The Election of 1876: When Seattle Held Its Breath
As the U.S. Congress deadlocked over the disputed Hayes-Tilden election, the frontier town of Seattle processed the national anxiety through the lens of political 'vultures' and the hope for a peaceful transition.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The prospect for timely and peaceful solution of the deplorable presidential problem grows brighter day by day. The compromise bill has already passed both branches of Congress, referring the decision of the election to the court of the meet judicial minds in the nation. The majorities in both Senate and House were overwhelming, so that even if the president should be so infatuated as to refuse his sanction, his obduracy would not probably be of any consequence, as it is likely that the bill would be affirmed by more than a two-thirds vote. This quiet disposition of the matter may not be agreeable to the fire-eating elements of either party who would rather embroil the country in bloodshed than abandon one iota of their ambitious aims. The great masses of the American people, however, are conservative—tired of military strife with its attendant despotism, misery and destruction. In the words of Grant, the people say 'Let us have peace.' They hold that there are higher vocations for intelligent citizens than mutual butchery or the tiresome and fruitless wrangling over the political arena—the republic of the vultures over the spoils.
“The great masses of the American people, however, are conservative—tired of military strife with its attendant despotism, misery and destruction.”
In 1877, the country was paralyzed by a contested election that many feared would trigger a second Civil War. Today, Seattle’s political discourse remains equally polarized, reminding us that the anxiety of 'the republic of the vultures'—our term for partisan gridlock—is a recurring feature of American democracy, not just a modern plague.
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