The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-05-23

the electoral vote. Grant had 2S6 and
Greeley Al Of the electoral vote. but
Greeley received 2,S42.5O and of the |
popular vote and Grant %3,579,693.
plimented. but the agony of defeat,
when he was assured that he would
win. coupled with exhaustion from the
work of the campaign, sent him to a
bed of sickness which resulted in his
death. The universal thought. even
among his friends, was that he had
died of a broken heart" !
II Electoral Commission.
In 1876 came the remarkable
episode of the electoral commission.
an extraordinary body created for the
purpose of solving a problem of the
election which almost threatened a
revolutionary outbreak. Although 10
Years had passed since the close of the
war. and reconstruction" of the
all of that time. the condition in those
states was chaotic. Most of them had
what was called %"carpetbag govern
ment," that is. many of the highest Of
ficials had been appointed by the exc
cutive of the federal government.
many of these were not of the finest
type of political purists, and thous-
ands of the former c~onfederates were
still under the ban of the "unrecon-
structed."
The iealousies of the Blaine-Conk-
linG-Shcrman factions of the republic
can party brought about the nominal
ton of a dark horse" in the person
of Rutherford h. Hayes, who. in 1875.
had been elected for the third time
governor of Ohio. The democrats
nominated Samuel j. Tilden of New
York and Thomas A. Hendricks of In
diana, and the two were considered
the strongest team" the democrats
could place into the field. Tilden e.
c,ivcd 4.299.s93 of the popular vote.
and Hayes 4,04s,24s, or more than a
quarter of a million less than a ma
joritN. The senat had a majority of
republicans and the house Il majori-
ty of democrats. 1t was the joint duty
of the two branches to u the cleo
toral vote. and there was a radical dis
agreement as to the counting of the
certificates from Louisiana. Florida,
South Carolina and Oregon.
Serious civil disturbances threaten
cd. hut everybody having had enough
of war it was decided to create an
electoral commission composed of five
members each of the house and sem
ate. four members of the supreme
court of the United states. who were
named in the act, those four to select
a fifth. Agents were sent to the states
in dispute to examine n the condi-
tions attending the elections, and upon
the report of these emissaries the
commission, sitting as a solemn high
court. proceeded to canvass all the
testimony.
The four associate justices named
in the act. Clifford. Field, Strong and
Miller. selected Justice Bradley. a re-
publican. as the fifth. The senate
selected Senators Edmunds. Freling-
huysen and Morton. republicans. and
the house appointed Payne, Hunton
and Abbott, democrats, and Garfield
and Hoar. republicans. On a side
there was arrayed the most eminent
lawyers of the country as counsel. In
regard to each of the disputed states
ii was decided by a vote of s to Z. the
republicans having one of a majority
of the commission, that the certiti-
Gates should be counted for Hayes
and Wheeler for president and vice
president, and this gave the repub-
Leans a majority of exactly one of
the electoral vote. 1S5 to 1874. The
senate assented to n the house dis
scented from this decision. but the ex-
~traordinary body had been created
by joint agreement and the fiat of
the commission. the creature of con
gress, was irrevocablc. There were
mutteringS among the democrats of
the country, threats Of forcibly seat
ing Tilden mt Hendricks. and it has
never been questioned that if Tilden
had had the nerve to have raised
a helliEerent finger there would have
been rioting, at the very least, at the
inauguration.
AS it was, the finger did not rise.
Hayes was inaugurated without even
a hiss or a boot. and served his four
years quite nicely. Mrs. Hayes, a wo-
man Of fine cultivation and gracious
presence, adding much to the popu-
L.. "a 1:-...
ton.
The Famous 1900"
So much of a cloud of legitimacy
had hung over the administration Of
President Hayes hat there was not
the faintest whisper of a rcnomina-
ton. In 1880. therefore. came the
final struggle between the famous
triangle. the Big Three" Blaine.
Sherman II Conkling. Senator
Grant for a third term. All the fore
es of a splendid machine. the most
perfect ever resulting from the in
spiration of machine organization
nationally that ever was known, made
for the nomination of Grant. part
of the scheme having been the pre-
vious tour of the world by Grant and
the reception of ovations by him ev-
crywherc such rs were never vouch-
safed to a crowned head. he having
the reputation Of fighting to a sue
cessfu1 finish the greatest of civil
wars. the Napoleon of the new world.
The support of Grant in the ma
tional convention OF the many bal
lots rarely swerved from the number
"3O6.' indelibly impressed on the
pages Of convention history. Blaine
and Sherman. with a few scattering
votes for others. divided the V
ton II the opposition to Grant was
as firm, though not concentrated, as
was the support of the great general.
General James A. Garfield. member
of congress from Ohio. then recently
a member of the electoral commits
sion. WIS the chairman of the Ohio
delegation and had made the chief
nominating speech for Senator John
Sherman. His name had been men
toned as that of a most probable
dark horse" and in no other place
so prominently and persistently as in
the editorial columns of The Pitts
burg Dispatch.
The balloting was long and irri-
tating. Occasionally there were votes
for Garfield. one member Of the Penn
sylvania delegation exciting much
amusement by voting for him from
the first ballot. Finally the tension
broke, and there was a stampede for
Garfield which gave him the nomi-
nation, state after state coming over
to him., but the ever-famed "3O6"
standing by Grant to the last. Conk-
ling. however. manipulated the NOM
ination of Chester A.. Arthur for the
vice presidency. General Winfield
Scott Hancock was the nominee of
the democrats. and his popularity