The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-07-09
General Butler Endorses tho Ohio In
'natfonfsts.

Win nl5 past recOIu- In 1910 NC uiSPNs0N
Pendleton's claim to priority in the greenback
policy, and he has consistently spoken and
voted in Congress for the ideas embodied In
the Ohio democratic platform. If the infa-
tionists carry Ohio and get control of the
democratic party Butler will no doubt join it
and aspire to the position OF democratic
leader. The only point in Buffers recent
manifesto plausible enough to require
ON antidote is his illustration of the
oppressive effect of specie resump-
ton on the debtor class. ''There is at
least one-third Of the wealth of the country"
he says, Invested in Indictment, national,
municipal or private. All this appreciates.
All other property deprecia.es. To illustrate,
mans house has within the last two years
deprecated thirty-three per cent in its ex-
exchangeable value-that is he can sell it for
that sum only as compared withitwo years
ago; but the mortgage for greenbacks bor-
rowed upon it has appreciated ten per cent in
comparison with gold. The property grows
continually smaller, while the bond and mort
gage grows continually larger. So with oil
property aud all debts"
The whole strength of the anti-resumption
case lies in this argument That there is
some force in it cannot be disputed. Indeed,
the whole obstacle to an immediate return to
q sound currency lies in the opposition of the
debtor class, who would undoubtedly suffer
some injustice if the change should be abrupt
and violent. The considerations presented
by Butler are good reason for making the
process gradual and "tempering the wind to
the shorn lamb But the obstacle to re-
sumption is grossly exaggerated, and we take
this occasion to reduce it to its proper
dimensions.
General Butler speaks of indictment,
national, municipal or private" declaring
that one-third of the wealth of the country is
invested in this form. We will take up these
three classes of debts in the order in which
he mentions them, beginning with the in
debtedness of the nation. We assert with en-
tire confidence that the national debt is no
obstacle to the immediate return to o sound
currency. This is too obvious for elaborate
argument. The national debt is confessedly
payable in gold in any event. be the state of
the currency what it may. The interest on it
is regularly paid in gold, and the faith of the
government is solemnly pledged to pay the
principal in gold. That burden would not be
increased if specie payments were resumed
tomorrow. The government is the greatest
debtor in the country, and its colossal debt is
pay able in specie any way, both principal and
interest. The national debt is not only no OBJ
stacle to resumption, but is strong reason
why resumption should be as early as is at all
consistent with other interests The govern
ment pays it's debt out of the excess of reve-
nue. over expenditure, and as resumption
would reduce the cost of all government sup
plies it would increase the surplus which goes
toward the extinction of the public debt The
strong point in this connection is the fact that
the government cannot release itself from the
obligation to pay specie on its own indebted
ness, whether the currency is inflated or con-
tracted 1t is therefore, absurd for General
Butler to class our enormous national debt
with the obstacles to resumption. Specie
payments on the national debt do not await
resumption; they are already the settled
standing rule.
not municipal, but corporate, the railroad cor
rorations being the heaviest debtors next to
the government. Resumption would be for
their advantage, because it would reduce their
expenses in larger proportion than it would
increase their burden as debtors The reduc-
ton in the cost of rails, tuel, rolling stock
and labor would be more than compensa-
ton for the additional interest on their bonds
Moreover, large portion of their bonds is
held in Europe, and payable in coin any
way. The burden of municipal debts would,
no doubt, be increased; but there would be at
least partial set-off in the diminished cost of
municipal improvements and in the general
prosperity and stability.
We come last to private debts, which stand
third in General Buffers enumeration 1t is
here that the whole pinch of the difficulty
lies; but even here il is enormously exagger-
ated So far as mercantile debts are con-
cerned the great mass of the mercantile COM
munity stands in the double relation of debtor
and creditor, and its gains in one relation
would balance its losses in the other. NOR
chant borrows of his banker to enable
him to extend credit to his Gus
toners, and 80 far as he makes
his payments out of his collections he would
neither gain nor lose by resumption. The
owners OF mortgaged real estate belong to
different class, and General Butler has
adroitly drawn his chief illustration from
their supposed hardships But even here
there are strong mitigations. For example,
the hundreds OF thousands of mechanics and
small traders who own houses for which they
have partia ly paid have deposits in savings
banks, which gradually accumulate in prepare
ton for the time when their mortgages will
mature. They make their final payments by
taking money out of the savings banks 70
dIschoroe the mortgages on their nronerfv