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If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Zachariah Chandler - An Outline Sketch of His Life and Public Services - -Author: Detroit Post and Tribune - -Release Date: November 13, 2015 [EBook #50423] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ZACHARIAH CHANDLER *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Andrew Sly, Mark C. Orton and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/American -Libraries.) - - - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - - ZACHARIAH CHANDLER: - - AN OUTLINE SKETCH - - OF - - His Life and Public Services. - - - BY - - THE DETROIT POST AND TRIBUNE. - - WITH AN INTRODUCTORY LETTER - - FROM - - JAMES G. BLAINE, OF MAINE. - - O iron nerve to true occasion true, - O fall'n at length that tower of strength - Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew! - --_Tennyson._ - - DETROIT: - - THE POST AND TRIBUNE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. - - R. D. S. TYLER & CO., DETROIT. - CHARLES DREW, NEW YORK. - J. M. OLCOTT, INDIANAPOLIS. - TYLER & CO., CHICAGO. - WM. H. THOMPSON & CO., BOSTON. - - 1880. - - ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1879, BY - - THE DETROIT POST AND TRIBUNE, - - IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON. - - Electrotyped by - A. W. HABBIN, Detroit. - - PRESS OF - WRIGHTON & CO., - CINCINNATI, O. - - TO - - THE REPUBLICANS OF MICHIGAN, - - WHO SO LONG UPHELD, AND WHO WERE IMPLICITLY TRUSTED BY, - - ZACHARIAH CHANDLER, - - THIS RECORD OF HIS LIFE IS - - DEDICATED. - -It is stated elsewhere that this work is written "BY THE DETROIT -POST AND TRIBUNE." Unusual as this form of announcement is on the -title-pages of books, there certainly may be an authorial as well -as an editorial impersonality; in this case the phrase succinctly -expresses the fact, namely, that the volume represents the joint labors -of the staff of THE POST AND TRIBUNE, alike in the collection and the -treatment of its material. - -While its preparation has been almost wholly a matter of original -research, such use as was necessary has been made of historical data -contained in "The Centennial History of Bedford, N. H.," published in -1851, in Horace Greeley's "American Conflict," and in Henry Wilson's -"History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power." - -Needed information has been furnished by those intimately connected -with Mr. CHANDLER, but the work has not been submitted to their -revision, and they are not responsible for the form of the narrative, -nor for the personal estimate it embodies. - -This book presents a sketch of the life and the public services of a -remarkable man. It has been written from the standpoint of political -sympathy, and with the hope of deepening the wholesome influences so -powerfully exerted upon public sentiment in his lifetime by ZACHARIAH -CHANDLER. The aim has been to make it accurate in statement, and to see -that its chapters should fairly draw, in outline at least, the picture -of the career of a genuine leader of men. - - - - -INTRODUCTORY LETTER. - - - TO THE EDITORS OF THE POST AND TRIBUNE: - -I am unable to give any personal or special incidents in the life of -Mr. Chandler not open to his biographers from other sources. I was not -so intimate in my relations with him as were some others, nor did I -know him better than many others who like myself were associated with -him in public life for a long period. I knew him well, however, both on -the side of his private life and his public life, and in every phase he -was a man of strong character. - -The time in which a man lives, and the circumstances by which he is -surrounded, control his fate even more largely than his personal and -inherent qualities. Mr. Chandler was fortunate in the time of his -removal to the West, fortunate in the era which brought him into -public life. When he became a citizen of Michigan the days of hard -pioneer life were ending, extensive cultivation of the soil had begun, -products for shipment were large and rapidly increasing. Facilities -for transportation were already great. The Erie Canal had been open -for several years, and steamers had multiplied on the Great Lakes. -Everything was in readiness for a strong-minded, energetic, competent -man of business, and Mr. Chandler had the good fortune to settle in -Detroit at the precise point of time when the elements of success were -within his grasp. For a quarter of a century thereafter his career was -that of a business man intensely devoted to his private interests, -and participating in public affairs only as an incident and with no -effort to secure advancement. The result of this steady devotion to -business was that Mr. Chandler found himself at forty-four years of age -possessed of a large property, constantly and rapidly increasing in -value. - -Coincident with this condition in his financial fortunes came a -crisis in the political affairs of the country, involving the class -of questions which took deep hold on the mind and the heart of Mr. -Chandler. The curbing of the slave power, the assertion and maintenance -of freedom on free soil, undying devotion to the Union of the States, -and the bold defense of the rights of the citizen--these were the -issues which in various phases absorbed the public mind from the repeal -of the Missouri compromise in 1854 down to the close of Mr. Chandler's -life. And on all the issues presented for consideration for twenty-five -years Mr. Chandler never halted, never wearied, never grew timid, never -was willing to compromise. On these great questions he became the -leader of Michigan, and Michigan kept Mr. Chandler at the front during -the prolonged struggle which has wrought such mighty changes in the -history of the American people. - -It is a noteworthy fact, not infrequently adverted to, that the -political opinions of Michigan both as Territory and State, for a -period of sixty years, were represented, and indeed in no small degree -formed, by two men of New Hampshire birth. From 1819 to 1854 General -Cass was the accepted political leader of Michigan, and only once -in all that long period of thirty-five years did her people fail to -follow him. That was in 1840, when the old pioneers and the soldiers of -1812--generally the friends of Cass--refused his leadership, and voted -for the older pioneer and the more illustrious chieftain, William Henry -Harrison. From 1854 till Mr. Chandler's death the dominant opinion -of Michigan was with him; and her people followed him, trusted him, -believed in him. During that quarter of a century the population of the -State more than trebled in number, but the strength of Chandler with -the newcomers seemed as great as with the older population with whom -he had begun the struggle of life in the Territory of Michigan. The -old men stood firmly by him in the faith and confidence of an ancient -friendship, and the young men followed with an enthusiasm which grew -into affection, and with an affection which ripened into reverence. - -Mr. Chandler's life in Washington, apart from his public service, was -a notable event in the history of the capital. His wealth enabled him -to be generous and hospitable, and his elegant mansion was a center of -attraction for many years. Nor were the guests confined to one party. -Mr. Chandler was personally popular with his political opponents, -and the leading men of the Democratic party often sat at his table -and forgot in the genial host, and the frank, sincere man, all the -bitterness that might have come from conflict in the partisan arena. - -It is fitting that Mr. Chandler's life be written. It is due, first of -all, to his memory. It is due to those who come after him. It is due -to the great State whose Senator he was, whose interests he served, -whose honor he upheld. I am glad the work is committed to competent -friends, who can discriminate between honest approval and inconsiderate -praise, and who with strict adherence to truth can find in his career -so much that is honorable, so much that is admirable, so little that is -censurable, and nothing that is mean. - - Very sincerely yours, - - JAMES G. BLAINE. - - WASHINGTON, February 15, 1880. - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER I. - - BIRTHPLACE AND ANCESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND. - - PAGE. - - The town of Bedford, N. H.--King Phillip's War--Land grants to - surviving soldiers--Souhegan-East--Grant of a charter--Naming - the town--The early settlers--The thirst for civil and religious - liberty--Records of the church--The thrift of the people--Native - humor--A patriotic record--Services in three wars. 19 - - - CHAPTER II. - - PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. - - The Chandlers of New England--The first Zechariah - and his possessions--Settlement in the intervale of - the Merrimack--Genealogy of the family--Noted family - connections--Prominence in church and State--The family - residences--Birthplace of Zachariah--Inherited traits--A strong, - self-reliant boy--His school-days--One term as teacher--Work on - the farm--Military experience--Clerk in a store--His journey - Westward--Affection for the old town--Some of Bedford's emigrants. - 31 - - - CHAPTER III. - - REMOVAL TO MICHIGAN--MERCANTILE SUCCESS--BUSINESS INVESTMENTS. - - Business start in Detroit--The cholera epidemic--Caring for - the sick--Characteristics of the young business man--Nearest - approach to an assignment--Pushing his business--Visits - to the interior--Strong friendships--His young clerk and - successor--Commercial integrity and sagacity--Accumulation of - property--Helping the Government credit--Incorruptibility as a - Legislator. 44 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - THE PANORAMA OF NORTHWESTERN DEVELOPMENT. - - Early explorations of the Lakes--A mission at the Sault--Passage - of the Strait--First settlement at Detroit--Steam navigation - upon the Lakes--Organization of the Territory--An imperial - domain--Detroit in 1833--Marvelous development of a great City and - State--Statistics of 1879. 54 - - - CHAPTER V. - - THE COMMENCEMENT OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY--RECORD AS AN ANTI-SLAVERY - WHIG. - - A conspicuous figure in politics--Lewis Cass, his career and - characteristics--A strong contrast--Mr. Chandler as a Whig--A - sinewy worker at the polls--The Crosswhite case--Making a - firm friend--Nomination and election for Mayor--A sharp - campaign--Invitation to Kossuth--Nominated for Governor--An - energetic but unsuccessful canvass--First nomination for the - Senate. 71 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - THE FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. - - The Compromises of 1820 and 1850--Annexation of Texas--Calhoun's - farewell--Profound Northern indignation--Memorable debates in - Congress--"Free Democrat" action in Michigan--Public anti-slavery - meetings and private conferences--The Whig Convention at - Kalamazoo--Steps toward union--A stirring address--"Under the Oaks" - at Jackson--A notable convention--Formation of the Republican - party--A ringing platform--The first of a series of uninterrupted - successes--Work of Mr. Chandler in the campaign. 89 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - THE FIRST ELECTION TO THE SENATE. - - Work in the campaign of 1856--The National Conventions--Aid in - making Michigan radical--Republican success in that State--An - earnest Senatorial canvass--Mr. Chandler nominated over Mr. - Christiancy and others--His election--Composition of the - Thirty-fifth Congress--Subsequent career of his associates. 119 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHERN CONSPIRACY--THE ELECTION OF ABRAHAM - LINCOLN. - - Preparations for Disunion--Imbecility of the Administration--Gloomy - forebodings--Mr. Chandler's first prepared address--A vigorous - and unanswerable speech--The Dred Scott decision--The John Brown - raid--A warning to traitors--Denunciation of treason--Personal - peril--Giving "satisfaction" to Southern "gentlemen"--Mr. Chandler - not to be bullied--The Chandler, Cameron and Wade compact. 133 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - SERVICES TO THE CAUSE OF THE PROTECTION OF HOME INDUSTRY. - - Beneficence of "The American System"--Reply to the "mud-sill" - speech--Defense of free Northern labor--Review of the tariff - controversy--The Morrill tariff of 1861--Modifications proposed in - 1867--The priceless value of the skilled mechanic. 151 - - - CHAPTER X. - - SERVICES TO NORTHWESTERN COMMERCIAL INTERESTS AND THE CAUSE OF - INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. - - The Committee on Commerce as first organized--Unavailing - protests--Mr. Chandler's first speech in the Senate--The St. Clair - Flats improvement--A defeat and significant prophecy--The work, - its cost and value--Mr. Chandler a member and then Chairman of - the Committee on Commerce--The wide scope of that committee's - labors--One-half of the entire amount expended by the United - States for rivers and harbors appropriated during Mr. Chandler's - chairmanship. 164 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - THE OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION--NO COMPROMISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL - RIGHTS. - - First formal step of secession--Buchanan's "No coercion" - message--Organization of the Southern Confederacy--Mr. - Chandler opposes compromise--Thwarting the plots of rebel - leaders--Securing the appointment of Secretary Stanton--Unwritten - reminiscences--Denunciation of traitors and imbeciles--The proposed - Peace Congress--The "blood-letter" and its justification. 182 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR. - - President Lincoln's arrival in Washington--Mr. Chandler's advice - as to the Cabinet--Conciliatory character of the inaugural--An - illustration of Southern perfidy--Surrender of Fort Sumter--A - Detroit meeting--"But one sentiment here"--Reception of Michigan - men in Washington--Visit to Fortress Monroe--Crossing the - Potomac--Proposed confiscation of rebel property--"Two parties in - the country, patriots and traitors"--Vindication of Michigan's - record--An advance movement urged. 201 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - THE COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR. - - The disaster at Ball's Bluff--A committee of inquiry proposed - by Mr. Chandler--Organization of the Committee on the Conduct - of the War--Opposition and subsequent co-operation of the - Administration--Confidential Relations with President Lincoln and - Secretaries Cameron and Stanton--Laying out work--Mr. Chandler's - great speech against McClellan--Distrust of McClellanism in - politics--The Fitz-John Porter case--Last work of the committee. 215 - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - THE VIGOROUS PROSECUTION OF THE WAR. - - The political reverses of 1862--The "Union movement" in - Michigan--Re-election of Senator Chandler--Proposition to arm - the colored people--The Fremont proclamation and the Hunter - order--Opposition to the colonization schemes--Influence with the - Secretary of War--The Trent affair--Aid to Michigan soldiers in the - Washington hospitals--"We must accept no compromise." 250 - - - CHAPTER XV. - - THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864. - - The political and military successes of 1863--The Cleveland - convention--Nomination of Fremont and Cochrane--Renomination - of Abraham Lincoln--Resignation of Secretary Chase--Peace - negotiations at Niagara Falls--The Wade-Davis manifesto--Nomination - of McClellan--Mr. Chandler's conferences with the disaffected - Republicans--Resignation of Postmaster-General Blair--Withdrawal of - the Fremont ticket--An overwhelming political triumph. 263 - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON--RECONSTRUCTION AND - IMPEACHMENT. - - The Assassination of President Lincoln--The War Committee - meet President Johnson--Revengeful disposition of the new - Executive--Legal questions in reference to the trial of - traitors--An important paper by Benjamin F. Butler--A practicable - method for prosecuting Jeff Davis--Change of sentiment in President - Johnson--He abandons the party that elected him--Development of his - "policy"--Hindrance to successful reconstruction--The impeachment - resolutions and trial--Disappointment of Mr. Chandler at the - failure to convict--General work in the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth - Congresses. 279 - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - THE PRESIDENCY OF GENERAL GRANT--THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL - COMMITTEE. - - Work in the campaign of 1868--Mr. Chandler's re-election to the - Senate--The Fifteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights bill--Edwin - M. Stanton's death and the fund for his family--Mr. Chandler's - opposition to Southern war claims--His purchase of the Confederate - archives--The value of these documents--Election of Senator - Ferry--Mr. Chandler's fidelity to his friends--His denunciation of - Southern outrages--His comparison of the two parties--His defense - of President Grant against Charles Sumner's attacks--The "Salary - Grab" opposed by Senator Chandler and his colleague--The Republican - Congressional Committee and its efficient work--Intimacy between - Mr. Chandler and James M. Edmunds--The latter's usefulness. 298 - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - THE MAINTENANCE OF A SOUND CURRENCY AND THE PUBLIC FAITH. - - Condition of the government credit in 1861--The first issue of - "greenbacks"--Mr. Chandler's opposition to any increase in the - amount--Taxation recommended as a substitute--Opposition to the - taxation of national bonds--Arguments for payment in coin of the - "greenbacks" and bonds--Advocacy of the national bank system--The - panic of 1873--Resistance to every measure of inflation--Mr. - Chandler's speeches in January and February, 1874--The Resumption - act. 319 - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR IN THE CABINET OF PRESIDENT GRANT. - - Political reverses of 1874--The contest in Michigan a - complicated one--Republican success by a narrow margin--A close - Legislature--Resistance to Mr. Chandler's re-election--His - pronounced success in his party caucus--A combination of a few - Republicans with the Democrats elects Judge Christiancy--Like - results elsewhere--Mr. Chandler's confidence--"A candidate for - that seat"--Letter to the Republican members of the Legislature--A - seeming calamity proves to be a benefit--Appointment as Secretary - of the Interior--Changes in the _personnel_ of the Department--How - Alonzo Bell became Chief Clerk--The first blow falls--An entire - room closed as a measure of "practical reform"--Purification of - the Bureau of Indian Affairs--"The most valuable men" suddenly - dismissed--Order against the "Indian attorneys"--President - Grant's support--Changes in the Bureau of Pensions and the - General Land Office--Mr. Chandler's admirable executive - qualities recognized--Anecdotes of his Cabinet service--Fighting - the patronage-seekers--A cowardly informer--A head to the - Department--An investigation that failed--"Pumping a dry - well"--Close of Mr. Chandler's term--Tributes of Secretary Schurz - to the practical efficiency of his predecessor. 337 - - - CHAPTER XX. - - THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876--AT HOME--THE MARSH FARM NEAR - LANSING. - - Mr. Chandler made Chairman of the National Republican - Committee--His original confidence in the result--Apathy in the - West--Aid to Ohio--The closeness of the contest apparent--Measures - to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat--Mr. Chandler's - firm attitude during the remainder of the contest--Its great - value--Dissent from the "policy" of the new Administration--A - Cabinet anecdote--Mr. Chandler retires to private life--A visit - to the Pacific coast--Other extended trips--The marsh farm near - Lansing, Michigan--An important experiment in the reclamation - of wet lands--Mr. Chandler's "expensive theory"--The method - of drainage explained and illustrated in detail--Successful - results of the earlier experiments in cultivation--General farm - equipment--Houses, barns and stock--Relaxation at the farm--Mr. - Chandler's correspondence--The answering of every letter his - rule--The power of his oratory--Terse sentences, Saxon words, and - brief speeches his aim--The sincerity and honesty of the man--The - strength of his friendships--His hearty social qualities--His - Washington and Detroit residences described--Narrow escape from - a serious accident in 1858--Mr. Chandler's family--His domestic - happiness--His wife and daughter his sole heirs. 356 - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - THE MICHIGAN ELECTION OF 1878--MR. CHANDLER'S RETURN TO THE - SENATE--"THE JEFF. DAVIS SPEECH." - - Development of "Greenback" strength in the West--Resolute - resistance in Michigan to the spread of financial heresy--Mr. - Chandler leads the Republican battle--A great victory--It is - followed by his fourth election to the Senate--He takes his seat - in time to answer rebel eulogies in the Senate on Jeff. Davis--His - brief and telling response--It strikes the chord of patriotic - feeling--The popular response--The "extra session" of 1879--Mr. - Chandler's last Congressional speech. 374 - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - THE CAMPAIGN OF 1879--MR. CHANDLER'S LAST DAYS--DEATH AND FUNERAL. - - Mr. Chandler at the front in the political contests of 1879--He is - greeted by a popular ovation--His name urged for the Republican - presidential nomination in 1880--Grant his own choice--Work affects - his strong constitution--His Chicago speech--Dead in his bed at the - Grand Pacific Hotel on Nov. 1, 1879!--The national grief--Funeral - and burial. 386 - - - APPENDIX. - - ZACHARIAH CHANDLER'S LAST SPEECH: DELIVERED IN MCCORMICK HALL, IN - THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ON OCTOBER 31, 1879. - - THE DORIC PILLAR OF MICHIGAN: A MEMORIAL ADDRESS, DELIVERED IN THE - FORT STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, DETROIT, ON NOVEMBER 27, 1879, BY - THE REV. A. T. PIERSON, D.D. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE. - - STEEL PORTRAIT OF ZACHARIAH CHANDLER, _Frontispiece._ - - THE CHANDLER HOMESTEAD AT BEDFORD, N. H., 33 - - THE BIRTHPLACE OF ZACHARIAH CHANDLER, 35 - - THE ENTRY OF THE BIRTH OF ZACHARIAH CHANDLER IN THE FAMILY - BIBLE, 37 - - THE SCHOOL HOUSE AT BEDFORD, N. H., 39 - - THE CHANDLER BLOCK (Detroit), 49 - - DETROIT IN 1834, 65 - - FAC-SIMILE OF THE "TEMPERANCE TICKET" OF 1852 IN MICHIGAN, 86 - - THE FIRST REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION--("Under the Oaks" at - Jackson, Mich., July 6, 1854), 111 - - THE NATIONAL CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON, 127 - - THE SHIP CANAL AT THE ST. CLAIR FLATS, 173 - - PORTRAIT OF SENATOR CHANDLER IN 1862, 217 - - PORTRAIT OF THE LATE JAMES M. EDMUNDS, 315 - - THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT AT WASHINGTON, 341 - - THE CABINET OF PRESIDENT GRANT--1876-'77--(From a Sketch by - Mrs. C. Adele Fassett), 347 - - THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, 353 - - PLAT OF THE MARSH FARM, 361 - - THE "BIG DITCH" OF THE MARSH FARM, 363 - - THE MAIN HOUSE AT THE MARSH FARM, 365 - - THE LARGE BARN AT THE MARSH FARM, 367 - - MR. CHANDLER'S RESIDENCE AT WASHINGTON, 369 - - MR. CHANDLER'S RESIDENCE AT DETROIT, 371 - - THE STATE CAPITOL OF MICHIGAN, 377 - - SENATOR CHANDLER DENOUNCING THE EULOGIES UPON JEFF. DAVIS IN - THE SENATE CHAMBER AT 3 A. M. OF MONDAY, MARCH 3, 1879, 381 - - THE GRAND PACIFIC HOTEL AT CHICAGO, 389 - - PROFILE BUST OF ZACHARIAH CHANDLER--(A sketch from Leonard W. - Volk's Plaster Cast), 391 - - THE TRIBUTE OF GEN. U. S. GRANT (_fac-simile_), 393 - - ZACHARIAH CHANDLER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -BIRTHPLACE AND ANCESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND. - - -In the valley of the Merrimack, fifty miles northwest from Boston, -is the New Hampshire town of Bedford. It is a community of thrifty -farms, with striking characteristics, and almost a century and a half -of entertaining history. Simplicity of manners and sturdiness of -character prevail among its people to-day, and the vigor of the stock -of its original settlers, the loftiness of their traditions, and the -puritanism of its civilization have made it a nursery of strong men. - -King Philip's War ended in a Pyrrhic victory for the New England -provinces. The subjugation of the savages was only accomplished when -one in twenty of the men among the colonists had fallen and a like -proportion of their families was houseless, and it left behind it what -was in those days a heavy debt. More than half a century elapsed before -there was any substantial recognition of the claims of the survivors of -that war and their descendants. It was not until 1732, after numerous -petitions and prolonged discussion, that "the Great and General Court -of Massachusetts" granted land enough for two townships "to the -soldiers who had served in King Philip's or the Narragansett War and to -their surviving heirs-at-law." This grant was subsequently enlarged to -seven townships, as appears from the following record of proceedings in -"the Great and General Court or Assembly for His Majestie's Province of -the Massachusetts Bay," under date of April 26, 1733: - - A Petition of a Committee for the Narragansett Soldiers, showing - that there are the number of Eight Hundred and Forty Persons - entered as officers and soldiers in the late Narragansett War, - Praying that there may be such an addition of Land granted to them, - as may allow a Tract of six miles Square to each one hundred and - twenty men so admitted. - - In the House of Representatives, Read, and Ordered that the Prayer - of the Petition be granted, and that Major Chandler, Mr. Edward - Shove, Col. Thomas Tileston, Mr. John Hobson and Mr. Samuel - Chandler (or any three of them,) be a Committee fully authorized - and empowered to survey and lay out five more Tracts of Land for - Townships, of the Contents of Six miles Square each, in some of - the unappropriated lands of this Province; and that the said land, - together with the two towns before granted, be granted and disposed - of to the officers and soldiers or their lawful Representatives, as - they are or have been allowed by this Court, being eight hundred - and forty in number, in the whole, and in full satisfaction of the - Grant formerly made them by the General Court, as a reward for - their public service. And the Grantees shall be obliged to assemble - within as short time as they can conveniently, not exceeding the - space of two months, and proceed to the choice of Committees, - respectively, to regulate each Propriety or Township which is to - be held and enjoyed by one hundred and twenty of the Grantees, - each in equal Proportion, who shall pass such orders and rules as - will effectually oblige them to settle Sixty families, at least, - within each Township, with a learned, orthodox ministry, within the - space of seven years of the date of this Grant. Provided, always, - that if the said Grantees shall not effectually settle the said - number of families in each Township, and also lay out a lot for - the first settled minister, one for the ministry, and one for the - school, in each of the said townships, they shall have no advantage - of, but forfeit their respective grants, anything to the contrary - contained notwithstanding. The Charge of the Survey to be paid by - the Province. - - In Council read and concur'd. - - J. BELCHER. - -In June of 1733 these grantees met on Boston Common for the purpose of -making a division of the lands thus appropriated, but twenty veterans -of the Narragansett War being then living. They organized into seven -societies, each representing one hundred and twenty persons, and each -represented by an executive committee of three. These committees -convened in Boston on the 17th of October, 1733, and, by drawing -numbers from a hat, apportioned to their societies the following -seven townships set apart from the public domain under the grant: -No. 1, in Maine, now called Buxton; No. 2, Westminster, Mass.; No. -3, Souhegan-West, now Amherst, N. H.; No. 4, originally at the Falls -of the Amoskeag, where Goffstown now is (subsequently exchanged for -lands in Hampden county, Mass.); No. 5, Souhegan-East, N. H.; No. 6, -Templeton, Mass.; No. 7, Gorham, Me. Thomas Tileston, of Dorchester, -drew "Number 5, Souhegan-East;" of the one hundred and twenty grantees -whom he represented, fifty-seven belonged to Boston, fifteen to -Roxbury, seven to Dorchester, two to Milton, five to Braintree, four -to Weymouth, thirteen to Hingham, four to Dedham, two to Hull, one to -Medfield, five to Scituate, and one to Newport, R. I. In the fifteen -Roxbury grantees was Zechariah Chandler, who was one of the few who -personally took up land under the grant and settled upon it one of his -own family. As a rule the grantees sold their claims to others. On the -town records Zechariah Chandler's name is signed in the right of his -wife's father, Thomas Bishop, who served against King Philip. His son, -Thomas Chandler, took possession of the land and was among the pioneers -of the town. To-day the Chandler family is believed to be the only -representative in Bedford of the original grantees. It was in 1737, -1738, and 1739 that systematic settlement practically began in this -part of the Merrimack valley. - -In 1741 New Hampshire became a separate province, and in 1748 the -farmers of Souhegan-East, finding themselves without any township -organization and without the power to legally transact corporate -business, called upon the government for relief. As a result, it is -recorded that on the 11th of April in that year Gov. Benning Wentworth -informed the Council of New Hampshire "of the situation of a number of -persons inhabiting a place called Souhegan-East, within this Province, -that were without any township or District, and had not the privilege -of a town in choosing officers for regulating their affairs, such as -raising money for the ministry," etc. Thereupon a provisional township -organization was authorized, under which the municipality was managed -until 1750, when, on the 10th of May, the following petition was sent -to the Governor, signed by thirty-eight citizens, among them Thomas -Chandler: - - To his Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq., Governor and - Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty's Province of New Hampshire, - and to the Honorable, his Majesty's Council, assembled at - Portsmouth, May 10, 1750. - - The humble Petition of the subscribers, inhabitants of - Souhegan-East, so-called, sheweth, That your Petitioners are major - part of said Souhegan; that your petitioners, as to our particular - persuasion in Christianity, are generally of the Presbyterian - denomination; that your petitioners, through a variety of causes, - having long been destitute of the gospel, are now desirous of - taking proper steps in order to have it settled among us in that - way of discipline which we judge to tend most to our edification; - that your petitioners, not being incorporated by civil authority, - are in no capacity to raise those sums of money, which may be - needful in order to our proceeding in the above important affair. - May it therefore please your Excellency, and Honors, to take the - case of your petitioners under consideration, and to incorporate - us into a town or district, or in case any part of our inhabitants - should be taken off by any neighboring district, to grant that - those of our persuasion, who are desirous of adhering to us, may - be excused from supporting any other parish charge, than where - they conscientiously adhere, we desiring the same liberty to those - within our bounds, if any there be, and your petitioners shall ever - pray, &c. - -This petition was presented on May 18, 1750, to the Council, which -unanimously advised the granting of a charter, and this the Governor -did upon the following day. The name of the town was changed by -Governor Wentworth from Souhegan-East to Bedford, it is said in honor -of the fourth Duke of Bedford, then Secretary of State in the ministry -of George II. This was the formal organization of the present town, -which has a territorial extent of about twenty thousand acres of land. - -Of the early population of this and neighboring towns "The Centennial -History of Bedford" (published in 1851) says: - - With few exceptions the early inhabitants of the town were from - the North of Ireland or from the then infant settlement of - Londonderry, N. H., to which they had recently emigrated from - Ireland. Their ancestors were of Scotch origin. About the middle - of the seventeenth century they went in considerable numbers - from Argylshire, in the West of Scotland, to the counties of - Londonderry and Antrim, in the North of Ireland, from which in - 1718 a great emigration took place to this country. Some arrived - at Boston, and some at Casco Bay near Portland, which last were - the settlers of Londonderry. Many towns in this vicinity were - settled from this colony. Windham, Chester, Litchfield, Manchester, - Bedford, Goffstown, New Boston, Antrim, Peterborough and Acworth - derived from Londonderry a considerable proportion of their first - inhabitants. - - Many of their descendants have risen to high respectability, among - whom are numbered four Governors of New Hampshire, one of the - signers of the Declaration of Independence, several distinguished - officers in the Revolutionary War and in the last war with Great - Britain, including Stark, Reid, Miller, and McNeil, a President - of Bowdoin College, some Members of Congress, and several - distinguished ministers of the gospel. - -It was a Scottish stock, with an Irish preceding the American -transplanting, that peopled Bedford. There were among its original -settlers a few families of English and fewer still of pure Milesian -extraction, but the Scotch descent was overwhelmingly predominant, -and the austere theology and noble traditions of the Kirk of Scotland -formed the leaven of the community. Their religious history dated back -to John Knox. Their immediate ancestors were the sturdy Presbyterians -with whom James I. colonized depopulated Ulster after he had crushed -the Catholic uprisings. Those involuntary colonists made that the -most prosperous of the Irish provinces, and at a critical moment for -the cause of Protestantism added to the annals of heroic endurance -the defense of Londonderry against the army of James II. But to their -simple and tenacious faith the tithes and rents of the Anglican Church -were scarcely less abhorrent than Catholic persecution, and the -example of Puritan emigration ultimately led them by thousands to -American shores. Much of this tide of settlement was diverted by the -Puritan pre-occupation of New England soil to the Middle and Southern -States, but a strong current set up into northern New England and -occupied (with much other territory) the valley of the Merrimack. It -was to these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians that the greater number of -the grantees of Bedford--as a rule the descendants of Massachusetts -Puritans--sold their claims, and the community became what their labors -and influence made it. The Chandler (representing an original grantee) -was one of the few Bedford families which sprang from English stock and -possessed Puritan antecedents. - -The settlement of Bedford was thus the outgrowth of an unquenchable -thirst for civil and religious liberty. A profound conscientiousness -added these simple, devout, frugal, and industrious people to the -pioneer assailants of the North American wilderness. The ancient -records and the published annals of the town afford a quaintly -interesting picture of early New England civilization. Its background -is the rock of religious faith, and to repeat the chronicles of the -Bedford church for the eighteenth century is to write the history -of the township for that period. The original grant required the -maintenance of "a learned, orthodox ministry." The petition for -the charter of Bedford set forth that "your petitioners, as to -our particular persuasion in Christianity, are generally of the -Presbyterian denomination," and assigned as the chief reason for asking -incorporation that they "having been long destitute of the gospel, are -now desirous of taking the proper steps in order to have it settled -among us," but "not being incorporated by civil authority are in no -capacity to raise those sums of money which may be needful." The -official records of formal township proceedings abound in such entries -as these: - - _Feb. 15. 1748._ _Voted_--That one third of the time, Preaching - shall be to accommodate the inhabitants at the upper end of the - town; one other third part, at the lower end of the town; the last - third, about Strawberrie hill. - - _July 26, 1750._ _Voted_, There be a call given to the Rev. Mr. - Alexander Boyd, to the work of the ministry in this town. - - _March 28, 1753._ _Voted_, Unanimously, to present a call for Mr. - Alexander McDowell, to the Rev'd Presbytery for the work of the - ministry in this town. - - _March 13, 1757._ _Voted_,--That Capt. Moses Barron, Robert Walker, - and Samuel Patten, be a committee for boarding and shingling the - meeting-house. - - _March, 1767._ _Voted_,--That the same committee who built the - pulpit, paint it, and paint it the same color the Rev. Mr. - McGregor's pulpit is, in Londonderry. - - _June, 1768._ The meeting-house glass lent out[1]; Matthew Little's - account of the same. David Moore had from Matthew Little, six - squares of the meeting-house glass; Daniel Moor had 4 squares of - the same, Dea. Gilmore had of the same, 24 squares. _November 20, - 1768_, the Rev. Mr. John Houston, had 24 squares of the same; Hugh - Campbell had 12 squares of the same; Dea. Smith is to pay Whitfield - Gilmore 6 squares of the same; James Wallace had 15 squares of the - same; John Bell had 9 squares of the same; Joseph Scobey, one quart - of oil. - - A true record. - - Attest, WILLIAM WHITE, _Town Clerk_. - - [Extract from the "town meeting warrant" (call) for 1779]: As for - some time past, the Sabbath has been greatly profaned, by persons - traveling with burthens upon the same, when there is no necessity - for it,--to see whether the town will not try to provide some - remedy for the same, for the future. - -The Bedford church has been ever the center of all public activity. -Its officers have been the officers of the town. From its pulpit -have been made all formal announcements. Within its walls have been -inspired every important home measure, and its influence has stimulated -each wise public action. In the early records the school-house also -shares prominence with the meeting-house, and the later generations of -Bedford's inhabitants were men and women of solid primary education and -thorough religious training. Thrift and industry made them prosperous, -and they raised large families of powerful men and vigorous women. -The mothers and daughters shared in the field work, and even carried -on foot to Boston the linen thread from their busy spinning wheels. -Physical and moral strength characterized the race, and they built up -a community of comfortable homes, severe virtues, strong religious -instincts, a stern morality, and long lives. Neither poverty nor riches -were to be found among them, and the simplest habits prevailed. Silks -were unknown, and homemade linen was the choicest fabric. Brown bread -was the staple of life, and wheat flour a luxury. Tea and coffee were -rarely seen, but barley broth was on all tables. Shoes were only worn -in winter, except to church on Sundays when they were carried in the -hand to the neighborhood of the meeting-house. The saddle and pillion -were used in journeys. Splinters and knots of pitch pine furnished -lights. The hymns were "deaconed out" by the line at the meeting-house, -and at the appearance of the first bass-viol in the gallery (about -1790) there was a fierce rebellion among the more austere of the -worshipers. There was community of effort in all important enterprises, -and no man needed aught if his neighbor could supply it. - -But this frontier picture is not wholly stern in its lines. Along with -this simplicity of life and severity of religious doctrine there was no -lack of frolic and rough joking, and the other rugged characteristics -were relieved by shrewd wit and native humor. The annals of Bedford -are entertaining and abound in such anecdotes as these: Deacon John -Orr (the grandfather of the mother of Zachariah Chandler) was a sturdy -Irish-Scotchman, whose temper under extreme provocation once got -the better of his devoutness and led him into a vigorous profanity -of speech. This glaring dereliction in a church officer called for -reprimand, and he was waited upon by the minister and a delegation of -his brethren who asked, "How could you suffer yourself to speak so?" -"Why, what was it?" His offending language was repeated to him. "And -what o' that!" said he, "D'ye expect me to be a' spirit and nae flesh?" -Late in life Deacon Orr visited Boston with a load of produce and -put up at a house of entertainment where, after he had drunk several -cups of tea, and refused a final invitation, the landlady said that -it was customary to turn the cup upside down to show that no more -was wanted. He apologized and promised to remember the injunction. -The next morning he partook of a huge bowl of bread and milk for -breakfast, and not wanting the whole laid down his spoon and turned -the dish upside down with its contents on the table. The hostess was -naturally angry, but was met with the statement that he had merely -followed her own direction. The answer of a brother deacon to one of -the congregation who complained, "I could na' mak yesterday's preaching -come together," was a compend of practical Christianity: "Trouble -yourself na' about that, man--a' ye have to do, man, is to fear God -and keep His commandments." It is also told that the objections of one -of the staunch Scotch Presbyterians of Bedford to the marriage of his -daughter with an urgent suitor of Catholic parentage were overcome by -the apt query, "If a man happened to be born in a stable would that -make him a horse?" And to one of the rural theologians of the town -is credited this contribution to ecclesiastical distinctions: "The -difference between the Presbyterians and Congregationalists is this: -The Congregationalist goes home and eats a regular dinner between -services, but the Presbyterian postpones his until after meeting." -After a most vigorous quarrel between the minister and one of the flock -over a boundary line dispute, the wrathful member of the congregation -was prompt at service on Sunday with the following explanation: "I'd -have ye to know, if I did quarrel with the minister, I did not quarrel -with the Gospel." - -That this was a community of uncompromising patriotism follows from its -character. In the French and Indian war the New England forces were at -one time under command of Col. John Goffe, of Bedford, and the number -of privates enlisted from that town was large. The New Hampshire -regiment which joined the expedition of General Amherst against Canada, -commanded by Colonel Goffe, was raised largely among the Scotch-Irish -emigrants of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, and had in its ranks -many Bedford men. In the Revolutionary War a large portion of its -able-bodied citizens were in the first American army that beleaguered -Boston and fought at Bunker Hill; nearly or quite half of all who -could handle a musket were with Stark at Bennington, and with Gates at -Saratoga. General Stark lived but a few rods from the town line on the -north, and one of his most trusted officers was Lieutenant, afterwards -Colonel, John Orr, of Bedford. The town records abound with votes taken -to carry out the measures proposed by the Continental Congress, and -also chronicle one case of semi-Toryism and its punishment. In 1776 -Congress advised the disarming of all who were disaffected towards the -American cause, and the selectmen of the New Hampshire towns circulated -this pledge among their people: - - In consequence of the above Resolution of the Continental Congress, - and to show our determination in joining our American brethren, in - defending the lives, liberties, and properties of the inhabitants - of the United Colonies, We, the Subscribers, do hereby solemnly - engage and promise, that we will, to the utmost of our power, at - the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms, oppose the hostile - proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United - American Colonies. - -Among its Bedford signers were John Orr, Zachariah Chandler, and Samuel -Patten (all ancestors of Zachariah Chandler,) and the report made from -that town was this: - - To the honorable, the Council and House of Representatives, for - the Colony of New Hampshire, to be convened in Exeter, in said - Colony, on Wednesday, 5th inst. - - Pursuant to the within precept, we have taken pains to know the - minds of the inhabitants of the town of Bedford, with respect to - the within obligation, and find none unwilling to sign the same, - except _the Rev. John Houston_, who declines signing the said - obligation, for the following reasons: Firstly, Because he did - not apprehend that the honorable Committee meant that Ministers - should take up arms, as being inconsistent with their ministerial - charge. Secondly, Because he was already confined to the County of - Hillsborough, therefore, he thinks he ought to be set at liberty - before he should sign the said obligation. Thirdly, Because there - are three men belonging to his family already enlisted in the - Continental Army. - -Mr. Houston, who was thus officially reported as the only Bedford Tory, -had occupied the town pulpit for over fifteen years, and was a man of -scholarship and purity, but he had become a loyalist in sympathy at -the outbreak of the Revolutionary troubles, and was as inflexible in -conviction as his neighbors. Originally (in 1756) the town had voted -that his salary should be at the rate of forty pounds sterling a year -for such Sundays as they desired his services. When they felt unable to -pay they voted him one or more Sundays for himself, and then deducted -from his salary proportionately. In 1775, after prolonged controversy -with him, his case was brought before town-meeting (on June 15th), and -he was unanimously dismissed by the adoption of a vote setting off for -his own use all the Sabbaths remaining in the calendar year. The town -records contain this explanation of the action: - - _June 15, 1775._ _Voted_--Whereas, we find that the Rev'd Mr. John - Houston, after a great deal of tenderness and pains taken with - him, both in public and private, and toward him, relating to his - speeches, frequently made both in public and private, against the - rights and privileges of America, and his vindicating of King and - Parliament in their present proceedings against the Americans; and - having not been able hitherto to bring him to a sense of his error, - and he has thereby rendered himself despised by people in general, - and by us in particular, and that he has endeavored to intimidate - us against maintaining the just rights of America: Therefore, we - think it not our duty as men or Christians, to have him preach any - longer with us as our minister. - -The resolute and uncompromising spirit, which thus sternly resented -and punished unpatriotic sympathies in one whom the people had been -accustomed to hold in reverence, was manifested on all occasions. This -is a document of later date, signed by a Bedford committee, which seems -not to have been suggested by any outside action, but to have resulted -from the impulses of the citizens themselves: - - _Bedford, May 31, 1783._ - - To Lieut. John Orr, Representative at the General Court of the - State of New Hampshire:-- - - Sir:--Although we have full confidence in your fidelity and public - virtue, and conceive that you would at all times pursue such - measures only as tend to the public good, yet upon the particular - occasion of our instructing you, we conceive that it will be an - advantage to have your sentiments fortified by those of your - constituents. - - The occasion is this; the return of those persons to this country, - who are known in Great Britain by the name of loyalist, but in - America, by those of conspirators, absentees, and tories; - - We agree that you use your influence that these persons do not - receive the least encouragement to return to dwell among us, they - not deserving favor, as they left us in the righteous cause we were - engaged in, fighting for our undoubted rights and liberties, and as - many of them acted the part of the most inveterate enemies. - - And further,--that they do not receive any favor of any kind, as we - esteem them as persons not deserving it, but the contrary. - - You are further directed to use your influence, that those who are - already returned, be treated according to their deserts. - -In the War of 1812 there were more than two hundred men in Bedford -armed and in readiness to march whenever called upon, and in this two -hundred was one company of about sixty men over forty years of age -and therefore exempt from military duty. In the War of the Rebellion -Bedford invariably filled its quota without draft and without high -bounties, and it paid its war debt promptly. - -It was in this community of stalwart, clear-headed, freedom-loving, -sturdily honest, and uncompromisingly sincere men and women, that -Zachariah Chandler was born and that the foundations of his character -were durably laid. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] The glass for the meeting-house was procured before the building -was ready for it, and it was loaned to different members; the careful -record kept shows how scarce and costly an article it then was. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. - - -The Chandlers of New England are the descendants of William Chandler, -who came from England in the days of the Puritan immigration--about -1637--and settled in Roxbury, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. -The Chandlers of Bedford, N. H., are the posterity of one of his -descendants, Zechariah Chandler of Roxbury, who was among the grantees -of Souhegan-East in the right of his wife, the daughter of a soldier -in King Philip's War. They were the conspicuous English family in that -Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlement, and their farm is the only one in -that town which is still in possession of the lineal descendants of an -original grantee. That Zechariah Chandler was a man of some means is -shown by this document, which is still on record and reads curiously -enough in the biography of a most inveterate and powerful opponent of -slavery and the slave power: - - BOSTON, November 11, 1740. - - Received of Mr. Zechariah Chandler, one hundred and ten pounds, in - full, for a Negro Boy, sold and delivered him for my master, John - Jones. - - £110 WM. MERCHANT, Jun'r. - -This slave was taken to Bedford, but soon freed by his owner, when he -assumed the name of Primas Chandler. Although past the usual military -age, in 1775 he enlisted as a private in the service of the colonies, -was captured by the British at "The Cedars" and was never afterwards -heard from by his friends. He left a wife and two sons in Bedford, but -his family has since become extinct. - -The first settlers in Bedford located chiefly on the rocky and hilly -territory which is now the central and most thickly inhabited portion -of the town. East of this, in the smooth and fertile intervale of -the Merrimack, judging by the names on the most ancient maps, the -settlers were chiefly of English descent, and among them was Thomas -Chandler, the son of Zechariah, and the first actual occupant of the -land granted to his father. He married Hannah, a daughter of Col. John -Goffe, by whom he had four children--three daughters and a son named -also Zachariah, who married Sarah Patten, the second daughter of Capt. -Samuel Patten. This Zachariah, the grandfather of his namesake, the -Senator, died on April 20, 1830, at the age of 79, and his widow died -in 1842, aged nearly 94. From them were descended the two families of -Chandlers, who in the present generation have been prominent in Bedford. - -The oldest son of Zachariah was named Thomas, and was born August 10, -1772. He had four children--Asenath, who married Stephen Kendrick, of -Nashville; Sarah, who married Caleb Kendrick; Hannah, who married Rufus -Kendrick, a well-known citizen of Boston; and Adam, who now lives in -Manchester, where also reside his three sons, Henry and Byron, who are -connected with the Amoskeag National Bank, and John, who is a prominent -merchant of that city. The only daughter of Zachariah, Sarah, remained -single, and lived at the old homestead, which had become her property, -until her death in 1852. Throughout that whole region she was known for -years as "Aunt Sarah." - -[Illustration: THE CHANDLER HOMESTEAD, AT BEDFORD, N. H.] - -Samuel, the second son of Zachariah, was born May 28, 1774, and -married Margaret Orr, the oldest daughter of General Stark's most -trusted officer, Col. John Orr. They had seven children, one of whom -died in infancy. Those who reached maturity were Mary Jane, who was -successively married to the Rev. Cyrus Downs, the Rev. David P. Smith, -and the Rev. Samuel Lee, and who is still living, the last surviving -member of the seven, at the present homestead; Annis, who married -Franklin Moore and became a resident of Detroit; Samuel, Jr., who, -after four years at Dartmouth and Union colleges, lost his health -and died in Detroit in 1835; Zachariah, the subject of this memorial -volume; and John Orr, who, after graduating at Dartmouth, spent one -year in Andover Theological Seminary, came in feeble health to Detroit -where he was tenderly cared for by his brother, and finally went by way -of New Orleans to Cuba, where he died in January, 1839, his remains -being subsequently removed to the Bedford burying-ground. The father, -Samuel, died in Bedford on January 11, 1870, at the age of 95, and the -mother in 1855, at the age of 81. - -The Chandlers during the three generations from Thomas to Samuel were -thus allied by marriage to three of the most noted families, not only -in Bedford but in New Hampshire, the Goffes, Pattens and Orrs. They -were generally long-lived, although consumption developed in different -generations, and were always prominent in town and church matters. The -Thomas Chandler who first settled in Bedford was one of the signers -of the petition for incorporation in 1750, and was conspicuously -connected with all local movements at that time. His grandson Thomas, -the Senator's uncle, was in the Legislature several terms, and in -Congress from 1829 to 1833, being elected as a Jackson Democrat. His -name is frequently mentioned in the records of the church where he was -choir-leader and where he formed a class for instruction in sacred -music. He was also selectman for many years, and held other positions -in connection with the town government. He as well as his father "kept -tavern" on one of the main New England thoroughfares of those days, and -both were widely known through that region. Samuel, the father of the -Senator, played the first bass-viol ever used in the church choir, and -helped to stem the tide of indignation with which the introduction of -this "ungodly" instrument was met by the more rigid members of that -orthodox Presbyterian body. His name often appears in the records -as clerk of the church, selectman, and town clerk. He was for over -twenty years consecutively a justice of the peace, and in his hands -was usually placed such business as the settlement of estates. In the -list of town officers the name of Chandler appears almost every year, -and in almost all church and public gatherings for over a century some -member of this family was present among the active and public-spirited -citizens. - -[Illustration: THE BIRTHPLACE OF ZACHARIAH CHANDLER.] - -The first house built on the Chandler farm was on the east side of -the river road, and not far from the present homestead. It was torn -down many years ago, but the cellar was visible until within a -comparatively recent period. The second house was built before the -Revolutionary War, by the grandfather of the Senator, and this is -still standing, though it has been remodeled and modernized. It was -used as a tavern and court-house during that war. In this the second -Zachariah and his wife lived for many years, and in this they and their -daughter Sarah died. During their declining years they were cared for -there by the mother of Rodney M. Rollins, the present occupant and -owner of the place, and the house, with forty acres of land, was willed -to Mrs. Rollins by "Aunt Sarah" previous to her death. This was the -first alienation from the possession of the family of any part of the -Chandler farm. Although the house has been remodeled, it retains many -of its old features, and one apartment at the northwest corner has been -preserved nearly as it was at the time of the Revolution. It is called -the Revolutionary room, and has still in its furniture some of the -chairs that were there a hundred years ago, and among its fixtures an -ancient buffet, carved by hand and unchanged except by paint since 1776. - -On the opposite side of the road, fronting the east, and in sight of -the Merrimack, where it takes its broad sweep above Goff's Falls, is -the present Chandler homestead, which was built by Samuel Chandler in -1800, before his marriage. It remains to-day almost precisely as first -constructed, and seems good for half a century more. Its rooms are -large, and the ceilings unusually high for a farm-house of the earlier -times. The front portion contains four large apartments on the lower -floor, and in the rear are the dining-room, the kitchen, the pantry, -and store-rooms. In the second story are five bed-rooms, with closets -and additional store-room, and above these is a spacious attic. Among -the furniture are chairs and chests of drawers of pro-revolutionary -times, one of the ancient four-post bedsteads common a hundred years -ago, and brass andirons which would delight the eyes of a lover of -antique relics. Here still lives the Senator's oldest sister, and here -the family of seven were born. - -In the ancient family bible, printed in 1803 and preserved by Mrs. Lee, -is an entry of a birth, of which this is a fac-simile: - -[Illustration: Zacharias Chandler - -Born Decʳ. 10ᵗʰ 1813] - -It will be noticed that the given name is written Zacharias. Mrs. Lee -still speaks of her brother as Zacharias, and his name is also so -printed in the Chandler genealogy in the centennial history of Bedford. -The Senator in his signatures simply used the initial of his first -name, but he ultimately adopted the ancestral Zachariah, and that was -the name which he made famous, and by which he will be known in this -biography. - -Zachariah Chandler's father and paternal grandfather, Samuel and -Zachariah, are described as spare men of medium stature, but energetic -and full of endurance. His mother, Margaret Orr, was tall and powerful; -her distinguished son resembled her in face, and inherited from her -many of his most vigorous traits. She was a woman of great strength -of character and robust sense, and exercised a large influence over -her children. Her family was a remarkable one; her father was the -conspicuous man of his day in his part of New Hampshire; her brother, -Benjamin Orr, became the foremost lawyer of Maine early in the -present century, and served one term from that State in Congress; her -half-brother, the Rev. Isaac Orr, was a man of many accomplishments -and a diverse scholarship, a prolific writer on scientific and -philosophical topics, and with a claim on the general gratitude as the -inventor of the application of the air-tight principle to the common -stove. - -The boy Zachariah was healthy, strong, quick-tempered, and -self-reliant, and the contrast was marked between his sturdiness -and the constitutional feebleness of his short-lived brothers. The -traditions of his childhood, still fondly cherished by his surviving -sister, all show that from his cradle he was ready to fight his own -battles, and that his "pluckiness" was innate. One juvenile anecdote -related by Mrs. Lee will illustrate scores that might be repeated: His -father's poultry-yard was ruled by a large and ill-tempered gander, the -strokes of whose horny beak were the dread of the smaller children. The -oldest brother was one day driven back by this fowl while attempting to -cross the road, when the young "Zach.," then three years old, called -out "Do, Sammy, do, I'll keep e' dander off," and rushed into a pitched -and victorious battle with the "dander," during which his brother made -good his escape. - -His rudimentary education was obtained in the little brick school-house -at Bedford, which remains substantially unchanged and is still used. -Here he attended school regularly from the age of five or six until he -was fourteen or fifteen. He had an excellent memory, and was a good -scholar, standing well with others of his age. He was a leader in the -boys' sports, always active, and entering with zest into every frolic. -Of these days, one of his early playmates--now the Rev. S. G. Abbott, -of Stamford, Conn.--thus writes: "The death of Mr. Chandler revives -the memories of half a century ago. The old brick school-house where -we were taught together the rudiments of our education; the country -store where his father sold such a wonderful variety of merchandise -for the wants of the inner and outer man; the broad acres of field -and forest in the ancestral domain where we used to rove and hunt; -his uncle's 'tavern,' the cheerful home of the traveler when there -were no railroads, situated on a great thoroughfare, constantly alive -with stages, teams, cattle, sheep, swine, turkeys, and pedestrian -immigrants--all these form a picture as distinct to the mind's eye as -if a scene of the present. No unimportant feature of that picture in -my boyish memory was a rough-built, overgrown, awkward, good-natured, -popular boy, who went by the never-forgotten, familiar sobriquet of -'Zach.' He never forgot it. After more than forty years' separation, -when I called on him in the capitol, and apologized for calling him -Zach., in his old, rollicking way he said 'Oh, you can call me _old_ -Zach., that's what they all call me out West.'" - -[Illustration: THE SCHOOL-HOUSE AT BEDFORD, N. H.] - -In his fifteenth and sixteenth years he attended the academies at -Pembroke and Derry, with his older brother, who was fitting for -college. In the winter following he taught school one term in the -Piscataquog or "Squog" district. As is the rule in country schools, -many of the pupils were about as large as the teacher, and the "Squog" -boys had the reputation of being especially unruly. The usual disorders -commenced, but after some trouble the energetic young man from the -Chandler farm established his supremacy, and the scholars recognized -the fact that there was a head to the school. Mr. Chandler always spoke -with interest of his brief experience in teaching, although he never -claimed any particular success in that calling. While he was thus -employed the teacher of the brick school, in which he had been so long -a pupil, was a Dartmouth sophomore who in his "boarding around" was -especially welcome at the house of Samuel Chandler. This was James F. -Joy, who then formed with the young Zachariah an intimacy, which ranked -among the causes that determined Mr. Joy's own selection of Detroit as -a home, and lasted through life. - -In the latter years of his school life young Chandler worked on the -farm through the summer, and the last season that he was home he took -entire charge, employing the help and superintending the labor. Thomas -Kendall, who was with him during three summers, and who is still living -in Bedford, says, "Zach. was a good man to work and a good man to -work for." He was just in his dealings with the men, but vigorous as -an overseer, and himself as good a "farm hand" as there was. Stories -are still told of his achievements in mowing contests with the men. -He had no liking, as had many of his fellows, for hunting or fishing, -but he was fond of athletic sports, and was the best wrestler in town. -"Whoever took hold of Zach.," says Mr. Kendall, "had to go down." - -During one of the last years of his residence at Bedford, Mr. Chandler -was enrolled in the local militia company and turned out at the -"general muster." He did not, however, succeed in bringing himself -to perfect obedience to the orders of the young captain, whom he -knew he could easily out-wrestle and out-mow, and was arrested for -insubordination. He was kept under arrest through one afternoon, but -the court-martial which had been ordered for his trial was recalled -and he was released. He was afterwards for a short time on the staff -of the commanding officer, General Riddle, but his removal from New -Hampshire took place at about this time. After his Janesville, Wis., -speech, two days before his death, Mr. Chandler was called upon by -the Captain Colley who had placed him under arrest nearly fifty years -before. Mr. Colley is now a resident of Rock county, Wis., and had -driven a long distance to listen to his old-time subordinate, or rather -insubordinate, and to revive with him old memories. - -In the year 1833 Zachariah Chandler entered the store of Kendrick -& Foster of Nashua, and in September of that year, moved by the -same impulse that has sent so many New Englanders into the growing -territories, turned his face Westward, and in company with his -brother-in-law, the late Franklin Moore, came to the city, which from -that time to his death was his home. He had not then shown in any -marked degree the qualities which made his future success so eminent, -and was apparently simply a good specimen out of thousands of the -energetic, determined, and sagacious young men, who, leaving more -sterile New England, have subdued the forests, moulded the politics and -conducted the business of half a dozen Western States. - -For the old homestead and its occupants, and for the town of Bedford, -Mr. Chandler always entertained a warm affection. He was a good -correspondent, and his home letters, which until his entrance into -public life were frequent and long, breathed a genuine feeling of -filial and brotherly affection. After his election to the Senate, with -the voluminous correspondence which his official position involved, -his letters to the old home became less frequent, but to the last -he kept up occasional communication with the surviving friends at -his birthplace. During his father's life he visited Bedford twice -or more each year, and after his father's death made at least one -annual journey there. In 1850, when the centennial celebration of the -incorporation of the township occurred, Mr. Chandler was among those -invited to be present, and sent the following letter of regret: - - DETROIT, May 16, 1850. - - GENTLEMEN:--I regret exceedingly my inability to accept your kind - invitation to be present at your Centennial Celebration of the - settlement of the good old town of Bedford. It would have afforded - me great pleasure to meet my old friends upon that occasion, but - circumstances beyond my own control will prevent. The ashes of the - dead, as well as the loved faces of the living, attract me strongly - to my native town, and that attachment I find increasing each day - of my life. Permit me, in conclusion, to offer: "_The town of - Bedford_--May her descendants (widely scattered through the land) - never dishonor their paternity." - - Be pleased to accept, for yourselves and associates, my kind - regards, and believe me, - - Truly yours, - Z. CHANDLER. - -His later visits were looked forward to with much interest, not only by -his relatives, but by the neighbors, to whom a talk with him was one of -the events of the year. He was there always genial and friendly, kept -up his acquaintance with the old residents, and thoroughly enjoyed his -association with them. His last visit to the homestead was after the -close of his campaign in Maine, in August, 1879. He then met many of -his boyhood friends, and enjoyed a ramble over the undulating fields -which stretch from the central hills toward the banks of the Merrimack. -And as he drove for the last time down the road from the house of his -birth toward Manchester, he pointed to a pine grove which skirts the -northern border of the Chandler farm, and said to his companion, "That, -to me, is the most beautiful grove in the world." - -New Hampshire has been prolific in strong men with the granite of -its hills in the fibres of their characters. Bedford itself has been -the birthplace of scores of the leading men of the thriving city of -Manchester; of Joseph E. Worcester, the lexicographer; of Benjamin -Orr, of Maine; of David Aiken, Isaac O. Barnes, and Jacob Bell, of the -Massachusetts bar; of the Hon. David Atwood, of Wisconsin; of Judge -A. S. Thurston, of Elmira, N. Y.; of Hugh Riddle, of the Rock Island -Railroad, and Gen. George Stark, of the Northern Pacific; of the Rev. -Silas Aiken, of the Boston pulpit; and of others of large influence in -their generations. But upon no one of its sons was the impress of its -peculiar history so indelibly stamped as upon the young man who left -it to aid in founding a powerful State amid the Great Lakes, and who -became the foremost representative of that State's vigorous political -conviction and purpose. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -REMOVAL TO MICHIGAN--MERCANTILE SUCCESS--BUSINESS INVESTMENTS. - - -In 1833 Zachariah Chandler, then still a minor, joined the current of -Western emigration from New York and New England which had sprung up -with the completion of the Erie canal, and in the fall of that year -entered into the retail dry-goods business at Detroit. Franklin Moore -(the husband of his sister Annis), who had already visited Michigan, -came with him as a partner in the enterprise, and the original firm -name was Moore & Chandler. At the outset the young merchant had some -assistance from his father, who, the tradition is, offered him $1,000 -in cash or the collegiate education which his brothers received, the -money being chosen. Samuel Chandler also subsequently bought a store -for his son's use, but it is understood that all such advances were -speedily and fully repaid. The building in which the future Senator -first laid the foundation of his ample fortune was located where the -Biddle House now stands; it adjoined the mansion of Governor Hull, and -was subsequently transformed into the American House. Upon its shelves -Moore & Chandler displayed a small general stock, representing the -ample assortment usual in frontier stores, and saw a promising business -answer their invitations. In the following spring they removed to a -brick store (on the site now occupied by S. P. Wilcox & Co.), near the -main corner of the town (where Woodward and Jefferson avenues meet). -In the summer of 1834 Detroit was visited by the Asiatic cholera, -which appeared in malignant form, and was attended by an appalling -death rate, and an almost entire suspension of general traffic. Mr. -Chandler did not yield to the prevalent panic, but remained at his -business and was indefatigable in his efforts to relieve the universal -distress. His vigorous constitution and plain habits guarded his own -health, and he cared for the sick and buried the dead without faltering -amid the dreadful scenes of the pestilence. For weeks he and a clerk -(Mr. William N. Carpenter, of Detroit) alternated in watching by sick -beds, and, with others of like strength and courage, brightened with -unassuming heroism the gloomy picture of a season of dreadful mortality. - -On August 16, 1836, the firm of Moore & Chandler was dissolved, and the -junior partner retained the established business, and continued its -vigorous prosecution. Those who knew him then describe a fair-haired, -awkward, tall, gaunt and wiry youth, blunt in his ways, simple in -habits, diffident with others, but shrewd, tireless in labor, and of -unlimited energy. He worked day and night, slept in the store, often -on the counter or a bale of goods, acted as proprietor, salesman, -or porter as was needed, lived on $300 a year, avoided society, and -allowed only the Presbyterian church to divide his attention with -business. He kept a good stock, especially strong in the staples, -bought prudently, and there was no better salesman in the West. His -trade became especially large with the farmers who used Detroit as a -market, and the unaffected manners and homely good sense of the rising -merchant soon gave him a popularity with his rural customers that -foreshadowed the strong hold of his later life on the affectionate -confidence of the yeomanry of the State. - -The training which this intense application added to native vigor of -judgment early made him a thorough business man, exact in dealings, -strong in an intuitive knowledge of men, sound in his judgment of -values, prudent in ventures, and of an unflagging energy which pushed -his trade wherever an opening could be found. As interior Michigan -developed he added jobbing to his retail department, and became known -as a close and prudent buyer, a shrewd judge of credits, and a most -successful collector. A business established at the commencement of an -era of marvelous growth, pushed with such industry, drawn upon only for -the meagre expenses of a young man living with the closest economy, -and unembarrassed by speculation, meant a fortune, and at twenty-seven -years of age Mr. Chandler found himself with success assured and wealth -only a matter of patience. His nearest approach to financial disaster -was in the ruinous crash which swept "the wild-cat banks" and so many -mercantile enterprises out of existence in Michigan in the year 1838. -Like others he found it almost impossible at that time to obtain money, -and the Bank of Michigan which had promised him accommodations was -compelled by its own straitened condition to decline his paper. Thus -it happened that a note for about $5,000 given to Arthur Tappan & Co. -of New York fell due and went to protest. Mr. Chandler, accustomed to -New England strictness in business and exceedingly sensitive on the -point of meeting all engagements, was inclined to treat the protest as -bankruptcy itself, and called upon his Bedford friend, James F. Joy, -then a young lawyer in Detroit and for years afterwards Mr. Chandler's -counsel, to have a formal assignment drawn up. What followed is given -in Mr. Joy's language: "I looked carefully into his affairs, and found -them in what I believed to be a sound and healthy condition. I then -said: 'I won't draw an assignment for you, Chandler; there is no need -of it.' 'What shall I do?' was his answer, 'I can't pay that note.' -My reply was, 'Write to Tappan & Co. and say that you cannot get the -discounts that have been promised, but that if they will renew the note -you will be able to pay it when it next falls due.' He took my advice -and went through, and never had any trouble with his finances after -that. I reminded Mr. Chandler of that occurrence about two months -before his death, when he said he remembered it perfectly, and added -that if it had not been for that advice he might have been a clerk on a -salary to this day." - -Mr. Chandler's was the first business in Detroit whose sales aggregated -$50,000 in a single year, and the reaching of that limit was hailed -by the community as a great mercantile triumph. He showed increasing -commercial sagacity at every stage of his active business life. He -pushed his jobbing trade in all directions and made his interior -customers his personal friends. He invested his surplus profits in -productive real estate which grew rapidly in value. He was never -tempted into speculation, and he was very reluctant to incur debt. As -a result, ten years after he landed at Detroit he had a reputation -throughout the new Northwest as a merchant of ample means, personal -honesty, large connections, and remarkable enterprise. - -Between 1840 and 1850 Mr. Chandler reduced his business to a purely -wholesale basis and made himself independently and permanently rich. He -had opportunities and they were improved to the full. [And it may be -here said without exaggeration that every dollar of the fortune with -which he closed his career as an active merchant represented legitimate -business enterprise; it was the product of personal industry and good -judgment put forth in a field wisely selected and with only slight aid -at the outset.] The wiry stripling had become a stalwart man, despite a -family consumptive tendency which at times caused alarm. Prosperity did -not affect the plainness of his manners and speech, nor the simplicity -of his character, and maturity added method to, without impairing, his -powers of personal application. He was a man alive with energy and -thoroughly in earnest. He was active and influential in all public -matters in Detroit. Every year he drove through the State, visited its -cross-roads and its clearings, saw its pioneer merchants at their homes -and in their stores, made up his estimate of men and their means, -studied the growth of the State, and marked the course of the budding -of its resources. He thus kept himself thoroughly informed as to the -material development of Michigan, and acquired that intimate knowledge -of the State and its representative men which formed such an important -part of his equipment for public life. His companion in these numerous -commercial journeys was the man who succeeded him in the Senate, the -Hon. Henry P. Baldwin of Detroit, who came to Michigan largely through -his solicitations, was engaged in business for years by his side, -and remained his intimate associate through life. This part of Mr. -Chandler's career abounded in the making of friendships which endured -until death. While strict in all his dealings, he was considerate and -his sympathy was quick with struggling industry and honesty. He aided -when they needed it many who afterwards rose to position and wealth, -and these men became the most firmly attached of his supporters in his -public career. - -[Illustration: THE CHANDLER BLOCK.] - -Shortly after 1850 political affairs commenced to receive Mr. -Chandler's attention, and he gradually entrusted more and more of the -actual management of his large business to others, though he still for -some years directed in a general way the operations of the house. He -had been already absent one winter on a trip to the West Indies for his -health, and had made a brief and not wholly satisfactory experiment -(about 1846) at establishing a jobbing fancy-goods trade in New York. -With these exceptions he had made his Detroit dry-goods business his -personal charge. The firm name had generally been Z. Chandler & Co., -although it was for some time Chandler & Bradford, and some of his -relatives had been and were associated with him in business. From his -second location he had moved his stock to more commodious quarters on -the site now occupied by the Chandler Block, and in 1852 he again moved -to the stores built jointly by himself and Mr. Baldwin on the southwest -corner of Woodward avenue and Woodbridge street. In 1855, as outside -matters commenced to press constantly upon Mr. Chandler's attention, -there came into his employment as a clerk a young man of twenty-three -from Kinderhook, N.Y., Allan Shelden. He showed an aptitude for -business and a capacity for work that recalled to the head of the -house his own earlier days, and Mr. Shelden's rise in his employer's -confidence was rapid and permanent. On Feb. 1, 1857, just before Mr. -Chandler took his seat as the successor of Lewis Cass in the Senate, -the firm name was changed to Orr, Town & Smith, with Mr. Chandler as a -special partner, with an interest of $50,000. In the fall of that year, -it became Town, Smith & Shelden; in the fall of 1859 it was changed to -Town & Shelden; on Feb. 1, 1866, it was again changed to the present -name of Allan Shelden & Co. Three years later Mr. Chandler ceased to -be a special partner, and thus finally sundered his formal connection -with the business he had established. The mercantile pre-eminence in -Michigan of his house in its line of trade has been maintained by his -successors, and it now occupies the magnificent Chandler Block, built -for its accommodation by its founder in 1878 on Jefferson avenue in -Detroit. Mr. Shelden himself continued in confidential relations with -his predecessor, and was entrusted in later years with the management -of a large share of his private affairs. - -During his active business life no Northwestern merchant surpassed -Mr. Chandler in credit, in enterprise, or in success, and he left the -counter and office of his store with wealth and with an unsullied -mercantile character. His commercial integrity and sagacity always -remained among his marked characteristics. He made profitable -investments, became interested in remunerative enterprises, and, while -he lived generously after his income warranted it, saw his riches -steadily increase under prudent and shrewd management. At the time of -his death, his estate which was absolutely unincumbered was roughly -estimated as exceeding, at the least, two millions, representing -valuable business property in Detroit, several farms, large tracts of -timbered lands, the marsh farm at Lansing, residences in Washington and -Detroit, bank stock, government and other securities, and investments -in railroad and like enterprises. His business habits remained in full -vigor to the last. He was punctuality itself in all appointments; he -was rigid in his adherence to his engagements; he hated debt, and never -permitted the second presentation of an account; he did business on -business principles and with business exactitude; he spent money freely -but knew where and for what it went; and always his counsel was sought -and prized by men engaged in enterprises of the largest magnitude. -Without being ostentatious or profuse in his charities he was a large -giver, rarely refusing a meritorious application for aid, but he -invariably satisfied himself that the object was worthy, and put a -heartiness into his "no" when a refusal seemed to him to be in order. - -His business instincts he never relaxed except for well-considered -reasons. The ditching of the marsh farm he regarded as an experiment -of far-reaching public importance, and he paid its cost cheerfully for -the sake of settling the question of the possibility of reclaiming such -lands. Some of his "imprudences" of this deliberate and well-weighed -sort proved profitable. During the war and when the credit of the -United States was at an alarmingly low ebb as shown in the ruling -prices of its bonds, he visited the city of New York in company -with Representative Rowland E. Trowbridge, of his State. On the way -there he spoke, in private, in a tone of unusual depression of the -financial difficulties of the government, and lamented the absence of -any available remedy. The next day there was a decided improvement in -the rates for "governments" on Wall street, and the firmer feeling -it created never wholly disappeared but was followed by a gradual -appreciation in this class of securities. Mr. Trowbridge called -his attention to the advance on the day following, and the Senator -answered, "I know all about it. I gave my broker orders to buy heavily -and the street, finding that out, said 'Chandler is just over from -Washington and knows something,' and so they followed my lead, and -there was a rush which sent the market up." Years afterwards, Mr. -Chandler was reminded by Mr. Trowbridge of the permanent character -of the improvement in the government's credit which attended his -speculation and of his own profit in the matter. He replied that while -he had sold many of his bonds bought during the war, he still held -those which came into his possession at that time, cherishing them -for their associations with an investment which he made at some risk -to help the treasury in its difficulties and which had proved very -remunerative. - -During his public life information legitimately acquired and the -broadening of his judgment by contact with men undoubtedly helped his -investments, and thus added to his wealth, but individual pecuniary -advantage he resolutely ignored in shaping his public career. And his -sturdy incorruptibility as a legislator was proverbial at the capital. -An illustration of this fact was shown in his strenuous resistance to -and emphatic denunciation of the bills to remonetize and coin without -limit the old silver dollar. While these measures were pending he had -considerable investments in silver mining stocks, which would have been -greatly increased in value by the proposed policy, but, showing one -day to a friend a large draft representing a silver-mine dividend, he -said, "I ought for personal reasons to favor these bills, but I can't -consent to make money at the expense of the people." Another incident -exemplifies this phase of his character: In February, 1873, the city -of Manistee, on the shore of Lake Michigan, sent Gen. B. M. Cutcheon -to Washington to secure an increased appropriation for the improvement -of its harbor. Senator Chandler, as the chairman of the Committee on -Commerce and with a reputation for vigilance in caring for Michigan -interests, was naturally relied upon for valuable assistance. He -received General Cutcheon cordially, gave his personal attention to the -matter of introducing the representative of Manistee to influential -Congressmen and to department officials, and then made an appointment -for the consideration of what his own share in the work should be. -At that private meeting he expressed to General Cutcheon his cordial -sympathy with his errand, but added, "My hands are tied; the fact is -that I am interested in large tracts of pine on the Manistee river, -and, if I should take charge of your appropriation, it would be said, -'Chandler is feathering his own nest;' and if I am going to retain my -influence for good here, I must keep clear of even the suspicion of a -job." - -The great multitude who knew Mr. Chandler as a public man knew -nothing of this early chapter of business life. It wholly ante-dated -his appearance at Washington, and the channels in which his strong -energies made themselves felt there and in his younger days were widely -distinct. But it is a fact that he was a remarkable man of business and -as thorough a merchant as ever developed in the West a great trade from -small beginnings. His was a doubly successful career. Before he had -reached middle age he had won success in business and a fortune. Then -he entered public life and made himself a leader of men in a historic -era. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE PANORAMA OF NORTHWESTERN DEVELOPMENT. - - -The forty-six years of Zachariah Chandler's life in Michigan saw a vast -material empire supplant an almost unbroken wilderness. His commercial -enterprise and success and his labors as a legislator were among the -influential agents in this marvelous development and give its story a -title to a place in his biography. - -As early as 1634 Jesuits Brebuef, Daniel and Davost, following a route -explored by Samuel Champlain eighteen years before, passed up the -River Ottawa, across Lake Nipissing, down French river and along the -lonely shores of the great Georgian bay to the dark forests bordering -Lake Huron. Brebuef reached there first; Daniel came later, weary and -worn; Davost came last of all, half dead with famine and fatigue.[2] -Champlain had been before them, and other explorers preceded Champlain, -but these three were the first Europeans who made a habitation by the -shores of the great lakes which roll their tireless flood down through -the gateway of Detroit. They erected a hut, and daily rang a bell to -call the surrounding savages to prayers. Behind them was the tangled -forest they had penetrated; at their feet were the broad waters of -Lake Huron; beyond--toward the setting sun--was an abyss so soundless -that no echo had ever come from it. And these three soldiers of the -cross, converters of the heathen, unarmed and alone amid a multitude -of savages, were the advance ripples of the mighty wave that two -centuries later was to break across the lake at their feet and the -rivers below them and surge over the trackless wilderness beyond. - -Seven years later (September, 1641,) Charles Raymbault and Isaac Jaques -embarked in a frail birch-bark canoe, paddling northwest from Georgian -bay among the countless islands of the St. Marie river, amid scenery -that filled them with delight. After seventeen days the Sault de St. -Marie burst upon their enraptured vision. There they were welcomed -"as brothers" by the Chippewas and there began the first known white -settlement in Michigan. - -On the 28th of August, 1660, Rene Mesnard left Quebec, resolved to -make greater progress in the exploration of the Northwest. He ascended -the Sault in a canoe, coasted along the northern shore of the upper -peninsula of Michigan, and on the 15th of October of that year reached -the head of Keweenaw bay to which he gave the name of St. Theresa. -Eight years later (1668) a permanent mission was established at the -Sault. In the autumn of 1678 occurred an event forever memorable in the -annals of Michigan. There was then laid on the Niagara river the keel -of the first large vessel built on the shores of the great lakes. It -was completed and launched early in the following summer, and on the -7th of August, 1679 (200 years ago), amid the discharges of arquebuses -and the sound of swelling _Te Deums_ it began the first voyage ever -made by Europeans upon the upper inland seas of North America. This was -the "Griffin," sixty tons burden, carrying five guns, with La Salle -commander, Hennepin missionary and journalist, and a crew of Canadian -fur traders. Three days later (August 10), after many soundings, they -reached the islands grouped at the entrance of Detroit river. They -thus knew the lake was navigable by vessels of large size--this was -one step toward solving the destiny of the West. Ascending the river, -the explorers passed by a large number of Indian villages; these had -been visited years before by Jesuit missionaries and _coureurs des -bois_. Some fix the date as early as 1610, but others make it later, -no names being given in either case. Louis Hennepin gives the earliest -description of the river: "The strait (De troit) is finer than Niagara, -being one league broad, excepting that part which forms the lake that -we have called St. Clair." The strait once voyaged and understood, its -value was quickly appreciated by the French as a means of resisting the -inroads of the persevering English (who from New York and New England -were pressing upon their possessions in the East), and of preventing -British interference with the valuable hunting privileges or with -the Indian tribes dwelling upon the borders of the Northern lakes. -With this in view the Marquis de Nonville, Governor-General of the -Canadas, ordered (June 6, 1686) M. Du Lhut, who had been commandant at -Michilimackinac, "to establish a post on the Detroit, near Lake Erie, -with a garrison of fifty men," and the order added, "I desire you to -choose an advantageous place to secure the passage, which may protect -our savages who go to the chase, and serve them as an asylum against -their enemies and ours." In obedience to these instructions, M. Du Lhut -proceeded to the entrance of the strait from Lake Huron, where he built -a fort and established a trading post (on the site of the present Fort -Gratiot) which he called Fort St. Joseph. Thus (1686) was made the -first settlement by Europeans in the lower peninsula of Michigan. - -The misfortunes of the war with England which terminated with the peace -of Ryswick (Sept. 1, 1697,) still further convinced the most sagacious -of the leading French colonists of the importance of a fort on the -Detroit river which would command this channel of communication with -the great lakes above. Impressed with this fact, Antoine de la Mothe -Cadillac, a Gascon sailor who amid a career of romantic adventure came -to be commandant at Michilimackinac, crossed the Atlantic in person, -and earnestly and repeatedly pressed upon the colonial minister, Count -Ponchartrain, the necessity of the prompt establishment of a permanent -post on the Detroit, where it would bring the French forces in closer -proximity to the Iroquois and would give them command of the waters -of the upper lakes and of the great fur trading regions about them. -Cadillac did not urge this as a missionary enterprise but for its -commercial and military advantages, and the force and vigor of his -representations prevailed at the palace. He sailed from France with the -royal order, "Take prompt possession of Detroit," with this supplement -from Ponchartrain: "Prosecute vigorously; if the Jesuits obstruct, -return and report." Cadillac arrived in Quebec early in the first year -of the eighteenth century (March 8). Three months later (June 5) his -preparations were made, and on that day he took his departure from La -Chine. With him were Captain Tonti, Lieutenants Dugue and Chacornacle, -fifty soldiers, and fifty Canadian traders and artisans. Nineteen days -later he arrived upon the site of the present city of Detroit. In his -memoir Cadillac wrote: "I arrived at Detroit, July 24 (1701), and -fortified myself there immediately. I had the necessary huts made and -cleared up the ground preparatory to its being sowed in the autumn." -When he touched the shore of Michigan, with pomp and ceremony he -erected a cross, a cedar post beside it; then with a sword in one hand -and a sod in the other he made solemn proclamation with many words of -"possession taken" of all the country round about, from the great lakes -to the south seas, in the name of the King of France. - -Thus French Michigan began, and so it remained until Wolfe's victory -gave new rulers to Canada and to all the French possessions beyond. -On Nov. 29, 1760, the French flag floated for the last time over -Detroit, as a part of the dominion of France. On that day Maj. Robert -Rogers, an English provincial officer, native of New Hampshire, took -possession in the name of another king, ran up the Cross of St. George, -fired a salute, gave some round British cheers, and (the Treaty of -Paris confirming this occupation) Michigan was English. It so remained -until the Revolution and the treaty of 1783 made it American. But -it was not until thirteen years after (1796) that it was evacuated -by the British garrison; in June of that year Captain Porter with a -detachment of American troops entered the fort and hoisted the Union -flag for the first time, and took formal possession in the name of the -United States. The Hull surrender again swept Detroit and that part of -Michigan lying within its command under the Cross of St. George (Aug. -16, 1812,) to remain until Perry's victory and the subsequent military -successes of General Harrison expelled the English and restored it -permanently to the Union, on Sept. 28, 1813. During the Revolution -Detroit was the headquarters of British power in the Northwest, and -from it were sent out the expeditions which ravaged the frontiers of -Pennsylvania and Virginia. - -The British captain, Rogers, who took possession in 1760, afterwards -reported the population (1765) as: Able-bodied men, 243; women, 164; -children, 294--total, 701. This was exclusive of the garrison, who -were sent away as prisoners of war, and included the 60 men, women and -children who were slaves. He also reported that of the French families -remaining in the settlement there were 23 men able to bear arms, 24 -women, and 41 children. The others were probably English who had -followed upon the track of the troops. Captain Rogers's report gives -strength to this supposition. It says: "There are in the fort many -English merchants, several of whom have bought houses." Then it gives -this insight into the industrial condition of the settlement: "Of farms -there are 40, and some fourscore acres in depth with a frontage on -the river; of these several farms are at present in cultivation." The -number of acres under cultivation is given as 404; number of bushels -of wheat raised the preceding year, 670; bushels of corn, 1,884. The -report quaintly adds: "The Indian corn would have been in greater -abundance, had proper care been taken of it; the most part has been -devoured by birds." - -Here remote from the world, with the joyous sparkling of the great -river at their feet, the luxuriance of the forest about them, the -cottages of the settlers peeping out from the green foliage in which -they were half hidden, these simple colonists lived uneventful lives, -surrounded by the beauty and the bounties of nature. The forests teemed -with game, the marshes with wild fowl, and the rivers with fish. The -long winters were seasons of enjoyment. In summer and autumn traders, -voyageurs, _coureurs des bois_, and half-breeds gathered from the -distant Northwest, and the settlement was boisterous with rude frolic -and gaiety. This was Detroit and Michigan in 1765.[3] - -Between the French surrender and American occupancy, little was done -toward the development of the peninsulas. In 1796 there were a few -straggling settlements on the Detroit river, as also on Otter creek -and on the rivers Rouge, Pointe aux Tremble, and other small streams -flowing into Lake Erie. The French Canadians had extended their farms -to a considerable distance along the banks of the St. Clair. Detroit -was a small cluster of rude wooden houses, defended by a fort, and -surrounded by pickets. Villages of the Ottawas and Pottawatamies stood -on the present site of the city of Monroe, and near them were a few -primitive cabins constructed of logs, erected by the French on either -bank of the river Raisin; this was called Frenchtown, and is now part -of Monroe. On the upper lakes there were the posts on the island of -Mackinac, at St. Marie, and at St. Joseph (on the St. Joseph river). -The transition from France to England had given the monopoly of the -fur trade to the Hudson Bay Company, thus changing the direction of -its profits; otherwise the effect upon Michigan had been a change of -masters, flag and garrison, and little else. And the shifting from -England to the United States also meant only new faces and new colors -in the fort; otherwise it was for the time effectless. - -The interior of the country was but little known except to those -engaged in the fur trade, and they were interested in depreciating -its value. Even as late as 1807 the Indian titles had only been -partially extinguished, and no portion of the public domain had been -brought into the market. The opposite shore was occupied by a vigilant -and jealous foreign power. The interior of the future State swarmed -with the savages who yet made it their home, and an Indian war was -threatening. These things repelled the tide of immigration that was -already surging over Ohio and the country bordering on the Ohio river. -Fourteen years after American possession the population of Michigan -was given as: Whites, 4,384; free blacks, 120; slaves, 24--total, -4,528. Five years before the number of householders in the lower -peninsula was officially given as 525. There are antecedent estimates -of population and assertions, but no facts that can be relied on. It -is, however, probable that at the time of the British evacuation (1796) -the population did not exceed 2,500 souls, for two years afterwards -(1798) Wayne county, then co-extensive with the present State of -Michigan, sent a representative to Chillicothe, where it was claimed -that the Northwest Territory was entitled to a delegate in Congress -because there were then 5,000 inhabitants within its boundaries. It can -scarcely be possible that half of that aggregate was in Michigan alone, -and that its settlers then equaled in numbers those scattered over -the inviting and fertile region which now includes the powerful and -populous States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. - -The growth of the decade succeeding 1810 was trifling. In 1820 the -census showed but 9,048 souls in Michigan Territory, which included -the present State and the region beyond the lakes north of Illinois. -The war was over. Indian depredations had ceased and the Indian titles -had been quieted. The perils of settlement were removed. The seeming -obstacles of the toil and privations of frontier existence were mere -cobwebs in the way of the hardy and adventurous. But there yet remained -serious impediments to Michigan's growth. Distance was one, for the -State was still difficult of access, and canals and railroads were yet -in the future. A more serious impediment was a blunder. On May 6, 1812, -Congress passed an act requiring that 2,000,000 acres of land should -be surveyed in Michigan Territory. The surveyors went into the forest -with their chains and poles, and the result was a report to Congress -which may be thus summarized: "Many lakes of great extent; marshes -on their margins; marshes between; other places covered with coarse -high grass; this grass covered with water from six inches to three -feet; lakes and swamps over half the country; the intermediate space -poor, barren and sandy; the dry land composed of sand-hills, with deep -basins between and more water; the margins of many of the streams and -lakes literally afloat, or thinly covered with a sward of grass with -water and mud underneath; the country altogether so bad that there -would not be more than one acre out of a hundred, if there would be -one out of a thousand, that would in any case admit of cultivation." -Official stupidity had its effect on Congress, and in 1816 (April 29) -that body cancelled the survey order, and abandoned Michigan to the -hunters and trappers and their game. For two years this continued; -but the adventurous would plunge into the wilderness and would come -back and talk of beautiful valleys, broad prairies and fertile soils. -Explorations widened and a multitude of witnesses came with their facts -to prove that the curtain of forest concealed something more inviting -than marsh and barren and sand-hill. Then the government (1818) ordered -a new survey and out of all this came part of the truth, namely: There -was in this wilderness an immense variety of forest trees--oak, maple, -ash, elm, sycamore, locust, butternut, walnut, poplar, whitewood, -beech, hemlock, spruce, tamarack, chestnut, white, yellow, and Norway -pine. There were plains and natural parks; there were level prairies -and hills rising with gradual swell away to the center of the State. -Of soils there were deep sandy loams mixed with limestone pebbles, -deep vegetable moulds mingled with clay producing dense and luxuriant -vegetation, brown loams mingled with clay, deep vegetable moulds with a -surface covering of black sands. There was water in abundance, rivers -and streams and creeks and beautiful lakes. All these reports and more, -confirmed and re-confirmed by pioneers and surveyors, came back from -the interior, until the exceeding richness and great agricultural value -of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan was established. - -But another event was to exercise a most important influence upon the -future State. In 1817 the first steamer upon the Northern lakes, the -"Ontario," was launched, and, amid bonfires, illuminations and most -lively demonstrations of joy, made her first trip upon Lake Ontario. -This heralded the dawn of a material revolution. One year later, on the -27th day of August, 1818, the "Walk-in-the-water," the first steamer -launched above Niagara Falls, came up to the wharves of Detroit after -a passage of forty-four hours from Buffalo. This vessel, of only 340 -tons, and lost three years later, was a puny affair, but wise men -saw in her advent the promise of a future which time has more than -realized. Then in the wake of the steamer, Congress (1819) ordered -the public lands of Michigan placed in the market for sale. At this -time Detroit contained 250 houses, 1,415 inhabitants, and the entire -territory a population of 8,896. In 1825 the Erie canal was completed, -and its far-sighted projector, De Witt Clinton, sailed amid national -acclamations from Lake Erie to tide-water. It completed the link of -direct water communication with Michigan, and the stream of Western -emigration was quickly swollen to a torrent. - -Mr. Chandler first came to Michigan in 1833. Three years before (1830) -the census of the entire territory, as it was constituted when Illinois -was admitted to the Union, was 32,531. The growth during the preceding -decade had been steady, not immense; that was to come after. It was -in the year of 1833 that the first settlement was made in the present -State of Iowa. And in that fall (September) the people of Detroit were -rejoicing that "arrangements were in train for the establishment of a -new stage-line route to Chicago, by which travelers can go from one -place to the other in five days." There was not then a mile of railroad -in the territory, and not until five years after (1838) was the first -twenty-nine miles completed to Ypsilanti. Detroit was still a frontier -post numbering less than 4,000 inhabitants. On all the Western lakes at -the beginning of that year there were but eighteen steamers, ranging -from fifty to 395 tons in burden, and aggregating but 3,710 tons, and -with the best of these a voyage of thirty-nine hours from Buffalo to -Detroit was a remarkable passage. All this was improvement; yet the -Detroit merchant in that year could not expect to receive his purchases -made in New York within less than from three to six months after the -time of setting out to procure them. During the winter steamboats and -river craft were ice-bound, and the settlements at Detroit, the River -Raisin and elsewhere throughout the broad peninsula, were shut out from -the Eastern world, except as travelers braved the tedious and painful -staging through Canada to Buffalo, with its week of continuous day and -night journeying. - -A year later (1834) Congress defined the boundaries of Michigan -Territory. Let the finger trace on the atlas the northern borders -of Ohio and Indiana, follow around the south shore of Lake Michigan -to the boundary between Wisconsin and Illinois, pursue that line to -the Mississippi river, then down its stream to the north line of the -State of Missouri, along that westward to the Missouri, and up that -river until between the 25th and 26th degrees of west longitude the -finger reaches the faint line, coming down into the Missouri from the -north, of the White Earth river--all the land and lakes between the -Detroit straits and this little White Earth river and between the -line so traced and the British possessions, was Michigan Territory in -1834 and until Michigan was admitted as a State into the Union. It -was an imperial domain, larger than Sweden and Norway united; nearly -three times greater than England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the -Channel islands; surpassing the united territories of France, Belgium, -Switzerland, Denmark and The Netherlands; even exceeding the combined -acreage of Italy and the German Empire. Yet in all this region, when -Mr. Chandler displayed his first stock of goods in Detroit, there -was not one mile of railroad or telegraph, not one steam mill or -manufactory, but one city approaching 4,000 inhabitants and not one -exceeding it, and not a single mile of paved street or sewerage. There -was but one water-works, and no gas-works. There was not one daily -newspaper, and but few of any kind. The valuable iron deposits of -the Upper Peninsula were undiscovered. The wealth of pine timber was -unknown. In the previous year (1832) the total value of foreign and -domestic produce exported from Michigan amounted to but the trifling -sum of $9,234, and in the preceding federal census (1830) the entire -civilized population of this vast area of limitless possibilities was -less than 33,000, although there were then in the Union twenty-four -States with a population of 12,866,020. - -[Illustration: DETROIT TN 1834.] - -Mr. Chandler came in with the first swell of the great tide of -emigration which broke over Michigan Territory. Up to within a brief -period preceding, that extensive and fertile region was scarcely known -except as it appeared on maps. Its rich prairies, its fertile plains, -its deep forests with all their wealth, were a _terra incognita_ to all -white men except the fur traders. But it was being rapidly known and -understood. Its fame had rolled back over the East, and the fruits were -seen in the new faces and sturdy forms swarming to Detroit as a point -of departure to the new and beautiful land. In that year (1833) it was -a matter of boasting that as many as "one hundred and seventy-five -emigrants had landed in Detroit in one day." The next year _Niles' -Register_ had a report from Detroit that the arrivals had reached the -magnificent proportions of "nine hundred and sixty in one day," and -that "the streets of Detroit were full of wagons loading and departing -for the West," principally for the region about Grand river. And the -same journal said: "The character of these emigrants is in every -respect a subject of felicitation. They will give Michigan a capital -stock of wealth and moral worth unequaled by any of the newly-formed -States, and scarcely approximated by Ohio." - -In 1833 and for more than a year afterward the business part of Detroit -was confined to the narrow space bounded by Wayne and Randolph streets, -Jefferson avenue and the river, and at the same time there were but few -buildings on Jefferson avenue above Rivard, and but one on Woodward -avenue north of State street. Old wind-mills lined the shores; the -little unsightly French carts clattered through the streets; ducks, -geese and pigs were the only city scavengers. This sounds like another -age--another continent--but it was the Detroit and Michigan of but -forty-six years ago. Change came with population--slowly at first, then -with increased speed, then with immense strides. Mr. Chandler lived -to see it all and to be a part of it. He came with the early tide -of population; he saw the tide rising, at first languid, halting and -uncertain; he saw it year by year gathering momentum and volume until -it swelled and rolled over Michigan a mighty flood of brawn and brain, -of enterprise and conscience. - -On the fifth day of November, 1879, tens of thousands of people looked -upon the dead face of the stalwart Senator and followed his body to -its last resting place in the city to which he had come in 1833. -Forty-six years and a few weeks had passed; no more. But in that time -the city which he made his home had spread its wings until it covered -an area of thirteen and a half square miles, with 300 miles of streets -(seventy-six miles paved), and some of them among the broadest and -most beautiful in the world, shaded by rows of graceful trees of -luxuriant foliage, and adorned by stores and private residences rich -in finish and architecture. It had 200 miles of water-mains and 150 -miles of sewers, making it one of the most perfectly-drained cities -on the continent. Its population had grown to be 120,000, and its -taxable wealth to exceed $87,000,000. School buildings, representing -a public investment of $650,000 and accommodating 15,000 pupils, were -scattered through its wards, and numerous churches and abundant public -and private charitable institutions made proclamation of the faith and -philanthropy of its citizens. Great manufacturing enterprises lined its -wharves and suburbs; scores of railroad trains arrived at and departed -from its depots daily; and the commerce of the lakes was passing along -its river front at the rate of thousands of tons hourly. - -But the change in Michigan had been no less marvelous. The State -has a representation in the present Congress of the United States -exceeding that of any one of eight of the first States of the -Union, equaling the representation of that of two others (Georgia -and Virginia), and only exceeded by that of three of the original -thirteen--Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. In a single -county of the Upper Peninsula, in 1833 supposed to be only a mass of -barren, uninviting and uninhabitable rocks, there are three cities -either one of which has a greater population than the Detroit of that -day, and in Michigan out of its forty-three cities and 178 villages -(April, 1879) there are over thirty more populous than Detroit in -1833--some of them with populations from five to eight times greater. -The people of the State are a million and a half in number, spread over -the greater part of the Lower Peninsula, about the Sault, and from -Marquette to Ontonagon and south to Menominee in the Upper Peninsula. -Its newspapers have grown to twenty-three dailies and over 300 with -less frequent issues. Its railroads have developed from non-existence -to 3,500 miles, owned by thirty-six corporations, connecting Detroit -and the principal cities of Michigan with all portions of the State, -penetrating to every center of population and industry, costing over -$160,000,000, and paying in each year for salaries and operating -expenses over $13,000,000. Strong institutions for the care of the -deaf and dumb and the blind and for the insane, a thriving college -for agricultural education, and that noblest monument of the wisdom -and forethought of the latter-day founders of Michigan, the State -University, were all planted in these years. And with this, the public -school system was nourished until there are over 300 graded schools and -over 6,000 public schools in the State, with property valued at over -$9,000,000, paying almost $2,000,000 yearly in teachers' wages, and -with annual resources amounting to nearly $4,000,000. In the mountains -of the Upper Peninsula, so long reputed a barren wilderness, have been -discovered exhaustless mines of the richest iron ores and the most -extensive and valuable copper deposits known on the globe. The Saginaw -Valley has poured a briny stream of wealth upon the State from its -unfailing salt-wells, and from the forests about and beyond to the -westernmost limits of Michigan have been gathered great treasures of -pine and hard woods. And while nature was yielding its hidden stores -to enrich the State its skilled citizens were not idle. Over 10,000 -manufacturing establishments in Michigan now employ upward of 70,000 -people, pay more than $25,000,000 annually in wages, make an infinite -variety of wares, and turn out products each year amounting in value -to more than $130,000,000. The statistics of agricultural development -are equally remarkable. The log cabin and the clearings have yielded -to ample farms. The marsh, the pine barren, even the hyperborean -soil of the Upper Peninsula, have been transformed into productive -wheat-fields. The cereals of Michigan exceed in their annual product -70,000,000 bushels, and $45,000,000 in their value. Highly cultivated -and valuable farms (over 111,000 in number and with a total acreage of -10,000,000) cover the greater part of the Lower Peninsula. Comfortable, -even stately, farm houses dot the landscape. School-houses, churches, -villages, towns and cities stand where the forest was. The wilderness -has fled away. Everywhere there are evidences of peace, prosperity, -happiness and a high civilization. It is magic; courage, intelligence -and industry have been the magicians. - -The changes in the other parts of the Michigan Territory of 1833 have -been no less marvelous. Four States have been carved out of that -region whose boundaries in 1834 were traced on the atlas--Michigan, -Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota--and the great wheat farms of Dakota -will soon develop into a fifth. This entire territory to-day has eight -Senators, twenty-nine Representatives and one Delegate in Congress, -has over 11,000 miles of railroad, seventy-seven daily papers and over -1,100 weekly or monthly publications, and several great cities larger -than Philadelphia and New York when the United States had taken its -second census. It has a population greater than that of the thirteen -colonies which successfully defied the power of Great Britain during -the Revolution, greater than that of the six New England States in -the present day. It produces a larger amount of breadstuffs than the -whole Union yielded when Mr. Chandler first came to the territory, and -contains more wealth than did all the States fifty years ago. - -This is a marvelous story of growth. Nothing in the Old World has -equaled it. Nothing the New has exceeded it. It has confounded -prophecy. It has outrun imagination. It is the achievement of a -stalwart race. It is the triumph of faith, of zeal, of courage. It -dazzles the men of to-day. And it will stand for centuries to excite -the admiration of the historian and the wonder of the future. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2] Parkman's "Jesuits in North America." - -[3] This is Parkman's picture in "The Conspiracy of Pontiac." - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE COMMENCEMENT OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY--RECORD AS AN ANTI-SLAVERY WHIG. - - -The conspicuous figure in Michigan politics, when Zachariah Chandler -landed at Detroit and for twenty-five years afterward, was Lewis Cass. -He was a man of ability and many accomplishments, irreproachable in -private life, and with a claim upon the enduring gratitude of the -people of the Northwest for his large share in the founding of mighty -States about the shores of the great lakes. He came to Michigan with -military distinction, and had added to his laurels civic honors as a -territorial ruler, as a skilful negotiator with the Indians, and as -an intrepid explorer. General Cass was a warm political and personal -friend of Andrew Jackson, and his influence made Michigan a strongly -Democratic territory and State. In 1831 he had been appointed Secretary -of War in President Jackson's cabinet, and in 1836 he was sent to Paris -as the United States Minister at the court of Louis Phillippe. The -courage, vigor and skill of his attack upon the "Quintuple Treaty," -which embodied Great Britain's theories on the then delicate topic of -the right of search on the high seas, and which was defeated by the -refusal of France to ratify the preliminary negotiations, made his -ambassadorship an event in European diplomacy, and gave him a national -reputation on this continent. His return to Detroit in 1843 was -attended by unusual popular demonstrations at every important point in -his Westward journey. In 1845 Michigan sent him to the Senate, and in -1848 the Democracy nominated him as its candidate for the presidency. -That a man who thus made a new commonwealth influential in national -politics should call about him a strong following and mould public -sentiment at his own home was natural, and the State of Lewis Cass was -long regarded as staunchly Democratic. His party held control for years -of the main avenues of political preferment, and not a few young men -of parts and ambition who came to Michigan as Whigs were led into the -ranks of the Democracy by the fact that it was the only organization -which had honors and offices to bestow. - -General Cass was a courtly gentleman, dignified in manners, who, with -a natural boldness of character which never lost wholly its power of -self-assertion, gradually became ultra-conservative in his Democracy. -Originally he had anti-slavery tendencies, but the Southern drift -of his party, which became apparent about the time of his return -from France, carried him with it, and he grew to be one of the most -assiduous originators and supporters of the series of compromises -which so long defeated justice and encouraged the aggressions of the -slave power. The result was that in time the hammer of his personal -influence in Michigan was broken on the anvil of New England ideas, -while his name became the symbol of "hunkerism" in the Northwest; -but in December, 1860, his octogenarian patriotism flamed up in the -presence of armed treason and executive imbecility, and he branded -the administration of James Buchanan as it deserved by indignantly -resigning the portfolio of the department of state. No political -contrast could well be more vivid than that between Lewis Cass and the -man who succeeded him in the Senate, and replaced him in the political -leadership of Michigan, representing a greater State, a nobler -political cause, and instead of the make-shifts of compromise ideas -which are to-day embodied in the fabric of American civilization. - -Zachariah Chandler's father was originally a Federalist, and then -a Whig. The son brought with him to Detroit Whig sympathies and -anti-slavery convictions, but no predisposition to political activity. -For many years he refused to divert his energies from his mercantile -pursuits, and took no share in party contests, except such as would be -natural in the case of any enterprising citizen with a lively interest -in public questions. He was known as a staunch Whig, and he thoroughly -identified himself with that party when in both Michigan and the Union -its victories seemed accidental, and its defeats certain. Between -1837 and 1848 his name frequently appears among the officers of Whig -meetings, or as a member of the election day vigilance committees of -his party, and (very rarely) as a ward delegate to Whig conventions. He -was a regular contributor to the campaign fund, and he did his share -of work at the polls. At that time the labors of election day were not -those of persuasion merely. Partisan feeling was bitter, and in the -population of the growing frontier city, there was a strong ruffianly -element, which was as a rule Democratic in its sympathies. In close -contests mobs sometimes gathered about the voting places, and sought -by jostling and occasional assaults to keep away from the ballot-boxes -the more timid or fastidious of the Whigs. On these occasions Mr. -Chandler was among the men of strong frames, sinewy arms, and pugnacity -of spirit, who furnished the Whig muscle to defeat this variety of -"Loco-foco trick." He and Alanson Sheley (now a well-known Detroit -merchant) were, with a few others of like strength and stature, the -Whig body-guard who forced a way for voters through the dense crowd, -and interposed for the rescue of the threatened. There is no lack of -amusing anecdotes of this species of service rendered by Mr. Chandler -to the Whig party; and it was at times attended by serious danger. In -later years he credited Mr. Sheley with having saved his life in one of -these election disturbances, and frequently recalled reminiscences of -the muscular exploits of those days. It was not until Mr. Chandler was -a Whig of nearly twenty years' standing, that he became that party's -candidate for any office, or that he actively interested himself in -its committee work and practical management. He cast a void vote for -Harrison in 1836, before Michigan had been formally admitted; he -attended the monster meetings and sang campaign songs in the log cabins -of 1840, and gave then a valid vote to Harrison; he denounced Tyler's -political treason, and in 1844 cheered for Clay and Frelinghuysen; he -opposed General Cass in 1848, and at that time delivered his maiden -speech, in support of "Zach." Taylor; but it was not until 1851 that -he manifested any especial taste for or skill in politics, or that he -allowed his name to be used as a candidate for position. - -The Whigs of Michigan were as a rule of New England extraction, and the -masses of the party were always staunchly anti-slavery in sentiment. -They charged General Cass's denunciation of the "Quintuple Treaty" to -a disposition to seek Southern approval by indirectly shielding the -slave trade: they opposed the annexation of Texas, applauded the Wilmot -Proviso, and were restive under Southern aggression and slaveholding -arrogance at the capital. The few Congressmen whom they were able to -elect voted uniformly for free institutions and against the extension -of human bondage. Michigan's first Whig Senator, Augustus S. Porter, -while still new in his seat, opposed alone Calhoun's resolutions in -"the Enterprise case" (a vessel employed in the coastwise slave trade -had touched at Port Hamilton in the British West Indies, and some -negro chattels who formed part of her cargo had taken advantage of -English law to assert their manhood and freedom), and cast a solitary -vote to lay them upon the table. Of this act Joshua R. Giddings wrote: -"Seeing that eminent Senators around him interposed no objection to -the passage of the resolutions, Mr. Porter, obeying the dictates of -his own judgment and conscience, heroically met the overwhelming -influence arrayed against him, and showed the most cogent reasons for -rejecting the resolutions, by exhibiting the absurdity of the attempt -to induce the British government to acknowledge the laws of slavery -and the slave trade to exist and be enforced within her ports." Both -Mr. Porter and William Woodbridge voted against the resolution for the -annexation of Texas. In the House of the Twenty-seventh Congress Jacob -M. Howard acted with the friends of freedom on questions involving -that issue, and in the Thirtieth Congress William Sprague, the second -Whig Representative, was openly classified as a Free Soiler. In 1849 -the Whigs and Free Soilers united to support Flavius J. Littlejohn -for Governor, and the Whigs of Michigan as a whole were a body of -intelligent and conscientious anti-slavery men, and made their -political weight felt on the side of free institutions. - -Mr. Chandler was from his boyhood radical in his opposition to human -bondage, and for a time hoped that the Whig party of the North could be -used to effectually resist the conspiracy of the slave power against -the territories. His anti-slavery activity preceded his appearance -in politics. Detroit was an important terminus of the "Underground -Railroad," that mysterious organization which so skilfully and quietly -transported colored fugitives from the Ohio to Canadian soil, and Mr. -Chandler, while still absorbed in business, was a frequent and liberal -contributor to the fund for its operating expenses. He manifested an -especial interest in the Crosswhite case, which, played a conspicuous -part in the fugitive slave law agitation preceding the compromises of -1850. Adam Crosswhite was the mulatto son of a slave mother who was -owned by his father, a white farmer in Bourbon county, Kentucky. While -a boy he was given as a servant to his half-sister, a Miss Crosswhite, -who married a slave-dealer named Stone. Her husband subsequently sold -her brother for $200, and Crosswhite ultimately became the chattel -of a Kentucky planter named Giltner living in Carroll county. When he -had reached the age of forty-four and had become the father of four -children, he learned that his master was planning to sell a portion of -his family. The parental instinct drove this man to a step which he had -not taken through any desire for personal freedom, and he determined -upon flight. He succeeded in getting his entire family across the Ohio -in a skiff, and into the hands of the "Underground Railway" managers -in Indiana. There was a vigorous pursuit, and at Newport the fugitives -were nearly captured, but Quaker shrewdness concealed and protected -them, and after weeks of stirring adventure, during which the father -and mother were compelled to separate, they reached Michigan, and -became the occupants of a little cabin in the eastern part of the -present city of Marshall. They were quiet and industrious citizens, -and by thrift and unremitting labor commenced making payments on -their homestead. In time the history of the fugitives became known -to their neighbors, and finally some one with the genuine spirit -of the slave-driver sent to Kentucky information concerning their -hiding-place. In December, 1846, Francis Troutman came to Marshall, -ostensibly as a young lawyer in search of business, but in fact as -Giltner's representative in identifying his fugitive slaves and -planning their recapture. He did his work well, through artifice and -with the help of aid which he hired at Marshall, but did not succeed -in perfectly concealing his plans. Crosswhite received warning of the -impending danger, and both armed himself and arranged with sympathizing -friends for prompt assistance. The abduction was finally attempted -early on the morning of Jan. 27, 1847. Troutman was assisted by David -Giltner, Franklin Ford, and John S. Lee, all Kentuckians, and the four -men were well armed. Crosswhite saw their approach, and succeeded in -giving the alarm, but before his friends commenced to assemble the -Kentuckians broke in the door of his cabin and informed the negroes -that they must go at once before a magistrate where it was proposed -to prove the fact of their escape from slavery. While the preparation -of the children for the winter's ride to the justice's office was in -progress, a crowd, at first largely composed of colored men but soon -including many whites, gathered about the cabin, and promptly made -the fact apparent that they were in no mood to permit the proposed -restoration of human property to its Kentucky owners. The courage of -the slave-hunters did not prove equal to the occasion, and finally -Troutman resorted to argument. He harangued the jeering crowd on the -sanctity of the fugitive slave law and the legality of Giltner's -claim, even offering as proof of his law-abiding spirit not to take -back to slavery a child born to the Crosswhites since their escape. -The response to this proposition to do exact justice by separating an -infant from its mother may be imagined, and in the end the Kentuckians -abandoned their attempt. Crosswhite had meanwhile complained against -them for trespass, and they were then arrested, convicted and fined -$100. Money was also at once raised in Marshall by which the negroes -were sent to Detroit and thence to Canada. While the excitement was -at its hight some of the prominent citizens of Marshall joined the -crowd, and endeavored to restrain them from violence and to convince -the slave-hunters of the folly of attempting to defy the aroused -indignation of the community; they were careful, however, to avoid any -violation of the law. Troutman met their remonstrances by a demand -for their names. One of them replied, "Charles T. Gorham; write it in -capital letters." The answer of another was, "Oliver Cromwell Comstock, -Jr.; take it in full so that my father may not be held responsible -for what I do." Troutman also obtained the name of Jarvis Hurd, these -three being well-known residents of Marshall and gentlemen of pecuniary -responsibility. Nothing further took place at the time, and in a few -days the Kentuckians returned to their State, which was soon aflame -with wrath at this "Northern outrage." Public meetings were held to -denounce the "abolition rioters," the most exaggerated accounts of -the Marshall release were circulated and believed, the event received -Congressional attention, and finally the State of Kentucky made an -appropriation for the prosecution of all who were concerned in the -escape of the Crosswhite family. Troutman returned to Michigan in the -summer of 1847, and brought an action to recover the value of the -rescued slaves, in the United States Circuit Court, against a large -number of defendants; the case as tried, however, was practically a -prosecution of Messrs. Gorham, Comstock, and Hurd. The Kentuckians -retained a large array of counsel, including John Norvell, the veteran -Democratic leader, while the defense was represented by Theodore -Romeyn, Wells & Cook, and Hovey K. Clarke, with Halmer H. Emmons -(subsequently United States Circuit Judge) and James F. Joy as counsel. -Gerrit Smith also came from New York to argue the constitutional -question involved, but the defendants' attorneys did not deem it -prudent in a jury trial at that time to ally themselves with so radical -an abolitionist. The case was taken up before Justice John MacLean, -in 1848, and attracted national attention. The first trial took place -in the June term and resulted in a disagreement of the jury. A second -trial followed in November and December of the same year and ended -in a verdict for the plaintiffs of $1,926 and costs; the expenses of -defending the suits had also imposed heavy pecuniary burdens upon the -Marshall gentlemen. Mr. Gorham was then a Democrat, and found among his -party friends a strong feeling that it was important at that time and -in so conspicuous a case that Michigan should manifest a disposition to -rigidly enforce the fugitive slave law, as these were the years when -General Cass's presidential aspirations culminated, and when it was -essential that his hold upon Southern confidence should be preserved. -There was no lack of private expressions of Democratic sympathy with -the defendants, and assurances were given that they should not be left -to meet alone the heavy expenses involved, but among the Democratic -leaders there was an unmistakable wish that the prosecution should -be vigorously pushed for the sake of its political effect, and this -secret pressure had a powerful influence. This case interested Mr. -Chandler from the outset, and he watched every development closely. -Early in the proceedings he met Mr. Gorham, with whom his acquaintance -was then but slight, and said to him, "I am satisfied from what I have -seen and learned that this case is being manipulated in the interest -of the Democratic party, and that you are to be sacrificed to appease -the slave power of the South, so that Cass may not be damaged by the -result. Offer no compromise; fight them through to the end; I will -stand by you, and see that you do not suffer." He was as good as his -word, gave and helped to raise money for the defense, and attended -the trial to the close. Mr. Gorham, who received no Democratic aid of -importance, became one of his firmest and most intimate friends, and -when Mr. Chandler was appointed Secretary of the Interior Mr. Gorham -(who had then served five years as United States Minister at The Hague) -became the Assistant Secretary of that department. Of the same period -of Mr. Chandler's life this characteristic anecdote is told: John -Sumner, one of his Jackson customers, passed Sunday as his guest in -Detroit, and at church listened with him to a sermon of pro-slavery -flavor, followed by a prayer by a visiting clergyman in which the -Divine blessing was earnestly invoked upon the down-trodden and the -oppressed. At the conclusion of the services Mr. Chandler stepped to -the foot of the pulpit, sought an introduction to the utterer of the -prayer, and said: "Thank you for that prayer! It was all that I have -heard this morning that was worth hearing." Throughout the days of -Mr. Chandler's earnest attachment to the Whig party, his anti-slavery -feeling was pronounced. - -In 1848 Mr. Chandler fleshed his political broadsword with one -or more speeches in behalf of General Taylor. He had been an -occasional participant in the debates of the Young Men's Society, -the training-school for not a few of Detroit's eminent men, but in -that year for the first time he addressed a miscellaneous audience -on public questions. His earlier speeches showed the strength of the -man, and despite some ruggedness were effective. In the State election -of 1849 Mr. Chandler took no active part. In 1850 he was one of the -Wayne county delegates to the Whig State convention, which met at -Jackson on the 18th of September, and nominated a ticket headed by -George Martin, of Kent, for Secretary of State; the following campaign -was a local one, arousing but little interest, and in it Mr. Chandler -did not prominently share. On February 19, 1851, the Whigs of Detroit -held a convention to select a city ticket for the charter election -in March, and after one informal ballot Mr. Chandler was unanimously -nominated by them for Mayor. This event marks the commencement of his -career as a popular, shrewd, and successful political leader. The -Democratic candidate for the Mayoralty was Gen. John R. Williams, a -native and one of the foremost citizens of Detroit, the president of -the Michigan constitutional convention of 1835, and the senior officer -of the State militia. He had been the first Mayor of the city, and had -held that place for six terms, and was a man of practical ability, the -owner of a large estate, and popular with the people. His personal -strength made him a formidable candidate, and his defeat not easy of -accomplishment. Mr. Chandler's answer to the delegation who waited -upon him with the question, "Will you run on the Whig ticket against -John R. Williams?" was, "I will and I will beat him too," and he put -all his energy into the campaign which followed. The Whig convention -by resolution presented his name to the people of Detroit as that of -"a man identified with its improvements, prominent in its welfare, and -interested in its prosperity," and in the Whig journals he was warmly -commended as "known to every man, woman, and child in the city as a -man of strict integrity, active and industrious business habits, of -great liberality of views, both in person and sentiment, and of the -purest moral character; eminently popular and affable in his habits of -intercourse with his fellow-citizens, his extensive business operations -have brought him in daily contact with all, through a long course of -years." His election was also urged on the ground that he was the only -candidate "known to be in favor of extending the various enterprises -of sewerage, pure water, pavements and sidewalks, just as fast as the -needs of a young city shall require," and because his "course in his -own business, and in relation to the public interest, has been an -energetic, discreet and efficient prosecution of everything upon which -he has laid his hands." During this canvass Mr. Chandler gave what is -believed to be the only lecture of his life, and its marked success -undoubtedly helped him at the ballot-box. It was delivered before -the Young Men's Society upon February 25, 1851, its theme being "The -Element of Success in Character." The newspaper report of it was as -follows: - - The theme chosen by Mr. Chandler. "The Element of Success in - Character," though much worn, was most successfully treated. - Intending only to discourse from his own observations and - experience, his views were as philosophical as they were practical. - Therein was the charm and _takingness_ of the lecture. Without - rhetorical flourish the composition was excellent, severe in its - simplicity and directness, nevertheless abounding in beauty. For - originality, aptness of quotation and illustration, and felicitous - use of language, it ranks with the choicest productions before the - society. In his own person he furnished the very best illustration - and proof of success. Such a lecture from any one would do good, - but how much greater its influence when enforced by the living - example the lecturer himself affords of the truths of his teaching. - -Mr. Chandler organized his first political battle with characteristic -thoroughness and system, visited every ward, called upon the voters, -and made a remarkable personal canvass. The result was that when the -ballots were counted it was found that he had carried every precinct -in Detroit and had defeated his opponent by 349 majority in a total -vote of less than 3,500. He led by nearly 400 the average vote of his -ticket, and the Democrats elected at the same time a large proportion -of their candidates. The victory was celebrated by a Whig serenade, -at which the Mayor-elect made a modest and brief speech of thanks. -This manifestation of personal strength and political skill at once -attracted State attention, and it became the source of new Whig hope. - -Mr. Chandler's term as Mayor continued for one year, but was devoid of -especial incident, although even now some interest will be felt in this -official letter to Kossuth, which the Hungarian patriot answered with a -note of regretful declination: - - DETROIT, January 10, 1852. - - _To his Excellency Louis Kossuth_: - - DEAR SIR: By resolution of the Common Council, it becomes my - pleasing duty to invite you to visit the city of Detroit and - partake of its hospitalities. Much as we esteem you personally, - highly as we appreciate your public and private worth, it is not - to these alone that we do homage, but to the great principles - which you advocate. We hail you as the champion of republicanism - in Europe, as God's instrument in arousing throughout the world - a hatred of despotism, as a man who has sacrificed his all, and - offers his life upon the altar of liberty, as a teacher of "even - bayonets to think." We, sir, have not been disinterested spectators - of your glorious struggle for Hungarian independence. We watched - with most intense interest the commencement and progress of that - sanguinary conflict. When we saw the people rising in their might, - the nobleman and citizen vieing with each other in devotion to - their country's cause, emulous in sufferings and sacrifices, under - such a leader, we felt that victory must crown your exertions; - and when we saw the elements of Despotism uniting to crush this - (to them) detested spirit of Freedom, when we saw the temporary - triumphs of your oppressors, we felt that all was not lost--that - the Almighty Ruler of the Universe would neither leave nor forsake - you in your low estate, that the days of despotism were numbered. - - Again would I invite you to visit Detroit and partake of its - hospitalities. Again would I assure you of our deep sympathy for - your down-trodden country, and I hazard nothing by the assertion - that that sympathy will manifest itself in a tangible form. Whether - our government will act in your behalf as a government, is not for - me to say; whether it would be proper for it to do so, is not for - me to discuss at this time. But that you have the deep sympathy of - our entire population is manifest to all. - - With great respect, I have the honor to be your obedient servant, - - ZACHARIAH CHANDLER, - _Mayor of the City of Detroit_. - -At the conclusion of Mr. Chandler's term as Mayor the Common Council of -Detroit, by unanimous vote, spread upon its records this resolution: - - _Resolved by the Common Council of the City of Detroit_, That in - retiring from the office of chief magistrate of this city the - Hon. Zachariah Chandler, by his urbanity, fidelity and zeal in - the discharge of his official duties for the past year, merits - the admiration and respect of the Council, and that in retiring - to private life he carries with him our cordial wishes for his - happiness and prosperity. - -In November, 1852, occurred Michigan's first general election under -the constitution of 1850. The Democratic candidate for Governor -was Robert McClelland, who had already held that office during the -preceding short term. General Cass alone surpassed this gentleman in -personal strength with his party in the State. Mr. McClelland was an -upright and able man, who had served with distinction in Congress, and -had held many important offices in Michigan; he subsequently became -Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President Pierce. While -a member of the House of Representatives he had assisted in drafting -the original Wilmot Proviso, but he had grown conservative with his -party, and in 1852 came before the people as a warm champion of the -compromises of 1850. Personally he was a man of some reserve, but -affable with acquaintances and respected everywhere. He was renominated -enthusiastically and with every prospect of an easy re-election. -With the single exception of William Woodbridge, who was borne into -office on the Whig tidal-wave of 1839 and 1840, Michigan had chosen -an unbroken line of Democratic Governors. At the first election after -its admission to the Union, Stevens T. Mason had a majority of 237 in -a total poll of 22,299. The term for which Governor Woodbridge was -chosen (he resigned to take a seat in the Senate) was followed by six -successive Democratic victories. John S. Barry was elected in 1841 -with 5,326 majority over his Whig competitor, Philo C. Fuller, and two -years later he defeated Dr. Zina Pitcher by 6,493 votes. Alpheus Felch -in 1845 had 3,807 majority over Stephen Vickery, Whig, and in 1847 -Epaphroditus Ransom was chosen over James M. Edmunds by 5,649 votes. In -1849 John S. Barry was again elected, defeating Flavius J. Littlejohn, -Whig and Free Soiler, by 4,297 votes in a total poll of 51,377. In -1851, which was the last election under the old constitution, Robert -McClelland led Townsend E. Gidley 6,926 votes. The Liberty party, as a -distinct organization, also existed six years in Michigan, beginning -in 1841 with 1,214 votes and ending in 1847 with 2,585. Thus from 1841 -to 1852 not only did the Democrats control Michigan but at every State -election had a clear majority over all shades of opposition. - -In 1852 the chronic difficulties of the Whig situation in Michigan -were aggravated by the fact that the Baltimore convention which -nominated Scott and Graham had condemned that anti-slavery sentiment -of the party, which gave it all its virility in the West. The greater -portion of the Northern Whigs with Mr. Greeley supported the ticket -and "spat upon the platform," but some of them abandoned old party -affiliations and joined the Free Soil Democrats, who put up Hale and -Julian as their national candidates and in Michigan nominated a full -State ticket headed by Isaac P. Christiancy. The Whig State convention -of 1852 met at Marshall on July 1, and was called to order by Henry T. -Backus as chairman of the State Central Committee, and presided over by -Cyrus Lovell of Ionia. In the preliminary consultations Mr. Chandler's -was the name chiefly urged for the head of the ticket, on account of -his acquaintance throughout the State and the political strength and -capacity he had shown as a candidate in Detroit. This is an extract -from the official record of the convention: - - On motion of W. A. Howard of Detroit a ballot was taken for - Governor and was announced by the tellers as follows: - - Z. Chandler, 76 - H. G. Wells, 7 - G. A. Coe, 2 - H. R. Williams, 1 - J. R. Williams, 1 - George R. Pomeroy, 2 - - On motion of Mr. DeLand of Jackson a formal ballot was had as - follows: - - Z. Chandler, 95 - H. G. Wells, 2 - J. R. Williams, 1 - Blank, 1 - - Mr. Chandler was not present and inquiry was made if it was known - whether he would accept the nomination. Mr. Wm. A. Howard of - Detroit, chairman of the delegation from that city, said on the - part of that delegation that he had seen Mr. Chandler previous to - leaving Detroit, and Mr. Chandler had said to him that he was not - a candidate for any of the offices under consideration, that he - preferred working in the ranks, but that should the convention see - fit to nominate him he was with them. - -[Illustration: =Temperance Ticket.= - - For Governor, - Zachariah Chandler. - - For Lieut. Governor, - Andrew Parsons. - - For Secretary of State, - George E. Pomeroy. - - For State Treasurer, - Bernard C. Whittemore. - - For Auditor General, - Whitney Jones. - - For Attorney General, - Nathaniel Bacon. - - For Sup't of Pub. Instruction, - U. Tracy Howe. - - For Com'r of State Land Office, - Nathan Power. - - For State Board of Education, - Isaac E. Crary, for the term of six years. - Grove Spencer, for the term of four years. - Chauncey Joslin, for a term of two years. - - For Member of Congress 1st District, - William A. Howard. - - For Member of Senate, - - For Representative, - - For Sheriff, - Henry B. Holbrook. - - For Clerk, - Jeremiah Van Rensselaer. - - For Prosecuting Attorney, - D. Bethune Duffield. - - For Judge of Probate, - Rufus Hosmer. - - Circuit Court Commissioner, - John S. Newberry. - - For Register, - Robert E. Roberts. - -FAC-SIMILE OF ONE OF THE STATE TICKETS OF MICHIGAN IN 1852.] - -The result was hailed with hearty cheering, and Mr. Chandler soon -formally accepted this nomination and commenced a most energetic -personal canvass of the State. The Temperance party made up a ticket in -that year from the Democratic and Whig candidates, and Mr. Chandler was -also retained as its nominee for Governor, but this action was without -practical importance in the campaign or at the polls. During the fall -of 1852 the Whig nominee for Governor labored unremittingly. He visited -all the leading towns in the State, and spoke constantly from the -middle of September until the week before election. The list of his -appointments included Jonesville, Coldwater, Constantine, Cassopolis, -Howell, Lansing, Eaton Rapids, Hastings, Allegan, Grand Rapids, Ionia, -DeWitt, Corunna, Flint, Saginaw, Lapeer, Almont, Romeo, Mt. Clemens, -Ann Arbor, Jackson, Marshall, Battle Creek, St. Clair, and Detroit. His -addresses were vigorous, entertaining and telling, and while he neither -then nor afterward sought for the polished sentence or rounded period, -he showed that capacity for plainness and force of reasoning and for -hard-hitting which ultimately made his oratory so characteristic -and effective. In this series of speeches he dealt largely with the -national questions of Protection and Internal Improvements, and also -with the business aspects of the State administration. His friends -laid especial stress upon his strength as "a business man of energy, -integrity and success," and urged his election because he bore "the -reputation, well earned by a long course of business experience, of -being a keen and shrewd business man of the highest moral tone," and -because he was "endowed with remarkable business talent," and had -been "identified with the growth and interests of the State." Mr. -Chandler was also helped in this contest by his mercantile friendships -throughout Michigan, and by the natural pleasure with which his fellow -merchants saw one of their own guild fighting his way to political -distinction along the paths so largely occupied by men of professional -callings. As part of the organization of this canvass he mailed large -quantities of gummed "slips" bearing his name to acquaintances in all -parts of the State, and this is believed to be the first instance -in which this now common weapon of political warfare was used in -the Northwest. The Democrats found themselves compelled by this -unprecedentedly vigorous attack to put forth most strenuous efforts, -and General Cass labored assiduously to prevent the loss of his own -State. So pronounced did the opposition of the veteran Democratic -leader to the head of the Whig ticket become, that Mr. Chandler -laughingly said to friends by way of comment upon it, "I am afraid that -it will take General Cass's Senatorial seat to balance the account -between us." - -But the national tide was then overwhelmingly against the Whigs, -and Southern distrust of General Scott and Northern wrath at the -circumstances of his nomination brought that party to the Waterloo -defeat from which it never recovered. Michigan cast 41,842 votes for -Pierce, 33,859 for Scott, and 7,237 for Hale. Mr. Chandler received -34,660 votes for Governor against 42,798 for McClelland, and 5,850 for -Christiancy. He thus received 801 more votes than Scott; he also led -the entire Whig State ticket by from 500 to 4,000 votes, and received -over 11,000 more votes than had ever been given to any Whig candidate -for Governor. He had made a resolute fight, and again strikingly -manifested his personal strength with the people and his political -ability. - -In the Michigan Legislature of 1853, which was chosen at the same -State election, the Democrats had a majority on joint ballot of -forty-eight, and the Whig minority included but seven Senators and -twenty-one Representatives. The term of Alpheus Felch as United States -Senator expired on March 3, 1853, and Charles E. Stuart was chosen -as his successor. The Whigs gave expression to their high estimate -of the value of Mr. Chandler's services in the preceding campaign -by complimenting him with their united vote for the Senate, and the -footings of the Legislative ballot for that office were: - - SENATE. - C. E. Stuart, 27 - Z. Chandler, 7 - - HOUSE. - C. E. Stuart, 49 - Z. Chandler, 21 - H. K. Clarke, 1 - -This was the last important political action of the Whig party of -Michigan. Before another State election its formal dissolution had been -pronounced, and the great body of its members had gathered around the -cradle of infant Republicanism. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. - - -The darkest hour for the anti-slavery cause preceded the dawn of 1854. -The compromises of 1850 had closed that long series of so-called -bargains, by which the South had forced surrender after surrender -from the North in the vain hope of preserving by such artificial -devices its traditional preponderance in the government, so constantly -threatened by the rapid development of the free States and the -marvelous settlement of free territory. Behind the Louisiana purchase -from Bonaparte was slavery's demand for new States to reinforce -its political strength. Florida was bought from Spain for the same -reasons. The Missouri compromise of 1820 involved the admission of a -new slave State to the Union, and the organization of Arkansas as a -slave territory; it was the work of the advocates of slavery extension, -and was practically a surrender of free territory to bondage, the -only consideration being the exclusion of slavery from soil on which -(judging from all the experience of American settlement up to that -time) it could not be established nor maintained. The annexation of -Texas had been forced to add to the Union an enormous expanse of slave -territory, capable, it was hoped, of early division into several slave -States. The Mexican War was a peculiarly Southern scheme, having as -its real aim the conquest of an empire which was to include human -bondage among its established institutions. The futile plans for -the annexation of Cuba came from the same prolific source, and were -inspired by the same need of forcing the expansion of the political -power of the slave South to prevent its being outstripped by the -magnificent growth of the free North. But the forces of nature prove -more potent than human devices, and the last speech of John C. Calhoun -(read for him in the Senate on March 4, 1850,) showed how clearly this -fact had impressed itself on the ablest and acutest of the Southern -statesmen. That farewell address sketched minutely the history and -condition of the steadily-growing disparity between the North and the -South, declared in effect that the South with its institutions could -not permit Northern ascendancy, demanded from the North constitutional -amendments "which would restore to the South in substance the power -she possessed of protecting herself before the equilibrium between the -sections was destroyed," added that on no other basis could the South -safely remain in the Union, and said that, if this demand was refused, -"we would be blind not to perceive that your real objects are power and -aggrandizement, and infatuated not to act accordingly." To this candid -avowal of the Southern programme (ten years later it became evident -that Mr. Calhoun had stated then the slave power's ultimatum) the -answer was the final surrender of 1850. The compromise measures of that -year pledged the United States to the subdivision of Texas into new -(slave) States, organized Utah and New Mexico without any prohibition -of slavery within their boundaries, forbade the abolition of slavery in -the District of Columbia, and set the odious machinery of the Fugitive -Slave law in operation throughout the North. The consideration Freedom -received for these concessions was the admission of California to the -Union (it was evident that nothing but invasion and conquest could ever -make it a slave State) and the abolition of the slave trade in the -District of Columbia, amounting to a removal of the auction blocks of -slave dealers from the shadow of the Capitol to the narrow streets of -decaying Alexandria. - -The opiate of compromise sufficed to keep still dormant the conscience -of the North, and the national acquiescence in this adjustment was -emphatic. The Whig and the Democratic parties in 1852 both formally -accepted in their platforms the legislation of 1850 as a decisive -and just settlement of the slavery question, and they polled almost -3,000,000 votes, while for the Free Soil ticket, representing hostility -to slavery extension and to pro-slavery compromises, but 155,000 -votes were cast. The victory of the Democrats, who embodied in much -the fullest degree the spirit of concession to Southern demands, -was an overwhelming one. They carried 27 out of the 31 States, and -had 254 electoral votes out of 296, with a clear popular majority -over the entire opposition. In the Senate they had 14 majority out -of a membership of 62, and in the House a majority of 84 in a total -membership of 234. The condition of public sentiment then is thus -described by the most accurate and graphic historian of that era: - - Whatever theoretic or practical objections may be justly made to - the compromise of 1850, there can be no doubt that it was accepted - and ratified by a great majority of the American people, whether - in the North or in the South. They were intent on business--then - remarkably prosperous--on planting, building, trading and getting - gain--and they hailed with general joy the announcement that all - the differences between the diverse "sections" had been adjusted - and settled. The terms of settlement were, to that majority, of - quite subordinate consequence; they wanted peace and prosperity, - and were no wise inclined to cut each other's throats and burn each - other's houses in a quarrel concerning (as they regarded it) only - the _status_ of negroes. The compromise had taken no money from - their pockets; it had imposed upon them no pecuniary burdens; it - had exposed them to no personal and palpable dangers; it had rather - repelled the gaunt spectre of civil war and disunion (habitually - conjured up when slavery had a point to carry), and increased - the facilities for making money, while opening a boundless vista - of national greatness, security and internal harmony. Especially - by the trading class, and the great majority of the dwellers in - seaboard cities, was this view cherished with intense, intolerant - vehemence.... Whatever else the election of 1852 might have meant, - there was no doubt that the popular verdict was against "slavery - agitation" and in favor of maintaining the compromises of 1850.... - The finances were healthy and the public credit unimpaired. - Industry and trade were signally prosperous. The tariff had ceased - to be a theme of partisan or sectional strife. The immense yield of - gold in California during the four preceding years had stimulated - enterprise and quickened the energies of labor, and its volume as - yet showed no signs of diminution. And though the Fugitive Slave - law was still denounced, and occasionally resisted by abolitionists - in the free States, while disunionists still plotted in secret and - more openly prepared in Southern commercial conventions (having for - their ostensible object the establishment of a general exchange - of the great Southern staples directly from their own harbors - with the principal European marts, instead of circuitously by way - of New York and other Northern Atlantic ports) there was still a - goodly majority in the South, with a still larger in the North and - Northwest, in favor of maintaining the Union and preserving the - greatest practical measure of cordiality and fraternity between the - free and slave States, substantially on the basis of the compromise - of 1850. - -This was the blackest chapter in the history of the agitation for -Freedom on this continent. The era seemed to have been at last reached -of national surrender to slavery's demands, and of the purchase -of peace by the abandonment of (with the promise never to resume) -resistance to "the sum of all villainies." John Quincy Adams had said -that up to his day "the preservation, propagation, and perpetuation -of slavery" had ever been "the animating spirit" of the American -government. Daniel Webster had bitterly declared in 1848 that there was -no North in American politics, and that the South absolutely controlled -the government. Certainly, in 1853, the surface of the political -situation fully justified the indignant words of Gerrit Smith: "Were -this government despotic and her religion heathen, there might be some -hope of republicanizing her politics and Christianizing her religion; -but now that she has turned into darkness the greatest of all political -lights and the greatest of all religious lights, what hope is left for -her?" - -It was at this juncture, when its triumph appeared to be complete, that -slavery fatally overreached itself. The Missouri compromise of 1820, -which _forever_ prohibited slavery in all of the original Louisiana -territory north of 36 degrees, 30 minutes of north latitude, had -remained unquestioned upon the statute books for a generation. The -South had received the full benefits of its share of that bargain, -which added Arkansas and Missouri to the ranks of the slave States. In -the interminable discussions of 1850 there had been no suggestion that -the compromise measures of that year were intended to either disturb -or supersede the Missouri compact, and the first message of Franklin -Pierce congratulated the country on the sense of repose and security -in the public mind which the compromise measures had restored, and -added the pledge, "this repose is to suffer no shock during my official -term, if I have power to avert it." Before two months had elapsed, -the North heard with astonishment and indignation the doctrine laid -down in Congress by the representatives of the slave power that the -Missouri compromise had been abrogated by the measures of 1850, and -that the vast domain between the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, rich -in all material and political possibilities, was open to slaveholding -settlement. A few days more passed, and it was discovered that this -claim was receiving the powerful support of the administration, and -that it would also be championed by Stephen A. Douglas, with his -formidable energy, personal influence, and rare skill in debate, as a -step towards the vindication of his dogma of "Popular Sovereignty." Of -the memorable four months' struggle over this issue, the following is a -sketch in outline: - -Soon after the Thirty-third Congress assembled, in December, 1853, -Senator A. C. Dodge, of Iowa, introduced a bill to organize the -Territory of Nebraska out of the magnificent region between Missouri -and Iowa and the Rocky Mountains. It was referred to the Committee on -Territories, and was reported back by Senator Douglas with amendments, -none of which, however, proposed to repeal the prohibition of slavery -included in the Missouri compromise. Upon this, Senator Archibald -Dixon, of Kentucky, a Whig who declared that on the question of slavery -he knew no Whiggery and no Democracy, but was a pro-slavery man, -gave notice that he should offer an amendment, providing that the -act of 1820 should not be so construed as to apply to the territory -contemplated by this act, nor to any other territory of the United -States. Senator Douglas thereupon had the bill recommitted, and -subsequently reported in an entirely different form, creating _two_ -territories, Kansas and Nebraska, instead of one, and including the -provision that all questions pertaining to slavery in the territories -and in the new States to be formed therefrom should be left to the -action of the people thereof through their appropriate representatives, -and that the provisions of the constitution and laws of the United -States in respect to fugitives from service should be carried into -faithful execution in all the organized territories the same as in the -States. This was, equally with Senator Dixon's proposition, a direct -violation of the provision of the Missouri compromise, which was in -these words (Section 8): "That in all that territory ceded by France -to the United States under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of -36 degrees and 30 minutes of north latitude, not included within the -limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary -servitude, otherwise than as the punishment of crime, shall be and is -hereby forever prohibited." In the last report, however, the pill was -sugar-coated with Mr. Douglas's catch-word of "Popular Sovereignty." - -The territory which the Kansas-Nebraska bill was intended to organize -was included in this quoted prohibition. That bill as introduced, in -the section that provided for the election of a delegate to Congress -from Kansas, had the stipulation: - - That the constitution and all laws of the United States, which are - not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect - within said territory as elsewhere in the United States. - -To this the amended bill added the following reservation: - - Except the section of the act preparatory to the admission of - Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which was - superseded by the principles of the legislation of 1850, commonly - called the compromise measure, and is declared inoperative. - -A similar provision with a like reservation was added to the section -providing for the election of a delegate from Nebraska. A prolonged and -brilliant debate followed in the Senate, and finally in place of the -original reservation the following was adopted, on motion of Senator -Stephen A. Douglas, by a vote of 35 to 10: - - Except the section of the act preparatory to the admission of - Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which, being - inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress - with slavery in the States and territories, as recognized by the - legislation in 1850 (commonly called the compromise measure), is - hereby declared inoperative and void, it being the true intent and - meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or - State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof - perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions - in their own way, subject only to the constitution of the United - States. - -Senator Chase then moved to add to the above the following: - - Under which the people of the territory, through their appropriate - representatives, may, if they see fit, prohibit the existence of - slavery therein. - -This amendment was voted down, yeas 10, nays 36, the Senate thus -declaring its understanding that the people of the new territories -should _not_ be allowed to prohibit slavery previous to their admission -as a State. The bill passed on the morning of March 4th, by a vote -of 37 to 14. In the House a separate bill had been introduced, but -when it came up for consideration the Senate bill was substituted for -it--by a parliamentary trick its opponents were prevented from offering -amendments--and the bill was passed, yeas 113, nays 100. It went back -to the Senate, in form as an original measure, but in effect the Senate -bill, and on May 26 was finally passed by that body and was approved by -President Pierce on May 30. The debate had been a memorable one; for -the friends of Liberty, while they resisted to the last the surrender -of what had been once bought for Freedom, joyfully recognized the fact -that this act would in its logic make every compromise repealable, -and thus kill in the womb all future political bargainings. Benjamin -F. Wade said in the Senate that "the violation of the plighted -faith of the nation would precipitate a conflict between liberty and -slavery; and that, in such a conflict, it will not be liberty that -will die in the nineteenth century. You may call me an Abolitionist -if you will; I care little for that, for if an undying hatred to -slavery constitutes an Abolitionist, I am that Abolitionist. If man's -determination at all times and at all hazards, to the last extremity, -to resist the extension of slavery, or any other tyranny, constitutes -an Abolitionist, I before God believe myself to be that Abolitionist." -William H. Seward said: "You are setting an example which abrogates all -compromises.... It has been no proposition of mine to abrogate them -now; but the proposition has come from another quarter--from an adverse -one. It is about to prevail. The shifting sands of compromise are -passing from under my feet, and they are now, without agency of my own, -taking hold again on the rock of the constitution. It shall be no fault -of mine if they do not remain firm." Charles Sumner closed his protest -against this removal of "the landmarks of freedom" by declaring the -measure to be "at once the worst and best bill on which Congress ever -acted--the worst inasmuch as it is a present victory for slavery, and -the best bill because it prepares the way for the 'All hail hereafter,' -when slavery must disappear. Sorrowfully I bend before the wrong you -are about to perpetrate. Joyfully I welcome all the promises of the -future." - -The response of the North to the abrogation of the Missouri compromise -justified these predictions. To this overthrow of a solemn compact -for the purpose of opening a vast empire to attempts at slave -colonization, men of every shade of anti-slavery conviction made -answer by eagerly seeking ways of uniting in effective resistance to -such a crime against civilization. Amid an excitement, which grew -profounder as the contest progressed, and which was fed by the press, -the pulpit, and the lyceum, and was organized by public meetings, -the demand became daily stronger for political action on the basis of -uncompromising hostility to the aggressions of the slave power. Before -the Kansas-Nebraska controversy was finished the Whig party had ceased -to exist, the Democracy had become a pro-slavery organization, the era -of compromise had passed away, and the young giant of Republicanism -stood on the threshold of the territories commanding slavery to stand -back. This vast and far-reaching political revolution was accomplished -through the wholesale sacrifice of cherished ties by the friends of -free institutions and through their hearty union in the new party -of Freedom. The State in which this fusion of anti-slavery opinion -into Republicanism was first accomplished was Michigan, and the -Republican party as a distinct organization was born and christened -under the oaks of Jackson on the 6th of July, 1854. Political opinion -in that State was peculiarly ripe for this step. Its Whigs were with -but rare exceptions staunch anti-slavery men. Even Senator Cass's -great influence had failed to keep all the Democrats submissive to -pro-slavery compromises. The Free Soilers were strong in character -and several thousands in number. Thus when the opportunity came for -decisive action it found the men ready. - -The Free Democrats of Michigan, encouraged by the increase in their -vote in 1852, and responding to an appeal of the "Independent Democrats -in Congress" (signed by Salmon P. Chase, Charles Sumner, Joshua R. -Giddings, Gerrit Smith, Edward Wade, and Alexander De Witt) for popular -resistance to the attack on the Missouri compact, held the first -political convention of 1854 in that State. It met in Jackson, on -February 22d, under a call issued at Detroit on January 12, and signed -by U. Tracy Howe, Hovey K. Clarke, Samuel Zug, Silas M. Holmes, S. A. -Baker, S. B. Thayer, S. P. Mead, J. W. Childs, and Erastus Hussey, -forming the state central committee of that party. The convention -was called to order by Hovey K. Clarke, and it organized with Wm. -T. Howell of Hillsdale as president. The committee on resolutions -consisted of Hovey K. Clarke, Fernando C. Beaman, Kinsley S. Bingham, -E. Hussey, Nathan Power, D. C. Leach, and L. Moore, and a committee of -twenty-four was appointed to nominate a State ticket. The committee on -resolutions reported a platform prepared by Hovey K. Clarke, declaring -freedom national and slavery sectional, and denouncing the attempt to -repeal the Missouri compromise as an infamous outrage upon justice, -humanity and good faith. The nominating committee submitted this list -of candidates for the State offices: - - Governor--Kinsley S. Bingham. - Lieutenant-Governor--Nathan Pierce. - Secretary of State--Lovell Moore. - State Treasurer--Silas M. Holmes. - Auditor-General--Philotus Hayden. - Attorney-General--Hovey K. Clarke. - Commissioner of Land Office--Seymour B. Treadwell. - Superintendent of Public Instruction--Elijah H. Pilcher. - Member of Board of Education--Isaac P. Christiancy. - -Kinsley S. Bingham was a pioneer farmer of Central Michigan, one of -the very best representatives of his influential class, and a man of -sterling sense, strong convictions, and excellent abilities. He had -served with honor in the State Legislature, and had as a Democratic -Congressman sustained alone in his State delegation the Wilmot -Proviso. His nomination was in itself the strongest possible appeal -to the anti-slavery Democrats of the State. The ticket also had upon -it the names of gentlemen who had in the past acted with the Whigs. -The convention ratified the reports of its committees, and after -listening to a few speeches adjourned. It was a significant fact that -two of the speakers were conspicuous Whigs, Henry Barns of the Detroit -_Tribune_, and Halmer H. Emmons; Mr. Emmons was especially emphatic -in his expression of the hope that before the day of election "all -the friends of freedom would be able to stand upon a common platform -against the party and platform of the slave propagandists." - -Cotemporaneously with this organized action of the Free Soilers, but -outside of it and of all party lines, there were held many public -meetings throughout Michigan to denounce the Kansas-Nebraska act. -Some of these were county conventions in form, and others were local -mass-meetings. One of the latter took place at Detroit on the 18th of -February; Zachariah Chandler was among the many prominent citizens who -signed its call, and was one of the five speakers from its platform -(the others were Jonathan Kearsley, Samuel Barstow, James A. Van Dyke, -and D. Bethune Duffield). The tone of all the speeches was wholesomely -defiant, and this was also true of the resolutions adopted which were -reported by a committee consisting of Samuel Barstow, Jacob M. Howard, -Joseph Warren, James M. Edmunds, and Henry H. Le Roy. The effect of -this demonstration in the metropolis of the State upon public opinion -was marked, and it and like non-partisan action did much to pave the -way for the fusion of July. Powerful contributions to the same movement -came also from the strong and growing current of sentiment in that -direction throughout the entire North, and from the significant results -of many of the spring elections. Both New Hampshire and Connecticut -elected anti-administration candidates in March and April, and in -Michigan anti-slavery coalitions were successful in quite a number of -municipal contests, notably in the important city of Grand Rapids which -chose Wilder D. Foster mayor on that issue. - -Throughout the spring of 1854 many private conferences (Mr. Chandler -sharing in them) were held in Michigan among representative men of -the Whigs, Free Soilers, and Anti-Nebraska Democrats to discuss the -feasibility of union and consider plans for its accomplishment. The -early action of the Free Soilers was in fact a practical obstacle in -the way. That party represented but a small element of the anti-slavery -sentiment of Michigan, and neither the sincerity of its purpose, nor -its tender of the olive branch by placing Whig names on its State -ticket, nor the soundness of its platform on the slavery question could -counterbalance the many reasons why the Whigs would not surrender -a time-honored organization and march bodily into the camp of what -they had always regarded as a faction of impracticables. There was -also much in the State situation to encourage Whig hope, for the -party there was almost solidly anti-slavery and certain to profit by -the weakening of the enemy through the revolt of the Anti-Nebraska -Democrats. But there was a vigor of principle and an intelligence of -sentiment in the Whig party of Michigan which encouraged the belief -that it would not subordinate essentials to a name, and that it would -assent to an anti-slavery union under conditions not involving any -seeming self-degradation. In fact it was called upon to make the only -real sacrifice involved in the desired coalition. The Free Soilers -were powerless, and had nothing to lose and everything to gain in -the new movement; the Anti-Nebraska Democrats were condemned by, and -without influence in, their own party; but the Whigs were strong -in numbers, and were asked to surrender a historic name, honorable -traditions and reviving hope for a doubtful experiment. But that the -hour demanded precisely this act of self-denial was clear, and men -of resolution and principle grappled with the problem of making it -possible. Altogether the most important work in that direction was done -by Joseph Warren, editor of the Detroit _Tribune_, then an influential -Whig paper, which began the publication in its columns of a series of -vigorous and well-considered articles advocating the organization of -a new party composed of all the opponents of slavery extension. This -policy accorded with the drift of public opinion, and, involving as -it did the disbanding of both the Whig and Free Soil organizations, -avoided any appearance of surrender and humiliation. Public and private -discussion made its wisdom plainer, and the proof of its feasibility -was followed by steps for its accomplishment. An indispensable -preliminary was the withdrawal of the "Free Democrat" ticket, as this -would remove the chief stumbling-block in the path of the anti-slavery -Whigs. Mr. Warren, whose personal labors at this juncture were of the -utmost value, writes with reference to the spirit with which the Free -Soil leaders met the demand for this step: - - One of the first and chiefest obstacles to be overcome in order to - ensure the co-operation of all the opponents of slavery extension - in the movement looking to the organization of a new party, was - to induce the Free Soilers to consent to the withdrawal of their - ticket from the field, thus placing themselves on the same footing - as the Whigs (who as yet had made no nominations), free from all - entangling alliances and in a position to act in a way likely to - prove most effectual. But formidable as this obstacle seemed to - be in the beginning, it was promptly removed through the wisely - directed and patriotic efforts of the prominent leaders of the - party. Such men as Hovey K. Clarke, Silas M. Holmes, Kinsley S. - Bingham, Seymour Treadwell, all on the Free Soil ticket, F. C. - Beaman, S. P. Mead, I. P. Christiancy, W. W. Murphy, Whitney Jones, - U. Tracy Howe, Jacob S. Farrand, Rev. S. A. Baker, proprietor, - and Rev. Jabez Fox, editor of the Detroit _Free Democrat_, were - especially active and influential in preparing the way for this - necessary preliminary step. - -This readiness of the Free Soil leaders to make the sacrifices required -on their part bore prompt fruit. The Kansas-Nebraska bill was passed -by the House on the 22d of May, and three days after a stirring call -was issued for a mass convention of the Free Democrats of Michigan at -Kalamazoo on June 21st. The village of Kalamazoo had long been a center -of anti-slavery sentiment, and the agitation against the pending bill -had been especially vigorous there and in the surrounding counties. -The call was full of fiery denunciation of the slavery propagandists, -and its vigor and _vim_ showed how thoroughly the people were aroused. -The convention itself, owing to bad weather and other inauspicious -circumstances, was not a large one, but its character and action were -significant and important. Among those in attendance were four of -the candidates on the "Free Democrat" ticket, including Kinsley S. -Bingham. M. A. McNaughton was made president, and Hovey K. Clarke, -from the committee for that purpose, reported a series of resolutions -reviewing the disgraceful proceedings of the session of Congress, -denouncing the Kansas-Nebraska bill as the crowning act of a series of -aggressions by which slavery had become the great national interest -of the country, and appealing to the virtue of the people "to declare -in an unmistakable tone their will that slavery aggression upon their -rights shall go no further, that there shall be no compromise with -slavery, that there shall be no more slave States, that there shall -be no slave territory, that the Fugitive Slave law shall be repealed, -that the abominations of slavery shall no longer be perpetrated under -the sanctions of the federal constitution, and that they will make -their will effective by driving from every place of official power the -public servants who have so shamelessly betrayed their trust, and by -putting in their places men who are honest and capable, men who will be -faithful to the constitution and the great claims of humanity." A final -resolution directed the appointment of a committee of sixteen, two from -each judicial district, to consult with others for the organization -of a new party animated and guided by the principles expressed in -the resolutions, and it empowered that committee, in case of the -establishment of an "efficient organization" of such a character, -to surrender the "distinctive organization" of the "Free Democrats" -and withdraw the State ticket nominated on the 22d of February. This -action, reached after a vigorous discussion, cleared the way for the -coalition. - -A few days before the meeting of the Kalamazoo convention, but after -its probable course had become apparent, a call had appeared in the -columns of the Detroit _Tribune_ (it was copied, after the Kalamazoo -action, by the Detroit _Free Democrat_ also) for a mass-meeting at -Jackson, on July 6, of all the opponents of slavery extension. This -was signed by several thousand leading citizens of Michigan, in all -parts of the State, including Zachariah Chandler, Jacob M. Howard, H. -P. Baldwin, H. K. Clarke, Franklin Moore, John Owen, Jacob S. Farrand, -Shubael Conant, J. J. Bagley, E. B. Ward, R. W. King, James Burns, -Charles M. Croswell, Allen Potter, Austin Blair, Isaac P. Christiancy, -Chas. T. Gorham, and others. The signatures filled two newspaper -columns in close type, and it was announced on the last day that -several hundred names had been received too late for publication. The -text of this document was as follows: - - -TO THE PEOPLE OF MICHIGAN. - - A great wrong has been perpetrated. The slave power of this country - has triumphed. Liberty is trampled under foot. The Missouri - compromise, a solemn compact, entered into by our fathers, has been - violated, and a vast territory dedicated to freedom has been opened - to slavery. - - This act, so unjust to the North, has been perpetrated under - circumstances which deepen its perfidy. An administration placed in - power by Northern votes has brought to bear all the resources of - executive corruption in its support. - - Northern Senators and Representatives, in the face of the - overwhelming public sentiment of the North, expressed in the - proceedings of public meetings and solemn remonstrances, without - a single petition in its favor on their table, and not daring to - submit this great question to the people, have yielded to the - seductions of executive patronage, and, Judas-like, betrayed the - cause of liberty; while the South, inspired by a dominant and - grasping ambition, has, without distinction of party, and with - a unanimity almost entire, deliberately trampled under foot the - solemn compact entered into in the midst of a crisis threatening - to the peace of the Union, sanctioned by the greatest names of our - history, and the binding force of which has, for a period of more - than thirty years, been recognized and declared by numerous acts - of legislation. Such an outrage upon liberty, such a violation - of plighted faith, cannot be submitted to. This great wrong must - be righted, or there is no longer a North in the councils of the - nation. The extension of slavery, under the folds of the American - flag, is a stigma upon liberty. The indefinite increase of slave - representation in Congress is destructive to that equality between - freemen which is essential to the permanency of the Union. - - The safety of the Union--the rights of the North--the interests of - free labor--the destiny of a vast territory and its untold millions - for all coming time--and finally, the high aspirations of humanity - for universal freedom, all are involved in the issue forced upon - the country by the slave power and its plastic Northern tools. - - In view, therefore, of the recent action of Congress upon this - subject, and the evident designs of the slave power to attempt - still further aggressions upon freedom--we invite all our fellow - citizens, without reference to former political associations, who - think that the time has arrived for a _union_ at the North to - protect liberty from being overthrown and down-trodden, to assemble - in mass convention on Thursday, the 6th of July next, at 4 o'clock, - P. M., at Jackson, there to take such measures as shall be thought - best to concentrate the popular sentiment of this State against the - aggression of the slave power. - -The response to this appeal was the gathering at Jackson, on a -bright mid-summer day, of hundreds of influential men from all parts -of Michigan, representing every shade of anti-slavery feeling, and -thoroughly alive to the importance of the occasion and the difficulty -of the task projected. The convention far outstripped in numbers the -preparations for its accommodation, and, after filling to excess the -largest hall in the town, it adjourned to meet in a beautiful oak -grove, situated between the village and the county race-course, on a -tract of land then known as "Morgan's Forty." The growth of Jackson has -since covered this historic ground with buildings, and the spacious -grove has dwindled to a few scattered oaks shading the city's busy -streets. A rude platform erected for speakers was appropriated by the -officers of the convention, and about it thronged a mass of earnest -men, the vanguard of the Republican host. In a body so incongruous -and unwieldy, confused purposes, discordant views, and conflicting -interests were unavoidable, but the universal fervor of the fusion -sentiment formed a broad foundation for harmonious action, and the -convention did not lack for shrewd and sagacious political managers -with the skill to direct earnest effort into practical channels. Such -differences of opinion as there were on questions of policy and as -to candidates exhausted themselves in private conferences and secret -committee deliberations, and the convention itself did its business -with promptness, without discord, and amid a genuine enthusiasm. - -Its temporary chairman was the Hon. Levi Baxter, of Jonesville, a -pioneer settler of Southern Michigan, and the founder of a family of -marked prominence in that State. He was well known as the master spirit -of many important business enterprises, had been a Whig and then a Free -Soiler, and had been elected to the State Senate by a local coalition -of both those parties in his own county. After a brief address by -Mr. Baxter, Jeremiah Van Renselaer was chosen temporary secretary, -and this committee on permanent organization was appointed: Samuel -Barstow, C. H. Van Cleeck, Isaac P. Christiancy, G. W. Burchard, Lovell -Moore, James W. Hill, Henry W. Lord, and Newell Avery. While they were -deliberating, the convention adjourned to the oak grove, and there -listened to brief speeches until a permanent organization was effected -with the following gentlemen as officers of the first Republican State -convention ever held: - - President--David S. Walbridge, of Kalamazoo. - - Vice-Presidents--F. C. Beaman, Oliver Johnson, Rudolph Diepenbeck, - Thomas Curtis, C. T. Gorham, Pliny Power, Emanuel Mann, Charles - Draper, George Winslow, Norman Little, John McKinney, W. W. Murphy. - - Secretaries--J. Van Renselaer, J. F. Conover, A. B. Turner. - -Mr. Walbridge was a prominent merchant of Central Michigan, and an -exceedingly active and earnest Whig. He had already served several -terms in the Legislature and was afterward a Republican Congressman -for four years from Michigan. His selection as president of the -convention was a wise recognition of the important Whig element in its -membership. The great throng next separated into representatives of -the four congressional districts, and chose the following committee -on resolutions: Jacob M. Howard, Austin Blair, Donald McIntyre, John -Hilsendegen, Charles Noble, Alfred R. Metcalf, John W. Turner, Levi -Baxter, Marsh Giddings, E. Hussey, A. Williams, John McKinney, Chas. -Draper, M. L. Higgins, J. E. Simmonds, Z. B. Knight. The chairmanship -of this important committee naturally fell to Jacob M. Howard, -of Detroit, a lawyer of eminence and rare powers, the first Whig -Congressman from Michigan, and a man of deservedly high reputation -for intellectual vigor and personal integrity. He was afterward for -nine years a Republican Senator, and at Washington earned national -distinction as the author of the Thirteenth Amendment and by much -able and laborious public service. Mr. Howard had prepared a draft -of a platform in advance of the convention, and the committee met to -consider it under a clump of trees on the outskirts of the grove (at -the present intersection of Franklin and Second streets in the city -of Jackson). No material modifications were made in the document, -which was adopted substantially as written by Mr. Howard, except that -Austin Blair proposed to add two resolutions relating to State affairs -purely. As to the expediency of this action there was some difference -of opinion, and finally Mr. Blair submitted his propositions as a -minority report, and the convention adopted and thus added them to the -main platform. Over the resolution formally christening the new party -"Republican," there was no especial discussion. There had already been -suggestions made throughout the country that, for the new organization -evidently about to be born, it might be expedient to revive "the name -of that wise conservative party, whose aim and purpose were the welfare -of the whole Union and the stainless honor of the American name."[4] -The history of this resolution in the Howard platform has been thus -given with undoubted correctness by Mr. Joseph Warren in a published -letter: "The honor of having named and christened the party the writer -has always claimed and now insists belongs jointly to Jacob M. Howard, -Horace Greeley and himself. Soon after the writer began to advocate, -through the columns of the _Tribune_, the organization of all opponents -of slavery into a single party, Horace Greeley voluntarily opened a -correspondence with him in regard to this movement, in which he frankly -communicated his views and gave him many valuable suggestions as to the -wisest course to be pursued. This correspondence was necessarily very -short, as it began and ended in June, it being only five weeks from the -repeal of the compromise, May 30, to the Jackson convention. In his -last letter, received only a day or two before it was to assemble, Mr. -Greeley suggested to him 'Republican,' according to his recollection, -but, as Mr. Howard contended, 'Democrat-Republican,' as an appropriate -name for the proposed new party. But this is of comparatively little -consequence. The material fact is, that this meeting the writer's -cordial approval, he gave Mr. Greeley's letter containing the -suggestions to Mr. Howard on the day of the convention, after he had -been appointed chairman of the committee on resolutions, and strongly -advised its adoption. This was done and the platform adopted." - -While the committee on resolutions was absent, the convention was -addressed by Zachariah Chandler, Kinsley S. Bingham, and a number of -others. No complete record was made of Mr. Chandler's remarks upon -this occasion, but the report of the convention in the Detroit _Free -Democrat_, prepared by its secretary, contains this: "We would say in -parenthesis that an allusion most generously made by Mr. Chandler to -Mr. Bingham drew from the crowd three rousing cheers for the latter -gentleman." The Jackson _Citizen_ also gave the following reference -to Mr. Chandler's remarks: "When in the course of his speech he gave -a brief history of the Wilmot Proviso in Michigan, alluding to the -anti-slavery resolutions passed by a Democratic State convention -in 1849, and the resolutions of instructions to our Senators and -Representatives in Congress by the Legislature on the same subject, -and then exclaimed that 'not one of our Representatives had ever been -_honest_ enough to carry them out except Kinsley S. Bingham, a spark -of enthusiasm fired the crowd, the shout of approbation ran through -the vast assembly, and, if any doubt had previously existed as to who -should be the man, that doubt was then removed." These addresses were -followed by the report of the committee on resolutions, which was read -by Mr. Howard amid frequent outbursts of applause, and was as follows: - - The freemen of Michigan, assembled in convention in pursuance of - a spontaneous call, emanating from various parts of the State, to - consider upon the measures which duty demands of us, as citizens of - a free State, to take in reference to the late acts of Congress on - the subject of slavery and its anticipated further extension, do - - _Resolve_, That the institution of slavery except in punishment - of crime is a great moral, social and political evil; that it was - so regarded by the fathers of the republic, the founders and best - friends of the Union, by the heroes and sages of the Revolution - who contemplated and intended its gradual and peaceful extinction - as an element hostile to the liberties for which they toiled; - that its history in the United States, the experience of men best - acquainted with its workings, the dispassionate confession of - those who are interested in it; its tendency to relax the vigor - of industry and enterprise inherited in the white man; the very - surface of the earth where it subsists; the vices and immoralities - which are its natural growth; the stringent police, often wanting - in humanity and revolting to the sentiments of every generous - heart, which it demands; the danger it has already wrought and the - future danger which it portends to the security of the Union and - our constitutional liberties--all incontestably prove it to lie - such evil. Surely that institution is not to be strengthened and - encouraged against which Washington, the calmest and wisest of our - nation, bore unequivocal testimony; as to which Jefferson, filled - with a love of liberty, exclaimed: "Can the liberties of a nation - be ever thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, - a conviction in the minds of the people that their liberties are - THE GIFT OF GOD; that they are not to be violated but with His - wrath? Indeed, I tremble, for my country when I reflect that God - is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; that, considering - numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel - of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events; that - it may become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty - has no attribute which can take sides with us in such a contest!" - And as to which another eminent patriot in Virginia, on the close - of the Revolution, also exclaimed: "Had we turned our eyes inwardly - when we supplicated the Father of Mercies to aid the injured and - oppressed, when we invoked the Author of Righteousness to attest - the purity of our motives and the justice of our cause, and - implored the God of battles to aid our exertions in its defense, - should we not have stood more self-convicted than the contrite - publican?" We believe these sentiments to be as true now as they - were then. - - _Resolved_, That slavery is a violation of the rights of man as - man; that the law of nature, which is the law of liberty, gives to - no man rights superior to those of another; that God and nature - have secured to each individual the inalienable right of equality, - any violation of which must be the result of superior force; and - that slavery therefore is a perpetual war upon its victims; that - whether we regard the institution as first originating in captures - made in war, or the subjection of the debtor as the slave of his - creditor, or the forcible seizure and sale of children by their - parents or subjects by their king, and whether it be viewed in - this country as a "_necessary evil_" or otherwise, we find it to - be, like imprisonment for debt, but a relic of barbarism as well - as an element of weakness in the midst of the State, inviting the - attack of external enemies, and a ceaseless cause of internal - apprehension and alarm. Such are the lessons taught us, not only - by the histories of other commonwealths, but by that of our own - beloved country. - - _Resolved_, That the history of the formation of the constitution, - and particularly the enactment of the ordinance of July 13, 1787, - prohibiting slavery north of the Ohio, abundantly shows it to have - been the purpose of our fathers not to promote but to prevent - the spread of slavery. And we, reverencing their memories and - cherishing free republican faith as our richest inheritance, which - we vow, at whatever expense, to defend, thus publicly proclaim our - determination to oppose by all the powerful and honorable means in - our power, now and henceforth, all attempts, direct or indirect, to - extend slavery in this country, or to permit it to extend into any - region or locality in which it does not now exist by positive law, - or to admit new slave States into the Union. - - _Resolved_, That the constitution of the United States gives to - Congress full and complete power for the municipal government of - the territories thereof, a power which from its nature cannot be - either alienated or abdicated without yielding up to the territory - an absolute political independence, which involves an absurdity. - That the exercise of this power necessarily looks to the formation - of States to be admitted into the Union; and on the question - whether they shall be admitted as _free_ or _slave_ States Congress - has a right to adopt such prudential and preventive measures as - the principles of liberty and the interests of the whole country - require. That this question is one of the gravest importance to - the free States, inasmuch as the constitution itself creates an - inequality in the apportionment of representatives, greatly to the - detriment of the free and to the advantage of the slave States. - This question, so vital to the interests of the free States (but - which we are told by certain political doctors of modern times is - to be treated with utter indifference) is one which we hold it to - be our right to _discuss_; which we hold it the duty of Congress - in every instance to determine in unequivocal language, and in - a manner to _prevent_ the spread of slavery and the increase of - such unequal representation. In short, we claim that the North is - a _party to the new bargain, and is entitled to have a voice and - influence in settling its terms_. And in view of the ambitious - designs of the slave power, we regard the man or the party who - would forego this right, as untrue to the honor and interest of the - North and unworthy of its support. - - _Resolved_, That the repeal of the "Missouri Compromise," contained - in the recent act of Congress for the creation of the territories - of Nebraska and Kansas, thus admitting slavery into a region till - then sealed against it by law, equal in extent to the thirteen old - States, is an act unprecedented in the history of the country, and - one which must engage the earnest and serious attention of every - Northern man. And as Northern freemen, independent of all former - parties, we here hold this measure up to the public execration, for - the following reasons: - - That it is a plain departure from the policy of the fathers of - the republic in regard to slavery, and a wanton and dangerous - frustration of their purposes and their hopes. - - That it actually admits _and was intended to admit_ slavery into - said territories, and thus (to use the words applied by Judge - Tucker, of Virginia, to the fathers of that commonwealth) "sows the - seeds of an evil which like a leprosy hath descended upon their - posterity with accumulated rancor, visiting the sins of the fathers - upon succeeding generations." That it was sprung upon the country - stealthily and by surprise, without necessity, without petition, - and without previous discussion, thus violating the cardinal - principle of republican government, which requires all legislation - to accord with the opinions and sentiments of the people. - - That on the part of the South it is an open and undisguised - breach of faith, as contracted between the North and South in - the settlement of the Missouri question in 1820, by which the - tranquillity of the two sections was restored; a compromise binding - upon all honorable men. - - That it is also an open violation of the compromise of 1850, by - which, for the sake of peace, and to calm the distempered pulse of - certain enemies of the Union at the South, the North accepted and - acquiesced in the odious "fugitive slave law" of that year. - - That it is also an undisguised and unmanly contempt of the pledge - given to the country by the present dominant party at their - national convention in 1852, not to "_agitate the subject of - slavery in or out of Congress_," being the same convention that - nominated Franklin Pierce to the Presidency. - - That it is greatly injurious to the free States, and to the - Territories themselves, tending to retard the settlement and to - prevent the improvement of the country by means of free labor, and - to discourage foreign immigrants resorting thither for their homes. - -[Illustration: THE FIRST REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. - -"UNDER THE OAKS," JACKSON, MICH., JULY 6, 1854.] - - That one of its principal aims is to give to the slave States - such a decided and practical preponderance in all the measures of - government as shall reduce the North, with all her industry, wealth - and enterprise, to be the mere province of a few slaveholding - oligarchs of the South--a condition too shameful to be contemplated. - - Because, as openly avowed by its Southern friends, it is intended - as an entering wedge to the still further augmentation of the slave - power by the acquisition of the other Territories, cursed with the - same "leprosy." - - _Resolved_, That the obnoxious measure to which we have alluded - ought to be _repealed_, and a provision substituted for it, - prohibiting slavery in said Territories, and each of them. - - _Resolved_, That after this gross breach of faith and wanton - affront to us as Northern men, we hold ourselves absolved from all - "_compromises_" (except those expressed in the constitution) for - the protection of slavery and slave-owners; that we now demand - measures of protection and immunity for ourselves; and among them - we demand the _repeal of the fugitive slave law_, and an act to - abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. - - _Resolved_, That we notice without dismay certain popular - indications by slaveholders on the frontier of said Territories of - a purpose on their part to prevent by violence the settlement of - the country by non-slaveholding men. To the latter we say: Be of - good cheer, persevere in the right, remember the Republican motto, - "THE NORTH WILL DEFEND YOU." - - _Resolved_, That postponing and suspending all differences with - regard to political economy or administrative policy, in view of - the imminent danger that Kansas and Nebraska will be grasped by - slavery, and a thousand miles of slave soil be thus interposed - between the free States of the Atlantic and those of the Pacific, - we will act cordially and faithfully in unison to avert and repeal - this gigantic wrong and shame. - - _Resolved_, That in view of the necessity of battling for the first - principles of republican government, and against the schemes of an - aristocracy, the most revolting and oppressive with which the earth - was ever cursed, or man debased, we will co-operate and be known as - REPUBLICANS until the contest be terminated. - - _Resolved_, That we earnestly recommend the calling of a general - convention of the free States, and such of the slaveholding States, - or portions thereof, as may desire to be there represented, with a - view to the adoption of other more extended and effectual measures - in resistance to the encroachments of slavery; and that a committee - of five persons be appointed to correspond and co-operate with our - friends in other States on the subject. - - _Resolved_, That in relation to the domestic affairs of the State - we urge a more economical administration of the government and a - more rigid accountability of the public officers: a speedy payment - of the balance of the public debt, and the lessening of the amount - of taxation: a careful preservation of the primary school and - university funds, and their diligent application to the great - objects for which they were created; and also further legislation - to prevent the unnecessary or imprudent sale of the lands belonging - to the State. - - _Resolved_, That in our opinion the commercial wants of Michigan - require the enactment of a general railroad law, which, while - it shall secure the investment and encourage the enterprise of - stockholders, shall also guard and protect the rights of the public - and of individuals, and that the preparation of such a measure - requires the first talents of the State. - -The resolutions were adopted almost unanimously, and thereupon Isaac -P. Christiancy, as chairman of the committee of sixteen appointed by -the Kalamazoo convention, came forward and announced the absolute -abandonment of the State ticket and organization of the Free -Democracy--an act which was greeted with loud and prolonged applause. A -committee of ninety, consisting of three from each Senatorial district -in the State, and including the names of Jacob M. Howard, Moses -Wisner, Charles M. Croswell, Fernando C. Beaman, and Chas. T. Gorham, -was next appointed to nominate a State ticket, and the convention -adjourned until evening. At that session, which was held in one of the -village halls, a State central committee was chosen, and the committee -on nominations reported the following ticket which was unanimously -endorsed by the convention, this closing its formal proceedings: - - Governor--Kinsley S. Bingham, of Livingston. - Lieutenant-Governor--George A. Coe, of Branch. - Secretary of State--John McKinney, of Van Buren. - State Treasurer--Silas M. Holmes, of Wayne. - Attorney-General--Jacob M. Howard, of Wayne. - Auditor-General--Whitney Jones, of Ingham. - Commissioner of Land Office--Seymour B. Treadwell, of Jackson. - Superintendent of Public Instruction--Ira Mayhew, of Monroe. - Member Board of Education--John R. Kellogg, of Allegan. - (To fill vacancy)--Hiram L. Miller, of Saginaw. - -The response of the anti-slavery masses to the action of the convention -was prompt and cordial. Some of the more earnest and enthusiastic -Whigs who had hoped that the Northern wing of their party could be -transformed into an efficient champion of slavery restriction--Mr. -Chandler had shared in this feeling--at first doubted the wisdom of -what had been done. They found themselves called upon to make large -sacrifices of cherished traditions and ties, and felt that their -representation upon the fusion State ticket was not in due proportion -to the number of votes they would be expected to contribute to its -election. But this not unnatural feeling of early disappointment -had but a brief existence among the Whigs of strong anti-slavery -convictions. As the good faith of the movement, the spontaneous -character of the popular uprising, and the possibility of accomplishing -anti-slavery union throughout the North became clear, they laid aside -all hesitation and joined with sincere ardor in the work of Republican -organization. Before the close of the summer of 1854 the strong -leaders and the intelligent rank and file of the Michigan Whigs had -accepted the new fellowship, and the action of the Jackson convention -received their hearty acquiescence and loyal support. Mr. Chandler -rendered valuable service in the following campaign as an organizer of -Republicanism throughout Michigan, and put into this work enough of his -characteristic vigor to earn from the Democratic papers the title of -the "traveling agent" of the "new Abolition party." - -There was still among the Whigs a small conservative minority who, -chiefly through the inspiration of pro-slavery sentiment and under -the leadership of the Detroit _Advertiser_, made a desperate effort -to prevent the abandonment of their party organization. They procured -the signing of a circular addressed to the Whig committee asking that -a State convention should be held, and in compliance with this request -a call was issued for a convention to meet at Marshall on October 4. -When it assembled it was found that the great majority of its delegates -favored union with the Republicans. They controlled its proceedings -throughout, and put in the chair Rufus Hosmer who was then the head of -the new Republican State central committee, elected a State central -committee composed of ardent fusionists, defeated the schemes for the -nomination of a ticket, and issued an address urging the Whigs of -Michigan to unite in this campaign with all other opponents of the -spread of slavery. This decisive action made the Michigan election of -1854 a contest between Republicanism and the Democracy (which held its -convention at Detroit on September 14, and placed John S. Barry at the -head of its State ticket). - -The local result of the Jackson convention was a permanent political -revolution. In November the Republicans elected their entire State -ticket (giving Mr. Bingham 43,652 votes to 38,675 for Mr. Barry), -three of the four Congressmen, and a Legislature with an overwhelming -majority in both branches against the Kansas-Nebraska policy. The -Republican ascendancy thus established in Michigan has never been -impaired. That party has been victorious in every State election since -1854; and of the Governors since chosen every one who was at that time -a resident of the State (Henry H. Crapo did not settle in Michigan -until 1856) was a member of the Jackson convention. Michigan has also -since sent only Republicans to the Senate; every one of them except -Thomas W. Ferry (who had barely attained his majority in 1854) was a -prominent actor in the scenes "under the oaks." It has sent seventy-six -Republicans and only seven Democrats to the House of Representatives, -and the Republicans have controlled both branches of every Legislature -since 1854. Iowa is the only State which can point to a similar record -of uninterrupted Republican victory. In Vermont the Democrats have been -uniformly defeated, but the opposition ticket in 1854 was not called -Republican. Of the States which have been admitted since 1854, three -(Kansas, Nebraska and Minnesota) have been steadfastly Republican, but -Michigan surpasses them in the duration, while she equals them in the -quality, of her fidelity to the party of Freedom. Each of the other -Northern States has at least once chosen an anti-Republican Governor, -while Michigan (with Iowa) has been uniformly Republican. - -The claim that Michigan was the first State to organize and name the -Republican party cannot be successfully disputed.[5] The convention -"under the oaks" of Jackson ante-dates by a week or more all similar -bodies. The first Republican convention in Wisconsin was held at -Madison on July 13, 1854. Its call was issued (July 9) after a number -of Anti-Nebraska meetings had been held in different parts of the -State, and invited "all men opposed to the repeal of the Missouri -compromise and the extension of the slave power" to take part. This -convention adopted the following as one of its resolutions: - - _Resolved_, That we accept the issue forced upon us by the slave - power, and in defense of Freedom, will co-operate and be known as - Republicans. - -The Anti-Nebraska men of Massachusetts met in convention on July 19 -of the same year, and organized the Republican party in that State by -adopting the following resolution: - - _Resolved_, That in co-operation with the friends of Freedom in - sister States, we hereby form the Republican party of Massachusetts. - -But the Republicans did not carry Massachusetts that year, the -Anti-Nebraska vote being cast almost solidly for the successful -Know-Nothing ticket. In Vermont, on July 13, 1854, a mass convention -was held of persons "in favor of resisting, by all constitutional -means, the usurpations of the propagandists of slavery." Among the -resolutions there adopted was one which closed with these words: "We -propose and respectfully recommend to the friends of Freedom in other -States to co-operate and be known as Republicans." A State ticket was -nominated, but, the State committees of the various parties being -empowered "to fill vacancies," a fusion ticket was afterward placed in -the field, voted for and elected under the name of Fusion. On the same -day a convention was held in Columbus, O., which organized a canvass -which swept that State at the fall elections; during this campaign -most of the Anti-Nebraska candidates called themselves Republicans, -and the party formally adopted that name at the State convention in -1855 which nominated Salmon P. Chase for Governor. It will be seen -that the Jackson convention preceded all these kindred gatherings. To -this statement may be profitably added the testimony of Henry Wilson, -who, after thoroughly investigating the whole subject of the origin of -Republicanism, wrote:[6] - - But whatever suggestions others may have made, or whatever action - may have been taken elsewhere, to Michigan belongs the honor of - being the first State to form and christen the Republican party. - More than three months before the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska - bill the Free Soil convention had adopted a mixed ticket, made - up of Free-Soilers and Whigs, in order that there might be a - combination of the anti-slavery elements of the State. Immediately - on the passage of the Nebraska bill, Joseph Warren, editor of - the Detroit _Tribune_, entered upon a course of measures that - resulted in bringing the Whig and Free Soil parties together, not - by a mere coalition of the two, but by a fusion of the elements - of which the two were composed. In his own language, he "took - ground in favor of disbanding the Whig and Free Soil parties and - of the organization of a new party, composed of all the opponents - of slavery extension." Among the first steps taken toward the - accomplishment of this vitally important object was the withdrawal - of the Free Soil ticket. This having been effected, a call for a - mass convention was issued signed by more than 10,000 names. The - convention met on the 6th day of July, and was largely attended. - - A platform drawn by the Hon. Jacob M. Howard, afterward United - States Senator from Michigan, was adopted, not only opposing the - extension of slavery, but declaring in favor of its abolition - in the District of Columbia. The report also proposed the name - of "Republican" for the new party, which was adopted by the - convention. Kinsley S. Bingham was nominated for Governor, and - was triumphantly elected; and Michigan, thus early to enter the - ranks of the Republican party, has remained steadfast to its then - publicly-avowed principles and faith. - -It is true that the Michigan convention of July 6, 1854, was only one -development of a vast national agitation. The forces that gave it being -were at work throughout the continent. Like movements were on foot in -every Northern State. Kindred bodies met in the same month to take -the same action. But to the men who gathered on that mid-summer day -in the oak grove at Jackson belongs the honor of being the first to -comprehend a great opportunity; they were wise enough to improve all -its possibilities, and there founded and named the party of the future. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[4] Israel Washburn in an address at Bangor, Me. - -[5] The Senator from Virginia has stated that the Republican party -originated in New England, from Know Nothingism. It is not true, sir; -it had no such origin; it originated in no such place and from no -such source. The Republican party was born in Michigan, on the sixth -day of July, 1854. It had no origin from Know Nothingism or any other -thing, except the outrageous, the infamous repeal of the time-honored -Missouri compromise by the Congress of that year. It was christened -the Republican party at its birth. It is perfectly evident the Senator -from Virginia knows nothing at all about the Republican party, its -origin, its ends, or its aims. He does not know anything about its -birth or its principles. I merely wish to correct the misapprehension -on his part that it was born in New England or anywhere else out of the -State of Michigan. There is where it was born, sir; and we glory in the -production of such a child.--_Mr. Chandler in the Senate, December 14, -1859, in reply to Senator Mason, of Virginia._ - -[6] Wilson's "Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America," volume 2, -page 412. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE FIRST ELECTION TO THE SENATE. - - -The abrogation of the Missouri compromise was followed by the arbitrary -enforcement of the Fugitive Slave act in important Northern cities, and -by a determined struggle between freedom and slavery for the possession -of the virgin soil of Kansas. These phases of "the irrepressible -conflict" were attended by many exciting incidents which constantly -strengthened the new anti-slavery party in the North and in the end -made it the main competitor of the Democracy in the presidential -election of 1856. The decisive character of its victory in Michigan -in 1854 made Republicanism especially strong in that State, and the -events of each successive month of 1855 and 1856 added to its power -both in numbers and in sentiment. Throughout this period Mr. Chandler -labored, in public and in private, and with earnestness and effect, to -inspire the new party with vigor of conviction and unflinching firmness -of purpose. No man did more than he to make it thoroughly "radical," -and his former prominence as a Whig rendered his efforts especially -fruitful. His earliest Republican speeches did not differ from his -latest in courage of opinion, in plainness of expression, or in -manifest sincerity of conviction. On September 12, 1855, he addressed, -with Henry Wilson, an immense mass-meeting at Kalamazoo, and denounced -the border-ruffian crimes in Kansas in the strongest terms. On the 30th -of May, 1856, he was one of the speakers at a large meeting held in the -city of Detroit to consider the assault of Preston Brooks upon Charles -Sumner. He there gave expression to Republican indignation in the -plainest language. After fitly describing the era of pro-slavery murder -in Kansas, and the recent crime of "a cowardly assassin on the very -floor of the Senate of the United States," he offered two resolutions, -one demanding the impeachment of Franklin Pierce for his action in -relation to Kansas, and a second to expel Rust, of Arkansas, for his -attack upon Horace Greeley, and Preston Brooks for his assault on Mr. -Sumner. Then he said in substance: - - This is not a time for argument. It is a time for action, for - speaking boldly and fearlessly.... This assault is upon the entire - North. So long have craven doughface representatives sat in her - places in Congress that the South has come to doubt our manhood.... - We should uphold the hands of our representatives, and tell them - that an indignity offered to them is an indignity offered to us. - [Applause.] ... The resolution calling for the impeachment of - the President is one proper to be offered. He has connived at - and aided all this Kansas treachery and wrong. He supports the - bogus Legislature of Kansas and orders its odious laws enforced. - If Thomas Jefferson was to read his preamble to the Declaration - of Independence in Kansas, he could be condemned by those laws - to imprisonment in the penitentiary for two years.... What the - British did at Lexington, the United States troops, under the - orders of President Pierce, did at Lawrence. Our fathers resisted - by all means in their power. We should imitate their example. What - should we do?... We should send enough men there to put Kansas in a - peaceable condition. - -Mr. Chandler also said: "Had I been on the floor of the Senate when -that assault occurred, so help me God, that ruffian's blood would -have flowed," and he closed by declaring that Detroit should send one -hundred men to Kansas, and by pledging himself, if that was done, to -devote his entire income while they were there to aiding in their -maintenance. He also made a forcible speech at a Kansas relief meeting, -held in Detroit, to greet Gov. Andrew H. Reeder, on June 2, 1856, -and then headed a subscription paper for the aid of the struggling -Free State men of that territory with the sum of $10,000. Actions and -utterances of this kind in the plastic days of Michigan Republicanism -gave to it that resolute and robust character which has been the source -of its power. - -The first national convention of the Republican party was held at -Pittsburg on the 22d of February, 1856, under a call issued by -the chairmen of the Republican committees of Ohio, Massachusetts, -Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It was attended by -delegates representing twenty-seven States and territories, and -provided for the national organization of the Republican party by -creating a general executive committee and calling a convention, to -meet at Philadelphia on June 17, to nominate a presidential ticket. -Michigan was represented at Pittsburg by a delegation of eighteen, -headed by Zachariah Chandler, and including Kinsley S. Bingham, Jacob -M. Howard, and Fernando C. Beaman. Mr. Chandler was also a member of -the committee which reported the plan for the national organization of -the Republican party, and he participated briefly in the debates of -that important gathering. The Michigan convention to elect delegates to -Philadelphia was held at Ann Arbor, on March 8, 1856, and was addressed -by Mr. Chandler and other prominent Republicans. He was a member of the -Philadelphia convention, acting as an alternate for Charles T. Gorham, -and, after Fremont was nominated, formally promised that the electoral -vote of Michigan should be given for the ticket. He was there made the -member for his State of the first Republican National Committee. The -Michigan delegation at Philadelphia originally supported Mr. Seward for -the presidency, but finally joined in the movement to nominate General -Fremont on the first ballot. For the vice-presidency the majority of -the delegation supported William L. Dayton, but Mr. Chandler, with four -others, voted for Abraham Lincoln. - -In the following campaign Mr. Chandler was among the most active of -the Republican leaders. He aided liberally in the work of organizing -the party throughout the State, and spoke at Detroit several times, -and at Kalamazoo, Lapeer, Port Huron, Adrian, Coldwater, and other of -the important cities and towns of Michigan. He also held one joint -discussion with Alpheus Felch, at Olivet, on October 16. The tone of -his public utterances in 1856 will appear from these extracts from his -speech at Kalamazoo (on August 27) before an immense mass-meeting, -which was also addressed by Abraham Lincoln and Jacob M. Howard: - - The Republicans of Michigan stand by the constitution, and when - their defamers proclaim that they are a disunion party, as they - do so often, they publish what they know to be a falsehood.... We - are determined to stand by the constitution in all its parts, and, - more than that, to make our adversaries stand by it in all and - every part.... Our opponents have ignored this constitution with - but a single exception. And what is that exception? It is the key - to their character and their principles. In this whole instrument - they acknowledge but one clause, and that is the right to reclaim - fugitive slaves from their hard-earned freedom! - - We intend to make our opponents stand by this clause: "The citizens - of each State shall be entitled to the privileges of all the - States." But how is this at present on the Missouri? The citizens - of Massachusetts, of New Jersey, of Pennsylvania or of Michigan, - if they but presume to enter Kansas, are sent back with a guard or - murdered in cold blood, while the citizens of the South are aided - on their way to plant in that beautiful territory the accursed - blight of slavery. We will make them stand by the constitution in - all its parts, or, by the Eternal, we will have a different state - of things here. The oak shall bear other fruit than acorns if the - constitution be not upheld. - - Here is another clause of that instrument: "Congress shall make no - law abridging the freedom of speech or the press." How is it in - Kansas to-day regarding this? If any man shall dare to deny the - right to hold slaves in that territory he is imprisoned for a term - of five years. - - Our opponents must also stand by this clause of the constitution: - "A well-regulated militia being necessary of a free state, the - right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." - That clause of the constitution is trampled under foot, and the - Democratic platform in sustaining Pierce's administration virtually - sustains and endorses the disgraceful outrage. - - Here is another clause: "No person shall be deprived of life, - liberty or property without due process of law." The whole history - of the Kansas matter shows how shamefully this clause has been - rejected by those who uphold the administration. - - There are but two candidates for the Presidency and but two - platforms. The issue--the only issue--is: Shall slavery be - national? Shall it be under our protection, or shall it be under - the protection of the slave States only? The whole question of - platforms is in that. It is the only question.... The policy of - this government for twenty-five years has been pro-slavery. The - first act toward breaking that policy was the election of Banks - as Speaker last winter. It was the first of what I hope will be a - series of victories. - - A few years ago there was great commotion in the land. We were told - "the Union is in danger." "What shall be done?" That was the first - question. What was the answer of the men in power? "Use the utmost - power of the government; the Union must be saved." Armed men went - through the streets of Boston. Troops were ordered there in great - numbers. Ships of war were sent to Massachusetts Bay. What was the - terrible danger of the Union? There was a Negro lost! A slave had - run away! A poor African had escaped from his master and--lo, the - Union was in danger! "Use all the power of the government; the laws - must be enforced." Other troops were ordered there. The militia - were called out. They surrounded the jail. A sloop of war was sent. - Burns was borne back to his master and the Union was saved! - - There came a later cry, "the Union is in danger." This time it - was heard from bleeding Kansas. Armed bands were committing - daily depredations. This appeal reached the government, and what - answer is made by the party in power? "I see nothing to call for - executive interference." "Nothing?" Yet an empire is being crushed. - "Nothing?" Yet houses are being robbed and burned, and helpless - women and children murdered! "No cause for interference?" The - reason is plain. There was no Negro lost. - -Michigan fulfilled the pledge made in her behalf at Philadelphia by -Mr. Chandler, and gave to the Fremont electors 71,762 votes, while the -Buchanan ticket received but 52,136 and the Fillmore strength was only -1,660. The Republicans thus more than trebled their majority of 1854, -and in this year carried all of the four Congressional districts of the -State. Their victory in the legislative districts was overwhelming, and -they elected twenty-nine of the thirty-one Senators, and sixty-three of -the eighty Representatives. The term of Lewis Cass as Senator of the -United States expired on the 4th of the following March, and his State -had thus decided that he should give place to a representative of its -earnest and aggressive Republican sentiment. Mr. Chandler was at once -recognized as the leading candidate for the position by reason of his -positive qualities, his personal strength with the business classes -of the State and the masses of the people, and his prominence as a -representative of the strong Whig element in the Republican ranks. The -senatorial canvass was an earnest one, but it was from the outset clear -that Mr. Chandler was the first choice of decidedly the largest number -of legislators, and that no other man possessed his popular following. -Some unavailing efforts were made to combine against him the friends -of all other candidates, but the fact that he was also "the second -choice" of many members defeated this plan, and the Republican caucus -met at Lansing on January 8, 1857, with his marked lead in the contest -still unimpaired. Three ballots were taken at its first session, the -third giving Mr. Chandler a clear majority of all the votes cast. The -caucus then adjourned until the following day, when he received a still -stronger support on the fourth ballot and was formally nominated on the -fifth. The following is the record of the balloting: - - FIRST SESSION. SECOND SESSION. - +-----------^------------+ +-------^-------+ - / First Second Third \ / Fourth First \ - Informal Informal Informal Informal Formal - Ballot. Ballot. Ballot. Ballot. Ballot. - - Zachariah Chandler, 37 45 49 54 80 - Isaac P. Christiancy, 17 21 22 33 -- - Austin Blair, 18 7 6 -- -- - Moses Wisner, 12 9 10 -- -- - Jacob M. Howard, -- 6 6 3 -- - Kinsley S. Bingham, 3 7 2 -- -- - George A. Coe, 4 -- -- -- -- - James V. Campbell, 1 -- -- -- -- - Halmer H. Emmons, -- -- -- 1 -- - Blank, -- -- 1 -- -- - Scattering, -- -- -- -- 8 - ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- - TOTAL, 92 95 96 91 88 - -This result was received with the heartiest enthusiasm by the -Republicans, and the caucus greeted its nominee, when he came before it -to return his thanks, with prolonged cheering. The scene which followed -has been thus described by an eyewitness: "This was the only time in -an acquaintance of nearly thirty years that I ever saw Mr. Chandler -abashed. When brought before the caucus he trembled with emotion, and -it was several minutes before he could compose himself to even briefly -return his thanks. He has often said that it was the only time that his -courage and nerve absolutely failed him and that he completely broke -down. The rejoicing was so hearty and unselfish that it overcame him, -and he trembled like a child." On the 10th of January the two branches -of the Legislature voted for Senator, the Democrats complimenting -General Cass with their ineffectual votes. The record of the balloting -was as follows: - - SENATE. HOUSE. TOTAL. - Zachariah Chandler, 27 62 89 - Lewis Cass, 2 14 16 - Blank, -- 1 1 - -In the following joint convention of the two Houses the resolution, -reciting the action taken separately and finally recording Mr. -Chandler's election, was adopted without any dissent. Among the members -of the Legislature whose votes made him the first Republican Senator -from Michigan were Thomas W. Ferry, in later years his colleague in the -Senate, Omar D. Conger, who became afterward a Republican leader in the -lower branch of Congress, and George Jerome, a most intimate political -and personal friend throughout life. - -The Senate of the Thirty-fifth Congress met in special session at -Washington, on March 4, 1857, Franklin Pierce having convened it at the -request of his successor, who was inaugurated on that day. The names -upon its rolls were these: - - Clement C. Clay, Jr., and Benj. Fitzpatrick, of Alabama; - - Robert W. Johnson and Wm. K. Sebastian, of Arkansas; - - David C. Broderick and Wm. M. Gwin, of California; - - James Dixon and Lafayette S. Foster, of Connecticut; - - Martin W. Bates and James A. Bayard, of Delaware; - - Stephen R. Mallory and David L. Yulee, of Florida; - - Alfred Iverson and Robert Toombs, of Georgia; - - Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, of Illinois; - - Jesse D. Bright and Graham N. Fitch, of Indiana; - - James Harlan and Geo. W. Jones, of Iowa; - - John J. Crittenden and John B. Thompson, of Kentucky; - - Judah P. Benjamin and John Slidell, of Louisiana; - - W. P. Fessenden and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine; - - Anthony Kennedy and James A. Pearce, of Maryland; - - Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts; - - Zachariah Chandler and Chas. E. Stuart, of Michigan; - - Albert G. Brown and Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; - - James S. Green and Trusten Polk, of Missouri; - - James Bell and John P. Hale, of New Hampshire; - - John R. Thomson and William Wright, of New Jersey; - - Preston King and William H. Seward, of New York; - - Asa Biggs and David S. Reid, of North Carolina; - - Geo. E. Pugh and Benj. F. Wade, of Ohio; - - William Bigler and Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania; - - Philip Allen and James F. Simmons, of Rhode Island; - - Josiah J. Evans and Andrew P. Butler, of South Carolina; - - John Bell and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee; - - Samuel Houston and Thos. J. Rusk, of Texas; - - Jacob Collamer and Solomon Foot, of Vermont; - - R. M. T. Hunter and James M. Mason, of Virginia; - - James R. Doolittle and Charles Durkee, of Wisconsin. - -[Illustration: THE NATIONAL CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON.] - -This Senate met in the old chamber now occupied by the Supreme Court, -but around which then clustered fresh memories of Clay, Webster, -Calhoun and their cotemporaries. The Secretary, Asbury Dickins, -called the body to order, and in the absence of John C. Breckenridge, -Vice-President elect, James M. Mason of Virginia was chosen to preside -temporarily. After the roll was called of the members with unexpired -terms, the list of newly-elected Senators was read. As they responded -to their names they advanced to the front of the presiding officer's -desk, in groups of four, to take the oath of office. The first group -were Bates, Bayard, Bright and Broderick; the second consisted of -Simon Cameron, Zachariah Chandler, Jefferson Davis and James Dixon. -This scene was the subject, twenty-two years later,[7] of the most -effective speech ever delivered by Mr. Chandler; probably no speech -ever uttered in the Senate more thoroughly touched the popular heart or -was more widely read. Of the men who were then United States Senators, -parts and witnesses of this scene, Fitzpatrick, Sebastian, Broderick, -Dixon, Bates, Mallory, Iverson, Douglas, Bright, Crittenden, Thompson, -Slidell, Fessenden, Kennedy, Pearce, Sumner, Wilson, Green, Hale, -Thomson, Wright, King, Seward, Pugh, Wade, Allen, Simmons, Evans, -Butler, John Bell, Jas. Bell, Andrew Johnson, Houston, Rusk, Collamer, -Foot, Mason and Durkee (perhaps others) preceded Mr. Chandler to the -grave. Of this number, one (Broderick) was killed in a duel and two -committed suicide (Rusk killed himself at Nacogdoches, Tex., on July -29, 1857, and Preston King on August 15, 1865, and while collector of -the port of New York, jumped heavily weighted into the Hudson river). - -Of the members of this Senate Hamlin, Wilson (his original name was -Jeremiah Jones Colbath) and Johnson became Vice-Presidents, and -Johnson, on the death of Abraham Lincoln, became President. Mr. Hamlin -was the only one still in the Senate at the time of Mr. Chandler's -death, and his service had not been continuous but was broken by his -Vice-Presidential term. Sons of Cameron and Bayard were in 1879 in the -seats occupied by their fathers in 1857. Seward became Secretary of -State, Cameron Secretary of War, Fessenden Secretary of the Treasury, -and Harlan and Chandler Secretaries of the Interior. Durkee became -Governor of Utah, Jones Minister to Colombia and Cameron Minister to -Russia. Jones was, on his return from Colombia, arrested for treason -and confined in Fort Warren. Bright was expelled for treasonable -correspondence with the enemy; Polk was expelled for treason, and -Sebastian, who retired from the Senate when Arkansas seceded from -the Union, was also expelled, but after the war, ample proof being -furnished that he was and always remained true to the Union, the -resolution of expulsion was rescinded. Doolittle, Trumbull, Dixon and -Foster, who were Republicans in 1857, afterward joined the Democracy, -and Mr. Seward also ceased to be in sympathy with the party to which -he was indebted for his greatest honors. Gwin identified himself with -the Confederacy, then became _aide_ to the unfortunate Maximilian, by -whom he was created "Duke of Sonora," and is back again at Washington -as a lobbyist. Douglas and John Bell were defeated candidates for the -Presidency in 1860. Houston was Governor of Texas when the ordinance -of secession passed and was deposed from his office by the disunion -convention. - -Jefferson Davis, who swore to support the constitution and the Union -at the same instant with Mr. Chandler, within four years rebelled -against the government and became President of the so-called "Southern -Confederacy." Slidell, the most skilful of the disunion leaders, and -Mason were appointed by the rebel government Commissioners to Great -Britain, and while on their way across the ocean were seized by Captain -Wilkes, commanding the United States steamer San Jacinto, taken from -the British vessel Trent, and carried to Boston harbor, where they -were confined in Fort Warren on a charge of treason. This seizure the -Department of State declined to uphold, and on the demand of Great -Britain the "embassadors" were released. Slidell died abroad in merited -obscurity. Benjamin became Secretary of War of the Confederacy, and -after its downfall emigrated to England, became a British citizen, -and is a prosperous lawyer in London. Toombs was Confederate Secretary -of State, and is still living in Georgia, crying as he did in 1861 -"death to the Union." Mallory was Confederate Secretary of the Navy, -and for a time after the war was imprisoned in Fort Lafayette. Hunter -was also Secretary of State of the Confederacy; since the war he has -been Treasurer of Virginia, but with the political revolution of 1879 -retired to private life and poverty. Clay was a Confederate Senator -and diplomatic agent; in 1865 he was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe. -Fitzpatrick was the original nominee for Vice-President on the Douglas -ticket in 1860, but declined; he became a rebel but without prominence. -Robert W. Johnson was a Confederate Senator and afterward practiced law -in Washington. Yulee (whose original name was David Levy) retired from -the Senate to join the Confederacy, ceased to be conspicuous, and is -now president of a railroad in Florida. Iverson was a Brigadier-General -in the rebel army, as was also Toombs. Brown was Captain in the -Confederate army and a member of the Confederate Senate. Butler died -during the following recess of Congress, and Evans, his colleague, died -before the war. All of these Southern Senators, who retired with their -States in 1861 were afterward formally expelled from the Senate. - -When Mr. Chandler entered the Senate the House of Representatives was -controlled by the Democrats, but out of 234 members ninety-two were -filled with the fresh blood of the Republican party. Some of these -men were then distinguished, and others have become so since, but of -the entire number of Representatives only twelve yet remain in either -branch of Congress. Henry L. Dawes is a Senator from Massachusetts, -Lafayette Grover from Oregon, Justin S. Morill from Vermont, Zebulon -B. Vance from North Carolina, George H. Pendleton from Ohio, and L. Q. -C. Lamar from Mississippi. Samuel S. Cox, a Representative from Ohio -in 1857, is now a Representative from New York. Alex. H. Stephens of -Georgia, Alfred M. Scales of North Carolina, John H. Reagan of Texas, -Otho R. Singleton of Mississippi, and John D. C. Atkins of Tennessee -are again members of the House. Stephens was Vice-President of the -Confederacy; Scales was Captain, Colonel and Brigadier-General in the -rebel army; Singleton was Aid-de-camp to Gen. Robert E. Lee; and Atkins -was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth Confederate Tennessee regiment, and -afterward a member of the Confederate Congress. - -Others who were members of the House in 1857 afterward added to the -reputations they then enjoyed. Schuyler Colfax has been Vice-President. -A. H. Cragin, R. E. Fenton, Thomas L. Clingman, Frank P. Blair, Jr., -John W. Stevenson, Edwin D. Morgan, Joshua Hill, and George S. Houston -have been United States Senators. Israel Washburn has been Governor of -Maine, John Letcher of Virginia, and C. C. Washburn of Wisconsin. N. P. -Banks was a General in the Union army, and is United States Marshal of -Massachusetts. Daniel E. Sickles was also a General in the Union army -and afterward Minister to Spain. Francis E. Spinner was for many years -Treasurer of the United States. John Sherman has been a Senator, and is -Secretary of the Treasury. Elihu B. Washburne was Minister to France. -John A. Bingham is Minister to Japan, and Horace Maynard to Turkey. -Anson Burlingame was Minister to China, and afterward the embassador -of that empire to negotiate treaties with foreign powers. William A. -Howard is Governor of Dakota, and John S. Phelps of Missouri. The roll -of the dead of the Thirty-fifth House of Representatives far exceeds -that of the living. - -Zachariah Chandler entered the Senate of the United States with an -abiding faith in Northern civilization and its right to supremacy, -with a wise distrust of Southern professions, with a just hatred of -institutions poisoned by slavery, with a determination to attack -treason wherever found, with an unquestioning belief that his cause was -right and its defeat impossible, and with as resolute a spirit as ever -crossed the threshold of the Senate chamber. His nature was without an -atom of compromise, and was strong in the rugged qualities of courage, -honesty, sincerity, firmness, and moral intrepidity. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[7] "The Jeff. Davis speech," March 3, 1879. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHERN CONSPIRACY--THE ELECTION OF ABRAHAM -LINCOLN. - - -Mr. Chandler became a Senator of the United States at the time when -the Southern followers of John C. Calhoun had determined that the -preservation of slavery was impossible without disunion, and had -commenced preparations for that desperate measure of defense. The heavy -vote given to Fremont in the North, the failure of the attempt to plant -slavery in Kansas, the widening schism in the Democracy itself on -the issue of slavery-extension, and the certainty that the census of -1860 would greatly increase the voting power in Congress of the North -and Northwest--all made it plain that the South could not reinforce -its waning strength with new slave States. Its leaders saw that the -alternative before them was a systematic repression of slavery pointing -toward its ultimate extinction, or the creation of a new government -pretending to be a republic but "with its foundations laid, its -corner-stone resting upon, the great truth that the negro is not equal -to the white man, that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is -his natural and normal condition."[8] Every civilized instinct urged -them to assent to peaceful and gradual emancipation, but they chose the -alternative of disunion from a belief that in no other way could the -political ascendancy so long enjoyed by the ruling classes of the South -be maintained. The administration of James Buchanan was their period -of preparation. Whatever of needed assistance his sympathy failed to -supply was furnished by his imbecility of purpose. In his Cabinet and -in federal offices throughout the South active disunionists plotted -and labored to make all things ready for rebellion and unready for -its suppression. Chronic compromisers, Northern believers in slavery, -and State Rights theorists were their useful allies. In Congress they -threatened and bullied, and month by month made the demands of slavery -more arrogant and exacting, scheming to kindle the war spirit of the -South and to widen the breach between the sections, until they could -offer to the North the ultimatum of abject surrender to the slave -power or disunion and civil strife. The representatives of the North -at Washington met these early developments of treason in various -moods; there was no lack among them of those who were inclined to -submit; there were many who disbelieved in the reality of the purpose -underlying Southern vaporing and bluster, and this class included -earnest and able Republicans; but there were also some who did not -doubt that the slave power would try secession before accepting defeat, -and who, yielding not one inch of the right to menaces, proposed to -treat disunion, whether threatened or attempted, as treason and to -denounce and resist it as such. - -Early in his Senatorial career Mr. Chandler became convinced that -the purpose of rebellion was a well-defined one at the South, that -preparations to make it successful were in active progress, and that -the longer the crisis was delayed the more difficult would be the -task of its suppression. Between 1857 and 1861 his comments to his -intimate friends on the outlook were exceedingly gloomy, and he often -declared that he saw no possible escape from war. If the government -was to be maintained on the basis on which it was founded and was -not to be revolutionized in the interest of slavery, he believed -that an armed conflict with the men who had determined to change its -character was inevitable. He did not underestimate their ambition, -their desperateness of purpose, or their readiness for violence. -But neither in public nor in private did he quail before them in any -degree, and his only plan of action was the simple, straightforward and -characteristic one of meeting their threats with defiance and their -treason with all the force required for its punishment. In a time of -vacillation, feebleness and moral cowardice, and while he was still -new in the Senate and hampered by his own inexperience and the usages -of that body, what he did say and all his acts and influence were -important contributions to that invigorating of Northern sentiment -which the times so greatly demanded and which alone made possible the -national uprising of 1861. - -As a matter of record, the first time Zachariah Chandler's voice -was heard in the Senate chamber, he asked that "Cornelius O'Flynn -have leave to withdraw his memorial and papers from the files of the -Senate." The first caucus he attended was that in which the Republican -minority decided to make a vigorous protest against the unfairness -of its treatment in the appointment of the Senate committees of the -Thirty-fifth Congress. In his first speech he added, on the floor -of the Senate, to the protest of his party an equally vigorous -remonstrance against the complete ignoring of the commercial importance -of the Northwest in the selection of members of the Committee on -Commerce. In his second speech (on the proposition to increase the -army) he said in significant language: "If they will show to me that -they require a force in Utah to put down rebellion I will vote for it, -I care not whether it be one regiment or one hundred regiments." His -first prepared address in the Senate was delivered on the 12th day -of March, 1858, and had as its theme that most reckless of the slave -power's efforts at self-extension, the attempt to force upon Kansas -what was known as the Lecompton constitution. - -This was a pro-slavery instrument, framed by a constitutional -convention elected and controlled by Border-Ruffians, apparently -ratified at an election whose managers allowed no one to vote against -it but only to vote for it with slavery or for it without slavery (even -the "without" was fraudulent, because property in slaves already in -Kansas was in any event guaranteed until 1864), and overwhelmingly -rejected at the only election which in any degree fairly represented -the opinions of the genuine settlers of the territory. Mr. Chandler's -speech on this topic, the absorbing one of that day, was prepared with -much care and delivered from manuscript. Portions of it were read to -Senators Cameron, Wade and Hamlin before it was uttered. While it was -spoken with the impulsive manner that generally characterized his -speeches, it was the result of long deliberation and of such careful -study of phraseology as was necessary to make it explicit and forcible. -It was listened to by a large audience. Mr. Chandler had in private -conversation spoken with much vigor of the duty of the Republican party -in case the Lecompton constitution of Kansas was accepted and the new -State admitted under that instrument, and his remarks had been freely -quoted. His reputation for radicalism of opinion and plainness of -speech had also reached Washington, and there was a general interest -felt in his first prepared address. He began speaking about fifteen -minutes after the Senate was called to order (in the chamber now -occupied by the Supreme Court) and held the floor for nearly three -hours. The spectators included many members of the House, among them -John Sherman, since Senator and Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander -H. Stephens, afterward Vice-President of the Confederacy, and John A. -Logan, now well-known as both soldier and Senator. The address was -one of power and was attended by marked effect.[9] It contained this -description of the fate of three Michigan emigrants to Kansas: - - Men have been hunted down by sheriffs and by _posses_ from other - States, by border-ruffians--everywhere under the color of law. Sir, - the State of Michigan has over a thousand of her people in Kansas - to-day. Three of her citizens, and many other good men, have been - murdered in cold blood. Two of them, Barbour and Brown, I know - were as good men as can be found on the face of the earth. The - other--Gay--was Mr. Pierce's Land Agent for the territory. He was a - Nebraska pro-slavery Democrat. He was met one day, with his son, on - the road, and asked whether he was for Free-State or pro-slavery. - He had become a little Free-Statish in his views, and, not dreaming - of danger, he said: "I am a Free-State man," and he was shot down, - and his son, in attempting to defend his father, received a bullet - in his hip, and is now a cripple in Michigan. I speak with some - feeling. My own constituents, my own people, have been brutally - murdered, and I should be recreant to my trust if I did not speak - with feeling on this subject. I know the men from Michigan who are - in Kansas to be as good men as can be found within these United - States, and when any one says the emigrants from Michigan to the - territory of Kansas are picked from the purlieus of cities I tell - him he knows nothing about the subject and that it is not true. - They are as good men as the State of Michigan produces; they are - honest and brave; they know their rights and, knowing, dare defend - them. - -But those parts of the speech which most thoroughly stirred his hearers -and fell with unaccustomed force on ears which rarely heard such -defiant tones, were these: - - I cannot permit this bill to pass without protest. It was conceived - and executed in fraud.... It is one of the series of aggressions on - the part of the slave power which, if permitted to be consummated, - must end in the subversion of the constitution and the Union.... It - strikes a death-blow at State sovereignty and popular rights.... - When Missouri applied for admission as a slave State ... the North - objected. They declared it was agreed to that no more slave States - should be admitted into the Union.... Agitation ran high. The South - then as now threatened a dissolution of the Union. The North then - as now denied her power to dissolve it.... During this excitement - the hearts of brave men quailed.... A new compromise was made.... - As a part of this compromise slavery was forever prohibited north - of 36° 30'.... The compromise was acquiesced in.... Peace again - reigned through the land, ... and this peace continued until the - discovery of the new doctrine of popular sovereignty.... This is - called a new compromise.... We are told we must accept it because - the Union is in danger.... But that set of people who have been - in labor and suffering and trial for so long a time on account of - the Union have passed off the stage. In their places are men who - love this glorious Union and love it as it was made by the fathers; - men who will not whine "danger to the Union," but brave men who - will fight for this Union to the death.... The old women of the - North who have been in the habit of crying out "the Union is in - danger" have passed off the stage. They are dead. Their places will - never be supplied, but in their stead we have a race of men who - are devoted to this Union and devoted to it as Jefferson and the - fathers made it and bequeathed it to us. - - Any aggression upon the constitution has been submitted to by the - race who have gone off the stage. They were ready to compromise any - principle, any thing. The men of the present day are a different - race. They will compromise nothing; they are Union-loving men; they - love all portions of the Union; and they will sacrifice anything - but principle to save it. They will, however, make no sacrifice of - principle. Never! Never! No more compromises will ever be submitted - to to save the Union! If it is worth saving, it will be saved; but - if you sap and undermine its foundations it must topple. It will be - the legitimate result of your own action. The only way that we ever - shall save this Union and make it as permanent as the everlasting - hills will be by restoring it to the original foundations upon - which the fathers placed it.... - - The people of Kansas are almost unanimously opposed to this - constitution; yet you propose to force it upon them without their - consent. It cannot be done. The government has not bayonets enough - to force a constitution upon the necks of any unwilling people.... - It is our purpose to avoid the shedding of blood upon the soil of - the United States by civil war. While I will not charge on the - supporters of the Lecompton constitution the purpose, in civil - war, of shedding blood upon the soil of the United States, I do - charge that they, and they alone, will be responsible for every - drop of blood that may be shed in consequence of the adoption of - that constitution. I trust in God civil war will never come; but - if it should come, upon their heads, and theirs alone, will rest - the responsibility of every drop that may flow. I trust in God that - this question will never be pushed to that extremity, for I would - have less respect for the people of Kansas than I now have if I - supposed they would tamely submit to have a constitution thrust - down their throats without authority of law, and against law, - without making resistance. I would disown them as the descendants - of the men who fought our revolutionary battles if I did not think - they would resist any illegal attempts to force a constitution upon - them. - -A speech of such vigor of opinion was not without marked effect. There -was a disposition among the less radical Republicans to rate it as -imprudent, and there were some attempts at rebuking Mr. Chandler for -being so outspoken. He received these criticisms good-humoredly, but -felt confident of his position and constantly defended it. The effect -of his demonstration on the Democratic side was marked; the new Senator -from Michigan surprised his political opponents by the directness and -force of his attack, but won from them the respect always accorded -to boldness and candor. Mr. Chandler also showed spirit on little as -well as great occasions. In the latter part of the following April, -the Democrats attempted to coerce the Republicans into voting upon the -same bill for the admission of Kansas. Without any ill-temper, but with -no lack of earnestness, Mr. Chandler arose, and said: "I understand -gentlemen on the other side to say that no adjournment shall take place -until this question is disposed of. If that is their determination I -can assure them that no adjournment will take place until the 7th of -June. When I say that no adjournment will take place until that time, -I mean what I say. I propose to take a recess until 9 o'clock, and I -advise gentlemen to bid farewell to their families for thirty days at -least." - -In 1858 fuel was added to the anti-slavery flame by the Dred Scott -decision, in which the majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court -affirmed, that as a matter of history the negroes at the time of the -formation of the constitution "had no rights which the white man was -bound to respect," that as a principle of law neither emancipated -slaves nor the emancipated descendants of slaves were entitled to -claim the rights and privileges which the constitution provides for -and secures to citizens of the United States, and that under a correct -constitutional construction acts excluding slavery from the territories -were without validity. This utterance was rendered especially obnoxious -by the fact that the court, while leaving Dred Scott in slavery on the -ground that the United States tribunals had no jurisdiction in his -case, practically asserted jurisdiction for the purpose of deciding -(outside of the real issues of the trial as limited by its own -finding) that Congress could not exclude slavery from the territories. -In reference to this decision Mr. Chandler said in the Senate on the -17th of February, 1859: - - What did General Jackson do when the Supreme Court declared the - United States Bank constitutional? Did he bow in deference to - the opinion of the court? No, ... he said he would construe the - constitution for himself, that he was sworn to do it. I shall do - the same thing. I have sworn to support the Constitution of the - United States, and I have sworn to support it as the fathers made - it and not as the Supreme Court have altered it. And I never will - swear allegiance to that. - -In October, 1859, "Old John Brown" made his memorable attempt to -liberate the enslaved negroes of the South by the descent upon Harper's -Ferry. The rashness of his unaided attack on a giant wrong is protected -from ridicule by a heroism worthy of Thermopylæ and by a death which -Sidney's last hours did not surpass in moral grandeur. Mr. Chandler, -with deep respect for Brown's motives and the unique simplicity of -his character, was earnest in condemnation of his methods and of the -utter foolhardiness of his effort. Congress was not in session when -Brown seized Harper's Ferry and convulsed Virginia with fright, and Mr. -Chandler was not in Washington. When Congress did meet in December, -Brown had just been hanged, and the excitement was still feverish. A -Senate committee, consisting of Mason of Virginia, Jefferson Davis, -Fitch of Indiana, Democrats, and Collamer and Doolittle, Republicans, -was at once appointed to investigate the raid, and while the resolution -providing for it was under consideration Mr. Chandler made one of his -telling speeches. In it he thus ridiculed "the reign of terror" at the -South: - - Senators ask us why we have no sympathy with Virginia in this - instance. Sir, we do not understand this case at all. What are the - facts? Seventeen white men and five unwilling negroes surround - and capture a town of 2,000 people, with a United States armory, - any quantity of arms and ammunition, and with 300 men employed in - it--as I am informed, employed in it under a civil officer--and - hold it for two days. These I understand to be the facts, and you - ask, Why have we not sympathy? We do not understand any such case - as that. The Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Brown) asks, What would - we say if North Carolina and Virginia were to attack the armory at - Springfield? I do not know what is the population of Springfield, - but I will guarantee if any seventeen or twenty-two of the Generals - ... of the States of Virginia and North Carolina were to attack - Springfield, if there was not a man within five miles of there, the - women would bind them in thirty minutes and would not ask sympathy - and the matter would not be deemed of sufficient importance to ask - for a committee of investigation on the part of the corporation. - Why, sir, Governor Wise compared the people of Harper's Ferry to - sheep, as the public press state. That is a libel on the sheep. For - I never saw a flock of fifty or a hundred sheep in my life that had - not a belligerent ram among them. We do not understand any such - panic as this. If seventeen or one hundred men were to attack a - town of the size of Harper's Ferry anywhere throughout the region - with which I am acquainted, they would simply be put in jail in - thirty minutes, and then they would be tried for their crimes and - they would be punished and there would be no row made about it. - -The pointed passage of the speech was the one in which he thanked a -Southern Governor for demonstrating so conspicuously that treason was a -crime punishable by death. He said, - - I am in favor of the resolution because the first execution for - treason that has ever occurred in the United States has just taken - place. John Brown has been executed as a traitor in the State of - Virginia, and I want it to go upon the records of the Senate in - the most solemn manner to be held up as a warning to traitors, - come they from the North, South, East or West. Dare to raise your - impious hands against this government, its constitution and its - laws--and you hang!... Threats have been made year after year for - the last thirty years, that if certain events happen this Union - will be dissolved. It is no small matter to dissolve this Union. - It means a bloody revolution or it means a halter. It means the - successful overturn of this government or it means the fate of John - Brown, and I want that to go solemnly on the record of this Senate! - -These were the speeches of a man untried in public life and still in -the early years of his first Congressional term. The Senate which -he thus addressed listened also to Charles Sumner's magnificent -philippics--blows "struck with the club of Hercules entwined with -flowers," to the philosophic eloquence of Seward in his moral prime, to -Wade's sturdy fearlessness of speech, to the wit of Hale, and to the -vigorous oratory of Fessenden. But no man measured more accurately -than Zachariah Chandler the political forces of that day, no man -branded the hatching treason with his blunt precision and homely power, -and no man asserted with more boldness the courage and the purpose -of the North. In that hour resolute words were useful in themselves; -but the lapse of twenty years has shown that Mr. Chandler was then as -clear-sighted as he was intrepid in spirit and plain in speech. - -This unsparing denunciation of treason to plotting traitors was not -without personal peril. Mr. Chandler became a Senator at a time when -the South had unleashed its brutality at Washington and regarded -resistance to its demands as justifying violence and insult. Horace -Greeley, while visiting Washington, was assaulted and injured in the -Capitol grounds by Rust of Arkansas, on account of some criticisms -in the _Tribune_ on Congressional action. Preston Brooks committed -(on the 22d of May, 1856) his assault on Charles Sumner in the Senate -chamber, a crime which was publicly upheld by Toombs, Slidell, Davis -and other Southern leaders, and which led South Carolina to unanimously -re-elect the ruffian to the House when he resigned after the adoption -of a vote of censure. Henry Wilson's denunciation of this attack upon -his colleague as "brutal, murderous, and cowardly" was followed by a -challenge from Brooks, to which he responded by arming himself and -by a note declaring that while he repudiated the duelling code he -"religiously believed in the right of self-defense in the broadest -sense." John Woodruff, a Connecticut Representative, having stigmatized -Brooks's act as a "mean achievement of cowardice," was tendered a -duelling challenge which he declined to receive. Anson Burlingame -pursued another course. Of the assault on the Massachusetts Senator, -he said: "I denounce it in the name of the constitution it violates. I -denounce it in the name of the sovereignty of Massachusetts, which was -stricken down by the blow. I denounce it in the name of humanity. I -denounce it in the name of civilization, which it outraged. I denounce -it in the name of that fair play which bullies and prize-fighters -respect." To this the response was a challenge from Brooks, which -Mr. Burlingame accepted, and, selecting Canada as the spot for the -meeting, had the satisfaction of seeing the representative of South -Carolina chivalry refuse to abide by the code he had himself invoked. -William McKee Dunn, of Indiana, was challenged by Rust, of Arkansas, -for words spoken in the House, and, naming "rifles at sixty paces" as -the weapons, learned that such was not the "satisfaction" desired by -Southern "gentlemen." Owen Lovejoy denounced the crimes of slavery -in front of the Speaker's desk in the House, with the fists of angry -Southerners shaking in his face, and amid their yells and threats. -Potter, of Wisconsin, cooled off the hot blood of Roger A. Pryor by -accepting his duelling challenge and selecting bowie-knives as the -weapons. Amid all this there was much chronic servility among Northern -members to Southern insolence, which gave pungent force to Thaddeus -Stevens's sarcasm (uttered during the prolonged contest over the -Speakership of the Thirty-sixth Congress) that he could not blame the -South for trying intimidation, for they had "tried it fifty times and -fifty times, and had always found weak and recreant tremblers in the -North." Mr. Chandler entered the Senate with the firm resolution that -he would not be bullied, that he would not submit to bluster, and that -if occasion came he would fight without hesitation. His decision did -not spring from love of quarrel or mere passion, but was the fruit -of mature reflection and was based upon a clear purpose. He saw that -the Southerners in Congress vapored and threatened for effect; that -they believed that Northern men would not fight, and that they would -be permitted to offer unlimited insults without arousing resentment. -The public sentiment of the North was against duelling or fisticuffs, -and the Southerners supposed--and sincerely--that this was the result -of cowardice and not of conscience. This condition of opinion was of -decided assistance to the conspirators who were plotting disunion at -the South, and the stigma of pusillanimity was the source of no little -practical weakness with the North. Under these circumstances Mr. -Chandler fully determined--as did Mr. Wade, Mr. Hamlin, Mr. Cameron, -and one or two other Senators--that if occasion offered, so that -justice should be clearly upon his side, he would fight. This was a -deliberate purpose, not reached through any admiration for fighting -men, nor through belief in force as a method of argument, but from -a conviction that the moral effect of such a demonstration of the -personal courage of Northern representatives would be of service to the -nation. Mr. Chandler knew himself to be physically capable of meeting -almost any assailant; he prepared himself for a collision by muscular -exercise and the practice of marksmanship, and, while he did not seek, -he made no effort to avoid, an encounter. - -On February 5, 1858, there was a personal altercation in the House of -Representatives between Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, afterward -Speaker, and Lawrence M. Keitt, of South Carolina, who was killed in -battle, during the rebellion, at the head of a Confederate brigade. -Mr. Harris of Illinois, an Anti-Nebraska Democrat, had offered a -resolution for the appointment of a committee to ascertain by an -investigation whether the Lecompton constitution was the work in any -just sense of the people of Kansas. Coming from such a source, the -resolution would have received a majority of votes in the House, -but its opponents resorted to parliamentary stratagem to prevent -its passage, "filibustering" for several hours. Amid the attending -excitement there was a very heated colloquy between Grow and Keitt, -which ended in blows on both sides, Keitt being the first to strike. -Grow resisted, and a general melee followed which was participated -in by many members. The affair was afterward adjusted, and both -apologized to the House but without apologizing to each other. This -occurrence impressed Mr. Chandler deeply, and, as soon as he heard of -it, he went to the Hall of Representatives, and assured Mr. Grow of -his approval and his readiness to render any desired aid. It was the -first outbreak of the kind which came within his personal observation, -and confirmed him in his belief that it was the duty of the Northern -minority to resist all encroachments upon their personal and official -rights. Not long afterward a colloquy occurred in the Senate between -Simon Cameron and Senator Green of Missouri, in which the lie was -given, and only the prompt interference of Vice-President Breckenridge, -who was in the chair, prevented a personal altercation. The Democrats -were insisting upon a vote upon the bill to admit Kansas under the -Lecompton constitution, while the Republicans were endeavoring to -secure longer time for debate. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning -when the offensive words were exchanged. Vice-President Breckenridge -at once rapped with his gavel, and commanded both Green and Cameron -to take their seats. After order had been restored, Senator Green -continued his remarks, and, referring to Cameron, said: "I will not -use a harsh word now; it will be out of order. But if I get out of -this Senate chamber I shall use a harsh word in his (Cameron's) teeth, -for there no rule of order will correct me.... As to any question of -veracity between that Senator and myself, in five minutes after the -Senate adjourns we can settle it." Mr. Cameron's reply was: "I desire -to say, if these remarks are intended as a threat, they have no effect -upon me." The debate was continued at length, but a small group of -Senators was soon after seen in earnest conference in a cloak-room. It -was composed of Senators Chandler, Cameron, Wade and Broderick, and -the result of the consultation was, that by the advice of his friends -Mr. Cameron armed himself, and prepared for self-defense in case he -was attacked by Green. The Senate remained in continuous session for -over eighteen hours, and for some time after the quarrel. Meanwhile Mr. -Green's passion cooled, and the expected collision did not take place -(explanations were ultimately made by both in the Senate chamber). But -when the Senate adjourned, Mr. Chandler accompanied Mr. Cameron to his -lodgings, as a measure of precaution. Out of this affair grew a formal -agreement between Mr. Chandler, Mr. Cameron and Mr. Wade, which was -reduced to writing, and sealed with the understanding that its contents -should not be made public until after the death of all the signers. His -copy of this historic document is still among Mr. Chandlers papers, -but it will not be made public while Mr. Cameron lives. Of its purport -one,[10] who knew intimately the men and the circumstances and motives -of this act, has written: - - The assaults of the violent Southern leaders upon some of - the ablest and purest Republicans in the Senate, known to be - non-combatants, finally became unbearable to some of the less - scrupulous Republicans, until, in the midst of one of the most - denunciatory tirades of one of the fire-eaters, there was noticed - a little group of the lately-admitted Republicans in a side - consultation on the floor of the Senate. Precisely what was said in - consultation is not known to the writer, nor is it likely that it - will transpire during the lifetime of either of the three gentlemen - engaged. It is, however, known that the group was composed of - Senators Wade, Cameron, and Chandler; that it was agreed between - them substantially that the business of insulting Republican - Senators on the floor of the Senate had gone far enough, and that - it must cease; and further, that, in case of any renewed insolence - to any other Republican Senator of the character which had been - practiced, it should be the duty of one of the three to take up the - quarrel and make it his own to the full extent of the code--to the - death if it need be. The compact was not only made, but signed and - sealed, and remains sealed to this day. Its import, however, became - known, and the demeanor of the Southern fire-eaters, though still - violent and disloyal, soon after became courteous personally toward - Republican Senators. - - They did, however, feel around a little to ascertain whether the - whisperings as to the fighting Senators could be relied on. They - had a scheme to assault Senator Chandler in the street, but a - little inquiry as to his strength and skill led to its sudden - abandonment. A blustering Southerner took offense at the remarks - of Senator Wade, who had said in relation to an assertion made by - him, that such a statement would only come from a liar or a coward. - Of course this could not be borne by the high-toned cavalier, and - his friend, or agent, or servitor called on Senator Wade, not with - a formal challenge, but to ascertain how Wade would probably act - in the event of a challenge. As soon as Wade pierced the diplomacy - of the agent so far as to become aware of his purpose, he told him - to tell the old coward that he dare not fight. This was not quite - satisfactory. The agent or spy seemed anxious to know what kind of - weapons Wade would choose in case of a contest. On learning this, - Wade said, "rifles at twenty paces, with a white paper the size of - a dollar pinned over the heart of each combatant; and tell him, if - I do not hit the one on his breast at the first shot, he may fire - at me all day." - - These inquiries seemed to cure all further desire on the part of - the chivalry for personal combats. Threats, however, continued to - be made of street assaults and caning, generally pointing to the - more prominent of the non-combatants in the Republican ranks. - - Certain of the Republicans went thoroughly armed all the time, - and these, for weeks together, took turns in walking with their - non-belligerent colleagues to and from the Capitol, to protect them - from personal assault. - -The decided practical value of Mr. Chandler's bearing at that time -and of his known determination to maintain his official and personal -rights at all physical hazards cannot be doubted. It made itself -felt among his associates on both sides of the Senate chamber, and -earned for him early recognition at Washington as a bold and staunch -leader of his party. Personal influence was the natural outgrowth -of positive qualities so fearlessly displayed, and he became a man -whose opinions were sought and whose energy in execution was prized -by his fellow-Senators. A close personal intimacy with Mr. Wade, Mr. -Hamlin and Mr. Cameron sprang up at this time, and general agreement -of opinion on public questions led them into concerted action as -representatives of the more "radical" element. Much of their work was -beneath the surface and is not a matter of record, but the results of -their efforts at that crisis to infuse vigor by all possible means into -the lifeless national sentiment of the North and to prepare the people -for the coming struggle were important and durable. - -Mr. Chandler was heard with interest during the sessions of 1858-59-60 -on other questions than those connected with the conflict over slavery. -His speech (on Feb. 17, 1859) in opposition to the bill appropriating -$30,000,000 to "facilitate the acquisition of Cuba by negotiation" -attracted some attention. Its scope and tenor will appear from this -extract: - - This is a most extraordinary proposition to be presented to the - Congress of the United States at this time. With a Treasury - bankrupt, and the government borrowing money to pay its expenses, - and no efficient remedy proposed for that state of things; with - your great national works in the Northwest going to decay, and - no money to repair them; without harbors of refuge for your - commerce, and no money to construct them; with a national debt of - $70,000,000, which is increasing, in a time of profound peace, - at the rate of $30,000,000 per annum--the Senate of the United - States is startled by a proposition to borrow $30,000,000. And - for what, sir? To pay just claims against the government, which - have been long deferred? No, sir; you have no money for any - such purpose as that. Is it to repair your national works on - the Northwestern lakes, to repair your harbors, to rebuild your - light-houses? No, sir; you have no money for that. Is it to build - a railroad to the Pacific, connecting the Eastern and Western - slopes of this Continent by bands of iron, and open up the vast - interior of the Continent to settlement? No, sir; you say that - is unconstitutional. What, then, do you propose to do with this - $30,000,000? Is it to purchase the island of Cuba? No, sir; for - you are already advised in advance that Spain will not sell the - island; more, sir, you are advised in advance that she will take a - proposition for its purchase as a national insult, to be rejected - with scorn and contempt. The action of her Cortes and of her - government, on the reception of the President's message, proves - this beyond all controversy. What, then, do you propose to do with - this $30,000,000?... It is a great corruption fund for bribery and - for bribery only.... But let us admit for the sake of argument - that this proposition is brought forward in good faith and will be - successfully terminated. What do any of the Northwestern States - gain by the purchase of this island of Cuba? I know something of - Cuba, something of its soil, something of the climate, something of - its people, their manners and customs, something of their religion - and something of their crimes. I spent a winter in the interior - of the island of Cuba a few years since and can, therefore, speak - from personal knowledge.... Much of the soil of the island is rich - and exceedingly productive, but it is in no way comparable to the - prairies and bottom lands of the great West. You can go into almost - any of your territories and select an equal number of acres and - you will have a more valuable State than you can possibly make out - of Cuba.... You propose to pay $200,000,000 for the island, $10 an - acre for every acre of land on it.... You are selling infinitely - better lands, and have millions upon millions of acres of them, at - $1.25 per acre. You propose to pay $200,000,000--nearly $200 a head - for every man, woman and child, including negroes, on the island. - And for what? For the right to govern one million of the refuse of - the earth. - -During this same period Mr. Chandler was very active in helping on the -work of Republican organization throughout the country. In the campaign -of 1858 in Michigan, he spoke repeatedly in the larger towns of that -State, great audiences gathering to hear him, and answering with -growing enthusiasm his vigorous attacks on the administration and its -master, the slave power. The result was that Moses Wisner, Republican, -was elected Governor by a vote of 65,202 to 56,067 for Charles E. -Stuart, Democrat. The Republicans also carried every Congressional -district (William A. Howard obtained his seat after a contest with -George B. Cooper) and had a large majority in both branches of the -Legislature. That body, on meeting in January, 1859, elected Kinsley -S. Bingham to the Senate, and Michigan has always since that year been -represented in the upper branch of Congress by two Republicans. Charles -E. Stuart, whom Mr. Bingham succeeded, was a man of ability who had -manfully refused to support the Lecompton outrage, and with Stephen A. -Douglas and David C. Broderick had been classed as an Anti-Nebraska -Democrat. Mr. Bingham was a thorough Republican, and during his brief -Senatorial term (he died in October, 1861,) stood side by side with his -colleague on all political questions. - -In the Presidential campaign of 1860 Mr. Chandler labored with untiring -zeal to secure Mr. Lincoln's election. Early in the fall he spoke with -marked effect in the State of New York. Throughout August, September, -and October he addressed a series of great mass-meetings at different -points in Michigan (at Hillsdale 8,000 people gathered to hear him, -at Cassopolis 10,000, at Paw Paw 5,000, and at Kalamazoo 20,000). -In October he visited Illinois, speaking at Mr. Lincoln's home -(Springfield) on the 17th of that month.[11] His last speech in that -campaign was made in the Republican wigwam at Detroit on November 1, -and was alive with the spirit of victory and the firm purpose to secure -its rewards. On the day of election his State answered his appeals with -an increased Republican majority, giving Lincoln 88,480 votes to 65,057 -for Douglas, 805 for Breckenridge, and 405 for Bell. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[8] Speech of Alexander H. Stephens at Savannah on March 21, 1861, -after his election to the rebel Vice-Presidency. - -[9] Of this speech the New York _Courier and Enquirer_ said: "The -speech of Mr. Chandler on the 12th places him among the first debaters -of the country. No more unanswerable exposition of the usurpation in -Kansas has been made." The Chicago _Tribune_ said: "Mr. Chandler made -his first formal speech in the Senate to-day. That body paid him the -compliment of unwavering attention through the whole of his able and -effective speech. The passage in which he described the murder of -Brown, Barbour and Gay ... excited the sympathies and passions of his -audience to a pitch rarely observed in parliamentary debate." - -[10] The Hon. James M. Edmunds, for many years Commissioner of the Land -Office, and afterward postmaster of the Senate and of Washington City. - -[11] The Springfield _Journal_ of October 18 said: "Senator Chandler, -of Michigan, made yesterday one of the best speeches to which our -citizens have had the pleasure of listening during the campaign.... The -meeting was a magnificent one and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -SERVICES TO THE CAUSE OF THE PROTECTION OF HOME INDUSTRY. - - -Zachariah Chandler as a Republican Senator was a thorough Whig in -both his advocacy of an enlightened national system of Internal -Improvements and his constant and efficient championship of the cause -of the Protection of American Industries. It has been justly said that -"the Great West of to-day owes its unequaled growth and progress, its -population, productiveness and wealth, primarily, to the framers of the -federal constitution, by which its development was rendered possible, -but more immediately and palpably to the sagacity and statesmanship -of Jefferson, the purchaser of Louisiana; to the genius of Fitch and -Fulton, the projector and achiever, respectively, of steam navigation; -to De Witt Clinton, the early, unswerving and successful champion -of artificial inland navigation; and to Henry Clay, the eminent, -eloquent, and effective champion of the diversification of our national -industry through the Protection of Home Manufactures." No man knew -better or acknowledged more fully the truth of this analysis than -Mr. Chandler. His own State abounded with evidences of its justice, -and his firm faith in the protective principle was also strengthened -by the teachings of his practical mercantile experience and by his -general commercial sagacity. No State presents to-day more abundant -proofs of the beneficence of "the American system" than Michigan, and -no personal contributions to the protection of its interests and the -diversification of its industries equaled those given on every possible -occasion by Mr. Chandler throughout his prolonged Senatorial service. - -Political economy has been well defined as "the science of labor-saving -applied to the action of communities, its aim being to save labor -from waste, from misapplication, and from loss through constrained -idleness." The objects of Protection are the ennobling of labor and -the enhancing of its productiveness, and its method is interdicting -an unwholesome competition which looks no farther than securing mere -cheapness of production at whatever cost of human energy, comfort -and enlightenment. There has never been an intelligent and sincere -protectionist without a thorough faith in the vast importance and -inherent nobility of Labor. On this as on all great questions Mr. -Chandler's convictions were radical, and he was right fundamentally. -He had been himself a laborer. The store, the farm, the factory, the -work-shop, are all one in this--their duties are labor. Mr. Chandler -knew the worth of free labor. He had witnessed its seed-planting and -wonderful fruitage of development in Michigan, and he honored the -strong, hardy, intelligent and self-reliant race who were the laborers -there, and of whom he was one. He had early opportunity to make this -plain in the Senate. Hammond of South Carolina, a true representative -of that turbulent, rebellious State and of the embodied insolence of -its master class and of the man-owner's contempt for free labor, made -at this time his notorious "mud-sill" speech. "There must be laborers -in every community, a low, degenerate class, who hew the wood and -draw the water, ... the mud-sills of society, in effect they are -slaves;" this was its idea. It was a frank avowal of the estimate put -by the slaveholding oligarchy upon the Northern laborers, upon the men -who have made this country what it is. Mr. Chandler was then young -in the Senate, and had spoken but rarely, but to this insult to his -constituency he was quick to reply. In his speech of March 12, 1858, -the first in which he addressed the Senate at any length, he said: - - It is an attack upon my constituents. Under the Senator's version, - under his exposition of slavery, nine-tenths of the people of - the North are or have been at some time slaves; for nine-tenths - of the people of the North have at some time been hirelings and - laborers. We do not feel degraded by being laborers. We believe it - to be respectable.... Travel on any road in the State of Michigan, - and you will find flourishing farms on almost every 160 acres, - with comfortable dwellings, and a high state of improvement and - cultivation.... You will find the owners of these farms with four - or five sons of their neighboring farmers hired out by the day - or the month or the year.... These young men go to service or - labor until they get money enough to buy a farm; then they, too, - become the employers of labor.... These men are never degraded by - labor.... They are the foundations of society there. Some of these - men who are at work by the month during the summer on farms are in - the Legislature making laws for us in the winter. - -There was more of it to the same effect--honest, indignant words in -defense of free Northern labor, and in eulogy of the men who toiled. -And the tone of these portions of the speech was wholesomely defiant, -without a shade of truckling to Southern insolence. Nine years later, -in discussing proposed tariff amendments in 1867, Mr. Chandler said -in the Senate, "I thank God we are able to pay good prices to our -laborers." These utterances indicate the vein in which he always made -his voice heard and influence felt whenever the interests and rights of -labor were challenged either by speech or attempted legislation. - -The tariff controversy in the United States dates back half a -century. This republic in its colonial days was agricultural. There -were no mines nor manufactures. Each house did its own spinning and -weaving. There were small shops for the making and repairing of a -few articles, and luxuries and fine goods for the rich were imported -from the factories of Europe. The great labor-saving appliances of -the nineteenth century did not exist even in imagination. The water -power of the country was unused and its boundless wealth of minerals -unknown. The people were farmers or traders. For them the government -was founded, and apparently there was no contemplation of anything -beyond. It was years before a change came, but, once begun, it hurried -with rapid stride, until to-day more than one-twentieth of the entire -population of the United States are engaged in manufacturing, as many -more are employed in occupations connected with and dependent upon such -enterprises, and the capital invested in productive industries exceeds -by millions of dollars the entire national debt. - -These changes as they progressed made new demands upon the government. -After the development of the steam engine, and after later inventions -and contrivances had cheapened the production of cotton, woolen and -other goods, household spinning-wheels and looms were silent, and -the United States imported nearly every manufactured article needed -by its people, sending out in return the products of its farms and -plantations, its tobacco, cotton and grain. Year after year this -draining process went on, the manufacturing towns of Europe growing -great and prosperous, the United States widening and increasing in -population, but adding little to its wealth. The mill-owners of -Europe bought their cotton in South Carolina or Georgia, transported -it across the Atlantic, made it into cloths, and returned them to -New York or Charleston. The American purchaser paid the cost of both -transportations, the cost and profit of manufacture abroad, all the -profits of middle-men who handled the goods, and all the cost of -exchanges. By this process America toiled, while England and the other -manufacturing States of Europe reaped the harvest. Thoughtful people, -knowing that capital employed in production feeds, clothes and lodges -the industrious workman, adds to the wealth of the nation, adds to its -strength, adds to its power of resistance, and lessens the individual -burden of taxation, and comprehending the inevitable result of the -drain in progress, asked, Is there no way of preventing this? They -saw the raw material produced in bountiful profusion, saw the water -power of the country running away to the sea unvexed by use, and -naturally asked, Is it not possible to bring the miners and smelters, -the founders, machinists and laborers, the mechanic and manufacturer -of every description, here, to place them beside the raw material, to -utilize this wasted power, and to save the losses and attrition that -are impoverishing the country? When these thoughts took shape in the -active brains of Americans, the change began. Mills and factories -sprang up by the water-courses. Tall chimneys, clouds of smoke and -glowing furnaces came after. Thus American manufacturing was born. - -But as the first mills and factories were established, these -discoveries were made: In building a mill in England the laborers and -mechanics could be hired at wages from twenty to forty per cent. lower -than prevailed on this continent. The cost of machinery, most of it -being brought from Europe, was also greater. Foreign manufacturers -could hire their capital from the immense reservoir of Europe, where -it had been accumulating for centuries, at from four to six per -cent. interest. Here the borrower must pay eight or ten per cent. or -even higher. There was another and even graver matter presented to -the consideration of the pioneer manufacturer. Labor in Europe was -cheap--so cheap that, combined with abundant capital and low interest, -it enabled the foreign manufacturer to pay two ocean transportations -and yet undersell an American competitor at the very door of his own -mill. Should the American mechanic be asked to toil for the pauper -wages of Europe? Should it be the policy of this government to gather -about its factories the hungry-eyed, ill-clad, impoverished, ignorant -and hopeless crowds which are found in the manufacturing towns of the -old world? Could American institutions endure this? Where the people -are all agriculturists, except under very extraordinary circumstances -they need never want for food, and such circumstances are rarely -chargeable to misgovernment or to bad laws. The farming classes are -widely scattered; they are conservative and self-reliant, not given -to mobs and outbreaks, nor to obeying the will of self-constituted -leaders as do men gathered in great masses. But the men of mills -and shops and factories, unless they are well paid, must suffer; -and when they suffer their discontent threatens society itself. -Despotic governments may apply the gag of a bayonet or the silence of -a musket ball, but this is not possible in a republic resting upon -the uncompelled support of all the people. Plainly, if a government, -constituted as is this, is to be preserved, the mechanics, the laborers -in mills and mines, in shops and factories, must be paid enough to -support themselves and their families in comfort, to educate their -children and to permit the thrifty to make savings. If the time ever -comes when the millions of American workers upon whose assent this -government exists are reduced to the condition of the pauper labor -of Europe, this republic and its golden promises of freedom will -most certainly ignobly perish from the face of the earth. From such -circumstances and ideas as these sprang the doctrine, accepted by -almost all of the earlier statesmen of the republic, that the revenue -system of the United States must be so modeled as to stimulate domestic -manufactures, protect them from ruinous foreign competition, and -promote that diversification of industry which is so essential to the -prosperity and independence of free labor. - -The first tariff measure (passed by the First Congress and approved by -George Washington) imposed but low duties, but in some of its details -practically recognized the protective principle, and in its preamble -declared one of its purposes to be "the protection and encouragement -of Domestic Manufacture." From 1807 to 1815 the United States was in a -great degree driven from the ocean. A part of that time it was involved -in a war with Great Britain, with an embargo laid upon its ports. -During these years the home manufacturer had no foreign competition -to fear, and factories sprang up to meet the local demands, drawing -about them laborers and their families, making a quick market for -the productions of the soil, and placing consumer and producer side -by side. But this was the result of accident and not of deliberate -policy. The scene changed when the raising of the embargo brought into -the country a flood of manufactured articles representing cheap labor, -cheap interest and cheap capital. Then came the demand for the levying -of such duties on the products of foreign labor as would protect the -American manufacturer and enable him to pay a suitable compensation -to the American workman. The first response to this was the tariff of -1816, justly styled "The Planters' and Farmers' Tariff," because it -gave protection to coarser commodities which least required it, and -withheld it from those articles in whose production others were to -be used. Eight years afterward came a third tariff varying little in -its general features, but with rates of duties slightly increased. -Four years later (in 1828) was enacted the first thoroughly American -protective tariff, but it was soon destroyed by the act of July 12, -1832 (the outcome of the Nullification controversy), which completely -abolished its protective features. Within a few months, through the -exertions of Mr. Clay, this measure was modified by what was known -as the compromise tariff act, which continued in force until the -passage of the protective tariff of 1842. This was in time displaced -by the free-trade tariff, which went into force four years later, in -June, 1847. It was followed in 1861 (March 23) by the Morrill tariff, -a thoroughly protective measure, which with some modifications yet -remains on the statute books. - -In 1816, notwithstanding it had just emerged from war, the country's -industrial condition was at least hopeful, but the consequences of -the tariff of that year promptly manifested themselves. The American -manufacturer was undersold at the door of his mill by the foreigner; -factories closed, wages shrunk and the demand for labor diminished. -Prices of all kinds of planter's and farmer's produce declined in -turn, and to industrial prostration was speedily added agricultural -depression. Henry Clay pronounced the seven years preceding 1824 the -most disastrous this nation had ever known. But almost from the moment -of its passage the country felt the impetus of the protective tariff of -1828. Furnace doors were thrown open; foundries were built; the cobwebs -that had gathered about factory machinery disappeared in the whir of -busy wheels; labor came again into demand; immigration increased; the -products of farms and plantations brought good prices; and the public -revenue grew until the national debt was extinguished. Prosperity thus -became universal throughout the land. When this protective tariff of -1828 gave way to the gradual reductions in duties of the compromise -measure of 1832, there followed a repetition of the scenes that -succeeded the tariff of 1816. From 1837 to 1842 mills and furnaces were -closed, wages were reduced, laborers sought in vain for employment, the -poor-houses were filled and manufacturers, farmers and planters became -bankrupts together. Even the public treasury was unable to borrow at -home as small a sum as $1,000,000 at any rate of interest, and the -great banking houses of Europe refused it credit, so that it was forced -to the humiliation of selling its securities at ruinous discounts. The -passage of the protective tariff of 1842 marks the date of another -business revival. Old mines were re-worked and new ones were opened. -Mill-fires were re-lighted and new mills sprang up in all directions. -Money became abundant, and public and private incomes exceeded all -precedent. Farmers and planters secured easy markets and ample prices -for their produce, and laborers' homes grew bright with plenty. Then -came the Free-Trade tariff of 1846 and the commercial decadence which -culminated in the disasters of 1857. California and its gold delayed -the catastrophe but could not avert it. From the moment of the repeal -of the protective tariff, the inflow of British iron and cloth began -and the receding tide carried back American gold, impoverishing -the country. Industry was stricken to the earth, and day by day -saw the dependence of the United States on foreign markets growing -until when the crash came it was complete. The vast flood of gold -from California had gone into European vaults and in its stead could -only be shown receipts for foreign goods consumed and the wrecks of -American industries. The Morrill tariff was followed by an unparalleled -mercantile and manufacturing development, which not even the disastrous -effects of an inflated currency (in 1873-76) could more than briefly -check. - -Mr. Chandler, who knew well these facts, and had learned "the American -doctrine" in the days of Clay, had taken his seat in the Senate when -the crash of 1857 came, and was active in demanding and shaping that -revolution in the revenue system which has made the United States one -of the great manufacturing nations of the world. He was an ardent -champion of the Morrill tariff (of 1861), and aided materially in -perfecting its details, watching with special vigilance those of -its provisions which affected the vast interests of the Northwest. -He believed in the largest possible application of the protective -principle, and favored aiding every American producer and every -American manufacturer who could complain on valid grounds of foreign -competition. Every demand for protection, which gave reasonable promise -of increasing the yield of any staple or of developing a new industry, -received his energetic support. To any revenue measure or proposition, -which seemed to him calculated to advance foreign at the expense of -American interests, he was uncompromisingly hostile. The abrogation of -the Reciprocity treaty with Canada he labored most assiduously to bring -about, and he resisted with all his characteristic pertinacity each -successive effort to restore a compact which imposed such heavy burdens -upon the lumbermen, salt manufacturers, and farmers of the Northwest. -Throughout his Senatorial term all measures affecting duties in -any form or proposing any modification in their schedules found him -alert, well-informed, and determined to maintain the protective policy -against any assault.[12] Very much the greater, and undoubtedly the -most effective, part of his labors for an American tariff was put -forth in committee-rooms and in the earnest use of argument and -influence with fellow-Congressmen; he relied much more upon this work -than upon speech-making for results--and results he always ranked far -above display or mere publicity. Still he spoke not unfrequently on -tariff questions, and a few quotations will illustrate satisfactorily -his positions and methods. This passage shows how radical was his -protectionism: - - This nation to-day should be an exporter of iron instead of an - importer. There is no valid reason why we should buy one single - pound of iron from any other nation on the globe. Our mountains - are filled with the purest ores on the face of the earth.... If I - had my way I would absolutely prohibit the introduction of foreign - iron. - -The context does not sustain an absolutely literal construction of the -last sentence. Mr. Chandler had seen Michigan when its copper mines -were unworked, its limitless riches of iron undiscovered, its salt -deposits unknown, and its pine forests unfelled. He had seen these -industries passing through various stages of prosperity and disaster -as they were affected by prevailing tariffs, now shielded by a wise -policy of protection and now at the mercy of foreign producers, who at -times (to use their own admission) "voluntarily incur immense losses -in order to destroy American competition and to gain and keep control -of American markets." He saw these industries grow from nothing, -until the annual yield of Michigan's copper mines became 20,266 tons, -of its iron mines 1,125,231 tons, and of its salt wells 1,885,884 -barrels, and until its lumber product expanded to the enormous total of -2,700,000,000 feet in one season. They thus became powerful interests, -employing a great host of laborers and offering support to thousands -of families. These facts and the tone of what Mr. Chandler said on -kindred topics make it plain that by the absolute prohibition of the -introduction of foreign iron he meant not an embargo, but the affording -of such ample protection to the iron industries of the entire country -as would make it impossible for the products of foreign cheap labor to -compete in its markets with those of American labor, and as would make -the United States a seller and not a buyer of iron and its wares. - -With all his earnestness as a protectionist, he kept the interests -of labor predominant in his consideration of this subject. For -instance, in some remarks upon the lumber tariff, he said: "It is -perfectly well known that the great value of lumber is in the labor -and the transportation, and while we in the United States are paying -our laborers (in lumber) $2 a day, they are in the British Provinces -paying but from 75 cents to $1 per day." And he steadily voted for -such protection of the lumber trade as would enable producers engaged -in that business to pay large wages, and opposed every suggestion -which looked to impoverishing or pauperizing the American artisan. He -uniformly upheld American industry and labor of every kind against -the competition of the world. He felt that the highest civilization -can only be secured through that policy of industrial diversification -which brings consumer and producer side by side, and he favored giving -it the widest possible scope. He frequently declared, "I cannot vote -to discriminate against any particular branch," and he firmly believed -in protecting everything his country could produce. His vigilance in -caring for all interests and his grasp of the practical details of -tariff legislation will appear from one or two brief citations from -speeches made in 1867 on proposed modifications of the Morrill tariff. -The duty on pig-metal was then $9 per ton, and it was proposed in the -new bill to admit scrap-iron on the payment of a duty of $3. On this -proposition Mr. Chandler said: - - The effect of this tariff will be to admit all the rails in the - world into the United States at a duty of $3 a ton. We will - become the recipients of all the scrap-iron in the world.... And - the effect will be to put out every blast furnace in the United - States, and stop the mining in every mountain in the country.... - The expense of re-rolling bars is only about $30 a ton. You - admit scrap-iron at this nominal duty, and the result will be to - utterly destroy the revenue you now receive from iron--you will - import nothing but at the duty of $3 per ton. This scrap-iron is - worth two or three times as much as pig-metal. Pig-metal has to - be puddled once. It costs to-day $28 per ton to put pig-metal - into scrap, and yet you put a duty of $9 per ton on pig-metal - and propose a mere nominal duty of $3 per ton on scrap.... This - is absolutely abandoning the whole iron interests of the United - States, save and excepting the rolling-mills.... The State of - Pennsylvania takes about 300,000 tons of Lake Superior ore to mix - with her inferior ore, and transports it by water 700 or 800 miles, - and afterward by land carriage--a very expensive carriage--from - 50 to 300 miles. This ore is mixed with the Pennsylvania ores, - and transported then a long distance at very great expense. The - demand for pig-iron is for rolling.... Calling material nothing, - it costs the manufacturers $60 per ton of scrap-iron to take the - ore and the coal from the mine and deliver at the works, every - cent of which is labor.... There are in the world 100,000 miles of - railroads, of which 36,000 are in the United States, and 64,000 in - the rest of the world. These railroads are laid, on an average, - with rails weighing 56 pounds to the yard, and use 49,000 tons - net to the mile. This gives the 64,000 miles abroad 3,136,000 - tons of iron. This has to be re-rolled on an average once in ten - years; consequently one-tenth of this amount is let loose upon some - country every year in the shape of scrap-iron. That would make the - amount of railroad scrap alone 313,600 tons per annum, which it is - proposed to admit at a duty of $3 a ton, and which it costs to-day - $60 a ton to put in the form of scrap in the United States. This - is Free Trade in the broadest sense. It is worse than that.... It - will build up rolling-mills, but it will break down every forge - in the United States.... It will stop our mines in Michigan that - yield ores richer than any other in the world.... It will make this - country the _entrepôt_ for the scrap-iron of the world. - -He would not build up the rolling-mill at the expense of the mine and -the blast-furnace. He would not build up one industry upon the ruins of -any other. His many speeches and his more numerous votes in the Senate -all indicated the same clear purpose to avoid discrimination against -home interests where possible, and to protect everything American -against everything of foreign production. - -One phase of this many-sided question which made a deep impression upon -Mr. Chandler remains to be mentioned. In common with all thoughtful -Americans, during the course of the rebellion he realized the priceless -value of the large-brained, energetic and highly-skilled American -mechanic. He had marked these men in every brigade, upon every field of -the war, enabling commanders to overcome obstacles which without them -would have been insurmountable. He had seen mills and factories and -shops pouring into the storehouses of the government the multitudinous -articles without which a successful prosecution of the war would -have been impossible, and that, too, with a rapidity which was as -amazing as it was unexampled. He was from his early manhood a strong -protectionist. But when he realized what the American working-men had -done for the country and for freedom, and how its protected trades had -served the government in its hour of trial, he was still more confirmed -in the wisdom of the system which fosters American industry and secures -to the country the priceless heritage of prosperous and intelligent -laborers and mechanics. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[12] The following letter is written by a gentleman thoroughly familiar -with the history of tariff legislation at Washington for many years: - - WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 5, 1880. - -Some eight years ago, when a serious reduction in the copper tariff was -proposed, I know that Mr. Chandler rendered valuable aid in bringing -the facts before the Senate in his clear, terse way--going straight -to the mark. Then, as always in practical matters, his prompt manner, -his business knowledge, and his immense power of will made him the man -to be called on, and he ever responded to the call, and had a power -wonderful indeed to "push things." When the act to reduce internal -revenue taxes--which had passed the House almost unanimously, and had -been perfected by the mutual labors of Congressional committees and -representative business men--was before the Senate for final action in -March, 1868, an effort was made by Senator Fessenden, of Maine, to add -to it as a "rider" a clause affecting the copper tariff, which would -surely have delayed if not defeated the measure. Senator Chandler spoke -ten minutes, putting concentrated power in his words, and showing the -great importance of passing the act and the needless mischief that must -come of saddling it with another question. He succeeded in defeating -the Fessenden amendment, the act passed without it, and it reduced the -annual burden of internal revenue taxation some $60,000,000 (all this -internal). - -The Senator's views on tariff legislation were broad and comprehensive, -recognizing the interdependence of all branches of industry and the -importance of such action as should bear with equal justice on all: -knowing no East, nor West, nor South--no petty and narrow jealousy -between farmer and merchant and manufacturer--but seeking the wise care -and healthy growth o£ a varied home industry all over the land. - -On these subjects he showed practical sagacity and the same moral -courage and bold vigor that marked his great efforts for freedom and -justice to all in the last and grandest year, which so nobly closed -a public career which will live and grow in the minds of future -generations. Very truly yours, - - GILES B. STEBBINS. - - - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -SERVICES TO NORTHWESTERN COMMERCIAL INTERESTS AND THE CAUSE OF INTERNAL -IMPROVEMENTS. - - -Upon the day following that on which Mr. Chandler first took his seat -in the Senate Judah P. Benjamin of Louisiana offered a resolution, from -a special committee in regard to the formation of committees, amending -the thirty-fourth rule of the Senate by providing that thereafter the -standing committees of that body (their members are selected by the -Senate itself and not by its presiding officer) should be appointed -at the commencement of each session of Congress. The Committee on -Commerce then, and from that time until the special session in the -spring of 1875, consisted of seven members. Mr. Benjamin's resolution -was adopted, and on March 9th the standing committees for the special -session were, on motion of Mr. Seward of New York, announced. The -Committee on Commerce was composed of Messrs. Clay of Alabama, -chairman, Benjamin of Louisiana, Bigler of Pennsylvania, Toombs of -Georgia, Reid of North Carolina, Bright of Indiana, and Hamlin of -Maine. Mr. Chandler was assigned to the Committee on the District of -Columbia, of which Mr. Brown of Mississippi was chairman. Mr. Hamlin -of Maine was also appointed on this inferior committee, giving it two -Republican members, while the Committee on Commerce had but one. The -general assignment of places to the minority was so inadequate and -unfair that a Republican caucus (the first Mr. Chandler attended) -had been called to consider the matter. Mr. Chandler, although a new -member, was one of its speakers and gave strong expression to his -sense of the injustice with which both his party and the Northwest -had been treated. It was decided to make a formal protest against the -constitution of the committees, and, as a result of this consultation, -when Mr. Seward's motion was made, Mr. Fessenden of Maine, as the -spokesman of the Republicans, denounced the unfairness of the majority -with force and vigor. In his remarks he said "that there was not an -individual member of the Republican party in the Senate who deemed -that a just and fair division had been made in the appointment of the -committees, especially two or three of them." He also declared that -there was not a just and fair division with reference to questions -coming before the committees, and then gave this illustration: "Take, -for instance, the Committee on Commerce. On that committee the -Republican party, numbering twenty out of the sixty-one members of the -Senate, is assigned, of the whole number of seven, one member.... The -interests of the whole lake region, the interests of New England and of -New York, involving, as those large portions of the country do, such -an infinite superiority of all its commerce, are found with only two -members out of the seven." Mr. Hamlin here corrected Mr. Fessenden's -statement, by saying, "My colleague is mistaken.... The interests of -which he speaks have only _one_ member on that committee, not two." Mr. -Hamlin was right; there was but one member of the Committee on Commerce -to represent the immense interests of the country of the Great Lakes of -the Northwest and of the whole of New England and New York, and that -single member was himself. But the Republican protest, well-grounded as -it was, proved then unavailing. - -At the first regular session of the Thirty-fifth Congress, beginning -in December, 1857, Mr. Allen, of Rhode Island, presented under the -rule a new list of the standing committees of the Senate for adoption. -That on Commerce was only changed by the substitution of Mr. Allen -for Mr. Bright of Indiana, increasing its New England but diminishing -its Western membership. Messrs. Hamlin, Chandler and Wilson again made -vigorous remonstrances against the unjust formation of the standing -committees as a whole. This was Mr. Chandler's first speech in the -Senate, and it was as follows: - - I find in the "Globe" of yesterday the following announcement: "The - caucus of all parties in the Senate has agreed to constitute the - committees as follows." And then follows a list in detail. This - announcement, as I understand it, is incorrect. I believe that no - such caucus has been held. I am informed that a Democratic caucus - was held, and the committees made up, leaving certain blanks to be - submitted to the Republicans for them to fill. They saw fit to fill - these blanks, under protest. No such caucus as is announced in the - statement which I have read was ever held. No assent has ever been - given by the Republicans of this Senate to any such formation of - committees as is there announced. - - I rise, sir, to protest against this list of committees as - presented here. Never before, in the whole course of my - observation, have I seen a large minority virtually ignored in a - legislative body upon important committees. This is the first time - that I have ever witnessed such a total, or almost total, ignoring - of a large and influential minority. But, sir, whom and what does - this minority represent? It represents--I believe I am correct in - saying--more than half--certainly nearly one-half--of all the free - white inhabitants of these United States; it represents two-thirds - of all the commerce of the United States; and more than two-thirds - of the revenues of the United States; and yet this minority, - representing the commerce and revenues of the nation, is expected - to be satisfied with one place upon the tail end of a committee of - seven on Commerce. I may almost say that that committee is of more - importance to the Northwest than all the other committees of this - body, but the great Northwest is totally ignored upon a committee - in which it takes so deep an interest. Not a solitary member of - this body from that portion of the country is honored with a - position on that committee, and yet you have been told of the - hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of commerce which is there - looking for protection to this body. - - Sir, we are not satisfied, and we desire to enter our protest - against any such formation of committees as is here presented. But - we would say to the gentlemen on the other side of the chamber; You - have the power to-day; you can elect your committees as you see - fit; you can give us one representative on a committee of five, or - one on a committee of seven, or none on any of the committees, if - you think proper. Exercise that power in your own discretion; but, - gentlemen, beware! for the time is not far distant when the measure - you mete out to us to-day shall be meted to you again. - -Senators Pugh, Bayard, Gwin and Brown, from the Democratic side, -defended the list as presented by Mr. Allen, and his resolution for its -appointment was adopted by a strict party vote of thirty to nineteen. -The Republican protests were again unheeded by the Senate, but in less -than four years Mr. Chandler's prediction, that the situation would be -reversed, was fulfilled. - -Before Mr. Chandler entered the Senate there had been some work done -by the United States upon the most serious natural obstacle to the -navigation of the Great Lakes, the tortuous channels and extensive -shoals at the mouth of the St. Clair river, known as the "St. Clair -Flats." Largely through Senator Cass's efforts an appropriation of -$45,000 had been made in the Thirty-fourth Congress (it was passed over -Franklin Pierce's veto) for this work, and this sum had been expended -under the supervision of Major Whipple in the clearing out of a channel -through the shoals of about 6,000 feet in length, 150 feet in width, -and nine feet in depth at low water. This improvement, valuable as it -was, did not prove at all adequate, and was made much less useful in -the few following years by a lessening in the depth of the water of -Lake St. Clair. The rapidly-growing commerce of the lakes manifestly -demanded the early construction and permanent maintenance through these -shoals of a first-class ship canal, which could be safely used in all -conditions of water and weather by vessels of the largest class. Mr. -Chandler clearly perceived the necessity for this important national -work, determined to rest not until its completion, and commenced -at once his attack on the great obstacles in its way--namely, the -disposition of the older States to undervalue the commercial importance -of the Northwest, and the traditional hostility of the Democracy to -all internal improvements. The first measure, which (on January 14, -1858) Mr. Chandler gave notice of his intention to introduce, was a -bill "making an additional appropriation for deepening the channel of -the St. Clair Flats;" when introduced it was referred to the Committee -on Commerce. There an effort was made to strangle it by persistent -inaction. Accordingly, on April 24, Mr. Chandler introduced in the -Senate a resolution instructing the Committee on Commerce to report -back this bill for action by the Senate. This resolution not receiving -immediate consideration, on May 3 he called it up and demanded a vote. -Mr. Clay, the chairman of the committee, opposed it with much temper, -and moved to lay it on the table, but this motion was lost by one vote. -Mr. Clay then attacked Mr. Chandler's resolution as insulting to the -Committee on Commerce, and said he spurned the idea that the committee -could be instructed to report in favor of a certain appropriation for -a certain work, and that he should despise himself if he was capable -of obeying such instructions. Mr. Hamlin, the sole Republican member, -expressed his gratification at the fact that the Senator from Michigan -(Mr. Chandler) had offered this resolution; he thought that it was -appropriate, and that the action of the committee called for such -instructions. Mr. Clay having inquired, "What is the use of having a -Cabinet or an engineer corps, if the Senate is to take these matters -into its own hands?" Mr. Hamlin replied, "What is the use of a Senate, -if the Committee on Commerce, or the Cabinet officers, or the engineer -corps, are to control these matters?" and insisted that the Committee -on Commerce was a creature of the Senate, within its control, and that -if it differed from the Senate in regard to any proposition before -it, that body had the right to instruct the committee what action -to take. He added that because the committee had agreed to make no -appropriation excepting for certain specific matters, it did not follow -that the Senate must adopt its views, and be controlled thereby; -that the servant had no right nor authority to bind the master, and -that the committee was the servant of the Senate. Mr. Clay finally -yielded the point that the Senate had the right to order a committee -to report back the bill, but still objected to the proposition to -have it instructed to specify a certain amount to be appropriated, and -Mr. Chandler consented to modify his resolution so as to instruct the -committee to report back the bill for the action of the Senate without -recommendation as to the amount of the appropriation. Mr. Benjamin, -at this point, moved, as a substitute for the pending resolution, a -general order to the committee to report on all public works upon -which there had been any expenditure, and this motion prevailed. Mr. -Chandler, who was after a specific point and not a mere generality, -accepted this as a defeat, and began anew by giving notice on the spot -that he should ask leave at a subsequent day to introduce a bill for -the improvement of the St. Clair Flats, making an appropriation of -$55,000, this being the amount estimated by the United States engineers -as necessary at that time. On May 10 he presented this bill, but the -Senate refused to refer it, and adopted a motion to lay it upon the -table. Mr. Chandler met this second defeat without discouragement, -and later in the session did succeed after two efforts in procuring -the addition of this item of $55,000 to the civil appropriation bill. -But the threat of an executive veto of the whole measure, if this -appropriation was not omitted, proved potent with the Senate, and it -was ultimately stricken out. Mr. Chandler closed his last speech on -this measure at that session, with a demand for a vote by yeas and -nays, and these words: - - I want to see who is friendly to the great Northwest, and who is - not--for we are about making our last prayer here. The time is - not far distant when, instead of coming here and begging for our - rights, we shall extend our hands and _take_ the blessing. After - 1860 we shall not be here as beggars. - -Of this resolute struggle of his first Congressional session, Mr. -Chandler said in an address at St. Johns, in Michigan, on Oct. 17, 1858: - - When I took my seat in the Senate I supposed every section of - the country would be fairly heard in the details of business. - There were twenty Republican Senators representing two-thirds - the revenue, business and wealth of the country. How were they - placed on committees? Out of seven in the Committee on Commerce - they had one. I call attention to this fact. It bears the mark - of design. How does this work?... I introduced at an early day a - bill appropriating money for the St. Clair Flats, and it went to - this Southern Committee on Commerce. I procured all the necessary - maps and plans and estimates, and gave them into their charge. - One hundred days rolled away and they had not deigned to examine - them. I then introduced a resolution instructing them to report. - Subsequently I introduced a bill myself which was laid on the - table. By the most untiring efforts I succeeded in getting the - desired appropriation tacked upon an appropriation bill and passed. - But the President's friends threatened a veto of the whole bill - unless this was stricken out--and that was done. Thus committees - were packed against us and we were thwarted at every turn. - Thousands of dollars can be obtained for almost any creek in the - South, while the inland seas of the North are denied a dollar, and - we are left to take care of ourselves the best we can. - -The second session of the Thirty-fifth Congress began in December, -1858, and on the 21st of that month Mr. Chandler moved to take his St. -Clair Flats bill from the table. This time it was passed by a vote -of 29 to 22, and sent to the House where it encountered a vigorous -opposition but was finally passed, its introducer working for it -with the utmost energy in the committee-rooms, on the floor, and by -private solicitation. It reached Mr. Buchanan in the last days of that -Congress, and he killed it by withholding his signature but without -a formal veto. The Thirty-sixth Congress met in December, 1859, and -on the 4th of January Mr. Chandler's bill to deepen the St. Clair -Flats channel made its appearance. On February 2 Mr. Buchanan informed -Congress, in a special message, of his reasons for "pocketing" the -measure at the last session. This veto took the position that the -improvement of harbors and the deepening of the channels of rivers -should be done by the respective States, and suggested that Michigan -in conjunction with Upper Canada should provide the necessary means to -carry out the contemplated improvements in the channels of commerce -between those two countries, whereas the plain fact was that the -interest of that State in such works was a mere tithe of that of -the whole Northwest. Mr. Chandler reviewed this message at length -in the Senate on February 6, exposing Mr. Buchanan's misstatements -in detail, and denouncing the Democratic construction of the -constitution. Jefferson Davis at once came to the defense of the veto -on constitutional grounds, and a running debate followed on the subject -between Messrs. Chandler and Bingham of Michigan, Hamlin, Crittenden, -Davis, Toombs, Wigfall and others. Mr. Crittenden condemned the veto, -while Toombs and Wigfall joined Davis in its defense. Thus the plotters -of rebellion assumed a hypocritical attitude as defenders of the -constitution. Their treasonable daggers were yet concealed beneath -their Senatorial togas, as they stood in their high places and assumed -a virtue that they never had, that of being patriots with a deep regard -for the fundamental law of the land. No action followed this debate, -but on February 20 Mr. Chandler moved that his bill be made the special -order for the 23d. This motion prevailed, but when that day arrived -the Senate refused to proceed with its consideration, Mr. Chandler -protesting against this delay in a speech pointing out the necessity -for prompt action. On March 13 he moved to take the bill from the table -but the Senate refused. Six days later he renewed the motion with the -same result. Eleven days after that he did succeed in getting the -measure made the special order for April 10, but again other business -displaced it, and so no action was taken before adjournment. The second -session of this Congress commenced in December, 1861, with civil war -imminent and no chance for the consideration of any project of internal -improvement. At the meeting of the next Congress the Democracy found -itself in a petty minority, and remained powerless at Washington for -many years. As soon as it became plain that rebellion could not destroy -the life of the nation, Mr. Chandler brought forward again his bill for -the improvement of the channels at the head of Lake St. Clair, and with -the powerful support of his colleagues and the commercial interests of -the Northwest obtained without difficulty from Republican Congresses -such appropriations as were required for the prompt construction of a -great ship-canal, ranking to-day among the most important and useful -of the public works of this continent. Its history and statistics are -given in this extract from an official report for the year ending June -30, 1879: - - This canal (according to its present plan) was projected by Col. - T. J. Cram, of the Corps of Engineers, in August, 1866, as the - best method of improving navigation at the mouth of the St. Clair - river. He proposed opening the lower tortuous reach of the south - channel, and making a direct cut from its mouth proper to deep - water in Lake St. Clair. His project was approved, and construction - began on the 20th of August, 1867, under contract with Mr. John - Brown of Thorold, Canada. The original plan was a straight canal - 300 feet wide in the clear, and 13 feet deep at low stage of water, - protected by dykes 5 feet in height and 58 feet wide on top, built - of the material dredged from the channel and thrown behind a pile - and timber revetment. The canal was completed in the autumn of - 1871, and turned over to the charge of Maj. O. M. Poe, Corps of - Engineers, on the 11th of December. As completed, the banks are - 7,221 feet in length, and constructed mostly of dredged sand thrown - behind a revetment consisting of piling in two rows driven 13 feet - apart and parallel, and capped with a timber superstructure 5 - feet high, the front row being supplemented with a single row of - sheath-piling to prevent the sand bank from washing back into the - canal. As originally planned, the reverse faces of the embankment - were to be permitted to take their natural slope, but as it was - found that the banks if left so would be gradually washed away, - they were secured eventually by a pile and plank revetment. The - timbers in the superstructure were carbolized to prevent rotting, - but the process proved a disastrous failure, owing to its imperfect - application, and the timbers thus treated are as a general rule - at this date a mere shell with a core of dry rot. The banks were - planted with willows and sodded in some places. The history of - the work since Major Poe took charge, excepting as regards the - deepening of the channel for 200 feet of its width to a depth of 16 - feet, as projected by that officer, has been a monotonous routine - of stopping leaks on the canal face, due to the imperfection of the - single row of sheath-piling, which permits the sand to be sucked - through by passing vessels, and propeller-wheels working near the - revetment. These leaks have been stopped from time to time at - various points by various devices, such as marsh sod, etc.... The - deepening of the canal was begun under Major Poe's direction by - contract with Mr. John Brown of Thorold, Canada, in June, 1873, and - finished September 23, 1878, under the direction of Major Weitzel, - who had in the meanwhile relieved Major Poe. - -[Illustration: THE SHIP-CANAL AT THE ST. CLAIR FLATS.] - - Up to the time when the canal was turned over as completed to Major - Poe, it cost in construction and repair $472,837.84. There was - subsequently expended by Majors Poe and Weitzel $101,533.63, partly - in repairs, but mainly in deepening the canal; and afterward, - up to the close of the present fiscal year, $19,162.78 were - expended in repairs and protection. It will thus be seen that the - canal has thus far cost $586,111.56 in construction, improvement - and repair.... Colonel Cram's original estimate of the cost of - this work was $428,754. The whole amount appropriated has been - $590,000. The annual cost of maintenance is $5,000. There are two - light-houses on the banks. - -The value of the commerce which annually passes between the willow-clad -piers of the canal is estimated by hundreds of millions, and in every -season its cost has been more than made good by the disasters and -delays it has averted. Mr. Chandler regarded his efforts to secure its -construction as the hardest fight of his Congressional service, and -there is nothing in his public life more thoroughly characteristic -of the man than the skill, energy, and persistence with which he -championed this measure in the face of the strongest obstacles, and -in spite of repeated defeats, session after session and Congress -after Congress, until entire success crowned his labors. Many others -co-operated with him and aided in securing the ultimate victory; but -circumstances and his indomitable will placed him at the front in the -decisive struggle, and this great public work is an enduring monument -of the value of his services to the vast commercial interests of the -Northwest. - -At the second session of the Thirty-fifth Congress the earnest protests -of the year before bore fruit, and the Committee on Commerce then -appointed was composed of Senators Clay of Alabama, chairman, Bigler -of Pennsylvania, Toombs of Georgia, Reid of North Carolina, Allen -of Rhode Island, Hamlin of Maine, and Chandler of Michigan. This -commenced Mr. Chandler's connection with that committee; he remained a -member of it throughout all his Senatorial terms, and was its chairman -and inspiring spirit during the years of its greatest activity and -usefulness. It is one of the most important standing committees of the -Senate of the United States, and during Mr. Chandler's chairmanship -its labors were gradually increased, partly through the growing -business and commerce of the country, and partly by having new topics -assigned for its consideration and action, because of the prompt -attention and rigid scrutiny given to all matters coming under the -supervision of Mr. Chandler as its head. To this committee are referred -under the rules nominations of collectors of customs, appraisers -of merchandise, surveyors of customs, of officers appointed to or -promoted in the revenue marine service, of the chief officers in the -life-saving service, and of all incumbents of consular positions. It -also considers bills fixing the compensation of such officers; bills -relating to marine hospitals and the customs, consular and life-saving -services; bills concerning the interests of the commercial marine of -the country, including the registry, enrollment and license of vessels, -their inspection and measurement, tonnage-tax, entrance and clearance -fees, names and official numbers, the lights to be carried, the -steam pressure allowed, the providing of small boats and life-saving -apparatus on passenger steamers, and restrictions upon the number of -passengers or kind of freight; and bills granting medals for heroic -service in saving life in case of shipwreck or similar disaster. To it -are referred all measures for the improvement of rivers and harbors -in the interests of commerce; for the construction of breakwaters, -harbors of refuge, ship-canals, and locks for slack-water navigation; -for the building of bridges across navigable rivers, or other waters of -the United States; for the establishment of ports of entry and ports -of delivery; for the establishment of customs collection districts -or changing the boundaries thereof; granting American registers to -foreign vessels (usually passed where a wreck of a foreign vessel has -been purchased and rebuilt by an American citizen); and relating to -the duties and districts of supervising and subordinate inspectors -of steam craft. There is hardly any conceivable question relating to -vessels of the United States that Congress has not power to act upon, -and such matters, unless pertaining to the naval service, are always -referred to the respective committees on commerce of the Senate and -House, Congress as a rule following their recommendations where no -political question is involved. In addition to an immense mass of -measures coming under the classes enumerated, the Senate Committee on -Commerce, during Mr. Chandler's connection with it, considered and -reported bills to admit ship-building material free of duty, to prevent -the extermination of the fur-bearing seals of Alaska, authorizing the -appointment of shipping commissioners, and defining a gross of matches. -All these facts are recited to show the great variety of questions that -are referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce--greater than are sent -to any other Congressional committee. - -No particular changes took place in the _personnel_ of this committee -as already given until in the last year of Buchanan's administration. -At the closing session of the Thirty-sixth Congress it consisted of -C. C. Clay, chairman, Bigler, Toombs, Clingman, Saulsbury, Hamlin, -and Chandler. Senator Hamlin having been elected Vice-President, -resigned (in January, 1861) his Senatorship, and Mr. Baker of Oregon -was appointed to fill the vacancy thus caused on this committee. In the -middle of January Mr. Clay resigned to join the rebellion, and A. 0. P. -Nicholson of Tennessee was made a member of the committee in his place. -On the 24th of January, 1861, by the unanimous consent of the Senate, -the Vice-President filled all the vacancies on the standing committees -caused by the retiring of the Southern Senators, and the Committee -on Commerce then, as re-constituted, consisted of Senators Bigler, -chairman, Clingman, Saulsbury, Chandler, Baker, and Nicholson. - -At the special session of the Thirty-seventh Congress (in March, -1861) the Senate committees were radically reorganized, and the -new Committee on Commerce, the first appointed by the Republican -party, consisted of Zachariah Chandler, chairman, Preston King, Lot -M. Morrill, Henry Wilson, Thomas L. Clingman, Willard Saulsbury, and -Andrew Johnson. Mr. Chandler continued in the chairmanship until he -ceased to be a member of the Senate in 1875. Mr. Clingman soon joined -the rebels, and his place on the committee was filled by Mr. Ten -Eyck of New Jersey. From session to session changes were made in its -membership, and among the names on its rolls during the fourteen years -that Mr. Chandler sat at the head of its table were Edwin D. Morgan, -James H. Lane, Solomon Foot, Timothy O. Howe, James W. Nesmith, Justin -S. Morrill, John A. J. Creswell, George F. Edmunds, James R. Doolittle, -William P. Kellogg, George E. Spencer, Roscoe Conkling, William A. -Buckingham, J. R. West, John H. Mitchell, John B. Gordon, George R. -Dennis, and George S. Boutwell. Mr. Chandler was succeeded in the -chairmanship when he left the Senate by Roscoe Conkling of New York; -soon after he was re-elected in 1879 the Democrats regained control, -and the Committee on Commerce of the Forty-sixth Senate was organized -by them. Mr. Chandler was made a member of it, and at the time of his -death it consisted of Senator Gordon of Georgia, chairman, Ransom of -North Carolina, Randolph of New Jersey, Hereford of West Virginia, Coke -of Texas, Conkling of New York, McMillan of Minnesota, Jones of Nevada, -and Chandler of Michigan. - -Mr. Chandler's business principles were carried out in his committee -work as thoroughly as they had been in his mercantile career. He -believed that what was worth doing at all was worth doing well. It was -the custom of the Senate Committee on Commerce to assemble formally -once a week, for the consideration of such petitions and bills as had -been referred to it for action. Whenever the appointed hour for meeting -arrived Mr. Chandler was always in his seat, while its other members -but rarely displayed anything like his promptitude. It annoyed the -chairman to have any one late, and it was his custom to proceed with -business as soon as a quorum was present, or if no quorum appeared -within fifteen or twenty minutes, to assume that there was one and -commence work; no protests against this course were ever made by -the tardy or absent members. The location of the room of the Senate -Committee on Commerce during Mr. Chandler's whole term of Senatorial -service was in the northwest corner of the capitol, on the floor -leading to the galleries. Its windows look down upon the city of -Washington, with the broad, historic Potomac and the forest-crowned -Virginia hills the distance, and the sunset view from them--including -the blue glimmering river, the golden gossamer clouds, the green -foliage upon the brow of the hills in the extreme horizon--could never -be excelled in an artist's most vivid conception. - -The first bill reported by Mr. Chandler as chairman of the Committee on -Commerce was one to provide for the collection of duties on imports and -for other purposes. He brought it in five days after the appointment -of the committee at the first session of the Thirty-seventh Congress, -and asked that it should be put upon its passage at once. A single -objection carried it over under the rules until the next day, when it -was passed by a vote of 36 to 6. The scope of the bill was extensive. -It provided for confiscating to the United States all vessels belonging -to rebels, for closing ports of entry in rebellious States, and for -the employment of additional revenue cutters. It also authorized the -President under certain circumstances to declare by proclamation -States, sections, or parts of States, in insurrection against the -United States, and prohibited all commercial intercourse between such -insurrectionary States, or parts of States, and the rest of the Union -so long as the insurrection should continue. It was thus among the -earliest and most important of the war measures. - -It is not necessary to occupy space with the details[13] of the -enormous mass of business transacted by the Senate Committee on -Commerce during Mr. Chandler's chairmanship. It was in those years -that the sentiment of every section, in favor of extending the -fostering care of the government to the aid of internal commerce, -was consolidated and organized until it bore down all opposition and -completely reversed the general policy and practice of the United -States. How important and complete this revolution was will appear -from the table of the appropriations for river, harbor and kindred -improvements made at successive Congressional sessions since the -foundation of the republic. - -Mr. Chandler was the firm friend of an intelligently-planned and -general system of internal improvements. His labors, and those of men -like him, have borne fruit in manifold aids to commerce scattered over -river, lake and ocean--light-houses, breakwaters, harbors of refuge, -straightened and deepened channels, ship-canals and improved natural -highways. He was prompt to recognize the claims of all sections, but -was especially vigilant in regard to the necessities of the Northwest, -and his memory will long be cherished throughout the region of the -Great Lakes as that of the most ardent and efficient champion of its -commercial development. - - - TABLE GIVING THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY APPROPRIATIONS BY CONGRESS - FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS AND THE CONSTRUCTION - OF SHIP-CANALS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE GOVERNMENT: - - ============================================================== - YEARS. AMOUNT. - Monroe. { 1822[14] $34,200 - { 1823 6,150 - { 1824 145,000 - J. Q. Adams. { 1825 40,600 - { 1826 88,900 - { 1827 160,200 - { 1828 565,300 - Jackson. { 1829 254,200 - { 1830 377,600 - { 1831 637,000 - { 1832 693,500 - { 1833 546,300 - { 1834 791,200 - { 1835 505,200 - { 1836 1,198,200 - Van Buren. { 1837 1,681,700 - { 1838 1,467,200 - { 1839 18,000 - { 1840 ....... - Tyler. { 1841 17,500 - { 1842 ....... - { 1843 233,000 - { 1844 701,500 - Polk. { 1845 7,000 - { 1846 ....... - { 1847 14,220 - { 1848 ....... - Taylor-Fillmore. { 1849 20,000 - { 1850 ....... - { 1851 ....... - { 1852 2,099,300 - Pierce. { 1853 900 - { 1854 140,000 - { 1855 ....... - { 1856[15] 775,000 - Buchanan. { 1857 ....... - { 1858 ....... - { 1859 ....... - { 1860 ....... - Lincoln. { 1861 ....... } Term of Z. Chandler - { 1862 ....... } as Chairman of the - { 1863 ....... } Senate Committee on - { 1864 537,500 } Commerce. - Johnson. { 1865 23,000 } - { 1866 3,579,700 } - { 1867 4,816,800 } - { 1868 1,601,500 } - Grant. { 1869 2,200,000 } - { 1870 4,173,900 } - { 1871 5,047,000 } - { 1872 5,603,000 } - { 1873 6,102,900 } - { 1874 5,282,500 } - { 1875 6,643,500 } - { 1876 5,213,000 - Hayes. { 1877 ....... - { 1878 8,337,000 - { 1879 7,912,600 - ---------- - TOTAL, $80,292,270 - -------------------------------------------------------------- - -NOTES. - - This table only includes $750,000 of the $5,250,000 appropriated to - pay Capt. James B. Eads for the jetty improvements at the mouth of - the Mississippi. - - The total of these appropriations during the years of Mr. - Chandler's term as chairman was $45,610,800, or more than one-half - of the entire amount. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[13] Mr. Chandler entered the Senate when Congress was under the -control of Democratic majorities. He was in the minority, but he never -feared to assert his views, and denounce measures of doubtful advantage -to the best interests of the country. The policy of the dominant party -had been uniformly adverse to internal improvements--especially to -making appropriations for harbor and river improvements. Soon after -taking his seat, Mr. Chandler brought this important subject before -the Senate, and insisted upon the necessity of fostering and aiding -internal commerce. He introduced several measures, with this object in -view.... These improvements were not then considered; but his vigorous -speeches and persistent efforts subsequently compelled their partial -recognition, and Mr. Chandler was placed on the Committee of Commerce, -of which he was made chairman when the Republican party came into -power, and so continued to the end of his Senatorial labors. It is -not too much to say, for it is only the truth, that to Mr. Chandler's -untiring zeal in this capacity, the country is indebted for many of -those magnificent harbor and river improvements, which have been made -since the Republican party came into power. Says a recent writer--an -excellent authority, "The evidences of their utility are seen on every -hand, scattered along our seaboard, along our extended lake coast, -and upon all our rivers. The beneficent effects of these improvements -are demonstrated by our vastly-increased and increasing commerce, its -greater safety, the economy with which the work is performed, the -extraordinary development of our agricultural and mineral resources -and the increased compensation of productive labor." Reference is -thus made to Mr. Chandler's efforts in behalf of those great internal -improvements in aid of the commerce and internal development of the -country, in order to demonstrate his peculiar fitness for the position -which he has just been commissioned to fill.--_Editorial of the -Washington Chronicle of Oct. 20, 1875, announcing the appointment of -Zachariah Chandler as Secretary of the Interior._ - -[14] There were no appropriations for these purposes prior to 1822. - -[15] This sum was contained in bills which were passed over the -President's veto and included the first appropriation for the St. Clair -Flats. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION--NO COMPROMISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. - - -The news of the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency of the -United States--through strictly constitutional methods, by a large -majority of the electoral vote and by a plurality of over half a -million in the popular vote--was received with cheering and expressions -of joy in many of the Southern cities. The men who exulted there were -those who believed that with this pretext sectional passion could -be kindled into instant rebellion, and they at once set about the -work of consummating disunion before the close of the term of the -traitorous and imbecile administration of James Buchanan. On Nov. 12, -1860, South Carolina ordered the election of a convention to take -the formal step of secession, and the other cotton States promptly -followed its example. Congress met on the 3d of December, and listened -to a message from President Buchanan, in which he said: "After much -serious reflection I have arrived at the conclusion that no power to -coerce into submission a State which is attempting to withdraw, or -has actually withdrawn, from the confederacy, has been delegated to -Congress or to any other department of the Federal government. It is -manifest upon an inspection of the constitution that this is not among -the specific and enumerated powers granted to Congress; and it is -equally apparent that its exercise is not 'necessary and proper for -carrying into execution' any one of these powers." On December 20 South -Carolina adopted its ordinance of secession. Mississippi did likewise -on Jan. 9, 1861, Florida on January 10, Alabama on January 11, Georgia -on January 18, Louisiana on January 26, and Texas on February 1. On -Feb. 4, 1861, a convention of delegates from the seceding States met in -the city of Montgomery and proceeded to form and organize the "Southern -Confederacy." These events were attended by popular demonstrations -throughout the South, in which the Union was denounced with unstinted -bitterness and its power defied with the utmost audacity, and by the -active drilling of the local militia and the organization of large -bodies of armed men. More than all this, the officers of the United -States in that section abandoned their positions, and sub-treasuries, -post-offices, large sums of money, arsenals, arms, ammunition, -fortifications, and vessels of the United States were seized in all the -leading cities of the South, and used to prepare for war upon the power -from which they had been stolen. The value of the government property -thus confiscated by the rebels before the nation fired a shot was not -less than $30,000,000. On Jan. 5, 1861, the United States steamer Star -of the West was fired upon in the harbor of Charleston and driven -out to sea, and within that month a bloodless siege of Fort McRae at -Pensacola compelled its surrender to rebel forces by a United States -garrison. Amid these events the traitors in Buchanan's Cabinet boldly -resigned their portfolios, and Southern Congressmen with insolent words -left their seats at the capitol "to join their States." The President -himself was fitly described by Henry Winter Davis as "standing -paralyzed and stupefied amid the crash of the falling republic, still -muttering, 'Not in my time; not in my time; after me the deluge.'" - -There were three ways of meeting these overt acts of high treason, -namely: (1.) Submitting, either by sympathy and connivance, by frank -surrender, or by an equally effective supineness. (2.) Meekly offering -to rampant rebellion the bribe of fresh concessions to slavery. (3.) -Treating armed secession as treason and its promoters as traitors, -and dealing with it and them as such. The first method did not lack -for supporters outside of the South. Thousands of Northern Democrats -justified secession and promised the cotton States support. Their -papers predicted that in case of war "it would be fought in the -North,"[A] that "no Democrat would be found to raise an arm against his -brethren of the South,"[16] and that "if troops should be raised in -the North to march against the people of the South, a fire in the rear -would be opened upon such troops which would either stop their march -altogether or wonderfully accelerate it."[17] The Mayor of the great -city of New York suggested in his annual message that that metropolis -might well consider if the time did not seem to be at hand when it -could profitably throw off allegiance to the United States and erect -itself into "a free city." In public meetings and in party conventions -like utterances were heard and applauded, all justifying the -declaration of Lawrence M. Keitt in the city of Charleston that "there -are a million of Democrats in the North who, when the Black Republicans -attempt to march upon the South, will be found a wall of fire in their -front." These sympathizers with rebellion were reinforced by the -holders of anti-coercion theories, by commercial timidity, and--most -unexpectedly--by some Republican sentiment in favor of permitting -peaceful separation rather than facing civil war. This sentiment was -fortunately short-lived and not cowardly in its origin, but it found an -advocate in, and was given public expression by, the most influential -Republican journalist of that period, Horace Greeley, and it did much -to encourage rebel arrogance and to distract the national councils. -But that was the most numerous class which comprised the men who -proposed to meet actual civil war with servile tenders to traitors in -arms of new guarantees for slavery and with humble petitions for their -acceptance. With the meeting of Congress in December, 1860, these -gentlemen became the conspicuous figures at Washington, and for three -months labored industriously upon compromise schemes, every one of -which was, in its essence, a proposition that Freedom should do homage -to Slavery, and that the verdict of the people at the polls should -be shamefully reversed to placate men who had deliberately plotted -treason, and who again and again rejected with frank contempt offers -of "conciliation." There were some who co-operated in these movements -for the sake of gaining time and keeping the border States out of -rebellion until Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, but the great source -of the compromise clamor of that winter was either some feeling of -friendliness to the slave power or moral flaccidity. - -It need not be said that Mr. Chandler was not found in either of these -classes. For three years he had regarded this crisis as imminent. He -did not believe that the South would now abandon its cherished dream -of independent empire for any compromise. He did not propose to shrink -back one inch before armed rebellion or to surrender one iota of -principle to traitorous threats. He went to Washington determined to -maintain the supremacy of the government at every cost, to listen to no -plans of concession, to offer to disunionists only the alternative of -obedience to the constitution or the penalties of treason, and to labor -incessantly to stir into indignant action the slumbering sentiment of -nationality in the hearts of the Northern people. It is in such hours -that men of his indomitable stamp step to the front, and he became at -once a pioneer leader of that uncompromising and tireless spirit which -was the citadel of the Union cause. He spoke but rarely on political -questions during the last session of the Thirty-sixth Congress, but was -active in all the Republican consultations of that eventful period. In -them he steadfastly opposed any policy that savored of bending to or -temporizing with rebellion, and in the face of not a little Republican -demoralization urged that the crisis should be met with the spirit -of Jackson and of Cromwell. Speaking of this session he afterward -said: "If I could have had my way, when treason was proclaimed on the -floor of the Senate the traitor would never have gone free from the -capitol." With the Southern leaders he was frank in his denunciations -of their course and plans. In a chance conversation at this time with -the craftiest of their number, Slidell of Louisiana, he asked how the -pending struggle would end, and Slidell replied, "Oh, we will all go -out, and the Union will be broken up." - -"And what are you going to do with the mouth of the Mississippi?" said -Mr. Chandler. - -"We will, of course, have to seize and hold that," was the answer, "but -we will not tax your commerce." - -To this, Mr. Chandler's indignant response was, "We own that river, Mr. -Slidell; we bought and paid for it; and, by the Eternal, we are going -to keep it. It was a desert when we bought it, and we will make it a -desert again before we will let you steal it from us." - -Mr. Chandler labored assiduously to thwart the plots of the rebel -leaders, and to make such preparation as was possible for the coming -strife. It was at this time that he formed that close intimacy with -Edwin M. Stanton, which continued until the death of "the Carnot of the -United States." Mr. Stanton, as the Attorney-General of the Buchanan -Cabinet in its closing months, rendered service of the largest value -to the nation by urging vigorous measures on his imbecile chief, by -boldly confronting the traitors who were among his colleagues, and -by secretly and promptly informing the Republican leaders of each -new development of the disunion conspiracy as revealed in Cabinet -consultations. His information and counsels furnished sure guidance at -a time of the greatest peril, and this it was that led to the early -appointment by Mr. Lincoln to the Secretaryship of War of a man whom -the public then chiefly knew as a minor Cabinet officer in a detested -administration. Mr. Chandler always rated Mr. Stanton's services to the -Union cause in the early months of 1861 as second only in value to his -herculean labors in the War Department; placed the highest estimate -upon his ability, vigor, and patriotism; aided greatly in securing -his appointment and confirmation as one of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet; -remained his firm friend and counselor, and was largely instrumental -in obtaining from President Grant the nomination to the justiceship of -the Supreme Court which so shortly preceded his death. It was also at -this time that Mr. Chandler began to distrust the political fidelity of -Mr. Seward, whose spoken suggestions of compromise and whose persistent -negotiations with rebel emissaries, however diplomatic in origin and -intent, were fruitful sources of Southern hope and Northern weakness. -Time increased rather than diminished this dislike, and Mr. Chandler -was always an impatient critic of Mr. Seward's influence upon the -Lincoln administration, and saw in the course of the Secretary of State -of Andrew Johnson's Cabinet only the fulfillment of his own suspicions -and predictions. - -The secret history of these exciting days, teeming with incident and -concealing many startling revelations, has yet been but sparingly -written; it is doubtful if the veil will ever be more than slightly -lifted. Mr. Chandler himself guarded scrupulously from public knowledge -much that was well known to him and a few associates and would have -shed light on the hidden springs of actions of vast moment. This class -of information he treated as state secrets, whose perishing with -the actors in the great drama was desirable for public reasons. A -well-known Washington journalist, who dined one day with Mr. Chandler -and Mr. Wade, and listened with interest to their reminiscences of "war -times," suggested to these gentlemen that their recollections should be -recorded while they were still fresh for the benefit of history, and -did succeed at first in obtaining their consent to an arrangement by -which the two "war Senators" were to devote one evening in each week -to the relation of the inside history of the period between the fall -of 1860 and the end of Johnson's administration. These narratives were -to be taken down by a stenographer, whose notes were to be written -out, carefully compiled, and subjected to the revision of Messrs. -Chandler and Wade. The manuscript was then to be sealed and placed in -such keeping as should make it certain that it would not be published -until the lapse of many years. On the following Saturday night the -literary gentleman was promptly at Mr. Chandler's residence with the -stenographer. Mr. Wade shortly afterward came in, and at once said: -"I have been thinking this matter over, Chandler, and you must allow -me to decline. There is no use in telling what we know unless we tell -_the whole truth_, and if I tell the whole truth I shall blast too -many reputations. These things would be interesting and valuable if -they were preserved in a book, but they would not be as valuable as -the reputations that would be destroyed. The days we were going to -talk about were exciting days, when good men made mistakes, and their -mistakes ought to be forgotten." Mr. Chandler promptly assented, and -the reminiscences were never written. - -In the Senate at this time Mr. Chandler's course was bold and -straightforward. On Feb. 19, 1861, he denounced on its floor "traitors -in the Cabinet and imbeciles in the Presidential chair." He steadfastly -opposed the Crittenden Compromise, well described by Charles Sumner -as "the great surrender to slavery," and the circumstances of his -opposition to "the Peace Congress" attracted national attention then -and afterward. The Legislature of Virginia in January, 1861, adopted -resolutions inviting a conference of delegates from the various States -to meet at Washington on February 4, and consider how the pending -"unhappy controversy" could be adjusted by (of course) some plan giving -"to the people of the slaveholding States adequate guarantees for the -security of their rights." Twenty-two States answered this invitation, -and their representatives, presided over by John Tyler, deliberated in -Washington for nineteen days, and in the end recommended to Congress a -so-called "compromise measure," which was thus justly characterized at -the time: "Forbearing all details, it will be enough to say that they -undertook to give to slavery positive protection in the constitution, -with new sanction and immunity--making it, notwithstanding the -determination of the fathers, national instead of sectional; and, even -more than this, making it one of the essential and permanent parts of -our republican system." Its origin and its avowed object made this body -distrusted from the outset by the sincere anti-slavery men, who did -not believe that it could accomplish anything except to still farther -debauch the public mind of the North. The result proved that it was -called in the interest of slavery, and was designed to strengthen -that system. Mr. Chandler from the outset opposed all Republican -participation in this Congress, and, through the urgent recommendations -of its Senators, Michigan was one of the five Northern States which did -not send delegates. But after the Congress had met and was at work, it -was thought that the friends of freedom on its floor might be able to -accomplish something if they were increased in numbers, and accordingly -application was made to Mr. Chandler and Mr. Bingham to procure the -appointment by their State of delegates who could take their seats -before final action was reached. Under such circumstances those -gentlemen telegraphed to Lansing a request for the appointment of a -delegation, and followed the message up with letters of the same tenor, -which, although in the nature of private communications to Governor -Blair, were shown at Lansing, and soon appeared in the newspapers; they -were as follows: - - WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 1861. - - MY DEAR GOVERNOR: Governor Bingham and myself telegraphed you on - Saturday, at the request of Massachusetts and New York, to send - delegates to the Peace or Compromise Congress. They admit that we - were right and that they were wrong; that no Republican States - should have sent delegates but they are here, and cannot get away. - Ohio, Indiana and Rhode Island are caving in, and there is danger - of Illinois; and now they beg of us for God's sake to come to their - rescue, and save the Republican party from rupture. I hope you will - send _stiff-backed_ men or none. The whole thing was gotten up - against my judgment and advice, and will end in thin smoke. Still I - hope as a matter of courtesy to some of our erring brethren, that - you will send the delegates. Truly your friend, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - _His Excellency Austin Blair._ - - P. S. Some of the manufacturing States think a fight would be - awful. Without a little blood-letting, this Union will not, in my - estimation, be worth a rush. - - WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 1861. - - DEAR SIR: When Virginia proposed a convention in Washington, in - reference to the disturbed condition of the country, I regarded - it as another effort to debauch the public mind and a step toward - obtaining that concession which the imperious slave power so - insolently demands. I have no doubt, at present, but that was the - design. I was therefore pleased that the Legislature of Michigan - was not disposed to put herself in a position to be controlled - by such influences. The convention has met here, and within a - few days the aspect of things has materially changed. Every free - State, I think, except Michigan and Wisconsin, is represented, and - we have been assured by friends upon whom we can rely, that, if - those two States should send delegations of true, unflinching men, - there would probably be a majority in favor of the constitution - as it is, who would frown down the rebellion by the enforcement - of laws. These friends have urged us to recommend the appointment - of delegates from our State, and in compliance with their - request, Mr. Chandler and myself telegraphed to you last night. - It cannot be doubted that the recommendations of this convention - will have a very considerable influence upon the public mind and - upon the action of Congress. I have a great disinclination to - any interference with what should properly be submitted to the - wisdom and discretion of the Legislature, in which I place great - reliance. But I hope I shall be pardoned for suggesting that it - may be justifiable and proper by any honorable means to avert the - lasting disgrace which will attach to a free people who, by the - peaceful exercise of the ballot, have just released themselves from - the tyranny of slavery, if they should now succumb to treasonable - threats, and again submit to a degrading thraldom. If it should be - deemed proper to send delegates, I think if they could be here by - the 20th it would be in time. I have the honor, with much respect, - to be, Yours truly, - - K. S. BINGHAM. - -The Legislature of Michigan refused to follow even these -recommendations (although an effort to make the two Senators -themselves delegates received a strong support), and that State was -not represented at any stage of the abortive Peace Congress. On the -27th of February Senator Powell of Kentucky presented to the Senate -newspaper copies of these letters, and then moved to lay aside the -army appropriation bill which was pending, in order that the Senate -could proceed at once to amend the constitution. He added that it -might "better be at that than be appropriating money to support an -army that is to be engaged, it seems, in the work of blood-letting." -Mr. Chandler followed by stating that the letter was a private one of -which no copy had been preserved, but that whether the printed copy was -accurate or not he adopted it as his, and would at another time speak -on the questions it involved. He added: "The people of Michigan are -opposed to all compromises. They do not believe that any compromise is -necessary; nor do I. They are prepared to stand by the constitution of -the United States as it is, to stand by the government as it is; aye, -sir, to stand by it to blood if necessary." On the 2d of March Mr. -Chandler made his promised speech in reply to Mr. Powell. He commenced: -"I desire to ask the Senator whether, after we have adopted this or -any other compromise, he is prepared to go with me, and with the -Union-loving men of this nation, for enforcing the laws of the United -States in the thirty-four States of this Union." Powell's response was: -"I am for enforcing the laws in all the States that are within the -Union, but I am opposed to making war on the States that are without -the Union. I am opposed to coercing the seceded States.... We have no -right, under the constitution, to make war on those States." Upon this -frank admission from one of its most ardent advocates of the utter -fruitlessness of compromise, this confession that it would be a sale -without consideration, Mr. Chandler's comment was: "That is just what -I expected; it is just what I want the North to know; that those men -who profess to be for the Union with an 'if' are against it under all -circumstances." He then quoted the letter of Thomas Jefferson written -at Paris on Nov. 13, 1787, to Colonel Smith, and closing as follows: - - And what country can preserve its liberties if the rulers are not - warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of - resistance? Let them take up arms! The remedy is to set them right - as to facts; pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost - in a century or two? The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from - time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its - natural manure. - -And with this authority of Thomas Jefferson on "a little blood-letting" -as his text, Mr. Chandler spoke nearly an hour, denouncing the -treason about him with unsparing vigor and branding the Democracy -as responsible for the impending crime against the nation. In the -face of such distempers he did not hesitate to pronounce war for the -suppression of rebellion the only adequate remedy. The tone and style -of this speech will appear from these extracts: - - This is not a question of compromise. It is a question whether - we have or have not a government. If we have a government it is - capable of making itself respected abroad and at home. If we - have not a government, let this miserable rope of sand which - purports to be a government perish, and I will shed no tears - over its destruction. Sir, General Washington reasoned not so - when the whisky rebellion broke out in Pennsylvania; he called - out the _posse comitatus_ and enforced the laws. General Jackson - reasoned not so when South Carolina in 1832 raised the black flag - of rebellion; he said: "By the Eternal, I will hang them;" and he - would have done it. - - After these illustrious examples, we are told that six States - have seceded, and the Union is broken up, and all we can do is - to send commissioners to treat with traitors with arms in their - hands; treat with men who have fired upon your flag; treat with - men who have seized your custom-houses, who have erected batteries - upon your great navigable waters, and who now stand defying your - authority! What will be the result of such a treaty? You would - stand disgraced before the nations of the earth, your naval - officers would be insulted by the Algerines, your bonds would not - be worth the paper on which they are written, to-morrow. If you - submitted to this degradation your government would stand upon a - par with the governments of South America and the Central American - States. - - Sir, I will never submit to this degradation. If the right is - conceded to any State to secede from the Union, without the consent - of the other States, I am for immediate dissolution; and if the - State which I have the honor in part to represent will not follow - that advice, I, for one, upon my own responsibility and alone, - will resign my seat in this body, and leave this government, so - soon as I can prepare the small matters I shall have to arrange, - _for emigration to some country where they have a government_. - I would rather join the Comanches; _I will never live under a - government that has not the power to enforce its laws_.... I see - before me some of those men who have been fighting this corrupt - organization (the Democratic party) for the last twenty years, - who now turn about in dismay at the threatened disruption of the - government. Why are they terror-stricken? Why do they not stand - firm and denounce you as infamously connected with a plundered - treasury instead of cowering before your threats? This thing has - gone far enough.... Sir, this Union is to stand; it will stand - when your great-grandchildren and mine shall have grown gray--aye, - when they shall have gone to their last account, and their - great-grandchildren shall have grown gray. But the traitors who - are to-day plotting against this Union are to die. I do not say, - literally, that they are all to die personally and absolutely; but - they are soon to pass from the stage, and better and purer men - are to take their places. God grant that that consummation, "so - devoutly to be wished," may be early accomplished!... - - For the Union-loving men of this nation, for the true patriots of - the land, there is no reasonable concession that I would not most - cheerfully make; but for those men who profess to be Union men and - who are Union men with an "if"; who will take all the concessions - we will give them--all that they demand--and then turn about and - say "your Union is dissolved," I have no respect; and for them I - will do nothing. For the men who love this Union, who are prepared - to march to the support of the Union, who will stand up in defense - of the old flag under which their fathers fought and gloriously - triumphed, I have not only the most profound respect, but to their - demands I can scarce conceive anything that I would not yield. But, - sir, when traitorous States come here and say, unless you yield - this or that established principle or right, we will dissolve the - Union, I would answer in brief words--no concession, no compromise; - aye, give us strife even to blood before yielding to the demands of - traitorous insolence. - -This "blood letter" (as it was commonly termed) Mr. Chandler was often -called upon to meet in the course of his subsequent public life, and -he never failed to justify its writing or to stand by its language. In -the extra session of the Senate in March, 1861, John C. Breckenridge -alluded to "Senatorial threats of blood-letting," and Mr. Chandler -retorted by re-reading Jefferson's letter and re-asserting the purpose -to meet attempted treason with force. In the last session of the -Thirty-seventh Congress (on Feb. 13, 1863) William A. Richardson of -Illinois said in a debate upon a war loan measure: - - The Senator from Michigan, at the outset of this controversy, - declared in a letter to the Governor of the State of Michigan, that - this government was not worth a rush without some blood-letting. - Standing in array against all our history for seventy years, - standing in array against the peace of the country for seventy - years, the constitution itself in every proceeding from that time - to this being but compromise, he declared at the outset against any - compromise for the peace of the country, and he is responsible to a - very large extent for the arbitrament of war that is now upon us. - He is responsible for those consequences that are now flowing to - us from the position assumed then strongly by him at the head of a - dominant party in the country. - -Mr. Chandler was prompt in meeting this attack, and said: - - Mr. President: I do not propose to-day to go over my record. It has - been made before the country and the world. There let it stand. - So far as my loyalty and devotion to the country are concerned, - I doubt if any man ever seriously attempted to cast suspicion on - them. But, as I said before, my record is made. I stand upon it - and am proud of it in all its entirety. The Senator alluded to the - blood-letting letter, as it is called in Michigan. That letter - has been discussed before the people of that State. Thousands and - tens of thousands, and, for aught I know, hundreds of thousands - of copies of it, were scattered broadcast throughout that State. - What were the circumstances under which that letter was written? - We had traitors in this body proclaiming from day to-day that this - government was then destroyed, and there was no rebuke from the - Senator of Illinois or his friends. There was no rebuke from the - administration then in power, whom he aided in placing there. They - proclaimed that the government was entirely destroyed; and that it - should never be restored. Senators proclaimed on this floor that - you might give them a blank sheet of paper and allow them to fill - it as they pleased, and still they would not live with us under the - same government.... Here in this hall and in the other chamber, - and on the streets wherever you went, you heard traitors declare - that the government was ended, declare that if you attempted to - coerce the rebel States it would lead to war. I believed then, as I - believe now, that they intended to break up this government; that - they intended a disruption of the nation. And I believed then, as - I believe now, that without the intervention of armed force to put - down armed rebels and traitors, your government was destroyed. - Believing it, I so wrote to the governor of a sovereign State--a - confidential note, it is true, but that is of no account. I stand - by that letter precisely as it was written. A majority of the - people of this nation believe to-day, as I believed then, that - there was and could be but one way to save the nation, and that - was by putting down armed rebels by force. That is what I believed - then, what I believe now. - - Another thing the Senator says: Nobody is more responsible for this - bloody and wicked war than myself. Mr. President, let us look a - little into the matter of responsibility. There is a responsibility - somewhere, and a fearful responsibility, for this rebellion and - this dreadful war, but that responsibility is not upon my soul.... - You may go through all the ranks of rebeldom, aye, sir, you may - take all the officers of your regular army, who have deserted by - hundreds and violated their oath, and gone into the ranks of the - enemy, and are fighting to overturn the government; go and poll the - whole of them, and you cannot find one that ever co-operated with - me politically. They are all Democrats, every man. Yes, sir, and go - among the officers of the navy who have deserted and gone over to - the enemy, and are now fighting against their flag and attempting - to overturn this government; poll them, and among all the hundreds - of them you cannot find a single Republican--not one. No, sir, they - are all Democrats, every man. You may go and poll the whole four or - five hundred thousand men the rebels have now in arms against this - government, and you cannot find a man who was ever a Republican or - who even sympathized with the Republicans. They are all Democrats - or "Union men" such as we had here two years ago, men who had - professed to be for the Union when their hearts were with the - enemies of the government. Sir, go among the Northern sympathizers - with the rebellion, the men who are proclaiming to-day that this - government is overturned, and that it will never be restored, who - are to-day denouncing your currency and saying that your money is - not worth the paper upon which it is written; search through all - the sympathizers with this rebellion, and you cannot find a man who - ever co-operated with me politically--not one. They are Democrats, - but yet, forsooth, I am responsible for this war.... I have no - responsibility for this rebellion, nor have the party with which - I act. We have with perfect unanimity, in every instance, come up - to the support of the government. When the government demanded - 400,000 men, every single individual on this side of the house - voted to give them 500,000 men. And when they demanded $400,000,000 - to support the government, every man on this side of the house - voted to give them $500,000,000 to save the nation. Sir, we have - been ready under all circumstances to make any and every sacrifice - so that this nation might be saved. Our armies are in large force - and ably commanded; they are ready to advance and crush the - hydra-headed monster of rebellion. Aye, sir, but we have an enemy - insidious and dangerous. The seat of the rebellion is to-day not in - Richmond, it is among the copper-headed traitors of the North, and - if this government is overturned, if we should fail in saving the - government, it will be, not from the force of rebels in our front, - but because of the accursed traitors in our rear. - -In the course of a debate in the Senate on Feb. 16, 1866, upon -reconstruction topics, Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana said: - - When the good and the patriotic, North and South, representing the - yearning hearts of the people at home, came here in the winter - and spring of 1861, in a peace congress, if possible to avoid - this dreadful war, then the Senator from Michigan announced to - his Governor and the country that this Union was scarcely worth - preserving without some blood-letting. His cry before the war - was for blood. Allow me to say that when the Senator's name is - forgotten because of anything he says or does in this body, in - future times it will be borne down upon the pages of history as the - author of the terrible sentiment that the Union of the people that - our fathers had cemented by the blood of the Revolution and by the - love of the people; that that Union, resting upon compromise and - concession, resting upon the doctrine of equality to all sections - of the country; that that Union which brought us so much greatness - and power in the three-quarters of a century of our life; that - that Union which had brought us so much prosperity and greatness - until we were the mightiest and proudest nation on God's footstool; - that that grand Union was not worth preserving unless we had some - blood-letting. Mr. President, it is not the sentiment of the - Senator's own heart; it is the expression of a bitter political - hostility; but it will carry him down to immortality; he is sure of - living in history; he has gained that much by it. - -To this Mr. Chandler's response was instant. He said: - - The Senator from Indiana has arraigned me upon an old indictment - for having written a certain letter in 1861. It is not the first - time I have been arraigned on that indictment of "blood-letting." - I was arraigned for it upon this floor by the traitor John C. - Breckenridge, and I answered the traitor John C. Breckenridge, - and after I gave him his answer he went out to the rebel ranks - and fought against our flag. I was arraigned by another Senator - from Kentucky, and by other traitors upon this floor; I expect to - be arraigned again. I wrote the letter, and I stand by the letter - and what is in it. What was the position of the country when the - letter was written? The Democratic party as an organization had - arrayed itself against this government--a Democratic traitor in the - Presidential chair, and Democratic traitors in every department - of this government, Democratic traitors preaching treason upon - this floor and preaching treason in the hall of the other House, - Democratic traitors in your army and in your navy, Democratic - traitors controlling every branch of this government. Your flag - was fired upon and there was no response. The Democratic party - had ordained that this government should be overthrown, and I, a - Senator from the State of Michigan, wrote to the Governor of that - State "unless you are prepared to shed blood for the preservation - of this great government the government is overthrown." That is - all there was in that letter. That I said, and that I say again. - And I tell that Senator, if he is prepared to go down in history - with the Democratic traitors who then co-operated with him, I am - prepared to go down on that "blood-letting" letter, and I stand by - the record as made. - - Because I wrote to the Governor of my State that unless he was - prepared to shed blood for the preservation of this government - it was overthrown, now I aim to be arraigned as going down to be - remembered in history! Yes, sir, I shall be remembered, and I - am proud of the record. May it stand, and stand as long as this - government stands! When that Senator and the men who co-operated - with him shall have gone down to eternal infamy my record will be - brilliant. - -In the closing session of Mr. Chandler's Congressional service Senator -Benjamin H. Hill of Georgia, in the course of a reply (on May 10, 1879) -to a declaration of his on the previous day that "there were twelve -Senators on the other side whose seats were obtained and are held by -fraud and violence," again read and commented upon "the blood letter." -Mr. Chandler promptly answered as follows: - - Mr. President, this is the fourth time since 1861 that allusion - has been made to a letter written by me to the Governor of the - State of Michigan; first it appeared in a newspaper published in - Detroit; a copy was sent to me and a copy was likewise sent to - the late Senator Powell. The letter was a private note written to - the Governor and no copy retained. Senator Powell approached me - with his copy of the letter and asked if it was correct. I told - him I did not know; I had written to the Governor of Michigan a - private note and had kept no copy and could not say whether this - was correct or not. He told me that if it was a correct copy he - would wish to make use of it, and if it was not he did not propose - to make use of it. I said, "Sir, I will adopt it, and you may make - any use of it you please." So to-day that is my letter. If not - originally written by me, it is mine by adoption. - - And, Mr. President, what were the circumstances under which that - letter was written? I had been in this body then nearly four years - listening to treason day by day and hour by hour. The threat, the - universal threat daily, hourly, was, "Do this or we will dissolve - the Union; if you do not do that we will dissolve the Union." - Treason was in the White House, treason in the Cabinet, treason - in the Senate, and treason in the House of Representatives; bold, - outspoken, rampant treason was daily and hourly uttered. The threat - was made upon this floor in my presence by a Senator, "You may - give us a blank sheet of paper and let us fill it up as we please, - and then we will not live with you." And another Senator stood - here beside that Senator from Texas and said, "I stand by the - Senator from Texas." Treason was applauded in the galleries of this - body, and treason was talked on the streets, in the street cars, - in private circles; everywhere it was treason--treason in your - departments, traitors in the White House, traitors around these - galleries, traitors everywhere! - - The flag of rebellion had been raised; the Union was already - dissolved, we were told; the rebel government was already - established with its capital in Alabama; "and now we will negotiate - with you," was said to us. Upon what basis would you negotiate? - Upon what basis did you call your peace convention? With rampant - rebellion staring us in the face! Sir, it was no time to negotiate. - The time for negotiation was past. - - Sir, this was the condition of affairs when that letter was - written; and after Mr. Powell had made his assault upon me in this - body for it I responded, relating what I have related here now with - regard to it, and I said, "I stand by that letter," and I stand by - it now. What was there in it then, and what is there in it now? The - State of Michigan was known to be in favor of the constitution and - the Union and the enforcement of the laws, even to the letting of - blood if need be, and that was all there was and all there is in - that letter. Make the most of it! - - The Senator from Georgia says that I did not shed any blood. How - much blood did he shed?[18] [Laughter.] Will somebody inform us the - exact quantity of blood that the Senator from Georgia shed? - - Mr. HILL, of Georgia: The difference between us is that I was not - in favor of shedding anybody's blood. - - Mr. CHANDLER: Nor I, except to punish treason and traitors. Sir, - the Senator is not the man to stand up on this floor and talk - about other men saving their own blood. He took good care to put - his blood in Fort Lafayette where he was out of the way of rebel - bullets as well as Union bullets. He is the last man to stand up - here and talk to me about letting the blood of others be shed. - - Mr. President, I was then, as I am now, in favor of the government - of the United States. Then, as now, I abhorred the idea of State - sovereignty over National sovereignty. Then, as now, I was prepared - even to shed blood to save this glorious government. Then, as now, - I stood up for the constitution and the Union. Then, as now, I was - in favor of the perpetuity of this glorious government. But the - Senator from Georgia, was, as he testified before a committee, "a - Union secessionist." I have the testimony here before me. Will - somebody explain what that means--"a Union secessionist?" Mr. - President, I should like to see the dictionary wherein a definition - can be found of "a Union secessionist!" I do not understand the - term. He says they have the right to have a solid South, but a - solid North will destroy the government. Why, Mr. President, the - South is no more solid to-day than it was in 1857.... It has been - solid ever since, and it was no quarrel with the North that made - it solid. It was solid because it was determined either to "rule or - ruin" this nation. It tried the "ruin" scheme with arms; and now, - having failed to ruin this government with arms, it comes back to - ruin it by withholding supplies to carry on the government. Sir, - the men have changed since 1857. There is now but one member on - this floor who stood here with me on the 4th of March, 1857. The - men have changed, the measures not at all. You then fought for the - overthrow of this government, and now you vote and talk for the - same purpose. You are to-day, as you were then, determined either - to rule or ruin this government, and you cannot do either. - -This letter was also for years constantly quoted and denounced by the -Democratic press of Michigan with the hope of by this means breaking -the Senator's hold upon the confidence of the people of his State. He -uniformly met these attacks, not only without the shadow of apology, -but with the most emphatic defiance. On the stump he repeatedly -declared that "that letter was a good one," that he would not qualify -a sentence nor retract a word of it, that he "stood by it" without -reservation, and that he believed when he wrote it and knew afterward -that it pointed out the only path in which the nation could then walk -with honor and with safety. Time has shown that Mr. Chandler was right -and that the men who deprecated his boldness were wrong, and that the -real statesmanship of the winter of 1860-61 was that which proposed not -to parley with, but to draw the sword upon, "foul treason." The paper -which at that time first printed "the blood letter" and made it the -text for unsparing and constant denunciation of its author was edited -by a man who grew to be one of the foremost of American journalists, -and--always hostile to Republicanism--published in 1879 the chief -Northwestern organ of Independent opinion, which said, in announcing -Mr. Chandler's sudden death in its city: "To superior intellectual -endowments he united a force of will and resolution of purpose that -hesitated at no obstacle. Few men ever displayed in a more remarkable -degree the courage of opinions. No dread of unpopularity, no fear of -consequences, ever troubled him. His famous 'blood-letting letter,' -written near the opening of the Southern rebellion, was a faithful -manifestation of the man. When frightened party chiefs of the North -were running up and down with peace propositions to placate Southern -fire-eaters and patch up a new truce between free civilization and -slave barbarism, Zach. Chandler stood up in his place in the Senate -and in terms of intense, bitter scorn, denounced all such efforts as -the pitiful manifestations of political cowardice and folly. He had no -word of regret to utter upon the departure of the Southern Senators; -but told them that the North would whip them back, and that in their -humiliation the bond of nationality would be strengthened. He had no -dread of the threatened blood-letting, but believed it to be the only -way of curing the Southern ulcer, and that the nation would afterward -be the healthier for it." And - - "Thus the whirligig of Time brings in his revenges." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[16] Bangor, Me., "Union." - -[17] Detroit, Mich. "Free Press." - -[18] An allusion to the common report that, during a secret session -o£ the Confederate Senate, William. L. Yancey received injuries in a -personal encounter with H. H. Hill from which he finally died. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR. - - -Abraham Lincoln reached Washington on the 23d of February, 1861, having -come from Harrisburg _incognito_, and in advance of the announced -time, because of threats of assassination. Mr. Chandler was one of the -first persons informed of his arrival, called upon him at once, and -was in frequent consultation with him thereafter with reference to the -formation of his Cabinet and the policy to be pursued toward the South. -Mr. Chandler earnestly opposed placing any but the most uncompromising -Union men at the head of the departments, urged bold and decisive -measures toward armed traitors for the sake of the moral effect of such -a course, and advised the most emphatic declarations in the inaugural -of the President's intention to enforce the laws at all hazards. Mr. -Lincoln had seriously thought of inviting two gentlemen from the -Southern States to seats in his Cabinet, the names chiefly considered -by him being those of Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, and James -Guthrie of Kentucky. Mr. Chandler strongly opposed any such concession -to the rampant dis-unionism of the slave States, and the hostility -of the wing of the party with which he acted finally led Mr. Lincoln -to abandon his original plan and select Edward Bates of Missouri and -Montgomery Blair as the Southern members of the Cabinet. Mr. Chandler -also advised that Breckenridge, Wigfall, and other avowedly disloyal -Congressmen should be arrested at once, and urged that the "Secession -Commissioners," when they came to Washington, should be dealt with -summarily as traitors and not be permitted to even informally negotiate -with the Administration. He always believed that this summary -treatment of rebellion at the outset would have greatly curtailed its -dimensions, but the President was guided by Mr. Seward and others, -whose counsels were different and who hoped to prevent the impending -war by mildness. Accordingly the inaugural was almost apologetic in -tone toward the South; throughout March, men like Stephen A. Douglas -inquired whether the Administration meant peace or war; flagrant -treason was still defiantly uttered on the floor of Congress, and John -Forsyth and M. J. Crawford, embassadors from the "Confederacy," spent -weeks in Washington holding relations with the new Secretary of State -which, if not "official," looked like a concession in fact of the -practical independence of the seceded States. The first official favor -Mr. Chandler asked from President Lincoln was the appointment of his -life-long friend, James M. Edmunds, as Commissioner of the General Land -Office, and Mr. Edmunds was promptly nominated to that position and -confirmed by the Senate. - -At noon on March 4, 1861, Vice-President Hamlin took the chair of the -Senate and directed the secretary to read this proclamation convening -an extra session of that body: - - -BY THE PRESIDENT of THE UNITED STATES: - -A PROCLAMATION. - - WHEREAS, Objects of interest to the United States require that the - Senate should be convened at twelve o'clock on the 4th of March - next, to receive and act upon such communications as may be made to - it on the part of the Executive: Now, therefore, I, James Buchanan, - President of the United States, have considered it to be my duty - to issue this, my proclamation, declaring that an extraordinary - occasion requires the Senate of the United States to convene - for the transaction of business, at the capitol in the city of - Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at twelve o'clock at noon - on that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to act - as members of that body are hereby required to take notice. - -[Sidenote: [L. S.]] - - Given under my hand and the seal of the United States at - Washington, the 11th day of February, in the year of our - Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the - independence of the United States of America the eighty-fifth. - - JAMES BUCHANAN. - - By the President: J. S. BLACK, _Secretary of State_. - -Sixteen new Senators then took the oath of office, and at fifteen -minutes past one o'clock James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln entered the -Senate chamber, arm in arm, accompanied by Senators Foote, Baker and -Pearce, members of the Committee of Arrangements, and were conducted -to seats in front of the secretary's desk. In a few moments afterward, -those assembled in the Senate chamber proceeded to the platform on the -central portico of the eastern front of the capitol, to listen to the -inaugural address of the President elect. Then the oath of office was -administered to him by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the -administration of the government by the Republican party had commenced. -The business of this extra session of the Senate was chiefly limited to -the confirmation of executive appointments, although there were some -exciting discussions upon the political situation. Mr. Chandler, on -taking possession (as the new chairman) of the room of the Committee -on Commerce, had his righteous wrath at the men who had availed -themselves of their official positions to plot treason against the -government still further stimulated by finding in one of the drawers -of the large committee table the original draft of the secession -ordinance of Alabama, which had been prepared in the national capitol -by Senator Clement C. Clay, his predecessor in the chairmanship of -the committee.[19] This illustration of Southern perfidy Mr. Chandler -carefully kept, and at his death it was among his private papers. The -executive session of the Senate closed on March 28, 1861, and Mr. -Chandler at once returned to Detroit. - -At 5.20 A. M. on April 12, 1861, a mortar in the rebel battery on -Sullivan's Island in the harbor of Charleston fired a shell into Fort -Sumter. This was the announcement to the world of the decision of the -rebels to delay no longer, but to at once - - "ope - "The purple testament of bleeding war." - -On the 13th Major Anderson abandoned the unequal contest, and -surrendered the blazing ruins of his fortress to Beauregard; on the -14th his garrison marched out with the honors of war; and on the 15th -Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers, a force which it was -believed would trample out rebellion in ninety days. The North answered -Charleston's cannon and the President's appeal with a magnificent -assertion of its latent patriotism, and the war spirit flamed up in -every State. On April 17 the business men of Detroit held a public -meeting at the invitation of its Board of Trade, at which the firm -purpose to support the government in its contest with treason was -emphatically declared, and all needed assistance in troops and money -was pledged. Senator Chandler escorted General Cass to this gathering, -and their entrance, arm in arm, typifying as it did the solidification -of the Union sentiment of the North, was followed by long-continued -cheering. Both gentlemen spoke in tones of earnest loyalty and amid -constant applause. That night the following letter was mailed to -Washington: - - DETROIT, April 17, 1861. - - _Hon. Simon Cameron._ - - DEAR SIR: One of the most distinguished Democrats in this - country[20] says: "Don't defend Washington. Don't put batteries on - Georgetown Heights, but shove your troops directly into Virginia, - and quarter them there." - - Stand by the Union men in Virginia and you will find plenty of them. - - By this bold policy you will save Virginia to the Union as well as - the other border States. - - There is but one sentiment here. We will give you all the troops - you can use. We will send you two regiments in thirty days, - and 50,000 in thirty days more if you want them. General Cass - subscribed $3,000 to equip the regiments. - - There are no sympathizers here with treason, and if there were we - would dispense with their company forthwith. Your friend, - - Z. CHANDLER. - -Michigan justified her Senator's pledges by promptly raising and -equipping many more troops, than the State was required to furnish -under the call for 75,000 volunteers, and this correspondence soon -followed: - - DETROIT, April 21, 1861. - - _Hon. Simon Cameron._ - - MY DEAR CAMERON: ... I will esteem it a very great favor if you - will officially call for at least one more regiment to go to the - front immediately from this State. You did not call for but one, - but we have got two all ready, and have raised $100,000 by private - subscription to equip them. Truly yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - [REPLY.] - - WASHINGTON, April 29, 1861. - - _Hon. Z. Chandler._ - - DEAR SIR: ... It would give me great pleasure to gratify your - wishes, but this can only be done in one way. The President has - determined to accept no more for three months' service, but to add - to the regular army twenty-five more regiments whose members shall - agree to serve two years unless sooner discharged. This will enable - the Department to accept another regiment from your State. Truly - yours, - - SIMON CAMERON, _Secretary of War_. - -To this suggestion the response was prompt, and the enlistment of men -and formation of companies for three years' service went briskly on, -Michigan sending only one three-months' regiment to the field. Mr. -Chandler was active in stimulating and organizing the war movements at -home, both by untiring personal labor and by liberal subscriptions of -money, until the first regiments were ready for marching orders. He -was one of the speakers at an imposing Union meeting held in Detroit -on April 25, with Lewis Cass in the chair, and he there said: "A -greater contest than the Revolutionary war is now about to take place. -It is to be tested whether a republican government can stand or not. -The eyes of all Europe are upon us, and we will convince them that -ours is the strongest government on earth." He also made an earnest, -and in the end successful, effort to procure from the War Department -such orders as should obtain for the Michigan men an opportunity for -prompt service against the enemy. It was originally intended to send -the regiments from his State to Cairo, but his influence accomplished -a change in this plan and they were directed to report to Washington -for immediate duty. In May Mr. Chandler went to the capital to aid in -preparing for their reception and to urge upon the authorities, who -were then declining the profuse offers of troops, the importance of -accepting all the regiments tendered by his own and other States and -of promptly attacking the constantly growing rebellion by invading -its territory and interfering with the organization of its armies. -On the 17th of May, 1861, the First Regiment of Michigan Volunteers -arrived in Washington, Col. O. B. Willcox commanding. They were met at -the depot by Senator Chandler and escorted to quarters he had aided -in securing for them in a business block on Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. -Chandler was active in providing for their comfort, purchased supplies -for them out of his own private purse, was present at their parade when -they were formally mustered into the service of the United States by -Adjutant-General Thomas, and asked the Secretary of War to send them at -once to the front for active duty. His request was complied with and -this regiment was prominent in the first important military movement of -the war. - -After he had seen the Michigan troops well cared for, Mr. Chandler, on -the 19th of May, in company with Senators Wade and Morrill and John -G. Nicolay, the private secretary of President Lincoln, sailed for -Fortress Monroe to visit General Butler, and see the condition of his -newly-organized army. On the following day the party started to return -on the steamer Freeborn, and as they were passing through Hampton Roads -heard heavy cannonading, which proved to be an artillery duel between -the steamer Monticello and a battery erected by the rebels at Sewell's -Point, where the Elizabeth river empties into Hampton Roads. The -Freeborn went at once to the assistance of the Monticello, and being of -light draft approached within 300 yards of the battery and opened fire -with her guns. The columbiads of the Virginians were soon disabled, and -the rebels were scattered in every direction, Mr. Chandler pronouncing -the spectacle "the best ball-playing he had ever seen." On her voyage -up the Potomac the Freeborn seized two suspicions boats, and found them -loaded with a company of fifty rebel soldiers on their way to join -"the Confederate army." Both vessels were brought to the Navy Yard at -Washington and they were the first prizes taken during the war, and the -men on board were the first rebel prisoners captured. - -On the night of the 23d of May, the Union forces at Washington crossed -the Potomac and proceeded to seize and fortify advantageous positions -on Virginia soil. The First Michigan accompanied the famous Zouave -regiment by ferry-boats to Alexandria, taking possession of that city -in the night. Mr. Chandler went with the Michigan men, and was the only -civilian who was allowed to accompany this wing of the expedition. He -was with a detachment of soldiers who surprised and captured a party of -forty rebel dragoons, including four officers, and he was in Alexandria -when Colonel Ellsworth fell and private Brownell instantly avenged his -death. Of this event, since obscured by four years of carnage, but -which then first brought to excited millions some sense of the dreadful -realities of war, he was the first to bear the news to the authorities -at Washington. - -Mr. Chandler remained at the capital some weeks, working industriously -in helping on the preparations for war, and urging the most vigorous -and sweeping measures upon the Administration. He believed and said -repeatedly that the call for 75,000 men for three months was a mistake. -He was no optimist, and never thought that a rebellion, so carefully -organized and left so long undisturbed, could be subdued without a -desperate and bloody struggle. He thought that 500,000 rather than -75,000 volunteers should have been called for to serve through the -war, and judged that the effect of such a proclamation upon the -country, and particularly upon the South, would have been salutary, as -showing the determination of the government to crush the rebellion at -once and forever. While the raw levies of volunteers were massing in -Washington in May and June, there was a lamentable lack of discipline -and organization. The commissary department of the army was feeble and -inefficient, and there was a want of proper and sufficient food for the -soldiers. Mr. Chandler's executive capacity was very useful then to the -Secretary of War in assisting in the organization of a commissariat -and in procuring supplies and equipments, and he spent no small sum -in obtaining food for the soldiers when the regular rations were not -forthcoming. Although entirely without military training, Mr Chandler's -business experience, his quick perception, and his clear judgment made -his services at this period of confusion and mismanagement of great -value to the country. In June he returned to Michigan for a few days, -and on the 21st of that month spoke (with the Hon. Charles M. Croswell) -at Adrian, on the occasion of the presentation by the ladies of that -city of a stand of colors to a volunteer regiment in camp there. - -On the 4th of July, 1861, the Thirty-seventh Congress met in extra -session, and adjourned on the 6th of August, after having enacted laws -to increase the army and navy, and to provide the means and authority -necessary for the vigorous prosecution of the war. The scope of the -work undertaken by this Congress was far greater than that of any -preceding session. Many of the members had but little experience in -legislative matters, but their patriotism was sincere and ardent, and -their acts embodied the national purpose to maintain the integrity of -the republic at any cost. On the second day of the session Mr. Chandler -said in the Senate: - - I desire to give notice that I shall to-morrow or on some - subsequent day introduce a bill to confiscate the property of - all Governors of States, members of the Legislature, Judges of - Courts, and all military officers above the rank of lieutenant - who shall take up arms against the United States, or aid or abet - treason against the government of the United States, and that said - individual shall be forever disqualified from holding any office of - honor, emolument or trust under this government. - -This bill was introduced on July 15, and was referred to the Committee -on the Judiciary; it reported back a measure of much narrower scope, -which was passed, and is known as the confiscation act of 1861. The -origin of Mr. Chandler's bill was the fact that John Y. Mason of -Virginia, who had been expelled from the Senate for treason, owned a -large amount of property in Pennsylvania, and so indignant were the -people of the county in which it was located at his treachery, that a -guard was kept over it constantly to prevent its destruction by a mob. -Mr. Chandler believed it was important that the government should be -enabled to legally seize for its own use such property as this; there -were also many officers of the army and navy who were undecided whether -to go with the rebellion or remain at their posts. He wished to add -to the penalties of treason to affect them, as well as those wealthy -citizens of Washington and Maryland who had formerly been in office -and who sympathized with the rebellion and gave the South as much -encouragement as they dared. His proposition proved then too vigorous -to obtain the endorsement of his colleagues, but within a year its -principle received Congressional sanction. During this session (on July -18) Mr. Chandler said in the Senate with characteristic force: - - The Senator from Indiana says there are three parties in the - country. I deny it, sir. There are but two parties, patriots and - traitors--none others in this body nor in the country. I care not - what proposition may be brought up to save the Union, to preserve - its integrity, patriots will vote for it; and I care not what - proposition you may bring up to dissolve the Union, to break up - this government, traitors will vote for that. And those are the - only two parties there are in the Senate or the country. - -It is not necessary to add that Mr. Chandler voted at this session -for every measure to organize armies and to raise means for their -maintenance, and that he favored at all times vigorous and summary -measures in dealing with the enemies of the republic. - -General McDowell's "invasion of Virginia" on May 23 was followed by -several weeks of military inactivity on the Potomac, broken only by a -dash of the Union cavalry into Fairfax Courthouse and the skirmish at -Vienna, where a regiment of Ohio troops, who were backed on a railroad -train into a rebel ambuscade, lost twenty men. On July 16 the Union -army began a forward movement against the rebels who were found in -position about and along a creek known as Bull Run. After a short -and indecisive engagement on that day, General McDowell commenced to -concentrate his forces for an attack on Beauregard's line, but various -delays prevented any definite movement until Sunday, July 21. On that -date was fought the battle of Bull Run, ending in a complete Union -defeat, attended by severe losses and a panic-stricken retreat by many -regiments, and followed by great national dismay and alarm. An inquiry -into the blundering strategy, political half-heartedness, and poor -generalship, which were the causes of this unnecessary and most serious -reverse, are foreign to the purpose of this work. Mr. Chandler was one -of a large number of members of Congress who joined the army on the eve -of battle, and watched its progress to the final disaster. The First -Michigan was among the regiments engaged in the thickest of the fight, -and the Second and Third were in the brigade of Gen. I. B. Richardson, -which acted as a rear-guard in the retreat of the army and prevented -defeat from becoming a total rout. Mr. Chandler himself aided in -halting and rallying the panic-stricken fugitives,[21] and reached -Washington late at night, covered with mud and wearied with travel -and hunger. He drove at once to the White House, where he found Mr. -Lincoln despondent, exhausted with his labors, and greatly depressed -by the defeat and the loss of life involved. Mr. Chandler urged upon -the President the necessity of vigorous measures, the wisdom of calling -for more troops, and the certainty that the North would follow the -Administration in meeting a reverse with undismayed and redoubled -energies. He asked Mr. Lincoln to issue an order for the enrolling of -500,000 men at once, "to show to the country and the rebels that the -government was not discouraged a whit, but was just beginning to get -mad." Mr. Chandler's vitality, the timely vigor of his bold words, and -his overwhelming earnestness acted as a tonic upon the over-burdened -Executive, and he left Mr. Lincoln cheered, encouraged and resolute. -The governors of the loyal States were at once appealed to for more -troops, and the answer of the North to Bull Run was the rush of tens -of thousands of men into camp and the organization of great armies -along the Potomac, the Ohio and the Mississippi. Secretary Stanton, -who knew of this midnight interview, estimated its effect upon the -course of events as of the utmost importance, and repeatedly said that -Mr. Chandler's opportunely-manifested courage and vigor then saved the -Union from a great peril. - -In the task of reorganizing the army after Bull Run, of clearing -Washington of fugitives, and of extracting order from chaos, Mr. -Chandler rendered important aid to the authorities, and after the -adjournment returned to Michigan and threw his strong energies into -the work of raising and equipping troops. This letter (which was not -followed by any practical results, owing to various causes) is of -interest as showing the spirit of those days: - - DETROIT, Aug. 27, 1861. - - _Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War._ - - MY DEAR CAMERON: A Colonel Elliott, member of the Canadian - Parliament, is desirous of raising a regiment of Canadian cavalry - for the war against treason. I don't know how the Administration - may look upon this proposition, but there are many reasons in favor - of its acceptance. - - 1. Colonel Elliott is a brave and experienced officer. - - 2. He is in favor of the closest union between the Canadas and the - United States, and believes that this fraternal union upon the - battle-field would tend strongly to cement a yet closer connection. - - 3. It would satisfy England that hands-off was her best policy. - - The moment it is proven that black men are used in the Southern - army _against us_, I propose to recruit a few regiments of negroes - in Canada myself to meet that enemy, and I think this would be an - opening wedge for the movement of emancipation. - - My colleague will introduce Colonel Elliott to you and explain more - at length. Truly, your friend, - - Z. CHANDLER. - -To this same period also belongs this characteristic defense of his -State and the Northwest against what Mr. Chandler believed--and with -reason--to be an unjust statement: - - _To the Editor of the New York World_: - - My attention has been called to an article in your valuable and - patriotic paper in which you say: "The extreme Northern States, - from Maine to Michigan, have not done their duty, and it is high - time that State pride aroused them to emulate the noble example - of New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island." As I am sure you - would not willingly do injustice to Michigan, I ask you to state - editorially, the population and the number of regiments in the - field for the war from each of the States whose example is to be - emulated. Michigan had at Bull Run one three-months' regiment (now - recruiting and in for the war) and three regiments for the war, - _and not a private soldier in camp in the State_. Since that time - she has sent seven regiments for the war, making ten regiments now - present in the army, in addition to which she furnished to other - States over 2,000 men, _now in the field_, for the reason that the - government would accept no more men from Michigan at that time, - and the patriotic ardor of our citizens could not be restrained. - We have now in camp nearly 4,000 men, and shall send two regiments - this week and two more within a few days. - - The Northwest has done her whole duty; how is it with the East? - The Northwest has exceeded every call made upon her, and yet you - lack men and are denuding over 2,000 miles of border territory of - troops for the defense of Washington. If New York, Pennsylvania, - New Jersey, and the New England States cannot defend Washington, in - God's name what can they do? The Northwest will defend the lines - from the mountains of Virginia to the Rocky Mountains. She will - sweep secession and treason from the valley of the Mississippi, - aye, _and will defend the Potomac, too, if she must_. But is - not this Union worth as much to New York, Pennsylvania, and - Massachusetts as to the Northwest? Why, then, so tardy in supplying - troops? Had five of the forty Northwestern regiments now on the - Potomac been with Lyon he would have won the battle and cleared - Missouri! Had five been with Mulligan he would now be in possession - of Lexington! Could ten of them be sent into Kentucky to-morrow (in - addition to what they have) they would clear the State of secession - in ten days, and threaten Tennessee! Could ten be sent to Rosecrans - he would clear the mountains of Virginia and threaten the rear of - the grand army! But, no; this cannot be done--because the East will - not do her duty. If she does not at once, the whole world will cry - shame. Respectfully, your obedient servant, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - DETROIT, Sept. 30, 1861. - -During the Congressional recess he also sent this letter of -characteristic suggestions to the Secretary of War: - - DETROIT, Nov. 15, 1861. - - _Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War._ - - MY DEAR SIR: The time for delivering a battle upon the Potomac has - now passed, and something _must and can be done_. In my opinion the - following plan is still feasible, and will close the war: - - Let Rosecrans be ordered immediately to Kentucky with his army - of veteran Northwestern troops. Substitute an equal or larger - number of Eastern troops with an Eastern general, who will act - strictly upon the defensive. Send your Northwestern troops now - upon the Potomac to Cairo _at once_. Send Pope (if he is the man) - to Missouri with sufficient arms to supply all the Northwestern - regiments in readiness to march on the 1st day of December. Let an - abundance of transports and material be provided at Cairo and St. - Louis, by that date (December 1st). - - Give the order, "Forward," and _then cut the wires_. - - Stop all official communication with the Army of the Northwest. - That army, if thus untrammeled, will _spend New Year's day in New - Orleans_, _via_ Memphis, and will reach Washington _via_ Richmond - by the 1st of May next. - - In the meantime Sherman, Butler, and Burnside can take care of - South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, and North Carolina will fall - of itself with Virginia and the Gulf States. - - Is this plan feasible? - - None but a traitor will say you Nay, for you and I know that - 200,000 Northwestern soldiers, with Rosecrans's and Lyon's - veterans, _can_ and _will go wherever they are ordered_, and _on - time_. - - As to your Army of the Potomac, select 100,000 men of your city - regiments which look well on parade, and keep them for reviews. - Send the balance to the Gulf States. We want none of them out West. - - We will, by recruiting during the winter, keep our Grand Army up to - 200,000 men, and furnish garrisons as fast as needed for captured - towns. Very truly yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - -Congress re-assembled for its regular session in December, 1861, -and Mr. Chandler was called upon (on Jan. 17, 1862) to present -the credentials of the Hon. Jacob M. Howard as his colleague from -Michigan, _vice_ Kinsley S. Bingham, who had died suddenly in the -preceding October. Mr. Howard remained a Senator for ten years, winning -distinction in that position. Throughout his term his relations with -his colleague were intimate and cordial, and the foremost merchant -and the first lawyer of Michigan stood side by side in the Senate in -the support of every important measure which had for its object the -encouragement of loyal sentiment, or the strengthening of the military -and financial arms of the government, or the prompt suppression of the -rebellion. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[19] Mr. Clay (C. C. Clay, Jr., of Alabama), chairman of the Committee -on Commerce, drew up in the room of that committee the original -ordinance of secession for the State of Alabama, while he, a rebel -traitor, was drawing the pay of this government. It was drawn upon -government paper, written with government ink, and copied by a clerk -drawing $6 a day from this government. I found it in that room and I -have it now.--_Zachariah Chandler in the Senate, April 12, 1864._ - -[20] This undoubtedly refers to Lewis Cass. - -[21] Whatever credit there was in stopping the rout (at this point) is -due wholly to Senators Chandler and Wade, and Representatives Blake, -Riddle, and Morris. These gentlemen, armed with Maynard rifles and navy -revolvers, sprang from their carriages some three miles this side of -Centreville, and, presenting their weapons, in loud voices commanded -the fugitives to halt and turn back. Their bold and determined manner -brought most at that point to a stand-still. Many on horseback, who -attempted to dash by them, had their horses seized by the bits. Some of -the fugitives who were armed menaced these gentlemen. None, however, -were permitted to pass until the arrival of the Second New Jersey -Regiment, on its way to the battle-ground, turned back the flying -soldiers and teamsters.--_Washington Intelligencer, July 22, 1861._ - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR. - - -During the Congressional recess of the autumn of 1861 gross -mismanagement led to the annihilation at Ball's Bluff of a brigade of -Union troops, led by Senator Edward D. Baker of Oregon. They had been -sent across the Potomac in flat-boats and skiffs, were left without -adequate support, and, being surrounded by a vastly superior force of -rebels, were driven to the edge of the river, and there either killed, -wounded, captured, or driven into hiding places along the banks. Their -commanding officer, who displayed throughout a high order of personal -courage, was shot at the head of his line before the final rout. -General Baker was a man of eloquence and many gallant qualities, and -his death created a profound impression; that he was sacrificed by -military incapacity cannot be doubted. - -Congress met on Dec. 2, 1861, and on the first business day of the -session Mr. Chandler offered a motion for the expulsion of John C. -Breckenridge, who had at last joined the rebels, and it was unanimously -adopted. On December 5 he introduced this resolution: - - _Resolved_, That a committee of three be appointed to inquire into - the disasters at Bull Run and Edward's Ferry (subsequently changed - to Ball's Bluff), with power to send for persons and papers. - -Mr. Chandler said, in explanation of his motion, that these reverses -had been attributed to politicians, to civilians, to everything but -the right cause, and that it was due to the Senate and to the country -that they should be investigated and that the blame should rest where -it belonged. After some discussion the Senate adopted the resolution -with only three dissenting votes, first amending it by providing for -a joint committee of both branches, and by enlarging the scope of -its inquiries so as to include "the conduct of the war." The House -concurred in the action, and the famous "Committee on the Conduct of -the War" was thus created. On December 17, Mr. Chandler moved that the -Vice-President should appoint the Senate members, adding: "I do not -know what the parliamentary usage may be in a case of this kind. If -that usage would give me the position of chairman, I wish to say that, -under the circumstances, I do not wish to accept it." Mr. Chandler -had also privately requested Mr. Hamlin to appoint Senator Wade to -the chairmanship, saying it was important that a lawyer should be -given that place, and his desires were followed in both respects. -The first committee, as announced at that time, consisted of the -following Congressmen: On the part of the Senate, Benjamin F. Wade, -Zachariah Chandler and Andrew Johnson; on the part of the House, -Daniel W. Gooch of Massachusetts, John Covode of Pennsylvania, George -W. Julian of Indiana, and Moses F. Odell of New York. Of the original -committee, George W. Julian is the only one who survived Mr. Chandler. -When Andrew Johnson was appointed Military Governor of Tennessee, he -resigned his position upon the committee, and Senator Joseph A. Wright -of Indiana took his place. Mr. Wright served but a year, and after -the expiration of his term the Senate branch of the committee in the -Thirty-seventh Congress consisted of only Mr. Chandler and Mr. Wade. -William Blair Lord, now one of the official reporters of the House of -Representatives, was appointed its clerk and stenographer. - -[Illustration: ZACHARIAH CHANDLER IN 1862.] - -The tone of the Congressional discussion upon Mr. Chandler's -proposition shows that this was regarded as an exceedingly important -step, for the resolution clothed the committee with powers of very -unusual magnitude, which, if abused, must have seriously embarrassed -the Administration. Mr. Lincoln and Secretary Cameron, as well as -General Scott and General McClellan, opposed its appointment at the -outset, but Mr. Chandler took prompt and successful measures to assure -the President that, if the plans of its projectors were carried -out, the committee would be used only to strengthen the hands of -the Executive, and promised that it should be made a help and not a -hindrance to the vigorous prosecution of the war. On this point the -Hon. James M. Edmunds, who was thoroughly informed as to the secret -history of that period, has said: - - The writer knows that the Administration was not without fear - that this was an unfriendly measure. A member of the Cabinet - expressed such fears to him, and said that the President had not - only expressed doubts as to the wisdom of the movement, but also - fears that the committee might, by unfriendly action, greatly - embarrass the Executive. On being told by the writer that the - measure was not so intended, but, on the contrary, that it was the - intention of the mover to bring the committee to the aid of the - Administration, he expressed much gratification, and said it was - of the utmost importance to bring such purpose to the knowledge - of the President in some authoritative way, and at the earliest - moment possible. This conversation was at once reported to Senator - Chandler, whereupon both he and Senator Wade went immediately to - the President and the Secretary of War, and assured them that it - was their purpose to bring the whole power of the committee to the - aid of the Executive. From this moment the most cordial relations - existed between the committee and the Administration.[22] - -President Lincoln and Secretaries Cameron and Stanton ultimately -placed great reliance upon the committee, and constantly, throughout -the war, it gave them the most valuable assistance. Mr. Wade and Mr. -Chandler were deeper in the confidence of Secretary Stanton, from -their connection with it, than were any other members of Congress, and -differences of aim and opinion between them were exceedingly rare. - -Upon organizing for work the committee found itself confronted with -an enormous task, inquiries into every phase of the organization and -management of the Union armies being referred to it for consideration. -"Upon the conduct of the war," to quote from its own report, "depended -the issue of the experiment inaugurated by our fathers, after the -expenditure of so much blood and treasure--the establishment of a -nation founded upon the capacity of man for self-government. The nation -was engaged in a struggle for its existence; a rebellion, unparalleled -in history, threatened the overthrow of our free institutions, and the -most prompt and vigorous measures were demanded by every consideration -of honor, patriotism, and a due regard for the prosperity and happiness -of the people." And its sphere of duty was the constant watching of the -details of movements, upon whose result depended such vast interests, -as well as the safety of thousands of lives. The committee, in laying -out its work, followed the suggestion of Mr. Chandler, which was, -first, to obtain such information in respect to the conduct of the war -as would best enable them to point out the mistakes which had been made -in the past, and the course that promised to ensure the avoidance of -their repetition; second, to collect such information as the many and -laborious duties of the President and Secretary of War prevented them -from obtaining, and to lay it before them with those recommendations -and suggestions which the circumstances seemed to demand. Working in -such a field, the committee soon became a second Cabinet council, -and its proceedings were constantly at the President's hand. Its -sessions were nearly perpetual, and almost daily its members were in -consultation with the President or the Secretary of War. Many of its -transactions were never committed to paper, and, as the members were -sworn to the strictest secrecy, will never be revealed. Secretary -Stanton was frequently present while the committee was in session, and -its door was always open to him. There was never any lack of harmony -between him and its chief members, but, on the contrary, the utmost -confidence was exchanged, and this committee was the right arm of the -War Department in the darkest days of the rebellion. Repeatedly, after -the examination of some important witness, did Mr. Chandler or Mr. -Wade go at once to the White House with the official stenographer, -when Mr. Stanton would be sent for and the stenographic notes of the -evidence would be read to the President and Secretary of War for their -information and guidance. From such conferences there sprang many -important decisions, and the files and records of the committee were -constantly referred to and relied upon as sources of exceedingly useful -knowledge and hints both at the White House and at the War Department. - -Many subjects presented themselves for investigation, any one of which -would, in ordinary times, have required the exclusive attention of a -separate committee, and to follow out every line of inquiry suggested -was manifestly a practical impossibility. Therefore the committee -decided not to undertake any investigations into what might be -considered side issues, but to keep their attention directed entirely -to the essential features of the war, so that they could ascertain and -comprehend the necessities of the armies and the causes of disaster -or complaint, and the methods of supplying the one and remedying the -other. Attempts were made repeatedly to use its power to punish enemies -or to avenge private grievances, but its members adhered resolutely to -the straightforward course originally marked out as the path of its -duty. - -The first subject which the committee carefully inquired into was the -defeat at Bull Run. Many witnesses were examined, chiefly officers -who were engaged in the battle--Generals Scott, McDowell, Meigs, -Heintzelman, Butterfield, Fitz-John Porter, and others. The testimony -was very voluminous, but the committee reached an early and unanimous -opinion as to the causes of the disaster. Their report, written by Mr. -Wade, said: "That which now appears to have been the great error was -the failure to occupy Centreville and Manassas at the time Alexandria -was occupied, in May. The position at Manassas controlled the railroad -connections in all that section of the country.... The next cause of -disaster was the delay in proceeding against the enemy until the time -of the three months' men was nearly expired. The enemy were allowed -time to collect their forces and strengthen their position by defensive -works.... There had been but little time devoted to disciplining -the troops and instructing them, even in regiments; hardly any -instruction had been given them in brigade movements, and none at all -as divisions." General McDowell prepared a plan of campaign, which -was approved by the Cabinet, and the 9th of July was fixed upon as the -day for the advance; but the movement did not commence until a week -later than the appointed time. Transportation was deficient, and there -was much delay resulting from lack of discipline among the troops, and -when the battle came the Union forces were fatigued and not in good -fighting condition. "But," said the report, "the principal cause of -the defeat was the failure of General Patterson to hold the troops of -General Johnston in the valley of the Shenandoah." Patterson had 23,000 -men, while Johnston had but 12,000. Still, Patterson disobeyed the -orders of General Scott, which were to make offensive demonstrations -against General Johnston so as to detain his army at Winchester, and -if he retreated to follow him and keep up the fight. Those orders -were repeated every day for more than a week in the telegraphic -correspondence between Scott and Patterson. Finally, General Scott -heard of a large force moving from Patterson's front, and telegraphed, -"Has not the enemy stolen a march on you?" To this Patterson replied, -"The enemy has stolen no march upon me," while at that very time his -large army was watching an empty camp and Johnston was far on his way -to reinforce the rebels at Manassas. Patterson did not discover that -Johnston had gone until he was miles distant, and the consequence -was that McDowell had both Beauregard and Johnston to fight, while -Patterson, with 23,000 men, was lying idle in his camp. This is the -substance of the report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War -on the battle of Bull Run, and was the official announcement to the -country of the inefficiency of the organization and generalship of the -Army of the Potomac. - -But before the committee was organized the men who were responsible -for this failure had been displaced, and General McClellan had been -made the commander-in-chief. He had taken the reins of authority amid -national acclamations, and was then at the height of a remarkable -popularity, which it is now known was adroitly stimulated for political -purposes by the conservative press. But on the investigation into the -second subject taken up by the committee (the disaster at Edward's -Ferry or Ball's Bluff) facts came to the knowledge of its members -which created the suspicion in their minds that General Stone, who was -charged with the blame of that defeat, and who, as the scape-goat, was -arrested and imprisoned in Fort Lafayette, was not alone responsible -for the calamity, but that the real fault would be found higher up. -This suspicion they were never able to substantiate by absolute proof, -and it was not expressed in any of their reports. - -The third topic taken up by the committee was the military management -of the Western Department, under General Fremont. This was an inquiry -of special importance, for the reason that that officer, upon taking -command at St. Louis, issued a proclamation declaring free all slaves -whose masters were engaged in rebellion against the United States. -This order caused a great excitement throughout the country, and the -Republican party was widely divided in opinion as to its legality -and propriety. President Lincoln was conservative on the question, -and revoked the Fremont order, much to the disappointment of Mr. -Chandler and the other more "advanced" Republicans. Hence the committee -approached the subject with unusual interest, and, after a thorough -investigation, made an elaborate report. That part of this document -which relates to General Fremont's order in regard to slaves was signed -by Messrs. Wade, Chandler, Julian, and Covode, and showed the ground on -which these gentlemen then stood with regard to emancipation; it was as -follows: - - But that feature of General Fremont's administration which - attracted the most attention, and which will ever be most prominent - among the many points of interest connected with the history of - that department, is his proclamation of emancipation. Whatever - opinion may be entertained with reference to the time when the - policy of emancipation should be inaugurated, there can be no doubt - that General Fremont at that early day rightly judged in regard - to the most effective means of subduing this rebellion. In proof - of that, it is only necessary to state that his successor, when - transferred to another department, issued a proclamation embodying - the same principle, and the President of the United States has - since applied the same principle to all the rebellious States; and - few will deny that it must be adhered to until the last vestige of - treason and rebellion is destroyed. - -The committee heartily endorsed General Fremont's administration, -declaring it to have been "eminently characterized by earnestness, -ability, and the most unquestionable loyalty." They also examined into -various minor military matters and movements, including, particularly, -rebel barbarities and the return of slaves to their masters by the army. - -It was as a member of the Committee on the Conduct of the War in the -Thirty-seventh Congress, and from the evidence taken in its inquiries, -that Mr. Chandler obtained the mass of information which enabled him -to make the most important of his war speeches, that of July 16, -1862, in which he exposed so conclusively General McClellan's utter -incompetence. Ample as was the foundation of facts upon which rested -this effective arraignment of conspicuous incapacity, the attack was -one requiring genuine boldness, for it defiantly invited a storm of -denunciation and, if it had failed of justification by the event, would -have certainly ended its maker's political career. Notwithstanding -his tardiness, his timidity, his inefficiency as a commander in the -field, and his political sympathy with the more unpatriotic classes -of the Northern people, General McClellan was still strong with the -people and entrusted with great powers. The Democracy warmly commended -his sentiments and methods, and labored incessantly to prevent any -diminution of his hold upon the public confidence. The Army of the -Potomac yet regarded him as "the young Napoleon," and its corps -commanders were, with but few exceptions, his personal adherents. The -long-suffering President was submitting with patience to his unjust -complaints, after having labored incessantly to stimulate into activity -his chronic sluggishness, fearful, with characteristic over-caution, -lest his summary removal should divide the North and breed a dangerous -disaffection in the face of the enemy among his troops. Many who did -not believe in the sincerity or ability of the man also smothered -their distrust, for fear that criticism would only weaken the common -cause and with the hope that even in his nerveless hands the mighty -weapon of the national resources would at last fall--even if by its -own weight only--on the enemy with decisive force. At this juncture, -and under these circumstances, Mr. Chandler, with characteristic vigor -of statement and plainness of speech, placed before the Senate and the -country the demonstration of McClellan's imbecility. - -Originally Mr. Chandler believed that McClellan's selection as the -practical successor of General Scott was a wise one, and hoped to see -his organizing capacity in camp supplemented by enterprise and courage -in the field. Distrust first sprang up with the persistent inaction -of the Army of the Potomac throughout the last months of 1861, and it -was strengthened by contact with the man himself and the study of his -character and his plans. An illustration of how this change of opinion -was brought about is given in an incident which occurred in the room -of the Committee on the Conduct of the War. That committee sent for -General McClellan as soon as they took up matters relating to his -command, in order to consult with him informally as to the situation. -This was in January, 1861, while he was in Washington "organizing" his -army, and while there was no little impatience felt because he did -not move. He was not formally summoned before the committee then, but -simply called in for general consultation. After the regular business -was finished, Mr. Chandler asked him bluntly why he did not attack -the rebels. General McClellan replied that it was because there were -not sufficient means of communication with Washington; he then called -attention to the fact that there were only two bridges and no other -means of transportation across the Potomac. - -Mr. Chandler asked what the number of bridges had to do with an advance -movement, and McClellan explained with much detail that it was one -of the most important features of skillful strategy that a commander -should have plenty of room to retreat before making an attack. To this -Mr. Chandler's response was: - -"General McClellan, if I understand you correctly, before you strike at -the rebels you want to be sure of plenty of room so that you can run in -case they strike back!" - -"Or in case you get scared," added Senator Wade. - -The commander of the Army of the Potomac manifested indignation at this -blunt way of putting the case, and then proceeded at length to explain -the art of war and the science of generalship, laying special stress -upon the necessity of having lines of retreat, as well as lines of -communication and supply, always open. He labored hard to make clear -all the methods and counter-methods upon which campaigns are managed -and battles fought, and, as he was an accomplished master of the theory -of war, succeeded in rendering himself at least interesting. After he -had concluded, Mr. Wade said: - -"General, you have all the troops you have called for, and if you -haven't enough, you shall have more. They are well organized and -equipped, and the loyal people of this country expect that you will -make a short and decisive campaign. Is it really necessary for you to -have more bridges over the Potomac before you move?" - -"Not that," was the answer, "not that exactly, but we must bear in mind -the necessity of having everything ready in case of a defeat, and keep -our lines of retreat open." - -With this remark General McClellan left the room, whereupon Mr. Wade -asked: - -"Chandler, what do you think of the science of generalship?" - -"I don't know much about war," was the reply, "but it seems to me that -this is infernal, unmitigated cowardice." - -The committee, after this interview, made a careful inquiry into the -strength of the rebel forces confronting the elaborate intrenchments -about Washington, and became convinced that the army at and about -Manassas was a handful compared with the magnificent body of troops -under McClellan's command. They submitted these facts to the President -and his Cabinet at a special session held for that purpose, and urged -the importance of an instant advance. With one single exception (a -Cabinet officer) the heads of the departments and the committee agreed -that an offensive movement from the line of the Potomac into Virginia -was important and must be made. General McClellan promised that his -army should start, but it did not. Toward the close of the winter -the President ordered a general advance, but the Army of the Potomac -still remained immobile. Finally, on March 10, under the peremptory -orders of the President, it did advance to Centreville and found there -deserted camps, wooden guns, weak intrenchments, and traces of the -retreat of not more than a single full corps of rebel troops. It was -during this most aggravating delay that members of the committee had -another characteristic interview with General McClellan. On the 19th of -February a sub-committee waited upon the Secretary of War[23] to ask -why the army was idle, and why the city of Washington and the North -side of the Potomac river were crowded with troops when the enemy was -all in Virginia. Mr. Wade said that it was a disgrace to the nation -that Washington was thus allowed to remain to all intents and purposes -in a state of siege. To this Secretary Stanton replied that the -committee could not feel more keenly upon this subject than did he, -that he did not go to bed at night without his cheek burning with -shame at this disgrace, and that the subject had received his earnest -attention, but he had not been able to change the situation as he -wished. General McClellan was then sent for, and Secretary Stanton -stated to him the object of the visit, and repeated the inquiries as to -why an advance movement was not made into Virginia, the rebels driven -away from Washington, and the soldiers who were idle in their camps in -and around the city sent to active duty. - -General McClellan answered that he was considering the matter, but -that instant action was impossible, although he hoped that he would -soon be able to decide what ought to be done. The committee asked what -time he would require to reach a decision. He replied that it depended -upon circumstances; that he would not give his consent to have the -troops about Washington sent over to the Virginia side of the Potomac -without having their rear protected more fully, and better lines of -retreat open; that he designed throwing a temporary bridge across the -river as soon as possible, and making a permanent structure of it at -his leisure. That would make three bridges, and then the requisite -precautions would be completed. - -Mr. Wade replied, with great impatience, that with 150,000 of the best -troops the world ever saw, there was no need of more bridges; that the -rebels were inferior in numbers and condition, and that retreat would -be treason. "These 150,000 men," Mr. Wade said, "could whip the whole -Confederacy if they were given a chance; if I was their commander I -would lead them across the Potomac, and they should not come back until -they had won a victory and the war was ended, or they came in their -coffins." Mr. Wade spoke strongly and plainly throughout the interview, -and the Secretary of War endorsed every word he uttered. The committee -had another conference with Secretary Stanton on the following day at -his residence, at which it was decided that they should co-operate -with him in an effort to persuade President Lincoln either to displace -McClellan or to compel him to commence an active campaign at once. -On the 25th of February this conference with the President was held, -and it was followed by others, Senators Chandler and Wade finally -threatening to make the laggardness of the commander of the Army of the -Potomac a subject of debate in the Senate, and to offer a resolution -directing the President to order an advance forthwith. The first result -was what the committee were so anxious to accomplish. In March, the -armies commenced to move, and McClellan, at last taking the field in -person, pushed out to Centreville, and then followed up this delayed -advance by his flank movement to the Peninsula, driving the rebels out -of Yorktown by a month's work with the shovel, and following General -Johnston up to Williamsburg, where a bloody victory was won, but its -fruits were left ungathered. This campaign was short, bloody, and -blundering, ending with the battle of Malvern Hill, which was also -deprived of its proper importance by McClellan's failure to follow up -his advantage with a prompt advance upon Richmond, and which thus in -the end amounted to but little more than another Union reverse. Mr. -Chandler always firmly believed that had McClellan moved toward the -rebel capital and not toward his gunboats after Malvern Hill, the war -would have been shortened by two years. - -When it first became evident that General McClellan was, by sullenness -and incapacity, throwing away advantages gained by the heroism of his -troops on the Peninsula, Mr. Chandler determined to denounce him on -the floor of the Senate, but was restrained by Mr. Stanton, who urged -that, while the campaign was still in active progress, there was yet -some hope of a change for the better, and that to destroy confidence in -a commanding officer under such circumstances might injure the army -in the field. After Malvern Hill these reasons ceased to have force, -and Mr. Chandler commenced the careful preparation of his speech. This -time the Secretary of War endorsed the timeliness as well as the truth -of the _expose_, and the Committee on the Conduct of the War by formal -vote authorized the use of the testimony taken before it and not yet -made public. After he had gathered and grouped the facts which formed -the basis of his arraignment, Mr. Chandler submitted them to a friend -upon whose good judgment and sincerity he greatly relied, and asked: - -"Knowing all these facts, as I do, what is my duty?" - -The answer was: "Beyond all question, these facts ought to be laid -before the country, for the knowledge of them is essential to its -safety. But they will create a storm that will sweep either you or -McClellan from public life, and it is more than probable that you will -be the victim." - -Mr. Chandler said: "I did not ask your opinion of the consequences, but -of my duty." - -To this it was replied: "The speech ought to be made, and no one else -will make it." - -Mr. Chandler simply said: "It will be made to-day; come and hear it." -And he did make it, in the midst of a running discussion on a bill "to -provide for the discharge of state prisoners and others," which was the -special order in the Senate for that day (July 16, 1862). - -Mr. Chandler commenced by briefly reciting the history of the -appointment of the committee, and then gave from the evidence taken at -its sessions a compact summary of the causes of the Bull Run disaster, -fortifying each point with citations from the testimony. After closing -this part of his speech he proceeded to review the Ball's Bluff -catastrophe, saying: - - Were the people discouraged, depressed? Not at all. Untold - thousands rushed into the shattered ranks, eager to wipe out - the stain and stigma of that defeat (Bull Run). From the East, - the West, the North, and the Middle States, thousands and tens - of thousands and hundreds of thousands came pouring in, until - the government said, "Hold, enough." The Army of the Potomac, - denuded in August of three-months' men and scarcely numbering - 50,000 efficient men, swelled in September to over 100,000, in - October to 150,000, in November to 175,000 and upward, until, - on the 10th day of December, the morning rolls showed 195,400 - men, and thirteen regiments not reported, chiefly intended for - the Burnside expedition, but all under the command of General - McClellan. During the months of October, November, and December, - the weather was delightful and the roads fine. The question began - to be asked in October, when will the advance take place? All had - the most unbounded confidence in the army and its young general, - and were anxiously waiting for a Napoleonic stroke. It came, but - such a stroke! That a general movement was being prepared the - whole country had known for weeks; but when the terrific blow was - to be struck no one knew save the commander of the Army of the - Potomac. The nation believed in its young commander; the President - relied upon him, and all, myself included, had the most unbounded - confidence in the result of the intended movement. It came! On the - 21st of October, McCall's division, 12,000 strong, was ordered - to Drainesville upon a reconnoissance. Smith's division, 12,000 - strong, was ordered to support him. McCall's reconnoissance - extended four miles beyond Drainesville, and to within nine miles - of Leesburg. Stone, on Sunday, was informed of McCall's and Smith's - advance, and directed to make a slight demonstration upon Leesburg. - How? He could do it in but one way, and that was by crossing the - river and moving upon it. [Mr. Chandler here introduced a mass of - testimony and official orders to show that Col. E. D. Baker, whom - General Stone sent across the Potomac at Ball's Bluff, had ample - reasons to believe that he would be sustained in that advance, - and reinforced if necessary. He proceeded:] Thus it is shown that - Colonel Baker had reason to expect reinforcements, for the enemy - were to be pushed upon their flank by General Gorman. - - At two o'clock on Monday morning Colonel Devens crossed the river - upon a reconnoissance with 400 men at Ball's Bluff, opposite - Harrison's Island, as directed by General Stone. At daylight - Colonel Baker was ordered to cross to the support of Colonel - Devens. I have read his orders. One scow and two small boats were - their only means of transportation. At eight o'clock on Monday - morning the fight commenced by Colonel Devens, and Colonel Baker - was placed in command, as is alleged, with discretionary orders. - Colonel Baker knew that Smith and McCall were at Drainesville, - or within striking distance, that our troops were crossing at - Edward's Ferry, or, in other words, that 40,000 effective men - were within twelve miles of him, and that at least 30,000 were - upon the Virginia side of the Potomac, and that, in the nature of - things, he must be reinforced. He did not know that at half-past - ten A.M., of Monday, or two and one-half hours after Colonel Devens - commenced the fight, the divisions of Smith and McCall commenced - their retreat by the express orders of General McClellan. He knew - that Colonel Devens was contending with greatly superior forces, - and, like a gallant soldier as he was, he hastened to his relief - with all the force he could cross with his inadequate means of - transportation. - - Colonel Baker has been charged with imprudence and rashness; but - neither the facts nor the testimony support the charge. Instead - of rashly or imprudently advancing into the enemy's lines, as - was alleged, he did not move ten rods from the Bluff, and the - only sustaining witness to this charge was one officer, who swore - that he thought Colonel Baker imprudently exposed himself to the - enemy's bullets. This kind of rashness is usually pardoned after - the death of the perpetrator. At two o'clock P. M. Colonel Baker - found himself in command of about 1,800 men upon Ball's Bluff, - including Devens's men and three guns, and the fighting commenced. - The alternatives were fight and conquer, surrender, or be captured. - That noble band of heroes and their gallant commander understood - these terrible alternatives as well upon that bloody field as we - do now, and nobly did they vindicate their manhood. During all - those long hours, from two o'clock P. M. until the early dusk of - evening, the gallant Baker continued the unequal contest, when he - fell pierced by three bullets and instantly expired. A council - of war was called (after the frightful death-struggle over his - lifeless remains and for them), and it was decided that the only - chance of an escape was by cutting through the enemy and reaching - Edward's Ferry, which was at once decided upon; but, while - forming for the desperate encounter, the enemy rushed upon our - little band of heroes in overpowering numbers, and the rout was - perfect.... How many were killed in battle, how many drowned in - the relentless river, will never be correctly known; suffice it - to say, our little force was destroyed. Why was this little band - permitted to be destroyed by a force little more than double its - numbers in presence of 40,000 splendid troops? Why were McCall and - Smith ordered back at the very moment that Baker was ordered to - cross? If we wanted Leesburg, McCall could have taken it without - the loss of a man, as his movement in mass had already caused its - evacuation, and the enemy did not return in force until after - McCall had retreated. If we did not wish to capture Leesburg, why - did we cross at all? Of what use is "a slight demonstration" even, - without results? These are questions which the people will ask, - and no man can satisfactorily answer. Why were not reinforcements - sent from Edward's Ferry to Colonel Baker? The distance was only - three-and-a-half miles. We had 1,500 men across at two o'clock on - Monday, and the universal concurrent testimony of officers and men - is that a reinforcement of even 1,000 men--some say 500, and one - gallant captain swears that with 100 men he could have struck them - upon the flank,--would have changed the result of the day. Why were - not reinforcements sent? Stone swears, as I have already shown, - that there were batteries between Edward's Ferry and Ball's Bluff - which would have utterly destroyed any force he could have sent to - Baker's relief, and that Baker knew it. But Stone was not sustained - by a single witness; on the contrary, all swear that there were - not, to their knowledge, and that they did not believe there were - any, and a civilian living upon the spot, and in the habit of - passing over the ground frequently, swears there were none; and - again, Stone, when questioned as to the erection of forts under the - range of his guns upon his second examination, swears positively - that there is not a gun now between Edward's Ferry and Ball's - Bluff, and never has been. Why, then, were not reinforcements sent - from Edward's Ferry? Let the men who executed and planned this - horrible slaughter answer to God and an outraged country. General - Banks swears that his orders were such from General McClellan, - that, upon his arrival at Edward's Ferry, although his judgment was - against crossing, he did not feel himself at liberty to decline - crossing, and he remained upon the Virginia side until Thursday.... - So much for the wholesale murder at Ball's Bluff. - -Mr. Chandler next attacked General McClellan's disastrous -procrastination. Describing the lapse of an army of 150,000 men into -a state of chronic inaction in its intrenchments about Washington -after the Ball's Bluff disaster, he laid before the Senate and the -country documents which proved these facts: In October, 1861, the Navy -Department requested that 4,000 men might be detailed to hold Matthias -Point on the lower Potomac, after the gunboats should have shelled -out the rebels, who were then in possession, and thus in control of -the navigation of that important river. General McClellan agreed to -furnish the infantry; twice the Navy Department prepared its vessels -for the expedition, but the troops did not report for duty, so that, -finally, the gunboats were necessarily detailed for other service, and -the unnecessary, expensive and humiliating blockade of the Potomac -continued for months. Mr. Chandler then proceeded: - - Why was this disgrace so long submitted to? No man knows or - attempts to explain. Month after month one of the most splendid - armies the world had ever seen, of 200,000 men, permitted itself - and the national capital to be besieged by a force _never_ - exceeding one-half its own number. - - During the month of December, the nation became impatient. The - time had arrived and passed when we were promised a forward - movement. The roads were good, the weather splendid, the army - in high condition, and eager for the fray. How long the roads - and weather would permit the movement, no man could predict; - still there was no movement. The generals, with great unanimity, - declared that the army had reached its maximum of proficiency - as volunteers, but still there was no movement. Under these - circumstances, the Committee on the Conduct of the War asked an - interview with the President and Cabinet, and urged that the winter - should not be permitted to pass without action, as it would lead - to an incalculable loss of life and treasure by forcing our brave - troops into a summer campaign, in a hot and to them inhospitable - climate. The President and Cabinet were united in the desire that - an immediate advance should be made, but it was not made, although - we were assured by General McClellan that it would be very soon, - that he had no intention of going into winter quarters, and he did - not! While the enemy erected comfortable huts at Centreville and - Manassas for their winter quarters, our brave and eager troops - spent the most uncomfortable winter ever known in this climate - under canvas, as thousands and tens of thousands of invalid - soldiers throughout the length and breadth of the land will attest. - Why did not the army move in all December, or why did it not go - into winter quarters? No man knows, nor is any reason assigned. - - On the 1st day of January, 1862, and for months previous to that - date, the armies of the republic were occupying a purely defensive - position upon the whole line from Missouri to the Atlantic, until - on or about the 27th of January the President and Secretary of War - issued the order forward. Then the brave Foote took the initiative, - soliciting 2,000 men from Halleck to hold Fort Henry after he had - captured it with his gunboats. They were promptly furnished, and - Henry fell; then Donelson, with its 15,000 prisoners; then Newbern, - and the country was electrified. Credit was given where credit was - due. Do-nothing strategy gave way to an "immediate advance upon - the enemy's works," and the days of spades and pickaxes seemed - to be ended. On the 22d of February a forward movement upon our - whole line was ordered, but did not take place. The Army of the - Potomac was not ready; but on the 10th of March it moved, against - the protest of the commanding general and eight out of twelve of - the commanders of divisions; but the President was inexorable, and - the movement must be made. It proceeded to Centreville, and there - found deserted huts, wooden artillery, and intrenchments which - could and can be successfully charged by cavalry. It proceeded - to Manassas, and found no fortifications worthy of the name, - a deserted, abandoned camp, and dead horses for trophies. The - enemy, less than 40,000 men, had leisurely escaped, carrying away - all their artillery, baggage, arms, and stores. Our Army of the - Potomac, on that 10th day of March, showed by its muster-roll a - force of 230,000 men. Comment is needless! The Grand Army of the - Potomac proceeded toward Gordonsville, found no enemy, repaired the - railroad, and then marched back again. - - Why this Grand Army of the Potomac did not march upon Richmond has - never been satisfactorily explained, and probably never will be. - One reason assigned was lack of transportation; but there were two - railroads, one by way of Acquia Creek and Fredericksburg, the - other via Manassas and Gordonsville, which could have been repaired - at the rate of ten miles per day, and our army was ample to guard - it. Had this overwhelming force proceeded directly to Richmond by - these lines, it would have spent the 1st day of May in Richmond, - and ere this the rebellion would have been ended. This grand army, - _ably_ commanded, was superior to any army the world has seen for - five hundred years. Napoleon I. never fought 130,000 men upon - one battle-field. Yet this noble army was divided and virtually - sacrificed by some one. Who is the culprit? - - Before the advance upon Manassas, General McClellan changed his - plans, and demanded to be permitted to leave the enemy intrenched - at Centreville and Manassas; to leave the Potomac blockaded, and - to take his army to Annapolis by land, and there embark them for - the rear of the enemy to surprise him. In the council of war - called upon this proposition, the commanding general and eight out - of twelve of the commanders of divisions (and here permit me to - say that I am informed that seven out of the eight generals were - appointed upon the recommendation of General McClellan) voted that - it was not safe to advance upon the wooden guns of Centreville, and - to adopt the new plan of campaign. The President and the Secretary - of War overruled this pusillanimous decision, and compelled - McClellan to "move immediately upon the enemy's works." He marched, - and the trophies of that memorable campaign are known to the Senate - and the country. - - At Fairfax, General McClellan changed his plan and decided not to - advance upon the rebels with his whole force, but to return to - Alexandria, divide his army, and embark for Fortress Monroe and - Yorktown. It was decided that 45,000 men should be left for the - defense of the capital, and he was permitted to embark. After much - delay (unavoidable in the movement of so vast a force, with its - enormous material) the general-in-chief himself embarked. Soon - after he sailed it came to the knowledge of the Committee on the - Conduct of the War that the capital, with its vast accumulation - of material of war, had been left by General McClellan virtually - without defense, and the enemy's whole force, large or small, was - untouched in front. [Mr. Chandler here introduced the official - testimony to prove that General McClellan had so denuded Washington - as to compel the President to interpose and detain General - McDowell's corps for its adequate defense. He then said:] The - country has been deceived. It has been led to believe that the - Secretary of War or somebody else has interfered with General - McClellan's plans, when he had an army that could have crushed any - other army on the face of the earth. One hundred and fifty-eight - thousand of the best troops that ever stood on God's footstool were - sent down to the Peninsula and placed under command of General - McClellan; and yet the whole treasonable press of the country has - been howling after the Secretary of War because of his alleged - refusal to send reinforcements to General McClellan. As I said the - other day, he has sent every man, every sabre, every bayonet, every - horse, that could be spared from any source whatever to increase - that grand army under General McClellan in front of Richmond. Why - did he not enter Richmond? We shall see.... It is not for me, sir, - to state the strength of McClellan's army at this time; but I know - it is 158,000 men, less the number lost by sickness and casualties. - Does any man doubt that this army, ably handled, was sufficiently - strong to have captured Richmond and crushed the rebel army? I - think not, if promptly led against the enemy; but instead of that, - it sat down in malarious swamps and awaited the drafting, arming, - drilling, and making soldiers of an army to fight it, and in the - meantime our own army was rapidly wasting away. Unwholesome water, - inadequate food, overwork, and sleeping in marshes, were rapidly - filling the hospitals, and overloading the return boats with the - sick. Sir, we have lost more men by the spade than the bullet, - five to one, since the army started from Yorktown under McClellan. - Had the soldiers been relieved from digging and menial labor by - the substitution of negro laborers, the Army of the Potomac would - to-day, in my estimation, contain 30,000 more brave and efficient - soldiers than it does. Had it been relieved from guarding the - property of rebels in arms, many valuable lives would have been - saved. Yorktown was evacuated after a sacrifice of more men by - sickness than the enemy had in their works when our army landed at - Fortress Monroe. The battle of Williamsburg was fought by a small - fraction of our army, and the enemy routed. During the battle, - General McClellan wrote a dispatch, miles from the field of battle, - saying he should try to "hold them in check" there.... He would try - to "hold them in check!" He could not hold them. He could not stop - his eager troops from chasing them. After a small fraction of his - army had whipped their entire force and had been chasing them for - hours, he penned that dispatch and sent it to the Secretary of War, - and, if I remember aright, it was read in one of the two houses of - Congress. As you may suppose from that dispatch, there was no great - eagerness in following up that victory. Three Michigan regiments - were not only decimated, they were divided in twain, in that - bloody battle at Williamsburg. They fought there all day without - reinforcements. One Michigan regiment went into the trenches and - left sixty-three dead rebels, killed by the bayonet, weltering in - their blood. But who has ever heard, by any official communication - from the head of the army, that a Michigan regiment was in the - fight at Williamsburg? I do not blame him for not giving credit - where credit is due, for I do not believe he knew anything more of - that fight than you or I. - - When that battle was fought and won, all the enemy's works were - cleared away, and we had an open road to Richmond. There was not a - single fortification between Richmond and Williamsburg. All we had - to do was to get through those infernal swamps, march up, and take - possession of Richmond. What did we do? We found the worst swamp - there was between Richmond and Williamsburg, and sat right down - in the center of it and went to digging. We sacrificed thousands - and tens of thousands of the bravest troops that ever stood on - the face of God's earth, digging in front of no intrenchments, and - before a whipped army of the enemy. We waited for them to recruit; - we waited for them to get another army. They had a levy _en masse_. - They were taking all the men and boys between the ages of fifteen - and fifty-five, and magnanimously we waited weeks and weeks and - weeks for them to bring these forced levies into some sort of - consistency as an army. The battle of Fair Oaks was fought. There - the enemy found again a little fraction of our army, very much - less than half, and they brought out their entire force. I have it - from the best authority that they had not a solitary regiment in - or about Richmond that was fit to put in front of an enemy that - they did not bring to Fair Oaks and hurl upon our decimated army. - Again the indomitable bravery of our troops (of the men, of private - soldiers, the indomitable energy of Michigan men and New Jersey - men--but I will not particularize, for all the troops fought like - lions), and the fighting capacity of our army not only saved it - from being utterly destroyed by an overwhelming force, but gave us - a triumphant victory. The enemy went back to Richmond pell-mell. - I have been informed by a man who was there at the time, that two - brigades of fresh troops could have chased the whole Confederate - army through the city of Richmond and into the James river, so - utter was their rout and confusion. - - And what did we do then? We found another big swamp, and we sat - down in the center of it and went to digging. We began to throw up - intrenchments when there were no intrenchments in our front, no - enemy that was not utterly broken. We never took advantage of the - battle of Fair Oaks. Again Michigan soldiers were cut to pieces - by hundreds. Go into the Judiciary square hospital in this city, - and you will find more than half the occupants are Michigan men - who were shot at Fair Oaks and Williamsburg, men who stood until - a regiment of 1,000 men was reduced to 105, and even then did not - run. Sir, these men have been sacrificed, uselessly sacrificed. - They have been put to hard digging, and hard fare, and hard - sleeping, and if there was any hard fighting to do they have been - put to that; and, besides all this, at night they have had to guard - the property of rebels in arms. They have been so sacrificed that - two or three of the Michigan regiments to-day cannot bring into the - field 250 men each out of 1,000 with whom they started. - - Fair Oaks was lost; that is to say, we won a brilliant victory, - but it did us no good; we did not take advantage of it. Of course - it would have been very unfair to take advantage of a routed army - [laughter]; it would not have been according to our "strategy." We - magnanimously stopped, and commenced digging. There was no army in - our front, there were no intrenchments in our front; but we did not - know what else to do, and so we began to dig and ditch, and we kept - digging and ditching until the rebels had impressed and drilled and - armed and made soldiers of their entire population. But that was - not enough; they sent Jackson up on his raid to Winchester, and - we waited for him to come back with his twenty or thirty thousand - men. We heard that Corinth was being evacuated, and of course - it would have been very unfair to commence an attack until they - brought their troops from Corinth, and so we waited for the army at - Corinth to get to Richmond. After the rebels had got all the troops - they ever hoped to raise from any source, we did not attack them, - but they attacked us, as we had reason to suppose they would. They - attacked our right wing, and, as I am informed upon what I must - deem reliable authority, they hurled the majority of their entire - force upon our right wing of 30,000 men, and during the whole of - that Thursday our right wing of 30,000 men held their ground, and - repulsed that vast horde of the enemy over and over again, and held - their ground at night. Of course you will say a reinforcement of - twenty or thirty thousand men was sent to these brave troops that - they might not only hold their ground the next day, but send this - dastardly army into Richmond a second time, as at Fair Oaks. No, - sir, nothing of the sort was done. - - At night, instead of sending them reinforcements, they were ordered - to retreat. That was "strategy!" The moment they commenced their - retreat, as is said in the dispatches, the enemy fought like - demons. Of course they would. Who ever heard of a retreating army - that was not pursued by the victors like demons, except in the - case of rebel retreats? No other nation but ours was ever guilty - of stopping immediately after a victory. Other armies fight like - demons after a victory, and annihilate the enemy, but we do not. - Our left wing and center remained intact. A feint was made upon - the left and center, and I have here, not the sworn testimony, but - the statement of one of the bravest men in the whole Army of the - Potomac--I will not give his name, but a more highly honorable man - lives not--that when his regiment was ordered under arms, he had - no doubt that he was going to march into Richmond. He believed the - whole force of the enemy had attacked our right wing; he believed - there was nothing but a screen of pickets in front; and he thought - that now our great triumph was to come off. His men sprang into - line with avidity, prepared to rush into Richmond and take it at - the point of the bayonet. He never discovered his error until he - saw a million and a half dollars' worth of property burned in - front of his regiment, and then he began to think that an advance - upon Richmond was not intended. And it was not! We had been at - work there and had lost 10,000 men in digging intrenchments; we - had spent months in bringing up siege guns, and we abandoned - those intrenchments without firing one gun. Our army was ordered - to advance on the gunboats instead of on Richmond. This colonel - told me that his regiment fought three days and whipped the enemy - each day, and retreated each night. The left wing and center were - untouched until they were ordered to retreat. No portion of our - vast force had been fought except the right wing under Porter, and - they whipped the enemy the first day. - - This is called strategy! Again, sir, I ask, Why was this great - Army of the Potomac of 230,000 men divided? Human ingenuity could - not have devised any other way to defeat that army; Divine wisdom - could scarcely have devised any other way to defeat it than that - which was adopted. There is no army in Europe to-day that could - meet the Army of the Potomac when it was 230,000 strong, the best - fighting material ever put into an army on the face of the earth. - Why was that grand army divided? I simply charge that grave and - serious errors have been committed, and, as I have said, no other - way could have been devised to defeat that army. If the 158,000 - men that were sent to General McClellan had been marched upon the - enemy, they could have whipped all the armies the Confederates - have, and all they are likely to have for six months. One hundred - and fifty-eight thousand men are about as many as can be fought on - any one battle-field. One hundred and fifty-eight thousand men are - a vast army, a great deal larger army than that with which Napoleon - destroyed 600,000 of the Austrians in a single year. One hundred - and fifty-eight thousand men ably handled can defeat any force - the Confederates can raise; and that is the force that went down - to the Peninsula. But, sir, it lay in ditches, digging, drinking - rotten water, and eating bad food, and sleeping in the mud, until - it became greatly reduced in numbers, and of those that were left - very many were injured in health. Still they fought; still they - conquered in every fight, and still they retreated, because they - were ordered to retreat. - - Sir, I have deemed it my duty to present this statement of facts to - the Senate and the country. I know that I am to be denounced for so - doing, and I tell you who will denounce me. There are two classes - of men who are sure to denounce me, and no one else, and they are - traitors and fools. The traitors have been denouncing every man who - did not sing pæans to "strategy," when it led to defeat every time. - The traitors North are worse than the traitors South, and sometimes - I think we have as many of them in the aggregate. They are meaner - men; they are men who will come behind you and cut your throat in - the dark. I have great respect for Southern traitors who shoulder - their muskets and come out and take the chances of the bullets - and the halter; but I have the most superlative contempt for the - Northern traitors, who, under the pretended guise of patriotism, - are stabbing their country in the dark. - -The effect of this speech was profound. It enraged McClellan's friends -to the highest pitch; it was not supported at the time by any like -utterance in Congress, and at first many who believed it to be true -condemned, or at least deprecated, the fierceness of the attack; -but those who knew that "the young Napoleon" at heart preferred a -pro-slavery compromise to the conquest of a durable and honorable -peace, and who had marked with righteous indignation the attempt of -his _claquers_ to make the Secretary of War the scape-goat for his -own blunders, greeted with enthusiasm the signal courage of the man -who, in the face of abuse, prejudice, and popular blindness, dared to -tell with words of rugged force this story of disastrous imbecility. -Mr. Chandler disregarded the remonstrances of weak friends, and met -without quailing the storm of vituperation he had invited. Events -made themselves his justifiers and within four months[24] President -Lincoln, with the full approval of the patriotic masses of the North, -relieved General McClellan from all command and abruptly terminated -his military career. Nothing contributed more to this salutary change -than Mr. Chandler's arraignment, of which it has been well said, that -"with words resembling battles he told the American people that they -were leaning upon a broken reed, that 'the idol of the soldiers' was -as incapable of helping them as the idols of the heathen, and that -McClellan was only digging graves for the brave men who followed him -and a last ditch for the cause he defended; he shocked by his language -the mass of the people into a right comprehension of the death's dance -this military Jack-o'-lantern was leading them through the swamps of -Virginia." - -Mr. Chandler, who took this step after full deliberation and not -from any passing impulse, rated the McClellan speech as his most -important public service, alike in its necessity, its timeliness, -and its results. He also felt that it involved more real hazard, -and made larger demands upon his courage, than any other act of his -Senatorial career, for such relentless invective could scarcely fail -to mortally wound either its object or its maker. Had time shown that -he had uttered calumnies and not the sober truth, he would have been -inevitably driven from public life; and even when he spoke, the men who -thoroughly doubted McClellan were still a small minority. History has -shown that his indictment was as true in substance as it was unsparing -in terms and bold in spirit. - -Two other matters naturally group themselves with this speech: Mr. -Chandler distrusted McClellanism in the Army of the Potomac as -thoroughly as he did McClellan. The investigations of this committee -convinced him that General Pope's campaign was so unfortunate because -of the insubordination of General McClellan's friends among the corps -commanders, and led him to believe that the same cause crippled the -movements of both Burnside and Hooker, who, if faithfully supported, -would have won decisive victories. So strong were his convictions on -these points, that when General Grant became commander-in-chief he -called upon the Secretary of War and requested him to make out a list -of the incompetent, suspected and insubordinate generals of the Army of -the Potomac, to be furnished to that officer so that he would be able -to place them where they could do the least harm in the service. This -Secretary Stanton promised to do. A few days afterward Mr. Chandler -called again at the War Department, and, learning that this had not -yet been done, said, "I will make out the list myself and send it to -Grant;" and he did so, Major-Gen. C. C. Washburn being its bearer. -Mr. Chandler carefully studied and vigilantly watched the Fitz-John -Porter case, and approved of the findings of the court-martial, except -the failure to inflict the death penalty, which he believed that the -character and consequences of Porter's action fully merited. The -attempt to secure the reversal of this verdict and the re-instatement -in the army of the dismissed officer aroused his sternest indignation, -and he fought it resolutely at every stage--and successfully, while -he remained in the Senate. He spoke at length on this subject in that -body on Feb. 21, 1870, declaring that he did so in fulfillment of a -voluntary pledge given some years before in the same chamber to General -Pope, "that justice should be done to him and to his campaign in the -valley of Virginia, even although I were called upon to vindicate him -from my seat in the Senate." After rehearsing the facts connected with -Pope's movement, which was planned to create a diversion of Lee's -army for the extrication of McClellan's forces from the Peninsula, in -conformity with the suggestion of Gen. James S. Wadsworth, and showing -that Pope had frequently requested to be relieved from the hazardous -work laid out for him and that he had only a force of 42,000 men -scattered between Harper's Ferry and Acquia Creek, Mr. Chandler said: - - I asked him in the presence of the committee: "What is to prevent - you from being struck by a superior force of the enemy and - overwhelmed?" Said he: "Nothing on earth is more probable than - that I shall be struck by a superior force and shall be whipped; - but I will keep my troops near the mountains, and there are no - ten miles where there is not a gulch up which I can take my men - and small-arms, and, by abandoning my artillery and baggage, - save my men; I shall probably be whipped, but it must be done." - Any military man can see and appreciate the difficulties and - responsibilities of so desperate a campaign. "Yet," said he, "it - must be done." - - Well, sir, General Pope started on that campaign. Had he announced - to the newspaper press of Washington, or of the North, the number - of his men or his object, the object itself would have been - defeated. General Pope did what I believe is allowable in war: he - perpetrated a _ruse de guerre_. He sent his scouts all through the - mountains of Virginia proclaiming that he had an army of 120,000 - men. And, sir, he fooled the newspaper correspondents of the city - of Washington and of the whole North. General Pope, when he started - on that campaign, had no more idea of going to Richmond than he had - of following Elijah to Heaven in a chariot of fire without seeing - death. He started with one single object, and that was to save the - army of McClellan, or to do all that was in his power to save it. - He massed his troops, and that terrible battle of Cedar Mountain - was fought; and by that battle he not only fooled the people of - this country, but he fooled the rebels. The rebels believed that - he had 120,000 men, and that, unless they fought him and crushed - him before he could unite with the Army of the Potomac, their cause - was lost; and he drew upon his shoulders with that little force the - whole rebel army, so that, when McClellan started for Yorktown, - there was not even a popgun fired at his troops. The _ruse_ was - a perfect success, and, as I told General Pope then, "I consider - that your campaign has been one of the most brilliant that has been - fought up to this time"--which was February, 1863--"you saved two - armies; you first saved the Army of the Potomac, and then you saved - your own." - - Sir, General Pope fought for eleven days, fought night and day, - fought the whole rebel army with his little force, his force never - having exceeded 70,000 men,--comprising not simply his own army, - but also General Burnside's forces, and the 20,000 men who had in - thirty days been brought up from the Army of the Potomac, and of - whom Porter's corps was part. The force which he had met with these - was that originally in his front, but overwhelmingly augmented by - that rebel force from which McClellan, with his 90,000 men, had to - be delivered by a demonstration in their rear. He fought for time. - He defended every brook, every barn, every piece of woods, every - ravine. He fought for time for the Army of the Potomac to reach him - and unite with him, so as to crush the advancing and overwhelming - force of the rebels. - -Mr. Chandler then reviewed at length (and with copious citations from -the testimony of eye-witnesses and the official orders) the facts as -to Fitz-John Porter's course in Pope's campaign, adding extracts from -the reports of rebel officers which had come into the possession of the -government since the war, and closed as follows: - - Mr. President, if I had more time I should like to go more fully - into this subject; but I cannot. The court, after forty-five days - spent in careful investigation, brought in unanimously the verdict - against Porter. Many of the members of that court were in favor of - sentencing him to suffer death. It is rumored, and many believe, - that the only reason the death-penalty was not inflicted was the - fear that Mr. Lincoln, whose kindness of heart was so well-known, - would not execute the sentence; and, hence, they unanimously - brought in the verdict they did. It was first carefully examined - _seriatim_ by the then Secretary of War and the President. No more - just tribunal ever investigated a case, I presume to assert, than - this tribunal, and there its finding stands. - - It may be asked, How came it that a misunderstanding, almost as - universal as complete, was suffered to be put upon the country? - General Pope himself says: "The next day it (my report) was - delivered to General Halleck; but by that time influences of - questionable character, and transactions of most unquestionable - impropriety, which were well known at the time, had entirely - changed the purposes of the authorities. It is not necessary, - and, perhaps, would scarcely be in place, for me to recount these - things." - - It is as well known to others present as to me that, during - that gloomy, eventful Sunday which succeeded the last battle on - Saturday, the 30th of August, the President and Mr. Stanton were - overrun and overcome with statements that, unless McClellan was - restored to command "the army would not fight." These statements - came from men who did not mean it should fight, who could not in - the exigency of the moment be displaced. The President was able - afterward to relieve McClellan and court-martial Porter. Had he - lived, he would have seen justice to General Pope awarded also. It - remains for me, while I live, to do my portion of that duty. - - There is one other point to which I wish to allude. During this - very trial--during the very pendency of the trial--Fitz-John Porter - said, in the presence of my informant, who is a man whom most of - you know, and who is to-day in the employment of Congress, and - whose word I would take as soon as I would most men's--though - I told him I would not use his name, but I will give his sworn - testimony, taken down within two minutes after the utterance was - made--Fitz-John Porter said in his presence: "I was not true to - Pope, and there is no use in denying it." Mr. President, what was - "not true to Pope"? If he was not true to Pope, whom was he true - to? Being true to Pope was being true to the country; "not true - to Pope" was being a traitor to the country. Sir, "not true to - Pope" meant the terrible fight of the 30th of August, with all the - blood and all the horrors of that bitter day; "not true to Pope" - meant the battle of Antietam, with its thousands of slain and its - other thousands maimed; "not true to Pope" meant the first battle - of Fredericksburg, with its 20,000 slain and maimed; "not true - to Pope" covered the battles of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor, - and all the dreadful battles that followed. Had Fitz-John Porter - been true to his government, Jackson would have been destroyed - on the 29th of August, and on the 30th the rebels could scarcely - have offered any resistance to our victorious army. "Not true to - Pope" meant 300,000 slain and 2,000,000,000 of additional dollars - expended. - - Sir, I wish to put this on the record for all time, that it may - remain. Let Fitz-John Porter thank God that he yet lives, and that - he was not living at that time under a military government. I told - General Pope, in the first interview I had with him, that I had but - one fault to find in the whole conduct of the campaign. He asked, - "What is that?" Said I, "That you ever allowed Fitz-John Porter to - leave the battle-field alive!" - -In 1877 Porter at last succeeded, by the most persistent effort, in -obtaining the order for the re-examination of his case, and when Mr. -Chandler re-entered the Senate in 1879, he found himself confronting -an organized movement to secure that officer's restoration to his -old rank with full pay since the date of his dishonorable dismissal -from the army. To this contemplated action he proposed to offer the -most strenuous resistance, and the last volumes he drew from the -Congressional Library were authorities he wished to consult in the -preparation of his argument against the reversal of the Porter finding. - -Mr. Chandler's positive opinions in the McClellan and Porter cases were -shared by his colleagues of the Committee on the Conduct of the War -of the Thirty-seventh Congress, and are justified by their elaborate -reports covering the history of the Army of the Potomac from the -battle of Ball's Bluff to the close of the Fredericksburg campaign. -The Thirty-eighth Senate adopted a resolution continuing the existence -of this committee, and, the House concurring, the old members, so -far as they were in Congress, were re-appointed. Senator Harding of -Oregon took the place of Mr. Wright, and afterward Mr. Buckalew of -Pennsylvania succeeded Mr. Harding. From the House, Mr. B. F. Loan of -Missouri was appointed as the successor of Mr. Covode. Wm. Blair Lord -was re-elected clerk and stenographer. This committee also devoted -much of its time to the troubles of the Army of the Potomac. General -Burnside had resigned the command because of a misunderstanding with -the President, brought about by the interference of Gens. John Cochrane -and John Newton, and General Hooker was appointed in his place, with -General Halleck as commander-in-chief. But Halleck disliked Hooker, -and forced his resignation by overruling his plans and countermanding -his orders, General Meade succeeding. The committee examined closely -into this matter, reaching the conclusion that Hooker had not been -fairly dealt with, and incidentally disposing of the false statement -then current that that officer was intoxicated at the battle of -Chancellorsville, and was defeated from that cause. The committee -condemned Hooker's removal, and Mr. Chandler firmly believed in his -courage, patriotism and ability, and regarded him as the victim of -circumstances. These facts make it an interesting coincidence that -these two men--both bold, frank and positive in their respective -spheres of public activity--should have died sudden and painless deaths -within the same week. - -The committee did not believe that the selection of General Meade -for the command of the Army of the Potomac was a fortunate one, -and doubted his ability to properly control his subordinates. While -there is no reference to the matter in their report on this subject, -it is a fact that they recommended the removal of General Meade from -command, and the re-instatement of Hooker. On the 4th of March, 1864, -Mr. Chandler and Mr. Wade called upon the President, and told him that -they believed it to be their duty, impressed as they were with the -testimony the committee had taken, to lay a copy of it before him, and -in behalf of the army and the country demand the removal of General -Meade, and the appointment of some one more competent to command. The -President asked what general they could recommend; they said that for -themselves they would be content with General Hooker, believing him to -be competent, but not being advocates of any particular officer, they -would say that if there was any one whom the President considered more -competent, then let him be appointed. They added that "Congress had -appointed the committee to watch the conduct of the war; and unless -this state of things should be soon changed it would become their duty -to make the testimony public which they had taken, with such comments -as the circumstances of the case seemed to require." General Meade was -not removed, but General Grant was, within a week, given command as -general-in-chief, and assumed personal direction of the movements of -the Army of the Potomac. - -During 1864 and 1865 the committee (besides considering many minor -matters) also investigated, with care: - -1. The disastrous assault upon Petersburg on July 30, 1864; their -report exonerated General Burnside from the responsibility for -the repulse, and held that the disaster was attributable to the -interference with his plans of General Meade, whose course in the -matter was severely censured. - -2. The unsuccessful expedition of 1864 up the Red river in Louisiana, -which the committee (Mr. Gooch dissenting) emphatically condemned. - -3. The first Fort Fisher expedition, the committee, in its report, -approving of General Butler's course in withdrawing from the projected -assault. - -During the inquiry into the Petersburg fiasco, the sub-committee were -in session at General Grant's headquarters, and Mr. Chandler was his -guest, renewing there an early acquaintance and laying the foundations -of their future close friendship. Some incidents of their intercourse -were characteristic. - -General Sherman had just reached Savannah, and the mystery of the -objective point of his great "march to the sea" had thus been solved -for the public. This memorable exploit was discussed at length between -General Grant and Mr. Chandler. The former said that the suggestion -was Sherman's, and so was the entire plan of the campaign. Sherman had -urged it for a long time before he (Grant) would consent, but finally -the conditions were ripe, and the order was given. General Grant added -that Sherman was the only man in the army whom he would have entrusted -this campaign to, as he was especially adapted for such a command, and -said: "Congress ought to do something for Sherman. He deserves a great -deal more credit and honor than he has ever received." "What can we do -for him?" asked Mr. Chandler. "Increase his rank," was the reply. "We -have made you lieutenant general," responded Mr. Chandler, laughingly, -"and I suppose we could make him a general, and thus put him over you." -"Do it," said Grant, promptly. "If he carries this campaign through -successfully, do it. I would rather serve under Sherman than any man I -know." General Grant also said that when he received a dispatch that -Thomas had attacked Hood, he felt that a great victory was already won. -He added: "I did not have any anxiety about the result; when Thomas -attacks, a victory is sure. He is a slow man, but he is the surest man -I know. Once in motion, he is the hardest man to fight in this army. -He never precipitates a battle unless he is all ready, and knows his -points, and you may rest easy when he attacks, for the next news will -be the enemy's rout. When Thomas once gets in motion the rebels have -not force enough to stop him." - -Upon the final adjournment of the Thirty-eighth Congress (on March 4, -1865) it continued the existence of the Committee on the Conduct of the -War for ninety days, in order to afford it time to finish its work. -During this period it closed up some pending inquiries and prepared -its final reports. Its last action was an examination into General -Sherman's unauthorized and unfortunate negotiations with General -Johnston, which the committee disapproved and that officer's superiors -promptly repudiated. The final report of the committee bears the date -of the 22d of May, 1865, and its closing passages are as follows: - - Your committee, at the close of the labors in which the most - of them have been engaged for nearly four years past, take - occasion to submit a few general observations in regard to their - investigations. They commenced them at a time when the government - was still engaged in organizing its first great armies, and before - any important victory had given token of its ability to crush - out the rebellion by the strong hand of physical power. They - have continued them until the rebellion has been overthrown, the - so-called Confederate government been made a thing of the past, - and the chief of that treasonable organization is a proclaimed - felon in the hands of our authorities. And soon the military and - naval forces, whose deeds have been the subjects of our inquiry, - will return to the ways of peace and the pursuits of civil life, - from which they have been called for a time by the danger which - threatened their country. Yet while we welcome those brave veterans - on their return from fields made historical by their gallant - achievements, our joy is saddened as we view their thinned ranks - and reflect that tens of thousands, as brave as they, have fallen - victims to that savage and infernal spirit which actuated those who - spared not the prisoners at their mercy, who sought by midnight - arson to destroy hundreds of defenseless women and children, - and who hesitated not to resort to means and to commit acts so - horrible that the nations of the earth stand aghast as they are - told what has been done. It is a matter for congratulation that, - notwithstanding the greatest provocations to pursue a different - course, our authorities have ever treated their prisoners humanely - and generously, and have in all respects conducted this contest - according to the rules of the most civilized warfare.... - - Your committee would refer to the record of their labors to show - the spirit and purpose by which they have been governed in their - investigations. They have not sought to accomplish any purpose - other than to elicit the truth; to that end have all their labors - been directed. If they have failed at any time to accomplish that - purpose, it has been from causes beyond their control. Their work - is before the people, and by it they are willing to be judged. - -The volumes which contain the official record of the proceedings of the -Committee on the Conduct of the War are and always must be regarded as -the most valuable single magazine of historical material relating to -the Great Rebellion. They have been liberally used in the preparation -of every important account of our civil strife yet published, and the -men, who shall in the light of another century estimate the greatness -and significance of that "throe of progress," will inevitably look -in their pages to the graphic narratives of those who were parts -of memorable movements and actors in famous battles as a means of -information, and to the conclusions of those who prosecuted inquiries -so zealously when the events were yet fresh in the memory as a source -of guidance. Infallibility is not a human attribute, and the work of -this committee was not free from misapprehension and mistake. Time, -which has shown some of its errors and will correct others, has also -sustained the essential justice of its most important conclusions, -which will stand unreversed on the pages of impartial history. - -But the chief value of the labors of this committee is not to be -found in its collection of rich materials for the future chronicler. -To its unrecorded but potent influence upon the conduct of the war, -adequate justice has not yet been done. Its unwearied investigations -constantly exposed corruption, incompetence, and insubordination, and -placed in the hands of the authorities the means of discovering and -punishing the knavish, the weak, and the disloyal. Its activity was -a perpetual prompter to energy, and a vigilant detective by the side -of inefficiency and disaffection. As the result of its labors, the -unsuccessful, the half-hearted, and the traitorous gave way to the -able and the patriotic; because of the knowledge of its relentless -questioning, indolent men were vigilant, and laxity was transformed -into vigor. Its unremitting labors stayed up the hands of the War -Secretary in the heaviest hours of his great task, and usefully -informed the counsels and shaped the decisions of the White House. If -its every session had been permanently secret, and not a line of its -proceedings existed as a public record, there would still remain an -ineffaceable transcript of the results of its action in the correcting -of mistakes of organization and that crushing of sham generalship which -alone made final victory possible. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[22] In "The Republic" magazine of April, 1875. - -[23] Edwin M. Stanton had succeeded Simon Cameron on Jan. 13. 1862. - -[24] On Nov. 7, 1862. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE VIGOROUS PROSECUTION OF THE WAR. - - -Conscription, taxation, and the reverses of the Union arms in the -summer of 1862 in Virginia and elsewhere materially affected the -political currents of the ensuing fall, and the tide of reaction -against the war feeling reached its highest flood in the closing -elections of that year. Horatio Seymour was then chosen Governor of -New York; the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and -Illinois gave anti-Republican majorities, and ten of the principal -Northern States, which in 1860 rolled up over 200,000 Republican -majority, gave over 35,000 to the Opposition, while the footings of -their Congressional delegations showed a Democratic majority of ten -replacing a Republican preponderance of forty-one. In Michigan a -successful effort was made to fuse all the "conservative" elements in a -so-called "Union movement," which obtained some support from lukewarm -Republicans and was thus enabled to manifest unusual strength. Its -platform was dissent from "radical" measures in general, and the force -of its attacks was centered upon Senator Chandler and his record, as -representing the most aggressive type of Republicanism. He accepted -this challenge unhesitatingly, and fought the campaign through without -a hint at retraction or an apologetic word. He defended the "blood -letter" and the "McClellan speech" on every stump; he repeated before -the people the bold utterances with which he had stirred the Senate; -he declared to every audience that his record he would not qualify by -a hair's breadth, and that by it he was prepared to stand or fall; -and he denounced with unstinted severity the weakness of some of his -critics and the disloyalty of others.[25] The brunt of the battle in -his State fell upon him, and the vigor and courage of his personal -canvass attracted widespread attention. He spoke in all the leading -cities of Michigan during the campaign, and worked uninterruptedly -until the day of election. The result was the casting of 68,716 votes -for the Republican State ticket to 62,102 for the "Union" candidates, -and the choice of five Republicans out of the six members of Congress, -and of a Legislature constituted as follows: Senate--18 Republicans -and 14 Fusionists; House--63 Republicans and 37 Fusionists. This -Legislature, on assembling in January, 1863, re-elected Mr. Chandler -to the Senate in accordance with the unmistakable wish of his party -and the universal expectation. The most strenuous efforts were made -to detach Republican support from him, but they failed utterly. In -the caucus the vote was taken _viva voce_, and it was unanimous for -Mr. Chandler. In the Legislature he received the support of the -representatives of his party as well as that of one or two members -chosen by the Fusionists. The Opposition selected a candidate of -Republican antecedents, and its vote was divided as follows: James F. -Joy, 45; Alpheus Felch, 2; Hezekiah G. Wells, 1; Solomon L. Withey, 1. -In his address of thanks before the nominating caucus, Mr. Chandler -said: "I do not claim my re-election as a personal tribute. It is, -rather, a tribute to principle. It indicates that the patriotic sons -of Michigan stand firm in support of the government and a vigorous -prosecution of the war." - -Not only did he thus modestly measure the significance of his -re-election, but he bent every energy to make that felt which the -people meant. Strafford's motto of "Thorough"--although the spirit was -that of Hampden and Pym and not of the apostate Earl--expresses the -fixity of purpose and the ardor of zeal with which he strove to make -irresistible the blows of the Union against its assailants. Before the -people, on the floor of the Senate, within the White House, at the -private offices of the War Department, in committee-room, and as part -of his daily intercourse with men of all ranks and classes, he urged -the use of every resource for the defense of the nation and demanded -the sternest punishment of those who had dared - - "to lay their hand upon the ark - "Of her magnificent and awful cause." - -As a Senator his vote was recorded for every important war measure, -relating to the revenues, the finances, and the armies of the Union. -Upon the great questions of public policy which bore so powerfully -on the progress of the struggle he uniformly led his party. At the -first Congressional session of the war he urged the employment of -confiscation as a legitimate and effective weapon for checking and -punishing rebellion; the measure he introduced at that time proved to -be too sweeping to receive an immediate enactment, but within a few -months Congress did advance on this subject to his ground. When General -Butler declared that the slaves who fled to his camp from work upon -the rebel intrenchments were "contraband of war," and reported his -action to the authorities at Washington and asked for instructions, Mr. -Chandler was one of the first to appreciate the adroit wisdom of that -epigrammatic construction of military law, and his co-operation with -Secretary Cameron in urging the approval of General Butler's action -upon the President and General Scott was very valuable and effective. -Immediately after the battle of Bull Run he, with Mr. Sumner and -Mr. Hamlin, called upon Mr. Lincoln with a proposition to organize -and arm the colored people. Mr. Chandler even then favored the full -exercise of the President's constitutional war powers, and urged that -they should be used, first, to set the slaves free; and, second, to -make the slaves themselves aid the work of abolishing slavery and -maintaining the Union. He believed that this institution was the -backbone of the South, that the war was brought on to save it from the -civilizing tendencies of the age, and that among the first steps taken -by the Federal government, when thus assailed by slavery, should be -the proclaiming of freedom to all bondsmen and the guaranteeing of the -protection of the government to the free. He argued that such a policy, -promptly declared, would produce chaos in the South, would subject the -Confederate government to the danger of local uprisings of the negroes, -and would thus make victory easy. But the Administration was not -prepared to take a step so far in advance of popular opinion, and for -some months the prevailing policy was one which prohibited the soldiers -of the Union from protecting or harboring fugitive slaves, and in some -instances made slave-hunters of the troops. When General Fremont, on -the 31st of August, issued his proclamation in Missouri, declaring -free all slaves belonging to persons engaged in the rebellion, Mr. -Chandler was among those who most heartily approved this step. The -President was alarmed, as he feared the country was not ready for such -an act, and greatly modified the Fremont proclamation, as he also did a -still more sweeping order of General Hunter in the following May. Mr. -Chandler's disappointment at this was extreme, but within a few months -he saw emancipation resorted to by the Administration as a war measure, -and a death-blow dealt to "the relic of barbarism." That part of the -report for 1861 of Simon Cameron as Secretary of War, which urged the -most summary attacks upon the institution of slavery as the surest -means of dealing mortal blows to the rebellion, and which Mr. Lincoln -suppressed, Mr. Chandler heartily endorsed, and every manifestation by -Northern commanders of a disposition to make their armies defenders -of the slave system aroused his indignation. The act of March 13, -1862, prohibiting by an article of war the use of the troops for the -returning of fugitive slaves to their masters, he earnestly supported, -and the act of April 16, 1862, abolishing slavery in the District of -Columbia, was a measure in which he especially interested himself, and -whose final passage he celebrated by an entertainment given to its -most devoted friends at his rooms in the National Hotel of Washington. -The abortive colonization schemes which were tried about this time, at -Mr. Lincoln's urgent recommendation, Mr. Chandler privately opposed -as utterly inadequate and as a mere diversion of force into useless -channels, but for public reasons he made no open resistance to the -experiment. For the laws of June 19, 1862, forever prohibiting slavery -in the territories, and of June 28, 1864, repealing the fugitive slave -statutes, it need not be said that he labored with unflagging industry. - -Mr. Chandler was very active in advocating the use of colored troops -as soldiers, being months in advance of the Administration in this -respect; he urged this policy upon the authorities unsuccessfully -for weeks, and then worked earnestly to secure legislation from -Congress authorizing the enrollment and enlistment of negroes. This -movement was so strenuously resisted at the capitol that in the end a -compromise was effected upon a bill, which was approved on July 16, -1862, authorizing the receiving of colored men as laborers in the -army to dig trenches and do other work of non-combatants. But after -the Emancipation Proclamation black men were accepted as soldiers by -order of the President, and regularly enrolled and paid. Mr. Chandler -always believed that that proclamation and the enlistment of freedmen -in the army were two of the most powerful blows at the rebellion, -and often remarked, when talking upon the subject, that they were -worth 300,000 men. While the controversy over this important step -was unsettled, General Butler, at New Orleans, found himself in need -of reinforcements, and was actually compelled to organize and arm -several regiments of colored soldiers, whom he knew to be especially -well adapted to the performance of a certain class of duties in that -region which could not be done by soldiers from the North, who were -not acclimated. This step on his part followed his definite refusal, -under instructions from Washington, to permit General Phelps to do -the same thing (that officer resigning for this very reason.) While -the correspondence on this whole topic was in progress with the -authorities, General Butler appealed to Senator Chandler, writing him -long letters showing the sanitary necessity of having negro garrisons -in some localities, and touching upon the other phases of the question. -He also asked the Senator's aid in securing arms and equipments for -these colored troops, and obtained from him valuable assistance in -pushing on the requisitions at the War Department in defiance of -official "red tape." On this general question Mr. Chandler said in the -Senate, on June 28, 1864: - - I believe that this rebellion is to be crushed, is to be - exterminated, and I believe that every man who favors it, whether - he be a member of this body or a member of the Southern army, is - to be crushed and to be exterminated, unless he repents. That is - what I believe.... I thank God the nation has risen to the point of - using every implement that the Almighty and common sense have put - in its hands to crush the rebellion.... We do not need another man - from north of the Potomac. Let us bring the loyal men of the South - in to put down treason in the South, and there are men enough and - more than enough to do it. We have heard enough about not using - black men to put down this rebellion. I would use every thing that - God and nature had put in my hands to put down this rebellion; but - first I would use the black element, bring every negro soldier who - can fight into the army. A negro is better than a traitor. I say - this advisedly. I consider a loyal negro better than a secession - traitor, either in the North or the South. I prefer him anywhere - and everywhere that you please to put him. A secession traitor is - beneath a loyal negro. I would let a loyal negro vote; I would let - him testify; I would let him fight; I would let him do any other - good thing and I would exclude a secession traitor. - -The seizure of the rebel emissaries, Mason and Slidell, by Captain -Wilkes, on the British steamer Trent, was heartily applauded by Mr. -Chandler, and he opposed with much earnestness their surrender at the -demand of Great Britain. Mr Seward's policy in the matter seemed to him -to be humiliating and the possibility of a second war, in case Captain -Wilkes was sustained, he did not dread, believing that the nation would -treble its military strength in the face of such a danger, that the -South would suffer from an alliance with a country so long regarded as -the hereditary foe of the American people, and that the end would be -the conquest and annexation of the British American provinces. He was -greatly incensed by Great Britain's prompt concession of belligerent -rights to the South and by its blustering bearing in the Trent case, -and at one time suggested a policy of non-intercourse with that power, -which he regarded as an inveterate enemy. In later years he advocated -the most vigorous pushing of "the Alabama claims," and at the time -of the British war with Abyssinia offered in the Senate a resolution -recognizing King Theodore as a "belligerent" in the general terms of -the Queen's proclamation of May, 1861 in regard to the Confederacy. -He never ceased to believe that the United States, in the settlement -of its war claims with Great Britain, ought to have refused to accept -anything less than the annexation of the Canadas. - -Mr. Chandler in the Senate favored imposing severe penalties on the -gold gambling in Wall street, which affected so injuriously the -national credit. In the preparation of the internal revenue laws of -1862, imposing a large number of taxes and affecting vast interests, -he gave exceedingly valuable aid, his own business experience and his -familiarity with commercial details making his suggestions practical -in form and wise in scope. Every measure to secure the stringent -enforcement of the laws for the punishment of treason received his -hearty support, and his denunciation of traitors and their open or -secret allies continued to be vigorous and unsparing.[26] His industry -time alone seemed to restrain, for his zeal was inexhaustible and his -magnificent physical powers bore the tremendous strain unyieldingly. -His public record during the four years of the war makes it possible -to apply to him, without extravagance, Lord Clarendon's description of -Hampden: "He was of a vigilance not to be tired out or wearied by the -most laborious, and of parts not to be imposed on by the most subtle or -sharp, and of a personal courage equal to his best parts." - -The "little, nameless, unremembered acts" of these days were of -no slight aggregate importance and thoroughly illustrate the -characteristics of the man. There was no reasonable service that he -was not quick to render to any volunteer who applied to him for aid. A -blue uniform gained for its wearer prompt admittance to his room and -a careful hearing for any request. Repeatedly private soldiers saw -him leave men of rank and influence to listen to their stories, and -lay aside matters of pressing moment to act upon their complaints or -relieve their distress.[27] - -He visited the hospitals to seek out Michigan men whom he could -help, and to see that they were properly provided for, while their -applications for furloughs and for discharges, if entrusted to his -care, were so pushed as to obtain prompt action from the authorities -in spite of routine and official tardiness. He advanced large sums of -money to help destitute and invalid soldiers homeward,[28] or to aid -the friends of fallen or wounded men upon their melancholy errands. -Upon all occasions he was especially attentive to the humblest -applicants, and the ease of the private soldier in distress and need -touched his sympathies the most quickly. His was a familiar figure in -all the departments, often accompanied with a squad of sick, crippled, -even ragged, veterans, in search of delayed furloughs, or of arrears -of pay, or of the medical examinations preceding invalid discharges, -or of some service which "red tape" had delayed. In the words of one -who possessed abundant opportunities for obtaining knowledge, "This -could be said of Mr. Chandler to a greater extent than of any other -public man I ever saw, that he would spare no pains in doing even -little things for men who were of the smallest consequence to one in -his position. He would take great trouble in hunting up minor matters -for enlisted men, and this it was that made him so popular among the -soldiers." His activity in their behalf was not limited by State lines; -he answered any appeals that came to him, although he was especially -prompt and vigilant in helping the "Michigan boys."[29] - -At the War Department Mr. Chandler was as well known as (and was -reputed to be scarcely less powerful than) the Secretary himself. Mr. -Stanton's brusqueness never daunted him, and few stood upon such terms -of privileged intercourse with that no less irascible than great man. -Repeatedly he elbowed his way through the crowded ante-chamber of the -Secretary's office, pushed past protesting orderlies, strode up to Mr. -Stanton's private desk, and obtained by emphatic personal application -some order which subordinates could not grant in a case needing prompt -action.[30] Where other men would have encountered rebuff he rarely -failed. In connection with this phase of his public activity these -letters are of interest: - - DETROIT, Mich., July 29, 1862. - - _Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War._ - - DEAR SIR: Brigadier-General Richardson, of this State, is reported - as being absent from duty without leave. This is not true. He is - absent on sick leave, and is not able to join his command. Will - you not, in accordance with the wishes of the whole delegation, - assign him to the command of Michigan soldiers now being raised? - His presence here, and the assurance that he is to command, will - greatly stimulate enlistments. We are proud of him as one of the - best fighting generals of the army. Very truly yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - DETROIT, July 31, 1862. - - _Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War._ - - SIR: There is a fine company of ninety-five splendid men guarding - _three rebel prisoners_ at Mackinac. Would it not be well to put - those rascals in some tobacco warehouse or jail and send these - troops where they are needed? General Terry would like a command in - some other division than the one he is in. Can you not accommodate - him? The soldiers at Mackinac are anxious for active service and - are well drilled. Very truly yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - DETROIT, Aug. 9, 1862. - - _Adjutant-General Thomas._ - - DEAR SIR: Are the boys of the Michigan First (Bull Run prisoners) - exchanged yet? I promised them it should be done at once, and now - find them enlisting again under the supposition that it has been - done. The list is with the Secretary of War. Our quota is full, and - our blood is up. They were yesterday paying $10 for a chance to - enter some of the regiments. Very truly yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - DETROIT, Aug. 28, 1862. - - _Hon. Wm. A. Howard._ - - DEAR SIR: Will you say from me to the Secretary of War that I - deem it of vital importance that some one be authorized to open - and examine rebel correspondence passing through the Detroit - postoffice? Mr. Smith (of the postoffice) informs me that letters - come through directed to rebels at Windsor. Truly yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - DETROIT, Nov. 15, 1863. - - _Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War._ - - DEAR SIR: I telegraphed you to-night to send heavy guns and - ammunition to the lakes. The reason was this: Upon examination - I found that we could improvise a navy in about two hours which - could cope with any rebel armament which could be placed upon the - lakes, _if we had big guns_. But my investigation furnished one - 68-pounder, condemned, and four 32-pounders, without powder, at - Erie; and this was our whole armament on the lakes, except one - 32-pounder upon the Michigan, and a few 6, 10 and 12-pounders. We - must have guns of large calibre at each of the principal ports. - If you cannot spare eleven-inch guns immediately send us some - eight-inch or some old 68-pounders, with ammunition. A tug, - costing not over $30,000, with one eleven-inch gun on board and - a crew of twenty men, could destroy a million dollars' worth of - property on the lakes every twenty-four hours, and we would be - powerless. She would sink the Michigan with one judiciously-placed - shell. We are not alarmed, but we want big guns and _must have - them_. The lake marine is scarcely second to the ocean in tonnage - and value, and it must be protected. We had no idea of our defenses - until the late scare. Truly yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - -Mr. Chandler's influence with public men and in the private councils -of the nation's leaders at Washington was throughout the war always -invigorating. From the very outset, and while the patriotic instinct -of the North was "still, as it were, in the gristle and not yet -hardened into the bone," he urged upon the executive authorities -summary measures, and the striking of hard and quick blows. He advised -them to arrest traitors while their treason was still in the bud. -He urged them to make early and incessant attacks on the enemy, and -counseled implicit reliance on the devotion and loyalty of the North. -The Union cause saw no hour so dark that the eye of his courage could -not penetrate its gloom; the rebellion won no victory that shook his -absolutely "dauntless resolution." Every suggestion of peace except on -the basis of Freedom and the national supremacy he denounced. Every -hint of conciliating armed traitors he scouted as, in Hosea Biglow's -phrase, mere "tryin' squirt-guns on the infernal Pit." To the real -statesmanship of that period he thus gave expression in a public -dinner at Washington early in 1863: "We must accept no compromise; a -patched-up peace will be followed by continued war and anarchy." He -chafed like a caged lion before half-heartedness, imbecility and delay. -His sincerity and his earnestness revived the discouraged and aroused -hope, and his strong convictions inspired men of weaker moral fibre -with something of his own inflexibility. He never hesitated to use -plain words in dealing with the nation's enemies, he never lost faith, -and he never admitted the possibility of defeat. At the White House -his visits were ever welcome, his advice received, and the virility -of his understanding and the fervor of his patriotism recognized. Mr. -Chandler appreciated to the full extent the innate strength of Abraham -Lincoln's remarkable character and its rare loftiness, and, different -as were their dispositions and widely divergent as often were their -opinions, he never lost confidence in the President's aims and never -ceased to be one of his trusted counselors. Many features of executive -policy he condemned plainly and boldly to the President himself, -but frankness and sincerity prevented his criticisms from becoming -unpalatable, and Mr. Lincoln often acknowledged his indebtedness to the -practical wisdom and the tireless zeal of the Michigan Senator. - -Cecil said to Sir Walter Raleigh, "I know that you can toil terribly." -This Mr. Chandler did through those eventful years. His labor was -without cessation. The great demands upon the energies of the public -man were equaled by appeals for private effort which he would not -decline, and in every channel of profitable work for the Union cause -he made his strong will and his aggressive vitality felt. Industry, -so unusual and efficient, multiplied the power of his Roman firmness, -and these qualities, guided by his strong understanding, high courage, -sincerity of conviction, and the ardor of his patriotism, made him a -leader of men in years when leadership without strength was impossible. -His impress is upon the events of that era, and of the war for -Emancipation and the Union he could say with Ulysses, "I am part of -all that I have met." Through the tempest of civil strife his strong -spirit battled its way unflinchingly to the goal, and title was fitly -bestowed in the people's knighting of Zachariah Chandler as "The Great -War Senator." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[25] I pity the man who, in this hour of peril, stands back and says, -"this is an abolition war, and I won't go." ... There are but two -classes of men now in the United States, and there are no middle men; -these two classes are patriots and traitors. Between these two you must -choose. A man might as well cast himself into the gulf that separated -Dives from Lazarus as to stand out in this hour of trial.--_Speech at -Ionia on September 6._ - -It has taken time to educate us. If we had won certain victories the -war would have been over, but the cause would have remained. The -proclamation pronouncing emancipation, for which God bless Abraham -Lincoln, is educating the people, and soon we will be ready to go -forward.... We can never secure a permanent peace until we strike a -death-blow at the cause of the war.--_Speech at Jackson on October 7._ - -[26] Extract from a debate in the Senate on April 12, 1864: - -MR. POWELL, of Kentucky: The Senator from Michigan, if I understood -him, said that I was now the friend of traitors? - -MR. CHANDLER: You did understand me properly. You have been the friend -of traitors, and I voted to expel you, as a traitor, from this body. - -MR. POWELL: Do I understand you to say that I am now the friend of -traitors and of treason? - -MR. CHANDLER: You co-operated with traitors, and I have never known you -to cast a vote that was not in favor of rebellion. - -[27] It is exceedingly gratifying to witness the marked attention Mr. -Chandler bestows on soldiers. One day I happened to be in his room, -when a major-general and a senator came in. Shortly after a sprightly -young soldier came to the door. When about to enter, the young man -hesitated to interrupt their conversation, but Mr. Chandler at once -gave his attention to the soldier, who, on being asked to take a seat -and tell what he desired, said he was a paroled prisoner and wished a -furlough home, and that he had been told that all he had to do was to -apply to him and he would be sure to get it. Mr. Chandler immediately -took his papers and secured the furlough for him.--_Washington letter -of 1863._ - -[28] Mr. Chandler said that during the late war, while he was in -Washington, he loaned our soldiers several thousands of dollars, in -small sums of from $2 to $10 each, but that the whole amount was repaid -to him with the exception of about $10, and he was satisfied that the -poor men who owed him that small amount had given their lives for their -country.--_Hon. M. S. Brewer in the House of Representatives, Jan. 28, -1880._ - -[29] This tribute comes from a well-known officer of the Michigan -volunteer regiments: - - DETROIT, February 3, 1880. - -Could all the acts of kindness and aid rendered by Senator Chandler to -the soldiers of Michigan, their families and friends, during the war, -and especially to those who filled the ranks, be gathered together -and written out, the volumes that contained them would be large and -numerous. No soldier, however humble, ever applied to him, when in -distress or trouble, that he did not receive a patient hearing and, if -possible, speedy aid. No soldier's wife, father, mother, or other kin -ever wrote him a letter that was not answered. To these facts there are -thousands who can testify to-day, and many thousands more who could do -so were they not in their graves. - -In those dark days he was always sanguine of the final triumph of our -armies, and he always assured the soldiers of his positive convictions -that in the end they would be victorious. None except those who had -experience can ever know what cheerful assurances and hopeful words -from those high in authority did to nerve men for the work of severe -campaigns. - -The trials and fatigues of army life, and the uncertainty of the -final results, were lessened vastly by the assuring words of brave, -indomitable men like Zachariah Chandler. All honor to his memory, as -also to the memory of his great associates in high places during those -memorable days! - - R. A. ALGER. - - - -[30] This anecdote is related by a prominent Michigan officer: I -accompanied Senator Chandler once to the War Department to secure the -re-instatement of a paymaster who, it had been clearly ascertained, -had been unjustly dismissed. The papers were in the possession of the -proper bureau, and action had been promised, but was delayed. A great -body of eager applicants were gathered about the Secretary's door, -which was guarded by two sentries with crossed bayonets. He pushed -rapidly through the mass of people to the entrance of the private -office, where the sentinel said, "The Secretary is very busy, Mr. -Senator." "I know he is," was Mr. Chandler's response, and laying a -hand on each bayonet he pushed them up over our heads, opened the door, -and we were in Mr. Stanton's presence. Once there, he commenced a -vigorous denunciation of the tardiness of the Department, upbraided the -Secretary because no action had yet been taken in the case according -to promise, and astonished me by the earnestness of his criticisms. -Mr. Stanton heard him pleasantly, said when he stopped, "Are you all -through, Chandler?" and then gave the order we needed. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864. - - -The Republican reverses of the fall of 1862 were not repeated in 1863. -Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the anti-draft riots in New York, and the -formal acceptance of Vallandigham as a trusted party leader by the -Democracy stimulated and strengthened the Union spirit of the North, -and the State elections of that year were emphatic endorsements of -the party of freedom and of its policy. The political verdicts of -the spring of 1864 were equally gratifying to the friends of liberty -and the advocates of a vigorous prosecution of the war, and, with -the accession of General Grant to the command of the Union armies -and his "advance all along the line," it became evident that nothing -but discord among the Republicans could deprive them of a sweeping -victory in the presidential election. The masses of that party were -unequivocally in favor of Mr. Lincoln's renomination; the common people -saw one of themselves in the White House and fully met his firm trust -in them with an answering confidence. But among men of influence within -the Republican ranks there was an exceedingly earnest opposition to -his second candidacy. Some of this sprang from rival aspirations; -more of it from disappointed office-seeking and from personal pique; -but there was outside and above such considerations a strong feeling, -entirely disinterested in origin and honorable in character, and held -by thousands of sincere men, that the President was unduly conservative -in policy and that a man of more aggressive temperament ought to be -elected in his stead. There were also not a few experienced politicians -who regarded the personal opposition to Mr. Lincoln as sufficiently -formidable to jeopard party success, and who were inclined to think -that the selection of some candidate who was not identified with the -existing Administration, and thus would not be compelled to defend -its acts, was demanded on the ground of superior "availability." The -anti-Lincoln wing of the party at that time included such men as -Mr. Chase and Mr. Greeley, was represented by many of the leading -newspapers, including the entire New York press except the _Times_, -and counted among its especially active members not a few of the most -earnest and devoted of the original Abolitionists. - -In this chaotic condition of party sentiment a call appeared (in April, -1864) addressed "To the Radical Men of the Nation," and requesting them -to meet by representatives in convention at Cleveland, O., on May 31. -Those of its signers who were best known were B. Gratz Brown, Lucius -Robinson, John Cochrane, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, -George B. Cheever, James Redpath, Wendell Phillips and Emil Pretorious. -Its tone will appear from this paragraph: - - The imbecile and vacillating policy of the present Administration - in the conduct of the war, being just weak enough to waste its men - and means to provoke the enemy, but not strong enough to conquer - the rebellion--and its treachery to justice, freedom and genuine - democratic principles in its plan of reconstruction, whereby the - honor and dignity of the nation have been sacrificed to conciliate - the still-existing and arrogant slave power, and to further the - ends of unscrupulous partisan ambition--call in thunder tones upon - the lovers of justice and their country to come to the rescue of - the imperiled nationality and the cause of impartial and universal - freedom threatened with betrayal and overthrow. - - The way to victory and salvation is plain. Justice must be throned - in the seats of national legislation, and guide the executive will. - The things demanded, and which we ask you to join us to render - sure, are the immediate extinction of slavery throughout the whole - United States by Congressional action, the absolute equality of - all men before the law without regard to race or color, and such a - plan of reconstruction as shall conform entirely to the policy of - freedom for all, placing the political power alone in the hands of - the loyal, and executing with vigor the law for confiscating the - property of the rebels. - -This document was widely published, and the New York _Tribune_ in -advance approved the calling of this convention, although it did not in -the end support its action. The call was answered by about 350 persons -from fifteen States; while very few of them were men of more than -limited reputation, yet they made up a body representing widespread -convictions strongly and sincerely held. Ex-Governor W. F. Johnston -of Pennsylvania was the temporary and Gen. John Cochrane of New York -the permanent presiding officer of the convention. It nominated John -C. Fremont for President, and General Cochrane for Vice-President, and -adopted a platform exceedingly radical in terms, including declarations -in favor of unconditional emancipation, a one-term presidency, the -Monroe doctrine, and the wholesale confiscation of the property of the -rebels. Two letters were received by it which at the time produced a -strong impression. In one of them, Lucius Robinson, then Comptroller of -New York, severely condemned "a weak Executive and Cabinet," and urged -the nomination of General Grant, "a man who has displayed the qualities -which give all men confidence." In the second, Wendell Phillips -attacked a Republican administration with that polished invective which -had made him one of the most formidable assailants of the slave power. -He wrote: - - For three years the Administration has lavished money without - stint and drenched the land in blood, and it has not yet - thoroughly and heartily struck at the slave system. Confessing - that the use of this means is indispensable, the Administration - has used it just enough to irritate the rebels and not enough to - save the state. In sixty days after the rebellion broke out the - Administration suspended _habeas corpus_ on the plea of military - necessity--justly. For three years it has poured out the treasure - and blood of the country like water. Meanwhile slavery was too - sacred to be used; that was saved lest the feelings of the rebels - should be hurt. The Administration weighed treasure, blood, and - civil liberty against slavery, and, up to the present moment, has - decided to exhaust them all before it uses freedom heartily as a - means of battle.... A quick and thorough reorganization of States - on a democratic basis--every man and race equal before the law--is - the only sure way to save the Union. I urge it, not for the black - man's sake alone, but for ours--for the nation's sake. Against - such recognition of the blacks Mr. Lincoln stands pledged by - prejudice and avowal. Men say, if we elect him he may change his - views. Possibly. But three years have been a long time for a man's - education in such hours as these. The nation cannot afford more. At - any rate the constitution gives this summer an opportunity to make - President a man fully educated. I prefer that course. - - The Administration, therefore, I regard as a civil and military - failure, and its avowed policy ruinous to the North in every point - of view. Mr. Lincoln may wish the end--peace and freedom--but he - is wholly unwilling to use the means which can secure that end. - If Mr. Lincoln is re-elected I do not expect to see the Union - reconstructed in my day, unless on terms more disastrous to liberty - than even disunion would be. If I turn to General Fremont, I see a - man whose first act would be to use the freedom of the negro as his - weapon; I see one whose thorough loyally to democratic institutions - without regard to race, whose earnest and decisive character, whose - clear-sighted statesmanship and rare military ability justify my - confidence that in his hands all will be done to save the state - that foresight, skill, decision, and statesmanship can do. - -Generals Fremont and Cochrane promptly accepted the nominations -thus tendered them. General Fremont resigned his commission in the -army before doing so, and in his letter of acceptance accused the -Administration of "incapacity and selfishness," of "managing the war -for personal ends," of giving to the country "the abuses of a military -dictation without its unity of action and vigor of execution," and of -"feebleness and want of principle" in its dealings with other powers. -He further vindicated the Cleveland action by declaring that, "if -Mr. Lincoln had remained faithful to the principles he was elected -to defend, no schism could have been created," and added: "If the -convention at Baltimore will nominate any man whose past life justifies -a well-grounded confidence in his fidelity to our cardinal principles, -there is no reason why there should be any division among the really -patriotic men of the country." There was a lack of any popular response -to this demonstration, and it at once appeared--and, in fact, this was -the sum of the original expectations of its shrewder promoters--that -this movement was only formidable as a rallying point for any serious -disaffection which might spring up in the future. - -The "Union National" convention assembled at Baltimore on June 7, -with every State, except those still wholly in possession of the -rebels, represented upon its floor. It adopted a platform denouncing -any peace by compromise, endorsing the Administration, and demanding -the abolition of slavery by constitutional amendment. Abraham Lincoln -was renominated for the Presidency, receiving every vote save that of -the delegation of Missouri radicals who supported General Grant, and -Andrew Johnson was on the first ballot nominated for Vice-President as -the representative of the Union men of the South. The response of the -masses and the leading papers of the Republican organization to this -action was prompt and hearty; but, notwithstanding this encouraging -fact, the political horizon grew rapidly darker. General Grant was in -that summer fighting a series of bloody battles on and about the banks -of the James, whose immediate results were indecisive, the attendant -steady reduction of Lee's available force not being then apparent at -the North. In like manner, Sherman was forcing his way through the -mountainous regions between Chattanooga and Atlanta, winning no great -victories and losing thousands of men; the mortal effects of his blows -at the rebels are evident now, but could not be seen then. General -Early, in July, swept down the Shenandoah and over the Potomac, burning -Chambersburg and threatening the defenses of Washington, finally -making good his retreat. In the face of this military situation, so -encouraging to discontent and so calculated to invite criticism, the -premium on gold rose rapidly to its highest war point. This disastrous -depreciation of the paper money of the government was materially -helped by the unexpected resignation, on June 30, of Secretary of the -Treasury Salmon P. Chase. Differences of opinion as to some details -of department management were assigned as the cause of this step, -but its real origin was much deeper, and Mr. Chase's course was -universally ascribed, and was undoubtedly due, to lack of sympathy -with and confidence in the Administration. The effect of a change in -so important a position at such a critical moment was profound, and it -gave a powerful stimulus to Republican disaffection. This was followed -by the abortive peace negotiations at Niagara Falls with C. C. Clay, J. -P. Holcombe and G. N. Sanders. That this was a crafty scheme to place -the Administration in a false position before both the North and the -South cannot now be doubted. It failed to yield all that its projectors -hoped, but it did ensnare Mr. Greeley most disagreeably, and it had the -effect of furnishing the enemy with grounds for charging the President -with being "hostile to peace except on impossible conditions." It -also materially augmented the public restlessness and deepened the -vague apprehensions which naturally sprang from such exhibitions of -cross-purposes among the leaders of the national cause. Another event -followed which was of still graver moment: - -The problem of the reconstruction of the Southern States after the -defeat of the rebel armies was from the outset surrounded with grave -difficulties, and the views held upon this subject by the ablest -Republicans were diverse and conflicting. Bills and resolutions -embodying various theories of reconstruction were presented in -Congress early in the war, but nothing was done with them, and no -definite policy was fixed by enactment or even determined upon in -private consultations. On Dec. 8, 1863, and in connection with the -transmission to Congress of his third annual message, Mr. Lincoln -issued a proclamation offering amnesty to all rebels (with a few -conspicuous exceptions) who should take an oath of loyalty, and -declaring that whenever, in any of the seceded States, persons to the -number of not less than one-tenth of the votes cast in such States at -the presidential election of 1860, having first taken and abided by the -prescribed oath, should re-establish a State government, republican in -form and recognizing the permanent freedom of the slaves, it should -"be recognized as the true government of the State." This plan Mr. -Lincoln explained and defended at length in the message, and under it -provisional governments were soon organized in Louisiana and Arkansas, -and application was made for the admission of their Senators and -Representatives to Congress. The President's action in this respect did -not receive congressional sanction and was not endorsed by the majority -of his supporters at the capitol. Many held that the subject was one -which was wholly within the control of the legislative branch of the -government, and that his proclamation was itself an unwarrantable -assumption of authority by the Executive. Others objected strenuously -to the "one-tenth clause," as oligarchical in tendency and certain to -leave the real advantages of position within easy reach of the disloyal -majority in any State thus reconstructed. As a rule those who opposed -Mr. Lincoln's scheme favored establishing provisional governments in -the South until there should spring up a loyal majority, which could be -safely trusted with political power. Congress, therefore, referred the -message and proclamation to special committees, refused to recognize -the Louisiana and Arkansas governments, and passed on the last day of -the session a reconstruction act differing radically in terms from the -President's plan. Its bill provided that provisional governors should -be appointed with the consent of the Senate, that an enrollment of -white male citizens should be made when armed resistance ceased in -any State, and that when a majority of the citizens so enrolled took -the oath of allegiance the loyal people should be entitled to elect -delegates to a convention to establish a State government; upon the -adoption of an anti-slavery constitution by such a convention it was -to be certified to the President, who, with the assent of Congress, -was to recognize the government thus established as "the lawful State -government." This measure the President defeated by withholding his -signature. On July 8, 1864, he issued a second proclamation upon the -subject, setting forth that he had not signed this bill because "less -than one hour" intervened between its passage and the adjournment of -Congress, and because he was not ready by its approval to be inexorably -committed to this or any other specific plan of reconstruction which -would set aside the _quasi_-governments of Louisiana and Arkansas and -thus repel their citizens from further efforts in the same direction. -He added that he was not yet prepared to admit the "constitutional -competency of Congress to abolish slavery in the States," although he -did earnestly desire that it should cease through the adoption of a -constitutional amendment. The proclamation closed by declaring that he -was satisfied with the terms of the bill, and by pledging the hearty -co-operation of the Executive with all who might avail themselves -of the method therein laid down to return to their places in the -Union. In response to this proclamation, which treated the process -of reconstruction as a matter of executive discretion merely, there -was published early in August a vigorously worded and cogently argued -manifesto, addressed "To the Supporters of the Government," and signed -by Senator Benjamin F. Wade and Representative Henry Winter Davis, as -chairmen of the committees of their respective houses upon the _status_ -of the rebel States. This document commenced with the declaration that -its authors had "read without surprise, but not without indignation," -the President's proclamation, and proceeded as follows: - - The President, by preventing this bill from becoming a law, holds - the electoral votes of the rebel States at the dictation of his - personal ambition. If those votes turn the balance in his favor, is - it to be supposed that his competitor, defeated by such means, will - acquiesce? If the rebel majority assert their supremacy in those - States, and send votes which elect an enemy of the government, - will we not repel his claims? And is not that civil war for the - presidency inaugurated by the votes of rebel States? Seriously - impressed with these dangers, Congress, "the proper constitutional - authority," formally declared that there are no State governments - in the rebel States, and provided for their erection at a proper - time; and both the Senate and House of Representatives rejected - the Senators and Representatives chosen under the authority of - what the President calls the free constitution and government of - Arkansas. The President's proclamation "holds for naught" this - judgment, and discards the authority of the Supreme Court and - strides headlong toward the anarchy his proclamation of the 8th of - December inaugurated. If electors for President be allowed to be - chosen in either of those States, a sinister light will be cast - on the motives which induced the President to "hold for naught" - the will of Congress rather than his governments in Louisiana and - Arkansas. That judgment of Congress which the President defies was - the exercise of an authority exclusively vested in Congress by - the constitution to determine what is the established government - in a State, and in its own nature and by the highest of judicial - authority binding on all other departments of the government.... - A more studied outrage on the legislative authority of the people - has never been perpetrated. Congress passed a bill; the President - refused to approve it, and then by proclamation puts as much of - it in force as he sees fit, and proposes to execute those parts - by officers unknown to the laws of the United States and not - subject to the confirmation of the Senate! The bill directed the - appointment of provisional governors by and with the advice and - consent of the Senate. The President, after defeating such a law, - proposes to appoint without law, and without the advice and consent - of the Senate, military governors for the rebel States! He has - already exercised this dictatorial usurpation in Louisiana, and he - defeated the bill to prevent its limitation.... - - The President has greatly presumed on the forbearance which the - supporters of his administration have so long practiced, in view - of the arduous conflict in which we are engaged, and the reckless - ferocity of our political opponents. But he must understand that - our support is of a cause and not of a man; that the authority of - Congress is paramount and must be respected; and that the whole - body of the Union men of Congress will not submit to be impeached - by him of rash and unconstitutional legislation; and if he wishes - our support, he must confine himself to his executive duties--to - obey and execute, not make the laws--to suppress by arms armed - rebellion, and leave political reorganization to Congress. - - If the supporters of the government fail to insist on this, they - become responsible for the usurpations which they fail to rebuke, - and are justly liable to the indignation of the people, whose - rights and security, committed to their keeping, they sacrifice. - Let them consider the remedy for these usurpations, and, having - found it, fearlessly execute it! - -The damaging force of this attack was undoubted. Mr. Wade was a -veteran of the anti-slavery "Old Guard," and was known through the -North to be as sturdy, true and honest as he was "radical" in his -Republicanism. No man sat in the House who surpassed--but few men -then in public life equaled--Henry Winter Davis in mental vigor, in -brilliant accomplishments, and in moral fearlessness. Originally sent -to Congress by the Maryland "Americans," it was his vote which elected -Mr. Pennington to the Speakership in 1859; to the formal censure of -that act by his Legislature he replied by telling the men who voted -for it to take their message back to their masters, for only to their -masters, the people, would he reply. He made a magnificent fight -against secession in his State, and waged there a still more gallant -battle for emancipation, winning both. In the House he spoke always -with force, often with impassioned eloquence, and the Republican -ranks contained no champion more ardent in patriotism or more firmly -attached to the fundamental principles of Freedom. The formal uniting -of these two men, both able, influential and unquestionably sincere, -in strictures so severe upon the President, materially invigorated the -"radical" opposition to the Baltimore ticket, increased Republican -discouragement, and furnished the Opposition with additional ground -for accusing the President of the gross use of arbitrary power. The -series of events thus recapitulated naturally gave to the action of the -Cleveland convention a fresh importance, and by the fall of 1864 it had -become a factor of moment in the political calculations of the year. - -Greatly encouraged by the evident demoralization of the dominant -party, the Democrats held their national convention at Chicago on -August 29. Its platform in effect declared the war "a failure," and -its ticket consisted of George B. McClellan, representing war without -vigor, and George H. Pendleton, representing peace by compromise. The -most conspicuous figure on its floor was Clement L. Vallandigham, a -banished traitor _posing_ as a martyr, and the sedition which was -thinly disguised in its deliberations was boldly shouted to cheering -mobs about its hall and in front of the great hotels which its -delegates thronged. The character and action of this body made clear -the issues of 1864; in Mr. Seward's apt language, the people were -called upon to decide whether they would have "McClellan and Disunion -or Lincoln and Union." To make the latter the accepted alternative was -impossible without complete Republican harmony, and to restore that -fully and promptly was plainly a matter of the first importance. This -task was undertaken by Mr. Chandler, whose relations with all parties -peculiarly fitted him for the work. He was a pronounced "radical," and -had steadfastly opposed many features of Mr. Lincoln's policy;[31] but -honest disagreement of opinion had not impaired his full confidence -in the man, and that firm grasp upon the practical aspects of all -political questions, which was one of his marked characteristics then -as always, prevented him from putting in jeopardy essentials by unduly -magnifying differences as to details. To the wisdom of renominating -Mr. Lincoln he assented, and his election he believed necessary to the -preservation of the government. With Mr. Wade he was on terms of the -closest intimacy; both Mr. Davis and General Fremont were his personal -friends; and his record and public attitude gave him a claim upon -the attention of the "radicals" everywhere. His qualifications as a -mediator were thus numerous and apparent, and were rounded out by his -political experience and sagacity. - -Mr. Chandler commenced work by visiting Mr. Wade at his home in Ohio, -being accompanied thither by his intimate friend and adviser, the Hon. -George Jerome of Detroit. The Ohio senator's vigorous common sense was -Mr. Chandler's ally in the long interview that followed, and it only -required a thorough review of the situation to convince him that, if -Lincoln was defeated, the Union cause, and not an individual, would -be the sufferer. Mr. Wade, however, urged that Mr. Lincoln himself -should make some sacrifices of opinion and preference in the face of -the common danger, that the "radical" element of the Republicans was -entitled to more considerate treatment at his hands, and that, at -least, his Cabinet, which was wholly within his control, should not -contain men who were obnoxious to the stanchest members of his own -party. Mr. Wade then denounced in the strongest terms the presence -in and influence upon the Administration of Montgomery Blair, whom -he believed to be at heart a Democrat. Later years have shown how -well-grounded were the doubts then felt of Mr. Blair's political -trustworthiness, doubts which were, even in 1864, general and strong -enough to lead the Baltimore convention to declare in its platform -that it regarded "as worthy of public confidence and official trust -only those who cordially endorsed" its principles. Mr. Wade readily -agreed, as the result of this conference, to pursue any course that -should command the approval of his associate in the manifesto, and Mr. -Chandler left him to visit Mr. Lincoln at Washington and Henry Winter -Davis at Baltimore. He obtained from the President what were practical -assurances that Mr. Blair should not be retained in the Cabinet in the -face of such strong opposition if harmony would follow his removal. Mr. -Davis promptly recognized the logic of the situation, and expressed his -willingness to accept Blair's displacement as an olive branch and give -his earnest support to the Baltimore ticket. - -Mr. Chandler next proceeded to New York, and opened negotiations there -with the managers of the Fremont movement. He had expected Mr. Wade to -join him, but was disappointed in this; he met at the Astor House the -Hon. David II. Jerome of Saginaw and the Hon. Ebenezer O. Grosvenor of -Jonesville, with whom he frequently counseled, and he also obtained the -assistance of George Wilkes of the _Spirit of the Times_. Mr. Wilkes -was well known as the master of a pure and vigorous English, and no war -correspondent equaled him in accurate, lucid and graphic descriptions -of important movements and famous battles. The public, however, did -not know the extent of his political ability, of his skill in affairs -and of his patriotic energy, and these qualities proved of the highest -usefulness to Mr. Chandler in the completion of his delicate mission. -Without the aid so intelligently and zealously rendered by Mr. Wilkes, -Mr. Chandler doubted whether complete success would have been possible. -The negotiations were protracted for some days, but ultimately the -leaders of the Fremont organization agreed that, if Mr. Blair (whom -General Fremont regarded as a bitter enemy) left the Cabinet and all -other sources of Republican opposition to the Baltimore nominees were -removed, the Cleveland ticket should be formally withdrawn from the -field. While these conferences were in progress Mr. Chandler learned -that the editor of one of the influential evening papers of New York, -who had originally doubted the propriety of Mr. Lincoln's renomination, -had concluded that his election was not possible and had prepared "a -leader" urging his withdrawal, the holding of a second convention, and -Republican union upon either General Fremont or some other candidate -who could command the solid party support. It was not until the day -of the intended publication of the article and after it was in type -that Mr. Chandler learned of its existence, and then by instant and -earnest efforts he obtained its withholding until the result of -his labors could be known. Ultimately all obstacles yielded to his -persistence and skill, and he started for the capital to inform Mr. -Lincoln of the close of the negotiations and to ask the fulfillment of -the assurances concerning Mr. Blair's removal. On reaching Washington -he went instantly to the White House, was admitted to an immediate -private interview with the President in preference to a great throng -of visitors, and reported in detail the successful result of his -labors. On the day of this call upon Mr. Lincoln (Sept. 22, 1864) the -newspapers published General Fremont's letter withdrawing his name as a -presidential candidate. In it he said: - - The presidential contest has in effect been entered upon in such a - way that the union of the Republican party has become a paramount - necessity. The policy of the Democratic party signifies either - separation or re-establishment with slavery. The Chicago platform - is simply separation. General McClellan's letter of acceptance is - re-establishment with slavery. The Republican candidate is, on the - contrary, pledged to the re-establishment of the Union _without_ - slavery, and, however hesitating his policy may be, the pressure of - his party will, we may hope, force him to it. Between these issues - I think that no man of the Liberal party can remain in doubt. I - believe I am consistent with my antecedents and my principles in - withdrawing--- not to aid in the triumph of Mr. Lincoln, but to do - my part toward preventing the election of the Democratic candidate. - In respect to Mr. Lincoln, I continue to hold exactly the - sentiments contained in my letter of acceptance. I consider that - his administration has been politically, militarily and financially - a failure, and that its necessary continuance is a cause of regret - to the country. - -On the following day this correspondence took place: - - EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 1864. - - _Hon. Montgomery Blair._ - - MY DEAR SIR: You have generously said to me more than once that, - whenever your resignation could be a relief to me, it was at my - disposal. That time has come. You very well know that this proceeds - from no dissatisfaction of mine with you personally or officially. - Your uniform kindness has been unsurpassed by that of any friend, - and while it is true that the war does not seem greatly to add to - the difficulties of your department, as to those of some others, it - is not too much to say, which I most truly can, that in the three - years and a half during which you have administered the general - postoffice I remember no single complaint against you in connection - therewith. Yours as ever, - - ABRAHAM LINCOLN. - - POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENT, Sept. 23, 1864. - - MY DEAR SIR: I have received your note of this date referring to - my offer to resign whenever you would deem it advisable for the - public interest that I should do so, and stating that in your - judgment that time has come. I now, therefore, formally tender my - resignation of the office of Postmaster-General. - - I cannot take leave of you without renewing the expression of my - gratitude for the uniform kindness which has marked your course - toward me. - - Yours truly, - M. BLAIR. - - _To the President._ - -Mr. Blair's resignation was accepted by the majority of Republicans -throughout the North as a "cleansing of the Cabinet,"[32] and party -lines were at once re-formed. The "radicals" became earnest supporters -of the Baltimore ticket, no Republican demand for a new nomination or a -second convention appeared, Mr. Davis ceased his trenchant criticisms, -and Mr. Wade took the stump and made a series of exceedingly effective -speeches in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Military success also came with its -powerful help. General Sherman crowned his campaign by the capture of -Atlanta, General Grant drew the coils of "the anaconda" daily tighter -about the rebel capital, and General Sheridan fairly "swept" Early from -the valley of the Shenandoah. The results of the September elections -had been dubious in significance, but those of October were decisive -Republican victories and preceded an overwhelming triumph in November. -Mr. Chandler (who had in 1863 taken an active share in the campaigns in -New York and Illinois,[33] Michigan not holding any general election -in that year) returned from his labors of mediation to his own State -and spoke to almost daily mass-meetings in its chief towns throughout -the month of October. Michigan gave to the Lincoln electors a majority -of 16,917, and sent only Republicans to the Thirty-ninth Congress. Mr. -Chandler's contribution to this result was not unimportant, but it -was of meagre value compared with his labors upon a broader field in -healing grave dissensions and in quietly removing a cause of danger -which was deeply founded, and which, although now almost forgotten, was -then of no slight actual proportions and of very serious possibilities. -It was characteristic of the man that this self-prompted and successful -service, one of the greatest he ever rendered to Republicanism, was -rarely mentioned by him afterward, and never as if it was more than -was due to the cause of his political faith nor as if it gave him any -especial claim upon the party gratitude. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[31] Mr. Chandler explained the ground of his opposition to the ten -per cent. loyal basis plan of reconstruction proposed by Mr. Lincoln -for the admission of Louisiana and Arkansas. There were not more -than seven or eight members of the Senate with him at the beginning -of the session on that question, although there was a large majority -before its close. The Democrats did not believe in this ten per cent. -doctrine, and they voted with those who did not believe in admitting -those States without guarantees. This admission was finally prevented -by a night of filibustering. Only six Republicans remained and voted -during that night. The result, however, proved that those six men were -right, and that Mr. Lincoln and the others were wrong. If Louisiana and -Arkansas had been admitted, then we would have been compelled to admit -all the other States in the same way, and to-day we would have eleven -rebel States in the Union. Those two States, Louisiana and Arkansas, -had become the most intensely rebel of all the States that were in -rebellion.--_Report of his speech, before the Republican caucus at -Lansing on Jan. 6, 1869._ - -[32] Mr. Greeley's comment in the New York "Tribune" was: "Precisely -why Mr. Lincoln thought this action called for at this moment, rather -than at any other time in the last four months, we are not told." This -chapter shows that Mr. Chandler could have "told" him. - -[33] If the North had been a unit the rebellion would long ago have -been crushed. But the rebels found out we were not a unit at any time, -so they persevered, so they invaded Pennsylvania, so they hoped to take -Washington, and to raise insurrection all over the land. The only hope -of the South to-day is in the traitors of the North.... They will fail -in the contest. Instead of having established a slave empire they will -have, by their own acts, destroyed all the securities that slavery -ever possessed. They will have swept away all the compromises by which -slavery has been tolerated by a forbearing people.--_Senator Chandler -at Springfield, Ill., on Sept. 7, 1863._ - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON--RECONSTRUCTION AND IMPEACHMENT. - - -On the evening of April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated -at Ford's theater in the city of Washington. The universal grief was -fitly described by Disraeli, who said, in the British Commons, that the -character of the victim and the circumstances of his death took the -event "out of all the pomp of history and the ceremonial of diplomacy; -it touched the heart of nations and appealed to the domestic sentiment -of mankind." Its effect upon the American people was profound, and it -deepened vastly the public appreciation of the essential barbarity of -the prejudices, passions and ambitions which had plunged the republic -into civil war. - -The members of the Committee on the Conduct of the War returned on -the evening of this crime from Richmond, having made an unsuccessful -attempt to visit North Carolina for the purpose of taking testimony in -regard to the Fort Fisher expedition. On the following morning they -met, and addressed a formal note to Andrew Johnson, who had, while a -Senator, served upon that committee, expressing the wish of his "old -associates" to call upon him and acquaint him with "many things which -they had seen and heard at Richmond." They were promptly admitted to -his apartments at the Kirkwood House, and were among the first to talk -freely with the man who had been so tragically made President of the -newly-restored Union. Mr. Johnson had just been sworn into office by -Chief Justice Chase in the presence of some of the Cabinet and a few -Congressmen, and naturally the conversation chiefly turned upon the -pursuit of the assassins, and the proper punishment of the men who -had inspired or countenanced this crime, as well as of its actual -committers. As a sequel of this conference, an important meeting was -held on the following day (Sunday, April 16, 1865) in the President's -rooms. By appointment Senators Chandler and Wade and John Covode (an -original member of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, then a -contestant for a seat in the House) called upon Mr. Johnson, and -proceeded to consider with him what policy should be pursued toward -the chiefs of the conquered rebellion. They believed that the public -interest required that examples should be made of a few of the more -guilty of the Southern traitors, and urged such a course upon the -President. They found him--confronted as he was with the danger of -assassination, and recollecting his own sufferings as a Southern -Unionist--eager for measures of extreme rigor, and were compelled at -the outset to seek to moderate a violence of intention on his part, -which was certain to defeat the aim they were anxious to secure, -namely: that of impressing the public with a sense of the justice as -well as the severity of the punishment of deliberate and inexcusable -treason. Andrew Johnson's disposition was to give to the contemplated -proceedings rather a revengeful than a sternly retributive complexion. -The relations of Mr. Chandler, Mr. Wade and Mr. Covode with their -former fellow-committeeman were then exceedingly intimate, and they -labored to restrain his vehemence and to direct his determination into -a channel of action which should be just and not passionate, and should -thus yield wholesome influences. It had been suggested that Davis -and other fugitive rebels should be allowed to escape to Mexico or -Europe, and the question of their punishment thus evaded; this plan was -promptly condemned by all the participants in the conference, and there -was a general agreement that the leaders of the rebellion should be -arrested as rapidly as possible and held to answer for their offenses. -The next question that arose related to the best method of procedure -after these men had been captured, and then it was decided than Gen. -Benjamin F. Butler should be sent for to give his advice as a lawyer. -Mr. Covode undertook this errand and soon returned with him. Mr. -Chandler then stated to General Butler the subject of the conference, -and the President added that he was anxious to make a historical -example of the leading traitors, for its moral effect upon the future, -and took exceedingly extreme ground on this point, much more so than -the other gentlemen were willing to approve. All of those present -expressed their opinions in turn, after Mr. Johnson had concluded, and -all agreed upon one point, namely: that in the case of the seizure of -Jefferson Davis he should be summarily punished by death. Mr. Chandler -remarked, with emphasis: - -"You have only to hang a few of these traitors and all will be peace -and quiet in the South. A few men have done the mischief, and the -masses of the people were misled by them. They have put the country -in great peril to gratify their political ambition and they ought to -suffer the penalty of treason as a warning to all men hereafter." - -To this Andrew Johnson replied that Mr. Chandler could not know the -full enormity of the crime Davis and his associates had committed, -that Northern men could never realize the sufferings the rebellion had -brought upon the loyal people of the South, and that no punishment -could be too severe. He added that he was determined that a precedent -should be established that would be forever a terror to such men as had -conspired to overthrow the government. - -After some further conversation, the President asked General Butler -for his professional opinion, as to whether Davis, Benjamin, Floyd, -Wigfall, and the other civil officers of the Confederacy, could be -tried by a military commission. General Butler replied that if they -could be arrested in the insurrectionary States--in any locality -under military control and where no civil authority existed or was -recognized--they could be arraigned before such a tribunal, but a court -of this character would have no jurisdiction if the criminals should -get upon foreign soil, or, before being apprehended, reach any district -where the civil law was in force. Mr. Chandler then urged that Davis -should, by all means, be secured before he had a chance to leave the -seceded States; and inquired as to the situation of the troops in the -South and the probability of their defeating an attempt by Davis to -fly through Mexico, or by boat on the Gulf. President Johnson replied -that no way was open for his escape, but that he would be captured, -dead or alive. The supposition that Davis was implicated in the -assassination plot was then discussed with some difference of opinion, -and finally the President asked General Butler to indicate a plan for -the prosecution and punishment of Davis and his associates, for the use -of the government. General Butler consented and the conference ended. - -With the preparation of the memorandum thus requested, General Butler -occupied almost his entire time for several weeks, investigating -precedents, and examining authorities with the utmost thoroughness. -During this work he was repeatedly in consultation with Mr. Chandler, -who saw all of his notes and made many suggestions; before its -completion, Davis had been captured and sent to Fortress Monroe. -General Butler's plan was submitted to President Johnson in the latter -part of May, 1865. It was long and elaborate, was based upon an -exhaustive examination of the history of all military tribunals, and -set forth in substance these propositions: - -1. That Davis could be tried by a military commission, having been -captured while in rebellion in a locality where no lawful civil -authority existed. This tribunal could sit at Fortress Monroe, where -Davis was a prisoner, as that was still within the military lines. - -2. That this commission should be composed of the thirteen officers -of the highest rank in the army; this provision would have made it -consist of Lieut.-Gen. U. S. Grant; Major-Generals H. W. Halleck, W. -T. Sherman, George G. Meade, Philip H. Sheridan, George H. Thomas, and -Brigadier-Generals Irwin McDowell, Wm. S. Rosecrans, Philip St. George -Cooke, John Pope, Joseph Hooker, W. S. Hancock, and John M. Schofield. - -3. That in case of conviction, before the sentence should be executed, -Davis should be allowed an opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court -of the United States; this would silence criticism, secure Davis all -his legal rights, and establish a precedent which might stand for all -time. - -4. That the only doubt that existed as to the conviction of Davis -was to be found in the question of the jurisdiction of the military -commission. - -5. That the prosecution should hold Davis's assumption of military -authority against the United States as the overt act of treason, and -that his military orders, his commissions of officers, his official -announcements of himself as "commander-in-chief of the military and -naval forces of the Confederate States," his official reviews of -troops, the official reports made to him by commanders of armies in -rebellion, should be proven to establish the case. - -6. That the record of the oaths taken by him as an officer in the -United States army, as a Senator, and as Secretary of War, should be -shown with evidence that he had violated them. - -7. That the various acts of cruelty to prisoners of war committed -by his orders should be proven; other minor counts could also be -introduced in the indictment to secure an accumulation of charges. - -General Butler's memorandum further set forth that the prosecution -should expect to be met by the defense: - -1. With the question of jurisdiction. - -2. With an attempt to prove the right of secession. - -3. With the claim that the duty of allegiance to a state was superior -to the duty of allegiance to the general government. - -4. With the claim that the acts of which Davis was accused were -performed by him as the head of a _de facto_ government, to which -office he had been elected under forms of law. - -5. With the further point that the recognition of this _de facto_ -government by the United States in the exchange of prisoners, in the -acceptance of terms of surrender, in the observance of flags of truce, -and in correspondence of various kinds, amounted to such a recognition -of the existence of a government with which it was at war, as must -prevent the United States from claiming that participation therein was -treason. - -These were the chief points which General Butler thought the defense -would set up, and in his brief he grouped a powerful array of -precedents and decisions upon which the prosecution could rest its -case and meet these objections. During the early stages of this work, -Mr. Chandler, General Butler and others, who firmly held that stern -punishment should be meted out to a few conspicuous rebels--not in a -spirit of vengeance, but from a belief that salutary results would -follow if it should be established as a historical fact that in the -United States treason is a high crime whose penalty is death--were -constantly anxious lest the President should by some violent act or -word destroy the moral effect of their position. In public he said -repeatedly at this time that "the penalties of the law must be in a -stern and inflexible manner executed upon conscious, intelligent and -influential traitors," but his private utterances far outstripped -this language, and were often scarcely less than bloodthirsty. Mr. -Chandler, on one occasion, came away from the White House greatly -disturbed by Mr. Johnson's disposition to treat this subject with mere -anger, and characteristically said to Senator Wade and Mr. Hamlin, -"Johnson has the nightmare, and it is important that he should be -watched." General Butler's memorandum Mr. Chandler heartily approved -as clear in scope, just in spirit, and certain to prove effective in -operation, but, by the time it was fully completed, a great change -had taken place in the disposition of the President. In April he was -in favor of hanging every body; in June he was opposed to hanging -any one. He finally ignored entirely the memorandum which General -Butler had drawn up at his request, and decided that Davis should be -tried by the civil authorities at Richmond, where his crimes had been -committed. As a result the arch-rebel was allowed to remain in prison -at Fortress Monroe for nearly two years, because of the lack of a -civil court competent to take jurisdiction of his case. In 1866 he was -indicted and arraigned, and in 1867 was admitted to bail; a year later -a _nolle prosequi_ was entered, and the case against him dismissed. -Before this matter had reached its second stage even, Mr. Chandler had -become convinced that Andrew Johnson had determined to desert the party -which had elevated him to the vice-presidency, and with that knowledge -ceased to act as his adviser and became one of the most active of his -political enemies. The leniency of the course finally pursued toward -Davis Mr. Chandler then and afterward regarded as a grave public -mistake, and believed that the failure to enforce the death penalty -where it was so thoroughly deserved was exceedingly unfortunate in its -influence upon popular opinion, and did more than any other one cause -to encourage the disloyal classes of the South in their plans for -ultimately recapturing the political supremacy they had forfeited by -rebellion. - -Precisely the causes which led Andrew Johnson so quickly back into -close fellowship with the men whom he had regarded as his inveterate -enemies will never be known. It is probable that originally they -were slight, but his temperament rapidly widened disagreement into -irreconcilable hostility. His maudlin speech on Inauguration-day so -incensed many of his supporters that the Republican senators, at a -formal gathering, actually considered a proposition (urged by Mr. -Sumner) to request him to resign the office he had disgraced. The -conference decided against such a step, but Mr. Johnson heard of the -movement, and regarded those who approved it with much bitterness; -his hatred of them undoubtedly fed his growing dislike for the party -of which they were influential leaders. Again, he was a thorough -representative of the "poor whites" of the South. He felt their -jealousy of the planting aristocracy which monopolized political power -in his section, and this made him such a vigorous opponent of the -secession conspiracy which that oligarchy organized and led. But he -also shared in the prejudice of his own class against the negroes, -and, when he saw the disposition of the Republicans to accord to the -freedmen equal rights and privileges before the law, he refused to -join in that movement and set doggedly about defeating such plans. -Precisely how great Mr. Seward's influence over him was at this time -is not clear, but it is certain that the change in his attitude toward -Republicanism was simultaneous with the slow recovery of his Secretary -of State from the blows of Payne's dagger. His combative obstinacy also -made him fiercely resent the vigorous criticisms which his "policy" -of reconstruction invited when first announced; Congress did not meet -for months after his accession to the presidency, and its leaders were -not in position to check his course, either by organized remonstrance -or by legislative interposition; the rebels who had been denouncing -him savagely were prompt to flatter his vanity and to offer promises -of support; and, as a result, when the Thirty-ninth Congress met on -December 4, 1865, the break between the President and the Republican -party had passed beyond mending. Mr. Johnson entered at once upon -that shameful course, which included the betrayal of those who had -trusted him and the disgrace of his high office by lamentable public -exhibitions of passion and boorishness, and which led to great and -durable public injury by trebling the difficulties surrounding the -delicate and important work of reconstructing the "Confederacy." Mr. -Chandler's distrust of the President commenced with his change of tone -in regard to the punishment of treason and with the first manifestation -of his intention to assume full control of reconstruction and to -practically restore the rebels to power in the subdued States. They -had one stormy interview at the White House, in which Mr. Chandler, -after touching upon the implicit character of his confidence in the -President during their senatorial service, denounced his new course as -a violation of his sacred pledges and a base surrender to traitors, and -left him indignantly and forever. From that time he regarded Andrew -Johnson as a public enemy, whose opportunities for evil were to be -lessened by every possible lawful restriction. He did not oppose the -efforts made by his more hopeful associates in December, 1865, to -re-establish harmony between the Capitol and the White House, but he -predicted their failure. All the legislation which diminished Johnson's -power for harm he ardently supported. The bills to admit Nebraska and -Colorado (the Colorado bill failed at this time) he was especially -active in pushing, from a belief that it was important to increase the -Republican ascendency in the Senate while there was an uncertainty as -to how much strength the "Johnson men" proper (Senators Doolittle, -Dixon, Norton, and Cowan) might develop. It was largely through Mr. -Chandler's untiring exertions, also, that the Fortieth Senate elected -Benjamin F. Wade as its President, and thus made him the acting -Vice-President of the United States, a position of the very highest -responsibility in the then critical state of national affairs. - -Mr. Chandler aided in shaping and passing the reconstruction measures -of 1866-'67-'68, not for the reason that they precisely embodied his -ideas of the true method to be pursued, but because they presented a -plan upon which the Republicans could be united, which was practicable, -and which promised to reorganize the Southern States on the basis of -the supremacy of the loyal elements in their population. When Andrew -Johnson took the first step in unfolding his "policy" (by his general -amnesty proclamation and by the appointment of a provisional governor -for North Carolina, both acts bearing the date of May 29, 1865) the -"Confederacy" had ceased to exist, its chieftain was a captive, its -armies were prisoners of war on parole, its capacity for resistance had -been consumed in the furnace of battle, but its bitterness still glowed -and the prejudices and ambitions which gave it being were undestroyed. -The amnesty proclamation relieved, with a few exceptions, those who -bore arms against the government and the most virulent supporters of -rebellion who remained at home from all pains and penalties on the sole -condition that they should subscribe to an oath of future loyalty. -The provisional government proclamations permitted all persons thus -amnestied, who were voters according to laws of the States previous -to the rebellion, to elect delegates to conventions to amend the -local constitutions and restore the States to their "constitutional -relations with the federal government." By this process the loyal -colored men of the South were denied the right to participate in the -work of reconstruction and the entire machinery of reorganization was -placed in the control of men whose hands were yet red with Union blood. -Their discretion was only hampered by three conditions, compliance -with which was made essential to the presidential approval of their -work. They were required to annul the secession ordinances, to formally -recognize the abolition of slavery, and to repudiate all debts created -to promote rebellion. Beyond this, the disloyal classes of the South -were left in undisputed mastery of the situation. The control of the -insurgent States, and of the lives and fortunes of the loyalists, -white and black, were surrendered absolutely to the men who but a few -weeks before had been wrecked in the catastrophe which overwhelmed the -rebellion. That they were prompt to improve this unexpected, undeserved -and mistaken leniency need not be said. Their use of their new power -was both presumptuous and intolerant. In elections, which proscribed -Union men as unworthy of trust, conventions were chosen which accepted -ungraciously the mere fact of emancipation, and which repudiated -the rebel debts only under repeated presidential compulsion. State -governments were then organized, which placed men whose disloyalty had -been conspicuous in responsible positions, and which sent unamnestied -leaders of the rebellion in the field and in council to Washington as -claimants of Congressional seats. The State legislation which followed -embodied in shameful laws the unquenched diabolism of the slave power. -In statutory phraseology these enactments declared, "politically and -socially this is a white man's government," and, impudently asserting -that Congress was without any power over the matter, the men who had, -in form, admitted the death of slavery proceeded to establish peonage -in its stead. No body of laws adopted by any civilized nation in -this century has equaled in studied injustice and cruelty those by -which the "Johnson governments" of 1865 and 1866 sought to prevent -the freedmen from rising from the level of admitted and hopeless -inferiority, and to convince the blacks that in ceasing to be slaves -they had only become serfs. Colored people were denied the right to -acquire or dispose of public property. It was made a crime for a negro -to enter a plantation without the consent of its owner or agent. -Freedmen were declared vagrants, and punished as such for preaching -the gospel without a license from some regularly organized church. -Colored men failing to pay capitation tax were declared vagrants and -the sale of their services was permitted as a penalty. Black persons -were prohibited from renting or leasing lands except in incorporated -towns or villages. Their owning or bearing arms was declared to be a -violation of the peace. For a negro to break a labor contract was made -an offense punishable by imprisonment. Colored laborers on farms were -prohibited from selling poultry or farm products, and it was made a -misdemeanor to purchase from them. This class was also denied the right -of forming part of the militia, and it was made an offense for any -freedman to enter a religious or other assembly of whites, or go with -them into any rail car or public conveyance. White persons "usually -associating themselves with freedmen, free negroes, or mulattoes" -were also declared to be vagrants in the eye of the law. The colored -people were prohibited from practicing any art, trade or business -except husbandry, without special license from the courts. And most -infamous of all were the statutes for the compulsory apprenticeship -of colored children with or without the consent of parents, which -practically re-established over the next generation of the freed people -slavery with the whipping-post and overseer's lash. One State by joint -resolution tendered thanks to Jefferson Davis "for the noble and -patriotic manner in which he conducted the affairs of _our_ government -while President of the Confederacy," and other resolutions were adopted -declaring that "nothing more is required for the restoration of law -and order but the withdrawal of federal bayonets." [The fell spirit -and tendency of the reaction which was thus revealed found still more -significant expression in the revolting butchery in and around the -Mechanic's Institute of New Orleans on the 30th of July, 1866.] Some -of these infamous measures were adopted in all the insurrectionary -States, others in only some of them, but without exception the new -Southern governments which Andrew Johnson's "policy" created were -founded upon the traditions of the slave system and the memories of -"the lost cause." The objection that the President had, in thus taking -the work of reconstruction into his own hands, usurped authority -devolved upon Congress by the constitution, was a strong one, but it -received but little popular attention. Anger at the results of that -"policy" obscured the mere disapproval of its methods. When it was seen -that the rebellion had merely changed its theater of action, and that -what it lost on the battle-field it proposed to secure by legislation, -there was but one opinion among the masses of the people who had -heartily supported the war and were sincerely anxious to preserve its -fruits. Their emphatic demand was that the illegal and reactionary -governments set up by the President should be overturned, and the South -reconstructed in the interests of loyalty and liberty. Congress, as -part of its stubborn contest with Andrew Johnson, undertook this work. -It refused to recognize the pretended State governments or to admit -their Congressmen. It divided the territory of the conquered States -into five military districts, and placed it under the control of the -army until a juster system of reconstruction could be applied. It then -provided that in the calling of conventions to frame new constitutions -colored men should be permitted to vote; that those revised instruments -must confer the elective franchise upon all loyal colored people -and all whites not disfranchised for rebellion; that the work of -the conventions must be submitted to the colored and white people -not disfranchised for approval; that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth -Amendments to the national constitution must be ratified; and that -the State constitutions so adopted must be submitted to and accepted -by Congress. Upon this general plan the South was reconstructed, not -without much friction, not wholly to the satisfaction of the men who -marked out this course of procedure, but with the faith (or at least -the trust) on their part that it would restore that section to the -Union with genuinely free institutions, that it would protect the -emancipated slave in his rights, and that it would substitute for -disloyal communities States controlled by those whose interests and -traditions lay with the national cause. The reconstruction laws were -not vengeful in character; the aim of the men who passed them was not -retaliation, not even retribution except in so far as the application -of mild penalties to treason might increase the security of the future. -To prevent a repetition of the terrible struggle which had just closed -was the aim; that a political system had been devised, which both -recognized human rights, and by its natural operations would exclude -from political power the men who had plunged the country into civil -war, was the hope. Within ten years the scheme failed utterly, and what -it was designed to prevent had been accomplished upon its ruins. No -body of laws can maintain itself in the face of organized murder and -terrorism which authority refuses to either punish or prevent. - -The reconstruction measures, while they commanded Mr. Chandler's -general assent, were laxer in details than he would have made them. -He felt, as Thaddeus Stevens said, that much that they ought to -have contained was "defeated by the united forces of self-righteous -Republicans and unrighteous Copperheads," but held that the bills -which were passed deserved support as a whole on the ground that it -was not wise to "throw away a great good because it is not perfect." -Schuyler Colfax closed one of his speeches upon this subject as -follows: "Loyalty must govern what loyalty preserved." Mr. Chandler -complimented him warmly and said, "You got it all into one sentence," -and that doctrine and the belief in equal rights for citizens of -every color guided his share of the work upon all measures affecting -reconstruction. His chief regret was that the process of this -reorganization was not prolonged until the loyal sentiment of the South -had become strong enough and intelligent enough to maintain itself. If -his wishes had prevailed, the provisional governing of that section -would have been continued until the education of the blacks, the death -of the rebel leaders, and the extinguishment by time of the prejudices -and animosities of the war had accomplished such a wholesome revolution -in sentiment throughout that section as would in itself have been a -loyal and durable reconstruction. As this was not possible, he spared -no effort to make successful the experiment which was attempted; if -others had been as resolute and faithful as he, it would not have -failed. He did not share in the disposition of so many Republicans to -abandon what had been just commenced because of the imperfection of its -first fruits. He stood manfully for the maintenance by Northern opinion -and by the aid of the United States of the loyal State governments -of the South, not claiming they were faultless, but because they -were based on justice and were far better than that which would take -their place if they fell. When they were assailed by assassination, -by massacre, and by systematic terrorizing, he believed that it was -the duty of the general government to use all its authority and all -its force to protect its citizens in their rights and to prevent the -harvesting by unpunished traitors of the fruits of atrocities as -brutal and bloody as Saint Bartholomew. The policy of political murder -triumphed finally at the South, not through any weakness of such men as -he, nor through any failure upon his part to denounce that vast crime. -He labored strenuously to kindle Northern opinion into such a flame -of just wrath as would have made impossible that victory of organized -brutality. - -Mr. Chandler, was often described by political opponents as "the -relentless enemy of the South;" nothing was farther from the fact. -That small minority of the Southern people, who ruled that section -with oligarchical power before and during the war, who organized and -led the rebellion, and who have now regained supremacy by outrage and -murder, he always distrusted and attacked. But the great majority of -the people of the South--the blacks whom those men rob of their rights -and the whites whom they mislead--he profoundly pitied, and their -cause he espoused. For them he demanded equal rights before the law, a -free ballot box, the common school, and an opportunity to prove their -manhood. Those who resisted a policy so just and civilizing he was -quick to denounce in unstinted terms, and upon them he did not waste -conciliation. They--not "the South"--found him the inappeasable, but -still "the avowed, the erect, the manly foe." - -In the elections of 1866 the issues were chiefly those connected with -reconstruction, and Mr. Chandler as usual spoke in his own and other -Western States, exposing the malign results of Mr. Johnson's "policy" -and in advocacy of the Congressional plan and the Fourteenth Amendment. -The general tenor of his speeches will appear from this extract from an -address delivered at Detroit, at the close of the political campaign: - - These perjured traitors are permitted to live here, but we say - to them they can never again hold office unless Congress by a - two-thirds vote shall remove the disability; why, a man who has - committed perjury alone, right here in Michigan, you would not - allow to testify before a justice of the peace in the most petty - case. But we forget the perjury of the rebels which would send them - to the State prison, we forget the hanging which follows treason, - and say to them simply, that for the future they can never hold - office. Personally I am not in favor of the last clause of this - section which gives Congress the power to remove this disability by - a two-thirds vote. I would have let this race of perjured traitors - die out, out of office, and educate the rising generation to - loyalty. But it is in the amendment and I advocate its adoption as - it is. - -Often during the progress of the obstinate struggle between Andrew -Johnson and Congress his attempts to evade law and his encroachments -upon the powers vested in the legislative branch of the government led -to the serious consideration in the House of Representatives of the -question of impeachment. Several resolutions ordering the preferring -of charges against him at the bar of the Senate were presented without -action, but on the 7th of January, 1867, the Hon. J. M. Ashley of -Ohio offered a preamble, beginning, "I do impeach Andrew Johnson, -Vice-President and acting President of the United States, of high -crimes and misdemeanors. I charge him with usurpation of power and -violation of law in that he has corruptly used the appointing -power; ... corruptly used the pardoning power; ... corruptly used -the veto power; ... corruptly disposed of public property; ... and -corruptly interfered in elections." With this preamble was a resolution -referring the charges to the Judiciary Committee to inquire if the -President had been guilty of acts which were "calculated to overthrow, -subvert or corrupt the government." By a vote of 108 yeas to 39 nays -this reference was ordered, but no report was made until November -25, 1867, and then a resolution of impeachment was submitted by Mr. -Boutwell in behalf of the majority of the committee. On December 7, -this resolution was rejected by a vote of 57 to 108. Encouraged by -this result Mr. Johnson, who had suspended Edwin M. Stanton from the -Secretaryship of War during the Congressional recess of 1867, and whose -action had been disapproved by the Senate under the Tenure of Civil -Office act, undertook to force Mr. Stanton out by a second suspension -on February 21, 1868, accompanied by an order appointing Gen. Lorenzo -Thomas Secretary _ad interim_. Mr. Stanton declined to acknowledge the -President's power to take this step, refused to give place to General -Thomas, and for many days and nights remained in constant occupation -of the department offices. The House of Representatives at once -arraigned the President before the Senate for this attempted violation -of the Tenure of Office act, and his trial followed. Chief Justice -Chase presided; the proceedings lasted from February 25 until May 26, -1868; and in the end Mr. Johnson was acquitted, exactly the number of -Republican Senators necessary to defeat conviction voting with the -Democratic minority. These proceedings Mr. Chandler watched with the -liveliest interest, and the failure of the impeachment was one of -the most bitter disappointments of his political career. He sincerely -believed that Johnson's course fully merited a verdict of "guilty," -and he felt that the great difficulties surrounding the problem of the -loyal reconstruction of the South would disappear if the executive -department of the government was administered with the Jacksonian vigor -and patriotism of Benjamin F. Wade. Mr. Stanton's refusal to permit the -President to displace him without the consent of the Senate he endorsed -with the utmost heartiness, and, while the Secretary remained in his -office to prevent its seizure by Mr. Johnson's _ad interim_ appointee, -Mr. Chandler spent night after night with him, and did all that was -possible to strengthen his resolution and to lighten his voluntary -confinement. On one occasion, when there were signs of an intention on -the part of the claimant to use force, Mr. Chandler, General Logan, -and a few others gathered together about a hundred trusty men, who -occupied the basement of the department, and there did garrison duty -until the danger was past. During Johnson's trial Mr. Chandler was not -forgetful of his position as a judge, and was an attentive listener to -the evidence and the arguments before and in the court of impeachment. -He was restive under the length of the proceedings, however, and did -advise the managers on the part of the House to push the case along -as rapidly as possible, urging that the public interest required the -ending of the general suspense. He felt then, and said afterward, that -the delay was used to effect combinations with, and apply pressure to, -individual Senators, which would induce them to favor acquittal. That -this was done he never doubted, and he repeatedly denounced in the -strongest terms, both in public and private, the action of the seven -Republicans (Senators Fessenden, Trumbull, Grimes, Henderson, Fowler, -Ross and Van Winkle) who voted "not guilty" with the Democrats and -the "Johnson men." He was especially indignant at the course of Mr. -Fessenden and Mr. Trumbull, and on several occasions in after years -came into sharp personal collision with them during the Senate debates. -The final failure of the impeachment movement he felt as a blow. One -who knew him well has said: "He believed that republican government was -at stake and impeachment a necessity. Never was there a time when he -came so near despairing of the republic as at that event." - -The Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses remained in nearly continuous -session for over three years "watching the White House." Outside of -the exciting political topics which received so large a share of their -attention, they were compelled to deal with important financial, -commercial and material questions affecting vitally the general -interest. The currency and public debt demanded simplification; the tax -system was to be changed from a war to a peace footing; the commercial -wrecks of many years called for a bankrupt law; bounties were to be -equalized, pensions provided, and war claims adjusted on wise bases; -neglected internal improvements clamored for renovation and extension; -the ocean commerce required national care; and innumerable minor -interests, long neglected under the stress of civil war, needed instant -attention. Mr. Chandler worked with characteristic energy and practical -wisdom in all these branches of legislative activity, and rendered -public services of varied and permanent usefulness. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -THE PRESIDENCY OF GENERAL GRANT--THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. - - -In the presidential election of 1868 Mr. Chandler was even more than -usually active, both as an organizer and speaker. He delivered nearly -forty addresses in his own State, which gave to the Grant and Colfax -ticket 31,492 majority, and elected a Republican Congressman in each -of its six districts. The Legislature chosen at the same time had 66 -Republican majority upon joint ballot, and re-elected Mr. Chandler -for his third Senatorial term, the Democratic vote being cast for the -Hon. Sanford M. Green of Bay City. In the Republican caucus there -was practically no opposition to Mr. Chandler's renomination, and -he received on the first and only ballot 78 votes, 13 other ballots -being cast for seven gentlemen by way of personal compliment. The -inauguration of President Grant, on March 4, 1869, renewed Mr. -Chandler's influence with the executive branch of the government, and -the political and personal friendship between him and the modest, -resolute, and illustrious soldier who succeeded Andrew Johnson grew -mutually stronger and more appreciative from that day. - -Very much of the legislation of President Grant's first term, which -received Mr. Chandler's vigilant attention and absorbed no small share -of his energy, related to the details of the public business, and -furnishes no biographical material of permanent interest. He supported -the Fifteenth Amendment in all its stages, and also the Civil Rights -bills, which he regarded as incomplete, but still as the taking of -steps in the direction of justice.[34] It was his firm purpose to -contribute his share toward making American citizenship mean something, -for both black and white, and, if life was spared, to cease not his -labors until the humblest freeman in the United States should be in -firm possession of every natural and constitutional right, should have -free access to an honest ballot-box, should suffer no proscription for -his political opinions, and should be amply protected in his liberty to -think, say, go, and do as he pleased within the limitations laid down -by law for the regulation of the conduct of all. The battle, in which -he was so eager and stalwart a leader, will not be finished until that -result is forever secured. - -Early in General Grant's term the friends of Edwin M. Stanton -determined to secure for him such an official appointment as should be -congenial to his tastes and guarantee him an adequate support in old -age. His iron constitution resisted the enormous labors of the civil -war successfully. For many months he worked from fifteen to twenty -hours in each day; his assistant secretaries were energetic and trained -men of affairs, but their strength successively gave way in attempting -to keep up with their chief. When the strain was finally withdrawn, it -was perceived that his own powers were greatly exhausted. Rest restored -their tone somewhat, and he made one or two legal arguments and public -addresses, which showed that his intellectual vigor was undiminished, -but these efforts were followed by extreme nervous prostration. Under -these circumstances, Mr. Stanton's friends determined to secure for -him a judicial appointment. For such a position he was qualified by -eminent professional attainments, and this fact and the permanency -of tenure made the tender of a place upon the bench grateful to him. -Accordingly, when Judge Grier resigned his position as a member of -the Supreme Court, Mr. Stanton's appointment to the vacant Associate -Justiceship was at once urged upon President Grant. Mr. Chandler was -very active in this matter and pressed it with all his energy. The -effort was successful, and on Dec. 20, 1869, this nomination was sent -to the Senate and promptly confirmed. Four days afterward, and before -his commission was made out, Mr. Stanton's overtaxed constitution -broke down, and he died after a brief illness, in the fifty-fifth -year of his age, as thorough a sacrifice to the nobility of his own -patriotic devotion during the war as the bravest soldier who fell on -any of its battle-fields. During his fatal illness, Mr. Chandler was a -frequent watcher at his bedside, and was one of the last persons with -whom the dying statesman conversed. After his death it was found that -the man who had controlled the disbursement of hundreds of millions -had died poor, and had not left an estate adequate to the support of -his children. Congress directed a year's salary of a Justice of the -Supreme Court to be paid to his heirs. Mr. Chandler and others of his -friends also set on foot a movement to raise a national memorial fund. -A meeting of Republicans was called at the residence of Congressman -Samuel Hooper of Massachusetts, and a committee was there appointed -who collected over $140,000 (Mr. Chandler contributing $10,000 and -President Grant $1,000), which was invested in United States bonds and -placed in the hands of a few trustees, of whom Surgeon-General Barnes -of the army was chairman, for the benefit of the Stanton family. - -During General Grant's term the subject of "war claims" commenced to -attract national attention. Originally the Republican Congresses dealt -liberally with the South in the matter of compensation for damages -inflicted upon its loyal citizens during the rebellion. By a series of -carefully-guarded laws (and by a few private relief measures passed to -meet exceptional cases) a large sum was paid to residents of the rebel -States who suffered war losses, and were able to produce satisfactory -proof of their fidelity to the Union. In this matter the national -government certainly went to the extreme verge of generosity. The -experience attending the disbursement of the money thus appropriated -established conclusively the fraudulent and outrageous character of a -large percentage of these claims. In thousands of cases investigation -showed conclusively that arrant rebels were willing to swear that they -had been "Union men," and that small losses had, by false affidavits, -been magnified into great sums. As reconstruction broke down, and -the survivors of the rebellion gained in strength at the Capitol, a -new danger arose. No statute of limitations barred the indefinite -presentation of claims to Congress, and it soon became evident that, -not merely Southern loyalists, but avowed rebels who suffered losses -in the war were looking to the general government for compensation -for the damages which their own treason had invited. The movement on -the Treasury in their interest did not take on the form of an attack -in front, but by the flank. It commenced with plausible applications -for the "relief" of Southern institutions and corporations, and not -of individuals. It further manifested itself in propositions for such -a relaxation of the terms of the laws and regulations governing this -class of claims as would abolish all distinctions of "loyalty" and put -the "Confederate" upon an equal footing with the Union applicant for -this kind of "relief." The precise dimensions of this scheme, which -has been well characterized as "an attempt to make the United States -pay to the South what it cost it to be conquered in addition to what -it cost to conquer it," have not yet fully appeared, but the cloven -hoof has been sufficiently revealed to justly arouse and alarm the -loyal sentiment of the North. Mr. Chandler's record upon this question -affords a striking illustration of the soundness of his judgment as to -the scope and tendency of any particular line of public policy. When -this subject first demanded attention, he took the position which his -party substantially assumed ten years later. His clear and practical -mind saw what the consequences would be of any general reimbursement of -war losses, and he strenuously resisted the taking of any false steps -at the outset. Thus, on March 2, 1865, upon the bill to pay Josiah O. -Armes for the destruction of property within the rebel lines, he said -in the Senate: - - I hope this bill will not pass the Senate.... If you pass it, if - you set this precedent, if you say to every rebel and every loyal - man, and every man throughout the South, by the passage of this - bill, that you intend to pay for every dollar of property that has - been destroyed by order of our generals, you will give a more fatal - blow to the credit of the government than by any other act that you - can perform in this body. I should look upon the passage of this - bill as a national calamity, and one that we cannot afford at this - time to bring on our heads. It will do more to shake the faith of - our own citizens and of the moneyed centers of the world in the - credit of your securities than any other act you could perform. - -In his address before the Republican caucus which renominated him for -the Senate in January, 1869, he also said: - - The moment this government begins to allow claims for damages - accruing to individuals during the war in the South, it is placed - in a position of great peril. Every rebel in the South who lost a - haystack or barn by fire during the war will prove his loyalty and - secure damages. It requires the greatest vigilance to prevent some - of these claims from being allowed, as they are continually being - pressed upon Congress, and probably will be for many years. The - laws of war do not require nor justify the allowance of this class - of claims even to loyal men. If they are loyal, then they have - served the government, and that is compensation enough. If they are - disloyal, they have no claim. - -These quotations indicate his original position on this issue, taken in -the days when it had received but the slightest public attention. They -are exactly in the line of the vigorous utterances upon the same topic -which formed one of the important features of his public addresses in -1879, when the subject had aroused marked popular interest, and other -leaders had stepped up to the platform he had so long occupied. - -But Mr. Chandler did more than strenuously oppose the payment of the -"war claims" of Southern disloyalists; his farsightedness placed in -their path a serious practical obstacle. In 1873, a Colonel Pickett, -who had been confidentially connected with the War Department of -the "Confederacy," came to Washington and offered to sell to the -authorities a vast quantity of the archives of the rebel government, -which he had secreted before the capture of Richmond. Congress was -not in session, and the Secretary of War, having no authority in law, -refused to buy the documents. Mr. Chandler was in that city at the -time, and Pickett was referred to him as a man of means and as one who -would be apt to appreciate the importance of such a purchase. After -one or two calls, Mr. Chandler determined that the matter deserved -investigation at least. He asked for a schedule of the documents and -for a statement of their prices. Pickett promptly furnished the former -and offered to sell them for $250,000. Mr. Chandler, after a careful -examination of the schedule, replied with a proposition that, if the -papers corresponded with the list furnished, he would pay $75,000 for -them. This offer was at last accepted, and Mr. Chandler deposited that -sum in a Washington bank, subject to Pickett's order after a thorough -examination of the documents had been made. Confidential clerks -were at once set at work upon them, and it was found that they even -surpassed their owner's representations as to value. The purchase was -therefore completed, and the documents became the private property -of Mr. Chandler, who had them locked up in a vault. When Congress -met, a bill was passed authorizing the Secretary of War in general -terms to purchase the archives of the Confederate government if it -was ever possible, and appropriating $75,000 for this purpose. As -soon as the bill became a law Mr. Chandler transferred the documents -to the Secretary of War, and they are now in the possession of that -department and constitute one of the most valuable and useful features -of its record of the rebellion. The amount that has been saved to the -government by this purchase, in furnishing evidence to defeat rebel -claims, already exceeds many-fold the original price. Case after case -in the Quartermaster-General's office, before the Southern Claims -Commission, and before the Court of Claims has been defeated by -evidence found among these papers.[35] One single conspicuous instance -in which they saved to the Treasury more than four times their entire -cost attracted much deserved attention at the time. On Nov. 16, 1877, -an effort was made by leading Southern Democrats in the House of -Representatives to pass under a suspension of the rules, and without -debate, a joint resolution, ordering the immediate payment of several -hundred thousand dollars to mail contractors in the rebel States who -forfeited their contracts at the commencement of the rebellion. An -objection from the Hon. Omar D. Conger prevented action on that day, -but the resolution came up again on Feb. 15, 1878. Representative John -H. Reagan of Texas, who had been the Postmaster-General of the rebel -Cabinet, then took charge of the measure, and assured the House that -the resolution was a purely formal matter, that it only provided for -the payment of liabilities incurred before the war commenced, and that -the rebel government had never paid these men for the same services. -The Hon. Edwin Willits of Michigan, by a timely examination of the -phraseology of the resolution, discovered that it provided for the -payment of these contractors, not down to the actual beginning of -the rebellion, but until May 31st, 1861, many weeks after the rebel -government had been formed and after the firing upon Fort Sumter. -Calling attention to this fact, he obtained the further postponement of -the consideration of the resolution. When it came up again (on March -8, 1878) Mr. Willits came to the House armed with a volume of the -rebel statutes and with important extracts from documents contained -in the rebel archives. With this evidence he demonstrated in ten -minutes' time, beyond question, that the rebel government had assumed -the payment of this class of claims, that it confiscated United States -money and applied it to that purpose, that the men so paid agreed -to refund to the rebel treasury any money subsequently given them -on this account by the United States, and that the joint resolution -was but an attempt to pay a second time contracts already paid and -also properly declared forfeited through treason. The scene attendant -upon this _expose_ was a dramatic one, and it resulted in the virtual -abandonment then of the measure by those who were responsible for it. -This result would not have been possible, had not the rebel archives -thus opportunely yielded up their secrets. Their possession by the -government is undoubtedly worth millions to the Treasury. - -In 1871, the second term of Jacob M. Howard, as Senator from -Michigan, expired, and Thomas W. Ferry, then a member of the House of -Representatives, was chosen as his successor. With his new colleague -Mr. Chandler's relations were always close and cordial, and upon the -questions of reconstruction, equal rights, and the national supremacy -their accord was complete. Mr. Ferry rapidly attained distinction in -the upper branch of Congress, and was for several successive years the -President _pro tempore_ of the Senate. The death of Vice-President -Wilson in 1875 made him Acting Vice-President of the United States, -and he held that responsible position throughout the trying weeks of -the electoral dispute of 1876-'7, when his good sense, the perfect -discretion of his course, and the dignity and impartiality with which -he discharged duties of the gravest character amid vast and dangerous -excitement, both deserved and received universal praise. Mr. Ferry was -re-elected during this critical period, and, as Mr. Chandler's term as -Secretary of the Interior was then about to close, it was suggested -in some quarters that Michigan should send him back to the Senate in -Mr. Ferry's stead. The quality of Mr. Chandler's fidelity as a friend -and of his estimate of Mr. Ferry's public usefulness were shown in the -fact that, anxious as he avowedly was to become again a Senator, these -suggestions obtained from him only peremptory negatives, and his advice -and influence contributed to Mr. Ferry's unopposed re-election. Mr. -Howard died suddenly at Detroit from apoplexy shortly after the close -of his Senatorial service. As further illustrating the nature of the -friendship existing between him and his colleague from Michigan, and -the estimation in which he was held by the eminent men with whom he -came in contact, this private letter from Mr. Chandler to President -Grant, with an endorsement made thereon by the latter, is here given: - - WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 1870. - - MY DEAR SIR: Secretary Cox has done my colleague an unintentional - but a serious injury. - - In 1869 the whole Michigan delegation united in recommending the - Rev. W. H. Brockway, one of the most popular Methodist clergymen in - the State, for Indian Agent. - - He was nominated and confirmed, but acquiesced in the transfer - of Indian affairs to the military. Since the adjournment of - Congress, my colleague made a personal request to the Secretary - of the Interior, that the Rev. Mr. Brockway be commissioned as - Indian Agent for Michigan. Instead of sending the commission, he - has sent a man from New Jersey to attend to our Indian affairs. - This has given offense to the most numerous and powerful religious - denomination in the State and seriously injured my colleague. I ask - for my colleague that the New Jersey commission may be immediately - revoked, and Mr. Brockway may be at once commissioned.... - - It is really important that this be done at once. Very - respectfully, your obedient servant, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - _To President U. S. Grant._ - - AUTOGRAPHIC ENDORSEMENT BY PRESIDENT GRANT. - - Referred to the Secretary of the Interior. - - I think Mr. Brockway might with great propriety be assigned to the - Indian agency in his own State, to which he has once been appointed - and confirmed. - - He is a minister, and therefore the new rule adopted will not be - violated by his appointment. - - I want, besides, to accommodate Senator Howard, whom I regard as an - able supporter of the Republican party and of the Administration. - - Sept. 22, 1870. U. S. GRANT. - -Mr. Chandler was a member of one or two of the special Congressional -committees appointed to investigate those atrocious political murders -which made infamous the return of the disloyal classes to power in the -South. This general subject received no small share of his attention; -the facts which investigation disclosed deepened his conviction -of the essential barbarity of much that passes for civilization in -that section, and added to the inflexibility of his opposition to a -political system, which was responsible for the atrocious crimes of the -Ku-Klux-Klan, "the Mississippi plan," the White League, and the "rifle -clubs," and for the horrible massacres of Colfax and Coushatta, of -Hamburg and Ellenton. - -Two of his speeches in the Senate in 1871 and 1872 attracted general -attention and were widely republished. One of them was delivered on -January 18, 1871, in reply to Mr. Casserly of California, who had -challenged a comparison between the records of the Republican and -Democratic parties. In the course of twenty minutes Mr. Chandler -rapidly sketched the services of the Republican party in defeating the -Democratic plot to surrender the territories to slavery, in crushing a -Democratic rebellion, in emancipating four million slaves, in building -a trans-continental railway to the Pacific coast, in inviting the -settlement of the Great West by a homestead law, in establishing the -national banking system, in maintaining the public credit against -Democratic attack, and in reconstructing the South on the basis of -freedom and loyalty. He closed as follows: - - These measures were carried, not with the Democratic party, but - in spite of the Democratic party. Sir, we are not to be arraigned - here and put on the defensive, certainly not by that old Democratic - party. - - And now, Mr. President, they ask us to do what? To forgive the past - and let by-gones be by-gones. You hear on the right hand and on the - left, from every quarter, "Let by-gones be by-gones; let us forget - the past and rub it out." Sir, we have no disposition to forget - the past. We have a record of which we are proud. We have a record - that has gone into history. There we propose to let it stand. We - never propose to blot out that record. There are no thousand years - in the world's history in which so much has been accomplished for - human liberty and human progress as has been accomplished by this - great Republican party in the short space of ten years. Blot out - that record? Never, sir, never! It is a record that will go down - in history through all times as the proudest ever made by any - political party that ever existed on earth. But, sir, do gentlemen - of the Democratic party want to blot out their record? I do not - blame them for wanting to, for that record is a record of treason. - It, too, has gone into history, and there it must stand through all - ages. Sir, the young men of this country are looking at these two - records, and they are making up their minds as to which they desire - their names to go down to history upon; and I am happy to say that - of the young men now coming upon the stage of action, nine out of - every ten are joining this great Republican party. They desire that - their record shall be associated with those who saved this great - nation, and not with those who attempted its overthrow. The day - is far distant when that old Democratic party that attempted to - overthrow this government will again be entrusted with power by the - people of this nation.... Mr. President, if this record of the two - parties does not please my Democratic friends, I have only to say - to them that they made it deliberately and they have got to stand - by it. - -On June 6, 1872, Mr. Chandler replied in the Senate to that part of -Mr. Sumner's elaborate attack upon General Grant in which he declared -that Edwin M. Stanton had said, in his last days, "General Grant cannot -govern this country." The excessive egotism, which marred Mr. Sumner's -character and which inspired that unfortunate speech, was always a -cause of impatience with Mr. Chandler, and this display of it aroused -his anger. In his reply, he challenged squarely the credibility of Mr. -Sumner's statement. He first read from Mr. Stanton's reported speeches, -to show that their enthusiastic and repeated commendation of General -Grant by name proved that Mr. Sumner's assertion that Mr. Stanton had -also said, "In my speeches I never introduced the name of General -Grant; I spoke for the Republican cause and the Republican party," was -exactly contrary to the fact. He then proceeded: - - Mr. President, I had occasion with Mr. Wade, formerly Senator from - Ohio, as member of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, to see - Mr. Stanton, I think once a day on an average, during the whole - war, and I was in the habit of visiting him up to the time of his - death, and never, under any circumstances, did he express in my - presence any but the highest opinion of General Grant, both as to - his military capacity and as to his civil capacity. - - Mr. President, on the Friday before the death of E. M. Stanton, I - had occasion to visit him in company with two friends, members of - the other House, one Hon. Judge Beaman, then a member for Michigan, - the other Judge Conger, now a member from Michigan. We had that - day a long interview of not less than an hour and a half, wherein - Mr. Stanton expressed the highest opinion of President Grant, both - as to his military and civil capacity. I awaited an interview with - these parties before making this statement, and their recollection - is the same as my own. I have likewise held two or three interviews - with Senator Wade since then, and his recollection of the - expressions of the late E. M. Stanton is equally strong as my own - to-day. Mr. Stanton said, in the presence of two witnesses, "The - country knows General Grant to be a great warrior; I know he will - prove a great civilian." ... - - Mr. President, the relations between the President of the - United States and the late Secretary Stanton were of remarkable - kindliness. Never did I hear either express any but the highest - esteem and regard for the other.... I think the last interview - he ever had was the interview with me in the presence of these - two living witnesses.... Surgeon-General Barnes was his attending - physician at the hour of his death. According to his testimony, - from the hour I last saw him up to the time of his death, there was - no change, so far as can be known. - - In another part of this speech the President is arraigned as a - great gift-taker. Sir, General Grant was a great taker. Few men - have ever been as eminent as takers. He took Fort Donelson with - some twenty or thirty thousand soldiers; and he took Shiloh, and - took Vicksburg, and took the Wilderness, and took Murfreesboro' - and Appomattox and all the rebel material of war. He, with his - army, took the shackles from 4,000,000 slaves. And, sir, after he - had taken the vitals out of the rebellion, he was urged by his - friends to accept a small donation to take himself out of the - hands of poverty, a thing that has been done by all nations and by - all grateful peoples in all ages of the world. Sir, he is to be - arraigned as a great gift-taker because he accepted the voluntary - contributions of a grateful people! - - Why, sir, there were few men of capacity, few men of fitness to - occupy positions under this government who did not subscribe, - gratefully, anxiously subscribe, to that fund to relieve U. S. - Grant from his poverty. And yet, he is to be arraigned here as a - gift-taker, as though that was a crime! - - Mr. President, there are two classes of people in this world, - and we see specimens of them both. We have great _o-ra-tors_ and - great men of business. On this floor our _o-ra-tors_ have occupied - the time of this session to the exclusion of business, and while - these _o-ra-tors_ have been wasting the time of this body to the - detriment of the business of the nation, willing to indulge in - windy orations at the expense of the government, U. S. Grant, - President of the United States, has been managing the affairs of - this nation better than they were ever managed before. While your - _o-ra-tors_ were here delivering windy words, he was paying the - national debt faster than these _o-ra-tors_ could count it. While - they were _o-ra-ting_, he was negotiating treaties and attending - to the civil service of the nation. While they were _o-ra-ting_ - on this floor during the war, he was winning victories in the - bloodiest part of the fight. And now, while they are _o-ra-ting_ - on this floor, he is endearing himself to the hearts of the - whole people of this land as no other man ever did. Stanton was - prophetic; he is not only great in war, but he is greater as a - civilian. - -The act of March 3, 1873, which raised the annual salaries of -Congressmen from $5,000 to $7,500, gave also to this increase a -retroactive effect and made it apply to the members of Congress who -passed the measure and whose official terms ended on that very day. -Public opinion did not approve of any aspect of this change, but it -condemned vehemently the voting by Congressmen to themselves of $5,000 -each for services already rendered and in addition to liberal salaries -fixed at the time of their acceptance of office. So emphatic were the -manifestations of popular wrath at both this act and its methods, -that the next Congress promptly repealed "the salary grab," as it was -commonly called. Mr. Chandler's integrity and good sense kept him -from any participation in this obnoxious performance. He opposed the -increase of compensation earnestly in the Senate, voted against it -at all stages of the contest, and refused to accept his "back pay." -When the bill had been passed and the increased salary had been placed -to his credit on the Senate books, he went to the Treasury with his -colleague and they deposited the difference between the old and the new -rate to the credit of the government, writing the following letter to -the Secretary of the Treasury: - - WASHINGTON, March 28, 1873. - - SIR: Herewith find drafts on the Treasury, one of $3,906.80 payable - to Z. Chandler, the other of $3,920, to T. W. Ferry, being avails - of retroactive increase of salary passed during the expiring days - of and for the Forty-second Congress, and this day placed in our - hands by the Secretary of the Senate. - - Not willing to gain what we voted against, we request that the same - be applied toward the cancellation of any of the six per cent. - interest-bearing obligations of the nation. Lest such return be - distorted into possible reflection upon the propriety of dissimilar - disposition by others, you will oblige us much by giving no - publicity to the matter. Very respectfully, yours, - - Z. CHANDLER, - T. W. FERRY. - -The amount refunded was the exact difference between the sums allowed -under the old and the increased rate. The new law gave an increase of -salary for the term, without mileage. The old law allowed $5,000 less -salary, but gave mileage in addition. Mr. Chandler and Mr. Ferry took -the amount due them under the old system, and returned the additional -sum which was allowed them under the new. The spirit of scrupulous -honesty which dictated this proceeding is shown in the last sentence -of the joint letter, asking that publicity might not be given to their -action. They took this step voluntarily and not under any constraint -from public opinion. - -In the general elections of 1870 and 1872 Mr. Chandler was exceedingly -active, making the usual number of public addresses, and also -devoting much time to organization and to the general distribution of -political literature. The latter branch of party effort had become -the special province of the Republican Congressional Committee. -For more than twenty years there have been two distinct executive -organizations within the Republican party, independent of each other, -but always working in harmony, namely: The National Committee, and the -Congressional Committee. The latter is composed of a Representative -in Congress from each State, chosen by the Republican members of the -respective delegations. No man can serve upon this committee unless -he holds a seat in Congress, and States which have no Republican -Congressmen are unrepresented in its membership. Mr. Chandler and -James M. Edmunds were the founders of the Congressional Committee as -a practical and influential working body; their plans and efforts -first made it a power in American politics, and it remained under -their joint control until Mr. Chandler became chairman of the National -Committee. The special objects which it aimed to accomplish were the -securing of a uniform treatment of political topics by newspapers -and speakers throughout the country, and the circulation (under the -franking privilege, or otherwise) of instructive and timely documents. -During the reconstruction era it also devoted much attention to the -work of Republican organization in the South, where special efforts -were necessary to form into effective voting masses the emancipated -slaves, not yet freed from the blindness of bondage or familiar -with the responsibilities of citizenship. But the great aim of the -committee--all else that it did was subsidiary to that--was the -circulation of political literature. This end it sought to reach by -two methods: First, by the publication and mailing to individuals and -to local committees in all parts of the country of such Congressional -speeches as treated thoroughly and effectively any phase of the -current political situation; second, by furnishing the Republican -press, through the medium of weekly sheets of carefully prepared -matter, with accurate information as to the facts underlying existing -issues and with suggestions as to their best treatment before the -people. Obviously this work could be done to much better advantage -at Washington than elsewhere, for the capital city is the focus of -the thousand currents of political opinion and the depository of -the official statistics of the nation. Hence it was deemed wise -to establish a system of guidance from that point of the public -discussions of each national campaign, so that increased intelligence, -cohesion, and efficiency could be given to the general attack on -the enemy; this idea--which is, in brief, that the systematizing of -the political education of the people is an important element of -well-planned party warfare--James M. Edmunds always held tenaciously; -aided by Mr. Chandler's friendship, influence, means, and co-operation, -he proved its soundness most conclusively. - -Early in his Senatorial service Mr. Chandler was made the chairman -of this committee, and Mr. Edmunds its secretary. The two men were -admirably matched. Mr. Edmunds was a natural planner, keen in his -intuitions, shrewd in observation, and a skillful judge of the bearing -and tendency of party and public policies. In determining what was the -most promising line of attack, where the weakest points of the enemy's -lines were to be found, wherein the strength of any position lay, or -what strategy would make victory the most certain and complete, he had -no superior. When his acute and experienced judgment was reinforced by -Mr. Chandler's vigor in execution, influence with public men, and large -wealth great results never failed to follow. These two men quickly made -the Congressional Committee one of the most powerful agencies of party -warfare known in American politics. In many campaigns its influence was -almost literally felt in every Northern township, and its labors were -not without some effect, more frequently greater than less, in unifying -and invigorating the contest in every Congressional district from -Maine to Texas and Florida to Oregon. Its work was done quietly, but -most thoroughly; its managers rather shunned than courted publicity; -and the people at large, who were informed and inspired by its labors, -knew nothing of its methods and activity, hardly the fact of its -existence. From 1866 to 1874 Mr. Chandler was very active in connection -with this committee, and never failed to provide the agencies and the -resources for the adequate carrying on of its work. When its treasury -grew empty his private check made good any deficiency, and repeatedly -his advances upon its account reached tens of thousands of dollars. -His confidence in Secretary Edmunds was implicit, and the latter's -mature recommendations never failed because of any lack of means. In -1870 the work of this committee was especially productive; its value -became much more clearly apparent then than had ever been the case -before, and Mr. Chandler repeatedly said to the President and other -Republican leaders, "Judge Edmunds is the Bismark of this campaign." In -1872 Mr. Edmunds first suggested the necessity of meeting the Greeley -movement by the thorough searching of the files of the New York -_Tribune_ and of Mr. Greeley's record, for the ample material therein -contained which would make impossible his support by the Democratic -masses. Mr. Chandler approved of this plan, and promised that the -money needed should be forthcoming. Before all the work was completed, -his advances had reached nearly $30,000. At times, in the course of -efforts of this character, Mr. Edmunds guided the pens of upward of -three hundred writers gathered under his general supervision, while -the results of their labors informed the editorial pages of thousands -of Republican newspapers, and thus reached millions of voting readers. -For some time, also, a monthly periodical named _The Republic_ was -issued, which preserved in durable form the most careful and elaborate -articles prepared under the committee's supervision. This work of the -political enlightenment of the people, clearly the most rational agency -of party warfare, has never been executed on this continent with the -thoroughness, intelligence and efficiency which marked the labors of -the Congressional Committee when Mr. Chandler was at its head and Mr. -Edmunds was its executive officer. - -[Illustration: JAMES M. EDMUNDS.] - -The man whose name is so closely coupled in these pages with that -of Mr. Chandler deserves the grateful and lasting remembrance of the -Republican party. James M. Edmunds was a natural politician of the -best type. Patriotic instincts and sincere convictions were interwoven -with his nature. The party whose tendencies satisfied those instincts, -and whose policies most nearly accorded with those convictions, he -served loyally and with rare capacity; more than this, he served it -unselfishly. He cared nothing for prominence, and never sought after -reputation. He made no speeches, he rarely shared in any public -demonstration, he held no conspicuous positions, he manifested no -personal ambition, but for twenty years he was the trusted counselor -of famous men at the capital, his influence was felt in national -legislation and party movements, and important events with which his -name never was and never will be connected received the impress of his -acute observation and sagacious judgment. Especially in Republican -political management was he a wise and strong "power behind the -throne." Mr. Edmunds was a native of Western New York, but emigrated -to Michigan in 1831. He was for many years a prominent business man -at Ypsilanti, Vassar and Detroit, in that State, and was always -politically active. The Whigs sent him repeatedly to the Legislature, -and made him their (unsuccessful) candidate for Governor in 1847. He -was chairman of the Republican State Central Committee from 1855 to -1861, and Controller of the city of Detroit for two of those years. -At the commencement of Mr. Lincoln's administration he removed to -Washington, and was there successively Commissioner of the General -Land Office, Postmaster of the Senate, and Postmaster of the city of -Washington. Personally he was a tall and spare man, exceedingly plain -in his manners and simple in his tastes, utterly without either the -liking for or faculty of display, retiring in disposition, firm of -purpose, of strict integrity, and exact in his dealings and habits. -Mr. Edmunds's remarkable strength as a politician consisted in his -experience, in his lack of any personal aspirations, in his skill -in controlling men and the accuracy of his judgment as to their -motives, and in an almost prophetic ability to reason out the probable -direction and effect of any given plan of action. He became a man -whom those charged with great responsibilities could profitably and -safely consult, and his well-considered and shrewd advice often had -decisive weight at the White House, on the floors of Congress, and -in the private councils of eminent men. Outside of the Congressional -Committee, he did much campaign work in directing organization and -suggesting plans. He was one of the founders of the Union League, -and directed its operations during the years of its great political -usefulness in the South. It may be said without exaggeration that no -single member of the Republican party ever rendered it services as -great and as slightly requited as were those of James M. Edmunds. - -Mr. Chandler's close friendship with Mr. Edmunds covered a period of -nearly half a century, and included an implicit confidence in the man -himself and in his prudence and the sagacity of his judgment. The -comment made upon their intimacy by one who knew them both well was, -"Sometimes it seemed to me that no man could be as wise as Mr. Chandler -believed that Judge Edmunds was." They were in almost constant -consultation upon public questions, their co-operation was ever hearty, -and this friendship the Senator valued as a priceless possession. "In -death they were not divided;" the dispatch, which announced that Mr. -Chandler's busy life had ended so suddenly in Chicago, came to Mr. -Edmunds while infirm in health; it affected him powerfully, and his -spirit did not pass from under the shadow of this blow; within a few -weeks his own death followed. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[34] To a letter of confidence and congratulation, written to him -at the time of his last Senatorial election, by a committee of the -colored citizens of East Saginaw, Mich., Mr. Chandler replied (under -date of Feb. 20, 1879): "I hope to be able to assist in the grand but -unfinished work of securing equal political rights for every citizen of -this country, black as well as white, South as well as North." - -[35] The value of this class of documents will further appear from two -quotations from the official "Digest of the Report of the Southern -Claims Commission upon the Disallowed Claims," only two being taken -where many might be. "Claim No. 193" was preferred before this -Commission by W. R. Alexander of Dickson, Ala., for $13,443, for cotton -and horses furnished to the Union army. Mr. Alexander produced evidence -to show, and swore himself, that he had been a consistent Union man. -The Digest (1 vol., p. 55) says: "Among the papers of the rebel -government found at Richmond is a letter, now in the War Department, a -copy of which Adjutant-General Townsend has furnished to us. It reads -as follows: - -"'DICKSON, Ala., August 1, 1861. - -"SIR: I have heard that the War Department was scarce of arms, and I -have taken it upon myself to look up all the old muskets I can find and -I now send them to you, and I hope they will kill many a Yankee. I have -had one musket fixed to my notion, which I send with the others for a -model. All here are delighted with our victory, both white and black. -Yours, respectfully, - - WM. R. ALEXANDER. - -"P. S. I send these guns, ten in number, to the Ordnance Department, -Richmond, Virginia. - - W. R. A. - -_"The Hon. L. P. Walker."_ - -"On October 11, 1872, the counsel for the claimant, John J. Key, -Esq., appeared before the Commissioners and requested that the claim -be withdrawn, admitting the disloyalty of the claimant. The claim is -rejected." - - * * * * * - -"Claim 135" was preferred by J. P. Levy of Wilmington, N. C., for -$10,000. After he had sworn to his own loyalty, he was called upon -to face some letters found in the rebel archives. The Commission say -(p. 33, 1 vol., Digest): "The original letters were furnished the -Commission by the War Department from the captured rebel archives, and -copies of several of them were filed with this report.... We have in -them the claimant at the outbreak of the war calling upon the rebel -government to punish the superintendent of his brother's plantation -for insulting the rebel flag; and, again, asking the rebel Congress -to pass a law granting him his brother's plantation on account of his -signal service to the rebel cause; and, again, offering a ship, to be -commanded by himself, for the rebel service; also, tendering for the -benefit of the rebel army, patent fuse train and soda baking-powders, -and boasting and complaining of the large amount due him from the rebel -government for supplies for the rebel army. And now this shameless -traitor, perjurer and swindler comes before us and swears, with brazen -effrontery, that the government of the United States owes him, as a -loyal adherent to the cause of the Union and the government throughout -the war of the rebellion, for supplies furnished the army, the sum of -$10,000. We reject this claim." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -THE MAINTENANCE OF A SOUND CURRENCY AND THE PUBLIC FAITH. - - -In 1873 the bubble of an irredeemable currency, inflated prices, and -wild speculation burst in the United States, and the era of universal -shrinkage, commercial collapse, and industrial stagnation began. The -financial condition of the government and the people at once became the -absorbing topic of public discussion, and for five years the questions -connected with the currency and the national credit were those which -most completely absorbed popular attention. Mr. Chandler's share in the -prolonged controversy over the financial problem was a conspicuous one; -he came into it equipped with clear ideas and a consistent record; he -contended for the causes of rational finance and public honesty without -wavering in the face of the strongest opposition, and without any -departure from sound doctrine; and he saw the courage and persistence -of those with whom he acted finally rewarded by the enlightenment of -the people, the restoration of a convertible currency, and the raising -of the credit of the United States to the highest standard. For obvious -reasons his record upon all the phases of "the financial question" -can be most satisfactorily treated in a single chapter. That record -will show that he began at a point to which many other public men -were brought only by years of education, and it well illustrates the -clearness of his conceptions of the principles underlying questions -connected with what may be called the practical departments of -statesmanship. - -Not the least of the difficulties, which at the outset confronted -the administration of Abraham Lincoln, was the fact that the public -treasury was empty and the national credit impaired. In October, 1860, -the government had contracted a five per cent. loan of $7,000,000 at a -small premium; four months later, a six per cent. loan had been sold -with difficulty at about ninety cents on the dollar. It was true, -by way of offset, that the country was in a generally prosperous -condition. The commercial wrecks of 1857 had disappeared, crops were -abundant, and general business had become again remunerative. This was -an element of national strength, but it was not a quickly available -resource. War meant large immediate expenditure, for which the means -must be promptly provided. There was no time to create and organize -upon an extensive scale the machinery of direct taxation, and some -doubts were then felt as to whether the people would not grow restive -under any general imposition of new burdens. The entire stock of coin -in the North was estimated at but about $121,000,000, while the paper -money in existence was exclusively composed of the notes of state -banks organized under diverse and often insecure systems, and much -of it circulated only at a discount. This condition of the currency -created the fear that the rapid negotiation of large government loans -could not be accomplished without the serious derangement of the money -market; the withdrawal of considerable sums from circulation, even -temporarily, business men believed would be impossible without great -injury to domestic enterprise and commerce. All these circumstances -forced the government (which found itself facing absolutely without -preparation organized rebellion) to resort at once to the issue of a -national paper currency in the form of non-interest-bearing treasury -notes of small denominations. Congress, at its extra session in July, -1861, passed the necessary act for this purpose, and $50,000,000 of -these notes ($10,000,000 more were subsequently authorized) were placed -in circulation; originally they were made redeemable in coin on demand -at any United States sub-treasury, and thus violated none of the -established principles of sound finance. This expedient facilitated -the negotiation of loans, and provided "the sinews of war" for 1861. -But, when Congress met in December of that year, it had become plain -that the struggle would be of indefinite duration, and that past -expenditures would be greatly exceeded in the months to come. To add to -the embarrassments of the situation, at about this time the banks of -the North suspended specie payments, and the Treasury Department was -compelled as a matter of self-protection to also stop redeeming in coin -its own notes then outstanding. It was as a means of escape from this -emergency, that the first issue of greenbacks was authorized (by the -act of Feb. 25, 1862). These notes were not redeemable on demand, but -to secure their free circulation they were made a "legal tender" for -all purposes except the payment of duties and of the interest on the -public debt. The abandonment of the self-operating method of redemption -and the resort to the compulsion of the "legal tender" enactment, as -a means of keeping these notes in circulation, constituted a step -which the Thirty-seventh Congress took with extreme reluctance. A -small minority of its members resisted this measure to the last, but -what seemed to be the overshadowing necessities of the situation and -the earnest appeals of Secretary Chase finally forced the passage of -the law. Mr. Chandler was one of those who, without approving of the -principle of this legislation, still voted for it, on the ground that -it was essential to the public safety at that moment and justified -by the urgency of the situation. But he regarded it as a temporary -expedient, a mere plan for an emergency, and not as a permanent policy. -The first act authorized the issue of $150,000,000 of "greenbacks" and -directed the retiring of the $60,000,000 of treasury notes previously -paid out; this $150,000,000 Mr. Chandler believed it was possible to -so control and use as to avoid the evils inseparable from inflation. -But the proposition to double the amount of "greenbacks," which came -in less than half a year from the Treasury officials, he strenuously -opposed. On June 17, 1862, he offered this resolution in the Senate: - - _Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives_, That - the amount of "legal tender" treasury notes authorized by law shall - never be increased. - -On the following day he called up this resolution, and said: - - The effect of the recommendation (to issue $300,000,000 of "legal - tender" notes) has been most disastrous. The mere recommendation, - without any action of Congress on the subject, has created such a - panic, and has so convinced the moneyed centers of the world that - we are to be flooded with this paper, that gold has risen in price - from two and three-quarters to seven per cent. premium. National - credit is precisely like individual credit. It is based, first, - on the ability to pay; and, second, upon the high and honorable - principle which would induce the payment of a liability. When the - proposition to issue treasury notes was first made, it was received - with great apprehension by Congress and by the nation.... There - was at that time a vacuum for $50,000,000 that must be filled from - some source.... I then believed that $100,000,000 was requisite, - and that $100,000,000 was enough. I believe so now. When you issue - $100,000,000 of currency you must either find a vacuum or you must - create one for it. A hundred millions in addition to the existing - circulation would at any time create great disturbance in the - financial condition of this country.... The moment you authorize - the issue of $300,000,000 your coin will rise to ten or twelve - per cent., and your notes will full to 90 or 85. The result will - be that the government will be paying just so much more for every - article it purchases than it would if you kept your circulating - notes at or about the value of coin. - - Again, the moment you reduce the value of these notes, even - to the point at which they now stand, even to seven per cent. - discount, you drive out of circulation the coin of the country. - The temptation is too strong to be resisted to use something - else besides coin for change and for small circulation. Are we - to be reduced to a shin-plaster circulation, as is the case - to-day all through the South? That will be the result if you - force upon the country an amount of circulating notes beyond its - requirements.... I consider it a duty we owe to the country, a - duty we owe to ourselves, to proclaim that under no circumstances - shall a currency, irredeemable in coin, beyond the present issue of - $150,000,000, be thrust upon the money markets of the country. - -But the pressure toward a reckless currency expansion was irresistible, -and the pending bill passed. Mr. Chandler's prophecies were promptly -verified, for the gold premium rose and the "shin-plaster currency" -made its appearance with but little delay. Moreover, these issues only -stimulated the thirst they were intended to quench, and the general -inflation of prices soon again produced an apparent scarcity of -currency. Early in 1863 a demand came from Mr. Chase for authority to -increase the "greenback" circulation to $400,000,000. Congress granted -this application, but Mr. Chandler opposed it, saying in the Senate: - - When the first proposition was made to issue $150,000,000 of - treasury notes, I favored it; but when the proposition was made to - increase that to $300,000,000, I opposed it.... I prophesied what - the result of thus thrusting $300,000,000 of irredeemable paper - upon an already overstocked market would be. I said it would carry - up coin to an unlimited extent. The result has proved that my - predictions were true. Now it is proposed to issue $400,000,000; - we propose to thrust them upon an already over-supplied market.... - It is our duty to protect the people, so far as in our power, from - this great depreciation in the specie value of the circulating - medium, and this we can only do by decreasing its volume. - -The general positions which he stated thus early Mr. Chandler -firmly held throughout every stage of the subsequent contest over -the "currency question." He believed that irredeemable paper money, -although issued by the government itself and made a "legal tender" by -supreme authority, was an unmixed evil; that only the most imminent -peril could justify an even temporary resort to its use; that it ought -never to be employed except within narrow limits; that any excessive -issues, if made, should be promptly called in; that it should be made -redeemable on demand in coin, "the money of the world," at the earliest -possible moment; and that ultimately it should be wholly withdrawn -from circulation by the issuing power. Accordingly, he opposed the -propositions to still further increase (to $450,000,000) the issue -of "greenbacks," supported the principle (while objecting to some -of the details) of the act of April 12, 1866, ordering their steady -contraction, and was opposed to the act of Feb. 4, 1868, stopping -such contraction. The reduction in the volume of the "greenbacks" he -believed to be an indispensable preliminary to the resumption of specie -payments, saying in the Senate: "The government will never resume so -long as it has $400,000,000 of outstanding demand notes." As he opposed -during the war excessive issues of the "greenbacks," so after it closed -he steadily favored the reduction of their volume with the view to the -early restoration of their convertibility and their final redemption -and canceling. The hesitating and halting policy, which perpetuated all -the unwholesome influences of inflation and added to the severity of -the inevitable collapse, was followed against his protest and in the -face of predictions, which were inspired by his intimate knowledge of -natural commercial laws, and were verified by the event. - -In the constant discussions of financial measures during the war, Mr. -Chandler did not earnestly oppose the frequent resort to the issue of -irredeemable paper without offering as a substitute policies which he -believed would yield relief, equally adequate, much less costly, and -far less unwholesome in tendency. He proposed to provide the means for -meeting the enormous expenditures required of the government by more -thorough direct taxation and by larger loans; and he believed that -increased imposts, by strengthening the credit of the government, would -greatly improve its standing as a borrower in the money markets of -the world. Briefly, the policy which he favored, in lieu of the mass -of temporary expedients which were adopted, was this: (1.) Declare -that the issue of "legal tender" treasury notes should not exceed -$150,000,000, and thus stop their depreciation by ending all fear -of their inflation. (2.) Tax freely, and by this means convince the -world that the United States could and would redeem its treasury notes -and pay the interest and principal of its bonds. (3.) Use the credit -thus created to borrow on the most advantageous terms, and avoid all -measures that might in any way tend to impair the negotiable value of, -or the general confidence in, the national securities. He developed -these general ideas repeatedly in his speeches and votes, while -questions relating to them were before Congress. On May 30, 1862, he -said in the Senate: - - We voted at an early day in the session that we would raise a tax - of $150,000,000 from all sources.... What was the result of that - vote? On the very day that that solemn pledge was given to the - country and the world ... the six per cent. bonds of the United - States stood at 90 cents on the dollar in the city of New York. - To-day with an expenditure of more than a million dollars a day, - ... under this simple pledge in advance, of what you would do, your - bonds have gone up from 90 cents to above par, and are now sought - for, not only at home but abroad. If you violate that solemn pledge - given to your country and to the world, what will be the effect on - your securities? Let Congress violate that pledge, and you will - see your bonds not only not worth 104½ but you will see them below - 85.... The world abroad does not believe your simple asseveration - that you would impose a tax, but the people of this Union do and - consequently they themselves have carried your bonds from 90 to - 104½. But the world does not take them. Impose your tax; carry out - your solemn pledges, and you will see your bonds eagerly sought - for in the moneyed centers of the world.... I hope we shall not - only carry out this pledge which we have given, but I care not if - we exceed it.... Under this pledge ... you are now able to borrow - money at six per cent. instead of seven and three-tenths, and you - are to-day reaping the reward of your pledge of good faith. - -All just tax measures Mr. Chandler vigorously supported, as furnishing -the solid basis of national credit and public integrity, and time -established the ability and the willingness of the people to sustain -this war burden. Had the heavy taxation been accompanied by an -adherence to sound principles in the management of the currency and -a resort to borrowing when needed, it would have reduced the cost of -conquering the rebellion by at least $1,000,000,000, probably by nearly -one-half. - -The maintenance of the public credit at a high standard was exceedingly -important during the war, but it was of no less moment after the -collapse of the rebellion, and is as great to-day as it has ever been. -On no public question was Mr. Chandler more vigilant and outspoken -than on this. Any attack on the integrity of the national promise -represented by the bonds of the United States he denounced vigorously, -whether it took on the form of the taxation of these securities, -or of propositions to pay them in depreciated currency, or of bald -repudiation. On May 20, 1862, he said, upon the proposition to tax the -bonds: - - I believe it to be for the best interest of the government--not - for the benefit of moneyed men, not for the benefit of moneyed - institutions, but for the benefit of this government--to proclaim - in advance that we will never tax these bonds. I believe we - shall receive the _quid pro quo_ now, to-day, or whenever we - negotiate. It is for our interest, not for the interest of moneyed - institutions, to offer these bonds. Here is the best security in - the world, and we proclaim to the world, if you take these bonds - they shall never be taxed. I believe we shall realize more to-day, - or to-morrow, or this year, or next year, for these bonds by that - course, than if we were to impose a tax of one and a-half, or - three, or five, or any other per cent. These bonds are negotiable. - We are the negotiators. They are not in the hands of third parties. - We are to borrow for our daily wants, ... and I believe it to be - for the interest of the government to declare in advance that there - shall never be a tax of any sort, kind or description upon these - bonds which we are now offering to the world in such enormous - quantities. - -Mr. Chandler said, in 1868, in a public address at Battle Creek, Mich., -(on August 24): - - The national debt is a sacred obligation upon this government, - and it is to be paid, every dollar of it. But it is a Democratic - debt, every dollar. If anybody should talk of repudiation it should - be the Republican party, who had no instrumentality in creating - it. But did you ever hear a Republican talk of repudiating it? It - is a large debt. It is the price we pay for government. Is the - government worth the cost? If it is, then the debt is not only an - honest debt, but it has been worthily contracted. The Democrats - propose to pay this debt in greenbacks, and they propose to pay the - greenbacks by issuing more greenbacks. What do we gain by that? - Issue $2,500,000,000 more greenbacks and they would not be worth - the paper they are printed on, because the supply would flood the - country and be greater than the demand.... It is a measure of - fraudulent repudiation. In five or ten years the country might - recover financially, but we would never wipe out the national - disgrace that would follow that repudiation. It means the absolute - annihilation of all values. These extra issues would be utterly - worthless. - -Mr. Chandler accordingly voted for the act of March 18, 1869, which -formally declared that the United States would redeem its "greenbacks" -and pay the interest and principal of its long term bonds in coin, and -which was simply a new pledge that the government would do what it was -already honorably bound to do both by fair construction of its own -legislation and by the explicit and repeated promises of its agents. -The full maintenance of the public faith, both as a matter of honor -and of wise policy, he always upheld, and saw his arguments sustained -and his prophecies made good in the steady improvement of the nation's -credit and the refunding of its debt at greatly reduced rates of -interest. - -Of the national banking system Mr. Chandler was an original supporter. -He regarded it as certain to become a lasting feature of the fiscal -system of the United States, and as destined to ultimately furnish -the paper money of the Union. The uniformity of its circulation, the -security afforded to bill-holders, and the excellent results attending -its method of governmental supervision, he considered as unanswerable -arguments in favor of its permanent maintenance. It was his firm -opinion that ultimately these banks would furnish all the national -currency, and that their notes would supplant the "greenbacks." If -national banking should be kept free, and redemption in coin required -by law, he believed that the result would be a thoroughly-secured and -readily-convertible paper currency, whose volume would be controlled -by commercial demand and not by legislative caprice or political -agitation, and which would lubricate and not obstruct the machinery of -trade. - -When the national bank bill first made its appearance in Congress, -Mr. Chandler (in February, 1863) favored it as a measure of relief -offering a quick market for $300,000,000 of government bonds, and as -sure to supply "a better currency than the local banks now furnish." -Holding the views he did, he supported the measures which promised to -substitute bank notes for "greenbacks," although he opposed those which -contemplated any expansion of the aggregate volume of both issues. For -instance, in 1870, when the inflation element in Congress introduced a -bill to add $52,000,000 to the national bank circulation (banking was -not then free, it not being deemed prudent to leave the issue unlimited -while all the paper money was irredeemable), he offered on January 31 -an amendment to make the sum $100,000,000 and to withdraw "greenbacks" -to an amount equal to the bank notes issued under this provision. He -said: - - The simple effect of my proposition, if adopted, will be to keep - the circulation to a dollar where it is. If no new banks are - started, no greenbacks are withdrawn, and if banks are started - anywhere, then an amount of greenbacks must be withdrawn equal to - the amount of national bank bills put in circulation. Should the - whole $100,000,000 be taken we will be just $100,000,000 nearer to - specie payments than we are to-day, ... and in the meantime the - amount of national currency will not be changed in the slightest - degree. - - MR. SUMNER: There is salvation in that. - - MR. CHANDLER: Of course there is salvation in it; that is why I - offer it. - -All proposals made at the time to increase the aggregate paper -circulation he resisted, saying: - - That is a step in the wrong direction.... If you let it go out - that this is to be the policy of Congress, you will see gold go - up immediately, ... because it will show that the Congress of the - United States is in favor of expansion instead of a reduction of - the currency. - -After the panic of 1873, when there was such a universal clamor for -further inflation, and scores of propositions were introduced to add -many millions to the existing volume of "greenbacks" and of bank notes, -Mr. Chandler again insisted at all proper opportunities that resumption -was the most essential step toward financial soundness, and that the -substitution of bank notes for "greenbacks" would aid greatly both -in reaching and in maintaining specie payment. On Feb. 18, 1874, he -offered an amendment to a pending bill, directing "the Secretary of -the Treasury to retire and destroy one dollar in 'legal tender' notes -for each and every dollar of additional issue of bank notes," and spoke -upon this proposition at length. He did not urge it as a complete -remedy for the existing situation (contraction and resumption would -alone furnish that), but he said: - - This is a step in the right direction. In 1865 I advocated upon - this floor the substitution of bank notes for greenbacks as a step - toward the resumption of specie payments, and a rapid step toward - that resumption. I am now simply advocating what I advocated then. - -Mr. Chandler's wishes on this subject were not gratified at that time -nor during his life, but before his death he saw the demand that the -Treasury should cease to be a bank of issue approved by the soundest -financial sentiment of the country. His belief, that the paper money -of the Union should be furnished by commercial institutions operating -under properly regulated governmental supervision, that is, by the -national banking system perfected and enlarged, has been long held by -the ablest and clearest students of monetary problems in the United -States; it is to-day constantly growing in popular strength, and the -result it aims at will form part of any durable settlement of "the -currency question." - -In 1873 the vacillating and halting financial policy of the -nation--which had tried and abandoned contraction, and while looking -toward the resumption of specie payments had, in fact, retreated -from it--bore fruit in speculative collapses, followed by a panic in -business circles and widespread commercial disaster. Congress met -amid the crumbling of unsound enterprise, and was called upon to meet -a terrified demand for a renewed inflation of the already excessive -volume of irredeemable paper. To cure the fever, men demanded more -miasma. To repair the ruin, which all history proved to be the natural -result of an oversupply of currency, it was proposed to still further -increase that supply. Measures to this end were introduced at once, -and pushed with great vehemence. They were sustained by a misled but -powerful public sentiment, which was especially strong in the West -and influenced the great mass of that section's representatives at -Washington. Mr. Chandler never served his country better than he did in -that hour. Unmoved by the clamor about him, and refusing to listen to -the cries of even his own people when they demanded false leadership, -he firmly resisted every measure of inflation and every suggestion -that added embarrassments to the business of the future, or increased -the difficulties of preserving the public faith. The pressure in favor -of the inflation bill which President Grant vetoed was unusually -strong. The Western Congressmen were almost a unit for its passage, -but no solicitations, no force of numbers, prevented Mr. Chandler from -opposing and denouncing it. His speech in opposition to this bill (on -Jan. 20, 1874) commenced with one of his terse sentences, which went -straight to the marrow of the situation, and furnished a motto for the -cause he championed. It was, "We need one thing besides more money, -and that is better money." This phrase furnished the text for many -addresses and editorials, and stood upon the title-page of the weekly -circular issued by the friends of a sound currency in Boston during the -controversy which preceded the passage of the Resumption act of 1875. -In the same speech Mr. Chandler said: - - To insure prosperity we ought to have something permanent, - something substantial. Then the business of the country will - conform itself to the facts and regulate itself accordingly. This - panic (of 1873) was exceptional, as indeed all panics are. A panic - among men is precisely like a panic among animals. I once saw - 2,000 horses stampede, and they were just as the same number of - thousands of men would be in a panic. It is the feeling of animal - fear, and one encourages the other, and so it goes on until it - becomes a perfect insane rush for something, nobody knows what. - Prior to this late panic, as is well known, many of our capitalists - had over-invested in wild railroad schemes; they had undertaken to - do impossible things; when the panic struck them it ought not to - have had the least effect outside of Wall street and operators in - railroad stocks. But the panic swept like a tornado all over the - land, affected values everywhere, values of all kinds. Whoever had - money in bank sought to draw it out and hide it away. The panic - was universal, and yet this nation was never more prosperous than - it was the day before the panic struck. And to-day there is as - much money in the Union as there was then. Every dollar that was - here then is here now. Besides, the enormous borrowers, the men - who would pay any price for money--one-half per cent. a day, one - per cent. a day, or any other given price--have failed and gone - out of the market. And now the money is seeking the legitimate - channels of commerce for interest and use.... The best time for the - resumption of specie payment that has occurred since the suspension - was in 1865, at the close of the war, when gold had fallen from - over 200 to 122. In a few days values had shrunk, and the people - of the nation were comparatively out of debt, and were ready then - for a resumption of specie payments, but the government was not. - The government owed more than $1,000,000,000, that was maturing - daily in the shape of compound interest notes, seven-thirties and - other obligations that must be funded or disposed of. Hence the - government was not prepared for specie payments at that time, - although the people were.... From that day to this we have been - drifting and floating further and further away every hour from the - true path--the resumption of specie payments. I have advocated - from the first the earliest possible payment in coin. I believe - there is no other standard of value that will stand the test, and - I believe the time has arrived, or very nearly arrived, for coming - to it. I have not the same timidity in fixing a date that some of - my friends on this floor have. I believe that if we were to resolve - to-day that we would resume the payment of our greenbacks in coin - on the 1st day of January, 1875, and authorize the Secretary of - the Treasury to borrow $100,000,000 in coin to be used in the - redemption of the greenbacks, and sell no more gold until the 1st - of January, 1875, on that day we would have $200,000,000 of coin - in the Treasury for the redemption of the greenbacks. I am not - particular as to date. I merely suggest the 1st of January, 1875. - But I would accept an earlier date than that if it were deemed more - advisable, but certainly I would not extend it more than six months - thereafter.... - - It is no part of the business of this government to issue an - irredeemable currency. We cannot afford to place ourselves beside - the worn-out governments of Europe--we cannot afford to place - ourselves on a par with Hayti and Mexico. We are too rich a people - to do it; and it is a disgrace to us as a nation that we have - allowed it to continue one single hour beyond the hour when it was - in our power to remedy the wrong. - - The proposition to increase our paper currency is a step in the - wrong direction, and I, for one, am utterly opposed to taking - even one step in the wrong direction when I know what the right - direction is. - -As part of the same general discussion, Mr. Chandler made a carefully -prepared financial speech in the Senate on Feb. 18, 1874, in which -he first graphically sketched the history of "wild-cat banking" in -Michigan, and then said: - - After the failure of these banks the cry was still, "More money; - and we must have more money; the country is suffering for more - money." The cry was responded to, and more money was furnished. - The Treasury of the State of Michigan, already owing $5,000,000, - undertook to furnish more money, and the State issued treasury - notes _ad libitum_, and the "more money" men got more money until - the value of the state treasury notes, which have been paid to the - last dollar at par, ran down to thirty-seventy cents on the dollar; - and almost every city in the State, including the city of Detroit, - responded to the cry of "more money," and issued shin-plasters; - and individuals, realizing that "more money" was needed, issued - shin-plasters. So the State of Michigan was flooded with more money. - - Well, sir, you can see at a glance that the State of Michigan - needed more money. We had as a people been speculating almost to a - man. It was not confined to the merchant, the banker, the man of - wealth; but the mechanic, the farmer, the laborer, every man who - could buy a piece of property of any sort, kind, or description, - bought it, ran in debt, laid out a town, sold the lots, gave a - mortgage, and then wanted "more money" to pay that mortgage. - - When the collapse came it was absolute; there was no mistake about - it; the collapse was perfect. Then the people of Michigan had - enough of "more money;" and when our constitutional convention - met, as it did a few years later, they put into the constitution a - clause prohibiting the Legislature forever from chartering a bank - or affording the means of furnishing "more money;" and the people - acquiesced in it. They had enough of the "more money" cry; and for - twenty-five years there was no more cry in the State of Michigan - for irredeemable money.... The losses to which I have referred did - not fall upon the moneyed men of the State of Michigan, the men - who were in sound condition. They fell upon the laboring man, the - farmer, and the mechanic. They fell upon the men who could least - afford to submit to the loss. So it is now. Why, sir, our values - are fixed by a foreign market, and in coin. There is not a bushel - of corn or a bushel of wheat raised in Indiana, or Illinois, or - Michigan, the value of which is not fixed by the foreign value - in coin of that particular article. When you enhance the cost of - production by an inferior currency you put that loss upon the - producer, and the loss falls not upon the wealthy man, but upon the - laborer and producer. Money will take care of itself all over the - world. If it is not safe in this country, it will find a country - where it is safe, and it will go to that country, no matter where - that may be. Hence, capital requires no protection whatever from - this body; money will take care of itself; but the poor man, the - laboring man, the man who submits to all the losses from this - depreciated currency, is the man who suffers all the pain and all - the injury that are inflicted by this false legislation.... - - Now, sir, we come to the crash of 1873. On the 15th day of - September, 1873, this nation was in a more prosperous condition - than perhaps it had been for the last twenty-five years. Every - branch of industry was prosperous, every interest of the people - was prosperous; but in a day, at the drop of the ball at twelve - o'clock on the 16th of September, the panic struck. What produced - this tremendous panic and crash in this great and prosperous - country? It was over-speculating in railroad securities. It was by - men undertaking to do what it was utterly impossible for them to - do, to wit, for individuals to float untold millions by their own - credit; and when the people became alarmed for fear the crash would - come, the crash came, and there was no salvation from it. But, sir, - on that very self-same day the nation was more prosperous than it - had been for the last twenty years in all its interests--business, - banking and every other. The crash ought not to have extended one - yard beyond Wall street and the few producers of railroad iron who - were manufacturing for these defunct railroads. But, sir, the panic - was so great that it spread until it became universal, and values - sank until there seemed to be no bottom, and everybody was affected - throughout the length and breadth of this broad land. - - But, Mr. President, that panic was of short duration. Many failures - took place, and particularly among stock and railroad operators; - but the main business of the country still went on with a few - notable exceptions. Some manufacturers stopped for the want of - money; others stopped for the want of credit. The men that had - been issuing their paper without intending to pay it, issuing - millions of dollars of paper which they knew they could not meet - at maturity, trusting in luck to meet their obligations--those - men cannot borrow money; their lines are full everywhere; nobody - will loan them money; but, sir, upon undoubted security money is - to-day cheaper than it has been at any time for the last twenty - years. These great borrowers, without the expectation of paying at - maturity, are to-day all out of the market. No man will loan money - to a person who does not pay at maturity. Every man that desires to - borrow money for legitimate business can borrow it to-day cheaper - than he could borrow it at any time in the last twenty years. Sir, - you may legislate for this class who have over-speculated, you may - legislate for the benefit of the men who have built factories, - built steamboats, built mills, bought mills, bought mines, bought - everything for sale, and given their paper knowing they could not - meet it unless they could borrow the money over again; you may - legislate them $100,000,000 or $1,000,000,000, and you will not - help them in the slightest degree.... - - Now, Mr. President, I will ask the attention of the Senate while - I show the effect upon the purchasing value of money of issuing - your greenback circulation from the day it was first issued to the - present time. In 1862 we commenced the issue of greenbacks. In - January, 1862, the premium on gold was 2.5 per cent.; in February - it was 3.5; in March, 1.8; in April, 1.5; in May, 1.3; in June, - 6.5; in July, 15.5; in August, 14.5; in September, 18.5; in - October, 28.5, in November, 31.1; in December, 32.3. It will be - remembered that the then circulating medium (which was at that time - state bank notes) amounted to about $200,000,000. This circulation - was increased during the year 1862 by the addition of $147,000,000 - in greenbacks, and that increase of circulation carried the value - of gold from 102.5 on the 1st of January to 132.3 on the 31st day - of December following. - - In 1863 the necessities of the government compelled us to increase - the greenback circulation to a yet larger extent. We issued during - that year $263,500,000 additional, carrying up our greenback - circulation to $411,200,000, in addition, of course, to our bank - circulation, whatever it may have been. During the month of January - of that year the premium on gold was 45.1 per cent.; during - February, 60.5; March, 54.5; April, 51.5; May, 48.9; June, 44.5; - July, 30.6; August, 25.8; September, 34.2; October, 47.7; November, - 48; December, 51.1. In other words, the average rate of premium - upon gold during that whole year was 45.2 per cent. I hold in my - hand a paper showing the cash value of this emission for 1863. The - emission of greenbacks at that time was $411,200,000. The average - premium on gold was 45.2 per cent. The actual cash purchasing value - of that $411,000,000, during the year 1863, was $283,195,000, and - that was the whole purchasing value of that money during that year. - - Then we come to the next year, 1864. That year, we increased our - circulating medium by the addition of $237,900,000, making the - whole amount $649,100,000. In 1864 the price of gold was, in - January, 155.5; February, 158.6; March, 162.6; April, 172.7; May, - 176.3; June, 219.7; July, 258.1, or less than 40 cents on the - dollar in coin for your greenbacks after you had carried the amount - up to $649,000,000. In August the price was 254.1; in September, - 222.5; in October, 207.2; in November, 233.5; in December, 227.5. - There is not a man here who does not remember, nor is there a - farmer or mechanic throughout the length and breadth of the land - who does not remember, that he then paid 60 cents for cotton goods - that he had been in the habit of buying for 12½ cents, and that he - paid for everything else in the same ratio. The merchant took care - that he met with no loss; but the laboring man, the farmer, the man - of muscle, was the man who submitted to this great loss, while the - merchant and while every man with money took care of himself. - - During that year the average price of gold was 203.3 per cent., or - your money was a fraction less than 48½ cents on the dollar during - the whole year. You had out that year $649,100,000, and the value - of gold was 203.3, and the purchasing value of your $649,100,000 - was $319,281,000, and that was the whole of it. - - In 1865 you again increased the volume of your circulating medium - by the amount of $49,800,000; making the whole amount of your - circulation $698,900,000. During the month of January, 1865, the - price of gold was 216.2; during February, 205.5; in March, 173.8; - in April, 148.5; and after that it stood at 135.6, 140.1, 142.1, - 143.5, 143.9, 145.5, 147, 146.2. The average of the year 1865 was - 157.3; and what was the purchasing value of your greenbacks that - year? Every man here will remark that that year we were disposing - of our bonds at the rate of hundreds of millions of dollars a - month; money was passing through the Treasury almost without limit. - We had $1,000,000,000 that must be negotiated, and negotiated at - once--seven-thirties and compound-interest notes and other floating - liabilities that must be funded; and during that year the war had - closed, and while we were negotiating at this enormous rate, the - price of gold fell to 153.3, and during that year the purchasing - value of our circulation attained a higher rate than during any - other year. That year, although our circulation of greenbacks was - $698,900,000, and the premium on gold 57.3, the actual purchasing - value of that $698,900,000 was $444,310,000. - - In 1866 we retired $90,000,000, leaving $608,900,000, and the - average premium on gold that year was 40.9 per cent. The purchasing - value of the $608,900,000, with the premium on gold at 40.9, was - $432,150,000. - - The next year, 1867, we retired $72,300,000, and premium on - gold fell to 38.2. So we went on reducing until we got down to - $400,000,000, and then we struck 14.9, 11.7, 12.4 and 14.7 as the - premium on gold. There the matter has stood, and I have here from - year to year, the purchasing value for each year.... - - Mr. President, what we want is purchasing value, because the - intrinsic value is measured by the purchasing value. There is - not a bushel of wheat that goes from your State or from mine the - purchasing value of which is not fixed by the gold value on the - other side of the Atlantic. We are shipping millions and tens of - millions and hundreds of millions of our agricultural products - every year, and the value of these products is fixed in gold on the - other side of the Atlantic; and yet by this increase of circulation - we enhance the value of everything that the producer raises, but - when the product comes to the market its value must be fixed by its - price in gold across the Atlantic.... - - Mr. President, I know of no way to substitute the Treasury of the - United States for the banking experience of the last ten centuries. - We have the experience of the past, we have the experience of our - own nation, we have the experience of the world. Now, do we propose - to throw aside this experience, and to launch our boat upon a wild - and uncertain sea, an ocean of expansion and no payments? - - Sir, there are very few persons within the range of my acquaintance - who desire expansion of an irredeemable currency. Certainly the - people of Michigan have had abundance of experience of that kind. - But wherever you go you will find two classes of men who are making - a great noise about "more money." One is the speculator, the - impecunious speculator, who has, perhaps, bought real estate and - given a mortgage, and thinks that his only chance is to reduce the - value of your currency until it falls so low that the people would - rather take his land than hold your money; and the other is the man - who has issued his paper without intending to pay when it matures, - and who can borrow no more money upon any terms until he pays what - he already owes. - -On the 14th of January, 1875, the act for the resumption of specie -payments became a law. Mr. Chandler was a member of the Senate when -this bill passed. He had but one objection to it; the time fixed -for resumption was unnecessarily remote. Neither present exigency -nor needed preparation required the delay, and he believed it to be -opposed alike to economy, patriotism, and public honor. But it was -the best that could be secured; insistence upon an earlier date would -have divided the friends of resumption, prevented the passage of any -bill at that time, and postponed the day of specie payments. For these -reasons Mr. Chandler favored the measure, and a few weeks later, -when he retired from the Senate, it was with the consciousness that -he had only voted for an irredeemable and inconvertible currency to -meet the imperious exigencies of civil war, that he had opposed its -undue expansion, that he had sustained every measure of contraction -calculated to lessen the difficulties of the return to a sound basis, -and that he finally had crowned his Senatorial career by support -of a measure which insured the return of the government to the -constitutional standard of values. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR IN THE CABINET OF PRESIDENT GRANT. - - -Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-four was a year of unusual political -disaster. The prevalent commercial depression both naturally and -seriously injured the party in power, and this and other causes -combined to produce a general relaxation of Republican vigor, which -bore its inevitable fruit in a series of damaging reverses in the fall -elections throughout the Union. The contest in Michigan was complicated -by an organized movement on the part of the opponents of Prohibition -to secure a repeal of that State's stringent law against the liquor -traffic, and to more surely reach that end its License League formed -an alliance with the Democracy, by which the latter was greatly aided. -The result was that the Republican plurality upon the State ticket -was reduced to 5,969 in a total vote of 221,006, that three of the -nine Congressional districts were carried by the Opposition, and that -a Legislature was chosen in which the Republican majority upon joint -ballot was but ten. Upon this body, so closely divided, devolved the -choice of an United States Senator. To a man of Mr. Chandler's positive -qualities and aggressive methods an active public life was impossible -without creating strong enmities, and the attention which, had he been -more subtle, he would have given to conciliating hostility his direct -nature preferred to devote to showing appreciation of friendship. The -equality of parties in the Legislature, and the passing disposition -among Republicans to look with disfavor upon what has been since -termed "stalwart leadership," supplied the local opposition to Mr. -Chandler with the looked-for opportunity for successfully resisting -his re-election. Michigan Republicanism as a whole gave him its -usual hearty support, and, so far as the contest was waged within -the recognized lines of partisan warfare, his personal triumph was -flattering and signal. In the regular caucus he received fifty-two -votes against five ballots cast for three other candidates, and his -nomination was made unanimous with but one dissenting voice. A small -Republican minority refused to participate in the caucus, and after -a prolonged and exciting struggle a combination was formed between -six of these men and the solid Democratic and Liberal Opposition, -which (on the second ballot in the legislative joint convention) gave -precisely the necessary majority of all the votes cast to Isaac P. -Christiancy, then one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of Michigan. -Mr. Christiancy was an original Republican, but had in some instances -in the past so far satisfied the Democrats by his public course that -he had been once re-elected to the Supreme Bench without opposition, -his name having been placed at the head of the Democratic State ticket -after his nomination by his own party. This fact materially facilitated -the coalition which secured Mr. Chandler's defeat. Like results in -pending Senatorial contests in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska showed -that more than merely local influences had contributed to bring about -this event. - -Mr. Chandler, with that strong faith in his own position which was so -useful a characteristic of the man, did not believe that his defeat -was possible until it was accomplished. His disappointment was keen, -but he bore it manfully, and, assuring his friends that he should be -"a candidate for _that seat_ when Judge Christiancy's term ended," he -started for Washington to close up his eighteen years of continuous -Senatorial service. Many and sincere were the expressions of grief -among earnest Republicans everywhere at what seemed to be the abrupt -termination of the public career of so influential a man. Mr. Chandler -himself was as strongly affected by his fear that Republicanism might -have received a severe blow from the method by which his re-election -had been prevented as by any sense of mere personal failure. In a -letter written in the following March, in response to an invitation -from the great majority of the Republican legislators of Michigan to -address them on political topics, he said: - - Thanking you cordially for your continued confidence, I assure - you most sincerely that when I enlisted in the Republican ranks - it was for the whole war, which, I trust, is to be continued - until the complete and final triumph of Republican principles, - the pacification of the whole people, and the establishment of - equal and exact justice for all men in every section of our common - country. It will be my pride to prove to my friends, and to my - enemies, if there are such, that I can be useful as a private - soldier. In all the future contests of the Republican party with - its opponents you may order me into the ranks with full confidence - that I will respond with all my time, if need be, and with such - ability as I can command.... We shall not yield in the forum the - great principles which have triumphed in the field, nor shall we - further waste in internal strife the strength which should be - organized against our opponents. I have faith in the future of our - country, because of my confidence in the continued success of the - Republican party. - -Ultimately it became evident that his defeat in 1875 was not a personal -calamity, he himself afterward saw that it had opened the way for him -to broader fields of public usefulness, and that in what then seemed to -be a fall he had in fact only "stumbled up stairs." - -After the termination of Mr. Chandler's third Senatorial term (on March -3, 1875), his name was connected, both in current rumor and in the -deliberations of influential men, with several prominent positions. -It was at one time predicted that he would be nominated for the St. -Petersburg embassy, and at another that he would succeed Mr. Bristow as -Secretary of the Treasury. Ground was not lacking for both reports, but -the appointment which was actually made involved a far more complete -test of his faculty of administration than would have attended -either of the others. The Interior Department is the most complex -division of the executive branch of the government. A great diversity -of interests are under its charge, and its duties are dissimilar, -widely ramified, and encumbered with a perplexing multiplicity of -details. During President Grant's second term this Department, -notwithstanding the personal honesty of Secretary Columbus Delano, had -fallen into bad repute. It sheltered abuses and frauds which tainted -the atmosphere, but were not hunted down and removed by its chiefs. -From the scandals which this state of affairs created, Mr. Delano -finally sought escape by a resignation, which took effect on Oct. 1, -1875. General Grant, who was determined to appoint to the place a man -whose integrity, sagacity and vigor should make it certain that he -would not tolerate incompetence and rascality among his subordinates, -tendered the position to Mr. Chandler. After some hesitation, and no -little urging by his friends, that gentleman accepted, and on Oct. -19, 1875, his commission as Secretary of the Interior was executed -and sent to him. (His nomination was, on the meeting of Congress in -December, promptly confirmed by the Senate, all of the Republican and -three of the Democratic Senators voting affirmatively, with only six -Democrats recorded in the negative). Mr. Chandler entered at once -upon the discharge of his new and difficult duties. No man could have -had less of the professional "reformer" about him--in fact he was not -chary of expressing the most contemptuous skepticism concerning much -that paraded itself as "reform"--but the exemplification which he -gave of practical reform was at once thorough and brilliant. Without -ostentation, without the faintest savor of cant, he went at his work -in unpretentious, business-like, manful, and clear-sighted fashion. A -firm believer himself that "corruption wins not more than honesty," -he gave durable lessons on that theme in every bureau of the Interior -Department. - -[Illustration: THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.[36]] - -The first step of Mr. Chandler's administration was the infusion of new -blood. He applied to James M. Edmunds for aid in the selection of a -Chief Clerk, and was by him advised to tender that important position -to Alonzo Bell, then holding a place in the Treasury. What followed -illustrates some of Mr. Chandler's methods of transacting business: - -Mr. Bell, at his desk in the Winder Building, received a dispatch -on the afternoon of Nov. 8, 1875, which read: "The Secretary of the -Interior desires to see you." On the next morning at nine o'clock he -was in waiting in the ante-chamber of Secretary Chandler's office, and -shortly thereafter that gentleman entered. In a few moments Mr. Bell -was summoned into his room, and Mr. Chandler said, "Good morning, Mr. -Bell. I suppose General Cowen (the then Assistant Secretary) has told -you what the business with you is?" Mr. Bell answered, "I have had a -very pleasant talk with him, but there has been no business alluded to -by us." Mr. Chandler then said, "I have concluded to appoint you Chief -Clerk of the Interior Department; will you accept?" "Yes, sir," was -the reply. "Very well," said Mr. Chandler, "go ahead." Mr. Bell went -at once to the Treasury, filed his resignation, and within an hour -returned to the office of the Secretary of the Interior. He found him -in conference with two Senators, and this conversation followed: "Mr. -Secretary, I have taken the oath and I am ready to go to work." "Very -well, do you know where to find the Chief Clerk's room?" "No, sir." -"Well, sir, it won't take long to look it up." Mr. Bell started on the -search for it, and within a few moments had relieved the gentleman -temporarily in charge, taken possession of its desk, and commenced -business. Mr. Chandler, also on recommendation of Mr. Edmunds, promoted -John Stiles from a minor place to the Appointment Clerkship. The -Assistant Secretaryship of the Department he requested the President to -tender to Charles T. Gorham of Michigan, who had lately relinquished -the embassy of the United States at The Hague. He believed that Mr. -Gorham's business training, practical ability and personal attachment -to himself would greatly aid in the reorganization of the Department, -and only felt doubtful as to whether that gentleman would accept the -position. In the end, Mr. Gorham was induced to take it, and the -Assistant Attorney-Generalship was given to Augustus S. Gaylord of -Saginaw, well-known to Mr. Chandler as a good lawyer and a vigilant -and trustworthy man. These changes in his executive staff the new -Secretary of the Interior regarded as an essential part of the work of -investigation and purification which was to be accomplished.[37] - -Within less than one month after the commencement of Mr. Chandler's -term, all the clerks in one of the important rooms in the Patent Office -were summarily removed. Examination had supplied satisfactory proof of -dishonesty in the transaction of the business under their care, and -the Secretary concluded that all of them were either sharers in the -corruption or lacked the vigilance necessary for their positions, and -he declared every desk vacant. To the Hon. Jay A. Hubbell, whom he met -on the evening of the day upon which he had taken this vigorous step, -he said, "I have been 'reforming' to-day. I have emptied one large room -and have left it in charge of a colored porter, who has the key, who -cannot read and write, and who is instructed to let no one enter it -without my orders. I think the public interests are safe so far as that -room is concerned until I can find some better men to put into it." To -the remonstrances which followed this action he was resolutely deaf, -and to some influential friends of one of the men thus displaced he -said significantly, "That man is competent enough; if he thinks that -the cause of his removal should be made public, he can be accommodated; -I don't advise him to press it." Later in Mr. Chandler's term, and -without warning, the monthly pay-rolls of the Patent Office employes -were placed in the custody of a new officer, and the full name and city -address of every one who signed them was taken. The result was that for -upward of a score of names no owners appeared, and it was thus found -that money had been dishonestly drawn in the past by some one through -the device of fictitious clerkships. It was also ascertained that in -a few cases work requiring expert skill had been given to unqualified -persons who had "farmed it out" to others at reduced rates, and were -thus receiving pay without rendering service. These disclosures led to -further prompt removals of those implicated in the frauds, and to the -eradication of the abuses thus exposed. In this bureau some change of -methods was also made which simplified the transaction of business, and -increased the facilities for procuring patents while lessening their -cost to the public. - -The Bureau of Indian Affairs Mr. Chandler found to be more utterly -unsavory in reputation than any other division of his Department. -Besides securing a new Commissioner and Chief Clerk, he instituted a -series of quiet inquiries into the methods of doing business there, -and soon determined upon removing a number of subordinates, whose -records were unsatisfactory and whose surroundings were suspicious. -He then sent for the Commissioner and notified him of this decision, -but that officer replied that they were the most valuable men he had, -and that it would be almost impossible to conduct the business of -the bureau without them. The urgency of his protest finally induced -Mr. Chandler to delay action for a few days. While matters were in -this state of suspense, President Grant, who was watching with keen -interest the examination into the Interior Department offices, said -to its Secretary, "Mr. Chandler, have you removed those clerks in the -Indian Bureau whom we were talking about?" Mr. Chandler replied, "No, -sir; the Commissioner said it would be almost impossible to run the -office without them." The President answered, "Well, Mr. Secretary, -you can shut up the bureau, can't you?" The answer was, "Yes, sir." -"Well then," said General Grant, "have those men dismissed before -three o'clock this afternoon, or shut up the bureau." Mr. Chandler -went over to the Department, sent for the Commissioner, told him that -the suspected clerks must go that afternoon if the bureau was closed -as the result, and gave the necessary orders of removal which were -promptly executed. In regard to the dismissal of these men, he said, -"I haven't evidence that would be regarded in a court as sufficient -to convict them of fraud or dishonesty, but to my mind the proof of -their crookedness is strong as Holy Writ." This was only one of many -instances in which President Grant actively interested himself in the -work of hunting out fraud, and there was no step which Mr. Chandler -took in the direction of honest and cheaper administration in which he -was not cordially and powerfully sustained at the White House. - -The "Indian Attorneys" also came under and felt the weight of the new -Secretary's just displeasure. One of the glaring impositions practiced -upon the ignorant aborigines was that of inducing them, winter after -winter, to send "agents" to Washington to look after their interests, -upon representations made to them that the government would otherwise -deprive them of some of their rights. Many of these men were paid eight -dollars a day and their expenses, while others contracted for certain -sums secured on the property of the Indians. In fact, these "attorneys" -rendered no needed service and preyed upon the ignorance of their -clients. These men Mr. Chandler banished from his Department; he also -declined to allow the payment of claims preferred by representatives of -the Indians for "expenses incurred in procuring legislation," on the -ground that such outlay was illegal and immoral. His decision on these -points was embodied in this order (addressed on Dec. 6, 1875, to the -Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and still governing the proceedings of -that bureau), which saved large sums of money to the Indians: - - Hereafter no payment shall be made and no claim shall be approved - for services rendered for or in behalf of any tribe or band of - Indians in the procurement of legislation from Congress or from any - State Legislature, or for the transaction of any other business for - or in behalf of such Indians before this Department or any bureau - thereof, or before any other Department of the government, and no - contract for the performance of such services will hereafter be - recognized or approved by the Indian Office or the Department. - Should legal advice or assistance be needed in the prosecution or - defense of any suit involving the rights of any Indian or Indians, - before any court or other tribunal, it can be procured through the - Department of Justice. - - This regulation will govern the Indian Office, and application - for compensation for such services must not be forwarded to the - Department for action hereafter, it being understood that the - regularly-appointed Indian Agent, the Commissioner of Indian - Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior are competent to protect - and defend the rights of Indians in all respects, without the - intervention of other parties, and without other compensation than - the usual salaries of their respective offices. - -Mr. Chandler's experience as Secretary of the Interior made him a -firm believer in President Grant's policy of seeking to civilize -the American savages by dealing with them through the agency of the -Christian churches. Originally he favored turning the management of -Indian affairs over to the military arm of the government, but actual -contact with this knotty problem convinced him that the so-called -"peace policy" was, with all its conceded imperfections, the true one. -He held that, if firmly adhered to and improved as experience should -dictate, it would ultimately yield the largest and best returns. To -make any policy successful he knew that honest and competent service -was indispensable, and that he spared no efforts to secure. - -[Illustration: - - President Grant. - Lot M. Morrill. - Hamilton Fish. - G. M. Robeson. - J. D. Cameron. - Alphonso Taft. - Z. Chandler. - J. N. Tyner. - -PRESIDENT GRANT'S CABINET--1876-'77. - -[From a Sketch by Mrs. C. Adele Fassett.]] - -In the Pension Bureau there was also some wholesome investigation, and -the efficiency of its administration and the vigilance of its scrutiny -into fraudulent claims upon the government were materially increased, -with the result of saving to the Treasury hundreds of thousands of -dollars annually. In the Land Office a series of extensive frauds in -what was known as "Chippewa half-breed scrip" were discovered during -the first six months of Mr. Chandler's term. The matter was one that -had been brought to the attention of the Department under other -Secretaries, but no detection of rascality had followed. Mr. Chandler -ordered a thorough investigation, which was pushed vigorously by Mr. -Gorham and Mr. Gaylord. The end was the breaking up of a strong and -corrupt combination, the prompt removal of all officers connected with -its past operations, and the reporting of the facts to the proper -Congressional committees for further action. The Secretary also ordered -a consolidation of the seven stationery divisions of the Department -into one central office, securing thereby a lessened cost of management -which was and is worth $20,000 annually to the Treasury. - -The result of this exhibition of executive vigor need not be described -in detail. Under the impetus of shrewd insight, disciplined business -habits, and firm purpose, the _morale_ of the various bureaux improved -rapidly. Abuses withered up, inefficiency became industry, and fraud -took flight.[38] The Interior Department became a strongly-officered -and well-administered branch of the government. Men saw that it had -at last a head who meant that his subordinates should be honest and -should render efficient service, and who could push his intentions into -acts. Mr. Chandler, who had originally doubted as to whether he could -still command his old mercantile faculty of mastering and managing a -host of details, convinced both himself and others that this was still -one of his powers. His administration made evident the benefits of the -supervision of the public business by a practical man of affairs, and -no member of President Grant's Cabinets made a record more enviable for -unostentatious and efficient discharge of duty. - -The anecdotes of Mr. Chandler's Cabinet service are many and -entertaining. He commenced by arming himself for the chronic battle -of all heads of departments with the claimants of patronage. One of -his first orders prohibited clerks from recommending applicants for -position, and another provided him with a statement of the number -of employes in the Department from each Congressional district. A -memorandum book, containing this information, was constantly by his -side, and was used almost daily. A Congressman would apply for the -appointment to a clerkship of some constituent whom he was anxious to -oblige or assist. The record would be produced, and something like this -conversation would follow: "You see your quota is full, but that don't -matter; pick out any man you want me to remove and I'll put your man -in his place at once." "But," the Congressman would reply, "I can't -do that. If I ask you to turn out any of these men I shall get myself -into hot water." "You don't mean to say that you're asking me to get -myself into hot water for you?" the Secretary would answer, and with -this weapon, thus used half banteringly but still effectively, he, -with perfect good-nature, turned aside the Congressional pressure for -positions. - -He also carefully kept memoranda of the official records of his -subordinates, and charges against any one of them coming from -responsible sources were certain to be thoroughly investigated. But no -man could be more wrathful at mere backbiting or at efforts for the -secret undermining of reputation. His repugnance to injustice was no -less keen than his sense of justice. One afternoon a man of clerical -aspect and garb called at his office, and said, after introducing -himself, "Mr. Chandler, I presume it is your intention to have none but -correct people in your Department." - -"That is my intention." - -"Well, do you know, sir, that you have a woman in one of the bureaux of -your Department who is of bad character." - -"No, sir, I do not know that I have any such persons in my Department." - -"I thought you didn't know it, Mr. Chandler, and so I decided to come -and inform you." - -The name of the clerk in question was then given and the charges -against her made still more explicit. Mr. Chandler listened quietly, -and finally picked up a pen and handed it to his caller, saying, -"Just put that down in writing, sir, and I will dismiss the woman." -The accuser hesitated and said, "Now, I hope, Mr. Chandler, you will -not connect my name with this matter. I don't want to be known." The -Secretary thereupon leaned back in his chair and said, "You know all -about this woman and I know nothing about her, except what you state -to me; but you want me to put a stain on her reputation upon charges -you are unwilling to even substantiate with your name. Never! Leave -the office." Upon the abrupt departure of the visitor so dismissed, -Mr. Chandler turned to one of his clerks and said, "He belongs to that -class of informers who are always willing to stand behind and ruin a -person, but who don't want to be known. I don't propose to be a party -to any such transaction." - -A contractor, whose rascality had been conclusively exposed and whose -contract had been unceremoniously annulled, came to him one day to -remonstrate. The conversation ran in this wise. - -"Mr. Secretary, I have been badly used----" - -"I'm glad of it," interrupted Mr. Chandler; "you're a scoundrel, and -it's time you were getting your deserts." - -The man attempted explanation, but Mr. Chandler was too impatient -to listen, and finally sent him away with orders to write a letter -setting forth his grievances, which should be investigated. "Although," -added he, as the contractor retired, "it's my opinion that the worst -treatment you could get would be too good for you." - -In the few cases where genuine hardship followed his quick decisions -and their enforcement, he was ready to make good the injury he had -not intended to inflict. One morning a prominent officer of the army -entered Mr. Chandler's office with a small pamphlet in his hand and -said, "What kind of a fool is it, Mr. Secretary, that you have at your -door distributing tracts?" Upon Mr. Chandler's denying all knowledge -of this variety of colportage, he said, "Here is a tract a fellow out -there gave me, and told me to read it, and said it might be good for my -soul." Mr. Chandler was nettled at this violation of discipline, and -made inquiries which showed that one of the clerks was distributing -tracts about the Department under circumstances that implied neglect of -his official duties, and thereupon he was dismissed. In a short time -an earnest letter came to the Secretary from the wife of the displaced -man describing the distress that had been brought upon their home, -whereupon Mr. Chandler directed his re-instatement, saying, as he -issued the order, "I guess he won't circulate any more tracts. I don't -object to their distribution, but when a man is doing the government -business he should give that his attention." For a clerk discharged -because of dishonesty, no amount of personal solicitation, even by -close friends of Mr. Chandler, availed anything. At one time when he -was most vehemently and persistently urged to restore a suspected and -dismissed subordinate, he finally said to the Senator who was pressing -the matter, "There is but one way by which you can have that man -re-appointed, and that is to first have me turned out." - -In the early part of his term a letter came to Mr. Chandler from a -man in California, who had a case pending before the Department upon -an appeal from the Commissioner of the Land Office. He wrote that if -the Secretary would decide that case in favor of the appellant, he -would remit $300 in gold. Mr. Chandler read it and said to his clerk, -"Call the attention of the Attorney-General to that, cite the law that -man has violated, and ask the Department of Justice to prosecute the -fellow," and this course was taken. At about the same time, a dispatch -came from the Pacific coast stating that a man was at San Francisco who -claimed to be Mr. Chandler's brother, and was seeking to borrow money -on that statement. To this Mr. Chandler's answer was this telegram: "I -have no brother. Arrest the scoundrel." - -By the clerks, whose official record satisfied him, he was universally -liked. He was easily approached, ready to listen, quick to perceive, -and prompt in decision. He scarcely ever gave reasons, but his rapid -judgment was rarely found to require reversal or even revision. With -those who did business with the Department on honest principles, -and only asked for promptitude and efficiency in its service, his -popularity was great and deserved. The fact that he was at its head was -kept constantly fresh in the minds of all. Soon after the commencement -of his term he exchanged offices with the Commissioner of Patents, thus -obtaining an apartment much more desirable than the one previously -occupied by the Secretaries. One of the Patent Office _attaches_, in -replying to the comment of somebody who expressed surprise at the fact -that this change had not been sooner made, said, "To tell the truth we -have generally regarded the Secretary himself as an interloper in the -Department. Mr. Chandler has started a new order of things." - -[Illustration: THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR'S OFFICE.] - -While the investigating mania was at its height, the House Committee on -the Expenditures of the Interior Department determined to look into his -books and business system. He accordingly received from them a formal -letter asking what time would be convenient for the investigation. The -Chief Clerk submitted this communication to Mr. Chandler, who said, -"Tell them to come down any day, and I want you to put the best room -we have at their disposal, and give them all the facilities you can -to investigate the affairs of any bureau of the Department that they -want to look into. If they can find anything wrong that I haven't -found, I shall be very much obliged to them. They will be pumping a dry -well. The work is done." The committee came, but only held a few brief -sessions, and finally never concluded their labors and never made a -report in relation thereto. - -Active as were Mr. Chandler's party sympathies, and little disposed -as he was to consult his political opponents as to his course, or to -admit them to any share in the patronage at his disposal, he did not -manage the Department upon merely partisan principles. He did not -make removals of Democratic subordinates except for cause; he never -appointed any Republican whom he did not believe to be thoroughly -upright and competent. That to fill any vacancy he always sought to -find the right kind of Republican was true. His civil service theories -stopped with honesty and efficiency, and did not exclude pronounced -political sympathy with the appointing power nor party activity. -Still, he did not on any occasion enforce the payment of political -assessments by his subordinates, and their work for the Republican -cause was left voluntary in character. The nearest approach to mere -partisanship in his use of the appointing power was the giving of -places in the Department to crippled soldiers who had been discharged -from the employment of the House of Representatives by the Democratic -Door-keeper, and even in that it was far more the indignation of the -patriot than of the Republican that stirred him. At the close of Mr. -Chandler's Secretaryship, the clerks of the Department waited upon -him in a body, and thanked him for the kindness they had received at -his hands. While farewells were being exchanged Mr. Schurz, the new -Secretary, came in and was introduced to his staff of subordinates. Mr. -Chandler then said: - - Mr. Secretary, I welcome you to this office. When I came here this - Department was greatly tainted with corruption, especially in the - Patent Office and the Indian Bureau. With the aid of the gentlemen - you see around you, I have been able to cleanse it, and I believe, - as far as I am able to ascertain, that no abuses exist in the - bureaux I have named. I had to use the knife freely, and I believe - this Department stands to-day the peer of any department of the - government. - -Mr. Chandler further commended the corps of employes as honest, -faithful men, and Mr. Schurz replied: - - I think I am expressing the general opinion of the country when - I say you have succeeded in placing the Interior Department in - far better condition than it had been in for years, and that the - public is indebted to you for the very energetic and successful - work you have performed. I enter upon the arduous duties with which - I have been entrusted with an earnest desire to discharge them - conscientiously, and I shall be happy when leaving the Department - to have achieved as good a reputation for practical efficiency as - you have won. I thank you, sir, for this cordial welcome, and I - will say to the gentlemen to whom you have introduced me that they - shall have my protection; and I ask from them the same faithful - assistance they have given you. - -The tribute which Secretary Schurz at the outset thus paid to the -practical efficiency of his predecessor merely expressed the public -verdict which greeted the close of Mr. Chandler's term. Examination -did not compel any modifying of this praise, and after Mr. Chandler's -death his successor in the Interior Department--a man very exacting -in judgment and one with whom his political differences had been -numerous--again said: "In the course of the last two years I have -frequently discovered in the transaction of public business traces of -his good judgment and his energetic determination to do what was right." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[36] This massive edifice is popularly known as "The Patent Office," -because its main halls are occupied by the magnificent model rooms of -the Bureau of Patents. - -[37] Much of Secretary Chandler's confidence arises from the well-known -integrity and personal reliability of the several gentlemen sustaining -the nearest official relation to him, all of whom were selected by -his own free choice, and from his own personal knowledge of these -essential characteristics. General Gorham did not seek the office of -Assistant Secretary; the office sought him, and Mr. Chandler himself -would take no denial. So, also, of Mr. Gaylord, his able and untiring -Assistant Attorney-General for the department. And the same is true of -Mr. Partridge, his discreet and trusted private secretary. Surrounded -by such aids he well knows that no material interest can suffer by any -temporary contingency, such as the one which now occurs.--_Washington -dispatch to the Philadelphia "City Item" of Oct. 20, 1875_ (_referring -to Mr. Chandler's temporary absence_). - -[38] No appointment was ever more thoroughly justified by the result -than Mr. Chandler's. It gave him a new field for his energy and his -masterly executive ability, and it is conceded that he made the best -Secretary of the Interior that the nation has had in our day. He made -no boasts of what he intended to accomplish, but instituted reforms and -uprooted abuses. He hated dishonest men, and they feared him.--_Gen. J. -R. Hawley, in the "Hartford Courant."_ - -On no occasion was Mr. Chandler known to use his official position for -his own pecuniary gain--directly or indirectly. His death has ended a -long career of public service in executive and legislative capacities, -and throughout his hands were ever clean of unjust or illegitimate -gain--nor did his bitterest political foe (and no man evoked stronger -personal criticism) ever charge, or ever suspect him, with making -personal profit out of his political station and opportunities.--_T. F. -Bayard in the Senate, Jan. 28, 1880._ - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876--AT HOME--THE MARSH FARM NEAR LANSING. - - -The Michigan delegation to the Cincinnati Convention of 1876 selected -Mr. Chandler as the member of the National Republican Committee -for their State, and at the first formal meeting of that body (at -Philadelphia, early in July) he was chosen its chairman after a close -triangular contest between his friends and those of the Hon. A. B. -Cornell and Gen. E. F. Noyes. The committee at once opened rooms at -the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York, with its Secretary, the Hon. R. C. -McCormick of Arizona, in immediate charge. Mr. Chandler made frequent -visits to the headquarters throughout the campaign, superintending the -general plan of operations and meeting with the executive committee; as -election-day approached his attendance became more constant. - -Originally he felt confident of Republican victory, not believing that -in the centennial year the American people would render a political -verdict whose result would be the restoration of the disloyal classes -of the South to national supremacy. But, in September, evidences of -Republican apathy in the important States of Ohio and Indiana--more -especially in the former, which was the home of the Presidential -candidate--greatly disturbed him, and made it plain that the situation -was critical. It had become evident that organized brutality would give -all the close Southern States to the Democrats and even make doubtful -those which were strongly Republican, and that the merchantable and -criminal classes of New York city would be so used as to also cast the -electoral vote of that great State for the Opposition. The gravity of -the prospect then brought out Mr. Chandler's best qualities of party -leadership. Prompt aid was rendered in Ohio, and the National Committee -did more than its full share (Mr. Chandler making large personal -advances) to carry that State in the important October election. -After the serious loss of Indiana, measures were at once instituted -to organize the party for decisive work on the Pacific Slope, to see -that in those Southern States where there was any hope all lawful -measures were taken to defeat the plans of "the rifle clubs" and "the -white leagues," and to carry New York if that was possible. Nothing was -spared that would arouse the spirit of the party, and Mr. Chandler saw -that the means were forthcoming for every effort that promised to make -success more certain. - -The elections showed that the calculations of the managers of the -Republican campaign were accurate, and were also adequate to "snatching -victory from the jaws of defeat." The effort to save New York failed, -and it and the neighboring States rewarded with their electoral votes -the unscrupulous and subtle skill of Governor Tilden's personal -canvass. But the Republican victories beyond the Rocky Mountains, -and the resolute resistance offered in South Carolina, Louisiana and -Florida, to the seizure of those States by political crimes ranging -from shameless fraud to wholesale massacre, still left success with the -Republicans after a contest without an American parallel in obstinacy, -bitterness and excitement. Mr. Chandler showed throughout the prolonged -electoral dispute "the courage which mounteth with the occasion," and -his firmness, vigor and activity were among the important factors in -the work of saving the fruits of the so narrowly-won victory. As soon -as the smoke lifted from the battle-field his dispatch appeared, "Hayes -has 185 votes and is elected," and he maintained that position to the -end without a shade of faltering. Knowing that the Republicans were -rightfully entitled to the electoral votes of, at least, Mississippi, -Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, he determined that in -the three States where the existence of Republican officials afforded -some ground for hope nothing should be left undone to deprive fraud and -violence of their prey, and he pushed every measure which seemed needed -to uphold the Republicans of Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina -in their lawful rights. In some of the important closing phases of -this exciting contest his counsels were not followed. The Electoral -Commission act was not a measure that he approved. Firmly believing -in the constitutional power of the President of the Senate to count -the electoral votes and announce the result, he held the position that -that officer should discharge that duty, and that the candidate thus -constitutionally declared elected should be duly inaugurated at all -hazards; and revolutionary threats were without effect upon his firm -purpose. The negotiations between the opposing party leaders which -attended the closing hours of the struggle, and which culminated in -the abandonment by the new administration of the Republican State -governments of the South, received no sanction from him. He regarded -such a policy as essentially perfidious, and as clouding the title -of Mr. Hayes to his high office, a title which Mr. Chandler believed -to be as clear as that possessed by any President chosen since the -formation of the constitution. Much else that attended the surrender -of the South to the bitter enemies of the republic he deprecated as -exceedingly harmful to the party of his faith, as unwise in tendency, -and as unjust in principle. He was not demonstrative in his criticisms -upon the new "policy," and his retirement to private life enabled him -to maintain a general silence upon the subject. But his disapproval of -a "conciliation," which he regarded as cowardly in its treatment of -friends and as foolish in its manifestation of undeserved confidence -in enemies, was profound.[39] Within two years the vindication of his -opinions was complete. - -The indebtedness of the Republicans to Mr. Chandler's attitude and -efforts in the presidential election of 1876 and the subsequent -electoral dispute can scarcely be exaggerated. Without his firmness, -the spirit with which he held his party up to the thorough assertion -of its rights, the liberality with which he advanced the large sums -required for legitimate expenditures, and the influence of his -indomitable resolution, the final victory would have been at least -vastly more difficult of attainment, if not actually impossible. In -him the enemy never found the slightest traces of failing will or -flagging strength. While the excitement was at its height, a Democratic -periodical published a cartoon, in which Mr. Chandler was caricatured -as standing colossus-like over a yawning chasm, holding up an elephant, -labeled "The Republican Vote," by a double-handed grasp upon its tail. -The humor of the rough sketch greatly delighted its subject, and he -kept it with him for the entertainment of his friends. He first saw it -after one of the Cabinet sessions, when it was produced by President -Grant and passed through the hands of the other Secretaries, until -it reached Mr. Chandler, who, after looking it over, said, gravely -pointing out his position in the cartoon: "Mr. President, one of three -things is certain: either the rocks upon which my feet are resting -will crumble, or the elephant's tail will break, or I shall land the -animal." Into the methods of his work he never feared examination. No -cipher dispatch disclosures have cast infamy upon his name, and eager -investigation by his political enemies still left his personal honor -untainted. - -After the conclusion of Mr. Chandler's term of Cabinet service, he -remained in Washington for several weeks, and then accompanied General -Grant to Philadelphia, and was one of the party who escorted the -Ex-President down the Delaware when, on May 17, 1877, he commenced his -tour around the world. The next two years were spent by Mr. Chandler -in Michigan. His only prolonged absence from his Detroit home during -this period was caused by a two months' trip to the California coast -in June and July of 1877. A special car was placed at his service by -the Pacific Railroads (he was one of the earliest and most energetic -supporters of the trans-continental railway project), and he was -accompanied by Charles T. Gorham of Marshall, H. C. Lewis of Coldwater, -and S. S. Cobb of Kalamazoo. Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San -Francisco, and the Yo Semite Valley were visited during the journey, -and everywhere Mr. Chandler was welcomed with noteworthy public -and private entertainments; his attractive social qualities shone -throughout the jaunt. Not a great traveler, yet he saw during his life -much of the world. In 1875, in company with Senators Cameron, Anthony -and others, he visited the leading cities of the South. During one of -the Congressional recesses of his second term, he passed some months -in Europe, and while still in active business he spent a winter in the -West Indies. His knowledge of the resources and points of interest of -the Worth and Northwest was extensive and thorough. - -[Illustration: PLAT OF THE MARSH FARM.[40]] - -The marsh farm, which Mr. Chandler bought near the city of Lansing, -and the experiments in extensive and systematic drainage which he made -thereon, always received a generous share of his attention when he was -in Michigan. This enterprise was one in which he unhesitatingly made -large investments with the view of settling definitely questions of -manifest public importance. In 1857 the State of Michigan gave to its -Agricultural College the public lands in the four townships of Bath, De -Witt, Meridian, and Lansing, which were designated on the surveyor's -maps as "swamp lands;" in the main the sections covered by the grant -were marshy, although their rectilinear boundaries included some solid -ground. Mr. Chandler purchased from the college and other owners a farm -of 3,160 acres, located four miles (by railroad) from Lansing, in the -towns of Bath and De Witt in Clinton county; it included about 1,900 -acres of marsh meadow, 500 acres of tamarack swamp, and 800 acres of -oak-opening uplands. The marsh was traversed by a slender water-course, -deviously connecting some small lakes with a stream known as the -Looking-glass river. The upland portion of the farm was thoroughly -fertile, but its development and cultivation did not specially interest -Mr. Chandler, except as furnishing the needed base for his experiments -upon the marsh. He said: "Michigan contains thousands of acres of -precisely this kind of land. The drainage of this particular marsh is -difficult, as much so as is the case with any land in this peninsula -which is not a hopeless swamp. If this tract can be reclaimed, others -can be, and I propose to give the experiment of reclamation a thorough -trial. I have the money, and I believe I have the pluck. If I succeed, -it will be a good thing for the State, for it will show how to add -millions of dollars worth of land to its farms. If I fail, it will -also be a good thing, for it will settle an open question, and no man -need repeat my attempt." He pushed this experiment vigorously from the -time of its commencement until his death, and gave to it his frequent -personal supervision: His investments in the marsh farm soon came to -be counted by many tens of thousands of dollars. Originally, practical -farmers were inclined to regard his operations as sheer folly, but as -they saw the purpose, methods and thoroughness of his work, a just -appreciation of its aim followed. Mr. Chandler never disguised the -character of this enterprise. Repeatedly he said to visitors at the -farm and to friends, "I have a theory--that is a remarkably expensive -thing to have--and I propose to test it here; it will make me poorer, -but it may make others richer some time." The public value of his -experiment he believed to be great, and that fact he was quick to make -prominent whenever it seemed necessary. - -[Illustration: THE "BIG DITCH" (WINTER SCENE).] - -The general plan of drainage operations consisted in connecting by -a large ditch Park lake (which has an area of 235 acres) with the -Looking-glass river. This main ditch was constructed by straightening -the bed of Prairie creek, and possessed descent enough to ensure a slow -current in wet seasons. It is about four miles in length, and averages -fourteen feet in width by four in depth. At intervals of forty rods -are constructed lateral ditches, as a rule five feet in width at the -top by three in depth. This part of the work had not been completed at -the time of Mr. Chandler's death, but still the lateral ditching had -reached about fifty miles in aggregate length, and had well drained -about 1,000 acres in the western end of the marsh near the outlet into -the Looking-glass. In that portion of the farm the first results of -the drainage--the rotting down of the peaty surface of the marsh into -a vegetable mold--have already manifested themselves satisfactorily. -The extent to which this decomposition will continue is not completely -tested, nor does it yet appear what will be the full measure of the -arability of soil, which will be created by this process, supplemented -by the tile draining which will follow the subsidence of the marsh to -a permanent level. This peaty surface varies from two and a half feet -to a rod in depth and promises to become an enormously productive soil. -The experiments thus far tried upon it have resulted hopefully. Much -of the native grass furnished excellent hay, and stock fatted upon it -thoroughly with no more than the usual allowance of grain. The tame -grass sown was chiefly Fowl Meadow and Timothy. The former Mr. Chandler -had seen growing in Holland on reclaimed land, and he determined to -give it a trial; he was only able to find the seed in the Boston -market, and there paid for it four dollars per bushel of eleven pounds. -It is a species of Red Top, and soon yielded from one and a half to -two tons of excellent hay per acre. For four seasons this seeding-down -with tame grasses was tried with satisfactory results, and then other -experiments followed. In the fall of 1878, twelve acres of marsh, then -well seeded-down with grass, were thoroughly plowed by Superintendent -Hughes, who, in the following season, raised thereon corn, potatoes, -rutabagas and oats. The results conclusively showed that the marsh -possessed general productiveness, although the experiment itself was -marred by the unseasonable frosts of 1879. The corn looked well at -the outset, but was severely injured in the end. The potato crop was -a good one, and the yield of oats was also large. In the fall of 1879 -another tract of twelve acres was plowed, and the same experiment was -put in process of repetition. Superintendent Hughes is of the opinion -that within another year, the reclaimed marsh will produce 100 bushels -of corn to the acre. A short time before his death, Mr. Chandler said -that, in view of the success which had attended the experiments already -tried, he now felt confident that in time his farm would be pointed -out as an ague-bed transformed into one of the most valuable pieces of -property in Central Michigan, and would demonstrate the reclaimability -of large tracts of swamp land in that State. About 500 acres of the -marsh are seeded with Fowl Meadow grass; about 300 acres of this is -mowed, and the remainder is used for pasturage. Over 400 tons of -excellent hay were cut there in the season of 1879. - -[Illustration: THE SUPERINTENDENT'S HOUSE AT THE MARSH FARM.] - -Outside of the interest attaching to it by reason of the drainage -experiments, the Chandler farm would deserve notice as one of the -most thoroughly equipped and stocked of the new farms of Michigan. -It is traversed by a state road, and by the Jackson, Lansing and -Saginaw Railroad (which has established a signal station near the -farm-house). Its buildings are located upon the highest ground. They -are substantially constructed, and surrounded with all the evidences -of thrift. The main house of the farm, which is occupied by the -superintendent and his family, is a commodious frame structure, two -stories in height, and conveniently partitioned off into spacious -and airy apartments. Near it is the house-barn (32 by 54 feet in -dimensions) with sheep-sheds adjoining. About a half-mile to the east -are two tenant houses, occupied by families employed on the farm. On -the east side of the state road, at a distance of half a mile, is a -large barn, erected in 1879; its main portion is 41 by 66 feet in -dimensions, with a wing 38 by 90 feet; its height is 44 feet to the -ridge; attached are sheds 250 feet in length and "L" shaped. This -barn is largely used for storage purposes, and will receive 250 tons -of hay. The basement of its wing is divided into 60 cattle stalls, 30 -on each side, with a broad passage through the center. The stalls are -ingeniously arranged in the most improved style, and with a special -regard for cleanliness. In the basement of the main barn is a large -root cellar (capable of holding 2,000 bushels of potatoes, turnips, -etc.), stabling accommodations for eight horses, two large box-stalls -for stallions, a feed-room 20 by 25 feet in size, numerous calf-pens, -and many other conveniences. Located above are two granaries, each -12 by 28 feet in dimensions. Attached to the barn, but in a separate -building, is a 12-horse-power engine, used for cutting feed, and for -other farm purposes. A large automatic windmill and pump supply water -in abundance. - -The farm is well stocked; on it are seventeen horses, including "Mark -Antony," an imported Normandy stallion, which is a fine specimen of the -Percheron breed. There are also 120 head of handsome graded cattle on -the farm, 300 sheep graded from Shropshire Down bucks, and 23 pure-bred -Essex swine. In wagons and implements of every kind the equipment -is complete, and all are of the best manufacture and most improved -quality. The force of laborers on the farm as a rule includes five men -in summer and three in winter, large gangs being employed during the -two months of the haying season, and also when there is any extensive -fencing or ditching enterprise to be pushed. - -[Illustration: THE MAIN BARN OF THE MARSH FARM.] - -Mr. Chandler's experiments were closely watched by the farmers of -Michigan. Visits were frequent from them singly, in small parties, -and in club or grange excursions to the marsh, and they always met a -hospitable reception. Letters of inquiry also came from many parts of -the State, giving evidence of the widespread character of the interest -felt. Mr. Chandler himself when in Michigan visited the farm at least -once a month, inspecting the work thoroughly, discussing plans with the -superintendent, making suggestions, and giving orders. His experience -as a farmer in his boyhood furnished ideas which were yet useful and -a judgment which was well-informed; still he was ready to welcome all -innovations that promised good results, and he closed many discussions -with his superintendents by remarking, "If you come at me with facts, -that is enough; I never argue against them." At the farm he also -found the most congenial relaxation. He would come there jaded out -with the excitement and labor of political contest and public life; -in stout clothing and heavy boots he would scour the meadows, examine -ditching, look up the stock, oversee labor, and work himself if there -was an inviting opportunity. A day or two of this life would bring -rest, hearty appetite, and sound sleep, would relieve his nerves from -tension, and restore his vital powers to their natural activity. He -always rated his visits to the marsh farm as a certain and delightful -tonic. - -[Illustration: MR. CHANDLER'S RESIDENCE IN WASHINGTON.] - -In private life Mr. Chandler kept up the habits which marked his public -career. His voluminous correspondence was never neglected. Napoleon's -method of leaving letters unopened for three weeks, because within -that time most of them would need no replies, he reversed. As a rule, -every communication addressed to Mr. Chandler was promptly answered; -to even mere notes of compliment brief responses were sent. Of course -this practice made a confidential secretary indispensable, and that -position was held for some years by a Mr. Miller; after his death (in -1870) it was discreetly and faithfully filled by George W. Partridge. -Matters entrusted to Mr. Chandler's care by constituents always -received early attention; the same statement is true of applications -from the humblest stranger who preferred a claim upon his attention, -and it includes political enemies as well as friends. Mr. Chandler -regarded meeting these demands as part of his public duties; no other -prominent man of his day gave to such matters a tithe of the time and -energy devoted to them by him, and this was one source of his hold upon -the popular affection. Of course much labor was involved, but this was -offset by the fact that in all his duties he was regular, punctual -and systematic; his mercantile training helped him greatly in this -respect, and it was said of him truly, "He has never been excelled as -a 'business Senator' at Washington." While not a student, he was a man -who prepared for every important action. In his speeches he aimed at -nervous strength and effectiveness. For oratorical finish he cared -nothing, but simple language, terse sentences, some plain word whose -meaning was an argument in itself--these he sought for unceasingly. -He apologized for the length of one of his brief speeches because he -had not had time to make it shorter. Not rarely he would put into a -sentence of ten Saxon words the power of a philippic, and this rough -missile would crush where mere rhetoric would have only irritated. Mr. -Chandler never failed as a speaker to command the popular attention, -and his force and the simplicity of his diction were greatly aided -by the sincerity which illuminated them. The vigor and truth of -conviction, which made him so ardent a champion of the party of his -political faith, marked his speeches, and made his appeals potent with -his hearers. "His words were simple and his soul sincere." In fact, -his sincerity and honesty were the salient qualities of the man. His -was not a faultless character; but it was above baseness, and it was -free from affectation, from cant, and from hypocrisy. The record of his -public life recalls Emerson's estimate of Bonaparte: "This man showed -us how much may be accomplished by the mere force of such virtues as -all men possess in less degree--namely, by punctuality, by personal -attention, by courage, and by thoroughness." But more honorable to his -memory is the fact that concerning the man himself can be justly quoted -Carlyle's eloquent tribute to Burns: "He is an honest man.... In his -successes and his failures, in his greatness and his littleness, he is -ever clear, simple and true, and glitters with no lustre but his own. -We reckon this to be a great virtue--to be, in fact, the root of most -other virtues." - -[Illustration: MR. CHANDLER'S RESIDENCE IN DETROIT.] a game of - -Mr. Chandler's social nature was a hearty one. His manners were easy, -he was affable with all, and he was without the slightest tinge of -aristocratic tastes or prejudice. No false dignity surrounded him; with -his friends his laugh was ready; he liked whist, enjoyed a good story, -found pleasure in social gatherings, was entertaining in conversation, -and easily gave way to the natural jollity of his spirits. Exact -and stern as he often was, his intimates found him a most agreeable -companion Few men have ever bound friends to themselves more firmly. - -He surrounded his homes with the comforts that wealth could supply, -and yet was not ostentatious. His Washington residence he purchased -for about $40,000 in 1867 from Senor Bareda, the Peruvian Minister. -It is located on H between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, and is -a handsome house with spacious parlors and dining room upon the first -floor; commodious apartments occupy the upper stories, which are -connected by rich staircases of black walnut. Mr. Chandler's office -was located in the basement, and has been the scene of many important -consultations between famous men on questions of party policy and -public concern. His Detroit home was the mansion on the Northwest -corner of Fort and Second streets, which he built in 1855-'56. It -is situated in spacious grounds, and is of the plain Roman style of -architecture, which aims at the simple in outline and massive in -effect. A semi-circular drive and path lead to it through the gate-ways -of a heavy and handsome fence and into a large _porte cochere_. Thence -wide stone steps rise through solid mahogany doors to a broad hall, -whose floor of inlaid woods is partly hidden by rich rugs. On the -right is the drawing room, a spacious apartment furnished in blue and -gold, and abounding in tasteful ornaments and handsome paintings. In -it stands Randolph Rogers's marble bust of Mr. Chandler, executed -about 1870. Opposite and connected by folding doors are the library -and dining room. The former's shelves are well filled with the best -works of standard authors, including many ancient chronicles seldom -found in private book collections. Back of the dining room and across -a transverse hallway is the apartment that was Mr. Chandler's private -office; its walls are literally covered with shelving containing -Congressional annals and reports and many public documents. The -appointments of the numerous other rooms are tasteful and complete, -and all the surroundings of the house are in keeping with its quiet -elegance. In 1858 Mr. Chandler met there with an accident of nearly -fatal results. He followed his little daughter upon a search for some -escaping gas, and was caught with her in a room in which a large mass -of that inflammable vapor was exploded by a lighted candle. To add -to the danger of the situation the door was closed upon them by a -frightened servant. Mr. Chandler seized his child and sheltered her -from serious danger, and groped his way out blinded and scorched. It -was then found that his hands and face were badly burned, and the loss -of his eyesight was threatened. Careful treatment and his vigorous -constitution ultimately brought about a full recovery, and the only -traces left of the casualty were some slight affections of the facial -muscles and an unusual pallor of countenance. - -Mr. Chandler's domestic life was a thoroughly happy one. He married -Letitia Grace Douglass of New York, a noble Christian woman, whose -social accomplishments blended dignity with grace, and who met to the -full her large share of the exacting duties attendant upon public -life and high station. Their only child was a daughter, Mary Douglass -Chandler, who was married, while her father was a Senator, to the Hon. -Eugene Hale of Ellsworth, Maine. She inherited many of her father's -traits, and his affection for her was rooted in the inner fibres of his -strong nature. Her children, his three little grandsons, often knew him -as a rollicking playfellow, and he counseled with her freely and often, -and she shared in his confidence as well as his love. Throughout his -life he expressed his appreciation of the devoted attachment of his -wife and child by many acknowledgments that do not belong to a public -chronicle; his will left his great estate to them as his sole heirs, -"share and share alike." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[39] In the fall of 1877 Mr. Chandler delivered the annual address -before the Branch County Agricultural Society, and while in Coldwater -was the guest of the Hon. Henry C. Lewis of that city, who invited a -few friends to meet him socially. In the course of the conversation -Mr. Chandler said that he was going to his Lansing farm to spend a few -days. His reticence in regard to the Hayes administration was then a -matter of remark, and the Hon. C. D. Randall said to him: "Well, Mr. -Chandler, when you get out in the center of your great farm and alone, -you will have a fine opportunity to express your opinion about the -Hayes 'policy.'" Mr. Chandler's reply was: "No, sir; that Lansing farm -will never answer my purpose. To do that I shall have to be on the top -of a high hill behind the meeting-house and with the wind blowing the -other way!" The audience responded with a hearty laugh. - -[40] The heavy black lines in this map are the boundaries of the -farm; the waving lines indicate the border of the uplands surrounding -the marsh. The drainage is from Mud Lake via "the big ditch" to the -Looking-glass river. The lateral ditching (of which there are over -fifty miles) is shown on the plat by the fine lines. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -THE MICHIGAN ELECTION OF 1878--MR. CHANDLER'S RETURN TO THE -SENATE--"THE JEFF. DAVIS SPEECH." - - -The township elections in Michigan in April, 1878, revealed an -astonishing growth in the number of the advocates of an irredeemable -paper currency. "Hard times," Democratic disgust over the result of -the electoral dispute, and Republican disappointment at "the Southern -policy" of the new administration greatly relaxed existing party ties, -and made the way ready for the expounders of the seductive theory -that prosperity depends upon a great volume of the currency, and -that large issues of paper bearing the government stamp must greatly -add to individual wealth. Throughout the West and South, Republican -and Democratic leaders had fostered these fallacious ideas, and thus -prepared the field of public sentiment for this "Greenback" sowing. In -Michigan the result was that the National party (which in 1876 gave -only 9,060 votes to Peter Cooper for President) in April, 1878, cast -over 70,000 votes for its township candidates, elected a large number -of supervisors in the most populous counties of the State, and showed -greater strength than either of the old parties in four Congressional -districts. This was the gravest situation the Republicans of Michigan -had ever been called upon to face. A conference of their representative -men was at once held, at the call of the State Central Committee, and -the situation was thoroughly discussed. Among those participating -was Gov. Charles M. Croswell, who said that he believed that the -party should boldly declare for a sound currency, and resist with all -its power the further spread of financial heresy; for himself, he -preferred defeat on that platform to a victory won by any surrender -to false theories. The endorsement of his views was substantially -unanimous, and an aggressive campaign was determined upon. The State -Convention was promptly called, and met in Detroit on June 13. It was -the ablest political gathering ever held in Michigan, and its delegates -included the foremost men of the party from every county. Mr. Chandler -presided; Governor Croswell was renominated at the head of a strong -State ticket; a platform, admirable for its soundness of doctrine and -clearness of statement[41] (its author was Frederick Morley, formerly -editor of the Detroit _Post_), was adopted; and Mr. Chandler was, amid -the prolonged cheering of the convention, placed at the head of the -State Committee. He had at that time about completed his plans for -a European journey, and it was suggested to him by friends that his -chairmanship of the National Committee afforded a valid excuse for -declining this new appointment, which would make him responsible for -the result of a doubtful fight, with the certainty that defeat would -greatly impair his political prestige. To this advice Mr. Chandler -simply replied, "If Michigan Republicanism goes down, I will go -with it." He promptly canceled all other engagements, appointed his -confidential secretary, G. W. Partridge, secretary of the committee -(with the consent of its members), and threw his energy and vigor into -that State campaign. The contest that followed under his leadership -preserved the spirit of the convention and upheld the doctrines of the -platform. The financial question was discussed in every phase "upon -the stump" and by the press. Mr. Chandler himself spoke in all the -leading cities of the State, and was seconded by many other orators, -including James G. Blaine, James A. Garfield, and Stewart L. Woodford, -whose addresses were masterly examples of the candid, luminous and -popular treatment of a topic usually regarded as too abstruse and dry -for profitable public discussion. The courage and honesty of this fight -were justly rewarded. The Republicans carried the State by over 47,000 -plurality, and elected every Congressional candidate and a Legislature -with a large Republican majority upon joint ballot. The victory was -a signal one. In no Western State had financial heresy ever been as -resolutely grappled with and as thoroughly beaten, and his prominent -share in this battle must rank among Mr. Chandler's most unselfish and -honorable public services. - -An unforeseen but almost poetically just result of this triumph was -his own return to Congress. Senator Christiancy's failing health -compelled him in the winter of 1879 to seek (under physician's -advice) rest and a change of climate. The President offered him the -embassadorship at Berlin, or at Mexico, or at Lima, and he finally -decided to accept the latter. His nomination was sent to the Senate -on Jan. 29, 1879, and confirmed without reference to a committee. On -February 10, his resignation as Senator was laid before the Michigan -Legislature, and on the 18th that body filled the vacancy by election. -With the earliest hints of the possibility of Senator Christiancy's -retirement, Republican opinion and the popular expectation had agreed -that Mr. Chandler would be chosen for the remaining years of what the -Republicans of Michigan had unsuccessfully sought to make his fourth -term. This was regarded as due to him, as still more due to the party -which had in 1875 been deprived of its choice, and as securing the -restoration to public activity of a man of national influence and -prominence, at an hour when the sagacity of his political judgment -had been vindicated by the alarming attitude of the South, and when -the sturdiest qualities of leadership were needed in Washington. The -legislative action reflected this strong current of public sentiment. -In the Republican caucus (held in the new Capitol of that State), -Mr. Chandler was nominated for Senator on the first formal ballot, -receiving sixty-nine of the eighty-nine votes cast. In the Legislature -he was elected by the vote of every Republican in his seat in either -branch. - -[Illustration: THE MICHIGAN CAPITOL AT LANSING.] - -On Feb. 22, 1879, Mr. Chandler's credentials were presented and -read in the Senate, and he was escorted by Senator Ferry to the -Vice-President's desk, where the official oath was administered to -him by William A. Wheeler. He took the seat upon the outer row of -the Republican side, which he had occupied in other Congresses. -The circumstances of his return to public life attracted national -attention, and his re-appearance in the Senate was everywhere accepted -as significant of the growth of Republican courage and resolution. -But what followed outstripped all expectation and was dramatic in its -accessories. Upon February 28, he first addressed the Forty-fifth -Senate, speaking briefly upon a bill providing for pension arrears, -and in advocacy of an amendment to make more efficient the methods of -detecting pension frauds by taking expert examiners from one part of -the country and sending them to another. In this connection he referred -to his own experience as Secretary of the Interior, saying that he -had declared that with $100,000 to so use he could save $1,000,000 to -the Treasury yearly. Upon the same day, he also spoke briefly upon -the Sundry Civil Appropriation bill, opposing a proposition in it to -re-open a settled claim of the war of 1812, based on expenditures -made by some of the older States for military purposes. He spoke from -recollection of a discussion in 1857, when this matter came up, and -showed that the principal of the claims had been already paid, and -that this was an attempt to collect compound interest. This measure, -which Mr. Chandler repeatedly opposed during his Senatorial career, was -again defeated at this time. On March 1, a proposition to pay Georgia -over $72,000 compound interest upon advances alleged to have been made -in 1835-'38 in the Creek, Seminole and Cherokee wars was strenuously -and successfully opposed by him. On the 28th of February, a bill had -been passed by the Senate making appropriations for the arrearages -of pensions. To this an amendment was offered and adopted extending -to those who served in the war with Mexico the provisions of the law -passed in 1878, giving pensions to the surviving soldiers of 1812. This -amendment was adopted without full consideration, and on the evening of -Sunday, March 2, a motion was made and carried for a reconsideration. -Then an amendment was offered excluding persons who served in the -Confederate army or held any office under the "Confederacy" from the -benefits of this bill. This amendment was defeated by the votes of the -Democrats and two Southern Republicans. Another amendment was offered -by Senator Hoar excluding Jefferson Davis from the benefits of any -pension bill. An astonishing debate followed. For some hours the Senate -Chamber rang with fervent eulogies upon the arch-rebel of the South. -Senator Garland declared that Davis's record would "equal in history -all Grecian fame and all Roman glory." Senator Maxey pronounced him -"a battle-scarred, knightly gentleman." Senator Lamar characterized -the proposition as a "wanton insult," springing from "hate, bitter, -malignant sectional feeling, and a sense of personal impunity;" he -added, "The only difference between myself and Jefferson Davis is that -his exalted character, his pre-eminent talents, his well-established -reputation as a statesman, as a patriot, and as a soldier enabled -him to take the lead in a cause to which I consecrated myself;" he -further declared that Davis's motives were as "sacred and noble as -ever inspired the breast of a Hampden or a Washington." Senator Harris -pronounced him "the peer of any Senator on this floor." "I will not," -said Senator Coke, "vote to discriminate against Mr. Davis, for I was -just as much a rebel as he." Senator Ransom said, "I shall not dwell -upon Mr. Davis's public services as an American soldier and statesman. -He belongs to history, as does that cause to which he gave all the -ability of his great nature." There was no lack of Republican protest -against this apotheosis of unrepentant treason, but it was not wholly -free from a certain deprecatory tone. The Senators who spoke in support -of Mr. Hoar's proposition rather remonstrated against than denounced -the assumption that it was their duty to quietly assent to legislation -which would place the unamnestied and still defiant representative -of the Great Rebellion on the pension-rolls of the nation. After -the debate had lasted for over two hours, Mr. W. E. Chandler of New -Hampshire, who was watching its progress from the reporters' gallery, -said to Senator E. H. Rollins of his State, "Tell Zach. Chandler that -he is the man to call Jeff. Davis a traitor." Mr. Rollins delivered the -message, which was received with a nod of acquiescence in the direction -of the gallery. Senator Morgan of Alabama was speaking at the time, -with Senator Mitchell of Oregon in the chair. As Mr. Morgan closed, -Senator Chandler rose and said: - - Mr. President, twenty-two years ago to-morrow, in the old Hall of - the Senate, now occupied by the Supreme Court of the United States, - I, in company with Mr. Jefferson Davis, stood up and swore before - Almighty God that I would support the Constitution of the United - States. Mr. Jefferson Davis came from the Cabinet of Franklin - Pierce into the Senate of the United States and took the oath with - me to be faithful to this government. During four years I sat in - this body with Mr. Jefferson Davis and saw the preparations going - on from day to-day for the overthrow of this government. With - treason in his heart and perjury upon his lips he took the oath to - sustain the government that he meant to overthrow. - - Sir, there was method in that madness. He, in co-operation with - other men from his section and in the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan, made - careful preparation for the event that was to follow. Your armies - were scattered all over this broad land where they could not be - used in an emergency; your fleets were scattered wherever the winds - blew and water was found to float them, where they could not be - used to put down rebellion; your Treasury was depleted until your - bonds bearing six per cent., principal and interest payable in - coin, were sold for 88 cents on the dollar for current expenses, - and no buyers. Preparations were carefully made. Your arms were - sold under an apparently innocent clause in an army bill providing - that the Secretary of War might, at his discretion, sell such arms - as he deemed it for the interest of the government to sell. - - Sir, eighteen years ago last month I sat in these halls and - listened to Jefferson Davis delivering his farewell address, - informing us what our constitutional duties to this government - were, and then he left and entered into the rebellion to overthrow - the government that he had sworn to support! I remained here, - sir, during the whole of that terrible rebellion. I saw our brave - soldiers by thousands and hundreds of thousands, aye, I might say - millions, pass through to the theater of war, and I saw their - shattered ranks return; I saw steamboat after steamboat and - railroad train after railroad train arrive with the maimed and the - wounded; I was with my friend from Rhode Island (Mr. Burnside) when - he commanded the Army of the Potomac, and saw piles of legs and - arms that made humanity shudder; I saw the widow and the orphan in - their homes, and heard the weeping and wailing of those who had - lost their dearest and their best. Mr. President, I little thought - at that time that I should live to hear in the Senate of the United - States eulogies upon Jefferson Davis, living--a living rebel - eulogized on the floor of the Senate of the United States! Sir, I - am amazed to hear it; and I can tell the gentlemen on the other - side that they little know the spirit of the North when they come - here at this day, and, with bravado on their lips, utter eulogies - upon a man whom every man, woman, and child in the North believes - to have been a double-dyed traitor to his government. - -[Illustration: SENATOR CHANDLER DENOUNCING THE EULOGIES UPON "JEFF." -DAVIS. - -[In the Senate Chamber, at 3 A. M., Monday, March 3, 1879.]] - -This speech was made at about the hour of half-past three in the -morning of Monday, March 3, 1879. But few people were in the galleries -at that time, and the Senate had lapsed into a listless state. Mr. -Chandler's bearing as he arose to speak, and the first sentence that -resounded through the Senate Chamber in his strong voice, aroused -instant attention. The spectators above listened with new and eager -interest, Senators came in from the lobbies and cloakrooms, sleep was -shaken off by drowsy _attaches_, and his closing words "a double-dyed -traitor to his government" fell in ringing tones upon an intent -audience and were answered by an applause from the galleries which -the gavel of the presiding officer could not check. His excited -hearers listened eagerly for a reply, but none came. After some -silent waiting the presiding officer stated the pending question, -and was about to put it to vote. Senator Thurman then rose and began -the discussion of another branch of the subject, and no answer was -attempted to Mr. Chandler's just denunciation of the eulogizing of -the man, whose past history and present attitude unite to make him at -once the representative of treason's crimes and the embodiment of its -unrepentant spirit. When the vote was taken, one majority was given -for Mr. Hoar's amendment, and after that result the original amendment -itself was defeated. - -This speech was a masterpiece in its way--in its brevity, in its -skillful use of the speaker's early official association with Jefferson -Davis, in its vivid epitome of the history of American treason, and in -the rugged power of its simple language. It most profoundly stirred -the people. It may be said without exaggeration that years had passed -since any Congressional utterance had received such public attention. -Democratic and Southern denunciation of Mr. Chandler followed -abundantly, but this was wholly overshadowed by the enthusiasm of the -response of the patriotic sentiment of the Union to his indignant -refusal to let treason raise its head in insolence without branding it -as it deserved. The Northern press reprinted the speech with unstinted -praise. Public men hastened in person, by telegraph, and through the -mails to tender their congratulations. Letters of fervent thanks poured -in by the hundreds; from utter strangers, from the rich and the humble, -from veteran soldiers, from mothers whose sons were buried on Southern -battle-fields, from the colored men, from the Republicans of the South, -from every State and Territory came the expressions of gratitude for -the utterance given at so opportune a moment and with such force to the -loyal feeling of the republic. It was this spontaneous approval of the -masses of the people that Mr. Chandler especially prized. - -On March 18, 1879, the extra session of the Forty-sixth Congress -commenced, and the Democrats made their abortive attempt to force the -repeal of the laws relating to the supervision of national elections by -withholding appropriations. Their reactionary programme (the striking -of the last vestige of the war measures from the statute books was even -threatened) and revolutionary menaces aroused the North, and in the end -they quailed before the rising popular wrath. Mr. Chandler denounced -their schemes vigorously on the floor of the Senate, even charging -explicitly that twelve of the Southern Senators "held their seats by -fraud and violence." He also earnestly opposed all propositions to -compel the unlimited coinage of the silver dollar of 412½ grains, a -measure which would have given to the country a superabundance of -silver currency of depreciated value to the exclusion of gold. His -last Congressional speech was this carefully prepared and forcible -"arraignment of the Democratic party," of which tens of thousands of -copies were circulated throughout the Union in the following campaign: - - We have now spent three months and a half in this Capitol, not - without certain results. We have shown to the people of this nation - just what the Democratic party means. The people have been informed - as to your objects, ends, and aims. By fraud and violence, by - shot-guns and tissue ballots, you hold a present majority in both - Houses of Congress, and you have taken an early opportunity to show - what you intend to do with that majority thus obtained. You are - within sight of the promised land, but like Moses of old we propose - to send you up into the mountain to die politically. - - Mr. President, we are approaching the end of this extra session, - and its record will soon become history. The acts of the Democratic - party, as manifested in this Congress, justify me in arraigning - it before the loyal people of the United States on the political - issues which it has presented, _as the enemy of the nation_ and as - the author and abettor of rebellion. - - 1. I arraign the Democratic party for having resorted to - revolutionary measures to carry out its partisan projects, by - attempting to coerce the Executive by withholding supplies, and - thus accomplishing by starvation the destruction of the government - which they had failed to overthrow by arms. - - 2. I arraign them for having injured the business interests of - the country by forcing the present extra session, after liberal - compromises were tendered to them prior to the close of the last - session. - - 3. I arraign them for having attempted to throw away the results of - the recent war by again elevating State over National Sovereignty. - We expended $5,000,000,000 and sacrificed more than 300,000 - precious lives to put down this heresy and to perpetuate the - _national life_. They surrendered this heresy at Appomattox, but - now they attempt to renew this pretension. - - 4. I arraign them for having attempted to damage the business - interests of the country by forcing silver coin into circulation, - of less value than it represents, thus swindling the laboring-man - and the producer, by compelling them to accept 85 cents for a - dollar, and thus enriching the bullion-owners at the expense of the - laborer. Four million dollars a day is paid for labor alone, and - by thus attempting to force an 85 cent dollar on the laboring-man - you swindle him daily out of $600,000. Twelve hundred million - dollars are paid yearly for labor alone, and by thus attempting to - force an 85-cent dollar on the laboring-man you swindle him out of - $180,000,000 a year. The amount which the producing class would - lose is absolutely incalculable. - - 5. I arraign them for having removed without cause experienced - officers and employes of this body, some of whom served and were - wounded in the Union army, and for appointing men who had in the - rebel army attempted to destroy this government. - - 6. I arraign them for having instituted a secret and illegitimate - tribunal, the edicts of which have been made the supreme governing - power of Congress in defiance of the fundamental principles of the - constitution. The decrees of this junta are known although its - motives are hidden. - - 7. I arraign them for having held up for public admiration that - arch-rebel, Jefferson Davis, declaring that he was inspired by - motives as sacred and as noble as animated Washington; and as - having rendered services in attempting to destroy the Union which - will equal in history Grecian fame and Roman glory. [Laughter on - the Democratic side and in portions of the galleries.] You can - laugh. The people of the North will make you laugh on the other - side of your faces! - - 8. I arraign them for having undertaken to blot from the - statute-book of the nation wise laws, rendered necessary by the war - and its results, and insuring "life, liberty and the pursuit of - happiness" to the emancipated freedmen, who are now so bulldozed - and ku-kluxed that they are seeking peace in exile, although urged - to remain by shot-guns. - - 9. I arraign them for having attempted to repeal the wise - legislation which excludes those who served under the rebel flag - from holding commissions in the army and navy of the United States. - - 10. I arraign them for having introduced a large amount of - legislation for the exclusive benefit of the States recently in - rebellion, which, if enacted, would bankrupt the national Treasury. - - 11. I arraign them for having conspired to destroy all that the - Republican party has accomplished. Many of them breaking their - oaths of allegiance to the United States and pledging their - lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors to overthrow this - government, they failed, and thus lost all they pledged. - - _Call a halt._ The days of vaporing are over. The loyal North is - aroused and their doom is sealed. - - I accept the issue on these arraignments distinctly and - specifically before the citizens of this great republic. As a - Senator of the United States and as a citizen of the United States, - I appeal to the people. It is for those citizens to say who is - right and who is wrong. I go before that tribunal confident that - the Republican party is right and that the Democratic party is - wrong. - - They have made these issues; not we; and by them they must stand or - fall. This is the platform which they have constructed, not only - for 1879 but for 1880. They cannot change it, for we will hold them - to it. They have made their bed, and we will see to it that they - lie thereon. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[41] The Michigan Republicans have done well. Their platform has about -it the clear ring of honest conviction, undulled by any half-hearted -and halting compromise. So lucid and courageous an enunciation of -the financial creed of the Republican party has certainly not been -made this year, nor has the irreconcilable hostility of the party to -all forms of tampering with public credit and national honor been so -resolutely and judiciously stated as by the Detroit Convention.--_New -York Times, June 14, 1878._ - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -THE CAMPAIGN OF 1879--MR. CHANDLER'S LAST DAYS--DEATH AND FUNERAL. - - -The closing hours of the Forty-fifth Congress and the extra session -of the Forty-sixth may be said to have revealed Mr. Chandler to the -country. While he had been well known he had not been truly known. He -then became a central figure in the public attention. His utterances -were universally discussed, and with discussion came a juster -appreciation of the man. The people at last saw him as he was, the -possessor of strong common-sense, a cool and indefatigable worker, a -sagacious and fearless leader, a man who had never sacrificed principle -to policy, who had never compromised with crimes against liberty or -the nation's honor, whose most malignant enemies had not accused -him of being influenced by corrupt motives, and one gifted with the -rare capacity of saying the right thing at the right time in terse, -impromptu sentences, in epigrams which became political mottoes. - -The campaign of 1879 followed closely upon the mid-summer adjournment -of Congress, and invitations to address the people came to Mr. Chandler -from a score of States. No public speaker was in more urgent demand, or -aroused a keener interest. The popular gatherings, which, during the -summer and fall, greeted his every appearance from the shores of the -Great Lakes to the Atlantic seaboard, amounted to a genuine ovation. -His first address was delivered before the Republican State Convention -of Wisconsin, at Madison, on July 23. In August he made six speeches -in Maine to immense mass meetings. In September he visited Ohio, and -spoke at Sandusky, Toledo, Warren, Cleveland, and other important -points. His audiences in that State were uniformly large, and his -Warren speech was delivered in the afternoon to an enormous crowd, -one of the greatest ever called together upon such an occasion in the -Western Reserve. He was greatly pleased by an invitation, which came to -him at about this time, from Senator G. F. Hoar, to visit Massachusetts -in October. It was unexpected, and he had believed that the Republican -leaders in the Bay State were inclined to look upon him with distrust. -He accepted it promptly, and spoke to enthusiastic audiences in Boston, -Worcester, Lynn and Lowell. Some brief remarks made at a dinner of -the Middlesex Club, in which he urged the national importance of the -pending contest, were especially useful in stimulating Republican -activity and directing it into proper channels. He next addressed -meetings in New York at Flushing, Albany, Troy, Potsdam, Lowville -and Buffalo, amid increasing public interest. On returning home from -that State in the last days of October, he revisited Wisconsin, and -spoke to great crowds at Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Janesville, returning -to Chicago, where, on the evening of October 31st, he made the last -address of his life. - -The striking evidences of his hold upon the popular confidence, which -manifested themselves during the summer and fall of 1879, led to the -frequent mention of Mr. Chandler as a possible presidential candidate -in 1880. His friends in his own State were eager to formally present -his name to the National Convention, and the Republican press of -Michigan united in earnestly advocating such a course. This movement -also manifested strength in other States, and steadily increased in -importance up to the hour of his death. Although Mr. Chandler was not -insensible to this growing sentiment, little or nothing was done by -him to promote it; he favored the renomination of General Grant, and -the presidential ambition he rated as the most fatal malady to which -public men are subject.[42] To one friend, who spoke of the popular -feeling and his own desire in this matter, Mr. Chandler replied: "You -may vaccinate me with the presidency and scratch it deep, but it won't -take." To another he said: "No! no! Men recover from the small-pox, -cholera and yellow fever, but never from the presidential fever. I -hope I will never get it." The movement in that direction, which his -death so abruptly checked, was spontaneous and sincere, and that it was -growing in strength was undoubted. What limit that growth might have -reached and with what result can only be conjectured. - -[Illustration: THE GRAND PACIFIC HOTEL AT CHICAGO. - -[Where Mr. Chandler died on the night of October 31, 1879.]] - -Repeatedly, during the arduous labors of the year, did Mr. Chandler's -physical powers manifest signs of rebellion against excessive effort. -In one of his Ohio speeches his voice suddenly failed, compelling -him to cease speaking. He suffered several times from what seemed to -be violent attacks of indigestion, and was on one or two occasions -dangerously distressed by them. At Janesville he caught a severe cold, -but when he reached Chicago, on the last day of his life, he seemed to -be in his usual robust health, and showed but slight signs of fatigue. -Those who called upon him on that day at the Grand Pacific Hotel noted -his fine spirits. His address in that city was delivered before the -Young Men's Auxiliary Republican Club in McCormick Hall, and he never -spoke with more animation, nor more effectively. The audience applauded -almost every sentence, and under that stimulus he rose to even more -than his usual fervor of speech. His ringing sentence, "The mission -of the Republican party will not end until you and I, Mr. Chairman, -can start from the Canada border, travel to the Gulf of Mexico, make -Black Republican speeches wherever we please, vote the Black Republican -ticket wherever we gain a residence, and do it with exactly the same -safety that a rebel can travel throughout the North, stop wherever -he has a mind to, and run for judge in any city he chooses," was -followed by cheer after cheer, until the entire audience was standing -and shouting. After closing his speech, Mr. Chandler returned to the -Grand Pacific Hotel; a few friends chatted with him in his rooms for -a short time, and at about midnight Representative Edwin Willits of -Michigan, who had been one of his hearers, made a short call, and -congratulated him upon the power of his closing appeal. After that, no -man saw Mr. Chandler alive. At seven o'clock on the following morning, -in accordance with orders, one of the employes of the hotel knocked -at his door. There was no answer, and a look over the transom showed -a figure lying in an unnatural attitude on the edge of the bed with -the feet almost touching the floor. In alarm the room was entered with -a pass-key, and Mr. Chandler was found in a half reclining posture, -with his coat about his shoulders, unconsciousness having apparently -seized him while he was attempting to rise and summon help. Medical aid -was promptly at hand, but life was extinct. "A Power had passed from -earth." Zachariah Chandler was dead! - -[Illustration: BUST PROFILE OF ZACHARIAH CHANDLER. - -[A sketch from Leonard W. Volk's plaster cast.]] - -The news spread at once throughout the great city in which he had so -suddenly fallen; friends were soon by his bedside, while a large crowd -gathered about the hotel. A coroner's jury was at once impaneled, -listened to the testimony of the physicians, and returned a verdict -that death had resulted from cerebral hemorrhage. Impressions of the -features were taken by Leonard W. Volk, the eminent sculptor, and the -lifeless body was then arranged by kind, if strange, hands for the -funeral casket. Before its removal to Detroit, thousands who cherished -the memory of the man looked mournfully upon the dead face. - -The telegraph bore the intelligence of this sudden death promptly -throughout the country, and the announcement was answered by unusual -demonstrations of national grief. Throughout the cities and towns of -Michigan, at Washington, and in many other places where his name was -well known, the insignia of mourning were at once displayed. Public -men sent prompt dispatches of sympathy to his family, upon whom the -blow had fallen with prostrating force. Especially significant were the -newspaper tributes to the memory of the bold, resolute, and successful -leader of men, whose star had not set, but had gone out at the zenith. -The President of the United States issued this official order: - - EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 1879. - - The sad intelligence of the death of Zachariah Chandler, late - Secretary of the Interior, and during so many years Senator from - the State of Michigan, has been communicated to the government - and to the country, and, in proper respect to his memory, I - hereby order that the several executive departments be closed to - public business, and their flags, and those of their dependencies - throughout the country, be displayed at half-mast on the day of his - funeral. - - R. B. HAYES. - -From the Executive Mansion also came this dispatch of personal -condolence: - - WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. 1, 1879. - - _Mrs. Z. Chandler._ - - Mrs. Hayes joins me in the expression of the most heartfelt - sympathy with you in your great bereavement. - - R. B. HAYES. - -[Illustration: GEN. U. S. GRANT'S TRIBUTE. - -[His endorsement on W. A. Gavett's official notification, as a member -of the Detroit Commandery K. T. to attend Mr. Chandler's funeral.]] - -The following proclamation was published by the Governor of Michigan: - - EXECUTIVE OFFICE, LANSING, Nov. 1, 1879. - - _To the People of Michigan_: - - An eminent citizen has suddenly been taken from us. Zachariah - Chandler was found dead in his room at the Grand Pacific Hotel in - Chicago early this morning. For nineteen years he has represented - this State in the National Senate. He held this exalted position - at the most perilous period in the history of the nation, and - unfalteringly supported every measure for the maintenance of the - Union. A member of the Cabinet under the recent administration - of President Grant, he proved himself a public officer of keen - sagacity, of incorruptible integrity and of admirable ability. A - resident of Michigan during the whole period of his manhood, he has - been active in advancing the interests of the State and promoting - its growth. By his energy he secured a competence, and by his - integrity the confidence of all. A statesman and a leader among - men, he combined in an unusual degree qualities which commanded - respect and admiration. Taken from us so unexpectedly, we cannot - but deeply feel and deplore his loss. I, therefore, as a tribute to - his memory and to his public services, hereby direct the several - State offices to be closed to public business, the flags to be - displayed at half-mast, and the other demonstrations of public - grief usual to be made, on the day of his funeral. - - CHARLES M. CROSWELL. - -An unofficial tribute, highly prized by Mr. Chandler's friends, was -that of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who wrote upon the reverse of a funeral -order issued by the Detroit Commandery of Knights Templar (shown him by -W. A. Gavett) these lines: - - A nation, as well as the state of Michigan, mourns the loss of one - of her most brave, patriotic and truest citizens. Senator Chandler - was beloved by his associates and respected by those who disagreed - with his political views. The more closely I became connected with - him the more I appreciated his great merits. - - U. S. GRANT. - - GALENA, Ill., Nov. 9, 1879. - -On the morning of Sunday, November 2, an escort of the militia and of -the people of Chicago accompanied the body of the dead Senator from -the Grand Pacific Hotel to the depot, and delivered it to a committee -of prominent citizens of Michigan, who had arrived to receive it. The -burial-case was wrapped in the national flag, and, when it had been -placed in the car, its lid was opened and the face exposed. The train -stopped at Niles, Kalamazoo, Marshall, Jackson, and Ann Arbor, and at -each place crowds came on board to look at the remains. When Detroit -was reached, thousands of grief-stricken people were at the depot, and -in solemn procession they joined the military escort in the march to -the Chandler mansion. There a few loving friends received and looked -upon the silent and lifeless form. To gratify the earnest desire of the -many who wished to behold again the strong, earnest face of Zachariah -Chandler before it was forever covered from mortal sight, the body was -removed on the morning of November 5 to the City Hall, where it lay -until one o'clock; a guard of honor kept watch at the head and foot of -the casket, and on either hand, for five hours, a double file of men -and women passed in steady march. Thousands of mournful glances were -given at the placid face of the dead, and many affecting incidents made -touching this parting tribute of the people. Then, from the City Hall, -the body was borne to the Fort street residence for the last time. The -day was cold and blustering; a blinding snow-storm set in. Yet the -streets were thronged by the sad multitude, while every train brought -from Michigan and from other States hundreds to increase the sorrowing -concourse; among them were men of great reputations founded on useful -and honorable public careers. After impressive funeral services at the -house, the remains of Michigan's great Senator, escorted by the militia -of Detroit and of the neighboring cities, by the United States troops, -by civic societies, by Governors, Senators, Congressmen, Legislators -of Michigan and of other States, and by hundreds of friends, passed -slowly through the streets draped in mourning, and lined with dense -crowds of people who braved the storm to pay this last honor to -Zachariah Chandler. At the gates of Elmwood Cemetery the militia and -civic societies halted, presenting arms as the hearse rolled slowly on -under its trees. Upon a high knoll, fronting on Prospect Avenue, it -halted; the coffin was drawn slowly out, poised a moment over an open -grave, lowered to its resting-place, and "I am the resurrection and the -life" rose up in solemn tones above the sobbings of family and friends. -Living green branches and flowers fell softly down upon the casket, and -a new mound grew up beside where Senator Chandler's brother already lay. - -Thus was Zachariah Chandler buried. Living, he was honored. Dead, he -was mourned. Though dead, his labors and his example remain, and they -form his fittest monument. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[42] This letter, written to a prominent Republican of the Pacific -coast, did not reach the gentleman to whom it was addressed until after -Mr. Chandler's death, and was then given to the public: - - REPUBLICAN STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, } - DETROIT, Mich., Sept. 23, 1879. } - -MY DEAR SIR: Your favor of 11th inst. is at hand, and contents noted. - -The prospects for the success of the Republican party in the national -election next year look much more favorable now than they did the year -preceding the election in 1876. Republicans are united, and earnestly -preparing for success as the only hope of saving the country from the -shot-gun rule of the Confederate Democracy. The Tammany bolt promises -to give us New York both this year and next. - -Ohio is sure to go Republican, and there is hardly a doubt that every -Northern State having a general election this fall will score a victory -in favor of a free ballot and an honest count. - -Each Territory is entitled to two delegates in the National Republican -Convention, under the rules heretofore adopted. I am under the -impression now that Grant's chances for the nomination are better than -those of any other person; but unless he is nominated without a contest -he will be out of the field, and there will be a trial of strength -between the friends and supporters of a few stalwart radicals. - -No unknown man of lukewarm sentiments or obscure antecedents will be -nominated. - -It is very possible that Michigan will present a name in the convention -as well as Maine, New York, Ohio, and perhaps other States; but I know -nothing special in regard to the matter, only that, if General Grant is -a candidate, no one else will be. Very truly, yours, - - Z. CHANDLER. - - - - -APPENDIX. - - - - - THE LAST SPEECH - - OF - - ZACHARIAH CHANDLER, - - DELIVERED IN MCCORMICK HALL, IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ON THE - NIGHT OF HIS DEATH, OCTOBER 31, 1879. - - [Republished by permission of Ritchie & Williston, Stenographers, - Room 23, Howland Block, Chicago.] - - -MR. CHAIRMAN AND FELLOW-CITIZENS: It has become the custom of late to -restrict the lines of citizenship. In the Senate of the United States -and in the halls of Congress you will hear citizenship described as -confined to States, and it is denied that there is such a thing as -national citizenship. I to-night address you, my fellow-citizens -of Chicago, in a broad sense as fellow-citizens of the United -States of America. [Applause.] A great crime has been committed, -my fellow-citizens--a crime against this nation, a crime against -republican institutions throughout the world; a crime against civil -liberty, and the criminal is yet unpunished--that is to say, he is not -punished according to his deserts. [Applause.] And I shall to-night -devote myself chiefly to the history of a crime, and shall endeavor to -hold up the criminal to your execration. [Renewed applause.] - -But, first, it is proper for me to allude to certain matters of -national importance, which are at this present moment living issues. -Twelve years ago an idea was started in the neighboring State of Ohio, -called the "Ohio idea," which spread and bore fruit in different -States. That idea was to pay something with nothing. [Laughter] From -this Ohio idea sprang up a brood of other ideas. For example, the -greenback idea, an unlimited issue of irredeemable currency, and a -party was inaugurated in different States called the greenback party. -It took root in Michigan last year, had a vigorous growth, put forth -limbs, blossomed liberally, bore no fruit, and died. [Laughter and -cheers.] Therefore, I shall pay no attention to the greenback party. It -is not a living issue. [Laughter.] But the Ohio idea is still a living -issue, and even during the last session of Congress a demand was made, -and persistently made, to repeal the Resumption act that had been in -existence for years. The resumption of specie payment was virtually -accomplished when, in 1874-5, that Resumption act became a law, for -at that time we made that act so strong that there was no power on -earth that could defeat the resumption of specie payments after it had -once been inaugurated. [Applause.] We authorized the Secretary of the -Treasury to use any bonds ever issued by the government, and in any -amount that was necessary, to carry forward to success specie payments, -as soon as the time arrived for the resumption. We carefully guarded -that law. True, we are under an obligation to the man who executed -the law, but the resumption of specie payments was as much a fixed -fact when that law was signed as it is to-day, and all the powers on -earth combined could not break that resumption when it had once been -inaugurated. - -But this Ohio idea, as I said, was to pay off your bonds with -greenbacks. Well, my fellow-citizens, we have paid off $160,000,000 of -your bonds in greenbacks within the last sixty or ninety days, and what -more do you want? Ah! But the Ohio idea was something different from -that. It was, as I said before, to pay something with nothing, and up -to the final adjournment of the last regular session of Congress the -attempt was still made to issue irredeemable paper and force it upon -the creditors of the nation. Now, if this paper which they propose -to issue in paying off the bonds of your government was properly and -truthfully described, it would read thus: "The government of the United -States for value received"--for it was for value received; no greenback -was ever issued except for value received; no bond of the government -was ever issued except for value received--"for value received, the -government of the United States promises to pay nothing to nobody, -never." [Applause and laughter.] That was the paper with which it was -proposed by these men, entertaining then, and now entertaining the -"Ohio idea," to redeem the bonds of your government. - -Now, you have heard, I presume, here in Chicago, the denunciation of -the holders of your government bonds. The "bloated bondholder" was a -term of reproach, both on the floor of Congress and in the streets of -Chicago and all over these United States. But who were the bloated -bondholders? Why, my friends, every single man who has a dollar in the -savings bank is a bloated bondholder, for there is not a savings-bank -in the land, which ought to be entrusted with a dollar, whose funds -are not invested in the bonds of your government. [Applause.] There -is not a widow or orphan who has a fund to support the widow in her -widowhood and the orphan in its orphanage, in a trust company, who -is not a bloated bondholder; for there is not a trust company in the -land that ought to be trusted which has not a large proportion of its -funds in the bonds of your government. Every man who has his life -insured, or his house insured, or his barn, or his lumber, or who has -any insurance, is a bloated bondholder; for there is not an insurance -company, life, fire, marine, or of any other class of insurance, that -ought to be trusted, which has not its funds invested in bonds of -your government. You may go to the books of the Treasury to-morrow and -inquire and you will find ninety-nine men who own $100 and less of the -bonds of your government, directly or indirectly, where you will find -one man who owns $10,000 or more. And these men, entertaining the Ohio -idea, would ruin the ninety-nine poor men for the possible chance of -injuring the one-hundredth rich man. And yet you may destroy the bonds -of the rich man and you do him no harm, for he has but a small amount -of his vast wealth in the bonds of your government, while the poor man, -owning $100 or under as his little all, is utterly ruined. [Applause.] - -You would not find a man, woman, or child in America who would touch -the kind of paper I have described, if proffered to them. You say you -would stop the interest on your bonded debt. Very well! The holder of -your bonds would say: "You do not propose to pay any interest. I hold -a bond for value received, with a given amount of interest payable on -a given day. Now I will hold your bonds until you men entertaining -the Ohio idea are buried in your political graves, and then I will -appeal to an honest people, to an honest government, to pay an honest -debt." [Applause] "But," say these men, "pay off your foreign bonds." -I see men before me who remember the days of General Jackson, and they -likewise remember that in the time of General Jackson the government -of France owed to the citizens of the United States $5,000,000, which -France did not refuse to pay, but neglected to pay. It ran along -from decade to decade, unpaid. General Jackson sent for the French -minister and said: "Unless that $5,000,000 due to the citizens of the -United States is paid, I will declare war against France." [Applause.] -General Jackson was remonstrated with. It would disturb the commercial -relations, not only of this country, but the world. Said he, "Unless -France pays that $5,000,000, by the Eternal, I will declare war against -France." [Applause.] Every man, woman and child and the King of France -knew that he would do it, and the $5,000,000 was paid to the United -States. It is not $5,000,000 that your government owes to the citizens -of the world, but it is more than fifty times five million, and it is -scattered in every nation with which we have commercial relations, or -where money is found to invest in your bonds. You say you will stop -the interest on those bonds. How long do you think it would be before -a British fleet would come sailing to your coast, followed by a French -fleet, and a German fleet, and a Russian, and an Austrian, and a -Spanish and an Italian fleet, and the British Admiral would step ashore -and say: "I have $50,000,000 of the bonds of this government belonging -to the citizens of Great Britain, which I am ordered to collect!" The -answer is: "Your account is correct, sir. The government of the United -States owes just $50,000,000 to the citizens of Great Britain, and here -is your money, sir." - -[Mr. Chandler, suiting the action to the word, held out a sheet of -paper with $50,000,000 written upon it, and the audience burst out into -loud and long-continued laughter.] - -The British Admiral looks at it and says: "What's that?" - -"Why, money. Don't you see? Why, it is a first mortgage on all the -property of all the citizens of all the United States." [Laughter.] -"Don't you see the stamp of the government?" [Laughter.] - -Says the Admiral: "Where is it payable?" - -"Nowhere." [Laughter and applause.] - -"To whom is it payable?" - -"Nobody." [Laughter.] - -"When is it made payable?" - -"Never." [Renewed laughter and cheers.] - -"Why," says the Admiral, "I don't know any such money. My orders are -to collect this $50,000,000 in the coin of the world, and unless it is -so paid my orders are to blockade every port of these United States, -and here are all the navies of the earth to assist me, and to burn down -every city that my guns will reach." - -Honesty is the best policy with nations as well as with individuals. -[Cheers.] "Well," they say, "perhaps you are right about this bond -business. It is an open question, and we will abandon that, but the -national banks--down with the national banks! [Laughter and applause.] -Abolish national banks and save interest." What do you want to abolish -the national banks for? That is a living issue to-day--a present -proposition of the Democratic party that I propose to hold up to your -abhorrence before I get through to-night. What do you want to "down -with the national banks" for? I was in the Senate of the United States -when that national banking law was passed. I was a member of that -body and voted upon every proposition made in it. I had had a little -experience in state banks myself. [Laughter and applause.] Michigan had -a very large state bank circulation at one time [loud applause], and -we called that "money" in those days wild-cat money [laughter], and -it was very wild. [Renewed laughter and applause.] Chicago also had -a little experience in those days as well as Michigan. In those days -it was necessary for any man liable to receive a five-dollar note to -carry a counterfeit detector with him for three purposes. First, to -ascertain whether there ever was such a bank in existence. [Laughter -and applause.] Second, to ascertain whether the bill was counterfeit, -and, third, to ascertain whether the bank had failed [laughter]--and as -a rule it had failed. [Laughter and applause.] Now, we had two objects -in view in getting up that national banking law. First, we wanted to -furnish an absolutely safe circulating medium, so that no loss could -ensue to the bill-holder. Second, we wanted to furnish a market for -our bonds which had become somewhat of a drug. We might just as well -have put in state bonds as security for those bank notes. It would have -been just as legal, just as right, but we didn't know which one or how -many of those rebel States would repudiate their bonds, and therefore -we didn't put in any. [Laughter and applause.] We might just as well -have put in railroad bonds, but we didn't know how many railroads -would default in their interest. We might just as well have put in real -estate, but we didn't know whether the neighbors of the banker would -appraise the real estate at its actual cash-selling value. [Applause -and laughter.] And therefore we put in the bonds of your government at -90 cents on the dollar; so that to-day for every single 90 cents of -national bank notes afloat there is 100 cents--(worth 102½ cents)--of -the bonds of your government deposited with the Treasurer of the United -States for the redemption of the 90 cents. [Applause.] And you don't -know and you don't care whether the bank is located in Oregon, in -Texas, in South Carolina, Mississippi, New York or Illinois, because -you know there is 102½ cents to-day of the bonds of your government -deposited with the Treasurer of the United States for the redemption of -every 90 cents of national bank notes you hold. You don't know and you -don't care whether the bank whose note you have in your pocket failed -yesterday, last week, or last year, or whether it ever failed. And you -never find that out, for if trouble comes the bonds are sold and your -bank notes are redeemed the day after, or the week after, or the year -after your bank has failed, precisely the same as though it had never -failed. [Applause.] - -Now you say, "Call in your bonds; abolish the national bank notes." -Very well! You pass a law to-morrow repealing the charters of all your -national banks. Call in the national bank notes! Every national bank in -America takes the exact amount of the circulation which it has, either -in silver or gold or greenbacks, to the Treasury, leaves it there -to redeem its notes, takes the bonds and distributes them among the -stockholders of that bank, and the day after you have called in every -national bank note that you have out, you pay the self-same amount of -interest on your bonds that you paid the day before, not one farthing -more nor less. You don't gain one cent, but you lose $16,500,000 of -taxes paid this year and last year and every year upon the stock of -the national banks to national, state and municipal governments. -[Applause.] You gain nothing, and you lose $16,500,000. You distress -the whole community of these United States by compelling your banks -to call in $850,000,000, now loaned and now being used in commerce, -manufactures and all the industries of the nation. You distress the -people by forcing a recall of that amount. No, my friends, in my -judgment you had better devote yourselves to something you understand, -and let the national banks alone. [Applause and laughter.] - -But they say, "There is one thing that we know we are right on, and -that is the free coinage of silver." Every man who holds 85 cents worth -of silver shall go to the Treasury or the mints of the United States -and take a certificate of deposit for 100 cents, which shall pass as -money. This was the Warner bill. This the Democratic party as a party -was committed to, and is committed to, and on the very last day of the -extra session by a majority vote of one, and only one, in the Senate of -the United States we substantially laid that bill upon the table, every -Republican voting aye, and every Democrat, except four or five, voting -no. [Applause.] Now, to-day, the laboring man can take gold or silver -or paper, as he chooses, for his day's labor. I am in favor of the -dual standard. I am in favor of a silver dollar with 100 cents in it. -I am in favor of an honest dollar anywhere you can find it [cheers], -and I stand by an honest dollar. To-day the laboring man can take gold -or silver or paper, and they are all of equal value, because they are -all interchangeable into each other. The paper dollar costs nothing; a -silver dollar costs the government 85 cents--a fraction more now; it -has been a fraction less. But all three are of equal value. Now the -very moment you commence issuing those certificates of deposit freely -to every man having bullion you banish gold from your circulating -medium and make it an article of traffic and nothing else; and you have -but a single standard, and that is a depreciated standard. Now there is -paid out in these United States every day for labor alone $4,000,000. -By compelling the substitution of the silver dollar alone, you swindle -the laboring man out of $600,000 a day. The laboring man who receives -a dollar gets but 85 cents. The man who receives $10 a week gets -$8.50, and no more. The farmer who sells a horse, or the man who sells -a load of lumber, or a load of wheat, or anything else amounting -to $100, receives but $85, and no more. You have but one single -standard, and that the silver standard, which, having banished gold, -is worth precisely the metal that is in it. Who is benefited by this -substitution? Why, my friends, not a living mortal is benefited, except -the bullion-owner and the bullion-speculator. I do not charge these -men with being bribed to pass that law, because I have no proof of it; -but I do say that the bullion-owners and the bullion-speculators can -afford to pay $10,000,000 in bullion for the privilege of swindling the -laboring men of the country out of 15 per cent. of all their earnings. -[Applause.] They say, "That may all be true; we don't know how it is; -we have not been bribed"--and I never knew a man that would own up that -he was bribed in my life. [Laughter.] I don't say that they are, but I -do say that they are engaged in a mighty mean business. [Laughter and -applause.] - -But there is another question which is of vital interest to every -man, woman and child in America, and that is this question of the -enormous rebel claims against your government. I hold in my hand a -list of the claims now before the two houses of Congress, and being -pressed--cotton claims, claims for the destruction of property, for -quartermaster's stores, for every conceivable thing that war could -produce. I have a list of claims right here [holding up several sheets -of paper containing names and amounts] aggregating many hundreds of -millions. And the only thing to-day--the Senate and the House both -being under the control of those Southern rebels--the only protection, -the only barrier between the Treasury of the United States and those -rebel claims is a presidential veto [cheers], and thank God for the -veto! [Long-continued applause.] But these claims are not all. There -are claims innumerable which they dare not yet present. You may go -through every State in the South, and somewhere, hidden away, you will -find a claim for every slave that ever was liberated. In the files of -the Senate and the House you will find demands for untold millions of -dollars to improve streams that do not exist--where you will have to -pump the water to get up a stream at all. [Laughter and applause.] -Demands for untold millions to build the levees of the Mississippi -river! We have already given the Southern people 32,000,000 of acres of -land which would be reclaimed by those levees, and now they propose to -bankrupt your Treasury by telling you, people of the North, to build -the levees to make the lands which you gave them valuable. - -To show you that I am not over-stating this idea of Southern claims, I -will read you a petition which is now being circulated throughout the -South: - -"We, the people of the United States, most respectfully petition your -honorable bodies to enact a law by which all citizens of every section -of the United States may be paid for all their property destroyed by -the governments and armies on both sides, during the late war between -the States, in bonds, bearing 3 per cent. interest per annum, maturing -within the next one hundred years." - -Every soldier who served in the Northern army has been paid. Every -dollar's worth of property furnished to the Northern army has been paid -for. Every widow or orphan of a wounded soldier entitled to a pension -has been pensioned, so that there is no claim from the North; but this -means that you shall do for the South precisely what you have done for -your own soldiers. - -But I have not yet reached the milk in this cocoa-nut. [Laughter.] - -"And we also petition that all soldiers, or their legal -representatives, of both armies and every section, be paid in bonds -or public lands for their lost time [laughter], limbs, and lives -while engaged in the late unfortunate civil conflict." [Laughter and -applause.] - -That all soldiers be paid for their lost time while fighting to -overthrow your government! That they shall be paid for their lost limbs -and their lost lives while fighting to overthrow your government! - -Ah, my fellow-citizens, they are in sober, serious, downright earnest. -They have captured both houses of Congress, and the only obstacle to -the payment of these infamous claims is the presidential veto, and -there is not a man before me who has not a personal, direct interest in -seeing to it that the rebels do not capture the balance of Washington. -[Applause.] These rebel States are solid--solid for repudiating your -debt, solid for paying these rebel claims; they have repudiated their -individual debts through the bankrupt law; they have repudiated their -State debts by scaling, and then refusing to pay the interest on -what has been scaled; they have repudiated their municipal debts by -repealing the charters of their cities, towns, and villages. And do -you think they are more anxious to pay the debt contracted for their -subjugation than they are to pay their own honest debts? I tell you, -No. They mean repudiation, and do not mean that your debt shall be of -any more value than their own. When you trust them you are making a -mistake, and I do not believe you will ever do it again. [Laughter and -applause, and voices: "We won't!"] - -But we have a matter under consideration to-night of vastly more -importance than all the financial questions that can be presented to -you, and that is, Is this or is it not a Nation! We had supposed for -generations that this was a Nation. Our fathers met in convention -to frame a constitution, and they found some difficulty in agreeing -upon the details of that constitution, and for a time it was a -matter of extreme doubt whether any agreement could be reached. -Acrimonious debate took place in that convention, but finally a spirit -of compromise prevailed, and the constitution was adopted by the -convention and submitted to the people of these United States. Not to -the States, but to the people of the United States, and the people -of the United States adopted the constitution that was framed by the -fathers, and for many long years the whole people of the United States -believed that we had a Government. The whisky rebellion broke out in -Pennsylvania, and was put down by the strong arm of the Government, -and we still believed that we had a Government. We continued in that -belief until the days of General Jackson, when South Carolina raised -the flag of rebellion against the Government. Armed men trod the soil -of South Carolina and threatened that unless the tariff was modified to -suit their views they would overthrow the Government. This was under -the leadership of John C. Calhoun, in carrying out his doctrine. Old -General Jackson took his pipe out of his mouth when he was told that -Calhoun was in rebellion against the Government, and said: "Let South -Carolina commit the first act of treason against this Government, and, -by the Eternal, I will hang John C. Calhoun!" and every man, woman, and -child in America, including Calhoun, knew that he would do it, and the -first act of treason was not committed against the Government, for even -the State of South Carolina, under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, -had bowed to its power. - -We remained under that impression until I first took my seat in -the Senate on the 4th day of March, 1857. Then, again, treason was -threatened on the floor of the Senate and on the floor of the House. -They said then: "Do this or we will destroy your Government. Fail -to do that, and we will destroy your Government." One of them in -talking to brave old Ben. Wade one day repeated this threat, and -the old man straightened himself up and said: "Don't delay it on my -account." [Laughter.] Careful preparations were made to carry out -these treasons. Jefferson Davis stepped out of the Cabinet of Franklin -Pierce, as Secretary of War, into the Senate of the United States, and -became chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. There was an -innocent-looking clause in the general appropriation bill which read -that the Secretary of War might sell such arms as he deemed it for -the interest of the government to dispose of. Under that apparently -innocent clause, your arsenals were opened; your arms and implements -of war went together with your ammunition; your accoutrements followed -your arms; your navy was scattered wherever the winds blew and -sufficient water was found to float your ships, where they could not -be used to defend your government. The credit of the government, whose -6 per cent. bonds in 1857 sold for 122 cents on the dollar, was so -utterly prostrated and debased that in February, 1861--four years -afterward--bonds payable, principal and interest in gold, bearing 6 -per cent., were sold for 88 cents on the dollar, with no buyers for -the whole amount. Careful preparations were made for the overthrow -of your government, and when Abraham Lincoln [cheers] took the oath -of office as President of the United States [cheers], you had no -army, no navy, no money, no credit, no arms, no ammunition, nothing -to protect the national life. Yet with all these discouragements -staring us in the face, the Republican party undertook to save your -government. [Applause.] We raised your credit, created navies, raised -armies, fought battles, carried on the war to a successful issue, and, -finally, when the rebellion surrendered at Appomattox, they surrendered -to a Government. [Applause.] They admitted that they had submitted -their heresy to the arbitrament of arms and had been defeated, and -they surrendered to the government of the United States of America. -[Applause.] They made no claims against this government, for they had -none. In the very ordinance of secession which they had signed they -had pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the -overthrow of this government, and when they failed to do it, they lost -all they had pledged. [Cries of "Good."] They made no claims against -the government because they had none. They asked, and asked as a boon -from the government of the United States, that their miserable lives -might be spared to them. [Applause.] We gave them their lives. They had -forfeited all their property--we gave it back to them. We found them -naked and we clothed them. They were without the rights of citizenship, -having forfeited those rights, and we restored them. We took them to -our bosoms as brethren, believing that they had repented of their sins. -We killed for them the fatted calf, and invited them to the feast, and -they gravely informed us that they had always owned that animal, and -were not thankful for the invitation. [Great laughter and cheers.] By -the laws of war, and by the laws of nations, they were bound to pay -every dollar of the expense incurred in putting down that rebellion. -Germany compelled France to pay $1,000,000,000 in gold coin for a brief -campaign. The seceding States were bound by the laws of war and by the -laws of nations to pay every dollar of the debt contracted for their -subjugation, but we forgave them that debt, and, to-day, you are being -taxed heavily to pay the interest on the debt that they ought to have -paid. [Applause.] Such magnanimity as was exhibited by this nation to -these rebels has never been witnessed on earth [applause], and, in my -humble judgment, will never be witnessed again. [Cheers.] Mistakes we -undoubtedly made, errors we committed, and I will take my full share of -responsibility for the errors, for I was there, and voted upon every -proposition; but, in my humble judgment, the greatest mistake we made, -and the gravest error we committed was in not hanging enough of these -rebels to make treason forever odious. [Prolonged cheers.] Somebody -committed a crime. Either those men who rose in rebellion committed -the greatest crime known to human law, or our own brave soldiers, who -went out to fight to save this government, were murderers. Is there a -man on the face of the earth who dares to get up and say that our brave -soldiers, who bared their breasts to the bullets of the rebels, were -anything but patriots? [Cheers.] - -And now, after twenty years--after an absence of four years from the -Senate--I go back and take my seat, and what do I find? The self same -pretensions are rung in my ears from day to-day. I might close my eyes -and leave my ears open to the discussions that are going on daily -in Congress, and believe that I had taken a Rip Van Winkle sleep of -twenty years. [Applause.] Twenty years ago they said, "Do this or we -will shoot your government to death! Fail to do that or we will shoot -your government to death!" To-day I go back and find these paroled -rebels, who have never been relieved from their parole of honor to -obey the laws, saying: "Do this! obey our will, or we will starve your -government to death! Fail to obey our will, and we will starve your -government to death!" Now, if I am to die, I would rather be shot dead -with musketry than be starved to death. [Laughter and applause.] - -These rebels--for they are just as rebellious now as they were twenty -years ago--there is not a particle of difference--these rebels to-day -have thirty-six members on the floor of the House of Representatives, -without one single constituent, and in violation of law those -thirty-six members represent 4,000,000 people, lately slaves, who are -as absolutely disfranchised as if they lived in another sphere, through -shot-guns, and whips, and tissue ballots; for the law expressly says, -wherever a race or class is disfranchised they shall not be represented -upon the floor of the House. [Applause.] And these thirty-six members -thus elected constitute three times the whole of their majority upon -the floor of the House. Now, my fellow-citizens, this is not only -a violation of law, but it is an outrage upon all the loyal men of -these United States. [Applause.] It ought not to be. It must not be. -[Applause.] And it shall not be. [Tremendous cheers.] - -Twelve members of the Senate--and that is more than their whole -majority--twelve members of the Senate occupy their seats upon that -floor by fraud and violence, and I am saying no more to you in Chicago -than I said to those rebel generals to their faces on the floor of the -Senate of the United States. [Enthusiastic applause.] Twelve members -of that Senate were thus elected, and with majorities thus obtained -by fraud and violence in both houses, they dare to dictate terms to -the loyal men of these United States. [Applause.] With majorities thus -obtained they dare to arraign the loyal men of this country, and say -they want honest elections. [Laughter and applause.] They are mortally -afraid of bayonets at the polls. We offered them a law forbidding any -man to come within two miles of a polling place with arms of any -description, and they promptly voted it down [laughter and applause], -for they wanted their Ku-Klux there. They were afraid, not of Ku-Klux -at the polls, but of soldiers at the polls. Now, in all the States -north of Mason and Dixon's line and east of the Rocky Mountains there -is less than one soldier to a county. [Laughter.] There is about -two-thirds of a soldier to a county. [Laughter and applause.] And, of -course, about two-thirds of a musket to a county. [Laughter.] Now, -would not this great county of Cook tremble if you saw two-thirds of a -soldier parading himself up and down in front of the city of Chicago. -[Loud and long-continued applause and laughter.] But they are afraid to -have inspectors. What are they afraid to have inspectors for? The law -creating those inspectors is imperative that one must be a Democrat and -the other a Republican. They have no power whatever except to certify -that the election is honest and fair. And yet they are afraid of those -inspectors, and then they are afraid of marshals at the polls. Now, -while the inspectors cannot arrest, the marshals under the order of -the court can arrest criminals; therefore, they said: "We will have -no marshals." What they want is not free elections, but free frauds -at elections. They have got a solid South by fraud and violence. Give -them permission to perpetrate the same kind of fraud and violence in -New York city and in Cincinnati and those two cities with a solid South -will give them the presidency of the United States; and once obtained -by fraud and violence, by fraud and violence they would hold it for -a generation. To-day eight millions of people in those rebel States -as absolutely control all the legislation of this government as they -controlled their slaves while slavery was in existence. Through caucus -dictation now I find precisely what I found twenty years ago when I -first took my seat in Congress. In a Democratic Congress, composed of -twenty-eight Southern Democrats and sixteen Northern Democrats, they -decreed that Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois should be degraded and -disgraced from the Committee on Territories, and there were but just -two Northern Democratic senators who dared even to enter a protest -against the outrage. To-day there are thirty-two Southern Democratic -senators to twelve Northern, and out of the whole twelve there is not -a man who dares protest against anything. [Applause.] I say, that -through this caucus dictation, these eight millions of Southern rebels -as absolutely control the legislation of this nation as they controlled -their slaves when slavery existed. - -Now, if every man within the sound of my voice should stand up in this -audience and hold up his right hand and swear that a rebel soldier was -better than a Union soldier, I would not believe it. [Laughter and -applause.] I would hold up both of my hands and swear that I did not -believe it. [Cheers.] And yet, to-day, in South Carolina, in Alabama, -in Louisiana, in Mississippi and in several other States the vote of a -rebel soldier counts more than two of the votes of the brave soldiers -of Illinois; for they vote for the negro as well as for themselves, and -their vote weighs just double the weight of that of the brave soldier -in Illinois. It is an outrage upon freedom, an outrage upon the gallant -soldiers of Illinois and Michigan. [Applause.] - -Now, my fellow-citizens, I have undertaken to show you the condition -in which the country was placed when the Republican party assumed the -reins of power. When the Republican party took the reins of power, the -country had no money, no credit, no arms, no ammunition, no navy, no -material of war. When the Republican party took the reins of power in -its hands, there was no nation poor enough to do you reverence. You -were the derision of the nations of the earth. You had but one ally -and friend on earth, and that was little Switzerland. [Applause.] -Russia sent her fleet to winter here for her own protection, but there -was not a nation on God's earth, that did not hope and pray that your -republican government might be overthrown, and there was no nation on -earth poor enough to do you reverence. We fought that battle through; -we raised the nation's dignity, and the nation's honor, the national -power and the national strength, until now, to-day, after eighteen -years of Republican rule, there is no nation on earth strong enough -not to do you reverence. [Loud and continued applause.] We took your -national credit when it was so low that your bonds were selling at 88 -cents on the dollar, bearing six per cent. interest and no takers, -and we elevated your credit up, up, up, up, up until to-day your -four per cent. bonds are selling at a premium in every market of the -earth. [Applause.] So your credit stands higher than the credit of any -other nation. [Applause.] We saved the national life and we saved the -national honor, and yet, notwithstanding all this, there are those -who say that the mission of the Republican party is ended and that it -ought to die. If there ever was a political organization that existed -on the face of this globe, which, so far as a future state of rewards -and punishments is concerned, is prepared to die, it is that old -Republican party. [Cheers.] But we are not going to do it. [Laughter -and applause.] We have made other arrangements. [Renewed laughter and -cheers.] - -The Republican party is the only party that ever existed, so far as -I have been able to ascertain--so far as any record can be found, -either in sacred or profane history--it is the only party that ever -existed on earth which had not one single, solitary, unfulfilled -pledge left [cheers]--not one [renewed cheers]; and I defy the worst -enemy the Republican party ever had to name one single pledge it gave -to the people who created it which is not to-day a fulfilled and an -established fact. [Cheers.] The Republican party was created with one -idea, and that was to preserve our vast territories from the blighting -curse of slavery. We gave that pledge at our birth, that we would save -those territories from the withering grasp of slavery, and we saved -them. [Voices. "Yes, we did."] It is our own work. We did it. [Cheers.] -But we did more than that; we not only saved your vast territories -from the blighting curse of slavery, but we wiped the accursed thing -from the continent of North America. [Tremendous cheering.] We pledged -ourselves to save your national life, and we saved your national -life. We pledged ourselves to save your national honor, and we saved -your national honor. [Applause.] We pledged ourselves to give you a -homestead law, and we gave you a homestead law. [Applause.] We pledged -ourselves to improve your rivers and your harbors, and we improved your -rivers and your harbors. [Applause.] We pledged ourselves to build -a Pacific railroad, and we built a Pacific railroad. [Applause.] We -pledged ourselves to give you a college land bill, and we gave it to -you; and, not to weary you, the last pledge ever given and the last to -be fulfilled was that the very moment we were able we would redeem the -obligations of this great government in the coin of the realm, and on -the first day of January, 1879, we fulfilled the last pledge ever given -by the Republican party. [Cheers and long-continued applause.] - -Notwithstanding all this, you say: "Your mission is ended and you -ought to die." [Laughter and applause.] Well, my fellow-citizens, if -we should die to-day, or to-morrow, our children's children to the -twentieth generation would boast that their ancestors belonged to that -glorious old Republican party [applause] that wiped that accursed -thing, slavery, from the escutcheon of this great government. [Cheers.] -And they would have a right to boast throughout all generations. - -Senator Ben. Hill of Georgia said, in my presence, that he was an -"ambassador" from the sovereign State of Georgia [laughter] to the -Senate of the United States. Suppose Ben. Hill should be caught in -Africa or India, or some of those Eastern nations, and should get -into a little difficulty, do you think he would raise the great flag -of Georgia over his head [laughter] and say: "That will protect me." -[Renewed laughter and applause.] My fellow-citizens, you may take the -biggest ship that sails the ocean, put on board of her the flags of all -the States that were lately in the rebellion against this government, -raise to her peak the stars and bars of the rebellion, start her with -all her bunting floating to the breeze, sail her around the world, and -you would not get a salute of one popgun from any fort on earth. [Loud -and continued laughter and applause.] Take the smallest ship that sails -the ocean, mark her "U. S. A."--United States of America--raise to her -peak the Stars and Stripes, and sail her around the world, and there -is not a fort or a ship-of-war of any nation on God's footstool that -would not receive her with a national salute. [Cheers.] And yet the -Republican party has done all this. We took your government when it was -despised among the nations, and we have raised it to this high point of -honor; and yet you tell us we ought to die. [Laughter and applause.] - -Suppose there was a manufacturing concern here that failed about the -year 1837, and the citizens of Chicago thought it very important that -it be reorganized and resume business. You would buy the property for -fifty cents on the dollar and reorganize it under your general laws, -elect officers, and look about for a competent man to manage it. -Finally you find what you believe to be the very man for that business -and put him in possession. He finds that the machinery is not up to -the progress of the age, and goes and buys new. He brings order out of -confusion, he manages the business so that the stock of the concern -rises to par; dividends are paid semi-annually and they grow larger -and larger. The stock rises to two hundred, and none for sale. After -eighteen years of successful management the manager comes in with his -account-current and his check for the half-yearly dividend, and lays it -before the president and the directors. The president has had a little -conversation with his directors, and says: - -"This statement is very satisfactory, but we have concluded that after -the first day of July next we shall not require your services any -longer." - -"Why," says the manager, "what have I done?" - -"Nothing that is not praiseworthy. We will give you a certificate -that we think you have managed this establishment with great ability -and great success. We will certify that we think you have no equal in -the city of Chicago or State of Illinois. Everything you have done -is praiseworthy, and we give you full credit for it; but eighteen -years ago one of our employes was caught stealing and sent to the -penitentiary. He has now served his time out, and we propose to put him -in your place." [Prolonged laughter and cheers.] Wouldn't you say that -the president and all of the directors should be put into a lunatic -asylum on suspicion at once? [Applause and laughter.] - -Now, I tell you, Mr. Chairman, the mission of the Republican party is -not ended. [Cheers.] I tell you, furthermore, Mr. Chairman, that it has -just begun. [Cheers.] I tell you, furthermore, that it will never end -until you and I can start from the Canada border, travel to the Gulf of -Mexico, make black Republican speeches wherever we please [applause], -vote the black Republican ticket wherever we gain a residence [cheers], -and do it with exactly the same safety that a rebel can travel -throughout the North, stop wherever he has a mind to, and run for judge -in any city he chooses. - -[This hit at the Democratic candidate for judge of the Cook County -Superior Court, who was a rebel soldier during the war, set the -audience wild, and they cheered and swung their hats and handkerchiefs -frantically.] - -I hope after you have elected him judge he won't bring you in a bill -for loss of time. [Laughter.] - -You are going to hold an election next Tuesday which is of importance -far beyond the borders of Chicago. The eyes of the whole nation -are upon you. By your verdict next Tuesday you are to send forth -greeting to the people of the United States, saying, that either -you are in favor of honest men, honest money, patriotism, and a -National Government [cheers], or that you are in favor of soft money, -repudiation, and rebel rule. [Cheers.] It is a good symptom, Mr. -Chairman, to see 600 young men like you in line, prepared to carry the -flag of the Republican party forward to victory. [Cheers.] It is a good -symptom to see 600 young men like my friend, the chairman here, in the -front ranks, ready to fight the battles of their country now, and vote -as they shot during the war. [Cheers.] - -Now, I want every single man in this vast audience to consider himself -a committee of one to work from now until the polls close on Tuesday -next. [Cheers.] Find a man who might stay away, who has gone away -and might not return; secure one man besides yourself to go to the -polls and vote the Republican ticket; and if you cannot find such a -man, try to convert a sinner from the error of his way. [Applause.] -You have got too much at stake to risk it at this election. The times -are too good. Iron brings too much. Lumber is too high. Your business -is too prosperous. Your manufactories are making too much money for -you to afford to turn this great government over to the hands of -repudiating rebels. You cannot do it. Shut up your stores. Shut up your -manufactories. Go to work for your country, and spend two days, and on -the night of election, Mr. Chairman, send me a dispatch, if you please, -that Chicago has gone overwhelmingly Republican. [Loud cheers.] - - - - -THE DORIC PILLAR OF MICHIGAN. - -A MEMORIAL ADDRESS, - -DELIVERED IN THE FORT STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, DETROIT, MICH., -THURSDAY MORNING, NOV. 27, 1879, - -BY - -THE REV. ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D. D. - - -"There were giants in the earth in those days," is the simple record of -the age before the flood. - -There has been no age without its giants; not, perhaps, in the narrow -sense of great physical stature, but in the broader sense of mental -might, capacity to command and control. Such men are but few, in -the most favored times, and it takes but few to give shape to human -history and destiny. Their words shake the world; their deeds move and -mold humanity; and, as Carlyle has suggested, history is but their -lengthened shadows, the indefinite prolonging of their influence even -after they are dead. - -One of these giants has recently fallen, at the commanding signal -of One who is far greater than any of the sons of men, and at whose -touch kings drop their sceptre, and, like the meanest of their slaves, -crumble to dust. - -This giant fell among us. We had seen him as he grew to his great -stature and rose to his throne of power. He moved in our streets; he -spoke in our halls; in our city of the living was his earthly home, -and in our city of the dead is his place of rest. He went from us -to the nation's capital, to represent our State in the Senate of -the republic; he belonged to Michigan, and Michigan gave him to the -Union; but he never forgot the home of his manhood. Here his dearest -interests clustered, and his deepest affections gathered; and here his -most loving memorial will be reared. As he belonged peculiarly to this -congregation, surely it is our privilege to weave the first wreath to -garland his memory. - -The annual Day of Thanksgiving is peculiarly a national day, since -it is the only one in the year when the whole nation is called upon -by its chief magistrate to give thanks as a united people. By common -consent, it is admitted proper that, on that day, special mention be -made of matters that affect our civil and political well-being. There -is therefore an eminent fitness in a formal commemoration upon this day -of the life and labors of our departed Senator and statesman. - -With diffidence I attempt the task that falls to me. The time is too -short to admit even a brief sketch of a life so long in deeds, so -eventful in all that makes material for biography; a life full, not -only of incidents, but of crises; moreover, I am neither a senator nor -a statesman, and feel incompetent to review a career which only the -keen eye of one versed in affairs of state can apprehend or appreciate -in its full significance; but, if you will indulge me, I will, -without conscious partiality or partisanship, calmly give utterance -to the unspoken verdict of the common people as to our departed -fellow-citizen; and try to hint at least a few of the lessons of a life -that suggests some of the secrets of success. - -History is the most profitable of all studies, and biography is the key -of history. In the lives of men, philosophy teaches us by examples. In -the analysis of character, we detect the essential elements of success -and discern the causes of failure. Virtue and vice impress us most in -concrete forms; and hence even the best of all books enshrines as its -priceless jewel the story of the only perfect life. - -To draw even the profile of Mr. Chandler's public career the proper -limits of this address do not allow. There is material, in the twenty -years of his senatorial life, which could be spread through volumes. -His advocacy of the great Northwest, whose champion he was; his -master-influence, first as a member, and then as the chairman of the -Committee of Commerce; his bold, keen dissection of the Harper's Ferry -panic; his sagacious organization of the presidential contests; his -plain declarations of loyalty to the Union as something which must be -maintained at cost both of treasure and of blood; his large practical -faculty for administration, made so conspicuous during stormy times; -his efficiency as a member of the standing Committee on the Conduct of -the War; his exposure of those who were responsible for its failures, -and his defense of those who promoted its successes, his marked -influence in changing not only the channel of public sentiment, but -the current of events; his watchful guardianship of popular interests, -political and financial; his intelligence and activity in senatorial -debates; his attentive and persistent study of the problem of -reconstruction; and his fearless resistance to all Southern aggression -and intimidation, are among the salient points of that long and -eventful public service, whose scope is too wide to allow at this hour -even a hasty survey. - -But, happily, it is quite needless that in such a presence I should -trace in detail the events of his life; to us he was no stranger; and -the mark he has made upon our memory and our history is too deep not -to last. His footprints are not left upon treacherous and shifting -quicksands; and no wave of oblivion is likely soon to wash them away. - -Zachariah Chandler had nearly completed his sixty-sixth year; forty-six -years he had been a resident of the City of the Straits. New Hampshire -was the State of his nativity: Michigan was, in an emphatic sense, -the State of his adoption. In our city his first success was won in -mercantile pursuits, where also was the first field for the exhibition -of his energy, ability and integrity. Here, as this century passed -its meridian hour, he passed the great turning-point in his career; -and his large capacities and energies were diverted into a political -channel. First, Mayor of the city, then nominated for Governor; when, -more than twenty years ago, a successor was sought for Lewis Cass in -the Senate, this already marked man became the first representative of -the Republican party of this State in that august body at Washington. -There, for a period of eighteen years, he sat among the mightiest men -of the nation, steadily moving toward the acknowledged leadership of -his party, and the inevitable command of public affairs. After three -terms in the Senate, his seat was occupied for a short time by another; -but, upon the resignation of Mr. Christiancy, he was, with no little -enthusiasm, re-elected, and was in the midst of a fourth term, when -suddenly he was no more numbered among the living. It may be doubled -whether, at this time, any one man, from Maine to Mexico, swayed the -popular mind and will with a more potent sceptre than did he; and many -confidently believe and affirm that, had death spared him, he would -have been lifted by the omnipotent voice and vote of the people to the -Presidency of the Republic. - -Mr. Chandler took his seat in the Senate in those days of strife when -the storm was gathering, which, on the memorable 12th of April, 1861, -burst upon our heads, in the first gun fired at Fort Sumter. He entered -the Senate chamber, to take the oath of office, in company with some -whose names are now either famous or infamous for all time. On the one -hand, there was Jefferson Davis; on the other Hannibal Hamlin, Charles -Sumner, Benjamin F. Wade and Simon Cameron. - -Those were days when history is made fast. Every day throbbed with -big issues. Kansas was a battle-ground of freedom; and the awful -struggle between State Sovereignty and National Unity was gathering, -like a volcano, for its terrible outbreak. The Republican Senator from -Michigan took in, at a glance, the situation of affairs. Devoted as -he was to the State, whose able advocate and zealous friend he was; -earnest and persistent as he was, in promoting the commercial and -industrial interests of the lake region; he was yet too much a patriot -to forget the whole country; and as the great conflict, which Mr. -Seward named "irrepressible," moved steadily on toward its crisis, he -armed himself for the encounter and planted his feet upon the rock of -unalterable allegiance to the Union; and from that position he never -swerved. - -Mr. Chandler was a zealous party-man; in the eyes of some he was a -partisan, in the strenuous advocacy of some measures; but I believe -that when history frames her ultimate, impartial verdict, she will -accord to him a candid, conscientious adherence to what he believed -to be a fundamental principle, absolutely essential to our national -life. He saw the South breathing hot hate toward the North, planning -and threatening to rend the Union asunder. To him it was not a question -simply of liberty and slavery, of sectional prejudice, of political -animosity; but a matter of life or of death. He saw the scimitar of -secession raised in the gigantic hand of war--but what was it that it -was proposed to cleave in twain at one blow? A living, vital form! -the body of a nation, with its one grand framework, its common brain -and heart, its network of arteries and veins and nerves. It was not -dissection as of a corpse--it was vivisection as of a corpus--that -sharp blade, if it fell, would cut through a living form, and leave -two quivering, bleeding parts, instead. Divide the nation? Why, the -same mountain ranges run down our eastern and western shores; the same -great rivers, which are the arteries of our commerce, flow through both -sections. Our republic is a unit by the decree of nature, that marked -our nation's area and arena by the lines of territorial unity, a unit -by the decree of history that records one series of common experiences; -and, aside from the decree of nature and of history, it is one by the -decree of necessity, for we could not survive the separation. Those -were the decisive days, and they showed whose heart was yearning toward -the child; and God said, as he saw a unanimous North pleading with Him -to arrest the falling sword and spare the living body of a nation's -life--"Give her the child, for she is the mother thereof!" - -Mr. Chandler has been charged with violent and even vindictive feeling -toward what he deemed disloyalty and treason. - -You have heard the story of the Russians, chased by a hungry pack of -wolves, driving at the height of speed over the crisp snow, finding -the beasts of prey gaining fast upon them, and throwing out one living -child after another to appease the maw of wolfish hunger, while the -rest of the family hurried on toward safety. - -There are sagacious statesmen that have declared, for a quarter of -a century, that State Rights represents the pack of wolves and the -Sovereignty of the Union the imperilled household. For scores of years, -the encroachments of the South became more and more imperious and -alarming. - -Concession after concession was made, offering after offering flung to -the sacrifice, but only to be followed by a hungrier clamor and demand -for more; and, at last, even men of peace said, "We must stop right -here and fight these wolves;" and, when it becomes a question of life -and death, men become desperate. - -I have never supposed myself to be a strong partisan. As a man, a -citizen, and a Christian, I have sought to find the true political -faith, and, finding it, to hold it, firmly and fearlessly. The question -of the unity of our nation and the sovereignty of the national -government has ever seemed to me to be of supreme moment, transcending -all mere political or party issues; and, as a patriot, I cannot be -indifferent to it. - -When the long struggle between State Rights and National Sovereignty -grew hot and broke out into civil war, it was a matter of tremendous -consequence that the Union be preserved. History stood pointing, with -solemn finger, to the fate of the republics of Greece and Switzerland, -reminding us that confederation alone will not suffice to keep a nation -alive. Mexico, at our borders, was a warning against dismemberment -or the loss of the supremacy of a republican unity. And men of all -parties forgot party issues in patriotic devotion. It may be a question -whether State Sovereignty, however fatal to national life, deserved -the hideous name of treason, before the war. But, after the matter had -been referred to the arbitrament of the sword, and had been settled at -such cost of blood and treasure, it can never henceforth be anything -but treason, again to raise that issue. Hence, even men that were -temperate in their opposition to Southern aggressions before the war, -now are impatient. They set their teeth with the resolution of despair, -and say, "We make no further effort to escape this issue, and we throw -out no more offerings of concession. We shall fight these wolves; and -either State Rights or National Sovereignty shall die." - -This was Mr. Chandler's position; if it was a mistaken one, it is the -unspoken verdict of millions of the best men of all parties in the -whole country; and every new concession to this great national heresy -is only making new converts to the necessity of a firm and fearless -resistance. - -Some one has suggested that the old division of the church into -militant and triumphant is no longer sufficient; we must add another, -namely, the church termagant. In our country both sections were -militant, and one was triumphant; the other has been very termagant -ever since. General Grant, at his reception in Chicago, declared that -the war for the Union had put the republic on a new footing abroad. A -quarter of a century ago, by political leaders across the sea, "it was -believed we had no nation. It was merely a confederation of States, -tied together by a rope of sand, and would give way upon the slightest -friction. They have found it was a grand mistake. They know we have -now a nation, that we are a nation of strong and intelligent and brave -people, capable of judging and knowing our rights, and determined on -all occasions to maintain them against either domestic or foreign foes; -and that is the reception you, as a nation, have received through me -while I was abroad." - -On the same day we have a significant voice from the South, General -Toombs, in response to a suggestion that Governors of various States -and prominent Southern men should unite in congratulations to the -ex-President on his return, telegraphs in these words: "I decline to -answer except to say, I present my personal congratulations to General -Grant on his safe return to his country. He fought for his country -honorably and won. I fought for mine and lost. I am ready to try it -over! Death to the Union!" - -Here we have simply two representative utterances; one is the voice -of a solid North; the other is, we fear, the voice of a South that -is much more "solid" than we could wish. It is no marvel if, after a -war of so many years, that cost so many lives and so much money, and -left us to drag through ten years of a financial slough, loyal men are -impatient and even angry, when they discover that the question is still -an unsettled one, and that we have not even conquered a peace! Even -the interpretation now attached to this seditious utterance by General -Toombs himself, that "the result of war was death to the Union, and -that the present government is a consolidated one, not a confederacy," -does not essentially relieve the matter. - -Mr. Chandler could not brook what he regarded as sentiments rendered -doubly treasonable by the fact that a long, bitter but successful war -had burned upon them with a hot iron the brand of treason. He fought -those sentiments, and it was as under a black flag that announced "no -quarter." But this does not prove malicious or vindictive feeling -toward misguided men who hold such views. There is a difference between -fighting a principle and fighting a person. In fact the only way to -prevent fighting men is often a vigorous and timely opposition to -their measures. And if we wish to avoid another war, and that a war of -extermination, the ballot must obviate the necessity for the bullet: we -must stand together, and by our voice and vote, by tongue and pen, by -our laws and our acts, in the use of every keen weapon, exterminate the -heresy of State Rights. We need not do this in hate toward the South: -a true love even for the South demands it, for to them as to us it is -a deadly foe to all true prosperity and national existence. How can a -man who candidly looks upon the present attitude of the South as both -suicidal and nationally destructive be calm and cool? The philippics of -Demosthenes were bitter, but they were the mighty beatings of a heart -that pulsed with the patriotism that could not see liberty throttled -without sounding a loud and indignant alarm. The North owes a big debt -to every man who at this crisis will not suffer an imperilled republic -to sleep. - -Mr. Chandler was not a college graduate. His early training was got in -the New England common school and academy. Yet he was in a true sense -an educated man: for education is "not a dead mass of accumulations," -but self-development, "power to work with the brain," to use the hand -in cunning and curious industries, to use the tongue in attractive and -effective speech, to use the pen in wise, witty or weighty paragraphs. -Somehow he had learned to hold, with a master hand, the reins of his -own mind, and make his imagination and reason and memory and powers of -speech obey his behests. That is no common acquirement: it is something -beyond all mere acquirement; it is the infallible sign and seal of -culture. His addresses, even on critical occasions, were unwritten, -and, in some cases, could not have been elaborated, even in the mind; -yet in vigor of thought, logical continuity and consistency, accuracy -of diction, and even rhetorical grace, few public speakers equal them. - -The power to command the popular ear is a rare power, whether it be a -gift of nature or a grace of culture. With Mr. Chandler it was held -and wielded as a native sceptre. He had the secret of rhetorical -adaptation; he could at once go down to the level of the people and -yet lift them to his level. They understood what he said and knew what -he meant. He threw himself into their modes of thought and habits of -speech; he culled his illustrations mainly from common life. If he -sacrificed anything, it was rhetorical elegance, never force; his one -aim was to compel conviction. - -The simplicity of his diction was a prime element and secret of his -power. He did not speak as one who had to say something, but as one -who had something to say, and whose whole aim was to say it well; with -clearness, plainness, force and effect. If he could not have both -weight and lustre, he would have weight. - -Walter Scott has exposed the absurdity of "writing down" to children, -and shown that it is really writing up, to make oneself so simple as -to be plain even to the child-mind. Simplicity is the highest art. To -have thought faintly gloom and glimmer through obscure language, like -stars through a haze or mist, may serve to impress the ignorant with a -supposed profundity in the speaker; but it is no more a sign of such -profundity than muddy water signifies depth in a stream; it may suggest -depth because you can see no bottom, but it means shallowness! It is -a lesson that all of us may learn through the life of our departed -Senator, that the first element of good speaking is thought; and the -second a form of words fitting the thought, which, like true dress, -shall not call attention to itself but to the idea or conception which -it clothes. Any man who is long to hold the ear of the people must -give them facts and thoughts worth knowing and thinking of, in words -which it will not take a walking dictionary or living encyclopædia -to interpret, or a philosopher to untangle from the skein of their -confusion. - -Mr. Chandler was such a man, a man for the people. Free from all -stately airs and stilted dignities, he took hold of every political -and national question with ungloved hands. He understood and used the -language of home life, which is the "universal dialect" of power. His -speeches were packed with vigorous Saxon. He thought more of the short -sword, with its sharp edge and keen point and close thrust, than of -the scholar's labored latinity, with its longer blade, even though it -might also have a diamond-decked hilt; and in this, as in not a few -other conspicuous traits, he was master of the best secrets that gave -the great Irish agitator, O'Connell, his strange power of moving the -multitude. His last speech, even when read, and without the magnetism -of his personal presence, may well stand as the last of his utterances. - -The simplicity of Mr. Chandler's style of oratory amounted to -ruggedness, in the sense in which we apply that word to the naked -naturalness of a landscape, whose features have not been too much -modified by art. There is in oratory an excessive polish, which -suggests coldness and deadness. Some speakers sharpen the blade until -there is no blade left, the mistaken carefulness of their culture -brings everything to one dead level of faultlessness; there is nothing -to offend, and nothing to rouse and move. Demosthenes said that -kinésis--not "action," but motion, or rather that which moves--is the -first, second, third requisite of true oratory. He is no true speaker -who simply pleases you: he must stir you to new thought, new choice, -new action. - -We must beware of the polish that is a loss of power, and, like a -lapidary, not grind off points, but grind into points. Demosthenes was -more rugged than Cicero; but he pricked men more with the point of his -oratorical goad. Men heard the silver-tongued Roman and said, "How -pleasantly he speaks!" They heard the bold Athenian and shouted, "Let -us go and fight Philip!" - -Carlyle says, "He is God's anointed king whose simple word can melt a -million wills into his!" That melting wills into his own is the test of -eloquence in the orator; and a rugged simplicity has held men in the -very fire of the orator's ardor and fervor, till they were at white -heat, and could be shaped at will; while the most scholarly display of -culture often leaves them unmoved, to gape and stare with wonder, as -before the splendors of the Aurora Borealis, and feel as little real -warmth. Emerson is right: "There is no true eloquence unless there is a -man behind the speech," and men care not what the speech is if the man -be not behind it, or, on the other hand, what the speech is, if the man -be behind it! And so it is that Richard Cobden compelled even Robert -Peel, who loved truth and candor, to become a convert to his free-trade -opinions; and so it was that John Bright, another model of a simple -utterance with a sincere man behind it, swayed such a mighty sceptre -over the people of Britain. The mere declaimer or demagogue may win a -temporary hearing; but the man who leaves a lasting impress on the mind -of the people must have in himself some real worth. - -To Mr. Chandler's executive ability reference has been made. It -was never better illustrated than in his vigorous and faithful -administration as Secretary of the Interior. It was Hercules in the -Augean stables again--purging the department of incompetency and -dishonesty. He sent a flood through the Patent Office, that swept all -the clerks out of one room; and another through the Indian Bureau, -that cleaned out its abuses and exposed its frauds. It is said that -the reconstruction of that department saved millions annually to the -treasury of the nation. Mr. Schurz, in becoming his successor, paid -a very handsome tribute to the retiring Secretary, acknowledging the -great debt of the country to Mr. Chandler's energy and fidelity, and -modestly declaring that he could hope for no higher success than to -keep and leave the department where he found it. - -If there be any one thing for which the Senator from Michigan stood -above most men it was in this practical business ability. He had, in -rare union, "talent" and "tact." His good sense, clear views, ready -and retentive memory, prompt decision, patience and perseverance, quick -discernment and instinctive perception of the fitness of ways to ends, -qualified him for energetic and successful administration anywhere. -Webster said, "There is always room at the top." Even the pyramid waits -for the capstone, which must be, itself, a little pyramid. And he who -has inborn or inbred fitness for the top place will find his way there; -no other will long stay there, even if some accident lifts him to the -nominal occupancy of such a position. - -He had rare tact, that indefinable quality of which Ross says, that -"it is the most exquisite thing in man." Literally it means "touch," -and is suggested by the delicacy often found in that mysterious sense. -It describes, though it cannot define, the nice, skillful, innate -discernment and discrimination which tells one what to say and do, even -on critical occasions; how to reach and "touch" men, when a blunder -would be fatal. This wisdom of instinct may be cultivated but cannot be -acquired; and it seems to be close of kin with that common sense which, -though by no means exceedingly "common," represents a sound intuitive -sense in common matters, such as would be the common sense or verdict -of wise and sagacious minds. - -The Senator impressed men as one whose powers were varied and -versatile. Thomas F. Marshall, the "Kentucky orator," maintained that -fine speaking, writing and conversation depend on a different order of -gifts. "A speech cannot be reported, nor an essay spoken. Fox wrote -speeches; nobody reads them. Sir James Mackintosh spoke essays; nobody -listened. Yet England crowded to hear Fox, and reads Mackintosh. Lord -Bolingbroke excelled in all, the ablest orator, finest writer, most -elegant drawing-room gentleman in England." - -Whether or not this philosophy be sound and this estimate correct, we -shall all agree that few men combine power of speech with force in -composition and grace in conversation. Our departed Senator certainly -had more than the common share of versatility. That last speech at -Chicago thrilled a vast audience when spoken, and kindled a flaming -enthusiasm; yet it reads like the compact and complete sentences of the -essayist. - -Versatility, however, is not to be coveted where it implies a lack of -concentration. An anonymous writer has left us a very discriminating -comparison of two great British statesmen. He likens Canning's mind to -a convex speculum which scattered its rays of light upon all objects; -while he likens Brougham's to a concave speculum which concentrated the -rays upon one central, burning, focal point. There are some men who -possess, to a considerable degree, both the power to scatter and the -power to gather the rays. At times they exhibit varied and versatile -ability, they touch delicately and skillfully many different themes or -departments of thought and action; but when crises arise which demand -the whole man, they become in the best sense men of one idea, for one -thought fills and fires the soul; every power is concentrated in one -burning purpose. - -The Senator, whose deserved garland we are weaving, was one of these -men. There were times when he seemed to turn his hand with equal -ease to a score of employments; now giving wise counsel in gravest -matters, now playfully entertaining guests at his table; now studying -the deep philosophy of political economy, now holding a Senate in -rapt attention; now reorganizing a department of state; now pushing -a new measure through Congress; now closeted with the President over -the issues of a colossal campaign, and again conducting a pleasure -excursion; to-day leading on the hosts of a great party, and to-morrow -managing the affairs of an extensive farm. But, when the destiny of -the nation hung in the balance, or history waited with uplifted pen to -record on her eternal scroll the final decision of some great question, -he gathered and condensed into absolute unity all the powers of mind -and heart and will, and flung the combined weight of his whole manhood -into the trembling scale. When he felt that a thing must be, a mountain -was no obstacle to surmount, a host of foes no occasion for dismay. -With intensity of conviction, with contagious courage and enthusiasm, -with indomitable resolution, with tireless energy of action, he -went ahead, and weaker men had to follow; his conviction persuaded -the hesitating, his courage emboldened the timid, his determination -inspired the irresolute. He was the unit that, in the leading place, -makes even the cyphers swell the sum of power. - -It is no slight praise of Mr. Chandler to say that he was a man of -industry; the results he reached were won by work. There is a great -deal of blind talk about genius. That there is such a thing, apart -from the practical faculty of application, even great men have doubted -or boldly denied; but certain it is that there is such a thing as -the genius of industry, and that rules the world! Alexander Hamilton -disclaimed any other genius than the profound study of a subject. He -kept before him a theme which he meant to master, till he explored it -in all its bearings and his mind was filled with it. Then, to quote -his words, "the effort which I make the people are pleased to call the -fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought." - -And so for us all there is no royal road to a true success. We must -simply plod on, along the plain, hard, plebeian path of honest toil, -and climb up the hills, if we would get on and up at all. Spinoza -grandly says that that there is no foe or barrier to progress like -"self-conceit and the laziness which self-conceit begets." We venture -to add that no conceit is surer to beget laziness than the conceit -of "conscious genius." Our peril is to learn to do our work easily; -that means poor work, if indeed any work at all, shallow acquirements, -superficial attainments, and no real scholarly or heroic achievements. - -Our regretted Senator did not despise honest work, and never claimed -to be a genius. He had a hearty contempt for all that aristocracy of -intellect that frowns on mental toil. - -He spoke without manuscript, and without memorizing; or, as we say, -"extempore." That is another much-abused word. Extemporaneous speech -is not the utterance of words that shake the world, or any considerable -part of it, unless such speech be the fruit not of that time, but, -as Dr. Shedd says, "of all time previous." But when the orator first -becomes master of his theme and then of the occasion, and is thus -fitted to deal with the real vital issues before the people, he may, -without having put pen to paper, or having framed a single sentence -beforehand, often find himself master also of his audience. The careful -study of his subject, the habit of thinking in words, and of weighing -words when he reads and talks, scoops out a channel in the mind; and -when he rises to speak he finds his thought flowing naturally and -easily in this channel. - -No man can carefully read Mr. Chandler's public utterances without -detecting a brevity and terseness, a simplicity and plainness, an -accuracy and vigor, and often a rhetorical beauty, which shew care in -preparation. These qualities are not the offspring of indolence. Years -of drill lie back of the exact and daring touches with which the artist -makes the canvas speak and the marble breathe; and the extempore speech -of the eloquent orator tells of long, hard discipline that has taught -him how to think and how to talk; it may have taken him fifty years to -learn how to hold and sway an audience at will for fifty minutes. The -ease and grace of true oratory are the signs of previous exertion; of -that systematic exercise of the intellect that has suggested for our -training schools the name, gymnasia. The laws of brain and of brawn do -not differ much in this respect. Men are not born athletes, either in -mind or muscle; and to all who have a true desire to succeed, in any -sphere of life, the one voice that, with the growing emphasis of the -successive centuries, speaks to us, is, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth -to do, do it with thy might." Your sword may be short; "add a step to -it!" it may be dull; add force to the blow or the thrust. There is no -encouragement from history, more universally to be appropriated by -us, than the testimony she furnishes to the power and value of honest -endeavor. To will and to work is to win. The highest endowments assure -no achievements; all success is the crown of patient toil! - -While thus speaking a word in favor of hard work, one word of caution -and of qualification may not be out of place. I think God means that -the sudden decease of public men when in life's prime, shall not be -without warning. No thoughtful man fails to feel the force of this -fact that somehow the average duration of human life, especially on -these shores and among men of mark, is shortening; and that apoplexy, -paralysis, angina pectoris, cerebral hemorrhage, and softening of the -brain are amazingly common among brain-workers. The fatality among -journalists is especially startling. - -We are a fast-living and a fast-dying people. Our habits are bad. We -work hard half the time and worry the other half. We eat and sleep -irregularly; we tax our powers unduly, keeping the bow bent until -the string snaps simply from constant tension, lack of relaxation. -We turn night into day, without restoring the balance by turning day -into night. We live in an atmosphere of excitement, and push on to -the verge of death before we know our peril or realize our risk. We -are tempted to put stimulus in the place of strength, that we may do, -under unnatural pressure, what we cannot do by nature's healthy powers. -Instead of repairing the engine, we crowd fuel into the boiler and get -up more steam; and, by and by, something breaks, or bursts, and the -machinery is a wreck. - -I believe it is not hard work that kills us, so much as work under -wrong conditions. To do, with the aid of even mild stimulants, like tea -and coffee, not to say tobacco, opium, quinine, etc., what we cannot -do by the natural strength, is the worst kind of overwork; and yet our -public men are subject, to such strain, that they are almost driven to -such resorts. Where they ought to stop, and sleep and rest, they "key -up" with a kind of artificial strength, and get the habit of unnatural -wakefulness; and then wonder why they are victims of insomnia. - -Professor Tyndall, one of the most tireless men of brain in our day, -says to the students of University College, London: "Take care of -your health! Imagine Hercules, as oarsman in a rotten boat; what can -he do there but, by the very force of his stroke, expedite the ruin -of his craft! Take care of the timbers of your boat!" And Dr. Beard -adds: "To work hard without overworking, to work without worrying, to -do just enough without doing too much--these are the great problems -of our future. Our earlier Franklin taught us to combine industry -with economy; our 'later Franklin' taught us to combine industry with -temperance; our future Franklin--if one should arise--must teach us how -to combine industry with the art of taking it easy." - -The qualities that fitted Mr. Chandler for the conduct of affairs were, -however, not purely intellectual; they belonged in part to another and -a higher order, viz.: the emotions and affections. - -He had great intensity of nature. Even his political opponents could -not doubt the positiveness of his conviction and the profoundness of -his sincerity; and here, as Carlyle justly says, must be found the -base blocks in the structure of all heroic character. It is no small -thing to be able to command even from an antagonist the concession and -confession of one's sincerity. Candor atones for a host of faults. -Men will, at the last, forgive anything else in a man who tries to be -true to his own convictions and to their interests. The utterances of -impulse and even of passion, stinging sarcasm and biting ridicule, -unjust charges and assaults, all are easy to pardon in one whose -sincerity and intensity of conviction betray him into too great heat; -men would rather be scorched or singed a little in the burning flame -of a passionate earnestness than freeze in the atmosphere of a human -iceberg--beneath whose rhetorical brilliance, they feel the chill of a -cold, calculating insincerity and hypocrisy that upsets their faith in -human honesty. - -He was also peculiarly independent and intrepid. The determination to -be loyal, both to his convictions and to his country, inspired him to a -bold, brave utterance and invested him with a courage and confidence -that were almost contagious. We cannot but admire the political -fidelity expressed by Burke, in his famous defense before the electors -of Bristol, when he said: "I obeyed the instructions of nature and -reason and conscience; I maintained your interests, as against your -convictions." Few men have ever dared to say and do what Mr. Chandler -has, in the face of such political risks and even such personal peril. -One brief address delivered by him in the Senate, soon after he resumed -his seat, will stand among the classics of our language, and, if I may -so say, among the "heroics" of our history. - -He was also a man of great political integrity. In the long career of a -public life spanning more than a quarter of a century, no suspicion of -dishonesty or disloyalty has ever stained his character or reputation. -Michigan may safely challenge any Senatorial record of twenty years to -surpass his, either in the quantity or quality of public service. - -Those who knew him best affirm that he was, politically and personally, -an incorruptible man. The position of a legislator is one of proverbial -peril. From the days of Pericles and Augustus till now, the men -who make laws and guide national affairs are peculiarly in danger -of defiling their consciences by "fear or favor." Bribery sits in -the vestibule of every law-making assembly. Greed holds out golden -opportunity for getting enormous profits from unlawful or questionable -schemes and investments. Ambition lifts her shining crown, and offers -a throne of commanding influence if you will bow down and worship, -or even make some slight concession in favor of, the devil. Only a -little elasticity of conscience, a little blunting of the moral sense; -a little falsehood, or perjury, or treachery, under polite names; a -lending of one's name to doubtful schemes; and there is a rich reward -in gains to the purse and gratifications to the pride, which more than -pay for the trifling loss of self-respect. And so not a few who go -to Congress with unsullied reputation, come back smutched with their -participation in "Credit Mobilier" and "Pacific Railroad" schemes, or -any one of the thousand forms of fraud. - -So far as I know, Mr. Chandler has never been charged with complicity -as to dishonest and disgraceful measures such as have sometimes made -the very atmosphere of the Capitol a stench in the nostrils of the pure -and good. His name does not stand on the pay-roll of Satan, but with -the honored few whose eyes have never been blinded by a bribe and whose -record has never been blotted with political dishonor. - -To have simply done one's duty is no mean victory. To stand--like the -anvil beneath the blows of the hammer--and firmly resist the force of -a repeated temptation is grand and heroic. To be venal is no venial -fault; no price which can be weighed in gold can pay a man for the sale -of one ounce of his manliness. Conscience is a Samson, whose locks are -easily shorn, but they never grow again; whose eyes, once put out or -seared with a hot iron, no prayer will restore. And men, as great and -wise as Bacon, have like him been compelled to confess to their own -meanness and the mercenary character of their virtue. - -One of the worst signs of the times is this corruptibility of popular -leaders. One of the greatest of European journals moves like a -weather-vane, just as the day's wind blows. Much of the best talent of -Europe is for sale for or against despotism. Some of the most gifted -men in the House of Lords are of plebeian birth, bought by the bribe of -a title, as Harry Brougham himself was, when his great influence became -a terror to the aristocracy; and the Duke of Newcastle is said to have -bought one-third of the House of Commons. There is scarce a measure, -however infamous, that may not be pushed through our common councils -and legislative bodies if the lobbyists are only "influential and -numerous," and the money is only plenty enough. Let us give God thanks -for every man in the community who is not on the auction block to be -knocked down to the highest bidder. In these days of abounding fraud -and falsehood, men are beginning to feel the value of simple honesty. -We have, in our admiration of the genius of intellect, forgotten the -genius of goodness, which has power to inspire men with heroism. Better -to strengthen a few timid hearts in loyalty to principle than to have -deserved the encomium of Augustus, who "found Rome brick, and left -it marble." The Earl of Chatham refused to keep a million pounds of -government funds in the bank and pocket the proceeds; as Edmund Burke, -on becoming paymaster-general, first of all introduced a bill for the -reorganization of that department of public service, refusing to enrich -himself, through the emoluments of that lucrative office, at public -expense. - -No wonder George the Second should have said of such "honesty" that it -is an "honor to human nature!" Such words were worthy of a king, but -it is only a crowned head bowing to royal natures that need no crown -to tell that they are kingly. The distinguished Hungarian exile will -never be forgiven for saying that he would praise anything and anybody -to aid Hungary. There is an instinct in the great heart of humanity -which not even wickedness kills, that no quality is so fundamental to -character as absolute loyalty to truth, it is the base-block of the -whole structure; and great has been many a "fall," where there is no -better foundation than the treacherous and shifting quicksands of what -is called "policy," and which is to many the only standard of honesty. - -Mr. Chandler was known in politics as an enthusiastic and radical -advocate of his party and its measures. It was not in him to do -anything by halves, and it is difficult to see why one may not as -naturally be zealous in politics as in religion; in fact, none are -more likely to charge upon him partisanship than those who in their -attachment to the opposite party shew their own lack of moderation. - -It has been well said that religion demands "a faith, a polity and a -party." The faith and the polity belong to it as necessary features; -the party is that on which it depends for organization and onward -movement. There is a philosophy, a political creed and economy, which -are to the state what religion is to the church; and no man can be a -patriot without a political faith and polity and party; though he may -stand alone, he represents all three. He may be in the largest sense a -patriot, and adopt the sublime motto of Demosthenes, "Not father, nor -mother, but dear native land!" yet his patriotism may compel him, us he -looks at the matter of his country's interest, to take a position on -the side of a political party, and to hold it in the face of ridicule -and reproach and even of a pelting hail of hate. Others may not be -wrong in their espousal of a different political creed, but he is not -wrong, but right, in his honest adherence to his. It is so in religion; -an honest, intelligent man is loyal to his own denomination, yet is -he none the less, because of that, a Christian in the breadth of his -charity. - -In fact, religion is not the only sphere where self-sacrifice, for duty -and for conscience, may be pressed even to martyrdom. St. Ignatius, -facing the wild beasts in the arena, calmly said, "I am grain of God; I -must be ground between teeth of lions to make bread for God's people." -That was the grand confession of a Christian martyr. Tell me, how much -lower down in the scale of the heroic does he belong who, for the sake -of the best good of a constituency blinded by passion or prejudice, -like the great English statesman, consents to be hurled from his shrine -as the idol of the people, and calmly says, "I am under no obligation -to be popular, but I am under bonds to myself to be true!" When -Regulus refused to buy his own liberty and life, at the cost of Rome's -disgrace, and persuaded the Senate to reject the very overtures which -he was commissioned to convey, himself returning as his pledge required -him if the negotiations were unsuccessful, and surrendering himself to -the will of his enemies that Carthage might put him to death by slow -torture, it seems to me something like the martyr-spirit burned in that -bosom. And, if there be nothing akin to moral martyrdom in bravely -standing in one's place and boldly holding one's ground, advocating -what one believes to be the only true creed in politics, and the only -true policy for the country, in face of sneer and threat, daring the -blade and the bullet, the open affront and the secret assault, for the -sake of being true to one's self and to one's native land--if there -be nothing sublime and heroic in all this, the verdict of reason is -unsound. - -This lamented statesman had also a genial temper, which won for him a -host of friends. Public men are prone to one of two extremes; either -the hypocritical suavity of the demagogue, or the arbitrary bluntness -and curtness of the despot. Some swing away from the fawning airs of -the puppy, but it is toward the repulsive manners of the bear. The man -who, as you tip your hat with a polite good morning, sweeps by, saying, -"I haven't time," is too often the typical man of affairs, who thinks -the quick dismission of applicants and intruders is the price of all -energetic public service. It is said of the great French statesman, -Richelieu, that he could say "No." so gracefully and winningly, that -a man once became applicant for a position, upon which he had not -the least claim, just to hear the great Cardinal refuse. If common -testimony may be trusted, Michigan's esteemed Senator seldom lost the -hearty cordiality and courtesy of his manners, even under the fretting -friction of public cares. - -I am tempted to add that, though a representative Republican, Mr. -Chandler was, in the best sense, a democrat. He weighed a man according -to the worth of his manhood. He could recognize true manliness beneath -a black skin as well as a white one, and behind the rough dress of -a poor man, as behind broadcloth; and, because he was the friend of -humanity and of human rights, you will find some of his warmest friends -among the common people and in the lower ranks. - -I think both justice and generosity demand that among the tributes -we weave for him, there should be distinct and emphatic mention of -this simplicity of character. He was a man among men. From the first, -he had none of those assumptions of conscious superiority that mark -the aristocrat. If anything, he was rather careless than careful of -his dignity, and would sooner shock than mock the fastidious airs -and tastes of those who prate about culture, or pride themselves on -their "nobility." Fox quaintly said, of the elder Pitt, that he "fell -up stairs" when he was elevated to the peerage. Many a man cannot -stand going up higher. He becomes haughty, proud; he affects dignity, -he lords it over God's heritage, he becomes too big with conscious -superiority. Like Jeshurun, he waxes fat and kicks. He falls up stairs, -if not down. - -The warm, soft, genial side of Mr. Chandler's nature was unveiled in -social life and most of all in the domestic circle. The play of his -smile, the roar of his laughter, the delicacy and tenderness of his -sympathy, his stalwart defense of those whom he loved, the childlike -traits that drew him to children and drew children to him, none -appreciate as do those who knew him best as friend, husband and father. -The man of public affairs, he could lay one hand firmly on the helm of -state, while with the other he fondly pressed his grandchildren to his -bosom, or playfully roused them to childish glee. - -This aspect of his many-sided character makes his death an irreparable -loss to his own household. Even the great grief of a nation cannot -represent by its "extensity," the intensity of the more private sorrow -that secludes itself from the public eye. He was, to those whom he -specially loved, both a tower for strength, and a lover and friend for -comfort and sympathy. Those who were "at home" with him and especially -those who were the peculiar treasures of his heart, knew him as no -others could. Happy is the minister who forgets not his parish at -home--the church that is in his own house--and happy is the public man, -whose private life is not simply the revelation of the hard, coarse and -unattractive side of his character. - -That is I am sure no ordinary occurrence, which has made forever -memorable the Calends of this November. Death, however frequent and -familiar by frequency, can never, to the thoughtful, be an event -of common magnitude; the exchange of worlds cannot be other than -a most august experience. But this death has about it colossal -proportions; it stands out and apart like a mountain in a landscape. -It is recognized as a calamity not only to a household, but to the -city, the State, the Nation; and it may be doubted whether, since -the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, any single announcement has so -startled the public mind and moved the popular heart as when on the -1st day of November it was announced that Zachariah Chandler was found -sleeping his last sleep. - -Ulysses S. Grant is a man of few words--and like his shot and shell -they weigh a good deal and are well aimed. Let us hear his verdict on -Mr. Chandler: - - "A nation, as well as the State of Michigan, mourns the loss of one - of her most brave, patriotic and truest citizens. Senator Chandler - was beloved by his associates and respected by those who disagreed - with his political views. The more closely I became connected with - him the more I appreciated his great merits. - - U. S. GRANT. - - "GALENA, Ill., Nov. 9, 1879." - -It is evident that it is no ordinary man who has departed from among -us. It is not "a self-evident truth that all men are created equal," -if we mean equality of gifts and graces, capacity, opportunity or even -responsibility; and the people of these United States do not need to be -told that Mr. Chandler was no common man. It was by no accident that he -held in succession, and filled with success, posts of such importance -and trusts of such magnitude. He did not drift into prominence; he -rose by sheer force of character and by the fitness of things. Born -to be a leader, endowed with those qualities that mark a man destined -to leadership, having rare business faculty, and sagacity, tact and -talent, large capacity for organization and administration, his hand -was naturally at the helm. - -Mr. Chandler's leadership reached beyond and beneath the visible -conduct of affairs. As Moses was the inspiration, of which Aaron was -the expression, he was often the power behind the throne. He who has -now left us, forever, belonged to the illustrious few who were the -special counselors of Mr. Lincoln and the instigators of many of his -wisest and best measures. There is an inner history of the war which -has never been written and never will be. The lips that alone could -disclose those secrets are fast closing in eternal silence, and the -scroll will find no man worthy to loose its seals. - -Mr. Chandler could not have been wholly ignorant of the risk he ran in -his laborious and prolonged campaign-work; but when his country seemed -in peril his tongue could not keep silence. Just before starting on his -last journey westward, he said to me: "In my judgment the crisis now -upon us is more important than any since Lee surrendered, and as grave -as any since Sumter was fired on." Those who knew him best will not be -surprised that, with such an impression of the magnitude of the issues -now before the American people, he could not spare himself, but gave -himself without reserve to his country, sacrificing his life itself on -the altar of his own patriotism. - -And so our stalwart statesman has fallen, and we have a new lesson on -human mortality. Anaxagoras, when told that the Athenians had condemned -him to die, calmly added, "And nature, them!" All our riches, honors, -dignities cannot stay the steps of the great destroyer. The manliest -and mightiest leaders, and the humblest and meanest followers bow alike -to the awful mandate of death. And as Massilon said at the funeral of -the Grand Monarch, "God only is great!" - -Of how little consequence after all are all the things that perish. -Temporal things derive all their true value from their connection with -the invisible and eternal. How small will all appear as they recede -into the dim distance at the dying hour and the world to come confronts -us with its awful decisions of destiny! What grandeur and glory are -imparted to our humblest sphere of service, here, when touched and -transformed by the power of an endless life! - -We have reason to be glad that the popular recognition of Mr. -Chandler's abilities and services has been so prompt and hearty as to -afford him not a little satisfaction. Posthumous tributes are sometimes -melancholy memorials, reminding us of the monumental sepulchres of -martyr-prophets. - -Robert Burns's mother said about his monument, as she bitterly -remembered how the poet of Ayr had been left to starve, "Ah, Robbie, ye -asked them for bread and they hae ge'en ye a stane!" It can never be -said that our departed Senator had to wait for another generation to -pronounce a just or generous verdict upon his career; the trophies of -victory and of popular esteem were strewn along the whole line of his -march; and his last tour of the Northwest was a perpetual ovation. - -There is to my mind no little inspiration of comfort in the fact that -not even human malice can falsify history. Men sometimes get more -than their share of praise or of blame while they live; but sooner or -later the cloud of incense or the mist of prejudice clears away and -the real character is more plainly seen. We can afford to leave the -final verdict to another generation if need be, grateful as it is to be -appreciated by the generation which we seek to serve. - -But it is still more inspiring to know that God rules this world, and -reigns over the affairs of men. If He marks the flight and the fall of -the sparrow, we may be sure that no man rises to the seat of power or -sinks to the grave without His permission. - -God is not dead, and cannot die. Generations pass away while He remains -the same. His hand is on the helm, whatever human hand seems to have -hold, and is still there when the most trusted helmsman relaxes his -dying grasp. If God's hand is not in our history, all its records are -misleading, and all its course a mystery. Admit the divine factor, -and, from the strange unveiling of this hidden Western world until -this day, our national life appears like one colossal crystal; it has -unity, transparency and symmetry. We can understand Plymouth Rock, the -revolution, the French and Indian wars, the war of 1812, the great -rebellion, the Kansas problem and the California problem, the Indian -question and the Chinese question, Romanism and Communism, Eastern -conservatism and Western radicalism, the freedmen and the emigrant, -state rights and national sovereignty--all are the subordinate factors -whose harmonizing, reconciling, assimilating factor is the divine -purpose and plan in our history. My friends, the republic has a divine -destiny to fulfill. The Great Pilot is steering the ship of state for -her true haven. Scylla threatens on one side, Charbydis on the other; -but He knows the channel. The stormy Euroclydon may strike her, tear -her sails to tatters and snap her ropes like burnt tow, and splinter -her masts to fragments; but He holds the winds in his fists. Let us not -fear. We have only to love, trust and obey the God of our Fathers and -He will guide us safely and surely through all darkness and danger. -The sins that reproach our people are the only foes we have to fear; -the righteousness that exalts a nation the only ally we need to covet. -If the people of Michigan would rear a grand monument to the heroic -men who have adorned our history, let us be true to the principles -which they have defended, and to the God who gave them to us as His -instruments. - -The DORIC PILLAR OF MICHIGAN has fallen; but the State stands, and -God can set another pillar in its place. There is stone in the -quarry--columns are taking shape to-day in our homes and schools and -churches; and in God's time they shall be raised to their place. Let us -only be sure that in the shrine of our nation God finds a throne, and -not the idols of this world, and not even the earthquake shock shall -shatter the symmetric structure of the Republic. - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES - - - Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical - errors. - - Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. - - Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - - Enclosed bold font in =equals=. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Zachariah Chandler, by Detroit Post and Tribune - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ZACHARIAH CHANDLER *** - -***** This file should be named 50423-0.txt or 50423-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/4/2/50423/ - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Andrew Sly, Mark C. 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