Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1843-12-21
NV No. 7l5.

|
"li Is only of late years." says the state
InenI al Mr. Evereii then member oi Tho
committee on foreign affairs, 'tbai The
means oi dong fnli Ipstire To the merits
! nf the question have been accessible.
la answet lo \ call III The Senate of tha
! United States, made in 1924, y large
volume of documrnts was communicated
from The Department of State, and pub.
lishcd IN l896, IN whrh, for the first
time, the most important points in the
case were placed ~ their true light
An inpenrirable veil of secrrsv had
hnherto hung over The Instructions Of
tlessrs. Ellsworth, Murray aud Davie
over their negotiations with France
their correspondence with their own
government I; and the correspondence
of Mr.. Murray with the French Cow
ernmeni, relative To the ratification OF
the convention Of 1900.
II "Tbese documents, which establish
conclusive ly the fact that The spol,ation
claims on The part of the United States.
and the claiirs for the restoration Of the
treaties, were set of against each other,
and that the Government of the United
Siaies purchased its release from The
onerons conditions of the treaties, by tho
sacrifice oi the claims Of iis ciiiz"ns,
were, for The first time, published IN the
fifth volume oi the papers Of the
Senate, for the first session of the niue
,eenlh Congress Their appearance has
manil-sily given new impulse to public
sentiment IN favor Of the claims d"
This then, fellow citizens, is the posi-
ton OF our case before Congress. Since
the publication OF the documents Just
mentioned, not a single report OF any COM
miiiee has been against us, but on tho
contrary, the following in our favor
Senaie-By Mr.. Holmes. Select
commi,te, f. b. 8, 1897.
I House-By Mr.. Everett Commit
tee on lo,e,gn affairs, May 81, 1928
Sens,e-By Mr. Chambers. Select
committee, May "a, 1923.
Srnate-By Mr.. Chambers Select
committee, Feb. II, 1929.
House-By Mr.. Everett. Commit
tee on foreign affairs, Feb. I6, 1929
Sonare-Bv Mr.. Livingston. Select
con,nittee, Feb. %, 1880.
Senaie-By Mr.. Livings gston. Select
committee, Dec. q, 1880.
senate-i'y Mr.. Livingston. Select
committee, Jan. IA 1881.
Senaie-By Mr. Webster. BY bill
Select commiite, Dec. 10, 1884
House-By Mr.. Howard Commit
tee on foreign affairs, jan. 90, 1888.
| House-By Mir. Gushing. Ap,,I 4,
1910. ~ 80
House-By MIR. Gushing. with
bill! Dec. 90, ls4l
The members of these committees
were constantly changing, owing To the
changes in the bodies from which they
en,annted, aud yet the repoits were invn-
riably in favor of the claimants. Not
wihsianding all this, il has never been
possible to bring the House of Repre-
seniatives to vote upon the bill. In APP
pealing to you, fellow cilizens,as we now
do, il is not our intention 10 invoke your
censure upon former representatives; but
Ii is 10 ask you io lbtrfk OF ihc SUBJECT, and
thus bring into action That z iganiic power,
public opiDiOn, which sooner or later de-
cIdes all monentOus Questions tha: are
agiaied before il. We have another
object in view our assembly is holden
by public invitation. and we mean this
address TO reach you through as many
Of The newspapers as we can induce to
publish it. We intend thereby to show
you that, instead Of caballing in secret,
we court publicity. Confident in ,h.
Justice of our cause, we shrink from no
inquiiy, shun no scrutiny, however
searching, and rely only upon that strong
sense Of propriety which must ever lead
YOU TO appreciate truth.
| We will not now enter upon full de-
The papers To which we have referred
! are very volunnous, and we should fear
10 weary you by a minute examination
of them. Our object is, that as many Of
you as possible should read this paper.
and therefore we must be brief We
ask you to answer two questions that we
will PROFOUND.
|. How has il come about that We
have lost the power Of appealing TO
France to redress the injuries which she
did TO US and
q. How has ], come about that you
are no longer under those onerous obli-
CATIONS TO France, which were contract
ed during our Revolution, aud unlimited
as TO duration
II you can answer these questions in
any other satisfactory manner than our.,
we shall cheeriully abandon our cla,,n.
Listen, then, 10 our solution.
Neither our government, nor ourselves
M individuals, can ask satisfaction from
France for these admitted wrongs T; We
say admitted, because while our own
government sought redress France ad-
mi,ted her obliga alton TO make atonenent
and indemnify. For the spoliai,ons upon
our commerce after the year 1900 salts
faction was obtained by Mr. RIves's ir.A-
~, and the money paid by France fairly
divided among the claimants What
have We ever done that we should have
been shut out Of all participation IN this
fund Were we less American cai-
zens than those whose interests were