New-York tribune., 1867-02-22
KJTE.rLYIyG IN CONGRESS.

HITE-ILlING ~ tONbhEnp
We learn from our telcgraphic reports the rea-
son why the Senate bill for exchanging the SIX
per cent compound legal tenders into three per
cent demand notes was defeated the other day
in the House. 1t was merely preliminary
movement of the infationsts to stop contiac-
ton and get aflOat another hundred millions
of grcenbacks. This interesting job was I'M
ished Yesterday. The House voted, 90 to Gj, not
TO pay the six per cent legal tenders, but to sub
stitute greenbacks for them BY thirty majority
the House has broken away from It's old finan-
cial advisers, and embarked on the sea OF
"wild-cat1 banking. We always desire to un-
dcrstand the precise situation of affairs, and
thus we are, in view OF recent lie
vclopmcnts on this subject, glad To
see this vote and TO understand the ground
of il. If Congress or the House have got any
specific views on the management of the cur
rency different from those of Mr. McCullOch,
it will be a relief to the country To have
them developed. Not in the shape Of sporadic
votes, but in intelligent discussion. Let MS have
an ineligible exposition of the policy which
Congrc,, or the House desire TO adopt, IN lieu
of that recommended by the Secretary of the
Treasury, and hitherto sustained 10y them. ii
there is an antagonist policy, a. there seems To
be, let rs know precisely what it is. Give us
the particulars. Let in light upon this subject
so vital to the business and industrial interests
of the entire nation. Ii is of immense cOnsc-
quence that the country should know what Is
before them. And they do not want votes
merely. they want views clearly defined and
measures intclIigently shaped and cxpoundcd.
If the National Legislature is really in the hands
of the papcrmoney men, aud they intend 10
leave Nj. McCullOch IN the lurch, and to pursue
a policy leading to bankruptcy. let us know it,
and Let Us know their precise methods. Let
them declare themselves IN the face of day by
open and exhaustive discussion. If we have got
pIOfOundcr financicrs in Congress than have
hitherto come TO the surface, trot them out, and
let them bless Us with their cxpowndings. We
gropc in the dark ever since that twenty major
ity vote in the House, now increased to thirty,
in opposition 90 contraction. The country does
not want TO be led blindfold down a pIccipice
it wants its way ilumncd 10y the new lights of
finance which are, apparently, judging from
yesterdays proceedings, coming ont from under
the bushel where they have been hidden.
If Congress is going TO reject the principle
OF moderate contraction, let us know what we
are 10 have instead. Show us where we stand.
If there is anything in this matter beyond the
necessities of rotten banks or the renewal
notes of bankrupt debtors we should like to
see it defined. No solvent man, no solvent
bank, no solvent community, can honestly OBJ
ject to the principle of steady contraction of
the currency until we reach specie paymen :,
or need fear its results. 1t is the bankupts
and the spectators only who have anything TO
apprchcnd from the application of this touch
stone of national and individual solvcncy.
The see-saw debate and voting in the House
yesterday aptly enough illustrate the stability
of opinion which, on financial topics distin-
gshcs our legislators. Nh IIoopcI's bill as
reported was a bill to retire the compounds plus
a section to repeal the law now authorizing the
S40O0,0OO per month contraction Mr.. Hooper
does not believe in flying his kite without
a respectable tail his bill therefore proposed
to issue in place of the compound notes
certificates at 1865 interest-not a measure
which cOmmends itself to us as sound but
a miracle of prudence in comparison with
what the House finally adopted. Northwest
crn finance in the person of Mr. Wilson OBJ
jectcd to the extravaganza of this plan, on the
ground that it involved yearly pay
ment Of three OF four millions of interest. 1t
is a generous charity TO suppose that Mr.
Wilson and they who follow his lead hon
estly believe in this saving the-spgot econ
omy. We concede the necessity which lies |
upon them to advance an argument that |
shall have the merit OF plausibility. Mr. !
Stevens, however, is much too intrepid |
a legislator on finance TO allow himself to he |
interrupted in the pursuit of his policy by |
any such trivialties as arguments. Believing |
in grcenbacks as q national blessing he natu-
rally thinks it impossible to have too many
blessings. A promise TO pay that is repudiated,
is in his eyes rs good rs promise meant to
be kcpt-if anything, is little better. The high
est stretch of financial virtue is TO issue
thousand millions of National promissOry notes,
and the true policy to sustain the National credit
is to make it impossible to pay the debts we
have already incurred. Mr.. Stevens's view of
the country's future is like that of the bank
rupt spendthift who complacently congatu-
lated himself on his hopeless Insolvency, and Y
besought admiration for Wis enormous debts as
the evidence that he had once enjoyed un-
limited credit.