BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE


THE CLEVELAND ERA


CHAPTER I. A TRANSITION PERIOD

Politicians at Washington very generally failed to realize that
the advent of President Hayes marked the dismissal of the issues
of war and reconstruction. They regarded as an episode what
turned out to be the close of an era. They saw, indeed, that
public interest in the old issues had waned, but they were
confident that this lack of interest was transient. They admitted
that the emotional fervor excited by the war and by the issues of
human right involved in its results was somewhat damped, but they
believed that the settlement of those issues was still so
incomplete that public interest would surely rekindle. For many
years the ruling thought of the Republican party leaders was to
be watchful of any opportunity to ply the bellows on the embers.
Besides genuine concern over the way in which the negroes had
been divested of political privileges conferred by national
legislation, the Republicans felt a tingling sense of party
injury.

The most eminent party leaders at this time--both standing high
as presidential possibilities--were James G. Blaine and John
Sherman. In a magazine article published in 1880 Mr. Blaine
wrote: "As the matter stands, all violence in the South inures to
the benefit of one political party.... Our institutions have been