New Orleans Republican., 1872-05-22
mr. NATIONAL DIGNITY.

IN
No people are more keenly alive to
sense Of national pride than Americans.
1t is the crowning glory Of their nation.
Scarcely recovered from their grand reyo-
lutionary experiment, they did not hesitate
to fling defiance in the face of France to
maintain it. The war Of 1912 was the
immediate consequence of an insult to the
national honor. In all the conflicts that
have swept across the continent, from the
period Of our initial experiment as a
nation to this time, the one sentiment that
has governed and controlled the people
has been a due sense Of the honor and
pride Of the country. And more recently,
when we demanded from England an ad-
justment of the Alabama claims, the mo-
tive actuating the course of the United
States has been mainly induced by this
same sentiment. It is that England may
be taught that such outrages as we COM
plain Of can not be practiced toward this
government with impunity. The benefits
to be derived from the payment Of these
claims, while momentous to individuals,
in {. national point of view are compara-
lively nothing, except in the sense we
name.
In short it is a matter in which the
ma tional honor is interested, and we can
not abate one jot or title of the demand.
For this reason and in this sense arose
the claim for indirect or consequential
damages Otherwise we would have as
sumed a position like unto that of a
huckster bargaining for the actual price
of his wares. The right Of England to
fit out navies to levy war upon our COM
merce would be tacitly acknowledged.
Other countries could do the same, and
the slightest disturbance between govern
ments could be seized upon by nations to
crush out the weaker power or destroy an
Objectionable neighbor. Such policy
would put an end to national comfy. 1t
would destroy commerce by rendering it
insecure, and weak nations would be alb
solutely at the mercy of the stronger.
The United States could never recognize
such policy, and she sternly required Of
the English government redress Of the
Alabama grievances Despite the re-
luctance of the present administration,
and by the sheer force Of public opinion,
our demand has been put in tangible
shape. We have gone too far to recede.
The national dignity and honor have been
engaged to the successful prosecution
Of the claim; that for consequen-
tial damages has been urged with
even with more pertinacity than the rest.
| They are the claims under which the
English government has grown restve,
and to which it has threatened resist
ance unless they are Withdrawn. The
President thinks that foreign war would
be fatal to his chances for reelection, and
hence his desire for compromise, even at
the expense of the national honor. At the
request of the English ministry, he has
submitted to the Senate for ratification
the subjoined article, to be forwarded to
the tribunal of arbitration at Geneva:
In consideration thereof the President of
the United States, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate thereof, consents
that he will name no claim on the part of
the United States IN respect of indirect
losses as aforesaid before the tribunal of
arbitration at Geneva.
Could anything be more dishonoring
An American President, under the peculiar
circumstances in which the nation is in
volyed, should have refused to entertain
the proposition for a moment, much less
have submitted it to the Senate for adop-
ton. 1t is nothing more nor less than a
cowardIy surrender to foreign power Of
the chief rights recognized by the laws of
nations. Itwould make our government the
laughing stock and the contempt of Europe.
1t would justly forfeit us the respect
of all governments. And why is it done ?
For fear that a foreign war might lessen
the chances Of General Grant for re-elec-
ton Are we prepared to enjoy this
honor for a second term at such a sacrifice?
All over the country the spirit Of indig-
nation is spreading fast and far. This
supplemental treaty should never have
been submitted to the Senate at all Nor
are even the administration papers silent
on the subject The New York, Herald
holds in regard to it the following unmis-
taxable language:
We call upon him to withdraw this sup
Elemental treaty from the Senate, and to
reject it of his own act We call his friends
and opponents in the Senate to unite in ad-
vising such a course. Let the treaty be de-
strOyed, for the people care nothing about
it, and the country will not suffer from its
loss; but let the nations honor be pre-
served, and the administration viii find its
reward in the plaudits Of proud and hap
py people.
The American people, in the course of
their brief history, have submitted to
many reverses- have sacrificed much for
the sake of peace; but these reverses and
sacrifices have never included their in
suited honor and violated rights. 1t is
hardly probable that they will consent to
make beginning now. It is too late in
the century for the American government,
after successfully resisting England in
two bloody wars, to kneel and kiss her