obtained, and the
extravagance with which it had been expended in all the walks of life,
produced in the minds of the people an indifference to the question of
economy. The President, in his own long career, had exercised a rigid
watchfulness over the disbursements of public money, and he did not
fully realize the great change which had been wrought in the people--a
change sure to follow the condition of war if historic precedents may
be trusted--a change in which economy gives way to lavishness and
careful circumspection is followed by loose disregard of established
rules. It is a condition not implying dishonesty or even recklessness,
but one which follows from a positive inability in the public mind to
estimate the expenditure of money by the standards which are applied
in the era of peaceful industry, careful supervision and prudent
restraint.

The Senate voted upon the veto the day after it was received. Greatly
to the surprise of the public the dominant party was unable to pass the
bill against the objections of the President. Messrs. Dixon,
Doolittle, Morgan, Norton and Van Winkle had voted for it, but now
changed their votes and thereby reversed the action of the Senate.
These senators, with the addition of Nesmith and Willey, who did not
vote on the passage of the bill, gave the final count of 30 in favor
of the passage to 18 against--lacking the two-thirds and therefore
failing to pass the bill. The result was wholly unlooked for and the
vote of Governor Morgan of New York gave great uneasiness to his
political associates. It was for a time believed that under the
persuasive influence of Mr. Seward, with whom he had long been on terms
of close intimacy, Mr. Morgan might be intending to join the
Administration party. The same was thought possible with regard to Mr.
Van Winkle of West Virginia, his location suggesting the possibility
of such a change. The excitement among Republicans was great for a
time, because if they should so far lose control of either branch of
Congress as to be unable to override the vetoes of the President, all
attempts to enforce a more radical policy of Reconstruction than Mr.
Johnson could be induced to approve would necessarily be futile. It
was soon ascertained however, that the apprehension of danger was
unfounded and that Messrs. Morgan and Van Winkle did not design any
change of political relations, but were only more cautious and perhaps
wiser than the other Republica