chosen elector. The governor proposed to withhold the certificate from him and give it to a Democrat. Had everything claimed by the Republicans been conceded, they would have had 185 and the Democrats 184. It was necessary, therefore, for the Republicans to maintain every point in order to secure their President, for it was beyond dispute that Tilden had received 184 electoral votes. On the popular vote, he had 4,284,885 to 4,033,950 for Hayes. Each party charged the other with fraud, and thousands of Democrats were so incensed at what they believed was a plot to cheat them out of the presidency that they were ready to go to war. Had they done so, it would have been the most ter

rible peril that ever came upon the Republic, for the war would not have been one section against the other, but of neighborhood against neighborhood throughout the land.

As if nothing in the way of discord should be lacking, the Senate was Republican and the House Democratic. The election being disputed, it fell to them to decide the question something they would never do, since they were deadlocked. This was so apparent that thoughtful men saw that some new and extraordinary means must be found to save the country from civil

war.

Congress, after long and earnest discussion, passed a bill creating an Electoral Commission, to which it was agreed to submit the dispute. This commission was to consist of

fifteen members, five to be appointed by the House, five by the Senate, and the remaining five to consist of judges of the Supreme Court.

The Senate being Republican, its presiding officer, the Vice-President, named three Republicans and two Democrats; the House naturally appointed three Democrats and two Republicans; while of the Supreme Court, three were Republicans and two Democrats. This, it will be noted, gave to the commission eight Republicans and seven Democrats. The body by a strict party vote decided every dispute in favor of the Republicans, and on the 2d of March, 1877, two days before inauguration, Rutherford B. Hayes was decided President-elect of the United States.

CHAPTER XX.

ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR, 1877-1885.

R. B. Hayes-The Telephone-Railway Strikes-Elevated Railroads-War with the Nez Perce Indians -Remonetization of Silver-Resumption of Specie Payments-A Strange Fishery Award-The Yellow Fever Scourge-Presidential Election of 1878-James A. Garfield-Civil Service ReformAssassination of President Garfield-Chester A. Arthur-The Star Route Frauds-The Brooklyn Bridge The Chinese Question-The Mormons-Alaska Exploration-The Yorktown CentennialAttempts to Reach the North Pole by Americans-History of the Greely Expedition.

THE NINETEENTH PRESIDENT.

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES was born in Delaware County, Ohio, October 4, 1822, and was graduated from Kenyon College at the age of twenty years. In 1845 he completed his legal studies at Harvard University, and practiced law, first at Marietta, in his native State, then at Fremont, and finally in Cincinnati. He entered the military service, at the beginning of the war, as major, and rose to the rank of brevet majorgeneral. His career as a soldier was creditable. While still in the service, in 1864, he was elected to Congress, and was governor of Ohio in 1867, 1869, and again in 1875. His popularity as chief magistrate of one of the leading States led to his nomination to the presidency, to which, however, it must be conceded, he had not a clear title. He died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893.

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HA.YES.
(1822-1893.) One term, 1877-1881.

President Hayes proved his desire to strengthen the fraternal feeling

between the North and South by appointing as a member of his cabinet David McKey, his postmaster-general. Mr. McKey was from Tennessee, and had served the Confederacy during the Civil War. Hayes' administration on the whole was uneventful, though marked by a number of incidents which deserve mention. It was in 1877 that the first telephone for business purposes was put into It connected the residence of Charles Williams, in Somerville, Massachussetts, with his business office in Boston, three miles distant. Alexander Bell, of the latter city, was the inventor of the instrument, which is now in general use throughout the country, and serves to connect points more than a thousand miles apart.

use.

RAILWAY STRIKES.

In the summer of 1877 occurred one of the most violent outbreaks among labor men that has ever been known in this country. There was unrest in the mining districts over the question of wages, and the dissatisfaction spread to the principal manufacturing points. When the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad made. a reduction of 10 per cent. in the pay of its employees it was followed, July 14th, by a partial strike on their line. The men had the sympathy of workmen throughout the country, and the strike spread to the Pennsylvania, Erie, New York Central, and their western connections, including the Missouri and Pacific, and a number of less important lines west of the Mississippi.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is one of the most intelligent and conservative labor organizations in the country. It has won the respect of corporations as well as of the community-at-large by its fairness and its refusal to engage in strikes, except as a last resort against grievances. Its members are located in all parts of the country, and include a good many thousands. In the strike named the Brotherhood took the lead, and the firemen, brakemen, and other railroad employees joined them. The result was the stoppage of the wheels of commerce and the ruin of vast amounts of perishable freight, to say nothing of the expensive delays of all kinds. The railroad companies called upon the various State authorities for protection in operating their lines, but, as is generally the case, the militia were either in sympathy with the strikers or were afraid of them. As a final resort, an appeal was made to the United States government, whose soldiers understand only one duty, that of obeying orders.

The strikers stopped all trains in Baltimore and Martinsburg, West Virginia, and defied the authorities. The militia were scattered, but a few regulars were sufficient to raise the blockade. On the 20th of July, in an attempt of the rioters to resist the clearing of the streets in Baltimore, nine persons were killed and a score wounded. The strike extended until it included the whole country, with the exception of the cotton-growing States.

The most dangerous outbreak was in Pittsburg, where an immense mob