St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-01-08
Wanted, a Policy"

NJ the beginning ot til" war Mr..
Ray rn"ld pI"N"i,"d Il great deal 81 cluS-
Tie criticism 10y aH article III the Times
entitled Nv autcd. Il Policy" His re-
ply Ia his critics wa that the title OF
the article exactly described the >itlla-
ton. and WIS Il conclusive argument
y policy was presently adopted. and
tine vigorous prosecution of the war
saved the government and established
the Republican party. That party now
finds itself i'll Il similar situatiou The
government. indeed, is not threatened
and happily there Is no war. But the
party is in danger and il can he saved
only 10y proving that it understands the.
position. and is bold enough t" adopt
Il courageous policy. Courage * the
first need of the hour. and il is the
more Indispensable because there are
differences i'll the patty itself. and the
disposition to tind some common ground
would tend to II tinid conclusions. which
would he fatal. Tnc President IN his
Message, supported bS the Secretary of
the Treasury in his report. has given
the watch-w"Id. 1t is simply return to
specie payment. The country suffers
from Il universal pro>tratiun of business.
aud there can bc no hope of il revival
without Il restoration of confidence.
Bat that is impossible So long aS the
currency Is tiuctuating, and while there
is il serious proposition and possible
policy of cutting loose from the univer-
sal money of the world.
ANY man who takes Il grecnback note
ont of his pocket and looks 1T it sees
that it is Il promise of the United States
To pay him Il dollar. OF dollars. and he
knows also that he can not any where
exchange it for its equivalent in money.
That is Il fact which introduces uncer-
taiuty into every transaction. including
the dealings of the lahorcr with the
butcher and the grocer, as we'll as the
larger operations of business. There
is no secure footing. Nobody knows
exactly where he is, and universal
doubt Iaral;zcs every kind of industry.
The duty of the Republican party.
which has the power of making those
grccnhackcd promises valid. is to lose
no time in doing it. The promises
must he redeemed. that is to say. we
must begin to return to specie pay
ments, and the policy that is wanted is
to provide the proper method. That
method. whatever its details NAV he.
must include. as the Secretary of the
Treasury says, as Il former Congress
authorized, and as intelligent men know.
contraction. To propose this requires
courage upon the part of Congress. To
accept it requires courage upon the part
of the country. And to know the time
when that courage may he wisely in
Voked requires craftsmanship the same
kind of craftsmanship which Sir Robert
Peel showed in 1919 when he proposed
that the Bank of England should re-
sumo cash payments, and in Isl6 when
he repealed the corn laws.
The courage must he of kind which
can see with equanimity the detection
of certain party leaders. Thu, might
possibly follow. The commanding
question before the country is that of
the finances. The Republican party
has been defeated and discredited. 1t
can recover public confidence only by Il
brave and sound financial policy. But
it will not he easy for Mr.. Kelley and
Mr.. Garfield, Mr.. Morton and Mr. Conk-
ling to unite i'll any decisive and thor
Ough policy without an absolute surren-
der upon one side or the other. No
hocus-poc will answer. The measures
adopted must either he positive steps
toward resumption, or something else
which is initiation. If Mr.. Morton as
scented to the former, he would abandon