New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-07-31

United States 10 do il to insist upon taking into
their own hands the protection Of tho trsnst and
for that matter, the Isthmus of Panama itself, az
necessary to that end.
Take for granted all that The Times asserts upon
this sutect-we know not precisely upon what
authority. Let us suppose it to be true AZ tnst
journal pretends, that the more soldiers the New
Gransdan Government sends to guard aud protect
the passengers across the Isthmus the greater the
danger Of ibe passengers will be. Suppose it to be
true that the Government has no funds with which
to pay these soldiers, and that they will be obliged
to resort to robbery and plumber for living. Sup
pose the fact to be as The Times alleges, that for
want of any certain pay nobody can be induced to
accept the Office Of Chief Judge Of Panama, and
that in consequence nobody knows how many
innocent persons are IOtting in Jail for want
Of somebody to try them, while nobody
knows how many rogues and rascals are
RUNNING at large for q similar reason
Grant that the Government Of Panama is
in such disoreanized state that we have no
security at all for the safety of the transit, still We
think even The Times must see that, if such is
really the fact-and il such is not the fact. then the
proposed seizure Of the Isthmus Of Panama is
without any basis to support tit is none the lees
expedient to observe Bonapartes practice ofwating
till the pear is ripe, and not attempt to swallow it
green.
II the transit is really as unsafe as The Times
seeks to represent it, in the necessity Of the case,
that fact must before long be rendered clear and
uDquestionable At present, to those not behind
the curtain, like The Times, the Panama riot ap-
pears to have been an accidental showing
indeed the existence in Papama-and unfortunately
among the railroad passengers, too-of bad and
quarresOme spirit and of strong feelings of anti
pathy. But as yet nothing appears to prove that
this was not one of those accidents to which the
beat governed cities-Our own New-York
for iDstance-aFe sometimes liable; or that
the local authorities are without either the
will or the power to prevent the recurrence Of sim.
liar outraees. One swallow does not make Sum-
mer: neither does one riot-fOr the benefit Of our
dear New.YOr We are tempted to say neither do
two or three riots-establsh the fact OF hopeless
anarchy. The Times thinks it an iHtolerabe thing
that Gov. Fabresa, who issued the order to the
police to fire, and so converted comparatively
harmless fight into a bloody massacre, should 80
unpunished. But, however uDjustifable we may
suppose the conduct of Gov Fabrega, to have been,
or however worthy of Misunderstanding wholly
out of view Fabrega's excuse that he ordered the
police to fire on "Our citizens" only because
"Our citizens" who occupied the depot build
ipgs had opened fire upon the pO-
lice-let Us suppose that Fabrega, instead
of issuing q hssty and unadvised order in the
confusion Of the moment, acted with the most de-
liberate malice, yet We cannot see that his conduct
was in any respect worse than that of Mayor
Wood the other day, in ordering his police to re.
sist by force an officers posse, and thus melting
riot in which lives were lost and which, but for the
speedy Intervention of the militia might have turned
out a. dsastrousy as that Of Panama. We should
consider it rather sharp practice to take away the
charter oft City New York merely on theground
of Mayor Woods misbehavior on that occasion; and
would it not be equally sharp practice to upset the
Government Of Panama, merely because that dis
trict was 30 unfortunate as to have bad and reck
lees man for its chief magistrate, in the person Of
Governor Fabregai Cons dering the accidents to
which we ourselves are occasionally LIABLE consld-
ering the sort Of persons whom we sometimes place
in authority, considering how many, not "dOzens"
merely, but hundreds of wretches are staggering
about the streets Of New. York, Boosting of their
participation in unpublished outrages, it does
not become us to be Overstrict with
our neiehbors We insist, therefore. that it is but
reasonable to accept the indemnity offered by New
Granada and her promises for the future. She is
entitled to try once more. Should it turn out
that she is wholly incapable of securing the
afety of the transit, it will then be quite time to
discuss the propriety Of seizing the Isthmus.