The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes. J. Q. Howard
the national constitution as may be deemed necessary ought to be submitted to the house for its action at as early a day as possible, in order to propose them to the several states during the present sessions of their legislatures.
"Resolved, That an amendment, basing representation on voters instead of population, ought to be promptly acted upon, and the judiciary committee is requested to prepare resolutions for that purpose, and submit them to the house as soon as practicable."
When the ratification of the amendments taking their origin from these resolutions became a matter of supreme concern, Mr. Orth and Mr. Cullom, now the Republican candidates for Governor in Indiana and Illinois, in conjunction with Mr. Hayes, drafted the following letter, which was signed by Republican members of Congress and forwarded to Governor Brownlow, of Tennessee:
"The undersigned members of Congress respectfully suggest, that, as Governor of the State of Tennessee, you call a special session of the legislature of your state, for the purpose of ratifying the constitutional amendment submitted by the present Congress to the several states for ratification, believing that upon such ratification this Congress will, during its present session, recognize the present state government of Tennessee and admit the state to representation in both houses of Congress."
The session of the legislature was called, the fourteenth amendment ratified, and the Tennessee members admitted to seats in Congress in July, 1866. This ratification was the one required to render the amendment valid.
In the fall of 1865, General Hayes delivered very earnest political speeches in about twenty counties in Ohio, in advocacy of the election of his military comrade, General Jacob D. Cox, as governor of the state. We find many of these speeches partially reported, and from one delivered in the West end, in Cincinnati, September 28, we take this extract:
"The Democratic plan of reorganization is this: The rebels, having laid down their arms and abandoned their attempt to break up the Union, are now entitled, as a matter of right, to be restored to all the rights, political and civil, which they enjoyed before the rebellion, precisely as if they had remained loyal. They are to vote, to hold office, to bear arms, immediately and unconditionally. There is to be no confiscation and no punishment, either for leaders or followers—no amendment or change of the constitution by way of guaranty against future rebellion—no indemnity for the past, and no security for the future. The Union party objects to this plan, because it wants, before rebels shall again be restored to power, an amendment to the constitution which shall remove all vestiges of slavery, and an amendment which shall equalize representation between the States having a large negro population and the States whose negro population is small."
In August, 1866, General Hayes received the endorsement of a re-nomination to Congress by acclamation. There was no opposing candidate. He entered at once into the canvass. He delivered a speech almost every afternoon or evening until the day of the election. He frequently spoke outside of his own district, to aid his friends. The questions at issue were the reconstruction measures of Congress and of President Johnson, and the merits of the new constitutional amendments. In a public speech delivered in the Seventeenth Ward, in Cincinnati, September 7, 1866, he discussed at great length the questions of the day. In conclusion he said:
"The Union party is prepared to make great sacrifices in the future, as in the past, for the sake of peace and for the sake of union, but submission to what is wrong can never be the foundation of a real peace or a lasting union. They can have no other sure foundation but the principles of eternal justice. The Union men therefore say to the South: 'We ask nothing but what is right; we will submit to nothing that is wrong.' With undoubting confidence we submit the issue to the candid judgment of the patriotic people of the country, under the guidance of that Providence which has hitherto blessed and preserved the Nation."
The canvass was an active and exciting one; but General Hayes was re-elected over a competitor of so high standing as Theodore Cook, by a majority of two thousand five hundred and fifty-six. It is noticeable that while there was a Republican loss of seven hundred in the first district, compared with the vote for Congressmen in 1864, in the second district there was a gain of one hundred over the vote of two years before.
General Hayes took his seat in the Fortieth Congress, which convened March 11, 1867. He was re-appointed chairman of the library committee, with John D. Baldwin, of Massachusetts, and J. V. L. Pruyn, of New York, as associate members. General Hayes' three years in Congress were almost continuously employed in exacting labors in looking after the pensions and pay of soldiers, and in making provision for their families. Cincinnati had sent a great many soldiers into the war, and all who had wants sent their petitions to the only representative of Hamilton county who had served in the army. The soldiers of his old division, scattered over the country, sent their applications to him as a sympathizing friend. He had as many as seven hundred cases of this kind on hand at one time. His time was therefore necessarily consumed in running to the departments and in answering soldiers' correspondence. This service of love was of course gratuitously and most cheerfully rendered; but it withdrew him more or less from his duties on the floor of Congress.
He was not consequently a speech-maker in Congress, but a business-doer. His innate good sense taught him that the public business was pushed forward, not by talking much, but by talking little. Like Schurz, who became the intellectual leader of the Senate, like Senator Edmunds and most strong men, he kept silent while new to the business of legislation. He was constantly consulted by the chief men in his party because he possessed that most essential quality in a public man—good judgment. He did no talking for himself, but an immense deal of working for others. Every soldier was his constituent, whether he lived in Maine or Nebraska. He placed self not first, but last.
He had no thought of fame or higher place, but silently served those that loved him, and to the maimed or needy tried to make the burdens and loads of life lighter. He doubtless thought that "he who lives a great truth is incomparably greater than he who but speaks it."
CHAPTER VII.
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ELECTED GOVERNOR OF OHIO.
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