The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-04-12
IL.

III.
II was on January 0, 1855, that Mr.. Sher-
man made his first speech in the House Of
Representatives, and in the course OF II he
took occasion 10 outline his political posi-
ton and the overshadowing issue Of the
hour. He said that until the Southern
Wings should com forward and reinstate
on the Federal statute book the clause pro-
hibiting slavery in the Territories north and
west Of Missouri, or until the question
should be settled by the admission Of Kansas
az a free State into the Union, he could not
60 with them in any party organization
| When this should have been done there
would be time enough for them to appeal
10 him 10 become what he once gloried in
being, a conservative Wing. A little later
in the debate Sherman spoke again and
denounced the Wings Of the South for hav-
ing abandoned the principles Of Henry Clay.
forgotten his name and achievements and
furIed his banner.
On the organization Of the Thirty-fourth
Congress Sherman had only a modest
assignment, receiving the eighth place on
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, He
grew steadily. however. In the esteem Of
the House, and on March %, 1855, was
appointed by Speaker Banks a member OF
a committee Of three 10 proceed 70 the
Territory Of Kansas and take evidence on
the situation therein. The committee spent
two months in Kansas and the duty OF
drafting the report was undertaken by
Sherman, and naturally he defended it on
the floor Of the House. 1t was the ability
and skill which he exhibited in these func-
tons that made him one Of the leaders OF
the Republican party in the lower house
Of Congress before the end OF his first SEES
sion. Few public men in the national his
tory have advanced to leadership 80 rapidly.
Such was the effect produced on his con-
s%tituents by his success in Washington that
in August, 1853, he was unanimously non
mated. and he was elected by a larger ma
jority than he had received in 1854.
II Sherman's public service had ended
with the Thirty-fourth Congress his name
would still have been perpetuated AZ one
Of the central figures Of a most important
epoch. If the South, after its failure to
secure the admission Of Kansas into the
Union az a slave State. had retired behind
Mason and Rycl's limo aGd instead OF
thrusting the nation into civil war had
sought TO shield and strengthen the inst-
tuition Of slavery where it could not be as
sailed by the national authorities, John
Sherman would have been set down in his
tory az the man who had done more than
any other single man to keep slavery out
Of the free Territories and 10 render in
nocuous the repeal Of the Missouri Com
promise. But Southern statesmen willed
otherwise; they decreed that civil wal and
dissolution Of the Union we're better than
to submit TO playing any but the leading
part, and in the momentous events which
followed this decision it fell TO Sherman
to fll very important roles with such con-
spicuous ability that his service in the Kan
sas struggle became in retrospect only an
incident in a great career.
The question Of slavery in Kansas having
been settled by the people Of that Territory
themselves, Sherman turned his attention
TO the study Of questions Of finance and
public expenditure. II was he who in 1859
brought about an invest cation Of certain
abuses in the navy which led 10 a reform in
the methods Of letting contracts for Govern
ment work. This achievement may be
said 10 have been the beginning Of his long
and persistent warfare upon delinquences
in the performance Of public duties. To
the end Of his public career no such short
- a,.,. 4, a a., HE ENOuulaAUa 18th
out his attempting TO eradicate il.
On the converting Of the Thirty-siIth
Congress there were two Republican can
didates for Speaker, Galusha A, Grow and
John Sherman. The first ballot gave the
latter 90 votes and the former 43, whereupon
Grow withdrew and Sherman became the
Republican candidate. The contest for
the Speakership went on until the last day
February, 1859, when Sherman with
drew and soon afterward a fellow Repub-
lican, William Pennington OF New Jersey,
was elected. As chairman Of the Com
mittee Of Ways and Means, however, Sher-
man became the Republican leader in the
In the biographer's opinion, the
Craftsmanship Of this COMMITTEES was a
much more IN his taste and one
that afforded much greater opportunity
for the development Of his career. Had
Sherman been elected Speaker he would
have been entitled 20 and perhaps would
have sought n rejection to the same oiIice
n the Thirty-seventh Congress. In that
event he probably would have declined to
stand as a candidate for the Federal Senate,
and having Yet the opportunity slip might
nave missed the browning achievements Of
his public life.