THE DA.r EVENING TELEGRAHI PHILADELPHIA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 13G8.
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
EDITORIAL OPI8ION8 Of TI1H LBADISU J0UR3ALS
UrOH CU1HFS Tone COMPILED KVRUT
FAT FOB TBI JBVHS1NO TRLEOKiPH.
The Colli (jKCstioil.
From the &. Y Jlerakl
The cnnrpe of gold is being vry attentively
Tratcbtd Just now by tbe public at large, and
yague fears prevail tbat Mih premium may go
Xnuou higher under tbe political excitement
atte ndiug tbe Presidential campaign, aud un
fortunately thee are not without good reasons.
There are liuaucial and comuieroial causes at
Work which will of theuiselres adfauea the
price of gold; but political influences entirely
outweiyh these. It is bad enough to fiud tbat
we have exported from this port to. foreign
ports fince the beginning of the year more
than Bixty-two millions of specie and bullion,
and tbat the Government has a reserve of only
about fifty millions of coin at the present time,
whilo its coin interest payments in September
will amount to live millions, in November
to twenty five millions, aud in Jauuary
to thirty-three millions; but it is far wore
when we find prominent politicians of both
parties making speeches and writing letters
which aie directly calculated to impair confi
dence in everything but gold, l'opular dis
Iriut of the future financial policy of the Gov
ernment is the main cause of tbe upward ten
dency of the premium, aud so long as this
lasts it will rise higher from month to month.
The speculators have much less to do with tbe
advance of the last sixty days in gold than is
generally supposed. They may exaggerate
effects and run the price up suddenly, as they
did the other day when it touched 150; but
their influence is ouly transient, for a reaction
Boon succeeds, following which, however, gold
obeys its natueal tendency upwards, despite
the efforts of many of them to keep it down.
Added to the wide-spread but vague distrust
referred to we have to face the fact that our
foreign imports are and have been since the
lieginning of the late war far in excess of our
expoits, and our national extra vagauce of
itself exposes us to serious danger. Political
considerations, however, entirely outweigh
those of a more material character, and the
majority of gold speculators, in operating for
a rise, are merely anticipating a natural
movement which would be felt with or with
out speculation, aud to be suocessful it must
be based upon something more substantial
than Gold Room opinion. The abundant har
vest with which we are promised is the only
cool sign of the times that we cau see, but its
influence is lost in the presence of the disturb
ing causes to which we have alluded, aud as
the campaign progresses we shall doubtless
Witness much more calculated to gratify the
bulls in gold than we have yet done. But for
the wretched mismanagement of the finances by
Congress and the Treasury Department during
and since the war the gold premium would
Lave been much lower than it is and we should
Lave been in a position to resume specie pay
ments, whereas the prospect of the latter
eeems more remote now than it did when Lee
surrendered. It is well, however, that the
people should not attach too much importance
to the rise in gold with which we are threat
ened, and that confidence in our national secu
rities should not be impaired. These last are
the safest and cheapest securities in the
country at present prices, and it must be re
membered that tbe higher gold goes the
greater becomes tbe rate of interest they yield
in currency. It is greatly to be regretted that
about seven hundred millions of these bonds
are held abroad, for we are constantly exposed
to the danger of large amounts of them being
returned to us for sale; but we must accept
the situation as we find it and not iguore the
facts, however unpleasant they may ba to
contemplate.
Labor, Taxes, and Debt.
From the JV. Y. Tribune.
Our country was recently the theatre of a
vast and sanguinary civil war. A civil war is
always more destructive of property thau any
other; aud this war, wherein not less than
three millions of men took part, and nearly or
quite fifteen hundred thousand were engaged
at one time, was destructive beyond precedent.
Railroads (unknown to the warfare of former
centuries) were broken up, by one or other of
the belligerents, to the extent of thousands of
miles; steamboats aud costly bridges were
Lurned; considerable cities, even, were laid in
ashes. The Rebels burned at New Orleans and
at Richmond, when compelled to abandon
thofe eities, many millions' worth of property;
while Charleston, Norfolk, Vicksburg, and
other cities, were scenes of ruinous devasta
tion. The war lasted more than four years, and
cost tbe country not less thau live billions of
dollars. In other words, there are probably
five thousand millions worth less of houses,
factories, furnaces, fences, railroads, steam
boats, clearings, etc, etc., now included
within the area of the United States, than
there would have been if Mr. Lincoln's first
election to the Presidency had not been fol
lowed by the slaveholders' Rebellion.
l)o you bditcc that lu.ldHon was necessary or
just 1 That is tbe fundamental question in our
pending political coutest. For, if the Rebel
lion was just, then tho-e who resisted it are
fairly chargeable with th cost of resisting aud
defeating it. If the election of Abraham Lin
coln by the Republicans justified Howell Cobb,
Toombs. Jeff. Davis, Slidtll, Maion .Sc Co., in
conspiring to sever tbe Southern State3 from
the Union and erect theai into an independent
Confederacy, tljeu the North, and not the
South, is to blauiH for the war, and ought to
pay its entire cost. 1 ben tbe national debt is
fairly chargeable to thore who contracted it,
not to those whose rebellion was overcome by
means of it.
That debt is a stubborn fact. It will have
to lie borne and paid. Kvon if the people
Bhould vote to repudiate it, tbat would not di
iniuish its burthen by a single dime. Tun
American people would htill owe it, and would
ultimately be constrained to pay every far
thing of it.
Over fifty years ago Great Tiritaiu and Spain
emerged from a long and desolatiue war.
Wherein each bad incurred a heavy national
debt. Great Britain resolved to pay her debt
Lonestly, to the last farthing; aud she has ever
Bince been steadily growing iu population and
wealth. Spain sank into the bog of repudia
tion, aua mere sue lies straudeci to this hour.
Jler power has vauished with her forfeited
credit; her industry, commerce, aud wealth
Lave steadily declined: she is the football of
the Great Lowers, and of no more real weight
than Denmark or Morocco. IJ r people, abject
and hopeless, have sunk at last into seemiug
content under the double burden of despotism
and infamy.
Are there voters who blaine the Republi
cans for the war of secession f They will vote,
of course, to turn the Republicans out, aud
restore Howell Cobb, Toombs, Wade Ha'iiptoii
& Co. to power. These men raisa I the Ihg of
Rebellion because Mr. Lincoln was through
their own conuivauce, in breaking up the De
mocratic party elected President. If they
Were right iu so doing, then the debt, the peu
eion list, and conse'jueut heavy taxe?, are
rightly scored up agaiust us who resisted
them. Lilt if the Rebellion was wrong, aud
they who upheld the TTnlon were right, then I
the national debt embodies twenty-five ban- V
dn-d millions of solid reasons why the Rebel
chiefs and the ir Bllies ought not now to bs
intiusted with the government of the country.
And every poor man, who finds his comforts
diminished by taxation, should vote to keep
them out.
(Jrnnt find Seymour.
From the N. F. World.
It is not, perhaps, impossible for mtional
people, even in tbe heat of a partisan oontest,
to comprehend the difference between throw
ing mud at a man and trying to find out what
a man is made of. And it is quite certain that
abundant opportunities are daily offered by
the Democratic aud the radical journals to
honest iii(;uirers for getting at the exact na
ture of this difference. When Governor Sey
mour was first nominated for the Presidency
by tbe National Democracy, tbe Tribune and
other radical organs at once began throwing
mud at him, and they have continued ever
since so to do, although it is true that, as they
are apparently beginning to find out that the
opeiation fatigues themselves more than it
Hurries the Democracy, they have of late
somewhat relaxed in their projectile fury.
When General Grant accepted the radical bid
for his name, the Democratic organs at once
began to inquire into the real nature and
value of the man, aud iuto his lituess for so
high a trust as the American Presidency in
this year of grace 18i!Smust be conceded to be.
The inquiry has resulted so far in no responses
w hich can possibly be satisfactory, we will not
Bay to Democratic partisans, but to quiet aud
sober citizens who simply yearn to see decency
and Intli character in tbe chair ot Mate.
So while the artillery practice of the radical
mud-batteries is daily slackening, the Demo
cratic inquisition is daily growing keeuer and
more empuatio.
'J he radicals could find at first, ant have a9
yet been able to find only one pretext for as
sailing Governor Seymour. They cnireed him
with "disloyalty."'a vapue, uu-Aiuericau sort
of word at the best, smacking disagreeably of
tne style in which the lories ot the revolution
tired to belabor Adams and Franklin and
Washington; and they endeavored to give
their charge a meaning before tbe minds of
sensible men by alleging not only tbat Gover
nor Seymour had failed to support the Federal
authorities dniing the late civil war, but that
he had befriended the "Rebels." llore then
was a form of words, which if its use could be
justified by evideuee would be an accusation,
while if this conld not be done it woull
be a mere mud-ball. The annals of the
Union refuted tlie calumny as soon as
it was uttered. The dead Lincoln rose.
as it were, from his grave to vindicate
the patriotism of that Cbief Magistrate of the
Empire State whom tbe liviuc Lincoln had
publicly and warmly thanked for the salvation
or Pennsylvania and tlie republic. A radical
ex-Mayor, Opdvke, of New i'ork, did himself
honor by protesting aeaiust the slander
which he so well knew to be a slauder; nor
couia even nawin di. otautou submit to be
made the tool of an invention at once disgrace
ful and preposterous. The radicals, there
fore, have ever since been throwing mud-balls
and nothing but mud-balls at the Democratic
candidate. That they do so is the eutlL-ient
proof that this is their only ammunition.
lurn now to the Dtmooratio batteries and to
General Grant.
If the It vrld should charge General Grant
with being a coward or a traitor, with par
taking the passion of Butler for other people's
spoons, or tne partiality oi wade tor uubut
tered blasphemy, it would put itself precisely
on the level ou which the Tribune stood when
that journal begun to arraign Governor Sey
rxiaur as "disloyal." And If the World,
making such charges, should fail to substan
tiate them, it would sink to the lower level on
which the Tribune now stands whenever it
repeats this charge of "disloyalty," proved,
seen, known, and confessed of all honest men
to be a ridiculous falsehood.
But the World found General Grant charged
by people who have "never loved the
World nor the iror them," with being an
"habitual drunkard," and with being "bru
tally indifferent to human life." The World
found it of record before the courts that Gen.
Grant's father made merchandise of his son's
official authority during the war. Did the
World thereupon arraign Grant as a "drunk
ard," or a "butcher," or a "cotton specula
tor f" Not a bit of it.
What the World did was this: Regarding
it as a tremendous national calamity that a
drunkard, a butcher, and a cotton speculator
Bhould, under any glamour of military glory,
be elevated at this time to the supreme magis
tracy of the republic, the World demanded that
these charges against General Grant should be
met and disproved by his supporters. The
charges were not made in a comer, nor by
"Rebels." Mr. Tilton, of the Independent, is a
rebel to the Constitution indeed, but he is
more "loyal" to Congress than Horace Greeley
himself; and Mr. Tilton, of the Independent,
is of record charging General Grant with
drunkenness. So, too, is Wendell Phil
lips, vigorously declaring that this
rauical candidate for the Presidency in the
most critical hour of our history cannot
"stand up before a bottle without falling
down." General Grant's "Indifference to
human life" Is of record in the fearful story of
his tentative and confessedly disastrous over
land expedition of lS(i4 against Richmond. If
it be true, as responsible and competent au
thorities etaud forward to bhow it is, that
General Grant's prestige with the people as a
soldier represents rather the exultation of the
country at its final victory thau the genuine
military ability of General Grant himself, it at
once becomes very important to know whether
he lacks or possesses that genial humanity of
character which is at once the most efficient
curb upon the ambition ot men of uuquestiou
able military genius, and tbe ludi.-pensable
corrective of the, brutalizing influences of war
upon more ordinaiy miuds.
That it is piavely important for U3 to know,
and to know beyond all question or petalveu
ture, whether General Grant did or did not
suller his father to make a traffic of his mili
tary authority, aud contribute to his father's
Eiici ess iu tbat liiie of business by abusing his
martial sway to inllict insult aud injury upon
the "Jews as a clacs," nobody, we presume,
willdeny.
How, then, can it be said that the Wurld
vitujierates General Giant when it insists upon
one of two things either that these clouds
shall be lilted from his reputation, or that he
shall be conceded to be seeking tho suffrages
of the American people, not because he de
Ferves tuein or is fit to be our President, but
because bis supporters think the people iudif-
ferent to ccarseuess, drunkenness, and cor
ruption in candidates for their service ?
Ilio Southern Issue.
From the N. Y. Timet.
The Southern opponents of the Republican
Earty dispute the appositeness of the leading
sue ou which the latter is conducting the
cauvas3. They objoot to the continued refer
ence to que6tious involved iu the Rebellion,
and to allusions to the Rebellion itself, as in
opportune and practically useless. There are
many Northern Democrats who share the feel
ing. The war record they consider no longer
of the slightest moment, and the discussion of
the results of the war they look upon as
equally out of place,
perhaps natural iu both
oases, and its expres
sion assumes the form or ?lrange assertion,
as in these passages from the Riohmon l En
quircr: "The maw of the pe plo, Nortli nn 1 ou'.ti,
have almost forgotteu ih it we b vo litl a wr,
or at leant remoinber ouly tlitt, we hare had
nu ruber of wnm; uml but for tue buiiietn l
iHxn'lon unci other lutolnrabie evils of mil-
mliiiinltrtlon, which the parly thrown in',o
power by the hist war h en.aiied upon mem.
their IhoUKhtR wiulil be no mure disturbs! tut"
day by tbe "KebPl lion' thau by tbe wtr wlin
Mexh.-". No, 'the gieni. Kebe:llor,' In n t.htnii of
tbe l est, sua J ton cold in tlie grave of ltin for
Its -pomp and clroumstauco' in excite the pupu
lr ulhlisbinii nny inn. e. Those i hs
lions en which the wht wan fuht were Nettle I
lr the wnr, anil betnn iW absolutely itrele,
lvtlb parlies Bland before Ibe country on pre
cisely the same ground In regard to I hem."
It is desirable for both North aud South to
escape, as quickly as possible, from the at
nro.sphere engendered by the Rebellion. The
re-establishment of perfect peace implies a
certain amount of forgtfulnesa on th part
of both sections, and no true friend of either
will needlessly foster irritaion ou account of
subjects which events have Irrevocably
settled. The diffioulty just now is, that the
two great political parties differ iu their esti
mate of the settlement, as well In regard to its
scope as the prinoiples on whioh il has pro
ceeded. Had judicious counsels so far prevailed iu
the New York Convention a to secure the
nomination of Mr. Chase, on a platform which
he could have honorably accepted, the South
ern question, in its sectional aspect, would
have been reduced to very narrow proportions.
The work of Congress would have been ac
cepted, and the business of amending it would
have been properly handed over to the people
of the several States. Iu such circumstances
the discussions which prove so unpalatable to
the Southern opposition weuld have been di
vested of their worst features, and a founda
tion laid for a rivalry of parties on qne-dious of
administrative reform. This course has been
rendered impossible by the action of the De
mocracy. Its management passed into the
hands of extreme men, who reopened ques
tions which might otherwise have soon become
"absolutely tfiete," aud revived the recollec
tions which the Richmond journalist describes
as almost extiuct. For the Southern iisu, in
its present shape, the Southern people may
thank the Democratic party.
Nothing could be much further from the
truth than the hhqtdrir's remark, that, as to
questions raised by the war, "both parties
Stand before the couutry ou precisely the same
ground." The ruling element iu the Demo
eracy would not a -quiesie iu this sta'.emeut of
its position. It uiiiy b true as to the single
fact of emancipation, but as to the conse
quences of even that measure it certaiuly
is not.
'i he issue presented by tin opposition is,
wheihtr Congress derived from the Rebellion
a right to Impose terms of readmissiou, or
whether the people who rebelled retaiued a
title to restoration with no other conditions
than those of their ova choice. Ou every
ground of principle, moral nud political, we
believe the claim set up by Congress reason
able aud just. To suppose that the people of
the couth might rebel with impunity that
they might renounce the authority of the
Union, and resume alleciauoe ouly when un
able to offer further resistance, is simply mon
strous. They were brought back iuto the
Union by force, aud the poarer which brought
them may surely fay on what conditions they
shall regain its privileges. We may doubt the
expediency of some ot these conditions we
may deem a portion of thtui harsher thau a
wise generosity would have sanctioned. But
this is merely a matter of detail. The funda
mental point is that Congress, by reasou of
the snppiession ot the Kebellion, becann law
ful master of the situation; and that the work
of Congress must stand, subject to local pro
visions for the change of lb new Constitu
tious, and to the Fourteenth Amendment in
respect to the political rights of the oolored
population, and the future basis of repre
sentation. On this fundamental question the Democratio
party has joined issue. It assails the claim
bet up by Congress, and the entire work which
has been done. It wonld convert the Uuion
triumph into a barren victory, and invest con
quered rebels with the substantial advantages
of success. It would ignore the logical results
of emancipation by denying the freedmeu civil
and political equality. It would bring back to
power the oligarchy of planters, aud give
them control over the States they precipitated
into rebellion. The Democracy, in fact, makes
it impossible to forget the war aud its lessons,
or to disregard the conduct of men now promi
nent when the integrity of the Union was in
jeopardy.
When the Southern malcontents object,
then, to the" emphasis which the Republican
party places upon this issue, they ought to
reintrinber that it is invested with its present
importance by the conduct of the party they
fcupport. There would be need for demanding
the maintenance of Congressional authority
over reconstruction, were not that authority,
with all its consequences, assailed. There
would be no pretext for the coustaut presenta
tion of the auti-Union rec ;rd of conspicuous
Democratic leaders, but that the men who
tried to destroy the Union now contend for
the right to manage its reotoraiion. The con
troversy, irritating as it is, was not sought by
the Republicans. They are ou trill before the
country, touching their reconstruction legisla
tion; but reconstruction itedf would be re
moved from the areua of national politics if
the Drmociats were content to leave to the
States the amendment of their own laws.
The guarantees enacted to strengthen the.
Union being threatened with a violent da-
ttiuction by the Democratic party, there tan
be no forgetting the Rebellion, its issue3 or
its leaders. fciavery has been killed aud
the pretended right of secession extinguished;
but other questions remain whhih necessitate
the exposure of the aims of Soutlieru De
mocracy and the insolence aud disloyalty of
those who speak most authoritatively in its
behalf.
The two parties occupy opposite ground In
regard to the question which reuderj the Re
bellion germane to the contest, as affneting
both the purposes of the controlling elements
of the Democracy aud the justioe Mid expa
ditney of reconstruction.
"Tlie Letter or the Law."
From the iV. Y. Nution.
The extent to which words help to confuse
thought has rarely been better illustrated
than in the history of the discussion now rag
ing about the nature of the obligations of the
Government to its creditors. The necessity
under which it found itself in the early part
of the war of levying a forced loan, by making
its promissory notes a "legal-tender," not un
naturally caused those notes to be spoken of
as "money." They do now, and have for six
yeais past, served the purposes of money, bat
real "money," in the generally accepted
sense of the term, they are not. They are
promises to pay money promises which the
Government every day violates by failiug to
pay and they owe their value to the belief
that some day it will pay; aul in the mean
time there is a heavy "discount ou them, as
there is on all doubtful paper. But the uieie
habit of tailing them "mouey," aud ii-dug
thtiu as money for even five years,
has caused a large number of people wholly
to forget their real nature and origin, ami to
talk of them as "money" which uiy be used
not as the Governmeut and the public are now
using them, as a temporary expedient, but in
final settlement of the national obligations.
The delusion is, especially when we consider
the interval iu time, in education, and expe
rience which separates our day and generation
from the French Revolution, inuou more sur
prising than the delusion which reigned
amongst the French republicans about the
celebrated a sirnut. Nobody in France was
ever gulled iuto believing that the aisiyna's
were "money." It was distinctly percsived
that they were promissory notes. The fallacy
which prevailed about them lay in supposing
that the Church lands were really pledged, iu
a practical mauner, for their redemption.
W hen it became plain, as it soon did, that the
mortgage was not really foreilosablo, and that
the security was therefore worthless, the
bubble burst. Nobody went about preaching
tbat they were us good as gold, or. if anybody
did, he met with an unpleasant illustration of
the feebleness of his arguments whenever he
offered them in payment for a cup of coffee.
The popular habit of talking of the acts of
Congress authorizing the loans m "laws" is
producing, if possible, effects still more mis
chievous. For the mere purpose of nomencla
ture, it is no doubt convenient to call them
"laws;" but when they are called "laws" for
the purpose of determining the moral obliga
tions ot the Government, when "the letter of
the law" is spoken of as something by which
honest men may safely abide, the ovil worked
by a loose use of words becomes fully appa
rent. A law is a command giveu by a supe
rior to an inferior, and enforced by a sanctiou
that is, by the infliction of a penalty of
some sort, in case the command is not obeyed.
A command with no sanction attached is not,
properly speaking, a law at all;
it is the mere expression of a wish or desire.
Now, the acts of Congre?s authorizing
tbe various public loans have none of
the characteristics of a law, and they are
not laws, as regards the public. They may be
considered laws as regards the Secretary of
the Treasury, inasmuch as they direct him to
oiler bonds lor sale on certain terms, and he
would, of course, incur the penalty of dismis
sal in case of neglect or refusal. But as re
gards the public they are simply invitations
to lend money on certain conditions. They
command nobody to do or refrain from doiog
anything whatever. They bind nobody.
Congress might repeal them to-inorrow; many
members of Congress are coustautly trying to
have them altered or modified. There is no
conit iu which the nation could bo sued under
tbtui; no power on earth competent to inllbt
any jtnalty for tbe violationof them. They
simply declare that the United States would
like to borrow certain sums of money at cer
tain rates ( f interest, aud for certaiu fixed pe
riods of time, aud point out the persons to
whom, and the modes in which the money
(ball be paid in. Whatever was not clear iu
this invitation, the financial agents of the Gov
ernment undertook to explain. They ex
plained during four long years, through every
means of publicatiou known to Ame
rican civilization, that when the Gov
ern nent in its proposal spoke of repayment
it meant repayment in gold. The leuders had
to be content with this explanation, because
there was and is no court or tribunal of any
kind competent to construe the proposal, or
enforce any construction of it except what
those who made it chose to give it. In other
words, it retts with the people who asked for
the money to nay what the invitatiou to leud
erf meaKt; aud in deciding what their obliga
tions under it are they are to be guided not by
legal rules of construction, but by the rules of
morals in use in the forum of conscience, by
the rules by which an honest man when he
has in his distress borrowed secretly, and
without giving security, governs his conduct
wbtn his friend aks him to refund. To call
iu the aid of a practitioner in the orimiual
courts to tell us, under such circumstances,
where the path of duly lies, would be a cou
fesuin which we do not care to characterize.
Moreover, the persons, of whatever party,
who now call for payment in greenbacks, in
defiance of the declarations of the Government
scents, are not entitled to a hearing, for the
simple reasou that their failure to speak sooner
is presumptive evidence either of their stu
pidity or dishonesty. If they remained silent
during the whole period of the contraction of
the loans from Inability to perceive the mis
chief which the declarations of the representa
tives of the Government were working, they
must be too obtuse to make their opinion of
the slightest value. It they remained silent
wilfully, well knowing that the Government
agents were raising expectations whioh they
were not authorized to raise, aud that the
payment in coin was not intended by Congress,
they simply connived at an odious fraud, and
their piesent protests are simply proofs of
their monstrous impudence, in faot. their
appearauce on the scene now, wkrn the money
has all been paid in and spent, to put a new
interpretation on the contract, before the bonds
are payable, is one of the most remarkable ex
hibitions within our knowledge of moral cal
lousness on a great scale. It is hard to say
whether their speaking now or their having
pre iously hbld their peace is the more dis
leilitable. There is one other consider.0.'. ion with regard
to "the letter of the law" which deserves
more) consideration than it has yet received.
"The letter of the law" is, after all, let'.or
only to many words, covtriujso much paper.
To make it of my value as a rule of conduct,
it bus to have au interpretation put upon it;
ai.d, in fact, the ouly difference between "ihe
letter" aud "the spirit" of a law lies in the
mcde of interpretation. "The letter of the
law" i., in other words, the law strictly con
strued; "the spirit of the law" is the law
broadly construed; but construction you must
have iu both oases, construction by some con
stituted authority. Admitting, for the sake of
argrment, that the acts of Congress creating
the. loans are real laws, aud that "the letter
of the law" ought to govern the manner of
repaying the loans, the question, What does
"the letter of the law" prescribe? remains
undecided. And who ia to decide it f There
are two parties to the controversy about the
teiius of the loan the borrowers and the
lenders; and if the acts be laws, there ought
to be an indifferent person or persons compe
tent to interpret thera. To say that when a
debtor and creditor disagree a to the
meaning of the law under which they have
frhuied their contract, that one ot them
which happens to be the stiouger may inter
pret the law to Euit himself, and the other is
bound by his deciaiou, is simply preposterous;
aid j et this is precisely what the repudiators,
both Republican and Democratic, do say.
They proclaim loudly that the very party
which made "the law" and borrowed the
money under it has alone the right to decide
what the law means, and that the creditor is
bound to accept their ruling as final. Now of
two things one, as the French say either the
act authorizing the losms are not "laws," but
proposals to borrow money, to be interpreted
in the lorum of morals only, or they are laws,
and the nature and extent of the rights and
duties created by them are to be decided not
by cue of the parties iu interest, but by a com
petent and impartial tribunal, guided in form
ing its judgment by tbe great principles of
equity. The reference of feuch a question to a
Cv
4 -
S. FMOHT ST.
213 & 220
OFFER TO TUB TRADE, IN LOTS,
FINE RYE AiD BOURBON WHISKIES, IV B0.W,
01 1MUC, 18UO, lBOT, nnd 1808.
AISN FBI.E FIXE K1E AM EOITUM WHISKIES,
Of GREAT AGE, ranging from ieo4 to
Liberal contracts wUl be entered Into for lota, in bond at Distillery, of thin yearn' msnrt fao' nr ? .1
majprity either of the House of Representa
tives or of American citzens at tne pons wouui
be, on the repudiators' own theory, a piece of
unprecedented absurdity as wen a3 oi iniquity.
We have a letter oi a corresponueut iviug
before ua, asking ti3 to Ehow that repudiation
will not "pay" in a pecuniary sense, h we
mean to make any impression on the Djuio
crats; that our talk of honor aud good faith is
all very well, but it does not reach them, lo
which we reply, that the very strongest arpi
rneut of this kind we could use is, from its
very nature, worthless as far as all Copper
heads and secessionists are concerued tbe
argument that repudiation, in any shape, will
leave the Government powerless, or greatly
hamper it, if it should again be callei ou to
defend its existence in the field. To say this
to them is to put a musket iu their hands to
use against us. To talk to them of the enor
mous desolation that would be worked by re
pudiation, of the shock to the whole frame
work of society it would cause, is likely to be
ineffective for the same reason. They do not
particularly care about the framework of
eociety, as we understand it. We have no
means of computing the los3 to the country
that repudiation would cause. The actual
mm of which holders of Government securi
ties would fiud themselves deprived would re
prefent only a very small portion of it. The
shock it would give to industry, the dark cloud
it would catt over the future, the fear it
would inspire among capitalists, would
produce au amount of damage the extent
aud duration of which neither we nor any
other man can compute; aud the effect of such
a prodigious stroke ot baseness on the morals
t.f the rising geueratiou would be something
woife and more lasting, even from a commer
cial point of view, thau the visible effect on
business. We rely mainly, too, on appeals to
the popular conscience, because this question
is not to be decided by the Democrats, but by
the majority of the American people; and
whenever appeals of this sort cease to influ
ence the bulk of American society, although
the nation may remain tremendous by laud,
tremendous by sea, and flow with milk and
honey, the form of government will change,
and the forces which hold Booiety together will
charge too. The government of the strong
hand will be instituted for the government of
reason, and the yens d'urmee will do the work
of the newspaper. Whenever we believe
that day has come, our occupation, aud all
others like it, will be gone; and, unless we
are greatly mistaken, we shall know it,
and stop talking. But with the graves of
three hundred thousand men still fresh,
and with cripplea in every village all sacri
ficed to tbe popular devotion to an idea, to a
remote Imagined good it is impossible not to
feel that the arguments addressed to the popu
lar sense of justice, the popular sense of
Lienor, the popular appreciation of the value
of distant results, are, after all, the arguments
which tell on the greatest number. The im
mediate loss or gain to each individual tax
payer, in a country as rich aud growing as
this is, of the payment or repudiation of the
national debt, is, after all, so small that the
material Bide of the question looks strangely
insignificant beside the moral one. What
makes repudiation most dreadful, is the
moral condition it would indicate; aud when
one sees the small wits of "the moral wing"
of the Republican party exercised in sneering
at the idea of a national conscience, and such
people as General Butler offering himself again
to the suff rages of a Massachusetts constituency
with the air of a Christian martyr, one feels
that the question, "Will it pay?" is, after all,
not the greatest question of the day, but Can
this Government be conducted successfully on
principles of unmitigated rascality If
DRY GOODS.
LAD3ES ABOUT TO LEAVE TLIE
city (or their country houses or the sea-atoore
will rind It greatly to their advuutage, beore par
chbaias elsewhere, to examine
Ths Extensive Stock, at Greatly Kcdnced
Trices, of
. m. NEEDLES
No. HOI CIIKSNUT
& CO.,
GiP.ARD BOW.
t oniprulnK a complete Assortment lor pcrsocal or
III UMllOllI ase, of
fAtHS, KMBKOiPKHIKa DANDKKROHIEFS
rVIFf.l, Jifc-VHUD AND TUl'KKD MU.
UK8, CAMBUKS, JAOJNKTS,
WQUKS, and WHITK GOODS,
in every variety.
VKI AND VKIL I1ATKKIALS o( e?ery duscrlp.
uuu, tugciber with an extensive fcuiorluit.nl U
HOUSEHOLD LLNOS,
AT TEm'TING -FJCfclOiUS
In every wldihaud quality,
KM 1 KTINli.PII.lAJW-OA8E, UHB.K f IXO, & TA3LH
JUl.NAa, NAPKIN8, DOYlitKS, FiuANNKUS,
UIMIi'lKS OK k-PHBIADS, AND JfUKNI.
TUUK COVKKS, MAKMKILLEj, HO
NKVCOMli, AND OTflB.lt fciVKEADS,
10WK1S AND TOWKLLINO IS
DAMAtsK AND HUCKABACK,
bl'UMEBBLAHKKW, XA
JILE UOVE4W, KTO,
ALfcO. BHllillNO, F1LLOW-OA8E AND SHEET
ISO MlBIilMl),
. 3. NEEDLES & CO.,
N... IIOI OIIKSNUT BTlltdHT,
Sit GIIt&KD R'iW-
DU. KINKKUN. AFTEU A ItSSIDESCE
u.u piuc'.k'u oi lliiny ye urn ul ihe .Nun Invent
iui iter uf Third tu1 t'nlir' m reels, haj lately re
n.ov d ( mh KLkVKMTlX blreei, bbiweou &1AU
hKTond ChKbMUl'.
lll.ssupt-iliiiliy Iu the prompt acd perlwt carp of
bll iireul, clnunlc, local, and coimiliu.iuual alleo
tliiim (.1 UHpeclul nuluie, Is pruvorbUl.
Dieenit-8 of tun hkln, appearing In a lnitidn"! 1f-feu-lit
forms, loll' II J' 4-ramcrtUU: uieutal aud pliyalc.il
Wti.ki.tsH. aud all ii. rviUs Uebillile,-, Hi iouUlicily
ttml Miii'tHniully irtaUii. Ollice Lou.-s trow 6 a. m,
tu J f.fci. M J
COTTON AS I) Ft. AX,
J hlL DUCK AND CANVAS,
Of all nun turn and brands
Tint, Awnlnpr, Trunk, aud VVngou Over Duck,
A loo l'i.p r HI auuiacuirers' Hrlor i'rlin iiom oue Iu
beveial leei vNlile; l'aull' if. Belling. Hull Twine, 0U3,
JOU W. KVKI1MAN A CO.,
86J No. lwJONioj' Aiiey
A
r
218 & 220
S. FRONT ST.
& CO
WINES, ETC.
goAOMA mm COMPANY.
Eatnbllstaed for the en'c ot
1'CUKC'AUrr.ttMA WINKS.
TMs Company oiier lor sale pure Caillornla Wlnefl
Will I K. CLAKKf,
CATAWBA. tfOlf.
BD.H.3KV, MUsCATKI.,
AMiJiLICA, CUAiUlMO'jE,
ANT)
PUKE MJRAH-; BRANDY,
vho'efcalp and retail, all of tiietr o-n (trnwlrfr, and
vi ut ranted to ouuiatu uolilng but tbe pure Juice of IU0
Krni.e.
Depot. No. 29 RANK Ptrpet, IMiiladuIph'&.
llAllN & liLAl.N, Aue.iU 83 lmrp
JAMS! 3 CARSTA1RG, JR.,
Sos. 120 WALXUT find 21 URAXITE Sts.,
IMPORTER OF
Unuidies, Wines, Uln, Olive Oil, Etc. Etc.,
AND
COMMISSION M Kit CHANT,
10R THK SALE OF
ri'KE OLD HYE, WHEAT, AXD BOUK-
BOX WHISKIES.
LUMBER.
1868.
BPKUCK JOIST.
bk'KUClC JOlISI,
H KM LOCK,
H Kid LOCK.
1808.
1Cl!C SlLAIjONltD CLKAK PljSK. 10"0
lOUO. BEAbOiNillt'LKiKPiMi. lOtJO.
CHU1C& jfATfKKN PINK.
BPANDsH CEDAR, FOR PA'JTIlSNB.
RED CKDAR.
IQ'C JfLOKlDA FLOORING, 1 0O
lCUO. iLORlUA FLOOR1S3. loDO.
CAROLINA FLOORUSU.
V1RUIMA FLOORING.
DELAWARE FLOORlNOi
ASH FLOOKINU.
WA UT FLOORING.
FLORIDA bTEP ROAKDd.
RAIL PLANK.
lftQ WALNUT BUS, AND PLANK.. 1 D'Q
lOCO. W ALN UT BD8. AND PLANK. lOUO.
Ve A L. U T BOARDS,
WALNUT PLANK.
I QUQ UNDERTAKERS' LU ilBJfR. 1 QQ
LOUO. TJftDKR.l'AKF.ltH' LUMoJtl lOOO.
KLI) CEDAR.
WALNUT AND PINK.
I GCAh bEAbONED POPLAR. 1 Qo
iODO. bEAbONED CHERKV. 10Ui5.
AHH.
WHITE OAK PLANK AND BOAItDS.
HICKORY.
ClUAR BOX MAKERS' lOiO
JLOOO. ClWAR BOX MAKERB' lOOO.
HP AN Dirt CEDAR BOX BOARD.
FOR BALK LOW.
JiftK CAROLINA SCANTLING. TCf'O
JLCOO. CAKOL1NA H. T. BILLfcC lOOO.
NORWAY BCANTL1NO.
IfifiM CDAR bH INGLES. 1 or-o
AO DO. OlPRKHHSJUNULES. lOUO.
, ,. M.AULE, BROTHER 4 CO.,
No. 2am SOUTH Btreet,
F. W I U IA M S
VNTEEfiTK AKU EPKIftG GARDEN
OFfEBS rOB SALE
PATTEB2T LUMBER OF ALL KINDS.
EXTRA SEASONED PANEL PLANK.
BUILDING LUMBER OF LVF.RY DEiUIUP.
TION.
CAROLINA 4-4 and 5 4 FLOORING.
HEMLOCK JODsTS, ALL bIZES.
CKDAR SHINGLES, CYFRE-S BUJSCli SHIN.
GLEH, PLASTERING LATH, POsrs,
ALSO,
A FULL LINE OF
WALAUT AM) OIIIERIIAKI) WOODS.
J UMBER WORKED TO ORCER AT SHORT
yfh 7 27mwfm
T. P. GALV1N & CO.,
LUiVEER (MilVilSSIG: MERCHANTS,
bHAlKAMAXOX fsXIcLTT W11A11F,
BELOW SLOATS MILLS,
(so called), PHILADELPHIA.
AUEATti FORSOUTI1KP.N AND EASTEHN Mann
fei'Uirerb uf YKLaajvV PjlE Ld bPKUCii TIMBER
iJ'JAKD.-i. He, eui.ll be Jiai py iu lurul.iu orders al
.... v. . " . vcii.oibKiv ni mijf mx'BtmoiM pnrl.
CANADA PLANK AND BOARDS, AND HAO
MA1CC bHLf-KNEES. 181iuti7
ALL r W Il It'll Wil l. BE IlELIVEBED
AT AMY I'AliTOtTflK lTVIKJJI-ri.V,
fTNlTED STATES BU1LDKKS MILL. N 03.
U 24, 20. and IU 8. 1 1 FTKEN'TH Street.
ESLEH jr 0110., PROPRIETORS.
Always on band, tuade of tbe Btt Seasoned Lofiibai
at low prices,
iKWDi,Il,U8' JACKETS, BALUSTERS
Newels, Balusters, Brackets, arjd Wood Monldlnn
ANDNEWEi.mUl:, K-1' BALObTHau
W alnnt and Asb Hand Raillnt. K, tli, and I Inches,
BUTTFPNTT, CKESNCT.
MOULDINGS to order.
AND
WALNUT
fUl
DRUGS, PAINTS, ETC.
ROBERT SHOEMAKER, & CO.
N. & Corner ctTOUXTlI and RACE Sla
PHILADELPHIA,
wholesale: druggists,
IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTURER'S OP
Wlilto Lead ami Colored Taints, Tattj,
Vi.rulfcl.es, Ltt.
AGENTS ICR TliE L'ELK CRATED
FHOI U ZINC TAINTS.
I'EiLl l'.S AND CON--CMrnu blW.i 1 O AT
LOVVEhT nucitti FOR CASlL 6101
v.'i'di.kii.ij !nS uu uanu at our wharf
lOH HERN FLOOttlNG. SCAN 1 LliMH. SiilN.
OLE.-, F.AbTEPN LATHS. PICKETS. BED-SLATS.
ftPRUCK. HEMLOCK. kkLecT ftl (i:U tit 4 v tii ti