Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-23
GRANT AND THE GERMANS.

Senator Conkling, in his attack on Sum-
ner and Schurz last Monday, indicated very
clearly the result which the Grant party
fears should Summers resolution be adopted.
Whether the object of the resolution is TO
ssconvince the Germans of America that
high Republican officials had clutched blood
money" in the Franco-P russian war or not,
there is no doubt that the Germans do
entertain such An opinion. And they have
good reason to doubt the sincerity
of Radicals who protested sympathy with
the Prussian cause in the late struggle. 1t
is useless for the Administration TO screen
itself behind the fiimsy excuse that it was
not aware that tie large quantities of arms
and ammunition sold from the government
arsenals in 1901 were purchased by
agents of the French government. No one
believes such a statement. 1t carries I'M
truth on its face. The Secretary Of War
could not have been ignorant when he sold
10000 Springfield rifles to one party and
10000 to another, several batteries Of
artillery to another, with immense
quantities of ammunition and when he even
set the government factories TO work to
manufacture cartridges to suit the Spring
field and Henry rifles, that all these war
like stores were required for use beyond the
boundaries Of the United States. There
81 hut W in
and it must have occurred to him that they
were purchased for either Of the belliger-
ents. In view of the fact that the
Alabama claims we're unsettled, ard
the high ground taken by the United
States Government on the question
of neutrality in that dispute, common pru-
dence ought to have suggested to the Sec
rotary of War the ACCESSIBILITY of either
postponing the sale Of ordEanceand ammun-
ition till some less critical period or of use
ing all diligence in preventing them from
being conveyed to either French or Ger
man ports. What, however, were the facts?
The sales were not only made under sus-
picious circumstances, but to men well
known to the public at least as being in the
employ of the agents of the French
government. After the arms were sold and
the ammunition was manufactured in the
government factories and handed over to
the purchasers, the administration troubled
itself no further about the matter. The
German population of the country protested
against the unfIiendly conduct Of the lOv-
eminent towards Prussia, and Senator
Schurz used his best enGeavors to
stop the sales, but without effect.
The plea of ignorance, urged by admins
tration Senators, is, therefore, without foun-
dalton. They were not only aware that the
arms and material were purchased for the
use of the French armies, but they knew
that the Germans in America opposed the
outrageous conduct of the Administrations
Toe I. esident must have been blind in
deed, if he did not know all this at the
time. 1t would be an insult of man Oc-
cup7ing the Presidential office to assert
that he did not. 1t is more reasonable |
to suppose that he was aware Of it, but had |
to choose between two evils: the danger of !
the Germans from his party, OF
tie powerful rings endeared to
him by association in many a military |
aud many dark political plot. !
He gave the preference to his military |
ring, thinking, no doubt, that
the action of the administration
would pass unnoticed by the mass of the
Germans in this country. In doing so. he
sreckoned without his host" The Ger
mans are a people accustomed to think for
The tone of the German
press throughout the land, and of their
political leaders shows that they can
not be imposed upon by the clap-trap
of Radicals whose acts have given the lie to |
their friendly professions. They have
weighed Grant and his colleagues in the
balance and found them wanting, and the
next elections will show that they can be as
victorious at the ballot over their enemies as
heir brethren were over their foes in the
ield.