The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-15
THE NEW york PRESS.
unrroRrAh oF1NIoNs or THE LEADWe JoURNALs
IRON CURREM TorIos-ooMr1LED EvRRT
pAY FOR THE EVENING TELBeRAPH.


In the ught OF Jne tnrllunB ana glorious
news now coming from Mexico, the true states
man---suoh statesman, for instance, as Mr..
Senator Chandler, or Mr.. Representative
shanks-may well weep over Americas lost
opportunity. We see in the enlightened
republic of Mexico the operoton of what Mr..
George Wilkes calls Irresistible civilizing''
principles. The retrospect is humiliating
but nevertheless chastening 1t is not plea
SAINT to learn Irresistible civilization from
MexicO but we cannot forget what might have
been our position if we had followed this illus
trious example-for "that American" 1--WE
quote the stately rhetoric of Mr.. Will1es)
"must be cold indeed who is not touched with
generous emotions at beholding the devoted
men who have been the defenders of these
principles victorious at last in the Just pun
ishment of Maximilian."
If General Grant, for instance, had possessed
the sagacily as well as the military genius of
Escobedo, he would not have wasted so much
time over Richmond. The capture of Que
retaro shows that our great commander is
ignorant Of an essential element of war.
He should have sent some practical
suter into the town, and purchased it. It
would have been cheap at a million of dollars
and there were, no doubt, many needy
Rebels who would have sold out at half the
money. There is no triumph more vulgar
than war, and our Saxon nature too often
yields to the degrading instinct of fighting.
How much nobler, nay, more, how much
more economical, and in keeping with our
commercial genius as a nation, to see written
under our trophies at Washington, Spur
chased wholesale, for a million of dollars, by
that renowned tradesman, U. S. Grant"
Having thus ''taken" the town, we should
have at once ordered court-martial. A dozen
subalterns might have been censured In
America as well as Mexico it is well known
that we have no lawyers so wise and merciful
as the junior officers of the army. Davis should
have been arraigned, and with him Lee, and
Johnston, and Longstreet, and Beauregard,
and all their captains. They should have
been allowed twenty-four hours for their de-
tense. With court properly selected there
could be no doubt of the result and early in
the morning succeeding, Mr.. Davis and his
generals would have been led out to Shockoe
Hill and shot. The spectacle of two or three
hundred generals Of the Rebel army, their
persons purchased by the judicious expendi-
ture of a moderate sum of money, gallantly
shot by sergeant's guard, would have gone
down to posterity as the most glorious event
in our history. Our children would not only
rejoice over the 'irresistibly civilizing" effect
of such spectacle, but upon its amazing
oheapness, and our orators would dwell for
innumerable Fourths of July upon the pa
triotism and cheapness of our victory over
Rebellion.
Having thus disposed of the officers of the
Rebellion, and, taking all the departments oi
the COntederacy, succeeded in shooting some
5000 or 1000 Rebels, we might have proceeded
to take the money and confiscate the property.
There should have been judicious system ol
forced loans. All foreign merchants should
have been made penniless for the purpose OF
showing our contempt for what Mr.. Wilkes
calls "the combined cohorts of monarchy and
treason.'' The churches should be pillaged
on general principles. We know no reason
for this except that glorious Mexico teaches
us that pillaging a church is "irresistibly
Civiizing." We should have made an ex-
ample of the nuns. We read with rap
ture how that superb citizen, Senior Juan
Jose Baz, under the command of the gal
liant citizen General Poririo Diaz, and carrying
out the orders of hia Excellency Citizen Presi
dent BenitO Juarez, ordered the nuns to dis
occupy the converts of Mexico within 48
hours, and that $50 pestiferous, malignant,
bloodthirsty nuns, whose sex and vocation
are q menace to every free country, were
turned out of their homes. The spectacle Of
$50 nuns, armed with their deadly crucifz
and beads, and carrying reasonable and in
fiammatory prayer-books, marching out o
their grey old convent gates, is so 'irresistibly
civillizing' that we can scarce restrain oul
wrath when we think what an opportunity
Grant and Sherman and Sheridan disregarded
Mexico may well taunt us with these purpose
less and unmanly warriors, and point will
pride to her Senior Juan Jose Baz, and he
citizen General Escobedo who will neve
want foeman so long as nuns are to fight
and will always capture city when it is to bt
bought for money.
We have spoken of confscation. Alas TO
the purblind craftsmanship that lost thi
golden opportunity There was so much il
the South to confiscate-and we lost il all
There were Confederate bonds, and iron clad
that would not sail, and grey shoddy, AM
land. The one thing that we need in thi
country is land. Certain malignants tell III
that we have more to give away than tn
whole nation could cultivate if every man
black and white, were to go to farming. 1t
also said by the same pusillanimous creature
that If nine-tenths of the land in the Soutl
were to be given away, our soldiers would mo
take it unless compelled by a mandamus a
the Supreme Court. These insinuations ind
cate spirit of disloyalty, and show that W
Having done this, we should then, to sho,
our opinion of foreign friendship, have d
rected our newspapers to assail such men ;
John Bright, and Laboulaye, and Cochil
Take the letter of Ignacio M. Altamirano,
member of the Juarez Cabinet, for a mode
Should II ever be said that the sympathy
the large and glorious Liberal party OF Fran
and England aided us in our war Never
Let US admit that "the tears Of ink shed
the news of our defeats ''afforded us sol
consolation" but let us rise above any pet
exhibition ofgratitude which would only ha
haa, oonotruad IN WQaknass.