WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER. 8()7 



SO free from sentimentality or humbug as to compel respectful atten- 

 tion even on the part of those who resisted his relentless logic. 



During the long controA'ersy o^'er soft money and free silver he 

 stood uncompromisingly for sound money based upon the gold stand- 

 ard. During the equally long controversy over protectionism, he 

 stood with equal firmness for free trade. During the greater part of 

 this period of contro^■ersy he was on the unpopular side of both 

 questions, but he lived to see the unpopular become the popular side 

 of the currency question and he only lacked two years of seeing it 

 become the popular side of the question of protectionism. His 

 death, therefore, marks the close of the epoch in which questions of 

 currency and protectionism were the dominant questions in Ameri- 

 can politics. 



Though he began as a teacher of Political and Social Science, he 

 soon found it necessary to restrict his field and to specialize. His 

 final 3'ears were devoted to sociology in some of its historical and 

 anthropological phases. Some of the results of this final specialized 

 study were published in his book entitled " Folkways," which is a 

 monument of exact knowledge and vast learning. 



It is unfortunate that no complete list of his publications has yet 

 been compiled. Articles from his pen are still being discovered, but 

 the list which closes this notice, while far from complete, will indicate 

 something of the breadth of his interests and the scope of his tireless 

 energy. 



If one were looking for the best example of the austere and produc- 

 tive life, the Hfe of Professor Sumner might well be selected. His 

 austerity and self-discipline were proverbial among his colleagues and 

 students, but it was not a useless austerity imposed for its own sake. 

 It was the austerity which harnesses every ounce of energy to pro- 

 ductive work. 



The following is as complete a list of Professor Sumner's works as 

 the writer has been able to compile. 



Books 



The Books of the Kings, by K. C. W. F. Bahr. Translated, Enlarged, and 

 Edited. Book 2, by W. G. Sumner, in Lange, J. P. A commentary on 

 the Holy Scripture. Scribner, Armstrong & Company. New York. 

 1872. Vol. VI, 312 pp. 



A History of American Currency, with chapters on the English Bank Restric- 

 tion and Austrian Paper Money. To which is appended "The Bullion 

 Report." Henry Holt & Company. Xew York. 1874. 391 pp. 



