The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-24

days it will only be remembered as a vain and |
foolish failure. The country will continue to
sustain the President, Notwithstanding his
mistakes and associations, and his victory in
1872 will be as decisive as that of Sheridan in
1864, when he rode Early's victorious army
into the dust.
THE UNITED STATES AND SAN DO
MINGO.
From the London Saturday ReUie,o.
The treaty by which San Domingo is to be
annexed as a territory to the United States
has vet to be ratified by the Senate and ap-
proved by the House of Representatives,
which must provide the purchase money; and
it is even said to be doubtful whether Con-
gress will confirm an arrangement which is
represented as unnecessarily anticipating the
inevitable course of events. In any case the
sanction of the legislature must depend rather
on the popularity of the arrangement than on
the influence Of the administration; for al
though the President has generally acted in
harmony with the Senate, his influence has not
been sufficient to procure the ratification of
his appointment of the present Attorney Gene
raj to q seat in the Supreme Court. 1t is true
that Mr.. Hoar had given general and just
offense by his opposition to party jobs, and by
his perverse habit of preferring competent
persons in the distribution of his patronage.
1t was also alleged that if his appointment
had been confirmed, Massachusetts, would
have had more than its due proportion of seats
in the Supreme Court, and that a Judge who
was to act on Southern circuit ought to be
selected from the Southern States; yet both
the reasons and the pretexts of his rejec-
ton would have been overruled if General
Grant had commanded the Difference
which was formerly paid by the
Senate to his predecessors. The attacks
on Mr. Andrew johnson, in which General
Grant himself shared, have for the present,
if not permanently, diminished the power of
the President. 1t was probably the intention
of the trainers of the Constitution that the
refusal of the Senate to ratify appointments
should be confined to rare and exceptional
cases. AS interpreted by practice, the con-
| troll of the same body over treaties involved q
! virtual right of Interference. Although the
| purchase of st. Thomas has not yet been
| completed, it is probable that the acquisition
of the rich country of Dominica, with its
valuable harbors, will be generally popular,
| especially as the eastern part of the island,
now possessed by the Republic of Hayti, will
sooner or later inevitably share the same fate.
The example of military adventurer who can
exchange his precarious supremacy for round
! sum OF money is certain to be followed by the
first sem-barbarous negro chief who can hold
power in Hayti long enough to acquire sala-
BILE title. BY similar process the United
States might buy up half the Spanish repub-
lies on the mainland nor can it be said that
the bargain which has been concluded with
President Baez of Dominic, is unduly
onerous. The disinterested patriot has agreed
to transfer the Bay of Samans for $50, 900,
which is to be increased to f300, 600 when
the whole republic is annexed. After the
contract was concluded Baez ingeniously OBJ
tanned the first instalment of q loan which
had been negotiated in London on the under
standing that San Domingo was an indepen-
dent State. The creditors probably will not
regret the assignment of the debt to a more
solvent government; but they will not be well
advised in advancing any further sum to an
outgoing republic. The island, which is
divided between the Spanish mulattos OF
Dominica and the French negroes of Hayti
is the largest and richest of the West Indies,
with the exception of Cuba. The Bay OF
Samana would in time of war be a valuable
naval station, and the natural resources OF
the country will be for the first time turned
to account by American enterprise. Every
: citizen of the United States anticipates the
ultimate annexation of Cuba and perhaps
, the rest of the West Indies; indeed the Chair
: man of the Committee of Foreign Affairs il
: | the House of Representatives not long since
: proposed resolution for appropriating t.
the United States all the islands, including
Ireland, which were separated only by SCI
from the North American continent.
The territorial ambition of great anC
I growing power has many historical prece
!. dents nor can it be pretended that, whateve
. may be the character of Baez, the annexa
= tion of Dominica would involve any seriou
violation of right. Eight or ten years age
some predecessor of Bdez effected a simila
transfer of sovereignty to Spain during tn
e administration of O'Donnell; but the Spanis
70 functionaries, lay and clerical soon mad
D. themselves unpopular by monopolizing place
" and salaries, and the natives began t
,e threaten rebellion which it wa
" not worth while to suppress by force
G. Narvaez, who in other instance
st had disapproved of O'Donnell's policy c
le aggrandizement, agreed to relinquish til
A. sovereignty of Dominica; and accordingly til
10 country reverted to its inhabitants, and
20 the chiefs who could from time to time q
es possession of the Government. The popul
ID tion of territory which would amply suppo
Is twenty or perhaps fifty times the number
i said to be only 100000. The worst Cove
TO nor who could be appointed by the Presider
ID of the United States would be probably pr
" ferable to any indigenous ruler; and if thel
r. are any industrious or intelligent Dominican
ID their prospects would be greatly improved
is their admission to American citizenship.
C. CHANGING is PLAYED OUT"
"a "a From the N. Y. Tribune.
" The conviction of Reynolds of murder
"A the first degree was foregone conclusion
" a The insane theory of the defense was followt
by a ridiculous argument and appeal,
+; which the prisoners counsel asked the jul
- | not IN oondannn thia crinin al haoaroa dO1a,