Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/215

 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD 177 public debt, foreshadowing, in the course of his remarks, that republican policy which resulted in the resumption of specie payment, January 1, 1879. From this moment until the treasury note was worth its face in gold, he never failed, on every proper occasion, in the house and out, to discuss every phase of the financial question, and to urge upon the National conscience the demands of financial honor. In May, 1868, he spoke again on the currency, dealing a staggering blow to the ad herents of George H. Pendleton, who, under the stress of a money panic, were clamoring for the government to &quot;make the money-market easier.&quot; It may be said that he was at this, as at later times, the representative and champion of the sound- money men in congress, and first and last did more than anyone else, probably, in settling the issues of this momentous question. In 1877 and 1878 he was again active in stemming a fresh tide of financial fallacies. He treated the matter this time with elementary simplicity, and gave in detail rea sons for a hard-money policy, based not so much upon opinion and theory as upon the teachings of history. In the 41st congress a new committee that on banking and currency was created, and Garfield was very properly made its chairman. This gave him new opportunities to serve the cause in which he was heartily enlisted, and no one now seeks to