The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-06-19

possible within three months from
the date of the close of the arguments
on both sides, and provides for the
payment of the award. should a gross sum be
given by the Court, within twelve months
after its date. In case gross sum should not
be awarded, and the assessment of damages
should go to board of assessors the same
limitations are made. Every claim must be
presented within six months, unless delay,
which is in no instance to exceed three months,
should be granted by the assessors, and the
time for the assessors reports and the pay
ment of their awards is also definitely fixed.
No person, we think, in view of the above
facts, can doubt the intention of the trainers
and the signers of the treaty to positively
define the time for the performance of the
several acts required of the contracting parties
and to deprive the Court of Arbitrators of the
power to remove the limitation except where
such power is expressly given. The Court has
in its possession Lord Tenterden's own admis-
sion of the force of the limitation in the
fifth article in the protest or decara-
ton presented by him to the arbitra-
tors on behalf of Her Britannia Majesty
on the 18th of April last, reserving all Her
Majesty's right of withdrawal from the Court
in case the claims for indirect losses should be
pressed by the Americans. In that commit
nication Lord Tenterden closes by saying
IF circumstances should render it necessary
for Her Majesty to cause any further COM
10 ha al - IhA
arbitrators upon this subject Her
Majesty will direct that Communication
to be made at or before the time limited
by the fifth article of the treaty" It might,
indeed, be an open question whether this
limitation might not be set aside in the event
of both contracting parties agreeing to post
ponement and jointly applying to the Court for
an adjournment although England has signified
her belief that even this could not be done with
out an additional article modifying the existing
Grant and Secretary Fish declare that while
they are ''not absolutely opposed to the ex-
tension of time demanded by England, and
would be willing to ''waive all claims to a
strict enforcement of the fifth article Of the
Treaty if the Court of Arbitration should
decide to set its provisions aside, they will not
join England in an application for adjourn
ment, but will leave the tribunal to decide
upon the &c parte showings of the English
agents. This being the case, we are unable
to doubt that the decision of the Court will
be adverse to the British application.
We fail to see how it can be otherwise, unless
some of those singular and mysterious secret
understandings, of which diplomacy is unfor-
tunately SO prolific, should induce the arbitra-
tors to usurp. an authority they certainly do
not possess under the treaty. In the event of
the refusal of England's request, as our Wash
ington authorities sagely remark, ''we shall
see what we shall see.' The HERALD has
already recorded the opinion that the with
arawal of England from the arbitration and
the destruction of the treaty would not
be followed by any serious consequences, and
would in the end be the best for the interests,
peace and good will of the two nations. We
reserve for future occasion what we have to
say OF the position of our own government
in these remarkable negotiations, as officially
expressed by the President and the Secretary
of State, and of tine extraordinary conduct of
England throughout the treaty controversy.
The Empires OF Asia-Their Diplomacy
and Industries.
By way of San Francisco, and thence over
and by telegraph, we have news reports from
japan and China dated in Yokohama on the
25th and Hong Kong the 18th of May. The