The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-10-10
Iohn shcrman,s Crime.


The New Republic, in view of the
extra amount Of abuse being heapcd
upon Secretary Sherman, gives the
following:
"Ihe honorable Secretary Of the
Treasury is persistently charged with
bringing distress upon the county By
forcing resumption" II a merchant
manufacturer, or a person IN any 9th
er line Of business fails, he has been
"Shermanized," according to the vo-
cabulary of the Democratic press.
When the "fat" money State or
county convention adopts its plat
form the main plank charges the
Secretary OF the Treasury with
forcing resumption and thereby
"prOlonging the sufferinRs of the un-
employed" 1t is the old story retold
history repeating itself. Indiyid-
uals, corporations, and communities
in prosperous times rush into impru
dent speculations and extravaganza,
contract debts, secured by a loan on
their property, and pile up obliga-
tons which they have no reasonable
prospect of ever being able TO dis
charge. Finally the limit Of specla-
tive folly is reached by the sudden
crash of some prominent speculative
enterprise, and the nation is astoun-
ded. Confidence vanishcs, fear siezes
the public mind, each individual feels
his own critical condition and loses
confidence in his neighbor; work is
suspended, men are thrown out of
employment, and want and suffering
ensue.
At this ~iuncture the opponents of
the Administration see their oppor
tunity and improve it. The an
nouncemeut is made through the
press, on the stump, and in the halls
of Congress- that al our troubles are
the direct result Of perDicious lcgis!a-
ton, the remedy for which can only
be reached through the ballot-box.
Appeals are made, not to the under
standing, but to the stomach, and
converts are secured to the new doc
trine. Opposition to the Government
spreads, and the Administration is
denounced.
Under a pressure Of precisely this
nature John Sherman has become, as
a prominent officer Of tho Govern
ment, one of the best abused indi-
viduals in the country. And why
Simply because, as a sworn official,
be is ~endeavoring to discharge his
duty as defined by acts of Congress.
1t is known to every citizen that when
capitalists at home and abroad
bought our bonds and paid for them
in coin the promise of the Govern
ment was that they should be re-
deemed in coin. The Secretary, in
paying for bonds in coin, is simply
complying with the law and fulfilling
the Governments pledges. Again,
Congress passed an act providing for
the resumption Of specie payment on
the LIST of January, 1879. For this
the Secretary is now preparing, but
he is governed strictly by the acts Of
Congress in the premises.
The great need Of the country to-
day is the solid business basis which
specie resumption will provide. For
years past the business communities
have been looking and yearning for
this contamination as the only
ground on which to hope for a revi-
val Of business On q permanent foot
ing. The country wants it now; the
Treasury is prepared for its con
mencement without longer delay.
The Secretary is withheld from open
ing his treasure vaults in response
to the wants of business only by the
requirements of the law aohich Jfses the
dag qohen he shall do so. He cannot
even pay out standard dollars for pa
per currency; because a Democratic oct
Of Congress Jor5idS him to do so. If
then, the opposition feels itself bound
to deal in censure, let it go to the
CONFERENCE.-The C~ongress-to its
own representatives, to heap its abuse
upon its own acts, passed there by
its own leaders and then supporters.
The Secretary of the Treasury is
governed by the law in all his acts
and transactions, and his faithful de
votion to the duties assigned him,
and his success in bringing the fuan-
cial system Of the nation to a specie
basis within the time specified by
law, without disturbing the worlds
exchanges in the slightest degree,
will give him high rank in history as
a hnancler and statesman