The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1872-03-07
Sumner and Schurz.

The excitement caused by the late
speeches of Sumner and Schurz is now
abating, they can bring no substantial
evidence, that our Government has been
guilty of any breach of neutrality and
their plot to injure our President has
failed, they have only shown contemptl
bility. Why did they not speak and act
in this matter when Sumner was the
Chairman and Schurz one OF the most
prominent members of the Senate Com
mittee on our Foreign relations at the
time this breach of neutrality is alleged
to have taken place? Why did they try
now at this late hour to injure the Ad'
ministration and with il degrade our
whole nation? The Missouri Democrat
speaks plainly and forcibly when he says ::
There are degrees of Demagoguery, as
| there are of all other vices and virtues
known to man. There is the small dem
/ agogue who appeals to the passions OF
the ward meeting, and there is the larger
demagogue who, for selfish purposes, ad-
vocates what he does not believe IN a
/ Congressional district, or In State. 1t
seems to have remained, however, for
! Messrs. Sumner and Schurz to sound the
! lowest depths of this vilest OF arts In the
| proposition which the latter instigated
| and the former fathered In the United
/ States Senate a few Gays ago. 1t is hard
! Is necessary for US to state that MIR.
Schusz and the long whereas and the
short resolution IL regard to the sale OF
arms to the French government. Cir
| cu,nstaaces of birth and nationality rem
| dered it impoiite for hiaa to introduce
them officially 1t would give the stamp
of apparent truth to the recent iaputa-
| tian upon tie sincerity of has citizenship;
: and would convert into a fact what We
regard as fetion-that he is more of an
/ ambassador than a Senator In this coun-
try. He was ssaresd enough to look
| round and find some one whose patrE0t
ism was not so liable to assault; and he
had not far to go, for there was Sumner,
| still ,smarting under assumed affronts
and ready to strike the nation if necessary
| ia order to strike the Administration
also. Having got the matter before the
| Senate, Mr. Schurz cared very little
what the people or the newspapers said
OF him; except ifthey said very much, he
could fall back on his old trick of boo
! hooing and running home to tell the Ger
maus how he was being prosecuted be-
cause he was cne of them. In this par
ticuar instance. however, he has gone
too far; he has travelled SO much beyond
the pale of sympatily, thae it would be
an insult at once to the patriotism and
to the intelligence of the German ele-
ment to suppose that he found any ln-
dorsers in it. The German element. as
it is called. is just as patriotic, and just
as American L. its opinions on questions
OF national politics. as the native born
elemeue and if an occasional prejudice
against foreign born cl,lzens maniFests
itself, it Is only in rebuke Ut such efforts
as Mr. Schurz is now making to comblne
for or against any particular party Ger
tain class or nationality among our popu'
iation. The Germans of ST.. LOFTS and
of the country know this very well, anC
hence we find among them a strong reac
ton against the demagoguery which
! IL ha
sonal advancement of Mr.. Schurz or O
: anybody else.
Our readers are already familiar Will
the facts involved land elected by, tn,
Schurz-Sumner resolution. They hav,
: observed to very little purpose it the.
, have no; detected as the animus of tn,
whole matter desire to degrade certain
members of the present administration
even at the expense Of complications witt
foreign governments. A vulgar prover
calls that mean bird that would befou
its own nest and the public must con
cede that they must be mean Senator
who would be the first to bring charge
| against tfSlr Own COuutIy ANol ouAS "
Hessrs. Sumner and Schurz stand MOI
ally condemned for their unpatrlotl
course; but, if We are not greatly mis-
taken. they have laid themselves liabl
to criminal prosecution also. There is
statute of the UnitedStates, about sevent
years old, which makes 1t punishabl
offense for any citizen to meddle IN IL
ternatioral affairs rs these gcntleme
q have meddled, for the purpose of invol,
ing this country in complications Wit
other nations aud weare not aware tn:
Senators are excepted from its provision
: nor are We aware of any license by whic
Senator is privileged to be spy or
R traitar against the government.
in 1t is worthy of n1te. too, that IN Thur
days discussion Messrs, Sumner an