At the opening of the canvass there was little excitement, but it increased as time went on. The Democrats had put in nomination as their candidate the Hon. Samuel J. Tilden of New York, while Hendricks of Indiana was named as the candidate for Vice-President. The Democratic platform consisted of the usual denunciation of everything that the Republicans had done or that Democratic imagination could conjure up that they were supposed to have done, and toward the latter part of the canvass it was evident that the vote would be very close. There was no decisive indication through the September and the October elections; the decisive States, Ohio and Indiana, going, the one Republican and the other Democratic. The South had promised that it would be solid for Tilden, but the morning after the election it was found that the Democratic hopes had not been realized. It was announced that the Republicans had been victorious in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida; and this gave 185 votes for Rutherford B. Hayes-the exact number required for his election.

The Democrats and the Republicans both claimed the election in those three States. The leaders of both sides were very positive in their conclusions, and the masses of the two parties were consequently under great excitement; there were a great many threats among parties and papers and individuals as to what would be done in case either Hayes or Tilden were "counted out." A sensible step toward subduing the excitement was taken, by a proposal that each party should send several prominent men to the States in dispute, in order to see that a fair count was made. This proposal was accepted, and each party sent its representatives to the capitals of the three States in dispute. There was fear of violence at some points in the South, and military forces were sent there to preserve order. When the local canvassing boards met in the three disputed States the result of the contest gave the electoral votes to Hayes and Wheeler; and at the meeting of the electors on the sixth day of December, when they all met in the several States, the official count showed 185 electors for Hayes and 184 for Tilden.

Many threats were made on the part of the Democrats that Hayes should never be inaugurated; some went SO far as to propose that one hundred thousand armed Democrats should March to Washington and take possession of the government in the name of Tilden. There was great possibility of serious trouble, and in order to avoid it President Grant strengthened the military forces in and around Washington, simply with the intention of preventing or suppressing disturbance; but many of the Democrats asserted that

it was with the intention of installing Hayes by the aid of the United States army. It was clear to be seen, by every honest and unprejudiced man, that the intention was simply to preserve order and to see that the dispute as to the election of the President was settled according to law. The dispute ran so high that it became necessary to appoint an electoral commission to determine the question. This was brought about through the Electoral Bill, which was passed by Congress; the commission consisting of the Justices of the Supreme Court. The Electoral Commission decided in favor of the Republican

electors in the disputed States, and they similarly decided in a dispute that was raised concerning a technical disability in one of the electors in Oregon. The result was that the Republicans were confirmed in their claim of 185 electors, and Hayes was declared to be the legally elected President of the United States.

Never since the outbreak of the Civil War has there been so near an approach to actual hostilities in the capital of the United States and in other parts of the country as there was during the trouble over the election of

1876. The state of affairs had this peculiarity-that every Republican could honestly and candidly believe that his candidates were elected, while, at the same time, every Democrat could as honestly and as candidly believe that the Republicans had been defeated.

President Hayes was duly inaugurated, and, as a matter of precaution, the oath of office was administered to him on the preceding day, as it was thought wise and prudent that he should be ready to act as President of the United States if anything should be required for the public safety before noon of the day of inauguration.

As in the second administration of General Grant, less attention was given to the state of affairs in the South than to the question of finance, which had become a matter of great prominence.

The reform of the civil service, which had received considerable public attention during the administration of President Grant, was further advanced under President Hayes. We have treated more fully of this subject in the following chapter. A member of Congress of that time has seriously said that "no reform in the civil service will be valuable that does not release members of Congress from the care and the embarrassment of appointments, and no boon so great could be conferred upon Senators and Representatives as to relieve them from the worry, the annoyance and the responsibility which time and habit have fixed upon them in connection with the dispensing of patronage -all which belongs, under the Constitution, to the Executive. On the other hand, the evil of which an earlier President spoke the employment of patronage by the Executive to influence legislation-is far the greatest abuse to which the civil service has ever been perverted. To separate the two great departments of the government, to keep each within its own sphere will be of immeasurable advantage and will enhance the character and dignity of both. Non-political service will be obtained, when Congress will be left to its legitimate functions, when Presidents will not interfere with the use of patronage, and when the responsibility of appointment will rest solely in the department to which the organic law of the Republic assigns it."

XIV.

The Civil Service-A Republican Measure and opposed continuously by the Democracy-First Civil Service Case in the History of the Country-Thomas Jefferson and the Collector of the Port of New Haven-Jefferson's Remarks on the Subject-Views of Eminent WritersFaults of the Old System-Appointment of the Civil Service Commission-Opposition of Certain Politicians in the Republican Party-Rules regarding Applicants for Appointment or Promotion-Examinations, and, how Conducted-Rules regarding Women-British Civil Service-Its Popularity in Great Britain.

SYSTEM which owes its existence to the Republican party is that of the Civil Service. It has been distinctly a Republican measure, and all laws passed in its behalf and all the rules that have been formulated for its management have been of Republican origin and secured by Republican votes.

The first civil service question that was ever raised in the history of the country dates back to the time when Thomas Jefferson was President. In June of 1801 Jefferson removed a Federalist from the collectorship of the port of New Haven and appointed a Republican to the place. There was remonstrance on the part of the citizens, who said that Goodrich, the former incumbent, was in every way satisfactory to men of all parties, and that his successor was seventy-eight years of age and quite unfitted to perform the duties of the office. Jefferson replied to this remonstrance and showed that he was largely in sympathy with the principle of civil service, although the rules that had been followed by the administrations up to that time did not maintain in office any persons not connected with the dominant party. He said, in closing, that he should return with joy to that state of things when the only questions concerning a candidate should be: is he honest? is he capable? is he faithful to the Constitution? Consequently, we may consider that Jefferson was a friend of civil service, which is not generally the case with those who are pleased to consider themselves followers of Jeffersonian democracy.

The civil service that has been inaugurated since the Republican party came into power in the management of the government has required a great deal of study, and it is proper to say that it has been opposed by many politicians in the Republican party as well as by nearly everybody in the Democratic party. At present it gives employment to not far from 130,000 persons of both sexes; some of these are laborers, and others who are engaged only for short terms, and some are connected with the Departments in minor capacities. The object of the civil service is to give the offices to those applicants who are best qualified for them, and where there are two or more applicants for one office, to select the most capable.

The object of the Civil Service Act, as its title declares, is "to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States." It provides for the appointment of three commissioners, a chief examiner, a secretary, and other employees, and makes it the commission's duty to aid the President by preparing suitable rules, whenever he requests them, for carrying the Civil Service Act into effect; it requires them to make regulations for the examinations provided for candidates, and to control these examinations from beginning to end, and to keep the records carefully; it is also the duty of the commission to investigate and report upon all matters relating to the enforcement of the rules and regulations of the service. Any person who wishes to communicate with the Civil Service Commission has simply to address it at the capital of the country.

The service which is classified under this Act, and to which the law and the rules apply, embraces the embraces the Executive Department at Washington, the Department of Labor and the Civil Service Commission, the customs districts, wherever they have fifty or more employees, post-offices wherever there are fifty or more employees, and the Railway Mail Service. Of the customs districts coming under the civil service rules there are eleven; and there are nearly fifty post-offices which come under the classification.

The Classified Departmental Service embraces all places in the Departments at Washington, with the exception of messengers, workmen, watchmen and laborers, but does not include any person designated as a skilled laborer or workman; no person, so employed, can without examination under the rules be assigned to clerical duty; and also excepting those appointed by the President by and with the consent and advice of the Senate. The Classified Customs Service embraces the customs districts where the officials are fifty or more, including all places whose salaries amount to $900 a year, and all those