Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-09-03


be secured with the least possible de-
lay. And preliminary to these, such
legislation should be had as will either
de .Jacto or de jure abrogate our ex-
listing treaty with China. Notwith-
standing the high authority which has
pronounced that treaty rs having the
force OF provision oi the Cnnstit,l-
ton, ] for one must forcibly dissent
from such a plea. The paragraph
which provides that treaties made in
accordance Herewith provides like
wise that the laws shall be a supreme
law Of the land A law of Congress,
therefore, stands upon the same level
and has the same force a. Il treaty
with foreign power From this it
follows that the latest manifestation
OF the legislative or treaty making
power, as the case may be, must pre-
vail over any previous action of con-
verse tenor, and Federal statute
contrary to 4 provision of treaty
necessarily repeals the treaty itself.
This is sound law as we'll rs common
sense. In order to secure change in
the Constitution, the favorable action
OF Congress and the consent OF three
fourths of the legislatures OF the States
are required. When such care was
exercised to prevent the hasty change
oil any of the provisions oi the organic
law, it cannot have been the intent Of
its trainers that Il treaty, entered into
by single plenipotentiary and rati-
fled by the President and Senate,
should have power binding as that
OF the Constitution itself, and he capa-
bic OF disturbing our industrial, social
and political equilibrium. To say
that the Senate and an envoy ap-
pointed by the President possess a
power greater than that of both
Houses OF Congress and the President
together, is to reverse the principles
and traditions that have controlled
the Government and expressed the
will OF the people from the beginning.
That vigorous action is necessary in
our own defence is, / think, clear to
any one who will carefully investigate
the facts and draw conclusions from
them with the same direct logic as is
applied to the ordinary concerns Of
life. And there is no ground for
doubt that this action, to be effective,
should not be delayed.
| have already said that our treaty
with China should be abrogated, and
have indicated the general principle
through which that result may be di-
rectly reached But this should not
be dismissed with a paragraph, and
its close and minute examination
should not be forborne. The national
dignity demands that in an interna-
tional controversy, our people should
show as clear cause as would, in the
case of an individual. call for a favor
able verdict in court of equity.
What, then, are the legal and equita.
bic conditions involved in the remedy
of the present and the prevention Of
the impending evil? What are the
methods under the forms of law, and
according to precedehts established as
just between nations, by which the
policy of the Government may be re-
versed and the immunity of our peo-
pie from Asiatic invasion be secured?
To answer this query, requires an in
vestigation Of the nature OF treaties,
and their scope and limitations as con-
Germs their binding force; of the
course pursued by other nations in
similar but less momentous exigen-
cies; Of the prccepts of our own politi-
cal jurisprudence; and of our treaty
relations with China since and in
Guiding the first convention entered
into,' thirty-six years ago. In other
words, we are now led to considera-
ton Of the law of nations so far as it
relates to the matter before us.
A treaty is not, as pro-Chinese advo-
Gates apparently believe, contract
changeless US the law of the Medes
and Persians, and binding for all time,
no matter what ruin it may entail. 1t
is an agreement entered into by two
powers for their mutual advantage
and, like contract between man and
man, depends for permanence and val
idity upon equity and good conscience.
Although some treaties, for example
those relating TO boundaries, are in n
manner permanent, as they revive
after war unless modified by subse-
quent conventions, yet most in the
very nature OF things, are transitory,
the conditions under which they are
made change Or disappear, and what
at first was equitable, or believed to be
so, is proved by the lapse OF time to be
productive Of harm. Thus it is that
while some treaties have been in de-
gree enduring, and have established
certain principles Of public comfy, by
far the greater number have been mod.
ifled from time to time. to bring their
provisions into closer concord with
newly developed ideas OF national
safety or international justice.
This fact lies at the very foundation
of the law Of nations; without it, future
generations might be chained and
ulortgaged by their predecessors