CHAPTER XLV

THE ADMINISTRATION IN REVIEW

DIVESTED of his rank and office, Grant found himself once more the looming figure of the time, as he had been directly after Appomattox. The venom of attack was dissipated with the disappearance of official power. There was a quick rebound in public sentiment as often happens with a people jealous of those on whom they have conferred supreme authority. There was no more talk of Cæsarism, nepotism, or corruption. The folly of the first was obvious now that the "Cæsar" pictured by the party press was a plain citizen seemingly thankful to return to private life; the silliness of the attacks on nepotism was manifest now that the little flock of office-holding relatives found their petty titles and emoluments at the disposal of a President on whom they had no claim; as for corruption and gift-taking, here was Grant at the close of sixteen years of service in such financial straits that he was puzzled how to get along.

True, he had houses presented by the people, but they were not endowed, and in them he could not afford to live; he had a farm at Gravois, near St. Louis, the site of the Dent homestead, on which he

had spent borrowed money and which had never paid; he had used up his salary while President, and though he had a little income from investments, he would have been far better off if he had spent the sixteen years in trade. Those who had been most virulent in their attacks upon him for eight years now felt that they had done him wrong. He was again the idol of his countrymen, who at last could comprehend the merits of an administration, thrown in the shadow for a time by superficial faults. They realized how they had leaned on him during the months when the succession was in doubt, and it began to dawn upon them that the United States during his term as President had held high rank, that there had never been a period in our history when an American citizen could count so surely on worldwide respect, and that we now stood higher in the world's regard than at any other moment since the Government began.

No President ever had a firmer or more consistent foreign policy than Grant. Fish is entitled to all the credit which belongs to him and which Grant himself was always generous to bestow, but Fish alone could not have carried through the diplomatic triumphs which shed on Grant's Administration their resplendency. Fish was far-seeing, firm, and sensible, but he would have been quite futile without Grant. It was

the steady backing of the White House that made it possible for Fish to carry through his foreign policy, and in most instances the programme was as truly Grant's as his.

A case in point is the Virginius incident early in the second term, which might have brought on war with Spain if badly managed, but which was handled with such firmness and discretion that without war we won in our contention and held our national respect. The Virginius was an American-built steamer which for some years had been employed at intervals in landing military expeditions to aid the Cuban insurrection. On October 31, 1873, while bound from Kingston in Jamaica to a Cuban port, flying our flag but carrying war material, it was captured by a Spanish man-of-war and taken into Santiago. She had on board one hundred and fifty-five passengers and crew, most of them Cubans planning to join the insurrection, but some of them citizens of the United States. Early in November fifty-three of the passengers and crew were sentenced by court martial and shot, among them eight of our citizens. "If it prove that an American citizen has been wrongfully executed, this Government will require most ample reparation," Fish promptly cabled Sickles, our Minister to Spain. Castelar, the Spanish President, at once and no doubt with sincerity expressed regret.

The country was ablaze with wrath. The press demanded swift revenge. Mass meetings heard hot speeches. Fish was too slow. The people east of the Missouri were for immediate hostilities. War seemed at hand.

But Fish, sustained by Grant, proceeded cautiously. He was not swept off his feet by clamor, but he had lost no time in stating our position and he did not now dally with well-phrased diplomatic notes. "Unless abundant reparation shall have been voluntarily tendered," he cabled Sickles on November 14, "you will demand the restoration of the Virginius and the release and delivery to the United States of the persons captured on her who have not yet been massacred, and that the flag of the United States be saluted in the port of Santiago and the signal punishment of the officials who were concerned in the capture of the vessel and the execution of the passengers and crew. In case of refusal of satisfactory reparation, written twelve days from this date, you will... close your legation and leave Madrid.”

Feeling ran high in Madrid as well as in the United States, and Sickles was at times hysterical, but Grant and Fish retained their poise. Fish took the business up in Washington with Polo, the Spanish Minister, and these two reached a satisfactory agreement. The Virginius and her survivors were to be restored

immediately. Spain was to have an opportunity to prove that the Virginius at the time of capture was not entitled to fly our colors, and if unable to prove this before December 25, she must salute our flag. Officials guilty of illegal acts of violence toward citizens of the United States were to be punished.

On December 18, the Virginius, flying our flag, was delivered to our navy at Bahia Honda in Cuba, but while on her way to New York sank in a storm. Two days later the surviving prisoners were surrendered and reached New York in safety. Investigation showed that the Virginius when captured was improperly carrying the American flag and consequently there was no salute. In the hands of Grant and Fish the whole affair was handled with dignity and self-respect. Pending negotiations, Grant put the navy on a war footing, "trusting to Congress and the public opinion of the American people to justify my action."1

"I would sum up the policy of the Administration," Grant had said in his second annual message, "to be a thorough enforcement of every law; a faithful collection of every tax provided for; economy in the disbursement of the same; a prompt payment of every debt of the nation; a reduction of taxes as rapidly as the requirements of the country will admit;

1 Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vII, p. 242.