Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 17.djvu/101



REMINISCENCES 93

there in full force for weeks. Senator Zach Chandler, of Mich- igan, sent telegrams abroad, informing an anxious world, that Hayes was elected and would be inaugurated on the 4th of March. The Democrats threatened that if "old Zach" and his gang undertook to inaugurate Hayes and steal the Presi- dency from "President" Tilden, there would be war. They would march on Washington and destroy the city. The stand- pat Republicans said Hayes should be inaugurated at any cost. The Democrats said Tilden should be President if there were enough Democrats in the United States to put him in. Tilden, an excellent and sensible man, seemed to be more inter- ested in preserving peace than in being President. Before re- sorting to force there was a kind of general agreement among members of Congress to frame some compromise and arbitrate the dangerous dispute.

The electoral commission bill was then introduced, and after long debate passed both houses of Congress. It created a commission composed of Senators and Representatives and one member of the Supreme Court. This commission had power to decide all disputed questions. This bill was debated several days in the Senate. Conkling, of New York, spoke all or a part of two days in favor of it, and had his desk and the floor around him covered with documents from which he quoted. My recollection is that Morton spoke against it. The general impression in and around the Senate was that this commission would decide in favor of Tilden. Elaine came into the room where his brother Bob and I worked and talked about it. He seemed to be worried and was in doubt whether he should vote for or against the bill. I do not re- member how he voted, but the stand-pat Republicans mostly opposed it. Judge David Davis, of the Supreme Court, had been agreed upon to represent the Supreme Court on the com- mission, which otherwise was equally divided between Repub- licans and Democrats. He had Democratic leanings and it was about as certain as any future event can be that he would have cast the deciding vote in favor of Tilden. But while