National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-02-07
MR.. JENNINGs IN 'es AND IN "A.

MR.. JENNINGS IN IS AND IN "a.
A correspondent has sent US number of
extracts from the book which Mr.. Jen-
nings, the editor of the New York Times,
wrote in 1868. and which was publishedthe
same yearin London. with the inquiry, edo
you think that gentleman who held these
opinions only short five years since is the
proper person to edit the leading paper of
the Republican partyf" We have neither
the room nor the inclination. to print all of
the extracts which have been laid before
us. and SHALL therefore, give only few of
them. Mr.. Jennings is laborer in the
same field with ourselves. and has, we have
reason to know. changed many Of the mo-
narchical sentiments he then entertained
for others more In consonance with Amer
lean and republican ideas Of government.
The work in question, 1t should be remem-
bercd, was written under rather peculiar
circumstances SO far as its author was con-
cerned. He had been some yeas In the
United Suites as the correspondent Of the
London Times, writing letters to suit the
anti Democratic and anti-American preju-
dlces of that journal. He was a young man
of some ability, little reputation. and q
good deal of ambition. The new world did
not exactly suit him, and the hope of being
able to attain the position to which he as :
pired in the country of his birth and of his
love was somewhat dark and unpromising.
1t was the most natural thing in the world,
under the circumstances, that he should
have endeavored to conquer fortune at a
bound by writing book which would at
tract attention in two countries at the same
time. There is nothing absolutely wrong
in it. The views expressed in it are simply
those which were held at the same time by
large number of our statesmen, by Hora-
ito Seymour and Vallandigham and Pendle-
ton, and which found daily utterance in the
columns Of the copperhead press, and in the
avowed organs Of secession upon the other
side Of the Potomac.
Ii is of course ugly reading-now an un-
pleasant record for the man who edits ''the
only Republican paper in New York city"
as he advertises it; but il is after all q rec
ord Of easy explanation. In 1868, for in
stance, as we find on page 249 of his book,
he was opposed to negro suffrage, believing
chat the American people have not yet de-
cidcd to make negroes their rulers and that
contest to settle that issue has still to be
fought out" Mr.. Jennings, when he be-
came the editor of the Times, year or so
later changed these opinions entirely, and
wrote to suit the policy of the paper. II
he had been made the editor of the World
or of the Richmond Wing the record would
have been all right and would not have
occasioned him the least embarrassment.
One extract to which our attention is called
particularly isso absurd that We can scarcely
believe that Mr.. Jennings wrote it. Our
correspondent, however, assures us that
upon page 273 he asks, "Where are now
the safeguards upon which all eminent
Americans who have ever lived chiefly de-
pended for the maintenance of the Union
the integrity Of State rights and the univer-
sal obedience to the Constitution? The
storms of ninety years have undermined
them and the shock of civil war COM
pleted their ruin" Mr.. Jennings could
not certainly have written anything about
the United States as grossly untrue and his
torically inaccurate in $685. It is a scanda-
lous assault upon the Republican party,
which was then honestly endeavoring to re-
store each State to her proper relations in
the Union. 1t was the year in which Gen
eral Grant was elected President; when
the work of reconstruction was completed,
when the North and South alike rejoiced
in restored and reinvigorated union of
the States -sE.i 4t-5 a
Our correspondent, who we suspect is q
high ariff man, is very much incensed at
the following. which he says is to be found
a: page 223: with the exception of the
Democratic party-of course an importan
exception-all classes in the country are de-
ceived by these fallacies, (protcction, long
ago exploded in England Ardent pro-
tcctionists Of course expect that the
paper which is the only Republican paper"
in the largest city in the country should
support the American system s it Is called;
but it is not, afleran, necessary, and Mr..
Jennings, as Republican editor, has rs un-
doubted right to be free trader 8 Ny.
Greeley had to be pro.ectionist. Il would
Of course better please Mr.. Kelley and
other champions sfa, high tariff, who are
also distinguished Republican leaders; but
they should permit an honest difference Of
opinion. The Times rs it Is at
-. a.