SPIRIT OF THE rilESS.
EDITORIAL OMBIOHB OF THB LRADIIKJ JOURNALS
ppoil CCBBKHt TOPICS COMPtLRD EVBRT
DAT JOB THR XVRMNO) TRLR1BAPH.
The Democrats ud the Public Debt.
From the N. Y. alion.
As might have been expected, the publio
debt is likel to form the most prominent
topio of discussion in preparation for the State
elections of this fall, perhaps even more
prominent than the dispute between the Presi
dent and Congress. The importance of this
dispute depends entirely on the bearing it ia
likely to have on the work of reconstruction,
and the work of reconstruction on the Con
gressional plan is more likely to be frustrated
hy a determined assault on the public credit
than in any other way. In selecting the pub
lio credit, too, as the object of their attacks,
the Democratic leaders are displaying that inti
mate acquaintance with the worst side of
human nature by which for years past their
greatest triumphs have been won. The char
acter of a people is, in fact, much more se
verely tested by the pecuniary cost of a war
than by the war itself. During the progress
of hostilities there are plenty of sources
besides mere love of principle from which men
draw the courage never to submit or yield.
There is pride, hatred, animal pugnacity, in
terest in the dread game itself, all of which
have often operated to protract a war for years
after its original cause or obj ecta had been for
gotten, and after all principle or semblance of
principle had died out of it.
But when the last shot had been fired, the
banners have been folded, the dead buried, the
books balanoed, and men have to settle down
to the dull routine of their old life, and toil
not only to repair their shattered fortune, but
to pay off money borrowed to help them to
secure objects which have been already secured
or lost beyond doubt money, too, which, like
most money borrowed in seasons of doubt and
danger, baa perhaps been borrowed on very
unfavorable terms, and which has doubtless
been spent wildly, recklessly, and extrava
gantly, as money is apt to be in time of war
then, and only then, comes the real trial of
their honor and patriotism. Almost any male
animal will fight, but it is only the elite of the
human race which, when the lighting is over,
will Bit down in the calm of peaoe and dog
gedly and industriously pay. Demagogues
Know this, of course, perfectly well, and count
on it, so that, whether they have in the first
instance advocated the war or not, they are
pretty sure, when it is over, to advise people to
repudiate.
The leaders of the Demoeiatio party have,
perhaps, stronger reasons for urging repudia
tion than any other demagogues have ever
had. In the first place, they violently opposed
the war, and predicted steadily and persistently
that the money borrowed for it would never be
refunded. Therefore, they have the ordinary
human interest in bringing about the fulfil
ment of their own prophecies. Ia the second
place, they look on the publio debt as a great
instrument of national consolidation, and to
consolidation they are violently opposed; and
if they should succeed in breaking down the
national credit at this juncture, they feel satis-
lied that the United States would never again
be able to borrow on any great scale or for any
great enterprise certainly never to resist a
new attempt at secession.
Moreover, they are tho friends of only one
"section," and that is the South. To them
New England is nothing and New York is
nothing and the West is nothing; but for the
South as a unit they have a real tenderness.
Now, the South will probably feel the burden
of the debt more than any other part of the
country. To her it is not simply a debt, it is
a penalty, and a very humiliating penalty a
moral as well as a physical burden. It is at
once the sign and memorial of her defeat. To
get rid of the debt is, therefore, the highest
service the Democrats can render the South,
and, perhaps, the only way they can hope to
Win back the Southern whites into the old
alliance.
Of course they do not now propose down
tight repudiation. They are much too shrewd
to be guilty or such brutal frankness as this.
They know perfectly well that the memories
. of the war are still Btrone and still sacred, and
though they opposed it bitterly and mourned
over every Union victory, and though the
' sight of a uniform ia odious to them, they like
; to get A Union soldier for their candidate
whenevor they can, and affect to oonsider their
participation in the struggle a title to popular
i confidence. Occasionally at a nominating con
. vention, as the other day in Ohio, a drunken
. or indiscreet member blurts out the real feel
ing of the party about the Northern army, hut
he is instantly checked, and one of his col
leagues "sits on his head," as on a fallen
horse, till his kicking and plunging can do no
Harm, co, aiso, wun regard to the puWio
debt, they approach it cautiously and with
the tenderest regard for what they consider
the popular weakness. They have accordingly
opened the campaign by a determined attack
. on the interest of it, while for the principal
they profess the profoundest respect.
This idea of assailing the publio credit as an
instrument of party warfare was undoubtedly
conceived long ago. The first publio expres
sion of it was made in Mr. Johnson's conver
sation with Miles O'Ueilly, in which he de
nounced the publio creditors as a "bond aris
' tocracy," and declared the design of the radi
. cals was to administer the Government for
. their benefit. But in Mr. Johnson's hands it
has not, as might have been expected, been
used with as much dexterity as in Mr. Pendle
ton's. The theory on which the "bond aris
tocracy" was held up for popular execration
was that the United States bonds were mainly
, held by very wealthy men, and that the Gov
ernment was passing more and more into the
hands of its creditors and used to serve their
purposes. Mr. Pendleton knows, of course,
that this is abBurd, or what is, per
haps, more to the purpose, knows that no
body will believe it; so, instead of maintaining
that the debt is kept up for the benefit of a
few bloated capitalists, he simply says that
for the debt he has the deepest respect; all
that he objects to is the interest. lie says that
the holders of the bonds did not pay for them
in speole but in greenbacks, and this at a time
when greenbacks were worth very much les3
than they are now; therefore, what can be
more fair than to pay them off in greenbacks f
In this way they will get what they gave.
The greenbacks required to settle their claims
will only coat a few hours labor at the printing-press,
and the people will be relieved of
the burden of the interest.
vha answer to this proposal is, or oourse,
obvious. The prioe which every holder of
iMtA finite bonds paid for them was what
' they were worth at the time. Investing in
. lni,.fl rlniW the war was a specu-
' Ution which it required, both on the part of
the native and foreigner, considerable faith to
.. make. At the time when most of the United
States bonds were issued some of the ablest
financiers in the world were strongly of opinion
Jr.. .v.- nnU nver be paid. The fortunes
f war were Btill doubtful. Even the most
THE DAILY" EVENING TKLKGKAPH PHILADELPHIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER C, 18G7.
ardent supporters of it could fay little more,
in 181X1 and 1804, than that they would
never five up that, ooroe sooner or
come later, victory would be tor the
North, though what it would cost in men
and money to achieve it nobody could tell.
Moreover, the low rate in speoie at which
bonds could be bought was one of the argu
ments most strongly urged in reoomiuen ling
them to investors. To turn round now and ,
use it as an argument for not paying them in
specie would be very like fining a man for his
simplicity in beiDg taken in by a cheat. '
Every nation which has never had its credit '
severely tested, and whioh is engaged in a war '
waged not for conquest or disputed sncoession,
but to decide whether it is a nation or not,
must expect to borrow money at a disadvan- i
tape, and berrowiug at a disadvantage means ;
getting very little and undertaking to pay a '
great deal.
If we now undertake to pay oft" these bonds '
in greenbacks, the minute the proposition was I
made publio greenbacks would lose nearly all
their value; first, because the very issue of
them would be a sign that the United States' i
pioinisex to pay were worthless. Nobody in i
Lis senses would give anything for the pro- '
misfiory notes of a Government whioh had I
repudiated its bonds, particularly wheu these '
very netes were issued as the means of repu- I
diation; secondly, because the number of !
greenbacks would be so greatly increased that,
even if their payment is certaiu, their value iu
relation to gold would fall to about one-half
its present figure. It is not probable, in fact,
that after the Democratic plan of getting rid
of the interest had been adopted, greenbacks
would bring five cents on the dollar. There
would be a general return to specie payments;
but it would le through one of the greatest
swindles on record. Except for the fun and
excitement of the "financiering," simple and
undisguised repudiation would be much pre
ferable, as it would certainly be more simple
and manly, and would certainly make a less
unfavorable impression on mankind as to the
condition of American morals.
The argument which Mr. Pendleton and his
confreres bring forward, and whioh is pro
ducing, and will produce, more effect than
any, is the weight with which the interest of
the debt presses on the mass of the people.
But this is not a question which, with a people
making any pretensions to morality, is worth
a moment's consideration. The repayment of
borrowed money is almost always a painful
and inconvenient process; but this has never
been held to be a good reason for not repaying
it. Everybody knew the burden of the publio
debt would be heavy when the loans were
raised, and whether they were well or ill
spent is something with which the lenders
have nothing to do; the national faith being
pledged to them that they will be repaid in
coin aud in any event, not if we find it con
venient, or if the West is satisfied or the
East is satisfied, or if the poor are satisfied,
but under all circumstances and at any
hazard. It is pledged, too, against all forced
conversions or wrigglings or twistings or turn
ings which will make the debt any less valu
able to bondholders than it was agreed that it
should be when it was contracted. If we
should fail to pay as we promised to pay,
the creditors have, it is true, no remedy.
There is no tribunal before which a nation
can be cited; but no nation has ever yet re
pudiated without finding before very long
what a terrible thing tue toss ot credit is, tor
nations which repudiate are almost always
governed by knaves, and so badly governed
that they can never very long keep out of
scrapes which mak9 loans necessary.
We confess, however, that except as an illus
tration of the way in which demagogues seek
to use human baseness for their own selfish
ends, we do not consider the Democratic cru
sade against the public debt very formidable.
The "bond aristocracy" is happily a figment
of Mr. Johnson's excited though not very cul
tivated imagination. The vast majority of the
holders of the national bonds are poor men
and women who are glad to commit their
hardly-won savings to the national keeping,
and where they do not hold them directly the
savings banks hold them by the million, so
that the publio credit has plenty of support in
the interest as well as in the honor of the
people.
It would be hard to overestimate the import
ance of the course of the majority on a ques
tion of this sort. If democracy is going to
excel monarchies and aristooracies in nothing
but in being stronger, better fed, and richer,
everybody who believes that the mission
of nations, aa of men, is not to breed
fast and get fat, but to "incline to
God's will and walk in His way," will be
glad to see the last of it. If this democracy
were deliberately to embrace the principles
preached by what is called the Democ ratio
party in this country, history would talk of
11 as ine worst ourse mat ever betel mankind.
From the vices of kings and nobles there was
an appeal to popular virtue, but from the
vices or democracy there is no appeal but to
despotism. It is, of course, of the highest
importance that we should all get rich as fast
as we can ; but in getting rich we should
never forget that the State is something " bet
ter than a partnership agreement in a trade of
pepper ana or ooiiee, calico or tobacco, or some
other such low concern, to be taken up for a
little temporary interest, and to be dissolved
by the fancy of the parties. It is to be looked
on with other reverence, because it is not a
partnership in things subservient only to the
gross animal existence of a temporary and
pensname nam re. n is a partnership in all
arts, a partnership in every virtue and in all
perfection."
The South and the President.
From the N. Y. Timet.
The recent action of the President, and the
ill-concealed antagonism that exists between
his position and that of General Grant, seem
scarcely to have disturbed the current of
Southern opinion. Taking the press as a
correct exponent of the various shades of
local feeling, we must conclude that the hope
once cherished of help from the President
has been universally abandoned, and that the
interest felt in his policy is limited to the per
soual and partisan complications which it
involves. The journals opposed to Congress
and the Reconstruction law are violent in
their denunciation of Grant. His approval of
bheridan's course, his resistance to the Presi
dent's schemes, and his identification with the
measures of Congress, have raised the ire of
editors who mistook his moderation for Indif
ference and his silenoe for sympathy. But
this altered tone in regard to General Grant
has not been attended with the slightest
growth of faith in Mr. Johnson or in his
ability to lessen the burdens of the Southern
people. As a mere gladiator, he is cheered
lustily enough. But in his own fortunes or
in the result of his oonfliots, there is compara
tive little lnteroft. - To this extent the South
ern aspect is satisfactory. J i
The slight importance which our Southern
contemporaries attach to events now trans
piring at Washington, is the effeot in some de
gree of a more just estimate of the relative
strength of the parties engaged in the contest.
At the outset, no doubt, Mr. Johnson was re-
lied upon hopefully, confidently, by the oppo
nents of reconstruction. Iu his efforts in their j
liehwlf, they raw a chanoe of deliverance, aud
even of ultimate triumph. The last few
months hare dissipated these delusions. Mr.
Johnson, it is seen, Is as nothing and nobody
against Congress, bac ked by the firm will of
the nation. IMh aid has rendered matters
worfe, not letter. And they have outlived
the folly that would place any dependence
upon pretensions and endeavors whioh a few
weeks hence will le crushed ami frustrated by
the power of Congress. We find noiie suffi
ciently Ignorant or weak to believe that the
display now made by Mr. Johnson will avail
him or his alienors in the smallest degree;
while there is everywhere an evident conscious
ness of the fact that Congress, wheu it assem
bles, will make its mastery of the situation
more absolute than ever.
Apart from the loss of all reliance on the
power of Mr. Johnson, we trace in Southern
journalism an entire want of respect for his
judgment. Whatever I the interpretation
put upon his motives, there is no longer any
reliance upon hid sagacity or statesmanship.
It is seen and felt that as President he is
a blunderer all tho time marring even
good things by his manner of doing them,
and making bad things tolerable by the
temper in which they are attempted. lleuce
he has erased to enjoy credit as a friend of the
South, and is rated instead amongst its worst
enemies.
Material interests, too, are gradually assert
ing their euj'teniacy over malcontents and
partisans. The Wade Hamptons, the Hills,
and the llerschel Johnsons may avow thsir
preference for a continuance of military gov
ernment over governments reconstructed in
conformity with the law; but the Southern
people appear to be tired of agitation, whether
originated by Southern citizens or forced upon
them by a President powerless except for evil.
If the press foims an index to opinion, we are
warranted in assuming that the desire for re
construction, even subject to existing condi
tions, is gradually but surely prevailing over
the efforts of Rebel agitators. We were not
without fears that this tendency might be
temporarily checked by Mr. Johnson's unwise
demonstrations. Of this, however, we find
no sign. On the contrary, we do find mauy
tokens ot mistrust of Mr. Johnson as an
obstacle to the peace and prosperity which the
boutn needs and craves above all other things.
Madnessof the Republican, Party Iadrs
From the N. Y. Herald.
l he radical journals and party leaders are
beginning a new revolutionary programme,
and endeavoring, by their violent appeals, to
lead the country on in a whirl of excitement
to anarchy and ruin. They are repeating the
policy pursued by the ultra pro-slavery poli
ticians of the Southern States for a year or two
before the Rebellion, and are seeking to raise
a storm of passion and prejudice violent enough
to carry reason and common sense liefore it.
Cool judgment and firm action are more thau
ever needed at the present time in the admin
istration of our publio affairs. The South is
undergoing a military process of reconstruc
tion which will result in giving the control of
the local Governments of ten or eleven States
of the Union into the hands of the negroes.
This will oblige us to establish a permanent
military police in all the reconstructed terri
tory, and to maintain a standing army large
enough to hold possession of the Southern
States and enforce the authority of their civil
governments by the power of the bayonet. To
give up the South to the politioal rule of the
negroes, and then to withdraw the protection
of the United States army, would be simply
preparing the way for a war of races and a
general massacre, we are in as mucn ceniu
sion and trouble financially a3 politically. The
Treasury Department is assailed by the most
damaging rumors and charges, and the gene
ral impression is that our wuoie nnanciai sys
tem is rotten to the core. The national credit
is suffering, and nothing will remove the feel
ing of apprehension and insecurity that pre
vails except a tnorougn cnange in me i rea
sury Department, and exhaustive investiga
tions into all its transactions for the past four
or five yearB.
In such a condition or anairs, as we nave
said, we require broad statesmanship andcalm
judgment to guide us safely through our diffi
culties. And yet we und the exeouuve ana
legislative branches of the Government, all
Republicans together, striving which can
increase in the most violent degree the mad
ness of the hour. The radical factiou, in their
family quarrel with their own President,
appear to be getting perfeotly wild and reck
less. Some of them seem to desire the Gov
ernors of the several loyal States to lead the
Grand Army of tho Republio down to Wash
ington and seize possession of the Government.
Their organs and party leaders brand the
President of the United States as a drunken
loafer, but the fact is they are all drunk
together. Greeley's article in Wednes
day's Tribune, like Wade's speech in Ohio a
few days since, must have been incited by the
fumes of whisky, and very bad whisky at
that. The accounts from Washington every
day show that all the affairs of the Govern
ment are in a terrible state of demoralization,
and officials, high and low, civil and military,
appear to forget that we live under a written
Constitution, which assigns to each depart
ment of the Government its legitimate func
tions and authority.
Is it not time for the rank and file of the
Republican party to withdraw their counte
nance from the violence and recklessness
which mark the conduct of their leaders f The
steadfastness of the Republican masses earned
to a successful issue the great objects of the
war, but they can have neither part nor sym
pathy with the men who are tearing at each
other like Bav age beasts in their struggle for
the spoils of office. They should repudiate
them and their doings altogether, and take the
imir hands. The
country is getting heartily sick and tired or
sucn aiserraoefni brawls, ana a -
movement nn th nurt of tha respectable por
tion of the Republican party will easily carry
the next election and sweep away the entire
breed of agitators, including Johnson, w 1
Will. R..n.nn .v. wlnl radical Uon-
cnni u .11 .i.vk- vavnlutionary. ana
e.vuu, n A.V fkl J MAX U1UU.) - '
mad together.
Amnesty.
From the N. Y. Tribune. ,
It Is said that Mr. Johnson is about to puh
lish a nrofilartmUnn of amnesty, and the pro
babilities are that it will he Prett7 nearl7
universal In its terms. Let us see Just now
this matter at ayida. '
4v ... t..iii iBrtO the President
was empowered to extend at any Jun " P"
clamation, "to persons who may have pariioi
pated in the existing Rebellion in nr ,f ,u
mart tli.iw.nf r,,rAnn and amnesty. WlUl BUOn
A.T,ti,n. . i, tim. and on suoh con
ditions, as 'he may deem expedient for the pub
lio welfare." In aooordanoe with this autnorl-
zstUn P-ocMun. T lr.,.,.ln amld his aUUJOBty
vnvaxsaa IvQIUVMV 44IMUVLM - O 1 "I A
proclamations of the 8th December, ltJ, ana
Dmi. M.n,i. ifltM Air Jnhiinon. onthe-Jtn
May, JbCO, published another granting am
nesty, pardon, and restoration of property to
all Rebels, certain classes excepted, who would
take the oath of allegiance. The exceptions
Were civil and dinlnmniin nffifara nrl
foreign agents of the Confederate Government,
military officers above the rank of Colonel,
naval oflioers above the rank of Lieutenant,
Governors 0f States under the Confederacy,
all persons who left judicial stations under tin
unueu ciates, or seats in Congress, to aid the
Rebellion, officers of the amir or navv whn
tendered their resicnations to . avoid duty in
suppressing the Rebellion, military and naval
ofiiuers of the Confederacy who were eduoated
at West Point or Annapolis, all persons who
treated unlawfully our prisoners of war, all
who left the United States or entered the r
liellioilB States for the niirnna of aidi hit the
Rebellion, privateers, the Canada raiders, pur
sons in custody at the time of applying for the
Wiefits of the amnesty, and all Rebels whoe
taxable property exceeds f'20.000 in value.
1 his is the offer of amnesty which the United
StateB still hold out to the conquered Rebels;
and this is the most which the loyal people
nave thus far shown a willingness to grant.
On the 3d of December last, the House of
Kepresentatives. on motion of Mr. Eliot, re
pealed the section of the act of July 17, 1832.
which conferred upon the President the power
of declaring a ueneral amnesty; on tho 7th of
January the Senate did the same, and as the
Executive neither 6igned nor returned the bill,
it lecame a law ten days afterwards. Thus,
the authority of Congress for the publication
of a fresh offer of amnesty has been explicitly
withdrawn.
lut cau the President make such an offer in
virtue of the powers vested in him by the
Constitution, aud without the intervention of
Coneressf We think it very clear that he
cannot. The Constitution gives him autho
rity to "grant reprieves and pardons for of
fenses against the United States." Now, a
naidon and an amnesty are two very different
things. A pardon is an act of grace exempt
ing a person from penalties whioh he has in
curred under the law. Amnesty is defined as
"an act of the tovereign power, the object of
wbi( li is "to efface and cause to be rorgotten
a crime or misdemeanor." Amnesty is abo
lition of the offeiibe. Pardon is remission of
the penalty. The sovereign power of this
nation is not the President, but the people
The representative of the people is not
Andrew Johnson, but the national Congress
The President may pardon individual offend
ers, but the Constitution gives him no autho-
rits to declare a general amnesty. If it did,
he might nullity every act of legislation to
the violation of which any penalty is affixed,
and virtually exercise an absolute veto over
I many of the most important proceedings of
Congress.
Tins proposed proclamation, therefore, oan
only be regarded as the boldest defianoe of the
people which the President has yet uttered.
He assumes to exercise a power which was
only granted him for a time, aud then delibe
rately taken away. It is better for him to
understand that when the people, through
their representatives, took away that tempo
rary authority, they meant to keep it in th dr
own hands, and there they will keep it, John
son, Binckley, and all the rest of the milliners
to the contrary notwithstanding.
Politics In the Army.
From the W. Y. Herald.
It appears that General Grant has requested
to be excused from all Cabinet meetings except
where military affairs are to be discussed.
Under this simple request we see much that
means good to the country, and a lesson to
the crazy politicians, who, in their race for
power, forget all the principles of statesman
ship, and bequeath, as an inheritance to the
future, tne elements of a dozen military despo
tisms and countless internal wars. Biuoe the
close of the Rebellion we have virtually set up
a political school for the education of our army
officers, liefore the Rebellion, and even during
tbe war, politics in the army were Ignored by
all true soldiers, and especially was this the
case with the regular army. The officer who
tarnished his epaulettes by descending from
the lofty positicu of a soldier of the republio
to the petty bickerings, jealousies, and re
venges of party feeling, lost caste with his
fellows. The subject was degrading, and
while the republio went purely on tho officer
was a true soldier and pure. Now all is
changed. Our first soldier is a Cabinet officer
and a forced partisan in a hot politioal contest
between the Lxecutive and Congressional
power of the nation. Five of our principal
Generals aro placed in political control of five
pro-consulships, with the right to use the
military power of the nation to support them
in their civil rule. These Oenerals and all
their subordinate oflioers, with the task im
posed upon them by Congress, are made ad
ministrators of civil law through military
power, and are readily learning the force of
tbe combination placed in their nanas.
We are marching to the system of the Roman
vAvtml.lif. wIiav. iv.pv aoMiMr w&4 a rmlfHnl&n.
where all government had its b rtn in the
military element, and wnere tne military,
finally learning that it had acquired all power,
overturned the republic, and esiablished the
empire upon its ruins. We advance more
rapidly even than the French repur lio to the
moment when the military politician mnst
become the man of the hour, and where poll
tics, ingrafted upon the army, beo me a pjw
eriul weapon for any military man who has
the brain and will to handle the forces thus
unwittingly placed in his control. The French
Revolution, in its progress, forced the army to
become a poiitiiil machiue, and nothing but
tbe empire restored it te a status where it no
longer beoame a wtapon in the hands of mili
tary politioal oomman!ers. The Kugliih sol
dier to day is entirely aloof from a political
coutact which gives him any power to shape
the destinies of England; and his feeling in
that direction goes no further than a transient
interest in a change of miuistry. The whol
of Spanish America may be held up as a warn
ing of tbe effect of making politicians of Sol
diers; for there every offioer is tbe exporent
of some political principle or faotlon, and the
soldier is virtually the government.
We commenced our reconstruction on a bad
basis. Civil governors should have been ap
pointed over each of the five districts of the
bouth, with power to call for aid upon the
United States troops wheneve- aid migbt be
required to enforce the oivil law. No officer
in the army should have been appointed to
even the most inferior civil office. In fact, the
army should be held in its position and sub
ject to the purposes for which it was organ
ized an armed unit of power to enforce oivil
law where the ordinary process fails after trial.
Had this method been pursued, there would
have been no necessity on the part of General
Sickles to make the people in his district feel
the sting of a military dictatorship, when he
ordered the American flag to lie saluted by
those who failed to pay it homage; no neces
sity for General Bohofield to suppress news-
Eaper publications which were not exactly in
armony with the radical Bentlment of the
country; no neoesaity for smothering an ex
pression of opinion on the part of any man
who felt that he was living in a oountry whiuk
professed to give him free speech; no neceasity
Old Eye Wli isMes.
THE LARGEST AND REST STOCK OF
FINE
OLD RYE. V H I u II I E O
IN THE LAND IS
HEN11Y S. II
Nos. 218 and 220 SOUTH FEOIiT
who offeb the hank to the
TRADE IH
TEuas.
Tkalr B toe Ik f Rye WhliklM.IH BOWD, comprises all the favorlU bramda
xi ant, and run through the various moutha of ib66,'CV0, aud of this raar, up
pint data.
Liberal contract mada for lota to arrive at Pauusylvaula Railroad Dapet.'
Krrlcsaoat Line Mharf.or at Vonritd WtnhoiHi, tl parties mayalsct.
f boldly threatening the stability of the re-
puono by merging military and civil power
into the same bands, and tread ing immedi
ately upon the border of a military despotism.
-oncreBS. by tbe tolly of its leir station, has
almost wrecked the nation, and many of its
most radical members are beeinnini? to see the
effect of the strokes which they have struck
at its fundamental principles. They have set
wo great powers at work In the South to con
rol that section the neero and the soldier.
To the negro they give the vote, and to the
army they give military control of the oountry,
while the negro rides into political power.
The result is clear to impartial eves. It
means either a war of raoes, the extinction of
wnne or DiacK, or both, in the Bouth, or else
a strong military power to stand in the breach
and bold the two dashing foroes at bay. It
means, then, ten years of military dictator
ship over the nve districts; ten years of poli
tical education for the army; ten years of
marching towards a military despotism; and.
as a resultant, the overthrow of the Republio
by the imposing of the same rule over the
North that now exists in the South. The
politicians have gone mad. The country
must rise, through the votes of the people,
and nun bacK this wave that threatens to en
gulf everything must place statesmen in our
Congress, a clear-headed and firm man at the
helm, and, above all, keep politics out of
military hands.
The Internal Revenue.
Prom the N. Y. World. .
Tbe movement against Commissioner Rollins
Is prompted by cupidity, and It is being en
gineered by men who havecousplred todeiraud
i he Internal Kevenne; who liuve been prose
cuting their unlawful traffic here lor several
weeks, and wIiohb operations are embarrassed
by Mr. Folllue.
The pretext lor these frauds upon the revenue
is, that tbe money Is wanted to sustain the
Motional Intelligencer, whose managers (Snow &
Coy le) claim to have the President's authority
ii. r tueir uepreaauons upon me revenue.
Tbe reported Cabinet removals originated
with thofce Intelligencer whisky manipulators
wno are auxiliaries 01 vne mans, jerry juiaca,
end Fernando Wood.
The protection of tbe revenue was sufficiently
onerous to tax all the lime, ability, and courage
01 tne revenue omcers oeiore ine National intel
ligencer gang, armed as they profess with the
authority of ihe President, entered the Held.
Hiooklyn. before an Indomitably honest Dis
trict Attorney commenced ma rata upon
revenue robbers, was given over to Illicit distil
lation. Tbe demoralization was general, em
bracing manufacturers, inspectors, and collec
tors. Tbe conlllol was fearful, for in money
there is power. One man who, before bis
whisky enterprise commenced, scarcely knew
the use 01 a Dan it rooa, was depositing daily
from $5000 to S26.010, of which amounts the
revenue was defrauded. This man, witn some
of the dishonest revenue Inspectors, are in
dlcttd. One dishonest collector was removed,
but that was not the only relorm demanded.
The removal of Mr. ltollins, and the appoint
ment as his sucoessor of a dishonest or weak
man, wonld open the floodgates ot fraud and
cmrupllonto an appalling extent. The com
bination is already formidable. The profit is
so large that It makes men reckless. The con
spirators are making money fraudulently now,
but not last enough. Their "appetite Increases
by what it feeds on." The Metropolitan Board
is endeavoring to do Us duty, but If Mr. Hollins
should be removed, or their powers in any other
way diminished, all control over the question
would be lost.
Andrew Johnson maintained, through life,
tbe reputation of personal and publio pecuni
ary integrity. That reputation, strengthened
by bis early and consistent devotion to the
Union, made him Vice-President. We confided,
aud we still confide, in his straight-forward,
uncompromi-ing honesty. We believe that
men wbo are systematically defrauding tne
revenne use his name either without his
authority, or that he is not informed of the dis
honest nature of their operations. We think
the President erred, in principle, In endeavor
ing to resist tbe action of Congress in reoon
stiuctlon alter tbe people had declared in favor
of Cencress. We think he erred (in policy) in
not, from the beginning, giving the radicals all
the rope they wanted, for If he had done so
their leaders would ere this be looking through
hemp windows.
Hut if tbe President, now that he is informed
of the operations and designs of men wno have
conspired to rob the Treasury, lends himself to
them, tbe last link in the chain which bound
us to him will have been broken. iV. Y. Com.
Arv.
The allegations contained in the foregoing
article merit careful consideration. The gist
of the matter, as laid by the Commercial,
is that Mr. Blair, senior, Mr. Montgomery
lilair, and Mr. Black, are in a conspiracy
with the managers of the National Intelligencer
to defraud the internal revenue; that this
band of conspirators has set on foot a move
ment for the removal of Mr. Rollins, the pre
sent Commissioner; and that the cause of
this movement is the embarrassment he offers
to the before-mentioned schemes of unlawful
traffic.
It will he observed that this alarming incul
pation by the Commercial embraces names of
much prominence in publio affairs, and to
which, hitherto, no taint of dishonor in pecu
niary matters has ever attached, whatever
criticisms may have been vented upon the
political opinions and actions of the indivi
duals referred to. We have never heard before
that anybody believed Mr. Blair, senior, or
his son, or Mr. Black, to be capable of per
forming acts so base as are distinctly charged
by Mr. Weed. And we do not think a man
can be found, outside a lunatio asylum, who
will put credit iu the averments of the Com
mercial upon this point. Such a conclusion
upon one branch of the article necessarily in
volves suspicion of the truthfulness of the re
mainder. We do not doubt that Mr. Rollics has done
the bett be tould to secure an honest and
efficient administration of the interna revenue
law. lias he succeeded 1 If he has not, does
a suggestion that another man oould be found
iojill the oflico, compel ns to jump to tbe con
clusion that the suggestion is made in the
interest Ot illicit distillers f
There is no denying grossly improper prao
tioes In the Internal Revenue Department, nor
the failure of the Government te collect the
full amonnt of tax on certain manufactures.
The exlsleuoe of dl-honest officers, and gross
frauds in that department, are as notorious as
the existem-e of fellow fever at New Orleans.
It is generally Iwlieved that prominent officials
iu this city are in the pay of those who evade
the Iuteriial Rev. nue laws, and we cannot
understand how i ia that the Bearetary of the
Treasury and the ( MjUl-er do not require
that thu et-oi-ls shall explain how it
happabs that, within a few years of official
NOW POSSESSED BY
ANN I S & CO.,
STREET,
LOTS OH VEHI ADTAHTAOEOira
life, they have sprang from most limited
means te be men of opulence. And it is still
more inexplicable to us (unless upon a theory
we shall hereafter mention) why the depart
ment at Washington has made no striking re
movals or changes, in the face of this admitted
fart, that the collectors and assessors faa
utterly to execute the law.
T he action of the Treasury Department ia
organizing the Metropolitan Board, is a oonfea
sion of inability te collect the taxes imposed
by law through tbe machinery direotly pro
vided by law. The Board was a contrivance
to supplement the regular officers of the inter
nal revenue. It was avowedly an attempted
repair of a broken-down machine. If a oor.
rect history of the inception of this Board
were written, we think it would appear to be
tbe device ef thoBe in New York was
despaired of any effective, thorough re
form coming directly from Washington, and
hearing immediately on the inspectors, as
sessors, and collectors. It is said that Mr.
Tracy, the Federal District Attorney for the
Kabtern District of New York, was mainly in
strumental in getting up the Board. It is te
him that the Commercial refers as "an la
domitably honest District Attorney," and it
is admitted on all hands that he brought mere
labor, ability, and persistency to bear against
illicit whibky distillers than any one in tk
public service. But he found that, acting
alone and with no more power than he pos
sessed by law, he could not master the evil
giant who was stalking defiantly through New
York and Brooklyn. He made efforts, there
fore, to induce the Treasury Department te
change its regulations about removals from
bonded warehouses, class B; but when that
was accomplished, bogusbonds, improper com
promises, infirm prosecutions, fraudulent offi
cers were still beyond his reach. Uenoe the
Metropolitan Board, which required the
three adjacent district attorneys to act ia
concert, and permitted each to scrutinize the
official acts of the other, and whioh plaoed all
internal revenue officers in this vicinity under
surveillance. Whether the project of this
Board was at first acceptable at Washington
we do not knew. It was, at any rate, adopted
in the end, pxd we are informed and believe
that, early in its operation, there was an irre-
Eresaible jealousy, rivalry, and finally open
ostility between Mr. Tracy and certain other
members, which was carried before the Com
missioner, and involving the action of the
Deputy Commissioner therein. We have ob
served with curiosity that the Internal Revenue
Record, a weekly publication in this oity, the
official organ of the Bureau at Washington,
which is in the habit of disoussing with free
dom matters of publio interest in the internal
revenue service, says hardly a word in oom
mendation of the Board, but does express with
much force its oonviotiou that no reform will
avail anything which does not start upon a
basis of honest and efficient inspectors, asses
sors, and collectors. Its idea is that it is be
ginning at the wrong end to select a Board te
watch rogues in the subordinate offices. And
in this it is right. The reform must begin at
the bottom, under the administration of a
penetrating chief at Washington. The Metro
politan Board may be well enough as an ex
ceptional and temporary thing, provided it,
too, be run in the interest of dishonest officials
who are in league with Illieit distillers; but
corruption in one branch of the department
will, before long, work its way everywhere.
It must be got rid of not merely weeded out
it must be extirpated.
In our opinion, the Internal Revenue Bureau,
will never be purified until two things are
done: , . . .
First. Mr. McCulloch must cease to trust
so implicitly certain subordinates, and must
really study Into the praotioal working of the
ureau.
Secondly. There must be politioal harmony
between the Commissioner, the Secretary, and
the President. Till that comes, all else will
he in vain, and there may he corrupt deputy
commissioners, district attorneys, collectors,
and assessors in office. As it stands now, and
there is known to be conflict of opinion as to
matters inside the Republican organization,
between these three officers, and that the
quarrel is bitter, if the Commissioner deteots
and attempts to remove or otherwise discipline
an officer, the latter instantly starts the cry
that he is persecuted by the Commissioner be
cause he is a political sympathizer with the
Secretary or the President. So if the Secre
tary initiates inquiry in respect to the con
duct of an unworthy officer, the Commissioner
is made to think that the complaint cornea
from the fact that the inoulpated person is a
radical. The reBult is that nobody is re
moved, and rogues have a carnival.
We have no desire to see a Democrat made
Commissioner. That would only complicate
troubles; but we do insist that the Internal
Revenue Bureau shall politically be in har
mony with the Seoretary of the Treasury, and
the latter with the President. IIow that is to
be done is a matter of Republican politics.
Bnt done it must be, or existing rottenness
will give rise to unendurable stench.
We dare say that Mr. Rollins is amused by
the claim set up that he is vital to the in
tegrity and security of the national revenue.
He would probably not deny that, with a little
practical expeiienoe at Washington, Mr. Tracy
or a hundred other men easily named, oould
administer the Bureau as efficiently as is now
done. This idea that any one man is essential
to the proper on going of the Government cau
be pushed so far aa to make it ridiculous. It
has been carried up to the last point, and per
haps strained a little, in the case of Mr. Mc
Culloch. ,
JOHN CnUMP.
OAltPENTEll AND BUl'l.DBH.
KUOr Ho. all LOMK STBKKT, AMU
. 17a CIU-SHUT IKTBIU-T,
. ; ran.ti-LrHi-.
JAMES E. EVAK3, GUN-MABEli, SOUTH
Hirvel, abovs tMcoud, would cull Hie mteniton of
SIKirtNDieo to tlit rlioicesfclec-Uonof SUKHlrf TKOUT
M) Bihb hOr;(a new amonmsnl), File, aud all
Ui u.tifcl olw;ilou ot Jr Ta.UK.LK in ad lis
Vartuiii braurli.
HAND la L'V.ZI.K-LOADINO GUNU altered to
TtkKK ir-LOAirtlitf la tii best uaauer, at the
lowaal faUia. T 1 U
j.