passed into the control of the Democrats.

[Illustration: THE RUINS AFTER THE PITTSBURGH RIOTS.]

[Sidenote: Panic and hard times.]

[Sidenote: The Pittsburgh riots, 1877.]

459. Strikes and Riots, 1877.--The extravagance and speculation of
the Civil War, and the years following its close, ended in a great panic
in 1873. After the panic came the "hard times." Production fell off. The
demand for labor diminished. Wages were everywhere reduced. Strikes
became frequent, and riots followed the strikes. At Pittsburg, in
western Pennsylvania, the rioters seized the railroad. They burned
hundreds of railroad cars and locomotives. They destroyed the railroad
buildings. At last the riot came to an end, but not until millions of
dollars' worth of property had been destroyed.

[Sidenote: The Stalwart Republicans.]

[Sidenote: Garfield elected President, 1880.]

460. Election of 1880.--At the beginning of his administration
Hayes had declared that he would not be a candidate for reelection. Who
should be the Republican standard bearer? Grant's friends proposed to
nominate him for a third term. The politicians who advocated a third
term for Grant were opposed to the candidacy of James G. Blaine. They
were called the Stalwart Republicans. In the convention they voted
steadily and solidly for Grant. Finally their opponents, with the cry of
"Anything to beat Grant," suddenly turned to an entirely new man, whose
name had been little mentioned. This was James A. Garfield of Ohio. He
had won distinction in the Civil War and had served with credit in
Congress. For Vice-President the Republicans nominated Chester A.
Arthur, a New York banker. The Democrats, on their part, nominated one
of the most brilliant and popular soldiers of the Army of the Potomac,
General Winfield Scott Hancock. The campaign was very hotly contested.
In the end Garfield won.

[Sidenote: Garfield murdered, 1881.]

[Sidenote: President Arthur.]

[Sidenote: Civil Service Reform. _Source-Book_, 363-365.]

461. Garfield murdered; Civil Service Reform.--President Garfield
took the oath of office on March 4, 1881. On July 2 he was shot in the
back by a disappointed office-seeker. Week after week he endured
terrible agony. At length, on September 19, the martyred President died.
Now at last the evils of the "Spoils System" were brought to the
attention of the American people. Vice-President Arthur became President
and entered heartily into projects of reform.