a philanthropist, and his noble sentiments had such power of conviction
that it was impossible to ward off the results by argument." His
election followed by a decisive majority.
The campaign of 1868 occurred at a time when a strong reaction was
setting against the Republican party throughout the country. Fresh
candidates for the presidency were about to be nominated; the
impeachment of Andrew Johnson was in progress; military rule had been
established in the South; utter financial ruin was hotly foretold; and
the dominant party was suffering crushing reverses in many of the
leading states. To add to the discouragements of this party in New
Hampshire, when the municipal elections came on in December, Portsmouth
and Manchester rolled up adverse majorities, and the tide was tending
strongly in one direction. Encouraged by such promising signs, the
Democratic party held its state convention at the early day of the 14th
of November. Their old and tried war-horse, John G. Sinclair, was again
put upon the track, and his election was, by the party, deemed a
foregone conclusion. A long and fierce contest ensued. Gov. Harriman met
his fellow-citizens, face to face, in every section of the state. He
addressed immense meetings, holding one every secular day for six weeks,
and failing to meet no appointment on account of weariness, storms, or
any other cause. He was triumphantly re-elected, obtaining a larger vote
than any candidate for office had ever before received in New Hampshire.
Of Gov. Harriman's administration of the affairs of the state, in its
principal features, with the exacting duties and the keen prudence
required of the chief executive in those days of large indebtedness,
unbalanced accounts, and new legislation to meet the new and
unprecedented demands, his constituents seem to have been hearty and
unanimous in their approval. Their feelings may be summed up and
expressed in the words of the _Boston Journal_, when it said: "The
administration of Gov. Harriman will take rank among the best that New
Hampshire has ever had."
General Harriman was appointed naval officer of the port of Boston, by
President Grant, in April, 1869, which office he accepted after the
expiration of his gubernatorial term in June following. He was
re-appointed in 1873, for a term of four years. The affairs of this
office were conducted in such manner as to preclude any word of
criticism.
Gen. Harriman has engaged in political canvasses repeatedly in most of
the northern states, and in 1872 he participated extensively in the
state campaign in North Carolina. In this latter canvass, the key-note
of the national campaign was pitched, and the result of the desperate
contest there in August made the re-election of Gen. Grant in November a
certainty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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