The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-04-16

unless otherwise expressly stipulated in thu
contract" These words, as our readers may
remember. were spoken by the President in
his first inaugural address. They had an IN
usual meaning ut that time, because the Presi.
dent came fresh from the people, and his
noble declaration was in some senses protest
against the astounding financial philosophy
of some Of President Johnson's later
messages in favor of virtual Reputation. Nor
was the President hasty in forgetting this
declaration, for in his first annual Message to
Congress he speaks of irredeemable currency
as actually among the evils growing out of
the rebellion" We quote this striking
phrase at the risk of grave offence to states
men like Senator Cameron, who insist by
their action that irredeemable currency
is among the blessings flowing from the
rebellion, like emancipation and union. In
1870 the President, in his annual Message to
Congress, and ignoring the views of men of
the peculiar genius of Mr.. Sprague called
upon Congress to adopt ''wise and prudent
policy, (which would place our currency at
par with gold at no distant day" Reflection
VvANSAeAy A6shOA0A SAO \ ACoiOCAb IL LIS
persistent views, for we find him in 1871 actu-
ally asserting that one of the effects of an ire
deemable currency would have most ''dam-
aging effect upon ''the prices Of all articles
necessary for everyday life" In 1872 he con-
tinued to impress upon Congress the high i'm
portance of ''the preservation of our national
credit" 1t will amaze our Rocky Mountain
statesmen, like Harvey, to learn that the Presi-
dent actually believed that our credit was
not to be preserved by issuing enormous
quantities of decorated paper as money, but
by providing "a national currency of fixed.
unvarying value as compared with gold"
The voice of the country in summoning the
President to q second term, by vote as
magnificent as that given to Washington,
evidently did not change his temper, for in
his second inaugural address he says that his
efforts would be devoted s'to the restoration of
our currency to a fixed value as compared
with the worlds standard of value and, if
possible, to q par with it." In his last
Message to Congress he crowns his record in
these words:-"We can never have permanent
prosperity uAti1 U oPCSAo Ds1SlS ~ IcdCueu
1.-THE exact medium is specie, the recognized
medium of exchange the world over That
obtained, we shall have currency of an
exact degree of elasticity. # there be too
much of it for the legitimate purposes of
trade and commerce it will flow out of the
country; if too little the reverse will result.
To hold what we have, and to appreciate our
currency to that standard, is problem de-
serving the most serious consideration of Con-
gress.
With this record we can only have one
hope 80 far as the President is concerned
that he will be worthy Of his tame and Of his
consistent and noble utterances, and veto this
bill. Whatever annoyance may result to his
administration, he owes this veto to the good
name of the country. Let him show the people
that his words are something more than words;
that his promises are not to be broken when
the time comes for their fulflment, and that
this is the one occasion in which, in the exer-
else of his constitutional prerogative of the
veto, he will stamp out and destroy PERM
cious and degrading measure.