USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 4 > Part 53
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Nevertheless, the Democrats kept up their party organiza- tion and their relations with their national party, though for most of the time in the minority. The political history of the period deals with the struggle of the national parties for supremacy. The South had been strongly Democratic before secession; and the policies of that party were still considered by many ardent Republicans as antagonistic to the best inter- ests of the country. The Democratic party succeeded in electing a governor but twice during this period-William Gaston, who served as governor in 1875; and Benjamin F. Butler, candidate of the Democratic and Greenback parties in 1883. Each was confronted by a Republican legislature. Here the Democrats were for the most part upon the defen- sive, and were entirely unable to carry out a constructive pro- gram of State activities.
As time went on, however, many Republicans failed to adhere rigidly to the announced party policies. Some were opposed to corruption within the party ; some believed in free trade, or more local self-government, or in civil service reform.
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Many revolted about 1880 and formed the Independent or "Mugwump" group, which supported those whom they re- garded as the best candidates, regardless of party. Such a group of voters, bound together neither by party loyalty nor by singleness of purpose, had an influence at times great but not lasting, and its strength varied from campaign to cam- paign. The welfare of the Commonwealth rested usually in the hands of the two permanent parties, Republican and Dem- ocratic, representing two different schools of political thought upon many pressing problems confronting the nation: how to protect the newly emancipated negro, how to regulate the constitutional and political relations of the seceding States, how to meet the heavy financial obligations of the war, how to restore the public credit, how to place the State on a sound industrial basis. The financial obligations incurred on ac- count of the Civil War amounted in the aggregate to $16,573,- 244. This was gradually paid off, until the debt was reduced to about one million dollars.
In the national elections, following the Civil War, both national and local policies were largely Republican; and the Bay State followed closely in the lead of the Federal Gov- ernment. In fact, one important and permanent result of the war was the greater allegiance which the citizen attached to the interests of the nation as compared with those of the State, thus subordinating the doctrine of States' rights to that of a more centralized national government.
NEW STATE ISSUES (1865-1868)
When the United States troops were withdrawn and home rule in the South was finally restored, Massachusetts was content that the South should work out the Negro problem in its own way, subject to the three constitutional amendments which embodied the results of the Civil War. Then, and then only, could undivided attention be given to the solution of problems which were primarily local.
Fundamentally, the local government of Massachusetts was not changed, neither was the personal liberty of the people nor their freedom of speech altered by this greater allegiance to the Federal Government. Confidence in the stability and sound judgment of the people and in their ability to govern
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themselves is one of the political lessons to be drawn from the experience of these active years of readjustment and recon- struction.
Prohibition, labor reform, and woman suffrage, at first only eddies in the political current, became whirlpools of polit- ical dissension and were decisive factors in some elections. How these issues were met or avoided is, therefore, a part of this story, since such internal and domestic problems were of grave importance to the welfare of the State. Moreover, educational problems, as well as those of police protection, the creation of government commissions, State aid for high- ways and railroads, public hygiene, and public charitable in- stitutions were matters demanding governmental regulation. Space does not allow more than an outline of many events deserving more extensive comment.
This story of political and governmental readjustment nat- urally begins with those important and epochal elections, State and national, in which the people first had an oppor- tunity to register their personal political opinions on the policies of the dominant party as expressed in national legis- lation.
ELECTION OF 1864
Before the election of 1864, dissatisfaction appeared, both in the State and nation, with Lincoln's policy and administra- tion. Signs of discontent in the State were manifested by various newspapers, mostly War Democratic and Copperhead. Copperheadism, an offensive term applied to opponents of the war, had appeared in Massachusetts from the beginning of the war and was much in evidence as early as February, 1863, when General McClellan made his famous visit to Boston. It also manifested itself in the opposition to the use of Negroes as soldiers. The burden of the draft, the loss of life, and the expenditure of money during the years of war, made all alike desire peace. The Democrats formally demanded in 1864 that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostil- ities, and they favored a compromise with the South which was not possible under Lincoln's policy. The Republicans maintained that the only peace possible was that achieved by military success, for which a continuation of the Lincoln ad-
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ministration was necessary. Many of those Republicans who questioned the wisdom of this policy withdrew from the party and voted with the Democrats.
The people of Massachusetts supported Lincoln strongly in this election. They gave him 126,742 votes as against 48,745 for his opponent McClellan, and reelected the Repub- lican war governor, John A. Andrew, by an overwhelming majority over his Democratic opponent, General Charles Devens. The moral effect of this victory was aptly summed up by the Governor in a message sent at the time: "We have knocked down and stamped out the last Copperhead ghost in Massachusetts."
MASSACHUSETTS AND RECONSTRUCTION (1865-1867)
The assassination of Lincoln strengthened the Republican party on the part of the voters. Many Democrats who had supported Lincoln and the Republican policy in the struggle to preserve the Union now forsook their former party alle- giance completely and became permanently allied with the Re- publican party.
In this critical period of readjustment, the Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, became the country's chief executive. Al- though Johnson at first favored a severe policy against the leaders of the South, he soon changed his attitude to one of leniency and found himself out of harmony with Congress. The leaders of Massachusetts began to criticize him, and ac- cused him of hindering reconstruction and of betraying the party which had elected him. The Federal Senate, led by Charles Sumner and his colleague Henry Wilson, as well as the House, dominated by Thaddeus Stevens, was hostile and defiant. The Republican majority in Congress was so large that it could pass any measure over the President's veto if it saw fit. Congress adopted the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, abolishing slavery and fixing the political status of States recently seceded and of the Negro. Upon these amendments, the people of Massachusetts sup- ported the action of their legislature, which ratified the Thirteenth Amendment unanimously, and also ratified the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments with some division.
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STATE ELECTIONS (1865-1868)
The State election of 1865 was, likewise, a complete triumph for the Republicans. Governor Andrew refused to be a candidate for reelection, and Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, was elected governor over his Democratic op- ponent, Darius Couch, of Taunton. Governor Andrew, in his farseeing farewell address to the incoming legislature, out- lined the policy of reconstruction which he believed the coun- try would be wise to adopt; and had not President Johnson quarreled with Congress, Andrew's plan might have been adopted by the whole nation. Andrew felt that the natural leaders of the South, whether they had participated in the rebellion or not, must be allowed to participate in its political reorganization if permanent results were to be attained. This proposal was not appreciated by the leaders, and not until later years did men realize the value of this plan, which aimed to find in the South itself the main elements of regeneration, and which realized that Negro suffrage was a question not of constitutional requirement but of statesmanship.
In the Republican State Convention of 1866, Bullock was again nominated for the governorship and was successful against Theodore H. Sweetser, of Lowell, who was the candi- date of both the Democratic and National Union parties. It is significant that, in the platform adopted at the Republican State Convention of 1867, the impending impeachment of Johnson was foreshadowed by the party leaders, who endorsed the reconstruction policy of Congress and characterized Presi- dent Johnson as a "dangerous and desperate man." The plat- form further called for the continuance of the national policy established by the party, greatly praised the work of Senator Charles Sumner, and urged his reelection. The platform adopted by the Democrats raised the old cry of State rights, and charged that the Republican policy tended toward cen- tralization of control. In 1867, Governor Bullock was re- elected over the Democratic nominee, John Quincy Adams, of Quincy.
BOUTWELL'S CAREER (1865-1873)
George S. Boutwell, who presided over this Republican State Convention, stands preeminent in the management and
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solution of the financial problems of the nation at this time. Although by a coalition of the Free-soil and Democratic parties he had been elected governor of Massachusetts in 1851, yet, when the Republican party came into being, he was nat- urally carried into its ranks because of his strong antislavery views. From the first, he advocated emancipation; and his career in the National House of Representatives may well be described as an advocacy of all the most advanced measures of his party. He was one of the seven managers of the trial in the impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson, and as chairman of the committee he reported the articles of im- peachment. He advocated a strong policy toward the seced- ing States, and favored making the whole South a military district. He had a prominent part in framing the Fourteenth and especially the Fifteenth Amendments.
In 1869, President Grant appointed him Secretary of the Treasury ; which position he held until 1873, when he resigned to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate caused by the election of Henry Wilson of Massachusetts to the Vice- Presidency. This did not terminate his service to his country, for he acted as counsel for the government in many matters involving international law, especially in the settlement of French claims arising out of the Civil War. Intensity of con- viction and rugged honesty were outstanding characteristics of this son of Massachusetts, who made such noteworthy con- tributions to the welfare of the nation.
ELECTION IN THE IMPEACHMENT YEAR (1868)
In 1868, the hostility between President Johnson and Con- gress became so great that he refused to put into operation laws passed over his veto; and the House of Representatives then impeached him of "high crimes and misdemeanors." The result of this historic trial before the Senate, in which Massachusetts men figured prominently, was a failure by only one vote to impeach the President and to remove him from office.
The platform adopted four days later at the Republican National Convention emphasized two issues : equal suffrage for both whites and Negroes in the South, and the payment of the public debt in coin. General Grant was unanimously
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ELECTIONS FROM 1869 TO 1871
selected as the Republican standard bearer, and the keynote of the campaign was found in the historic phrase in his speech of acceptance : "Let us have peace." In the election which fol- lowed, the Commonwealth gave Grant 136,379 votes as com- pared with a vote of 59,103 for Horatio Seymour, his Democratic opponent ; and elected as governor the Republican nominee, William Claflin, of Newton, over John Quincy Adams, of Quincy, by more than 68,000 plurality.
STATE ELECTIONS (1869-1871)
The following year, John Quincy Adams was for the third time the Democratic candidate for the gubernatorial chair, and Edwin M. Chamberlain of Boston was named for the same office by the newly born Labor Reform party. Governor Claflin, who had been renominated by the Republicans, re- ceived a diminished plurality of about 23,000 over Adams. The next year Claflin again defeated Adams, this time by about 31,000 plurality. The Prohibition party for the first time entered the State, and selected as its standard bearer the free lance Wendell Phillips, of Boston, who was likewise named by the Labor Reform party.
During Governor Claflin's administration, the police force of the Commonwealth was reorganized, and a Board of Prison Commissioners was established. Laws permitting two or more towns to unite for the purpose of employing a school superintendent were also passed. Moreover, by his veto of the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Railroad Bills, by his treatment of the South Boston flats and the Hoosac Tunnel project, Governor Claflin saved the Commonwealth many millions of dollars.
Quite undaunted by his many defeats, John Quincy Adams was again the Democratic candidate for governor in the elec- tion of 1871; but was successfully opposed by William B. Washburn, of Greenfield. In the contest for the Republican nomination, General Benjamin F. Butler was beaten. In commenting on his defeat, Butler said: "I offered myself to the Republican party as a candidate for the nomination. I was not unfairly beaten by the Hon. William B. Washburn, who was nominated by a small majority over me, and whose election I supported, as I ought."
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Much of the legislation enacted at the regular session of 1872 dealt with railroad extension; election day was changed from Monday to Tuesday; and the almshouse system was re- formed. At the extra session called to meet the emergency created by the great Boston Fire of November 9, 1872, which destroyed stores and warehouses covering an area of sixty-five acres and entailed a loss of nearly seventy-three million dol- lars, the city of Boston was authorized to issue bonds to the extent of twenty millions to aid owners of land to restore burned buildings; but this act was subsequently declared un- constitutional by the Supreme Judicial Court.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1872
At the time of the next presidential election, stories of corruption and greed in the Grant administration had worked upon the minds of the voters to such an extent that they were asking if loyalty to the Republican party required an approval of corruption within that party. During its long tenure of office, the Republican organization had been unable to escape from the evil practices and corrupt conduct of some of its leaders. Naturally, many thoughtful and loyal Republicans condemned this demoralization and rebelled against it.
The widespread tendency to political corruption appeared as an evil legacy of the Civil War and of the period of recon- struction that followed. President Johnson tried to suppress it, but had not been strong enough for the formidable task. Grant came into office in 1869 at the urgent behest of his party, with the highest of motives; but he, too, found that the tendency to political corruption was too strong for him to overcome.
Although few believed that Grant was responsible for these conditions, many Republicans, among them Charles Sumner and Charles Francis Adams, both of Massachusetts, opposed Grant's nomination for a second term. When it was found in 1871 that Grant was to be the party candidate, this rather large group broke away from the main body of Republicans and formed the Anti-Grant or Liberal Republican group. The platform adopted at their convention in Cleveland, in 1872, declared that no President should be a candidate for re-
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election, and denounced political corruption. The Liberal party leaders hoped to have Democratic support if a suitable candidate were chosen, and Charles Francis Adams appeared to be the first choice. Unfortunately for the success of the Liberal party, Adams was sent to Geneva as an arbitrator of the "Alabama Claims." His position, expressed in a letter written on the eve of his departure, was that he did not desire the nomination if it had to be negotiated for and assurances given that he was honest. Such manly independence should have won the respect of the Liberal party and its nomination; but some of the delegates resented it as an apparent reflection upon them and cast their votes for Horace Greeley, the arch- abolitionist and denouncer of the South and editor of the New York Tribune, who won the Liberal and Democratic nominations but was overwhelmingly defeated by Grant.
Henry Wilson, a Massachusetts Senator, was elected Vice- President at the same time. Wilson had come into national prominence first as chairman of the Military Committee dur- ing the war. For four years he rendered invaluable service through his knowledge of military matters, and later was a leader of the Senate in the consideration of the reconstruction program adopted by Congress.
This attack in Massachusetts upon corruption led to new political alignments in the State and the divison of the Repub- lican party into three different groups : (1) the old antislavery group; (2) the idealist group, of which Charles Francis Adams and others were leaders; (3) the pro-Sumner or anti- Grant group. The election revealed considerable independent voting in Massachusetts, many Democrats refusing to support Greeley and many Republicans refusing to support Grant. Such prominent men as Robert C. Winthrop and J. Murray Forbes supported Grant and Wilson; while Francis W. Bird, Charles Sumner, and William Schouler favored Horace Greeley. In the hope of a political victory, the Liberal Re- publicans and Democrats combined their forces. They met with little success in the State election. The Republican nominee, William B. Washburn, was overwhelmingly elected governor over Francis W. Bird, of Walpole; and the Liberal Republicans elected but one State senator and five State rep- resentatives.
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SUMNER-GRANT CONTROVERSY (1869-1871)
At this election, Charles Sumner supported Greeley vigor- ously and advised the Negroes to vote for him. Preeminent as a statesman and outspoken as a political leader, his contri- bution to the welfare of the nation, as well as to his Common- wealth, was unusually great. For more than three terms he was a prominent and conspicuous member of the United States Senate. Sumner was a haughty and often an arrogant man, who made many enemies in his own party. As time passed he became a kind of party of one member in the Senate.
Though blamed and censured for the means he took to achieve certain ends, he was more frequently praised for the unflagging energy and devotion of his public service. While still in private life, he was one of the pioneers in the struggle for the abolition of slavery, and this evil he attacked with all the strength of his being until the struggle ceased with the abolition of that institution. He zealously advocated the rights of the freed race, and whatever he believed was asso- ciated with the idea of human freedom. It was entirely nat- ural, therefore, that Sumner should early devote himself to the cause of peace and international good will.
He served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs of the Senate, and made the relations of the United States with other nations the subject of special investigation for several years. He excelled in his knowledge of inter- national law, and was perhaps the most noted orator of his day. Many graphic pictures of the life of his own times and facts of historical value are found in his speeches, cover- ing a period of twenty years devoted to public service. Be- cause the quarrel between President Grant and Sumner drove many Republican voters in Massachusetts into the Liberal Republican party, it is interesting to know how the dispute arose.
Quite early in his administration, in 1869, President Grant procured the negotiation of a treaty of annexation of the San Domingo Republic, without consulting the leaders of his party. When he tried to have the treaty ratified by the Senate, how- ever, his plan was defeated by Sumner and other party leaders. This caused a bitter quarrel between Grant and
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Sumner, and resulted in the latter's removal from the chair- manship of the Committee on Foreign Relations at the organ- ization of the next Congress by the Republican caucus. Such action drove the great leader from the party which he had helped to found, and the defeat of the San Domingo treaty thus assumed great political importance.
ROCKWOOD HOAR EPISODE (1873-1874)
Judge E. Rockwood Hoar had resigned in 1869 from the Supreme Bench of Massachusetts to accept the position of Attorney-General in Grant's Cabinet. He was a man of the highest character, a jurist of much influence, admired by his friends as a man of great wit, broad intelligence, and keen in support of the right. Though his personal relations with the President were very close and friendly, his resignation from the Cabinet was requested after two years of service. He later represented the Commonwealth in the National House of Representatives.
President Grant had been considered as favoring reform in the civil service, but several of his appointments discouraged the advocates of that reform. In February, 1874, Grant nominated as collector of the port of Boston a henchman of Benjamin F. Butler, named William A. Simmons. This nomination was opposed by most of the leading men of the party in Massachusetts, including Governor Washburn, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Charles Sumner. Seven of the eleven Representatives in Congress, including Judge E. Rock- wood Hoar, George F. Hoar, and Henry L. Pierce, were also opposed to the choice of Simmons. In spite of the storm of protest which arose, Grant would not withdraw the nomina- tion and Simmons' appointment was confirmed. Senator Boutwell, who at first had approved the appointment, voted against the confirmation. The incident is particularly inter- esting as showing the influence that General Butler possessed over the President.
STATE ELECTIONS (1873-1875)
In 1873, the Democrats believed that they had selected an unusually strong candidate for Governor in William Gaston,
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a former mayor of Boston; but Governor Washburn was renominated by the Republicans and was elected by nearly 13,000 plurality. During his administration, the finances of the State were efficiently and economically managed. Three millions of dollars of funded debt were paid off in 1872. Two new normal schools were opened and a reformatory for women was established, which relieved congestion in the county prisons and made possible better classification of prisoners.
Upon the death of Charles Sumner, March 11, 1874, a spirited contest for his seat took place between Ebenezer R. Hoar and Henry L. Dawes, the Republican candidates, and Benjamin R. Curtis, Democrat. A compromise was made which resulted in the election of Governor Washburn, who thereupon resigned as governor, and Thomas Talbot, of Bil- lerica, the lieutenant-governor, became acting governor, May 1, 1874. His executive acts were fearless and in accord with his convictions, but there was dissatisfaction among the Re- publicans because of his veto of a bill practically doing away with the prohibitory liquor law; and also because of a veto regarding the State police. Nevertheless, the Republican State Convention nominated him for governor, and the Prc- hibition party endorsed him as its candidate. Thus an alli- ance was formed between the Republican and Prohibition parties, contrary to the previous policy of either.
The election of 1874 resulted in decisive defeat for Talbot and selection of the Democratic candidate, William Gaston. As the Republicans elected the balance of the State ticket and retained the control of the legislature, which favored a modi- fication of the liquor law, the voters must be considered as then opposed to the existing prohibition law. During Gaston's administration, the prohibitory law was repealed and a local- option license law enacted. Governor Gaston again received the Democratic nomination in 1875, but was defeated by the Republican nominee, Alexander H. Rice, of Newton, who received about 5,000 plurality.
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