Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-02-17
COLLAPSE OF ESTRADITION.


responsible tor the pOstpOnement
Of the extradition treaty. If it had
not persisted in the fatuOus at
tempt to settle the fisheries ques-
ton by eXpedienis which the Sen
ate had condemned unreservedly,
thr convention which Mr.. Phelps
negotiated in London year ago
might have been ratified. The
Senators who have reluctantly
hung up the treaty until next win.
ter have been influenced largely by
the argument that the time is in
opportune for making any cOnces.
sOns to the British Government
The Fisheries Commission is sill
in session, and the Senate has not
been furnished with information re-
specting the course of the negOiia-
tlOns or the tone of the State De.
partment in dealing with questions
involving American rights and Ma
uOnal honor. The facility with
which the British Government has
entrdpped Secretary Bayard at va.
rIOus stages Of his diplomatic ca
reer has warned Senators that a
fatal compromise or unnecessary
surrender may result from the pro-
longed conferences Of the Commits.
slOners. They have deemed 1t pru.
pent in the circumstances TO defer
final action upon the extradiriOn
treaty until they are placed in pos.
session OF all the facts relating to
later and more important negOtia.
tipns. We do not know why they
are to be censured for distressing
an Administration which has been
conducted for three years so large
~ IN the interest OF fOreigners.-
The State Department has been
conspicuous for its llmpness in the
defence Of American rights aud tor
docility in following advice receiv.
ed from London and Ottawa. No
Senator can forecast the length to
which this boneless Administra-
ton may have gone in dealing with
Mr.. Chamberlain. In the circum.
stances "A halt in treaty-making
may have been judlclOus.
The immunity enjoyed by fugi-
tive embezzers in Canada has been
the strongest argument in favor Of
the ratification OF the extraditiOn
treaty. There has been a popular
impression that tue Doodle Alder.
men of the future would have their
lines of retreat cut of under the
amended international code; but
this, of course, was a mistake, since
bribery was not added to the ex-
tradtable list. Embezzlers, how
ever, would have been surrendered,
and this would have been II great
gain provided the laws of the two
countries were found to be In &C.
cord in their definitions of betrayal
of financial trusts. The treaty
would have been greatly improved
in this respect if the phraseOlOgy
had been more explicit with regard
TO this class OF crimes. The same
criticism applies also to dynamite
Outrages, respecting which the laws
OF the two countries are widely at
variance. Two dynamite criminals
have been sentenced within a week
IN London to fifteen years impris.
Onment, not for attempting 10 de-
strOy public buildings, but for hay
ing in their possession explosives
and letters OF introduction 10 Irish
members of Parliament. With the
same evidence against them in
America no such sentences would
have been executed. Extradition
ought properly to imply closer
in the laws of the two
countries than has been made re-
specting this class of crimes.
Technical questions OF law, how
ever, are OF secondary Importance.
The conduct of Secretary Bayard,
aud of the President tor whom he
acts, in respect to all questions in.
volving relations between Great
Britain and the United States, has
been such that the extraditiOn
treaty was from the first regarded
with suspicion. That suspicion
was perfectly natural ; indeed, it
was inevitable. In the selection of
Phelps and in his subse.
quent behavior, in the treatment
OF the fishery question, in the OBJ
stinate refusal OF the Administra.
ton 10 protect American interests
by the retaliatOry powers conferred
by two successive acts OF Congress,
In all discussions of the tariff ques-
ton, and especially in the Presi-
dents latest avowal of the precise
theories which constitute the Brit
Ish Economic Gospel, the President
aud his Secretary OF State have
die~egarded American IN
tercsts and g served the interests
Of Great Britain. No treaty with
Great Britain negotiated by such
On Administration could have had
A perfectly unprejndlced consider
alton in "A body composed of pa
-riOtic Americans. That may be "a
great misfortune, but it is a fact.