492 



McCLELLAN, GEORGE B. 



only claim and qualification for office ' } that partisan 

 service should not be expected or desired from pub- 

 lic officers, who should give their whole service to 

 the Government and the people; and that tenure 

 of office should depend upon untarnished personal 

 character and the satisfactory performance of official 

 duties, and not upon political changes ; and we cor- 

 dially sustain and approve the policy and action of 

 the President in conducting his administration in 

 fulfillment of his distinct pledge, upon these prin- 

 ciples, recognizing that the work of correcting the 

 abuses that have crept into the civil service is only 

 begun, and that much remains to be accomplished 

 in Massachusetts as well as elsewhere in order to 

 show convincingly that the principle of civil service 

 reform is accepted as an enduring principle and not 

 a temporary method of administration. We call 

 upon all departments of the Government to give the 

 President their cordial and effective support in mak- 

 ing the reform thorough, radical, and complete. 



Resolved, That the order recently promulgated by 

 the President for the purpose of restraining execu- 

 tive officers of the Government from^exercising an 

 undue and improper influence upon the action of the 

 people in the election of candidates for office, and in 

 the management of political affairs, is in accordance 

 with the principles and practice established by the 

 founders of the Government. "We heartily indorse 

 the order as the first and a most important step tow- 

 ard a practical reform of the civil service, and we 

 assure the President of our cordial support in its en- 

 forcement. 



Jtesolved, That the Congress of the United States 

 has already passed a reasonable limit in grants of 

 land and money in aid of private enterprises, tliat 

 the nation demands that no more grants shall be 

 made either from the public domain or the public 

 Treasury as subsidies to private corporations, and 

 that appropriations for Government works shall 

 hereafter be limited by the strict rule of neces- 

 sity. 



The main issue in the canvass was the ap- 

 proval of the national Administration and the 

 Southern and civil service policies of the Presi- 

 dent. The election occurred on the 6th of 

 November, and resulted in the choice of the 

 Republican candidates. The total vote for 

 Governor was 184,454, of which Rice received 

 91,255 ; Gaston, 73,185 ; Pitman, 16,354 ; Phil- 

 lips, 3,552 ; and all others, 108. The vote for 

 Treasurer was: 87,532 for Endicott, 83,456 for 

 Skillings, 1,689 for Whitney, 858 for John C. 

 MacCready, of Cambridge, 345 for Lum, and 

 260 for all others. The amendment of the 

 Constitution making the officers and instruc- 

 tors in Harvard College eligible to seats in the 

 Legislature was ratified by a vote of 23,839 to 

 6,505. The Legislature of 1878 consists of 35 

 Republicans and 5 Democrats in the Senate, 

 and 171 Republicans and 69 Democrats in the 

 House ; the Republican majority being 30 in 

 the Senate, 102 in the House, and 132 on a 

 joint ballot. 



The town of Marblehead was visited by a 

 disastrous conflagration, on the 25th of June, 

 which destroyed 30 shoe-factories and 42 dwell- 

 ings. The total value of property destroyed 

 was about $500,000 ; insurance, $200,000. 



McCLELLAN, GEORGE B. The canvass 

 made by General McClellan, in 1877, for the 

 Governorship of New Jersey, and his election 

 to that office, brought him again prominently 

 before the public. (For the particulars of his 



nomination and election see NEW JEBBEY.) The 

 career of General McClellan has been a remark- 

 able one. He was born in Philadelphia, De- 

 cember 3, 1826. He studied at the University 

 of Pennsylvania, and in 1842 entered the Mili- 

 tary Academy at West Point where he gradu- 

 ated second in his class in 1846, and was as- 

 signed to duty as brevet second-lieutenant in 

 the corps of engineers. He served with dis- 

 tinction during the Mexican War, and was suc- 

 cessively brevetted as first-lieutenant and cap- 

 tain. In 1851-'52 he was assistant engineer 

 in the construction of Fort Delaware ; in 1852 

 -'53 chief engineer in the Department of Texas, 

 having in charge the surveys of the coasts of 

 that State; in 1853-'54 engineer for the ex- 

 ploration and survey of the western division of 

 the proposed Pacific Railroad ; and in 1854- 

 '55 he was on special service in collecting rail- 

 road statistics for the War Department. In 

 1855-'56, having been made captain of artil- 

 lery, he was a member of the Military Com- 

 mission to visit the seat of war in the Crimea. 

 He resigned his commission June 16, 1857, to 

 take the post of chief engineer of the Illinois 

 Central Railroad, of which he was chosen vice- 

 president in 1858. In 1860 be became presi- 

 dent of the St. Louis & Cincinnati Railroad. 



At the opening of the Civil War he was com- 

 missioned asMajor-Genc-ral of Ohio Volunteers, 

 and was placed in command of the Department 

 of the Ohio, comprising the States of Ohio, In- 

 diana, Illinois, and the western parts of Penn- 

 sylvania and Virginia. He was made major- 

 general in the regular army May 14, 1861, and 

 commanded in several engagements in West- 

 ern Virginia, which resulted in clearing that 

 region of the Confederate forces, for which he 

 received, on July 15th, the thanks of Congress. 

 On July 22d, the day after the Federal defeat at 

 Bull Run, he was summoned to Washington 

 and was placed in command of the division of 

 the Potomac, and shortly after of the Army of 

 the Potomac. On the retirement of General 

 Scott, November 1st, he was appointed Gen- 

 eral-in-chief of the Armies of thetlnited States. 

 He took the field in March, 1862, and having 

 in the mean time been relieved of the command 

 of all the forces except the Army of the Poto- 

 mac, he set out for the peninsula of Virginia, 

 and laid siege to Yorktown, which was aban- 

 doned by the Confederates as soon as his bat- 

 teries were ready to open fire. The retreating 

 Confederates, 1 under General J. E. Johnston, 

 made a stand at Williamsburg (May 5th), long 

 enough to enable their trains to get off, and 

 fell back toward Richmond; McClellan, moving 

 slowly, reached the Chickahominy about May 

 20th, and opened the campaign against Rich- 

 mond, which was brought to a virtual close by 

 the battle of Malvern Hill (July 1st), after which 

 he fell back to Harrison's Landing, where he 

 intrenched himself. General Halleck, having 

 in the mean time been made General-in-chief, 

 ordered McClellan, August 24th, to return with 

 his whole army to Fortress Monroe and York- 



