Appletons' cyclopædia of American biography . ommittee of ways and means. In reconstruc-tion time-. Garfield was earnest and aggressive inopposition to the theories advocated by PresidentJohnson. Be was a kind man, and not lackingin sympathy forthose who. from mistaken motives,had attempted to sever their eonnection with theral Union; but he was not a sentimentalist,and had too earnest convictions not to insist thatthe results won by so much treasure and bloodshould be secured to the victors. An old soldier,he would not see Union victories neutralized byevasions of the constitution. On these t
Appletons' cyclopædia of American biography . ommittee of ways and means. In reconstruc-tion time-. Garfield was earnest and aggressive inopposition to the theories advocated by PresidentJohnson. Be was a kind man, and not lackingin sympathy forthose who. from mistaken motives,had attempted to sever their eonnection with theral Union; but he was not a sentimentalist,and had too earnest convictions not to insist thatthe results won by so much treasure and bloodshould be secured to the victors. An old soldier,he would not see Union victories neutralized byevasions of the constitution. On these topics noone was hi- superior in either branch of congress,and no opponent, however able, encountered himhere without regretting the contest. In 1876, Gen. Garfield went, to New Orleans, at P lenl Grants request, in company with Sena- ? Sherman and Matthews and other Republi- tch the counting of the Louisiana, vote. H made a special study of the West Feliciana and embodied his views in a brief but _ ficant report. On his return, he made, in. January, 1877, two notable speeches in the houseon the duty of congress in a presidential election,and claimed that the vice-president had a con-stitutional right to count the electoral vote. Hewas opposed to an electoral commission ; yet, whenthe commission wras ordered, Gen. Garfield waschosen by acclamation to fill one of the two seatsallotted to Republican representatives. His col-league was George F. Hoar, of discussed before the commission the Flor-ida and Louisiana returns, on 9 and 16 Feb., Blaine left the house in 1877 for the senate,and this made Garfield the undisputed leader ofthe Republican party in the house. He was at thistime, and subsequently, its candidate for speaker. The struggle begun in the second session of the45th congress (1879), when the Democratic major-ity sought to control the president through theappropriations, gave Garfield a fine opportunity todisplay his powers as a leader in
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