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diff --git a/16158.txt b/16158.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e82b2f --- /dev/null +++ b/16158.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7316 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Facts of Reconstruction, by John R. Lynch + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Facts of Reconstruction + +Author: John R. Lynch + +Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16158] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FACTS OF RECONSTRUCTION *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +THE FACTS OF RECONSTRUCTION + +John R. Lynch + +Copyright, 1913, by The Neale Publishing Company + +[Illustration: John R. Lynch] + + + + +CONTENTS + +PREFACE + +CHAPTER + +I THE PART PLAYED BY MISSISSIPPI IN THE EARLY DAYS OF + RECONSTRUCTION + +II REORGANIZATION OF THE STATE DEPARTMENTS DURING GOVERNOR + ALCORN'S ADMINISTRATION + +III THE REPUBLICAN COUNTY CONVENTION OF 1869 + +IV IMPORTANT EDUCATIONAL AND POLITICAL MEASURES OF THE NEW + LEGISLATURE + +V THE CONTEST FOR SPEAKER OF THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSE OF + REPRESENTATIVES + +VI FUSION OF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS IN THE STATE ELECTION + OF 1873. REPUBLICAN VICTORY + +VII MISSISSIPPI SENDS B.K. BRUCE TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE + +VIII IMPROVED FINANCIAL CONDITION OF MISSISSIPPI UNDER THE AMES + ADMINISTRATION + +IX WHAT CONSTITUTES "NEGRO DOMINATION" + +X OVERTHROW OF THE REPUBLICAN STATE GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI + +XI RISE OF DEMOCRATIC RADICALISM IN THE SOUTH + +XII EVENTFUL DAYS OF THE FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS + +XIII STATE CAMPAIGN OF 1875. REPUBLICAN VICTORY + +XIV INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND THE PRESIDENT REGARDING + STATE APPOINTMENTS + +XV THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876 AND ITS RESULTS + +XVI EFFECTS OF THE REFORM ADMINISTRATION IN MISSISSIPPI + +XVII THE HAYES-TILDEN CONTEST. THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION + +XVIII ATTITUDE OF THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION TOWARD THE SOUTH + +XIX QUESTION OF THE VALIDITY OF SENATOR LAMAR'S ELECTION + +XX REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1880. NOMINATION OF THE + COMPROMISE CANDIDATE, GARFIELD + +XXI STORY OF THE MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN GARFIELD AND CONKLING + +XXII THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF 1884 + +XXIII THE ELECTION OF GROVER CLEVELAND + +XXIV INTERVIEW WITH SECRETARY LAMAR ON THE RETAINING OF COLORED + MEN IN OFFICE + +XXV THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS BILL + +XXVI MISSISSIPPI AND THE NULLIFICATION OF THE FIFTEENTH + AMENDMENT + +XXVII EFFECT OF THE MCKINLEY TARIFF BILL ON BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES + +XXVIII INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND PRESIDENT CLEVELAND AND + SECRETARY GRESHAM + +XXIX THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION OF 1900 + +XXX ARGUMENT ON PROPOSED CHANGE OF REPRESENTATION IN CONVENTION + +XXXI COMPARISON OF BRYAN AND CLEVELAND + +XXXII THE SOLID SOUTH. FUTURE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY + + + + +PREFACE + + +The author of this book is one of the few remaining links in the chain +by which the present generation is connected with the reconstruction +period,--the most important and eventful period in our country's +history. + +What is herein recorded is based upon the author's own knowledge, +contact and experience. Very much, of course, has been written and +published about reconstruction, but most of it is superficial and +unreliable; and, besides, nearly all of it has been written in such a +style and tone as to make the alleged facts related harmonize with what +was believed to be demanded by public sentiment. The author of this work +has endeavored to present _facts_ as they were and are, rather than as +he would like to have them, and to set them down without the slightest +regard to their effect upon the public mind, except so far as that mind +may be influenced by the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the +truth. In his efforts along these lines he has endeavored to give +expression to his ideas, opinions and convictions in language that is +moderate and devoid of bitterness, and entirely free from race +prejudice, sectional animosity, or partisan bias. Whether or not he has +succeeded in doing so he is willing to leave to the considerate +judgment and impartial decision of those who may take the time to read +what is here recorded. In writing what is to be found in these pages, +the author has made no effort to draw upon the imagination, nor to +gratify the wishes of those whose chief ambition is to magnify the +faults and deficiencies in some and to extol the good and commendable +traits and qualities in others. In other words, his chief purpose has +been to furnish the readers and students of the present generation with +a true, candid and impartial statement of material and important facts +based upon his own personal knowledge and experience, with such comments +as in his judgment the occasion and circumstances warranted. + +Was the enfranchisement of the black men at the South by act of Congress +a grave mistake? + +Were the reconstructed State Governments that were organized as a result +thereof a disappointment and a failure? + +Was the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution premature and +unwise? + +An affirmative answer to the above questions will be found in nearly +everything that has been written about Reconstruction during the last +quarter of a century. The main purpose of this work is to present the +other side; but, in doing so, the author indulges the hope that those +who may read these chapters will find that no extravagant and +exaggerated statements have been made, and that there has been no +effort to conceal, excuse, or justify any act that was questionable or +wrong. It will be seen that the primary object the author has sought to +accomplish, is to bring to public notice those things that were +commendable and meritorious, to prevent the publication of which seems +to have been the primary purpose of nearly all who have thus far written +upon that important subject. + +But again, the question may be asked, if the reconstructed State +Governments that were organized and brought into existence under the +Congressional Plan of Reconstruction were not a disappointment and a +failure, why is it that they could not and did not stand the test of +time? The author hopes and believes that the reader will find in one of +the chapters of this book a complete and satisfactory answer to that +question. + +It will be seen that the State of Mississippi is made the pivotal one in +the presentation of the facts and historical points touched upon in this +work; but that is because Mississippi was the field of the author's +political activities. That State, however, was largely typical, hence +what was true of that one was, in the main, true of all the other +reconstructed States. + +The author was a member of Congress during the settlement of the +controversy between Hayes and Tilden for the Presidency of the United +States, resulting from the close and doubtful election of 1876,--a +controversy that was finally decided through the medium of the +Electoral Commission. The reader will find in the chapter on that +subject many important facts and incidents not heretofore published. + +Why was it that the able and brilliant statesman from Maine, James G. +Blaine, died, as did Henry Clay, without having reached the acme of his +ambition,--the Presidency of the United States? Why was he defeated for +the Republican Presidential nomination in 1876,--the only time when it +was possible for him to be elected, and defeated for the election in +1884,--the only time when it was possible for him to be nominated? The +answer to these questions will be found in this book. + +Then the interviews between the author and Presidents Grant and +Cleveland, and Secretaries Blaine, Lamar, and Gresham will no doubt be +interesting, if not instructive. + +If, in writing this book, the author shall have succeeded in placing +before the public accurate and trustworthy information relative to +Reconstruction, his highest ambition will have been fully gratified, his +sense of justice entirely satisfied. + +JOHN R. LYNCH. + + + + +THE FACTS OF RECONSTRUCTION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PART PLAYED BY MISSISSIPPI IN THE EARLY DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION + + +The year 1866 was an eventful one in the history of this country. A +bitter war was in progress between Congress and President Andrew Johnson +over the question of the reconstruction of the States lately in +rebellion against the National Government. The President had inaugurated +a policy of his own that proved to be very unpopular at the North. He +had pardoned nearly all the leaders in the rebellion through the medium +of amnesty proclamations. In each rebel State he had appointed a +provisional governor under whose direction Legislatures, State officers, +and members of Congress had been chosen, and the Legislatures thus +chosen elected the United States Senators for the Southern States in +accordance with the President's plan of reconstruction. To make +restoration to the Union full and complete nothing remained to be done +but to admit to their seats the Senators and Representatives that had +been chosen. In the mean time these different Legislatures had enacted +laws which virtually re-enslaved those that had been emancipated in +their respective States. For this the North would not stand. Sentiment +in that section demanded not only justice and fair treatment for the +newly emancipated race but also an emancipation that should be thorough +and complete, not merely theoretical and nominal. + +The fact was recognized and appreciated that the colored people had been +loyal to the Union and faithful to the flag of their country and that +they had rendered valuable assistance in putting down the rebellion. +From a standpoint of gratitude, if not of justice, the sentiment of the +North at that time was in favor of fair play for the colored people of +the South. But the President would not yield to what was generally +believed to be the dominant sentiment of the North on the question of +reconstruction. He insisted that the leaders of the Republican party in +Congress did not represent the true sentiment of the country, so he +boldly determined to antagonize the leaders in Congress, and to present +their differences to the court of public opinion at the approaching +Congressional elections. The issue was thus joined and the people were +called upon to render judgment in the election of members of Congress +in the fall of 1866. The President, with the solid support of the +Democrats and a small minority of the Republicans, made a brave and +gallant fight. The result, however, was a crushing defeat for him and a +national repudiation of his plan of reconstruction. + +Notwithstanding this defeat the President refused to yield, continuing +the fight with Congress which finally resulted in his impeachment by the +House of Representatives for high Crimes and Misdemeanors in office and +in his trial by the Senate sitting as a High Court for that purpose. +When the vote of the court was taken the President was saved from +conviction and from removal from office by the narrow margin of one +vote,--a sufficient number of Republican Senators having voted with the +Democrats to prevent conviction. It was believed by many at the time +that some of the Republican Senators that voted for acquittal did so +chiefly on account of their antipathy to the man who would succeed to +the Presidency in the event of the conviction of the President. This man +was Senator Benjamin Wade, of Ohio,--President _pro tem._ of the +Senate,--who, as the law then stood, would have succeeded to the +Presidency in the event of a vacancy in that office from any cause. + +Senator Wade was an able man, but there were others who were much more +brilliant. He was a strong party man. He had no patience with those who +claimed to be Republicans and yet refused to abide by the decision of +the majority of the party organization unless that decision should be +what they wanted. In short, he was an organization Republican,--what has +since been characterized by some as a machine man,--the sort of active +and aggressive man that would be likely to make for himself enemies of +men in his own organization who were afraid of his great power and +influence, and jealous of him as a political rival. That some of his +senatorial Republican associates should feel that the best service they +could render their country would be to do all in their power to prevent +such a man from being elevated to the Presidency was, perhaps, perfectly +natural: for while they knew that he was a strong and able man, they +also knew that, according to his convictions of party duty and party +obligations, he firmly believed that he who served his party best served +his country best. In giving expression to his views and convictions, as +he usually did with force and vigor, he was not always considerate of +the wishes and feelings of those with whom he did not agree. That he +would have given the country an able administration is the concurrent +opinion of those who knew him best. + +While President Johnson was retained in office he was practically shorn +of the greater part of the power and patronage that attaches to the +office. This was done through the passage of a bill, over the +president's veto, known as the Tenure of Office Act. The +constitutionality of this act, which greatly curtailed the power of the +President to make removals from office, was seriously questioned at the +time, but it was passed as a political necessity,--to meet an unusual +and unexpected emergency that seemed to threaten the peace and +tranquillity of the country and practically to nullify the fruits of the +victory which had been won on the field of battle. The law was repealed +or materially modified as soon as President Johnson retired from office. +The President also vetoed all the reconstruction bills,--bills +conferring suffrage on the colored men in the States that were to be +reconstructed,--that passed Congress; but they were promptly passed over +the veto. + +The rejection by the country of the Johnson plan of reconstruction, had +clearly demonstrated that no halfway measures were possible. If the +colored men were not enfranchised then the Johnson plan might as well be +accepted. The Republican or Union white men at the South were not +sufficient in numbers to make their power or influence felt. The +necessities of the situation, therefore, left no alternative but the +enfranchisement of the blacks. It was ascertained and acknowledged that +to make possible the reconstruction of the States lately in rebellion, +in accordance with the plan which had met with the emphatic approval of +the North, the enfranchisement of the blacks in the States to be +reconstructed was an absolute necessity. + +The first election held in Mississippi under the Reconstruction Acts +took place in 1867, when delegates to a Constitutional Convention were +elected to frame a new Constitution. The Democrats decided to adopt what +they declared to be a policy of "Masterly Inactivity," that is, to +refrain from taking any part in the election and to allow it to go by +default. The result was that the Republicans had a large majority of the +delegates, only a few counties having elected Democratic delegates. The +only reason that there were any Democrats in the Convention at all was +that the party was not unanimous in the adoption of the policy of +"Masterly Inactivity," and consequently did not adhere to it. The +Democrats in a few counties in the State rejected the advice and +repudiated the action of the State Convention of their party on this +point. The result was that a few very able men were elected to the +convention as Democrats,--such men, for instance, as John W.C. Watson, +and William M. Compton, of Marshall County, and William L. Hemingway, of +Carroll, who was elected State Treasurer by the Democrats in 1875, and +to whom a more extended reference will be made in a subsequent chapter. + +The result of the election made it clear that if the Democratic +organization in the State had adopted the course that was pursued by +the members of that party in the counties by which the action of their +State Convention was repudiated, the Democrats would have had at least a +large and influential minority of the delegates, which would have +resulted in the framing of a constitution that would have been much more +acceptable to the members of that party than the one that was finally +agreed upon by the majority of the members of that body. But the +Democratic party in the State was governed and controlled by the radical +element of that organization,--an element which took the position that +no respectable white Democrat could afford to participate in an election +in which colored men were allowed to vote. To do so, they held, would +not only be humiliating to the pride of the white men, but the +contamination would be unwise if not dangerous. Besides, they were firm +in the belief and honest in the conviction that the country would +ultimately repudiate the Congressional Plan of Reconstruction, and that +in the mean time it would be both safe and wise for them to give +expression to their objections to it and abhorrence of it by pursuing a +course of masterly inactivity. The liberal and conservative element in +the party was so bitterly opposed to this course that in spite of the +action of the State Convention several counties, as has been already +stated, bolted the action of the convention and took part in the +election. + +Of the Republican membership of the Constitutional Convention a large +majority were white men,--many of them natives of the State and a number +of others, though born elsewhere, residents in the State for many years +preceding the war of the Rebellion. My own county, Adams (Natchez), in +which the colored voters were largely in the majority, and which was +entitled to three delegates in the convention, elected two white +men,--E.J. Castello, and Fred Parsons,--and one colored man, H.P. +Jacobs, a Baptist preacher. Throughout the State the proportion was +about the same. This was a great disappointment to the dominating +element in the Democratic party, who had hoped and expected, through +their policy of "Masterly Inactivity" and intimidation of white men, +that the convention would be composed almost exclusively of illiterate +and inexperienced colored men. Although a minor at that time, I took an +active part in the local politics of my county, and, being a member of a +Republican club that had been organized at Natchez, I was frequently +called upon to address the members at its weekly meetings. + +When the State Constitution was submitted to a popular vote for +ratification or rejection I took an active part in the county campaign +in advocacy of its ratification. In this election the Democrats pursued +a course that was just the opposite of that pursued by them in the +election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention. They decided +that it was no longer unwise and dangerous for white men to take part in +an election in which colored men were allowed to participate. This was +due largely to the fact that the work of the convention had been far +different from what they had anticipated. The newly framed Constitution +was, taken as a whole, such an excellent document that in all +probability it would have been ratified without serious opposition but +for the fact that there was an unfortunate, unwise and unnecessary +clause in it which practically disfranchised those who had held an +office under the Constitution of the United States and who, having taken +an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, had +afterwards supported the cause of the Confederacy. This clause caused +very bitter and intense opposition to the ratification of the +Constitution. When the election was over it was found that the +Constitution had been rejected by a small majority. This result could +not be fairly accepted as an indication of the strength of the two +parties in the State, for it was a well-known fact that the Republican +party had a clear majority of about 30,000. + +Notwithstanding the large Republican majority in the State, which was +believed to be safe, sure and reliable, there were several causes that +contributed to the rejection of the newly framed Constitution. Among the +causes were: + +First. In consequence of the bitterness with which the ratification of +the Constitution had been fought, on account of the objectionable clause +referred to, intimidating methods had been adopted in several counties +in which there was a large colored vote, resulting in a loss of several +thousand votes for the Constitution. + +Second. There were several thousand Republicans both white and +colored,--but chiefly colored,--who were opposed to that offensive and +objectionable clause, believing the same to be unjust, unnecessary, and +unwise; hence, many of that class refused to vote either way. + +Third. There were thousands of voters, the writer being one of that +number, who favored ratification because the Constitution as a whole was +a most excellent document, and because its ratification would facilitate +the readmittance of Mississippi into the Union; after which the one +objectionable clause could be stricken out by means of an amendment. +While all of this class favored and advocated ratification for the +reasons stated, yet their known attitude towards the clause proved to be +a contributary cause of the rejection of the Constitution. + +The reader may not understand why there were any colored men, especially +at that time and in that section, that would have any sympathy for the +white men who would have been victims of this clause had the new +Constitution been ratified. But if the reader will closely follow what +this writer will set down in subsequent chapters of this work, he will +find the reasons why there was and still is a bond of sympathy between +the two races at the South,--a bond that the institution of slavery with +all its horrors could not destroy, the Rebellion could not wipe out, +Reconstruction could not efface, and subsequent events have not been +able to change. The writer is aware of the fact that thousands of +intelligent people are now laboring under the impression that there +exists at the South a bitter feeling of antagonism between the two races +and that this has produced dangerous and difficult problems for the +country to solve. That some things have occurred that would justify such +a conclusion, especially on the part of those who are not students of +this subject, will not be denied. + +After the rejection of the Constitution no further effort was made to +have Mississippi readmitted into the Union until after the Presidential +and Congressional elections of 1868. The Democratic party throughout the +country was solid in its support of President Andrew Johnson, and was +bitter in its opposition to the Congressional Plan of Reconstruction. +Upon a platform that declared the Reconstruction Acts of Congress to be +unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void, the Democrats nominated for +President and Vice-President, Ex-Governor Horatio Seymour, of New York, +and General Frank P. Blair, of Missouri. The Republicans nominated for +President General U.S. Grant, of Illinois, and for Vice-President +Speaker Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana. These candidates were nominated +upon a platform which strongly supported and indorsed the Congressional +Plan of Reconstruction. + +On this issue the two parties went before the people for a decision. The +Republicans were successful, but not by such a decisive majority as in +the Congressional election of 1866. In fact, if all the Southern States +that took part in that election had gone Democratic, the hero of +Appomattox would have been defeated. It was the Southern States, giving +Republican majorities through the votes of their colored men, that saved +that important national election to the Republican party. To the very +great surprise of the Republican leaders the party lost the important +and pivotal State of New York. It had been confidently believed that the +immense popularity of General Grant and his prestige as a brilliant and +successful Union general would save every doubtful State to the +Republicans, New York, of course, included. But this expectation was not +realized. The result, it is needless to say, was a keen and bitter +disappointment, for no effort had been spared to bring to the attention +of the voters the strong points in General Grant. A vote against Grant, +it was strongly contended, was virtually a vote against the Union. +Frederick Douglass, who electrified many audiences in that campaign, +made the notable declaration that "While Washington had given us a +country, it was Grant who had saved us a country." And yet the savior of +our country failed in that election to save to the Republican party the +most important State in the Union. But, notwithstanding the loss of New +York, the Republicans not only elected the President and Vice-President, +but also had a safe majority in both branches of Congress. + +One of the first acts of Congress after the Presidential election of +1868 was one authorizing the President to submit Mississippi's rejected +Constitution once again to a popular vote. The same act authorized the +President to submit to a separate vote such clause or clauses of said +Constitution as in his judgment might be particularly obnoxious to any +considerable number of the people of the State. It was not and could not +be denied that the Constitution as a whole was a most admirable +document. The Democrats had no serious objection to its ratification if +the clause disfranchising most of their leaders were eliminated. When it +became known that this clause would be submitted to a separate vote, and +that the Republican organization would not insist upon its retention, no +serious opposition to the ratification of the Constitution was +anticipated. And, indeed, none was made. + +The time fixed for holding the election was November, 1869. In the mean +time the State was to be under military control. General Adelbert Ames +was made Military Governor, with power to fill by appointment every +civil office in the State. Shortly after General Ames took charge as +Military Governor the Republican club at Natchez agreed upon a slate to +be submitted to the Military Governor for his favorable consideration, +the names upon said slate being the choice of the Republican +organization of the county for county and city officials. Among the +names thus agreed upon was that of the Rev. H.P. Jacobs for Justice of +the Peace. It was then decided to send a member of the club to Jackson, +the State capital, to present the slate to the Governor in person in +order to answer questions that might be asked or to give any information +that might be desired about any of the persons whose names appeared on +the slate. It fell to my lot to be chosen for that purpose; the +necessary funds being raised by the club to pay my expenses. I accepted +the mission, contingent upon my employer's granting me leave of absence. + +Natchez at that time was not connected with Jackson by railroad, so that +the only way for me to reach the capital was to go by steamer from +Natchez to Vicksburg or to New Orleans, and from there by rail to +Jackson. The trip, therefore, would necessarily consume the greater part +of a week. My employer,--who was what was known as a Northern man, +having come there after the occupation of the place by the Federal +troops,--not only granted me leave of absence but agreed to remain in +the city and carry on the business during my absence. + +When I arrived at the building occupied by the Governor and sent up my +card, I had to wait only a few minutes before I was admitted to his +office. The Governor received me cordially and treated me with marked +courtesy, giving close attention while I presented as forcibly as I +could the merits and qualifications of the different persons whose names +were on the slate. When I had concluded my remarks the Governor's only +reply was that he would give the matter his early and careful +consideration. A few weeks later the appointments were announced; but +not many of the appointees were persons whose names I had presented. +However, to my great embarrassment I found that my own name had been +substituted for that of Jacobs for the office of Justice of the Peace. I +not only had no ambition in that direction but was not aware that my +name was under consideration for that or for any other office. Besides, +I was apprehensive that Jacobs and some of his friends might suspect me +of having been false to the trust that had been reposed in me, at least +so far as the office of Justice of the Peace was concerned. At first I +was of the opinion that the only way in which I could disabuse their +minds of that erroneous impression was to decline the appointment. But I +found out upon inquiry that in no event would Jacobs receive the +appointment. I was also reliably informed that I had not been +recommended nor suggested by any one, but that the Governor's action was +the result of the favorable impression I had made upon him when I +presented the slate. For this, of course, I was in no way responsible. +In fact the impression of my fitness for the office that my brief talk +had made upon the Governor was just what the club had hoped I would be +able to accomplish in the interest of the whole slate. That it so +happened that I was the beneficiary of the favorable impression that my +brief talk had made upon the Governor may have been unfortunate in one +respect, but it was an unconscious act for which I could not be +censured. After consulting, therefore, with a few personal friends and +local party leaders, I decided to accept the appointment although, in +consequence of my youth and inexperience, I had serious doubts as to my +ability to discharge the duties of the office which at that time was one +of considerable importance. + +Then the bond question loomed up, which was one of the greatest +obstacles in my way, although the amount was only two thousand dollars. +How to give that bond was the important problem I had to solve, for, of +course, no one was eligible as a bondsman who did not own real estate. +There were very few colored men who were thus eligible, and it was out +of the question at that time to expect any white property owner to sign +the bond of a colored man. But there were two colored men willing to +sign the bond for one thousand dollars each who were considered eligible +by the authorities. These men were William McCary and David Singleton. +The law, having been duly satisfied in the matter of my bond, I was +permitted to take the oath of office in April, 1869, and to enter upon +the discharge of my duties as a Justice of the Peace, which office I +held until the 31st of December of the same year when I resigned to +accept a seat in the lower branch of the State Legislature to which I +had been elected the preceding November. + +When I entered upon the discharge of my duties as a Justice of the Peace +the only comment that was made by the local Democratic paper of the town +was in these words: "We are now beginning to reap the ravishing fruits +of Reconstruction." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +REORGANIZATION OF THE STATE DEPARTMENTS DURING GOVERNOR ALCORN'S +ADMINISTRATION + + +The new Constitution of Mississippi, which had been rejected in 1868, +was to be submitted to a popular vote once more in November, 1869. At +the same time State officers, members of the Legislature, Congressmen, +and district and county officers were to be elected. Since the +objectionable clauses in the Constitution were to be put to a separate +vote, and since it was understood that both parties would favor the +rejection of these clauses, there was no serious opposition to the +ratification of the Constitution thus amended. A hard and stubborn fight +was, however, to be made for control of the State Government. + +General James L. Alcorn, who had been a general in the Confederate Army +and who had recently openly identified himself with the Republican +party, was nominated by the Republicans for the office of Governor of +the State. Of the other six men who were associated with him on the +state ticket, only the candidate for Secretary of the State, the +Reverend James Lynch,--an able and eloquent minister of the Methodist +Church,--was a colored man. Lynch was a man of fine ability, of splendid +education, and one of the most powerful and convincing orators that the +Republicans had upon the stump in that campaign. He was known and +recognized as such an able and brilliant speaker that his services were +in great demand from the beginning to the end of the campaign. No +Democratic orator, however able, was anxious to meet him in joint +debate. He died suddenly the latter part of 1872. His death was a great +loss to the State and to the Republican party and especially to the +colored race. + +Of the other five candidates on the ticket two,--the candidates for +State Treasurer and Attorney General,--were, like General Alcorn, +Southern white men. The candidate for State Treasurer, Hon. W.H. Vasser, +was a successful business man who lived in the northern part of the +State, while the candidate for Attorney General, Hon. Joshua S. Morris, +was a brilliant member of the bar who lived in the southern part of the +State. The other three, the candidates for Lieutenant-Governor, State +Auditor and Superintendent of Education, were Northern men who had +settled in the State after the War, called by the Democrats, "Carpet +Baggers," but they were admitted to be clean and good men who had +lived in the State long enough to become fully identified with its +industrial and business interests. H.C. Powers, the candidate for +Lieutenant-Governor, and H. Musgrove, the candidate for Auditor of +Public Accounts, were successful cotton planters from Noxubee and Clarke +counties respectively; while H.R. Pease, the candidate for State +Superintendent of Education, had been identified with educational work +ever since he came to the State. It could not be denied that it was a +strong and able ticket,--one that the Democrats would find it very +difficult to defeat. In desperation the Democratic party had nominated +as their candidate for Governor a brother-in-law of President Grant's, +Judge Lewis Dent, in the hope that the President would throw the weight +of his influence and the active support of his administration on the +side of his relative, as against the candidate of his own party, +especially in view of the fact that Dent had been nominated not as a +Democrat but as an Independent Republican,--his candidacy simply having +been indorsed by the Democratic organization. But in this they were +disappointed, for if the President gave any indication of preference it +was in favor of the Republican ticket. General Ames, for instance, was +the Military Governor of the State, holding that position at the +pleasure of the President; and Ames was so outspoken in his support of +the Republican ticket, that in an address before the State Republican +Convention that nominated General Alcorn for the Governorship he +announced, "You have my sympathy and shall have my support." This +declaration was received by the convention with great applause, for it +was known that those words from that source carried great weight. They +meant not only that the Republican party would have the active and +aggressive support of the Military Governor,--which was very important +and would be worth thousands of votes to the party,--but they also +indicated the attitude of the National Administration. The campaign was +aggressive from beginning to end. Judge Dent was at a disadvantage, +since his candidacy had failed to bring to his support the influence of +the National Administration, which had been the sole purpose of his +nomination. In spite of that fact Dent made a game and gallant fight; +but the election resulted in an overwhelming Republican victory. That +party not only elected the State ticket by a majority of about 30,000 +but it also had a large majority in both branches of the State +Legislature. + +The new administration had an important and difficult task before it. A +State Government had to be organized from top to bottom; a new judiciary +had to be inaugurated,--consisting of three Justices of the State +Supreme Court, fifteen Judges of the Circuit Court and twenty Chancery +Court Judges,--who had all to be appointed by the Governor with the +consent of the Senate, and, in addition, a new public school system had +to be established. There was not a public school building anywhere in +the State except in a few of the larger towns, and they, with possibly +a few exceptions, were greatly in need of repairs. To erect the +necessary school houses and to reconstruct and repair those already in +existence so as to afford educational facilities for both races was by +no means an easy task. It necessitated a very large outlay of cash in +the beginning, which resulted in a material increase in the rate of +taxation for the time being, but the Constitution called for the +establishment of the system, and of course the work had to be done. It +was not only done, but it was done creditably and as economically as +possible, considering the conditions at that time. + +That system, though slightly changed, still stands,--a creditable +monument to the first Republican State administration that was organized +in the State of Mississippi under the Reconstruction Acts of Congress. + +It was also necessary to reorganize, reconstruct and, in many instances, +rebuild some of the penal and charitable institutions of the State. A +new code of laws also had to be adopted to take the place of the old +code and thus wipe out the black laws that had been passed by what was +known as the Johnson Legislature and in addition bring about other +changes so as to make the laws and statutes of the State conform with +the new order of things. This was no easy task, in view of the fact that +a heavy increase in the rate of taxation was thus made necessary, for +the time being at least. That this important work was splendidly, +creditably, and economically done no fair-minded person who is familiar +with the facts will question or dispute. + +That the State never had before, and has never had since, a finer +Judiciary than that which was organized under the administration of +Governor Alcorn and which continued under the administration of Governor +Ames is an indisputable and incontrovertible fact. The Judges of the +Supreme Court were E.G. Peyton, H.F. Simrall and J. Tarbell, who in +Mississippi had no superiors in their profession, and who had the +respect and confidence of the bar and of the people without regard to +race or politics. Judge Peyton was the Chief Justice, Simrall and +Tarbell being the Associate Justices. The first two were old residents +of the State, while Mr. Justice Tarbell was what the Democrats would +call a "Carpet Bagger." But that he was an able lawyer and a man of +unimpeachable integrity no one doubted or questioned. During the second +administration of President Grant he held the important position of +Second Comptroller of the United States Treasury. The Circuit Court +bench was graced with such able and brilliant lawyers as Jason Niles, +G.C. Chandler, George F. Brown, J.A. Orr, John W. Vance, Robert +Leachman, B.B. Boone, Orlando Davis, James M. Smiley, Uriah Millsaps, +William M. Hancock, E.S. Fisher, C.C. Shackleford, W.B. Cunningham, +W.D. Bradford and A. Alderson. Judges Brown and Cunningham were the only +ones in the above list who were not old residents of the State. After +leaving the bench, Judge Chandler served for several years as United +States Attorney. Judge Niles served one term as a member of Congress, +having been elected as a Republican in 1875. His son Henry Clay Niles is +now United States District Judge for the State, having been appointed to +that important position by President Harrison. He was strongly +recommended by many members of the bench and bar of the State; and the +very able and creditable way in which he has discharged the duties of +the position has more than demonstrated the wisdom of the selection. + +The Chancery Courts as organized by Governor Alcorn and continued by +Governor Ames were composed of men no less able and brilliant than those +who composed the Bench of the Circuit Courts. They were: J.C. Lyon, E.P. +Harmon, E.G. Peyton, Jr., J.M. Ellis, G.S. McMillan, Samuel Young, W.G. +Henderson, Edwin Hill, T.R. Gowan, J.F. Simmons, Wesley Drane, D.W. +Walker, DeWitte Stearns, D.P. Coffee, E.W. Cabiness, A.E. Reynolds, +Thomas Christian, Austin Pollard, J.J. Hooker, O.H. Whitfield, E. +Stafford, W.A. Drennan, Thomas Walton, E.H. Osgood, C.A. Sullivan, Hiram +Cassedy, Jr., W.B. Peyton, J.D. Barton, J.J. Dennis, W.D. Frazee, P.P. +Bailey, L.C. Abbott, H.W. Warren, R. Boyd, R.B. Stone, William Breck, +J.N. Campbell, H.R. Ware and J.B. Deason. The above names composed those +who were appointed both by Governors Alcorn and Ames. A majority of +those originally appointed by Governor Alcorn were reappointed by +Governor Ames. Of the forty appointments of Judges of the Chancery +Courts made under the administrations of Alcorn and Ames, not more than +about seven were not to the "manner born." The administration of James +L. Alcorn as Governor of the State of Mississippi is one of the best +with which that unfortunate State has been blessed. A more extended +reference to the subsequent administration of Governor Ames will be made +in a later chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE REPUBLICAN COUNTY CONVENTION OF 1869 + + +Although it was not charged nor even intimated that my acceptance of the +office of Justice of the Peace was the result of bad faith on my part, +still the appointment resulted in the creation for the time being of two +factions in the Republican party in the county. One was known as the +Lynch faction, the other as the Jacobs faction. + +When the Constitution was submitted to a popular vote in November, 1869, +it was provided that officers should be elected at the same time to all +offices created by the Constitution and that they, including members of +the Legislature, were to be chosen by popular vote. The county of Adams +(Natchez) was entitled to one member of the State Senate and three +members of the House of Representatives. Jacobs was a candidate for the +Republican nomination for State Senator. The Lynch faction, however, +refused to support him for that position although it had no objection to +his nomination for member of the House. Since Jacobs persisted in his +candidacy for State Senator the Lynch faction brought out an opposing +candidate in the person of a Baptist minister by the name of J.M.P. +Williams. The contest between the two Republican candidates was +interesting and exciting, though not bitter, and turned out to be very +close. + +The convention was to be composed of thirty-three delegates, seventeen +being necessary to nominate. The result at the primary election of +delegates to the convention was so close that it was impossible to tell +which one had a majority, since there were several delegates,--about +whose attitude and preference there had been some doubt,--who refused to +commit themselves either way. In the organization of the convention the +Williams men gained the first advantage, one of their number having been +made permanent chairman. But this was not important since there were no +contests for seats, consequently the presiding officer would have no +occasion to render a decision that could have any bearing upon the +composition of the body over which he presided. + +Both sides agreed that the nomination for State Senator should be made +first and that the vote should be by ballot, the ballots to be received +and counted by two tellers, one to be selected by each faction. When the +result of the first ballot was announced, Jacobs had sixteen votes, +Williams, sixteen, and a third man had one. Several ballots were taken +with the same result, when, with the consent of both sides, a recess was +taken until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The one delegate that refused +to vote for either Jacobs or Williams made no effort to conceal his +identity. To the contrary, he was outspoken in his determination and +decision that he would not at any time or under any circumstances vote +for either. Strange to say, this man was also a colored Baptist +preacher, the Rev. Noah Buchanan, from the Washington district. Members +of both factions approached him during the recess and pleaded with him, +but their efforts and pleadings were all in vain. Nothing could move him +or change him. He stated that he had given the matter his careful and +serious consideration, and that he had come to the conclusion that +neither Jacobs nor Williams was a fit man to represent the important +county of Adams in the State Senate, hence neither could get his vote. +At the afternoon session, after several ballots had been taken with the +same result, an adjournment was ordered until 9 o'clock next morning. + +Soon after adjournment each side went into caucus. At the Jacobs meeting +it was decided to stick to their man to the very last. At the Williams +meeting Hon. H.C. Griffin, white leader of the Williams men, suggested +the name of the Rev. H.R. Revels as a compromise candidate. Revels was +comparatively a new man in the community. He had recently been stationed +at Natchez as pastor in charge of the A.M.E. Church, and so far as +known he had never voted, had never attended a political meeting, and of +course, had never made a political speech. But he was a colored man, and +presumed to be a Republican, and believed to be a man of ability and +considerably above the average in point of intelligence; just the man, +it was thought, the Rev. Noah Buchanan would be willing to vote for. + +After considerable discussion it was agreed that a committee should be +appointed to wait on Mr. Williams in order to find out if he would be +willing to withdraw in favor of Revels should his friends and supporters +deem such a step necessary and wise. In the event of Williams' +withdrawal, the committee was next to call on Revels to find out if he +would consent to the use of his name. If Revels consented, the committee +was next to call on Rev. Buchanan to find out whether or not he would +vote for Revels. This committee was to report to the caucus at 8 o'clock +next morning. + +At the appointed time the committee reported that Williams had stated +that he was in the hands of his friends and that he would abide by any +decision they might make. Revels, the report stated, who had been taken +very much by surprise,--having had no idea that his name would ever be +mentioned in connection with any office,--had asked to be allowed until +7 o'clock in the morning to consider the matter and to talk it over with +his wife. At 7 o'clock he notified the chairman of the committee that +he would accept the nomination if tendered. + +Buchanan had informed the committee that he had heard of Revels but did +not know him personally. He too had asked to be allowed until 7 o'clock +in the morning before giving a positive answer, so as to enable him to +make the necessary inquiries to find out whether or not Revels was a +suitable man for the position. At 7 o'clock he informed the chairman of +the committee that if the name of Williams should be withdrawn in favor +of Revels he would cast his vote for Revels. The caucus then decided by +a unanimous vote that upon the assembling of the convention at 9 o'clock +that morning Mr. Griffin should withdraw the name of Williams from +before the convention as a candidate for State Senator, but that no +other name should be placed in nomination. Every member of the caucus, +however, was committed to vote for Revels. This decision was to be +communicated to no one outside of the caucus except to Mr. Buchanan, who +was to be privately informed of it by the chairman of the committee to +whom he had communicated his own decision. + +As soon as the convention was called to order Mr. Griffin was recognized +by the chair. He stated that he had been authorized to withdraw the name +of Rev. J.M.P. Williams from before the convention as candidate for +State Senator. This announcement was received by the Jacobs men with +great applause. The withdrawal of the name of Williams without placing +any other in nomination they accepted as evidence that further +opposition to the nomination of their candidate had been abandoned and +that his nomination was a foregone conclusion. But they were not allowed +to labor under that impression very long. The roll-call was immediately +ordered by the chair and the tellers took their places. When the ballots +had been counted and tabulated, the result was seventeen votes for +Revels and sixteen votes for Jacobs. The announcement was received by +the Williams men with great applause. The result was a victory for them +because it was their sixteen votes together with the vote of Rev. Noah +Buchanan that had nominated Revels. The Jacobs men accepted their defeat +gracefully. A motion was offered by their leader to make the nomination +unanimous and it was adopted without a dissenting vote. In anticipation +of his nomination Revels was present as one of the interested spectators +and upon being called upon for a brief address he delivered it with +telling effect, thereby making a most favorable impression. This address +convinced Rev. Noah Buchanan that he had made no mistake in voting for +Revels. Jacobs was then nominated for member of the House of +Representatives without opposition, his associates being John R. Lynch +and Capt. O.C. French, a white Republican. The ticket as completed was +elected by a majority of from fifteen hundred to two thousand, a +Republican nomination in Adams County at that time being equivalent to +an election. + +When the Legislature convened at Jackson the first Monday in January, +1870, it was suggested to Lieutenant-Governor Powers, presiding officer +of the Senate, that he invite the Rev. Dr. Revels to open the Senate +with prayer. The suggestion was favorably acted upon. That prayer,--one +of the most impressive and eloquent prayers that had ever been delivered +in the Senate Chamber,--made Revels a United States Senator. He made a +profound impression upon all who heard him. It impressed those who heard +it that Revels was not only a man of great natural ability but that he +was also a man of superior attainments. + +The duty devolved upon that Legislature to fill three vacancies in the +United States Senate: one, a fractional term of about one year,--the +remainder of the six year term to which Jefferson Davis had been elected +before the breaking out of the Rebellion,--another fractional term of +about five years, and the third, the full term of six years, beginning +with the expiration of the fractional term of one year. The colored +members of the Legislature constituted a very small minority not only of +the total membership of that body but also of the Republican members. Of +the thirty-three members of which the Senate was composed four of them +were colored men: H.R. Revels, of Adams; Charles Caldwell, of Hinds; +Robert Gleed, of Lowndes, and T.W. Stringer, of Warren. Of the one +hundred and seven members of which the House was composed about thirty +of them were colored men. It will thus be seen that out of the one +hundred forty members of which the two Houses were composed only about +thirty-four of them were colored men. But the colored members insisted +that one of the three United States Senators to be elected should be a +colored man. The white Republicans were willing that the colored men be +given the fractional term of one year, since it was understood that +Governor Alcorn was to be elected to the full term of six years and that +Governor Ames was to be elected to the fractional term of five years. + +In this connection it may not be out of place to say that, ever since +the organization of the Republican party in Mississippi, the white +Republicans of that State, unlike some in a few of the other Southern +States, have never attempted to draw the color line against their +colored allies. In this they have proved themselves to be genuine and +not sham Republicans,--that is to say, Republicans from principle and +conviction and not for plunder and spoils. They have never failed to +recognize the fact that the fundamental principle of the Republican +party,--the one that gave the party its strongest claim upon the +confidence and support of the public,--is its advocacy of equal civil +and political rights. If that party should ever come to the conclusion +that this principle should be abandoned, that moment it will merit, and +I am sure it will receive, the condemnation and repudiation of the +public. + +It was not, therefore, a surprise to any one when the white Republican +members of the Mississippi Legislature gave expression to their entire +willingness to vote for a suitable colored man to represent the state of +Mississippi in the highest and most dignified legislative tribunal in +the world. The next step was to find the man. The name of the Rev. James +Lynch was first suggested. That he was a suitable and fit man for the +position could not be denied. But he had just been elected Secretary of +State for a term of four years, and his election to the Senate would +have created a vacancy in the former office which would have +necessitated the holding of another State election and another election +was what all wanted to avoid. For that reason his name was not seriously +considered for the Senatorship. + +[Illustration: HON. HIRAM R. REVELS. The first colored man that occupied +a seat in the U.S. Senate. From a photograph taken by Maj. Lynch at +Natchez, Miss., in 1868.] + +The next name suggested was that of the Rev. H.R. Revels and those who +had been so fortunate as to hear the impressive prayer that he had +delivered on the opening of the Senate were outspoken in their advocacy +of his selection. The white Republicans assured the colored members +that if they would unite upon Revels, they were satisfied he would +receive the vote of every white Republican member of the Legislature. +Governor Alcorn also gave the movement his cordial and active support, +thus insuring for Revels the support of the State administration. The +colored members then held an informal conference, at which it was +unanimously decided to present the name of Rev. H.R. Revels to the +Republican Legislative Caucus as a candidate for United States Senator +to fill the fractional term of one year. The choice was ratified by the +caucus without serious opposition. In the joint Legislative session, +every Republican member, white and colored, voted for the three +Republican caucus nominees for United States Senators,--Alcorn, Ames and +Revels,--with one exception, Senator William M. Hancock, of Lauderdale, +who stated in explanation of his vote against Revels that as a lawyer he +did not believe that a colored man was eligible to a seat in the United +States Senate. But Judge Hancock seems to have been the only lawyer in +the Legislature,--or outside of it, as far as could be learned,--who +entertained that opinion. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +IMPORTANT EDUCATIONAL AND POLITICAL MEASURES OF THE NEW LEGISLATURE + + +In addition to the election of three United States Senators this +Legislature had some very important work before it, as has already been +stated in a previous chapter. A new public school system had to be +inaugurated and put in operation, thus necessitating the construction of +schoolhouses throughout the State, some of them, especially in the towns +and villages, to be quite large and of course expensive. All of the +other public buildings and institutions in the State had to be repaired, +some of them rebuilt, all of them having been neglected and some of them +destroyed during the progress of the late War. In addition to this the +entire State Government in all of its branches had to be reconstructed +and so organized as to place the same in perfect harmony with the new +order of things. + +To accomplish these things money was required. There was none in the +treasury. There was no cash available even to pay the ordinary expenses +of the State government. Because of this lack of funds the government +had to be carried on on a credit basis,--that is, by the issuing of +notes or warrants based upon the credit of the State. These notes were +issued at par to the creditors of the State in satisfaction of the +obligations. In turn they were disposed of at a discount to bankers and +brokers by whom they were held until there should be sufficient cash in +the treasury to redeem them,--such redemption usually occurring in from +three to six months, though sometimes the period was longer. To raise +the necessary money to put the new machinery in successful operation one +of two things had to be done: either the rate of taxation must be +materially increased or interest bearing bonds must be issued and placed +upon the market, thus increasing the bonded debt of the State. Although +the fact was subsequently developed that a small increase in the bonded +debt of the State could not very well be avoided, yet, after careful +deliberation, the plan agreed upon was to materially increase the rate +of taxation. + +This proved to be so unpopular that it came near losing the Legislature +to the Republicans at the elections of 1871. Although it was explained +to the people that this increase was only temporary and that the rate of +taxation would be reduced as soon as some of the schoolhouses had been +built, and some of the public institutions had been repaired, still this +was not satisfactory to those by whom these taxes had to be paid. They +insisted that some other plan ought to have been adopted, especially at +that time. The War had just come to a close, leaving most of the people +in an impoverished condition. What was true of the public institutions +of the State was equally true of the private property of those who were +property owners at that time. Their property during the War had been +neglected, and what had not been destroyed was in a state of decay. This +was especially true of those who had been the owners of large landed +estates and of many slaves. Many of these people had been the +acknowledged representatives of the wealth, the intelligence, the +culture, the refinement and the aristocracy of the South,--the ruling +class in the church, in society and in State affairs. These were the men +who had made and molded public opinion, who had controlled the pulpit +and the press, who had shaped the destiny of the State; who had made and +enforced the laws,--or at least such laws as they desired to have +enforced,--and who had represented the State not only in the State +Legislature but in both branches of the National Legislature at +Washington. Many of these proud sons, gallant fathers, cultured mothers +and wives and refined and polished daughters found themselves in a +situation and in a condition that was pitiable in the extreme. It was +not only a difficult matter for them to adjust themselves to the new +order of things and to the radically changed conditions, but no longer +having slaves upon whom they could depend for everything, to raise the +necessary money to prevent the decay, the dissipation and the ultimate +loss or destruction of their large landed estates was the serious and +difficult problem they had before them. To have the rate of taxation +increased upon this property, especially at that particular time, was to +them a very serious matter,--a matter which could not have any other +effect than to intensify their bitterness and hostility towards the +party in control of the State Government. But since Governor Alcorn, +under whose administration, and in accordance with whose recommendation +this increase had been made, was a typical representative of this +particular class, it was believed and hoped that he would have +sufficient influence with the people of his own class to stem the tide +of resentment, and to calm their fears and apprehensions. That the +Republicans retained control of the Legislature as a result of the +elections of 1871,--though by only a small majority in the lower +house,--is conclusive evidence that the Governor's efforts in that +direction were not wholly in vain. The argument made by the taxpayers, +however, was plausible and it may be conceded that, upon the whole, they +were about right; for no doubt it would have been much easier upon the +taxpayers to have increased at that time the interest-bearing debt of +the State than to have increased the tax rate. The latter course, +however, had been adopted and could not then be changed. + +Governor Alcorn also recommended,--a recommendation that was favorably +considered by the Legislature,--that there be created and supported by +the State a college for the higher education of the colored boys and +young men of the State. This bill was promptly passed by the +Legislature, and, in honor of the one by whom its creation was +recommended the institution was named "Alcorn College." The presidency +of this much-needed college was an honorable and dignified position to +which a fair and reasonable salary was attached, so the Governor, who +had the appointing power, decided to tender the office to Senator H.R. +Revels upon the expiration of his term in the Senate. I had the honor of +being named as one of the first trustees of this important institution. +After the Governor, the trustees and Senator Revels had carefully +inspected many different places that had been suggested for the location +of the institution, Oakland College near the town of Rodney in Claiborne +County, was finally purchased, and Alcorn College was established, with +Senator Revels as its first president. + +As an evidence of the necessity for such an institution it will not be +out of place to call attention to the fact that when the writer was +first elected to Congress in 1872, there was not one young colored man +in the State that could pass the necessary examination for a clerkship +in any of the Departments at Washington. Four years later the supply was +greater than the demand, nearly all of the applicants being graduates of +Alcorn College. At this writing the institution is still being +maintained by the State, although on a reduced appropriation and on a +plan that is somewhat different from that which was inaugurated at its +beginning and while the Republicans were in control of the State +government. One of the reasons, no doubt, why it is supported by a +Democratic administration, is that the State might otherwise forfeit and +lose the aid it now receives from the National Government for the +support of agricultural institutions. But, aside from this, there are +very many liberal, fair-minded and influential Democrats in the State +who are strongly in favor of having the State provide for the liberal +education of both races. + +The knowledge I had acquired of parliamentary law not only enabled me to +take a leading part in the deliberations of the Legislature, but it +resulted in my being made Speaker of the House of Representatives that +was elected in 1871. Shortly after the adjournment of the first session +of the Legislature, the Speaker of the House, Hon. F.E. Franklin, of +Yazoo County, died. When the Legislature reassembled the first Monday in +January, 1871, Hon. H.W. Warren, of Leake County, was made Speaker of +the House. In addition to the vacancy from Yazoo, created by the death +of Speaker Franklin, one had also occurred from Lowndes County, which +was one of the safe and sure Republican counties. Through apathy, +indifference and overconfidence, the Democratic candidate, Dr. Landrum, +was elected to fill this vacancy. It was a strange and novel sight to +see a Democratic member of the Legislature from the rock-ribbed +Republican county of Lowndes. It was no doubt a source of considerable +embarrassment even to Dr. Landrum himself, for he was looked upon by all +as a marvel and a curiosity. When he got up to deliver his maiden speech +a few days after he was sworn in, he was visibly and perceptibly +affected, for every eye was firmly and intently fixed upon him. Every +one seemed to think that the man that could be elected to a seat in the +Legislature from Lowndes County as a Democrat, must be endowed with some +strange and hidden power through the exercise of which he could direct +the movements and control the actions of those who might be brought in +contact with him or subjected to his hypnotic influence; hence the +anxiety and curiosity to hear the maiden speech of this strange and +remarkable man. The voice in the House of a Democrat from the county of +Lowndes was of so strange, so sudden, so unexpected and so remarkable +that it was difficult for many to bring themselves to a realization of +the fact that such a thing had actually happened and that it was a +living reality. To the curious, the speech was a disappointment, +although it was a plain, calm, conservative and convincing statement of +the new member's position upon public questions. To the great amusement +of those who heard him he related some of his experiences while he was +engaged in canvassing the county. But the speech revealed the fact that, +after all, he was nothing more than an ordinary man. No one was +impressed by any word or sentence that had fallen from his lips that +there was anything about him that was strange, impressive or unusual, +and all decided that his election was purely accidental; for it was no +more surprising than was the election of a colored Republican, Hon. J.M. +Wilson, to the same Legislature the year before, from the reliable +Democratic county of Marion. + +There was not much to be done at the second session of the Legislature +outside of passing the annual appropriation bills; hence the session was +a short one. Although Governor Alcorn's term as a United States Senator +commenced March 4, 1871, he did not vacate the office of Governor until +the meeting of Congress, the first Monday in the following December. A +new Legislature and all county officers were to be elected in November +of that year. It was to be the first important election since the +inauguration of the Alcorn administration. The Governor decided to +remain where he could assume entire responsibility for what had been +done and where he could answer, officially and otherwise, all charges +and accusations and criticisms that might be made against his +administration and his official acts. The Republican majority in the +State Senate was so large that the holdover Senators made it well nigh +impossible for the Democrats to secure a majority of that body, but the +principal fight was to be made for control of the House. As already +stated the heavy increase in taxation proved to be very unpopular and +this gave the Democrats a decided advantage. They made a strong and +bitter fight to gain control of the House, and nearly succeeded. + +When every county had been heard from it was found that out of the one +hundred fifteen members of which the House was composed, the Republicans +had elected sixty-six members and the Democrats, forty-nine. Of the +sixty-six that had been elected as Republicans, two,--Messrs. Armstead +and Streeter,--had been elected from Carroll County on an independent +ticket. They classed themselves politically as Independent or Alcorn +Republicans. Carroll was the only doubtful county in the State that the +Democrats failed to carry. The Independent ticket in that county, which +was supported by an influential faction of Democrats, was brought out +with the understanding and agreement that it would receive the support +of the Republican organization. This support was given, but upon a +pledge that the candidates for the Legislature, if elected, should not +enter the Democratic caucus, nor vote for the candidates thereof in the +organization of the House. These conditions were accepted, which +resulted in the ticket being supported by the Republicans and, +consequently elected. All the other doubtful and close counties went +Democratic, which resulted in the defeat of some of the strongest and +most influential men in the Republican party, including Speaker Warren +of Leake County, Lucas and Boyd of Altala, Underwood of Chickasaw, Avery +of Tallahatchie, and many others. Notwithstanding these reverses, the +Republicans sent a number of able men to the House, among whom may be +mentioned French of Adams, Howe and Pyles of Panola, Fisher of Hinds, +Chandler and Davis of Noxubee, Huggins of Monroe, Stone and Spelman of +Madison, Barrett of Amite, Sullivan and Gayles of Bolivar, Everett and +Dixon of Yazoo, Griggs and Houston of Issaquina, and many others. In +point of experience and ability this Legislature was the equal of its +immediate predecessor. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CONTEST FOR SPEAKER OF THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES + + +The elections being over, and a Republican majority in both branches of +the Legislature being assured, Governor Alcorn was then prepared to +vacate the office of Governor, to turn over the administration of State +affairs to Lieutenant-Governor Powers and to proceed to Washington so as +to be present at the opening session of Congress on the first Monday in +December when he would assume his duties as a United States Senator. + +The Legislature was to meet the first Monday in the following +January,--1872. As soon as the fact was made known that the Republicans +would control the organization of the House, the Speakership of that +body began to be agitated. If Speaker Warren had been reelected he would +have received the Republican caucus nomination without opposition, but +his defeat made it necessary for a new man to be brought forward for +that position. A movement was immediately put on foot to make me the +Speaker of the House. + +Upon a careful examination of the returns it was found that of the one +hundred fifteen members of which the House was composed there were +seventy-seven whites and thirty-eight colored. Of the seventy-seven +whites, forty-nine had been elected as Democrats and twenty-eight as +Republicans. The thirty-eight colored men were all Republicans. It will +thus be seen that, while in the composition of the Republican caucus +there were ten more colored than white members, yet of the total +membership of the House there were thirty-nine more white than colored +members. But in the organization of the House, the contest was not +between white and colored, but between Democrats and Republicans. No one +had been elected,--at least on the Republican side,--because he was a +white man or because he was a colored man, but because he was a +Republican. After a preliminary canvass the fact was developed that the +writer was not only the choice of the colored members for Speaker of the +House, but of a large majority of the white Republican members as well. +They believed,--and voted in accordance with that belief both in the +party caucus and in the House,--that the writer was the best-equipped +man for that responsible position. This fact had been demonstrated to +their satisfaction during the two sessions of the preceding Legislature. + +The nomination of the writer by the House Republican caucus for Speaker +was a foregone conclusion several weeks before the convening of the +Legislature. With a full membership in attendance fifty-eight votes +would be necessary to perfect the organization. When the Republican +caucus convened sixty members were present and took part in the +deliberations thereof. Four of the Republicans-elect had not at that +time arrived at the seat of government. The two Independents from +Carroll refused to attend the caucus, but this did not necessarily mean +that they would not vote for the candidates thereof in the organization +of the House. But since we had sixty votes,--two more than were +necessary to elect our candidate,--we believed that the organization +would be easily perfected the next day, regardless of the action of the +members from Carroll County. + +In this, however, we were sadly disappointed. The result of the first +vote for Speaker of the House was as follows: + + Lynch, Republican caucus nominee 55 + Streeter, Democratic nominee 47 + Chandler, Independent Republican 7 + Armstead, Independent Republican 1 + Howe, Regular Republican 1 + Necessary to elect 56 + +Judge Chandler of Noxubee, who had been elected as a regular Republican +with four other white Republicans,--all of whom attended and took part +in the caucus the night before,--refused to vote for the nominee of the +caucus for Speaker but voted instead for Chandler. It will be seen that +the vote for Streeter, the Democratic caucus nominee, was two less than +that party's strength; thus showing that two Democrats must have also +voted for Chandler. It will also be seen that if every vote that was not +received by Lynch had been given to Chandler or to any other man, that +man would have received the required number of votes and would have been +elected. The Democrats stood ready to give their solid vote to any one +of the Independents whenever it could be shown that their votes would +result in an election. But it so happened that Chandler and Armstead +were both ambitious to be Speaker and neither would give way for the +other, which, of course, made the election of either impossible. The one +vote cast for Howe was no doubt Mr. Armstead's vote, while the one vote +for Armstead was no doubt cast by his colleague. In the nomination of +Hon. H.M. Streeter, the Democrats selected their strongest man, and the +best parliamentarian on their side of the House. The refusal of the +so-called Independents to vote for the Republican caucus nominee for +Speaker produced a deadlock which continued for a period of several +days. At no time could any one of the regular Republicans be induced +under any circumstances to vote for any one of the Independents. They +would much rather have the House organized by the Democrats than allow +party treachery to be thus rewarded. + +While the deadlock was in progress, Senators Alcorn and Ames suddenly +made their appearance upon the scene of action. They had made the trip +from Washington to use their influence to break the deadlock, and to +bring about an organization of the House by the Republican party. But +Senator Alcorn was the one that could render the most effective service +in that direction, since the bolters were men who professed to be +followers of his and loyal to his political interests and leadership. + +As soon as the Senator arrived he held a conference with the bolters, +including Messrs. Armstead and Streeter,--the two independents from +Carroll. In addressing those who had been elected as Republicans and who +had attended and participated in the caucus of that party, the Senator +did not mince his words. He told them in plain language that they were +in honor bound to support the caucus nominees of their party, or that +they must resign their seats and allow their constituents to elect +others that would do so. With reference to the Independents from +Carroll, he said the situation was slightly different. They had been +elected as Independents under conditions which did not obligate them to +enter the Republican caucus or support the candidates thereof. They had +pledged themselves not to support the Democratic caucus nominees, nor to +aid that party in the organization of the House. Up to that time they +had not made a move, nor given a vote that could be construed into a +violation of the pledge under which they had been elected, but they had +publicly declared on several occasions that they had been elected as +Independents or Alcorn Republicans. In other words, they had been +elected as friends and supporters of the Alcorn administration, and of +that type of Republicanism for which he stood and of which he was the +representative. If this were true then they should not hesitate to take +the advice of the man to support whose administration they had been +elected. He informed them that if they meant what they said the best way +for them to prove it was to vote for the Republican caucus nominees for +officers of the House, because he was the recognized leader of the party +in the State and that the issue involved in the elections was either an +endorsement or repudiation of his administration as Governor. Republican +success under such circumstances meant an endorsement of his +administration, while Republican defeat would mean its repudiation. The +most effective way, then, in which they could make good their +ante-election pledges and promises was to vote for the candidates of +the Republican caucus for officers of the House. + +The two Carroll County Independents informed the Senator that he had +correctly outlined their position and their attitude, and that it was +their purpose and their determination to give a loyal and effective +support, so far as the same was in their power, to the policies and +principles for which he stood and of which he was the accredited +representative; but that they were apprehensive that they could not +successfully defend their action and explain their votes to the +satisfaction of their constituents if they were to vote for a colored +man for Speaker of the House. + +"But," said the Senator, "could you have been elected without the votes +of colored men? If you now vote against a colored man,--who is in every +way a fit and capable man for the position,--simply because he is a +colored man, would you expect those men to support you in the future?" + +The Senator also reminded them that they had received very many more +colored than white votes; and that, in his opinion, very few of the +white men who had supported them would find fault with them for voting +for a capable and intelligent colored man to preside over the +deliberations of the House. + +"Can you then," the Senator asked, "afford to offend the great mass of +colored men that supported you in order to please an insignificantly +small number of narrow-minded whites?" + +The Senator assured them that he was satisfied they had nothing to fear +as a result of their action in voting for Mr. Lynch as Speaker of the +House. He knew the candidate favorably and well and therefore did not +hesitate to assure them that if they contributed to his election they +would have no occasion to regret having done so. The conference then +came to a close with the understanding that all present would vote the +next day for the Republican caucus nominees for officers of the House. +This was done. The result of the ballot the following day was as +follows: + + Lynch, Republican caucus nominee, 63 + Chandler, Independent Republican, 49 + Necessary to elect 57 + +It will be seen that Judge Chandler received the solid Democratic vote +while Lynch received the vote of every voting Republican present, +including Chandler and the two Independents from Carroll,--three +Republicans still being absent and not paired. By substantially the same +vote ex-Speaker Warren, of Leake County, was elected Chief Clerk, and +Ex-Representative Hill, of Marshall County, was elected +Sergeant-at-arms. The Legislature was then organized and was ready to +proceed to business. + +At the conclusion of the session, the House not only adopted a +resolution complimenting the Speaker and thanking him for the able and +impartial manner in which he had presided over its deliberations, but +presented him with a fine gold watch and chain,--purchased with money +that had been contributed by members of both parties and by a few +outside friends,--as a token of their esteem and appreciation of him as +a presiding officer. On the outside case of the watch these words were +engraved: "Presented to Hon. J.R. Lynch, Speaker of the House of +Representatives, by the Members of the Legislature, April 19, 1873." +That watch the writer still has and will keep as a sacred family +heirloom. + +A good deal of work was to be done by this Legislature. The seats of a +number of Democrats were contested. But the decision in many cases was +in favor of the sitting members. The changes, however, were sufficient +to materially increase the Republican majority. + +Among the important bills to be passed was one to divide the State into +six Congressional Districts. The apportionment of Representatives in +Congress, under the Apportionment Act which had recently passed +Congress, increased the number of Representatives from Mississippi, +which had formerly been five, to six. Republican leaders in both +branches of the Legislature decided that the duty of drawing up a bill +apportioning the State into Congressional Districts should devolve upon +the Speaker of the House, with the understanding that the party +organization would support the bill drawn by him. + +I accepted the responsibility, and immediately proceeded with the work +of drafting a bill for that purpose. Two plans had been discussed, each +of which had strong supporters and advocates. One plan was so to +apportion the State as to make all of the districts Republican; but in +doing so the majority in at least two of the districts would be quite +small. The other was so to apportion the State as to make five districts +safely and reliably Republican and the remaining one Democratic. I had +not taken a decided stand for or against either plan. Perhaps that was +one reason why the advocates of both plans agreed to refer the matter to +me for a final decision. + +The Democrats heard what had been done. One of them, Hon. F.M. Goar, of +Lee County, called to see me so as to talk over the matter. He expressed +the hope that in drawing up the bill, one district would be conceded to +the Democrats. + +"If this is done," he said, "I assume that the group of counties located +in the northeastern part of the State will be the Democratic district. +In that event we will send a very strong and able man to Congress in the +person of Hon. L.Q.C. Lamar." + +I had every reason to believe that if Mr. Lamar were sent to Congress +he would reflect credit upon himself, his party, and his State. I +promised to give the suggestion earnest and perhaps favorable +consideration. After going over the matter carefully I came to the +conclusion that the better and safer plan would be to make five safe and +sure Republican districts and concede one to the Democrats. Another +reason for this decision was that in so doing, the State could be more +fairly apportioned. The Republican counties could be easily made +contiguous and the population in each district could be made as nearly +equal as possible. The apportionment could not have been so fairly and +equitably made if the other plan had been adopted. + +After the bill had been completed, it was submitted to a joint caucus of +the Republican members of the two Houses, and after a brief explanation +by me of its provisions it was accepted and approved by the unanimous +vote of the caucus. + +When it was brought before the house, a majority of the Democratic +members,--under the leadership of Messrs. Streeter, Roane and +McIntosh,--fought it very bitterly. They contended that the Democrats +should have at least two of the six Congressmen and that an +apportionment could have been made and should have been made with that +end in view. The truth was that several of those who made such a +stubborn fight against the bill had Congressional aspirations themselves +and, of course, they did not fail to see that as drawn the bill did not +hold out flattering hopes for the gratification of that ambition. But it +was all that Mr. Goar and a few others that he had taken into his +confidence expected, or had any right to expect. In fact, the one +Democratic district, constructed in accordance with their wishes, was +just about what they wanted. While they voted against the bill,--merely +to be in accord with their party associates,--they insisted that there +should be no filibustering or other dilatory methods adopted to defeat +it. After a hard and stubborn fight, and after several days of exciting +debate, the bill was finally passed by a strict party vote. A few days +later it passed the Senate without amendment, was signed by the +Governor, and became a law. + +As had been predicted by Mr. Goar, Hon. L.Q.C. Lamar was nominated by +the Democrats for Congress in the first district, which was the +Democratic district. The Republicans nominated against him a very strong +and able man, the Hon. R.W. Flournoy, who had served with Mr. Lamar as a +member of the Secession Convention of 1861. He made an aggressive and +brilliant canvass of the district, but the election of Mr. Lamar was a +foregone conclusion, since the Democratic majority in the district was +very large. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FUSION OF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS IN THE STATE ELECTION OF 1873. +REPUBLICAN VICTORY + + +An important election was to be held in Mississippi in 1873, at which +State, district, and county officers, as well as members of the +Legislature, were to be elected. The tenure of office for the State and +county officers was four years. 1873, therefore, was the year in which +the successors of those that had held office since 1869 had to be +elected. + +The legislature to be elected that year would elect the successor of +Senator Ames as United States Senator. Senator Ames was the candidate +named to succeed himself. For some unaccountable reason there had been a +falling out between Senator Alcorn and himself, for which reason Senator +Alcorn decided to use his influence to prevent the reelection of Senator +Ames. This meant that there would be a bitter factional fight in the +party, because both Senators were popular with the rank and file of the +party. + +The fact was soon developed, however, that the people favored the return +of Senator Ames to the Senate. This did not necessarily mean opposition +or unfriendliness to Senator Alcorn. It simply meant that both were to +be treated fairly and justly, and that each was to stand upon his own +record and merits, regardless of their personal differences. + +If Senator Alcorn had been in Senator Ames' place the probabilities are +that the sentiment of the party would have been just as strongly in his +favor as it was at that time in favor of Ames. But on this occasion +Senator Alcorn made the mistake of making opposition to Senator Ames the +test of loyalty to himself. In this he was not supported even by many of +his warmest personal and political friends. In consequence of the bitter +fight that was to be made by Senator Alcorn to prevent the return of +Senator Ames to the Senate, many of Senator Ames' friends advised him to +become a candidate for the office of Governor. In that way, it was +believed, he could command the situation, and thus make sure his +election to succeed himself as Senator; otherwise it might be doubtful. + +But this involved two important points which had to be carefully +considered. First, it involved the retirement of Governor Powers, who +was a candidate to succeed himself. Second, the candidate for +Lieutenant-Governor would have to be selected with great care, since if +that program were carried out he would be, in point of fact, the +Governor of the State for practically the whole term. + +After going over the situation very carefully with his friends and +supporters Senator Ames decided to become a candidate for Governor, +public announcement of which decision was duly made. This announcement +seemed to have increased the intensity of Senator Alcorn's opposition to +Senator Ames, for the former did not hesitate to declare that in the +event of Ames' nomination for Governor by the regular party convention +he would bolt the action of the convention, and make the race for +Governor as an independent candidate. This declaration, however, made no +impression upon the friends and supporters of Ames, and evidently had +very little effect upon the rank and file of the party; for the fact +became apparent shortly after the announcement of the candidacy of Ames +that his nomination was a foregone conclusion. In fact, Senator Ames had +such a strong hold upon the rank and file of the party throughout the +State that when the convention met there was practically no opposition +to his nomination. The friends and supporters of Governor Powers +realized early in the campaign the hopelessness of the situation, so far +as he was concerned, and therefore made no serious effort in his behalf. + +What gave the Ames managers more concern than anything else was the +selection of a suitable man for Lieutenant-Governor. Many of the colored +delegates insisted that three of the seven men to be nominated should +be of that race. The offices they insisted on filling were those of +Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, and Superintendent of +Education. Since the colored men had been particularly loyal and +faithful to Senator Ames it was not deemed wise to ignore their demands. +But the question was, Where is there a colored man possessing the +qualifications necessary to one in charge of the executive department of +the state? + +After going over the field very carefully it was decided that there was +just one man possessing the necessary qualifications,--B.K. Bruce, of +Bolivar County. He, it was decided, was just the man for the place, and +to him the nomination was to be tendered. A committee was appointed to +wait on Mr. Bruce and inform him of the action of the conference, and +urge him to consent to the use of his name. But Mr. Bruce positively +declined. He could not be induced under any circumstances to change his +mind. He was fixed in his determination not to allow his name to be used +for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, and from that determination he +could not be moved. + +Mr. Bruce's unexpected attitude necessitated a radical change in the +entire program. It had been agreed that the Lieutenant-Governorship +should go to a colored man, but after Brace's declination the Ames +managers were obliged to take one of two men,--H.C. Carter, or A.K. +Davis. Davis was the more acceptable of the two; but neither, it was +thought, was a fit and suitable man to be placed at the head of the +executive department of the State. After again going over the field, and +after canvassing the situation very carefully, it was decided that Ames +would not be a candidate to succeed himself as United States Senator, +but that he would be a candidate to succeed Senator Alcorn. This +decision, in all probability, would not have been made if Alcorn had +been willing to abide by the decision of the convention. But, since he +announced his determination to bolt the nomination of his party for +Governor and run as an Independent candidate, it was decided that he had +forfeited any claim he otherwise would have had upon the party to +succeed himself in the Senate. Senator Alcorn's term would expire March +4, 1877. His successor would be elected by the Legislature that would be +chosen in November, 1875. If Ames should be elected to the Governorship +his successor in that office would be elected in November, 1877. In the +event of his election to the Senate to succeed Senator Alcorn, his term +as Senator would commence March 4, 1877, yet he could remain in the +office of Governor until the meeting of Congress the following December, +thus practically serving out the full term as Governor. + +With that plan mapped out and agreed upon, and the party leaders +committed to its support, Davis was allowed to be nominated for the +office of Lieutenant-Governor. Two other colored men were also placed +upon the State ticket,--James Hill, for Secretary of State, and T.W. +Cardozo, for State Superintendent of Education. While Davis had made +quite a creditable record as a member of the Legislature, it could not +be said that his name added strength to the ticket. Hill, on the other +hand, was young, active, and aggressive, and considerably above the +average colored man in point of intelligence at that time. His +nomination was favorably received, because it was generally believed +that, if elected, he would discharge the duties of the office in a way +that would reflect credit upon himself and give satisfaction to the +public. In point of education and experience Cardozo was admitted to be +entirely capable of filling the office of Superintendent of Education; +but he was not well known outside of his own county, Warren. In fact his +nomination was largely a concession to that strong Republican county. + +The three white men nominated,--besides the candidate for +Governor,--were, W.H. Gibbs, for Auditor of Public Accounts; Geo. E. +Harris, for Attorney-General, and Geo. H. Holland, for State Treasurer. +Gibbs had been a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1868, and +subsequently a member of the State Senate. Holland had served as a +member of the Legislature from Oktibbeha County. Harris had been a +member of Congress from the Second (Holly Springs) District, having been +defeated for the nomination in 1872 by A.R. Howe, of Panola County. +While the ticket, as a whole, was not a weak one, its principal strength +was in its head,--the candidate for Governor. + +Shortly after the adjournment of the convention Senator Alcorn had +another convention called which nominated a ticket, composed exclusively +of Republicans, with himself at its head for Governor. The Democrats at +their convention endorsed the Alcorn ticket. While it would seem that +this action on the part of the Democrats ought to have increased +Alcorn's chances of success, it appears to have been a contributory +cause of his defeat. Thousands of Republicans who were in sympathy with +the movement, and who would have otherwise voted the Alcorn ticket, +refused to do so for the reason that if it had been elected the +Democrats could have claimed a victory for their party. On the other +hand, both tickets being composed exclusively of Republicans, thousands +of Democrats refused to vote for either, while some of them voted the +Ames ticket. At any rate the election resulted in the success of the +Ames ticket by a majority of more than twenty thousand. The regular +Republicans also had a large majority in both branches of the +Legislature. + +[Illustration: HON. B.K. BRUCE United States Senator, 1875-1881] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MISSISSIPPI SENDS B.K. BRUCE TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE + + +As soon as the result of the election was known, the candidacy of B.K. +Bruce, for United States Senator to succeed Senator Ames, was announced. +Ames' term as Governor was to commence the first Monday in January, +1874. His term as Senator would expire March 4, 1875. Upon assuming the +duties of Governor he had been obliged to tender his resignation as +Senator; thus it devolved upon the incoming legislature to elect a +Senator to serve out the unexpired term, as well as for the full term of +six years. Bruce's candidacy was for the full term. + +The secret of Mr. Bruce's positive refusal to allow his name to be used +for the Lieutenant-Governorship, which would have resulted in making him +Governor, was now revealed. He had had the Senatorship in mind at the +time, but, of course, no allusion was made to that fact. As between the +Senatorship and the Governorship he chose the former, which proved to be +a wise decision, in view of subsequent events. It was soon developed +that he was the choice of a large majority of the Republican members of +the Legislature, white as well as colored. His nomination by the party +caucus, therefore, was a foregone conclusion. Before the legislature +met, it had been practically settled that Mr. Bruce should be sent to +the Senate for the long term and Ex-Superintendant of Education, H.R. +Pease, should be elected to serve out the unexpired term of +Governor-elect Ames. + +This slate was approved by the joint legislative caucus without a hitch +and the candidates thus nominated were duly elected by the +Legislature,--not only by the solid Republican vote of that body, but +the additional vote of State Senator Hiram Cassidy, Jr., who had been +elected as a Democrat. + +Senator Alcorn's keen disappointment and chagrin at the outcome of his +fight with Governor Ames was manifested when Senator Bruce made his +appearance to be sworn in as a Senator. It was presumed that Senator +Alcorn, in accordance with the uniform custom on such occasions, would +escort his colleague to the desk of the President of the Senate to be +sworn in. This Senator Alcorn refused to do. When Mr. Bruce's name was +called Senator Alcorn did not move; he remained in his seat, apparently +giving his attention to his private correspondence. Mr. Bruce, somewhat +nervous and slightly excited, started to the President's desk +unattended. Senator Roscoe Conkling, of New York, who was sitting near +by, immediately rose and extended his arm to Mr. Bruce and escorted him +to the President's desk, standing by the new Senator's side until the +oath had been administered, and then tendering him his hearty +congratulations, in which all the other Republican Senators, except +Senator Alcorn, subsequently joined. + +This gracious act on the part of the New York Senator made for him a +lifelong friend and admirer in the person of Senator Bruce. This +friendship was so strong that Senator Bruce named his first and only son +Roscoe Conkling, in honor of the able, distinguished, and gallant +Senator from New York. + +Senator Alcorn's action in this matter was the occasion of considerable +unfavorable criticism and comment, some of his critics going so far as +to intimate that his action was due to the fact that Mr. Bruce was a +colored man. But, from my knowledge of the man and of the circumstances +connected with the case, I am satisfied this was not true. His antipathy +to Mr. Bruce grew out of the fact that Mr. Bruce had opposed him and had +supported Ames in the fight for Governor in 1873. + +So far as I have been able to learn, I am the only one of the Senator's +friends and admirers who opposed his course in that contest that he ever +forgave. He, no doubt, felt that I was under less personal obligations +to him than many others who pursued the same course that I did, since +he had never rendered me any effective personal or political service, +except when he brought the Independent members of the House in line for +me in the contest for Speaker of that body in 1872; and even then his +action was not so much a matter of personal friendship for me as it was +in the interest of securing an endorsement of his own administration as +Governor. + +In Mr. Bruce's case he took an entirely different view of the matter. He +believed that he had been the making of Mr. Bruce. Mr. Bruce had come to +the State in 1869 and had taken an active part in the campaign of that +year. When the Legislature was organized it was largely through the +influence of Governor Alcorn that he was elected Sergeant-at-arms of the +State Senate. When the Legislature adjourned Governor Alcorn sent Bruce +to Bolivar county as County Assessor. Bruce discharged the duties of +that office in such a creditable and satisfactory manner that he was +elected in 1871 Sheriff and Tax Collector of that important and wealthy +county, the most responsible and lucrative office in the gift of the +people of the county. He was holding that office when elected to the +United States Senate. Senator Alcorn felt, therefore, that in taking +sides against him and in favor of Ames in 1873 Mr. Bruce was guilty of +gross ingratitude. This accounted for his action in refusing to escort +Mr. Bruce to the President's desk to be sworn in as Senator. In this +belief, however, he did Mr. Bruce a grave injustice, for I know that +gratitude was one of Mr. Brace's principal characteristics. If Senator +Alcorn had been a candidate from the start for the Republican nomination +for Governor, Mr. Bruce, I am sure, would have supported him even as +against Senator Ames. But it was known that the Senator had no ambition +to be Governor. His sole purpose was to defeat Senator Ames at any cost, +and that, too, on account of matters that were purely personal and that +had no connection with party or political affairs. Mr. Bruce, like very +many other friends and admirers of the Senator, simply refused to follow +him in open rebellion against his own party. I am satisfied, however, +that Mr. Bruce's race identity did not influence the action of Senator +Alcorn in the slightest degree. As further evidence of that fact, his +position and action in the Pinchback case may be mentioned. He spoke and +voted for the admission of Mr. Pinchback to a seat in the Senate when +such a staunch Republican as Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, opposed and +voted against admission. In spite of Senator Alcorn's political defeat +and humiliation in his own State, he remained true and loyal to the +National Republican party to the end of his Senatorial term, which +terminated with the beginning of the Hayes Administration. Up to that +time he had strong hopes of the future of the Republican party at the +South. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +IMPROVED FINANCIAL CONDITION OF MISSISSIPPI UNDER THE AMES +ADMINISTRATION + + +The administrations of Governor Alcorn and of Governor Ames, the two +Republican Governors, who were products of Reconstruction,--both having +been elected chiefly by the votes of colored men,--were among the best +with which that State was ever blessed, the generally accepted +impression to the contrary notwithstanding. In 1869 Alcorn was elected +to serve for a term of four years. Ames was elected to serve the +succeeding term. Alcorn was one of the old citizens of the State, and +was therefore thoroughly identified with its business, industrial, and +social interests. He had been one of the large and wealthy landowners +and slave-owners, and therefore belonged to that small but select and +influential class known as Southern aristocrats. + +Alcorn had taken an active and prominent part in public matters since +his early manhood. Before the War of the Rebellion he had served several +terms as a member of the Legislature. He represented his county, +Coahoma, in the Secession Convention of 1861. He was bitterly opposed +to Secession and fought it bravely; but when he found himself in a +hopeless minority he gracefully acquiesced in the decision of the +majority and signed the ordinance of Secession. He also joined the +Confederate Army and took an active part in raising troops for the same. +He was made brigadier-general, and had command of the Confederate forces +in Mississippi for a good while. But, since the President of the +Confederacy did not seem to be particularly partial to him, he was not +allowed to see very much field service. + +When the war was over he took an active part in the work of +rehabilitation and Reconstruction. He strongly supported the Andrew +Johnson plan of Reconstruction, and by the Legislature that was elected +under that plan he was chosen one of the United States Senators, but was +not admitted to the seat to which he had been elected. When the Johnson +plan of Reconstruction was repudiated and rejected by the voters of the +Northern States, and when what was known as the Congressional Plan of +Reconstruction was endorsed and approved, Alcorn decided that further +opposition to that plan was useless and unwise, and he publicly advised +acceptance of it. His advice having been rejected by the Democrats, +nothing remained for him to do but to join the Republican party, which +he did in the early part of 1869. + +Since he was known to be a strong, able and influential man,--one who +possessed the respect and confidence of the white people of the State +regardless of party differences,--he was tendered the Republican +nomination for the Governorship at the election that was to be held the +latter part of that year. He accepted the nomination and was duly +elected. He discharged the duties of the office in an able, creditable +and satisfactory manner. The only point upon which the administration +was at all subject to unfavorable criticism was the high rate of +taxation to which the people were subjected for the support of the State +Government; but the reader will see that this could hardly have been +avoided at that particular time. In his message to the Legislature in +January, 1910, Governor E.F. Noel accurately stated the principle by +which an administration is necessarily governed in raising revenue to +carry on the government. This is the same principle that governed the +Alcorn administration when it took charge of the State Government in +1870. In that message Governor Noel said: "The amount of assessment +determines the tax burden of each individual, corporation, town, and +county. The Legislature or local authorities settle the amount necessary +to be provided for their respective treasuries. If all property be +assessed at the same rate,--whether for the full value or for ten per +cent, of the value of the property,--the payment of each owner would be +unaffected; for the higher the assessment, the lower the levy; the lower +the assessment, the higher the levy. Our State revenue is mainly derived +from a six mill ad valorem tax." + +When the Alcorn administration took charge of the State Government the +War had just come to a close. Everything was in a prostrate condition. +There had been great depreciation in the value of real and personal +property. The credit of the State was not very good. The rate of +interest for borrowed money was high. To materially increase the bonded +debt of the State was not deemed wise, yet some had to be raised in that +way. To raise the balance a higher rate of taxation had to be imposed +since the assessed valuation of the taxable property was so low. + +The figures showing the assessed valuation of taxable property in the +State and the receipts and disbursements prior to 1875 are not +available, but, taking the figures for that year, the reader can form a +pretty accurate idea of what the situation must have been prior to that +time. In 1875 the assessed valuation of real and personal property, +subject to taxation in the State, was $119,313,834. The receipts from +all sources that year amounted to $1,801,129.12. The disbursements for +the same year were, $1,430,192.83. + +Now let us see what the situation was after the Ames administration had +been in power about two years,--or half of the term for which it had +been elected. According to a very carefully prepared statement that was +made and published by an expert accountant in the State Treasurer's +office in the latter part of 1875 the ad valorem rate of taxes for +general purposes had been reduced from seven to four mills, and yet the +amount paid into the Treasury was not only enough to meet all demands +upon the State, but to make a material reduction in the bonded debt. The +following is taken from that statement: + +"An examination of the report of the State Treasurer, of the first of +January, 1874, at which time the administration of Governor Ames +commenced, exhibits the fact that the indebtedness of the State at that +date, exclusive of the amounts to the credit of the Chickasaw and common +school funds, balance of current funds on hand, and warrants in the +Treasury belonging to the State, was $1,765,554.33 The amount of the tax +of the previous year remaining uncollected on January first, 1874, and +afterward collected, $944,261.51, should be deducted from the above +amount, which will show the actual indebtedness of the State at that +date to be $821,292.82. A further examination of the report of the same +officer, for January first, 1875, shows the indebtedness, after +deducting amounts to the credit of the Chickasaw and common school +funds, balance of current funds on hand and warrants in the Treasury +belonging to the State, to be, $1,707,056.24. Then by deducting the +amount of the tax of the previous year remaining uncollected January +first, 1875, and afterwards collected, $998,628.11, the result shows the +actual indebtedness on January first, 1875, to be $708,428.13. The +forthcoming annual report of the State Treasurer, for January first, +1876, will show the indebtedness of the State, exclusive of the amounts +to the credit of the Chickasaw and common school funds, the balance of +current funds on hand, and warrants in the Treasury belonging to the +State, to be $980,138.33. Then, by proceeding again as above, and +deducting the amount of the tax of the previous year, uncollected on +January first, 1876, and now being rapidly paid into the Treasury, at a +low estimate, $460,000.00, we have as an actual indebtedness of the +State on January first, 1876, $520,138.33. Thus it will be seen that the +actual indebtedness of the State is but little over a half million +dollars, and that during the two years of Governor Ames' administration +the State debt has been reduced from $821,292.82, on January first, +1874, to $520,138.33, on January first, 1876, or a reduction of more +than three hundred thousand dollars in two years--upwards of one third +of the State debt wiped out in that time. Not only has the debt been +reduced as above, but the rate of taxation for general purposes has +been reduced from seven mills in 1873 to four mills in 1875." + +Notwithstanding the fact that the rate of taxation under the +administration of Governor Ames had been reduced as shown above from +seven mills in 1873 to four mills in 1875 the amount paid into the State +Treasury was substantially the same as that paid in prior years. This +was due to the great appreciation in the value of taxable property. Then +again, a material reduction in the rate of taxation was made possible +because the public institutions had all been rebuilt and repaired and a +sufficient number of school buildings had been erected, thus doing away +with the necessity for a special levy for such purposes. From this +showing it would seem as if it were reasonable to assume that if such an +administration as the one then in power could have been retained a few +years longer there would not only have been a still further reduction in +the rate of taxation, but the payable debt of the State would have been +entirely wiped out. Instead of this we find the conditions to be about +as follows: + +First. Shortly after the first reform State Treasurer had been in charge +of that office it was developed that he was a defaulter to the amount of +$315,612.19. + +Second. Notwithstanding the immense increase in the value of taxable +property from year to year, it appears from the official records that +the rate of ad valorem tax for general purposes has been increased from +four to six mills. + +Third. There has been a very heavy increase in what is known as the +specific or privilege taxes,--that is, a specific sum that business and +professional persons must pay for the privilege of doing business or of +practicing their professions in the State. + +Fourth. The amounts now collected and paid out for the support of the +State Government are more than double what they were a few years ago, +thus showing extravagance, if not recklessness, in the administration of +the affairs of the State,--the natural result of a condition by which +the existence of but one political party is tolerated. + +Fifth. Notwithstanding the immense increase in the value of taxable +property, and in spite of the enormous sums paid into the State Treasury +each year, there has been a material increase in the bonded debt of the +State. In fact it has been necessary at different times to borrow money +with which to pay the current expenses of the State Government. + +The following statistics for three years, 1907, 1908 and 1909, would +seem to substantiate the above statement: + +The value of the taxable property of the State in 1907 was $373,584.960. +Receipts from all sources that year were $3,391,127.15. Disbursements +for the same period were $3,730,343.29. Excess of disbursements over +receipts, $339,216.14. + +In 1908 the value of taxable property was $383,823,739. Receipts from +all sources that year were $3,338,398.98. Disbursements, same period, +$3,351,119.46. Excess of disbursements over receipts, $12,720.48. + +In 1909 the value of taxable property was $393,297,173. Receipts from +all sources were $3,303,963.65. Disbursements, same period, +$3,315,201.48. Excess of disbursements over receipts, $11,237.83. + +On the first day of January, 1907, what is called the payable debt of +the State was reported to be $1,253,029.07. On the first day of January, +1876, it was $520,138.33. Increase, $732,890.74. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +WHAT CONSTITUTES "NEGRO DOMINATION" + + +It is claimed that in States, districts, and counties, in which the +colored people are in the majority, the suppression of the colored vote +is necessary to prevent "Negro Domination,"--to prevent the ascendency +of the blacks over the whites in the administration of the State and +local governments. + +This claim is based upon the assumption that if the black vote were not +suppressed in all such States, districts, and counties, black men would +be supported and elected to office because they were black, and white +men would be opposed and defeated because they were white. + +Taking Mississippi for purposes of illustration, it will be seen that +there has never been the slightest ground for such an apprehension. No +colored man in that State ever occupied a judicial position above that +of Justice of the Peace and very few aspired to that position. Of seven +State officers only one, that of Secretary of State, was filled by a +colored man, until 1873, when colored men were elected to three of the +seven offices,--Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, and State +Superintendent of Education. Of the two United States Senators and the +seven members of the lower house of Congress not more than one colored +man occupied a seat in each house at the same time. Of the thirty-five +members of the State Senate, and of the one hundred and fifteen members +of the House,--which composed the total membership of the State +Legislature prior to 1874,--there were never more than about seven +colored men in the Senate and forty in the lower house. Of the +ninety-seven members that composed the Constitutional Convention of 1868 +but seventeen were colored men. The composition of the lower house of +the State Legislature that was elected in 1871 was as follows: + +Total membership, one hundred and fifteen. Republicans, sixty-six; +Democrats, forty-nine. Colored members, thirty-eight. White members, +seventy-seven. White majority, thirty-nine. + +Of the sixty-six Republicans thirty-eight were colored and twenty-eight, +white. There was a slight increase in the colored membership as a result +of the election of 1873, but the colored men never at any time had +control of the State Government nor of any branch or department thereof, +nor even that of any county or municipality. Out of seventy-two counties +in the State at that time, electing on an average twenty-eight officers +to a county, it is safe to assert that not over five out of one hundred +of such officers were colored men. The State; district, county, and +municipal governments were not only in control of white men, but white +men who were to the manor born, or who were known as old citizens of the +State--those who had lived in the State many years before the War of the +Rebellion. There was, therefore, never a time when that class of white +men known as Carpet-baggers had absolute control of the State +Government, or that of any district, county or municipality, or any +branch or department thereof. There was never, therefore, any ground for +the alleged apprehension of negro domination as a result of a free, +fair, and honest election in any one of the Southern or Reconstructed +States. + +And this brings us to a consideration of the question, What is meant by +"Negro Domination?" The answer that the average reader would give to +that question would be that it means the actual, physical domination of +the blacks over the whites. But, according to a high Democratic +authority, that would be an incorrect answer. The definition given by +that authority I have every reason to believe is the correct one, the +generally accepted one. The authority referred to is the late Associate +Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Mississippi, H.H. Chalmers, +who, in an article in the _North American Review_ about March, 1881, +explained and defined what is meant or understood by the term "Negro +Domination." + +According to Judge Chalmers' definition, in order to constitute "Negro +Domination" it does not necessarily follow that negroes must be elected +to office, but that in all elections in which white men may be divided, +if the negro vote should be sufficiently decisive to be potential in +determining the result, the white man or men that would be elected +through the aid of negro votes would represent "Negro Domination." In +other words, we would have "Negro Domination" whenever the will of a +majority of the whites would be defeated through the votes of colored +men. If this is the correct definition of that term,--and it is, no +doubt, the generally accepted one,--then the friends and advocates of +manhood suffrage will not deny that we have had in the past "Negro +Domination," nationally as well as locally, and that we may have it in +the future. + +If that is the correct definition then we are liable to have "Negro +Domination" not only in States, districts, and counties where the blacks +are in the majority, but in States, districts and counties where they +are few in numbers. If that is the correct definition of "Negro +Domination,"--to prevent which the negro vote should be +suppressed,--then the suppression of that vote is not only necessary in +States, districts, and counties in which the blacks are in the majority, +but in every State, district, and county in the Union; for it will not +be denied that the primary purpose of the ballot,--whether the voters be +white or colored, male or female,--is to make each vote decisive and +potential. If the vote of a colored man, or the vote of a white man, +determines the result of an election in which he participates, then the +very purpose for which he was given the right and privilege will have +been accomplished, whether the result, as we understand it, be wise or +unwise. + +In this connection it cannot and will not be denied that the colored +vote has been decisive and potential in very many important National as +well as local and State elections. For instance, in the Presidential +election of 1868, General Grant, the Republican candidate, lost the +important and pivotal State of New York, a loss which would have +resulted in his defeat if the Southern States that took part in that +election had all voted against him. That they did not do so was due to +the votes of the colored men in those States. Therefore Grant's first +administration represented "Negro Domination." + +Again, in 1876, Hayes was declared elected President by a majority of +one vote in the electoral college. This was made possible by the result +of the election in the States of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida, +about which there was much doubt and considerable dispute, and over +which there was a bitter controversy. But for the colored vote in those +States there would have been no doubt, no dispute, no controversy. The +defeat of Mr. Hayes and the election of Mr. Tilden would have been an +undisputed and an uncontested fact. Therefore, the Hayes administration +represented "Negro Domination." + +Again, in 1880, General Garfield, the Republican candidate for +President, carried the State of New York by a plurality of about 20,000, +without which he could not have been elected. It will not be denied by +those who are well informed that if the colored men that voted for him +in that State at that time had voted against him, he would have lost the +State and, with it, the Presidency. Therefore, the Garfield-Arthur +administration represented "Negro Domination." + +Again, in 1884, Mr. Cleveland, the Democratic candidate, carried the +doubtful but very important State of New York by the narrow margin of +1,147 plurality, which resulted in his election. It cannot and will not +be denied that even at that early date the number of colored men that +voted for Mr. Cleveland was far in excess of the plurality by which he +carried the State. Mr. Cleveland's first administration, therefore, +represented "Negro Domination." Mr. Cleveland did not hesitate to admit +and appreciate the fact that colored men contributed largely to his +success, hence he did not fail to give that element of his party +appropriate and satisfactory official recognition. + +Again, in 1888, General Harrison, the Republican Presidential candidate, +carried the State of New York by a plurality of about 20,000, which +resulted in his election, which he would have lost but for the votes of +the colored men in that State. Therefore, Harrison's administration +represented "Negro Domination." + +The same is true of important elections in a number of States, districts +and counties in which the colored vote proved to be potential and +decisive. But enough has been written to show the absurdity of the claim +that the suppression of the colored vote is necessary to prevent "Negro +Domination." So far as the State of Mississippi is concerned, in spite +of the favorable conditions, as shown above, the legitimate State +Government,--the one that represented the honestly expressed will of a +majority of the voters of the State,--was in the fall of 1875 overthrown +through the medium of a sanguinary revolution. The State Government was +virtually seized and taken possession of _vi et armis_. Why was this? +What was the excuse for it? What was the motive, the incentive that +caused it? It was not in the interest of good, efficient, and capable +government; for that we already had. It was not on account of +dishonesty, maladministration, misappropriation of public funds; for +every dollar of the public funds had been faithfully accounted for. It +was not on account of high taxes; for it had been shown that, while the +tax rate was quite high during the Alcorn administration, it had been +reduced under the Ames administration to a point considerably less than +it is now or than it has been for a number of years. It was not to +prevent "Negro Domination" and to make sure the ascendency of the whites +in the administration of the State and local governments; for that was +then the recognized and established order of things, from which there +was no apprehension of departure. Then, what was the cause of this +sudden and unexpected uprising? There must have been a strong, if not a +justifiable, reason for it. What was it? That question will be answered +in a subsequent chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OVERTHROW OF THE REPUBLICAN STATE GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI + + +In the last preceding chapter it was stated that the reason for the +sanguinary revolution, which resulted in the overthrow of the Republican +state government in the State of Mississippi in 1875, would be given in +a subsequent chapter. What was true of Mississippi at that time was +largely true of the other Reconstructed States where similar results +subsequently followed. When the War of the Rebellion came to an end it +was believed by some, and apprehended by others, that serious and +radical changes in the previous order of things would necessarily +follow. + +But when what was known as the Johnson Plan of Reconstruction was +disclosed it was soon made plain that if that plan should be accepted by +the country no material change would follow, for the reason, chiefly, +that the abolition of slavery would have been abolition only in name. +While physical slavery would have been abolished, yet a sort of feudal +or peonage system would have been established in its place, the effect +of which would have been practically the same as the system which had +been abolished. The former slaves would have been held in a state of +servitude through the medium of labor-contracts which they would have +been obliged to sign,--or to have signed for them,--from which they, and +their children, and, perhaps, their children's children could never have +been released. This would have left the old order of things practically +unchanged. The large landowners would still be the masters of the +situation, the power being still possessed by them to perpetuate their +own potential influence and to maintain their own political supremacy. + +But it was the rejection of the Johnson Plan of Reconstruction that +upset these plans and destroyed these calculations. The Johnson plan was +not only rejected, but what was known as the Congressional Plan of +Reconstruction,--by which suffrage was conferred upon the colored men in +all the States that were to be reconstructed,--was accepted by the +people of the North as the permanent policy of the government, and was +thus made the basis of Reconstruction and readmission of those States +into the Union. + +Of course this meant a change in the established order of things that +was both serious and radical. It meant the destruction of the power and +influence of the Southern aristocracy. It meant not only the physical +emancipation of the blacks but the political emancipation of the poor +whites, as well. It meant the destruction in a large measure of the +social, political, and industrial distinctions that had been maintained +among the whites under the old order of things. But was this to be the +settled policy of the government? Was it a fact that the incorporation +of the blacks into the body politic of the country was to be the settled +policy of the government; or was it an experiment,--a temporary +expedient? + +These were doubtful and debatable questions, pending the settlement of +which matters could not be expected to take a definite shape. With the +incorporation of the blacks into the body politic of the country,--which +would have the effect of destroying the ability of the aristocracy to +maintain their political supremacy, and which would also have the effect +of bringing about the political emancipation of the whites of the middle +and lower classes,--a desperate struggle for political supremacy between +the antagonistic elements of the whites was inevitable and unavoidable. +But the uncertainty growing out of the possibility of the rejection by +the country of the Congressional Plan of Reconstruction was what held +matters in temporary abeyance. President Johnson was confident,--or +pretended to be,--that as soon as the people of the North had an +opportunity to pass judgment upon the issues involved, the result would +be the acceptance of his plan and the rejection of the one proposed by +Congress. + +While the Republicans were successful in 1868 in not only electing the +President and Vice-President and a safe majority in both branches of +Congress, yet the closeness of the result had the effect of preventing +the abandonment of the hope on the part of the supporters of the Johnson +administration that the administration Plan of Reconstruction would +ultimately be adopted and accepted as the basis of Reconstruction. Hence +bitter and continued opposition to the Congressional Plan of +Reconstruction was declared by the ruling class of the South to be the +policy of that section. While the Republicans were again successful in +the Congressional elections of 1870 yet the advocates of the Johnson +plan did not abandon hope of the ultimate success and acceptance by the +country of that plan until after the Presidential and Congressional +elections of 1872. In the meantime a serious split had taken place in +the Republican party which resulted in the nomination of two sets of +candidates for President and Vice-President. The Independent or Liberal +Republicans nominated Horace Greeley of New York, for President, and B. +Gratz Brown, of Missouri, for Vice-President. The regular Republicans +renominated President Grant to succeed himself, and for Vice-President, +Senator Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, was selected. + +The Democratic National Convention endorsed the ticket that had been +nominated by the Liberal Republicans. The Republicans carried the +election by an immense majority. With two or three exceptions the +electoral vote of every state in the Union was carried for Grant and +Wilson. The Republicans also had a very large majority in both branches +of Congress. + +Since the result of the election was so decisive, and since every branch +of the government was then in the hands of the Republicans, further +opposition to the Congressional Plan of Reconstruction was for the first +time completely abandoned. The fact was then recognized that this was +the settled and accepted policy of the Government and that further +opposition to it was useless. A few of the southern whites, General +Alcorn being one of the number, had accepted the result of the +Presidential and Congressional elections of 1868 as conclusive as to the +policy of the country with reference to Reconstruction; but those who +thought and acted along those lines at that time were exceptions to the +general rule. But after the Presidential and Congressional elections of +1872 all doubt upon that subject was entirely removed. + +The Southern whites were now confronted with a problem that was both +grave and momentous. But the gravity of the situation was chiefly based +upon the possibility,--if not upon a probability,--of a reversal of +what had been the established order of things, especially those of a +political nature. + +The inevitable conflict between the antagonistic elements of which +Southern society was composed could no longer be postponed. But the +colored vote was the important factor which now had to be considered and +taken into account. It was conceded that whatever element or faction +could secure the favor and win the support of the colored vote would be +the dominant and controlling one in the State. It is true that between +1868 and 1872, when the great majority of Southern whites maintained a +policy of "masterly inactivity," the colored voters were obliged to +utilize such material among the whites as was available; but it is a +well-known fact that much of the material thus utilized was from +necessity and not from choice, and that whenever and wherever an +acceptable and reputable white man would place himself in a position +where his services could be utilized he was gladly taken up and loyally +supported by the colored voters. + +After 1872 the necessity for supporting undesirable material no longer +existed; and colored voters had the opportunity not only of supporting +Southern whites for all the important positions in the State, but also +of selecting the best and most desirable among them. Whether the poor +whites or the aristocrats of former days were to be placed in control of +the affairs of the State was a question which the colored voters alone +could settle and determine. That the colored man's preference should be +the aristocrat of the past was perfectly natural, since the relations +between them had been friendly, cordial and amicable even during the +days of slavery. Between the blacks and the poor whites the feeling had +been just the other way; which was due not so much to race antipathy as +to jealousy and envy on the part of the poor whites, growing out of the +cordial and friendly relations between the aristocrats and their slaves; +and because the slaves were, in a large measure, their competitors in +the industrial market. When the partiality of the colored man for the +former aristocrats became generally known, they--the former +aristocrats,--began to come into the Republican party in large numbers. +In Mississippi they were led by such men as Alcorn, in Georgia by +Longstreet, in Virginia by Moseby, and also had as leaders such +ex-governors as Orr, of South Carolina; Brown, of Georgia, and Parsons, +of Alabama. + +Between 1872 and 1875 the accessions to the Republican ranks were so +large that it is safe to assert that from twenty-five to thirty per cent +of the white men of the Southern States were identified with the +Republican party; and those who thus acted were among the best and most +substantial men of that section. Among that number in the State of +Mississippi was J.L. Alcorn, J.A. Orr, J.B. Deason, R.W. Flournoy, and +Orlando Davis. In addition to these there were thousands of others, many +of them among the most prominent men of the State. Among the number was +Judge Hiram Cassidy, who was the candidate of the Democratic party for +Congress from the Sixth District in 1872, running against the writer of +these lines. He was one of the most brilliant and successful members of +the bar in southern Mississippi. Captain Thomas W. Hunt, of Jefferson +County, was a member of one of the oldest, best, and most influential +families of the South. The family connections were not, however, +confined to the South; George Hunt Pendelton of Ohio, for instance, who +was the Democratic candidate for Vice-President of the United States on +the ticket with McClellan, in 1864, and who was later one of the United +States Senators from Ohio, was a member of the same family. + +While the colored men held the key to the situation, the white men knew +that the colored men had no desire to rule or dominate even the +Republican party. All the colored men wanted and demanded was a voice in +the government under which they lived, and to the support of which they +contributed, and to have a small, but fair, and reasonable proportion of +the positions that were at the disposal of the voters of the State and +of the administration. + +While the colored men did not look with favor upon a political alliance +with the poor whites, it must be admitted that, with very few +exceptions, that class of whites did not seek, and did not seem to +desire such an alliance. For this there were several well-defined +reasons. + +In the first place, while the primary object of importing slaves into +that section was to secure labor for the cultivation of cotton, the +slave was soon found to be an apt pupil in other lines of industry. In +addition to having his immense cotton plantations cultivated by slave +labor, the slave-owner soon learned that he could utilize these slaves +as carpenters, painters, plasterers, bricklayers, blacksmiths and in all +other fields of industrial occupations and usefulness. Thus the whites +who depended upon their labor for a living along those lines had their +field of opportunity very much curtailed. Although the slaves were not +responsible for this condition, the fact that they were there and were +thus utilized, created a feeling of bitterness and antipathy on the part +of the laboring whites which could not be easily wiped out. + +In the second place, the whites of that class were not at that time as +ambitious, politically, as were the aristocrats. They had been held in +political subjection so long that it required some time for them to +realize that there had been a change. At that time they, with a few +exceptions, were less efficient, less capable, and knew less about +matters of state and governmental administration than many of the +ex-slaves. It was a rare thing, therefore, to find one of that class at +that time that had any political ambition or manifested any desire for +political distinction or official recognition. As a rule, therefore, the +whites that came into the leadership of the Republican party between +1872 and 1875 were representatives of the most substantial families of +the land. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +RISE OF DEMOCRATIC RADICALISM IN THE SOUTH + + +After the Presidential election of 1872 no one could be found who +questioned the wisdom or practicability of the Congressional Plan of +Reconstruction, or who looked for its overthrow, change or modification. +After that election the situation was accepted by everyone in perfect +good faith. No one could be found in any party or either race who was +bold enough to express the opinion that the Congressional Plan of +Reconstruction was a mistake, or that negro suffrage was a failure. To +the contrary it was admitted by all that the wisdom of both had been +fully tested and clearly vindicated. It will not be denied even now by +those who will take the time to make a careful examination of the +situation, that no other plan could have been devised or adopted that +could have saved to the country the fruits of the victory that had been +won on the field of battle. The adoption of any other plan would have +resulted in the accomplishment of nothing but the mere physical +abolition of slavery and a denial of the right of a State to withdraw +from the Union. These would have been mere abstract propositions, with +no authority vested in the National Government for their enforcement. +The war for the Union would have been practically a failure. The South +would have gained and secured substantially everything for which it +contended except the establishment of an independent government. The +black man, therefore, was the savior of his country, not only on the +field of battle, but after the smoke of battle had cleared away. + +Notwithstanding the general acceptance of this plan after the +Presidential election of 1872, we find that in the fall of 1874 there +was a complete and radical change in the situation,--a change both +sudden and unexpected. It came, as it were, in the twinkling of an eye. +It was like a clap of thunder from a clear sky. It was the State and +Congressional elections of that year. + +In the elections of 1872 nearly every State in the Union went +Republican. In the State and Congressional elections of 1874 the result +was the reverse of what it was two years before,--nearly every State +going Democratic. Democrats were surprised, Republicans were +dumbfounded. Such a result had not been anticipated by anyone. Even the +State of Massachusetts, the birthplace of abolitionism, the cradle of +American liberty, elected a Democratic Governor. The Democrats had a +majority in the National House of Representatives that was about equal +to that which the Republicans had elected two years before. Such veteran +Republican leaders in the United States Senate as Chandler, of Michigan, +Windom, of Minnesota, and Carpenter, of Wisconsin, were retired from the +Senate. When the returns were all in it was developed that the Democrats +did not have a clear majority on joint ballot in the Michigan +Legislature, but the margin between the two parties was so close that a +few men who had been elected as independent Republicans had the balance +of power. These Independents were opposed to the reelection of Senator +Chandler. That the Democrats should be anxious for the retirement of +such an able, active, aggressive, and influential Republican leader as +Chandler was to be expected. That party, therefore, joined with the +Independents in the vote for Senator which resulted in the election of a +harmless old gentleman by the name of Christiancy. The Michigan +situation was found to exist also in Minnesota, and the result was the +retirement of that strong and able leader, Senator William Windom, and +the election of a new and unknown man, McMillan. + +What was true of Michigan and Minnesota was also found to be true of +Wisconsin. The same sort of combination was made, which resulted in the +retirement of the able and brilliant Matt Carpenter, and the election of +a new man, Cameron, who was not then known outside of the boundaries of +his State. Cameron proved to be an able man, a useful Senator, a good +Republican and an improvement, in some respects, upon his predecessor; +but his election was a defeat of the Republican organization in his +State, which, of course, was the objective point with the Democrats. + +It was the State and Congressional elections of 1874 that proved to be +the death of the Republican party at the South. The party in that +section might have survived even such a crushing blow as this, but for +subsequent unfortunate events to which allusion has been made in a +previous chapter, and which will be touched upon in some that are to +follow. But, under these conditions, its survival was impossible. If the +State and Congressional elections of 1874 had been a repetition of those +of 1872 or if they had resulted in a Republican victory, Republican +success in the Presidential election of 1876 would have been a +reasonably assured fact. By that time the party at the South would have +included in its membership from forty to fifty per cent of the white men +of their respective States and as a result thereof it would have been +strong enough to stand on its own feet and maintain its own independent +existence, regardless of reverses which the parent organization might +have sustained in other sections. But at that time the party in that +section was in its infancy. It was young, weak, and comparatively +helpless. It still needed the fostering care and the protecting hand of +the paternal source of its existence. + +When the smoke of the political battle that was fought in the early part +of November, 1874, had cleared away, it was found that this strong, +vigorous and healthy parent had been carried from the battle-field +seriously wounded and unable to administer to the wants of its Southern +offspring. The offspring was not strong enough to stand alone. The +result was that its demise soon followed because it had been deprived of +that nourishment, that sustenance and that support which were essential +to its existence and which could come only from the parent which had +been seriously if not fatally wounded upon the field of battle. After +the Presidential election of 1872 Southern white men were not only +coming into the Republican party in large numbers, but the liberal and +progressive element of the Democracy was in the ascendency in that +organization. That element, therefore, shaped the policy and declared +the principles for which that organization stood. This meant the +acceptance by all political parties of what was regarded as the settled +policy of the National Government. In proof of this assertion a +quotation from a political editorial which appeared about that time in +the Jackson, Mississippi, _Clarion_,--the organ of the Democratic +party,--will not be out of place. In speaking of the colored people and +their attitude towards the whites, that able and influential paper said: + +"While they [the colored people] have been naturally tenacious of their +newly-acquired privileges, their general conduct will bear them witness +that they have shown consideration for the feelings of the whites. The +race line in politics would never have been drawn if opposition had not +been made to their enjoyment of equal privileges in the government and +under the laws after they were emancipated." + +In other words, the colored people had manifested no disposition to rule +or dominate the whites, and the only color line which had existed grew +out of the unwise policy which had previously been pursued by the +Democratic party in its efforts to prevent the enjoyment by the +newly-emancipated race of the rights and privileges to which they were +entitled under the Constitution and laws of the country. But after the +State and Congressional elections of 1874 the situation was materially +changed. The liberal and conservative element of the Democracy was +relegated to the rear and the radical element came to the front and +assumed charge. + +Subsequent to 1872 and prior to 1875 race proscription and social +ostracism had been completely abandoned. A Southern white man could +become a Republican without being socially ostracized. Such a man was no +longer looked upon as a traitor to his people, or false to his race. He +no longer forfeited the respect, confidence, good-will, and favorable +opinion of his friends and neighbors. Bulldozing, criminal assaults and +lynchings were seldom heard of. To the contrary, cordial, friendly and +amicable relations between all classes, all parties, and both races +prevailed everywhere. Fraud, violence, and intimidation at elections +were neither suspected nor charged by anyone, for everyone knew that no +occasion existed for such things. But after the State and Congressional +elections of 1874 there was a complete change of front. The new order of +things was then set aside and the abandoned methods of a few years back +were revived and readopted. + +It is no doubt true that very few men at the North who voted the +Republican ticket in 1872 and the Democratic ticket in 1874 were +influenced in changing their votes by anything connected with +Reconstruction. There were other questions at issue, no doubt, that +influenced their action. There had been in 1873, for instance, a +disastrous financial panic. Then there were other things connected with +the National Administration which met with popular disfavor. These were +the reasons, no doubt, that influenced thousands of Republicans to vote +the Democratic ticket merely as an indication of their dissatisfaction +with the National Administration. + +But, let their motives and reasons be what they may, the effect was the +same as if they had intended their votes to be accepted and construed as +an endorsement of the platform declarations of the National Democratic +Convention of 1868, at least so far as Reconstruction was concerned. +Democrats claimed, and Republicans could not deny, that so far as the +South was concerned this was the effect of the Congressional elections +of 1874. Desertions from the Republican ranks at the South, in +consequence thereof, became more rapid than had been the accessions +between 1872 and 1875. Thousands who had not taken an open stand, but +who were suspected of being inclined to the Republican party, denied +that there had ever been any justifiable grounds for such suspicions. +Many who had taken an open stand on that side returned to the fold of +the Democracy in sackcloth and ashes,--upon bended knees, pleading for +mercy, forgiveness and for charitable forbearance. They had seen a new +light; and they were ready to confess that they had made a grave +mistake, but, since their motives were good and their intentions were +honest, they hoped that they would not be rashly treated nor harshly +judged. + +The prospects for the gratification and realization of the ambition of +white men in that section had been completely reversed. The conviction +became a settled fact that the Democratic party was the only channel +through which it would be possible in the future for anyone to secure +political distinction or receive official recognition,--hence the return +to the ranks of that party of thousands of white men who had left it. +All of them were eventually received, though some were kept on the +anxious seat and held as probationers for a long time. + +It soon developed that all that was left of the once promising and +flourishing Republican party at the South was the true, faithful, loyal, +and sincere colored men,--who remained Republican from necessity as well +as from choice,--and a few white men, who were Republicans from +principle and conviction, and who were willing to incur the odium, run +the risks, take the chances, and pay the penalty that every white +Republican who had the courage of his convictions must then pay. This +was a sad and serious disappointment to the colored men who were just +about to realize the hope and expectation of a permanent political +combination and union between themselves and the better element of the +whites, which would have resulted in good, honest, capable, and +efficient local government and in the establishment and maintenance of +peace, good-will, friendly, cordial, and amicable relations between the +two races. But this hope, politically at least, had now been destroyed, +and these expectations had been shattered and scattered to the four +winds. The outlook for the colored man was dark and anything but +encouraging. Many of the parting scenes that took place between the +colored men and the whites who decided to return to the fold of the +Democracy were both affecting and pathetic in the extreme. + +The writer cannot resist the temptation to bring to the notice of the +reader one of those scenes of which he had personal knowledge. Colonel +James Lusk had been a prominent, conspicuous and influential +representative of the Southern aristocracy of ante-bellum days. He +enjoyed the respect and confidence of the community in which he +lived,--especially of the colored people. He, like thousands of others +of his class, had identified himself with the Republican party. There +was in that community a Republican club of which Sam Henry, a well-known +colored man, was president. When it was rumored,--and before it could be +verified,--that Colonel Lusk had decided to cast his fortunes with the +Republican party Henry appointed a committee of three to call on him and +extend to him a cordial invitation to appear before the club at its next +meeting and deliver an address. The invitation was accepted. As soon as +the Colonel entered the door of the club, escorted by the committee, +every man in the house immediately arose and all joined in giving three +cheers and a hearty welcome to the gallant statesman and brave +ex-Confederate soldier who had honored them with his distinguished +presence on that occasion. He delivered a splendid speech, in which he +informed his hearers that he had decided to cast his lot with the +Republican party. It was the first public announcement of that fact that +had been made. Of course he was honored, idolized and lionized by the +colored people wherever he was known. + +After the Congressional elections of 1874 Colonel Lusk decided that he +would return to the ranks of the Democracy. Before making public +announcement of that fact he decided to send for his faithful and loyal +friend, Sam Henry, to come to see him at his residence, as he had +something of importance to communicate to him. Promptly at the appointed +time Henry made his appearance. He did not know for what he was wanted, +but he had a well-founded suspicion, based upon the changed conditions +which were apparent in every direction; hence, apprehension could be +easily detected in his countenance. Colonel Lusk commenced by reminding +Henry of the fact that it was before the club of which he was president +and upon his invitation that he, Lusk, had made public announcement of +his intention to act in the future with the Republican party. Now that +he had decided to renounce any further allegiance to that party he +thought that his faithful friend and loyal supporter, Sam Henry, should +be the first to whom that announcement should be made. When he had +finished Henry was visibly affected. + +"Oh! no, Colonel," he cried, breaking down completely, "I beg of you do +not leave us. You are our chief, if not sole dependence. You are our +Moses. If you leave us, hundreds of others in our immediate neighborhood +will be sure to follow your lead. We will thus be left without solid and +substantial friends. I admit that with you party affiliation is +optional. With me it is not. You can be either a Republican or a +Democrat, and be honored and supported by the party to which you may +belong. With me it is different. I must remain a Republican whether I +want to or not. While it is impossible for me to be a Democrat it is not +impossible for you to be a Republican. We need you. We need your +prestige, your power, your influence, and your name. I pray you, +therefore, not to leave us; for if you and those who will follow your +lead leave us now we will be made to feel that we are without a country, +without a home, without friends, and without a hope for the future. Oh, +no, Colonel, I beg of you, I plead with you, don't go! Stay with us; +lead and guide us, as you have so faithfully done during the last few +years!" + +Henry's remarks made a deep and profound impression upon Colonel Lusk. +He informed Henry that no step he could take was more painful to him +than this. He assured Henry that this act on his part was from necessity +and not from choice. + +"The statement you have made, Henry, that party affiliations with me is +optional," he answered, "is presumed to be true; but, in point of fact, +it is not. No white man can live in the South in the future and act with +any other than the Democratic party unless he is willing and prepared to +live a life of social isolation and remain in political oblivion. While +I am somewhat advanced in years, I am not so old as to be devoid of +political ambition. Besides I have two grown sons. There is, no doubt, a +bright, brilliant and successful future before them if they are +Democrats; otherwise, not. If I remain in the Republican party,--which +can hereafter exist at the South only in name,--I will thereby retard, +if not mar and possibly destroy, their future prospects. Then, you must +remember that a man's first duty is to his family. My daughters are the +pride of my home. I cannot afford to have them suffer the humiliating +consequences of the social ostracism to which they may be subjected if I +remain in the Republican party. + +"The die is cast. I must yield to the inevitable and surrender my +convictions upon the altar of my family's good,--the outgrowth of +circumstances and conditions which I am powerless to prevent and cannot +control. Henceforth I must act with the Democratic party or make myself +a martyr; and I do not feel that there is enough at stake to justify me +in making such a fearful sacrifice as that. It is, therefore, with deep +sorrow and sincere regret, Henry, that I am constrained to leave you +politically, but I find that I am confronted with a condition, not a +theory. I am compelled to choose between you, on one side, and my family +and personal interests, on the other. That I have decided to sacrifice +you and yours upon the altar of my family's good is a decision for which +you should neither blame nor censure me. If I could see my way clear to +pursue a different course it would be done; but my decision is based +upon careful and thoughtful consideration and it must stand." + +Of course a stubborn and bitter fight for control of the Democratic +organization was now on between the antagonistic and conflicting +elements among the whites. It was to be a desperate struggle between the +former aristocrats, on one side, and what was known as the "poor +whites," on the other. While the aristocrats had always been the weaker +in point of numbers, they had been the stronger in point of wealth, +intelligence, ability, skill and experience. As a result of their wide +experience, and able and skillful management, the aristocrats were +successful in the preliminary struggles, as illustrated in the persons +of Stephens, Gordon, Brown and Hill, of Georgia; Daniels and Lee, of +Virginia; Hampton and Butler, of South Carolina; Lamar and Walthall, of +Mississippi, and Garland, of Arkansas. But in the course of time and in +the natural order of things the poor whites were bound to win. All that +was needed was a few years' tutelage and a few daring and unscrupulous +leaders to prey upon their ignorance and magnify their vanity in order +to bring them to a realization of the fact that their former political +masters were now completely at their mercy, and subject to their will. + +That the poor whites of the ante-bellum period in most of the late +slaveholding or reconstructed States are now the masters of the +political situation in those States, is a fact that will not be +questioned, disputed or denied by anyone who is well informed, or who is +familiar with the facts. The aristocrats of ante-bellum days and their +descendants in the old slave States are as completely under the +political control and domination of the poor whites of the ante-bellum +period as those whites were under them at that time. Yet the reader must +not assume that the election returns from such States indicate the +actual, or even the relative, strength of the opposing and antagonistic +elements and factions. They simply indicate that the poor whites of the +past and their descendants are now the masters and the leaders, and +that the masters and the leaders of the past are now the submissive +followers. + +In the ranks of those who are now the recognized leaders is to be found +some of the very best blood of the land,--the descendants of the finest, +best, most cultivated, and most refined families of their respective +States. But as a rule they are there, not from choice, but from +necessity,--not because they are in harmony with what is being done, or +because they approve of the methods that are being employed and pursued, +but on account of circumstances and conditions which they can neither +control nor prevent. They would not hesitate to raise the arm of revolt +if they had any hope, or if they believed that ultimate success would be +the result thereof. But as matters now stand they can detect no ray of +hope, and can see no avenue of escape. Hence nothing remains for them to +do but to hold the chain of political oppression and subjugation, while +their former political subordinates rivet and fasten the same around +their unwilling necks. They find they can do nothing but sacrifice their +pride, their manhood, and their self-respect upon the altar of political +necessity. They see, they feel, they fully realize the hopelessness of +their condition and the helplessness of their situation. They see, they +know, they acknowledge that in the line of political distinction and +official recognition they can get nothing that their former political +subordinates are not willing for them to have. With a hope of getting a +few crumbs that may fall from the official table they make wry faces and +pretend to be satisfied with what is being done, and with the way in +which it is done. They are looked upon with suspicion and their loyalty +to the new order of things is a constant source of speculation, +conjecture, and doubt. But, for reasons of political expediency, a few +crumbs are allowed occasionally to go to some one of that class,--crumbs +that are gratefully acknowledged and thankfully received, upon the +theory that some little consideration is better than none at all, +especially in their present helpless and dependent condition. But even +these small crumbs are confined to those who are most pronounced and +outspoken in their declarations and protestations of loyalty, devotion, +and subservient submission to the new order of things. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +EVENTFUL DAYS OF THE FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS + + +The Mississippi Constitution having been ratified in 1869,--an odd year +of the calendar,--caused the regular elections for State, district and +county officers to occur on the odd year of the calendar, while the +National elections occurred on the even years of the calendar, thus +necessitating the holding of an election in the State every year. +Therefore, no election was to be held in 1874, except for Congressmen, +and to fill a few vacancies, while the regular election for county +officers and members of the Legislature would be held in 1875. + +Since the regular session of the 44th Congress would not convene before +December, 1875, in order to avoid the trouble and expense incident to +holding an election in 1874, the Legislature passed a bill postponing +the election of members of Congress until November, 1875. There being +some doubt about the legality of this legislation, Congress passed a +bill legalizing the act of the Legislature. Consequently no election was +held in the State in 1874 except to fill a few vacancies that had +occurred in the Legislature and in some of the districts and counties. + +One of the vacancies to be filled was that of State Senator, created by +the resignation of Senator Hiram Cassidy, Jr. Senator Cassidy, who was +elected as a Democrat in 1873, and who had voted for Mr. Bruce, the +Republican caucus nominee, for United States Senator, had in the mean +time publicly identified himself with the Republican party, thus +following in the footsteps of his able and illustrious father, Judge +Hiram Cassidy, Sr., who had given his active support to the Republican +candidate for Governor in 1873. + +Governor Ames had appointed Senator Cassidy a Judge of the Chancery +Court, to accept which office it was necessary for him to resign his +seat as a member of the State Senate. A special election was held in +November, 1874, to fill that vacancy. The Democrats nominated a strong +and able man, Judge R.H. Thompson, of Brookhaven, Lincoln County. The +Republicans nominated a still stronger and abler man, Hon. J.F. +Sessions, of the same town and county,--a Democrat who had represented +Franklin County for several terms, but who had that year identified +himself with the Republican party. Sessions was Chancellor Cassidy's law +partner. + +Since the counties comprising that senatorial district constituted a +part of the district that I then represented in Congress, I took an +active part in the support of the candidacy of Sessions. Although a +Democrat, Hiram Cassidy, Jr., had been elected from that district in +1873, Sessions, a Republican, was elected by a handsome majority in +1874. A vacancy had also occurred in the Legislature from Franklin +County, to fill which the Republicans nominated Hon. William P. Cassidy, +brother of Chancellor Cassidy; but the Democratic majority in the county +was too large for one even so popular as Wm. P. Cassidy to overcome; +hence he was defeated by a small majority. + +From a Republican point of view Mississippi, as was true of the other +reconstructed States, up to 1875 was all that could be expected and +desired and, no doubt, would have remained so for many years, but for +the unexpected results of the State and Congressional elections of 1874. +While it is true, as stated and explained in a previous chapter, that +Grant carried nearly every state in the Union at the Presidential +election in 1872, the State and Congressional elections throughout the +country two years later went just the other way, and by majorities just +as decisive as those given the Republicans two years before. + +Notwithstanding the severe and crushing defeat sustained by the +Republicans at that time, it was claimed by some, believed by others, +and predicted by many that by the time the election for President in +1876 would roll around it would be found that the Republicans had +regained substantially all they had lost in 1874; but these hopes, +predictions, and expectations were not realized. The Presidential +election of 1876 turned out to be so close and doubtful that neither +party could claim a substantial victory. While it is true that Hayes, +the Republican candidate for President, was finally declared elected +according to the forms of law, yet the terms and conditions upon which +he was allowed to be peaceably inaugurated were such as to complete the +extinction and annihilation of the Republican party at the South. The +price that the Hayes managers stipulated to pay,--and did pay,--for the +peaceable inauguration of Hayes was that the South was to be turned over +to the Democrats and that the administration was not to enforce the +Constitution and the laws of the land in that section against the +expressed will of the Democrats thereof. In other words, so far as the +South was concerned, the Constitution was not to follow the flag. + +In the 43rd Congress which was elected in 1872 and which would expire by +limitation March 4, 1875, the Republicans had a large majority in both +Houses. In the House of Representatives of the 44th Congress, which was +elected in 1874, the Democratic majority was about as large as was the +Republican majority in the House of the 43rd Congress. The Republicans +still retained control of the Senate, but by a greatly reduced majority. + +During the short session of the 43rd Congress, important legislation was +contemplated by the Republican leaders. Alabama was one of the States +which the Democrats were charged with having carried in 1874 by +resorting to methods which were believed to be questionable and illegal. +An investigation was ordered by the House. A committee was appointed to +make the investigation, of which General Albright, of Pennsylvania, was +chairman. This committee was authorized to report by bill or otherwise. +After a thorough investigation, the chairman was directed, and +instructed by the vote of every Republican member of the committee, +which constituted a majority thereof, to report and recommend the +passage of what was called the Federal Elections Bill. This bill was +carefully drawn; following substantially the same lines as a previous +temporary measure, under the provisions of which what was known as the +Ku Klux Klan had been crushed out, and order had been restored in North +Carolina. + +It is safe to say that this bill would have passed both Houses and +become a law, but for the unexpected opposition of Speaker Blaine. Mr. +Blaine was not only opposed to the bill, but his opposition was so +intense that he felt it his duty to leave the Speaker's chair and come +on the floor for the purpose of leading the opposition to its passage. +This, of course, was fatal to the passage of the measure. After a +desperate struggle of a few days, in which the Speaker was found to be +in opposition to a large majority of his party associates, and which +revealed the fact that the party was hopelessly divided, the leaders in +the House abandoned the effort to bring the measure to a vote. + +Mr. Blame's motives in taking this unexpected position, in open +opposition to the great majority of his party associates, has always +been open to speculation and conjecture. His personal and political +enemies charged that it was due to jealousy of President Grant. Mr. +Blaine was a candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination the +following year. It was a well-known fact that President Grant was not +favorable to Mr. Blaine's nomination, but was in sympathy with the +movement to have Senator Roscoe Conkling, of New York, Mr. Blaine's +bitterest political enemy, nominated. Mr. Blaine was afraid, his enemies +asserted, that, if the Federal Elections Bill,--under the provisions of +which great additional power would have been conferred upon the +President,--had become a law, that power would be used to defeat his +nomination for the Presidency in 1876; hence his opposition to the Bill. +But, whatever his motives were, his successful opposition to that +measure no doubt resulted in his failure to realize the ambition of his +life,--the Presidency of the United States. But for the stand he took +on that occasion, he would probably have received sufficient support +from Southern delegates in the National Convention to secure him the +nomination, and, had he been nominated at that time, the probabilities +are that he would have been elected. But his opposition to that bill +practically solidified the Southern delegates in that convention against +him, and as a result he was defeated for the nomination, although he was +the choice of a majority of the Northern delegates. + +Even when Blaine received the nomination in 1884 it was developed that +it could not have happened had the Southern delegates been as solidly +against him at that time as they were in 1876. But by 1884 the Southern +Republicans had somewhat relented in their opposition to him, and, as a +result thereof, he received sufficient support from that section to give +him the nomination. But he was defeated at the polls because the South +was solid against him,--a condition which was made possible by his own +action in defeating the Federal Elections Bill in 1875. In consequence +of his action in that matter he was severely criticised and censured by +Republicans generally, and by Southern Republicans especially. + +Although I was not favorable to his nomination for the Presidency at any +time, my relations with Mr. Blaine had been so cordial that I felt at +liberty to seek him and ask him, for my own satisfaction and +information, an explanation of his action in opposing and defeating the +Federal Elections Bill. I therefore went to him just before the final +adjournment of the 43rd Congress and informed him that I desired to have +a few minutes' private audience with him whenever it would be convenient +for him to see me. He requested me to come to the Speaker's room +immediately after the adjournment of the House that afternoon. + +When I entered the room Mr. Blaine was alone. I took a seat only a few +feet from him. I informed him of the great disappointment and intense +dissatisfaction which his action had caused in defeating what was not +only regarded as a party measure, but which was believed by the +Republicans to be of vital importance from a party point of view, to say +nothing of its equity and justice. I remarked that for him to array +himself in opposition to the great majority of his own party +associates,--and to throw the weight of his great influence against such +an important party measure as the Federal Elections Bill was believed to +be,--he must have had some motive, some justifiable grounds of which the +public was ignorant, but about which I believed it was fair to himself +and just to his own friends and party associates, that he give some +explanation. + +"As a southern Republican member of the House, and as one that is not +hostile or particularly unfriendly to you," I said, "I feel that I have +a right to make this request of you." + +At first he gave me a look of surprise, and for several seconds he +remained silent. Then, straightening himself up in his chair, he +answered: + +"I am glad, Mr. Lynch, that you have made this request of me, since I am +satisfied you are not actuated by any unfriendly motive in doing so. I +shall, therefore, give a frank answer to your question. In my judgment, +if that bill had become a law the defeat of the Republican party +throughout the country would have been a foregone conclusion. We could +not have saved the South even if the bill had passed, but its passage +would have lost us the North; indeed, I could not have carried even my +own State of Maine, if that bill had passed. In my opinion, it was +better to lose the South and save the North, than to try through such +legislation to save the South, and thus lose both North and South. I +believed that if we saved the North we could then look after the South. +If the Southern Democrats are foolish enough to bring about a Solid +South the result will be a Solid North against a Solid South; and in +that case the Republicans would have nothing to fear. You now have my +reasons, frankly and candidly given, for the action taken by me on the +occasion referred to. I hope you are satisfied with them." + +I thanked Mr. Blaine cordially for giving me the desired explanation. +"I now feel better satisfied with reference to your action upon that +occasion," I assured him. "While I do not agree with you in your +conclusions, and while I believe your reasoning to be unsound and +fallacious, still I cannot help giving you credit for having been +actuated by no other motive than to do what you honestly believed was +for the best interest of the country and the Republican party." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STATE CAMPAIGN OF 1875. REPUBLICAN VICTORY + + +When I returned to my home after the adjournment of Congress in March, +1875, the political clouds were dark. The political outlook was +discouraging. The prospect of Republican success was not at all bright. +There had been a marked change in the situation from every point of +view. Democrats were bold, outspoken, defiant, and determined. In +addition to these unfavorable indications I noticed that I was not +received by them with the same warmth and cordiality as on previous +occasions. With a few notable exceptions they were cold, indifferent, +even forbidding in their attitude and manner. This treatment was so +radically different from that to which I had been accustomed that I +could not help feeling it keenly. I knew it was indicative of a change +in the political situation which meant that I had before me the fight of +my life. + +My advocacy and support of the Federal Elections Bill, commonly called +the "Force Bill," was occasionally given as the reason for this change; +but I knew this was not the true reason. In fact, that bill would hardly +have been thought of but for the fact that Mr. Blaine, the Republican +Speaker of the House, had attracted national attention to it through his +action in vacating the chair and coming on the floor of the House to +lead the opposition to its passage. This act on the part of the +statesman from Maine made him, in the opinion of many Southern +Democrats, the greatest man that our country had ever produced,--George +Washington, the Father of the Republic, not excepted. They were loud in +their thanks for the valuable service he had thus rendered them and, as +evidence of their gratitude to him, they declared their determination to +show their appreciation of this valuable service in a substantial manner +whenever the opportunity presented itself for it to be done. + +No man in the country was stronger, better or more popular than the +statesman from Maine, until his name came before them as a candidate for +President of the United States on a Republican ticket. A sudden +transformation then took place. It was then discovered, to their great +surprise and disappointment, that he was such an unsafe and dangerous +man that no greater calamity could happen to the country than his +elevation to the Presidency. Nothing, therefore, must be left undone to +bring about his defeat. + +I was well aware of the fact at the time that it was the result of the +State and Congressional elections at the north in 1874 that had +convinced Southern Democrats that Republican ascendency in the National +Government would soon be a thing of the past--that the Democrats would +be successful in the Presidential and Congressional elections of 1876 +and that that party would, no doubt, remain in power for at least a +quarter of a century. It was this, and not the unsuccessful effort to +pass a Federal Elections Bill, that had produced the marked change that +was noticeable on every hand. Every indication seemed to point to a +confirmation of the impression that Democratic success at the +Presidential election was practically an assured fact. + +There had been a disastrous financial panic in 1873 which was no doubt +largely responsible for the political upheaval in 1874; but that was +lost sight of in accounting for that result. In fact they made no effort +to explain it except in their own way. The Democrats had carried the +country; the reasons for this they construed to suit themselves. The +construction they placed upon it was that it was a national condemnation +and repudiation of the Congressional Plan of Reconstruction, and they +intended to govern themselves accordingly. + +The election in Mississippi in 1875 was for members of Congress, members +of the Legislature, and county officers, and also a State Treasurer to +serve out the unexpired term of Treasurer Holland, deceased. My own +renomination for Congress from the Sixth (Natchez) District was a +foregone conclusion, since I had no opposition in my own party; but I +realized the painful fact that a nomination this time was not equivalent +to an election. Still, I felt that it was my duty to make the fight, let +the result be what it might. + +If Congressmen had been elected in 1874 the State would have returned +five Republicans and one Democrat as was done in 1872; but in 1875 the +prospect was not so bright, the indications were not so favorable. The +Democrats nominated for State Treasurer Hon. Wm. L. Hemmingway, of +Carroll County. He was an able man, and had been quite prominent as a +party leader in his section of the State. The defiant attitude assumed, +and the bold declarations contained in the platform upon which he was +nominated were accepted by the Republicans as notice that the Democrats +intended to carry the election--"peaceably and fairly." + +The Republicans nominated Hon. George M. Buchanan, of Marshall County, +upon a platform which strongly endorsed the National and State +administrations. Mr. Buchanan was a strong and popular man. He had been +a brave and gallant Confederate soldier. He had been for several years +Sheriff and Tax Collector of his county, and was known to be especially +fitted for the office of State Treasurer. As Sheriff and Tax Collector +of Marshall County,--one of the wealthiest counties in the State,--he +had handled and disbursed many thousands of dollars, every dollar of +which had been faithfully accounted for. His honesty, integrity, +ability, fitness, and capacity, everyone, regardless of race or party, +unhesitatingly admitted. + +The administration of Governor Ames was one of the best the State had +ever had. The judiciary was quite equal to that which had been appointed +by Governor Alcorn. The public revenues had been promptly collected, and +honestly accounted for. There had not only been no increase in the rate +of taxation, but, to the contrary, there had been a material reduction. +Notwithstanding these things the Democrats, together with the radical +element in charge of the party machinery, determined to seize the State +Government _vi et armis_; not because it was at all necessary for any +special reason, but simply because conditions at that time seemed to +indicate that it could be safely done. + +After the nominations had all been made, the campaign was opened in dead +earnest. Nearly all Democratic clubs in the State were converted into +armed military companies. Funds with which to purchase arms were +believed to have been contributed by the National Democratic +organization. Nearly every Republican meeting was attended by one or +more of those clubs or companies,--the members of which were +distinguished by red shirts, indicative of blood,--the attendance being +for the purpose, of course, of "keeping the peace and preserving +order." To enable the Democrats to carry the State a Republican majority +of between twenty and thirty thousand had to be overcome. This could be +done only by the adoption and enforcement of questionable methods. It +was a case in which the end justified the means, and the means had to be +supplied. + +The Republican vote consisted of about ninety-five per cent of the +colored men, and of about twenty-five per cent of the white men. The +other seventy-five per cent of the whites formerly constituted a part of +the flower of the Confederate Army. They were not only tried and +experienced soldiers, but they were fully armed and equipped for the +work before them. Some of the colored Republicans had been Union +soldiers, but they were neither organized nor armed. In such a contest, +therefore, they and their white allies were entirely at the mercy of +their political adversaries. + +Governor Ames soon took in the situation. He saw that he could not +depend upon the white members of the State militia to obey his orders, +to support him in his efforts to uphold the majesty of the law, and to +protect the law-abiding citizens in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and +property. To use the colored members of the militia for such a purpose +would be adding fuel to the flames. Nothing, therefore, remained for him +to do but to call on the National administration for military aid in +his efforts to crush out domestic violence and enforce the laws of the +State. He did call for such aid, but for reasons that will be given +later it was not granted. + +When the polls closed on the day of the election, the Democrats, of +course, had carried the State by a large majority,--thus securing a +heavy majority in both branches of the Legislature. Of the six members +of Congress the writer was the only one of the regular Republican +candidates that pulled through, and that, by a greatly reduced majority. +In the Second (Holly Springs) District, G. Wiley Wells ran as an +Independent Republican against A.R. Howe, the sitting member, and the +regular Republican candidate for reelection. The Democrats supported +Wells, who was elected. + +The delegation, therefore, consisted of four Democrats, one Republican, +and one Independent Republican. While the delegation would have +consisted of five straight Republicans and one Democrat had the election +been held in 1874, still, since the Democrats had such a large majority +in the House, the political complexion of the Mississippi delegation was +not important. The election of the writer, it was afterwards developed, +was due in all probability to a miscalculation on the part of some of +the Democratic managers. Their purpose was to have a solid delegation, +counting Wells as one of that number, since his election would be due +to the support of the Democratic party. + +But in my district the plan miscarried. In one of the counties there +were two conflicting reports as to what the Democratic majority was; +according to one, it was two hundred and fifty, according to the other, +it was five hundred. The report giving two hundred and fifty was, no +doubt, the correct one, but the other would probably have been accepted +had it been believed at the time that it was necessary to insure the +election of the Democratic candidate. To overcome the majority in that +district was more difficult than to overcome it in any of the other +districts. While their candidate, Colonel Roderick Seal, was quite a +popular man, it was well known that I would poll a solid Republican vote +and some Democratic votes in addition. Fortunately for me there was a +split in the party in my own county (Adams) for county officers, which +resulted in bringing out a very heavy vote. This split also made the +count of the ballots very slow,--covering a period of several days. My +name was on both tickets. The election took place on Tuesday, but the +count was not finished until the following Friday evening. Hence, the +result for member of Congress in that county could not be definitely +ascertained until Friday night. + +The Democratic managers at the State Capital were eager to know as soon +as possible what the Republican majority in Adams County would be for +Congressman, hence, on Wednesday evening, the editor of the local +Democratic paper received a telegram from the Secretary of the +Democratic State Committee, requesting to be informed immediately what +the Republican majority for Congressman would be in Adams County. The +editor read the telegram to me and asked what, in my opinion, would be +my majority in the county. My reply was that I did not think it would +exceed twelve hundred; whereupon he sent in the following report: +"Lynch's majority in Adams will not exceed twelve hundred." + +Upon receipt of this telegram the majority of two hundred and fifty +instead of five hundred was deemed sufficient from the county heretofore +referred to. If the Republican majority in Adams would not exceed twelve +hundred, the success of the Democratic Congressional candidate by a +small but safe majority was assured on the face of the returns. Since +Adams was the last county to be reported, no change could thereafter be +made. When the count was finally finished in Adams it was found I had a +majority of over eighteen hundred. This gave me a majority in the +district of a little over two hundred on the face of the returns. + +The disappointment and chagrin on the part of the Democratic managers +can better be imagined than described. But the agreeable surprise to the +Republicans was at least equal to the Democrats' disappointment. The +defeated Democratic candidate threatened to make a contest for the seat +on the ground of violence and fraud; but this was so ridiculous that the +managers of his own party would not allow him to carry the threat into +execution. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND THE PRESIDENT REGARDING STATE +APPOINTMENTS + + +Shortly after I reached Washington in the latter part of November, 1875, +I called on the President to pay my respects, and to see him on business +relating to a Civil Service order that he had recently issued, and that +some of the Federal office-holders had evidently misunderstood. +Postmaster Pursell, of Summit, an important town in my district, was one +of that number. He was supposed to be a Republican, having been +appointed as such. But he not only refused to take any part in the +campaign of 1875, but he also declined to contribute a dollar to meet +the legitimate expenses of that campaign. The President's Civil Service +order was his excuse. According to Pursell's construction of that order, +Federal office-holders must not only take no part in political or party +campaigns, but they must make no contributions for political purposes. +He not only said nothing and did nothing in the interest of his party in +that campaign, but it was believed by some that he did not even vote the +Republican ticket. + +After paying my respects to the President I brought this case to his +attention. I informed him that I very much desired to have Postmaster +Pursell removed, and a good Republican appointed in his stead. + +"What is the matter with him?" the President asked. "Is he not a good +postmaster?" + +"Yes," I replied, "there is nothing to be said against him, so far as I +know, with reference to his administration of the office. I only object +to him on account of politics. He may be,--and no doubt is,--a good, +capable, and efficient postmaster; but politically he is worthless. From +a party point of view he is no good. In my opinion, there ought to be a +man in that office who will not only discharge his duties in a +creditable manner, but who will also be of some service to the party and +to the administration under which he serves. In the present postmaster +of the town of Summit we have not such a man, but we can and will have +one if you will appoint the one whose name I now present and for whom I +ask your favorable consideration. We had, as you know, a bitter and +desperate struggle. It was the very time that we stood sadly in need of +every man and of every vote. We lost the county that Summit is in by a +small majority. If an active and aggressive man, such as the one whose +name I now place before you, had been postmaster at Summit, the result +in that County might have been different. I therefore earnestly +recommend that Pursell be removed, and that Mr. Garland be appointed to +succeed him." + +The President replied: "You have given good and sufficient reasons for a +change. Leave with me the name of the man you desire to have appointed, +and his name will be sent to the Senate as soon as Congress meets." I +cordially thanked the President, and assured him that he would have no +occasion to regret making the change. In explanation of his Civil +Service order the President remarked that quite a number of +office-holders had seemed to misunderstand it, although it was plainly +worded, and, as he thought, not difficult to understand. There had never +been any serious complaints growing out of active participation in +political campaigns on the part of office-holders, and that it was not, +and never had been, the purpose of the administration, by executive +order or otherwise, to limit or restrict any American citizen in the +discharge of his duties as a citizen, simply because he happened to be +an office-holder, provided that in so doing he did not neglect his +official duties. There had, however, been serious complaints from many +parts of the country about the use and abuse of Federal patronage in +efforts to manipulate party conventions, and to dictate and control +party nominations. To destroy this evil was the primary purpose of the +civil service order referred to. + +I told the President that his explanation of the order was in harmony +with my own construction and interpretation of it. That is why I made +the recommendation for a change in the postmastership at Summit. The +change was promptly made. I then informed the President that there was +another matter about which I desired to have a short talk with him, that +was the recent election in Mississippi. After calling his attention to +the sanguinary struggle through which we had passed, and the great +disadvantages under which we labored, I reminded him of the fact that +the Governor, when he saw that he could not put down without the +assistance of the National Administration what was practically an +insurrection against the State Government, made application for +assistance in the manner and form prescribed by the Constitution, with +the confident belief that it would be forthcoming. But in this we were, +for some reason, seriously disappointed and sadly surprised. The reason +for this action, or rather non-action, was still an unexplained mystery +to us. For my own satisfaction and information I should be pleased to +have the President enlighten me on the subject. + +The President said that he was glad I had asked him the question, and +that he would take pleasure in giving me a frank reply. He said he had +sent Governor Ames' requisition to the War Department with his approval +and with instructions to have the necessary assistance furnished without +delay. He had also given instructions to the Attorney-General to use +the marshals and the machinery of the Federal judiciary as far as +possible in cooeperation with the War Department in an effort to maintain +order and to bring about a condition which would insure a peaceable and +fair election. But before the orders were put into execution a committee +of prominent Republicans from Ohio had called on him. (Ohio was then an +October State,--that is, her elections took place in October instead of +November.) An important election was then pending in that State. This +committee, the President stated, protested against having the +requisition of Governor Ames honored. The committee, the President said, +informed him in a most emphatic way that if the requisition of Governor +Ames were honored, the Democrats would not only carry Mississippi,--a +State which would be lost to the Republicans in any event,--but that +Democratic success in Ohio would be an assured fact. If the requisition +were not honored it would make no change in the result in Mississippi, +but that Ohio would be saved to the Republicans. The President assured +me that it was with great reluctance that he yielded,--against his own +judgment and sense of official duty,--to the arguments of this +committee, and directed the withdrawal of the orders which had been +given the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General in that matter. + +This statement, I confess, surprised me very much. + +"Can it be possible," I asked, "that there is such a prevailing +sentiment in any State in the North, East or West as renders it +necessary for a Republican President to virtually give his sanction to +what is equivalent to a suspension of the Constitution and laws of the +land to insure Republican success in such a State? I cannot believe this +to be true, the opinion of the Republican committee from Ohio to the +contrary notwithstanding. What surprises me more, Mr. President, is that +you yielded and granted this remarkable request. That is not like you. +It is the first time I have ever known you to show the white feather. +Instead of granting the request of that committee, you should have +rebuked the men,--told them that it is your duty as chief magistrate of +the country to enforce the Constitution and laws of the land, and to +protect American citizens in the exercise and enjoyment of their rights, +let the consequences be what they may; and that if by doing this Ohio +should be lost to the Republicans it ought to be lost. In other words, +no victory is worth having if it is to be brought about upon such +conditions as those,--if it is to be purchased at such a fearful cost as +was paid in this case." + +"Yes," said the President, "I admit that you are right. I should not +have yielded. I believed at the time that I was making a grave mistake. +But as presented, it was duty on one side, and party obligation on the +other. Between the two I hesitated, but finally yielded to what was +believed to be party obligation. If a mistake was made, it was one of +the head and not of the heart. That my heart was right and my intentions +good, no one who knows me will question. If I had believed that any +effort on my part would have saved Mississippi I would have made it, +even if I had been convinced that it would have resulted in the loss of +Ohio to the Republicans. But I was satisfied then, as I am now, that +Mississippi could not have been saved to the party in any event and I +wanted to avoid the responsibility of the loss of Ohio, in addition. +This was the turning-point in the case. + +"And while on this subject," the President went on, "let us look more +closely into the significance of this situation. I am very much +concerned about the future of our country. When the War came to an end +it was thought that four things had been brought about and effectually +accomplished as a result thereof. They were: first, that slavery had +been forever abolished; second, that the indissolubility of the Federal +Union had been permanently established and universally recognized; +third, that the absolute and independent sovereignty of the several +States was a thing of the past; fourth, that a national sovereignty had +been at last created and established, resulting in sufficient power +being vested in the general government not only to guarantee to every +State in the Union a Republican form of government, but to protect, when +necessary, the individual citizen of the United States in the exercise +and enjoyment of the rights and privileges to which he is entitled under +the Constitution and laws of his country. In other words, that there had +been created a National citizenship as distinguished from State +citizenship, resulting in a paramount allegiance to the United +States,--the general Government,--having ample power to protect its own +citizens against domestic and personal violence whenever the State in +which he may live should fail, refuse, or neglect to do so. In other +words, so far as citizens of the United States are concerned, the States +in the future would only act as agents of the general Government in +protecting the citizens of the United States in the enjoyment of life, +liberty, and property. This has been my conception of the duties of the +President, and until recently I have pursued that course. But there +seems to be a number of leading and influential men in the Republican +party who take a different view of these matters. These men have used +and are still using their power and influence, not to strengthen but to +cripple the President and thus prevent him from enforcing the +Constitution and laws along these lines. They have not only used their +power and influence to prevent and defeat wise and necessary legislation +for these purposes, but they have contributed, through the medium of +public meetings and newspaper and magazine articles, to the creation of +a public sentiment hostile to the policy of the administration. Whatever +their motives may be, future mischief of a very serious nature is bound +to be the result. It requires no prophet to foresee that the national +government will soon be at a great disadvantage and that the results of +the war of the rebellion will have been in a large measure lost. In +other words, that the first two of the four propositions above stated +will represent all that will have been accomplished as a result of the +war, and even they, for the lack of power of enforcement in the general +government, will be largely of a negative character. What you have just +passed through in the State of Mississippi is only the beginning of what +is sure to follow. I do not wish to create unnecessary alarm, nor to be +looked upon as a prophet of evil, but it is impossible for me to close +my eyes in the face of things that are as plain to me as the noonday +sun." + +It is needless to say that I was deeply interested in the President's +eloquent and prophetic talk which subsequent events have more than fully +verified. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876 AND ITS RESULTS + + +The Presidential election was held in 1876. The Republicans had carried +the country in 1872 by such a decisive majority that it indicated many +years of continued Republican ascendency in the National Government. But +the severe reverses sustained by that party at the polls two years later +completely changed this situation and outlook. Democrats confidently +expected and Republicans seriously apprehended that the Presidential +election of 1876 would result in a substantial Democratic victory. Mr. +Blaine was the leading candidate for the Republican nomination, but he +had bitter opposition in the ranks of his own party. That opposition +came chiefly from friends and supporters of Senator Conkling at the +North and from Southern Republicans generally. The opposition of the +Conkling men to Mr. Blaine was largely personal; while southern +Republicans were opposed to him on account of his having caused the +defeat of the Federal Elections Bill. The great majority of southern +Republicans supported Senator Oliver P. Morton of Indiana. + +After the National Convention had been organized, it looked for a while +as if Mr. Blaine's nomination was a foregone conclusion. Hon. Edward +McPherson, of Pennsylvania,--a strong Blaine man,--had been made +President of the Convention. In placing Mr. Blaine's name in nomination, +Hon. Robert G. Ingersoll of Illinois made such an eloquent and effective +speech that he came very near carrying the Convention by storm, and thus +securing the nomination of the statesman from Maine. But the opposition +to Mr. Blaine was too well organized to allow the Convention to be +stampeded, even by the power and eloquence of an Ingersoll. It was this +speech that gave Mr. Ingersoll his national fame and brought him to the +front as a public speaker and lecturer. It was the most eloquent and +impressive speech that was delivered during the sitting of the +Convention. After a bitter struggle of many hours, and after a number of +fruitless ballots, the Convention finally nominated Gov. R.B. Hayes, of +Ohio, as a compromise candidate. This result was brought about through a +union of the combined opposition to Mr. Blaine. Hon. Wm. A. Wheeler, of +New York, was nominated for Vice-President and the work of the +Convention was over. + +The Democrats nominated ex-Governor Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, for +President, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, for Vice-President. +Their platform pledged many radical reforms in the administration of the +government. This ticket was made with the hope that it would be +successful in the doubtful and debatable States of New York, New Jersey, +Indiana, and Connecticut, which, with the Solid South, would constitute +a majority of the electoral college, even if all the other States should +go Republican, which was not anticipated. + +That the prospect of Democratic success was exceedingly bright and the +probability of a Republican victory extremely dark, was generally +conceded. The South was counted upon to be solid in its support of the +Democratic ticket, for the methods that had been successfully +inaugurated in Mississippi the year before, to overcome a Republican +majority of more than twenty thousand, were to be introduced and adopted +in all the other States of that section in which conditions were +practically the same as in Mississippi. + +To insure success, therefore, it was only necessary for the Democrats to +concentrate their efforts upon the four doubtful States outside of the +Solid South. Up to a certain point the plan worked well. Every +indication seemed to point to its successful consummation. As had been +anticipated, the Democrats were successful in the four doubtful Northern +States, and they also carried, on the face of the returns, every +Southern State, just as had been planned; the Mississippi methods +having been adopted in such of them as had Republican majorities to +overcome. Since through those methods the Democrats had succeeded in +overcoming a large Republican majority in Mississippi, there was no +reason why the same methods should not produce like results in South +Carolina, in Louisiana, and in Florida. In fact, it was looked upon as a +reflection upon the bravery and party loyalty of the Democracy of those +States if they could not do what had been done under like conditions in +Mississippi. Hence those States _had_ to be carried, "peaceably and +fairly," of course, "but they must be carried just the same." Failure to +carry them was out of the question, because too much was involved. +According to the plans and calculations that had been carefully made, no +Southern State could be lost. While it might be possible to win without +all of them, still it was not believed to be safe to run any such risk, +or take any such chance. If the Democrats should happen to carry a state +that was not included in the combination, so much the better. + +Everything seemed to work admirably. That it was a plan by which +elections could be easily carried, with or without votes, had been +clearly demonstrated. On the face of the returns the majorities were +brought forth just as had been ordered and directed. But it seems that +such methods had been anticipated by the Republican governments in South +Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, and that suitable steps had been +taken to prevent their successful consummation through the medium of +State Returning Boards. When the Returning Boards had rejected and +thrown out many of the majorities that had been returned from some of +the counties and parishes, the result was changed, and the Republican +candidates for Presidential electors were officially declared elected. +This gave the Republican candidates for President and Vice-President a +majority of one vote in the Electoral College. It has, of course, been +alleged by many,--and it is believed by some,--that the actions of those +Returning Boards defeated the will of the people as expressed at the +polls, thus bringing about the seating in the Presidential chair of the +man that had been fairly and honestly defeated. Yet, no one who is +familiar with the facts, and who is honest enough to admit them, will +deny that but for the inauguration in South Carolina, Florida, and +Louisiana, of the Mississippi methods, those three States would have +been as safely Republican at that time and in that election as were the +States of Pennsylvania and Vermont. But the plans of the Democratic +managers had been defeated. It was hard for them to lose a victory they +felt and believed to have been won by them, notwithstanding the +extraneous methods that had been employed to bring about such results. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +EFFECTS OF THE REFORM ADMINISTRATION IN MISSISSIPPI + + +Because the Democrats carried the election in Mississippi in 1875, they +did not thereby secure control of the State Government. That election +was for members of the Legislature, members of Congress and county +officers. Only one State officer was elected,--a State Treasurer,--to +fill the vacancy created by the death of Treasurer Holland. All the +other State officers were Republicans. But the Democrats could not +afford to wait until Governor Ames' term expired. They were determined +to get immediate control of the State Government. There was only one way +in which this could be done, and that was by impeachment. + +This course they decided to take. It could not be truthfully denied that +Governor Ames was a clean, pure, and honest man. He had given the State +an excellent administration. The State judiciary had been kept up to the +high standard established by Governor Alcorn. Every dollar of the public +money had been collected, and honestly accounted for. The State was in a +prosperous condition. The rate of taxation had been greatly reduced, +and there was every prospect of a still further reduction before the end +of his administration. But these facts made no difference to those who +were flushed with the victory they had so easily won. They wanted the +offices, and were determined to have them, and that, too, without very +much delay. Hence, impeachment proceedings were immediately instituted +against the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor,--not in the interest of +reform, of good government or of low taxes, but simply in order to get +possession of the State Government. + +The weakness of the case against the Governor was shown when it +developed that the strongest charge against him was that he had entered +into an alleged corrupt bargain with State Senator Cassidy, resulting in +Cassidy's appointment as one of the Judges of the Chancery Court. +Cassidy had been elected a member of the State Senate as a Democrat. +Notwithstanding that fact he voted for Mr. Bruce, the Republican caucus +nominee for United States Senator, and subsequently publicly identified +himself with the Republican party. Later his brother, William P. +Cassidy, and his law partner, Hon. J.F. Sessions, did likewise. In 1874 +Sessions was elected to the State Senate as a Republican to serve out +the unexpired term of his law partner, Cassidy, who had resigned his +seat in the Senate upon his appointment as a Judge of the Chancery +Court. + +Cassidy was a brilliant young man, and an able lawyer. That the +Governor should have selected him for an important judicial position was +both wise and proper. It was one of his best and most creditable +appointments and was generally commended as such when it was made. The +fact that he had been elected to the State Senate as a Democrat, and +shortly thereafter joined the Republican party was made the basis of the +charge that his change of party affiliation was the result of a corrupt +bargain between the Governor and himself, for which the Governor, but +not the Judge, should be impeached and removed from office. There were a +few other vague and unimportant charges, but this one, as weak as it +was, was the strongest of the number. + +When the articles of impeachment were presented to the House, it was +seen that they were so weak and so groundless that the Governor believed +it would be an easy matter for him to discredit them even before an +antagonistic legislature. With that end in view, he employed several of +the ablest lawyers in the country to represent him. They came to Jackson +and commenced the preparation of the case, but it did not take them long +to find out that their case was a hopeless one. They soon found out to +their entire satisfaction that it was not to be a judicial trial, but a +political one and that the jury was already prepared for conviction +without regard to the law, the Constitution, the evidence, or the +facts. Governor Ames was to be convicted, not because he was guilty of +any offense, but because he was in the way of complete Democratic +control of the State Government. + +Personally they had nothing against Ames. It was not the man but the +office they wanted, and that they were determined to have. They knew he +had committed no offense, but, as matters then stood, being a Republican +was an offense which justified removal from office. To punish him +otherwise, for anything he had done or failed to do, did not at any time +enter into their calculations. The Governorship was the prize at stake. +In this matter there was no concealment of their purposes and +intentions. As soon as the Governor's legal advisers found out what the +actual situation was, they saw it was useless to continue the fight. +Upon their advice, therefore, the Governor tendered his resignation, +which was promptly accepted. He then left the State never to return +again. If the impeachment proceedings had been instituted in good +faith,--upon an honest belief that the chief executive had committed +offenses which merited punishment,--the resignation would not have been +accepted. The fact that it was accepted,--and that, too, without +hesitation or question,--was equivalent to a confession that the purpose +of the proceedings was to get possession of the office. Short work was +made of the Lieutenant-Governor's case; and State Senator John M. +Stone, the Democratic President pro tem. of the State Senate, was duly +sworn in and installed as the acting Governor of the State. Thus +terminated a long series of questionable acts, the inauguration of which +had no other purpose than to secure the ascendency of one political +party over another in the administration of the government of the State. + +The sanguinary revolution in the State of Mississippi in 1875 was +claimed to be in the interest of good administration and honest +government; it was an attempt to wrest the State from the control of +dishonest men,--negroes, carpet baggers, and scalawags,--and place it in +control of intelligent, pure, and honest white men. With that end in +view, Geo. M. Buchanan, a brave and gallant ex-Confederate soldier, was, +through questionable and indefensible methods, defeated for the office +of State Treasurer, and Wm. L. Hemmingway was declared elected. Yet when +the change took place it was found that every dollar of the public money +was accounted for. During the whole period of Republican administration +not a dollar had been misappropriated, nor had there been a single +defalcation, although millions of dollars had passed through the hands +of the fiscal agents of the State and of the different counties. + +How was it with the new reform administration? Treasurer Hemmingway had +been in office only a comparatively short while when the startling +information was given out that he was a defaulter to the amount of +$315,612.19. William L. Hemmingway a defaulter! Could such a thing be +possible? Yes, it was an admitted and undisputed fact. + +Mr. Hemmingway had been quite prominent in the politics of the State; +but those who knew the man, and I was one of those, had every reason to +believe that he was an honest man, and that he was the personification +of integrity. He was neither a speculator nor a gambler. Even after the +defalcation was made known there was nothing to indicate that any part +of the money had been appropriated to his own use. Yet the money had +mysteriously disappeared. Where was it? Who had it? These were questions +the people of the State desired to have answered, but they have never +yet been answered and, it is safe to say, they never will be. Hemmingway +no doubt could and can answer those questions, but he has not done so +and the probabilities are that he never will. He evidently believed that +to turn State's evidence would render him more culpable than to be +guilty of the act which he had allowed to be committed. He might have +been forced to make a confession, or at least been compelled to give the +prosecution a clue to the real criminal or criminals if the prosecution +had been in charge of persons who could not be suspected of being the +political beneficiaries of the methods by which it was possible for him +to be placed in charge of the office. It was hardly reasonable to expect +such men to make very much of an effort to secure a confession. In fact, +it seems to have been a relief to them to have the accused take the +position that he alone was the responsible party and that he was willing +to bear all the blame and assume all the consequences that would result +from the act. The names, therefore, of those who were the beneficiaries +of this remarkable defalcation will, no doubt, remain a secret in the +bosom of William L. Hemmingway, and will be buried with him in his +grave. + +Hemmingway was tried, convicted, sentenced and served a term in the +State Prison; all of which he calmly endured rather than give the name +of any person having connection with that unfortunate affair. All the +satisfaction that the public can get with reference to it,--other than +the punishment to which Hemmingway was subjected,--is to indulge in +conjectures about it. One conjecture, and the most reasonable and +plausible one, is that if Hemmingway had made a full confession it might +have involved not only some men who were prominent and influential, but +perhaps the Democratic State organization as well. For it was a +well-known fact that in 1875 nearly every Democratic club in the State +was converted into an armed military company. To fully organize, equip, +and arm such a large body of men required an outlay of a large sum of +money. The money was evidently furnished by some persons or through some +organization. Those who raised the money, or who caused it to be raised, +no doubt had an eye to the main chance. A patriotic desire to have the +State redeemed (?) was not with them the actuating motive. When the +redemption (?) of the State was an accomplished fact they, no doubt, +felt that they were entitled to share in the fruits of that redemption. +Their idea evidently was that the State should be made to pay for its +own salvation and redemption, but the only way in which this could be +done was to have the people's money in the State treasury appropriated +for that purpose otherwise than by legislative enactment. This, as I +have already stated, is only a conjecture, but, under the circumstances, +it is the most reasonable and plausible one that can be imagined. + +The case of Treasurer Hemmingway is conclusive evidence that in point of +efficiency, honesty and official integrity the Democratic party had no +advantage over the party that was placed in power chiefly through the +votes of colored men. What was true of Mississippi in this respect was +also true,--in a measure, at least,--of the other reconstructed States. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE HAYES-TILDEN CONTEST. THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION + + +Although the action of the returning boards in South Carolina, +Louisiana, and Florida, gave Mr. Hayes a majority of one vote in the +Electoral College, the Democrats, who were largely in the majority in +the National House of Representatives, were evidently not willing to +acquiesce in the declared result,--claiming that Mr. Tilden had been +fairly elected and that he ought to be inaugurated. + +Hon. Henry Watterson, of Kentucky,--who was at that time a member of the +House,--delivered a fiery speech in which he declared that a hundred +thousand armed men would march to Washington to see that Mr. Tilden was +inaugurated. The situation for a while looked very grave. It seemed as +if there would be a dual government, Hayes and Tilden each claiming to +be the legally elected President. To prevent this was the problem then +before Congress and the American people. Conferences, composed of +influential men of both parties, were being frequently held in different +parts of the city. + +The creation of an electoral commission to pass upon and decide the +disputed points involved was finally suggested, and was accepted by a +majority of both parties. The name of the originator of this suggestion +has never been made public; but it is believed by many that Senator +Edmunds, of Vermont, was the man, since he was the principal champion of +the measure in the Senate. Subsequent events appeared to indicate that +Hon. Wm. M. Evarts of New York, was also an influential party to the +scheme, if not the originator of it. At any rate, no one seemed to have +been sufficiently proud of it to lay claim to its paternity. It was +merely a temporary scheme, intended to tide over an unpleasant, and +perhaps dangerous, condition which existing remedies did not fully meet. +It was equivalent to disposing of the Presidency by a game of +chance,--for the composition of the proposed commission was, +politically, purely a matter of chance. + +As finally agreed upon, the measure provided for a commission to be +composed of fifteen members,--five from the House, five from the Senate, +and five Justices of the Supreme Court. As the Democrats had a majority +in the House, it was agreed that they should have three, and the +Republicans two of the five members of that body. Since the Republicans +had a majority in the Senate it was agreed that they should have three, +and the Democrats two of the five members of that body. Of the five +justices of the Supreme Court, two were to be Republicans and two, +Democrats; the fifth Justice to be an independent,--or one who was as +near an independent as could be found on the bench of that Court. + +When the bill creating this commission came before the House I spoke +against it, and voted against it, for two reasons. In the first place, I +believed it was a dangerous precedent to subject the Presidency of the +United States to such a game of chance as was contemplated by the bill +then under consideration. Either Hayes or Tilden had been elected, and +the result ought to be ascertained according to legal forms. In the +second place, I had a suspicion that it was the outgrowth of an +understanding or agreement which would result in the abandonment of +Southern Republicans by the National Administration. + +Mr. Lamar, for instance, did not hesitate to declare that it was more +important that the South should have local self-government than that the +President should be a Democrat. In other words, what Southern Democrats +wanted was to be let alone,--was to have the National Administration +keep its hands off, and allow them to manage their own affairs in their +own way, even if that way should result in a virtual nullification, in +part at least, of the War Amendments to the Federal Constitution. + +I had a suspicion that this concession had been granted upon condition +that the southern Democratic leaders in Congress would consent to the +creation of the proposed commission, and to the ratification of its +decision, whatever that decision might be. To such a bargain I did not +care to be even an innocent party. My suspicions were strengthened by +the fact that the principal opposition among Democrats to the creation +of the commission and to the ratification of its decision came from +northern Democrats. Southern Democrats, with a few notable exceptions, +not only favored the creation of the commission and the ratification of +its decision, but even the fiery Watterson was induced to hold his peace +and to give expression to his righteous indignation through the medium +of a silent vote. That my suspicions were well founded subsequents +events more than demonstrated. I took the position that Mr. Hayes had +been legally elected, at least according to the forms of law and in the +manner prescribed by the Constitution,--and that he should, therefore, +be duly inaugurated even if it should be necessary for President Grant, +as Commander-in-chief of the Army, to use the military force of the +Government for that purpose. I contended that, having been thus legally +elected, Hayes should not be subjected to the chance of losing his title +to the office and that the incoming President should not be bound by +any ante-inauguration pledges, which, in the opinion of some, would have +a tendency to cast a cloud upon his title to the office. But the bill +was passed and the commission was duly appointed. + +At this point the game of chance turned in favor of the Republicans. It +was generally understood that Justice David Davis, of Illinois, would be +the fifth Justice to be placed on the commission. He was said to be an +Independent,--the only member of the Supreme Court that could be thus +classed politically. But, in point of fact, he was more of a Democrat +than an Independent. Had he been made a member of the commission it is +more than probable that Mr. Tilden, and not Mr. Hayes, would have been +made President. The Legislature of Illinois was at that time engaged in +an effort to elect a United States Senator. The Legislature was composed +of about an equal number of Republicans and Democrats,--three +Independents holding the balance of power. The Independents at length +presented the name of Justice David Davis as their choice for Senator. +In order to make sure of the defeat of a Republican, the Democrats +joined the Independents in the support of Justice Davis, which resulted +in his election. This took place only a few days before the time +appointed for the selection of the commissioners. + +As soon as it was announced that Justice Davis had been elected to the +Senate the Republican leaders in Congress insisted that he was no +longer eligible to a seat on the Electoral Commission. This was at first +strongly combated by the Democrats, who contended that the Justice was +only a Senator-elect, and that he did not cease to be a member of the +Court until he tendered his resignation as such; this he was neither +required nor expected to do until shortly before the beginning of his +term as a Senator. But the Republicans pressed their objections so +strongly that the Democrats were induced to yield the point, and Justice +Bradley was selected as the fifth Justice. Next to Davis, Bradley came +as near being an Independent as any member of the Court. Although he had +been appointed as a Republican by President Grant,--as had Justice Davis +by President Lincoln,--yet he had rendered several decisions which gave +the Democrats hope that he might give the deciding vote in their favor +and thus make Mr. Tilden President. In this they were disappointed; for +it turned out that the substitution of Bradley for Davis made Hayes +President of the United States. It would, perhaps, be unfair to say that +the decisions of the commission were rendered regardless of the +evidence, the law, and the arguments, yet it so happened that every +important point was decided by a strict party vote,--eight to seven. + +In this connection it will not be out of place to refer to a scene that +was created on the Democratic side of the House by Hon. Ben. Hill, of +Georgia. Mr. Hill entered the House one afternoon, having just returned +from the Supreme Court Chamber, where the commission was in session. He +remarked to one of his colleagues in a low tone that he had just +returned from where the sessions of the commission were being held, and +that while there the important and valuable information had been +imparted to him that on a most vital point the Democrats could with +absolute certainty depend upon the vote of Mr. Justice Bradley. + +"Can that be possible?" exclaimed his excited and highly elated +colleague. + +"Yes," replied Mr. Hill, "there can be no doubt about it. I know whereof +I speak. It came to me through a source that cannot be questioned." + +"Then wait until I can call several of our friends," replied his +colleague, "I want them to hear the good news at the same time it is +heard by me, so that we can rejoice together." + +Mr. Hill was soon surrounded by an eager, excited, and interested group +of anxious Democratic members. "We are now ready," said his delighted +colleague, whose face was covered with a smile of satisfaction, "to hear +the good news." + +"Well," replied Mr. Hill, whose manner was grave and whose countenance +gave every evidence of deep emotion, "whenever a motion to adjourn is +made by a Democratic member of the commission we can safely depend upon +the vote of Mr. Justice Bradley being cast in the affirmative." + +The heads of the anxious group immediately fell in deep disappointment +and despair. But, of course, they did not fail to see the irony of Mr. +Hill's remark. It did transpire that whenever a motion to adjourn was +made by a Democratic member of the commission it was usually carried by +a vote of eight to seven,--Mr. Justice Bradley voting in the affirmative +with the Democrats. On no other question, however, could they depend on +his vote. + +The decision of the Electoral Commission was finally rendered in favor +of Mr. Hayes by a strict party vote,--eight to seven. Strong and bitter +opposition to the approval of the decision was made in the House by +quite a number of northern Democrats, but the majority of southern +Democrats, aided by such northern Democrats as represented districts +having large commercial interests,--interests that are at all times +willing to pay any price for peace,--accepted the decision, and Mr. +Hayes was allowed to be peacefully inaugurated. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ATTITUDE OF THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION TOWARD THE SOUTH + + +The new administration had been in power only a short while before it +became apparent to southern Republicans that they had very little to +expect from this administration. It was generally understood that a +southern man would be made Postmaster General in the new cabinet, but it +was assumed, of course, by those, at least, who were not fully informed +about the secret deals and bargains that had been entered into as a +condition precedent to a peaceable inauguration of the new +administration,--that he would be a Republican. + +Senator Alcorn, of my own State, Mississippi, who had just retired from +the Senate, had an ambition to occupy that position. I was one to whom +that fact was made known. I did not hesitate to use what little +influence I had to have that ambition gratified. I was so earnest and +persistent in pressing his claims and merits upon those who were known +to be close to the appointing power, that I succeeded in finding out +definitely and authoritatively the name of the man that had been agreed +upon and would, no doubt, be appointed to that position. Ex-Senator +Key, a Democrat from Tennessee, was the man. When I informed Senator +Alcorn of that fact the manifestation of surprise, disappointment, and +disgust with which he received it can better be imagined than described. +This was not due so much to the fact that some other one than himself +had been selected, but to the fact that the fortunate man was a Southern +Democrat. For the first time the Senator became convinced that southern +Republicans had been made the subjects of barter and trade in the +shuffle for the Presidency, and that the sacrifice of southern +Republicans was the price that had to be paid for the peaceable +inauguration of Mr. Hayes. This, in Senator Alcorn's opinion, meant that +the Republican party in the reconstructed States of the South was a +thing of the past. There was no hope for it in the future. + +"It would have been far better," said the Senator, "not only for the +Republican party at the South but for the country at large, to have +allowed the Democrats to inaugurate Tilden, and to have taken charge of +the Government, than to have purchased Republican victory at such a +fearful cost. What inducement can a southern white man now have for +becoming a Republican? Under the present state of things he will be +hated at home, and despised abroad. He will be rejected by his old +friends and associates, and discountenanced by his new ones. He will +incur the odium, and merit the displeasure and censure of his former +friends, associates, and companions with no compensating advantages for +the sacrifices thus made." + +The Senator spoke with deep feeling. He could see that his efforts to +build up a strong Republican party at the South must necessarily fail +under such conditions, and that it was useless to make any further +effort in that direction. Under his influence and leadership very many +of the best and most influential white men in his state had identified +themselves with the Republican party. His efforts in that direction +would have been continued, in spite of the temporary defeat of the party +at the polls, however severe that defeat might have been, if those +efforts had been appreciated and appropriately recognized by the +national leaders of the organization. But when he saw that not only was +this not to be done, but that one of those who was known to be fully +identified with the political persecutors of southern Republicans was to +be recognized,--thus placing the stamp of approval upon their work by an +administration that was supposed to be Republican and therefore opposed +to such methods,--it was time for southern white men, who had been +acting with the Republican party and for those who may have such action +in contemplation, to stop and seriously consider the situation. It was +now in order for each one of them to ask himself the question: "Can I +afford to do this?" + +The appointment of a southern Democrat to a seat in the Cabinet of a +Republican President, especially at that particular time, was a crushing +blow to southern Republicans. It was the straw that broke the camel's +back. Senator Alcorn was a man suitable in every way for the office of +Postmaster-General. He had a commanding presence, he was an eloquent +speaker, and an able debater,--by nature a leader and not a follower. He +had taken an active part in the politics of his state before and after +the War. After he identified himself with the Republican party he was +ambitious to be chiefly instrumental in building up a strong party in +his State and throughout the South which would not only recognize merit +in the colored people and accord absolute justice and fair play to them, +but which would include in its membership a large percentage, if not a +majority, of the best and most substantial white men of that section. + +That he had made splendid progress along those lines cannot be denied. +The announced southern policy of the Hayes administration not only +completed the destruction of what had been thus accomplished, but it +made any further progress in that direction absolutely impossible. The +selection of ex-Senator Key was, however, not the only Cabinet +appointment which clearly indicated the southern policy of the +administration. There were two others,--those of William M. Evarts and +Carl Schurz. Those men had been prominent in their bitter opposition to +the southern policy of President Grant. Mr. Schurz had been one of the +leaders in the Greeley movement against President Grant and the +Republican party in 1872, while Mr. Evarts was later the principal +speaker at a public indignation meeting that was held at New York to +denounce the southern policy of the Grant administration. In fact, John +Sherman was the only one of the Cabinet ministers that had a positive +national standing, and even his brilliant star was somewhat marred on +account of the impression that, as one of the Hayes managers, he had +been a party to the deals and agreements that had been made and entered +into as a condition precedent to the peaceable induction of Mr. Hayes +into office. It was known, or at any rate believed, that Mr. Sherman's +appointment as Secretary of the Treasury was for the one specific +purpose of bringing about the resumption of specie payments. He was the +author of the act which fixed the date when specie payments should be +resumed. He had the reputation of being one of the ablest financiers the +country had produced. That he should be named to carry into effect the +act of which he was the author was to be expected. For the reasons above +stated, it was the one Cabinet appointment that met with general +approval. + +It was soon seen, however, that the Cabinet was so constructed as to +make it harmonize with the southern policy of the administration. It was +not long before the announcement was officially made in prolix +sentences, of which Secretary Evarts was no doubt the author, that the +army could not and would not be used to uphold and sustain any State +Government in an effort to maintain its supremacy and enforce obedience +to its mandates. In other words, it was a public announcement of the +fact that if there should be an armed revolt in a State against the +lawful State Government which would be strong enough to seize and take +possession of that government, the National Government would refuse to +interfere, even though a request for assistance should be made by the +Chief Executive of the State in the manner and form prescribed by the +Constitution. I have never believed that this policy,--which was meant, +of course, for the South,--was in harmony with Mr. Hayes' personal +convictions; especially in view of his public utterances during the +progress of the campaign and immediately after the announcement had been +made that he had been defeated. But he no doubt asked himself the +question: "What can I do?" This is what he had been bound to do, by his +managers through the medium of an ante-inauguration pledge, which he +felt in honor bound to respect. Mr. Hayes was not a man of sufficient +force of character to disregard and repudiate such a pledge or bargain. +Had he been a Napoleon, or even an Andrew Jackson, he would have +declared that no man or set of men had any authority to make for him any +ante-inauguration pledge, promise, or bargain by which he would be bound +as chief magistrate of the country. To the contrary, he would have +openly and publicly declared: + +"I am President, or I am not. That I am the legally elected President is +a recognized and undisputed fact, and, as such, I shall neither +recognize nor respect any pledge, promise or bargain which involves +dishonor on my part or acquiescence in the suspension, violation or +evasion of the Constitution or of any law made in pursuance thereof. As +President of the United States I have taken and subscribed to an oath by +which I am bound to uphold the Constitution of my country, and to see +that the laws are duly executed and enforced. That oath I am determined +to respect and honor. I shall not only do all in my power to see that +the Constitution and the laws of the land are obeyed and enforced,--both +in letter and in spirit,--but it is also my determination to see that +every American citizen is protected in the exercise and enjoyment of his +rights, as far as it may be in the power of the President to protect +him." Such a declaration, accompanied by an honest effort to carry the +same into effect, even if he had been unsuccessful, would have carried +the name of R.B. Hayes down in history as one of the greatest and most +brilliant statesmen our country had ever produced. But, he was not equal +to the occasion, and therefore failed to take advantage of such a golden +opportunity. On the contrary, he decided to live up to and carry out to +the very letter, every pledge, promise, agreement or bargain that had +been made in his behalf, which involved the dishonor of his own name and +the disgrace of his country. Packard, for Governor of Louisiana, and +Chamberlain, for Governor of South Carolina, were voted for at the same +time that the Hayes electors were voted for in their respective States. +Each of these candidates polled a much larger vote than that of the +Hayes electors. If, therefore, Mr. Hayes was legally or mortally +entitled to the electoral votes of those States, without which he could +not have been elected, those men were entitled to be recognized and +supported as Governor of their respective States. But it was a +well-known fact that without the support and backing of the National +Administration at that particular time, they could not maintain and +enforce their authority against the organization of the Democratic +party. The public announcement of the southern policy of the National +Administration put an effectual end to any further effort on the part +of either Packard or Chamberlain. The Administration not only deserted +and abandoned those two men and the party for which they had so bravely +and so gallantly stood, but it allowed the very men whose votes made Mr. +Hayes President to be harassed and persecuted for what they had done in +that direction. After Packard surrendered to the inevitable he was +tendered a position in the foreign service, which he accepted. When +Chamberlain was forced to abandon the hopeless struggle in South +Carolina, he moved to New York and engaged in the practice of law. +Politically he affiliated with the Democratic party until his death. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +QUESTION OF THE VALIDITY OF SENATOR LAMAR'S ELECTION + + +Mr. Blaine had been elected to the United States Senate from Maine, his +term beginning March 4th, 1877. The term for which Mr. Lamar, of +Mississippi, had been elected, commenced at the same time. It was not +possible to have a Congressional investigation of the Mississippi +election of 1875 unless the same should be ordered by the Senate,--the +Republicans having a small majority in that body. Each House being the +sole judge of the elections and qualifications of its own members, the +Senate could, of course, have Mr. Lamar's credentials referred to the +Committee of Privileges and Elections, with instructions to make an +investigation of the methods used to carry the election. This committee +would ascertain and report whether or not there had been a legal and +valid election in that State, and, pending the investigation and report +by the committee and the disposition of the same by the Senate, the seat +to which Mr. Lamar had been elected would remain vacant. As the result +of a number of conferences between Republican Senators and +representative Mississippi Republicans, this course was decided upon as +the one to be pursued. But, in order to do this, the Senate must have +something upon which to base its contemplated action. It could not be +expected to take official notice of rumors or newspaper reports of what +had taken place. It was therefore decided that a memorial should be +drawn up and signed by a number of reputable and well-known citizens of +the State, making specific allegations with reference to that election, +and concluding with a request that a thorough investigation be made +before the Senator, chosen by the Legislature that had been brought into +existence by that election, could be admitted to the Senate. + +In support of this contemplated action there had been a number of +precedents,--the recent case of Mr. Pinchback, of Louisiana, being one +of them. It fell to my lot to draw up the memorial. It was to be +presented to the Senate and championed in that body by Senator Morton, +of Indiana. The Republican majority in the Senate was small. The +Democrats, of course, would bitterly oppose the Morton motion. To make +sure of its adoption the affirmative vote of nearly every Republican +Senator was necessary. At any rate there could be no serious defection +in the Republican ranks, otherwise the Morton proposition could not +prevail. That anyone on the Republican side would oppose it was not +anticipated, for every one that had been approached expressed his +intention of supporting it. No one of the newly elected Senators had +been approached. It was not deemed necessary. It was not anticipated +that any one of them would do otherwise than support the program that +had been agreed upon by the older members of the Senate. Senator Morton +was to submit the memorial and make the motion when the name of Mr. +Lamar was called to take the oath of office. + +The names of the States were called in alphabetical order, about three +being called at a time. Maine was reached before Mississippi, and Mr. +Blaine was duly sworn in as a Senator from that State. No one expected +that he would do otherwise than support the program that had been agreed +upon, but, contrary to expectations, as soon as Mississippi was called +Mr. Blaine was on his feet, demanding recognition. Of course he was +recognized by the chair. He made a motion that Mr. Lamar be sworn in +_prima facie_ as the Senator from Mississippi. His contention was that, +since his credentials were regular, the Senator-elect should be sworn +in; and if there should be any question about the legality of the +election it could be made the subject of a subsequent investigation. + +This unexpected action on the part of Mr. Blaine took everyone by +surprise, with the possible exception of Mr. Lamar, who, no doubt, was +well aware of what was in contemplation. It produced consternation and +caused a panic among the Republican leaders in the Senate. Hurried and +excited conferences were being held while the subject was being debated. +For the seriousness of the situation was recognized. Mr. Blaine's +defection meant the defeat of the Morton motion should it be made, and +the adoption of the Blaine motion by the solid vote of the Democrats, to +which would be added a small minority of the Republicans. This division +in the ranks of the party at the beginning of the Hayes administration +had to be avoided if possible. That Mr. Blaine should recede from his +position was, of course, out of the question. Nothing, therefore, +remained to be done but for Senator Morton to refrain from making his +motion; for a hurried canvass of the Senate had revealed the fact that +the motion, if made and brought to a vote, would be defeated, and the +effect of such a defeat would be worse than if the motion had not been +made. So the Blaine motion was allowed to go by default, and Mr. Lamar +was duly sworn in as a Senator from Mississippi. Of course it was well +known at the time by many,--Mr. Blaine among the number,--that this +ended the controversy and that no subsequent investigation would be +made. That Mr. Blaine was sadly and seriously disappointed at the +result of his action in this case, as well as in his action in defeating +the Federal Elections Bill, will be made clear in subsequent chapters. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1880. NOMINATION OF THE COMPROMISE +CANDIDATE, GARFIELD + + +Since the indications were that the Democrats would be successful in the +Congressional elections of 1878, the election in the "shoe-string +district" that year was allowed to go by default. + +In 1880, the year of the Presidential election, I decided that I would +again measure arms with Chalmers for Representative in Congress from +that district. It was practically a well-settled fact that there was to +be a bitter fight for the Republican Presidential nomination that year. +There were three prominent candidates in the field for the +nomination,--James G. Blaine, U.S. Grant, and John Sherman. Grant was +especially strong with southern Republicans, while Blaine had very +little support in that section. Sherman was well thought of on account +of the splendid record he had made as a member of the United States +Senate, and, in addition to that, he had the influence and the support +of the National Administration, of which he was a member,--being at that +time Secretary of the Treasury. + +In the State of Mississippi Bruce, Hill and I,--the three leading +colored men,--had formed an offensive and defensive alliance. Bruce was +United States Senator, which position he had secured largely through the +influence and active support of myself and Hill,--of Hill especially, +since he was on the ground at the time of the election, which enabled +him to take personal charge of the campaign before the Legislature in +the interest of Mr. Bruce. + +Hill had been elected Secretary of State on the ticket with Ames in 1873 +and, after the expiration of his term, was, through the influence and +support of Bruce and myself, made Collector of Internal Revenue for the +State of Mississippi. The office of Secretary of State, to which he was +elected in 1873, was one that the Democrats did not take possession of +in 1876. Unlike the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, the removal of the +incumbent was not necessary to put that party in possession of the State +Government. + +I, Lynch, was at that time a member of the National House of +Representatives, which position I was able to retain for a long time +with the active assistance and support of Bruce and Hill,--especially of +Bruce. + +That we three should work in perfect political harmony was both natural +and proper, since, in doing so, we protected our own interests and +secured for ourselves, and for our friends and supporters, appropriate +official recognition. At nearly every State convention either Bruce or I +was made chairman of the convention, with Hill as floor manager. + +The State committee was organized and controlled in the same way. +Through that thorough and effective organization I was Chairman of the +Republican State Committee from 1881 to 1892, and I could have retained +it longer had I consented to serve; notwithstanding the dissolution of +the combination, which took place about that time, as will be shown and +explained later. + +There was a faction in the party that was opposed to the leadership of +these three influential colored men, but it was never strong enough to +organize or control a State Convention as long as we three worked in +union. While this union had the effect of keeping us at the front as +recognized leaders of the party it could not be said it was detrimental +to the party organization, for the reason that under that leadership the +organization never failed to support the men that the party believed to +be the strongest. In other words, while we used the party machinery to +prevent our own political extinction we never allowed our own ambitions +to conflict with what was believed by other influential members of the +party to be for the best interest of the organization. + +It looked for a while as if the State Convention of 1880 would result +in a dissolution of this combination which had so successfully +controlled the party organization in the State so many years. Bruce and +Hill were supporters of Secretary Sherman for the Republican +Presidential nomination, while I was favorable to the candidacy of +ex-President Grant. That Grant was the choice of a large majority of the +Republicans of the State could not be truthfully denied. Mr. Bruce was +the Republican United States Senator in harmony with the administration. +Mr. Hill was an office-holder under that administration, and Secretary +Sherman was believed to be the administration candidate for the +nomination. + +As soon as the fact was developed that Bruce and Hill were for Sherman +and that I was for Grant, the faction which had always opposed and +fought the leadership of the Bruce-Lynch-Hill combination took up the +fight for Grant, with the determination to take advantage of Grant's +strength and popularity in order to secure control of the party +machinery. It was this that prevented at that time a dissolution of the +Bruce-Hill-Lynch combination. The situation with which we were +confronted made it necessary for the three to come together and, in a +spirit of concession, agree upon a common line of action. Upon the +suggestion of Mr. Bruce a conference soon took place at which I agreed +that, since it was my purpose to be a candidate for the Congressional +nomination in the Sixth or "shoe-string district," I would not be a +candidate for delegate to the National Convention, but that I would +support Bruce and Hill as delegates from the State at large, with the +understanding that, if at any time Sherman's name should be withdrawn +and Grant's nomination were possible, they should support Grant. It was +further agreed that I should support the Bruce-Lynch-Hill combination in +the fight for the organization of the State Convention, but that I +should be at liberty to use my influence for the election of Grant men +as delegates other than Bruce and Hill. + +At the conclusion of this conference I made public announcement of the +fact that, since it was my purpose to become a candidate for Congress in +the Sixth or "shoe-string district," I would not be a candidate for +delegate to the National Convention but would give my support to Bruce +and Hill, for two of the four places on the delegation from the State at +large, with the understanding that the delegation, if controlled by +them, would not be hostile to Grant. I had reasons to know that Mr. +Bruce, in consequence of his cordial relations with Senator +Conkling,--the national leader of the Grant forces,--was not unfriendly +to Grant, and that he would use his influence to prevent the delegation +from going into any combination for the sole purpose of defeating the +nomination of Grant. In other words, Grant was Brace's second choice for +the nomination. + +The fight for the delegation was waged with a good deal of heat and +bitterness. The canvass had not progressed very far before it was +developed that Grant was much stronger than the faction by which he was +being supported. The fight was so bitter, and the delegates to the State +Convention were so evenly divided, that the result was the election of a +compromise delegation which was about evenly divided between Grant and +Sherman. Bruce and Hill were among those that were elected. + +The National Convention, which was held in Chicago in June of that year, +was one of the most exciting and interesting in the history of the +party. It was that convention that abolished what was known as "the unit +rule." Up to that time the right of a State Convention to elect all the +delegates to which the State was entitled,--district as well as +State,--and to instruct them as a body had never before been questioned. +New York, as well as other States, had instructed the delegates to cast +the entire vote of the State for Grant. This was the unit rule. It is a +rule which even now is enforced in National Conventions of the +Democratic party. It was through the enforcement of this rule that Mr. +Cleveland was renominated, when he was so bitterly opposed by a portion +of the delegation from his own State,--especially the Tammany +delegates,--that General Bragg was moved to make the celebrated +declaration that he "loved Mr. Cleveland on account of the enemies he +had made." Notwithstanding the fact that those delegates were strongly +opposed to Mr. Cleveland, and though they protested against having their +votes recorded for him, they were so recorded through the application +and enforcement of the unit rule. It was the enforcement of this rule +upon which Mr. Conkling insisted in the National Republican Convention +of 1880. About twenty of the New York district delegates, under the +leadership of Judge W.H. Robertson, refused to be governed by the +instructions of the State Convention. Their contention was that the +State Convention had no right to bind by instructions any delegates +except the four from the State at large. After a lengthy and heated +debate the convention finally sustained this contention, and since that +time the unit rule has not been recognized in a National Republican +Convention. + +This action, no doubt, resulted in the defeat of General Grant for the +nomination; for it was a well-known fact that his nomination was +possible only through the enforcement of the unit rule. His friends and +supporters, however, under the leadership of Senator Conkling, made a +strong and desperate fight with the hope that the tide might ultimately +turn in their favor, but with the intention, in any event, of +preventing if possible the nomination of Mr. Blaine. General Grant's +name was placed before the Convention by Senator Conkling in one of his +most eloquent and masterly efforts. + +"The man whose name I shall place in nomination," he said, "does not +hail from any particular State; he hails from the United States. It is +not necessary to nominate a man that can carry Michigan. Any Republican +can carry Michigan. You should nominate a man that can carry New York. +That man is U.S. Grant." + +Mr. Blaine's name was placed in nomination by a delegate from Michigan +by the name of Joy. His effort did not come up to public expectation. +The eloquent speech of Senator Frye, of Maine, who seconded the +nomination, made up in part for the public disappointment in Mr. Joy's +effort. The name of Secretary John Sherman was placed before the +Convention in one of General Garfield's most powerful and convincing +efforts. It is safe to say that the speech delivered by General Garfield +on that occasion made him the nominee of that convention. After drawing +an eloquent and vivid picture of the kind of man that should be made +President,--with the intention of naming John Sherman as the man thus +described,--he asked in a tone of voice that was pitched in a high key: + +"Who is that man?" + +The response came from different parts of the hall, "Garfield." + +And sure enough it was Garfield. After a number of fruitless ballots it +became apparent that neither of the three leading candidates could +possibly be nominated. Very few, if any, of the Grant men would at any +time go to either Blaine or Sherman. Very few, if any, of the Sherman +men would go to Blaine, while Blaine men could not in any considerable +numbers, be induced to go either to Grant or Sherman. While a number of +Sherman men would have supported Grant in preference to Blaine, there +were not enough of them, even with the Grant men, to constitute a +majority. When Garfield's name was suggested as a compromise candidate +he was found to be acceptable to both the Blaine and the Sherman men as +well as to some of the Grant men, who had abandoned all hope of Grant's +nomination. The result was that Garfield was finally made the unanimous +choice of the convention. The New York delegation, being allowed to name +the man for Vice-President, nominated Chester A. Arthur, of that State. + +Although General Garfield was nominated as a compromise candidate his +election was by no means a foregone conclusion. The Democrats had +nominated a strong and popular man, General W.S. Hancock, one of the +most brilliant and successful generals in the Union Army. Associated on +the ticket with him was a popular Indiana Democrat, William H. English. +It looked for a while as if Democratic success were reasonably certain, +especially after the September State and Congressional elections in the +State of Maine, the result of which was virtually a Democratic victory. + +What was known as the celebrated Mentor Conference then took place. +Mentor was the home of General Garfield. The conference consisted of +General Garfield, General Grant, and Senator Conkling. Who was +instrumental in bringing that conference into existence perhaps will +never be known, and what was actually said and done on that occasion +will, no doubt, remain a mystery. But it resulted in bringing the +Grant-Conkling wing of the party,--which up to that time had been +lukewarm and indifferent,--into the active and aggressive support of the +ticket. Senator Conkling immediately took the stump and made a brilliant +and successful campaign, not only in New York but also in the other +close and doubtful States. The result was that Garfield carried New York +by a majority of about twenty thousand and was elected. Without New York +he would have been defeated; for the South this time was unquestionably +solid in its support of the Democratic ticket; at least, according to +the forms of law. It was not necessary to resort to the questionable +expedient of an electoral commission to determine the result of that +election. It is safe to say that, but for the active support given the +ticket in that campaign by General Grant and Senator Conkling, New York +would have been lost to the party and Garfield would have been defeated. +With the election of Garfield the National House of Representatives was +also Republican. The majority was small, but it was large enough to +enable the party to organize the House. The Garfield administration +started out under very favorable auspices. How it ended will be told in +another chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +STORY OF THE MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN GARFIELD AND CONKLING + + +The Garfield Administration, as I have said, started out under most +favorable auspices. Mr. Conkling took an active part in the Senate as a +champion and spokesman of the administration. He seemed to have taken it +for granted, that,--although his bitter enemy, Mr. Blaine, was Secretary +of State,--his own influence with the administration would be potential. +In conversation with his personal friends he insisted that this was a +part of the agreement that had been entered into at the famous Mentor +Conference, about which so much had been said and published. If it were +true that Mr. Conkling's control of the Federal patronage in New York in +the event of Republican success was a part of that agreement, it +transpired that Mr. Blaine had sufficient influence with the President +to bring about its repudiation. + +It is a fact well known that the President was anxious to avoid a break +with Senator Conkling. Judge W.H. Robertson, who was a candidate for the +Collectorship of the port of New York was strongly supported by Mr. +Blaine. Judge Robertson had been one of the influential leaders of the +Blaine movement in New York. It was he who had disregarded the action of +the State Convention in instructing the delegates to cast the vote of +the State as a unit for General Grant. In bolting the action of the +State Convention Judge Robertson carried about nineteen other delegates +with him over to Mr. Blaine. Therefore Mr. Blaine insisted upon the +appointment of Judge Robertson to the Collectorship of the port at New +York. Senator Conkling would not consent under any circumstances to this +appointment. Mr. Blaine, it appears, succeeded in convincing the +President that, but for Judge Robertson's action, his, Garfield's, +nomination would have been impossible and that consequently it would be +base ingratitude not to appoint Robertson to the position for which he +was an applicant. Mr. Blaine contended that the administration would not +only be guilty of ingratitude should it refuse to appoint his candidate, +but that it would thereby allow itself to be the medium through which +this man was to be punished for his action in making the existence of +the administration possible. + +"Can you, Mr. President, afford to do such a thing as this?" asked Mr. +Blaine. + +To which the President gave a negative answer. Perhaps it did not occur +to Mr. Blaine at that time that, while the action of Judge Robertson +may have made the nomination of Mr. Garfield possible, the subsequent +action of Senator Conkling made his election possible. But, +notwithstanding this, the President decided that Judge Robertson should +have the office for which he was an applicant. + +As previously stated, however, the President was anxious to avoid a +break with Senator Conkling. To get the Senator to consent to the +appointment of Judge Robertson was the task the President had before +him. With that end in view the President invited Mr. Conkling to a +private conference, at which he expressed a willingness to allow the New +York Senator to name every important Federal officer in New York except +the Collector of the Port, if he would consent to the appointment of +Judge Robertson to that office. But the only concession Senator Conkling +was willing to make was to give his consent to the appointment of Judge +Robertson to any position in the foreign service. This was not +satisfactory, hence the conference was a failure. The President was thus +placed in a very disagreeable dilemma, being thus forced, very much +against his inclination, to take a decided stand in a very unpleasant +controversy. He was thus forced to choose between Mr. Blaine, his own +Secretary of State, on one side, and Senator Conkling on the other. To +one he felt that he was indebted for his nomination. To the other he +believed that his election was largely due. It was asserted by some who +were in a position to know that, if the President had taken sides with +Mr. Conkling, Mr. Blaine would have immediately tendered his +resignation, and thus would have severed his official connection with +the administration. While no intimation of this was made known to the +President, yet he no doubt believed, in consequence of the deep and +intense interest Mr. Blaine had shown in the matter, that such action on +his part, in the event of an adverse decision, was more than probable. +When the President saw that there was no escape,--that he was obliged to +take a decided stand one way or the other,--he decided to sustain the +contention of his Secretary of State. Consequently, after the fruitless +conference between the President and Senator Conkling, the name of Judge +Robertson for Collector of the port at New York, was sent to the Senate. +Senator Conkling, joined by his colleague, Senator Platt, at first made +an effort to have the nomination rejected, but the other Republican +Senators were not willing to place themselves in open opposition to the +administration. When the fact was developed that the nomination would be +confirmed, Senators Conkling and Platt immediately tendered their +resignations. + +This in my opinion was a grave blunder on their part, as subsequent +events more than proved. They had before them the example of Senator +Sumner, by which they should have profited. Senator Sumner was greatly +humiliated, when, through the influence of the administration, he was +supplanted by Senator Cameron as Chairman of the Senate Committee on +Foreign Relations on account of a misunderstanding with President Grant, +growing out of the effort on the part of the administration to bring +about the annexation of Santo Domingo, to which Senator Sumner was +bitterly opposed. Yet he did not,--because he was thus, as he felt, +unjustly humiliated,--resign his seat in the Senate. He realized that +while he was commissioned to speak for his own State, his great power +and immense influence were not confined solely to that particular State. +He appreciated the fact that when he spoke and voted as a Senator, he +did so, not merely as a Senator from the State of Massachusetts, but as +a Senator of the United States. He belonged to no one State, but to the +United States. He had,--on account of his great intellect, power, +influence, and ability,--long since ceased to be the spokesman and +representative of any particular State or section; he was a +representative of his country--recognized as such throughout the +civilized world. Knowing these things to be true Sumner did not feel +that he should deprive the people of his valuable services simply +because he was not in harmony with the administration upon some one +matter, however important that matter might be. In this Senator Sumner +was unquestionably right. + +What, then, was true of Senator Sumner was equally true of Senators +Conkling and Platt in their misunderstanding with President Garfield +about the Collectorship of the port of New York. + +Mr. Conkling was one of the greatest men our country had ever produced. +He was a man of much influence and great power. He was not only an +intellectual giant, but he was a man of commanding presence and +attractive personality. As an orator he had few equals and no superiors. +As in the case of Senator Sumner he spoke and voted as a Senator not +merely for his State, but for his country; not for any particular +section or locality, but for the United States. He was too great a man, +and his services were too important and valuable for his country to be +deprived of them merely on account of a misunderstanding between the +President and himself about Federal patronage in New York. He and his +colleague should have retained their seats in the Senate and trusted to +the judgment of their fellow-citizens for a vindication of their course +and action in that as in other matters. They not only made a mistake in +resigning their seats in the Senate, but consummated it when they went +before the Legislature of their State, which was then in session, and +asked for a vindication through the medium of reelection. This was +subjecting their friends to a test to which they were not willing to +submit. Their friends, both in the Legislature and out of it, were loyal +to them, and this loyalty would have been demonstrated at the proper +time and in the right way had the two Senators remained in a position +which would have enabled their adherents to do so without serious injury +to the party organization. But when these men were asked, as the price +of their loyalty, to place the party organization in the State in open +opposition to the National Administration for no other reason than a +misunderstanding about Federal patronage in the city of New York, they +did not think that the controversy was worth the price; hence the +request was denied. The result was the defeat of Conkling and Platt, and +the election of two Administration Republicans, Warner Miller and E.G. +Lapham. + +This foolhardy act of Conkling's had the unfortunate effect of +eliminating him from public life, at least so far as an active +participation in public affairs was concerned. But this was not true of +Mr. Platt. He was determined to come to the front again, and in this he +was successful. At the very next National Convention (1884) he turned up +as one of the Blaine delegates from New York, and was one of the +speakers that seconded Mr. Blaine's nomination. That was something Mr. +Conkling never could have been induced to do. He was proud, haughty and +dictatorial. He would never forget a friend, nor forgive an enemy. To +his friends he was loyal and true. To his enemies he was bitter and +unrelenting. For his friends he could not do too much. From his enemies +he would ask no quarter and would give none. More than one man of +national reputation has been made to feel his power, and suffer the +consequences resulting from his ill-will and displeasure. But for the +unfriendliness of Mr. Conkling, Mr. Blaine no doubt would have attained +the acme of his ambition in reaching the Presidency of the United +States. It was Mr. Blaine's misfortune to have made an enemy of the one +man who, by a stroke of destiny, was so situated as to make it possible +for him to prevent the realization of Mr. Blaine's life ambition. It was +due more to Mr. Conkling than to any other one man that Mr. Blaine was +defeated for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1876,--the year +in which he could have been elected had he been nominated. + +Mr. Conkling was too much of a party man to support the Democratic +ticket under any circumstances, hence, in 1884, when Mr. Blaine was at +length nominated for the Presidency, Mr. Conkling gave the ticket the +benefit of his silence. That silence proved to be fatal. In consequence +of Mr. Conkling's silence and apparent indifference in 1884, Mr. Blaine +lost New York, the pivotal State, and was defeated by Mr. Cleveland for +the Presidency. The falling off in the Republican vote in Mr. Conkling's +home county alone caused the loss of the State and of the Presidency of +the United States to the Republican party. + +The quarrel between Blaine and Conkling originated when both of them +were members of the House of Representatives. In a controversy that took +place between them on the floor of the House Mr. Blaine referred to Mr. +Conkling as the member from New York with the "turkey gobbler strut." +That remark made the two men enemies for life. That remark wounded Mr. +Conkling's pride; and he could never be induced to forgive the one who +had so hurt him. + +As a United States Senator Conkling was both felt and feared. No Senator +ever desired to get into a controversy with him, because he was not only +a speaker of great power and eloquence, but as a debater he was cutting +and scathing in his irony. Senator Lamar, of Mississippi, who as an +eloquent orator compared favorably with the best on both sides of the +Chamber, had the misfortune to get into a controversy on one occasion +with the distinguished New York Senator. In repelling an accusation that +the Senator from Mississippi had made against him, Mr. Conkling said: +"If it were not that this is the United States Senate I would +characterize the member from Mississippi as a coward and a +prevaricator." + +If those words had been uttered by any other Senator than Roscoe +Conkling it is more than probable that he would have been severely +reprimanded; no other Senator, however, cared to incur Conkling's +displeasure by becoming the author of a resolution for that purpose. + +Senator John J. Ingalls, of Kansas, was the only other Senator that ever +came near holding a similar position; for, while he was by no means the +equal of Conkling, he was both eloquent and sarcastic. For that reason +Senators were not anxious to get into a controversy with him. On one +occasion it seemed that he came near getting into a dispute with Senator +Manderson, of Nebraska. While the Senator from Nebraska was delivering a +speech, he made a remark to which the Senator from Kansas took +exceptions. When the Kansas Senator arose,--flushed with anger, and +laboring under intense excitement,--to correct what he declared in words +that were more forcible than elegant, to be a misstatement of his +position, the Senator from Nebraska did not hesitate for a moment to +accept the correction, remarking by way of explanation and apology that +he had not distinctly heard the remark the Senator from Kansas had made, +and to which he was alluding when interrupted. + +"Then," retorted the Senator from Kansas, "that is your misfortune." + +"I admit," the Senator from Nebraska quickly replied, "that it is always +a misfortune not to hear the Senator from Kansas." + +The unfortunate controversy between President Garfield and Senator +Conkling resulted in a national calamity. The bitterness that grew out +of it had the effect of bringing a crank on the scene of action. Early +in July, 1881,--when the President, in company with Mr. Blaine, was +leaving Washington for his summer vacation,--this cowardly crank, who +had waited at the railroad station for the arrival of the distinguished +party, fired the fatal shot which a few months later terminated the +earthly career of a President who was beloved by his countrymen without +regard to party or section. + +Whatever may have been the merits of this unfortunate controversy, it +resulted in the political death of one and the physical death of the +other; thus depriving the country of the valuable services of two of the +greatest and most intellectual men that our country had ever produced. + +When the President died I was at my home, Natchez, Mississippi, where a +memorial meeting was held in honor of his memory, participated in by +both races and both parties. I had the honor of being one of the +speakers on that occasion. That part of my remarks which seemed to +attract most attention and made the deepest impression was the +declaration that it was my good fortune, as a member of the National +House of Representatives, to sit within the sound of his eloquent voice +on a certain memorable occasion when he declared that there could never +be a permanent peace and union between the North and the South until the +South would admit that, in the controversy that brought on the War the +North was right and the South was wrong. Notwithstanding that +declaration, in which he was unquestionably right, I ventured the +opinion that, had he been spared to serve out the term for which he had +been elected, those who had voted for him would have been proud of the +fact that they had done so, while those who had voted against him would +have had no occasion to regret that he had been elected. + +Upon the death of President Garfield Vice-President Arthur,--who had +been named for that office by Mr. Conkling,--became President; but he, +too, soon incurred the displeasure of Mr. Conkling. Mr. Conkling had +occasion to make a request of the President which the latter could not +see his way clear to grant. For this Mr. Conkling never forgave him. The +President tried hard afterwards to regain Mr. Conkling's friendship, but +in vain. He even went so far, it is said, as to tender Mr. Conkling a +seat on the bench of the Supreme Court; but the tender was +contemptuously declined. + +President Arthur aspired to succeed himself as President. As a whole he +gave the country a splendid administration, for which he merited a +renomination and election as his own successor. While there was a strong +and well-organized effort to secure for him a renomination, the +probabilities are that the attitude of Mr. Conkling towards him +contributed largely to his defeat; although the ex-Senator took no +active part in the contest. But, as in the case of Mr. Blaine, his +silence, no doubt, was fatal to Mr. Arthur's renomination. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF 1884 + + +When the Forty-seventh Congress expired March 4th, 1883, I returned to +my home at Natchez, Mississippi. 1884 was the year of the Presidential +election. Early in the year it was made clear that there was to be a +bitter fight for the Presidential nomination. + +President Arthur was a candidate to succeed himself; but Mr. Blaine, it +was conceded, would be the leading candidate before the Convention. +Senator John Sherman was also a candidate. It was generally believed +that Senator Edmunds of Vermont would get a majority of the delegates +from the New England States. Mr. Blaine was weaker in his own section, +New England, than in any other part of the country except the South. The +South, however, had somewhat relented in its opposition to him, as +previously stated, in consequence of which he had a stronger support +from that section than in any of his previous contests for the +nomination; to this fact may be attributed his nomination by the +Convention. That support, it was believed, was due more to a deference +to public opinion at the North,--the section that must be depended upon +to elect the ticket,--than confidence in Mr. Blaine. + +The delegation from my own State, Mississippi, was, with one exception, +solid in its support of President Arthur. The one exception was Hon. +H.C. Powers, one of the delegates from the first district. + +Two active, aggressive, able and brilliant young men had just entered +the field of national politics, both of them having been elected +delegates to this convention. Those men were Theodore Roosevelt, of New +York, and H.C. Lodge, of Massachusetts. Both were vigorously opposed to +the nomination of Mr. Blaine. Roosevelt's election as a delegate from +New York was in the nature of a national surprise. Mr. Blaine was +believed to be very strong in that State. The public, therefore, was not +prepared for the announcement that Theodore Roosevelt,--an anti-Blaine +man,--had defeated Senator Warner Miller,--the able and popular leader +of the Blaine forces in that State,--as delegate to the National +Convention from the State at large. The Blaine leaders were brought to a +realization of the fact, that, in consequence of their unexpected defeat +in New York, it was absolutely necessary, in order to make sure of the +nomination of their candidate, to retain the support they had among the +Southern delegates. + +With that end in view the National Committee, in which the Blaine men +had a majority, selected a Southern man, Hon. Powell Clayton, of +Arkansas, for temporary chairman of the Convention. The anti-Blaine +men,--under the leadership of Messrs. Roosevelt, Lodge, Hoar, Hanna, +Geo. William Curtis and others,--decided to select another Southern man +to run against Clayton. For that purpose a conference was +held;--composed of many of the active supporters of Arthur, Sherman, and +Edmunds,--to select the man to put up against Clayton. + +I did not attend the conference. Senator Hoar suggested my name and +insisted that I was the man best fitted for the position. After a brief +discussion it was decided unanimously to select me. A committee was +appointed, of which ex-Governor Pinchback, of Louisiana, was chairman, +to wait on me and inform me of what had been done, and to insist upon my +acceptance of the distinguished honor which had thus been conferred upon +me. Another committee was appointed,--of which Hon. M.A. Hanna, of Ohio, +was chairman, to poll the Convention to find out the strength of the +movement. This committee subsequently reported that Clayton would be +defeated and Lynch elected by a majority of about thirty-five votes. For +two reasons I had some doubt about the propriety of allowing my name to +be thus used. First, I doubted the wisdom of the movement. It had been +the uniform custom to allow the National Committee to select the +temporary chairman of the Convention, and I was inclined to the opinion +that a departure from that custom might not be a wise step. Second, I +did not think it could possibly win. My opinion was that a number of +delegates that might otherwise vote for me could not be induced to vote +in favor of breaking what had been a custom since the organization of +the party. + +I did not come to a definite decision until the morning of the day that +the Convention was to be organized. Just before that body was called to +order I decided to confer with Maj. William McKinley and Hon. M.A. +Hanna, of Ohio, and act upon their advice. McKinley was for Blaine and +Hanna was for Sherman, but my confidence in the two men was such that I +believed their advice would not be influenced by their personal +preference for the Presidential nomination. I did not know at that time +that Mr. Hanna had taken an active part in the deliberations of the +conference that resulted in my selection for temporary chairman of the +Convention. I first consulted Major McKinley. I had served with him in +Congress and had become very much attached to him. He frankly stated +that, since he was a Blaine man, he would be obliged to vote against me, +but he told me that this was an opportunity that comes to a man but once +in a lifetime. + +"If you decline," he said, "the anti-Blaine men will probably put up +someone else who would, no doubt, receive the same vote that you would +receive. If it is possible for them to elect anyone, I know of no man I +would rather have them thus honor than you. While, therefore, I shall +vote against you and hope you will not be elected,--simply because I am +a Blaine man, and a vote for you means a vote against Blaine,--I shall +not advise you to decline the use of your name." + +I then approached Mr. Hanna, who appeared to be surprised that I +hesitated about consenting to the use of my name. + +"We have you elected," he said, "by a majority of about thirty-five. You +cannot decline the use of your name, for two reasons; first, since we +know we have the votes necessary to elect you, should you now decline +the public would never believe otherwise than that you had been +improperly influenced. This you cannot afford. In the second place, it +would not be treating us fairly. We have selected you in perfect good +faith, with the expectation that you would allow your name to be thus +used; or, if not, you would have declined in ample time to enable us to +reconvene, and select someone else. To decline now, on the eve of the +election, when it is impossible for us to confer and agree upon another +man for the position, would be manifestly unfair to us as well as to +your own candidate for the Presidential nomination, whose chances may +be injuriously affected thereby." + +This argument was both impressive and effective. I then and there +decided to allow my name to be used. I learned afterwards that it was +under the direction and management of Mr. Hanna that the Convention had +been so carefully and accurately polled. That his poll was entirely +correct was demonstrated by the result. This also established the fact +that as an organizer Mr. Hanna was a master, which was subsequently +proved when he managed Mr. McKinley's campaign both for the nomination +and election to the Presidency in 1896. + +When the Convention was called to order, and the announcement was made +that the National Committee had selected Hon. Powell Clayton, of +Arkansas, for temporary chairman of the Convention, an attractive young +man in the Massachusetts delegation was recognized by the chair. He gave +his name, as H.C. Lodge. He said he rose to place the name of another +gentleman in nomination; and, after making a neat and appropriate speech +in commendation of his candidate,--a speech that created a very +favorable impression,--he named ex-Congressman John R. Lynch, of +Mississippi, whom he believed to be a suitable man for the position. The +ball was then opened. This was an indication of a combination of the +field against Blaine. Many speeches were made on both sides, but they +were temperate in tone, and free from bitterness. Among those that spoke +in support of my candidacy were Messrs. Theodore Roosevelt, and Geo. +William Curtis, of New York. When the debate was over the chairman +directed that the States be called in alphabetical order,--the roll of +delegates from each State to be called, so as to allow each individual +delegate to cast his own vote. When Mississippi was reached, I joined +with H.C. Powers, the Blaine member of the delegation, in voting for +Clayton. The result was just about what Mr. Hanna said it would be. + +The Blaine men were discouraged and the anti-Blaine men were jubilant. +It was claimed by the latter, and apprehended by the former, that it was +indicative of Mr. Blaine's defeat for the nomination. It certainly +looked that way, but the result of the election for the temporary +chairmanship proved to be misleading. Mr. Hanna's poll was not to find +out how many delegates would vote for the nomination of Mr. Blaine, but +how many would vote for Lynch for temporary chairman. On that point his +poll was substantially accurate. It was assumed that every Blaine man +would vote for Mr. Clayton. This is where the mistake was made. It +turned out that there were some Blaine men, especially from the South, +that voted for Lynch. The result, therefore, was not, as it was hoped it +would be, an accurate test of the strength of the Blaine and +anti-Blaine forces in the Convention. + +Since my election had not been anticipated,--at least, by me,--my speech +of acceptance was necessarily brief. I presided over the deliberations +of the Convention the greater part of two days, when Hon. John B. +Henderson, of Missouri, was introduced as the permanent chairman. This +is the same Henderson, who, as a Republican United States Senator from +Missouri, voted against the conviction of President Andrew Johnson, who +had been impeached by the House of Representatives for high crimes and +misdemeanors in office. The Democratic Senators needed but seven votes +from the Republican side of the chamber to prevent conviction. They +succeeded in getting the exact number, Senator Henderson being one. He +appears to have been the only one of that number that politically +survived that act. All others soon passed into political oblivion; +although several of them subsequently identified themselves with the +Democratic party. While it may be said that Senator Henderson survived +the act, it is true that his election as a delegate to the National +Republican Convention of 1884 and his selection as the permanent +chairman thereof are the only prominent illustrations of that fact. + +During the deliberations of the Convention Mr. Bishop, one of the +delegates from Massachusetts, introduced a resolution to change the +basis of representation in future National Conventions of the party. His +plan was to make the number of Republican votes cast, counted, certified +and returned at the last preceding National election, the basis of +representation in succeeding National Conventions. + +Hon. W.O. Bradley, of Kentucky, led off in a very able, eloquent, and +convincing speech in opposition to the resolution. The colored delegates +from the South selected me to present their side of the question. For +that purpose I was recognized by the chair, and spoke against the +resolution. In the first place I called attention to the fact that if +elections were fair, and the official count honest in every State, the +probabilities were that there would be no occasion for the proposed +change. That the change proposed would result in a material reduction in +the representation in future conventions chiefly from Southern States +was because the greater part of the Republican votes in some of said +States were suppressed by violence or nullified by fraud. The effect of +the change proposed would be simply to make such questionable methods +the basis of representation in future Republican National Conventions. +This, I claimed, the Republican party could not afford to do. At the +conclusion of my remarks the resolution was withdrawn by its author, Mr. +Bishop, who came over to my seat, and congratulated me upon the way in +which I had presented the case; stating at the same time that my speech +had convinced him that his proposition was a mistake. + +After a hotly contested fight Mr. Blaine was finally nominated. Senator +John A. Logan, of Illinois, was named as the candidate for +Vice-President. It looked as if the time had at last come when the +brilliant statesman from Maine would have the acme of his ambition +completely realized. + +I was honored by the delegation from my State with being made a member +of the National Committee, and also a member of the committee that was +named to wait on Mr. Blaine and notify him officially of his nomination. +The notification committee went all the way to Mr. Blaine's home, +Augusta, Maine, to discharge that duty. + +The ceremony of notification took place in Mr. Blaine's front yard. The +weather was fine. The notification speech was delivered by the chairman, +Senator Henderson, to which Mr. Blaine briefly responded, promising to +make a more lengthy reply in the form of a letter of acceptance. At the +conclusion of the ceremony he called me to one side and asked what was +the outlook in Mississippi. I informed him that he could easily carry +the State by a substantial majority if we could have a fair election and +an honest count; but that under the existing order of things this would +not be possible, and that the State would be returned against him. + +"Oh, no," he replied, "you are mistaken about that. Mr. Lamar will see +that I get a fair count in Mississippi." + +I confess that this remark surprised me very much. + +"Mr. Blame," I replied, "you may understand the political situation in +Mississippi better than I do, but I know whereof I speak when I say that +Mr. Lamar would not if he could and could not if he would, secure you a +fair count in Mississippi. The State will be returned against you." + +"You will find," he said, "that you are mistaken. Mr. Lamar will see +that I get a fair count in Mississippi." + +Mr. Lamar not only made an aggressive campaign against Mr. Blaine, but +it was chiefly through his influence and efforts that the State was +returned against Mr. Blaine by a very large majority. And yet no one who +knew Mr. Lamar could justly accuse him of being an ingrate. He was +essentially an appreciative man; as he never failed to demonstrate +whenever and wherever it was possible for him to do so. No one knew +better than did Mr. Lamar that he was under deep and lasting obligations +to Mr. Blaine; but it seems that with all his wisdom and political +sagacity and foresight Mr. Blaine was unable to distinguish between a +personal and a political obligation. Mr. Lamar felt that what Mr. Blaine +had done for him was personal, not political, and that if +his,--Lamar's,--party was in any respect the beneficiary thereof, it +was merely incidental. At any rate, it was utterly impossible for him to +serve Mr. Blaine in a political way. Had he made the effort to do so he +not only would have subjected himself to the accusation of party +treachery, but it would have resulted in his own political downfall. To +expect any ambitious man to make such a sacrifice as this was contrary +to human nature. + +The truth was that Mr. Blaine had been chiefly instrumental in bringing +about a condition of affairs at the South which made it impossible for +any of his Democratic or Republican friends in that section to be of any +material service to him at the time he most needed them. And yet, he +could not see this until it was too late. In spite of this he would have +been elected, but for the fact that he lost the pivotal State of New +York by a small plurality, about eleven hundred and forty-seven, the +reasons for which have been given in a previous chapter. It is therefore +sad, but true, that by his own act this able and brilliant statesman, +like Henry Clay, died without having reached the acme of his +ambition,--the Presidency of the United States. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ELECTION OF GROVER CLEVELAND + + +The Republicans of my district insisted that I make the race for +Congress again in 1884, and I decided to do so, although I knew it would +be useless for me to do so with any hope of being elected, for I knew +the prospect of success was not as favorable as two years previous. + +Judge Van Eaton, the Democratic candidate for Congressman in 1882, was a +representative of the better element, and would, therefore, rather be +defeated than be declared elected through the enforcement and +application of questionable methods. He publicly declared on several +occasions that, as anxious as he was to be a member of Congress, he +would rather be defeated than have a certificate of election tainted +with fraud. In other words, if he could not be fairly and honestly +elected he preferred to be defeated. He insisted upon a fair election +and an honest count. This was not agreeable to many of his party +associates. They believed and privately asserted that his open +declarations on that point not only carried an implied reflection upon +his party in connection with previous elections, but that he was taking +an unnecessary risk in his own case. Chiefly for these reasons, the +Judge, though a strong and able man, was denied the courtesy of a +nomination for a second term. It had always been the custom to allow a +member to serve at least two terms; but this honor was denied Judge Van +Eaton, the nomination being given to Honorable T.R. Stockdale, of Pike +county. + +Stockdale was a different type of a man from Van Eaton. He was in +perfect accord with the dominant sentiment of his party. He felt that he +had been nominated to go to Congress,--"peaceably and fairly," if +possible, but to go in any event. Then, again, that was the year of the +Presidential election, and the Democrats were as confident of success +that year as they had been in 1876 and in 1880. + +For President and Vice-President the candidates were Blaine and Logan, +Republicans, and Cleveland and Hendricks, Democrats. + +Mr. Cleveland had the prestige of having been elected Governor of New +York by a majority of about one hundred thousand. New York was believed +to be the pivotal and the decisive State, and that its votes would +determine the election for President. That the Republicans, even with +such a popular man as Mr. Blaine as their candidate, would be able to +overcome the immense majority by which Mr. Cleveland had carried the +State for Governor was not believed by any Democrat to be possible. The +Democrats did not take into account any of the local circumstances that +contributed to such a remarkable result; but they were well known to +Republicans in and out of that State. One of the principal contributory +causes was a determination on the part of thousands of Republican voters +in that State to resent at the polls National interference in local +State affairs. + +Judge Folger, President Arthur's Secretary of the Treasury, was the +Republican candidate against Mr. Cleveland for the Governorship when the +latter was elected by such an immense majority. It was a well-known fact +that Judge Folger could not have been nominated but for the active and +aggressive efforts of the National Administration, and of its agents and +representatives. The fight for the Republican nomination for Governor +that year was the beginning of the bitter fight between the Blaine and +the Arthur forces in the State for the delegation in 1884. In the +nomination of Judge Folger the Blaine men were defeated. To neutralize +the prestige which the Arthur men had thus secured, thousands of the +Blaine men, and some who were not Blaine men, but who were against the +National Administration for other reasons, refused to vote for Judge +Folger, and thus allowed the State to go Democratic by default. In 1884, +when Mr. Blaine was the candidate of the Republicans for the +Presidency, a sufficient number of anti-Blaine men in New York,--in a +spirit of retaliation, no doubt,--pursued the same course and thus +allowed the State again to go Democratic by default. The loss which Mr. +Blaine sustained in the latter case, therefore, was much greater than +that gained by him in the former. + +But, let the causes, circumstances, and conditions be what they may, +there was not a Democrat in Mississippi in 1884 who did not believe that +Mr. Cleveland's election to the Presidency was a foregone conclusion. +That he would have the support of the Solid South there was no doubt. +Those States, they believed, were as certain to be returned Democratic +as the sun would rise on the morning of the day of the election. + +Although I accepted the nomination for Congress, I as chairman of the +Republican State Committee, devoted the greater part of my time to the +campaign throughout the State. Mr. Blaine had many warm friends and +admirers among the white men and Democrats in the State, some of them +being outspoken in their advocacy of his election. In making up the +electoral ticket I made every effort possible to get some of those men +to consent to the use of their names. One of them, Joseph N. Carpenter, +of my own home town, Natchez, gave his consent to the use of his name. +He was one of the solid business men of the town. He was not only a +large property owner but the principal owner of a local steamboat that +was engaged in the trade on the Mississippi River between Natchez and +Vicksburg. He was also the principal proprietor of one of the +cotton-seed-oil mills of the town. In fact his name was associated with +nearly every important enterprise in that community. Socially no family +stood higher than his in any part of the South. His accomplished wife +was a Miss Mellen, whose brother, William F. Mellen, was one of the most +brilliant members of the bar that the State had ever produced. She had +another brother who acquired quite a distinction as a minister of the +gospel. + +When the announcement was made public that Joseph N. Carpenter was to be +an elector on the Republican ticket, intense excitement was immediately +created. The Democratic press of the State immediately turned their +batteries upon him. Personal friends called upon him in large numbers +and urged him to decline. But he had consented to serve, and he felt +that it was his duty, and ought to be his privilege to do so. Besides, +he was a sincere Blaine man. He honestly believed that the election of +Mr. Blaine would be conducive to the best interests of the country, the +South especially. To these appeals, therefore, he turned a deaf ear. But +it was not long before he was obliged to yield to the pressure. The fact +was soon made plain to him that, if he allowed his name to remain on +that ticket, the probabilities were that he would be financially +ruined. He would soon find that his boat would be without either +passengers or freight; his oil mill would probably be obliged to close +because there would be no owners of the raw material of whom he could +make purchases at any price, and even his children at school would, no +doubt, be subjected to taunts and insults, to say nothing of the social +cuts to which his family might be subjected. He was, therefore, brought +to a painful realization of the fact that he was confronted with +conditions which he had not fully anticipated. He could then see, as he +had never seen before, that he had been brought face to face with a +condition and not a theory. He was thus obliged to make his choice +between accepting those conditions upon the one hand, and on the other +the empty and temporary honor of serving as an elector on the Blaine +Republican ticket. His convictions, his manhood and his self-respect +were on one side; his material interests and family obligations were on +the other. His mental condition during that period can better be +imagined than described. After giving thoughtful consideration and +sleepless nights to the matter, he at length decided to yield to the +pressure and decline the use of his name. He informed me of his decision +through the medium of a private letter which he said he had written with +great reluctance and sincere regret. The committee thereupon named Dr. +Jackson, of Amite County, an old line Republican, to fill the vacancy. + +It will thus be seen that in pursuing a course that Mr. Blaine thought +would place southern Democrats under obligations to him he placed a +weapon in the hands of his own personal and political enemies by which +they were enabled to crush and silence his friends and supporters; for +after all it is not so much the love of fair play, as it is the fear of +punishment, that actuates the average man in obeying the laws and +respecting the rights and privileges of others. Mr. Blaine's friends and +supporters at the South were the very people who stood most in need of +that security and protection which can come only through a thorough and +impartial enforcement of laws for the protection of citizens in the +exercise and enjoyment of their civil and political rights, as well as +the enforcement of laws for the protection of life, liberty and +property. + +Judge H.F. Simrall, one of the most brilliant lawyers in the State,--who +came into the Republican party under the leadership of General Alcorn in +1869, and who had served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the +State,--made an effort to canvass the State for Mr. Blaine, but his +former associates, with whom he tried to reason, treated him with such +scanty courtesy that he soon became discouraged and abandoned the +effort. + +There were two factions in the Democratic party, Mr. Lamar being the +recognized head of one of them. His political enemies suspected and some +of them accused him of being partial to Mr. Blaine. To save himself and +his friends from humiliation and defeat in his own party it was +necessary for him to dispel that suspicion, and disprove those +accusations. With that end in view he made a thorough canvass of the +State in the interest of Mr. Cleveland and the Democratic party. The +State was returned for Mr. Cleveland by a large majority, for which Mr. +Lamar was in a great measure credited. Mr. Blaine finally saw his +mistake, which he virtually admitted in the speech delivered by him at +his home immediately after the election; but it was then too late to +undo the mischief that had been done. It was like locking the stable +door after the horse had been stolen. That Mr. Blaine died without +having attained the goal of his ambition was due chiefly to his lack of +foresight, poor judgment, political blunders, and a lack of that +sagacity and acumen which are so essential in a successful party leader. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +INTERVIEW WITH SECRETARY LAMAR ON THE RETAINING OF COLORED MEN IN OFFICE + + +In selecting his first cabinet Mr. Cleveland did Mr. Lamar and the State +of Mississippi the honor of making him his Secretary of the Interior. +Early in the administration, upon the occasion of my first visit to +Washington after the inauguration of Mr. Cleveland, I called on +Secretary Lamar to pay him my respects and tender him my congratulations +upon his appointment. When I entered his office he was engaged in +conversation with some prominent New York Democrats, Mayor Grace, of New +York City, being one of the party. The Secretary received me cordially; +and, after introducing me to the gentlemen with whom he was conversing, +requested me to take a seat in the adjoining room, which was used as his +private office, until the departure of the gentlemen with whom he was +then engaged; remarking at the same time that there was an important +matter about which he desired to talk with me. + +I had been seated only a short while before he made his appearance. As +soon as he had taken his seat he said: + +"Lynch, you have shown me some favors in the past, and I desire to +manifest in a substantial way my appreciation of what you have done for +me and the friendly interest you have taken in me. No one knows better +than I do, or can appreciate more keenly than I can, the value of the +services you have rendered me, and the satisfactory results of your +friendly interest in me. In saying this I do not wish to even intimate +that you have done anything for me that was inconsistent with the +position occupied by you as an influential leader of the Republican +party of our State. The truth is, you were, fortunately, placed in such +a position that you were enabled to render a great service to a +Mississippi Democrat without doing a single act, or giving expression to +a single thought, that was not in harmony with your position as a leader +of your own party. That you saw fit to make me, rather than some other +Democrat, the beneficiary of your partiality is what I keenly +appreciate, highly value and now desire to reciprocate. The Republican +party is now out of power, and it is likely to remain so for the next +quarter of a century. Fortunately for me I am now so situated that I can +reciprocate, in a small measure, the friendly interest you have taken in +me in the recent past; and this, I hope, you will allow me to do. I have +an office at my disposal that I want you to accept. I know you are a +pronounced Republican. I neither ask nor expect you to change your +politics. Knowing you as I do, it would be useless for me to make such a +request of you even if I desired to have you make such a change. All I +shall ask of you is that you be not offensively active or boldly +aggressive in political matters while you hold a commission from me. In +other words, I want to render you a service without having you +compromise your political standing, and without making the slightest +change in your party affiliations. However, recognizing as you must the +delicacy of the situation resulting from the position I occupy and the +relation that I sustain to the administration, you will, I know, refrain +from saying and doing anything that will place me in an embarrassing +position before the public and before the administration with which I am +identified. The office to which I refer is that of special agent of +public lands. The salary is fifteen hundred a year and expenses. The +place is worth from two thousand to two thousand five hundred a year. I +shall not send you down South, where you may have some unpleasant and +embarrassing experiences, but I will send you out into the Black Hills, +where you will not be subjected to the slightest inconvenience and where +you will have very little to do, but make your reports and draw your +pay. If you say you will accept the appointment I shall give immediate +directions for the commission to be made out and you can take the oath +of office within the next twenty-four hours." + +Of course I listened with close attention and with deep interest to what +the honorable Secretary said. When he had finished, I replied in about +these words: + +"Mr. Secretary, I fully appreciate the friendly interest you manifest in +me, and I also appreciate what you are willing to do for me. If I have +rendered you any services in the past, I can assure you that they were +not rendered with the expectation that you would thereby be placed under +any obligations to me whatever. If I preferred you to others in your own +party it was because I believed in you the State would have the services +of one of its best, most brilliant and most eloquent representatives. It +was the good of the State and the best interests of its people rather +than the personal advancement of an individual that actuated me. The +exalted position now occupied by you I consider a confirmation of the +wisdom of my decision. But the fact cannot be overlooked that while you +are an able and influential leader in the Democratic party, I am, though +not so able nor so influential, a leader,--locally, if not +nationally,--in the Republican party. While I can neither hope nor +expect to reach that point of honor and distinction in the Republican +party that you have reached in the Democratic, I am just as proud of +the position I occupy to-day as a Republican, as it is possible for you +to be of yours as a Democrat. Even if it be true, as you predict--of +course I do not agree with you--that the Republican party will be out of +power for the next quarter of a century, or even if that party should +never again come into power, that fact cannot and will not have the +slightest weight with me. Therefore, I do not feel that you, as a member +of a National Democratic Administration, can afford to tender me any +position that I can see my way clear to accept. While I fully and keenly +appreciate your friendly interest in me and your desire and willingness +to serve me, I cannot accept the position you have so gracefully +tendered me, nor can I accept any other you may see fit to offer me. + +"But, if you want to render me a service, I can tell you wherein it can +be done,--a service that will be just as much appreciated as any you can +possibly render me. When I was a member of Congress I secured the +appointment of quite a number of young colored men to clerkships in the +Pension Bureau of your department. I understand that all these men have +excellent records. If you will retain them in their positions I shall +feel that you have repaid me for whatever you may think I have done for +you in the past." + +"That," the Secretary replied, "is a very reasonable request. Come to +see me again in a day or two and bring a list of their names and I will +then see just what I can do along those lines." + +I then bade Mr. Lamar good-bye and left his office. A few days later I +returned with the list. But upon that list I had placed the names of two +men who had not been appointed on my recommendation. One was a colored +man, a physician; the other was a white man, a lawyer. The physician +occupied a position that was in the line of his profession. The lawyer +was a clerk in the Pension Bureau, who had been recently appointed upon +the recommendation of Senator Bruce. The physician had been connected +with the public service a long time. I knew both men favorably and felt +that it was my duty to save them if in my power. Both were married and +had interesting families. + +When I placed the list in the Secretary's hands he read it over very +carefully, and then said: + +"I think I can safely assure you that the name of every one on this list +will be retained except these two"--indicating the colored physician and +the white lawyer. "This physician," the Secretary said, "is a colored +man, and the husband of a white wife. The lawyer is a white man, and the +husband of a colored wife. I cannot promise you, therefore, that they +will be retained, however capable and efficient they may be. So far as I +am personally concerned, it would make no material difference; I should +just as lief retain them as any of the others. But I cannot afford to +antagonize public opinion in my State on the question of amalgamation. +One of these men, the white lawyer, is from my own State, where he is +well known. His case is recent, and fresh in the public mind. So far as +he is concerned, I can see no escape. With the colored physician it may +be different. He is not from my State and is not known in the State. I +doubt very much if anyone in the State knows anything about him, or is +aware of the fact that the position occupied by him is under my +department. If attention is not called to his case, I shall let him +alone. + +"But with the lawyer it is different. A representative of a Mississippi +newspaper that is unfriendly to me is now on the ground. He has a list +of all the Republicans,--especially the colored ones,--holding positions +in this department. The name of this lawyer is on that list. It is the +intention of the faction his paper represents to bring pressure to bear +upon me to force me to turn all of these men out of office for political +reasons, regardless of their official standing. But, so far as your +friends are concerned, I shall defy them except in the case of this +lawyer, and also in the case of this physician if attention is called to +him. In their cases, or either of them, I shall be obliged, for reasons +already given; to yield." + +Strange to say, attention was never called to the case of the physician +and he remained in office during the whole of Mr. Cleveland's first +administration. I made a strong appeal to the Secretary in behalf of my +friend, the white lawyer. I said in substance: + +"Mr. Secretary, you ought not to allow this deserving man to be punished +simply because he was brave enough to legally marry the woman of his +choice. You know him personally. You know him to be an able and +brilliant young man. You know that he is now discharging the responsible +duties of the position which he occupies in your department with credit +to himself, and to the satisfaction of his official superiors. You know +that you have not a better nor a more capable official connected with +the public service than you have in this able young man. Under these +circumstances it is your duty, as the responsible head of your +department, to protect him and his estimable family from this gross +wrong,--this cruel injustice. For no one knows better than you do, Mr. +Secretary, that this alleged opposition to amalgamation is both +hypocritical and insincere. If a natural antipathy existed between the +two races no law would be necessary to keep them apart. The law, then, +against race intermarriage has a tendency to encourage and promote race +intermixture, rather than to discourage and prevent it; because under +existing circumstances local sentiment in our part of the country +tolerates the intermixture, provided that the white husband and father +does not lead to the altar in honorable wedlock the woman he may have +selected as the companion of his life, and the mother of his children. +If, instead of prohibiting race intermarriage, the law would compel +marriage in all cases of concubinage, such a law would have a tendency +to discourage race intermixture; because it is only when they marry +according to the forms of law that the white husband and father is +socially and otherwise ostracized. Under the common law,--which is the +established and recognized rule of action in all of our States in the +absence of a local statute by which a different rule is established,--a +valid marriage is nothing more than a civil contract entered into +between two persons capable of making contracts. But under our form of +government marriage, like everything else, is what public opinion sees +fit to make it. + +"It is true that in our part of the country no union of the sexes is +looked upon as a legal marriage unless the parties to the union are +married according to the form prescribed by the local statutes. While +that is true it is also true that there are many unions, which, but for +the local statutes, would be recognized and accepted as legal marriages +and which, even under existing conditions, are tolerated by local +sentiment and sanctioned by custom. Such unions are known to exist, and +yet are presumed not to exist. None are so blind as those who can see +but will not see. One of the unwritten but most effective and rigid laws +of our section,--which everyone respects and never violates,--is that a +man's private and domestic life must never be made the subject of +political or public discussion or newspaper notoriety. The man, who at +any time or under any provocation will so far forget himself as to say +or do anything that can be construed into a violation of that unwritten +law, will be likely to pay the penalty with his own life and that, too, +without court, judge, or jury; and the one by whom the penalty may be +inflicted will stand acquitted and justified before the bar of public +opinion. If, then, this able and brilliant young man,--whose bread and +meat you now have at your disposal,--had lived in concubinage with the +mother of his children, no law against custom and tradition would have +been violated, and no one would suggest that he be punished for what he +had done. Knowing these facts as you do, you ought to rise to the +dignity of the occasion and protect this good and innocent man from the +cruel, unjust, and unreasonable demands that are now being made upon you +to dispense with his valuable services. This gentleman, to my personal +knowledge, is not only worthy of whatever you may do for him, but his +elegant and accomplished wife is one of the finest and most cultivated +ladies it has ever been my good fortune to know. She is not only +remarkably intelligent, but she is a woman of fine natural ability and +of superior attainments. She is such a brilliant conversationalist,--so +interesting, so instructive and so entertaining,--that it is a great +pleasure and satisfaction to have the opportunity of being in her +delightful presence, and of sitting within the sound of her sweet, +charming, and musical voice. In physical development she is as near +perfection as it is possible for a woman to be. I have had the good +fortune of knowing her well for a number of years, and I have always +admired her for her excellent traits and admirable qualities. She is a +woman that would ornament and grace the parlor and honor the home of the +finest and best man that ever lived, regardless of his race or +nationality or the station he may occupy in life, however exalted that +station may be. She married the man of her choice because she had +learned to love and honor him, and because, in her opinion, he possessed +everything, except wealth, that was calculated to contribute to her +comfort, pleasure and happiness. In a recent conversation I had with +her, her beautiful, large dark eyes sparkled with delight, and her sweet +and lovely face was suffused with a smile of satisfaction when she +informed me that she had never had occasion to regret her selection of a +husband. She was then the mother of several very handsome children, to +whom she pointed with pardonable pride. The products of such a union +could not possibly be otherwise than attractive, for the father was a +remarkably handsome man, while the mother was a personification of the +typical southern beauty. The man was devoted to his family. How could he +be otherwise? Husband and wife were so strongly attached to each other +that both were more than willing to make any sacrifice that cruel fate +might have in store for them. + +"I therefore appeal to you, Mr. Secretary, in behalf of this charming +and accomplished woman and her sweet and lovely children. In taking this +position I am satisfied you will have nothing to lose, for you will not +only have right on your side, but the interest of the public service as +well. Rise, then, to the dignity of the occasion and assert and maintain +your manhood and your independence. You have done this on previous +occasions, why not do it again? As a member of the Senate of the United +States you openly and publicly defied the well-known public sentiment of +your party in the State which you then had the honor in part to +represent, when you disregarded and repudiated the mandate of the State +Legislature, instructing you to vote for the free and unlimited coinage +of silver. It was that vote and the spirit of manly independence shown +by you on that occasion that placed you in the high and responsible +position you now occupy, the duties of which your friends know will be +discharged in a way that will reflect credit upon yourself and honor +upon your State. + +"You again antagonized the dominant sentiment of the Democratic party of +your State when you pronounced an eloquent eulogy upon the life and +character of Charles Sumner. And yet you were able to overcome the +bitter opposition you had encountered on each of those occasions. You +can do the same thing in this case. I therefore ask you to promise me +that this worthy and competent public servant shall not be discharged as +long as his official record remains good." + +The Secretary listened to my remarks with close and respectful +attention. When I had finished he said: + +"I agree with nearly all you have said. My sympathies are with your +friend and it is my desire to retain him in the position he now so +satisfactorily fills. But when you ask me to disregard and openly defy +the well-known sentiment of the white people of my State on the question +of amalgamation, I fear you make a request of me which I cannot safely +grant, however anxious I may be to serve you. I could defend myself +before a public audience in my State on the silver question and on the +Sumner eulogy much more successfully than on the question of +amalgamation; although in the main, I recognize the force and admit the +truth of what you have said upon that subject. Hypocritical and +insincere as the claim may be with reference to maintaining the absolute +separation of the two races, the sentiment on that subject is one which +no man who is ambitious to have a political future can safely afford to +ignore,--especially under the new order of things about which you are +well posted. While I am sorry for your friend, and should be pleased to +grant your request in his case, I cannot bring myself to a realization +of the fact that it is one of sufficient national importance to justify +me in taking the stand you have so forcibly and eloquently suggested." + +This ended the interview. I went to the home of my friend that evening, +and informed him and his amiable wife of what had been said and done. +They thanked me warmly for my efforts in their behalf, and assured me +that there was a future before them, and that in the battle of life they +were determined to know no such word as "fail." A few weeks later my +friend's official connection with the public service was suddenly +terminated. He and his family then left Washington for Kansas, I think. +About a year thereafter he had occasion to visit Washington on business. +I happened to be there at that time. He called to see me and informed me +that, instead of regretting what had occurred, he had every reason to be +thankful for it, since he had done very much better than he could have +done had he remained at Washington. I was, of course, very much +gratified to hear this and warmly congratulated him. Since that time, +however, I have not seen him nor any member of his family, nor have I +heard anything from them except indirectly, although I have made a +number of unsuccessful efforts to find them. I am inclined to the +opinion that, like thousands of people of the same class, their identity +with the colored race has long since ceased and that they have been +absorbed by the white race, as I firmly believe will be true of the +great mass of colored Americans. It is to prevent any embarrassment +growing out of the probability of this condition that has actuated me in +not making public the names of the parties in question. No good could +come of the disclosure, and much harm might follow. I can, however, most +positively assure the public that this is not a fiction,--that it is not +a mere picture that is painted from the vividness of my imagination, but +that the story as related in all its details is based upon actual +occurrences. + +With this one exception, Secretary Lamar retained in office every clerk +whose name appeared on the list that I gave him. They were not only +retained throughout the Administration but many of them were promoted. +It can be said to the credit of Secretary Lamar that during his +administration very few changes were made in the clerical force of the +department for political reasons, and, as a rule, the clerks were +treated with justice, fairness and impartiality. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS BILL + + +It was during the administration of President Harrison that another +effort was made to secure the enactment by Congress of the necessary +legislation for the effective enforcement of the war amendments to the +National Constitution,--a Federal Elections Bill. Mr. Lodge, of +Massachusetts, was the author of the bill. But the fact was soon +developed that there were so many Republicans in and out of Congress who +lacked the courage of their convictions that it would be impossible to +secure favorable action. In fact there were three classes of white men +at the South who claimed to be Republicans who used their influence to +defeat that contemplated legislation. The white men at the South who +acted with the Republican party at that time were divided into four +classes. + +First, those who were Republicans from principle and conviction--because +they were firm believers in the principles, doctrines, and policies for +which the party stood, and were willing to remain with it in adversity +as well as in prosperity,--in defeat as well as in victory. This class, +I am pleased to say, while not the most noisy and demonstrative, +comprised over seventy-five per cent, of the white membership of the +party in that part of the country. + +Second, a small but noisy and demonstrative group, comprising about +fifteen per cent of the remainder, who labored under the honest, but +erroneous, impression that the best and most effective way to build up a +strong Republican party at the South was to draw the color line in the +party. In other words, to organize a Republican party to be composed +exclusively of white men, to the entire exclusion of colored men. What +those men chiefly wanted,--or felt the need of for themselves and their +families,--was social recognition by the better element of the white +people of their respective localities. They were eager, therefore, to +bring about such a condition of things as would make it possible for +them to be known as Republicans without subjecting themselves and their +families to the risk of being socially ostracized by their white +Democratic neighbors. And then again those men believed then, and some +of them still believe or profess to believe, that southern Democrats +were and are honest and sincere in the declaration that the presence of +the colored men in the Republican party prevented southern white men +from coming into it. "Draw the race line against the colored +man,--organize a white Republican party,--and you will find that +thousands of white men who now act with the Democratic party will join +the Republicans." Some white Republicans believed that the men by whom +these declarations were made were honest and sincere,--and it may be +that some of them were,--but it appears not to have occurred to them +that if the votes of the colored men were suppressed the minority white +vote, unaided and unprotected, would be powerless to prevent the +application of methods which would nullify any organized effort on their +part. In other words, nothing short of an effective national law, to +protect the weak against the strong and the minority of the whites +against the aggressive assaults of the majority of that race, would +enable the minority of the whites to make their power and influence +effective and potential; and even then it could be effectively done only +in cooeperation with the blacks. Then again, they seemed to have lost +sight of the fact,--or perhaps they did not know it to be a fact,--that +many leading southern Democrats are insincere in their declarations upon +the so-called race question. They keep that question before the public +for political and party reasons only, because they find it to be the +most effective weapon they can use to hold the white men in political +subjection. The effort, therefore, to build up a "white" Republican +party at the South has had a tendency, under existing circumstances, to +discourage a strong Republican organization in that section. But, even +if it were possible for such an organization to have a potential +existence, it could not be otherwise than ephemeral, because it would be +wholly out of harmony with the fundamental principles and doctrines of +the national organization whose name it had appropriated. It would be in +point of fact a misnomer and, therefore, wholly out of place as one of +the branches of the national organization which stands for, defends, and +advocates the civil and political equality of all American citizens, +without regard to race, color, nationality, or religion. Any +organization, therefore, claiming to be a branch of the Republican +party, but which had repudiated and denounced the fundamental and sacred +creed of that organization, would be looked upon by the public as a +close, selfish and local machine that was brought into existence to +serve the ends, and satisfy the selfish ambition of the promoters and +organizers of the corporation. Yet there were a few well-meaning and +honest white men in some of the Southern States who were disposed, +through a mistaken sense of political necessity, to give such a movement +the benefit of their countenance. But the movement has been a lamentable +failure in States where it has been tried, and it cannot be otherwise in +States where it may yet be tried. Men who were in sympathy with a +movement of this sort took a pronounced stand against the proposed +Federal Elections Bill, and used what influence they had to prevent its +passage; their idea being that, if passed, it would have a tendency to +prevent the accomplishment of the purposes they had in contemplation. + +Third, a group that consisted of a still smaller number who were +Republicans for revenue only,--for the purpose of getting office. If an +office were in sight they would be quite demonstrative in their advocacy +of the Republican party and its principles; but if they were not +officially recognized, their activities would not only cease, but they +would soon be back into the fold of the Democracy. But should they be +officially recognized they would be good, faithful, and loyal +Republicans,--at least so far as words were concerned,--until they +ceased to be officials, when they would cease at the same time to be +Republicans. Men of this class were, of course, opposed to the proposed +legislation for the enforcement of the war amendments to the +Constitution. + +Fourth, a group that consisted of an insignificantly small number of +white men who claimed to be national Republicans and local +Democrats,--that is, they claimed that they voted for the Republican +candidate for President every four years, but for Democrats in all other +elections. Of course they were against the proposed legislation. These +men succeeded in inducing some well-meaning Republican members of +Congress, like Senator Washburne, of Minnesota, for instance, to believe +that the passage of such a bill would have a tendency to prevent the +building up of a strong Republican organization at the South. Then +again, the free silver question was before the public at that time. The +Republican majority in the Senate was not large. Several of those who +had been elected as Republicans were free silver men. On that question +they were in harmony with a majority of the Democrats, and out of +harmony with the great majority of Republicans. The Free Silver +Republicans, therefore, were not inclined to support a measure that was +particularly offensive to their friends and allies on the silver +question. After a careful canvass of the Senate it was developed that +the Republican leaders could not safely count on the support of any one +of the Free Silver Republicans in their efforts to pass the bill, and, +since they had the balance of power, any further effort to pass it was +abandoned. It was then made plain to the friends and supporters of that +measure that no further attempt would be made in that direction for a +long time, if ever. + +I wrote and had published in the Washington _Post_ a letter in which I +took strong grounds in favor of having the representation in +Congress,--from States where the colored men had been practically +disfranchised through an evasion of the Fifteenth Amendment,--reduced +in the manner prescribed by the Fourteenth Amendment. In that letter I +made an effort to answer every argument that had been made in opposition +to such a proposition. It had been argued by some fairly good lawyers, +for instance, that the subsequent ratification of the Fifteenth +Amendment had so modified the Fourteenth as to take away from Congress +this optional and discretionary power which had been previously +conferred upon it by the Fourteenth Amendment. I tried in that +letter,--and I think I succeeded,--to answer the argument on that point. +It was also said that if Congress were to take such a step it would +thereby give its sanction to the disfranchisement of the colored men in +the States where that had been done. This I think I succeeded in proving +was untrue and without foundation. The truth is that the only material +difference between the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments on this +particular point is that, subsequent to the ratification of the +Fourteenth and prior to the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, a +State could legally disfranchise white or colored men on account of race +or color, but, since the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, this +cannot be legally done. If, then, Congress had the constitutional right +under the Fourteenth Amendment to punish a State in the manner therein +prescribed, for doing what the State then had a legal and +constitutional right to do, I cannot see why Congress has not now the +same power and authority to inflict the same punishment upon the State +for doing or permitting to be done what it now has no legal and +constitutional right to do. + +No State, in my opinion, should be allowed to take advantage of its own +wrongs, and thus, by a wrongful act, augment its own power and influence +in the government. To allow a majority of the white men in the State of +Mississippi, for instance, to appropriate to themselves through +questionable methods the representative strength of the colored +population of that State, excluding the latter from all participation in +the selection of the representatives in Congress, is a monstrous wrong, +the continuance of which should not be tolerated. + +For every crime there must be a punishment; for every wrong there must +be a remedy, and for every grievance there must be a redress. That this +state of things is wrong and unjust, if not unlawful, no fair-minded +person will deny. It is not only wrong and unjust to the colored people +of the State, who are thus denied a voice in the government under which +they live and to support which they are taxed, but it also involves a +grave injustice to the States in which the laws are obeyed and the +National Constitution,--including the war amendments to the same,--is +respected and enforced. I am aware of the fact that it is claimed by +those who are responsible for what is here complained of that, while +the acts referred to may be an evasion if not a violation of the spirit +of the Constitution, yet, since they do not violate the letter of the +Constitution the complaining parties are without a remedy, and therefore +have no redress. This contention is not only weak in logic but unsound +in law, even as construed by the Supreme Court of the United States, +which tribunal seems to be the last to which an appeal can be +successfully made, having for its object the enforcement of the +Constitution and laws so far as they relate to the political and civil +rights of the colored Americans. That a State can do by indirection what +it cannot do directly, is denied even by the Supreme Court of the United +States. + +That doctrine was clearly and distinctly set forth in a decision of the +Court rendered by Mr. Justice Strong, which was concurred in by a +majority of his associates. In that decision it was held that +affirmative State action is not necessary to constitute race +discrimination by the State. In other words, in order to constitute +affirmative State action in violation of the Constitutional mandate +against distinction and discrimination based on race or color, it is not +necessary that the State should pass a law for that purpose. The State, +the Court declared, acts through its agents, Legislative, Executive and +Judicial. Whenever an agent or representative of the State acts, his +acts are binding upon the State, and the effect is the same as if the +State had passed a law for that purpose. If a judge, for example, in the +selection of jurors to serve in his court should knowingly and +intentionally allow a particular race to be excluded from such service +on account of race or color, the effect would be the same as if the +State, through its Legislature, had passed a law for that purpose. The +colored men in the States complained of, have been disfranchised in +violation of the spirit if not the letter of the Constitution, either by +affirmative State action, or through and by the State's agents and +representatives. Their acts, therefore, constitute State action as fully +as if the Legislature had passed a law for that purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +MISSISSIPPI AND THE NULLIFICATION OF THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT + + +The defeat or abandonment of the Lodge Federal Elections Bill was +equivalent to a declaration that no further attempts would be made for a +good while, at least, to enforce by appropriate legislation the war +amendments to the Constitution. Southern Democrats were not slow in +taking advantage of the knowledge of that fact. + +My own State, Mississippi, was the first to give legal effect to the +practical nullification of the Fifteenth Amendment. On that question the +Democratic party in the State was divided into two factions. The radical +faction, under the leadership of Senator George, advocated the adoption +and enforcement of extreme methods. The liberal or conservative +faction,--or what was known as the Lamar wing of the party under the +leadership of Senator Walthall,--was strongly opposed to such methods. +Senator George advocated the calling of a Constitutional Convention, to +frame a new Constitution for the State. Senator Walthall opposed it, +contending that the then Constitution, though framed by Republicans, +was, in the main, unobjectionable and should be allowed to stand. But +Senator George was successful, and a convention was called to meet in +the fall of 1890. In order to take no chances the Senator had himself +nominated and elected a member of the Convention. + +When the Convention met, it was found that there were two strong +factions, one in favor of giving legal effect to the nullification of +the Fifteenth Amendment, and the other opposed to it. The George faction +was slightly in the majority, resulting in one of their +number,--nullificationists, as they were called,--Judge S.S. Calhoun, +being elected President of the Convention. The plan advocated and +supported by the George faction, of which Senator George was the author, +provided that no one be allowed to register as a voter, or vote if +registered, unless he could read and write, or unless he could +understand any section of the Constitution when read to him and give a +reasonable interpretation thereof. This was known as the "understanding +clause." It was plain to every one that its purpose was to evade the +Fifteenth Amendment, and disfranchise the illiterate voters of one race +without disfranchising those of the other. + +The opposition to this scheme was under the leadership of one of the +ablest and most brilliant members of the bar, Judge J.B. Christman, of +Lincoln County. As a substitute for the George plan or understanding +clause, he ably and eloquently advocated the adoption of a fair and +honest educational qualification as a condition precedent to +registration and voting, to be equally applicable to whites and blacks. + +The speeches on both sides were able and interesting. It looked for a +while as if the substitute clause proposed by Judge Christman would be +adopted. In consequence of such an apprehension, Judge Calhoun, the +President of the Convention, took the floor in opposition to the +Christman plan, and in support of the one proposed by Senator George. +The substance of his speech was that the Convention had been called for +the purpose of insuring the ascendency of the white race,--the +Democratic party,--in the administration of the State Government through +some other methods than those which had been enforced since 1875. + +"If you fail in the discharge of your duties in this matter," he +declared, "the blood of every negro that will be killed in an election +riot hereafter will be upon your shoulders." + +In other words, the speaker frankly admitted, what everyone knew to be a +fact, that the ascendency of the Democratic party in the State had been +maintained since 1875 through methods which, in his opinion, should no +longer be sanctioned and tolerated. These methods, he contended, were +corrupting the morals of the people of the State and should be +discontinued; but the ascendency of the Democratic party must be +maintained at any cost. The George plan, he urged, would accomplish this +result, because if the negroes were disfranchised according to the forms +of law, there would be no occasion to suppress his vote by violence +because he would have no vote to suppress; and there would be no +occasion to commit fraud in the count or perjury in the returns. + +Notwithstanding this frank speech, which was intended to arouse the +fears of the members of the Convention from a party standpoint, the +defeat of the Christman substitute was by no means an assured fact. But +the advocates of the George plan,--the "understanding clause,"--were +both desperate and determined. Contrary to public expectation two +Republicans, Geo. B. Melchoir and I.T. Montgomery, had been elected to +the Convention from Bolivar County. But their seats were contested, and +it was assumed that their Democratic contestants would be seated. Still, +pending the final disposition of the case, the two Republicans were the +sitting members. Montgomery was colored and Melchoir was white. But the +George faction needed those two votes. No one suspected, however, that +they would get them in any other way than by seating the contestants. +The advocates and supporters of the Christman substitute were, +therefore, very much surprised and disappointed when they learned that +Mr. Montgomery, the only colored member of the Convention, intended to +make a speech in favor of the adoption of the George plan, and vote for +it; which he did. Why this man, who had the reputation of being honest +and honorable, and who in point of intelligence was considerably above +the average of his race, should have thus acted and voted has always +been an inexplicable mystery. It is difficult to believe that he was +willing to pay such a price for the retention of his seat in the +Convention, still it is a fact that the contest was never called and +Montgomery and his colleague were allowed to retain their seats. + +The adoption of the George plan was thus assured, but not without a +desperate fight. The opponents of that scheme made a brave, though +unsuccessful, fight against it. But it was soon made plain to the +advocates of the George plan that what they had succeeded in forcing +through the Convention would be defeated by the people at the +ballot-box. In fact, a storm of protest was raised throughout the State. +The Democratic press, as well as the members of that party, were +believed to be about equally divided on the question of the ratification +of the Constitution as thus framed. Since it was well known that the +Republicans would be solid in their opposition to ratification, the +rejection of the proposed Constitution was an assured fact. But the +supporters of the George scheme felt that they could not afford to have +the results of their labors go down in defeat. In order to prevent this +they decided to deny the people the right of passing judgment upon the +work of the Convention. The decision, therefore, was that the Convention +by which the Constitution was framed should declare it duly ratified and +approved, and to go into effect upon a day therein named. The people of +that unfortunate State, therefore, have never had an opportunity to pass +judgment upon the Constitution under which they are living and which +they are required to obey and support, that right having been denied +them because it was known that a majority of them were opposed to its +ratification and would have voted against it. + +But this so-called "understanding clause," or George scheme, is much +more sweeping than was intended by its author. The intent of that clause +was to make it possible to disfranchise the illiterate blacks without +disfranchising the illiterate whites. But as construed and enforced it +is not confined to illiterates but to persons of intelligence as well. +No man, for instance, however intelligent he may be, can be registered +as a voter or vote if registered, if the registering officers or the +election officers are of the opinion that he does not understand the +Constitution. It is true, the instrument is so worded that no allusion +is made to the race or color of those seeking to be registered and to +vote; still, it is perfectly plain to everyone that the purpose was to +enable the State to do, through its authorized and duly appointed agents +and representatives, the very thing the Fifteenth Amendment declares +shall not be done. According to the decision of the Supreme Court, as +rendered by Mr. Justice Strong, the effect is the same as if the +instrument had declared in so many words that race or color should be +the basis of discrimination and exclusion. + +The bitter and desperate struggle between the two factions of the +Democratic party in the State of Mississippi in this contest, forcibly +illustrates the fact that the National Republican party made a grave +mistake when it abandoned any further effort to enforce by appropriate +legislation the war amendments to the Constitution. In opposing and +denouncing the questionable methods of the extreme and radical faction +of their own party, the conservative faction of the Democrats believed, +expected, and predicted that such methods would not be acquiesced in by +the Republican party, nor would they be tolerated by the National +Government. If those expectations and predictions had been verified they +would have given the conservative element a justifiable excuse to break +away from the radicals, and this would have resulted in having two +strong political parties in that section to-day instead of one. But +when it was seen that the National Republican party made no further +opposition to the enforcement of those extraneous, radical and +questionable methods, that fact not only had the effect of preventing +further opposition on the part of the conservative Democrats, but it +also resulted in many of the politically ambitious among them joining +the ranks of the radicals, since that was then the only channel through +which it was possible for their political aspirations to be gratified. + +The reader cannot fail to see that under the plan in force in +Mississippi there is no incentive to intelligence; because intelligence +does not secure access to the ballot-box, nor does the lack of it +prevent such access. It is not an incentive to the accumulation of +wealth; because the ownership of property does not secure to the owner +access to the ballot-box, nor does the lack of it prevent such access. +It is not a question of intelligence, wealth or character, nor can it be +said that it is wholly a question of party. It is simply a question of +factional affiliation. The standard of qualification is confined to such +white men as may be in harmony with the faction that may happen to have +control for the time being of the election machinery. What is true of +Mississippi in this respect is equally true of the other States in which +schemes of various sorts have been invented and adopted to evade the +Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +EFFECT OF THE MCKINLEY TARIFF BILL ON BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES + + +The Congressional elections of 1890 resulted in a crushing defeat for +the Republicans. This was due, no doubt, to the McKinley Tariff Bill +which became a law only about a month before the elections of that year. +Congress convened the first Monday in December, 1889, and that session +did not come to a close until the following October. The Democrats in +Congress made a bitter fight against the McKinley Tariff Bill, and, +since it was a very complete and comprehensive measure, a great deal of +time was necessarily consumed in its consideration and discussion. When +it finally became a law the time between its passage and the elections +was so short that the friends of the measure did not have time to +explain and defend it before the elections took place. This placed the +Republicans at a great disadvantage. They were on the defensive from the +beginning. The result was a sweeping Democratic victory. + +But, strange to say, the same issues that produced Democratic success +and Republican defeat at that election brought about Republican success +and Democratic defeat at the Presidential and Congressional elections in +1896. The McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890 was so popular six years later, +that the author of that measure was deemed the strongest and most +available man to place at the head of the Republican ticket as the +candidate of that party for President. His election was a complete +vindication of the wisdom of the measure of which he was the author and +champion. In 1890 his bill was so unpopular that it resulted in his own +defeat for reelection to Congress. But this did not cause him to lose +faith in the wisdom and the ultimate popularity of the bill which he was +proud to have bear his name. + +"A little time," said McKinley, "will prove the wisdom of the measure." +In this he was not mistaken. His defeat for reelection to Congress +ultimately made him President of the United States; for the following +year the Republicans of his State elected him Governor, which was a +stepping-stone to the Presidency. All that was needed was an opportunity +for the merits of his bill to be thoroughly tested. Shortly after its +passage, but before it could be enforced or even explained, the people +were led to believe that it was a harsh, cruel, and unjust measure, +imposing heavy, unreasonable, and unnecessary taxes upon them, +increasing the prices of the necessaries of life without a +corresponding increase in the price of labor. The people were in an +ugly mood in anticipation of what was never fully realized. + +It is true that the tariff was not the sole issue that resulted in such +a sweeping Republican victory in the National elections of 1896. The +financial issue, which was prominent before the people at that time, was +one of the contributory causes of that result. Still it cannot be denied +that McKinley's connection with the Tariff Bill of 1890 was what gave +him the necessary national prominence to make him the most available man +to be placed at the head of his party ticket for the Presidency that +year. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND PRESIDENT CLEVELAND AND SECRETARY +GRESHAM + + +When Mr. Cleveland was inaugurated in 1893, I was Auditor of the +Treasury for the Navy Department. Hon. J.G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, had +been made Secretary of the Treasury. My resignation had been tendered, +the acceptance of which I expected to see announced any day, but the +change did not take place until August of that year. + +While seated at my desk one day a messenger from the White House made +his appearance, and I was informed that the President desired to see me +in person. When I arrived at the White House I was immediately ushered +into the President's private office, where he was seated alone at a desk +engaged in reading a book or a magazine. It was at an hour when he was +not usually accessible to the public. He received me in a very cordial +way. He informed me that there was an important matter about which he +desired to talk with me--to get the benefit of my opinion and +experience. He assured me of his friendly interest in the colored +people. It was his determination that they should have suitable and +appropriate recognition under his administration. He said he was very +much opposed to the color line in politics. There was no more reason why +a man should be opposed or discriminated against on account of his race +than on account of his religion. He believed it to be the duty of the +Democratic party to encourage the colored voters to divide their votes, +and the best way to do this was to accord to that race the same relative +consideration, the same treatment, and to give the race the same +recognition that is given other races and classes of which our +citizenship is composed. The party line is the only one that should be +drawn. He would not appoint a colored Republican to office merely for +the purpose of giving official recognition to the colored race, nor +would he refuse to appoint a colored Democrat simply because he was +colored. If this course were pursued, and this policy adopted and +adhered to by the Democratic party, the colored voters who are in +harmony with that party on questions about which white men usually +divide, could see their way clear to vote in accordance with their +convictions upon such issues, and would not be obliged to vote against +the party with which they may be in harmony on account of that party's +attitude towards them as a race. "In other words," he said, "it is a +well-known fact that there are thousands of colored men who vote the +Republican ticket at many important elections,--not from choice but +from what they believe to be a necessity. If the views entertained by me +on this subject should be accepted by the Democratic party, as I hope +and believe they will be, that necessity,--real or imaginary,--would no +longer exist, and the gradual division of the colored vote would +necessarily follow." + +He went on to say that he had not hesitated to express himself fully, +freely and frankly with members of his own party on the subject, and +that he had informed them of the course he intended to pursue; but that +he had been advised against appointing any colored man to an office in +which white women were employed. + +"Now," said the President, "since you have been at the head of an +important bureau in the Treasury Department during the past four years, +a bureau in which a number of white women are employed as clerks, I +desire very much to know what has been your experiences along those +lines." I informed the President that I would take pleasure in giving +him the information desired. I assured him that if my occupancy of that +office had been the occasion of the slightest embarrassment to anyone +connected with the public service,--whether in the office over which I +presided or any other,--that fact had never been brought to my notice. +On the contrary, I had every reason to believe that no one who had +previously occupied the position enjoyed the respect, good-will and +friendship of the clerks and other employees to a greater extent than +was enjoyed by me. My occupancy of that office had more than +demonstrated the fact, if such were necessary, that official position +and social contact were separate and distinct. My contact with the +clerks and other employees of the office was official, not social. +During office hours they were subject to my direction and supervision in +the discharge of their official duties, and I am pleased to say that all +of them, without a single exception, have shown me that courtesy, +deference and respect due to the head of the office. After office hours +they went their way and I went mine. No new social ties were created and +none were broken or changed as the result of the official position +occupied by me. I assured the President, that, judging from my own +experience, he need not have the slightest apprehension of any +embarrassment, friction or unpleasantness growing out of the appointment +of a colored man of intelligence, good judgment and wise discretion as +head of any bureau in which white women were employed. + +I could not allow the interview to close without expressing to the +President my warm appreciation of his fair, just, reasonable and +dignified position on the so-called race question. + +"Your attitude," I said, "if accepted in good faith by your party, will +prove to be the solution of this mythical race problem. Although I am a +pronounced Republican, yet, as a colored American, I am anxious to have +such a condition of things brought about as will allow a colored man to +be a Democrat if he so desires. I believe you have stated the case +accurately when you say that thousands of colored men have voted the +Republican ticket at important elections, from necessity and not from +choice. As a Republican, it is my hope that colored as well as white +men, act with and vote for the candidates of that party when worthy and +meritorious, but as a colored American, I want them to be so situated +that they can vote that way from choice and not from necessity. No man +can be a free and independent American citizen who is obliged to +sacrifice his convictions upon the altar of his personal safety. The +attitude of the Democratic party upon this so-called race question has +made the colored voter a dependent, and not an independent, American +citizen. The Republican party emancipated him from physical bondage, for +which he is grateful. It remains for the Democratic party to emancipate +him from political bondage, for which he will be equally grateful. You +are engaged, Mr. President, in a good and glorious work. As a colored +man I thank you for the brave and noble stand you have taken. God grant +that you, as a Democrat, may have influence enough to get the Democratic +party as an organization to support you in the noble stand you have so +bravely taken." + +The President thanked me for my expressions of good-will, and thus +terminated what to me was a remarkable as well as a pleasant and most +agreeable interview. + +A few days later a messenger from the State Department called at my +office and informed me that the Secretary of State, Judge Gresham, +desired to see me. Judge Gresham and I had been warm personal friends +for many years. He had occupied many positions of prominence and +responsibility. He had been a major-general in the Union army, and was +with Sherman's army during that celebrated March through Georgia. He was +one of the leading candidates for the Presidential nomination before the +National Republican Convention at Chicago in 1888, when General Benjamin +Harrison, of Indiana, was nominated. + +I was a member of that Convention and one of Judge Gresham's active +supporters. In the campaign that followed Judge Gresham gave General +Harrison his active and loyal support, but, for some unaccountable +reason, he supported Mr. Cleveland against General Harrison in 1892. Mr. +Cleveland was not only elected, but, contrary to public expectation, he +carried the State of Illinois,--a State in which Judge Gresham was known +to be very popular, especially among the colored people of Chicago; +many of whom, it was said, voted for Mr. Cleveland through the efforts +and influence of Judge Gresham. Mr. Cleveland evidently believed that +his success in Illinois was due largely to Judge Gresham, and as +evidence of that fact, and because Judge Gresham was known to be a very +able man, Mr. Cleveland paid him the distinguished honor of appointing +him to the leading position in his cabinet,--that of Secretary of State. + +When I called at the State Department the Judge invited me to a seat in +his private office. He said there was an important matter about which he +desired to talk with me. My name, he said, had been the subject of a +recent conversation between the President and himself. The President, he +said, was well aware of the cordial relations existing between us, and +believed that if any man could influence my action he, Gresham, was that +man. + +"Now," said the Judge, "the President has formed a very favorable +opinion of you. He is anxious to have you remain at the head of the +important bureau over which you are now presiding in such a creditable +and satisfactory manner. But you understand that it is a political +office. As anxious as the President is to retain you, and as anxious as +I am to have him do so, he could not do it and you could neither ask nor +expect him to do it, unless you were known to be in sympathy with, and a +supporter of, his administration,--at least in the main. Now, you know +that I am not only your friend, but that I am a friend to the colored +people. I know you are a Republican. So am I; but I am a Cleveland man. +Cleveland is a better Republican than Harrison. In supporting Cleveland +against Harrison I am no less a Republican. As your friend I would not +advise you to do anything that would militate against your interests. +Knowing, as you do, that I am not only your friend but also a good +Republican, you can at least afford to follow where I lead. I want you, +then, to authorize me to say to the President that you are in sympathy +with the main purposes of his administration as explained to you by me, +and that his decision to retain you in your present position will be +fully and keenly appreciated by you." + +In my reply I stated that while I was very grateful to the Judge for his +friendly interest in me, and while I highly appreciated the President's +good opinion of me, it would not be possible for me to consent to retain +the position I then occupied upon the conditions named. + +"If," I said, "it is the desire of the President to have me remain in +charge of that office during his administration or any part thereof, I +would be perfectly willing to do so if I should be permitted to remain +free from any conditions, pledges, promises or obligations. The +conditions suggested mean nothing more nor less than that I shall +identify myself with the Democratic party. The President has no office +at his disposal the acceptance or retention of which could be a +sufficient inducement for me to take such a step as that. I agree with +what you have said about Mr. Cleveland, so far as he is personally +concerned. I have every reason to believe that he has a friendly +interest in the colored people and that he means to do the fair thing by +them so far as it may be in his power. But he was elected as a Democrat. +He is the head of a National Democratic Administration. No man can be +wholly independent of his party,--a fact recognized in the conditions +suggested in my own case. I don't think that Mr. Cleveland is what would +be called in my part of the country a good Democrat, because I believe +he is utterly devoid of race prejudice, and is not in harmony with those +who insist upon drawing the color line in the Democratic party. In my +opinion he is in harmony with the Democratic party only on one important +public question,--the tariff. On all others,--the so-called race +question not excepted,--he is in harmony with what I believe to be +genuine Republicanism. Still, as I have already stated, he was elected +as a Democrat; and, since he holds that the office now occupied by me is +a political one, it ought to be filled by one who is in political +harmony with the administration. I am not that man; for I cannot +truthfully say that I am in harmony with the main purposes of the +administration." + +The Judge remarked that my decision was a disappointment to him, and he +believed that I would some day regret having made it, but that he would +communicate to the President the result of our interview. In spite of +this, my successor, Morton, a Democrat from Maine, was not appointed +until the following August. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION OF 1900 + + +As a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1900, I was +honored by my delegation with being selected to represent Mississippi on +the Committee on Platform and Resolutions; and by the chairman of that +committee, Senator Fairbanks, I was made a member of the sub-committee +that drafted the platform. At the first meeting of the sub-committee, +the Ohio member, Senator J.B. Foraker, submitted the draft of a platform +that had been prepared at Washington which was made the basis of quite a +lengthy and interesting discussion. This discussion developed the fact +that the Washington draft was not at all satisfactory to a majority of +the sub-committee. The New York member, Hon. L.E. Quigg, was especially +pronounced in his objections, not so much to what was declared, but to +the manner and form in which the declarations were made. In his opinion, +the principles of the party were not set forth in the Washington draft +in language that would make them clearly understood and easily +comprehended by the reading public. After every member who desired to +speak had done so, it was agreed that those who desired amendments, +changes, or additions should submit the same in writing, and that these +with the Washington draft be turned over to Mr. Quigg as a sub-committee +of one. A platform in harmony with the views expressed by members of the +committee would then be carefully prepared, and the same submitted to +the sub-committee at an adjourned meeting to be held at an early hour +the next morning. + +The only amendment suggested by me was one, the purpose of which was to +express more clearly the attitude of the party with reference to the +enforcement of the war amendments to the National Constitution. When the +sub-committee met the next morning Mr. Quigg submitted an entirely new +draft, which he had prepared the afternoon and night before, using the +Washington draft and the amendments submitted by members of the +sub-committee as the basis of what he had done. His draft proved to be +so satisfactory to the sub-committee that it was accepted and adopted +with very slight modifications. Mr. Quigg seemed to have been very +careful in the preparation of his draft, not only giving expression to +the views of the sub-committee, which had been developed in the +discussion, and as had been set forth in the suggested amendments +referred to him, but the manner and form of expression used by him +impressed the committee as being a decided improvement upon the +Washington draft, although the subject matter in both drafts was +substantially the same. Mr. Quigg's draft, with very slight changes and +alterations, was not only accepted and adopted, but he was the recipient +of the thanks of the other members for the excellent manner in which he +had discharged the important duty that had been assigned him. + +The full committee was then convened by which the unanimous report of +the sub-committee was adopted without opposition and without change. But +I had anticipated a renewal of the effort to change the basis of +representation in future National Republican Conventions, and had, +therefore, made some little mental preparation to take a leading part in +opposition to its adoption. Such a proposition had been submitted at +nearly every National Convention of the party since 1884. That a similar +effort would be made at this convention I had good reasons to believe. +In this I was not mistaken. It was introduced by Senator Quay, of +Pennsylvania. His proposition, like the others, was that in the future +delegates to the National Convention should be apportioned among the +different States upon the basis of the votes polled for the party +candidates at the last preceding national election, instead of upon the +basis of the States' representation in Congress. On the first view this +proposition seems to be both reasonable and fair, but it cannot stand +the test of an intelligent analysis. As soon as I sought and secured +the recognition of the chair, I offered an amendment in the nature of a +substitute, declaring it to be the judgment of the party that in all +States in which there had been an evasion of the Fifteenth Amendment by +State action, that there should be a reduction in the representation in +Congress from such State or States in the manner and for the purpose +expressed in the Fourteenth Amendment. A point of order was immediately +made against the amendment, but the occupant of the chair, Senator +Lodge, stated that he would hold his decision in reserve pending an +explanation by me of the amendment I had submitted. At that time a +suggestion was made that the whole subject be postponed until the next +day, to which I assented, and then yielded the floor. But it was not +again called up, hence my speech was never delivered. Since it may be of +some interest to the reader to get an idea of what I had in mind, I +shall here set down in the main what I intended to say on that occasion +had the opportunity been presented. + +"Mr. Chairman, while there may be some doubt, in a parliamentary sense, +as to whether or not the amendment I have submitted can be entertained +as a substitute for the original proposition, it cannot be denied that +it relates to the same subject matter. I hope, therefore, that the +Convention will have an opportunity in some way of voting upon it in +lieu of the one that has been presented by the distinguished gentleman +from Pennsylvania. It is a well-known fact that under the present system +each State is entitled to double the number of delegates that it has +Senators and Representatives in Congress. The plan now proposed is that +the apportionment in future conventions be based upon the number of +votes polled for the candidates of the party at the last preceding +National election, according to what is known as the 'official returns,' +although it may be a fact, as is unquestionably true in some States, +that the 'official returns' may not be free from fraud,--that they may +represent in some instances not the actual party vote polled, but the +party vote counted, certified, and returned. This plan, therefore, means +that representation from some States in future National Republican +Conventions will not be based upon Republican strength, nor determined +by Republican votes, but will be fixed and determined by Democratic +election officials. In other words, Democrats, and not Republicans, will +fix and determine in a large measure, representation in future +Conventions of the Republican party. + +"The proposed change is predicated upon the assumption that elections +are fair and returns are honest in all the States at each and every +National election. If that were true the difference in the +representation from the several States would be unimportant and +immaterial, even under the proposed change, hence there would be no +occasion for the change. The fact that this assumption is not true +furnishes the basis for the alleged inequality in representation, and +the apparent necessity for the change proposed. In addition to this it +is a well-known fact that in several of the Southern States,--my own, +Mississippi, among the number,--the Fifteenth Amendment to the National +Constitution has been practically nullified, and that the colored men in +such States have been as effectually disfranchised as if the Fifteenth +Amendment were not a part of the organic law of the land. If the plan +that is now proposed by the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania +should be adopted, the National Republican party by accepting them and +making them the basis of representation in future National Conventions +of the party will have thereby placed itself on record as having given +its sanction to the questionable methods by which these results have +been accomplished. I frankly confess that the plan I have presented is +based upon the humiliating confession that the Government is without +power under the Constitution as construed by the Supreme Court to +effectually enforce the war amendments; and that in consequence thereof +nothing is left to be done but to fall back upon the plan prescribed by +the Fourteenth Amendment, which is to reduce the representation in +Congress from such States in the manner and for the purposes therein +stated. + +"It is true that the Fourteenth Amendment having been proposed and +submitted prior to the Fifteenth, the provision with reference to +reduction of representation in Congress was predicated upon the +assumption that the different States could then legally make race or +color a ground of discrimination in prescribing the qualification of +electors. Still, it occurs to me that if a State could be thus punished +for doing that which it had a legal right to do, the same punishment can +now be inflicted for doing that which it can no longer legally do. If +the plan proposed by the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania +should be adopted, the Republican party will not only have placed itself +on record as having given its sanction to the methods by which these +results will have been accomplished, but it will be notice to the +different States, north as well as south, that any of them that may see +fit to take advantage of their own wrongs will have no occasion to fear +any future punishment being inflicted upon the State for so doing. Under +the plan thus proposed the State that may thus take advantage of its own +wrongs will not only receive no punishment in the reduction of its +representation in Congress, but its methods and practices will have been +approved and adopted by the Republican party. + +"On the other hand, the plan I propose is one which is equivalent to a +notice to the different States that, while the National Government may +not be able to enforce by appropriate legislation the war amendments to +the Constitution, the Legislative department of the Government can +prevent a State from taking advantage of its own wrongs, through the +infliction of a punishment upon the State in the reduction of its +representation in Congress. Since representation in the National +Convention is based upon the States' representation in Congress, it will +be seen that if the representation in Congress from such States should +be reduced, it would result in a reduction in the representation from +such States in the National Convention. The main purpose, therefore, +which the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania seems to have in +view will have been practically accomplished, but in a far different and +in a much less objectionable way. It will be some satisfaction to +southern Republicans, who are denied access to the ballot-box through an +evasion of the National Constitution, to know that if they are to be +denied a voice in future National Conventions of the party to which they +belong, because they are unable to make their votes effective at the +ballot-box, the party or State by which they are thus wronged will not +be allowed to take advantage of, and enjoy the fruits thereof. They will +at least have the satisfaction of knowing that if they cannot vote +themselves, others cannot vote for them, and thus appropriate to +themselves the increased representation in Congress and in the electoral +college to which the State is entitled, based upon their representative +strength. + +"The strongest point in favor of this proposed change, as I have +endeavored to show, grows out of the apparent inequality in +representation in the National Convention due to the denial of access to +the ballot-box to Republicans through an evasion of the Fifteenth +Amendment. I cannot believe, Mr. Chairman, that this convention can be +induced to favorably consider any proposition, the effect of which will +be to sanction and approve the questionable methods by which the colored +Republicans in several Southern States have been disfranchised. I cannot +believe that this convention can be induced to favorably consider any +proposition, the effect of which will be the sending of a message of +sympathy and encouragement to the Democrats of North Carolina, who are +now engaged in an effort to disfranchise the colored Republicans of that +State. + +"The colored Americans ask no special favors as a class,--and no special +protection as a race. All they ask and insist upon is equal civil and +political rights, and a voice in the government under which they live, +and to which they owe allegiance, and for the support of which they are +taxed. They feel that they are entitled to such consideration and +treatment, not as a matter of favor but as a matter of right. They came +to the rescue of their country when its flag was trailing in the dust of +treason and rebellion, and freely watered the tree of liberty with the +precious and patriotic blood that flowed from their loyal veins. + +"There sits upon the floor of this convention to-day a distinguished +gentleman whose name is upon the lips of every patriotic American +citizen. The gentleman to whom I refer, is the member from the great and +important State of New York, Theodore Roosevelt, who, as the brave +leader of the American troops, led the charge upon San Juan Hill. In +following the lead of that gallant officer on that momentous occasion, +the colored American again vindicated his right to a voice in the +government of his country. In his devotion to the cause of liberty and +justice the colored American has shown that he was not only willing and +ready at any and all times to sacrifice his life upon the altar of his +own country, but that he is also willing to fight side by side with his +white American brother in an effort to plant the tree of liberty upon a +foreign soil. Must it now be said, that, in spite of all this, the +colored American finds himself without a home, without a country, +without friends, and even without a party? God forbid! + +"Mr. Chairman, the colored American has been taught to believe that when +all other parties and organizations are against him, he can always look +with hope and encouragement to conventions of the Republican party. Must +that hope now be destroyed? Must he now be made to feel and to realize +the unpleasant fact that, as an American citizen, his ambition, his +hopes and his aspirations are to be buried beneath the sod of +disappointment and despair? Mr. Chairman, the achievements of the +Republican party as the friend and champion of equal civil and political +rights for all classes of American citizens, constitute one of the most +brilliant chapters in the history of that grand and magnificent +organization. Must that chapter now be blotted out? Are you now prepared +to confess that in these grand and glorious achievements the party made +a grave mistake? + +"It was a most beautiful and imposing scene that took place yesterday +when a number of venerable men who took part in the organization of the +Republican party, occupied seats upon the platform of this convention. +The presence of those men brought to mind pleasant and agreeable +recollections of the past. Until the Republican party was organized, the +middle classes, the laboring people, the oppressed and the slave had no +channel through which to reach the bar of public opinion. The Democratic +party was controlled by the slave oligarchy of the South, whilst the +Whig party had not the courage of its convictions. The Republican party +came to the front with a determination to secure, if possible, freedom +for the slave, liberty for the oppressed, and justice and fair play for +all classes and races of our population. That its efforts in these +directions have not been wholly in vain are among the most glorious and +brilliant achievements that will constitute a most important part of the +history of our country; for it had been the unmistakable determination +of that party to make this beautiful country of ours in truth and in +fact the land of the free and the home of the brave. Surely it is not +your purpose now to reverse and undo any part of the grand and noble +work that has been so successfully and so well done along these lines. + +"And yet that is just what you will have done if you adopt the +proposition presented by the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania. +While I do not assert and cannot believe that such was or is the purpose +and desire of the author of that proposition, yet no one that will give +the matter careful consideration can fail to see that the effect of it +will be to undo, in part at least, what the Republican party has +accomplished since its organization. As a colored Republican, speaking +in behalf of that class of our fellow citizens who honor and revere the +Republican party for what it has accomplished in the past, I feel that I +have a right to appeal to you not to cloud the magnificent record which +this grand organization has made. So far as the colored man is +concerned, you found him a slave; you have made him a free man. You +found him a serf; you have made him a sovereign. You found him a +dependent menial; you have made him a soldier. I therefore appeal to the +members of this Convention, in the name of the history of the Republican +party, and in behalf of justice and fair-play, to vote down this unjust, +unfair, unwise and unnecessary proposition which has been presented by +the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +ARGUMENT ON PROPOSED CHANGE OF REPRESENTATION IN CONVENTION + + +In addition to the reasons already given there are many others that +might be urged against the proposed change of representation. + +In the first place, the present plan is based upon the sound and stable +principle upon which the Government was organized. Representation in +Congress is not based upon votes or voters, but upon population. The +same is true of the different State Legislatures. All political +parties,--or, at any rate, the principal ones,--have adopted the same +system in the make-up of their State and National Conventions. The +membership of the National Convention being based upon each State's +representation in Congress, the State Conventions, with perhaps a few +exceptions, are based upon the representation in the State Legislatures +from each county, parish, or other civil division. It is the fairest, +safest, best, and most equitable plan that can be devised or adopted. + +Under this plan or system, no State, section or locality can gain or +lose representation in any party convention through the application of +extraneous or questionable methods, either by the action of the +government or of a political party. The representation in Congress and +in the different State Legislatures, which is based upon population, +fixes the representation from each State in the different National +Conventions and in many of the State Conventions. Any other plan or +system,--especially that which is based upon the number of votes cast +for the candidates of the party as officially ascertained and +declared,--would have a tendency to work serious injustice to certain +States and sections. In fact, it would have a tendency to sectionalize +the party by which the change is made. + +Under the present system, for instance, Pennsylvania and Texas have the +same representation in a National Democratic Convention that they have +in a National Republican Convention, although one is usually Republican +in National elections and the other Democratic. And why should not the +representation from those States be the same in both conventions? Why +should Texas, because it is believed to be safely Democratic, have more +power and influence in a Democratic Convention on that account than the +Republican State of Pennsylvania? The answer may be because one is a +Democratic and the other a Republican State--because one can be relied +upon to give its electoral votes to the candidates of the Democratic +party while the other cannot. But this is not in harmony with our +governmental system. Representation in Congress being based upon +population, every State, section and locality has its relative weight +and influence in the government in accordance with the number of its +inhabitants. + +That this is the correct principle will not be seriously questioned when +it is carefully considered. What is true of Pennsylvania and Texas in a +National Democratic Convention is equally true of the same States in a +National Republican Convention, and for the same reasons. The argument +that Pennsylvania should have relatively a larger representation in a +National Republican Convention than Texas, because the former is +reliably Republican while the latter is hopelessly Democratic, is just +as fallacious in this case as in the other. But it is said that +delegates from States that cannot contribute to the success of the +ticket should not have a potential voice in nominating a ticket that +other States must be depended upon to elect. Then why not exclude them +altogether, and also those from the territories and the District of +Columbia? + +The argument is unsound, and unreasonable; a State may be reliably +Republican at one election and yet go Democratic at the next. In 1872 +General Grant, the Republican candidate for President, carried nearly +every State in the Union, in the South as well as in the North. Four +years later Governor Hayes, the Republican candidate for President, +came within one vote of being defeated in the electoral college; and +even then his election was made possible only through the decision of +the Electoral Commission. In 1880 General Garfield, the Republican +candidate for President, carried New York, and was elected; while four +years later Mr. Blaine, the candidate of the same party, lost it and was +defeated. In 1888 Harrison, the Republican Presidential candidate, +carried New York, and was elected; four years later he not only lost New +York, but also such important States as Indiana and Illinois, and came +within a few votes of losing Ohio. This was due to a slump in the +Republican vote throughout the country, which would have made a very +radical change in the National Convention of 1896 if the apportionment +of delegates to that convention had been based upon the votes cast for +Harrison in 1892. While McKinley, the Republican Presidential candidate, +was elected by a large majority in 1896, he lost such important Western +States as Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Washington and Nevada. +While he was reelected four years later by an increased majority, he +again lost some of the same States. While Roosevelt, the Republican +Presidential candidate in 1904, carried every State that McKinley +carried in 1900, and several others besides, Mr. Bryan, the Democratic +candidate in 1908, though defeated by a large majority, regained some +of the Western States that Roosevelt carried in 1904,--notably his own +State of Nebraska. + +There was a time when such States as Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, +Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee were as safely Democratic as Texas and +Georgia. Will anyone assert that such is true of them now? There also +was a time when such States as Nebraska, Colorado and Nevada were as +reliably Republican as Pennsylvania and Vermont. Is that true of them +now? In addition to these, taking into consideration important elections +that have been held since 1880, the Republicans cannot absolutely rely +upon the support of such States as Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, +New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, and even Ohio. Even the +strong Republican State of Pennsylvania has occasionally gone Democratic +in what is called an "off year." Other Republican States,--or States +that usually go Republican,--have gone Democratic when it was not an off +year,--Illinois, for instance, in 1892. All of this goes to prove how +unreliable, unsafe, unsatisfactory, unjust and unfair would be the +change in the basis of representation as thus proposed. + +Another argument in support of the proposed change is that delegates +from Democratic States are, as a rule, controlled by the administration +then in power, if Republican, and that such delegates can be depended +upon to support the administration candidate whoever he may be, +regardless of merit, strength or availability. This argument, of course, +is based upon the assumption that what is true of Democratic States in +this respect is not true of Republican States. The slightest +investigation will easily establish the fallacy of this assumption. The +truth is that the federal office-holders--especially those holding +appointive offices,--can, with a few exceptions, always be depended upon +to support the Administration candidate, whoever he may be. The only +difference between the North and the South in this respect is that in +some of the Southern States, where but one party is allowed to +exist,--the Democratic party,--the Republican office-holders can more +easily manipulate and control the conventions of their party in such +States. But that the office-holders of all sections constitute an +important factor in the election of delegates to the National +Conventions will not be denied by those who are familiar with the facts, +and are honest enough to admit them. + +For purposes of illustration we will take the National Republican +Convention of 1908, which nominated Judge Taft. It was known that Judge +Taft was the man whose candidacy was supported by the Administration. +The proceedings of the Convention revealed the fact that outside of five +States that had what were called "favorite son" candidates of their +own, there were perhaps not more than fifty votes in the whole +Convention that were opposed to the administration candidate, although +it is more than probable that Judge Taft would not have been nominated +but for the fact that he was the choice of the administration. + +I am sure no fair-minded person will assert that, in thus voting, the +delegates from the Democratic States were influenced by the +administration, while those from Republican States were not. It is not +my purpose to assert or even intimate that any questionable methods were +used to influence the election, or control the votes of the delegates in +the interest of any one candidate. Nothing of that sort was necessary, +since human nature is the same the world over. + +That the office-holders should be loyal to the administration to which +they belong is perfectly natural. That those who wish to become +office-holders should be anxious to be on the winning side is also +natural, and that, too, without regard to the locality or section in +which they live. It is a fact, therefore, that up to 1908 no candidate +has ever been nominated by a Republican National Convention who did not +finally receive a sufficient number of votes from all sections of the +country to make his nomination practically the choice of the party +without regard to sectional lines. + +If, then, it be a fact that in 1908, for instance, delegates to the +National Republican Convention were elected and controlled through +administration influences in the interest of any one candidate, such +influences were no less potential in Republican than in Democratic +States. Outside of the administration candidate there were at that +Convention five very important States that presented candidates of their +own. They were New York, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. +That the delegation from each of said States were practically solid in +the support of its "favorite son" was due largely to the wise decision +of the managers of the administration candidate to concede to each of +said "favorite sons" the delegation from his own State without a +contest. But for this decision, which was wisely made in the interest of +party harmony, no one of those "favorite sons" would have had the solid +delegation from his own State. As it was, a large majority of the +delegates from the five States named was not unfriendly to the +Administration candidate. These delegates voted for their "favorite +sons" simply because they knew that in doing so they were not +antagonizing the administration. There never was a time, therefore, when +they could have been united upon any one candidate in opposition to the +one that had at his back the powerful support of the Administration. Our +government has reached that point in its growth, where it is not only +possible, but comparatively easy, for an administration to secure the +nomination of the one by whom it desires to be succeeded,--especially +under the present system of electing delegates. It was in anticipation +of this, and to prevent any one man from perpetuating himself in power, +that Washington established the precedent against a third successive +term. + +If the advocates of this proposed change are to be believed, and if they +wish to be consistent, they should include the National Committee. The +composition of that body is somewhat similar to that of the United +States Senate. In the Senate Nevada and Delaware have the same +representation as New York and Pennsylvania. In the National Committee +each State, territory, and the District of Columbia has one vote. If any +change in the interest of reform is necessary, the National Republican +Committee is the organization where it should first be made; for it +often happens that that committee can not only shape the policy of the +party but control the nomination as well,--especially when the result +between opposing candidates is close and doubtful. In such a contest the +candidate that has the support of a majority of the National Committee +has a decided advantage over his rivals for the nomination. If the +result should be close that advantage will be more than likely to secure +him the nomination. + +The National Committee prepares the roll of the delegates to the +Convention, and, in doing so, it decides primarily every contested +seat. If the contests thus decided should give any one candidate a +majority, that majority will be sure to retain the advantage thus +secured. It will thus be seen that if any change is necessary this is +the place where it should first be made. It occurs to me that instead of +changing the basis of representation the most effective remedy for the +evils now complained of is to have the delegates to National Conventions +elected at popular primaries, instead of by State and district +conventions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +COMPARISON OF BRYAN AND CLEVELAND + + +It was upon the territory which now comprises the States of Kansas and +Nebraska that the preliminary battles in the interest of freedom were +successfully fought. This is especially true of that part of the +territory which now comprises the State of Kansas. But not only for that +reason has that State occupied a prominent place before the public; +other events of national importance have had their birth there. It was +Kansas that furnished one of the Republican United State Senators who +voted against the conviction, of Andrew Johnson,--who had been impeached +by the House of Representatives for high crimes and misdemeanors in +office,--and thus secured the President's acquittal. That State also +furnished one of the most remarkable men that ever occupied a seat in +the United States Senate, John J. Ingalls. + +I distinctly remember him as an able and brilliant young Senator +when,--in 1875, under the leadership of Senator George F. Edmunds, of +Vermont,--he took a prominent part in the successful fight that was made +in that body to secure the passage of the Sumner Civil Rights Bill. It +was this fight that demonstrated his fitness for the position he +subsequently occupied as one of the distinguished leaders on the +Republican side of the Senate. He was a natural born orator, having a +wonderful command of the English language; and, while he was somewhat +superficial and not always logical, he never failed to be interesting, +though he was seldom instructive. For severe satire and irony he had few +equals and no superiors. It was on this account that no Senator was +anxious to get into a controversy with him. But for two unfortunate +events in the career of John J. Ingalls he would have filled a much more +important position in the history of his country than it is now possible +for the impartial historian to give him. + +Kansas, unfortunately, proved to be a fertile field for the growth and +development of that ephemeral organization known as the Populist +party,--a party that had secured a majority in the Legislature that was +to elect the successor to Mr. Ingalls. The Senator evidently had great +confidence in his own oratorical ability. He appeared to have conceived +the idea that it was possible for him to make a speech on the floor of +the Senate that would insure his reelection even by a Populist +Legislature. In this,--as he soon found out, to his bitter +disappointment,--he was mistaken. He no doubt came to the same +conclusion that many of his friends and admirers had already come to, +that in bidding for the support of the Populists of his State he had +made the mistake of his life. The impression he made upon the public +mind was that he was devoid of principle, and that he was willing to +sacrifice his own party upon the altar of his ambition. + +But it was neither known nor suspected that he contemplated making a bid +for the support of the Populist members of the Legislature until he +delivered his speech. When, therefore, it was announced that Senator +Ingalls would address the Senate on a certain day, he was greeted, as on +previous occasions, with a large audience. But this was the first time +that his hearers had been sadly disappointed. This was due more to what +was said than how it was said. Then it was plain to those who heard him +that his heart was not in what he was saying; hence the speech was +devoid of that fiery eloquence which on previous occasions had charmed +and electrified his hearers. But, after that speech, when one of his +auditors would ask another what he thought of it, the reply invariably +was a groan of disappointment. When the immense crowd dispersed at the +conclusion of the speech instead of smiling faces and pleasing +countenances as on previous occasions, one could not help noticing +marked evidences of disappointment in every face. The impression that +had been made was, that it was an appeal to the Populist members of the +Legislature of his State to return him to the Senate, in exchange for +which he was willing to turn his back upon the party which he was then +serving. It was almost equivalent to an open declaration of his +willingness to identify himself with the Populists, and champion their +cause if they would reelect him to the seat he then occupied. From the +effects of that fatal blunder the Senator never recovered. + +Another thing that lessened the distinguished orator and Senator in the +estimation of the public was his radically changed attitude upon +questions affecting the political, social and industrial status of the +colored Americans. From a brilliant and eloquent champion and defender +of their civil and political rights he became one of their most severe +critics. From his latest utterances upon that subject it was clear to +those who heard what he said that the colored Americans merited nothing +that had been said and done in their behalf, but nearly everything that +had been said and done against them. Why there had been such a radical +change in his attitude upon that subject, has been an inexplicable +mystery. The only explanation that I have heard from the lips of some of +his former friends and admirers was that it was in the nature of an +experiment,--the expectation being that it would give him a sensational +fame throughout the country, which could be utilized to his financial +advantage upon his retirement to private life. This explanation would +have been rejected without serious consideration, but for the fact that +some others have pursued the same course for the same reason, and their +hopes have been, in a large measure, realized. In his bid for the +support of the Populist members of the Legislature of his State the +Senator had established the fact that he did not have very strong +convictions upon any subject, and that those he had could be easily +changed to suit the times and the occasion. + +Nebraska, though not very strong politically, is one of the most +important States in the West. It has sent a number of men to the front +who have made an impression upon the public mind. For many years no +State in the Union was more reliably Republican than Nebraska. A large +majority of its voters, I am sure, are not now in harmony with the +Democratic party,--nor have they ever been so,--but it is true, at the +same time, that thousands of those who for many years acted with the +Republican party, and voted for its candidates, have become alienated, +thus making Republican success at any election in the State close and +doubtful, and that, too, regardless of the merits of opposing candidates +or the platform declarations of opposing parties. + +For this remarkable change there must be a good and sufficient reason. +The State in its early history was sparsely populated, and stood very +much in need of railroads for the development of its resources. In +those days, railroads were very popular, and the people were in a mood +to offer liberal inducements to those who would raise the means to +furnish them with the necessary transportation facilities. + +For the same reason the Federal Government made valuable concessions in +the interest of railroad construction in the Western States. Since the +railroads, thus aided, were in a large measure the creatures of the +State and Nation they thereby acquired an interest in the administration +of the National and State Governments,--especially those of the +State,--that they otherwise would not have had. + +The construction of the roads went on at such a rapid rate that they +soon acquired such a power and influence in the administration of the +State Government that the people looked upon it as being dangerous to +their liberties. In fact it was claimed,--a claim, no doubt, largely +supported by the facts,--that the State Government was actually +dominated by railroad influence. No one, it was said, could be elected +or appointed to an important office who was not acceptable to the +railroad interests. This state of affairs produced a revulsion among the +common people; thousands of whom decided that they would vote against +the Republican party, which was then,--as it had been for many +years,--in control of the State Government because of its having +allowed such a state of affairs to be brought about. + +Edward Rosewater, editor and proprietor of the Omaha _Bee_, the most +influential Republican paper in the State, took sides against the +railroad interests. The result was that Nebraska, for the first time, +elected a Democratic governor. + +But many of the Republicans who acted with the Democrats on that +occasion could not see their way clear to remain in that party, though +some of them were not willing to return to the ranks of the Republicans. +So they decided to cast their lot with the Populist party, which in the +meantime had made its appearance upon the field of political activity. +While the Democratic party remained the minority party in the State, it +was seldom that the Republicans could poll more votes than the Democrats +and Populists combined, and since, under the then leadership of the +Democratic party in the State, that party and the Populist stood +practically for the same things, it was not difficult to bring about +fusion of the two parties against the Republicans. This gave the +Fusionists control of the State Government for a number of years. + +In the meantime a brilliant, eloquent and talented young man had come +upon the stage of political activity. This man was William J. Bryan. His +first entry into public life was his election to Congress as a Democrat +from a Republican district. While a member of the House he made a +speech on the tariff question which gave him national fame. As a speaker +William Jennings Bryan has always been plausible and captivating. He can +clothe his thoughts in such beautiful and eloquent language that he +seldom fails to make a favorable impression upon those who hear him. It +was this wonderful faculty that secured him his first nomination for the +Presidency. His name was hardly thought of in connection with the +nomination by that convention. In fact his right to a seat as a member +of the convention was disputed and contested. But, after he had +delivered his cross of gold and crown of thorns speech before that body, +he carried the Convention by storm. His nomination was then a foregone +conclusion. + +It was under the leadership and chiefly through the influence of Mr. +Bryan that the fusion between the Democrats and the Populists of his +State was brought about. But for his advocacy of Free Silver and his +affiliation with the Populists, he might have reached the goal of his +ambition. The result of the election showed that while he commanded and +received the support of not less than eighty per cent of his own party, +the remaining twenty per cent proved to be strong enough to insure his +defeat. In fact the business interests of the country were almost solid +against him; and it is safe to say that no man can ever hope to become +President of the United States who cannot at least divide the +substantial and solid business interests. The business men were +apprehensive that the election of Mr. Bryan would bring about financial +and commercial disaster, hence they, almost regardless of previous party +affiliations, practically united in an effort to defeat him. + +The State of Nebraska, therefore, will always occupy a prominent place +in the history of the country, because,--though young, small, and +politically weak,--it has produced the most remarkable man of whom the +Democratic party can boast. It has also produced a number of very able +men on the Republican side, such men, for instance, as C.F. Manderson, +and John M. Thurston,--who both served the State in the United States +Senate, and made brilliant records. But Mr. Bryan had an advantage over +these two when he stood before a popular audience in Nebraska, because +they had been identified with the railroad interests, while he had not. + +That Mr. Bryan is a strong man and has a wonderful hold upon his party +is shown by the fact that he has been three times the party candidate +for the Presidency. While it may be true that he can never be elected to +the Presidency, it is no doubt equally true that while he lives no other +Democrat can become President who is not acceptable to him and to his +friends. + +In one respect at least, Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Bryan were very much +alike. As already stated, Mr. Bryan is a Democrat. The same was true of +Mr. Cleveland; and yet they were as radically different as it is +possible for two men to be. They were not only different in temperament +and disposition, but also in their views and convictions upon public +questions,--at least, so far as the public is informed,--with the +possible exception of the tariff. There was another question that came +to the front after the Spanish American war,--the question of +"Imperialism,"--upon which they may have been in accord; but this is not +positively known to be a fact. Indeed, the tariff is such a complicated +subject that they may not have been in perfect accord even on that. Mr. +Cleveland was elected President in 1892 upon a platform pledged to a +tariff for revenue only. The Democrats had a majority in both Houses of +Congress; but when that majority passed a tariff bill, it fell so far +short of Mr. Cleveland's idea of a tariff for revenue only that he not +only denounced it in strong language, but refused to sign it. Whether or +not Mr. Bryan was with the President or with the Democratic majority in +Congress in that fight is not known; but, judging from his previous +public utterances upon the subject, it is to be presumed that he was in +accord with the President. + +It is claimed by the friends and admirers of both Mr. Cleveland and Mr. +Bryan that each could be truly called a Jeffersonian Democrat; which +means a strong advocate and defender of what is called States Rights, a +doctrine on which is based one of the principal differences between the +Republican and Democratic parties. Yet President Cleveland did not +hesitate to use the military force of the government to suppress +domestic violence within the boundaries of a State, and that too against +the protest of the Governor of the State, for the alleged reason that +such action was necessary to prevent the interruption of the carrying of +the United States mail. Mr. Bryan's views upon the same subject appear +to be sufficiently elastic to justify the National Government, in his +opinion, in becoming the owner and operator of the principal railroads +of the country. His views along those lines are so far in advance of +those of his party that he was obliged, for reasons of political +expediency and party exigency, to hold them in abeyance during the +Presidential campaign of 1908. Jeffersonian democracy, therefore, seems +now to be nothing more than a meaningless form of expression. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE SOLID SOUTH, PAST AND PRESENT. FUTURE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY + + +To turn again to the South. This section has been a fertile field for +political experimental purposes by successive Republican +administrations, ever since the second administration of President +Grant. The Solid South, so-called, has been a serious menace to the +peace and prosperity of the country. How to bring about such a condition +of affairs as would do away with the supposed necessity for its +continuance has been the problem, the solution of which has been the +cause of political experiments. President Hayes was the first to try the +experiment of appointing Democrats to many of the most important +offices, hoping that the solution would thus be found. But he was not +given credit for honest motives in doing so, for the reason that the +public was impressed with the belief that such action on his part was +one of the conditions upon which he was allowed to be peaceably +inaugurated. At any rate the experiment was a complete failure, hence, +so far as the more important offices were concerned, that policy was not +continued by Republican administrations that came into power subsequent +to the Hayes administration, and prior to that of Taft's. + +I do not mean to say that no Democrats were appointed to important +offices at the South by the administrations referred to, but such +appointments were not made with the belief or expectation that they +would contribute to a solution of the problem that was involved in what +was known as the Solid South. Political and social conditions in that +section of the country are such that the appointment to some of the +federal offices of men who are not identified with the Republican party +is inevitable. The impression that the writer desires to make upon the +mind of the reader is that, between the administration of Hayes and that +of Taft no Republican administrations made such appointments with the +expectation that they would contribute to a breaking up of the solid +south. President Roosevelt tried the experiment of offering +encouragement and inducements in that direction to what was known as the +Gold-standard Democrats, but even that was barren of satisfactory +results. President Taft seems to be the only Republican President since +Mr. Hayes who has allowed himself to labor under the delusion that the +desired result could be accomplished through the use and distribution of +Federal patronage. The chief mistake on the part of those who thus +believe, and who act in accordance with that belief, grows out of a +serious lack of information about the actual situation. In the first +place their action is based upon the assumption that the Solid +South,--or what remains of it,--is an outgrowth of an honest expression +of the wishes of the people of that section, whereas, in point of fact, +the masses had very little to do with bringing about present conditions +and know less about them. Those conditions are not due primarily to the +fact that colored men are intimidated by white men, but that white men +are intimidated by the Democratic party. They are not due primarily to +the fact that colored men are disfranchised, but that white men are +prevented from giving effective expression to their honest political +opinions and convictions. + +The disfranchisement of the colored men is one of the results growing +out of those conditions, which would not and could not exist if there +were absolute freedom of thought and action in political matters among +the white people. The only part that the so-called Race Question plays +in this business is that it is used as a pretext to justify the coercive +and proscriptive methods thus used. The fact that the colored man is +disfranchised and has no voice in the creation and administration of the +government under which he lives and by which he is taxed does not change +the situation in this respect. His presence,--whether he can vote or +not,--furnishes the occasion for the continuance of such methods, and, +as long as intelligent persons, especially at the North and particularly +in the Republican party, can be thus fooled and deceived they will not +be discontinued. + +The announcement of President Taft's Southern policy, therefore, was +received by the present leaders of the Democratic party at the South +with satisfaction and delight, not on account of the official +recognition that members of their party were to receive, for that was of +secondary importance, but on account of the fact that they could clearly +see that their contention about the so-called race question was thus +given a national sanction, which would have the effect of making that +question serve them for several more Presidential campaigns. It was +giving a new market value to this "watered stock," from which they would +derive political dividends for a much longer period than they otherwise +would. They could thus see to their unbounded glee that if a man of +President Taft's intelligence and experience could thus be deceived as +to conditions at the South, they would not have very much difficulty in +deceiving others who were not believed to be so well informed. + +To solve this problem, therefore, the disposition of the federal +patronage will cut a very small figure. The patronage question is not +half so important, in a political or party sense, as many have been led +to believe. It really makes very little difference by whom the few +offices are held, whether they be all Democrats, all Republicans, some +white, some colored, provided they be honest, capable, and efficient For +political, personal or party reasons some feeling may be created, and +some prejudice may be aroused on account of the appointment of a certain +person to an office; but if no attention should be paid to it, and the +fact should be developed that the duties of the same are being +discharged in a creditable and satisfactory manner the public will soon +forget all about it. The fact remains, however, that the disposition of +the federal patronage will not produce the slightest change in the +political situation in such localities. If a national Republican +administration should refuse to appoint a colored man, for instance, to +any office in any one of the Southern States for the alleged reason that +it might be objectionable to the white people of the community,--and +therefore might have a tendency to prevent white men from coming into +the Republican party,--at the very next election in that community the +fact would be demonstrated that the Republican party had not gained and +that the Democratic party had not lost a single vote as a result +thereof. The reason for this result would be in the first place that the +excuse given was insincere and untrue, and in the second place, because +the incumbent of the office, whoever he might be, would produce no +effect whatsoever in the local situation in consequence of his +appointment to the office and his acceptance of it. If there should be +any change at all in the situation it would doubtless be to the +detriment of the Republican party; for there would, no doubt, be some +who would be disposed to resent what would seem to them to be political +or party ingratitude. + +So far as the colored Republicans are concerned they have been in the +past, and must be in the future, nothing more than party allies. They +have never dominated a State, nor have they controlled the Republican +organization of any State to the exclusion of the white men thereof. +They have simply been the allies of white men who could be induced to +come forward and assume the leadership. This is all they have been in +the past; it is all they desire to be in the future. They are perfectly +willing to follow where others lead provided those others lead wisely +and in the right direction. All they ask, desire and insist upon is to +be recognized as political allies upon terms of equality and to have a +voice in the councils of the party of their choice and in the creation +and administration of the government under which they live, and by which +they are taxed, and also a fair and reasonable recognition as a result +of party success, based, all things else being equal, upon merit, +fitness, ability and capacity. Even in States where it is possible for +them to wield a sufficient influence to be potential in party +conventions, and to help shape the policy and select the candidates of +that party, they never fail to support the strongest and best men among +the white members of the organization. If it be true that they were +sometimes the victims of misplaced confidence, it cannot, and will not, +be denied that the same is equally true of white men of far more +experience in such matters. + +If there is ever to be again, as there once was, a strong and +substantial Republican party at the South, or a party by any other name +that will openly oppose the ruling oligarchy of that section,--as I have +every reason to believe will eventually take place,--it will not be +through the disposition of federal patronage, but in consequence of the +acceptance by the people of that section of the principles and policies +for which the National Organization stands. For the accomplishment of +this purpose and for the attainment of this end time is the most +important factor. Questionable methods that have been used to hold in +abeyance the advancing civilization of the age will eventually be +overcome and effectually destroyed. The wheels of progress, of +intelligence, and of right cannot and will not move backwards, but will +go forward in spite of all that can be said and done. In the mean time +the exercise of patience, forbearance, and good judgment are all that +will be required. + +Another fact which seems to be overlooked by many is that the so-called +Solid South of to-day is not the menace to the country that it was +between 1875 and 1888. During that period the Solid South included the +States of Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. +Those States at that time were as reliably Democratic as Texas and +Georgia. Such does not seem to be true of them now, and yet I venture +the assertion that the disposition of the federal patronage in them had +very little, if anything, to do with bringing about the change. What has +been done and is being done in those States can be done in others that +are located south of them. As strong as the Republican party is there is +one thing it cannot afford to do, and that is to encourage or tolerate +the drawing of the race or color line in any efforts that may be made to +break up and dissolve what now remains of the Solid South. One of the +cardinal principles and doctrines of the Republican party,--the +principle that has, more than any other, secured for it the loyal and +consistent support of those who represent the moral sentiment of the +country,--is its bold and aggressive advocacy and defense of liberty, +justice, and equal civil and political rights for all classes of +American citizens. From that grand and noble position it cannot afford +to descend in an effort to find new and doubtful allies. If it should in +an evil moment allow itself to make such a grave blunder, such a +criminal mistake, it will thereby forfeit the confidence and support of +the major part of those upon whom in the past it has relied,--and never +in vain,--for its continuance in power. There is nothing in the +situation that would justify the experiment, even if it were thought +that a little temporary and local advantage would be secured thereby. + +The Fifteenth Amendment to the National Constitution was not intended to +confer suffrage upon any particular race or class of persons, but merely +to place a limit upon the National Government and that of the several +States in prescribing the qualifications of electors. Whatever power the +national or any state government may have had in prescribing the +qualification of electors prior to the ratification of the Fifteenth +Amendment it still has, save that it cannot legally and constitutionally +make race or color a ground of disqualification. In other words, +whatever qualifications may be prescribed and fixed as a condition +precedent to voting, must be applicable to white and colored alike. A +few States, under the false plea of political necessity, have resorted +to certain schemes of doubtful constitutionality, for the sole purpose +of evading this plain provision of the National Constitution. They may +stand for a while, but, even if they could stand indefinitely, that fact +would furnish no excuse for the party,--a party that has stood so long, +and fought so hard for liberty, justice, equal rights, and fair +play,--to enter into a political alliance with any other party or +faction which would involve a compromise or an abandonment of those +grand and noble principles. The Republican party is still in the prime +and glory of its usefulness. It is still strong in the confidence and +affections of the masses of the people, at least such was the case in +1908, because it had not up to that time allowed itself to compromise or +abandon,--so far as its platform utterances were concerned,--the +fundamental principles which called it into existence and which caused +it to be placed in control of the National Government, and which have +caused its continuance in power for so many years. Whether or not the +unwise and unfortunate southern policy inaugurated by the Taft +Administration will result in disaster to the party is not and cannot be +known at this writing. We can only hope. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Facts of Reconstruction, by John R. 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