The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-03-21

Member of the House and senate Many
Years and Twice In the Cabinet.

Years anu twice IN the OaD1net
John Sherma;, was born at Lancaster. O.,
May 10, 1923. He received an academic edu-
cation, studied law and was admitted to
the bar May IL, 1874 Mr.. Sherman was a
delegate in the national whig conventions
of 1s4s and 1859. ard presided over the first
Republican convention in Ohio in 1855. He
was a representative II the Thirtyfourth,
T,hirty-ffth Thirty-sixth and Thirty-sev-
enth Congresses. and was the Republican
candidate for speaker in the winter of 1852
60; was elected to the Senate in March. 1861,
and reelected in 1866 and 1872; was ap-
pointed secretary of the treasury in March,
1877 and served as such during President
Hayes's administration. He was reelected
to the Senate as a Republican, to succeed
Allen G. Thurman, Democrat, and took his
seat March 4, 1881: was president Of the
Senate from Dec. T. 1885, till Feb. 26, 1887;
was reelected in 1856 and 1892 and served
until he became secretary of state in Pres-
dent McKinley's Cabinet on March 4, 1897,
when he resigned and was succeeded by NJ.
A. Hanna. Mr.. Sherman retired from the
Cabinet. owing to I'll health. last April, hav-
ing served a little over year.
When John Sherman retired to private
life. nearly a year ago. John Russell Young,
-
wrote a mastery review of Mr.. Shermans
remarkable political activity, which had
extended over a period of more than fifty
years. The review was printed in the New
York Herald of May 1. 1s9s. and extracts
from 1t are here given. Mr.. Young thus
described Mr.. Sherman:
"A tall, spare, somewhat ck-headed,
stately gentleman, with glittering eyes,
straight, rapid pace, looks ahead as If he
saw no one, no interest in faces, a smooth,
cogent voice. would rather hear a story than
tell one, eccentric in his friendships, but not
capricious: steel-li<e in fiber. steel-hone6
and sharpened down into the fineness of q
scimetar, concentrated. conservative. con-
tent with idea at time and inhospita-
able TO other ideas. material wasting no
thought upon dreams or fairy tales, sees
in the world only the fruit of the season,
alert In debate. irresponsible and inconsist-
ent in political action, impressionless in
trepid. hard, without formulas or traditions,
he retires from public life with the respect
of the Nation and the affection of a small
host of gentlemen somewhat advanced in
years who knew him in mis- prime and
honor him for other qualities than his polit-
ical genius.
Although radical in politics, Sherman
training and not because of radicalsm in
thought. Read between the lines and the
character as IL eppears in public expressions
IS conservative There is no imagination-no
color. The Sherman world was what he
saw. He believed in power. order, author
fly. His sympathies were with Macmillan
I'm that Mexican business-perhaps the only
Republican statesman who would have
owned as much. He did not like the French,
only seeing France from the boulevard cafe,
end. OF course. could not help noting that
"a sudden impulse would change them into
tigers
This is the impression the cafe student
would be apt TO form of the French. When
Sherman compared the comfort of the
French peasant with that Of the British his
conclusions were against the British gov
ernment.' He admired the third Napoleon.
This may have come from personal reasons.
the Emperor having graciously told him. as
he had told schofield. that he considered
his brother General Sherman. the great
genius OF the civil war. And. although Ma
poleon's exploits as a commander at Sedan
have disturbed the public confidence in Ma
poleon as a military critic, still Sedan was
in the womb of time when the Emperor en-
tranced Sherman with his gracious words
The Napoleonc government suited his con-
servative mind. lie saw in the third empire
studying the problem. as has been observed
frcm the boulevard cafe. government not
only for the good, but the choice OF the
people and others.
BROTHER JIM"
The conservative element i'm Sherman's
character was shown at an early day That
salt speculation, which awakened his BROTH
er williams admonItions. took place in 1859