The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-08-27
Platform of the Ohio Democracy.
The Democracy Of Ohio met in Couysn.

ton Of Columbus yesterday and adopted
platform Of principles that Is given In
our dispatches this morning. We invite
attention to their curlously and skilllully
drawn declarations. We pass over what
they said about equal rights to al men
and the equality OF the coordinate
departments Of tho Government, etc. +,
as old and hSckneyed stock In
trade, and refer particularly to
their enunclAtions on the subject Of the
Currency and National Banks. The hrSt
resolution Is q compromise between
THURMAN and PKNDtEToN, the two rep.
rcsentstlves Of the two wings Of Ohio De-
mocracy. The THURMAN part Of 1t Is
comprised In tho frat sentence-Uz-a
declaration in favor Of sound currency
The trainers Of this. declaration were care
ful not to identilpBpecie payments with q
sound currency. They did not dare to
commit themselves to such an identifca-
tion with specie, but they nevertheless
threw ont q declaration in favor Of a
sound currency as sop to those who ia :
vor specie payments, while at the same
time, and In the same breath, declaring in
favor Of such an increase In the clrculat.
ing medium as tho business interests Of
the country may require. Such q reso.
luton reminds one Of that character in
the play who crosses the stage with bag
on his shoulder, In one end Of which he
has orders for the army and in the other
end oi which he has counter. orders. The
trouble with our currency now, according
10 Mr.. THURMAN, the coming man OF the
Ohio Democracy for the Presidency, Is
that 1t is not sound, and that It Is not
sound because It Is at q discount Of ten
per cent, and that Il Is at q discount
because the volume is too large. And
yet the Democracy want gun that will
shoot round tho corner. They declare
in favor oil o sound currency and also in
favor ol such an increase ol the circu.
lating medium as the country requires.
This is on par with the old trick oi the
Pennsylvania Democracy, who, to cir.
cumvent the Wings, used TO declare in
favor Of a judlcious" tariff, as 10 the
meaning of which you could pay your
money and take your choice.
In regard to the National Banks and
Government bonds, the Pendletonism Of
the Convention crops out in the same
strain and almost in the same language
by the Democracy of Ohio in
1866. They undertook then as they do
now, and as they always do
for that matter, to play upon
the ignorance and the prejudice of
the people. The National banks are
banks OF issue. AL banks Of issue draw
interest on their promises TO psy-or, as
the Democracy express it, upon their
debts. There Is nothing peculiar in this
fact. The idea sought to be conveyed by
the Ohio Democracy however, Is that the
National banks have special privileges in
this respect. What are their privilegesH ?
Simply this, that they are allowed to issue
notes payable on demand in the legal
tenders Of the government alter depositirg
ten per cent more than their liabilities
with lhe Treasury oi the United States.
In Iormer days banks Of issue drew inter-
es: upon promises to pay that were ire
deemable, and the ,Democscy chartered
uuch bHnES. On par;'aI nf one hundred
thousand dollars in specie such banks
would issue three times that amount in
prof. ises 10 pay, and the community had
no security that the money on which they
paid interest would be current or solvent
from day 10 day. People were accus'
toned TO lose large amounts by these
worthless promises TO pay, Issued, as we
remarked, by banks chartered by Demo
cratic legislators. But who ever heard OF
any person losing q dollar by National
bank note becoming worthless. There is
yet to be the first dollar lost in that way.
What, then, does this csptandum reso-
luton OF the Ohio Democracy amounttos ?
Docs it mean that the National banks
should redeem their notes in specie? II
so, the answer Is that the stream can not
rise higher than its fountain. The banks
can not pay specie until the Government
of the United States resumes specie pay.
ments. Do the Democracy wish the
Government to resume specie pay
meuts3 They dare not say so. Their
principal organ in ohio-the Cincinnati
EaQuirer-protests against such an idea,
There are not, perhaps, q dozen Demo
cratic papers In Ohio that would dare to
advocate return to specie payments at
the next session Of Congress. 1t would
be very easy thing for Congress TO COM
pei the National banks TO reserve their
coin interest wherewith TO redeem their
notes. Why do the Democracy not ad'
vocatc such a polIcy3 Because they
know that such a policy would soon
bring on tho day of reckoning, and, worse
still, that 1t would bring the Democracy
face to face with the great debtor class ol
the country.
Wehave said time and again in this pa.
per that neither political party can make
any capital in this campaign out of the
financial situation Of the country. The