New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-03-23
pFN1FdRR-ST THOMAS.

Magnificent transactions in real estate seem
TO have an irresistible fascination for adventur-
Gus minds Ever since distinguished parsonage
undertook of old to dispose of "all the king
"doms of the world and the glory thereof" at a
single operation, Gas is recorded in Matt. iv. 81
kindred, though somewhat less daring attempts
TO bull or bear the land market have been
common. And, much as we disrelish aud dis
trust them, we are not insensible to their
witcheries. Columbus was transcendent land
speculator; Vespucius an inferior specimen Of
the breed; Washington dabbled in fancy tracts,
Lut prudently, as became his cautious nature;
Aaron Burr was always a practical Lazarus
and prospective Cresus though his inveterate
passion for operating in spacious grants" and
CONCESSIONS" and Jefferson made one grand
hit in the Louisiana purchase which has turned
the heads of half our statesmen ever since. WEI
must apply the brakes determinedly, or we
shall be run into the abyss.
Gov. Seward put us i'll for S7200,00O down,
with heavy drain eveTmore, by his Alaska
Job. 1t was q horrible sell-we would much
sooner have paid the money, and been excused
from taking the territory. Bat Russia was
our powerful and faithful ally-we could not
afford to annoy OF sour her-sO we shut our
eyes very tight, and swallowed the dose. 1t
was a chokcr; but we got it down at last.
Alas! the appetite for jobbery is only stimu-
lated by concessions We had not fairly swal-
lowed our iccbergs when we were summoned
to rinse them down with q few earthquakes.
Gov. Seward, it seems, had made haste to
wheedle Denmark into selling us two OF her
three petty islets in the West Indies for another
Seven Millions and Half, or we might take
all three (Santa Cruz, ST. Thomas, and st.
john for Eleven and Quarter Millionsl And,
though the Senate has never even attempted
to ratify the treaty, Mr. James Parton has
written q 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 fervently trust that
Mr. Parton's pay for his ingenious performance
does not depend on Denmark's getting the
money! .l..,
Let ms admit, at the outset, that Gov. Sew
ard is fully committed to the payment in ques-
ton; perhaps johnson is committed with him.
Our Secretary of State originated the decker
pushed it in every way on the hesitating 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 Gov.
s. to bind his country by such trade, his case
would be q strong one. He quotes the Secre-
tary triumphantly as writing to the Danish
Envoy that "the United States want to buy,
and will agree to pay, so and SO; but "Who
authorized Gov s. thus to commit the United
"States7" is the main question. He will find
that it cannot be eYaded.
Russia, it now appears, was quite aware that
her extra icebergs were not sold till Congress
voted the money. If Denmark wasnot equally
well informed, the fault was not ours; for our
Constitution and our history lay open before
her. Mr.. Jefferson was practically the Gov
eminent, 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. Con-
gress might not merely have rejected his
bargain-it might lawfully have impeached hin
for making it, 1t was the ac0uiescencc of the