President Arthur was born at Fairfield, Vermont, October 5, 1830; after teaching school, he studied law and was admitted to practice in New York City; he served honorably and notably during the Civil War, most of the time as a staff officer, and at its conclusion became active in local politics in New York City, and was Collector of the Port of New York from 1871 to 1878, being removed in the latter year by President Hayes. His nomination was made to satisfy the "Stalwarts," and he took an active part in the controversy between President Garfield and the New York Senators, and now came to the office of President, with the popular mind, agitated by the murder of the President and the factional fight in New York, greatly incensed and antagonized against any one connected with the "Stalwarts." President Arthur soon gained the confidence of the people by the conservatism and dignity of his administration, and his term was a satisfactory and prosperous one. The Forty-seventh Congress opened its first session on December 5, 1881, with David Davis presiding in the Senate; in the House, Joseph Warren Keifer, Republican, of Ohio, was elected Speaker by 148 votes to 129 for Samuel J. Randall, and the Republicans were again in control of both branches of Congress. The legislation of this Congress was marked by the redemption of the party pledges of the preceding campaign. The Edmunds law (March, 1882) was directed at polygamy in Utah and the territories. Immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States was suspended for ten years (May 6, 1882), a previous bill making the time twenty years having been vetoed by President Arthur. A bill was also approved (May 15, 1882) appointing a Tariff Commission. The Commission met in Washington in July. It was constituted from both political parties, and was composed of men of high standing. When the second session of the Forty-seventh Congress convened on December 4, 1882, it listened to the second annual message from President Arthur, in which the main subject to receive attention was the rapid reduction of the national debt by the large annual surplus revenue. The Tariff Commission at the same time submitted an exhaustive report, containing a schedule of duties recommended by it; after considerable debate and many changes in the schedule, a tariff bill was passed and approved by the President, March 3, 1883, the Democrats steadily opposing it. Civil Service Reform was taken up and provided for in the Pendleton Civil Service Reform bill (January, 1883), which provided for a non-partisan commission and defined their duties; the effect of this bill was to withdraw from politics the employes of the Government.