cult of access, took many pieces of artillery, and routed the enemy. At the battle of Cedar Creek, 19 Oct., 1864, the conduct of Col. Hayes attracted so much attention that his commander, Gen. Crook, on the battle-field took him by the hand, saying: “Colonel, from this day you will be a brigadier-general.” The commission arrived a few days afterward, and on 13 March, 1865, he received the rank of brevet major-general “for gallant and distinguished services during the campaign of 1864 in West Virginia, and particularly at the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, Va.” Of his military services Gen. Grant, in the second volume of his memoirs, says: “On more than one occasion in these engagements Gen. R. B. Hayes, who succeeded me as president of the United States, bore a very honorable part. His conduct on the field was marked by conspicuous gallantry, as well as the display of qualities of a higher order than mere personal daring. Having entered the army as a major of volunteers at the beginning of the war, Gen. Hayes attained, by his meritorious service, the rank of brevet major-general before its close.” While Gen. Hayes was in the field, in August, 1864, he was nominated by a Republican district convention at Cincinnati, in the second district of Ohio, as a candidate for congress. When a friend suggested to him that he should take leave of absence from the army in the field for the purpose of canvassing the district, he answered: “Your suggestion about getting a furlough to take the stump was certainly made without reflection. An officer fit for duty, who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in congress, ought to be scalped.” He was elected by a majority of 2,400. The Ohio soldiers in the field nominated him also for the governorship of his state. The accompanying illustration is a view of his home in Fremont.
After the war Gen. Hayes returned to civil life, and took his seat in congress on 4 Dec., 1865. He was appointed chairman of the committee on the library. On questions connected with the reconstruction of the states lately in rebellion he voted with his party. He earnestly supported a resolution declaring the sacredness of the public debt and denouncing repudiation in any form; also a resolution commending President Johnson for declining to accept presents, and condemning the practice as demoralizing in its tendencies. He opposed a resolution favoring an increase of the pay of members. He also introduced in the Republican caucus a set of resolutions declaring that the only mode of obtaining from the states lately in rebellion irreversible guarantees was by constitutional amendment, and that an amendment basing representation upon voters, instead of population, ought to be acted upon without delay. These resolutions marked the line of action of the Republicans. In August, 1866, Gen. Hayes was renominated for congress by acclamation, and, after an active canvass, was re-elected by the same majority as before. He supported the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. In the house of representatives he won the reputation, not of an orator, but of a working legislator and a man of calm, sound judgment. In June, 1867, the Republican convention of Ohio nominated him for the governorship. The Democrats had nominated Judge Allen G. Thurman. The question of negro suffrage was boldly pushed to the foreground by Gen. Hayes in an animated canvass, which ended in his election, and that of his associates on the Republican ticket. But the negro-suffrage amendment to the state constitution was defeated at the same time by 50,000 majority, and the Democrats carried the legislature, which elected Judge Thurman to the United States senate. In his inaugural address, Gov. Hayes laid especial stress upon the desirability of taxation in proportion to the actual value of property, the evils of too much legislation, the obligation to establish equal rights without regard to color, and the necessity of ratifying the 14th amendment to the constitution of the United States. In his message to the legislature, delivered in November, 1868, he recommended amendments to the election laws, providing for the representation of minorities in the boards of the judges and clerks of election, and for the registration of all the lawful voters prior to an election. He also recommended a comprehensive geological survey of the state, which was promptly begun. In his second annual message he warmly urged such changes in the penal laws, as well as in prison discipline, as would tend to promote the moral reformation of the culprit together with the punishment due to his crime.
In June, 1869, Gov. Hayes was again nominated by the Republican state convention for the governorship, there being no competitor for the nomination. The Democratic candidate was George H. Pendleton. The platform adopted by the Democratic state convention advocated the repudiation of the interest on the U. S. bonds unless they be subjected to taxation, and the payment of the national debt in greenbacks. In the discussions preceding the election, Gov. Hayes pronounced himself unequivocally in favor of honestly paying the national debt and an honest money system. He was elected by a majority of 7,500. In his second inaugural address, delivered on 10 Jan., 1870, he expressed himself earnestly against the use of public offices as party spoils, and suggested that the constitution of the state be so amended as to secure the introduction of a system making qualification, and not political services and influence, the chief test in determining appointments, and giving subordinates in the civil service the same permanence of place that is enjoyed by officers of the army and navy. He also advocated the appointment of judges, by the executive, for long terms, with adequate salaries, as best calculated to “afford to the citizen the amplest possible security that impartial justice will be administered by an independent judiciary.” In his correspondence with members of congress, he urged a monthly reduction of the national debt as more important than a reduction of taxation, the abolition of the franking privilege, and the passage of a civil-service-reform law. In his message addressed to the legislature on 3 Jan., 1871, he recommended that the policy embodied in that provision of the state constitution which prohibited the state from creating any debt, save in a few exceptional cases, be extended to the creation of public debts by county, city, and other local authorities, and further that for the remuneration of public officers a system of fixed salaries, without
