The summer saw a hesitating, weak old man pleading with Congress for assistance. Congress refused, and so the soldier had no other recourse but to call out troops to enforce the Reconstruction laws. Three times the soldiers restored to power candidates who had been ousted from office by force and fraudulent elections. In retaliation, the planters in Louisiana killed Negroes and whites in cold blood. Pitched battles raged in the streets of New Orleans. The lowest ebb of degradation was reached with the election of 1876. School histories touch that month lightly and move quickly on. The deal was made, and Rutherford B. Hayes became President of the United States. The calm was ominous. From several sections of the dead-still South groups of grim-faced men journeyed to Washington and gathered at Frederick Douglass’ house. “They say he will remove the soldiers. That means the end of everything for us. Only the Federal troops have held them back!” “Is there nothing? Nothing you can cling to?” Douglass sought for one hope. “There might have been had we cemented ties with Northern labor. They are just as intent on crushing the white worker.” The black man’s eyes on Douglass’ face accused him. He had been a delegate to the Louisiana convention. And that was where the Negro labor union died! “How bitter knowledge is that comes too late!” Douglass acknowledged his mistake with these words. The man from South Carolina spoke. “They’ll say we lost the ballot because we did not know how to use it.” “It is a lie--we could not do the things we knew to do!” “The measures you have passed? Reforms?” Douglass searched the drawn faces. “They’ll all be swept away--” “Like so much trash!” “Go to the new President,” they urged. “You cannot be accused of seeking favors. Go and tell him the truth. Plead with him to leave us this protection a little longer.” “A little longer, they ask a little more time, Mr. Hayes.” Douglass was in the White House, begging understanding for his people’s need. He leaned forward, trying to read the face of the man who held so much of their destiny in his hands. President Hayes spoke calmly. “You are excited, Douglass. You have fought a good fight--and your case is won. There is no cause for further alarm. Your people are free. Now we must work for the prosperity of all the South. How can the Negro be deprived of his political or civil rights? The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are part of the Constitution. Douglass, do you lose faith in your government?” Douglass rose slowly to his feet. There was logic and reason in the President’s words. “I covet the best for my country--the true grandeur of justice for all,” he said. “Humbly I do pray that this United States will not lose so great a prize.” He bowed and took his leave.