New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-01-06
WASHINGTON.
SENATOR FERRY AN INFLATIoNIsT.

SENATOR FEhlfl AN lNr LAllVNi'A'
ruz KIND OF PRESIDENT Mr.. FERRY WOULD MAKE
his MARROW VIEWS OF PUBLIC POIdCf-PEIii
IRRITABILITY AT A CORRESPONDENT
tyRox THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TiubOShI
wAsuINGroS. Jan. 5.--The position taken by SEN
ator Ferry and his friends that the senate mas ho
mower to remove him from the Presidency pro ee"''
of that body and his evident disposition 10 hoiu o
IN the Office in which he accidentally finds hinse'
have brought him more prominently before the pup
uc than he has ever been before, and caused the
leaders of his party to look the question square III
the face: What kind of a President of the United
States would he makef In the first place, he IL an
nAationist of the most unreasoning kind accepting
all the sophisries of that crazy school OF pohucai
economists. who think that the printing OF paper
notes and their issuance by the Govern
meat or the banks increases the amount
Of loanable capital in the country, and
that the contraction of the paper circulation
makes loanable capital Holding these views,
he advocated increasing the bank circulation ana
that of the greenbacks each to $i00,0OO,OOO. lie
voted for the Currency bill. which the President
vetoed and has supported every other scheme Oh H.
aation brought forward in the Senate when ne mas
not been prevented from doing so by the decree Vi
his party caucus He aspired to be the leader Oh te
inaationlsts in the Senate. Should he be continued
In his present position and should vacancy occur
in the White House the Republican party would
have to go before the country next Fail with hu-
money plank in its platform and hard-money can
didate on its ticket for nobody expects the intla-
tionists 70 carry the next Republican National Con-
ventlon) but with an nhatonist in the char OF the
President, placed there by the votes of the Repnb-
cans in the Senate, and ready to sign any nhatioh
bin that might get through Congress.
But Mr. Ferry is not broad man. even for an IN
dationist On the contrary, he is one OF those Dig
oted headstrong politicians, who, by their proscrp
tive policy have done their party SO much harm'
He belongs to the class Of party managers OF winch
Senator Conklmg is the chief representative; Dut
while the latter is man of great ability and is not
led away by the foolish sOphistries OF men who'
after they have studied the subject of finance three
weeks, think they know all that can be lear eu
about it, Mr.. Ferry is narrow as well as uns0uhu III
his views and proscriptive in his methods. rerhaps
the exact character of Mr.. Ferrys craftsmanship
may be best illustrated by relating niue lhelue'
that occurred in May. 1874:
Mr.. Ferry, who as Chairman of the Senate Com
mittee on Rules had just been given charge of the
RepOrters Gallery, sent q note to a correspondent
holding a seat there. one day, requesting MN 10
meet INN in the marble room. Holding copy
of the paper containing the correspondence
dispatches in his hand Mr.. Ferry SAID that
his attention had twice been called to
the expression honest currency men" IN that cor
respondents reports of the financial debate then IN
progress in the Senate and that if it occurred again
ne should be Obliged to call the attention OF the
Committee on Rules to it. The correspondent told
him that he could see nothing Objectionable In the
expression. Mr.. Ferry replied that. if certain sys-
fem of currency was dishonest, the men who adVo-
Gated il could not he honest and that inslnuations
like this against the integrity of Senators could not
be allowed The term "indatiOnists' was offensive,
but he had thought it best not to notice It, The
correspondent disclamed having said anything
about dishonest" currency, though he could not
see why he should not be at liberty to
do so if he saw fit In the case to which
his attention was called, he said, the adj
iective honest " described currency, and not any
man or set of men, and he could conceive of no state
of affairs under which newspaper writer would not
have right to describe a system OF currency In any
terms ne might see fit 10 choose. Mr.. Ferry closed
the conversation by remarkng that he had called at
tenon TO this matter out OF friendship for the cor
respondent and because he had supposed that the
offensive term had been used inadvertently. OF
course the phrase appeared repeatedly after this
conversation, and the correspondent was not ex-
PEELED from the gallery about the only punishment
the Committee could infict), so that If Mr.. Ferry
ever brought the matter to the attention of his col
leagues, they were wiser than he, and Overruled
him. And this is the same man who now expects
the Senate to retain him in position from which he
may yet step into the White House.