Year: 1879

man, accompanied by committee of th,


maritime exchange, the Mayor, Speake
Randall and other congressman ond vel


known citizens, went on board the revenu,


cutter Hamilton to-day and started on an in
spection of tho Delaware river and harbor a.


fur as completed. The Hamilton will talk.


the Secretary along the eastern coast on al


official visit.


A'ter the party, which numbered abou


sixty, had partaken of refreshments VIM


Bruckie, president of the Maritime ex


change, called the meeting to order and in


troduced Secretary Sherman, who said:
Gentitmen-I did not expect when reaG
your kind invitation that would be called
upon to make a sk eech, and do not under.
stand that my friends here desire me to
make speech, but will commence by re-
turning thanks for the pleasure | have en-
]oyed III inspecting the shores of the Della
ware and witnessing the immense
progress and growth of the commerce
OF this great city of Philadelphia. 1t
presents combination of trade and com.
merce that L know Of in no other city in this
country. but as those points are quite famil-
lar with you will not enlarge upon them.


In regard to tho resumption experiment





entirely exaggerated. l do not desire any
such compliments. A year or two ago I
thought vas great deal 20 much abused
by great many. Now am praised for q
great many things don't deserve, SO I hold
a pretty fair balance. had an idea when l
assumed the Office that l now hold
that it would be good thing
to get back to resumption
for specie payments. They say anu pretty
stubborn about principles, hold to and that
will carry out what begin. I never had
any doubt about the ability to resume, none
at all. A great many good men, some of them
no doubt who hear me, thought it was not u
wise undertaking to attempt to make the
vast value volume OF our paper money equal
to gold, that we did not coin enough
to do it. l was the judge; l had the
law for my side. The power to bring
1t about and tie determination to do it. The
result has been happy and beneficial to all
classes of interests and all Industries, and to
rich and poor, those who labor as well as
those who spend money, ali are benefited
by currency such as we have to-day.


Now, gents, think have said all I need.
am very hopeful of the futuro progress of
our country. We are happily situated, COM
pared with other countries. We have
broad, uncultivated area of land that has
never been broken with the plow. We have
mines compared with which the vaunted
mlnesot Peru were poor and scanty. The Com
STOCK lode, OF others, are greater than ANY,
thing Ill the history of the world. Two
years ago labor was suffering in the principal
cities OF this country. Men were afraid our
constitutions could not stand the strain and
would break down, and that q period Of de-
preston greater than that in England, France
or Germany, had come, the peopl5 were
suffering and could not got work and discs
ter reigned supreme. Some went to the un-
cultivated land in the West, others went
away and migration finally equalized the de-
mand aud supply of labor, until now in two
years, believe, there is not any part of the
United States where honest labor cannot get
an honest days work, and honest money to
pay or it.


There are those who hold that our cnrren-
cy never could be maintained equally TO coin
with demand on US of eighty or ninety
millions Of dollars year. l can say to you
now that we have means. So rarely do they
care about gold or silver for money that only
seven millions have been drawn for notes
and greenbacks. This is the strongest thing
about it. Now that gold Is so easy to get
nobody cares to take the trouble of carrying
it. 1t is fact that in every month
last year and year before that there was more
gold paid from the treasury than has now been
demanded from the lst Of January of this
year to the present time for all purposes,
and our notes, instead of being at ten or
thirteen per cent below par, now that We
have gold and silver to pay them on demand
are actually at premium. TIE treasury
department in San Francisco wanted notes
instead of gold, and we refused to givo them
greenbacks. In New York and Philadelphia
no ono wants gold. When they couldn't get
1t every ody wanted it; when they can, no.
body does. Resumption is now fixed fact,
but we have got to stand by and not let the
demagogues and tricsters cheat us out of
what we have accomplished.