. This was averted by a carefully prepared congressional act, which
in effect left the dispute to a board of arbitration. To the statesmen
of both parties who devised this plan and who cooperated in carrying the
measure through Congress; to the members of the Electoral Commission,
who in the bitterest strife conducted themselves with dignity; to the
Democratic Speaker of the House and the Democrats who followed his lead,
the eternal gratitude of the country is due. "He that ruleth his spirit
is better than he that taketh a city." The victories of Manila and
Santiago are as nothing compared with the victorious restraint of the
American people in 1876 and 1877 and the acquiescence of one half of the
country in what they believed to be an unrighteous decision. Hayes was
inaugurated peacefully, but had to conduct his administration in the
view of 4,300,000 voters who believed that, whatever might be his legal
claim, he had no moral right to the place he occupied. The Democrats
controlled the House of Representatives during the whole of his term,
and the Senate for a part of it, and at the outset he encountered the
opposition of the stalwart faction of his own party. Nevertheless he
made a successful President, and under him the office gained in force
and dignity. Hayes was not a man of brilliant parts or wide
intelligence, but he had common sense and decision of character.
Surrounding himself with a strong Cabinet, three members of which were
really remarkable for their ability, he entered upon a distinct policy
from which flowed good results. He withdrew the Federal troops from the
states of South Carolina and Louisiana, inaugurating in these states an
era of comparative peace and tranquillity. Something was done in the
interest of Civil Service Reform. In opposition to the view of his
Secretary of the Treasury and confidential friend, John Sherman, he
vetoed the act of 1878 for the remonetization of silver by the coinage
of a certain amount of silver dollars--the first of those measures which
almost brought us to the monetary basis of silver. His guiding principle
was embodied in a remark he made in his inaugural address, "He serves
his party best who serves the country best." He and his accomplished
wife had a social and moral influence in Washington of no mean value.
The Civil War had been followed by a period of corruption, profligacy,
and personal immorality. In politics, if a man were sound on the main
question, which