Congress political disagreement ripened soon into bitter enmity.
As the quarrel developed Congress ignored the recommendations
of the President, repassed by the requisite majority and without
due consideration of his objections each measure that he
vetoed, took from him the power to remove subordinates which
had been exercised by his predecessors, deprived him of his
constitutional rights as commander-in-chief of the army, and
finally in 1868 undertook to drive him from office by impeachment.
In 1867 Congress, under the control of the' radical wing of the
Republican party, set aside nearly all reconstructive work that
had been accomplished previously and put into execution a plan
of its own, under which the Southern States-were reconstructed
anew and admitted to representation in Congress between the
years 1867 and 1870. Inevitable consequences of the Congressional
plan “of reconstruction were: first, the erection of
state governments that were inefficient, corrupt, ruinously
wasteful and shamefully oppressive; second, the extreme
demoralization of the freedmen suddenly transformed from
slaves into rulers of their former masters; third, the demoralization,
in many cases also extreme, of the great body of the Southern
whites by the expedients to which they resorted in order to
escape from the rule of the freedman, led by the “ Carpet
Bagger ” his Northern, and the “ Scalawag ” his Southern, white
ally; fourth, the alienation of the White and coloured races in the
South, —an alienation which was to each a source of immeasurable
evils; nfth, the speedy overthrow on the Withdrawal of military
support of the governments set up under the Congressional
plan, and the creation of a South “ solid ” in resentful opposition
to the North and the Republican party. And sixth, as the outcome
of all these results, an unfortunate delay in reuniting
North and South. The Republican party suffered during this
period a moral decline, seen in the frequent efforts to gain party
advantage by kindling anew the earlier sectional animosities,
a growing arrogance, the increasing weight of the partisan and
spoils man in party management, and the widespread corruption
that came to light in the “ scandals ” of the second administration
of General Grant. The mismanaged Liberal Republican
movement of 1870-1872 was a reaction against this moral
decline and a protest against the Southern policy of the party
and its support of the “ Spoils ” system. The service of the
Liberal Republicans consisted mainly in the aid they gave to
the reform of the Republican party and in the influence they
exerted to induce the Democratic party to accept the results of
the war.
But despite the warnings it received, the prestige it had gained during the war and the popularity of President Grant, the Republican party lost ground steadily during the second half of the period. In the election of 1874 the Democratic party gained control of the House of Representatives; and in the election of 1876 came within a hair's breadth of winning the presidency.
Election of Mr Hayes to that of Mr McKinley, 1876-1896.-During these twenty years the subsidence of old and the rise of new issues led to a reconstruction of the party system, which, although less radical than that of 1840 to 1860, brought into existence several new parties and changed in important respects the character and policies of those already in the field. From the standpoint of party history the chief interest of these twenty years lies in the answer to the question, How did the discredited Republican party secure in 1896 a new and prolonged lease of power? Thetask was not easy. The reconstruction policy of the party had alienated many Northern supporters and had made the South solidly Democratic. The prevalence of the spoils system and the scandals of the second administration of General Grant had hurt the prestige of the party as a guardian of public morals and of the national honour. What gave the Republicans a lighting chance were: its record down to the close of the Civil War; its proven aptitude for the tasks of government; and the growth among the people of a more vital national feeling which turned instinctively to the party that had saved the nation. Despite these substantial advantages over their Democratic rivals the Republicans lost the presidential elections of 1884 and 1892, and the entire Democratic party-some Republicans agreeing-has always held that a just decision of the contested election of 1876 would have seated Samuel ]. Tilden, the Democratic candidate, instead of Mr Hayes. In the Senate the Republicans were in a majority during fourteen years. In the House, whose members are chosen by popular vote, these figures were reversed, the Democrats having control during fourteen years. In each of five successive presidential elections, those of 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888 and 1892, the Democratic popular vote was larger than the Republican. Marked features of the party situation were the apparent similarity for a time of the principles of the two great parties, the influence on their policy exerted by the stronger minor parties, and the rise of the Mugwumps (not strictly a party), v/ho claimed the right to vote for the best candidate independently of party and were in the main of Republican origin.
Of the issues of the period one, the reform of the civil service, was served by both of the great parties with imperfect fidelity. Each of the Republican presidents, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur and Harrison gave it efficient and steadfast support; and so did Cleveland, the Democratic president, although under stronger pressure from party hunger. The same was true in the case of the more important questions of foreign policy and, to a degree in its early stage, of the question of silver coinage. It was not so with the treatment of the South. President Hayes withdrew the national troops from S. Carolina and Louisiana and thus brought to an end Federal military interference with state governments. For this course a considerable section of the Republican party gave him thereafter a support which was half-hearted and inconstant. Further disaffection resulted from efforts to reform the civil service of New York which brought the President into conflict with the powerful Republican party machine in that state.1 The high character of the President and his firm, wise and upright course raised the reputation of the party. His veto of the Silver Bill and the resumption of specie payments tended to the same result. The failure in 1889 of the third term movement for General Grant worked for the health of the party. The struggle of President Garfield with New York spoils men and his assassination by a disappointed office-seeker, gave a fresh impetus to the movement for the reform of the civil service. President Arthur maintained the high standard established by Presidents Hayes and Garfield.
In the election of 1884 the old parties were competitors for the confidence of the conservative and reforming elements of the country. Mr Blaine, the Republican candidate, who in brilliancy, popularity, patriotism, and disappointing personal fortunes recalled the Whig leader, Henry Clay, lost the election by a narrow margin because, While meeting the requirements of the conservatives, he had lost in a measure the confidence of the reformers.
In the election of 1888 Mr Cleveland, by making tariff reform the issue, turned the manufacturing interests to the support of Mr Harrison, the candidate of the Republicans, who thereby won the election. Mr Harrison, while not personally popular, maintained the best traditions of his Republican predecessors. The highly protective McKinley tariff, framed in obedience to the pe-ople's mandate in 1888, proved somewhat disappointing, and in the election of 1892, Mr Cleveland, as the champion of lower tariff rates, was successful for the second time. Mr Cleveland, at the beginning of his second term, secured the repeal of the act for the purchase of silver, and thus strengthened himself with the conservatives of both parties. Democratic defection in the Senate nullified largely the downward revision of the tariff urged by the President and supported by the House.
The election of 1896 marked the close of the period of party 1 In the course of this conflict, which continued to disturb the harmony of the Republican party until the death of President Garfield, the term “ Stalwarts ” was used to designate the supporters of Senator Conkling, who was in control of the Republican machine in New York state, and the term “ Half-Breeds ” to designate the supporters of the administration. Y
