. Letters and recollections of John Murray Forbes . islike of feather-headed virtue, hadgiven to General Grant, I find my fathers publicwork, except occasional attacks on the growingpolitical corruption in his party, to have been chieflydevoted to the currency question. He consideredthis question, as he says, one of the most impor-tant, not only to commercial men, but to all the in-dustrious men of the country. In December, 1873,he supported Mr. H. L. Pierces bill to providefor resumption of specie payments. The nextmonth he appeared as a witness before the con-gressional committee on Banks an
. Letters and recollections of John Murray Forbes . islike of feather-headed virtue, hadgiven to General Grant, I find my fathers publicwork, except occasional attacks on the growingpolitical corruption in his party, to have been chieflydevoted to the currency question. He consideredthis question, as he says, one of the most impor-tant, not only to commercial men, but to all the in-dustrious men of the country. In December, 1873,he supported Mr. H. L. Pierces bill to providefor resumption of specie payments. The nextmonth he appeared as a witness before the con-gressional committee on Banks and Currency,and did his best to convince its members that thewelfare of the country in such matters requiredabove all things the steadiest possible measure ofvalues, and that the laboring man was the firstvictim of any tampering with that measure. Lateron in the year (1874), he was able to use some in-fluence with General Grant in favor of his veto ofthe Inflation Bill. This veto, given by the Pre-sident in the teeth of much opposition in the ranks. RETIREMENT FROM POLITICS 185 of his own party, my father considered as, next tohis military success, the crowning glory of Grantslife. In May he was rejoicing with his friend,Mr. J. S. Ropes, over this veto, and with himstriving to disabuse the minds of their Westernfriends of the idea that more currency meant aboon to the toiling millions ! A flagrant instance, at this time, of the growingcorruption in what is called machine politics, wasthe appointment to the collectorship of the port ofBoston, of a man whose political career had shownhim to be unfitted for the post. This appointmentwas urged by General Butler, then a Republicanmember of the national House of Representatives,and always, as my father held, one of the most mis-chievous influences, in war and in politics, withwhich Massachusetts had ever had to deal. Tooppose the confirmation of this appointment, myfather went to Washington as chairman of a com-mittee of merchants; un
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