The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-09
Returning ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and tho Fl.
nances.

i
Returning Rcason-Congrcss and tho FL
| nRnccs.
The proceedings Of Congress during the few
days it has been in session give Ills hope of bet
! ter things than we had expected from thai
body. To use q common expression, it Is
| taking "the back track" with surprising
alacrIy from the perilous ground it stood upon
last session, and is taking broader statesman.
like views Of public matters. A few days ago
the House OF Representatives voted by a very
large majority to repeal the unjust and oppres-
sive cotton tax. On Saturday votes were
taken on two highly important questions with
a similar good result. The first was on the
proposition to impeach the President as re-
ported by the majority OF the Impeachment
Committee. The House voted on the resolu-
ton direct, and would not admit of any parlia-
mentary tricks to put 1t of. The result was
fifiy-seven for impeachment and a hundred and
eight against it, consequently 1t was defeated
by nearly two-thirds vote. The democrats
all voted against it, but had none of them
voted there were republ can votes enough to
defeat it. The other question referred to
was also highly important-that to pre-
vent any further contraction of the cur
rency. The bill for this purpose was
reported by Mr.. Schenck, from the
Committee of Ways and Means, and pro-
vides that after its passage the authority
ct the Secretary Of the Treasury to make any
reduction in the currency by retiring or can
ceiling United States notes is suspended. The
vote was taken, and stood-for the bill, one
hundred and twenty-seven against it. thirty
two. That is, three-fourths of the House Of
Representatives have promptly and emphati-
cally condemned the contraction policy Of Mr.
McCulloch, and thus have declared that our
national finances and the country shall not be
brought,to the brink Of ruin for the benefit Of
the bontlholders or at tho bidding Of the on
to-specie-, pa yment theorists.
Tho co tion tax was a most iniquitous
measure, AID was enacted under the influence
Of passions engendered by the war. Rarely
hos any government however despotic or
exigent, taxed the native products Of the soil.
Generally they have been protected. and par
ticularly where much labor was necessary to
raise them, ana where it was desirable to
check foreign competition. Yet our Congress
laid this burden tspon people bowed down to
the earth by poverty and from the want Of
means to raise tn smselves up. And, strange
to say, the very peoplc-the negroes-ter
whom that Congress- professed so much care
and regard were thu, greatest sufferers. But
tha ;o raoaatad proupact;valv thourb ~
would have been better to have abolished il
at once; and so far it is gratifying sign of
the returning good sense OF the national
legislature
The end of the impeac hmcnt humbug shows
still more strikingly the extraordinary change
that has come over Congress. The dominant
party in and out of Congress- =, short time since,
clamored for the Presidents impeachment
They were ready 10 remove him at all hazards
for partisan purposes. In their violence they
represented him Ms a traitor, sot debauchee
and everything else vile--in iact monster.
They raked the prisons and every conceivable
place for evidence against hiM. They took
the testimony Of the vilest characters and per.
jurers to make out case. They put spies
about his residence to watch him, and they
did everything possible to blacken his charac-
ter before the public in advance Of the action
OF Congress. Finally, q majority Of the I'm
parchment Committee brought charge
against him for high crimes and misdemean-
ors' And, after all this violence, labor and
partisan zeal, what did IL end INF Abortion;
in two-thrds vote Of the House against i'm
parchment Never before did great party
come down from its lofty pretensions so dsaly.
IF the radical republicans had wanted to do
Mr.. johnson great service they could not
have done anything 70 accomplish that moro
ing reason among them we are not disposed
to rub caustc on their sores too mercilessly.
The large and decisive vote against further
contraction Of the greenback currency must
be regarded as more important than anything
Congress has done since 1t rcassembled. II
taken place both In the views Of members
and the people. The finances Of the coun-
try, the currency, the banking system,
and the magnitude Of the revenue-all
assumed proportions novel aud altogether
unprecedented since the war commenced.
Neither our public men nor the people
had ever experienced anything like II be-
fore, and could not understand all at once
such state OF things. AT the same time we
have been 10 unfortunate a. 10 have had
ignorant financial theorists at the head OF
the Treasury Department. When we COM
menced, some two years ago, to expose the
evils Of the financial policy Of the government
and the national bank system, and 70 show the
disastrous consequences Of contraction. few
were with us Until lately We fought the
battle Of We pvopls agsisss We sosdhsldsu.