The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-04-21

| The administration stands fast on the Amer
lean case on those Alabama claims. In the
interest of Confederate spectators and stock
;obbers there has evidently been deep in
trieue at work to secure the withdrawal OF our
consequential damages. Honest Americans,
only interested in the matter in the mainte-
nance of the consistency, honor and dignity of
their government, will be gratifed with the
assurance that this intrigue has failed, and that
the American case will not be abandoned We
presume that with the official PRONUNCIATION of
this fact the meeting and organization Of the
Geneva Tribunal for business will be delayed
and that exchanges of diplomatic notes be-
tween the 'high contracting parties" will be
continued for some time to come. So, then,
let it be. There is no necessity in this bust
ness for haste on our part Our. case will
keep, and we can afford to await the sober
second thought of England. Meantime, we
would again call the attention of General
Grant to his duty and his great opportunity in
reference to that land of chaos-our neighbor-
ing republic of Mexico, and to our existing
frontier embarrassments with that unhappy
country.
OF course the argument that arrests us at
the outset is that no governing power has the
right to rescue itself from embarrassment by
wanton outrage upon its neighbors But in
no sense can Intervention in Mexico assume
the aspect of ilibustering. All ten denotes of
that nature faded away with the rebellion. Be-
| fore the war our Southern statesmen were eager
for any enterprise that looked to the aggrandize-
ment of the South. What slavery wanted was
room. The growth of the republic narrowed
and stifed it, and the tide of emigration and
wealth and education crept into the Ter
ritories north of the Missouri line.
This was natural-alnost unavoidable.
The Southern States were sparsely settled
Slavery gave wealth to the few but to the
Commonwealth it brought atrophy and decay
A small, proud, powerful class was FURNISHED
into condition Of splendor that gave it the
brilliancy and effectiveness of an aristocracy.
But it was IN aristocracy that took no root
Without titles, laws of entail and primogeni-
ture, or an established Church, no aristocracy
can grow And in our country the leaders of
this slave power with their valor, their accom-
plishments and their chivalry, were constantly
antagonized by the sentiment Of freedom.
The free States grew in wealth and popula-
ton. The people were eager, practical, self
reliant and bold. Every ship that came to our
shores brought recruits, in the shape of the
young men of England, Ireland and. Ger
many. In the contest which came, and which,
as Mr.. Seward prophecied, was, in truth, an
''rrepressible conflict" freedom won
With this triumph there was an end of all fill
clustering adventures in the South. Since the
war we have had no disposition to increase our
area in the direction of slavery or in any other
direction. The annexation of Alaska was politi-
cal necessity which we welcomed because of
our relations with England, and as step in full
flment of that 'smanifest destiny which looks
towards the Arctic circle. But, apart from the
sentiment involved in the annexation of Alaska,
we felt keen delight in surrounding or
fanking, or in some way circumvallating the
English on this Continent Alaska was nothing
to us. 1t was an outlying colony; could not be-
come attractive for emigration, and, while
giving us a valuable commercial COM
of our fisheries, it was more burden
and an expense than an advantage. Our other
annexation ventures were in the direction of
st. Thomas and St. Domingo. That st.
Thomas affair was shabby and dishonor-
able on our part We agreed to take the island
from Denmark, and gave King Christian such
assurances that he lowered his flag, abandoned
|
all allegiance. But we refused to pay the
money we agreed to pay, and put upon Den
mark, small, ancient, and, to us, very
friendly Power, humiliation we would not
have dared to offer to Russia or England. We
would not pay for st. Thomas, because in time
we could take it. This was the whole of the
argument. We had the money. We wanted
the island. 1t was necessary to our protection
in the West Indies and the safety of our navy in
time Of war; but the brigand's plea overruled
every other, and we retired from our bargain.
St. Domingo would have been ours now but
for an intrigue and scandal If we had gone
about that business in more diplomatic way,
and had not attempted by a clumsy process to
do what belonged to exact and cautious diplo-
macy, we should have had the island. The
purposes which inspired General Grant in that
matter did him great honor; but he failed be-
cause he sought to do regular and proper
thing in an irregular way.
But two enterprises in the line Of our
manifest destiny remain, Cuba and Mex
leo. St. Domingo is only postponed. 1t will
come some time or other, with General Grant
second term, if oil goes we'll As to Cuba, we
are no nearer annexation than we were under
Buchanan, when Robert J. Walker urged
that timid and venerable statesman to
make its annexation the "war cry Of his ad-
ministration" We might have found way to
annexation through the present rebellion but