The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-01-22
Tho Battle OF tho Rosumptionists and
InNatf0nists.

Tho Battle OF tho Rosumptionists and
InA.tionists.
Day after day the debate continues in the
Senate on the resolution reported by the Com
mittee on Finance, which declares it to be the
duty of Congress to adopt measures to redeem
the legal tenders and to furnish q currency of
uniform value, always redeemable in gold or
its equivalent In the House of Representa-
tives also there is constant diminishing on
the financial and currency questions, and
almost numberless resolutions submitted with
regard to them There has hardly ever been
greater diversity of opinion In Congress on
any subject. Almost every member has
theory or scheme Of his own. Yet there ia
broad and well defined line on each side of
which parties are arranged. One is for fore
ing resumption of specie payments by any
and all possible means, and the other, indiffer-
emit to that or believing it not practicable
under existing circumstances, proposes to adj
just the currency to what are believed to be
the exigencies of the country.
The division to great extent is sectional,
the members from the West and the South
being opposed to contraction of the currency
in order to force specie payments, and, in
fact are generally in favor of increasing the
currency, while those from the East and North,
for the most part either urge contraction or
some other measure for placing the country on
specie basis There are, however, excep-
tions. Mr.. Sherman, Of Ohio for example,
is hard money man, and is, perhaps, the
ablest opponent of the infationists In the
debate yesterday a Southern Senator, to-
Mr.. Merrimon, Of North Carolina-argued that
it was idle and criminal for Congress to under
take to bring greenbacks up to the standard
of gold, and that we must put ourselves on q
level with the commercial nations of the earth,
and to do this we must have gold and silver
currency. He advocated an immediate re-
sumption of specie payments. But Mr. Cor
don, of Georgia, who made an able speech on
Tuesday on the other side, and Mr.. Brownlow,
of Tennessee, the same day, are, no doubt,
better representatives of the South on this
question. Then there are some members
from the East and North against the resump-
tionists and in favor of moderate expansion
of the currency.
If we may Judge from present indications
there will certainly not be any contraction of
the currency. Indeed, it is probable there
will be an expansion to the extent, at least, Of
the legal tender reserve. The government,
from necessity, has already circulated the
greater part Of that. The report comes from
Washington that the Committee of Ways and
Means has agreed to report bill authorizing
the issue Of the whole forty-four millions, and
thus making the volume of legal tenders aAoat
four hundred Millions Surprising this to be
the case and that Congress win pass the bill,
it will remain to be seen if the Western and
Southern members can be satisfied with such
limited expansion The whole question is
involved in much difficulty. We have opposed
the issue Of more currency to relieve the
Treasury, just as we have an increase of taxa
ton, and have demanded retrenchment to the
full extent Of meeting the present income of
the government. II the country is to get
back to specie payments expansion of the cur
rency, from whatever motive, would
certainly place barrier in the way.
Il would be an indefinite postpone
ment Of specie payments. Contraction should
be avoided on one hand, for that would
disturb values and paralyze business and
expansion on the other, because that takes
away the prospect Of returning to a specie
basis. Let the volume Of currency remain as
it is and the country would grow up-through
the increase of population, wealth and trade
to specie standard. Admitting that the
West and South have not currency enough,
and the South, perhaps, is worst of in that
respect, remedy might be found in more
equal distribution of the currency. The East
and North have the largest and an unequal
share in proportion to population and other
conditions. The national bank system is the
greatest obstacle to redistribution; for those
who have the privileges and profits conferred
by that system would be mast unwilling to