Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-06-07
Complaints 81 he American Press OF the
pollrv n Groae urlfn1n.

Complaints 81 The American Press OF tho
Policy Of Great Brifnin.
Whether the position assumed by Great
Britain toward the contending parties in the
United States is OF is not exactly right, the
propensity exhibited by American Journalists
TO criticism and complaint presents tbs peo.
pie before the world in an attitude the TO
verse Of dignifed. In the abssnss Of all
evidence to the contrary, II is but fair to pre-
sumo that Great Britain, in ixing-so far as
Il can be fixed by de~claration-ths relation
which she intends 70 hold rs, has been in
fuenced only BY motives that are just and
honOrable. Such being the case until there
is some testimony By which her motives may
be impeaohed, these criticisms and complaints
are symptoms Of weakness In ourselves, not
likely TO elevate us or our Cause in the opin-
ions Of the rest Of mankind,
The United States that was, has UNDER
gone professionally a process Of dissection.
W., Of the North, clGim that we are not to
blame for this fact nor responsible for its
causes, nor the ~originAtors Of the war that is
being waged between the parts. This may
be true; but attached to the condition We
are in, and without regard to its causes, there
are certain c~onsequehces which we can not
escape; the enemy will do what he can to
overcome, iDjure and annoy; and foreign
nations will have their constructions to put
upon the circumstances, and their policy to
determine accordingly.
A truly pluoky man never whines over
the accidental disadvantages he is forced TO
encounter, bat only nerves himself the more
strongly to overcome them. His courage
rises in proportion TO the demand that il
made upon him; and with courage comes
power. And such should be the case with q
truly plucky people. Suppose that Great
Britain has not said all that we could have
wished, or has said more than we would
have preferred, and that consequences mimi
cal to our interests or our cause may result
therefrem, are we therefore to despair, or to
indulge in complaining and self discourage
ment2 We put it to our contemporaries, if
this proceeding is not q little unmanly.
In disputes between other nations, or
between other Governments and their peo-
pie, the United States has ever exercised the
privilege to see with its own eyes and deter
mine its policy upon its own suggestions;
and is there any reason to deny TO Great
Britain a similar p~rerogative? We have had
several occasions to know how much the in
terests and even the preiudices Of the people
in. to control and direct the policy Of 1
the Government; and there is no reason to
that the British Government is any
more free than ours from the same disturbing
influences. If that Government has adopted
q policy that appears to Us inimical to the
interests of its people, is there not, in that
fact, reason to think that ii has been induced
to do so by its coneeption-however erron-
eous they may be-of j~ustice2
We do not know that the Government at
Washington feels aggrieved by the course of
the British Cabinet. We have no reason to
that it does; and we can not but
think that the conduct of the American
press is calculated to beget nlfeelings toward
us and our cause that nave not heretofore
existed, and to place us in an undesirable
aspect in the eyes of other nations of Europe,
whose respect and sympathy it is important
to retain.