Details
GARFIELD, JAMES, President. Autograph letter signed ("J.A. Garfield") as Congressman, to Captain A.W. Stiles, [Washington, D.C.], 28 December 1876. 2 pages, 8vo, 126 x 205mm. (5 x 8 in.), on House of Representatives stationery, tiny tear (not affecting text) discreetly repaired on verso.
GARFIELD ON THE HAYES-TILDEN ELECTION CONTROVERSY: "WE MUST STAND FIRMLY BY THE LAW AND MAINTAIN OUR RIGHTS"
In this outspoken letter, Representative Garfield, a Republican, discusses the disputed Presidential election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. "Yours of the 24th inst is received and read, with interest[.] We do not yet know precisely what the Democrats mean, but they talk as though they meant mischief. We must stand firmly by the law and maintain our rights in the case. If when the votes are counted it does not appear that Governor Hayes is fairly elected no man would wish to see him declared so. But if he has been fairly elected it must be declared and he must be inaugurated and the men who resort to violence to prevent it must take the consequences of their violence." Tilden won the popular vote and led in the electoral votes 184-166, just one shy of the majority. Hayes, therefore, needed every available electoral vote to win. The returns of South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida, all Republican states, were uncertain, and one Oregon electoral vote was being challenged. Hayes led in South Carolina, but was falling behind in both Louisiana and Florida until Southern Republican officials deemed many Democtratic ballots invalid. Congress then established a 15-man electoral commission, on which Garfield served, to decide the election. The commission was made up of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats, each of whom voted along party lines, so Hayes was elected the 19th President.
GARFIELD ON THE HAYES-TILDEN ELECTION CONTROVERSY: "WE MUST STAND FIRMLY BY THE LAW AND MAINTAIN OUR RIGHTS"
In this outspoken letter, Representative Garfield, a Republican, discusses the disputed Presidential election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. "Yours of the 24th inst is received and read, with interest[.] We do not yet know precisely what the Democrats mean, but they talk as though they meant mischief. We must stand firmly by the law and maintain our rights in the case. If when the votes are counted it does not appear that Governor Hayes is fairly elected no man would wish to see him declared so. But if he has been fairly elected it must be declared and he must be inaugurated and the men who resort to violence to prevent it must take the consequences of their violence." Tilden won the popular vote and led in the electoral votes 184-166, just one shy of the majority. Hayes, therefore, needed every available electoral vote to win. The returns of South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida, all Republican states, were uncertain, and one Oregon electoral vote was being challenged. Hayes led in South Carolina, but was falling behind in both Louisiana and Florida until Southern Republican officials deemed many Democtratic ballots invalid. Congress then established a 15-man electoral commission, on which Garfield served, to decide the election. The commission was made up of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats, each of whom voted along party lines, so Hayes was elected the 19th President.