no concentration could be effected on any other candidate to
prevent the nomination of Grant, and votes now turned to Garfield
so rapidly that on the thirty-sixth ballot he received 399, a
clear majority of the whole. The adherents of Grant stuck to him
to the end, polling 306 votes on the last ballot and subsequently
deporting themselves as those who had made a proud record of
constancy.

The Democratic national convention nominated General Hancock,
which was, in effect, an appeal to the memories and sentiments of
the past, as their candidate's public distinction rested upon his
war record. The canvass was marked by listlessness and
indifference on the part of the general public, and by a fury of
calumny on the part of the politicians directed against their
opponents. Forgery was resorted to with marked effect on the
Pacific coast, where a letter--the famous Morey letter--in which
Garfield's handwriting was counterfeited, was circulated
expressing unpopular views an the subject of Chinese immigration.
The forgery was issued in the closing days of the canvass, when
there was not time to expose it. Arrangements had been made for a
wide distribution of facsimiles which exerted a strong influence.
Hancock won five out of the six electoral votes of California and
came near getting the three votes of Oregon also. In the popular
vote of the whole country, Garfield had a plurality of less than
ten thousand in a total vote of over nine million.

The peculiarities of the party system which has been developed in
American politics, forces upon the President the occupation of
employment agent as one of his principal engagements. The
contention over official patronage, always strong and ardent upon