New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-04-07
ENGLAND. CANADA, AND THE UNITED
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article from an able London paper, The Anglo
| american Times, edited, we believe, by retired
| officer of the British Army, and which, while
always friendly to America, is thoroughly En-
glsh in its stern devotion to British rights and
British honor. 1t isl in response to the sug-
gestion of THE TRIBUNE, whether If England
should voluntarily proi1er to us O cession of
British America, with the assent, OF course, OF
its people, as O settlement in full OF all exist
ing claims, we might not, consistently with our
national honor, accept the tender, and agree to
revise the International Code, now saddled with
the Alabama precedents, and adjust the rela-
tons of the two countries upon such basis OF
mutual faith and mutual interest as to secure
permanent and cordial peace. The Anglo
american remarks that these views care in
accordance with the opinion of no small
"section of the English people," and ADDS
with emphasis ave verify believe that the
lend will be what THE TRIBUNE suggests"
To accomplish so happy a result as the pre-
vention of war and the restoration of harmony
between these great nations, by an arrange
ment so simple, and, as it would seem, so mutu-
ally advantageous, the assent would be neces-
sary, first of England then of the Canadas, and
lastly of the United States.
In England, the project will probably be op
posed by some on the score that 1t wonld be
humiliating to the national pride to consent to
the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the British Empire. But
the answer to this will be, in the language OF
an English statesman, that ga great empire
"territorially may be lessened. without Its
"power and authority in the world being dimin-
"Ished," and by the fact that, while in mill
tary point of view Canada must be to England,
when engaged in war with the United States
or with any other power, a source of weakness
and expense, her annexation to the UnitedState
would instantly relieve the English Government
| from the unpleasant dilemma of hopelessy at
tempting its defense or prudently abandoning
| the colonists to their fate while TO the English
people annexation would bring immediate re-
! lief as regards the taxes extOrted from them
Mt home for expenditure in British America.
Were the American Government to demand
the cession of the Canadas, the pride Of
England might naturally suggest a refusal-but
| for England of her own accord. to intimate
her cordial assent TO annexation, should the
colonists desire it, would be very different
matter; and, in view of the extent to which
the interests and the feelings of America have
been wounded, Willingly or unwittngy, by tho
ravages of the Alabama. could there be moro
proper or n more digniiied act on the part of
the British Government for the restoration of
harmony between the two nations
The favorable consideration of the project Of
settlement may, perhaps. be assisted in England
by the uneasy feeling which begins TO pervade
the mercantile community. and which occasion
ally exhibits itself in the daily press The Pail
Mall Gazette, in q leader on "Statesmanshp
" in the Admiralty touches upon tho COM
parative effectiveness OF the English and
American navies. 1t quotes Mr. Childers
statement in Committee that 1.-The United
States possess no sea-going armored ships,
but they have an immense fleet available
:" for defensive purposes. The value Of their
/" recent unarmored feet is very doubtful"
"That,r says The Gazette. "is doubt which
I" it is Of great Importance to clear up. The
example of the Alabama abundanty shows
"what few fast cruisers may do in the way
f" of destroying commerce and our turret ships
T" would be about as competent to deal with
them as rhinoccros would be to overtake q
greyhound. At present, all we know
dis that a war with the United States is not,
unhappily, an impossible event, and that the
" kind Of warfare which would most harass us
" is also the kind which would best suit Amer
"iean interests and the American character
"In these two facts there is sufficient cause for
"anxiety" This alusion to American charac-
ter Just after reference to the Alabama, may
perhaps be explained by the following frank par
agraph from previous humber of The Gazette:
" The Times makes one admission which does
"not help us much Our ancestors were rob-
"bers and pirates, and the Americans are
"step further from that origin than we are
a. for we are an earlier link In the chain Our
"piratical propensities have been done full
"justce to by the Americans for four years
"past. They are prepared to concede any
thing we like to demand on that score"
Both The Times and The Gazette seem to for
get that the American people trace their an
cestry to other nationalitcs beside that of
England, that the best blood of every country
in Europe mingles in their veins, and that they
count among their ancestors Walloons and
Hollanders, HuguenOts and Waldenses,s Ger
man Reformers, Swiss Professionals and English
Ouakers. who brought with them, it is true,
memories of crime and violence and sturdy
conflicts, but Of conflicts where they fought
neither as pirates nor as robbers but to de-
fend their homes and their religion from the |
assaults of an insolent aristOcracy and the
massacres of prosecuting Church. This thought
and our too vivid recollection of the recent
exploits and burnings that justify the claim of
The Times of English superiority in these partic-
ulars, forbid us to question the rightfulness of
its boast; and yet, knowing the force Of ex-
ample, we sincerely trust that England may |
wisely avoid compelling us to the test of rivalry
in this sort of warfare.