Our Presidents and how we make themMcClure, Alexander K. (Alexander Kelly)
History
Our Presidents and how we make them
McClure, Alexander K. (Alexander Kelly)
Presidents -- United States -- Election
California │ 76,468 │ 78,322 │ 44 │ ――――
Oregon │ 14,149 │ 15,206 │ 510 │ ――――
├──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────
Total, Republican count │4,285,992 │4,033,768 │ 81,737 │ 9,522
Total, Democratic count │4,300,590 │4,036,298 │ 81,737 │ 9,522
══════════════════════════╧══════════╧══════════╧══════════╧══════════
[25] Republican count.
[26] Democratic count.
[27] By Legislature.
On the morning after the election, newspapers of all parties announced
the election of Tilden for President, but a murmur of the coming storm
came at the same time from Senator Chandler, of New Hampshire, who
was secretary of the national committee, of which Senator Zachariah
Chandler, of Michigan, was chairman, who announced that Hayes was
elected, and declared that the States of Florida, Louisiana, and South
Carolina had honestly voted for Hayes, and that he would finally
receive their electoral votes. With the whole machinery of the
Government in the hands of the Republicans, it was almost a hopeless
battle for Tilden to fight for the disputed Southern States, but the
Democratic people became violently aroused, and threats were freely
made that the inauguration of Hayes would be prevented by mob violence
if attempted.
So grave had the situation become that both branches of Congress
finally passed an act, creating what was known as the Electoral
Commission, that should be a tribunal of last resort, to determine
the disputed election. The bill passed the House by the vote of 158
Democrats and 33 Republicans, with 68 Republicans and 18 Democrats
voting in the negative; and in the Senate the bill was passed by
the votes of 26 Democrats and 21 Republicans, with 16 Republicans
and 1 Democrat voting against it. The measure was approved by the
President on the 29th of January. As a majority of the Democrats in
both Houses favored the measure, it was assumed that Tilden desired
them to support it, but in point of fact Tilden was irresolute,
and put it upon his friends to decide what should be done. Had any
other man been the Democratic candidate, he would have been a great
leader and an aggressive one; but from the beginning to the close of
the post-election battle Tilden was apparently dwarfed into utter
helplessness, and when it became evident that the Commission would
decide against him, he distinctly disclaimed all responsibility for the
creation of the tribunal. The Electoral Commission was finally made up
under the law, composed of Senators Edmunds, Morton, Frelinghuysen,
Republicans, and Thurman and Bayard, Democrats; of Representatives
Payne, Hunton, and Abbott, Democrats, and Garfield and Hoar,
Republicans, with Justices Strong and Miller, Republicans, and Clifford
and Field, Democrats, and the fifth member of the court to be chosen by
the four. Justice David Davis was first chosen as the fifth judicial
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account