The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-08-10
Sensible words nom Horatie ssy-
mour.


Elsewhere we print conversation upon
current political topics. held by HtnALD
correspondent with Ex-Governor Seymour,
which will be read with interest and we
believe with profit by great many people,
1t is refreshing and encouraging to come
upon one of the older of our politicians VINO
is not frightened at the disorganized state OF
public opinion, and who shows that he has
given thought to the problems which reduce
SO many of our prominent public men Just
now to disgraceful silence or lead them 10
countenance and fall in with the follies OF
the day.
The suggestions which Mr.. Seymour
makes to Western men on the currency
question are eminently practical and wise.
The West, he says, deals directly with the
markets of the world; it sells more than 1t
buys; and to make the most money it needs
currency which is the standard OF value
used by the commercial world. Moreover,
the West gains enormous advantages from
cheap transportation, and he points out
that since the paper currency has risen in
value to near the standard Of gold the grain
and provision products have been carried
to the seaboard at less than one
third of the cost which had to be
paid when the currency was inflated. The
West, he rightly says, has not only gained
greatly by cheap transportation, but it has
been able, with currency nearly at par
with gold, to sell vast amounts of its prod
ucts at profit in the East and in Europe,
which could not have gone to either market
under imitation charges. The West has
never sold SO much, nor bought what 1t
needed SO cheaply, as in these later years
when gold and greenbacks are Of nearly
equal value.
He proceeds to show that the Western
farmers can compete in European markets
with the grain and produce of Europe only
if they hold to sound currency, and that
while the West now commands and controls
the Eastern and European markets and Is
gaining in wealth faster than ever it did
before, new imitation would cause it to
lose all its present advantages All this is
eminently true, and it is complete answer
to the shallow arguments of the demagogues
and ruined land spectators who have in
vented what is called the "Ohio policy"
and are trying to persuade the farmers Of
the Western States that they onght to sup
port their vagaries. What is true Of the
West is equally true OF the South. A large
part of the cotton and tobacco, which are
the leading products of the Southern
States, is sold abroad. 1t can be sold
to advantage only while the country has
currency used in the worlds markets,
and the planters can secure lasting pros
perity only when. as now, with paper sub
stantially at par with gold, they can buy
cheaply what they need. This was pointed
out in the HgRALD's columns last spring by
Senator Butler, Of South Carolina, who de-
clared his hostility to imitation on the
ground that. as planter and representing
planters and their laborers, he believed no
fancied advantages coming from imitation
could counterbalnnce the real and great
benefit to his constituents from reasonable
and steady prices for all they had to buy.
It is difficult to believe that the mass Of
sensible men engaged in productive en-
pigments in the West and South will not
will cast adrift the political spectators who
are making imitation and reputation plat
forms in those sections and attacking the
credit and the welfare of the country. 1t is
pity that the West has not few clear
headed men courageous and energetic
enough to 60 among the people and instruct
them on this question. 1imidity is as
much the curse of Western politi-
clans of both parties Us ignorance;
and how slight real hold on
the popular confidence the imitation
demagogues have out there is shown by the
success of the Hard Money League"
small body of bold and sensible men who
have left their mark wherever they have
been able to make themselves heard. A few
Western journals are making gallant battle
against initiation and instructing the people
in some cases with remarkable ability and
force and the fall elections will, we suspect,
show that the imitation hullabaloo has less
popular backing than the noise it makes
would indicate.
Mr.. Seymour, we notice, agrees with the
HrRALp that it is good thing to give all
the dissatisfied elements an opportunity to
be heard "While their theories may be
false, still they prove that those who enter
tain them are in trouble. and they will
bring out many facts which will be of value
The discussions of this year will be of great
use. 70 cure errors they must be brought
to light" Nor does he entertain fears Of
serious results from the Communistic or
socialistic organizations in this country
He points out that it is not the poor, but the
formerly wealthy. who have suffered most
in the long period of depression, and that
the government bonds are not owned by capi-
talists. but are held in the main by savings