The New York herald., 1871-11-24

, 1ue Conllesoa anA Desslsy ef mcxi,e-A
Grand Opportunity fer General Grant.
The great poet has said "there il tide in
leads on to fortune" We may say with re-
gard to Mexico and the opportunity
that country affords for annexation,
ending the troubles there and adding
to the wealth and glory of the United States,
that this is the food tide in the history Of Gen.
eral Grants administration which, If taken
now, will crown the President with honor and
place his name among the most famous of
American statesmen. With ell the glory that
properly belongs to him a. the great COM
mander who finished the war Of tho rebellion,
posterity will judge him moro on the merits
of his public career as President than
for his military achievements. And
although he may be reelected from
political expediency or necessity he should
have the higher ambition of msriLing popular
Sclat and OF adding to the glory. progress and
territorial extension of his country. Every
President has not had that opportunity, and
none have had greater one than he has just
now of leading the nation to . magnificent
destiny.
The adjoining republic of Mexico, which is
conterminous with our own for thousand miles
or more, and only separated by a narrow
river part Of the distance aud by an imaginary
line along the other part is in stale of COM
plete disruption, incapable Of sclf-government,
and Is . continual source OF trouble and al
onvanca IN nur 0vn Oovarnmaut md pannlo
The regular and cons!itutionally chosen gov
crnment Of that country is assaileJ all round
by rival chieftains, BY Governors Of the sepa-
rate States, and BY powerful organized mill
tary forces. The President appears to be
powerless and to have great difficulty In main
tanning his authority against the factions, even
At the capital itself. From present appear
ances We do not think Juarex can
sustain himself. What, then, must
follow? There will be the same old drama
or. rather, trsgedy-of wars among the rebel
chiefs themselves, such rs we have known
before in Mexico, ~ well as In most of the
other Spanish-American republics, and the
same anarchy and destruction. There is little
chance Of Juarez maintaining his authority
but If even he should hold power for whi.c
over portion of the republic the chronic DIS
| organization would 60 on. There 10 no hope
Of q stable government In Mexico. Every
governmental experiment has been tried
colonial government republic under differ
ont phases, . military despotism, . native
imperialist regime, foreign empire, consti-
tuional republic and every other conceivable
form Of governmept-snd all have failed.
Our own government has extende ed . helping
and friendly hand to uphold tho republic and
nationality Of Mexico, and had 1t not been
for this that country would DO In Q more
wretched condition than it is at present. bad
ss that may be. 4
Let Us take . brief retrospective view Of the
action Of the United States toward Mexico in
order to understand the relations the two
countries bear to each other and our duty
under the present state Of things. After the
war with Mexico, when the people were COM
pletely subjugated and the country in our
hands, we voluntarily gave up possession,
except tho sparsely settled portion of Califor-
mia, which was almost wilderness then, and
which we actually purch ased. The majority
OF the Mexicans then would have preferred to
live under the American government; but
partly from tho shortsightedness Of our poll
ticians, who were afraid Of incorporating at
that time such large foreign population and
territory, and partly from the magnanimity of
our government and people, the native Aexi-
can republic was restored and upheld. &c.
too, under political, diplomatic and CONNER
cial difficulties which We have had with
Mexico ct different times SINCE the
integrity and nationality Of that country
have been respected Though We have
received ingratitude In return for our
magnanimity and generosity, we have borne
with It patiently, in hopes that the Mexi-
cans would in the end appreciate our kind
ness and follow our example In establishing
respectable republican government. When
the French invaded and conquered Mexico
and established foreign imperial government
over It, and when tho Mexicans were utterly
powerless to prevent this extinguishment Of
their nationality, The United States, by its
moral power, forced the invaders and tho
exotic empire to evacuate Mexican SOIL In
fact, this country restored the authority Of
President Juarez, and has, by the same indu-
ence, been mainly instrumental in preserving
the republic under him. In every way and
oil through the history Of Mexico for the last
quarter Of century this country has been As
forbearing and kind to its neighboring repub-
| lie a. parent to . child. But eli has been
in vain. The Mexicans cannot govern tbem-
selves. Their condition has been growing