HAYES, RUTHKRFOKD B1R< 11AKI). 



389 



hal Int. was Ilayos, 384: Blaine, 851. William 

 A. \\ heeler, nf New York, was iioiniiintrcl for 

 Vice- President. 



In his letter of acceptance Mr. Hayes reiter- 

 atr.l, in regard to civil service, the sentiments 

 th;it h.- had expressed several years Ix'fiire. not 

 only favoring the reform in general, hut making 

 specific charges against the system tlmt then 

 hindered its working. He also declared in favor 

 <>f a single term, although there was nothing in 

 the platform to call for such expression, for 

 sound money, and for such measures in the 

 South as should tend to bring political peace 

 and a commercial revival. The Democratic 

 candidate was Samuel J. Tilden. Disaffection 

 on the part of many Republicans made the vote 

 close, and both parties claimed the election. 

 The decision turned upon the action of the States 

 of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. The 

 Republicans claimed that fraud throughout the 

 South, where colored men and white Republic- 

 ans were not allowed to vote, prevented them 

 from having a majority of about forty electoral 

 votes, instead of the exceedingly small one which 

 they actually claimed. The Democrats con- 

 tended that in the three States mentioned the 

 actual vote was in their favor, and that Repub- 

 lican returning boards had counted otherwise. 

 Both parties had sent watchers to those districts 

 when the returns were being made, but no final 

 decision could be reached. The Senate had a Re- 

 publican and the House of Representatives a Dem- 

 ocratic majority, so that it was impracticable to 

 leave the decision to them. It was finally agreed, 

 and an act was passed, to leave the matter to a 

 commission composed of 5 Senators, 5 Repre- 

 sentatives, and 5 members of the Supreme Court, 

 the decision to be final unless set aside by a 

 concurrent vote of both houses of Congress. 

 While the matter was in dispute Mr. Haves 

 wrote a letter to John Sherman, then at New 

 Orleans, which was afterward made public. He 

 said: 



I am greatly obliged for your letter of the 23d. You 

 feel, I am sure, as I do about this whole business. A 

 fair election would have given us about 40 electoral 

 votes at the South at least that many. But we are 

 not to allow our friends to defeat one outrage and 

 fraud by another. There must be nothing crooked 

 on our part. Let Mr. Tilden have the place by vio- 

 lence, intimidation, nnd fraud rather than undertake 

 to prevent it by means that will not bear the severest 

 scrutiny. 



The electoral commission, by a strict party 

 vote of 8 to 7, decided that the vote must be re- 

 ceived as reported by the returning boards, and 

 this gave the presidency to Mr. Hayes by a ma- 

 jority of 1 vote in the electoral college. The 

 4th of March. 1877, being Sunday, he was inau- 

 gurated on Monday, the 5th. In his inaugural 

 address he reiterated the principles and views set 

 forth in his letter of acceptance, adding that, 

 while the President owes his election to a party, 

 he should be always mindful that " he serves his 

 party best who serves his country best," and de- 

 claring that the general acceptance of the settle- 

 ment by the two great parties of a dispute, " in 

 regard to which good men differ as to the facts 

 and the law, no less than as to the proper course 

 to be pursued in solving the question in contro- 

 versy, was an " occasion for general rejoicing." 



His Cabinet consisted of William M. KvartB, Sec- 

 retary of Stale; .lolin Sherman. Secretary of the 

 Treasury; George W. McCrary, Secretary of 

 War; Rii hard W. Thompson, Secretary ul the 

 Navy; David M. Key, Postmaster General ; 

 Charles Devens, Attorney-General; and Carl 

 Schurz, Secretary of the Interior. Business was 

 de|iiv>cd at the North, and in the South there 

 wen- violent dissensions. In South Carolina and 

 Lou isjana there were two sets of men claiming the 

 right to the State offices. Mr. Hayes invited the 

 heads of the contending factions in South ' 

 lina to come to Washington for conference, and 

 sent to Louisiana a commission composed of emi- 

 nent men of both parties. In this body were 

 Gen. Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut ; John 

 M. Marian, of Kentucky; Charles B. Lawrence, 

 of Illinois; Ex-Gov. John C. Brown, of Tennes- 

 see ; and Wayne McVeagh, of Pennsylvania. 

 The result was that the Legislatures of the State 

 united to form one body, and in both States the 

 Democratic governors were established and the 

 L'nited States troops withdrawn. The justice of 

 the decision was a mooted point, although the 

 difficulty of the situation was conceded. The 

 Republicans who objected to it did so on the 

 ground that the question was essentially involved 

 in that of the presidential election. If President 

 Hayes was the legal occupant of the presidency, 

 then the Republican candidates were the legal 

 occupants of the gubernatorial chairs. On the 

 whole, his somewhat arbitrary decision was up- 

 held, and it was accompanied by pledges from 

 Southern leaders in Congress that they would ex- 

 ert their influence to maintain peace. 



In the hands of the new President civil-service 

 reform received a great impulse. The claim of 

 Senators and Representatives to "patronage" 

 was not recognized. To the Secretary of the 

 Treasury he expressed a wish that " the collec- 

 tion of the revenues should be free from partisan 

 control and organized on a strictly business ba- 

 sis, with the same guarantees for efficiency and 

 fidelity in the selection of the chief and subordi- 

 nate offices that would be required of a prudent 

 merchant." 



On June 22, 1877, he issued an order that "no 

 officer should be required or permitted to take 

 part in the management of political organiza- 

 tions, caucuses, conventions, or election cam- 

 paigns. Their right to vote or to express their 

 views on public questions, either orallv or through 

 the press, is not denied, provided it does not in- 

 terfere with the discharge of their official duties. 

 No assessment for political purposes on officers 

 or subordinates should be allowed. This rule is 

 applicable to every department of the civil serv- 

 ice. It should be understood by every officer of 

 the General Government that he is expected to 

 conform his conduct to its requirements." 



On May 5, 1877, the President issued a call for 

 an extra session of Congress on Oct. 15. to pro- 

 vide for the pay of the army, for which noth- 

 ing had been done previous to its adjournment. 

 Meantime there were serious railroad and other 

 strikes, and the army was called upon for trying 

 service in maintaining order. In his first annual 

 message he said, in reference to his course in the 

 South: "No unprejudiced mind will deny that 

 the terrible and often fatal collisions which f<T 

 several years have In-en of frequent occurrem e- 



