New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-07-01
o7p vEYIcAy BORDER TROUBLES.

Those frontier lines when uaho GU
mics of those who but fox TIA. Aao
melted into ore" have given the Lnlteo
States some Of its principal troubles
First. the British boundary, its military
POSTS and its :rrepressible savage5; no"
the constant collision Of two opposite
systems Of civilization separated hv
river readily :ordable ct any i'oi,-''
Hnt This modern conflict differs mate
rally from the ancien: in one 'inpo'''h.
resoec.. Formerly 10 American dfeafAi-
0; holding any government r. lis
| sib'e if the Indians bu.rs family
house, touahawked soneA his stock
and carried others vito worse than
and other n.cvab!esGut the art OF
Egyptian bondaamage done upon the
reclamation flown. and our ancestors
land was..eir vengeance and took !: out
cheristd skins. the latter being about to
of,aate the last installment around the
lava beds Of the Pacific. We can not
|help remarking that it lifts the mirage OF
history to think that the wars which IN
spired the poets Of England are Just the
exploits of the "Red Riever; that the
"Chevy Chase" Of Douglas and Percy was
q fight about deer skins and teud over
stolen cattle. and that the heroes OF
the Tweed and the Teyiot were merely the
Kickapoos and sreasers OF sem1-ba'bas-
GUS era.
But we are now in an age Of reclamation.
The rights Of personal property are recog-
nized an international responsibility. The
recent commission at Geneva has taken
account of every bale Of cotton or pack
age Of cotton alleged to have been lost
through failure 70 maintain the treaty and
national law Obligations Of the two powers
disputant. The claimants on the hlo
Grande seem well advised of this example,
and have apparently studied Mr.. Cush-
ings book attentively. They reproduce
claims for more than S27,OO0.0O0. and
even revive the doctrine of consequential
damages, though 0isallowed by the arbi-
traitors at Geneva. Indeed. commission
ers appointed by our government to IN
auire into the nature and extent OF these
reclama tons expressly go beyond their
powers to state that Of the large aggregate
claimed not more than one-tour:h. OF
s6,GOO,OO is probably due.
The presentation Of these claims besides
the annual expense of maintaining peace
on our Mexican border will render it nec-
essary that our government should have
a friendly conference with our sister re-
public on the best means Of preserving
peace on the borders. This may and
must be done without departing at all
from the pacific policy which we have
shown to exist. But there must be q bar
rier between the two peoples which preda-
tory bands can not pass from the one
side. nor follow with forced .eprisals
from the other. This boundary will
naturally be found in some range OF
intermediary mountains, which separate,
the population by barrier barren aud
distant from both.
This measure must be adopted for the
interest of both nations. If a few such
bills for reclamation are presented to and
paid by both Mexico and the United States.
they would in few years amount to the
purchase value of large territory. These
reclamations may be expected to come as
an annual crop so long as the present IN
obstructive demarcation Of limits shall
remain.
We omitted asa consideration Of perma-
nent boundary, the cost to the govern
.nent of both nations OF preserving peace
OF the Rio Grande. The pay. equipment,
support and transportation OF the United
States alone for this service can not
amount this year to less than five hundred
thousand dollars. and when We remember
tina. this may be an annual and perhaps
perpetual charge, we would have right
to stipulate the annuity and add 1t to
the annual reclamation. The pecuniary
consideration is, we repeat. the smallest
in the way. The United States seriously
wishes permanent friendship with Mex
leo. and to remove all possible causes OF
difference between these two friends it
will be evidently better that the border
war should be ended by separating with
enduring and impossible limits the tur-
bulent, rapacious and vindictiye spirits
on the frontier of each.