The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-12-20

attempting to fughten us into q new recl-
procity treaty by raising the old familiar bug
bear Of the fisheries.
In raising these two questions, the friends
of the administration think it has demon
strated that it is not wholly without vitality:
that, indeed it may appear to the public to
have q policy; at all events, that il has q
couple of measures on hand. We can afford
to be magnanimous and admit that this is
something. The measures, to be sure, are of
o low order, but they are all the easier under
stood for that And this is so much the
better for the administration. They won't
overtax its expounding force. They may be
termed easy lessons for beginners in the art
of government.
But, while according this much praise, we
cannot shut out of view the fact that this
''policy, if so it may be dignifed, is not what
the intellect of the Republican party would
have suggested. The leading minds of that
organization would like to have seen the ad-
mipistration lift itself out upon some distinct,
intelligent, Ineligible, and commanding po-
sition, showing q worthy conception of the
high and multfarious duties of great gov
erpment after civil convulsion which shook
the world by its magnitude.
The present is an eminently proper time to
elucidate the principles which should under
lie the legislation of the country in its
changed condition, both in its external rela-
tions and in its domestic concerns. Espe-
cially it was the province of the administra-
tion to set forth it's views-and it will not
do to say it had none-upon the still unset
tied problem of reconstruction, so as to give
aid to the hesitating judgment of Congress
upon that subject. 1t might and it
should have reviewed the fundamental con-
stitutional questions which have so long
divided parties in the country, and
showed wherein the fiery discussions
and resulting Shareholders Rebellion and
civil war have modified their aspects and
given new point of departure to the Gov
eminent. few timely words on this theme
would have dissipated many obscurities and
false notions which now perpex numerous
well-meaning minds and would have brought
into bold and satisfactory relief that great
benefcent mission upon which the country
has entered from out the smoke and the blood
and the fire of civil war. The administration,
while forgiving, should also have let the world
know whether it proposes to remember or to
forget and reward, the uuspeakable crimes of
the Rebellion; and herein it might have
spoken in a manner to blast pusillanimity and
electrify a nation.
1t might have risen to q comprehensive
appreciation of what, in our day and in our
position, is more than the right arm of our
national power, namely, our navy. 1t might
have shown wherein, and wherein alone, the
strength of the navy consists, namely, in the
development of our maritime capacities ; and
therefrom it might have demonstrated the
necessity of resuscitating our mercantile
marine.
1t might have laid open the broad field of
our external national duties and relations,
explaining in a wise and guarded manner
the principles and policy which should gov
ern the nation in its future and inevitable
absorption of the countries contiguous to
our own, which may now or hereafter desire
incorporation into our system. This is q
most important theme, belonging peculiarly
to the present hour, upon which our Govern
mont should have an opinion and express it.
1t should have recognized and considered
the already active controversy on the doc
trines of protection and free trade, and should
have contributed some mite of wisdom and
some maxims of moderation to the settlement
of question already threatening the harmony
of the Republican party. If the edministra-
tion had been large enough and bold enough,
it could have spoken the word shat would
have disposed of the impracticables on either
side of this dispute and furnished key to
the solution of q difficult and embarrassing
question. 1t should also have been compe-
tent to grasp, in its principles and its details,
the great questions Of finance and currency,
and it should have enlightened the public
understanding with at least statement of
the elementary principles governing these
subjects, and pointed out the true path by
which the country may emerge from its pre-
sent disturbed, uncertain, and complicated
monetary condition.
These are the more Obvious topics that de-
manded treatment in any intellectual survey
of the situation. But the administration
could not rise to this palpable view of its
duties. 1t has failed to afford any mental
sustenance to a great party which has per-
formed an immense service for the country
and to humanity, and now, in the full frui-
ton of Its hopes, contemplates suicide fol
want of brains in its chosen leaders. Sur
rounded by an afiuence of realization in its
highest aims, its faints by the wayside be-
cause its guides fail to perceive the abundant
resources around them.
1t remains to be seen whether the sug
| gested pugilistic encounter with the little
Dominion, or the proposed bargain for a par
of a tropical island with a civil war thrown
| in, can be made to serve as a substitute fol
| the declaration of principles and the enuncia
| tion of vital ideas which the thinking por
tion of the Republican party perceive to b.
essential to its future existence.
SENATOR SCHURZS PARTY STANDING
From the N. Y. World
1t would be a mistake to consider Mr.
Schurz's recent speech as of the slightes
| t6giSLdttOe Importance In its main substanc
it was not prospective but retrospective
looking, not to the success of any pendin
measure, but to the vindication of Mr.
SchurZ's personal action in the late election
in Missouri. His amnesty resolution wa
a mere peg to hang his speech on. We d
not know whether il quite became him t.
make SO elaborate a protest against hi
ostracism from the Republican party. H