The Portland daily press., 1878-02-19
NEW Yong Fsbrua,v 10 1879

New YORK, February IS, 1873.
1t Is no longer possible to doubt after the
vote of the Senate Saturday that bill to m,ke
coinage of adultersted silver legal tender for
debts due the government will be passed by the
present Congress. There is no madness so
impervious to remedial measures as finan-
cisl one. The people who are seized with 1t
will neither heed the warnings Of history DOR
listen to the deductions of lcgic The dis
temper must have its run and the fact must be
demonstrated by actual experiment that black
cannot be made white by simply declaring 1t
so, before reason will resume its sway.
1t is curious that proposition which flies In
the face of all the established teachings of
political economy should have commanded the
support of more than two-thirds of the members
sitting in the highest council of state of the
greatest Republic or the world, and that only
one Western Senator this side of the Pacific
coast and only two Southerners, including Bay
ard, who lives SO near the border, should have
voted against it. The North would have been
solid in the negative but for the detection Of
Pennsylvania. 1t is pity that Mr.. Eaton's
absence from his seat breaks the record of the
united protest of New England, for the time
will como when che vote of that gallant miuor-
ity will be remembered alike by constituents
and representatives with laudsble pride.
An analysis of the count shows that If the
Senate had been full the act would have re-.
ceived 50 votes of the total 76 leaving "a only
against it. There are several Senators who
supported it, not so much from q conviction
of its wisdom as from a belief that their people
were eager for its adoption. The halt-dozsu
"carpet-baggers" proved themselves to be all
of piece. The only moral weight of any ac-
count TIE bill got was from the votes Of the
Senators from illinois, Iowa, Minnesota aud
Wisconsin, and that of Thurman Of Ohio,
Booth of California and Jones of Nevada The
latter gentleman undoubtedly is the ablest ex-
ponent of his side of the question in the United
States. His power and influence have been
the only real props the scheme has had from
tie beginning. He was the originator of il
and has been its most persistent. untiring and
efficient promoter from beginning to end. He
is q man of large information, captivating
manners, rare gifts Of persuasion and indomit-
able perseverance,. The zeal with which he
has pursued his object has been undoubtedly
stimulated essentially blythe personal attacks
which have been made upon him by reckless
and libellous journalists. 1t is the curse of
our newspaper literature that We can no longer
have any practical aud temperats discussion of
principles, on account of the incurable propen-
siiy OF people wto have types and presses at
their command TO descend into vulgar ab1se Of,
and the imputation of sinister motives to every.
body with whom they happen to disagree 1t
has been repeated over aud over again in every
form, variety and ingenuity of phrase that the
Nevaoa Senator was sort of jobber in legisla-
tioD; that his sole aim and end 10 procuring
the enactment of silver bill was to benefit his
own pecuuiary interests and tho'e of few
miners of, and spectators 10, silver, and that no
was endeavoring to make his senatorial seat q
source of private profit. These gross asper-
sions have not been merely insinuated or
limited at-that would have been base enough
bat thsy have been boldly stated, not once but
hun1reds of times, without any qualification or
reservation, in papers of large circulation and
considerable pretensions to respectability.
The truth happens to be, as the Senator in
Inmates in his recent speech, which, by the
By, to judge by the published synopsis of it, Is
very readable document, that Mr.. Jones is
not largely engaged in mining; that the lodes
he owns stock iu pvodace more gold than silver
aud that not the slightest merceusrS or selfish
consideration prompts his advocacy of remon-
etizatlop. To those who know him it would bs
an act of supererogation to mention these facts
Indeed, cite them more for the purpose of
showing. how wretchedly the cause of genuine
money has been championed, than from any
sense of the necessity of defending the good
name Of the Nevada Senator II there was
anything to be done in the way of convincing
our public men of the inpolcy of adulterating
our specie standard, the only method of accom-
plishing it was by dispassionate argument and
decorous discourse. When Senators, for ex-
ample discovered that in lieu of this proper
line of procedure, the disciples of the gold
creed had recourse to such diSgraceful weapons
as calumny and false accusation they naturally
grew defiant of such criticism and rejected it
as worthless and indecent. They know per-
f9ctly we'll that their associate from the Pacific
Coast is above reproach in the matter of char
acter and integrity of purpose; they conclude
that if the editors who assume the office of in
structing them are not better enlightened on
The gold question than they are in respect to
the individual worth Of the mau they so wan
touly aSsail, they are very unsafe guides to fol-
low. The worst of it is there is no disputing
the correctness of this train of logic; conse-
quently it is not so much to be wondered at as
to be regretted that no progress, whatever has
been made towards intoxicating sound views
about finance in the public mind since the sill
yer agitation bHgau to assume the grave i'm
portance which has since made it the great top
ic of the hour.
That Senator Jones is as wrong as wrong can
be in his premises and in his conclusions Is as
clear to my mind as that he is honest and con-
scientinns in antartaining them His mind,a