The Tail of the Cable.
We have had our gay old time; our citizens have had fireworks, and crackers, and cheese; our boys have had a turn-out, and our country cousins have had a most stunning display of municipal greatness,—in a word, we have glorified God, the Atlantic Cable, and the Field family. This is all very well in its way; but when we come to pay for the piping, we naturally inquire the reason for all this fuss and commotion—for the only thing which appears to be quiet is the cable itself, which neither works nor gives evidence of any inclination towards labor. Now that we have had the fun, let us pay for it.
The people of England, who own the Telegraph, each end being limited to British soil, and the whole line under control of British capitalists, seem to have rejoiced over the success of the great event of the age in a most rational and sensible manner, while we have apparently gone mad with joy over an affair which, in nowise, can be construed into a national subject. Degrading as it may be to our personal pride, Peter Cooper, the Field family, and Archbishop John, to the contrary notwithstanding, the Atlantic Telegraph is essentially an English triumph; and in expending a large sum of money in an ebullition of passing insanity, our citizens have only rendered themselves subjects for merriment. Who will deny that, although the project of an Atlantic Telegraph was first broached on this side of the Atlantic, almost the entire credit of its success has been committed to British hands. The money was raised in England, and three out of four vessels, engaged in the enterprize, bore the British flag. And now have we any just excuse to run mad with joy, and to add some fifty thousand additional taxes to our already over-taxed community?
The very character of the procession which went through our streets was a polite satire upon the occasion, as it can mainly be regarded as an illegal method of advertising one’s wares, which, if persisted in, would prove ruinous to the Sunday papers. We had cracker bakers, alcohol dealers, gas stoves, and all that sort of thing, from the beginning to the end of the chapter; and one, unacquainted with the nature of municipal rejoicing, would conceive the demonstration to have been the American Institute house-moving on the first of May. And now that the reign of folly has past, and the festivity of the occasion wasted into air, a second, sober thought suggests to us that we have been manufacturing a very large quantity of excitement upon a very small capital; and the more serious this consideration will become as the moment of payment presses on us. We have no right to squander public moneys, no more than that of embezzling from private persons; still we are well aware that a different standard of morality governs the actions of officials from those of the same beings in a mercantile character. Now that we have reached the tail of the cable excitement, let us propound a simple query: What have we gained by all this frenzy beyond the glorification of one or two individuals, who have suddenly discovered themselves to be great? We have foolishly spent a large sum of money—we have made an exhibition of ourselves, and have no equivalent to show in exchange for our funds and our honor. By the tail of the cable hangs a curious tale indeed.
Too True by Half.—One of our City Fathers, upon being solicited for a ticket to the Cable Dinner on the 2d of September, refused, giving as a reason that he could not venture to invite any of his friends, from fear of introducing improper characters.