The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-03-24
Ne. I. was ohoker; but we got IT down at

last.
Alas the appetite for jobbery is only stimu-
lated bv concessions. We had not lalrIy sWal-
iouad orr iceberps when we were summoned
| to rinse them down with few earthquakes.
Gorarror Seward IL seems, had made haste to
whsedle Denmark into selling us two Of her
tbree nretty islets in theWest Indies for another
| seven millions and half, or we might take
all three (santa Cruz st. Thomas, and ST.
John) for eleven and quarter millions And,
though the Senate has never even attempted
TO ratify the treaty, Mr.. James Parton has
written a clever pamphlet designed to prove
that our honor requires the acceptance of the
hard bargain and our payment of the seven
and half millions eve iervently trust that
MIR. Parton's pay for his ingenious perform
ance does not depend on Denmark's getting
the money!
Let us admit at the outset that Governor
Seward is fully committed to the payment in
question; perhaps Johnson is committed with
him. Our Secretary of State originated the
dicker-pushed il in every way on the hesi-
tating if not reluctant Danes-gave them no
rest till he had extorted their consent to the
bargain. There is no shadow of imputation
resting on them in the premises. And if Mr..
Parton had only been able TO show any sort of
authority in Governor Seward to bind his
country by such a trade, his case would be
strong one. He quotes the Secretary tri-
umphantly as writing to the Danish Envoy
that "the United States" want to buy, and
will agree to pay, so and so; but "Who au-
thorized Governor Seward thus to commit the
United States ?'' is the main question. He
will find that 1t cannot be evaded.
Russia, it now appears, was quite aware
that her extra ioebergs were not sold till Con-
gress voted the money. If Denmark was not
equally well informed, the fault was not ours;
for our Constitution and our history lay open
before her. Mr.. Jefferson was practically the
Government, with the people overwhelmingly
at his back, when he bought Louisiana; yet
he did not hesitate to proclaim his act of no
legal validity-a naked assumption of power.
| Congress might not merely have rejected his
bargain-it might lawfully have impeached
| him for making it. 1t was the acquiescence
| of the people, through Congress, that gave it
validity and binding effect.
MIR. Parton sums up his case in these pro-
| Positions
"I That we cannot repudiate Mr. Stewards
bargain Without 1nfiicting 81 very great and
| irIeparable injury upon O respectable nation,
| our good friend and ally.
"Il. That If after paying for Alaska,we refuse
| to pay for these islands, we stand dishonored
before mankind as having one rule for the
"III. That how ever erron eous may be the sys-
| tenn which permits the Executive to commit
right to hold Denmark responsible for that
| system nor to reform IL at her expense.
| "1V. That when foreign government has so
| much as delayed the ratification and execution
| of properly concluded treaty with the United
| states, we have felt ourselves To be grossly
| wronged, and were willing 10 seek redress by
| "V. That these islands. in the opinion of pro.
fessional men, have a great and peculiar
value. which renders their acquisition highly
| desirable"
TO which thus responds the Tribune:-
l. Denmark is nowise injured. She has
done no wrong, and incurred no dishonor.
She has her islands as good as new, and may
keep or sell them as she sees fit. Even were
this not so, our Constitution lay open before
her, and she might properly have said to Gov
ernor Seward and his emissaries, "Wher
your Congress votes the money, we will con
slider your proposal"
, II. We paid for Alaska, because it seemed
| not clear that Russia understood the matter
We then gave virtual notice that we would d.
SO no more. If that notice was not sufficient
, we mean to give one now that can nevermort
be ignored or deemed inadequate.
Ill. There is no such System" as Mr.
Parton imagines. vicious practice hai
silently grown up, which we must suppress a
all hazards. If we give way now, ''next day
, the fatal precedent will plead, /" and we shal
be gone irretrievably. Here is our Thermo
pyla, and we shall defend it. Denmark ha
been at no ''expense" in the premises, and
need be at none.
Nv. If we were ever willing to ''seek re
dress by violence in a like case, we wer
wrong, and should probably have beer
: thrashed if we had persisted in our bullying
But there Is no such parallel as suggested
above. We insisted that France should pa,
us, not because she had promised, but bscaus
she owed.
V. Boshl A decent map of the West Indie
refutes this plea. If we want more territory
let as wait till 1t comes to us freely. Buyin
: populous communities is at once wrong AM
needless. If we can only behave ourselves
; additional territories will voluntarily seel
admission into onr Union quite as fast as W
!, shall be prepared to receive them. Purchas
or conquest is the alternative of monarchies
: we can have accessons enough by voluntary
peaceful, fraternal annexation.