The Portland daily press., 1874-04-24

of Congress no less than years ago when he do
Tended the country against the assaults of >. no
more dangerous enemy. We do no care to !
question the motives or the influences which !
have led him to veto the infiatioa ELL. 1t is an
act of great moral courage up, the circum- |
stances in which it has beer. done.
The n. Y. Sun says:
Good for Grant Grants veto of the bill to |
initiate the currency is the smartest thing that |
he has ever done since he was elected President.
Never mind the little family jar it viii make at
Washington; that is of no consequence.
The Journal of Commerce says:
The veto of the initiation bill by the President :.
no matter how ungracously this concession tc |
the vital interests of trade and commerce has
been made, is certainly to his credit, and we
cheerfully accord TO him the praise which is
due. We do this the more heartily because we
had ceased to expect it.
The Worcester Spy says:
The credit of this veto is the Presidents
alone. 1t was forced from him by his strong
common sense and his conviction of duty. we
have no reason to doubt his assertion that he
sought earnestly for reasons that would Justify
him in signing the bill. His course in regard
to this and other matters precludes the belief
that he was influenced in refusing his assent by
motives OF personal or party policy, by desire
to retain friends or to conciate opponents.
Liz IONiutuCt OOHHut says
The effect of this decision must be very
wholesome and cheering upon all the material
int 70 its of the country, at home and abroad,
1t wii renew public confidence in and regard
for the President, and will warn the reckless
inf1ationists of Congress that bound is set
which they cannot pass. Let us therefore
thank God and take coarage.
The Springfield Republican says:
President Grant, in vetoing the finance bill,
has taken stop which will be remembered as
one of the great and good things of his admin
straticn The settlement of the Alabama diff
ficuty is the only event to be compared with it.
The Geneva arbitration and the preservation
of the public credit will stand together as the
two great achievements of his administration.
History can never excuse the mistakes and the
Limitations of these eight years, but they will
| grow dim to pOsterity. The awakening moral
| seuse and natural recuperatiye energy of our
people will at length purge the resultant dis
| eases from the body polite and they will no
| longer be part of u.s. Peace and public cred
| it, on the other hand, permanent habili-
| ments of our national character, which we can
never lay aside, except to resume again at the
| earliest moment. Whatever is done IN their
| name abdes.
The Albany Journal says:
No deed of General Grant since he compelled
the surrender Of Lee at Appomattox has reeeiv'
| ed such plaudits as this act will secure from
| all right minded men. 1t is the best days
| work of the whole Admlnistration-the most
| important, the most valuable, the most far
| reaching and benefcent in its consequences.
How the Veto Was Received.
There was intense excitement at The capitol
on the reception of the veto message. Business
was entirely suspended, and the Senators and
representatives gathered in groups, eagerly dis
cussing the veto and its probable effects on
business and politics. The Washington cor
respondence of the Boston Advertiser gives the
following description of the scene:
More than balf the senators were out of their
seats when the message came in, and it was
| quarter read through before the news reached
| the committee rooms and the house. Their
seats then began to fill rapidly. Speaker
| Blaine and a number of members came in, the
| galleries received large and continual Access
sions, the District investigation adjourned
hurriedly, and the members crowded into the
ladies' gallery adjacent. Many members were
on their way from the house to hear the mes
sage, but the reading closed before they ar
rived. 1t was listened to most intently on all
sides. 1t was really unexpected by majority
| of both parties, as gentlemen usually acquaint-
ed with the discussions in the Cabinet felt con-
| fident that the bill would be signed, but there
were enough of opposite opinions to hold the
| whole matter in doubt until the seal of the
message was broken in the senate. 1t is said
| in official circles that the argument which
| finally decided the President not to sign
the bill was, that if executed it would imme-
| diately withdraw so large an amount of re-
| serve from New York as to cause a serious
and wide spread nanic. The line dividing
those who praise from those who condemn lies
nearly along the dividing lines OF the votes up
| on the bill, though there are quite number
who voted for it against their own convictions
| who rejoice in the veto, and some who favor
moderate contraction are glad for the reason
| that they had come to believe, since the pas
sage of the bill, that it calls for immediate con-
| traction to an amount that the market cannot
| stand, AS soon as the news reached the house
| its effects became manifest Lyman Tremain
no s,,eatriug uu Inrntfmout to the ap,
preparation bill, seized the opportunity to glorfy
the veto. Mr.. Conger of Michigan followed in
| a vehement attack on the veto and the excess
sive earnestness of these two gentlemen is a
fair indication of the feeling and division in the
house. The members gathered in little knots,
aud in several cases delegations from the wes-
tern States held informal consultations. In
diana, Iowa. Michigan and Wisconsin were
| pretty thoroughly united and ready for al
| by the President. On the senate side Mr., Car
penter expressed his opinion that this veto
| would simply remand the question to the con-
gressional districts and that throughout most of
| the West the verdict would be heavily against
| the President and insure the return of house
| overwhelmingly pledged to initiation. Mr. Cam
| eron expressed the opinion that as a party
| measure he REGARDED it the greatest mistake a
| President had made since he was in Congress
| Quite number of house members declare there
shall be no adjournment for the summer until
the President does sign liberal bill.
A caucus of friends of the senate bill met at
the rooms of Governor Morton Wednesday
night to talk over the veto. 1t remained in
session until after midnight. There were pres
| ent Senators Morton, Carpenter, Logan, West,
| Harvey, ingalls,. Pratt Pease, Ferry of Michi-
| gan and Oglesby. They were all unmoved by
| the veto, and agreed, when it came up for dis
| cussion, to maintain and defend their previous
| position. 1t was the opinion of those present
that the majority of the opponents of the bill
| who were in the senate were far from pleased
| with the veto as party measure. 1t was also
| he'd that the President was mistaken in esti-
mating that the bill would cover initiation to
| the amount Of $1OO,OOO,OOO They calculated
that with 1882 600 600 alre ady out, the bill only
called for $1S,00O,000 more greenbacks and
| $4,000, 900 bank currency, and that while the
latter must go out slowly there must also be
considerable contraction. The temper of the
| meeting indicated a purpose to make straight
| and open issue, with the President on this
matter. and debate the whole subject at length
and with extreme pertinacity wheu it is