to take us into favor again because of like scandals
which existed during the Administrations of Washington and
John Adams. But I thought, in common with many others, that
a party of sound principles could be made and should be made
a party of pure politics.
The two divisions in the Republican Party, which I have indicated,
marshalled their forces for the struggle in the convention
of 1876. The friends of Mr. Blaine were generally those Republicans
who had been dissatisfied with the conduct of the Administration.
They embraced, also, the larger number of the enthusiastic
young Republicans, who were attracted by Blaine's brilliant
qualities, as were those who had come in contact with him
by the marvellous personal charm of his delightful and gracious
manners. Roscoe Conkling was regarded as the leader of the
other party. The House of Representatives, by an almost unanimous
vote, had adopted the resolution declaring that it was contrary
to sound principle to elect a President for a third term.
So General Grant himself was not a candidate.
But as the time for the convention drew near, there had been
an investigation in the House of Representatives into the
affairs of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, which
had resulted in some uncomfortable revelations with reference
to Mr.
Pages:
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672