Chapter 25: epoch of public corruption
- Dana favors Continental Union -- breach between Sumner and President -- Condemns bestowal of office for pecuniary favors -- Grant's relations in office -- Ku-Klux outrages no excuse for invading the South -- French arms scandal -- corruption in Washington -- “addition, Division, and silence” -- Dana arrested -- Credit Mobilier exposures -- independent Republicans and Democrats nominate Greeley for President -- Dana supports him -- personal journalism -- Grant's second election -- effort to extradite Dana to Washington -- Safe Burglary Conspiracy -- frauds of the Whiskey Ring
It was during the first year of Grant's administration that Dana began to discuss the annexation of the British provinces of North America. He pointed out that Britain could not defend those colonies successfully against us; that free and unrestricted trade between them and the United States was necessary to their greatest prosperity; that the Reciprocity Treaty, which had lately expired, could not be re-enacted; that while it had carried the colonies prosperously along for ten years, it had aroused their hostility instead of conciliating them, and had been followed by an armed federation against us. Later he showed that an honorable union with us would settle the fisheries and fur-seal questions; abolish the custom-houses; extend the area of free-trade; insure free navigation of the St. Lawrence.and the Great Lakes; enable the government to enforce the exclusion act, to protect our land and water transportation interests, to perfect the national defence, and to realize by peaceable and inexpensive means all the advantages of that continental republic which both nature
