The New York herald., 1871-02-06
General Butler for the Cabfnct-A Wa
with England In Wall Street.

with England In Wall Street.
The dulness which has for some time pre-.
vailed in Wall street was broken on Saturday
last by the startling rumor among the bulls
and bears that General Butler-''fghti Ben
Butler"-"Butler the Fenian," was booked
for the State Department at Washington, in
place of the amiable and eminently pacific Mr.
Fish. The bulls of Wall street were cowed
by the news, the bears began to play the
bully, and the lame ducks quacked and flut-
tered. Gold went up to the extent of one half of
one per cent, which is q wonderful rise for these
days on q mere Cabinet rumor, and that
rumor not Of an event accomplished, but of
an event among the probabilities of a new
Cabinet. What, then, would be the effect in
Wall street, with the official announcement of
Buffers appointment as Secretary of State, if
this mere rumor is regarded as pretty sure
sign of an impending war with England !?
We should no doubt have "a blue Monday"
or another "black Friday" among the gold
bulls. and another batch Of good cases for
the lawyers from the cheated and cheating
SdmUieTS vi tue gOlu pOOl.
Nevertheless, the time has come for some
such man as Butler in the State Department
bold and daring statesman-a positive,
active, aggressive and popular politician-a
king among the lawyers, and master in all the
arts and profundities, and strong points, and
bubbles and chop logic of diplomacy. Why
not Butlerp They have pronounced against
him in England because Of his resolution in
Congress expressive Of American sympathy
for the exiled Fenians. The thin-skinned
to England or as demagogical bid for the Irish
vote, just as the ferocious Canadians construe
General Buffers Cape Cod programme on
Yankee fishermen's rights as an outrage upon
<'the Lion and the Unicorn" or as a bit of
bnncombs for those cod fishers Of Cape Cod
who poach upon the cod fish of the Blue Noses.
But what does all this signify against General
Buffers appointment as General Grants secre-
tary on foreign affairs? X signifies nothing.
We go further. We hold that these English
and Canadian objections to General Butler are
good American reasons for his appointment.
In the name OF cOmmOu sense, WnaJ SORT OF III
dependence is this, which binds US in every
thing we do to consult the wishes and feelings
of John Bull? Dc we owe him anything
Are we under any such special obligations to
England, or do we so much depend upon her
gracious consent for our existence as nation
that the mere mention Of the appointment OF
General Butler to our State Department
as probability frightens all the old
grannies of Wall street? We say that
we want just such man at the head Of
our foreign affairs; and we believe that
General Butler in this place, just in pro-
portion to the sneers and objections of Eng
land, would be met with the appreciation of the
American people. In this view he is the very
man at this crisis for General Graut and the
republican party. Threw aside, Mr.. Pres
dent, all these old English crutches, and stand
up like man. ''Let us have peace" you say
and so say we; but let us have American indie
pendence, too. We can have both. Don't bt
afraid of that old lion. He may growl, but h,
can't bite.