The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-01-09

lar sovereignty" and ALL he acceptable to his
adherents of the North? No. The breach is too
wide. and the chasm is too deep for any bridging
Southern democratic party, and the differences
between them are as broad as the difference be-
tween popular sovereignty" and the Lecomp-
ton constitution between nggers and no niggers,
or between slave soil and free soil. The under
lying sentiment on each side is marked and
strong; and if Mr.. Douglas has saved anything
to the democratic party, it is an anti-slavery
balance of power, which, but for his excuse of
popular sovereignty" would have gone over to
the republican camp in the late autumnal
elections. -
Accepting, then, this reelection of Mr.. Douglas
the Charleston Convention, and two or three
democratic candidates for the succession, will not
the opposition walk over the course? We cannot
answer. From the present disordered and divided
condition of the opposition forces, they have quite
as good prospect for two or three tickets as the
democracy. Indeed, from all the existing intes-
tine rivalries, jealousies and antipathies on
both sides, and from the conflicting movements of
cliques, factions and sections for the succession
we can undertake to predict nothing but q
disorderly scrub race, and contest over the three
highest candidates in the next House of Repre-
sentatives for the Presidency, which may
possibly tear the government into pieces, and
drive the country headlong upon the rocks
OF disunion, and into something like that horrible
anarchy Of revolutionary Mexico.
Thee is no visible hope from the democratic
party. 1t has filled its mission of good; it has
entered upon that suicidal mission of mischief
which is the inevitable result when disappointed
leaders, demagogues and reckless spoilsmen of
the same faith turn upon each other The oppo-
sition command an overwhelming popular ma
jority of the Union; and in behalf of the Union,
and of law and order, this majority may be con-
soldated in 1860 against all the sectional disor-
ganizers of the day. In such fusion as that of
$780, and upon a great national name like
that of General Scotia name synonymous with
patriotism and nationality-the opposition may
sweep the field, and inaugurate party in power
competent to hold the government for twenty
years to come; but in default of some such move
ment as this, we can look for nothing else than
scrub race of fighting sections and factions
and final contest in Congress, which may in
volve an abrupt dissolution of the government,
and, North and South, a general call to arms.
These are the reflections and the contingencies
suggested by this reelection of Mr.. Douglas to
the Senate. He is but one of the bubbles on the
stream which mark the dangerous cross currents,
the whirlpools and rapids in the midst of which
we are drifting onward and downward to destruc-
ton, unless seasonably rescued by the people.
The Bank Department and C0unterfelting.
The Superintendent Of the Bank Department,
in his annual report, which we published on Fri
day, devotes considerable space to the subject of
the alarming increase of counterfeiting, and re-
commends, as the only alteration of the law
which appears to him necessary on this point
that all counterfeit plates or other devices for
counterfeiting, and all counterfeit bank notes.
which may come into the hands of public officers
shall, after having been used for the conviction
of the guilty parties, be surrendered to the Bank
Superintendent for destruction.
We think that the Superintendent own Ian
guage goes to prove that the remedy suggested
by him is not adequate to this growing and
alarming evil, which he justly remarks is "be-
coming a question seriously affecting the utility
of bank note circulation"
The report sets forth that all the bank note
engraving in this State is done by consolidated
company of engravers which, in the opinion Of
the Superintendent, has greatly promoted the
safety of our bank note circulation. But the evil
dence in the recent Austrian Bank coun-
terfeiting case goes to show that some
of the large number of excellent engravers
thrown out Of employ by this consolidation,
which uses the old devices and materials, and has
therefore no need of so many artists and engrav
ers, were actually employed in executing coun-
terfeit work. This was not owing to the dishon-
esty of the engravers, but to the defect of the
present system of engraving bank notes, which
enables counterfeiter to employ dozen honest
engravers to execute the separate parts Of a note
which, when combined by the counterfeiter, pro-
duce the illegal issue. These unemployed en-
grayers, by the State law, which secures all the
honest bank note engraving in the State to one
firm are thus subjected to the designs or tempta-
tons of counterfeiters.
Again the Superintendent says the possession
Of two or three plates under the system of trans
ferring now employed in engraving bank note
plates enables the counterfeiter to combine new
counterfets at pleasure, while he very naively
remarks on having in his possession all the plates
Of the banks in this State. He seems blissfully
| ignorant of the law which directs him to keep
the custody of the dies, plates and materials used
in the manufacture of bank notes. BY the pal
pable violation OF this law, engravers are allowed
to retain copies Of all the plates which they en-
grave, and duplicate them at pleasure for wild
cat banks of the same name in other States. 1t
is in this manner that copies of genuine plates