In the first Congress of his term
the Democrats had a majority in the House. They had refused
to pass the Army Appropriation Bill the winter before and
would not consent to such a bill in the following winter without
a condition that no military force should be used to maintain
order at elections, or to keep in power state governments
obnoxious to them. But his worst foes were of his own household.
There were two factions among the Republicans, one led by
Mr. Blaine and the other by Conkling and Cameron. Blaine
and Conkling had been disappointed aspirants for the Presidency.
Mr. Hayes and his advisers were in favor of what was called
reform in the civil service and utterly rejected the claim
of Senators and Representatives to dictate nominations to
executive and judicial offices. With the exception of Stanley
Matthews of Ohio and my colleague, Mr. Dawes, I was, I believe,
the only cordial supporter of the President in the Senate.
Mr. Blaine was disposed, I think, in the beginning, to give
the President his support. But he was rendered exceedingly
indignant by the refusal of President Hayes to appoint Mr.
Pages:
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777