New-York tribune., 1867-04-09
WASHINGTON.
THE RUSSIAN TREATY.
~, ,,1IsA.TE 10 TEE TRIBUNE

.,,o,ico was not only yalueless t6hs Government
-. ,,, o,pcrse and trouble which the Car
81, o,o1I, he rid of. and assured him that Russia
would be willing to cede the territory 10 'ne Onl''"
states as a gift IL it were desirable to the hePuono
This is certain IL is equally certain that secretary
Seward knew Of the fact Unfortunately 1or our
Treasury and our Taxpayers, there Is ho
diplomatic glory to be got out OF accepting % gut
To make reputation out of acquisition OF terrl-
tory ready TO be handed over to sheer measure
Of rolicf 10 the Russian exchequer, Mr. Seward had
10 negotiate for it, throw away $lOOOOWO1or H. nyS
terionsly wrap mp the transaction in secret treaty.
and suddenly appear in the Senate, after the explIa
ton OF tho regular session of Congress- and urge the
immediate approval of the treaty on the grouhoS
First: That the region to be acquired was relatively
os valuable TO Russia as Ireland is to England; that
in climate and the natural wealth of timber gram
lands fur-bearing animals and fisheries and prob
ably coal and gold and silver, it was enormously val
uabe Scoopd That if we did not Immediately takel''
we should lose the opportunity and it would become
the property Of some other nation Third mat 'ne
treaty must be ratified Iwithin 90 days OF 1au ana
that if il Gailed every Government in Europe would
exult over its miscarriage and our friendly relations
with the powerful Russian Empire would be imIHi-
riled by the modification to which we had subjected
il throughout the world. There are Senators VINO
wish that we had some form of official responsibility
by which q Secretary of State could be suitably pun
ished fer secretly and unadvisedly, and of his own
reckless folly and wastefulness using the diplomatic
machinery of the Government to get the country
into such q fix as he is now begging the
Senate to get it out of. There are other Senators
who laugh at the Secretarys representation OF the
necessity of prompt action and, indeed OF any acuon
who know that the Gar does not care button
whether the treaty ratified or not, and that the
whole scheme has been cooked up between MI
Seward and the Russian Minister for reasons purely
rersopa to each The treaty has clause in it bind
ipeus TO exelcise jurisdiction the territory, and
give government to the 10000 inhabitants that are
now crawling oyer it on snow-shoes. Some of these
are savage indians of the most dangerous character
Such on the coast murdered two boats crews under
the command of Behring, who was himself buried on
the strait that bears his name. What viii the gov
ernment Of this ice-covered desert cost it was
stated at the War Department yesterday
that it would require a regiment of infantry. 1t
costs g, 100 a year to maintain single soldier III
Washington. 1t would cost twice as much IN Sew
ards desert. 1t costs 100000 year to keep man
ofwar at sea. We should have to have at least six
on the 5000 miles of Stewards coast as naval men
say here. We should have to institute territorial
government. What wouldn't that cOstf Indian wars
m IL of ha void
On the Nebraska plains now costs us $4,000 to Kill
one Indian. 1t would cost $4,000 head to Kill
Stewards Indians. There is not in the history Of di-
pomacy such insensate folly as this treaty; and yet
there is danger that the scheme 10 run it through
The Senate, without publicity and without conside-
grafton is going to be crowned with immediate sue
cess 1t was not under debate to-day, but yet was
np in parliamentary phrase. Long documents about
81 from Mr.. Seward all rhetorical and abound
ing in his glttering generalites, were read at te-
dious length. Troublesome questions were put by
practical Senator'S 70 which no answer could be got
Nobody knew anything about the country, about the
savages how many months in the year the larger
part of the region was in darkness, how human life
could be sustained there by civilized men-nothing
was known, but there was deplOrable impatience
on the part of too many Senators TO get to vote, so
as TO get to their homes. Among too many
Of them prevailed the idea served up and
EwaIlowed with the treaty roast, and the treaty
boiled at Mr. Stewards dinner table, that it is fatal
70 apublic man in America to vote against an acqui-
sition of territory Even the motion, il is said, which
will be made tomorrow to remove the injunction OF
seeresy aud 10 debate the treaty in open Senate,
will fail Mr. Seward has effectually cloaked both
the debate and the vote but he intends that the rat-
fication of the treaty shall uncoak him and let him
out of the obscurty which for two years has covered
him as with the pail of DEATH into glorious terri
tOTial extension splendOr
Another dinner party to Esquimaux Senators was
given tonight by the Secretary OF State and the
little entertainments will be continued until the bird
is picked. How long the delay in the Senate VIII
render the expense Of these elegant dinners neces-
sary on the part of the hOspitable Secretary is
yet impossible 10 surmise. A step was taken which
viii assist in his relief to-day. Senator Sumner as
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commit
tee reported, as unanimously instructed by
the Committee in favor of ratifying the
Russian treaty and he made fOrcible and eloquent
speech of three hours and half duration in support
of the recommendation of the Committee. a PROPOSE
ton was made 70 debate the subject IN open session,
but Doolitte objected The Senate will meet an
hour earlier tomorrow for the purpose of concluding
the action at once the "Esquimaux ring well
knowing that delay is dangerous in such
delicate matters. Considering that the whole
matter has not been before the public more than
eight OF ten days, and that the purchase money