The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-01-11


He has said and done enough to damn the re-
putation Of any man in bis position And yet
there are people who believe in him a. the in
carnation OF financial wisdom, and who are Of
| opinion that be has had great haod in saving
the Union. They are not very numerous, il is
true, and they include but few who know any
| thing alb out financial matters
The only principle which seems to have gov
erned Mr. Chase's administration Of the national
finances from the outset has been that Of pro-
viding merely for the necessities of the hour
| When, after the outbreak Of the rebellion. he
| came to New York to find means Of rcplenish-
| ing an empty treasury he obtained from our
| banks and moneyed men loan OF $50 900 600
on the assurance that there would be no stop
| page OF specie payments. Whatever might
be the duration of the war there would be no
difficulty in keeping this promise; for all further
aid that the government required could have
been raised by loans aud taxation. But on Mr.
Chase's return to Washington his personal in
terests and those Of his political partisans en-
! crossed much of his attention, to the exelu-
| sion of other considerations. The prompt
! crushing out Of the rebellion and the nam
| tenance of the public credit became second
airy objects. Occupied in distributing the fat
things in his gift to those who were 10 posi-
ton to advance his views az to the Pres 'dcncy,
and busy with the management Of our armies,
whose operations were directed by him solely
in reference to the extinguishment of slavery.
he had no time to attend to the duties Of hs
official position. The consequences were just
what were TO be expected from such course
Since bis first financial visit to this city
not only has the specie basis been aban-
doned. but four hundred and sixty6ve
millions OF unredeemable Treasury notes have
been added to the currency, while gold has
been up to premium OF l72 and the value OF
labor has been diminished nearly one-half
And. as an. inevitable result. the rebellion.
which the Secretary Of the Treasury promised
should be put down in ninety days. has.
up to a recent period, been pros
pering, our i'll success having the effect
Of raising the credit of the rebe, con-
federacy abroad and of furnishing il with the
means OF repIenishing its wasted resources
That it has been again brought to a state
of exhaustion, and that we ourselves
have narrowly escaped it. is not due to
any later inspirations OF Mr. Chase or any
change in his policy. We owe it to the
brilliant successes Of General Grant. Where
should we now be but for the magnificent
victories by which he has cut the rebel con
federacy in two and paralyzed its energies. It
is to these and not to the success of Mr.
paper issues of the government are not
largely deprecated and gold at higher
premium than it has ever been. General
Grant. aud not Mr.. Chase. is then, our
financial as we'll as military savior. lie
has solved with his sword the u.Jicult,es
which the contracted views and srlish ambi-
ton Of the Secretary of the Treasury rendered
him Incapable of grasping. new light is.
however. breaking in on Mr.. Chases mind as
to the ruinous effects of his policy: for in his
recent report be talks OF the necessity of a
contraction of the currency. We do not expect
that he will make any effort to retrace his
steps. He has so often deceived us by fala-
cious hopes that the country places no reliance
upon his assurances.
1t is to the genius OF that great soldier, states
man and financier, General Grant. that we look
for rescue from the financial abyss into which
we are being hurried. His victories will serve
to maintain confidence in the future, until his
election to the Presidency places ii beyond the
power Of the fanatics to work any further mis-
chief to the national interests
How SHIPS ARE Built FOR THE NAVY
We were in hopes that with our new feet of
double-enders we were to have number of
well built and fast vessels. Az to their speed
we "a yet have not sufficient data to speak as
fully as the subject deserves; but as to the
mode Of their construction we have seen enough
of them to state that, with but few exceptions.
mostly those built at navy yards. they are the
rnoaf rnisarahlu hnilt unssnIa In Tho Mann