The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-07-21
New Questions i'm Politics.

| the people. The extra session, which
seemed for a while calamity, and which
was undoubtedly bore to those who were
the country that it is no longer in danger,
and that it does not any longer need to
stop ploughing and manufacturing and
buying and selling, to ''rally round the
flag boys, rally once again, shouting the
battle cry of freedom"-or words to that
effect. In the early days of the West
it was an immense thing when from
tier farmer discovered that he might safely
go out to plough in the morning without
taking his rifle along to protect himself
against Indians; and pretty much in the
same way the people of the United States
have been relieved of late to discover that
the snarling and growing of their political
watchdogs no longer portend burglars,
and mean no more than the canine chorus
which makes,ni hideous In many coun-
try neighborhoods where the yelp OF one
sleepless cur arouses all the dogs within
hearing of his voice.
The country is safe at last, Heaven be
praised. We shall continue to hear from
each party. of course, solemn asseverations
that the other means to ruin US all, to de-
stroy our liberties, to break up our beloved
Union and all that sort of thing but we
shall all understand this hereafter in the
Pickwickian sense in which it is meant.
and shall no more be scared than were the
great orators of the extra session, who,
after abusing each other all day and alarm.
ing timid and nervous people all over the
country by their tremendous cries of "Rev-
olution," used to be seen walking down
Pennsylvania avenue arm in arm, smoking
the cigar of amity together, and on their
way to dinner imbibing the cheerful cock
tail of peace.
| The country is safe, and the best proof
that che people know it is that they are be-
ginning to talk and TO force the politicians
to talk of new subjects. The currency and
the State rights issues are both of kind
on which parties may reasonably differ-on
which, in fact, parties have differed ever
since we began to have government, and
which, like the other questions Of free
trade and protection or internal improve
ment, do net involve vital matters And
| the best evidence that these are the ques-
tons that are really taking the place Of the
old and dangerous sectional dispute is found
| in the fact that both sides are more care
fully defining in their platforms what they
mean on these subjects There is reason
to hope that by next year we shall, in spite
of few irreconcilables in both parties. come
to vigorous discussion of real questions,
such as those we have neutrality-suspicious.
which may be decided either way without
danger to the peace of the country.
Take the currency questions, for instance
| We certainly believe that it is better that
| paper money should be issued, under
proper restrictions, by private banks than
by the general government, because the re-
quirements of trade and ind ustry are more
readily and safely met under we'll
guarded Tree banking law such as we have
now than under statute authorizing gov
eminent issues, and necessarily limiting
these in amount. But suppose the people
should choose to sweep away the national
banks and substitute greenbacks for their
notes They would make a blunder, but
not an irretrievable one, nor one dangerous
to liberty or to the Union. They would,
we believe, expose themselves to great in
convenience and to probable serious loss;
but experience would show their mistake,
and they could easily rectfy it.
Take again the silver question, which is
more serious by far. We see clearly that to
authorize the free coinage of silver would
be to inflict great loss on the working
people of this country tor the advantage of
a small class of bullion owners and specu-
lators. But this would very quickly be
seen also by the people. and they could and,
we do not doubt, would retrieve the blunder
very quickly and send into permanent re-
tirement the silly politicians who had led
them into it.
Finally, take the question of estate
rights" so called, about which some igno-
rant and some designing republicans are
Just now trying to create o Northern panic.
1t is the one question which has engaged
the attention of Thoughtful citizens and
of politicians OF both parties ever since the
foundation of the government. 1t il
question which has been discussed, on one
side or the other, by every public man of
note since jefferson and Hamilton differed
about it, 1t is the natural battle ground of
parties under our complex system, and it
will not cease to be debated SO long as our
form of government lasts. TO speak of il
as a dangerous and even q reasonable
issue, as we notice some Of the republican
organs do, shows either great ignorance of
our political history or extreme confidence
in the ignorance OF their readers TO con-
found the political theory or doctrine of
State rights with the heresy called State
sovereignty may be stroke Of partisan poll
itics but it is too shallow not to be very
quickly exposed.
The State rights theory OF our system is