Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet Part 87

"Washington, D. C., September 21, 1880.

"Hon. Wade Hampton, care of Augustus Sch.e.l.l, Esq., New York.

"Sir:--Your note of the 17th inst. is received, in which you inquire whether, at the conference held by the national Republican committee, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, I used the language attributed to me as follows: 'And now you are asked to surrender all you have done into the hands of Wade Hampton and the Ku-Klux, and the little segment in the north that is called the Democratic party.' In reply, I have to advise you, that while I do not remember the precise language, I presume the reporter correctly stated, in a condensed way, his idea of what I said. I no doubt spoke of you as the leading representative of the Democratic party in the south, and referred to the Ku-Klux Klan as the representative of the barbarous agencies by which the Democrats have subverted the civil and political rights of the Republicans of the south.

"I did not connect you personally with the Ku-Klux Klan. Indeed, I knew that you had, in one or two important instances, resisted and defeated its worst impulses. I appreciate the sense of honor which makes you shrink from being named in connection with it.

Still, you and your a.s.sociates, leading men in the south, now enjoy benefits of political power derived from the atrocities of the Ku- Klux Klan, in which phrase I include all the numerous _aliases_ by which it has, from time to time, been known in the south. Your power in the southern states rests upon the actual crimes of every grade in the code of crimes--from murder to the meanest form of ballot-box stuffing committed by the Ku-Klux Klan and its kindred a.s.sociates, and, as you know, some of the worst of them were committed since 1877, when you and your a.s.sociates gave the most solemn a.s.surance of protection to the freedmen of the south.

"These crimes are all aimed at the civil political rights of Republicans in the south, and, as I believe, but for these agencies, the very state that you represent, as well as many other states in the south, would be represented, both in the Senate and House, by Republicans. But for these crimes the boast attributed to you, that one hundred and thirty-eight solid southern votes would be cast for the Democratic ticket, would be but idle vaporing; but now we feel that it is a sober truth.

"While I have no reason to believe that you or your northern a.s.sociates personally partic.i.p.ated in the offenses I have named, yet, while you and they enjoy the fruits of these crimes, you may, in logic and morals be cla.s.sed as I cla.s.sed you, as joint copartners with the Ku-Klux Klan in the policy which thus far has been successful in seizing political power in the south, and which it is hoped, by the aid of the small segment of the Democratic party in the north, may be extended to all the departments of the government. It is in this sense that I spoke of you, the Ku-Klux Klan and the northern Democratic party.

"Permit me, in conclusion, while frankly answering your question, to say the most fatal policy for the south would be by such agencies as I have mentioned to secure again political ascendency in this country, for I a.s.sure you that the manhood and independence of the north will certainly continue the struggle until every Republican in the south shall have free and unrestricted enjoyment of equal civil and political privileges, including a fair vote, a fair count, free speech and free press, and agitation made necessary to secure such results may greatly affect injuriously the interests of the people of the south.

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, "John Sherman."

"Charlottesville, Va., October 1, 1880.

"To Hon. John Sherman.

"Sir:--Your letter has been received. As you do not disclaim the language to which I called your attention, I have only to say that in using it you uttered what was absolutely false, and what you knew to be false. My address will be Columbia, S. C.

"I am your obedient servant, "Wade Hampton."

"Treasury Department, } "Washington, D. C., October 18, 1880.} "To Hon. Wade Hampton, Columbia, S. C.

"I have to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 1st inst., handed me unopened by Mr. C. McKinley, a few moments ago, after my return from the west. I had this morning read what purported to be an extract of a speech made by you, published in the Charleston 'News and Courier,' and upon your general reputation as a gentleman had denied that you had made such a speech or written such a letter as is attributed to you in that paper. What I stated to you in my letter of September 21, I believe to be true, notwithstanding your denial, and it can be shown to be true by public records and as a matter of history. As you had, long before your letter was delivered to me, seen proper to make a public statement of your views of the correspondence, I will give it to the press without note or comment, and let the public decide between us.

"Very respectfully, "John Sherman."

This correspondence excited a good deal of attention, and broke off all social relations between us. We afterwards served for many years in the Senate together, but had no intercourse with each other except formal recognition while I was president of the Senate.

I always regretted this, for I did not feel the slightest enmity to General Hampton, and recognized the fact that while enjoying the office he held as the result of the crimes of the Klan, yet he and his colleague, M. C. Butler, were among the most conservative and agreeable gentlemen in the Senate, and the offenses with which I connected his name were committed by his const.i.tuents and not by himself.

CHAPTER XLI.

MY LAST YEAR IN THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

Opening of the 1880 Campaign in Cincinnati--My First Speech Arraigned as "Bitterly Partisan"--Letter from Garfield Regarding the Maine Election--Ohio Thought to Be in Doubt--Many Requests for Speeches --Republican Ticket Elected in Ohio and Indiana--A Strange Warning from Detroit Threatening Garfield with a.s.sa.s.sination--The Latter's Reply--My Doubts About Remaining in the Treasury Department or Making an Effort for the Senate--Letter to Dalzell--Last Annual Report to Congress in December, 1880--Recommendations Regarding Surplus Revenue, Compulsory Coinage of the Silver Dollar, the Tariff, etc.--Bills Acted Upon by Congress.

During July and August I received many invitations to speak on political topics, but declined all until about the 1st of September.

In antic.i.p.ation of the election of Garfield, and his resignation as Senator, I was, as early as July, tendered the support of several members of the legislature who had voted for him for Senator, and who wished to vote for me in case he resigned. I replied that I would prefer the position of Senator to any other, that I resigned my seat in the Senate to accept the office of Secretary of the Treasury, and would be gratified by a return to my old position, but only in case it came to me as the hearty choice of the general a.s.sembly. During the month of August the two a.s.sistant secretaries, who had been for a year confined to the department and upon whom the duties of secretary had devolved during my recent absence, went on their usual vacation, so that I was fully occupied during office hours with the routine business of the department.

My first speech of the campaign was made on Monday, the 30th of August, in Cincinnati. It was carefully prepared, and delivered in substance as printed. My habit has been for many years, at the beginning of a political canva.s.s, to write or dictate a speech and hand it to the press a.s.sociations, to be printed in the newspapers only after the speech is made. This is done for the convenience of the press and to secure an accurate report. The speech at Cincinnati, thus prepared, was not read by me, but I spoke from briefs which enabled me to substantially follow it. Subsequent speeches had to vary according to the nature and mood of the audience, or the political subject exciting local interest and attention. At Cincinnati I gave a comparison of the principles, tendency, and achievements of the two great parties, and the reasons why the Democratic party wanted a change in the executive branch of the government. I contrasted the aims and policy of that party, at each presidential election from 1860 to 1880, with those of the Republican party, and expressed my opinion of the effects that would have followed their success at each of those elections. I stated in detail the results secured during the last four years by the election of a Republican President. These included the resumption of specie payments, the refunding and the steady reduction of the public debt, the faithful collection of the revenue, economy of public expenditures, and business prosperity for which I gave the causes, all of which were opposed or denied by the Democratic party.

I entered into detail on the measures proposed by the then Democratic Congress, the motive of them, and the ruinous effects they would produce, and alleged that the changes proposed were dictated by the same policy that was adopted by Buchanan and the active leaders of the War of the Rebellion and by the corrupt power that controlled the city of New York. I replied to the charges of fraud made as to the election of President Hayes, that the alleged fraud consisted in the judgment of the electoral commission created by the Democrats that Hayes was duly elected. I narrated the gross crimes of the Ku-Klux Klan and kindred a.s.sociations to control the elections in the south, and the attempted bribery of an elector in Oregon.

This speech was arraigned as bitterly partisan, but it was justified by facts proven by the strongest evidence. I have recently carefully read it, and, while I confess that its tone was bitter and partisan, yet the allegations were clearly justified. At this time such fraud and violence could not be practiced in the south, for the tendency of events has quieted public sentiment. The lapse of time has had a healing effect upon both sections, and it is to be hoped that hereafter parties will not be divided on sectional lines.

The Cincinnati speech had one merit, in that it furnished speakers and the public the exact statistics of our financial condition in advance of my annual report to Congress in December. I made speeches each week day in Ohio and Indiana until the 11th of September, when I returned to Washington.

The election in Maine, which occurred early in September, was unfavorable to the Republican party, and caused General Garfield some uneasiness. He wrote me the following letter:

"Mentor, Ohio, September 17, 1880.

"Hon. John Sherman, Washington, D. C.

"My Dear Sir:--Yours of the 15th inst. is received. I hear in many ways the same account which you give of the cause of our falling off in Maine. The latest news indicates that we have carried the election after all, but our people claimed too much, and the moral effect of it may be bad in some of the doubtful states. Still, so far as I can see, every Republican is more aroused and determined than ever.

"I think we should now throw all our force into Indiana and Ohio until the October election. Indiana is now more thoroughly organized by our people than it has been for many years, and I believe that nothing can defeat us, except importations and purchases by the Democracy. I have not known the Republicans of that state so confident in six years as they now are, and every available help should be given them to win the fight. I have learned certainly that the Democrats intend to make a powerful raid upon Ohio, for the double purpose of beating us if they can, and specially in hopes that they may draw off our forces in Indiana.

"I know you can accomplish a great deal, even while you are in Washington, but I hope you will give as much time as possible to the canva.s.s here and in Indiana--especially give us the last ten days.

"Very truly yours, "J. A. Garfield."

I replied on the 22nd of September that the a.s.sured election of Plaisted, the fusion electoral ticket in Maine, and many things in my correspondence, made me feel exceedingly anxious about the result of the election, that my advices from Ohio were not satisfactory, and I felt that we must exert ourselves to the utmost to insure victory at our October election. "I think from my standpoint here,"

I said, "I can get more certain indications of public opinion than anyone can while canva.s.sing. I therefore have determined to go to Ohio the latter part of this week, and to devote the balance of the time, until the election, to the campaign." I also advised him that I had arranged to have several other speakers go to Ohio.

To this he replied:

"Mentor, Ohio, September 25, 1880.

"My Dear Sir:--Yours of the 22nd inst. is received. I am glad that you are coming back to take part in the canva.s.s. Within the last ten days it has become evident that money is being used in large amounts in various parts of this state. Reports of this come to me in so many independent ways that I cannot doubt it. I was in Toledo on the 22nd to attend the reunion of the 'Army of the c.u.mberland,' and my friends there were thoroughly alarmed. They said the Democrats had an abundance of money, and that those in Toledo were contributing more than they had done for many years.

"I think our friends should push the business aspect of the campaign with greater vigor than they are doing, especially the tariff question which so deeply affects the interests of manufacturers and laborers. The argument of the 'solid south' is well enough in its way, and ought not to be overlooked, but we should also press those questions which lie close to the homes and interests of our own people.

"Very truly yours, "J. A. Garfield.

"Hon. John Sherman, Washington, D. C."

About this period I received an invitation to speak in New York, but doubted the policy of accepting, and answered as follows:

"Washington, D. C., September 20, 1880.

"My Dear Sir:--Your note of the 17th, inviting me to address the citizens of New York, under the auspices of your club, during the campaign, is received. Please accept my thanks for the courteous manner in which your invitation is expressed.

"I will be compelled to remain here until the 4th of October and then go to Ohio and Indiana to engage in the canva.s.s, which will carry me to the 15th or 16th of October. I have been urged also to go to Chicago and Milwaukee, and have made promises in several cities in the eastern states, especially in Brooklyn; so that I do not see how it is possible for me to accept your kind invitation.

I have also some doubt whether it would be politic to do so. It seems to be the determination of a certain cla.s.s of Republicans in New York to ignore or treat with dislike President Hayes and his administration, and to keep alive the division of opinion as to the removal of Arthur. From my view of the canva.s.s the strength of our position now is in the honesty and success of the administration.

While I have no desire to contrast it with General Grant's, yet the contrast would be greatly in favor of President Hayes. The true policy is to rise above these narrow family divisions, and, without disparagement of any Republican, unite in the most active and zealous efforts against the common enemy. Senator Conkling does not seem to have the capacity to do this, and the body of his following seems to sympathize with him. I doubt, therefore, whether my appearance in New York would not tend to make divisions rather than to heal them, to do harm rather than good. I am so earnestly desirous to succeed in the election that I would even forgo a self- defense to advance the cause.

"Very truly yours, "John Sherman.

"Hon. B. F. Manierre, Ch. Rep. Central Campaign Club, New York."

On the first of October I left Washington for Mansfield and spoke at a ma.s.s meeting there on Sat.u.r.day evening, the 2nd. The canva.s.s on both sides was very active and meetings were being held in all parts of the state. The meeting at Mansfield held in the open square both in the afternoon and evening, was very large. I spoke each day except Sunday during the following week, at different places in Ohio and Indiana. Confidence in Republican success grew stronger as the October election approached. After the vote was cast it was found that the Republican state ticket was elected by a large majority in both these states. In pursuance of previous engagements, I spoke at Chicago, Racine, and Milwaukee, after the October election. The speeches at Chicago and Milwaukee were reported in full and were circulated as campaign doc.u.ments. During the latter part of the month of October I spoke at the city of Washington and in Bridgeport, Norwalk and New Haven, Connecticut, and at Cooper Inst.i.tute in the city of New York, and then returned home to vote at the November election.

The result was the election of a large majority of Republican electors and the certainty of their voting for Garfield and Arthur as President and Vice President of the United States. I had done all that it was possible for me to do to bring about that result and rejoiced as heartily as anyone, for I thoroughly believed in the necessity of maintaining Republican ascendency in the United States, at least until a time when the success of the opposite party would not endanger any of the national results of the war or the financial policy of President Hayes' administration.

On the day after the election General Garfield wrote me the following letter:

"Mentor, Ohio, November 4, 1880.

"My Dear Sir:--Yours of the 1st inst. came duly to hand, and was read with much interest. The success of the election is very gratifying. The distrust of the solid south, and of adverse financial legislation, have been the chief factors in the contest.

I think also that the country wanted to rebuke the attempt of the Democrats to narrow the issue to the low level of personal abuse.

I am sure that all our friends agree with me that you have done very important and efficient work in the campaign.