The herald., 1898-03-31
WARS and WAR SCARES|
WHAT THIS GOVERNMENT HAS
EXPERIENCED
There Have Been More Ecares Than
Actual Wars in the Past
Century

The United States, as.an organized gov
eminent. has been in existence 100 years
only. but during that time 1t has fought
two foreign wars, one war on It's own
soil, and been subjected to number OF
war scares, some OF which developed near
ly into actual wars. The two foreign wars
ware with Great Britain and Mexico. the
former being popularity known as the war
Of 1872, from the year in which 1t began, and
the latter as the Mexican war. Both of
them are fully and clearly described In
history. and all the leading incidents are
well known to every school boy. The war
for the union was so recent also that It is
etill fresh In the public mind.
The war scares are not so we'll known.
They began soon after the government was
organized and have continued to occur
since with more or less frequency. The
first war was the result Of the French
revolution. The French government, form
ed on the fall of the monarchy, wished the
sympathy and support OF the United States
government, and sent to this country as
IT. minister the well-known Genet His
design was to form an offensive and de-
fensive alliance between France and the
OAAtCu 0tdlCS duu culUk Oll SAAiC SOuH'-S 80
. war with all the enemies Of the French
republic. The enthusiastic reception given
Genet by the people of this country, who
were eager to express their sympathy with
q nation struggling for liberty. turned mis-
head and he imagined that he could over
ride the government and take whatever
liberties he chose. He had privateers
fttsd out in the ports OF the United States,
~ DATE -h arrho n veqgpIq CQnturp1
by these privateers were confiscated by
French consuls in this country, notwith-
standing the neutrality proclamation is
sued by this government. 1t was only the
drmness and decision of Washington,
whose demand for the recall Of Genet was
promptly complied with, that saved the
country from war with England at that
time.
This is the best known war scare that
this country has experienced. probabaly
because 1t was the first and one Of the
most acute. There were two other French
war scares. The second one arose from
the delay France showed in making COM
pensation for the American vessels seized
In French ports during the time Of the
first Napoleon. The controversy over these
seizures dragged along until near the close
Of the second presidential term of General
Jackson, when he peremptorily demanded
reparation, The two countries were dam
rerously near to war on this occasion and
diplomatic relations between them were
stopped for time But England mediated
and the war cloud blew over. The inter-
ference of France in Mexico during the
war for the union was a cause of great
Irritation to this country, but beyond pro-
test nothing was done until the rebellion
in the southern states ended Then an en-
phatic demand for the withdrawal of the
French was made. and had It not been COM
piled with war would have resulted. Louis
Napoleon saw the need of prompt action
and quickly withdrew the French army
from Mexico, and another war scare was
dissipated.
British war scares have been frequent
but with the exception Of the war of 1872
they have all ended without hostilities One
of the first Of these was caused by the re-
fusal Of England to surrender the western
forts as agreed when the revolutionary
war ended. But this difficulty was settled
by the Jay treaty. England and the United
States were very near to war in 1907, when
the British warship Leopard fired upon and
boarded the United States frigate Chesa-
peake. The trouble was quieted by Eng
lands disavowing the act and making repa-
ration. The settlement Of the Oregon boun-
dairy limo doomed up on the horizon for
time as probable cause Of war, but the
question was settled amicably in 1876.
Great Britain's course during the war for
4. tn union was the occasion for much UNI
friendly feeling in this country. The fitting
out Of the Alabama and other privateers
in English ports gave rise to what were
known as the Alabama claims. WHICH
might have caused conflict had not Eng
land paid damages to the amount Of $15.-
100000 The Venezuela war scare growing
out Of Great Britain's claim to territory
In South America is too recent TO need ex-
PLANTATION.
- Spanish war scares werenumerous as long
as Spain held possession of any part of
the North American continent Her hold
on the mouth of the Mississippi river was
q constant irritation to the American peo-
try. and later her possession of Florida