New-York tribune., 1868-08-28

party itself that It's triumph means War; that
it intends that Blair aud Seymour shall estab-
Iish tho principles of the Confcdcracy. That
warning it would be criminal folly to despise.
1t is Grant who represents in this contest the
great cause which he represented in the war,
and only by his election can Peace and Order
DO preserved and permanently established
--
THE PAYMENT or THE PUBIC DEBT
We desire 70 fix the attention of the capital
lists and business men OF our City on the fact
that the supporters Of Seymour and Blair are
now unanimous in favor Of the policy of pay
ing off the Five Twenty bonds of the Govern
ment by vast new issue of Grecnbacks
When that policy was first propounded our
New-York and other Eastern Democrats secuted
it as the folly and crimo it really is. Horatio
Seymour came down here and made a speech,
demonstrating it's fatal impolicy. The World
paraded that speech as an expose of true Demo
cratic doctrine But HoTatio has swallowed his
convictions as he swallowed his pledges that
he would not be candidate for tho Prcsi-
dency, and is now running on an uncquivocally
Greenback platform. The World has, OF course,
initiated his topsy -turvy attitude with servhe
alacrity. but with d hang-dog air that betrays
its consciousness of guilt. 1t crawls and dodgcs
behind Senator Sherinan's say-so, and seeks
thus 10 hide even from itself But tins we
shall not permit
The World now says that the act authorizing
the Fivc-Tventics is the contract" which IS TO
determine the nature and extent of the oblga-
ton therein incurred. To this we responded
that, if this be So then there are two distinct
elements of that contract which are fatal TO
The Worlds theory, viz: l. The Oreenbacks
"shall at no time exceed the sum of sljO,OOO,-
"OOO.r 2. They are 10 be at all times convert
ble, at the pleasure of the holder INTO "an
" equal amount Of tho bonds of the United
Estates, bearing interest at the rate Of six per
"cent. per mnum, payable scmi-annually and
"rcdcemablc at the pleasure Of the United
States after five years, and payable twenty
"years from the date thereof"
What is the answer 10 this statementi Who
makes any7 The World stands dumb before
it. 1t practically comedies that our position is
imprcgnable. We quoted literally all the sec
tions of the act which have any bearing on the
point If there were any way to escape our
conclusion. would not The World have wTigglcd
into itl
Mind that the position re combat is that the
Fiye-Twenty bonds were made payable in
Grecnbacks at the pleasure Of the Government
after five years from their date respectively.
We, cOntestiDg this, cite the text of the act
mot line merely showing that the Green
backs are thereby made convertible into Fire
TUentieS at the pleasure Of the holder. Let
us suppose, then, that this act is " the con-
tract this provision is a vital part Of it. If
the Government has a right to pay OFF the
bonds in Greenbacks, the same act gives those
who are thus paid off right at once to present
those Greenbacks at any sub-Treasury, and
obtain therefor their full amount in ne,O Five
Twentcs, drawing six per cent interest in
gold, and which the Government cannot again
pay off till they in turn shall have run five
years; when, if they are paid off in Green
backs, the holders may at once fund them again
in Five-TWenties, and be again secure from
redemption for at least five years. Who dis
putes it
Now, consider also the express stipulation
that the Greenbacks shall never exceed in
amount s15O,OOO.OOO and it is clear that if the
act and not the bond is "the contract" all
that can be effected by paying off bonds in
Greenback5 is to keep US perpetualy paying
six per cent. interest in gold on the great bulk
Of our Debt, when we might, simply by being
honest, fund it in new bonds at five per cent,
and probably still lower. Does not the Green
back swindle plainly propose that our country
shall serve the Evil One for even less than his
usual wages1 We insist that the Legal Ten
der Gct plainly cannot mean both that the
bonds are redeemable in Greenbacks and that
the GTeenbaeks are fundable at the holders
pleasure in FiyeTwenty bonds and as the
act expressly says the latter, it cannot posi-
bly, mean the former. Is there any answer to
this And, if not, what becomes of the Green
back swndleP
The World tries to deny that Mr. Stevens
referred to the Legal Tender act when he
spoke OF the principal being payable in gold"
g redeemable in gold" payable in coin," sc.
This is Daltry quibbling. Congress was de-
batting the policy of issuing Legal Tender notes,
and Dir. Stevens WAS vigorously advocating
that policy. The bill made those notes fund
able In veTwenty bonds and it was those
bonds Which Mr.. stevens repeatedly referred