, the commission, by a strict party vote of eight to seven, gave a
decision for the Hayes electors in every case. March 2d it adjourned,
and three days later Hayes was inaugurated without disturbance.

The whole country heaved a sigh of relief. All agreed that provision
must be made against such peril in the future; but it was not till late
in 1886 that Congress could agree upon the necessary measure. The
Electoral Count Bill was then passed, and signed by the President on
February 3, 1887. It aims to throw upon each State, so far as possible,
the responsibility of determining how its own presidential vote has been
cast. It provides that the President of the Senate shall open the
electoral certificates in the presence of both houses, and hand them to
the tellers, two from each house, who are to read them aloud and record
the votes.

If there has been no dispute as to the list of electors from a State,
such list, where certified in due form, is to be accepted as a matter of
course. In case of dispute, the procedure is as follows: If but one set
of returns appears and this is authenticated by a state electoral
tribunal constituted to settle the dispute, such returns shall be
conclusive. If there are two or more sets of returns, the set approved
by the state tribunal shall be accepted. If there are two rival
tribunals, the vote of the State shall be thrown out, unless both
houses, acting separately, agree upon the lawfulness of one tribunal or
the other. If there has been no decision by a tribunal, those votes
shall be counted which both houses, acting separately, decide to be
lawful. If the houses disagree, the votes certified to by the governor
shall be accepted.

[1880]

President Hayes's first important action was the withdrawal of troops
from South Carolina and Louisiana, where the rival governments existed
side by side. The republican governments at once fell to the ground. As
the Democrats had already got control in Florida, the "solid South" was
now an accomplished fact. Financial questions were those which chiefly
occupied the public mind during Hayes's administration. They are
referred to in Chapter VII., below.

Returning from a remarkable tour around the world, General Grant became
in 1880 a candidate for a third-term nomination. The deadlock in the
republican convention between him and Mr. Blaine was broken by the
nomination of James A. Garfield, of Ohio. Chester A. Arthur, of New
York, was the vice-pres