Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet Part 105

I had accepted an invitation of the merchants of Boston to attend the annual banquet of the Mercantile a.s.sociation on the 29th of December, but was compelled to withdraw my acceptance, so that, as president of the Senate, I could perform certain duties in respect to Logan's funeral that I could not delegate to others, and which were requested of me by the committee on arrangements, through a notice sent me by Senator Cullom, the chairman, as follows, and upon which I acted:

"The committee on arrangements at the funeral ceremonies of John A. Logan, late a Senator of the United States from the State of Illinois, respectfully request the Honorable John Sherman, a Senator of the United States from the State of Ohio, to preside at the funeral exercises on Friday, December 31, 1886."

In the Boston invitation it was intimated that some remarks on the national banking system would be acceptable. In declining I wrote a letter expressing my opinion of that system, which I said had realized all the good that had ever been claimed for it by its authors, that it had furnished the best paper money ever issued by banking corporations, that the system was adopted only after the fullest consideration and had won its way into public favor by slow process, and that I regarded it as the best that had ever been created by law. The remarkable success of this system, I said, was not appreciated by those not familiar with the old state banks.

It had been adopted by many countries, especially in the far off island of j.a.pan.

The bill to regulate interstate commerce became a law on the 4th of February, 1887. It had pa.s.sed both Houses at the previous session, but, the Senate having disagreed to amendments of the House, the bill and amendments were sent to a committee of conference.

The report of this committee was fully debated. I had taken great interest in this bill, but had not partic.i.p.ated in the debate until the 14th of January, when I supported the conference report, while not agreeing to some of the amendments made. Senator Cullom is ent.i.tled to the chief credit for its pa.s.sage.

On the 22nd of February I laid before the Senate the following communication, which was read:

"To the Senate of the United States.

"Senators:--My office as president _pro tempore_ of the Senate will necessarily terminate on the 4th of March next, with my present term as Senator. It will promote the convenience of the Senate and the public service to elect a Senator as president _pro tempore_ whose term extends beyond that date, so that he may administer the oath of office to Senators-elect and aid in the organization. I, therefore, respectfully resign that position, to take effect at one o'clock p. m., on Sat.u.r.day next, February 26.

"Permit me, in doing so, to express my heartfelt thanks for the uniform courtesy and forbearance shown me, while in discharge of my duties as presiding officer, by every Member of the Senate.

"Very truly yours, "John Sherman."

I said that if there was no objection the communication would be entered in the journal and placed among the files of the Senate.

On the 25th John J. Ingalls was elected president _pro tempore_, to take effect the next day. On that day I said:

"Before administering the oath of office to his successor the occupant of the chair desires again to return to his fellow Senators his grateful acknowledgments for their kind courtesy and forbearance in the past.

"It is not a difficult duty to preside over the Senate of the United States. From the establishment of our government to this time the Senate has always been noted for its order, decorum, and dignity.

We have but few rules, and they are simple and plain; but we have, above all and higher than all, that which pervades all our proceedings --the courtesy of the Senate, which enables us to dispose of nearly all of the business of the Senate without question or without division. I trust that in the future, as in the past, this trait of the Senate of the United States will be preserved intact, and I invoke for my successor the same courtesy and forbearance you have extended to me. I now invite him to come forward and take the oath of office prescribed by law."

Mr. Ingalls advanced to the desk of the president _pro tempore_, and, the oath prescribed by law having been administered to him, he took the chair, and said:

"Senators, I must inevitably suffer disparagement in your estimation, by contrast with the parliamentary learning and skill, the urbanity and accomplishments of my ill.u.s.trious predecessor, but I shall strive to equal him in devotion to your service, and I shall endeavor, if that be possible, to excel him in grateful appreciation of the distinguished honor of your suffrages."

Mr. Harris offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted;

"_Resolved_, That the thanks of the Senate are hereby tendered to Hon. John Sherman, for the able and impartial manner in which he has administered the duties of the office of president _pro tempore_ during the present Congress."

CHAPTER LII.

VISIT TO CUBA AND THE SOUTHERN STATES.

Departure for Florida and Havana--A Walk Through Jacksonville-- Impressions of the Country--Visit to Cigar Factories and Other Places of Interest--Impressions of Cuba--Experience with Colored Men at a Birmingham Hotel--The Proprietor Refuses to Allow a Delegation to Visit Me in my Rooms--Sudden Change of Quarters-- Journey to Nashville and the Hearty Reception Which Followed--Visit to the Widow of President Polk--My Address to Nashville Citizens-- Comment from the Press That Followed It--An Audience of Workingmen at Cincinnati--Return Home--Trip to Woodbury, Conn., the Home of My Ancestors--Invitation to Speak in the Hall of the House of Representatives at Springfield, Ill.--Again Charged with "Waving the b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+rt."

At the close of the session of Congress, early in March, a congenial party was formed to visit Florida and Havana. It was composed of Senator Charles F. Manderson, wife and niece, Senator T. W. Palmer and niece, General Anson G. McCook and wife, and myself and daughter.

We were accompanied by E. J. Babc.o.c.k, my secretary, and A. J.

Galloway and son, in the employ of the Coast Line road, over which we were to pa.s.s. We stopped at Charleston, where the ravages of a recent earthquake were everywhere visible. Fort Sumter, which we visited, was a picture of desolation. Such a large party naturally attracted attention. At Jacksonville we encountered our first reporter. He showed me an article in which it was stated that we were on a political trip. This I disclaimed and said we had not heard politics mentioned since we left Was.h.i.+ngton, that we were tired out after Congress completed its work and made up a party and started off merely for rest and recreation. I remarked that I had been in every state in the Union but one, and wanted to finish up the list by seeing Florida. A colloquy as given by the reporter was as follows:

"Well, Senator, my errand was for the purpose of getting your opinion on matters political."

"I am out of politics just now. I want to rest and I do not want politics to enter my head for two weeks."

"Then you say positively that you are not down here to look after your fences for a presidential boom in 1888?"

"Most decidedly not. I will not say a word about politics until I reach Nashville on my return. There I take up the political string again and will hold to it for some time."

Manderson proposed a walk through the city, the reporter being our guide. Orange trees were to be seen on every side. We were surprised to find so large and prosperous a city in Florida, with so many substantial business houses and residences. The weather was delightful, neither too hot nor too cold, and in striking contrast with the cold and damp March air of Was.h.i.+ngton. From Jacksonville we went in a steamboat up the St. John's River to Enterprise.

Florida was the part of the United States to be first touched by the feet of white men, and yet it seemed to me to be the most backward in the march of progress. It was interesting chiefly from its weird and valueless swamps, its sandy reaches and its alligators.

It is a peninsula, dividing the Gulf of Mexico from the ocean, and a large part of it is almost unexplored. The part we traversed was low, swampy, with dense thickets, and apparently incapable of reclamation by drainage. The soil was sandy and poor and the impression left on my mind was that it could not be made very productive. There were occasional spots where the earth was far enough above the sea to insure the growth of orange trees, but even then the soil was thin, and to an Ohio farmer would appear only to be a worthless sand bank. This, however, does not apply to all points in Florida, especially not to the Indian River region, where fine oranges and other semitropical fruits are raised in great abundance. The Indian River is a beautiful body of water, really an arm of the sea, on the eastern coast of Florida, separated from the Atlantic by a narrow strip of land. The water is salt and abounds in game and fish.

At Sanford our party was joined by Senator Aldrich and his wife, and we proceeded by way of Tampa and Key West to Havana, where we arrived on the 17th of March. The short sail of ninety miles from Key West transported us to a country of perpetual summers, as different from the United States as is old Egypt. After being comfortably installed in a hotel we were visited by Mr. Williams, our consul general, who brought us an invitation from Captain General Callejas to call upon him. We did so, Mr. Williams accompanying us as interpreter. We were very courteously received and hospitably entertained. The captain general introduced us to his family and invited us to a reception in the evening, at which dancing was indulged in by the younger members of the party. We spent four very pleasant days in the old city, visiting several of the large cigar factories, a sugar plantation in the neighborhood and other scenes strange to our northern eyes. The ladies supplied themselves with fans gaily decorated with pictures of bull fights, and the men with Panama hats, these being products peculiar to the island.

Among the gentlemen of the party, as already stated, was Frank G.

Carpenter, a bright young man born at Mansfield, Ohio, who has since made an enviable reputation as a copious and interesting letter writer for the press. His description of Havana is so true that I insert a few paragraphs of it here:

"Havana has about 300,000 inhabitants. It was a city when New York was still a village, and it is now 100 years behind any American town of its size. It is Spanish and tropical. The houses are low stucco buildings put together in block, and resting close up to narrow sidewalks. Most of them are of one or two stories, and their roofs are of red tile which look like red clay drain pipes cut in two and so laid that they overlap each other. The residences are usually built around a narrow court, and their floors are of marble, tile or stone. This court often contains plants and flowers, and it forms the loafing place of the family in the cool of the evening.

"These streets of Havana are so narrow that in some of them the carriages are compelled to go in one direction only. When they return they must go back by another street. The sidewalks are not over three feet wide, and it is not possible for two persons to walk abreast upon them. The better cla.s.s of Cubans seldom walk, and the cabbys are freely called upon. The cab of Havana is a low Victoria holding two or three persons. Their tops come down so as to shade the eyes, and they have springs which keep every molecule of your body in motion while you ride in them. The horses use are hardy mongrel little ponylike animals, who look as though they were seldom fed and never cleaned.

"The traffic of Havana is largely done by oxen, and the two-wheeled cart is used exclusively. This cart is roughly made and it has a tongue as thick as a railroad tie, nailed to the body of the cart, and which extends to the heads of the oxen and is there fastened by a great yoke directly to the horns. The Cuban ox pulls by his head and not his shoulders. This yoke is strapped by ropes across the foreheads of the oxen, and they move along with their heads down, pus.h.i.+ng great loads with their foreheads. They are guided by rope reins fastened to a ring in the nose of the ox. Some of the carts are for a single ox, and these have shafts of about the same railroad tie thickness, which are fastened to a yoke which is put over the horns in the same manner. Everything is of the rudest construction and the Egyptians of to-day are as well off in this regard.

"Prices of everything here seem to me to be very high, and the money of the country is dirty, nasty paper, which is always below par, and of which you get twelve dollars for five American ones.

A Cuban dollar is worth about forty American cents, and this Cuban scrip is ground out as fast as the presses can print it. The lower denominations are five, ten, twenty and fifty cent pieces, and you get your boots blacked for ten Spanish cents. Even the gold of Cuba is below par, about six per cent. below the American greenback, and most of it and the silver in use has been punched or chipped to make money off of the pieces thus cut out. The country is deeply in debt, and the taxes are very heavy."

On the return voyage a strong northwest wind sprang up, and most of the party, especially the ladies, experienced the disagreeable effects of being on a small steamer in a rough sea. They had, however, all recovered by the time we reached Tampa, and as soon as we landed we started for Jacksonville.

In an interview shortly after my return from Cuba, I thus gave the impression made upon my mind as to its condition:

"And how did you enjoy your visit to Cuba?"

"We spent four days in Havana. n.o.body could be treated with greater courtesy. You know Spanish courtesy is never surpa.s.sed anywhere.

But that cannot prevent me from saying that Cuba is in a deplorable condition. I should judge from what I heard from intelligent Cuban Americans living there, and even Spaniards themselves, that the island is in a condition of ill-suppressed revolt. Natives are nearly to a man in favor of annexation to us. I think they have given over the idea of independence, for they begin to recognize that they are incapable of self-government. Their condition is indeed pitiable. No serfs in Russia were ever greater slaves than the Cubans are to Spain. The revenue they must raise yearly for Spain, and for which they get no benefit whatever, except the name of a national protection and the aegis of a flag, is $16,000,000.

They have no self-government of any kind. From captain general down to the tide-waiter at the docks, the official positions are held by Spaniards. I venture to say that not a single native Cuban holds an office or receives public emolument. In addition to the $16,000,000 sent annually to Spain, Cuba has to pay the salaries of all the Spanish horde fastened upon her."

"Do you think the native planters, the wealthier cla.s.ses, that is, favor annexation to the United States?"

"Yes, I am told all of them are anxious for it, but I don't think we want Cuba as an appendage to the United States. I would not favor annexation. In spite of the drains upon her, Cuba is enormously rich in resources, and is a large consumer of our products, on which at present the heavy Spanish duties rest. What I would favor would be a reciprocity treaty with Spain, as to Cuba, so that we might send our goods there instead of forcing the Cubans to buy of England, France and Germany. We could do the island much more good by trading with her on an equal basis than we ever can by annexing her. Cuba, to some extent, is under our eye, we would probably never let any other nation than Spain own the island, but so long as Spain does own it she is welcome to it if she will only let us sell our goods on equal or better terms than the Cubans can get them for elsewhere."

I had some time previously accepted an invitation of the members of the Tennessee legislature to address them, and, therefore, at Jacksonville left the remainder of the party to pursue their way to Was.h.i.+ngton at their leisure, while I started for Nashville, accompanied by Mr. Babc.o.c.k and Mr. Mussey. Having a few days to spare before my appointment at that place, and having heard much of the wonderful progress and development of the iron industry at Birmingham, Alabama, I determined to stop at that place. On our arrival we went to the Hotel Florence, and at once met the "ubiquitous reporter." My arrival was announced in the papers, and I was soon called upon by many citizens, who proposed that an informal reception be held in the dining room of the hotel that evening, to which I had no objection. Among those present were ex-Senator Willard Warner, and a number of the leading men who had so quickly transformed an open farm into the active and progressive city of Birmingham.

The reception was held and was a very pleasant affair. Being called upon for a speech I made a few remarks, which were well received, and as the gentlemen present expressed a desire to have a larger meeting I consented to speak on the following evening at the opera house.

That afternoon, when my room was thronged with callers, most of whom were Democrats, I was handed the following note:

"Birmingham, Ala., March 20, 1887.

"Hon. John Sherman, U. S. Senator.

"Dear Sir:--The undersigned, citizens of Birmingham, Alabama, take this method of writing you to extend your visit from Nashville, Tennessee, to our growing city, and bear witness to its development and progress in the prospective mining, manufacturing and business metropolis of the state. Feeling confident that you are naturally interested in our welfare and happiness, American citizens in every capacity and relation in life, we earnestly trust that you will comply with our solicitation.

"Yours respectfully, "Sam'l R. Lowery, Editor 'Southern Freemen.'

"A. L. Scott, Real Estate Agent.

"W. R. Pettiford, J. M. Goodloe, A. J. Headon, A. D. Jemison and R. Donald, Pastors of Colored Churches in Birmingham, Ala."

The letter was written to be sent me at Nashville, when it was not known that I was at Birmingham, and was indorsed as follows;