The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-10-22

the military heroes of the generation, so,
too, John Sherman stood in civic life
along with Seward, Sumner, Evarts,
Blaine and that coterfe of intellectual
| giants of war and reconstruction days.
I Always a leader, twice q member OF the
| cabinet first as head of the treasury
| and then of state affairs, three times a
candidate for the Republican nominal
ton for the presidency and for years one
OF the great creative forces in congress
his name was identified with the laws,
the law-making and the political strug-
I giles which engaged attention for almost
half a century. Few men had more con-
~tnuouS public service in such a diversity
of fields and in all of them his work was
conspicuous.
John Sherman was born in Lancaster.
! O., MAY 10. 1928 three years after the
birth Of his brother William Tecumseh.
They came of sturdy ancestors tracing
their lineage back to Roger Sherman
one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence to the ShermanS who came
over shortly after the landing of the
Pilgrims. The father was a. lawyer OF
prominence of Ohio who rose in later
life to be judge Of the supreme court
When he died in 1929 the large family
of boys were left with scant support
and were adopted by friends and rela-
tives. William went with Thomas Ew-
ing, who shaped his career as a soldier
while John went with an older brother,
Charles, at Mansfield and took up the
study of law which, in turn took him
into the field of politics and public life
His first public service was in 1S48 when
he was a. delegate to the Wing conven-
ton at Philadelphia which nominated
Again in 1852 he was delegate at Balti-
more when Winfield Scott was nom
mated for the presidency.
He was elected to the 34th congress
and took his seat December 3, 1855.
His prominence began when the speak
er, Nathaniel P. Banks, appointed him
on the committee to investigate the ruff
aniSrn in Bleeding Kansas" He was
md
the report he made was the basis for the
presidential canvass of 1856. AT the end
of his second term in congress he was
recognized as the foremost man in the
house of representatives He was a can
didate for speaker, coming within three
votes of that position His defeat for
the speakership led to his becoming
chairman of the committee on ways and
means Here for the first time his Pc
culiar genius for finance showed itself.
The finances of the country were sadly
crippled; members of the congress were
not receiving their pay. His first step
was in securing the passage of the bill
authorizing the treasury notes of 1862
About this time Salmon P. Chase re-
signed his seat as senator from Ohio
and Sherman was elected to his place,
entering the senate for the first time
on March 4, 1861. His congressional fame
mad preceded him and he at once took
the same rank in the upper branch as
he had had in the lower. His service
was continuous until 1873, most of the
tee, in which position he wrote many of
those far-reaching measures of finance
with which he was identified. The sus-
pension of specie payment occurred in
1862, necessitating the issue of United
States notes. He largely carried this
measure through, and was also the de-
fender of the legal tender features of
these notes. which excited wide differ
enceS in and out of congress. Following
this he devised the plan for the rses1ul-
ing Of specie payment and practically
framed the bill by which resumption was
to occur on January l, 1879.
When Hayes became president Sher-
man entered the treasury and there as
executive officer he had an opportunity
to execute the plan of specie payment
which he had previously placed on the
statute books His first move was to
begin the accumulation of great stocks
of gold with which to pay specie for
paper when January 1, 1879 arrived.
Six months before that time he had ac-
cumulated in the treasury $40 600 900
and when January / came he had the
satisfaction of seeing the paper money
gradually rise to the value of gold until
gold no longer brought a premium. The
execution of this important fiscal move
through congress and in the treasury
aroused intense differences and there
was criticism as well as approval
In 1880 he became a. candidate for the
presidency and his name was presented
to the national convention by James A
Garfield In the contest between the
was nominated. Again in the national
convention Of 1884 he was placed in
nomination by Joseph b Foraker. But
the ONO delegation divided and Sher-
man secured only a few votes In 1888
he was a candidate for the third time
leading throughout with 249 votes on
the second ballot and continually there
after until Benjamin Harrison was
nominated by the Withdrawal of other
candidates.
He had returned to the senate in 1881,
serving continuously until 1897 when he
resigned to enter the cabinet of Presi-
dent Mckinley as secretary of state.
His resignation from that body occurred
soon after the declaration OF war with
Spain and he returned to private life af-
ter IS years of almost continuous pub
lie service. Since then he has done some
literary work. carrying forward his
memoirs from the period of his former
book
HIS WEALTH
The Grand Old Man Of America was
one Of the richest in the world This
was accounted for by himself as Tuck:
but his friends say he had amassed his
wealth by actual saving. A close bust
ness friend of the family says that the
old gentleman had part of the first
money he ever earned. For sixty years
he had been saving a little all the time
and the result is riches; he patronized
savings banks and invested in small but
lucrative ways He never put a dol
lar down without picking two up.
As congressman and chairman of the
committee of ways and means of the
house, as senator and chairman Of the
finance committee of the senate, and
as secretary of the treasury during
some of the most trying times in the
financial history of the country Sen
ator Sherman played an important
and influential part Of the past forty
years.
OF his wealth and the various per-
sona1 and political attacks that have
been made upon him, he made this
statement. after giving his reply to an
accusation on. that score: II have
often since been accused of the crime Of
being rich, but as nearly all my pos
sessions are visible to the naked eye,
and their history and acquisition are
known to so many. I think am not re-
quired to prove that I have not made
them as the result of legislation or my