SPEECH Hon. JOHN SHERMAN, SECRETARY OE THE TREASURY, DELIVERED AT TOLEDO, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 187^. WASHINGTON, D. C. NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PRINTINi} Iini-SK. 1878. J SPEECH Hon. JOHN SHERMAN, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY DELIVERED AT TOLEDO, MONDAY^ AUGUST 26, 187 DEC'"'2*T880 WASHINGTON, D. C. NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PRINTING HOUSE. 1878. 'Th L(«s SPEECH OF HON. JOHN SHEKMAN. Fellow Citizens : When I informed the Republican State Committee that I could speak once in Ohio during my brief visit, they inquired if it would be agree- able to me to speak in Toledo. I promptly answered yes, for I knew that, though your political associations had been greatly disturbed by questions which sprung- out of the hardness of the times and the panic of 1873, you would yet give me a. patient hearing, and thus be able better to judge how far we disagree. I naturally suppose that you desire me to speak mainly on financial topics. My official position for many years in the Senate connected me with the financial legis- lation of Congress, and my jjresent office requires me to carrj^ into execution these laws. They relate mainly to the public credit, the public debt, our coin and cur- rency, and the system of taxes by which the Government is supported. These top- ics are necessarily interwoven with each other, but each canvass brings some of them into more prominence than others. QUESTIONS MOST DISCUSSED. Now the questions most discussed are those relating to silver and resumption. These are only branches of the cvirrency question, but they present the main diffi- culties in the administration of the Treasury Department, and will be mainly the subject of my remarks. The election this fall for members of the House of Rep- resentatives will practically settle them. There ought to be no partisan jr pei-sonal feeling about them, for we are all interested alike in promoting the common good, and in settling upon a sound basis the currency of the country. In undertaking to address you I will frankly and freely express my own opinion, but, while I remain in an executive office, I shall cheerfully and freely obey and ex- ecute the ^'udgment of my fellow citizens as expressed by Congress, or give way to some one who will do so. AMOUNT OF CURRENCY. AVhat I want is the largest amount of currency that can be maintained at par with the established coin of the country. From the diversity of our wants we must have many different kinds of money, to measure great wants and little wants. We must have coin money and paper money, and plenty of both. What I contend for is that, though our money may be of many kinds, it must all have the same i)ur- chasing power. The essential qualities of all good money arc stability, equality, and convertibility. The dollar of one kind should buy as much as the dollar of any other kind. Depreciated money cheats the ignorant and the unwary, and enriches the money changer. The poor man whose dependence is upon his daily labor is the victim of depreciated money, for he must take what is offered and is always paid in the poorest money. No distinction should be made between coin money and paper money, or be- tween the noteholder and the bondholder. The money provided by the Government should pay all debts and be used for all debts. Subject to these conditions I am for the largest amount of each kind of money demanded for the wants of business, and if you agree with me in these general propositions there will be no quarrel between us. MEANS OF EXCHANGE. Gold, silver, and copper, as well as the modern contrivance of paper money, are all useAil means of exchunge, and ought to be freelj' used and always main- tained at par with each other. ]\Iiuor coins of baser metals arc indispensable for the innumerable small wants of life. To measure these wants silver coin would have to be too small in size, and, therefore, copper and nickel are used, but these metals are so cheap that if coined at their intrinsic value the coins would be too large for convenience; so, by common consent, the old copper cents are abandoned, and token coins of copper and nickel are issued at several times their intrinsic value, but are maintained at par by the necessity of their use, and by being redeemable in money of full value when pre- sented in considerable sums. Silver money is the best and most convenient for the market and shopping transactions of life. Silver coins are, by all odds, more numerous than coins of gold, even in countries where gold alone is the standard of value. The shillings and half 'crowns of Great Britain outnumber the sovereigns many times, and in tjie United States the silver coins issued from February 1, 18T5, to August 1, 1878, number 220,82'.),.j40, while the whole number of gold pieces issued during that time in the United States was 7,710,040. No form of paper money can profitably take the place of silver. Our old frac- tional currency was the best substitute ever devised, but this cost annually nearly 4 per cent, to maintain it in decent condition, or nearly the interest of the money, while the amount lost, wasted and destroyed was a heavy tax upon the people who used it. It lasted on an average only fifteen mouths, while coin lasts thirty years. The largest possible use of silver and its freest circulation are indispensable to any system of money that can be devised, but it must be maintained in some way at or near the intrinsic value of other money. now SILVER MAY DISPLACE GOLD. If silver is coined at less than its market value and issued without limit it will as surely displace gold as water will displace air. Therefore, fractional silver is limited to $.-)(),0n(),O0O, and is issuetl only when required in exchange for United States notes. If it becomes too abundant it comes into the Treasury for taxes and is paid out only when demanded or willingly received. So the coinuig of the new silver dollar, though a legal tender for all purposes, is limited by law to from ^•2,000,000 to $4,000,000 a month. The silver in this d-^l- lar is worth less in the market than the gold or even the paper dollar, and, if issued witliout limit, the silver dollar will surely depreciate below the gold dollar, and will become the single standard of value. This is as certain as the march of time. GOLD INDISPENSAnLE. Rut gold also is an indispensable standard of value. It measures all the larger transactiims of business life. It is used as such by most christian and civilized na- tions cf the world, and its demonetization would be as great an injury as the de- monetization of silver. Now, fellow-citizens, I am in favor of so adjusting this matter that both met- als will circulate at par with each otlier ; that you will have gold eagles and silver dollars, and a dollar of either will purchase precisely the same commodities. now BOTH METALS WILI, ( lUC ULATE AT TAIt. This can be done while the market value of silver is lower than it should be in view of its legal ratio with gold, either. First, by limitinu' the amount of silver to be issued, or, Second, by readjusting the relative weight of coins, either by increasuig the weight of the silver coin, or lessening that of the gold coin, or equalizing them by increasing the weight of silver and lessening that of the gold, or, Third, by some plan to be adopted by the International Conference between bi- metallic nations now in session, which I'sincerely trust may arrive at .some practi- cal result. .Vnv i)lan to keep these coins on a par with each other will meet my hearty con- currence, but lam utterly opposed to any measure that will deprive us of the use of either of them, circulating sule by side, with equal purchasing power, at par with each other. I assure you, in all frankness, that the silver question must be solved in some wav, or we will have to adopt the single standard of silver like the Chinese and other Asiatic nations. And now. fellow-citizens, I come to the most important (question of this canvass. THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF THE CANVASS. Our paper currency is now happily brought very near to par with coin. Will you insist upon keeping it at par, or will you, by repealing the resiimptiou act, retrace the steps already taken, and embark again upon the sea of irredeema- ble paper currency? Shall our paper money hereafter be redeemable in coin upon the demand of the holder and be maintained at par with coin, or shall it be what its friends call a "fiat" money, irredeemable in coin, dependent upon the daily trade-marks of bankers and brokers for its value, and upon the changing majorities in Congress for its amount and quality '? This county of Lucas has always been a go 3d Republican county. It earnestly supported the administration of Abraham Lincoln, supported all the measures of the war, and in patriotic exertions and sacrifices for the cause of the Union was not excelled by any portion of the United States of equal population. It is to you as Republicans that I wish to address what I have to .saj' to-night. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THE PARENT OP GREENBACKS. It was the Republican party which devised and issued the greenbacks, and which has thus far sustained them and advanced them by slow and gradual pro- cesses to par with coin. No doubt there have been honest differences, as it is natural there would be, as to tlie means l\v which the result has been brought about, but there should be no difference among Republicans as to the desire that the money contrived by their policy, and the chosen instrument by which the forces of the United States were marshalled during our war should be. made and kept equal to coin. However varying currents of public opinion or temporary depression of indus- try may tend to disturli the jjublic judgment, it should be the will and the duty of the great party to which we belong to make good the promises printed on the face of United States notes, esi^ecially when this is demanded not only by national honor, but by the clearest public policy. In this money, which is our own, we naturally take pride. We guarded it in its cradle when it was reviled and derided by our political adversaries, at a time when it was said it would wander like Cain with a mark upon its brow, dishonored and repudiated. We believed in it then and we be- lieve in it now. REDEMPTION PROMISED IN GOLD. When it was issued we promised to redeem it in coin, and every fresh issue was accompanied by a fresh promise. In 186G we not only, by law, promised to redeem it, but provided for the gradual contraction of its amount. In 18(iS we sus- pended the contraction but renewed the promise. In 1809 we solemnly pledged the public faith to redeem the notes in coin. No step, however, was taken for their redemption, and, under the stimulus of inflation, speculation ran riot, visionary schemes were entered upon, extravagance prevailed, until in September, 1873, the babble burst, prices fell, the wild delusions of the time were dissipated and business men had to face the inevitable evils that always come from irredeemable pai)er money. Then, after fifteen months' debate in Congress and before the people, as a remedy for the evils we were suffering, the resumption act was passed. Its only object was to make our ])aper money equal to coin. It was not the best possible measure, but was the only one that could be agreed upon. It was veiy general in its provisions, but it gave ample power to i)repare for and to maintain resumption. It did not abolish the greenback. On the contrary the greenbacks were ex- pressly to be retained to the extent of $300,000,000 as a part of the permanent cur- rency of the country, and, on the 1st of January, 1870, were to be made as good as coin, to be redeemable in coin, and to be issued and re-issued as the money of the people, the chief part of our paper currency. This was to be the fulfillment of our promises. This was our answer to those who said the greenback would never be redeemed. THE RESUMPTION ACT HAS VINDICATED ITSELF. And now, fellow citizens, the resumption act has vindicated itself. "We will l)e prepared when the time fixed shall arrive, to execute it and maintain it, with entire confidence in its happy effect iu the revival of business and the restoration of confidence. Four months before the tiiifie fixed, silver, gold, and paper are almost on a par with each other. A greenback will now buy within one-half of one per cent, as much provision, clothing, and other things as the best gold coin ever issued from the mint. The laboring man has a standard of value equal to that of the bondholder. The only promise unfulfilled by the Republican party is almost performed. The steps by which the result has been achieved were simple, lawful, and be- neficent, and, i)erhaps, it is best for me to state them as briefiy as I can. HOW IT WAS YINDICATED. Pirst. Silver coin has been gradually substituted for fractional currency. The -nmount of fractional currency redeemed to the ITtli of this mouth is $25,080,009. The amount of fractional silver coin issued to the same date is $:]!), 307, 680. Here has been no contraction, but an increase of over $14,000,000 current money by the substitution of a durable coin for an expensive and wasteful note. Second. A gradual retirement has been cff"ected of United States notes from $382,000,000 January, 1875, to .|;846,G81,01(). This reduction was made only as cir- culating notes were issued to national banks, and only to the extent of eighty per cent, of the notes so issued. This was to be continued until the amount outstand- ing was !?:50(),000,000, but Congress during the recent session, in view of the gen- eral desire to stop reduction, suspended it and fixed the amount of United States notes at |:34G, 081,010, the amount then outstanding. Though this adds to the difli- cultics of executing the resumption law, still I have entire confidence in our ability to maintain that amount in circulation. GOI-D ACCUMULATED AT THE UATK OF |5,000,000 PEK MONTH. Third. Coin has been accumulated in the Treasury in anticipation of resumption. ' The iiuthority to thus accumulate is plainly given by the resumption act, and was -the chief means provided to secure and maintain resumption. ^My predecessors, no doubt believing that this accumulation ought not to commence during their terms, had taken no steps under the jirovisions of the resumption act. When I assumed the duties of my present office, after careful study of the whole subject, I determined that it would be necessary to accumulate, in addition to tlie surplus revenue, the sum of $100,000,000 of gold coin, and that it ought to be accumulated at the rate of $5,000,000 a month from the 1st of ]May, 1877, to the i"atious. In.stead of having political power, they are the weakest members of a community. Say what you will of them their substitution for State banks was one of the wisest and most beuelicial acts of the general (Jovernment since the commencemeiit of the war. Personally I have but little interest in or feeling for natinual banks. But for the benetits derived from them, I would not care what became of them. Their continued existence ought to depend upon their ability, without co.st or trouble to the United States, to maintain their eirculating notes at par with United States notes or coin. If they fail in this they ought to be abolished. If they do it they ought to be continued. Scattered through the I'nited States, they are useful financial agents in exchanging the products of industiy and in localizing capital. They paid last year to the Govern- ment of the United States ."i!?, 07(1,087 in taxes, and for State and local taxes s;!).701,- 732, or a total of !?ltl, 777,Sl!), or nearly four million more than .ludge Thurman estimates we will save to the people by issuing greenbacks instead of the bank notes. These taxes would all be lost to the United States and to the States if the national banks were abolished. Their notes are secured beyond peradventure; they are protected from counterfeiting far more successl'ully than any former sys- tem, and, to their credit bo it said, not one dollar has been lost on auy national 11 bank note ever issued. Wherever you go you may carry their notes with confi- dence, without examination as to where or when they were issued. They are good everywhere in the United States. thurman's objection to national banks considered. Senator Thurman has stated some objei^tions to the national banks, to wliich I will briefly reply. He says : In the first place a national bank currency means the indefinite perpetuation of the public debt. As a national bank exists only for twenty years from the date of its organiza- tion, and is liable at any time by act of Congress to be abolished, this does not seem a very potent objection. I am sorry to say that the prospect of paying our debt during the life of a national bank is not very flattering, nor is their existence likely to deter its payment. As for the influence of these institutions, so much feared by Mr. Thurman, it is not an object of alarm, for it cannot be combined, or if a combination were attempted, it could be overthrown by a single wave of pop- ular opinion. His second objection to the national banking system is " that it tends to com- bine, concentrate, and intensify the money power." This again is an illusive fear. There is no power in this country that is so weak in political management as what is called the money power. It never has been nor can it be concentrated so as to affect political questions. The tendency of our institutions makes it easy to combine at once political opinion and political power against it. NO ten bank presidents agree. Party organization is infinitely more powerful for combination than the money power. My own experience in office enables me to say that if you convene ten bank presidents you will have ten different opinions, while party organization brings even Judge Thurman and General Ewing on the same platform. Nor is it true, as stated by .Judge Thurman, that the legislation of Congress favored the money interest during the period of the sway of the Republican party, for this legislation was guided by the love of national unity and honor, and national existence.'' It tended to make our nation strong at home and respected abroad, and in no single question has it favored what is called the money interest. the vital issue between the two great parties. The vital issue between the two great parties has been, on the part of the Re- publicans, a desire to maintain the integrity of the Union and abolish slavery, to secure equal political and civU rights to all men, to maintain the national honor, and to advance the industrial interests of the country, while the theory and policy of the Democratic party has been to belittle the National Government, to subordinate it to the power of the States, to preserve slavery, to leave industry without protec- tion and support, and to sectionalize into petty communifeies the elements of a great and powerful nation ; and these are now, and will be in the future, the inevitable tendencies of these two parties. _ , The third objection stated by him to the national-bank circulation is that it is a special privilege and takes many millions out of the pockets of the people. This again is untrue in point of fact and illogical in argument. banks enjoy no special privileges. The national-bank circulation is not a special privilege, but is open to every association ^f five persons that may be organized in any part of the United States. To call it a special privilege is absurd,. The same privilege might be granted to every individual citizen of the United States, but experience shows that a corpo- ration is more wisely administered when it is composed of a number of persons, not less than five, than when it is controlled by a single jierson, and corporate au- thority is essential to preserve its existence in case of the death of a partner. But for this, the special privflece miglit be granted to every citizen who could give the requisite security for the redemption of the notes issued by him. As to putting money into the pockets of the shareholders, this again is absurd. The. Governmenrpayp nothing and contributes nothing to'a bank. The shareholders 12 buy the bonds of the Government anil dejiosit them with the Government for the security of the note-hoUlers. If the bank retires, tlie bonds belong to the share- hohlers :ui(l not to the (Tovernment. Nor can the Government pay tliese bonds in any other way than it could pay the bonds in tiie hands of individuals. The Govern- ment woulil pay the same interest on these bonds, whether held by the bank or by citizens, or in Europe. The reason why bonds are demanded as security is because they are the best security. But for this a mortgage security or a personal security might betaken, but as the Government security is the highest and best, this is demanded, not for the benelit of the Government, but for the note-holder, for whom the Government is a mere trustee. When the Government pays to the bank interest on bonds held by it as a security, it only pays what is justly due and what it would have to pay at all events to anybody holding the bonds until they are redeemed. How it takes many millions annually out of the pockets of the people is hard to conceive. No one borrows the notes of the bank unless it is for his interest to do so. The ability of the bank to lend is a convenience to the borrower as well as the lender. The Government cannot engage iuthis business of loaning money. It would be a sorry time for the people other than political striker.?, if the Government loaned money. This is purely a private, personal employment, that should he as free as blacksmithiug. The right to issue notes is free to all on the same terms, and when so guarded as to prevent loss to the note-holder, is the best possible means of in- creasing the amount of circulating notes. He says that the Government ought to issue these notes. The answer is, that ii'the Government issues them, it must undertake to maintain them at par with coin, or else th.e people must sutler from the evils of an irredeemable currency. The cost to the banks of this redemption is already so great, before specie ivxynients have actually come, that this so-called special privilege is getting to be a special burden, and more banks are surrendering their circulation than are taking circula- tion. It is a special privilege that more se;'k to avoid than to ac(|uire. Judge Thurman computes how much the United States would save if it issued $322,000,000 more of greenbacks and redeemed that amount of bonds. I do not stop to examine this computation, but I only wonder why he stopped at !?o22, 000.000. Why m t save the entire interest of the public del)t by i-^suing greenbacks for the whole of it ? Why not repudiate it at once ■' Tliat would, according to his compu- tation, save the entire interest of the public debt, or $93, 000,000 with no other loss than the loss of national honor. TIMELY t^UESTIOKS THAT THURMAK SHOULD ANSWER. What assurance has he that So22, 000,000 will satisfv the more advanced lights of repudiation ? How will he payout the 8322,000,000 -.> Will he claim the right to pay the bonds at par with them ? Does he deny the moral and legal obligation by wiiicli they are to be paid in coin ? Does he propose to repudiate the act of 1801) ■.' The immediate eli'ect of the commencement of such an issue would depreciate the notes lower and lower, would widen more and more the gap between the notes and coin, would revive again the distinction between the bondholder and the note- holder — gold for the bondholder and depreciated paper money for the people. It would at once stop the fundin'^ operations under wliich we save one-third of the in- terest of the national debt. iSo man would buy either a four or a live or a ten per- cent, bond in the face of an act of repudiation. Again, as the notes depreciate, it becomes more difficult to provide coin for the payment of the interest ; would he repudiate the obligation to pay the interest in coin '.' He says he is in favor of receiving greenbacks for customs duties. Will he, tlien, buy coin? If so, his i)olicy will already have advanced the value of coin. These are questions that so astute a reasoner as Judge Thurman ouglit fairly to answer before he persuades the people to embark in his scheme. WHAT .lUDGE THURMAN PROPOSES. He proposes to issue more notes without any provision for their payment, when our revenues are ample to meet onv expenditure, in a time of profound peace, when there is no motive of patriotism or duty or safety to impel such a course, and tJiis meiely to .save the interest of four per cent, on i{!;322,000,000. 13 But this very act, if adopted, would prevent our selling a thousand niillion of four per cent, bonds -Nvith which to pay an equal amount of six per cent, bonds, and in this way would work un annual loss to the Government of $'20,000,000, or !?8,000.- 000 a year more than the entire saving proposed by his policy. Again, what moral right has the Government of the United States to require ite citrzens to take its notes as money and a standard of value merely for the pur- pose of saving the intei-est on these bonds ? In a time of war we may concede such a right, but in a time of peace there is no legal or moral foundation for such a claim unless the notes are maintained at par and redeemed at par. Is not the United States able to pay the interest of its notes "? THERE HAS BEEN CONTRACTION OF THE CURRENCY. Judge Thurman says there has been contraction of the currency. No one dis- putes that assertion. It is true that the currency has been contracted, but this has been done, not under the resumption act, but by the voluntary action of the banks. They are free to issue or retire their notes, and they have done so. If the special privilege about which he has discussed so much was so valuable to them, they would have increased their issues of bank notes, but instead of that the burdens imposed upon this privilege and the want of protitable use of money have induced the banks to reduce their circulation by a much greater amount than it has been increased, so that the effect has been a large decrease of the currency of the country, but it has not been caused b}' the resumption act. Under the resump- tion act the amount of currency has been somewhat increased, since the amount of United States notes retired since its passage is, as he states it, $35,328,98-1. But there was issued to national banks in place of this $44,161,230 of circulating notes. Now, these are the objections stated to the national banks by Ju''ge Thurman, and my answer to them. It comes back again to this: Shall we have in the United States a currency re- deemable in CO hi? Will we, to save interest, bear in the future all the evils of an irredeemable currency, tear up a system of banks infinitely better than any ever before enjoyed in this country, compel these banks to call in their loans and close up their accounts, and add to the distress of the times by dangerous and almost revolutionary proceedings against corporations of our own creation, which have no special privileges, and which contribute to the general good by paying large taxes and by acting as convenient localized agencies of loans and exchange. OREGON, FLORIDA, AND LOUISIANA. And here I might leave Judge Thurman's speech, but there are two or three points which I regret I have to answer. He saj's : The seat of the Chief Magi-strate — that seat that in times past has been and in all times shoulil be an emblem of purity ami honor— is occupied by a man who was never elected to it, and whose elevation was accomplishe 1 by the grossest frauds and boldest usurpations that ever dis- graced the history of a free people. This'declaration is a gross injustice, and I believe Judge Thurman will live to regret that ho ever made it. He was a member of the Electoral Commission which parsed upon the returns of the votes of electors for President. He knows that every electoral vote of every State cast for President Hayes was received by him without dispHte, without any pretension of fraud or error, except the votes of Oregon, Florida, and Louisiana. GOVERNOR TILDEN'S AGENTS IN OREGON. In Oregon there was an attempt by acknowledged agents of Gov. Tilden to cheat — I use the word in its worst meaning — the Republicans out of that vote and to bribe an elector, and it failed. In Florida there had been great irregularities and frauds committed by the Democrats, which were met, to some extent, by frauds on the part of Republican officers ; bitt the evidence before the returning officers, as well as that taken in the contest for the election of a member of the House of Rep- resentatives, shows that a majority of the votes in Florida were fairly cast for the Hayes electors. DEMOCRATIC CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY IN LOUL-^IANA. As to Louisiana, I had better means of information than Judge Thurman, and I say to you that the criminal conspiracy by the Democratic party of that State to 14 control the election of 187') so as to cast the vote of the State for Governor Tilden, has never been fully told. It extended to more than ten parishes or counties, and held in absolute terror five Republican parishes that had always since the war given about seven thousand Republican majority. It led to and incUided in its plan and scope scores of murders of Republicans, white and black, mainly intelligent black leaders of their race. It wounded, whipped, and maimed others, drove hundreds to the swami)S at night, and spread universal terror among this ignorant and super- stitious people who had the same legal right, and a better moral right, to vote than their persecutors whose hands were only recently red with the blood shed in war against the Union. The chosen agents of this infamy were Democratic rille-clubs fully armed, marching at night in disguise, distributing anonymous threats and occasionally ex- ecuting them, and giving notice to leave the parish to the more intelligent, accom- panied with threats and devices to excite fear and terror. ANDERSON AND WEBER. Such were the means used by the Democratic party to carry Louisiana. They may here and there induce a disappointed office-seeker like Anderson and Weber to falsify their former oaths, and even prevail upon poor negroes like Amy Mitchell and Mrs. Pinkston to withdraw their former depositions ; but the scores of dead men killed by the rifle-clubs speak from their graves, and the men who killed them and rode their nightly rides of terror, know in their hearts that all that has been said of them is true. The statements and affidavits made by these people were sub- mitted to the local returning officers selected by the State legislature, composed of two white men and two colored men, all natives of the South, and these men. who knew the surroundings and many of the facts, decided, in strict compliance with the law of that State, that under this law these parishes and polling places must be excluded, and it was done. Thus Governor Hayes got the vote of Louisiana as law- fully and fully as that of Ohio. All this cry of fraud and usurpation ought, in the minds of just men, to react with fearful eflect against the Democratic party; for it was their organized crime and violence that created the doubt which the returning board and Electoral Com- mission decided in our favor. MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. And it must be remembered in this connection that there is a strong convic- tion, at least among the Republicans in this country, that the States of Mississippi and Alabama weresecured for Gov. Tilden by the same unlawful means, but the laws of those Sta'es provided no remedy, and they were counted for Tilden. DEMOCRATIC FRAUDS IN LOUISIANA AND NEW YORK CITY. .Judge Thurman should remember also that the history of the Democratic party has been marked in the past by great crimes against the elective franchise. The frauds in PLKpiemine Parish, Louisiana, and in New York ("ity, in 1844, will be remembered by every Whig in the land. AVholesale frauds committed in the city of New York in \S()X, by which tlie vote of that State was cast for Seymour instead of for (hant were disclosed by a Congressional Committee, and are nowadmitted facts. The frauds and crimes committed by the Democratic party in its attempt to organize the State of Kansas into a slave State were investigated by me as a mem- ber of a Congressional Committee, and, tlnnigh disputed at the time much more stoutly than the Louisiana fraud.s, are now acknowledged as facts. The chief frauds in this country in elections have been organized by the Demo- cratic party. One of the dangers which threaten the country if the Democratic party comes into power, will be tlie bold ami reckless use of election machinery to commit frauds and to organize violence, ballot-box stuffing, and kindred crimes, as a part of our American system of politics. The Republican paity, in the heat of party zeal, has done something in this way. I have no apf>logy to make for such crimes — no sympathy with them — and woidd denounce and expose sucli wrongs, by whatever ]iarty committed ; but it is pretty hard for us Republicans to be lectured about election frauds by members of the Democratic party. I 15 DEMOCRACY KELIES ON SECTIONAL FEELING. Again, he says: Fellow citizens, nothing in politics seems more certain to me than that the Repub- lican leaders i-est their hopes of a prolongation of their power upon the success that may attend a studied and energetic effort on their part to excite and perpetuate sectional feeling. It is a strange thing that the Republican party, distinguished for its national feeling, should be charged by the Democratic party with a desire to excite and per- petuate sectional feeling. Tlie strength of the Democratic party to-day, as before the war, lies in a united South, held, not only by sectional feeling, but by sectional feeling antagonistic to the Union, intensified by its early advocacy of States' rights, its attempt at seces- sion, and l)y four years of bloody and unsuccessful war against the Union. This sectional feeling is so rampant that it ostracises native white men who become Re- publicans, holds in terror the entire black poijulation, and by intimidation and os- tracism prevents the free exi^ression of opinion and the free vote of Republicans at elections in the South. The South is determined to be sectional, and as a section dominates the counsels of the Democratic party. No intelligent man can doubt that if in the cotton States there was an open, fair opportunity to establish newspapers, to carry on a canvass, and to appeal to the natural instincts and interests of the voters of those States, a majority of every one of them would be with the Republican party. PRESIDENT HAYES LABORING TO DESTROY SECTIONALISM. The policy of President Hayes, his earnest desire and hope, is to destroy sec- tionalism, to invite by kindness and forbearance a like kindness and forbearance to the Republicans of the South. If this eftbrt fails the South will be a slumbering volcano, which some day will break forth in retaliation and crime. For free men having constitutional rights cannot be chained by violence. Intelligence and or- ganization will soon enable them to assert their rights or deter the practice of such violence. The Republican party is purely a national party. Its instincts are national, its policy is national. In no Republican State could anything like opposition to free- dom of speech, freedom of the press, free discussion be tolerated, nor would any one for a moment be allowed to be deterred from voting as he pleased, while in some of the Democratic States in the South, such a thing as free speech and free press and reasonable toleration of opinion, is scarcely recognized. The dominant press would denounce as a crime what we here in the North regard as the right of every citizen — to speak and vote as he chooses. A CARICATURE OP TRUTH AND .JUSTICE. In the face of these facts the following statement by .Judge Thurman seems to me the caricature of truth and justice : It is not enough that the South has frankly and manfully accepted the results of the war; that, waiving all questions as to the mode of their adoption, no voice is raised against the bind- ing force of the constitutional amendments ; that every law passed by a radical Congress, however doubtful its constitutionality, or manifest its injustice and impolicy, is nevertheless obeyed. I pass over, as matter of taste, the inference he raises against the mode of adoption of the constitutional amendments, and the doubt he expresses as to the constitutionality of the laws to enforce them — to say that the Democratic party has not frankly and manfttUy accepted the results of the war ; that it does not accept, ob-erve, or enforce the constitutional amendments or the laws passed in aid of them. It is precisely of this that the Republican party complains ; it will try to enforce, and, though temporarily divided and defeated, will continue to demand, and will certainly in time secure the observance of these amendments. It was the organized plan to deprive the Republicans in Louisiana of the ris^jht to vote that occasioned the controversy there, and so in Mississippi and South Carolina. I have no doubt that many of the planters, business men, and property holders of the South, now acting with the Democratic party, are an.xious to and in time will be able to protect the blacks in tlieir rights, but they are not the dominating influence in the South. It is not they who, like Judge Tiuxrman, denounce Presi- and y 16 dent Ilaycs us a usurper and a fraud, but thousands of them acknowledge that the policy adopted by the Republican party to the people of the South at the close of the war was without example in generosity in the history of the world, and they gratefully acknowledge that the policy of President Hayes will secure to the South peace, order, and prosi)erity. THE AMENDMENTS NOT ENFOIICED IN THE SOUTH. But I, who supported this policy and shared in it, feel as do Republicans gen- erally, that the South has never frankly or manfully responded to it. They do not enforce the amendments. They do not give equal civil and jjolitical rights to either white or black Republicans. They do not i)ermit or tolerate that free expression of opinion, discussion, and action essential to a Republican government; 1)ut, by their adherence to the very elements in the North tliat encouraged them to rebel- lion, that brcHight upon them the very waste and desolation of which they complain, they repel all efforts to break down the sectionalism of the past, and make it vitally necessary again to concentrate the people of the North in order to secure peace, order, and liberty. ". JUSTICE AND E(JUALITY" (?). Judge Tliurman, in conclusion, says: Do you wish the Union preserved? Then support those who would bind it together by the ties of Iraternal i'oclin^ and a common iutere.'^t. .is woll as by constitutions an ' laws. Do you revere justice and .advocate oriualitv nf ri'^lits? Then support the part on \vhos(! burner "Justice and Equality" arc indelibly inscribed. "Do you wish the Union preserved?" "What party ever threatened this Union ? What parly was arrayed in arms against it during the war, and what sac- rifices were made for it in the North ? Did ever any Republican seek to disturb the Union? ''Justice and Equality!" When did the Democratic party distin- gitish itself for justice and equality? Perhaps, fellovy^ citizens, as an Executive officer, I have erred in following Sen- ator Thurman in so much of his s])eech as is purely political, but I am none the less a Republican and a partisan, and 1 trust the time will never come when I will cease to liave pride in the merits and past achievements of the great i)arty to which we belong. It is rather hard to have the Republican party, which has done so much for the existence and honor of our country, assailed so unjustly by Democrats, who, during the trying time of our history, have been passive and neutral. I promise you now to adhere, during the brief time I will detain you, to the business topics in which we are all alike interesied. IJUSINESS DEPRESSION ALSO GENEUAI, ABKOAD. Judge Thurman says: Now, certainly no oni' will deny that this country lias lor the last five years suttercd, us ])crliaps no other country ever did sull'er, troni ilcincssion in every branch ot business in every industrial occupation. I deny this statement in toto. That this country has suftered from depression in many branches of business and in many industrial occupations I admit, but every civilized and Christian cintntry in the world has sutlered to a greater degree. In comi)arison with any nation of modern times our condition in every respect is more prosperous and happy. If you read the English, French, or German papers, you will find that our causes of complaint are nothing to be compared with theirs, while in our country there arc many circumstances which relieve the general de- pression. Let me name some of the hopeful signs of the times. The whole period since the war, and liefore the panic, was a debt contracting period. From July 1, 18(i:5, to July 1, 1><7:!, our imports exceeded our exports in the enormous sum of >?1,<)47,()G!»,"J1!). Much of this was for silks and furbelows, contracted for in tlie fa.ith of corner lots marked up, of inllated fortunes suddenly acquired, but most (if it was for articles that our own labor should have produced. It represented foreign capital loaned to our citizens and to corporadons, and paid for in government and corporation bonds and private notes. The same causes produced extravagant prices here. Wild schemes, railroads 17 built twenty years in advance of their need, reckless expenditures led to the con- tracting of numerous debts, and to the mortgaging of our corporations, homes, and farms. Since the panic the whole condition of our trade and business has changed. Since 1874 our exports have exceeded our imports in the sum of .|507,45i),237. During the last fiscal year the excess of exports was 1257,459,250, the aggre- gate of our exports reaching the sum of $(380,083,708, and during this liscal year this excess of exports is increasing. This is a debt paying process. The great body of the debts contracted before the panic is now settled, either by payment or bankruptcy, or readjustment. OUR BONDS NOW HELD AT HOME. At one time it was estimated that the amount of United States bonds held abi'oad approached $1,000,000,000. Two years ago the general estimate was about $600,000,000. JSTow, after the most careful examination, it is estimated somewhere near $200,000,000 to $2.50.000,000. The comir.on fear exjn-essed for the success of any plan of resumption was that foreign nations could at once, by a return of our bonds, exhaust our gold and thus defeat resumption, but this is no longer to be feared when the surplus exports for a single year would pay off every dollar of our national debt held be3'ond the limits of the United States. Last winter, when an exaggerated fear prevailed in Europe as to the effect of the Silver Bill, $60,000,000 of our bonds were promptly absorbed by our own peo- ple in sixty days, and, although this stopped the sale of bonds by the Treasury, it strengthened our position by bringing them home. Another favorable sign of the times is the very large increase of domestic pro- duction, both of the farm and of the workshop, wliich*not only fill the place of goods heretofore imported, but enable us to compete with foreign nations in their own mai'kets. WONDERFUL INCREASE IN EXPORTS. I have here a recent table showing the increase of leading exports of our own production. This shows that our exports of cotton, iron, steel, copper, leather, and other manufactures has increased within ten years nearly two-fold, and that the exports of our agricultural implements and provisions have increased nearly three- fold. The total amount of certain leading commodities exported in 1868 was $141,000,000, and in 1878 was $404,000,000, showing an increase of $2G;{, 000,000. Another table shows that our importation of certain fabrics which we can readily make in this country has diminished nearly one-half. Of textile fabrics, including manufactures of cotton, silk, clothing, and dress goods, the amount imported into this country in 1873 was $150,000,000; the amount imported in 1878 was 885,000,000, making a diminution of $74,000,000, most of which was supplied by our own pro- duction. FALLING OFF OP IMPORTS. The im])orts of iron and steel in various forms in 1873 was $59,308,452, while 1878 it had fallen to $9,057,633, showing a diminution of $50,250,849. This falhng off was .supplied by our own industry. The total of the leading manufactures named in this table imported in 1873 was $272,957,633 and during the fi.scal year ending June 30, 1878, it was $124,211,- 734, making a falling off of $148,747,809. This great decrease was especially no- ticeable in the imports of manufactures of cotton, silk, wool, iron, and steel. This increase of our exports and diminution of our imports is perhaps the most remarkable in modern times. We are competing in cotton fabrics with Manchester, in cutlery with Sheffield, in iron and steel with Birmingham, in watches with Switzerland, and in gloves with France. It is a debt-paying and trade-develoi^ing process that is adding immensely to our wealth. REDUCTION OP INTEREST OP DEBT. Our progress towards resumption is accompanied by increased national credit, and by a large reduction of the interest of the public debt. Under the refunding act, which is designed to convert our six per cent, bonds into bonds bearing a lower rate of interest, we have already sold at par in (join, 18 500 millions of five per cent, bonds, 246 millions of four and a half per cent, bonds, and 135 millions of four per cent, bonds, the proceeds of which (except 90 millions sold for gold coin now iu hand) have been applied to pay an equal amount of six per cent, debt, making an annual saving in the interest of the debt, of ten millions of dollars ; and we are now daily selling the four per cent, bonds directly to the people upon the basis of a popular loan in sums as low as $50. These bonds have become the savings banks of the people, a safe deposit for their surplus money, always available for use when needed, and depending upon the honor of the nation, and, therefore, safe from loss. The most satisfactory feature of this loan is that it is held in small sums by great numbers of our fellow-citizens, and is distributed throughout all the States in the Union During the first twenty days of tlie present month our sales of four per cent, bonds amount to !ti:30,000,000, and I now have the confident assurance that during this year they will exceed lt>100,000,000, and will pay off all the 5-20 six per cent, bonds of the issue of 1865. PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER. The United States is now the largest producer of gold and silver in the world. During the last year the estimated production of gold was $45,000,000, and of sil- ver $39,000,000, and, though the Comstock lode gives evidence of exhaustion, other mines are being discovered, and the probabilities arc that our production will increase rather than diminisli. This is an important element in the question of our ability to maintain resumption. DEVELOPMENT OV AGKICULTUKE. Then, again, the enormous development of our agricultural production, the chief employment of our peojile, gives a source of wealth and prosperity unexam- pled in any nation in modern times. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Can- ada to the Gulf of Mexico, our country has been blessed with bountiful liarvests, assuring plenty of food to all our i)eople, and an increase of our exports to Europe. I understand that a rich stream of wheat is now pouring into your port for ship- ment. It is this industry which lies at the foundation of our prosperity, and which in- vites now millions of laborers to aid in the develoi^ment of uncultivated lands. The war withdrew from agriculture millions of laborers who are again invited to .join in this most healthftd and ha])py pursuit of life, and the crowded cities are freely invited to send their sui-plus population to fruitful fields, and bountiful harvests. After the war of 1812 the migration commenced which peopled Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and, although there are no such rich lands open now for settlement, yet Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and the whole tier of .States west of the Missouri river, together with the undeveloped Territories of the NVest, invite migration and insure to labor a just reward, and offer facilities for transport:ition and settlement Xbat our fathers did not enjoy. LABOR QUESTION. And now, fellow-citizens, in conclusion, let me invite your attention briefly to the agitation of the labor question, not only in this country, but in other countries where production has exceeded consumption and thrown out of employment many industrious laboring men, and paralyzed important branches of industry, especially of the iron and coal industries. I know that in some places labor is depressed, that wages are low, that many a willing hand finds it hard to get work, and .•sometimes hungry men, women, and children want fool and clothing; and sliamc be to him who does not sympathize with such suffering and relieve it if possible. No wonder that honest labor grows soured at the inequalities of life, and sometimes listens to the cry of the dema- gogue that human laws have caused this distress, and that if he was in office he could furnish redress THE SAME LABOU DISTHKSS TnROU