New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-05-22
PROSPECTS, OF TIE TREATY.

PROSPECTS or TIE TREATY.
| It is thought that the debate upon the
! Treaty of Washington will be brief, and the
most careful canvass which has been made OF
the temper of the Senate indicates that the
twO-thirds majority necessary to ratification
will be readily obtained. The Committee on
Foreign Relations having reported favorably
to the Treaty in its entirety, and all its mem
( bers having given their adhesion to it, there
has as yet arisen little occasion for any ex-
tended discussion of its principles. The Sen
ator from Massachusetts, whose duty it has
hitherto been to give utterance either to the
sentiments of the Administration or the voice
of the Senate in all matters of international i'm
| portance, for the first time in many years finds
! himself in position to regard Treaty with
no other sense of responsibility than that which
comes from his own conscientious patriotism and
the weight of his personal character and in
1luence 1t is understood that while, with his
usual freedom and acumen, he has criticised
some provisions of the Treaty as not in ac-
cOrdance with the former diplomatic essays of
the Government, he makes no opposition to it
as a whole. He may define his views by pro-
posing various amendments, but will probably
throw the weight of his name in favor of rat
iicatiOn in the final vote. 1t appears to be
the intention of the Democratic minority not
to make a party question of the matter, not
because any transient CLEAN of common sense
or public spirit has entered into their
councils, but simply because it is impossible
for them to decide how anything is to be made,
in a political sense, of their votes In the case.
There is, therefore, a reasonable rope that the
III IL Cd hx, tho he
course of the present week, and though it is
hardly probable that the British Commission
ers, who sail on Wednesday, will carry with
them their completed work, it is fair to an
ticipate that the first news they will receive
at Queenstown will be that of the vote of our
Upper House in confirmation of the great act
of national reconciliation to which they have
devoted the vernal months of the year.
1t is not likely that any very serious danger
or difficulty awaits the Treaty in England
Earl Russell feels a natural anxiety that all his
elaborate discussions with Mr.. Adams shall
not be turned to mere waste-paper by the
action of his own government but the sub
stantial gain to England in the settlement of
this question will be apt to outweigh all con-
sideration for the feelings of this sensitive
mere instinct of opposition will be sufficient
to unite the Conservative minority against the
Gladstone government upon this issue. 1t
would be poor policy for Mr.. Disraeli to de-
feat the Ministry upon grounds which
would be untenable to himself in case Of
success. 1t is now clearly evident that public
opinion in England-and by this we mean not
only the popular sentiment, but also the
deliberate Judgment of the most intelligent
men-imperatively demands that this vexed
dispute be finally set at rest. The sword OF
Damocles is to be taken down, sheathed, and
laid away in the armOry. After the legislation
of 1871 on the subject of neutral rights and
duties, it was felt by all thinking men in
England that the position of the British Gov
eminent on the Alabama claims was essen
tally false one. 1t is greatly to the credit
of the pubcists who sustained the American
side in the recent conferences at Washington
that they brought the Government OF Great
Britain to consent to the retroactive appllca-
ton of the new rules of neutral obligation
defined by the Treaty. 1t appeared from the
DELAY of the High Commissioners and their
consultation of the Foreign Office In London
that they were unprepared with instructions
which would authorize the acceptance of an
arbitration based on so searching and COM
plete an exposition OF principles. But when
fairly considered, the arrangement finally made
appears only the logical and necessary result
of the new statutory law of England adopted
under the pressure of the discussion awakened
Inv these Alabama claims. To fix the vague
and conflicting notions of neutral duty enter
tanned in legal and parliamentary circles into
q definite and positive form of treaty stpula-
tion between England and another great mar
itime power, to which the adherence of other
nations might be invited was justly deemed
an object of such moment that its attainment
was thought TO be reasonably reached by
come considerable concession. The retroactive
extension of these principes-always con-
tended for bv Ms and recently adopted by En-
,Iond-to fhe consideration of the Alabama
cIo;ms nloces the two nations OH identical
oround in relation to these important ques-
6ons of international law and practice. 1t is
. consummatjon in which both countries find
,bc;r advantage. Ii is triumph OF American
,,.inciplcs and American diplomacy; and while
ENGLAND yields the ndefensibe position she has
formerly held in this especial controversy, she
gains substantially III guarantees OF future
peace and security, and in fixing precedent
in international morality which viii be pen
eft TO civilization
M. ,,,.Labilifv H. that the uOiut where most