The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-07-07
T H e R L P u B Lie.
WASN'T NGTON:
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 7, l84s.
PEACE FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE.

get up an excitement against the Admins
tration, on account of the prompt action of
President TAYLOR in indicating the neu-
trail rights, and preserving the good faith
of the nation, in the matter of the war
steamer "United States.' Such had
been the meddlesome and turgid spirit of
preceding Administrations, such the defe-
renee paid to the swollen and belligerent
demagoguism of professional agitators,
that the people--the laboring and peaceful
millions-had nearly despaired of seeing
Chief Magistrate possessing frmness and
moral courage equal to the duty of main
tanning the public peace at the hazard Of
offending the restless and Incorporate
portion of the community. The fitting
out of the war-steamer g United States''-
in violation of every principle of interna-
tional LAWN contempt of the interpre-
tation given, by the highest courts of iu-
dlcature known to the country, to our own
! statutes-in defiance of treaties solemnly
ratified, and against the policy handed
down to us from the founders of the Gov
ernment-was a direct surrender, on the
part of the last Administration, of the rights
and interests of the laboring classes; nay,
more, an abandonment of the duties and
responsibilities of Government to the
caprices Of the self-constituted guardians
of Christendom, who claim the right to
take care of the world because they have
nothing else to take care Of The farmer,
the mechanic, the artifcer, the miner,
the herdsman, had no voice in the clamor
which startled the Government from its
propriety. Neither they who dig wealth
from the bowels of the earth, nor those
who feed hocks and reap harvests on its
surface, were represented in the medley
of lawless interests which found in. the
Government an effective and obedient
ally.
1t was spectacle to gladden. the heart
of the nation, to see President of the
United States exercising the power vested
in him by the Constitution, in behalf of
the law-abiding and peaceful citizens of
the Republic. 1t was novel as well as
an imposing sight. 1t was for the hus,
bandman, remote from the centres of agi-
| tatlon; for the men of toll, who seek repose
| from honest labor whilst confederate mis-
chief makers brood over schemes of blood;
for those who love liberty for the blessings
it confers, for the dignity and good faith
of the nation, that this power was exerted.
! Had the Administration sought that kind
of popularity which fills the air with bois-
ferrous praises, it would have pandered to
the passions of boisterous people. This
was no part Of the policy of General
TAYLOR. In the sense Of security against
incorporate counsels which possesses the
country; in the confidence which all good
men feel in the preservation of peace; in
the impulse which this sentiment, as it
spreads throughout the land, will impart
to the industrial energies of the country,
the Administration looks for its reward
From every section of the Union we
meet with the evidences of an improved
state of public feeling. During presi-
dental term, at least, there will be sea-
son for the cultivation Of the ennobling
arts of peace-a period for the expansion
of domestic policies, having for their end
the knitting together in closer fellowship
the several parts of this Confederacy. 1t
is to check the growth of a sentiment so
conducive to harmony and progress that
the Locofoco press attempts to connect
the infraction of the law, in the case of
the "United States" with the struggle
for popular liberty now going on in Europe.
The considerate souls who waste their love
of freedom in getting up political excite
ments three thousand miles distant from
the scene Of freedoms battles, must be
encouraged to close quarters by turning
their denunciations upon the President of
their own country. As yet, the excite
ment is confined TO those who had some
thing to hope from an unsettled state OF our
foreign relations. The country reposes
in security; and, as the laborer gathers
together the fruits which have been
ripened by the sweat of his brow, he en-
joys deeper content at the reflection that
the plenty which surrounds him will be
blessed by continued peace. This is the
glory which a wise administration desires,
and this the guerdon which a good one