conventions
take advantage of this disability on the part of the voter to work an
electioneering device known as a "straddle," the aim of which is to
please opposite interests by giving each a place on the ticket. After
Garfield was nominated, the attempt was made to placate the defeated
faction by nominating one of its adherents for Vice-President, and now
that nominee unexpectedly became the President of the United States,
with power to reverse the policy of his predecessor.

In one important matter there was, in fact, an abrupt reversal of
policy. The independent countries of North and South America had been
invited to participate in a general congress to be held in Washington,
November 24, 1881. James Gillespie Blaine, who was then Secretary
of State, had applied himself with earnestness and vigor to this
undertaking, which might have produced valuable results. It was a
movement towards closer relations between American countries, a purpose
which has since become public policy and has been steadily promoted by
the Government. With the inauguration of President Arthur, Blaine was
succeeded by Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, who practically
canceled the invitation to the proposed Congress some six weeks after it
had been issued. On February 3, 1889, Blaine protested in an open letter
to the President, and the affair occasioned sharp discussion. In his
regular message to Congress in the following December, the President
offered excuses of an evasive character, pointing out that Congress had
made no appropriation for expenses and declaring that he had thought it
"fitting that the Executive should consult the representatives of the
people before pursuing a line of policy somewhat novel in its character
and far-reaching in its possible consequences."

In general, President Arthur behaved with a tact and prudence that
improved his position in public esteem. It soon became manifest that,
although he had been Conkling's adherent, he was not his servitor. He
conducted the routine business of the presidential office with dignity,
and he displayed independence of character in his relations with
Congress. But his powers were so limited by the conditions under which
he had to act that to a large extent public interests had to drift
along without direction and management. In some degree, the situation
resembled that which existed in the Holy Roman Empire when a complicated
legalism kept grinding away and pretentious for