lpless in State and National campaigns. This state of affairs seemed
to justify the presence of troops at the polls on election days. Under
an Act of Congress "the President was empowered to use the army to
suppress domestic violence, prevent bloodshed," and to protect the
Negroes in the constitutional exercise of the rights conferred upon
them by the Constitution. This movement was met by the most determined
opposition from the South, aided by the sympathy of the Northern
press, Democratic platforms, and a considerable element in the
Republican party.

In 1874 the condition of affairs in the South was such as to alarm the
friends of stable, constitutional government everywhere. The city of
New Orleans was in a state of siege. Streets were blockaded with State
troops and White Line leagues, and an open battle was fought. The
Republican State government fell before the insurgents, and a new
government was established _vi et armis_. Troops were sent to New
Orleans by the President, and the lawful government was restored. The
Liberal movement in the North, which had resulted in the defeat of the
Republican tickets in Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, and even in Massachusetts, greatly encouraged the Bourbon
Democrats of the South, and excited them to the verge of the most open
and cruel conduct toward the white and black Republicans in their
midst.

A large number of Northern Legislatures passed resolutions condemning
the action of the President in sending troops into the South, although
he did it in accordance with law. Many active and influential
Republicans, displeased with the action of the Republican governments
at the South, and the conduct of the Forty-third Congress, demanded
the destruction of the Republican party. The Liberal movement had
started in 1872. Its leaders thought the time had come for a new
party, and counselled the country accordingly.

The Forty-fourth Congress was organized by the Democrats. The Cabinet
Ministers were divided on the policy pursued toward the South. In the
autumn of 1875 the shot-gun policy carried Mississippi; and from the
6th of July till the Republican government in that State went down
into a bloody grave, there was an unbroken series of political
murders.

President Grant was met by a Democratic Congress; a divided Cabinet:
Zachariah Chandler and Edwards Pierrepont were in sympathy with him;
Bristow and Jewell represented the Liberal sentiment. Then, the
R