176 a short history of the united states
Party, by ordering an investigation into the allegedly corrupt patronage
operation in the New York Custom House, the political power base
of Conkling’s organization. Chester A. Arthur was its collector and
Alonzo B. Cornell its naval officer. President Grant had conferred con-
trol of the patronage of the Custom House on Conkling, but Hayes was
determined to terminate it and did so by firing both Arthur and Cornell
and naming their replacements, who were subsequently confi rmed by
the Senate. This victory weakened the Stalwart faction within the Re-
publican party and strengthened the “Half Breed” faction, so called
because they were supposedly not full-blooded Republicans. This fac-
tion was headed by James G. Blaine.
During the ongoing struggle between these two factions, the Re-
publicans held their national nominating convention in Chicago to
choose the next President. Hayes had previously pledged not to seek a
second term. To try to bridge the gulf between the opposing factions
within the party, the convention chose a “dark horse” after thirty-six
ballots. They nominated James A. Garfi eld for President, and as a sop
to the Stalwarts and a means of securing New York’s electoral vote,
they named Chester A. Arthur as Vice President.
The Democrats chose Winfield Scott Hancock, a Civil War gen-
eral, and William H. English of Indiana to head their ticket. A third
party also appeared. This was the Greenback Party, whose platform
advocated money inflation, including the free and unlimited coinage of
silver. It also supported federal regulation of interstate commerce,
women’s suffrage, and a graduated income tax. This party nominated
James B. Weaver of Iowa and B. J. Chambers of Texas for President
and Vice President. And a fourth party, the Prohibition Party, put for-
ward Neal Dow of Maine and A. M. Thompson of Ohio.
Because of the return of prosperity following the disastrous Panic
of 1873 , and the enormous financial support the Republican Party re-
ceived from business, Garfield won an extremely close election by an
electoral count of 214 to 155. He was the first candidate to go directly
from the House of Representatives to the White House. The Green-
back candidate polled a little over 300 , 000 popular votes, and the
Prohibitionist got 10 , 000. Hancock carried the “solid South,” some-
thing the Democratic candidates would enjoy for nearly 100 years.
Unquestionably, the “solid South” was created through intimidation