John Sherman . of Illinois, votedfor Grow. Mr. Shermans name was placed innomination by Thomas Corwin. Immediately afterthe first vote, Mr. Clark of Missouri introduced aresolution which created a most bitter was to the effect that no member of the Housewho had indorsed the work of Hinton R. Helper,entitled The Impending Crisis of the South; Howto Meet It, was fit to be Speaker of the House. Itappeared that both Mr. Sherman and Mr. Growhad signed a paper indorsing this book, thoughboth seem to have signed without any examinationof its contents, or any comprehension of the stormw
John Sherman . of Illinois, votedfor Grow. Mr. Shermans name was placed innomination by Thomas Corwin. Immediately afterthe first vote, Mr. Clark of Missouri introduced aresolution which created a most bitter was to the effect that no member of the Housewho had indorsed the work of Hinton R. Helper,entitled The Impending Crisis of the South; Howto Meet It, was fit to be Speaker of the House. Itappeared that both Mr. Sherman and Mr. Growhad signed a paper indorsing this book, thoughboth seem to have signed without any examinationof its contents, or any comprehension of the stormwhich would be raised by it. The failure of Mr. Sherman to obtain the speak-ership has been commonly ascribed to this indorse-ment. This remarkable volume was written byHelper in North Carolina, when only twenty-sevenyears of age, and was first published in the year1857. It was a protest against slavery from thestandpoint of a white man, who attacked it, — notbecause of sympathy for the slave, but from a con-. (3^M>^C3r c^, *.X^crv^sJX_^ THE THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS 63 viction that the institution was demoraUzing, andclosed the gates of opportunity to the non-slave-owning whites of the South. In the preface he states,with a well-understood reference to Mrs. Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin, that women might paint infiction the evils of slaver}^ but it remained for mento give the facts. It included numerous tables inwhich comparisons were made between the North-ern and the Southern States. The author pointsout that while the average value of lands in NewYork was $ per acre, the average value inNorth Carolina was only $, and maintainedthat it would be far better for the slaveholders them-selves to lose the value of their slaves, and therebyobtain an enormous increase in the value of theirlands. His generalizations were very bold, and hisinferences from figures would not all of them bearanalysis. He not only made comparisons basedupon the greater wealth of the North, but madeunfa
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