The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-04-16
but we have not hitherto felt at liberty 70 do
it in regard to foreign powers.
TaE ALABAMA CLAIMS-sRNATOR aim.
NBR'S SPRECH

unt
in the Senate, do we fling back the AIsbams
claims treaty to the power that insnlts "a ~i,h
1t. Gould the people vote upon this action of
our Senate they would Danish 70 Rnojsnd ,ba
one man whose Affirmative vote misysnrssants
the popular sentiment. The irrn and mastsrlv
Rpeeoh OF mr. summer we'll eohoes the temne
of the United States, and he has. in This o,ssr
translation OF the public feeling and the aa;sinr,
upon the proper moment to become the na'
ti0nal mouthpiece, shown himself 20 hs !. 60.
statesman. There may be others who csr ss1
u have the power to strike as heavy A blow Z
This may be true, but only genius knows
wnen ana where 10 strike 1t. Heretofore Mr.. /
Sumner has confined his talents 40 entirslv In
single direction that he could be sstims,ad a
only by the amount Of light he showed In
this he has done himself ipiustioe. tn s,.na
problem settled, be has for the past tbrsa ~
four years devoted himself to minor ouestons
This has caused the people to lose sight of
nim' NOW, however, he throws himself to
the front, and, well backed bv the Ssnata
showers such trenchant blows upon our here
ditary rival as will create some oommetion
upon the other side of the water.
In the tearing up Of this treaty Mr. Sumnsr
proposes no substitute. Herein we find statas-
manship. We can afford to wait. We have
IN numerous methods stated our grievances to
Engiand, ana tnere should be point where
national begging, as practised by Mr.. Seward.
should give way to national dignity. as repre,
sented by Mr. Sumner. The whole oonItrv
feels this very intensely, South az we'll as
North. The efforts of England to destroy ns
were not alone aimed at the North. She
under the plea of assistance, also struck al
the South-struek at the United States "a
nstion-and In the lace Of all previous profess
sions of high national morality osteusiblv
aided the stakeholder to destroy our republic.
Good sense comes with reaction. and now tba
hatred against Eng land In the late Rebel States
is as great as it is in the North.
In his speech, Mr.. Sumner makes a strong
argument in opposition to the British conoes
sion of belligerent rights to the Rebels. He
draws bold and well. sustained differences be-
tween belligerency upon the land and bellige-
rency upon the ocean. He shows that British
neutrality" was simply humbug that did
not have the power of existence until English
Punic faith called Rebel ocean rights into exist
ence. Rebel cruisers were under all laws
nothing but pirates until England, virtually
declaring war against us, made them legal
men-of-war, making British dockyards their
''base of operations for the destruction of
our commerce. Only in the ports of Spain
and Great Britain could these English pirates
find breathing place. "The Alabama, whose
building was q defiance of law, international
and municipal, whose escape was "a scandal and
reproaoh, and whose enlistment of her crew
was fit sequel to the rest, af er being sup
mander, entered upon her career of piracy.
Mark now new stage of completely. Con-
stantly the pirate ship was within reach of
British cruisers, and from time to time within
the shelter of British ports. For six days,
unmolested, she enjoyed the pleasant hos pi-
tality OF Kingston, in Jamaica, obtaining freely
the coal and other supplies necessary to her
vocation. But no British cruiser, no British
magistrate, ever arrested the offending ship,
w 90 w n NO dul md
reproach' to the British Government
No wonder this pet pirate was watched
with tender solicitude by the English
people; for she and her consorts, built
under the royal eye, carried the hopes Of
England for the destruction of commercial
rival. No wonder that cheer after cheer went
| up in the House of Commons as the game
swept on and the stakes were raked in by
those packing the cards. Well does Mr.. Sum
ner say that the treaty does not speak Of ma
tional but of nothing but individual, honor.
His argument against this insulting document
| is potent in the tact which he mentions that
the iniquitous Rebel cotton bondholders' debt
| went up from zero to ten cents on the dollar
when our great American turtle-eater, Reyerdy
Johnson, signed the treaty. 1t is to the point
that "England was the base of our Rebellion, I"
and it ia time that the United States looked
this fact boldly in the face.
Machiavellis "Il Principe" was published
just five centuries ago, and the last advocate
of its principles in the United States retired
to Auburn on the 4th of March, 1869 It Is
now necessary for the republic to take repub-
lican stand. 1t cannot live under the practice
OF monarchical methods Of diplomacy. We do
nothing that we are afraid to have known; for
IL we attempt to hide our political motives we
shall hide our republicanism with them.
What we require is manly, outspoken,
and dignifed foreign policy, somsthing which
has the ring to it that we find in Mr.. Sumner 9
speech. II the administration is sufficiently
broad Drained to understand the temper OF the
people, from whom all ideas and all directing
forces come, 1t will announce an oren policy
a national policy. Up the present moment
we have never had one. We have simply
grown-run wild. Our war gave as severe
consolid ation--taught us who were our enemies
without and within. We have learned that II
is necessary for future protection that we adopt
as principle that no European power shall
hold foot of ground on this continent whion
may serve as a base OF future operations
against us. Under this law we will, for the
sake Of peace, exchange the Alabama claims
for Canada and that pestilential thorn Wmcn
England thrust into our side, Nassau. For
the injury that Spain did us we will take
Cuba. The administration which is not clear
sighted enough to see that the people mean
this will make but sorry figure in the history
of the United States. The English and Spanish
questions are the prominent ones In tine
. American mind, and with reference to the
former, we echo Mr.. Summers sentiment, tina
''the attempt to close this great internationa
debate without q complete settlement is LITTLE
short of puerile."
B0RIE AND BOXER.
he y WocLd