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HAYES, RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD. 



and have agitated and alarmed the public mind 

 have almost entirely ceased, and that a spirit of 

 mutual forbearance and hearty national interest 

 has succeeded." He recommended resumption 

 of specie payments in these terms : " I must ad- 

 here to my most earnest conviction that any 

 wavering in purpose or unsteadiness in methods, 

 so far from avoiding the inconvenience insepara- 

 ble from the transition from an irredeemable to 

 a redeemable paper currency, would only tend to 

 increase and prolong disturbance in values, and, 

 unless retrieved, must end in serious disorder, 

 dishonor, and disaster in the financial affairs of 

 the Government and of the people.'' He also in- 

 sisted strongly that " all the bonds issued since 

 Feb. 12. 1873, when gold became the only unlim- 

 ited legal-tender metallic currency of the coun- 

 try, are justly payable in gold coin, or in coin 

 of equal value," and that " the bonds issued prior 

 to 1873 were issued at a time when the gold dol- 

 lar was the only coin in circulation, or contem- 

 plated by either the Government or the holders 

 of the bonds as the coin in which they were to 

 be paid. ... It is far better to pay these bonds 

 in that coin than to seem to take advantage of 

 an unforeseen fall in silver bullion to pay in a 

 new issue of silver coin thus made so much less 

 valuable. The power of the United States to coin 

 money and to regulate the value thereof ought 

 never to be exercised for the purpose of enabling 

 the Government to pay its obligations in a coin 

 of less value than that contemplated by the 

 parties when the bonds were issued." He also 

 urged again his civil-service recommendations ; 

 but Congress did not respond. No appropriation 

 was made for the civil-service commission, and 

 acts contrary to its decision were upheld. The 

 efforts to save the timber lands of the country 

 were denominated outlandish, the specie-pay- 

 ment act, instead of being upheld, was voted 

 down, and the payment of the national debt in 

 silver was favored. The Democrats set on foot 

 an investigation in Louisiana and Florida. If 

 the object was. as charged by the other party, to 

 oust the President, it failed, after the famous 

 " cipher dispatches " had been divulged. In 

 January, 1879, the resumption act (passed in 

 1875) went into operation with the smoothness 

 which he had predicted. He suspended from of- 

 fice in the New York Customhouse Chester A. 

 Arthur and Alonzo B. Cornell, two of the most 

 prominent men in the party, his reason being 

 that they did not conform to his order forbid- 

 ding political activity. He said : " Their offices 

 have been conducted as part of the political ma- 

 chinery under their control." For a like reason 

 he suspended a prominent Western postmaster. 

 The Democrats in the Senate gave help enough 

 to have the new appointees confirmed, and when 

 they entered upon office Mr. Hayes said : " Nei- 

 ther my recommendation nor that of the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, nor the recommendation 

 of any member of Congress or other influential 

 person, should be regarded. Let appointments 

 and removals be made on business principles and 

 on fixed rules." 



On Feb. 12, 1880, President Hayes issued a 

 second proclamation against lawless attempts to 

 settle the Indian Territory. In March of the 

 same year, in submitting to Congress the corre- 

 spondence in regard to an interoceanic canal 



across the Isthmus of Panama, he said : ' The 

 policy of this country is a canal under American 

 control." 



The first bill vetoed by him (Feb. 28, 1878) was 

 the measure entitled " An Act to authorize the 

 coinage of the standard silver dollar, and to restore 

 its legal-tender character," commonly known 

 as the " Daddy-Dollar " bill. It was passed over 

 the veto and became a law. The second veto 

 (March 6, 1878) was on a bill providing for hold- 

 ing a special term of the United States District 

 Court in Mississippi for the trial of persons 

 charged with depredating upon public timber 

 lands. The veto was sustained. The third 

 (March 1, 1879) was the " Act to restrict the im- 

 migration of Chinese to the United States." 

 The veto was sustained. The fourth (April 29, 



1879) was on the Army Appropriation bill, be- 

 cause of the sixth section of that measure, which 

 prohibited the use of United States troops at the 

 polls. This veto was sustained, and Congress 

 passed the army bill without the objectionable 

 feature. The fifth (May 12, 1879) was on the so- 

 called Military Interference bill, which a Demo- 

 cratic caucus had framed for the express pur- 

 pose of meeting the objections of the Presi- 

 dent to the sixth section of the vetoed army 

 bill. This veto, also, was sustained. The sixth 

 (June 23, 1879) was on the Judicial Expenses 

 bill, because of the restrictions imposed by 

 that measure upon the appointment and pay- 

 ment of deputy and special marshals at the 

 elections. This veto was sustained. The sev- 

 enth (June 30, 1879) was on the Special Mar- 

 shals Appropriation bill, which covered the same 

 grounds that had caused the veto of the Judicial 

 Expenses bill one week previous. This veto was 

 also sustained. The eighth (May 4, 1880) was 

 on the Special Deficiency Appropriation bill, be- 

 cause of a ' rider " providing that the special 

 deputy marshals for service at the polls should 

 belong to opposite political parties, and that they 

 should be appointed by the Circuit Court of the 

 United States for the district in which such mar- 

 shals were to perform their duties ; but should 

 there be no session of the circuit court, then the 

 district judges were authorized to convene their 

 courts for that purpose. The President waived 

 the merits of the " rider," and vetoed the bill 

 simply on the objection to placing " riders" on 

 appropriation bills. No attempt was made to 

 pass the bill over the veto. The ninth (June 15, 



1880) was on a bill regulating the appointment 

 of special deputy marshals at elections. This 

 veto was sent to the Senate, and when Congress 

 adjourned sine die, on June 16, it had not been 

 read, but remained on the table, thereby defeat- 

 ing the bill. The tenth (March 3, 1881) was on 

 a bill " to facilitate the refunding of the national 

 debt." The next day he was succeeded in the 

 presidency by James A. Garfield. 



Among other recommendations made by 

 President Hayes was one for a new Indian pol- 

 icy ; education ; allotment of land in severalty, 

 inalienable for a certain period ; fair payment 

 for other Indian lands : and investment of In- 

 dians with the rights and privileges of citizen- 

 ship as fast as such policy should render it safe. 



After his retirement from the presidency he 

 devoted his time in a quiet way to various public 

 matters. Temperance found in him a warm and 



