The Washington critic., 1886-05-15
THE BLASTED pruE.NosE.

Interested.
THE BLASTED BLUE.SosE.
The Halifax Hcraid, in piece of
lyric buster addressed to Senator Frye,
who has set all the blue. noses to sneez.
ing because of his vigorous champion
ship of the rights of American fisher.
men. remarks
WIN Congress dare, while many a workman
huugefs,
To cast million more 10 Maine hshmun-
Ecfs,
And close the markets to Canadian hsh
just pause, ye rats, it Is dangerous dish
We do not wish TO fight, my Yankee friend,
But II 1t comes to fireworks In the end,
We have artillery within this nation
Can knock the spurs oil any In creation.
Our three-milc belt will surely he defended
Should vessels come before your laws arc
meudcd
Their usefulness will soon be DER
Aud many drifting hulk will dcsollte the
shore.
The old French cannon lying down at
Queens
Would knock the Yankee navy all to smith
Greens,
And with another mounted on a fore and
after
We'd sail up Boston harbor Just to kindle
Holmes laughter.
Without entering into the merits of
the question at all as to whether Mr..
Frye is right or wrong in the position
he has taken in the fisheries dispute,
we submit that it is somewhat in the
nature of humiliation to have Nova
Scotia newspaper singing verses like
these at an American Senator Not
because the poetry is so atrociously
bad, as because of its tantalizing sug-
gestiveness of fact and proximity to
tie truth
1t may not be so certain as the poet
imagines that his old French cannon
would play havoc with the whole
Yankee navy, or that Boston harbor
would fail an easy prey to invasion,
but this mi-truculcnt, semi-jocular
way Of being reminded of our short
comings in the matter of coast de,
fenses is anything but agreeable under
the circumstances, especially when we
look back over long series of years
and find that while we have been un.
commonly diligcnt in securing the
largest possible appropriations for the
navy, we have not at all times been so
conscientiously circumspect in seeing
that the appropriations were expended
where they would do the navy the
most good. The consequence is that
the millions upon millions spent in the
name of the navy have somehow or
other resulted in nothing but q navy
in name
This is why 1t hurts so much to have
this potato-fed Nova Scotian ride over
us in this way with his ham strung
Pegasus. There is no use in telling
him to 90 to H, for he is in Halifax
already. 1t will do no good to call him
n liar, because of lurking possibility
that he isn't So that about all we can
do is to grin and bear II until such time
asin the order of Providence, and
Secretary Whitney and the United
States Congress we may be in a condi.
tion to teach this grinder out of dog
gerel different tune.
We should therefore admonish the
Senator from Maine to go slow for
awhile. The facts in the Adams case,
though somewhat mixed, will all come
out in due time. The cable already
informs us that the Extensively partisan
schooner is in the hands of the "High
Sheriff of Digby," who figures at the
same time as the Deputy Marshal OF
the Vice Admiralty Court"
But we are not at all apprehensive
that the State Department will fall
short of its duty in this grave crisis
and in the meantime Congress will dc
well to hurry up some sort Of legisla
tion looking to the better protection
not only of Boston harbor, but all OF
our harbors. There will be no dispo
sition on the part Of the Adminlstra
tion or the people to shrink from full
and thorough vindication of its rights
in the premises; but we want all thu
armament we can get to do it with,
Just now, however-say for week
or so-it will perhaps be better t.
leave Mr.. Bayard in charge of thu
business instead of turning it over t.
Mr., Blaine.