The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-10-17
sHERMAN.s sUAMEI.EsSNESS.

SHERMAN's SHAMELESSNESS.
The Sentinel has on several occasions
commented on the extensive and var.egated
mendacity of John Sherman but it re-
members no sample of it quite so atrocious
as this statement made by him at Akron
yesterday:
1t was the election Of Mr.. Cleveland
and the threat of his party 20 overthIow
our tariff laws that reduced our reccip.s
His election at once precipiJated the hard
times we have had. Who would manu-
facture goods and pay TIE old wages
when the duties on foreign goods made
with lower wages were to be reduced?
Disturbance and stagnatiOn, the reduction
Of wages and limited production here
were the inevitable and certain results
Does any man believe that if Harrison
had been elected in 1892 instead of Cleve-
land there would have been such st2gna-
ton, disturbance and distrust? There
were no clouds In the sky except the
steady decline in silver, but this was
easily corrected by stopping the purchase
of silver bullion. Had Mr.. Cleveland and
the democratic party been content with
this our industries would have continued
in active operation.
No one knows better than John Sher-
man what caused the panic and depression
Of 1898. He has made more panics than
any American living or dead No one
has stated the cause more explicitly. As
against his present atrocious falsenood
we set his own statement made, in the
midst of the panic, on the floor of the
senate:
Now let US examine the situation in
trvfaf fah r,1o
under the pressure of a currency famine.
Industries, great and small are suspended
by the owners, not because they cannot
sell their products, but because they can
not get the money TO pay for raw ma
terial and the wages of their employees.
Banks conducted fairly are drained of
their deposits, and are compelled not only
to refuse all loans. but 20 collect their
bills receivable. This stringency extends
to all trades and business; it affects even
your public revenues, all forms of public
and private securities, and. more than all,
ii stops the pay of a vast army Of labor
ing men, Of skilled mechanics and
artisans, and affects the economy and
comfort of almost every home in the and.
The strange feature Of this strngency is
unlike that Of any Of the numerous panics
in our past history. They came from
either an irredeemable currency, which
became worthless in the hands of the
holder. or from expanding credit, based
upon reckless enterprises which, falling,
destroyed confidence in all induSt lies
Stringency followed failure and reckless
speculation. In former panics
stringency followed failures. In this,
failures follow stringency.- Record,
Aug. 3d. 1898, p. l049.
This was what he thought, or at least
said he thought then, when the effects Of
the panic caused by his imbecile law and
JarrisOp'e r-anton avtr,vagapoa MOVE
just passing from the banks to tie in
dustries Of the country. Then he said
that there was nothing in the way Of the
manufacture and sale of goods but the
money stringency. Now he asks who
would manufact-re goods fearing a tariff
reduction. Then he admitted freely and
repeatedly that his silver purchase law
was a mistake; that 1t had created a fear
that the government could not maintain
it's credit; that it ought to be repealed at
once. Then he had no belief that fear of
tariff reform could interfere with the
prosperity of the country and he said so
as plainly as the English language could
put It, On Oct. II, 1893, while calling for
a vote on the pending bill, and knowing
that the senate would vote for the re-
peal of the purchase clause, he said:
If we would try it Cvoting) tomorrow,
after all the long debate that has been
had and dispose Of this question as we
think best for the people Of the United
States. while you are assuming your re-
sponsibility we would gladden. the hearts
of millions of laboring men who are now
hninp turned ont of PmnlOVmnnt W.
would relieve the business cares of thou-
sands of men whose whole fortunes are
embarked in trade. We would relieve the
farmer and his product for free trans
portation to foreign countries, now clogged
for want of money. In the present condi-
ton of affairs there Is no money to buy
cotton and corn and VIII Eat for foreign
consumption. Break down the barrier
now maintained by the senate Of the
United States, check this viper called OBJ
structiOn 10 the viii Of the majority. give
the senate free power and play. and in
ten days from this time the skies will
brighten, business will resume its ordinary
course. and the clouds that lower upon
our house viii be in the deep bosom of
the ocean buried.-Cong. Record, Oct. L.
1898; p. 1857.
That was all ne asked after four months
of this panic and these hard times that
he now says were brought on by Mr..
Clevelands election. The repeal of his
own law was all that was needed to bring
prosperity. And 1t was to come at once
wlnthin ten days Was the fear of tariff re-
land came into office? Had 1t vanished
entirely? Mr. Sherman knew that tariff
reform was assured when he uttered these