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CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR (1830 – 1886)

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 684 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR (1830 – 1886)  , twenty - first president of the
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United States, was born in
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Fairfield,
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Vermont, on the 5th of
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October 1830 . His
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father, William Arthur (1796–1875), when eighteen years of age, emigrated from Co . Antrim, Ireland, and, after teaching in various places in Vermont and
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Lower
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Canada, became a Baptist minister . William Arthur had married Malvina Stone, an
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American girl who lived at the time of the
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marriage in Canada, and the numerous changes of the
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family residence afforded a basis for allegations in 188o that theson Chester was born not in Vermont, but in Canada, and was therefore, ineligible for the
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presidency . Chester entered Union College as a
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sophomore, and graduated with honour in 1848 . He then became a schoolmaster, at the same time studying law . In 1853 he entered a law office in New York city, and in the following
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year was admitted to the bar . His reputation as a lawyer began with his connexion with the famous " Lemmon slave case," in which, as one of the
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special counsel for the state, he secured a decision from the highest state courts that slaves brought into New York while in transit between two slave states were ipso facto
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free . In another noted case, in 1855, he obtained a decision that negroes were entitled to the same accommodations as whites on the street
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railways of New York city . In politics he was actively associated from the outset with the Republican party . When the
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Civil War began he held the position of engineer-in-chief on Governor Edwin D . Morgan's staff, and afterwards became successively acting quartermaster-general, inspector-general, and quartermaster-general of the state troops, in which capacities he showed much administrative efficiency .

At the

close of Governor Morgan's
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term, on the 31st of December 1862, General Arthur resumed the practice of his profession, remaining active, however, in party politics in New York city . In November 1871 he was appointed by President U . S . Grant
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collector of customs for the
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port of New York . The custom-house had long been conspicuous for the most flagrant abuses of the " spoils
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system "; and though General Arthur admitted that the evils existed and that they rendered efficient administration impossible, he made no extensive reforms . In 1877 President Rutherford B . Hayes began the reform of the civil service with the New York custom-house . A non-partisan commission, appointed by Secretary John Sherman, recommended sweeping changes . The president demanded the resignation of Arthur and his two
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principal subordinates, George H . Sharpe, the surveyor, and Alonzo B . Cornell, the
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naval officer, of the Port . General Arthur refused to resign on the ground that to retire " under fire " would be to acknowledge wrong-doing, and claimed that as the abuses were inherent in a widespread system he should not be made to bear the responsibility alone .

His cause was espoused by Senator

Roscoe Conkling, for a time successfully; but on the rrth of
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July 1878, during a recess of the Senate, the collector was removed, and in
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January 1879, after another severe struggle, this
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action received the approval of the Senate . In 188o General Arthur was a delegate at large from New York to the Republican
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national convention . In
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common with the rest of the "Stalwarts," he worked hard for the nomination of Gen . U . S . Grant for a third term . Upon the triumph of James A . Garfield, the necessity of conciliating the defeated faction led to the hasty acceptance of Arthur for the second place on the ticket . His nomination was coldly received by the public; and when, after his election and accession, he actively engaged on behalf of Conkling in the
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great conflict with Garfield over the New York patronage, the impression was widespread that he was unworthy of his position . Upon the
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death of President Garfield, on the 19th of September 1881, Arthur took the oath as his successor . Contrary to the general expectation, his appointments were as a
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rule unexceptionable, and he earnestly promoted the Pendleton law for the reform of the civil service . His use of the veto in 1882 in the cases of a Chinese Immigration
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Bill (prohibiting immigration of Chinese for twenty years) and a
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River and Harbour Bill (appropriating over $18,000,000, to be expended on many insignificant as well as important streams) confirmed the favourable impression which had been made .

The most important events of his administration were the passage of the

Tariff Act of 1883 and of the " Edmunds Law " prohibiting polygamy in the territories, and the completion of three great trans-
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continental railways—the
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Southern Pacific, the
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Northern Pacific, and the
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Atchison,
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Topeka &
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Santa Fe . His administration was lacking in
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political situations of a dramatic character, but on all questions that arose his policy was sane and dignified . In 1884 he allowed his name to be presented for renomination in the Republican convention, but he was easily defeated by the friends of James G . Blaine . At the expiration of his term he resumed his residence in New York city, where he died on the 18th of November 1886 . For an account of his administration see UNITED STATES:
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History .

End of Article: CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR (1830 – 1886)
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