■ ^■.A WM ^ ,^' .^' 0' o V d its S'icinity. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. I/I roar of Thomas' guns on the left, and gained per- mission of Rosecrans to go round to that quarter and find the army of the Cumberland. While the com- mander busied himself with preparing a refuge at Chattanooga for his routed army, his chief of staff went back, accompanied only by a staff officer and a few orderlies, to find whatever part of the army still held its ground, and save what there was left. It was a perilous ride. Long before he reached Thomas one of his orderlies was killed. Almost alone he pushed on over the obstructed road, through pursuers and pursued, found the heroic Thomas encircled by fire, but still firm, told him of the disaster on the right, and explained how he could withdraw his right wing and fix it upon a new line to meet Longstreet's column, which had turned the right of Thomas' position and was marching in heavy column upon his rear. The movement was made just in time; but Thomas' line was too short, it would not reach to the base of the mountain. Longstreet saw the gap, drove his column into it and would have struck Thomas* line fatally in the rear, but in that critical moment General Gordon Granger came up with Steadman's division, which moved in heavy column, threw itself upon Long- street, and after a terrific struggle, drove him back. The dead and wounded lay in heaps where those two columns met, but the army oi General Thomas was saved. As night closed in upon the heroic army of the Cumberland, Generals Garfield and Granger, on foot and enveloped in smoke, directed the loading and pointing of a battery of Napoleon guns, whose 1/2 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES flash, as they thundered after the retreating column of the assailants, was the last light that shown upon the battle field of Chickamauga. The struggle was over, and the rebels retired repulsed. Had the two shattered corps of McCook and Crittenden that night been brought upon the field and enabled Thomas to hold his ground, there might have been a second day to that battle which would have changed its complexion in history. The battle of Chickamauga practically closed General Garfield's military career. About four weeks after the engagement he was sent by Rosecrans to Washington to report minutely to the President and the War Department the position, deeds, resources, and capabilities of the army at Chattanooga. He went, had frequent lengthy interviews with the President and Secretary Stanton, and thus, point by point, made a most thorough and satisfactory report. Meanwhile, General Garfield had been promoted to a major-generalship of volunteers 'for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Chickamauga,' to take rank from the 19th of September, 1863. Rosecrans had been removed from the command of the army at Chattanooga and General Grant appointed to his place. General Garfield was now called to a new field of duty. In October of the year previous, while the Forty-Second was retreating from Cumberland Gap, the people of the Nineteenth Congressional District of Ohio had elected him as their representative to the Thirty-Eighth Congress. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 73 He was a major-general, young, popular in the army, and in high favor at Washington ; he was poor, and his army pay was double the slender salary of a Congressman, but he had been chosen by the people of his district as their representative under circum- stances which in his judgment would not permit him to decline the trust. General Thomas offered him the command of a corps ; but Lincoln urged him to resign his commission and come to Congress. The President was strenuous, and his advice prevailed. There was no want of major-generals, but there was need of all the zeal, courage and ability that could be assembled in Congress. So his friends argued, and the sequel proved the wisdom of their demand upon him. Yielding to this, he resigned his com- mission on the 5th of December, 1863, having served in the army more than a year after his election to Congress, and took his seat on the same day in the House of Representatives, where he has been in continuous service since that day. The influence of General Garfield upon the Forty- Second regiment was unbounded. As colonel, not less than as professor and principal of a collegiate school, he evinced a rare and extraordinary power in controlling, interesting and inspiring young men. It was due largely to his enthusiastic efforts that the regiment was made up of some of the best material that Ohio sent into the field. The careful, laborious education, the discipline, the quickening of individual self-respect that the regiment underwent at his hands while in Camp Chase, were never lost upon its 174 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES men. Long after he had gone to other duties, the recollection of his words was a source of inspiration to the men ; and as they went into their first fight at Middle Creek, against overwhelming numbers, with serene confidence, because their trusted colonel had sent them, so afterwards they fought and marched as though conscious that the eye of their first com- mander was still upon them." OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1/5 CHAPTER XIII. REVIEW OF HIS MILITARY CAREER. FITNESS FOR MILITARY AFFAIRS. — HOW HE BECAME FAMILIAR WITH INFANTRY TACTICS. — CARRIES THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS BOYHOOD INTO ARMY LIFE. — HIS KNOWLEDGE OF LAW. — MIL- ITARY TRIALS. — THE TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN. — HIS ABILITY AS AN ENGINEER. — HIS GREAT PLAN FOR AN ONWARD MOVEMENT FROM MURFREESBORO'. — HIS OFFICIAL REPORT. — COMPLIMENT FROM GENERAL ROSECRANS. — HIS RESIGNATION. Glancing back upon General Garfield's military career, with the accumulated facts of history adding their testimony to the high estimate made of him in 1863, the most conservative writer must be aston- ished at the ability displayed by him. It will also appear, that while the fact that the Secretary of War was from Ohio, and might be predisposed to observe the merits of a soldier from the same State, yet all the promotions which came to him were clearly and undisputedly deserved by him, and for the national good. He had a natural fitness, in some way, for military affairs. "He seemed to be experienced in all the emergencies that met him ; and everywhere acted, as his associates testify, 'Mike an old soldier." It is interesting to note how much of this success and appearance of familiarity was due to his early habits. He had accustomed himself to occupy all his 176 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES time in some profitable work or study. He had, from the time he possessed but one book to study, schooled himself to thoroughly understand whatever he was given to learn. Place these two characteristics together, and notice its bearing on his military usefulness. A scrutiny of the history of those early days of the war shows that he began to study military works as early as his days in the Senate of Ohio ; and that from the da}^ that Governor Dennison notified him of his appointment as a lieutenant-colonel, he bent his whole energy to- ward gaining an understanding of the art and rules of war He applied himself closely to the practice of infantry tactics, and studied intently the directions for movements in regimental, battalion, and brigade drill. When his regiment began to assemble at Camp Chase, near Columbus, he was able to estab- lish an officer's school, and to teach the most hnport- ant matters himself. His confidence in himself came from his consciousness of having thoroughly mas- tered the subject. He studied military engineering in the same manner ; and from that went to the plans of successful campaigns made by great soldiers of the past. To those must be added the other prominent marks in his character, and a solution of his sudden rise is explained. The same active and obedient imagina- tion, which in his boyhood turned the orchard trees into Indian chiefs, made the fields of wheat a host of buccaneers, and the bowing young maples an atten- tive audience, served him in his study of military OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. I // movements, by supplying him with squads and regi- ments to drill, which were invisible to the natural eye and even to the imagination of many persons in his situation. He could give the orders and see the evolutions, and this mental practice made his appear- ance on his first trial seem like that of a veteran. But combined with all the traits already mentioned was that sterling truthfulness, which has been men- tioned as a characteristic of his boyhood. It won for him the respect of his superiors and the love of his inferiors. His word was implicitly trusted. To this known characteristic was due, in a great meas- ure, the confidence which was placed in the Bureau of Information, which was managed by Major Swain, under General Garfield's direction. He misrepre- sented nothing. He over-estimated nothing. Be- fore him the lying scouts, spies, fugitives, slaves and captives seemed to be in awe of his integrity ; and, as one of his staff has said, "he impelled them to tell the truth by the very force of his presence and example." The information he obtained of the ene- my's movements and numbers was so correct that great armies moved on to victories, led by his direc- tions. His thorough knowledge of law and his adminis- trative ability, combined with the traits already men- tioned, caused his words and decisions to be respect- ed in martial courts. He had been thorough and honest with himself in his studies, and one who is honest and sincere with himself is honest and sin- 12 178 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES cere with all the world. It is a rule that works both ways. But the crown of all his military achievements, and one which our successful general have all pro- nounced to be a masterly stroke of military genius, is found in his plan of the Tullahoma campaign, from Murfreesboro', by the army of the Cumberland. All testify that, had General Rosecrans moved at once, instead of hesitating to hear the advice of other generals, who opposed it, General Bragg' s command must have been captured, and the rebel- lion cut in twain, a year before Sherman marched to the sea. As it was, the campaign was an important and successful movement, and gave our armies many advantages in the movements which Grant after- wards made. Whitelaw Reid, in his great work on ''Ohio in the War," has printed entire the paper submitted by General Garfield to the commanding general, at that time, and it deserves a j^lace in every biography of General Garfield. General Rosecrans had been waiting five months for a favorable opportunity to attack General Bragg, and had many foolish quarrels with the War Depart- ment on account of his delay and strenuous demands for cavalry and stores. But, at last, under the urgent advice of General Garfield, his chief of staff, he asked the advice of the generals in command of divisions in the army of the Cumberland, about an advance. All advised against it. General Garfield OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 79 was in favor of an immediate move, and gave his reasons for it. His advice was taken, with the good results already mentioned. The document gives such an insight into the condition of affairs, and exhibits so strikingly General Garfield's customary caution, foresight, and logical arrangement, that it is given entire. Head-quarters Department of the Cumberland. MuRFREESBORo', June 12, 1864. General : — In your confidential letter of the 8th inst. , to the corps and division commanders and generals of cavalry, of this army, there were substantially five questions propounded, for their consideration and answer, viz. : 1. Has the enemy of our front been materially weakened by de- tachments to Johnston, or elsewhere ? 2. Can this army advance on him at this time, with strong, reason- able chances of fighting a great and successful battle ? 3. Do you think an advance of our army at present likely to pre- vent additional reinforcements being sent against General Grant by the enemy in our front ? 4. Do you think an immediate advance of the army advisable ? 5. Do you think an early advance advisable ? Many of the answers to these questions are not categorical, and cannot be clearly set down either as affirmative or negative. Espe- cially in answer to the first question there is much indefiniteness, re- sulting from the difference of judgment as to how great a detachmeiit could be considered a " material reduction of Bragg*s strength." For example, one officer thinks it has been reduced ten thousand, and not " materially weakened." The answers to the second question are modified, in some instances, by the opinion that the rebels will fall back behind the Tennessee river, and thus no battle can be fought, either successful or unsuc- cessful. So far as these opinions can be stated, in tabular form, they will stand thus : — Yes. No. 6 II 2 II 4 10 15 l80 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES Answer to first question, Answer to second question, Answer to third question, Answer to tourth question, Answer to fifth question, .... 2 On the fifth question, three gave it as their opinion that this army ought to advance as soon as Vicksburg falls, should that event hap- pen. The following is a summary of the reasons assigned why we should not, at this time, advance upon the enemy : — I- With Hooker's army defeated, and Grant's bending all its ener- gies in a yet undecided struggle, it is bad poHcy to risk our only re- serve army to the chances of a general engagement. A failure here would have most disastrous effect on our lines of communication, and on politics in the loyal States. 2. We should be compelled to fight the enemy on his own ground, or follow him in a fruitless chase ; or, if we attempted to out-flank him and turn his position, we should expose our line of communica- tion, and run the risk of being pushed back into a rough country, well- known to the enemy and little to ourselves. 3. In case the enemy should fall back without accepting battle, he could make our advance very slow, and with a comparatively small force posted in the gaps of the mountains, could hold us back while he crossed the Tennessee river, where he would be measurably secure, and free to send reinforcements to Johnston. His forces in East Tennessee could seriously harrass our left flank and constantly disturb our communications. 4. The withdrawal 01 Burnside's ninth army corps deprives us of an important reserve and flank protection, thus increasing the difl&culty of an advance. 5. General Hurlburt has sent the most of his force away to Gener- al Grant, thus leaving West Tennessee uncovered, and laying our right flank and rear open to raids of the enemy. The following incidental opinions are expressed : — 1. One officer thinks it probable that the enemy has been strength- ened, rather than weakened, and that he (the enemy) would have reasonable prospect of victory in a general battle. 2. One officer believes the result of a general battle would be doubtful, a victory barren, and a defeat most disastrous. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. l8l 3. Three officers believe that an advance would bring on a general engagement. Three others believe it would not. 4. Two officers express the opinion that the chances of success in a general battle are nearly equal. 5. One officer expresses the belief that our army has i cached its maximum strength and efficiency, and that inactivity will seriously im- pair its effectiveness. 6. Two officers say that an increase of our cavalry, by about six thousand men, would materially change the aspect of our affairs, and give us a decided advantage. In addition to the above summary, I have the honor to submit an estimate of the strength of Bragg's army, gathered from all the data I have been able to obtain, including the estimate of the general com- manding, in his official report of the battle of Stone river, and facts gathered from prisoners, deserters and refugees, and from rebel news- papers. After the battle, Bragg consolidated many of his decimated regiments and irregular organizations ; and at the time of his sending reinforcements to Johnston, his army had reached the greatest effective strength. It consisted of five divisions of infantry, composed of ninety-four regiments, and two independent battalions of sharp-shoot- ers, — say ninety regiments. By a law of the confederate Congress, regiments are consolidated when their effective strength falls below two hundred and fifty men. Even the regiments formed by such con- solidation (which may reasonably be regarded as the fullest) must fall below five hundred. I am satisfied that four hundred is a large esti- mate of the average stiength. The force, then, would be : — Infantry, 95 regiments, 400 each, . . . 38,000 Cavalry, 35 regiments, say, 500 each, . . . 17,$°^ Artillery, 26 batteries, say 100 each, . . . 2,600 Total, . . , . . . . 58,600 This force has been reduced by detachments to Johnston It is as well known as we can ever expect to ascertain such facts, that three brigades have gone trom McConn's division, and two or three from Breckinridge's, — say two It is clear that there are now but four infantry divisions in Bragg's amiy, the fourth being composed of fragments of McConn's and Breckinridge's divisions, and must be much smaller than the average. Deducting the five brigades, and 1 82 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES supposing them composed of only foui regiments each, which is below the general average, it gives an infantry reduction of twenty regiments, four hundred each — eight thousand — leaving a remainder of thirty thousand. It is clearly ascertained that at least two brigades of cav- alry have been sent from Van Dorn's command to the Mississippi, and it is asserted in the Chattanooga Rebel, of June nth, that General Morgan's command has been permanently detached and sent to East- ern Kentucky. It is not certainly known how large his division is, but it is known to contain at least two brigades. Taking this mini- mum as the fact, "Sfe have a cavalry reduction of four brigades. Taking the lowest estimate, four regiments to the brigade, we have a reduction, by detachment, of sixteen regiments, five hundred each, leaving his present effective cavalry force nine thousand five hundred. With the nine brigades of the two arms thus detached, it will be safe to say there have gone, — Six batteries, 80 men each, 480 Leaving him 20 batteries, . . . . .2,120 Making a total reduction of .... 16.480 Leaving, of the three arms, 41,680 In this estimate of Bragg's strength, I have placed all doubts in his favor, and I have no question that my estimate is considerably beyond the truth General Sheridan, who has taken great pains to collect evidence on this point, places it considerably below these figures. But assuming these to be correct, and granting what is still more improba- ble, that Bragg would abandon all his rear posts, and entirely neglect his communications, and could bring his last man into battle, I next ask : What have we with which to oppose him ? The last official report of effective strength, now on file in the office of the assistant adjutant general, is dated from June nth, and shows that we have in this department, omitting all officers and enlisted men attached to department, corps, division and brigade head-quarters : — 1. Infantry — One hundred and seventy-three regiments ; ten bat- talions sharp-shooters ; four battalions pioneers ; and one regiment of engineers and mechanics, with a total effective strength of seventy thousand nine hundred and eighteen. 2. Cavalry — Twenty-seven regiments and one unattachee com- pany, eleven thousand, eight hundred and thirteen. 3. Artillery — Forty-seven and a half batteries field artillery, con- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. I 83 sisting of two hundred and ninety-two guns and five hundred and sixty-nine men, making a general total of eighty-seven thousand eight hundred. Leaving out all commissioned officers, this army represents eighty- two thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven bayonets and sabers. This report does not include the Fifth Iowa cavalry, six hundred strong, lately armed ; nor the First Wisconsin cavalry ; nor Coburn's brigade of infantry, now arriving ; nor the two thousand three hundred and ninety four convalescents, now on light duty in '* Fortress Mon- roe." There are detached from this force as follows : — At Galatin, 969 At Carthage, i,i49 At Fort Donelson, ^A^S At Clarkesville, 1,138 At Nashville. ....... 7,292 At Franklin, . . * 900 At Lavergne. 2,117 Total, I5»i30 With these posts as they are, and leaving two thousand five hundred efficient men, in addition to the two thousand three hundred and ninety-four convalescents, to hold the works at this place, there will be left sixty-five thousand one hundred and thirty-seven bayonets and sabers to show, against Bragg's forty-one thousand six hundred and eighty. I beg leave, also, to submit the following considerations : — 1 . Braggs army is weaker now than it has been since the battle of Stone river, or is likely to be, at present, while our army has reached its maximum strength, and we have no right to expect reinforcements for several months, if at all. 2. Whatever be the result at Vicksburg, the determination of its fate w'ill give large reinforcements to Bragg. If Grant is successful, his army will require many weeks to recover from the shock and strain of his late campaign, while Johnston will send back to Bragg a force sufficient to insure the safety of Tennessee. If Grant fails, the same result will inevitably follow, so far as Bragg's army is concerned. 184 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES 3. No man can predict, with a certainty, the results of any battle, however great th3 disparity in numbers. Such results are in the hand of God. But, reviewing the question in the light ot human calcula- tion, I refuse to entertain a doubt that this army, which in January last defeated Bragg's superior numbers, cannot overwhelm his present greatly inferior forces. 4. The most unfavorable course for us that Bragg could take, would be to fall back without giving us battle ; but this would be very disas- trous to him. Besides the loss of material of war, and the abandon- ment of the rich and abundant harvest, now nearly ripe in Central Tennessee, he would lose heavily by desertion. It is well known that a wide-spread dissatisfaction exists among his Kentucky and Tennes- see troops. They are already deserting in large numbers. A retreat would greatly increase both the desire and the opportunity for deser- tion, and would very materially reduce liis physical and moral strength. While it would lengthen our communication, it would give us posses- sion of McMinnville, and enable us to threaten Chattanooga and East Tennessee ; ard it would not be unreasonable to expect an eaily occu- pation of the former place. 5. But the chances are more than even that a sudden and rapid movement would compel a general engagement, and the defeat of Bragg would be, in the highest degree, disastrous to the rebellion, 6. The turbulent aspect of politics in the loyal States renders a decisive blow against the enemy, at this time, of the highest import- ance to the success of the government at the polls, and in the enforce- ment of the Conscript Act. 7. The government and the War Department believe that this army ought to move upon the enemy. The army desire it, and the country is anxiously hoping for it. 8. Our true objective point is the rebel army, w'hose last reserves are substantially in the field, and an effective blow will crush the shell, and soon be followed by the collapse of the rebel government. 9. V'ou have, in my judgment, wisely delayed a general movement hitherto, till your army could be massed, and your cavalry could be mounted. Your mobile force can now be concentrated in twenty-four hours, and your cavalry, if not equal in numerical strength to that of the enemy, is greatly superior in eliiciency and morale For this rea- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 85 son I beiieve an immediate advance of a;l our available forces is ad- visable, and, under the providence of God, will be successful. Very respecttully, your obedient servant, J. A. GARFIELD, Brigadier-General, Chief of Staff. Major- General Rosecrans, Commanding Dep't. Cumberland. That the estimate which this biography has placed upon the character of General Garfield may not seem to be overdrawn, the following testimony given by a writer at Zenia, Ohio, in the autumn of 1862, is in- serted in these pages : " We have known General James A. Garfield for several years, and entertain for him the highest personal regard. He is one of the most eloquent men in Ohio, as well as one of the ripest scholars. Socially and morally he has no superior. He is popular with all, as the attachment of his scholars, as well as his soldiers, for him demonstrates. In respect to abilities, nature has by no means been unfriendly to hi.m ; and he has neither despised nor slighted her gifts. A severe course of mental training, combined with the mental practice obtained by presiding over one of the colleges of Ohio, has fully developed his natural endowments. Above all these considerations, everyone respects General Garfield for his stern, unyielding, uncom- promising patriotism. The permanent good of his country, the restoration of its unity, and the perpet- uation of the national power and glory through all coming time, are the objects which he keeps steadily in view." For more than a year after his election to Congress, General Garfield kept the field, and without flinching 1 86 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES endured the severest tests which come to the soldier in war. He lost no time and shirked no hardships. He bravely entered the most dangerous lines of battle when his duty called him there, and the num- ber of men killed at his side, and horses wounded or killed under him, attest his proximity to the enemy. In General Rosecran's official report of the battle of Chickamaugahe bears testimony to General Gar- field's soldierly qualities and said : '*To Brigadier-General James A. Garfield, chief of staff. I am especially indebted for the clear and ready manner in which he seized the points of action and movement, and expressed in orders the ideas of the general commanding." To this testimony the War Department put its seal by issuing to him a commission as major-general dated the day of that great battle. On December 5th, a few weeks after the battle and after General Rosecrans was relieved, General Gar- field resigned his commission and immediately took his seat in Congress. At the time he resigned, he felt that he was needed in Congress ; yet, his unwill- ingness to leave the service, nearly overcome his res- olution to take his seat in the House of Represen- tatives, and in November, before he left the army, he wrote to the President that were it not for the strong belief he had that the war would close within a few months, he should remain with the army. OF GENEvRAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 8/ CHAPTER XIV. SERVICE AS A LEGISLATOR. A NEW FIKLD. — THE HIGHEST TEST OF HUMAN GREATNESS. — THE AMERICAN CONGRESS. — FREQUENT FAILURES OF NOTED MEN. — THE TRIALS OF THAT CRISIS. — PLACED ON THE MILITARY COMMIT- TEE. — THE STYLE OF HIS SPEECHES. — HIS INDUSTRY'. — HIS REPLY TO MR. LONG. — AN IMPROMPTU SPEECH. — THE COMPLEMENTS OF OLD MEMBERS. Hitherto we have noted the career of a man who, notwithstanding his surprising success, was neverthe- less a man among men, finding often his equal in the work which he had chosen. His childhood, youth, and army experience were such as to entitle him to the praise and thanks of the people, but thus far in common with many others. Thousands of boys have chopped wood, boiled salts, and drove canal horses and mules, and have succeeded in life, notwithstanding such humble be- ginnings. If it were not so, the history of his career would be a drawback rather than an encouragement to American youths. But now our record enters upon a higher plain, where the number of remarkable successes is far less and where many prosperous lives find their final level. In the legislative halls of a mighty nation 1 88 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES the ability and integrity of men find their severest tests. They may have enjoyed unUmited success from their cradle to the oath of office, but it is no guarantee of usefulness or fame in such a body as the American Congress. Great soldiers, with the scars of many battles and the fame of mighty conquerors, have entered the doors of the Capitol amid the ap- plause of an idolizing constituency, and have been immediately lost from sight, and soon from notice. Distinguished lawyers whose acquaintances regarded them as giants in the intellectual world, seem to become helpless and worthless as soon as they are lost in the crowd of talented men who gather at the Capitol. Scholars, poets, mathematicians, professors, preachers, railroad presidents, bankers, merchants, discoverers, inventors and millionaires, enter the legislative cham- bers with brilliant reputations and under the impetus of some great deed, only to be hid in a political fog, where they sit for a while in silent helplessness, and go home without a sign of welcome or approval. The story of Gen. Garfield's success in the legisla- tive department of the American nation, is the most interesting and the most remarkable part of the his- tory of his life. We have already seen how his qualities as a young man commended him to the respect and attention of the Senate of Ohio, and we shall see how quickly those same qualities lifted him above the mass of congressmen, and brought him into the notice of the nation. It must not be considered by the reader that, because General Garfield was known to the Presi- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 89 dent, and to some of the great captains of our army, and was loved and honored by the people of the Western Reserve, that he was known in the House of Representatives. There were hundreds of gener- als in the field whose names were far better known than that of Rosecrans' chief of staff. There were generals in the House of Representatives who had seen severer service, and whose deeds had been far wider proclaimed. There were old statesmen there whose hairs had grown white in the service of the nation. There were scholars of the highest reputa- tion, and orators whose words had become classic. Not a score of the whole assembly knew him by sight, or could recall his place of residence or past services when his name was called. It was a new start in life. In Congress, as in the back woods, he must overcome difficulties and fight his way alone. To win distinction there he must be something more than daring, truthful, and industri- ous ; he must possess that peculiar combination of strong talents and intellectual acuteness to which men somewhat vaguely apply the term, '' greatness." To be eminently great in a nation of great men, and in a time when especial circumstances combined to develop and disclose human nobility, required mas- terly talents and incessant watchfulness. To be of unusual service to humanity and of exceptional value to a nation, when twenty-five millions of people were striving, at a fever heat, to do the same thing, is something of which a man has reason to be proud. Such is General Garfield's record. He entered upon I go THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES his duties in Congress at a time when there were foes within and foes without ; when a strong army threatened the nation in the Southern States, and Great Britain menaced it from the ocean ; when the finances of the government were getting into an almost inextricable snarl ; when the people were searching for their greatest men, for councillors in the nation's peril and distress ; and when it required fortitude, wisdom and patriotism above the common order, to provide securely for the nation's future. For this work, General Garfield was well endowed by nature and education. He was a ready speaker, — apt, elegant, pointed, vehement. He had all the scholarship of the colleges, and more to draw upon. He had the practice of cultured public speaking. He had the experience of war, and a course of extensive reading from which to draw forcible and illuminating illustrations. He had all the physical characteristics of dignity, strength, countenance and voice, which are so useful in the public forum. Thus he was well equipped for a place in a deliberate assembly. But the growth of a member's influence, under the most favorable circumstances, is slow. He could not be a leader there until he had again and again displayed his ability for the post. He does not appear to have aspired to leadership ; but, from the first day of the session, set himself with stubborn purpose at the task of securing a complete knowledge of the rules and history of Congress. Then followed a study of the resources of the nation in men and money, and of the history of OF GENERAL JAMES A, GARFIELD. 191 Other countries, whose experience could throw any light, or give any suggestion to statesmen, in the complicated and perplexing trials of the union. His habits of incessant study served him well, and he always had a book in his hand or in his pocket, for use in any spare moment. His astonishing readi- ness in congressional debates upon any question of commerce, manufactures, finance, revenue, interna- tional law, or whatever came up, can be accounted for by this industrious habit. Never idle himself, CAPITOL AT WASHI>-GTON. and assisted by his wife, as only a talented, patient and affectionate woman of her unusual gifts can as- sist a man of letters, he steadily and heartily assisted the measures he thought were wise and good, and earnestly, and sometimes excitedly, opposed those actions which he deemed to be pernicious and wrong. He was given a place at once, upon his entry into Congress, on the very important committee on mil- 192 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES itary affairs. His colleagues bear testimony to his activity, industry and efficiency, from the very begin- ning of his term. His speeches were often models of graceful oratory, and yet have about them none of that objectional air of conceit which would sug- gest that the speaker delivered them for any other purpose but to convince. Early in the Thirty-eighth Congress, in which Mr. Garfield first made his appearance as a congressman, Mr. Alexander Long of Ohio, made a long and labored argument, to show that it was useless to try further to coerce the South. The tendency of Mr. Long's speech was to encourage the rebellion and censure the patriots who attempted to preserve the union. To that speech General Garfield replied, without preparation, having taken the floor immedi- ately upon the completion of Mr. Long's address. *'Mr. Chairman," said he, *' I should be obliged to you if you would direct the sergeant-at-arms to bring a white flag and plant it in the aisle between myself and my colleague who has just addressed you. I recollect on one occasion when two great armies stood face to face, that under a white flag just planted I approached a company of men dressed in the uni- form of the rebel confederacy and reached out my hand to one of the number and told him I respected him as a brave man. Though he wore the emblems of disloyalty and treason, still, underneath his vest- ments, I beheld a brave and honest soul. I would reproduce that scene here this afternoon, I say, were there such a flag of truce, — but God for- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 93 give me if I should do it under any other circum-^ stances ! I would reach out this right hand and ask that gentleman to take it, because I honor his brav- ery and his honesty. I believe what has just fallen from his lips is the honest sentiment of his heart ; and, in uttering it he has made a new epoch in the history of this war ; he has done a new thing under the sun ; he has done a brave thing. It is bravei than to face cannon and musketry, and I honor him for his candor and frankness. But now I ask you to take away the flag of truce, and I will go back inside the union lines and speak of what he has done. I am reminded by it of a dis- tinsiuished character in 'Paradise Lost.' When he had rebelled against the glory of God and ' led away a third part of heaven's sons, conjured against the Highest,' when after terrible battles in which mount- ains and hills were hurled by each contending host *with 'jaculations dire' ; when at last the leader and his hosts were hurled down * nine times the space that measures day and night,' and after the terrible fall lay stretched prone on the burning lake, Satan lifted up his shattered bulk, crossed the abyss, looked down into Paradise, and, soliloquizing, said : ' Which way I fly is hell, myself am hell.' It seems to me in that utterance he expressed the very sentiment to which you have just listened ; uttered by one no less brave, malign and fallen. This man gathers up the meaning of this great con- test, the philosophy of the moment, the prophecies of the hour, and, in sight of the paradise of victory 13 194 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES and peace, utters them all in this wail of terrible despair, 'Which way I fly is hell.' He ought to add, * Myself am hell' Mr. Chairman, I am reminded of two characters in the war of the revolution as compared with two others in the war of to-day. The first was Lord Fairfax who dwelt near the Potomac, a few miles from us. When the great con- test was opened between the mother country and the colonies, Lord Fairfax, after a protracted strug- gle with his own heart, decided that he must go with the mother country. He gathered his mantle about him and went over, grandly, solemnly and impres- sively and joined the fortunes of Great Britain against the home of his adoption. But there was another man who cast in his lot with the struggling colonies, and continued with them till the war was well-nigh ended. But in a day of darkness, which just preceded the glory of the morning, that other man, deep down in the damned pits of his black heart, hatched the treason to surrender forever all that had been gained to the enemies of his country. Benedict Arnold was that man. Fairfax and Arnold find their parallel in the strug- gle of to-day. When this war began, many good men stood hesi- tating and doubting what they ought to do. Their doctrine of State rights, their sympathies, all they had ever loved and longed for, were in the South ; and after long and painful hesitation, some of them OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 95 at last went with the enemies of the nation. At that time Robert E. Lee sat in his home across the river here doubting and delaying, and going off at last almost tearfully, to join the enemies of his country. He reminds me in some respects of Lord Fairfax, the stately royalist of the revolution. But now, when hundreds of thousands of brave souls have gone up to God under the shadow of the flag, and when thousands more, maimed and shattered in the contest, are sadly awaiting the deliverance of death ; now, when three years of terrific warfare have raged over us, when our armies have pushed the rebeUion back over mountains and rivers, and crowded it back into narrow limits, until a wall of fire girds it ; now, when the uplifted hand of a ma- jestic people is about to let fall the lightning of its conquering power upon the rebellion ; now, in the quiet of this hall, hatched in the lowest depths of a similar dark treason, there rises a Benedict Arnold and proposes to surrender us all up, body and spirit, the nation and the flag, its genius and its honor, now and forever, to the accursed traitors to our country. And that jDroposition comes — God for- give and pity my beloved State! — it comes from a citizen of the honored and loyal Commonwealth of Ohio. I implore you, brethren, in this House, not to believe that many such births ever gave pangs to my mother State such as she suffered when that traitor was born. [Suppressed applause and sensation.] I beg you 196 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES not to believe that on the soil of that State another such growth has ever deformed the face of nature and darkened the light of God's day. [An audible whisper, *Vallandigham.'] But ah! I am reminded there are other such. My zeal and love for Ohio have carried me too far. I retract. I remember that only a few days since a political convention met at the capital of my State, and almost decided to select from just such material a Representative for the Democratic party in the coming contest; and, to-day, what claim to be a majority of the Democracy of that State say that they have been cheated or they would have made that choice. I therefore sadly take back the boast in behalf of my native State. But, sir, I will forget States. We have something greater than States and State pride to be talked of here to-day. I will, if I can, dismiss feeling from my heart, and try to consider only what bears upon the logic of the speech to which we have just listened. First of all, the gentleman tells us that the right of secession is a constitutional right. I do not pro- pose to enter into the argument. I have expressed myself hitherto on State sovereignty and State rights, of which this proposition of his is the legitimate child. But the gentleman takes higher ground, and in that I agree with him, namely, that five million or eight million people possess the right of revolution. Grant it ; we agree there. If fifty-nine men can make revolution successful, OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1 9/ they have the right of revolution. If one State wishes to break its connection with the federal gov- ernment, and does it by force, maintaining itself, it is an independent State. If the eleven Southern States are determined and resolved to leave the union, to secede, to revolutionize, and can maintain that revolution by force, they have the revolutionary right to do so. Grant it. I stand on that platform with the gentleman. And now the question comes, Is it our constitutional duty to let them do it ? That is the question ; and in order to reach it, I beg to call your attention not to an argument, but to the condition of affairs which would result from such action, the mere statement of which becomes the strongest possible argument. What does this gen- tleman propose ? Where will he draw the line of division ? If the rebels carry into successful seces- sion what they desire to carry ; if their revolution envelops as many States as they intend it shall envelop ; if they draw the line where Isham G. Harris, the rebel governor of Tennessee, in the rebel camp near our lines, told Mr. Vallandigham they would draw it, — along the line of the Ohio and of the Potomac ; if they make good their statement to him, that they will ne^ er consent to any other line, then, I ask, what is the thing that the gentle- man proposes to do ? He proposes to leave to the United States a terri- tory reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and one hundred miles wide in the center! From Wells- ville, on the Ohio river, to Cleveland on the lakes, igS THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES is one hundred miles. I ask you, Mr. Chairman, if there be a man here so insane as to suppose that the American people will allow their magnificent nation- al proportions to be shorn to so deformed a shape as this ? I tell you — and I confess it here — that while I hope I have something of human courage, I have not enough to contemplate such a result. I am not brave enough to go to the brink of the precipice of successful secession, and look down into its damned abyss. If my vision were keen enough to pierce to its bottom, I would not dare to look. If there be a man here who dare contemplate such a scene, I look upon him either as the bravest of the sons of women, or as a downright madman. Secession to gain peace ! Secession is the tocsin of eternal war. There can be no end to such a war as will be inau- gurated if this thing be done. Suppose the policy of the gentleman were adopted to-day. Let the order go forth ; sound the ' recall ' on your bugles, and let it ring from Texas to the far Atlantic, and tell the armies to come back. Call the victorious legions back over the battle-fields of b]ood, forever now disgraced. Call them back, over the territory which they have conquered. Call them back, and let the minions of secession chase them with derision and jeers as they come. And then tell them that that man across the aisle, from the free State of Ohio, gave birth to the monstrous proposi- tion. Mr. Chairman, if such a word should be sent forth through the armies of the union, the wave of OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. I99 terrible vengeance that would sweep back over this land could never find a parallel in the records of his- tory. Almost in the moment of final victory, the ' recall ' is sounded by a craven people not deserving freedom. We ought every man to be made a slave, should we sanction such a sentiment. The gentleman has told us there is no such thing as coercion justifiable under the constitution. I ask him for one moment to reflect that no statute ever was enforced without coercion. It is the basis of every law in the universe, — God's law as well as man's. A law is no law wiihout co- ercion behind it. When a man has murdered his brother, coercion takes the murderer, tries him and hangs him. When you levy your taxes, coercion se- cures their collection ; it follows the shadow of the thief, and brings him to justice ; it accompanies your diplomacy to foreign courts, and backs the declaration of the nation's rights by a pledge of the nation's power. But when the life of that nation is imperiled, we are told that it has no coercive power against the parricides in its own bosom. Again, he tells us that oaths taken under the amnesty proclamation are good for nothing. The oath of Galileo, he says, was not binding up- on him. I am reminded of another oath that was taken ; but perhaps it, too, was an oath on the lips alone, to which the heart made no response. I remember to have stood in a line of nineteen men from Ohio, on that carpet yonder, on the first day of the session ; and I remember that, with uplifted hands 200 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES before God, those nineteen took an oath to support and maintain the constitution of the United States ; and I remember that another oath was passed around, and each member signed it as provided by law, utterly repudiating the rebellion - and its pre- tenses. Does the gentleman not blush to speak of Galileo's oath? Was not his own its counterpart ? He says the union can never be restored because of the terrible hatred engendered by the war. To prove it, he quotes what some Southern man said a few years ago, that he knew no hatred between peo- ples in the world like that between the North and the South. And yet that North and South have been one nation for more than eighty years ! Have we seen in this contest anything more bitter than the wars of the Scottish border ? Have we seen anything bitterer than those terrible feuds in the days of Edward, when England and Scotland were the deadliest foes on earth .? And yet for cen- turies, those countries have been cemented in an in- dissoluble union that has made the British nation one of the proudest of the earth. I said a little while ago that I accepted the propo- sition of the gentleman that the rebels had the right of revolution ; and the decisive issue between us and the rebellion is, whether they shall revolutionize and destroy, or we shall subdue and preserve. We take the latter ground. We take the common weapons of war to meet them ; and if these be not sufficient, I would take any element which will over- whelm and destroy ; I would sacrifice the dearest OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 20I and best beloved ; I would take all the old sanctions of law and the constitution and fling them to the winds, if necessary, rather than let the nation be broken in pieces and its people destroyed with end- less ruin. What is the constitution that these gentlemen are perpetually flinging in our faces, whenever we desire to strike hard blows against the rebellion ? It is the production of the American people. They made it, and the Creator is mightier than the creature. The power which made the constitution can also make other instruments to do its great work in the day of its dire necessity." This speech was so eloquently spoken, and was stamped with such sincerity, that old members of the House of Representatives gathered about him during its delivery, and greeted him with most flattering demonstrations of approval at its close. 202 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES CHAPTER XV. EARLY SPEECHES. HIS POSITION CONCER?nNG THE DRAFT FOR THE ARMV. — DIFFERS WITH HIS OWN PARTY. — CONTENDS FOR FRANKNESS AND TRUTH, — HOPEFUL VIEW OF THE NATION'S SUCCESS. — NATIONAL CONSCIENCE AND SLAVERY. — EIVIANCIPATION THE REMEDY FOR NATIONAL EVILS. — DEFENCE OF GENERAL ROSECRANS. — TRIBUTE TO GENER- AL THOMAS. — HIS ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAL'GA. — THE DOCTRINE OF STATE RIGHTS. — CAMDEN AND AMBOY RAIL- ROAD VS. THE UNITED STATES. — WHAT IS THE POWER AND PRE- ROGATIVE OF THE NATION. During General Garfield's first session, there was much contention over the draft for the army, and the clause in the law which allowed persons who were drawn to commute their service by the payment of three hundred dollars. The speech which General Garfield made illustrates, better than any description could do, certain phases of his character and his manner as a public speaker. In this he was not con- tending so much with the Democratic party, as with those of his own party with whom he differed in re- gard to the wisdom Ox the laws regulating, the draft. He said : '* Mr. Speaker, it has never been my policy to con- ceal a truth, merely because it is unpleasant. It may be well to smile in the face of danger, but it is neither OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 203 well nor wise to let danger approach unchallenged and unannounced. A brave nation, like a brave man, desires to see and measure the perils which threaten it. It is the right of the American people to know the necessities of the republic, when they are called upon to make sacrifices for it. It is this lack of con- fidence in ourselves and the people, this timid waiting for events to control us, when they should obey us, that makes men oscillate between hope and fear, — now in the sunshine of the hill-tops, and now in the gloom and shadows of the valley. To such men, the morning bulletin, which heralds success in the army, gives exultation and high hope ; the evening dis- patch, announcing some slight disaster to our advanc- ing columns, brings gloom and depression. Hope rises and falls by the accidents of war, as the mercury of the thermometer changes by the accidents of heat and cold. Let us rather take for our symbol the sai-lor's barometer, which faithfully forwarns him of the tempest, and gives him unerring promise of se- rene skies and peaceful seas. No man can deny that we have grounds for apprehension and anxiety. The unexampled magnitude of the contest, the enormous expenditures of the war, the unprecedented waste of battle, bringing sorrow to every loyal fireside, the courage, endurance and desperation of our enemy, the sympathy given him by the monarchies of the Old World, as they wait and hope or our destruction, all these considerations should make us anxious and earnest ; but they should not add one hue of despair to the face of an American citizen ; they should not 204 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES abate a tittle of his heart and hope. The specters of defeat, bankruptcy and repudiation have stalked through this Chamber, evoked by those gentlemen who see no hope for the republic, in the arbitrament of war, no power in the justice of our cause, no peace made secure by the triumph of freedom and truth. Mr. Speaker, even at this late day of the session, I will beg the indulgence of the House, while I point out some of the grounds of our confidence in the final success of our cause, while I endeavor to show that, though beset with dangers, we still stand on firm earth ; and though the heavens are clouded, yet above storm and cloud the sun of our national hope shines with steady and undimmed splendor. History is constantly repeating itself, making only such changes of programme as the growth of nations and centuries requires. Such struggles as ours, and far greater ones, have occurred in other ages, and their records are written for us. I desire to refer to the example of our ancestors across the sea, in their great strug- gles at the close of the last and the beginning of the present century, to show what a brave nation can do when their liberties are in danger, and their national existence is at stake. ^ * * * * * And can we, the descendants of such a people, with such a history and such an example before us, can we, dare we falter in a day like this ? Dare we doubt ? Should we not rather say, as Bolingbroke said to his people, in their hour of peril : * Oh, woe to thee when doubt comes ; it blows like a wind from OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 205 the north, and 'makes all thy joints to quake. Woe, indeed, be the statesmen who doubt the strength of their country, and stand in awe of the enemy with whom it is engaged.' At that same period, one of the greatest minds of England declared the three things necessary to her success : — 1. To listen to no terms of peace till freedom and order were established in Europe. 2. To fill up her army and perfect its organization. 3. To secure the favor of Heaven, by putting away forever the crime of slavery and the slave trade. Can we learn a better lesson ? Great Britain, in that same period, began the work which ended in breaking the fetters of all her bondsmen. She did maintain her armies and her finances, and she did triumph. We have begun to secure the approval of Heaven by doing justice, though long delayed, and securing to every human being in this republic free- dom, henceforth and forever. Mr. Speaker, it has long been my settled conviction that it was a part of the divine purpose to keep us under the pressure and grief of this war, until the conscience of the nation should be aroused to the enormity of its great crime against the black man, and full reparation should be made. We entered the struggle, a large majority insisting that slavery should be let alone, with a defiance almost blasphemous. Every movement toward the recognition of the ne- gro's manhood was resisted. Slowly, and at a fright- ful cost of human lives, the nation has yielded its wicked and stubborn prejudices against him, till at 206 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES last the blue coats cover more than one hundred thousand swarthy breasts, and the national banner is born in the smol^e of battle by men lately loaded with chains, but now bearing the honors and emolu- ments of American soldiers. Dare we hope for final success till we give them the full protection of sol- diers ? Like the sins of mankind against God, the sin of slavery was so great that ' without the shed- ding of blood there was no remission.' Shall we not secure the favor of Heaven by putting it completely away ? Shall we not fill up our armies ? Shall we not also triumph ? Was there, in the condition of England in 1812, a single element essential to success which we do not possess to-day ? * * :^ * :^ ^ If we will not learn a lesson, either from England or our revolutionary fathers, let us at least learn from our enemies. I have seen their gallantry in battle, their hoping against hope amid increasing disaster; and, traitors though they are, I am proud of their splendid courage, when I remember that they are Americans. Our army is equally brave, but our gov- ernment and Congress are far behind them in eai- nestness and energy. Until we go into the war with the same desperation and abandonment which mark their course, we do not deserve to succeed, and we shall not succeed. What have they done .? What has their government done, — a government based, in the first place, on extreme State rights and State sovereignty, but which has become more centralized and despotic than OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 20/ the monarchies of Europe ? They have not only called for volunteers, but they have drafted. They have not only drafted, but cut off both commutation and substitution. They have gone further. They have adopted conscription proper — the old French conscription of 1797 — and have declared that every man between sixteen and sixty years of age is a soldier. Bat we stand here bartering blood for money, debating whether we will fight the enemies of the nation, or pay ^300 into its treasury. Mr. Speaker, with this brief review of the grounds of our hope, I now ask your attention to the main proposi- tion in the bill before the House, — the repeal of the commutation clause. Going back to the primary question of the power to raise armies, I lay it down as a fundamental proposition, as an inherent and necessary element of sovereignty, that a nation has a right to the personal service of its citizens. The stability and power of every sovereignty rest upon that basis." His fidelity to his friends and comrades led him to make another speech during his first session, which gives his opinion of his old chief, General Rosecrans, and also of General Thomas, and deserves a place in history. It was made upon a resolution of thanks to General Thomas, for his generalship in the battle of Chickamauga. "This resolution proposes to thank Major-General George H. Thomas and the officers and men under his command for gallant services in the battle of Chickamauga. It meets my hearty approval for 20b THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES what it contains, but my protest for what it does not contain. I should be recreant to my own sense of justice did I allow this omission to pass without no- tice. No man here is ready to say, — and if there be such a man I am ready to meet him, — that the thanks of this Congress are not due to Major-General W. S. Rosecrans, for the campaign which culminated in the battle of Chickamauga. It is not uncommon throughout the press of the country, and many peo- ple, to speak of that battle as a disaster to the army of the United States, and to treat it as a defeat. If that battle was a defeat, we may welcome a hundred such defeats. I should be glad if each of our armies would repeat Chickamauga. Twenty such would de- stroy the rebel army and the confederacy, utterly and forever. What was that battle, terminating as it did a great campaign, whose object was to drive the rebel army beyond the Tennessee, and to obtain a foothold on the south bank of that river, which should form the basis of future operations in the Gulf States ? We had never yet crossed that river, except far be- low, in the neicrhborhood of Corinth. Chattanooira was a gateway of the Cumberland mountains, and until we crossed the river and held the gateway, we could not commence operations in Georgia. The army was ordered to cross the river, to grasp and hold the key of the Cumberland mountains. It did cross, in the face of superior numbers ; and after two days of fighting, more terrible, I believe, than any since this war began, the army of the Cuniber- land hurled back, discomfited and repulsed, the com- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 2O9 bined power of three rebel armies, gained the key to the Cumberland mountains, gained Chattanooga, and held it against every assault. If there has been a more substantial success against overwhelming odds, since this war began, I have not heard of it. We have had victories — God be thanked — all along the line, but in the history of this war I know of no such battle against such numbers ; forty thousand against an army of not less by a man than seventy-five thou- sand. After the disaster to the right wing, in the last bloody afternoon of September 20th, twenty-five thousand men of the army of the Cumberland stood and met seventy-five thousand hurled against them. And they stood in their bloody tracks, immovable and victorious, when night threw its mantle around them. They had repelled the last assault of the rebel army. Who commanded the army of the Cum- berland } Who organized, disciplined and led it ? Who planned its campaigns.-* The general whose name is omitted in this resolution — Major-General W. S. Rosecrans. And who is this General Rosecrans.^ The history of the country tells you, and your children know it by heart. It is he who fought battles and won victories in Western Virginia, under the shadow of another's name. When the poetic pretender claimed the honor and received the reward as the author of Virgil's stanza in praise of Caesar, the great Mantuan wrote on the walls of the imperial palace : * Hoc ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honores.' 14 210 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES So might the hero of Rich mountain say, ' I won this battle, but another has worn the laurels.' ' From Western Virginia he went to Mississippi, and there won the battles of luka and Corinth, which have aided materially to exalt the fame of that gener- al, upon whom this House has been in such haste to confer the proud rank of lieutenant-general of the army of the United States, but who was not upon either of these battle-fields. Who took command of the army of the Cumber- land, found that army at Bowling Green, in Novem- ber, 1862, as it lay disorganized, disheartened, driven back from Alabama and Tennessee, and led it across the Cumberland, planted it in Nashville, and thence, on the first day of the new year, planted his banners at Murfreesboro', in torrents of blood, and at the mo- ment of our extremest peril, throwing himself into the breech, saved by his personal valor the army of the Cumberland and the hopes of the republic ? It was General Rosecrans. From the day he assumed the command at Bowling Green, the history of that army may be written in one sentence, — it has ad- vanced, and maintained its advanced position, and its last campaign, under the general it loved, was the bloodiest and most brilliant. The fruits of Chicka- mauga were gathered in November, on the bights of Mission Ridge and among the clouds of Lookout mountain. That battle at Chattanooga was a glorious one, and every loyal heart is proud of it. But, sir, it was won when we had nearly three times the number of the enemy. It ought to have been won. Thank OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 211 God that it was won. I would take no laurel from the brow of the man who won it ; but I would remind gentlemen here that while the battle of Chattanooga was fought with vastly superior numbers on our part, the battle of Chickamauga was fought with still vaster superiority against us. If there is any man upon earth whom I honor, it is the man who is named in this resolution, General George H. Thomas. I had occasion, in my remarks on the conscription bill, a few days ago, to refer to him in such terms as I delighted to use; and I say to gentlemen here that if there is any man whose heart would be hurt by the passage of this resolution as it now stands, that man is General Georsfe H. Thomas. I know, and all know, that he deserves well of his country, and his name ought to be re- corded in letters of gold; but I know equally well that General Rosecrans deserves well of his country. I ask you, then, not to pain the heart of a noble man,' who will be burdened with the weight of these thanks, that wrong his brother officer and his supe- rior in command. All I ask is that you will put both names into the resolution, and let them stand side by side." When the important question arose in Congress concerning a through line of railroad from Washing- ton to New York, there was considerable opposition from the Camden and Amboy railroad, and from the officials of the New Jersey State government, and the question whether the State of New Jersey had the right to prohibit the construction of a national 212 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES railroad, became somewhat interesting. Upon that question he said : "Mr. Speaker, this lifts our subject above corpora- tions and monopolies to the full hight of a national question ; I might almost call it a question of loyalty or disloyalty. I have only to say in regard to the language of this proclamation that if his Excellency had consulted Calhoun and his resolution of 1833, he would have its doctrines stated much more ably and elegantly. He calls upon the Legislature of New Jersey to inquire whether this bill will take away any of the revenue of the State, and how it will affect the sovereign rights of New Jersey. He says New Jersey is a sovereign State. I pause there for a mo- ment. Mr. Coleridge somewhere says that abstract definitions have done more harm in the world than plague and famine and war. I believe it. I believe that no man will ever be able to chronicle all the evils that have resulted to this nation from the abuse of the words 'sovereign' and 'sovereignty.' What is this thing called State 'sovereignty.?' Nothing more false was ever uttered in the halls of legislation than that any Stite of this union is sovereign Con- sult the elementary text-books of law and refresh your recollection of the definition of 'sovereignty.' Speaking of the sovereignty of nations Blackstone says : ' However they began, by what right soever they subsist, there is and must be in all of them a supreme irresistible, absolute uncontrolled authority in which" ; I OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 213 \\\QJura stimmi imperii or rights of sovereignty re- sisted' Do these elements belong \.oany State of this re- public ? Sovereignty has the right to declare war. Can New Jersey declare war ? It has the right to conclude peace. Can New Jersey conclude peace .? Sovereignty has the right to coin money. If the Legislature of New Jersey should authorize and command one of its citizens to coin a half dollar, that man if he made it, though it should be of solid silver, would be locked up in a felon's cell for the crime of counterfeiting the coin of the real sovereign. A sovereign has the right to make treaties with foreign nations. Has New Jersey the right to make treaties .? Sovereignty is clothed with the right to regulate commerce with foreign States. New Jersey has no such right. Sovereignty has the right to put ships in commission upon the high seas. Should a ship set sail under the authority of New Jersey it would be seized as a smuggler, forfeited and sold. Sovereign ty has a flag. But, thank God, New Jersey has no flag ; Ohio has no flag. No loyal State fights under the 'lone star,' the 'rattlesnake,' or the 'pal- metto tree.' No loyal State of this union has any flag but *the banner of beauty and glory,' the flag of the union. These are the indispensable elements of sovereign- ty. New Jersey has not one of them. The term cannot be applied to the separate States, only in a very limited and restricted sense, referring mainly to municipal and police re ulations. The ri hts of the 214 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES States should be jealously guarded and defended. But to claim that sovereignty, in its full sense and meaning, belongs to the States, is nothing better than rankest treason. Look again at this document of the governor of New Jersey. He tells you that the States entered into the ^national compact.' National compact ! I had supposed that no governor of a loyal State would parade this dogma of nullification and secession, which was killed and buried by Webster on the i6th of February, 1833. There was no such thing as a sovereign State making a compact called a constitution. The very language of the constitution is decisive : ^We, the people of the United States, do ordain and establish this constitution.' The States did not make a compact to be broken when any one pleased, but the people ordained and estab- lished the constitution of a sovereign republic ; and woe be to any corporation or State that raises its hand against the majesty and power of this great nation." This proclamation closes with a determination to resist this legislation of Congress. This itself is another reason why I ask this Congress to exercise its right to rebuke this resurrected spirit of nullifica- tion. The gentleman from Pennsylviania (Mr. Broo- mall) tells us that New Jersey is a loyal State, and her citizens are in the army. T am proud of all the citizens of New Jersey who are fighting in our army. They are not fighting for New Jersey, but for the union ; and when it is once restored, I do not believe these men will fight for the Camden and Amboy I OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 21 5 monopoly. Their hearts have been enlarged, and there are patriotic men in New Jersey in the army and at home, who are groaning under this tyrannical monopoly, and they come up here and ask to strike oft the shackles that bind them ; and I hold it to be right and duty of this body to strike off their fetters, let them go free. ;i 2l6 THE LIFE, SPEECHES^ AND PUBLIC SERVICES CHAPTER XVI EULOGIES OF NOTED MEN. TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN. — THE ANNIVERSARY OF MR. LINCOLN'S DEATH. — THE CAUSE OF THE ASSASSINATION. — THE EFFECT OF HIS DEATH. — A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE. — ORATION ON CARPENTER'S PAINTING. — SIGNING THE EMA.NCIPATION PROCLAMATION. — ITS PLACE IN HISTORY. — JOHN WINTHROP AND SAMUEL ADAMS. — THE GIFT OF MASSACHUSETTS. — GENERAL GARFIELD's TRIBUTE TO NEW ENG- LAND. — THE LESSON OF SELF-RESTRAINT. — REMARKS UPON THE DEATH OF SENATOR MORTON. On the first anniversary of the death of Abraham Lincoln, and during General Garfield's third year of service in the House of Representatives, Congress adjourned for the day as a mark of respect for the martyr President's memory. General Garfield was selected to make the motion to adjourn, and in so doing, was selected to make a short address. It was one of the most cultured, thoughtful and appropriate addresses to be found in the vast collection of patri- otic speeches, which remain to this generation from the days of war and reconstruction. '* I desire " said he, '' to move that this House do now adjourn. And before the vote upon that motion is taken I desire to say a few words. This day, Mr. Speaker, will be sadly memorable so long as this nation shall endure, which- God grant may be 'till OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 21/ the last syllable of recorded time,' when the volume of human history shall be sealed up and delivered to the omnipotent Judge. In all future time, on the recurrence of this day, I doubt not that the citizens of this republic will meet in solemn assembly to reflect on the life and character of Abraham Lincoln, and the awful tragic event of April 14, 1865, — an event unparalleled in the history of nations, certainly unparalleled in our own. It is eminently proper that this House should this day place upon its records a memorial of that event. The last five years have been marked by wonderful developments of individ- ual character. Thousands of our people, before un - known to fame, have taken their places in history, crowned with immortal honors. In thousands of humble homes are dwelling heroes and patriots whose names shall never die. But greatest among all these great developments were the character and fame of Abraham Lincoln whose loss the nation still deplores. His character is aptly described in the words 01 England's great laureate — written thirty years ago — in which he traces the upward steps of some * Divinely gifted man, "Whose life in low estate began, And on a simple village green ; ' Who breaks his birth's invidious bar. And grasps the skirts of happy chance, And breasts the blow of circumstance, And grapples with his evil star ; ' "Who makes by force his merit known, And lives to clutch the golden keys. 2l8 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES To mold a mighty State's decrees, And shape the whisper ot the throne ; ' And moving up from high to higher, Becomes on Fortune's crowning slope, The pillar of a People's hope, The center of a world's desire.' Such a life and character will be treasured forever as the sacred possession of the American people and of mankind. In the great drama of the rebellion there were two acts. The first was the war with its battles and sieges, victones and defeats, its suffer- ings and tears. That act was closing one year ago to-night, and just as the curtain was lifting on the second and final act, — the restoration of peace and liberty, — just as the curtain was rising upon new characters and new events, the evil spirit of the rebellion, in the fury of despair, nerved and directed the hand of the assassin to strike down the chief character in both. It was no one man who killed Abraham Lin- coln ; it was the embodied spirit of treason and slavery, inspired with fearful, despairing hate, that struck him down in the moment of the nation's supremest joy. Ah, sir, there are times in the history of men and nations, when they stand so near the veil that separates mortals from the immortals, time from eternity, and men from their God, that they can almost hear the beatings, and feel the pulsations of the heart of the Infinite. Through such a time has this nation passed. When two hundred and fiftv OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 219 thousand brave spirits passed from the field of honor, through that thin veil, to the presence of God ; and when at last its parting folds admitted the martyr President to the company of the dead heroes of the republic, the nation stood so near the veil, that the whispers of God were heard by the children of men. Awe-stricken by his voice, the American people knelt in tearful reverence, and made a solemn cove- nant with Him, and with each other, that their nation should be saved from its enemies, that all its glories should be restored, and on the ruins of slav- ery and treason, the temple of freedom and justice should be built, and should survive forever. It re- mains for us, consecrated by that great event, and under a covenant w^ith God, to keep that faith, to go forward in the great work until it shall be completed. Following the lead of that great man, and obeying the high behests of God, let us remember that, — * He that sounded forth a trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat ; Be swift my soul to answer him ; be jubilant my feet ; For God is marching on. ' " To the eulogy of 1866, he added another in 1878, which should be preserved for future generations to read. On the 1 6th of January, 1878, he introduced into the House of Representatives the following joint resolution, which was adopted without a division. It was subsequently adopted by the Senate, and was approved by the President, February i, 1878 : Whereas, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson of New York 220 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES city has tendered to Congress Carpenter's painting of President Lincoln and his Cabinet, at the time of his first reading of the Proclamation of Emancipation : Therefore, Resolved by the Sejtate and House of Rcpreseiitatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That said painting is hereby accepted in the name of the people of the United States ; and the thanks of Congress are tendered to the donor for her generous and patriotic gift. Aiid be it fiiytJier resolved, That the Joint Commit- tee on the Library are hereby instructed to make arrangements for the formal presentation of said painting to Congress, on Tuesday, the twelfth of February next ; and said committee shall cause said painting to be placed in an appropriate and conspicu- ous place in the Capitol, and shall carefully provide for its preservation. And be it further resolved. That the President is requested to cause a copy of these resolutions to be forwarded to Mrs. Thompson. In pursuance of its provisions, the hour of two o'clock, p. M., Tuesday, February I2th, was fixed for the formal presentation and acceptance of the paint- ing, and Mr. Garfield said : — •*Mr. President: By the order of the Senate and the House, and on behalf of the donor, Mrs. Eliza- beth Thompson, it is made my pleasant duty to de- liver to Congress the painting which is now unveiled. It is the patriotic gift of an American woman whose years have been devoted to gentle and generous OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 221 charities, and to the instruction and elevation of the laboring poor. Believing that the perpetuity and glory of her country depend upon the dignity of labor and the equal freedom of all its people, she -has come to the Capitol, to place in the perpetual custody of the na- tion, as the symbol of her faith, the representation of that great act which proclaimed ' liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.' Inspired by the same sentiment, the representa- tives of the nation have opened the doors of this Chamber to receive at her hands the sacred trust. In coming hither, these living representatives have passed under the dome and through that beautiful and venerable hall which, on another occasion, I have ventured to call the third House of American repre- sentatives, that silent assembly whose members have received their high credentials at the impartial hand of history. Year by year, we see the circle of its immortal membership enlarging ; year by year, we see the elect of their country, in eloquent silence, taking their places in this American pantheon, bring- ing within its sacred precincts the wealth of those immortal memories which made their lives illustrious; and year by year, that august assembly is teaching deeper and grander lessons to those who serve in these more ephemeral Houses of Congress. Among the paintings, hitherto assigned to places within the Capitol, are two which mark events for- ever memorable in the history of mankind ; thrice memorable in the history of America. 222 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES The first is the painting by Vanderlyn, which rep- resents, though with inadequate force, the great dis- covery which gave to the civilized world a new hem- isphere. The second, by Trumbull, represents that great Declaration which banished forever from our shores the crown and scepter of imperial power, and proposed to found a new nation upon the broad and enduring basis of liberty. To-day, we place upon our walls this votive tablet, which commemorates the third great act in the his- tory of America — the fulfillment of the promises of the Declaration. Concerning the causes which led to that act, the motives which inspired it, the necessities which com- pelled it, and the consequences which followed and are yet to follow it, there have been, there are, and still will be great and honest differences of opinion. Perhaps we are yet too near the great events of which this act formed so conspicuous a part, to understand its deep significance and to foresee its far-off conse- quences. The lesson of history is rarely learned by the act- ors themselves, especially when they read it by the fierce and dusky light of war, or amid the deeper shadows of those sorrows which war brings to both. But the unanimous voice of this House in favor of accepting the gift, and the impressive scenes we here witness, bear eloquent testimony to the transcendent importance of the event portrayed on yonder canvas. Let us pause to consider the actors in that scene. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 223 In force of character, in thoroughness and breadth of culture, in experience of public affairs, and in na- tional reputation, the Cabinet that sat around that council-board has had no superior, perhaps no equal, in our history. Seward, the finished scholar, the consummate orator, the great leader of the Senate, had come to crown his career with those achieve- ments which placed him in the first rank of modern diplomatists. Chase, w^ith a culture and a frame of massive grandeur, stood as the rock and pillar of the public credit, the noble embodiment of the public faith. Stanton was there, a very Titan of strength, the great organizer of victory. Eminent lawyers, men of business, leaders of States and leaders of men completed the group. But the man who presided over that council, who inspired and guided its deliberations, was a character so unique that he stood alone, without a model in history or a parallel among men. Born on this day, sixty-nine years ago, to an inheritance of extremest poverty ; surrounded by the rude forces of the wil- derness ; wholly unaided by parents ; only one year in any school ; never, for a day, master of his own time, until he reached his majority ; making his way to the profession of law by the hardest and roughest road ; yet by force of unconquerable will and persist- ent, patient work, he attained a foremost place in his profession And, moving up from high to higher. Became, on fortune's crowning slope, The pillar of a people's hope. The center of a world's desire. 224 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES At first, it was the prevailing belief that he would be only the nominal head of his administration ; that its policy would be directed by the eminent states- men he had called to his council. How erroneous this opinion was, may be seen from a single incident : Among the earliest, most difficult, and most deli- cate duties of his administration, was the adjustment of our relations with Great Britain. Serious compli- cations, even hostilities, were apprehended. On the 2 1 St of May, 1861, the Secretary of State presented to the President his draught of a letter of instructions to Minister Adams, in which the position of the United States and the attitude of Great Britain were set forth with the clearness and force, w^hich long ex- perience and great ability had placed at the command of the secretary. Upon almost every page of that original draught are erasures, additions and marginal notes, in the hand-writing of Abraham Lincoln, which exhibit a sagacity, a breadth of wisdom, and a comprehension of the whole subject, impossible to be found except in a man of the very first order. And these modifi- cations of a great State paper were made by a man who, but three months before, had entered, for the first time, the wide theatre of executive action. Gifted wdth an insight and a foresight which the ancients would have called divinition, he saw, in the midst of darkness and obscurity, the logic of events, and forecasted the result. From the first, in his own quaint, original way, without ostentation or offense to his associates, he was pilot and commander of his 15 OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 225 administration. He was one of the few great rulers whose wisdom increased with his power, end whose spirit grew gentler and tenderer as his triumphs were multiplied. This was the man, and those his associates, who look down upon us from the canvas. The present is not a fitting occasion to examine, with any completeness, the causes that led to the proclamation of emancipation ; but the peculiar rela- tion of that act to the character of Abraham Lincoln cannot be understood, without considering one re- markable fact in his history. His earlier years were passed in a region remote from the centers of political thought, and without access to the great world of books. But the few books that came within his reach, he devoured with the divine hunger of genius. One paper, above all others, led him captive, and filled his spirit with the majesty of its truth and the sublimity of its eloquence. It was the Declaration of American Independence — the liberty and equality of all men. Long before his fame had become national, he said : That is the electric cord in the Declaration, that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, and that will link such hearts as long as the love of liberty exists in the minds of men throughout the world. That truth runs, like a thread of gold, through the whole web of his political life. It was the spear-^ point of his logic, in his debates with Douglas. It was the inspiring theme of his remarkable speech at 226 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES the Cooper Institute, which gave him the nomination to the presidency. It filled him with reverent awe when, on his way to the capital, to enter the shadows of the terrible conflict then impending, he uttered, in Carpenter's Hall, at Philadelphia, these remarkable words, which were prophecy then, but are history now : I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here and framed and adopted that Declaration. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that independence. I have often in- quired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land, but that sentiment in the Dec- laration of Independence, which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which g:ave promise that, in due time, the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved on that basis ? If it can, I shall consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it can- not be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say, / wozi/d rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. Deep and strong was his devotion to liberty ; yet deeper and stronger still was his devotion to the OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 22/ union, for he believed that without the union, perma- nent liberty for either race on this continent would be impossible. And because of this belief, he was reluctant, perhaps more reluctant than most of his associates, to strike slavery with the sword. For many months, the passionate appeals of millions of his associates seemed not to move him. He listened to all the phases of the discussion, and stated, in language clearer and stronger than any opponent had used, the dangers, the difficulties and the possible futility of the act. In reference to its practical wisdom, Congress, the Cabinet and the country were divided. Several of his generals had proclaimed the freedom of slaves within the limits of their commands. The President revoked their proclamations. His first Secretary of War had inserted a paragraph in his annual report, advocating a similar policy. The President sup- pressed it. On the 19th of August, 1862, Horace Greeley pub- lished a letter, addressed to the President, entitled 'The Prayer of Twenty Millions,' in which he said: On the face of this wide earth, Mr. President, there is not one disinterested, determined, intelligent champion of the union cause who does not feel that all attempts to put down the rebellion, and at the same time uphold its inciting cause, are preposterous and futile. To this the President responded in that ever- memorable dispatch of August 22, in which he said : If there be those who would not save the union 228 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object is to save the union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the union without freeing any slave, I would do it , if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the union ; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it helps to save the union. I shall do less whenever I believe that what I am doing hurts the cause ; and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause. Thus, against all importunities on the one hand, and remonstrances on the other, he took the mighty question to his own heart, and, during the long months of that terrible battle-summer, wrestled with it alone. But at length, he realized the saving truth, that great, unsettled questions have no pity for the repose of nations. On the 22d of September, he summoned his Cabi- net to announce his conclusion. It was my good fortune, on that same day, and a few hours after the meeting, to hear, from the lips of one who partici- pated, the story of the scene. As the chiefs of the executive departments came in one by one, they found the President reading a OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 229 favorite chapter from a popular humorist. He was lightening the weight of the great burden which rested upon his spirit. He finished the chapter, reading it aloud. And here I quote from the pub- lished journal of the late chief-justice, an entry, written immediately after the meeting, and bearing unmistakable evidence that it is almost a literal transcript of Lincoln's words : The President then took a graver tone, and said : " Gentlemen, I have, as you are aware, thought a great deal about the relation of this war to slavery ; and you all remember that, several weeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared upon the subject, which, on account of objections made by some of you, was not issued. Ever since then, my mind has been much occupied with this subject, and I have thought all along that the time for acting upon it might probably come. I think the time has come now. I wish it was a better time. I wish that we were in a better condition. The action of the army against the rebels has not been quite what I should have best liked, but they have been driven out of Maryland, and Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. When the rebel army was at Frederick, I deter- mined, as soon as it should be driven out of Mary- land, to issue a proclamation of emancipation, such as I thought most likely to be useful. I said nothing to any one, but I made a promise to myself and (hes- itating a little) to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfill that promise. I have got you together to hear what I have written down. I do not wish your advice about the main matter, for that I have determined for myself. This I say, without intending anything but respect for any 230 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES one of you. But I already know the views of each upon this question. They have been heretofore ex- pressed, and I have considered them as thoroughly and carefully as I can. What I have written is that which my reflections have determined me to say. If there is anything in the expressions I use, or in any minor matter which any one of you think had best be changed, I shall be glad to receive your sugges- tions. One other observation I will make. I know very well that many others might, in this matter as in others, do better than I can ; and if I was satis- fied that the public confidence was more fully pos- sessed by any one of them than by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which he could be put in my place, he should have it. I would gladly yield to him. But though I believe I have not so much of the confidence of the people as I had some time since, I do not know that, all things considered, any other person has more ; and, however this may be, there is no way in which I can have any other man put where I am. I am here ; I must do the best I can, and bear the responsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought to take." The President then proceeded to read his Emanci- pation Proclamation, making remarks on the several parts as he went on, and showing that he had fully considered the subject in all the lights under which it had been presented to him. The proclamation was amended in a few matters of detail. It was signed and published that day. The world knows the rest, and will not forget it till * the last syllable of recorded time.' In the painting before us, the artist has chosen the moment when the reading of the proclamation was finished, and the Secretary of State was offering OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 23T his first suggestion. I profess no skill in the subtle mysteries of art criticism. I can only say of a paint- ing, what the painting says to me. I know not what this may say to others ; but to me, it tells the whole story of the scene, in the silent and pathetic language of art. We value the Trumbull picture of the Declaration, — that promise and prophecy of which this act was the fulfillment, — because many of its portraits were taken from actual life. This picture is a faithful reproduction, not only of the scene, but its accesso- ries. It was painted at the executive mansion, under the eye of Mr. Lincoln, who sat with the artist dur- ing many days of genial companionship, and. aided him in arranging the many details of the picture. The severely plain chamber, not now used for cabinet councils ; the plain marble mantel, with the portrait of a hero president above it ; the council- table, at which Jackson and his successor had presid- ed ; the old-fashioned chairs ; the books and maps ; the captured sword, with its pathetic history ; — all are there, as they were, in fact, fifteen years ago. But what is of more consequence, the portraits are true to the life. Mr. Seward said of the painting, ' It is a vivid representation of the scene, with portraits of rare fidelity ; ' and so said all his associates. Without this painting, the scene could not even now be reproduced. The room has been remodeled ; its furniture is gone ; and death has been sitting in that council, calling the roll of its members in quick succession. Yesterday, he added another name to 232 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES his fatal list ; and to-day, he has left upon the earth but a single witness of the signing of the proclama- tion of emancipation. With reverence and patriotic love, the artist ac- complished his work ; with patriotic love and rever- ent faith, the donor presents it to the nation. In the spirit of both, let the re-united nation receive it and cherish it forever." One of the most popular of General Garfield's eulogies, was upon John Winthrop and Samuel Adams, and was delivered December 19, 1876, the House then having under consideration the following res- olution : — In the Senate of the United States. December 19, 1876. Resolved by the Senate, {the House of Rcpreseiita- tivcs conciirring^j i. That the statues of John Win- throp and Samuel Adams are accepted in the name of the United States, and that the thanks of Congress are given to the State of Massachusetts for these memorials of two of her eminent citizens, whose names are indissolub'y associated with the foundation of the republic. 2. That a copy of these resolutions, engrossed upon parchment and duly authenticated, be transmitted to the governor of IMassachusetts. Attest : Geo. C. Gorham, By W. J. McDonald, Chief Clerk. He said: — " Mr. Speaker, I regret that illness has made it impossible for me to keep the promise, which I made a few days since, to offer some reflections appropriate to this very interesting occasion. But I OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 233 cannot let the moment pass without expressing my great satisfaction with the fitting and instructive choice which the State of Massachusetts has made, and the manner in which her Representatives have discharged their duty in presenting these beautiful works of art to the Congress of the nation. As, from time to time, our venerable and beautiful Hall has been peopled with statues of the elect of the States, it has seemed to me that a third House was being organized within the walls of the Capitol — a House whose members have received their high credentials at the hands of history,' and whose term of office will outlast the ages. Year by year, we see the circle of its immortal membership enlarging ; year by year, we see the elect of their country, in eloquent silence, taking their places in this American pantheon, bringing within its sacred circle the wealth of those immortal memories, which made their lives illustrious ; and, year by year, that august assembly is teaching a deeper and grander lesson to all who serve their brief hour in these more ephemeral Houses of Congress. And now, two places of great honor have just been most nobly filled. I can well understand that the State of Massachu- setts, embarrassed by her wealth of historic glory, found it difficult to make the selection. And while the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Hoar) was so fittingly honoring his State, by portraying that happy embarrassment, I was reflect- ing that the sister State of Virginia will encounter, if possible, a still greater difficulty when she comes 234 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES to make the selection of her immortals. One name I venture to hope she will not select, — a name too great for the glory of any one State. I trust she will allow us to claim Washington as belonging to all the States, for all time. If she shall pass over the great distance that separates Washington from all others, I can haidly imagine how she will make the choice from her crowded roll. But I have no doubt that she will be able to select two who will represent the great phases of her history, as happily and worthily as Massachusetts is represented, in the choice she has to-day announced. It is difficult to imagine a happier combination of great and beneficent forces, than will be presented by the representative heroes of 'ihese two great States. Virginia and Massachusetts were the two focal centers from which sprang the life-forces of this republic. There were, in many ways, complements of each other, each supplying what the other lacked, and both uniting to endow the republic with its noblest and most enduring qualities. To-day, the House has listened with the deepest interest to the statement of those elements of price- less value contributed by the State of Massachusetts. We have been instructed by the clear and masterly analysis of the spirit and character of that Puritan civilization, so fully embodied in the lives of Winthrop and Adams. I will venture to add, that, notwith- standing all the neglect and contempt with which England regarded her Puritans, two hundred years ago, the tendency of thought in modern England is OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 235 to do justice to that great force which created the the Commonwealth, and finally made the British Islands a land of liberty and law. Even the great historian Hume was compelled reluctantly to declare that— The precious spark of liberty had been kindled and was preserved by the Puritans alone ; and it was to this sect that the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution. What higher praise can posterity bestow upon any people than to make such a confession .? Having done so much to save liberty alive in the mother country, the Puritans planted, upon the shores of this New World, that remarkable civilization whose growth is the greatness and glory of our republic. Indeed, before Winthrop and his company landed at Salem, the Pilgrims were laying the foundation of civil liberty. While the Mayflower was passing Cape Cod, and seeking an anchorage, in the midst of the storm, her brave passengers sat down in the little cabin, and drafted and signed a covenant which con- tains the germ of American liberty. How familiar to the American habit of mind are these declarations of the Pilgrim covenant of 1620, — That no act, imposition, lavA% or ordinance be made or imposed upon us at present, or to come, but such as has been or shall be enacted by the consent of the body of free men or associates, or their representa- tives, legally assembled. The New England town was the model, the primary cell, from which our republic was evolved. The 236 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES town meeting was the germ of all the parliamentary life and habits of Americans. John Winthrop brought with him the more formal organization of New England society ; and, in his long and useful life, did more than perhaps any other to direct and strengthen its growth. Nothing, therefore, could be more fitting, than for Massachusetts to place in our Memorial Hall the statue of the first of the Puritans, representing him at the moment when he was stepping on shore from the ship that brought him from England, and bear- ing with him the charter of that first political society which laid the foundations of our country ; and that near him should stand that Puritan embodiment of the logic of the revolution, Samuel Adams. I am glad to see this decisive, though tardy, acknowledg- ment of his great and signal services to America. I doubt if any man equaled Samuel Adams in formu- lating and uttering the fierce, clear and inexorable logic of the revolution. With our present habits of thought, we can hardly realize how great were the obstacles to overcome. Not the least was the religious belief of the fathers — that allegiance to rulers was obedience to God. The thirteenth chapter of Ro- mans was to many minds a barrier against revolution stronger than the battalions of George III., — Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God ; the powers that be arc ordained of God. Whosoever therefore re- sisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And it was not until the people of that religious OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 237 age were led to see that they might obey God and still establish liberty, in spite of kingly despotism, that they were willing to engage in war against one who called himself * king by the grace of God.' The men who pointed out the pathway to freedom by the light of religion as well as of law, were the fore- most promoters of American independence. And of these, Adams was unquestionably chief. It must not be forgotten that, while Samuel Adams was writing the great argument of liberty in Boston, almost at the same time, Patrick Henry was formulat- ing the same doctrines in Virginia. It is one of the grandest facts of that grand time that the colonies were thus brought, by an almost universal consent, to tread the same pathway, and reach the same great conclusions. But most remarkable of all is the fact that, through- out all that period, filled as it is was with the revolu- tionary spirit, the great men who guided the storm, exhibited the most wonderful power of self-restraint. If I were to-day to state the single quality that appears to me most admirable among the fathers of the revo- lution, I should say it was this : that amidst all the passions of war, waged againsta perfidious enemy from beyond the sea, aided by a savage enemy on our own shores, our fathers exhibited so wonderful a restraint, so great a care to observe the forms of law, to protect the rights of the minority, to preserve all those great rights that had come down to them from the common law, so that when they had achieved their independ- ence, they were still a law-abiding people. 23S THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES In that fiery meeting in the old South church, after the Boston massacre, when, as the gentleman from Massachusetts has said, three thousand voices almost lifted the roof from the church, in demanding the re- moval of the regiments, it is noted by the historian that there was one, solitary, sturdy 'nay' in the vast assemblage ; and Samuel Adams scrupulously recorded the fact that there was one dissentient. It would have been a mortal offense against his notions of justice and good order, if that one dissentient had not had his place in the record. And, after the regiments had been removed, and after the demand had been acceded to that the soldiers who had fired upon citizens should be delivered over to the civil authorities, to be dealt with according to law, Adams was the first to insist and demand that the best legal talent in the colony should be put forward to defend those murderers ; and John Adams and Josiah Ouincy were detailed for the purpose of defending them. Men were detailed whose hearts and souls were on fire with the love of the popular cause ; but the men of Massachusetts would have despised the two advo- cates, if they had not given their whole strength to the defense of the soldiers. Mr. Speaker, this great lesson of self restraint is taught in the whole history of the revolution ; and it is this lesson that to-day, more perhaps, than any other we have seen, we ought to take most to heart. Let us seek liberty and peace, under the law ; and, following the pathway of our fathers, preserve the great legacy they have committed to our keeping." OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 239 Among other addresses made in Congress, upon the death of Senator Morton of Indiana, General Garfield delivered the following : " For all the great professions known among Americans, special training-schools have been estab- lished and encouraged by law, except that of states- manship. And yet no profession requires for its successful pursuit a wider range of general and special knowledge, or a more thorough and varied culture. Probably no American youth, unless we except John Quincy Adams, was ever trained with special reference to the political service of his country. In monarchial governments, not only wealth and rank, but political authority descends, by inheritance, from father to son. The eldest son of an English peer knows from his earliest childhood that a seat awaits him in the House of Lords. If he be capable and am- bitious, the dreams of his boyhood and the studies of his youth are directed toward the great field of statesmanship. To the favored few, this system affords many and great advantages, and upon the un- titled many, whom 'birth's invidious bar' shuts out from the highest places of power, it must rest with discouraging weight. Our institutions confer special privileges upon no citizen, and, we may now say, they erect no barrier in the honorable career of the humblest American. They open an equal pathway for all, and invite the worthiest to the highest seats. The fountains of our strength, as a nation, spring from the private life and 240 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES the voluntary efforts of forty-five millions of people. Each for himself confronts the problem of life, and amid its varied conditions develops the forces with which God has endowed him. Meantime, the nation moves on in its great orbit, with a life and destiny of its own, each year calling to its aid those qualities and forces which are needed for its preservation and its glory. Now, it needs the prudence of the counselor, now, the wisdom of the law-giver, and now, the shield of the warrior to cover its heart in the day of battle. And when the hour and the man have met, and the needed work has been done, the nation crowns her heroes, and makes them her own forever. Such hours we have often seen during the last seventeen years, — hours which have called forth the great elements of manhood and strength from the ranks of our people, and crowded our pantheon with new accessions of glory. Seventeen years ago, .at a moment of supreme peril, the nation called upon the people of twenty-two States to meet around her altar and defend her life. Of all the noble men who responded to that call, no voice rang out with more clearness than that of Oliver P. Morton, the young governor of Indiana. He was then but thirty-seven years of age. Self-made, as all men are who are worth the making, he had risen from a hard life of narrow conditions by fighting his own way, thinking his own thoughts, and uttering them without fear, until, by the fortune of political life, he had become the chief executive of his State. He saw at once, and declared the terrible significance of the impend- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 24 1 ing Struggle, and threw his whole weight into the conflict. His State and my own marched abreast in generous emulation. But he was surrounded by difficulties and dangers which hardly found a parallel in any other State. With unconquerable will, and the energy of a Titan, he encountered and overcame them all ; and keeping Indiana in line with the foremost, he justly earned the title of one of the greatest war governors of that heroic period. Thus, the great need of the nation called forth and fixed in the enduring colors of fame those high qualities which those thirty-seven years of private life had been preparing. To learn the lesson of his great life, let us recall briefly its leading characteristics. He was a great organizer. He knew how to evoke and direct the enthusiasm of his people. He knew how to combine and marshall his forces, political or military, so' as to concentrate them all upon a single object, and inspire them with his own ardor. I have often compared him with Stanton, our great War Sec- retary, whose windows at the war office, for many years, far into the night, shone out ' like battle-lan- terns lit,' while he mustered great armies and launched them into the tempest of war, and ' organ- ized victory.' In the whole circle of the States, no organizer stood nearer to him in character and quali- ties and friendship, than Oliver P. Morton. His force of will was most masterful. It was not mere stubbornness, or pride of opinion, which weak and narrow men mistake for firmness. But it was 16 242 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES that stout-hearted persistency which, having once in- telhgently chosen an object, pursues it through sun- shine and storm, undaunted by difficulties, and unter- rified by danger. He possessed an intellect of remarkable clearness and force. With keen analysis, he found the core of a question, and worked from the center outward. He cared little for the mere graces of speech ; but few men have been so greatly endowed with the power of clear statement and unassailable argument. The path of his thought was straight — Like that of the swift cannon ball, Shattering that it may reach, and Shattering what it reaches. When he had hit the mark, he used no additional words, and sought for no decoration. These quali- ties, joined to his power of thinking quickly, placed him in the front rank of debaters, and every year in- creased his power. It has been said that Senator Morton was a partisan, a strong partisan, and this is true. In the estimation of some, this detracts from his fame. That evils arise from extreme partisanship, there can be no doubt. But it should not be forgot- ten that all free governments are party governments. Our great Americans have been great partisans. Senator Morton was not more partisan than Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Marshall, Taney and Chase. Strong men must have strong convictions, and ' one man with a belief is a greater power than a thousand that have only interests.' OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 243 Partisanship is opinion crystallized, and party organi- zations are the scaffoldings whereon citizens stand while they build up the walls of their national tem- ple. Organizations may change or dissolve, but when parties cease to exist, liberty will perish. In conclu- sion, let me say, the memory of Governor Morton will be forever cherished and honored by the soldiers of my State. They fought side by side with the sol- diers of Indiana, and in a hundred glorious fields his name was the battle-cry of the noble regiments which he had organized and inspired with his own lofty spirit. To the nation he has left the legacy of his patriot- ism, and the example of a great eventful life." General Garfield's speeches upon the tariff, which were, perhaps, the ablest production of his brain, are not included here, as they are necessarily so long, and so full of statistics, of no interest to the general reader. His position was that of a conservative and careful protector of American industry, avoidin?^ the extremes of either free trade or wholesale protection. 244 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES CHAPTER XVII. PERIOD OF UNPOPULARITY, HIS PRACTICE OF LAW. — HIS FIRST CASE IN THE SUPREME COURT. — HIS SUCCESS AS A LAWYER. — UNPOPULARITY OF HIS DEFENSE OF REBELS IN COURT. — HIS CONNECTION WITH A MATTER CALLED THE DE GOLYER PAVEMENT CASE. — HOW HE WAS MALIGNED. — PER- SISTENCY OF ENEMIES. — THE GREAT CREDIT MOBILIER CASE. — VINDICATION OF GENERAL GARFIELD. — HIS STORY OF HIS DEAL- INGS WITH OAKES AMES. — HIS OPPOSITION TO THE INCREASE OF SALARIES IN CONGRESS. — THE CENSURE OF HIS CONSTITUENTS. — HIS EXPLANATION. — RESTORATION TO PUBLIC FAVOR. No great or good man ever served a capricious public without disheartening trials, and periods of unpopularity. Such experiences are often the test of a man's ability and integrity. In the history of General Garfield's Congressional career, however, his loss of public favor was due, in each instance, to a misunderstanding of the facts, on the part of the peo- ple. When his actions and positions on public meas- ure were fully understood by the people, he was at once restored to favor and applause. One cause of the first noticeable ebb in the public regard, which the student of his life observes, was the natural result of his practice of law. He was a Congressman before he ever tried a case in court ; and his experience as an attorney is perhaps OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 245 an exception to that of any other lawyer, inasmuch as his first case was in the Supreme Court of the United States. He never had a case in any other court. His first appearance in the Supreme Court was in behalf of some conspirators who had been tried by court-martial, and condemned t death, for engaging in a movement to assist the rebellion. They were tried by martial law in a State, in time of peace de facto in the State, and in a section of State not under martial law. The legal question was, whether any military body had such power under the circum- stances. Should the civil power be ignored in time of peace, or in sections of the country where martial law had not been proclaimed } It was a case for which he received no pay, and was undertaken as a test of this important principle. He was sustained by the Court and complimented by the presiding justice for his able presentation of the case and the law, while the criminals were set at liberty. No sooner had the news of his interference in behalf of condemned rebels reached his district in Ohio, than the indignant voters loudly proclaimed his "treachery to his party and to the nation." In the following election, the great majority, with which he had always been elected, fell off more than a thou- sand votes, because of his supposed espousal of the cause of rebellious criminals. Other cases followed with occasionally alike result, from which he easily recovered, but which, for the time, annoyed him and disturbed his district. 246 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES His practice in the Supreme Court increased very rapidly, and there was a time when he could have left his seat in Congress and entered upon a practice which would soon have made him rich. As it was, the income he thus derived was of great use to him, for his great generosity and thoughtlessness of self kept him almost incessantly in financial straits. He wasted no money on himself or his family ; but he had rather pay a bill himself, than to ask another person, who owed it, for the money ; and he gave to almost every good enterprise that came to his notice. He was often called upon to act as attorney for corporations and contractors, whose applications for money or privileges were to come before Congress ; and though it was considered honorable by many Congressmen to act in such cases, provided the attor- ney refused to vote when the measure came before Congress, yet invariably, did General Garfield refuse such applications, and rejected the large fees which many statesmen thought it perfectly honorable for him to receive. In 1873, General Garfield was called upon, by an attorney in Washington, to appear for him in a matter which the attorney (Mr. Parsons) said would not re- quire much "attention. The attorney being retained in the case, and being obliged to be absent when the matter was to come up, naturally sought some other attorney to temporarily take his place. The matter to be attended to, in this instance, was a hearing before the Board of public works in Wash- ington, concerning the durability of a wooden pave- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 247 ment, on which Messrs. DeGolyer and McLellan held a patent. General Garfield knew nothing about the pave- ment, and but little about the men ; and knowing that he was to appear, as a matter of form, for another, he attended one hearing, where the questions of durability and material were the only ones discussed. Having performed this act of courtesy he dis- missed the matter wholly from his mind. Some months afterwards, to his great surprise, the contract which was made between the patentees and the city, after the hearing upon the durability of the pave- ment, and with which he had nothing to do, came up in Congress, with the charge and appearance that the contract — not the pavement — was a great swindle. Immediately, the fact that he had, at one time, in some way, and somewhere, appeared as at- torney for the patentees was noticed in the public press, and became the cause of a great uproar, ■ and of much disgraceful abuse. The charges that he was connected with the fraud were, for several years, proclaimed by some of the newspapers of the Democratic party, notwithstanding his complete vindication by the committee of investi- gation. So much was said about it, that the Hon. J. M. Wilson, chairman of the Congressional committee of investigation, felt called upon to publish the following letter: There was not in my opinion, any evidence that 248 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES would have warranted any unfavorable criticism upon his conduct. The facts disclosed by the evidence, so far as he was concerned, are briefly these : The Board of public works was considering the question, as to the kind of pavements that should be laid. There was a contest as to the respective merits of various wooden pavements. Mr. Parsons repre- sented, as attorney, the De Golyer & McLellan pa- tent, and being called away from Washington about the time the hearing was to be had before the Board of public works, on this subject, procured Geneial Garfield to appear before the Board in his stead, and argue the merits of this patent. This he did ; and this v/as the whole of his connection in the matter. It was not a question as to the kind of contract that should be made, but as to whether this particular kind of pavement should be laid. The criticism of the committee was not upon the pavement, in favor of which General Garfield argued, but was upon the contract made with reference to it ; and there was no evidence which would warrant the conclusion that he had anything to do with the latter. Very respectfully, J. M. Wilson. But the matter which made the greatest public scandal was the mention of his name, at one time, in connection with the great Credit Mobilier in the construction of the Union Pacific railroad. So completely was the scandal silenced, and so straightforward and open was General Garfield's course, that the re-action soon came in his favor, and that which, for a time, threatened to ruin him, fell harmless at his feet. His life of truthfulness and his OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 249 unstained reputation for integrity and honor were of great value to him, when all his political opponents, with great glee, paraded his connection with the Credit Mobilier,derisively shouting, " Christian States- man ! " *'* moral patriot ! " &c. So clearly did he show the innocence of his dealings with Mr. Oakes Ames, and so clearly show that he could have had no con- nection with any fraudulent schemes, that the record of the matter has now no historical value, except as showing how curiously public men may be beset, and how strangely misunderstood. General Garfield has given an account of the whole case, and it shows a most interesting chapter of our national history. This he made voluntarily, and to it always adheres. General Garfield's history of the case, in a some- what condensed form, is as follows : " In the autumn of 1872, during the excitement of the Presidential campaign, charges of the most seri- ous character were made against ten or twelve per- sons who were then, or had recently been. Senators and Representatives in Congress, to the effect that, five years ago, they had sold themselves for sundry amounis of stock of the Credit Mobilier company, and bonds of the Pacific railroad company. The price at which different members were alleged to have bartered away their personal honor and their official influence was definitely set down in the news- papers ; their guilt was assumed, and the public ven- geance was invoked not only upon them, but also upon the party to which most of them belonged. 250 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES By a resolution of the House, introduced by one of the members, and adopted on the first day of the session, an investigation of these charges was ordered. The parties themselves and many other witnesses were examined ; Vhe records of the Credit Mobilier company and of the Pacific railroad company were produced ; and the results of the investigation were reported to the House on the i8th of February. The report, with the accompanying testimony, was brought up in the House for consideration on the 25th of February, and the discussion was continued until the subject was finally disposed of, three days before the close of the session. The investigation was scarcely begun, before it was manifest that the original charge, that stock was given to members as a consideration for their votes, was wholly abandoned, there being no proof whatever to support it. But the charge assumed a new form, namely : That the stock had been sold to members at a price known to be greatly below its actual value, for the purpose of securing their legislative influence in favor of those who were managing the Pacific railroad. Eight of those against whom charges had been made in the public press, myself among the number, were still members of the House of Representatives, and were specially mentioned in the report. The com- mittee recommended the adoption of resolutions for the expulsion of Messrs. Ames and Brooks, the lat- ter on charges in no wav connected with Mr. Ames or the other members mentioned. They recom- mended the expulsion of Mr. Ames for an attempt OF "general JAMES A. GARFIELD. 25 I to influence the votes and decisions of members of Congress, by interesting them in the stock of the Credit Mobilier, and through it, in the stock of the Union Pacific railroad. They found that though Mr. Ames in no case disclosed his purpose to these members, yet he hoped so to enlist their interest that they would be inclined to favor the Pacific railroad and its interest, and that he declared to the managers of the Credit Mobilier company at the time, that he was thus using the stock which had been placed in his hands by the company. Concerning the members to whom he had sold, or offered to sell, the stock, the committee say that they 'do not find that Mr. Ames, in his negotiations with the persons above named, entered into any detail of the relations between the Credit Mobilier company and the Union Pacific company, or gave them any specific information, as to the amount of dividends they would be likely to receive, further than has been already stated, [viz., that in some cases he had guar- anteed a profit of ten per cent.] * * -^ They do not find, as to the members of the present House above named, that they were aware of the object of Mr. Ames, or that they had any other purpose in taking this stock than to make a profitable invest- ment. -^ -5^ * They have not been able to find that any of these members of Congress have been af- fected in their official action in consequence of inter- est in the Credit Mobilier stock. * * * They do not find that either of the above named gentlemen 252 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES in contracting with Mr. Ames had any corrupt motive himself, or was aware Mr. Ames had any. Nor did either of them suppose he was guilty of any impro- priety, or even indelicacy, in becoming a purchaser of this stock.' And finally, that ' the committee find nothing in the conduct or motives of either of these members in taking this stock, that calls for any rec- ommendation by the committee of the House.' In the case of each of the six members just referred to, the committee sum up the results of the testimo- ny, and from that summary the conclusions above quoted are drawn. In regard to me, the committee find, that in December, 1867, or January, 1868, I agreed to purchase ten shares of Credit Mobilier stock of Mr. Ames, for ^1,000, and the accrued inter- est from the previous July ; that in June, 1868, Mr. Ames paid me a check on the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House for $329, as a balance of dividends on the stock, above the purchase price and accrued interest ; and that thereafter, there were no payments or other transactions between us, or any communication on the subject until the investigation began in Decem- ber last. I took the first opportunity oflered by the comple- tion of public business to call the attention of the House to the above summary of the testimony in reference to me. On the 3d of March I made the following remarks, in the House of Representatives, as recorded in the Congressional Globe for that day: I rise to a personal explanation. During the late investigation by the committee, of which the gentle- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 253 man from Vermont was chairman, I pursued what seemed to be the plain path of duty, to keep silence except when I was called upon to testify before the committee. When testimony was given which ap- peared to be in conflict with mine, I waited, expect- ing to be called again, if anything was needed from me in reference to these discrepancies. I was not recalled; and when the committee submitted their report to the House, a considerable portion of the testimony relating to me had not been printed. In the discussion which followed here, I was pre- pared to submit some additional facts and considera- tions, in case my own conduct came up for consid- eration in the House ; but the whole subject was concluded without any direct reference to myself, and since then the whole time of the House has been occupied with the public business. I now desire to make a single remark on this subject in the hearing of the House. Though the committee acquitted me of all charges of corruption in action or intent, yet there is in the report a summing up of the facts in relation to me which I respectfully protest is not war- ranted by the testimony. I say this with the utmost respect for the committee, and without intending any reflection upon them. I cannot now enter upon the discussion ; but I propose, before long, to make a statement to the public, setting forth more fully the grounds of my dissent from the summing up to which I have re- ferred. I will only say now that the testimony which I gave before the committee is a statement of the facts in the case as I have understood them from the beginning. More than three years ago, on at least two occasions, I stated the case to two personal friends, substantially as I stated it before the com- mittee; and I here add that nothing in my conduct or conversation has at any time been in conflict with 254 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES my testimony. For the present I desire only to place on record this declaration and notice. In pursuance of this notice, I shall consider so much of the history of the Credit Mobilier company as has any relation to myself. To render the discus- sion intelligible, I will first state briefly the offenses which that corporation committed, as found by the committees of the House. The Credit Mobilier company is a corporation or- ganized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, and authorized by its charter to purchase and sell various kinds of securities, and to make advances of money and credit to railroad, and other improvement companies. Its charter describes a class of business, which, if honestly conducted, any citizen may prop- erly engage in. On the i6th of August, 1867, Mr. Oakes Ames made a contract with the Union Pacific railroad company to build six hundred and sixty-seven miles of road, from the one hundredth meridian westward, at rates ranging from ;^42,ooo to $96,000 per mile. For executing this contract he was to receive in the aggregate $47,925,000, in cash, or in the securi- ties of the company. On the 15th of October, 1867, a triple contract was made between Mr. Ames of the first part, seven per- sons as trustees of the second part, and the Credit Mobilier company of the third part, by the terms of which the Credit Mobilier company was to advance money to build the road, and to receive thereon OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 255 seven per cent, interest, and two and one-half per cent, commission ; the seven trustees were to execute the Ames contract, and the profits thereon were to be divided among them, and such other stockholders of the Credit Mobilier company as should deliver to them an irrevocable proxy to vote the stock of the Union Pacific held by them. The principal stock- holders of the Credit Mobilier company were also holders of a majority of the stock of the Union Pacif- ic railroad. On the face of this agreement, the part to be per- formed by the Credit Mobilier company as a corpo- ration was simple and unobjectionable. It was to advance money to the contractors, and to receive therefore about ten per cent, as interest and commis- sion. This explains how it was that, in a suit in the courts of Pennsylvania, in 1870, to collect the State tax on the profits of the company, its managers swore that the company had never declared dividends to an aggregate of more than twelve per cent. The com- pany proper did not receive the profits of the Oakes Ames contract. The profits were paid only to the seven trustees, and to such stockholders of the Credit Mobilier as had delivered to them the proxies on their Pacific railroad stock. In other words, a few men inside the Credit Mobilier obtained the control, both of that corporation and of the profits of the Ames contract. By a private agreement, made in writing, October 16, 1867, the day after the triple contract was signed, the seven trustees pledged themselves to each other 256 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES SO to vote all the Pacific railroad stock which they held in their own right, or by proxy, as to keep in power all the members of the then existing board of directors of the railroad company not appointed by the President of the United States, or such other persons as said board should nominate. By this agreement, the election of a majority of the directors was wholly within the power of the seven trustees. From all this it resulted that the Ames contract and the triple agreement, made in October, amounted, in fact, to a contract made by seven leading stock- holders of the Pacific railroad company with them- selves ; so that the men who fixed the price at which the road was to be built were the same men who would receive the profits of the contract. [It would appear by General Garfield's statement above, that he must have given the matter consid- erable study, as he would naturally do after the subject was so prominently before the public; but it now appears pretty certain that through excite- ment or lack of financial skill, there was scarcely a person in the country in 1872 outside of that board of directors who did comprehend its compli- cated business transactions, or realized the finan- cial risk the principal stockholders had to encoun- ter.] ■ The Credit INIobilier company had already been engaged in various enterprises before the connection with the Ames contract. George Francis Train had once been the principal owner of its franchises, and OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 2^J it had owned some western lands; (Wilson's Report, pp. 497-8 ;) but its enterprises had not been very remunerative, and its stock had not been worth par. The triple contract of October, 1867, gave it at once considerable additional value. It should be borne in mind, however, that the relations of the Credit Mo- bilier company to the seven trustees, to the Oakes Ames' contract, and to the Pacific railroad company, were known to but few persons until long afterward, and that it was for the interest of the parties to keep them secret. Indeed, nothing was known of it to the general public until the facts were brought out in the recent investigations. In view of the facts above stated, it is evident that a purchaser of such shares of Credit Mobilier stock, as were brought under the operation of the triple contract, would be a sharer in the profits derived by that arrangement from the assets of the Pacific rail- road, a large part of which consisted of bonds and lands granted to the road by the United States. The holding of such stock by a member of Congress would depend for its moral qualities wholly upon the fact whether he did or did not know of any arrangement out of which unjust profits would come. If he knew of any fraudulent arrangement by which the bonds and lands of the United States, delivered to the Union Pacific railroad company for the purpose of construct- ing its road, were to be paid out at enormously ex- travagant rates, and the proceeds to be paid out as dividends to a ring of stockholders made by the Credit Mobilier company, he could not, with any propriety, 17 258 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES hold such stock, or agree to hold it, or any of its pro- ceeds. And for a member of Congress believing such was the case, to hold under advisement a propo- sition to buy this stock, would be morally as wrong as to hold it and receive the profits upon it. If it was morally wrong to purchase it, it was morally wrong to hesitate whether to purchase it or not. I put the case on the highest ethical ground, and ask that this rule be applied in all its severity in judging of my relation to this subject. The committee found, as already stated, that none of the six members to whom Mr. Ames sold, or pro- posed to sell, the stock, knew of any clandestine ar- rangement. I shall, however, discuss the subject only in so far as relates to me, and shall undertake to es- tablish three propositions: First. That I never purchased, nor agreed to pur- chase, the stock, nor received any of its dividends. Second. That though an offer was made, which I had some time under advisement, to sell me $1,000 worth of the stock, I did not then know, nor had I the means of knowing, the conditions with which the stock was connected, or the method by which its profits were to be made. Third. That my testimony before the committee is a statement of the facts as I have always under- stood them ; and that neither before the committee, nor elsewhere, has there been, on my part, any pre- varication or evasion on the subject. My testimony was delivered before the investigat- ing committee on the 14th of January. That portion OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 259 which precedes the cross-examination, I had written out soon after the committee was appointed. I quote it, with the cross-examination, in full, as found re- corded : Washington, D. C, January 14, 1873. J. A. Garfield, a member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Ohio, having been duly sworn, made the following state- ment : The first I ever heard of the Credit Mobilier was some time in 1866 or 1867 — I cannot fix the date — when George Francis Train called on me and said he was organizing a company to be known as the Credit Mobilier of America, to be formed on the model of the Credit Mobilier of France ; that the object of the company was to purchase lands and build houses along the line of the Pacific railroad at points where cities and villages were likely to spring up ; that he had no doubt that money thus invested would double or treble itself each year ; that subscriptions were limited to $1,000 each, and he wished me to subscribe. He showed me a long list of subscribers, among them Mr. Oakes Ames, to whom he referred me for further information concerning the enterprise. I answered that I had not the money to spare, and if I had, I would not subscribe, without knowing more about the proposed organization. Mr. Train left me, saying he would hold a place open for me, and hoped I would yet conclude to subscribe. The same day I asked Mr. Ames what he thought of the enterprise. He expressed the opinion that the investment would be safe and profitable. I heard nothing further on the subject for a year or more, and it was almost forgotten, when some time, I should say during the long session of 1868, Mr. Ames spoke of it again ; said the company had 26o THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES organized, was doing well, and he thought would soon pay large dividends. He said that some of the stock had been left, or was to be left, in his hands to sell, and I could take the amount which Mr. Train had offered me, by paying the$i,oooand the accrued interest. He said if I was not able to pay for it then, he would hold it for me till I could pay, or until some of the dividends were payable. I told him I would consider the matter ; but would not agree to take any stock until I knew, from an examination of the charter, and the conditions of the subscription, the extent to which I should become pecuniarily liable. He said he was not sure, but thought a stockholder would be liable only for the par value of his stock ; that he had not the stock and papers with him, but would have them after a while. From the case, as presented, I should probably have taken the stock, if I had been satisfied in regard to the extent of pecuniary liability. Thus the matter rested for some time, I think until the following year. During that interval, I understood that there were dividends due, amounting to nearl}' three times the par value of the stock. But in the meantime, I had heard that the company was involved in some con- troversy with the Pacific railroad, and that Mr. Ames' right to sell the stock was denied. When I next saw Mr. Ames, I told him I had concluded not to take the stock. There the matter ended, so far as I was concerned, and I had no further knowledge of the company's operations until the subject began to be discussed in the newspapers last fall. Nothing was ever said to me by Mr. Train or Mr. Ames to indicate or imply that the Credit Mobilier was, or could be, in any way connected with the legis- lation of Congress for the Pacific railroad, or for any other purpose. Mr. Ames nev^er gave, nor offered OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 26 1 to give, me any stock or other valuable thing as a gift. I once asked and obtained from him, and after- ward repaid to him, a loan of $300 ; that amount is the only valuable thing I ever received from or delivered to him. I never owned, received, or agreed to receive any stock of the Credit Mobilier, or of the Union Pacific railroad, or any dividends or profits arising from either of them. (By the Chairman.) Question. Had this loan you speak of any connec- tion in any way with your conversation in regard to the Credit Mobilier stock .? — Answer. No connection in any way except in regard to the time of payment. Mr. Ames stated to me that if I concluded to sub- scribe for the Credit Mobilier stock I could allow the loan to remain until the payment on that was adjusted. I never regarded it as connected in any other way with the stock enterprise. Q. Do you remember the time of that transaction } — A. I do not remember it precisely. I should think it was in the session of 1868. I had been to Europe the fall before, and was in debt, and borrowed several sums of money at different times and from different persons. This loan from Mr. Ames was not at his instance. I made the request myself I think I had asked one or two persons before him for the loan. Q. Have you any knowledge in reference to any dealings of Mr. Ames with any gentlemen in Con- gress in reference to the stock of the Credit Mobilier } — A. No. sir; I have not. I had no knowledge that Mr. Ames had ever talked with anybody but myself. It was a subject I gave but little attention to ; in fact, many of the details had almost passed out of my mind until they were called up in the late campaign. 262 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES (By Mr. Black.) Q. Did you say you refused to take the stock simply because there was a lawsuit about it? — A. No ; not exactly that. I do not remember any other reason which I gave to Mr. Ames than that J did not wish to take stock in anything that would involve controversy. I think I gave him no other reason than that. Q. When you ascertained the relation that this company had with the Union Pacific railroad com- pany, and whence its profits were to be derived, would you have considered that a sufficient reason for declining it, irrespective of other considerations '^. — A. It would have been as the case was afterward stated. Q. At the time you talked with Mr. Ames, before you rejected the proposition, you did not know whence the profits of the company were to be de- rived .? — A. I did not. I do not know that Mr. Ames withheld, intentionally, from me any informa- tion. I had derived my original knowledge of the organization of the company from Mr. Train. He made quite an elaborate statement of it purposes, and I proceeded, in subsequent conversations, upon the supposition that the organization was unchanged. I ought to say for myself, as well as for Mr. Ames, that he never said any word to me that indicated the least desire to influence my legislative action in any way. If he had any such purpose, he certainly never said anything to me which would indicate it. Q. You know now, and have known for a long time, that Mr. Ames was deeply interested in the legislation on this subject .? — A. I supposed that he was largely interested in the Union Pacific railroad. I have heard various statements to that effect. I OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 263 cannot say I had any such information of my own knowledge. Q. You mean that he did not electioneer with you or solicit your vote? — A. Certainly not. None of the conversations I ever had with him had any refer- ence to such legislation. (By Mr. Merrick.) Q. Have you any knowledge of any other member of Congress being concerned in the Credit Mobilier stock? — A. No, sir; I have not. Q. Or any stock in the Union Pacific railroad? A. I have r^ot. I can say to the committee that I never saw, I believe, in my life, a certificate of stock of the Union Pacific railroad company, and I never saw any certificate of stock of the Credit Mobilier, until Mr. Brooks exhibited one, a few days- ago, in the House of Representatives. Q, Were any dividends ever tendered to you on the stock of the Credit Mobilier, upon the supposi- tion that you were to be a subscriber? — A. No, sir. Q. This loan of ^300 you have repaid, if I under- stand you correctly ? — A. Yes, sir. (By Mr. McCrary.) Q. You never examined the charter of the Credit Mobilier to see what were its objects ? — A. No, sir; I never saw it. Q. If I understand you, you did not know that the Credit Mobilier had any connection with the Union Pacific railroad company? — A. I understood from the statement of Mr. Train that its objects were con- nected with the lands of the Union Pacific railroad company, and the development of settlements along that road ; but that it had any relation to the Union Pacific railroad company, other than that, I did not know. I think I did hear, also, that the company 264 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES was investing some of its earnings in the bonds of the road. Q. He stated that it was for the purpose of pur- chasing land and building houses? — A. That was the statement of Mr. Train. I think he said, in that connection, that he had already been doing some- thing of that kind at Omaha, or was going to do it. Q. You did not know that the object was to build the Union Pacific railroad ? — A. No, sir ; I did not. This is the case as I understand it, and as I have always understood it. In reviewing it, after all that has been said and written, there are no substantial changes which I could now make, except to render a few points more definite. Few men can be certain that they give, with absolute correctness, the details of conversations and transactions, after a lapse of five years. Subject to this limitation, I have no doubt of the accuracy of my remembrance concern- ing this transaction. From this testimony, it will be seen that, when Mr. Ames offered to sell me the stock in iS6y-68, my only knowledge of the character and objects of the Credit Mobil ier company was obtained from Mr. Train, at least, as early as the winter of 1866-67, long before the company had become a party to the construction contract. It has been said that I am mistaken in thinking it was the Credit Mobilier that Mr. Train offered me in 1S66-67. I think I am not. Mr. Durant, in explaining his connection with the Credit Mobilier, says : I sent Mr. Train to Philadelphia. We wanted it (the Credit Mobilier) for a stock operation, but we OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 265 could not agree what was to be done with it. Mr. Train proposed to go on an expanded scale, but I abandoned it. I think Mr. Train got some subscrip- tions ; what they were I do not know. It has been said that it is absurd to suppose that intelligent men, familiar with public a^airs, did not understand all about the relation of the Credit Mo- bilier company to the Pacific railroad company. It is a sufficient answer to say that, until the present winter, few men, either in or out of Congress, ever understood it ; and it was for the interest of those in the management of that arrangement to prevent these facts from being known. This will appear from the testimony of Hon. J. F. Wilson, who pur- chased ten shares of the stock in 1867. In the spring of 1869, ^^ 'W'as called on professionally to give an opinion as to the right of holders of Pacific railroad stock to vote their own shares, notwith- standing the proxy they had given to the seven trustees. To enable him to understand the case, a copy of the triple contract was placed in his hands. He says : Down to the time these papers were placed in my hands, I knew almost nothing of the organization and details of the Credit Mobilier, or the value of its stock, but then saw that here was abundant ground for future trouble and litigation ; and, as one of the results, sold out my interest. And again : Q. Do you, or did you know, at the time you had this negotiation with Mr. Ames, the value of the Credit Mobilier stock .^ — A. I did not; and I wish 266 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES to state here, in regard to that, that it was a very- difficult thing to ascertain what was the value of the stock. Those who, as I say in my statement, pos- sessed the secrets of the Credit Mobilier, kept them to themselves ; and I never was able to get any definite information as to what the value of the stock was. When, in the winter of i86y-6S, Mr. Ames pro- posed to sell me some of the stock, I regarded it as a mere repetition of the offer made by Mr, Train, more than a year before. The company was the same, and the amount offered me was the same. Mr. Ames knew it had formerly been offered me, for I had then asked him his opinion of such an invest- ment ; and having understood the objects of the company, as stated by Mr. Train, I did not inquire further on that point. There could not be the slightest impropriety in taking the stock, if the objects of the company were such as Mr. Train represented them to me. The only question on which I then hesitated, was the personal pecuniary liability attached to a sub- scription ; and, to settle that question, I asked to see the charter, and the conditions on which the stock was based. I have no doubt Mr. Ames expected I would subscribe. But more than a year passed with- out further discussion of the subject. The papers were not brought, and the purchase was never made. In the winter of 1869-70, I received the first intimation I ever had of the nature of the connec- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 26/ tion between the Credit Mobilier company and the Pacific railroad company, in a private conversation with the Hon. J. S. Black of Pennsylvania. Find- ing, in the course of that conversation, that he was familiar with the history of the enterprise, I told him all I knew about the matter, and informed him of the offer that had been made me. He expressed the opinion that the managers of the Credit Mobilier were attempting to defraud the Pacific railroad com- pany, and informed me that Mr. Ames was pretend- ing to have sold stock to members of Congress, for the purpose of influencing their action in any legis- tion that might arise on the subject. Though I had neither done or said anything which placed me under any- obligation to take the stock, I at once informed Mr. Ames, that if he was still hold- ing the offer open to me, he need do so no longer, for I would not take the stock. This I did immedi- ately after the conversation with Judge Black, which, according to his own recollection, as well as mine, was early in the winter of 1869-70. One circumstance has given rise to a painful con- flict of testimony between Mr. Ames and myself. I refer to the loan of $300. Among the various criti- cisms that have been made on this subject, it is said to be a suspicious circumstance, that I should have borrowed so small a sum of money from Mr. Ames, about this time. As stated in my testimony, I had just returned from Europe, only a few days before the session began, and the expenses of the trip had brought me short of funds. I might have alluded in 268 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES the same connection to the fact that, before going abroad, I had obtained money from a banker in New York, turning over to him advanced drafts for sev- eral months of my congressional salary, when it should be due ; and, needing a small sum, early in the session, for current expenses, I asked it of Mr. Ames, for the reason that he had volunteered to put me in the way of making what he thought would be a profitable investment. He gave me the money, asking for no receipt, but saying, at the same time, that if I concluded to take the stock, we w^ould settle both matters together. I am not able to fix the exact date of the loan, but it was probably in Janu- ary, 1868. Mr. Ames seems to have forgotten this circum- stance, until I mentioned it to him, after the investi- gation began ; for he said, in his first testimony, that he had forgotten that he had let me have any money. I neglected to pay him this money, until after the conversation with Judge Black, partly be- cause of my pecuniary embarrassments, and partly because no conclusion had been reached in regard to the purchase of the stock. When I paid him, I took no receipt, as I had given none at the first. Mr. Ames said once or twice, in the course of his testimony, that I did not repay it, although he says, in regard to it, that he does not know, and cannot remember. On these differences of recollection between Mr. Ames and myself, it is not so important to show that my statement is the correct one, as to show that I OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 269 have made it strictly in accordance with my under- standing of the facts. And this I am able to show- by proof entirely independent of my own testimony. In the spring of 1868, Hon. J. P. Robison of Cleveland, Ohio, was my guest here in Washington, and spent nearly two weeks with me, during the trial of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. There has existed between us an intimate acquaintance of long standing, and I have often consulted him on business affairs. On meeting him since the adjournment of Congress, he informed me that, while he was visiting me on the occasion referred to, I stated to him the offer of Mr. Ames, and asked him his opinion of it. The following letter, just received from him, states the conversation as he remembers it : Cleveland, Ohio, May i, 1873. Dear General : — I send you the facts concerning a conversation I had with you (I think in the spring of 1868) when I was stopping in Washington for some days, as your guest, during the trial of the impeach- ment of President Johnson. While there, you told me that Mr. Ames had offered you a chance to invest a small amount in a company that was to operate in lands and buildings along the Pacific railroad, which he (Ames) said would be a good thing. You asked me what I thought of it as a business proposition, that you had not determined what you would do about it, and suggested to me to talk with Ames, and form my own judgment, and if I thought well enough of it to advance the money and buy the stock on joint account with you, and let you pay me inter- est on the one-half, I could do so. But I did not think well of the proposition as a business enterprise, and did not talk with Ames on the subject. 270 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES After this talk, having at first told you I would give the subject thought, and perhaps talk with Ames, I told you one evening that I did not think well of the proposition, and had not spoken to Ames on the subject. Yours, truly, J. P. ROBISON. Hon. J. A. Garfield. I subjoin two other letters, which were written about the time the report of the committee was made, and to which I refer in my remarks made on the 3d of March, in the House of Representatives. The first is from a citizen of the town where I reside ; and the time of the conversation to which it alludes, was, as near as I can remember, in the fall of 1868, during the recess of Congress : Hiram, Ohio, February 18, 1873. Dear Sir: — It may be relevant to the question at issue between yourself and Mr. Oakes Ames, in the Credit Mobilier investigation, for me to state that, three or four years ago, in a private conversation, you made a statement to me involving the substance of your testimony before the Poland committee, as pub- lished in the newspapers. The material points of your statement were these : That you had been spoken to by George Francis Train, who offered you some shares of the Credit Mobilier stock ; that you told him that you had no money to invest in stocks; that subsequently you had a conversation in relation to the matter with Mr. Ames ; that Ames offered to carry the stock for you until you could pay for it, if you cared to buy it ; and that you had told him in that case perhaps you would take it, but would not agree to do so until you had OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 2/1 inquired more fully into the matter. Such an ar- rangement as this was made, Ames agreeing to carry the stock until you should decide. In this way, the matter stood, as I understood it, at the time of our conversation. Mv undcrstandins: was distinct that you had not accepted Mr. Ames' proposition, but that the shares were still held at your option. You stated, further, that the company was to oper- ate in real property along the line of the Pacific road. Perhaps, I should add that this conversation, which I have always remembered very distinctly, took place here, in Hiram. I have remembered the conversation the more distinctly from the circum- stances that gave rise to it. Having been intimately acquainted with you for twelve or fifteen years, and having had a considerable knowledge of your pecun- iary affairs, I asked you how you were getting on, and especially whether you were managing to reduce your debts. In reply, you gave me a detailed state- ment of your affairs, and concluded, by saying you had had some stock offered you, which, if you bought it, would probably make you some money. You then proceeded to state the case, as I have stated it above. I cannot fix the time of the conversation more definitely than to say it was certainly three, and probably four, years ago. Very truly, yours, B. A. Hinsdale, President of Hiram College. Hon. J. A. Garfield, Washington, D. C. The other letter was addressed to the Speaker of the House, and is as follows : Philadelphia, February 15, 1873. My Dear Sir : — From the beginning of the investi- gation concerning I\Ir. Ames' use of the Credit Mo- 2/2 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES bilier, I believe that General Garfield was free from all guilty connection with that business. This opin- ion was founded, not merely on my confidence in his integrity, but on some special knowledge of his case, I may have told you all about it in conversation, but I desire now to repeat it, by way of reminder. I assert unhesitatingly that, whatever General Gar- field may have done, or forborne to do, he acted in profound ignorance of the nature and character of the thing which Mr. Ames was proposing to sell. He had not the slightest suspicion that he was to be taken into a ring organized for the purpose of de- frauding the public ; nor did he know that the stock was in any manner connected with anything which came, or could come, within the legislative jurisdic- tion of Congress. The case against him lacks the scienter which alone constitutes guilt. In the winter of 1869-70, I told General Garfield of the fact that his name was on Ames' list ; that Ames charged him with being one of his distributees ; explained to him the character, origin and objects of the Credit Mobilier ; pointed out the connection it had with congressional legislation, and showed him how impossible it was for a member of Congress to hold stock in it without bringing his private interests in conflict with his public duty. That all this was to him a perfectly new revelation, I am as sure as I can be of such a fact, or of any fact, which is capable of being proved only by moral circumstances. He told me, then, the whole story of Train's offer to him, and Ames' subsequent solicitation, and his own action in the premises, much as he details it to the committee. I do not undertake to reproduce the conversation ; but the effect of it all was to convince me thoroughly that, when he listened to Ames, he was perfectly un- conscious of anything evil. I watched carefully every word that fell from him on this point, and did OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 2/3 not regard his narrative of the transaction, in other respects, with much interest, because, in my view, everything else was insignificant. I did not care whether he had made a bargain technically binding or not ; his integrity depended upon the question, whether he acted with his eyes open. If he had known the true character of the proposition made to him, he would not have endured it, much less em- braced it. Now, couple this with Mr. Ames' admission that he gave no explanation whatever of the matter to General Garfield ; then, reflect that not a particle of proof exists to show that he learned anything about it, previous to his conversation with me, and I think you will say that it is altogether unjust to put him on the list of those who, knowingly and willfully, joined the fraudulent association in question. J. S. Black. Hon. J. G. Blaine, Speaker of House of Representatives. To these may be added the facts, recently pub- lished by Colonel Donn Piatt of this city, that, in the winter of 1869-70, he had occasion to look into the history of the Credit Mobilier company, and found the same state of facts concerning my connec- tion with it, as are set forth in the letters quoted above. Whether my understanding of the facts is correct or not, it is manifest, from the testimony given above, that, in the spring of 1868, and in the autumn of that year, and again in the winter of 1869, when I could have no motive to mis-represent the facts, I stated the 18 274 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES case to these gentlemen, substantially as it is stated in my testimony before the committee. But it has been charged in the newspapers that, during the Presidential campaign, I denied any knowledge of the subject, or, at least, that I allowed the impression to be made upon the public mind that I knew nothing of it. To this answer, I wrote no letter on the subject, and made no statement in any public address, except to deny, in the broadest terms, the only charge then made, — that I had been bribed by Oakes Ames. When the charges first appeared in the newspapers, I was in Montana Territory, and heard nothing of them until my return, on the 13th or 14th of Septem- ber. On the following day, I met General Boynton, correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette^ and related to him, briefly, what I remembered about the offer to sell the stock. I told him I should write no letter on the subject, but if he thought best to publish the substance of what I had stated to him, he could do so. The same day he wrote and telegraphed from Washington, to the Cincinnati Gazette ^ under date of September 15, 1872, the following, which is a brief but correct report of my statement to him : General Garfield, who has just arrived here from the Indian country, has to-day had the first opportu- nity of seeing the charges connecting his name with receiving shares of the Credit Mobilier from Oakes Ames. He authorizes the statement that he never subscribed for a single share of the stock, and that he never received, or saw a share of it. When the OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 2/5 company was first formed, George Francis Train, then active in it, came to Washington, and exhibited a list of subscribers, of leading capitalists, and some members of Congress, to the stock of the company. The subscription was described as a popular one of ;^ 1,000 cash. Train urged General Garfield to sub- scribe, on two occasions, and each time, he declined. Subsequently, he was again informed that the list was nearly completed, but that a chance remained for him to subscribe, when he again declined ; and to this day, he has not subscribed for, or received, any share of stock or bond of the company. This dispatch was widely copied in the newspapers at the time, and was the only statement I made or authorized. One thing in connection with the case, I withheld from the public. When I saw the letters of Oakes Ames to Mr. McComb, I was convinced, from what Judge Black had told me, in 1869, that they were genuine, and that Ames had pretended to McComb that he had sold the Credit Mobilier stock for the purpose of securing the influence of members of Congress in any legislation that might arise touch- ing his interests. I might have published the fact that I had heard this, and now believed Ames had so represented it ; though, at the time Judge Black gave me the information, I thought quite likely he was mistaken. I did not know to what extent any other member of Congress had had negotiations with Mr. Ames ; but knowing the members whose names were published in connection with the charges, and be- lieving them to be men of the highest integrity, I did not think it just, either to them, or to the party 2/6 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES with which we acted, to express my opinion of the genuineness of Ames' letters, at a time when a false construction would doubtless have been placed upon it. Here, I might rest the case, but for some of the testimony given by Mr. Ames, in reference to myself I shall consider it carefully, and shall make quota- tions of his language, or refer to it, as printed in the report, so that the correctness of my citations may, in every case, be verified. To bring the discussion into as narrow a compass as possible, the points of agreement and difference between Mr. Ames and myself may thus be stated : We agree that, soon after the beginning of the session of 1867-8, Mr. Ames offered to sell me ten shares of the Credit Mobilier stock, at par and the accrued interest ; that I never paid him any money on that offer ; that I never received a certificate of stock; that after the month of June, 1868, I never received, demanded, or was offered any dividend, in any form, on that stock. We also agree that I once received from Mr. Ames a small sum of money. On the following points we disagree : He claims that I agreed to take the stock. I deny it. lie claims that I received from him $329, and no more, as a balance of dividendr. on the stock. This I deny, and assert that I borrowed from him ^300, and no more, and afterwards returned it ; and that I have never re- ceived anything from him on account of the stock. In discussing the testimony relating to myself, it OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 2// becomes necessary, for a full exhibition of the argu- ment, to refer to that concerning others. It has been said that in Mr. Ames' first testimony, he withheld, or concealed, the facts generally ; and hence, that what he said at that time, concerning any one person, is of but little consequence. The weight and value of his first testimony, concerning any one person, can be ascertained only by comparing it with his testimony, given at the same examination, con- cerning others. In that first examination, of December 17, Mr. Ames mentions, by name, sixteen members of Con- gress, who were said to have had dealings with him, in reference to Credit Mobilier stock. Eleven of these, he says, in that testimony, bought the stock; but he there sets me down among the five who did not buy it. He says : * He [Garfield] did not pay for it or receive it.' He was, at the same time, cross-examined, in re- gard to the dividends he paid to different persons ; and he testified that he paid one or more dividends to eight different members of Congress, and that three others, being original subscribers, drew their dividends, not from him, but directly from the com- pany. To several of the eight, he says, he paid all the dividends that accrued. But, in the same cross- examination, he testified that he did not remember to have paid me any dividends, nor that he had let me have any money. The following is the whole of his testimony concerning me, on cross-examination : Q, In reference to Mr. Garfield, you say that you 2/8 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES agreed to get ten shares for him, and to hold them till he could pay for them, and that he never did pay for them, nor receive them ? — A. Yes, sir. Q. He never paid any money on that stock, nor re- ceived any money from it? — A. Not on account of it. Q. He received no dividends.^ — A. No, sir; I think not. He says he did not. My own recollec- tion is not very clear. Q. So that, as you understand, Mr. Garfield never parted with any money, nor received any money on that transaction .? — A. No, sir; he had some money from me once, some three or four hundred dollais, and called it a loan. He says that that is all he ever received from me, and that he considered it a loan. He never took his stock, and never paid for it. Q. Did you understand it so.? — A. Yes; I am willing to so understand it. I do not recollect pay- ing him any dividend, and have forgotten that I paid him any money. Q, Who received the dividends.? — A. Mr. Patter- son, Mr. Bingham, James F. Wilson ; and I think Mr. Colfax received a part of them, I do not know whether he received them all or not. I think Mr. Scofield received a part of them. Messrs. Kelley and Garfield never paid for their stock, and never received their dividends. Certainly, it cainiot be said that Mr. Ames has evinced any partiality for me ; and if he was attempt- ing to shield any of those concerned, it will not be claimed that I was one of his favorites. In his first testimony, he claims to have spoken from memory, and without the aid of his documents. But he did, then, distinctly testify that he sold the OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 2/9 stock to eleven members, and paid dividends to eight of them. He not only did not put me in either of those lists, but distinctly testified that I never took the stock, nor received the dividends arising from it. His second testimony was given on the 22d of January, five weeks after his first. In assigning to this, and all his subsequent testimony, its just weight, it ought to be said, that before he gave it, an event occurred which made it strongly for his interest to prove a sale of the stock which he held as trustee. Besides the fact that McComb had already an equity suit pending in Philadelphia, to compel Mr. Ames to account to him for this same stock ; another suit was threatened, after he had given his first testimony, to make him account to the company for all the stock he had not sold as trustee. His first testimony was given on the 17th of December, and was made public on the 6th of January. On the 15th of January, T. C. Durant, one of the heaviest stockholders of the Credit Mobilier company, and, for a long time, its president, was examined as a witness, and said, ' The stock that stands in the name of Mr. Ames, as trustee, I claim belongs to the company yet ; and I have a summons in a suit, in my pocket, waiting to catch him in New York to serve the papers.' Of course, if, as a trustee, he had made sale of any portion of this stock, and afterward, as an individual, had bought it back, he could not be compelled to return it to the company. Nowhere in Mr. Ames' subsequent testimony does he claim to remember the transaction between him- 280 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES self and me, any differently from what he first stated it to be. But from the memoranda found, or made, after his first examination, he infers and declares that there was a sale of the stock to me, and a payment to mc of $329, on account of dividends. Here, again, his testimony concerning me should be compared with his testimony given at the same time concerning others. The memoranda, out of which all his additional testimony grew, consisted of certificates of stock, receipts, checks on the sergeant-at-arms, and entries in his diary. I will consider these in the order stated. To two members of Congress, he delivered certifi- cates of Credit Mobilier stock, which as trustee he had sold to them ; and in a third case, he delivered a certificate of stock to the person to whom a mem- ber had sold it. But Mr. Ames testifies that he never gave me a certificate of stock ; that I never de- manded one ; and that no certificate was ever spoken of between us. In the case of five members, he gave to them, or received from them, regular receipts of payment on account of stock and dividends. But nowhere is it claimed, or pretended, that any receipt u-as ever given by me, or to me, on account of any dividends arising from it. Again, to five of the members, Mr. Ames gave checks on the sergeant-at-arms, payable to them by name ; and these checks were produced in evidence. In the case of three others, he produced checks bear- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 28 1 ing on their face the initials of the persons to whom he claimed they were paid. But he nowhere pretended to have, or ever to have had any check bearing either my name or my initials, or any mark or indorsement connecting it with me. In regard to dividends claimed, in his subsequent testimony, to have been paid to different members, in two cases, he says he paid all the dividends that ac- crued on the stock from December, 1867, to May 6, 1871. In a third case, all the accretions of the stock were received by the person to whom he sold it, as the result of a re-sale. In a fourth case, he claims to have paid money on the 22d of September, 1868, on account of dividends, and in a fifth case, he claims to have paid a dividend in full, January 22, 1869. One purchaser sold his ten shares in the winter of 1868- 6g, and received thereon a net profit of at least $3,000. Yet Mr. Ames repeatedly swears that he never paid me but $329 ; that after June, 1868, he never tend- ered to me, nor did I ever demand from him, any divi- dend ; and that there was never any conversation between us relating to dividends. After Mr. Ames had stated that he remembered no conversation between us in regard to the adjust- ment of these accounts, the committee asked : Q. Was this the only dealing you had with him in reference to any stock ? — A. I think so. Q. Was it the only transaction of any kind ? — A. The only transaction. Q. Has that $329 ever been paid to you.? — A. I have no recollection of it. 282 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES Q. Have you any belief that it ever has? — A. No, sir. Q. Did you ever :oan General Garfield $300? — A. Not to my knowledge ; except that he calls this a loan. Q. There were dividends of Union Pacific railroad stock on these ten shares? — A. Yes, sir. Q. Did General Garfield ever receive these? — A. No, sir. He never has received but $329. * * -^^ Q. Has there been any conversation between you and him in reference to the Pacific stock he was entitled to? — A. No, sir. Q. Has he ever called for it ? — A. No, sir. Q. Have you ever ofi'ered it to him ? — A. No, sir. Q. Has there been any conversation in relation to it ? — A. No, sir. The assertion that he withheld the payment of dividends, because of the McComb suit, brought in November, 1868, is wholly broken down by the fact that he did pay the dividends to several persons dur- ing a period of two years, after the suit was com- menced. The only other memoranda offered as evidence are the entries in Mr. Ames' diary for 1868. That book contains a separate statement of an account with eleven members of Congress, showing the num- ber of shares of stock sold, or intended to be sold, to each, with the interest and dividends thereon. Across the face of nine of these accounts, long lines are drawn, crossing each ether, showing, as Mr. Ames says, that in each such case the account was adjusted and closed. Three of these entries of ac- counts are thus crossed off, and the three members OF GENERAL JAMES A, GARFIELD. 283 referred to therein testify that they never bought the stock. Tlie account entered under my name is one of the three that are not crossed off. Here is the entry in full. GARFIELD, 10 shares Credit M $1,000 00 7 mos. 10 days 43 36 $1,043 36 80 per ct. bd. div., at 97 . . * . . 776 00 $267 36 Int'st to June 20 3 64 271 CO 1,000 C. M. 1 ,000 U. P. This entry is a mere undated memorandum, and indicates neither payment, settlement or sale. In reference to it, the following testimony was given by Mr. Ames, on cross-examination : Q. This statement of Mr. Garfield's account is not crossed off, which indicates, does it, that the mat- ter has never been settled or adjusted.? — A. No, sir , it never has. Q. Can you state whether you have any other entry in relation to Mr. Garfield.'* — A. No, sir. Comparing Mr. Ames' testimony in reference to me, with that in reference to others, it appears that when he testified from his memory alone, he dis- tinctly and affirmatively excepted me from the list of those who bought the stock, or received the divi- dends ; and that subsequently, in everv case save my own, he produced some one or more of the following documents as evidence, viz., certificates of stock ; 254 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES receipts of money or dividends ; checks bearing either the full names or the initials of the persons to whom they purported to have been paid ; or entries in his diary, of accounts marked * adjusted and closed.' But no one of the classes of memoranda here described was produced in reference to me ; nor was it pretended that any one such, referring to me, ever existed. In this review, I neither assert nor intimate that sales of stock are proved in the other cases referred to. In several cases such proof was not made. But I do assert that none of the evidences mentioned above exist in reference to me. Having thus stated the difference between the tes- timony relating to other persons, and that relating to me, I now notice the testimony on which it is at- tempted to reach the conclusion that I did agree to take the stock, and did receive ^329 on account of it. On the 22d of January, Mr. Ames presented to the committee a statement of an alleged account with me, which I quote, — J A. G., Dr. 1868. To 10 shares stock Credit Mobilier of A. $1,000 00 Interest ....... 47 oo June 19. To cash 329 00 $1,376 00 Cr. 1868. By dividend bonds. Union Pacific railroad. $1,000, at 80 per cent, less 2 per cent. $776 00 June 17. By dividend collected for your account . 600 00 $1,376 00 OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 285 This account, and other similar ones presented at the same time, concerning other members, he claimed to have copied from his memorandum-book. But when the memorandum-book was subsequently pre- sented, it was found that the account here quoted was not copied from it, but was made up partly from memory, and partly from such memoranda as Mr. Ames had discovered after his first examination. By comparing this account with the entry made in his diary, and already quoted, it will be seen that they are not duplicates, either in substance or form ; and that in this account a new element is added, namely, an alleged payment of $2,2(^ in cash, on June 19. This is the very element in dispute. His only evidence, that this sum was paid me, is found in the production of a check drawn by Mr. Ames on the sergeant-at-arms. The following is the language of the check : June 22, 1868. Pay O. A., or bearer, three hundred and twenty- nine dollars, and charge to my account. Oakes Ames. This check bears no indorsement or other mark, than the words and figures given above. It was drawn on the 2 2d day of June, and, as shown by the books of the sergeant-at-arms, was paid the same day by the paying teller. But if this check was paid to me on the account just quoted, it must have been delivered to me three days before it was drawn ; for the account says I received the payment on the 19th of June. 286 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES There is nothing but the testimony of Mr. Ames that in any way connects this check with me ; and, as the committee find that the check was paid to me, I call special attention to all the testimony that bears upon the questior When Mr. Ames testified that he paid me $329 as a dividend on account of the stock, the following question was asked him : Q. How was that paid? — A. Paid in money, I believe. At a later period in the examination : Q. You say that $329 was paid to him. How was that paid.-* — A. I presume by a check on the ser- geant-at-arms. I find there are checks filed, without indicating who they were for. One week later, the check, referred to above, was produced, and the following examination was had : Q. This check seems to have been paid to some- body, and taken up by the sergeant-at-arms. Those initials are your own } — Yes, sir. Q. Do you know who had the benefit of this check.? — A. I cannot tell you. Q. Do you think you received the money on it yourself.-* — A. I have no idea. I may have drawn the money and handed it to another person. It was paid in that transaction. It may have been paid to Mr. Garfield. There were several sums of that amount. Q. Have you any memory in reference to this check .<* — A. I have no memory as to that particular check. Still later in the examination occurs the following : Q. In regard to Mr. Garfield, do you know wheth- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 28/ er you gave him a check, or paid him the money ? — A. I think I did not pay him the money. He got it from the sergeant-at-arms. Still later, in the same examination, occurs the following : Q. You think the check, on which you wrote nothing to indicate the payee, must have been Mr. Gaifield's .'* — A. Yes, sir. That is my judgment. On the nth of February, twelve days later still, the subject came up again, and Mr. Ames said: A. I am not sure how I paid Mr. Garfield. Still later, in a cross-examination in reference to Mr. Colfax, the following occurs : Q. In testifying in Mr. Garfield's case, you say you may have drawn the money on the check, and paid him. Is not your answer equally applicable to the case of Mr. Colfax ? — A. No, sir. Q. Why not.? — A. I put Mr. Colfax's initials on the check, while I put no initials on Mr. Garfield's; and I may have drawn the money myself. g. Did not Mr. Garfield's check belong to him ? — A. Mr. Garfield had not paid for his stock. He was entitled to ^329 balance. But Mr. Colfax paid for his, and I had no business with his $1,200, Q. Is your recollection in regard to this payment to Mr. Colfax any more clear than your recollection as to the payment to Mr. Garfield.? — A. Yes, sir; I think it is. And, finally, in the examination of Mr. Dillon, cashier of the sergeant-at-arms, the following is re- corded : O. There is a check payable to Oakes Ames, or bearer. Have you any recollection of that.? — A. 288 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES That was paid to himself. I have no doubt, myself, that I paid that to Mr. Ames. Reviewing the testimony on this point (and I have quoted it all), it will be seen that Mr. Ames, several times, asserts that he does not know whether he paid me the check or not. He states positively that he has no special recollection of the check. His testi- mony is wholly inferential. In one of the seven paragraphs quoted, he says he paid me the money ; in another, he says he may have paid me the money ; in three of them, he thinks, or presumes, that he paid me the check ; and in the other two, he says he does not know. The cashier of the=-sergeant-at-arms has no doubt that Mr. Ames himself drew the money on the check. And yet, upon this vague and wholly inconclusive testimony, and almost alone upon it, is based the assumption that I received from Mr. Ames $329, as a dividend on the stock. I affirm, with perfect dis- tinctness of recollection, that I received no check from Mr. Ames. The only money I ever received from him was in currency. The only other evidence, in support of the assump- tion that he paid me ^329, as a balance on the stock, is found in the entries in his diary for 1868. The value of this class of memoranda depends altogether upon their character, and upon the business habits of the man who makes them. On this latter point, the fol- lowing testimony of Mr. Ames is important: Q. Is it your habit, as a matter of business, in con- ducting various transactions with different persons, OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 289 to do it without making any memoranda? — A. This was my habit. Until within a year or two, I have had no book-keeper, and I used to keep all my own mat- ters in my own way, and very carelessly, I admit. The memorandum-book, in which these entries were made, was not presented to the committee until the nth of February, one week before they made their report. This book does not contain continuous entries ot current transactions, with consecutive dates. It is in no sense a day-book ; but contains a loose, irregular m^ss of memoranda, which may have been made at the time of the transactions, or long after- ward. Mr. Ames says of it in his testimony : Q. What was the character of the book in which the memoranda were made.? — A. It was in a small pocket memorandum, and some of it on slips of paper. It is not pretended that this book contains a com- plete record of payments and receipts. And yet, besides the check, already referred to, this book, so made up, contains the only evidence, or pretended evidence, on which it is claimed that I agreed to take the stock. It should be remembered that every por- tion of this evidence, both check and book, is of Mr. Ames' own making. I have already referred to the undated memorandum of an account in this book, under my name, and have shown that it neither proved a sale of stock, or any payment on account of it. There are but two other entries in the book relating to me, and they are two lists of names, substantially 19 290 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES duplicates of each other, with various amounts set opposite each. They are found on pages 450 and 453 of the testimony. The word ' paid ' is marked before the first name on one of these lists, and ditto marks placed under the word 'paid,' and opposite the remaining names. But the value of this entry, as proof of payment, will be seen from the cross-exami- nation of Mr. Ames, which immediately follows the list: Q. This entry, 'Paid S. Colfax $1,200,' is the amount which you paid by this check on the sergeant- at-arms .? — A. Yes, sir. Q. Was this entry upon this page of these various names intended to show the amount you were to pay, or that you had paid ; was that made at this date.^ — A. I do not know ; it was made about that time. I would not have written it on Sunday ; it is not very likely. It was made on a blank page. It is simply a list of names. Q. Were these names put down after you had made the payments, or before, do you think.? — A. Before, I think. Q. You think you made this list before the parties referred to had actually received their checks, or re- ceived the money.? — A. Yes, sir; that was to show whom I had to pay, and who were entitled to receive the 60 per cent, dividend. It shows whom I had to pay here in Washington. Q. It says 'paid.?' — A, Yes, sir; well, I did pay it. Q. What I want to know is, whether the list was made out before, or after payment.? — A. About the same time, I suppose ; probably, before. The other list, bearing the same names and amounts, OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 29I shows no other evidence that the several sums were paid, than a cross marked opposite each amount. But concerning this, Mr. Ames testifies that it was a list of what was to be paid, and that the cross was sub- sequently added to show that the amount had been paid. Neither of these lists shows anything as to the time or mode of payment, and would nowhere be ac- cepted as proof of payment. By Mr. Ames' own showing, they are lists of persons to whom he expected to pay the amounts set opposite their names. They may exhibit his expectations, but they do not prove the alleged payments. If the exact sum of $329 was received by me at the time, and under the circum- stances alleged by Mr. Ames, it implies an agreement to take the stock. It implies, furthermore, that Mr. Ames had sold Pacific railroad bonds for me ; that he had received, also, a cash dividend for me, and had accounted to me as trustee for these receipts, and the balance of the proceeds. Now, I affirm, with the firmest conviction of the correctness of my statement, that I never heard until this investigation began, that Mr. Ames ever sold any bonds, or performed any other stock transactions on my behalf, and no act of mine was ever based on such a supposition. The only remaining testimony bearing upon me, is that in which Mr. Ames refers to conversations between himself and me, after the investigation began. The first of these was of his own seeking, and occurred before he or I had testified. Soon 292 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES after the investigation began, Mr. Ames asked me what I remembered of our talk in 1867-68, in refer- ence to the Credit Mobilier company. I told him I could best answer his question by reading to him the statement I had already prepared to lay before the committee, when I should be called. Accordingly, on the following day, I took my written statement to the Capitol, and read it to him carefully, sentence by sentence, and asked him to point out anything which he might think incorrect. He made but two criticisms ; one, in regard to a date, and the other, that he thought it was the Credit Foncier and not the Credit Mobilier that Mr. Train asked me to subscribe to in 1866-67. When I read the paragraph in which I stated that I had once borrowed $300 of him, he remarked, ' I believe I did let you have some money, but I had forgotten it.' He said nothing to indicate that he regarded me as having purchased the stock ; and from that conversation, I did not doubt that he re- garded my statement substantially correct. His first testimony, given a few days afterward, confirmed me in this opinion. I had another interview with Mr. Ames, of my own seeking, to which he alludes elsewhere ; and for a full understanding of it, a statement of some previous facts is necessary. I gave my testimony before the committee, and in Mr. Ames' hearing, on the morn- ing of January 14. It consisted of the statement I had already read to Mr. Ames, and of the cross-exam- ination which followed my reading of the statement, all of which has been quoted above. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 293 During that afternoon, while I was in the manage- ment of an appropriation bill in the House, word was brought to me that Mr. Ames, on coming out of the committee-room, had declared, in the hearing of several reporters, that * Garfield was in league with Judge Black to break him down ; that it was ^400, not $300, that he had let Garfield have, who had not only never repaid it, but had refused to repay it.' Though this report of Mr. Ames' alleged declaration was subsequently found to be false, and was doubtless fabricated for the purpose of creating difficulty, yet there were circumstances which, at the time, led me to suppose that the report was correct. One was, that Judge Black (who was McComb's counsel in the suit against Ames) was present at my examination, and had drawn out on cross-examination my opinion of the nature of Mr. Ames' relation to the Credit Mobilier company and the Union Pacific company ; and the other was, that in Mr. Ames' testimony of December 17, he had said, * He (Mr. Garfield) had some money from me once, some three or four hun- dred dollars, and called it a loan.* The sum of four hundred dollars had thus been mentioned in his testimony, and it gave plausibility to the story that he was now claiming that, as the amount he had loaned me. Supposing that Mr. Ames had said what was re- ported, I was deeply indignant ; and, with a view ut drawing from him a denial or retraction of the state- ment, or, if he persisted in it, to pay him twice over, so that he could no longer say or pretend that there 294 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES existed between us any unsettled transaction, I drew some money from the office of the sergeant-at-arms, and, going to my committee-room, addressed him the following note : House of Representatives, January 14, 1873. Sir : — I have just been informed, to my utter amaze- ment, that, after coming out of the committee-room this morning, you said in the presence of several re- porters that you had loaned me four, instead of three, hundred dollars, and that I had not only refused to pay you, but was aiding your accusers to injure you in the investigation. I shall call the attention of the comm.ittee to it, unless I find I am misinformed, To bring the loan question to an immediate issue between us, I inclose herewith ^400. If you wish to do justice to the truth and to me, you will return it, and correct the alleged statement, if you made it. If not, you will keep the money, and thus be paid twice and more. Silence on your part will be a confession that you have deeply wronged me. J. A. Garfield. Hon. Oakes Ames. After the House had adjourned for the day, I found, on returning to my committee-room, that I had omitted to inclose the note with the money, which had been sent to the House post-office. I immediate- ly sought Mr. Ames to deliver the note, but failed to find him at his hotel, or elsewhere, that evening. Early the next morning, January 15, I found him, and delivered the note. He denied having said, or claimed, any of the things therein set forth, and wrote on the back of my letter the following : OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 295 Washington, January 15, 1873. Dear Sir : — I return you your letter with inclosures, and I utterly deny ever having said that you refused to pay me, or that it was four, instead of three hun- dred dollars, or that you was aiding my accusers. I also wish to say that there has never been any but the most friendly feelings between us, and no trans- action, in the least degree, that can be censured by any fair-minded person. I herewith return you the four hundred dollars as not belonging to me. Yours, truly, Oakes Ames. Hon. J. A. Garfield. From inquiry of the reporters, to whom the remarks were alleged to have been made, I had become satis- fied that the story was wholly false ; and when Mr. Ames added his denial, I expressed to him my re- gret that I had written this note in anger and upon false information. I furthermore said to Mr. Ames that, if he had any doubt in reference to the repay- ment of the loan, I wished him to keep the money. He refused to keep any part of it, and his conversa- tion indicated that he regarded all transactions be- tween us settled. Before I left his room, however, he said he had some memoranda which seemed to indicate that the money I had of him was on account of stock ; and asked me, if he did not, some time in 1868, deliver to me a statement to that effect. I told him if he had any account of that sort, I was neither aware of it, nor responsible for it ; and thereupon I made sub- stantially the following statement : 296 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES Mr. Ames, the only memoranda you ever showed me was in iS6y-6S, when speaking to me of this proposed sale of stock, you figured out, on a little piece of paper, what you supposed would be realized from an investment of $1,000; and, as I remember, you wrote down these figures : 1,000 1,000 400 2,400 as to the amounts, you expected to realize. While saying this to Mr. Ames, I wrote the figures, as above, on a piece of paper lying on his table, to show him what the only statement was, he had ever made to me. It is totally false that these figures had any other meaning than that I have here given ; nor did I say anything, out of which could be fabricated such a statement. In his testimony of January 29, Mr. Ames gives a most remarkable account of this interview. Remem- bering the fact, by him undisputed, that there had been no communication between us on this subject, for more than four years before this investigation began, notice the following : Q. Did you have any conversation, in reference to the influence this transaction would have on the elec- tion last fall } — A. Yes, he said it would be very in- jurious to him. Q. What else, in reference to that.? — A. I am a very bad man to repeat conversation ; I cannot re- member. That is, he makes me, on the 15th of January, 1873, OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 297 express the fear that this transaction will injure me in the election of October, 1872. Again : Q. You may state whether, in conversation with you, Mr. Garfield claims, as he claims before us, that the only transaction between you was borrowing $3CXD. — A. No, sir; he did not claim that with me. Q. State how he did claim it -with you; what was said .-^ — A. I cannot remember half of it. "^ * He [Garfield] stated, that when he came back from Europe, being in want of funds, he called on me, to loan him a sum of money. He thought he had re- paid it. I do not know ; I do not remember. * "* Q. How long after that transaction [the offer to sell Credit Mobilier stock] did he go to Europe } — A. I believe it was a year or two. * * Q. Do you not know that he did not go to Europe for nearly two years afterward.'' — A. No, I do not. It is my impression, it was two years afterward, but I cannot remember dates. I should think not, if this testimony is an example of his memory ! It is known to thousands of people, that I went to Europe in the summer of 1867, and at no other time. I sailed from New York on the 13th of July, 1867, spent several days of August, in Scotland, with Speaker Blaine and Senator Morrill of Vermont, and returned to New York on the 9th of the follow- ing November — three weeks before the beginning of the session of Congress. The books of the sergeant-at-arms of the House show that, before going, I had assigned several months' pay, in advance, to a banker, who had ad- 1 - 298 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES vanced me money, for the expenses of the trip. To break the weight of this fact, which showed why I came to need a small loan, Mr. Ames says I did not go to Europe till nearly two years afterward. If a reason be sought why he gave such testimony, it may perhaps be found on the same page from which the last quotation is made : Q. How did you happen to retain that little stray memorandum.? — A. I do not know. I found it in my table two or three days afterward. I did not pay any attention to it at the time, until I found there was to be a conflict of testimony, and I thought that might be something worth preserving. How did he find out, after that time, that ' there was to be a conflict of testimony?' The figures were made on that piece of paper, January 15, the day after I had given my testimony, and four weeks after he had given his first testimony. There was no conflict, except what he himself made ; and that con- flict was as marked between his first statement and his subsequent ones, as between the latter and mine. There runs through all his testimony, now under consideration, an intimation that I was in a state of alarm, was beseeching Mr. Ames to Met me off easy,' *to say as little about it as possible,' 'to let it go as a loan,' ^ to save my reputation,' that I 'felt very bad,' was Mn great distress,' 'hardly knew what I said,' and other such expressions. I should have been wholly devoid of sensibility, if I had not felt keenly the suspicions, the false accu- sations, the reckless calumnies with which the public OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 299 mind was filled, while the investigation was in prog- ress. Bat there is not the smallest fragment of truth in the statement, or rather the insinuation, that I ever asked, or wanted, anything from Mr. Ames, on this subject, but simple justice and the truth. The spirit in which a portion of the public treated the men whose conduct was being investigated, may be understood from the following questions, put to Mr. Ames, in the midst of an examination, not at all relating to me: Q. In that conversation, with Mr. Garfield, was anything said, by him, about your being an old man, near the end of your career, and his being compara- tively a young man.? — A. No, sir; nothing of that sort. It is manifest that this question was suggested by some of the inventive bystanders, in hopes of making an item for a new sensation. The most absurd and exaggerated statements were constantly finding their way into the public press, in reference to every subject and person connected with the investigation, and this question is an illustration. In no communication with Mr. Ames, did I ever say anything inconsistent with my testimony before the committee. Conscious that I had done no wrong, from the be- ginning to the end of this affair, I had nothing to conceal, and no favors to ask, except that the whole truth should be known. I was in the committee- room but once, during the investigation, and I went then, only when summoned to give my testimony. 300 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES From a review of the whole subject, the following conclusions are fairly and clearly established : I. That the Credit Mobilier company was a State corporation, regularly organized ; and that neither its charter, nor the terms of its contract, of October 15, 1867, disclosed anything which indicated that the company was engaged in any fraudulent or improper enterprise. II. That seven persons, inside the Credit Mobilier company, calling themselves trustees, obtained the control of the franchises, and of a majority of the stock, of both the Credit Mobilier and of the Union Pacific railroad company ; and, while holding such double control, they made a contract with them- selves, by which they received, for building the road, a sum greatly beyond the real cost of construction : and, in adjusting the payments, they received stock and bonds of the railroad company, at a heavy dis- count. That these profits were distributed, not to the stockholders of the Credit Mobilier proper, but to the seven trustees, and their proxies — the holders of this stock — and that this arrangement was kept secret by its managers. III. That, in 1S67-8, Mr. Ames offered to sell small amounts of this stock to several leading mem- bers of Congress, representing it as an ordinary in- vestment, promising fair profits ; but, but in every such offer, he said nothing about any arrangement. OF GENERAL JAMES A GARFIELD. 3OI by which the profits were to be made, or what would be the amount of dividends likely to be realized. While thus offering this stock, he was writing to one of his associates, that he was disposing of the stock 'where it would do most good,' which seemed to intimate that he was thereby gaining influence in Congress, to prevent investigation into the af- fairs of the road. His letters, and the list of names, which he gave to McComb, represent many persons who never did buy or agree to buy it, and also repre- sent a much larger amount than he sold. Mr. Ames' letters and testimony contain contradictions, not only of his own statements, but also of the statements of most of the other witnesses ; and it is fair, in judging of its credibility, to take into some account his interests involved in the contro- versy. IV. That in reference to myself, the following points are clearly established by the evidence : I. That I neither purchased, nor agreed to pur- chase, the Credit Mobilier stock, which Mr. Ames offered to sell me ; nor did I receive any dividend arising from it. This appears from my own testi- mony ; and, from the first testimony given by Mr. Ames, which is not overthrown by his subsequent statements ; and is strongly confirmed by the fact that, in the case of each of those who did purchase the stock, there was produced, as evidence of the sale, either a certificate of stock, receipt of payment, a check drawn in the name of the payee, or entries in Mr. Ames' diary, of a stock account marked, adjusted, 302 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES and closed ; but, that no one of these evidences ex- ists, in reference to me. This position is further confirmed by the subsequent testimony of Mr. Ames, who, though he claims that I did receive $329 from him on account of the stock, yet he repeatedly testi- fies that, beyond that amount, I never received or demanded any dividend, that he did not offer me any, nor was the subject alluded to, in conversation between us. Mr. Ames admits, that after December, 1867, the various stock and bond dividends, on the stock he had sold, amounted to an aggregate of more than 800 per cent.; and, that between January, 1868, and May, 1871, all these dividends were paid to several of those who purchased the stock. My conduct was wholly inconsistent with the supposition of such ownership; for, during the year 1869, I was borrow- ing money, to build a house here, in Washington, and was securing my creditors by giving mortgages on my property ; and, all this time, it is admitted that I received no dividends, and claimed none. The attempt to prove a sale of the stock to me, is wholly inconclusive ; for it rests, first, on a check payable to Mr. Ames himself, concerning which, he several times says he does not know to whom it was paid ; and second, upon loose, undated entries in his diary, which neither prove a sale of the stock nor any payment on account of it. The only fact from which it is possible for Mr. Ames to have inferred an agreement to buy the stock, was the loan to me, of ^300. But that loan OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 303 was made months before the check of June 22, 1868, and was repaid in the winter of 1869; and, after that date, there were no transactions of any sort between us. And finally, before the investigation was ended, Mr. Ames admitted that, on the chief point of differ- ence between us, he might be mistaken. He said he 'considered me the purchaser of the stock, unless it was borrowed money I had of him ; ' and, at the conclusion of his last testimiony, he said : Mr. Garfield understands this matter as a loan ; he says I did not explain it to him. Q. You need not say what Mr. Garfield says. Tell us what you think. A. Mr. Garfield might have misunderstood me. * * I supposed it was like all the rest, but when Mr. Garfield says he mistook it for a loan ; that he always understood it to be a loan ; that I did not make an)/ explanation to him, and did not make any statement to him ; I may be mistaken I am a man of few words, and I may not have made myself un- derstood to him. 2. That the offer which Mr. Ames made to me, as I understood it, was one which involved no wrong or impropriety. I had no reason to believe that behind this offer to sell a small amount of stock lay any scheme to defraud the Pacific railroad, or imperil the interests of the United States. 1 was not invited to become a party to any scheme of spoliation, much less was I aware of any attempt to influence my legislative action, or any subject connected there- 304 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES with. And, on the first intimation that such might be the nature of the case, I declined any further con- sideration of the subject. 3. That whatever may have been the facts in the case, I stated them in my testimony, as I have always understood them ; and there has been no contradic- tion, prevarication, or evasion, on my part. This is demonstrated by the fact that I stated the case to Mr. Robison, in the spring of 1868, and to Mr. Hinsdale, in the autumn of that year, and to Judge Black, in the winter of 1869-70, substantially as it is stated in my testimony before the committee. I have shown that, during the presidential cam- paign, I did not deny having known anything about the Credit Mobilier company ; that the statement published in the Cinci7i7iati Gazette, September 15, is substantially in accord with my testimony before the committee ; and finally, that during the progress of the investigation, there was nothing in my con- versation, or correspondence with Mr. Ames, in any way, inconsistent with the facts as given in my testi- mony. To sum it up, in a word : out of an unim- portant business transaction, the loan of a trifling sum of money, as a matter of personal accommoda- tion, and out of an offer, never accepted, has arisen this famous fabric of accusation and suspicion. If there be a citizen of the United States, who is willing to believe that, for $329, I have bartered away my good name, and to falsehood, have added perjury, these pages are not addressed to him. If there be one who thinks that any part of my public OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 305 life has been gauged on so low a level as these cha.rges would place it, I do not address him — I address those who are willing to believe that it is possible for a man to serve the public without personal dishonor. If any scheming corporations, or corrupt rings have ever found in me a conscious supporter, or ally, in any dishonorable scheme, they are at full liberty to disclose it. In the discussion of the many grave and difficult questions of public policy, which have occupied the thoughts of the nation, during the last twelve years, I have borne some part ; and I confidently appeal to the public records for a vindi- cation of my conduct." Since the excitement concerning the Credit Mobi- lier has passed away, public opinion in regard to it, and concerning General Garfield's connection with it has undergone a great change; and while the be- havior of Hon. Oakes Ames is regarded in a much more favorable light, no man, unless he is the most reckless and foolish of scandal-mongers, could now throw any blame upon General Garfield, in connec- tion with it. His whole life has been consistent, straight forward, and honest, which even his bitter political enemies will not now deny. There was another political disturbance, in con- nection with the vote of Congress, in 1872, to in- crease the salary of its members, and for which General Garfield voted, under protest, as the measure was combined with others he wished very much to 20 306 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES see passed. General Garfield sent to his constitu- ents an explanation of the matter, when he saw how sadly they had misconstrued his motives and his action. It is a complete history of the affair in itself, and is given in full : Hiram, Ohio, April 2i, 1873. On the 3d day of March, the day that completed the tenth year of my service as your Representative in Congress, I cast a vote, in company with one hun- dred and one other Representatives, on account of which it appears that the following resolution has lately been adopted by a convention of delegates at Warren, called to nominate a member of the State Constitutional Convention : Resolved, That James A. Garfield, in voting for the retroactive sal- ary bill, has forfeited the confidence of his constituents, and, there- fore, we, the representatives of the Republican party of Trumbull County, in convention assembled, ask him to resign forthwith his office as our Representative in Congress. The officers of that convention have not favored me with a copy of the resolution, and I have learned of its terms only through the press and private com- munications. Presuming that the above is the cor- rect text of the resolution, and waiving all question of the jurisdiction and authority of that convention to sit in judgment on the subject, I respond to the resolution itself. In doing so I assume that those who framed it were animated only by a sense of pub- lic duty. I will assume also that they were willing and even anxious to do me justice, and to state fairly and truthfully my alleged offense. This, however, they have not done. The language of the resolution implies that I voted to give additional back pay to members of Congress. It assumes that the retroactive pay was the chief OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 3O7 provision of the bill for which I did vote. Now, just such a bill as that language describes was brought into the House, for the purpose of fastening it as an amendment to one of the leading appropriation bills. That effort I resisted at every stage. The bill for which I did vote now fills twenty-seven pages of the national statute-book. The offensive retroactive clause is -contained in three lines of the statute. Whether I ought or ought not to have voted for the appropriation bill, with the retroactive salary clause in- corporated in it, depends upon the merits and demer- its of the bill as a whole. Whether I am in any way responsible for its offensive provisions depends upon what efforts I made, or failed to make, to prevent their adoption. That it may be. clearly understood what I did on this subject, I will briefly state the facts. As Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations it was my duty to see that the annual appropriation bills were acted upon in the House before the Forty- Second Congress expired. To do this it was neces- sary to press them constantly, and to the exclusion of a great mass of other business. For this purpose chiefly the House was in session from ten to fifteen hours in each twenty-four during the last week of the term, I had special charge of the legislative appropria- tion bill, upon the preparation of which my commit- tee had spent nearly two weeks of labor before the meeting of Congress. It was the most important of the twelve annual bills. Its provisions reached every part of the machinery of the Government in all the States and Territories of the Union. The amount appropriated by it was one-seventh of the total annual expenditures of the Government, exclusive of the interest on the public debt. It contained all the appropriations required by law for the legislative 308 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES department of the Government ; for the public print- ing and binding ; for the President and the officers and employes at the Executive Mansion ; for the seven executive departments at Washington, and all their bureaus and sub-divisions ; for the sub-treasu- ries and public depositaries in fourteen cities of the Union ; for all the officers and agents employed in the assessment and collection of the internal revenue ; for the governments of the nine Territories and of the District of Columbia ; for the mints and the assay offices ; for the land offices and the surveys of public lands; and for all the courts, judges, district attorneys, and marshals of the United States. Be- sides this, during its progress through the two Houses, many provisions had been added to the bill which were considered of vital importance to the public interests. A section had been added in the Senate to force the Pacific railroad companies to pay the arrears of interest on the bonds loaned to them by the United States, and to commence refunding the principal. An investigating committee of the House had unearthed enormous frauds committed by and against these companies, and as the result of two months' labor had framed a bill of several sections to provide for bringing suits in the courts to recover the vast sums of which the road and Government had been plundered, and to prevent further spoliation. That bill had also been made a part of the appropriation bill. While the bill was first passing through the House, repeated efforts were made to increase the salaries of different officers of the Government ; in every instance I resisted these efforts, and but little increase was made until forty-eight hours before the Congress expired, when the House loaded upon this bill an amendment increasing the salaries of the OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 309 President, Vice-President, judges of the Supreme Court, and members of Congress, including those of the Forty-Second Congress. An unsuccessful effort had been made three weeks before to fasten that amendment upon another ap- propriation bill of which I had charge. In the struggle to fasten it upon this bill there was a lengthy debate, in which its merits and demerits were fully discussed. In that debate I bore my full share in opposing the amendment. Before it was finally adopted there were eighteen different votes taken in the House and the Committee of the Whole on its merits and its management. On each and all of these I voted adversely to the amendment. Six years ago, when the salaries of Congressmen were raised and the pay was made to date back sixteen months, I had voted against the increase ; and now, bearing more responsibility for the appropriations than ever before, I pursued the same course. No act of mine during this struggle can be tortured into a willingness to allow this amendment to be fastened to the bill. But all opposition was overborne by majorities ranging from three to fifty-three, and the bill with this amendment added was sent to the Sen- ate Saturday evening, the ist of March. If the Sen- ate had struck out the amendment, they could have compelled the House to abandon it or take the re- sponsibility of losing the bill. But the Senate re- fused, by a vote of nearly two to one, to strike out the salary clause or any part of it ; and many Sena- tors insisted that with the abolition of mileage and other allowances $6,500 was no real increase, and that the rate should be greater. The bill then went to a conference committee with sixty -five unadjusted amendments pending between the two Houses. The battle against the salary clause was fought and lost before the appropriation bill went to the 3IO THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES conicrence committee. The Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate both recognized the fact in appointing their respective committees of conference. In announcing the committee of con- ference on the part of the House, the Speaker said : " There are several points of difference between the two Houses of exceeding importance. It is the duty of the Chair to adjust the con- ference so as to represent those points upon which the House most earnestly insists. The three points of difference especially involved are the subject of salaries of members and other officers, what is styled the Morrill amendment, and the provision in regard to the Pa- cific railroad. The Chair thinks that so far as he can analyze the votes of the House on these propositions, that the following conferees will fairly represent the views of the House on the various questions : Mr. Garfield of Ohio, Mr. Butler of Massachusetts, and Mr. Randall of Pennsylvania." I was appointed chairman because I had charge of the bill. Messrs. Butler and Randall were ap- pointed because they represented the declared will of the House on the salary question. They were not members of the Committee on Appropria- tions, and were not familiar with the other provis- ions of the bill. The salary clause was the first of the sixty-five amendments referred to the com- mittee, and six full hours were spent in consider- ing it. Notwithstanding the fact that the battle against the salary clause was already lost, I made the best effort I could to retrieve it in the conference committee. I faithfully presented the considerations urged against it by the minority in the House, and moved to strike out the clause relating to congres- sional salaries. The Senate conferees were unani- mous against" the motion, and my two associates agreed with them. I moved to strike out the retro- active feature, and the vote stood as before. By the same majority the amount was fixed at $7,500. There was no longer any doubt that the salary OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 3II clause must stand or fall with the bill. It was clear tlat a majority of the committee represented the judgment of the two Houses. In this situation there were but two courses be- fore me : one was to refuse to act with the confer- ence committee, abandon the bill to Mr. Butler, the next on the conference, and go into the House and oppose its final passage ; the other was to stand by the bill, make it as perfect as possible, limit and re- duce the amount of the appropriation as much as could be done, and report it to the House for pas- sage. In a word, I was called upon to decide this ques- tion : Is the salary amendment so impolitic, so un- wise, so intolerable, that in order to prevent its be- coming a law the whole bill ought to be defeated ? If so, it was the duty of both the Senate and the House to defeat it ; and if they passed it, it was the duty of the President to veto it. Upon the decision I then made, and the reasons for and against it, I invoke the judgment of my constituents ; for there, if anywhere in the course of this legislation, I for- feited my claim to their confidence. If the enactment of this amendment into a law was itself a crime, then any bill, however important it might be, to which it was attached, ought to be defeated. No public emergency can justify theft or robbery. But bad as this amendment was in some of its provisions, it is an abuse of language and of truth to call it either theft or robbery. On the con- trary, many of the items of increase were acknowl- edged to be just, even by those who opposed the amendment most earnestly. It w^as clearly within the constitutional power of Congress to pass that clause. The Constitution makes it their duty to fix the salary of all officers of the Government, includ- ing their own. 312 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES The retroactive pay provided for in this amend- ment, unwise, indelicate, and inaefensible as I be- lieve it to have been, was in accordance with all the precedents, for every increase of pay of members of Congress since the adoption of the Constitution has applied to the whole term of the Congress that au- thorized it. It was not a crime, and we have no right to say that those who advocated it were thieves and robbers. I opposed the whole scheme of in- crease of salaries chiefly on two grounds: First. That officers at the national Capital were already receiving higher rates of pay than many of those serving at a distance ; and that if we began to increase salaries at the Capital, and particularly our own, it would be indecent and unjust not to go through the whole list and make the increase gener- al. To do this would greatly increase the expendi- tures already overgrown by the results of the war ; and. Second. I opposed it because I thought it pecul- iarly impolitic for the Forty-Second Congress to give any new cause for bringing itself into public odium. Much had already occurred to throw discredit upon it, and this would add a new shade to the colors in which it was being painted. On the other hand, there were grave objections to the defeat of the appropriation bill. Everybody knew that its failure would render an extra session of the new Congress inevitable. It is easy to say now that this would have been better than to allow the passage of the salary clause. Present evils al- ways seem greater than those that never come. The opinion was almost universal that an extra session would be a serious evil in many ways, and especially to the Treasury. Its cost, directly and indirectly, would far exceed the amount appropriated for retro- active salaries. An unusual amount of dangerous OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 313 legislation was pressing upon Congress for action. A measure to refund the cotton tax, which would take seventy millions from the Treasury, was pressed by a powerful or^';anization in and out of Congress, and its consideration had only been prevented by in- terposing the appropriation bills. A vast number of doubtful claims growing out of the war were ready to follow in the wake of the cotton tax. To organize a new Congress, which would require the appoint ment and organization of new committees, and to begin this bill anew, perfect its details, and pass it, would require many weeks. In the meantime the field would be clear for pushing all schemes against the Treasury. But more than this, the defeat of the bill would carry with it the defeat of the only legislation by which Congress has attempted for many years to check the career of those greedy corporations whose powers have become so dangerous to the public wel- fare. For the first time Congress was thoroughly aroused to the danger ; and the sections concerning the Pacific railroad, which had been added to this bill, empowered and directed the executive, through the courts, to strike an effective blow against those who had already robbed the Pacific railroad at the expense of the National Treasury. If these sections failed, it was by no means cetain that the new Con- gress would pass them ; and if it did, the interests of the Government would greatly suffer by the delay. Only a single day and night remained before the final adjournment, and three other great appropri- ation bills were still unfinished. These considerations were inseparably connected with the defeat of this appropriation bill. I knew that if it failed from any act of mine, the responsi- bility for its failure would rest more heavily on me than upon any other member. I had been made 314 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES responsible for its management, but was in no way responsible for the adoption of the salary amend- ment. After weighing the case as well as I could, I con- cluded it was my duty to stand by the bill ; and I did so. I remained in the conference, and did what I could to perfect the biU and reduce the amount ap- propriated by it. On mv motion the following pro- viso was made a part of the bill : *' Provided, That in settling the pay and allowances of members of the Forty-Second Congress, all mileage shall be de- ducted, and no allowances shall be made for expenses of travel." The sum deducted from the additional back pay, under this proviso, amounted in the aggre- gate to nearly ^400,000 ; and the pay to the mem- bers of the late Congress is made less than those of the next Congress by the total amount of actual traveling expenses. The other sixty-four amendments to the bill were satisfactorily adjusted, after many hours of delibera- tion. Having done what I could to perfect the bill, I signed the conference report and presented it to theHouse; but in doing so I stated that I alone had opposed the salary clause in the conference com- mittee, and had done what I could to strike it out, and that I had signed the report rather than run the risk of losing the bill. I then voted for the bill, not for ihe increase of salaries nor for the retroactive clause, for I was opposed to both, but for the bill as a whole. It is clear that it would have passed if I had voted against it. But believing that it was better to pass the bill, even with the salary amendment included, than risk the consequences of its failure, I voted for it. It would have been an inconsistent and cowardly act on my part to vote against it merely to escape criticism. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 315 If the bill, as reported from the conference com- mittee, ought to have been defeated, there was one well-known and very easy way to do it. One-fifth of the members present, by dilatory and filibustering motions and calling the ayes and noes, could have prevented a vote on the report till the end of the session. Should the ninety-six members who voted against the conference report be censured for not preventing its adoption ? Less than half of their number could easily have done so. But no one of them, so far as I know, thought it his duty to defeat the bill. Certainly I did not think it the duty of the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations to lead such a movement. It has been said that the conference report might have been recommitted for a further attempt to strike off the salary clause. The answer to this is, that the House, on an aye and no vote, by nineteen majority, ordered the question to be put on the adoption of the report. The plain fact is, that the final vote on the bill was not a test of the sentiments of members of the House on the salary question. The respon^iibility for the increase of salaries rests upon those who forced the amendment upon the bill. There is one feature of the case to which I refer with great reluctance, and with a deep sense of the injustice that is done me. It is charged that 1 voted for the bill for the purpose of putting $5,000 of back pay into my own pocket. I fearlessly appeal to friends and enemies alike to say whether any act of my public life has warranted them in imputing to me unworthy and mercenary motives. The point here raised is one to which I did not intend to refer in this letter. I prefened to leave my personal motives to the future for vindication. But already, without my knowledge or procurement, a paragraph 3l6 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES has found its way to the press which makes it proper for me to say what I did not wish paraded in public, that I not only did not receive the back pay nor any part of it, but I ordered it so covered into the gen- eral Treasury as to be placed beyond the reach of myselt or my heirs. 1 have thus stated the facts in the case, that you may know precisely what I did, and the reasons for it. I desire that this and every other act of my pub- lic life shall be fully known to you. Ten years ago you called me from another field of duty and honor to represent you in the national Legislature. Since then you have expressed your confidence and esteem in many ways, and in none more strikingly than in the five re-elections with which you have honored me. I have not been insensible to these evidences of your approval. I have conscientiously sought to serve you and the country with the best of my ability. I have spared neither time nor labor faith- fully to discharge the duties of the place assigned me. Doubtless I have made my full share of mistakes and blunders, and my vote on this bill may have added another to the list. I respect no man the less for thinking so, but in this as in all my official con- duct I acted for what I regarded the public good. Whether wise or unwise, defensible or indefensible, that vote had the approval of my judgment, and I do not shrink from any responsibility growing out of it. But I do not affect to conceal my surprise and dis- appointment at the construction which has been given to that vote. Probably no man who, conscious of his own integrity, has served a constituency as long as I have served you could see the basest of motives attributed to him and listen to a public demand for his instant resignation with indifference. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 317 Certainly I cannot. Were I to follow my own incli- nations merely, I would at once abandon a position so difficult to fill acceptably, and which the assaults of calumny have rendered on so many accounts unde- sirable. But the charge on which the demand of the Warren convention is based is an injustice to which I cannot consent. The principle on which it is made rises above any merely personal considera- tion. If I ought to resign for casting this vote, every elective officer should resign whenever any of his official acts, done in good faith, are strongly dis- approved by those who elected him. If the delegates believe that the retroactive clause is so infamous that I ought to resign for voting for the appropriation bill to which it was attached, will they follow out their logic and insist that the President ought to resign for signing it ? My vote did not make it a law. His signature did. I do not consent to the logic that leads to such a conclusion. The facts are before you, I am ready anywhere and at any time to make good the statements herein set forth, and upon the facts I appeal from the action of the convention to your more deliberate judgment. Very respectfully, JAMES A. GARFIELD. Immediately upon receiving the check for the in- crease of his salary. General Garfield sent it to the United States treasurer, and it was covered into the treasury. 3l8 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES CHAPTER XVIII. LABORS IN CONGRESS. APPOINTMENT ON COMMITTEES. — VARIETY OF WORK. — HIS LEADER- gHip. — LIST OF SPEECHES. — THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION. — A SPEECH IN WALL STREET. — VIEWS ON FINANCES. —RESU^IPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. General Garfield's labors in Congress were of the most varied and arduous character. It seems incredible that one man coald make so many speech- es, write out so many bills, attend so many commit- tee hearings, and appear so punctually in his seat as he has done. He carried the affairs of the Military committee as its practical head, until the chairman- ship of the Ways and Means committee, which was given him, took him into a wider field. For many years he was the leader of the House in matters re- quiring hard work ; and after the election of Mr. Blaine to the Senate, he was regarded by the Repub- lican party as their leader and oracle, in all their debates and controversies with the other party. He studied, wrote and spoke about a vast variety of topics, concerning widely different themes, and, as all admit, with ability and good judgment. He delivered ad- dresses in the House, which have often been quoted with respect by eminent scholars, upon public lands. OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 319 river navigation, contagious diseases, revenue, cur- rency, duties, specie payments, Arctic explorations, science, schools, manufactories, commerce, agricul- ture, appropriations, law trials, Chinese immigration, diplomatic affairs, war claims, fisheries, polygamy, pensions, constitutional amendments, banks, slavery, treaties with foreign nations, trade with Canada, elec- toral count, reconstruction. State rights, and hundreds more ; and, all the while, was assiduously at work as a member of the most important committees. His eminent legal knowledge pointed him out at once as the proper statesman for the examination of the Louisiana trouble, for drifting constitutional amend- ments and impeachment reports, and for a place on that most august of all our national tribunals, the electoral commission, for adjusting the contested election case between R. B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, the claimants for the presidential chair. His study, at odd moments, of questions of science and education, made him a prominent member of the Board of regents of the Smithsonian Institute, and his love of Jiterature secured the honorary member- ship in many of the leading literary societies in this country, and of the " Cobden Club," in London, on motion of John Bright. During those years of restless activity, he wrote articles for magazines, and the many addresses which he delivered, at schools, colleges, celebrations, anni- versaries and political meetings. Among his speech- es, none seems to have given him greater celebrity, than the short exclamation which he made to the 320 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES crowd in Wall street, on the evening after the assas- sination of President Lincoln. The accounts in the public press gave it as follows : An enormous crowd had gathered at the Wall street Exchange. The wrath of the workingmen was simply uncontrollable, and revolvers and knives were in the hands of thousands of Lincoln's friends, ready to avenge the death of the martyred president, without being careful to consider who deserved pen- alty. Speeches from Butler and Dickinson had done nothing to appease the gathering wrath of the mob. Two men had been beaten — one lay dead, the other dangerously wounded — for declaring that Lincoln ought to have been hung long ago. Some had made a rude gallows out of scantling, witli a looped halter hanging from it. Suddenly some one raised a shout, ''The World ! the World ! the office of the World ! " It was the signal for a surging movement which a moment later would have been a terrible march. Just then a man stepped forward, with a small flag in his hand, and beckoned to the crowd. Another tele- gram from Washington ! And then, in the awful stillness of the crisis, taking advantage of the hesi- tation of the crowd, a right arm was lifted skyward, and a voice clear and steady, loud and distinct, spoke out: ''Fellow citizens! Clouds and darkness are round about Him ! His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies ! Justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne ! Mercy and truth shall go before his face ! Fellow citizens ! God reigns, and the government at Washington still lives ! " The effect was tremendous. The crowd stood riveted to the ground in awe, gazing at the motionless orator, and thinking of God and the security of the government in that hour. As the boiling wave subsides and settles to the sea, when OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 32 1 some strong wind beats it down, so the tumult of the people sank and became still. All took it as a divine omen. It was a triumph of eloquence, in- spired by the moment, such as falls to but one man's lot, and that but once in a century. His political speeches were made the texts of his party, and his services were eagerly sought for in every doubtful State. His published speeches are well worth preserving, and of being read again and again. Some of his addresses, including as large a variety as possible, in order to show the versatility of his talents, are included in this volume. During his first session he declared his views upon the finances of the nation ; and, as the consistency of his career on matters of finance may be of inter- est to all who study his life, extracts from two of his speeches are given here together. The first is a brief statement of his views in 1866 ; the second is a more elaborate discussion, made in Chicago in 1879. The remarks in Congress in 1866, were as follows : Mr. Speaker, there is no leading financier, no leading statesman now living, or one who has lived within the last half century, in whose opinion the gentleman can find any support. They all declare, as the Secretary of the treasury declares, that the only honest basis of value is a currency, redeemable in specie, at the will of the holder. I am an advocate of paper money, but that paper money must repre- sent what it professes on its face. I do not wish to hold in my hands the printed lies of the government I want its promises to pay, signed by the high offi- cers of the government, sacredly kept in the exact meaning of the words of the promise. 21 322 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES Let US not continue this conjurer's art, by which sixty cents shall discharge a debt of one hundred cents. I do not want industry, everywhere, to be thus crippled and wounded, and its wounds plastered over with legally authorized lies. An Extract from General Garfield's speech upon the suspension and resumption of Specie Payments, before the Honest Money League of Chicago, January 2, 1 879, was printed as follows : Successful Resumption will greatly aid in bringing into the murky sky of our politics, what the signal service people call ''clearing weather." It puts an end to a score of controversies which have long vexed the public mind, and wrought mischief to business. It ends the angry contention over the difference between the money of the bond-holder and the money of the plow-holder. It relieves enterprising Congress- men of the necessity of introducing twenty-five or thirty bills a session to furnish the people with cheap money, to prevent gold-gambling, and to make cus- tom duties payable in greenbacks. It will dismiss to the limbo of things forgotten, such Utopian schemes as a currency based upon the magic circle of intercon- vertibility of two different forms of irredeemable paper, and the schemes of a currency, ''based on the public faith," and secured by " all the resources of the na- tion," in general, but upon no particular part of them. We shall still hear echoes of the old conflict, such as " the barbarism and cowardice of gold and silver," and the virtues of " fiat money ; " but the theories which gave them birth will linger among us like belated ghosts, and soon find rest in the political grave of dead issues. All these will take their places in history alongside of the resolution of Varsittart, in 1811, that " British paper had not fallen, but gold OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 323 had risen in value, and the declaration of Castlereagh, in the House of Commons, that "the money standard is a sense of value in reference to currency as com- pared with commodities," and the opinion of another member, who declared that the standard is neither gold nor silver, but something set up in the imagina- tion to be regulated by public opinion." When we have fully awakened from these vague dreams, public opinion will resume its old channels, and the wisdom and experience of the fathers of our constitution will again be acknowledged and followed. We shall agree, as our fathers did, that the yard- stick shall have length, the pound must have weight and the dollar must have value in itself, and that neither length, nor weight, nor value can be created by the fiat of law. Congress, relieved of the arduous task of regulating and managing all the business of our people, will address itself to the humbler but more important work of preserving the public peace, and managing wisely the revenues and expenditures of the government. Industr}' will no longer wait for the legislature to discover easy roads to sudden wealth, but will begin again to rely upon labor and frugality, as the only certain road to riches. Prosperi- ty, which has long been waiting, is now ready to come. If we do not rudely repulse her, she will soon revisit our people, and will stay until another period- ical craze shall drive her away. 324 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES CHAPTER XIX. HIS PRESENT POSITION. ELECTION AS SENATOR. — A SCHOLAR. — AN ORATOR. — A POOR MAN. — WINS THE RESPECT OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. — SPEECH BEFORE THE OHIO LEGISLATURE. — THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. — GENERAL GARFIELD'S SPEECH. — HIS NOMINATION. — HIS LETTER OF ACCEPT- ANCE. — CONCLUSION. This volume appears at a time when the subject of this biography is most prominently before the American people, as a candidate for the office of President of the nation. It is but a few months since he was elected to the United States Senate by the unanimous vote of his party in the Ohio legisla- ture. Thus, while he has not seen active service in the Senate, he has been promoted in the political ranks, step by step, until now the highest office is also offered. Coming thus to the close of this book, it is fitting that a view should here be taken of his present social and political position. As a scholar, he holds a high rank in our nation, and his talents as a thinker, writer and orator, have long been recognized by our greatest philosophers, teachers, and essayists. He is a poor man, and never was in affluent cir- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 325 cumstances. He has a modest house at Washing:- ton, and a comfortable little farm and dwelling at Mentor, Ohio. But these represent more than his actual financial worth, inasmuch as he is not out of debt. He can not have cheated the people, nor can he have swindled the government, as has been so often charged against candidates for ofhce ; for he possesses very little property, and lives in a very frugal style. His house, his carriage, and his cloth- ing, are plain and cheap, having nothing about them suggestive of opulence or display. He is a genial, sociable companion, and a kind neighbor. His neighbors love and honor him most. The citizens of his Congressional district seem to idolize him beyond reason. He is more than popu- lar. He is loved. He holds the respect of his political opponents, and with all his hard blows, they never accuse him of insincerity, or of dishonorable intention. They say that he treats them fairly ; and often quote his speech before the Ohio legislature, January 14, 1880, the day after his election as U. S. Senator, as a characteristic act. In that he said : I recognize the importance of the place to which you have elected me; and I should be base, if I did not also recognize the great man whom you have elected me to succeed. I say for him, Ohio has had few larger-minded, broader-minded men in the rec- ords of our history, than that of Allen G. Thurman. Differing widely from him as I have done in politics, and do, I recognize him as a rhan high in character and great in intellect ; and I take this occasion to re- 326 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES fer to what I have never before referred to in pubHc, that many years ago, in the storm of party fight- ing, when the air was filled with all sorts of missiles aimed at the character and reputation of public men, when it was even for his party interest to join the general clamor against me and my associates. Sena- tor Thurman said in public, in the campaign, on the stump — when men are as likely to say unkind things as at any place in the world — a most generous and earnest word of defense and kindness for me, which I shall never forget as long as I hve. I say, moreover, that the flowers that bloom over the garden wall of party politics are the sweetest and most fragrant that bloom in the gardens of this world; and where we can early pluck them and enjoy their fragrance, it is manly and delightful to do so. The nomination for the presidency came to him, as all his promotions have come, unasked and unsought by him. The Republican convention of 1880 was held in session seven days, at Chicago, completing its nomination on June 9. To that convention Gen- eral Garfield was a delegate. He had no expectation of the nomination. But the two wings of that party were so antagonistic over the strenuous endeavors of one to nominate General U. S. Grant, and of the other to nominate James G. Blaine, that there was no hope of success for either. Under these circum- stances the delegates, after several days of discus- sion and balloting, turned to look for another name as potent as those before the convention, and to whom none could be opposed. In that situation the name of General Garfield attracted immediate atten- tion. OF GENERAL [AMES A. GARFIELD. 32/ General Garfield had labored and hoped for the nomination of the Hon. John Sherman of Ohio, and had nominated him in a model speech, a part of which is here inserted : Mr. Presidejit: — I have witnessed the extraordinary- scenes of this convention with deep solicitude. No emotion touches my heart more quickly than senti- ment in honor of a great and noble character ; but as I sat on these seats and witnessed these demonstra- tions, it seemed to me that you were a human ocean in a tempest. I have seen the sea lashed into fury and tossed into spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the dullest man. But I remember that it is not the billows, but the calm level of the sea, from which all bights and depths are measured ; when the storm has passed, and the hour of calm settles on the ocean, when the sunlight bathes its smooth sur- face, then the astronomer and surveyor take the level from which they measure all terrestrial bights and depths. Gentlemen of the convention , your present tem- per may not mark the healthful pulse of our people. When our enthusiasm has passed, when the emotions of this hour have subsided, we shall feel that calm level of public opinion below the storm from which the thoughts of a mighty people must be measured, and by which their final action will be determined. Not here in this brilliant circle, where 15,000 men and women are assembled, is the destiny of the Re- publican party to be decreed. Not here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of 756 delegates, waiting to cast their votes into the urn, and determine the choice of the republic, but by 4,000,000 Republican firesides where the thoughtful voters, with wives and children about them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and love of country, with the history of the 328 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES past, the hopes of the future, and the knowledge of the great men who have adorned and blessed our nation in days gone by. There, God prepares the verdict that shall determine the wisdom of our work to-night. Not in Chicago, in the heats of June, but in the sober quiet that comes to them between now and November, in the silence of deliberatejudgment, will this great question be settled. But no sooner had the possibility of General Gar- field's nomination entered the minds of the delegates, than the current of opinion turned so rapidly towards ^^^^ ~ ^ THE AVIUTE HOUSE. him, as to cause men to say, who had no knowledge of the coming votes, '* I feel that Garfield will cer- tainly be nominated." With the sudden impulse of great and excitable bodies, and amid enthusiasm, bustle and wild excitement, his name was given to the country as the choice of a great party. It was another providential approval of a great statesman and an honest man. The letter which he wrote, accepting the nomina- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 329 tion, was an important document to himself, to his party and to the country, and was printed as follows: Mentor, O., July 12, t88o. Dear Sir: — On the evening of the 8th of June last, I had the honor to receive from you, in the presence of the committee of which you were the chairman, the official announcement that the Republican national convention of Chicago had that day nominated me for their candidate for President of the United States. I accept the nomination with gratitude for the con- fidence it implies, and with a deep sense of the re- sponsibilities it imposes. I cordially indorse the principles set forth in the platform adopted by the convention. On nearly all the subjects of which it treats, my opinions are on record among the published proceedings of Congress. I venture, however, to make special mention of some of the principal topics which are likely to become the subject of discussion, with- out reviewing the controversies which have been settled during the last twenty years, and with no pur- pose or wish to revive the passions of the late war. It should be said that, while the Republicans fully recognize, and will strenuously defend, all the rights retained by the people, and all the rights reserved by the States, they reject the pernicious doctrine of State supremacy, which so long crippled the functions of the national government and at the time brought the union very near to destruction. They insi.-i that the United States is a nation, with ample po" er of self-preservation ; that its constitutions and laws, 330 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES made in pursuance thereof,are the supreme law of the land ; that the right of the nation to determine the method by which its own legislature shall be created, cannot be surrendered without abdicating one of the fundamental powers of government ; that the national laws relating to the election of representatives in Con. gress shall neither be violated nor evaded ; that every elector shall be permitted freely, and without intimida- tion, to cast his lawful ballot at each election, and have it honestly counted, and that the potency of his vote shall not be destroyed by the fraudulent vote of any other person. The best thoughts and energies of our people should be directed to those great ques- tions of national well-being in which all have a com- mon interest. Such efforts will soonest restore per- fect peace to those who were lately in arms against each other, for justice and good- will will outlast pas- sion. But it is certain that the wounds of the war cannot be completely healed, and the spirit of brother- hood cannot fully pervade the whole country, until every citizen, rich or poor, white or black, is secure in the free and equal enjoyment of every civil and equal right guaranteed by the constitution and the laws. Wherever the enjoyment of these rights is not assured, discontent will prevail, immigration will cease, and the social and industrial forces will con- tinue to be disturbed by the migration of laborers and the consequent diminution of prosperity. The national government should exercise all its constitu- tional authority to put an end to these evils, for all the people and all the States are members of one OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 33 1 body, and no member can suffer without injury to all. The most serious evils which now afflict the South arise from the fact that there is not such freedom and toleration of political opinion and action that the minority party can exercise an effective and whole- some restraint upon the party in power. Without such restraint, party rule becomes tyrannical and cor- rupt. The prosperity which is made possible in the South, by its great advantages of soil and climate, will never be realized until every voter can freely and safely support any party he pleases. Next in importance to freedom and justice is pop- ular education, without which neither justice nor free- dom can be permanently maintained. Its interests are intrusted to the States and to the voluntary ac- tion of the people. Whatever help the nation can justly afford should be generously given to aid the States in supporting common schools ; but it would be unjust to our people and dangerous to our institutions to apply any portion of the revenues of the nation, or of the States, to the support of sectarian schools. The separation of the Church and the State in every- thins: relatinsf to taxation should be absolute. On the subject of national finances, my views have been so frequently and fully expressed, that little is needed in the way of an additional statement. The public debt is now so well secured, and the rate of annual interest has been so reduced by refunding, that right economy in expenditures, and the faithful appli- cation of our surplus revenues to the payment of the principal of the debt will gradually, but certainly, free 332 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES the people from its burdens, and close with honor the financial chapter of the war. At the same time, the government can provide for all its ordinary ex- penditures, and discharge its sacred obligations to the soldiers of the union and to the widows and orphans of those who fell in its defense. The resumption of specie payments, which the Republican party so courageously and successfully accomplished, has re- moved from the field of controversy many questions that long and seriously disturbed the credit of the government and the business of the country. Our paper currency is now as national as the flag, and resumption has not only made it everywhere equal to coin, but has brought into use our share of gold and silver. The circulating medium is more abun- dant than ever before, and we need only maintain the equality of all our dollars to insure to labor and capi- tal a measure of value, from the use of which no one can suffer loss. The great prosperity which the country is now enjoying should not be endangered by any violent changes or doubtful financial experi- ments. In reference to our custom laws, a policy should be pursued which will bring revenues to the treasury, and enable labor and capital, employed in our great industries, to compete fairly in our own markets with the labor and capital of foreign producers. We legis- late for the people of the United States, not for the whole world ; and it is our glory that the American laborer is more intelligent and better paid than his foreign competitors. Our country cannot be indc- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 333 pendent unless its people, with their abundant natu- ral resources, possess the requisite skill at any time to clothe, arm and equip themselves for war, and in time ot peace produce all the necessary implements of labor. It was the manifest intention of the founders of the government to provide for the common defense, not by standing armies alone, but by raising a great- er army of artisans, whose intelligence and skill should powerfully contribute to the safety and glory of the nation. Fortunately for the interests of commerce, there is no longer any formidable opposition to appropriation for the improvements of our harbors and great navi- gable rivers, provided that the expenditures for that purpose are strictly limited to works of national im- portance. The Mississippi river, with its great tribu- taries is of such vital importance to so many millions of people, that the safety of its navigation requires exceptional consideration. In order to secure to the nation the control of all its waters, President Jeffer- son negotiated the purchase of a vast territory extend- ing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. The wisdom of Congress should be invoked to devise some plan by which that great river shall cease to be a terror to those who dwell upon its banks, and by which its shipping may safely carry the industrial products of 25,000,000 of people. The interests of agriculture, which is the basis of all our material pros- perity, and in which seven-twelfths of the population are arrayed, as well as the interest of manufactures and commerce, demand that the facilities for cheap 334 THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES transportation shall be increased by the use of all our great water courses. The material interests of this country, the tradi- tions of its settlement and the sentiment of our people, have led the government to offer the widest hospital- ity to emigrants who seek our shores for new and hap- pier homes, willing to share the burdens as well as the benefits of our society, and intending that their pos- terity shall become an undistinguishable part of our population. The recent movement of the Chinese to our Pacific coast partakes but little of the qualities of such an emigration, either in its purposes or its result. It is too much like an importation to be welcomed without restriction ; too much like an invasion to be looked upon without solicitude. We cannot consent to allow any form of servile labor to be introduced among us, under the guise of immigration. Recogniz- ing the gravity of this subject, the present administra- tion, supported by Congress, has sent to Chin;! a com- mission of distinguished citizens, for the purpose of securing such a modification of the existing treaty as will prevent the evils likely to arise from the present situation. It is confidently believed that these diplo- matic negotiations will be successful, without the loss of commercial intercourse between the two powers, which promises great increase of reciprocal trade and the enlargement of our markets. Should these efforts fail, it will be the duty of Congress to investigate the evils already felt, and prevent their increase by such restrictions as, without violence or injustice, will OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 35$ place upon a sure foundation the peace of our com- munities, and the freedom and dignity of labor. The appointment of citizens to the various execu- tive and judicial offices of the government is, perhaps, the most difficult of all duties which the constitution has imposed upon the Executive. The convention wisely demands that Congress shall co-operate with the executive departments in placing the civil service on a better basis. Experience has proved that, with our frequent changes of administration, no system of reform can be made effective and permanent without the aid of legislation. Appointments to the military and naval service are so regulated by law and custom, as to leave but little ground for complaint. It may not be wise to make similar regulations by law for the civil service ; but, without invading the authority or necessary discretion of the Executive, Congress should devise a method that will determine the tenure of office, and greatly reduce the uncertainty which makes that service so uncertain and unsatisfactory. Without depriving any officer of his rights as a citi- zen, the government should require him to discharge all his official duties with intelligence, efficiency and faithfulness. To select wisely, from our vast popula- tion, those who are best fitted for the many offices to be filled, requires an acquaintance far beyond the range of any one man. The Executive should, there- fore, seek and receive the information and assistance of those whose knowledge of the communities, in which the duties are to be performed, best qualifies them to aid in making the wisest choice. 33^ THE LIFE, SPEECHES, AND PUBLIC SERVICES The doctrines announced in the Chicago conven- tion, are not the temporary devices of a party to attract votes and carry an election ; they are deliber- ate convictions, resulting from a careful study of the spirit of our institutions, the events of our history and the best impulses of our people. In my judg- ment, these principles should control the legislation and administration of the government. In any event, they will guide my conduct until experience points out a better way. If elected, it will be my purpose to enforce strict obedience to the constitution and the laws, and to promote, as best I may, the interest and honor of the whole country, relying for support upon the wisdom of Congress, the intelligence and patriotism of the people and the favor of God. With great respect, I am Very truly yours, J. A. Garfield. To Hon. George F. Hoar, Chairman of the Committee. Awaiting the future events in this great mans career with intense interest, and feeling that what- ever may be his experience or success hereafter, " the past at least is secure ; " and that his example as a boy, scholar, teacher, general and statesman, which is now so fortunately brought to the attention of the people, is a valuable heritage to bequeath to the youth of our land, we lay down this pen, and turn to other tasks. " Lives of great men all remind us We can make ourlives sublime " SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEN. CHESTER A. ARTHUR OF NEW YORK. BIRTH IN VERMONT. — SON OF A BAPTIST CLERGYMAN. — HIS FATHER'S LITERARY WORK. — DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN HIS EARLY LIFE. — GENERAL ARTHUR'S CHILDHOOD. — HIS STUDIES, — HIS SPORTS. — PREPARATION FOR COLLEGE. — ENTERING COLLEGE VERY YOUNG. — TEACHING SCHOOL. — STUDYING LAW. — SEARCHING FOR A PLACE TO PRACTICE. — SETTLEMENT IN NEW YORK. —THE CELE- BRATED SLAVE CASES. — CHAMPION OF THE OPPRESSED. — HIS PUB- LIC SERVICES. — PRESENT BUSINESS AND POSITION. Chester A. Arthur was born, October 5, 1S30 in the town of Fairfield, Franklin County, Vt. His father, Rev. William Arthur, D.D., was a somewhat noted Baptist clergyman, and was a very learned man. It is said, by those who remember him, that he possessed an unusual knowledge of general litera- ture, and was a ready and entertaining writer, on matters of public interest. As a theologian, he was an unshaken believer in his creed, and was one of its stoutest and most persistent champions. His suc- cess and chief merit, as a preacher, lay in his won- derful memory, and his talent as a writer, rather 337 338 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF than in his oratorical powers. He was a cautious thorough student, and was frequently made the umpire in theological disputes among his brethren in the ministry. He was pastor of the Baptist churches at Ben- nington, Hinesburg, Fairfield and Williston, in the State of Vermont, and in Greenwich, Perry, York, Schenectady, Lansingburg, Hoosic, New York City, West Troy and Newtonville, in the State of New York. Fearless in his expression of theological opinions, uncompromising in regard to those customs and sports of the time which he considered sinful, he often made enemies among fashionable people, and sometimes was at variance with the ministers of other denominations. This was by no means his universal experience, but was one of the necessary results of unmoved fidelity to his religious faith. He is said to be a man who cared but little for appearances, and was too much devoted to his books to take much care of his dress, or to pay much atten- tion to the rules of fashionable society. A noble, brave, devoted, sincere preacher of the gospel, as he understood it, and wholly given to his ministerial work. His study of English literature, was carried on by him to fit himself better for his sacred work. He published several small volumes and pam- phlets, mostly upon theological matters ; the most of them, however, were printed at the request, and at the expense, of his parishioners, or the town author- GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 339 ities. His noted book upon " Family Names," shows a marvelous amount of research and skill, and has given him a place among the most erudite of scholars. Like a great number of his profession in his time, he was a poor man during the larger part of his life, and was never wealthy. He had two sons and five daughters, and he labored very hard and lived most economically, that he might be able to give them an education. He was a self-made man, coming to this country, from Antrim, Ireland, when he was eighteen years old, and the prejudice against his nationality, with his reduced circumstances, made his early life a laborious and trying one. He died at Newtonville, New York, October 27, 1875, honored, respected, and sincerely mourned, by thousands of Christian men and women. Chester was the oldest child in the family of seven , and, in his early days, had but few luxuries or toys, with which to make life attractive. The very worst, and the most disagreeable, situation in which a child can be placed, is to be the son of a preacher of the gospel. In the atmosphere of a rigid adherence to the set rules of morality, with a consciousness of a constant watchfulness on the part of his parents, lest he should do something improper, hampers and irritates him into uneasiness, and usu- ally into chronic rebellion. He is flattered and petted by the parishioners, who hope thus to please their dear pastor ; and finding that the opinion, which other people tell him they have of his goodness and 340 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF smartness, does not agree with the estimation in which he is held by his father and mother, he nat- urally adopts the most agreeable conclusion, and believes the inconsiderate flatterers, and loses re- spect for the advice or commands of his parents. Then, being the center of attention on the part of so many people, over whom the preacher is desir- ous to exert a good influence no less by example than precept, the preacher goes to the other ex- treme, and tries to make staid and sensible old people of his children, while they are yet in early childhood. This frets and sours them, until they hate the name of a church, and disrespect all things connected with it. It is a bondage, from which the children persistently attempt to escape, and too often they succeed in shaking off all restraint, and end their lives in debauchery or crime. Such is the record of many ministers' sons ; and when one has the natural character, and chooses the path to greatness, in spite of all these hinderances, he is worthy of a double honor. The difficulties and temptations which usually beset a preacher's son, were not strangers to Ches- ter, and it is said that he sometimes exhibited that independence of restraint, and dislike of parental control, which is so universal with such boys. He is said, by the old neighbors, to have been a boy who was full of life and roguishness, having a far greater interest in his sports than in his books. Yet his affection for his parents was very strong, and he could not bear to grieve them. That was his anchor GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 34 1 as a boy. To please them, he would study or work, or do disagreeable tasks, which no amount of driving would compel him to do. He was sharp and quick in his studies, and found much time for play, while other boys were pursuing their lessons. He had many advantages over other boys, in the help which his father readily gave him, and in the guides and hints concerning his lessons, which his father's library supplied. His father's circumstances were such that the eldest son was compelled to labor frequently, and was a most vigorous workman in such farm work, or shop jobs, as he could get. The greater portion of his time, however, was given to study with his father, or at school. At the early age of fourteen, he was prepared to enter Union College. At that time, he is represented as a rather slender boy, eager in play, and always the leader among his school-mates in all their sports. Especially was this the case when anything that appeared dangerous or venturesome was undertaken by them. He always took an active interest in parades and political pro- cessions, and was always on hand with his torch, whenever a party jubilee was held. He was not dis- tinguished, in his college life, beyond the general record of his class, and must have found it difficult work to keep pace with a class of young men so much older than he. He is said to have been a great lover of athletic sports, and was a favorite with his class. When he left Union College, he had no capital 342 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF but his education, with which to begin life, and his father was neither disposed, nor able, to give him further assistance. He then succeeded in finding a country school in Vermont, to which he was recom- mended by some of his father's acquaintances, and where he taught, through the winter months, for two years. Having determined to pursue the study of the law, he began to procure such books as were preparatory to it, and worked with great diligence, and saved his money with great care, in order to secure the necessary education to admit him to the bar. In 1850 he had saved nearly five hundred dollars, and he determined to go to New York, and study law in an ofBcc. In that city, he secured a place in the office of the Hon, E. D. Culver, and, living as cheaply as possible, he applied himself wholly to his books. His legal abilities were remark- able, and his progress very rapid ; so that he at once attracted the attention and commendation of distin- guished lawyers, with whom he became acquainted. His room-mate, Henry D. Gardiner, was also an active and brilliant young man, and Chester became quite intimate witli him. This social friendship at last ripened into a determination to form a partner- ship, which was accomplished as soon as they were admitted to the bar. But they did not then propose to remain in the great city of New York, where it seemed so difficult for young men to get a foothold, in the practice of the law. They dreamed of wider fields, and larger fees, in the great new West. With the hope of finding some place to locate, the GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 343 young men started for the Western States, and wan- dered about for some time, finding no satisfactory- opening. Reluctantly, they turned homeward, and, soon after, opened an office in New York. To the surprise of themselves and many older lawyers, they secured a profitable practice at once, and within three years were known to the whole city as lawyers of standing and ability. Two or three important cases connected with matters of public interest con- tributed much towards their success. One of these cases was the celebrated Lemmon slave case, which attracted the angry attention of the whole nation. Jonathan Lemmon of Virginia, brought a suit to re- cover possession of eight slaves that had been declared free by Judge Paine of the superior court of New York. Lemmon had been incautiously passing through New York with his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas, when they were discovered and freed by order of Judge Paine. The judge was of the ojoinion that the fugitive slave law did not hold these slaves when once they were brought within the territory of New York. The state of Virginia directed its attorney- general to appeal from Judge Paine's decision. The legislature of this State responded to the challenge, by requesting the governor to employ counsel to defend the case. The Hon. E. D. Culver and Joseph Blunt, Esq., were appointed. Afterward they withdrew, and young Arthur, who had been a student in Mr. Culver's office, was appointed. He associated with himself William M. Evarts, Esq., as counsel, and argued the 344 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF case before the Supreme Court, Charles O'Connor, being one of the counsel for the slave-holder. That court sustained Judge Paine's decision. The case was then appealed to the court of appeals. There also the judgment of Judge Paine was affirmed — and henceforth, no slave-holder dared venture into New York State with his slaves. In 1856, colored people were not permitted to ride on the Fourth avenue horse cars in New York. Lizzie Jennings, a colored woman of excellent character, superintendent of a Sunday-school, was roughly ex- pelled from a Fourth avenue car because she was black. Arthur brought a suit against the railroad company in her behalf. He argued the case before Judge Rockwell in a Brooklyn court. The jury gave a verdict of five hundred dollars' damages in favor of the colored woman. The damages were paid by the railroad company, and henceforth, colored people rode without question on the cars of all the street lines in New York. He became known as the champion of the colored people, and his docket was filled with cases at each session of the court. He became naturally interested in the negro race, and a determined opponent of slavery. He was one of the original advocates of the formation of the Republican party, and attended its first meeting at Saratoga. He seems never to have sought political promo- tion; but being a genial, good-natured man, naturally enjoying good fellowship and lively company, he took pleasure in the companionship which military associ- GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 345 ations gave, and contracted, through them, a love for military manoeuvres and parades. His interest in military matters, and his known abilities as a lawyer, secured for him the appoint- ment, in 1858, of judge-advocate of the 2d brigade of the New York militia. This was soon followed by a promotion to be chief engineer on the staff of Gov- ernor Morgan of New York, and, two years later, by the promotion to the office of inspector-general of that State. At the opening of the war, when the difficulties of supplying the New York troops with clothing and provisions, seemed almost insurmountable, General Arthur accepted the important trust of quartermas- ter-general which he held until the expiration of Morgan's term of office. No higher encomium can be passed upon him than the mention of the fact that the war account of the State of New York was at least ten times larger than that of any other State, yet it was the first audited and allowed in Washington, and without the deduction of a dollar, while the quarter- master's accounts from other States were reduced from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000. During the term of office, every present sent to him was immediately returned. Among others, a prominent clothing house offered him a magnificent uniform, and a printing house sent him a costly saddle and trappings. Both gifts were indignantly rejected. When General Arthur became quartermaster-general, he was poor. When his term expired he was poorer still. He had opportunities to make millions unquestioned. He had to provide 346 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF for the clothing, arming and transportation of hun- dreds of thousands of men. But with a rigid simpHci- ty in his own Hfe and the enforcement of economy upon subordinates, he, by example and command, saved to the State great sums of money. He took great pains to carry on all his public business so openly, justly and carefully as to avoid the possibility of loss or suspicion of fraud. One of his favorite say- ings at this time, when his friends felt that he was too precise in his drafts and accounts of army contracts, was a quotation from Plutarch's life of Caesar, — " Caesar's wife must be above suspicion." In conversation with an acquaintance in 1862, he said, " If I had misappropriated five cents, and on walking down town saw two men talking on the corner together, I would imagine they were talking of my dishonesty, and the very thought would drive me mad." At the expiration of Governor Morgan's term, General Arthur returned to his law practice. Busi- ness of the most lucrative character poured in upon him, and the firm of Arthur & Gardiner prospered exceedingly. Much of their work consisted in the collection of war claims, and the drafting of important bills for speedy legislation, and a great deal of Gener- al Arthur's time was spent in Albany and Washing- ton, where his uniform success won for him a national reputation. For a short time, he held the position of counsel to the board of tax commissioners of New York, at ^10,000 per annum. He secured the nomination and the election of the GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 347 Hon. Thomas Murphy as State senator. He also took an active and friendly interest in securing the ap- pointment of Mr. Murphy as collector of the port of New York, and when Mr. Murphy resigned on November 20, 1871, President Grant nominated General Arthur to the vacant position. And four years later, when his term expired, re-nominated him, an honor that had never been shown to any previous collector in the history of the port. In 1 878, a difference arose between General Arthur and President Hayes with reference to the interpre- tation of the civil service rules adopted by the gov- ernment. Collector Arthur believed that the same efficiency and honesty might be secured by less troublesome machinery than that which Mr. Hayes insisted upon his using, and the difference of opinion was made by both a matter of conscience in view of their duty to the nation. President Hayes removed him from the office during a vacation of Congress, notwithstanding the fact that two special Congres- sional committees made searching investigation into his administration, and both reported themselves un- able to find anything upon which to base a charge against him. In announcing the change, both Presi- dent Hayes and Secretary Sherman bore official wit- ness to the purity of his acts while in office. He has been an active and liberal man in political matters, and holds the position of Chairman of the New York State Republican Central committee. General Arthur is considered by artists to be a very handsome person, having an intelligent, pleasant 348 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF countenance, broad shoulders, strong, full muscles, and being over six feet tall. He was married in 1852 to Miss Herndon, daughter of Lieutenant Herndon of the United States navy, whose widow received a gold medal from Congress in recognition of his bravery. General Arthur's wife died in 1879. General Arthur furnishes another example of the general rule, that the greatest men are self-made men. On the 1 8th of July, 1880, General Chester A. Arthur accepted the Republican nomination for Vice-president, in the following letter : Nev^ York, July 15, 1880. Dear Sir: — I accept the position assigned me by the great party whose action you announce. The acceptance implies approval of the principles declared by the convention, but recent usage permits me to assume expression of my views, thoughts and duty. To secure honesty and order, in popular elections, is a matter so vital that it must stand in front. The authority of the national government to preserve from fraud and force, elections at which its own offi- cers are chosen, is a chief point on which the two parties are plainly and intensely opposed. Acts of Congress for ten years, in New York and elsewhere, have done much to curb the violence and wrong to which the ballot and the count have been again and again subjected, sometimes despoiling great cities,, sometimes stifling the voice of a whole State, often GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 349 seating, not only in Congress, but on the bench and in the legislature, numbers of men never chosen by the people. The Democratic party, since gaining possession of the two Houses of Congress, has made these just laws the object of bitter, ceaseless assault, and, despite all resistance, has hedged them with re- strictions, cunningly contrived, to baffle and paralyze them. This aggressive majority boldly attempted to extort from the Executive his approval of various enactments, destructive of the election laws, by the revolutionary threat that the constitutional exercise of the veto power would be punished by withholding the appropriations necessary to carry on the govern- ment ; and these threats were actually carried out, by refusing the needed appropriations, and by forcing an extra session of Congress, lasting for months, and resulting in concessions to this usurping demand, which are likely, in many States, to subject the ma- jority to the lawless will of a minority. Ominous signs of public disapproval alone subdued this arro- gant power into a sullen surrender, for the time be- ing, of a part of its demands. The Republican party has strongly approved the stern refusal of its repre- sentatives to suffer the overthrow of statutes, be- lieved to be salutary and just. It has always insisted, and now insists, that the government of the United States of America is empowered, and in duty bound, to effectually protect the elections denoted by the constitution as national. More than this, the Re- publican party holds, as a cardinal point in its creed, that the government should, by every means known 350 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF to the constitution, protect all American citizens, everywhere, in the full enjoyment of their civil and l^olitical rights. As a great part of the work of re- construction, the Republican party gave the ballot to the emancipated slave, as his right and defense. A large increase in the number of members of Con- gress, and of the electoral college, from the former slave-holding States, was the immediate result. The history of recent years abounds in evidence that in many ways and in many places, especially where their number has been great enough to endanger Democratic control, the very men by whose elevation to citizenship this increase of representation was effected, have been debarred and robbed of their voice and their vote. It is true that no State statute or constitution, in so many words, denies or abridges the exercise of their political rights, but the modes employed to bar their way are no less effectual. It is a suggestive and startling thought, that the in- creased power, derived from the enfranchisement of a race, now denied its share in governing the country, wielded by those who lately sought the overthrow of the government, is now the sole reliance to defeat the party which represents the sovereignty and na- tionality of the American people, in the greattist crisis of our history. Republicans cherish none of the resentments which may have animated them during the actual conflict of arms. They long for a full and real reconciliation between the sections which were needlessly and lamentably at strife ; they sincerely offer the hand of good will, but they ask, in GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 35 1 return, the hand of good faith. They deeply feel that the party, whose career is so illustriously great in patriotic achievements, will not fulfill its destiny until peace and prosperity are established in all the land, nor until liberty of thought, conscience, and action, and equality of opportunity, shall not be merely cold formalities of statutes, but living birtli- rights, which the humble may confidently claim, and the powerful dare not deny. The resolution referring to the public service seems to be deserving of approval. Surely no man should be the incumbent of an office, the duties ( f which he is, for any cause, unfit to perform, who is lacking in the ability, in the fidelity or integrity which a proper administration of such office demands. This sentiment would doubtless meet with general acquiescence, but opinion has been widely di^dded upon the wisdom and practicability of the various re- formatory schemes which have been suggested, and of certain proposed regulations governing apj)oint- ments to public office. The efficiency of such regu- lations has been distrusted, mainly because they have seemed to exalt mere educational and abstract tests above general business capacity, and even spec-al fit- ness for the particular work in hand. It seems to me that the rules which should be applied to the management of the public service may properl}' con- form, in the main, to such as regulate the cond act of successful private business. Original appointments should be based on ascertained fitness. The tmure of office should be stable. Positions of responsibility 352 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF should, SO far as practicable, be filled by the promo- tion of worthy and efficient officers. The investiga- tion of all complaints, and the punishment of all official misconduct, should be prompt and thorough- These views, which I have long held, repeatedly de- clared, and uniformly applied, when called upon to act, I find embodied in the resolution, which, of course, I approve. I will add that, by the acceptance of public office, whether high or low, one does not, in my judgment, escape any of his resjDonsibilities as a citizen, nor lose or impair any of a citizen's rights ; that he should enjoy absolute liberty to think and speak and act in political matters, according to his own will and conscience, provided, only, that he honorably, faithfully and fully discharges all his official duties. The resumption of specie payment, one of the fruits of the Republican party, has brought the re- turn of abundant prosperity and the settlement of many distracting questions. The restoration of sound money, the large reduction of the public debt and of the burden of interest, the high advancement of the public credit, — all attest the ability and cour- age of the Republican party to deal with such finan- cial problems as may hereafter demand solution. Our paper currency is now as good as gold, and sil- ver is performing its legitimate functions for the purposes of change. The principles which should govern the relations of these elements of the curren- cy are simple and clear. There must be no deteriora- ted coin, no depreciated paper, and every dollar, GENERAL CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 353 whether of metal or paper, should stand the te.-.t of the world's fixed standard. The value of popular education can hardly be ever- stated, although its interests of necessity must be chiefly confided to voluntary effort and the individual action of the several States. They should be encour- aged, so far as the constitution permits, by the f;en- erous co-operation of the national government. The interests of the whole country demand that the ad- vantage of our American school system should be brought within the reach of every citizen, and 1 hat no revenue of the realm or of the State should be de- voted to the support of sectarian schools. Such changes should be made in the present tariff and sys- tem of taxation as will relieve any overburdf ned industry or class, and enable our manufacturers and artisans to compete successfully with those of other lands. The governuient should aid works of int( rnal improvement national in their character, and should promote the development of our watercourses and harbors, wherever the general interests of commerce require it. Four years ago, as now, the nation stood at the threshold of a presidential election, and the Republican party founded its hope of success, not upon its promises, but upon its history. Its subse- quent course has been such as to strengthen the cla ims which it then made to the confidence and support of the country. On the other hand, considcrati )ns more urgent than have ever before existed forbid he elevation of their opponents to power. Their success, if success attends them, must chiefly come from the 23 354 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GENERAL ARTHUR. united support of that section which sought the forci- ble disruption of the union, and which, according to all the teachings of our past history, will demand ascendancy in the councils of the party, to whose triumph it will have made by far the largest contri- bution. There is the gravest reason for apprehen- sion that exorbitant claims on the public treasury, by no means limited to the hundreds of millions already covered by bills introduced in Congress, within the past four years, would be successfully urged if the Democratic party should succeed in supplementing its present control of the national legislature, by electing the Executive also. There is danger in in- trusting the control of the whole law-making power of the government to a party which has, in almost every Southern State, repudiated obligations quite as sacred as those to which the faith of the nation now stands pledged. I do not doubt that success awaits the Republican party, and that its triumph will assure a just, economical and patriotic administration. I am respectfully, your obedient servant, C. A. Arthur. To Hon. George F. Hoar, President of the Re- publican National Convention. Thus the people of the United States have pre- sented to them, as candidates for President and Vice- President, on the Republican ticket of 1880, two able and tried men, who came from among the intel- OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 355 ligent laboring classes, and who, by the force of their own genius and industry, have achieved fame and greatness. Whatever may be said for or against other candidates, or for or against the principles of either party, the lives of these men have showed them well fitted for the important posts for which their party has selected them. They will be ma- ligned ; they will be fiercely assailed by those un- principled politicians, whose interests are with the opposing party. It seems to be one of the necessary evils of our political contests. It must be expected that falsehoods will appear, and wise men will let them all pass unnoticed. Good and evil, right and wrong, are ever antagonistic, and no good man, and no strong man, who is right, can get through life, even in private, without enemies. But when he ascends the political rostrum, the battle is still more fierce, and much more malicious. In this campaign we have already seen much of such a spirit, and even an unostentatious visit to New York by General Garfield, in August of the present year, was taken as an occasion for hundreds of foolish surmises and false accusations, on the part of his opponents. There occurred, on the day of General Garfield's nomination, two very singular incidents, which, to the superstitious, would appear to be prophetic of his success. As the General entered the door of the hall, in Chicago, in which the Convention was held, on the last day of the session, a tract dis- tributor, who was a stranger to him, stood near the 356 entrance, distributing leaves of the New Testament, or slips of paper on which verses of the Bible were printed. Every person who passed in was given one, and General Garfield received one, among the others. He did not read it then, but hastily stuffed it into his pocket, and forgot about both the dis- tributor and the tract. He was somewhat aston- ished afterwards, at his hotel, amid his telegrams of congratulation which he took from his pocket, to find these words, from Acts iv., 11-12 : "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner; neither is there salvation in any other." The other incident occurred at Washington, also on the day of his nomination. At the very time he was declared to be the nominee of the great Con- vention at Chicago amid shouts and wild enthusi- asm, a very large eagle hovered over the city of Washington, and settled down upon the roof of General Garfield's city residence, where for a long time he sat, and flapped his strong wings, to the astonishment and delight of a crowd of people. c %■ - « • "-n. 0< °t. * 1 >» ^o A^ <• ^ -^^ ^^ fX^'^ % _^ .>^^ ^^ '^ ^^c^ J9r Ho^ r- .-^ -iy'' «^ V ,0 ♦^ .<^ '^^ ^ ^--^ ■ 0^ ^ °<- ^o '^ -^ ' N o "^ vO ^^ * « ; 1 ,■5-* ->.%?' .^^. -^^n^ ,40. '^.^ .^ v-. .^ ^' v^. >:^^^^o^* ^^ -^ • .0^ ^^ ^-...-^ ^^^ o .^^ ^^V¥ ^O ^- ,x^^^ _^^ ^^. "^" \^' .. >„ -'^^ ..f 0-" ^ .^' C ;^ V, » o A -^^0^ ^^°- G »* lO-/^ ^ DOBBS BROS. J • "o V ^^-n^. ^5- -^P^ if