Year: 1875

II was only a few days ago that the heart
of the American patriot was thrilled with the
Intelligence that the Hon. Mr.. Richardson
WE forget his initials, but the American people
will remember him from the fact that he was
Secretary of the Treasury in that glad time
when the country emerged for few moments
from the cloud of an irredeemablo currency,
and paid specie in Sums Of five dollars and
less-had been discovered making an excursion
somewhere in Japan, and been led back under
police surveillance to tho place whence he
started. We are not saying too much when
we announce the fact, not hitherto communi-
Gated to our foreign relations, that the
American heart bounded with Indignation
when this intelligence was received. The
average American citizen scanned the news,
and said-smpy said, but said it with an en-
phasis that meant everything for Japan
" Has it come to thsi" We knew Richardson.
Had known him from the time he was Judge
of Probate somewhere in Massachusetts, We
knew not where; we asked not. But we did
know that he was at one time Il Judge of Pro-
bate. In that capacity we knew him to be
friend of Boutwell, who was Secretary Of
the Treasury. And then we knew him as
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. At
last-and oh how lie grew upon us!-
at last We knew him as the Secretary of the
Treasury; Secretary who held the currency
in his grasp and expanded or contracted it as
the necessities of the country in the movement
of the crops or the influencing of elections re-
quired. And we knew him. above all, as the
Great Minister of Finance under whose adj
ministratiOn specie, silver specie, i'll half dol
lars and quarters and ten cent pieces, was
poured ont upon the country until many per-
sons of drinking habits were cured of bibu-
lousncss by the harsh jingle of specie on the
bar We revered him as the author of specie
resumption in sums of five dollars and less,
and we simply wondered and admired when
he was in IA sense taken away from us, clothed
with ermine, and promoted to the bench of the
Court of Claims.


1t was even while we stood gazing at the
place of his disappearance and the disappear
ance simultaneously of the coin half dollars
and quarters that there came to us from
over the sea the startling intelligence that he
had been arrested by some almond-eyed
Japanese officials somewhere in Kanagawa Ken.
To say that we rose up against the outrage
would but fecbly express the sense of the
American people Everybody said, "lf they
treat Richardson in this way, a statesman
"who brought hi. country by easy stages to
"specie payments what would they have done
"to Boutwell, or Wendell Phillips or Benjamin
Buter7n and the whole country said, Rich
ardson must be rescued, not TO say
avenged" Luckily we were not hasty
in our action. The President being away
from the Capital, and most of the
Cabinet officers being engaged in matters of
private business, war was not declared, and we
had time to wait till further intelligence was
received from Japan. None of us know how
Richardson came to be in Japan. We know
that he went on the bench of the Court of
Claims and that he was liable to turn up al
most anywhere, but that we could depend
upon hearing from him wherever he was on
"quarter day. We were a little surprised to
hear he was in Japan, and much more sur
prised to hear that he had been arrested some
where and sent back somewhere in violation
of the law of nations and of the privileges of
the Court of Claims. We were indignant, and
justly 80. But we were calm. And we waited.


And here is our reward. In the Japan Mail
of Sept. 10 we have Notification No. 155, y
which says, with great solemnity at the start,