The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-11-26
OUR FOREIGN POLICY
Tho Attitude Of tho United States
Toward Other Nations.
What 1t Has Dono Toward Establishing
tho Freedom of tho seas-Dangerous
Collisions Averted Through Peace.
full Norotlatfona.

1ul Negotiations.
Gen. G. c. Andrews, formerly Amer
lean minister to Sweden, in the course
of n recent GRAFTON at Stephen, in Min
nesota, new settlement near the Cana
dian boundary, says the London Times,
made the following interesting re-
marks upon the foreign relations of the
United States:
The intercourse OF the United States
with foreign powers forms n chapter of
exceptional interest and credit. Ameri-
cans themselves do not sufficiently APP
preciatc the honor their country is en-
titled to for having established the
principle of neutrality, or the right of
every independent nation to remain ut
peace while other nations are at war.
This great doctrine, now universally
recognized as an incontestablc principle
of international law, was established
by the efforts and sacrifices of the
United States during three-quarters of
n century. No nation has done as much
as the United States to establish the
freedom of the seas. In its dealings
with foreign countries its distinctive
and traditional policy has been pacific
and just, and especially devoid of
everything in the nature Of sensation
and buster. A record of this sort DUR
ing its whole history is no slight ground
of distinction. This record is all the
more creditablc when one considers the
temptations and provocations we have
had for wars for territorial aggrandise-
ment.
We have had frequent provocations
for war with Spain. Mr.. Evarts, when
secretary of state, referring to her re-
peatcd unlawful seizures of our
merchant vessels in Cuban waters and
to the burdens and eXactions illegally
imposed ON our commerce, stated it
very mildly when he declared they had
become well-nigh unbcarable. The I'M
lawful seizure by Spanish authorities
of the Virginius on the high seas and
summary execution of ffty-three per-
sons found on board, many of them
citizens of the United states, and sever
al of them mere boys, without lawful
trial, and thus directly in violation of
our treaty with Spain, was, to say the
least, fragrant insult to our country.
But we settled with Spain in n peaceful
manner. And yet, there, still under
Spanish rule, is Cuba, larger in terri
tory than the great state of Ohio,
capable of sustaining fifteen million
inhabitants, almost in sight of our
shores, SO near, indeed, that one can
leave ourport of Key West after supper
and arrive in Cuba before breakfast
the next morning.
So we have had serious causes of dis
pute with England Charles Sumner
twas not alone in thinking that the
Alabama claims should have been for
indirect damages amounting to several
hundred million dollars; yet we settled
the matter by arbitration, receiving
fifteen and one-half million dollars.
When one considers how England's
possessions compass the globe, how
vast they are, how steadily she eX-
tends them in Asia and Africa
especially when one thinks of the vast
ness of her territory here on the
American continent and how many
islands she holds in the West Indies,
some of which are about as large as
Connecticut, while we do not possess n
single one; that she even holds the
Bcrmudas, SO near to us; also, that at
Jamaica and IialifaX-at our very
gates, as it wcre-she has mighty
fortrcsscs and powerful navies-con-
sidering these and various other facts
and circumstances, surely the course of
the American government for I'M
dcviating adherence to peaceful negoti-
atoms in her dealings with England
has been unparalleled
In 1916 England had on Lake Cham
plain and the five great lakes nine
armed vessels with capacity for 500
guns, and the United States had
twenty-five vessels with capacity for
57S guns, though not all the vessels
were equipped nor afloat. But the cx-
istcnce of armed fleets in those waters
under opposing flags would have given
OCCASION to dangerous collisions. That
Same year negotiations were COM
menced by the United States through
John Quincy Adams, then American
minister at London, for the reduction
of this naval force and the practical
disarmament of the lakes. England
cordially acqniesced in the proposal,
and in 1917 an arrangement was con-
Guided between the two governments
which limited their respective naval
forces on those lakes to merely three
vessels of one hundred tons each, and
each vessel to carry only one eighteen
FOUNDER gun. This benign result ex-
plains why it is that there are no navy
yards and ships of war on the great
lakes. Thus, it was at the instance of
the American government that those
waters were dedicated to peace and
that dangerous occasions of collision
and even of war have been avoided.
This is one of many examples where
the American government has success
fully endeavored to broaden and