Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-10-08
TIE DEnocgArs AND F1aAncE.

The Nation, in dispassionate article on
s. Finance in the Canvass" shows that
while the Republicans have BY no means
been as explicit as they ought to have been
on this issue, yet that the presumption
from their past record favors the belief that
they can be trusted to be "tolerably sane
I" and conservative in financial matters. y
The Democrats, it thinks, are altogether
unreliable in this regard. After showing
that their declaration in favor of honest
money really means anything or moth
ing, the Nation considers the various mis-
chievous propositions with which the DEM
ocrats have identified themselves more or
less generally. Turning" it says. to
the national banks, we find ourselves in
the same state of uncertainty. The
abolition of the national banks would of
itself be serious and possibly very dis
turbing change. 1t seems likely, how
ever, that it would be accompanied by
the substitution of the legal-tender Gov
eminent paper for the bank. notes-in
'tother words, by the conversion OF the
Treasury into vast bank of issue by
"party which is composed in large part, if
g not in the largest part, of persons who do
'snot believe that Government paper need
'fbe redeemable in coin, or that, if
g it be made redeemable in coin,
any coin need be kept on hand
for the purpose. Now, this opens
sup distinctly to business men the
possibility of an enormous paper intia-
+" ton of the currency, the expulsion of
coin from the country, and another COM
"mercial crash on scale which would
tmake that of 1873 seem trife." And
the Nation thinks that there is nothing in
the attitude of the Democracy to invite
confidence in this connection. 1t says
g We believe we have read with more or
less care every utterance of prominent
" Democrats on these grave subjects dur
" ing the past four years, and we have not
" found in any of them any assurance on
which business man would be justified
" in relying that the position of the party
&C on them was such that no great financial
disturbance need be feared from its ac-
"cession to power" This is a much
milder way of putting the case than the
Democratic record justifes. Had the
Nation gone behind the national platform |
of the party and the utterances of its
it would have found am |
pie evidence OF very positive character |
tending to prove that the Democracy
is practically committed to the mischiev- |
GUS and dangerous propositions it enume-
rates. 1t says 'twe believe it is
+" something new in the history of consti-
!" tutional government for a party in OPP.
+" position to seek power ON financial
/" issues without producing financial pro-
90 gramme, and this the Democrats are
" doing" AS a matter of fact the Demo-
Gratis have financial programme, and it is
IS different as possible from the pro-
LESSONS put forward at Cincinnati. One
IF the most remarkable features of the
campaign has been the general ignoring of
The Cincinnati plank in favor of honest
money and strict maintenance of the pub
lie faith, State and national. These issues
have simply been thrust out of sight, and
left untouched on the stump, and the
State ORGANIZATIONS have fastened wherever
possible to form fusions with the Green
hackers. The readiness with which this
course has been taken may, however, be at
least partially explained by reference to
the State Democratic positions on finance,
which really exhibit the tendencies of the
party The national platform is merely
for show, but the State platforms are for
use.