Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-10-23

adopted by friends and relatives.
William went with Thomas Ewing.
who shaped his career as a soldier.
while John went with his older brother
Charles, at Mansfield and took IN the
study of law. which in turn took him
into the field Of political and public life.
His first public service was in 1s4S.
when he was q delegate to the Wing
convention at Philadelphia. which
nominated Zachary Taylor for the
Presidency. Again in 1862 he was a
delegate to Baltimore when Winfield
Scott was nominated for the Presi
dency.
In those carly days his character
istics of caution and conservatism had
marked him as safe man among the
many who were wrought to excitement
and emotion by the events leading up
to the war. This characteristic secured
for him his first election to Congress.
He was elected to the 34th Congress
and took his seat, Dee. 3, 1865. A mo-
mentous period was just then unfolding
and he came upon the scene when Just
such men of ability and courage were
needed. The attempts TO repeal the
Missouri compromise, the bred Scott
decision. the fugitive slave law. the
spread of abolition sentiment and the
lowering clouds Of a civil conflict. gave
evidence that the very existence Of the
republic was at stake.
Amid such impressive conditions
Sherman at once came to the front as
one of the leaders of the legislative
action. His prominence began when the
Speaker Nathaniel p. Banks. appointed
him on the committee to Investigate
the ruffianism in bleeding Kansas"
lie was acting chairman during the in
curry and the report he made was the
basis for the Presidential canvass of
1886. At the end of his second term in
the Congress he was recognized as the
foremost man in the House of II npra-
sentativJs. He was a candidate for
Speaker coming within three votes Of
that position
His defeat for the Speakership led
70 his becoming chairman Of the com
mlttee on ways and means There for
the first time his peculiar genius for
finances showed itself The finances Of
the country We're sadly crippled. mem
bers Of Congress We're not receiving
their pay. His first step vas in secur-
ing the passage of the bill authorizing
the treasury notes of 1860
About this time Salmon i. Chase re-
signed his seat as senator from Ohio
and sherman was elected u his place
entering the Senate for the first time.
March I. 1861 His Congressional fame
had preceded him ana he at once took
the same high rank in the upper
branch as he had in the lower His
services were continuous until 1873
most of the time as chairman of the f.
nance committee, in which position he
wrote many Of those far reaching re-
ports cf finance with which he was
identified.
The suspension " specie payments
occurred in 1860. necessitatins the issue
Of United States notes. He largely
carried this measure through and was
also the defender Of the legal tender
feature of these notes which excited
wide differences in and out of Congress.
Following This he devised the plan for
rcsuming specie payment and practi-
cally framed the bill by which resump-
ton was % occur on Jan. !. 1879.
When Hayes became President. Sher-
man entered the treasury and there as
ity to execute The plan Of specie pay
ment which he had previously placed
on the statute books. His first move
was TO begin the accumulation Of n
great stock Of gold with which To pay
specie for paper when Jan. /, 1879 ar
rived. Six months before that time he
had accumulated in the treasury
SliO. 900 GOO and when Jan. / came he
had tho satisfaction Of seeing the pa
Dor money gradually rise to the value
Of gold until gold no longer brought
a premium. The execution Of this i'm
rortant fiscal move through Congress
and in the treasury aroused intense
differences and there was criticism as
we'll as app oval.
In 1880. he became 4 candidate FOR
the Presidency and his name was pre-
srnted to the national convention By
James \. Garfield. In the contest be
tween the friends Of Grant and Blaine.
Garfield was nominated. In the ma
tional convention of 1884. Mr.. Sherman
was placed in nomination by J. y. For
akCr. but the Ohio delegation divided
and sherman secured only few votes.
In lSSS, he was a candidate for the
third time. leading throughout with 10
votes on the second ballot and contin-
uany thereafter until Benjamin Harri-
son was nominated by the withdrawal
Of other candidates.
He had returned to the Senate in
1891. serving continuously until 1897.
when he resigned to enter the cabinet
Of President Mckinley as SECRETARY of
state. His resignation from that body
occurred soon after the declaration OF
war with Spain and he returned to pri-
vate life after a. years of almost con-
tinuous public service. Since then he
has done some literary work. carrying
forward his memoirs from the period
of his former book.
The President, this afternoon, issued
the following proclamation:
Death of the Honorable john Sherman.
BY the President Of the United States
of America.
\ proclamation.
To the people OF the United States: