New-York tribune., 1880-01-17
PrrIrYnG I'M pTUOCr1CT.

We rejoice To see that The U0rN newspaper
has taken m hand the work OF purifying thc
Democratic party OF financial hctc,ics cypcl-
Ing the solt-moncy hcrcucs from the olgdni-
zatm and bringing IL back TO its hard
money traditions If this can be done
there j. hitlc doubt of Senator BlyId's
nomination by ,hc Democratic National Con-
yention; ana end which VIII G,iy crown The
WORK. Sincere aud earnest as our cOntem-
poriry is IN this and all other things, 1t
j, yet 10y no means certain TINT it
Will accomplish is cndcayor. The pres
eut generation gas several times seen
The U0rH with its tfowscrs rolled mp
proceed against the Atlantic with broom.
And thouch truth compel, the admission that
as % rule the Atlautc has swasAed its way
over tine broom. it may also be SAID tlnt the
effort Of 1Lc UcnH 20 put the party in its
proper attitude of opposition h. water, either
in its currency OF its rum, has furnished
spectacle worthy the admiration Of gods and
men.
The present enterprise is directed against
Senators Beck. of kcnturky, End Voorhees,
of Indiana who are found to be utterly uu-
sound upon the subject Of finance. The test
of senator BUard's great lcGal-tcudcr reso-
luton disclosed theig -hctcrodoXy. For these
Two being ON the Finance Committee, OF
which Mr.. BAyard is chairman, have
in opposition to that great act OF
-tato,mauslip expressed the opinion that il
would b. iacxpcdi. ut to repeal what The
World authortatvcy pronomncos "a fla
"glauily unconstitutional law to wit the
Legal Fender act. oar contemporary admits
that If Senator. who were chosen as
" Democrats or placed on the Finance
COMMITTEE of the Senate as Democrats
"do not believe the Lcgal-Tcuder law to be-
unconstitutional. Of course they are at lib
clty tD uphold IT, "But ON thc other hand"
IT inquiries with great force. How can they
"bc Democrats and yet say that the Lcga-
"Tcudcr Jaw L. warranted by thc CousI-
"mtiou.' That's IL: hoVY And il
"I.ev holI llc Iaw I'D ice uncsu ti.uuoual,
fl continues, "how eau they tolerate il
"on thc .taiGjc-Oooh even ior al hour,
There Il is again: how Why don't they,
n tney arc Democrats, wipe it ont with %
spongcl For, as Is truly remarked, the DEM
ocra,ic party has coutrol OF both branches OF
Congress. and Is responsible for what Con-
elc.s does or omts 10 do
oar contemporary proceeds 10 show from
the rrclutablc facts of history that the party |
has always opposed the principle contained in
the act, and asserts that no warrant can |
be found in all the party traditions for |
the exercise by COngrcs, OF any such dcspOtic |
power as is therein exercised. " Down to the !
"Dcccmbcr term of tho Supreme Court for |
" 1862 II says, "Whcn the Supreme Court of |
" the United States declared the law unconsu- |
" tutional. no Democratic judge, no Demo
" cratic Court, no Democratic statesman of any !
" consequence, had tolerated thc Legal-Tender
claw" And atop of this historical summing mp |
il hurls these conundrums: How can that be
" Democratic in 1880 which was anti-Dcmo-
" cratic in lS09Y How can law be cOnst-
" tutional in 1880 which was unconstitutional
" in 19G9p Sure enough: hOwf These are
conundrums of great power, and We hope
that Messrs. Beck and Voorhees,, to whom
they are directed, will give them their immc-
diatc and undivided attention. If they do not
we shall not blame Tie World for pitching
them out of the party.
And while the cOnundrnm business il on VIC
suggest also that they take up two or three
others that will readily suggest tn mselyes.
relating to the attitude of the party upon GER
tam QUESTION: before, during and since
the war, AS for instance, why, if the
war was unconstitutional aud wrong
in 1861, It's "more vigorous proseru-
" ton" was demanded in 1862 why,
if the war was failure in 1864. it was a
success in 1865 WHY if grecnbacks were so
bad aud dangerous in 1862, that the Demo
cratic party was solid against them, since
1868 they have clamorcd for more and more
of them how il is that after they re-
solved, in 1876, that the resumption
act was a hndrsnce 10 resumption, they
permitted its provisions to be enforced
and in 1880 confess that its purpose has been
accomplished 7 These and many more of a
similar character will readily suggest Lhem-