The New York herald., 1875-11-09
The Currency Question IN CONGRESS.

dental election by shaping its measures with
kind Of man@uvring each party has one
strong point, and will of course attempt to
make the most Of it, The strong point of the
democratic House is it's ability to probe and
investigate every department of the gov
ernment and make party capital by exposing
abuses. The strong point of the republican
Senate is the advantage it can gain by follow
ing up the defeated inhationists and widen
ing the breach in the ranks Of the democracy.
There is needed an interval of rest and the
soothing influence of time to reconcile the
rag-money democracy Of the West and the
hard-money democracy of the East, and we
may assume that the republicans understand
the situation too well not to press the adj
vantage they won in the elections. Instead
of quietly waiting for the democratic wounds
to heal, they will lose no time after the ses-
sion begins in tearing them open and causing
them to bleed. Ii they are skilful they will
have no difficulty in promoting democratic
discord.
1t is unlikely that the democrats of the
House will propose any new measures relat-
ing to the currency. Their Western men,
bers, smarting under their recent defeat
might be rash enough to propose repeal ofthe
Resumption act Of the last Congress, but that
will be prevented, if possible, by the cooler
democratic heads. The hard-money demo-
Gratis will not propose any measure, because
it would not conduce to party harmony to
irritate and humiliate their erring brethren
of the West by demanding 50 early and open
q remuneration of their recent views The
democrats of the House will try to evade the
currency question and to occupy and engross
public attention with great parade ofinves-
LEGATIONS.
But the republican Senate is too shrewd to
lose its chance of fatally damaging the
democracy by compelling the House to show
its hand on the currency. All that the
Senate needs to do is to pass bill for giving
efficiency to the Resumption act of last jan
uary and send it to the House. This would
infallibly set the democrats of the House by
the ears if the bill should be passed by the
Senate in December, while the ill-feeling
between the Eastern and Western democrats
is still fresh. If the Senate is wise it will
not pass an extreme measure and send it
to the House, because an extreme
measure might cause q reaction in
the public mind and strengthen the
inhationsts. 1t would be safe for the repub-
licans to make the Resumption act of last
January the basis of new legislation, since
the main feature of that act-resumpton of
specie payments in 1879-has been indorsed
by the people in the late elections. All that
is needed is to supply means for rendering
that act efficient. The grand thing in the
act is the distinct pledge to resume metallic
payments in January, 1879; but it is defec-
tive in the methods it provides for reaching
that result. 1t contemplates the reduction
hundred million dollars, but at the
present rate of withdrawal that limit
would not be reached before 1887, although
to fulfil the main purpose of the act the
limit should be reached previous to 1879.
The act is also defective in the provision it
makes for supply of coin for redemption at
the designated date. Itauthorizes the Secre-
tary of the Treasury to sell four and half per
cent or four per cent bonds, at par, for
gold. But as the fves are only at par at
present there seems little likelihood that the
Treasury will be able to sell four and half
per cent bonds at par to obtain gold for
redemption. Nothing wouldebe easier than
to frame sound bill for supplying these two
defects in the Resumption act--that is to say,
a bill for certainly and speedily reducing the
amount Of greenbacks to three hundred
million dollars and for enabling the
Secretary Of the Treasury to sell bonds
at such price as would insure
supply Of gold for redemption The Senate
will be quite safe if it limits its action to
bill for strengthening the Resumption act Of
the last Congress and making it efficient; and
such bill, if it were SO cautiously drawn
that the hard-money men could not pick
flaws in it, would be a political wedge in the
democratic House which, if skilfully driven,
would split the democratic party in full
observation of the country.
THE PRINCE AT BOMBAY. Bombay is in
blaze of excitement. The Prince of Wales,
soon to be King Of England and all her
dependencies, has set his foot for the first
time on the soil Of British India, and all the
loyal citizens, European and native, white
and copper colored, rejoice. Yesterday the
Serapis yielded its royal passenger into the
safe keeping of the Bombay dignitaries. The
Prince, after being bored with an address Of
welcome from the municipality-a proceed
ing which can only be rendered endurable
by the eloquence of Wickham-proceeded
through eight triumphal arches and two
hundred thousand variegated spectators to
the rooms prepared for him at the Govern
ment House. Last night grand lev6e was
held by the royal visitor, when the curry
eaters enjoyed the honor Of formal presen-
-, da.. - tha princa,a nirth da,z