ion of the Blaine motion by the solid vote of the Democrats, to
which would be added a small minority of the Republicans. This division
in the ranks of the party at the beginning of the Hayes administration
had to be avoided if possible. That Mr. Blaine should recede from his
position was, of course, out of the question. Nothing, therefore,
remained to be done but for Senator Morton to refrain from making his
motion; for a hurried canvass of the Senate had revealed the fact that
the motion, if made and brought to a vote, would be defeated, and the
effect of such a defeat would be worse than if the motion had not been
made. So the Blaine motion was allowed to go by default, and Mr. Lamar
was duly sworn in as a Senator from Mississippi. Of course it was well
known at the time by many,--Mr. Blaine among the number,--that this
ended the controversy and that no subsequent investigation would be
made. That Mr. Blaine was sadly and seriously disappointed at the
result of his action in this case, as well as in his action in defeating
the Federal Elections Bill, will be made clear in subsequent chapters.

CHAPTER XX

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1880. NOMINATION OF THE COMPROMISE
CANDIDATE, GARFIELD

Since the indications were that the Democrats would be successful in the
Congressional elections of 1878, the election in the "shoe-string
district" that year was allowed to go by default.

In 1880, the year of the Presidential election, I decided that I would
again measure arms with Chalmers for Representative in Congress from
that district. It was practically a well-settled fact that there was to
be a bitter fight for the Republican Presidential nomination that year.
There were three prominent candidates in the field for the
nomination,--James G. Blaine, U.S. Grant, and John Sherman. Grant was
especially strong with southern Republicans, while Blaine had very
little support in that section. Sherman was well thought of on account
of the splendid record he had made as a member of the United States
Senate, and, in addition to that, he had the influence and the support
of the National Administration, of which he was a member,--being at that
time Secretary of the Treasury.

In the State of Mississippi Bruce, Hill and I,--the three leading
colored men,--had formed an offensive and defensive alliance. Bruce was
United States Senator, which position he had secured largely through the
influence and active support of mysel