Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1871-01-13
Sumner and San Domingo.

! the selection OF the next 1t lluu4iSah ho4A4NN'
for the Presidency very clear and simple
matter.
Sumner and San Domingo.
The Montpelier freeman, in an article
evidently from the pen of Mr.. Willard,
and Of course a clear and iorcible one, re-
plies to some recent comments in this paper,
on the San Domingo controversy in the Sen
ate The Freeman asks:
Does not cur cotemporary lose sight OF the
fact that the annexation Of San Domingo has
been once acted upon after full hearing, and
after the President had used his personal iniu-
ence with Senators 20 secure favorable action,
and been rejected The president did not pre-
! tend in his message that he had any new fseis
REGARDING the yslue Of the acquisition but he
/ did say that a refusal to accept his project was
/ an act OF .. folly" Was not Senator Sumner
/ justified in opposing the revival Of this scheme
/ at the very threshold
To the first question We reply that we did
not and could not well lose sight Of so i'm
portant a fact as the Trevious rejection Of
the san Domingo treaty. But We say, as
we had said, that the open way in which the
| President returned to the subject IN his
message. satisfied Us that the scheme was
not a corrupt job. and that the President
very strong-to all seeming almost ahsurdly
strong in some of its oxpressions-advocacy
Of the measure, inclined us to the belief that
the subject would bear further looking into.
The second question above Is answered by
the Freeman when it admits, finally, that
Mr.. summers course was " unwise' and
8. doubIy ungise.'
But the Freeman does not believe the pro-
position to send an investigating commission
to San Domingo, to be a fair one -
The President is to sppoint
and is any enc foolish enough to ~
not select a msjority, Al least, faFoS In
ne1ation Every amendment offered long to
an impartial investigation, was voted down A
proposition thst the names Of the commissioners
should be sent 10 the Senae for approval, was
summary rejected L Is notorious that tins
commission is not expected to be absent from
Washington more than q month Whist can
they learn about the people, climate, mineral
resources, and productions Of the island' IN inst
time The Congressional library contains a
hundred times the information on these subjects
that can be obtained by the commission in the
brief period which they are to use in this search
for knouleige The commission is only de-
vice. and through its Predetermined favorable
report it is expected that votes heretofore asainst
the treaty may be changed 10 votes for IT, Inst
is all there is Of IT,
Then we repeat, that an unfair, or packed
commission, Will only react against the
measure. The President cannot be expected
to constitute the commission Of ayowed op-
ponents Of annexation but he must appoint
upon it fair and impartial men, who will
look at both sides of the question, and their
investigation must be something more than
a sham, to have it carry any weight with the
country.
The Fireman further urges that Mr.. SUM
ner's % fats" remain. 1t says:
It is true that Baez has been kept in power II
San Domingo by the navy Of the United States. |
1t Is trae that Baez and Fabens and Caznesu. /
the chief figures in this treaty business on the /
part ofthe Dominicans, are mere d" jockeys, IS
Mr.. Sumner called them. 1t Is true that .
the President has used the power and patron
age Of his office to " influence the judgments
of members Of Congress on this question. 1t IS
true that Mr.. Sumner has been threatened with .
personal violence Il is true that an attempt /
has been made to reconstruct the Senate Com
mittee on Foreign Relations, in order to help .
the scheme" through that body. 1t Is true
that this project menaces the independence Of
Hayti and that a naval officer threatened to
make war on that Republic If It interfered
against this project Of annexation. 1t is true
that Pierce and Buchanan and Johnson were
severely criticised and denounced by Republic
cans for no more extraordinary use Of executive
power and position than these acts Of President
Grant Is the truth less true because he who
1tters it has some occasion for unfriendly feel
i.,gs against the President In other words, Is
Mr. Sumner 10 be unsparingly condemned for
tell ug the truth, because he has been so far ex-
aspel ated as to feel at liberty to tel it
As matter Of policy, we have no doubt MIR.
Sumner has been very unwise. Some Senators
will now vote for the tresty to spite Mr.. Sum
ner. Others will vote for it to please the Presi-
dent Others still will vote for it TO promote
what they call party harmony. These recruits
will be enough probably to carry the treaty
through the Senate We therefore greatly ire
pret that Mr. Sumner has feelings, aud anlmosl-
ties. and corporations because these often
lead to truth-telling and the truth cannot just
now be told about this San Domingo business by
anybody as unpopular as Senator Sumner,-and
who hiss no pstronsge.-without raising storm
against the unucky Senator who ventures upon
such an bipartisan course and under cover OF
the dust raised by this storm the scheme" may
be carried through.
Mr.. Willard is better situated to know
what are facts in this matter, than we are.
There has been lamentable lack Of clear
and definite information for the public in
the whole matter. But it occurs to US that
the excited state Of feeling at Washington
among those who take sides strongly on the
subject, is not very favorable for determining
facts Is it clear, for instance, that presi-
Dental - patronage has been used, or is to
be used. to press the treaty? We are aware
Of nothing that shows it.
But we are not maintaining any contrc-
yersv with the Freeman. 1t in effect con-
cedes all that we have advanced on the sub
iect, and restates it more forcibly than we in
its final admission
We think the FREE Press is right in saying
that Mr.. Sumper is open to the charge Of bad
eeneralship as well as bad temper" He made
an issue where, if he had made it in the best Of
temper, he was sure to be beaten. 1t was I'M
wise to Join battle on that measure /; it was
doubly unwise to give his adverssries even
color of excuse for saying that he was attacking
the President and not the " scheme" Senator
Sumner has none Of the sdroitness, as politi-
cal manager, of his colleague, Mr.. Wilson 4; in
fact, he isn't political manager at all. He has
helped the annexation project, beyond question;
because a great many persons, both in and out
of Congress, will insist that it must be put
through now in order to vindicate the President
from these Z" attacks upon him, let the conse-
ouences to the country be what they may.
Gen. PleasantoD, Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, issued sn order on Saturday ,forbdding
revenue officers throughout the country from
absentng themselves from their districts with
out having first obtained leave to do 50 and re-
voking the order granting permission to them
to visit Washington, when in their opinion the