Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet Part 97

"They represent the American Union, one and indivisible, s.n.a.t.c.hed by war from the perils of secession and disunion. They represent a strong national government, able, I trust, in time, not only to protect our citizens from foreign tyranny, but from local cruelty, intolerance, and oppression.

"They represent that party in the country which would scorn to obtain or hold power by depriving, by crime and fraud, more than a million of men of their equal rights as citizens. They represent a party that would give to the laboring men of our country the protection of our revenue laws against undue compet.i.tion with foreign labor.

"They represent the power, the achievements, and the aspirations of the Republican party that now for twenty-four years has been greatly trusted by the people, and in return has greatly advanced your country in strength and wealth, intelligence, courage and hope, and in the respect and wonder of mankind.

"Fellow Republicans, we are about to enter into no holiday contest.

You have to meet the same forces and principles that opposed the Union army in war; that opposed the abolition of slavery; that sought to impair the public credit; that resisted the resumption of specie payment. They are recruited here and there by a deserter from our ranks, but meanwhile a generation of younger men are coming to the front, in the south as well as in the north. They have been educated amidst memorable events with patriotic ardor, love of country, pride in its strength and power. They are now determined to overthrow the narrow Bourbon sectionalism of the Democratic party. They live in the mountains and plains of the west. They breathe the fresh air of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

They are the hardy, liberty-loving laborers of every state.

"They come from the fatherland, they come from old Ireland. They are the active spirits, native and naturalized, of a generation of free men who never felt the incubus of slavery, and who wish only as Americans to make stronger and plant deeper the principles of the Republican party. It is to these men we who have grown old in this conflict wish now to hand over the banner we have borne. Let them take it and advance it to higher honors. Let them spread the influence of our republican inst.i.tutions north and south, until the whole continent of America shall be a brotherhood of republics.

"Let them a.s.sert the rights of American citizenship, so that they will be respected as were the rights of citizens of the Roman republic. Let them deal with this most difficult and subtle problem of social politics so as to secure to the man who labors his just share of the fruits of his labor. Let them improve even upon the protective policy we have pursued, so as to diversify our industries and plant in all parts of our country the workshops of millions of well-paid contented citizens. Let them do what we have not been able to do since the war--restore our commerce to every port and protect it under our flag in every sea.

"My countrymen, I regret to say it, you cannot accomplish any of these great objects of national desire through the agency of the Democratic party. It cannot be made an instrument of progress and reform. Its traditions, its history for twenty-five years, and its composition, forbid it. You may punish us for our shortcomings by its success, but you will punish yourselves as well and stay the progress of your country. A party that with seventy majority in the House cannot pa.s.s a bill on any subject of party politics, great or small, is not fit to govern the country.

"Every advance, every reform, every improvement, the protection of your labor, the building of your navy, the a.s.sertion of your rights as a free man, the maintenance of good money--a good dollar, good in every land, worth a dollar in gold--all these objects of desire must await the movements of the Republican party. It may be slow, but if you turn to the Democratic party you will always find it watching and waiting, good, steady citizens of the olden time, grounded on the resolutions of '98 and the 'times before the wah.'

"It is said that Blaine is bold and aggressive; that he will obstruct the business interests of the country. I would like to try such a President. He might shake off some of the cobwebs of diplomacy and invite the attention of mankind to the existence of this country.

There will always be conservatism enough in Congress, and inertness enough in the Democratic party, to hold in check even as brilliant a man as James G. Blaine. What we want now is an American policy broad enough to embrace the continent, conservative enough to protect the rights of every man, poor as well as rich, and brave enough to do what is right, whatever stands in the way. We want protection to American citizens and protection to American laborers, a free vote and a fair count, an a.s.sertion of all the powers of the government in doing what is right. It is because I believe that the administration of Blaine and Logan will give us such a policy, and that I know the Democratic party is not capable of it, that I invoke your aid and promise you mine to secure the election of the Republican ticket."

Upon the adjournment of Congress, I took an active part in the campaign, commencing with a speech at Ashland, Ohio, on the 30th of August, and from that time until the close of the canva.s.s I spoke daily. The meetings of both parties were largely attended, notably those at Springfield, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland.

After the October election in Ohio, which resulted in the success of the Republican ticket, I engaged in the canva.s.s in other states, speaking in many places, among others in Faneuil Hall, Boston, in Springfield, Ma.s.sachusetts, in Chickering Hall, New York, and in the Brooklyn Grand Opera House.

I felt greater timidity in speaking in Faneuil Hall than anywhere else. The time, place, and manner of the meeting were so novel, that a strong impression was made upon my mind. In the middle of the day, when the streets were crowded, I was conducted up a narrow, spiral pa.s.sageway that led directly to a low platform on one side of the hall, where were the officers of the meeting, and there I faced an audience of men with their hats and overcoats on, all standing closely packed, with no room for any more. It was a meeting of business men of marked intelligence, who had no time to waste, and whose countenances expressed the demand, "Say what you have to say, and say it quickly." I was deeply impressed with the historical a.s.sociations of the place, recalling the Revolutionary scenes that had occurred there, and Daniel Webster and the great men whose voices had been heard within its walls. I condensed my speech into less than an hour, and, I believe, gave the a.s.semblage satisfaction. I was followed by brief addresses from Theodore Roosevelt and others, and then the meeting quietly dispersed.

While in Springfield, I heard of the unfortunate remark of Dr.

Burchard to Blaine about "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion," and felt that the effect would be to offend a considerable portion of the Irish voters, who had been very friendly to Blaine. After that incident, I met Mr. Blaine at the Chickering Hall meeting, and went with him to Brooklyn, where we spoke together at the Academy of Music.

The election, a few days afterward, resulted in the success of the Democratic ticket. The electoral vote of New York was cast for Cleveland and Hendricks. It was believed at the time that this result was produced by fraudulent voting in New York city, but the returns were formal, and there was no way in which the election could be contested.

Congress met on the 1st of December, 1884. President Arthur promptly sent his message to each House. He congratulated the country upon the quiet acquiescence in the result of an election where it had been determined with a slight preponderance. Our relations with foreign nations had been friendly and cordial. The revenues of the government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884, had been $348,519,869.92. The expenditures for the same period, including the sinking fund, were $290,916,473.83, leaving a surplus of $57,603,396.09. He recommended the immediate suspension of the coinage of silver dollars and of the issuance of silver certificates, a further reduction of internal taxes and customs duties, and that national banks be allowed to issue circulating notes to the par amount of bonds deposited for their security. He closed with these words:

"As the time draws nigh when I am to retire from the public service, I cannot refrain from expressing to Members of the national legislature, with whom I have been brought into personal and official intercourse, my sincere appreciation of their unfailing courtesy, and of their harmonious co-operation with the Executive in so many measures calculated to promote the best interests of the nation.

"And to my fellow-citizens generally, I acknowledge a deep sense of obligation for the support which they have accorded me in my administration of the executive department of this government."

Hugh McCulloch, upon the death of Mr. Folger, had become Secretary of the Treasury. His report contained the usual statements in regard to government receipts and expenditures and the public debt, but the chief subject discussed was the coinage of silver dollars.

He said:

"There are some financial dangers ahead which can only be avoided by changes in our financial legislation. The most imminent of these dangers, and the only one to which I now ask the attention of Congress, arises from the continued coinage of silver and the increasing representation of it by silver certificates. I believe that the world is not in a condition, and never will be, for the demonetization of one-third of its metallic money; that both gold and silver are absolutely necessary for a circulating medium; and that neither can be disused without materially increasing the burden of debt, nor even temporarily degraded by artificial means without injurious effect upon home and international trade. But I also believe that gold and silver can only be made to maintain their comparative value by the joint action of commercial nations. Not only is there now no joint action taken by these nations to place and keep silver on an equality with gold, according to existing standards, but it has been by the treatment it has received from European nations greatly lessened in commercial value.

"After giving the subject careful consideration, I have been forced to the conclusion that unless both the coinage of silver dollars and the issue of silver certificates are suspended, there is danger that silver, and not gold, may become our metallic standard. This danger may not be imminent, but it is of so serious a character that there ought not to be delay in providing against it. Not only would the national credit be seriously impaired if the government should be under the necessity of using silver dollars or certificates in payment of gold obligations, but business of all kinds would be greatly disturbed; not only so, but gold would at once cease to be a circulating medium, and severe contraction would be the result."

The first important subject considered by the Senate was the coinage of silver dollars and the consequent issue of silver certificates.

The debate was founded upon a resolution offered by Senator Hill, of Colorado, against the views expressed by the President in his message and by Secretary McCulloch in his report.

On the 15th of December I made a speech covering, as I thought, the silver question, not only of the past but of the probable results in the future. The amount of silver dollars then in the treasury was $184,730,829, and of silver certificates outstanding $131,556,531. These certificates were maintained at par in gold by being received for customs duties. They were redeemable in silver dollars, but were in fact never presented for redemption.

The silver dollars could only be used in the redemption of certificates or by issue in payment of current liabilities. With the utmost exertions to put the silver dollars in circulation only fifty million could be used in this way. To have forced more into circulation would have excited a doubt whether any of our paper money could be maintained at par with gold.

When urged to express a remedy for this condition I said that if I had the power to dictate a law I would ascertain by the best means the exact market value of the two metals, and then put into each silver dollar as many grains of standard silver as would be equal in market value to 25.8 grains of standard gold. I said that if the price of silver fell the coin would still circulate upon the fiat of the government. If silver advanced in relative value the amount of silver in the coin could, at stated periods, be decreased. Bimetallism could only exist where the market value of the two metals approached the coinage value, or where a strong government, with a good credit, received and paid out coins of each metal at parity with each other. The only way to prevent a variation in the value of the two metals, and the exportation of the dearer metal, would be, by an international agreement between commercial nations, to adopt a common ratio somewhat similar in substance to that of the Latin Union, each nation to receive as current money the coins of the other and each to redeem its own coins in gold.

Mr. Beck replied to my argument, and the debate between us continued during two or three days. The weakness of the silver advocates was that they were not content with the coinage of more silver coin than ever before, but were determined that the holder of silver in any form might deposit it in the mint and have it coined into dollars for his benefit at the ratio of sixteen to one, when its market value had then fallen so that twenty ounces of silver were worth but one ounce in gold, and since has fallen in value so that thirty ounces of silver are worth but one ounce in gold.

With free coinage in these conditions no gold coins would be minted and all the money of the United States would be reduced in value to the sole silver standard, and gold would be h.o.a.rded and exported.

This debate has been continued from that date to this, not only in Congress, but in every schoolhouse in the United States, and in all the commercial nations of the world. I shall have occasion hereafter to recur to it.

On the 18th of December I reported, from the joint committee on the library, an amendment to an appropriation bill providing for the construction of a statue to the memory of General Lafayette, in the following words:

"That the president _pro tempore_ of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representative do appoint a joint committee of three Senators and three Representatives, with authority to contract for and erect a statue to the memory of General Lafayette and his compatriots; and said statue shall be placed in a suitable public reservation in the city of Washington, to be designated by said joint committee."

The amendment was agreed to by both Houses. The result was the erection, on the southeast corner of Lafayette Square in Washington, of the most beautiful and artistic bronze monument in that city.

A somewhat sharp and combative controversy had taken place in the newspapers between General Sherman and Jefferson Davis, in regard to the position of the latter on the rights of the Confederate states in the spring of 1865. General Sherman, in a letter to me dated December 4, 1884, published in the "Sherman Letters," narrated his remarks at a meeting of the Frank Blair Post, G. A. R., No. 1, in St. Louis, in which he said that he had noticed the tendency to gloss over old names and facts by speaking of the Rebellion as a war of secession, while in fact it was a conspiracy up to the firing on Fort Sumter, and a rebellion afterwards. He described the conspiracy between Slidell, Benjamin and Davis, and the seizure of the United States a.r.s.enal at Baton Rouge, and other acts of war, and then said:

"I had seen a letter of Mr. Davis showing that he was not sincere in his doctrine of secession, for when some of the states of the Confederacy, in 1865, talked of 'a separate state action,' another name for 'secession,' he stated that he, as president of the Confederacy, would resist it, even if he had to turn Lee's army against it. I did see such a letter, or its copy, in a captured letter book at Raleigh, just about as the war was closing."

Davis called for the production of the identical letter. General Sherman said he could not enter into a statement of the controversy, but he believed the truth of his statement could be established, and that he would collect evidence to make good his statement. I replied to his letter as follows:

"United States Senate, } "Washington, D. C., December 10, 1884.} "Dear Brother:--. . . I can see how naturally you spoke of Jeff.

Davis as you did, and you did not say a word more than he deserved.

Still, he scarcely deserves to be brought into notice. He was not only a conspirator, but a traitor. His reply was a specimen of impotent rage. It is scarcely worth your notice, nor should you dignify it by a direct rejoinder. A clear, strong statement of the historical facts that justified the use of the word 'conspirator,'

which you know very well how to write, is all the notice required.

Do not attempt to fortify it by an affidavit, as some of the papers say you intend to do, but your statement of the letters seen by you, and the historical facts known by you, are enough. I have had occasion, since your letter was received, to speak to several Senators about the matter, and they all agree with me that you ought to avoid placing the controversy on letters which cannot now be produced. The records have been pretty well sifted by friendly rebels, and under the new administration it is likely their further publication will be edited by men who will gladly shield Davis at the expense of a Union soldier. The letter of Stephens to Johnson is an extraordinary one. Its publication will be a bombsh.e.l.l in the Confederate camp. I will deliver the copy to Colonel Scott to- morrow. One or two paragraphs from it go far to sustain your stated opinion of Jeff. Davis. . . .

"Very affectionately yours, "John Sherman."

This controversy came before the Senate by a resolution offered by Senator Hawley, calling upon the President to communicate to the Senate an historical statement concerning the public policy of the executive department of the Confederate states during the late War of the Rebellion, reported to have been lately filed in the war department by General William T. Sherman. Upon this resolution a somewhat acrimonious debate occurred, partic.i.p.ated in by Senators Harris, Hawley, Vest, George, Ingalls and others. During the debate I felt constrained, on account of my relationship with General Sherman, to give his version of the controversy between himself and Jefferson Davis.

I disliked the introduction of such a controversy twenty years after the war was over, but still, as the matter was before us, I entered at considerable length into a history of the controversy, and expressed my decided opinion that General Sherman was entirely justified in denouncing Davis and his a.s.sociates, before the Civil War commenced, as conspirators and traitors. I closed my remarks as follows:

"I am sorry this debate has sprung up. I was in hope, with the Senator from Connecticut, who introduced the resolution, that these papers would be published, and nothing more would be said about them here, but let the people determine the issue and let this matter go down in history. But, sir, whenever, in my presence, in a public a.s.semblage, Jefferson Davis shall be treated as a patriot, I must enter my solemn protest. Whenever the motives and causes of the war, the beginning and end of which I have seen, are brought into question, I must stand, as I have always stood, upon the firm conviction that it was a causeless rebellion, made with bad motives, and that all men who led in that movement were traitors to their country."

Senator Lamar answered my speech with some heat, and closed as follows:

"One other thing. We, of the south, have surrendered upon all the questions which divided the two sides in that controversy. We have given up the right of the people to secede from the Union; we have given up the right of each state to judge for itself of the infractions of the const.i.tution and the mode of redress; we have given up the right to control our own domestic inst.i.tutions. We fought for all these, and we lost in that controversy; but no man shall, in my presence, call Jefferson Davis a traitor, without my responding with a stern and emphatic denial."

Senator Vest closed the debate in a few remarks, and the subject- matter was displaced by the regular order. While I regretted this debate, I believed that the speeches made by the Republican Senators properly defined the Rebellion as, first, a conspiracy; second, treason; third, a rebellion subdued by force, finally followed by the most generous treatment of those engaged in the Rebellion that is found in the history of mankind.

During this session there was a very full debate upon the subject of regulating interstate commerce, in which I partic.i.p.ated. The contest was between what was known as the Reagan bill, which pa.s.sed the House of Representatives, and the Senate bill. I expressed the opinion that the Senate bill was better than the Reagan bill, and, although much popular favor had been enlisted from time to time in favor of the Reagan bill, because it grappled with and dealt with the railroad corporations, the Senate bill did more; it not only grappled with them, but laid a broad and deep foundation for an admirable system of railroad law, which should govern all the railroads of the country.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

DEDICATION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

Resolution of Senator Morrill Providing for Appropriate Dedicatory Ceremonies--I Am Made Chairman of the Commission--Robert C. Winthrop's Letter Stating His Inability to Attend the Exercises--Letters of Regret from General Grant and John G. Whittier--Unfavorable Weather for the Dedication--My Address as Presiding Officer--The President's Acceptance of the Monument for the Nation--Mr. Winthrop's Address Read in the House by John D. Long--Inauguration of the First Democratic President Since Buchanan's Time--Visit to Cincinnati and Address on the Election Frauds--Respects to the Ohio Legislature --A Trip to the West and Southwest--Address on American Independence.

On the 13th of May, 1884, the President approved the following joint resolution, introduced by Mr. Morrill, from the committee on public buildings and grounds: