Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1879-08-14
SHERMAN'S SUCCESS.
His Great Speech at Portland
on the Issues of the Day.
An Unanswerable Attack Upon the
False Theories of Finance.

Secretary John Sherman addressed an
| immense audience at Portland, Maine,
July 23rd, at the invitation of Senator
| Blaine. The following is Mr.. Sherman
speech:
After reviewing the history of the re-
sumption act, Secretary Sherman pro.
ceeded to speak Of democratic opposi,
tion to It. The democratic party, it its
platform adopted in st. Louis in 1876,
while pretending 10 be for resumption,
denounced the republican party because
1t had made no preparation for it, but, in
stead, had obstructed it by wasting our
resources and exhausting all surplus in
come; and because, while annually pro-
Tossing to intend a speedy return to
specie payments, it had annually enacted
fresh hindrances thereto. 1t denounced
the resumption act of 1875, as such a
hlndrance and demanded its repeal. Mr..
Ewing, of Ohio, and Mr.. Voorhees,, of
Indiana, with others, made a minority
report, IN which they declared that the
law for the resumption of specie pay
ments on the 1st of January, 1879, having
Deen enacted by the republican party
without deliberation in congress or dis
cusslon before the people, and being so
inadequate to secure its object, was
highly Injurious to the business of the
country, and ought to be forthwith re-
pealed.
Mr.. TILDEN,
IN his letter of acceptance, endorsed this
dOctrlne. and, at the same time, declared
himself for speedy return to specie
payments, saying: "The government
ought not to speculate on its own dis
honor in order to save interest on its
broken promises, which it still compels
private dealers to accept at a fictitious
par" [ will read some of the prophecies
made by very distinguished gentlemen
IN regard to the resumption act Gen.
Ewing, in the house of representatives,
Nov. %, 1877, said:
"lf we were wholly out of debt to
Europe, if our foreign commerce f1oated
under our own flag, if there were no
system of absenteeism among our veal
thy classes, expending their wealth
abroad, resumption in gold, or even sill
Yer, would be impossible on our present
volume of paper currency for many
years to come. = The national
banks, the importers, the gold ring of
New York, the desperadoes of Wall
street, the money kings of Europe, to
whom we are financially enslaved, they
ton and destruction as fast as the gold
can be paid over the counters of the
treasury"
On tie 18th of November, 1877, nv old
friend, Judge Kelley, of Pennsylvania, in
the house of representatives said:
: But, gentlemen, the worst
has not yet come if this act is to be main
taIned. And [ tell you-and you may
book it to jeer and scoff at me fifteen
months hence if it prove not to be true
prediction-the suffering we have en-
dured during the three years this law has
been IN existence, is like the chill which
embellishes while it blasts with feathered
frost the leaves and flowers of the trop
lcal plants that surround the homes Of
our extreme southern states, compared
with the arctic cold that builds up the
mountainous iceberg, which chills the
summer atmosphere of our coast as it
passes near our shores"
| have no desire to jeer or snoff at gen.
tleman whom [ sincerely respect, al
though near two years ago he gave us
authority to do SO, if he proved to be a
false prophet. Mr.. Muldrow said, in the
house of representatives., November 16,
1877:
The act gives the secretary of the
treasury The power to sell bonds, so as to
obtain gold to redeem the greenbacks and
fractional currency; but there is no such
provision in regard to the national bank
issues. The practical working of the law
will be the absorption and retirement of
the greenbacks and the issuance in their
stead of redeemabe national-bank notes.
No man with any financial sagacity can
believe that the national banks will be
able to redeem their circulating currency
with coin in January, 1879"
Mr.. Buckner, chairman of the commit
tee of banking and currency, said on the
10th of November, 1877:
q have not yet been able to find a
man, learned or unlearned, capitalist or
laborer, merchant or farmer, who be-
lieves resumption is possible or practic
able. Perhaps the secretary of the treas
ury is an exception.'
| might quote for DAYS the warning
and evil prophecies of our Democratic
and greenback friends, but they have
been so recently made that it is scarcely
necessary.
SUCCESS OF RESUMPTION.
Let US now examine which of these op-
posing opinions has been proved to be
true by the test of experience. The sue
cess of resumption depended entirely
upon the ability of the United States, by
the time fixed, to accumulate in the treas
ury an amount of coin sufficient to meet
any demands likely to be made upon it.
This coin could ONLY he obtained Inv e11r
plus revenue, or by the sale of United
States bonds, full authority for which was
given by the resumption act In April,
1877, it was announced by the admins
tration that from the first of Nav the
treasury department would accumulate
coin at the rate of $5,000,000 month, and
accordingly that sum was set aside from
the sale of Az per cent. bonds up to the
the 1st of July. The very announ cement
for the purpose to resume, with definite
plan of resumption, at once had reviv-
ing effect upon the public credit, increas-
ing the sale of p per cent. bonds. This
induced the treasury department, on the
23d day Of May, 1877, to withdraw the AZ
Per cent. bonds, and on the 9th of June,
1877, to place the per cents upon the
market to be sold at par in coin, both for
refunding and resumption purposes.
This was critical experiment, the ex-
pediency of which was gravely doubted
by many friends of resumption, but it
PROVED A PERFECT SUCCESS.
This course was pursued until Novem-