e accomplished before their death. I also had my
dreams but they related to public policies rather than internal
improvements and some of these have been realized.

I was awakened one bright morning in September and told that the
car was in Ohio. This was enough to drive sleep from my eyelids.
I looked out upon the rich lands of the Miami valley, the comfortable
homesteads on every farm, the fat cattle and herds of sheep, the
broad fields of yellow corn, and every sign of fertility. All
these, and perhaps a little admixture of state pride, led me to
say that, after all, the people of Ohio need not go beyond the
bounds of that state with any hope to improve their condition or
to secure a better opportunity for a happy life. I soon parted
with my friends with sincere regrets, for in our journeyings we
were in truth a happy family.

The canvass in Ohio was then progressing for the election of a
President and Members of Congress, in which I was expected, as
usual, to take a part. The strange anomaly of Horace Greeley
running on a Democratic ticket was enough in itself to excite
opposition, especially in the southern states. The result was that
General Grant, in November, 1872, was elected President by 31 states
with 286 electoral votes. Greeley died after the election, and
before the electors voted, so that no electoral vote was counted
for him. If he had lived he would probably have received 60
electoral votes.

CHAPTER XXIV.
THE PANIC OF 1873 AND ITS RESULTS.
Failure of Jay Cooke and Co.--Wild Schemes "for the Relief of the
People"--Congress Called Upon for Help--Finance Committee's Report
for the Redemption of United States Notes in Coin--Extracts from
My Speech in Favor of the Report--Bill to Fix the Amount of United
States Notes--Finally Passed by the Senate and House--Vetoed by
President Grant and Failure to Pass Over His Objection--General
Effect Throughout the Country of the Struggle for Resumption--
Imperative Necessity for Providing Some Measure of Relief.

During the first four years of General Grant's administration the
financial condition of the United States was eminently prosperous.
The total reduction of the national debt, from the 1st of March,
1869, to the 1st of November, 1873, was $383,629,783, the annual
saving of interest resulting therefrom being $27,432,932. During
this period the value of United States notes compared with coin
steadily increased. The funding of the six per cent. b