. Civil war and reconstruction in Alabama . gro vote, but these were fewer than ever before. There was consider-able complaint thatthe Federal troops hadsided always with thewhites in the electiontroubles. The Repub-lican leaders knew, ofcourse, that for theirown time at least Ala-bama was to remainin the hands of thewhites. The blackswere surprisingly in-different after theydiscovered that therewas to be no returnto slavery, so muchso that many whitesfeared that their indif-ference masked somedeep-laid schemeagainst the victors. The heart of theBlack Belt still re-mained under the ruleof the
. Civil war and reconstruction in Alabama . gro vote, but these were fewer than ever before. There was consider-able complaint thatthe Federal troops hadsided always with thewhites in the electiontroubles. The Repub-lican leaders knew, ofcourse, that for theirown time at least Ala-bama was to remainin the hands of thewhites. The blackswere surprisingly in-different after theydiscovered that therewas to be no returnto slavery, so muchso that many whitesfeared that their indif-ference masked somedeep-laid schemeagainst the victors. The heart of theBlack Belt still re-mained under the ruleof the carpet-bagger and the black. The Democratic state executiveCommittee considered that enough had been gained for one election,so it ordered that no whites should contest on technical groundsalone the offices in those black counties. Other methods graduallygave the Black Belt to the whites. No Democrat would now go onthe bond of a Republican official and numbers were, unable to make 1 Annual Cyclopsedia (1874), p. 17 ; Tribune Almanac, ELECTION OF 1876 FOK eOVEBNOB. O Bla<;k Counties [ I I Democratic Majority. \ Republican Majority. = underscoring lines, a heavy minorityvote,25^to «^. Houston (Dem.), 99,265, Woodrafr,(Rep), 55,582,No Republican vote in 1878. THE ELECTION OF 1874 797 bond; their offices thus becoming vacant, the governor appointedDemocrats. Others sold out to the whites, or neglected to makebond, or made bonds which were later condemned by grand resulted in many offices going to the whites, though most of themwere still in the hands of the Repubhcans. Houstons two terms were devoted to setting affairs in administration was painfully economical. Not a cent was spentbeyond what was absolutely necessary. Numerous superfluousoffices were cut off at once and salaries reduced. The question ofthe public debt was settled. To prevent future interference byFederal authorities the time for state elections was changed fromNovember, the time of
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