The Portland daily press., 1881-11-04

of the New York Herald, who interviewed
him on two public questons--one national,
the other International His first question
concerned the Star route cases, and was thus
answered by the general:
The condition of affairs in regard TO the
Star route prosecutions presents question
which for the first time has found Itself in our
history in this precise form. Mr.. MacVeagh
was made Attorney General Tor the avowed
purpose, as / remember it, of pursuing the
Star route people and bringing them to
justice. If that were not 80 in the inception
of his candidature for the place it certainly
was the earliest pronunciamento of his busi-
ness. This prosecution was to be the feature
of the Department Of Justice under the late
President. Not only that, but the Attorney
General made sundry outgivings as to the
vigor with which the prosecution would be
pressed by his Office, the enormity OF the
crimes of the accused, and seemed to put
himself in the position to be ready at the end
of his term to claim the nomination for the
presidency on the strength of his performances
in that direction, as did Mr.. Bristow upon the
strength of his in regard to whiskey thieves:
Mr.. MacVeagh's clients are the people OF the
United States; his case one of great alleged
gSRsEi SE4pga ana adss s he rpeSg'e aea snsT
office in the gift of the President. Now the
question comes whether, while his case is actu-
ally before the court, the counsel of the people
should be allowed to throw up his brief and
quit his clients cause. Upon that have
very debided opinion that lawyer can no
more throw up his brief and his clients case
before the court, having been brought there
by him, than can an officer OF the army re-
sign or
DESERT ON THE BATTLEFIELD
in the face of the enemy, and all agree that
the latter is worthy of death, and IS so pun
ished by every civilized nation. True, for
unfaithfulness or any other reason, ,at his pleas
ure, the client may discharge his lawyer, as
| the commanding general may relieve an officer
on the field while battle is progressing, as
was done by Sheridan in the case OF warren,
which, it is now claimed, was improvidently
done, upon which / have neither knowledge
| nor opinion but the right to have SO done is
unduestioned. Now, rs l understand 1T, the
representative of the client, the President oil
the United States, insists that the Attorney
General shall prosecute his cases to The end, at
| least those which are before the courts, and 1t
| is supposed that they can be finished IN De-
cember; but, from some knowledge OIL the law
| suits, do not think that they will be ended as
| soon as that Why should the lawyer OF the
| Government stand in any different position as
| regards his client from the lawyer OF any othec
| client, having received his fees, IN this case
i very high one, with a possible hope IN the
| LAWYERS mind undoubtedly of the very large
| contingent fee which l have indicated?
| think the President does right to enforce the
| rule and hold Mr.. MacVeagh to his retainer.
| In an ordinary case the court would enforce y
| against the lawyer one Of its officers, and
would not allow counsel who has received
| fee for irving case, for his own purposes, at
his own will to desert his clients cause at the
pinch when it was before the court, and II
| counsel refused to 60 on would very iikely call
| him to the bar to show cause why his name
should not be stricken from the rolls. see IL
| stated that the Attorney General expects 70
withdraw and receive another retainer IN inc
| shape of money for prosecuting these cases as
| emploved counsel. cannot believe this to be
/ true. because no man could be so derellct OF
| duty as to do such thing. In an ordinary
/ case
BETWEEN CLIENT AND COUNSEL
| IL would not be permitted for counsel to take
advantage of his clients being in court to
his client for new and larger fees than what he
had engaged to try the case for, to be Pald MN
| before he would go on. And, as lawyer,
hope that this point will be settled by the Fres
| ident requiring the attorney-general to STAND
| " 'Renorter-General, what Is the real reason
| for the resignation of Mr.. MacVeagh.
General Butler-That cannot tell. He un-
| doubtedly will inform the public either by ex-
press declaratiSSSp SS or by his subsequent acls up
Reporter-Have you seen Secretary Blaine's
| I,stter on the Panama canal.
General Butler-I have.
lSeDorter-Haye you seen the comments OF
| the London press upon itY
w Ganeral Butler-I have read them carefully
| am clad that the Secretary OF State has shown
1 at AS~N-3-
affairs who looks to American interests instead
| of British interests. Indeed should go furtn-
| er than Mr.. Blaine has gone; but perhaps MS
| dinlomatie language means all should say.
am opposed by every dictate Oh JudgniSsns s. anu
1 every sentiment of patriotism to the Panama
| canal scheme, either in peace or IN war. 40
NOT mt It upon the silly ground that the build
ing of it is an infringement OF the Monroe doc.
l trine which seems to have been the view OF
/ the HAYES administration, because the Monroe
.5.,otrine as enunciated has nothing to do with
Il The spirit of the Monroe doctrine, however,
which, il I understand II, IS that American IN
| taras,ts must be consulted about anything tnat
| affects the American nation, upon American
soiI betyeen Cape Horn and the North Pole,
| fully concur in. Let Gs look at THIS canal pro-
| iect in its several aspects.
| FIRST. IN PEACE, AS A PATHWAY OF CON-
MERGE.
| England has seized upon the whole commerce
| on the eastern shore of the American conti-
| nent We still control some commerce on the
| western shores. Open that canal and she
/ seizes upon that. If anybody iddulges the not
| too wise idea that when the British vessels car
| rying British goods get through the canal they
| will take their freight up to San Francisco to
/ be distributed up and down from thence, such
/ person simply indulges in dream. British
ships will distribute freight themselves in their
| own way to the exclusion Of the American
| merchant England can lay down goods at
\ the end of the Panama canal from Liverpool
/ as cheaply as she can in New York. The dis
| tance is a little longer but the passage is not
1 nearly as dangerous or trough. Now she and
| we must sail 10, 900 miles around the Horn to
/ do it unless she employs an American railroad
| at Panama. When she lays down goods in
/ New York there is no other way to get them
4 in the Western market save to employ rail-
| roads which have been built by the govern
/ ment at very great expense, which have not yet
/ been remunerated. have thus spoken of the
/ westward-bound commerce. Suppose, now,
| we look at the commerce Of Asia. Our rail-
| road-and we have two almost finished to San
| Francisco-makes San Francisco the entreport
/ of all commerce from the East. Teas, Tor ex-
/ ample, with remunerative freight over our
| railroads, can be put down in England al
/ cheaper rate via San Francisco, New York or
| Baltimore, than around the Cape OF Good
/ Hope, Cape Horn or through the Suez canal,
| with the advantage of not so long water trans
| portation, which is understood, under all CIR
/ cumstances more or less to injure teas, so that
| we do not have as good tea in America as in Rus
| sia, where it has been brought from the East
| across the country. Then the question OF time
! is great element in the cost OF the article
from loss of interest and changes OF Values'
| Now San Francisco receives the
| BENEFIT OF THE TRAVEL
| east and west of the officers of the British
| army even. In short, we hold now avenues Oh
| commerce which are open to no other nation
| on earth but ourselves, and the question Is
| whether we shall submit to have that last
| opening for its revivihcation taken possession
| of by our rivals. / saw that the Board OF
/ Trade of San Francisco some time since passed
/ some resolutions in favor of Count Lesseps
| canal as being the means of getting goods
| cheaper from Europe. saw no argument ac-
| companying the resolutions showing It's advan-
| tages to San Francisco, and am unable to see
| these advantages
| In case of war the disadvantage OF such
| canal is still more obvious. BY our folly in
| taking a few millions for the Alabama claims,
| the major part of which we have so far refused
| to distribute to those who suffered the losses,
we agreed to rule making coal contraband of
| war, j. g., that if any neutral nation furnish
| any ship of war with coal more than sufficient
| to get home then that neutral nation shall be
responsible to the other belligerent for all the
damage done by that ship of war during the
| cruise which she is enabled to make by the
| coal so furnished That was the doctrine npon
| which the Geneva tribunal held the b 1lsh
| Government responsible for the ravages OF the
| Stonewall after she left Melbourne There-
| fore we have declared the rule that no neutral
| nation shall furnish any of our war vessels in
| time of war with single pound OF coal except
| to send her home We have not coaling sla-
| tion of our own for our own ships except held
| by lease from neutral nations and but one or
1 two of those: SO that our war vessels in time OF