Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/64

* REPUBLICAN PARTY. 48 REPUBLICAN PARTY. Tlio piid iif the wnr found tlie Republican Party Ftron;; .ind united. But a severer lest awaited it in the problem of reconstruction (q.v.), and but few weeks were needed to show how irrcpar- alde a loss the party had sustained in the death of Lincoln, and what a wretched blunder, from a purely Kepublican point of view, it had coniniit- ted ill iiiakiiij.' it possible for a strict-coiistructinn- ist democrat of .lohnsoii's jiersonality and ante- cedents to becoiiic President. Durinj; .lohnson's ndniinistration the Republican majurity in both Houses of Congress was overwhelming. Between the President and Congress there speedily arose over the policj' to be pursued in reconstructing the South a controversy wliieh culminated in llie unsuccessful impeachment. Tlie party in its ])latform of 1808 sanctioned the reconstruction ])6licy of Congress, and insisted uimn "equal sulTrage to all loyal men in the Soulli." (ieneral (irant received the unanimous nomination for the Presidency. His election was made a certainty by the fact that in the South negro suffrage was protected by Federal arms, while many of the whites were still disfranchised. Consequently only four of the Southern States, Delaware, JIaryland, Kentucky, and Louisiana, chose Demo- cratic electors. Republican majorities were main- tained in both l)raiiclics of Congress tliroughout Grant's first administration, although the oppo- sition was gi'adually gaining strength. As a party measure the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments was exacted from Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia as a condition ])recedent to readmission, and the appointment of Federal supervisors of elections was author- ized. Stimulated by jirotests against the manipu- lation of ofKcc for jirivate or party purpos(s, the Repuldicans passed the first law for the reform of the civil service. The growing sentiment in favor of universal amnesty, universal enfranchise- 7nent, civil service reform, and the limiting of the power of the Federal Government over the local affairs of the States led to the breaking away of the Liberal Republicans (q.v.), who in 1872 made these the chief planks in their platform. Their avowed failure to come to any agreement as to the tariff, and their ill-advised nomination of Greeley, made the movement but a slight menace to the reelection of Grant, whom the Republicans had unanimously renominated upon a platform consisting chiefly of a glorification of the party's past achievements and .strongly advocating a pro- tective tarifl". As a result of the Credit ilobilier (q.v.) and other scandals the feeling became widespread that the Republican Party's long tenure of office had lowered the ethical tone of the party, and had given it into the hands of self- seeking and overbearing leaders. Moreover, the Republicans, as the party in power, were held responsible for the panic of 1873. Hence defec- tion grew to such an extent that many of the Northern States were carried by the Democrats, who in 1875 secured a majority of 182 to 110 in the House. The Republican national convention in 1876 indorsed civil service reform, and com- mended the provision already made for the re- sumption of specie payments. The nomination for the Presidency was given to Governor Hayes of Ohio, and in the ensuing campaign many of the Liberal Republican bolters returned to their former allegiance. The result of the election was long in doubt, but by the Electoral Commission (q.v.) all the questions at issue were decided in favor of Hayes, who was declared to have re- ceivejl 185 votes to 184 for Tiiden, his Democratic opponent. 'ith the administration of Haj'ea there began a new period in the history of the Re])ublican Party. The issues which had called it into exist- ence had passed away, and the withdrawal by the President of the I'Vderal troops from the South at the beginning of his administration may be said to have closed the strife between the two sections of the country. The old party leaders had left the field, for the most part, and their places had bcon taken by such men as Blaine, Garfield, Conkling, Sherman, Schurz, Hoar, and Edmunds. The task which faced them was new, for economic problems upon which neither party had developed well-united views had become dominant; the currency, the tariff, and commercial relations were to be adjusted to the new and ra])idly ex- panding industrial life of the people. In the first two years of Hayes's administration the Demo- crats were in control of the House, and in the last two years of both branches of Congress, while from the members of his own party the President received but half-hearted support, for it was by the aid of Re])ublican votes that the Bland Silver-Purcha.se Bill was passed over his veto, and that the further retirement of United States notes was forbidden. The Republican con- vention of 1880 favored a protective tariff. Fed- eral aid to popular education, '"the protection of the honest voter at the South," and thorough civil service reform. Grant was for a time the leading candidate^ but after a long contest the convention was 'stampeded' for Gartield, who was nominated on the thirty-sixth ballot. In order to conciliate the supporters of Grant, the second place on the ticket was given to Chester A. Ar- thur. During the administrations of Garfield and Artliur party lines were greatly blurred. The tariff act of" 1883 and also the "Pendleton Civil Service Bill received support from both sides of the chambers, yet they were in the main regarded as Republican measures. In 1884 the Republican platform was unusually pronounced in its advocacy of a protective tariff and urged international bi-metallism, the regulation of interstate commerce, and the resto- ration of the navy to its old-time strength and efficiency. The nomination of Blaine proved in many respects to be ill-advised. A large section of the party (see Mitowump) refused to sup- port him, and gave their votes mainly for Cleve- land, who was elected, carrying not only the 'Solid South,' but also New York, Connecticut, New .Jersey, and Indiana. During his administra- tion Democrats were in the majorityinthe House. Substantial gains were made in the reform of the civil service and in the regulation of inter- state commerce (Act of 1887), both of which the Republican platform had urged. A protectionist faction in the Democratic Party aided the Re- publicans in preventing a reduction of import duties. Cleveland's message of December, 1887. made the tariff the dominant issue of the cam- paign of the following year. The Republican platform declared the party to be "uncompro- misingly in favor of the American system of pro- tection;" asserted its opposition to combinations organized "to control arbitrarily the conditions of trade among citizens;" favored the "use of both silver and gold as money," and the building up of a strong na'y. The nomination of Harrison.