The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-09-22
THE PR ESS.
Thursday Mornine, September %, 1870


Gen. Batter ON the War Path Again.
There are three American Statesmen" who
delight in nothing so much as wadlng knee
deep in gore-George Francis Train, Senator
Chandler of Michigan and Gen. Butler Of
Lowell and the Essex distric-. These gentle
men, ii their own words are t. be accepted as
accurately presenting their opinions, are SO
sanguinary in their tastes, SO boundlessly fe-
rocious and implacable in their feelings, SO
reckless of human life and Indifferent to the
wild waste and desolation of war, that Tanner
lane with his pyramids of skulls, Valentinan
who kept two pet bears in his sleeping apart
ment to afford him the gentle pleasure of |
seeing his subjects torn in pieces, and Torque-
mazda, the inquisitor, seem in comparison tame |
and harmless sort ofpersonages- fact quite |
milksops. Even that monster of wickedness,
Louis Bonaparte, who involved France and
Prussia in deporable struggle for the bene-
lit oil his son whom he gaiy took to the field
and gaily entertained with the spectacle of
human slaughter, is relatively conciliatory,
humane and conscientious old gentleman of
correct habits and modest department. But
for our warlike triumvirate above mentioned
-whew! what wild work they make-in their
harangues-with nations, principalities, do
Ininions and powers! Not that either of these
gentlemen has ever actually hurt anybody in
particular, sacked any known city, or carried
away into captivity any Inflated people.
Their martial rage is something purely SUBJ
jeclive, but it is terrible to contemplate, new
ertheless. Witness Mr.. Trains repeated de-
violations of the British empire, and Mr..
Chandler seizing Canada as an indemnity for
the losses inflicted by the Alabama.
But it is Gen. Butler who has more recent
ly crowned his noble brow with laurels-we
might say piscatorial laurels. The dispute
between the United States and Great Britain
concerning the Canadian fisheries gave him
the needed opportunity. Before the reciproc-
ity treaty was abrogated our fishermen en-
joyed by virtue Of its provisions the right to
fish in Canadian waters, and thus many
thousands of American citizens, especially in
this State and Massachusetts, engaged in the
business and gained living thereby. The
treaty Icing annulled at the instance of our
government, the Canadians, as kind of re-
tallatory measure, at once gave notice that
American fishermen would no longer be per-
mitted to enjoy their old privileges, and that
hereafter they must not come within three
mics of the shore, it being principle of in
ternaitonal law that the jurisdiction of ma
ton extends to that dis ance from the coast.
B11t nm fort nj afo fIo 10 =, n;
terpreted in the two countries. The Canadi-
ans hold that the three miles should be reck-
oned from line drawn from headland to
headland, while Americans insist that they
may lawfully engage in their business at any
point three miles from land. For time the
Dominion authorities did not rigidly enforce
their view of the law, but this summer con-
Siderable naval force has been stationed in
the vicinity of the fishing grounds, aud many
American vessels have been seized, thus en-
failing considerable loss upon their owners
and upon the fishermen employed on board.
The settlement of these matters, including
the indemnity due for the seizures, if they
prove to be wrongly made, is clearly to be
sought by the peaceful methods of diplomacy.
The losses are large, they tall upon most de-
serving class OF people and the conduct of the
Canadians seems tyrannical and outrageous,
there is no doubt. In Gloucester, Mass,
where the people are naturally in state of
intense excitement on the subject, Gen. But
Ter made speech on Monday, in which he
said: eff were fisherman, and any attempt
was made to interfere with my rights,
would fight in defence of them, and the first
gun fred would either put stop to these
outrages or give us Canada l do not say
this in the heat of debate, but deliberately
and with fair knowledge of what am say
ing. Formerly part of the cargo of every
Yankee trader was New England rum. Now
would add to the staple few Springfield
muskets that loaded at the breech."
We will not stop to inquire aohy or how,
"the first gun fired would put a stop to the
outrages or give US Canada" for that is a
mere bit of bombast, such as demagogues
know now to use. 1t is evident that if Gen.
Buffers advice were to be followed, and if an
unauthorized and irresponsible appeal to arms
were to be made at this early stage of the con-
troversy, the peaceful relations of two great
countries would be endangered, with strong
likelihood OF loss of life and property on either
side of infinitely more worth than all the cod
and mackerel in the ocean:
We suggest to the people of Gloucester that
they that test the sincerity of their famous
Congressman's views by proposing that he
take personal command of the fishing feet
that he would have make forcible resistance
to the British navy. He once sailed for Fort
Fisher,-why not for the fishing grounds +?
There would be something admirable and
picturesque in the spectacle of Gen. Buffers
putting on Grecian helmet, embarking on a
fishing schooner, and leading his fleet to an
other Salamis on the banks. If the voyage
resulted in nothing else the fish diet must in
evitably prove beneficial to the:daring leader
for Prot. Agassiz insists that your fish are
rich in phosphorus, and hence highly produc.
tive of brain power. Now it would be a piece
of mere foolish impertinence to deny that
Gen. Butler is as well provided with brains as
perhaps any man. in the country, but it is
complained in some quarters that there is
Notwithstanding the general vigor of his in
tellect, marked deficiency in the region Of
the moral faculties. 1t might, therefore, be-
sonably hoped that nature, acting in its usual
benefcent way, would so manage the raw ma.
terial for brains that it would reinforce the
weakest part, and make the Essex stateman' s
intellect more symmetrical.
HVrrv1 r =,
now see whether the precedent established by
the Sickles case, which has never been
overruled by any verdict since rem
dered in this country, will be &C.
cepted by Maine court and a Maine jury
Since that trial it has uniformly been held
that man may xiii the person whom he sus-
poets of seducing mis- wife or of maintaining
improper relations with her. The history of
the Cole Hiscock case and the still more IA