SHERMAN, JOHN. 



647 



to the slight change in the weight of her gold 

 sovereign, and for this reason nothing came of the 

 scheme. 



In view of Mr. Sherman's opposition, as stated 

 in the letter and report mentioned, his action in 

 1873 in pressing through the Senate the coinage 

 act, by which the gold dollar was permanently 

 made the standard of value and the unit of ac- 

 count in the United States, and no further au- 

 thority given for the issue of the silver dollar, 

 needs no explanation. 



In 1869 Mr. Sherman was made Chairman of 

 the Senate Committee on Finance, in place of Mr. 

 Fessenden, who had resigned from the Senate, 

 which place he held until called to the Treasury 

 in 1877. Meanwhile a great clamor had arisen 

 for payment of the public obligations in legal 

 tenders, the kind of money the Government re- 

 ceived for them when they were issued. The law 

 controlling their payment was not explicit on this 

 point, but Mr. Sherman argued that, waiving all 

 technicalities, by making the bonds payable with- 

 out question in coin their value would be so 

 appreciated that as they matured the Treasury 

 would be able to refund them at par at a lower 

 rate of interest, and the saving therefrom would 

 be greater than any possible gain from forcing 

 their payment in the depreciated notes, and at 

 the same time there would be no opportunity for 

 an imputation of repudiation. To that end he 

 reported a bill, which became a law March 18, 

 1SG9, explicitly declaring the bonds payable in 

 coin. Experience justified the policy urged by 

 Mr. Sherman, the bonds being subsequently re- 

 funded with much advantage, and the credit of 

 the country greatly strengthened. 



In 1873 the country suffered from a financial 

 panic arising from the unsatisfactory condition 

 of the paper currency, and relief in some way was 

 urgently demanded. Mr. Sherman urged that pro- 

 A'ision should be made for redemption in coin 

 of the legal-tender notes, thus increasing the cir- 

 culation of the country to the extent of the 

 hoarded gold, which would then doubtless come 

 into use and stimulate business; but the plausible 

 advocates of paying the bonds in depreciated 

 paper demanded stoutly that, instead of such re- 

 demption, there should be a further issue of the 

 notes, and they were able to get a measure to 

 that end through Congress. It was promptly 

 vetoed, however, by President Grant, and this 

 gave Mr. Sherman an opportunity to press his 

 scheme of relief. At his instance, a Republican 

 caucus directed him to present to the Senate and 

 put upon its passage a bill authorizing the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury to use the surplus revenues 

 of the Government, and to sell bonds for gold 

 as necessary, with a view to the accumulation of 

 a fund to enable him to redeem at the New York 

 sub-treasury all United States notes presented 

 for that purpose on and after Jan. 1, 1879. The 

 bill became a law Jan. 15, 1875, Mr. Sherman 

 being the only man in cither house that spoke 

 in its favor. The bill was not popular, and its 

 enactment was received with little approval in 

 any quarter. Even the friends of resumption 

 doubted its sufficiency to bring about that result. 

 When, two years after its passage, Mr. Sherman 

 became Secretary of the Treasury, the premium 

 on gold had not much diminished, and no steps 

 had been taken by the officers of the Treasury to- 

 ward accumulating the required reserve for re- 

 sumption. Mr. Sherman lost no time in fore- 

 casting his policy. From a syndicate of bankers 

 subscribing under a contract for bonds for re- 

 funding, he obtained, in the spring, permission 

 to retain $15,OOU,000 of gold for the resumption 



reserve, and soon thereafter $25,000,000 more 

 from the same parties for a like purpose. Ad- 

 verse conditions prevented for a while further ac- 

 cumulations. There was little faith, even among 

 his party friends, that the needed gold could be 

 obtained. Congress gave no encouragement, and 

 called him before one of its committees. In re- 

 sponse to an inquiry from a member of the House 

 as to what he proposed to do about resumption, 

 Mr. Sherman replied that, unless the law should 

 be repealed, he should redeem the notes in coin 

 as directed; that as Secretary of the Treasury he 

 had no other alternative; and, as far as he 

 deemed prudent, he explained where the neces- 

 sary gold could be found, and how he proposed 

 to obtain it. Four days later he had secured $50,- 

 000,000 of gold by the sale of bonds above the 

 market price, and resumption was assured. On 

 Jan. 1, 1879, the gold premium had disappeared; 

 gold was offered for the notes, but nobody 

 wanted it, just as Mr. Sherman had predicted. 

 With resumption came the promised relief. Capi- 

 tal, assured of its return in money of equal value, 

 sought investment; labor found employment, and 

 throughout the land every hearth rejoiced in the 

 nation's prosperity. 



Incidentally, Mr. Sherman, during his term in 

 the Treasury, greatly reduced the annual interest 

 payment on the public debt by funding more 

 than $800,000,000 of the war bonds at a lower 

 rate of interest; but his crowning work was the 

 resumption of specie payments, the good effects 

 of which still continue, giving the nation honor 

 and credit throughout the world. 



Consequent upon Mr. Sherman's successful ad- 

 ministration of the Treasury from 1877 to 1881, his 

 friends brought him forward as a Republican can- 

 didate for the presidency at the conventions held 

 in 1880 and 1888, and in both instances he received 

 a strong support. 



Upon the change in administration, Mr. Sher- 

 man in 1881 returned to the Senate, where he was 

 made Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Re- 

 lations, from which place he resigned in 1897 to 

 become Secretary of State. But, failing in health, 

 after a short time he returned to private life. He 

 published his Recollections (2 vols., 1896) cover- 

 ing the period of forty years in which he was a 

 prominent actor in the drama of American his- 

 tory. 



In announcing Mr. Sherman's death, President 

 McKinley said : " In the fullness of years and 

 honors John Sherman, lately Secretary of State, 

 has passed away. Few among our citizens have 

 risen to greater or more deserved eminence in 

 the national councils than he. The story of his 

 public life and services is, as it were, the his- 

 tory of the country for half a century. In the 

 Congress of the United States he ranked among 

 the foremost in the House and later in the Sen- 

 ate. He was twice a member of the executive 

 Cabinet, first as Secretary of the Treasury, and 

 afterward as Secretary of State. Whether in 

 debate during the dark hours of our civil war. 

 or as the director of the country's finances during 

 the period of rehabilitation, or as a trusted coun- 

 cilor in framing the nation's laws for over forty 

 years, or as the exponent of its foreign policy, 

 his course was ever marked by devotion to the 

 best interests of his beloved land, and by able and 

 conscientious effort to uphold its dignity and 

 honor. His countrymen will long revere his mem- 

 ory and see in him a type of the patriotism, the 

 uprightness, and the zeal that go to molding and 

 strengthening a nation." 



SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. See TRANS- 



