464 THE IMPENDING REVOLUTION. 



Now, we are getting to the bottom of it. They de- 

 nounce the resumption clause of the act of 1875. 



What is that? Here we have it : 



u And, on and after the first day of January, Anno 

 Domini, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, the Secretary 

 of the Treasury shall, etc. , etc. ' ' 



The time was the only point of difference. The Re- 

 publicans wanted resumption to take place in 1879; the 

 Democrats wanted it sooner. That this is true, it is only 

 necessary to call attention to the fact that at the Demo- 

 cratic convention, held in St. L,ouis in 1876, Mr. Bwing, 

 of Ohio, offered as a substitute for that part of the platform 

 which "demanded the repeal of the resumption clause of 

 the act of 1875," one which "demanded the repeal of the 

 whole resumption act forthwith." 



Mr. Bwing' s substitute was voted down by a majority 

 of 550 to 219. Thus we see that both parties were in favor 

 of contraction, and both were in favor of resumption, and 

 the final destruction of greenbacks. 



In further support of this fact, note the following: 



"The retirement from circulation of the United States 

 notes, with the capacity of legal tender in private con- 

 tracts, is a step to be taken in our progress towards a safe 

 and stable currency, which should be accepted as the 

 policy and the duty of the government and the interest 

 and security of the people in it." President Hayes 1 Mes- 

 sage, December 2d, 1879. 



"It would seem, therefore, that now and during 

 the maintenance of resumption, it (the legal tender clause), 

 is a useless and objectionable assertion of power, which 

 Congress might now repeal on the grounds of expediency 

 alone." John Sherman 1 s Report, 1879, page 12. 



''''Resolved, That from and after the passage of this reso- 

 lution, the treasury notes of the United States shall be 



