Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-07-05
An English Opinion of General
Grant.

After Washington, General Grant
is the President who will occupy the
larges5 place IN the history Of the
United States. 1t would, of course,
be unreasonable to make any personal
comparison between the two men.
The founder of the American Repub-
lie was before all things a statesman !;
his successor is before all things a
soldier.
Nor need we follow the example of
General Grants countrymen by dis
cussinS the question how far, and in
what sense, he is great soldier, for
it is enough to know that he accom-
| plished great results. The contest be-
tween the Northern and Southern
States was the most hotly contested
since that which ended at Waterloo.
No other set in motion such prodigious
masses Of men or lasted so long, or
brought about so many pitched battles,
or ran up SO terrible total of slain.
Military merit Of all but the highest
order was enlisted on both sides the
tenacity Of both las rarely been
equalled, the intelligence of the COM
mon soldiers was an almost unknown
element in warfare :. and'itis enough
for the renown of General Grant. that
he crushed the resistance of as: good
fighting material as the world ever
saw.-Whether he culpably wasted
the lives of men and whether he was
brilliant strategist,. are questions that
may be left for the military critics.
Nor need We too curiously ask how
far he fell short as statesman of the
renown which he had won as soldier.
That he did fail in many ways no one
denies and, in truth, it is no discred-
it to him that he lacked the qualities
of great administrator. His early
training had been that of soldier,
and then that of a man of business.
During the war he lived in the camp,
and at no time had he been accustom-
ed to deal with the delicate, complica-
ted network Of social forces which it
is the business Of the statesman to
manipulate. Thus unprepared, he
was flung into position which would
have taxed the organizing power of
Mr.. Gladstone or Prince Bismark
himself He had to find the means of
paying for the most expensive war in
human history. He had to hold down
still mutinous South, and yet to
gradually give it back the old powers
Of self government, He had to keep
order among the white population. en-
FILTERED by the loss of its supremacy,
and the negro majority entrusted with
freedom, political power, and all the
rights of their old masters.
General Grant failed in the face of
the immense difficulties. He failed;
as all save one or two men in the gen
Grafton would have failed. In the
choice of either of his instruments
nor Of his plans was he fortunate; but
merely to state the main conditions is
to exonerate him from special blame
That fact will be seen by those Of his
countrymen who are at present his
sharpest critics the further the eight
years of his Presidency recede into
the quietude of history For us,
meanwhile, it is enough that during
a time Of political reconstruction com
parable to the trial which France un-
derwent after her revolution, General
Grant was the chief Magistrate Of the
United States.
Let-his countrymen, if they will,
point out the faults of his policy. To
US he must none the less be the repre-
sentative of a great country. Nor
can we forget how free his foreign
policy was from certain Characters
ties which have occasionally rendered |
that of his predecessors, to- say the
least, unpleasing. Always, dignifed
aud peaceful 1t materially helped to
bring about the settlement of the AL |
ALBANIA claims and thus to make the
relations of the two countries more |
cordial than they have been during the
the whole course of their history.
General Grant has thus testified. in !
practical way, good will to, England.
London Times