American Eloquence, Volume IV. (of 4) by Various

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It is said we must not disturb the tariff because we must raise so much
revenue. I do not propose to disturb it to diminish revenue, but to
increase it. The plan I propose will add one fifth at least to the
revenue of the country. It is protection I propose to get rid of, not
revenue. It has been well said that revenue ceases where protection
begins.

It is claimed that by taking away protection you will embarrass many
industries by compelling them to close up and discharge their employees.
I do not believe that the changing of the present tariff to a
revenue tariff will produce this result. I believe that at once every
manufacturer will make more in the diminished cost of production than
he will lose in the taking away of protection. But if there should
be danger to any industry I would provide against it in the law which
changes the tariff so that if there should be any displacement of labor
there will be no loss in consequence.

No more perfect illustration of the effect of free trade has been shown
than in the history of the United States. Very much of our prosperity is
due to the fact that the productions of each State can be sold in every
other State without restriction. During the war the most potent argument
for the cause of the Union was found in the apprehension that disunion
meant restriction of commerce, and particularly the placing of the mouth
of the Mississippi River under foreign control. The war was fought,
therefore, to maintain free trade, and the victory was the triumph of
free trade. The Union every day exhibits the advantages of the system.

Are these due to the accident of a State being a member of that Union
or to the beneficent principle of the system itself? What would prevent
similar results following if, subject only to the necessities of
government, it were extended to Mexico, to Canada, to South America, to
the world? In such extension the United States have everything to gain,
nothing to lose. This country would soon become the supply house of the
world. We will soon have cattle and harvests enough for all nations.
Our cotton is everywhere in demand. It is again king. Its crown has
been restored, and in all the markets of the world it waves its royal
sceptre. Out of our coal and minerals can be manufactured every thing
which human ingenuity can devise. Our gold and silver mines will supply
the greater part of the precious metals for the use of the arts and
trade.

With the opportunity of unrestricted exchange of these products, how
limitless the horizon of our possibilities! Let American adventurousness
and genius be free upon the high seas, to go wherever they please and
bring back whatever they please, and the oceans will swarm with American
sails, and the land will laugh with the plenty within its borders. The
trade of Tyre and Sidon, the far extending commerce of the Venetian
republic, the wealth-producing traffic of the Netherlands, will be as
dreams in contrast with the stupendous reality which American enterprise
will develop in our own generation. Through the humanizing influence of
the trade thus encouraged, I see nations become the friends of nations,
and the causes of war disappear. I see the influence of the great
republic in the amelioration of the condition of the poor and the
oppressed in every land, and in the moderation of the arbitrariness of
power. Upon the wings of free trade will be carried the seeds of free
government, to be scattered everywhere to grow and ripen into harvests
of free peoples in every nation under the sun.

IX.--FINANCE AND CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.

With the election of 1876 and the inauguration of President Hayes, March
4, 1877, the Period of Reconstruction may be said to have closed. The
last formal act of that period was the withdrawal of the national troops
from the South by President Hayes soon after his inauguration. During
the last two decades the "Southern Question," while it has been
occasionally prominent in political discussions,--especially in
connection with the Lodge Federal Elections Bill, 1889-91, has,
nevertheless, occupied a subordinate place in public interest and
attention. As an issue in serious political discussions and party
divisions the question has disappeared.

In addition to the subject of the Tariff, considered in the previous
section, public attention has been directed chiefly, during the last
quarter of a century, to the two great subjects, Finance and Civil
Service Reform.

The Financial question has been like that of the Tariff,--it has
been almost a constant factor in political controversies since the
organization of the Government.

The financial measures of Hamilton were the chief subject of political
controversy under our first administration, and they formed the basis
of division for the first political parties under the Constitution. The
funding of the Revolutionary debt, its payment dollar for dollar
without discrimination between the holders of the public securities,
the assumption of the State debts by the National Government, and
the establishment of the First United States Bank, these measures of
Hamilton were all stoutly combated by his opponents, but they were
all carried to a successful conclusion. It was the discussion on the
establishment of the First United States Bank that brought from Hamilton
and Jefferson their differing constructions of the Constitution. In
his argument to Washington in favor of the Bank, Hamilton presented
his famous theory of implied powers, while Jefferson contended that
the Constitution should be strictly construed, and that the "sweeping
clause"--"words subsidiary to limited powers"--should not be so
construed as to give unlimited powers. Madison and Giles in the House
presented notable arguments in support of the Jeffersonian view. For
twenty years after 1791 our financial questions were chiefly questions
of administration, not of legislation. In 1811 the attempt to recharter
the First United States Bank was defeated in the Senate by the casting
vote of Vice-President Clinton. The financial embarrassments of the
war of 1812, however, led to the establishment, in 1812, of the second
United States Bank,--by a law very similar in its provisions to the act
creating the First Bank in 1791. The bill chartering the Second United
States Bank was signed by Madison, who had strenuously opposed the
charter of the First Bank. The financial difficulties in which the
war had involved his administration had convinced Madison that such an
institution as the Bank was a "necessary and proper" means of carrying
on the fiscal affairs of the Government. The Second Bank was, however,
opposed on constitutional grounds, as the First had been; but in 1819 in
the famous case of McCulloch vs. Maryland, the Supreme Court sustained
its constitutionality, Chief-Justice Marshall rendering the decision.
The Court held, in this notable decision, that the Federal Government
was a government of limited powers, and these powers are not to be
transcended; but wherein a power is specifically conferred Congress
might exercise a sovereign and unlimited discretion as to the means
necessary in carrying that power into operation.

The next important chapter in our financial history is the war upon the
Second United States Bank begun and conducted to a finish by President
Jackson. A bill rechartering the Bank was passed by Congress in 1832,
four years before its charter expired. Jackson vetoed this bill, chiefly
on constitutional grounds, in the face of Marshall's decision of 1819.
The political literature of Jackson's two administrations is full of
the Bank controversy, and this literature contains contributions from
Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, and other of the ablest public men of
the day. No subject of public discussion in that day more completely
absorbed the attention of the people.

On these important subjects, which engaged public attention during the
first half-century of our national history, there may be found many
valuable speeches. These, however, are largely of a Constitutional
character. It has been since the opening of our civil war that
our financial discussions have assumed their greatest interest and
importance. We can attempt here only a meagre outline of the financial
history of the last thirty years,--a history which suggests an almost
continuous financial struggle and debate.

Leaving on one side the questions of taxation and banking, the financial
discussion has presented itself under two aspects,--the issue and
redemption of Government paper currency, and the Government policy
toward silver coinage. The issue, the funding, and the payment of
Government bonds have been incidentally connected with these questions.

The first "legal-tender" Act was approved February 25, 1862. Mr. Blaine
says of this Act that it was "the most momentous financial step ever
taken by Congress," and it was a step concerning which there has ever
since been the most pronounced difference of opinion. The Act provided
for the issue of $150,000,000 non-interest-bearing notes, payable
to bearer, in denominations of not less than $5, and legal tender in
payment of all debts, public and private, except duties on imports and
interest on the public debt. These notes were made exchangeable for 6
per cent. bonds and receivable for loans that might thereafter be made
by the Government. Supplementary acts of July 11, 1862, and January
17, 1863, authorized additional issues of $150,000,000 each, in
denominations of not less than one dollar, and the time in which to
exchange the notes for bonds was limited to July 1, 1863. It was under
these Acts that the legal-tender notes known as "greenbacks," now
outstanding, were issued.

The retirement of the greenbacks was begun soon after the war. On April
12, 1866, an Act authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to retire and
cancel not more than $10,000,000 of these notes within six months of the
passage of the Act, and $4,000,000 per month thereafter. This policy of
contraction was carried out by Secretary McCulloch, who urged still more
rapid contraction; but the policy was resisted by a large influence in
the country, and on February 4, 1868, an Act of Congress suspending the
authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to retire and cancel United
States notes, became a law without the signature of the President.

On March 18, 1869, an "Act to strengthen the public credit" was passed,
which declared that the "greenbacks" were redeemable in coin. This Act
concluded as follows: "And the United States also solemnly pledges
its faith to make provision at the earliest practicable period for the
redemption of the United States notes in coin."

On January 14, 1875, the "Resumption Act" was passed. It declared that
"on and after January 1, 1879, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
redeem in coin the United States legal-tender notes then outstanding,
on their presentation for redemption at the office of the Assistant
Treasurer of the United States in the city of New York, in sums of
not less than fifty dollars." The same Act provided that while the
legal-tender notes outstanding remained in excess of $300,000,000, the
Secretary of the Treasury should redeem such notes to the amount of 80
per cent. of the increase in National Bank notes issued.

On May 31, 1878, an Act was passed forbidding the further retirement of
United States legal-tender notes, and providing that "when any of said
notes may be redeemed or be received into the Treasury under any law
from any source whatever and shall belong to the United States, they
shall not be retired, cancelled, or destroyed, but they shall be
re-issued and paid out again and kept in circulation." When this Act was
passed there were $346,681,016 of United States notes outstanding, and
there has been no change in the amount since.

As to the silver policy of the Government since the war it is expected
that the purport of certain important acts of legislation should be
understood by all who would have an intelligent conception of our
financial controversies.

The Act of February 12, 1873, suspended the coinage of the standard
silver dollar of 412 and 1/2 grains. This Act authorized the coinage of
the trade dollar of 420 grains, making it a legal tender for $5. This
is the Act which has been called the "crime of 1873," on which tomes of
controversy have been called forth. It is discussed at some length in
the speech of Mr. Morrill, found in our text.

On February 28, 1878, the Bland-Allison Act was passed over the veto of
President Hayes. A bill providing for the free and unlimited coinage
of silver, of 412 and 1/2 grains to the dollar, had passed the House
in November, 1877, under a suspension of the rules. At this time the
bullion in the silver dollar was worth about 92 cents. When the Bland
free-coinage Act came to the Senate, it was amended there on report
of Senator Allison, of Iowa, Chairman of the Finance Committee of
the Senate, by a provision that the Government should purchase from
$2,000,000 to $4,000,000 worth of silver bullion for coinage into
dollars. Holders of the coin were authorized to deposit the same with
the United States Treasurer and to receive therefor certificates of
deposit, known as silver certificates. These certificates are not legal
tender, although receivable for customs, taxes, and all public dues, and
are redeemable only in silver. This Act called forth an exhaustive
and able debate. Senator Morrill, of Vermont, opened the debate in
opposition to silver coinage. Senator Beck, of Kentucky, was one of
the ablest advocates of silver coinage, while Mr. Blaine made a notable
contribution to the debate, in which he favored the unlimited coinage of
a silver dollar of 425 grains. Preceding the Congressional action there
had been much public discussion on the subject throughout the country.
A Monetary Commission had been organized, by joint resolution of August
15, 1875, for the purpose of making an examination into the silver
question. This Commission made an exhaustive report to Congress on March
2, 1877, the majority of the Commission recommending the resumption of
silver coinage. Also, previous to the discussion of the Bland-Allison
Act in the Senate, the celebrated Matthews Resolution was passed by that
body. This asserted that "all bonds of the United States are payable in
silver dollars of 412 and 1/2 grains, and that to restore such dollars
as a full legal tender for that purpose, is not in violation of public
faith or the rights of the creditors." The de-bate on this resolution
was a notable one. It was chiefly under these aspects that the financial
question was discussed in the years 1877-1878.

The Bland-Allison Act was in operation from 1878 to 1890, during which
time $2,000,000 in silver were coined per month, the minimum amount
authorized by law. On July 14, 1890, the so-called Sherman Act stopped
the coinage of silver dollars and provided for the purchase of silver
bullion to the amount of 4,500,000 ounces per month. Against this
bullion Treasury notes were to be issued, redeemable in gold or silver
coin at the option of the Secretary of the Treasury. These notes were
made a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, and
receivable for all customs, taxes, and all public dues. It was also
declared in this Act to be the established policy of the United States
to maintain the two metals on a parity with each other upon the present
legal ratio, or such ratio as may be provided by law. On account of this
language in the law the Secretary of the Treasury under Mr. Cleveland
has not deemed it advisable to exercise the discretion which the law
gives him to redeem these notes in silver, and these new Treasury notes
have been treated as gold obligations. By November 1, 1893, when the
silver purchase clause of the Act of July 14, 1890, was repealed,
Treasury notes to the amount of $155,000,000 had been issued, though
some of these have since been exchanged for silver dollars at the option
of the holders. It has been by these Treasury notes and the outstanding
greenbacks that gold has been withdrawn from the Treasury, thus
depleting the gold reserve and making bond issues necessary. It has
been deemed advisable by successive administrations of the Treasury
Department to maintain a gold reserve of $100,000,000 against the
$346,681,000 outstanding greenbacks, though no law requires that such
a reserve should be maintained further than that the Act of March 18,
1869, pledges the faith of the United States that its outstanding notes
should be redeemed in coin.

The repeal of the silver purchase clause of the Sherman Act was
accomplished in a special session of Congress, November 1, 1893. Since
this repeal, the silver policy of the Government has been as it
was before the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, which involves a complete
suspension of silver coinage. The Acts of 1878 and of 1890 were
compromise measures, agreed to by the opponents of silver coinage in
order to prevent the passage of a bill providing for full unlimited
coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. Speaking in his
_Recollections_ of the situation in 1890, Senator Sherman says: "The
situation at that time was critical. A large majority of the Senate
favored free silver, and it was feared that the small majority against
it in the other House might yield and agree to it. The silence of the
President on the matter gave rise to an apprehension that if a free
coinage bill should pass both Houses he would not feel at liberty to
veto it. Some action had to be taken to prevent a return to free silver
coinage, and the measure evolved was the best obtainable. I voted for
it, but the day it became a law I was ready to repeal it, if repeal
could be had without substituting in its place absolute free coinage."

Since 1893 the contention has been carried on by the silver men in a
public agitation in favor of free silver coinage, without compromise or
international agreement, and this year (1896), by our form of political
referendum, the question has been referred to the people for decision.

We have attempted to include four representative orations on this
complex subject, from four of our most prominent public men. The
literature of the subject is unlimited. Mr. Morrill is a representative
advocate of the gold standard. In the same discussion Mr. Blaine offers
a compromise position. Senator Sherman is an international bimetallist
and a pronounced opponent of independent silver coinage. He has given
much attention--probably no one has given more--to financial questions
during a long public life. Senator Jones is recognized as one of the
ablest advocates and one of the deepest students of monetary problems
on the free silver side of the controversy. The extracts from these
speeches will indicate the merits of the long debate on silver
coinage,--the greatest question in our financial history in a quarter of
a century.

The reform of the Civil Service has been a subject of public attention
especially since 1867. The public service of the United States is
divided into three branches, the civil, military, and naval. By the
civil service we mean that which is neither military nor naval, and it
comprises all the offices by which the civil administration is carried
on. The struggle for Civil Service Reform has been an effort to
substitute what is known as the "Merit System" for what is known as the
"Spoils System"; to require that appointment to public office should
depend, not upon the applicant's having rendered a party service, but
upon his fitness to render a public service. It would seem that the
establishment in public practice of so obvious a principle should
require no contest or agitation; and that the civil service should ever
have been perverted and that a long struggle should be necessary to
reform it, are to be explained only in connection with a modern party
organization and a party machinery and usage which were entirely
unforeseen by the framers of the Constitution. The practice of the
early administrations was reasonable and natural. Washington required of
applicants for places in the civil service proofs of ability, integrity,
and fitness. "Beyond this," he said, "nothing with me is necessary
or will be of any avail." Washington did not dream that party service
should be considered as a reason for a public appointment. John Adams
followed the example of Washington. Jefferson came into power at the
head of a victorious party which had displaced its opponent after a
bitter struggle. The pressure for places was strong, but Jefferson
resisted it, and he declared in a famous utterance that "the only
questions concerning a candidate shall be, Is he honest? is he capable?
is he faithful to the Constitution?" Madison, Monroe, and John
Quincy Adams followed in the same practice so faithfully that a joint
Congressional Committee was led to say in 1868 that, having consulted
all accessible means of information, they had not learned of a single
removal of a subordinate officer except for cause, from the beginning of
Washington's administration to the close of that of John Quincy Adams.

The change came in 1829 with the accession of Jackson. The Spoils System
was formally proclaimed in 1832. In that year Martin Van Buren was
nominated Minister to England, and, in advocating his confirmation,
Senator Marcy, of New York, first used the famous phrase in reference to
the public officers, "To the victors belong the spoils of the enemy."

Since then every administration has succumbed, in whole or in part,
to the Spoils System. The movement for the reform of the civil service
began in 1867-68, in the 39th and 40th Congresses in investigations and
reports of a Joint Committee on Retrenchment. The reports were made and
the movement led by Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes, a member of the House from
Rhode Island. These reports contained a mass of valuable information
upon the evils of the spoils service. In 1871 an Act, a section of an
appropriation bill, was passed authorizing the President to prescribe
rules for admission to the civil service, to appoint suitable persons
to make inquiries and to establish regulations for the conduct of
appointees. Mr. George William Curtis was at the head of the Civil
Service Commission appointed by General Grant under this Act, and on
December 18, 1871, the Commission made a notable report, written by Mr.
Curtis, on the evils of the present system and the need of reform. In
April, 1872, a set of rules was promulgated by the Commission regulating
appointments. These rules were suspended in March, 1875, by President
Grant although personally friendly to the reform, because Congress had
refused appropriations for the expenses of the Commission. Appeal
was made to the people through the usual agencies of education and
agitation. President Hayes revised the Civil Service Rules, and Mr.
Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, made notable application of the
principle of the reform in his department. President Garfield recognized
the need of reform, though he asserted that it could be brought about
only through Congressional action. Garfield's assassination by a
disappointed placeman added to the public demand for reform, and on
January, 18, 1883, the Pendleton Civil Service Law was passed. This
Act, which had been pending in the Senate since 1880, provided for
open competitive examinations for admission to the public service in
Washington and in all custom-houses and post-offices where the official
force numbered as many as fifty; for the appointment of a Civil Service
Commission of three members, not more than two of whom shall be of
the same political party; and for the apportionment of appointments
according to the population of the States. Provision was made for a
period of probation before permanent appointment should be made, and no
recommendations from a Senator or member of Congress, except as to
the character or residence of the applicant, should be received or
considered by any person making an appointment or examination. The Act
prohibited political assessments in a provision that "no person shall,
in any room occupied in the discharge of official duties by an officer
or employee of the United States, solicit in any manner whatever any
contribution of money or anything of value, for any political purpose
whatever."

The Pendleton Act was a landmark in the history of the reform and
indicated its certain triumph. The Act was faithfully executed by
President Arthur in the appointment of a Commission friendly to the
cause, and under the Act the Civil Service Rules have since been
extended by Presidents Harrison and Cleveland until the operations of
the reform embrace the greater part of the service, including fully
85,000 appointments. It is not probable that the nation will ever again
return to the feudalism of the Spoils System.

No two men have done more for the cause of Civil Service Reform than
George William Curtis and Carl Schurz. When Mr. Curtis died, in 1892,
the presidency of the Civil Service Reform League, so long held by
him, worthily devolved upon Mr. Schurz. It may be said that in the last
twenty-five years of Mr. Curtis' life is written the history of
this reform. His orations on the subject have enriched our political
literature and they hold up before the young men of America the noblest
ideals of American citizenship. He gave unselfishly of his time and of
his exalted talents to this cause, and his services deserve from his
countrymen the reward due to high and devoted patriotism. Refusing high
and honorable appointments which were held out to him, he preferred to
serve his country by doing what he could to put her public service upon
a worthy plane. The oration from Mr. Curtis included in our text is one
among many of his worthy productions.

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