Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-02-27
VICE PRESIDENT COLFAX ON THE
TREATY

TREATY.
In his address upon the character of Wash
ington, at Brooklyn, on the 22nd, Vice Presi-
dent Colfax spoke as follows in relation to the
Treaty with England:
believe war to be the deadliest scourge of
man kind. l believe war for the salvation of
a nation is justifable, the same as if an as
sassin seeks to strike you down, and to save
your own life you lay him at your feet. That
war through which we have just passed, which
was to prevent this country from being dis
united, was a war which sire and son on
Bonded knee could ask God to bless. APP
plause. No more shall there be war for ter
ritorial aggrandizement, ne more for materi-
al wealth, no more for difficulties which can
be settled by the resources of stateamenship.
[Great applause. l rejoice that this nation,
with the other English-speaking nation on the
earth, has set the example of the settlement
of national disputes by the arbitration of the
leading men of the civilized world. APP
pause. And will tell you how that Treaty
came to be made 1t was made because the
American people demanded that this nation
should stand forth upon the rock Of Right it
self. After our war was over, with the irrita-
tons arising out of the conduct of Great
Britain in regard to the disputed question, we
were liable at any time to drift into war even
against the will of our own Governors and
rulers. I know when the war closed, the
common remark was made by public men,
ave will let this be an outstanding dispute
until Great Britain becomes involved in
trouble with our own people or with foreign
nations, and then we will put to her lip the
poisoned chalice she put to ours" but the
American people-the plain people, as Abra-
ham Lincoln has called them-sad to those
leading men, "Never. We denounced it as
wrong during the war of the Revolution, and
we won't consent that this nation shall do
wrong if in any honorable way it can be ad-
justed," and they said right. [applause. And
that Treaty was made, by which all these
opened questions were referred to interna-
tional arbitration-a blow for peace and
against war more potential than any questions
that have ever been decided on either side of
the Atlantic Ocean. give no credit to what
l hear by the cable under the ocean as to the
mother country, as we call her, recedng
from this solemn compact applause Oh,
no! With this great step in advance, with the
distinct understanding all over the world that
every difficulty between the two nations is to
be submitted to arbitration, as at Geneva,
where persons were appointed by monarchs to
settle question between a republic and
monarchy, neither nation will dare in the
face of the civilized world to violate that COM
pact and leave the questions open for fur
Their alteration in the future. No, if we
were not to receive one dollar as the result of
that arbitration, l would stand before my
country and say, "Settle this question wheth
er we receive nothing, or whether we bank
rupt our Treasury rather than recede hairs
breadth from that grand position that these
two nations occupy in respect to the other
nations of the earth" Certainly they will
learn something from this lesson of ours
which speaks plainly to them, 'Copy our ex-
ample, and submit our disputes to impartial
arbitration" Prolonged applause.