The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-12-02
FEW YORK HERALD WEDNESDAY, l868-TRIPLE


General Grants Administration - Recon-
| struction and che Money Question.
General Grants election as President turned
upon the Southern reconstruction question |;
but the main business of his administration
will be the money question. Having made
their fght for Seymour upon the Tammany
of Congress "are unconstitutional, reyolu-
tionary, null and void, we may fairly conclude
that Seymour's election would have given MS
nothing better than four years more Of the
Southern anarchy breeding opposition policy
of Johnson On the other hand, as the cleo
ton of General Grant involves another popu-
lar ratification Of the reconstruction policy of
Congress, we may consider it fixed. 1t was
broadly disclosed in the famous Cabinet i'm
broglio correspondence of last February that
Grant has no respect for Johnson's reconstruc-
ton policy, while his letter Of acceptance of
the Chicago nomination commits him to the
policy of Congress. He will, therefore, take
up the laws as he finds them, and in good faith
will execute them.
So much for reconstruction With the retire
ment of Johnson an enemy is displaced, and
with the incoming Of Grant the Executive
becomes an ally Of Congress. But to
simplify: under comprehensive and
uniform rule, the question of suffrage
involved in this reconstruction business
General Grant, it appears, is in favor of
| another constitutional amendment, which shall
establish universal suffrage, or suffrage to all
male citizens excepting lunatics, idiots crimi-
nails, &c., above the age of twenty -one years,
of all races and colors. It further appears
| that to put an end to all apprehensions, in
| trigues and plans in reference to his being a
Candidate for another term or two, General
Grant is in favor of another constitutional
| amendment limiting the Presidents eligibility
labored arguments to show that with these two
| amendments added to the constitution all the
existing difficulties on suffrage would be set
| tied, aud the President would be relieved from
| world of embarrassments and factious oppo-
| stiOn in the conduct of his administration.
We think, too, that if passed over to the States
from the coming session Of Congress these
proposed amendments may be duly ratified
before the end Of the ensuing year.
In any event, however, the money question,
embracing bonds, banks, currency, taxes,
wastages, revenue frauds and national debt,
will be the main business of General Grants
administration. Some time ago radical con-
temporary made the important discovery that
under Grant the two most important officials
will be the Secretary Of the Treasury and the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Yester-
! day halEand-half republican organ made
/ the same discovery, and enlarged upon it to
the effect that il these two officials come up to
the mark Grants administration will be great
success, but that ii they fall short even Grant
will be failure. Now, we have some conf
dence in General Grants keen perception of
the right man for this or that piece of work,
and we look for good and capable Cabinet at
his hands, But he will need something more.
We see that under our present revenue
laws, in the matter Of these atrocious whiskey
frauds, there is something like deadlock be-
| tween johnson, McCulloch and Rollins, the
President, the Secretary of the Treasury and
| the Internal Revenue Commissioner. The
President complains that he is tied up by the
| Tenure Of Office law, under which tho Urea
sury rogues and swindlers snap their fingers
and flourish their ill-gotten grcenbacks in his
| face McCull0ch is embarrassed with the
independent authority of Rollins as an attachG
of the Treasury Department, and between the
pair Of them the whiskey rings grow fat
on their unchecked spoliations. Let General
| Grant be relieved of the Tenure Of Office law,
| and let the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
| be made subordinate, responsible to the
Secretary of the Treasury, and General Grant,
we reckon, will soon get ut the bottom of all
these rings of Treasury thieves and put an end
| to their villanies. Congress- in word, must
provide the ways and means to the President
to extricate us from our Treasury plunderers,
| our Treasury extravagances, our excessive
| taxations and the burden Of our national debt
| and If the two houses wish General Grant to
take the responsibility they must give him the
power to meet 1t.
| The Coroners inquest in the Larkin case has
| been concluded with a verdict by the jury that
IA IL r