Garfield and Arthur were elected, and inaugurated on March 4, 1881. But on July 2, 1881, as Garfield stood in a railway station at Washington, a disappointed office seeker came up behind and shot him in the back. A long and painful illness followed, till he died on September 19, 1881. [Illustration: James A. Garfield] [Illustration: Chester A. Arthur] %538. Presidential Succession%--The death of Garfield and the succession of Arthur to the presidential office left the country in a peculiar situation. An act of Congress passed in 1792 provided that if both the presidency and vice presidency were vacant at the same time, the President _pro tempore_ of the Senate, or if there were none, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, should act as President, till a new one was elected. But in September, 1881, there was neither a President _pro tempore_ of the Senate nor a Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the Forty-sixth Congress ceased to exist on March 4, and the Forty-seventh was not to meet till December. Had Arthur died or been killed, there would therefore have been no President. It was not likely that such a condition would happen again; but attention was called to the necessity of providing for succession to the presidency, and in 1886 a new law was enacted. Now, should the presidency and vice presidency both become vacant, the presidency passes to members of the Cabinet in the order of the establishment of their departments, beginning with the Secretary of State. Should he die, be impeached and removed, or become disabled, it would go to the Secretary of the Treasury, and then, if necessary, to the Secretary of War, the Attorney-general, the Postmaster-general, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Interior. %539. Party Pledges redeemed.%--Since the Republican party was in power, a redemption of the pledges in their platform was necessary, and three laws of great importance were enacted. One, the Edmunds law (1882), was intended to suppress polygamy in Utah and the neighboring territories. Another (1882) stopped the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. The third, the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883), was designed to secure appointment to public office on the ground of fitness, and not for political service. %540. Corporations.%--These measures were all good enough in their way; but they left untouched grievances which the workingmen and a great part of the people felt were unbearable. That the development of the wealth and resources of our country is chiefly due to great corporations and great capitalists is strictly true. But that many of them abused the power their wealth gave them cannot be denied. They were accused of buying legislatures, securing special privileges, fixing prices to suit themselves, importing foreign laborers under contract in order to depress wages, and favoring some customers more than others.