Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-11-01
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
XX-THE HAYES TIDEN FIGHT.
By Frederic ]. Haskin
By Frederic J. Haskin.

The election of 1876 will go down in
history as one of the most remarkable
political episodes in the history of repub-
lies. 1t marked the first and only failure
| OF the election machinery provided by the
American Constitution to perform its
functions The eXtra-constitutional meth
cd resorted to in order to decide the
election demonstrated how partisan con-
siderations will influence the, judgment
of men, This was SO pronounced as to
cause Senator Dawes to remark that If
any situation like that of 1876 should
again arise. neither party would accept
the methods employed in that contest,
and the government might be wrecked
over a succession.
| Not one of the fifteen men who consti
| tuted the electoral commission voted
otherwise than according to the desires
Of his party, and the outcome, as re-
marked by one senator, was the result
of the blind chance in the selection of
the fifteenth member Of the commission"
| 1t was thought, when the bill creating
| the commission was passed, that the fif-
| tenth member would be David Davis of
Illinois. Davis had been LncOln's cam
paign manager in 1860, and in 1872 he
| was considered for the liberal republican
nomination for President. Now he was
one Of those who had gone into the
| democratic fold Some charge that his
election to the United States Senate by
| the democrats. with the aid of republi
can votes. was scheme to get him off
| the bench and prevent his becoming the
| fifteenth member of the commission. At
| any rate, it is generally agreed that If
he had remained on the bench he would
have been the fifteenth member, and
would have reversed the final vote, maxi
ing it eight in favor of the Tilden con-
font f0y ivlcf fn1 Of
eight for Hayes and seven for Tilden.
The events leading up to the final issue
before the electoral commission are full
of interest. Grant, to-
Willing to Take ward the end of his
wm e o n term,
1hlrd 1erm. urged by some of his
friends to stand for third term, just as
all the other two-term Presidents had
been Washington, Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe and Jackson. But. unlike them.
he did not spurn the suggestion; on the
contrary, he welcomed it. When the
PENNSYLVANIA state republican convention
pronounced against third term, he wrote
it's presiding officer, Gen. Harry White,
that while he did not care for third
term, the time might come when it would
end of eight years He added that only
if denomination came to him In such
way as to make it his imperative duty
to accept it would he do so. This was
generally construed as permission to his
friends to invite national call for him.
A little later the House of Representa-
tives took hand in his ambitions. and
passed a resolution which 20 out of the
SO voting republicans favored This reso-
luton declared that it would be 'unwise,
unpatriotic and fraught with peril to our
free Institutions for the third term prece-
dent to be ignored The total vote was
234 for the resolution to IL against it.
This effectually ended the Grant third
consecutive term boom.
The support of the administration then
went to Roscoe Conkling and Oliver P.
Morton. Blaine was the
HAYES Wins anti-administration can
w.t. didate. When the con-
Wy OLA 'o'os vention met he had more
votes than any other two candidates, and
| it became a case of the field against him.
Although an investigation into some of
his financial transactions was then being
made, he nevertheless was the favorite
| in the voting up to the seventh ballot.
when the convention swung to Rutherford
| B. Hayes, who was a dark horse up to
the fifth ballot. Even then he was but
| little behind Hayes. who had the nOmi-
nation on the seventh ballot, with only
six votes to spare.
The republicans broke the unit rule in
this convention Four Pennsylvania dele
gates wanted to vote their own senti-
ments, and the chair sustained them. It's
decision was appealed from, but stEs-
tanned. Four years later an attempt was
made to enforce it again. but it failed,
and ever since the republicans have re-
| fused to recognize this rule.
| The democrats held their convention
| in st. Louis, to which the Tilden support
| ers went with a ma
Tilden jority conceded to them.
| r41 Tilden was nominated,
| with his leading oppo-
nent Thomas A. Hendricks, as his run
ming mate.
The campaign that followed was not