One of his most important papers was
the message vetoing the "inflation bill."
The closing months of his public life covered the stormy and exciting
period following the Presidential election of 1876, when the result as
between Mr. Tilden and Mr. Hayes was so long in doubt. There is very
little, however, in any Presidential paper of that period to indicate
the great peril to the country and the severe strain to which our
institutions were subjected in that memorable contest.
The Administration of Mr. Hayes, though it began amid exciting scenes
and an unprecedented situation which threatened disasters, was rather
marked by moderation and a sympathy with what he considered true reform.
Some of his vetoes are highly interesting, and indicate independence of
character and that he was not always controlled by mere party politics.
One of the most famous and best remembered of his messages is that
vetoing the Bland-Allison Act, which restored the legal-tender quality
to the silver dollar and provided for its limited coinage.
Other papers of interest are his message recommending the resumption of
specie payments; vetoes of a bill to restrict Chinese immigration, of
an Army appropriation bill, of a legislative, executive, and judicial
appropriation bill, and of the act known as the "funding act of 1881.
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