Electoral Commission which passed on the conflicting claims and adjudged
the votes of the disputed states, notably Florida and Louisiana, to
Hayes, giving him a majority of one in the electoral college, thus
making him President. When the count was completed and the usual
declaration made, Hayes had no choice but to abide by the decision. Duty
to his country and to his party, the Republican, required his acceptance
of the office, and there is no reason for thinking that he had any
doubts regarding his proper course. His legal title was perfect, but his
moral title was unsound, and it added to the difficulty of his situation
that the opposition, the Democrats, had a majority in the House of
Representatives. None but a determined optimist could have predicted
anything but failure for an administration beginning under such
conditions.

Hayes was an Ohio man, and we in Ohio now watched his successive steps
with keen interest. We knew him as a man of high character, with a fine
sense of honor, but we placed no great faith in his ability. He had
added to his reputation by the political campaign that he had made for
governor, in 1875, against the Democrats under William Allen, who
demanded an inflation of the greenback currency. He took an
uncompromising stand for sound money, although that cause was unpopular
in Ohio, and he spoke from the stump unremittingly and fearlessly,
although overshadowed by the greater ability and power of expression of
Senator Sherman and of Carl Schurz, who did yeoman's service for the
Republicans in this campaign. Senator Sherman had suggested Hayes as
candidate for President, and the nomination by the Republican national
convention had come to him in June, 1876. While his letter of acceptance
may not have surprised his intimate friends, it was a revelation to most
of us from its outspoken and common-sense advocacy of civil service
reform, and it gave us the first glimmering that in Rutherford B. Hayes
the Republicans had for standard bearer a man of more than respectable
ability.

His inaugural address confirmed this impression. He spoke with dignity
and sympathy of the disputed Presidency, promised a liberal policy
toward the Southern states, and declared that a reform in our civil
service was a "paramount necessity." He chose for his Cabinet men in
sympathy with his high ideals. William M. Evarts, the Secretary of
State, was one of the ablest lawyers in the country. He had been one of
the le