and report by bill or otherwise. to meet the case was soon introduced by Senator Garland, of Arkansas. The matter was briefly debated both then and at intervals for a number of years; but no legislation upon it occurred till January, 1886, when a law based on Garland's draft was passed. It provides that if the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency are both vacant the Presidency passes to the members of the Cabinet in the historical order of the establishment of their departments, beginning with the Secretary of State. If he dies, is impeached, or disabled, the Secretary of the Treasury becomes President, to be followed in like crisis by the Secretary of War, he by the Attorney-General, he by the Postmaster-General, he by the Secretary of the Navy, and he by the Secretary of the Interior. A bill 1882, William E. Chandler, of New We still have no legal or official criterion of a President's " inability to discharge the powers and duties of his office," nor has any tribunal been designated for the settlement of the question when it arises. We do not know whether, were, another President so ill as Garfield was, it would be proper for the Cabinet to perform Presidential duties, as Garfield's did, or whether the Vice-President would be bound to assume those duties. Barring this chance for conflict, it is not easy to think of an emergency in which the chief magistracy can now fall vacant or the appropriate incumbent thereof be in doubt. ARTHUR'S CABINET THE only member of Garfield's Cabinet whom Arthur permanently retained was Robert T. Lincoln, Secretary of War. However, the old Cabinet did not dissolve at once. Not till December 15, 1881, did Mr. Blaine, who had practically been at the head of the Government from the President's assassination till his death, give up the office of Secretary of State. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, took his place. Ex Governor Edwin D. Morgan, of New York, had been nominated and confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury, but had declined on account of ill-health. Judge Charles J. Folger took the Treasury portfolio November 15, 1881. April 17, John A. Kasson, the Representative of the United States at the Berlin Conference. In addressing Congress for the first time, President Arthur was able to represent the condition of the country as excellent. Colorado had been admitted to the Union in 1876. During the decade ending in 1880 our population had grown somewhat over twenty-five per cent., that is, from thirty-eight millions to fifty millions. The net public debt, December 31, 1880, was a trifle less than $1,900,000,000, a decrease in the face of the debt of $600,000,000 in the ten years. December 31, 1881, the net debt stood at $1,765,491,717. Agricultural production was found to have advanced one hundred per cent., while, according to the ninth census, the increase from 1870 to 1880 had been but twelve per cent. The tenth census corrected certain figures relating to our national area, making the country eight hundred square miles smaller than it had been supposed to be. Americans thought it a serious mat Denis Kearney addressing the workingmen on the night of October 29, on Nob Hill, San Francisco. ter that for the year 1879 the foreign trade of Great Britain summed up more than $3,000,000,000-two and a half times the amount of ours. It was also a source of solicitude that we were the only civilized country in the world whose ocean-carrying had absolutely decreased since 1856. In that year American ships bore seventy-five per cent. of all we exported and of all we imported. In 1878 American ships bore twenty-five per cent.; in 1882, fifteen per cent. Though foreign comerce had increased seventy per cent. n amou..t, the cargoes transported in American ships were $200,000,000 less valuable in 1878 than in 1857. Instead of our tonnage being, as in 1856, two and a half times as great as the foreign tonnage engaged in our commerce, the latter now amounted to four times our own. Instead of three and a half times that of Great Britain, we had less than a half. MAHONE AND VIRGINIA It was a significant feature of Mr. Arthur's first message that it made no allusion to the Southern question. A Sand Lot Meeting in San Francisco. The Workingmen Passing a Resolution by Acclamation. Composition of B. W. Clinedinst, with the assistance of photographs by Taber. All felt, so well had Mr. Hayes's policy worked, that that section might now be safely left to itself. Meantime the "Readjuster" controversy in Virginia bade fair to be the entering wedge for a split in the solid South. The Readjusters were a Democratic faction taking name from their desire to "readjust" the State debt on a basis that meant partial repudiation. In 1879, by a fusion with the Republicans, the Readjusters controlled the State and elected their leader, William Mahone, to the United States Senate. Mahone had been a major general in the Confederate Army, and his bravery greatly endeared him to the Southern heart. He it was who commanded the slender contingent of Confederates at Petersburg freely and their votes had been counton July 30, 1864, when the mine on ed as cast. Good provision for colored Burnside's front was exploded. He schools had also been made there. fought like a tiger, and made his dispositions with the utmost skill and coolness. To him almost alone was due the credit that day of keeping Petersburg from Union hands and of replacing the Confederate lines by sunset exactly where they were at sunrise. Had the Confederacy endured, he should have been one of its presidents for his meritorious services in this battle. The negro vote helped Mahone. He had always favored fair treatment for the black man. In his county the blacks had voted A Typical Alley in Chinatown." After photographs by Taber. The Virginian's entry into the Senate in 1881 was marked by a dramatic passage at arms. His personal appearance drew attention. He had been a striking figure in battle uniform, and he was hardly less so in citizen's attire. He wore a close-bodied suit of brown broadcloth, frilled cuffs extending beyond the sleeves. He had a small head and spindle legs. His hair and beard were long, his stature diminutive. One described him as "a spry midget, full of Irish fire, who enjoyed cutting a na A Characteristic "Mixed Family" in the Highbinders' Quarter, "Chinatown," San Fran CISCO. From a photograph by Taber. tional figure." As elected, the Senate of the Forty-seventh Congress had a small Republican majority, but Garfield's Cabinet appointments, calling away the three Republican SenatorsBlaine, Kirkwood, and Windom-left the two parties in the body equally divided. When the fight for organization came on there were thirty-seven sure Republicans and thirty-seven sure Democrats, not counting David Davis or Mahone, both of whom were expected to act more or less independently of party. Davis, favoring the status quo and evidently expecting Mahone to vote with the Democrats in organizing, declared himself resolved "to support the organization of the Senate as it stood." It had till now been Democratic. Had Mahone sided with him, the committees as made up by the Democratic caucus would have been elected. But in spite of Democratic pleadings and denunciation, Mahone concluded to support the Republicans. This tied the Senate, even if Davis voted with the Democrats, and VicePresident Arthur could of course be counted on to turn the vote the Republican way. This he did in postponing indefinitely the motion to elect the Democratic committees and in electing the Republican list. When it came to choosing sergeant at arms and clerks, Davis, now favoring the new status as before he had the old, voted with the Republicans. Mahone's course aroused great wrath, especially among the Southern Senators. "Who is that man?" cried Senator Hill, of Georgia, amid laughter from the Republican side of the Chamber: "Who is that man so ambitious to do what no man in the history of this country has ever yet done-stand up in this high presence and proclaim from this proud eminence that he disgraces the commission he holds? Such a man is not worthy to be a Democrat. Is he worthy to be a Republican?" In rejoinder Mahone, while declaring himself a Democrat in principle, denied that he was indebted to the Democratic party for his place in the Senate. He concluded: "I want that gentleman to know henceforth and forever that here is a man who dares stand and defend his right against you and your caucus." |