1881 United States Senate special elections in New York March 4. On May 16, 1881, both U.S. Senators from New York resigned in protest against the distribution of federal patronage in New York by President James A. Garfield, a Half-Breed, without being consulted. The confrontation between the Stalwart and the Half-Breed (in the press now usually referred to as the "Administration men") factions of the Republican Party arose when the leader of the New Yorker Half-Breeds, President pro tempore of the State Senate William H. Robertson, was appointed Collector of the Port of New York, the highest paying federal office in New York. Conkling preferred that Collector Edwin Merritt
HMS Canada (1881) HMS Canada (1881) HMS "Canada" was a screw corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1881 and sold for scrap in 1897. Her bow badge was removed prior to being sold for scrap and is currently displayed in the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. "Canada" was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1879, one of nine ships of the "Comus" class. She was launched on 26 August 1881 and completed later that year. Planning for six metal-hulled corvettes began in 1876; these became the "Comus"-class corvettes and were designed for long voyages away from coaling stations. Given a