOREIGN POLICY. 193
means for maintaining peace for the common interests of
humanity, and the material prosperity of all concerned.
All these things demonstrated very clearly that Mr. Blaine
was consistent and firm of purpose from the first, while
his critics were vacillating, unreasonable and unjust.
IS

CHAPTER XI.
THE HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE CITIZEN.
"TWENTY YEARS IN CONGRESS."
IN 1884 the public was presented with the first volume of
Mr. Blaine's history, entitled " Twenty Years in Con
gress," a work that is to cover, when completed, the
period from Lincoln to Garfield, with a review of the
events which led to the political revolution of 1860. This
work, in the language of a reviewer, may be called the
biography of the American people, abstract questions
and individuals, and indeed everything, being subordi
nated in the effort to give to the public a clear and strong
picture of the life of our country. Their times of inde
cision and of swift and heroic resolution ; their days of
timidity and weak compromising with wrong; their grand
endurance and unflinching fidelity when the crisis at last
appeared ; their singular sagacity in decisions of vital
moment — all these are portrayed in Mr. Blaine's narra
tive with clearness and power. The story he tells in
his first volume is given with the simplicity and direct
ness of a trained journalist, and yet with sufficient full
ness to make the picture distinct and clear in almost
every detail. The book is as easy to read ai a well-written
novel. It is interesting, and commands attention through
out, the more from the absence of anything like oratorical
display or form.
The history of Mr. Blaine in its main feature is one of
universal value. It is beyond criticism in literary polish,
and is noted for its clearness and force of style. The
work is of great import in its broad and comprehensive
appreciation of the forces by which the development of
194

HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE CITIZEN. 195
public opinion has been effected. The arrangement of the
first volume favors the compact and intelligent treatment
of a many-sided subject. The first eight chapters review
the main question out of which developed the civil war,
and the political revolution of 1860. Many of the prob
lems with which the National Legislature had to deal after
wards could not have been treated with wisdom by law
yers, nor intelligently by the historian, except in the light
of a double conflict between the slave power and anti-
slavery, hostile political forces. By careful tracing of the
causes which had made slavery what it was, and public
opinion in regard to slavery what it was, the history of the
war is rendered far more compact and clear. Closely
allied with the main cause of war, the tariff question is
reviewed in chapter nine. The following chapter begins
with the election of 1860, and the events of the wonder
ful history from the administration of Lincoln to that of
Garfield are there evolved mainly in chronological order.
Chapters eighteen and nineteen consider the financial his
tory of the war, the levying of taxes and the creation of
legal tender notes. The United States banks and the
State banks of the ante-war period are contrasted in
chapter twenty- second, with the system of national banks.
Its creation is fully described. The relations between the
United States and foreign powers during the war of the
Rebellion are treated in the last part of the book.
While engaged in writing, he has lived with the greatest
simplicity, retiring early so as to devote the forenoon of his
days to literary work. He has persistently followed a
most rigid system regarding his hours, not being visible
to callers any day until two o'clock in the afternoon.
After that time he has devoted himself to social talk,
writing, driving, and light reading. He has found a
strange pleasure in the duty of writing his book. He
has been all his life a student of American history. No
other man in the country is so familiar with the growth

196 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
and progress of his own country as ex-Secretary Blaine.
It is a matter of great pride to him that his first volume
of history has not as yet had any of its facts questioned.
It is his idea that a man who writes history should have
no other object than a faithful recital of facts connected
with the period which he is seeking to describe.
AT HOME.
Mr. Blaine resides in Augusta, near the State House,
in a plain two-story dwelling. At his home he is a man
of culture and refinement, a pleasant host, and a courte
ous gentleman. There is no man in public life who is more
fortunate in his domestic relations; he is the companion
and confidant of every one of his six children, and they
fear him, it is said, no more than they fear one of their
own number. Mrs. Blaine is a model wife and mother,
and much is due to her strong judgment, quick percep
tion, and heroic courage. Walker Blaine, a graduate of
Yale college, and of the law school of Columbia college,
is the eldest son. He is a member of the bar in several
States, and has been engaged in public life in Washington
city. Emmons Blaine, a graduate of Harvard college,
and of the Cambridge law school, is the second son. The
third son is James G. Blaine, Jr., a lad fourteen years old.
The names of the three daughters are, Alice, Margaret,
and Harriet. More than a year ago the eldest was mar
ried to J. J. Coppinger, of the United States army. Mr.
Blaine is very happy in his family. Unless invited out to a
dinner or social gathering, he is always at home. He is a
member of no club, and keeps more to himself than a
man of his social instincts would be expected to.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MR. BLAINE.
Mr. Blaine has a great fund of anecdotes which he uses
in most appropriate ways on almost every occasion. He is
a man of good temper and temperament, though with a

HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE CITIZEN. 197
certain intellectual vehemence that sometimes might be
mistaken for anger; of strong physique, wonderful powers
of endurance and of recuperation; of great activity and
industry; cordial and frank, easily approachable and ready
to aid all good causes with tongue, pen and purse. His
studies have been largely on political questions and politi
cal history. Everything connected with the development of
the country interests him, and he is a dangerous antagon
ist in any matter of American history, especially of our
country since the adoption of the National Constitution.
He is an intense believer in the American Republic, as one
and indivisible, a jealous watcher of her honor, her dignity
and her right of eminent domain; ready to brave the
wrath of the East for the welfare of the West, as in the
Chinese question; and ready to differ from political friends
rather than permit the indefinite suspension of the writ
of habeas corpus. He willingly braved the wrath of con
servatives in support of the Southern ex-slaves as was
instanced in his opposition to President Hayes' Southern
policy. His knowledge of facts, dates, events, men and history
is not only remarkable, but almost unprecedented. In
his college days he was noted for his love of American
history, and he had great knowledge of its details. He
has enlarged upon this field of reading in his advanced
years, until it is difficult to find a man in the United
States who can instantly, without reference to note or
book, give so many facts and statistics bearing upon our
financial and revenue system, on our river and harbor
improvements, our public lands, our railway system, our
minerals, our mines, our agricultural interests, and in
fact on everything that tends toward developing the inter
ests of the United States. His memory is an encyclopae
dia, and he remembers, because it is easier to do this than
to forget. "I was raised a boy with Mr. Blaine," said
Mayor Ephraim Jones, the Democratic politician, "but he

198 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
went South and I came to Pittsburgh. I had not seen
him for thirty years, and would not have known him if I
had seen him, and, of course, would not expect him to
remember that I had ever existed. But I learned some
thing about his memory. When Mr. Blaine visited Pitts
burgh a couple of years ago, I went to call on him. The
room was full of men, but I had no difficulty in picking
out the man who was the center of attraction. I walked
up to him, but before I got there he held out his hand and
saluted me with, ' Hello, Ephraim! how are you?' Blessed
if he hadn't recollected me for thirty years! Not only
that, but he spoke of occurrences of our boyhood, and
remembered the members of our family and inquired after
them." - " In 1863 I wrote," said one, " for the New York Herald
an account, some twelve columns long, of the battle of Chick-
amauga. About twenty lines of the entire account were
devoted to the narration of a trifling incident. A white
pigeon or dove, confused by the smoke of the last desperate
combat, at the close of the battle in which George H.
Thomas repulsed Longstreet's attack on his right, fluttered
awhile over the heads of Thomas, Garfield, Wood and
others, grouped in a little hollow in the field for protection
from the rebel sharpshooters, and then perched on the
limb of a dead tree just above them. Here it sat until the
firing ceased, and then flew northward unhurt. It was a
pretty incident, and of course I took all the license of a
writer and made it as striking a passage of the narrative as
I could. In 1874, eleven years later, I was a witness before
a congressional committee, and while in the Capitol one
day was introduced by Zebulon L. White to Mr. Blaine, who
was at the time Speaker of the House. If I remember
rightly I had never before seen him, and I supposed he
had never heard of me. Imagine my astonishment then
when he said abruptly on hearing my name called by Mr.
White: 'You're the man I've been wanting to see for

HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE CITIZEN. 199
ten years.' Of course I was immensely flattered by such
a notice. "'I've been wanting to know if you were telling the
truth or lying,' Mr. Blaine added, almost without pause.
This was as surprising as it was blunt. He took my arm
and drew me half-away to one side of the corridor. ' Did
you write for the Herald an account of Chickamauga in
which a white dove figured rather poetically?' he asked,
and then went on to recall what I had written. ' Now,'
he continued, ' tell me, was that a true incident or only
done to make the story readable ?' I assured him it was
true, and then mentioned that General Garfield, who was
in the House, would probably recall it, as he was present.
Nothing more of interest passed between us ; but natu
rally I have since sworn by the man who could recall my
unknown name and what I had written about a mere inci
dent pccurring ten years before. He was so earnest in his
inquiry that I have never doubted that his curiosity in the
matter, small as the incident was, was genuine."
Mr. Blaine, being simple and unaffected, in manner is
essentially democratic. In all of the various periods of
his career he has never shown any pride of place; harbor
ing few if any resentments, he does not believe in the
statesmanship of revenge. Upon this topic he once said,
" Life is too short to lie in wait for personal retaliation
for injuries received; if you can strike out a good strong
blow at the time, well and good, but the world moves too
fast for one to waste his life in waiting an opportunity to
gratify mere personal revenge." He has never been at the
head of any stock enterprise gotten up to swindle inves
tors. He has violated no trust funds, and has wrecked
no one's property with which he has been connected.
Being known as a most excellent business man, and hav
ing had an extensive experience, the public expect from
him greater circumspection in business management than
from the average public man. His present fortune is one

200 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
that has been the subject of considerable comment and
much exaggeration. He is undoubtedly in easy circum
stances, because he has enjoyed for years a liberal income
from his Pennsylvania coal property; and, what is strange
to say, he is one of the few men in the world who says that
his income is all that he wants. He is never avaricious,
nor is he lavish in expending funds, but seems to have
joined the liberal and hospitable free-handedness of the
West with the conservative carefulness of the East. His
style of living is comfortable but not extravagant.
He is now in the vigor and prime of life, having
attained his fifty-fourth year of age; his eyes are keen and
clear, and his voice is as ringing, deep and strong as it was
in his palmiest days as an orator. On retiring from the
cabinet, he did not drop into obscurity, but held his own
in the public mind, as no statesman ever had before with
out the artificial aid of official position. Instead of rest
ing in his retired condition, he, with the energy of genius,
discovered a new field to conquer. In the brief period of
one year he has, in the hard and untried path of litera
ture, accomplished as valiant a success as has ever fallen
to his lot in politics. His political history will do more
to make his name memorable than all other acts of his
varied public career. Relegated to private life by the hand
of an assassin, Mr. Blaine did not despair as many ordi
nary men would, with faint-heartedness and resignation,
but he took on new courage and rose unexpectedly in a
still higher estimation of the people. The best thing
about Mr. Blaine is that he is an American and a Repub
lican in the best sense of the word. He is the man of
to-day who pre-eminently represents the American idea,
and is, since the days of Pierce's administration, the first
American statesman, who, in a responsible position in the
government, has dared to assert the national attitude be
coming fifty millions of people.
Mr. Blaine has a popular hold upon the people, sur-

HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE CITIZEN. 201
passing anything produced in the history of modern
politics. There is nothing negative about him; neither
can you remain neutral with him. Either you are very
much in his favor or very much against him. Even his
enemies who fight him the hardest secretly admire his
brilliant abilities. He is an antagonist who grows on
opposition. His individuality pervades the Nation, and
he has more power to secure a devoted following than any
other member of the Republican party. Being in the
prime of his intellectual growth, in strong and vigorous
health, he has a magnetic power that is very great over
every one with whom he comes in contact. He is so
many-sided as to be classed as a man of genius. He is a
student of history, a wide reader of literature, a successful
financier, a polished orator, a thorough man of the world,
and a complete master of the art of pleasing, in a social
way. He has few equals as a conversationalist, and having
a keen appreciation of fun, can tell a story with wonderful
simplicity. His ability to entertain the private circle as well as an
audience in public indicates that he has great power as an
actor. Though a good talker he is quite willing to listen
when anyone has anything to say, and never appears more
at his best than when he is taking part in a running con
versation of sharp and sprightly talk. In the house of
Mr. Blaine, his dinner table is the place where the gayest
of good-natured talk reigns supreme. Prom six to eight
o'clock the dinner speeds under cover of running talk
upon the incidents of the day.
One finds much to admire in his varied information,
his social culture, his power and individuality as a states
man in the fullest sense of the word. On account of this,
one is constantly turned in the direction of extravagant
eulogy. It is said that if a person wishes to be his enemy,
he must keep away from him, beyond the reach of his
voice, and close his eyes and ears to everything but the

202 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
ancient stories of his former enemies, many of whom are his
friends to-day. ORATION ON GARFIELD.
Mr. Blaine was selected by Congress to pronounce a for
mal eulogy upon President Garfield, February 17, 1882,
before President Arthur and his Cabinet, both Houses of
Congress, the Supreme Court, the various Legations, and
an audience of ladies and gentlemen, which crowded the
Hall of Representatives. The orator, with entire self-
abnegation and reserve, but with a firm touch, and in a
style which rose at times to easy eloquence, assigned to
President Garfield his true place in history. "Few men
would have had the courage or the skill to eliminate so
completely from a life-sketch of a dead friend any per
sonal element. There was no Marc Antony on this occa
sion ; yet Blaine himself must have often echoed the
words of Csesar's panegyrist, * Then you, and I, and all of
us fell down.'" This address must be considered beyond
question as the most masterly and the most beautiful of
all the tributes which have_ yet been paid to the life and
memory of the illustrious dead. He joined to a warmth
of sentiment which might have been expected from a per
sonal friend and admirer, the cool, clear analysis of the
accurate observer of human nature. But the affection
engendered by personal intercourse is not allowed to carry
the speaker into rhapsodies on the one hand, and extrava
gant partisanship on the other. In its literary style it is
clear, concise and thoughtful, powerfully written, calmly
stated, and at times bright in peroration and glowipgly
eloquent. It is a compact, symmetrical sketch which will
long survive the occasion upon which it was pronounced.
And it is not too much to claim that portions of it will
pass into our literature, as choice specimens of American
oratory. What tenderer or more beautiful words have
been spoken of him than the following closing statements
of the oration :

HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE CITIZEN. 203
"As the end drew near his early craving for the sea
returned. The stately mansion of power had been to him
a wearisome hospital of pain, and he begged to be taken
from its prison walls ; from its oppressive, stifling air; from
its homelessness and its hopelessness.
" Gently, silently, the love of a great people bore the
pale sufferer to the longed-for healing of the sea, to live
or to die, as God should will. Within sight of its heaving
billows, within sound of its manifold voices, with wan,
fevered face, tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze, he
looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders
and its fair sails whitening in the morning light; on its
restless waves, rolling shoreward to break and die beneath
the noon-day sun ; on the red clouds of evening, reaching
low to the horizon ; on the serene, shining pathway of the
stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read the mystic
meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know.
Let us believe that in the silence of the receding world,
he heard the great waves breaking on a farther shore, and
he felt already upon his wasted brow the breath of the
eternal morning."

CHAPTER XII.
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION, CHICAGO,
JUNE 3d, 1884.
THE city of Chicago, for several days preceding the
Republican National Convention, was the scene of
wild political excitement and confusion, more so than had
been witnessed for many years. In the hotels and at
other places of public resort which were the head -quarters
of the several State delegations, vigorous efforts in the
interests of favored candidates were carried on in the most
aggressive manner. The National Committee, in accord
ance with the general custom, selected a candidate as
temporary chairman of the convention, and their choice
fell upon the Hon. Powell Clayton, of Arkansas. It was
claimed that Mr. Clayton, although he had been elected
as an Arthur delegate, would be chosen in the interest of
Mr. Blaine. However this may be, the selection was dis
tasteful to a majority of the delegates, and many of them
were persistent in advocating the claims of their favorites,
various reasons being given in support of the new names
suggested. As the result of the thorough canvass of the
opposition, the Hon. John R. Lynch, of Mississippi, was
presented to the convention, and on the third of June, the
date of assembling, was elected by a vote of 431 to 387
for Mr. Clayton. Aside from this, nothing of importance
was transacted the first day.
The succeeding day, Mr. Hawkins, of Tennessee, pre
sented a resolution, which pledged every member of the
convention to support the nominee, and declared that no
man ought to hold a seat who was unwilling to subscribe to
that pledge. The resolution met with such opposition
that it was ultimately withdrawn by the mover, and the
204

-:zi

***** - - *£t- 31

EXPOSITION BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
Where the National Convention of the Republican Party was held
June 3 to 7, 1 884.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION. 205
convention proceeded to the work of permanent organ
ization. General Williams, of Indiana, Chairman of the
Committee on Permanent Organization, presented the name
of the Hon. J. G. Henderson, of Missouri, for the position
of permanent Chairman, and after a few objections having
been made and answered, the report was agreed to by a viva
voce vote, very few voices being heard in the negative.
When Mr. Henderson was conducted to the chair, he de
livered a brief speech, in which he very gracefully alluded to
the leading candidates before the convention. His refer
ence to Mr. Edmunds was received with silence; the name
of the President elicited hearty applause. When the name
of Mr. Blaine was mentioned it fell upon the audience as
an electric shock, and was the signal for a perfect cyclone
of voices. The storm died away and returned; again sub
sided and returned the third time. The Committee on
Rules not being ready to report, the convention adjourned
without transacting any business of special note.
The first action of the third day was the report of
the Committee on Credentials, which favored the sitting
delegates in all the districts except the Albany District in
New York and the Fourth District in Kentucky. These
were divided among the contestants, half a vote in the con
vention being allowed to each man. The report of the com
mittee was unanimously adopted. Following this was the
reading of the report of the Committee on Rules. Its
main points were, that the previous question could be
moved when called for by a majority vote in any State
delegation, seconded by two other States, and sanctioned
by the majority of the convention; the roll call might
be had at the request of any two States; the vote in each
State was to be announced by its Chairman; no one was
allowed to speak more than once on a question aside from
the nomination of candidates, and not longer than five
minutes; the National Committee was to be empowered
to select a method for the election of delegates to the next

206 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
National Convention. A substitute was offered by Mr.
Grow, of Pennsylvania, proposing that the delegates be
elected by Congressional Districts as heretofore. He did
not wish that the National Convention should choose the
manner of their selection; he thought the people alone
ought to select them. This proposition was agreed to.
The report of the Committee on Resolutions was next
in order. A platform which met the hearty approbation
of the Republican party was unanimously approved. After
the adoption of the platform the nominations for members
of the National Committee were made, and the conven
tion adjourned until evening, when the names of the can
didates were presented. During the evening session every
seat was filled; the galleries were packed closely and the
atmosphere was heated. Five thousand fans were waving
in the mellow gaslight "like leaves in a grove of palmet
tos," and twelve thousand faces were turned eagerly toward
the stage, waiting for the opening of the great struggle. The
roll call of States proceeded in alphabetical order, begin
ning with Alabama. General Hawley was the first to be
nominated as a candidate. Following him came Illinois,
with the name of Senator Logan. The presentation of
his name elicited hearty applause. When the State of
Maine was called a perfect tornado of applause broke
forth, and for a time the uproar was deafening. Judge
West, "the blind man eloquent" of Ohio, then nomi
nated Mr. Blaine in a speech of impassioned fervor. On
mentioning the name of his candidate, the applause broke
forth with wild enthusiasm ; the festooned flags were torn
from the State coats-of-arms on the galleries, and wildly
waved to and fro. The convention rose en masse and such
rounds and storms of enthusiasm were not heard in the
city since the nomination of James A. Garfield. Men got
up, took off their coats, and pulled down the flags and
banners that draped the gallery rails. These stars and
stripes were given to the ladies, who waved them as long

JAMES G. BLAINE'S RESIDENpE, AUGUSTA, MAINE.
Drawn by our Special Artist

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION. 207-
as their strength lasted. Umbrellas were raised, whistles
and shouts rent the building and reached the throng out
on the street.
The great staff of patrolmen and police were set aside,
and thousands of men and boys scaled the balconies, and
not only filled every window but opened those that were
closed, and lent their fresh lungs to the tired throats in
the house.
The ladies at this moment sent greetings to the " Plumed
Knight, the champion of the land that above all lands
champions and respects the cause of women."
The tribute consisted of a helmet made of pink and
white roses, over which waved a plume of white yak hair.
Bands of red, white, and blue satin strings finished the
typical design. This was seized by a Chicago Tribune
man and hoisted on the apex of one of the American flags
in sight of the yelling crowd. The sight of it renewed
the people to louder and longer plaudits, and it was more
than half an hour before the sightless orator could finish
his remarks.
The uproar within the building was to the multitude
outside like the smell of blood to the tiger. It maddened
them with an uncontrollable desire to see and hear what
was going on. The iron chains that protected the doors
alone prevented them from forcing an entrance. Hundreds
scaled the telegraph poles, and gaining the eaves of the
building opened the windows and stretched themselves out
half-suspended over the vast assemblage within.
Hearty cheering and enthusiasm were evoked by the
nomination of President Arthur. He was presented to
the convention by Mr. Martin' I. Townsend, in a forcible
speech, but with less eloquence than that which Judge West
has thrown into his fiery oration. Senator Sherman's
name was presented by Judge Foraker, and the name of
Senator Edmunds by Governor Long, seconded by Mr.
George Wm. Curtis. The convention adjourned late at

208

LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

night to meet the following day. At ten o'clock on Friday
morning thousands of people were waiting, and the struggle
for admission was greater than on any previous occasion.
By the time Mr. Henderson took th'echair every seat was
filled. The balloting was begun without delay. It was
soon seen that the solid phalanx for Mr. Blaine was to en
counter a scattered and unorganized opposition, and by
the time the third ballot was taken the nomination of the
Maine statesman was a foregone conclusion. The follow
ing is a summary of the various votes :

CANDIDATES.

James G. Blaine ....
Chester A. Arthur . .
George P. Edmunds.
John A. Logau 
John Sherman 
Joseph R. Hawley . .
Eobert T. Lincoln . .
William T. Sherman
Total vote 
Necessary to a choice

BALLOTS.

1st.

2d.

3d.

4th.

334J

349

375

541

278

276

274

207

93

85

69

41

63i

61

53

7

30

28

25

13

13

13

15

4

4

8

2

2

2

2

818
818
819
813
410
410
410
407
When the fourth ballot was taken it was followed by
another storm of applause. Mr. Barlow, of New York,
moved that the nomination be made unanimous. Herein
Mr. Blaine received the recognition he has so long de
served, and with his success has come the triumph of a
life which unites in itself correct principles, broad intel
lectual and moral development and energetic, well-directed
effort. There was something in what is termed the "magnet
ism" of Blaine. Even the day before the nomination
there were many who felt that he would be the choice,
and but few of them could give any logical reason for
their conclusion. They knew it from some intangible,
indefinable assertion that came to them and made its
REPUBLICAN NATIOFAL CONVENTION. 209
meaning known through some subtle sympathy. For two
days it was evident that the great majority of the vast
crowds that filled the auditorium of the hall were in
active sympathy with the "Man from Maine."
The greater portion of the enormous mass that gath
ered in the hall of the Exposition Building found itself
pervaded with this mysterious influence. Thousands who
knew Mr. Blaine scarcely more than by name were among
those w'ho were readiest to cheer when his name was men
tioned, and to hope ardently for his success at every step
of the tedious march of the processes of the convention.
It would almost seem that had the delegates who pre
ferred some other one to Blaine been even more numerous
than they were, they would have been forced to yield to
the tremendous influence which pervaded the human
atoms of the vast body of the people which dominated
and enveloped them.
The flutter of the units compacted in the building
showed the existence of the magnetic forces which ema
nate from the great intellectual dynamo-machine in
Maine. At no moment were tbey at rest. When the
name of Blaine was called by the chairman of a delega
tion as he gave the ballot of his State, there was a round
of cheers. When there was a change whereby he gained
a vote, there was an inundation of enthusiastic satisfac
tion. When the condition of the balloting showed that
his nomination was reasonably certain, the whole audience
rose to their feet and shook the earth with applause, and
hid themselves behind clouds of waving handkerchiefs
and gaudy banners. When he was finally officially an
nounced as nominated, words fail to express the intensity
and extent of the mighty outburst of enthusiasm. Hav
ing taken a recess until evening, the convention met and
nominated General John A. Logan for Vice-President,
and the Republican Convention of 1884 then adjourned,
14

210 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
James G. Blaine and General John A. Logan being the
standard-bearers of the Republican party for 1884.
Speech op Judge West Nominating James G. Blaine.
Qentlemen of the Convention: As a delegate in the Chicago
Convention of 1860, the proudest service of my life was performed
by voting for the nomination of that inspired Emancipator, the first
Republican President of the United States. Four and twenty yiars
of the grandest history in the annals of recorded time have distin
guished the ascendency of the Republican party. The skies have
lowered; reverses have threatened; our flag is still there, waving above
the mansion of the Presidency; not a stain on its folds, not a cloud
on its glory. Whether it shall maintain that grand ascendency de
pends on the action of this great coudcII. With bated breath the
Nation awaits the result. On it are fixed the eyes of twenty millions
of Republican freemen in the North. On it, or to it, are stretched
forth the imploring hands of ten millions of political bondmen in
the South; while above, from the portals of light, is looking down
the immortal spirit of the immortal martyr who first bore it to victory
and bade it godspeed. Six times — in six campaigns — has that
banner triumphed. That symbol of union, of freedom, of humanity,
and of progress, some time borriv, by that silent man of destiny, the
Wellington of American arms, Ulysses the Great, and last by him
whose untimely taking-off the Nation bewailed and wept above great
Garfield's grave. Shall that banner triumph again? Commit it to
the bearing of that chief — ********
* * * Commit it to the bearing of that chipf , the inspiration
of whose illustrious character and great name will lire the heart.-, of
our young men and stir the blood of our manhood and fervid vete
rans. The close of the seventh campaign will see that holy ensign
spanning the sky like a bow of promise. Political conditions are
changed since the accession of the Republican party to power. The
mighty issues of struggling freedom and bleeding humanity, which
convulsed the continent and racked the Republic, united, inspired the
forces, the patriotism, and the force of humanity in one consolidated
phalanx. These great issues have ceased their contention; the sub
ordinate issues resulting therefrom are settled and buried away with
the dead issues of the past. The odds of a Solid South are against
us. Not an electoral gun can be expected from that section. If
triumph come, the North — the Republican States of the North—
must furnish the conquering battalion; from the farm, the anvil, and
the loom; from the mine, the workshop and the desk; from the hute

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION. 211
of the trapper on snowy Sierra, from the hut of the fisherman on the
banks of the Hudson. As the Republican States must furnish this
conquering battalion, if triumphant, does not sound political wisdom
dictate and demand that a leader shall be given to them whom our
people will follow, not as conscripts advancing by funeral marches to
certain defeat, but a grand civic hero, whom the souls of the people
desire to serve, swelling the lines with the enthusiasm of volunteers
as they sweep on and onward to certain victory? In this contention
of forces, to whom as a candidate shall be entrusted our battle flag?
Citizens, I am not here to — and may my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth if I — abate one tittle from the just fame, integrity, and
public honor of Chester A. Arthur, our President.
I abate not one tittle from the just fame and Republican integrity
of George F. Edmunds, of Joseph R. Hawley, of John Sherman, of
that grand old Black Eagle of Illinois ; and I am proud to know that
these distinguished Senators whom I have named have borne like
testimony to the public life, the public character and the public
integrity of him for whose confirmation they voted to the high office,
second in dignity to the office of the President himself — the first
Premiership in the administration of James A. Garfield. The man
for whom these Senators and rivals will vote for Secretary of State of
the United States is good enough for the plain flesh-and-blood God's
people to vote for for President. Who shall be our candidate?
Not the representative of a particular interest or a particular class,
send the great apostle to the country. Name the doctor's candidate,
the lawyer's candidate, the banker's candidate, the Wall street candi
date, and the hand of resurrection would not fathom his November
grave. Sir, he must be a representative of American manhood, a
representative of that leading Republicanism that demands the amplest
industrial protection, and. opportunity whereby labor shall be enabled
to earn and eat the bread of independent employment, relieved of
mendicant competition with pauper Europe or pagan China. He
mutt be a representative of that Republicanism that demands the
absolute political as well as personal emancipation and disenthrall-
ment of mankind; a representative of that Republicanism which
recognizes the stamp of American citizenship as the passport to every
right, privilege and consideration, at home or abroad, whether under
the sky of Bismarck, under the palmetto, under the pelican or on the
banks of the Mohawk ; that Republicanism that regards with detes
tation a despotism which under the " sic semper tyrannis " of the Old
Dominion, annihilates by slaughter in the name of Democracy; a
Republicanism that is embodied and stated in the platform of prin-

212 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.
ciples this .day adopted by your convention. Gentlemen, such a
Republican is James G. Blaine, of Maine.
[The immense concourse then broke out into great and prolonged
applause, continuing nearly half an hour.]
Gentlemen of the convention, it has been urged that in making
this nomination every other consideration should merge, every other
interest be sacrificed, in order and with a view exclusively to securing
the Republican vote and carrying the State of New York. Gentle
men, the Republican party demands of this convention a nominee
who has inspiration, a glorious prestige which shall gain the Presi
dency with or without New York; who will carry the Legislatures of
the several States and avert the sacrifice of the United States Senate ;
who shall sweep into the tide, Congressional Districts sufficient to
recover the House of Representatives and restore it to the Republican
party. Three millions of Republicans believe that that man who, from
the baptism of blood on the plains of Kansas to the fall of the immortal
Garfield, in all that struggle of manhood and progress wherever
humanity desired succor, wherever freedom called for protection,
wherever the country called for a defender, or wherever blows fall
thickest and fastest, there in the forefront of the battle was seen to
wave the white plume of James G. Blaine, our Henry of Navarre.
Nominate him, and the results of a September victory in Maine
will be re-echoed back by the thunders of the October victory in Ohio.
Nominate him, and the camp-fires and beacon-lights will illuminate
the continent from the Golden Gate to Cleopatra's Needle. Nominate
him, and the millions who are now in waiting will rally to swell the
column of victory that is sweeping on.
In the name of a majority of the delegates from the Republican
States and their glorious constituencies who must fight this battle, I
nominate James G. Blaine, of Maine.

Nomination Seconded by Governor Davts.
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Conventum: In face of
the demonstration which we have seen and heard it would seem
scarcely necessary to second a nomination which appears already to
be a foregone conclusion. But in the name of the people of Minne
sota it gives me the greatest pleasure to second the nomination of
James G. Blaine, who has never been defeated by the people; who
has borne his great faculties so nobly year after year, in success and
adversity; who has grown so completely into the affections of the

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION. 213
people of this country that at this moment he is in his own person,
and without doubt, the embodiment and definition of their choice for
President of the United States. This preference is not the growth of
any locality or of any one idea. It springs not from any cold calcu
lation of expediency, although it is coincident with the highest expe
diency — the expediency of success. It is the majestie voice of
3,000,000 of the great party of the Union, of national progress,
which emancipated man, which raised the country from the hell of a
civil war and made it so great that no foreign foe nor domestic fac
tion can ever affect it while it stands secure upon the eternal basis of
right wherein it has been placed.
Mr. Blaine is not the man of any State. He has grown far beyond
that. To-day his persistent popularity, his magnificent personal
traits, his unfailing tact, his unswerving loyalty to his party, and his
commanding statesmanship are felt and honored in every community
from Maine to California, from Minnesota to Florida. "Without the
aid of that thing called organization, without self-seeking, without
combination, without any such condition to his success as the ruin of
any other man, he stands here to-day with all these attributes, and
the people of this country ask this convention to gratify their twice
defeated desire. He stands upon the friendship and confidence of
Garfield, and when the life of the Nation seemed to be ebbing away
with the spirit of the great son of Ohio, when all the functions of
government were languid, when business men felt the need of security,
it was upon the arm of the great Secretary that the Nation leaned,
because it was in him that the Nation believed.
He has conducted our foreign affairs so as to make us respected
abroad, and that, too, upon principles almost coeval with the founda
tions of the government. He has undergone defeat in two conven
tions and risen from each with greater strength than before The
campaigns which followed were most momentous and imperiled the
very existence of the party. Did he sulk in his tent in the apalhy of
disappointed ambition? No, he rose upon the ruins of his adversity
and made them the monuments of his glory. He led his competitors
through the arch of triumph to the White House. No word from
him that the nomination was unfortunate. No auspices from him of
want of success. But then this man from Maine came forward with
all his armament like a magnificent war vessel, every pennant flying,
every sail set, every man at his post, and every gun thundering from
its sides. This is the man, faithful to all trusts, superior to any fort
une, beloved as no American statesman has ever been, whom we
present for your suffrages.

214 LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE.

Nomination Seconded by Thomas C. Platt.
The Chairman introduced the Hon. Thomas C. Platt, of New
York, who spoke as follows:
Gentlemen of the Convention, I rise with pleasure to second the
nomination of James G. Blaine.
I second this nomination, believing, as I do, that expediency and
justice demand it; believing, as I do, that the Republican people
of the Republican States that must give the Republican majorities
want him; believing, as I do, that he is the representative of that
strong, stem, stalwart Republicanism which will surely command
success; believing, as I do, that with him for our standard-bearer,
success is surely assured; believing in my inmost heart that with him
as our standard-bearer, success is assured in the great State of New
York. Fellow-delegates, friends of James G. Blaine, stand firm, stay
solid, with steady step and strong purpose, and victory is ours, now
and in November.

mx

*sv *q{^<^^

LIFE OF GENEKAL JOHN A. LOGAN.

CHAPTER XIII.
LOGAN, THE CIVILIAN.
PARENTAGE.
JOHN ALEXANDER LOGAN was born February 9,
1826, at Murphysboro, Jackson county, Illinois. His
father, Dr. John Logan, came to the United States from the
north of Ireland about the year 1818, and settled in the
State of Missouri where he married a French lady, the
daughter of one of the prominent early French colonists.
By this marriage, he had one daughter who is still living.
Upon the death of his first wife, Dr. Logan moved to Illi
nois, and settled at the old town of Brownsville, the county-
seat of Jackson county, where he practiced his profession
and was one of the most popular and successful physicians
and surgeons in southern Illinois. It was at Brownsville
that Dr. Logan first met Miss Elizabeth Jenkins, whom
he afterward married. She was the daughter of one of
the pioneer families of Jackson county. Her relatives
were sturdy, influential people, who exercised great influ
ence in the development of the country and the promotion
of its general welfare. Her brother, Hon. A. M. Jenkins,
was a prominent lawyer, and became Lieutenant-Governor
of the State of Illinois.
After his marriage with Miss Jenkins, Dr. Logan estab
lished himself upon a large farm near Brownsville, where
he continued the practice of his profession and engaged
in farming operations of considerable extent, and in the
215

216 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
raising of stock. Here were born to him eleven children,
of whom the subject of this sketch, John A. Logan, is
the eldest. EDUCATION.
When General Logan was born, Illinois was considered
a pioneer settlement. It was not until six years later that
the Indians under Black Hawk were driven from the
State, and the General was eleven years old before Chicago
became a place of four thousand inhabitants. It will,
therefore, be understood that the educational facilities of
the State at that period were very limited. Being an edu
cated man himself, Dr. Logan was anxious to give to his
children better opportunities for receiving education than
were afforded by the local schools. He, therefore, em
ployed a competent tutor to take charge of the education
of his children, and young John was thus enabled to lay
the foundation for an English education and to acquire
some knowledge of Greek and Latin. Dr. Logan was a
man of great hospitality, and his house became the resort
of the most prominent residents of, aud visitors to, that
part of the country, and his children thus made the
acquaintance and became the associates of the best people
of the country. The Doctor's fine horses and hounds
always attracted attention, and the use of both in the
chase was a familiar sport of the Doctor and his boys.
LIEUTENANT IN MEXICAN WAR.
Young John continued his education at a neighboring
seminary for a period of three years; but the Mexican war
coming on broke up all his plans for further education, as
he at once enlisted and became a lieutenant in Company
H, 1st Regiment Illinois Volunteers. Dr. Logan lived to
see his son enter upon that career which was destined to
make him one of the most prominent military and political
figures of the country. Dr. Logan lived a life of useful-

LIEUT. JOHN A. LOGAN. Age, 20 years.
Engraved from Painting, by permission of Mrs. Logan.

L0GA2T, THE CIVILIAN. 217
ness, reared a large family, and died in 1851, respected
and honored by all who knew him. His widow, Mother
Logan, as she was called, was known far and wide. She
was a woman of large intellectual endowments, of indom
itable will, and splendid executive ability. She lived to
see her children and a number of grandchildren grow up,
and died in 1877, respected and lamented by all who
knew her.
As an evidence of the sagacity of Dr. Logan in the
selection of a site for his home, it may be stated that the
town of Murphysboro, the present county-seat of Jackson
county and a large and flourishing place, is laid out upon
the old Logan homestead.
As his father and mother by reason of their intellectual
endowments and personal characteristics were leaders of
thought and action among those with whom they asso
ciated, so young John became a leader among his associates,
and developed those qualities of mind and heart which
have stood him so well in hand in later years. He was
candid, just, courageous, self-reliant, and warmly devoted
to his friends; and so when he enlisted for the Mexican
war, he was at once made a lieutenant, although not
twenty-one years of age. He served his country with
distinction to the end of the war, and, at the time of his
. muster out, was acting quarter-master of his regiment.
A LEADING ATTORNEY.
In 1849 young Logan was elected to the office of county
clerk of Jackson county. He held this position but a short
time, being ambitious to enter the profession of the law,
and so he resigned his clerkship and became a student at
Louisville, Kentucky, in the Law Department of the
Louisville University. He continued his studies in this
institution, and in due time graduated with honor, and
returned at once tb his home at Murphysboro, Illinois,

318 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
where he was admitted to a partnership in the law office of
his uncle, Governor Jenkins.
As an attorney he soon became noted and conspicuous
in the trial of cases. Quick to gather all the leading facts
in a case, and ready in the application of the law thereto,
and powerful in the presentation of these to a jury, he
soon came to lead when associated in the trial of cases
with the most prominent and distinguished lawyers of the
State. His practice became large and lucrative, but he
was not to be left to the mere practice of the law in the
courts, for in 1852 he was elected by the people of his
legislative district, composed of the counties of Franklin
and Jackson, to the House of Representatives of the
Illinois Legislature for a period of two years, a position
in which his father had preceded him.
While in the Legislature, he occupied an influential
position, and was recognized on all hands as one of the
rising men of the State. After his service in the Legis
lature, he continued the practice of his profession, and
was soon elected to the office of prosecuting attorney for
the third judicial district, which was composed of a number
of counties. In this position he was the instrument of the
law for the prosecution of wrong-doers, and to these he
became a terror; never undertaking to turn the penalties
of the law against those who had not really violated its
provisions, the guilty by his earnest endeavors were brought
to punishment. In this position his labors were very
arduous. He traveled from county to county to attend
the terms of court, and performed the labor of the prepa
ration of all the indictments and the trial of all the cases.
He tried many of the most noted cases ever brought before
the courts of Illinois, and met many of the most prominent
lawyers of that and adjoining States.
The preparation of his cases was always thorough and
complete, and upon entering upon their trial he was
master of the law and the facts. He did not confine him-

LOGAN, THE CIVILIAN. 219
self solely to the practice of the criminal law} the civil aud
chancery dockets were full of cases in which he was
employed either on one side or the other, and litigants
soon found it to their advantage to have Mr. Logan as
their attorney.
After his term of office as prosecuting attorney had
expired, he was so widely known, especially in southern
Illinois, that but few cases of great importance were tried
concerning which he was not consulted, or in which he
did not take an active part.
During this period the forensic efforts of Mr. Logan
attracted widespread attention, and wherever it was known
that he was to speak in- an important case, large numbers
of the most intelligent people of the town and country
would assemble to hear him. In the defense of a prisoner
he rarely ever failed to arouse a profound sympathy for
his client, and the public mind, favoring the defendant,
would naturally have an important influence upon the
jury. MARRIAGE.
On the 27th of November, 1855, Mr. Logan married
Miss Mary S. Cunningham, a daughter of Captain John
M. Cunningham, who had served with gallantry in the
Mexican war, had served in the Legislature of Illinois,
had been Register of Public Lands at the Shawneetown,
Illinois, Land Office, and had occupied other important
positions. Captain and Mrs. Cunningham felt great in
terest in the education of their daughter, Mary, and
entrusted this duty to the sisters of St. Vincent Seminary,
Morganfield, Kentucky, where she received her education.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Logan removed to
Benton, Franklin county, Illinois, where they established
their home. A MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
In 1856 Mr. Logan was again chosen to represent his

220 LIFE OF JOHN. A. LOGAN.
district in the Illinois Legislature, where he maintained
and advanced the prestige gained by his former service.
During the practice of his profession, Mr. Logan made
the warm friendship of almost all the leading citizens of
his district, and he increased his hold upon the confidence
and esteem of the people by the fearless and able manner
in which he discussed political questions. He became a
strong adherent and friend of Senator Douglas, and ear
nestly espoused his cause and the doctrines of the Demo
cratic party as advanced by him, and so it came to pass,
in 1858, that Mr. Logan was nominated without opposition
as the Democratic candidate for Congress in the Ninth
Congressional District of Illinois.
This political campaign was made famous by the joint
debates between Douglas and Lincoln, and while the
speeches of these two great men gave the campaign its
national character, the speeches of Mr. Logan, delivered
in various parts of the State, contributed largely in elect
ing to the Legislature a majority of members favorable to
the re-election of Mr. Douglas to the United States Sen
ate. Mr. Logan's own election was assured from the
start. He lived in the banner Democratic district of the
United States, and was elected by a handsome majority.
Mr. Logan was now thirty-two years of age. He had
served as a lieutenant in the Mexican war. He had been
elected clerk of the county court of his native county.
He had studied law, and had graduated with honor at the
law department of a university. He had been twice
elected to and served in the Legislature of Illinois. He
had been elected prosecuting attorney in the judicial dis
trict where he lived. He had acquired a large and lucra
tive practice of the law, and had established a high repu
tation as a lawyer and as an orator, and, finally, he had
been elected to represent sixteen counties of the State of
Illinois in that broad field of endeavor, the Congress x>i
the United States.

LOGAN, THE CIVILIAN. 221
These honors were won by earnest and constant effort
in the line of duty, whereby the confidence of the people
was secured and held. This record might well satisfy the
ambition and aspirations of most men, but at the time Mr.
Logan entered Congress, in December, 1859, the country
was about entering upon the stage where was to be enacted
some of the mightiest events of time, in which Mr. Logan
was to play a most conspicuous part, and wliich was to be
with him the beginning of a career of great importance
and usefulness to his country.
Congressman Logan took his seat December,' 1858, at
what will be remembered as the most exciting period prior
to the outbreak of the rebellion. Stephen A. Douglas,
the "Little Giant," was then the leading Democrat of
the Northwest, and especially of Illinois. It was to be
expected, therefore, that Mr. Logan would defer to him,
and, so far as he could with consistency, follow his lead
in all matters of public weal. But even then his impetu
ous spirit with difficulty brooked the insults daily heaped
upon every man who dared to call a halt to the rampant
fire-eaters then in Congress, who seemed bent upon ruling
or ruining the Union. He worked incessantly for the
welfare of his constituents; and so well did he succeed that
in November of 1860 he was unanimously renominated and
re-elected by an increased majority to the Thirty-seventh
Congress. Mr. Logan attended the national convention at Charles
ton, S. C, and for the first time beheld the veritable auc
tion-block and slave-dens of the South. His generous
nature revolted at the barbarity of slavery thus in its very
nakedness brought right beneath his eyes, and his mind
foresaw the fall of that inhuman institution at no distant
day. He saw that the spirit of tyranny and oppression
manifested by the leaders of the Democratic party towards
every man north of "Mason and Dixon's line" boded ill
for them* He felt, as did every free man, that very soon

222 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
must cease the forbearance that had been shown to men
who knew no bounds to their demands, and who were
ready to subordinate everything to their lust for wealth
and power and the perpetuation of human slavery. Hence,
when the Congress assembled in December, 1860, he was
in no frame of mind to endure the intensified fanaticism
and threatening manner of the Southern Representatives.
His speeches made at that time, as a Democrat, are replete
with patriotic fire and love of the Union. Imbued with
this spirit he was most active in striving to bring about
what was known as the " Crittenden Compromise," believ
ing, as did many other patriotic men, that that measure
would avert the horrors of a civil war. But all effort
seemed powerless before fate. The tide was too strong.
Boldly and bravely Mr. Logan exerted himself to breast
it, urging moderation upon his party and its older leaders,
fvhile eloquently avowing his own devotion to the Union
and his abhorrence of the meditated treason.
It may be well right here to allude briefly to the base
and baseless charge made by some of his enemies, that at
the outbreak of the war and prior to it, he was a " seces
sion sympathizer," and his triumphant refutation of the
same, which may be found in the Congressional Record of
April, 1881. The only man who ever dared insinuate
that charge to his face, was Senator Ben Hill, of Georgia,
in the United States Senate Chamber, March 30, 1881,
and Logan at once replied: "Any man who insinuates
that I sympathized with it at that time, insinuates what
is false," and Senator Hill at once retracted the calumny.
Subsequently, April 19, 1881, a portion of the press hav
ing in the meantime insinuated further doubts, Senator
Logan proved by the record, and by voluminous docu
mentary evidence, the falsity of the aspersion. That
record shows that January 7, 1861, while still a Douglas
Democrat, before Lincoln's inauguration, and before even

LOGAN, THE CIVILIAN. 223
the first gun of war was fired upon Fort Sumter, he
declared in Congress, as he voted for a resolution which
approved the action taken by the President in support of
the laws and for the preservation of the Union, that the
resolution received his " unqualified approbation." Prior
to that (December 17, 1860), he had voted affirmatively
on a resolution offered by Morris, of Illinois, which
declared an "immovable attachment" to "our National
Union," and "that it is our patriotic duty to stand by it,
as our hope in peace and our defense in war." In a speech
he made February 5, 1861, on the "Crittenden Compro
mise," he declared that "he had always denied, and did
yet deny the right of secession." And when he concluded
his speech of vindication in the Senate, even the Bourbon
Senator Brown, of Georgia, declared it to be "full, com
plete, and conclusive." In future, then, no truthful man
will dare to say that Logan was not true to the Union and
opposed to secession before the war, at the beginning of
the war, and all through the war.
Mr. Logan was elected to Congress as a Democrat of
the Douglas school. He had espoused the doctrine of
popular sovereignty in respect to the organization of the
Territories, and earnestly opposed the positions taken by
the Republicans and Administration Democrats, the one
favoring the exclusion of slavery from the Territories by
acts of Congress, and the other claiming that slaves, like
all other property, could be lawfully taken to the Territo
ries, and was entitled to the protection of Congress during
the existence of the Territorial governments. So, when
he entered Congress, he was earnest in his advocacy of his
favorite doctrine, and when, in 1860, Mr. Douglas was
nominated as a candidate for the Presidency, Mr. Logan
favored his election in many earnest speeches, delivered to
large audiences. Mr. Logan insisted that the conflict of
opinion between the adherents of Mr. Lincoln and Mr.

224 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Breckenridge endangered the Union, and that the election
of Mr. Douglas would be an act of wisdom on the part of
the people, and be a sure means of maintaining peace and
preserving the Union. In this political contest Mr. Logan,
with great earnestness, opposed alike the Republicans and
Breckenridge Democrats, and after the election of Mr.
Lincoln, and the assembling of Congress, Mr. Logan
abated none of his opposition to these p.irties.
He earnestly advocated peace, and expressed the most
profound deprecation of war. He favored the plan of
compromise offered by the venerable statesman of Ken
tucky, Hon. John J. Crittenden. He delivered a speech
during the session, of great force and ability, in which he
set forth his views upon the existing crisis. No blow had
yet been struck, no blood had yet been spilled; men of all
parties in the Northern and border States hoped and
worked for peace, and proposed numerous amendments
to the Constitution of the United States in the interest
of slavery as a means of averting the horrors of civil war.
Time, however, rolled on; the 4th of March came;
Lincoln was inaugurated; Congress had adjourned, and
no measure had been adopted which was acceptable to the
Southern leaders. Mr. Logan returned to his home. Six
weeks afterward Fort Sumter fell. President Lincoln
issued ' his proclamation calling for seventy- five thousand
volunteers and convening Congress. Mr. Logan took his
seat in Congress, and during the brief session voted for all
the important measures necessary for the organization,
equipment and arming of the army and navy.
Up to this time there had yet been no actual conflict of
arms between the Union and Confederate forces resulting
in bloodshed, but the rebels were hovering near the capital
of the Nation, and it was obvious to the most casual
observer that the clash of arms could not long be delayed.
At last the hour came for an advance of the Union army

LOGAN, THE CIVILIAN. 225
under General McDowell to give battle to the hosts who
sought the overthrow of the Union. The martial spirit of
war seized Mr. Logan, and he determined to leave his seat
in Congress and take his chances with the soldiers in the
ranks in this the first great battle of the war.
15

CHAPTER XIV.
LOGAN, THE SOLDIER.
CONGRESSMAN LOGAN AT BULL RUN — HE RETURNS TO
WASHINGTON AND TO " EGYPT" — THE SACRIFICES HE
MADE FOR THE UNION CAU£E  THE MAGICAL EFFECT
OF HIS PATRIOTIC ELOQUENCE UPON A HOWLING MOB
— HOW HE TURNED SECESSION SYMPATHIZERS INTO
UNION SOLDIERS — HOW SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WAS
SAVED TO THE UNION — THE EFFECT OF HIS GREAT
INFLUENCE THERE.
TOUCHING this first Bull Run, General Anson G.
McCook, now Secretary of the United States Senate,
himself a gallant soldier in the war, and a participant, as
Captain of the Second Ohio, in that battle, narrated to the
writer the following characteristic incident. Said he:
" It was, I think, on the 18th of July — three days before
the battle proper. We were making a reconnoisance at
Blackburn's Ford, when I heard artillery-firing, and went
to the front to see what was going on. Shortly after,
musketry-firing began in the valley, and our men com
menced to fall back, when I noticed two men in citizen's
dress among the soldiers. One was my uncle, Daniel
McCook; the other, a man I had never before seen, but
whose striking personal appearance and actions at once
arrested my attention. He wore a silk hat, which seemed
strangely incongruous on a battle-field in a crowd of sol
diers. He was a man of alert and vigorous frame, swarthy
complexion, long and heavy black mustache, and black
eyes. His hands were bloody, a rifle was on his shoulder,
and while at one moment he was helping to carry off some
wounded man, at another, with blazing eyes and language
226

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 227
more forcible than polite, he strove to rally the men. I
afterwards asked my uncle who that man was, and he told
me it was John A. Logan, the Illinois Congressman.
Returning to Washington, Mr. Logan hurried back to
his district at the close of the session, to tell his people of
his intention to follow the flag of his country, and, if need
be, "hew his tvay to the Gulf."
No man in the nation made greater sacrifices at this
supreme moment than did Logan. Resolutions favoring
secession had already been adopted by his constituents.
At his own home, excitement ran high, and all one way.
Every tie he had, save that of his patriotic wife, was
arrayed against him. He had been the pride and the idol
of his people, but now they spurned him and heaped upon
him the bitterest denunciation. Party ties were rent
asunder, and persecution and abuse followed him every
where. Threats of personal violence were made. So
inflamed, indeed, was the public mind that deeds of open
defiance to the government were imminent. There are per
sons now living who witnessed and will never forget the
wonderful magnetic influence of Mr. Logan over men as
exhibited at that stormy time when, mounting a wagon in
the public square at Marion, Williamson County, which
was now his place of residence, he addressed a vast multi
tude of infuriated people who, strongly sympathizing with
the South, were little less than a turbulent, howling mob.
When Logan commenced to speak, it was with difficulty
the mob-spirit could be restrained so that he could gain a
hearing, but before he had finished the vivid picture he
painted in words of living light, of the inevitable conse
quences of treason and disunion to them, their children,
and their country, they stood absolutely spell-bound, and
many were even ready to enlist in defense of that very flag
which, but a few moments before, they would have stamped
upon. And when he closed his glowing periods and told
them he was going to enlist for the war, " as a private, or

228 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
in any capacity in which he could serve his country best
in defending the old blood-stained, flag over every foot
of soil in the United States," they swarmed about him
and sent up such a shout as has rarely been heard. A
friend and fellow comrade of Logan's in the Mexican war,
having in the meantime hurriedly hunted up an old fifer
and drummer, was the first to shout: "Come on, boys!
Let's go with Logan. Where he leads we can follow."
Suiting action to the words, the fife and drum struck up
the familiar tune of " Yankee Doodle," and before they
had marched half way round the square, one hundred
gallant fellows were in line "keeping step to the music of
the Union." Each pledged to serve his country for three
years, unless sooner discharged by peace being declared.
The midnight traveling and daily speaking and 'enlist
ing of soldiers for the war, during the ensuing ten days can
scarcely be described. The conversion of an entire people
from sympathy for their kindred and friends in the South
into patriotic soldiers ready to fight against them, was
little short of miraculous. The sharp struggle between
duty and inclination; the actual taking up of arms and
leaving loved ones behind while on the way to fight other
loved ones in front; the sacrifice of all other ties for the
sake of patriotic principle, and the maintenance and
preservation of the unity of the States — how trying an
ordeal! And yet, despite all these great heart-bursting difficul
ties and struggles, from which none but the noblest of
men could find the true course, in ten days the grand old
Thirty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment with
Logan at its head was en route for Cairo, the rendezvous of
the first soldiers enlisted in Southern Illinois. From that
hour, the whole surrounding country seemed to catch the
infection of patriotism, and Colonel Logan's regiment, the
Thirty-first Illinois Infantry — which was quickly followed
by the Twenty-second, Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth Regi-

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 229
ments, was at once organized with others into McCler-
nand's First Brigade under Grant. Thus Southern Illinois
was saved to the Union, and the indescribable calamity of
guerilla warfare averted from the soil of Logan's native-
State. What might have happened had any portion of
Illinois lying south of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad
joined in an attempt at secession, we care not now to con
template. That Cairo, as a base for our armies, when
they embarked for the Tennessee, Mississippi, and the
whole southern field — was of inestimable importance, none
can deny. Nor can it be disputed that to Logan, more
than to any other one man, is due the gallant and patriotic
stand the Southern Ulinoisans took; nor that its influence
was felt in a very marked degree in Indiana and other
adjacent States, and nerved the hearts of Union men
everywhere, giving fresh impulse to Northern courage.

CHAPTER XV.
COLONEL LOGAN AT THE BATTLE OF BELMONT — HIS
BRAVERY AND "ADMIRABLE TACTICS" — HIS HORSE
SHOT UNDER HIM — HIS CARE FOR THE PROPER OUTFIT
AND COMFORT OF HIS MEN — LOGAN AT FORT HENRY —
HIS INTREPIDITY AND SKILL AT FORT DONELSON — HE
IS WOUNDED AND CARRIED FROM THE FIELD, HAVING
EARNED A BRIGADIER-GENERALSHIP.
AS a soldier, Colonel Logan brought into play all the
- enthusiasm, energy and indomitable will which has
always characterized him. He drilled and disciplined his
regiment himself, and six weeks after the enlistment of his
men led them into battle at Belmont, Missouri. There
the force of General Grant being landed from the trans
ports, conveyed by the gunboats Tyler and Lexington,
the line of battle was formed, with Logan and his Thirty-
first Illinois Infantry regiment on the left. An account
of this early battle says:
" The advance was a continuous running fight. Every
inch of ground was hotly contested. Ime scene became
terrific. Men grappled with men, column charged 'upon
column, musketry rattled, cannon thundered and tore
frightful gaps in the contending forces. But unable to
win against such formidable odds, the command to fall
back was given (to avoid being cut off from the gunboats)
and the soldiers of the North fought their way back even
as they had forward."
Of Colonel Logan in this engagement the official report
says: "Colonel Logan's admirable tactics not only foiled
the frequent attempts of the enemy to flank him, but
secured a steady advance toward the enemy's camp."
It was on this occasion that in a moment of victory
230

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 231
McClernand's command being given over to rejoicing was
much demoralized and exposed to danger should the
enemy reinforce and return. This the enemy was doing
when Colonel Logan discovered him, instantly formed his
command, and repulsing the attack succeeded in getting
the entire command on board. It was during a successful
bayonet charge at this battle that Logan's horse was shot
under him. The design of the expedition was the break
ing up of the enemy's encampment at Belmont. Having
accomplished it, the Union troops returned to Cairo with
many prisoners.
The discomforts of the raw troops in Cairo at that time
were very great, and much harder to bear than the greater
hardships which they subsequently bore as veterans.
They had left their homes and comfortable surroundings
quite unprepared for the life of a soldier. Their equipage
was poor, as neither quarter-masters nor purveyors had yet
learned how to properly prepare for the needs of troops.
Colonel Logan, with that solicitude for the well-being of
his men which always distinguished him, and for which,
together with his military skill and daring, they idolized
him, finally went to Washington and arranged for arms and
clothing suitable for his command, although, owing to the
confusion incident to the hurried preparations for war, it
was almost impossible to obtain much needed supplies of
any character.
The plan for the campaign in the Southwest having
been perfected, the troops were embarked upon ordinary
western river steamboats to go up the Ohio to the Ten
nessee river, to strike and dislodge the enemy at Fort
Henry, a work quickly done. This was the first decisive
triumph of the Union arms upon western waters and " On
to Donelson ! " was the cry of every tongue. In the
fiercest storms of a severe winter, after the fall of Fort
Henry, the Union cavalry, infantry and artillery, were
landed and marched across the country to Fort Donelson,

232 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
a much more formidable fortification on the Cumberland
river which had been erected for the defense of Nashville
and the whole section of country thereabout. The gunboats
pushed up the river to shell the fort in front, while the com
mand marched rapidly to the rear of the works, despite sleet,
rain, almost impassable mud, and bitter cold. For three
days the Union forces besieged Fort Donelson, doing some
gallant fighting all along the line. The lamented Ransom
and Logan, respectively, with the Eleventh and Thirty-first
Illinois Infantry, with inflexible courage held their posi
tions notwithstanding they received the heaviest fire of
the enemy, and sustained the sudden and simultaneous
attack of an immense mass of Confederate infantry which
had been hurled on McClernand's division. It was in
the afternoon of the third day, when the Eleventh and
Thirty-first Illinois, the latter commanded by the intrepid
Logan, stood like a wall of belching fire against the enemy
until both had nearly exhausted their cartridges and had
suffered greatly in killed and wounded — of the six hun
dred and six men of Logan's regiment who went into the
fight, but three hundred and three answered to their names
the next morning — among the former, in the Thirty-first
Illinois, being their Lieutenant-Colonel (White) and the
senior Captain (Williamson,) and among the latter Col
onel Logan himself. Logan, however, regardless of a
severe wound in his shoulder, rallied his men to fresh exer
tion and held them in position until from exhaustion and
loss of blood he was carried from the field.
In his official reports of the battles of Fort Henry and
Fort Donelson, General McClernand, commanding the
First Division, speaks highly of Colonel Logan's conduct
in those battles. Touching Fort Donelson, he says:
" Schwartz's battery being left unsupported by the retire
ment of the Twenty-ninth, the Thirty-first boldly rushed
to its defense, and at the same moment received the com
bined attack of the forces on the right and of others in

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 233
front, supposed to have been led by General Buckner.
The danger was imminent, and calling for a change of
disposition adapted to meet it, which Colonel Logan made
by forming the right wing of his battalion at an angle with
the left. In this order he supported the battery, which
continued to play upon the enemy and held him in check
until his regiment's supply of ammunition was entirely
exhausted." The report of Colonel Oglesby of the Eighth Illinois,
commanding the first brigade, also says: " Turning to the
Thirty-first, which yet held its place in line, I ordered
Colonel Logan to throw back his right, so as to form a
crotchet on the right of the Eleventh Illinois. In this
way Colonel Logan held in check the advancing foe for
some time, under the most destructive fire, whilst I endeav
ored to assist Colonel Cruft with his brigade in finding a
position on the right of the Thirty-first. It was now four
hours since fighting began in the morning. The cartridge-
boxes of the Thirty-first were nearly empty. The Colonel
had been severely wounded, and the Lieutenant-Colonel,
John H. White, had, with some thirty others, fallen .dead
on the field, and a large number wounded. In this con
dition Colonel Logan brought off the remainder of his
regiment in good order."
Says another writer : " The annals of the war speak
of General Logan as being where danger was the greatest
and the blows of death the thickest and most heavy, and
no name is inscribed more brightly upon the roll of honor
of Donelson."
The "unconditional surrender" of Fort Donelson,
February 16, 1862, was a heavy shock to the South, and
correspondingly swelled with joy ihe Northern heart.
At this distance of time it is hard to realize what was
endured by our Union soldiers at Donelson. The cold
was of such intensity that the hands and feet of many of
them weresfrozen. Everything was covered with a thick

234 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
crust of ice, and the sleet continued to fall heavily and
ceaselessly day and night during the siege. The besiegers
were, moreover, so close to the fortifications that no fires
could be lighted, and neither officers nor men had any
thing to eat save the cold cooked rations in their haver
sacks. The following letter exhibits the fact that Colonel
Logan's conduct at this siege had attracted the personal
attention of General Grant:
Headquarters Disteict West Tennessee,
Fort Henry, March 14, 1863.
Hon. E. M. Stanton:
Secretary of War, Washington, D. G, — I have been waiting for
reports of sub-commanders at the battle of Fort Donelson to make
some recommendations of officers for advancement for meritorious
services. Those reports are not yet in, and, as the troops under my
command are actively engaged, may not be for some time. I there
fore take this occasion to make some recommendations of officers who,
in my opinion, should not be neglected. I would particularly men
tion the names of Colonel J. D. Webster, First Illinois Artillery;
Morgan L. Smith, Eighth Missouri Volunteers; W. H. L. Wallace,
Eleventh Illinois Volunteers, and John A. Logan, Thirty-first Illinois
Volunteers. The two former are old soldiers and men of decided
merit. The two latter are from civil pursuits, but I have no hesita
tion in fully indorsing them as in every way qualified for the position
of brigadier-general, and think they have fully earned the position on
the field of battle. There are others who may be equally meritorious,
but I do not happen to know so well their services.
U. S. Grant, Major-General.
-For his gallantry in the reduction of Donelson, Colonel
Logan was accordingly promoted to be a brigadier-general
of volunteers. For some time he was confined by his
wound to his bed; but so impatient was he to return
to his command that with his wound still unhealed he
essayed to do so as soon as he was able to sit up. He
reached it on the evening of the battle of Shiloh, April 7,
1862, just too late to participate in the engagement, much
to his disappointment.

CHAPTER XVI.
GENERAL LOGAN IN COMMAND OF A BRIGADE — HIS SER
VICES AT AND ABOUT CORINTH — GENERAL SHERMAN'S
APPRECIATION OF THEM — LOGAN SOLICITED TO RETURN
TO CONGRESS — HIS GRANDLY PATRIOTIC REFUSAL —
"I HAVE ENTERED THE FIELD TO ~>IE, IF NEED BE,
FOR THIS GOVERNMENT " — HIS OS, Y POLITICS, HIS.
"ATTACHMENT FOR THE UNION."
BEING assigned to the command of the first brigade,
third division of the seventeenth army corps, General
Logan took a distinguished part in the movement against
Corinth; and, had his suggestions been acted upon, that
vast, fortified encampment, with the enemy encamped
therein, would have been captured, instead of being merely
occupied after the enemy had evacuated it. After the
occupation of Corinth, General Logan guarded with his
brigade the railroad communications with Jackson, Tenn.,
of which place he was subsequently given the command.
General Sherman, in his official report of the siege of
Corinth, dated "Camp, near Corinth, May 30, 1862,"
says: "Colonel John A. Logan's brigade, of General
Judah's division of McClernand's reserve corps, and Gen
eral Veatch's brigade, of Hurlbut's division, were placed
subject to my orders, and took an important part with my
own division in the operations of the two following days,
namely, May 28 and May 29, 1862; and I now thank the
officers and men of those brigades for the zeal and enthu
siasm they manifested and the alacrity they displayed in
the execution of every order-given. * * * And further,
I feel under special obligations to this officer, General
Logan, who, during the two days he served under me,
235

236 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
held critical ground on my right, extending down to the
railroad. All that time he had in his front a large force
of the enemy, but so dense was the foliage that he could
not reckon their strength, save from what he could see in
the railroad track."
In the summer of 1862, General Logan was warmly
urged by his numerous friends and admirers in Illinois to
become a candidate for re-election to Congress as a repre
sentative at large, but in a letter glowing with the fires of
true patriotism, General Logan answered:
In reply I would most respectfully remind you that a compliance
with your request on my part would be a departure from the settled
resolution with which I resumed my sword in defense and for the
perpetuity of a government, the like and blessings of which no other
nation or age shall enjoy, if once suffered to be weakened or destroyed.
In making this reply I feel that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon what
were, or are, or may hereafter be my political views, but would simply
state that politics, of every grade and character whatsoever, are now
ignored by me, since I am convinced that the Constitution and life of
the republic — which I shall never cease to adore — are in danger. I
express all my views and politics when I assert my attachment for the
Union. I have no other politics now, and consequently no aspirations
foi- civil place and power. * * * Ambitious men, who have not a
true love for their country at heart, may bring forth crude and bootless
questions to agitate the pulse of our troubled nation, and thwart the
preservation of this Union; but for none of such am I. I have entered
the field to die, if need be, for this Government, and never expect to
return to peaceful pursuits until the object of this wovr of preservation
has beoome a fact established.

CHAPTER XVII.
GENERAL LOGAN LEADS THE ADVANCE IN THE NORTHERN
MISSISSIPPI CAMPAIGN — THE RETURN TO MEMPHIS,
TENNESSEE — THE CAMPAIGN TO AND BEFORE VICKS
BURG — LOGAN IN COMMAND OF THE THIRD DIVISION
OF M'PHERSON'S CORPS — CA.NALLING AT LAKE PROVI
DENCE — A BOLD PROPOSAL — LOGAN'S MEN MAN THE
TRANSPORTS THAT RUN THE TERRIBLE FIRE OF VICKS-
BURG'S GUNS — THE VICTORY OF PORT GIBSON —
LOGAN'S MEN DETERMINE THE DAY — BATTLE OF THE
BIG BLACK — LOGAN FLANKS THE ENEMY, WHO ARE
DRIVEN AGAIN — CONSEQUENT EVACUATION OF GRAND
GULF — "THE ROAD TO VICKSBURG NOW OPEN."
FROM Corinth General Logan with his matchless men
moved forward, under Grant, to Vicksburg, that " Gib
raltar of the Confederacy." It was during Grant's northern
Mississippi campaign (1862-3) that Logan was promoted to
be a major-general of volunteers (his commission dating
from November 29, 1862). Those who are familiar with
the story of that memorable campaign will remember that
General Logan's command led the advance all the way
from Corinth down through Holly Springs and Oxford to
the Yocuapataufa, where the campaign ended.
In the attempt to take Vicksburg in the rear, made by
General Grant in the fall of 1862, General ' Logan com
manded the first division of the right wing of the thir
teenth corps, so denominated, which was organized at
Bolivar, Tennessee. The command of General Logan in
this campaign was the main reliance of the commanding
general, U. S. Grant, and to him was he indebted for the
discipline and good order in which the troops finally
reached Memphis on their return, December 31, 1862.
237

238 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Upon arrival at Memphis, Tennessee, the Seventeenth
Corps, under orders from the War Department, was organ
ized, General Logan being assigned, January 11, 1863, to
the command of its third division, which command he
continued to hold until after the fall of Vicksburg.
From Memphis, Genera* Logan's division was embarked
on transports, and proceeded to Lake Providence, near
Vicksburg, where, amid their watery surroundings, efforts
were made to construct the famous canal, until the impa
tient spirit of leader and men would no longer patiently
await the results of the tedious experiment of canal-dig
ging, but boldly proposed to run past the frowning cannon
of Vicksburg in vessels, protected only by bales of cotton
piled up on either side to protect the brave fellows who
volunteered for the dangerous service. General Logan's
command moved from Lake Providence February 22,
1863, reaching Milliken's Bend April 25, and thence pro
ceeded, by way of Carthage and' Perkins' Plantation, to
Hard Times Landing, below Grand Gulf. Meanwhile,
the transports, manned almost exclusively by volunteers
from Logan's division, with their valuable cargoes of
human souls, had with arrowy speed in the night swept
past the belching batteries of Vicksburg, comparatively
unharmed by the storms of shot and shell that poured
upon them. Having thus secured transports with' which
the troops could be crossed over the Mississippi river, work
was now to commence in real earnest and to some purpose.
On the morning of May 1, General Logan's division was
ferried across the river in these vessels, and was at once
pushed toward Port Gibson, where General McClernand
was engaging the enemy, and attempting, without success,
to drive him from his position. The official report of
General Grant says: "McClernand, who was with the
right in person, sent repeated messages to me before the
arrival of Logan to send Logan's and Quimby's divisions
to him. Osterhaus, of McClernand's corps, did not move

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 239
the enemy from the position occupied by him on our left
until Logan's division of McPherson's corps arrived. How
ever, as soon as the advance of McPherson's corps, Logan's
division, arrived, I sent one brigade of the division to the
left. By the judicious disposition made of this brigade,
under the immediate supervision of McPherson and Logan,
a position was obtained, giving us an advantage, which
drove the enemy from that part of the field, to make no
further stand south of Bayou Pierre, and the enemy was
here repulsed with a heavy loss in killed, wounded and
prisoners. He was pursued toward Port Gibson, but night
closing in, and the enemy making the appearance of
another stand, the troops slept upon their arms until day
light. Major Stolbrand, with a section of one of General
Logan's batteries, had the pleasure of firing the last shot
at the retreating enemy across the bridge on the north fork
of Bayou Pierre, just at dusk on that day."
In this battle the Union loss was one hundred and
thirty killed and seven hundred and eighteen wounded.
The Union army captured six hundred and fifty prisoners
and six field guns. The enemy acknowledged a loss of
four hundred and forty-eight killed and wounded and three
hundred and eighty-four missing. The Confederate Gen
eral Pemberton telegraphed that night to General Joseph
E. Johnston:
"A furious battle has been going on since daylight
just below Port Gibson. Enemy can cross all his army
from Hard Times to Bruinsburg. I should have large
reinforcements. Enemy's movements threaten Jackson,
and, if successful, cut off Vicksburg and Port Hudson."
Early on the morning of the second, it was found that
Port Gibson had been evacuated the previous night and
that the enemy had withdrawn across the two forks of
Bayou Pierre and burned the bridges behind him. Badeau
in his "Military History of U. S. Grant," says: " Grant
immediately detached one brigade of Logan's division to

240 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
the left, to engage the attention of the rebels there, while
a heavy detail of McClernand's troops was set to work
rebuilding the bridge across the South Fork. * * *
While this was doing, two brigades of Logan's division
forded the bayou and marched on. * * * Mean
while another division (Crocker's) of McPherson's corps
had been ferried across the Mississippi and * * * had
come up with the command. * * * Grant now ordered
McPherson to 'Push across the bayou and attack the
enemy in flank, and in full retreat through Willow Springs,
demoralized and out of ammunition.' McPherson started
at once, and before night his two divisions had crossed the
South Fork and marched to the North Fork, eight miles
further on. They found the bridge at Grindstone Ford
still burning, but the fire was extinguished and the bridge
repaired in the night, the troops passing over as soon as
the last plank was laid. This was at five o'clock a.m. on
the third. Before one brigade had finished crossing, the
enemy opened on the head of the column with artillery;
but the command was at once deployed, and the rebels
soon fell back, their movement being intended only to
cover the retreating force. McPherson followed rapidly,
driving them through Willow Springs, and gaining the
Cross Roads. Here Logan was directed to take the Grand
Gulf road, while Crocker continued the direct pursuit.
Skirmishing was kept up all day; the broken country, the
narrow, tortuous roads and impassable ravines, offering
great facilities for this species of warfare; the enemy
availed himself fully of every advantage, contesting the
ground with great tenacity. This continued all the way
to Hankinson's ferry on the Big Black river, fifteen miles
from Port Gibson. Several hundred prisoners were taken
in the pursuit. At four o'clock in the afternoon, McPher
son came up with the rebels, and Logan at the same time
appearing on their right flank, caused them to move precipi
tously toward the river. McPherson followed hard, and

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 241
arrived just as the last of the rebels was crossing, and in
time to prevent the destruction of the bridge. It being
now dark, and the enemy driven across the Big Black, the
command was rested for the night."
On the morning of the third it was found that the
previous night the enemy had evacuated the stronghold of
Grand Gulf, with its elaborate and extensive works, after
burying or spiking his cannon and blowing up his maga
zines. Thirteen heavy guns thus fell into the hands of
the Union army.
In a dispatch to Sherman, then at Milliken's Bend,
General Grant wrote on the third: " Logan is now on the
main road from* here to Jackson, and McPherson, closely
followed by McClernand, on the branch of the same road
from Willow Springs. * * * The road to Vicksburg is
now open." * * *
16

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE BATTLE OF RAYMOND — LOGAN'S DIVISION WINS IT —
"ONE OF THE HARDEST SMALL BATTLES OF THE WAR"
— LOGAN OUTFLANKS THE ENEMY AT THE BATTLE OF
CHAMPION'S HILL AND SECURES VICTORY TO THE UNION
ARMS — RETREAT AND ROUT OF THE ENEMY  "THE
MOST COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE CONFEDERATES SINCE
THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR.
ON the 12th of May General Logan again struck the
enemy, under Gregg and Walker, at Raymond, and,
after several hours' hard fighting drove him with heavy loss
in killed, wounded and prisoners, many throwing down their
arms and deserting the Confederate cause. General Logan's
division alone participated in this fight. General Grant
has described the battle of Raymond as "one of the
hardest small battles of the war. " And in this battle Logan
saved the day by his desperate and personal bravery. On
the 14th General Logan's division participated in the battle
of Jackson, Mississippi, fought outside the intrenched
capital of the State, at which McPherson's corps had alone
engaged and routed the bulk of the Confederate General
Johnston's command, had captured all his artillery, seven
teen cannon, the enemy losing, in killed, wounded and
prisoners, eight hundred and forty-five men. Grant slept
that night in the house which the night before had been
occupied by Johnston.
Historians agree that the battle of Champion's Hill,
fought May 16, was one of the most spirited and hotly
contested battles of the war. Badeau thus describes the
field and the battle:
"The enemy was strongly posted, with his left on a
high wooded ridge, called Champion's Hill, over which the
242

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 243
» road to Edwards station makes a sharp turn to the south,
as it strikes the hills. This ridge rises sixty or seventy feet
above the surrounding country, and is the highest land for
many miles around; the topmost point is bald, and gave
the rebels a commanding position for their artillery; but
the remainder of the crest, as well as a precipitous hill to
the east of the road, is covered by a dense forest and
undergrowth, and scarred with deep ravines, through
whose entanglements troops could pass only with extreme
difficulty. To the north the timber extends a short dis
tance down the hill, and then opens into cultivated fields
on a gentle slope toward Baker's Creek, almost a mile
away. The rebel line ran southward along the crest, its
centre covering the middle road from Raymond, while the
extreme right was on the direct or southern road. The
whole line was about four miles long. Midway Hill, so-
called because midway betwixt Jackson and Vicksburg, or
Champion's Hill, so-called because Champion was the
name of the principal land proprietor of the neighborhood, _
on the rebel left, was evidently the key to the whole posi
tion. * * *
" Continuous firing had been kept up all the morning
between Hovey's skirmishers and the rebel advance; and
by eleven o'clock this grew into a battle. At this time
Hovey's division was deployed to move westward against
the hill, the two brigades of Logan supporting him.
Logan was formed in the open field, facing the northern
side of the ridge, and only about four hundred yards from
the enemy, Logan's front and the main front of Hovey's
division being nearly at right angles with each other. As
Hovey advanced, his line conformed to the shape of the
hill, and became crescent-like, the concave toward the
hill. McPherson now posted two batteries on his extreme
right, and well in advance. These poured a destructive
enfilading fire upon the enemy, under cover of which the
national line began to mount the hill. The enemy at once

244 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
replied with a murderous discharge of musketry, and the
battle soon raged hotly all along the line, from Hovey's
extreme left to the right of Logan; but Hovey pushed
steadily on, and drove the rebels back six hundred yards,
till eleven guns and three hundred prisoners were capt
ured, and the brow of the height was gained. The road
here formed a natural fortification, which the rebels made
haste to use. It was cut through the crest of the ridge at
the steepest part, the bank on the upper side commanding
all below; so that even where the national troops had
apparently gained the road the rebels stood behind this
novel breastwork, covered from every fire, and masters
still of the whole declivity. These were the only fortifica
tions at Champion's Hill, but they answered the rebels
well. * * "«
" For awhile Hovey bore the whole brunt of the battle,
and, after a desperate resistance, was compelled to fall
back, though slowly and stubbornly, losing several of the
guns he had taken an hour before. But Grant * * *
sent in a brigade of Crocker's division, which had just
arrived. These fresh troops gave Hovey confidence, and
the height, that had been gained with fearful loss, was
still retained. * ' * *
"Meanwhile," the rebels had made a desperate attempt,
on their left, to capture the battery in McPherson's corps
which was doing them so much damage. They were, how
ever, promptly repelled by Smith's brigade of Logan's
division, which drove them back with great slaughter,
capturing many prisoners. Discovering now that his own
left was nearly turned, the enemy made a determined effort
to turn the left of Hovey, precipitating on that commander
all his available force; and, while Logan was carrying
everything before him, the closely-pressed and nearly
exhausted troops of Hovey were again compelled to retire.
They had been fighting nearly three hours, and were
fatigued and out of ammunition, but fell back doggedly,

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 245
and not far. The tide of battle at this point seemed
turning against the national forces, and Hovey sent back
repeatedly for support. Grant, however, was momentarily
expecting the advance of McClernand's four divisions, and
never doubted the result. * * * That commander,
however, did not arrive; and Grant, seeing the critical
condition of affairs, now directed McPherson to move
what troops he could, by a left flank, around to the
enemy's right front, on the crest of the ridge. The pro
longation of Logan to the right had left a gap between
him and Hovey, and into this the two remaining brigades
of Crocker were thrown. The movement was promptly
executed; Boomer's brigade went at once into the fight,
and checked the rebel advance till Holmes' brigade came
up, when a dashing charge was made, and Hovey and
Crocker were hotly engaged for forty minutes, Hovey
recapturing five of the guns he had already taken and lost.
But the enemy had massed his forces on this point, and
the irregularity of the ground prevented the use of artil
lery in enfilading him. Though baffled and enraged, he
still fought with courage and obstinacy, and it was appar
ent that the national line was in dire need of assistance;
in fact, the position was in danger.
" At this crisis, Stevenson's brigade of Logan's division
was moved forward at a double-quick into a piece of wood
on the extreme right of the command; the brigade moved
parallel with Logan's general line of battle, charged across
the ravines, up the hill, and through an open field, driving
the enemy from an important position, where he was about
to establish his batteries, capturing seven guns and several
hundred prisoners. The main Vicksburg road, after fol
lowing the ridge in a southerly direction for about a mile,
to the point of intersection with the middle Raymond
road, turns almost to the west again, running down the
hill and across the valley where Logan was now operating,
in the rear of the enemy. Unconscious of this immense

246 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
advantage, Logan swept directly across the road, and abso
lutely cut off the rebel line of retreat to Edward's Station
without being aware of it. At this very juncture, Grant,
finding that there was no prospect of McClernand reaching
the field, and that the scales were still balanced at the
critical point, thought himself obliged, in order to still
further re-enforce Hovey and Crocker in front, to recall
Logan from the right, where he was overlapping and out
flanking the rebel left. Had the national commander
been acquainted with the country, he would, of course,
have ordered Logan to push on in the rear of the enemy,
and thus secured the capture or annihilation of the whole
rebel army. But the entire region was new to the national
troops, and this great opportunity unknown. As it was,
however, the moment Logan left the road, the enemy,
alarmed for -his line of retreat, finding it, indeed, not only
threatened, but almost gone, at once abandoned his posi
tion in front. At this crisis, a national battery opened
from the right, proving a well-directed fire, and the victo
rious troops of Hovey and Crocker pressing on, the enemy
once more gave way; the rebel line was rolled back for the
third time, and the battle decided.
"Before the result of the final charge was known,
Logan rode eagerly up to Grant, declaring that if one
more dash could be made in front, he would advance in
the rear, and complete the capture of the rebel army.
Grant at once rode forward in person, and found the
troops that had been so gallantly engaged for hours with
drawn from their most advanced position, and re-filling
their cartridge-boxes. Explaining the position of Logan's
force, he directed them to use all dispatch and push for
ward as rapidly as possible. He proceeded himself in
haste to what had been Pemberton's line, expecting every
moment to come up with the enemy, but found the rebels
had already broken and fled from the field. Logan's

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 247
attack had precipitated the rout, and the battle of Cham
pion's Hill was won.
"The rout of the rebels was complete."
The enemy's loss at Champion's Hill was between three
thousand and four thousand in killed and wounded, and
nearly three thousand prisoners were captured on the field
or in the pursuit. Logan alone captured eleven guns and
one thousand three hundred prisoners. Some thirty can
non, numerous stands of colors, and large quantities of
small arms and ammunition were among the spoils of this
victory. And besides routing the enemy, one of his divis
ions (Loring's) was entirely cut off from Pemberton's
army and never again rejoined it. The pursuit was kept
up until night by the seventeenth corps — Logan's division
reaching a point within three miles of Black River bridge,
before going into bivouac. The preceding extract from
Badeau's work has been given partly because of its descrip
tive interest of a sanguinary victory in which General
Logan was hotly engaged, but mainly to show that he and
his command deserve the credit of it. For brilliant
charges and deeds of desperate daring no battle of the war
excelled it. But it was by Logan's movement on the right
that the battle of Champion's Hill was won, and the enemy,
with Pemberton at the head, so completely routed and
demoralized that he hardly stopped in his retreat until he
had reached the protecting walls of his stronghold in Vicks
burg. It was a terribly bloody battle. " When our troops
halted along the slopes of Champion's Hill," says the
Comte de Paris in his History of the Civil War in Amer
ica, "the dead and wounded were piled together in such
vast numbers that these soldiers, although tried on many a
battle-field, called the place 'the Hill of Death.'" The
same eminent and impartial authority says: "The battle
of Champion's Hill, considering the number of troops
engaged, could not compare with the great conflicts we
have already mentioned, but it produced results far more

248 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
important than most of those great hecatombs, like
Shiloh, Fair Oaks, Murfreesboro, Fredericksburg, and
Chancellorsville, which left the two adversaries fronting
each other, both unable to resume the fight. It was the
most complete defeat the Confederates had sustained since
the commencement of the war. They left on the field of
battle from three to four thousand killed and wounded,
three thousand able-bodied prisoners, and tbirty pieces of
artillery. But these figures can convey no idea of the
magnitude of the check experienced by Pemberton, from
which he could not again recover. * * * This battle
ivas the crowning work of the operations conducted by
Grant with equal audacity and skill since his landing at
Bruinsburg. In outflanking Pemberton's left along the
slopes of Champion's Hill he had completely cut off the
latter from all retreat north. Notwithstanding the very
excusable error he had committed in stopping Logan's
movement for a short time, the latter had, through this
manoeuvre, secured victory to ihe Federal army.
General Grant, in his report of this battle, uses the fol
lowing language: " Logan rode up at this time, and told
me that if Hovey could make another dash at the enemy,
he could come up from where he then was and capture the
greater part of their force; which suggestions were acted
upon and fully realized."
Thus, as we have seen, the enemy was driven in confu
sion and rout from Champion's Hill and across the Big
Black river until he found a brief respite within his
entrenchments around the city of Vicksburg, with the
besieging lines of the Union army around him.

CHAPTER XIX.
THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG — "THE GIBRALTER OF THE
SOUTH" — LOGAN AT THE CENTER — BOMBARDMENT BY
LAND AND WATER — THE TWO DESPERATE AND BLOODY
ASSAULTS — THE REGULAR SIEGE WORKS — LOGAN BLOWS
UP FORT HILL, THE " MELAKOFF " OF VICKSBURG — THE
FIGHT OF LOGAN'S MEN IN THE CRATER — LOGAN'S CLOSE
APPROACHES TO THE ENEMY'S WORKS— HE ADVISES A
FINAL ASSAULT, ORDERS FOR WHICH ARE ISSUED — THE
ARMISTICE AND SURRENDER — LOGAN'S COLUMN LEADS
THE ENTRY — HE IS MADE MILITARY GOVERNOR OF
VICKSBURG, AND RECEIVES A MEDAL.
WHEN we consider the wonderful natural strength of
that position, truly one of nature's fastnesses, for
tified by a horse-shoe-like line of hills, the points of the shoe
touching the Mississippi river above and below the city,
and remember that every available means at the command
of the confederacy had been brought to bear to make it in
vulnerable, that their most powerful cannon bristled from
every hill-top, that the frowning bluffs were " studded with
batteries and seamed with rifle pits," that their best
soldiery manned the guns; and when we remember further,
that the country immediately outside and for miles around
was one vast swamp heavily forested with trees, interwoven
with semi-tropical vines and rank parasitic vegetation, not
unlike the tropical growth along the Amazon and other
South American rivers; we are amazed at the result of
tbis famous siege, and feel that our soldiers must have
been aided by some supernatural power.
"On the morning of the 18th," says the Comtede
Paris, in his history, "Pemberton, with all his troops,
shut himself up inside of the vast fortifications constructed
249

250 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
around Vicksburg. His forces, including the sick and a
very small number of wounded, for those of ' Champion's
Hill had all remained on the battle-field, amounted to
thirty-three thousand men. * * * On the morning of
the 19th the investment of Vicksburg was complete. Mc
Clernand on the left, McPherson on the center, and Sher
man on the right, surrounded the place from the Missis
sippi on the south to the Yazoo at the north. Pemberton
had abandoned all the outer works without a fight. * * *
Grant's army, reduced by fighting and rapid machinery,
did not reach forty thousand men."
Says Badeau: "The ground on which the city of
Vicksburg stands is supposed by some to have been origi
nally a plateau, four or five miles Jong and about two miles
wide, and two or three hundred feet above the Mississippi
river. This plateau has been gradually washed away by
rains and storms, until it is transformed into a labyrinth
of sharp edges and deep irregular ravines. The soil is
fine, and when cut vertically by the action of the water
remains in a perpendicular position for years; and the
smaller and newer ravines are often so deep that their ascent
is difficult to a footman, unless he aids himself with his
hands. The sides of the declivities are thickly wooded,
and the bottoms of the ravines nearly level, except when
the streams that formed them have been unusually
large. * * *
" The whole line was between seven and eight miles
long, exclusive of the four miles of rifle-trench and heavy
batteries on the water front. It consisted of a series of
detached works, on prominent and commanding points,
connected by a continuous line of trench or rifle pits. The
works were necessarily irregular, from the shape of the
ridges on which they were situated, and in only one instance
closed at the gorge. They were placed at distances of
from seventy-five to five hundred yards from each other.
The connecting rifle pit was simple, and generally about

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 251
breast-high. The ravines were the only ditches, except in
front of the detached works, but as no others were needed,
trees being felled in front of the whole line, and forming
in many places, entanglements, which under fire, were
absolutely impassable. * * * The whole aspect of the
rugged fastness, bristling with bayonets, and crowned with
artillery that swept the narrow defiles in every direction,
was calculated to inspire new courage in those who came
thronging into its recesses and behind its bulwarks, from
their succession of disasters in the open field."
It was on the morning of the nineteenth, as has been
seen, that Grant's forces, in the order named, completed
the investment of Vicksburg, forming his line across- these
"wooded cliffs and rugged chasms," and it was at two
o'clock p.m. of that day that a concerted and simultaneous
assault along the whole line was made upon the enemy's
fortifications. In the meantime, however, the enemy had
recovered his spirits and met the assault with such
spirit and energy at all points, that our troops failed to
get a footing within his works. It enabled the Union
forces, however, to take and hold advanced positions,
unveiled the tremendous difficulties that opposed them,
developed the enemy's plan of defense, and at the expense
of Federal losses amounting to four or five hundred men,
demonstrated that it was a serious matter to storm works
so well defended at all points. However, both moral and
military reasons impelled General Grant to order another
general assault along the whole line to take place on the
twenty-second at ten o'clock a.m., to be supported by the
concen%ated fire of all the land batteries, and of Porter's
mortar boats and iron-clads on the river side of Vicks
burg. " At three o'clock on the morning of the twenty-
second," says Badeau, "the cannonade began from the
land side; every available gun was brought to bear on the
works; sharpshooters at the same time began their part of
the action, and nothing could be heard but the continued

252 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
shrieking of shells, the heavy booming of cannon, and the
sharp whiz of the minnie balls as they sped with fatal
accuracy toward the devoted town. Vicksburg was encir
cled by a girdle of fire; on river and shore, a line of mighty
cannon poured destruction from their fiery throats, while
the mortars played incessantly, and made the heavens
themselves seem to drop down malignant meteors on the
rebellious stronghold. The bombardment was the most
terrible during the siege, and continued, without inter
mission, until nearly eleven o'clock, while the sharpshoot
ers kept up such a rapid and galling fire that the rebel
cannoneers could seldom rise to load their pieces; the
enemy was thus able to make only ineffectual replies, and
the formation of the columns of attack was undisturbed."
At the appointed time to the minute, the assault was
made — at the cost of three thousand Union soldiers killed
or wounded — and failed completely, despite the heroism
of all who took part in it. Says Badeau: "This assault
was, in some respects, unparalleled in the wars of modern
times. No attack on fortifications of such strength had
ever been undertaken by the great European captains,
unless the assaulting party outnumbered the defenders by
at least three to one."
The assaults having failed, re-enforcements were sent
for, and the Union army in the order previously named,
sat down to a regular siege — the details of which would be
too tedious for the purposes of this sketch. Suffice it to
say, that General Logan was very conspicuous during this
memorable time. He commanded McPherson's centre
opposite Fort Hill — the Malakoff of Vicksburg. ty was his
command that tapped and mined this key to the Confed
erate Sebastopol. Jt was his command that, after the
successful explosion, stormed the gaping breach and fought
the hand-to-hand fight in the bloody crate. So greatly did
he distinguish himself, that a powerful battery was named
after him, "Battery Logan," and Grant was often with

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 253
him at his quarters for observation and consultation. He
was one of the two generals, out of the council of thirteen
who — when the approaches at ten different points had
reached so near to the enemy's works that the men of the
two armies conversed across the lines — on the 1st of July
advised General Grant to again assault the enemy's works,
whereupon Grant determined to make the final assault on
the 6th of July. But in the meantime, July 3, Pemberton
proposed an armistice with a view to arranging terms for
the capitulation of the great fortress. It was in front of
Logan's. headquarters that the famous interview between
Pemberton and Grant was had at three o'clock that same
afternoon — at which Logan was present. It was Logan's
column also that on the 4th of July, 1863, was the first to
enter the vast conquered stronghold. Says the Comte de
Paris in his interesting history of this terrible and bloody
siege: " Logan's division was the first to enter Vicksburg,"
and, he adds: "It had fully deserved this honor. Grantrode
at the head." Says Badeau: " Logan's division was one of
those which had approached nearest the rebel works, and
now was the first to enter the town. It had been heavily
engaged in both assaults, and was fairly entitled to this
honor. The Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry marched at the
head of the column, and placed its battle-torn flag on the
court-house of Vicksburg. Grant rode into the town, with
his staff, at the head of Logan's division."
But no history, yet written, has done full justice to
Logan's great services during this remarkable siege, the
result of which was the surrender to the Union arms of
31,600 men, including 2,153 officers of whom 15 were
generals, and 172 cannon — the largest capture of men and
material ever made in war — the immediate fall of Port
Hudson, and the opening of the Mississippi from Cairo to
the Gulf. Grant, however, recognized that to him was due
the command of the fallen city, and Logan was made its
military governor. His valor was fitly recognized in the

254 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
presentation, made to him by the Board of Honor of the
Seventeenth Army Corps, of a gold medal inscribed with
the names of the nine battles in which he had been most
distinguished for heroism and generalship.

CHAPTER XX.
A MILITARY INTERLUDE — LOGAN TAKES THE STUMP IN
SUPPORT OF THE LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION — HE AT
TACKS "THE ENEMY IN THE REAR" — HIS ELOQUENT
APPEALS TO THE PATRIOTISM OF THE NORTH TO STAND
BY THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS ARMIES — THE GOOD
THEY DID TO "THE CAUSE."
HAVING inaugurated and perfected the administration
of affairs at Vicksburg, General Logan, at the sug
gestion of his superiors, took a short leave of absence for a
visit to the North, where he frequently addressed large as
semblies of his fellow-citizens in speeches of fiery eloquence
and burning zeal and devotion to the cause of the Union.
That year (1863) was one of great importance to the future
of the Government in a civil as well as a military point of
view. Mr. Lincoln had issued his proclamation of eman
cipation — a measure which the Northern sympathizers with
the South were slow to indorse. Hence it was that it was
thought desirable to have Logan spend a short time in
the canvass prior to the elections of that year. He ac
cordingly took the stump in Illinois and advocated the
election of the Republican ticket and the carrying out of
the emancipation of every slave in the Union. While thus
engaged in fighting Copperheads in the rear, it was, that in
his Carbondale speech of July 31, 1863, when accused by a
set of men who once claimed to be his friends, with having
forgotten his party, he turned upon them in all the fierce
ness of patriotic anger, exclaiming: " I am not a politician
to-day, and I thank God for it ! I am not like those who
cling to party as their only hope." In his Chicago speech
of August 10, 1863, alluding to the taunt that he was an
"abolitionist" he said: "If every man in this country is
255

256 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
called an abolitionist, that is willing to fight for and sustain
his government, let him be called so. If, belonging to the
United States and being tru'e and valiant soldiers, meeting
the steel of Southern revolutionists, marching to the
music of this Union, loving the flag of our country and
standing by it in its severest struggles — if that makes us
abolitionists, let all of us be abolitionists. If it makes a
man an abolitionist to love his country, then I love my
country, am willing to live for it, and willing to die for it.
If it makes a man an abolitionist to love and revere that
flag, then I say, be it so. If it makes a man an abolitionist to
love to hear 'The Star-Spangled Banner' sung, and be proud
to hear that such words were ever penned, or could ever be
sung upon the battle-field by our soldiers, then I am proud
to be an abolitionist, and I wish to high heaven that we
had a million more: then, our rebellion would be at an end,
and peace would again fold her gentle wings over a united
people, and the old Union and the old friendship again make
happy the land where now the rebel flag flaunts dismally
in the sultry Southern air."
Alluding in the same great speech to Northern Cop
perheads, he said: "Now, I want to ask you, how is it
possible for any man in a country like this, to be dis
loyal to his government? How is it possible that any man
in this country can conceive the thought or idea of sym
pathizing with rebellion against such a government as
this? * * * Where is the cause for it? Where is the
reason of it? Where the justification? There is none to be
found, not one; and if any man becomes disloyal, it is
because there are devilish designs and corruptions at his
heart. "My countrymen, let us look back for a few years and
view the prosperity and happiness that blessed all our land;
and then cast your eyes around and see the condition of
our country now. Do not ask yourselves who is President,.
or what may be his politics; but ask, have we not hitherto

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 257
had a good and beneficent government? And, if so, have
we not the same government yet? Your answer must be
in the affirmative; and, my friends, if we are but true to
ourselves, true to our cause, true to the principles we have
been educated in from our earliest infancy, we shall have
that government still.
"Turn, if you please, your thoughts to the many san
guinary battles of the Revolution. See what it cost our
sires to establish this government! Did they not pour out
their blood freely as water to accomplish this, to give us
this priceless heritage of national liberty and independ
ence, under a form of government that should exist for
ever? Consider these sacred remembrances of those
illustrious men, and then tell me whether it is worth fire-
serving; tell me whether this rebellion, begun in infamy,
perjury and crime, carried on by blood, pillage and treason,
and to end, if successful, in destroying forever the last
hope of mankind, tell me if this shall succeed? [Cries of
No, never!]
" In all these facts we may realize a lesson clearly
pointing out our duty. It is to lay fast liold of that old
flag, keep step to the music of the Union, unfurl its ample
folds, and with a heart of courage, a will that knows no
faltering or dismay, let it flutter over every burg, and wave
over every town and hamlet, until all traitors, like the
wicked prince of Babylon, shall smite their knees in
terror and dismay, as if the handwriting was upon the
wall. Let them know that they must bow before it or kiss
its untarnished folds, and swear by all that is great and
good never to violate its sanctity or infringe a right it
represents — let this be done and all will be well. And I
appeal to and entreat you all, my countrymen, by all that
you hold sacred; by the glorious memories of the past,
the once bright hopes of the future; by the memory of the
gallant ones who have fallen on the gory fields of the
South; by the wounded and suffering who still languish in
17

258 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
our midst; by the sorrow and mourning that this wicked
rebellion has brought upon our once happy and favored
land, to be faithful, vigilant, untiring, unswerving, deter
mined, come what may, dare to be men and do what is
right. Stand by your country in all her trials, at every
hazard or at any cost.
" Let it not be said that those glorious boys who now
sleep beneath the red clay of the South, or the green sod
of our own loved State, have died in vain. Let those who
are traducing the soldiers of the government know the
enormity of their crime and their error — try to reclaim
them and bring them back to duty and to honor. If they
heed not your appeals — if they still persist in their error
and heresies — if they will not aid in maintaining the gov
ernment and laws that protect them, and continue in their
wicked aid and encouragement to this rebellion — send
them to the other side where they belong, for the man
who can live in this peaceful, happy and prosperous land
and not be loyal and true to it, ought, like Cain, to be
branded by an indelible mark and banished forever from
his native paradise. No traitor, no sympathizer, no man
who can lisp a word in favor of this rebellion, or impair
the chances of the Union cause, is fit for any other ruler
than Jeff. Davis. He should be put in front of the Union
army, where he will get justice. [Applause.]
" The man that can to-day raise his voice against the
Constitution, the laws of the government, with the design
of injuring, or in any way obstructing their operation,
should, if I could pass sentence upon him, be hung fifty
cubits higher than Haman, until his body blackened in the
sun and his bones rattled in the wind.
" In bidding you good-night, I trust I do so to loyal,
good, true-hearted citizens and patriots, who love the
country, in the hope that you all may reflect upon the
duties of all men to their country in the hour of peril, and
determin.e with renewed zeal and fervor to give such aid

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 259
and assistance to the government and army of the United
States, in the prosecution of this war, as will cause that
banner again to float in triumph upon every hill and
mountain-top and in every vale, from the north to the
south, from the east to the west."
The cogent effect of his many eloquent and telling
speeches— some of which were reported in full and largely
quoted from by papers all over the country — was to cause
many deserters, who had abandoned the army on account
of the proclamation of emancipation, to return to their
regiments; despondent people took fresh courage; faith in
the final triumph of our arms seemed to take possession
of every one; Copperheads were dismayed and abashed;
and the returns of the November elections removed all
fears of want of support by the people of President Lin
coln's policy.

CHAPTER XXI.
LOGAN IN COMMAND OF THE FIFTEENTH ARMY CORPS —
HE ORDERS AS ITS CORPS BADGE A CARTRIDGE-BOX
AND "FORTY ROUNDS" — THE ADVANCE ON ATLANTA —
THE STUBBORN BATTLE OF RESACA — LOGAN'S VICTO
RIOUS ATTACK ON THE ENEMY'S FLANK — THE BATTLE
OF DALLAS — LOGAN'S CORPS BRILLIANTLY REPULSES
REPEATED CHARGES OF HARDEE'S VETERAN CORPS —
LOGAN'S GALLANT BEARING AT A CRITICAL MOMENT —
HE IS AGAIN WOUNDED.
IN November, 1863, General Logan succeeded General
Sherman in the command of the fifteenth army corps —
the corps which Grant himself had commanded; the corps
which subsequently, by Logan's order, adopted as its corps
badge a cartridge-box, with the significant legend, "Forty
Rounds" — and spent the ensuing winter at Huntsville,
Alabama, preparing for the campaign before Atlanta.
Who can picture, in their true colors, the scenes,
marches, trials, battles and sufferings endured in the
march to, and during the siege of and movements around,
that rock-rooted stronghold! Every approach to it had
been defended, and on its rugged mountain-walls — to scale
which were like climbing a precipice under a torrent of
leaden hail — frowned numberless guns.
Early in May, 1864, General Logan with his army
corps joined the advancing columns of the Grand Military
Division of the Mississippi, which, under General Sherman,
was commencing the campaign. It must be understood at
the outset that the Army of the Tennessee, under McPher
son — comprising the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth
corps, respectively commanded by Generals Logan, Dodge,
and Blair — was, during this entire campaign, employed, in
260

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 261
the language of General Sherman, as " the snapper of the
whip with which he proposed to punish the enemy; " and
its movements to the right and left of the other armies,
constantly reaching and occupying the most difficult and
perilous positions, entailed upon its several commanding
officers, the most exhaustive, delicate, arid arduous duties.
While the main army, under the immediate supervision
of General Sherman, was confronting the enemy at Dalton
and Buzzards Roost, the first flank movement of the series
made by the Army of the Tennessee was to the right,
through Snake Creek Gap. This attempt to break the
• railroad at Resaca, and thus cut off the retreat of the
enemy, failed, because the place was found so completely
fortified that it required finally the best efforts of Sher
man's whole army to dislodge him from that position.
This combined movement against Resaca was made on
May 13, 1864, General Logan's corps leading the advance
of the Army of the Tennessee. The scene and movement
is thus described by an officer of McPherson's staff: "Lo
gan moved first and drew the first fire. In front of his
second division was an open field, in which were the
enemy's skirmishers — across in the woods his line of
battle. At the bugle, the division fell into line of battle,
deployed skirmishers and swept across the field, driving
the enemy in splendid style. General Logan accompanied
the line. At the same time, Harrow, who had fallen back
of the main road to allow Morgan L. Smith to move to
the right, moved on the double-quick to the left of Oster-
haus, the two divisions pushing into the thick wood on the
left of the second. Dodge moved his corps from the ferry
road down through the forest to fill up the space between
the fifteenth corps and the Odstanawla river, his fourth
division, under Veatch, having the advance. After cross
ing the field, General M. L. Smith entered the wood, and
pushed rapidly for the hills in his front, and the whole
fifteenth corps then suddenly moved forward, driving

232 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
the enemy for a mile and a half, until the corps were in
possession of the hills, which they had beeii ordered to
take. The remainder of the afternoon was occupied in
entrenching the line, putting batteries in position, with
skirmishers and pickets constantly exchanging shots in
the meantime.
"The next day about noon, General Logan received
orders to make an assault upon the rebel lines in his front.
He directed the assault to be made by one brigade from
each of the first and second divisions, General Charles R.
Wood's brigade of the first, and General Giles A. Smith's
of the second. The remainder of the command were •
placed in position to give such immediate support to the
charging party as circumstances might require. General
Logan was in front, busy along the line. It being very
difficult to cross the creek which ran between the attack
ing column and the enemy, the troops were carried to the
opposite bank on logs, and any way they best could, under_
cover of a heavy fire from the batteries. It was six o'clock
when the skirmishers were advanced to the foot of the
hill, and commenced driving the enemy. At the order of
General Logan, the brigade sprang up from the bank
under which they were covered, deployed and marched
forward, double-quick. Very soon, strong Confederate
forces, displaying seven regimental colors were discovered
moving in column by regiments. The whole force of the
two brigades of General Logan was deployed in front.
The Confederate column would strike it in a few minutes.
If it broke our lines, the position was gone, and the bri
gades lost. At this moment Logan hurried along the front.
His command reserved its fire until the enemy was within
sixty yards. Then it fired". The enemy's column stag
gered, fell back, reformed and renewed the assault. Again
he was repulsed, but again reformed and made a last
attempt to turn Logan's flank. He was again driven
back with great loss, and, under cover of the night — for

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 263
it was then dark — left the field in possession of General
Logan's troops, who advanced and placed the flag of the
Fifty-seventh Ohio on the abandoned redoubt. At two
o'clock in the morning, the enemy had abandoned Resaca.
The loss of the fifteenth corps was something over three
hundred men, while the enemy admitted casualties of over
two thousand five hundred. Thus ended the first fight of
any moment in the Atlanta campaign."
Another and perhaps more graphic account of this
fight, by a participant in it, is as follows: "General
Logan advanced against the main works of the enemy
covering Resaca and the bridges across the Oostanawla.
The first day of the engagement, May 13th, Logan came
up with the enemy, in considerable force, about two miles
from Resaca. He steadily drove the enemy before him,
carrying Camp Creek Hills, a strong position overlooking
the town of Resaca, the railroad, and bridges over the
river. The main body of the enemy fell back to a low
range of fortified hills, about one half mile distant, over
a marshy bottom, nearly clear of standing timber, but full
of fallen tree-trunks and thickets, and intersected with
miry sloughs. The next day, May 14th, sharp skirmish
ing and heavy artillery practice were kept up from both
sides. About six o'clock p.m. the advance was sounded,
and Logan's gallant men waded Camp Creek with their
arms and equipments held above their heads, and started
at a double-quick over the difficult ground, followed by
the cheers of their fellow-soldiers on the Camp Creek
Hills. The rebel infantry poured in from the hills in
front a destructive and well-directed fire, and the artillery
from their forts opened in one continuous roar. Bu$
neither thicket nor slpugh, nor shot nor shell, diverted
for a moment the attention of the brave stormers from
their objective point. Without slackening their speed, or
firing a shot, they pressed resistlessly forward until they
planted their colors on the conquered hills. As this posi-

264 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
tion commanded the enemy's works, and the bridges over
the Oostanawla, a determined effort was made to retake it.
Heavy columns, with fixed bayonets, advanced up to the
very crest of the hills; but they were met by a fire which
swept them entirely from that front, defeated and dis
heartened. The fighting did not end until ten p.m. Gen
eral Logan was wounded in the arm, and received a severe
bruise on the shoulder from a glancing ball. He lost one
hundred and two killed, five hundred and twelve wounded
and fourteen missing. The enemy sustained a loss in
killed and wounded, estimated at one thousand five hun
dred, and ninety-two taken prisoners. During the entire
day of the 15 th, skirmishing and artillery firing was kept
up with more or less vigor. Logan disposed his artillery
so as to command the railroad bridge and town of Resaca,
and thus held the enemy entirely at his mercy. During
the night of the 15th of May, the enemy evacuated his
entire line, retreating southward. Logan entered the
town of Resaca at daylight on the morning of the 16th,
pressing the enemy's rear-guard so closely that he did not
succeed in burning but one of the bridges over the Oos
tanawla behind him. During the three days and nights
in front of Resaca, General Logan never left his men for
a moment, either to eat or to sleep."
This instance of his untiring vigilance is but a fair
example of his whole military career, and may be regarded
as one of the principal reasons of his great and unvarying
success as a military leader.
Still moving on the right at Dallas, May 27, Logan
came up with the enemy in force, and at 4 o'clock p.m. he
w^ent into position beyond the town, with the whole rebel
army confronting him. No time was lost in closing up
his line and preparing for any attack that might be made,
as the enemy was all the time endeavoring to feel his line, '
and not a moment passed without shots between the
skirmishers.

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 265
On the 28th of May Hardee's corps, twenty-three thou
sand strong, moved upon Logan's front, and then ensued
one of the severest struggles of the campaign. Never did
men fight more desperately than did the enemy on this
occasion to drive Logan from his position, as the field of
battle after the contest plainly showed. At its close General
Logan found five color bearers dead in their places. In
this battle Logan had no time to get up his artillery, and
in this most brilliant repulse of the repeated attacks of
the enemy, relied almost entirely upon his musketry. The
report states that he was himself on that day a host, rid
ing along the entire line with an electric word for each
brave regiment, swinging his hat and cheering when the
bullets rained thickest, his strong voice rising high above
the roar of the fight. The splendid enthusiasm of the
leader inspired the troops with a like temper, if such
inspiration were needed, and insured their invincibility
had it been for a moment doubtful. "There are more
than we," said the General, " but we can whip them every
time— every fifteen minutes a day."
One who witnessed this battle says of it: "General
Hardee's veteran corps made five or six assaults in column
of regiments, which were bravely met by the fifteenth
corps. Once the enemy broke our line and surrounded
two pieces of artillery, but was not suffered to lay hands
on the coveted guns. No soldier who witnessed the battle
of Dallas will ever forget how grandly Logan looked as,
with uncovered head, he dashed down the line on his black
war-horse, amid the thickest of the fight. One exultant
cheer went up from the soldiers at this daring act of their
chief, and fired with the inspiration of the moment they
retook the guns and drove the enemy from the field. The
enemy's loss must have been heavy, as over three hundred
of his dead were left on the field. General Logan received
a wound in the arm."
The loss of the enemy was unusually heavy. Three

266 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
times he attacked and was as often repulsed. Logan's
loss was two hundred and thirty-eight, and he took one
hundred and fifty prisoners.
At Dallas also occurred a night attack which was very
brilliant and beautiful to behold — a streaming line of fire
along the whole front, which, belching from musketry
and artillery, lit up with a lurid glare the whole sky,
but accomplished nothing save loss of sleep to the tired
soldiers. The Dallas fight was the third of three successive
attacks of the enemy since the opening of the campaign,
south of the Etowah up to the evsning of the twenty-
eighth of May. On the twenty-fifth, Hooker was engaged
in the center; on the twenty-seventh, Wood on the left
flank; but the only real punishment the enemy received
was on the twenty-eighth, from General Logan. On the
thirtieth, while pointing out to Generals Sherman and
McPherson the position of the enemy, Logan was again
wounded, by a shot through the left arm, but with his arm
in a sling continued in the field, the same bullet afterward
striking Colonel Taylor in the breast, disabling him.

*-\

Is

1?

llif

£i9MffiEK»!HHra&3&a

LOGAN DRIVING THE ENEMY AT KENESAW MOUNTAIN.

CHAPTER XXII.
THE BATTLE OF BIG KENESAW MOUNTAIN — THE DESPERATE
ASSAULT UPON THE IMPREGNABLE FACE OF LITTLE
KENESAW MOUNTAIN — WONDERFUL DISCIPLINE OF OUR
BRAVE SOLDIERS OF THE WEST — UNPARALLELED HERO
ISM OF LOGAN AND HIS MEN — ON, THROUGH MARIETTA
AND DECATUR, TO THE FRONT OF ATLANTA.
IN the forward movement of our army, which followed
the battle of Dallas, the consequent evacuation of his
works by, and the retreat of, the enemy, Logan advanced
on the main Marietta road, coming up with the enemy
in full force between Big Shanty and Kenesaw Mountain.
Sharp skirmishing and artillery practice ensued, and was
kept up night and day, almost without interruption, for
three weeks, the enemy falling back from one line of
works to another, until his line, in Logan's front, rested
on the crest of Big Kenesaw Mountain. During this
time, the only engagement worthy of note took place on
the fifteenth of June, when Logan charged against the
enemy's right flank, driving him, amid blood and sweat
and slaughter, from his position, killing and wounding
many, and taking three hundred and fifty prisoners,
twenty-two of whom were commissioned officers. On the
twenty-sixth of June Logan moved out from his position
and relieved the fourteenth corps in front of Little
Kenesaw Mountain.
On the 27th of June the Army of the Tennessee gave
the strongest proof exhibited during the campaign of the
thorough discipline and complete and unqualified obedience
to orders which characterized its commanders and soldiers.
Ordered by General Sherman to carry the almost impreg
nable position of the enemy at Little Kenesaw mountain,
267

268 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Logan here made one of the most daring, desperate, and
heroic charges of the war. Promptly at eight o'clock in
the morning General Logan moved to the attack, and after
an hour and a quarter had cleared two lines of the most
obstinate abattis, carried a line of earthworks at a charge,
followed the route of the enemy up his rugged strongholds
through a murderous cross-fire of artillery and a perfect
storm of bullets, conquered every obstacle, planted the
flag at the foot of an insurmountable array of cliffs, threw
up defences of logs and stones, and held the line despite
the stubborn efforts of the enemy to dislodge him. The
average perpendicular height of the precipice against
which the charge was made was thirty feet. Along the
verge of this the enemy had drawn his line of battle, and
his troops, as ours approached, hurled down rocks, clubs,
and every conceivable sort of missile that could do our
men injury. As Logan and his brave followers attempted
to scale the heights of this grim mountain, under the
broiling sun, every step was like walking into the yawning
pits of Dante's Inferno. Line after line of his men were
swept away by the fiery blast above them, till it seemed
that all who dared ascend must be mowed down. When
he reached this perpendicular rocky barrier and saw his
bravest and best, bleeding and dying, and realized the
utter impossibility of dislodging the enemy from his rocky
fastness, the great tears rolled down brave Logan's face.
Nearly every regimental commander of his storming column
was either killed or wounded.
Logan's escape untouched on this occasion was little
short of miraculous. His loss in this terrible assault was
sixty officers and four hundred men killed and wounded.
It was not, however, barren of results. During the night
of July 3 the enemy evacuated his entire line, and Logan
entered Marietta early on the morning of the 4th, captur
ing several hundred prisoners. The same day Logan
moved his command to Nicks-jack creek, on the right of

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 269
the army, where the day was celebrated by an artillery
fight with Johnson's rear guard while that General was
safely and quietly moving across the Chattahoochee toward
Atlanta. After several days skirmishing with the enemy,
Logan moved to the extreme left, crossing the Chatta
hoochee by the bridge at Roswell, built by Dodge, and
proceeding thence to the Augusta railroad, near Stone
Mountain, a distance of fifty miles. After effectually
destroying the railroad at this point, Logan moved his
command by way of Decatur to the immediate front of
the enemy's stronghold, Atlanta, where, after a severe
fight, contesting with the enemy the range of hills over
looking it, he arrived and went into position July 21,
throwing the first Union shells into that city.
General Logan occupied, on the night of the 21st, an
entrenched position, his right being the Army of the
Ohio under General Schofield, and on his left the seven
teenth corps under Blair. The left flank was to have
been occupied by General Dodge, commanding the six
teenth corps, who had been left out on the march of the
preceding day by the connection of the fifteenth and
seventeenth corps of the Army of the Tennessee. The
cavalry command which was covering the flanks of the
Army of the Tennessee, reporting to General McPherson,
had been, by Sherman's orders, sent off to destroy a bridge
near Covington, thus leaving the left flank " in air." The
trains were stopped at Decatur, guarded by Sprague, of
Ohio, with a brigade.
The severe fighting for the position which the Army of
the Tennessee occupied, and which it did not secure until
dark on the 21st, led the commanding officers of that
army to believe that the enemy was in force in their imme
diate front, and Generals Logan and Blair made disposi
tion of their troops, under directions of General McPherson,
accordingly.

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE GREAT BATTLE OF ATLANTA — THE DEATH OF THE
GALLANT M'PHERSON— THB HEROIC LOGAN SUCCEEDS
HIM — TAKING COMMAND OF AN ARMY FLANKED IN
FRONT AND REAR, WITH ITS IDOLIZED COMMANDER
KILLED, AND PANIC IMPENDING, LOGAN CONVERTS
THREATENED DISASTER INTO VICTORY — "THE BLOOD
IEST BATTLE OF THE WEST" — LOGAN'S PERSONAL
PROWESS — ONE OF THE FINEST BATTLE PICTURES OF
THE WAR.
THEN came the battle of Atlanta, the bloodiest fought
in the West, and one of the decisive battles of the war.
The old soldiers who were there will never forget it, nor
Logan, their triumphant chieftain — that heroic soul:
" Who firmly stood where waves of blood
Swept over square and column,
And traced his name with bayonet flame
In Glory's crimson volume!
On battle-field our Nation's shield,
His voice was Freedom's Slogan!
And Victory leapt wild, for she .
Had lent her sword to Logan! "
It was the 22d of July, 1864. Hood had succeeded
Johnston, and McPherson, finding himself flanked, was
riding to the left, when he met his death. The command
of the flanked Army of the Tennessee at once devolved
on Logan. Surgeon Welch, of the Fifty-third Illinois,
describes the panic which seized the seventeenth army
corps, and continues: "General Logan, who then took
command, on that famous black stallion of his, became a
flame of fire and fury, yet keeping wondrous method in
his inspired madness. He was everywhere; his horse cov
ered with foam, and himself hatless and begrimed with
dirt; perfectly comprehending the position; giving sharp
270

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 271
orders to officers as he met them, and planting himself
firmly in front of fleeing columns, with revolver in hand,
threatening, in tones not to be mistaken, to fire into the
advance did they not instantly halt and form in order of
battle. 'He spake, and it was done.' * * * The
battle was resumed in order and with fury — a tempest of
thunder and fire; a hailstorm of shot and shell. And
when night closed down the battle was ended, and we
were masters of the field." Some of the regiments that
went into that sanguinary conflict strong, came out with
but thirty men, and another which went in in the morn
ing with two hundred, came out with but fifteen. But
thousands of the enemy bit the dust that day, and though
compelled to fight in front and rear, our arms were crowned
with victory.
Such, in brief, was the battle of Atlanta. But its
details are of such consuming interest that it demands a
more extended description: Very early on the morning
of the 22d, Lieutenant Willard Warner, of General Sher
man's staff, reached the headquarters of General McPher
son and said to the latter: "General Sherman believes
that the enemy has evacuated Atlanta, and desires you to
move rapidly forward beyond the city toward East Point,
leaving General Dodge of the sixteenth corps upon the
railroad to destroy it effectually." This communication
was received by McPherson with a great deal of surprise,
and he expressed, without reserve, his doubts as to the
correctness of General Sherman's information. However,
the order was issued by him to General Logan to carry out
the instructions received from Sherman, in the following
words: Three and a half miles east of Atlanta, )
Georgia, July 22, 1864. j
Major General John A. Logan, commanding Fifteenth Army Corps:
The enemy having evacuated their works in front of our lines, the
supposition of Major General Sherman is that they hare given- up
Atlanta and are retreating in the direction of East Point.

272 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
You will immediately put your command in pursuit to the south
and east of Atlanta without entering the town. You will take a
route to the left of that taken by the enemy, and try to cut off a por
tion of them while they are pressed in the rear, and on our right by
Generals Schofield and Thomas.
Major General Sherman desires and expects a vigorous pursuit.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) James B. McPherson, Major-General.
To satisfy himself, McPherson immediately ordered his
horse, and, with his staff, rode down to the headquarters
of General Logan, and talked over the instructions he had
already sent him in writing. Before he reached Logan's
headquarters, however, there was firing exchanged between
the pickets of our forces and the enemy. In a moment
General McPherson was convinced that General Sherman
was mistaken in the supposition that the enemy had evac
uated Atlanta. He therefore instructed General Logan,
who had already prepared his troops for march, to go into
position for battle, regardless of the order earlier issued,
which later instructions General Logan immediately com
menced to carry out, his command going into line under
fire. The order was also handed to General Blair, and
General Dodge was directed to leave the railroad, and with
all dispatch possible take up his position on the left of the
seventeenth corps in order to protect that flank, which
was even then being turned by the enemy. So completely
had the enemy taken Sherman by surprise, that in the
absence of the cavalry under Harrow upon McPherson's
flank, it became necessary for the orderlies and clerks at
headquarters to take guns and form themselves into a
picket-guard to keep off the enemy's skirmishers until the
headquarters of the Army of the Tennessee could be
removed to a place of safety in the front.
In the meantime McPherson had ridden over to Sherman's
headquarters and reported to him the disposition that he had
made of his troops in violation of Sherman's orders in the
morning; secured the assent of Sherman to his course, and

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 273
then rode back to see that his own orders to Logan, Blair
and Dodge were being promptly and correctly carried out.
The exposed position of the seventeenth corps, before
referred to, had not been covered when McPherson, about
one o'clock (the firing along the line having become gen
eral) rode out almost alone, his staff all being occupied in
executing his previous orders. In passing through a nar
row bridle-path McPherson came upon a body of the enemy's
troops — a stray company from Pat Claiborne's division of
Hardee's corps — lying down in the woods, who, upon seeing
him approach, rose up, the captain (as he said) command
ing to halt three times. McPherson, at once supposing it
to be some of his own troops, with his usual courteous
manner, lifted his hat, but, perceiving that he was in the
presence of the enemy, wheeled his horse, was fired upon
and killed. The company was captured afterward and the
facts as here stated were given by its officers.
Colonel Clark, McPherson's chief of staff, hearing the
volley and seeing McPherson's horse come out riderless,
being sure that McPherson was either killed or a prisoner,
gave orders for the recovery of his body, rode to report the
facts to General Sherman, and was directed by him to
place General Logan in command of the Army of the Ten
nessee, he being the ranking officer present. Before leav
ing Sherman, Colonel Clark secured a division of the
Army of the Ohio commanded by General J. D. Cox, who
under direction of Major Willard Warner, marched to a
position where he could support the Army of the Ten
nessee in case of emergency.
General Logan assumed command just as the engage
ment of that day became general, and in person gave the
orders, and made disposition of the troops that won the
greatest victory in the hardest fought battle of the Atlanta
campaign. In person he recovered the position lost by the
right of his corps, and recaptured the twenty-pound Par-
rott battery of Captain Grees. In person he directed the
18

274 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
movement of the troops which repelled the seven succes
sive charges of the enemy upon his line, and not until
twelve o'clock at night, when his weary but victorious
soldiers were at rest, did he leave his command to go and
report to General Sherman the successes of the day. He
was received at General Sherman's headquarters with
enthusiasm and, for his noble conduct in all the critical
hours of that day, complimented in the highest terms by
General Sherman and was assured of the permanent com
mand of that Army which he had on that day shown him
self entitled to lead.
General Sherman, referring to this battle, says: "I
rode over it (meaning the line) the next day, and it bore
the marks of a bloody conflict. The enemy had retired
during that night inside of Atlanta, and we remained
masters of the situation outside."
On the next day, the twenty-third, by the direction of
General Logan, Colonel Clark, his chief of staff, received
a flag of truce from General Hood, requesting permission
to bury the enemy's dead.
General Logan's summary report of the battle of At
lanta is in these modest words:
Headquarters Department of Arjiy of the Tennessee, )
Before Atlanta, Georgia, July 24, 1864. f
General: I have the honor to report the following summary of the
result of the battle of the 22d inst. : Total loss in killed, wounded and
missing, three thousand five hundred and twenty-one (3,521), and ten
pieces (10) of artillery. We have buried and delivered te the enemy,
under a flag of truce sent in by them, in front of the seventeenth
corps, one thousand (1,000) of their killed; the number of their dead
in front of the fourth division of the same corps, including those on
ground not now occupied by our troops, General Blair reports Will
swell the number of their dead on his front to two thousand (2,000).
The number of dead buried in front of the fifteenth corps up to this
hour is three hundred and sixty (360), and the commanding officer
reports at least as many more are unburied. The number of dead,
buried in front of the sixteenth corps, was four hundred and twenty-
two (422).

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 275
We have over one thousand (1,000) of their wounded in our
hands, a larger number of wounded having been carried off by them
during the night after the engagement.
We captured eighteen (18) stands of colors, and have them now;
also captured five thousand (5,000) stands of arms.
The attack was made on our line seven times, and was seven
times repulsed; Hood's, Hardee's, and Wheeler's cavalry engaged us.
We have sent to the rear one thousand (1,000) prisoners, including
thirty-seven (37) commissioned officers of high rank. We still oc-
eupy the field, and ihe troops are in fine spirits.
Our total loss is three thousand five hundred and twenty-one
(3,521); the enemy's dead thus far reported buried or delivered to
them is three thousand two hundred and twenty (3,220); total pris
oners sent north, one thousand and seventeen (1,017); total prisoners
wounded in our hands, one thousand (1,000); estimated loss of the
enemy over ten thousand (10,000).
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
John A. Logan, Major-General.
Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding Military Division
of the Mississippi.
After describing the manner in which the lamented
General McPherson fell, Surgeon John M. Wood worth
writes: "Thus fell the noble McPherson, just at the first
flush of the battle, leaving the command of the army to
the no less brave and gallant General Logan. By 1 o'clock
p.m. the contest had become general, and the roll of mus
ketry and roar of artillery continued without interruption
until darkness closed the mad conflict. The battle
throughout the day was most desperate, our men often
fighting the enemy in front, then changing fronts and
from the reverse of their works engaging the swarming
rebels in the rear. Time after time they charged directly
up to our entrenchments where the conflict became fierce
and deadly. Regimental commanders with their colors,
and such brave men as would follow them, not infre
quently occupied one side of the works and our own men
the other; the flags of opposing regiments met on opposite
sides of the same embankment, and were flaunted by their
respective bearers into each other's faces; men were bayo-

276 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
neted across the works, and officers with their swords
fought hand to hand with men with bayonets. One rebel
colonel (Forty-fifth Alabama) was pulled by his coat-collar
over the works and made prisoner. At one time the
, enemy broke through the line of the fifteenth corps, which
had been much weakened by the withdrawal of troops to
re-enforce other portions of tho line, and captured two bat
teries of artillery. At the moment when this occurred
General Logan was at the extreme left, but hearing of the
disaster he hastened to his old corp3, and calling upon the
men who had never failed him in the hour of danger, they
soon rallied and retook the guns and their lost position.
With the darkness terminated the battle of the 22d of
July, which cost us three thousand seven hundred and
twenty-two patriotic soldiers. With men less brave or a
less determined and skillful leader than Logan proved
himself to be, the unexampled record of the Army of the
Tennessee had closed its history with a defeat but little
short of annihilation. Late that night, while the writer
was seated alone with General Logan under his tent-fly,
recounting the incidents of the day, Logan made use of
the following emphatic language: " I made up my mind to
win the fight, or never come out alive, for," said he, "had
our army suffered defeat, the people at home never would
realize how desperate the struggle against such great odds,
but would say, had McPherson lived, the result would
have been different." The enemy's dead were computed
by General Logan at three thousand two hundred and
forty. General Sherman in his official report says: "I enter
tain no doubt that in the battle of July 22 the enemy sus
tained an aggregate loss of full eight thousand men."
General Sherman also in his report alluding to the
death of McPherson said: " General Logan succeeded him
and commanded the Army of the Tennessee through this
desperate battle with the same success and ability that

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 277
had characterized him in the command of a corps or a
division." In a letter of August 16, addressed to General Halleck,
General Sherman also said: " General Logan fought that
battle out as required, unaided, save by a small brigade
sent by my orders."
General Grant also in his official report of the battle of
Atlanta says: "About 1 o'clock p.m. of this day (July 22)
the brave and accomplished, and noble-hearted McPherson
was killed. General Logan succeeded him, and com
manded the Army of the Tennessee through this desperate
battle and until he ivas superseded by Major General How
ard on the 27th, with the same success and ability that
had characterized him in the command of a corps or
division." Another writer, glancing at this terrible battle, says:
" Logan, fighting at one moment on one side of his works,
and the next on the other, was informed of the death, in
another part of the field, of the beloved McPherson.
Assuming the temporary command, Logan dashed impet
uously from one end to the other of his hardly-pressed
lines, shouting 'McPherson and revenge!' His emotion
communicated itself to the troops with the rapidity of
electricity, and eight thousand rebel dead and wounded
left upon the field at nightfall bore mute witness to their
love for the fallen chief and the bravery of his successor."
In the course of an interesting address at Carbondale,
Illinois, July 22, 1869, to the surviving members of his
old Thirty-first Illinois Regiment, General Logan himself
briefly referred to this sanguinary battle in the following
words: "The 22d day of July is the day you have selected
for your annual meeting, and there is an appropriateness
in the selection, for it is a day you will never forget. I
well remember it, and so do you. We were in the heart
of the enemy's country, and he strongly entrenched.

278 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Early in the morning, the fifteenth, sixteenth and seven
teenth corps were ordered to move forward. I was in
command of the fifteenth, and you belonged to the sev
enteenth — General Leggett's. When the advance was
ordered, your regiment was put in line of battle, and
when tho attack was made, a part of my own command
and a part of the division you were in was driven back,
and there McPherson fell — as brave and gallant a man as
ever breathed the breath of life. Being the second in
command, and the next senior officer, I took his place,
and there, from early morn till late at night, raged the
bloodiest battle in the West. During that day I often
passed the line commanded by General Leggett, and wit
nessed the gallant stand your regiment made. You were
engaged in the very hottest of the fight, and many of
your officers and men fell, covered with glory. And when
the light of heaven began to fade, I rode along the shat
tered lines. Some regiments that went into the battle
strong came out with thirty men. I well remember the
Twentieth Illinois. Two hundred men went in in the
morning, and fifteen stacked their arms at night. I do
not remember how many of your regiment fell, but I do
remember that it was a terrible battle. We lost in killed,
wounded and prisoners some four thousand gallant men,
and the enemy over eight thousand; but it was one of the
decisive battles of the war, and more men were killed than
in any other battle in the West during the whole war.
You have selected that day, the 22d of July, which com
memorates the battle of Atlanta, as the day for your annual
reunion, and I think it well, for on that day your regiment
suffered heavily."
But probably the most vivid description both of Mc
Pherson's death and of the scenes which followed it, was
that which fell from his own impassioned lips in his oration
at the unveiling of the McPherson statue at Washington,
D. C. On that occasion General Logan stated that on the

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 27D
morning of the 22d of July, 1864, Hood, having relieved
Johnston on the 19th, and with a heavy force had con
tested in vain the occupation, by McPherson, of Decatur,
during the 21st, McPherson received orders from Sherman
to push forward at once, as the enemy had abandoned
Atlanta; that, after giving orders to advance, McPherson,
accompanied by Logan, rode to the front, found that
Atlanta had not been evacuated, and, countermanding the
order for the forward movement, ordered Dodge to the
left, and rode to Sherman's headquarters to explain to
him the real situation.
General Logan continued in these words : " While doing
so, firing was heard to the left and in the direction of
Decatur. The enemy had turned our flank. Hastening
at once to the left, sending his staff in every direction to
bring up all the available forces to strengthen his lines, he,
with a single orderly, rode into a blind path leading to
General Giles A. Smith's division. Here he was met by a
stray detachment of Pat Claiborne's command, who hailed
him and then delivered a volley, killing him. This was
a little after twelve o'clock. A staff officer immediately
notified General Sherman of his death, and I was placed
in command. At once General McPherson's staff reported
to me, and aided me with the ability, promptness, and
courage which made them so valuable in their services
to him. " Right and left, left and right, like a weaver's shuttle,
went the Army of the Tennessee athwart the serried ways,
amid heat and dust, shot and shell, blood and tears, weav
ing the crimson net-work of revenge, till the field was in
the bloody toils and fairly won. * * *
"The news of his death spread with lightning speed
along the lines, sending a pang of deepest sorrow to every
heart as it reached the ear; but especially terrible was the
effect on the Army of the Tennessee. It" seemed as though
a burning fiery dart had pierced every breast, tearing

280 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
asunder the flood-gates of grief, but at the same time
heaving to their very depths the fountains of revenge.
The clinched hands seemed to sink into the weapons they
held, and from the eyes gleamed forth flashes terrible as
lightning. The cry, ' McPherson ! McPherson ! ' rose above
the din of battle, and, as it rang along the line, swelled in
power until the roll of musketry and booming of cannon
seemed drowned by its echoes.
"McPherson again seemed to lead his troops — and
where McPherson leads, victory is sure. Each officer and
soldier, from the succeeding commander to the lowest
private, beheld, as it were, the form of their bleeding
chief leading them onward to battle. 'McPherson!' and
'Onward to victory!' were their only thoughts; bitter,
terrible revenge, their only aim. There was no such
thought that day as stopping short of victory or death.
The firm, spontaneous resolve was to win the day or perish
with their slain leader on the bloody field. -Fearfully was
his death avenged that day. His army, maddened by his
death, and utterly reckless of life, rushed with savage
delight into the fiercest onslaughts, and fearlessly plunged
into the very jaws of death. As wave after wave of Hood's
daring troops dashed with terrible fury upon our lines,
they were hurled back with a fearful shock, breaking their
columns into fragments as the granite headland breaks
into foam the ocean billows. Across the narrow line of
works raged the fierce storm of battle, the hissing shot and
bursting shell raining death on every hand.
" Over dead and dying friends and foes rushed the
swaying hosts, the shout of rebels confident of victory only
drowned by the battle-cry, 'McPherson!' which went up
from the Army of the Tennessee. Twenty thousand gal
lant men bit the dust ere the night closed in, and the
defeated and baffled enemy, after failing in his repeated
and desperate assaults upon our lines, was compelled to

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 281
give up the hopeless contest. Though compelled to fight
in front and rear, victory crowned our arms.
"The foe, angry and sullen, moved slowly and stub
bornly from the well-contested field, where his high hopes
of victory had been so sadly disappointed. Following up
the advantage gained — and many minor contests ensued
during our stay in front of Atlanta — the Army of the
Tennessee moved on to Jonesboro, where it met the enemy
on the 31st of August, and routed him completely, effect
ually demoralizing his forces. , It was then that the roar
of our victorious guns, mingling with deafening peals,
announced that the rebel general, conquered and dis
mayed, had blown up his magazines and evacuated Atlanta,
and that the last stronghold of the West was ours."
It will be observed that on rare occasions when General
Logan has been induced to allude to or describe battle-
scenes in which he was the hero, he barely, and in the
most casual manner alludes to himself. With the charac-
teristie modesty of a chivalric nature he loves to dwell
upon the services of his subordinate officers, and the daunt
less valor of his troops. We have heard, however, what
Surgeon Welch and other officers say of the inspired hero
of Atlanta. Let us now hear the brief and vivid tribute
(through another) of one of the private soldiers who fought
in the ranks of the Union Army on that gory field.
One of Logan's " boys " then carrying a musket, but
now handling another kind of " shooting-stick," said to
the writer: "Never shall I forget: — never will one of us
who survived that desperate fight, forget to our dying day
— the grand spectacle presented by Logan as he rode up
and down in front of the line, his black eyes flashing fire,
his long black hair streaming in the wind, bareheaded, and
his service- worn slouch hat swinging in his bridle hand and
his sword flashing in the other, crying ont in stentorian
tones, 'Boys! McPherson and revenge!' Why," said
he, "it made my blood run both hot and cold, and moved

282 LIFE OF "JOHN A. LOGAN.
every man of us to follow to the death the brave and
magnificent hero-ideal of a soldier who made this resistless
appeal to all that is brave and gallant in a soldier's heart;
and this, too, when the very air was alive with whistling
bullets and howling shell ! And if he could only have been
painted as he swept up and down the line on a steed as full
of fire as his glorious rider, it would to-day be one of the
finest battle pictures of the war."
Called to the temporary command as we have seen, of
the Army of the Tennessee, at that supremely critical
moment when, flanked, and with its idolized leader slain,
a panic had set in which threatened the whole army, and
disaster and utter rout impended, one would naturally
suppose that he who, by the magic of his presence and
bearing, and almost superhuman skill and exertion and
intrepidity, had not only saved the army, but snatched
victory from the very jaws of defeat, would have received
at once the permanent command of it. It strikes one
therefore with a sense of injustice to learn that, after this
glorious victory: "By order of the President, General
Howard assumed command." This was upon the recom
mendation of General Sherman, who admitted that General
Logan was entitled to the position, "but was not an
academy man."
Still, Logan — who must have felt this injustice — neither
sulked nor murmured, but, resuming the immediate com
mand of his corps, marched on to gather other laurels.

CHAPTER XXIV.
ANOTHER FLANK MOVEMENT IN A PITCH-DARK NIGHT,
WITH LOGAN ALL NIGHT IN THE SADDLE — LOGAN'S
MILITARY SKILL DISPLAYED — HOWARD'S APPOINTMENT
TO COMMAND THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE — WITHOUT
A WORD LOGAN RETURNS TO HIS BRAVE CORPS — THE
DESPERATE BATTLE OF EZRA CHAPEL — LOGAN'S CORPS
DEFEATS THE ENEMY'S ARMY, REPULSING SIX GALLANT
CHARGES.
THE Army of the Tennessee never recovered from a
severe battle with more confidence in their leader, nor
was the esprit de corps more manifest at any time than in the
days succeeding the battle of Atlanta while Logan remained
in command. He was received everywhere among them
with the greatest enthusiasm and with the heartiest e©n-
gratulations that he was in future to be their leader.
The time was occupied until the evening of the twenty-
sixth of July, in reorganizing the various commands, per
forming the last offices to the gallant dead, and preparing for
the next movement, which was as usual, by the flank, but this
time to the right. It is but fair to say that a more difficult
and delicate movement of an army than this was not under
taken during the war. The enemy was entrenched closely
in Logan's front, almost within speaking distance on many
parts of the line, when the order came from General Sher
man to withdraw under cover of night from that position
and move the three corps seven miles to the right. It was
necessary to deceive the enemy entirely as to this move
ment, and the wheels of the gun-carriages and caissons
were bound with wisps of hay and straw, in order % at the
utmost silence might prevail as the Army of the Tennessee
moved out from its position. General Logan was in his
283

284 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
saddle all night long and, -with, his staff, personally super
intended the movements of every corps. They moved with
out the slightest confusion. By daylight of the twenty-
seventh the corps of the entire Army of the Tennessee were
safely upon their respective roads, prepared to go into their
new position, and this without any casualty, leaving the
enemy in complete ignorance of the withdrawal. The
military talent displayed by Logan on this occasion was
remarkable when it is considered that the darkness of the
night was such that the entire command was obliged
almost to feel its way — it being impracticable to use any
light, even that of a torch, with which to guide the
troops. Overcome with fatigue and anxiety resulting from the
sudden responsibility of the command of this army in the
battle of the twenty-second, and this delicate movement in
the face of the enemy, General Logan, on the morning of
the twenty-seventh, at the White House, where General
Sherman was quartered, was informed that General 0. 0.
Howard had been appointed to the command of the Army
of the Tennessee. Without a word, however, General
Logan resumed command of his old corps, the fifteenth,
and during the twenty-seventh went into position on the
right of the line, General Blair of the seventeenth corps
on his left, and General Dodge of the sixteenth, upon the
left flank.
The rain poured in torrents as the army took up its
position on that day, and it was late in the evening before
the troops were all deployed. Again the Army of the
Tennessee was, by its right flank, "in air." The enemy
was discovered late in the day again upon that flank, and,
as the Army of the Tennessee could not reach so as to
secure a position not easily turned, General Sherman
ordered General Jeff. C. Davis, with his division, to move
at once and support the right flank.
The morning of the 28th found the Army of the Ten-

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 285
nessee confronting again the enemy. Hardly had the
fifteenth corps, under Logan, thrown up their earthworks,
with logs and rails covering in their front, when Hood came
at him again. By 11 o'clock a.m., the fighting became
general along his entire line, and then occurred another
most desperate battle in which General Logan with his
corps was exclusively, engaged on our side. Six times did
the enemy deploy from the woods in Logan's front, and
six times, with words of encouragement and threats from
their commanding officers they marched up to receive the
deadly fire of Logan's troops — and six times were they
repulsed with slaughter. Perhaps in the history of the
war was never such persistent and desperate gallantry dis
played on the part of the enemy, but their defeat was
complete, and the reports of this battle of Ezra Chapel
show that to Logan and his brave corps alone was due the
credit of the victory.
General Sherman, in his report of this battle says :
"General Logan, on this occasion, was conspicuous as
on the 22d, his corps being chiefly engaged, but General
Howard had drawn from the other corps, the sixteenth and
seventeenth, certain reserves, which were near at hand,
but not used."
Again, Sherman, speaking of Logan, his corps and this
battle, says: "He commanded in person, and that corps,
as heretofore reported, repulsed the rebel army completely."
Another writer thus describes this battle of Ezra Chapel :
"The enemy had come out from Atlanta by the burned
Ferry road and formed his men in an open field behind a.
swell of ground, and after the artillery firing I have des
cribed, advanced in parallel lines directly against the fif
teenth corps expecting to catch that flank 'in air.' His
advance was impulsive, but founded in an error that cost him
sadly, for our men coolly and deliberately cut down his men
and, despite the efforts of the rebel officers, his ranks broke
and fled, But they were rallied again andagain, as often as

286 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
six times, at the same point, and a few of the rebel officers
and men reached our lines of rail-piles only to be killed or
hauled over as prisoners. These assaults occurred from noon
until about 4 o'clock p.m., when the enemy disappeared,
leaving his dead and wounded in our hands. As many as
642 dead were counted and buried, and still others are
known to have been buried that were not counted by the
regular detail of burial parties."
Another account of this battle written by a participant
runs thus: "With hardly time for the overtaxed soldiers
to recover their exhausted energies, the Army of the Ten
nessee Avas moved again around to the right of the Union
line, and on the morning of the twenty-eighth of July,
General Logan, having been relieved from the temporary
command of the army by the appointment of General
Howard, assumed command, of his old corps, and, while
moving it into position, in line of battle, on the extreme
right of our army, just as he had gained a commanding
ridge upon which was situated Ezra Chapel, the whole
corps became suddenly and furiously engaged with the
enemy. Our troops had not had a moment to construct
even the rudest defense, but they had held their position,
and, after about one hour of terrific fighting, the enemy
retired. He, however, soon reformed, and again made a
desperate assault, which was subsequently repeated four
successive times, with like results. The temporary lulls
in the fighting did not at any time exceed five minutes.
It was an open field-fight, in which the enemy, consisting
of Hardee's and Lee's corps, greatly exceeded us in nu
merical strength, but we exceeded hmi in spirit and
determination. The engagement lasted from 11:30 a.m.
until darkness compelled a cessation. Logan captured five
battle-flags, about two thousand muskets, and one hv.ndred
and six prisoners, not including seventy-three wounded
left on the field. Over six huno. °A of the enemy's dead
were buried in our front; a large number were probably

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 287
carried off during the night, as the enemy did not leave
the field until near daylight. Their loss was not less than
five thousand. Logan's only reached five hundred and
sixty-two." Following is General Logan's official report of this
obstinately fought battle:
Headquarters Fifteenth Army Corps before )
Atlanta, Georgia, July 29, 1864. \
Colonel: I have the honor to report that in pursuance of orders
I moved my command in position on the right of the seventeenth
army corps, which was the extreme right of the army in the field,
on the night and morning of the 27th and 28th instants, and, during
my advance to a more desirable position, we were met by the rebel
infantry from Hood's and Lee's corps, who made a desperate and
determined attack at half-past eleven o'clock on the morning of the
twenty-eighth. My lines were protected only by logs and rails hastily thrown in
front of them. The first onset was received and checked, and the
battle commenced, lasting until about three oclock in the afternoon
During that time six successive charges were made, which were six
times gallantly repulsed, each time with fearful loss to the enemy.
Later in the evening, my lines were several times assaulted vigor
ously, but terminated with like result The most of the fighting
occurred on Generals Harrow's and Smith's fronts, which formed the
centre and right of the line. The troops could not have displayed
more courage, nor greater determination not to yield Had they
shown less, they would have been driven from their position. Briga
dier Generals Wood's, Harrow's, and Smith's division commands are
entitled to great credit for gallant conduct and skill in repelling the
assaults. My thanks are due to Major Generals Blair and Dodge for
sending me re-enforcements at a time when they were much needed.
My losses are fifty killed, four hundred and thirty-nine wounded,
and eighty-three missing; aggregate, five hundred and seventy-two.
The division of General Harrow captured five battle-flags. There
were about fifteen hundred or two thousand muskets captured. One
hundred and six prisoners were captured, exclusive of seventy-three
wounded, who have been removed to hospitals, and are being taken
care of by our surgeons; five hundred and sixty-five rebels up to this
time have been buried, and about two hundred supposed to be yet
unburied. Large numbers were undoubtedly carried away during
the night, as the enemy did not withdraw until nearly daylight. The.

288 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
enemy's loss could not have been, in my judgment, less than six or
seven thousand.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
John A. Logan, Major General,
Commanding fifteenth army corps.
Lieutenant Colonel W. T. Clark, Assistant Adjutant General.
The endorsement upon the above report is as follows:
Headquarters Department of the Army of the Ten- )
nesree before Atlanta, Georgia, July 29, 1864. j
In forwarding the within report I wish to express my high gratifi
cation with the conduct of the troops engaged. I never saw better
conduct in battle.
The general commanding the fifteenth army corps, though ill and
much worn out, was indefatigable, and the success of the day is as
much attributable to him as to any one man. His officers, and in
fact all the officers of his army that commanded my observation,
co-operated promptly and heartily with him.
O. O. Howard, Major General.

CHAPTER XXV.
LOGAN AGAIN WHIPS LEE'S AND HARDEE'S CORPS BADLY
AT THE BATTLE OF JONESBORO — CONSEQUENT EVACUA
TION OF ATLANTA — LOGAN'S PATHETIC ADDRESS TO HIS
GALLANT CORPS.
FROM the 29th of July to the 26th of August, Logan
continued to push forward his lines, keeping up the
usual skirmish and artillery practice night and day, almost
without interruption. On the 3d and 11th of August he
carried the entire entrenched skirmish-lines of the enemy
in his front, capturing several hundred prisoners. In one
engagement he lost sixty men, and in the other the killed
and wounded numbered ninety-eight.
Sherman having determined to raise the siege of
Atlanta and take the field with his whole force and use
it against the communications instead of against the
entrenchments of the city, on the night of the 26th of
August Logan withdrew his corps from its position in
front of Atlanta and, moving on the right of the army to
the West Point railroad, he destroyed the road for some
distance, and marching to Jonesboro' drove the enemy
before him from Pond Creek, a distance of ten miles.
He arrived in front of Jonesboro' on the evening of
August 30th, and, though it was past midnight before his
troops had all crossed Flint River, yet at daylight on the
morning of the 31st, and without the knowledge of either
Sherman or Howard, a strong entrenched line was com
pleted and his corps was in position for defense. Logan,
appreciating his situation of isolation from the main army,
greatly exposed and liable at any moment to attack, caused
his position to be entrenched with great care. The morn
ing was thus spent in strengthening his lines and placing
19 289

290 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
his artillery in the most commanding positions. He gave
to this work, so important at this time, his personal super
vision, and was on the ground when, at three o'clock in
the afternoon the enemy (Lee's and Hardee's corps) made
a sudden and desperate assault on all points of his front.
Every soldier of the fifteenth corps was in the trenches,
and ready for the fray. On the enemy came, pushing his
lines to within thirty to fifty paces from Logan's works,
but the resistance he met was so well directed that he was,
in little over an hour of hard fighting, compelled to retire
discomfited and in confusion. Many daring acts were
performed by the enemy's officers and men. One of his
Generals (Major General Patten Anderson), with his staff,
rode fearlessly along his lines, doing all that a commander
could do to make the assault a success. But four of those
who rode with him in that perilous performance of duty,
returned from the field — himself, with many of his staff,
being shot down. General Logan, in his official report,
said of this General: "I could not help admiring his gal
lantry, though an enemy." The enemy made two subse
quent assaults, but with less spirit and determination than
the first. They were easily repulsed, though not without
terrible loss to him. The enemy's loss in this battle was
greater than in any former engagement, except at Ezra
Chapel on the 28th of July. Logan captured 241 prison
ers and two stand of colors; There were left on the field
by the enemy 329 dead and 139 wounded. The total Con
federate loss was admitted to be over 2,500. Owing, how
ever, to the protection of good entrenchments, Logan's loss
was only 154. This battle virtually decided the fate of
Atlanta. The next day Sherman ordered the whole army
to close down on Jonesboro', but during the night of
September 1st, before this order was executed, the enemy
evacuated his position, and at day-dawn on the 2d Logan
occupied Jonesboro'. The same night Hood, after blow
ing up his magazines, evacuated Atlanta.

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 291
General Sherman in his report of this battle says:
" Hearing the sounds of battle at Jonesboro' about noon,
orders were renewed to push with the other movements on
the left and center, and about four p.m. the report arrived
that General Howard had thoroughly repulsed the enemy
at Jonesboro'." Thus it will be seen that Logan and his corps fought
the battle of Jonesboro' — which led to the evacuation of
the great stronghold of Atlanta — without the knowledge
of Sherman, except so far as he could hear the booming of
Logan's victorious guns.
The troops of the other commands of Sherman's army
failed to come to time, otherwise the entire army of Hood
might have been captured on the thirty-first of August
(thus making it unnecessary to fight the subsequent battles
of Franklin and Nashville), and with the fall of Atlanta
the enemy's entire army of the West would have been
destroyed. The importance, however^ of the capture of Atlanta,
even without capturing the enemy's army, was sufficiently
great to cause unbounded rejoicing in the North and of
course corresponding depression in the South.
Among other dispatches received by Sherman, was the
following from President Lincoln: Executive Mansion, )
Washington, D. C, September 3, 1864. j
The National thanks are tendered by the President to Major
General W. T. Sherman and the gallant officers and soldiers of his
command before Atlanta, for the distinguished ability and persever
ance displayed in the campaign in Georgia, which, under Divine
favor, has resulted in the capture of Atlanta. The marches, battles,
sieges, and other military operations that have signalized the cam
paign, must render it famous in the annals of war, and have entitled
those who have participated therein to the applause and thanks of the
nation. Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States.

292 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Another, from General Grant, was in the following
words: City Point, Virginia, September 4. 1864 — 9 p.m.
Major General Sherman: I have just received your dispatch
announcing the capture of Atlanta. In honor of your great victory,
I have ordered a salute to be fired with shotted guns from every bat
tery bearing upon the enemy. The salute will be fired within an
hour, amid great rejoicing. U. S. Grant,
Lieutenant General.
From Jonesboro', Logan pursued the flying enemy to
Lovejoy's where he made another stand. Logan again
had him in flank, and desired again to attack him and
accomplish what the army had failed to do on the thirty-
first of August by reason of the want of co-operation of
the other troops of General Sherman's command, but in
the meantime Atlanta had fallen, and Sherman, satisfied
with the glory he had achieved in its capture — although,
as he says in his " Memoirs," " neither Atlanta, nor
Augusta, nor Savannah, was the objective, but the army
of Jos. Johnston (now however under Hood's command),
go where it might " — decided, as he says, " not to attempt
at that time a further pursuit of Hood's army, but slowly
and deliberately to move back, 'occupy Atlanta, enjoy a
short period of rest, and to think welL over the next step
required in the progress of events." Accordingly early in
September, in obedience to orders the Army of the Ten
nessee found itself in camp at East Point, Georgia, and a
few days later General Logan issued the following stirring
and patriotic address to his victorious command:
Headquarters Fifteenth Army Corps, East Point, )
Georgia, September 11. 1864. j
Officers and Soldiers of tlie Fifteenth Army Corps: You have borne
your part in the accomplishment of the object of this campaign, a
part well and faithfully done.
On the first day of May, 1864, from Huntsville, Ala., and its
vicinity, you commenced the march. The marches and labors per
formed by you during this campaign will hardly find a parallel in

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 293
the history of war. The proud name heretofore acquired by the
fifteenth corps for soldierly bearing and daring deeds remains untar
nished, its lustre undimmed. During the campaign you constituted
the main portion of the flanking column of the whole army. Your
first move against the enemy was around the right of the army at
Resaca, where, by your gallantry, the enemy were driven from the
hills and his works on the main road from Vilanow to Resaca. On
the retreat of the enemy, you moved on the right flank of the army
by a circuitous route to Adairsville, in the same manner from there
to Kingston and Dallas, where, on the twenty-eighth day of May,
you met the veteran corps of Hardee, and in a severe and bloody
contest you hurled him back, killing and wounding over two thou
sand, besides capturing a large number of prisoners. You then
moved around to the left of the army, by way of Acworth, to Kene
saw Mountain, where again you met the enemy, driving him from
three lines of works, capturing over three hundred prisoners.
During your stay in front of Kenesaw Mountain, on the twenty-
seventh of June, you made one of the most daring, bold and heroic
charges of the war, against the almost impregnable position of the
enemy on Little Kenesaw. You were then moved, by way of
Marietta, to Mckajack Creek, on the right of the army ; thence back
to the extreme left, by way of Marietta and Roswell, to the Augusta
railroad, near Stone Mountain, a distance of fifty miles, and, after
effectually destroying the railroad at this point, you moved by way
of Decatur to the immediate front of the rebel stronghold, Atlanta.
Here, on the 22d day of July, you again performed your duty
nobly " as patriots and soldiers" in one of the most severe and sangui
nary conflicts of the campaign. With hardly time to recover your
almost exhausted energies, you were moved again around to the right
of the army, only to encounter the same troops against whom you
had so recently contended, and the battle of the 28th of July, at Ezra
Chapel, will long be remembered by the officers and soldiers of this
command. On that day it was the fifteenth corps, almost unaided
and alone, for four hours contested the field against the corps of Har
dee and Lee. You drove them discomfited from the field, causing
them to leave their dead and many of their wounded in your hands.
The many noble and gallant deeds performed by you on that day will
be remembered among the proudest acts of our Nation's history.
After pressing the enemy closely for several days, you again moved
to the right of the army, to the West Point Railroad, near Eairburn;
after completely destroying the road for some distance you marched
to Jonesboro', driving the enemy before you from Pond Creek, a dis-

294 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
tance of ten miles. At this point you again met the enemy, composed
of Lee's and Hardee's corps, on the 31st of August, and punished
them severely, driving them in confusion from the field, with their
dead and many wounded and prisoners left in your hands. Here,
again, by your skill and true courage you kept sacred the reputation
you have so long maintained, viz. : ' The fifteenth corps never meets
the enemy but to strike and defeat him.' On the 1st of September,
the fourteenth corps attacked Hardee, you at once opened fire on
him, and by your co-operation his defeat became a rout. Hood,
hearing the news, blew up his ammunition trains, retreated, and
Atlanta was ours.
You have marched during the campaign, in your windings, the
distance of four hundred miles; have put hors du combat more of the
enemy than your corps numbers; have captured twelve stands of
colors, two thousand four hundred and fifty prisoners and two hun
dred and ten deserters.
The course of your march is marked by the graves of patriotic
heroes who have fallen by your side; but at the same time it is more
plainly marked by the blood of traitors who have defied the Constitu
tion and laws, insulted and trampled under foot the glorious flag of
our country.
We deeply sympathize with the friends of those of our comrades-
in-arms who have fallen; our sorrows are only appeased by the knowl
edge that they fell as brave men, battling for the preservation and
perpetuation of one of the best governments on earth. "Peace be to
their ashes."
You now rest for a short time from your labors. During the respite
prepare for future action. Let your country see at all times by your
conduct that you love the cause you have espoused; that you have no
sympathy with any who would by word or deed assist vile traitors in
dismembering our mighty republic or trailing in the dust the emblem
of our national greatness and glory. You are the defenders of a gov
ernment that has blessed you heretofore with peace, happiness and
prosperity. Its perpetuity depends upon your heroism, faithfulness
and devotion.
When the time shall come to go forward again, let us go with the
determination to save our nation from threatened wreck and hopeless
ruin, not forgetting the appeal from widows and orphans that is borne
to us upon every breeze to avenge the loss of their loved ones who
have fallen in defense of their country. Be patient, obedient and
earnest, and the day is not far distant when you can return to your
bomes with the proud consolation that you have assisted in causing

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 295
the old banner to again wave from every mountain's top and over
every town and hamlet of our once happy land, and hear the shouts
of triumph ascend from a grateful people, proclaiming that once more
we have one flag and one country. John A. Logan,
Major General Commanding.

CHAPTER XXVI.
ANOTHER INTERLUDE — LOGAN ON THE STUMP AGAIN,
DEFENDING THE PARTY OF THE UNION — ASSIGNED TO
THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND —
LOGAN PERFORMS AN ACT OF RARE MAGNANIMITY —
HE ACCORDINGLY REJOINS HIS OLD CORPS AT SAVAN
NAH.
AFTER the termination of the Atlanta campaign — in
which he had borne so gallant and conspicuous a part
— Logan, again upon the suggestion of his superiors, took
another leave of absence and went north, to stump the
Western states during the Presidential campaign of 1864.
The same influence which, as we have seen, rallied the
Democrats of Egypt to the flag of their country upon the
first call to arms, was again brought to bear upon them to
support and vote for the Republican ticket. Logan worked
in this cause like a giant, and, with his rare eloquence of
speech and manner and his personal magnetism, succeeded
in winning them over; they hailed him again as their
political leader and followed his guidance; but he persist
ently declined all offices tendered to him, declaring as he
did so that he was a soldier and would not leave the service
nor lay down his sword, so long as there remained one
rebel in arms against the government. , Alluding to what
General Logan did at this time, the New Era (Illinois)
subsequently said: "During the campaign in '64, he
came home and battled for Mr. Lincoln and the Repub
lican party, and certainly contributed as much to the suc
cess of the party in this State and Indiana as any other
man. While he was doing this — fighting rebels in the field
and their friends at home — many men who have always
been supported by the party were lukewarm in the cause

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 297
of the country and the party. General Logan took bold
and decided grounds at once, and advocated using any
and all means to put down the rebellion and sustain Mr.
Lincoln's administration, while many others now promi
nent in the Republican ranks were grumbling and com
plaining at many things done to suppress opposition to the
government." General Logan's labor for the government, in the polit
ical arena prevented his return to his command before
communications with Atlanta were severed. At the con
clusion of the political campaign, however, he was called
to Washington and ordered to proceed to Nashville to
assume command of the army of the Cumberland, then
under General Thomas. With the order of supercedure
in his pocket he reached Louisville, Kentucky, and there,
learning that General Thomas had attacked the enemy in
front of Nashville, and believing in that General's ability
to conduct the engagement to a successful issue, not only
kept the document in his pocket without presenting it to
Thomas, but immediately telegraphed to General Grant,
suggesting that Thomas should not be superceded.

CHAPTER XXVII.
HE ESTABLISHES THE FIFTEENTH CORPS IN COMFORTA
BLE QUARTERS — RETURNS TO ILLINOIS AMID GREAT
REJOICING OF HER PEOPLE — MASS MEETING AT CAR
BONDALE — HIS ELOQUENT AND IMPASSIONED SPEECHES
— HIS RETURN TO THE FIELD AND HIS PROMOTION —
ASSUMES COMMAND OF THREE ARMY CORPS — STRONG
SENSE OF DUTY — RESUMES 'COMMAND OF THE FIF
TEENTH CORPS — MID-WINTER CAMPAIGN — AS A VOL
UNTEER FIREMAN — GENERAL LOGAN AS HE APPEARED
AT THE FINAL GRAND REVIEW OF TROOPS AT WASH
INGTON.
AFTER the fall of Atlanta, early in September, 1864,
the army was placed in encampments near the city
with the intention of giving it a rest so much needed after
the fatigues of the marches and battles of the preceding
four months. When he had properly established the fif
teenth corps in comfortable quarters and properly pro
vided for its wants, General Logan obtained a leave of
absence to visit his family at Carbondale, Illinois. It was
his intention to remain but a short time at home, his wish
being to accompany his command, and participate in all
future movements of the army in which he had served so
long. His return to Illinois created great rejoicing among
Ms old friends. The Presidential campaign between Mr.
Lincoln and General McClellan was at the height of its
interest and excitement. When General Logan reached
home he was at once invited to address the people upon
the all-absorbing political topics of the day, and he con
sented to do so. A large mass of people assembled at
Carbondale on the day appointed, and General Logan
delivered one of the most eloquent and impassioned
298

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 299
speeches that ever fell from his lips. He insisted that the
great issue between the parties was, whether the war should
be prosecuted to the final overthrow of the rebellion, and
the Union thus saved, or whether the war should be
declared a failure as announced by the Democratic party.
He urged his old friends to stand by the constituted
authorities of the country and vote for Mr. Lincoln.
This speech had a powerful effect; it was published and
commented upon by the newspapers in various parts of the
State. Logan had, as a Democrat, opposed the election of
Mr. Lincoln in 1860, and as a candidate for Congress had
received almost the unanimous vote of the people of
Southern Illinois. Now he urged the men who supported
him in 1860 as a Democrat to support the Republican
nominee for President as the only means of saving the
Union, and as a patriotic duty they owed to their country.
The General was invited to make a number of speeches,
and it soon became obvious that his efforts in this direction
would be of great value to the Union cause. Finally, Pres
ident Lincoln caused it to be communicated to General
Logan that he would be glad to have him continue in the
political campaign until the election.
And so it came to pass that General Logan, for the
reasons above mentioned, was not with the army during
the movements of Hood in October against General Sher
man's line of communication, nor did he accompany
General Sherman on the famous march to the sea, the
troops being on the march to assemble at Atlanta on the
day of election.
The natural logic of General Logan's line of conduct,
from the battle of Bull Run to the fall of Atlanta, was
that he should support Mr. Lincoln for re-election, but
certain things had but recently occurred, which, in the
estimation of many who considered the subject at the
time, would have justified him in withholding that labo
rious and earnest support which he gave him,

300 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
If ever a soldier won the right to retain a higher com
mand, which had devolved upon him by the casualties of
war, General Logan won it on the bloody field of July
22, 1864, after the fall of McPherson.
He had during the preceding three years been directly
engaged in the great events of the war in the West, and
had successively risen from the rank of Colonel to that of
Major General, and from the command of a regiment to
that of the fifteenth army corps, and had rendered most
valuable, conspicuous, and gallant service in every posi
tion. At last in the midst of one of the bloodiest battles
of the war he was suddenly compelled to assume command
in the field of three army corps, and he handled them
with such skill and inspired them with such enthusiasm
that he turned what at one time seemed inevitable defeat
into a great victory. The army felt that Logan had hon
orably won his spurs and would be allowed to wear them;
but, upon the recommendation of General Sherman,
within a week, President Lincoln assigned General 0. 0.
Howard to the command of the Army of the Tennessee,
and General Logan was sent back to his corps.
It is needless to say that the action was a great dis
appointment to him, and was justly considered by him as a
gross injustice. At this day no one would undertake to
impute to General Sherman or President Lincoln any im
proper motives for their action in the matter, but the fact
remains that when General Logan returned to Illinois, in
the fall of 1864, he was smarting under what he considered
a grievous injury. Nevertheless, we find that his sense of
duty rose above the feeling of personal wrong, and he
entered into the campaign in support of Mr. Lincoln as
arduously and as enthusiastically as though no cause of
complaint had ever arisen.
After General Sherman had captured Savannah, Gen
eral Logan went to that place by sea and resumed command

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 301
of the fifteenth army corps, and made ready for the great
campaign through the Carolinas.
About the 15th of January, 1865, this movement began
by assembling the army at Pocotalico and other points in
South Carolina. The march began on February 1, 1865.
The object of the campaign was of course to whip the
enemy wherever found, but the chief end in view was to
seize all the great railroad centres in South and North
Carolina and utterly destroy the system of railroads in those
States so as to effectually break up the lines of communi
cation with Lee's army at Richmond and Petersburg and
to place the great victorious army of Georgia in a position
to co-operate with General Grant in the final movements
which were to overthrow the military power of the confed
eracy. By a series of well-directed movements which in
duced the rebel Generals to believe that Sherman intended
to attack both Augusta and Savannah, and thereby pre- ,
vented the concentration of the considerable forces which
were stationed at various points in Georgia and South
Carolina, the army moved forward steadily, driving such
forces as were assembled to impede its way.
This campaign was undertaken in mid-winter; the
weather from the start was unusually inclement and
stormy; the rivers and smaller streams overflowed their ,
banks; swamps were full of water, and the roads were
almost impassable. The enemy, constantly on the alert,
destroyed bridges, obstructed roads, and hung upon the
flanks of the army. In fifty days the army had concluded
"one of the longest and most important marches ever
made by an organized army in a civilized country." It
had marched from Savannah to Goldsboro, a distance of
four hundred and twenty-five miles; it had crossed six
navigable rivers, to wit: the Savannah, Edisto, Broad,
Catawba, Pedee, and Cape Fear; it had fought battles,
captured important points by direct movement, and had

302 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
so demoralized the Confederate generals that they aban
doned Charleston, Wilmington, and other important
points, and, in sending out their munitions of war, for
safety placed them at points on the line of its march,
where they were seized and either used or destroyed.
During this part of that memorable campaign, General
Logan performed his duty with the masterly skill which
had characterized his services during the whole of the
war. When half the city of Columbia was wrapped in flames
General Logan made superhuman efforts to extinguish the
fire, working all night long with his officers and men to
control the fire which was swept from house to house by
the high gale which prevailed at the time.
In the movements from Goldsboro against General Joe
Johnston's army at Raleigh, General Logan led his corps.
When the negotiations were pending for the surrender of
Johnston's army, General Logan advised the granting of
generous terms of surrender, so as to end the bloody strife
and prevent the dispersion of the Confederate Army into
bands, the capture of which would involve enormous time
and loss of life. When the Confederate Army finally laid
down its arms, General Logan led his impatient corps
northward to Washington in a march- made memorable by
the splendid discipline and conduct of the troops, and the
rapidity with which the march was made.
Upon reaching Washington at the head of his bronzed,
scar-worn veterans, he participated in the grand review of
Sherman's army by the President. The city was full of
-people, the streets and avenues were lined with an eager
throng of patriotic and happy people, who were rejoicing
over the fact that the war was over, the Union was saved,
and that the mighty host of patriot soldiers, whose martial
tread had entered and shook to its centre nearly every one
of the revolted States, was about to return to their homes

LOGAN, THE SOLDIER. 303
and loved ones. No figure was more conspicuous on that
occasion than General Logan. Going out in July, 1861, as a
citizen to defend the National Capital in tbe first bloody
battle of the war, he came back to Washington at the head
of his victorious corps to receive the plaudits of the
people.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

GENERAL SUMMARY.

IT will be seen from what has gone before, that General
Logan has been in the most active arena of civil, mili
tary, and political life. He has been a conspicuous charac
ter upon every field of endeavor upon which he has entered.
At a very early period in his career and when he was quite
a young man, he was accorded that leadership which is
always given to those men who are recognized as possessing
accuracy of judgment, promptitude and courage in grap
pling with public questions, and devotion to the interests
of the masses of the people. As a Democrat, he fearlessly
separated himself from an administration which as an
elector he assisted in bringing into power, and with all the
energy of his nature entered into a contest with the slave
power backed up by a Democratic administration, for the
establishment of slavery in the Territory of Kansas by
force and fraud ; and while he was equally earnest in his
opposition to the Republican idea of congressional control
of the subject of slavery in the Territories, he stood up
manfully for what he conceived to be the true doctrine of
the Constitution, that is to say: the right of the people
of the Territories when organized into territorial form of
government, to decide for themselves without the interfer
ence of congressional legislation, the question whether
slavery should exist within their limits or not. To him
this doctrine seemed the one ground upon which the
country could rest in peace in regard to the question of
slavery. When, after the election of Mr. Lincoln, the Southern
States passed ordinances of secession and sought to separate
themselves from the Union, Mr. Logan hoped and believed
304

GENERAL SUMMARY. 305
that with time and a sober second thought there would be
returning reason to the Southern mind, and that the
excitement of the hour would pass away, and that war with
all its attendant horrors, grief, and destruction, would .be
averted. To this end he worked diligently as long as there
seemed to exist a ray of hope, giving his attention to such
measures in Congress as seemed calculated to allay the
excitement in the public mind and restore peace and har
mony to the country. It is a part of the history of those
times that with the complete concurrence of their constit
uency, the great majority of the Republicans in both houses
of Congress voted for amendments to the Constitution
which at this day are looked upon with amazement, and
while the speeches of Republicans and Union Democrats
in Congress differed materially in tone, their votes indi
cated substantially the same sentiment in regard to the
importance of tendering to the South the broadest measures
of pacification, and few men were willing to take the
responsibility to refrain from voting for any measure which
was believed to contain elements of concord. But with
the expiration of the Thirty-sixth Congress seemed to fade
out the last lingering hope of the settlement of the diffi
culties which agitated the country, through the instrumen
tality of congression al legislation. When the Thirty-seventh
Congress met in special session in July, 1861, under the
proclamation of President Lincoln, all men realized the
fact that union and disunion were face to face ready to
grapple in the terrible struggles of war, and that by the
conflict of arms was to be decided the question whether
the government established by our forefathers should be
maintained as an inheritance for after generations, and
whether this mighty nation stretching out from the Atlan
tic to the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, with all
its mighty resources of climate and soil, of vast prairies
and mineral lands, its mighty rivers and lakes, its valleys
and its mountains, with its thirty-six millions of people
20

306 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
should be separated into warring sections and probably the
liberties of the people go down in the mighty struggle.
With such a man as John A. Logan there could be but one
course open for him to pursue, and that was to stand by
the Union of the States, and support the lawful adminis
tration of the government in its efforts to preserve the
Union. Upon the first bloody field of the war, John A. Logan,
musket in hand, fought in the ranks, not as an enlisted
man, but as a citizen, who, serving in Congress felt it his
duty to go out and meet the enemies of his country in their
attempt to seize the national capital. It has been seen that
by the 10th of August, 1861, Mr. Logan was at the head of
the Thirty-first Illinois Volunteers as its Colonel, and that
he was engaged in all the great military operations for the
opening of the Mississippi river, for the capture of Atlanta
and for the final destruction of the Confederate army.
'onspicuous at Belmont, one of the dashing leaders at
Donelson where he was severely wounded, at the siege of
Corinth during the spring of 1862, and in all the campaigns
of that year in Tennessee and Mississippi ; advanced to
the command of a brigade and afterward to the command
of a division, one of the most intrepid, enterprising, and
bold commanders in General Grant's army during his
operations against Vicksburg, pushing across the Missis
sippi river in the night time to re-enforce and strengthen
the column led by McClernand under the eye of Grant,
and pushing forward to the battle of Port Gibson to the
sound of the enemy's cannon. At Raymond he gained a
splendid victory from the enemy with his own division,
advancing with the rest of the army for the capture of
Jackson, and two days later led his division into the bloody
battle of Champion's Hill, and with splendid military
genius detached his division from the main column and
moving by a detour, struck the enemy upon his left flank,
routed him with great slaughter and thus signally aided

GENERAL SUMMARY. 307
in securing a great victory. Three days later we find him
in front of Fort Hill the great salient angle of the rebel
fortifications at Vicksburg. Here from the 19th of May
until the 4th of July he displayed a degree of enterprise,
zeal and courage in prosecuting the siege by saps and mines
and assaults, as will be found in the annals of war.
Next we dind him at the head of the fifteenth army corps
in the great campaign against Atlanta which was almost a
continuous daily battle from the 1st of May until the
middle of August. At Resaca, at Dallas, at Kenesaw on
the 22d and 28th days of July, and during the great flank
movement which finally drove Hood from Atlanta, no man
performed more arduous labors, and no man appeared to
better advantage in the field by the display of those high
soldierly qualities of coolness and courage, of resources for
attack and defense than he. The battle of the 22d day of
July, 1864, must stand out in the history of the war more
and more conspicuously as the facts connected with it
become more fully known. The battle of the 19th of July
had been fought and won by the Army of the Cumberland
to gain the important position into which the Army of the
Tennessee was placed.
On the night of the twenty-first of July, with an
audacity and courage rarely equaled, Hood withdrew the
major part of his army from the fortifications of Atlanta,
and passing through the left and rear of the Army of the
Tennessee, burst upon it the next day like a tornado, pen
etrating its lines, slaying its commander, and for a time
seemed upon the ve"ge of putting the fifteenth, sixteenth
and seventeenth army corps to flight. At this critical
juncture, the command, by the death of McPherson,
devolved upon Logan. He saw the peril of the situation,
at once re-enforced the weak points, and by his personal
heroic example in riding along the line of men in the
midst of the battle, and informing them of the death of
McPherson and urging them to hold their position to the

308 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
last extremity aroused the whole army to such enthusiastic
devotion to duty, such a determination to hold their
ground and win the day, that although portions of the
command were attacked first in front and then in the rear,
and were compelled from time to time to change front to
engage the wily foe, they stubbornly held their ground and at
last drove Hood's army with dreadful slaughter. The loss
of the Confederates was more than three thousand two
hundred in killed alone. It must be remembered that this
battle was fought at such a distance from General Sher
man that he was unable to give any personal commands in
regard to its conduct. History has already accorded to
General Logan the honor of winning this battle.
After the Atlanta campaign we next find General Logan
in his military capacity with Sherman in the great march
from Savannah through the Carolinas, where he again
maintained and increased his reputation as a commander,
participating in all the great marches and battles of the
campaign. At last we see him when the Confederate
forces have all surrendered, marching upon the capital of
the country and participating in the great review when the
plaudits of the nation resounded the praises of the men
who had preserved the country and saved the Union, and
finally at the close of his military career when he volun
tarily resigned his commission as a Major General, he was
in command of the department and Army of the Ten
nessee. He entered that army in August, 1861, as a Col
onel and left it in 1865 as a Major General.
We next see General Logan as a candidate for Con-
gressman-at-large of the Republicans in Illinois in 1866 and
again in 1868. In these campaigns, and in the Congress
of the United States to which he was elected, during both
of these years he took a leading part before the people
and in Congress in the discussion of the questions growing
out of the war, advocating the adoption of the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Amendments, the reconstruction measures,

GENERAL SUMMARY. 309
and the policy and duty of protecting loyal citizens of
the Southern States, and always insisting upon the doc
trine that the men who fought for the preservation of the
Union had, by the arbitrament of war, won the right to
prescribe the terms upon which the people of the South
ern States, who took up arms to overthrow the govern
ment, were to be restored to their former rights and
relations to the Union and government. During this
period, General Logan delivered some of the most able
and exhaustive speeches upon these topics. They were
listened to by hundreds of thousands of people in the
various States where he spoke, and exerted a strong influ
ence in maintaining a sound public opinion upon the
questions discussed. Later on we find him in the Senate
of the United States, where he has taken, occasion to
express himself upon almost every important topic of
debate. Upon the question of revenue, taxation, and
currency, the public debt, the granting of pensions to -the
soldiers and sailors, and their wives, widows and orphans;
upon all these he has frankly and fully expressed his
opinions. For a time, with Senator Morton and other
leaders, he entertained the view, that the depressed condi
tion of the country, resulting from the panic of 1873,
would be relieved by the extension of the paper currency.
¦ He, however, at all times, earnestly opposed the proposi
tion of Mr. Pendleton and others to pay off the national
debt in the new issue of greenbacks. In 1874, he met
his Republican fellow-citizens in State Convention at
Springfield, and. there, after due consideration, resolu
tions were passed in favor of the resumption of specie
payment, and of making the national banking system
free. General Logan fully indorsed these doctrines in an
able speech before the convention, and at the next session
of Congress voted for the resumption act, and the act
(first suggested by the Illinois State Convention) for
removing the limit to the issue of national bank notes — in

310 LIFE OF JOHN A.* LOGAN.
the nomenclature of the period, making the national
banking system free.
More recently General Logan took the lead in the
Senate in opposition to the measure for the relief of
Major General Fitz John Porter. In the debates upon
this question, he has shown his capacity for handling a
subject involving details of fact and law, of massing every
important point, and being fully armed at every point, so
that in a long and sometimes acrimonious debate he was
able to meet every argument that was brought forward by
his opponents. If any one had ever doubted General
Logan's ability to hold his own on the floor of the Senate
with its oldest and most prominent members in debate,
that doubt was removed by the debate on the Fitz John
Porter Case. From the time General Logan prominently
entered public life to the present time, he has discussed
on the stump and in Congress every leading question that
has come before the American people, and upon most of
them he has been called upon to act in his capacity as
legislator. He has probably addressed more people than
any other man in the United States, and it may be safely
stated that he has constantly exerted his influence to
enlarge and more fully secure the rights of the people, to
maintain the public credit, to reduce taxation and pay off
the national debt, to preserve a sound and safe currency,
and pursue a generous course toward the soldiers of the
war, and their wives, widows and orphans, in the interest
of an honest administration of the public service, and of
its improvement, and he has labored zealously at all times
for the success and harmony of the Republican party.
He has lived in an unostentatious way, always within his
means, and has been accessible to the most humble citizen
of the Republic. As a man, he has shown himself capable
of filling every position to which he has been called, in a
most able and satisfactory manner. Efforts have been
made from time to time to disparage his abilities, and to

GENERAL SUMMARY. 311
decry him as a person unfit to fill important public sta
tions for want of cultivation and proper literary attain
ments, when in fact it is clear to the comprehension of all
who come in contact with him, that he has great intel
lectual endowments, and that he has explored almost every
field of thought, and that he now possesses a storehouse
of accurate knowledge upon every question connected with
the affairs of this country, as well as being up in liter
ature, the arts, and the sciences.
In making a study of the services of a public man, it
seems desirable to make an analysis of his characteristics
and a biography of General Logan, intended to convey a
proper knowledge of the man, would be wanting in one of
its most important parts if this was not done.
General Logan is a man of most excellent judgment ;
he is thoroughly self-reliant. In addition to his well-known
personal courage, he has the moral courage to stand by his
convictions. He always seeks to be right and is never
troubled with an anxiety to appear consistent in all his
actions in regard to a particular question, if upon a more
careful examination of the subject, he finds that he has
fallen into error. While he rarely ever makes a mistake,
he is always anxious to correct one when made. He is a
most industrious man ; with a correspondence, the volume
of which would appall most men, he keeps the run of every
thing and is careful to know that every proper request re
ceives attention. He gives close attention to all questions
before Congress and is never unprepared to take part in the
discussion of them. His familiarity with all matters con
nected with the government, and of the sources of infor
mation in relation to them, and the rapidity with which he
examines and comprehends a question, enables him to mas
ter a question with ease and dispatch. General Logan is
a man of excellent social qualities and is always an agree
able addition to any company. He is a great lover of his
home and of his family, and when not occupied with busi-

312 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
ness can almost always be found in their company. Quick
to resent a meditated affront or injury, he will never take
offense when it is not intended. Never unduly elated by
political or other success, he meets disappointment or mis
fortune with philosophy and fortitude. Possessing in great
degree the power of influencing other men, he has highly
developed the faculty of controlling himself. He has been
devoted to his country, to the interests of the people of
his State, to the Republican party, to his friends and to his
family.

CHAPTER XXIX.
UNION SPEECH OF GENERAL LOGAN, AT CHICAGO,
AUGUST 10, 1863.
r^ ENERAL LOGAN, after being introduced by Gen-
vX eral Mc Arthur to the citizens of Chicago, said:
Citizens of Chicago: Although a native of Illinois, and for the
whole of my lifetime a resident within her limits, I have, at no time
in the past, had the pleasure of addressing an audience within the
city of Chicago. Recently, however, I have been invited by a num
ber of your citizens to come into your midst and interchange views
upon the absorbing questions that now agitate the public mind. In
doing so, I do not propose to discuss party politics or questions with
a view to the advancement of any party organizations, but desire only
to speak to you with reference to the troubles that now- environ the
country and threaten the perpetuity of the government. In times
past, in the happy days when peace and quiet smiled upon our now
distracted country, we were wont to assemble together and discuss
party politics, encourage party organizations, and stimulate the minds
of the people upon issues then dividing them. In those days it was
meet and proper to speak of party issues in such a manner as was best
calculated to advance party interests; but in times like these now sur
rounding us, when our country is in the midst of a desolating civil
war, whilst it is passing through the severest trial, the greatest ordeal,
that ever afflicted a once happy and united people, it is but just to
ourselves and our country, that when we assemble together as we have
here to-night, we should have in view one end, object and aim, to
stimulate every patriotic heart in the land, and should speak and act
in such a manner as will be the least calculated to create excitement
or disturbance, and best promote unity of action, and reconcile diver
sity of opinion, so that we may all be unanimous in the support of the
constitution and the government, and the best interests of the country.
[Applause]. My countrymen, we' live under a government and a constitution,
whose laws, created by, and reflecting the voice of the people, if
obeyed and adhered to, would secure to us through all time, peace
and prosperity alike in all parts of our vast dominions. If all portions
313

314 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
of the people had maintained a proper reverence for the Constitution of
the country and the laws of the land, we would to-day be the happiest
people, blest by one of the most benign governments on the face of
the earth. Remarkable, however, as it will appear upon the pages of
history, peace, unity and harmony are no longer known in our land,
and to-day in different parts of our country, we see the Constitution
disregarded, the rights of her citizens trampled under foot and repu
diated, the powers of the government disowned and defied by a por
tion of its people, thus bringing trouble from one end of our land to
the other, and plunging the country into a relentless war, by which
many of our best and bravest have been made to sleep the sleep that
knows no waking.
Under circumstances of this character, and surrounded by the
perils that have heretofore been strangers to us, it behooves every citi
zen to pause and reflect; to divest himself of all manner of prejudice,
and to ask himself without regard to former party associations, what
duty he owes to himself, to his country and to future generations. It
makes no difference that you may have been a Democrat, a Repub
lican, or an Abolitionist, this government was established by your
fathers for you; it is a sacred trust committed to you; the laws have
been enacted by the people for themselves and their protection, and
no one can escape the duty he owes to the government to reverence
its Constitution and yield obedience to its laws. Every citizen of the
land owes his first allegiance to the government, and our freedom,
our future interests, the welfare of the whole people, the sanctity of
our household ties and domestic associations, are all bound up in the
preservation of its perpetuity. And whilst it is our duty to yield our
obedience to the government and the laws, it is equally the duty of
the government of the United States to see that the laws are faithfully
executed alike in all the States of this Union; and peace and good
order preserved all over our common country. We should bow in
respectful obedience to the expressed .will of the people and yield
willing subjection to the laws and the Constitution, and a cheerful
and prompt support to the constituted authorities of the country,
who are the agents of the entire Republic in the execution of its laws
and the enforcement of its mandates, [applause] and thus secure for
ourselves peace and good order through all portions of society.
I need not tell you that I was not a supporter of Mr. Lincoln for
the presidency; yet he was constitutionally elected by a majority of
the whole people; he was elected by all the forms required by the
laws of the land. Having been so elected, I have always been taught
that it is the duty of each and every citizen of the United States to

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 315
bow in respectful submission to the voice of the Nation. [A.pplause].
It was your duty, and my duty, and the duty of every citizen
throughout this great Republic, whether situated in Massachusetts,
South Carolina or Illinois, to recognize in him, not the private citizen
Abraham Lincoln, nor the political partizan struggling for success
before the people, but the chief magistrate of the Nation, into
whose hands for the time being, was deposited the Constitution of
the country, and who as the chief executive, was bound in the most
solemn manner to "preserve, protect, and defend it" against every
assailant whatsoever, foreign or domestic. [Loud applause.]
Does any man controvert this proposition? Does any man deny
that when the voice of the Nation has been heard, and the verdict of
the great American people has been pronounced, when all the consti
tutional prerequisites have been complied with, and the fact of the
election of the President has been announced by the very men — even
officially declared by the very men then and now bitterest in opposi
tion to him, when no question has been or can be made, does any
man, will any man dare deny, that whatever duty devolves on the
citizen under the laws and the Constitution, is then due from every
citizen to the chief magistrate -thus elected? [Cries, "The Chicago
Times does."]
It so happens that in all the past history of this government, it
has never become the duty of one candidate for the presidency to
declare under his official oath the election of his opponent. And yet
in this extraordinary crisis, surrounded by a Senate, many of whom
were then steeped in treason, the Vice-President himself an aspirant
for the high office, whilst then engaged with his co-conspirators in
their foul plotting to destroy this government, overturn its Constitu
tion, defy its power, and trample its laws under foot; John C. Breck
enridge, a name forever infamous in American history, and rendered
doubly infamous by the high honors a generous and confiding people
had bestowed upon him; a man now in arms against the very Govern
ment that once honored him — for his foul deeds an outcast from home,
hated and despised by every man of every creed in the land, he him
self announced in the Senate of the United States, as the mouth-piece
of the Constitution, that Abraham Lincoln had been duly elected Pres
ident of these United States. [Applause.]
And yet, strange as it may seem, when all this has occurred, it
has been objected to by a portion of the people of the United States
who have ever claimed to be par-excellence, constitution-loving and
law abiding people; who claim that they look to Washington, Jeffer
son, and Jackson as their guides, who claim that they are the only

316 LIFE OF JOHN A LOGAN.
true expounders of the laws and the Constitution, who claim that
they are the only people who have abided by, and executed the laws
of the country, who claim that the people of other states have always
violated laws and trampled the Constitution under foot, these people
now assert that they owe no duties to the chief magistrate thus
elected, that they are under no obligations to obey the laws that they
themselves have assisted in enacting, that they owe no allegiance to
the Government under which they were born, and no respect to the
flag that has been their shield and protection. These are the people,
who, after getting up all these claims, dissatisfied with the blessings
with which a free government could bestow upon them, who, enjoy
ing all the wealth, magnificence and luxury that a country formed
with unparalleled fertility and productiveness could secure to them,
assumed to themselves the right to establish a government, not based
upon the Constitution, but in defiance of it. No excuse could be
given for this conduct but that a President of the United States had
been elected having views not in accordance with their own.
Numerous Presidents had been elected before Mr. Lincoln, and
in no instance did they represent the whole people, and yet there was
no cause then claimed for rebellion against the government. Will it
be said that a difference of opinion upon questions of political interest
to the country will justify or excuse any portion of the people in put
ting at defiance the Federal authority? I suppose not. Will it be
said that before this dissatisfied portion of the people began to organ
ize their new government, or before the Southern States began their
attempted secession from the Union, any act was done, any deed
committed, by the Federal Government infringing the rights of those
conspirators? Was it because they had been denied any of their
rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution? Had South Caro
lina, at the time of her secession, been denied the right to export her
produce? Had her commerce been interfered with? Had the right
to regulate her domestic institutions been attempted to be controlled?
Had she been reduced below the standard of a sovereign State? Had
her citizens been deprived of any part of their entire and perfect
equality as citizens of the United States? Had she been burdened
with onerous taxation? Had her slaves been captured and freed?
No! Nothing of all this had occurred; the government, as a govern
ment, had done them no wrong, but had extended the same protection
to them as to every other pait of the United States. And even here,
in Chicago, where Abolitionism was said to have been rampant, the
United States Marshal, under the direction and counsel of one of your
distinguished citizens, who presides in the district court of the United

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 317
States, in the execution of his office and the laws of the land, after
the election of Mr. Lincoln, surrendered fugitives from labor to their
masters, and manifested to the world the determination of the Fed
eral Government to maintain its supremacy and execute its laws alike
all over the Union. It makes no difference that individuals in one
part of the country may have attempted to infringe the rights of
another; the strong arm of the government has ever been ready to
interpose in behalf of the injured party, and that factions existed was
no fault of the government. Notwithstanding all .these things, those
conspirators inflamed the passions of the people, caused one Si ate
after another to secede from the Union, organized an army to deslroy
¦ the government, oppose the execution of the laws, and defy the
power and majesty of the American nation, and thus inaugurated
one of the foulest, most wicked and damnable rebellions that ever
existed on earth. [Immense applause.] When all this was done,
there was then a duty to be performed by the President and by the
people of the United States. The Constitution of the country makes
it the imperative duty of the President of the United States to see
that the laws are faithfully executed. In this the President has no
discretion: he could not, if he would, avoid the responsibility. Per
haps some of you present here to-night, remember that at one period
of our history, Andrew Jackson was President of the United States.
Then it was that John C. Calhoun attempted to raise the foul banner
of secession. Do you remember what Jackson said then? I will tell
you. I quote from his proclamation issued December 10, 1832:
" And for what, mistaken men, for what do you throw away these
inestimable blessings? For what would you exchange your share in
the advantages and honor of the Union for the dream of separate
independence — a dream interrupted by bloody conflicts with your
neighbor, and a vile dependence on a foreign power? If your leaders
could succeed in establishing a separation, what would be your sepa
ration? The dictates of a high duty oblige me to solemnly announce
that you cannot succeed; the laws of the United States must be
executed. I have no discretionary power on the subject; my duty is
emphatically pronounced in the Constitution. Those who told you
that you might peaceably prevent their execution deceived you; they
could not have been deceived themselves; they know that a forcible
opposition could alone prevent the execution of the laws. The gov
ernment cannot accede to the mad proposition of disunion of which
you would be the first victims; its first magistrate cannot, if he
would, avoid the performance of his duty."
This is what Jackson, the old hero of the Hermitage declared in

318 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
1832. [Applause.] Then he was the champion of the Democratic
party. Then it was democratic to denounce disunion, and no Demo
crat dared avow sympathy with those conspirators. Does it make
any difference, my countrymen, that because Mr. Lincoln was not
elected by the party that sustained and supported General Jackson,
that therefore the principles he then maintained have become wrong?
Was the principle that was then regarded as good Democratic doctrine
only applicable to that time and that administration? Were secession,
nullification, and disunion to be condemned then by Jackson and his
Democratic administration, while now some of the same party, pre
tending to stand upon the same ground, and advocate the same
doctrines, maintain the same principles that endeared the old hero to
his party and to his country, and now become the apologists if not the
advocates of those infernal hell-begotten conspirators, now threatening
the integrity and perpetuity of the government?
Is it right to insist upon the application of that principle to the
government when Jackson was president, and refuse to apply it to
the same government when Mr. Lincoln is president? I tell you,
my countrymen, that is not the kind of democracy that Jackson and
Douglas taught, and it is not my kind. [Great applause.]
I tell you, my friends, that when the President called for volun
teers to aid in suppressing the insurrection, it was his duty to do so,
as much as it is the duty of a sheriff of your county to call for men to
aid him in suppressing a riot and putting down a mob in your midst;
and it was not only his duty to call for men, but it was the bounden
duty of every good citizen to obey the call and respond at once —
cheerfully, willingly, with zeal and energy. It makes no difference
that you had disagreed with the President on political questions.
The very existence of the government was imperiled; the integrity of
the Union was at stake; the laws— your laws — were put in defiance,
and therefore your own honor, safety, peace and welfare, the
honor, safety, peace and welfare of the government, and your
children's after you, all demanded that you should lay aside all
mere political opinion and rally around the chief magistrate of the
people, and aid him to save the country. One State after another
seceded from the Union. It made no difference whether they were
original States or whether they were States purchased and paid
for by the people's money. They all insisted upon the right, without
consulting the Federal Government, to walk out of the Federal Union
whenever it suited their convenience, without the consent of the
people. The great State of Florida [laughter], immense, so far as
acres are concerned, with her immense population, almost as numer-

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 319
ous as the city of Chicago, a state that has cost the Federal Govern
ment millions of money, a long and bloody war — she must retire with
all the honors of an independent power, and bid farewell to her
mother country. It mattered not that citizens of Illinois had aided
in paying for the very soil that they live upon; it mattered not that
we had expended our blood in giving peace to her borders; it mat
tered not that we had acquired the right to stand upon her soil and
claim to be within the limits of our native land, under the protection
of the flag of our fathers. All these things were ignored, and this
great State assumed all the functions of a sovereign kingdom. So
with Texas; so with Louisiana. We purchased and paid for them
with the people's money — the bones of our soldiers, now bleached upon
the sandy plains of Mexico, their lives a sacrifice in maintaining the
honor of the American name, and in vindicating the integrity and
unity of the American territory. Yet these States, without our con
sent, declare themselves out of the Union, and free, independent
sovereign kingdoms. The truth is, my fellow-citizens, our country,
great and extensive as it was and is, is not large enough to hold three
or four Presidents, with their congresses, cabinets and great aristo
crats; and so they could not wait.
But while we find this to be the case, while we find these men
declaring their independence, in violation of the Constitution, and
have made another Constitution of their own, and desire a sepa
rate President, cabinet and Congress, a separate government and
laws, all in violation of our Federal Constitution — in violation of
the compact entered into in the formation of the government —
in violation of everything and every principle descended to us from
our patriot sires; we are told that it is illegal and unconstitu
tional to prevent them from accomplishing their designs. We are
told by some that the President has no power to prevent it or to carry
on a war against the Southern States. I do not propose to argue this
question; there may be a difference between a war and an insurrec
tion. Every war may not be an insurrection, but I am sure that no
rebellion can become so great as to become a war and cease to be an
insurrection. A million of insurgent citizens in arms defying the
Federal Government and laws is but an insurrection, and the Consti
tution of the United States confers ample power upon the government
to suppress insurrection." If you will examine the Constitution of
the country, my friends, you will find that Congress has ample power
to call out all the militia to suppress insurrection. It is so clear that
no demagogue can deceive the people about it, and Congress has dis
charged its duty in doing so. From time to time laws have been

320 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
passed for this purpose, and when the forces of the country have
been called out, who, I ask, is to command them? Is it not the
President of the United States? Is he not the Commander-in-chief
of all our armies? Now, what does the Constitution mean when it
says he shall be the Commander-in-chief? Does it not mean that his
orders to that aimy are to be supreme so far as the object for which
those men are called out is concerned? It seems to me so. If, then,
these soldiers are called out to put down an insurrection, and the
President is the chief and highest officer known to the Constitution,
and if the same Constitution says that he shall with all this force and
all this power, "See that the laws are faithfully executed," that no
man with his puny arm can set them at defiance; and the Constitu
tion nowhere says how this is to be done; will not any sane man con
clude that the manner of doing it is left to the Commander-in-chief?
Are not his orders in effecting the grand end and aim of the Consti
tution, justly based on that instrument, and flowing from it? If
necessary, may he not, to suppress this insurrection, order his sol
diers to fire upon and slay the insurrectionists? May he not, in some
way, order property to be destroyed, or a dangerous, seditious, insur
rectionary person to be confined? There can be no doubt but that
by his order life may be taken by his soldiers, if it become necessary
to do so in order to suppress the insurrection; and if life may be
taken, surely property may be destroyed, or a citizen arrested and
confined, if it become necessary to do so in order to suppress the
insurrection— if it will accomplish the mandate of the Constitution
and aid in the execution of the laws. [Voice, "He'd ought to hang
them to save expense."]
These are my views upon this question, and why, may I ask,
should we permit these wrongs to exist in violation of law? Are they
not outrages on civilization and the age in which we live? Have not
those rebels and traitors, those vile conspirators, in carrying out their
insurrectionary purposes plunged the country into a bloody and
relentless war? Have they not destroyed and laid waste cities and
towns and hamlets? Have they not arrayed friend against friend,
kindred against kindred, and brother against brother? Have they
not invaded every family circle, and caused mourning and sorrow to
every hearthstone, until one wail of anguish has gone up from our
entire country? And can all these deeds be perpetrated, and yet no
power found anywhere in the government or in its constitutionally
elected officers to suppress and end it? [Cries of No, we'll end
it.] I tell you, my friends, I believe as firmly as I believe in the
existence of a God, that if there had been no constitutional privilege

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 321
or provision conf erring this power upon the government, still it would
have possessed it. I believe that governments, when once organized
and brought into existence, possess, like individuals, the inherent and
indefeasible right of self-defense, and that whenever the Constitution
is attacked, its destruction threatened, the interests, peace and pros
perity of the Nation imperiled by the act of a wrongful, unauthorized
insurrection, the government, to preserve itself, may destroy life, or
property, or whatever else threatens its existence. [Immense ap
plause.] For these reasons, when the President of the United States
called first for seventy-five thousand men to aid in suppressing the
rebellion, and again for three hundred thousand more for the same
purpose, and when he again called for other large forces for a like
purpose, I did not believe that he was violating the Constitution of
tlie country in attempting to preserve it against traitors. [Applause.]
I did not believe that those men who relinquished their homes, their
families, their business interests, their society and friends, to endure
the hardships, fatigue, exposure and perils of a soldier's life, ia
attempting to vindicate the honor of the flag of their country, to
maintain it in all its beauty and glory, were violating the Constitution
of their country.
But there are in this country certain classes of men who know
nothing but how to grumble, growl and find fault, but who openly
avow that those insurrectionists in arms against the Federal authority
cannot be subdued or conquered; that their territory is too extensive,
and their numbers too great; the only way to restore the government
is to beg and implore them to return once more to the house they
used to live in. This did not used to be the doctrine of the Demo
cratic party, nor of the old Whig party, nor of the Republican party.
In all the past history of this country, the American people, confident
in their own strength and resources, carried themselves with haughti
ness and pride when arrayed against the most powerful nations of
the earth. [Applause.] Now it has become common and fashionable
for men, some of whom pretend to belong to the Democratic party,
to ask of the Federal Government to crawl down upon their bellies,
and humbly sue for terms of peace at the hands of rebels and traitors.
Even down here at Springfield the other day, I heard of a meeting
that claimed to be a Democratic meeting, a meeting of the old party
that I have always belonged to. I find a resolution published in their
proceedings that I desire to say a word about. I desire to speak of
this resolution, because I assert most positively, that if the men con
vened in that meeting indorse what purports to be their action and
stand upon the resolution passed, they are no Democrats. [Great

322 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
applause.] The resolution to which I refer, and which no doubt
many of you have read, is called, I believe, the 23d resolution, and is
as follows: "That we believe that the further prosecution of this war [im
mense applause] tends to subvert the Constitution and entail upon this
nation all the disastrous consequences of misrule and anarchy. That
we are in favor of peace upon the basis of the restoration of the
Union [immense applause], and for the accomplishment of which we
propose a National Convention to settle upon terms of peace, which
shall have in view the restoration of the Union as it was, and the
securing by constitutional amendments of such rights to the several
States and people thereof as honor and justice demand." [Loud, pro
longed and enthusiastic applause.]
This resolution, I believe, was passed on the 17th of June, as they
declared then, that from that day, the further prosecution of the war
was unconstitutional and tended to anarchy. At that time Meade's
army had fallen back into Pennsylvania and the rebel army under
General Lee was invading the North, Rosecrans was occupying his
position in his intrenchments at Murfreesboro, Prentiss at Helena,
Grant's army was besieging Vicksburg, and that of General Banks,
Port Hudson. Now if this resolution be true, then all these armies
ought to have retired from their positions, come back north of the
Ohio river, and allow the rebels to repossess all the territorry that we
have acquired by hard fighting, in eighteen months. But they did
not do it. On the contrary, Meade, with his gallant army, drove the
rebel army from Pennsylvania, compelling them to fall back out of
Pennsylvania into Maryland and beyond the Rappahannock, scattering
his rebel hordes as chaff before the wind. [Loud applause.] This, I
suppose, was unconstitutional. At the same time Rosecrans pushed
his victorious columns beyond the rebel lines at Tullahoma, far down
toward Chattanooga, compelling Bragg and his rebellious legions to
seek safety in flight. On the same day, Prentiss at Helena, put to
route Price and his attacking columns, who fled in dismay before the
victorious troops of the Army of the Tennessee. [Loud applause.]
This too, was unconstitutional, and ought not to have been done. On
the same day, and at the same hour, when all these successes were
crowning our arms, a beneficent Providence, as if to signify his appro
bation of our cause, and render the glorious birthday of our country
in the eyes of mankind, more sacred, witnessed the triumphal entry
of our invincible legions into the rebel stronghold of Vicksburg.
[Prolonged and loud applause, and cheers for Logan.] And yet I
suppose that too was unconstitutional. But a few days later and Port

SPEECHES OF. LOGAN. 323
Hudson, the last rebel stronghold in the Mississippi valley, acknowl
edged the power of our arms, and surrendered with its garrison, to
the victorious hosts of Banks [applause], thus again opening the
Mississippi from its source to its mouth, and enabling the citizens of
Illinois and the Northwest to send their teeming harvest through the
old accustomed channel to the markets of the world; and this, too, is
unconstitutional. I do not believe, General McArthur (addressing that officer), that
when you and I, with our gallant divisions, marched down the
streets of Vicksburg, to the music of Yankee Doodle, with the old
stars and stripes floating over us, that we were violating the Constitu
tion of our country. [Loud applause. ] I do not believe that in gain
ing victory after victory, in gaining stronghold after stronghold, and
dispersing an army equal in numbers to our own, airayed against our
government, and defying its laws, we were trampling the Constitu
tion of our country under foot.
But according to these resolutions, we should have stopped on the
17th of June. All our acts since that time have been outrages upon
our country, and you and I and all our comrades ought to be tried
for treason.
This is the condition in which these men have placed us. But I
wish to notice this resolution a little further. They say that they are
in favor of a national convention. Would they have a convention in
which North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida and all those
States now in rebellion would be represented? If so, I want the gen
tlemen who introduced the resolution, and the men who favored it, to
tell how long it would take to get South Carolina to send delegates to
any convention? How would you notify them of it? How would
you induce them to send representatives? Would a member of Con
gress elected in any of these States attend any such convention? No
such thing, and they know it well. That phrase was introduced only
for the purpose of misleading and misguiding the people; and lastly,
my fellow-citizens, I desire to call your attention to the last clause of
this remarkable resolution, to show you what a strange piece of
composition it is. I am told that in this part of the country you find
a great many men who say they prefer the Union as it was, and the
Constitution as it is. Yet these gentlemen ask for a convention which
shall decide upon the terms of peace, and settle upon the Constitution
with such amendments as justice demands. At one moment they
want the Constitution as it is, and the next they want it with amend
ments, all the time, however, proclaiming that they are for the Con
stitution as it is. In my opinion, the men who are prosecuting this

324 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
war are for the Constitution as it is, and the Union as it was. I care
not to what party they have belonged; I have never yet found a man
who was supporting this war who was not a lover of the Constitution
and the Union. For myself, I am for it as it was. So I hope you all
are. I am for having South Carolina and every other State brought
back into the Union; but if these gentlemen are for the Union as it
was, with Jeff. Davis, Toombs and Slidell in the Senate, with all
those traitors restored to the high places of public trust and honor,
then I am not for it as it was. [Applause.]
I would like for those men who passed this resolution and talk of
the Constitution as it is, and the Union as it was, to inform us what
they mean. For my part, I have no opinions I desire to conceal.
Democrats, Republicans, all ought to be for restoring this govern
ment with every inch of soil, as it was, before traitors despoiled it.
[Applause.] To accomplish this, if necessary, I am in favor of using
the last dollar, of filling the last ditch with human gore, and making
bridges of human carcasses, if the government can in no other way
be restored; and any man who is not for all that is not as good a
Union man as I am, or as he ought to be, in my judgment. [Three
cheers for General Logan were again called for, and enthusiastically
given.] Now there is one easy way in which this Union can be
restored as it was. It is for every man in the loyal States to be loyal,
and then act according to his professions. Let each man love the
government, aid it, fight for it, exert all his influence in its behalf,
and assist the government and those charged with its administration
in furnishing men and means, and fighting the battles of the country.
In this way we can restore the country. Again, we can aid in restor
ing the Union as it was by giving aid and encouragement to the
officers of the law in our own State. If any measure is adopted for
the purpose of raising troops, let no man raise his voice or hand.
against it. Let every officer be firm and faithful to» his trust, and
every citizen firm in lending assistance. By this means you will
raise an army, and with that army you can put this rebellion down
at once. [Loud applause.] CONFISCATION.
There is another matter that a great deal of noise is made about,
and of which I desire to speak briefly. It is with reference to what
is known as the confiscation question, or, in other words, what rights
under the laws rebels in, arms have to property.
I ask any man whether or not these rebels did not forfeit their
right of property, by their acts of treason against the government?

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 325
Yet men object to the confiscation of rebel property. Why? Have
they been injured by it? Have they lost any of their property?
Certainly not, nor will they unless they are guilty of the same acts
that have caused the confiscation of rebel property. However, these
gentlemen want the act of treason decided against their Southern
friends, by a jury, as they say, according to the Constitution. They
are mad because we do not try Jeff. Davis and his co-conspirators, by
a jury down in Richmond. Will these men tell me that when you
find a body of men armed, bearing a flag different from ours, claim
ing they are acting under a separate government, fighting the armies
of the United States, using all the means in their power to destroy
the government, that this is not proof sufficient? Do they want any
more? What kind of a jury do they want to try four or five hun
dred thousand men in arms, with treason inscribed upon their ban
ners, defying the power of the government and trampling its laws
and Constitution under foot. [Applause.] The right way to try such
men is to try them at the point of the bayonet [great applause] and not
by juries or courts. If they do not want their property confiscated, let
them lay down their arms and return to their allegiance. If they
expected to enjoy their former rights under the laws they should not
have rebelled. If men in this country are so sensitive about the
property of rebels, just let them go down to rebeldom and advise the
rebels to lay down their arms. [Cheers.] Do you believe that if
these rebels had not broken the laws, violated the Constitution and
defied the government, their property would have been confiscated or
interfered with? If not, then, who is at fault? It is the result of
their own conduct, and we are not responsible for it, but they are.
[Applause.] Then, there is another matter that is a source of great
annoyance to many. It is the President's proclamation. When it
was issued, I said and say so yet, that, without either defending,
justifying or setting up opposition to it, I, as a soldier, was in duty
bound to obey it, and I did obey it. [Three cheers for General Logan.]
This is an act, however, charged to be unconstitutional and oppres
sive. When the proclamation was issued, one hundred days were
given the rebels to lay down their arms. If they did not at the end
of that time do so, the slaves were to be free. If they had acted in
good faith to the government, that had never done them any wrong,
and at the time prescribed returned to their allegiance, their slaves
would not have been made free by the proclamation; but they did not.
I ask you, then, was it our fault or theirs? [Cheers, cries of ' ' Good. "]
It was not our fault. They freed their negroes, and not we. They
chose between remaining in the Union with their slaves or in rebellion

326 LIFE OF JOHN ,A. LOGAN.
without them. And now I tell these m,en who are so mad in this
country, that they should have gone to "Dixie" and said to their
brothers, "Just lay down your arms, and keep your negroes; quit
fighting and all will be well." [Cheers and laughter.] But I cannot
see why men should be excited over this matter so much. The proc
lamation did not affect negroes or their masters in the part of the
country where our army was, for the reason that the negroes had all
I reed themselves before it was issued. They had mostly run away
before it was issued, and were still running up to the time I had left.
[Applause and laughter.]
If men in this country who are interested in getting the negroes
restored to traitors will take the proper eourse we will soon have the
matter settled. How will it be done? Let the rebels lay down their
arms, come back and claim protection under our Constitution, file
their petition in the United States Court, presenting a case for the
court to decide the constitutionality of the proclamation. And then
let Mr. Rebel come up and prove that he was a loyal man. [Immense
applause.] If the court declares the action of the President illegal, we will all,
I hope, abide by it. If it is declared constitutional, then it will have
its full force and effect, and I suppose none will refuse to abide by its
decision. The court is the proper tribunal to settle the question, and
none should object to its being so settled. Let us then be quiet and
see the rebellion crushed, then have the matter properly settled. If
we put down the rebellion, this mode of settling it will be satisfactory;
if -we do not put down the rebellion (as some men say we cannot),
then I am sure there ought to be no trouble about the matter, as the
rebels will not be affected by proclamations or anything we may do.
[Applause.] CONSCRIPTION.
You have been many times instructed by other styles of arguments
and dissertations upon other constitutional points, all having the same
objects in view, and that is, to render the army inefficient and power
less to suppress the rebellion. The conscription laws have not been
made an exception. This, too, they say is not constitutional, and
they are not going to wait for the question to be constitutionally settled
by the courts of the country, but they are going to resist it anyhow.
Every man who don't like the war, and is not fond of fighting, just
arrays himself with this new-fangled doctrine, and he at once becomes
a Solon or a Story, or some other great constitutional expounder, and
finds at once he is entirely justified in resisting a law ol Congress. There
is of course no use for a court. They never want a court unless a

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 327
rebel is to be the injured party, then they want a jury from the
vicinage, and every man to be tried by his peers — that is, every rebel
must be tried by rebels. I think myself they would be in a bad con
dition to be tried by honest men.
But why do these men object to the conscript law? Is it because
it does not suit them in all respects? If so, does that justify them in
resisting? Is that the good old Demociatic teaching always adhered
to heretofore by all our leaders? I think not. As for myself, I freely
admit that if I had drafted the law I would have had its provisions
different, perhaps; but since it was not my business, I am willing to
leave it to the proper agents or authorities to do it, and then abide by
it until the courts decide it null and void. Is not this right? But
how is this act wrong? I cannot see but that its main principles are
right, and that it ought to be enforced; and if there are any objections
to it, it is only in its details. But you hear it said by every peace man
that it is unconstitutional. Why, my friends, is it not a law of the
land, passed by the law-making power, and under what authority
have they enacted it? Does not the Constitution, in so many words,
confer the power on Congress to " provide for calling forth the militia
to execute the law," etc. ? Now, what does this mean? Is not this
conscription act one means or one manner of calling forth the militia?
Is it not the method of selecting who of the militia shall become
soldiers and shall aid in executing the laws? And if Congress cannot
do this, who in the world can? How is it to be done? Do these men
expect to live under a government which has not the power to main
tain itself — no power to call forth its strength — no power to adopt a
plan to ascertain who are to be its soldiers? Any government that
could not do this would be a sham and no government at all. Mobs
and riots could exist in all parts of the land, rebellion and insurrections
could arise every day, and citizens would have no alternative but to
submit to anarchy, confusion, and mob law. If gentlemen expect to
live under such a government, let them be undeceived. We have
lived under a government of law and order too long to submit to such
a thing. There never was a government in the world that did not
possess powers of this kind, and ours would have been no exception
to the rule, even without the clause in the Constitution which I
have quoted. But they, with this clause plainly in that instrument,
say the conscript act is not mentioned in it at all. Well, what if it isn't?
Do they find anything in it authorizing Jeff Davis to be president of
the southern confederacy? [Laughter.] Do they find anything in it
requiring the government to sit still and tumble to pieces — to crumble
into chaos — with no power to do anything to avoid it? They find

328 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
nothing of this kind there; but I will tell you what they do find.
They find the power there given to suppress insurrection. How? I
will tell you how: In any manner that God Almighty has placed it in
our power to do it. By killing rebels, destroying their property —
arresting and confining traitors, by conscript laws, confiscation laws —
[great applause] — that is the way it is to be done. I assert that there
is power in the Constitution to suppress insurrection; and if there was
not a word said about it there — if there was not a word in it author
izing Congress to call out the militia, the government, itself, from the
very fact of its existence, carries with it the strength and power to
organize armies and navies to execute its laws and protect itself.
Believing this, and knowing it in my heart to be so, I believe it is not
only the duty of the President and of Congress, but of each and every
citizen in this land, to stand by the government, no matter what hislocal-
ity — no matter what his politics. The government is his — his to enjoy,
his to administer, his to defend, his to transmit to his children — and no
man, unless he is a craven, a coward, or traitor, can, when all is at peril,
threatened with destruction, stand aloof and refuse to assist, by every
means in his power, to restore the government to its original condi
tion; and the man who fails to do this, who finds "ifs" and "buts,"
and holds back, is, in my opinion, wrong some way. [Applause.] I
believe, then, that each and every man ought, is in duty bound and
must, if required by the authorities, put his shoulder to the wheel
and see the government again roll on in peace and greatness as in
days past. If they do this, we will sustain the government, suppress
the rebellion, restore peace, and vanquish all assailants, whether
domestic or foreign. DISLOYAL MEN.
There are many other objections made by those growlers and
fault-finders that I might notice if time permitted, but it is wholly
unnecessary to do so, for no argument that I or any living man could
make, would satisfy some men that our government is right and Jeff
Davis is wrong; and yet these men insist that they are loyal, true and
good Union men. Go where you will all over the country, and you
will never find a solitary man who does not claim to be for the Union.
Now I have been taught all my life to. judge a tree by its fruits. It
is written that no good tree will bring forth bad fruits, nor will a bad
tree bring forth good fruits. Now, if we judge some men by their
fruits, I rather think we will be inclined to believe (however much
they may deny it) that they are not good Union men, and care less
for the Union and Government than for their own safety and ease.
Did you ever hear of a good Union man discouraging enlistments?

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 329
Did you ever hear of one denouncing the government? Do they call
the soldiers Lincoln hirelings, and Lincoln abolitionists? Do they
swear they will not fight unless to resist the draft? Do they
declare the conscription unconstitutional? Do they say they are for
putting a stop to this nigger war, and persuade the soldiers to desert
and lay around in hollows in the country to be fed by their friends?
Is this the fruits that men who love the Union exhibit? No, my
countrymen. Let them claim as much love for the tjnion as they
may, the man who does this thing is false to his country, and utters a
falsehood when he says he is for the Union and as good a Union man
as anybody. He is at heart for Jeff Davis and ought to be down there
with him. [Applause.] VALLANDIGHAM.
I hear that there is a certain gentleman over here in Ohio, a can
didate for governor, who, if all or half what is told of him be true, is
of this kind of Union men. His name is Vallandigham; he claims to
be a good Union man. And yet, all his speeches, all his acts, all his
conduct since this war begun, has been of ceaseless opposition to the
United States Government, and tending to uphold and encourage
those in rebellion against it. Have you ever heard of his persuading
anyone to enlist under the old flag and stand by the Constitution?
Have you ever heard that he sympathized with and encouraged the
soldiers in the field? Have you ever heard that in the darkest hours
of our country, he uttered a word that would nerve the patriotic heart
to deeds of glory and renown? — never, never; on the contrary, we
hear him uttering, as he said in his letter of recent date, sentiments of
this kind to the people of Ohio:
" I need not repeat my oft-declared conviction, which time has
already vindicated, that the South cannot be conquered by force of
arms." Is this the sentiment of a patriot and of a Union man? a man who
in his heart of hearts wishes for the perpetuity of this Union? Or is
it not the argument used by Davis, Beauregard and Slidell, and
their hosts of Southern traitors? And yet you hear from the men
who are supporting him the constant declaration that they are good
Union men. Now, one thing has occurred to me in his course as
passing strange. Did you ever hear of Mr. Vallandigham or his
adherents finding fault with Jeff Davis, Lee, Pemberton, Bragg or"
any other men who are in rebellion? How many speeches have been
made by him denouncing this rebellion and its leaders? Can any one
tell me? Qn the contrary do not those who indorse him openly pro
claim their preference? I was told the other day that a body of

330 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN. *
armed men down here in Illinois passed through a village and gave
cheers for Vallandigham, John Morgan and Jeff Davis. Now, my
countrymen, is this the proper result of inculcating the right kind of
Union sentiment, or is it not bad fruits brought forth by a bad
man? Now there are but two sides to this question — a man cannot
be for the Union and for Jeff Davis at the same time; he must be
either attempting to support and maintain the government in sup
pressing the rebellion, or else his acts tend to aid, encourage and sup
port those who are against us. No man can be neutral; he must be
one or the other; he must believe the government is right in using its
force against the rebels, or that it is wrong; and when we find men
using all their talents, ingenuity, ability and influence against our
own government and cause, he may pronounce as often as he pleases
and declare himself every day a thousand times a good Union man,
butit is false, and everybody can see 'it that will. [Cheers.]
I care not what he calls himself — what he calls his part — a man is
either for our Constitution or for Jeff Davis' constitution [applause];
for the laws or for mobs, for violence and rebellion. There is no
middle ground. If the war is right, it should go on vigorously; if it
is wrong, it should stop; if it is right, all should support it, and if it
is wrong, we should oppose it as Vallandigham and his followers.
Douglas uttered a great truth when he said all men must be either
patriots or traitors. PEACE MEN.
But we find men in this country who cry "Peace, peace, when
there is no peace," and they know it. What do they mean? How do
they want peace, and how are they to get it? Do they expect to get
it by stopping the war and withdrawing our army? Is that the way
they want it? If so, my countrymen, do you think they are good
Union men? Does any one think we can get peace in this way, and
3et save the Union as our fathers made it? Or do you not know that
peace in any other way than through victory, through the triumph of
our arms will be the death knell of our Union and the sure harbinger
of the independence of the rebel States? Suppose we withdraw our
armies, leave the territory we now possess, call a convention, agree to
an armistice, and do all this after two years' fighting. How long
would it be until the powers of Europe would recognize and aid the
independence of the South, and thus sever our Union forever? My
fellow-citizens, this is the cry of Jeff Davis and his minions. They
say they want peace; they want us to stop the war. They think the
North cannot conquer them; they want us to let them alone, and if
we but accede to what they desire and what their advocates in the

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 331
North here insist on, they know their independence follows as a
necessity, and the Union is destroyed.
ABUSE OF OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS.
Why is it that the time has come now when officers and soldiers
in the army are traduced and vilified from one end of the country to
the other? When was there ever a time in this country when the
country was at war, that a man engaged in the army was traduced
or slandered by a certain portion of the community? Why is it?
These soldiers will not see this government destroyed, but these men
are throwing every obstacle in the way to effect the inefficiency ©f
the army and navy. Every victory won by our armies is "a small
affair.'' It is placed upon an improper basis; somebody has "been
doing wrong;" "the victory is not sufficient;'' "it is not what we
desired." But every defeat we have is put in large letters and mag
nified. Everybody must be notified that the federal troops have been
"licked," not only whipped, but badly whipped — thousands of per
sons taken prisoners — thousands of arms taken, thousands of men
lost, and then the people are called upon to stop this "effusion of
blood," this " great carnage." The people are called upon to oppose
the government, to distrust the army, and to distrust every man in it,
and endeavors are made to cause them to get alarmed at this to such
an extent that they will seek peace upon any terms, and by that
means establish a southern confederacy and divide these States.
You will recollect a short time ago, while our army were attempt
ing to take Vicksburg, these croakers and these kickers were all the
time attempting to throw doubt upon this thing, saying the strong
hold could never be taken. All these things were said, and all these
means were employed in order to discourage the people. Why is it
that the people must be discouraged? If a man is a true man to his
government, he never will in its darkest hour do anything to dis
courage that government. It is the dark hour of this country now.
It is the period of its gravest trials. Stand by your country now.
Now is the time to do it, so that sooner or later its victory will be
won. Have confidence in your army, instead of gossiping on the
street corners with the intention of demoralizing the efficiency of that
arm of your country.
As for my part, I will advocate the interests of my country, leave
no means untried to effect its restoration. After the war is over, we
will settle our political quarrels, and if you will only do that also and
aid in encouraging the cause of your country, we will have less poli
tics, more war, and a Union all the sooner. [Thunders of applause.]

332 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.

STOREY AND THE TIMES.

In this connection, fellow-citizens, allow me to call your attention
to a matter somewhat personal to myself. It is a well-known fact,
that wherever I have been, I have only addressed the people at their
own solicitation. I did not come home to make a political canvass,
but only to try to obtain rest after the arduous duties of a long and
severe campaign. This is the only visit I have made to my home and
family for two years, with the exception of eight days soon after the
battle at Donelson. I thought, while at home, as they desired it, I
might at least tell my friends what was the condition of my country
without being accused of anything wrong for doing so. I told them
I was advocating no man or party, that in this war I knew no party,
that although I had always been a Democrat, and cherish the doc
trines of that old and honored party, yet in this contest I was for any
man, let him belong to whatever party he might, who was for his
country and who supported the government, and against every man
who did not do so, let him be of what party he might. For these
acts, I have been vilely abused and slandered.
I propose to read to you from a paper published here in your
midst, and claiming to be a Democratic paper (but this claim is as
false as h — 1), called, I believe, the Chicago Times, edited once by a
gentleman (Sheehan), but great has been its fall since then. In this
paper, of date August 8, inst., I find the following article:
"As showing how entirely Major General John A. Logan has gone
over to abolitionism, it may be mentioned that in his harangues he
adopts the cant so common for twenty years past to all abolition ora
tors. He talks about the ' meanness of the Southern people in com
pelling slaves to work for them without pay.'
"He is equal to Milroy in threats of vengeance upon Democrats in
Ihe North who have not turned Abolitionists. Speaking of the army,
he said at Cairo:
'"They have had their eyes upon these unmitigated cowards,
these opponents of the country and the administration — and the
administration, I contend, is the country — and when they return it
will do the soul of every loyal man good to see the summary manner
in which they will cause these sneaks and peace agitators to hunt
their holes.'
"At Carbondale he said:
'"If you let these people gain their designs for a Southern Con
federacy, we will have a Northwestern Confederacy. There was a
plan for this before the breaking out of the rebellion. It was talked

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 333
over by men who are steeped to the lips in treason, and if we fail to
put down the rebellion our beautiful prairies of the Northwest will
be drenched in blood.'
" Among those who before the war talked over the question of a
Northwestern Confederacy was John A. Logan, then a Representa
tive in Congress from Southern Illinois, now Major General John A,.
Logan. He said further at Carbondale:
" 'If I was President I would have no mobs. The first man who
raised his hand to- resist the law I would hang to the first tree or lamp
post. I don't blame the President for being more lenient; I only say
what I would do.'
" The reader will understand this frantic violence of a new convert
when we tell him that this same John A. Logan, at the beginning of
the war, openly encouraged recruiting in Southern Illinois for the
rebel army; that two or three of his own relatives entered the rebel
service on his advice; that he grossly insulted Stephen A. Douglas on
the streets of Springfield for the stand that patriot had taken con
cerning the war, and that heopenly instigated the people of Southern
Illinois to resist the passage south of federal troops over their soil.
" The case is simply that of a weak and ambitious man going front
one extreme to the other. He is ambitious of a major general's com
mission in the regular army.'
I made no speech at Cairo at that time; I have made none since I
have been in the army. I was there with a few friends at a dinner
party, and in a desultory manner we discussed matters connected with
the capture of Vicksburg. All that I said then, I do not now recol
lect, but one thing I do know, what I said was all right. That part,
however, attributed to me, in which I am said to have stated that the
"administration was the government," I did not say nor have I
uttered any such sentiment at any other time. I have never been so
insane as to admit or affirm that any administration was the govern
ment. In this I was misrepresented, doubtless, without intention on
the reporter's part, for I have no reason to think him anything else
than a gentleman.
As to what I am reported to have said at Carbondale, I avow it
now, repeat it here to you to-night. It is true, every word of it. But
it is charged by the editor that I "have gone over to the Abolition
ists; " that I adopt in my "harangues," as he chooses to call them, the
cant so common to Abolition orators twenty years ago; and also that
I was one who talked over a Northwestern Confederacy before the
war, and while I was a member of Congress. Let me say to the man
who published that paper that when he published it he published a

334 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
lie, knowingly, intentionally and willfully. [Great applause.] There
is not a living man on earth that ever heard me say that I was in favor
of a Northwestern Confederacy or any other confederacy, or that I
was in favor of dividing the Union by any means; and I want this
man Storey (he never spoke to me — if he did I did not know it — I
never spoke to him— if I did I am sorry for it) to tell me who told
him this. If he does not, he is himself responsible, and I brand him
as a liar, a sneak, a poltroon, coward and traitor. [Great applause.
Cheers for Logan.]
So far as this charge against me of recruiting for the rebel army,
it is too infamous and damnable to notice. And as for my insulting
Douglas in Springfield or anywhere else, it is as false as h — 1; but is •
he not a pretty man to call me to account for insulting anyone for
being a patriot? [Applause.] It is not true that I insulted Mr.
Douglas. It is not true that we were ever anything but friends at the
time he speaks of. I came with Mr. Douglas from Springfield to
Joliet. I heard him with pleasure at every station on the road, in the
advocacy of the cause of his country. After leaving him at Joliet, I
came next to Chicago; met him at the Tremont House; staid with
him, talked with him on the condition of the country. It was the
last time I ever met that great patriot and statesman. We parted as
friends. And yet this vile wretch, this animal, this crawling, slimy
creature, asserts that I insulted him because he was a patriot.
Does this man Storey know his own history? [Laughter.] If he
does, he knows it is too infamous to be written or published. He is a
man most certainly poorly fitted for heaven, and the' devil would
scorn his presence if he should appear before him to-night. When
God in his infinite power, created this universe and all living and
creeping things therein, among other things he created frogs, snakes,
lizzards and slimy, miserable, filthy things. He then looked upon
them and they were not low and mean enough to manifest his power,
and he must create some vile thing that will be viewed with disgust
and loathing by all the balance of created things — Storey of the Chi
cago Times. [Great applause.]
POSITION BEFORE THE WAR.
Now, in order to show you what an infamous slander this man has
perpetrated upon me, I will read to you a paragraph from a letter wliich
I wrote on the 31st of December, 1860, to Judge J. N. Haynie, of
Cairo. Judge Haynie is now present. I wrote from Washington, D. C.
"Entertaining honestly these views (as expressed to you through
out), I am for the Union and for maintaining it, if such a thing be

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 335
possible, and am uncompromisingly opposed to any man or set of
men, that countenance disunion, with its horrible consequences.
There is no sacrifice that I would not make for it. I have no opinions
that I would not modify in any way, consistent with the honor of my
constituents and myself, to give peace to the country." • This was the
kind of a letter I wrote in 18C0. This will show, at least, whether I
was recruiting for the rebel army. It will show to this gentleman
whether he and I agreed then, or whether I was a Union man then,
and he was conceiving treason in his own heart. [Cries of " He has
no heart."] It is by such men as these that the people are misled;
that the people are deceived. It is by people who have neither char
acter themselves, nor can they give character to anybody else, and the
Only capacity they have is the capacity for defamation. By this mau
and such men as he, the country is kept in turmoil and a state of
demoralization from one end to the other. This man is a fit subject
to go with Vallandigham, to run with him and advocate his claims
to the governorship of Ohio, a man who could never say a word
against Jeff Davis or his conduct, but always uttering sentiments
advising peace with rebellion and a compact to support the interest of
secession. The man who could do these things is a fit associate Of
Vallandigham and Vallandigham of him. I tell the men now, that this
man is trying to lead to-day, that he is a traitor to his country, and
not a Democrat in any sense. [Cheers.]
Now, fellow citizens, I want you to examine this with other sheets
of its kind, and show .me a respectable notice about any officer of the
army, or anything that pertains to the army. Here is General
McArthur. He received a notice from this sheet this morning. He
calls him an Abolitionist. He calls me one. I have no defense to
make, except to say that I am in good company when with McArthur.
I know I am' not an Abolitionist, and I do not believe General McAr
thur is one; nor do I believe this man Storey knows what an Aboli
tionist is.
I expect we have abolished as many traitors to the country as this
man can manufacture soon. [Cheers.] If this is what he means by »
it, we accept the term. [Renewed cheers and laughter.] Politically
I do not believe that either one of us is, or ever was, or ever expect to
be an Abolitionist; but I tell Mr. Storey (not Storey— Tory— Tory),
to-night that if every man in this country is called an Abolitionist that
is willing to fight for and sustain his government, let him be called so.
And I tell Mr. Storey (Tory-Tory) that if belonging to the United
States and being true and valiant' soldiers meeting the steel of South
ern revolutionists, marching to the music of this Union, loving the

336 LIFE OF JOHN A LOGAN.
flag of our country and standing by it in its severest trials — if that
makes us Abolitionists let us all be Abolitionists. [Cheers.]
If it makes a man an Abolitionist to love his country, then I love
my country; am willing to live for it and willing to die for it. If it
makes a man an Abolitionist to revere that flag, then I say, be it so.
If it makes an Abolitionist to hear " The Star-Spangled Banner " sung
upon the battle-field by our soldiers, then I am proud to be an Abo
litionist, and I wish to high heaven that we had a million more; then
our rebellion would be at an end, and peace would again fold her
gentle wings over a united people, and the old Union, the old friend
ship, again make happy the land where now the rebel flag flaunts
dismally in the sultry Southern air.
THE ARMIES.
I now desire to say something in behalf of the different armies.
We have had many victories and many reverses during this struggle,
and it is quite a common saying throughout this country that the sol
diers of the Army of the Potomac do not fight well; that they are
"Yanks" and cannot fight.
Why, my friends, I believe one editor who has used this term was
born in Vermont himself. I do not blame him for being mad at the
Yanks; he ought to be displeased at his birth-place — that it had ever
allowed such a curious thing as himself to come to light of day.
[Laughter.] I have great respect for the Army of the Potomac,
because they have fought as valiantly as ever any set of men fought
on any field. That they have been defeated is true, but it was not
tlieir fault. If there has been mismanagement it has not been the
fault of the soldiers, and they are not responsible for it. Troops have
been massed against them in such a manner as to overwhelm them,
and sometimes they have been outgeneraled; but it is not their fault.
There are many of these brave boys sleeping beneath Southern soil, and
so many battle-fields that have been strewed with their dead bodies,
that it would be ungenerous and unmanly to speak doubtingly or
-seemingly of their valor. ,But there were many reasons why they
could not be successful. I am not judge enough of the condition of
the army, nor do I know enough of its management, to give any
opinion in reference to its officers, if I desired. But I tell you to
night that if the people of Pennsylvania, New York and New York
city — the wealthiest part of the country, with as much power, per
haps, as half a dozen of the largest States in the Union — had been
united as a band of brothers, and had sustained and supported the
men of the army, and sympathized with them, felt with them, en-

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 337
couraged them, greater results might have been obtained. [Cheers.]
But because this thing has not been done, in many places these men
have failed. It is the easiest thing possible to understand that an
ai-my will fail in its object if it fails to receive the sympathy of those
at home. You have a boy in the army; he has been taught that this
is the best government on the earth, that it is his duty to sustain it;
he has been taught to believe that the "Stars and Stripes" is the
mighty and true emblem of this government, and that, being such, it
is the emblem of all that is good. He has been taught to believe
that he must fight for it, die for it, and, if need be, ask no better
winding-sheet to wrap his body in when fallen upon the field of
battle. This has been his faith, and, complying with the dictates of that
faith, he goes into the army to maintain it. And men have become
so crazed and wild in their prejudices as to induce the father of this
lad to write to him that the war is wrong. He writes a letter and
says: " My boy, I want you to return home as soon as possible; the
war is unjustifiable. You should desert; if you cannot do so and get
home, why, desert to the enemy and be paroled. Get out of this
unholy war somehow; it makes no difference how." This is the way
many of these brave boys have been written to, and what is the
result? What could be expected? The result is that the boy is dis
couraged, his energies have been crushed, and it is not possible for him
to fight the battle of his country under such circumstances.
[A shower of rain coming on at this point, and there being no
shelter for the reporters, some few of the speaker's remarks were lost.]
A great deal has been said in times gone by of the military prowess
of the South. It was said, I believe, that one Southern man could
whip five Yankees. [A voice, seven.] They have, however, become
convinced that they were mistaken in this. They are satisfied that
they cannot do any such thing, but to the contrary. It makes no
difference whether a man belongs to Northern or Southern soil so
long as he loves his country and loves the cause he is fighting for. A
man is as brave when born in one clime as in the other. They have
learned also another thing, and that the men are stronger, stouter,
and can stand more hardship than they can, and undergo a longer
fight with much less to eat than any other set of men on the face
of God's earth. [Cheers.]
We find that the little army of the West, of which I believe every
man is loyal in his heart, has traveled from Cairo over nearly every
foot of ground between the Cumberland and the Mississippi rivers,
down to the south of Vicksburg; has fought fifteen battles, and been

338 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
successful in every one. With the smallest army in the field (of the
three armies under the respective commands of Generals Meade,
Rosecrans, and Grant, General Grant's is the smallest) by having the
support and sympathy of the greater portion of the people, that army
has steadily advanced from victory to victory, and has determined to
repay the people, and this government for its confidence and protec
tion, and to this it is mainly owing that they have been successful on
every field where they have met the enemy. And there is another
reason than that for their success. It is this: there is a man who
leads them who is an Illinoisan; his name is Ulysses S. Grant. In my
judgment, he is one of the best generals the United States ever gave a
commission to. He is not what is called a talking man, but a quiet,
modest, unostentatious gentleman, and, withal, a successful man.
And what is the secret of this success? It is because he keeps his
counsel to himself, acts for himself, and judges for himself. Every
officer and soldier loves him; and for these reasons, the love for
Grant, the love for the Union, the love for the people, the love for
the country and all its interests, with all these combined to bind
them, not all the armed hosts of rebeldom hurled against them at one
time could make a single division give way on the field of battle.
[Loud and prolonged cheering.]
And I tell you now, my countrymen, when these Northwestern
men are fighting for the Union, it is for the whole nation, for Massa
chusetts as for Illinois, and to bring South Carolina back and make
her behave herself, just as much as any other State.
They are not fighting to learn the use of arms, but they will learn
the use of them, and just let any gentlemen in this country attempt
to establish this whispered Northwestern Confederacy (and I am fully
convinced that an organization for this object exists, and which, if
the Southern Confederacy should gain its independence, would act),
just let them try it on, and you will see that this little but loyal army
of General Grant'swill make them seek some other country so fast
that there will not be boats enough to carry them away. [Great
cheering.] We want all of this country, and we intend to have it all.
These false preachers, in order to convince you and to satisfy you
that you must make a contract with this so-called Southern Confed
eracy; have told you that by such action on your part you could
make arrangements to have commercial relations between the North
west and the South free from a tariff. No man or set of men would
ever desire such a thing if they would ever travel south for a short
time, and see the successes of the Southern brethren who have rebelled
against the Union, If they would only travel over that country and

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 339
see how it has been laid waste by their own armies — and then our
army marching through, perhaps, did not make it much better, but
that is the case with all armies — he will be tired of secession. We
will want the national law respected, so that there may be no more
rebellion. We have whipped them fifteen or twenty times; and if
that don't do, give them more, and whip them till they writhe with
pain. Instead of the Government of the United States asking them
for peace, make them beg for peace. [Applause.] When they do
that, there will be no more Southern nor any other rebellion in this
country. Now, I want to ask you, how is it possible for any man in a
country like this to be disloyal to his government? How is it possi
ble that any man in this country can conceive the thought or idea of
sympathizing with rebellion against such a government as this? Can
any man in Chicago, when he looks over this vast and beautiful lake,
casts his eyes back and sees this great and prosperous city — prospering
on account of the energy of its people, prospering because of the
institutions of the country, because of its equal laws and constitution
of that Government which is the same to-all — can he have any feeling
of disloyalty within him? Can a man look upon these grand pictures,
these lakes, these rivers, these plains, these prairies, this beautiful
North and South and West, with mighty rivers and lakes and mount
ains, plains and valleys, and all that there is in the country to make
it beautiful and grand; see its prosperity, its growing cities, towns
and villages; the education of the people, the state of civilization — all
these things — and when he comes to reflect upon them, is it possible
he can prove a traitor to his country? Where is the cause for it?
Where is the reason of it? Where is the excuse for it? Where is the
justification? There is none to be found, not one! And if any man
becomes disloyal, it is because there are devilish designs and corrup
tions at his heart.
My countrymen, let us look back for a few years and view the
prosperity and happiness that blessed all our land, and then cast your
eyes around you and see the condition of our country now. Do not
ask yourself who is President, or what is his politics; but ask, have
we not hitherto had a good and beneficent government? And if so,
have we not the same government yet? Your answer must be in the
affirmative; and my friends, if we are but true to ourselves, true to
our cause, true to the principles we have been, educated in from our
earliest infancy, we shall have that government still. Turn, if you
please, your thoughts to the many sanguinary battles of the Revolu
tion, gee what it cost our sires to establish this government— did

340 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
they not pour out their blood freely as water to accomplish this, to
give us this priceless heritage of national liberty and independence
under a form of government that should exist forever? Consider
these sacred remembrances of those illustrious men and then tell me,
whether it is worth preserving, tell me whether this rebellion began
in infamy, perjury and crime — carried on by blood, pillage and
treason, and so end, if successful, in destroying forever, the last hope
of mankind, tell me if this shall succeed? [Cries of "No, never."]
In all these facts, we may realize a lesson clearly pointing out our
duty. It is to lay fast hold on that old flag, keep step to the music
of the Union, unfurl its ample folds, and with a heart of courage, and
a will that knows no faltering and dismay, let it flutter over every
burg, and wave over every town and hamlet, and all traitors, like the
wicked prince of Babylon, shall smite their knees in terror and
dismay, as if the handwriting was upon the wall. Let them know
that they must bow before it, or kiss its untarnished folds, and swear
by all that is great and good never to violate its sanctity again or
infringe a right it represents — let this be done and all will be well.
And I appeal to, and entreat you all, my countrymen, by all that you
hold sacred; by the glorious memories of the past, and once bright
hopes of the future; by the memory of the gallant ones who have
fallen upon the gory fields of the South; by the wounded and suffer
ing who yet languish in our midst; by the sorrow and mourning that
this wicked rebellion has brought upon our land, once happy, to be
faithful, vigilant, untiring, unswerving, determined come what may,
dare to be men and do what is right I Stand by your country in all
her trials and at any cost.
Let it not be said that those glorious boys that now sleep beneath
the red clay of the South, or the green sod of our own loved State,
have died in vain. Let those who are traducing the soldiers of the
government know the enormity of their crime and their error — try to
reclaim them and bring them back to duty and to honor. If they heed
not your appeals — if they still persist in their errors and their here
sies— if they will not aid in maintaining the government and the laws
that protect them, and continue in their wicked aid and encourage
ment of this rebellion — send them to the other side, where they
belong, for the man who can live in this peaceful, prosperous and
happy land without being loyal and true to it, ought, like Cain, to be
branded with an indelible mark and banished forever from his native
paradise. No traitor, no sympathizer, no man who can lisp a word
in favor of this rebellion or impair the chances of the Union cause,

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 341
is fit for any other rule than Jeff Davis. He should be put in front
of the Union army, where he will get justice. [Applause.]
The man that can to-day raise his voice against the Constitution,
the laws or the government, with the design of injuring or in any
way obstructing their operation, should, if I could pass sentence
upon him, be hung fifty cubits higher than Haman, until his body
blackened in the sun and his bones rattled in the wind.
In bidding you good-night I trust I do so to loyal, good, true-
hearted citizens and patriots, who love the country, in the hope that
you may all reflect upon the duties of all men to their country in the
hour of peril, and determine, with renewed zeal and fervor, to give
such aid and assistance to the government and the army of the United
States, in the prosecution of the war, as will cause that banner again
to float in triumph from every hill and mountain-top and in every
vale, from the north to the south and from the east to the west. May
its untarnished escutcheon kiss every breeze that is wafted from the
balmy waters of the South to the frozen regions of the North, or
that comes from the golden plains of the far West to mingle with
those of the East. May it be unfurled in honor and pride upon every
ocean where civilization has penetrated, and stand side by side with
the banners of the proudest nations of the earth. [Great applause.]
Let me tell you that the assistance the people can give will secure
all this, and bring peace, honor and renown to every hearthstone and
fireside in the land. Then we can sing songs of thankfulness, joy
and praises to the great Author of all these blessings, who holds the
destinies of nations and of continents in the hollow of His hand.
Then we shall feel proud again that we bear the name of American
citizens, and shall be secure in the conviction that it will be handed
down in its strength and majesty to future generations.
This is the, boon we crave, the prize we are struggling for. Secure
these, and if we die, in the consciousness that it will be in a righteous
and holy cause and that the history of our country, when written by
an impartial pen, will do us justice and hand our names down untar
nished to our children, we shall feel satisfied and our proudest thought
shall be that we died a soldier of the Union.
Let us but feel and realize that this is the feeling of the people at
home, and that our country and friends will extend to our families
protection, sympathy, and kindness, and gratitude, and I tell you
that Jeff Davis and all his minions can never drive the Army of the
Tennessee back to the Mississippi, until it goes up with the old ban
ner floating above them proclaiming peace as we return to our homes,
. friends and family altars. [Great applause.]

342 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Speech of General Logan at DuQuoin, June 10, 1869,
in memory of the fallen heroes of the war.
Ladies and Gentlemen: We meet here to-day that we may
pay a tribute of respect to the memory of our fallen comrades. It is
important and proper for us to do this that we may see that the mem
ory of those who have fallen in the conflict for the preservation of
our institutions, and the perpetuation of liberty and Christian civiliza
tion shall ever remain fresh as the flowers of spring in our hearts.
Hence, with each succeeding year, at the return of that day when
nature is clothed in her richest garb, we should assemble together and
strew the fresh flowers of blooming May upon the sod that covers
the beloved remains of those who speak not for themselves:
For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Or busy housewife ply her evening care;
No children run to lisp their sires return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
We commemorate this day not because it is the return of the date
of any great battle which has been fought in this nation, not because
of any great event which has occurred, or because of any important
declaration made, but we select from among these that it may be
known as the day for decorating the graves of our fallen heroes and
patriots who sacrificed their lives upon the altar of their country's
weal; who bravely fought for this land, for it fell, and for it died —
those noble patriots who willingly gave up their lives that you and I
and all our fellow countrymen might have such protection under the
segis of the Constitution and laws of- a republican form of govern
ment as each and every citizen is entitled to.
This respect we pay to those men is contradistinguished from
others, not because those who thus fell and died were Christians, or
better men than many who died before them. Nor is it because of
their death alone, or the manner of their death, but because of the
sacred object for which their lives were given up. They did not die
as men ordinarily die; but as precious sacrifices offered upon the
altar of liberty; as emblems of the spirit of that freedom which burns
in the hearts of atl true patriots. What promises they had of the
future, what hopes they entertained, neither you nor I can say; but
one thing we do know, that they were patriots in life, and heroes in
death. The graves before us are the incontrovertible evidence of
this fact.
They have given, by their death, a noble example to the world;

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 343
>ne which you and I, if occasion should again occur, should be proud
o follow; a death which no man in this land should be ashamed of;
i death that will be remembered by grateful hearts. To-day you
:alled the roll, but those who lie sleeping here failed to answer the
ummons; and as the vast national roll is called throughout the land
o-day thousands of others will Ukewise fail to hear the call and to
nswer. They fell in a distant land, on rugged mountain sides, in
hady valleys, along the river's winding banks, and on the blood-
tained plain. Many sleep in far-off graves, unnumbered and unknown.
nhere their sacred ashes rest in peace. But though many leagues
way, though in graves unmarked by monument or slab, yet, not
orgotten, they live in our hearts; and we assemble here this day to
how the people of this land that a patriot's memory is held sacred
iy a grateful Nation. That his death is mourned with true and
arnest tears. That while we respect his sleeping dust, and mourn
is death, memory of his noble deeds and sacrifices is ever fresh and
;reen, engraved on the tablets of our hearts.
Then, let each father and mother, each son and daughter, in this
iroad land, whatever may have been their views in the past, or opin-
Dn now, join us in doing honor to the heroic dead. Let us show the
porld that although they sleep their long sleep, yet while time rolls
m, and patriotic hearts beat in unison with their country's good, the
aemory of such shall be fondly cherished. And in evidence of this,
rith each returning year a grateful people shall strew their graves
nth the flowers of spring — sweet emblems of innocence over the
eart of the brave.
At a time when a dark and threatening cloud rolled up from our
Duthern horizon, and the muttering of the distant thunder's roar was
eard, and fierce lightning shot out from behind the murky folds — a
me when the angry growl of war reverberated across the land in
eep and threatening tones — then it was that each patriot looked the
erce and coming storm in the face. It was then, when our beloved
juntry was trembling in the balance of fate, that these noble-hearted
eroes embarked in the cause of liberty; and when the first fire of
le enemy's guns leaped forth, it kindled a patriotic blaze in the heart
f each man and woman in the land that loved our flag — the glorious
ars and stripes; and this fire, being once kindled, glowed and burned
Qtil it swelled to one mighty blaze of patriotism, that swept across
ie continent as the fiery sheet drives along the dry prairie, and twenty
illions of Columbia's sons and daughters wheeled into the ranks of
yalty and patriotism — a mighty host, evincing their devotion to
teir flag and country; swearing before God and men that the precious

344 MEE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
liberties purchased by the blood of their forefathers should never be
sacrificed to the arm of treason or foreign foe.
There was a grand gathering there.
It was the gathering of patriotic hosts.
" In arms the huts and hamlets rise,
From winding glen, from upland town,
They poured each hardy tenant down."
***+**•*¦
" Prompt at the signal of alarms
Each son of freedom rushed to arms."
From city and country, from hill and valley, mountain and plain,
at freedom's call the bands of patriots came. Like a whirlwind the
flame rushed over the land f rem side to side, and the universal watch
word was: "This country shall be free." Such was the deep deter
mination of every true heart. Then you could see the greai, moving
mass going forward, not like the dark and stealthy mist creeping up
from the murky swamps; but like the bright Aurora, rising and
spreading his beams of azure light. Then it was that freemen united
for the purpose of wiping out, with a strong and mighty arm, the
dark stain that had gathered on the bright escutcheon of our liberty,
What a scene was then presented ! See the long line of patriots as
they come down the valley and over the mountains 1 Hear the clash
of arms and the deep boom of the cannon 1 Bugle notes in the morn
ing summoned men to take the flag of our country in hand and carry
it everywhere throughout the nation, and thus show to the world that
our republican form of government is a thing worth preserving,
worth even dying for. This was an exhibition of patriotic devotion
worthy of imitation by all those who may come after them.
When we see such devotion as was exhibited by these men, shall
we forget those who fell amid the contest? It is to show our remem
brance of these we assemble to-day — we, the citizens of the country;
we, the broken remains of the army of the Republic, the fragments
left from the fearful ravages of a bitter war. When the commotion
ended and the flag ceased to be shattered and torn by internal foes,
then we gathered together the fragments of that mighty army of lib
erty into one united band, and, though it is but the union of frag
ments, yet we call it the Grand Army of the Republic; and we have
sworn to honor the memory of our fallen comrades as long as life
shall last and our Republic lives. That long shall they live in mem
ory, if not in being. These brave men stand in history and in the
hearts of a grateful people where you and I can never stand. The
man who lays down his fortune and life for his country is a happy
man. He is relieved from the ills of life and from the shafts of cal-

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 345
umny which those are subject to who live on. The man who dies a
patriot, falls, if he falls a Christian, to rise again. For that man's
name will live as long as .time itself endures or the name of man
is written. It is indelibly enstamped upon the memory of the patri
ots who live after him, so that it will never fade from their minds.
Their names, As lonely columns stand sublime,
Flinging their standards high,
Like dials which the wizard time
Had reared to count his ages by.
This is the kind of a name the patriots win; this is the kind of a name
they will ever leave behind them. '
There is one thing connected with this subject which I have men
tioned once or twice before; but the correctness of my opinion in
regard thereto has been doubted. I have said on former occasions
that these men who died for their country did not die alone that our
flag should wave over the land; that there was more in the contest
than this — civilization was at stake, Christianity was at stake, and
liberty most certainly upon the result of the contest. I have said that
through the death of these men that not only was the flag of tbe
Republic preserved — that emblem of our liberty — but that Christianity
achieved a victory. For just below the sacred cross waves the flag of
freedom; the former forever overlooking the latter. And I say it for
the reason that, as far back as the history of the world reaches, we
find that whenever the sword has entered any free and enlightened
country to destroy it, as the nation suffered, so has its civilization and
Christianity suffered. Turn your eyes to the history of the Old
World and glance over its pages, and there you find this truth veri
fied, that wherever rebellion has destroyed governments liberal in
their form, their civil and religious progress has been blighted.
Once the honor most esteemed by enlightened and brave men, was
to be called a Roman citizen. Rome was the mistress of nations, and
for a time a mighty Republic, the home of freedom, civilization and
culture. But what is it now? A pile of majestic ruins, records of
its departed greatness, and so with other nations. Italy, once a proud
and independent people — now a nation of organ-grinders and ped
dlers. Athens, once the seat of learning, now lives only in its ruins and
history. Jerusalem, the Holy city and seat of the Christian religion,
now in the hands of oriental bigots. The verdict of history is that
where liberty is destroyed, Christianity sinks into darkness. Hence,
I say that these men fought not only for the protection of our flag,
but also for the preservation and perpetuation of Christianity in this

34G LIFE OP JOHN A. LOGAN.
land; for Christianity cannot long flourish where liberty is destroyed.
If one dies the other fades away. Christianity follows the Bible;
liberty and Christianity go together. If. one dies the other dies also.
And as it was in this land, the preservation of our flag and free insti
tutions of this country was the preservation of the Christian religion
as much as it was of the liberties of the people. And if we ask our
selves whether we believe this, I think our response must be, we do.
Then we say these men have not died in vain. They perished in a
righteous cause. And every man and woman in the country should
honor their names and hold their memory sacred so long as the flag
of Christian freedom waves aboves superstition and anarchy.
And you ought to remember tbat these soldiers from the time they
entered the army and swore allegiance to the Constitution of the
United States, gave themselves to the cause of God and their country,
in the true spirit of John Brown. Slavery became extinct, and
liberty leaped from its darkness and chains, liberated from its prison-
house by the conquering heroes, who as they marched sang with
earnestness and life that song:
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom which transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
This was the feeling that burned in the hearts of these men as they
fought for liberty and freedom. I believed then it was right, and
standing beside their graves to-day, their mouldering dust being wit
ness, I repeat it. I believed it was right.
In every country, no matter what its form of government, there is
always prejudice against the living, and sometimes this extends to the
dead. The piece of history that I now propose to give you may
sound strangely, yet it is true. We all have a deep respect for our
Revolutionary sires; we revere their memory. The name of George
Washington is precious to us all. He lives in every heart to-day.
And why? Because he was a true patriot; because he led our
patriotic sires to victory in behalf of liberty and freedom. But do
you not know that during the Revolution, which secured to us such
priceless blessings, these patriotic fathers organized a society called
the Cincinnati. Baron Steuben was the first president and George
Washington was the second, thus linking patriotic hearts in closer
bonds of union. But even they escaped not the shafts of envy. So
great was the prejudice against these Revolutionary fathers in some
parts of the country that even after the war was over and liberty won

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 347
that the. graves of some who had fallen in battle were desecrated.
Plowshares turned the turf which rested on the bosoms of fallen
braves, and from the soil, enriched by their sacred ashes, ruthless
avarice reaped a bounteous harvest. Are you not aware that one
State, Rhode Island, passed a law that no man belonging to that
organization should hold office in that State, and that Massachusetts
also condemned it, and that afterward the pressure was so strong
against these acts that the same States repealed them? Such has
always been the course of prejudice. It grows without reason or
cause, even in a land where patriots live and freedom and liberty
flourish. And it is the same to day as in the past.
Out of that society has our present organization grown. It has
been formed to honor the patriotic dead, and keep ever living and
fresh the memory of their noble deeds; to preserve their sacred
names and graves from the blighting hand of prejudice, for the
time is coming when all this prejudice will be swept away. The
Grand Army of the Republic has been organized on nearly the same
basis as the Cincinnati, and for nearly the same object. It is a seeret
society taken from the order of our forefathers, and here are the
first fruits of that society. It was not organized for the purpose of
raising any one man, or set of men, or party, to position and power;
but for the purpose of preserving the names and memories of those
heroes who have fallen in the contest for their country's life, and for
protecting their widows and orphans. And from that society pro
ceeds this idea of strewing their comrades' graves with flowers.
From it the order was issued for the purpose of keeping their mem
ories ever green in the minds of the living, and to perpetuate in the
hearts of the people of this country the principle that lives in this
government, and for which our fallen comrades died — the great prin
ciple of liberty, the idea of freedom and universal equality in our
government under the laws so far as individual rights are concerned.
The grand and glorious object for which these men poured out their
blood and forfeited their lives should be kept alive in each heart.
This is the grand idea we have in view. If this is envy, then
the organization is wrong, the strewing of these graves with flowers
is wrong, the cause for which they perished was wrong, and they died
in vain. Let no man thus slander the heroic dead. Believing that
they were right and that their cause was an holy one, we have gath
ered around these sacred mounds to-day for the purpose of solemnly
pledging ourselves that this noble purpose shall be carried out by us
while we live; and that we will teach it to our children, so that, when
we too are numbered with the dead, those who remain may catch up

348 MFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
the refrain of liberty and inspire every bosom with the desire to emu
late the deeds of those who sleep before us. For this purpose, and
with this noble object in view, we mutually pledge ourselves one to
another. Then as oft as the 30th of May returns with time's annual round,
let a grateful nation remember its dead, and with a floral offering
decorate the tombs of its fallen heroes, while the dropping tear
moistens the ccAd sod that covers their sleeping dust. To them we
owe the liberty we enjoy, to them we owe the preservation of our
institutions, and shall we not hold them in grateful remembrance?
And though we may often differ in opinion, let us here be united. In
God's name, let us respect and love the dead who have died for us.
Let this beautiful custom be perpetuated until the day shall
become a hallowed day in the history of freedom. It carries with it
the idea of our loss, and dear cost of liberty. It brings fresh to mind
the deeds of our country's martyrs, it keeps alive and warm the great
principles for which our sires poured out their blood, and on which our
Republic is based. Turn your eyes upon those quiet graves, how
sweetly sleep the precious dead.
I They lived for a name, for their country they died.
They were all that to life entwined them.
Not soon shall the tears of their country be dried,
So long as their friends stay behind them.

[From the Iowa State Eegister, June 6, 1877.]
A HERO'S ELOQUENCE — A BRILLIANT BATTLE PICTURE BY GENERAL
JOHN A. LOGAN.
I suppose there is not here to-day one who took up arms in defense
of the country, who does not on an occasion of this kind see the vast
armies marshaled again and passing in panorama before him, and as
the picture flashes before the mind, how his heart swells, his imagi
nation grows, and in a moment again he hears the word of command,
and on yonder high ground, in the midst of the tall oaks, he sees the
line of enemy moving; he hears the muffled drum in the distance,
the bugle notes to the cavalry to forward, the dull heavy rumbling of
artillery carriages, the heavy tramp of infantry columns, the com
mands of officers, "Forward, guide center." On they come. What
a sight 1 He wonders why our own lines are not moving. An officer
rides up and gives orders, and moves on to some other command.
Soon orderlies and staff officers are seen riding from camp to camp,

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 349
at full speed, the long roll is heard, "To arms," "To arms," the line
is quickly formed; skirmishers are deployed; the artillery moves; the
cavalry takes position on the flanks; the order is given to "Forward
the skirmish line; " a shot is heard, then another, then another; the
skirmishers engage; they are supported by one detachment after
another from the main line; he hears the rattle of musketry, growing
quick and sharp, sounding like hail pouring down; then the cavalry
move; the artillery opens, and, like thunders in the heavens, it roars;
the very ground shakes and trembles under the shock; the shells
shriek through the air, bursting and shooting forth flames of fire,
dealing out death and desolation in their track; the infantry are all
engaged; the rattle of musketry is heard as the long roll from a
thousand drums is given; charge after charge is made, one line gives
way, then recovers, the other falls back, then moves forward; the
sabre-stroke is heard; the cavalry engages in deadly fight; the air is
thick with sulphurous smoke as if from the bottomless pit; the light
ning streams of flame flash across the field; the wounded are carried
to the rear; the groans of the dying float on the air; the right flank
of our line is turned, and on in deadly arms comes the enemy; the
musketry pours death into our columns; the artillery makes wide
gaps in our lines with its deadly shells; our cavalry on the right is
retreating from the field in the midst of great slaughter; there is a
lull in the firing; a weak spot is discovered in the enemy's center, the
command is heard, "Close up," "Steady," "Forward, march;" on
the columns move, receiving the fire of the enemy, and as our lines
are thinned, the command heard is "Close up," "Close up;" the
space is filled, on our columns move; the stern command is given,
" Charge bayonets; " with the glistening steel to the front, with hands
clenched on the guns, forward they move at steady step; the com
mand is given to " Charge along the whole line;" the artillery opens
its deadly fire; the cavalry on the left come, sabre in hand like a
hurricane; the infantry move at a rapid pace; the very earth shakes
beneath the tread; the breasts of brave men heave, the eyes glare, the
teeth are firmly set, and the great line with " Liberty" on their colors
sweep forward, and the air resounds with the voices shouting "Vic
tory or death; " as they sweep on over wall and ditch. They break
the enemy's center, and in confusion the enemy roll back, they retire
slowly, fighting desperately; bayonet strikes against bayonet, saber
clashes against saber; fire flashes from the highly-tempered steel; then
hand to hand they fight, and in both lines thick and fast they fall;
horses trample over the dying and the dead, where in piles they lay;
the enemy again fall back on the left; they retreat ou their right,

350 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
they are in confusion, broken in the center; they are lost; they leave
the field; the day is ours! In memory we gaze; the field is literally
covered with muskets, camp equipage, cannon, wounded, dying and
dead; a shout goes up along our lines; the air resounds with cheer
npon cheer, when, high over the battle plain, the old starry banner
we bore flashes out its stars of glory.

LETTER OF HON. JOHN A. LOGAN TO HON. JOHN A. RAWLINS, SECRE
TARY OF WAR, IN REGARD TO THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUING
THE IMPROVEMENTS OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER.
Washington, June 17, 1869.
Sir: The importance which we of the West attach to the contin
uation of the improvement of the Illinois river makes it proper that I
should submit to you, in brief, the claims which should commend
that subject to your favorable consideration.
In 1852 Congress passed an act entitled "An act making appro
priations for the improvement of certain harbors and rivers," approved
August 30, 1852. In the body of that act occurs this section: " For
the improvement of the navigation of the Illinois river, the sum of
$20,000." In 1853 work was commenced under this appropriation.
In the report of Joseph E. Johnston, "superintendent of western
river improvements " (which may be found in Executive Document,
Second Session, Thirty -third Congress, Vol. I. part II., 1854r-5, page
222, dated Washington, September 27, 1854), he says: "In the fall
of 1853 the Illinois was surveyed from its mouth to Copperas creek —
one hundred and fifty miles — and a channel cut through Guilford
bar. The work was resumed in April, 1854; the survey continued to
the mouth of the canal, the dredge boat in the meantime working on
Naples flats. When the survey was finished the dredge boat was
removed to Spring Creek bar, the one nearest the canal, and employed
upon it and Hennepin flats until the 11th of July, when it grounded.
The board of engineers of lakes, harbors, and western rivers recom
mended in their reportof August 1, 1854, the extension of the survey
of the river to LaSalle."
In this report be asks for a further appropriation of $20,000,
showing that the dredging of the bars and flats in said river was
deemed very important to its navigation. I would also call attention
to the report of the United States agent, made to Colonel Johnston,
dated August 26, 1854, in which he says: " The improvement effected
consists in cutting out of Guilford bar, on the lower part of the. river,

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 351
in the fall of 1853, making it easy for low water navigation. In
April, of the present year, 1,870 cubic yards of shells were removed
from Naples flats, when the boat was transferred to Spring Creek
bar; 1,500 yards were removed, making both comparatively easy of
passage, but not to the extent contemplated. From thence the boat
was removed to Hennepin flats, from which was removed 1,300 yards,
when she grounded, and where she now lies, waiting for a rise in the
river. The river business consists in the transit trade between the
eastern collection districts and the west, via the port of Chicago, to
the ports of Alton and St. Louis, and way trade of the river country
in both directions. The passage of boats by the Gopher for tho
months of May, June, July, and August eastward amount to 460
steamboats and 989 canal boats and barges of 120 tons average, being
towed by steam-tugs. This is for the trade passing eastward. The
western way trade is independent of this."
Following these reports, Congress, up to 1868, continuously pro
vided for the continuation of the survey of the said river, under the
direction of the Secretary ot War. In June, 1868, the House of
Representatives passed a bill making appropriations for the repairs,
preservation and completion of certain public works, and for other
purposes, in which bill eighty-five thousand dollars was appropriated
for the continuation of the work upon the Illinois river. The bill
failed, however, to become a law. In order, however, that the neces
sary work on rivers and harbors should not stop, Congress, in July
of the same year, passed an act entitled "An act making appropria
tions to supply the deficiencies in appropriations for the service of the
government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1868, and for other
purposes;" approved July 26, 1868; wliich provided " for the repair,
preservation, extension and completion of certain public works on
rivers and harbors, to be expended-, under the direction of the Secre
tary of War, $1,500,000; provided, that said expenditures shall not
be applied to any works not mentioned in the bill making appropria
tions for repairs, preservation and completion of certain public works,
and for other purposes, which passed the House of Representatives
June 30, 1868."
Under the provisions of this act, the Secretary of War allotted, in
accordance with the provisions of the House bill, which failed to
become a law, eighty-five thousand dollars, to be expended in the
continuation of the work upon the Illinois river, by which said allot
ment and order of the Secretary of War, the said eighty-five thousand
dollars became a credit in favor of the Illinois river, the same as if
$h_e bill which passed the House qf Representatives, June 30, 1,868,

352 LIFE OF JOHN A LOGAN.
had become a law. But afterward, August 27, 1868, on the recom
mendation of Colonel J. H. Wilson, the Chief of Engineers, General
Humphreys asked a division of said appropriation of eighty-five
thousand dollars, to the work on the Rock Island rapids, which was
accordingly done, by the approval of the Secretary of War, August
31, 1868, thereby preventing the expenditure of the said sum on the
Illinois river, where it legitimately belonged, and expending it where
it was not contemplated by law.
Congress, at its last session, evidently having the same objects in
view which prompted the act of July 26, 1868, passed an act entitled
" An act making an appropriation for the improvement of rivers and
harbors for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, and the year ending
June 30, 1870," the text of which is as follows: "Be it enacted by
tbe Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
A merica in Congress assembled, that the sum of two million dollars
is hereby appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 29, 1869, and
the year ending June 30, 1870, to be expended fer the repair, exten
sion, preservation and completion of works for the improvements of
rivers and harbors, under the direction of the Secretary of War; pro
vided, that the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to cause such
expenditures to be made so as best to subserve the interests of com
merce, and he is required to report to Congress at the opening of its
December session, all expenditures made under the provisions of this
act up to that time, in detail." Approved April 10, 1869.
I am informed that the Chief of Engineers to the Secretary of
War has made no recommendation for an allotment of any of this
appropriation of two millions of dollars to be expended in the
improvement of the Illinois river. Why this important work has
been overlooked in the allotment of this appropriation is something
that I cannot understand. It certainly cannot be that this law is so
construed as to exclude the continuation of the work on the Illinois
river. It was evidently intended only to include works of improve
ment already commenced, and the appropriation might be expended
either for the repair of works completed or the extension and contin
uation of the works commenced, or the preservation of those com
pleted or only partially completed. By comparison of this statute
with the statute of July 26, 1868, it will be found that the same
language is used in both; and I presume that I am not mistaken when
I say that both statutes were prepared by the able Chief of Engineers
to the War Department now in charge.
Under the statute of July 26, 1868, an allotment was made by
the Secretary of War, for the improvement of the Illinois river,

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 353
on the recommendation of the same Chief of Engineers. So far as
the construction of the law is concerned it has already been properly
construed by your predecessor, so as to include the work on the
Illinois river. It will not do to say that the continuation of this work
would not well subserve the interests of commerce. Without going
into a discussion on that subject, I will merely refer you to tbe
reports lhat have been made by different engineers under the sanction
of the government, from 1852 to the present time. And especially in
this connection do I call your attention to the exhaustive report of
Colonel J. H. Wilson, of the date of February 15, 1867, hereto
appended, in which he regards it as one of the most important works
for the country, in both a military and commercial point of view.
Neither will it do to exclude this great interest from its share in that
appropriation on the ground of the insufficiency of the appropriation.
It was not expected that it would complete all of the works to which
it might be applied. The intention clearly was ^ to use it in the best
manner for the purpose of the preservation, extension or continuation
of the works which were important in the development of a great
country. If we were to wait until we should get appropriations
sufficient to complete any great work, made to apply to that particular
work, we would wait a long time before we should have a sufficient
appropriation for that purpose. It is only by applying such amounts
as come to us under appropriations from time to time, in the contin
uation or preservation of a work that we are enabled to complete that
work. The State of Illinois, at the last session of its Legislature, appro
priated $400,000 to be expended on the improvements of the Illinois
River, and with a fair allotment of this $2,000,000 government appro
priation we will be enabled to do a permanent work in the improve
ment of the navigation of that river, so as to insure a good outlet
from the great chain of lakes to the Mississippi.
The work must not be considered as merely important to the State
of Illinois, and that, therefore, that State should complete it; but it
must be regarded from a national point of view. No dispassionate
mind can regard it otherwise than as a great national work— one that
looks to water transportation, at no distant day, to and from the
Atlantic ocean.
I do not desire to enter into a lengthy discussion on this subject
with the Secretary of War, being satisfied that a work of so great
importance will commend itself to his good judgment.
I have, therefore, preferred merely to call your attention to the
statutes and reports directly connected with this enterprise, and as
as

354 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
one of the Representatives of the State of Illinois I deem it not
improper to ask you, sir, that this great interest shall not be ignored,
and that a fair, just and appropriate allotment of this national appro
priation shall be made.
Such allotment, together with the $85,000 heretofore allotted,
which should properly stand to its credit to be expended, under your
official direction, on the continuation and extension of the improve
ment of the navigation of the Illinois river, will guarantee the suc
cess of a great national undertaking, the importance of which cannot
be over-estimated. I am, sir,
Very respectfully, Your obedient servant,
John A. Logan.
Hon. John A. Rawlins, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.

SPEECH AT SPKINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, MARCH 13, 1872.
General John A. Logan made a speech at Cairo, Illi
nois, a few days ago, and he said, during his remarks:
Mr. Schurz says he is in favor of filling up the bloody chasm
between the rebels of the South and the loyal men of the North.
Yes, my fellow-citizens, I suppose he is sincere in what he says.
He says let the chasm be filled up with Grant men. Who are the
Grant men in this country? The Grant men are the men who went
forward to fight in favor of this Union. To aid and sustain it in its
direst troubles and worst calamities. [Applause.] The loyal people
of this land, the wounded men, the one-armed men, the one-legged
men, the old men and the old women that prayed for the success of
the Union arms, — these are the Grant people of the country.
You are to fill the bloody chasm with these people.
For what purpose? That the rebels may walk over their bodies
according to this man Schurz. Fill the bloody chasm with the loyal
people of this country! Why didn't he say fill the chasm with the
bodies of rebels? I do not desire anything of that kind. I don't
want any slaughter, either in figure or in reality; not even if it is to
be done in imagination. I don't want anything of the kind. I don't
want my imagination to go so far as to cause any bodies to be used
for that purpose. But I tell you the bloody chasm has been filled; it
was filled with the bodies of the men who fought on both sides — on
the Union side., and on the rebel side; filled with the bodies of Union

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 355-
men as good as ever shouldered a musket in defense of any country
or any cause.
Is it not strange to you to-night that a man like Senator Schurz,
who claims to be a Union soldier — and I have nothing to say about
that except to refer.to Greeley's "History of the Rebellion; " as he is
their authority, I am willing to let him speak, though I accord him all
patriotism during the war; — I say is it not strange that he should so
express himself?
They desire to fill this chasm with the bodies of Union men. In
deed, this is strange 1
LOGAN ON THE WITNESS STAND IN THE CREDIT MOBILIER.
Judge Poland: Well, we are now through with this part of the
case. The name of Senator Logan was mentioned a day or two ago,
and he is here at my request to make a statement.
Senator Logan was then sworn, and testified as follows:
I have seen the testimony of Mr. Ames given before the committee;
I have nothing whatever to conceal in this transaction so far as I am
concerned; Mr. Ames said I agreed with him to purchase certain
stock; I did so in 1867 or 1868; I agreed to purchase ten shares of the
stock at par; I paid nothing to Mr. Ames at 1hat time, and received
no stock; on the 20th of June following Mr. Ames came to me and
said the stock was entitled to a dividend or dividends; he made a
statement and gave me, which showed that the dividends up to that
time paid the amount due, and left a balance of $329; Mr. Ames
handed me a check for this amount; I had paid Mr. Ames no money
and he had given me no stock; I took the check with the understand
ing that if I did not conclude to receive the stock within a few days
I would let him know; I kept the check three or four days before I
asked the cash on it; then I presented it to the Sergeant-at-arms, in his
office and received the money; I retained it for a few days and thought
about the matter; in the meantime I received a letter from a friend
giving me some information about the matter, when I went to Mr.
Ames and told him I would not take the stock; he said very well, and
remarked that it was good stock, or he thought it a good investment
— something of the sort; I paid him back the $329 with, I think, $2
interest; Mr, Ames hesitated about the interest, the time having been
so short, but I insisted on his taking it, and thus the matter ended; the
memorandum I made at the time refreshes my memory ; I don't say this
to the. committee by way of excuse, or to cover up anything, but state
the facts as they are; the stock was never delivered to me or to anybody
for me, nor have I ever received anything directly or indirectly, except

356 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
as I have stated here; I had no hesitation in making the agreement
with Mr. Ames to take the stock at the time, and so far as corruption
or wrong was concerned, there was no legislation before Congress
at the time affecting the road; I don't recollect of any legislation in
regard to the road during the negotiation between Mr. Ames and my
self; as far as influence was concerned there was no necessity for Mr.
Ames or anybody else making a bargain to obtain my influence; my
constituency was favorably disposed toward the road, and I was
naturally a friend to it; I have always voted to sustain the road, and
would do so to-day.

[From the Shawneetown Mercury, September 26, 1872.]
General Logan, in his Fairbury speech, paid a truthful
and handsome compliment to the Eepublican party and
the administration of President Grant in the brief extract
we publish below. It was a clear statement of the whole
matter in a few words, and is worthy of a careful study:
The Republican party stands upon the principles upon which
this government was founded, and by the success of wliich, during
the last twelve years, a gigantic rebellion has been crushed, and peace,
prosperity and happiness been made to smile on our whole land.
What is now the position of our Democratic friends in relation to
these great questions which interest us all so much to-day? You may
call that party Democratic, Liberal, or whatever name you choose,
but I state the fact to be, that you have abandoned every principle
that you ever advocated.
If the old Democratic party believed in the doctrine of so-called
" State rights," and if you believed that theory of government to have
been true in theory, I ask you why it is that you have abandoned it
altogether, and permitted yourselves to be sold out, like mere voting
machines, to old Horace Greeley?
The Republican theory was that States had certain rights under
the general government, and that within the limits of their powers
not delegated to the general government they had perfect freedom to
act. The two theories came into conflict force against force, in the
late terrible conflict, and the decision was made by the arbitrament of
the sword. At the close of the war, then came the work of recon
struction — the finance, the landed interests, the homestead interests,
to be legislated upon — and they were all Republican measures — and

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 357
they have been successfully carried out in pursuance of the Repub
lican theories.
You, as a Nation, have expanded and grown . greater under
Republican rule within the last ten years, to a degree, and in a ratio
greater than you did in forty years under Democratic rule.
The financial theory of the Republican party has been ratified
by a full and complete success; and if you Democrats and Liberals
go forward you must go on our line; and if you follow, your line
must go backward.
If you propose to change the foreign and domestic policy of this
government, for God's sake get us some other commander-in-chief
besides old Horace Greeley! Greeley says you Democrats are alia
set of scoundrels, liars, thieves and cut-throats — which I certainly
do not believe — but he says so, and you admit it by nominating him
as your candidate for President at Baltimore. Great God! to see
a Democrat voting for Horace Greeley!! If the day of miracles were
not past, we should be inclined to think this the most wonderful of
any on record. These Liberal sore- heads are just using you as a Demo
cratic cat's paw — a sponge to clean up their dirt with — and you have
nothing to say.
The position of the Democratic ¦ party is a very humiliating one
indeed. These Liberals turn to the Republican party and say: As Sumner,
Schurz, Trumbull, Tipton, Palmer and Kcerner have all left you, how
are you going to get along without them?
The question is not how are we going to get along without them —
but it is, rather, howin thunder we ever got along with them!
In "losing " them the Republican party has got rid of the biggest
part of its corruption.
When Schurz goes about the country — a paid mercenary— talking
about the " corruption " of the Republican party, — he lies, — and if
any one takes exception to that statement, just tell him that John A.
Logan- said it.
Under the Republican administration of President Grant the
country is prosperous, and every department of trade and every indus
try is flourishing more extensively than ever before — and not until
every citizen, without regard to race, or color, is protected in all
his civil rights, and the laws shall be equally enforced in every State
in this Union — will the mission of the Republican party be fulfilled.

358 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.

[From the Joliet (DI.) Post and Mail, May 25, 1876.]
For twenty years John A. Logan, of Illinois, has been in active
public life, and no dishonorable act has stained his record. Amid all
the storm of calumny and abuse hurled at prominent men, both with
cause and without, Senator Logan stands unscathed, and no attempt
has been made to sully his character. No dishonor attaches, or can
attach to his name. No man can point to a single act of corruption
or fraud and say that it is the work of John A. Logan. As a legisla
tor, a statesman, and a soldier, he stands the proud peer of our
Nation's best men, and would, if he could be elected, fill the Presiden
tial chair as gracefully, as ably, and as honorably as any of the dis
tinguished gentlemen whose names have been mentioned in that
connection. The Post and Mail simply gives voice to the public
sentiment when it asks why should not Illinois present the name of
Senator John A. Logan as a candidate for President at Cincinnati?
Surely he has served the State long enough and faithfully enough to re
ceive, unsolicited, this mark of her people's gratitude and appreciation.
Pennsylvania will cast her vote for Governor Hartranft, her "favorite
son "^Kentucky presents Mr. Bristow; Ohio will rally for Governor
Hayes; Maine votes for Blaine; Indiana will endorse Governor Mor
ton; and why should not Illinois go into the Cincinnati Convention
with the name of Senator Logan inscribed upon her banners, and cast
her first vote, at least, for him? If his spotless life, his long years of
faithful service, and his fidelity to the interests of this State, are
worthy of consideration, the people of Illinois owe it to themselves,
as well as to him, to present as a"candidate, and support by their
votes, their distinguished fellow citizen, John A. Logan, for President
of the United States,

LOGAN'S POPULARITY WITH THE PEOPLE.
[From the Chicago Tribune, Thursday, January 2, 1879.]
Neither your "great reformer," nor your cheating, vote-buying
politician, can see the least reason in the world why General John
A. Logan should have a following in hr "tn State, as well as
throughout the Northwest, far exceeding that oi c_*>y other of his
cotemporaries. Personal interests, old sores, and petty spites seer« ta
have rendered these people partially blind. To ~one, however, wno
has watched the progress of events with an " unphilosophic " eye,

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 359
the reason is plain: During all the troublous period of the war, all
the stormy, hesitating days of reconstruction, as well as through these
later times, which have witnessed the shame' and disgrace of the total
disfranchisement of the Republicans of the South, General Logan's
feelings, interests, and sympathies have been only an honest and fair
exponent of the true Republican sentiment of the Nation. In this
respect he stands almost singly and alone among our leading states
men. When others have faltered, either through fear, false notions
of expediency, or from a desire to make experiments in the way of
conciliating the utterly irreconcilable Southern leaders, Gen. Logan
has occupied no position of doubt or uncertainty. Better than any
other leading statesman has he seemed to understand those gentlemen.
Standing squarely upon the Republican doctrine of the equality of all
men before the law, he has never hesitated a moment as to his duty.
All he has asked is simply that justice and equality of political rights
shall prevail at the South, as they ever do throughout our free North
west. He is no friend to the agitation of this great sectional issue,
except to secure the constitutional rights of all the people — the hum
blest as well as the highest. This position is perfectly unassailable
and impregnable. The people everywhere understand this matter,
and they know that John A. Logan never failed them in a critical
time, whether he was leading his men to victory, or repelling the
plantation arrogance of Southern "statesmen." The inspiration of
his actions seems to be that of the people themselves — spontaneous,
impulsive, right! His record in this respect is without spot, blemish,
or weakness! How very few are the public men of whom this can be
truthfully said! "We have seen them yielding here, and experiment
ing and compromising there, when the rights of men were in the scale.
The -people understand all this business better than the philosophers
and the cheating politicians give them the credit of doing, and they
know that Logan has been faithful all through this post-bellum agita
tion, though often standing almost alone.'
On the march from Atlanta to the sea, a Democratic corps com
mander left the swarms of colored people who gathered about the
army behind him when he crossed a river, abandoning them to the
tender mercies of the rebel cavalry. Logan, hearing of this atrocious
meanness and poltroonery, ordered the pontoons to be left and de
fended until the last of the loyal blacks were safely over. In the
Senate Chamber, General Gordon, who figured so conspicuously as a
Ku-Klux leader, and who lately bears an unpleasant notoriety in con
nection with the " cipher dispatches," one day asserted that Logan
must prove one of his statements or "take it back."

360 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
" I'm not the sort of man who takes things back," was the instant
reply of the Senator from Illinois, and the ex-rebel general soon found
that plantation manners could not be relied upon in that quarter. It
is such points as these in the character and career of John A. Logan
that excite enthusiasm and endear him so to the people far and wide,
and which are now bearing him on to an assured success — and the
proudest success of his life.

LOGAN AT FORT DONELSON.
[From the Anderson (Ky.) News.]
General John A. Logan, who was recently elected to«the United
States Senate by the Republicans of the Illinois Legislature, was found
severely wounded on the battle-field of Fort Donelson by our esteemed
Circuit Clerk, Captain W. E. Bell, who, thinking him dead, took off
his splendid sword and belt and sent them to his family. Captain
Bell, who was then a gallant Confederate soldier, came upon General
Logan stretched out upon the ground, dressed in f-ull regimentals, his
arms folded across his breast, his eyes closed, and giving no sign of
life. While standing over, as he supposed, the dead body of the Fed
eral Colonel, Captain Bell was joined by Captain Maderia, of the Con
federate side, who recognized in Logan his old schoolmate. Maderia
was deeply moved at what he thought to be the untimely fate of his
youthful companion, and directed Captain Bell where to send the
sword of the fallen chieftain. Logan was shot through the lungs,
and his life hung on a thread for a long time. Maderia was afterward
killed at Chicamauga.

THE GRANT TRIUMVIRATE ENSCONCED AT THE
CAPITOL.

SENATORS LOGAN AND CARPENTER AND THEIR WIVES — ZACH
CHANDLER — GLANCES BEHIND THE CURTAIN.
[Correspondence of the Eecord, 1879.]
Washington, February 28. — Senators Logan, of Illinois; Z. Chand
ler, of Michigan, with Matt Carpenter, of Wisconsin, now ensconced
at the Capitol, will form the grand triumvirate in the new Senate and
will play no unimportant part in the deliberations and political
machinations of that body. Their election in the place of Dick
Oglesby, Christiancy and Howe, will greatly strengthen the Repub-

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 361
lican side of the Senate intellectually, albeit at a very considerable
loss of dignity and morality. It is an exchange of morals for brains,
except in the case of Dick Oglesby for Logan, and then it is about
an even thing, although I really think that Logan has something
more of morals and considerably more brains than the departing
Richard; at any rate, his wife has enough of both articles to make
half a dozen ordinary Senators, and as John fully appreciates the
great prize he possesses, and is largely guided by her advice, he can
not go far wrong.
As a matter of fact, Logan himself is generally underrated. It
has become so popular to" ridicule his bad grammar and "loud"
style of oratory, that his good parts a^e almost entirely overlooked.
Logan is not a deeply-learned man as Sumner was learned, nor is he
a great man as Morton was great, but he is a strong man politically,
and naturally a much abler man than half his colleagues in the Sen
ate. He is a man of undoubted courage, of positive convictions, and
of a large, generous nature. I have wintered and summered with
him, and know that inside his sombre exterior are many as noble
qualities as ever adorned any man. It is almost impossible to think
of him without thinking of his wife, and it is quite impossible for
one who knows them both to believe that a man who has so high
appreciation of, and so loyal a devotion to, such a woman can be
altogether or over-much bad. In fact, Logan is not a bad man either
at heart or outwardly, and he is by no means a pigmy in intellect.
His oratory is of the loud Western style of twenty years ago, and
his sentences are involved, turgid and not seldom ungrammatical, but
there are Senators on both sides of the chamber who can more than
equal him in all three points, and discount him in general illiteracy.
Logan was always one of the marked men of the Senate. His
huge, brigandish, black moustache and long black hair make him
always conspicuous, and, in addition to these points, he is more
swarthy than the lamented Douglas, and almost as short, for while
his body and head are above medium size, his legs are so short that
he is below medium stature. His oratory is of the "stump" order,
loud and vigorous, but he is never prosy, like Christiancy, nor tire
some, like Howe. His temperament is bilious, and that often makes
him moody and "blue," but otherwise he is a companionable man
and an entertaining conversationalist. He is a hard worker, and an
extensive, if not a profound reader.
When General Logan was a Democrat, we suppose, like any
other member of that party who was not a hypocrite, he labored for
the interests of that party ; but when the supreme horn- arrived that

362 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
revealed to General Logan that that party was not patriotic, in other
words, when he had to choose between Democracy and his country,
he proclaimed for the latter, and though this choice led him where
danger and death confronted him at every step, he never turned aside
until he aided to plant the old flag over a restored Union. When
John A. Logan proclaimed his purpose to stand by the Union, "let
life or death come," that single decision was worth ten thousand
soldiers to the Union cause ; indeed, if Mr. Logan, like Tilden, had
converted himself into a state of indifference or Copperheadism
towards the Union, southern Illinois would have been a battle ground,
and thousands of lives and millions of money would have been
destroyed. There is not, all things considered, another Union man living, except
General Grant, who rendered the Union more service than General
Logan. This is the mainspring of the cause of that general hatred
which the Copperhead has always bestowed upon him. But aside
from Logan's splendid service in the war, he has since proved him-
' self an able representative and a most active and useful Senator. The
people can never reward General Logan too highly for his noble
services during and since.

[From The Weekly Sun, Saturday, September 18, 1880.]
General Logan has often been reproached for his merci
less slaughter of the King's English, and yet in his speech
at Galesburg, the other night, he gave the following, which,
as a bit of eloquence, is far ahead of the average stump
speech: The glacier engraves its record on the mountain sides. The river
establishes its memorials in its progress to the sea. The ocean
inscribes the history of its convulsions in the crags upon its shore.
Everything in material nature is its own biographer. The Demo
cratic party of the United States is no exception to the rule. It has
written its own shameful history in the blood of three hundred
thousand of its loyal countrymen. That history will be read by all
men until the end of time. But what of the Republican party? Its
record is also made. It is for all time.- The iron shackles of the
slave, piled mountain high, are evidence of the devotion of the Repub
lican party to the liberty of man. The National flag, floating triumph
antly upon all the land and upon every sea, proves that the National

SPEECHES OF. LOGAN. 363
authority under Republican custody has been maintained. The
Treasury notes at par, and National bonds at a premium in all
markets of the world, show financial credit under Republican admin
istration without a parallel among Nations. Add to all this a condition
of prosperity among all the people, such as was never before known,
and we have a comprehensive summary of the achievements of the
Republican party.
This is quite as good a bit of fine orating as anything
his antagonists have ever said. The fact is that Logan
takes much more pains with what he says than with how
he says it. [Wilmington, N. C, December 31, 1882.]
This gentleman reviewed in part the Porter case in the United
States Senate on Friday last. It was our pleasure to be in Washing
ton, and we had the opinion of gentlemen who are familiar with the
whole case, and the universal expression was that Senator Logan had
made a speech so strong that it was absolutely impossible for any of
Porter's friends to answer it. General Logan is one of the greatest
orators of the country, on any subject, but when he takes up a ques
tion that he is so well posted on, and has his heart in to the extent to
which he is interested in the Fitz John Porter case, he fairly excels
himself. And it is the general opinion of his friends, and the coun
try, that his great speech, commenced on Friday, which will probably
take three days to deliver, will be one of the ablest ever delivered in
the United States Senate.

[From the official Republican paper of Menard County, December 2, 1880.]
No citizen stands before the country as General John A. Logan.
Logan was born and bred a Democrat. It was instilled into him with
his mother's milk, his education, association and practice. As between
his party and his country he chose his whole country rather than half
of it. For this he has been maligned, traduced and vilified in the
most relentless and unwarrantable manner.
Logan was feted by the Democracy while he was a Democrat. He
was not kicked out of the party. They gave him place, position and
power. He could have any rank in the Confederate army below that
of Lieutenant-general. General Leonidas Polk, in command at Co
lumbus, Ky., with his twenty-five thousand Confederates, would have
welcomed Logan. Hundreds of men from Illinois came into this

364 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
camp. But Logan, true to his country, to his State and to the Union,
did not join the Confederacy. On the contrary, he cast his lot on
the Union side. He fought against his party in arms, against the
men of the South with whom he sat and voted in Congress prior to
the war. He fought for principles that he believed to be true, and
for the principles that finally prevailed and that were reaffirmed at
the polls November 2d.
This man — Illinois' greatest and most gifted son, second only to
Grant himself — deserves the thanks and the applause of every patriot
in the land. Especially does he deserve the thanks of the Union men
of the North. It was no small thing for him to quit the associations
of his life, break off from the principles that had been instilled into
him and cast his fortune with that of a party against whom he had
battled and spoke on every stump in Southern Illinois. Logan is
again victorious. His valor and his cause are successful, and while
his party accords to him the praise and the acclaim that is justly and
decidedly his due, it will remember the Nation — every part of this
land of liberty; it will remember the sunny South, devastated by
war, plunged into debt, commerce gone, fields neglected; and it will
endeavor, with all its power (and that is the strength of the Nation) to
resuscitate all the resources of the South that do not savor of slavery
and secession.
It is not the policy of the Republican party to tear down, as
charged, but rather to build up and make the waste places even more
fruitful than ever before, and there is no man in this Nation, no man
in the Senate of the United States, better able to legislate and to foster
the interests of the South than General John A. Logan, of Illinois.
The eyes of the country are upon him. Maine has her Blaine,
New York her Conkling, Pennsylvania her Cameron, Ohio her Gar
field, South Carolina her Hampton, Mississippi her Lamar, Georgia
her Gordon, and Illinois her Logan — a name that will be as brilliant
in the annals of the State as any, the sum of whose greatness has not
already been sealed by the hand of death. All honor to Logan, Illinois'
field-marshal. And it was General Logan who* stood at the head of the " Stalwart
306 " at the Chicago Convention, and as firm as a rock, for the gallant
soldier and statesman, General U. S. Grant.

GENERAL AND MRS. LOGAN.
The return of Mrs. Logan has seemed to brighten up things in the
vicinity of Twelfth street, where they stop while in the city. She

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 365
seems to have fully recovered from the effects of her severe illness of
last summer, and has lost none of her attractiveness and brilliancy.
She is beyond question one of the handsomest women in Washington
to-day, and her beauty has been enhanced lately by the change that
has taken place in her hair. Formerly it was a fine gray: It is now
the most beautiful white imaginable. It is exceedingly fine in quality,
and very heavy in growth. Wearing it as she does, in a coil around
the head, gives her the appearance of being crowned with a halo of
white. I know of no one in Washington who is more popular, al
though the word beloved would better express it, than Mrs. Logan.
Together, the general and his wife make a striking picture. He,
with his black hair, in which can be observed hardly a gray line, his
military bearing and truly warlike appearance, forms a strong con
trast to the white hair and gentle bearing of his wife. She is a better
politician than most of the men. A shrewd observer of public men,
and in judgment is seldom at fault. The conclusions she draws from
her own observations, as they relate to public men and affairs, are very
sound. If I was President of the United States, Mrs. Logan should
be Secretary of State, if it broke up the entire cabinet. It is her
intention to return to Chicago next week, where she will remain until
the regular session.

SPEECH OF HON. JOHN A. LOGAN, OF ILLINOIS, IN THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, JULY 12, 1867, ON THE SUPPLEMENTARY
RECONSTRUCTION BILL, AND IN REPLY TO MR. ROBINSON, OF
NEW YORK.
Mr. Speaker. — It was not my intention to have taken any part in
this debate, but I cannot get my own consent to sit and listen quietly
any longer to such extraordinary speeches as have again and again
been pronounced on this floor within the last few days. If the wis
dom of a policy of excluding the South from a representation in this
hall has ever cost me a doubt, it could never again cost me another.
More earnest advocates of their political theories and more eloquent
apologists for their darkest crimes, traitors have not in the South or
elsewhere than they have here. A resolution blotting out the Consti
tutions of the United States and the respective States is recommended
by one gentleman, who evidently means thereby to intimate that, in
his opinion at least, this House has already destroyed everything like
fundamental law in the land, and trampled ruthlessly in the dust the
liberties of the people.

366 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Mr. Eldridge — That is what I thought and what I meant.
Mr. Logan — I so understood the gentleman, and the thought
occurred to me at the time, sir, that it was strange indeed, passing
strange, that the gentleman did not discover during those four years
of blood and carnage through which the true friends of humanity,
liberty, the Constitution and the Union had to pass to deliver them
from impending destruction, who it was assailing them then.
Mr. Eldridge — Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. Logan — I decline. Why did it not occur to the gentleman
when mighty armies of brave men commanded by skillful generals,
were hovering in a menacing attitude around this devoted city, spurn
ing our country's flag, mocking our patriotic professions, insulting
loyal citizens, ignoring private rights and perpetrating public out
rages, that the Constitution, the Union and liberty were in danger
then? Why does the gentleman wait till the war is over, the Consti
tution is no longer in peril, and those who stood fast and firm near it
and by it when its banner was streaming on the breeze of battle, are
attempting to devise the most practicable and politic means to restore
at the earliest moment to this whole land, permanent and healthful
tranquillity and prosperity? Why does he wait for such a moment to
announce the startling discovery that our Constitution is threatened,
and liberty is in peril?
Mr. Eldridge — Does the gentleman desire me to answer this ques
tion? Mr. Logan — No, sir; one interruption encouraged, invites an
other. Is it not strange, I repeat, that the same gentlemen who are
so easily alarmed now about the perils that compass about the Consti
tution of the country and the liberties of the people, while peace is
benignly smiling upon us, saw no terror or threat in the glitter of
bayonets or the frown of batteries when our beloved land was swarm
ing with millions of open enemies, and the earth was trembling under
the martial tread of serried hosts and the loud roar of angry artil
lery? Then when there was war, was no peace, they could raise the
cry of "peace, peace," and when peace at last has come, they aver it
has not Come, but that we are still in the midst of a bloody war, a
war upon the Constitution we fought to save, a war upon the liber
ties we bled to preserve. "Treat your Southern brethren kindly,
win them by affection," is the cry of the Democracy. "Rather,"
said one of them, " that Jeff. Davis and his coadjutors had succeeded
than that the President of the United States should be impeached."
Such language is worthy only of a representative of South Carolina,
or some pther rebel whose hands are red with loyal blood. No won-

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 367
der that in a party boasting of such types of patriotism, there should
be many, very many, enthusiastic followers, who saw nothing repre
hensible in the conduct of the open, avowed, defiant and belligerent
enemies of the Republic, but who do find much to deplore and
denounce in the adhesion now to principle of those who stood like a
wall of adamant around our flag when the mad waves of secession
threatened to deluge with blood the eternal rock upon which our
fathers and their fathers had planted it. Our dead, I suppose, are to
sleep in forgotten .graves, while the rebel slain must be apotheosized,
and we who fought with and survive the brave boys in blue.
" Who, fighting fell, and falling fought," are to be stigmatized
with opprobrious epithets, while the traitors who thirsted for our blood
are to be meekly and sweetly called "our brethren."
Mr. Mungen — I rise to a question of order. My point of order is
that the gentleman is not discussing the bill before the House as the
rules require him to do.
The Speaker — The Chair has not seen that the gentleman from
Illinois has wandered at all from the legitimate limits of debate. He
is debating the question of reconstruction. If, however, the gentle
man can point to any specific remarks which have been in violation of
the rules the Chair will pass upon them.
Mr. Mungen — The gentleman has not alluded at all to the ques
tion of reconstruction.
The Speaker — The Chair will state to the gentleman from Ohio
that this question of reconstruction grows out of the war in which the
country has recently been engaged, and the gentleman from Illinois,
in the commencement of his speech, is laying a foundation for the
discussion of the question by a reference to the commencement of the
war and the circumstances surrounding it.
Mr.. Logan — What I am anxious to learn, Mr. Speaker, is upon
what foundation rests this flippant and gratuitous charge repeatedly
made against the Republican party on this floor to the effect that we
are trampling liberty under foot, and destroying the rights and privi
leges of a portion of the American people? Wherein have we violated
the Constitution? Was it in crushing the rebellion? I have no doubt
every Copperhead in the North would say yes. We did carry the
emblem of our National glory and greatness from the rivers and the
lakes of the North to the bays and the gulfs of the South, where it is
to-day, and will wave forever; but in doing so, we innocently thought,
hoped and believed then, and still honestly think, hope and believe,
that we are erecting around the Constitution and laying for liberty a
deeper and a broader foundation in the gratitude, confidence and

368 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
affections of our people. We never dreamed that for every rebel we
killed in the South we were to make an eternal enemy in the North;
and we do not think it amounts to a riddle beyond the comprehension
of mortal wits how it is that very many of the brave men who fought
us, and whom we had to literally overwhelm before we could con
quer, yet now that they are conquered are much more ready to ask
forgiveness and forget the past and be friends, as we all ought to be
again, than are their allies, who, however deep their sympathies with
them may have been while the war was raging, took special pains to
let the danger pass before they gave it an airing. God forbid that
the day shall ever dawn upon this Republic when the patriots whose
patriotism won them crutches and wooden limbs shall have apologies
and explanations to make for their public conduct to patriots, who
boast of and abuse the privilege of eulogizing as their brethren the
men whose sabers drank loyal blood and whose bullets shot away
loyal limbs. The truth is, the great wrong that discomfited Democ
racy feels deepest is that the people at home neither feel nor think
that there ought to be Northern rebels enough in this House to let the
Southern rebels in.
The next greatest wrong that they have to complain of is that the
men who had the pluck to stand by those who in the field had to fight
our country's battles presumptuously aspire to make our laws. I
think thus far they have vindicated their claims in the world's respect
alike in the field and in the halls of legislation. What is the basis
upon which they fought? Simply that rebellion was a crime. They
triumphed. Now upon what basis have they legislated? Simply
that rebellion was a crime, and they will triumph again. The
people will never require us to fight on one principle and legislate
on another, to shed our blood on the field and then come here
to make apologies for it to men who wanted us whipped. I hold
now, and always expect to hold, that no man has a right to cross the
threshold of this House and claim a seat on this floor who did not
dare during the war to openly stand by and claim the protection of
the flag that floats over this Capitol. The government that is organ
ized so loosely and administered so feebly that traitors of yesterday
can be among the rulers of to-morrow can neither long survive nor
long deserve to survive. And this Government can have no enemies
in the South half as much to be dreaded as that whining Northern
friend who would clothe with power in this Government to-morrow
the man whose blade was drawn to stab the Constitution and the
Union but yesterday. When the South can be loyally represented on

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 369
this floor upon the basis proposed by Congress, the problem of recon
struction will cease to vex the discussions of this hall.
The prime, sole and supreme object of the Republican party is
to re-establish this Government upon a sure foundation of loyalty,
against which the frothy waves of treason may fret forever in vain.
We have survived one rebellion, and the sage suggestions of past
experience warn us that it will be wiser to prevent another rebellion
than to too confidently expect to survive it. Rebellion, secession, and
reason are like all other crimes and iniquities, and will crop out in
every direction upon the smallest perceivable pretext. Put forward,
then, the loyal and true, and hold at a respectful and indifferent
distance the disloyal and untrue, until we can see some voluntary
evidence that they have finally awoke to the consciousness that they
are criminals, and ought to be grateful that they have not been igno-
miniously branded by the judgment of a competent tribunal as such.
The whole secret, however, of the wailing and gnashing of teeth
that we hear among the Democracy is not because we have insisted
that rebels shall be held under restraint and loyal men promoted,
that our flag shall be respected at home as well as abroad, but it is
simply the reason a rebel Irishman gave to a loyal Irishman, who
captured him in the field. Said the Hibernian in blue to his rebel
countryman: "Why, Jimmy, my boy, what are you doing on that
side?" "That side, indade!" answered Jimmy; "and is this not the
Dimmercratick side?" [Laughter.] The Irishman thought that the
rebel side must necessarily be the Democratic side, and I guess that
my friend, the gentleman from Brooklyn has a similar idea in his
head yet. [Laughter.]
Mr. Robinson — Mr. Speaker, I do not attempt to answer the ques
tion which the gentleman has addressed to me, because I believe he
does not wish an answer. If he does, I should be glad to give it.
The Speaker — Does the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Logan] yield
to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Robinson] for a reply?
Mr. Logan — I do not think that I have said anything that he can
answer. [Laughter.]
Mr. Robinson — If the gentleman wishes me to answer, I am ready
to do so.
The Speaker — The gentleman declines, as the Chair understands,
to be interrupted.
Mr. Logan — Now, Mr. Speaker, let us examine a little farther
into this question. I perhaps may not have stated all the reasons
which actuated these gentlemen in denouncing this side of the House,
and thereby denouncing every loyal man in the country— every man
H

370 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
who has shown his loyalty by his efforts to restore this government
on a proper basis. The recent rebellion, while it was in progress,
was led by men who belonged to the same party to which the gentle
man from Brooklyn now belongs, and the same party to which I
belonged until I became so thoroughly ashamed of it that I left it,
and it is not a little remarkable that the same disloyal stench which
drove me out seems to have attracted my friend from Brooklyn into
it. [Laughter.]
The reason why these gentlemen desire to-day to bring into disrepute
the action of members of this House is because their action is calculated
to prevent a portion of the people of the southern country who are in full
sympathy with them, from voting and holding office. Who are they?
Outspoken rebels who rose in arms against the Government, and the
men who conspired to destroy this glorious Republic. Because these
men are disfranchised and prevented from exercising the rights of
American citizens, gentlemen on the other side object to our proposed
plan of reconstruction. Sir, they would have the Southern States
reconstructed according to the plan of Andrew Johnson, the gentle
man who is so immaculate that if we should attempt to impeach him,
it will, according to the gentleman from Brooklyn, amount to a
national calamity. What was the plan of Andrew Jonson? Why,
sir, that plan proposed to declare that those States that had engaged
in rebellion had never lost any of their rights in the govern
ment; that neither they nor the citizens had forfeited any of their
privileges under the Constitution of the United States. In other
words, that treason was not a crime; that rebels were patriots. It
proposed to invite the rebels to hold elections and send to- this hall
per se secessionists and traitors. In short, to construct a new party in
reconstructing the government in which the secession rebels of the
South might unite with the copperhead rebels of the North, capture
the citadel of power here, make treason honorable and loyalty odious.
There is nothing that to regain its lost power the Democratic party
would not willingly do. If it could acquire more power to-morrow by
crushing under its iron heel the South than it could by succoring
it, it would hurl at its Northern brethren thick and fast
Curses of hate and kisses of scorn.
Their history well establishes the fact that —
Their friendship is a lurking snare,
Their honor but an idle breath,
Their smile the smile that traitors wear,
Their love is hate, their life is death,

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 371
Their sympathy with Andrew Johnson's plan of reconstruction,
and their hostility to the Republican plan of reconstruction, is not
attributable to the merits or demerits of either plan as a policy for the
country, but solely as a party policy.
Now, sir, I maintain that the only true plan upon which these
Southern States ought to have been reconstructed is by virtue of an
organization of military governments, and the principal objection to
which I find the bill now pending before this House obnoxious, albeit
I shall vote for it, is that it fails to state sufficiently explicitly that the
governments of these States were entirely overthrown and destroyed
by the treason and rebellion of the people, and that no legal or civil
governments have existed there since. I would recognize Governors
or other officers pretending to act there now in an official capacity,
but would remove them instanter. I would insist that when 1he fiery
billows of war rolled over the South, that they bore away into the
broad ocean of chaos their laws and constitutions as the floods of
their own mighty father of waters sweep the drift wood they gather
into the Mexican Gulf; and that according to the laws of war they
were subject only to military rule at the hands of their conquerors,
and so ought to remain until traitors shall learn how to blush for their
crimes, and modestly decline office, instead of attempting as they now
do daily, to thrust themselves forward to grasp the reins of a govern
ment that they hate in their hearts. I would put the rebels on proba
tion and make their return to power depend up the merits of their
penitence. But let us return to the gentleman's grave charges of outrages
and wrongs supposed to have been committed by this Congress. To
be charitable, we will have to give the gentleman and his party credit
for a memory as full of treachery as their Southern brethren were of
treason. They seem to have forgotten everything they ought to
remember, and remember some things they certainly ought not only
to forget themselves, but want everybody else to forget. They seem
to have forgotten the scenes and events that mark the historical epoch
through which we have so recently passed, and then seem to have
totally forgotten that these pet Southern brethren of theirs, when they
did occupy seats on this floor, gave us practical illustrations of dig
nity in debate that made this hall a "bear garden," and much more
attractive to lovers of gladiatorial sports and patrons of the "fancy"
than they could have been to the wise, prudent, sedate and good citi
zen; when bowie-knives bristled from their breasts, revolvers filled
all their pockets, and clubs were substituted among them for canes;
When tney spoke to a Northern legislator in these halls with a. scowl,

372 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
on their brows, threats on their lips and fingers on triggers. It is
true, we have blotted out for them eternally and forever the charming
institution under the peculiar influences of which they imbibed these
dogmatical and insolent airs; but if, when it was in full blast, they
could not remember that the style of manners that might do to drive
a gang of slaves would not answer to persuade a Congressional peer,
it iB not at all probable that time enough has yet elapsed for the fact
to appear in their manners, that they fully and properly realize tbe
fact in all of its moral and political sublimity, that they are not some
body's master, and yet may again subject us to their old style of argu
ment so peculiarly Southern.
They seem to have forgotten the price the peace we enjoy to-day
has cost this Nation, and the crimson currency in which it was paid;
the broken hearts with which it filled bruised and troubled bosoms at
home; the mangled bodies with which it filled hospitals everywhere,
and the lifeless forms of manly beauty with which it filled hundreds
of thousands of nameless graves on the far-off battle-plains of the
South. They seem to have forgotten the bitter scalding tears that
rolled like floods of lava down the fair faces of the loyal mothers,
wives and sisters of this land when the names ineffably dear to them
were found announced in the long lists of the killed that were pub
lished as a sequel to the first flash of the lightning that reported a
battle had been fought; and I dare say they have forgotten that there
ever was such a prison as Andersonville, and the long, long catalogue
of horrors that brave men had to suffer there for being true to them
selves, their constitution, their flag, their homes, families, and coun
try. Well for such gentleman would it be if they could occasionally
meet, as they wander over this broad country, a few of the many
wan specters of suffering and woe who were captured by the saintly
southern brethren of northern Democrats on fields of strife, thrust
into prisons unfit for dogs, and starved till a hale constitution was a
wreck, and then left to suffer the worst penalties of privation incident
to weather and climate. I could give my friend from Brooklyn illus
trations of individual suffering at Andersonville that would make the
hair stand on his head, the blood freeze in his veins, and curses spring
involuntarily from his lips. I remember one poor boy from my im
mediate vicinity, especially. His name is Dougherty. He went into
Andersonville prison without a scar upon his young body or a cloud
on his fair brow, but under the humanitarianism of Southern chivalry
he came out without a foot to walk on. They were literally frozen
off in prison.
There are thousands of such instances that might be paraded if X

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 373
had the time or inclination to do it, to justify the stem, uncompro
mising disinclination I feel to call, by the gentle term of brother, these
rebels of the South. When I find in their conduct conclusive proof
of contrition, and find them openly opposed to becoming the instru
ments and tools of Northern Democrats, who, while the war was
raging, accepted the protection of the Stars and Stripes, and now have
the graceless effrontery to brag that they were false to it, may and
probably will then be glad to welcome them back to the Union. But
when I do that, I wish to be able to go home and face the widows
and orphans that swarm the broad prairies of the West, whose weeds
of mourning meet us there on the highways and the byways, and
answer any reasonable question they may have to ask. I recognize
the responsibility of a Representative here to his constituency, and I
feel that a woman or child who cannot vote may have as sacred a
right to ask me a question as a man who can, and I am simply
anxious to prepare myself to meet all such comers. In the silent
vigils of the noiseless night, many a time and oft have I fancied
I could hear, coming on the soft whispering breezes of the South,
from the lowly pillows of loyal soldiers sleeping sweetly where they
fell gallantly, the affectionate message: "Be of good cheer; stand
fast and firm at duty's sacred post. It was standing there we lost the
crown of life to win a crown of glory, and we appeal to you now,
from our bright home here in Heaven, to save our offspring from the'
dire necessity of having to perish as we perished tq save from
destruction the altars and temples of liberty." And how are we to do
this? Flattering rebels, tolerating treason, and petting political prof
ligates? I do not recognize the right of rebel States to insist that no
issue not made with them during the war can be legitimately consid
ered now. If they established a nationality and had been recognized
and treated with by the nations of the earth, then such a proposition
might per possibility have had some claims to consideration, but
otherwise certainly not.
The position I wish to assume so distinctly that it will and cannot
be misunderstood, is simply this: That treason is a crime; that traitors
are criminals; that the law is supreme; that when it is violated expia
tion must follow; and I hold that mercy to the wicked is cruelty to
the just. Here is presented an issue, I admit, with the President.
He does not proceed upon the proposition that treason is a crime; that
rebels are criminals, and that legal penalties are enforcible. He is so
eagerly anxious to forgive that he seems to forget that no forgiveness
has ever been proposed yet save as a sequel to penitence. Having
failed utterly to establish anything resembling a nationality, the

374 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
Southern States can properly claim the protection of no laws interna
tional upon that subject. My consent can never be commanded to
ignore the claims that I feel that the gallant dead who fell fighting
under our flag have upon my devotion to their fame while I live. Let
the poet's tribute to the soldier's memory be eternally illustrated in
the practical gratitude of the American people when he said:
On fame's eternal camping-ground,
Their silent tents are spread,
While glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.
And how others feel I cannot tell; but I am free to confess that I
feel it is the memory of those who fought and fell under our flag,
who charged rebel batteries, carried rebel heights, vanquished rebel
legions, and finally crushed the rebellion, that has a claim upon our
respect, care and veneration, far above office seekers and political par
tisans. The gentleman from New York says that he and his friends are
bound to have the next President, and that we are bound to impeach
him. We have not yet impeached any President, and if in the past
we would not, it is hardly presumable that in the future we will.
A member — You would if you could.
Mr. Logan — I shall not say what I would do, but until the wishes
of the people command here a proper respect, I do not think the
gentleman need to feel any very serious alarm about what we will do.
The gentleman has nominated General Grant for the presidency,
and if General Grant has any enemies I dare say the gentleman's
nomination must have made them profoundly happy. General Grant
rarely has anything to say, and when he does speak it is generally
directly to the point, and from that fact the inference is fair that he
will be found more than equal to any occasion that may call on him
to take care of the true interests of his fame and fortunes, whenever
and wherever they may be directly or indirectly threatened. But
were I General Grant and really aspiring to the presidency, I would
give the gentleman notice that if he wanted an office from me, his
claims to consideration would depend upon not how much, but how
little he had to say in my behalf. [Laughter.] Presidents rarely
owe their success to their enemies. General Grant may learn a
wholesome lesson from the South about the consequences of falling
into bad company hunting for friends.
General Grant is certainly a great and good man. He deserves
and enjoys the affection and confidence of this Nation. His personal
popularity is universal. His military fame has spread

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 375
From earth's remotest bounds to ocean's loneliest shore.
It rests upon the adamantine pedestal of success and rises above
mortal criticism, and if it can survive to admiration and friendship
of home-bound sympathizers with the precious Southern brethren, at
whose ignominious expense he won his laurels, then, indeed, may his
true and real friends rejoice in the conclusion that it is beyond a lin
gering shadow of doubt more than indestructible. Paradoxes do not
amount to phenomenas; but, nevertheless, they rarely pass away
unnoticed, and the paradoxical proposition of finding in the self -same
member of this House the friend alike of General Grant and Jeff
Davis cannot do so. It is, at least, worth a passing comment. There
is not one single passing shadow of resemblance between the histories,
achievements, principles, sentiments, or purposes of the arch-traitor
and the loyal general. The one is small, in all things small; the other
is great in virtues and talents that rank greatest. The name of the
one will go down to posterity a by-word of scorn and reproach, while
the name of the other will live to be given at the baptismal font to
thousands of infant patriots yet to be born; and to me it is a riddle
utterly incomprehensible that one and the same man can be, at one
and the same time, alike the friend of Jeff, the traitor, and Grant,
the patriot.
Mr. Eldridge — How about Horace Greeley?
Mr. Logan — Greeley, indeed ! That he is Jeff 's friend you may
prove, but where is the evidence he is Grant's?
I trust that the apparent egotism of an illusion now that is some
what necessary to myself will be pardoned. I am branded by polit
ical and sectional partisans with such epithets as "bloodthirsty,"
"unforgiving," "unrelenting," etc., etc. How this has been ascer
tained is inexplicable to me.
Who has sought my forgiveness that I have refused to give? For
giveness is taught in the Lord's prayer, but we are not therein in
structed to thrust forgiveness upon the unrepentant and the defiant.
Forgiveness is not so cheap a virtue that it may be prodigally wasted
unasked upon the idle and indifferent. The forgiveness that antici
pates repentance will multiply crimes faster than it will reform crim
inals. When the rebels- of the South begin properly to repent and
find moral courage enough to make before the world a manly
acknowledgment of it, then, and not until then, will I take into ques
tion their forgiveness at all. I have no premium to offer in the
shape of forgiveness to the insolence of an obstinacy that deigns not
to ask for that forgiveness. I would open a gulf between treason and
loyalty, wide enough to make the dwellers on its opposite shores

376 LIFE OF JOHN A. LOGAN.
strangers, and deep enough to swallow legions in arms. I would fill
it with waves of fire through which no unrepenting living thing
could swim, and over which no soaring philanthropy could fly and
survive. Sickly sentimentalism is a great crime-breeder. Immunity
for one crime provokes the perpetration of many. Men are but
grown-up children, and when you spare the rod you will spoil the
child, whether the child be a young child or an old child. I am not
one of those who would hesitate to try, convict, condemn and exe
cute a traitor for treason.
Mr. Niblack — Will the gentleman allow me to ask him a ques
tion? Mr. Logan — Yes, if it is not a very long one.
Mr. Niblack — I would ask the gentleman whether in the summer
of 1861, after the war broke out, he did not vote as a member of this
House against the expulsion of General John B. Clarke, of Missouri,
who had joined the rebellion?
Mr. Logan — The Journals of this House show all my votes, and
the gentleman might have found all the information I can give him
there. I am not in the habit of voting in this House to make unsup
ported rumors history. A charge may have been filed here against
General Clarke, and when the testimony to sustain it was adduced it
may have utterly failed, as in his case, according to my recollection, it
did. The disposition, however, to make^a verdict thus conscientiously
rendered by me in defense of an absent and unconvicted member of
their own party, redound now to my prejudice, furnishes another
beautiful illustration of Democratic magnanimity and justice.
When I cast that vote I voted with the Democratic party; now it is
thrown into my teeth by a member of that party as a reproach. It
may have been a reckless thing in me then to doubt the natural strong
probability that a Democrat was a rebel, and for it, perhaps, I deserve
to be publicly twitted and sharply rebuked; but I will endeavor to
see to it for the future that I shall merit never such another just
reprimand for such a graceless reason from such an ungrateful
source. [Laughter.]
The unrelenting war waged against me by the Democracy is
liable to be misunderstood if looked at superficially. It is not
because, as has been suspected by some, I was a Democrat and am
one no longer. Dying out, as it has been for the last eight years,
with the dry rot, that party has become too much accustomed to see
men of sonse withdraw their allegiance from it to make my instance
a source of serious irritation. The true reason, which explains the
malevolence with which they pursue me, will be found in the fact

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 377
that while the recent war was raging the honorable distinction was
awarded to me of having put to the sword my full share of their
party, who fell fighting in front of my command, under the spotted
flag of treason, to support their sentiments and principles. [Loud
applause from the floor of the House.]
My attention having been especially called to Horace Greeley, I
am free to say that I totally disapprove of his sympathy for Jeff and
his peculiar manner of manifesting that sympathy. Had I captured
Jefferson Davis and his disposal been committed to my hands, I
would have organized an able court-martial and have given him a
fair trial, a just sentence and prompt execution.
Some people are morbidly sensitive about Jeff Davis. They seem
to think that when the name of Cassius honors corruption, chastise
ment ought forever to hide its head. They belong to that sickly class
of temporizers who would make the enormity of the crime and the
rank of the criminal good pleas in bar against their conviction. If
Jefferson Davis and his cabinet are criminals, as they are, they ought
to be tried and convicted; if convicted, executed like all other felons
convicted of capital crimes. If they were tried and convicted, as
they ought to be, and were I chief magistrate of this republic, no
appeal for clemency in their cases should ever reach me. I would
let him and them swing until they would pass the point of plotting
treason, and smaller traitors might profit by the example of their
ignominious fate. Until a traitor or two is tried, convicted and exe
cuted, the people of the United States can confidently expect an
annual crop of armed traitors to spring from the tenderness with
which traitors are treated in this land. So mild has been our mercy
that Toombs, the fugitive of yesterday, is back again the swaggerer
of to-day. Emboldened by impunity, he grows defiant, and seems
determined to test the measure of his importance in a last desperate
effort to draw toward him the attention of the Government, and
down upon his crimes the vengeance of the law.
But what has he to fear in a government where rebels are par
doned before they are tried, and where no traitor has ever graced the
gallows? John Brown was tried, convicted and executed; but that
was for treason, not against our national government, but the State of
Virginia. When a Northern man trespasses upon Southern soil and
commits treason he has the crime to expiate |on the scaffold, but
when thousands of Southern men attempt to destroy our National
government, notwithstanding the diabolical attempts, drenches our
whole land with blood and fills it with the piercing wails of widows
and orphans and costs thousands of millions of treasure, neverthe-

378 LIFE OF JOHN A LOGAN.
less, nobody can be tried for it. John Brown did not dip deep enough
into . treason to make it respectable. Had he managed to kill fifty
thousand men before they captured him, according to the new theory,
he would have stood on too lofty a pedestal to have been taken down
criminally. But for the life of me I cannot see how the same govern
ment that assisted Virginia to convict John Brown can refuse to try
Jeff. Davis. If John Brown was held responsible for an outraged
law, why is not likewise Jefferson Davis? John Brown's surviving
kindred can take to their souls one flattering unction at least, to-wit,
that he did not die in vain. I have again and again seen thousands of
Union soldiers marching into the battle singing:
John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave,
While his soul goes marching on,
and they never failed to win the fight. There is one man on this
continent at the head of a government that has exhibited nerve
enough to rule. When usurpers and traitors are captured and con
victed in Mexico, we hear at one and the same time of their stern
sentence and prompt execution. President Jaurez, however, is
saluted for his signal exhibition and firmness with howls of horror
from the same mercy begging lips that are eternally whining about
the mercy due to Jeff. Why do men professing to love liberty mani
fest an interest so deep and strange in the fate of a vaulting ambition
and royalty when it presumes to invade this Republican continent
and overleap itself? Have monarchical governments friends whose
pathies are too keen to be restrained when tribulation overtakes the
toppling throne, and do they propose to educate the popular mind of
men born on free American soil to catch readily at excuses to
denounce republicanism, or condole with the mourning nobility over
executed emperors? I deplore, Mr. Speaker, such exhibitions of
party violence as have again and again recently been exhibited on
this floor. It serves to remind me of the mournful debates we had
on this floor just before the war. Rebels then used very much such
language as their friends employ here now. But it is to be depre
cated for better and higher reasons still, and one of them is, the
consequences which legitimately flow from it to the South.
If the Democracy of the North had not taken the South under its
wing, those States might and probably would have been in the Union
to-day. Well may the South exclaim, "Save us from our friends."
I trust, Mr. Speaker, that we will pass such a bill as may be under
stood, properly considered, and energetically executed, and that when
it is, that it will leave the State governments in the hands of men
loyal and true and forever prevent disloyal men from employing

SPEECHES OF LOGAN. 379
power and place to foment treason. It is not when they came, but
how they came; that is the all-important query with me. I would be
glad to welcome them back to-morrow if I were satisfied they were
reorganized right, but it is my intention to vote as long as I have a
vote, to keep them out until they can come-in on the broad basis of
loyalty to the government. And when they can do that I am will
ing to receive their representatives to the halls of our national Legis
lature, and will assist to protect them against anything anywise preju
dicial to any of their legal rights or interest as States.
I have seen quite enough of carnage and private and national dis
tress, and long to see the day come when we shall be as peaceful,
prosperous, and happy as we were before that crawling serpent,
secession, sought to strangle us in our national cradle. That day
may soon come again when the South will rise up and sternly resolve
that they will follow Naaman through the Jordan of repentance, until
the leprosy of treason and Democracy shall be washed out of their
political systems. How much they have been benefited by the sym
pathies of the Democratic party they ought by this time to appreciate
and estimate. The hour they discover they possess the good sense
and courage to repudiate openly and emphatically treason and em
brace warmly and sincerely loyalty, they will see dawn upon them a
bright morning, regeneration, and deliverance.

LOGAN FOR VICE-PEESIDENT.
"The nomination of General John A. Logan for Vice-
President, with James Gr. Blaine as the candidate for
President, has made the Eepublican ticket of this year
one of the strongest the party has ever presented. The
selection has given the second place the dignity and impor
tance with which it was regarded in the early days of the
Republic. The original practice was that the candidate
who received the second highest number of electoral votes
was elected Vice-President; and during a long term of
years the people were in the habit of taking up the Vice-
President who had filled the position acceptably and elect
ing him President. Of late years the second place on
the Presidential tickets of both parties has been awarded,

880 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
on the ground of locality or to conciliate some faction, to
a comparatively obscure person who would not have been*
considered for the first place. The nomination of General
Logan is a notable departure from the latter practice and
a return to the earlier and better usages. General Logan
was a conspicuous candidate for the first place, and would
undoubtedly have devoloped great strength if he had been
nominated for President. He is a commanding figure in
public life. The people will feel an abiding confidence
that in case a vacancy in the Chief Magistracy shall occur
during Blaine's administration the office will be admin
istered with ability, and in much the same spirit in which
Blaine will superintend the affairs of the nation. That
should always be the first consideration in the selection of
a candidate for Vice-President. Aside from this, General
Logan will bring a tremendous personal strength to the
campaign. No man who served in the Union army is
more popular than he is with the old soldiers. He came
out of the war with the reputation of the best volunteer
general who served in it. He stands especially high with
the Grand Army of the Republic. His personal valor,
aside from his martial abilities, has commanded the enthu
siastic admiration of the soldier element, and his steadfast
zeal in behalf of the veterans upon every other occasion, as
well as his manly and consistent attitude in regard to Fitz
John Porter's case, insure a special effort among the Union
soldiers for his election.
Logan's other qualifications are that he is a representa
tive of the Stalwart faction of the party which opposed Mr.
Blaine' s candidacy in 1880; and he is a typical Western
man — a native of Illinois — who will bring out an enormous
vote in all the Western States. The unanimity with which
the nomination was conferred upon him, including the
great States of New York and Pennsylvania, must be
peculiarly gratifying to him, and is a striking evidence of,
his strength."

^jts,^ JL. (XttLu^,

CHAPTER XXX.
CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR.
CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR, the President of the
United States, whose term of office expires March
4, 1885, is a son of a Baptist clergyman, Rev. Wm. Arthur,
D.D., who came to this country from Ballymena, Ireland.
Chester was prepared for college by his father, whose
classical attainments were of a high order, and the char
acter for decision and strong power of self-will as exhibited
by the son, show plainly the source of inheritance.
Chester was born at Fairfield, Vermont, on the 5th of
October, 1830, at which time his father was in charge of a
small congregation at that place, and at Greenwich (then
Union Village), in Washington county, New York, young
Arthur's preparation began which received polish at a
grammar school in the then pleasant little village of
Schenectady. The Hon. James I. Laurie, in " Headley's Life of
Arthur," says, in a letter to Hon. D. R, Anthony:
Another scholar of those days, though only about twelve years
of age, was Chester A. Arthur. His eyes were dark and brilliant,
and his physical system finely formed. He was frank and open in
manners, and genial in disposition. Even at that early age he was a
favorite with all who knew him. He was full of life and animation.
His active abilities, his courage, and his strength of will, made him
a leader among his companions. One of his sisters, an excellent and
beautiful girl, died here at the old Baptist parsonage, where the Rev
erend-doctor Arthur resided. He afterward graduated at Union
College, and settled in the city of New York, and distinguished him
self as a leading and reliable statesman. A few years ago while he
was Collector of the Port of New York, he came here to visit his old
home. He was exceedingly interested in all the familiar places in
and around the village, and especially in the parsonage. He went
through every room, from the cellar to the roof, of the old, time-

382 LIFE OF CHESTER ALLA]ST ARTHUR.
worn building. He met his early friends with great' cordiality.
There is no more genial, reliable, noble-hearted man in the State of
New York than Chester A. Arthur.
He graduated at the age of eighteen, having become
very popular with his fellow students. After graduation
he attended a law school at Ballston Springs for several
months, then returned to Lansingburg, where his father
resided, and studied law. When twenty-one years of age
he obtained a situation as principal of an academy at
North Pownel, Vermont, and prepared boys for college.
M-r. Arthur, having been admitted to the bar, determined
to commence the practice of his chosen profession. He
went to New York and entered into partnership with
Judge E. D. Culver, whom he had known when the latter
was member of Congress from Washington County. The
firm from the first enjoyed a lucrative practice. Mr.
Arthur's anti-slavery sentiments and his legal knowledge
were both displayed in the celebrated Lemon slave case, in
which was settled the principle that slaves became free
when brought into the State of New York by tlieir mas
ters. The decision caused great excitement at the South,
the Governor of Georgia declaring that it was a just cause
for war. In 1856 Mr. Arthur took an active part in poli
tics in the city of New York, having been a delegate to
the Saratoga Republican Convention previous to that date.
Governor Morgan appointed him Engineer-in-Chief on his
staff. Mr. Arthur acquired some military knowledge
while Judge Advocate General of the second brigade of
the New York State militia. When the war broke out
Mr. Arthur was selected to establish in New York, city
the branch Quartermaster's Department, and to take
charge of the same. Mr. Arthur displayed great energy
and executive ability while fulfilling the duties of this
appointment. He was deprived of this office by General
Seymour in 1860, but when General Grant ran for President
Mr, Arthur became president of the Central Giant Club

TOWNSEND'S NOMINATING SPEECH. 383
of New York, and chairman of the executive committee of
the Republican State Committee. He was appointed by
President Grant, Collector of the port of New York in
1871. In 1878, having been succeeded by General E. A.
Merritt, he returned to the practice of his profession. In
1879 he was chosen chairman of the Republican State Con
vention, and in June, 1880, was nominated for Vice-Pres
ident at Chicago, and in November elected. Upon the
death of Garfield, on the night of the nineteenth of Sep
tember, 1881, Mr. Arthur took the oath of'offlce as Presi
dent. His course and action since he became President is
a part of our present political history. It is sufficient to
say that the office is honestly and creditably administered,
and as Chief Magistrate of the great nation Mr. Arthur
bears himself with great dignity and firmness and gives no
occasion for political discontent. He was candidate for
re-nomination before the great Republican National Con
vention at Chicago in 1884.
SPEECH OF MARTIN I. TOWNSEUD, NOMINATING
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
Mr. Townsend said : Mr. President and Gentlemen of
the Convention : America is proud of her great men ;
the Republican party is proud of her great men, and the
great men of America are in the Republican party. It has
warmed the cockles of my heart to hear the eulogiums
pronounced here to-night. I abate not a whit from the
speakers who have uttered the eloquent eulogiums in my
admiration of those men. I come here to say amen and
thrice amen to all achievements of the Republican party,
including the glorious history of the gentlemen whose
names have been presented here. I come here, however,
to talk about the well-being of the Republican party in the
future, and I say to the gentlemen of this convention that,
however joyous our evening interview may be here, there
jg a very grave responsibility resting upon us that has got;

384 LIFE OF CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR.
to be borne and decided by cool and deliberate judgment.
The question is, How shall we put ourselves before the
American people in a shape to secure their suffrages at the
November election ? and it is a serious question. In
France, when the National Assemblies from 1790 to 1880
were assembled, a demonstration from the surrounding
mobs in Paris, and assent by the National Assemblies,
settled the question ; but we may exert influence upon this
body, we may obtain the assent of the body, and yet our
work is not done. We have got to go down to the constit
uencies that sent us here; we have got to shape our action
so that it shall commend itself to the men that go to the
churches; the clergymen, the Elders, and the Deacons, and
the members, and the citizens that attend the churches —
all that fear God and love the Republic have got to canvass
our action and pass in judgment upon what we have done.
Now, how shall we meet the views of these people? I come
to speak to you in carrying out what I believe is most
likely to gain the favor of the electors of this country —
the Republican electors. I have to speak of an individual.
I speak of General Chester A. Arthur, of the State of
New York. I shall not dwell on the early history of Ches
ter A. Arthur ; I shall content myself with saying that
his veins are filled with blood that derives its richness from
the Campbells of Argyle and from the North of Ireland, the
sturdiest stock in the universe. He passed the typical life
of the American boy; without money he had to make up
by merit for what he lacked of the filthy lucre. Four
years ago he was taken up by the National Assembly that
met here and nominated for the office of Vice-President
of the United States. He was elected upon the same
ticket with the sainted Garfield, a man whom I loved. I
knew him way back in 1856, when a boy struggling in col
lege, in my own college in Williamstown, in dear old
Massachusetts, where my early boyhood days were passed,
arid I met bira in, tbs National Congress; four long years

townsend's nominating speech. 385
I sat by his side, and I felt that when the National Con
vention had nominated Garfield they had done themselves
honor, they had done the country the greatest favor that
it was possible in that day and under the then circumstances
for them to confer upon it. In the providence of God —
a mournful, and melancholy, and never-to-be-forgotten
providence — Mr. Garfield was removed from the field of
action and Mr. Arthur was called to the difficult and al
most disheartening duty of taking his position as the
Chief Executive officer of this Union; and from that day
his work has been constant, forward, unswerving, kind,
faithful, considerate to all, and with charity for all and
malice against none he has discharged his duties [ap
plause], until, within a year, every Republican convention
in this Union has passed a resolution of unqualified com
mendation upon this man and his conduct in the Presi
dential office. [Applause.] Shall I say that I need- not
utter commendation? What have you said to-day? "In
the Administration of President Arthur we recognize a
wise, conservative, and patriotic policy, under which the
country has been blessed with remarkable prosperity, and
we believe his eminent services are entitled to and will
receive the hearty approval of every citizen." [Applause.]
This is to go down to the fireside of every constituent of
this assembly — I mean of this Republican assembly — and
they will hold you, my friends of this convention, they
will hold you to what you have said on this occasion.
We have a big constituency ; we have greater difficul
ties than our Democratic friends. When our Democratic
friends declare their principles they get their friends to
believe that they are in earnest and that they achieve a
triumph. Nothing makes them so happy, nothing makes
their constituents so proud of them, as to have them turn
tail and profess that they never meant what they said.
Our people hold no such doctrine.- What will they say to
us if we say we are not in earnest about this thing ? Some
2S

386 LIFE OF CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR.
ten years ago a large portion of our citizens came to feel
that the mode of distributing inferior and clerical offices
throughout the country was injurious to public morality,
and would in the end be subversive of the best interests
of the people. They started then what is called the
agitation for civil service reform. A great many hesitated,
a great many believed it was not necessary ; but by and by
the persistency of the earnest men that favored this
motion, the earnest men who determined that the reform
of the civil service upon the principles that they indicated
must and should be accomplished and preserved, had its
effect until now for more than eight years no National, no
State Convention has ever been organized without passing
a resolution in favor of civil service reform. We passed
laws, we have appointed commissioners, the commissioners
have gone into action, and through the administration of
Mr. Garfield all the principles of the civil service re
formers — and that included the whole Republican party —
have been put in practice. It is not that I say so. The
Commissioners themselves, in their report to the National
Congress, declared that Mr. Arthur, in every respect, has
carried out the laws and aided them to the extent of his
power. Another thing has happened under this Administra
tion. It may be said that I hold an office. I do — for
which I am indebted to the late President, Rutherford B.
Hayes, a most excellent gentleman, who did honor to the
country in the office. I am here to speak fqr the man
who is now President; but the day has arrived when a man
can safely come to oppose the head of the National Ad
ministration. There sits my friend Judge Robertson, of
the city of New York, the Collector of the port of New
York, coming here like an honest man, and a brave-hearted
man, to carry out his views directly in opposition to the
President. He fears no disturbance.
I am bound to say another thing. I would hate myself

townsend's nominating speech. 387
forever if I did not say it. Much has been said about New
York State politics; much has been said about the New
York machine, with Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt
turning the crank of the machine. I have, sir, to prove
that Mr. Arthur has not prostituted his office to the pur
poses of faction, but to point to the fact that Roscoe
Conkling has given his whole influence against Mr. Arthur,
and that Mr. Thomas C. Platt, the man that resigned his
office, and the man that could not sit in Garfield's Admin
istration because Mr. Blaine was so wicked as to persuade
Mr. Garfield to nominate Mr. Robertson for Collector of
the port of New York, is also opposed to Mr. Arthur.
I am an old man, but I am one of those men that for
fifty years, in speaking of politics, have uttered just the
sentiment that I felt and believed. My work is almost
done, but if it be the last act of my life I want to call the
attention of this convention to the exhibition that we have
had here to-night as an evidence that the executive
chamber, if it ever was otherwise, is not now the caucus-
room of faction.
Now, the people, when we go down to our homes, will
say: "What means this? Mr. Arthur has had everybody's
commendation. The politicians met at Chicago, and were
compelled by the force of public opinion, by what we
thought, to give this unqualified commendation for the
administration of Chester A. Arthur, and" yet' he was not
renominated." Mr. President, when you took the chair,
in speaking of the great and glorious men whose names
had come before this convention for consideration, you
said that this Chester A. Arthur had justly won the com
mendation, " Well done, good and faithful servant." Sir,
you quoted from a book. But what is said in that book
should be done with the good and faithful servant? Turn
him out into the brush -pasture to starve? That is not the
doctrine of that book. ¦ The good and faithful servant is
everywhere promised his reward. That is a wonderfully

388 LIFE OF CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR.
good book; and for a digression let me say to the young
gentlemen not members of the convention who cried so
loudly for my friend Ingersoll last night that there is a
great deal of most instructive and interesting reading in
that book if they shall have the grace to attend to it.
I have stated the people are full of scrutiny. There is
more, sir. We are to meet an intelligent, a tireless enemy.
The Democratic party are watching for a break in our
armor. They have their lances at rest. They have their
spears pointed, and whenever we lay open our armor they
are ready to pierce the Republican party to the heart.
What will they say: "Oh, here! Oh, here! What a nice
party you are! You have been prating ten years about
the reform of the civil service; you have been prating ten
years about having a non-factional administration. You
found one, as you say yourselves, and yet for the purpose
of picking up somebody else you have struck down and
cast into oblivion, as far as you had the power to do it, the
very man that has done the work that you set him to do,
after spending ten years in preparing for his hand." I
said the Democrats could do anything. They had their
friend of civil-service reform. They had their Mr. Pendle
ton in Ohio. They claqued him loudly; they patted him
on the back when he made his speeches for civil-service
reform, but when he came down to Ohio for renomination
to be returned to the Senate, they whistled him down the
wind. Said they: It will strengthen the party, but it
will not strengthen us. Our constituents will look unto
us. In the days of James II. he got into difficulty with
the bishops. He imprisoned all the leading bishops in
England. Among them was Trelawney, from Cornwall,
Bishop of Bristol. The Cornishmen were very much
excited because their friend was in jail, and a distich was
sent out, the burden of which was this-
And shall Trelawney die ?
And shall Trelawney die ?

TOWNSEND'S NOMINATING SPEECH. 389
Then thirty thousand Cornishmen
Will know the reason why.
And in this case strike down Mr. Arthur and not thirty
thousand Republicans, but thirty times thirty thousand
will know the reason why.
Now, my friends, I have presented substantially the
considerations which govern me in proposing the action
which I intend to follow. We have in every case since the
Rejoublican party has been formed done one of two things:
We have, when our President has finished his term, renom
inated him, except in the case of Mr. Hayes, who refused
a renominatioh, and given him a second term. We refused
to give General Grant, much as we regarded him, a third
term. " These are traditions of the party, the common
understanding, and in order to show that I take the com
mon understanding of the party I have to but quote a let
ter from a most distinguished statesman in the north-east
erly portion of the Union, written the twentieth of Decem
ber, 1880, in view of the incoming administration of Mr.
Garfield, in which he says, speaking of the administration,
" Not at all directing its energies for re-election, yet com
pelling the result by the logic of events and the imperious-
ness, as it is, of the situation." So said that great states
man ; so has said every man ; so says the community ; so
will say the voters ; and God grant that this convention
may adopt such a course as to conciliate the solid intelli
gence of the men of the Republican party, and that vic
tory in November, so important to the well-being of this
country, may again perch, as it has for twenty-four years,
upon the Republican banner.

CHAPTER XXXI.
JOHN SHERMAN.
JOHN SHERMAN was born at Lancaster, Ohio, May
10, 1823 ; among eleven children of the family, he
was the eighth son. Taylor Sherman, his grandfather, a
jurist and scholar of distinguished ability, was born in
Connecticut, and married Elizabeth Stoddard, a lineal
descendant of Anthony Stoddard, who came to the shores
of New England during the seventeenth century.
Charles Robert, son of Taylor Sherman and Elizabeth
Stoddard his wife, was the father of John and General W.
T. Sherman ; he was born at Norwalk, Connecticut, and
married Mary Hoyt, of Norwalk, in 1810, from which place
he removed to Lancaster, Ohio, and died from an attack of
cholera which, it is said, came upon him during the trial of
a case over which he presided as Judge. John Sherman
was taken by his father's cousin in 1831, to his home in
Mount Vernon, Ohio, and for four years remained there at
school. The family of eleven children had scattered, three
remaining with their mother, and friends of the family
used their influence in securing homes for the others.
John returned to Lancaster when about twelve years of
age, and entered the academy there in order to prepare for
college ; in two years he became a Sophomore, but lacked
the means necessary to continue his college course, and he
joined an engineer corps then engaged on the Muskingum
improvement, as a rodman, and by close attention to his
duties was promoted to the charge of a section of work at
Beverly. He began the study of law in 1839, in the office
of Charles T. Sherman, his brother, who was afterward
Judge of the United States District Court, and in 1844
he entered into partnership with his brother, where for
v 390

*

/ ¦ " ' '"'"^ ¦'¦¦¦ \

/ r" %, \

/ ' ¦ *» *• v" \
I- .J* ^ \
i

# I ¦ ^35>-- ¦ i

\ ijCffl BMk. /

\ <k ;,M SftW /

-IK ^

1 /
J3P ¦ ¦ < ¦

J.O^lfK' SibUs&A^WsCUH^.

Garfield's nominating speech. 391
ten years he practiced law most assiduously, laying the
foundation of after political honors as well as wealth.
No greater tribute was ever paid an honorable man than
the speech of James A. Garfield, when he nominated Mr.
Sherman for President in the Republican National Con
vention, at Chicago, 111., 1880. We print the speech in
full :
SPEECH OF JAMES A. GARFIELD NOMINATING MR. SHER
MAN FOR PRESIDENT.
"Mr. President: — I have witnessed the extraordinary
scenes of this convention with deep solicitude. No emo
tion touches my heart more quickly than a sentiment in
honor of a great and noble character. But as I sat on these
seats and witnessed these demonstrations, it seemed to me
you were a human ocean in a tempest. I have seen the
sea lashed into fury and tossed into spray, and its grandeur
moves the soul of the dullest man. But I remember that
it is not the billows, but the calm level of the sea from
which all heights and depths are measured. When the
storm has passed and the hour of calm settles on the
ocean, when sunshine bathes its smooth surface, then the
astronomer and surveyor takes the level from which he
measures all terrestrial heights and depths. Gentlemen
of the convention, your present temper may not mark the
healthful pulse of the people.
" When our enthusiasm has passed, when the emotions
of this hour have subsided, we shall find the calm level of
public opinion, below the storm, from which the thoughts
of a mighty people are to be measured, and by which their
final action will be determined. Not here, in this brilliant
circle, where fifteen thousand men and women are assem
bled, is the destiny of the Republic to be decreed ; not
here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred
and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast their votes into the
urn and determine the choice of their party ; but by five

392 LIFE OF JOHN SHERMAN.
million Republican firesides, where the thoughtful fathers,
with' wives and children about them, with calm thoughts
inspired by love of home and love of country, with the
history of the past, the hopes of the future, and the
knowledge of the great men who have adorned and blessed
our nation in days gone by, — there God prepares the ver
dict that shall determine the wisdom Of our work to-night.
Not in Chicago, in the heat of June, but in the sober
quiet that comes between now and November, in the
silence of deliberate judgment, will this great question be
settled. Let us aid them to-night.
"But now, gentlemen of the Convention, what do we
want ? Bear with me a moment. Hear me for this cause,
and for a moment, be silent that you may hear. Twenty-
five years ago this Republic was wearing a triple chain of
bondage. Long familiarity with the traffic in the body
and souls of men had paralyzed the consciences of a
majority of our people. The baleful doctrine of State
sovereignty had shocked and weakened the noblest and
most beneficent powers of the National Government and
the grasping power of slavery was seizing the virgin Ter
ritories of the West and dragging them into the den of
eternal bondage. At that crisis the Republican party was
born. It drew its first inspiration from the fire of liberty
which God has lighted in every man's heart, and which all
the powers of ignorance and tyranny can never wholly
extinguish. The Republican party came to deliver and save
the Republic. It entered the arena when beleaguered and
assailed Territories were struggling for freedom, and drew
around them the sacred circle of liberty, which the demon
of slavery has never dared to cross. It made them free
forever. " Strengthened by its victory on the frontier, the young
party, under the leadership of that great man who, on this
spot, twenty years ago, was made its leader, entered the
national capital and assumed the high duties of the gov-

Garfield's nominating speech.- 393
ernment. The light which shone from its banner dis
pelled the darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the
Capitol and melted the shackles of every slave, and con
sumed, in the fire of liberty, every slave-pen within the
shadow of the Capitol. Our national industries, by an
impoverishing policy, were themselves prostrated, and the
streams of revenue flowed in such feeble currents that the
treasury itself was well nigh empty. The money of the
people was the wretched notes of 2,000 uncontrolled and
irresponsible state bank corporations, which were filling
the country with a circulation that poisoned rather than
sustained the life of business.
" The Republican party changed all this. It abolished
the babel of confusion and gave the country a currency as
national as its flag, based upon the sacred faith of the
people. It threw its protecting arm around our great in
dustries, and they stood erect as with new life. It filled
with the spirit of true nationality all the great functions
of the government. It confronted a rebellion of unexam
pled magnitude, with a slavery behind it, and, under God,
fought the final battle of liberty until victory was won.
Then, after the storms of battle, were heard the sweet,
calm words of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and
saying to the conquered foe that lay prostrate at its feet,
' This is our only revenge, that you join us in lifting to the
serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine like stars
forever and forever, the immortal principles of truth and
justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and
stand equal before the law.' Then came the questions of
reconstruction, the public debt, and the public faith.
"In the settlement of these questions the Republican
party has completed its twenty-five years of glorious ex
istence, and it has sent us here to prepare it for another
lustrum of duty and of victory. How shall we do this
great work ? We can not do it, my friends, by assailing
our Republican brethren. God forbid that I should say

394 Life Of johN sHeRman.
one word to cast a shadow upon any name on the roll of
our heroes. This coming fight is our Thermopylae. We
are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts
are united we can withstand all the Persians that the
Xerxes of Democracy can bring against us.
" Let us hold our ground this one year, for the stars in
their courses fight for'us in the future. The census to be
taken this year will bring reinforcements and continued
power. But, in order to win this victory now, we want
the vote of every Republican, of every Grant Republican
in America, of every Blaine man and every anti-Blaine
man. The vote of every follower of every candidate is
needed to make our success certain; therefore I say, gen
tlemen and brethren, we are here to calmly counsel to
gether, and inquire what we shall do. [A voice : ' Nom
inate Garfield.' — Great applause.]
" We want a man whose life and opinions embody all
the achievements of which I have spoken. We want a
man who, standing on a mountain height, sees all the
achievements of our past history, and carries in his heart
the memory of all its glorious deeds, and who, looking for
ward, prepares to meet the labor and the dangers to come.
We want one who will act in no spirit of unkindness
toward tho3e we lately met in battle. The Republican party
offers to our brethren of the South the olive branch of
peace, and wishes them to return to brotherhood, on this
supreme condition, that it shall be admitted, forever and
for evermore, that in the war for the Union, we were right
and they were wrong. On that supreme condition we meet
them as brethren, and no other. We ask them to share
with us the blessings and honors of this great Republic.
"Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about to pre
sent a name for your consideration — the name of a man
who was the comrade, and associate, and friend of nearly
all those noble dead whose faces look down upon us from
these walls to-night; a man who began his career of public

GARFIELD*S NOMINATING SPEECH. 395
service twenty-five years ago, whose first duty was cour
ageously done in the days of peril on the plains of Kansas,
when the first red drops of that bloody shower began to
fall which finally swelled into the deluge of war. He
bravely stood by young Kansas then, and, returning to his
duty in the national legislature, through all subsequent
time his pathway has been marked by labors performed in
every department of legislation.
"You ask for his monuments. I point you to twenty-
five years of the national statutes. Not one great benefi
cent statute has been placed on our statute books without
his intelligent and powerful aid. He aided these men to
formulate the laws that raised our great armies and carried
us through the war. His hand was seen in the workmanship
of those statutes that restored and brought back the unity
and married calm of the States. His hand was in all that
great legislation that created the war currency, and in a
greater work that redeemed the promises of the govern
ment, and made the currency equal to gold. And when
at last, called from the halls of legislation into a high
executive office, he displayed that experience, intelligence,
firmness, and poise of character which has carried us
through a stormy period of three years. With one half the
public press crying ' Crucify him ! ' and a hostile Congress
seeking to prevent his success — in all this he remained
unmoved until victory crowned him.
" The great fiscal affairs of the nation and the great bus
iness interests of the country he has guarded and preserved,
while executing the law of resumption and effecting its
object without a jar, and against the false prophecies
of one half of the press and all the Democracy of
this continent. He has shown himself able to meet with
calmness the great emergencies of the government for
twenty-five years. He has trodden the perilous heights of
public duty, and against all the shafts of malice has borne
his breast unharmed. He has stood in the blaze of 'that

396 LIFE OF JOHN SHERMAN.
fierce light that beats against the throne/ but its fiercest
ray has found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his shield.
"I do not present him as a better Republican, or as a
better man than thousands of others we honor, but I pre
sent him for your deliberate consideration. I nominate
John Sherman, of Ohio."

&-o-t^a-e- c7. ©cuwt/t^-^c-cc-i^.

CHAPTER XXXII.
GEORGE F. EDMUNDS.
AT Richmond, Vermont, on the 28th of February, 1828,
- the subject of this sketch was born. He sprang
from a hard-working family, and inherits the Quaker'gen-
tleness of his mother. His father, a strong, active old
Puritan, was a man of thrift and good sense, and while
George was quite young he placed him in a public school,
and afterwards furnished him with a tutor at home.
Young Edmunds proved an apt scholar, and soon devel
oped a fondness for study, and easily mastered his lessons.
He chose the profession of law while in his teens, and
proved that his aptness as-a scholar had developed a taste
for the legal profession. He was made a practitioner in
1849, when he arrived at the age of twenty-one, and
entered the office of his brother-in-law, A. B. Maynard,
where he remained until 1851, when he chose Burlington
as his home. His readiness as a scholar, his flashes of
wit, his intellectual attainments were all the subjects of
remark while quite a boy, and he soon ranked high in his
chosen profession among the bright men of his day.
In the summer of 1852, Mr. .Edmunds was united in
marriage to Miss Susan Marsh Lyman, a daughter of Hon
orable Wyllis Lyman, a lawyer,. of Berlin, Vt., and a man
of fine reputation. After some five years of devotion to
the law, Mr. Edmunds was singled out as a politician, and
honors were laid at his door without the seeking. From
1854 to 1859 he was a member of the Legislature of Ver
mont, and for three years was chosen as its Speaker.
He entered the State Senate in 1861, and was its pre
siding officer pro tempore, and took his seat in the United
States Senate April 5, 18? 6, vice Solomon Foote, deceased.
897

398 LIFE OF GEORGE F. EDMUNDS.
The Legislature elected him for the remainder of the
term ending March 4th, 1869. He has been re-elected
three times, and is one of the very few men who are in that
body whose tenure of office is secure — perhaps there is no
man in the country who has served his State so well and
has displayed greater devotion to his people and country,
and unless disabled physically or mentally, or elected to a
higher office, Vermont will undoubtedly do herself the high
honor of continuing her distinguished son in the National
Council for an indefinite period.
He was elected a member of the Electoral Commission
in 1877, and in consequence of his great legal knowledge
succeeded Lyman Trumbull as Chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, a post which he still retains. In the contest
with Andrew Johnson, he proved conservative and mod
erate, his influence being exerted to allay the inflammation
of the public mind. The initiation of the Electoral Com
mission and the Pacific Railroad Funding bill were carried
largely through his efforts. Senator Edmunds is not con
sidered an eloquent speaker, but he is fluent, powerful,
clear and convincing. He is a man to speak to thoughtful
men, and convinces by the symmetry of his thoughts, logic
and truth which pervades his utterances, rather than a man
to sway an audience with flights of sentimental oratory.
He is ready in repartee and a master in the skill of extempo
raneous argument; *is noted for his keen sarcasm and
drastic humor. Unlike most men, he scarcely ever goes
so far as to break personal relations with any of his fellow-
members of the Senate or bar.
Mr. Edmunds is an honest, conscientious, truth-loving
man. An official life of twenty-nine years lies behind him,
clear, luminous and pure; no dishonest action, no corrupt
practice has ever stained his escutcheon. His highest aim
having been to fitly serve his people and his Republic. He
is unalterably opposed to all underhand work or irregular
proceedings, and no man alive would even dare to approach

SENSE OF DUTY. 399
him with a dishonorable proposition. Earnest in purpose,
pure in life, grand tribune of the people and a statesman,
no favor sways him and no fear can awe. When Senator
Anthony's health failed his brother Senators wished to
elevate him to the dignity of President of the Senate, but
he declined to act only so long as absolutely necessary. Ho
is not a politician, and never seeks office — honors so far
have sought him, and so it will be until the end.

IP^l-ST SEOOITD.

Principles and Achievements

REPUBLICAN PARTY

P0RTRATIN8 ITS

BRILLIANT HISTORY

THROUGH THE ENTIRE

PERIOD OF ITS EXISTENCE.

401

PRINCIPLES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
THE grand achievements of the Nation under the
administrations of the Republican party form one of
the brightest pages in universal history. In a government
resting upon the will of the people and deriving its
powers from their consent, the study of the underlying
principles which have moved the masses from time to
time, as the old gave place to the new in political adminis
tration, must forever inspire the mind of the loyal citizen
with the keenest interest. And when, as in this instance,
the principles of a party continue to exert a controlling
influence upon the Nation, and, as living issues, demand
our consideration, it is a crime to be ignorant concerning
them. For the quarter of a century the Republican party has
been upon the successful side of every great national
question. The principles of its advocacy have been vic
torious at the ballot-box and in the arbitrament of the
sword. The people have bowed to the self-evident right
eousness of its principles and the expediency of its meas
ures. It is not pretended that this party of the people
has made no mistakes; but these are trivial if compared
with the vastness of its enterprises and the grandeur of
403

404 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
their results. No party in the history of nations ever
accomplished more or left less in its record to be regretted.
To strengthen the wavering, convince the honest and
stimulate the patriotic in the support of the Republican
party, we present a brief array of its brilliant past achieve
ments and its present glorious purposes.

CHAPTER II.
GROWTH OF REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES.
r I ")HE framers of the Constitution found it impossible i
-*- secure the adoption of that instrument, without intr<
ducing into it three provisions in the interest of the pe:
petuation of human slavery.
1. That the African slave trade should not be abolishe
by law before 1808.
2. That slaves fleeing from their masters should I
surrendered upon demand, and,
3. That in the apportionment upon population c
representation in Congress and in the Electoral Collegi
three fifths of the colored population should be countec
And thus our forefathers, against the protest of man
of the wisest and best men of that period, sowed th
seeds which eventually sprang up and produced a sla\
oligarchy which held such sway over the Nation that ii
power could be overcome only by the vigorous efforts of th
greater part of a century. The clause in the Constitutio
defining the date at which African slave trade must not t
disturbed, caused the importation into the United Stat«
of as many as three hundred thousand slaves between th
time of the formation of the Constitution and the yea
1808. The vast number of slaves in the country produce
in the slave-holding States, a wealthy class of land-ownei
whose exemption from work afforded the amplest fields fc
the study of government and the practice of statesmar
ship. With this advantage, they entered the halls of Cor
gress with commanding mien, and exerted an influenc
not warranted by the number of their constituency.
On the other hand, while this power was domineerin
in high places, there was silently working among th
405

406 • REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
masses, and especially in the North, the voice of con
science, which was destined to overthrow that which was
backed by the influence of money and time-honored cus
tom. The first notable awakening of this silent influence
made its appearance when Missouri knocked at the door
of the "Union for admission as a State. Hitherto, the
commonwealths admitted into the "Union had alternated
as free States and slave States, thus balancing in the
national senate the influence supporting slavery and that
opposing it. Should Missouri be admitted as a free State,
the slave power would lose ascendency. The struggle was
protracted and fierce, and resulted in drawing a line at
latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes, which was
hoped to dedicate the region north of it to perpetual lib
erty, and was presumed to allow for the domain south of
the line the organization of States, sustaining or discarding
the right to hold slaves as the people might decide. Such,
indeed, were the provisions allowed by the Missouri Com
promise; but it was only a temporary smothering of those
Bentiments which must ultimately result in triumph. This
agitation witnessed the first bold advocacy of the doctrine
known as Nullification, of which John C. Calhoun was
champion, and which was based upon the idea that the
United States is a confederation, and not a Nation. This
position, taken by a statesman and thoroughly believed
by him, relieved his conscience from compunction while
avowing the supremacy of his State, and her right to
withdraw from the Union. Connection with the Union
was desirable to the slave-holder as long as the govern
ment protected his slaves, but should that protection be
withdrawn, he preferred a separation from the union of
States. This idea was held in reserve till its carrying out
should become the only alternative.
The government had not been in existence one third of
a century before it was seen that the slave system, if con
fined to original boundaries, would die of its own weight.

"GROWTH OF REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES. 407
Accordingly, as a means of perpetuating this institution,
the slave oligarchy became earnest advocates of the
annexation of territory in the west and south. Meanwhile
in 1833, the national anti-slavery society was formed. This
society poured into Congress petition after petition pray-.
ing for the abolition of slavery or some amelioration of the
condition of those who were held to perpetual bondage.
These petitions were received with such disfavor by those
who opposed them that the "right of petition" became a
political issue, and one for which the Whig party waged
unrelenting war. Those who labored for the overthrow of
slavery were called Abolitionists, and at first were most
unpopular in nearly every section of the "Union ; yet their
cause was so just and their efforts so persistent that their
ranks steadily advanced and drew largely from opposing
organizations. The Abolitionists organized the Liberty
party in 1840, which in 1843 enunciated a platform at
Buffalo, New York, based on the principles of universal
justice and interpreting the Constitution as granting to the
general Government no power to establish or continue
slavery anywhere. The same year there appeared a division
in the Democratic ranks of New York, and the breach
widened from year to year. The liberal wing, known as
Barnburners, united with the Liberty party in 1848, and
the combination was thereafter known as the Free-Soil
party, advocating under a new name and in a great
measure, the principles of the Abolitionists. It was com
posed principally of those who could not operate with the
two great political parties of the day in their efforts to
hold at bay the question which was really uppermost in the
mind of every statesman. The series of platforms enun
ciated from time to time by the Whig and Democratic
parties so covered up this all-important question that they
were enabled to retain within their party lines vast
numbers who were opposed to slavery, but desired its dis
cussion kept beyond the pale of politics. At length the com-

±0$ KIPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
promise measures of 1850, which embraced what had been
the features of the omnibus bill, became laws of the land.
These measures provided for a fugitive slave law so
obnoxious in the free States that some of the Legislatures
passed what was known as personal-liberty bills designed
to counteract the law for the recovery of escaping slaves.
Two years after these measures met the approbation of
Congress the Whig party, in national convention, passed a
resolution in support of the compromises, thus publicly
committing the party to the support of a law sustaining
the system of slavery. This resolution rent the party in
twain, and its members sought affiliation in other congenial
organizations. The Whig candidate was defeated, and
before another presidential campaign rolled around the
Whig party was no more. It lived as long as it steered
clear of the question of slavery, but the moment it engaged
to support that incubus the ties that bound it together
were torn asunder. Now occurred a momentous event
which gave the advocates of universal freedom a sure
place of anchorage. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill became a
law. It virtually annulled the Missouri Compromise on
the ground that the latter was unconstitutional, and threw
open to slavery the vast stretches of territory north of the
line which had been held as a sacred boundary for over
thirty years.
The bill, as especially advocated by Senator Douglas,
provided for the organization of Kansas and Nebraska into
territories, so that the people should be allowed to decide
for themselves the questions of their domestic institutions.
The Free-Soil party and Anti-Slavery Whigs contested the
movement at every step. Their efforts were in vain, and
the territories were organized. Defeat in Congress was no
cause for the cessation of efforts. The flames of political
strife were kindled high, and a rapid amalgamation of all
the forces opposing slavery at once set in. Just what to
do was not exactly known; yet the restless divisions oppos-

GROWTH OF REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES. 409
ing the Democratic party were a unit in their antagonism
to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and from 1854 to 1855 the
Anti-Nebraska partisans put forward candidates whom
they supported under different party names. It was in
these times that anti-slavery men belonging to the differ
ent parties came to the conclusion that the triumph of
their cause could be secured only through the formation
of a new party, which could act without the embarrass
ment of a pro-slavery wing. In the early months of 1854,
at a political meeting in Wisconsin, a resolution was
adopted, providing that if the Kansas-Nebraska Bill should
pass they would throw old party organizations to the winds,
and organize a new party on the sole issue of the non-
extension of slavery. On the 20th of March of the same
year, the opinion was expressed, at another political meet
ing, that the new party would probably receive the name
of Republican. The Detroit Tribune favored the disband
ing of the Free-Soil and Whig parties, and the organization
of a new party composed of all the opponents of slavery
extension. In July, 1854, a mass convention was held in
Michigan, which adopted a platform opposing the exten
sion of slavery, and gave to the new party the name of
Republican. Meeting with encouraging success at State
elections, the new organization, from a small beginning,
increased rapidly in numbers and drew into its fold, by
degrees, all those who opposed the extension of slavery
into the territories. Thus, by the fusion of Whigs, Free-
Soilers, Anti-Nebraska Democrats, and Anti-Slavery Amer
icans, the Republican party was organized and formed a
fitting political home for the various partisans of whom
it was composed. With pride and consciousness of right,
it appropriated all that was good of its germinating prede
cessors, and hinged its fortunes upon the great question of
the non-extension of slavery, and resolved to inscribe upon
its banner all that was involved in " Free Soil, Free Speech,
Free Labor and Free Man."

CHAPTER III.
FREE SOIL, FREE SPEECH, FREE LABOR AND FREE MEN.
LONG before the organization of the Republican party
the seeds from which it grew had been strewn with
liberal hands. The three items in the caption of this
chapter had been introduced into the anti-slavery platform
adopted at Utica, New York, June 22, 1848; and the
Liberty party, 1843, basing its declarations on the ordi
nance of 1787, resolved, in regard to the territories of the
United States, that "the soil itself" was legally "incapac
itated to bear any other than freemen." In the first plat
form of the Republican party, Philadelphia, June 17, 1856,
it was affirmed that Congress held constitutional and
sovereign authority over all the territories of the United
States, and that it was both the right and the duty of
Congress to receive Kansas as a free State. This doctrine
was emphasized in the Second National Convention of the
Republican party, May 17, 1860, Chicago, by a resolution
declaring " that the normal condition of all the territory
of the United States was that of freedom," and demand
ing that Congress should assert and enforce this doctrine
against all opposition.
And when the wild whirlwind of rebellion swept across
the South, basing itself on slave labor, and bringing the
thew and sinew of its four millions of bondmen to bear,
indirectly, against the life of the Nation, Republicans saw
that the supreme hour had come. The question of Free-
Soil as applied to the territories dropped out of sight. In
the providence of God deliverance for the whole land was
at hand. It is difficult now to realize that this should ever have
figured as an issue in American politics. But the reader
410

FREE LABOR AND EREE MEN. 411
of history will find that the dominant slave power had
succeeded in banishing the right of petition and the liberty
of speech accompanying that right from the halls of Con
gress! For a number of years the infamous "Twenty-
first Rule " was enforced. It was introduced by Charles
G. Atherton (Democrat) from New Hampshire, 1838, and
provided that " every petition, memorial, resolution, prop
osition, or paper touching or relating in any way or in any
extent whatever to slavery or the abolition thereof, shall,
on presentation, without any further action thereon, be
laid upon the table, without being debated, printed, or
referred." "Free Speech" meant the right to be heard
anywhere and on any subject inside or outside of Congress.
The Republican doctrine always recognized that right,
denying to no citizen the right to be heard. * * *
And thus in the inevitable march of Republican prin
ciples, slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia,
April, 1862; and September, 22, 1862, a proclamation by
the President threatened emancipation, provided the States
in rebellion did not return to their allegiance to the Gov
ernment. This was regarded as but a feint by the Union
ists, and treated with contempt by the Rebels. But the
long-deferred moment arrived, and emancipation as a
political necessity or war measure, was proclaimed Janu
ary 1, 1863. However, the Fugitive Slave Law was not
blotted from our statutes till June, 1864. On the famous
Emancipation Proclamation President Lincoln " invoked
the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious
favor of God." Mankind have approved and God has
blessed this greatest act of the greatest of Republican
Presidents. This phrase passed into politics as a gem, uttering at
once the universally-conceded principle in the Declaration
of Independence that "all men are created free," and
demanding its application to all classes of society except
criminals. The Abolitionists had no well-matured plans

412 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
of emancipation for the slave, but were striking hard
blows against a fearful evil almost as old as sin itself, and
embodying the " sum of all villainies." When the Repub
lican party was organized, it fell heir to all the moral forces
which had hitherto been dreaded by the advocates of the
"peculiar institution" of the South. Added to these
were the prudential considerations which told all men who
did not desire victory for the slave oligarchy, that the
balance of power in the United States Senate depended
upon the success of the Republican party and the admis
sion of Kansas as a free State.
The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise, May 30, 1854, threw the vast
domain stretching west from Missouri to California, and
once pledged to freedom, back into the angry discussions
of slavery and anti-slavery parties. Questions once settled
by compromise were to be fought over again at the ballot-
box. The excitement throughout the country never ceased
until it burst in the thunders of civil war. The fact that
large numbers of the people had lost confidence in the
sincerity of the Democratic leaders could no longer be
concealed. To save the country north of thirty-six de
grees thirty minutes to liberty, the Republican party
"became a necessity. Buchanan recognized the Lecompton
Constitution in his message, February, 1858, and the free
dom of the territory of the west was imperiled. The
Republican party grew into power in a day. All classes
and grades of opposition to slavery were consolidated into
one as the result of the encroachments of the slave power,
with which compromises had ceased to have any legal or
moral force. The precise feeling and position of the young
and growing party of freedom, at the time of its organiza
tion, was never more tersely or popularly expressed than by
Mr. Lincoln, in his opening speech in his celebrated canvass
with Senator Douglas; said he, " I believe this government
cannot endure permanently half slave, half free. I do not

FREE LABOR AND FREE MEN. 413
expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house
to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will
become all one thing or all the other. Either the oppo
nents of slavery will arrest the farther spread of it and
place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that
it is in the course of absolute extinction, or its advocates
will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all
the States, old as well as new, north as well as south."
This utterance was the key-note of his campaign, and
eventually made him President.

CHAPTER IV.
NON-EXTENSION OF SLAVERY.
WHILE the great body of the men who united to
form the Republican party entertained the opinion
that human slavery was a violation of the inherent rights
of mankind, and totally inconsistent with the genius and
principles of our system and form of government, they were
not disposed to set at defiance the guarantees of the Con
stitution, originally engrafted for the protection of this
institution, but they were earnestly devoted to the princi
ple that wherein Congress had the power to limit, or
abolish slavery, the same should be done.
Washington, Jefferson, and other great revolutionary
spirits of the South, deplored the existence of slavery, and
looked forward to the time when it would be abolished.
They, however, gave their adhesion to the compromises in
the Constitution inserted for the protection of that institu
tion. The spirit of slavery is intensely aggressive; and not only
was slavery used as a system of labor, but as a great power
in politics and the social relations. Men came to believe
that slavery was of divine origin — that it was the true
relation ordained of God, between the white and black
races; and so the laws of the States were enacted with the
view to its perpetuation, and a policy for the National
Government was established looking to its constant exten
sion. The admission of new States was timed so as to
maintain the balance of power between the sections, and
thus preserve to slavery, in connection with its northern
allies, the control of the Senate.
The contest in the presidential election of 1860, mainly
turned upon the question of the extension of slavery into
414

NON-EXTENSION OF SLAVERY. 415
the Territories, and of the right of slave-holders to the
protection of the Constitution in emigrating with their
slaves into the Territories.
Without entering upon a minute discussion in regard
to the attitude of parties upon this question, it is well
understood that the Slavery Propaganda maintained the
right, under the Constitution, of taking their slaves into
the Territories, and holding them there as other property;
and that neither Congress nor the Territorial Legislatures
had any power or authority to interfere with the status
of slavery in the Territories during the existence of the
Territorial form of government.
The Republican party maintained the position that,
while they had no constitutional right to interfere with
slavery in the States where it existed by virtue of State
laws, they insisted that Congress had power over the
Territories, and that laws should be passed to prohibit the
extension of slavery into any of the Territories of the
Union. Lincoln, with prophetic vision, foresaw and predicted
that this Government could not continue half slave and
half free. He believed that ultimately slavery would
cease to exist, and that the Union would be maintained
for the protection of the rights and interests of a great
and free people. He did not propose to wage an unlawful
warfare against slavery in the States where it existed; but
he believed in the right of discussion, and expected to see
created through this means a public sentiment, South as
well as North, in favor of the final extirpation of this state
of society and labor, which he believed to be wrong.
These sentiments were fully indorsed by the men who
elevated Abraham Lincoln to the presidential chair. It
was in no spirit of aggression that he and they conducted
the campaign of 1860, but they were voicing the progress
ive spirit of the age when they declared against the
further extension of slavery.

416 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
The opposition to this attitude of the Republican party
was as fierce and malignant as though the party had
declared in favor of the immediate abolition by Congress
of slavery in the States. It was not enough for the friends
of slavery that that institution was safe in the States where
it existed, and was to be left subject to the will of the
people of those States respectively. All civilized govern
ments throughout the world maintained the doctrine that
the state of slavery was subject to local law, and was not a
natural condition of society; the friends of slavery set this
doctrine at defiance and demanded the right to import into
the Territories of the Union the laws of the States which
placed fetters upon the colored race. And so, when
Lincoln was elected president of the United States, accord
ing to the Constitution and forms of law, the leaders of the
South determined to break up the Union; not because
slavery in the slave States was to be interfered with ; not
because slaves fleeing from their masters would not be
returned upon demand made according to law; not because
there was danger of a reduction of the representation of the
slave-holding States in Congress and in the Electoral
College, by deducting from their total population the
slaves authorized by the Constitution to be counted; but
because there was a demand upon the part of the freedom-
loving people of the United States that slavery should not
be extended beyond the bounds which it then occupied.

CHAPTER V.
PRESERVATION OF THE UNION — REVIEW OF SECESSION
MOVEMENTS.
THE three hundred thousand slave owners had grown
into a slave power that controlled the South in 1857.
At this time the South controlled the Democratic party,
and this party controlled the Union. But the course of
events was turning against them. Prior to 1845 an equi
librium between the sections was maintained by admitting
as many new Southern States as new Northern States; but
after that time five new Northern States were added to the
Union, and others were almost ready for application, while
there were no new Southern States to counterbalance them.
From 1820 tcrroStS there had been as many Senators from
the slave States as from the free States. In 1852 the latter
had thirty-two Senators and the former only thirty. The
impossibility of maintaining an equality in the Senate pro
duced alarm in the South. To this fear of the slaveholders
there was another cause of doubt as to their continuance
in power. The power, energy and resources of the free
States were overmatching the efforts of the South in Kan
sas ; and if Kansas could not be made a slave State, the
advocates of slavery saw but three courses to pursue : the
cession of Cuba to the Union, as territory for slave States ;
the acquisition of territory south of Texas as material for
the same purpose ; or the re-opening of the African slave
trade. If these attempts should fail, they desired a sepa
ration from the free States, and the establishment of an in
dependent government that would secure slavery from all
attacks and restrictions.
27 417

418 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
SECESSION.
The Legislature of South Carolina having met to choose
electors, remained in session till the election of Lincoln
was assured. It then called a convention of the State
to consider the mode and measure of redress. The con
vention passed, unanimously, the following : "An ordi
nance to dissolve the union between the State of South
Carolina and other States united with her under the com
pact entitled, ' The Constitution of the United States of
America.'" Copies of this ordinance were forwarded to
the other slaveholding States, and Governor Pickens issued,
December 24, a proclamation embodying the substance of
the ordinance. South Carolina was relied upon by disun-
lonists to take the initiative in the work of secession and
to fire the southern heart. Other slave States, unwilling
" to abandon their smaller sister," rapidly followed her
example. The Legislature of Georgia met November 8, 1860, and
on the 18th called a convention and appropriated $1,000,-
000 to arm the State. On the 3d of December the Legis
lature adopted resolutions proposing a conference of the
Southern States at Atlanta on the 20th of the following
February. The convention met January 17, 1861, and re
ceived commissioners from South Carolina and Alabama.
Resolutions were adopted declaring it the right and duty
of Georgia to secede. On the 19th the ordinance of seces
sion was passed — ayes 208, nays 89. Two days afterward
Senators and Representatives from Georgia withdrew from
the Congress of the United States. On tbe 24th dele
gates were elected to a southern Congress at Montgomery,
Alabama, and on the 28th commissioners to other slave-
holding States were elected. The following day the con
vention adopted an address to the South and the world,
after which it adjourned. It re-assembled in March and
ratified the "Confederate Constitution" — ayes 96, nays 5.

PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. 419
On the 20th of the month an ordinance was passed author
izing the Confederate government to occupy, use, and pos
sess the forts, navy yards, arsenals, and custom houses
within the limits of said State. April 26, Governor Brown
issued a proclamation ordering the repudiation, by the cit
izens of Georgia, of all debts due Northern men- Such,
with slight modifications, were the steps taken by every
State that seceded before the close of March, 1861. Hav
ing completed these acts, the seceded States began opera
tions under the Confederate Constitution. Mississippi
passed the ordinance of secession January 9, 1861 ; Florida,
January 10 ; Alabama, January 11 ; Louisiana, January
25 ; Texas, February 1 ; and Arkansas, March 18. No
other State seceded till after the beginning of hostilities
in Lincoln's administration. When a State seceded it
appointed commissioners to visit other slaveholding States
to confer regarding the most efficient measures for the
cause of secession. South Carolina appointed eight com
missioners, Alabama eight, Georgia two, and Mississippi
fourteen. THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.
Between the election of Lincoln and his inauguration,
a portion of the cabinet were aiding the cause of secession
in every practical way. They were not molested by the
President, for he stated that the executive had no authority
to decide what should be the relations between the federal
government and a seceded State. During the year preced
ing the election of Lincoln the transfer of United States
arms to the South had been quietly going on under the
direction of Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War. The Mobile
Advertiser upon the subject, says :
"During the past year 135,430 muskets have been
quietly transferred from the northern arsenal at Springfield
alone, to those in the Southern States. We are much
obliged to Secretary Floyd for the foresight he has thus

420 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
displayed in disarming the North and equipping the South
for this emergency. There is no telling the quantity of
arms and munitions which were sent South from other
Northern arsenals. There is no doubt but that every man
in the South who can carry a gun can now be supplied from
private or public sources. The Springfield contribution
alone would arm all the militia men of Alabama and
Mississippi." The transfer of arms was conducted quietly from the
last of 1859 till the last of 1860 ; but when Lincoln was
elected all measures connected with secession were pushed
with uncommon vigor. The Senators from the States
farthest south controlled the movements of secession, and
aided by the telegraph they accomplished their purpose
with a rapidity to which history affords no parallel. Their
leading object was to organize a new national government
through which they could rally the outright secessionists,
obtain the allegiance of the doubtful, and coerce those
who should refuse compliance. Jefferson Davis, Senator
from Mississippi, was head of the senatorial group conduct
ing the work of secession. The Legislature of his State,
January 19, 1861, adopted resolutions inviting a congress
of delegates from the seceding States to provide for a south
ern confederacy, and to establish a provisional government
therefor. The proposal was at once accepted, and delegates
appointed through the State conventions. The provisional
congress thus constituted met at Montgomery, Alabama, on
the 4th of February, with delegates from South Carolina,
Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Texas delegates were not chosen until February 14. A
provisional constitution was adopted on the 8th of Feb
ruary, and the next day Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi,
and Alexander H. Stevens, of Georgia, were chosen
provisional President and Vice-President. They were
inaugurated on the 18th. Executive departments were
established, a confederate regular army was oganized, and

REVIEW OF SECESSION MOVEMENTS. 421
provisions for borrowing money were made. The per
manent constitution was adopted March 11.
The provisional congress consisted of but one House,
and legislated mainly for the regulation of civil service
under the new government. Postmasters were instructed
to make their final accounting to the federal government
May 31, "thereafter accounting to the Confederate States."
Civil and military officers in the service of the United
States, on joining the confederacy, received offices in the
confederate service equal in rank to those they had left, or
else higher positions. The provisional congress adjourned
on the 16th of March, but re-assembled at Montgomery at
the call of President Davis, in consequence of the efforts
which the Federal government was making to enforce its
authority in the South.
In the mean time Congress had met, December 3, 1860,
and the opinion of the President on the question of seces
sion was made known to the country. In his message to
Congress he stated his inability to find officers in the south
to execute process against offenders, and expressed the
opinion that it was impossible, legally, under such circum
stances, to coerce the obedience of a State ; such, he said,
was also the opinion of the attorney-general. The Presi
dent appealed to Congress to institute a constitutional
amendment recognizing the rights of the Southern States
in regard to slavery in the territories; but he argued against
secession and revolution, and expressed a determination
"to collect the revenue in the ports of South Carolina by
means of a naval force, and to defend the public property."
The closing portion of the message is to the effect that
secession is wrong, but he knew not what to do, for he did
not believe that Congress could constitutionally coerce a
state. THE CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE.
Congress was occupied chiefly in considering propositions
for conciliation. The request in the President's message

422 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
to amend the Constitution in the interest of slavery in the
territories was referred to a committee of thirteen. Mr.
Crittenden, of Kentucky, submitted a joint resolution
proposing certain amendments to the Constitution, but the
committee rejected the compromise, and reported that
" they were unable to agree upon any general plan of ad
justment." Mr. Crittenden seeing that the requisite two-
thirds vote of Congress on his amendment could not be
obtained, submitted to the Senate a joint resolution which
might be passed by a majority of both Houses. It was to
the effect that his rejected amendment be referred, by an
ordinary act of Congress, to a direct vote of the people of
the several States. This proposition, with its modified
form, was before Congress till the last day of the session,
when it was defeated in the Senate by a vote of nineteen
in the affirmative and twenty in the negative. The leading
provisions of the Crittenden compromise were that north of
the parallel of 36 degrees and 30 minutes, slavery should be
prohibited; that south of this line it should be recognized
and never interfered with by Congress, and slaves rescued
from officers after arrest should be paid for by the Federal
government. The provisions were to be incorporated in
the Constitution and never altered or amended during the
existence of the Union. The compromise was one of con
flicting claims, and could not receive the support of either
party. Other propositions were presented, but none received
the sanction of both Houses except a constitutional amend
ment prohibiting Congress from interfering with slavery
in the States. This amendment was adopted by the
legislatures of Ohio and Maryland, but the attention of
other States was drawn from it by the rapid occurrence of
exciting and important events.
THE PEACE CONVENTION.
At the invitation of the General Assembly of Virginia,

PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. 423
commissioners from thirteen free and seven border States
assembled in a peace convention, February 4, 1861. The
133 delegates composing the convention endeavored to pre
sent to Congress such recommendations as would prevent
the border States from seceding, and bring back to the
Union the cotton States that had withdrawn. The com
mittee to which the matters under consideration were
referred, reported that the Constitution should be amended
so as to include the following: " In all the present territory
of the United States north of the parallel of 36 degrees and
30 minutes of north latitude, involuntary servitude, except
in punishment of crime, is prohibited. In all the present
territory south of that line, the status of persons held to
involuntary service or labor, as it now exists, shall not be
changed; nor shall any law be passed by Congress or the
territorial legislature to hinder or prevent the taking of
such persons from any of the States of this Union to said
territory, nor to impair the rights arising from said
relation; but the same shall be subject to judicial cogniz
ance in the Federal courts, according to the course of the
common law. When any territory north or south of said
line, within such boundary as Congress may prescribe, shall
contain a population equal to that required for a member
of Congress, it shall, if its form of government be republi
can, be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with
the original States, with or without involuntary servitude,
as the Constitution of such State may provide."
On the twenty- seventh of February the proposed
amendment was adopted by the convention and communi
cated to the Senate and House of Representatives by Mr.
Tyler, chairman of the convention and ex-President of the
United States. Mr. Crittenden, an earnest avdocate of the
amendment, endeavored to bring the Senate to a vote upon
the question, but in this he was unsuccessful. The recom
mendation of the convention met with less favor in the

424 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
House than in the Senate. Leave to present it was not
even allowed to the Speaker.
The refusal to pass any compromise heightened the
excitement in the South and enabled earnest secessionists
to wield an influence for disunion in places where there
was a reluctance to secede. The following telegraphic
manifesto was sent from Washington, December 22, 1860,
by Robert Toombs:
Fellow Citizens of Georgia: I came here to secure your constitu
tional rights, or to demonstrate to you that you can get no guarantee
for these rights from your northern confederates. The whole subject
was referred to a committee of thirteen in the Senate yesterday. I
was appointed on the committee and accepted the trust. I submitted
propositions, which, so far from receiving decided support from a single
member of the Republican party on the committee, were all treated with
either derision or contempt. The vote was then taken in committee
on the amendments to the Constitution, proposed by Hon. J. J. Crit
tenden, of Kentucky, and each and all of them were voted against,
unanimously, by the black Republican members of the committee. In
addition to these facts a majority of the black Republican members of
the committee declared distinctly that they had no guarantees to offer,
which was silently acquiesced in by the other members.
The black Republican members of this committee of thirteen are
representative men of their party and section, and, to the extent of
my information, truly represent the committee of thirty-three in the
House, which, on Tuesday adjourned for a week, without coming to
any vote, after solemnly pledging themselves to vote on all propositions
then before them on that date. That committee is controlled by black
Republicans, your enemies, who only seek to amuse you with delusive
hope until your election, in order that you may defeat the
friends of secession. If you are deceived by them, it shall not be my
fault. I have put the test fairly and frankly. It is decisive against
you; and I now tell you, upon the faith of a true man, that all
further looking to the North for security for your constitutional rights
in the Union ought to be instantly abandoned. It is fraught with
nothing but ruin to yourselves and your posterity.
Secession by the fourth of March next should be thundered from
the ballot-box by the unanimous voice of Georgia on the second day
of January next. Such a voice will be your best guarantee for lib
erty, security, tranquillity, and glory.
Robbet Toombs.

REVIEW OF SECESSION MOVEMENTS. 425
While compromise measures were being uselessly
debated, disunionists were pressing the work of secession
with energy and ability. " Time, which should have been
spent in making the federal government ready to assert
its supremacy, was wasted in dallying with theoretical
cures for incurable evils." Senators and representatives
from the South, while debates on compromises were in
progress, would occasionally withdraw from Congress,
thus announcing that another State had seceded without
waiting for conciliation. When a sufficient number of
Congressmen had withdrawn to leave a Republican majority
in both houses, Kansas was admitted into the Union under
the Wyandot free-state constitution, and Nevada, Col
orado, and Dakota were erected into Territories, "even
giving the South the benefit of the Dred Scott decision
therein." A tariff' for the protection of manufactures
became a law in 1861 ; this is known as the Morrill tariff.
The electoral votes were counted in February, and were
found to be 180 for Lincoln and Hamlin, 72 for Breckin
ridge and Lane, 39 for Bell and Everett, and 12 for
Douglas and Johnston. Lincoln and Hamlin were there
fore declared elected. After the electoral vote was
counted, Congress authorized a loan and an issue of treas
ury notes, and adjourned March 3, 1861. The following
day Lincoln and Hamlin took the oath of office.
The administration of Lincoln, as foreseen by all, was
to be a stormy period in American politics. However, the
far-reaching sweep of events, soon to transpire, was scarcely
within the vision of the most prophetic eye. The country
everywhere felt a sense of insecurity. In Washington the
friends of the President-elect, apprehensive of danger,
took steps to provide for his personal safety. It was
believed they had discovered a conspiracy to assassinate
Mr. Lincoln while going through Baltimore. Reposing
implicit confidence in the people, it was difficult for him
to understand,, after his triumphal passage through three

426 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
great States, that such a purpose to thwart the decision of
the ballot-box should exist anywhere in the Union. But
evidence thickened and he passed Baltimore, in disguise,
arriving at Washington about the time he was expected to
leave Harrisburg.
From February 23d till March 4th was spent in the cap
ital. He was cordially received by Mr Buchanan and
introduced to his cabinet, then in session. The members
of the peace congress visited him, and distinguished citi
zens and official bodies welcomed him.
Monday morning, the 4th of March, 1861, a vast con
course, of every party and shade of political opinion,
thronged the city. And although a spark would have
kindled the passion of the hour into a flame, the inaugu
ration was accomplished deliberately and without blood
shed. The ceremonies of inauguration, always impressive,
were surrounded with painful solicitude. The vast crowd
witnessed the unprecedented spectacle of a number of
vacant places among the members of the Senate and
House, occasioned by resignations to join the rising
southern confederacy. The judges of the Supreme Court
were there, Chief Justice Taney attracting attention
because of his known pro-slavery principles. Many offi
cers of the army and navy, ministers from foreign courts,
and distinguished party leaders, noted with critical eye every
movement in the historic scene.
Mr. Lincoln appeared, accompanied by the retiring
President, Mr. Buchanan, and by Mr. Douglas, whose
friendship at that time could not be too highly appre
ciated. The oath of office was administered by Chief
Justice Taney, Hannibal Hamlin having already received
the oath of office as Vice-President, and the newly elected
Senators having been sworn in.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
No man had ever approached so great an occasion with

PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. 427
more ability. Firmness, prudence and humility were so
equally blended in the address that, for a time, it dis
armed his enemies, and his friends were not quite sure of
the strength of his purpose till they had given his words a
calm consideration. Its influence was pacific. For a
moment all parties were stilled. The abolition element
at the north, felt that it was too conciliatory ; the seces
sionists were incensed by the very calmness which per
vaded it ; the masses throughout the northern and west
ern States approved, and the "Border States" were satis
fied. But few comprehended its grasp on the possibilities
that lay in the Nation's pathway. He re-affirmed the dis
tinguishing feature of the platform on which he was nom
inated, which declared the "right of each State to order
and control its own domestic institutions according to its
own judgment exclusively," but construed the articles of
association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence of
1776, the Articles of Confederation of 1778, with the Con
stitution of 1787, so as to make it "impossible" for a
State "lawfully," " upon its own mere motion to get out
of the Union ;" and promised that the Union of all the
States, would, under the Constitution, "defend and main
tain itself," while all the power confined in him should be
used "to hold, occupy, and possess the property and
places belonging to the government."
ATTEMPTED ADJUSTMENT OF DIFFICULTIES.
Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, received, as early as the
11th of March, "through the kind offices of a distin
guished Senator," a request from Mr. John Forsyth, of
Alabama, and Mr. Martin J. Crawford, of Georgia, for an
unofficial interview ; but the nature of the proposed inter
view was such that, from " considerations of public pol
icy," it was respectfully declined. This was followed by
a written communication from these gentlemen, then in
Washington, under date of March 12th, sealed, and deliv-

428 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
ered on the 13th to Mr. Seward's assistant. This was
intended as an official document. In it Messrs. Forsyth
and Crawford claimed to be " accredited commissioners of
the Confederate States of America, to the government of
the United States." They represented that seven States
had "withdrawn from the United States, and formed a
government of their own." They said the " Confederate
States constituted an independent nation, de facto and de
jure, possessing a government perfect in all its parts, and
endowed with all means of self-support ;" and closed by
requesting a speedy interview, that they might present
their credentials to the President of the United States,
and lay before him the mission with which they had been
entrusted, for the "future welfare of the two nations."
To this bold declaration Secretary Seward replied,
stating that he had the honor to submit to them a copy
of Mr. Lincoln's inaugural address, a simple reference to
which would satisfy those gentlemen that, guided by the
principles therein laid down, the secretary was altogether
prevented from admitting or assuming that the States
referred to by them had, in law or in fact, withdrawn
from the federal Union, or that they could do so in the
manner assumed. He also refused to appoint a day on
which they might present their credentials, and refused to
"recognize them as diplomatic agents," or to "hold cor
respondence with them." He closed by assuring them
that the President had been consulted, and that he
declined any official intercourse with them.
This correspondence seems sufficiently explicit, and
shows the determined purpose on both sides that no con
cessions were to be made. But there were yet at Wash
ington, and high in civil and political circles, some who
entertained hopes of some kind of amicable adjustment,
whether through compromise or by disunion does not
clearly appear. Prominent among these was John A.
Campbell, a citizen of Alabama, and member of the

REVIEW OF SECESSION MOVEMENTS. 439
Supreme Court. Judge Campbell interposed his friendly
offices in behalf of the claims of Messrs. Forsyth and
Crawford, and seems to have thought, at one time, he
would be successful. He addressed Secretary Seward,
under date of April 13, complaining that certain conver
sations with reference to sending supplies to Fort Sumter
had led him to expect a different result in the action of
the government. His impression was that Fort Sumter
would have been peaceably envacuated, and he had assured
the aforesaid confederate commissioners that no measure
"prejudicious" to the southern confederate States was con
templated on the 15 th of March. He claimed that the
• southern leaders were acting under the impression that
"systematic duplicity" had been exercised toward them,
in which impression he seemed to fully share ; and con
cluded by demanding an explanation.
To this no reply was made, since it would have been,
indirectly, giving an account of the government for its
actions to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford.
In the meantime, these gentlemen having failed to
obtain an audience as the representatives of a distinct
nation, addressed another letter to Secretary Seward,
April 9, in which they claimed for the confederacy the
rights springing from a " manifest and accomplished rev
olution ; " and accepting for their government and people,
as they expressed it, "the gauge of battle," which they
claimed had been thrown down by the United States when
it refused them official recognition.
Whatever misunderstanding existed in regard to nego
tiations for peace, or in regard to possessing and holding
the United States forts on the southern coast, is easily
explained by the fact that the parties were working at
cross purposes. One was demanding peace and the Union;
the other asked peace with disunion. And if, as claimed,
the President wavered as to the propriety of maintaining
the garrison in Fort Sumter, it could have been but a

430 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
question of policy as to that particular place, as no word
or act of Mr. Lincoln, which has come to us through his
tory, contradicts his avowed purpose that the Union should
" maintain itself."
During this period, and for some time after, many
officers of the regular army, following the example of
seceding States and resigning congressmen, dropped their
uniforms and obligations, and assumed commands in the
fastly forming Confederate army. They justified their
action on their claim to State citizenship, through the
doctrine of State sovereignty. Everywhere in the South
the idea prevailed that allegiance to a State was paramount
to any obligation to the national government. On this
plea, officers of the army, to the number of about two
hundred, with General Robert E. Lee at their head,
wheeled into line with the southern battalions. General
David E. Twiggs, second in rank among the officers of
the United States army, and commandant of the depart
ment of Texas, during Buchanan's administration, was
notably influential in his active co-operation with the
secession cause. THE BORDER STATES.
While a majority of the people in the border States of
Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, together
with those of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas,
were in sympathy with the South, they did not believe in
secession. One obvious reason for this was the fact that
in the event of a war for the restoration of the Union,
their territory would evidently be the battle field. Besides,
there were large sections of these States where slaves were
few, and the people, consequently, did not feel the interest,
pecuniarily, in making slavery the corner-stone of a new
empire that was elsewhere expressed. But there were
enough Secessionists, wealthy and influential, to contribute
men and money in answer to the calls of President Davis,

PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. 431
and to keep their demand for disunion constantly and
imperiously before the public. This pervading sentiment
of sympathy with and preference for the South, at the
same time hesitating to join the rebellion, was nowhere
better expressed than in the language of Governor Hicks,
of Maryland. He had been memorialized by a large
number of citizens, among them ex-Governor Pratt,
demanding a call of the Legislature to express the views
and position of Maryland on the situation. He answered
November 27, 1860, refusing to convene the Legislature,
and January 3r following, in an address to his people,
said : "I have been told that the position of Maryland
should be defined, so that both sections could understand
it. Do any really misunderstand her position ? Who
that wishes to understand it can fail to do so ? If the
action of the Legislature would be simply to declare that
Maryland is with the South in sympathy and feeling ;
that she demands from the North the repeal of offensive
unconstitutional statutes, and appeals to it for new guar
antees ; that she will wait a reasonable time for the North
to purge her statute books, so as to do justice to her
Southern brethren, and, if appeals are vain, will make
her common cause with her sister border States in resist
ance to tyranny, if need be, it would only be saying what
the whole country well knows, and what may be said
much more effectually by her people themselves, in their
meetings, than by the Legislature, chosen eighteen months
since, when none of these questions were raised before
them. That Maryland is a conservative Southern State all
know who know anything of her people or her history."
But the Maryland Legislature was at last convened by
Governor Hicks, meeting at Fredericksburg. By a unani
mous vote in the Senate, and a majority of 53 to 13, it
refused to secede. But a State board of safety, with con
siderable powers, was appointed. Its members, with one
exception, were in sympathy with the South. On the 10th

432 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
of May, 1861, the Legislature passed resolutions declaring
that Maryland desired and consented to the recognition
of the independence of the Confederate States ; that the
war on the part of the United States was unconstitutional ;
but recognizing the obligations of Maryland to the Union,
and praying the President, in the name of God, to stop
the unholy war.
But Maryland never seceded, and her course, however
viewed, was a consistent State sovereignty example.
The Legislature of Delaware convened January 2, 1861.
Governor Burton, in his message, held the Abolitionists
responsible for all the trouble, and asserted that the North
should retire from her untenable position immediately.
Mr. Dickenson, a commissioner from Mississippi, addressed
the Senate and House jointly in favor of secession. But
they passed a resolution, unanimously, disapproving of
Mr. Dickenson's " remedy " for existing difficulties.
The Missouri Legislature passed a law, January 16, 1861,
calling a State convention, which met, and on the 9th of
March resolved that there was no adequate cause to impel
Missouri to dissolve her connection with the federal Union.
But the Legislature took active steps to provide against
danger by appointing a strong military police force for the
city of St. Louis ; and Governor Jackson issued a call,
June 11th, for 50,000 volunteers to drive out the federal
troops as invaders of the soil of Missouri. In the mean
time Captain Lyon and Colonel Blair had taken control of
St. Louis and vicinity at the head of 6,000 troops. Gov
ernor Jackson, General Price, and thousands of Missouri-
ans retired southward, fighting as they retreated.
Governor Magoffin called the Legislature of Kentucky
together. They met January 17, 1861, but refused to
issue a call for a convention. It was decidedly a Union
Legislature, a majority of whom were in favor of a peace
congress at Washington. The election for delegates to a
peace convention, held May 4, gave 50,000 Union major-

REVIEW OF SECESSION MOVEMENTS. 433
ity. A states-rights convention was called to meet at
Frankfort, March 22, but accomplished nothing. Finally,
on the election of congressmen to the extra session, called
by President Lincoln, nine Unionists and one Secessionist
were. elected. The vote was 92,365 for the Union, and but
36,995 against it.
The Arkansas convention was visited, March 16, 1861,
by W. S. Oldham, bearing a letter from President Davis.
Said letter, of March the 9th, was an argument in. favor
of secession. A vote resulted in thirty-nine against seces
sion to thirty-five in favor of it ; but as a compromise it
was agreed to submit the question of secession to the peo
ple for ratification or rejection on the first Monday in
August. But before the time came, the convention
re-assembled and voted sixty-nine to one in favor of seces
sion. The fact that South Carolina had fired on Sumter,
and war was imminent, explains the swift change that
came over that convention.
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER.
It was necessary that sectional feeling should be excited
to its highest pitch in order to consolidate the South.
This fact was foreseen by many of the Southern leaders,
but the reaction which it occasioned at the North was far
greater than they anticipated. It is possible that the
South lost more than she gained by firing on Fort Sumter.
President Lincoln notified Governor Pickens, of South
Carolina, that supplies would be sent to Fort Sumter
peaceably, or otherwise, if necessary. This fact was at
once reported to the authorities at Montgomery, and on
the tenth of April, 1861, the Confederate Secretary of
War authorized General Beauregard to demand the evacu
ation of the fort, with liberty to proceed according to his
own judgment in case of refusal. At two o'clock p.m.,
General Beauregard demanded the evacuation of the fort,
on the ground that the Confederate States could no longer
28

434' REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS. I
permit a fortification beyond its control within reach of
one of its harbors. Major Anderson, commanding Fort
Sumter, declined to evacuate it; and, in reply to a demand
as to when he would be willing to evacuate, replied that
he would do so at noon on the fifteenth, providing he did
not receive controlling instructions from his government
or additional supplies. This answer is explained by the
fact that the garrison would soon have to succumb on
account of starvation, a fact known to the Southern
authorities, and to the public generally. The reason for
the immediate attack on the fort, then, lies in the fact
that there was probability of help for the little garrison.
At 3:20 a.m., on the twelfth of April, General Beaure
gard, acting under orders from Montgomery, opened fire
for the reduction of the fort.
The Southern leaders were pleased to regard the Presi
dent's determination to supply a garrison of the United
States, in one of its own forts, at all hazards, as virtually
an act of offensive war against the South; but the fact
remains that the active bombardment of a United States
fort, for hours, by authority of the Confederate Secretary
of War, before a shot was fired in defense, was under
stood by the masses of the people as a demonstration of
the purpose of the South to initiate war. This conviction
was so deep that no amount of argument could ever
change the opinion of the country in regard to it.
Roger A. Pryor had said at Richmond, Va., in a nota
ble speech, "I will tell you, gentlemen, what will put
Virginia into the Southern Confederacy in less than an
hour by Shrewsbury clock — strike a blow! The very
moment that blood is shed, old Virginia will make common
cause with her sister States of the South."
Mr. Gilchrist, a member of the Alabama Legislature,
said, in conversation with Jefferson Davis and other nota
bles: "Unless you sprinkle blood in the faces of the
people, Alabama will be back in the Union in ten days."

PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. 435
This was uttered the day before the batteries were opened
on Fort Sumter.
This willingness for the "gauge of battle" was now
satisfied. A "blow" had been struck! Blood had been
"sprinkled in the faces of the people!" It was hailed
with delight throughout the South. It flashed through
the North, arousing the people everywhere to face the
reality of internecine war.
LINCOLN'S CALL FOR 75,000 TROOPS.
Fort Sumter had surrendered to the disunion forces on
the 13th of April, 1861. The proclamation of. the Presi
dent calling for 75,000 volunteer troops, to suppress "com
binations" that obstructed the execution of the laws of
the United States in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, was issued
Monday, the 13th, and was received throughout the North
and West as a. most righteous measure.
The President ordered the lawless combinations, alluded
to in his proclamation, to disperse within twenty days, and
called an extra session of Congress to convene on the 4th
of July. His Secretary of War issued to each State, except
California and Oregon, a circular stating the quota of men
each was required to furnish. The governors of the free
States, except those on the Pacific coast, were all Republi
cans, except Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island, who was
a conservative. He quickly furnished the men asked for
by the President, and volunteered to go with them to
Washington. The governors, the press, and the people of
the North, as a rule, were satisfied that the national honor
required vindication, and the 75,000 troops were furnished
with alacrity. REPLY OF SOUTHERN GOVERNORS.
The governors of the border States responded in terms
haughty and defiant. Governor Letcher, of Virginia,

436 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
accused the President of inaugurating civil war for the
purpose of subjugating the South, saying, "The militiaof
Virginia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington
for any such purpose as they have in view." Governor
Ellis, of North Carolina, characterized the call for troops
as a " violation of the Constitution and a usurpation of
power," and closed by saying: "You can get no troops
from North Carolina."
Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, replied : "Kentucky
will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing
her sister Southern States."
Governor Harris, of Tennessee said : " Tennessee will
not furnish a single man for coercion, but 50,000 if need
be, for the defense of our rights or of our Southern breth
ren." Governor Jackson, of Missouri, in emphatic language,
responded : " Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional,
revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and can not be com
plied with." Governor Rector, of Arkansas, curtly said :
" None will be furnished. The demand is only adding
insult to injury."
Governor Burton, of Delaware, in his proclamation of
April 26, recommended the formation of volunteer com
panies for the protection of the lives and property of the
people of Delaware against danger from any source. His
idea was that they should not be subject to the President,
but were at liberty to tender him their services "for the
defense of the capital, and to support the Constitution and
laws." In the same line of policy, Governor Hicks, of
Maryland, issued a call for troops, May 14, stating that the
four regiments would be detailed to serve within the limits
of Maryland, or for the protection of Washington.
The condition of affairs was unprecedented. No such
state of political interests had been anticipated, certainly
not provided for, by the Constitution. The interpretation
of our organic law had always varied according to the

REVIEW OF SECESSION MOVEMENTS. 437
school of politics or immediate interests with which states
men and jurists had been identified. This administration
was to be sustained by a Republican majority; and for the
first time in the history of the country, we were in a war,
with a loose constructionist party in power. The facts
indicated many and startling changes.
The Constitutional Union party dissolved soon after the
election of Lincoln. Some of its members entered the
Democratic party, others the Republican ; but a large por
tion of them became confederates. The Breckinridge
Democrats of the south entered the confederacy ; those of
the north joined the Douglas wing. Some from each
division of the party became Republicans.
The Democratic party had usually been in accord with
the south upon national issues, but had never gone with
them to the extent of admitting the right of secession.
Individuals like C. L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, had done
much, however, to encourage a feeling of security at the
south, and possibly of a hope that northern Democrats
would assist them. But if such ideas were entertained
they were soon dispelled by the logic of events. "War
Democrats " became a term to designate a large element of
that party who were determined to support the Republi
can administration in putting down the rebellion ; while
a great many Democrats, feeling that all minor issues were
swallowed up in the one great question of how to save the
country, at once made common cause with the Republicans.
And in this way the latter party, already dominant, con
trolled all national legislation.
Among Democrats of a national reputation, Senator
Douglas was pre-eminent. He said, at Chicago, on the
1st of May: "There are only two sides to this question.
Every man must be for the United States or against it.
There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots or
traitors." He declared it to be "the duty of every Amer
ican citizen to rally around the flag of his country."

438 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
The fusion of Democrats with the Republicans led to^
the style and title of the "Union party"; and this was,
for a time very popular. The strict construction theories
of the Democratic party, which had been detrimental in
former times, were abandoned. The tide set in favor of
changes and interpretations new to a war regime ; and the
peace Democrats, as a curb, were but the necessary con
servative element to steady the work of human progress.
The Constitution came through the war unimpaired. Had
it not been for the constant opposition to a liberal con
struction of its terms, the necessity of consistency might
have dropped out of sight.
REPUBLICAN PARTY IN POWER.
Congress met July 4, 1861, in compliance with the call
of the President the preceding April. The Republicans
were in a majority in both Houses. The House of Repre
sentatives organized by electing Galusha A. Grow, of
Pennsylvania, Speaker, and Emerson Etheridge, a sup
porter of Bell for President, but an avowed Unionist, for
Clerk. On the next day the President delivered his mes
sage. He claimed to have yielded all that could have been
done without relinquishing the government. He said,
" the States have their status in the Union, and they have
no other legal status ; if they break from this, they can
only do so against law and by revolution." The policy of
the border States, he said, would not give the disunionists
a disunion of their own. He expressed the profoundest
sorrow that necessity compelled him to use the war power
to defend the government. He asked Congress for "at
least four hundred thousand men and four hundred mill
ion dollars."
The message was a compliment to the President's fast
growing reputation. The friends of the Union were en
tirely satisfied with it.
In the Senate ten of its members, having vacated their

PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. 439
seats, were formally expelled July the 11th. The House
at once began the work of the session by a resolution to
consider no measures except those relating to the military,
naval, and financial proceedings of the government.
Notice was given on the first day of the session, by Mr.
Wilson, chairman of the committee on military affairs, in
the Senate, that at the earliest convenience he would intro
duce four bills and a joint resolution. They were accord
ingly introduced.
The first was a bill authorizing the President to call out
five hundred thousand volunteers, and appropriating, five
hundred million dollars to the support of the war. It was
reported back from the committee on military affairs, July
6, and passed the Senate ; Powell, of Kentucky, and Polk
and Johnson, of Missouri, voting against it.
The bill reported from the House military committee by
Mr. Blair, came up in the committee of the whole, on the
13th, and brought out a repetition of all the arguments
elsewhere referred to, and gave full notice to the country
of the complexion of legislation to be expected. An
amendment by McClernand, of Illinois, reducing the
appropriation to one hundred million dollars was rejected,
and an amendment by Vallandigham, of Ohio, proposing
a cessation of hostilities, and the appointment of peace
commissioners, was also lost; but with a proviso, intro
duced by Burnett, of Kentucky, that the army should not
be used in holding, after subjugation, as a conquered foe,
any "sovereign State now or lately one of the United
States," the bill passed the House.
The Senate bill, with the House bill as an amendment,
was agreed to by the House on the 16th ; but the Senate
not concurring, a conference of committees resulted in the
House receding, and the Senate bill became a law by the
President's signature, July 22.
Thus the Senate prevailed in this first legislation of
this memorable Congress ; but the divergence of temper

440 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
in the two branches became more apparent, when, on the
13th, Mr. Wilson's bill, adding eleven new regiments to
the regular army, and increasing the strength of the old
regiments, passed the Senate. Mr. Blair reported it, sub
stantially, to the House, but creating a volunteer instead
of a regular force out of the recruits. He stated that the
House military committee were unanimously opposed to an
increase of the regular army. On the 22d the Senate
refused to concur with the House, on the ground that the
change destroyed the purpose of the bill. A committee
of concurrence from each branch took the matter under
advisement, the House receded, and the bill became a law.
On the 10th Mr. Wilson's third bill was reported to the
Senate, providing for the better organization of the army.
Before its passage, Mr. Powell, from Kentucky, moved to
amend by adding that " no part of the army and navy of
the United States should be used to subject sovereign
States, or to abolish or to interfere with slavery." Mr.
Lane, of Kansas, offered to amend by adding the words
"unless a military necessity shall exist for the purpose of
maintaining the Constitution ;" which, together with all
other amendments, failed, and the bill passed. The House
amended it, the Senate refused to concur, and the bill
became a law August 3.
'hus provisions on a gigantic scale were made for the
prosecution of the war. But the resolution of Mr. Wil
son, brought forward in the Senate as early as July 10,
"to give the same legality and validity to the President's
proclamations and orders as if they had been issued under
the previous and express authority of Congress," was not
quite so successful.
This resolution referred to and recited the official acts
of the President " since the adjournment erf Congress on
the 4th day of March last." Among them were the procla
mation, April 15, calling for 75,000 men; the proclamation,
April 19, blockading the Southern ports ; and one on the

REVIEW OF SECESSION MOVEMENTS. 441
27th, blockading the ports of Virginia and North Caro
lina ; the order for suspension of the writ of habeas cor
pus in Maryland, addressed to the commanding general of
the U. S. Army, April 27 ; the calling out of additional
forces to the volunteers, and increasing the regular army
and navy, May 3 ; and the suspension of the writ of
habeas corpits in Florida, May 10.
Considerable debate followed, but the bill was not
pressed to a final issue; the chief objection lying in the
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus at Baltimore,
Md., and in Florida. But the occasion brought out many
strong declarations of indorsement, notably that of An
drew Johnson, of Tennessee. And he further distin
guished himself by introducing a bill, which became a
law, making provision for arming loyal men in disloyal
States. Two millions of dollars were appropriated for
that purpose, but Secretary Stanton assumed the respon
sibility of a loan from that fund to Governor Morton, of
Indiana, to aid him in equipping troops at a time when
the willing dispersion of his Legislature had left him
without money.
August the fifth a bill was introduced into the Senate,
from the committee on military affairs, increasing the pay
of non-commissioned officers and privates from eleven to
fifteen dollars per month. Mr. Wilson offered an amend
ment, whereby all the acts of the President with reference
to the army and navy were made legal and valid. Mr.
Stevens, in the House, succeeded with an amendment by
which the pay of the soldiers was reduced from fifteen to
thirteen dollars per month. Mr. Vallandigham moved to
strike out that portion of the bill referring to the orders
and proclamations of the President, but was signally de
feated. This bill, as amended by the House, was laid on
the table in the Senate.
A new bill fixing the wages of the soldiers at thirteen
dollars per month was at once introduced in the Senate by

442 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
Mr. Wilson, and amended on his own motion, so as to
legalize and make valid all the acts of the President
regarding the army and navy, and in calling out the
volunteers. This became a law, and practically accom
plished all that Mr. Wilson's original resolution intended.
It marked, as opposition members noted, a great change
in the feelings of many members of Congress. All who
were determined to preserve the Union, and assert the
supremacy of the national government over every foot of
its soil, saw that, without the. vigorous and timely steps of
the Administration in using the war power, there would
have been nothing left to legislate about except the frag
ments of a once glorious country.
On the same date the tariff act, increasing the duties
on imports, was passed. Bills, authorizing a loan of two
hundred and fifty millions of dollars, and many minor
matters connected with the regulation of the army and
navy, were but the details in carrying out the great pur
pose declared in the war measures already recited. The
House, by a vote of one hundred and twenty-one to five,
pledged itself to vote any amount of men and money
necessary to put down the rebellion; and by a vote of one
hundred and twenty-one to two it adopted the following:
"Resolved, by the House of Representatives of the Uni
ted States, That the present deplorable war has been forced
upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern
States, now in revolt against the constitutional govern
ment, and in arms around the capital."
It was also resolved, July 22d: "That in this national
emergency, Congress, banishing all feelings of mere pas
sion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the
whole country; that this war is not waged on their part in
any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest
or subjugation, or purpose of interfering with or over
throwing the rights or established institutions of those
States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the

PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. 443
Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all its dig
nity, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired;
and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war
ought to cease."
In these resolutions Congress but voiced the sentiments
of the majority of the people, and was in full accord
with the inaugural address of the President, and of the
platform on which he was elected. Having thus vigor
ously undertaken the war, the Republican party prose
cuted it to the end, and preserved the Union from the
most gigantic conspiracy ever initiated in the annals of
the world.

CHAPTER VI.
EXTIRPATION OF SLAVERY.
MEANS for dispensing with the institution of slavery
were inaugurated under Jackson's administration in
1833, by the Anti-Slavery society. This society advanced
in influence and power and won adherents with such steady
increase that in 1839 those advocating its sentiments
resolved to organize themselves into a political party,
known as the Abolition party, taking its name from its
advocates, who were endeavoring to secure the abolition of
slavery. The Abolitionists operated in their great cause
under different party names. In 1840 they belonged to
the Liberal party, and subsequently their organization
was known as the Free-Soil party. As measure after
measure in the interests of slavery made their appearance,
the adherents of the cause of freedom grew in. strength,
and ultimately became the dominant party. The fugi
tive slave law had always grated harsnly upon the ears of
a vast number in the free States. This law was opposed
by a large majority of the Whigs in the north, and when
their party in convention decided to support the enact
ment, the organization fell to pieces. The agitation over
this law was followed up by the excitement over the Dred
Scott decision, made by the Supreme Court, declaring that
any person whose ancestors were imported into this coun
try and held as slaves, had no right to sue in a court in
the United States, thus denying the right of citizenship
to slaves, or to the defendants of slaves. Chief Justice
Taney at the same time declared that the framers of the
Declaration of Independence did not include the Negro
race in declaring that all men are created equal ; that the
444

EXTIRPATION OF SLAVERY. 445
patriots of the Revolution regarded the Negro race as so
far inferior that they had no rights or privileges but such
as those who held the power and the government might
choose to grant them. The Chief Justice further declared
that since slaves were property, all acts restricting slaves
were unconstitutional, and there was no authority in Con
gress or the local Legislature for preventing the spread of
slavery over the whole Union. The Northern States were
startled by this decision of the Supreme Court, for the
mass of the people in the free States regarded the slaves
as a kind of property whose secure position was guaran
teed only by the State laws which made them property.
The Democratic party through its Executive assumed that
this was a final decision, and that slavery now being
nationalized, would cease to be a factor in politics. This
decision was the last attempt made to decide the struggle
by form of law between slavery restriction and slavery
extension, and henceforth the course of events tended
rapidly to a settlement of the difficulty by the force of
arms. About this time slaveholders began to discuss the
opening of the African slave trade. This was occasioned
in a measure by the bitter opposition put forth against
slavery in the north. Kansas for a number of years was
the battle ground between the contending forces of freedom
and slavery. John Brown, of that State went to Virginia
and engaged in an insurrection in the interests of freeing
the slaves, but he was soon brought to trial and executed,
under the laws of Virginia. The Democratic National
Convention of 1860 met in Charleston, and the party was
divided on the question of slavery This organization
which had so long been dominant was dismembered, and a
portion of its ranks were ready to declare for secession.
After the election of Lincoln, civil war was precipitated
for the purpose of preserving the .institution of slavery.
Since this was the corner-stone on which the confederacy

446 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
was based, it was apparent to the Republican party that
the destruction of this institution was a necessary prelude
to the overthrow of the Rebellion. The question occupied
the attention of President Lincoln, and was the one thought
uppermost in his mind. He first suggested the idea of
compensated emancipation. Agreeably to his suggestion,
made a second time and the subject of a special message,
March 2d, 1862, Mr. Conkling introduced into the House a
resolution drafted by Mr. Lincoln, advocating compensated
emancipation, and, after the suspension of the rules, passed
by a vote of 97 to 36; it pass_ed the Senate April 3d, by a vote
of 32 to 10. The Republicans as a rule voted for it, and the
Democrats against it; and this was true even of those in
the border States. Noting the fact, and desirous to please
those in his judgment most interested, the President
invited the Senators and Representatives of the border
States to the executive mansion, and read to them a care
fully prepared argument on gradual emancipation as a
means of breaking the lever of the disunion power.
In a well- written response, the border State members of
Congress, to the number of twenty, after assuring him
that they would never falter in their devotion to the Union
while they had a State to defend and a Government that
protected them, said that the right to hold slaves was a
right appertaining to all the States of the Union. They
estimated the value of slaves in these border States at nearly
five hundred millions of dollars; and while the scheme
was impracticable they were yet willing to submit to it.
Having failed in his effort to introduce compensated eman
cipation, the President, during the summer of 1862, decided
to try the virtue of a proclamation. It declared, September
22d, 1862, that "on the first day of January, in the year
of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
all persons held as slaves within any State designated,
or any part of a State the people whereof shall be
then in rebellion against the United States, shall be then

EXTIRPATION OF SLAVERY. 447
thenceforward and forever free." This recognized the
right of property in slaves in all States and parts of
States not in rebellion. This proclamation made no im
pression upon the confederates, who compared the same
to "The Pope's Edict against a Comet." Following this,
January 1st, 1863, Mr. Lincoln performing the great act
of his life, issued his Emancipation Proclamation for all
slaves in the country. The measure was quite unanimous
ly supported by the Republicans, and more or less censured
by the Democrats. The proclamation liberated three
millions of slaves, and from the day of its issue the Confed
eracy began to wane. The movement had touched the
chord of sympathy among lovers of freedom in the whole
world, and was regarded as a moral aid to the success of
the Union arms. The proclamation announced that all
persons held as slaves should be free, and that the Execu
tive Government of the United States would recognize and
maintain the freedom of said persons. The first was but
the work of a man, of a single person, while the latter was
the work of a Nation.
Successful legislation was seen to be necessary to insure
the freedom of those who had been liberated by emancipa
tion. It was felt that enactments in their behalf should
culminate in an amendment to the Constitution and on
the 14th of December, 1863, a bill providing for the sub
mission to the States of an amendment to the Constitution
was presented to the House by Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. This
measure, and others similar to it, were introduced and
amended to read as follows: "Article 13, Section 1. Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or in any place subject
to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
This amendment was brought up for consideration by
the Congress of the United States, and, after due delibera-

448 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
tion, received the requisite vote for its enactment. Thus
the Republican party supporting its great emancipator in
the Executive chair, enacting vigorous laws to suppress the
Rebellion, and waging a great war in the interests of its
principles, brought about the extirpation of slavery and
freed the country from its burden of cruelty and national
shame.

CHAPTER VII.

THE WAR PARTY.

IT is a fact of history that no party in any nation was
ever deposed from home rule and legislative power while
successful in military operations. The party victorious in
war is naturally dominant in time of peace. Military pres
tige gives to that party which exercises it in behalf of its
country the homage of the hearts of the people. By fail
ing to encourage the war to preserve the Union, the Dem
ocrats lost control of the Government, so that, although
aided by the "Solid South," they have yet been beaten on
every .field of contest. The Republicans, as the Union
party and the War party, placed themselves in the position
to be called the saviors of the Nation. No representative
convention of the Democratic party ever resolved in favor
of the prosecution of the war against the " great rebellion."
On the contrary, the wrawisdom of that party in the Chi
cago convention of '64 declared the war a failure, advised
conciliation, and promised to "protect" the soldiers "in
the event of the country attaining power" ! In opposition
to the "not-another-man-or-dollar" policy of the Demo
cratic party, the Republicans, in every meeting, from town
hall to capitol, urged the prosecution of the war, and ex
pressed faith in the final triumph of the Union arms. In
the darkest hour of our history, when assembled at Balti
more, June 7, 1864, they said in their national platform,
" It is the highest duty of every American citizen to main
tain, against all their enemies, the integrity of the Union
and the paramount authority of the Constitution and laws
of the United States." And rising to the full responsibil
ity of the occasion, they further said: " Resolved, that we
29 449

450 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
approve the determination of the Government of the United
States not to compromise with rebels, nor to offer any terms
of peace except such as may be based on an unconditional
surrender of their hostility, and a return to their just alle
giance to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and
that we call upon the Government to maintain this posi
tion, and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible
vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion." So
that, while history has a voice or truth a tongue, the Re
publican party will be known as the Great War Party!
What an inspiration to young men casting their first
votes or to those who have never yet voted on the winning
side! Whatever the Stars and Stripes represent; whatever
the Constitution and the laws of the Nation mean; what
ever our liberty and its guarantees are worth; whatever the
victory of our armies and navy over treason has secured to
us and to humanity; these are the measure of the merit
and honor of the principles and achievements of the Repub
lican party.
The party that saved' the country will continue to con
trol it. When the Democratic party was the war party
prosecuting the battles of the country against Mexico, and
resolving in "favor of the present war and the next,"
they were overwhelmingly dominant in our party politics,
except as the phenomenal war record of some such indi
vidual as General Zachary Taylor brought him con
spicuously to the attention of the world.
Added to its unsullied war record is the distinguishing
fact that the Republican party has been on the right side of
every great legal, moral and humanitarian question sprung
in American politics since it had an existence. Its life
long foe, under the name of Democracy, has nothing to
offer except a record made abortive by the repudiation of
its promises, and suspicious by its consideration for the
enemies of the Government. And when by the inexorable
demands of public utility it has been compelled to accept

THE War party, 451
tbe declarations of Republican policy, and in some degree
to adopt its measures of expediency, it has followed the
tide of Republican victory a good deal as the disciples
followed the Savior, "a great way off"!

CHAPTER VIII.
A SOUND NATIONAL CURRENCY.
THE Republican party from the first was imbued with a
determination to carry forward the Government, and
to enforce its rights and prerogatives over every foot of soil
subject to the Constitution. After the disaster at Bull
Run, the formidable character of the rebellion began to be
fully appreciated, and the subjugation of the South was
regarded as a hopeless undertaking by many at the North;
the rebels were full of courage, and had the satisfaction of
seeing the Government without money. Loans to the full
extent possible had been obtained from the banks, and yet
to supply the army, pay and equip the soldiers, improve
and man the navy swallowed up all and left the admin
istration facing the yawning chasm of a national bankruptcy.
Determined as the friends of the country were, and
hopeful as they had been, they had no adequate ideas of
the resources of the Republic. The figures, which became
familiar as household words during the administration of
Mr. Lincoln, would have stupefied the boldest if they had
been presented at its commencement.
Tbe policy of the Government had hitherto been to
depend upon the taxation of foreign commodities, and to
make this tax as light as possible. The revision of our
national customs laws under what is known as the Morrill
Tariff, April 1, 1861, worked admirably, increasing the
receipt of customs, notwithstanding the falling off of
importations, because it doubled the duties imposed.
The special session of Congress July 4, 1861, was the
beginning of the new era of financial achievements. The
Republican party, fresh and untried, had to meet the
452

A SOUND NATIONAL CURRENCY. 453
responsibilities of a preparation for war on a scale hitherto
unknown in the western hemisphere. The treasury had
been empty and the Government in debt at the close of
Mr. Buchanan's administration, so that treasury notes
sufficient to liquidate outstanding liabilities were issued.
The fifty millions per annum resulting from the Morrill
tariff was totally inadequate for the most pressing demands
upon the treasury.
President Lincoln asked Congress for 400,000 men and
$400,000,000. A bill was reported in harmony with Sec
retary Chase's recommendation, authorizing a loan of
1250,000,000. A tax of 120,000,000 was levied on the
States, distributively, "and a three per cent assessment
passed upon all incomes over $800, which was soon super
seded by a broader system of internal revenue.
When the bill providing for a loan of $250,000,000
seven per cent twenty-year bonds was reported from the
committee of the whole, one hour was given to its discus
sion, and chiefly occupied by Mr. Vallandigham in a speech
in opposition to the bill, when it passed the House by a
vote of 105 to 5. The Senate passed it without debate,
but with some amendments, which were concurred in by
the House, and it received the President's signature July
17. Some Democrats concurred in this measure, but it
was essentially the beginning of the vast responsibilities
assumed by Republicans. The Act provided for the bor
rowing of $100,000,000 abroad. It soon became evident
that money kings were fearful, and that England at least
was pleased with our embarrassments. The difficulty of
commanding coin for our vast financial operations was fast
becoming an impossibility. Therefore, other means besides
disposing of bonds for coin had to be found. Specie pay
ments were suspended by the banks, and simultaneously a
bill was reported in the House from the committee of the
whole, authorizing the issuance of $150,000,000 legal ten
der treasury notes. This bold measure met with opposition

454 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
even from some Republicans; but, borne on by the exigen
cies of the hour, it was hurried to a vote, passing by a
majority of 93 to 59. The ninety-three affirmative votes
were all Republican. In the Senate it was amended so that
the interest on the national debt was to be paid in coin,
which seemed to be a necessity, and a motion to strike out
the legal tender clause was lost by a vote of 17 to 23. Of
the twenty-three, twenty were Republicans. The bill then
passed the Senate by a vote of 30 to 7, and was approved
February 25.
The legal tender notes proving popular with the people,
an additional $150,000,000 were added by act of July 7,
1862. July 1st an income tax was established that reached
almost all classes of the people; July 14th the tariff was
largely increased, and every available stitch of canvas
seemed to be spread to catch the favoring gale, if any
should come. The financial policy of the Republican party
was established. It has been criticized, but the wonder is
that the party succeeded as well as it did. At the first
available moment the income tax was dropped, and the
import duties reduced to the lowest point compatible with
safety. Internal revenue was confined to luxuries, and the
tariff modified to suit the changing attitude of the affairs
of the Nation.
It has been asserted, and never successfully contradicted,
that the low tariff of the Democratic administrations imme
diately preceding the accession of the Republican party to
power, had encouraged imported goods, discouraged home
manufactures and sent our coin abroad to pay the pauper
labor of Europe and fill the purses of foreign corporations
and capitalists. The revival in some degree of the doctrine
of a protective tariff was entered upon simply as a financial
necessity; but with the present experience of the country
its wisdom and utility have been so amply demonstrated
that no human foresight can predict a change. With
slight modifications, adapted to the wants of particular

A SOUND NATIONAL CURRENCY. 455
classes and particular industries, the present Republican
tariff system will permanently remain.
NATIONAL BANKS.
No great commercial and manufacturing country in
modern times has been able to transact its business by
the medium of coin alone. Some kind of a banking
system, issuing redeemable currency, has always been a
necessity. The only question for the Republican party to
decide, therefore, was, whether to continue the Demo
cratic State banks, or to adopt a national banking system,
which should be directly under the control of the govern
ment. _
The latter was chosen, and a bill reported by the
finance committee in the Senate, authorizing a system
of national banks, to be founded on the principle that
" every dollar of circulation would represent real capital
actually invested in national stocks." The vote stood
23 to 21. Three democrats voted in the affirmative. It
passed the House without amendment, receiving the
President's signature, February 25, 1863.
This principle furnishes the soundest basis possible for
a circulating medium, and the strength of the system is
such that with such modifications as the wisdom of Con
gress, fresh from the people, shall from time to time
suggest, it is likely to remain permanent. Certain it is
that our people have enjoyed the luxury of a currency of
uniform value throughout the country, and one which,
under the fostering care of the Republican party, has for
years been at par with gold.
SPECIE RESUMPTION.
The chimerical idea of a fiat money, or irredeemable
currency, never lodged in the Republican mind. Con
sequently they made provision for. returning to specie
payments. With the history of the Hamiltonian system
before them, and the failure of the system of 1816 well

456 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
remembered, the Republicans were enabled to avoid some
of the defects that had marred the workings of a national
system of currency under former administrations. They
guarded against political favoritism, and against the
possibility of a consolidation of the national banking
capital, and fixed the date of specie resumption for
January 1, 1879.
The Democratic party, aided by a large defection from
the Republican ranks, attacked the administration fiercely
during the canvass of 1878, affirming the impossibility of
resumption at the time fixed/ by law, and charging the
financial crisis then impending, with untold imaginary
future evils, upon the Republican party. Never did the
coolness and sagacity of the Republican leaders shine with
greater brilliancy than when this cloud broke and the sun
of financial prosperity was revealed high above the polit
ical horizon. The logic of success had crowned the admin
istration, and the Democrats who had resolved in their
national platform of 1856, "That Congress had no power
to charter a national bank," were left to adjust themselves
as best they could to the new lease of power which had
been secured to the Republican party.

CHAPTER IX.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
IT is very difficult to write a law upon which men may not
place conflicting constructions ; and still more difficult
to write a law that will be as good for one generation as
another. It is only where perfection in theory has been
attained that this can be done. And since the little
Swiss cantons clustered together furnished the only speci
men of a free government, and our fathers were practi
cally on untried ground, the forming of a Constitution ,
was a very responsible and delicate affair. A thorough
acquaintance with English law enabled our representatives
to adjust the powers and functions of State after the
model of Great Britain, with the exception that the offices,
being all elective, the government is much nearer the
people, and it can consequently be relied upon to do their
bidding, and not to be the conservator of old policies or
traditions. Each successive administration is not only
free from its predecessors, but fresh from the people.
Our government therefore is necessarily a progressive one,
provided the people progress. To meet the demands
which thus sprang up from time to time new elements
had to be introduced into our organic law. It had been
provided that, by a resolution in Congress submitted to
the States and ratified by three fourths of them, the Con
stitution could be amended. And this submission of the
States to a constitutional amendment, because three
fourths of them had approved it, always demonstrated
that there was no such reserved sovereignty as some
politicians aver. The defeated State bows to the three
fourths majority per force of the Constitution; a fact
457

458 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
showing clearly that no contingency could arise where any
State could lawfully withdraw from the Union. If com
pelled to submit to an organic law which it did not ratify,
it is clear that there is (and from the beginning has been)
a sovereignty higher than any individual State. The
reserved rights of the States could not contemplate the
nature of possible amendments which might be ratified by
the requisite majority of States, so there was a concession
which might eventually change the fundamental compact
of the Union, and no reservation of the right of a single
sovereign State to nullify or rebel was recognized when
the government was formed.
The Constitution was freely and healthfully criticised
before its adoption by the States. The people recognized,
as self-evidently correct, many of the suggestions which
were thus thrown before the public. For instance, the
demand for a specific "Bill of Rights," by which the
organic law of the land should assure to every, citizen
his right to equality and protection in all that pertained
to his life, liberty and property. Among the clear and
well-defined demands, it was suggested that provision
should be made for trial by jury in civil cases, and in
criminal cases upon the presentment of a grand jury;
that all criminal trials should be in public, and that the
accused should be permitted to meet his witnesses in open
court. In the well-chosen words of another, that the
Nation should establish no religion, but grant freedom of
conscience in the worship of God to all ; that excessive
bail should not be required, nor cruel or unnecessary pun
ishments at any time inflicted; that all citizens should
have the right to bear arms, but that no one should be
compelled to bear arms in military duty, whose religion
made him a non-combatant ; that all persons should have
the right of petition for the redress of grievances ; that
general warrants of search should never be granted, and
when specially granted it should be upon an oath of infor-

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 459
mation ; that soldiery should be enlisted only for limited
periods, nor quartered, in time of peace, on private prop
erty without consent of its owner ; that mutiny bills
should continue in force not longer than two years ; that
causes once passed upon in court should not again be liable
to action, except in accordance with the rules of common
law ; and that powers not delegated to the Nation were
reserved to the individual States.
• These propositions were very popular, in the main, and
the more they were discussed the more acceptable and
necessary did they appear. So popular did the forcible
discussion make them that the first Congress, after due
care, embodied them in a "Bill of Rights," which, being
submitted to the States, ten out of twelve of its articles
were ratified by the required number of States, and at
once incorporated into the Constitution. In fact, some of
the States acted upon these amendments simultaneously
with their ratification of the Constitution itself. Here
we see in the beginning the omnipotence of the people by
whose voice all things are decreed and executed that trans
pire in a Republican government. Nor was it to be
expected that questions of constitutional law were all dis
posed of at once, or that such a document would not
become the text-book for many a partisan debate. During
the first century of our national existence, the questions
of close and liberal construction of the Constitution were
debated by men as clear-headed, logical, and analytical as
ever criticized a Roman pandect or an English statute.
When finally one school of our politics threw down the
"gauge of battle," and the guns that played on Fort
Sumter "echoing from the lakes to the gulf summoned all
the clans to that final test of human governmental poli
cies, the arbitrament of the sword, all philosophical quib-
blings and rhetorical flourishes that had by turns amused
or fired a nation were brushed aside, and the State sover
eignty slave oligarchists went down to rise no more, Se-

460 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
rene in mid-heaven the stars and stripes were kissed by
the breezes from Alaska to the Carolinas, and in the new
era of American progress it was discovered that the Con
stitution was not broad enough for all men to stand upon,
nor clear enough to protect every citizen of the Republic
in the enjoyment of his liberties.
The Constitution is so sacred a thing that, wisely, the
fathers arranged its safeguards and hedged in the way to
amendments and changes so that it became a difficult task
to add or subtract from that document, which, after nearly
a century of successful power, was deemed by many as
sacred almost as the Bible itself. But the effort to intro
duce an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States after so long a period of unquestioned authoritative-
ness came, strangely enough, from the straightest sect of
the strict constructionists. On the very eve of the Rebell
ion, and as a final test of their power in Congress, before
taking their leave of the Capitol, a resolution was intro
duced by them to this effect: "Resolved, * * * That
the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the
several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, which, when ratified by three fourths of
said Legislatures, shall be valid to all intents and purposes
as a part of said Constitution, namely:
" Art. 13. No amendment sball be made to the Consti
tution which will authorize or give to Congress the power
to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic
institutions thereof, including that of persons held to
labor or service by the laws of said State."
Thus did they give evidence that the shadow of a cloud
•rested on the Constitution, and that it must be explained
away, if not by fair speeches, then by amendments; and if
the slave power could not amend the Constitution, some
other power would. This was practically the last effort of
the Southern leaders in Congress, and when it had died
amidst the shouts of derision in the halls of the Capitol

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 461
they were ready to shake the dust from their shoes, and,
gathering their chivalric dignity about them, bid Washing
ton farewell until they should return at the head of
victorious legions to possess every foot of soil which had
ever been held to slavery.
The property or chattel character of the Negro made him
the subject of emancipation, and legally secured the right
of the government to strike the chains from every slave
which, as property, was held to aid and abet his masters in
rebellion. So clear was this as a legal proposition that
Jefferson Davis not only recommended to the Confederate
Congress the arming of the slaves, but admitted that he
was in favor of this measure, even if it resulted in the
giving to the Negro and slave that citizenship which he
should peril his life to destroy ! Thus did the shrewd
politician and statesman see the inevitable. In fact it is but
just to say that this arch-rebel saw the handwriting on the
wall in advance of many Northern statesmen. He pro
posed to the assembled Congress of the South the arming
and emancipation of their slaves rather than subjugation
by the government.
Thus was the Anglo-Saxon mind being educated not
only by the radical utterances of the avowed Abolitionists
of the Northern States, but by the cautious proclamations
of President Lincoln and the dernier propositions of the
rebel chief magistracy. Every emancipation proposition,
whether from Clay, Lincoln or Davis, whether in peace or
as the result of war, was a recognition of the manhood
of the slave ; and the recognition of the manhood of four
millions of our citizens, hitherto regarded as but the chat
tels of the auctioneer's block, necessitated the amend
ments to the Constitution, which are now, perhaps, forever
and unquestionably settled in that document, forming a
part of the advance movement of the Nation under the
leadership of Republicanism.
Oddly enough the " Thirteenth " amendment, when it

462 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
came, was the opposite of the one proposed one month be
fore the guns of the rebellion notified the world that peace
between rival factions in American politics was at an end.
The proclamations of President Lincoln bearing on eman
cipation, of 1862, 1863, together with the acts of Congress,
known as " Confiscation Acts," in 1861 and 1862, had
gradually led the mind to the comprehension of the inev
itable result of the logic of events. The New Year's gift
of freedom to all the slaves within the territory of the
United States, January 1, 1863, was in every sense a
legal and justly conferred law, already withheld long,
waiting for the maturity of thought which so grave a
matter required among the great masses of the people,
without whose endorsement the letters of the President
were traced in sand. But it came in "the fullness of
time," received the approbation of all loyal men, and laid
the foundation for the thirteenth amendment which is
couched in these words: "Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
The act also provides that " Congress shall have full power
to enforce it by appropriate legislation."
By joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress the
thirteenth amendment to the Constitution was submitted
to the various States for their action thereon. Having
originated in the Senate in February, 1861, it passed that
body April 8th, of the same year; but it was not called
up in the House for debate till June following, when the
discussion proved unsatisfactory and the resolution defeat
ed. It was called up again in December of the same year,
and lingered before that body, with occasional discussions,
till January 31, 1865, when it passed the House.
The debates during the three years which this measure
had occupied the attention of Congress, had been bitter,
crude and embarrassed by the constantly changing atti-

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 463
tude of military affairs ; but eventually the Democrats
settled their opposition into a question as to the legality
of the act. The Fifth Article of the Constitution, pro-
vids that " two thirds of both Houses " shall be neces
sary to propose an amendment to the Constitution. The
Democrats contended that the Rebel States not being
represented in the vote there was not a two thirds major
ity of all the members entitled to represent the States ; on
the contrary the Republicans assumed that "two thirds
of both Houses " meant two thirds of the members when
in actual session ; that when Congress was lawfully assem
bled a two thirds vote was a legal majority for the purpose
of amending the Constitution^ In this they were evi
dently right. Two thirds of "both Houses" can only
mean Congress when assembled lawfully as a body for
work; and if by their rebellion any of the States failed
to have a legislative voice in the Houses of Congress at
that time, it was but the legitimate result of their own
political crimes. They had lost justly their power in the
National Legislature.
But the question of ratification by the individual States
was a more serious one. According to the fifth article of
the Constitution, an amendment thereto must be ratified by
the Legislatures of three fourths of the States. It doubt
less could have been successfully held, that the loyal States
constituted the government, and that they were competent
by a three fourths majority of their Legislatures to ratify
the amendments ; but the Government preferred to adopt
the broad ground that three fourths of all the Legislatures,
including those who had forfeited their rights by rebellion
ought to be obtained. This accorded with the feelings of
the conservative element, and was not specially objection
able to any. By it the reconstructed State governments
were enabled to contribute to the ratification of the thir
teenth amendment, thus giving the requisite three fourths
of all the Legislatures of all the States. However, the

464 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
nineteen loyal States supporting it, being the constitu
tional three fourths of those States who had not been
reduced to a. territorial condition by rebellion, were con
sidered an ample guarantee for the amendment of the
organic law of the country ; and with the approval of the
Legislatures of the reconstructed State governments, every
possible guarantee was given, which the condition of the
government and the States would permit. So that this
period of Republican legislation is marked by that pru
dent and wise forethought which left nothing undone
which might contribute to the fairness of its record and
the certitude of all the steps taken by the government
under its administration.
The objects of the fourteenth amendment were to
enfranchise the blacks, suppress any disposition in the
States to discriminate against any part of their population
by the undue apportionment of representatives, establish
the validity of the public debt, and forbid the assumption
of the rebel debt.
The discussions upon this amendment when proposed
in Congress followed practically in the line of the debates
in the previous amendments. No serious objections seemed
to lie against the amendment itself, except the almost
universal Democratic objection to the enfranchisement of
the " inferior race." And when finally reported from the
committee by the Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, April 30,
1866, it was given till the 10th of May following, and
passed under the call of the previous question. It was
amended, slightly, in the Senate, which amendments were
concurred in by the House, and by the 20th of June
forwarded to the executives of the various States.
At this time the steady triumph of Republican recon
struction measures was briefly checked by the chief execu
tive, Andrew Johnson, whose policy of reconstruction was
not in harmony with that accepted by the loyal masses and
being carried out by their representatives in Congress.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 465
March 2, 1867, Congress declared that no legal govern
ment existed in any of the rebellious States, except that of
Tennessee, whose Legislature had already ratified the four
teenth amendment ; at the same time placing them under
a military rule, and prescribing that their State constitu
tions should be submitted to Congress, and that they should
recognize the fourteenth amendment as a condition of
admission to representation in Congress.
The opposition to the enfranchisement of the colored
race, together with the opposition of the Executive to the
manner of reconstruction adopted by Congress, made this
a long and memorable struggle. It appeared at«one time
that the requisite " three fourths of all the States," might
not give in their adhesion to this policy, and feeling the
security of their position if they should act only by virtue
of the required "three fourths of all the States true to the
Union," Congress passed a joint resolution declaring the
fourteenth amendment adopted, and ordering its publica
tion by the Secretary of State. The day following, Georgia
approved the amendment, thus giving it a technical full
ness of ratification; but its validity had already been
established, because this is a political, not a judicial
question, and Congress is the supreme judge of its validity.
One thing was clearly discovered during this trying
ordeal, that Congress is the great depository of the will of
the people. Executives may thwart, and Judges may em
barrass legislation, but the redress of grievances comes
to the people through a Congress of their own choosing.
The fifteenth amendment was a necessity arising out of
the determined opposition of some of the Southern States,
which defied the penalties of the fourteenth amendment
and attempted to set aside a constitutional provision of
law. Without further penalties for its violation, the four
teenth amendment could not be enforced.
A fifteenth amendment was submitted providing that,
" The right of citizens of the United States to vote, shall
30

466 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any
State, on account of race, color or previous condition of
servitude." Thus to citizenship was not only added en
franchisement, but protection.
The temper of the two great political parties with
reference to this legislation is best seen in Indiana, where
the Democratic members all resigned their seats in the
Legislature, thereby hoping to break a quorum. But the
Speaker ruled that a majority of all the votes present in
open session was sufficient to pass the amendment, because
no member or proportion of members were specified in the
Constitution, except a majority. He might have added,
that the Democratic members having resigned, their seats
were vacant, and they were unknown in that Legislature.
Enough is now known to demonstrate that all amend
ments are legally within the power of the people, unless
they shall conflict with the Constitution itself.
The wide sweep of events transpiring under Republican
administration is such as to bewilder the casual ob
server. As in the exploration of a new country surprises are
always waiting to reward the scientific explorer, so we are
always rewarded by a careful study of the achievements of
the Republican party. Of the many chapters written and
indelibly impressed into the history of the Nation, that of
the constitutional amendments stands preeminent. There
had been debate and doubt as to the meaning of this
organic document. As interpreted by Republicans, it
needed no change, but to put all controversies forever at
rest, and to prevent the possibility of any complications
by the legislation which the logic of events have forced on
the States, it was deemed prudent to refer all serious ques
tions of dispute back to the ballot, that when this precious
document came again from the furnace of thought, it
might indeed express the will of the American people.
The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments are
the work of the Republican party. The sum of all the

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 467
wisdom and of all the experience in the world upon the
subject of governmental prerogatives is this: A nation
may lawfully perform any act that does not destroy its
compacts of international law or conflict with the dictates
of humanity, in order to self-preservation. By this rule
slavery had been abolished, and the three million of human
beings thrown out into the world without protection and
without political existence had to be provided for. This
work of protection and defining their status was under
taken. Some question has been sprung as to the legality
of the thirteenth amendment; but it will scarcely ever be
disturbed for the want of formality in its enactment. The
usages of the land have sanctioned and established it
beyond the possibility of any trouble over any technicality
of law or order. As to the fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments, they have never been questioned. These
are to be the instruments of political regeneration in the
South. A vast population, by a series of events entirely
beyond their control, have been thrown on American
soil, and clothed with the habiliments of freedom. By
the same unchangeable past, they have been located in the
Southern States, and there they are likely to remain.
The constitutional amendments recognize and compel
the recognition of the manhood of this large element of
our population. And where State or local prejudices of
race, color or religion prevent the enjoyment of civil
rights by the citizen, it becomes the duty, and is clearly
the prerogative, of the Nation to interfere for the protec
tion of the weak and the preservation of the helpless.
By this policy the government has already advanced the
interests of the South, financially, morally, and<inteUect-
ually. The work of regeneration is necessarily sic r on
account of the prejudices of a large portion of the domi
nant race. But the United States cannot -afford to be
numbered among the old, proscriptive, and tyrannical
establishments descended from the days of the Csesars.

468 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
Her destiny is to stand foremost in the new era of liberty
and equality among mankind. In the hands of the Repub
lican party, this shall be accomplished. Our Nation is
grand and generous enough to forgive the faults of the
past, and determined and strong enough to compel into
the highway of political virtue every member of its federal
compact. There is no party or power to which this com
plete work of the new era of American politics can safely
be committed except the Republican party. It knows
best, for it holds the men who brought these issues to the
front; it can accomplish most, because its traditions are
in perfect accord with the work which the near future
demands. * * *

CHAPTER X.
THE UNITED STATES A NATION.
THE Republican party of to-day embodies all the pro
gressive and reformatory elements and principles that
have distinguished the best administrations of all the par
ties which have ever had control of the_ government. It
was developed early in the history of the Republic that
two schools of politics, if not a necessity, wer£ at least
inevitable in a free government, and that any excesses
into which a majority was disposed to enter, would be
subject to fearful criticism from the minority. But it
was not till the close of the Jeffersonian period that the
clashing interests of localities and the turbulent feelings
of individuals began to recognize that submission to the
will of the majority in the application of the principles of
a party which has resulted in the splendid compactness of
our modern organizations.
The marshaling of the hosts for the great struggles
that have characterized American politics in recent times
was founded upon two theories concerning the nature of
the government of the United States as to its organic
functions. One theory being that the States were indi
vidually sovereign,, and that that sovereignty had been
maintained in the " reserved rights " of the States ; that
by virtue of this sovereignty a State could nullify a federal
law, or withdraw from the Union, which was understood
to be a co-partnercy. The distinguished John C. Cal
houn, United States Senator from South Carolina, was
the ablest advocate of this theory. It was repudiated by
Jackson, but still cherished by the hosts of Democracy.
It made the great Rebellion a possibility. No National
Convention of the Democratic party has ever repudiated
469

470 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
it. It was officially recognized by James Buchanan, the
last of Democratic presidents, and was the opaque body
that eclipsed the sun of political righteousness to the Dem
ocratic party of the North during, the years in which the
Nation's life hung in the balance.
The other theory is that the United States is a Natio.n,
in forming which the individual States have relinquished
the right to nullify the acts of the Supreme Legislature,
or to withdraw from the Federal compact ; that national
legislation when not constitutional is to be so adjudged by
the Supreme Court of the United States, but when simply
objectionable to individual States, or to sections of the
country, can be corrected only by an appeal to Congress
itself. Of this theory Daniel Webster, "the expounder
of the Constitution," was the strongest advocate. On it
the Republican party is built. It saved the government,
and made the reconstruction of the subjugated States pos
sible. The secession idea had been a dream of the slave hold
ing power from the earliest troubles with the large and grow
ing Free Soil element at the North. And the fact that
the slavery element held the balance of power in all gen
eral conventions of the Democratic party enabled them to
throw the country into confusion at will, by the threat of
secession. They not only claimed it as a right to be exer
cised at will by the States, but they flattered themselves
that "cotton was king," and that geographical and busi
ness relations would compel the territory of the Missis
sippi Valley States all to go with them. Thus they would
found an Empire whose "corner stone should be human
slavery." In 1856 the Democratic party spent its force against the
Know-Nothings on one hand and the Abolitionists on the
other. Planting itself on the " organic laws establishing
the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," as the "only sound
and safe solution of the slavery question," it was more de-

THE UNITED STATES A NATION. 471
cidedly pro-slavery than at any previous time in its history.
Ten days later, June 17th, the young Republican party in
answer to a call for a Convention of "all the people of the
United States, without regard to past political differences
or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise," assembled at Philadelphia, and resolved
that the " Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign
power over the Territories of the United States for their
government." Thus forming the issue squarely as to the
authority of the government over the Territories. This,
with the rapidly developing power of the Northwestern
States in Congress, would effectually limit the spread of
slavery. So at this juncture the two parties stood con
fronting each other. The Democratic party rejoicing in
the apparent triumph of human slavery, the Republicans
denouncing the invasion of Kansas by " an armed force,"
and demanding that it should be admitted as a free State.
In 1872 the Republicans resolved that " complete liberty
and exact equality in the enjoyment of all civil, political
and public rights should be established and effectually
maintained throughout the Union by efficient and appro
priate State and Federal legislation." They re-affirmed
their political faith and appealed to the suppression of
the Rebellion, the emancipation of the slaves, and the
establishment of citizenship and suffrage for all, as a record
upon which they could well afford to stand. And in the
second plank of their platform asserted, "The recent
amendments to the National Constitution should be
cordially sustained, because they are right, not merely tol
erated because they are law, and should be carried out
according to their spirit by appropriate legislation, the
enforcement of which can safely be entrusted only to the
party that secured those amendments."
In 1876, looking back with pride upon its past achieve
ments, the Republican party laid down the doctrine: " The
United States of America is a nation, not a league," And

472 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
in 1880 they said: "The Constitution of the United States
is a supreme law, and not a mere contract; out of confed
erate States it made a sovereign nation. Some powers are
denied to the nation, while others are denied to States; but
the boundary between the powers delegated and those
reserved is to be determined by the national and not by the
State tribunals." These utterances are sufficiently explicit
to stand for all time to come. The question of the right
of peaceable secession was forever settled by the sword; and
the wisdom of the party in power has given every possible
constitutional guarantee consistent with the liberties of
individual States that it shall be preserved. The civil
power will wisely gather and store the fruits of the victories
over the great Rebellion. Such is the policy of the Republi
can party. And its great rival, the Democratic party, though
never admitting it to be right in principle, accepted the
inevitable, and said, in its platform of 1868, that the ques
tions of slavery and secession had been settled for all time
to come "by the war." Thus tardily following in the
footsteps of the Republicans, their opponents have vindi
cated the permanence of their achievements. There have
been many to oppose and censure, the ballot and the bullet
have been appealed to in vain, the school of politics in
which the Republican party was cradled and by which it
grew and is yet supported is not only triumphant, but
destined to rule with a firm and liberal hand until this
whole question of the philosophy of our government shall
be so well established that none dare to dispute it.

CHAPTER XI.
RECONSTRUCTION BY CONGRESS.
THE question of the power of Congress over the Terri
tories was a subject of much bitter discussion. After
the cession by Virginia of the great Northwest territory
to the government in 1787, followed by the purchase of
Louisiana from the French in 1803, and the ceding of
Florida by Spain in 1819, together with the acquisitions
of territory following the Mexican war, the United States
held, as a Nation, one of the largest uninhabited tracts of
land on the globe. The precise process, by which this
magnificent domain should be carved into States would,
perhaps, have presented no great difficulty had it not been
for the interests of the slave power.
The theory of John C. Calhoun was that the Constitu
tion carried slavery into all territory of the United
States, where it had not been prohibited by law. On the
night of the passage of the Kansas Nebraska Bill, Senator
Seward in a masterly speech said : " I am now, if possible,
more than ever satisfied, that, after all this debate, the his
tory of the country will go doivn to posterity just as it
stood before, carrying to them the everlasting facts that
until 1820 the Congress of the United States legislated to
prevent the introduction of slavery into new Territories
whenever that object was practicable; and that in that year
they so far modified that policy, under alarming apprehen
sions of civil convulsions, by a constitutional enactment
in the character of a compact, as to admit Missouri a new
slave State ; but upon the express condition, stipulated in
favor of the free States, that slavery should be forever
prohibited in all the residue of the existing and unorgan
ized Territories of the United States lying north of the
473

474 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north lati
tude." But when the Missouri compromise was repealed, and
the question of slavery, with all others, referred to the
popular vote of citizens of the Territories, the superiority
of the free States in numbers of population and disposition
to emigrate westward not only assured freedom to all States
which ever should be formed north of 36 degrees, and 30
minutes, but gave to friends of liberty a chance to contend
at the polls for all the territory of the United States.
Under the leadership of Douglas the certainty of slavery
in a portion of the Territories had been surrendered in order
to obtain a fighting chance in some others, a risk which
the great Republican statesman above quoted, with many
others, clearly foresaw. In fact the energetic opposition
to the repeal of the Missouri compromise was based by the
Republicans not so much upon the ground of any fears of
being able to compete with the slave power in the Terri
tories, as from a dislike for the capricious legislation which
unsettled compacts and ordinances of the most solemn and
apparently binding character, and was, therefore, viewed as
a question of policy, a licentious and unreasonable pro
ceeding. But when emancipation had finally been reached, as a
matter of necessity, justified by the fact that the Negroes
were property, and as such used for purposes of rebellion
against the constituted authorities of the United States,
another question arose of the most perplexing character.
What is the status of a conquered rebel State ? And this
question was complicated by the inharmony of the old
State slavery constitutions with the new order of things
established by emancipation.
The Democratic party having all the time held the
doctrine so dogmatically asserted in Mr. Buchanan's
inaugural address, that a sovereign State could not be
coerced, now thought it saw indestructibility in a State.

RECONSTRUCTION BY CONGRESS. 475
sovereignty. They could see nothing except, recognition.
The States had never been out of the Union, and were
simply to revive their dormant relations to the govern
ment, and step into full and untrammeled power in the
Congress of the United States. But Republican sagacity
saw in this an opportunity for millions of rebels, whose
hands were hot with the blood of treason, to seriously
embarrass if not to effectually cripple the legislation which
was then demanding the attention of Congress.
Mr. Lincoln recommended to Congress, December 8,
1863, his willingness to proclaim a restoration to the Union
of any seceded State, whose inhabitants, having laid down
their arms, should swear allegiance to the Constitution of
the United States, and organize a free State constitution.
Nothing was done under this proposition. Its weak point
was that it was premature as to' time, and failed to recog
nize the full extent of authority to Congress, which the
Republican members of that body believed to be inherent
in it. However, as early as December, 1861, Senator
Harlan, of Iowa, had introduced a bill to establish a pro
visional government over the seven seceded States. This
indicated the drift of Republican thought and feeling
which was so soon to become dominant, and whose will
and work it was to put the old questions that had shaken
the foundations of the government so far out of the way
that future years should not be troubled with them.
In May, of 1864, Congress passed the first reconstruc
tion act. It provided for the appointment of provis
ional governors, by the President, enrollment of the citi
zens who had taken the oath of allegiance, and formation
of new State constitutions by such " reconstructed " citi
zenship. This bill did not meet with the approval of
President Lincoln, principally because he thought it would
undo the work of restoration already begun by the Union
ists of Louisiana and Arkansas. These matters were at
best but experimental. Finally, July 16, a bill was .passed

476 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
by the Republican majority over the veto of President
Johnson, which, as the last of the " Freedmen's Bureau
Bills," made provision for the homeless and helpless col
ored people during the period of reconstruction.
Johnson's policy was essentially Democratic. His in
tense Unionism and his bravery in the Senate, had made
him Vice-President. The Republicans had preferred to
confer that honor upon a Southern Unionist, to emphasize
the fact that it was not a sectional question with them,
but simply a war to preserve the Union. Andrew Johnson
attained this high honor, and by a fatality that threw the
civilized world into mourning, was suddenly elevated to
the most distinguished position in the Western Hemi
sphere — President of the United States ! It soon became
apparent that his peculiar States rights views would array
his administration against the Republican majority in
Congress. Mr. Johnson's idea was, that rebellion was an
individual, not a State crime; and while making treason
" odious " in the abstract, and condemning it in the in
dividual, the taint did not attach, in his estimation, to
a sovereign State.
The Constitution had not contemplated the folly of
rebellion, hence had made no provision for the re-organiza
tion or re-admission of a State into the Union. The
question under which the government labored at the time
of Mr. Johnson's accession to power, was simply this :
Shall the subjugated States be treated as States or as
Territories ? This was wholly a field of experiment — a
field for Republican surveyors to explore. Far-seeing men
in Congress — Republicans — had called attention to this
question in '61 and '62, but too many other grave matters
were then before the country. Consequently it was
reserved for Mr. Johnson's administration. His theory
that the States had not lost their sovereignty by rebellion,
met the hearty approval of the Democrats, and the work
of " reconstruction," as he called it, went forward rapidly.

RECONSTRUCTION BY CONGRESS. 477
But in all this there was no provision made for the future
protection of that large class of citizens with which
emancipation had filled the Southern States ; and it soon
became apparent that the President's policy was simply
restoring the rebel element to power without the slightest
opportunity for the government to utilize the few friend
ships which it possessed on southern soil.
When Congress met, December, 1865, as a result of
Johnson's reconstruction, five rebel States had sent their
representatives to Congress, some of these representatives-
elect having been active participants in the recent rebell
ion. This theory of the sovereign right of the States
did not prevent legislation discriminating against the
freedmen, and was designed to prevent the "blacks" from
enjoying the fruits of liberty."
At this time Congress consisting of a majority of Re
publicans, and made up from the loyal States, with the
exception of a few members, took the question of re-con
struction in hand with a masterly grip. They practically
decided that the rebel States were but territories, appointed
military governors for them, and refused their admittance
to the Union until they should have ratified the fourteenth
amendment. The re-construction policy of the President
was brushed away as if it had been a spider's web, and the
territories lately in rebellion were compelled to conform, in
their return to representation in Congress, with the laws
of the National Legislature. It was a trying time. The
question as to whether States so lately out of an armed
rebellion could practically return unrepentant, and clothed
with the powers of sovereignty, to seats in the halls of
national legislation, was settled for all time to come! In
all this the Republican party was writing the history of the
country, destined to a moral and philanthropic grandeur
among the nations of the earth, which, in addition to their
martial fame, should make them the proudest people be
neath the circuit of the sun!

CHAPTER XII.
TARIFF FOR THE PROTECTION OF AMERICAN LABOR.
ANY nation which is both a manufacturing and agri
cultural country, and whose imports and exports are
constantly changing in their relative amounts and values,
will always find the question of tariff a living issue in its
politics. From the beginning the United States had nec
essarily to meet this question, nor could the examples of the
Old World apply, in many respects, to the conditions of
things in the New. It was in this, as in everything else,
a new sea of political experience upon which the young
nation entered. During the first Congress a tariff both for
revenue and protection was established by law ; and of the
wisdom of this policy there can be no doubt. The only
question is, practically, how far and what shall we protect;
and to what extent and on what articles shall we depend
for revenue ? The necessity of a tariff is not debatable.
All right-thinking men have admitted it from the begin
ning. The only trouble about it has been humorously
expressed by some one to be that, " every one is in favor of
free trade for his neighbor, but he wants protection for
himself!" There need be no trouble on this question.
Congress, acting deliberately, should take into considera
tion all the varied interests of the country, just as if the
entire business were the property of one man, who desired *
to preserve each and every industry and importation, for
the prosperity of the whole. This is the Republican
doctrine, and upon this as upon every other issue it is
correct in principle. It may sometimes mistake the pre
cise per centum> or the particular interest which most
needs encouragement, but of the permanent policy of the
478

PROTECTION OF AMERICAN LABOR. 479
Republican party there is no disguise and there can be no
change. That brilliant statesman, Hamilton, made an exhaustive
report on the doctrine of customs as applicable to America,
during the first Congress, which recognized in the tariff not
only protection and revenue, but a possible regulative
factor as to intercourse with other nations. This, through
the embargo and non -intercourse policy, during the
administration of Mr. Jefferson, was one of the causes of
the war of 1812.
In 1816 a tariff law, modified as a tariff must always be,
to suit, in. the judgment of Congress, the changed condition
of affairs, was passed. It classified imported goods as
follows: First, Those of which a supply could be produced
at home. Second, Those of which a supply in part only
could be produced at home. Third, Those produced at
home very slightly, or not at all. The object of the legis
lators was to lay a duty heavy enough to keep out foreign
competition entirely on such articles as could be fully
supplied at home. Where a partial supply could be
furnished at home, a duty of 20 per cent was laid; on the
third class, " duties were adjusted more with reference to
revenue than tariff."
In 1824, after a long and animated controversy, the
tariff was modified again. This time the agriculturalists
favored protection, while the shippers opposed it. The
planters of the South were against, while the grain-grow
ing districts favored, protection. The experiment of ad
valorem duties did not work as well as had been hoped.
'South Carolina was especially hostile, and by 1828 Daniel
Webster and others changed so as to unite with her in the
repeal of existing laws and' the adoption of a protective
tariff. Again in 1832-33, the time of Congress was prin
cipally occupied with the tariff. Finally, a "compro
mise " was effected, by which it was provided that duties
should be reduced to twenty per cent on all imported

480 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
goods. The spirit of "nullification" was allayed, and the
tariff ceased to be, for a time, the disturbing element in
American politics. But, providentially, it seems, almost
as if the future had been in view, the act, approved
March 2, 1861, and known as the Morrill Tariff, though
it included other matters, one of which was the authoriza
tion of a ten-million loan, prepared the way for substan
tial aid, not only to redeem " outstanding treasury notes,"
but, at a time when every dollar was of the utmost value,
in aiding the government just entering upon the final
struggle for existence, to add thousands to our needy
treasury. A determined effort was made by the Demo
crats in Congress to break our tariff protection in 1876,
when Morrison, of Illinois, Chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee, introduced a tariff bill, which, it was
charged, had been "drawn for him by the free traders
and others interested in breaking down protection, ruin
ing home manufactures, and depriving our American
home labor of a chance to earn an honest living." The
opposition, by which this scheme was defeated, was from
the Republican side of the House. But the effort was
renewed in 1878, by the introduction of the Wood tariff
bill. During the heated discussion which followed, and
while values of all kinds were being unsettled by the
action of a Democratic House, Fernando Wood said,
April 9, 1878, in a speech before the House, "If I had
the power to commence de novo, I should reduce the
duties fifty per cent, instead of less than fifteen per cent,
upon an average, as now proposed."
By the prompt action of fifteen out of every sixteen
Republicans in the House, aided by a few Democrats who
bolted their party, this was defeated ; but not until the
gravest damage had been done on account of the threat
ened deluge of free trade.
The Republican platform of 1860 had required such
adjustment of the imposts providing for the revenue of

PROTECTION OF AMERICAN LABOR. 481
the general government as should " encourage the develop
ment of the industrial interests of the whole country." In
1872 they said, " Revenue, except so much as may be
derived from a tax on tobacco and liquors, should be
raised by duties on importations." And in 1876 they said,
"Revenue necessary for current expenditures and the
obligations of the public debt must be largely derived
from duties upon importations which, so far as possible,
should be adjusted to promote the interests of American
labor and advance tbe prosperity of the whole country."
This was reaffirmed in 1880. In perfect harmony with
this record, the platform of 1884 lays down this con
sistent plank : " It is the first duty of a good government
to protect the rights and promote the interests of its own
people. The largest diversity of industry is most produc
tive of general prosperity and of the comfort and inde
pendence of the people. We therefore demand that the
imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be made,
not for revenue only, but that in raising the requisite rev
enues for the government such duties shall be so levied as
to afford security to our diversified industries, and protec
tion to the rights and wages of the laborer, to the end
that active and intelligent labor, as well as capital, may
have its just reward, and the laboring man his full share
in the national prosperity."
It is meet that the Republican party, the enemy of
slavery, the author, under God, of liberty to millions,
should ever appear in the field of conflict battling for" the
material and intellectual prosperity of the toiling masses
who, at the forge or on the farm, in the city or on the wide
prairie, are invested with the sovereignty of American
citizenship. In the long line of Republican triumphs
stands the fact that it has never made a mistake on the
labor question. The millions of workingmen from shop
and field will find in it the conservator of their financial
interests and their domestic comforts. It is, indeed, the
31

482 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
blessed prerogative of a great nation to aid all in the path
way of life. It should know no jealousies between sections,
no rivalries between industries; labor and capital should
be both alike protected. Equality between the rich and
the poor consists, not in making them one in wealth, but
in holding their rights, liberties and property, equally and
alike sacred before the law.

CHAPTER XIII.

SUPPRESSION OF POLYGAMY.

SOMETIME about 1832, Joe Smith began to create a
little disturbance in western New York by his claims
to inspiration, and the introduction of a new religion
founded upon the discovery of certain golden plates, or
the Mormon Bible. No one could have dreamed that
this ignorant fanatic would become a disturber of our
peace, and that the Congress of the United States would
be seriously embarrassed by his followers.
However, Smith was not alone. The times were favor
able to his movement. All of the Western States were
disturbed religiously, and many new and unexpected
changes were taking place. About this time, Sydney
Rigdon, a man of more education than Smith, and a
preacher of some distinction, revealed himself as an
accomplice with him in the work. By the aid of certain
absurd speculations, which were already floating round, to
the effect that the North American Indians were the
descendants of the "lost tribes" of the Jews, and Rig
don's knowledge of the Scriptures, they were able to adapt
themselves, and their book of Mormon, to a large class of
earnest but unsettled religionists, who at that time were
expecting great results from a restoration of the faith of
apostolic times. Through Rigdon's preaching the way
was prepared at Kirtland, Ohio, and the first church
proper of this sect was established there with Joe Smith
first, his brother Hyram second, and Sydney Rigdon third
in the presidency. Afterwards in Jackson county, Mo.,
and at Nauvoo, Ills., this presidency located itself and its
followers. Grand things" were expected, and, compara
tively, much was accomplished. "483

484 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
However, in addition to the objectionable features of
their religion, they also established polygamy, and took a
lively interest in politics. It was at one time feared that
Smith himself would be sent to Congress !
His schemes, however, were all brought to an end by
his assassination, while under arrest and entitled to the
protection accorded by law to all prisoners. This circum
stance, regarded as a martyrdom by his followers, was no
disadvantage to Mormonism. Brigham Young, at that
time senior apostle, preferred charges against Sydney Rig
don to whom the first belonged, both the Smith's having
been assassinated, and succeeded in removing him from his
office. This left Brigham head of the Apostolic College,
and in that capacity he led his people to the wilderness of
Salt Lake. Here he attained the First Presidency and
became a disturbing power in politics.
To shield themselves in the practice of polygamy they
absurdly claim it as a religious institution, and stoutly
maintain that any unfriendly legislation is a violation of
the religious freedom guaranteed to all citizens of the
United States by its Constitution. They interpret the
violations by one or two of the patriarchs of the original
monogamic law of God as a license for their accursed prac
tice. The harem imported by Solomon, together with his
idolatry, from Egypt, they regard as divine, and the law
of God, "let every man have his own wife, and every
wife her own husband," is explained away to suit their
purposes. In a State the conflict with polygamy would have been
by the State authorities ; but having been transplanted to
a Territory, the conflict is with the United States author
ity. So far it has been tolerated. Not so much, probably,
because anybody has been gulled into the stupid blunder
of regarding it as a " religious institution," but rather by
the strong desire to "give the utmost liberty possible to
every section of the country, and to overcome every obsta-

SUPPRESSION OF POLYGAMY. 485
cle to a virtuous government, with the least display of
anything like coercive power. Like its "twin relic" of
barbarism, slavery, trying to hide behind a false interpre
tation of the Bible, polygamy must go !
In the Forty-seventh Congress a bill was introduced for
the suppression of polygamy in the territories of the United
States. It was not strictly a party measure, but what aid
and comfort the Mormons received was in the main from
Democratic sources. The Democratic effort was to secure
the Mormon vote without putting themselves on record
as polygamists, the same old lingering policy that was
always exhibited by them, when any great moral question
or the suppression of any great wrong was before the gov
ernment. But the Republican resolution of 1880, "Polyg
amy in the territories must die," was too strong for any
successful antagonism; and the opposition did not dare to
defend polygamy per se, but entrenched themselves behind
a claim for " liberty of conscience ! " Thus this heathen
and inhuman custom has been apologized for in Congress
by Democratic orators as a matter of " conscience." No
crime against humanity or the rights of others can be a
matter of conscience. No immorality can be supported
by conscience. No corruptions of society can be screened
by a pretense of religion. God, in what is regarded by
most people as the divine legislation of Moses, gave no
sanction to this monstrous evil, nor are the few violations
of God's original and only law recorded in the Bible, any
apology or excuse for an attempt to open such a cancerous
fungus upon our American civilization.
It is refreshing to every lover of virtue and of liberty to
see the clear, ringing utterances of that grand convention
of Republicans at Chicago, "That it is the duty of
Congress to enact such laws as shall promptly and effect
ually suppress the system of polygamy within our territory,
and divorce the political from the ecclesiastical power of
the so-called Mormon Church, and that the law so enacted

486 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
should be rigidly enforced by the civil authorities if possi
ble, and by the military if need be."
This puts the question fairly at issue. Awaking to the
gravity of the occasion, a National Platform demands that
this defiant band of fanatics who have for twenty-five
years cursed the government and perverted the scriptures,
shall at last be held amenable to the judgment of the en
lightened world, and that laws in harmony with the genius
of our free institutions shall be enforced regardless of the
hypocritical claim of liberty of conscience where there can
be no conscience!
It is a burning shame that the right of the Government
to suppress polygamy has ever been called in question.
The right of a State to suppress it is admitted on all hands.
And shall we conclude that the Nation is powerless in its
territory where a State might act ? Shall we continue the
absurd play of tolerating customs on our borders, which
all admit to be wrong, on the plea of lack of sovereign State
authority ? It is the old play over again — a State could
not be coerced, because the Constitution had not specifically
provided for it. Rebellion and polygamy were alike un
seen evils when the Constitution was made. The Congress
of the United States possesses the inherent authority to do
right on all questions not already specifically determined
by the Constitution of the United States.

CHAPTER XIV.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST.
IN 1856 the Democratic party in its platform had
"pledged" Government aid to the building of a rail
road to the Pacific coast as a " necessity; " but when the
Republican administration took hold of it, they threw
themselves in its way by declaring the land grants a plun
dering of the national domain, and the subsidies necessary
to its construction, a theft of the people's money.
However, under the liberal policy of the Republican
party, by the completion of railways through our vast
domain to the Pacifie ocean, and the granting of home
steads to the hardy pioneers of civilization, the mountains
have been tunneled, the cafions have been bridged, the
wilderness made to blossom as the rose, and the rich min
ing regions brought into living connection with the pulses
of the commercial world. America has reason to be grate
ful to that party under whose parental hand the heart of
the continent has been reached by postal, telegraphic and
railway communication; while the hardy sons of the Sla
vonic tribes, fleeing from the inhospitable surroundings of
their native land, have been added to the broad prairies and
fertile banks along the great Missouri. Large as the invest
ment seems by which these grand results have been .accom
plished, no lover of his country and his race can doubt
that it has repaid into the treasury and into the sum of
national happiness and prosperity a thousand fold. Within
the twenty-five years of Republican rule the wand of* prog
ress has waved into existence civilized governments over a
territory equaling the domain of the German Empire.
487

488 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
No better guarantee for the people can be given than the
prompt and substantial aid which the Government has
given to them and their interests in the development of
the great West.

CHAPTER XV.

PARTY TRADITIONS.

THE Republican party holds to-day all the principles of
liberty, justice and equality advocated by the fathers.
Eighty-three years ago Thomas Jefferson said, in his state
ment of the " essential principles," as he was pleased to
call them, in his inaugural address: "Equal and exact
justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious
or political. * * * The support of the State govern
ments in all their rights. * * * The preservation of
the general Government in all its constitutional vigor.
* * * A JEALOUS CARE OF THE RIGHT OF ELECTION
by the people. * * * Absolute acquiescence in the
decisions of the majority. * * * The honest payment
of our debts, and the sacred preservation of the public
faith." * * * Sentences which may be almost dupli
cated to-day from any leading Republican speech, and in
perfect accord with the policy and faith of the present
Republican party.
On the occasion of the accession of Louisiana by treaty
from France, the doctrine of national sovereignty was
clearly expressed by Senator Taylor, of Virginia, speaking,
as it was understood, with the approbation of President
Jefferson, whose friend he was. " Before the confedera
tion," said Senator Taylor, " each State was independent,
and possessed the right attached to an independent sover
eignty to acquire territory by war, purchase, or treaty.
This right must now either be still possessed, or forbidden
both to each State and the general Government ; or trans
ferred to the general Government. * * * The means
of acquiring and the right of holding territory, the territory
489

490 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
having been given up to the United States, and prohibited
to each State, it follows that these attributes of sover
eignty, once held by each State, are thus lodged in the
United States."
No Republican has clearer views of this matter to-day
than those above quoted. The objections to the sover
eignty of the Nation, that it endangered the rights of the
States, had been wisely guarded against by the fact that
the people had been recognized as the fountain of power,
and the entire Congress, with the President, made elective.
So the remedy for any abuse of power is in the hands of
the people.
The alien and sedition laws having been repealed, the
question of extending the liberties of our land and the
protection of our laws to the newly-acquired citizens of
Louisiana was triumphantly carried into effect. It re
mained for President Jefferson's administration to compel
Great Britain to renounce the doctrine of "impressment,"
as the capturing and reducing to involuntary servitude in
the English navy those who had been her subjects, though
now recognized by the United States as subjects, was
called. These three steps were in the direct development
of the sovereign power of the Nation that it might thereby
conserve the interests of liberty and humanity; and their
successful accomplishment under Mr. Jefferson's adminis
tration left him without a superior in popularity among
the older Presidents, if indeed it has ever been equaled.
It would not be difficult to trace the thread of Repub
licanism down to the formation of the old Whig party, in
which many of the best elements of Republicanism were
preserved. Indeed, some have been inclined to trace by its
principles the Republican party back under different names
and organizations. This doubtless could be done, and may
yet be referred to again in this book ; but the Repub
lican party while true to the Constitution of the fathers,
and the best traditions of the government, stands not on

PARTY TRADITIONS. 491
these alone. It has been called to meet and crush the
most gigantic rebellion, when its intelligence and courage
are taken into account, known to any age or country. It
therefore,, has not only been called to battle for interpreta
tions of the Constitution, and policies of administration,
but to uphold in war and in peace that sacred organic
compact itself. The Republican party, therefore, while
approving the glorious traditions of the best school of
American politics plants itself on its own immediate record,
and says proudly, in the language of the platform of 1880:
"It suppressed a rebellion which had armed nearly a
million of men to subvert the national authority. It
reconstructed the Union of the States, with freedom instead
of slavery as its corner stone! It transformed four million
human beings from the likeness of things to the rank of
citizens. It relieved Congress from the infamous work
of hunting fugitive slaves, and charged it to see that
slavery does not exist. It has raised the value of our
paper money from thirty-eight per cent to the par value
of gold. It has restored upon a sobd basis payment in
coin for all the national obligations, and has given us a
currency absolutely good and equal in every part of our
extended country. It has lifted the credit of the Nation
from the point where six per cent bonds sold at eighty-six,
to where four per cents are eagerly sought at a premium.
Under its administrations railways have increased from
thirty-one thousand miles in 1860 to more than eigthy
thousand in 1880. Our foreign trade has increased from
seven hundred millions to eleven hundred and fifty mill
ions in the same time ; and our exports, which were
twenty millions less than our imports in 1860, were two
hundred and sixty-four million dollars more than our
imports in 1879. Without resorting to loans it has,
since the war closed, defrayed the ordinary expenses of
the government besides the accruing interest on the
public debt, and disbursed annually more than thirty

492 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
million dollars for soldiers' pensions. It has paid eight
hundred and eighty-eight million dollars of the public
debt, and by refunding the balance at a lower rate, has
reduced the annual interest charge from nearly one hundred
and fifty-one million dollars to less than eighty-nine million
dollars. All the industries of the country have revived,
labor is in demand, wages have increased, and throughout
the entire country there is evidence of a coming prosperity
greater than we ever enjoyed. Upon this record the
Republican party asks for the continued confidence and
support of the people."

CHAPTER XVI.
A FREE BALLOT AND A FAIR COUNT.
"¦VTO party issue has been stronger within the last decade
-LN than the Republican demand, " A free ballot and a
fair count." In many, if not all, of the Gulf States, there
has been a persistent effort to override the constitutional
amendments by what isknown as the "shot-gun policy."
A people defeated in war and chafing under the new order
of things, find it to their ideas of propriety to debar by
force that portion of the population which in their judg
ment ought to have been excluded from the rights of
citizenship. If there is any one thing in which the very existence
of our free institutions is now involved, it is this question
of the purity of the ballot-box. One of the most dis
tinguished citizens of the Republic has well said, "The
Republican party should never be beaten until every man
who counts, or represents those who count, in the enumera
tion to give representation in the Electoral College, can cast
his vote just as he pleases, and have it counted just as he
cast it." This is the sentiment of the Republican party
to-day. In their national platform, 1880, they resolved
that, "Whatever promises the Nation makes, the Nation
must perform; and the Nation cannot with safety relegate
this duty to the States. The solid South must be divided
by the peaceful agencies of the ballot, and all opinions
must there find free expression; and to this end honest
voters must be protected, against violence, terrorism and
fraud." The situation has not changed, nor have the principles
of the parties changed since the above utterance. The
493

494 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
southern Democrats with their claim of State sovereignty
and white superiority as to the rights of citizenship, would
forever exclude, and have so far practically excluded the
Negro from the benefits of the franchise conferred upon
him by the constitutional amendments. Consequently,
out of this question more than any other comes the revival
of the old issue about the
AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT.
The framers of the Republican platform in 1880 under
stood this thoroughly when they said, " The Nation cannot
with safety relegate the fulfillment of its promises to the
States." It is without question the duty of the Republican
party to fulfill that which remains of its glorious mission.
While the rights of any citizen are denied; while any one
entitled to vote is prohibited with the connivance of local
or State authorities, or while any State or community is
unable to protect its citizens in the exercise of citizenship
in its rights and privileges, the work of the Republican
party is not ended. There are yet grand opportunities for
so tempering and adjusting the machinery of government,
that the humblest citizen of the Republic will be protected
in his political rights. Without this our boasted Republic
will eventually receive the execrations of mankind; her
proud pillars will crumble, and desolation brood in her
once magnificent halls.
While, doubtless, a few "repeaters" and occasional
"sell outs" had disgraced themselves and the country,
it remained for the Ku-Klux and the White Leaguers of
the South to initiate a deliberate system of violence at the
polls, by which whole parishes and even States were
wrested from the majority; a precedent which, if per
mitted, would at once destroy any republic.
Perhaps we ought not to except the very general opin
ion that Henry Clay was counted out of, and Mr. Polk
counted into, the Presidency in 1845; but that, if true, was

PURITY OF THE BALLOT-BOX. 495
rascality without the additional crimes of murder and ter
rorism exercised at the South, and for the purpose of
keeping Republicans out of office.
The campaign of 1876 was a fearful experience to
many citizens of the United States. Telegraph wires
were cut to prevent legal communication, trains were
ku-kluxed, messengers representing the authority of the
State were intercepted and driven from the post of duty.
Organized bands of " Knights of the White Camelia,"
mounted, masked and armed, made day and night hideous,
and spread terror among the people, many of whom were
unarmed, and none prepared to resist the cut throats and
murderers, whose only object was to prevent a free vote
and a fair count at the ballot-box. A report from Gen
eral Sheridan, who had investigated matters in Louisiana,
written to the Secretary of War, and dated January 10,
1875, gives the number of those killed, within less than
ten years, as nearly 3,000. He says : " From 1868 until
the present time, no official investigation has been made.
There is ample evidence, however, to show that more than
1,200 persons have been killed and wounded during this
time, on account of their political sentiments." Many
were captured, tagged with red flannel, led to the polls and
compelled to vote the Democratic ticket ; to these certifi
cates of protection were given.
For all this no provision could be made by civil authority,
as those entrusted with the execution of law were either
unable or unwilling to do it. The "Returning Boards"
were judges only of the work that came before them in the
shape of returns from the parishes and counties. In this
distress the Republicans in the terrorized districts some
times invoked the aid of United States Marshals. These,
in some instances, had need of the assistance of the military
in those sections where mob violence had run rampant.
Consequently a great howl was raised about "troops at the
polls." It did not comport with the extreme "States

496 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
Rights" view which denies to the government the right
to protect its citizens inside of State lines, without the
special permit of the State. By this ingenuous device
the corrupt and still rebellious element of the South
attempted to bulldose the majorities in half a dozen States
into abject servitude, and nothing prevented their success
but the vigor of a Republican Congress, which asserted its
right to see a "free ballot," at least when Congressmen,
who in a sense are National officers, were to be elected.
The Democratic press of the North complained, but the
work went forward, and though not complete, it doubtless
stayed the rush of violence at the polls ere it reached
flood tide.
Many issues will, doubtless, be sprung during the
impending campaign — the tariff, civil service reform,
internal improvements, and others — but the living issue in
American politics to-day is the individual liberty of the
citizen at the polls, and the purity of the ballot-box after
it has passed into the hands of the officials. The balance
of power may eventually render any sectional effort help
less; but at this time there is danger that the fate of the
nation may for a time be directed by its worst enemies,
whose lease of power shall come from the turbulence and
violence which triumph over innocence and the right.
The Republican party is slowly but surely accomplish
ing its grand work. The enemies of the government
have battered themselves to pieces, while the Republican
party stood as a great protecting wall against which the
waves were powerless.
There is just one thing really essential to the preser
vation of a true Republic, and that is that every citizen
shall be protected in his political rights. This is the first
proat duty of the government, without which all else is
but a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. For the
accomplishment of this crowning glory of the Nation the
Republican party stands fully pledged. As surely as the

PURITY OF THE BALLOT-BOX. 497
waters run into the sea will this grand result be accom
plished by the continuance of that policy which, with
unbroken determination, has passed from administration
to administration for the last twenty-four years.
The South is indeed the land of the magnolia and the
mocking bird, where the breezes from the storm-tossed
gulf kiss from the brow the heat of a tropical sun ! But
she needs the refining processes of that higher culture
which inspires the human heart with reverence for liberty
and a just regard for the rights of the meanest of God's
creatures. When her States have attained this, the cup
of her joy shall indeed be full. Her final salvation lies in
the direction of a broader culture and the shield of pro
tection to every man, woman and child in their citizenship
with all that citizenship implies.
The Republican party had its origin in the organization
of an earnest protest against the aggressions of the slave
power; its greatest achievements have been in the interest
of freedom and equal rights. The highest and most im
portant duty now devolving upon it is to secure to every
voter in this land a free and fair election and an honest
count of the ballots. Public opinion should be aroused
from end to end of this country against all manner of
election frauds. For the Republican party to emancipate
and enfranchise the Negro race, and then finally abandon
them to outrage and fraud at the hands of their old mas
ters, would be an act so inconsistent with principle and
duty that one cannot believe it will occur.
Where the State neglects to protect these rights the
Nation must step in and assert the high constitutional
prerogative of the whole people, and by appropriate legis
lation secure a republican form of government. The
record of the Democracy is entirely consistent. Believing
in the divine origin of "slavery, they fought for its exten
sion and perpetuation, opposed emancipation, the granting
of civil rights and the ballot, endeavored to re-enslave the
32

498 REPUBLICAN ACHIEVEMENTS.
Negro by labor and vagrancy laws, and have deprived him
of his vote by intimidation, murder and fraud. The
record of the Republican party will be consistent when it
secures to the Negro by law the rights it won for him with
the sword.
The heroic era in our politics has passed. It was filled
with startling and dramatic incidents and grand events,
and bristled with new questions of immense importance.
Tho Republican party was during that period entrusted
by the people with the duty of legislation; every question
was met with courage and settled with wisdom. The
grout constitutional and legislative measures of the Re
publican party have stood the test of time. They have
been tried in the crucible of public opinion. Six times
since the election of Lincoln have the people of the United
States at presidential elections placed the seal of their
approbation upon the Republican party. The past, there
fore, by the deliberate judgment of this great people,
stands approved. The Republican party maintained the
affirmative, and was right; the Democratic party occupied
the negative, and was wrong. These two parties have not
changed positions; each has moved forward upon its own
line of thought, and while the conflict of opinion is less
angry and bitter to-day than in times past, it is none the
less determined and irreconcilable. All the great issues
of the war have been settled, and wisely settled, by the
Republican party; they cannot be reopened, and they can
be properly brought into the arena of debate now only for
the purpose of comparing the record of parties.
The conflict of opinions upon these material interests
will constitute the issues between political parties. To
deal with these questions wisely will require our best states
manship. It therefore becomes important for the people to
consider whether it is to their interest to retire the Repub
lican party and place the Democratic party in control.
What valid reason can be assigned for a change ? Will

PURITY OF THE BALLOT-BOX. 4y9
the Democratic party suppress violence and fraud at elec
tions ? Will it give you a better currency ? Will wages be
advanced ? Will the value of farm products, and of flocks
and herds be increased by Democratic tariff legislation ?
Will investments be more secure and productive than now ?
Will education be more surely promoted ? Will it be wis
dom, in a prosperous and contented people to jeopardize
their material interests by placing in power the Democratic
party, which is pledged to the repeal of those laws which
an experience of over twenty years has proven to be bene
ficial to all the great productive, commercial, and financial
interests of the country ? You know what the Republican
party has done. It has given you- good laws and honest
administration, it has advanced liberty and equal rights.
Every page of our history since '61 is emblazoned with
the record of its achievements both in war and peace. It
will establish the reign of law ; and it will continue to
advance the progressive civilization of this great American
people.

REPUBLICAN^DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. FROM 1856 TO THE PRESENT,
ALSO STATISTICS SHOWING
THB
Progress abd Prosperity
or
THB COUNTRY UNDER
Republican Rule.

601

Republican and Democratic Platforms,
1856.— DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,
Adopted at Cincinnati, June G.
Resolved, That the American democracy place their trust in the in
telligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the Amer
ican people.
Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our polit
ical creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world as a great
moral element in a form of government springing from and upheld
by the popular will; and we contrast it with the creed and practice
of federalism, under whatever name or form, which seeks to palsy the
will of the constituent, and which conceives no imposture too mon
strous for the popular credulity.
Resolmed, therefore, That, entertaining these views, the Democratic
party of this Union, through their delegates, assembled in general
convention, coming together in a spirit of concord, of devotion to the
doctrines and faith of a free representative government, and appealing
to their fellow citizens for the rectitude of their intentions, renew and
re-assert, before the American people, the declaration of principles
avowed by them, when, on former occasions, in general convention,
they have presented their candidates for the popular suffrage.
1. That the federal government is one of limited power, derived
solely from the constitution, and the grants of power made therein
ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the
government, and that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise
doubtful constitutional powers.
2. That the constitution does not confer upon the general govern
ment the power to commence and carry on a general system of inter
nal improvements.
3. That the constitution does not confer authority upon the federal
government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of the several
states, contracted for local and internal improvements or other state
purposes; nor would such assumption be just or expedient.
4. That justice and sound policy forbid the federal government to
foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to cherish
503.

504 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
the interests of one portion of our common country; that every citizen
and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist
upon an equality of rights and privileges, and a complete and ample
protection of persons and property from domestic violence and foreign
aggression. 5. That it is the duty of every branch of the government to enforce
and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs,
and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to de
fray the necessary expenses of the government and gradual but certain
extinction of the public debt.
6. That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly ap
plied to the national objects specified in the constitution, and that we
are opposed to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among
the states, as alike inexpedient in policy and repugnant to the consti
tution. 7. That Congress has no power to charter a national bank; that
we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best inter
ests of this country, dangerous to our republican institutions and the
liberties of the people, and calculated to place the business of the
country within the control of a concentrated money power and above
the laws and will of the people; and the results of the democratic
legislation in this and all other financial measures upon which issues
have been made between the two political parties of the country, have
demonstrated to candid and practical men of all parties their sound
ness, safety, and utility in all business pursuits.
8. That the separation of the moneys of the government from
banking institutions is indispensable to the safety of the funds of the
government and the rights of the people.
9. That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the President
the qualified veto power, by which he is enabled, under restrictions
and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the public interests, to
suspend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot secure the approval
of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, until the
judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which has saved
the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical dominion of the
bank of the United States and from a corrupting system of general
internal improvements.
10. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the
Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, which
makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of
every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the democratic
faith; and every attempt to abridge the privilege of becoming citizens

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 505
and owners of soil among us, ought to be resisted with the same
spirit which swept the alien and sedition laws from our statute
books. And Whereas, Since the foregoing declaration was uniformly
adopted by our predecessors in national conventions, an adverse
political and religious test has been secretly organized by a party
claiming to be exclusively Americans, and it is proper that the Ameri
can democracy should clearly define its relations thereto; and declare
its determined opposition to all secret political societies, by whatever
name they may be called:
Resolved, That the foundation of this union of states having been
laid in, and its prosperity, expansion and pre-eminent example in free
government built upon, entire freedom of matters of religious con
cernment, and no respect of persons in regard to rank or place of
birth, no party can justly be deemed national, constitutional, or in
accordance with American principles, which bases its exclusive or
ganization upon religious opinions and accidental birth-place. And
hence a political crusade in the nineteenth century, and in the United
States of America, against Catholics and foreign-born, is neither
justified by the past history or future prospects of the country, nor in
unison with the spirit of toleration and enlightened freedom which
peculiarly distinguishes the American system of popular government.
Resohied, That we reiterate with renewed energy of purpose the
well-considered declarations of former conventions upon the sectional
issue of domestic slavery, and concerning the reserved rights of the
states —
1. That Congress has no power under the constitution to interfere
with or control the domestic institutions of the several states, and
that all such states are the sole and proper judges of everything
appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the constitution;
that all efforts of the abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress
to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in
relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and
dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable
tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the
stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be counte
nanced by any friend of our political institutions.
2. That the foregoing proposition covers and was intended to
embrace the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress, and
therefore the Democratic party of the Union, standing on this national
platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the
acts known as the compromise measures, settled by the Congress of

506 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
1850 — "the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor" in
cluded; which act, being designed to carry out an express provision
of the constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be repealed, or so
changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.
3. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renewing
in Congress, or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question, under
whatever shape or color the attempt may be made.
4. That the Democratic party will faithfully abide by and uphold
the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of
1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia
legislature in 1799; that it adopts these principles as constituting one
the main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry
them out in their obvious meaning and import.
And that we may more distinctly meet the issue on which a sec
tional party, subsisting exclusively on slavery agitation, now relies to
test the fidelity of the people, north and south, to the constitution and
the Union —
1. Resolved, That claiming fellowship with and desiring the co-oper
ation of all who regard the preservation of the Union under the consti
tution as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sectional parties and
platforms concerning domestic slavery which seek to embroil the
states and incite to treason and armed resistance to law in the terri
tories, and whose avowed purpose, if consummated, must end in civil
war and disunion, the American democracy recognize and adopt the
principles contained in the organic laws establishing the territories of
Nebraska and Kansas, as embodying the only sound and safe solution
of the slavery question, upon which the great national idea of the
people of this whole country can repose in its determined conservation
of the Union, and non-interference of Congress with slavery in the
territories or in the District of Columbia.
2. That this was the basis of the compromise of 1850, confirmed
by both the Democratic and Whig parties in national conventions,
ratified by the people in the election of 1852, and rightly applied to
the organization of the territories in 1854.
3. That by the uniform application of the democratic principles
to the organization of territories and the admission of new states,
with or without domestic slavery, as they may elect, the equal rights
of all the states will be preserved intact, the original compacts of the
constitution maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity and expansion
of the Union insured to its utmost capacity of embracing, in peace
and harmony, every future American state that may be constituted or
annexed with a republican form of government.

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 507
Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all the ter
ritories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the legally
and fairly expressed will of the majority of the actual residents, and
whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies it, to form a con
stitution, with or without domestic slavery, and be admitted into the
Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other states.
Resolved, finally, That in view of the condition of the popular
institutions in the old world (and the dangerous tendencies of sectional
agitation, combined with the attempt to enforce civil and religious dis
abilities against the rights of acquiring and enjoying citizenship in
our own land), a high and sacred duty is devolved, with increased
responsibility, upon the Democratic party of this country, as the party
of the Union, to uphold and maintain the rights of every state, and
thereby the Union of the states, and to sustain and advance among us
constitutional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and
exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the
many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles
and compromises of the constitution which are broad enough and
strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the Union
as it is, and the Union as it shall be, in the full expression of the ener
gies and capacity of this great and progressive people.
1. Resolved, That there are questions connected with the foreign
policy of this country, which are inferior to no domestic questions
whatever. The time has come for the people of the United States to
declare themselves in favor of free seas and progressive free trade
throughout the world, and, by solemn manifestations, to place their
moral influence at the side of their successful example.
2. Resolved, That our geographical and political position with
reference to the other states of this continent, no less than the interest
of our commerce and the development of our growing power, requires
that we should hold sacred the principles involved in the Monroe
doctrine. Their bearing and import admit of no misconstruction, and
should be applied with unbending rigidity.
3. Resolved, That the great highway which nature, as well as the
assent of states most immediately interested in its maintenance, has
marked out for free communication between the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans, constitutes one of the most important achievements realized
by the spirit of modern times, in the unconquerable energy of our
people; and that result would be secured by a timely and emcient
exertion of the control which we have the right to claim over it; and
no power on earth should be suffered to impede or clog its progress
by any interference with relations that may suit our policy to estah.

508 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
lish between our government and the governments of the states within
whose dominions its lies; we can under no circumstances surrender
our preponderance in the adjustment of all questions arising out of it.
4. Resolved, That in view of so commanding an interest, the people
of the United States cannot but sympathize with the efforts which are
being made by the people of Central America to regenerate that por
tion of the continent which covers the passage across the inter-oceanic
isthmus. 5. Resolved, That the Democratic party will expect of the next
administration that every proper effort be made to insure our ascend
ency in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain permanent protection to
the great outlets through which are emptied into its waters the pro
ducts raised out of the soil and the commodities created by the
industry of the people of our western valleys and of the "Union at
large. 6. Resolved, That the administration of Franklin Pierce has been
true to Democratic principles, and therefore true to the great interests
of the country; in the face of violent opposition, he has maintained
the laws at home and vindicated the rights of American citizens
abroad, and, therefore, we proclaim our unqualified admiration of his
measures and policy.

1856.— REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Adopted at Philadelphia, June 17.
This convention of delegates, assembled in pursuance of a call
addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to past
political differences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the
Missouri compromise, to the policy of the present administration, to
the extension of slavery into free territory; in favor of admitting
Kansas as a free state, of restoring the action of the federal govern
ment to the principles of Washington and Jefferson; and who pur
pose to unite in presenting candidates for the offices of President and
Vice-President, do resolve as follows:
Resolved, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in
the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the federal con
stitution, is essential to the preservation of our Republican institu
tions, and that the federal constitution, the rights of the states, and
the union of the states, shall be preserved.
Resolved, That with our Republican fathers we hold it to be a self-
evident truth that all men are endowed with the inalienable rights to

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 509
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the primary object
and ulterior design of our federal government were, to secure these
rights to all persons within its exclusive jurisdiction; that as our
Republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our
national territory, ordained that no person should be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law, it becomes our duty
to maintain this provision of the constitution against all- attempts to
violate it for the purpose of establishing slavery in any territory of
the United States, by positive legislation, prohibiting its existence or
extension therein. That we deny the authority of Congress, of a ter
ritorial legislature, of any individual or association of individuals, to
give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States,
while the present constitution shall be maintained.
Resolved, That the constitution confers upon Congress sovereign
power over the territories of the United States for their government,
and that in the exercise of this power it is both the right and the
imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the territories those twin
relics of barbarism — polygamy and slavery.
Resolved, That while the constitution of the United States was
ordained and established, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of lib
erty, and contains ample provisions for the protection of the life,
liberty and property of every citizen, the dearest constitutional rights
of the people of Kansas have been fraudulently and violently taken
from them; their territory has been invaded by an armed force; spu
rious and pretended legislative, judicial and executive officers have
been set over them, by whose usurped authority, sustained by the
military power of the government, tyrannical and unconstitutional
laws have been enacted and enforced; the rights of the people to keep
and bear arms have been infringed; test oaths of an extraordinary
and entangling nature have been imposed, as a condition of exercising
the right of suffrage and holding office; the right of an accused person
to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury has been denied; the
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and
effects against unreasonable searches and seizures has been violated;
they have been deprived of life, liberty and property without due
process of law; that the freedom of speech and of the press has been
abridged; the right to choose their representatives has been made of
no effect; murders, robberies and arsons have been instigated or
encouraged, and the offenders have been allowed to go unpunished;
that all these things have been done with the knowledge, sanction and

510 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
procurement of the present national administration; and that for this
high crime against the constitution, the Union, and humanity, we
arraign the administration, the President, his advisers, agents, sup
porters, apologists, and accessories, either before or after the facts,
before the country and before the world; and that it is our fixed pur
pose to bring the actual perpetrators of these atrocious outrages, and
their accomplices, to a sure and condign punishment hereafter.
Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately admitted as a state
of the Union with her present free constitution, as at once the most
effectual way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment of the rights
and privileges to which they are entitled, and of ending the civil
strife now raging in her territory.
Resolved, That the highwayman's plea that " might makes right,"
embodied in the Ostend circular, was in every respect unworthy of
American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonor upon any
government or people that gave it their sanction.
Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific ocean, by the most central
and practicable route, is imperatively demanded by the interests of
the whole country, and that the federal government ought to render
immediate and efficient aid in its construction, and, as an auxiliary
thereto, the immediate construction of an emigrant route on the line
of the railroad.
Resolved, That appropriations of Congress for the improvement
of rivers and harbors of a national character, required for the accom
modation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by
the constitution, and justified by the obligation of government to
protect the lives and property of its citizens.
Resolved, That we invite the affiliation and co-operation of the
men of all parties, however differing from us in other respects, in
support of the principles herein declared; and believing that the spirit
of our institutions, as well as the constitution of our country, guaran
tees liberty of conscience and equality of rights among citizens, we
oppose all proscriptive legislation affecting their security.

I860.— REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Chicago, May 17.
Resohed, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican
electors of the United States, in convention assembled, in discharge
of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the
following declarations:

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 511
1. That the history of the nation, during the last four years, has
fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization and
perpetuation of the Republican party, and that the causes which
called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more
than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph.
2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the
Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the Federal Constitu
tion, "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed," is essential to the preservation of
our republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the
rights of the states, and the union of the states, must and shall be
preserved. 3. That to the union of the states this nation owes its unprece
dented increase in population, its surprising development of material
resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home
and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for
disunion, come from whatever source they may; and we congratulate
the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or
countenanced the threats of disunion so often made by Democratic
members, without rebuke and with applause from their political asso
ciates; and we denounce those threats of disunion, in case of a popular
overthrow of their ascendancy, as denying the vital principles of a
free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it
is the imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke and
forever silence.
4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the states, and
especially the right of each state to order and control its own domestic
institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to
that balance of powers on which the perfection and endurance of our
political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion, by
armed force, of the soil of any state or territory, no matter under
what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
5. That the present Democratic administration has far exceeded
our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to the exac
tions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate
exertions to force the infamous Lecompton Constitution upon the
protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal relations
between master and servant to involve an unqualified property in
persons; in its attempted enforcement, everywhere, on land and sea,

512 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
through the intervention of Congress and of the federal courts, of the
extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general and
unvarying abuse of the power entrusted to it by a confiding people.
6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extrava
gance which pervades every department of the federal government;
that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to
arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored
partisans; while the recent startling developments of frauds and cor
ruptions at the federal metropolis, show that an entire change of
administration is imperatively demanded.
7. That the new dogma, that the Constitution, of its own force,
carries slavery into any or all of the territories of the United States,
is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit pro
visions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous exposition,
and with legislative and judicial precedent — is revolutionary in its
tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country.
8. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United
States is that of freedom; that as our republican fathers, when they
had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that " no
person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law," it becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever such
legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitution
against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of Con
gress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal
existence to slavery in any territory in the United States.
9. That we brand the recent re-opening of the African slave trade,
under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of judicial
power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame to our
country and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and
efficient measures for the total and final suppression of that execrable
traffic. 10. That in the recent vetoes, by their federal governors, of the
acts of the legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting slavery
in those territories, we find a practical illustration of the boasted
Democratic principle of non-intervention and popular sovereignty.
embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a demonstration of the
deception and fraud involved therein.
11. That Kansas should, of right, be immediately admitted as a
state under the Constitution recently formed and adopted by her
people, and accepted by the House of Representatives.
12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the general
government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 513
adjustment of these imports as to encourage the development of the
industrial interest of the whole country; and we commend that policy
of national exchanges which secures to the working men liberal
wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manu
facturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and
to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.
13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the
public lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of the
homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants
for public bounty; and we demand the passage by Congress of the
complete and satisfactory homestead measure which has already
passed the House.
14. That the Republican party is opposed to any change in our
naturalization laws, or any state legislation by which the rights of
citizenship hitherto accorded to immigrants from foreign lands shall
be abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full and efficient
protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or
naturalized, both at home and abroad.
15. That appropriations by Congress for river and harbor improve
ments of a national character, required for the accommodation and
security of an existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution
and justified by the obligations of government to protect the lives and
property of its citizens.
16. That a railroad to the Pacific ocean is imperatively demanded
by the interest of the whole country; that the federal government
ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and
that as preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail should be promptly
established. 17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive principles and
views, we invite the co-operation of all citizens, however differing on
other questions, who substantially agree with us in their affirmance
and support.

I860:— DEMOCRATIC (DOUGLAS) PLATFORM,
Charleston, April S3, and Baltimore, June 18.
1. Resolved, That we, the democracy of the Union, in convention
assembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the resolutions unan
imously adopted and declared as a platform of principles by the Dem
ocratic convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, believing that
democratic principles are unchangeable in their nature when applied
33

514 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
to the same subject-matters; and we recommend, as the only further
resolutions, the following:
Inasmuch as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic party
as to the nature and extent of the powers of a territorial legislature,
and as to the powers and duties of Congress, under the Constitution
of the United States, over the institution of slavery within the terri
tories: 2. Resolved, That the Democratic party will abide"by the decisions
of the Supreme Court of the United States on the questions of consti
tutional law.
3. Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford
ample and complete protection to all its citizens, whether at home or
abroad, and whether native or foreign.
4. Resolved, That one of the necessities of the age, in a military,
commercial, and postal point of view, is speedy communication
between the Atlantic and Pacifie states; and the Democratic party
pledge such constitutional government aid as will insure the construc
tion of a railroad to the Pacific coast at the earliest practicable period.
5. Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisi
tion of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to
ourselves and just to Spain.
6. Resolved, That the enactments of state legislatures to defeat the
faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in character,
subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect.
7. Resolved, That it is in accordance with the true interpretation
of the Cincinnati platform, that, during the existence of the territorial
governments, the measure of restriction, whatever it may be, imposed
by the federal constitution on the power of the territorial legislature
over the subject of domestic relations, as the same has been, or shall
hereafter be, finally determined by the Supreme Court of the United
States, shall be respected by all good citizens, and enforced with
promptness and fidelity by every branch of the general government.

I860.— DEMOCRATIC (BRECKINRIDGE) PLATFORM,
Charleston andfBaltimore.
Resohed, That the platform adopted by the Democratic party at
Cincinnati be affirmed, with following explanatory resolutions:
1. That the government of a territory, organized by an act of Con
gress, is provisional and temporary; and, during its existence, all
citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle, with their

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 515
property, in the territory, without their rights, either of person or
property, being destroyed or impaired by congressional or territorial
legislation. 2. That it is the duty of the federal government, in all its depart
ments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and property
in the territories, and wherever else its constitutional authority
extends. 3. That when the settlers in a territory having an adequate popu
lation, form a state constitution. in pursuance of law, the right of
sovereignty commences, and, being consummated by admission into
the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the people of other
states, and the state thus organized ought to be admitted into the fed
eral Union, whether its constitution prohibits or recognizes the insti
tution of slavery.
4. That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisition of the
island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and
just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment.
5. That the enactments of state legislatures to defeat the faithful
execution of the fugitive slave law are hostile in character, subver
sive of the constitution, and revolutionary in their effect.
6. That the Democracy of the United States recognize it as the
imperative duty of this government to protect the naturalized citizen
in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the same
extent as its native-born citizens.
Whereas, One of the greatest necessities of the age, in a political,
commercial, postal, and military point of view, is a speedy communi
cation between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves
to use every means in their power to secure the passage of some bill,
to the extent of the constitutional authority of Congress, for the con
struction of a Pacific railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific
ocean, at the earliest practicable moment.

1864.— REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Baltimore, June 7.
Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to
maintain, against all their enemies, the integrity of the Union and the
paramount authority of the constitution and laws of the United
States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinions, we
pledge ourselves, a,s Union men, animated by a common sentiment

516 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to
aid the government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now
raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to
their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.
Resolved, That we approve the determination of the government
of the United States not to compromise with rebels, nor to offer them
any terms of peace, except such as may be based upon an "uncon
ditional surrender " of their hostility and a return to their just alle
giance to the constitution and laws of the United States; and that we
call upon the government to maintain this position, and to prosecute
the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of
the rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrificing patriotism, the
heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to the
country and its free institutions.
Resolved, That, as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the
strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere
hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the
national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the
soil of the republic; and that we uphold and maintain the acts and
proclamations by which the government, in its own defense, has
aimed a death-blow at this gigantic evil. We are in favor, further
more, of such an amendment to the constitution, to be made by the
people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and for
ever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdic
tion of the United States.
Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the
soldiers and sailors of the army and navy, who have periled their
lives in defense of their country and in vindication of the honor of
its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition of
their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision
for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honora
ble wounds in the service of the country; and that the memories of
those who have fallen in its defense shall be held in grateful and
everlasting remembrance.
Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the
unselfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity to the constitution
and the principles of American liberty with which Abraham Lincoln
has discharged, under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty, the
great duties and responsibilities of the presidential office; that we
approve and indorse, as demanded by the emergency and essential to
the preservation of the nation, and as within the provisions of the
constitution, the measures and acts -which he has adopted to defend

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 517
the nation against its open and secret foes; that we approve, especially,
the proclamation of emancipation, and the employment, as Union
soldiers, of men heretofore held in slavery; and that we have full
confidence in his determination to carry these, and all other constitu
tional measures essential to the salvation of the country, into full and
complete effect.
Resolved, That, we deem it essential to the general welfare that
harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard as
worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who cordially
indorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which
should characterize the administration of the government.
Resolved, That the government owes to all men employed in its
armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of
the laws of war; and that any violation of these laws, or of the
usages of civilized nations in the time of war, by the rebels now in
arms, should be made the subject of promp't and full redress.
Resolved, That foreign immigration, which in the past has added
so much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase of
power to this nation — the asylum of the oppressed of all nations —
should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the
railroad to the Pacific coast.
Resolved, That the national faith, pledged for the redemption of
the public debt, must be kept inviolate; and that, for this purpose, we
recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expendi
tures and a vigorous and just system of taxation; and that it is the
duty of every loyal state to sustain the credit and promote the use of
the national currency.
Resolved, That we approve the position taken by the government,
that the people of the United States can never regard with indiffer
ence the attempt of any European power to overthrow by force, or to
supplant by fraud, the institutions of any republican government on
the western continent, and that they will view with extreme jealousy,
as menacing to the peace and independence of this, our country, the
efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for monarchical
governments, sustained by a foreign military force, in near proximity
to the United States.

518 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
1864— DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,
Chicago, August 29.
Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with
unswerving fidelity to the Union under the constitution, as the only
solid foundation of om* strength, security, and happiness as a people,
and as a frame- work of government equally conducive to the welfare
and prosperity of all the states, both northern and southern.
Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense
of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the
Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretense
of a military necessity of a war power higher than the constitution,
the constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public
liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material pros
perity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty,
and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a
cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of all
the states, or other peaceable means, to the end that, at the earliest
practicable moment, peace may be restored on the basis of the federal
union of all the states.
Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authority of
the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland,
Missouri, and Delaware, was a shameful violation of the constitution;
and the repetition of such acts in the approaching election will be
held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power
under our control.
Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to
preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the states unimpaired;
and that they hereby declare that they consider the administrative
usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by
the constitution, the subversion of the civil by the military law in
states not in insurrection, the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment,
trial, and sentence of American citizens in states where civil law
exists in full force, the suppression of freedom of speech and of the
press, the denial of the right of asylum, the open and avowed disre
gard of state rights, the employment of unusual test-oaths, and the
interference with and denial of the right of the people to bear arms
in their defense, as calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union
and the perpetuation of a government deriving its just powers from
the consent of the governed.

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 519
Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the administration to its
duty in respect to our fellow citizens who now are, and long have
been, prisoners of war, in a suffering condition, deserves the sever
est reprobation, on the score alike of public policy and common
humanity. Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily
and earnestly extended to the soldiers of our army and the sailors of
our navy, who are and have been in the field and on sea under the
flag of their country; and, in the event of our attaining power, they
will receive all the care and protection, regard and kindness, that the
brave soldiers of the republic have so nobly earned.

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION BY ABRAHAM LIN
COLN,
January 1, 1863.
Whereas, On the twenty-second day of September, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclama
tion was issued by the President of the United States, containing
among other things the following, to-wit: "That on the first day of
January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any state, or designated
part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against
the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free;
and the executive government of the United States, including the
military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the
freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such
persons or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their
actual freedom; that the Executive will, on the first day of January
aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the states, and parts of states,
if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in
rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any state, or the
people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the
Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections
wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such states shall have
participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony,
be deemed conclusive evidence that such state, and the people thereof,
are not then in rebellion against the United States" •
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of
the army and navy of the United States in time of actual armed

520 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
rebellion against the authority and government of the United States,
and as a fit and necessary war-measure for suppressing said rebellion,
do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so
to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days
from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the
states, and parts of states, wherein the people thereof, respectively,
are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following,
to-wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisana (except the parishes of St. Bern
ard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascen
sion, Assumption, Terre-Bonne, Lafourche, Ste. Marie, St. Martin,
and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Ala
bama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Vir
ginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia,
and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth
City, York, Princess Anna, and Norfolk, including the cities of Nor
folk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are, for the present,
left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue
of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare,
that all persons held as slaves within said designated states, and parts
of states, are and henceforward shall be, free; and that the executive
government of the United States, including the military and naval
authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said
persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free
to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I
recommend to them, that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faith
fully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known,
that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the
armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, sta
tions, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, war
ranted by the constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the
considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor cf Al
mighty God.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of
Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the inde
pendence of the United States the eighty -seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of State.

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 521
1868.— REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Chicago, May SO.
1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the
reconstruction policy of Congress, as evidenced by the adoption, in
the majority of the states lately in rebellion, of constitutions securing
equal civil and political rights to all; and it is the duty of the gov
ernment to sustain those institutions and to prevent the people of such
states from being remitted to a state of anarchy.
2. The guarantee by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men
at the south was demanded by every consideration of public safety,
of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the ques
tion of suffrage in all the loyal states properly belongs to the people of
those states.
3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime; and
the national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in
the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only
according to the letter, but the spirit, of the laws under which it was
contracted. 4. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be
equalized and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will permit.
5. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preservation
of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair
period for redemption; and it is the duty of Congress to reduce the
rate of interest thereon whenever it can be honestly done.
6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is to so
improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower
rates of interest than we now pay, and must continue to pay so long
as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened or sus
pected. 7. The government of the United States should be administered
with the strictest economy; and the corruptions which have been so
shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson call loudly for
radical reform.
8. We profoundly deplore the tragic death of Abraham Lincoln,
and regret the accession to the Presidency of Andrew Johnson, who
has acted treacherously to the people who elected him and the cause
he was pledged to support; who has usurped high legislative and
judicial functions; who has refused to execute the laws; who has
used his high office to induce other officers to ignore and violate the

I
522 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
laws; who has employed his executive powers to render insecure the
property, the peace, liberty and life of the citizen; who has abused
the pardoning power; who has denounced the national legislature as
unconstitutional; who has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every
means in his power, every proper attempt at the reconstruction of the
states lately in rebellion; who has perverted the public patronage into
an engine of wholesale corruption; and who has been justly impeached
for high crimes and misdemeanors, and properly pronounced guilty _
thereof by the vote of thirty-five senators.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers, that
because a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted at
every hazard by the United States, as a relic of feudal times, not
authorized by the laws of nations, and at war with our national honor
and independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to protection in
all their rights of citizenship as though they were native-born; and no
citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to
arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done or words
spoken in this country; and, if so arrested and imprisoned, it is the
duty of the government to interfere in his behalf.
10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there
were none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers and
seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and
imperiled their lives in the service of the country. The bounties and
pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation
are obligations never to be forgotten; the widows and orphans of the
gallant dead are the wards of the people — a sacred legacy bequeathed
to the nation's protecting care.
11. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to
the wealth, development and resources, and increase of power to this
republic, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, should be fos
tered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
12. This convention declares itself in sympathy with all oppressed
people who are struggling for their rights.
13. That we highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and for
bearance with which men who have served in the rebellion,- but who
now frankly and honestly co-operate with us in restoring the peace
of the country and reconstructing the southern state governments
upon the basis of impartial justice and equal rights, are received
back into the communion of the loyal people; and we favor the
removal of the disqualifications and restrictions imposed upon the
late rebels, in the same measure as the spirit of disloyalty shall die
out, and as may be consistent with the safety of the loyal people.

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 523
14. That we recognize the great principles laid down in the immor
tal declaration of independence, as the true foundation of democratic
government; and we hail with gladness every effort toward making
these principles a living reality on every inch of American soil.

^ 1868.— DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,
Hew York, July 4..
The Democratic party, in national convention assembled, reposing
its trust in the intelligence, patriotism and discriminating justice of
the people, standing upon the constitution as the foundation and lim
itation of the powers of the government and the guarantee of the
liberties of the citizen, and recognizing the questions of slavery and
secession as having been settled, for all time to come, by the war or
the voluntary action of the southern states in constitutional conven
tions assembled, and never to be revived or reagitated, do, with the
return of peace, demand:
1. Immediate restoration of all the states to their rights in the
Union under the constitution, and of civil government to the Ameri
can people.
2. Amnesty for all past political offenses, and the regulation of
the elective franchise in the states by their citizens.
3. Payment of the public debt of the United States as rapidly as
practicable — all moneys drawn from the people by taxation, except
so much as is requisite for the necessities of the government, econom
ically administered, being honestly applied to such payment; and
where the obligations of the government do not expressly state upon
their face, or the law under which they were issued does not provide
that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right and in justice, to
be paid in the lawful money of the United States.
4. Equal taxation of every species of property according to its
real value, including government bonds and other public securities.
5. One currency for the government and the people, the laborer
and the office-holder, the pensioner and the soldier, the producer and
the bondholder.
6. Economy in the administration of the government ; the reduc
tion of the standing army and navy; the abolition of the freedmen's
bureau, and all political instrumentalities designed to secure negro
supremacy; simplification of the system and discontinuance of
inquisitorial modes of assessing and collecting internal revenue; that
the burden of taxation may be equalized and lessened, and the credit

524 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
of the government and the currency made good; the repeal of all
enactments for enrolling the state militia into national forces in time
of peace; and a tariff for revenue upon foreign imports, and such
equal taxation under the internal revenue laws as will afford inci
dental protection to domestic manufacturers, and as will, without
impairing the revenue, impose the least burden upon, and best pro
mote and encourage, the great industrial interests of, the country.
7. Reform of abuses in the administration; the expulsion of cor
rupt men from office; the abrogation of useless offices; the restoration
of rightful authority to, and the independence of, the executive and
judicial departments of the government; the subordination of the
military to the civil power, to the end that the usurpations of Con
gress and the despotism of the sword may cease.
8. Equal rights and protection for naturalized and native-born
citizens, at home and abroad ; the assertion of American nationality
which shall command the respect of foreign powers, and furnish an
example and encouragement to people struggling for national integ
rity, constitutional liberty, and individual rights ; and the mainte
nance of the rights of naturalized citizens against the absolute doctriDe
of immutable allegiance and the claims of foreign powers to punish
them for alleged crimes committed beyond their jurisdiction.
In demanding these measures and reforms, we arraign the radical
party for its disregard of right and the unparalleled oppression and
tyranny which have marked its career. After the most solemn and
unanimous pledge of both Houses of Congress to prosecute the war
exclusively for the maintenance of the government and the preserva
tion of the Union under the constitution, it has repeatedly violated
that most sacred pledge under which alone was rallied that noble vol
unteer army which carried our flag to victory. Instead of restoring
the Union, it has, so far as in its power, dissolved it, and subjected
ten states, in time of profound peace, to military despotism and negro
supremacy. It has nullified there the right of trial by jury; it has
abolished the habeas corpus, that most sacred writ of liberty; it has
overthrown the freedom of speech and press; it has substituted arbi
trary seizures and arrests, and military trials and secret star-chamber
inquisitions, for the constitutional tribunals; it has disregarded, in
time of peace, the right of the people to be free from searches and
seizures; it has entered the post and telelegraph offices, and even the
private rooms of individuals, and seized their private papers and
letters, without any specific charge or notice of affidavit, as required
by the organic law. It has converted the American capitol into a
bastile; it has established a system of spies and official espionage to

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 525
which no constitutional monarchy of Europe would now dare to
resort. It has abolished the right of appeal, on important constitu
tional questions, to the supreme judicial tribunals, and threatens to
curtail or destroy its original jurisdiction, which is irrevocably vested
by the constitution; while the learned Chief Justice has been sub
jected to the most atrocious calumnies, merely because he would not
prostitute his high office to the support of the false and partisan
charges preferred against the President. Its corruption and extrava
gance have exceeded anything known in history; and, by its frauds
and monopolies, it has nearly doubled the burden of the debt created
by the war It has stripped the President of his constitutional power
of appointment, even of his own cabinet. Under its repeated assaults,
the pillars of the government are rocking on their base; and should it
succeed in November next, and inaugurate its President, we will
meet, as a subjected and conquered people, amid the ruins of liberty
and the scattered fragments of the constitution.
And we do declare and resolve that ever since the people of the
United States threw off all subjection to the British crown, the privi
lege and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several states, and
have been granted, regulated, and controlled exclusively by the polit
ical power of each state respectively; and that any attempt by Con
gress, on any pretext whatever to deprive any state of this right, or
. interfere with its exercise, is a flagrant usurpation of power which
can find no warrant in the constitution, and, if sanctioned by the
people, will subvert our form of government, and can end only in a
single, centralized and consolidated government, in which the sepa
rate existence of the states will be entirely absorbed, and an unquali
fied despotism be established in place of a federal union of co-equal
states. And that we regard the construction acts (so-called) of Con
gress as usurpations, and unconstitutional, revolutionary and void.
That our soldiers and sailors, who carried the flag of our country
to victory against the most gallant and determined foe, must ever be
gratefully remembered, and all the guarantees given in their favor
must be faithfully carried into execution.
That the public lands should be distributed as widely as possible
among the people, and should be disposed of either under the pre
emption of homestead lands or sold in reasonable quantities, and to
none but actual occupants, at the minimum price established by the
government. When grants of public lands may be allowed, neces
sary for the encouragement of important public improvements, the
proceeds of the sale of such lands, and not the lands themselves,
should be so applied.

526 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
That the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, in
exercising the power of his high office in resisting the aggressions of
Congress upon the constitutional rights of the states and the people,
is entitled to the gratitude of the whole American people; and, on
behalf of the Democratic party, we tender hrm our thanks for his
patriotic efforts in that regard.
Upon this platform the Democratic party appeal to every patriot,
including all the conservative elements and all who desire to support
the constitution and restore the Union, forgetting all past differences
of opinion, to unite with us in the present great struggle for the lib
erties of the people, and that to all such, to whatever party they may
have heretofore belonged, we extend the right hand of fellowship,
and hail all such, co-operating with us, as friends and brethren.
Rosolved, That this convention sympathizes cordially with the
workingmen of the United States in their efforts to protect the rights
and interests of the laboring classes of the country.
Resolved, That the thanks, of the convention are tendered to Chief
Justice Salmon P. Chase for the justice, dignity and impartiality with
which he presided over the court of impeachment on the trial of Pres
ident Andrew Johnson.

1872.— LIBERAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Cincinnati, May 1.
We. the Liberal Republicans of the United States, in national
convention assembled at Cincinnati, proclaim the following princi
ples as essential to just government:
1. We recognize the equality of all men before the law, and hold
that it is the duty of government, in its dealings with the people, to
mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race,
color or persuasion, religious or political.
2. We pledge ourselves to maintain the union of these States,
emancipation and enfranchisement, and to oppose any reopening of
the questions settled by the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments of the constitution.
3. We demand the immediate and absolute removal of all disabil
ities imposed on account of the rebellion, which was finally subdued
seven years ago, believing that universal amnesty will result in com
plete pacification in all sections of the country.
4. Local self-government, with impartial suffrage, will guard the
rights of all citizens more securely than any centralized power. The

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATAC PLATFORMS. 527
public welfare requires the supremacy of the civil over the military
authority, and the freedom of person under the protection of the
habeas corpus. We demand for the individual the largest liberty con
sistent with public order", for the state self-government, and for the
nation a return to the methods of peace and ths constitutional limita
tions of power.
5. The civil service of the government has become a mere instru
ment of partisan tyranny and personal ambition, and an object of
selfish greed. It is a sca'ndal and reproach upon free institutions,
and breeds a demoralization dangerous to the perpetuity of republican
government. We, therefore, regard a thorough reform of the civil
service as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour; that hon
esty, capacity and fidelity constitute the only valid claims to public
employment; that the offices of the government cease to be a matter
of arbitrary favoritism and patronage, and that public station shall
become again a post of honor. To this end, it is imperatively required
that no President shall be a candidate for re-election.
6. We demand a system of federal taxation which shall not unnec
essarily interfere with the industry of the people, and which shall
provide the means necessary to pay the expenses of the government,
economically administered, the pensions, the interest on the public
debt, and a moderate reduction annually of the principal thereof; and
recognizing that there are in our midst honest but irreconcilable dif
ferences of opinion with regard to the respective systems of protection
and free trade, we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in
their congressional districts and the decision of Congress thereon,
wholly free from Executive interference or dictation.
7. The public credit must be sacredly maintained, and we de
nounce repudiation in every form and guise.
8. A speedy return to specie payment is demanded alike by the
highest considerations of commercial morality and honest government.
9. We remember with gratitude the heroism and sacrifices of the
soldiers and sailors of the republic; and- no act of ours shall ever
detract from their justly earned fame or the full rewards of their
patriotism. 10. We are opposed to all further grants of lands to railroads or
other corporations. The public domain should be held sacred to
actual settlers.
11. We hold that it is the duty of the government, in its inter
course with foreign nations, to cultivate the friendships of peace, by
treating with all on fair and equal terms, regarding it alike dishonor
able either to demand what is not right or submit to what is wrong.

528 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
12. For the promotion and success of these vital principles and the
support of the candidates nominated by this convention, we invite
and corditilly welcome the co-operation of all patriotic citizens, with
out regard to previous political affiliations.

1872.— DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,
Baltimore, July 9.
We, the Democratic electors of the United States, in convention
assembled, do present the following principles, already adopted at
Cincinnati, as essential to just government:
[Here followed the "Liberal Republican platform" which see
above.]

1872.— REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.
Philadelphia, June 5.
The Republican party of the United States, assembled in national
convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 6th days of
June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and an
nounces its position upon the questions before the country:
1. During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted, with grand
courage, the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a gigantic
rebellion ; emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal cit
izenship of all, and established universal suffrage. Exhibiting unpar
alleled magnanimity, it criminally punished no man for political
offenses, and warmly welcomed all who proved their loyalty by obey
ing the laws and dealing justly with their neighbors. It has steadily
decreased, with firm hand, the resultaat disorders of a great war, and
initiated a wise and humane policy toward the Indians. The Pacific
railroad and similar vast enterprises have been generously aided and
successfully conducted, the public lands freely given to actual set
tlers, immigration protected and encouraged, and a full acknowledg
ment of the naturalized citizen's rights secured from European powers.
A uniform national currency has been provided, repudiation frowned
down, the national credit sustained under the most extraordinary bur
dens, and new bonds negotiated at lower rates. The revenues have
been carefully collected and honestly applied. Despite annual large
reductions of the rates of taxation, the public debt has been reduced
during General Grant's presidency at the rate of a himdred millions a

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 529
year; great financial crises have been avoided, and peace and plenty
prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign difficulties have been
peacefully and honorably compromised, and the honor and power of
the nation kept in high respect throughout the world. This glorious
record of the past is the party's best pledge for the future. We
believe the people will not intrust the government to any party or
combination of men composed chiefly of those who have resisted
every step of this beneficent progress.
2. The recent amendments to the national constitution should be
cordially sustained because they are right, not merely tolerated because
they are law, and should be carried out according to their spirit by
appropriate legislation, the enforcement of which can safely be in
trusted only to the party that secured those amendments.
3. Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all
civil, political, and public rights should be established and effectually
maintained throughout the Union by efficient and appropriate state
and federal legislation. Neither the law nor its administration should
admit any discrimination in respect to citizens by reason of race,
creed, color, or previous condition of servitude.
4. The national government should seek to maintain honorable
peace with all nations, protecting its citizens everywhere, and sympa
thizing with all peoples who strive for greater liberty.
5. Any system of civil service under which the subordinate posi
tions of the government are considered rewards for mere party zeal is
fatally demoralizing; and we, therefore favor a reform of the system,
by laws which shall abolish the evils of patronage, and make honesty,
efficiency and fidelity the essential qualifications for public positions,
without practically creating a life tenure of office.
6. We are opposed to f uther grants of the public lands to corpora
tions and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be set
apart for free homes for the people.
7. The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures, pen
sions, and the interest on the public debt, should furnish a moderate
balance for the reduction of the principal; and that revenue, except
so much as may be derived from a tax upon tobacco and liquors,
should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which
should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to
labor, and promote the industries, prosperity and growth of the
whole country.
8. We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose valor
saved the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt of the nation, and
the widows and orphans of those who died for tlieir country are
34

530 POLITICAL .STATISTICS.
entitled to the care of a generous and grateful people. We favor such
additional legislation as will extend the bounty of the government to
all our soldiers and sailors who were honorably discharged, and who
in the line of duty became disabled, without regard to the length of
service or the cause of such discharge.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers con
cerning allegiance — "once a subject always a subject" — having at
last, through the efforts of the Republican party, been abandoned,
and the American idea of the individual's right to transfer allegiance
having been accepted by European nations, it is the duty of our gov
ernment to guard with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens
against the assumption of unauthorized claims by their former gov
ernments, and we urge continued careful encouragement and protec
tion of voluntary immigration.
10. The franking privilege ought to be abolished, and a way pre
pared for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage.
11. Among the questions which press for attention is that which
concerns the relations of capital and labor; and the Republican party
recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full protec
tion and the amplest field for capital, and for labor, the creator of
capital, the largest opportunities and a just share of the mutual profits
of these two great servants of civilization.
12. We hold that Congress and the President have only fulfilled
an imperative duty in their measures for the suppression of violence
and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious regions, and
for the protection of the ballot-box; and, therefore, they are entitled
to the thanks of the nation.
13. We denounce repudiation of the public debt, in any form or
disguise, as a national crime. We witness with pride the reduction
of the principal of the debt, and of the rates of interest upon the bal
ance, and confidently expect that our excellent national currency will
be perfected by a speedy resumption of specie payment.
14. The Republican party is mindful of its obligations to the loyal
women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of freedom.
Their admission to wider fields of usefulness is viewed with satisfac
tion; and the honest demand of any class of citizens for additional
rights should be treated with respectful consideration.
15. We heartily approve the action of Congress in extending
amnesty to those lately in rebellion, and rejoice in the growth of
peace and fraternal feeling throughout the land.
16. The Republican party proposes to respect the rights reserved
by the people to themselves as carefully as the powers delegated by

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 531
them to the states and to the federal government. It disapproves of
the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of removing evils,
by interference with rights not surrendered by the people to either
the state or national government.
17. It is the duty of the general government to adopt such meas
ures as may tend to encourage and restore American commerce and
ship-building. 18. We believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest purpose,
the sound judgment, the practical wisdom, the incorruptible integrity,
and the illustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant have commended him
to the heart of the American people; and with him at our head we
start to-day upon a new march to victory.
19. Henry Wilson, nominated for the vice-presidency, known to
the whole land from the early days of the great struggle for liberty
as an indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incorruptible legisla
tor and representative man of American institutions, is worthy to
associate with our great leader and share the honors which we pledge
our best efforts to bestow upon them.

1872.— DEMOCRATIC (STRAIGHT-OUT) PLATFORM,
Louisville, Ky., September 3.
Whereas, A frequent recurrence to first principles, and eternal
vigilance against abuses, are the wisest provisions for liberty, which
is the source of progress and fidelity to our constitutional system and
the only protection for either; therefore,
Resolved, That the original basis of our whole political structure
is consent in every part thereof. The people of each state voluntarily
created their state, and the states voluntarily formed the Union; and
each state provided by its written Constitution for everything a state
could do for the protection of life, liberty, and property within it;
and each state, jointly with the others, provided a federal Union for
foreign and inter-state relations.
Resolved, That all governmental powers, whether state or federal,
are trust powers, coming from the people of each state, and that they
are limited to the written letter of the Constitution and the laws passed
in pursuance of it, which powers must be exercised in the utmost
good faith, the Constitution itself stating in what manner they may
be altered and amended.
Resolved, That the interests of labor and capital should not be
permitted to conflict, but should be harmonized by judicious legisla-

532 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
tion. While such a conflict continues, labor, which is the parent of
wealth, is entitled to paramount consideration.
Resolved, That we proclaim to the world that principle is to be
preferred to power; that the Democratic party is held together by the
cohesion of time-honored principles, which they will never surrender
in exchange for all the offices which Presidents can confer. The
pangs of the minorities are doubtless excruciating; but we welcome
an eternal minority, under the banner inscribed with our principles,
rather than an almighty and everlasting majority purchased by their
abandonment. Resolved, That, having been betrayed at Baltimore into a false
creed and a false leadership by the convention, we repudiate both, and
appeal to the people to approve our platform, and to rally to the polls,
and support the true platform and the candidates who embody it.

1876.— INDEPENDENT (GREENBACK) PLATFORM,
Indianapolis, Ind., May 17.
The Independent party is called into existence by the necessities of
the people, whose industries are prostrated, whose labor is deprived of
its just reward by a ruinous policy which the Republican and Demo
cratic parties refuse to change; and, in view of the failure of these
parties to furnish relief to the depressed industries of the country,
thereby disappointing the just hopes and expectations of the suffering
people, we declare our principles, and invite all independent and
patriotic men to join our ranks in this movement for financial reform
and industrial emancipation.
1. We demand the immediate and unconditional repeal of the
specie resumption act of January 14, 1875, and the rescue of our
industries from ruin and disaster resulting from its enforcement; and
we call upon all patriotic men to organize in every congressional district
of the country, with a view of electing representatives to Congress
who will carry out the wishes of the people in this regard and stop the
present suicidal and destructive policy of contraction.
2. We believe that a United States note, issued directly by the
government, and convertible, on demand, into United States obli
gations, bearing a rate of interest not exceeding one cent a day on
each one hundred dollars, and exchangeable for United States notes
at par, will afford the best circulating medium ever devised. Such
United States notes should be full legal tenders for all purposes,
except for the payment of such obligations as are, by existing con-

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 533
tracts, especially made payable in coin; and we hold that it is the
duty of the government to provide such a circulating medium, and
insist, in the language of Thomas Jefferson, that "bank paper must
be suppressed, and the circulation restored to the nation, to whom it
belongs." 3. It is the paramount duty of the government, in all its legisla
tion, to keep in view the full development of all legitimate business,
agricultural, mining, manufacturing and commercial.
4. We most earnestly protest against any further issue of gold
bonds for sale in foreign markets, by which we would be made, for a
long period, "hewers of wood and drawers of water" to foreigners,
especially as the American people would gladly and promptly take at
par all bonds the government may need to sell, provided they are
made payable at the option of the holder, and bearing interest at 3.65
per cent per annum, or even a lower rate.
5. We further protest against the sale of government bonds for
the purpose of purchasing silver to be used as a substitute for our
more convenient and less fluctuating fractional currency, wliich,
although well calculated to enrich owners of silver mines, yet in
operation it will still further oppress, in taxation, an already over
burdened people.

1876.— REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Cincinnati, Ohio, June lJj..
When, in the economy of Providence, this land was to be purged
of human slavery, and when the strength of the government of the
people, by the people, and for the people, was to be demonstrated, the
Republican party came into power. Its deeds, have passed into his
tory, and we look back to them with pride. Incited by their memo
ries to high aims for the good of our country and mankind, and
looking to the future with unfaltering courage, hope and purpose, we,
the representatives of the party, in national convention assembled,
make the following declaration of principles:
1. The United States of America is a Nation, not a league. By
the combined workings of the national and state governments, under
their respective constitutions, the rights of every citizen are secured,
at home and abroad, and the common welfare promoted.
2. The Republican party has preserved these governments to the
hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth, and they are now embod
iments of the great truths spoken at its cradle — " That all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain

534 POLITICAX STATISTICS.
inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness; that for the attainment of these ends governments have
been instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con
sent of the governed." Until these truths are cheerfully obeyed, or,
if need be, vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is
unfinished. 3. The permanent pacification of the southern section of the
Union, and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free
enjoyment of all their rights, is a duty to which the Republican .
party stands sacredly pledged. The power to provide for the enforce
ment of the principles embodied in the recent constitutional amend
ments is vested, by those amendments, in the Congress of the United
States; and we declare it to be the solemn obligation of the legislative
and executive departments of the government to put into immediate
and vigorous exercise all their constitutional powers for removing any
just causes of discontent on the part of any class, and for securing to
every American citizen complete liberty and exact equality in the
exercise of all civil, political and public rights. To this end we
imperatively demand a Congress and a Chief Executive whose cour
age and fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are
placed beyond dispute or recall.
4. In the first act of Congress signed by President Grant, the
national government assumed to remove any doubt of its purpose to
discharge all just obligations to the public creditors, and "solemnly
pledged its faith to make provision at the earliest practicable period
for the redemption of the United States notes in coin." Commercial
prosperity, public morals and national credit demand that this prom
ise be fulfilled by a continuous and steady progress to specie payment.
5. Under the Constitution, the President and heads of departments
are to make nominations for office, the Senate is to advise and con
sent to appointments, and the House of Representa'tives is to accuse
and prosecute faithless officers. The best interest of the public serv
ice demands that these distinctions be respected; that senators and
representatives who may be judges and accusers should not dictate
appointments to office. The invariable rule in appointments should
have reference to the honesty, fidelity and capacity of the appointees,
giving to the party in power those places where harmony and vigor
of administration require its pohcy to be represented, but permitting
all others to be filled by persons selected with sole reference to the
efficiency of the public service, and the right of all citizens to share
in the honor of rendering faithful service to the country.
6. We rejoice in the quickened conscience of the people concern-

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 535
ing political affairs, and will hold all public officers to a rigid respon
sibility, and engage that the prosecution and punishment of all who
betray official trusts shall be swift, thorough and unsparing.
7. The public school system of the several states is the bulwark of
the American Republic; and, with a view to its security and perma
nence, we recommend an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, forbidding the application of any public funds or
property for the benefit of any schools or institutions under sectarian
control. 8. The revenue necessary for current expenditures, and the obli
gations of the public debt, must be largely derived from duties upon
importations which, so far as possible, should be adjusted to promote
the interests of American labor and advance the prosperity of the
whole country.
9. We reaffirm our opposition to further grants of the public
lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national
domain be devoted to free homes for the people.
10. It is the imperative duty of the government so to modify
existing treaties with European governments, that the same protec
tion shall be afforded to the adopted American citizen that is given to
the native-born; and that all necessary laws' should be passed to pro
tect emigrants in the absence of power in the States for tha* purpose.
11. It is the immediate duty of Congress to fully investigate the
effect of the immigration and importation of Mongolians upon the
moral and material interests of the country.
12. The Republican party recognizes, with approval, the sub
stantial advances recently made toward the establishment of equal
rights for women by the many important amendments effected by
Republican Legislatures in the laws which concern the personal and
property relations of wives, mothers, and widows, and by the ap
pointment and election of women to the superintendence of educa
tion, charities, and other public trusts. The honest demands of this
class of citizens for additional rights, privileges, and immunities,
should be treated with respectful consideration.
13. The Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power
over the territories of the United States for their government; and in
the exercise of this power it is the right and duty of Congress to pro
hibit and extirpate, in the territories, that relic of barbarism— polyg
amy; and we demand such legislation as shall secure this end and
the supremacy of American institutions in all the territories.
14. The pledges which the nation has given to her soldiers and
sailors must be fulfilled, and a grateful people will always hold those

536 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
who imperiled their lives for the country's preservation in the kindest
remembrance. 15. We sincerely deprecate all sectional feeling and tendencies.
We, therefore, note with deep solicitude that the Democratic, party
counts, as its chief hope of success, upon the electoral vote of a united
south, secured through the efforts of those who were but recently
arrayed against the nation; and we invoke the earnest attention of
the country to the grave truth that a success thus achieved would
reopen sectional strife, and imperil national honor and human rights.
16. We charge the Democratic party with being the same in
character and spirit as when it sympathized with treason; with mak
ing its control of the House of Representatives the triumph and
opportunity of the Nation's recent foes; with reasserting and applaud
ing, in the national capitol, the sentiments of unrepentent rebellion;
with sending Union soldiers to the rear, and promoting Confederate
soldiers to the front; with deliberately proposing to repudiate the
plighted faith of the government ; with being equally false and
imbecile upon the overshadowing financial questions; with thwarting
the ends of justice by its partisan mismanagement and obstruction
of investigation; with proving itself, through the period of its ascend
ency in the Lower House of Congress, utterly incompetent to admin
ister the government; and we warn the country against trusting a
party thus alike unworthy, recreant, and incapable.
17. The national administration merits commendation for its hon-"
orable work in the management of domestic and foreign affairs, and
President Grant deserves the continued hearty gratitude of the
American people for his patriotism and his eminent services in war
and in peace.
18. We present, as our candidates for President and Vice-Presi
dent of the United States, two distinguished statesmen, of eminent
ability and character, and conspicuously fitted for those high offices,
and we confidently appeal to the^American people to entrust the
administration of their public affairs to Rutherford B. Hayes and
William A. Wheeler.

1876.— DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,
St. Louis, Mo., June 27.
We, the delegates of the Democratic party of tbe United States,
in national convention assembled, do hereby declare the administra
tion of the federal government to be in urgent need of immediate
reform; do hereby enjoin upon the nominees of this convention, and

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 537
of the Democratic party in each State, a zealous effort and co-opera
tion to this end; and do hereby appeal to our fellow-citizens of every
former political connection to undertake, with us, this first and most
pressing patriotic duty.
For the Democracy of the whole country, we do here reaffirm our
faith in the permanence of the federal Union, our devotion to the
Constitution of the United States, with its amendments universally
accepted as a final settlement of the controversies that engendered
civil war, and do here record our steadfast confidence in the perpe
tuity of Republican self government.
In absolute acquiescence in the will of the majority — the vital
principle of republics; in the supremacy of the civil over the military
authority; in the total separation of church and state, for the sake
alike of civil and religious freedom; in the equality of all citizens
before just laws of their own enactment; in the liberty of individual
conduct, unvexed by sumptuary laws; in the faithful education of
the rising generation, that they may preserve, enjoy, and transmit
these best conditions of human happiness and hope — we behold the
noblest product of a hundred years of changeful history; but while
upholding the bond of our Union and great charter of these our
rights, it behooves a free people to practice also that eternal vigilance
which is the price of liberty.
Reform is necessary to rebuild and establish in the hearts of the
whole people the Union, eleven years ago happily rescued from the
danger of a secession of states, but now to be saved from a corrupt
centralism which, after inflicting upon ten states the rapacity of carpet
bag tyranny, has honey-combed the offices of the federal government
itself with incapacity, waste, and fraud; infected states and munici
palities with the contagion of misrule; and locked fast the prosperity
of an industrious people in the paralysis of "hard times."
Reform is necessary to establish a sound currency, restore the pub
lic credit, and maintain the national honor.
We denounce the failure, for all these eleven years of peace, to
make good the promise of the legal-tender notes, which are a chang
ing standard of value in the hands of the people, and the non-payment
of which is a disregard of the plighted faith of the nation.
We denounce the improvidence which, in eleven years of peace,
has taken from the people, in federal taxes, thirteen times the whole
amount of the legal-tender notes, and squandered four times their sum
in useless expense without accumulating any reserve for their redemp
tion. We denounce the financial imbecility and immorality of that party

538 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
which, during eleven years of peace, has made no advance toward re
sumption, no preparation for resumption, but, instead, has obstructed
resumption, by wasting our resources and exhausting all our surplus
income; and, while annually professing to intend a speedy return to
specie payments, has annually enacted fresh hindrances thereto. As
such hindrance we denounce the resumption clause of 1875, and we
here demand its repeal.
We demand a judicious system of preparation, by public econo
mies, by official retrenchments, and by wise finance, which shall ena
ble the nation soon to assure the whole world of its perfect ability and
of its perfect readiness to meet any of its promises at the call of the
creditor entitled to payment. We believe such a system, well devised,
and, above all, intrusted to competent hands for execution, creating,
at no time, an artificial scarcity of currency, and at no time alarming
the public mind into a withdrawal of that vaster machinery of credit
by which ninety-five per cent of all business transactions are per
formed. A system open, public, and inspiring general confidence,
would, from the day of its adoption, bring healing on its wings to all
our harassed industries — set in motion the wheels of commerce, man
ufactures, and the mechanic arts — restore employment to labor — and
renew, in all its natural sources, the prosperity of the people.
Reform is necessary in the sum and modes of federal taxation, to
the end that capital may be set free from distrust and labor lightly
burdened. We denounce the present tariff, levied upon nearly four thousand
articles, as a masterpiece of injustice, inequality, and false pretense.
It yields a dwindling, not a yearly rising, revenue. It has impover
ished many industries to subsidize a few. It prohibits imports that
might purchase the products of American labor. It has degraded
American commerce from the first to an inferior rank on the high
seas. It has cut down the sales of American manufactures at home
and abroad, and depleted the returns of American agriculture — an
industry followed by half our people. It co^ts the people five times
more than it produces to the treasury, obstructs the processes of pro
duction, and wastes the fruits of labor. It promotes fraud, fosters
smuggling, enriches dishonest officials, and bankrupts honest mer
chants. We demand that all custom-house taxation shall be only for
revenue. Reform is necessary in the scale of public expense — federal, state,
and municipal. Our federal taxation has swollen from sixty millions
gold, in 1860, to four hundred and fifty millions currency, in 1870;
our aggregate taxation from one hundred and fifty -four millions gold,

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 539
in 1860, to seven hundred and thirty millions currency, in 1870 — or,
in one decade, from less than five dollars per head to more than eight
een dollars per head. Since the peace, the people have paid to their
tax-gatherers more than thrice the sum of the national debt, and more
than twice that sum for the federal government alone. We demand
a rigorous frugality in every department and from every officer of the
government. Reform is necessary to put a stop to the profligate waste of public
lands, and their diversion from actual settlers, by the party in power,
which has squandered two hundred millions of acres upon railroads
alone, and, out of more than thrice that aggregate, has disposed of less
than a sixth directly to tillers of the soil.
Reform is necessary to correct the omission of a Republican Con
gress, and the errors of our treaties and our diplomacy which have
stripped our fellow-citizens of foreign birth and kindred race, recross-
ing the Atlantic, of the shield of American citizenship, and have ex
posed our brethren on the Pacific coast to the incursions of a race not
sprung from the same great parent stock, and in fact now, by law,
denied citizenship through naturalization, as being neither accustomed
to the traditions of a progressive civilization nor exercised in liberty
under equal laws. We denounce the policy which thus discards the
liberty-loving German and tolerates a revival of the coolie trade in
Mongolian women, imported for immoral purposes, and Mongolian
men, held to perform servile labor contracts, and demand such modi
fication of the treaty with the Chinese empire, or such legislation
within constitutional limitations, as shall prevent further importation
or immigration of the Mongolian race.
Reform is necessary, and can never be effected but by making it
the controlling issue of the elections, and lifting it above the two false
issues with which the office-holding class and the party in power seek
to smother it:'
1. The false issue with which they would enkindle sectarian strife
in respect to the public schools, of which the establishment and sup
port belongs exclusively to the several States, and wliich the Demo
cratic party has cherished from their foundation, and is resolved to
maintain, without prejudice or preference for any class, sect, or
creed, and without largesses from the treasury to any.
2. The false issue by which they seek to light anew the dying
embers of sectional hate between kindred peoples once estranged, but
now reunited in one indivisible republic and a common destiny.
Reform is necessary in the civil service. Experience proves that
efficient, economical conduct of the governmental business is not pos-

540 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
sible if its civil service be subject to change at every election, be a
prize fought for at the ballot-box, be a brief reward of party zeal,
instead of posts of honor assigned for proved competency, and held
for fidelity in the public employ; that the dispensing of patronage
should neither be a tax upon the time of all our public men, nor the
instrument of their ambition. Here, again, promises, falsified in the
performance, attest that the party in power can work out no practical
or salutary reform.
Reform is necessary, even more, in the higher grades of the public
service. President, vice-president, judges, senators, representatives,
cabinet officers — these, and all others in authority — are the people's
servants. Their offices are not a private perquisite; they are a public
trust. When the annals of this republic show the disgrace and cen
sure of a Vice-President; a late Speaker of the House of Representa
tives marketing his rulings as a presiding officer; three senators
profiting secretly by their votes as law-makers; five chairmen of the
leading committees of the late House of Representatives exposed in
jobbery; a late Secretary of the Treasury forcing balances in the
public accounts; a late Attorney-General misappropriating public
funds; a Secretary of the Navy enriched, or enriching friends, by
percentages levied off the profits of contractors with his department;
an ambassador to England concerned in a dishonorable speculation;
the President's private secretary barely escaping conviction upon trial
for guilty complicity in frauds upon the revenue; a Secretary of War
impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors — the demonstration is
complete, that the first step in reform must be the people's choice of
honest men from another party, lest the disease of one political organ
ization infect the body politic, and lest by making no change of men
or parties we get no change of measures and no real reform.
All these abuses, wrongs and crimes — the product of sixteen years'
ascendency of the Republican party — create a necessity for reform,
confessed by the Republicans themselves; but their reformers are
voted down in convention and displaced from the cabinet. The
party's mass of honest voters is powerless to resist the eighty thousand
office-holders, its leaders and guides.
Reform can only be had by a peaceful civic revolution. We
demand a change of system, a change of administration, a change of
parties, that we may have a change of measures and of men.
Resolved, That this convention, representing the Democratic party
of the United States, do cordially indorse the action of the present
House of Representatives, in reducing and curtailing the expenses of
the Federal Government, in cutting down salaries and extravagant

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 541
appropriations, and in abolishing useless offices and places not required
by the public necessities; and we shall trust to the firmness of the
Democratic members of the House that no committee of conference
and no misinterpretation of the rules will be allowed to defeat these
wholesome measures of economy demanded by the country.
Resolved, That the soldiers and sailors of the republic, and the
widows and orphans of those who have fallen in battle, have a just
claim upon the care, protection and gratitude of their fellow-citizens.

1878.— NATIONAL PLATFORM,
Toledo, Ohio, February 22.
Whereas, Throughout our entire country the value of real estate
is depreciated, industry paralyzed, trade depressed, business incomes
and wages reduced, unparalleled distress inflicted upon the poorer and
middle ranks of our people, the land filled with fraud, embezzlement,
bankruptcy, crime, suffering, pauperism and starvation; and
Whereas, This state of things has been brought about by legis
lation in the interest of, and dictated by, money-lenders, bankers and
bondholders; and,
Whereas, While we recognize the fact that the men in Congress
connected with the old political parties have stood up manfully for
the rights of the people, and met the threats of the money power, and
the ridicule of an ignorant and subsidized press, yet neither the Repub
lican nor the Democratic party, in their policies, propose remedies for
the existing evils; and
Whereas, The Independent Greenback party, and other associa
tions, more or less effective, have been unable, hitherto, to make a
formidable opposition to old party organizations; and
Whereas, The limiting of the legal-tender quality of the green
backs, the changing of currency bonds into coin bonds, the demoneti
zation of the silver dollar, the exempting of bonds from taxation, the
contraction of the circulating medium, the proposed forced resump
tion of specie payments, and the prodigal waste of the public lands,
were crimes against the people; and, as far as possible, the results of
these criminal acts must be counteracted by judicious legislation,
therefore, We assemble in national convention and make a declaration of our
principles, and invite all patriotic citizens to unite in an effort to
secure financial reform and industrial emancipation. The organiza
tion shall be known as the ' ' National Party," and under this name we

542 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
will perfect, without delay, national, state and local associations, to
secure the election to office of such men only as will pledge themselves
to do all in their power to establish these principles:
1. It is the exclusive function of the general government to coin
and create money and regulate its value. All bank issues designed to
circulate as money should be suppressed. The circulating medium,
whether of metal or paper, shall be issued by the government, and
made af ull legal-tender for all debts, duties and taxes in the United
States, at its stamped value.
2. There shall be no privileged class of creditors. Official salaries,
pensions, bonds, and all other debts and obligations, public and
private, shall be discharged in the legal-tender money of the United
States, strictly according to the stipulations of the laws under wliich
they were contracted.
3. The coinage of silver shall be placed on the same footing as
that of gold.
4. Congress shall provide said money adequate to the full employ
ment of labor, the equitable distribution of its products, and the
requirements of business, fixing a minimum amount per capita of the
population, as near as may be, and otherwise regulating its value by
wise and equitable provisions of law, so that the rate of interest will
secure to labor its just reward.
5. It is inconsistent with the genius of popular government that
any species of private property should be exempt from bearing its
proper share of the public burdens. Government bonds and money
should be taxed precisely as other property, and a graduated income
tax should be levied for the support of the government and the pay
ment of its debts.
6. Public lands are the common property of the whole people, and
should not be sold to speculators nor granted to railroads or other
corporations, but should be donated to actual settlers, in limited
quantities. 7. The government should, by general enactments, encourage the
development -of our agricultural, mineral, mechanical, manufactur
ing and commercial resources, to the end that labor may be fully and
profitably employed; but no monopolies should be legalized.
8. All useless offices should be abolished, the most rigid economy
favored in every branch of the public service, and severe punishment
inflicted upon public officers who betray the trusts imposed in them.
9. As educated labor has devised means for multiplying produc
tion by inventions and discoveries, and as their use requires the exer
cise of mind as well as of body, such legislation should be had that

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 543
the number of hours of daily toil will be reduced, giving to the work
ing classes more leisure for mental improvement and their several
enjoyments, and saving them from permature decay and death.
10. The adoption of an American monetary system, as proposed
herein, will harmonize all differences in regard to tariff and federal
taxation, reduce and equalize the cost of transportation by land and
water, distribute equitably the joint earnings of capital*, and labor,
secure to the producers of wealth the results of their labor and skill,
and muster out of service the vast army of idlers, who, under the,
existing system, grow rich upon the earnings of others, that every
man and woman may, by his own efforts, secure a competency, so
that overgrown fortunes and extreme poverty will be seldom found
within the limits of our republic.
11. Both national and state governments should establish bureaus
of labor and industrial statistics, clothed with the power of gathering
and publishing the same.
12. That the contract system of employing labor in our prisons and
reformatory institutions works great injustice to our mechanics and
artisans, and should be prohibited.
13. The importation of servile labor into the United States from
China is a problem of the most serious importance, and we recommend
legislation looking to its suppression.
14. We believe in the supremacy of law over and above all perish
able material, and in the necessity of a party of united people that
will rise above old party lines and prejudices. We will not affiliate
in any degree with any of the old parties, but, in all cases and locali
ties, will organize anew, as united national men — nominate for office
and official positions only such persons as are clearly believers in and
identified with this our sacred cause; and, irrespective of creed, color,
place of birth, or past condition of political or other servitude, vote
only for men who entirely abandon old party lines and organizations.

1880— REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Chicago, TIL, June 2.
The Republican party, in national convention assembled, at the
end of twenty years since the.f ederal government was first committed
to its charge, submits to the people of the United States its brief
report of its administration:
It suppressed a rebellion which had armed nearly a million of

544 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
men to subvert the national authority. It reconstructed the Union of
the states with freedom, instead of slavery, as its corner-stone. It
transformed four million of human beings from the likeness of things
to the rank of citizens. It relieved Congress from the infamous work
of hunting fugitive slaves, and charged it to see that slavery does not
exist. It has raised the value of our paper currency from thirty-eight per
cent to the par of gold. It has restored, upon a solid basis, payment
in coin for all the national obligations, and has given us a currency
absolutely good and equal in every part of our extended country. It
has lifted the credit of the nation from the point where six per cent
bonds sold at eighty-six to that where four per cent bonds are eagerly
sought at a premium.
Under its administration railways have increased from 31,000
miles in 1860, to more than 82,000 miles in 1879.
Our foreign trade has increased from $700,000,000 to $1,150,000,-
000 in the same time; and our exports, which were $20,000,000 less
than our imports in 1860, were $264,000,000 more than our imports
in 1879. Without resorting to loans, it has, since the war closed, defrayed
the ordinary expenses of government, besides the accruing interest on
the public debt, and disbursed, annually, over $30,000,000 for sol
diers' pensions. It has paid $888,000,000 of the public debt, and, by
refunding the balance at lower rates, has reduced the annual interest
charge from nearly $151,000,000 to less than $89,000,000.
All the industries of the country have revived, labor is in demand,
wages have increased, and throughout the entire country there is evi
dence of a coming prosperity greater than we have ever enjoyed.
Upon this record, the Republican party asks for the continued
confidence and support of the people; and this convention submits
for their approval the following statement of the principles and pur
poses which will continue to guide and inspire its efforts:
1. We affirm that the work of the last twenty years has been such
as to commend itself to the favor of the nation, and that the fruits of
the costly victories which we have achieved, through immense diffi
culties, should be preserved; that the peace regained should be cher
ished; that the dissevered Union, now happily restored, should be
perpetuated, and that the liberties secured to this generation should
be transmitted, undiminished, to future generations; that the order
established and the credit acquired should never be impaired; that the
pensions promised should be paid; that the debt so much reduced
should be extinguished by the full payment of every dollar thereof;

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 545
that the reviving industries should be further promoted; and that the
commerce, already so great, should be steadily encouraged.
2. The Constitution of the United States is a supreme law, and
not a mere contract; out of confederate states it made a sovereign
nation. Some powers are denied to the nation, while others are
denied to states; but the boundary between the powers delegated and
those reserved is to be determined by the national and not by the state
tribunals. 3. The work of .popular education is one left to the care of the
several states, but it is the duty of the national government to aid that
work to the extent of its constitutional ability. The intelligence of
the nation is but the aggregate of the intelligence of the several
states; and the destiny of the nation must be guided, not by the
genius of any one state, but by the average genius of all.
4. The Constitution wisely forbids Congress to make any law
respecting an establishment of religion; but it is idle to hope that the
nation can be protected against the influences of sectarianism while
each state is exposed to its domination. We, therefore, recommend
that the Constitution be so amended as to lay the same prohibition
upon the legislature of each state, to forbid the appropriation of
public funds to the support of sectarian schools.
5. We reaffirm the belief, avowed in 1876, that the duties levied
for the purpose of revenue should so discriminate as to favor Amer
ican labor; that no further grant of the public domain should be
made to any railway or other corporation; that slavery having per-'
ished in the states, its twin barbarity— poly gamy— must die in the
territories; that everywhere the protection accorded to citizens of
American birth must be secured to citizens of American adoption;
that we esteem it the duty of Congress to develop and improve our
water-courses and harbors, but insist that further subsidies to private
persons or corporations must cease; that the obligations of the repub
lic to the men who preserved its integrity in the day of battle are
undiminished by the lapse of fifteen years since their final victory —
to do them perpetual honor is, and shall forever be, the grateful priv
ilege and sacred duty of the American people.
6. Since the authority to regulate immigration and intercourse
between the United States and foreign nations rests with the Congress
of the United States and its treaty-making powers, the Republican
party, regarding the unrestricted immigration of the Chinese as an
evil of great magnitude, invoke the exercise of that power to restrain
and limit that immigration by the enactment of such just, humane,
and reasonable provisions as will produce that result.
35

546 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
7. That the purity and patriotism which characterized the early
career of Rutherford B. Hayes in peace and war, and which guided
the thoughts of our immediate predecessors to select him for a pres
idential candidate, have continued to inspire him in his career as chief
executive, and that history will accord to his administration the hon
ors which are due to an efficient, just, and courteous discharge of the
public business, and will honor his interposition between the people
and proposed partisan laws.
8. We charge upon the democratic party the habitual sacrifice of
patriotism and justice to a supreme and insatiable lust for office and
patronage. That to obtain possession of the national and state gov
ernments, and the control of place and position, they have obstructed
all efforts to promote the purity and to conserve the freedom of suf
frage; have devised fraudulent certifications and returns; have labored
to unseat lawfully-elected members of Congress, to secure, at all haz
ards, the vote of a majority of the states in the House of Representa
tives; have endeavored to occupy, by force and fraud the places of .
trust given to others by the people of Maine, and rescued by the cour
ageous action of Maine's patriotic sons; have, by methods vicious in
principle and tyrannical in practice, attached partisan legislation to
appropriation bills, upon whose passage the very movements of gov
ernments depend; have crushed the rights of the individual; have
advocated the principle and sought the favor of rebellion against the
nation, and have endeavored to obliterate the sacred memories of the
war, and to overcome its inestimably valuable results of nationality,
personal freedom, and individual equality. Equal, steady, and com
plete enforcement of the laws, and protection of all our citizens in the
enjoyment of all privileges and immunities guaranteed by the consti
tution, are the first duties of the nation. The danger of a solid South
can only be averted by the faithful performance of every promise
which the nation made to the citizen. The execution of the laws,
and the punishment of all those who violate them, are the only safe
methods by which an enduring peace can be secured, and genuine
prosperity established throughout the South. Whatever promises the
nation makes, the nation must perform; and the nation cannot with
safety relegate this duty to the states. The solid South must be divided
by the peaceful agencies of the ballot, and all opinions must there find
free expression; and to this end honest voters must be protected against
terrorism, violence, or fraud. And we affirm it to be the duty and
the purpose of the Republican party to use all legitimate means to
restore all the states of this Union to the most perfect harmony which
may be practicable; and we submit to the practical, sensible people of

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 547
the United States to say whether it would not be dangerous to the
dearest interests of our country, at this time to surrender the adminis
tration of the national government to a party which seeks to overthrow
the existing policy, under which we are so prosperous, and thus bring
distrust and confusion where there is now order, confidence and
hope. 9. The Republican party, adhering to a principle affirmed by its
last national convention, of respect for the constitutional rule cover
ing appointments to office, adopts the declaration of President Hayes,
that the reform of the civil service should be thorough, radical, and
complete. To this end it demands the co-op'eration of the legislative
with the executive department of the government, and that Congress
shall so legislate that fitness, ascertained by proper practical tests, shall
admit to the public service; and that the power of removal for cause,
with due responsibility for the good conduct of subordinates, shall
accompany the power of appointment.

1880.— NATIONAL (GREENBACK) PLATFORM,
Chicago, IU., June 9.
The civil government should guarantee the divine right of every
laborer to the results of his toil, thus enabling the producers of wealth
to provide themselves with the means for physical comfort, and facil
ities for mental, social, and moral culture; and we condemn, as un
worthy of our civilization, the barbarism which imposes upon wealth
producers a state of drudgery as the price of a bare animal existence.
Notwithstanding the enormous increase of productive power, by the
universal introduction of labor-saving machinery and the discovery of
new agents for the increase of wealth, the task of the laborer is scarcely
lightened, the hours of toil are but little shortened, and few producers
are lifted from poverty into comfort and pecuniary independence.
The associated monopolies, the international syndicates, and other in
come classes demand dear money, cheap labor, and a strong govern
ment, and hence, a weak people. Corporate control of the volume of
money has been the means of dividing society into hostile classes, of
an unjust distribution of the products of labor, and of building up
monopolies of associated capital, endowed with power to confiscate
private property. It has kept money scarce; and the scarcity of
money enforces debt-trade, and public and corporate loans; debt en
genders usury, and usury ends in the bankruptcy of the borrower.
Other results are — deranged markets, uncertainty in manufacturing

548 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
enterprises and agriculture, precarious and intermittent employment
for the laborer, industrial war, increasing pauperism and crime, and
the consequent intimidation and disfranchisement of the producer,
and a rapid declension into corporate feudalism. Therefore, we de
clare: 1. That the right to make and issue money is a sovereign power,
to be maintained by the people for their common benefit. The dele
gation of this right to corporations is a surrender of the central attri
bute of sovereignty, void of constitutional sanction, and conferring
upon a subordinate and irresponsible power an absolute dominion
over industry and commerce. All money, whether metallic or paper,
should be issued, and its volume controlled, by the government, and
not by or through banking corporations; and, when so issued, should
be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private
2. That the bonds of the United States should not be refunded,
but paid as rapidly as practicable, according to contract. To enable
the government to meet these obligations, legal- tender currency should
be substituted for the notes of the national banks, the national bank
ing system abolished, and the unlimited coinage of silver, as well as
gold, established by law.
3. That labor should be so protected by national and state author
ity as to equalize its burdens and insure a just distribution of its
results. The eight hour law of Congress should be enforced, the
sanitary condition of industrial establishments placed under rigid con
trol, the competition of contract convict labor abolished, a bureau of
labor statistics established, factories, mines and workshops inspected,
the employment of children under fourteen years of age forbidden,
and wages paid in cash.
4. Slavery being simply cheap labor, and cheap labor being simply
slavery, the importation and presence of Chinese serfs necessarily
tends to brutalize and degrade American labor; therefore immediate
steps should be taken to abrogate the Burlingame treaty.
5. Railroad land grants forfeited by reason of non-fulfillment of
contract should be immediately reclaimed by the government, and
henceforth the public domain reserved exclusively as homes for actual
settlers. 6. It is the duty of Congress to regulate inter-state commerce.
All lines of communication and transportation should be brought
under such legislative control as shall secure moderate, fair and uni
form rates for passenger and freight traffic.
7. We denounce as destructive to property and dangerous to liberty
the action of the old parties in fostering and sustaining gigantic land,

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 549
railroad and money corporations, and monopolies invested with and
exercising powers belonging to the government, and yet not responsi
ble to it for the manner of their exercise.
8. That the Constitution in giving Congress the power to borrow
money, to declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and
maintain a navy, never intended that the men who loaned their
money for an interest consideration should be preferred to the sol
diers and sailors who periled their lives and shed their blood on land
and sea in defense of their country; and we condemn the cruel class
legislation of the Republican party, which, while professing great
gratitude to the soldier, has most unjustly discriminated against him
and in favor of the bondholder.
9. All property should bear its just proportion of taxation, and we
demand a graduated income tax.
10. We denounce as dangerous the efforts everywhere manifest to
restrict the right of suffrage.
11. We are opposed to an increase of the standing army in time of
peace, and the insidious scheme to establish an enormous military
power under the guise of militia laws.
12. We demand absolute Democratic rules for the government of
Congress, placing all representatives of the people upon an equal
footing, and taking away from committees a veto power greater than
that of the President.
13. We demand a government of the people, by the people, and
for the people, instead of a government of the bondholder, by the
bondholder, and for the bondholder; and we denounce every attempt
to stir up sectional strife as an effort to conceal monstrous crimes
against the people.
14. In the furtherance of these ends we ask the co-operation of all
fairminded people. We have no quarrel with individuals, wage no
war on classes, but only against vicious institutions. We are not
content to endure further discipline from our present actual rulers,
who, having dominion over money, over transportation, over land
and labor, over the press and machinery of government, wield unwar
rantable power over our institutions, and over life and property.

550 POLITICAL STATISTICS.

1880.— DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,
Cincinnati, Ohio, June 22.
The Democrats of the United States, in convention assembled, •
declare: 1. We pledge ourselves anew to the constitutional doctrines and
traditions of the Democratic party, as illustrated by the teachings and
examples of a long line of Democratic statesmen and patriots, and
embodied in the platform of the last national convention of the party.
2. Opposition to centralization, and to that dangerous spirit of
encroachment which tends to consolidate the powers of all the depart
ments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a
real despotism; no sumptuary laws; separation of the church and
state for the good of each; common schools fostered and protected.
3. Home rule; honest money, consisting of gold and silver, and
paper, convertible into coin on demand; the strict maintenance of the
public faith, state and national; and a tariff for revenue only; the
subordination of the military to the civil power; and a general and
thorough reform of the civil service.
4. The right to a free ballot is a right preservative of all rights;
and must and shall be maintained in every part of the United States.
5. The existing administration is the representative of a conspiracy
only; and its claim of right to surround the ballot-boxes with troops
and deputy marshals, to intimidate and obstruct the elections, and the
unprecedented use of the veto to maintain its corrupt and despotic
power, insults the people and imperils their institutions. We execrate
the course of this administration in making places in the civil service
a reward for political crime; and demand a reform, by statute, which
shall make it forever impossible for a defeated candidate to bribe his
way to the seat of a usurper by billeting villains upon the people.
6. The great fraud of 1876-7, by which, upon a false count of the
electoral votes of two states, the candidate defeated at the polls was
declared to be President, and, for the first time in American history,
the will of the people was set aside under a threat of military violence,
struck a deadly blow at our system of representative government.
The Democratic party, to preserve the country from the horrors of a
civil war, submitted for the time, in the firm and patriotic belief that
the people would punish the crime in 1880. This issue precedes
and dwarfs every other. It imposes a more sacred duty upon the
people of the Union than ever addressed the consciences of a nation
of freemen.

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 551
7. The resolution of Samuel J. Tilden, not again to be a candi
date for the exalted place to which he was elected by a majority of his
countrymen, and from which he was excluded by the leaders of the
Republican party, is received by the Democrats of the United States
with deep sensibility; and they declare their confidence in his wisdom,
patriotism and integrity unshaken by the assaults of the common
enemy; and they further assure him that he is followed into the
retirement he has chosen for himself by the sympathy and respect of
his fellow citizens, who regard him as one who, by elevatiDg the
standard of the public morality, and adorning and purifying the
public service, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and his
party. 8. Free ships, and a living chance for American commerce upon
the seas; and on the land, no discrimination in favor of transportation
lines, corporations, or monopolies.
9. Amendments of the Burlingame treaty; no more Chinese immi
gration, except for travel, education, and foreign commerce, and,
therein, carefully guarded.
10. Public money and public credit for public purposes solely, and
public land for actual settlers.
11. The Democratic party is the friend of labor and the laboring
man, and pledges itself to protect him alike against the cormorants
and Ihe commune.
12. We congratulate the country upon the honesty and thrift of a
Democratic Congress, which has reduced the public expenditure
$10,000,000 a year; upon the continuation of prosperity at home and
the national honor abroad; and, above all, upon the promise of such
a change in the administration of the government as shall insure a
genuine and lasting reform in every department of the public service.

1884.— NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
Chicago, June 6.
The Republicans of the United States, in National Convention
assembled, renew their allegiance to the principles upon which they
have triumphed in six successive Presidential elections, and congratu
late the American people on the attainment of so many results in
legislation and administration by which the Republican party has,
after saving the Union, done so much to render its institutions just,
equal and beneficent, the safeguard of liberty and the embodiment of
the best thought and highest purposes of our citizens.

552 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
The Republican party has gained its strength by quick and faith
ful response to the demands of the people for the freedom and the
equality of all men, for a united Nation, assuring the rights of all
citizens, for the elevation of labor, for an honest currency, for purity
in legislation and for integrity and accountability in all departments
of the government, and it accepts anew the duty of leading in the
work of progress and reform. We lament the death of President
Garfield, whose sound statesmanship, long conspicuous in Congress,
gave promise of a strong and successful administration, a promise
fully realized during the short period of his office as President of the
United States. His distinguished success in war and peace had
endeared him to the hearts of the American people.
In the administration of President Arthur we recognise a wise,
conservative and patriotic policy under which the country has been
blessed with remarkable prosperity, and we believe his eminent
services are entitled to and will receive the hearty approval of every
citizen. It is the first duty of a good government to protect the rights and
promote the interests of its own people. The largest diversity of
industry is most productive of general prosperity and of the comfort
and independence of the people. We therefore demand that the
imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be made not "for
revenue only," but that in raising the requisite revenues for the Gov
ernment, such duties shall be so levied as to afford security to our
diversified industries, and protection to the rights and wages of the
laborer, to the end that active and intelligent labor, as well as capital,
may have its just reward, and the laboring man his full share in the
national prosperity.
Against the so-called economic system of the Democratic party,
which would degrade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter our
earnest protest. The Democratic party has failed completely to relieve
the people of the burden of unnecessary taxation by a wise reduction
of the surplus.
The Republican party pledges itself to correct the inequalities of
the tariff, and to reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and indiscrim
inate process of horizontal reduction, but by such methods as will re- ¦
lieve the taxpayer without injuring the labor or the great productive
interests of the country.
We recognize the importance of sheep husbandry in the United
.States, the serious depression which it is now experiencing and the
danger threatening its future prosperity; and we, therefore, respect
the demands of the representatives of this important agricultural inter-

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 553
est, for a readjustment of duty upon foreign wool, in order that such
industry shall have full and adequate protection.
We have always recommended the best money known to the civil
ized world, and we urge that efforts should be made to unite all com
mercial nations in the establishment of an international standard which
shall fix for all the relative value of gold and silver coinage.
The regulation of commerce with foreign nations and between the
States is one of the most important prerogatives of the general gov
ernment, and the Republican party distinctly announces its purpose to
support such legislation as will fully and efficiently carry out the
constitutional power of Congress over inter-State commerce. The
principle of the public regulation of railway corporations is a wise and
salutary one for the protection of all classes of the people, and we
favor legislation that shall prevent unjust discrimination and excessive
charges for transportation, and that shall secure to the people and the
railways alike the fair and equal protection of the laws.
We favor the establishment of a National Bureau of Labor, the
enforcement of the eight-hour law, a wise and judicious system of
general education by adequate appropriation from the national reve
nues, wherever the same is needed. We believe that everywhere the
protection to a citizen of American birth must be secured to citizens
by American adoption, and we favor the settlement of national differ
ences by international arbitration.
The Republican party, having its birth in a hatred of slave labor,
and a desire that all men may be truly free and equal, is unalterably
opposed to placing our working-men in competition with any form of
servile labor, whether at home or abroad. In this spirit we denounce
the importation of contract labor, whether from Europe or Asia, as
an offense against the spirit of American institutions, and we pledge
ourselves to sustain the present law restricting Chinese immigration
and to provide such further legislation as is necessary to carry out its
purposes. Reform of the Civil Service auspiciously begun under Republican
administration should be completed by the further extension of the
reformed system already established, by law, to all the grades of the
service to which it is applicable. The spirit and purpose of the
reform should be observed in all executive appointments, and all laws
at variance with the objects of existing reformed legislation should be
repealed, to the end that the dangers to free institutions which lurk in
the power of official patronage may be wisely and effectively avoided.
The public lands are a heritage of the people of the United States,
and should be reserved as far as possible for small holdings by actual

554 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
settlers. We are opposed to the acquisition of large tracts of these
lands by corporations or individuals, especially where such holdings
are in the hands of non-residents, aliens, and we will endeavor to ob
tain such legislation as will tend to correct this evil. We demand of
Congress the speedy forfeiture of all land grants which have lapsed by
reason of non-compliance with acts of incorporation in all cases where
there has been no attempt in good faith to perform the condition of
such grants.
The grateful thanks of the American people are due to the Union
soldiers and sailors of the late war, and the Republican party stands
pledged to provide suitable pensions for all who were disabled, and
for the widows and orphans of those who died in the war. The
Republican party also pledges itself to the repeal of the limitation
contained in the Areas act of 1879, so that all invalid soldiers shall
share alike and their pensions begin with the date of disability or dis
charge, and not with the date of the application.
The Republican party favors a policy which shall keep us from
entangling alliances with foreign nations, and which gives us the
right to expect that foreign nations shall refrain from meddling in
American affairs — the policy which seeks peace and can trade with
all powers, but especially with those of the Western Hemisphere.
"We demand the restoration of our navy to its old-time strength
and efficiency, that it may in any sea protect the rights of American
citizens and the interests of American commerce; and we call upon
Congress to remove the burdens under which American shipping has
been depressed, so that it may again be true that we have a commerce
which leaves no sea unexplored, and a navy which takes no law from
superior force.
Resolved, That appointments by the President to offices in the Ter
ritories should be made from the bona-fide citizens and residents of
the Territories wherein they are to serve.
Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to enact such laws as
shall promptly and effectually suppress the system of polygamy within
our territory, and divorce the political from the ecclesiastical power
of the so-called Mormon Church, and that the law so enacted should
be rigidly enforced by the civil authorities, if possible, and by the mili
tary, if need be.
The people of the United States in their organized capacity consti
tute a Nation and not a mere confederacy of States. The national
government is supreme within the sphere of its national duty, but the
States have reserved rights which should be faithfully maintained.
Each should be guarded with jealous care, so that the harmony of

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 555
our system of government may be preserved, and the Union kept
inviolate. The perpetuity of our institutions rests upon the main
tenance of a free ballot, and honest count and correct returns. We
denounce the fraud and violence practiced by the Democracy in
Southern States, by which the will of the voter is defeated, as danger
ous to the preservation of free institutions, and we solemnly arraign
the Democratic party as being the guilty recipient of the fruits of
such fraud and violence. We extend to the Republicans of the South,
regardless of their former party affiliations, our cordial sympathy,
and pledge to them our most earnest efforts to promote the passage of
such legislation as will secure to every citizen, of whatever race or
color, the full and complete recognition, possession and exercise of all
civil and political rights.

1884.— DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM.
Chicago, July 10, 1884.
The Democratic party of the Union, through its representatives in
National Convention assembled, recognizes that as the nation grows
older new issues are born of time and progress and old issues perish.
But the fundamental principles of the Democracy, approved by the
united voices of the people, remain, and will ever remain, as the best
and only security for the continuance of free government. The pres
ervation of personal rights; the equality of all citizens before the law;
the reserved rights of the States; and the supremacy of the Federal
Government within the limits of the Constitution, will ever form the
true basis of our liberties, and can never be surrendered without
destroying that balance of rights and powers which enable a continent
to be developed in peace, and social order to be maintained by means
of local self-government.
But it is indispensable for the practical application and enforce
ment of these fundamental principles that the Government should not
always be controlled by one political party. Frequent change of
administration is as necessary as constant recurrence to the popular
will. Otherwise abuses grow, and the Government, instead of being
carried on for the general welfare, becomes an instrumentality for
imposing heavy burdens on the many who are governed for the
benefit of the few who govern. Public servants thus become arbi
trary rulers.
This is now the condition of the country. Hence a change is

556 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
demanded. The Republican party, so far as principle is concerned,
is a reminiscence; in practice it is an organization for enriching those
who control its machinery. The frauds and jobbery which have
been brought to light in every department of the government are
sufficient to have called for reform within the Republican party; yet
those in authority, made reckless by the long possession of power,
have succumbed to its corrupting influence, and have placed in
nomination a ticket against which the independent portion of the
party are in open revolt.
Therefore, a change is demanded. Such a change was alike nec
essary in 1876, but the will of the people was then defeated by a
fraud which can never be forgotten nor condoned. Again in 1880,
the change demanded by the people was defeated by the lavish use of
money contributed by unscrupulous contractors and shameless job
bers who had bargained for unlawful profits or for high office.
The Republican party, during its legal, its stolen and its bought
tenures of power has steadily decayed in moral character and politi
cal capacity.
Its platform promises are now a list of past failures.
It demands the restoration of our navy. It has squandered hun
dreds of millions to create a navy that does not exist.
It calls upon Congress to remove the burdens under which Amer
ican shipping has been depressed. It has imposed and has continued
those burdens.
It professes the policy of reserving the public lands for small hold
ings by actual settlers. It has given away the people's heritage, till
now a few railroads and non-resident aliens, individual and corporate,
possess a larger area than that of all our farms between the two seas.
It professes a preference for free institutions. It organized and
tried to legalize a control of State elections by Federal troops.
It professes a desire to elevate labor. It has subjected American
workingmen to the competition of convict and imported contract
labor. It professes gratitude to all who were disabled or died in the war,
leaving widows and orphans. It left to a Democratic House of Rep
resentatives the first effort to equalize both bounties and pensions.
It proffers a pledge to correct the irregularities of our tariff. It
created and has continued them. Its own Tariff Commission con
fessed the need of more than twenty per cent reduction. Its Congress
gave a reduction of less than four per cent.
It professes the protection of American manufactures. It has
subjected them to an increasing flood of manufactured goods and a

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 557
hopelsss competition with manufacturing nations, not one of which
taxes raw materials.
It professes to protect all American industries. It has impover
ished many to subsidize a few.
It professes the protection of American labor. It has depleted the
returns of American agriculture— an industry followed by half our
people. It professes the equality of all men before the law. Attempting
to fix the status of colored citizens, the acts of its Congress were over
set by the decisions of its courts.
It " accepts anew the duty of leading in the work of progress and
reform.'- Its caught criminals are permitted to escape through con
trived delays or actual connivance in the prosecution. Honey
combed with corruption, outbreaking exposures no longer shock its
moral sense. Its honest members, its independent journals no longer
maintain a successful contest for authority in its counsels or a veto
upon bad nominations.
That change is necessary is proved by an existing surplus of more
than $100,000,000, which has yearly been collected from a suffering
people. Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. "We denounce the
Republican party for having failed to relieve the people from crush
ing war taxes which have paralyzed business, crippled industry and
deprived labor of employment and of just reward.
The Democracy pledges itself to purify the Administration from
corruption, to restore economy, to revive respect for law, and to re
duce taxation to the lowest limit consistent with due regard to the
preservation of the faith of the Nation to its creditors and pensioners.
Knowing full well, however, that legislation affecting the occu
pations of the people should be cautious and conservative in method,
not in advance of public opinion, but responsive to its demands, the
Democratic party is pledged to revise the tariff in a spirit of fairness
to all interests.
But in making reduction in taxes it is not proposed to injure any
domestic industries, but rather to promote their healthy growth.
From the foundation of this Government taxes collected at the custom
house have been the chief source of Federal revenue. Such they
must continue to be. Moreover, many industries have come to rely
on legislation for successful continuance, so that any change of law
must be at every step regardful of the labor and capital thus involved.
The process of reform must be subject in the execution to this plain
dictate of justice.
All taxation shall be limited to the requirements of economical

558 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
government. The necessary reduction in taxation can and must be
effected without depriving American labor of the ability to compete
successfully with foreign labor, and without imposing lower rates of
duty than will be ample to cover any increased cost of production
which may exist in consequence of the higher rate of wages prevail
ing in this country.
Sufficient revenue to pay all the expenses of the Federal Govern
ment, economically administered, including pensions, interest and
principal of the public debt, can be got, under our present system of
taxation, from custom-house taxes on fewer imported articles, bearing
heaviest on articles of luxury, and bearing lightest on articles of
necessity. We, therefore, denounce the abuses of the existing tariff; and,
subject to the preceding limitations, we demand that Federal taxation
shall be exclusively for public purposes, and shall not exceed the
needs of the Government, economically administered.
The system of direct taxation known as the "Internal Revenue"
is a war tax, and so long as the law continues the money derived
therefrom should be sacredly devoted to the relief of the people
from the remaining burdens of the war, and be made a fund to
defray the expense of the care and comfort of worthy soldiers dis
abled in line of duty in the wars of the republic, and for the pay
ment of such pensions as Congress may from time to time grant to
such soldiers, a like fund for the sailors having been already pro
vided; and any surplus should be paid into the treasury.
We favor an American continental policy based upon more inti
mate commercial and political relations with the fifteen sister repub
lics of North, Central and South America, but entangling alliances
with none.
We believe in honest money, the gold and silver coinage of the
Constitution, and a circulating medium convertible into such money
without loss.
Asserting the equality of all men before the law, we hold that it
is the duty of the government, in its dealings with the people, to
mete out equal and exact justice to all citizens of whatever nativity,
race, color, or persuasion — religious or political.
We believe in a free ballot and a fair count; and we recall to the
memory of the people the noble struggle of the Democrats in the
Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses by which a reluctant Repub
lican opposition was compelled to assent to legislation making every
where illegal the presence of troops at the polls as the conclusive

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 559
irodf that a Democratic Administration will preserve liberty with
rder. The selection of Federal officers for the Territories should be
estricted to citizens previously resident therein.
We oppose sumptuary laws which vex the citizen and interfere „
nth individual liberty; we favor honest civil-service reform and the
ompensation of all United States officers by fixed salaries; the sepa-
ation of church and State; and the diffusion of free education by
ommon schools, so that every child in the land may be taught the
ights and duties of citizenship.
While we favor all legislation which will tend to the equitable
listribution of property, to the prevention of monopoly, and to the
trict enforcement of individual rights against corporate abuses, we
told that the welfare of society depends upon a scrupulous regard
or the rights of property as defined by law.
We believe that labor is best rewarded where it is freest and most
nlightened. It should, therefore, be fostered and cherished. We
avor the repeal of all laws restricting the free action of labor, and
he enactment of laws by which labor organizations may be incor-
torated, and of all such legislation as will tend to enlighten the
leople as to the true relations of capital and labor.
We believe that the public lands ought, as far as possible, to be
;ept as homesteads for actual settlers; that all unearned lands hereto-
ore improvidently granted to railroad corporations by the action of
he Republican party, should be restored to the public domain; and
hat no more grants of land should be made to corporations, or be
llowed to fall into the ownership of alien absentees.
We are opposed to all propositions which, upon any pretext,
rould convert the general government into a machine for collecting
axes to be distributed among the States, or the citizens thereof.
In reaffirming the declaration of the Democratic platform of 1856,
hat "the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration
f Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which make
urs the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every
atibn, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith,"
re nevertheless do not sanction the importation of foreign labor, or
he admission of servile races, unfitted by habits, training, religion or
indred for absorption into the great body of our people, or for the
itizenship which our laws confer. American civilization demands
bat against the immigration or importation of Mongolians to these
hores our gates be closed.
The Democratic party insists that it is the duty of this government

560 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
to protect, with equal fidelity and vigilance, the rights of its citizens,
native and naturalized, at home and abroad; and to the end that this
protection may be assured, United States papers of naturalization,
issued by courts of competent jurisdiction, must be respected by th«
executive and legislative departments of our own government and by
all foreign powers.
It is an imperative duty of this government to efficiently protect
all the rights of persons and property of every American citizen in
foreign lands, and demand and enforce full reparation for any inva
sion thereof.
An American citizen is only responsible to his own government
for any act done in his own country or under her flag, and can only
be tried therefor on her own soil and according to her laws; and no
power exists in this government to expatriate an American citizen to
be tried in any foreign land for any such act.
This country has never had a well-defined and executed foreign
policy save under Democratic administration; that policy has ever
been, in regard to foreign nations, so long as they do not act detri
mental to the interests of the country or hurtful to our citizens, to let
them alone; that as the result of this policy we recall the acquisition
of Louisiana, Florida, California, and of the adjacent Mexican terri
tory by purchase alone, and contrast these grand acquisitions of
Democratic statesmanship with the purchase of Alaska, the sole
fruit of a Republican administration of nearly a quarter of a century.
The Federal Government should care for and improve the Missis
sippi river and other great waterways of the Republic, so as to secure
for the interior States easy and cheap transportation to tide- water.
Under a long period of Democratic rule and policy our merchant
marine was fast overtaking and on the point of outstripping that of
Great Britain.
Under twenty years of Republican rule and policy our commerce
has been left to British bottoms, and almost has the American flag
been swept off the high seas.
Instead of the Republican party's British policy, we demand for
the people of the United States an American policy.
Under Democratic rule and policy our merchants and sailors,
flying the Stars and Stripes in every port, successfully searched out a
market for the varied products of American industry.
Under a quarter century of Republican rule and policy, despite
our manifest advantage over all other nations in high-paid labor,
favorable climates, and teeming soils; despite freedom of trade among
all these United States; despite their population by the foremost races

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS. 561
Df men and an annual immigration of the young, thrifty, and advent-"
iirous of all nations; despite our freedom here from the inherited
burdens of life and industry in Old- World monarchies— their costly
war navies, their vast tax-consuming, non-producing standing armies;
iespite twenty years of peace — Republican rule and policy have man
aged to surrender to Great Britain, along with our commerce, the
control of the markets of the world.
Instead of the Republican party's British policy we demand, in
behalf of the American Democracy, an American policy.
Instead of the Republican party's discredited scheme and false
pretense of friendship for American labor, expressed by imposing
taxes, we demand in behalf of the Democracy freedom for American
labor by reducing taxes, to the end that these United States may com
pete with unhindered powers for the primacy among nations in all
lie arts of peace and fruits of liberty.
With profound regret we have been apprised by the venerable
statesman through whose person was struck that blow at the vital
M-inciple of republics — acquiescence in the will of the majority —
;hat he cannot permit us again to place in his hands the leadership of
;he Democratic hosts, for the reason that the achievement of reform
n the administration of the Federal Government is an undertaking
low too heavy for his age and failing strength.
Rejoicing that his life has been prolonged until the general judg-
nent of our fellow-countrymen is united in the wish that that wrong
vere righted in his person, for the Democracjr of the United States
ve offer to him in his withdrawal from public cares not only our
espectful sympathy and esteem but also that best homage of free-
nen — the pledge of our devotion to the principles and the cause now
nseparable in the history of this Republic from the labors and the
lame of Samuel J. Tilden.
With this statement of the hopes, principles, and purposes of the
Democratic party, the great issue of reform and change in administra-
ion is submitted to the people in calm confidence that the popular
'oice will pronounce in favor of new men and new and more f avor-
ible conditions for the growth of industry, the extension of trade, the
imployment and due reward of labor and of capital, and the general
welfare of the whole country.

562 POLITICAL STATISTICS.
COMMENTS ON THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM4
The Eepublican platform adopted by the convention on
the fifth of June, is courageous, outspoken and unequivo
cal in its character. There is nothing in it that can be
called two-faced. It takes direct issue with the Democrats
on many important questions, and inaugurates the Presi
dential campaign in a clear tone of confidence and explicit
avowals of purpose. Such qualities as these will command
the attention and admiration of the American people.
There is no trimming of the platform, no compromises,
no weak evasions, no planks that say one thing and
mean another. It is, moreover, a platform that is
applicable to the candidates, being a Blaine platform
in all its leading features, not only expressing his
sentiments, but also his character.
Bi-metalism is endorsed as a true monetary system on
the basis of an international standard which shall fix the
relative value of gold and silver coinage. This is undoubt
edly the true solution of the money question as well as the
aim of the leading thinkers, both in Europe and America -
on this subject.
The declaration in favor of the constitutional power of
Congress to regulate inter-state commerce, and the practi
cal exercise of such power to prevent excessive charges and
unjust discrimination by the railroads is received with
much favor. The labor interests of the country are
given full recognition and hearty consideration ; and the
earnest pledges to go on with the work of civil-service
reform is entitled to special commendation, since under
the impulse and direction/ of the Eepublican party, the
work has already been inaugurated. The reservation of
the public domain for small holdings by actual settlers,
and the protection of it from corporation greed, is a senti
ment which will find a universal response from the people.
Altogether, the platform may be regarded as a most vigorous
and well-written exposition of the Eepublican doctrine.

POLITICAL STATISTICS

COMPILED I-BOM

OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE GOVERMENT.

RANK OF STATES, WITH DIVISIONS OF POPULATION.

State and Rank in
the Union.
1 New York 
2 Pennsylvania 
3 Ohio 
4 Illinals 
5 Missouri 
6 Indiana 
7 Massachusetts 
8 Kentucky 
9 Michigan 
10 Iowa 
11 Texas 
12 Tennessee 
13 Georgia 
14 Virginia 
15 North Carolina...
16 Wisconsin 
17 Alabama 
18 Mississippi 
19 New Jersey 

Population.

Males. Females.

Native. Foreign.

White. Colored.

5,083,810 4,282,7863,198,239
3,078,7692,168,804 1,978,3621,783,012
1,648,708
1,636,3311,624,620 1,592,574
1,542,463 1,539,0481,512,806 1,400,047
1,315,4801,262,794
1,131,592 1,130,983

2,506,283 2,577,527
2,136,635 2,146,151
1,614,165 1,584,074
1,587,433 , 1,491,336
1,127,424 1,041,380
1,010,676 967,686
858,475 924,537
832,676 816,032
862,276 774,055
848,234 776,386
838,719 753,855
769,374 773,089
761,184 777,864
745,839 766,967
688,203 711,844
680,106 635,374
622,890 639,904
567,137 564,455
559,823 571,160

3,872,372 1,211,438
3,695,253 587,533
2,803,469 394,743
2,495,177 583,592
1,957,564 111,240
1,834,597 143,765
1,339,919 443,093
1,589,237 59,471
1,247,985 388,346
1,363,132 261,488
1,478,058 114,516
1,525,881 16,582
1,528,733 10,315
1,498,139 14,667
1,396,368 3,679
910,063 405,417
1,253,121 9,673
1,122,429 9,168
909,098 221,585

5,017,116 66,694
'4,197,106 85,680
3,118,344 79,895
3,032,174 46,595
2,023,568 145,236
1,939,094 39,268
1,764,004' 19,008
1,377,187 271,521
1,614,078 22,253
1,614,666 9,954
1,197,499 395,075
1,139,120 403,343
314,251 724,797
880,981 631,825
867,478 532,569
1,309,622 5,858
662,328 600,466
479,371 652,221
1,091,947

563

564

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

Bank of States, with Divisions of Population— [Continued.]

State and Rank in
the Union.

Population.

Males. Females.

Native. Foreign.

White. Colored.

20 Kansas 
21 South Carolina...
22 Louisiana 
23 Maryland 
24 California 
25 Arkansas 
26 Minnesota 
27 Maine 
28 Connecticut 
29 West Virginia. ..
30 Nebraska 
31 New Hampshire. .
32 Vermont 
33 Rhode Island ....
34 Florida 
35 Colorado 
36 Dis't of Columbia.
37 Oregon 
38 Delaware 
39 Utah* 
40 Dakota* 
41 New Mexico* 
42 Washington* 
43 Nevada 
44 Arizona* 
45 Montana* 
46 Idaho* 
47 Wyoming* 

995,966995,622940,103
934,632864,686802,564780,806
648,945622,683
618,443452,433346,984
332,286276,528267,351194,649
177,638174,767
146,654143,906
135,180 118,430 75,120
62,26540,441
39,157 32,61120,788

* Territories.
Totals 

50,152,866

536,725 459,241
490,469 505,153
468,833 471,270
462,004 472,628
518,271 346,415
416,383 386,181
419,262 361,544
324,084 324,861
305,886 316,797
314,479 303,964
249,275 203,158
170,575 176,409
166,888 165,398
133,033 143,495
135,393 131,958
129,471 05,178
83,594 94,044
103,388 71,379
74,153 72,501
74,470 69,436
82,302 52,818
63,751 54,679
45,977 29143
42,013 20,252
28,202 12,239
28,180 10,977
21,818 10,793
14,151 6,637

886,261 109,705
987,981 7,641
885,964 54,139
851,984 82,648
572,006 292,680
792,269 10,295
513,107 267,699
590,076 58,869
492,879 129,804
600,214 18,229
355,043 97,390
300,961 46,023
291,340 40,946
202,598 73,930
257,631 9,720
154,869 39,780
160,523 17,115
143,327 30,440
137,182 9,472
99,974 43,932
83,387 51,793
108,498 9,932
59,259 15,861
36,623 25,642
24,419 15,022
27,640 11,515
22,629 9,982
14,943 5,845

25,520,582 24,632,284

43,475,506 6,677,360

952,056 43,910
391,224 604,398
455,007 485,096
724,718 209,914
767,266 97,420
591,611 210,953
776,940 3,866
646,903 2,042
610,884 11,799
592,606 25,837
449,806 2,627
346,264 720
331,243 1,043
269,931 6,597
141,832 125,519
191,452 3,197
118,236 59,402
163,087 11,680
120,198 26,456
142,380 1,526
133,177 2,003
108,127 10,303
67,349 7,771
53,574 8,691
35,178 5,263
35,416 3,711
29,011 3,600
19,436 1,352

3,404,876 6,747,990

REVENUE LOSSES TO THE UNITED STATES.
teofLoteiTd the ?^S1!S L^SJ^flm ta^GoTOnlT^t f r0m '? °^nization to June SO, 1879, and the amount
Sable periods , 5 Admfaiistrations? P 9VK° *" the a^re^ate Reeved and Disbursed, arranged as nearly as practi-

Admdjistration.

Washington .
Adams, J 
Jefferson 
Madison 
Monroe 
Adams, J.Q..
Jackson 
VanBuren...Harrison I
Tyler.. .. f-
Polk 
Taylor... 1
Fillmore, f ¦¦
Pierce 
Buchanan . . .
Lincoln 
Johnson . .
Grant 
Hayes 

Prior to June 30,
1861.
From July ],'61, to
June 30, 1879.

> ¦
<" is

Total Receipts from Customs,
Internal Revenue, Public
Lands, Loans, Dividends, Inter
est, Premiums, Direct Tax, and
Miscellaneous.

Receipts.

$56,448,721 46,085,418
108,238,978 266,246,515 178,649.964 97,818,055
255,182,775129,948,549116,736,005201,857,508211,908,613
282,179,830
312,359,680
4,670,460,138
4,042,316,4385,318,698,324 1,728,979,907

18,024,115,418

$3,263,660,611 15,760,454,807

$21 0,552
42.250
287,260294,975629,947 332,953
1,412,388 392,328429,981 18,110
276,279
213,002 194,001
508,494
2,562,722 1,189,140 none

8,994,375

$4,734,020 4.260,3.55

Loss on
$1,000.

$3 7291
2 65
1 10
3 52
3 40
5 53
3 01
3 68
08
1 3075
62 10
63
22
none

$2 0927

Total Disbursements on aecounlof
Public Debt, Premiums, War,
Navy, Pensions, Interest, Indians
and all civil expenses exclusive
of Post Office, which receives
and disburses its own revenues.

Disburse ments.

$55,426,822 43,811,926
. 107,686,312255,105,106 188,437.780 97.264,000
223,546,050 137,094,438 109,187,401
205,194,701 194,370,493
285,638,876
328,183,268
4,667,457,921
3,891,576,2595,287,604,6461,557,034,964

17,634,620,963

$2,230,947,173 15.403,673,790

Losses.

190.950
803,834
1,855,447
2,492,536 513,829
2,306,237
2,899,654 1,133,242
1,712,1701,485,1931,674,853
2,292,8256,599,0231,889,6411,138,541 1,384

28,527.858

$18,899,269 9,628,589

Loss on
$1,000.

4352 82
7 27
13 22
528
10 31
211510 37
8 34
7 64

1 41

1 61

$8 47

Recapitulation.*

Amount
Involved.

$112,560,504 90,703,612
219,072,736526,764,050
376,328,275201,488,077500,081,748
285,327,949 244,590,156428,913,687
432,861,677608,257,816
697,500.871
9,386,697,144
8,014,908,984
10,842,922,583 3,353,629,856

Total Loss.

36,317,639,725

$4,719,481,157 31,598,158,568

?Including all other amounts collected or disbursed, and the losses thereon.

$250,970 235,412603,468
2,191,660
3,229,787 885,374
3,761,112
3,343,7921,565,9031,732,851
1,814,409
2,167,9822,659,108 7,200,984
4,619,600
2,622,479 2,677

38,887,568

$24,441,829 14,445,739

Loss on
$1,000.

$2 22
2 59
2 75
4 16
8 58
4 39
7 52
11 71
640
4 08
4 19
3 56
3 8176
67
8-1124
10ml

1 07

$5 17
46

o

o >
t-i

HV-
wH
o

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

OS os

Name.

State.

Congkess.

Tekm of Sebvice.

F. A. Muhlenberg .
Jonathan Trumbull
F. A. Muhlenberg .
Jonathan Dayton. .
Theodore Sedgwick
Nathaniel Macon. .
It €1 ¦
Joseph B. Varnum
Henry Clay 
a tt
Langdon Cheves. . .
Henry Clay 
a a
n n
John W. Taylor. '. .
Philip P. Barbour .
Henry Clay 
John W. Taylor. . .
Andrew Stephenson.
tt » it
tt tt
John Bell 

Pennsylvania 
Connecticut 
Pennsylvania 
New Jersey 
Massachusetts 
North Carolina 
a n
Massachusetts 
Kentucky 
South Carolina, second session.
Kentucky 
a
New York, second session 
Virginia 
Kentucky 
New York 
Virginia 
it
Tennessee, second session 

1st Congress
2d 3d
4th 5th6th 7th8th
9th
10th
11th12th
13th13th14th15th16th16th17th 18th19th
20th 21st22d23d23d

April Oct.
Dec. Dec.
May Dec.
Dec. Oct.
Dec.Oct.
MayNov.May Jan.Dec.Dec.Dec.Nov.Dec. Dec.
Dec.Dec.Dec.Dec. Dec.June

1, 1789,
24, 1791,
2, 1793,
7, 1795,
15, 1797,
2, 1799,
7, 1801,
17, 1803,
2, 1805,
26, 1807,
22, 1809,
4, 1811,
24, 1813,
19, 1814,
4, 1815,
1, 1817,
6, 1819,
15, 1820,
4, 1821,
1, 1823,
5, 1825,
3, 1827,
7, 1829,
5, 1831,
2, 1833,
2, 1834,

to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 3,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to Jan. 19,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to May 15,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to June 2,
to March 4,

1791
1793 1795
1797 1799
1801180318051807 1809
1811 1813
1814 18151817
1819 1820
18211823 1825
1827 1829
18311833 1834
1835

h3O

>m r-3

Oon

James K. Polk 
tt (4
Robert M. T. Hunter
John "White 
John W. Jones 
John W. Davis 
Eobert C. Winthrop .
Howell Cobb 
linn Boyd 
Nathaniel P. Banks. .
James L. Orr 
William Pennington .
-Galusha A. Grow. . . .
Schuyler Colfax 
n n
tt a
James G. Blaine 
llichael C. Kerr 
Samuel J. Randall. . .
It a
* it it
"Warren B. Keifer. . .
John C Carlisle 

Tennessee second session.
<< << ,i
Virginia 
Kentucky 
Virginia 
Indiana 
Massachusetts 
Georgia 
Kentucky 
Massachusetts 
South Carolina 
New Jersey 
Pennsylvania 
Indiana 
Maine 
Indiana 
Pennsylvania, second session
Ohio 
Kentucky 

24th Congress
25th26th27th28th29th30th31st32d
33d 34th35th36th37th38th39th
40th41st42d43d44th44th
45th46th
47th 48th

Dec. 7,
Sept. 5,
Dec. 16,
May 31,
Dec. 4,
Dec. 1,
Dec. 6,
Dec. 22,
Dec. 1,
Dec. 5,
Feb. 2,
Dec. 7,
Feb. 1,
July 4,
Dec. 7,
Dec 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
Dec. 1,
Dec. 6,
Dec. 4,
Oct. 15,
March 18
Dec. 5,
Dec. 5,

1835,
1837, 1839,
1841,1843, 1845,
1847, 1849,1851,1853,
1856, 1857,
1860,1861,1863,18C5, 1867,
1869, 1871,
1873,1875,1876,1877, 1879,
1881,
1883,

to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to Aug. 20,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,
to March 4,

1837 183918411843
18451847184918511853
18551857 1859
1861 1863
1865 186718691871
18731875187618771879188118831885

o

QS»F
GO rtM
02 rtM
o

-a

568

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

STATEMENT SHOWING THE EXPENDITURES,
As far as ascertained, necessarily growing out of the War of the Rebellion,
from July 1, 1861, to June 30, 1870, inclusive.

APPROPRIATION.

Gross
Expenditure.

Expenditure
other than for
the war.

Expendituregrowing out
of the war.

Expenses of national loans aud
currency 
Premiums 
Interest on public debt 
Expenses of collecting revenue
from customs 
Judgment of Court of Claims
Payments of judgments Court
of Alabama Claims 
Salaries and expenses of South
ern Claims Com'n 
Salaries and expenses of Am
and Brit. Claims Com'n 
Award to British claimants . . .
Tribunal of arbitration at Ge
neva 
Salaries and expenses of Ala
bama Claims Com'n 
Salaries and contingent ex
penses of Pension Office. .
Salaries and contingent ex
penses of War Department
Salaries and contingent ex
penses of Ex. Dent, (exclu
sive of Pension Office and
War Department 
Expenses of assessing and col
lecting internal revenue 
Miscellaneous accounts 
Subsistence of the army 
Quartermaster's Department.
Incidental expenses of Quar
termaster's Department 
Transportation of the army. . .
Transportation of officers and
their baggage 
Clothing of the army 
Purchase of horses for cavalry
and artillery  .".
Barracks, quarters, etc 
Heating and Cooking stoves..
Pay, mileage, general expenses
etc., of the army 
Pay of two and three years'
volunteers 
Pay of three months' volun
teers 
Pay, etc., of one hundred days'
volunteers 
Pay of militia and volunteers.
Pay, etc., to officers and men
in Department of Missouri . .
Pay and supplies of one hun
dred daysf volunteers 
Bounty to volunteers and reg
ulars on enlistment 

$ 51,522,730 77
59,738,167 73
1,809,301,485 19
99,690,808 31
. 5,516,260 75
9,315,753 19
371,321 82
295,878 54
1,929,819 00
244,815 40
253,231 12
7,095,968 05
15,331,956 58

33,944,017 67
112,803,841 31
2,664,199 82
420,041,037 75
357,518,966 61
101,528,573 37
407,463,324 81
4,626,219 66
356,651,466 31
130,990,762 95
49,872,669 40
487,881 45
184,473,721 26
1,041,102,702 58
866,305 41
14,386.778 29
6,126,952 65
844,150 55
4,824,87768
38,522,046 20

$ 45,045,286 74
57,151,550 14
551,626 07

1,870,180 00
2,712,693 79
10,110,745 70

456,714 21
38,623,489 17
58,037,048 95
16,185,839 74
70,669,439 25
1,601,000 00
11,107,686 11
4,318,339 51
18,801,822 89
39,150 00
106,388,991 79

$ 51,522,730 77
59,738,167 73
1,764,256,198 45
42,539,257 87
4,964,634 68
•9,315,753 19
371,321 82
295,878 54
1,929,819 00
244,815 40
253,23112
5,225,788 05
12,619,262 79
23,833,271 97
112,803,841 31
2,207,485 61
381,417,548 58
299,481,917 63
85,342,733 63
336,793,885 56
3,025,219 66
345,543,880 20
126,672,423 24
31,070,846 59
448,731 45
78,084,729 47
1,041,102,702 58
886,30541
14,386,778 29
6,126,952 65
844,150 55
4,824,877 68
38,522,046 20

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

569

STATEMENT SHOWING THE EXPENDITURES-[Continued.]

APPROPRIATION.

Gross
Expenditures.

Expenditure
other than foi
the war.

Expenditure
growing out
of the war.

Bounty to volunteers, their
Additional bounty act of July
28, 1866 

31,760,345 95
69,998,786 71
268,158 11
9,635,512 85
597,17830
31,297,243 60
96,15200
296,097 28
2,568,639 91
9,713,873 13
46,954,146 83
196,048 32
55,000 00
2,232,785 12
123,487 49
509,283 21
6,114,533 38
59,798,079 70
12,336,710 88
29,730,717 53
76,378,935 13
84,131 50
3,128,905 94
681,587 42
172,568 15
29,890 00
8,546,184 76
170,998 98
3,291,830 14
1,088,406 83
5,000 00

31,760,345 95
69,998,786 61
268,158 11
9,635,512 85
597,17830
31,297,242 60
96,152 00

Collection and payment of
bounty, etc., to colored sol
diers, etc 

Reimbursing States for mon
eys expended for payment
of military service of the

Defraying expenses of minute-
men and volunteers in Penn
sylvania, Maryland, Ohio,

Refunding to States expenses
incurred on account of vol-
Reimbursements to Baltimore
for aid in construction of
defensive works in 1863 
Payment to members of cer
tain military organizations
296,097 28
Expenses of recruiting 
Draft and substitute fund 
Medical and Hospital Depart.
Medical and Surgical History
1,270,673 56
1,845,376 47
1,297,966 35
9,713,873 13
45,108,77036 196,048 32
55,000 00
Providing for comfort of sick,
wounded and discharged sol-
2,232,785 12
Freedmen's Hospital and Asy-
123,487 49
509,283 21
1,561,001 67
3,834,146 87
2,118,238 79
6,127,22821
4,553,531 71
Ordnance, ordnance stores and
55,933,932 83
Armament of fortifications. . .
National armories, arsenals,
etc 
Purchase of arms for volun-
10,218,472 09
23,603,489 32
76,378,935 13
Traveling expenses of First
Michigan Cavalry and Cali
fornia and Nevada Volun-
84,131 50
Payment of expenses under
3,128,905 94
681,587 42
172,568 15
29,890 00
Support of National Home for
8,546,184 76
Publication of official records
of war of the rebellion 
Contingencies of the Army and
Adjutant General's Depart.
Payments under special acts
565,136 39
170,998 98
2,726,698 75
1,088,406 83
Copying official reports 
6,000 00
570

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

STATEMENT SHOWING THE EXPENDITURES-{Continued.]

APPROPRIATION.

Gross
Expenditures.

Expenditure
other than for
the war.

Expenditure
growing out
of the war.

Expenses of Court of Inquiry
in 1868 and 1869 
United States police for Bait.
Preparing register of volun
teers 
Army pensions 
Telegraph for military pur
poses 
Maintenance of gunboat fleet
groper 
Keeping, transporting and
supplying prisoners of war.
Permanent forts and lortifica-
tioos; surveys for military
defenses*- contingencies of
fortifications; platform for
cannon of large calibre, etc.,
from 1862-68 
Construction and maintenance
of steam rams 
Signal Service 
Gunboats on Western rivers
Supplying, transporting and
delivering arms and muni
tions of war to loyal citizens
in States in rebellion against
the Government of the
United States 
Collecting, organizing and
drilling volunteers 
Bridge-trains and equipage
Tool and siege trains 
Completing the defenses of
Washington 
Commutations of rations to
prisoners of war in rebel
States 
National cemeteries 
Purchase of Ford's Theatre
Temporary relief to destitute
people in Dist. of Columbia.
Headstones, erection of head
stones, pay of Superintend
ents, and moving the re
mains of officers to national
cemeteries 
State of Tennessee for keep
ing and maintaining United
States military prisoners.
Capture of Jeff. Davis 
Removing wreck of gunboat
Oregon in Chefunct River,
Louisiana 
Support of Bureau of Refug
ees and Freedmen 
Claims for quartermaster's
stores and commis. supplies.
Miscellaneous claims audited
by Third Auditor 
Claims of loyal citizens for
supplies furnished durin
the rebellion 

5,000 00
100,000 00
1,015 45
437,744,192 80
2,500,085 80
5,244,68432
7,659,411 60

20,887,756 96
1,370,73042 222,269 79
3,239,314 18

1,649,596 57
29,091,666 57
1,413,701 75
.702,250 00
912,283 01

320,636 62
4,162.848 39
88,000 00

57,000 00

1,080,18554 22,749 49
97,031 62
5,50000
11,454,237 30
850,220 91
94,223 11
4,170,304 54

30,315,00000

7,483,765 87
78,472 23

47,11211

5,000 00
100,00000 1,015 45
407,429,19280 2,500,085 80
5,244,684 32
7,659,411 60

13,403,99109 1,370,73042 143,797 56
3,239,314 18

1,649,596 67
29,091,666 67
1,413,701 75
702,25000912,28301

320,636 62
4,162,848 39
88,000 00
57,000 00

1,080,185 54

22,749 49
97,031 63

5,50000
11,454,237 30
850,22091 47,111 00
4,170,30454

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

571

STATEMENT SHOWING THE EXPENDITURES-[Continued.]

APPROPRIATION.

Gross
Expenditures.

Expenditure
other than for
the war.

Expenditure
growing out
of the war.

Payment for use of Corcoran

125,000 00
5,842 43
1,000 00
4,281,724 91
500 00
683,748 12
144,549,073 96
32,771,931 16
2,709,491 98
170,007,781 25
25,174,614 53
38,063,357 67
2,178,769 74
33,638,156 59
19,952,754 36
2,836,916 69
49,297,318 57
2,526,247 00
875,452 34
753,822 13
16,726,906 00
2,640,440 87
652,049 89
8,123,766 21
2,614,044 77
7,540,043 00
2,821,530 10
271,309 28
389,025 33

125,000 00

Expenses of sales of stores and

5,842 43

Transportation of insane vol-

1,000 00
4,281,72491 500 00

Horses and other property lost

Purchase of cemetery grounds

Fortifications on the Northern
683,748 12
70,086,769 62
16,403,307 34
1,114,701 00
35,829,684 80
74,462,304 34
Provisions of the Navy 
16,368,623 82
1,594,790 98
Construction and repair 
134,178,096 65
25,174,614 53
6,641,263 30
241,025 68
3,337,854 52
8,612,521 68
1,938,66442
31,422,094 37
1,937,744 06
30,300,302 07
11,340,232 68
898,252 27
49,297,318 57
2,526,247 00
375,789 40
349,290 48
8,969,290 82
778,308 86
65,39400
499,662 94
404,53165
Marine corps, pay, clothing,
7,757,615 IS
1,862,132 01
Naval Asylum, Philadelphia . .
Temporary increase of the
Miscellaneous appropriations.
586,655 89
8,123,766 21
2,614,044 77
950,000 00
6,590,043 00
2,821,530 10
Bounty for destruction of en-
271,309 28
Indemnity for lost clothing. . .
389,025 33
$6,844,571,431 03
$ 654,641,522 45
86,189,929,908 58
Note— Only the appropriations from which war expenditures were
made are included in the above.
SUMMARY OP POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTES IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, 1789 to 1880.

Year.

¦S<h-S

¦a
Pi

Party.

For President.

States.

Popular Vote.

"3 OS

For Vice-President.

2

1789

10
15
16

73
135
138

George Washington. . .

69
34 96 6
432211 1
4
132 77
50 413
71
68 59
30 1511 7
53222 1

John Rutledge 
,
Edward Telfair 
1798
Federalist 
Federalist 
Republican 
1796
Federalist 
Republican 
Federalist 
Thomas Pinckney 
Republican 
hi
o t-l
t>CD (>rtM
CO rt
1800

16 17 17 1819 24 24 24

138 *
176 176 218 221 235 261 261

Republican 
Republican 

7373
65 64 1
162 14
122 6
47

Federalist 
John Jay 
Thomas Jefferson
Charles C. Pmckney . . .
1804
Kepublioan 
Federalist 
Republican 
Republican 
15 2
12
George Clinton 
James Madison  ; . .
162
14
1808
113
3
Charles C. Pinckney . . .
5
47
John Langaon 
g
3
i
128 89 1
183 34
1
1812
Republican 
James Madison 
De Witt Clinton 
11 7
Elbridge Gerry 
Jared Ingersoll 
131
86
1
1816
Republican 
Federalist 
16 3
D. D. Tompkins 
John E. Howard 
183
22
5
'
4
Robert G. Harper 
3
4
231 1
4
1820
Republican 
24
Richard Stockton 
Daniel Rodney 
Robert G. Harper 
218
8
4
1
1
3
99 8441
37
3
1824
Republican 
Republican 
Republican 
Republican 
Andrew Jackson 
John Q.Adams 
Wm. H. Crawford 
10 8
33
155,872
105,321 44,28246,587
John C. Calhoun 
Nathan Sanford 
Andrew Jackson 
Martin Van Buren 
182 3024 13
9
2
Democratic 
Nat. Republican. . .
i
178 83
1
1828
Andrew Jackson 
John Q.Adams 
15 9
647,231 509,097
171 83
William Smith 
7
*Up to this time there had been no distinctive nominations for Vice-President by parties.
highest electoral vote became Vice-President.
Man receiving second
574

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

•sjoa
imoijosEi

CO-* rHC5 -*t— *M ;g5-* ;iH t-Q -GSM

gg»8giS

o

3-^B -'.3
mas :S
3 B dog
03 fcflS qj^
tt'-G™ !>.3
.3 oo r>.°3

ti 3
S-3

a»5
PS

B
to g
3 3
cj.3
Q CO
H 3
«aS B
OpqB .

i . saS acg
K«1«^gpg^laSaa'gda'^io

¦a»OA
r&io^oara

S3

¦i-2

O3OS00OCOO

s as

COQOOrH-*CO-*cOCftOi-
mo3fflCDNaocowc6'*t-S-*t- WN CO(MCst«3COi-lo5cOCOCOOOCO

5to

«5 t- N IH rH OS fc-

lOr-j -irtUS -fcr-^ -OSiHrtt-rH

O

3IM *°ass°b§
-3S3J

a
£3
a cm -stE3„
|lkl^3-|l

5S

.2-°s S-p'-S
B 03 3
Piz;<!

Pfe

ce2 ««
^P^

S&S|ffl is lis

_.2o^CU B
^3^

A+3
s.SS cS CJ „
3§SO 03 O
rtrti-s

P
o b 3
3*4-3 60
5g£"gSorted

!S.2g

Q.2.203+j£

8<sS.t»

*3_ *2 . fl-H 03 fl C3-P +3
c33 c3 3 cti B 3 o 03 =3
&< O U . B P;3 Sri E 5
2=» 2 -Q '2-2SO b

3.3,5.3 g b ps 5 3 ag e.H H
SC^Si? ^S\Z S B B 3 B B B
Pfe^gPfcR^fcPK^WHP

•8JOA

¦SK>13^g JO
jdqumjj

1364

38 3737 3838

314317366369369

'" Const; Union ". . .
Democratic 

Abraham Lincoln
Geo. B. McClelian
Vacancies* 
Ulysses S. Grant 
Horatio Seymour 

3
22 3
11
26 83
31 6

589,581
2,216,067 -
1,808 725

39
212 21 81
214 8023
286 4218 2
1

Edward Everett 
Andrew Johnson 
Geo. H. Pendleton 

\ 39
212 2181
214 80

1868

Republican 
Democratic 
Republican 
Dem. and Lib. Rep.
Democratic 

3,bl5,07i2,709,613

Schuyler Colfax 
F. P Blair, Jr 

23

1872

3,597,0702,834,079 29,408 5,608

286
B. Gratz Brown 
47
5
T. A. Hendricks . . .
John M. Palmer 
Geo. W. Julian 
T. E. Bramlette 
W. S. Groesbeck 
Willis B. Machen 
35
3 11
17
185184
214155
14
185184
1876
"Greenback" .. ..
" Prohibition "
'¦ Greenback "
R. B.Hayes 
2117
4,033,9504,284,885 81,740 9.522
4,442,9504,442,035 306,867 12,576
Wm. A. Wheeler 
T. A. Hendricks 
S. F. Cary
S. J. Tilden 
1880
W. S. Hancock 
19
19
Chester A. Arthur
Wm. H.English 
214155
* Not voting— Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas and Virginia.
¦t Not voting— Mississippi, Texas and Virginia.
* Seventeen votes rejected, viz : 3 from Georgia for Horace Greeley (dead), and 8 from Louisiana, and 6 from Arkansas for
U. S. Grant.
O
QIT"
rt
Q
576

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

•a .
!&|1

a*

5? i t
M

B

.3 .3
"3 '3
•a | -s> s

^ O j|

t3 p.
tS a

afifcO^EHJSZifcpKHEHrtO

o

S> g >

z, > z z

a a
u o o
S .2 § .2 g
¦ ja b a b-
fc O > O !>

S3 S3 3

« rl «
CO -f CD
00 CO CO

ci o -* o co ira in
¦* in b. <o «o to t-
CO CO 00 CO CO CO CO

g3CDS!'',s;3oscoc°"

b ^? a? a ^? ,q
b g 3 3 3 o)
fl bh b b ft

a J? ^
rt rt <<

3 3 3 ,3 B 3

BO

to co to co oq co

a a

>>
¦4
3
1-5
O
>>
d
c3 c3 fl d ^ ci
CD CD CD 03 O CD
CC CO 00
CD _
c3 o ^ d
E *
00 0Q rfl
§ S
a fc
o tn S cd ©
n rJ 2
rt c3 a
ni fii «
¦*QOTi(nKI^HiN-*^
us CO
" — —
¦* 05 » ¦* '«
eo
00 Cl O Q iH
fc- £- CO CO CO
J; H H 19 Cl o
iQ CD
CO GO
CJ b- H -
**-rHCD'*'*C3i'*'^''*>a-*»f3TH
ft rt
-4 s
-- -a
? g
P. 03
o a
8 SS
r-J OS fc- fc-
fc- fc- t- fc-
|C if) p p
t- t- t- fc- fc- t-
COS CD OS O Q (h 5j CO
fc- OO OO t- CO CO CO 00 CO
5l8',ssaB,lJ»o?t,c1l•s?iass,,S'l, Cl)Bft^P.3ttiB'3aOoSoP'oJBP.oOo
~3 : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : — —
ti r — -, a • ^- • • • a _3 c-.
•OH
« 5
a s a .s
¦g s a a
<! rt a ijj
<*£ 3 W
trl rt rt rt <1 a P
B 3
Si
O 03
rt rt
B
3 o
H V
ja £
B 33
N a
S 3
fll -rl --^ J3 _-2 " 3 -H
rt
c5 .
N?^
<f <! p «
S S
rt O
dn^iacs£.ooaoH«n^iAiot.cooiOH
HHHHHrtHrtHHSM
YALE UNIVERSITY

a39002 003926301b