The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-08-17
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SHERMAN SHOULD RETIRE.

The friends who are advising Senator
Sherman to letire from the premiership
are more sincerely friendly to Sherman
than Sherman. is to- himself. 1t is no
longer secret, but matter of notoriety,
that his physical and mental infirmities
unfit him for the most responsible Cabi.
net position. His health is feeble and his
mental powers lack the vigor and cohe.
sion necessary for the proper DISCHARGE of
the high duties of his office.
A man who has made an unl,roken
record oe forty three years service in the
council' of the nation can we'll afford to
retire when admonished by the natural
infirmities OF age. He came into the pom
uar branch of Congress OH the anti
slavery fioodtide that followed the repeal
of the Missouri compromise in 1854, and
from that time until now lie has been
continuously il the highest councils of
the Republic. When Chase resigned the
Senatorship In 1861 to take a..position in
the Lincoln Cabinet Sherman was chosen
to succeed him, and he remained in the
Senate until.1S77, when he was called to
the Secretaryship of the Treasury by
President Hayes. On the day thathe re-
tired from the Hayes Cabinet, four years
later, he resumed his old seat in he SEN
ate and continued to serve in the first
Legislative tribunal .of the nation until
called to the head of the Cabinet by Nc
kinley. He has served longer in the SEN
ate than any other man in the history of
the nation, although it WAS mot 'continu.
Gus, and alike in the House, in the Sen
ate and in the Cabinet, as Secretary of
the Treasury, he commanded the general
confidence of the nation by his mastery
ability and answering fidelity to the in.
terests OF the government.
John Shermans life has been one of
ceaseless labor, with little devotion to
recreation or pleasure. The strain upon
Vlm has been constant, and 1t is no lnoger
a question that his great faculties have
abated. There was eminent fitness I'm an
Ohio President calling Sherman to the
position OF secretary..of State to- crown
his great career, but he shou Il have re.
signed and retired before his new honors
had seen another moon. fill her horns.
Like many others who have attained
greatness by tireless devotion to great
purposes, he seems to assume that his
pubic lalors must continue until the
curtain drops to close his life. and his fit
full efforts to assert himself AZ the head
OF the State Department may involve the
administration i'll serious complications
ana create very general distrust in his
capacity throughout the entire country.
The administration has an unusul
number of exceedingly delicate and COM
plicated problems to solve, and Secretly
Sherman is not equal to the task of Crap
ping Will them, but he seems unwilling
to surrender any of his prerogatives 1t
is due to Sherman, who has given such n
lone, unbroken career OF unselfishness
to the country; it is due to the President,
who is compelled to meet the great inter
national questions nov pressing for de-
termination, aud it is due to the coun-
try, that n Secretary State OF great abil-
ity and vgor should be at the right hand
of the executive. 1t may be said that the
resignation and retirement OF Secretary
Sherman under existing conditions would
be humiliation that should not be put
upon him, but il would not he compare
BILE to the humiliation he must suffer if
he shall continue as Secretary of State
with almost weekly exhibitions OF his in.
firm tiles, which may at times create the
most serious complications. Sherman
could now retire from the field he has
filled for forty three years with such I'M
varying and distinguished usefulness,
and carry with him to his home the pro-
found sym pathy and admiration OF the
whole country. His work is done. and
he is the first of all who should appreci-
ate it.-Philadelphia Times.