The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-08-05

must not be made the scapegoat for The
,normities of the systems which infects
he public service, and threatens the de-
truction of every institution. In some
aspects, .I::hold that the present execu-
i've has been The victlm, rather than the
.uthor Of that vicious system. Congress
ional and party leaders have been
stronger than the President. No one
nan could have created it, and the re-
noval OF no one man can amend 1t. It's
thoroughly corrupt and must be
swept RemorseIessIy Away
,y the election Of govern
ment composed of elements entirely
dominated and pledged to radical re-
form. The first work of reform must
evidently be the restoration OF the NOM
NAL operation OF tho Constitution of the
U nited States, with all its amendments.
The necessities of war cannot DC pleaded
in time of peace. The right of local
ms guaranteed by the
must be everywhere restor-
ed, and the centralized, almost personal
which has been practlced,
must be done away, or the first princl-
pies of the Republic will be lost. Our
financial system OF expedients must be
Gold and silver are the Real Stand.
ards Of values,
and our national currency will not
be perfect medium OF exchange
until 1t shall b. convertible at the
pleasure Of the holder. As have here
tofore said, 10 one desires return to
. prclc payment more earnestly than DO,
but | do not believe that it will or can be
called in harmony with the Interests OF
the people by artificial measures for the
of the currency, any more
than l believe that wealth or permanent
can be created by imitation of
the currency. The laws of finance can
not be dlsresarded with IMMUNITY. The
financial policy Of the government, II,
indeed, it deserves the name of policy at
all, has been in disregard of those laws, and
therefore has disrupted commercial and
business confidence, as well rs hindered
a return to specie payment. One failure
of the party was the resumption clause OF
the act OF 1876, which has embarrassed
the country by the anticipation Of COM
pulsory resumption, for which no pre-
ps.ation has been made, and without any
assurance that it would be practicable.
The Repeal of that Clause
is necessary, that the natural operation
of financial laws may be restored; that
the business of the country may be re-
lieved from the its disturbing and de-
pressing influence, and that return to
specie payment may be facilitated by the
of wiser and more prudent
legislation, which shall mainly rely on a
iuticious system of public economies and
official retrcnchmcnts, and above all on
the promise of properties in all the in
dustrIes of the people.
do not understand the repeal of the
resumption clause of the act of 1875, to
be u backward step in our return to
specie payment, but
The Recovery OF a False Step.
and although this repeal'may be prevent
ed yet the determination of the Demo-
cratic party on this subject has now been
distinctly declared. There should be no
put in the way of II return to
specie payments. AS regards such hin.
drsnce, says the platform Of the st. Louis
Convention, eve denounce the resumption
clause of the act of 1875, and demand its
repeal" l thoroughly believe that by pub
lie economy, by official retrenchment, by
wise financiering, enabling us to accu-
mulate the precious metals, resumption
at an early period is possible with pro-
ducing an arbitrationlal scarcity of cur
rency, or disturbing the public or COM
mercal credit, that these reforms, togeth.
or with the
Restoration OF Pure Government,
will restore general confidence, encourage
the useful investment of capital, furnish
to laborers, and retrieve the
country from the paralysis of hard times.
With the industries OF the people there
have been frequent interferenccs. Our
platform truly says that many Industries
nave been impoverished TO subsidiZe d
few; our commerce has been degraded to
MI inferior position on the high seas;
have been diminished; as
ricuturc has been embarrassed. The
distress of the industrial classes demands
that these things shall be reformed. The
burdens of the people must also be light
cncd by IA great change in our system OF
public expenses. The prohigate expen-
diturc, which increased taxation from
five dollars per capita in 1850 to eighteen
dollars IN 1870, tells Its own story OF
Our Need of Fiscal Reform.
Our treaties with foreign powers should be
revised and amended, in so far as they
leave citizens of foreign birth in any par
ticular less secure in any country on the
earth than they wouli be if they had
been born upon our own soil, and
The Ubiquitous COOlie System.
which, through the agency OF wealthy
companies, imports Chinese bondmen and
establishes species of slavery and inter-
fcres with the just reward of labor on our
Pacific coast, should be utterly abolished.
In the reform of our civil service,
mos. heartily endorse that
section of the platform which declares
that the civil service ought not to be SUBJ
ject TO change at every election, and
that it
Onxht Not TO he Made the brief Re-
ward OF Party Zeal,
but ought 10 be awarded for proved COM
potency. and held for fidelity IN the pub
lie employ. l hope never again to see
the cruel and remorseless prescription Tor
political opinions which has disgraced
the administrations Of the past eight
wears. Bad rs the civil service now is,
all know it has some men
of tried integrity and proved ability.
Such men, and such men only,
should be retained in office, but no man
should be retained in any consideration
who has piostituted his office to the pur-
pose of partisan intimidation or compul-
sion, or has furnished money TO corrupt
the elections. This demand has been
done in almost every country in the
land. 1t is a blight upon the morals OF
the country, and ought TO be reformed.
Of sectional constitutions, and in re-
spect 10