CHAPTER XXIII. SOME EVENTS IN MY PRIVATE LIFE. Feuds and Jealousies During Grant's Administration—Attack on Me by the Cincinnati "Enquirer"—Reply and Statement Regarding My Worldly Possessions—I Am Elected to the Senate for the Third Term —Trip to the Pacific with Colonel Scott and Party—Visit to the Yosemite Valley—San Diego in 1872—Return via Carson City and Salt Lake—We call on Brigham Young—Arrival Home to Enter Into the Greeley-Grant Canvass—Election of General Grant for the Second Term.
CHAPTER XXIV. THE PANIC OF 1873 AND ITS RESULTS. Failure of Jay Cooke and Co.—Wild Schemes "for the Relief of the People"—Congress Called Upon for Help—Finance Committee's Report for the Redemption of United States Notes in Coin—Extracts from my Speech in Favor of the Report—Bill to Fix the Amount of United States Notes—Finally Passed by the Senate and House—Vetoed by President Grant and Failure to Pass Over His Objection—General Effect Throughout the Country of the Struggle for Resumption— Imperative Necessity for Providing Some Measure of Relief.
CHAPTER XXV. BILL FOR THE RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. Decline in Value of Paper Money—Meeting of Congress in December, 1874—Senate Committee of Eleven to Formulate a Bill to Advance United States Notes to Par in Coin—Widely Differing Views of the Members—Redemption of Fractional Currency Readily Agreed to—Other Sections Finally Adopted—Means to Prepare for and Maintain Resumption —Report of the Bill by the Committee on Finance—Its Passage by the Senate by a Vote of 32 to 14—Full Text of the Measure and an Explanation of What It Was Expected to Accomplish—Approval by the House and the President.
CHAPTER XXVI. RESUMPTION ACT RECEIVED WITH DISFAVOR. It Is Not Well Received by Those Who Wished Immediate Resumption of Specie Payments—Letter to "The Financier" in Reply to a Charge That It Was a "Political Trick," etc.—The Ohio Canvass of 1875— Finance Resolutions in the Democratic and Republican Platforms—R. B. Hayes and Myself Talk in Favor of Resumption—My Recommendation of Him for President—A Democrat Elected as Speaker of the House— The Senate Still Republican—My Speech in Support of Specie Payments Made March 6, 1876—What the Financial Policy of the Government Should Be.
CHAPTER XXVII. MY CONFIDENCE IN THE SUCCESS OF RESUMPTION. Tendency of Democratic Members of Both Houses to Exaggerate the Evil Times—Debate Over the Bill to Provide for Issuing Silver Coin in Place of Fractional Currency—The Coinage Laws of the United States and Other Countries—Joint Resolution for the Issue of Silver Coins—The "Trade Dollar" Declared Not to Be a Legal Tender—My Views on the Free Coinage of Silver—Bill to Provide for the Completion of the Washington Monument—Resolution Written by Me on the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—Unanimously Passed in a Day by Both Houses—Completion of the Structure Under the Act.
CHAPTER XXVIII. THE HAYES-TILDEN PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST. Nomination of R. B. Hayes for President—His Fitness for the Responsible Office—Political Shrewdness of Samuel J. Tilden, His Opponent—I Enter Actively Into the Canvass in Ohio and Other States —Frauds in the South—Requested by General Grant to Go to New Orleans and Witness the Canvassing of the Vote of Louisiana— Departure for the South—Personnel of the Republican and Democratic "Visitors"—Report of the Returning Board—My Letter to Governor Hayes from New Orleans—President Grant's Last Message to Congress —Letter from President Hayes—Request to Become his Secretary of the Treasury.
CHAPTER XXIX. I BEGIN MY DUTIES AS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. Legislative Training of Great Advantage to Me in My New Position— Loan Contract in Force When I Took the Portfolio—Appointment of Charles F. Conant as Funding Agent of the Treasury Department in London—Redeeming Called Bonds—Sale of Four Per Cent. Bonds Instead of Four and a Half Per Cents.—Popularity of the New Loan—Great Saving in Interest—On a Tour of Inspection Along the Northern Atlantic Coast—Value of Information Received on This Trip—Effect of the Baltimore and Pittsburg Railroad Strikes in 1877 Upon Our Public Credit.
CHAPTER XXX. POLICY OF THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION. Reception at My Home in Mansfield—Given by Friends Irrespective of Party—Introduced by My Old Friend and Partner, Henry C. Hedges —I Reply by Giving a Résumé of the Contests in South Carolina and Louisiana to Decide Who Was Governor—Positions Taken by Presidents Grant and Hayes in These Contests—My Plans to Secure the Resumption of Specie Payments—Effects of a Depreciated Currency—Duties of the Secretary of the Treasury—Two Modes of Resuming—My Mansfield Speech Printed Throughout the Country and in England—Letters to Stanley Matthews and General Robinson—Our Defeat in Ohio—An Extra Session of Congress—Bills Introduced to Repeal the Act Providing for the Resumption of Specie Payments—They All Fail of Passage— Popular Subscription of Bonds All Paid for.
CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY OF THE SHERMAN FAMILY. Family Name is of Saxon Origin—"Conquer Death by Virtue"—Arrival of Rev. John Sherman at Boston in 1634—General Sherman's Reply to an English Sexton—Career of Daniel Sherman—My First Visit to Woodbury—"Sherman's Tannery"—Anecdote of "Uncle Dan"—Sketch of My Father and Mother—Address to Enlisting Soldiers—General Reese's Account of My Father's Career—Religion of the Sherman Family—My Belief.
The family name of Sherman is, no doubt, of Saxon origin. It is very common along the Rhine, and in different parts of the German Empire. It is there written Shearmann or Schurmann. I found it in Frankfort and Berlin. The English Shermans lived chiefly in Essex and Suffolk counties near the east coast, and in London. The name appears frequently in local records. One Sherman was executed for taking the unsuccessful side in a civil war. It was not until the beginning of the 16th century that any of the name assumed the arms, crest, and motto justified by their pride, property or standing. The motto taken, "Conquer Death by Virtue," is a rather meaningless phrase. It is modest enough, and indicates a religious turn of mind. Nearly every family of the name furnished a preacher. A few members of it attained the dignity of knighthood. A greater number became landed property-holders, and more were engaged in trade in London. Sir Henry Sherman was one of the executors of the will of Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby, May 23, 1521. William Sherman, Esq., purchased Knightston in the time of Henry VIII; and a monument to him is in Ottery St. Mary, dated 1542. As a rule the family belonged to the middle class and were engaged in active occupations, earning their own bread, with a strong sense of their rights and liberties as Englishmen.